It was a strange feeling for the 3000 year old Egyptian Pharaoh to walk forwards even as his vision was blinded by a bright, pure light, when just seconds ago he had seen what lay on the other side of this light. Even stranger still was the sudden feeling of complete bliss and a sense of finally being where he belonged. Only moments ago the Pharaoh had felt both happiness and great sadness as he said his final goodbyes to his precious friends who had helped him through so much. They had helped him through teaching him to become a better person, through helping him to find his origins and helping him re-defeat Theif King Bakura and the Evil One Zorc and most importantly they had helped him regain his identity. He was no longer just "yugi's other side" or "King of Games" or even "Pharaoh", he was the Pharaoh ATEM, son of Pharaoh Ahknunkanon, and he was the Pharaoh who had sealed away his life and memories to seal away the shadow games and Zorc to save the world. But even more important than his identity as the great Pharaoh, was his identity as a friend. A friend to both his friends and high priests in Egypt and his friends from the future. They had proven to him that he was unique, the one and only Atem, and their close and treasured friend. Atem was so grateful to them for everything, and he would not have given up his time sealed away in the puzzle or the time spent with them for anything, not even the afterlife. But Now his journey with them had finally ended. They had helped him through everything he needed to get through, and now it was his time to finally be where he belonged. The Afterlife.
He was sad that he had to leave his friends, but he knew that now Yugi could live a full life to himself without having to share a body, and that no matter how much time passed by Atem would eventually see them all again when their time among the living was up. He couldn't wait for then, but for now he was just excited to finally be home. As the blinding light finally faded, Atem all at once heard, felt and saw all of his friends and family from Egypt, all exclaiming and yelling in happiness and pure joy at his arrival, most even tried to hug him. Atem smiled, a welcoming fit for a king, even though that's what he was, he was glad to know that all of these people had genuinely loved and cared for him and had been waiting for this day for thousands of years. The Pharaoh's heart swelled with emotion and just when he thought it was about to burst, the two most important people from his life in Egypt stepped forward to embrace their friend and king.
"PRINCE!!! I've MISSED YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!" yelled Mana as she literally pounced on Atem, who thank goodness to his trip through the memory world was once again accustomed to Mana's outbursts and pouncing and was able to keep his balance. Mahad who was with her looked like he was about to reprimand her like he had when he was alive, instead though he just plucked her off of his king, and to the great surprise of Mana and slight surprise of everyone else, Mahad uncharacteristically moved forward and embraced the Pharaoh in a tight bear hug. "We've ALL missed you my Pharaoh" Mahad said as Atem gladly returned his friends hug.
"And I've missed you all too!" said Atem now almost to the point of tears, he was now certain his heart had burst with all of the emotion. Everyone else began taking their own separate turns to embrace and welcome Atem and for a long while everyone just stood and talked until to the surprise of Atem the sun set. "the sun sets in the afterlife?" he asked Isis who just happened to be the closest. She nodded "Yes my king, you will find that the afterlife is much like the world of the living, only time does not have much meaning here." Atem just nodded, not exactly sure how that worked, but trusted the priestess.
Actually when he though about it, it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest that hours had passed if it was in fact hours that had passed…this was just getting to confusing for him to think about, so he was relieved when the distraction of being escorted to the palace presented itself. Atem was smiling the whole way, to be home with his beloved friends…this truly was heaven. Mana who was watching him intently seemed to be just as cheerful as she skipped in circles around him. "You really do have no idea how much we've all missed you….took you long enough to remember your name didn't it!…my Ra maybe you hit your head on the Millenium puzzle right before you sealed yourself away…I mean COME ON! 3000 YEARS!!!!" "MANA THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" both Mahad and Seth yelled at the young magician girl while Mahad knocked her on the back of the head. "OW that hurt" she whined as she rubbed her head. "serves you right! That's no way to speak to the Pharaoh!" said Mahad in a stern tone. Atem just chuckled, really the afterlife was just like the world of the living. After Mana had been sufficiantly scolded everyone's attention returned to reaching the palace.
