Hello everyone! I'm back with the "Worlds Apart" sequel. Thank you again for supporting that portion of Marik and Mimiki's story. If you haven't done so, please read "Worlds Apart", as there are parts in here that'll reference that story and of course, that story tells about their relationship. There will also be a bit of Kaiba/OC romance in here too. This is taking place during Battle City and I will be mixing in components from the Japanese and English versions, along with some parts of the manga.

If you want to see art from both stories, please check out my DeviantArt! I'll be posting art as the story progresses.

Please enjoy Kizuna and let me know what you think by reviewing! :)

Disclaimer: I don't Yu-Gi-Oh! or it's characters. I own my characters only.

Chapter 1

Within Arm's Reach

A black SUV drove steadily on the main street and made its way into a residential area. A young teenager sat in the passenger seat with her chin propped in her hand, not saying a word to the driver as she looked out the window. The SUV pulled into the driveway and finally stopped. They both were happy that their travels had finally come to an end, but the girl couldn't say that she was completely happy with the outcome. The man finally looked at her with a sad gaze. He knew that his daughter's grief was his fault.

"I'm sorry Mimiki. I wish that this turned out better than you had hoped." he said sadly.

Mimiki glanced at her father before returning her gaze to their house. She stretched before letting out a yawn and grabbed her backpack.

"It's okay, dad." she said as she got out the car and closed the door.

Masahiro grew worried about his daughter. He didn't think that the aftermath of leaving Egypt would've affected her this greatly and for this long. He watched her walk tiredly to the front door.

"I'll bring your luggage up to your room in a minute, Mimi."

Mimiki responded with a thumbs up and stepped into the house. It was quiet inside and no one had noticed their arrival yet, which she was thankful for and made her way upstairs to her room.

Mimiki sat her backpack on the floor, yanked her socks off and skydived onto her bed. The soft mattress and blue fleece blanket felt good on her skin as she wrapped herself in it. She had just returned from a week long trip to Egypt earlier that day with her father and the trip had taken its toll on her.

'Dammit, I'm so tired…' she thought. 'I wish that I had been selected for that first class upgrade on the way back home, not the other way around…that flatbed seat would've been really nice!'

To add to her exhaustion, she had gone to Duelist Kingdom two weeks prior with her friends. Yugi had invited her to come along with the rest of the gang and even tried to persuade her to compete, but she decided to only tag along for support. She was happy that she didn't compete after all due to the crazy situations they ended up in all thanks to Maximilian Pegasus—and she couldn't forget other characters like Bandit Keith and the Paradox Brothers. The craziness, along with other things she had to deal with stressed her out. The crazy duels and their even crazier duelists were the icing on the cake that drove her to Insanity Lane.

Mimiki was a good duelist and had proven her skill when she battled against her classmates, crediting Dark Magician Girl and along with her magic and water themed deck with her victories. Duel Monsters was popular at school before she moved to Egypt and was still going strong after she moved back home. She figured if she had competed in Duelist Kingdom, she could've earned third or fourth place.

She laughed at reminiscing her duels at school during breaks, especially when she dueled Joey. She found their duels to be quite humorous, especially when he thought he'd always back her into a corner and she ended up turning the tables around. She had also learned a lot by watching the King of Games and his anti-hero rival, Kaiba.

She smiled again when she thought back to the times when she used to use his ignorance of the game to win duels. That smile quickly turned into a frown and furrowed eyebrows. She whimpered quietly as a couple of tears fell down her cheeks. She grabbed a picture frame from her nightstand and sighed. It was a picture of the two of them from her birthday party.

'Marik…'

It had been three and a half years since Mimiki had moved back home from Egypt. Three and a half long years. She hadn't seen or heard from him since. She remembered the look on his face when he caught up to her in the airport. That look of sadness and pain she saw when he tried to reach for her at the security line was still etched into her brain. She closed her eyes hard and remembered all of the wonderful times they shared together instead of remembering the negative ones. That proved pointless when her mind soon wandered to the last thing he had said to her before she had to go through security:

"I love you Mimi!"

