Check Yes Juliet!
Character/Pairing: Vaseshipping (Atem x Mana)
Universe: Canon for all we know
Timeline: Ancient Egypt, when Mana and Atem were children
Disclaimer: I own neither the show YuGiOh, nor the song "Check Yes, Juliet!". Credit goes to their respective owners.
I won't go until you come outside
Check yes Juliet! Kill the limbo
I'll keep tossing rocks at your window
There's no turning back for us tonight
"Mana, you're going to get us in trouble… Or worse!"
"So what? At least we'll go down LAUGHING!" Mana squealed, as she pulled Atem after her.
It had been the middle of the night, when the young prince had awoken to the sound of something small hitting the floor He got out of the bed to find that the sound had come from small pebbles. Someone must have thrown them into his room.
Curious, Atem had walked to the balcony, to find a very awake Mana standing outside.
"Psssht, Atem! Atem!", she had half whispered, half yelled. "C'mon down here, I want to show you something!"
"Mana!" he had called out, before realizing his mistake. "What are you doing here? You'll get into trouble when they find you!"
"Doesn't matter. Now get down! Hurry, before Mahad realizes I'm here!"
His best friend telling him to sneak out of the castle, in the middle of the night to show him something but refusing to tell him what?
There was no way he could have refused.
And that's how the two of them got out there. running through the desert, Mana pulling Atem after her, giggling like the little girl she was, wondering if they could outrun the Pharao's guards and priests this time.
Probably not, but neither of the two wanted to think about that. It was fun, a game, so to speak. If you managed to lose the guards before they got to you, you won. If they managed to catch you, well…
There was always a next time, right?
There was no sound of anyone following them yet, but they still ran, laughing and holding onto each other's hands.
Atem turned his head to see if anyone was following them, but Mana just tucked at his hand and ran faster. "Don't worry! This is just another adventure for us, right?"
"Ad-adventure?" He was already out of his breath. Apparently, Mana, who was far used to running from Guards (Or Mahad, really), was in better shape than he was.
"Sure! 'The Fabutastical Adventures of Mana-chan and her best friend The Prince'. How's that sound?"
His answer was quiet laughter.
Ever since he could remember, Mana had a love for anything dangerous and adventurous. The first time she entered the desert, when she was only seven. Atem still remembered the dry throat and stomach-clenching fear he felt when he had watched her small frame disappear in the sand.
The day before he had to promise her not to tell anyone, as he was the only one she had told her plan to. She trusted him and he had not wanted to let her down.
She was gone for the entire day, and the following night, and half of the day after that.
Atem had never been so scared in his entire life before.
It was when he considered telling Mahad about where Mana had gone, when she was brought in by a castle guard, torn clothes and dirty, but very much alive and grinning like the adorable idiot she was.
"It's amazing, Atem! I can't say anything about you know what right now, but it's amazing!"
And she had laughed.
And he had laughed too, because this was Mana, and she was safe and she was laughing and she was happy.
Mana had gotten a good scolding, people had been worried and wasn't she a girl? She should know better than to return home torn and dirty.
And Mana, being Mana had looked guilty, apologized, only to sneak out again the following night.
After that, her disappearing acts had been shorter and less frequent. Atem couldn't understand what she found so fascinating about the desert (it was just a lot of sand, and they had that in the city, too), but she could be scary when she wanted something, and so he had promised to cover for her as long as she promised to return safe and sound.
"C'mon, hair-boy, stop being so slow and hurry up!" Mana called over her shoulder. She was already scrambling up another sand dune, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
She waited for him on top of the dune, hooked an arm around his and tugged at him, which caused him to nearly trip and fall over. "Look," she grinned, pointing to what looked like the ruins of an old temple. "That's where we're going."
She ran ahead, while Atem followed her in smaller steps. How had he not known there was something like this out here? He guessed it was because no one really knew. They all paid great effort to teach him how to lead people, how to act like the son of Ra that he was supposed to be, but no one really knew anything about what really happened outside of the protecting walls of the city.
Mana knew.
She knew, she saw it every day, and that was probably why she was so fascinated by it.
Because life out here was real, you could touch it and see it, and know it was there. This wasn't some ideal form of life that you learned about, it was what was true.
Smiling, Atem shook his head and vowed to himself that he would be a Pharao that would never forget about the situation outside of his home. He would protect not just the people he personally held dear, but the loved ones of his loved ones and their loved ones as well.
He would protect everyone, because everyone deserved protecting.
Mana was waiting for him in the ruins. Painted in the light of dawn, she looked older than her ten years and she smiled at him like life, because life was good, and something worth protecting.
Grabbing his hand, she pulled him towards some sort of pillar. They climbed up and sat on a small remaining part of roof.
"Look over there!" Mana told him, and sqeezed his hand affectionately. His eyes followed the direction she pointed to widened.
In the east, the sun was beginning to rise, colors like pink, purple and turquoise spread high into the sky, where a few remaining stars could be seen, while the sun itself cast a golden glow on the earth.
It looked truly beautiful.
"Ra must really love you, Atem. He gave you such a beautiful day."
He only nodded, not taking his eyes off of the sight in front of him.
Leaning her head onto his shoulder, Mana smiled. "You know, I wouldn't mind staying here, forever."
"Me neither, Mana." He put an arm around her shoulders. "Me neither…"