Day Care of Domino 5: - Ashes (Missing Spacial Rend scenes)
"Yami?" Yugi's voice was hesitant. When he'd first gotten the
Puzzle back after risking his life in the Death Duel against Joey, Yugi
had thanked Yami for letting him duel alone, but Yami hadn't responded
to Yugi's gratefulness.
Now, as Mai trounced the actor who was trying to marry her, Yugi approached Yami again, afraid that Yami was mad at him.
In a way, the King was.
When Yugi had asked Yami to step aside, believing that he would have more luck getting through to Joey then Yami would, he had promised Yami that if it got too dangerous he would switch back with him, only to break his promise, removing the Puzzle when Marik had, through Joey, sworn that he was going to kill Yugi with direct assault cards and Yami had tried to take control back, only to then hand the Puzzle over to his possessed best friend, forcing Yami to become a spectator in a duel he hadn't even envisioned in his worst nightmares and watch helplessly as Yugi attempted to sacrifice his life in order to save Joey's.
If it hadn't been for Joey's quick thinking it was likely that, even with Tsunami's help, Yugi would be dead.
But then at the same time Yami was proud of his hikari for what he had managed to accomplish on his own. It had been Yugi that had gotten through to Joey, Yugi who had managed to trick Marik into the final push that had allowed Joey to finally break free, Yugi who had been brave enough to face down death without fear…
"Yami, I'm sorry I broke my promise." Yugi sent as Mai summoned one of her Amazon monsters. "I'm sorry I forced you to stand on the sidelines of a Duel where I could have been killed, but I had to do it. I had to save Joey. One of us had to lose and it was better it was me than Joey."
Any other time, any other promise and Yami wouldn't have been so mad. But for Yugi to come so close to death and for Yami to have no choice but to watch the Duel unfold, feel Yugi's pain, hear his hikari's pained cries… it had been torture…
"I didn't want to die but I couldn't – I wouldn't send Joey to the depths to save my own life. I couldn't… I'm sorry." Yugi continued when Yami didn't respond, though this time it was more that Yami wasn't sure how to respond without snapping at his light.
'Yugi… I understand why you did what you did.' And he did, truly, 'But you promised me, promised me you wouldn't let yourself be killed and you nearly died! I nearly lost you forever and all I could do was watch…'
Yugi slipped into the corridor between his mind and Yami's where the Pharaoh was waiting for him.
Yugi opened his mouth, paused, closed it again and looked away. Somehow it was easier to apologise over the link than it was face to face like this.
"Yugi…" Yami started, paused, walked over to his hikari and put his hand on the teen's shoulder, then started again, "Yugi, do you know what scared me most today?"
When Yugi didn't respond the Pharaoh continued, "It wasn't that Joey was under Marik's control. It wasn't that Marik could force Joey into using direct assault cards on us when they were illegal. It was that you willingly threw your life away and there was nothing that I could do to save you."
"But…" Yugi gave him a startled look.
"I know what Joey means to you." Yami told his hikari with a certainty that made Yugi feel uncomfortable, "Even if I hadn't before the duel, I know now, but 'what if's' keep running through my mind. What if Joey hadn't broken free of Marik's control? What if Joey hadn't managed to grab your key? What if Jamie and Tsunami had never made it to the docks? You're more important to me than anything else, even regaining my memories is unimportant compared to your safety."
"But I'm…" Yugi trailed off, looking away again.
"You're?" Yami prodded.
"I'm nothing. Just your vessel…"
Anger flared through Yami, causing Yugi to flinch away from the Pharaoh's hand. Yami had thought that Yugi had gotten over this and that the hikari had realised how much he meant to all of his friends. The Pharaoh was willing to bet that this was Marik's fault. Obviously Marik's constant diminishing of Yugi had gotten through to the boy, as had been the intention.
"You have never been just my vessel." Yami corrected him forcefully, "Even before I knew you as I do now, your friends were there for you. Tea has always been your friend and you earned Joey and Tristan's friendship on your own. All of us would be devastated if you died. Did you not think about that when you were so willing to throw yourself in the ocean?"
"Yami…" Yugi trailed off when Yami visibly forced the anger away.
"Just… think the next time you go to do something like that, please?" Yami asked, no almost pleaded with his light, "I couldn't bear to lose you and I know your friends couldn't either."
"Alright Yami." Yugi nodded, giving his dark a small smile, "I'll try to remember."
"Hopefully there won't be a next time." Yami sighed, "Now that the finals are coming up, all the Duellists are going to be in one place."
"Uh huh." Yugi nodded, glancing over his shoulder as someone in the real world shook Yugi's body less than gently. "Something's going on out there…"
"I bet it's that actor." Yami seemed ill amused by the man.
"We'd better go and see."
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"Do you think she'll forgive us?"
Yugi's plaintive question as they walked to where the next round was about to be decided made Yami wince, 'Give her time. We hid a lot from her and she feels betrayed. She did, after all, trust us with a lot.'
There was silence for a few moments as Yugi processed this, then, "I thought… I hoped… If I kept the secrets from her…"
'She wouldn't be caught up in the insanity that seemed to follow the Millennium Items around.' Yami understood in a heartbeat. 'It doesn't seem to work like that.'
"No… it doesn't." Yugi sounded miserable, just as he had done since they'd nearly had to make the decision whether to attack Ryou or not. "It's not fair…"
The last was so quiet that Yami was certain that Yugi hadn't meant it to be heard, but it was true. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that their friends and family were always caught up in whatever scheme was going on this time. It wasn't fair that Yugi always had to be on guard against attacks. It wasn't fair that Jamie had to go through this as well as everything else she had suffered and it most defiantly wasn't fair that Yugi had been dragged into danger once again.
'She's strong, aibou.' Yami sighed, 'She'll be over this latest shock and ready to go again before you know it.' It wasn't only Jamie's reaction that was scaring Yugi, Yami could sense that far too easily. The Death Duel with Joey earlier had the hikari scared about what Marik could do to his friends if they ended up against him.
To tell the truth Yami had been hoping to have Marik in the first round himself. Bakura, while a pain, didn't tend to waste time and magic gaming those who weren't integral to the Tomb Robber's 'plan' whatever that was. They didn't know Marik well enough to know what he'd pull.
If he was demented enough to set up the games of death that they had fought through up until now, then there was no telling what Marik would do to anyone that got in his way. 'Yugi…'
"Yes, Yami?" Yugi asked, concerned at Yami's tone.
