They arrived back in town at almost ten o'clock. After thanking their drivers, Ryou, Yugi and Yami called for a tow truck to bring back their car. It was nearly half-past twelve when the vehicle was finally taken to a proper mechanic for repairs.

They lingered outside the workshop, Yugi and Yami standing together, hands entwined, Ryou a few feet away, looking anywhere but at them. He had never felt like such a third wheel.

"There isn't much to do now except wait," Ryou murmured after a minute of silence. "When the car is fixed we can keep going."

And then what? he wanted to ask. These guys are insane; there's no way they'll just give up. We would have to go somewhere they couldn't follow. Ryou sighed. Two weeks ago, he had been worried about rent.

Yami hadn't said much since he received the text. He had just been staring intensely into space, deep in thought.

Ryou knew him well enough to know that he didn't want to just wait around. He wanted to confront his former gang and finish everything. Ryou's eyes shadowed when he finished this thought. For what they did to Yugi.

Ryou was worried about Yami. There was still so much he didn't know about him, and yet…a cold feeling of dread washed over him every time he thought of him facing off against his rivals…

He said he wouldn't go tonight, Ryou assured himself. He wouldn't lie, especially not to Yugi. I don't care who he's staying for, just so long as he stays.

Yugi nodded in answer to Ryou's earlier statement. "We should go back to the motel and see if we can get a room again. We're sitting ducks out here."

Ryou didn't move. "You two can go; I'm going to stay here and see if I can fix the car."

Yami suddenly looked up. "No you're not; we're staying together."

We're staying together. Even now, these words had power over Ryou's frazzled heart. Stop thinking like that. That isn't what he meant. Ryou tried to stand taller. "It's not me they're after; why bother with me when you two are so close by? I need to stay here; the sooner we fix the car, the sooner we leave. And…" He gave a weary smile. "I don't think I could handle just sitting around and doing nothing. Don't worry," he threw in hastily. "There are lots of other people around here; I'll be fine. Besides, it would be better if I stayed with the car to make sure it doesn't get vandalised again. Somehow."

Yami looked like he was going to protest, but Yugi suddenly pulled at his arm, grabbing his attention. "Let him stay, Yami. I…need to talk to you about something, anyway."

"Then you can talk about it later. I'm not letting either of you out of my sight," Yami said firmly to his tiny lover.

Yugi looked determined. "Yami…please. It's important." He hesitated. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you about it properly. We haven't been alone together."

Ryou wished he wasn't there. He just wanted to dissappear.

Yami didn't look swayed at first, but upon Yugi's last statement, his face softened. Ryou looked away. It still hurt him to see Yami look at Yugi that way.

Yami's head suddenly snapped up to look at Ryou. "Listen very carefully, Ryou; you will call us when you're finished, and at five o'clock, we're taking you back to the motel whether you're finished or not."

Ryou nodded, relieved. "Thank you, Yami."

Yugi looked impatient. Waving a brief goodbye to Ryou, he clung to Yami's hand and headed in the direction of the motel. Ryou turned away before he had a chance to see Yami's arm curl around Yugi's waist.

This was going to be the first proper time they were truly alone together since just after Yami had rescued Yugi, the previous day. And even then, they must have been zooming away in Yugi's car, trying to get away. Far too in the moment to properly appreciate each other's company. Really, this was the first time they were alone together in months.

Ryou closed his eyes, wiping away a tear. It shouldn't matter to him what Yugi wanted to 'talk' about. But it did.

"I'm sorry, Yami," he cried quietly, resting his forhead against the brick wall. "I'm sorry for caring. I'm sorry for getting in the way. I'm sorry I fell in love with you. I'm sorry for everything."

He opened his eyes again. He was here to fix the car, not to think about…

Ryou made for the door of the mechanic. He badly needed something else to think about.

The fact that the car had been serviced over a week ago meant that there was little to do. Replacing the pipes and the cooling fluid would be a relatively simple matter, as long as they were able to pay for the spare parts.

