[Yugioh] RE:Play, Part I. RE:Try - Chapter Two

[shiraume_fic]

RE:Play
[5/29/2009 - 12/31/2010]

I. RE:Try
(Second part of RE:Try, continued from here.)

~*~*~*~

It was actually after dinnertime that Atem finally escaped his ministers and returned to his chambers. Atem, who had brightened at the sight of Yuugi perched on the balcony, paled when he heard just what Mana was telling him that had Yuugi laughing so much.

...The particular tale, which involved a nine-year-old Atem, a thirteen-year-old Seth, and the temple’s wine storage they’d stumbled upon was best left untold and forgotten. Preferably until the next apocalypse or later.

“I see you’ve kept Yuugi busy in my absence,” Atem said, loudly enough to interrupt Mana’s increasingly animated narrative. Mana, as he expected, chirped out a happy greeting and promptly jumped on him, nearly knocking him over. Mahaad was torn between looking embarrassed and apologetic, and Atem quirked an eyebrow at him. Judging from Yuugi’s all too innocent expression, the idea of calling Mana to entertain Yuugi wasn’t entirely Mahaad’s fault. Hmm. “Have they been good company?” he asked Yuugi, trusting him to pick out the undertone of his words.

Yuugi, for his part, merely smiled back brightly. “The best.”

“If you’re finished, there are things I need to discuss with Yuugi alone.”

Mana looked like she wanted to protest, but Mahaad beat her to the punch with more tact. “Of course, pharaoh. I’ve had servants prepare a room for Yuugi in the adjacent quarters to yours.” His words carried a question, and Atem nodded his approval.

“Thank you, Mahaad.” He wasn’t actually going to let Yuugi sleep in another room, but Mahaad didn’t need to know that.

“Have a pleasant night, my king, Yuugi.” Mahaad bowed deeply to Atem and Yuugi, then backed up respectfully to leave. But Mana, being Mana, paused at the doorway to wave at them both, with a wink and a promise to see Yuugi tomorrow. He really, really should have remembered Mana would take to Yuugi instantly. What was he thinking when he asked Mahaad to accompany Yuugi? If Mahaad was involved, that Mana would tag along was a given.

“Anything interesting you’d like to share, aibou?” His question held a trace of irony, which melted away when Yuugi’s smile warmed.

“A lot, but I’m not sure if you’d like to hear them.”

“No doubt,” Atem murmured, amused. Yuugi looked happy. This was the most relaxed the two of them had been since Yuugi completed the Puzzle. They’d had precious little time to relax with threat after threat fate threw at them in turn. And any amount of embarrassing childhood stories was worth it to see Yuugi so relaxed and happy. “Your day was probably better than mine, anyway.” He’d spent the entire afternoon and evening sorting out the reports and listening to his ministers argue about what to do: from what he could remember, pretty much a typical day of his life. After his first journey through his Memory World, he had regained his memories, but not necessarily in a sequential order; and definitely not everything, given large chunks of his earliest memories were still fuzzy. (All the more reason to keep Mana from regaling Yuugi with stories he didn’t even remember well enough to refute.) He had a good guess who was leading these raids, and the thoughts of what would happen once the Thief King became bold enough to venture into the royal tombs dampened his good mood.

“Other Me?” Yuugi’s worried eyes swam into his view, and Atem blinked. “You look really tired.”

“I dare you to last a day in my life. I’d take the Shadow Games over listening to my ministers any day,” Atem said, voiced deliberately pitched for levity. He was only half successful. “It looks like Bakura’s been leading raids into the city. The last one was within the shouting distance from the palace.”

“The Bakura-kun who was in the Ring?” Yuugi’s expression was tight, all trace of earlier ease gone, and Atem inwardly sighed. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned it. With luck, Yuugi wouldn’t have to stay here for long, and neither would he. He ignored the part it would mean they would have to say goodbye to each other again. No use living in the past, as Jounouchi would say, though Jounouchi had never quite managed to inject this much irony into the words.

“They don’t know. I would guess so, but I could be wrong.” The next words were harder to say, and Atem had to take a moment to push the words out of his throat. “Nevertheless, all the more reason for you to go back as soon as possible. And hopefully, I won’t have to stay, either. I’d really rather not go through the same life three times.”

