Chapter 45

Second Happiness

Author's note: just to not get in trouble, I should remind everyone that I don't own anything YuGiOh. I just own my characters and Dark Mage of the Sea owns hers.

For what was mentioned about Tiki, please read A Star Among Darkness.

When a sentence is **like this**, it's sign language. When a sentence is ~like this~, it's phoenix speech.

Thank you, Dark Mage of the Sea, my coauthor and best friend.

One day, Tima was heading home from work and passed a bookstore. Pausing, she went inside and went around, looking for her book. She found Ripples on display and wondered if anyone had picked it up since it was published. 'What if my book is a flop? What if…?'

She sighed, feeling the voice of dread she had 3,000 years ago in Egypt. It started to tell her that the book would flop and was a mistake. She would have listened to it more if a hand hadn't suddenly reached over and gently touched her shoulder. Quietly yelping, she turned around and tried to slap whoever grabbed her. But the hand gently grabbed hers and a chuckle erupted. "Tima, it's me."

Tima focused her attention and blushed deeply: she almost slapped Atem. He had his schoolbag on one shoulder and his free hand had a pile of textbooks he was buying to save money. "Atem, I am so sorry."

Atem smirked. "It's all right."

Tima looked at the books. "Did you get everything?"

Atem nodded, making Tima smile. But her attention went back to the display when she saw someone pick up Ripples. Before she could get her hopes up, the person put it back. Tima sighed and lowered her head. Noticing, Atem asked, "Tima…?"

Tima looked at Atem and smiled softly. "Well…since you got everything, should we get going?"

She tried to leave but Atem continued to hold her wrist. Gently pulling her forward, he made her look at him. "Tima…it's not a coincidence that we met here. Something brought you here."

Tima sighed and nodded but remained silent. Looking over her shoulder, he spotted Ripples. Figuring it out, he looked at her. "You're worried about Ripples, aren't you?"

Tima nodded again. To her delight, she felt him wrap her arms around her. "Atem…"

Atem smiled warmly. "It's all right, my love. Someone out there has bought your book."

Tima looked up. "You sure?"

Atem nodded. "I have faith. I know how good your book is; someone out there will discover it too."

Tima smiled softly. Just then, two high school girls went up to Ripples and the brunette picked one up. Her blonde friend asked, "Why that book?"

The brunette shrugged. "My Egyptian pen pal talked about it and said she loved it. I promised her I'd give it a chance."

"Do you trust her tastes?"

"Everything Kamilah's recommended have been hits so far."

As the girls left to buy the book, Tima's eyes sparkled. "Did you hear that, Atem?"

Atem smiled. "I did. It's clearly a sign."

As soon as they got home, Tima got out her phone. Atem chuckled. "Eager, are we?"

Tima shrugged with her head as she called. After a few rings, she heard a tired voice. "Hello?"

Tima felt a little guilty. "I'm sorry, Marik. Did I wake you?"

"It's okay…I needed to get up anyway. But is everything okay?"

Tima nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to call to ask you to thank Kamilah."

"For what?"

"Her pen pal just bought my book thanks to her recommendation. I was in the bookstore at the right time."

"Really? That's great."

"So whenever you get a chance, please thank her for me."

"I sure will, Tima. It's a wonderful story and I'm glad you sent us a copy."

Tima smiled. "Thank you, Marik. I really appreciate that." She gave a little chuckle. "I should let you go. Again, I'm sorry for waking you up."

"Don't worry about it, Tima. Just promise me you'll keep on writing and send us a copy of your next book."

Tima giggled a little. "That I will."

Marik smiled and hung up. Sitting up to set his phone back on the nightstand, he shivered a little, feeling the cold air on his bare chest. Laying back down, he laid on his side and looked at a sleeping Kamilah. He reached over and kissed her exposed shoulder, making her stir and open her eyes. "Mm…Marik…it's early…"

Marik nodded. "I know. But Tima just called."

"What did she want?"

Marik reached over and stroked her hair. "To thank you. Thanks to your recommendation, someone bought Ripples."

Kamilah smiled. "Glad to hear."

Marik scooted closer, allowing Kamilah to wrap her arms around him. Her fingers started to trace his scars. Marik smiled softly. "Why do you like to touch my back like this?"

Kamilah smiled. "Because it represents the man I love: the man who rose from his family's pain after many trials."

Marik continued to smile softly as he leaned forward to nuzzle her. "Allowing me to meet you…the woman of my dreams."

Kamilah's eyes sparkled and kissed him. He kissed back, feeling his body move closer to hers…

Tima hung up and smiled. Sneaking up behind her, Atem wrapped his arms behind her waist. "I love this look on your face."

