FORwarD

Book 3 Chapter 2
The Pharaoh's Want
Parking Lot
Link, Yami, Diana, Jane, and Junior
Narrator's P.O.V

"I didn't hear a criticism come form you today, Pharaoh." Jane said, referring to her driving, as she pulled the car into park when they arrived into the lot. Yami closed his eyes as he smiled.

"You are improving." He said simply.

"Open the doors! I wanna go swimming!" Junior said impatiently as Yugi held his hands up to calm him down.

"Woah, hold your horses, J. We'll get there." He said as Link climbed out of the rental van and pushed open the big trunk. He had a loose pair of green swim trunks on and a semi-tight grey t-shirt accompanied by a pair of green sandles. When Jane turned the ignition off, she tossed the keys to Yami and joined Link behind the van.

"I can't believe you brought your hat to a water park." She said playfully, roughly removing his hat on putting it on her own head, just in time for Diana to see it.

"Says the girl carrying a sketch book," Link said with a challenged grin, taking the green top back. "I'm not going to go in the water with it."

"So," Diana forced an interrupted play quarrel, "We're meeting Joey and the others later, right?"

Link nodded a mhm in reply to Diana and began pulling the heavy cooler from the trunk. Yami and Yugi came to join them behind the van, both wearing similar attire to Link's only different in color and style. Yugi wore his usual sneakers, cobalt blue swim trunks and a t-shirt decorated with the Celtic Guardian while the Pharaoh walked in his ancient Egyptian papyrus footwear and gold accessories, wore black shorts and a white wife beater, carrying the towels under one of his arms with the exception of his own that hung around his neck.

The girls couldn't help but ogle over Link as his arms flexed to lift the cooler over his shoulder effortlessly. He heard their squeal, but the moment he turned to look at them, they successfully stopped the flails and acted cool.

The Beach

"I'm going straight in. The sun is killing me." Link said as he put down the cooler.

"Me too!" Jane said, about to remove her shorts when she stopped to notice Link removing his t-shirt by grabbing it from over his shoulders. She froze and sweat-dropped before looking at Diana and wondering why they were there to die.

Yami removed his wife beater from the front just next to Diana who was making it obvious that she was starring. The Pharaoh looked back at her with confused eyes.

"What's wrong, Diana? Why don't you remove some of your garments? You'll melt in the sun." He said and Diana flapped her hands as she laughed pathetically.

"No I'll be fine..." She said, swearing to herself that she'll never remove anything and risk to turning Link off.

She was not the only one who felt insecure about herself. Even though Jane had stripped down, she wore a dress styled bikini that covered most of her skin...although she still showed her legs and cleavage...annoying Diana that she was racing Link to the beach while wearing it.

"Doesn't look like the others are here." Yugi said, observing the deserted beach with only a couple of people, far, far off on the other side. Yami stretched out on his gold plated towel that he snatched from his bathroom, resting back on his forearms while sliding on a pair of shades to rest on his nose.

"They'll arrive soon enough." Was all he said as he watched Link and Jane racing in the water out to a buoy. Diana wanted to see what his reaction to that was, but his face was always hard to read...and the sunglasses didn't help any.

In reality, the Pharaoh wasn't intimidated by Link at all. He couldn't be. Not after what Jane said to him when she was intoxicated...and those words stuck with him ever since. His thoughts became a blur as he stopped paying attention to any of his surroundings...even when Joey showed up with Duke, Mai, Rebecca and Serenity.

"Hey, guys! How's it going?" Yugi asked.

"Hey Yug!" Joey greeted as he dropped everything next to their set up. "Sorry we're late. Old Dukey here had to make a stop when he spotted a pretty girl near the refreshments area..."

"Hey!" Duke interrupted, "You're just jealous that pretty girls have the hots for Duke Devlin...and speaking of pretty girls..."

Duke sat himself next to Diana on her towel, resting a forearm on his leg with the intention to look attractive to her. "Hey, Dee. How are you?" He said in a flirtatious voice. Diana's blush didn't last long when she saw Link and Jane jogging back together with smiles on both faces...she wished she could get Link to smile that way at her.

