AN: Final chapter! I decided to upload this early because I've quite frankly been a bit terrible with uploading when I'm meant to lately ^ ^;

But anyway, this is the last chapter of Paint The Roses Red. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers: Mystical, Mirria1, ilovemanicures, Mademoiselle Evandra, GothicAngel09, IWasTheTurkey, FormerV, anayu123, arienai, OhMyGeePinkSucksAss, seira-g, cureampuffu, BakuraXRyou FTW, AmeeraSakura, CallMeASinner, V, and whoever left that anonymous review on Chapter 10, plus anyone who faved this story and/or added it me to their author alert/story alert, but especially thanks to RiverTear960, Tender Loving Care and Shadow fairy princess, who reviewed most, if not all of the chapters in this story xD And a super special thanks to mah buddy xxfangirlx who pursuaded me to post this story first =]

I'm currently working on a two-shot which should be up pretty soon, so look out for it!

Thanks again!

PAINT THE ROSES RED

epilogue: life, what is it but a dream?

Ryou stands in an all-too-familiar cemetery, in front of an all-too familiar gravestone, under an all-too-familiar, lonely night sky.

He swallows, shifting his weight and feeling the green grass crunch beneath his shoes. He takes a deep, deep breath in of the evening air, and then, he bends down, and he places the red roses at his mother's grave.

He smiles at it, memories of the woman and the times he spent with him fluttering through his mind's eye.

Thanks, Mom.

He stuffs his hands into his hoodie's pockets, because a breeze has started up.

Maybe it was because he was curious. Maybe it was because he was doubtful. Maybe it's because he was scared. Whatever the reason, before Ryou came to his mom's tombstone, after the very second he stepped into the cemetery, he walked straight to the hill he saw silhouetted against the almost dark, post-sunset sky. The very hill that was hidden under a towering oak tree. The very hill that he and his best friends were buried under in those visions of the future.

Ryou just wanted to…well, check.

Check if the tombstones were there. That maybe, this second chance, this "new life" of his was just a dream, and he was really dead.

Thankfully, there were no graves.

There was just the hill, and the soft rustle of the green leaves, and the darkening night sky and rising stars above.

Ryou closes his eyes.

"Hey."

The boy's heart stops.

It seems like forever that he feels his heart still, and he thinks that if he keeps going on like this, with no heartbeat and no breath, he mightjust die again.

But, oh.

That voice.

Slowly, Ryou turns.

"B-Bakura?"

In the moonlight, Ryou can see the younger boy standing a few feet in front of him. He doesn't look that good; his body is still so thin, his face is still so gaunt, and his eyes are darker with a sort of dazed look to them. But, he's alive. And he's here.

And that's more than Ryou could ever ask for.

Bakura smiles the tiniest, tiniest bit.

It's a sad smile—weak.

"Yeah," he simply replies, his voice barely above a whisper, and Ryou notices just how tired it sounds.

Well, can you blame him, Ryou? He's been in a coma for almost two months!

Slowly, Bakura takes a few steps forward, walking closer to the other white-haired boy. He takes in a big breath, letting it out loudly. He swallows, turning his gaze from Ryou's, suddenly, sticking his hands in his pockets and shifting his weight.

Ryou frowns.

Why's Bakura acting like this?

So…awkward?

Oh, right.

Ryou quickly remembers all that he said to Bakura the night of the accident. He remembers all that Bakura must remember.

Suddenly, Ryou's face is burning with shame.

He looks down.

He swallows.

There's a long, long silence.

And then, surprisingly, Ryou hears the crunching of grass and dirt, and next thing he knows, he feels Bakura's presence right beside him.

But, he doesn't look up.

Not right away.

Bakura inhales.

"You must miss her, right?" he asks, and his voice is louder, now. Less tired, more confident. It's as if he senses Ryou's uneasiness (he always could), and is trying to make it seem like he's not exhausted or in pain or upset to make Ryou feel better. Though, to be honest, he kind of is upset and tired. Just a little.

Ryou takes his hands out of his jacket's pockets and wraps his stick-thin arms around himself. He shivers a bit. "Yeah," he finally whispers out after a few moments of just watching his mother's still, cold gravestone. "Yeah, I do."

Ryou, he didn't expect those last few words to come out choked with tears.

He didn't expect those few little tears to start rolling down his cheeks faster and faster until he was sobbing. He didn't expect his body to start shaking, and he didn't expect his cries to get uncontrollable.

But, it happened.

All of the emotions he's bottled up for the past month and a half just explode suddenly, and Ryou can't stop them, not matter how much he wants to. No matter how much he wishes he could because he's so embarrassed and ashamed to be crying like this in front of Bakura.

Bakura, meanwhile, feels his mouth drop open as he watches Ryou cry. He feels his brown eyes widen, and he can't really believe what's going on.

Ryou is bawling.

Ryou. The kid who'd been as cold as stone and as distant as can be for the past year and a half, choosing alcohol and partying instead, is bawling.

Right in front of him.

At first, Bakura doesn't know what to do.

He's still mad at Ryou.

He's still hurt.

But, he can't just let him cry.

And then, Bakura is holding Ryou, and his arms are wrapped tightly around the other boy, holding him close. He swallows, and he buries his face in Ryou's soft hair, and he thinks that, yeah, he's not mad at Ryou anymore.

He can't be.

