A/N: At last, the final chapter! A few things before I let y'all loose to see the ending to this story - this chapter originally had the epilogue attached and it was posted, then I realized it was 24 pages, so I separated them out into separate chapters, but still posted them today. I figured that would be better for ease of convenience when reading. The other thing is, I noticed a lot of interest in the reviews about Anzu and Bakura's past life. I can't justify writing an entire story or even a separate one shot revolving around that since I already wrote something similar under a different shipping - however, I would be open to writing a bonus chapter on Anzu and Bakura's relationship, how it started, etc. outside of the flashbacks/memories if you all are interested in it! Let me know in a review/PM!
With that out of the way, onward to the chapter!
VIII.
Standing in the courtyard of the Egyptian hotel, Anzu found it to be reminiscent of the hot, Egyptian air from the past. It was nothing like how she had experienced in those memories, though. Egypt was crowded, with Cairo pressing almost directly against the pyramids. When they had gotten dropped off and walked to their hotel, they had been called to by shop owners wanting to peddle fake jewelry and overpriced tourist trinkets. The streets had been laden with dust and bits of paper garbage wedged against buildings. They had not been in Cairo for long; after their first initial night there after their flight had arrived, they piled into a van the next morning to be taken to Luxor, a city south of Cairo that could have been in the middle of nowhere. Only here at this hotel situated at the edge of the Nile River did she find that it reminded her anything of the past.
Most of Luxor was tourist lodgings and attractions for those wanting to see the Valley of the Kings, which was directly across the Nile River. Near their own hotel was Karnak, the ancient ruins of a once-great temple. Something about looking at ruins of cities that she had seen built-up in the past had felt so uncomfortably depressing that she was not as enthused as the others to visit these places before they would be meeting Isis and Malik the next day.
Standing on the rooftop terrace, she leaned against it, peering out into the dark where the Valley of the Kings lied. Somewhere in the vastness of those burial chambers, Atemu's own tomb would be open, waiting for the return of its king. Yuugi had said that there was a separate chamber far outside the Valley of the Kings called the Shrine of the Underworld where the stone tablet had been set up. It was there that they would be meeting tomorrow and, if Yuugi won, he would be able to return to the past and at last be judged in the afterlife.
Anzu heard someone walking behind her and, expecting it to be one of the German tourists that she had seen walk up there an hour ago, ignored them. It was not until the person stood directly beside her that she raised her gaze and blinked upon seeing the familiar sharp features of Bakura. For a moment, she found herself bereft of speech, suddenly unsure of what to say to someone with whom she had so much history and so little time left.
"I haven't seen you in a while," she said at last, thinking this was the best thing to say given the circumstances. "Atemu said that all of your memories should have returned, too."
"Yes," he replied mildly, arching a brow. "When did you get the chance to talk to him?"
"A few weeks ago, after we booked the tickets." Anzu, feeling rather awkward, gave a tiny little shrug. "I had questions about the past. I thought he could answer them."
There was a sardonic twist to his mouth as he quipped, "Of course. He would have all the answers, wouldn't he?"
She scowled up at him. "You weren't exactly accessible." And I was afraid to talk to you.
"As accessible as he is," Bakura replied and she could tell by the amused gaze that landed on her that he knew exactly why she had gone to Atemu instead of him. She had not been prepared for the memories that Bakura might have gained when the pharaoh learned his name. It had been painful enough to see herself from Atemu's perspective. She could not imagine seeing her past self cry with Bakura, see their intimacies and how connected they were together. She had trouble enough coming to terms with how she was with Bakura now without needing to see it repeated in her ancient past.
Deciding to ignore it altogether, she said instead, "Atemu said that once you both return to the afterlife, you'll reincarnate properly next time since your souls will be together again."
Bakura grunted in acknowledgement, but rested his forearms against the terrace's stone edge and leaned over it, watching as a small group exited the building from below, laughing loudly. Their laughter echoed up to them and Anzu glanced down at them, recognizing them as Honda, Jounouchi, and Yuugi. They had invited her to dinner, but she had declined, feeling far too deep in her thoughts to be good company. There was something about seeing them that pulled at her heart. Part of her wished she could return to ignorance, before she had approached Bakura, before she had been in the memory world. It was a very small part of her, though. Regardless of how her past had been, she had fallen for Bakura in the present because of these events and this timeline – nothing else.
The two of them settled into a comfortable silence, watching as people strolled past the building. After their experience together in the memory world and what Anzu had learned of her past self, she felt there was very little that needed to be said to each other. She still felt that she did not fully understand Bakura given their short time together. What Atemu had said about the "good" part of Bakura dying and reincarnating in Ryou made sense, yet she had seen glimpses of that in Bakura even as soon as Duelist Kingdom. Regardless of what part that Zorc Necrophades had attached to, there was still some part in this part of his soul that held some portion of morality and humanity. If there was not, she doubted that he would have gone out of his way to ensure her safety in the memory world.
Anzu caught sight of a couple lingering outside the hotel and, leaning forward, she watched as they nuzzled heads, giggling together. They were a tad older than them, perhaps in their mid-twenties and, given the air of affection, likely a honeymooning couple. After a few moments of an intimate embrace, the couple continued down the street, the girl clasping her partner's arm closely.