"I won. Naturally." Link said, exposing his cocky side. Jane caught her breath.

"Of course." She rolled her eyes, "You're the swimmer here, there's no contest!"

Link didn't respond when he saw that Duke had made himself comfortable on Diana's towel, however, his attention was caught short due to his little brother.

"Okay, I'm going in now!" He said in a hurry as he struggled to get out of his shirt. Diana reached out and helped him.

"You're not going into the beach all by yourself!" Diana ordered.

"But Dee!"

"I don't want a wave to pull you away." She worried. Link smiled. He found that adorable and he laughed.

"I'm sure Yugi will take you, bud." He said looking at him for confirmation and Yugi nodded. Link looked back at Diana and thought now would be as good time as any to try to get that kiss... anything to get her away from Duke.

Duke, however, was fast.

"Hey, Dee?" Duke said, interrupting Link's train of thought. "Want to grab a Popsicle with me?"

"Uh, sur-"

"Actually, Dee..." Link stopped her from answering, "there's this really crazy souvenir shop just by the refreshments. I saw some stuff from my game and thought you would appreciate it the most... if you want to come with me to check it out?"

Really? Diana was shocked and accepted Link's offer right away...shortly regretting it. She assumed that he would put a shirt on before leaving, but she was sadly mistaken. He just began to lead the way wearing nothing but his damp swim suit with his wet, dripping blonde hair...She greatly fiddled with her hands as she followed him.

"Why don't you grab a box of them, Duke? For all of us?" Joey said in utter carelessness as he laid a towel next to Mai and his sister. Duke sweat-dropped.

"Fine." He got up and left.

"This is good. I desperately needed a tan." Mai said before Serenity started laughing.

"You need a tan? Look at me, I'm as white as silver fang." She said and Yugi chuckled before watching Rebecca remove her dress. He blushed immensely...he never saw Rebecca in anything but her college uniform and her curves were sending him chills.

"Hey, Becker, do you swim?" Jane asked her and she winked.

"Of course!" She said.

"Mai?" Jane asked. Mai chuckled before agreeing that a dip would do good for her skin. All of the girls left the towels and darted for the beach and Joey began to laugh.

"I still think that Mai is the most gorgeous out of the 5." Joey said, completely whipped. Yugi wanted to protest against him but instead he remained quiet and blushed. The Pharaoh chuckled.

"Yugi?" His deep voice pressured him. Yugi blushed and decided to defend Rebecca.

"Well...I-I think Rebecca has come a long way..." Yugi said quietly and Joey winked.

"Please tell me that that means I got a confession out of ya." He said and Yugi nodded once with a serious face to keep his cool.

"Awe yeah, I knew it!" Joey began.

The Pharaoh made note of Yugi's bravery and was very proud of him. He could sense in Yugi that he was trying to work up the best way to ask Rebecca out and that he has come a long way from when they first met. Yami removed his shades and lifted himself off the towel when he saw Duke coming back.

"I'm going to pick up a drink." He smiled at them and grabbed his tank top, quickly putting it on while walking off of where the sand started. Lucky that Egypt is a land full of sand, because his high quality shoes were made to resist it. He sat himself at the bar and loosened his golden wrist bands as he waited for the bartender. When he noticed that he was taking a while, he turned his head to observe the bartender having an intimate conversation with one of his customers.

"...so I'm stuck." The customer said.

"I would just take charge if I were you." The bartender answered.

Take charge? Yami eavesdropped.

"I don't know, I don't want to be pushy."

"You know she likes you too, right? What's the worst that can happen?"

The worst that can happen? If a woman is in love with two men and one takes charge...the worst that can happen is that you push her into the arms of the other. But then... if she is already in his arms... then the worst that can happen is...nothing.

The Pharaoh grinned at himself, shaking his head and thinking he was absolutely ludicrous. Why in the world did these words have to bring him thoughts of Jane?

"Pardon me?" The Pharaoh interrupted, calling attention with one hand. He didn't want to, but he desperately needed a drink. "A glass of Merlot, thank you."

