Hello everyone!

Thank you Ataahua, UsagiAngelRabbit, presea221, and Jessikins1 for reviewing!

Also a thank you to Aniaco, basecannon, Vulcran and TroubleDaNewsie for following/favoring the story!

This chapter is shorter than most, but I hope that you all will like it Enjoy this new chapter of Kizuna and please review when you're finished.

Chapter warning: Language and more emotional woes

Chapter 14

The Darkness Inside

In another dimension, Mimiki was still entangled in her thorny rose prison. Her mind was still silent and numb in the purple abyss. Two days later, she managed to open her eyes, but only halfway. Her vision was still blurry. She still felt weak, but thankfully not as weak as she did before. She tried to move her fingers, but only moved them slightly with exerting way too much strength, in her opinion.

"Ugh…" she muttered.

Her vision slowly started to clear. She willed herself to make it happen faster. 'I have to get better...like yesterday!' she thought. 'I need to get better! I need to get better! My friends are waiting for me! I have to cheer Yugi on!' She continued to struggle in the vines, hoping to break free.

'I miss my friends! And I miss Ma—'

Then she paused for a moment and blinked. 'I miss…'

Mimiki paused again. Her memory was cloudy. She stopped struggling and tried to think again. She tried to remember him, tried to picture his face and his features. 'I miss—'

"Who do you miss, Mimiki?" a voice asked. Mimiki gasped and her vision finally cleared. The voice was familiar, but not familiar at the same time. Mimiki looked up to see a shadowy figure standing before her, but her mind had forgotten who she was thinking about. She screamed in pain as dark energy surged through her mind once again. Her blank eyes showed exhaustion and despair as she breathed heavily. Losing her strength, she fainted. The shadow figure crossed their arms, it clearly wasn't impressed with Mimiki's weak will.

"You've been sleeping for too long. It's about time that I let you wake up. I'm bored enough as is!"

The unknown figure snapped its fingers, reversing the damage that was done. The dark stronghold was called back to its hand and energy started to flow through Mimiki's body. A wicked smile grew on the shadow figure's face.

"It's showtime!"

Kakayu took another sip of her iced mocha before checking on Mimiki's flowers. The nurse had came in minutes later to check Mimiki's vitals once again. Kakayu remained hopeful as she watched the nurse.

"So, any changes Nurse Kobayashi?" she asked. "Hopefully good ones?"

The nurse finished inputting some notes on her tablet with a smile before turning to Kakayu. "Actually, her brain activity is up! This is definitely a big change from the last couple of days! Dr. Ishikawa will be pleased!"

"Really?! Does that mean she'll wake up soon?"

"Maybe not today, but if she does, it'll be a miracle!" she replied. "Definitely keep hope alive! This is a definite sign that she's recovering!"

Kakayu sighed in relief and almost shed a tear. 'Thank God…'

"That's wonderful to hear! Thank you so much!"

Nurse Kobayashi made sure that Mimiki was comfortable once more. "No need to thank me. I'm sure that Miss Minami can feel yours, your friends and her boyfriend's love and that's helping her to recover. You two have been here everyday since she's been admitted, especially her boyfriend! He's such a sweet boy, being here all day from sun up to sundown! He's always sitting here by her side." she commented. Then she looked around. "Speaking of him, where is he? I'm surprised that he's not here."

'If only you knew that said boy had been trying to kill us repeatedly over the past week!' she thought. 'But I gotta give him a chance! He's truly changed since his evil side was banished...and she's right. He's been super dedicated to Mimi. He's not a bad conversationalist, either. At least he's not a dull person.'

"Yes, he's sweet alright! Since he's been volunteering guard duty, I made him take a mandatory break. He's downstairs getting some well deserved breakfast."

The nurse smiled at him. "Oh thank goodness! With the way he was looking, I thought that he would be the next emergency patient we'd have! His fatigue was starting to worry me! Thank goodness he has a friend like you to care about his well being! I was tempted to give him an IV!"

Kakayu chuckled. "I know, right? Besides, Mimi would kill me if I let her dear boyfriend keel over before she woke up. Don't worry, nurse. I'll make sure that he'll get some sleep too."