Now that the pattern has been interrupted and Bakura will be returning to the past, I wonder where that leaves my own path this lifetime? she mused. The idea of falling in love with anyone else was hard to conceptualize. It would be hard to find someone that could compare to Bakura.
Just as her mind had settled into similar morose thoughts to this, a voice called out and she turned away from the street, glancing behind her. She blinked, surprised by the appearance of Mokuba with Kaiba trailing behind, his eyes narrowing suspiciously on Bakura's still figure. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked blankly.
"Yuugi seemed to think that we should be here," Kaiba said with a note of disgust in his voice. It was clear that it had been Mokuba and not himself who had accepted the invitation. He folded his arms, regarding her with his cool, azure gaze. Bakura had turned around upon hearing him, resting an elbow lazily upon the stone as he surveyed the pair.
"He told us all about the memory world," Mokuba continued brightly. "Hearing that Seto was reincarnated from an ancient priest – I thought it would be good for us to see the ceremonial duel. After all, the spirit – Atemu, that is – was as much part of our life as yours. It makes sense why there's such an intense rivalry between him and Seto."
"Was it Yuugi that came to see you or...?" Anzu trailed off, her eyes lifting to meet Kaiba's. He met her gaze briefly and then glanced to Bakura again, frowning.
"No," he answered, "it was Atemu. He felt the need to prod into my mind with his magic without my consent."
This time, there was a definite tone of disgust as he spoke, and Anzu rather thought that he would have preferred to remain in ignorance; he had not been welcoming to any talk of ancient, past lives when Isis had spoken of it during Battle City, either. He certainly had been unnerved when she had spoken to him in ancient Egyptian and although he had accepted the truth as it was, he rebuked any conversation revolving around his own past self. The way his gaze continued to linger on Bakura, however, unsettled her. She rather thought that Atemu had shown him something of the latter male that he did not like. She recalled his annoyance with her when she had jumped onto the platform to save Bakura and wondered where he had developed his intense dislike. She understood her friends' feelings, but Kaiba had never been dragged into Bakura's schemes in the past.
Dismissing that temporarily, she asked, "Have you talked to Yuugi yet or did you both just get here?"
"We came by private jet," Mokuba answered, "so we haven't had a chance to talk to him. He just mentioned where you all were staying and that the ceremonial duel would be tomorrow."
"Well, we're supposed to meet with Isis and Malik tomorrow. They'll be taking us to where we need to go."
"Great," Kaiba sarcastically said. "As if I want to see that lunatic."
"He's not like that anymore, Kaiba – you saw it for yourself."
"Save your preaching, Mazaki. I'm not interested to hear another defense of a psychopath would-be murderer." Once again, he flicked a glance towards Bakura, as though to indicate who the other individual was in his statement. A slow, amused smirk curled Bakura's mouth.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Bakura drawled comfortably.
"Do I really need to remind you of Kaiba Land?" Anzu said, arching an eyebrow. This comment made Kaiba sneer derisively, though she caught the sight of a faint smile on the edge of his lips as he turned around.
"Just tell Yuugi to get a hold of us in the morning," Kaiba told her, turning on his heel smoothly. "We didn't come all the way out here for nothing."
Anzu took the proffered card that Mokuba handed her that had their hotel and contact information. She raised her eyebrows, recognizing it as the flashy resort they had passed earlier when driving into Luxor. When she looked back up, Mokuba was jogging to catch up to his brother. After tucking the card away to give to Yuugi later when he and the boys returned, she caught a glimpse of Bakura's face and frowned. He was watching the Kaiba brothers retreat, apparently entertained by some inner thought.
"What?" she demanded of him when he turned back to her.
"He seems to have an issue with my association with you," he observed.
"Kaiba?" She laughed at the outrageous presumption that Kaiba saw anything beyond his deck of cards and bank account. "I don't think so."
Bakura lifted a shoulder in a shrug, apparently unbothered by her dismissal. "The pharaoh has been making his rounds, spreading his memories as fast as he can. He seems to want to make sure everyone is as aware of their past selves as he, himself, is. An interesting move on his part. He must be feeling guilty."
"What would he have to feel guilty about?"
"My guess is that he feels he owes Kaiba something for screwing up Kisara's reincarnation." Anzu cast him an alarmed glance that caused him to raise an eyebrow. "Oh, did he leave that bit out?"
"I didn't think to ask."
"Like Mahado, she was trapped in the soul of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Once the Sennen Items are returned, all of those whose souls were trapped as monster ka will be released. Mahado, Mana, and Kisara will all reincarnate in the next lifetime, just as Atemu and I will. Since the ka were connected to the Sennen Items and the souls of the holder – in her case, Kisara was connected to the Sennen Rod and the Blue Eyes – none of them were able to be released from their monster forms."
Anzu shook her head. "I didn't even think that...I just assumed that because Mahado took on the image of the Dark Magician, that was who he was in this lifetime."
"No. There is a reason that Yuugi and Kaiba have such an attachment to those particular cards, just like why Ryou is particularly fond of Change of Heart. He is always searching for his darker emotions that come with being human."
