I don't own Yugioh. I do own my characters Leora and Sahara. That was my disclaimer I hope that you enjoy the story. Please read and review.

Egypt, in a time of dire need, had been left in the hands of its enemies by its ruler. The men spread like a plague. Raiding the land for valuables. Killing all those who opposed them. Then one fateful day the ruler returned to find the city in shambles. What was once a proud and beautiful city now lay in ruins. All because of one person...

"Wake up or you're going to be late." Blinking away the remainder of the dream the girl stretched. Reaching over she threw open the blinds sending the shadows fleeing from her room. The sun made her blonde hair look golden. Closing her eyes to the harsh rays she shut one of the curtains again dulling the light. Her sapphire eyes opened once more to get ready for the morning ahead. Her movements were sluggish as she manipulated herself around the small room, preparing for school. The last day of school until the big move. The brilliant idea had been her mothers. After talking about it for years they were finally going to do it. She was now on the hunt for a missing sock and a run away shoe.

"Mom! I think Anubis has one of my shoes! Again!"

"I haven't seen him with anything but I'll check." The girl sighed. Her jackal looking dog was always stealing things from her. It was just her things too. She sighed again and began her search for a new pair of socks. Pulling out the socks one after the other she came to the conclusion that none of the socks in her drawer matched.

"Mom I have no socks!"

"Have you checked your drawer?"

"Yes."

"Then I can't help you." The girl chuckled and randomly chose two socks. One was an orange color with brown puppies on it. The other was her purple princess sock. Quickly pulling them on she stood to examine herself in the mirror. Pulling her hair up into a quick ponytail she nodded in approval as she deemed herself ready for the day. She was wearing her favorite shirt. It was black with the words 'my door is always open so feel free to leave' written on the front in pink. Her shorts were a black jean material. One more look in the mirror and she was rushing down the hall so she could have breakfast before facing the heat of the day. Just as she reached the kitchen Anubis went running by her in the direction of her room. Her shoe firmly grasped between his teeth.

"Anubis you get back here with my shoe!" The smell of bacon kept her from leaving her spot. "I'll get you later." She plopped down in a chair waiting for the delicious food the aroma promised. She didn't have to wait long for soon her mother brought out the bacon along with glasses for the milk and orange juice, toast buttered and jellied, eggs over medium, hash browns, and pancakes. Her mother was definitely a firm believer that breakfast was the most important meal of the day.

"If you're planning on getting your shoe back before you walk to school I suggest you eat fast." At those words mother watched as daughter began to devour what was placed in front of her.

"Ib's delish."

"I think that was a complement but I couldn't hear well through all that food in your mouth."

"Tibe to get my ober shoe." With that the girl darted back down to the room she had started out in with a piece of toast hanging from her mouth. Her mother only chuckled as she surveyed the spotless plate. Back in her room the girl was searching frantically for her dog whilst trying to finish her breakfast. "Anubis! Get out from where ever you're hiding and give my back my shoe." When she couldn't find him and he didn't reveal himself she took drastic measures, "We'll leave you here." That certainly did the trick. Anubis had dropped the shoe in front of her before quickly making his exit. She pulled her shoe on and was about to step into the other when she drew back in fear. There was something in her shoe that she was supposed to look for every morning. Why today, of all days, did it have to make a bed in her shoe.

"Mom there's a Nile scorpion in my shoe!" In the faint distance she could hear her mother rummaging around the room for the industrial strength flyswatter they had gotten when they bought the house. At first they didn't know why the nice people that were moving to America would give it to them. They found out rather quickly. After a shout of victory her mother rushed into the room.

"Alright on the count of three knock it out of the shoe." Hesitantly she picked up the shoe and nodded at her mother.

"One. Two. -" Three never came for the scorpion chose that time to exit the vessel. The girl screamed throwing the shoe across the room. It's a shame the scorpion hadn't gone with it. The creature, with the movement, had been forced to let go of the object dropping to the floor...right in front of the terrified girl.

"Mom squish it." Sadly the scorpion had plans all it's own. It had decided that the person that ruined it's sleep was going to know it. It began to crawl its way up the girl's shoe clad foot clinging to the shoelace as the person tried to fling him off. Just as he was about to reach the flesh he was batted off by her mother. The impact and the power of the swing stunned it allowing her mother time to kill it quickly before it could do anymore harm. Straightening her shirt she caught one last glance at herself in the mirror. "With that I'm off." She stepped into her other shoe on her way out of her room.

"Have a nice day at school dear." Mumbling under her breath the girl left the house. She made it to her first class far earlier then she had intended to. She had thought that she was running late. Now she saw exactly how wrong she had been. She arrived before most of her class. Definitely a first for her.

"Leora! Hey Leora." Leora turned around to see a raven haired girl waving enthusiastically while running towards her. The girl slowed to a stop in front of her gasping for air. "Man I really got to learn to breathe when I run."

"Yes you do." The other girl glared up at her playfully.

