I hereby vow to make a one-shot of every shipping on the shipping-list (except GX characters). Not in any sort of particular order, category or by any given date. I will however do every one of them, if it takes me the rest of my life.
May the gods help me, I'm going to need it.

This it Nr. 2 = Sombershipping.

Enjoy

"Amane, what are you doing here?" he asked stunned. He was not sure whether he was happy to see her or if he wished it had never happened. It was blissful joy to see her there, but it was a joy that would come with a price. He knew that the moment she was gone and he realized it hadn't even been real would hurt more than the deception was worth.

"I came to see you", she said happily and smiled. "Aren't you glad to see me?" Her voice was hopeful, her eyes innocent and her smile sweet. Just like it should be for someone at her age.

Ryou sat up, pushing away the sheets. "Of course I'm glad to see you", he assured her and reached out with an arm, as if to hug her. Then he stopped, afraid that she would disappear if he touched her. After all, the appearance of his dead sister that had awoken him in the dead of the night could hardly be real. "But Amane, what are you doing here? Aren't you …" He couldn't finish.

"I know I'm not supposed to be here, but … I'm worried about you", she then stated, taking Ryou by surprise as her smile faltered a bit. She reached out a small hand and touched his forehead. Ryou gasped, she felt real, like someone out of flesh and blood. Her hand was pleasantly cool and Ryou vaguely noticed that his room was like a sauna, he should have opened a window before going to bed.

Amane's smile returned as she moved her hand to his hair. "Your hair is so long, Ryou, I wish my hair could get that long."

Tears sprung to Ryou's eyes. "I like your hair the way it is", he said as he looked at her. Her image was far more accurate than his mind could ever master, as if she was alive. Her hair almost reached her jaw and was a bit more cooperative than Ryou's. With a shaking hand he touched it and was surprised to notice he could actually feel it. He went through it with his fingers, knowing his sister had always liked it when someone played with her hair. "It suits you."

Then he pulled her towards his chest and hugged her tightly as his tears streamed down his cheeks silently. Something like this had never happened to him before. Such a painful happiness to hold his sister close to him once again after all those years. Quite some time had passed since the accident, but unlike claimed, time did not heal all wounds. "You shouldn't worry about me, you really shouldn't", he whispered when he felt her tiny arms around him.

"But you've been having nightmares", she replied silently, "your afraid."

It was true, Ryou was dead scared. Scared of the being residing inside him, the one that nearly had killed his friends and had without a second thought driven the tower of the playing field through Ryou's hand and had put the spikes of the Millennium Ring into his chest. Underneath his green pyjamas it was still stuck in his skin, making it impossible for Ryou to remove it without doing himself some serious damage.

"Amane, that is not something that should bother you. You should be where you are supposed to be and be happy. I'll join you when my time comes", Ryou said and pushed her away, afraid she'd feel the ring, but held one hand on her shoulder. He smiled at her, but the truth was that he might be joining her a bit faster than he had intended. After all, the spirit of the ring did not seem to care for Ryou's life very much. When he had served his purpose … Of course, these worries he would not share with his young sister.

Then she stubbornly crossed her arms. "Don't lie to me. I know a lot, I know about that", she said and pointed at his chest, indicating the ring stained with his blood. "I know about him", she added, her voice very low. "I know you're afraid of him and that you dream nightmares about the things he does. I read what you write, Ryou."

A jab of guilt made Ryou wince. He had always known that writing to Amane was a bad idea, but this was different. He had never intended for her to read them, he had just felt the need to share it with someone and had chosen his sister to feel closer to her, not to get her worried. "I'm sorry", he breathed.

Then Amane applied children's logic. "You should not say you're sorry, he should. He's the one hurting you, and you are nice, he shouldn't hurt nice people. He's mean!"

Mean … what an understatement. Ryou sighed, cried and smiled all at same time, trying to figure out the web of emotion clenching his chest. It was a change from the throbbing of his skin after the unfriendly penetration, though he would hardly call it a pleasant one. Then he noticed that Amane was also crying. "He should at least let you sleep", she sobbed.

Ryou couldn't stop a new wave of tears and hugged his sister close again. He rocked her gently, doing his best to cry silently. "Don't cry, Amane, don't cry. I want to see you happy", he pleaded.

"How can I be happy when someone is hurting my brother?" she asked, still sobbing. "I want to see you happy. You're my big brother, you always looked out for me, now I want to look out for you. I'm not afraid."

Ryou laughed through his tears. "Aren't you?"

He felt her shake her head. "No. But you are. I'll keep him away tonight so you can sleep."

"How would you do that, Amane?" he asked and looked at her. He hated the thought, he knew that since Amane was deceased nothing could actually hurt her. Yet the though of letting his fragile little sister face off with the someone as ruthless as the evil being inside him made him shiver.

"Just because I'm here he'll keep away. Tonight I'll be your guardian angel", she said and smiled up at him.

Ryou was too tired to argue. "Okay", he said, doing his best to get the image of Amane being harmed by his possessor out of his head. He laid down and pulled the sheets back up, wincing at the movement due to the ring partly under his skin. Then Amane started to sing a song their mother used to sing for them and Ryou smiled as he hummed along. He never heard the end of it as he fell asleep, his humming dying away slowly.

When he woke up that morning his bedside was empty and the events of last night were little else than a dream. Though then he noticed the open window, it had been closed when he went to bed. Someone must have opened it and it hadn't been him. Curling himself up to a ball he cried some more, thinking about the events of the night, trying to figure out if it all had been just a dream.

When the tears had dried on his cheeks and the sun was shining in his eyes he had only come to a single conclusion, regardless of if it happened or not, for once he had had a decent nights sleep. He stood up and walked over to the window. "Thank you, Amane", he whispered and closed the window.

Well, I hope you liked this little piece, a product of my own insomnia. Be kind and leave a review.