Disclaimer: as much as it hurts to write, I don't own Yugioh or anything related to Duel Monsters. ::Sigh::

~thanks for all the reviews, means a lot to me. And as thanks, I'm posting two chapters.
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Yami groaned as he felt the coolness of a washcloth come in contact with his skin.

"So he awakes."

"Seto, be nice."

"Raya?"

Raya moved in front of the couch and into Yami's line of vision. "I'm here Yami."

"What happened?"

"You collapsed outside my apartment. I guess you had something to tell me about Yugi. I had trouble moving you inside, you were pretty much dead weight. Luckily Seto came by and helped me move you inside to the couch." Raya said, staring at him, hoping he would get the hint not to ask why he was there in the first place.

"Seto, you are here too?"

"Yes."

"I owe you my thanks as well then. I suppose I owe you a duel now?" Yami asked with a small, forced grin.

To his surprise, Seto laughed, something the young man hardly did. "You caught me in a generous mood Yami, so no. Besides, I would face the wrath of Raya if I challenged you before you were well."

"You scared of someone Seto? I must have died."

"You didn't, I promise you that one. Unless heaven looks a lot like my living room then maybe we did."

"Well I hate to cut this lovely conversation short, but I have to pick up Mokuba from his friends. Raya, are you still coming for dinner?"

"Of course, can't disappoint your brother."

Seto nodded and headed for the door, "Oh and Yami, tell Yugi I hope he feels better."

"I will, thanks Seto." He got no reply as the front door softly clicked shut. "I can't believe it, Seto was acting human. I must have whacked my head pretty hard."

"You did, but he is a nice person. When you met him, his baby brother was being held captive by Pegasus, was he not?"

"Ai, he was."

"That explains it then. He was desperate to save Mokuba. Nothing would stop him either…not even you."

"So you did know about the Duelist Tournament."

"Of course. But I didn't know you were there Yami."

"Nor did I know you were alive. How Ruia? How are you here? I mean, you died in Egypt. I saw your body, your lifeless body."

Raya moved to sit down on the couch next to Yami. Sitting cross - legged she turned her trembling body towards him. "I did die, I remember the coldness and the emptiness. But if I felt all of that, I wasn't truly dead."

Yami reached for her hand, holding it tightly in his. "Physically you were gone, but spiritual you weren't."

"I guess so, but I remember everything. Including you finding me. I tried to call out to you, let you know I was alive, but something was preventing me from doing so. I was stuck in that void." Tears streamed down her face.

Yami suppressed his own tears. He remembered that day, so clearly. "How though, how are you here now? Are you a reincarnation like the others?" 'How do I know that this isn't some cruel trick of fate?'

"No, I am Ruia, your Ruia from the past. And I have something that will convince you other wise." She reached around her necked and pulled out a chain. On the end was a ring, with a dark blue stone, surrounded by smaller paler purple stones,

"The Ring of the Nile." Yami gasped. "That was my wedding present to Ruia. How did you get it?"

"I never lost it Yami, I am Ruia from Egypt. Remember, there is no way for historians to know about me, I didn't have a temple. So there is no way for people to have known about this ring."

"But But, even you said you died."

"I did, but after you fled the room after my murderer, the High Priests entered the room, taking my body for burial. You remember how close I was to them don't you? Well they felt something, knew that I was still there. Anyway to make a long story short, they cast a spell, to send me to the future to heal and recover from my wounds. They sent me to this time, to America where I was found. I stayed there for a year until I heard of a great duelist by the name of Yugi Motou and his mysterious brother. I had to know Yami, I had to see for myself if it was my husband."

"And it was."

"Yes, but I have brought danger you're way. Yugi's attack was directed at me."

"Why do you say that Ruia?"

"They are back Yami. They found me in America and have been after me ever since. I thought that when I fled the states, they wouldn't follow, but I was wrong. And now that they know that Yugi and you are connected, they will be after you as well."

"Raya, calm down, you're hyperventilating. Deep breathes. Okay, who is they?"

"Satire and Jarha"

Yami inhaled sharply. "NO!"

Raya nodded somberly. "They won't rest until they finish what they started in Egypt."

"Then we are all in danger. You, me, Yugi, and the rest of the gang."

"What are we going to do?"

"Fight."

"How?"

"Yugi is being discharged from the hospital later this afternoon. Grandpa is going to be with him for a bit, but then he has a conference to attend on excavating in Tokyo. Normally he wouldn't go with Yugi being in the condition that he was, but since he is the guest of honor, he has too. So that means we can meet at the game shop tonight and discuss everything."

"Including all of our past lives?"

"We have no choice Raya."

She sighed. "I know. What time do you want me at the Game Shop?"

