Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Ryou Bakura: Time Master! ❯ No, really, she doesn't need the help! ( Chapter 1 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Takahashi does, and he wants to know why Ryou is 19, and not 16. When I told him the truth, he exploded. Oops.

 

It was a brisk, cold, rather boring September morning as Ryou Bakura sat on his porch, drinking a can of soda and simply staring into nothingness. Three and a half months had passed since his marriage, and though he was happy to have Sami by her said, she had kept her promise of finding herself out. She had spent most of the summer indoors, and her 21st birthday passed in complete silence, so much that Ryou sometimes forgot that she even turned 21. What made it worse was that Yaten now insisted that she head off to college, something neither she nor Ryou wanted her to do. When she raised the argument, Yaten had become almost threatening, and Sami shut herself in further. Ryou was in no position to argue, either.

 

“At least I have a little while before I need to drag her out to shop,” Ryou commented, at first to no one in particular, “But she really doesn't want to go.” Then, a rustling to his left showed that he wasn't alone. Bakura happened to be peeking into a bird's nest, and he snorted, turning to Ryou.

 

“I'd have thought you'd be in complete ecstasy over her going to college with you,” Bakura stated, amused, “You're not becoming bored with her already, are you?” He knocked the nest out accidentally as he stared at Ryou, who shook his head.

 

“Of course not! I'm just… worried,” Ryou replied slowly, “Bakura, she's shut herself in all summer. No one's seen her since after the wedding. I'm worried she's getting sick, or at least really bored.” Bakura glanced at him, and then snorted, that snort soon turning into an all-out laughing fit. Ryou glared at him and demanded, “What is so funny?”

 

“I doubt she's bored when you're with her,” Bakura stated, and Ryou's face flushed with the notion, “I passed by and heard her laughing. I had to look in.” Ryou's expression was appalled now.

 

“You… YOU SPIED ON US!?” Ryou yelled, standing up, “How DARE you! That is illegal! I could have you arrested! I should…”

 

“Don't tell me you're going to tell her,” Bakura mumbled, rolling his eyes, “She doesn't need to know, does she?” Ryou growled and punched Bakura right in the face, though the spirit simply reeled a little.

 

“Oh, I won't tell her,” Ryou said grimly, “I'll kill you before she's done.” He went to punch Bakura again, but the spirit backed away, raising a confused eyebrow at Ryou's statement.

 

“Done…?” Bakura inquired, “Is she still working on that!?” Ryou nodded, and explained what Sami had told him yesterday, which was actually a breakthrough considering how unlucky she had been all summer. Bakura listened with wonder.

 

“Everything the Goddess said was true,” Ryou finished, “Sami looked through the Winchester line, and her parents have been dead for over three millennia. But what she can't figure out is that there are no records of her or Katt anywhere.” Bakura nodded, and looked away distantly.

 

“So that's why you said Malik would freak out,” Bakura mused, “For a minute, I was sure you two were…”

 

“WE WERE NOT!” Ryou cut him off, eye twitching again, “We NEVER have, Bakura. Chances are, we never will. Sami… really isn't into that. Not that I'd tell you if we did, anyway.” Bakura backed away again, as Ryou breathed heavily to calm himself as he said, “But… that's why Sami's been so silent. She's at this constantly.”

 

“Do you think Ishizu could help?” Bakura asked, but Ryou shook his head. He had already gone to her, and the result was anything but helpful.

 

“No,” Ryou said grimly, throwing his arms up, “She's tried, but Sami's life goes so far back, she can't make sense of any of it. I don't even want to know how old Sami actually is.” He sighed, and Bakura gently clapped his back. Ryou had every right to be frustrated.

 

“I'm sorry, Ryou,” Bakura said, though that was the only thing he felt he could say. Ryou sighed again, and smiled weakly, though he continued to look out over the sky.

 

“It's all right,” Ryou replied softly, “Besides, Sami is thoroughly sick of this. I have a feeling she may just give up soon.” He looked over at Bakura again, “Could you possibly go and check on her?”