She didn't come to terms with her feelings for him back then, as she was unaware of how she truly felt. She didn't know how to handle the situation, she had never been in love before. Sure, she had crushes on some boys during her younger years, but the feelings she had for them didn't compare. She knew that her feelings were strong for him and he made a move on her heart. Mimiki blushed at the memories of the few kisses they had shared long ago.

She sighed and started to cry again. When her father announced that he had to take a week long business trip to Egypt, she jumped at the chance to go with him and begged to go. While he worked, she went back to the desert to find the Ishtars, but no one was to be found in their compound. The place looked as if it was abandoned some time ago; the corridors were dirty and filled with patches of sand, cobwebs were forming in abundance and some belongings were missing.

Her heart broke when her dream of seeing him was shattered. Three and a half years had passed, what should she have expected? Marik didn't live in an actual house, so it wasn't as if she could contact him via snail mail, phone or Skype. Even a search at the markets where they first met and the oasis proved fruitless. She could see the memories of them playing out before her eyes when she visited those areas, but instead of making her smile, they brought her grief. The term 'so close, yet so far away' was no further from the truth to her.

She wiped more tears away and decided that she should get some rest. She placed the beloved picture back on the nightstand and grabbed her cellphone from her backpack that had displayed 5:50 PM on the touchscreen. She decided that a nap was definitely in order. She sat the phone next to the picture frame, fluffed her pillow, got comfortable and started to drift off to sleep until there was a knock at the door. Mimiki growled in annoyance and covered her head with her blanket.

'I haven't been home for 15 minutes and someone is already bothering me!'

It could've been her little brother and sister. Sure they hadn't seen each other in a while, but didn't they know the horrors of jet lag from an international trip? The door quickly opened to reveal a tall teenage girl around the same age as her. She had tan skin, medium length dark brown hair and teal eyes. She had long, slender legs and looked like a model. She snickered at Mimiki being wrapped in her blanket and quickly jumped on her. Mimiki let out a loud yelp as she felt her body fly and landed with a thud.

"Mimi! You're finally back!"

Mimiki groaned as she rubbed her head. She quickly proceeded to shove the girl off of the bed and glared.

"What the hell, Kakayu?!"

Kakayu snickered and laughed. She quickly sat back on the bed. "Sorry, but I've been wanting to do that for a while. It was a tad boring without you here. Kind of missed you."

'Yeah and I missed not having anyone to bother me while I'm trying to sleep!'

"I missed you too."

Kakayu smiled and settled in a bit more while grabbing an extra pillow. "So you know why I'm here. You have to tell me about your trip! How was Egypt? Did you find him?" she asked with a glimmer of hope.

Mimiki sat up and looked at her somberly. She was hoping she wouldn't have to relive the disappointment of her trip so soon. "No...I didn't find him…"

Kakayu felt bad for her cousin and wrapped her arm around her. She was the only one that knew about most of the details of her relationship with Marik. She was close to Yugi and the others now, but constantly retelling the story only made her feel worse, so she'd give them the bare minimum of the synopsis. She told Tea a little bit more than the guys during their allotted girl time. She didn't think that they wouldn't understand. They were teenage boys after all.

"I'm sorry. I know how much that means to you." she said, wiping tears from Mimiki's eyes. "Don't cry, Mimi. Who knows? Maybe you two will meet very soon and pick up from where you two left off."

Mimiki smiled sadly. "If only it were that easy. Kai, you have no idea how hard it was to search for him and his family. I just wish I could see him again really soon. I can't believe it's been almost three and a half years already…"

The two cousins sat there in silence. They were really close, having grown up together. They attended the same school until Mimiki had moved. Kakayu took it pretty hard when she left, but was elated when she came back. She helped Mimiki get acclimated into life back home and to high school in Domino. Yugi and the others quickly took a liking to them and they were friends ever since. They helped her alleviate her depression and she was truly thankful for their friendship.