Mana had stopped skipping but she still walked with the Pharaoh, moving closer to his side she whispered to him so that no one else would hear "So what is your name anyway?" Atem just chuckled and smiled at his friends look of curiosity. "My name is Atem" he said in a proud way, proud that he finally had a name of his own, something other then Pharaoh or Prince to identify him by. Mana looked a bit stunned, then a smile spread eagerly across her lips. "Atem…Atem…" she whispered almost to herself, then turned to face him again. "I like it! Atem! Atem! Atem!" she repeated his name many more times getting the feel of it. Atem's heart skipped a beat as his friend used his name for the first time. His first Egyptian friend to call him by his name, and the way it flowed from her lips, words couldn't describe how much he really enjoyed the sound of it.
"Mana?" he asked the girl. She temporarily stopped her chirping of his name to let him speak. "I was just wondering….if maybe…instead of calling me Pharaoh or Prince…maybe you would call me by my name?" he asked, unsure if in the afterlife, like in the world of the living, his name was forbidden. Mana only smiled even more cheerfully at his request. "I'd love to…Atem!" she purred. Atem was greatly relieved that his name wasn't forbidden, maybe now he would get everyone to call him by his name. Finally the group had reached the palace and upon entering one of the great halls, Atem was greeted by a huge banquet and thousands of people all there to welcome him. Joyous music began to play and everyone yelled out "Welcome Pharaoh!" Atem was overcome by the shock that he momentarilly froze on the spot. However he quickly snapped out of it and smiled warmly at the crowd before him and said "Thank you everyone! For everything!" and before he could say anything more the crowd broke out into cheering and began the party.
The party lasted many hours….if that's what you could really call them, but anyway the party lasted a long time before finally everyone was full and tired and thoroughly partied out. It wasn't long before everyone had headed back home for the night leaving Atem, Mana, Mahad, Isis and Seth. Seth bid his fairwell before walking over to a beautiful woman with long white hair and stunning blue eyes who's hand he took and the two walked out together. Atem looked stunned as he stared after his cousin. "Was that Kisara? Did he just openly display affection in public!?" Atem couldn't quite get his head around this as he looked to the others to make sure he wasn't just seeing things, but no one seemed disturbed about Seth like he was.
"My Pharaoh" said Isis calmly "we have all been in the afterlife a long time, not that it seems long, but some things do change about people. As you know Seth must have loved Kisara back when we were all alive, when we reached the afterlife he was finally re-united with his love and has since become more caring and loving, and he has no problem with openly stating that he loves her. They've been married for a very, very long time now." Isis concluded smiling at Atem's look of disbelief. "Has that much really changed since I've been gone?"
At this Mahad almost chuckled before wrapping an arm around Isis' slender waist. "That's not the only thing to have changed, Isis and I got married a few years ago now." He said smuggly. Isis blushed deeply while Mahad just laughed at Atem's look of utter disbelief before Atem added sarcastically "And next you'll say that Mana's married!" at this Atem's heart dropped slightly but he didn't notice as he spun around to face Mana who by now was crying from laughing so hard at both Isis' blushing, as well as Atem's reaction to all the news. "Don't tell me you're married now too! Are you telling me everyone got married and I wasn't there for a single one of them!?" Atem both sounded unbelieving of the news and slightly upset.
At this Mana laughed harder. "No Mana's not married!" Mahad snorted. "and to my knowledge no one else that you would know well has either. Pharoah you didn't miss them either, you were there in our hearts." At Mahad's words Atem calmed down, now rather embarrassed by his slight over dramatization of the situation. "Well…I guess a congratulation is in order" Atem said smiling genuinely as he looked at his two friends, he shook Mahad's hand and nodded to Isis. "Thank you my Pharaoh" the couple said in unison.