She was quiet for a moment, surprised by how much attachment there was to the Duel Monsters cards that she had thought were just another part of a children's card game originating from ancient Egyptian lore. The complexity was overwhelming. After a pause, she voiced the question that she had been thinking moments before Mokuba and Kaiba had appeared, "What is going to happen once all of the souls are released into the past? I mean...the timeline will be different, won't it?"
Bakura eyed her and she knew without looking too deeply that he heard the unspoken question behind her words: What will I do without you?
"It will be different," he agreed, "but you might be surprised how little difference there is. In every lifetime, there are multiple possibilities. Every person and every encounter triggers another encounter or series of events."
"Meaning what, exactly?" she asked impatiently.
"Use your head, idiot girl," Bakura retorted, though with an almost affectionate exasperation in his voice. "Your friends come together in each lifetime because the souls are attracted to each other. Every partnership comes together because of an inherent attraction – like two elements in a chemical reaction. If Mahado had been reincarnated properly, he and Yuugi would have ultimately came together again, but because he was not, the timeline will divulge into the second possibility that was always there. Like in chemistry, if one element cannot bond with another, it will bond to another. Souls, if the timeline is disrupted this early in life, will bond to another soul."
Anzu pursed her lips and turned away from him. She was not yet willing to accept his explanation, even though she had somehow known that it would be the truth. She planted her hands against the stone wall and her eyes drifted up the road upon hearing a familiar collection of voices. She had not realized how long she had been standing up here after seeing her friends depart from the hotel. They were already returning and she would need to hand off Kaiba's card before Yuugi headed to bed.
"I don't want to," she said at last in a quiet voice. "It doesn't feel right."
Bakura laughed and there was an edge to it – dark, humorless, and bitter. "I like it as little as you do, but I'll be dead."
She flinched at the blunt end to his sentence. Perhaps he felt apologetic for announcing his death so brazenly, for he stepped towards her then and the icy dread that had frozen her melted as he draped his arms around her shoulders, his chest pressing against her back. She felt his lips pass over her hair and she sighed out an unsteady breath, raising her hands to his arms.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye," she whispered, feeling the pressure of tears behind her eyes and hating herself for crying. She did not want to be weak in this moment, knowing there was nothing she could do to change the outcome of the situation.
"No," he replied in a low voice, "but it's about time you lived beyond a teenager, don't you think?"
This dry comment made her smile and she nodded silently. She did not need him to say that he returned the sentiment. He did not pull away from her and they stood on the rooftop that way for several minutes. By the time he had withdrawn, it was slow and reluctant and it spoke more volumes than any words.
"I have to give this to Yuugi," she said to him, indicating the card when they took the elevator back down to the hall where their rooms lied. She hesitated a beat. "Will you...wait up for me?"
He blinked once, the only sign that her request had caught him off guard. Then, laughing under his breath, he averted his gaze from her, saying, "You already know the answer to that."
And, after delivering the card to Yuugi, he willingly let her into his room for the night.
Malik, while a little more quiet and polite to the others, was as obnoxious as ever to Anzu. While Isis was fully occupying Yuugi and the others outside the staircase to the Shrine of the Underworld where the ceremonial duel would take place, he approached Anzu with his far too familiar smile. She had lingered behind the others, reluctant and dreading the outcome of the duel. Upon seeing Malik, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that he did not want to simply have a friendly chat. Scanning the group, she noticed Kaiba eyeing the pair of them suspiciously and even Isis had glanced over to Malik with a slight puckered brow.
"It's been too long," Malik greeted in his smooth, accented voice. Just as she had when meeting him, she had to acknowledge his attractive features and well-built figure. After returning to Egypt, he looked even tanner than usual, seeming to glow a nut-brown in the afternoon sun. Compared to the sharpness to his eyes when she had first met him, he had a more level, focused gaze and seemed more relaxed. "Don't look so nervous, I'm not going to kidnap you."
"That's the least of my worries when it comes to you, Malik," Anzu dryly replied.
Her remark seemed to please him, his mouth stretching into a wide smile. "And here I thought you'd forgotten all of the fun times we had," he said mockingly.
"How could I? Almost dying, being mind-controlled, and – oh, that's right – almost dying a couple other times."
"I live to please." His smiled faded and he crossed his arms over his chest, nodding towards where Ryou was standing listening to Isis with a pinched look to his face. It was clear that he, too, was apprehensive about losing his Sennen Ring and the spirit within. "Are you really okay with this?"
Anzu blinked, surprised by the question. "Why are you asking?"
Malik scowled. "Why else would I be asking?" he demanded with a touch of impatience. "I know you had a close association with Bakura. Once the ceremonial duel commences and Yuugi wins, he will be forced to walk into the afterlife with the pharaoh. As soon as he walks in there, he'll be separated from Ryou's body just as Atemu will."
"I know all that!"
"Which brings me back to my question – are you okay with that? This is your opportunity to change things. You can easily disrupt the ceremonial duel to ensure that the pharaoh wins or, better yet, make sure it never happens."