Mimiki smiled when she thought about the good things she had been blessed with and decided to perk up. She didn't want Kakayu feeling bad for her any longer. She propped a pillow against the bed frame and relaxed.

"So Kai, what's the news? What's been happening while I was gone? Anything exciting?"

Kakayu smiled at seeing her cousin perking up.

"Well Kaiba is hosting a duel monsters tournament starting tomorrow! He's aiming to make a complete mockery of Pegasus' last tournament. You should see the new duel disk he created! It's pretty nice, actually. Wanna see the test video? He let me come over to watch."

Mimiki rolled her eyes at hearing Kaiba's name. "Spending time with the asshole again, huh?" she asked as Kakayu rolled her eyes and blushed.

"Come on, Mimi. He's not that bad!" she exclaimed.

Mimiki kept her mouth shut to spare themselves from a debate. When they entered high school, Kakayu always went head to head with Kaiba whenever he decided to open his mouth. Joey couldn't hold a candle to her. Kaiba never thought that a girl would be brave enough to stand up to him like she did. He would also get sass from Mimiki from time to time, but Kakayu was on a different level. She was also very tech savvy and level-headed, which also caught his eye. Having a female friend that could go toe to toe with him and not give a damn about what people thought made him want to know more about her. Needless to say, the two became good friends.

Mimiki became curious about the new duel monsters tournament and decided to see what Kakayu was talking about. 'If this will be better than Pegasus' tournament like he claims, I guess it's worth checking into.'

"Oh really? Better than Duelist Kingdom, huh? Let me see!"

Kakayu whipped her phone out and showed her the video from the trial testing. All was good until a particular duel monster caught her eye. Although it was a hologram, she could feel its immense power.

"Which monster is that, Kai? I feel like I've seen it before…"

Kakayu examined it closer and placed her fingers on her chin, trying to remember what she knew about it. "Oh the giant blue one? I believe it's called...Obelisk…"

Mimiki's eyes widened. "Obelisk the Tormentor?"

Kakayu snapped her fingers in confirmation.

"Yeah! That's it! How did you know? It's supposed to be a very rare card. I think Kaiba called it an Egyptian god card."

Mimiki stayed silent. She knew it. Marik had definitely gave her a brief explanation a long time ago when she gave him many cards as his birthday present to build first duel monsters deck. With the way he went on claiming that he would've beaten her easily with the cards if they existed, she knew that it was one of the most powerful monsters.

'I can't believe that they're real duel monsters cards now…' she thought as she continued to stare at it.

It made her think about Marik again. During her birthday he had told her 'may you stand strong like Obelisk'. She smiled at how sweet he was. Mimiki didn't realize she was lost in her thoughts until she heard Kakayu calling out to her and she gasped.

"Mimi, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry. I was just thinking of something, is all." she said assuring her. "I heard about Egyptian God Cards while we lived in Egypt. Where did he get it from, anyways? I know he loves duel monsters and is rich and all, but geez! How much did it cost him? It must've cost him a small fortune. Not a lot of people know about them, but I guess they will now that he's planning this tournament."

Kakayu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. To tell you the truth, he didn't pay not one penny for it."

Mimiki gasped as her eyes widened. "Does he really have that much influence? Hell, I know that I can't afford the cards, but I'd at least like to get a good look at one since I've known about them for a while. He's so lucky!" she pouted.

Kakayu chuckled as she continued on with her story. "I wouldn't say that he has influence, but to answer your question, he got it for free from some lady at the museum. A new Egyptian art exhibit opened as soon as you left for Egypt and she's in charge of it. It was all over the news. She called Kaiba when I was over at his office and personally invited him on live TV. Kaiba, Mokuba and I went there together after she called a few minutes after the live invitation."

'Egyptian art exhibit? How bazaar that it opened up as soon as I left...and a personal invite, no less...Kaiba never showed interest in pretty much anything besides his company and duel monsters. I'm really curious now!' Mimiki thought.

"What? That's really random. Why would she just give it to him? Do they know each other really well? I wouldn't just give away a extremely rare card to just anyone."