"Good to hear! I'm going to report this update to Dr. Ishikawa and he'll be in to check up on her once he's finished with some other patients, okay?"

Kakayu nodded. "Yes, of course. Thank you again." she said, bowing.

She replied with a smile and left the room. Kakayu sighed and grabbed a chair and her bag and sat next to Mimiki's bed. She fished out her tablet to read a novel and finish her coffee while she waited for Marik to return. Minutes later, she heard a deep intake of air. She quickly placed the tablet down in her lap and looked around the room.

"...where am I?" she heard a familiar voice asked groggily.

Kakayu's heart jumped when she heard the voice. "Mimiki?!" she exclaimed.

Mimiki winced at hearing her loud voice. Her nearly closed, blank eyes slowly opened as she gripped her snow white sheets in her slender hands. "...yes…?" she replied.

Mimiki closed her eyes and opened them fully. Her eyes were now full of life as she looked around the room. She slowly tried to sit up and Kakayu helped her up.

"Oh my God, Mimiki! You're finally awake!" she exclaimed, giving her a tight hug.

"Ow, ow, ow!" she replied. "Not too hard, Kai! I feel sore."

Kakayu let her go and sat back in her chair. "I'm sorry! I was just so happy to see you awake again! We were so worried about you! I gotta call everyone and tell them you're okay! They'll be so happy!"

Kakayu quickly grabbed her phone to start typing a group message. While she was doing that, Mimiki looked around to observe her surroundings. "Kai, why am I in the hospital? Weren't we on Kaiba's blimp for the Battle City tournament?" she asked, clearly confused. Moments later, her eyes widened. "Don't tell me that I had a impromptu duel and got knocked out worse than you did by a god card!"

Kakayu laughed nervously as she pressed the 'send' button. 'Well you're not too far off…'

Her eyes widened. "If that happened, that means that I was disqualified, right?! Gah! I'm such a spazz! And I was so looking forward to kicking some ass! Ugh!"

Kakayu couldn't help but laugh loudly. She covered her mouth to tone down the volume of her laugh. Mimiki growled at her. "You know that it's rude to laugh at hospitalized people's woes!"

"I'm sorry, but you're acting like a total anime character right now. It's amusing."

Mimiki couldn't help but notice the blue gem on her cousin's finger. "Is that a tanzanite and diamond ring?! Holy shit! It's huge! Where did you get that from?!"

Kakayu blushed and looked away. "Well you know that Kaiba does, on the rare occasion, care about someone other than himself…"

Mimiki's eyes widened as she gasped. "Kaiba gave you that?! Tell me all of the details! I need to know!"

"Well...see what had happened was…"

The two cousins started laughing and talking away as if everything was normal again.

"Your total is $5.95."

Marik handed the cashier some cash from his wallet. "Thank you. Keep the change."

The woman smiled and handed him his drink, toasted bagel and cream cheese in a small paper bag. Since he hadn't slept much since Mimiki was in the hospital, the steaming hot cup of coffee was welcomed and the bagel was enough to quiet his empty abyss of a stomach for now. After fixing it up just right was a bit of cream and sugar, he made his way back to the elevator that would take him back to the eighth floor of the hospital. He tapped his foot anxiously as he waited for the elevator to arrive. After what seemed like forever, he climbed into the glass elevator and released a big yawn during its ascent. He took another sip of coffee as he walked down to Mimiki's room.

He was clearly very worried about her condition as he still blamed himself, but everyone told him to have hope that she'd wake up soon. Even Kakayu had hope that she would wake up today. 'Mimi and Kakayu...they're both so optimistic...I wish that I could be like them in that regard.'

Before he stepped into the room, he heard not one but two girlish laughs. One whose high pitched chortle was instantly recognizable, which made his heart race with excitement. He started to pick up his pace, but quickly slowed when some of his hot coffee spilled on his hand. He almost dropped the cup.

"Ouch! Dammit!" he muttered.

Marik quickly tossed his pain aside and walked into the room. "Mimi?"

"Oh, Marik! You're back!" Kakayu exclaimed.

'Marik?' Mimiki thought. "Look who's finally decided to join us!"

Mimiki rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Kai."