"Have dinner with Seto and then get him and Mokuba to come with you. They are involved in all of this as well."

"Alright."

"One more thing, why did you come to Japan?"

"I had to know the truth Yami, whether you were alive or not. That was the only reason."

"I see. I better get back to Yugi, he is probably wondering where I am."

"Then I will see you tonight."

"Till then, be careful Ruia."

"It's Raya now Yami."

He nodded and let himself out the door.

Impulsively, Raya started for the door, she had to tell Yami the real reason why she came. Had to tell him that she….no. She couldn't be that weak. So much time had past, she had changed and Yami definitely had. Once she arrived in America and recovered, she started her research on Ancient Egypt. As much as it hurt her, she had to know what happened to Yugioh. What she found, she didn't like. He was so different from the man that she had fallen in love with. But he had redeemed himself when he saved everyone from the Shadow Games, but even now she had to wonder. Was Yami still like that? Did he feel the same way towards Raya that he did Ruia? Probably not. It was best to act like she had no feelings for him, even if she did still love him.

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"Yami, I can make it into my room by myself you know."

"I know aibou, just humor me. The doctor said that you needed to rest and not over extend yourself. I'm just following orders."

"You follow orders?" Yugi gave a weak laugh.

"Cute, real cute. Now, do you want anything before I go? Juice? Food? Anything?"

"I'm okay, but Yami, can you stay in here with me. Please?"

"Of course Yugi, I'll stay."

"Thank you."

Yami smiled and sat down on Yugi's bed next to the boy. Yugi snuggled up against his darker side.

/Yami, why is that woman after Raya./

//We'll talk about it later tonight, I promise.//

/Is it serious? She is going to be okay?/

//It is serious aibou, but don't worry, you, me, Joey, and everyone will protect her./

/I'm glad you finally realized that she isn't evil./

//Me too. Now get some rest, please.//

/Okay./

'Rest soundly Yugi, because after tonight meeting, no one will be able to sleep well. But I promise you Yugi, I won't let Satire and Jarha harm you. I swear on it with my life.'

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"So what is this meeting about Yami?" Tea asked, pulling up another chair in Yugi's bedroom.

"A lot of things Tea, but I want to wait till everyone is here before I explain things."

"Who else are we waiting for?" Joey question, who was in a duel with Yugi.

As if to answer his question, the door to the game shop opened. "YAMI!"

"Come on up Raya and lock the door."

"OKAY!" she shouted back. "Come on Seto, Mokuba let's go."

"I still don't see why I am here."

"Because what Yami and I have to say tonight not only affects you, but your brother as well. Interested now?"

Seto nodded and walked up the stairs.

"Seto! What are you doing here?"

"I asked him to come, Bakura. He too is affected by the news Yami and I have to share."

"So what is all of this about Raya?"

She glanced at Yami, who stared blankly at her. Yugi noticed the discomfort. "Yami, Raya, whatever you have to say, just be honest. No matter what we will stand by you two."

Raya and Yami still stared at one another. Finally Raya moved into the center of the room. "I guess I should be the one to tell the story, seeing that most of this is my fault. I was completely honest with all of you about my past."

"What?"

"Look, it isn't like I wanted to lie to all of you, I just did it to protect everyone. But after Yugi's attack, I see that hope was in vain."

"So my attack is related to you?'

"More than you can imagine. The woman that attack you Yugi is named Satire. She has been out to kill me for over a millennia now."

"Wait, you said millennia. How old are you Raya?"

"The same age as Yami, Tristan. I was born in what is now referred to as Ancient Egypt."

"Did you know Yami, Raya?"

"Ai, I did. Back then I was known as Ruia, commoner, daughter to the local bursar, and Queen of Egypt."

"Queen? That means you and Yami…"

"Were married. That is correct Tea.

"But…"

"Tea, let Raya tell her story. If we all keep interrupting, we'll never get through it."

"Thanks Joey. Anyway, this whole mess started when I was ten. I was raised in the capitol of Ancient Egypt, Memphis, by my father. We didn't have much in the way of luxurious or money, but we had each other and that was all that matter. My mother had died when I was two, so my father was extra strict in raising me. He wanted to prove to everyone that he could handle me. I was like any other ten year old. Adventurous, rebellious, and curious. My best friend Anzu and I could often be found at the Nile River swimming or exploring. It was there that I met Yami, or Yugioh as he was called then. I didn't realize right away that he was to be the future pharaoh, he was just another friend to me and Anzu. Every week we would secretly meet at the Nile, to play and swim. As the years past, mine and Yugioh's relationship changed. No longer was it about friendship, it was more of a relationship. I knew then I cared deeply for him, and I thought he cared for me too. But he was Pharaoh and I was just a lowly commoner. I had no chance with him. Our relationship was secret, only two other people knew about it and that was Anzu and her boyfriend who happened to be a High Priest to Yami. So anytime we met, we had to be careful not to get caught. And then it happened. The greatest and worst day of my life. For the past week, I had been getting sick, violently sick in the mornings. I was terrified at the thought of what it could be. I knew I couldn't go to the local doctor, or word would get back to my father. So I took a day trip to the another town. There I confirmed my fears, I was pregnant."