Anzu's mouth turned down, matching the frown that Malik was directing towards her. She turned away from him to look back at Ryou. She knew that it was Ryou by the dark circles under his eyes and the anxious, conflicted look in his eyes. If she selfishly involved herself, she would have Bakura in this lifetime, but at what cost? He would not reincarnate next lifetime and his soul would forever be separated into two, disjointed pieces, just as Atemu's soul would be, as well. Ryou would not be given a chance to truly live, either, as Bakura would always be taking control of his body. Eventually, she knew that Ryou would fight against such control and it was unfair to expect him to live a half-life. Neither of them would have the full human experience.
And, aside from all of that, she knew that Bakura would not want it.
As little as he might like ending their short time together, she knew he was ready to end his lifetime struggle to return to the other piece of his soul. Never once had he wavered in his conviction to destroy the Sennen Items and release the souls within them. Even last night, as fervent and intense as he had been in bed, she never received the impression that he wanted to stay in the world as he was now. She could not understand his perspective, as she had only been alive for a short period in this life; he had been alive for thousands of years, trapped in not only the Sennen Ring, but in his own personal darkness.
"I'm not," she said at last, "but it's what he wants. And I think he's earned that."
"How very mature of you," Malik sarcastically remarked, though there was a spark of curiosity behind his lavender eyes. "Well, I thought I should give you an option. Isis wouldn't like it, of course, but it seemed only fair. It's not like they couldn't do the duel later in life."
"There's always an opportunity for some nut to come and ruin things. I think you've proven that."
He laughed, but then inclined his head in acquiescence.
When he made no move to say more, Anzu stepped away from him to join the group as they began to move towards the opening of the stairs. As they stepped down the long stairs, there was a shock of cold, as if a bucket of water had tipped over them. Anzu shivered and patted herself down, but her clothes were dry. There was a squawk of alarm from Jounouchi and she glanced behind her to see that Yuugi and Atemu were standing next to each other, the pharaoh several inches taller. And, a few steps behind them, Ryou and Bakura stood next to each other, the former inspecting his darker half with some trepidation.
"In the flesh finally, I see," Malik said to Bakura with a small smirk that Bakura returned in kind.
"For now," was Bakura's reply.
With an effort, Anzu wrenched her eyes from him and made her way across the small chamber, eyeing the hieroglyphs etched into the tall, stone pillars. When she closed her eyes, she could remember the dusty smell of the tunnels from the memory world, the gloom, and the sight of Bakura peering at a wall, interpretating the hieroglyphs. The warm feel of his body heat next to her in the narrow tunnel and, at times, his hand on her arm, tugging her the correct way. The memory was fresh and she could have been back in those tunnels with him if not for the sound of her friends' chatting, breaking into the reverie.
Opening her eyes, she stared at a painted figure that she recognized as the god of death, Anubis, and turned away. Her friends and Sugoroku Mutou had settled to one side of the chamber while Yuugi and Atemu faced each other in front of what looked like a massive stone door sealed by the eye of Wadjet. Kaiba and Mokuba were situated a few steps back, Kaiba glaring almost menacingly towards the pair, and Malik and Isis were standing to the side. Rishid had collected a few other men as though expecting trouble, and stood next to Malik with the men standing behind on guard. Slowly, she made her way to join them, moving to stand between Ryou and Jounouchi. Her gaze slid to Bakura and he met it, though with an expression she was unable to discern.
Isis collected the Sennen Ring and then the Sennen Puzzle from both Ryou and Yuugi, placing them into the stone tablet that lied near where the pharaoh and Yuugi were facing each other. There was a blinding light that caused everyone to squint, some raising their hands to shield their eyes. The eye of Wadjet that glowed upon the wall behind the stone tablet slowly began to dim to just a subtle, dull gleam.
"The eye of Wadjet will judge the spirit through the 'Battle Ceremony' – the ceremonial duel," Isis quietly said, stepping back to join her brother as the two prepared their duel disks.
This made as much sense as most of what Anzu had heard over the past several months. She watched uneasily as Atemu made the first move. There was a quiet intensity in him while Yuugi seemed to be at ease. He reminded her of how he had been when he was younger, playing a game with her at the Kame Game Shop. To him, she wondered if he even perceived this as a serious duel or was approaching it as he always did – a fun game to play with a friend.
Maybe that is a better way to approach it, Anzu thought, wincing as Atemu struck at Yuugi's life points. If Yuugi took it seriously, then I'm afraid that he would not play as well. It's been forever since I've even seen Yuugi play. Every time he duels, it's been Atemu.
As the duel progressed, Anzu found herself digging her nails into her arms, growing frustrated with Yuugi in spite of herself. In any other duel, she might have spouted insults or started roasting the other duelist with her friends. None of them spoke in defense of Yuugi this time, though. It was hard to do so when they had defended and supported Atemu for so long during duels.
"It's as though Yuugi doesn't want Atemu to leave," Anzu muttered at one point in the middle of the duel.
"Do you think so?" Ryou asked, glancing to her in surprise.
"Don't be stupid!" Jounouchi snapped from her other side. "He's just having a fun time, that's all. You should have more faith than that. Yuugi has a strategy behind every thing he does."
