Unlocking the power

By Tima, Yami's wife

I don't own YuGiOh GX. I just own the new characters. Just for the record, I'm getting some of my ideas from the series "Sailor Moon: Live Action" and "Ceres: Celestial Legend." For those who have read "Tima and Atem", this is going to be much shorter than the original.

Chapter 1: Birthday questions

Marik woke up from the alarm next to his bed. He groaned when he saw that it was five in the morning. He turned over and put his pillow over his head to try to hide from the sound but that didn't work. 'Why did Aziza have to set my alarm this early?' he thought to himself.

Groaning, he got up and turned off the alarm. Scratching his head, he left his room and moved to the next room where his daughter Aziza was. Actually, she wasn't his daughter; they weren't even related at all. She was really Atem and his wife Tima's daughter, whom he took when she was born fifteen years ago to the day. He never revealed his secret to her but knew that he had to someday.

With that in mind, he entered her room, surprised to see that she was already up with a fire going so she could see. She didn't see Marik come in because she was so focused in the Duelist Handbook. She didn't look up at anytime and Marik figured that she would be like that all day. He cleared his throat to tell her that he was there. She didn't even flinch. Rolling his eyes, he said, "Didn't you read that whole book yesterday?"

Aziza looked up and saw him standing there. "Oh, hi Dad!"

Marik smirked. "Morning, kid. But answer my question; didn't you read that whole book yesterday?"

Aziza ran her hand through her brown hair. "So what? You can't be a great duelist unless you know all the rules."

Marik nodded. "That's true. But you have to practice as well."

Aziza blew a strand of her red bangs out of her red eyes. "How am I supposed to do that, Dad? I don't even have a deck, let alone a duel disk."

Marik smirked. "That reminds me. Do you remember what day it is?"

Aziza nodded. "Yeah! I turn fifteen today! Did you get me anything?"

Marik said, "Wait here" and left the doorway. Aziza raised her eyebrow, shrugged, and was about to get back into the handbook when Marik said, "Keep out of that book!"

Aziza thought about that for a second. 'How do parents know what you're doing when they're in the other room?'

Marik wondered that himself. When he returned, he has a medium wrapped box, an extra small wrapped box, and an envelope. He handed her the medium box first and said, "This is from Ishizu and Odion. They pitched in to buy you this."

Raising her eyebrow playfully, Aziza ripped off the wrapping paper and gasped at what her present was. It was a new Duel disk that recently came out. Her eyes went wide as she said quietly, "Whoa!"

Marik smiled. "I thought you would react like that."

Aziza then asked, "Where is Aunt Ishizu, anyway?"

"She couldn't make it. She tried to come but couldn't find a way to come," Marik said while shrugging slightly.

Aziza nodded. "What's in the envelope?"

Marik shook his head, saying that he didn't know, as he tossed her it. Looking it over, she said, "Oh, it's from Tima!"

Marik felt a little twinge of guilt when he heard her name. "So…what did she…sent you?" he reluctantly asked.

Aziza looked at Marik suspiciously. "Why do you always get so nervous whenever you hear Tima's name, Dad?"

Marik felt even more nervous as he tried to think of a good excuse. Aziza, opening her envelope, suddenly thought of something. "Oh, wait. I remember. You guys used to date and she dumped you for some other guy, right? What was his name again?"

Marik smirked as he remembered telling her that lie when she was seven. "His name was Atem. Older brother to Yugi Mutou, the King of Games, himself."

Aziza nodded before she looked at her letter. "Unfortunately for you, Dad, they got married…and their fourth child just turned five, according to the letter."

Aziza kept on chatting about what Tima had written as Marik tuned out. He remembered the day he brought Aziza to see Tima and how she slapped him for what he did. He knew he deserved it but he couldn't bring himself to tell Aziza to truth…about her past.

Smiling, Aziza put Tima's picture next to her self-portrait. Looking at the two pictures, she asked, "Dad…there's something I've been meaning to ask you. Why do Tima and I look the same?"

Marik's eye got a little wide when he realized that Aziza noticed that. He had to think of a good answer for a second. "It's…just a coincidence. A lot of people who are not related at all can look the same."

Aziza looked at him suspiciously until she asked, "What's in the small box?"

Marik had forgotten that he had been holding it. He smiled and said as he tossed it to her, "It may be old but it's better than nothing."

Aziza wondered what he meant as she wrapped off the packaging. It was a small box and she took the lid off to find a Duel Monsters deck. Taking it out, she went through it and saw that each card was an old one and was really dusty. Brushing the dust off, she said, "My first deck. Thank you, Dad."

Marik nodded. "You're welcome. I hope you'll use it well…unlike I did."

Aziza's ears perked up when she heard that. "You mean…this is—"

Marik nodded. "Yeah. My old deck."

Aziza went up to him with the deck in her hand and said, "Dad, you shouldn't give me your deck. What if you need it again?"

Marik shook his head. "I'm not going to dueling again for a long time. Besides, you've always wanted a deck of your own. Enjoy it."

Aziza smiled brightly and hugged Marik tightly. "Thank you so much, Dad!"

Marik hugged her back. "You're welcome, Aziza. Now I got to get some breakfast for us. What would you like?"

Aziza waved her hand at him as she got back on her bed. "You don't have to worry about me. I got some food." With that, she reached under her bed and got an apple out.

Eyebrow raised, Marik looked under her bed. Sure enough, there were bread and fruit to last her quite a while. Chuckling, he said to Aziza, "So that explains why I don't find as much as there should be, you little thief."

Aziza shrugged with a bite of apple in her mouth. Marik smiled and said, "I have a question by the way. Why were you up even before me?"

Just then, Aziza's cell phone rang. Pointing to it and swallowing, she said as she turned it on, "This is why. Hi, Tima!"

Marik froze when he heard Tima's name. Without another word, he quickly left. Once he got back to his room, he sighed and groaned silently. 'Even after fifteen years…I still feel that twinge of guilt when I hear sweet Tima's name.' When he realized that he said "sweet," he smacked his forehead and said to himself, "Stop calling her sweet! She's not yours and she'll never be!"

"Stop hitting yourself, Dad!" Aziza yelled from the other room. Marik blushed at his daughter telling him to do something and was about to go fix himself some breakfast when he heard Aziza say, "Dad, Tima wants to talk to you!"

Marik cringed but came into Aziza's room. She tossed him her cell phone and walked out, saying, "I'll leave you two alone."

"Thanks. Don't take any food!" Marik said as Aziza walked off. When she was out of sight, he said quietly, "Hi Tima."

"Hi Marik," said Tima on the other line. "How are you and Magnolia?"

Marik groaned. "Tima, I told you this before; I'd like for you to call her Aziza. That's the name that I gave when on her first day."

"But not the name I gave her."

"I know that. But she knows Aziza."

"I'll try to remember."

"So what's up?"

"When are you going to tell her the truth? About her past?"

Marik sighed. "Pretty soon, I guess. Today she asked me why you and she look alike."

"She does? As you know, I haven't seen her since she was six."

Marik smiled and held the locket that Tima gave him years ago before she and Atem went to the other world. "You two look A LOT alike…except for her bangs and eye color."

Tima chuckled. "True. She got that from her father."

Marik nodded. "I agree."

Tima sighed. "I have to go. I have a lot of work to do."

Marik smiled. "All right. Talk to you later. Bye."

Tima chuckled. "Good bye…you thief."

Marik shuddered as he hung up. "I wish you would stop calling me that."

Just then, the cell phone rang again. Answering it, Marik said, "Hello."

"Marik, it's me," Tima's voice sounded on the other end. "I almost forgot to tell you; I mailed a letter to Ishizu and she'll be delivering it to Aziza sometime this week."

Marik raised his eyebrow. "What did you send her?"

"You'll find out when it arrives," Tima said slyly and hung up. Marik tried to say something but then sighed and hung up the cell phone. Just then, Aziza walked in with a bottle of water and said, "Did Tima say when her gift would arrive?"

Marik said with anger, "Were you listening? What did I tell you about eavesdropping?"

Aziza merely shrugged. "Relax, Dad. I was just returning and happened to overhear you asking her what she sent me. That's all."

Marik relaxed. "All right. I have no idea what she's sent you. All she said was that it was a letter and that your aunt will deliver it sometime this week."

Aziza said, "Cool. Can't wait."

She then went back to her bed and starting going through her new deck with a pen and paper near her. Instead of just looking at each card, she studied it closely and wrote down the name, attack and defense points, and any special abilities it had. Looking at her, Marik said quietly, "Happy birthday…Magnolia."

---

Far away, in a place completely shrouded with darkness, a female hung up a phone. A male behind her said, "Did he really believe that you were the queen?"

The female smirked, which was hard to see. "That's what I call the power of deception."

The male laughed as he wrapped his arms around her. "No, that's what I call the power of the Shadows…which little Aziza has."

The female turned around and faced the male. "Such powers…that will soon be ours."

What is in the letter? And what does this couple want with Aziza? Find out next time!