The Other Half (Of Me)

This fanfic is based on the song 'The Other Half (Of Me)' by 'Within Temptation.' It was a wonderful song, and it really influenced me to write. I must warm you: there will be a character death!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the characters or related stuff with it… So ha! 'Cause if I did, well, you know… BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! You'd see what I'd do… You'd ALL see! Bwahahahahahahaa! But I don't own it… too bad, huh?

/Over the hills, lies a new beginning…
Over the hills
Over the hills, there is a way I know it
Over the hills/
-Ryou

Ryou stumbled on his feet as he tried his best to keep up with Bakura. 'Only a few more miles… Only a few more…' He thought to himself as his legs seemed to get heavier and heavier.

They only needed to walk for a few more hours, perhaps a full day at the most, until they finally reached the closest town. They were running from the law in a small town just south of the great Nile river. Bakura had stolen a loaf of bread from a small market in that village, and they had been on the run from the guards for nearly a whole week.

"How much… How much longer… Will it take…" Ryou coughed out, trying to catch Bakura's attention. He turned around without stopping and spoke quietly.

"Longer. Much longer." He growled, and turned back around.

"You could stop now… Tell them it wasn't you… Tell them it was me…" Ryou said in his hoarse voice. He hadn't had a drink in what seemed like years to him. Bakura shook his head in disbelief at the words of his light.

"Sorry…" Ryou mumbled as he stumbled again, and fell to the ground, face first. Bakura stopped suddenly, frowned, and went back to Ryou, and leaned over him.

\You can't bring all the gloom\
-Bakura

He flipped his light half over and looked down at his paled face, and at his cracked, broken and bleeding lips.

"Just… Keep going… They can catch me, and… And they'll think I'm you…" Ryou trailed off and closed his eyes as he started to cough again.

"Baka Hikari." Bakura muttered as he frowned again. "But you have a point." He seemed to be lost deep in thought as he tried to figure out why he had even bothered to stop at all. 'Why…?'

/Your heart is frayed and so empty/
-Ryou

Ryou opened his eyes again, and looked up at Bakura's blank expression staring down at him.

"You're being stupid again, Bakura. Just go." Ryou grabbed Bakura's shoulders, pushed them away with the only strength he had left, then let his arms drop to his sides as he found he could no longer do much of anything. "Imagine what you can do with your life when I'm no longer in the picture! You could start your own gang of thieves without having to drag me along; you won't have to save me from anyone; you won't have to deal with me being the weak person I am…" He trailed off and frowned in pain.

"Just imagine… And I'll be back with my sister again." He swallowed as a lump in his throat got a little bigger and tears stung his chocolate brown eyes. "I've missed her so…"

\You glorify the future\
-Bakura

Bakura shook his head and sighed. "You're really stupid, you know that?" He growled, and pulled Ryou into his lap. "You can't die. Not as long as I'm here. And besides, if you died, I wouldn't be able to live… The darkness cannot live without the light."

He sighed again, and tightened his grip on Ryou's shoulders when his light closed his eyes.

/Living in a different world than me/

-Ryou

"Bakura… Just go…" Ryou coughed again and a bead of blood trickled slowly out of the side of his mouth and down his chin. "You don't need me, remember? You lived without me once before… In the sennen ring…" Ryou unbuttoned the top of his shirt and tugged on a golden chain until the beautiful ring appeared out in the open. It shone in the moonlight, each sparkle of light a promise of life.

He pulled it off of his head with a lot of effort, and held it with both of his hands. "Remember?"

\The journey ends in death\
-Bakura

"You're… dying…" Bakura said softly as he brushed his fingers over Ryou's iced cold hands. Something suddenly darkened in the back of his eyes. "You're really dying, aren't you…?" He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. 'He's… dying… My Ryou… My light… My other half…'

/You are giving up so easily/
-Ryou

"M-maybe I am… But Bakura… You can still live. You still have your life ahead of you. However long that may be." The tears in his eyes threatened to spill. He kept them back as long as he could, trying to prove to Bakura that he wasn't as weak as he had thought. "You can live without me, you can! You can." He repeated himself in an attempt to convince not only Bakura but himself as well. 'He can… I know he can! He's not weak like me! He's – he's strong.'