Yuugi’s face was instantly lit with understanding. “Zorc. If Bakura-kun is making his appearance, then Zorc can’t be too far behind.” The first time Atem encountered Zorc, Atem had sacrificed his life and soul to seal the evil god, and ended up being imprisoned in the shattered Millennium Puzzle for three millennia. The second time...

“Let’s retrace our steps. Ishizu and Malik took us to the Temple of the Underworld. We had our duel, and when I lost, the Gate to the Underworld opened.” Atem frowned, one hand automatically reaching for the Puzzle. “Malik said the inscription in the Temple spoke of a battle ceremony. And that I couldn’t start my journey to the afterlife holding a sword in my hand.”

Yuugi forced his thoughts away from Zorc, and tried to focus. “And we thought that meant you had to lose in a duel to move on. What if there was more than that? There were a lot of inscriptions there.”

“You don’t remember all of them, do you?” Atem’s question wasn’t a real question, and Yuugi shook his head. “I don’t, either. So we can't know if we misinterpreted the words, or didn’t realize there were other parts to the ceremony. But I don’t think that’s likely. Ishizu must have looked over the whole place carefully before contacting us.”

“Well... before, we’d all entered the Memory World using the stone tablet. I mean, the one with you and the priest who looks like Kaiba-kun?”

“Seth’s stone tablet probably doesn’t exist yet. He didn’t make that until after I died.” Yuugi’s face darkened at the mention of it, but Atem, preoccupied with another thought, didn’t notice. “But the Temple of the Underworld -- if we can find it here...”

Yuugi was startled out of his darker thoughts. “Actually, I asked Mahaad and he said there was one temple built during your father’s time that might be it. But he says he’s never been there. And no one knows where it is.”

It was a bit unsettling to realize Yuugi had been more active trying to solve their problem than he was. Because Yuugi was usually so unassuming, one tended to forget just how sharp he was (his test scores not withstanding). “Strange. Other people aside, for Mahaad to not know...” Then, something else occurred to him, and he frowned. “The Stone of King’s Memories.”

“What about it?”

“The Temple of the Underworld that Ishizu took us to. The Stone was there, on a platform, right before the Gate to the Underworld.”

“Yes.” Yuugi looked at him curiously, unsure where Atem was going with it.

Atem shook his head, a wry look crossing his face. “I forgot. I know where the Temple is. We can visit tomorrow. Hopefully we can find something there.”

“So we’re pretty sure this isn’t the afterlife, right?” Yuugi meant it as a joke, but Atem stiffened.

“Of course not. If it is, you wouldn’t be here.” Atem’s voice was harsher than he intended, but he couldn’t help himself. The Gate to the Underworld had opened for him, not for Yuugi. It couldn’t be Yuugi’s time yet. He wouldn’t let it be otherwise.

Yuugi did not meet his eyes. He’d said his goodbye to Atem, through their last duel. He’d been ready, even before Ishizu and Malik said anything, for the eventuality that Atem would leave him. Having defeated Zorc, there was no reason for Atem to stay in the living world any longer. And 3,000 years were a long time for any restless spirit. If anyone had earned his rest, it was Atem.

But it was harder to remember that here, face to face with an Atem who was as alive as he was. Not his Other Self or the spirit of the nameless pharaoh, but his own person, someone who could be touched and could touch him back and was real. It had been difficult enough to say goodbye when Atem was only a spirit. How much worse would it be this time?

“You’re alive here, too, Other Me,” Yuugi pointed out before he could stop himself, and almost clapped a hand to his mouth. Real smooth there, Yuugi, chimed a sarcastic voice in his head, which sounded disturbingly like Anzu. Way to make him feel better: just remind him this is another fake life.

Because that had been the reason Yuugi was willing to say goodbye to Atem. He hadn’t minded sharing his body with Atem, not really. After Death-T, once the two of them became completely aware of each other, Atem had been the person Yuugi trusted the most, along with Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu. Not long after, the incident at Black Crown had shaken him badly, because it made him realize how easily the Puzzle could be taken from him, and their connection severed. His Other Self was strong, but as long as he remained a spirit bound to the Puzzle, he was also vulnerable: like the proverbial genie of the lamp, with just as much power (maybe) and freedom -- or the lack thereof. It was unfair to ask Atem to stay trapped in a half-life, where Atem could never truly be free or be his own person. Besides, Atem would never have consented to taking half of Yuugi’s life like that.