Marik's eyes teared up as he placed his food on the table to look at his beloved. There she was—finally awake and appearing to be doing well. She looked at him with her big, blue eyes. Just locking eyes with her made it feel like time had stopped for a moment. All was right in his world now and nothing could turn it dark again.

"Mimi! You're okay! You're really okay!" he exclaimed. Marik quickly hugged her, but she tensed up in his embrace. "I was so worried about you! How are you—"

Mimiki pushed him back with as much strength as she could muster and quickly shot him a confused look, which startled him. Then she uttered three heart stopping words made his world crumble.

"Who are you?"

Kakayu almost broke her neck whipping her head around to look at Mimiki. She instantly joined the shocked club with Marik. "What are you talking about? You know him!"

Mimiki locked eyes with her cousin, clearly not feigning ignorance. "No I don't, Kai! Who is he?"

Then she turned back to Marik. "Who are you?" she asked again. "And why are you calling me by my nickname?! You better not be some crazy stalker from school!" she hissed.

Kakayu and Marik couldn't believe what they were hearing. There was actually venom in her words as she eyed Marik.

"Mimi, it's me...Marik…" he replied.

"I don't know anyone named Marik."

Marik's throat started to feel dry. "Come on, Mimi...it's me...Marik…" he repeated. "Your friend...from Egypt...we used to play together all of the time. Then you suddenly moved back home. We reunited at the tournament, remember?"

He gently grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring, loving smile. "You're the love of my life...we love each other."

Mimiki felt heat rise to her cheeks. She felt the familiarity of his touch and the sincerity of his words. She looked into his eyes and a small smile started to form—but it was quickly replaced with a disgusted frown, along with a migraine. She winced in pain and clenched her head.

"Mimi are you okay?" Marik asked, clearly concerned. She looked up at him with dark eyes and he gasped when she snatched her hand out of his grasp, smacking it away.

"I don't love anyone, you creep!" she replied. "I don't believe you!"

"Mimiki! It's me! I'm telling the truth!" Marik said. He quickly pulled out their shared picture from her party out from his back pocket and held it up for her to see. Seeing the picture instantly brought on another headache and she clenched her head again, gnashing her teeth and breathing heavily. Her heart rate spiked, setting off the heart monitor she was hooked up to for a second. She quickly snatched his picture out of his hand with cat like reflexes and snarled at him with those same dark eyes.

"You must've lost your damn mind!" she snarled. "You're crazy! How did you get this picture of me?! I only have one copy of this! And you had the nerve to photoshop yourself into it?! You're batshit insane! Get out of here you creep!"

Astounded on how her cousin was behaving, Kakayu couldn't stay silent any longer.

"Mimiki Minami! What has gotten into you?!" she screamed. "He's Marik Ishtar, the man you've loved for the past three and a half years! After all you've been through together and as much as you've talked about him, you can't tell me that you've forgotten about him! He's stood by your side this whole time, worrying about you and you've been crying about him and his well being for the last couple of days! How dare you treat him like that?!"

Mimiki looked to her cousin in disbelief. "How could you say that, Kakayu! You know that I don't love anyone! And you let this weirdo into my room?! How dare you?!" she snapped back. "Get him out of here!"

Shocked but determined to help, Marik began to plead with her. "Mimi, please listen to me!" Marik said.

Mimiki clenched her sheets tightly, glowering at him. "Leave me alone."

"Mimiki, please—"

"Get. Out." she replied.

"Mimi—"

Suddenly a dark energy built up in her chest. Her eyes went blank as she snarled at him. "I said LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The dark energy exploded from within and surrounded her body. Her hair floated around her, her irises shrunk and the millennium eye was glowing on her forehead. They both gasped at her possessed like appearance and shivers ran down their spines. Mimiki started to breath heavily again, her eyes welling up with tears. She suddenly felt light headed and moaned in pain, then proceeded to faint. Before she closed her eyes, she glanced at Marik one more time. A tear fell down her cheek and he swore that he saw a glimpse of remorse.

"Help me…" he heard her say.

Mimiki was now sound asleep again. The two stood in silence for a moment before turning to each other.

"Marik...what the hell just happened? " Kakayu asked, her voice trembling. "Tell me that you know what just happened!"

"I-I...I don't know…" he replied.

"What do you mean you don't know?! You have to know something!"