Tima's smile widened.

As time went on, reviews for Ripples came in. While there were a few who were not too impressed, Tima knew that every story was not for everyone. Most of the critics, however, enjoyed the story and were eager for the sequel. Feeling her muse tapping her shoulder, Tima went to work on the sequel named Ripples Expanding, deciding to move the story up to Bakura and Yima's attack on the kingdom with the prologue introducing the four children that were born between the two books.

Roughly six months later, Tima was relaxing in bed. Having a day off, she was taking a break from her sequel. She was happy that Ripples was taking off around the world so she wanted to take her time with Ripples Expanding. She looked at her last text, which was Tiki talking about her pregnancy. Leaning back against the pillows with a smile, she found herself drifting off into a nap. About an hour, Atem came home and looked around the living room. "Tima? Hmm…wonder where she is…"

He stuck his head in the bedroom and smiled at Tima napping. He turned to leave but noticed something next to her. Quietly going over to the bed, he gently picked up a bridal magazine. Flipping through it, he found a few pages with bent corners and smiled. 'Dreaming of the perfect day…'

Looking at sleeping Tima, he smiled and made a decision. He murmured to himself, "But first…to make it perfect…"

Quietly putting the magazine back, he left the bedroom and pulled out his cell phone. Half hour later, Tima woke up. Hearing Atem in the living room, she went out and found him hanging up his phone. "Who were you calling?"

Atem smiled. "Making dinner reservations. Thought it'd be nice to have a night out."

Tima smiled, a smile that widened when he kissed her deeply. "You're in a loving mood today."

Atem almost made a tease when he remembered he still needed the most important part of his plan. Pulling back, he grabbed his jacket, making Tima blink. "Where are you going?"

"I just remembered: I have an errand I have to run."

"An errand? What kind of errand?"

Atem smiled and kissed her gently. Winking, he explained, "I'll be quick. While I'm gone, take a nice bath and dress your best, okay?"

Tima blinked again. "Um…okay."

With that, Atem left. Tima scratched the back of her head. "So loving…but mysterious…and dress my best? I wonder…is he going to…? No, it's too soon for that."

She pushed the thought out of her head, not wanting to get her hopes up.

Dressed in a grey cocktail dress with a lace bodice and sleeves, Tima was putting some earrings on when she heard Atem coming home. Calling out, she asked, "Got your errand done?"

Atem stuck his head. He wanted to answer but looked at her dress. "You look absolutely beautiful."

Tima smiled. "So you going to tell me what's going on?"

Atem smirked. "No, where's the fun in that?"

Tima rolled her eyes as he went into the closet. She teased, "You're such a tease when you're mysterious like this…"

Atem peeked over his shoulder. "You know you love it."

Tima blushed and went to the living room to wait for him. 15 minutes later, he came out, wearing a dark blue suit with a white dress shirt with the top opened enough to show a bit of chest. Tima smiled with delight. "I like that suit. Dark colors really suit you."

Atem chuckled. "Just like that beautiful dress makes you look regal."

Tima smiled. "Thank you."

At the restaurant, Tima looked around. She felt a little nervous since this was fancy. Pulling her chair out, Atem noticed her nervousness. "You all right?"

Tima nodded and sat down. "Yeah. It's just…so fancy."

Atem smiled and sat in his own chair. "Don't worry about it. This is a special occasion."

As Tima looked at the menu, she focused on the prices. "I can't help it, Atem. We need to take care of our finances."

Atem chuckled a little. "It's okay to splurge from time to time. Besides, your book is doing really well, which helps."

Thinking about Ripples, Tima smiled and nodded, already feeling relaxed. "I still can't believe it's doing so well. I almost thought it was going to be a flop."

"But it didn't."

Tima giggled. "It really makes me happy…especially since it's our memories."

Ordering drinks for both of them, Atem smirked, "Not just ours: everyone we've met or who were a part of our lives. It's almost as if they all lend you something to create Ripples."

Tima nodded. "Yeah…every time I wrote something, I kept feeling our old friends near me…as if writing with me and encouraging me."

Atem smiled and took her hand. As the night went on, it was a lovely dinner with them enjoying each other's company and talking about anything and everything. After they ordered dessert, Tima stretched her back a little. "This has been a wonderful night, Atem. Thank you."

Atem smiled, knowing. "It's not over just yet."

Tima nodded as the waitress came over with their dessert. Looking at her plate, Tima noticed there was kanji written in chocolate syrup. Looking closer, she saw it said "close your eyes." She tilted her head in confusion. "Close my eyes…?

Atem told her quietly, "You should probably do what it says."

