QoH: -_-' I still can't believe it did that "only author's notes" thing to the last chapter... How embarrassing. Anyway, here's for hoping this one doesn't do the same thing... O_O Ack! I just realized a couple things! Uh, just pretend Yugi & Co go to a year-round school, ok? That, and that the God Cards don't unlock the Pharaoh's memories (they're just incredibly strong, is all lol) ^_^ Thank ya! I had this planned out before I knew about the God Cards, so it just makes it awkward to put them in now.

Chapter 2: Confusion

Yugi's room

That night

                "So, do you think it'll happen again tonight?" Yugi asked the spirit who sat on his bed while he put his homework back in his school bag. He turned in his chair to look worriedly at him.

                Yami sighed wearily, leaning on his knees, "I don't see why it wouldn't. If these are my memories coming back to me, and I'm assuming they are, why would they stop after just one night?"

                "That's true." Yugi nodded, then shrugged, "Well, whatever they are, we both need some sleep."

                "There's another thing. I don't usually need to, in the first place. Even when I do, it's very little. But, now, it's like I can't even stop myself."

                Yugi crossed his arms thoughtfully and he stood up, "Well, maybe your subconscious is trying to get you to remember it all as quickly as possible."

                "Perhaps," Yami nodded, then frowned, "Yet, if that's the truth, wouldn't it be clear? Muddled as it was the last time, it was near impossible to make any sense of it. The thing that worries me is that they are my memories, but someone's blocking them. We both know there's a good number of people who'd have no second thoughts about doing that sort of thing," he sat up and scowled, "As to who it is, though, I have no idea."

                "You're probably right." Yugi grinned ironically, sitting beside him, "It'd be just our luck, wouldn't it?"

                Yami eyed him in vague amusement, "I do appreciate that you're trying to lighten the mood, aibou, but I don't think that'll help us much with this."

                "I know," he laughed at the former pharaoh's expression, "but, I really think we can get through this. You said before that, as long we stay connected, we can defeat anything. We have to believe that, more than ever now."

****

Yami's dream

                Much to his irritation, he couldn't see a thing. He might as well have been walking through a cloud, for all the good his vision was doing him at the moment. Actually, he could see, of a sort. But, none of it was helpful, considering it was only a mess of white.

                Not that he could hear anything, either. On the off chance they'd had been stuffed with cotton balls, or something of the like (it was a dream, after all), he dug his index fingers in his ears, but only found a whole lot of nothing. Sighing, he dropped his hands back down to his sides, wondering if the previous dream had started out like this. Annoyed, he began stubbornly pushing his way through the thick, fluffy stuff.

                After several minutes of shoving, he was rewarded with a break in the substance and he burst into blazing Egyptian sunlight, the pyramids far below. He looked behind him, a tad confused. To his consternation, he realized it had been a cloud, after all. (A/N: insert large sweatdrop here. hehe)

                The next he knew, he was walking among the milling citizens of the Thebes of his childhood. Memories came to him, ones of visiting this very marketplace with his father when he was young. He smiled as he remembered snacking on a small pastry the pharaoh had bought for him.

                That doesn't help, though, he thought, frustrated as he looked around. Why can't I remember later than this? Surely, what I need to know is farther down the path of the future.

                As though responding to his wish, his surroundings flashed to the gardens inside the palace walls. He was disappointed, however, when he realized what was going on. True, it was later, but not by that much. Again, he remembered walking with the pharaoh, this time as he explained trade routes with the East.

                I don't understand. Does this have something to do with my father? He didn't have a chance to ponder this, though, because the moment the question crossed his mind, he was wrenched out of the dream once again.

                Sitting up, he went over what he'd learned, archiving it for future reference in his mind.

~I dream of rain.

  I dream of gardens in the desert sand.

  I wake in pain.~

QoH: o_O Poor Yami's confused. How often does that happen? lol