"Well I think it's about time that we headed off. Welcome back Pharaoh and may Ra bless you and your dreams tonight" Isis said. With that said, Mahad and Isis left, leaving Mana and Atem and a few of the servants scurrying around quickly packing up. "Well this has been quite an eventful first day in the afterlife!" Atem sighed in exhaustion. Mana giggled "Indeed" Atem was just about to bid her goodnight when the young magician suddenly grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the palace entrance. "Mana!? What are you doing? Where are we going?" Atem asked before he began willingly following her lead. Mana giggled "you'll see….This will just make your first day the best!" Atem just smiled and followed her, he knew there was no point in arguing with her, but he did want to go where ever she was taking him because it reminded him of when they were kids and snuck out together. Of course he still didn't have ALL of his memory back completely…but it was enough to remember most of his life now and the rest seemed to be coming back to him now that he was in the afterlife.
-
Not too much later, Mana and Atem ran up a tall sand dune together, where at the top Mana exclaimed happily "We're here!" When Atem also reached the top, he paused as he took in the scene in front of him. The majestic Nile river ran calmly bellow them with the moons reflection it glowed a brilliant blue colour, while the reeds blew softly in the wind like they were dancing to a song. This was only completed by the soft calming sounds of chrickets chirping an Ibis wading through the water and the slight trickle as the water flowed away. It was the most beautiful and inspiring thing that Atem had ever seen. "It's beautiful" was all he could say in a quiet and awed voice. Mana didn't respond but silently sat down in the soft sand and looked out at the scene. Atem soon joined her and the two of them sat in awe at the beauty before them. "I found this place one day when I was trying to pretend I was little again, when we used to sneak out of the palace together and go to random spots and claim them as our own." Mana chuckled at the memory, "Well I think we can safely say that this is ours too…our little secret spot of absolute beauty"
Mana let out a pleasant sigh and Atem turned to look at his companion. His heart suddenly leapt as he looked at her in the moonlight. The way the moonlight bathed her form in an angelic blue glow was mesmerizing, and Atem suddenly realized that Mana was in fact quite beautiful. Why hadn't he noticed before? Come to think of it, they had been together ever since they were little, up to mischief or learning together, playing or just bonding together. They had such a close bond it was almost stronger then family. But what did that mean? He couldn't tear his eyes away from her, not even when she suddenly turned around to face him. "Is something wrong Atem?" she asked suddenly worried that he wasn't as happy about the place as she was. Atem quickly averted his eyes and mentally slapped himself before replying "No nothings wrong! This is perfect Mana. Thank you!" Mana smiled happily and returned to gazing at the river.
The two stayed like this for some time, however neither knew it but they were both thinking the exact same thing. ~ Could we be more then just friends? ~ Unfortunately (or maybe just fortunately) the cold of night began taking its affects on Mana and she began shivering slightly. However she refused to say she was cold and go home because she had waited 3000 years to see Atem again, she wasn't about to waste anytime away from him on his first day. From now on she wouldn't waste a single moment without him. Atem however noticed her shivering and not having a jacket to offer, scooted closer to Mana and wrapped his arms around her, offering his body heat. Mana looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks" she said before resting her head against Atem's chest. "No Mana I should be thanking you…for this…for everything, for just always being there and being my friend, you mean the world to me…" Atem finished his sentence there, not wanting to say anything more until he could get his head around things.
That was easier said then done as the more time they spent in silence together, the stronger the feeling got. WHY NOW! I've never thought about Mana this way before, she's always been there! Just a friend! And I love her as a friend always have, and always will…arrghhh but maybe that's it? Maybe there's still something I don't remember? Maybe we've always been slightly closer then friends? Maybe I just never realized when we were alive?
Deciding that unless he asked Mana this was going to drive him insane, Atem finally broke the silence. "Hey Mana…I still don't quite have all of my memory back yet, but, could you maybe fill me in on a few things?" Mana looked at Atem curiously. "What do you want to know Atem?" she asked encouragingly. A shiver ran down Atem's spine when Mana said his name. "Umm…just…have we always been this close? Or any closer?" Atem said uncertainly. Mana stared at him for a few seconds trying to work out what he was saying, before it dawned on her and a huge blush spread across her face. "Ummm well…we've always been best friends and stuff and we sometimes hug, but no, when we were alive we were never more then friends." To Atem, Mana almost sounded disappointed when she said this. Or maybe he was just hearing things. "But" Mana began uncertainly in a whispered voice "on rare occasions it almost seemed like more…well at least to me it did…" Mana gasped as if she had let something she didn't want him to know slip. "I mean!" she tried to repair what she'd done but came up empty handed. Atem felt slightly intrigued by Mana's comment and his spirits lifted slightly. "What do you mean by that?"
