Poke.

"Mmmph! Go 'way, I'm not getting up."

Poke. Poke poke.

"Piss off."

Poke poke. Po-

"Argh! I'm up already, so what the fuck are y- oh. Hey, Ryou."

Ryou smiled cheerfully.

"Morning, Bakura!"

"Uh... yeah. Morning."

Bakura was somewhat surprised, to say the least, at finding such an awake and aware Ryou in front of him – yet, there he was, just as he had looked when Bakura had first encountered him. His face was still pale but no longer a deathly white, and his eyes gleamed with liveliness once more.

"You... um, look a lot better. Frankly, you looked bloody awful last night."

Ryou nodded, smile fading slightly to be replaced by a puzzled look.

"Yeah, that's the rather odd thing. I felt so tired last night, and really weak also, but now... well, I don't know. I feel ready again, though to do what I wouldn't know. Move on, I guess."

"Hmm."

Bakura, with a practiced eye, ran his gaze up and down Ryou, checking for any sign of weakness or illness. Remarkably, Ryou looked none the worse for wear, other than extremely grubby. Ryou flushed a little under Bakura's gaze, and looked away.

"Sorry about everything", he whispered. "I didn't mean to make you-"

"Shut up, will you? Now let's go – you're obviously able to walk, and you look like shit, no offense. Time to get ourselves cleaned up."

Bakura stalked out, leaving Ryou to scramble after him.

"But where are we going? We're in the middle of a desert, we'll never find- ooohhh!"

Ryou's sentence was cut abruptly short as he caught sight of something previously hidden behind the rock face.

"Yes. An oasis. No illusion, I assure you. Even the Thief King must get himself clean some time."

"... Wow..."

Ryou's voice was awestruck – he had heard of such places, but never had he seen somewhere so tranquil in somewhere so seemingly desolate.

"Hardly anybody knows the existence of this. Its because its hidden by the caves, and they are believed to be cursed, so nobody comes here other than the most desperate. Or the most foolish."

"But... the legends..."

"Are my own doing, and the doing of those before me. The thieves protect their own with great fierceness... the caves we slept in last night? They are what you no doubt know as 'Kaalin Aquert.' – the caves of the Underworld. Long ago they were used as a burial ground for the dead warriors from battle."

"We slept with the dead?"

"No. The dead are far underground. We slept on the surface."

"And, the curse laid upon the ground...? That was really..."

"Either my doing, or others that have protected this place over the years. Why is it, do you think, that the legends sprung up in the first place? A forbidden oasis, where those who dare to drink simply disappear, never to be seen or heard of again? Those that discover this place must keep their silence, or the likes of me would have no safe haven. And those who cannot be trusted to keep silent..."

Ryou nodded, and Bakura saw he did not need to speak further.

"Now. Come, we will drink and wash."

Seeing Ryou's hesitation, he added impatiently, "there is no curse, I assure you. And the waters here are clean – no blood has been spilled into the pools, and there lies a separate one for drinking."

Ryou nodded again, walking slowly forward.

They reached the first pool, and drunk deeply, cupping their hands to hold the cool liquid. The rocks screened all from view behind them – Ryou could see how anyone just casually passing would never see the oasis unless they knew exactly where to go.

When they had drunk their full, Bakura turned, water still dripping from his chin, and grinned a wild, feral grin.

"Now we wash... so, clothes off, for they will need to be cleansed also."

"W-what?"

Bakura grinned further as Ryou flushed a deep scarlet.

"U-um... are you sure... I mean, I'm pretty sure I would be okay with waiting a couple of days until- uh... Bakura?"

But the thief was no longer listening, and had stripped completely in the blink of an eye, running with a war cry to jump headfirst into the waters of the second pool. He popped up with a splash and another yell a moment later.

"Move it, Ryou, the water's fine! I'm not afraid you see me... what are you afraid of?"

His voice was mocking, and Ryou took the bait.

"Me? Afraid? I'll show you, Thief King!"

He started stripping, abandoning his clothes in a heap on top of the rocks. Half way through he realised just what he was doing, and flushed even more deeply, looking up to see Bakura watching the show with fascination.

"Hey! What did you stop for, I was enjoying that!"

"'Kura... uh, just turn around for a minute. Please?"

At the pleading tone, Bakura growled to himself but complied, turning so that Ryou could have his privacy. Ryou quickly removed his lower clothing, and inched himself into the frigid waters, yelping.