 

“Why can't you?” Bakura asked. Ryou pointed down the road, but Bakura didn't see what he could've been pointing to until Ryou spoke.

 

“Malik is coming over with Yugi. He says he has something that might help Sami,” Ryou explained. Bakura sighed, but got up off of the steps anyway.

 

“All right, but if she insists on coming out, you're dealing with her,” Bakura stated, and then went inside of the house, leaving Ryou to wait for his friends in silence. He felt bad; he barely saw Sami, and yet there was no actual reason for him not to see her now. But Malik would take offense if he didn't answer the door right away, and as Ryou thought this, he saw Malik driving by, followed by the inevitable crash that followed. Yugi soon came scurrying onto the porch.

 

“Hey, Yugi,” Ryou said, chuckling when he saw how out of breath the boy was, “Is Malik close?” Yugi nodded, and pointed down the road as he wheezed to get air into his lungs.

 

“Over… there… too much… nitro,” Yugi wheezed, and Ryou chuckled again, “Sami… fine?”

 

“She should be all right,” Ryou replied calmly, trying to control his laughter, “She's probably studying, though.” Yugi nodded and practically collapsed on the stair as Malik came striding up, dragging a wagon that had a blanket over a very large machine. Ryou waved, glad to see his friend after three months.

 

“Hey, Ryou! Is Sami still doing research?” he asked, trying to drag his wagon over to the porch, “I have something that I think will help her!” Ryou blinked, looking at the blanket. He had a very bad feeling that whatever it was would either wreck his house or simply break down. He didn't trust Malik to build any sort of machine safely. He strained his eyes, hoping to sense what the object was, but nothing came to him, and he knew better than to ask Sami for help right then.

 

“Malik, I really don't think you should be helping her,” Ryou stated flatly, “She doesn't even really let me help her.” Malik didn't appear to have heard the last part as he grabbed the edge of the blanket and grinned.

 

“Ryou, she's going to love this,” Malik insisted, and Ryou sighed heavily, “ I give you… THIS!” With that, he ripped the blanket off, revealing a very old, cylindrical machine the color of bright red. It had buttons and lights all around it, with two large handles at each of its sides. Ryou thought it looked absolutely unsafe, especially since one of the handles was hanging.

 

“Malik, what is that?” Ryou asked him, raising a skeptical brow. Malik frowned, dismayed that Ryou didn't express absolute glee in the presence of his creation, and then his grin finally returned, deciding to use this as a marketing ploy.

 

“What is this? This, I give you, is the Ishtar Time Traveler 5000!” Malik said loudly, and Ryou knew he was attracting the attention of all of Ryou's neighbors, “With this, you can go everywhere! Anywhere!” Ryou simply looked at Yugi, who also seemed pretty embarrassed with the amount of noise Malik was making. Yugi got the confused look in Ryou's face, and laughed.

 

“He can't get anyone to market it, so he's practicing his advertisement speech too,” Yugi answered, and Ryou chuckled. That certainly didn't surprise him. He looked at the awful monstrosity again. Aside from the hanging handle, one of the buttons looked like it had been shoved it, and the compartment for the electrical circuits looked ready to burst open. He also noted his neighbors were starting to stare out their windows.

 

“Does it actually work?” he asked flatly. Malik stopped shouting praises and slogans for a moment, and Ryou realized he had definitely hit a blind spot as Malik hesitated to answer. Either it didn't, or he never actually tested it out.

 

“Uh…” Malik bit his lip, and then smiled again, “Why don't you try it out and tell me?” Ryou's eyes narrowed, and he glanced at Yugi, who shook his head but remained completely silent. Ryou had no intention of being Malik's test subject.

 

“I'm guessing it doesn't,” he said, “Well, if that's the case, forget it, Malik. I'm not going to test it; I won't leave Sami alone when she actually needs me.” Malik's eye twitched, and he saw that most of the neighbors who had actually left their houses to see the commotion now went back inside. He turned back to Ryou.

 

“You aren't even willing to try!?” Malik exclaimed, “I spent the past two months on it!” Neither Ryou nor Yugi actually believed this, by the state the machine was in.

