A/N: Here is the sequel to my second Night At The Museum fanfic Always Yours. Hopefully you, the readers will enjoy it. Remember, I sadly do not own NATM or the characters. Constructive criticism is encouraged!
Chapter One
"Zahra, would you come downstairs for breakfast?" I was one lucky woman indeed. I was happily married with a beautiful, but very stubborn daughter. A few months after Zahra had been born, I retired as a night guard to be a full time stay at home mom. Akhmenrah continued on at the museum. We had tried for a second child, hoping to provide our daughter with a sibling to play with, but health issues had quickly crushed that dream, leaving me unable to carry a second child.
"Mum, when will I be able to go to the museum again? I want to see the miniatures." Now that Zahra was twelve, almost thirteen, Akhmenrah and I had discussed when we could reveal everything to her. Not just the fact that the museum comes to life at night, but the fact that she herself was a Princess by birth.
"Well, we'll wait for your father to get home before I decide." Within moments, Akhmenrah came in. He sat down across from me, with Zahra sitting in her usual spot.
"Well Zahra, you're almost thirteen and your mother and I have been discussing this for a while, and we've decided that you're old enough to come to the museum at night. However, you'll only be coming on Friday and Saturday nights during the school year."
"Finally! I've been begging you for months to take me. I don't get what's so exciting about a museum at night though." Her father and I exchanged a 'I know something you don't' glance at each other.
"Well, you'll understand when you get there. Hurry up, Taylor will be here to pick you up for school." Taylor had been my daughter's best friend since preschool, and they were like twins. The girls were inseperable.
"Alright. See you when I get back. Love you." I smiled as I waved her and Taylor off.
"I love you too. Have a good day." Once Zahra was out of earshot, we started talking.
"How do you think she'll take everything?" Akhmenrah smiled.
"Zahra's a smart girl. She'll do fine. No doubt she'll be very surprised though. Maybe even angry."
"Why would she be angry?" I asked curiously.
"We've hidden this from her for almost thirteen years. She'll wonder why we didn't tell her sooner."
"Then we'll have to tell her that we wanted to make sure she was old enough to keep the secret." The entire day had gone by in a blur. Since both of my parents had died eleven years ago, it was hard to not be able to turn to my mother for emotional support, but I knew she would always be watching over us.
"Mum, I'm home!"
"I'm in the kitchen!" Zahra really hadn't changed much since she was a baby.
"How was school?"
"Boring as always. We've started studying Ancient Egypt in history class, so that's pretty cool. I never thought that one point in time could be filled with so much drama."
"Well, back then, everyone was wanting power and willing to do whatever it took to get it." I said, placing dinner on the table.
"I always thought high school was bad." I nodded.
"Eat up, you've got a long night ahead of you." Zahra was excited at getting to finally come to the museum at night, she couldn't stop talking about it. Looking at her now, Kahmunrah had been right along. She really was a great beauty.
"Get some stuff together that you want to take. You'll need it." Though Zahra was confused as to what I meant, she did as I told her to do. Coming downstairs, I was ready to go.
"Ready?" Zahra nodded.
"Yeah, I'm ready." We got into the car and drove to the museum. Zahra, like myself had a passion for history. My mother always said that Zahra would turn out just like me. Who knew she would have been so right? When we got inside, I herded Zahra out to the lobby to sit at the front desk. I placed a blindfold over her eyes.
"Mum, what's all this for?"
"Just trust me, alright? It's going to be a great surprise." I missed being able to come to the museum. This place held a lot of memories for me. When everyone woke up, I motioned for Rexy to be quiet, which he did, but he did sniff my daughter curiously. I took the blindfold off.
"Alright, you can open your eyes."
"Mom, I – I don't understand how all of this possible!" Rexy showed the usual signs of wanting to play, so I showed Zahra that he liked to play fetch with one of his ribs.