Still confused, Tima did. Seeing this, Atem smiled and got out of his chair. He gently turned her seat to face him. Feeling this, she tried to peek. Atem noticed and quickly said, "No peeking."

Tima kept her eyes closed. "Atem, what are you planning?"

"You'll see."

Tima's eyebrow raised but kept her eyes close. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box. Once he got down on his knee and opened the box, he said, "Okay…open your eyes."

Tima opened her eyes and gasped. The ring was a silver band with a beautiful alexandrite diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds like petals and leaves. "Atem…"

Atem felt his heart squeeze. "Tima…from the moment I met you so long ago, my heart was yours. We had a wonderful life back then and, thanks to your request, we get a chance to experience a life together again. Eliana Tima…will you marry me?"

Tima was speechless and could only nod, feeling the tears fall. Smiling happily, Atem slipped the ring on her ring finger and kissed her deeply. Those sitting around them applauded them as the couple pulled back for air. Smiling, Atem wiped her tears away. "My beloved is my soon-to-be-wife…again."

Tima smiled and chuckled. "Atem…you have no idea how happy I am."

Atem nuzzled her before sitting back on his chair. "I believe I do."

Tima giggled before looking at the ring. Looking at the ring, she started to look a little worried again. Seeing her look, he assumed and took her hand. "Fret not, my love. I've been saving some money for quite a while. I was just waiting for the right time to propose."

Tima smiled, immediately feeling better. The smile made Atem's smile widened. "You have no idea how beautiful you look right now."

Tima squeezed his hand. "Thank you."

Just then, the waitress came to drop off the check. While still on cloud nine about the engagement, Tima did notice a book peeking out of the waitress' apron pocket. "What book are you reading?"

The waitress blushed a little. "Um…yours…Ms. Eliana."

That caught Tima's attention. "Ripples?"

While still nervous, the waitress was excited. "Yes! In fact, it's one of my favorites. And…if it's not too bold…"

She pulled out the book. Peeking at it, Tima noticed by the pages and bookmark that she had read the book a few times. Getting her pen, the waitress took a deep breath. "I-If you…don't mind, Ms. Eliana…would you…?"

Figuring it out, Tima smiled; her smile brightened when Atem nodded, looking proud. Nodding, she took the book and pen. "Who am I making it out to?"

The waitress almost squealed but caught herself at the last second. "Hikari."

Tima smiled. "Beautiful name."

Clicking the pen, she wrote an encouraging note and autographed the book. When she gave it back, Hikari asked, "If you don't mind me asking…will there be a sequel?"

Tima smirked with pride and took her drink. "Spoilers."

Taking that as a confirmation, Hikari bowed to the couple and went to check on the other tables. Tima smiled at her before looking at Atem, who took her hand and kissed it. "Don't get too excited, my love. This night has only just begun."

Tima blushed a little but smiled. Once the bill was paid, they left and went towards their car. Alone the way, Tima kept admiring her ring and making happy noises. "We have to tell the others about this big news as soon as possible!"

Atem chuckled. "We will. I'm sure they'll be very excited."

Tima thought of something and giggled. "Mm! I'm sure the girls cannot wait to see this beautiful ring you got me."

Atem chuckled and nodded. "I can already see their jealous faces."

Tima smiled as they got into the car. Buckling her seatbelt, she asked, "So where are we going now?"

Atem turned on the car but did not drive right away. "Wherever you want to go. This is a special night, after all."

Tima thought for a moment before smiling at him. "Back where it all began…again."

Atem smiled. "I couldn't think of a better place."

Finding a parking space, Atem looked at Tima as she got out and looked at the cherry blossoms. They were in full bloom and seemed to have a beautiful aura around them. They made their way to the spot where they came back. Tima looked up at the cherry blossoms. "It's even more beautiful at night…"

Atem nodded and took her hand. "It is…but I know one thing that's even more beautiful."

Tima blushed as Atem hugged her from behind. As they looked up at the cherry blossoms, they took the time to enjoy the moment. Atem soon broke the silence. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything. Everything you've ever done for me…in this life and in the last."

Tima's eyes sparkled. "Atem…"

Atem smiled. "You mean the world to me, Tima. I have no idea how grateful I am to have you with me. Ever since the day you were given to me by that…girl…I can never forget all the trials, hardships, and love we went through. You're the one who filled the hole in my heart. For that…I love you."

Tima felt her heart flutter as she listened. Laying her head on his chest, she said, "Oh, Atem…I thank God for every moment I have with you. I am very happy that we met and was placed under your care. You are my savior and my love. No matter what happens, I will always stand by your side. I love you too."

Atem smiled and held her close as both stood still, enjoying the moment and their future.