 

“You're telling us you had nothing better to do?” Yugi asked, “What happened to heading back to Egypt for the summer?” Malik growled, and then roared as he kicked the wagon, causing the dangling handle to snap right off.

 

“I WOULD'VE BEEN IN CAIRO IF ISHTAR HADN'T BANISHED THE CAPTAIN!” Malik screamed, “Stupid idiot forgot his passport in our room, so when the captain of the flight booted him off the plane, he went all Exodia on the poor guy and just banished him! He had us ALL kicked off the flight!” Neither Ryou nor Yugi could contain themselves as they erupted into laughter, the thought of Ishizu's face after being denied a trip to her homeland was as priceless as seeing Ishtar dragged away by the airport authorities.

 

“I'm sorry, Malik,” Yugi replied, still snorting with laughter at how Ishizu must've reacted. Malik growled, and then turned away childishly.

 

“No you're not,” Malik replied bitterly, and then said, “Anyway, to squash my hatred for him, I decided to just build a machine that'd take me to Egypt without spending a billion dollars on air fare.” Ryou raised an amused brow, keeping a hand on his rib cage, which had begun to get sore from laughter. He truly did feel bad for Malik, but the whole scenario was priceless.

 

“…wait… if it's supposed to take you to Egypt, why on earth does it go through time?” Ryou asked, and this time, Malik was speechless. He had no true reason for that one, and laughing, he rubbed the back of his neck as he searched for an answer.

 

“I have no idea, actually,” Malik admitted, “I was just so angry that I put whatever I wanted onto it. I tested it on one of my pillows. I was going to send it up Ishtar's ass for making us stay home, but when he didn't scream in agony, I thought I might've sent it through time.” Ryou shook his head, and then eyed the keyboard that was probably used to set coordinates on the machine.

 

“And it didn't occur to you that maybe you sent it to the wrong place?” Ryou asked, and when Malik shook his head, he said, “Look, Malik, I'm grateful, but I can't test it. Not without talking to Sami about it.” Malik's lips thinned and he looked at the ground, and Yugi said the one thing Ryou wanted to avoid.

 

“Oh, what could possibly go wrong?” Yugi asked, smiling all the while. Ryou sighed, and tried to control the urge to strangle someone as he stood up. But his temper spilled over anyway.

 

“EVERYTHING!” Ryou screamed, shocking both boys, “Every time we do something like this, someone comes after us! I know it'll happen, but I just want a bit of peace before school starts! Sami needs to rest before we simply throw her into something! So, no, we are not trying it!” He was shaking violently, and both his friends backed away in fear that he might accidentally use magic on them.

 

“Sorry, Ryou,” Malik replied quickly, “We didn't mean it like that. We just wanted to help Sami.”

 

“We'll see you when school starts then?” Yugi added, just as terrified. Ryou sighed, and realized he was actually becoming crankier than Sami was. He shook his head.

 

“I'm sorry, guys,” he replied kindly, “I guess I'm just stressed out… we can try the machine out, but only after I talk to Sami about it, all right?” Malik nodded, and both he and Yugi picked up the wagon, bringing it onto the porch. Ryou urged them to keep quiet, wishing that Sami wouldn't come down the stairs and ask what was happening. The last thing he wanted was to upset her, but judging from the sheer noise Malik was making as he jammed his machine through the door, that would be all too possible to do.

 

“Malik, stop it!” Ryou hissed, “Sami's still working!” Unfortunately, Malik ignored him as he gave his machine a mighty last push. It soared through the front hall, taking a hefty chunk of the door frame off with it, and crashed into the mirror on the other side of the hall. Everyone ran in to see the damage; it was catastrophic. The crash from the large mirror caused the second handle of the machine to fly off, shattering a window in the living room and then ricocheting to hit a painting that fell over, smashing a vase to pieces as its pedestal fell over. And right in the center of the rubble was Malik.

 

“Ryou, I know it looks bad,” Malik began as Ryou advanced with a look of hatred, “But think of it this way: no one heard us!” Unfortunately, he was wrong about that, for Yaten Bakura was standing on the stairs, and Amane's spirit poked her head out of the ceiling to see what was wrong.