'You do know we can't interfere if one of the others gets dragged into a Shadow Game right? Not without serious consequences.'
"I know." Just two words but they were enough to convey to Yami just how much Yugi hated that restriction, "It's not right that we can't do anything to help our friends, when they have no magic of their own to defend them."
'I know it's not, but those are the rules.'
"Well the rules are stupid then."
It wasn't the first time Yugi had railed against "The Rules" and it probably wouldn't be the last. He was right in that it wasn't fair that they couldn't help an innocent bystander who got caught up in their affairs. Nor was it fair that they couldn't help those who had been caught by unjust penalty games.
But then for all that the Shadow Games had to be fair, no one had ever said that the Shadows themselves had to be.
"There you are Yuge." Joey sounded relieved as Yugi stepped into the buffet room where the bingo machine that would pick the next two opponents was waiting.
"Told you he wouldn't miss it, Joey." Tea scolded her friend. "You should…"
Tea cut off as the machine started and ejected two balls.
"Number 2, Joey Wheeler."
"Oh yeah!" Joey crowed, "My turn."
"Will fight number 7, Marik Ishtar."
Everyone froze except Joey and Marik, who turned to look at each other.
"I'm not going to ever forgive you for what you made me do to Yugi." Joey growled at Marik, who didn't respond at all, "And I'm going to kick your cheating butt right off of this blimp!"
"You could never hope to defeat me. Mr Wheeler." Marik snorted, "Now, let the games begin."
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"Mai, you ok?" Jamie asked, inviting her into Bakura's room, having heard Joey's shouting from down the corridor.
"I don't have time, Francis." Mai bit out, angry at Joey for what he'd said in Odeon's room.
"You have ten minutes before the next match is called and you look like you want to rip someone into tiny pieces. You won't play well if you're worked up." The Trainer pointed out.
Mai scowled but entered the room, where Jamie got her a cup of water and Mai took it semi-gratefully, leaning against the wall and trying not to look at Bakura's unconscious form.
"You want to talk about it?" Jamie asked hesitantly, knowing Mai needed to calm down, having blown a couple of really big battles because she'd gone in angry and hadn't thought about any sort of strategy.
"No." Mai grouched at her, earning a bemused chuckle from the Trainer. "What?"
"I'm guessing Joey did something to annoy you." Jamie said as she settled on the back of the sofa, watching as just the mention of Joey's name caused Mai to flinch.
"No. Yes. Gah." Mai glowered into her cup. "He's such a moron."
"What did he do this time?" Jamie asked with a laugh. "Do I need to hit him for it?"
"It wouldn't make any difference." Mai scowled, "He doesn't seem to care what I think anyway."
Jamie winced. Okay, so Joey had to have made a complete idiot of himself. What had he said? "What happened?"
"Ra objected to the guy calling himself Marik using a fake God card and hit both Duellists with lightening. Joey got back up, Odeon, that's the name of the fake Marik, didn't."
"A fake Marik?" Jamie looked shocked.
"That's right; turns out the real Marik's that Namu kid."
"Damn." Jamie kicked the floor, "Fooled everyone."
Mai just nodded.
"So why did this get you mad with Joey?" Jamie prodded, wanting to hear all the details and noting how talking was helping Mai calm down.
"He claims that he had a dream while he was out cold, where his friends helped him get back to his feet and when he woke up, he was stood up, making him the winner."
"And you weren't there." Jamie suddenly understood, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I probably wasn't there either. Joey's mind probably threw in the friends he knows the best." Jamie shrugged, "I wouldn't let it… wait… does this mean the real Marik's still got to fight?"
"Yes." Mai's tone was one of disgust, having got her fill of Marik from what she'd heard of him when he'd been speaking through Joey. "And apparently it's his evil side now."
"Like he wasn't bad enough before?" Jamie complained. Mai just shrugged and finished the water. "You're going to be careful, right?" Jamie asked the blonde, who she had a great deal of respect for. After all there didn't appear to be many top class female Duellists in the world and Mai was the best. "Marik's a cheating, slimy git and… well…"
Mai smiled at Jamie's concern, "I'll be fine. You look after your boyfriend, okay kid? I'll come see you after my match."
"Kid?" Jamie spluttered, causing Mai to grin, "And he's not my boyfriend." Jamie scowled at her.
Mai just waved it off as she put the glass down. "See you later, kid."
"Good luck Mai." Jamie murmured as the door slid open.
"Luck's for losers." Mai snorted.
"Maybe, but a little luck never hurt." Jamie told her, "So, good luck."
Mai had already turned away, but a small smile crossed her face. "Thanks."
Then the door slid closed.
Jamie sighed as she settled down on the sofa, leaning back against the arm of the chair. This tournament was nothing but bad news…
"The next match will be," Jamie started, sitting up and staring at the small screen by the door, "Duellist number 4, Mai Valentine will fight Duellist number 5, Marik Ishtar!"
"No…" Jamie blanched, fear for her new friend, if she could call Mai that, kicking in and she missed Roland's next words.
She darted to the door and then hesitated. Marik was duelling so in theory it was safe to leave Bakura, but on the other hand Mai hadn't wanted her to go and watch the duel.
Jamie growled and stalked back to the sofa, lying back on it and staring at the ceiling. Mai had promised her that she'd come and see her after the Duel. If she went up there, it might seem like she had no faith in Mai…
"Arceus please," Jamie sent up to the heavens though she doubted the God of Pokémon could hear her, "Look after Mai. Don't let Marik break her."
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"We have to help her!"
'Yugi, we can't!'
"If you won't I will!" Yami felt Yugi reach for the powers of the Puzzle and growled. Yugi had no idea of what he was getting into by attempting to interfere in the Shadow Game cast by Marik, and Yami was damn well going to make sure that the hikari didn't bring down a Penalty on own his head while trying to help Mai with her game.
'Let me do it.' Yami pushed less than gently at Yugi's mind, relief coursing through him when Yugi surrendered half the power he'd pulled from the Puzzle to his dark, having tried a direct attack on the magic and failed, 'You'll never get anywhere with a direct push.'
Yami swiftly sent his magic weaving around Mai, searching for cracks in Marik's power and, when he discovered what he was looking for, he used Marik's own spell to dart into Mai's mind, sensing Yugi backing him up.
"Who's there?" Mai asked as they arrived in the darkness that had invaded Mai's mind, shielding her eyes from the bright golden light that deposited them there.