Marik turned back to his beloved, his heart racing as he remembered the glowing millennium eye that was on her forehead.

"Call the pharaoh and tell him to bring the rod. We need some help."

Kakayu didn't waste any time in calling Yugi and Marik quickly called his sister. They needed all of the help they could get.

Yugi had stayed up pretty late the night before playing video games. Summer vacation was still in effect and he thought that it would be wise to seize the opportunity to chill out and play as much as he could before school was planned to resume in the few weeks ahead. He was still tired from the tournament and worrying about Mimiki, so sleeping in as long as possible was one of his favorite ways to recoup. Of course, it was broken once his phone sounded off around 9 AM.

After answering and hearing Kakayu's panicked voice over the phone, Yugi quickly got ready. He quickly snatched his backpack from out of his closet and dumped his textbooks onto his desk. He grabbed the rod and stuffed it inside. After putting on the puzzle, he left for the hospital, leaving his grandpa to wonder what had made his grandson dart out of the house so urgently.

He didn't like the frightened tone that he heard from Kakayu. It was already bad enough that Mimiki was still cursed by dark magic, but he wondered what could have possibly happened now? Uncertainty riddled his and Yami's mind.

Yugi cursed his luck once he arrived at the train station. He rushed out of the house so quickly that he forgot his train pass. Then the ticket lines were all occupied. After waiting for ten minutes, he quickly bought a ticket. After flying through the train station to reach the train platform, he mentally screamed. His train's doors were starting to close shut.

'This is NOT my day!' he thought.

Yugi took the quickest sprint of his life and leaped into the train before the doors had shut completely, surprising everyone else around him. As he heaved and tried to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his forehead, Yami gave him a 'job well done' pat on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Yugi impatiently tapped his foot on the metal floor as his train made its way to his stop.

"This is South Domino."

The train finally stopped at South Domino stop and he made a run for it as soon as the doors had opened. He was out of breath and sweating again once he was inside of the hospital elevator fifteen minutes later.

'My cardio sucks…' he thought.

He really wanted a drink of water to cool down with, but he knew that would have to wait. The door slid open and Yugi made his way to Mimiki's room.

Mimiki was still asleep when Yugi arrived. Ishizu and Odion had arrived minutes earlier and everyone had pensive looks slapped onto their faces, which invited a heavy, gloomy spirit into the room.

"I'm here!" Yugi said. "Now what happened?! You didn't sound too well on the phone."

Marik, who had been standing over Mimiki and trying to wrap his head around Mimiki's change of heart, managed to detach his focus away from her for a moment and looked at Yugi.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. Did you bring the rod?"

Yugi nodded and took the rod out of his backpack. Marik took the rod and turned back to Mimiki. "I believe that the dark magic is behind Mimiki's sudden amnesia."

Yugi blinked in confusion. "Amnesia?! When did you find that out?!"

Marik nodded. "Yes, but I'll explain everything as soon as I can enter her mind and see what's going on."

Marik tightened his grip around the rod. 'I never wanted to do more than a mind link with Mimi...but I have to figure out what's wrong with her despite how I feel…' he thought. 'I just hope that I can help her!'

He thought back to the moments when they did communicate via mind link. Although it was for a very short time, he enjoyed that they were in their own world. He could feel the familiar powers of the rod returning to him.

"I'm going to link our minds. This will enable you all to see what I will see once I enter her mind. Stay focused and prepare yourselves."

Everyone nodded and closed their eyes. Marik took a deep breath and entered Mimiki's mind.

Marik once again found himself floating in the purple abyss of Mimiki's trapped mind. He quickly spotted the rose garden and flew towards it. His landing echoed with an audible 'click.' Marik's heart dropped once he looked around. The roses that were once red and vibrant were now all charcoal colored. His chest was heavy with pain. The last time he was there, she was in a much better condition, despite the situation. He quickly spotted Mimiki on the trellis.

"Mimiki!" he yelled as he ran up to her. She was unconscious just like she was the last time he visited her mind, except for this time the roses that wrapped around her body were now charcoal. The giant rose that laid upon her chest was the only one left that still had some color to it; it was now a shade of dusty red.