"C-cold!"

"Don't be such a baby!"

Without warning, and before Ryou could realise what was happening, Bakura had grabbed hold of his legs and pulled both himself and Ryou under, dragging down until he felt the stirring dirt underneath his feet. Waiting a good few seconds, he released his grip on Ryou's ankles, and both came floating to the top, Ryou gasping and Bakura grinning victoriously.

"Bakura! What was that for!"

Bakura shrugged, unconcerned.

"You're hair was dirty. I decided to wash it for you."

Bakura decided that Ryou was quite scary when he was angry, and ducked to avoid a clenched fist heading for his face. Taking a breath and ducking under again, he avoided a futile kick from Ryou and surfaced on the other side.

"You know, you're really quite beautiful. Why would you try and hide that from everybody?"

Ryou stopped his fist in mid-air, dropping it with a splash.

"You... you think I'm..."

"Beautiful, yes. What, nobody's ever called you beautiful before?"

Dumbfounded, Ryou shook his head in a negative.

"No... they called me cute, and then pretty, and then just slave. And in the palace, no-one dared to call me anything but my name..."

The cleansing ended with Ryou attempting to get out all the tangles in Bakura's hair.

"Honestly! I don't even know how you got so many in the first place – if you just looked after it-"

"I'm a traveller, Ryou, I haven't time for silly things like hair."

"Well, now you are going to have time."

"The Thief King takes orders from nobody!" said Bakura, puffing up his chest. He altered his opinion, though, at a fierce look from Ryou who, despite what Bakura referred to as 'puny, practically non-existent' muscles, could evidently hold his own in a fist fight, at least for a little while, should he get annoyed enough.

Finally out of the water and the sun approaching its highest point, Ryou collapsed beside Bakura in a heap. Needless to say, they did not stay still for long – not with Ryou and Bakura still damp and still without a stitch of clothing to cover them, and nobody to see.

And, due to a teasing comment or two from the thief, Ryou soon got angry again, which ended, not with a fist, but with a bruising, completely breath-taking kiss from Bakura, eagerly taken and given back by Ryou, however lithe and delicate he may have looked.

There was one moment where Ryou, memories flooding back to haunt him, trembled in renewed fear of those that had hurt him in the past. But Bakura, knowing Ryou's fright, was gentle and did not rush him, and eventually Ryou's shivering was stilled by the love shown in Bakura's eyes, even if he did not say it.

That day Ryou learned for the first time just how beautiful love, and even his own self, could really be – that love did not always mean pain, and that the rough, rebellious Thief King felt the loneliness just as any other man did. Bakura also learned one or two things – first, that Ryou was certainly not a weak person, and that he should certainly not be judged on appearance alone. And, secondly, that even the infamous Thief King was not immune to temptation, of the body nor of true friendship. The hidden oasis, no doubt holding many secrets of its own, soon held one more; the love of a couple overcoming all odds to be with one another, regardless of what anyone else may have thought – and the deep mysterious blue of the waters held testament to that love.

As the shadows grew longer, and late afternoon was reached, Bakura sat up from his half-doze against Ryou's chest, stretching his muscles. Ryou got up too, retrieving their clothes and dressing.

"So? Where to next? What great adventure lies on the horizon for the great Thief King and his accomplice?"

"Accomplice? No. Lover."

Ryou smiled, embarrassed but content.

"As for where to, well, let me see. If you're up to some rough travelling, we could make the next town by sunup tomorrow."

Ryou stood tall, an almost-silhouette in the sun's rays, and Bakura caught a glimpse of his true strength of spirit in that moment.

"Travelling it rough? Footing it by night, hiding in the shadows by day? Little water, less food? A menace to society?"

"That's the one."

"Then I wouldn't say no."

Ryou began to walk after determinedly shouldering a light pack – necessities only. Bakura picked up the last, and, tightening the knife in his belt, followed after.

The sun gradually set behind them, darkening the surrounding to create a new tale.

Well, I hope everyone is satisfied with that ending. Couldn't help the fluff – after the angst I thought some lightening up would be good. Please review and let me know how you thought I did:)

I've had a few suggestions to create another Egypt-centric story. So far I've done two shorter one's on Yami x Yugi, and now this one for Ryou x Bakura... if anyone has any suggestions at all for a Seto x Joey fic, I'd love to take them into consideration, and make my Egypt stories into a Trilogy! Ideas? Let me know in an email – you can access that from my userpage.