Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own the rights to YuGiOh. Kazuki Takahashi has that esteemed honour.
Summary: Oneshot. Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Bakura remembers his life, his village, and his siblings, and the feelings they left behind.
A/N: Okay there is a story behind this story. I wrote Bakura's back story for my crossover a while ago. But I wanted to dive a little bit more into it before I put the chapters up. This is almost like a basic introduction to his past. Its a little bit of his family, and how he feels when he remembers them. Either way, I hope at least some people like it.
Sensation
He can remember it.
It's been creeping up now, slowly and gradually like rising damp invading his mind. First a small patch, then another, and then another follow. Memories, one after the other stopping him where he stands as he recalls everything that he had left behind five thousand years ago.
Regaining memories is a painful experience, where just a few sensations can be powerful enough to bring him to his knees. Some can bring happiness, while others can bring only pain. And he has no control over what he feels. It is a sickening rollercoaster, that takes him all over the place, and does not let him out of its clutches.
Egypt seems so distant, trapped in the Millennium Ring, living in the head of a boy who's homes lie in two completely different countries, neither of them his own. He never knew until the memories began to return just how much he missed Egypt. It was just a whisper, a vague thought that he had only because he knew where the Items came from.
He had forgotten everything. All of it. His life, his home, his family…the things you thought someone would never forget. The things that make you who you are. But now, five thousand years later, he remembers them.
He can see the desert stretching for miles, surrounding his village, a crippled settlement, unfriendly, unwelcoming, but still the place he calls home. He can hear people going back and forth, between the buildings, talking, shouting and laughing as they should. He can smell the desert air, hot and dry, and he can taste the bitter crunch of sand as he breathes in.
He can sense home. It's a warm comforting feeling, that he never wants to lose again.
He can also remember them. The people that make home and indeed, his whole life so bearable. Those three girls and that one woman were all his childhood self needed.
His mother. Since his memories have been back, he doesn't think of her too often, but when he does he remembers one thing. She never hated him, which was more than he could have asked for. She could have loathed him for ever coming into existence. She could have despised that he was the mark of an event that should have broken her will to live. But it didn't, and she wasn't broken. She kept on, even when she was told that babies with strange white hair were unlucky, and that he should be drowned immediately. She never abandoned him, even when she had been shunned from her home for bringing a demon child into the world. Even when she had been forced to settle in a thieves village. Even when the man she eventually married turned his nose down at the bastard child she was bringing in.
She loved him. And that meant everything in this world.
He knew that his birth had made her life hell. But she had never given up on him. And he had never given up on her. He had learned that the cruel words would be a part of his life forever, and he fought against them.
Then when his sisters arrived, he had even more reason to fight against the abuse that the world brought with it.
His sister, Akila, had been his light. From the minute he had heard her choked cries from inside the house, he had known that he would protect that little one with his life. His step father had been pleased that the child was normal, and showed no signs of the first child's 'unlucky traits', but the four year old boy had seen the look of disappointment in his eyes. His mother's husband wanted a son. Instead he had a demon child, and a girl.
That only made him want to protect her more and more.
Akila was like fire. She was warm, comforting, and a light in the dark. But when you messed with her, she burned you badly. Her big brother knew how to control the flames, and keep her in check. They had been inseparable. Siblings that were well and truly, joined at the hip, and despite their different fathers, they were just as close as full blooded siblings.
Two years, and two miscarriages later, and the boy was outside the house again, only this time with Akila in his lap, as they waited, praying to Bastet and Isis to watch over their mother as she gave birth again. The wail that followed was a blessing and a curse. Their mother was alive, but Femi was not the son that her husband wanted.
And so things continued, until Suma was born. As Akila turned four, and Femi two, the eight year old boy, had once again waited with them, each one of them with their hands clasped as they prayed to all the Gods, to keep their mother alive. Once again, their step father was disappointed, but the siblings were not. They were just happy that their mother was not following Anubis, and they had a new sister to help raise.
Or so they thought.
Suma had not even seen a season before their family life had been ripped apart. He and Akila had been to the Nile, to get water, and to steal from the fishermen that were out that day. They had returned to find the village deserted.
They had all perished that night. Femi, Suma, his mother…and Akila. The precious fire that he had loved with all his heart. The one he had sworn to protect with his life…the one he had failed.
He had failed them all…and he had forgotten them all. His life…his home…his family.
The things that defined him.
And now, five thousand years later, he sits in his soul room, within the mind of the boy who possesses the Ring, remembering his past. He remembers his failure.
A failure which brings tears to his eyes.
He is the darkness.
But even the darkness can feel pain. And this is the pain of memories and sensations long forgotten…ones that he can never escape.
A/N: (shrugs) Probably not my best work, but the plot bunny had to be exorcised, and so I did. I hope Bakura's not too OOC. Just remember everyone, that he wasn't born the evil bastard he is in the manga and anime. Reviews are appreciated as always.