Chapter 11: How…
Akino
It was the final duels at last and everyone went to go and watch the duels except me. I was in the hospital wing with Aniko and her friend Mia. "I don't know if you can hear me sis, but I just wanted to say how much I miss you…" I smiled weakly.
Serenity walked in, "Joey and Marik are the first to duel" she filled me in and I frowned. "I'm sorry" "It's fine. Joey will be okay. I believe in him." Serenity smiled. I nodded at her as she took her seat next to Mia. I was anxious to go see the duel. I was never one who skipped out on major duels and Serenity seemed to notice. "Just go. I'll watch them" she laughed. "Thanks" I smiled before I ran off to the duel building to watch Joey duel against that evil Marik. By the end of the duel Joey almost won but ended up passing out before he could make his last move. "No Joey!" Tea shouted as she ran to them followed by the others. I stood there glaring at Marik and as he walked off the arena he froze in surprise, "You…" Making me turn to see who caught him off guard.
Unknown
I woke up from what felt like a sleeping beauty slumber. My body ached and my hair clung to my face. I stretched and gathered myself together before pushing myself into a painful sitting position and noticed my surrounding… 'Definitely a hospital room…' I sighed cracking a few bones. I stood out of bed clutching the side as I clumsily touched the floor feeling the cold tile touch my bare feet. I slowly began to walk to the double doors and slipped out before anyone noticed my disappearance. I dragged my body to my room, took a long hot shower, and then changed into better clothes. "It's so quiet. I wonder where everyone is" I murmured as I stumbled to walk on my own duel disk strapped to my wrist with my deck tightly in place.
I began walking out of the blimp noticing an aura coming off from the building ahead of me. "There they are…" I whispered before I ran, limped, to the arena.
Serenity
I was watching Mia closely. I guess I was hoping she would just wake up and say 'haha I got you all!', but that wasn't going to happen. Aniko and she were both lost in this shadow realm. Just the thought made my heartbreak into pieces. "Mia, Joey and Yuugi will get yours and Aniko's minds back." I promised as I turned to check on Aniko. "Aniko!" I jumped out of my seat and went to her bed… empty. "How… Did Marik's servant wake up and take her? Should I go find her?" I pondered. I decided to stay knowing even if he took Aniko he could exactly take her far away. I walked back to my seat and sighed. "This tournament is really stressful" I muttered.
Tristan
I saw Marik frozen in shock and when I looked at the person he stared at I couldn't contain myself, "ANIKO!" This caught Tea's and Yuugi's attention as they turned to face Aniko who was out of breath and barely standing on her own. She was pale but her hair didn't lose its color. She smiled at me weakly, "Miss me" she coughed. Aniko lost her balance and within seconds Akino was by her side supporting her. "Yea, we missed you" Akino whimpered. "How…! How were you able to regain consciousness? You should be locked away!" Marik growled. "Blame my other half. She's just such a damn nuisance. Her diadem brought me back" Aniko smiled as Akino looked at her waiting for the explanation. Marik growled, "Careless mistake on my part, but I won't let that happen again" He pulled his rod out but Tea, Yuugi, and I were in front of my sisters in seconds. "You won't take my sister from me again" I growled.
Aniko
I looked over Yuugi's shoulder noticing Marik's impenetrable glare before he placed his rod away and stormed off possibly planning a way to send me to the shadow realm forever. The medics took Joey to the hospital wing and Yuugi changed into Yami, who immediately embraced me in a longing hug. I hugged him back breathing in his scent not realizing how much I missed being near him, "I'm sorry…" I apologized. "You should be. What you did was reckless?" Tristan began his lecture but Tea hit him lightly shushing him. "Bro, you are ruining their moment!" Akino hissed harshly as Yami and I pulled away chuckling at them. "Too late" I giggled. "Lovely reunion." Kaiba interrupted. "Really lovely, but I don't have time for this. Yuugi you aren't getting out of this duel just because your girlfriend is awake. We are dueling in an hour. You better be ready." Kaiba shouted. I looked at him sadly and Yami nodded at him and the gang ran to check on Joey. Kaiba walked up to me and ruffled my hair, "Glad you are ok" he smiled weakly. I laughed, "Lovely reunion Mr. Kaiba" I winked as I walked off to the roof looking at my surrounding area, sitting on the side, and sighed. "You okay?" I jumped turning my head seeing Yami standing close behind me. "I'm fine. I'm still really drained because my mind was trapped and tortured" I shivered. "I see." He sat beside me. "How's Joe?" I asked him.
"He's fine. He just lost consciousness." He responded. "He was so close. He could have actually won. That damn Marik tortured him." I hissed clenching my fist. Yami touched my fist holding it in his hand kissing it lightly. "Don't worry. We'll bring Marik down together." He promised. "You mean YOU'LL bring him down. We've saw how my duel went. I was close, but close wasn't good enough."
Yami's hand turned my face to look him in the eyes, "I need you there. With you by my side... I can't do this without you my queen" He gently said looking into my eyes as if trying to read my thoughts. I blushed at his 'queen' comment, "Do you still not believe you are a queen?" He asked seriously. "No, I do. After being sent to the shadow realm I found out who I was… Well who my other half is I guess you can say. I'm still a girl from the twenty first century, but I can accept I also have a fate that damns me as an ancient Egyptian queen." I revealed. He smiled softly, "At least you finally believe it. You are an important piece to my past" he whispered as he subconsciously leaned in to me. When our noses touched I closed the gap between us as he wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him. We heard someone clear their throat and we parted quickly to see Tristan smiling goofily at us. "Well not like Yuugi has a match to win in ten minutes are anything" he joked earning a hit by Akino. "I told you to let them have time alone. You are such an idiot brother" She sighed angrily. We laughed and Yami stood up and held out his hand for me to take. I gladly took his hand as he pulled me up, "Let's go win this tournament" I smiled. "Now you are talking my language sis!" Akino grinned as we walked to the arena.