For the longest time, Atem did not answer. Yuugi cringed, wondering how he could diffuse...well, not quite tension, but the silence was going on too long and Atem was still looking everywhere but at him.

“Don’t do that,” Atem said softly, and Yuugi didn’t realize he’d been chewing on his lower lip until Atem gently pulled his lip free with a thumb. Atem’s fingers were warm, resting lightly against his skin.

“Other Me?” Yuugi tried to say, except his voice seemed to have decided to go on a vacation and forgot to leave a memo. The fingers slid up, followed by a warm palm cupping the side of his jaw, and Yuugi almost blushed. It was an innocent gesture, really, but Atem had never touched him like this before, with his own, solid fingers brushing against Yuugi’s bare skin. Atem’s touch wasn’t soft like Anzu’s occasional, oft-unconscious touch. But not rough either, like the near-chokehold that passed for hugs from Jounouchi. It was warm, present, and real.

“It’s strange. We shared your body for two years. We talked to each other all the time since the Duelist Kingdom. We even touched each other’s minds as we switched. Yet this is the first time I can actually touch you.” A callused thumb brushed over his cheekbone, with just enough pressure that Yuugi could feel the light push into the skin. Atem’s fingers rested against the side of his throat for a moment, and Yuugi looked away from the intense look in Atem’s eyes. The simple gesture felt...too intimate. Surely some of the heat he felt on his face and neck was coloring his skin bright red. His skin felt too tight, too hot, and had Atem’s gaze always been so overwhelming? “Aibou...”

The whispered word sent a breath of heated air across his face, tickling his skin, and Yuugi leaned back, flustered. He hadn’t actually moved back all that much, a mere shift in his position really, but Atem drew back instantly, breaking the contact. When Yuugi risked a glance at Atem’s face, his eyes were distant, made even darker with the kohl delicately framing the slant of the lids. His eyelashes cast brushed shadows in the flickering firelight that lit up the darkness of the chamber.

Atem’s lips held the tint of ripe peach.

“We should go to bed now. I will arrange for our visit tomorrow morning. The trip won’t take long.”

“Tomorrow?” So soon? He’d met Atem again only moments after parting –- for good, he thought, at the time -- but they’d spent scarcely an hour together with all the confusion.

“The sooner, the better. If Bakura is on the move, then we may not have much time before he strikes. I don’t want you caught in the crossfire.”

“I could help you.”

Atem shook his head with a barely perceptible curve of his mouth, but his eyes were too guarded for a real smile. “You already have.”

Yuugi heard both gratitude and dismissal in the same words, and felt an unfamiliar stirring in his gut. Belatedly, he recognized it as anger, and surprise delayed him for one crucial moment to collect his thoughts. He could not remember the last time he’d been angry with Atem. Actually, he could not remember ever being angry with Atem. There was, Yuugi thought grimly, a first time for everything.

“I defeated you in our last duel.”

Atem’s brows furrowed in a fleeting frown. “Yes.”

“What else do I have to do before you see me as an equal and not someone you have to protect all the time?”

It was shock, Yuugi knew, that shattered the guarded look in Atem’s eyes, however briefly. “I don’t... Aibou, this isn’t about that at all. Both our roles in this story are over. Neither of us should even be here. And you already did everything you possibly could, and more. I don’t know what caused this, but you shouldn’t have to—”

“You’re doing it again, aren’t you?” Yuugi interrupted, voice calm, but tightly controlled. Anger wasn’t alien to him, but until now his default reaction to it had been to diffuse and dismiss it. Holding on to anger, especially against someone precious to him, felt strange. “You tried to keep your meeting with Ishizu-san a secret from me so I wouldn’t worry. Because it was your fight.”

“Aibou!”