At first, the mechanic was reluctant to let Ryou touch anything. This amused Ryou; the mechanic at home was so used to him wandering in at random intervals and fiddling about with the engines that he barely even noticed it now. However, after Ryou indicated to this one, perfectly, each part of the engine and their functions, as well as reaching under anotehr one of the vehicles there to be repaired, attatching a loose cord and fixing a problem the mechanic had been trying to solve for several hours, he was grateful for the extra set of hands.

The cooling system was not difficult for Ryou to fix once he had all of the necessary tools and parts. He even found a clean strip of old cloth to use as a headband while he worked. By the time he sat back to admire a job well done, it was only two o'clock.

Ryou was grateful to be away from Yami and Yugi. It was hard enough to be around Yami alone; Yugi's presence was almost stifling. Ryou regretted finishing early; if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to go back. They deserved some time alone, after all.

Ryou stayed in the garage for the next few hours, assisting in the repairs of the other cars. Anything to keep his mind occupied. A few times, his thoughts strayed back to Yami, only to be silenced immediately.

Sighing, Ryou scrawled into a chair beside the work shop, utterly exhausted. He pulled the cloth from his head, imagining a ring of pure white hair where the headband had been, amidst a head of sticky, oily black.

He saved Yami and Yugi the trouble of coming to find him by getting in the car and driving it back to the motel at half past four. Practically dead on his feet, he trudged over to the door and knocked, his eyes half closed.

Yugi answered the door. Peering past him, Ryou saw Yami sitting stiff and cross-legged on one of the beds, facing the wall. He made no move when Ryou entered.

It was difficult for Ryou to read the expression on Yugi's face; it was a mixture of many emotions. There was a look of elation and joy, overshadowed slightly by sadness and self-pity. Above it all, however, was unparalleled relief.

None of this mattered to Ryou; he was still intent on Yami. "What happened?" he whispered, looking at Yami's tense figure.

Yugi gave a knowing smile. "Nothing."

Ryou looked at him, confused. Just what had happened while he was in the garage?

He decided almost instantly that he didn't wish to know the answer to this. Feeling awkward, he closed the door behind him. He had no idea what to say; what was there to say? "We fixed the cooling system," Ryou went on, louder so that Yami could hear him. "The car should be fine now."

"I can't thank you enough, Ryou," Yugi said with surprising sincerity.

Ryou wished that he would just stop talking. He just wanted to be back in the garage, thinking about something other than Yami. Yami…

Ryou shook his head to clear it. "Y- you're welcome, Yugi. I, um, I have to go and freshen up," he said hastily, holding up his hands to show all the engine oil on him. Hurriedly, Ryou made his way into the bathroom, grateful to be able to escape them.

As soon as the door was closed, Ryou sank to the floor, unable to hold his tears in any longer. It just wasn't fair! His whole body trembling, Ryou curled himself into a tiny ball, burying his face in his knees. He hadn't meant to fall in love. He hadn't meant to be here. All he had ever wanted was to pay less rent. Was that so much to ask?

This shouldn't have happened. He was supposed to put an ad in the weekend paper. There was supposed to be a lot of phone calls back and forth between various individuals. He was supposed to settle with the best of a bad bunch and put up with the smell of cigarette smoke and loud music for the rest of his life, like everyone else who had a room mate. Yami was never supposed to come into his life.

Teary-eyed, Ryou looked up again and stared at the opposite wall. But, no matter how much it shouldn't have happened, it had. And Ryou wouldn't have stopped it from happening for all the flavoured milk in the world.

It was eight o'clock.

After deciding to wait until morning to leave, nobody had said much since Ryou got back with the car. Yami was still staring at the wall, practically motionless. He had lain down on his side, his wild fan of hair pressed partially under the weight of his head. Ryou still had no idea what could have induced him to be so…antisocial.

There were a few cans of food that Yami had taken with them. Ryou and Yugi were sitting across from one another at the table, eating these cold out of the tin. Still, nobody dared break the icy silence. Ryou was tense; he couldn't even taste the food he was eating, despite being so hungry that his share was gone within minutes.

