Hello readers! It's a tad bit late, but then I usually am. Here is the next chapter. I may have lied and not been able to fit the next duel in, but I am going to have the next/perhaps last chapter up by at least next week. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh or Inuyasha.

Enjoy!

Updated 12/12/2014

Chapter Twenty Four

"Mana look out!" a deep familiar voice shouted across the sand.

Kagome unseen by the heroes fighting the demon watched in complete helplessness and disgust as the duel monster she was wielding was destroyed. Instantly, the magician girl fell, the light snuffed from her eyes. Kagome gasped as Aisha stood expressionless next to her.

"Mana!"

"No!"

Kagome noticed a gold triangular object fall from her hands.

'The Millennium Puzzle,' her mind supplied

Voices cried out in devastation knowing the rules of summoning the monsters.

"Is she dead?" Kagome asked needing to confirm what she already knew in hopes that her assumption was wrong.

"Yes," Aisha murmured, "Watch."

The demon laughed, "These are the great heroes of Egypt?" he taunted.

Kagome noted the tears and distress among the group of brave men and women, "You won't get away with this!" the Pharaoh shouted.

"I already have," Zorc replied as he lashed out at the Pharaoh.

"No!" three voices echoed each other.

Suddenly, Shadi was running across the sand ignoring its effects as he shot across the battlefield summoning a monster in his haste. A large dragon came forth and battled with its entire strength before succumbing to the blast and dying taking Shadi along with it.

As Shadi summoned his monster, Kagome noticed both Aisha's past self and the woman who mirrored Ishizu had also summoned monsters to take the place of the Pharaoh in the blast. Yami looked at both the women in horror knowing both of them had been willing to trade their lives for his.

"No," the Pharoah whispered and if this hadn't been a memory Kagome was sure she would have never heard it.

"No more of my loved ones should die on my behalf," he continued.

Kagome could hear the self-loathing and anger in his voice as his eyes cut to the Puzzle across the sand. She could feel him calculating his chances of getting to it.

"Go," Aisha's past self told him brokenly.

His head whipped across to look at Aisha when the memory paused.

Kagome looked confused back at the present Aisha.

"We had just married," Aisha told Kagome staring at Yami's face the look of shock so detailed in Aisha's memory.

"I didn't want him to sacrifice his life, and I had just given him permission to do just that," she continued to stare sadly at Yami's face.

"But I thought you said he only did that when you died?" Kagome asked.

"I never intended to live through the fight, but fate had another destiny in store for me. I knew Zorc needed to be put away for the good of the world. I had seen it in the necklace, and I was being selfish thinking I could keep my new husband and save the world. Fate has never been so kind to me. And now history is repeating itself. Atem is going through the exact conflict I did all those centuries ago. I do not envy him. He needs to let me go," Aisha answered her tone flat as a tear ran down her face.

"Everything you're doing is part of the prophecy?" Kagome questioned again.

"Of course. I cannot allow my emotions to cloud the future that I want. Should I not allow this to occur I am afraid we are all doomed," Aisha stated.

Aisha turned to look at Kagome then finally tearing her gaze from Yami's face, "We will lose the duel with Marick. You will be fine, and Inuyasha will be saved because this time it is the Pharaoh who will live on to save the world," she continued.

"But what about you?" Kagome asked dreading and knowing the answer.

"I will do what is necessary," Aisha evaded carefully allowing the memory to continue ending their conversation.

"Aisha," he gasped as she and the woman like Ishizu ran to stand on either side of the Pharaoh.

"There is no time to argue, my love, go, Isis and I will keep his attention," Aisha yelled and gave Yami a forced push towards the Millennium item.

"Ready?" Isis asked Aisha as the queen nodded as her magician came to duel beside Isis' winged monster.

Aisha gave a determined nod and smiled at Isis, "If I am to die today, I am glad it is with a friend," she told Isis as the woman in question smiled back at Aisha.

