Tossing and turning in her sleep, Anzu sat up for a moment in the midnight gloom. She looked out her window and could see the Giza pyramids lit by starlight and the moon. She laid back down and the hard lump under her pillow continued to distract her. Giving up, she pulled the Millennium Tome out of underneath her pillow. She shouldn't be worried that they would take the book. The Ishutarus were honorable people. She pulled it out and put it to the side under the blankets. Anzu closed her eyes again, trying to chase sleep.

As she was returning to her fitful slumber, a hand caressed her cheek, pulling back strands of hair. Her unconscious self did not respond to the touch. It did achieve its intended effect as she settled down and finally slept. Atemu sat on the bed next to her, his eyes glowed in the darkness. He was stronger here than anywhere else in the world. Egypt was his homeland and place of his birth. He thought to himself that it was going to be very difficult for him to stay away.

His eyes fell on the book next to her and he rubbed his hand over the ancient markings. He knew that this book was dangerous. Atemu had not lived long enough to ever see it translated, but he had lived long enough to see to it that it would never fall into the wrong hands again. He remembered sending it as far west as he could toward the setting sun. In those times, he thought the West was fitting because that was where the sun set and the ending of all things could be counted upon there. Now, it and Anzu had traveled East, toward the beginning of all things. Standing up from her, he gazed one last time on Anzu, before allowing himself to become one again with the night.

He was going to have to talk to someone, but who. She could bring down the wrath of all the gods with one false word and misstep. The Millennium Tome was dangerous even in the hands of experienced spellcasters. His bitter thought of the past softened. However, had those events caused by the creation of the Millennium Items had not transpired, he would have never known her. All things happening for a reason was little comfort, but it provided some.

Atemu was standing in the Fields of Aaru again, a man among the reeds of the river. He followed the Nile north, toward the palaces. It was strange how each Pharaoh had been afforded their familiar homes and visions of Kemet, but it had an amazing affect when seeing it for the first time. Dotted in a loose semi-circle, multiple palaces and their cities at their death each took up a portion of the Nile. The river itself had been split to give each of these locations their own parcel of the sacred waters, and the sun shone down upon them all. Peace and prosperity were the standards of the afterlife, each was afforded their position in life and had access to hobbies and entertainment to please them long pass eternity. None of these things had mattered to him.

It had been good to be with his own friends and to return to a view of his own time. No longer did he have to share everything with Yugi, and though he did miss his partner dearly, it was nice to be his own person again. Yugi had taught him much, and he hoped that his lessons for him had helped him as well. However, the one person they did not discuss deeply had always been Anzu. It was this piece of his missing puzzle that made the taste of paradise fall flat on his tongue. What was done had to be done, he could not go on living within Yugi. They both had deserved their chance at separation. It was when he was separated from Yugi that his feelings for the girl had deepened. It was just sad that his time had been three thousand years prior.

However, now, he felt inextricably linked with Anzu. Since he had felt her pull that night as she tried to take her own life, he knew guilt and fear. He had always assumed that she would be fine without him. His own heart had been heavy with leaving her, but never in his nightmares did he see her fall so low. Atemu felt shame for the part he played and blamed himself as well. If they had never met, then maybe she would have gone on to a simpler life that was free of complexities and dark alleys. However, if they had never met, then neither would have felt the way they did, the soaring highs and roller-coaster swings of emotions. Their experiences would have never intermingled and grown. She taught him compassion and reached out to him when no one else would. He would do it all over again, no matter his sorrows over it, if he could be guaranteed Anzu's happiness afterwards.

Lost in his thoughts, he found himself on the steps of his palace. He would have to talk to someone about this. He thought he knew who would be best. There were actually four people he could think of that may have good advice for him, but of them, only two had known him most of his life.

He had found her in his library. She had become a Queen of Egypt in her own right, but she preferred his quiet halls to her own. He also knew that being Queen had never mattered to her. It had been a duty that she took on after he sealed his soul with Zorc's in the Millennium Puzzle. It was a duty she took on again after he defeated Zorc with the aid of his friends. Her heart had been lost when his magician had died.

"Hello, Mana," he called out to the brown-haired woman, her head bowed over a scroll.

