Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
Title: Place To Begin
Romance: Rishid x Isis
Word Count: 2,677
Genre: Friendship, Family, Humor, Romance||Rated: PG-13
Note: The romance in this sort of small, but I honestly couldn't bring myself to write it any other way.
Feedback: All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Summary: In some ways, their lives ended when they were children. Now it's time to begin anew. The best place is at the beginning.
Battle City was over. That wasn't all that had ended that day, however. The exile of the tomb keepers had as well. When Malik removed his shirt to reveal the carvings on his back to the Pharaoh their purpose was satisfied.
Isis almost couldn't believe it had happened in the first place. Some part of her was afraid to sleep, concerned if she did that when she woke up, it would have all been a dream. Her reunited family would no longer exist and she would once again live with the threat of losing her brother to his own inner darkness.
We still can't stay here forever. As tempting as the prospect was, they would have to return to Cairo sooner or later. Isis had her job to take care of there and Rishid and Malik had lives to build, as well as the remnants of their old ones to settle.
She glanced at the two of them as they walked a few steps ahead of her. She could hear them clearly and a smile tugged at her lips.
"I've got to remember to get my motorcycle," Malik said. "I didn't tell them what to do with it and they wouldn't have touched it without my permission." There was a curious mix of pride and regret in his tone. Severing his link with the Ghouls would take time, but Isis had faith they would be able to do it.
"I could get it for you, Master Malik." Rishid's voice hadn't changed at all since the last time they spoke to one another, before all of this happened. Still that perfect tone of respect, still giving up everything for Malik.
Isis wasn't certain what she expected from her brother, but to see him shake his head and smile a little wasn't it. "I'll do it, Rishid. You've done enough for me."
He's grown up. She thought most of it happened in the last two days. Being forced from one's body and realizing that one's life had been based on a lie would have that kind of effect, she thought. As much as seeing someone defy destiny itself to seize victory from the jaws of defeat can.
Malik glanced back toward her and she smiled, seeing traces of the cheerful boy he'd been before that fatal birthday in his eyes. "When do we have to leave, sister?" She suspected that he wanted the answer to be 'not very soon'.
"We don't have to rush. I don't have to take the exhibit back for another two weeks." She could conduct most of her work long-distance as well. They could take time to enjoy themselves. She liked the way his smile widened at her reply. "What are you going to do when we get there, Malik?"
"I don't know." Malik hesitated only a few moments in his answer. "I can't exactly do what I was before." One hand stole behind his back to rub at the scars hidden once more by his shirt.
She took the extra steps necessary to touch his hand with her fingertips. "We'll find something." Rishid's hand covered hers and she smiled up at him.
"She's right, Master Malik." He smiled as well, and Isis wondered why that sent a shiver through her. It hadn't ever happened before. "Perhaps you can go to school."
Malik made a face at that as both of them dropped their hands. Isis thought she could still feel Rishid's fingers on her own and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. This was her family. That was all.
"It might not be a bad idea." She'd taken several classes after they'd left the tombs herself, after all. At the least, it could help him figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
"I haven't needed to go to school before. Why should I start now?" Malik grumbled, kicking at some of the rocks in the road. Isis couldn't help but smile. This was the part of having a family she'd missed all of those years since Malik and Rishid left her behind to go form the Ghouls.
"We can decide that once we get home," she said, not wanting to get Malik into a bad mood. Then something else occurred to her. "Would you two come stay at the hotel with me until we leave?"
Malik blinked a little as he lifted his head to look at her. "I thought we would stay on the boat." He looked over at Rishid, who shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we could."
She nodded; there was no need to rush back though. There was so much in Domino to see and all of them wanted to see it. "Where do you want to go next?" Malik deserved to choose their path; he'd sacrificed so much to gain this freedom, it was the least that she could do for him.
Malik glanced at the signs and pointed; so far as she could tell what he chose was by random chance alone. "That way!" Isis nodded and turned her steps that way. This appeared to be a business district of some kind, with stores and shops of every kind filling the streets. There were vendors and vending machines on the sidewalks, catering to anyone who might have a hunger or thirst of almost any kind.