"Zahra, come with me. I have someone I want you to meet." We headed upstairs to the museum's Egyptian wing, passing several other exhibits along the way. Zahra was able to get along with everyone quite easily. As we entered the room, memories of my time here as night guard came flooding back to me. The jackal guards recognized me and allowed me entrance.
"Zahra, this is cause of everything that's going on."
"I didn't know the tablet of Akhmenrah was so powerful. I always thought it was just a legend."
"Well, there's a lot more to this gold tablet than just looking nice." Akhmenrah came back. The ceremonial robes he wore so often still fit him perfectly. I had to resist the temptation of getting naughty.
"Well, Zahra there's a good reason why your father and I waited so long to bring you here." She blinked.
"I would hope so." I turned to Akhmenrah.
"Where's Kahmunrah? I thought he would be here by now."
"He said he needed to get something." Just as Akhmenrah finished that sentence, his brother showed up.
"How have you been? It's been far too long."
"Zahra certainly keeps me busy." I turned back to my daughter. I was going to be the one to tell her.
"So what's up?"
"Zahra, now, you need to promise that you'll keep secret what I'm about to tell you." She nodded. If there was one thing Zahra was good at besides playing soccer, it was keeping secrets.
"Okay, what's the big secret?"
"Well, this will come as a shock to you, but you are a Princess of Egypt by birth. I'm only royal by marriage. You are royal by blood." Her mouth dropped open.
"Mum, you're not serious are you?"
"She's very serious. This is why we waited so long to tell you. We wanted to be sure you could keep the secret." After Zahra was allowed to get over the shock of being told she was a Princess, we explained everything else to her.
"I have got to be the luckiest kid on earth. Not only is my father a former Pharaoh, I'm a Princess!"
"This is something that needs to be kept secret though. Nobody can know, not even Taylor."
"Oh." There was a moment of silence.
"I know this is a lot to take in on your first night here, but your father and I thought you're old enough to handle the truth now that you're almost thirteen." Once I had finished explaining everything, I let Zahra go wander off on her own. When I went to the lobby a few minutes later, I saw she had started a soccer game.
"How did you get so good?" I saw that Sacagawea had become friends with her.
"I play on my school team. It's tough, but it's something I enjoy." Now that I thought about it, I knew my daughter's life would never be the same. However, to my surprise, Zahra did not turn into a spoiled brat since finding out she was a Princess, but it seemed to change her into wanting to help others more.
"It's what Princesses do." She told me when I asked her about it. True to her nature, she kept the secret. Zahra was always a very sweet child, thinking of others instead of thinking of herself. That morning, I had presented her with a new pair of mittens for the cold weather that was coming in. However, when she got home, she didn't have them.
"Zahra, where are those mittens I gave you?"
"Oh, those? I gave them to a kid whose mum couldn't get a good pair. He needed them more than I did." I gave her a hug, grateful to have such a thoughtful child.
"I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks. Mum, can Taylor stay here for a bit? She's having problems at home and doesn't feel safe there." I knew that Taylor's parents weren't the greatest, but since her mother had gotten that new boyfriend, that girl's personality changed a great deal.
"Sure, what's up with her?" Zahra only gave me a few details, but they were enough for me to agree to let her stay with us.
"Zahra, if even half of what you told me is true, any responsible person wouldn't leave Taylor where she is now." Quickly grabbing the keys to the car, Zahra and I left. She had sent Taylor a text message, telling her to grab some clothes and meet her at Central Park, across from the museum. When I saw her, I didn't like what I saw. She had a black eye, a cut on her cheek and surely had many more bruises.
"Thanks for doing this."
"No problem. You're safe now, and any responsible adult wouldn't leave you in that dump that your mother calls a house."
"Mum, can Taylor come to the museum tonight? That way we can keep an eye on her."
"Well, we'll see what your father thinks of it, but I see no reason why not."
"I've never been to the museum before." Taylor was becoming a bit withdrawn. When we got back, I sat her down and asked her what happened.