His usual routine of getting ready for bed seemed so unnatural here; brushing his teeth, combing his hair...if he was honest with himself, he knew that neither Yugi nor Yami even noticed, but he still felt a prickly feeling on the back of his neck as though they were watching him.

The brief minute when Yugi went to brush his teeth was the tensest Ryou had ever experienced. It passed uneventfully, until Yami suddenly rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

Ryou wished he would say something. He wanted to hear Yami's voice. He was too absent, sitting quietly in his corner.

Ryou twiddled his fingers. It had never bothered him until now; after all, wasn't he used to seeing Yami sitting quietly in a corner, scouring the internet for any kind of clue as to Yugi's whereabouts in his relentless search for his captors?

Finally, he found the courage to stand up. "I'm going to bed."

Yami turned his head slightly and looked at him, his expression unreadable. "...Goodnight, Ryou."

"Goodnight..." Ryou hesitated. "Yami?"

Yami lifted his head. "What is it, Ryou?"

Suddenly, Ryou wished he hadn't spoken. "Will you still be here in the morning?" he asked abruptly.

Yami seemed surprised. Then he simply resumed looking at the ceiling. "'Course I will..." He looked like he was going to say more, but he held his tongue. He closed his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Unsure what else to say, Ryou just dipped his head and dissappeared into the motel's separate bedroom; the one he had woken up in only that morning.

He was grateful that their voices didn't carry. Whatever Yami and Yugi were talking about in the next room, Ryou was spared from hearing it. He lay in his bed, staring into the black nothingness.

"I love you, Yami," he whispered.

No answer came from the darkness.

Ryou gave a soft chuckle. "What am I talking about? It's pointless. I just...wanted to say it out loud."

When no answer continued to come, Ryou kept on whispering into the emptiness. "At first, I was sad that you already had Yugi, but now I'm not." He closed his eyes as though that made some kind of difference. "I don't care about that at all. All I want is for..." He trailed off. "For you to be happy, and...for you to not die. Those people out there; they want to kill you. They've been waiting to get back at you for so long that everything has escalated way out of proportion in their head. Nothing else matters to them now."

He reached over the side of the bed and felt around in the darkness until his hand found his bag. Unzipping it, he pulled out his blue Snuggie and cuddled it to himself like some kind of makeshift teddy bear. "So whatever else happens, please, please, please stay away from them tonight. Do it for Yugi, I don't care. Just stay...I'm begging you, Yami."

Still holding his blanket – the one familiar thing in this alien place – Ryou finally managed to drift into a troubled sleep.

Ryou didn't know how long he slept for.

He didn't feel tired at all when he jerked himself awake, although that was to be expected; he hadn't been sleeping heavily. The room was still dark; no light crawled into the room to light it dimly from under the curtains. Whatever time it may have been, it was night.

Ryou sighed. He had been a fool for thinking he would have been able to sleep with so much on his mind. Yami, Yugi, the gang...himself.

If he had been at home, he would have plodded into the kitchen for a glass of milk and some T.V. to take his mind off things. Here, it was obviously not an option.

Still, he couldn't envision sleeping, the way he felt now. He pushed back his blankets and crept silently out of the room.

The motel room consisted of a small kitchen and table connected to a double

bedroom, in which Yami and Yugi slept. From this, two separate doors led to the bathroom and Ryou's smaller room.

Ryou's door opened into the kitchen and he quietly made his way to the table, sitting down. He rested his head on the surface, staring through the nearby window's curtain at the silhouette of the moon.

There was so much about the world that he had never known until he met Yami. And now, all he knew was how much he didn't know. It was a harsh reality.

Suddenly, he became aware that he was not the only person awake in the room. Ryou gulped, looking over at the source of the stir. It was too dark to see much, but he thought he could make out somebody sitting with his back against the wall, beside the bed in the adjoining room.