'Especially not to that asshole…sorry, not sorry Kakayu!' she thought.

She knew that her cousin enjoyed Kaiba's company, but the most she could stand of him was at school. If she wanted to be around someone like him, all she'd have to do was go home and talk to her little brother since he liked to start fights with her.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing, but they've never met before until a few days ago. Ever since then, he started preparing for this tournament. I'm very surprised at how quickly he organized it, since he started planning it the day you and uncle Masahiro left for Egypt, now that I think about it. He had asked me to help out along with Mokuba as a commissioner."

Mimiki had a weird feeling building up in her chest. 'Hmm...interesting…this whole thing just feels so weird...I'll just ask her one more question. Maybe her answer will calm my nerves.' she thought while cupping her chin.

"Do you know anything about the lady that gave him the card?"

Kakayu looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember as much as she could. She remembered all of the amazing artifacts. She didn't think that there would be so many of them. The lady was a stunner too and Kakayu could feel the quiet power from her. She was actually a bit jealous that the woman could capture Kaiba's attention so quickly like that with little to no fail.

"She was very beautiful, I have to admit. She has piercing blue eyes, long black hair and is from Egypt. She had a quiet, yet powerful and mysterious aura to her. It's amazing! I've never met anyone like her before. She could definitely command respect."

Mimiki's eyes widened as she kept thinking. 'I only know one person that fits that description…but it can't be her, could it?' Mimiki waited anxiously for Kakayu to continue as her heart started racing. "Go on..."

"I think that her name was...Ishizu Ishtar."

Meanwhile, Yugi finished his dinner and bid goodnight to his grandpa, prompting him to seal himself inside his room. After changing his into his pajamas, he sat at his desk and sifted through his deck, with only the light of his desk lamp to aid him. He remained quiet until the spirit of the ancient pharaoh appeared next to him, studying his vessel. A lot had happened over the past week and it was nothing short of confusing with a heaping side of frustration.

First he was deceived by a fraud of a fortune teller, who happened to be Bandit Keith. After he stole his millennium puzzle, he was lured into a warehouse and was forced to duel to save the pharaoh. The duel proved to be very risky. Besides not having Yami there to help and guide him, Bandit Keith went crazy and proved that he had been under the spell of a millennium item. He grabbed the puzzle and smashed it to pieces. Yugi struggled to piece the puzzle back together, as he was too weak to pull the newly replaced chain from the copper rod that attached it to the dueling platform. Suddenly, Bandit Keith went stir crazy again and set the warehouse on fire. The fire grew stronger and proved too much to handle. During that time, he regretted replacing the rope string with a metal chain. Luckily for him, Joey, Tea, Bakura and Tristan were there to save them before he died of smoke inhalation.

Yami was also a bit startled by someone going through such great lengths to steal the puzzle and about not knowing much about his past. Yugi asked Tea to take him out and show him around the city to help him figure things out. She didn't think that she'd be much help, but she agreed. The outing started with getting coffee, going window shopping and going to see a movie. All went well until Tea ran into some trouble with the DDR King, Johnny Steps, at the arcade. He had challenged Yami to a duel in order to go out on a date with Tea. Of course, Yami had to show him who the King of Games was and defeated him. The last leg of the outing lead them to the Domino Museum to view the ancient Egyptian exhibit. There they met Ishizu, who told them about the stone carvings and his destiny and upcoming trials.

Although Yami was happy to know a bit more about his past, the evil that Ishizu spoke of didn't make him feel any better. After leaving the museum, they walked into a crowd of people downtown and also ran into Mai. She teased Tea about being on a date with Yami, but Tea protested that it wasn't a date. Afterwards, Kaiba announced his tournament. He knew that he had to enter the tournament to fulfill his destiny and with his friends by his side, he could do anything.

After Yugi stopped shuffling through his cards, Yami spoke up. "Yugi, this tournament will bring about a new evil like we've never faced before. Thank you for helping me through this. You and Joey will be a great asset."