Mana looked away. "Nothing" Atem didn't believe her. Mana always had been a lousy liar. "Come on Mana I'll end up remembering eventually, and besides I don't think I could possibly find anything more surprising then the news of Seth or Mahad and Isis…" Mana looked at him again as if considering what he said before looking away again. "umm…well…promise you wont be mad or ignore me after this!" Atem looked confused "why would I be mad? And you know I would never ignore you! I promise!" Mana shifted slightly in his arms so that she could be facing even further away from him. "Mana?" "You promised okay! But…well…there was this one time…and we were walking along the Nile one night…and you said you didn't know what you'd do without me…and…ummmm…then…ummm…we…ummmmmm……" Mana's mumbling ceased. "go on…" Atem encouraged. "We almost kissed!" Mana said too fast for Atem to catch. "Huh?" he asked. "We almost kissed! Please don't feel awkward and ignore me!" Mana pleaded.
Shock was the first emotion to hit Atem, then a warm feeling of relief began seeping into his body and as Mana mentioned it, Atem could begin to remember the blury memory that was slowly making its way to the surface. "Mana…I could never ignore you! What I said back then still stands true today." Mana slowly turned to face Atem with hope in her eyes. "really?" she questioned. Atem nodded. "would I lie to you? You, Mahad and Yugi are the most important people to me, but all in your own special ways. Yugi like a brother, a partner, Mahad a best friend and companion, and you Mana a best friend and light of my world. You make me feel happy just by being with you, and I could never give that up! never!" Mana's eyes began to tear up and she completely spun around so that she could hug Atem and bury her face in his chest. "you have no idea how much that means to me. These few thousand years I've been so lonely without you, none of the others could fill your spot, I don't know what I would do if you stopped being my friend! Atem…"
Atem had made his decision, he wasn't completely sure that Mana felt exactly the same way, but he was pretty sure she did and that was enough for him to take action. Atem pulled Mana's small frame away from him so that he could look at her, even when she was crying she was beautiful. "Mana…" he whispered as his thumbs wiped away her tears he then closed the distance between them until he could feel her soft lips against his own. Mana didn't respond at first and Atem thought in horror that she didn't return his feelings, however all fears were laid to rest when Mana suddenly clung to him and kissed him back.
"Atem" she whispered his name when the two paused for breath. This sent a shiver of delight down Atem's spine and he claimed her lips again, this time with a rougher and more needy kiss. The two kissed many more times, each time different and special. A satisfied sigh escaped Mana's lips as they stopped kissing for the final time. She leant her head back against Atem's chest where she could still hear his heart pounding a million miles per second and she smiled contentedly. "well I wasn't expecting THAT!" she giggled now in a much cheerier mood. Atem chuckled and laid back in the sand, Mana following and curled back up at his side, with her head still on his chest. "My first day in the Afterlife…well I don't think it could have been any better." He concluded as he stroked Mana's long brown hair. Mana mumbled sleepily in agreement.
It was late at night, if not early morning, they should really head back to the palace, but Atem was feeling tired himself and didn't feel much like carrying Mana all the way back to the palace. Atem looked down at Mana who was now fast asleep with a smile on her face. He then looked from her to the Nile, the beautiful scene that Mana had found and saved just for him. Atem smiled. Who cared if in the morning they would get in trouble for being out during the night, in Atem's eyes nothing could of made this night more perfect, and right now he just wanted to be with the one he loved, and with her asleep in his arms, he could think of no better way to sleep and finish of his first day in the afterlife. But before he drifted to sleep he whispered "I love you Mana". And with that the Pharaoh fell asleep with his princess in his arms. He was certainly going to enjoy the afterlife.