For a second, the wild spiky hair brought Ryou to the conclusion that it was Yami. Then suddenly the person turned his head towards Ryou, and through the darkness, he recognised Yugi.

"You're awake?"

Yugi hadn't bothered lowering his voice, and the sudden noise made Ryou jump slightly. Without waiting for an answer, Yugi jumped to his feet and hit the light switch.

The sudden brightness had the same effect on Ryou as it had had that morning. He closed his eyes, trying to block it out. What was Yugi doing? Wasn't Yami still sleeping? "Ugh…what?"

Carefully, Ryou's eyes flitted open. Confused, he looked about the room.

Yugi was standing several feet away, beside the light switch. "I guess so."

Ryou was confused. Why was Yugi being so noisy and-

The realisation hit him a second later. His heart going into overdrive, Ryou's eyes fell upon the bed.

Yami was gone.

Suddenly, Ryou wasn't standing in a motel room. Ryou wasn't standing anywhere; he was spinning out of control in a whirlpool of dizziness. Yami…was gone. He had left. But he had promised not to go! Yami was gone. Yami was in danger. He was going to die. No! No!

"Where is Yami?" Ryou gasped. "What happened?"

Yugi didn't move. "He left."

"I can see that!" Ryou didn't know how it happened; suddenly he was holding Yugi by the shoulders and shaking him. "Where did he go? How? When? Tell me!"

Yugi didn't even flinch. "He left hours ago."

"And you just let him leave?" Ryou literally wailed.

"He made me promise not to-"

"He's going to die!" Ryou yelled feverishly. "How could you just be standing here?"

"Because I gave him my word that I wouldn't follow him!" Yugi shot back with equal force.

"To hell with your word!" Ryou screeched. "We're human beings! How could you have let him go?"

"I-"

Ryou wasn't listening. He had flown into immediate panic. "Do you know where he went?" He didn't recognise his own voice. The inhuman cry that sprang from his lips couldn't possibly have been his own.

"No. He didn't tell me and the text said-"

"I know what the text said!" Trying to think rationally, Ryou released Yugi. "It doesn't matter; I'm going to find him."

And then, without waiting for another word, Ryou was sprinting out the door, still barefoot and wearing his purple polka-dot pyjamas.

Yugi watched him go with a look of undisguised sadness. Then a soft smile crossed him face. He sighed.

Ryou didn't need to second guess what Yami had been thinking. He wanted to settle it, to avenge Yugi and to make it so that neither of them would have to spend their lives looking over their shoulders.

It had never been his intention to stay behind. He had known that Ryou wouldn't have let him go. So he had lied.

Yugi must have seen him leave and tried to stop him, only for Yami to somehow convince him not to. Ryou couldn't believe it; Yugi was supposed to be in love with Yami! How could he have been willing to let him die – for anything? He knew as well as Ryou did the cost of Yami's leaving, of his 'settling'.

He left hours ago. That was what Yugi had said. Ryou gulped as he ran from the motel. For all he knew, he was too late.

In a frazzled panic, Ryou stopped running. He had absolutely no idea where Yami had gone, and he didn't even have the car.

You know the place. Where could Yami have gone where he 'knew the place'? It sounded like somewhere significant to the gang while Yami had still been a member. But where? Some kind of back street alleyway? Ryou had absolutely no idea how those people thought. Not to mention the fact that they were in a small road town with no major connections to anything.

Did that mean that there was some kind of generic place where any 'gangster' would think to go? Ryou hit himself in the forehead. "Think! If I were a gangster, where would I go?"

What did gangs even do? Yami had said that his did…causing trouble. Graffiti and shoplifting. Stuff like that. Where would be a good base camp for that kind of gang?

Somewhere rarely visited by the public and authorities, but large and open enough for several people to exist without being cramped. That especially made sense; if Yami's gang was planning…some kind of showdown, they would need somewhere open and private.

Ryou gulped, wishing he could think more rationally. "Hurry up! Think!" he wailed.