"Same, now let's do our part and save the world!" Isis replied as the two monsters fused together to create a winged chaos magician.

Kagome watched as the women seemed for a moment to meet the demon move for move as the Pharaoh ran for the puzzle slowly being covered with sand. As his hands met the smooth gold of the item, a loud, pained howling echoed across the desert. The fusion monster fell, its dying breath expelled as the two women fell.

"NO!" Atem shouted his anguish clearly heard in his cry.

Zorc laughed watching in amusement as Atem ran towards the fallen heroes. Kagome noticed the memory was starting to blur slightly when Yami found Isis first falling to his knees before her when his eyes against his wishes saw the body of his wife. He couldn't control the sob that forced its way up his throat. The memory dimmed out.

"I was unconscious for the remainder of the fight. Isis saved me with her monster's special ability, a force field," Aisha explained as the memory came focusing back to life.

Aisha's eyes opened and confusion was evident in them, when what had happened came back into focus.

"Atem!" a desperate, cracked tone shouted from her lips where the sand had dried them out, when she noted the body of Isis.

"Isis," she sobbed as she draped herself over her friend's body.

The wind had died down and the sand stayed motionless on the ground. When Aisha's past self noticed the broken puzzle a choked howl echoed through the sand as a grief stricken queen desperately tried to fit the pieces together in a frenzy. This was when the echo of hooves beating the sand reached their ears, and Priest Seto appeared with a lot of guards.

The memory faded as Kagome blinked her eyes, her mind in a fog, torn between the memory and the present day she was waking up in.

"Kagome!" Yami exclaimed, relief evident in his voice.

"Atem?" she whispered as Yami stiffened at the sound.

"Aisha?" he questioned, when Kagome's eyes widened as she sat up startling the worried crowd around her.

"No, no, I just, I was," Kagome stuttered as she wiped the tears from her eyes attempting to remove the emotions Aisha had exposed her to.

"You had another memory," Yami stated knowingly.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean," Kagome sighed, "I'm not sure I should tell you."

Yami frowned a slight anger marring his features, "Of course," he said cutting himself off from her.

Yami stood about to walk away to leave Tea and Tristan to help Kagome when Kagome yelled for him.

"Wait!" she shouted.

He stopped and turned around, "You have to know she loves you and what she's doing, I understand now. Please, don't be angry. She has so little time left," Kagome told him as his eyes widened and a torn gasp left his lips.

"I," he started having to pause to allow some emotion to pass, "I will not be angry with her."

Yami suddenly released the body to Yugi's soul and the boy ran back to his cousin's side. She smiled as she was helped to her feet by Tristan and Tea.

"Hey," Yugi said to her.

She smiled at him to let him know she was fine, "Hey, you win the duel?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, it was close though," he replied giving her a strange look.

"What's going on? What happened?" Yugi asked.

Kagome's face darkened, "I understand everything, but for everything to go according to the necklace I can't tell you. It's a good thing," Kagome explained.

Yugi smiled as Marick made his way towards them, "Finally figured it out have we," he mocked.

Yugi's smile disappeared and Kagome glared at him knowing he was going to be the one to kill Aisha. Marick chuckled when he didn't get a response and looked towards Kagome.

"I can't wait for our duel," he told her and walked away knowing he wasn't going to get a reply from either of the two cousins.

"The next duel will be postponed until the arena has been cleared for safety concerns! Please wait patiently for the cleanup crew to announce the all clear, and the next duel will begin!" an announcer shouted.

The group went to their quarters to wait for the announcement for the next duel to start. Kagome asked for time alone to process the memory Aisha had allowed her to view. The amount of death was staggering and somehow Kagome knew that the deaths she had witnessed were not the only ones. She had no idea how long she sat there flipping through her deck at the drawings of monsters had seen in the memory when Aisha made herself known.

'Are you alright, Kagome,' she asked.

