My favorite song by one of the greatest bands inspired this one-shot for one of my favorite pairings^^ Really considered using Lullaby by The Cure (my second most beloved song in the whole world) but this one just fits better. Eh, maybe some other time. Review if you have the time and thank you to everyone who reads this~

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and the characters featured from it in no way belong to me, it is property of Kazuki Takahashi, Shonen Jump, Konami, ect. The lyrics featured also do not belong to me, they are owned by London After Midnight, Metropolis Records, ect. None of this was written for profit, merely for fun.

"Empty hearts I can hear them talking

I close my eyes and keep on stalking

my love

my love

No one's aware of the hunger I feel

it's something you or time cannot heal

I need someone to help me rise above

...

Come over here and let me tell you something

nothing ever comes of nothing

we all pay a price for all our choices made"

~Spider & The Fly, London After Midnight

Warm desert winds swept across his face. He didn't move, not quite sure where he was and all together not very lucid. It was as if he and time were no longer at correlation. The scent of rain after it collided with earth was pleasant enough though, no real reason to move.

Instantly the thought was regretted as screams pierced the formerly tranquil night. Hundreds of them. Men, women, children, all rushed at him from all directions. Surrounded. His body went rigid and his eyes darted around but he was still immobile.

The awful stench of melting flesh assaulted his nostrils. It was indescribable yet he knew it somehow.

The last thing he saw was liquid skin mixing with molten gold and blood as they fell from a skull, revealing pale bone and empty, fathomless black eye sockets.

Ryou Bakura awoke with a strangled choke.

The boy shifted, startled to be back amongst the cotton sheets he fell asleep in. Moments passed as his heart calmed and he lulled himself back into reality with the sound of pouring rain.

So vivid, so realistic was the nightmare, but not entirely uncommon.

"Kul Elna..."

Yami Bakura's past had seeped in his unconsciousness before, but as of recent it was happening more frequently.

Ryou sighed and snuggled deeper in his blankets, vaguely curious as to why that was.

His eyes wandered over to his window where the curtains were not completely drawn. Rain droplets fell steadily onto the glass with a soft piter-pater, illuminated by moon glow.

"They look like fallen stars..." The whitette thought to himself absently.

"Ran all out of dreams, Yadonushi? Did you decide to steal mine?" The voice within his head chuckled. A shiver ran down his spine as goose-flesh crept up on pale skin in tiny bumps.

"Nightmares." He murmured in response. Those weren't dreams, never dreams. "Of Kul Elna. Why do I keep having them?"

"You know of that? Heh, did you ask the Pharaoh's brat about it?" Disgust was evident in his voice but Ryou failed to notice the jealousy also hidden there.

"Yesterday, when you asked me to build a model of Egypt, and the pieces of memory I get sometimes...I, uh, sorta put two and two together."

"All by yourself hmm? Color me dazzled." Bakura's laugh rang like the caw of ravens.

The teenager merely smiled. "It's a fun project actually." The joy left his lips. "Your going to use it to challenge Yugi to a shadow game."

Without warning, Bakura manifested above the boy. Ryou's breath hitched. It was extremely rare for the spirit to physically appear. Even more unexpected was how warm his presence was. Almost comforting.

"Do you plan to stop me?"

"Well, not yet."

Another eerie laugh.

"Why are you so loyal to that pathetic entourage of fools?"

He didn't speak and he didn't have to. "They're my only friends."

"Friends? Those who exclude you at every turn? Heh, none of them think much of you." His fangs glistened in the dark. Bakura felt the growing sense of loneliness and dejection brewing within his hikari. Oddly, the boy's emotions were distantly familiar. As if he felt them as well long ago. In another life, another form. The thief always drowned himself in his past, his anger and every horrific experience, but Ryou feeling anything akin to that did not sit well with him.

A certain gloom overtook the room, undulated in the air around them.

Ryou wanted to argue back but hesitated. It was hard to deny it but everyone, save for Yugi, were weary of him and the millennium ring. When they all did hang out Ryou felt like a ghost. Unnerving with no reason to even be there. Insecurity ate at him.

"Why bother. I have always granted your every wish, have I not my dear Yadonushi? Most would ask for a bit of repayment, and you do the opposite, stealing my victories at every chance."

Bakura's gaze, like garnets shining in dusk, bore into him, penetrating his very soul. It made him feel negligible yet vast all at once.

"I never asked for any of that! You jus-"

"You wanted companions and I got them for you the only way I could."

"Forcing people into the game pieces...how can you not regret that?"

"I have very few regrets and the lives mortals are not amongst them."

Ryou hardly believed the words. A giggle escaped his lips.

Yami Bakura watched unamused.

"It's nice to know you still have human qualities. Regrets and such," He elaborated.

He shook his head. "I regret not killing the Pharaoh. I regret every time I lost to him!" He snarled. "Is that the friend you want? The sort that nearly kill you, that have annihilated entire villages?!"

The ring bearer shifted. He could never imagine Yami Yugi destroying Kul Elna in it's entirety without mercy. However, he knew Bakura had never lied to him before, despite everything else he'd done to him. The fact that he was so passionate with his hate further cemented Ryou to the truth. "Do you regret saving me? Even Marik thought you should let me die, and if I did you would have my body to yourself."

"Keep your mouth shut!"

The host was baffled.

"Many years ago I was a great king, yet I failed...But I think I know why." A smirk fell on his lips and Ryou blinked curiously, awaiting a response. "All great kings need a queen, and I have one now." He interlocked their fingers

In turn, Ryou could only smile. Besides, he hated losing. Especially at his most beloved game and he'd be damned if Bakura and himself lost at Monster World yet again. Perhaps his Yami knew him all too well.

For the first time, Ryou Bakura felt invigorated and whole.

"Eternal bliss is something I can show you

spread your arms and let my wings enfold you

my love

In the darkness shades of crimson rapture

the world is ours alone to capture

my love

...

Come along and take my hand

I'll lead you to a promised land

The morning after may never be the same,

it may never come again"

~Spider & The Fly, London After Midnight