"You're not alone Mai." Yami said, already sensing the objections of the darkness surrounding them, disliking their appearance here, where they had no right to be.
"Yugi?" Mai asked. Not quite but Yami wasn't going to tell her that. He was only grateful that Mai hadn't had his hikari erased from her mind yet.
"You shouldn't be here, Pharaoh!" Marik growled at him.
"I'm here Mai, and the others are cheering you on as well." Yami ignored Marik, not needing Marik to tell him he was breaking one of 'The Rules' of the Shadows, not with the Shadows moving against him.
"Others?" Mai asked weakly.
"Mai!" Joey's voice echoed through the darkness, "Hang in there!"
"That voice..." Mai looked confused, but got to her feet as she looked around.
"He's your friend Mai." Yami promised, mentally joining Yugi in pushing back on the Shadows that were trying to push him out. He didn't have much longer before he was going to be ejected, forcefully, from Mai's mind. "And the others are out there, supporting you, cheering you on. You just have to listen."
Mai gazed at him for a moment and then nodded.
Which was good, because it was that exact moment that Yugi and Yami were forced out of Mai's mind and back into Yugi's body.
"Easy." Tristan whispered, helping them as a wave of dizziness passed through them, though no one else noticed he needed the support. The others were too caught up in the fact Mai was finally picking herself up to do so. "Did you help her?" He asked quietly, noticing that Mai had caught Yugi's eyes as she'd gotten to her feet.
"I hope so." Yami replied with a small nod, hoping that he'd done enough considering he had little energy left to do anything else. He nudged his hikari's mind, concerned that, since he didn't seem to have suffered any ill effects except the exhaustion, that Yugi had taken the Penalty for their actions.
'Yugi?' Yami asked of his hikari, worried when Yugi didn't respond to his first nudge.
"Tired." The single word answer was a lie, Yugi was much more than tired, but Yami didn't have time to dart into the corridor between his and Yugi's mind to check on Yugi's safety before Mai started her comeback.
'Stay in your room, Yugi.' Yami responded as the Mai summoned a monster and set a couple of face down cards, 'After this Duel, we'll rest, ok?'
"Alright."
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It was the pain that woke Yugi up.
He winced as he moved; taking in his surroundings, pain lancing through him as he did so, trying to work out why there was so much pain was bleeding over the link…
He knew this room. He stayed here whenever Yami was in control of his body, but what was he doing here?
He tried to think, working his way through what had happened since Joey's duel with Odeon as he stood up slowly, the pain making his mind fuzzy
The last thing he remembered was…
Ra!
Suddenly he knew where the pain was coming from. He had darted between Mai, Joey and Ra's attack, but it had been Yami who had shielded them from the worst of it, taking Ra's flames on his back, holding control of the body so that while Yugi had been unable to escape completely unscathed, it had been Yami who had been hurt the most by the hikari's impulsive actions.
Yugi shot out into the corridor. He didn't venture here often, the maze of his other half's mind was dangerous and he'd promised the Pharaoh that he shared his mind with that he wouldn't venture in there when Yami was in control of his body.
But he could sense Yami's pain from behind the almost closed door and didn't hesitate to push it open.
Just beyond the doorway, Yami was led on the floor of his Soul Room, unconscious.
"Yami!" Yugi darted to his dark's side, ignoring his own pain to rush to his dark's aid. He was no medical expert but he knew that the burns on his dark's back weren't good and that if he were to get them treated, the first thing they'd do was clean them.
He'd probably need that treatment himself when he woke up…
For now Yugi attempted to pull his dark into his own Soul Room carefully, wary of injuring Yami any further but needing the powers that his Soul Room granted him in order to help the Pharaoh.
He didn't need to do more than grasp Yami's arm. Energy flowed from the hikari to the yami, weakening Yugi, increasing the pain that flowed through him even as Yami's injuries began to heal. Yugi finally let go when his legs gave out from under him and his vision blurred.
Yami moaned and sat up as Yugi leant against the doorframe then winced and moved away slightly, his own back feeling like it had been burnt.
"Y…Yugi?" Yami looked just as confused as Yugi had been upon awakening. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"I think…" Yugi whimpered as he moved closer to his dark, only to get an answering cringe from the Pharaoh when Yami tried to come to Yugi's aid. "I think I've balanced out our injuries." Yugi replied. It certainly felt that way. The pain coming from Yami had lessened in response to Yugi's increasing agony. "Don't ask me how I did it, I don't know."
"Easy Yugi." Yami forced himself to his feet, having always been better at dealing with pain than Yugi had, and helped his hikari up, helping him into his own room, freezing when the memory of what had happened hit him. "What happened to Joey and Mai?"
"I don't know." Yugi replied weakly as Yami got him to his bed, concern for his hikari overriding his concern for the others, "I was knocked out at the same time you were. I'm sorry."
"For what? You weren't the only one who wanted to get between Ra's attack and our friends. We both moved in the same instant." Yami snorted at him, wondering if some of this pain was punishment for their interference in Marik's Shadow Game, "Now promise me you'll stay here for a while," Yami half-ordered, "And I'll find out what's gone on while we've been out cold."
"Yami…" Yugi trailed off with a sigh. With the way he was feeling he wasn't sure he could have moved even if he'd wanted to. "Be careful, ok? I'm not sure I can do this again until the burns from Ra fade."
"I will." Yami promised. "Get some rest. We still have a long way to go and a lot to do."
"I will."
Once Yugi had lain chest down on the bed, having attempted to lie on his back only to let out a pained whimper, Yami darted out into their body and the real world to find out what damage Marik had caused.
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Waking up was not the most pleasant experience that Bakura had ever been through.
Ra's attack on him had been one of the most painful things he'd been through and, with Ryou gone, he'd expected to wake up either in the Shadow Realm or his Soul Room.
He hadn't expected to wake up on the Pharaoh's sofa.
He also hadn't expected to wake up female.
"What in Ra's name?" Bakura murmured as he ran a hand over his body, trying to work out how he had gone from Ryou's (admittedly feminine body) to a body that was smaller, had more curves and, "I'm female? Jamie!" The squeak that erupted from him was not only definitely female, but had Yugi sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"Jamie?" The hikari asked sleepily. Luckily it was dark enough that Yugi wouldn't notice the difference between him and the Trainer whose body he was currently using.