Yugi looked to the spirit and smiled. "Yes! We'll give it all we got!"

"Yes. I'm confident that we will. I'm glad that Tea and Tristan will be joining us again as well. We should also contact Mimiki. She's a great duelist and I know she would do well in the tournament."

Yugi looked at his new duel disk and looked back at Yami before looking at the clock. "Yeah! I'll give her a call. She should be back from her trip by now. I hope that I won't be bothering her."

In the middle of the ocean inside of a yacht, a cloaked man walked into a bedroom and closed the door behind him. He grunted as he sat in his desk chair and removed his hood. Marik's face was fully visible now and he ran his hands through his platinum blonde hair. His lavender eyes held a glimmer of excitement in them as he looked out of a nearby porthole that captured the darkness of the ocean perfectly. Tomorrow was the start of the Battle City tournament and he couldn't wait to get the rest of his plans started. Earlier, he had sent out his Rare Hunters to scout for rare cards to add to his vast collection. He was confident that they would definitely come in handy the next time he would duel the pharaoh and his vessel. His last plan didn't work against them. Bandit Keith was a total waste! He knew that he had to do better than that, no matter if Yugi won that duel and escaped by a fluke.

He sent out one man, Seeker, with copies of a powerful monster. He smirked as he could see Yugi fall in defeat once his Rare Hunter dueled him. It was all he could think about to keep his mind off of something else that had plagued his soul for years. Keeping his mind from those negative thoughts and memories, he decided to retire for the evening to be well rested for the next day. Before he could lift himself from the chair, there was a knock at the door and it made his blood pressure spike. He told his Rare Hunters not to bother him while he was in his bedroom, especially if it wasn't important. His bedroom was the only place on the yacht where he could have some privacy and peace of mind. He tried his best to prevent himself from being in a foul mood and this wasn't helping him.

"This better be good!" he yelled as he looked towards the door.

A tall, burly man that was wearing a dark purple cloak similar to his had stepped in and bowed to the young Ishtar. "Master Marik, pardon my intrusion at this hour."

Marik's temper subsided quickly at hearing the familiar voice. "It's just you, Odion. What is it? You know how I feel about being interrupted while I'm in my living quarters."

The older man nodded in understanding, stood up and removed his hood. His facial features had matured nicely and a serious look was plastered onto his face.

"Yes Master Marik, I'm aware and I apologize again for my intrusion, but I think that the information that I have for you will assist you greatly during our stay in Domino City while you pursue the pharaoh." he stated.

Marik watched closely as Odion presented him with a tablet. Marik took it from him and proceeded to enter the password. He gasped at the provided information and froze. He could hear his heart beating a mile a minute. His hand started to shake a bit and he looked at Odion obviously perplexed. Odion gave him a solid nod before speaking. Over the years, he's seen how Marik tumbled down the path of darkness. Once he discovered this information, he prayed to the gods that this would help Marik see the light again.

"She's listed in the Duelist Database." he began. "I took it upon myself to conduct more research. I found out that she's in the city, sir."

All of his memories of her rushed back to him, all the way to their heartbreaking separation at the airport three and a half years ago. He didn't think that she'd be in Domino. He had forgotten about it due to him planning heavily to defeat Yugi.

"She's not registered for the tournament, but don't worry, Master Marik. I will send someone out to scout for her if you wish."

'Hmm...that's not like Mimi...she loved duel monsters and would try to beat me whenever she had the chance...no matter...I'll find her regardless.'

"I don't trust anyone to do this except for you, Odion. When we arrive in Domino tomorrow, you will go and find Mimi and contact me when you do. I'll handle the rest from there."

Odion nodded and bowed. "Yes, Master Marik. I'm honored that you trust only myself with this task. I won't fail you."

Marik excused Odion from his room. He looked out of the porthole again, dreaming of the reunion that he has wanted for so long. Along with the defeat of the pharaoh, this would be the icing on the top of his cake. He looked at her profile again and smiled gently.

'Mimi...at last...you're finally within arm's reach! We can finally meet again!'