"Would you like a drink?" Rishid stepped over to one of the vending machines and pulled out a few coins even as he asked the question. Isis nodded, as did Malik, and soon all three had a cold drink.
"Thank you, Rishid," Isis replied, glancing down at the chilled can in her hands. He remembered. It wasn't surprising that Rishid knew what Malik preferred to drink. What surprised her, though perhaps it shouldn't have, was that he remembered hers as well.
"My pleasure." She'd missed seeing his smile. None of them had had much to smile about the last few years. She liked the idea of that changing.
Malik strolled along, his focus diverging from his drink to the stores all around. Isis wondered what was going through his mind. Not that long ago, he would've taken anything he wanted from these places, she suspected. Now what would he do if he saw something he liked?
"Big sister!" Malik gestured her over and she came to see what he was looking at. "What're those?" She peered into the shop window he'd stopped in front of and smiled.
"You haven't seen plushies before?" She had to admit they were adorable, if not quite her style. Malik blinked a little, then held his head up high.
"Of course I have. I just never paid any attention to them." She couldn't be sure if he were telling the truth or not. From the way he stared at them, she thought he might be.
She glanced at the hours embossed on the door, then at a clock set just above them. "We can come back tomorrow if you want. They're closed today."
"Maybe." Malik shrugged and started along the street again. "What are they for, anyway?"
"They're toys." Rishid replied in his quiet voice. "Children have them usually."
Malik made a face at that. "No, thanks. I'm not a child." He kept on walking, sipping at his drink, as Isis and Rishid exchanged a quick amused glance. Isis made a note to come back at some point before they left. Malik hadn't ever had the chance to be a child. It was only fair that he have a little something.
They hadn't gone very far down the street when children's voices caught all of their attention. "Come on! You can get it, can't you?" A boy who looked to be about ten shouted at one of his companions, who was hunched over the controls of a machine. Isis wasn't close enough to see what kind it was, though the sides of the machine showed various Duel Monster images. The Blue Eyes White Dragon featured the clearest, along with the KaibaCorp logo.
The boy at the controls slumped down, his defeat sending a groan throughout the group of his friends. "Come on, let's go," he grumbled, shuffling away from the machine. "I didn't really want one anyway."
Once the kids were gone, Isis found herself heading that way, curious to see just what was so fascinating. Her lips twitched once she was close enough to see what it was. "Malik, Rishid. Come and look."
All was quiet for a few moments as they drew up to look at the machine and what it held. Then Malik laughed and shook his head. "Did you notice there aren't any Blue Eyes White Dragons in there?"
"Of course not." Isis smiled at that. She hadn't until Malik pointed out, but it was true. "All true Blue Eyes belong to Kaiba." She would never forget the bond between them again.
The machine held hundreds of plushies, each one representing a different Duel Monster. She saw some of her own monsters in there, as well as ones she'd fought against in her quest to gain her locater cards. She glanced at Malik, her lips parted to ask a question that died as soon as she saw him step up to the machine, a coin in his hand. She closed her mouth and watched in amusement as he started to work the controls, the hook inside moving up and down, side to side, as Malik strained to catch one of the toys.
"I've got it!" Malik declared moments later as the hook snatched onto a Gravekeeper's Chief. He moved the controls back, eyes bright and shining, and Isis glanced at Rishid, pleased to see the same proud smile on him that she wore. "Damn it!" She looked back to see the plushy falling back down into the pile and the hook going back to the ready position, Malik's time being up.
Malik glowered at the machine and stalked away from it, folding his arms over his chest. "I didn't really want one anyway." He'd scarcely stepped aside before Rishid took his place, sliding a coin of his own into the slot. "You don't have to do that, Rishid."
Isis wasn't surprised when Rishid said nothing at all, only worked the controls with the same precision that he dueled. Or did anything else, she recalled. She watched as the hook dipped down into the pile of toys and came back up with one snagged onto the end of it.