Thinking of Jane already was making him feel uneasy and he hasn't even thought of specifics. Just the thought of her name brings him discomfort because he knows the details will bring him that. He slid the glass close to him without any excitement, even though it was one of his favourites. He took a sip and wondered if it was possible that Yugi was right after their trip through both chambers...he refused to think that possibility, and yet the Pharaoh himself was beginning to realize his own denial.

Gift Shop

"What the-?" Link said as he examined the confusing woman's head dress for sale in the shop, trying to figure out how it would be worn. He gazed over to Diana who was looking into the tiny mirror on the shelf where some glasses stacked onto each other and tried on several green pairs. Link smiled.

"Sun glasses don't suit you..." He began, reaching for the woman's head dress.

"I know." Dee agreed, looking around the shop. "Link, where are the Legend of Zelda stuff you saw?" She asked. Link panicked when she was beginning to catch on to his lie and he decided to ignore her.

"Try something like this." He said, slapping the head dress on top of her head so that her vision was zero. Diana laughed instantly.

"Hey!" She said lifting her arms and beginning to remove it. As she lifted her arms, she accidentally pulled the fabric of her shirt far up enough to reveal a tragic past on her skin, catching Link off guard when he laid eyes on the scars.

"Dee!" Link said, putting both protective hands on her stomach to examine them closer. Diana flinched at his touch, she didn't know how to react so she stepped away from him, dropped the head dress and shoved her shirt down to cover the evidence. Link blinked a few times.

"Wha-...what happened?" He asked her, worried.

"Nothing." Dee said, failing with her acting.

"Dee, where did those cuts come from?" Link asked. He had a pretty good idea where...but he was praying to God that he was wrong.

"I told you, Link. It's nothing. Can we not talk about this?" Diana said with seriousness, trying to be as polite as possible. Link kissed his teeth before pulling her into a tight hug that only got tighter after the sad images that appeared in his mind.

"Nothing? Okay. But if it was something, you know you could tell me, right?" Link said without breaking the hold. Diana wanted to thank him so badly but she was going to explode if she said even a word. She could feel more than his warmth...she could smell more than his hair...the guy was topless! How could she possibly say anything? She's never been this close to him before...ever! Or at least as close as she could remember.

Diana decided to just nod and Link sighed in relief. He was worried...not because of what may have happened...he was worried if it was still happening. Then it hit him. This is the perfect opportunity to figure out his issues and plant one! How did he miss it? He slowly pulled back so that he was close enough to her face and looked at her with the eyes from the memory and began to lean in. This was perfect! Kissing Diana would answer so many of his confusing questions about what happened that he would finally be able to move on. Just a little more...

When Diana noticed how close their faces were, she threw herself back as hard as she could. How could Link be so clumsy? The same thing happened when Link handed her the camera in his room too, why can't he watch where he puts his head? Thinking about it even more made Diana loose her balance but with Link's strength, he was able to keep Diana from falling except...he slipped on the fallen head dress and both of them went tumbling to the floor.

When Link landed on top of Diana, she couldn't hold it in any more. First the toplessness, then the touching, then the hugging then the head turning, now this? She panicked.

"Get off, get off!" She said, pushing his chest. He couldn't see her like this.

"Ow, Okay, Okay..." It didn't hurt, really...but having Diana push him like that made him feel really low...did he go too far? He felt like a total Duke.

"Hey! That's enough!" The store owner came from behind the racks and saw Link just lifting himself off Diana. "You guys have been kissy kissy for the last 20 minutes now. I know it's a public beach, but now you're getting too public."

Diana wanted to die.

"We're really sorry Sir, we'll just leave." Link said. He saw that Diana was too embarrassed to even move, so he took her hand to guide her out.

Beach

If there was anything he could do to clear his mind for ten minutes, the Pharaoh would do it. Even if he was falling in love, if this what it was, he wasn't liking it so far. It's not like she was any help either, laying right next to him with her dress folded up to her chest so that the sun tanned all of her...it was making him sick in a unpleasantly good way.

