Epilogue

Author's notes: I couldn't just leave the story at such a place, so I decided I'd really end the story once and for all here. The 3-quel is still pending, but it's going to start at a different place. Will there be Yami/Bakura? I'll ease your minds and say there will not be Bakura/Ryou, but maybe Malik/Bakura. Who knows? ^_~ And notice how I said nothing of Seto/Yami? The song featured, "Always" belongs to Saliva. They kick ass!

* * *

Quiet footfalls sounded in the marble floor, in the massive temple main room. Ancient artefacts lay in their protective cases, small descriptions outside the case. It was a circular room, with on particular item in the middle pedestal. A single yet thick gold band, with the Egyptian eye motif. It was encased in a square glass case, no doubt protected by technical alarms, but magical incantations as well. Looking around the room, the young man briefly glanced at the band before walking past it into the next room.

The room after the artefact room was very plain, but had black painted walls, different Egyptian hieroglyphs painted in gold at certain points on the walls. He ran a hand through his pale blond hair before touching a hieroglyph nearest to him. The hieroglyph seemed to hold him in a suspended state of animation, his eyes focused on nothing else but the ancient symbol. Breaking himself away from the hieroglyph and moved further into the room. At the very front of the room, there was a throne-like chair, most likely gold, the architecture very ancient Egyptian. He looked around and gave a little smile. "I'm here."

The figure that sat in the throne looked up, their entire body covered in the shadows. Slowly, they stood up and the young man saw a woman not too much older than he dressed in pale tan coloured robes, a hood covering her face. A golden Egyptian eye hanging on a tight gold band around her neck was evident through the sunlight reflecting off of it. Slowly, she took off the hood to reveal a face that could be compared to the most beautiful of goddesses. "No doubt you want to know what I called you here for."

"It'd be nice," he murmured, putting his hands in his sleeveless hoodie's stomach pocket. He gave a wry smile, "unless you called me here just to say hello. That wouldn't hurt too much either."

She smiled back, amused by the young man's sense of humour. "Alright then. Hello."

"Is that all you wanted me here for?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Of course not. I had a vision," she confided, looking a tad bit worried. "And this one directly involved you, brother."

At this, the blonde's eyebrow arched a little bit further. "Me? What could you possibly foretell of me?"

Another small smile escaped her lips. "Oh, there are many things concerning you. But I saw that a white-haired devil is to be the one that you most desire and need to complete yourself—"

The violet eyes of her brother flashed. "I know someone of that description. Are you saying that he could be the one…the one that…are you telling the truth, Isis?"

Isis frowned a little at the disbelief and lack of faith she got from her younger brother, but nodded nonetheless. "I do not lie, Malik. The two of you will cross paths, and they will be forever intertwined once this meeting occurs, but—" Isis Ishtar had no chance to continue as her younger brother was gone from the room. She frowned. "But beware that these circumstances must occur on their own, and must not be acted upon by you. If you do act upon this prophecy, nothing but scars and tears will befall you."

* * *

Almost instantly he woke up in a cold sweat. His breathing was rapid and hard, if he continued at this rate, he'd pass out. Looking around, he saw nothing but other passengers on the plane, and the carbon copy of himself sleeping away. The strange silence—yet it wasn't really silence on a plane—almost lulled him back to sleep, but he blinked a few more times, forcing sleep to evacuate his eyes. Taking a long, deep breath, he calmed his body down. Just what in the living hell was that he just saw in his dreams? Rage burned up inside him as he realised he had just seen Malik Ishtar. No other name could bring such rage and anger to him. No other.

Glancing out the window, he saw the tiny metropolis of Domino pass them by and wondered idly how long it would be until they got out of the city. Couldn't be more than half an hour at the absolute most, and that is if their pilot was a complete moron. Which, in his mind, probably was. They all were, except for Ryou. Rubbing his arms, Bakura looked over again at his Aibou, and wondered why he would come with him [Bakura]. So many times he had hurt his innocent half, most of the time, unsure of how to act towards someone he was sharing a body with, and wrestling with the ideologies of a modern world.

