I have some very sad news to share - My cat died the day after I posted my last chapter. It was a frightful event, because he was my favorite and I found him dead. I'm sure you can all forgive me for being slightly resentful of this story, because while I had typed out the chapter, he'd been curled up next to me, trying to get me to pet him. I'll never, ever forget finding him like that. Ever. Onto the final chapter

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The sun was creeping over the horizon, lighting the city up in pink. As people came home from work and finally went to sleep, the rest of the city was waking, breathing in the new morning air. At the Ishtar house, three bodies were starting to show signs of life, even after two had already made their mark on the day. Slowly, five people were all in the kitchen, in various stages of conscious.

"Why, in the name of all that is holy, do you have to be awake this early, to learn things that by the end of your life, really wont matter?" Bakura complained, hugging Ryou's body tightly to his own. Marik nodded his agreement, although it was hard to tell he did so, as his head was firmly planted on the kitchen table.

"Because in the time between now, and when we die, we need to do something with our lives, and like it or not, school actually helps us. You don't have to wake up with us, yanno."(A/N: Good god, I just defended school. Wtf is wrong with me.) Ryou stated, kissing Bakura's shoulder. Isis made a sound of agreement as she passed out pancakes to the boys. Bakura just grunted and sat his head down. After smacking the back of Malik's head to wake him up, Isis went into the living room to watch the news. Silence reigned for a total of ten minutes, besides the odd bits of words floating around from the television.

"Oh Ra. Ryou? You might want to come here..." Isis sounded worried, and frightened at the same time. Ryou shook Bakura off, and walked into the living room. He froze when he saw the TV though. The picture it was showing was of his father's car. It was upside down, broken and crushed. And was that blood he saw on the shattered windshield?

"The man found within the wreck was alive, but is in critical condition. A preliminary investigation suggests he was intoxicated when he crashed. We'll have an update later. Back to you John." The reporter said, without guilt or remorse. Ryou felt his world swimming before his eyes. He sat down heavily next to Isis, and she put an arm around him. Leaning gratefully into her strength, Ryou tried to hold back his tears, because, yeah sure the man had been a giant jackass, but that was still his father. Bakura, who'd felt the disbelief and sadness over their link, went into the living room.

"So...what happened?" He asked, sitting down next to Ryou, who left Isis to attach himself to his dark. Ryou felt a headache coming on, from the pressure of holding back his sobs. Bakura ran his fingers up and down Ryou's spine, attempting to calm him down.

"Ryou's father...was in a car accident." Isis whispered. Hearing the words out loud broke the floodgate, and the white haired boy burst into tears, burying his face in Bakura's neck. Bakura just kept running his fingers up and down Ryou's back while kissing the top of his head. Malik and Marik were standing in the doorway to the living room, looking distinctively unsure of what to do. Isis had muted the T.V. so the only sounds were of Ryou's crying. The silence was uncomfortable until Isis spoke. "Malik, you will still have to go to school today, and Marik, I'd like for you to go with him. I'm going to take Ryou and Bakura to the I'd prefer not as many people underfoot." They nodded at her, although neither looked very happy about it.

They left the room, heading to grab Malik's things for school and get ready. As they came back down, both gave Ryou a hug, although it was a little hard seeing as he was still attached to Bakura.

"We'll see you later buddy." Marik said, already disappearing. Malik was a more hesitant, not wanting to leave his best friend at the moment. However, he couldn't really find a reason to stay home, other then support, and Ryou already had that with Bakura. Smiling sadly, he left. It took Isis and Bakura half an hour to calm Ryou down, and afterwards, he did nothing but stare forward, tears still streaming down his face. After several attempts to talk to him, with no response, they gave up, and started getting ready to go to the hospital. Isis called the hospital to let them know that the man from the car wreck was most likely Yaten Bakura.

"Ma'am, we know. He woke up long enough to tell us. We haven't been able to get a hold of his son, Ryou. Do you know how we could reach him?" The nurse asked Isis.

"Of course. He's staying with me and my family for a while. I'll be taking him in a little bit. Is he out of surgery yet?" Isis questioned the woman. A sigh came through.

"While it is against hospital policy to tell you this, you should probably warn him. His father wont live for very much longer..." The nurse trailed off, while Isis' breath caught in her throat.

"Thank you..." She said softly, hanging up. Shaking her head slightly, she went over to Ryou and sat down next to him. "Oh Ryou. I'm not sure how to put this. But...the nurse I just spoke to...she told me that your father is dying.." Isis knew that the poor kid's heart was probably shattered already, and that this would tear it up farther, but she felt the need to warn him. False hope was something that could hurt worse then the truth. A fairly loud, and pain filled wail interrupted her thoughts, and when she looked back at Ryou, he was doubled up, crying hard again. Bakura rushed down the stairs, his shirt not even on all the way when he heard it. Running over to his light, he tried to hold back a glare directed at Isis. He hadn't heard what she said, but whatever it was, must have been devastating. Pulling his shirt down all the way, he hugged Ryou again.

"Ry? What happened?" Bakura whispered against the boy's head. The silver haired light just trembled and cried. Looking at Isis for an answer, she mouthed to Bakura that Yaten was dying. And while he couldn't understand fully how Ryou could be so broken up over a man who'd been such a jackass, Bakura felt the need to comfort Ryou none the less.