“Do you even mean it when you call me that?” Yuugi challenged, unflinching even when Atem’s eyes flashed. Anger and Atem were a familiar sight together, but Yuugi had never been on the receiving end of it before. And Atem’s anger was a frightening thing, like looking at an encroaching storm without shelter, yet all the more compelling because of it. A part of him was horrified that he was deliberately hurting and provoking Atem like this. Yet, another part of him was fascinated by the passion of Atem’s fury, hot and quick and brilliant, like lightening before the thunder.

“Never ask me that.” Atem’s voice was low and clipped. Under the rough surface of the anger, there were jagged edges of hurt, and the latter made Yuugi’s own anger falter, evaporating like mist.

“Do you honestly expect me to leave you behind to take care of this alone?” Yuugi asked, voice quiet and gentle. If he hadn’t been watching closely, Yuugi would never have believed how quickly and deeply his words could affect Atem. The fury melted away, replaced by something warm and soft, like the touch of Atem’s hand. Yuugi thought he could almost feel that slow and reverent touch again in exquisite detail.

“First things first.” Atem’s voice floated to his ears. “We should go to the Temple of the Underworld tomorrow and look at the inscriptions again. It might help us find out how we can leave this place.”

Yuugi nodded. “We should ask Mahaad to come with us.”

“And Isis,” Atem added. The set of his shoulders was less rigid than before, and Yuugi realized that he hadn’t ever seen Atem relax, not entirely. Even when there was no threat, Atem was never completely at ease. There were always some hints of tension in him, like a wound spring never fully released.

Wait, Isis? “Who’s Isis?”

“One of the priests. She holds the Millennium Tauk. She looks a lot like Ishizu,” Atem added, almost as an afterthought. “I think you’ve seen her in the Memory World before.”

“Her name’s similar, too. I think I know which one you’re talking about. And there’s that Kaiba-kun look-alike.” Coincidence? Unlikely; Yuugi had developed a healthy dose of disbelief for such notion since meeting Atem.

Atem’s gaze turned contemplative. “I never told you one of my advisors looks exactly like grandpa, did I?” Yuugi, eyes round, shook his head. “The one that looks like Kaiba probably is Kaiba, if Ishizu is right about the reincarnation theory. And his name,” Atem quirked a brow at Yuugi, “is Seth.”

Yuugi remembered another thing from the stone tablet, and groaned. “And he just happens to hold the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, right? Anyone else I should know about?”

“Well, there’s Karim, who looks like Rishid. I don’t think I saw anyone else.” Atem’s tone made it clear he was thinking exactly what Yuugi was thinking himself.

“Bakura-kun, Kaiba-kun, Ishizu-san, grandpa, and Rishid-san.” Atem didn’t so much as shrug. “Next thing I know, I’ll find Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun, and Anzu, too, won’t I?”

“There’s also you.” Atem’s eyes slid over to him, and Yuugi turned a quizzical expression at him. “You and I look almost exactly alike, too. I’m not sure how much of that is coincidence.”

“But I’m pretty sure I’m not the reincarnation of...you.” This conversation, Yuugi decided, was fast taking a turn for the weird. “I think. I mean, how can a person reincarnate without the soul?”

Atem looked equally amused and annoyed, though not at Yuugi. “The soul in Egyptian sense is not quite that simple, aibou. There is Ib the heart, Sheut the shadow, Ren the name, Ba the soul, and Ka the spirit, all of which make up a person’s soul. There is also the Akh, the living intellect, which is reanimated when the Ka and Ba reunite after physical death. Or born, depending on the way you look at it.

“When I sealed Zorc, I also sealed both my spiritual essence and my Ren within the Puzzle. Without them, I couldn’t enter the afterlife. But that doesn’t account for all parts of my soul as a whole.”

“So you could have been reincarnated? With just the remaining parts?”

This time, Atem did shrug. “Maybe. But Seth...now, he feels just like Kaiba. Like Mahaad and Mana, and Black Magician and Black Magician Girl.”

“So Mana is Black Magician Girl?”

“That is her Ka, yes. Black Magician was Mahaad’s Ka. Although Black Magician is a bit different.” Atem’s expression tightened as he said that, and Yuugi reached out to take his hand without thinking.