His attitude seemed to stay throughout the ages, yet he found himself slightly doing away with past actions, because of his innocent half. Still he kept with his original plan to collect all seven of the Millennium Items in order to control this feeble mortal world, but even subconsciously made sure not to seriously injure his Aibou's body. Bakura could not count off of the top of his head how many times he had stayed in the Ring, cursing at this. But he realised that it was Ryou's gentle nature that was teaching him to be less rigid. 'He's put up with a lot from me. I haven't been the ideal other half. But I wouldn't change a damn thing.' Slightly, he put a hand on Ryou's head. 'You're the only one that can talk sense into me. Even when I'm at my worst.'

Starting at the touch of his yami, Ryou's eyes fluttered open, and Bakura froze, never getting caught when he was being almost sensitive. Those large, hazel brown eyes stared up at Bakura's angular ones, sleep still residing in them. "Y-Yami?" Ryou asked softly, rubbing the crick out of his neck from sleeping in such an awkward position on the plane. Bakura nodded once, moving his hand from Ryou's head. "How long have I been sleeping?"

Bakura looked at his watch and made the mental calculations. "About a good hour. You must have been really tired from…yesterday's events." His words were true; the confrontations with Malik and his Aibou had taken place late in the evening, and Ryou made the arrangements with the assistance of his father for the two of them to leave early in the morning, around 3 o'clock. Ryou looked a bit flushed, and realised his yami had stayed up watching him sleep, but nodded.

Ryou sat up straight, but turned his body so that he was facing his yami who was sitting beside him. "Did you sleep, yami?"

"I couldn't," Bakura confessed, looking past Ryou out the window. "I had a strange dream and decided against sleeping. I knew I couldn't, I'd think too much about it." Ryou nodded empathetically, knowing yami would not be this animated or talkative around anyone else. It gave him a sense that he was special, that someone like Bakura confided in him. "It was one mother fucking disturbing one too."

Bakura's Aibou dismissed the use of foul language, knowing yami couldn't express himself any other way. What he was more concerned about was the fact Bakura had a dream. Rarely did an evil spirit get dreams, and when they did, they almost always had a reason. Ryou rested his hands that were clasped together in his lap, on top of the blanket that Bakura had put over him once he had fallen asleep. "Tell me of this dream, Bakura…what was so disturbing about it?"

A few moments had passed before Bakura spoke, and when he did, his voice was low enough so that nosy neighbours sitting around them could not hear, but Ryou could. Slowly, he explained the dream as best as he could remember—which was quite vividly—and looked at his Aibou to gauge the reaction. Ryou did not always follow what Bakura thought was going to happen, and his face was contemplative. Every time Malik's name escaped Bakura's lips, the scar on his arm—still not healed, yet not bleeding heavily anymore—gave him a slight ping of pain, one that was dull and easily discharged, but not ignored. That was the other thing. Bakura kept getting second thoughts to his second thoughts, feeling things that he could find no explanation for. It was as if he was having someone else's feelings. "That is strange, Bakura. You saw what Malik was talking about last night. That Prophecy Isis gave him," Ryou said, looking thoughtful. "I wonder, is this her work?"

He frowned. "That's the last thing I need, Ryou. To have someone else indirectly affecting my life, that's the last thing I need to have happen…but why the hell would his sister show me what he was talking about?"

Ryou stared at him blankly. "Are you telling me you don't get it? She's showing you this most likely to say that her brother isn't the bad guy entirely here. Now, I am just assuming, so don't freak out. Malik said he came here because she prophesied that you would be the one that would be 'the one' for him. If you were given such a prophecy, would you wait for fate or carry it out yourself?"

Bakura blinked for a few moments. "Of course, the stars don't decide my—" he stopped dead in his sentence. That was the exact same thing Malik had said when Ryou challenged his initiation of the prophecy. 'I do not wait for fate. Fate doesn't exist for me. You make your own fate, not the stars!' The colour left his face, as Bakura blanched at the eerie similarities between he and the Ishtar heir. He looked to his Aibou. "What are you suggesting? That Malik and I are destined to be one? But what of you…you wanted me to be with Yami… isn't that right?"

Ryou shook his head. "I wanted you to be happy. If that happiness resided with Yami, or, heaven willing, it resides with Malik, it doesn't matter to me. As long as you find that happiness, who it is with is none of my concern." He gave a smile, "you're confused about this, and I think that this ride will be good for you. You'll be able to sort yourself out."

