Written for Encourageshipping (DM Spiritshipping) Week 2016
It wasn't every night, or even often. Anzu had no control over when they would meet, and when she had asked, the boys said they didn't know how they could meet like this, either. But Anzu wasn't going to complain – she was grateful for these rare moments together.
Tonight, they stood on the balcony attached to what Anzu assumed was Atem's room in his palace. The sky was incredibly clear, the stars illuminating their faces. Atem gave her and Yuugi a gentle smile.
"It's good to see you," he said. "I don't think we've talked since before you two finally got married."
"Yeah, how'd you know about that, anyway? We got your wedding presents…" Anzu said.
"It was a little difficult to explain to the guests why Black Magician Girl showed up with a bunch of things that looked like they belonged in a museum," Yuugi added.
"You didn't give those to a museum, did you? Those were for you."
"No, we didn't," said Anzu.
"We kept them, but we did have to deal with a lot of questions and some investigation into their origins," Yuugi said.
"Ah, sorry for causing you guys so much trouble!"
"It's alright," Yuugi and Anzu said together.
"They were lovely gifts, thank you for them," Anzu added.
"But is it really okay for you to do something like that?" Yuugi asked, concerned. "I mean, you really aren't supposed to interact with the living, it seems like something like that would break some rule of the universe or something…" Atem shrugged.
"I haven't gotten any trouble for it. And we're allowed to meet in this way. So I think it's fine." He paused. "Do you want to come inside?" he asked.
Anzu and Yuugi looked at each other, and shrugged. They followed Atem into the room. It looked much as Anzu expected the bedroom of a Pharaoh to look like, lavish and beautiful. There were, however, some things that stuck out, but came as no real surprise: games, both modern and old, were stacked in a set of shelves. A duel disk was sitting on top of a desk, next to a computer.
"You have a lot of cool games, other me!" Yuugi had taken an interest in the content on the shelves.
"Yeah! Do you want to play some?" Atem asked eagerly. Anzu suspected that it had been a while since Atem had had a challenging opponent. Yuugi agreed, to no surprise.
"Do you want to play too, Anzu?" Yuugi asked.
"No, that's alright. I'll just watch."
The boys set up a game on the large bed, and got up on it, sitting cross-legged on either side. Anzu also sat on the bed, and leaned against Yuugi as he played. Atem asked them questions about how things were as he played.
"I wish you could be with us," Anzu said at one point. "I wish we didn't have to be apart." Atem smiled sadly.
"You're better off without me, anyway. I caused you nothing but trouble."
"That's not true!" both Yuugi and Anzu shouted.
"It is…you wouldn't have had half the problems that you did if it weren't for me."
"Don't be an idiot."
"You made our lives so much better, other me!"
"And even if it was true, we love you. I'll take the trouble for that."
"Me too," Yuugi agreed. Atem held up his hands.
"Alright, alright. I guess I'm never going to convince you, am I?"
"No."
A haziness appeared at the edge of Anzu's vision. The details of the room started to blur. She turned and looked out towards the balcony, at the sky beginning to lighten with the approaching dawn. Her heart sank.
"I think I'm starting to wake up," Anzu said. The room was slowly dissolving around her. The feeling of the bed beneath her vanished, the only solid feeling remaining was Yuugi's hand in hers. She knew that he was probably waking up too.
"Until next time, then. Take care, Anzu, partner."
