Prologue: Atem's Return to the Afterlife

Tea and the others watched with tears as Atem announced himself before the eye. The change into his true form as the Pharaoh and wished him well. Tea choked knowing her heart wouldn't fall in love again as it belonged to him.

She however, had a dream to accomplish. She would graduate school and go to New York for Julliard she would dedicate herself to dancing until she reached the stars and beyond. She would make Atem proud even from the afterlife so that once they met again…there would be no regrets.

As they all left the temple behind, they returned home and threw themselves into life. The group remained close throughout their high school years. Yugi continued to duel with Joey in world tournaments until Mai finally caved to settle down with him in America. Yugi and Rebecca came together happily as they got older marrying and even having children of their own.

Tristen and Miho ended up dating and left to travel the world together as Bakura returned to England. Duke and Serenity got together as Duke ran his highly popular Dueling Dice Monsters tournaments around the world with Pegasus.

Kaiba and Mokuba worked together to build a new body for Noah to upload himself among them if he still survived in the databases of Kaiba Corp. Seto remained a high contender in the duelist world many times losing to Yugi as he worked to establish the Duelist's Academy.

The Ishtar family returned to the sands of Egypt where they continued to prosper in the museums around the world dealing with the Egyptian legends as they helped their people no longer fearing for the Millennium Items. Marik healed under the watchful eyes of his family and remained in contact with the others.

Atem smiled as he watched over them throughout the years seeing them all build families of their own. Tea was the one who confounded him though much to Isis' and Mana's entertainment. She attained her dream of dance but, she never had a family of her own. He watched her soldier on as her family died and remained strong throughout. She danced beautifully on shows in the lights and he could see her speak with Dark Magician Girl. He looked to Mana who giggled at his confusion, "What? She likes Tea and goes to see her when she can!"

Atem turned from the pool waiting another year of time before he could check on his friends again. "Why hasn't she had her own family? She achieved her dreams…she still has her friends." Mana sighed, "Pharaoh not everyone is lucky enough to be born in the lifetime as their soul mate. Tea is one of them…her soul mate was born long before her and he died before her."

Atem sighed, "She could still fall in love…have a family in this life." Mana rolled her eyes muttering, "Not if she met her soul mate who left her for the afterlife because of destiny she can't." She turned and explained, "If she met her soulmate for even a moment Pharaoh…she would never be able to fall in love. Her heart would have already been claimed by them intentionally or not."

Atem glared at the blank water, "After everything she did for me…for all of us. I just want her to be happy."

Isis gave a soft smile, "She will be when she joins the afterlife Pharaoh. She has some time left among her friends before that time though." She touched her necklace softly, "I've seen it…you don't need to worry my Pharaoh. You will be with your friends again. You just don't have to wait as long for one of them."

Isis and Mana looked to the sky of the afterlife with a smile, "Isis and Osiris have something else in mind." They muttered together before giggling causing Atem to growl in frustration before he too smiled. The three laughed together trusting in the gods and their plans for them all.

Chapter 1: Tea's Final Show

Tea was in the dressing room preparing for the final showing of the Swan Lake play. She was playing the role of Odette and was ready for the final act. She had handed in her early retirement and not many knew why. She had been diagnosed with end stage cancer. Rather than choosing to suffer through chemotherapy she chose instead to spend the remainder of her life seeing her friends and helping the people of Egypt.

Seto Kaiba and Ishizu both were suspicious of her sudden desire for change and rightfully so. I order to keep her promise to her friend the Pharaoh she continued to dance. She could not allow her heart to move on for it still chose him. None could compare to the emotion he had evoked within her. She had received her final check with the bonus and put much of her life savings into charities.

Seto had asked her why the sudden change, "It's just my time. I want to go out a star not a broken doll." He respected the view but he knew there was more to it. Eventually she had flown to Japan on a holiday 3 years after her parents had died and gave them the news. She was dying, the cancer was originally ovarian and due to the length of time it went undetected it spread to her uterus, and one of her kidneys.