/\You are the other half of me/\
-Bakura/Ryou

"You can't go." Bakura whispered as he pulled Ryou's frail body closer to his. He held him gently, as if the fragile boy might suddenly dissolve into a thousand tiny specs of dust at any second.

"I have to… Let me go… please, Bakura. This is what I want. What I-" He swallowed again and a few tears fell from his eyes and slid down his pale face. "What I need."

"No you don't." Bakura growled as his hands clenched into fists.

/Over the hills/
-Ryou

"Please, Bakura. P-please let me go. This has to happen. You n-need to leave, go now!" He exclaimed, scared at the sudden actions from his darker half. He was being gentle. 'Why…?'

/Over the hills/
-Ryou

He didn't receive an answer from his other half and started to cry. "Bakura, please! They could be here any minute! You need to go now! I'll only slow y-you down!"

/Over the hills/
-Ryou

"Bakura…" He was trembling slightly as he reached out his hand, and brushed it against Bakura's cheek. Bakura seemed startled at the sudden contact between the two, and he caught Ryou's hand in his own before it fell.

/Over the hills/
-Ryou

"Over the hills… It's only over the hills…" Ryou coughed again, and stared at the difference between his hand and Bakura's. His was so tiny compared to his darker half's. He felt so much less significant than Bakura. His other half had a fate which was yet to be played out, and his own was coming to an end. He could feel it. He could feel the darkness as it consumed his light.

"I – I can't." Bakura stuttered. "You – You're coming with me." Ryou smiled sadly, and pulled Bakura's hand down along with his until it was close to his face. He kissed his other's hand softly.

"I can't…" He closed his eyes as another wave of pain passed over him.

\We are drifting apart\
-Bakura

"Ryou…" Bakura mumbled as he stared down at him. "You can't… You just can't."

/Chilled to the marrow, cause you don't want to go/
-Ryou

"Go… Please, go, B-Bakura. You must!" Ryou heard a distant shouting coming closer and closer to their current position. "I'll be f-fine, Bakura. And I'll always be watching over you, 'Kura."

\Cause we've got a different wish at heart\
-Bakura

"Please stay." Bakura mumbled urgently as he pulled Ryou into an embrace. "Stay with me. I – I need you." Bakura felt something give a painful tug to his heart and he frowned sadly. "Please don't go…"

/The amulet guides us to the other side/
-Ryou

"I have to, Bakura… But I – I'll try to come back one day, 'Kura. But please, go now! Go! I-if you don't… If you get caught…" Ryou bit his lip as a few more tears found their way down his cheeks.

"You…" Bakura swallowed and licked his dry lips. "You can't come back after you… After you die…"

\When I go down it's you who'll bleed\
-Bakura

'Will it hurt it that much If I don't go? Will he be the one suffering if I am thrown in jail? I can't let him down… But I can't let him die, either…' A lone tear trickled down his right cheek and startled the two of them.

/I'm not scared to die, as long as I'm with you/ Ryou

"Bakura… Please go… And don't cry, it'll only make things harder for the both of us…" Ryou gave Bakura's hands a gentle but reassuring squeeze.

/\You are the other half of me\/
-Bakura/Ryou

"But you… You'll… You're going to die…" Bakura said in frustration. "You can't go… Not yet! No yet!"

/Over the hills, lies a new beginning
Over the hills
Over the hills, there's a way I know it
Over the hills/
-Ryou

"Please go, Bakura… But… Please take this and keep it safe. I'll return, I promise." Ryou took Bakura's hand and placed his Sennen Ring into his hand. He pulled Bakura's head down and whispered into his ear. "Keep it safe for my return…I – I love you, 'Kura…"

His whole body suddenly went limp as a final tear slid down his pale features. Bakura shook with anger, frustration and sadness. He clutched his other half's body closer to his and sobbed. After a few moments the shouts grew even closer and he could see a few guards off in the distance.

He laid down his hikari's body in the bushes, wrapped his cloak over his body, and placed a single white flower in his ice cold hands.

"Goodbye, my Ryou… Know that I love you, too… My Ryou… My light… The other half - of me…" He whispered into the cool night's breeze before he disappeared over the tall, sandy hill, the Sennen Ring still in his grasp. He glanced back only once, to see a single star off in the distance of the moonlit sky appear and glow more brightly than any other that night. "Until we meet again."