"I think it will take more than some plane ride to sort my head out," Bakura quipped, and looked startled as Ryou chuckled. He gave a rare smile to his Aibou, and stood up. "I'm going to go for a walk."

"All right. Don't get lost," Ryou said patronisingly.

"Bite me." The two smiled, as Bakura walked out into the aisle, wandering aimlessly throughout the plane, yet making it look like he was looking for something or someone. As he reached the very back of the plane, where there were very few people, he heard someone sniffling then coughing. Finding this odd, as there were no visible people in the last few seats before the back of the car, Bakura peered in each of the seats. Growing increasingly curious as he still heard the faint noise, he reached the final seat and nearly fell backwards, as in the last seat, and he found Malik Ishtar.

Malik's gorgeous blonde hair was in slight disarray, and he was half curled up in his seat, one leg down, and the other was pulled to his chest, his chin resting on the kneecap. The headset rested around his neck, the music loud enough for Bakura to hear the lyrics:

I'm hearing a voice say "don't be so blind"
It's telling me all these things that you would probably hide
Am I your one and only desire?
Am I the reason you breathe, or am I the reason you cry?
Always, always, always, I just can't live without you
I love you, I hate you, I can't get around you
I breathe you, I taste you, I can't live without you
I just can't take anymore, this life of solitude,
I guess I'm out the door, and now I'm done with you
I feel like you don't want me around
I guess I'll pack all my things, I guess I'll see you around
I love you, I hate you, I just can't get around you
I breathe you, I taste you, I just can't live without you
I just can't take anymore, this life of solitude…

Bakura stayed perfectly silent for the first few moments, but softly began to sing to the well-known song; he himself had listened to this particular one on loop for an entire afternoon. Slowly his voice rose that Malik's head snapped up and those once hateful violet eyes looked shocked. "What…Bakura? What are…go ahead. Ridicule and cut me open, since you found me sitting here like a pathetic moron…I know you want to after all I did."

Surprising himself, Bakura sat down beside the blonde Egyptian, putting his arms on the armrests, and making it so their scars were touching. "Even after all that shit you pulled, I'm not going to do that. But…I saw something…it made me realise why you did what you did." Malik raised an eyebrow that said, 'all right…enlighten me'. "Isis told you that a white haired devil would be the one to complete you…as would I, you went to complete it on your own. Fate doesn't apply to your or me it seems, but karma seems to be a bitch. But we are more alike than I realised, and we are bonded…"

"Bakura…I ask only one favour," Malik said softly, and when Bakura nodded, said, "hold me."

Finding this an odd request, Bakura yet felt the overwhelming desire coming from Malik, the desire to be held, to be, well loved. Unsure if he could be the one to give the young Egyptian the peace of mind he so desperately sought, Bakura put his arms around Malik, and was surprised when Malik moved closer into his embrace, sitting in his lap. 'Strange,' Bakura thought, as he looked down at the boy that had mere hours before, played puppeteer with Yami, but now was reduced to a little boy who wanted nothing more than to be held. 'I should be furious with him, I should want to kill him right where he sits, yet here I am holding him. I wonder just how more screwed up this could get.'

"I'm sorry," Malik whispered. "My words do not have any value with you…but still, I am sorry for what I've done…"

"Shut up, Ishtar," Bakura commanded, albeit softly. "We both have a lot to think about…but you have no doubt given me scars, and tears…"

Malik tensed. "No one could have known that unless they have heard the entire prophecy Isis gave to me…you said you heard that part…did you hear all of it?"

Bakura nodded once. "I saw it all in a dream. What she prophesied to you, and when you left, what she said afterwards. But like you said, the stars don't make your fate, you do. I don't know what I'm going to do, but…for the first time, I'll let the fates decide what to do now. I figured, since everyone seems to like to play with me, they can decide this." Malik tensed at the undercurrent of resentment in Bakura's voice. He knew though, that he deserved every bit of this and more. "But enough about that. It won't solve anything."

"Do you have any idea where this plane goes?" Malik questioned.

He blinked. "Actually, I have no fucking clue."

Malik paused for a moment before answering, "Egypt."

~~

Sasha: Now there's where I wanted the second part of that three-quel to start. I have a slight idea of what the third part will be, but it's not fully formed yet. I hoped this quenches your thirst for something relatively new from me. Thanks for the support, everyone!