Epilogue—an End and a Beginning

Atem was walking through light and shadows towards his friends and family from Egypt, while he'd been the Prince and the Pharaoh, hoping Yuugi would be all right without him. He supposed it was absurd to worry when he knew his light would be fine—Yuugi's visit to Egypt had shown him that much—but he also had no idea what the outcome of the battle with the lizards in the future would be. All he could do was have faith, and there was someone he really wanted to see again after having spent so much time with Seto Kaiba.

Finally, he crossed a barrier of some sort and found himself standing in the gate to the Palace, looking towards the front doors. The doors were open and someone walked out, someone he knew right away by the color of his robes, even at that distance.

"Set!" he yelled, running in his direction.

The other kept walking towards him, and sure enough, it was Set. The High Priest raised his arms to catch Atem as the young Pharaoh threw himself into the taller's arms to hug him. "I'm glad you've finally made it here. It's been a long wait, My Prince," Set told him, hugging the smaller teen just as fiercely as Atem hugged him.

"I know...I know..." the smaller teen answered, tears of joy and relief leaking from his eyes. "So long..." He then pushed back and asked dryly, "Why are you calling me your Prince? I was Pharaoh when I died."

"Yes, but your father's been here with us all along, so...You're the Prince again," Set replied in amusement. "Now all we need is to wait for Yuugi so we have the whole Royal Family back together again. In the meantime, having you back is like a breath of fresh air. Everyone wants to greet you back—but I convinced them to wait until tomorrow." He paused and leaned close to Atem's ear to say softly, "I claim you first, My Love."

"Yes..." whispered Atem as pleasant chills ran up and down his back at the heated tone Set had used. "We have a bond to re-affirm. Your chambers, High Priest?" His voice was teasing as he asked, even as he pressed himself to the taller young man.

Before he quite realized it, he was being picked up and carried in both arms by Set, who headed quickly for his chambers in the Temple of Ra.

As they reached the door to the familiar room, Atem whispered, "Even after all this time, I love you, Set."

"And I love you as well, Atem," Set replied in an equally heart-felt voice.

It didn't take them long to find themselves lost in each other and in intense pleasure neither had felt for five thousand years.

PA-HPS-YM-SK

When they got to Egypt, it was morning, and Yuugi and Kaiba got off the plane nearly right outside the entrance to the Tombkeepers' underground residence. They spent the day with Ishizu, Rishid, and Marik, then took some time in the cooler evening to look around the surrounding desert. Really, though, there wasn't much there, as the nearest above-ground human residences were small villages or mere hamlets, and there were only five within walking distance. They visited two villages and ate at one of them.

During that whole time, Kaiba had seemed distracted and oddly contemplative, and he kept eying the younger teen with a puzzled and speculative expression Yuugi didn't know what to make of. He didn't know the taller's thoughts, but it was obvious he was in them quite frequently at the moment, for better or for worse.

As they were heading back in the direction of the plane Kaiba a few steps ahead of him, Yuugi said, "Hey, Kaiba-kun, thanks again for doing so much for me."

There was a silence, then the older teen said, "Seto."

"What?" Yuugi blinked in surprise.

"Call me Seto," the taller of the pair reiterated.

"...Are you sure?" the smaller asked hopefully.

Before he realized quite what was happening, the taller had spun, stalked back to him, seized him forcefully, and kissed him deeply.

It took Yuugi a minute to realize he was being kissed, and by the Seto Kaiba, his long-standing crush, before he moaned and kissed back, letting the older teen have control. It was like fire and electricity and waves of pleasure—if this had been what Set and Atem felt when they were together, it was no wonder they had gotten wrapped up in each other so quickly. This wasn't like just any kiss, it was something much more, and it took Yuugi's breath away, made him putty in Kaiba's arms. Very eager and responsive putty.

By the time the young businessman pulled back, Yuugi's knees were too weak to stand on his own, so Kaiba had to hold him up. "I'm sure, after living with you for the last week, that you're not someone I count as just an 'acquaintance' or just a 'friend'. I'm still sorting it out, but in the meantime—you're mine. So, Seto," the older of the two informed him in his forceful, pretty much emotionless way.

With a little chuckle, the smaller teen said, "I understand...Seto. Thank you."

"I'm not so sure you'll be thanking me when we get back to Domino and you see just what you're getting into," Seto snorted, releasing him and turning back towards where they'd parked the plane.

Yuugi followed him as he said wryly, "I'll be fine. I'm just glad I was wrong about anyone I was interested in not wanting to touch me with a ten-foot pole."

"You have another comparison?" the older teen asked in mild amusement as Yuugi caught up to him—and linked their arms together.

Strangely, Seto Kaiba didn't feel like he had to pull away from the touch, which made Yuugi smile with the realization he'd really been allowed in to the other teen's heart. Even if it was just a little bit at first, it was a start, and it made him happy to know he really had a chance.

"Well, Anzu, and Mai, I'd had crushes on them, too, but they were pretty short-lived. You're both the longest-running one, and the most recent. I don't want this to be 'just a crush', so if you want to try, that's fine—I want to, too."

Kaiba snorted and replied, "You had bad taste back then. But I'm possessive, I hope you know."

Yuugi hummed in agreement, still smiling wryly. "I could tell as soon as I met you."

"Most people would be turned off from me by our previous interactions."

"I'm not most people."

A snort was his only answer until they were in the plane and back on their way to Japan.

"Let's see what you think after you spend a night with me which isn't—chaste."

"I look forward to finding out."

"Then I'm kidnapping you for another night before letting you go home."

"That's fine. Thank you."

The smaller teen just smiled happily as the older one howled with laughter at Yuugi's responses to what anyone else would have thought were threats. He was beginning to realize just how different the smaller teen was, and somehow found it more attractive than he'd thought possible.

One thing was for sure—the next several months would be very interesting, even without killer, time-traveling lizards to worry about.