Ryou, meanwhile, grabs at Bakura's shirt and twists and turns it in his fingers, and he's pulling and yanking and trying to get Bakura as close as he can possibly get him so that he will never lose him again.

The tears are rolling down his cheeks, and blurring his vision, and he's blubbering and sobbing and he knows he should be embarrassed, but he's not. He's not, and he just needs Bakura right now. Needs to hold him, to feel him, to know that he's there.

Bakura sighs, and it's tired. He's still in a lot of pain, and it hurts to just stand up and hold Ryou like this. But, he knows he can't, he won't, let him go. He hears the desperation in Ryou's cries, and he feels how Ryou's holding him, and he's not sure why the younger boy is so hysterical (and that worries him), but he knows that he can't leave him, let him go, now.

Bakura had been hoping for an apology, honestly; an "I'm sorry for almost killing you" or something along those lines. But, now, in this moment, as he watches Ryou, and as he sees how hysterical the boy is, he knows that Ryou's more sorry than he could ever put into words. And Bakura accepts that.

"I-I-I…" Ryou finally seems to find his voice, and he sniffles and tries to subdue his tears so he can speak, "I-I almost lost you. I almost lost you, and it would have been my fault."

Bakura's quiet.

Ryou can't see him, because his face is buried in Bakura's chest, his tears soaking through Bakura's shirt (Bakura doesn't mind), but if we were to see Bakura, he'd see that the boy's face is set straight ahead, and he's not looking down at Ryou's sobbing, heartbreaking form. His brown-eyed gaze is thoughtful, far off, staring at the night sky.

Finally, he swallows heavily.

"I'm right here, Ryou," is all he says, and that's all he needs to say.

He's right there.

He's not gone.

He's not leaving.

Not ever.

Ryou stops crying, now.

His tears suddenly, quickly stop, and he looks up at Bakura. His hazel eyes wide, he lets out a shaking breath and just watches the younger, for a moment.

Because, it's clicking with him that Bakura is right there.

He's right there.

What Ryou's been dreaming of, praying for, hoping for for what seems like forever, is right there.

Ryou reaches up, and he kisses Bakura.

He doesn't care that Bakura will probably freak out. He doesn't care that Bakura will probably never want to talk to him again. He doesn't care that he's probably just completely ruined everything.

He doesn't care.

All he knows is that he needs Bakura. He needs to let him know how he feels, because life is far too fragile, and no matter what Bakura says, he could be gone again in a second.

So, Ryou, he's kissing his best friend.

Their lips are pressed together, and Ryou thinks it's got to be one of the most amazing, strange, beautiful feelings in the entire Universe. The kiss is thick and clumsy; Ryou's upset. He messily slammed his lips to Bakura's beautiful ones, and Bakura was surprised. He staggered back a bit, and Ryou almost lost his balance.

But, of course, Bakura was there to catch him.

The younger's arms wrapped around him and they're holding him close, now, and they're both kissing each other and Bakura thinks Ryou's so broken and beautiful and Ryou thinks that Bakura's just the most perfect thing in the world, in so many ways, in every way.

It's so imperfect, it's perfect.

It's so ugly, it's beautiful.

It's so horrifying, it's wonderful.

Bakura pulls away, slowly.

For a while, both boys just watch each other. Brown eyes stare into brown eyes, and their gazes are unblinking, and neither one is really sure what to say, at first.

It's truly a gorgeous moment.

The night sky is big and riddled with stars behind them. The breeze is soft and cool against their skin. The evening is quiet; the souls of the dead around them are at peace.

Bakura blinks.

Ryou whispers,

"I love you."

Bakura whispers back,

"I've always loved you."

Ryou smiles, and he leans forward, and he presses his lips to Bakura's again. It's a lighter kiss, now. More graceful, gentle. Both boys know it's coming, and both boys aren't afraid of it and what it means, any longer.

After a moment they pull away.

Ryou leans his forehead against Bakura's, and he looks into Bakura's tired but big, beautiful brown eyes, and he laughs.

"I'm so glad I have you."

A big grin spreads warmly over Bakura's face.

"I'm glad, too."

And now both boys are laughing.

There's a silence.

A cricket starts chirping somewhere far off.

Bakura sighs.

"Ryou, have you ever…have you ever thought about Death?"

Ryou sighs, and he turns away from Bakura.

Bakura frowns.

"I don't mean to be dark or ruin the moment. I just…" He looks down at his feet. "…Being so close to it, I can't help but wonder what it's like. Have you ever…like, wondered what would happen if you had died? What would happen to those you love? How you'd be able to deal with things being left unsaid?"

Ryou turns to Bakura, now. He smiles, and it's a big smile. It takes over his entire face, and it lights up his eyes, and Bakura smiles back, but he is a little surprised at the reaction. There's almost this…humor behind Ryou's eyes, and the younger boy can't quite figure out why.

Finally, Ryou shakes his head.

He reaches over, and he pulls Bakura into a hug.

He hides his face in the boy's chest, still smiling, and Bakura smiles, too, wrapping his arms tightly back around the older.

"Bakura…"

Ryou looks up into Bakura's eyes, and in that moment, he knows his life will never, ever be the same again.

But, that thought is the most terrifying, frightening, intimidating, beautiful, amazing thing he could ever imagine.

Bakura's question is replaying, now, in Ryou's head. Over and over and over again.

Have you ever thought about Death?

Ryou smiles, again, and he finally, finally answers.

"Bakura…you have no idea."

END.