"I know it'll be hard to talk about, but I need to know what happened so we can get the police involved and get you away from your mother." Part of me wished I hadn't asked her that question.
"I'd get beaten for getting food from the fridge and my mum's boyfriend put his hands in places he shouldn't have." I wanted to be sick. Physical abuse AND sexual molestation? No child should ever have to go through that. I called the police, who came over and took statements from both girls, and a doctor had also been brought in to examine Taylor.
"Well doctor? Are the signs there?" The lead police officer asked.
"The signs are there. That poor girl has been sexually molested, no doubt about it." We were then left alone, and I wasn't sure what to do.
"Taylor, you're coming to the museum tonight. I'm not leaving you here on your own, I won't risk it."
"Thanks for everything." I gave her a hug.
"No problem. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Taylor was grateful for my help. I could tell. Zahra sat with her until Akhmenrah came home.
"Taylor, trust me when I say you'll love the museum. It's a lot of fun." Taylor seemed a little unsure, but she had never been into history like Zahra was, and enjoyed designing clothes. I guess opposites really did attract.
"Zahra, how much fun could this museum be, anyway?"
"Just trust me. However, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone about what you see, except for me and my parents." The two girls pinky-swore on that.
"Zahra, go show Taylor around whilst I take care of some other things."
"Sure, mum. Alright, where should we start?"
"That tablet is glowing." Taylor mentioned casually.
"Yeah, it does that. I'll take you in for a closer look." Taylor was of course surprised that the statues were moving. Museum exhibits didn't do that!
"You see Taylor, this tablet brings the exhibits in the museum to life at night. However, nobody can be outside when the sun comes up or they turn to dust."
"Wicked. Can it do other stuff?"
"According to what my father told me, the tablet can also bring the dead back to life and open a gate to the underworld."
"How come you never told me?"
"Taylor, believe me, I wanted to. However, I only found out about this recently myself, and there's more." The other girl blinked.
"What do you mean more?"
"Before I tell you, promise me you won't tell anyone besides my parents."
"I promise. So, what is it?"
"Well, this will come as a shock to you, but my father Akhmenrah was at one point on display here. He was a Pharaoh during the 4th dynasty in Egypt, and he and my mother used the tablet's powers to make him alive again. Due to that, my mother is a Princess by marriage and I am a Princess by birth." Taylor just couldn't believe it. Her only friend, a Princess?! She would have never guessed.
"Zahra, I-I don't know what to say."
"I was pretty shocked to, even a bit angry because this was kept from me. My parents wanted to be sure I could keep the secret."
"I could see why." The two friends began a card game.
"I guess living with you will be really cool. At least I'm away from my mother."
"Yeah. Hopefully she'll go to jail for what she did." Several long games were played and several hours passed, as Zahra explained the 'rules' of the museum to her only friend.
"Taylor, don't let this change anything. You don't have to act any differently to me because I'm royalty."
"You're still you."
"Thanks."
"That's what friends are for." The two girls then began discussing the class trip on Monday to the museum.
"It'll be interesting to see how many people even bother listening. Most people find the museum boring."
"Taylor, you thought that for quite a while." Zahra also had a sarcastic element to her personality.
"Yeah, and now I know the truth. I wonder how long it'll take our teacher to start telling Tara off for her behavior." Tara was the most popular girl at their high school, and ever since the first day of classes, she had singled Zahra and Taylor out because they were different. Then again, Zahra was the more 'exotic' of the two.
"Tara is just a very insecure person. That's why she keeps picking on us."
"Yeah, but don't forget both of your parents are from Egypt, so you're really different." At that moment, Zahra felt a splitting headache starting. Grabbing her bag, she searched for something to deal with the pain.
"Are you okay? You're a little pale."
"Just a bad headache." Checking her phone, it was less than five minutes until sunrise.
"Come on, it's almost sunrise." The two girls went down to the lobby, and arrived just as the exhibits went to sleep for the day.
Zahra could sense there was something off about the tablet, but she wasn't sure what it was.