"Watch who you're calling stupid," Bakura lazily said to Jounouchi, startling the blonde. "As far as I can tell, Yuugi is scrambling to find the right cards. If he really intends to win, he should do a better job at dueling."
Jounouchi gaped at him, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Anzu, biting down on a smile, sent a sidelong look to Bakura. He had returned his gaze to the duel, however, and instead she caught Ryou peering worriedly towards Yuugi.
She had expected a long duel, similar to one that went on between Atemu and Kaiba. Shockingly, though, it seemed as if after the initial struggle, Yuugi pulled out his trump card and they all stood in stark silence after Atemu's life points were brought to zero. No one said a word, staring wordlessly at the disappearing dust cloud. Yuugi had dropped to his knees, sobbing unashamedly.
Anzu shook slightly as Atemu stepped across to help Yuugi to his feet. He said something to him, but her ears were filled with a dull buzzing. This is it, she realized. It happened so fast. That duel barely lasted a half hour. I wasn't expecting that.
"Very good, Yuugi," Isis's voice broke through the dense silence, knocking Anzu back into reality. She blinked, looking round. "After five thousand years of being lost in the world of the living, it is now time for the dead souls here to be welcomed back into the next world – into the afterlife." Her eyes swung towards Bakura meaningfully. "Pharaoh, Bakura, please come stand before the eye of Wadjet. You both will walk into the afterlife together to leave this world."
Yuugi was wiping his face as he got to his feet. Atemu, instead of walking directly to the eye of Wadjet, had instead moved to stand a few feet from Bakura, as if to beckon him forward. Bakura took a few steps and then paused, his frown deepening. He turned slightly, his eyes falling on Anzu. She had a tight hold around herself, as if to prevent herself from dissolving onto her knees as Yuugi had done.
There was a world of words between them, yet neither of them breathed a word. In that moment, it did not feel as if they were needed.
"A lifetime is not that long," Atemu said quietly, though to whom he was speaking was less clear. "The years go by faster than you think. Next time, Bakura, it will be different."
Bakura considered the pharaoh for a moment and then released a brief laugh. "Some parts of it will be." He glanced back to Anzu, adding, "Enjoy this one. Until next time." She expected him to walk away, but he was still gazing at her, as if needing reassurance that she was not going to wallow in misery after he left.
Smiling tremulously, she nodded. I will.
This seemed to satisfy him and he turned away, towards the eye of Wadjet. Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi were staring after the pair in blatant confusion. Ryou seemed less confused, smiling slightly to himself as he watched Bakura walk away. Atemu smiled at Anzu and then the two of them approached the eye of Wadjet.
As Atemu spoke his name, the doors opened and a white, bright light filled the room. The two men faced it and as they walked towards it, Jounouchi and the others rushed towards the door to call to Atemu. Anzu stood frozen in place, hardly hearing what her friends were saying to the pharaoh. However, as Bakura glanced over his shoulder one last time, she felt the building tears spill onto her cheeks. She sprang forward, her hand reaching out. Just one more goodbye, she thought desperately, before we get our 'next time.' She felt him grasp her hand very briefly, reassuringly, and then there was a tug on her other arm.
Before anyone became aware of where she was or who she had ran towards, Kaiba had yanked her back. Bakura cast him a briefly amused glance and nodded to him before turning away and walking into the light, crossing his arms behind his head in a casual gesture. A moment later, Atemu had followed, thrusting a thumbs up towards his friends. Anzu had stopped trying to struggle against Kaiba's grip, slackening against his arms. She felt his arms tighten around her, as if to ensure she did not try to lunge into the light. For a few moments, other figures became clear in the background. She recognized the High Priests and both of the men's modern garb transformed to what they had last worn before their death. Atemu once again wore the garb of the pharaoh and Bakura, his traditional crimson robes. And, as Atemu joined his priests and friends, she saw Bakura's figure join a familiar figure that held its hand out to him.
It's her, she recognized. The past me.
As soon as the light had faded, a thunderous rumble began to echo throughout the chamber. Jounouchi was shouting something profane at Kaiba, but before he was given a chance to charge towards him, the stone tablet cracked and sank into the ground. As the floor began to break, Anzu felt her body get violently flung against Kaiba's chest and the two of them would have went crashing to the ground if not for his steady footing.
"Come on, Mazaki!" he snapped angrily and when she still seemed rooted to the spot, staring at where the stone tablet had been, he gave her a rough shake that had her teeth chattering.
"Would you stop that?" she snarled, her brain seeming to rattle around her head after his rough handling, and shook him off.
"Then get moving, damn you!"
Her friends were running in every direction, Sugoroku dashing ahead, nearly dragging Yuugi by his arm. As Kaiba gave her a fierce shove to move, she scrambled after everyone with him close on her heels. They were two of the last people to manage to get out of the crumbling Shrine of the Underworld and Anzu grabbed Kaiba by the sleeve of his trench coat to drag him out the remaining few feet before the desert swallowed up the chamber. They sat in the sand, breathing hard while everyone else panted beside them. Mokuba hurried over to his brother, pale-faced and anxious. Kaiba, however, brushed him off, looking more than a tad disgruntled and out of sorts.