"I'm sorry, but how old were you?"

"Fifteen. And at that time, it was more common. But at least those woman were married, I wasn't. And in our society, that was looked down upon, so much that it was punishable by death. I didn't know what to do. Should I run? Should I tell my dad and Yami? I was so confused. I did the only thing I thought I could do, I told my father. To put it mildly, he was furious. Sleeping with the Pharaoh of Egypt. He told me that Yami was just using me, that I was only his mistress. And now, I had blacken my name and our family name. So to save the family name, he kicked me out of the house. Having no place to go, I wandered to my secret place on the Nile, to write. Even then I was a composer. Meanwhile, Anzu had learned from my father what had taken place. She had no idea where to find me or what to do. She told her boyfriend what had happened and he told Yugioh. With his two most loyal guards, he came to find me. He knew where to look, we met there every week. I was crying by the time he found me."

"I remember that day so clearer. I was ecstatic to learn that I had a child on the way, but I also knew the consequences that would follow. If I didn't find Ruia fast, she would be killed. I did love her, all those years we spent in secret together. But she was right, we were from two very different worlds and marriage between us would never work. No one would let it."

"So when Yami came, I thought sure he was going to kill me. It was the only way not to bring disgrace to him. But instead, he did something completely surprising. He proposed, right then and there. I tried to decline, he had all of Egypt to think about, I wasn't worth it."

"But she was. I didn't care that our kinds didn't mix. I loved her and that was all that mattered to me."

"So we went back to the palace and announced the engagement. To put it mildly, it caused quite an uproar. Some people accept it, others were hostile, but that was expected. But there were two people who took our marriage to an extreme. There names were Satire and Jarha, a brother and sister. Jarha was a High Priest to Yami, who was in love with me and even had convinced my father to let him have my hand. And Satire was obsessed with making Yami her husband and becoming Queen of Egypt."

"Scary woman she was. She made it perfectly clear that Raya would pay for seducing me and getting herself pregnant. Of course that wasn't the case, but in her mind it was. Jarha was the same way. We both assumed they were all talk because for months, they did nothing."

"We didn't realize it at the time but they were conjuring up a group of rebels against us. A group who could use the Shadow Games against us. It had taken months to find a group of these people who weren't afraid to go up against Yami and I."

"What many people didn't know what that Ruia has similar powers to what Yugi and I have. Only hers come from Sekhmet. Mine came directly from Ra. I had the ability of the mind and Raya is the soul. Together, they made a deadly combination, which meant our child would have enormous power when he grew older. Satire realized this and decided to eliminate that threat early on."

"I was in the nursery and I had just put our son down to sleep when she came into the room. I called for help and a guard came and…."

"She got away and managed to kill our son"

"The witch murdered my angel, my baby boy. Right in front of me and I couldn't do anything to protect him." Raya reached up and wiped away her tears. Tea saw them and kneeled down next to her, holding her.

"The worst was yet to come though. A week later, Satire, Jarha, and their group returned to the palace. Ruia and I refused to run from our home. We would not back down from them. Somehow we were separated. And I never saw my wife again. When I found her, she was dead."

"I had ended up in the parlor room, where Satire was waiting. We got into a battle and I lost, she slit my throat."

"And all of you know what happened to me, I was driven into a deep depression, the Shadow Games consuming my life. Jarha and Satire had been caught, but the damage had been done, I had lost my wife and child."

"So you did have a family Yami."

"I did Yugi. Now do you see why I never talked about it?"

"Un huh."

"But obvious Ruia wasn't dead, or she wouldn't be here now. I'm I correct?"

"You are Seto and I have you to thank for that."

"What?"

"The reason why we asked all of you here today. All of you were there, present in Egypt with us. All of you helped us defeat Jarha and Satire. Once they realize you are here and together like you were in the past, they will come after you. I guarantee it. They will try to eliminate any threat to their mission. And you Joey, Tristan, Tea, Bakura, Seto, Mokuba, and Yugi are a hazard. Which means all of you are in danger, life threatening danger.



AN: Slow chapter I know, I promise it will pick up in the next chapter. Just had to give a little character background on Raya and Yami's past, okay, a lot.