 

“Guess again,” came Ryou's father, Yaten, who was leaning idly against the railing, “What're you boys doing!? This is a house, not a football field.” Ryou's cheeks were splashed with streaks of blue as he glared at Malik. He wanted to throttle the boy now, but respect made him unable to do so.

 

“Sorry, dad. It won't happen again,” Ryou mumbled, glaring at Malik the whole time, who smiled nervously and nodded in agreement.

 

“Well, as long as you clean your mess up, son,” Yaten said, and walked down the stairs, “Anyway, I got a call from work, so I'm heading out to the museum in Prattlesburg. I expect you to be on your best for the week.” Ryou's eyes widened. School started in less than 5 days, if he was lucky.

 

“What!? A week!?” Ryou exclaimed, and then pointed frantically up the stairs, “But we have to help Sami get her supplies this week! You can't leave!” Yaten seemed to either fail to see the problem or just ignore it, as he reached in the closet for his safari vest and strapped it on.

 

“Yes I can. I own the car, remember?” Yaten said absentmindedly, “Besides, she didn't want to go anyway. And if she does, you guys can walk to the mall, can't you?” Ryou's eye twitched. That was one option he would never do, and to think his father would even suggest it made him want to slam his father with a bat. But he knew much better than to do so.

 

“Dad, that's over ten miles away! Not even Sami will walk that far,” Ryou told him sternly, “Can't you tell them you're sick and go next week?” Yaten considered that as he tied his unruly hair into a ponytail, and then shook his head as he grabbed his hat.

 

“Nope. That'd be lying, and that's a federal offense,” Yaten said, and hugged Ryou, “Anyway, I'll be back. So be good, and don't let Bakura eat all the food.” Ryou twitched as Yaten let go and walked out of the house, leaving him with not only his dead sister's spirit, but with a cranky wife, and two friends who would probably make the mess much larger than it had to be. He growled, and glared at Malik again.

 

“Good job, Malik,” Ryou said sarcastically, throwing the metal into the wagon, “Not only did you destroy my house, you made a huge mess. What do you have to say?” Malik bit his lip, and then snapped his fingers. There was one thing that could've made the mess worse.

 

“At least Sami didn't hear it!” he said brightly. But, like most good things, it was shot down instantly when Sami appeared on the top step, looking stern and worried. Bakura was right behind her, eyebrow raised in suspicion.

 

“Think again,” she said grimly, as they all turned up to see her, “I don't want to know how this happened. Just tell me why it happened.” Unfortunately, any answer she would've gotten wasn't received as Yugi and Malik stared at her. She looked unsightly! Her clothes looked washed, but she did not. Her hair wasn't as mild as usual, and its bandana wasn't tied in at all. Her skin looked pale, made paler by her black hair, and there were lines under her eyes, as though she hadn't slept in weeks. She also looked… quite a bit older from lack of sleep.

 

“Sami, what happened!?” Yugi asked her, “You look terrible!” Sami sighed, and then laughed as she sat on the stair.

 

“I know. I've been digging through this for quite some time now,” she replied calmly, “Everything the Goddess managed to say was true. And the more I uncover, the more I want to find.” Yugi nodded, but her sight still terrified him. He had never seen her look so exhausted before. Ryou simply nodded and hugged her as he said, “Good morning, dear.” Sami simply smiled and kissed him on the cheek, returning the greeting.

 

“Were you able to find a trace?” he asked her as he helped her into the living room. She sighed as she sat in a chair, and nodded slowly.

 

“Not much, but it's a start,” Sami replied, “I gave Rex a sample of my DNA, and he found one hit. A woman named Sith Winchester. But the problem is, she hasn't been seen in over 3,000 years. No one knew if she died or not. And her age… it's over 4,000. That would make me older than even Yami, and that is… pretty damn old.” Ryou snorted with laughter, as that was true, but Bakura was offended to the highest degree as he glared at Sami.

 

“What!? How could you say that!? I'm older than him!” Bakura shouted, but it only got a chuckle out of Sami, “Are you saying I'm old too!?”