"What the hell, Kaiba!" Jounouchi exploded with feeling, looming above the pair of them like a protective titan. "Who told you that you could grab her like that?"
"Are you her boyfriend?" Kaiba sneered. "No? Then mind your own business."
Jounouchi puffed up indignantly, but before he was giving an opportunity to explode, Malik had slid in between him and Anzu, helping her to her feet. This seemed to further Jounouchi's outrage.
"Are you okay?" he asked in an undertone as Jounouchi decided to direct his attention towards the safer of the two options, Kaiba, and sputtered and swore insults at him. Jounouchi had still not forgotten Malik's demented plans in Battle City, either.
Anzu, feeling shaky from the near-death experience, nodded mutely, though she was grateful for the support of Malik's steady hand.
"You look like you're going to be sick," Malik said, a note of unease in his voice.
She released Malik, turning to stare at where the chamber had been and felt her belly tighten uncomfortably. She wanted to cry again, but felt that doing so would make herself look foolish. She had shed more tears over Bakura than she ever had Atemu and could only imagine Bakura's exasperated expression if he saw her crying again. A corner of her mouth lifted as she imagined his brusque attempt at words of comfort. Half the time, he had resorted to insults and yelling at her due to his own inability to handle such emotions.
She knew she would never forget him or the memories from her time with him. They would always be there, burning quietly in her mind. But she had reassured him that she would not let his memory hold her back. As he and Atemu had said, there would be a next time – and it would be much different than in ancient Egypt or the following lifetimes. Their next time would go beyond teenage years and they would have an actual life together – not mere months or years.
"The door to the afterlife can never be opened again," Isis was saying to the others. "The role of the Sennen Items is finally done."
"Thanks, Malik," Anzu quietly said, turning back to him as the others murmured something to Isis. "I'm going to be okay."
He cast her a puzzled glance and then smiled, giving her a comforting squeeze to her arm. This was so uncharacteristic to what she was accustomed when it came to Malik that she stared at him in surprise. "Oh, I know you will," he lightly said, ignoring her look. "You made sure to show me that when we first met."
This startled a laugh out of her and she withdrew from him, moving to join the others as they gazed out at the desert. Many of them were still dusty and, in the case of Yuugi and Anzu, their faces were tear-stained and a little gritty. Even so, there was a strangely settled peace amongst the group.
For the first time in years, there were no ancient Egyptian spirits among them and they were back to how they had been before Yuugi had solved the Sennen Puzzle in junior high school – a group of teenagers, albeit with some very unique memories.
On the day of high school graduation, Sugoroku Mutou opened the Kame Game Shop for a graduation celebration for Yuugi's friends. It had been two years since the ceremonial duel and life had settled into an almost depressingly normal routine. After being so preoccupied with Atemu and the events of the duel tournaments, their group had a lot of catch up to do, Anzu more so than the rest with her dance classes. While Jounouchi and Honda occupied themselves with girls and club activities, Yuugi was kept busy touring as the Duel Monsters champion and forced into meetings by Kaiba, who had taken it upon himself to open a Duel Academy to further the game into the competitive atmosphere similar to that of RTS gaming and other such championships.
By the time graduation had arrived, everyone in the group had received acceptance letters for college, all of them choosing to go to a junior college together, and had tentative future plans. Yuugi and Jounouchi would be hosting duel tournaments on the weekends, sponsored by Kaiba Corporation and other name-brands in Japan. Otogi would be taking over his father's business at the game shop and was planning to open more shops. Honda was still in the process of deciding whether he wanted to work in a luxury auto shop or wanted to get into racing. For her part, Anzu had known what she wanted to do for several years and while Julliard was her ultimate goal, for the time being she would be going to junior college with her friends before making her way to America. She knew her English was still deplorable, anyway, and hoped taking classes during college would help improve in areas where she was already suffering.
In a strange twist of fate, she had ended up taking after-school lessons for the last six months with Kaiba of all people in order to improve her English. While it had gotten much better than where it had been, she still was not confident that she could go to America and speak it fluently with the locals.
These circumstances had occurred when one night Kaiba had caught her walking out of an English class looking miserable and downtrodden. She was forced to prevent herself from pulling a Jounouchi and launching a fist into his face when he laughed at her books. "Primary English, Mazaki?" he had sneered. "I would think you'd be able to do better than that by your age."
"Nobody asked your opinion, anyway!" she had snapped, storming away from him moodily.
When she next encountered Kaiba after class, he had nearly accosted her, asking, "Why are you even taking English classes? Aren't you supposed to be saving money for something?"
Bristling at the bored tone in his voice, she stiffly replied, "I'm saving to get into Julliard. And in case you haven't noticed, they won't accept applicants who can't speak English."
"You've been taking English classes since junior high, Mazaki. You would think you had retained something from them."
Uncomfortable, she gave a little shrug. "Yuugi and I used to skip those classes to go play games."
"Unfortunately for you," Kaiba said with a darkening tone, "you can't rely on cards to pay your bills."
"Did you just come to make fun of me for my bad grades, Kaiba, or did you actually want something?"