With infinite care, he drew it back to the waiting hole and managed to drop it down, then tugged it out and looked at it. It was humanoid, with greenish white skin, white wings, and a purple dress. Isis eyed it curiously; she couldn't remember having seen the monster's card before, yet it was familiar to her all the same.
Rishid glanced at it, then at Malik, who shrugged some. "It's not really me," the youngest sibling declared, folding his arms over his chest and trying hard to avoid looking at the plushies still available. Rishid fought hard not to smile and turned toward Isis, holding the small toy out without another word.
She stared at it before reaching out to take it. "Thank you, Rishid." She hadn't ever had a gift like that before. Most of her life had focused around learning for one reason or another, not around playing with toys. She turned it over and over and spied a small tag on the doll's neck.
"Spiria," she murmured, reading it. "I don't think I've seen this monster at all." And still that annoying sense of familiarity tugged at her mind. She tucked it under her arm; when she returned to the hotel she could check the internet and find out what the card was like. Perhaps she'd even acquire one for her deck, if it fit.
Assuming she ever dueled again. She still hadn't made up her mind about that. Using her Millennium Item in her duel against Kaiba still set wrong in her heart, even after her determination to devote herself to the Gods as penance.
"She reminds me of you." Rishid's voice was, as always, quiet and subdued. He'd become so very good over the years at melting into the shadows, keeping himself out of sight, waiting patiently for Malik's needs to become evident so he could serve them.
I wonder what our lives would have been like without him. It wasn't something she wanted to think about very much. Malik's darkness would have destroyed them all without Rishid to keep it in check. The thought sent a shudder down her spine.
"Miss Isis?" She glanced up at her name and smiled a little at him.
"You don't have to call me that. Just Isis will do." They were family after all. She didn't want her brother to call her by anything but her name. Either of her brothers. "And what do you mean, she reminds you of me?"
His muscular shoulders rippled as he shrugged once again. "She just does. As if she's a part of you."
Isis glanced down at the plushy. Perhaps that wasn't such a wrong conception. "Thank you for her. I'll take very good care of her."
"I know you will." Rishid took a drink from the can he'd bought earlier, reminding Isis of her own. It was a little warmer now, but she drank it anyway. "We both missed you." His gaze flickered over to where Malik stood staring at the distant sunset, his blond hair tinged red by it. "He never wanted to admit it, of course."
"I'm not surprised." Malik admitting anything of that sort would almost never happen. That much hadn't changed about him. "I missed you too." She wanted to say something else, how she'd missed his strong presence in her life every bit as much as she'd missed Malik's vibrant passion for life itself. The words failed to rise, however, and she settled for a comforting smile.
Rishid returned the smile and she was struck all over again by how good it was to have both of them back in her life. There was so much rebuilding to accomplish between them and she thought they'd made a good start already. In some ways it was almost as if they were children again. Perhaps a plushy wasn't such a bad way to start this new life.
Questions nudged at her mind, but she didn't ask any of them. It was good enough just to stand here with him and enjoy their drinks together. She took a few steps away and he came with her, neither of them moving too far from Malik, who moved back toward the machine, probably to stare at the contents a little more in an attempt to convince himself he didn't want anything from in there.
We should go back to the hotel soon. Even knowing they could do this again tomorrow didn't make her eager to end their walk together just yet. Everything just felt right.
"All right, that's it!" Malik's shout broke through the spell of silence. Isis and Rishid looked toward him, and Isis chuckled at what they saw. Malik once more stood before the machine, a handful of coins scattered where he could easily reach them, and shook the controls with all of his strength. "Give me one of those things or else!"
Rishid looked toward her. "Should we bother him?" Hints of amusement colored his voice now, and Isis suspected hers sounded the same when she replied.
"I don't think so. I think he's enjoying himself." There was no harm in him threatening an innocent grab machine, after all. "At least for now." There was a bench not that far from the machine, she saw now, and she went to sit down there. "We can wait until he's done."
Rishid sat down next to her and together the two of them watched the sun go down, as Malik filled the air with curses for the machine…and an eventual shout of triumph as he acquired a Kuriboh plushy of his very own.
The End