Disclaimer: Don't own Yugioh, Snow White and Rose Red blah blah blah

Once upon a time, in a land far away.

There once lived a widower who had two rose bushes, which had been planted and cared for by his late wife.

One rose bush grew flowers of red, while the other grew roses of white.

Before she had died, she had given birth to two beautiful boys. The eldest was Ryou, and the younger, by 1 year, was Yuugi. But the mother had given them nicknames, which the widower and children had cherished ever since her death.

Ryou was called Snow White, for his hair was a beautiful white and his skin was soft and pale as her white rose bush.

Yuugi was called Rose Red for his strange hair, which had bangs of gold, but the rest was black which bled to a reddish hue of amethyst.

When the mother died, the widower raised his children to be as kind-hearted as their deceased mother.

Ryou was quieter and gentler by nature then Yuugi. While Rose Red played in fields and enjoyed chasing butterflies and catching tadpoles and playing games, Ryou stayed at home more then him.

He gladly helped his father with the house, and read his family books when there was no work to do at the moment.

The cottage in which they lived was always so clean and friendly, that it was a pleasure to come into and stay in.

Yuugi did his share of work by going out into the woods, with Ryou from time to time, gathering berries, nuts and such in the pleasant months of the year to put in they're meals.

While in fall and early winter, he would take a wood cutter's Axe and cut up dead trees, to be used as fire wood for the colder parts of the year.

During the winter, they would all stay near the house, only going otuside to play and find chestnuts from the trees surrounding they're cottage. They would sit by the fire with the shutters closed, and they're father would read from a large book which was fileld with stories and poems.

Ryou and Yuugi adored each other, and did not quarrel as much as other brothers do.

They walked hand in hand, and made a promise to one another.

To never desert each other.

No, not as long they lived.

Whatever one gets, he shall share it with the other.

The two would sometimes go together into the woods or village, never fearing harm from strangers or beasts of the woods.

On the contrary, people would be delighted to see them and would treat them kindly.

And the animals of the woods would confidently walk over to them. Yugi would let the rabbits eat lettuce and celery leaves from his hands, and Ryou would stroke the fawn's soft baby fur as her mother gently licked Ryou's cheek.

And if the two ever took too long in the woods, and it was too dark for them to go back to the cottage where they lived, they would lay down in the soft moss and sleep beside one another.

One time, the two had awoken to see a young man sitting near them, but he only smiled and slowly walked away into the woods.

The two had looked around when they were fully awake, to see they had slept very near a precipice, and that if they had went any further, they would have fallen to their deaths.

Their father only smiled after hearing they're story and said, "It must have been a angle who looks over good children."

When Yugi and Ryou reached they're ending years of childhood, the two became lovelier still.

During one snowy winter night, when Ryou was 16, and Yugi 15, the family all sat by the fire, the widower reading a poem about a raven, when a knockign came from the door.

The father blinked, and thinking it was some traveler lost in the snow, so he turned to Ryou and said. "Snow White, go see who is at the door and let them in if they seek shelter."

Ryou nodded and headed to the door.

Yugi had already closed the shutters so eh couldn't peek outside from the window first.

He quickly unbolted the door and opened.

First came a wet, black, snow covered nose. Then a black lipped mouth with sharp teeth.

And then popped in the door, the huge, shaggy face of a white bear!

Ryou let out a cry of fear and hid behind his father's chair, while Yuugi simply froze in place, his face turning a pale color that almost rivaled Ryou's own complexion.

The widower, however, walked over to the door as the bear said in a gruff, cold voice. "Relax, I'm not going to eat you. I just want a place to sleep. I have no cave to go to, and it is too cold for me to just lay in the snow outside. May I come in?"

The widower smield and nodded his head. "Come in," he turned to the boys, "Yuugi, move over and let this bear lay in front of the fire so he may get warm. And Ryou you may come out from hiding. This bear means none of us any harm."

Yuugi stood and the white bear slowly lumbered over and fell onto his side with a great 'thump!' and sigh of content, making Yugi giggle.

Ryou slowly came over and asked, "Do you have a name?" The bear looked up at him through one purplish, gray eye.

"Bakura."

Ryou and Yugi tried to stay out Bakura's way the first night the bear stayed.

He lay sleeping in front of the fire as the two brothers slept in the bed they shared in the attic, while they're father slept in a bed in a room near the bear.

The next morning, the bear left, gruffly thanking them for letting him sleep there.

This continued for the remainder of the winter time.

After Bakura had been coming for almost 4 days, Ryou was the one to becomes friends first.

It had been one heck of a storm that night when eh quickly lumbered in and laid by the fire huffing a little from trudging in the snow.

His fur was covered and frozen with snow, and he shivered as he laid there.