"...Mimiki?" he muttered. Tears began to well in his lavender eyes. It pained him as the conflicting images flashed in his mind; she seemed almost fine while awake, but she was suffering on the inside. The vibrant garden was now a dark and desolate place and there was no telling how much damage was done to her mind, let alone her soul. Guilt stabbed Marik's heart all over again. 'This is my fault…' he thought.

He clenched his fist before reaching out to touch her sleeping face.

"Don't you dare touch her." a vicious voice said.

Marik whipped around to lock eyes with Mimiki. Confused, he looked back and forth between the Mimiki that was trapped on the trellis and the Mimiki that was behind him, who had a lone hand propped on her curvy hip.

"...who are —"

Marik gasped as once he realized it. Memories from the day she had died resurfaced again. That evil form that stood before him at that time was identical to the Mimiki that stood before him; the sharp and malicious cat-like eyes, sharp finger nails and the dark, blank eyes.

"...no…"

A wicked smile crawled onto her face as she felt his heart drop. "Long time, no see Ishtar. It's been a long time..." she purred.

Marik stood silent and found himself at a loss of words. It was no secret to her that he was panicking. Although he was trying his best to hide it, his memories were choking him like a snake that was wrapped around his neck. She got a kick out of it, but soon her smile faltered into one of ridden with annoyance. She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"I know that you weren't expecting to see me and as much as I would like to continue our little reunion, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You don't belong here."

Marik swallowed and managed to find his voice. "What did you do to Mimiki?!" he asked.

"The state of her mind is none of your concern. Besides, I didn't do anything to her. I'm just here on guard duty."

"Liar! She IS my concern! Especially if you're here!"

She scoffed at him. "How cute. You're trying to exercise what little backbone you have."

Marik ignored her insult and returned her glare. "I'll find a way to stop you! I'll return Mimiki back to normal! She'll overcome this trial! I believe in her!"

She exploded with condescending laughter. "That's hilarious! You think that you can stop me? You actually believe in Mimiki? The girl's mind is as strong as a limp noodle!"

She started to walk closer to him and with each step, Marik grew more tense. "You have no excuse for tensing up like this. This is your fault, after all."

Marik gasped. "What are you talking about?!"

She then flashed a toothy grin. "That's for me to know and for you to find out." she replied.

Marik growled at her. "Tell me the truth!" he demanded.

She stood silent for a moment, but held her smile. "Ugh, you're so damn whiny! Can't you ever think on your own?!" she complained. "I don't think that you can handle the truth. If I tell you, you'll be all pissy sad and the like. You know, just like you were when she died last time?"

"SHUT UP! JUST TELL ME!"

She scoffed at him. "That's not how you talk to a lady of my caliber!"

Marik growled at her with narrowed eyes, but that didn't scare her. In fact, it amused her. "Fine. I'll tell you. This is her mind, correct? As the former wielder of the rod, you should already be aware about what's going on…"

She turned around and drank the sight of the barren garden. "Her mind was vast and vibrant, full of life, magic, love, happiness and hope. Now it's a forgotten wasteland of the dead…" she continued. She then looked at him over her shoulder. "And it's all thanks to you…"

Marik's heart dropped again. His memory traced back to when Ishizu had showed them the aftermath of his dark side's and his beloved's unique shadow game. Seeing her lifeless body hit the floor was forever ingrained in his memory. But then he remembered how his dark side was defeated and how everyone of his victims had been released from their curse. Why hadn't Mimiki been in the same boat?

"My dark side was defeated. That should've reversed everyone's curse! Why isn't Mimiki the same?!"

Her eyes narrowed at hearing about his dark side. "Don't do this! You'll regret it! I'll make you regret it!" she repeated in an all too familiar voice. It sent a shiver up his spine, which she felt a shiver of excitement.

"I'm glad that you remember...he did warn that you were going to regret your decision." She turned to face him again. "Looks like someone didn't listen~~" she sang before chuckling again. "Because Mimiki foolishly thought that she could save you, she played with a demon. When she fell, her mind was weakened and trapped in this garden. Her memories, love for you and her will to fight slowly faded away. It would've taken more time than normal for her will and memories to wither away, but since you managed to trade places with your dark side and refused to compromise with him, he used the last of his power to accelerate this process; hence making you regret your decision. He knew that his time was imminent. As a last precaution, I was created…a fine mix between her negative emotions, experiences and attributes, your trauma from when she died and shadow magic..." she explained. "So because of you, Mimiki no longer remembers you and now I've been placed here to make sure that it stays that way...do you think that you can stop me now?"