Somewhere open and private. Something that would be present in nearly all cities and towns. Something like…

A graveyard.

It was as good a guess as any, and Ryou didn't have time to think of anything else. He was off again. He literally slammed into the glass door of the motel reception but was too preoccupied to even notice the pain in his nose. Grateful that it was open 24 hours, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, startling the receptionist. A bell tinkled above the door.

"I need a map!" he panted. "Right now. Where is the town graveyard?"

She looked puzzled. "The graveyard? Sure, it's here…" She pulled out a folded map and circled a large grey area. "Here. And we're here…" She indicated the motel.

Ryou didn't wait around. He snatched the map from her. "Thank you!" he called over his shoulder, running for the door.

All he could do now was run by the light of the street lamps. Run, hope and pray. What could he possibly do? Even if Yami was still alive…

He shook his head. It didn't matter; all that mattered now was finding Yami.

Because I love him? he wondered. Did he want to tell Yami how he felt before he died?

Even that was still irrelevant. Ryou kept running, ignoring the growing, splitting pain in his rib.

He was getting closer. He passed a road sign pointing to a cemetery. Please, let this be the place.

A strange calm fell upon Ryou as he ran through the night. Whatever happened now was going to happen; if he found Yami – the only person Ryou Bakura had ever really loved – dead, and the rest of the gang were still there, they would need the devil himself on their side to run fast enough to escape Ryou's wrath. If Yami was still alive, then Ryou would be there with him and they would die together. If Yami wasn't there…then he was too late.

And then, out of the darkness, Ryou recognised Yugi's car.

Ryou ground to a halt. He was right; this was the place.

Suddenly, Ryou was afraid. He was terrified. What was he going to see? Hesitantly, he kept going at a slower pace.

The gate leading into the cemetery was now within sight. Ryou slowed to a walk. He didn't want to; time was just too precious. But he couldn't make his legs move faster.

"Y- Yami?" he called, his throat dry.

"Ryou…"

Ryou froze.

Standing under one of the street lamps against the fence surrounding the cemetery, was Yami.

He looked a mess; blood dripped down one of his bare arms from a deep gash just below his shoulder, a fresh bruise darkened one side of his face, his hair was filthy as though he had been thrown into the mud and blood was pooling under his left foot where a rip in his pants showed a knife had been sliced at his calf.

"They won't bother us again."

Ryou's lip trembled. "Yami…you're alive."

The shadows across Yami's face cast by the lamp would have made anybody else look terrifying. If it did Yami, Ryou either didn't notice or didn't care. He didn't wait. He ran forward and threw his arms around Yami, sobbing into his chest. "I thought you'd died," he cried.

Yami returned Ryou's embrace. "Shh," he whispered softly into Ryou's ear. "Never."

Ryou lost his perception of time. He knew that they must have stayed like that for a long time, Ryou crying and Yami gently hushing him. But however long it had been, it could never be long enough.

Eventually, Ryou managed to hold in his tears long enough to speak. "I- um…I…" He tried to pull away. "Sorry."

Yami didn't let him go; he tightened his grip around Ryou.

Ryou couldn't breathe; he had suddenly forgotten how to.

"You don't need to be sorry," Yami whispered. "I'm the one who should be sorry."

Ryou acted out of instinct. "N- no you don't! It's not your fault that-"

Yami pressed a finger gently against Ryou's lips, silencing him. Ryou didn't try to speak again.

Yami was looking at Ryou square in the eyes. Ryou couldn't have looked away if he had wanted to.

"Ryou." He hesitated before going on. "While you were fixing the car, Yugi and I had a talk. And he understands."

Ryou blinked. "Yami, I know that you did this to protect Yugi, but I just wanted to say that-"

Yami silenced him again. "Ryou…oh, Ryou." His hand crept up and cupped one of Ryou's cheeks. "I was trying to protect you."

Ryou's heart was going haywire. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't even think.

Yami kept talking. "You have to understand…I am a man of my word, and if…if I make a promise to somebody, I have to keep that promise, no matter how much it hurts me."