Ryou slowly sunk down to the floor beside him and asked timidly, "Can I help you get warmer, Bakura?" The bear stared at the boy for a moment then closed it. "If you want to help so badly, go get your little brother, and ask him to help you get the snow out of my fur."

Ryou and Yuugi did as asked, and found Bakura very much enjoyed the patting and brushing that they needed to do to get the snow out.

In the days to come, Ryou and Yuugi became more friendly towards Bakura, and Bakura seemed to be warming up to them. They soon brushed and patted the snow out of his fur everyday, and soon began playing with him as if he were just a big old dog.

Sometimes Ryou and Yuugi, mostly Yuugi, would go a little too far in they're play and Bakura would growl in pain and warning and say, "Spare my life, Snow White and Rose Red. Do not beat your lover dead."

The only time he'd actually scared them, was one time when Yuugi hit a sore spot very hard, he gently but very quickly got his mouth around Yuugi's neck and said his usual words, in a warning, and very frightening tone of voice.

Yuugi didn't cry, because he was a very spunky kid, but he was very quiet and gentle with Bakura for the rest of the night.

But everything was set right the next night when Bakura said in a gruff voice, "Be gentle, but do not be afraid of me anymore."

Ryou and Yuugi adored Bakura, even though the bear was quite rude, and was usually cold. But he was gentle with them, and let them play with his body and fur and laugh and talk while laying on him. He said it made him wonderuflly warm, and they didn't feel very heavy at all. He said this was the only reason he let them do it.

As the winter slowly left, and gave way to spring, The bear came less and less.

One morning after he'd spent the night he looked at the children and said in his usual voice, "I will leave now, and won't come back till at least late Autumn if not at all."

Ryou and Yuugi became crestfallen, "But why, Bakura? Did we do something wrong? Did I hit you too hard and much when we cleaned your fur of snow?"

Bakura let out a deep chuckle. "No, I must look far and wide through the lands while the ground is soft. For men who sleep under ground during the winter come up when the ground is not frozen. I must protect my treasures against them. And many of my treasures are far, very far from here... except a couple of them." He then slowly began walking towards the door.

"Take care, Bakura. Your always welcoem hear." Yuugi said with a smile.

"Good bye, 'Kura..." Ryou said softly, his heart ache. He would miss the bear the most, because Bakura had been kind to him, and would ask him to read some times, and had loved the bears company the most.

The bear stopped before he was fully out of the door and said, "Take care, little Snow White, Rose Red. And make sur eto stay out of trouble." And with that, he quickly went out the door.

Ryou blinked in surpise.

For when Bakura's fur caught on the hinge of the door he saw a flash of gold. But before he could call out, Bakura had raced off into the woods already.

As spring days slowly became warmer, Ryou missed Bakura immensely. Yuugi did too, but he noticed Ryou did to such an extent, that if eh'd been a meaner boy, he would've teased Ryou by saying he was in love with the bear.

But Yuugi was not, and did not say such things.

Instead he tried to amuse his older brother with walks.

On one such day that they were walking, they heard someone swearing and cussing in words not fit to describe.

They quickly went to see what was wrong and gasped softly at the site they saw.

There was a man with tanned skin.

His back was turned to them he had gray, almost black, hair. And he had a ridiculously long beard, over 3 yards long.

The man was tugging at his beard, which was caught under a fallen tree. He did not notice the boys.

"E-excuse me?" Yuugi called timidly as he and Ryou came closer. The man turned towards them, glaring with one angry blue eye while the other had a golden replacement. "What do you want?! Come here to laugh at me haven't you!? you little brats!" Ryou resisted the urge to glare at the man, something about him didn't seem right.

"No, sir. What has happened to you? Maybe me and my brother can help." Ryou said in a calm tone of voice.

The man growled, "I am Aknadin! I am a earth man, I have just come up a few moments ago to get fire wood for my hearth below. But this horrid tree fell down, and I couldn't get my magnificent beard out of the way fast enough. And now LOOK at me!"

Yuugi swallowed, "Stay calm and I'll go find help." He said in a gentle tone, trying to calm the raging man down.

"No you little wussie! It's bad enough with you two here!" Aknadin said savagely.

This time Ryou did glare at the man. "Calm down. There's no point in getting upset." Ryou then walked over to the man and pulled out a pair of scissors he kept in his pocket, and slowly snipped the piece of the man's beard that was caught.

The moment the angry man was set free, he quickly ran over to a bag(Which Ryou noticed was filled with Sapphires) and ran off into the woods, cursing under his breath about having a piece of his wonderful beard.

Ryou shook his head and hugged Yuugi. "Let's go home, Red Rose."

The next few days, Ryou became a little less sad, but he still missed his dear friend terribly.

One day, their father asked the tow to head over to town to get some needles and some thread.

On their way to town, they heard someone cursing and screaming.