Marik clenched his fists in frustration and guilt. The truth was damning and he felt like he was being hit with several tons of bricks. Nausea crashed over him and he started to get dizzy, but he knew that he had to stand up for himself. "...I...I will stop you! I'll find a way! I'll make amends for my actions! This is just one setback! I'm not giving up now!"

Mimiki's evil doppelganger wasn't convinced. "I just LOVE how confident you are! I'll tell you what: I'll humor you and your noble, yet vain efforts."

She then pointed towards the rose that hovered over Mimiki's chest. "That rose is the last remnant of Mimiki's mind; it's the heart of her mind and soul. As you can see, it's lost a great deal of its vibrancy. Once it turns black, her mind will be dead and her soul will be frail. The Mimiki you know and love will be gone which means I'll be able to roam free in her place and continue to make you forever suffer the loss of your beloved Mimiki."

"I WON'T LET YOU!" he screeched.

"Yeah, yeah...you're starting to sound like a broken record." she said in a dismissive voice. "If you can somehow manage to return her mind to normal, I'll leave her be."

Marik glared at her. "As if I'll believe you! Demons like you never keep your promises!"

"I swear that I'll leave her be if you can return her back to normal!" Then her face quickly reverted back to a frown. "But if you call me out of my name again, I swear I'll turn that rose of hers into the darkest shade of black you've ever seen faster than a speeding bullet! Do you hear me?!" she hissed.

Marik held his tongue for Mimiki's sake. The wicked smile reappeared on her face. "I'm glad that we've had this conversation. Please make sure that we don't have it again." she continued. "Now I have to ask you to leave. You've overstayed your welcome."

Marik gasped at her as her hair started to float around her and her pupils shrunk down to the size of a pea. She cackled as the millennium eye graced her forehead and dark energy swirled around her body. She looked just like Mimiki did before she had fainted, except happier and crazier. He shielded his eyes for a moment as the dark energy exploded from her, her hair pointing in all directions.

"Game on Ishtar...good luck! You're going to need it!" she said as she raised a hand towards him. "May time and my mercy be ever in your favor…"

Swirls of dark energy gathered in her extended palm, quickly forming then growing into an orb of purple energy.

"Wait —"

Before he knew it, the orb had shrunk, then exploded. Marik was quickly pushed out of her mind.

Marik stumbled backwards and hit the wall behind him once he came back to reality. Everyone had felt the same pulse and fell on top of one another, soliciting groans of pain. After everyone regained their composure and picked themselves up from the cold, hard hospital floor, they all looked towards Marik, who appeared defeated and silent. No one didn't know who and when they should speak up. The room was silent for a moment until Kakayu stepped forward. She wanted to reach out to him, but she decided to keep her distance.

"Marik...what just happened?" Kakayu asked, her voice still. "Are you okay?"

Marik couldn't gather the words to reply. Mimiki was helpless and weak. Mimiki was trapped by a demon that resided in her mind. Worst of all: she looked like him…

Their evil laughs echoed through his mind, causing him to begin to shake. Marik fell to his knees started to sob heavily. His tears burned his lavender eyes. His heart was crushed once more.

"It's all my fault…" he wailed.

During the hour that had passed since then, Ishizu and Odion left with Marik and took him outside in order to console him. On the roof, he gripped the fence tightly with whitened knuckles as he continued to cry. His siblings were in distraught. They hadn't seen him behave like this since Mimiki had left Egypt. They walked up towards him slowly, Ishizu reaching out to him first.

"Marik…" she called out in a low voice. "Can you explain everything to us? We want to help you, little brother."

Marik's hands stayed glued to the fence as he tried regain his composure. He slowly turned towards his brother and sister, their figures blurred by his tears.

"Ishizu...Odion...it's all my fault…!" he muttered. "He hurt her...he cursed her...my dark side hurt her to hurt me for killing him…!"

"Your dark side is behind this, Master Marik?" Odion asked. "But he was destroyed in your duel with the pharaoh!"