Both of them were in denial until she removed the scanned images and swore them both to secrecy. She agreed to Kaiba's terms that she would try 2 treatment avenues of his choice before surrendering to her fate. He had called in the top specialists and they both remained resolute. Her cancer was too wide spread and too aggressive to remove. Ishizu begged Tea to reconsider not wanting to lose one of the few friends she had. Tea explained her aversion to chemotherapy, how painful and sick it would make her, how her grandmother had suffered from it.

Tea was satisfied with her lot in life and made them understand that dying in Egypt closest to the Pharaoh as she could be and with her friends was what she wanted most. She would spend her time cultivating the dancing talents of the children in Egypt and spend time helping the people there. Seto after the avenues he chose failed bowed out with respect he had done enough research to understand her desire to remain happy and whole before her death.

Doctor's claimed she should be in treatment because she would die within 6 months. Tea knew better…she had at least a year possibly two.

Tea stepped out onto the stage and began her final dance her friends' voices in the crowd with their children. She smiled softly as the music continued to play and she danced. Her fellow performers danced their hardest dance to honor their beloved friend's final show. They did not speak of it but, many shed tears when hearing the final performance was unchangeable. Tea simply wasn't meant to stay forever but she had many good years with them all and they cherished every moment.

As the final act came to a close she swore she could here Atem's voice, "Well done Tea." Tea just bowed and whispered under her breath not knowing he could actually hear her, "Thanks Atem, this one was for you." She stood with a smile and moved to the final goodbyes to the audience.

As she and the other dancers returned backstage many of them gave her hugs full of affection. What she didn't realize was that all her friends were being packed into her dressing room. She gave her boss a hug and whispered gently in his ear thanking him for all the amazing shows they put together. He gave a teary eyed smile, "Good Luck Tea, enjoy what time you have left with those you love…you've earned it."

Tea smiled and gave a tight squeeze to all her fellow dancers and show producers before going to her room only to see everyone. She gave a big smile, "Hey guys so did you all have fun?" The group cheered almost in sync. She got to her knees to hug the kids as they approached her. She moved to stand and Joey practically picked her up to spin her in the air.

"It was awesome Tea! So are you really moving to Egypt?" He gave her a serious look in his brown eyes. Tea knew he could see something was up now that he lifted her. "Yeah, I am Ishizu already helped me pick out a place close to her and Seto finalized the purchase for me with the realtor. My things are being moved as we speak with the exception of the overnight bag for the journey."

Joey began to pout as Mai knocked him upside the head, "Hey Joey, no complaining Tea's a big girl she can do what she wants." Joey sighed and asked softly, "Can I talk to you later alone?" Tea nodded reluctant of having this conversation. Seto overheard and he quirked his eyebrow only to receive a grim nod from Tea.

Mai remained suspicious due to Joey's reaction to lifting Tea but, she had the tack not to say anything about it.

~In the Afterlife~

Atem saw the announcement of the show being her final performance he had been wondering why she would be leaving the stage so young. However he and the others remained enraptured as they watched the story unfold throughout the performance.

They all watched with varying degrees of amusement and confusion as the many people had tears and were saying goodbye to the dancer. Atem mused over the words spoken by her manager, "Mahad…is there something wrong with Tea?"

Isis stopped Mahad from speaking, "My Pharaoh, we cannot look without her permission. You know this." Atem allowed his gaze to travel to the seer, "You've seen something in her future…" Isis tapped her necklace, "I already told you. She has some time yet but, you won't have to wait as long to see her again."

Mana sighed almost sadly, "So she is going to die young?" Isis sighed, "Yes, but she is aware as are the Ishtars and Kaibas. She has fought to live the rest of her life pain free after trying two procedures to help." Mana looked at Atem who froze in horrified shock.

"Pharaoh, not everyone has a family or a soul mate in their life. We've talked about this before." Mana said simply, she shared a glance with the seer. She gestured to the pool and told him, "Now watch and listen."