Seto was standing at the window in his bedroom thinking about two people. The two people that had made the biggest impact on him in all his life.
Atem had just been a figment of his imagination, he had convinced himself of that for so long. Yet, he became something to blame for his failures. Kaiba had always tried blaming his failures on Atem. His shortcomings as a person, as a friend and a duelist.
Then he watched the two Yugi twins duel and knew that his blame was at least well placed. It was no excuse, but after being drug back to ancient Egypt, he couldn't deny it anymore.
Every last bit of it had been true, all the destiny bullshit and all. He didn't have to accept it so readily though. He could still deny it openly all he wanted.
Then he met her.
From the first time he laid eyes on her in that coffee shop, all the 'destiny' bullshit came rushing back to him. He didn't know why. He didn't want to know why.
She kept popping up everywhere. Standing at the crosswalk in the mornings. At the cafe when he was out with Mokuba. She contributed an article to the local paper and Seto realized he couldn't get away from her.
He had never admitted before to a woman being beautiful, except for Kisara. As far as he was concerned Kisara was a figure of his imagination until he met her too, at a duel monsters tournament.
Aura was so strange, so out of left field and Kaiba hadn't been able to get her out of his head since he laid eyes on her.
She seemed to trust him, she didn't flinch when he lost his temper. She didn't judge him like everyone else did. She never called him arrogant, mean, stubborn...She just accepted him for who he was.
"That...must be difficult for her to deal with."
He had never admitted to himself what a jerk he had been his whole life. Atem's adventures had helped melt some of the ice around his heart and helped him open up to the world.
"I guess I'll have to thank the old bastard later."
Atem and Yugi sat in the corner of the coffee shop ignoring the stares of the general populous. Yugi was basically a celebrity and tried his best to ignore the staring and mobbing he got in public, with his new 'twin' with him...it might deter it a little.
The Pharaoh looked uncomfortable in his own skin as a group of high school girls behind him giggled and talked about the 'tall, dark and handsome Yugi".
"I'll have to keep you in the loop about duel monsters tournaments. I'm sure you'll be more famous than Joey or myself honestly. I mean, it was you after all that did the work in the first place. You had to use my name, but it was all you, Atem."
He smiled at the thought of being able to play a game of duel monsters again. It felt like it had been a lifetime since he and Yugi had taken up together in a duel.
"I'd like that. I feel like I'm not good for much else besides playing duel monsters."
"So you forgot how good you are at saving the world and being a king, eh? You are literally legendary, aibou...and I'm you're incarnation. I should be the one who is humbled."
Yugi's text alert went off, and he went to read the message. His face looked rather surprised and unsure when he put the phone back down.
"It's Aura. She asked me what time we'll be showing up tonight."
Atem groaned and covered his face.
"Yugi. Seeing her again is likely to make me go crazy with guilt. I understand she's not exactly the same as she was then...I just feel so...awful when I think about it. There's no way I'll ever be able to tell her the truth, much less try and get this weight off my shoulders by reforging the promise I made her."
"Atem, you must know her better than any of us. You are her brother. If not by blood then by spirit, just like we are. I would bet, that if meeting you unlocked the bond between us, then when you get a chance to talk to her there will be someway you can do the same."
"I...I hope so. Although, it's unlocking her soul and awakening those memories that I fear. She is not just my sister Yugi, she is dangerous. The monster hidden in her soul is only rivaled by the blue eyes white dragon and the Egyptian gods themselves."
Yugi's eyes widened and he nodded in understanding.
"It is one thing to feel the responsibility of protecting someone, especially your younger sibling. I feel for you as I do for her, but I know your soul isn't tainted. My sister's was. It took the high priests constant presence to quell the darkness and allow her to live her life normally. There was always that chance though, that the darkness would come back and she would unleash it on the people."
"I'm sure you protected her though! Like you said you and your high priest helped her, didn't you? Why would she turn on you like that?"
"She couldn't always control it. Her ka was so powerful it made her mentally unstable. My father had her locked away in a healing temple most of her life, and I was the only one allowed to see her for a long time. We were very close and when I became king, I took her into the palace to live with me. She was a lot happier there. She even fell in love with someone and was happy. She was my best friend and she was the last person I thought about in life. I felt like I failed to protect her and she had made me promise to never leave her side. I sacrificed my life without any thought as to leaving her behind. Seto was the last person I saw, he clutched my body as I slipped into the next world and sealed my soul away into the millennium puzzle. He kept reminding me of her, kept telling me to keep her in my heart."
He was looking at the table, his heart aching a little from the memory. He looked up and Yugi was clicking away at his phone.
"I told her we would definitely meet up with her later. She's Kaiba's date."
The sickening feeling returned.
"I understand how Joey feels about Tristan and Serenity now."
"You know, looking at her facebook pictures, I definitely see how much you two look alike. It's kind of unreal. She's the chick version of us, you know. She's just missing the random streaks of blonde."
"Her hair is pitch black with a red hue to it in the light."
"It's kind of creepy that you remember details like that but not your own name for five thousand years."
"Do you know how many times another king, queen or various person would talk about her like that in front of me? And now...Joey and Tristan...ugh."
Yugi smiled and assured his friend that things would be okay. They ordered another set of drinks to go and left to meet Joey at the KaibaCorp building. They needed to sign their vendor contracts for tonight...and then in a few hours. It was time to celebrate.