"Bad dream. Go back to sleep." Bakura wasn't as good at pretending to be Jamie as he was at pretending to be Ryou, considering that he'd never tried, but he seemed to pull it off well enough that Yugi just nodded and went back to sleep.
Relief coursed through Bakura as he got up and headed for the door, having worked out whose body he was in just milliseconds before Yugi's question and not wanting to get into a Shadow Game with the Pharaoh while in her body.
"Wait." Bakura winced as Yugi spoke again. He turned back towards the hikari, only to find he was going for the Puzzle, "You're not Jamie."
Damn, damn, damn. Well he supposed that, considering the runt had nearly been killed by his brainwashed best friend, Yugi would be on the look out for his friends sounding odd. "So?" Bakura asked, sounding unconcerned.
"Who are you?" Yugi's hand hesitated over the Puzzle, surprising Bakura by giving him a chance to explain himself. He'd have thought, considering what had happened over the last twenty four hours that the first thing the runt would have done was put the Puzzle on.
"Who do you think I am?" Bakura responded, moving towards the bed, letting the Ring that rested on Jamie's chest glow slightly.
"Bakura?" Yugi squeaked, fear crossing his features for a moment, something that Bakura was amused by.
Yugi's hand went to slam down on the Puzzle but Bakura pulled the Puzzle away by the chain, chucking it on the sofa. Yugi scrambled out of bed and almost reached the Millennium item, only for Bakura to grab his wrist and pull him back, pulling the hikari over and dragging the Tomb Robber down with him.
"I don't want to fight you. Not now. Not in this body." Bakura hissed, grabbing the wrist of the hand that Yugi was trying to use to pry Bakura's hand off, and pinning Yugi's wrists above his head. "I don't even want to be IN this body, but Jamie grabbed the Ring and my other is gone so I'm currently stuck in here."
"Let me go." Yugi struggled and squirmed, trying to free himself, causing Bakura to straddle his torso, effectively pinning him to the floor. "JOmmph!" Yugi didn't get to finish his cry for his friend in the next room over as Bakura's hands shifted, one keeping Yugi's wrists pinned and the other covering Yugi's mouth.
"Shut up and listen to me carefully." Bakura growled. Yugi nodded, swallowing as he did so, fear coursing through him, not really having much of a choice when Bakura had him pinned like this.
"I'm going to explain myself and then I'm going to release you. Once I've done so, I will not attack you while I'm in this body." Confusion crossed Yugi's features, but no sound emanated from the boy so Bakura continued, grateful that the boy hadn't decided to try to throw him off. With his own body it wouldn't be an issue, but Jamie's was too small and slight to pin anyone who had been taught how to escape.
He'd been lucky that while Yugi had the advantage over Jamie by a few inches, they were around the same weight and even then if Yugi hadn't panicked he could have quite easily freed himself. Fear was keeping the hikari pinned rather then Jamie's bodyweight.
"I do not want to come to a truce with you or the spirit of your Puzzle at any point," He growled, "But right now I'm at a disadvantage. My true host is gone and I do not want any harm coming to the girl whose vessel I now possess, you understand?"
Yugi nodded.
"I'm not going to attack you for the simple reason that I will not allow anything to happen to Jamie and I don't trust the Pharaoh not to try to get me out of here via a Shadow Game and you know Jamie would want to fight on my behalf."
Again Yugi nodded.
"If you hadn't tried to call the Pharaoh on me, I wouldn't have pinned you. I certainly had no intentions of picking a fight with you this evening. I was going out to the hall where I could think without attracting your attention and avoid retreating into the Ring and waking Jamie up."
"Mmm…" Yugi tried to say something but cut off when he realised that it didn't make sense through the hand covering his mouth.
"If you swear not to scream for help or go for the Puzzle, I'll let you up."
Just the hikari's nod was enough. Bakura removed his hands and got to his feet, keeping between Yugi and the Puzzle but letting the hikari pick himself up.
"So you're hiding in Jamie until Ryou comes back?" Yugi asked, visibly trying to calm himself down, still understandably wary.
"I didn't want Jamie involved in this. I even tried threatening her to get her to stay away, but it didn't work. Now the Ring's picked her until Ryou comes back and I can't do anything about it." He glanced at Yugi who opened his mouth, closed it again and shook his head, "If you were about to say that you'd look after the Ring until Ryou gets back, it doesn't work like that, it would get back to Jamie somehow."
"And you don't trust Yami or me enough to let us look after it anyway." Yugi nodded, understanding.
"Exactly." It worried Bakura how well the Pharaoh's innocent little light understood him. Maybe he had been right and Jamie was making him soft.
Yugi sighed, looking at the Puzzle, "Yami's going to be mad at you." It was a statement rather than a question.
"I am aware of that." Bakura nodded. "I'll take Jamie's body back to my room and she can have the bed for the rest of the night, if you can keep the Pharaoh away from us."
"You can't." Yugi shook his head, "Jamie got the better of Marik in a fight after your game with him. He's going to be looking for revenge and Jamie won't be able to use the Ring to defend herself. Jamie agreed to stay with us so we could stop Marik attacking her."
"Damn." Bakura considered his options, "How much of this is his royal pain in the ass going to be aware of?"
"Depends. He's going to have sensed my fear, but he can't get out of the Puzzle or into my body if I'm not wearing the Puzzle, so it may just be that he knows I got scared but he doesn't know why…"
"But you don't want to lie to him."
"I haven't before; I don't want to start now."
Bakura scowled for a moment, then swore again when he felt Jamie's mind shifting. She was waking up and he didn't want that.
"Bakura?" Yugi asked hesitantly.
"Jamie's waking up."
"Does she know you're in there?"
"I'll inform her tomorrow."
Yugi looked thoughtful. "Pass me the Puzzle and go to sleep. I'll sit on Yami if I have to."
"Why would you help me?" Bakura couldn't understand it.
Yugi just gave him a small smile, "Everyone has someone they want to protect, Bakura, even you. I can understand that well."
"This isn't me going soft, once I get my body back, I will be coming after you again."
"I know." Yugi sounded unconcerned, though Bakura could see it was an act, "But for now, I'll accept your terms. After all, if you're looking after Jamie as well, there's less chance of Marik hurting her."
Bakura snorted and picked the Puzzle up by the chain, tossing it back onto the bed before settling on the sofa. "Night Mutou."
"Good night Bakura." Yugi settled down, trying to rearrange himself so it didn't look like he'd gotten into a fight. Once he was certain that Bakura was asleep, he put his hand on the Puzzle.