Kagome, startled, looked at the ghost of the queen, 'Yeah, just trying to calm myself down,' she replied.

Aisha nodded, 'That is understandable. You went through a lot,' she responded.

Kagome looked at Aisha, 'You should go see him,' she told her.

Aisha's eyes widened, 'I can not," she emphasized each word.

Kagome shook her head in disagreement, 'He needs to know you care for him. You give him strength. He needs to know why you are doing this. He doesn't remember. He doesn't get it. You need to make this right before you go,' Kagome stated getting fiercer with every word.

Aisha's stone face shattered into despair, 'What if I can't let him go?' she asked distraught.

Kagome's face softened, 'I watched you do it once. I know you can do it again. He needs you,' Kagome said.

Aisha studied Kagome before letting out a defeated breath, 'You are right,' she finally relented.

Kagome smiled comfortingly and let her body go so Aisha could inhabit it. Aisha blinked her eyes tears falling from them. She needed to be strong for him. She needed to give him the strength to carry out his destiny and save the world once again so they could finally be together in the afterlife. After all their tragedy, they could finally be together in death. She touched her necklace to watch the reunion when Atem had regained his memories and smiled. She needed to remember what she was fighting for, their happy ending.

Aisha stepped out into the hallway and walked towards Yugi's cabin. She knocked and was surprised when Tea answered the door.

Tea gave her a hard look and waited expectantly.

"I hoped to talk with the Pharaoh alone," she stated.

Tea frowned, "You better not hurt him. He's already upset," she told Aisha.

Aisha sighed, "You have my word. I will make this right," she replied.

Tea nodded and opened the door further, "Hey, Tristan, I'm going to visit with Joey, you should come and help console Serenity," Tea called and Tristan was out the door before she was.

"Good luck," Tea told Aisha as the queen nodded in thanks.

She saw Yugi sitting in a chair going over some of his cards. Aisha walked forward and he upon noticing her stood up. Yami instantly took over the body.

"I have come to apologize," Aisha began interrupting the tense silence.

Yami's eyes widened and a puzzled expression took over his face, but before he could voice his confusion Aisha continued.

"I did not want to relive my emotions. I have been a coward, and I see that now. I should not have tried to stay away from you and bottle up my emotions. I have only made this journey harder when I should have been trying to make this easier. I did not want to hurt any more than I already did, but I understand that letting go from the start begins the healing process to repair my scarred, bleeding heart. I love you," she finished with tears in her eyes as they began to drip down her eyelashes onto her cheeks.

She closed her eyes waiting for his reply when a warm pair of lips was on hers. Her eyes widened before she returned the kiss with equal passion. They clung to each other knowing that soon they were be torn apart again. When they broke apart, they looked into each other's eyes.

Aisha's lower lip quivered, "You will do great things, my Pharaoh, and you will need to fight for our reunion. I will look forward to seeing you again," she said.

Yami's eyes closed tight in emotional pain, "I will do whatever it takes to return to you, my queen," he replied as their foreheads touched.

She spent the remainder of the time talking and holding his hand giving him all the attention she should have given him from the start. How could she have been so wrong? She should have been supporting him like he had her in the past when he had known he was going to die. Finally, the speaker announced that the duelists for the next duel needed to come to the arena.

Aisha looked into Atem's eyes and gave him a last kiss goodbye.

"I will wait for you," she murmured.

"I will do everything in my power to get back to you," he replied.

"That's all I could ask for," she whispered when the door opened and Tea and Tristan stood there their eyes widened at Aisha and Yami's embrace.

They pulled apart as Tristan let out an uncomfortable cough, "You guys ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Aisha stated determinedly, "Let's go."

She grabbed Atem's hand and together they left to battle their foe just as they had in the past.

And there we have it! Once again thanks for reading. Thank you all who review/follow/favorite my story. You guys rock. Next week may be the epic conclusion to this ten year story! We'll see if I am able to fit everything into the next chapter to complete the story.

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