Disclaimer: This is the second of three bonus chapters written in the wake of LOT's completion. This second one is a dropped idea I had for when the sequel was first brought up. As I said this is the sequel I will not be writing, but there will be a real sequel. There are a few reasons why this sequel wouldn't work, but... well, it's best not to dwell on past failures. I hope you enjoy it anyway!


The Gift

Amari closed her eyes. The room had been spinning for the past hour, her fever fueling the world around her to jerk and twist around more than a roller coaster at Kaiba Land. It was the beginning of summer, and Amari had landed a job baby-sitting for the couple down the road. Unfortunately, her first job had consisted of a seven-year-old with a stomach flu, which was now passed to her. She'd stopped vomiting a couple hours ago, but now all she wanted to do was sleep.

As she laid in bed trying to drift back into her dreams, her thoughts wandered back to where they always did whenever her mind wasn't busy: Rune.

Was she happy in her after life? Was she watching her right now, scoffing at how poorly she was taking care of herself? Did she miss Amari as much as she missed her?

Amari turned over, tangling herself farther into her bed sheets until a sudden heat flash forced her to banish them to the edge of her bed. She buried her head in her pillow, fighting off a fresh wave of nausea and tears. It had already been a year, but the pain of losing her past self was still so new. Rune had always been with her, since her parents had died. In many ways she'd replaced them. Now she had none of them, and the only person who could understand her feelings was now currently packing to go to Egypt, ready to go through the same agonizing experience.

Was she going? No. There was no way, even without this virus, that she could go. Just as the Pharaoh's past lay buried in the sands, so did her own. She could never go back, not with all of them gone. Not even to see Malik. He had been calling her constantly, trying to convince her to go, but after she began vomiting on the phone with him he gave up.

"It's your loss," he had told her, his voice a mix of doubt and disgust. "Ishizu will be disappointed," She didn't even have to ask if he was disappointed. It was obvious by the tone in his voice. He knew it was more than a stomach flu keeping her away. And, as she always did, she felt guilty for hurting him again.

I deserve to be selfish this time. She tried convincing herself. I'm not strong. I've never been. It was always Rune. Always.

Amari jerked her head up when a soft knock echoed off her door, groaning as the action made the room spin faster. Yugi popped his head in, a timid smile on his face. He sat at the edge of her bed, a hand hovering over her back. He didn't place it down, but instead placed it back over the small, black box in his lap.

"I came to see how you were feeling," he said gently. He smiled faintly when she used another groan to answer him. "Are you sure you'll be okay here by yourself?" He chuckled, but she caught the hint of worry in his voice. She turned to her side so she could look at him.
"I'm not a child. I can handle being home by myself," she replied. He shook his head slightly, a frown replacing his small smile.

"You look really sick," he told her, placing a hand on her cheek. "You're really burning up." She shooed his hand away, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Yugi, you have to go to Egypt," she said, her voice firm despite the fever. "The Pharaoh has waited long enough to have his memories restored. I'll be fine here," Amari watched as her cousin pursed his lips in a tight line, doubt etched into his expression.

"I have to take all the items with me," he said slowly, and Amari nodded just as slowly. It was then she noticed the box in his hands. Yugi sighed, placing the box on the small table by her head. "We leave tomorrow at ten, but I'll let you keep this tonight…" he trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence. She knew he was leaving it with her so she could say goodbye. In spite of herself, Amari felt her throat tighten.

"Thank you," she managed weakly, and Yugi moved the damp hair from her forehead.

"Get some sleep," he said, getting up and heading for the door. When Amari heard the door click shut, she turned over to face her ceiling. Every once in awhile she would look over at the black box next to her alarm clock, but she didn't get up to open it. The more she looked at it the heavier her eyelids felt. Eventually she found them too heavy to hold up anymore, and she drifted off into unconsciousness.

She was awoken by a muted light. Amari moaned softly, dreading that morning had already arrived, but as she opened her eyes she noticed the light wasn't entering from the window. She turned her head to face her table, finding the culprit to be the small crack in the little black box. Amari felt her chest tighten. Why would it be glowing? Rune was gone. Slowly she sat up so the world wouldn't knock her off balance and swung her legs over the side of her bed. She reached over and placed the glowing box in her lap. Her fingers trembled as she clumsily opened the latch. The Sennen Bracelet hummed where it lay, quivering like a young puppy excited to see its owner. Amari held her breath, afraid to touch it.