Yami looked away. "When I first met Yugi, I made a promise to him…that I would stay with him no matter what." He closed his eyes, sighing. "And I meant it, too. But then…"

He looked at Ryou again. "But then I met you. And…everything changed for me. I can't explain it." He gave a dry laugh. "When my phone rang, I thought it was Yugi…of course I did. And when I answered it and heard your voice for the first time, I hated you for not being him. But then, I met you in person." He closed his eyes briefly and opened them again. "I told you once, didn't I? When I met Yugi I felt like I wanted to stay with him in that general store forever. But Ryou...when I met you, when you sat there at that table and drank a glass of milk through a strawberry flavoured straw, all I wanted to do was run. Run, and see the world, and go everywhere...with you right there beside me."

A single tear rolled down Ryou's cheek. It didn't make sense; how could he possibly be crying?

Yami stared ahead for a moment, considering his next words. "Yugi was still missing...and I still loved him – no matter what else happened, there would always be a place for him in my heart. I knew I was never going to stop searching for him until I found him, but until you came along, I had never had hesitations about what would happen when I did. I just...I don't know."

Ryou tried to speak. He really did. But somehow, his vocal cords had abandoned him with nothing more than a 'back in ten minutes' sign.

The arm around Ryou's waist tightened. "Those next two weeks...I hardly ever saw you, I'll be the first to admit. When I look back on it now, I realise I was trying to distract myself. It had stopped being about finding Yugi; it was all about stopping myself from falling in love with you."

He tore his gaze from Ryou and stared past him. "And it...failed." He laughed. "Miserably."

He sighed. "I don't know how I managed to...control it as long as I did. But when you were on that couch doubled over in pain..." His other hand wrapped around Ryou's waist as well. "I wanted to hold you forever. Stopping myself was just too much." He sighed again.

"You said that I reminded you of Yugi," Ryou mumbled. He wanted to bit his tongue off; was that really all he could think of to say?

Yami laughed. "Ryou...Yugi has spiky hair, he likes chocolate, he can't stand sport, he spends his free time playing games, he doesn't know the first thing about cars and his favourite books are science fiction. I could go on." Yami grasped both of Ryou's hands and held them, staring into his warm brown eyes. "It was your name I said that time, wasn't it? You're nothing like Yugi."

Ryou sniffled, more tears escaping his eyes. "Yami, I-"

"Let me finish, Ryou," Yami said hastily. "Listen to me. Hear me out." He waited for a second and went on. "Yugi's call brought me back to reality; I had already promised never to leave him, and I still had to find him. And then, miraculously, I did.

"I could have moved on. I really could...somehow. If I had never seen you again, I could have stayed with Yugi knowing that you were safe from...my life. But then I found out that you were still in danger." His jaw tightened. "I wish I could forget how I felt when I realised that. It was...the most hideous feeling I had ever experienced in my life. And when I burst into the apartment after you..." A look of amusement crossed his face. "There you were, stumbling in a daze across the living room. There was a man standing ten feet away pointing a tranq gun at you and you didn't even see him."

Ryou blushed.

"It wasn't funny at the time. And when I saw you get shot-" His breath caught. "I didn't know what he had shot you with. I thought..." He didn't finish.

"When I saw that you were still breathing, I almost fainted with relief. I really did. But even though he had gone, I knew I couldn't have left you there. You weren't safe." He chuckled. "At least, that's the excuse I used on myself to be able to take you with me."

"Yami..."

"And then I had both you and Yugi together. That was...awkward, to say the least. I couldn't bear it. I had never felt so torn in half; I was bound by my promise, and I wanted to be with you.

"I thought that it would be easier to forget you if you thought I didn't care. I lied to you about why I kissed you. I told you I would have chosen Yugi. Anything, just to make it easier for me to forget you.

"Of course, Yugi was there. You don't know Yugi, Ryou...he sees everything. It's what makes him so good at games. And he saw right through me; he knew how I felt as soon as he saw my carrying you to the car."

