Can't Live Without Your Love

Anzu skipped along her merry little brain-dead way through the forest. Her parents couldn't take her singing Barney songs so they gave her a basket with some food and some seeds and told her not to come back until she grew a brain. Anzu's parents knew she had to go to school, but they couldn't find a way to get her away from them. She saw a rabbit and darted after it screaming at the top of her lungs how it was being friendly to her (even though it was sitting still doing nothing).

"COME ON, FLUFFY!" she screamed to her pet crab which she clutched in her hands. "IT'S A FLUFFY BUNNY!!" The rabbit squealed and bolted away. "I LOVE YOU, MISTER HIPPETY-HOP!"

As she chased the rabbit, she gound a grizzly bear growling in its throat as it looked at her. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! A HUGGABLE SQUEEZEABLE TEDDY BEAR!" Anzu ran after the bear and even though it seriously hurt her, she still hugged it screaming how it was like the friendly Care Bears.

It was then that she saw something shiny catch her eye. "Ohhhhh…….shiny!"

Having a liking for all things shiny, once again because they reminded her of friendship shining through hardship and tough times and….*sigh * ..other friendly things, she ran after it with her crab in her hand. She ran over and found the gold piece of jewelry lying in the dirt. Anzu reached down and picked it up staring at it as if it was the first thing her miserably happy eyes ever saw.

"Ohhh….it's a sparkly!" (taken from the movie "The Secret of Nimh"-good movie)

"I love sparklies! IT'S SO PRETTY! Like friendship! YEAH FRIENDSHIP!"

She put the ring around her neck watching the little points jingle as she moved. "I love jewelry!"

Anzu looked up and saw a baby deer calmly grazing in the meadow. It looked so serene with the fawn grazing quietly in the early morning.

"COME HERE LITTLE BAMBI!!!!" The fawn bolted away in terror as did every other animal in the woods as her shrill shrieks sliced through the air.

Joey opened his eyes when Seto shoved him awake. Joey rubbed his eyes and yawned exhausted.

"Your snoring can wake the dead, Joey."

"So? It didn't wake Ryou up. He's still asleep."

Beside him, Ryou slept still clutching onto Joey. His eyes fluttered occasionally from some dream, but his night terrors had ended only shortly before Seto had walked in. "I don't think a heard of screaming Anzus can wake him up now," Seto agreed.

"I heard him in his sleep last night. I think his father hurt him or at least is in some degree responsible for this. He kept calling out the name of a woman called "Jessica." I don't know what happened to him, but it at least sounds like he's been through a lot."

Seto brushed his hand over Ryou's cheek as Mokuba came running in. "Seto, someone is downstairs waiting for you."

"Do they have an appointment? I have to get ready for school, Mokuba. I've got little time to deal with an appointment now. Tell them to reschedule."

"They are not here for an appointment, big brother. They are here to see you with the police."

Seto glared at his little brother. "What do they want with me?"

Mokuba couldn't stand Seto when he was angry. Seto had been known to do dangerous things when he was pushed to his limit. "They're here to take Ryou. A man claims you kidnapped him."

Ryou moaned in his sleep as a sweat drop slid down his face onto the sheets.

"Mokuba, call the doctor and tell him to come to KaibaCorp at once. Tell him Ryou is very sick and I require him immediately. I will be back, Joey. Stay here with my little brother."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?"

Seto turned around as he opened the door. "No. Ryou thinks you are Bakura now. That is the only thing that is keeping him calm right now. Ryou might panic again if he thinks that you left him. Try to keep him calm and don't wake him."

Seto took the elevator downstairs. It appeared as if his chances of making his first class was becoming slim. In the lobby of KaibaCorp, he saw Steven and Cinetti with two policemen.

"You've got my attention. What's this all about?"

Steven clenched his fists. "You kidnapped my son and I demand him returned to me unharmed!"

Seto chuckled. "Do you think I resorted to kidnapping your son to get him away from you? He practically knocked down my door last night trying to get out of that rain storm."

"I demand to see him, Mr. Kaiba!"

""Mr."? Hmm…I've never been called that before."

"No use hiding your crime, rich boy!" Cinetti snarled. "You can't buy your way out of this!"

Seto frowned and his eyes narrowed. "If you are accusing me of wrongdoing, you are mistaken. I have your son upstairs alright, along with a fever and a hell of a nervous breakdown to match."

Steven's fists relaxed. "My son is sick?"

"Sick isn't the word I would use. I may not know what made him this way, but I'm sure as hell it was one of you who did this to him."

"I demand to see him!" Steven demanded.

The policeman said, "Mr. Kaiba, sir, show us the boy."

Seto shrugged. "Fine. I have nothing to hide."

"That is for us to determine, Mr. Kaiba."

"Whatever you wish. Follow me."

Steven's POV (haven't had one of these in a while)

Seto let us upstairs to the guest room where my son Ryou slept. My son was sick? I knew his behavior would lead him to the path of destruction! He didn't believe me! This was all his fault for being stubborn! He was never stubborn about anything as a kid. Now that he's a young man, he's worse than a five year old!

Kaiba led us upstairs via the elevator. He looked calm as he led us down the hallway. I never knew what was I was going to find when I saw my son next. He opened the door and I saw my son lying on a bed with one of his friends….I think they're just friends. I can't tell anymore.