"You shouldn't be glowing," she snapped at it, as if the thing could really understand her. "She's not here anymore. She's gone, and so is your magic!" The Sennen Bracelet continued to glow softly, joyfully contradicting her words. Amari felt her lips quiver.

Just pick it up, she urged herself, the room beginning to spin again as she reached into the box.

"I see you've discovered the Bracelet's second ability," Amari withdrew her hand quickly and shut the box, her breath catching in her throat as she stared wide-eyed over at the boy standing by her window.

"Shadi," she gasped. The boy in question stepped forward into a shaft of moonlight, his two, blue orbs fixated on her swaying form. Once she could see straight again, she offered him a heavy stare in return. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"You've activated the second ability of the Sennen Bracelet," he repeated, pointing to the black box in her hands. "I came to make sure you wouldn't upset the balance,"

"What balance? And what second ability?" she asked flatly. "Rune never said anything about it,"

"I doubt the princess Runhket would have known about it," he answered levelly, "or if she did found she had no use for it… but obviously you do, or it wouldn't have activated," He suddenly appeared in front of her, causing Amari to yelp and scoot back, but before she could fall off the bed he grabbed a hold of the front of her shirt and pulled her back into a sitting position. She smacked him away, but he moved out of her reach before she could hit him.

"Must you always be so rough?" she grumbled.

"I wouldn't have to be if you weren't always falling down," he replied stoically. She answered him with something unintelligent but he ignored her, plucking the box from her hands and opening it to reveal its glowing contents. "How were you able to activate it?" he asked her.

"I didn't," she replied, wringing her hands together nervously now that she no longer held the box in her hands. She felt restless not holding it now. "It just randomly started glowing. It woke me up, actually,"

"Meaning it activated on its own," he murmured softly, to himself or her Amari was uncertain. "Perhaps destiny isn't over with you after all," He turned back towards her, holding the box out to her. "Since it has activated in response to you, you are the only one able to use its second ability. Use it wisely," Amari took the box back in her hands, automatically shifting her eyes down to the small ring of gold.

"But how can I use it wisely if I don't-" she looked up again to find him gone, and instead of finishing her sentence she growled irately. Why does he always disappear? She wondered to herself, looking back down at the box. In it the Sennen Bracelet continued to glow softly, coaxing her to pick it up. This time she listened and slipped the bracelet on her wrist.

Night shifted to day in a matter of seconds. Amari looked around, only to find herself no longer in her own bedroom. Instead of her navy blue comforter she found herself sitting on soft, off-white sheets, mosquito netting hanging above her head. The room was smaller than hers, but it was comfortably furnished. Slowly she stood up, only to find she no longer felt dizzy. Actually, she hardly felt sick at all.

What was going on?

"Amari?" someone called with a soft rapping on the door. Amari turned to face it as a person entered the room, the black box slipping from her hands. A woman with dark hair stood in the entryway, a hand sassily laid on her hip.

"And here I thought you were going to stay in bed all day," she chided with a smirk. "Come on, lazy bones, it's time for breakfast…" the woman's smile faded when she saw the tears streaming down Amari's face. "Amari, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Amari threw herself at the woman, burying her face into her shoulder and breathing in her long-forgotten yet familiar scent.

"It's nothing," she croaked out. "I just had a bad dream is all, mom,"


Author's Note;

So, yes, this was the dropped idea.

As I had stated in the disclaimer, there are many reasons why this didn't work for me as a proper sequel. The original idea of this story would have been Amari activating the Sennen Bracelet's ability to project the emotions of the wearer and fulfill their inner wishes. This was mentioned briefly in the epilogue when Rune explained how she became trapped in the Bracelet to begin with. Amari would have been able to activate it through her strong thoughts of loneliness in the wake of Rune's passing and remembering her parents' deaths. In response the Bracelet would have transported her to an alternate life where her parents were never killed and she grows up with them in Egypt. The basic idea would have been that her parents would have adopted the Ishtar siblings after their father's murder. There were many other things I had planned for this, but since a few ideas ended up transferring over to the actual sequel, I will not go any further into this dead plot.

I was going to save this as the last bonus chapter, but this other one is taking me longer to write than I thought. D:

-Mq