"We should probably get going..." Isis said tentatively. Bakura nodded.

"Go get the car started. We'll be out in a minute." He spoke softly. After Isis had left, Bakura pressed a soft kiss to his lover's forehead. "I love you, you know that right?" Ryou nodded his head, and Bakura sighed, before talking again. "Come on. We need to get going." And with that, he stood up, and helped Ryou up as well, letting the smaller male lean against him for support. They slowly made their way out to the car, Bakura settled both of them into the backseat. Ryou was still crying, and both Isis and Bakura felt helpless to help him. The car ride was silent, apart from the small sniffles from Ryou. By the time they got to the hospital, Ryou felt that he'd run out of let Isis do all the talking, and when they got to the room holding his father, he finally spoke.

"I'd like to go in alone, if neither of you mind." They were shocked that he finally said something. Isis nor Bakura really minded, but they both still felt unsure and helpless. Bakura let go of Ryou, and watched him as he walked into the semi-private room. They stood there for a moment before moving to the waiting room.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Looking at his father, laying weakly in a hospital bed brought Ryou's tears back. Moving closer to his father, he stopped when he noticed him twitch. Not knowing if the man would wake up before he passed on, was tearing at Ryou. He wanted to say goodbye. He wanted to tell his father he still loved him, even if he was a jackass. He wanted his father to live. Not knowing if he'd get any of that, made him feel like a weight was being settled on top of his heart. Pulling the curtain closed so that if anyone else was put in the room, they wouldn't be able to look at them, Ryou sat on the chair next to the bed and softly took his father's hand in his own. Then, he settled back to wait.

However, he didn't have to wait too long. Nearly a half an hour after he'd sat down, a whimper of pain hit his ears. Ryou had heard the nurse say that the morphine they'd given Yaten might wear off before he bit the dust. Of course, the nurse had put it in better terms then that.

"...Dad?" Ryou asked softly, in case his father really wasn't awake. Blue eyes snapped open and looked over at the young man sitting there.

"You know...you have your mother's eyes." Yaten spoke equally as soft. A blush heated Ryou's face. His father had rarely - if ever - complimented him. "I know I'm dying. I can feel it. And I wanted to let you know...I don't regret doing what I did." The older man said, his voice firm. The tone, and the words made Ryou drop his fathers hand, which in turn jarred his shoulder, causing another whimper of pain. Yaten took a deep breathe before continuing. "I stand by my decision of kicking you, and that spirit-man-thing out. It's not..natural." Ryou jerked back, not understanding how his father could still feel like this on his death bed.

"How can you say that? I'm happy. I'm in love. Didn't you want that for me?" Ryou whispered harshly, trying to keep tears back. Now was not the time for a sign of weakness.

"I wanted you to be happy with a woman. Not a man." Yaten said back, evenly. Ryou guessed if his father wasn't in pain, he'd be yelling. "I'd still like you to be happy with a woman."

"That's not going to happen. I'm sorry." Keeping his voice even as well, Ryou stood up. "I'm sorry that you couldn't be happy for me. I wanted to be here with you, as you died. But I can't. I'm sorry. I love you, but, it's obvious you don't want me here." With that, Ryou quickly left the room, not letting his father answer him. He turned towards a sign, looking for the waiting room, almost sure that Bakura and Isis would be there. Forcing himself to calm his sadness, his rage, and pain, he walked away from his father's room. Seeing his lover and friend, he moved to them quickly. "Can we leave?" He asked quietly.

"Did he...?" Isis asked, standing up.

"No. He was just...not all that happy to see me." Ryou answered quickly, grabbing onto Bakura when he stood. "Please. Let's just leave." He nearly begged. Bakura was torn. On one hand, he had his lover begging him to leave. And on the other..the man was dying. He just wanted to speed it up a little. But that almost silent voice in his head reminded him that he needed to be there for Ryou, and leaving him right now was something he deffinatly didn't need.

"Alright. Let's go." And with those words, Bakura again supported his lover as the walked away from the last of Ryou's dying biological family.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The air was silent in the cemetery. Ryou didn't even really want to go, but he knew it unseemly for him to not. The only people he knew there were his friends. The rest were men and women from his father's work. That made him feel slightly better. His father obviously hadn't made a too deep impression on people for many to show up. He didn't want to seem uncaring to too many people. He waited as the ceremony ended, and started leaving to do the same. With Bakura's arm around him, and his friends hovering nearby, he didn't feel too bad about not caring anymore.

The man obviously hadn't wanted him. So, he rationalized, he shouldn't feel too bad about it anyway. Leaving the cemetery with a lighter heart, he smiled up at the sky. Life would go on. The earth would still turn. And the love he felt wouldn't die.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Well then. Yay. Endings. Uhm yeah. I hope no one is too disapointed with this. I thought it was pretty rad. I mean, if someone did that to me, I'd be all "fuck 'em" yanno? :]

I absolutely adore all of you. Srsly. I love you. All of you. My reveiwers. You made me come back. Even though I didn't want to.

I sadly must inform you that you may not see another Tendershipping story from me for a while. I've sorta drifted from tendershipping. In muh mind, it's Psycho and Angst shipping all the way. For now anyway.

Reviews=love. Send me some loving, okay?

Peace out!