 

“I assumed I didn't need to,” Sami replied mockingly. Bakura lost his temper at her tone, and stormed outside, yelling and threatening anything that dared to mock his age. Malik simply laughed at the entire scene, for Bakura definitely seemed to have gone off the deep end for that one. When his laughter finally died down, he looked to Sami.

 

“So, you're over 4,000?” he asked, “Damn, that's quite a leap. Katt told me you turned 21 this summer.”

 

“I know, but I can't begin to explain it,” Sami replied sadly, “It appears that whatever happened to Sith somehow created myself and my sister. But I don't know what that was…” Ryou smiled sympathetically, and hugged her tightly.

 

“Do you remember anything from 20 years ago?” he asked, though he already knew that answer. She had never recalled it in the past; he knew she wouldn't now. She shook her head.

 

“No,” she replied bitterly, “Nothing. I remember barely, my adoption. Even that is fading away. And, I don't know why that is, Ryou.” He sighed and laid his head on hers, patting her hair calmly.

 

“Maybe your old memories are waking up. The Goddess… did try to help you,” he whispered, “Did you ever hear from your adoptive family again?” Sami shook her head.

 

“No. Dariel wrote asking about the wedding, but I haven't heard anything since,” Sami replied, “We don't keep in touch very often. I know they feel bad now, but that doesn't change my childhood with them. Damn it, I wish I had never attempted any of this.” Ryou hugged her even tighter than before, trying to calm her down gently. Malik, however, took to seeing this as an opportunity, for he ran into the hall to retrieve his prized creation. Sami look up at Ryou and asked, “…where did he go?” When they heard a loud crash, Ryou simply flustered as sweat rolled down his pale face.

  

“Dear, you really don't want to know,” Ryou replied softly, just as Malik came back in, dragging a very-much destroyed machine. Sami's reaction was just little less than pure disgust at it as she noted everything that could cause a complete meltdown. It definitely looked ready to break down.

 

“…what is it?” she asked, getting out of her seat and looking at it carefully, “It looks like it's taken a beating. Malik, don't tell me you built this.” Malik laughed, and decided to ignore Sami's statement as he patted the machine, where another button fell off.

 

“It's a time machine!” Malik exclaimed proudly, “It'll take you back to when you severed fate! Now you can figure out who you truly are!” Sami blinked. She was grateful, but the machine looked incredibly unsafe.

 

“How does it work?” she asked him skeptically. Malik smiled, surprised that she was taking him seriously, and walked over to the keyboard, despite the fact that it was now missing five buttons.

 

“See this?” he asked her, and when she nodded, he continued, “You type where you want to head in here, and then you enter the compartment. Then poof! You're there!” Sami hummed, not sure she should be taking this seriously, but in all honesty, it intrigued her.

 

“Does it actually work?” she asked, and Malik paled considerably. Once again, the blind spot was hit, and Ryou smiled, absolutely sure he'd be rid of the machine now.

 

“Well… I haven't tested it out,” Malik replied. Sami suddenly frowned, narrowed her eyes, and then kicked the machine, which vanished from sight. Everyone's eyes widened, even Sami, for she simply thought she'd shatter it, not make it disappear.

 

“Where the hell did it go!?” Yugi exclaimed in shock.

 

“MY MACHINE!” Malik wailed, “My beautiful machine! It was going to make me richer than Kaiba! Sami, where did you send it!?” He turned to her frantically, and saw that she was twitching. He backed away, and Ryou saw it coming. That emotional discharge was happening again as her eyes took on a new look, one that was cold and annoyed rather than calm and controlled.

 

“Do I look like I give a crap?” she asked, “It was a death trap waiting to happen. As far as I'm concerned, we're better off with it gone.” Just as she said the last word, a blast of light blinded everyone in the room for a few seconds, and sent her falling to the floor, as she didn't defend herself in time. When it faded, everyone looked on, only to find that the machine was back, and in perfect condition as well.

 

“Sami, you might want to rephrase that,” Bakura said nervously, looking behind him again to make sure he had seen correctly. Sami blinked, dazed, and looked, only to scream in outrage. It was definitely back, as though nothing had happened. Malik simply hugged the machine as another part fell off.