"Hey now, you're supposed to be my best friend. When I say things like that you're not supposed to agree with me." The girl's name was Sahara and they had been friends since elementary. At the moment, though, Leora didn't feel like much of a friend. After all, she hadn't told her that she was leaving Egypt. She hadn't told her that, as of today, she would never see her again. That in mind Leora tried to put herself in a better mood.

"Well sorry, I was just trying to let you know that I support your decision to not exercise in this excruciating heat." They both laughed and began to walk into their classroom.

"So is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Your mom has finished her dig with the discovery of the tomb of a Queen of Egypt so you guys will be moving." There was silence between them. Leora knew that if she lied Saraha would know and assume the worst. If she told her the truth she knew that her friend would be crushed.

"It's true. We're moving back to Japan, but that doesn't mean that we still can't be friends." She hastily added the last part to reassure her friend that no matter what happened or where she was their being friends wouldn't change.

"Of course it doesn't silly." Sahara chuckled at her friends unease. "All it really means is that we won't see each other for a while." She slung her arm over Leora's shoulder. "So tell me. How excited are you to leave Cairo and go back to your home in Japan?"

"Honestly...not very. I'm not really looking forward to it at all. I mean, I'll miss all my friends, exploring the tombs and living virtually in the middle of nowhere. Back in Japan I'll know no one, they don't have cool ancient things to explore and I live in the middle of a city."

"From what your mom said though they have a lot of people who play Duel Monsters. You should fit right in." Leora smiled at her friends attempt to comfort her.

"I guess that's one plus. I can kick anyone's butt at it though. It might not be as much fun as we're thinking."

"Still at least you'll have someone to play with."

"This is true." Sahara and Leora headed to their seats. Today would be the last day that they could hang out. Leora peered out her window dreading the end of the school day. As more students began to file in Leora smiled at their shocked faces. Finally the bell rang signaling the beginning of class. The teacher entered and quieted the class.

"Class I have a very important announcement. As some of you may know Ms. Ayers has finished her dig with the discovery of a new tomb. So both she and Leora will be returning to Japan some day this week. Today will be Leora's last day of school though. So I have decided to let you all have the day off." Cheers went up throughout the room as the teacher settled them down again. "Before I let you all run naked and wild though I was wondering if Leora would care to talk about her mother's findings a little." The class turned and looked expectantly at her. It wasn't everyday that someone discovered a tomb that, for all purposes, shouldn't exist. Leora nodded her head and stood at her desk.

"Well as you all know my mother discovered an ancient tomb on her dig here in Cairo." The class was listening intently to her. "I helped her explore the tomb. We believe that it's a tomb of an ancient Queen. One that has never been documented anywhere. It seems that this Queen, from the story on the walls, was put to rest secretly. Her father had her killed off. She had been betrothed to the Pharaoh and he hadn't been too happy about that. Of course when her twin brother found out he was furious. Later the Pharaoh ordered that her body be found and given a proper burial. That, of course, is how it got the tomb that it occupies now. The Japanese government is funding other such expeditions and has several Ancient Egyptian artifacts on display at one of their museums. They have asked that both me and my mother take the artifacts there to display as well. Which is part of the reason that we're moving. Not much is known of the Queen at this time aside from the fact that she was murdered and that she was our age when she died." Leora took her seat again. The class sat silently for a few minutes. When the teacher sat down and started to grade papers the class took that as their sign to converse with one another. Most of them circled Leora's desk to ask her questions about what the tomb was like. Of course Leora had wanted to spend time with Sahara but she happily and patiently answered their questions. After a ten minute interrogation the students dispersed, their curiosity sated, and Sahara approached her.

"It figures that you become incredibly popular before you leave."

"Yeah but notice that it didn't last long?" Sahara laughed.

"I'm thankful for that too. After all if they hadn't left then I wouldn't have been able to talk to you." Leora smiled at her friend. They sat and talked til lunch. When it arrived Leora left Sahara with her 'other' friends and headed for the roof of the school. Once there she stared up at the clouds day dreaming. 'I wonder if Japan is the same as when I left. I wonder if my old friends still live there. I miss Joey and Tristan.' She thought back to when she was younger. Tristan and Joey had picked on her until she had become strong enough to fight back. Then they had become friends. She hadn't seen or talked to them in about 10 years. She had been 3 then. The guys were 4 but they treated her just like another of the guys once she started to fight back. Then, about a year later, her mother informed her that she was being called away to Egypt on a dig. There had been an anonymous donator that sponsored her excavation. They had moved to Egypt and that had been the end of that. Leora had been sent to America to live with her grandparents until she was 8. She then joined her mother in her excavation. The rest is history. The bell brought her out of her zoning and back to Earth. Quickly heading back to the classroom she rejoined Sahara.

"So where exactly did you go?"

"I was on the roof thinking about going back to Japan. I wonder if mom'll send me back to America again. Last time she sent me away and then brought me back to Egypt."

"Do you have any friends over there in Japan?"

"Yeah. Only two. They were boys."

"Is that all that I'm going to get?"

