Disclaimer: Yuugiou (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters) is the property of Takahashi Kazuki and respective publishers, including Shueisha, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, Toei Animation, 4Kids, and others. I would never claim to own it or attempt to make money off of it- just think of this as a written, free doujinshi and hopefully we'll get along fine ;)

Vocabulary: O-shishou-sama is a respectful term for master/teacher, while Ouji means prince. 'Sama' is simply a respectful honorific which can be added on to the ends of people's names or titles.

Always Three

Mana looked down at the dress. The dress would have looked back at her if it was alive. If it was alive it would have run away from her and distracted Ouji for a moment, too. That would have been nice. Certainly it was a pretty dress, all ivory white and gold, and the jewelry was wonderful too, but…

"Ouji, isn't this all a bit much? Why are we even having a marriage and celebration when O-shishou-sama and I already live together? It seems kind of pointless."

O-shishou-sama, sitting at the desk and pretending to read some new scroll he was working on, muttered, "I have already brought up the redundancy. Several times."

Oh? She guessed that O-shishou-sama would be annoyed by the intrusion on their normal schedules, but when he hadn't said anything around her before now she'd figured that he liked the official recognition of their position more. Maybe he just couldn't think of a nice way to say that he didn't want to get married all of a sudden.

"It's not pointless, Mana," Ouji said, smiling up at her from his position on the bed, still poking through a jewelry box for more decorations to stick on her. "A marriage is always something worth celebrating, and I've been waiting for this one for a very long time. You and Mahaado took your time getting here."

"I guess that's true, but…when am I going to be allowed to look at the marriage contract?"

Ouji cocked his head, making his big earrings clink a bit against the gold on his collar. Usually Mana liked the sound, but right now she was scared that he'd try to convince her to wear something that heavy on her own ears during the celebration. "I never said you couldn't look at it, Mana. I offered to write up your half of it because it might be somewhat awkward if the only 'relative' capable of arranging your side of the contract was the man you're marrying."

Mana blushed and giggled, both nervous and sort of amused. "That's true, isn't it?" She looked over to O-shishou-sama, who was peering over the scroll at them now, amused under his usual stern expression.

"Mana?" Ouji asked, forcing her to turn back to him. "Would you try this on?" Ouji handed her a bracelet, gold with pretty pink-red inlays that reminded her of those nice imported lotuses they had in one of the ponds outside. When she put it on he smiled again. "It suits you. Mahaado, what do you think?"

Now they both turned to O-shishou-sama, who lowered the scroll reluctantly and looked her over. "You look fine, Mana," he said simply, but he was still looking, his eyes soft, so he must like it. "Ouji, if I may return to my work?"

That O-shishou-sama was working a bit less was the good part of all this. Ouji was almost getting as good at distracting him as her, and he didn't need to bring up stupid pieces of magic for it either!

After lying out a few more pieces of jewelry with the dress Ouji did leave, and Mana sighed in relief. "I know Ouji's happy about us getting married, but it's weird- almost like he's involved in our love life too! It's one thing to nudge and tease, but this!"

O-shishou-sama looked amused. "Mana, Ouji has always been invested in our romantic relations. Long before they ever actually existed."

"Eh? …Well, it has always been the three of us together, so I guess it makes sense that Ouji would notice…"

"Naturally."

Mana frowned lightly. "But wait, I could have just written up my side of the contract myself!"

"You've realized, have you?"

"Well, I thought it was nice that Ouji wanted to write it up for me- the three of us are like siblings, after all. I guess that's why he wanted to do it in the first place, too."

O-shishou-sama looked a little flustered, the way he always did when she said something touchy that was right. "It is appropriate for Ouji to be involved, certainly."

She remembered how Ouji had looked when he'd asked to write up the contract for her, so cheerful, like he'd been lit up inside. And he'd always been there to help out, right from the beginning, convincing her not to run off when O-shishou-sama brought her to the palace and asked permission to take her on as his apprentice. The thought of being without Ouji was as terrifying as the thought of being without O-shishou-sama, while thinking of being together was wonderful, warm like the morning.

Mana smiled and looked down at the dress, complicated jewelry splayed out over it. "It is, isn't it?"

===o===

"Mana, are you all right?"

On hearing his voice Mana turned to look at Ouji, swaying a little as heat flashed through her. Ouji caught her by the shoulders, keeping her from falling. His concern was clear even through the spots currently filling her vision. He held a hand to her forehead, frowning. "Hmm…you've either had too much to drink or not enough to eat. Which is it?"

"Silly question…too much wine, of course."

"Fool, you should have been more careful." That was O-shishou-sama behind her, and for once he didn't snap, keeping his voice quiet. He took hold of her from Ouji, helping her to keep balanced as they made their way back to their room. Ouji came too, still looking worried.

Silly- it was just a little wine- but nice. The celebration had been fun, too. Shimon-sama had told bad jokes which were still funny somehow, she'd talked with Aishisu-sama for a bit, and even Seto-sama had been nice, though that was probably because Ouji had bribed him with a game of senet.

And the way O-shishou-sama had looked at her when he first saw her in that dress…it had been worth all the fuss, even if they were just celebrating a change of household which had never happened. Sometimes it was good to have a celebration just for the sake of celebrating.

Finally they made it back to their room, and O-shishou-sama sat her down on the bed with instructions to drink the water he was getting for her and eat some bread. Ouji smiled and kissed her forehead. "Congratulations, Mana. I'll see you tomorrow."

As he pulled away, Mana reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Wait! Ouji should stay."

"I wouldn't want to…you and Mahaado…"

Mana giggled. "I'm just going to fall asleep from all this wine soon anyway. And…it's always been the three of us, hasn't it? Why should this be any different?"

Ouji turned red. "That's true, but this is different…"

"How? We're friends, aren't we?"

Ouji groaned. "Mana…"

"What is it?"

"Mana, don't bother Ouji!" O-shishou-sama said, stern again, as he came back with her water.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I was just thinking…marriage is something new. But it wouldn't be right if Ouji wasn't here too, would it?"

O-shishou-sama raised an eyebrow, and then sat down next to her on the bed. "I suppose…no, it wouldn't."

"See, Ouji? O-shishou-sama agrees!"

Ouji sighed, but his face was pleased. "If you insist, Mana."

Mana smiled and took a long sip of her water. "So…what was that experiment you two are working on again?"

"It's an attempt to develop a more efficient magical shield by layering spells…"

"We're still having some trouble getting them to tie together, though…any suggestions? …"

They probably didn't make much progress, but Mana was satisfied, happy enough to not even mind the headache she was getting from the wine. There'd been a marriage and the three of them were still together the same as always…it was right, just how things should be.

AN:

Since the ship was unnamed, and as far as I can tell the official shipper's list hasn't updated in, oh, over a year, I decided I might as well name it. It's not the greatest name, meaning 'sibling', but it does rather suit them. If the official list ever updates with a name for this pairing I'll change the summary accordingly, but for now I figured it best to simply get the idea out there. And yes, this plot bunny is on crack and possibly cannabis as well, but it wouldn't go away until I wrote it, so here we are.

While they could be blessed, marriages in ancient Egypt were social, not religious, events. Essentially a contract would (or at least could) be drawn up, and the bride would enter her new husband's household. Presumably there would be a celebration, probably a feast, and that would be that. Well, I could babble about the details, but this isn't really the place ;)