 

“My beautiful creation! It's safe!” Malik exclaimed, and then looked at Sami, “Now can we try it?” Sami growled, and shook her head, much to Malik's dismay.

 

“Absolutely not,” she replied sternly, “That thing is unsafe, and I will not let you take anyone unless I know it won't kill them. It's only through good grace that I even allow that thing in this house!” Ryou looked at her, very surprised that she had said no, and that she wouldn't change her mind. And, even more to his surprise, he disagreed with her! He sighed.

 

“Sami, I might just go,” he replied, and when Sami stared at him, he said, “I know, dear, I know. But this may actually help you.” Sami frowned again, but she wasn't angry. She was… sad. Her eyes narrowed gently as she looked at the carpet.

 

“…you are quite serious,” she commented gently, “Ryou… I am not going with you.”

 

“What!? You're… you're not?” he asked her calmly, just as surprised, “Sami… what if this helps you?” Sami bit her lip, considering it. That was a good possibility, but she felt so exhausted. She finally decided on a negotiation.

 

“Then hear this: If you can prove that it is safe, I will join you,” she decided, “But for now, I need to rest. I can feel it coming again, another emotional break.” Ryou looked at her with worry, and then turned to Malik. He nodded, seeming to have come up with an idea himself to counter her conditions.

 

“What if we traveled back a bit and proved it was fine? Will that convince you?” he asked. Sami narrowed her eyes, but before she could actually give an answer, Malik was already at the keyboard, typing in coordinates. The chamber opened, and what Ryou could only think of as a very odd experience unfolded as they were sucked into the chamber, and given the feeling that they were being flung from a building. Soon, the feeling disappeared, but as they saw, they seemed to be in exactly the same room as before. But, as Ryou stared, he saw he was staring at… himself. Both of him looked equally as perplexed.

 

“Malik, where did you send us?” Yugi asked him slowly, as he stared at himself, who tilted his head with confusion. Malik grinned when his counterpart walked into the room.

 

“I sent us back five minutes it time!” Malik replied proudly, “That should prove it's safe… right?” Sami, or more, both of Sami, twitched, and both Ryous glared at him. Finally, though, Sami's calm snapped and she lunged, whichever one she was, at Malik, with both Ryou and Bakura trying to stop her.

 

“HAVE YOU NO MIND!?” she screamed, “Do you have any idea what you just did!? This isn't what I meant by `prove that it works!” Malik backed away, terrified that she'd break free and kill him, and Ryou had a feeling that whatever he did was a very bad thing. Only Bakura seemed unaware of what was going on.

 

“What did he do?” he asked, looking at Sami, who sighed and hung her head.

 

“By sending us so near to our own time, Malik has caused a chain of events where, if we don't move soon, there will be another set of us any second,” she replied, as the second her nodded, “And the chain will continue on and on in an infinite loop until something is done.” Ryou glanced at her, raising a confused brow as she spoke. A flash of light came, and soon, a third set of he and his friends were now standing in Ryou's slowly crowding living room.

 

“Sami, how do you know this?” he asked her, hoping it was actually his Sami.

 

“It's called the law of time, and the law of physics concerning time-travel,” she replied calmly, “Time's a very fragile thing, Ryou. Anything can discord and warp it. Malik did so because he didn't give time enough… well, time to modify itself to us not being here. So, the loop will continue on. By the way, set number four is here.” Ryou's eyes widened, and his left one twitched as, indeed, another set of himself and his friends wandered in.

 

“How do we fix this!?” he asked her frantically, fearing that set number five might explode the house. She laughed.

 

“Go back to the future and leave everything to me,” she replied sinisterly, which Ryou definitely wasn't sure he trusted. Malik looked at her.

 

“And what about you?” he asked as Bakura got Yugi and Ryou back into their machine. Sami hummed for a minute, and then looked up at Malik.

