Warnings: Just spoilers for the end of the series.
Yugi's mother was not pleased when he arrived home from the museum as late as he did on a school night but Yugi was too exhausted to really pay any attention to the lecture that she was delivering, Something about "museum closed hours ago and how dare he not even call," He couldn't even come up with an excuse he just made his way to the stairs apologizing distractedly and headed for his bedroom. In his exhaustion he completely missed the confused and slightly concerned look his mother shot his grandfather. Yugi pondered whether pajamas were really a necessity as he quickly brushed his teeth. He did end up quickly changing but he didn't bother climbing into bed. He was asleep on top of the covers in seconds.
Morning came too soon but Yugi felt much better. He was only slightly surprised that he didn't hear from the pharaoh while he was getting ready for school. The spirit usually enjoyed talking to Yugi as he got ready in the mornings but he had been even more exhausted than Yugi was the night before so instead of trying to talk to him as he usually did Yugi just let him rest.
Yugi made it to home room a little later than usual but before Honda who barely beat the bell and also Jounouchi who was five minutes late. Unsurprisingly, Bakura was missing. Morning classes went by just as they always did. Yugi always thought it felt odd to return to a regular day of school after one of their crazy adventures. It was strange to think that no one else even realized their lives could have ended the night before. It was a relief to head outside for lunch with his friends where they could actually talk about their trip to the museum the night before.
The weather was just starting to get warm enough to be comfortable outside so there weren't many other students around. It wasn't hard for the group to find a spot where they wouldn't be easily overheard. The first thing Yugi's friends wanted to know was if the pharaoh was alright. He had been pretty badly hurt when they left the memory RPG. Yugi assured them that he didn't bring any of those injuries with him. How could he? He was just a spirit.
"He's still resting." Yugi assured them. "I can feel his presence there and he's fine but I don't want to bother him. I'm sure he's tired after everything that happened."
"Will you just check on him though?" Anzu asked. Her large blue eyes full of pleading and concern. Yugi could never say no to anything when she looked like that.
"Alright" he conceded "hold on a second" Yugi closed his eyes and concentrated. He had entered his mind less than a handful of times in the past and those times hadn't exactly been on purpose but he was pretty sure he had a good idea of how to make it happen. It wasn't long before he felt a shift and opened his eyes to find himself standing in a familiar bright room. It seemed like every time he entered his soul room it changed but the changes were never surprising or unexpected so he didn't take any time to look around. This room wasn't what he had come for. With a slight smile on his lips at his success he turned and made his way across the hallway to the other door.
His intention was to gently crack the door to the maze and peek in so as not to disturb his friend if he was indeed still resting but he was taken so off-guard by what met him on the other side of the door that he hardly noticed it fall completely open as he stood there with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide in astonishment.
The maze was completely gone. No more impossible staircases, no more innumerable doors, even the old feeling was completely gone. Yugi used to think this room reminded him of an ancient tomb, full of loneliness and mystery, but not anymore. The walls were made of the same stone but it was brighter and newer than it had been before. There were several items scattered around the room, some of them Yugi had never seen before, some of them he recognized from museum exhibits; and some, a Duel Disk and Duel Monsters cards among them, he knew all too well. The most striking thing about the room, however, was the walls.
Everywhere he looked the walls were completely covered in photographs. There were many photographs of people and places that Yugi didn't recognize and it was easy to see that they were from ancient times by the clothing worn by the people in them. There were also many pictures of things that Yugi did know. Scattered among the others were captured moments from Duelist Kingdom and Battle City and many of their more ordinary moments with their friends, just hanging out on the weekends.
Of course, Yugi thought, after all they had been through to get them back it made sense that one of the most precious things to his friend would be his memories.
He didn't realize how long he had been standing in the doorway staring until a light chuckle brought him from his stupor. Yugi had been so absorbed in looking at the room that he hadn't even noticed the spirit standing there. A slight blush of embarrassment rose to his cheeks but his friend only smiled and raised a good natured eyebrow at him. "Surprised?"
"This is amazing." Yugi answered. The former pharaoh only smiled wider. "So, the maze is gone? With all the stairs and traps and stuff?"
"Yes. That room was a representation of my mind at the time. It reflected my own confusion and uncertainty about myself and my fears about what I might find if I did go looking for the answers." His voice grew quieter as he looked around the room. "Those feelings are gone now."
"I like this room a lot better." Yugi said again returning his gaze to the room.
Atem nodded. "Me too, Aibou."
Just then something in the room caught Yugi's attention It was a group of framed portraits sitting on a table in a position of obvious importance. The pharaoh followed his gaze. "What is it?"