Marik nodded. "Yes, but he used a reserve of shadow magic to hurt her! Now she has a dark side...and she's just as uncaring and crafty as him! If I don't help her in time, she'll die again…I'll lose her again! That spirit is going to take her place if I don't help her in time! She'll be just like I was!" he whimpered.

Ishizu quickly embraced him, trying to pour as much love and assurance into him as she could. Odion joined in and kneeled beside him, placing a strong hand on his shoulder. Feeling their concern and love made him calm down a bit, but it took him a minute to settle down.

"Marik...I know that this seems to be a nightmare...we all know how much Mimiki means to you. She was your only friend and you grew to love her, and she did the same. But remember this, brother: she fought so hard for you! She had faith that you would see the light again. You can't give up on her, understand? She didn't give up on you."

"But Ishizu...you don't understand...he destroyed her memories of me! Her love for me! You should've seen her and the way she treated me...how she looked at me when she woke up! She doesn't have much time until it's irreversible! I'm on borrowed time!"

Ishizu rubbed his back while Odion gave his shoulder a brief, supportive squeeze.

"You're not alone, Master Marik. We will assist you in helping Miss Mimiki recover."

Ishizu nodded. "We'll do our best to support you both. We love Mimiki too."

Marik stayed silent and closed his eyes. All he could think about was how much he loved and missed Mimiki. He kept blaming himself for what had happened. He felt like he didn't deserve her at all, but all he wanted was to hear her laugh and see her smile at him again. He quietly shed another tear and quietly shut himself off from the outside world.

Moments later, a cool, gentle breeze kissed his cheek. The sensation felt unnatural; the wind also felt warm. Suddenly, the darkness and despair started to dissolve from his heart. The warmth felt familiar and loving; his soul felt light. He opened his eyes and found his favorite pair of ocean blue eyes locking with his. Completely stunned, his voice had left him. Her hand rested on his cheek as she stared at him lovingly. His mind raced back to when they were alone in her room after his dark side had taken over. The love and warmth he felt from her back then was nothing like he ever felt before.

'I love you and I believe in you.' he remembered her saying, making him smile.

After hearing her words, he felt loved and accepted; her heartfelt forgiveness had washed his deep rooted guilt away.

With her being there with him, he closed his eyes and embraced her presence. Each second felt like an eternity; he didn't want it to end, but the warmth quickly left his cheek. Marik opened his eyes to see her drifting away from him.

"Mimiki! Wait!" he cried, reaching out to her. "Don't go!"

Her leaving him reminded him of when she left Egypt. "You can't go! Not again!" he pleaded.

Her smile turned into one mixed with sadness. Much to his chagrin and she didn't reply, but her eyes were laced with regret. Instead, she held a hand over her heart. In turn, his heart felt warm and he placed a hand over his heart.

She slowly faded away and Marik returned back to reality; the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the city below graced his ears. Ishizu and Odion were still comforting him.

"Marik...don't be forlorn." Ishizu said, breaking their silence. "Mimiki is not gone. She might be under a dark curse but she's still here and…"

She placed her hand over Marik's heart. "She lives inside your heart."

Marik gasped and thought back to when Mimiki placed her hand over her heart. He felt the warmth return briefly and managed to shed another tear when he thought about her. 'She lives inside my heart…'

"You can't give up hope, Master Marik." Odion chimed in. "Miss Mimiki believed in you and fought for you. If you were able to rid yourself of your inner demon, then she can as well. Help her return to the light once more."

Marik managed to crack a small smile and took a deep breath. "Thank you, you two."

Ishizu released him from her embrace and the two siblings stepped away from him. He turned to them and smiled. "You two are right. She does live inside my heart. She's not gone."

Marik wiped his face and rubbed his stinging eyes before taking another deep breath. "Let's return to Mimi's room. We need to check up on her."

The Ishtar siblings nodded and proceeded to return inside. Along the way, memories of them together flashed through Marik's mind, from the day they met, up until now. He envisioned them being happy together for days to come and the sweet smile that warmed his heart.

'I want to make more memories with you...' he thought. 'I'll fight for you! I'll fight for your smile! I'm bringing you home, Mimi!'