Tammi: Here is the chapter that ends this story and opens up a window for a possible sequel… Hope you guys enjoy.
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Sometimes
Chapter 17
Don't Look So Surprised
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"So you're saying she up and went away without so much as a single word? That doesn't really-"
"Don't ask me why she decided to go home. I am still wondering why she asked me to take her. She and I didn't get off on the right foot to begin with and yet, she asked me to take her there."
Marik sat there in a thoughtful silence and as they contemplated over her actions he sighed, "Sounds like her. She always does things without thinking things through. Anyway Ryou, did you get the invite from Yugi?" Marik asked avoiding the Ailee subject all together.
Ryou looked over at him and nodded, "Yeah tonight at five-thirty meet up in front of the Game Shop right?" He said and smiled. "I guess one of us should call and explain what happened to her, huh?"
Marik stood up and yawned, "Can one of you do that? I would rather take a nap if it's ok. I honestly didn't get much sleep last night." He admitted and Ryou shook his head.
"I don't mind. You can go lie down in my room. It's just over down that hall – to the right." Marik nodded and went off with a smile. /Well, you sure pulled that one off, Ryou./
\Leave me alone, Bakura.\
/And what's your problem?/
\I don't know… For starters there's someone in my head. A spirit of some sort who hides some pretty dark secrets from me.\
/What makes you think that I'm hiding 'dark secrets' from you?/
\Because I've taken in some time to study your personality and I've noticed already that Ailee was some kind of threat to you. Getting rid of her had nothing to do with helping out my friends… You're hiding something and I'm honestly afraid to know what it is.\
/Then don't be asking./ Bakura shut the link off and Ryou was left to deal with a concerned Anzu. "I'm fine." He quickly stated in a not-so-fine- tone.
"Maybe you should get some rest too, Ryou. You just came back from the airport and what not." She smiled and checked her watch. "Why don't you go lie down in one of the rooms here? I'll stay around and come get you guys when it's time to meet up with the others."
Ryou hesitated for a moment but Anzu shook her head and raised her hand in a scolding manner. "Well, alright. If you're going to go all 'mom' on me, then I guess I'll go." He said laughing just a bit.
She 'humphed' and he left to the spare room. Well, it was the room that he had 'let' Ailee stay in. He shivered a little and bit his lip. \Bakura, you still there?\ There was silence for a long while so Ryou sighed and got under the blankets.
/What?/ He responded almost giving his light a heart-attack.
\You have to stop doing that… I was just wondering…\
/What?/ He repeated this time in a more annoyed tone. Ryou felt like saying some thing but decided against it.
\Is your magic permanent? Will she remember anything about any of us?\
/I don't know, it's been a long time since I've used my magic, why?/
\I don't know… I just have this feeling that we haven't seen the last of her…\
~
"What do you want?" Malik asked angrily as Marik entered his chambers.
"Look I know what you did, I don't exactly know how, but it was a very big mistake." Marik growled.
The darker image rose to his feet and stood some few feet away from the lighter half. "And what did I do? Hm? Tell me." He demanded in a much calmer tone.
"Don't play stupid, Malik. I know you have all these secrets that you have to keep, for Ra only knows why, but I don't think you should've sent her back home."
"And why not?" He asked glaring down at the barely shorter boy.
Marik sighed, "I just have a bad feeling about all this. Something just doesn't seem right…"
"You worry way too much, trust me…" Marik shot him a 'You're not serious are you' look. "Hey, I've managed to fix everything up so far haven't I?"
"Not on your own remember? You did after all, have some help." Malik scoffed and Marik decided to leave his dark alone. Coming back to the real world he found himself drifting off into sleep.
~
Anzu sat down and watched some TV for a while. