"Pharaoh, stop it! Stop it now!" screamed a very concerned Tea. She hadn't seen the Pharaoh like this in a very long time.
"Stay out of this Tea, he must suffer the consequences of his actions!" replied a very furious Pharaoh, startling the girl.
"No Pharaoh! You're going too far here, there's no need to banish his soul to the Shadow Realm, he's already been beaten to a pulp. Isn't that enough?"
"Absolutely not! Something like this is unforgivable; I will not allow him to go free! You cannot change my mind on this Tea, so don't even bother!"
"Fine." Tea growled, "But at least tell me why you're so intent on mind-crushing this man, yet just three months ago, you did no such thing to a man who was guilty of the very same crime that has condemned this man?" questioned Tea.
This had been bugging her since she'd noticed the Millennium Puzzle glowing, something that only happened for one of two reasons: either Yugi and the Pharaoh were about to switch, or the Pharaoh was about to use shadow magic. Given that the Pharaoh was already in control, Tea knew it had to be the latter, which could only mean one thing in this kind of situation: mind-crush.
The Pharaoh visibly paused at this. His expression turned from unrestrained rage to thoughtful in a single moment. He tilted his head to one side, like he and Yugi always did when communicating through their link. What they were currently discussing, however, Tea had no way of knowing. She was equally confused as to why they had chosen this particular moment to have a chat.
Meanwhile…
/Yugi./
/Yes Pharaoh?/
/Did you hear what Tea just asked me?/
/Of course. I'm always aware of what you get up to when you're in control of my body. You know that./
/Okay. So what do I tell her?/
/For now, just say: "I promise I'll explain later: it can wait." I'm pretty sure she'll be satisfied with that./
/Alright. But when it comes to it, what then? Are we going to tell her the truth or make up an alibi?/
/Firstly, I'm not so sure that's quite the correct way to use the word alibi, but that's besides the point. Secondly, yes, I think we should at least tell Tea: she deserves to know and I believe we can trust her./
/I agree, but do me a favour aibou?/
/Yes Pharaoh?/
/You tell her./
/If I must./
"Tea, I promise I'll explain it all later: it can wait." said the Pharaoh, abruptly.
"Okay fine, I'll hold you to that – both of you." consented Tea, after recovering from her brief shock at the Pharaoh's sudden reply.
Then, with Tea's reluctant permission, the Pharaoh raised his hand, tapped into the shadow magic of the Millennium Puzzle, and banished the criminal's soul to the Shadow Realm. Then, his job done, the Pharaoh returned control to Yugi. He and Tea then decided it would be best to return to the Kame Game Shop, where Yugi promised he would explain everything.
Later…
"Okay Tea, let's talk. You want to know why the Pharaoh's been a lot more, well, aggressively protective of me recently?" questioned Yugi. It was really more of a statement.
"Yes I do. It makes no sense: he was like that at first because he was just naturally aggressive, then he mellowed out once we all started to actually bond with him a bit, and now he's gone back to being super aggressive, but only when it's you that's in danger. I'm not bitter about that or anything, it just seems strange to me."
"Yes I know. It's okay, you don't have to defend yourself. I'll explain." began Yugi. "You remember that time when the Seal of Orichalcos took my soul?"
"Of course I remember that. It was dreadful. Nothing was the same while you were gone: none of us were ever happy, everything seemed hopeless; like we'd already lost. But no one was hit worse than the Pharaoh. It almost completely broke him. In fact, I think I remember Joey telling me something about..."
"The Pharaoh attempting to commit suicide? I know, he told me." Yugi cut her off. "Well, after he defeated Dartz and returned everyone's soul, including mine, he and I had a very awkward discussion. He told me all about how depressed he had been and how much he hated himself. He went on and on about "how I must hate him". He told me he didn't even deserve to speak to me after what he did. He blamed himself for everything."
Yugi paused to consider his explanation, before continuing.
"But, he also told me something else that day. Something that I hadn't so much as suspected. All of the other things, his self-loathing and shame, I had anticipated. But he caught me totally off guard at the end of his breakdown. He told me the reason why he had been hit so hard by it. He told me about his encounter with Weevil. About how he lost it when Weevil ripped up a card that he claimed contained my soul. He told me that he realised in that moment exactly why he felt so empty and broken: he told me it was because he had fallen in love with me, and he couldn't live without me, but he didn't deserve me. I told him that I felt the exact same way about him." Yugi paused to observe Tea's reaction to this revelation.
But unfortunately for him, Tea simply passed out and fell - quite gracefully for someone who was unconscious - to the floor.