Ch. 10: Coming to Terms

When the two men reached the lobby, they found Jasmine standing in the middle of the vast room watching everything around her. The young woman watched as half a dozen birds of prey flew over head, a pair of zebra and ostrich walking freely, and all of the men she had seen before dancing and supremely happy in their own world. Everything around her had taken on a whole new light. If the young man in the gold clothing was right, these were the displays that littered the walls and other rooms. This sight compared to nothing she had ever seen in her life. Everything in this room was a figurine, a dummy, taxidermy animals, prehistoric fossil, or a wax model... except one. She turned to face the young Pharaoh and eyed him closely. If he truly was the real Pharaoh, and this wasn't some kind of hallucination... then she knew how to prove it, once and for all.

Jasmine paid no further attention to the two men as she made her way back up the steps. Once again, the two men began to follow her. Larry felt as though he had to watch her closely now. She had nearly had a heart attack and there was no telling what would happen if anything popped out at her. He felt like it was his responsibility to kind of, protect her. It was least he could do...

Ahkmenrah on the other hand was intrigued. He had never met another woman like her. She was intelligent, well spoken in his standards (speaking his own language was a plus), kind, and beautiful. The only thing that bothered him, was his guards. Why had they tried to protect her? Perhaps it was because she had always been so polite with them, saying hello, asking their permission to enter. That had to be it.

As the rounded the corner into the exhibit, the two men watched as Jasmine headed for Ahkmenrah''s tomb. The young Pharaoh felt a lump rise in his throat, this was going to be embarrassing. He tried to stop her, but Jasmine had already lifted the wooden lid to his sarcophagus. The young woman gasped as she peered into the nearly empty coffin, and she did mean nearly empty. A few strips of rotted fabric lined the bottom with the bulk of it piled up like a pillow at one end. There was more dust and sand which she had expected but no body. After the multitude of things that were present, one very important thing was gone, the Pharaoh.

This couldn't be right. She had seen the x-rays of the sarcophagus in her father's office and there was a body in there. She had seen it! But there was nothing. This couldn't be right. Jasmine's hand moved inside, pushing the strips of cloth around, shifting the sand, trying to find something that wasn't there, either a hidden panel or something hiding it. As she ran her fingers along the inside seam, she felt something under the pile of fabric. It surprised her and her hand shot back. Ahk knew what she found and tried to move forward to stop her but it was pointless. Curiously, the young woman's hand returned to its previous location. Sticking out from under the rotted fabric was a corner of stiff, new paper. Delicately, she lifted the make-shift pillow and scattered underneath was every note, letter or anything she had ever written the mysterious pen pal.

Her head shot up to look at the two men. Ahkmenrah's face flushed slightly at his embarrassment. She had found his stash. The young woman was puzzled, completely. There was a body in there before, but not anymore, and even if there wasn't a body in there, why would someone want to hide the notes in a place like this? It was real. This simply solidified everything she had seen.

Slowly, the young woman descended the small platform, her eyes trained on the Pharaoh. He was shifting uncomfortably at the sheer amount of concentration in her gaze. Larry on the other hand had almost no idea what was going on. Her bright green eyes stared at the young man as she came to a halt only a few inches in front of him.

"How is this possible?" she finally asked.

"My tablet." he finally muttered, his own eyes glued to her. "It brings everything to life at night."

"You're real then..."

"Yes. Very." he replied with a slight smile.

"Come on. Let's get downstairs. I've got to keep a better eye on those guys." Larry finally said

The two nodded and followed the young night guard down.

Jasmine didn't much feel like staying in one place like Larry and Ahkmenrah, everything was too interesting. They were used to this, she wasn't and for the first time in a while, she felt like a kid in a candy store. There were so many things around her to see, so many historical figures she could talk to. Absolutely wonderful... A smile crossed her face as she looked around with complete admiration. As she watched a small RC car speed pass her feet, and the large beast run after it, she heard something come up behind her. Turning, Jasmine couldn't help but smile as a happy looking man came riding up on horse back with a young Indian woman joining him.

"Former President Theodore Roosevelt I presume?" she asked with a smile.

"You are most correct my dear lady." he laughed happily. "I am happy to make your acquaintance. This young lady with me is Ms. Sacajawea." the young Indian woman smiled briefly and waved. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Jasmine." she smiled, extending her hand to shake his.

"Ah. You must be the one who's going to up root young Ahkmenrah's tomb."

"Yes." she laughed.

"Well I'm sure he's in good hands. So, I see Lawrence has filled you in on our little family."

"No willingly." she sighed, briefly staring at the young man.

"Oh... oh my. Then how..."

"I fell asleep in my office." she blushed.

"Well, all things happen for a reason." he smiled before ridding off with his young lady.

