Beautiful

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and all related material belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Author's Note: Here's a couple obvious but important things to know before reading.

1) Bakura is Yami Bakura, not Ryou. (Ryou will be referred to as…Ryou.)

2) Single quotation marks mean thoughts. Thoughts from Yamis to their aibous and vice versa will also be in single quotations; I'd rather have them in italics, but for some reason, italicizing and bolding doesn't work when I upload.

This is my first attempt at a romance fic, so beware if it's a little…strange. It's not going to be as funny as my other insane fic, since it's not under humor. This fic's supposed to show that I can write stuff other than -

Bakura: - that mindless drivel she calls humor that's in her other fic. The one where I get that 'Ultimate Punishment'-

A/N cont'd: Psst…he was crying like a baby, he was so scared of the 'Ultimate Punishment'…But back to this fic. It's probably going to be focused more on Bakura than the other characters -

Bakura: Whoohoo! It's myyy turn to shine! Ha, take that, you egotistic limelight-lovin' Pharaoh! Wait a minute…this isn't a trick, is it? Are you sticking me in one of those mushy romance fics? HUH?!

A/N cont'd: Um…no? And stop interrupting!! The rabid fangirls like mushy romance fics, right? Okay, this Author's Note is getting to be longer than I expected…so I'll stop talking now. Enjoy the fic!

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Prologue

Bakura was walking in the rain, like he did every time it rained. The normally busy city streets were bare, puddles forming along the edges and on the sidewalks. People stayed inside on days like this…but not Bakura. This was one of the occasional times that he actually went out of Ryou's house; rainy days, and at night.

Rain was one of the few things he liked. He enjoyed the feeling of the cool drops on his skin…but maybe…the real reason was that it made the skies gray and cloudy. Like the way he felt on the inside. He wasn't feeling suicidal at all, just…bored and slightly depressed. He just didn't seem to have a purpose, a goal, a driving force in his life now that he had promised Yami to give up his quest for the Millennium Items.

'That just might've been the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life,' he thought to himself bitterly.

But, he had given his word, and if nothing else, Bakura was honorable. He couldn't go back on it, so…here he was. Walking aimlessly down an empty street in the rain.

After pacing the street a couple times, Bakura decided to direct his steps toward the city park.

'Maybe I can throw some rocks at the ducks,' he thought.

He walked with his hooded eyes downcast, trying not to see anything except the wet pavement beneath his feet. Suddenly, he caught a glint of gold from a display window reflected in a puddle, reminding him of the Pharaoh.

'Damn that Yami! Why did I have to listen to him?'

In an attempt to vent his mounting anger, he kicked a rock into a gutter.

'Now I'll never get all the Millennium Items…And I already had Pegasus's Eye too…Just five more items and I would've had all the power I've ever wanted and more…dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!'

Bakura slammed his fist into a mailbox, denting it and nearly knocking it over. Hearing a rustle, he looked up for an instant to see a dog fleeing under a car. He considered throwing something at it, but decided it wasn't worth the effort and continued on his way.

Bakura arrived at the Domino City Park with his eyes still fixed on the ground. He trudged over to the duck pond, picking up a good-sized rock along the way.

'At least there are ducks today,' he thought cynically.

'Whatever…'

He halfheartedly tossed the stone in the direction of a mass of brown feathers where the ducks sat huddled.

He raised and then lowered his chocolate-brown eyes, following the arc of the rock's path as it flew through the raindrops. Suddenly, he noticed with a dull surprise that there was someone standing on the other side of the small lake. It was a teenage girl, he observed, who was watching him intently.

Even with the pond's distance separating them, Bakura could see with a sideways glance her intense emerald eyes staring back, piercing into his own. It was slightly unnerving to him, though his face betrayed no emotion. The only person who ever dared to look him straight in the eye was Yami; never a stranger, and a girl at that.

Their eyes locked full on. Seconds passed, and felt like ages. Time seemed to be suspended, there, under the shade of the trees in the lightly falling rain.

Then, the rock Bakura had thrown only moments before shattered the glassy surface of the pool with a splash, breaking their gaze.

"Quack!"

Bakura, startled, instinctively turned his stare on the ruffled ducks indignantly splashing in the pond. Almost involuntarily, he looked back up. All he saw was a flash of black hair as she disappeared into the descending fog.

'Too late…'