Jane covered her face from the sun with Link's hat and stretched both arms out, making herself as comfortable as she could. What a wonderful day it was.

The Pharaoh flinched. To think that he hadn't already had things hard, she had to make it...harder. Her left hand was resting just by his genitalia, barely touching it and honestly, it was such a gigantic tease that he would have preferred if she just punched him in the groin right then and there. How does she not notice her hands location anyway? She probably thought he was just another pile of towels and clothes...which is where her other hand rested on. He couldn't ignore her hand being there, there was no way.

"Ahem, Jane?" He said quietly so the others wouldn't notice.

"Hm?" She said, peaking from beneath the green top, squinting in the sun. Did the Pharaoh ever make note on how cute she was?
Wait...yes...yes he did. He sighed in his mind.

"Your hand..." He said as quiet as possible. Jane pulled her hand away and looked it at cluelessy.

"What?" She said, looking for traces of crustacean or something. The Pharaoh didn't react to her oblivious response and looked out into the ocean with his usual poker face that Jane would never be able to read. When she noticed that the Pharaoh quickly dropped it, she looked down to realize where her hand had been and she held back a scream.

Perfect timing, Diana was coming back with Link. Jane threw herself off the towel and ran to her, tackling her into the sand and yelling that she suddenly had the gigantic urge to pee and she needed Diana to go with her. Link laughed at all the information and brushed off the sand that landed on him from the impact as the girls disappeared.

Yami couldn't hold back a small smile when his third eye retracted and, lucky for him, no one noticed. She was definitely nervous, that was for certain. And for her to be nervous meant...something, right? If he had been Joey, or Duke or anyone else, she would probably make a joke out of it, wouldn't she? This made the Pharaoh feel a little more then content.

And with Link's sharp hearing, he could hear screams coming from the woman's washroom.

Water Park

"Don't do it!" Serenity yelled. She felt very sorry for Jane right now who was being held by her arms and legs by Joey and Diana...ready to be thrown off high at the top of the ledge and into the wave pool. They original planned to do this to the Pharaoh, but they couldn't even get close to him.

"No, Oh my gosh, guys! The life guards are starring." Jane said as they were swinging her back and forth, counting down ten seconds. Duke and Link were cheering from inside the pool while Mai and the Pharaoh sweat-dropped at the craziness...although even they had to admit it was entertaining.

"1...GO!" Diana and Joey did their best to aim at Yami, so he is, at least, some how a victim in their prank. Jane flew down screaming and was, in no time, smashed against Link, both of them sinking beneath the waves. And Link was, once again, the replacement victim in yet another failed prank.

Everyone laughed when the grudge resurfaced with Link before Yugi checked the time. It was just about to hit lunch, so everyone left the wave pool and began to head back for the beach. When they arrived, they all took their respective spots on their towels except for Link who brought the cooler next to him and opened it up. He began to pull out wrapped sandwiches and packaged fruits and granola bars and handed them out.

When Joey got his share, he gave some to Mai and kissed her on the cheek before chowing down, inspiring Duke to take a seat next to Diana again. Link watched with hard eyes.

"What are you playing there, Yugi?" Jane asked Yugi, who was no his phone playing a new game as per usual. He just loved games.

"Something called Cat Mario." He said in a struggle with a mouthful of his tuna sandwich in his mouth. "To be honest, I'm liking the original a lot better. These traps are so unfair."

"You're playing Cat Mario?" Diana said with a loud voice, ignoring Duke's flirting. "Yami, you should give it a try. You know, being the King of Games and all."

The Pharaoh almost smiled as he chewed before taking the phone from Yugi and taking a crack at it. It was easy enough at first until the little cat died from a shinning star that should have assisted him. He blinked once before trying again, and as he played on, Joey, Diana, Yugi and Jane were crowding behind him. When his cat continued to fall again and again for the most absurd obstacles, he sweat-dropped and returned the phone back to Yugi.

"Yes! He finally lost a game!" Diana cheered and Yami looked at her doubtfully.