After a pause, he shrugged and said with a tone of ennui, "If you want, I can teach you. I had to learn at an early age since English is becoming the most common language in business. Not that I care about your dreams, but it seems like a waste of talent that you end up in an office job just because you ran around with Yuugi in high school." She stared at him uncomprehendingly. His eyes narrowed into an impatient glare. "Do I need to spell it out for you? I saw one of your recitals."
"You did?" she asked in surprise.
"Who do you think goes to the opera house? People like Katsuya?" He snorted so loudly in disgust that a passing group of students looked around in alarm.
"Alright, point taken," she wryly said. "I don't know why you're offering, but honestly I would take any help at this point. Those English classes are eating into my savings."
Anzu had never told her friends where she disappeared to after school. She struggled through grammar lessons, endured Kaiba often blowing up at her inability to translate verbs and recognize the similar spelled, different-meaning words. There had been more than one afternoon that Anzu had angrily stormed out of the library after they had gotten into a sparring session of insults. His comments about 'dead men' and her lack of romantic life were often the ones that nettled her enough to leave. Even so, she returned to the library the next afternoon, though always much less talkative.
At the end of the year, however, when she received the highest marks in her class for English, she could have cried in relief. In thanks, she had bought Kaiba a tie, which he had looked at without any expression.
"What is this for?" he had asked.
Embarrassed, she rubbed the back of her head before explaining, "For the English lessons. It's not Prada or anything, but..." She had trailed off, feeling increasingly more uncomfortable the longer he stared at it. It was a dark blue, silk tie and had been tidily gift wrapped by the shop employee.
"It doesn't need to be Prada," he had finally said and without another word, had repacked the tie and walked away before she was given a chance to further respond.
That had been a week ago and Anzu had rarely seen Kaiba since then. Part of her had been extremely relieved at the lack of encounters she had with him now that their English lessons were concluded; another part, much quieter part of her, missed the quiet moments of sitting next to him, pouring over an English passage. She had forcefully not looked too deep into that piece of her feelings. The remainder of her friend group had also been busy with end of year exams and preparations. She knew that Yuugi had invited Kaiba and Mokuba to the graduation celebration, though she had not expected to see them. Since most of them were eighteen, Sugoroku Mutou had graciously bought beer and champagne for the party. This had overjoyed Jounouchi and Honda so much that they had lifted Yuugi's grandpa into a bearlike hug.
Anzu sat listening to Mai talk about her and Jounouchi's plans to find an apartment together, sipping on beer when she spotted Mokuba's bushy black hair enter the room followed by Kaiba's tall, regal frame. Mokuba caught her eye and waved energetically, to which she smiled and returned the wave. Kaiba merely nodded to her in acknowledgement, following Mokuba towards Yuugi to greet him.
"What about you?" Mai's voice broke through Anzu's thoughts.
"Me?" she repeated blankly.
Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she said, "I know that Yuugi coming out must have been a shock since you had liked him for so long, but I haven't seen you even go on any dates for the last two years. I think the last one you went on was with the spirit." She nodded meaningfully towards Yuugi. "Now that summer's out, you deserve to have some fun! Or at least find a guy to fool around with. Going into college a virgin is asking for trouble." Mai then proceeded to laugh at her own joke.
Anzu smiled faintly to herself, tracing her finger around the can of beer. You have no idea, she said to Mai silently, her mind drifting to Bakura in spite of herself. She had done well to do as she promised – she had lived as fully as she could and, if she had ever been inclined towards another guy, she might have gone on a date with him, but no one had caught her attention. In fact, the only guy that she spent any degree of time alone with had been Kaiba.
Her eyes drifted back to Kaiba and felt a tiny shiver upon seeing his eyes on her. He was frowning thoughtfully and, in his usual arrogant manner, he did not remove his gaze from her. He seemed quite unashamed to be caught staring.
The memory of her conversation on the rooftop in Luxor with Bakura was still clear in her mind and she recalled his remarks about Kaiba and his almost too-knowing smile when he had looked at them when he walked into the light. "I like it as little as you do, but I'll be dead," he had said and she realized now that he had not just been referring to her bonding with another man, but with Kaiba specifically.
She took a deep drink of her beer, turning back to Mai and feeling incredibly stupid for not listening to Bakura when he had first made mention of it. "Maybe," she answered her presently.
Once her friends became rowdy and sufficiently engaged with their own celebrations, she made her way to the couch where Kaiba was reading through a magazine. Mokuba was playing a game with Jounouchi, who was now thoroughly tipsy and apt to yell any time he made a mistake. There was an explosion of angry noise from the table and she could hear Mai laughing at her boyfriend.
Her eyes slid to another magazine on the table, one that she recognized. At sixteen, she had been reading through girl magazines avidly for any advice on relationships or reading the scandalous stories of couples being caught in the midst of a passionate moment. She had wanted every bit of information she could find in order to prepare herself for Atemu. Two years older, much of it seemed ridiculous. None of it had prepared her for Bakura and certainly no advice column would have helped her in this conversation she was about to have with Kaiba.