Almost instantly he was drawn inside by a concerned Yami.
"What happened?"
Now how to explain that he'd agreed a truce with Bakura to the Pharaoh?
Now, as Mai trounced the actor who was trying to marry her, Yugi approached Yami again, afraid that Yami was mad at him.
In a way, the King was.
When Yugi had asked Yami to step aside, believing that he would have more luck getting through to Joey then Yami would, he had promised Yami that if it got too dangerous he would switch back with him, only to break his promise, removing the Puzzle when Marik had, through Joey, sworn that he was going to kill Yugi with direct assault cards and Yami had tried to take control back, only to then hand the Puzzle over to his possessed best friend, forcing Yami to become a spectator in a duel he hadn't even envisioned in his worst nightmares and watch helplessly as Yugi attempted to sacrifice his life in order to save Joey's.
If it hadn't been for Joey's quick thinking it was likely that, even with Tsunami's help, Yugi would be dead.
But then at the same time Yami was proud of his hikari for what he had managed to accomplish on his own. It had been Yugi that had gotten through to Joey, Yugi who had managed to trick Marik into the final push that had allowed Joey to finally break free, Yugi who had been brave enough to face down death without fear…
"Yami, I'm sorry I broke my promise." Yugi sent as Mai summoned one of her Amazon monsters. "I'm sorry I forced you to stand on the sidelines of a Duel where I could have been killed, but I had to do it. I had to save Joey. One of us had to lose and it was better it was me than Joey."
Any other time, any other promise and Yami wouldn't have been so mad. But for Yugi to come so close to death and for Yami to have no choice but to watch the Duel unfold, feel Yugi's pain, hear his hikari's pained cries… it had been torture…
"I didn't want to die but I couldn't – I wouldn't send Joey to the depths to save my own life. I couldn't… I'm sorry." Yugi continued when Yami didn't respond, though this time it was more that Yami wasn't sure how to respond without snapping at his light.
'Yugi… I understand why you did what you did.' And he did, truly, 'But you promised me, promised me you wouldn't let yourself be killed and you nearly died! I nearly lost you forever and all I could do was watch…'
Yugi slipped into the corridor between his mind and Yami's where the Pharaoh was waiting for him.
Yugi opened his mouth, paused, closed it again and looked away. Somehow it was easier to apologise over the link than it was face to face like this.
"Yugi…" Yami started, paused, walked over to his hikari and put his hand on the teen's shoulder, then started again, "Yugi, do you know what scared me most today?"
When Yugi didn't respond the Pharaoh continued, "It wasn't that Joey was under Marik's control. It wasn't that Marik could force Joey into using direct assault cards on us when they were illegal. It was that you willingly threw your life away and there was nothing that I could do to save you."
"But…" Yugi gave him a startled look.
"I know what Joey means to you." Yami told his hikari with a certainty that made Yugi feel uncomfortable, "Even if I hadn't before the duel, I know now, but 'what if's' keep running through my mind. What if Joey hadn't broken free of Marik's control? What if Joey hadn't managed to grab your key? What if Jamie and Tsunami had never made it to the docks? You're more important to me than anything else, even regaining my memories is unimportant compared to your safety."
"But I'm…" Yugi trailed off, looking away again.
"You're?" Yami prodded.
"I'm nothing. Just your vessel…"
Anger flared through Yami, causing Yugi to flinch away from the Pharaoh's hand. Yami had thought that Yugi had gotten over this and that the hikari had realised how much he meant to all of his friends. The Pharaoh was willing to bet that this was Marik's fault. Obviously Marik's constant diminishing of Yugi had gotten through to the boy, as had been the intention.
"You have never been just my vessel." Yami corrected him forcefully, "Even before I knew you as I do now, your friends were there for you. Tea has always been your friend and you earned Joey and Tristan's friendship on your own. All of us would be devastated if you died. Did you not think about that when you were so willing to throw yourself in the ocean?"
"Yami…" Yugi trailed off when Yami visibly forced the anger away.
"Just… think the next time you go to do something like that, please?" Yami asked, no almost pleaded with his light, "I couldn't bear to lose you and I know your friends couldn't either."
"Alright Yami." Yugi nodded, giving his dark a small smile, "I'll try to remember."
"Hopefully there won't be a next time." Yami sighed, "Now that the finals are coming up, all the Duellists are going to be in one place."
"Uh huh." Yugi nodded, glancing over his shoulder as someone in the real world shook Yugi's body less than gently. "Something's going on out there…"
"I bet it's that actor." Yami seemed ill amused by the man.
"We'd better go and see."
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"Do you think she'll forgive us?"
Yugi's plaintive question as they walked to where the next round was about to be decided made Yami wince, 'Give her time. We hid a lot from her and she feels betrayed. She did, after all, trust us with a lot.'
There was silence for a few moments as Yugi processed this, then, "I thought… I hoped… If I kept the secrets from her…"
'She wouldn't be caught up in the insanity that seemed to follow the Millennium Items around.' Yami understood in a heartbeat. 'It doesn't seem to work like that.'
"No… it doesn't." Yugi sounded miserable, just as he had done since they'd nearly had to make the decision whether to attack Ryou or not. "It's not fair…"
The last was so quiet that Yami was certain that Yugi hadn't meant it to be heard, but it was true. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that their friends and family were always caught up in whatever scheme was going on this time. It wasn't fair that Yugi always had to be on guard against attacks. It wasn't fair that Jamie had to go through this as well as everything else she had suffered and it most defiantly wasn't fair that Yugi had been dragged into danger once again.
'She's strong, aibou.' Yami sighed, 'She'll be over this latest shock and ready to go again before you know it.' It wasn't only Jamie's reaction that was scaring Yugi, Yami could sense that far too easily. The Death Duel with Joey earlier had the hikari scared about what Marik could do to his friends if they ended up against him.
To tell the truth Yami had been hoping to have Marik in the first round himself. Bakura, while a pain, didn't tend to waste time and magic gaming those who weren't integral to the Tomb Robber's 'plan' whatever that was. They didn't know Marik well enough to know what he'd pull.
If he was demented enough to set up the games of death that they had fought through up until now, then there was no telling what Marik would do to anyone that got in his way. 'Yugi…'
"Yes, Yami?" Yugi asked, concerned at Yami's tone.
'You do know we can't interfere if one of the others gets dragged into a Shadow Game right? Not without serious consequences.'