"That was not a game." He said simply and Jane nodded.

"He's right, technically. It's just troll, Dee." She said.

"Fine, but I'll get him." Diana said and Duke intervened.

"Why don't you put in your effort on something more worth your time..." He started. "Like me."

Diana was confused more than anything with Duke's flirting. She couldn't even tell if he was messing with her or if he was serious. But it didn't hurt to play along...besides, she liked Duke. He was cool. She pulled out her sketchbook and smiled at Duke, confirming to him that he was worth some of her time and they began to draw together.

A Few Hours Later

Jane's P.O.V

The sun was setting now and to be honest, I wish it wasn't. It meant summer was almost over and we would be busier than ever. Today really was fun, right down to Junior's farts in the water and scarring everybody off...even when we sculpted a mermaid on Joey's sleeping corpse. And now with the pink sunset, everything was falling into place of the perfect summer farewell. Duke is taking a nap right now, Serenity is playing with Yugi and Junior by the waves and collecting shells, Joey, Mai, Link and Diana left some where. I think Mai said she saw fire flies. And The Pharaoh is here with me; he's reading a novel of some kind...I can't see the cover from where I am sitting...to be honest, I didn't know he had books that he read...and he looked good doing it.

Looking around, I realized I was the only one not doing something. I didn't really feel like drawing but...I was starting to get bored.

"What are you reading?" I leaned forward to get a look at the tittle and boy, was I surprised.
"Stephen King? I didn't know you were the horror type."

The Pharaoh smiled his gorgeous grin before closing the book and putting it down.

"He's a good writer." He said. Will I ever get over his perfection? No.

"I'm not much of a reader..." I tried making conversation but it was probably failing.

"That's understandable." He said. His hair moving in perfect rhythm. "You're an artist. I would assume you'd prefer pictures, am I wrong?"

Damn that smarty pants. "That makes sense, actually. I like Manga a lot."

When the conversation died, I laid back on my towel. It really did die too, I mean...he reopened his book. He's probably perfectly comfortable though, I am probably over thinking it.

After a few minutes of complete silence, I started humming...the humming soon became soft singing. It was one of my favourite songs ever...it even inspired me to draw for it in the past.

"Stay with me...baby stay with me...tonight don't leave...me alone..." I sang, "Walk with me...come and walk with me...to the edge of all...we've ever known..."

I was pretty sure I wasn't bothering anyone. I was singing pretty quietly..and it was getting really dark too. It was nice being the only ones on the beach...hearing Junior's adorable laugh in the background.

"I can see you there in the city lights, fourteenth floor, pale blue eyes...I can breath you in..as our heads leaned in.." I went on. "Well I'm not sure what this is gunna be, but with my eyes closed all I see, is the sky line, through the window, the moon above you, and the streets below, hold my breath as your moving in, taste your lips and feel yours skin, when the time comes, baby don't run, just kiss me...slowly."

"My, I must say..." The Pharaoh stopped me, "Your voice can really sooth a person."

What? Did he just say that?

"Uh, really?" I blushed and he changed the subject.

"Why don't you and I go for a walk?" He asked and I know that he was on drugs.

"A walk?"

"Mhm." He nodded once, "Let's find the others. They've been gone a while don't you agree?"

Oh, the others...

"Sure." I said.

The Pharaoh's Point Of View

"Sure." She said. I felt the urge to read her then, but I decided that it would be more interesting to leave it alone. I don't know what it was about her, but I felt like I wanted her near me all of the time.

Something took over me next, because my possessed hand took a hold of hers when we were both standing, and when I felt her hesitate, my hand clenched tightly to keep hers from escaping. Thinking about everything as we took the first few steps were making me come to a clearer view of something strong.

Walking ahead of her by a pace or two, I stopped and turned to allow her to catch up. When her shy expression became comfortable, she happily accepted my grasp and walked next to me...making me feel calm and out of control at the same time. Her voice, her appearance, her attitude, her everything... has made me come to accept that I was extremely attracted to this woman in every way. And there was nothing I could possibly do to stop myself from wanting her.