"No of course not. Their names were Joey and Tristan. They actually had picked on me. Finally I started to pick back and they decided to include me in their group." Sahara smirked at that.

"So they picked on you huh?"

"Yeah, I think that I went a little far with the snake though."

"Snake...what snake?"

"Well mom has been an Egyptologist ever since I can remember. I had taken an Egyptian Asp to school for show and tell. Mom suggested that I choose something different but I've always been a fan of snakes. Well it was snack time and Joey had stolen my cookies. So I pulled the snake out of my bag and threw it at him. The snake actually remained calm and docile but I couldn't say the same for Joey. He was running around screaming like a little girl." The girls laughed unaware of the attention that was being given to them. It seemed that the entire class had become interested again.

"So what about in America?"

"Well there I was home schooled by my grandparents, Ra bless their souls, so I didn't really meet anyone my own age." Sahara nodded her understanding. The last of the class time was spent talking about Japan and what Leora had done there. The bell rang, once again, signaling that the day was finished. Everyone began packing up and heading home. Leora glanced at Sahara. They smiled sadly at each other.

"I guess that you're going to need to head home to pack, huh?" Leora chewed at her bottom lip nervously.

"Why don't you come over and help me since I can't really get it done by myself and mom will be busy with her own bags." Leora thought of her room. She had spoken with her mother about not packing until they absolutely had to, that way it made it seem like she wasn't really leaving. It had yet to hit her.

"That sounds great. My parents weren't expecting me home until about dinner time anyway." The girls shared a smile as they headed to Leora's house in hopes of getting there before the sun reached the highest point in the sky. Thankfully they made it in time. Leora's mother was in the kitchen cooking dinner when she heard the girls arrive.

"Well Sahara it's wonderful to see you. How have you been? How're your parents?"

"I've been great Ms. R and my parents are the same old same old. What's for dinner? It smells great."

"Thank you. I'm making pot roast with mashed potatoes and corn. It should be ready in about half an hour that should give you girls plenty of time to pack." An awkward silence fell over the entryway as Leora's mother walked back into the kitchen. The girls had been hoping that they could spend sometime together without remembering the situation that had brought them there. Sadly it seemed that Ra wasn't on their side and the girls soberly made their way to Leora's bedroom. For the first time in a while Anubis sat on the bed staring sadly at his master. Nudging her with his head as she passed he gave her his support. She rubbed behind his ear in thanks before turning to Sahara.

"I guess that we better get started." To lighten the mood the girls talked while they packed. Sahara telling Leora that she wouldn't be missed much in their history class. Leora retorting back that Sahara wouldn't know since she never went anyway. The whole affair of packing was as light hearted as they could make it. Shortly Leora's mom called the girls for dinner and they raced each other to the table. The dinner discussion was about the usual, what happened at school, recounting the events of the morning for the one who was not present, and other topics away from the move. After they finished dinner they moved onto dessert consisted of apple pie and ice cream. They spent sometime in each others company in the living room and before to long the sun started to descend.

"Well looks like I better be getting home. Thanks for the lovely dinner Ms. R."

"It was my pleasure Sahara." Leora walked her best friend to the door. Unshed tears glistening in her eyes. When they finally reached their destination Sahara turned to her.

"Now don't go forgetting about me alright?" Hearing that the tears began to flow down Leora's face.

"I won't forget and you better not either." The girl's embraced, neither wanting to let go, until they knew that it was time to part. Sahara exited to the house with a call of "I'll write to you everyday." Leora just waved after her friend smiling through her tears. Time passed, Sahara had long since disappeared from sight, and yet she stood in the doorway hoping that maybe she'd come back. A hand on her shoulder finally startled her back into reality and she turned to face her mother. A fresh wave of tears hit her and she buried her face in her mother's chest.

"I know that it hurts hun but you'll see her again. Not to mention that you two can keep in touch and I'm sure that you'll make new friends."

"Mom I don't want to make new friends. I've known Sahara practically my whole life. Why can't I just stay here?" Her mother cupped her face in her hands making keeping her attention on her.

"Hun I need you there with me. This presentation is going to be HUGE. Not to mention that you were really the one that found the tomb. If it wasn't for those dreams we would never have found it."

"Yeah stupid dreams." Her mother frowned down at her.

"Leora I know that you aren't happy about having to leave but if you hadn't found that tomb there'd still be questions out there. There'd be a piece of Egyptian history still missing from the world. You have gifted the world with the knowledge of that Egyptian Queen. That should make you happy."

"Mom if I've given the world so much then it should give something of equal value to me. Besides I AM happy I don't see why we have to move back to Japan just because the exhibit is going to be there." Her mother ran her fingers through Leora's hair.

"More then likely the exhibit will be there permanently and while I still don't have all of the information yet myself the person who runs the museum wishes for us to be closer to it. Besides there's another woman in charge of the other section of it. Her name's Ishizu Ishtar. She really wants to meet you sweetie." Petting the girl's head once more her mother released her. "I'm sure that the world will give you what you deserve in due time. Just be patient and have faith. Until then rest, I'll see you in the morning."