"I know." Just two words but they were enough to convey to Yami just how much Yugi hated that restriction, "It's not right that we can't do anything to help our friends, when they have no magic of their own to defend them."
'I know it's not, but those are the rules.'
"Well the rules are stupid then."
It wasn't the first time Yugi had railed against "The Rules" and it probably wouldn't be the last. He was right in that it wasn't fair that they couldn't help an innocent bystander who got caught up in their affairs. Nor was it fair that they couldn't help those who had been caught by unjust penalty games.
But then for all that the Shadow Games had to be fair, no one had ever said that the Shadows themselves had to be.
"There you are Yuge." Joey sounded relieved as Yugi stepped into the buffet room where the bingo machine that would pick the next two opponents was waiting.
"Told you he wouldn't miss it, Joey." Tea scolded her friend. "You should…"
Tea cut off as the machine started and ejected two balls.
"Number 2, Joey Wheeler."
"Oh yeah!" Joey crowed, "My turn."
"Will fight number 7, Marik Ishtar."
Everyone froze except Joey and Marik, who turned to look at each other.
"I'm not going to ever forgive you for what you made me do to Yugi." Joey growled at Marik, who didn't respond at all, "And I'm going to kick your cheating butt right off of this blimp!"
"You could never hope to defeat me. Mr Wheeler." Marik snorted, "Now, let the games begin."
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"Mai, you ok?" Jamie asked, inviting her into Bakura's room, having heard Joey's shouting from down the corridor.
"I don't have time, Francis." Mai bit out, angry at Joey for what he'd said in Odeon's room.
"You have ten minutes before the next match is called and you look like you want to rip someone into tiny pieces. You won't play well if you're worked up." The Trainer pointed out.
Mai scowled but entered the room, where Jamie got her a cup of water and Mai took it semi-gratefully, leaning against the wall and trying not to look at Bakura's unconscious form.
"You want to talk about it?" Jamie asked hesitantly, knowing Mai needed to calm down, having blown a couple of really big battles because she'd gone in angry and hadn't thought about any sort of strategy.
"No." Mai grouched at her, earning a bemused chuckle from the Trainer. "What?"
"I'm guessing Joey did something to annoy you." Jamie said as she settled on the back of the sofa, watching as just the mention of Joey's name caused Mai to flinch.
"No. Yes. Gah." Mai glowered into her cup. "He's such a moron."
"What did he do this time?" Jamie asked with a laugh. "Do I need to hit him for it?"
"It wouldn't make any difference." Mai scowled, "He doesn't seem to care what I think anyway."
Jamie winced. Okay, so Joey had to have made a complete idiot of himself. What had he said? "What happened?"
"Ra objected to the guy calling himself Marik using a fake God card and hit both Duellists with lightening. Joey got back up, Odeon, that's the name of the fake Marik, didn't."
"A fake Marik?" Jamie looked shocked.
"That's right; turns out the real Marik's that Namu kid."
"Damn." Jamie kicked the floor, "Fooled everyone."
Mai just nodded.
"So why did this get you mad with Joey?" Jamie prodded, wanting to hear all the details and noting how talking was helping Mai calm down.
"He claims that he had a dream while he was out cold, where his friends helped him get back to his feet and when he woke up, he was stood up, making him the winner."
"And you weren't there." Jamie suddenly understood, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I probably wasn't there either. Joey's mind probably threw in the friends he knows the best." Jamie shrugged, "I wouldn't let it… wait… does this mean the real Marik's still got to fight?"
"Yes." Mai's tone was one of disgust, having got her fill of Marik from what she'd heard of him when he'd been speaking through Joey. "And apparently it's his evil side now."
"Like he wasn't bad enough before?" Jamie complained. Mai just shrugged and finished the water. "You're going to be careful, right?" Jamie asked the blonde, who she had a great deal of respect for. After all there didn't appear to be many top class female Duellists in the world and Mai was the best. "Marik's a cheating, slimy git and… well…"
Mai smiled at Jamie's concern, "I'll be fine. You look after your boyfriend, okay kid? I'll come see you after my match."
"Kid?" Jamie spluttered, causing Mai to grin, "And he's not my boyfriend." Jamie scowled at her.
Mai just waved it off as she put the glass down. "See you later, kid."
"Good luck Mai." Jamie murmured as the door slid open.
"Luck's for losers." Mai snorted.
"Maybe, but a little luck never hurt." Jamie told her, "So, good luck."
Mai had already turned away, but a small smile crossed her face. "Thanks."
Then the door slid closed.
Jamie sighed as she settled down on the sofa, leaning back against the arm of the chair. This tournament was nothing but bad news…
"The next match will be," Jamie started, sitting up and staring at the small screen by the door, "Duellist number 4, Mai Valentine will fight Duellist number 5, Marik Ishtar!"
"No…" Jamie blanched, fear for her new friend, if she could call Mai that, kicking in and she missed Roland's next words.
She darted to the door and then hesitated. Marik was duelling so in theory it was safe to leave Bakura, but on the other hand Mai hadn't wanted her to go and watch the duel.
Jamie growled and stalked back to the sofa, lying back on it and staring at the ceiling. Mai had promised her that she'd come and see her after the Duel. If she went up there, it might seem like she had no faith in Mai…
"Arceus please," Jamie sent up to the heavens though she doubted the God of Pokémon could hear her, "Look after Mai. Don't let Marik break her."
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"We have to help her!"
'Yugi, we can't!'
"If you won't I will!" Yami felt Yugi reach for the powers of the Puzzle and growled. Yugi had no idea of what he was getting into by attempting to interfere in the Shadow Game cast by Marik, and Yami was damn well going to make sure that the hikari didn't bring down a Penalty on own his head while trying to help Mai with her game.
'Let me do it.' Yami pushed less than gently at Yugi's mind, relief coursing through him when Yugi surrendered half the power he'd pulled from the Puzzle to his dark, having tried a direct attack on the magic and failed, 'You'll never get anywhere with a direct push.'
Yami swiftly sent his magic weaving around Mai, searching for cracks in Marik's power and, when he discovered what he was looking for, he used Marik's own spell to dart into Mai's mind, sensing Yugi backing him up.
"Who's there?" Mai asked as they arrived in the darkness that had invaded Mai's mind, shielding her eyes from the bright golden light that deposited them there.
"You're not alone Mai." Yami said, already sensing the objections of the darkness surrounding them, disliking their appearance here, where they had no right to be.