Yami closed his eyes. "I couldn't have hurt him by breaking the promise I made; it wasn't my promise to break. It was his. But to Yugi, the fact that I would have kept it was enough for him. So when you went off to fix the car this afternoon, he finally got to talk to me properly."

One of Yami's hands started combing through Ryou's hair. "He told me that he didn't want to hold me back from happiness. He..." Yami smiled. "Released me from my vow, so to speak. He said that...you could make me happier more than he ever could and he and I both knew it."

Yami gulped. "So then there was only one thing left to do, and that was to face the gang. And now I've done that...I'm free."

Of all the words in his vocabulary, Ryou could find none to say aloud.

"I think that's everything," Yami said quietly.

"Everything?" Ryou whispered.

"No. There's more," Yami said suddenly.

Ryou blinked. "What?"

"Ryou Bakura, I love you." Without hesitating, Yami cupped Ryou's face in both hands and kissed him.

It was as though a bold of electricity had seared through Ryou's nerves, paralysing him for a second and shocking him to his very core. Then it released its hold on Ryou, and he closed his eyes, returning Yami's kiss with all the passion and love that had built up in his heart since Yami had first stepped through his door. "I love you too, Yami."

SCREW THE WORD, I AM HUMAN~!

That's all I was thinking when Ryou was yelling at Yugi. Oh god, I wanted to put that sooo badly ;D

I used Wiki Answers to find out where gangs hang out. A graveyard seemed as good a place as any.

Plot holes~! It was the gang who trashed Ryou and Yami's apartment, in case you didn't guess :D I realise that it is heave implied that Yami actually kills the gang members in this chapter O.o that wasn't really my intention, but I'll leave that one open so you can decide on what happened ;D He might have killed them or beat them senseless or whatever :/ (That is IA speech for 'I hadn't actually decided and couldn't be bothered thinking it over') And, I know how much it looked like Yami was going to have been secretly listening in on Ryou talking to himself in bed, but...he wasn't XD I just threw that in to make you guys want to hug Ryou~! Basically it was filler- erm...it was me trying to lengthen this final chapter and make it more worthwhile. Yes. Um...I can't think of the rest of the plot holes. Please ask me if I've missed one!

Okay, with that out of the way, let me say this with all the sincerity I can muster:

I. Love. You.

I would like to thank all of you for reading this story to its very conclusion I really, really, really hope you liked reading it as much as I did writing it~! This is my first completed multi chapter story, too ^^

Can I say a very special thank you to everybody who reviewed so diligently: RiverTear980, MewMewRadish, AnzuFan, Aquabless, Coolaloo, Calm Envy and Saffire Blade, to name a few ~.~ And a special thanks so everybody who alert listed and favourited this story as well – I won't list you here, but I know who you all are *whimper of happiness* If I had a soul, I'd give it to you. I could seriously marry all you guys because I love you so much. But, you know, monogamy, not to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure most of you are girls. Maybe next time XD

I had a lot of fun writing this story~! I am SO sad it's finally over :'( But~! Never fear :D for those of you who want more of YamixRyou, I'm planning to do a little drabble series for them ^^ Kind of like a plotless sequel~! I've written a few drabbles already, but I won't be publishing them for a while~ It'll appear on my profile eventually, so if you're interested, please read it when it comes out *glomp*

I'd love to hear what you thought about the end of the story~ leave a review and let me know~! Thank yooooou *huggles* If you do, I shall give you any Yu-Gi-Oh character you want to be your personal slave. Just don't pick Mokuba; he's mine.

Mokuba: But I'm twelve years old!

Me: Silence when you speak to me~!

Mokuba: ...You're kind of creepy.

Me: Yes. Yes, I am.

Anyway~ I really can't thank you enough, so I'll let my parting comment be one of my favourite words of all time, appropriate for quite literally all circumstances and situations:

Huzzah~!

~IA

P.S. I love you ;D