 

“Just go,” she said sternly, and practically pushed Malik into the machine as she set her own coordinates and pushed the button that would send them off. Ryou once again felt like he had been thrown off a building, but again, the feeling was short-lived as he found himself mercilessly spat out onto the carpet of his living room. And there was Sami, sitting patiently on the couch as she looked over and said, “I was beginning to worry. It didn't take me long to sort your mess out.” Ryou scrambled up, and though he was happy to see her, he raised a skeptical brow, wondering just what she had done to correct Malik's problem.

  

“What did you do?” he asked her nervously. She chuckled, and as he sat down next to her, she hugged him gently, and winked, causing even more suspicion in the boy.

 

“Relax,” she replied, as the others began to sit down as well, “Every new set that comes forth simply refreshed the loop, so in order to stop it, I had to destroy every set that came in your absence until the time was set right again.” Ryou's eyes narrowed. He didn't like that one bit.

 

“What did you do?” he asked again, and Sami sighed. Despite the fact that they were all fine, he wasn't going to let this go, and she finally caved.

 

“…I killed our clones,” she replied, and when Ryou glared angrily, she said, “Ryou, listen, they were not us. They were alternates of us. Whatever Malik did, he didn't just send us through time. He sent us to an alternate reality, bent and warped because of the fold he made with how little distance we had to travel. There was no harm… except that perhaps that alternate world might crumble without us, but it causes no detriment. It was simply a void of created space.” Ryou shook his head in complete disbelief. Despite the assurances Sami had given, the thought that she actually destroyed another world made him wonder whether he was helping the planet or walking it to an early grave. He decided, though, to let the matter slide as he asked his next question.

 

“Well, it works, so now will you come with us?” he asked her, but she quickly shook her head, making him want to moan and shout in frustration with her.

 

“I'm tired, Ryou,” she replied simply, “I'm not feeling well, and that little trip took too much of my power away. I need some rest… but perhaps there is still something you can do.” Ryou chuckled at her statement, none too surprised that she had yet another quest for him. He smiled.

 

“What is it, dear?” he asked her.

 

“Well, it's more of a… reconnaissance mission more than a trip,” she replied, “But, if I severed fate 3,000 years ago, it may be possible that it coincided with Bakura's time. Why don't you go back there, and see if I happen to be there?” Ryou hummed. He liked the idea, and it'd give him an opportunity to look into Bakura's life. He looked over at Malik and Yugi, both of whom nodded vigorously. Only Bakura seemed opposed to the idea.

 

“Do I have to!?” Bakura whined, “I'm not a babysitter!” Sami frowned, and stood up, looking up at him until her face was inches from his own. He smelled the familiar scent of herbs.

 

“Which is more appealing?” she asked him tartly, “Helping me out there, or watching me do nothing but read?” Bakura's eye twitched. He loved bothering her whenever she relaxed, but with her foul mood, he didn't risk it. He hugged Ryou, causing the smaller man to try to wiggle out of his grasp.

 

“I'd love to take them!” Bakura exclaimed, pushing everyone else into the machine. Ryou looked back at Sami nervously and said, “I love you, dear.” She smiled, and then added that she couldn't guarantee her emotional state when he came back, to which he found himself half-expecting as the door to the machine shut, and he was once again thrust through time. Sami hummed, and then picked up one of her books, opening it. That was, until she remembered one detail.

 

“…Bakura… never set in the coordinates he wanted… did he?” she asked herself, looking upwards, “…no. Nothing will happen. Ryou will be fine.” And yet, this nagging feeling didn't go away. She sighed, unable to read in peace now, and put her book down, heading toward the window. Her stress was rising, and she felt another break coming through. She wanted to control it, but there was nothing she could do, either about her breaks or about Ryou's current problem now. Sighing, she opened the window.

 

“Ryou… just come home.”

 

-----------------------------(End Chapter)

 

And so, the first chapter of a new adventure has ended! Finding Malik's machine to be… somewhat safe, Sami allowed Ryou to go into it, but when she realizes Bakura hadn't actually set the coordinates, you can bet she'll be one worried wife when Ryou returns. But, where exactly did he end up? Can he complete Sami's little mission? Will she even remember as her condition begins to set off? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!