"Yugi?" Mai asked. Not quite but Yami wasn't going to tell her that. He was only grateful that Mai hadn't had his hikari erased from her mind yet.
"You shouldn't be here, Pharaoh!" Marik growled at him.
"I'm here Mai, and the others are cheering you on as well." Yami ignored Marik, not needing Marik to tell him he was breaking one of 'The Rules' of the Shadows, not with the Shadows moving against him.
"Others?" Mai asked weakly.
"Mai!" Joey's voice echoed through the darkness, "Hang in there!"
"That voice..." Mai looked confused, but got to her feet as she looked around.
"He's your friend Mai." Yami promised, mentally joining Yugi in pushing back on the Shadows that were trying to push him out. He didn't have much longer before he was going to be ejected, forcefully, from Mai's mind. "And the others are out there, supporting you, cheering you on. You just have to listen."
Mai gazed at him for a moment and then nodded.
Which was good, because it was that exact moment that Yugi and Yami were forced out of Mai's mind and back into Yugi's body.
"Easy." Tristan whispered, helping them as a wave of dizziness passed through them, though no one else noticed he needed the support. The others were too caught up in the fact Mai was finally picking herself up to do so. "Did you help her?" He asked quietly, noticing that Mai had caught Yugi's eyes as she'd gotten to her feet.
"I hope so." Yami replied with a small nod, hoping that he'd done enough considering he had little energy left to do anything else. He nudged his hikari's mind, concerned that, since he didn't seem to have suffered any ill effects except the exhaustion, that Yugi had taken the Penalty for their actions.
'Yugi?' Yami asked of his hikari, worried when Yugi didn't respond to his first nudge.
"Tired." The single word answer was a lie, Yugi was much more than tired, but Yami didn't have time to dart into the corridor between his and Yugi's mind to check on Yugi's safety before Mai started her comeback.
'Stay in your room, Yugi.' Yami responded as the Mai summoned a monster and set a couple of face down cards, 'After this Duel, we'll rest, ok?'
"Alright."
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It was the pain that woke Yugi up.
He winced as he moved; taking in his surroundings, pain lancing through him as he did so, trying to work out why there was so much pain was bleeding over the link…
He knew this room. He stayed here whenever Yami was in control of his body, but what was he doing here?
He tried to think, working his way through what had happened since Joey's duel with Odeon as he stood up slowly, the pain making his mind fuzzy
The last thing he remembered was…
Ra!
Suddenly he knew where the pain was coming from. He had darted between Mai, Joey and Ra's attack, but it had been Yami who had shielded them from the worst of it, taking Ra's flames on his back, holding control of the body so that while Yugi had been unable to escape completely unscathed, it had been Yami who had been hurt the most by the hikari's impulsive actions.
Yugi shot out into the corridor. He didn't venture here often, the maze of his other half's mind was dangerous and he'd promised the Pharaoh that he shared his mind with that he wouldn't venture in there when Yami was in control of his body.
But he could sense Yami's pain from behind the almost closed door and didn't hesitate to push it open.
Just beyond the doorway, Yami was led on the floor of his Soul Room, unconscious.
"Yami!" Yugi darted to his dark's side, ignoring his own pain to rush to his dark's aid. He was no medical expert but he knew that the burns on his dark's back weren't good and that if he were to get them treated, the first thing they'd do was clean them.
He'd probably need that treatment himself when he woke up…
For now Yugi attempted to pull his dark into his own Soul Room carefully, wary of injuring Yami any further but needing the powers that his Soul Room granted him in order to help the Pharaoh.
He didn't need to do more than grasp Yami's arm. Energy flowed from the hikari to the yami, weakening Yugi, increasing the pain that flowed through him even as Yami's injuries began to heal. Yugi finally let go when his legs gave out from under him and his vision blurred.
Yami moaned and sat up as Yugi leant against the doorframe then winced and moved away slightly, his own back feeling like it had been burnt.
"Y…Yugi?" Yami looked just as confused as Yugi had been upon awakening. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"I think…" Yugi whimpered as he moved closer to his dark, only to get an answering cringe from the Pharaoh when Yami tried to come to Yugi's aid. "I think I've balanced out our injuries." Yugi replied. It certainly felt that way. The pain coming from Yami had lessened in response to Yugi's increasing agony. "Don't ask me how I did it, I don't know."
"Easy Yugi." Yami forced himself to his feet, having always been better at dealing with pain than Yugi had, and helped his hikari up, helping him into his own room, freezing when the memory of what had happened hit him. "What happened to Joey and Mai?"
"I don't know." Yugi replied weakly as Yami got him to his bed, concern for his hikari overriding his concern for the others, "I was knocked out at the same time you were. I'm sorry."
"For what? You weren't the only one who wanted to get between Ra's attack and our friends. We both moved in the same instant." Yami snorted at him, wondering if some of this pain was punishment for their interference in Marik's Shadow Game, "Now promise me you'll stay here for a while," Yami half-ordered, "And I'll find out what's gone on while we've been out cold."
"Yami…" Yugi trailed off with a sigh. With the way he was feeling he wasn't sure he could have moved even if he'd wanted to. "Be careful, ok? I'm not sure I can do this again until the burns from Ra fade."
"I will." Yami promised. "Get some rest. We still have a long way to go and a lot to do."
"I will."
Once Yugi had lain chest down on the bed, having attempted to lie on his back only to let out a pained whimper, Yami darted out into their body and the real world to find out what damage Marik had caused.
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Waking up was not the most pleasant experience that Bakura had ever been through.
Ra's attack on him had been one of the most painful things he'd been through and, with Ryou gone, he'd expected to wake up either in the Shadow Realm or his Soul Room.
He hadn't expected to wake up on the Pharaoh's sofa.
He also hadn't expected to wake up female.
"What in Ra's name?" Bakura murmured as he ran a hand over his body, trying to work out how he had gone from Ryou's (admittedly feminine body) to a body that was smaller, had more curves and, "I'm female? Jamie!" The squeak that erupted from him was not only definitely female, but had Yugi sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"Jamie?" The hikari asked sleepily. Luckily it was dark enough that Yugi wouldn't notice the difference between him and the Trainer whose body he was currently using.
"Bad dream. Go back to sleep." Bakura wasn't as good at pretending to be Jamie as he was at pretending to be Ryou, considering that he'd never tried, but he seemed to pull it off well enough that Yugi just nodded and went back to sleep.
