Title: Moving Day Author:ladybrighid3333 Word Count: 702 words Rating: PG Characters: Hayate, Bakura Fandom: Pretear, paixaocrack, Naruto, YuGiOh! Summary: The backstory to the doll Bakura gave Aeslyn for Christmas, and some of the backstory for the shift from Red Rose Mansion to the hotel in the crack-timeline.
"What are you doing?" Bakura stared at Hayate holding the full well-worn travel bag from the labyrinth as he packed as much as he could from what had been older!Aes and Zetsu's stash of herbs, tea and rose wine from the area near the bar into another pack.
Hayate gave a half-hearted smile at the white-haired boy, "Zetsu announced we're moving. There's too many bad memories here after the labyrinth. He's already taken the little ones to the hotel the ninjas bought out. I said I'd bring anyone who remained behind to the correct place, after I finished packing what looked useful." Bakura poked around in the corner, finding a bag with lots of fabric and under it, a rather depressed seeming doll with a blank glass-eyed stare, a noose tied around its neck. Blinking back tears, the white-haired boy tucked the fabric bag into his journal's bag and carefully untied the noose, cuddling the sad doll in his arms like a baby.
Hayate frowned, recognizing the doll with a gray-ish kimono immediately as Bakura untied the rope around its neck. Why the hell hadn't he noticed that in the corner? "You miss the Aes we knew, don't you?"
Bakura gave a slight nod, "I want to promise the Aes we have now that it won't happen again. Never."
Hayate shook his head, "You shouldn't make promises we can't keep. Aeslyn had...been through a lot, Bakura. Our current Aes probably went through something similar."
Bakura shook his head, "The Aes we have now is...different and not just because she's younger. Even the Voice recognizes her as different. I can't tell you how or why, but she is."
Hayate nodded, "What do you plan on doing with the doll?"
Bakura smiled, "I'm going to make the doll happy...eventually, it'll be a doll for her. A symbol of the family she has with us....That's what she needs. A family."
Hayate smiled down, at the white-haired boy. "A family? You sure?"
Bakura nodded, "Those nightmares the first few nights after the labyrinth? Something in them triggered the voice to something too...He pulled a memory of his own from her cries and gave me a nightmare of his own a few days later..." Bakura trailed off, looking down at the doll and then changing the subject, "What did Zetsu tell you about Aes?"
Hayate sighed, "Come on, I'll tell you as we walk."
Hayate sighed, as they walked, giving Bakura the shorter version of the explanation Zetsu had given him of the older!Aes's crazed end.
"Aeslyn, murdered her village at the age of ten. Zetsu found her the only one alive, surrounded by roses, dead vines and bodies. The villagers voices are inside her. The fear and rage of many generations. For a small girl, she'd been through a lot at ten."
Bakura sighed, "If I understand what happened with the voice in the nightmare he passed to me, his experience was in reverse. He witnessed the murder of his village, Kul Elna."
Hayate sighed, "I wish there didn't have to be so much violence in our worlds. Someday. For now, we live with what we have."
Bakura nodded, "Some day. For now, we make do with what we can. We change things. We think of..the present."
Hayate nodded, "Now really, What do you plan on doing with the doll?"
Bakura smiled, "First, I'm going to give it a bath. Then I'm going to repaint its face. Then I'll give it new clothes. Then I'm just going to take care of it for a while, just like I did for our Aes... The doll itself is well-loved. I think it just needs a new face--a new view of life. I'll give it to Aes when I think she's ready for it."
Hayate nodded to Bakura, looking down at him. "And here we are. Go on, run to find your own room. I'll meet you back down in the lobby."
Hayate watched as Bakura ran off at his instruction, still hugging the doll. Hayate knew the doll would get a better life under Bakura's care, just like anything else would. Bakura cared so much about keeping others safe, at risk of his own happiness.