"You're pretty dressed up for a graduation party," Anzu said to Kaiba, sitting next to him on the couch. She had her second beer in hand, but had been sipping on it for the last hour.
"Mokuba and I had to deal with a last-minute business meeting with the board after the graduation ceremony before I came here," he answered, frowning down at a page in the magazine. He had an opened beer in front of him, though she was unsure if he had even been drinking it. Her eyes roamed along the clean cut of his gray suit to the tie and she hid a smile behind her can, recognizing it as the one she had gifted him.
"I'm surprised you came."
"Mokuba wanted to come." He closed the magazine and tossed it onto the table on top of the girl magazine she had been looking at a moment ago, missing his beer by inches. "And I figured you'd be here."
They were quiet a moment, Anzu sipping on her beer a bit more quickly to smother the churning feelings in her stomach. She knew, from her realization a moment ago, that she liked Kaiba, but it was warring with a strange sense of unfaithfulness. The second feeling was harder to discern as she continued to remind herself of Bakura's attitude before he had gone.
There is no reason to be ashamed, she told herself. He knew what was going to happen after he left.
And, as much as she hated to think of it, she knew that he had wanted her to treat it as if he were a partner that had died in a car accident – gone too soon, but with the ability to move on to someone new. Her soul, she had always known, would connect with someone else. She just had not expected it to be Kaiba of all people.
"What is it?" Kaiba asked her abruptly.
"Er, what?"
He looked exasperated with her as he said, "I can tell when you're worrying about something, Mazaki, so spit it out." She opened her mouth to answer, then seemed to think better about it. She did not need to voice it, however, as Kaiba narrowed his eyes on her and seemed to strike on the very topic she least wanted to discuss. "You're thinking about him, is that it?"
"Who?" she muttered, averting her gaze and hoping he, like everyone else, still thought that she had been interested in Atemu.
"Bakura. Unlike your friends, I'm not an idiot nor am I blind. It didn't take much to see what was going on in Battle City. You're lucky he didn't get you killed, by the way." There was a tight, suppressed rage beneath Kaiba's voice and she found herself unable to immediately respond. "Atemu thought I'd benefit from seeing your past self dead in a tomb. You can thank him for making sure I didn't let you walk into the past with them."
"I wasn't going to," she protested, finding her voice from the injustice of this accusation. "I just – I wanted to say goodbye. That's all it was. I didn't want to go into the past with them."
Kaiba glared at her disbelievingly.
They lapsed into an uncomfortable, angry silence. Anzu had not wanted to get into an argument with Kaiba about Bakura, though now his snarky little remarks during their lessons made more sense. She was reminded starkly of the memory that Atemu had shown of the Priest Seto scolding her past self in the throne room and felt the anger ebb. "Every person and every encounter triggers another encounter or series of events." Neither Bakura nor Kisara existed in this lifetime, causing the next possibility to play out, which was Anzu and Kaiba landing into each other's path. If Bakura had died in ancient Egypt after Kisara was sacrificed by Priest Seto and her past self had not gone after him, the same path would have played out.
Another thought occurred to her as she was reminded of the many times that Kaiba had gone out of his way to save her, even though it had not been his responsibility. He could have easily stopped Jounouchi and Yuugi's duel if not for Anzu standing to the sidelines as insurance with the poison pill in her mouth. Similarly, he had no reason to try to keep her off the platform during Bakura and Yuugi's duel. It had been him, not Jounouchi or Honda, who had tried to prevent her from helping Bakura. Every time, she had not seen it for what it was since he had an uncanny ability to deliver insults while doing those things.
And, in spite of Kaiba's words, she could not help but smile. The way he handled his emotions was so like Bakura that she could well understand why this had happened. She idly wondered how similar she was to Kisara.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge. "Isn't it enough that I like you, Kaiba?"
He looked annoyed by this. "No."
She laughed, shocked by the blunt rejection and shook her head, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Fine! Be that way then." As she braced herself to stand up to join her friends, he caught her wrist to halt her movement and she turned to him, her anger firing up. She felt like a complete fool and did not want to linger any longer with his bad mood.
"That's not how I meant it," he told her steadily. "I'll accept that I'm your second choice, but I'm not looking to settle for a girl that just 'likes' me, Mazaki. If I can't have what he had from you, then I'm not going to waste our time – to hell with fate or souls or whatever else is involved."
She stared at him, feeling her cheeks grow warm with the declaration. Even though it was as blunt and dry as Kaiba had always spoken, it sounded rather romantic in some twisted, business-like way. Drawing in a brisk breath, she smiled at him and shrugged. "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that. We're already halfway there."
There was a beat where he gazed back at her suspiciously and then he released her wrist, his expression relaxing. "You're getting into an uncanny habit of falling for Yuugi's enemies," he observed with a slight smirk.
"I'm starting to see the pattern, too."
And, when he kissed her, the warmth that had been missing since watching Bakura walk into the light filled her chest. She heard the distant squawk of horror from Jounouchi and knew that, had Bakura been here, she would have had to fight with her friends, as well. She could not replace Bakura, but she knew that for this lifetime at least, she could live on and accept who her heart and soul chose.
Until they had their 'next time.'
End Part VIII.