Relief coursed through Bakura as he got up and headed for the door, having worked out whose body he was in just milliseconds before Yugi's question and not wanting to get into a Shadow Game with the Pharaoh while in her body.
"Wait." Bakura winced as Yugi spoke again. He turned back towards the hikari, only to find he was going for the Puzzle, "You're not Jamie."
Damn, damn, damn. Well he supposed that, considering the runt had nearly been killed by his brainwashed best friend, Yugi would be on the look out for his friends sounding odd. "So?" Bakura asked, sounding unconcerned.
"Who are you?" Yugi's hand hesitated over the Puzzle, surprising Bakura by giving him a chance to explain himself. He'd have thought, considering what had happened over the last twenty four hours that the first thing the runt would have done was put the Puzzle on.
"Who do you think I am?" Bakura responded, moving towards the bed, letting the Ring that rested on Jamie's chest glow slightly.
"Bakura?" Yugi squeaked, fear crossing his features for a moment, something that Bakura was amused by.
Yugi's hand went to slam down on the Puzzle but Bakura pulled the Puzzle away by the chain, chucking it on the sofa. Yugi scrambled out of bed and almost reached the Millennium item, only for Bakura to grab his wrist and pull him back, pulling the hikari over and dragging the Tomb Robber down with him.
"I don't want to fight you. Not now. Not in this body." Bakura hissed, grabbing the wrist of the hand that Yugi was trying to use to pry Bakura's hand off, and pinning Yugi's wrists above his head. "I don't even want to be IN this body, but Jamie grabbed the Ring and my other is gone so I'm currently stuck in here."
"Let me go." Yugi struggled and squirmed, trying to free himself, causing Bakura to straddle his torso, effectively pinning him to the floor. "JOmmph!" Yugi didn't get to finish his cry for his friend in the next room over as Bakura's hands shifted, one keeping Yugi's wrists pinned and the other covering Yugi's mouth.
"Shut up and listen to me carefully." Bakura growled. Yugi nodded, swallowing as he did so, fear coursing through him, not really having much of a choice when Bakura had him pinned like this.
"I'm going to explain myself and then I'm going to release you. Once I've done so, I will not attack you while I'm in this body." Confusion crossed Yugi's features, but no sound emanated from the boy so Bakura continued, grateful that the boy hadn't decided to try to throw him off. With his own body it wouldn't be an issue, but Jamie's was too small and slight to pin anyone who had been taught how to escape.
He'd been lucky that while Yugi had the advantage over Jamie by a few inches, they were around the same weight and even then if Yugi hadn't panicked he could have quite easily freed himself. Fear was keeping the hikari pinned rather then Jamie's bodyweight.
"I do not want to come to a truce with you or the spirit of your Puzzle at any point," He growled, "But right now I'm at a disadvantage. My true host is gone and I do not want any harm coming to the girl whose vessel I now possess, you understand?"
Yugi nodded.
"I'm not going to attack you for the simple reason that I will not allow anything to happen to Jamie and I don't trust the Pharaoh not to try to get me out of here via a Shadow Game and you know Jamie would want to fight on my behalf."
Again Yugi nodded.
"If you hadn't tried to call the Pharaoh on me, I wouldn't have pinned you. I certainly had no intentions of picking a fight with you this evening. I was going out to the hall where I could think without attracting your attention and avoid retreating into the Ring and waking Jamie up."
"Mmm…" Yugi tried to say something but cut off when he realised that it didn't make sense through the hand covering his mouth.
"If you swear not to scream for help or go for the Puzzle, I'll let you up."
Just the hikari's nod was enough. Bakura removed his hands and got to his feet, keeping between Yugi and the Puzzle but letting the hikari pick himself up.
"So you're hiding in Jamie until Ryou comes back?" Yugi asked, visibly trying to calm himself down, still understandably wary.
"I didn't want Jamie involved in this. I even tried threatening her to get her to stay away, but it didn't work. Now the Ring's picked her until Ryou comes back and I can't do anything about it." He glanced at Yugi who opened his mouth, closed it again and shook his head, "If you were about to say that you'd look after the Ring until Ryou gets back, it doesn't work like that, it would get back to Jamie somehow."
"And you don't trust Yami or me enough to let us look after it anyway." Yugi nodded, understanding.
"Exactly." It worried Bakura how well the Pharaoh's innocent little light understood him. Maybe he had been right and Jamie was making him soft.
Yugi sighed, looking at the Puzzle, "Yami's going to be mad at you." It was a statement rather than a question.
"I am aware of that." Bakura nodded. "I'll take Jamie's body back to my room and she can have the bed for the rest of the night, if you can keep the Pharaoh away from us."
"You can't." Yugi shook his head, "Jamie got the better of Marik in a fight after your game with him. He's going to be looking for revenge and Jamie won't be able to use the Ring to defend herself. Jamie agreed to stay with us so we could stop Marik attacking her."
"Damn." Bakura considered his options, "How much of this is his royal pain in the ass going to be aware of?"
"Depends. He's going to have sensed my fear, but he can't get out of the Puzzle or into my body if I'm not wearing the Puzzle, so it may just be that he knows I got scared but he doesn't know why…"
"But you don't want to lie to him."
"I haven't before; I don't want to start now."
Bakura scowled for a moment, then swore again when he felt Jamie's mind shifting. She was waking up and he didn't want that.
"Bakura?" Yugi asked hesitantly.
"Jamie's waking up."
"Does she know you're in there?"
"I'll inform her tomorrow."
Yugi looked thoughtful. "Pass me the Puzzle and go to sleep. I'll sit on Yami if I have to."
"Why would you help me?" Bakura couldn't understand it.
Yugi just gave him a small smile, "Everyone has someone they want to protect, Bakura, even you. I can understand that well."
"This isn't me going soft, once I get my body back, I will be coming after you again."
"I know." Yugi sounded unconcerned, though Bakura could see it was an act, "But for now, I'll accept your terms. After all, if you're looking after Jamie as well, there's less chance of Marik hurting her."
Bakura snorted and picked the Puzzle up by the chain, tossing it back onto the bed before settling on the sofa. "Night Mutou."
"Good night Bakura." Yugi settled down, trying to rearrange himself so it didn't look like he'd gotten into a fight. Once he was certain that Bakura was asleep, he put his hand on the Puzzle.
Almost instantly he was drawn inside by a concerned Yami.
"What happened?"
Now how to explain that he'd agreed a truce with Bakura to the Pharaoh?