After a cursory glance at his other's face indicated that it would be ok Yugi walked over to the table and leaned down to take a closer look at one of the most prominent pictures there. There was something about the man in the picture that spoke of both great power and gentile understanding at the same time. His face was relatively young but there were care lines etched there that showed he had known more than his share of worry and sorrow. Still, he held himself with the same kind of confidence that Yugi recognized in the spirit that now moved to his side to see what had caught his partner's attention. There was something about the man's face that evoked something in Yugi's heart and resonated in the room around him.
"Who is he?" Yugi asked, not yet ready to take his eyes from the picture.
"That is my father." The raw emotion in the pharaoh's voice as he answered drew Yugi's attention from the violet eyes in the picture to the nearly identical ones at his side.
There was so much emotion swimming in his other's expression, loss, love, pride, that Yugi worried he might drown if he tried to venture there so instead he just smiled and said "You have his eyes." Atem genuinely smiled at that and it relieved a lot of the sadness in his expression when it reached his eyes. "You loved him a lot, huh?"
"Yes," Atem answered, the smile still on his face as he looked down at the picture "I miss him very much."
Yugi turned his attention back to the other pictures on the table. There was a picture of himself there and one of him with Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda. A lot of the people in the pictures he did not know but from the ones he did know it was not hard to infer what this specific group of pictures meant. "These are all people that you really care about aren't they?" He asked. The expression on his other's face as his eyes swept over the collection was a better answer than any other. "I am glad that you had people like that."
On turning his attention back to the table another picture caught his eye. It was one from the pharaoh's newly returned memories. It showed three people. A younger looking Atem was easily recognizable in the center. With him in the picture was a tall boy with thin brown hair and striking grey eyes and a brown haired girl with bright green eyes and a playful smile.
"I recognize this girl." He said, pointing to the picture he had been examining. "Mana, right? We met her during the RPG game." Atem lifted the frame from the table with a fond smile.
"That's right." He said, handing the picture to Yugi.
"Who is the other boy?" Yugi asked studying the photo carefully. There was something in his face that was perfectly familiar although Yugi was sure they hadn't met him while they were in the world of memories. He could not figure where he might have seen him before. Could it be someone he knew from modern times? It would not be the first person in the ancient world that shared a face with someone he knew from the modern. There were several others of those on the table right in front of him. But this one felt like someone with whom he was very familiar so it didn't make sense that he couldn't think of a name for him.
"That's Mahad." The pharaoh answered "The three of us spent a lot of time together growing up. We were best friends, really more like siblings actually.
Yugi brought a hand to his chin and looked critically at the picture in his hand. "He looks familiar to me, although I'm sure we didn't meet him the way we met Mana."
"You saw him" Atem answered "though you probably didn't realize it."
"Huh? When?" Yugi asked, wracking his brain even harder now.
Instead of answering, Atem reached into his pocket and handed Yugi a duel monsters card. He took it with skepticism and confusion. A gasp escaped his lips as he recognized his favorite monster card and held it next to the photograph, his eyes traveling back and forth, taking in the similarity. "He's...the Dark Magician?" Yugi remembered that Mana had a connection to the Dark Magician Girl. He had seen Mana summon her. But he had never seen this Mahad, in fact, it had been Yugi that had summoned the Dark Magician.
"I'm not sure I really understand." Yugi finally said. "What, exactly, are duel monsters? I mean, when they aren't part of a card game."
Atem appeared to think about it carefully and opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself several times without making a sound before letting out a sign and answering "it's a little complicated. I can give you the long answer later but right now aren't you supposed to be in school?"
Yugi started, he had completely forgotten. "Oh yeah! I am but it's the lunch break now. The others wanted to know that you were ok."
Author's Notes:
I wrote this purely to get it out of my head. I get so frustrated by that one panel that says nothing but "one month later" in the manga. I seriously nearly threw the book across the room. You mean we really spent all that time searching for memories and we don't get to know squat about them? Nope, we know nothing. The anime is even worse. Atem's friends don't even know his favorite food or even his birthday when he leaves. How sad is that? Grrrr. So I wrote this. I will admit to not having great access to the manga or anime but I try my best to stick to cannon and avoid what I call "fan fiction cannon." Meaning ideas that are often perpetuated and used in many fanfics but have no basis in the original cannon. One disclaimer that goes along those lines though. I do not recognise the English dub for this anime as cannon. Mostly because the characters aren't true to what the author intended them to be, don't develop at all and the whole thing doesn't make any sense at all. They can't even stick to their own cannon so I don't acknowledge it. I will also try to use accurate historical information. I love Ancient Egyptian stuff. I've tried to do my research, this includes paying close attention to Atem's behavior at the very end of the anime and manga when he does have his memories back (not much there I know but I do feel that he seems much more relaxed and his expressions are softer. He's less guarded) so if you have questions about why I did something I did or didn't do something I didn't do feel free to ask. There is probably a reason.