“Would now be a good time to ask you what a Ka does?” Yuugi asked, and Atem, in his distraction, didn’t even seem to notice the gesture. Thank God for small favors.

“Ka is the manifestation of a person’s...spirit. Let’s say the immortal part of your soul is the Ba. Your Ka would be your spirit taking a physical form. So someone who holds a lot of evil in their heart will bring forth an evil Ka, and vice versa. The stronger the evil grows, the stronger the Ka grows. So the priests use the Millennium Items to extract evil Ka from people’s heart, and seal them into stone tablets.”

“I’m afraid to ask,” Yuugi started slowly. “That’s what Pegasus based the Duel Monsters on?”

Atem gave him a wry look. “So it would seem. He did base the Duel Monsters cards on the stone carvings, including the three God Cards. But he may not have known where they originally came from.”

“Blue-Eyes?”

Atem didn’t quite frown. “I’m not entirely sure. I’ve seen priests summon their own Ka, or summon the Ka kept sealed in the Temple of the Stone Tablets. By the time I found Seth, the Blue-Eyes had already been extracted. But the Blue-Eyes didn’t feel like a normal Ka when I faced it.” Freshly extracted, possibly from the white-haired girl lying dead behind Seth. But if the girl had died from the process, it wasn’t a normal Ka extraction, which shouldn’t leave the host dead. What had happened then, that Seth would abandon himself to the darkness? The sorrow and regret permeating Seth’s soul had given the Dark Priest an opening into Seth’s heart. Perhaps, if Ka and Ba of a living soul had been torn from the body, like what Mahaad did with the Black Magician, but against the host’s will... “I think the Dark Priest forced out the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from a living person, both Ka and Ba.”

Yuugi paled. “What would forcing out both someone’s Ka and Ba do?”

“...Killed her, most likely,” Atem concluded grimly. “I don’t know what she was to Seth. But that’s what I can gather from the state I found them in. But the Blue-Eyes didn’t obey the Dark Priest, and freed Seth instead.”

If that was the case, then no wonder Kaiba was so fanatically attached to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Once upon a time, the Blue-Eyes had saved him from the darkness. Did some part of Kaiba remember that? Yuugi wondered.

“Does everyone have Ka? I mean, that can be summoned?”

Atem blinked, pulling out of the memory. “I don’t know. Ka is a manifestation of what a person harbors in their heart. Not everyone may have something strong enough to manifest in that way. Blue-Eyes and Black Magician are probably exceptions, not the rule.”

Yuugi wasn’t that tired, but he wasn’t confident he wouldn’t say or do something stupid if their conversation lasted any longer. Like ruffling Atem’s hair. Would it feel like Yuugi’s own hair did? Atem’s hand felt certainly different from his own, more callused, warmer, and with harder joints.

“So...early day tomorrow?” Atem nodded. For all that he looked just as alert as usual, Atem didn’t seemed to notice they were still holding hands. Yuugi hid a smile. “Where do I sleep?”

Atem hesitated for a brief second. “Mahaad said he prepared a room for you,” Atem offered neutrally. “If you prefer.”

Ah, so Atem did want to share the room. It was almost funny, that Atem would be so reserved about this when they’d shared a body for two years. Of course, that meant the two of them never had to figure out some things, such as the logistics of two people sharing a bed meant for one.

“...Can we both fit on your bed?” Yuugi asked, somewhat skeptical, glancing at what he assumed was the bed, surrounded by a large canopy, which he could just see beyond the doorway connecting the antechamber and the inner bedroom. It didn’t look all that big, even for someone their size.

“A good question.” A hint of humor touched Atem’s expression. “It would be a tight fit at best. I do not recommend sleeping on the floor, however. I will have another bed brought to the room.”

“I was thinking maybe I should do that myself? I mean...I don’t want to trouble anyone.”

Atem looked amused at that. “These beds are smaller than the beds you’re used to, but they are made of wood. Besides, how would I ever explain what we’re doing to the servants?”

