Hey, everybody! This is Part 3 of this story...if you enjoyed the previous two please review. If you haven't, please don't flame me! -Shelby-
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
"What is the meaning of this?" Atem held Anzu before his eyes and shook her shoulders gently. Anzu shook her head in disbelief.
"I don't know." She looked up at him with pleading eyes, begging him to understand that she had no part in this. "I don't know how you got here or how you could get here from centuries years ago!" She began to sob with frustration, letting the tears fall in spite of this man holding her. He hugged her closely and wished to ease her fears.
"I came through a portal that my old friend and confidant Solomon helped me find. Somehow he knew that it would lead me to wherever you were." Atem buried his face into her hair and breathed deeply. "I thought perhaps that you lived in a distant land but never another time!"
She sniffed. "Well, I do live in a distant land. We are far away from Egypt! This country is called Japan." She wiped her eyes and sniffled some more.
"What? How can this be?" Atem scratched his brow in confusion.
"I don't know, but I may know somebody who could help us," Anzu said, readjusting her position in both Atem's arms and in his saddle. She groaned from the stiffness and Atem seemed to sense her discomfort.
"Come, let me walk and you can ride my stallion," he said, sliding off the saddle and hitting the ground with a thud. Anzu swung her leg into the opposite stirrup and finally sat comfortably in the leather saddle. Breathing a sigh of content, she grabbed the reins and clicked her tongue, moving the horse into a slow and steady walk.
"You know how to ride as well?" Atem asked incredulously.
"Of course! I go to camp every summer and ride the horses there," Anzu said, sitting erect in the saddle, letting her body move with the beast underneath her. She sighed, remembering all the wonderful trail rides and rodeos they had at the summer camp. She rid herself of the happy memories and once again focused on the way ahead of her.
"What is your horse's name?" Anzu cleared her throat and asked him quietly. Atem looked up at her with gleaming eyes and he seemed to straighten with pride.
"His name is Ramses. He stands sixteen hands high, he is a pure Thoroughbred and he's my best friend." Atem patted the horse's neck and Ramses snuffled his hair affectionately. Anzu giggled aloud, causing Atem to snap around and glare at her in wonder.
"Ah, yes, Ramses is an excellent name. You really seem to share a connection, don't you, Honey?" Anzu cooed at Ramses and scratched his favorite place behind his left ear. How did she know, he wondered, that he loved to be petted there? How could she be anymore wonderful? I pray that she will someday love me in return.
"So who is this person who is going to help us?" Atem quietly mumbled. Anzu looked down upon him and smiled briefly. This guy really trusted her, and she owed him a place to stay at the very least.
"I suppose you'll have to…" Anzu cut off.
"I'll have to do what? Tell me, goddess," Atem looked up with earnest eyes.
Anzu swallowed. "I suppose you'll have to stay with…me."
Atem's mouth hung slightly open in wonderment. Could this be? "Is this true?" he asked quietly. He cast his eyes downwards, hoping she wouldn't see the hope that glimmered beneath the surface.
"I don't see there as being another alternative. I don't have enough money for you to stay in a hotel and I don't trust you being out alone by yourself." Anzu cast her own eyes to watch her hands, which by this point they had begun to shake.
"Yes, I don't really feel all that safe here," Atem said slowly. "This is a very strange experience for me, as I'm sure you can understand."
"Oh, yeah, totally strange. Beyond freaky." She breathed deeply and felt a tear slowly trickle down her cheek and freeze upon her chin.
"Oh, my love, what is the matter?" Atem reached up and lifted the tear gently.
"It's nothing," she replied, sniffling back more tears and scolding inwardly for such public weakness.
"Tell me." His voice was gentle but it held a certain tone that rang with authority.
"Oh, it's really nothing, Atem. I'm just being a little stressed right now." Anzu breathed deeply and exhaled shakily. She brushed aside a few stray tears and composed herself.
"Is that really what is troubling you, love?" Atem asked innocently. The flare that rose in her eyes was so adorable despite the fact that she was crying. She couldn't have known how beautiful she looked up upon Ramses, her hair blown into a tangle of honied waves, her face flushed from the cold.
"I'm troubled for more than one reason, Atem. I don't know if I can live with you being so close to me in my own home…" Anzu struggled to contain the tears that threatened to overthrow her.
"Oh, is that what you are worried about? You have nothing to fear, I will take care of everything." Atem sighed with content.
"How will you do that? My mother will have a heart attack when I bring you through the front door!"
"I have ways of negotiating with people. If your mother disapproves of my presence then I can always rely on my amazing charm." Atem cocked a perfect eyebrow and smirked at her. No doubt about it, if push came to shove, those charms would definitely come in handy.
"Well, we're nearly there," Anzu pointed to a grand house that sat on a hill in the distance. Atem was impressed. The house was Victorian in nature, with a faded cream paint job and a roofed veranda that surrounded the entire first story. Out of the chimney smoke rose in small silver wisps, indicating that somebody was definitely home.
"Your home is immaculate!" Atem complimented her.
"Thanks, but I think it's a little too big for just me and my mom. But you're in luck; at least the old stables are still there." Anzu smiled, reveling to back when her father still kept horses.
"Why is it just your mother and yourself? Surely you have more people living with you," Anzu said, still marveling at the house's exterior.
"No, my father left my mom and went to make his career in the horse business with his bleach blonde secretary," Anzu winced at the memory. "So it's just my mom and me, which suits me fine. She mostly spends her time modernizing the house so I'm never bothered."
"That sounds wonderful. I cannot wait to meet her."
"Well, give or take about twenty minutes, you'd better get ready to work those boyish charms." Anzu said heavily.
Part 4 on its way, fangirls! -Shelby-