_

It was by far the most interesting night she had experienced, and she didn't want it to end. Everything was so fascinating. Larry smiled to himself as she and Ahkmenrah walked off through the halls together, it reminded him of how Rebbecca had acted when she finally got to meet Sacajawea. Part of him swelled with pride and relief that she had finally seen everything, now he didn't have to worry about he whenever she worked late.

As the two people sat on a bench in the diorama room, Jasmine was having trouble thinking of anything else to ask. She had covered everything she had read in books, gladly most of it was true, but she couldn't think of anything else to ask. In the time the two of them had spent talking to each other, she felt as though she had known him all her life. The two of them, despite having been born more then a millennium apart, had quite a bit in common. She felt more comfortable around him then most people she had met, and he was technically dead.

There was one other thing however, that bothered her about him. How had he died? There were four different versions in the multiple books she had read. One was him being assassinated. Another was it being his brother who had assassinated him only to have the royal guard come in afterward and take care of him. The most common was he had fallen ill and simply passed away after his body gave out. The final one, which she highly doubted and always had a problem with, was he had committed suicide. The book it was in was far less accurate then the others and having met him, she was less and less inclined to believe it. But how would you ask someone something like that? It's not exactly polite conversation.

As she sat there, trying to decide what else she should say, she felt a hand close on her shoulder. Turning, she saw a concerned look on Ahkmenrah's face.

"Is something the matter?" he asked kindly.

"No." she replied with a forced smile. "I'm fine."

She didn't want to bring anything like that up. She didn't know him well enough to ask him something as personal as how he died. That would have to wait.

As she looked at him, their eyes locked. His brown orbs stared at her, reaching her from somewhere deep inside, electing a strange feeling. Her stomach fluttered at the sight of the man and his touch on her shoulder. There was no doubting he was an attractive man, but this was too strange for her. He was a dead, lifeless mummy... Correction, he was supposed to be a dead, lifeless mummy, but there was so much proof to the contrary.

"So, you liked my designs?" she finally asked, making some kind of conversation.

He nodded kindly.

"They seem very true to the time. I'm very appreciative."

"You're welcome."

She smiled sweetly and once again the fluttering began. What the hell? She wasn't a teenager, so why wasn't she able to control herself around him? Although, she had to admit, it did feel good. Slowly, the young woman felt herself begin to lean forward. She wasn't seriously about to do what she thought she was going to do... was she? Still, she advanced, feeling him begin to do the same. This wasn't really happening, it couldn't be. And yet, it was.

Ahkmenrah was staring into her brightly colored green eyes. They were intoxicating. He felt a warmth take hold of him, enveloping him completely. It was an odd sensation that he hadn't felt in a long time. She fascinated him for reasons he couldn't pin point. Perhaps it was how much she resembled Egyptian women. Or maybe it was that she managed to make him feel so comfortable despite the fact this was their first meeting.

While he had been listening to her having all of her conversations over the phone, etc., he had come to think of her as a person he knew. After hearing her voice, and seeing her face in the picture in his office, it was easy for him to imagine being awake, standing in front of her, speaking to her like he was right now. Her voice had always managed creep into his mind, into his thoughts and he found himself more and more thankful they had. After all, he couldn't think of a better voice to listen to in his sleep. And now she was here, sitting next to him, and he felt the need to do something about it, not knowing when or if she would ever come back.

"Hey Ahk.. whoa, sorry."

It was Larry. Thank God he had come. The two of them pulled away from each other, Jasmine grateful they had only moved in a few inches. Her heart started to calm and she suddenly realized her face was slightly flush, the heat resonating in her cheeks.

"Did I interrupt something?" Larry asked with a sly smile as he came closer to the two.

"I would say so Gigantor!" Jedediah laughed.

It was then the young woman noticed the two figurines she had seen earlier poking out of Larry's uniform pockets. The young cowboy was laughing heartily at the awkwardness of the situation while the Roman soldier had either a look of hurt, or embarrassment, it was hard to discern between the two on such a small face from such a far distance.

"Uh, no." Jasmine replied, standing from the bench, nervously adjusting her clothing.

"Well, the sun's about to come up so..."

"Of course Larry." Ahkmenrah replied, standing himself.

Jasmine felt her stomach churn as the young Pharaoh turned to face her.

"Until next time."

The smile gracing his lips made her face flush again, a feeling that didn't do anything but get worse when he grabbed her hand and placed a delicate kiss on it.

The room around her spun as she tried to make sense of everything. This was definitely sensory over load. She had barely noticed that the young man had bowed politely to her before turning to leave. Larry had set the two miniatures on their own display and came to a stop in front of her, a smile on his face.

"You coming?" she finally heard him say.

"Hm? Yes, of course."