Right. The pharaoh of Egypt, carrying a bed to his room. Mahaad and Mana might be lenient with a lot of oddities on Yuugi’s part, but the rest of the palace wouldn’t be so accepting. While Atem called the servants and gave orders, Yuugi wandered out to the balcony. Even at night, torches were lit throughout the palace, illuminating the ever-watchful guards standing at attention. Atem’s balcony overlooked the palace courtyard, the royal city barely visible beyond the towering walls that enveloped the sprawling complex of palace and temples. The twin peaks of the pylon gate rising above the walls cast dark shadows under the moon, cutting an even more imposing figure than during the day. Yuugi remembered the rows of ram-headed sphinxes lining the avenues and the path leading to the front gate. Their magnificence did exactly what they were supposed to: inspire awe for those who lived inside the palace. These were the people who communicated with the gods daily, who were one with the gods in life and death.

“Aibou? Your bed is ready.”

The torchlight flickered behind Atem, casting a warm glow outlining his figure. Seeing Atem without the cape was strange; even when Atem was in Yuugi’s body, the school jacket, so unflattering on everyone else, had hung on Atem like a flowing cape. Without the golden collar, the whiteness of linen was more pronounced next to Atem’s darker skin. And Atem’s legs were bare now, only a pair of sandals on his feet. It struck Yuugi just how short Atem really was; only the way he carried himself made him seem taller. Yet the compact frame was all wiry strength underneath. Funny, he’d never noticed the subtle contour of the muscles on Atem’s forearms, or the shape of those slender calves. He was reasonably sure he’d never looked quite that good, and wondered, not for the first time, what Anzu had seen when she saw Atem in control of his body. True, whenever he took over, Atem moved with grace and poise that Yuugi couldn’t emulate, but surely his body couldn’t have magically developed muscles he never had whenever the two of them switched minds?

“Aibou?”

“Um, yes? Sorry.” He was not imagining Atem in their old outfit, the clinging black shirt and pants that looked painted on with all the buckles and chains... Argh! “Bedtime?”

“Indeed.” Atem’s lips quirked, just shy of imperceptible. “Do I look that strange?”

“Um, no?” The only thing strange here was the way he kept noticing how the torchlight made Atem’s skin glow. “Why?”

Atem made a dismissive sound, turning around and heading back inside. “You keep staring at me.” The glance he threw over one shoulder was playful, and... Yuugi’s eyes traveled down Atem’s back, noting the way the muscles in Atem’s thighs flexed as he walked, and hastily looked back up, guilty blush stealing over his face. Something flickered behind Atem’s eyes, too quick for Yuugi to identify, and a door seemed to close behind them, soundless, but impossible to miss. “You won’t find the bed very comfortable, I’m afraid.”

Yuugi stared down at the bed right next to Atem’s own bed, and blinked in surprise. The gilded bed had a pronounced slant, with linen and cushions piled on top. The intricately painted headboard was on the lower end, with the higher end decorated with two gilded lioness’s heads. Atem’s bed was similar in shape, but was decorated with falcon heads. On both beds lay something that resembled oversized, gilded footrest with wide, curved top, padded with linen. “Um...”

Atem let out a short laugh under his breath. “The lower end is the footrest, not the headboard. And the headrest won’t be comfortable for you, so I had some cushions brought in so you can try both.”

“I’m never going to get used to this, am I?” Yuugi said plaintively, pressing a tentative knee on the bed. The mattress, if it was in fact a mattress, was hard even with the piles of linen on top, quite unlike the soft springiness of his own bed. Resigned to a sleepless night, Yuugi climbed on the bed, eyeing the headrest with trepidation. Atem was already lying in bed on his side, watching him with amusement. He appeared quite at home.

“How do I use this headrest thing?” Atem looked comfortable with it, and besides, this was likely the only time he would use this. He might as well get the experience now.

“Under your head, so it supports your neck. It’s more comfortable if you lie on your side.”

Experimentally, Yuugi placed his weight on the curved top, and was startled to note it was actually not as uncomfortable as it looked. And it put his spine perfectly straight when he was on his side. The canopy’s curtains had been drawn, but the cooling breeze wafted through the gaps, pleasant on his skin. The light from the torches filtered softly through the thin fabric, and Yuugi could easily make out Atem’s face, looking back at him. Atem’s face was serene, with an expression he’d never worn before, and Yuugi ached to see it: tonight could very well be the last time he saw Atem like this.

