A/N

This is probably so AU and strange you'll start to wonder if it's really about Bakura and Mariku… but I've been wanting to post this for a long time now.

It may help to think this somehow happens long, long after all the canon events. In a world that is somehow completely strange and old.

I think this is one of those fics where you either don't get it at all or look waaay to deeply into, thus confusing you no matter what. I'd still love opinions though, especially because it's so mysterious. I didn't even know what genre to pick honestly…

Anyway, this'll have to do for now. Updates -real updates, will come later.

I love you all, and enjoy.

Hmm, disclaimer: It's mine. My imagination that is… and that's all.

Forever Shadow

The streetlights blinked a couple of times as if they were broken as a shadow passed them. This shadow moved slowly, silently making his way to the docks of the city, closing in on the man sitting there, the man did not move, with eyes staring undeterminably into the darkness. He seemed to be lost, as if he had not been belonging anywhere but somehow ended up there, sitting by himself in the middle of the night surrounded by old ships that had not seen the open sea for an eternity. The shadow watched him. Always watched him.

But he didn't mind, didn't care, didn't feel. Nothing.

Emptiness, hollow. Did it matter that he was as empty inside as the old ship wreckages laying on the bottom of the ocean in front of him or that he was as hollow as the wind, softly breezing around him. It didn't matter.

Dawn would come soon and the shadows of the night would disappear making the world seem less haunting and threatening. The man sitting alone by the docks let out a long sigh letting his head fall back so that his silver locks could fall away from his eyes. He looked up to the sky, dark with no moon and no stars. No one would save him from the sunshine, save him from that horrible feeling tearing him up from the inside every time the dawn approached.

Save me…

Somewhere to the man's left a streetlight flickered before turning off with a soft cracking sound. But he didn't care. Didn't feel, didn't mind. Nothing.

xxxx

The shadow watched as the man slowly got up, watched him as he walked along an old stone path leading to an old and forgotten building. He watched as the man walked up the broken stairs to the second floor and watched as he entered and collapsed on an old mattress in a corner.

Just as the first rays of sun started to make their way over the horizon the shadow watched as the man fell asleep and then slowly vanished while the streetlights all flickered once more.

xxxx

Mornings were lazy, the man thought. Days were lazy. Nothing happened, and nothing was going to happen. They came and went, like waves. Never ending, and all he wished for was to be taken away somehow. Somewhere far, someplace where it was darker than a starless sky, where there was no sound and no feelings. Some sort of eternal emptiness, as if the night skies had fallen down, covering him completely with their silk darkness. And he wouldn't mind, it was the only thing he wanted.

xxxx

The shadow could only come and watch after the sun had said farewell and gave way for the moon. The moon that never came these days, but that did not matter. The shadow watched from underneath the broken streetlights, watched as slowly, far passed the midnight hour something stirred on the old mattress in the corner of the second floor of the old and forgotten building. His gaze followed the man as he slowly moved down the broken stairs and down the stone path leading to the docks. And he sat down on the edge, feet dangling just above the jet black water. His hair would've reflected the moonlight, the shadow thought, if only there had been a moon.

xxxx

The young man sighed. Still nothing. As the streetlights to his left flickered again, buzzing softly and becoming duller and duller until they too, finally went out. He ran his long thin fingers through his hair, and arched his back before settling down on the cool ground, eyes never leaving the sky.

xxxx

He was beautiful, the shadow thought. More beautiful than the moon or the stars. That's why they had stopped shining a long time ago, the same time the man, somehow, found his way to that forgotten place. It was no coincidence, the shadow knew. The shadow knew it all, knew how the man was bound to be taken sooner or later, that his time was near. But the shadow waited. Waited for the last possible moment. He knew he'd miss watching that man with the silver hair waiting for the nothing to consume him. But time still passed, even if it seemed frozen there. It always passed.

xxxx

The man blinked, slowly, as if hoping the scenery would somehow change every time he reopened his eyes. But it never did. It was the same, always the same. Day in, day out. Every dusk and every dawn. But it was still beautiful, now. He vowed to remember it, even in the darkness. He'd see those old ships, rusted and forgotten -though once mighty, and free… so free, in front of him. He could smell the salty water, reminiscent of the ocean close by. He could feel the dry patches of grass under his palms, and the cool breeze playing with his hair. He would never forget, not even if they tried to make him. No one could. Now, he valued the simple memories the most. He wished he had remembered more of those things in his past. Like the fleeting look of despair, care, in someone's eyes who's face he couldn't remember. The sound of the voice who sung lullabies every evening, the feeling of rough hands on his own… he could almost remember. But he was lost now, and nothing could bring him back to that time.

xxxx

The shadow watched as the man got up again, the first rays of sun slowly starting to show at the horizon. The shadow's gaze followed the man's silhouette as he made his way up the broken stairs, to the second floor. To where he collapsed on the old mattress in the corner of the room. The shadow watched. It was almost time now. One more night. The last night.

xxxx

The mornings were lazy, they always were and that was never ending. The man knew, as he slowly opened his eyes to stare out of the window, from where he could see the place he would go only once more that very same evening. Closing his eyes again he smiled, as warm tears slipped from under his lashes. Finally. The man was not upset, he was not truly happy either. He was just accepting. Simply that.

xxxx

Evening came, and the man slowly stirred on the old mattress in the corner of the room on the second floor of the forgotten building. The shadow watched him, from the broken doorway, and the man sat up, and opened his arms. His lips moved, though there was no sound. Not anymore. The shadow moved closer, into the embrace with eyes darker than the deepest starless sky. The shadow's hold became almost suffocating, so tight the man had to close his eyes.

xxxx

The shadow watched. Watched the face of the man in his arms, and forced himself to move something resembling a stroke of a hand over the man's forehead. The man stirred, and slowly opened his eyes.

I've been waiting for you…

I know you have.

Am I a good enough shadow to finally claim the King of them all?

Don't you know…

…that only you will ever do.

xxxx

Someone watched as people whispered, as people told lies and truths. Someone heard it as one person asked another; "Whatever happened to that young man? He used to sit there every night…" And someone smiled and whispered; He was taken by the shadows. That is all.

…now he'll be my shadow, forever.

Fin.

A/N

So this is what happens when I drive passed some docks in the middle of the night.

And I wrote this all in one sitting too, I just typed without going backspace even once, and I didn't change a single sentence. Now why am I telling you this? Because I'm somehow completely happy with the result even though this is some of the vaguest shit I've ever written… but it still goes DEEP,MAN. It does. Can't you tell?

Please do review, I want to know what this does to a reader, because I know I usually get all excited about vague stuff because it lets you draw your own conclusions.

Yeah.

Ninjabelle loves you. Review and make me love you more!