When we entered the room, I saw him from across the spacious room, his white hair fanning out against the red satin sheets. His cheeks were almost the color of the sheets on which he lay. What did Cinetti do to him last night? I froze at the door almost afraid of getting closer and seeing what I may find. Seto turned to me and said, "Well, if you are so concerned for his welfare, why don't you go see him instead of standing there?"

Steven and I slowly advanced to my son. The police followed us. My son rolled onto his back and his arm folded across his chest. He slept so peacefully. I touched his cheek softly and pulled my hand back quickly. "He's hot."

"The doctor will be here in a half hour, Seto," the little boy beside Kaiba announced. Kaiba patted the child's hair and he ran out of the room.

"I didn't kidnap him. He staggered here in the pouring rain apparently after being kidnapped and placed in a dark dusty, and dirty basement. We bathed him and fed him, but he hasn't woken up once."

The police took my son's thin arm. "The child looks malnourished." The police look to me!

"I didn't do it! I fed him! It's not my fault the kid doesn't eat!"

**********

Normal POV

Ryou slowly opened his eyes to see his father and Cinetti standing over him. Ryou let out a breath as his father hovered over him. Ryou must not have recognized Cinetti because he didn't even acknowledge he was there. Ryou's stare was filled with little awareness of what was going on around him.

"Ryou?"

"D…Dad…Bakura..need him."

"You don't need him, Ryou."

Ryou shook his head. "No, Dad. We are connected…..Without him…I can't….I miss him, dad."

Steven frowned at his son. "Why do you want him so badly? He's the one who got you sick!"

Ryou coughed gripping onto Joey's hand. "No. That's not true. I can't live without his love. I can't live without yours."

"You are two separate people, Ryou."

"We are two separate people, but we share the same spirit. Physically I can live without him, but emotionally and spiritually, I can't. I need him." Ryou coughed again. "Didn't you do the same for my mother? You…we loved her." Ryou felt a tear crawl down his feverish cheek. "When she left us, part of both of us died with her. Daddy, we loved her together and though you may not want to admit it," Ryou stopped gasping for breath, "We are also a part of each other. I have always been faithful to Bakura only."

Ryou looked at his father with his big brown eyes. "When you met my mother, you knew you wanted to be with her. She was more important to you than anyone else in the world. When you married it was if the world had suddenly become a utopia, a perfect world."

Ryou weakly reached for his father's hand. "I'm sorry if I don't meet your expectations. I cannot be your perfect son. I can only be myself."

Ryou's head rested on his pillow.

"Ryou, you are coming home with me."

Joey sat beside Ryou. "Ryou, you don't really want to go home with your father, do you?"

Ryou looked at his father and back at Seto. "I want to stay here with Seto, daddy. This will be better for both of us. You won't have to worry about me anymore. You may be happier this way."

Seto stepped beside Steven. "He is staying here. How can I let you take him after all you've done?"

"I am his father and I have every right to take him home," Steven said grabbing Ryou's left wrist.

"He ran here to escape you!" Joey grabbed Ryou's right wrist.

Steven pulled Ryou's wrist. "You belong to me, Ryou! Now get out of bed, put some clothes on, and let's go!"

Joey pulled Ryou back onto the bed. "He said he doesn't want to go wit' cha!"

Seto crossed his arms. "Even I wouldn't be cruel enough to drag a sick kid out of his bed."

"Ryou, we are going home."

"I won't let you take him."

The officers tried to separate Ryou and Steven. Ryou pulled his wrist away from his father's grip.

Ryou coughed as the tug of war pulled him on and off the bed. "Listen to me. No. I came here to escape.." Cinetti's heart froze. If Ryou pointed to him as his abductor, the officers would arrest him.

"Escape, what, son?" the officer asked holding his notepad. Ryou's head fell onto the pillow again into a sudden sleep. Joey sat beside him again still holding onto Ryou's wrist.

Seto rolled his eyes as the doctor entered the room. "Sorry I'm late, Master Kaiba. I need a minute to examine the patient. Please clear the room."

Cinetti ran from the room grateful Ryou said nothing. The police followed him.

"I am his father. I'm not leaving!" Steven crossed his arms. Seto glared at Steven.

"Very well." The doctor checked Ryou's vital signs and his breathing. He listened to Ryou's breathing with his stethoscope. "Has this boy ever had pneumonia?" the doctor asked Steven. Steven blinked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Three months ago he had it. His…umm..brother threw him into a cold shower and he became ill."

Ryou squinted his eyes and arched his back. "Basement…cold…dirty."

The doctor looked at Kaiba. "He's got it again. He needs rest and fluids. I don't recommend moving him too much. Put a humidifier in here. It will make it easier for him to breathe."

"I suggest you leave Ryou to our care," Seto said to Steven.

"Ryou belongs at my house! He is my son!"

"If he is your son, why didn't you know he had pneumonia?"

"He never told me," Steven said angrily. "I will bring back my son no matter what you say!"

Steven stormed out of the room and ran to Cinetti. "The brat wants to stay here."

"Moneybags hasn't won this yet," Cinetti sneered.