They ran to the river bank to see Aknadin, clawing at the ground as his body moved towards the water.

"Aknadin! What are you doing?!" Yuugi excliamed as he and Ryou came closer.

"Stupid brat! I was fishign when my magnificent beard got caught in the line. And before I even had a moment to untangle the line, the hook has gotten caught on a huge log which is trying to carry me away! HELP ME YOU LITTLE IDIOTS!!!"

Ryou and Yuugi quickly tried to get the fuming man's beard untangled. But there was nothing to be done that would get it out. Ryou sighed as he took out the scissors again and quickly snipped another, bigger, piece of the man's beard.

Aknadin growled and grabbed a bag of emeralds and ran off screaming a curse about his beard again.

Ryou and Yuugi shrugged, having grown use to the man's horrible manners and set off to do what they're father sent them to do in the village.

They did not see Aknadin for a very long time after that. And Ryou and Yuugi were glad of it.

Sooner then they realized, it was late summer. And Ryou became happier because he knew that in less then a few months, he might see his dear friend Bakura.

One day, the two were out in a field picking flowers to liven up the cottage when a scream could be heard near by.

Ryou and Yuugi raced through the field towards the screams until they saw Aknadin.

A huge bird(Such things as human size bird weren't uncommon in that country) had Aknadin by his clothes.

Aknadin was wearing a green vest and white shirt.

Yuugi and Ryou quickly ran over and gripped Aknadin's arms.

It was a match of tug-of-war for 5 to 10 minutes(With Yuugi and Ryou almost getting carried away while Aknadin) before the hawk finally gave up and dropped the man and flew off.

Aknadin turned tot eh boys with rage that made the other dirty looks seem to be looks of love came to his face.

"You little wretches! Look what you've done to me! Not only do you practically shave my beard off in our last two in counters, but you make me rip my beautiful green vest and my best shirt!"

He then gave Ryou a painful slap which sounded through out the meadow. Ryou fell to the ground. Yugi gasped and glared at Aknadin. "How dare you! We just saved your life for the third time! You have no right to hit Ryou like that!"

Yuugi yelped when Aknadin gave him a sharp and painful kick in the chest. "Bitches, I'll kill you!"

Aknadin advanced.

Yuugi and Ryou prepared to run.

They never did.

A loud roar of anger split through the air.

A flash of white.

Anger filled gray, purple tinted eyes.

A shriek of fear.

Ryou and Yuugi looked in front of them to see none other then Bakura, his front paws pinning Aknadin to the ground.

He snarled as Aknadin began pleading for his life. "Please! Please spare me Bear, I taste horrid!" Bakura sneered, "I'll take your word for it." He said coldly.

Aknadin glanced at the boys. "Oh, please! Don't kill me! Look, there are two young brats! Plump as little piglets! Eat them, they'll be much more satisfy!" Bakura snarled in rage at such a notion. "Die!"

Yuugi and Ryou turned and ran as a frightening scream rung through out the air.

Yuugi and Ryou slowed after a moment. A voice, gentler in tone, but still angry and gruff called "Snow, Red. Don't be afraid, it's only me. Wait there, I'll come with you." The boys did as Bakura asked and turned back.

They saw a crumpled body on the ground, and they saw Bakura slowly walking over to them.

But as he drew nearer, be began walking on two legs, and his gait was graceful, not lumbering like a bear's.

And as he came within 2 feet, his skin fell to the ground, and there stood one of the most handsome men Ryou had ever seen.

He wore gold and white, his hair was long and wild but still silvery white. He looked a lot like Ryou, but his face was angular, and his eyes were sharper and his eyes held a wild look.

Bakura and Ryou held eye contact for a full minute, neither able to say anything to the other.

Yuugi was the first to break the silence, "W... Who are you?"

The male smiled, though it looked more like a smirk, at the boy. "I'm Bakura. I'm a prince who was placed under a spell by Aknadin many years ago. I could only break the spell by killing him. But I could never find him." He smiled at Ryou. "He's been stealing my treasures for years. And I prayed he wouldn't take my most precious ones." Ryou nodded in under standing.

"Ryou, Yuugi. Come home with me, meet my brother and live with us at the castle." Ryou looked uncertain, "are you sure? I mean, what about papa?" Bakura shrugged. "He can come too, I'll even have those rose bushes he likes so much brought to the palace if he likes."

Yuugi smiled and watched as Ryou suddenly hugged Bakura, saying he'd gladly come live with him.

Bakura returned the hug slowly. Yuugi soon joined the hug.

Ryou, Yuugi and their father lived happily at Bakura's castle for the rest of they're lives. Yuugi married Atem, who was a friend of Bakura's. The Widower indeed have Bakura put his rose bushes in the castle gardens, just outside his window.

And there they lived happily ever after...