Looking up, she gave him a sweet and happy smile. Her eyes were the color of the deepest waters of the Nile and they sparkled in pleasure.

"Hello, Pharaoh." Over the years of her eternity, she had stopped calling him Prince.

She went to stand up, but he waved his hand to stop her and joined her on her couch. He looked all around him, trying to find a beginning point. Mana knew him well and poked him in the arm, breaking the silence with her observations.

"You have much on your mind suddenly," she said to him, "I see that you go down to the Nile every day for long spans of time."

He nodded, he couldn't argue with her observation.

"What was it like for you after Mahado and I died?" He might as well get to the point.

Setting the scroll aside on the table, she sighed.

After a few moments, she spoke, her voice tinged with sadness, "It was heartbreaking. He was my teacher and friend, and my heart. When I saw him appear once again in the sky right before the ending, called by your incarnate, I risked my life to stand next to him once again using my Ka. In my secret of hearts, I wished that there had been a way for him to remain, but I knew that was not possible. Then, when you passed on, I lost my closest friend whom I could've cried on."

She smiled weakly. Atemu looked down feeling lost and sad for not having been there for her.

"Priest Seto, our new Pharaoh by your final decree, had lost Kisara as well. As we were rebuilding our great kingdom, he asked me to be his Queen. He did not want a pompous princess for a wife and I did not want to marry anyone but Mahado, but we both needed a friend and Kemet needed us far more than our sorrows. We loved each other in our own way, and did our duty to raise a wonderful family for the future of Kemet, but our hearts were always just one half of a whole. Our eyes gazed toward the resting grounds, and the time when we would be able to rejoin our beloveds.

"As you know, Kisara stands with him in his palace, and I come here to be with Mahado. Kisara and Mahado told us both as we each made our way here that there was no need for guilt or sadness that we found solace with each other. They even said if we wished to be together in the afterlife, that was fine. Of course, our individual happiness at seeing our true loves once again cemented where we would choose."

She grew silent again and glanced at Atemu, allowing him the chance to speak.

"Mana, if you had a chance to be rejoined with Mahado when you were alive, no matter the cost, would you have done it?" He kept his eyes downcast, not wanting to reveal too much yet.

She simply said, "Yes."

He gave her a small laugh. "I figured the answer already, but I had to ask."

Looking at the same spot on the ground he was looking at, she asked, "Would you for the one you love?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Is your love Anzu?"

He sat up quickly and looked at his quiet, keen companion. "Your wisdom is hidden beneath your cheerful smile, my friend," was his answer to her.

"Now, it is time for you to tell me why you asked me what you did, Pharaoh," she told him.

"For some time," he told her, pain evident in his voice, "I have been traveling into the reeds. One day, I felt a calling and then found myself seeing a vision of Anzu. She had reached the end of what she could handle alone and was near to completing a terrible deed to herself. My heart broke at seeing her like that. I had to do something, but what could I do. I am but spirit. However, as I watched her lifeline growing fainter, my will grew strong enough to find myself there with her."

He opened his hands and stared into them, he saw one of Mana's petite ones rest on his right. Silent comfort for the pain he was seeing in his mind's eye.

"I could not let her continue with what she was trying to do. Anzu was supposed to live after I left. She was supposed to have happiness and harmony. I had nothing to offer her except support. I had not felt this lost except when I stood there before Zorc without a name and a way to save our people."

Mana's hand tightened on his. "Pharaoh, sometimes support is the greatest offering you can give."

"There is more, friend," he said in response, "my heart is completely torn now in want of her. If another time, and even when I shared a body with the soul of Yugi I felt this, I would have made her my queen. I never could act out on my growing feelings for her because of respect for Yugi. I knew how he felt about her, I had encouraged it early on in our shared legacy, but over the years, my feelings had changed significantly for her.

"However, she is willing do whatever she can to be with me in her world. I tried to push her away when she appeared here in the same manner, but I know she feels just as deeply for me. However, I would do anything to be with her as well. I'm scared she will get herself hurt or worse, unwittingly let loose something horrible if not guided. Mana, she is now the new owner of the Millennium Tome."