“Still uncomfortable?” Atem’s voice was almost a whisper, but carried. Yuugi shook his head, or tried to, and winced when the hard edge of the headrest dug into his neck. Atem’s shoulder shook, but Yuugi was too distracted by the way his eyelashes cast shadows over his cheeks to mind it. Had Atem’s lashes always been so long?

Almost as long as Anzu’s, Yuugi noted distractedly. Once, while Anzu was putting a band aid on his knee after an accident during gym, Yuugi had almost forgotten to breathe, captivated, as Anzu’s eyelashes rose and fell, delicate as a butterfly’s wings. That was the first time Yuugi recognized his attraction for what it was. Looking at Atem now, he wondered if Anzu, too, felt for Atem that same attraction he’d felt for her. He’d known about Anzu’s crush on Atem since not long after the Duelist Kingdom. It was hard to miss when Yuugi spent so much of his time watching Anzu. Had she ever stared at Atem like this, Yuugi wondered, mapping the curve of his Cupid’s bow, and the way those lips parted just bit as he breathed...?

Atem reached out, and Yuugi was startled to find he’d reached out first. The warmth of the touch was electric, and all thoughts of Anzu fled from his mind. There was only Atem, palm warm against his, lacing their fingers together.

“You’re not going to sleep?” Yuugi whispered back, voice quieter than the rustle of the curtains, but he knew Atem heard him.

“It’s the first time we’re sleeping like this. Side by side.” Atem’s tone was too serious to even feign sleepiness. “I wonder...”

“What?”

Atem looked a bit...uncomfortable? embarrassed? as he wondered aloud: “I wonder if this is supposed to be a reward or a punishment.”

Instantly, Yuugi understood. Though he remained adamant Yuugi should leave as soon as possible, the prospect of another farewell had weighed equally heavily on Atem’s mind. Yuugi did not fight the warmth that spread in his chest, or the smile on his face.

“A reward,” he answered firmly.

“Will I even remember this after...?”

Yuugi’s lips parted in surprise. Ah, he hadn’t thought about that. Yuugi had always taken for granted that his memories, the good and the bad, would remain with him, including his precious memories with Atem and their friends. However, Atem of all people knew the fragility of memories.

Impulsively, Yuugi sat up and leaned over to deposit a gentle kiss on Atem’s forehead. “You’d better. Because I will.”

The smile Atem gave him was more than gentle; it was tender, almost sweet. With the affection playing so openly on his face, Atem looked young, like a boy he was supposed to be than a king or a hero. And Yuugi knew he would remember this night all his life.

Always.

~*~*~*~

Notes: Egyptians drank both beer and wine (though wine was imported at first, and thus not widely available). In fact wine was an important part of the offerings to the gods. The Egyptian concept of soul is taken mainly from Wikipedia article on akh. I first learned about the akh from a National Geographic article, "Death on the Nile" (October 2002). Pylon is the gateway used for temples (including Karnak, which has several in a series), with two towers framing the entrance, thought to symbolize the two horizons (hills) where the sun rose and set. Most of my description of the palace is a hybrid of actual Karnak-Luxor complex and the manga/anime pictures. I recognized the palace gates pretty immediately as the entrance to Karnak, and the map of the royal city, as given by the manga in the form of Shadow RPG game board, is a very obvious match for Karnak-Luxor complex. Yay for historical geekiness!

If it looks like I'm hedging a lot on the whole soul and reincarnation issue, that's because I AM. XD Takahashi Kazuki never explains it himself, so I'm hedging to make a (somewhat) coherent picture for this fic. Please bear with me.

I capitalized Ka and Ba because Takahashi Kazuki has his own version of what these two are -- but then it got awkward to NOT capitalize the other aspects of the soul, so I capitalized everything. Isis is my preferred spelling for Ishizu Ishtar, but I used Ishizu for this fic to differentiate her from the priestess Isis. And Karim looking like Rishid is my own thing, not canon. (Well, they do look kind of alike, but...) I have a pretty complete headcanon version of the past, so...yeah. Shaada-Shaadi thing I plain ignored, mainly because trying to puzzle out what happened to Shaadi was such a pain. Sorry for any Shaadi fans out there. :)