"By the Gods themselves, you cannot be serious, Pharaoh. That is the most powerful and dangerous spellbook ever created. It was said that the Gods scribed those spells Themselves!" Mana's voice shook in fear over another mortal attempting the spells.

"I know Anzu like I know myself. Even if it is dangerous and with all warnings, if it might be a way to triumph over an adversity, I would do it."

Mana stood up next to him, placing her hands upon his shoulders. Her warm eyes stared into his own. "Pharaoh, you must tell Mahado of this. He was and remains powerful in magic."

"Would he try to harm her to stop her?" Atemu felt ice on the edges of his soul in sudden concern for Anzu.

"No, no, he would not." She emphatically replied.

"There is more, Mana," the Pharaoh added, "The Gods have seen her. If the very least, Ma'at has seen her when she tried to call to me on her own. The Goddess told her to come to Kemet."

"But She..." Mana's voice trailed off as her hand come to her lips to cover her gasp, she rapidly spoke. "Pharaoh, you must speak to Mahado right away. I will take you to him. Anzu could be hurt if she is not careful. I cannot believe the Goddess of Truth has Her eyes on her."

Shaking her head, the bells in her hair jangling with her, she grabbed Atemu's arm and began to drag him toward the back of the palace. She wasn't going to wait for his answers or attempts to stall meeting Mahado. Her heart was racing in her chest. Even in their time, it was rare for one of the Gods to appear before them. Power such as that calling was reserved for the Pharaohs. The only touch of the Gods that the mortals in current time knew of was the God Cards.

Atemu didn't know what to say to Mana to stop her and allowed himself to be dragged with her to Mahado's chambers. He figured she would have found a way to tie him up and drag him there if she had to, so he might as well go with the flow on this one. When they burst into his private offices, Mahado could not conceal his expression of surprise at Mana dragging their Pharaoh through the palace into his rooms.

"Mana, what is the meaning of this?" Mahado demanded of her.

"Mahado... Pharaoh... can tell you... better than... I." she panted in between breaths.

Mahado raised his eyebrow as he looked at his Pharaoh and crossed his arms waiting.

"Mahado, my friend," Atemu said to him, spreading his own hands out in supplication, "I will tell you the same as I told Mana."

He explained the same tale of him reaching out to Anzu and then her own calling that had summon Ma'at. He shared that she now was keeper of the Millennium Tome. Mahado had listened without interruption. During this time, he had led his guests to a table to sit as they discussed the issue at hand.

"Do you know how she came into possession of the Millennium Tome?" Mahado asked him.

"She had came across the current keeper, a descendant of the spellcaster that understood that the tome could never fall into the wrong hands again. He willingly traveled far into the West at my biding. Apparently, this former tomekeeper felt something about Anzu and gave her the book. Anzu is now staying with my former tombkeepers."

Mana looked at Atemu. "How do you know this?"

Atemu turned and gazed upon the desert landscape, over green swaying palms and decadent gardens that surrounded his domicile. His eyes were toward the sun. "Since she arrived in Kemet, I can feel her stronger than ever. Sometimes, when I am among the reeds and concentrate, I find myself next to her or able to hear the world around her."

"The bond between you two is very strong." Mahado added and glanced at Mana. Her agreement was a barely perceptible nod. Under the table, her hand reached for his and he intertwined his fingers with hers.

Mahado continued speaking, "If she attempts a spell out of the book, she would fail without the key. Failure could mean death and an afterlife at the hands of the Swallower of the Damned, for surely she would be damned."

Atemu pulled himself up quickly, nearly shouting, "Mahado! That cannot happen!"

"It won't, my friend and Pharaoh, if she has the key," Mahado added.

Mana urged Atemu to sit back down. She could see that he had visibly paled hearing such a possible fate for Anzu.

"I only know of one spell that was translated from that book, and it was a terrible spell with a double-bladed outcome," Mahado said, his voice tempered with sad memories, "However, here in the afterlife, the key can be found. The matter of getting it will be a difficult task."

"I will get it for her, I would do anything to protect her," Atemu cried out.

Mahado and Mana looked at one another, nodding in their silent communication.

"We will do everything we can to help you," Mana said.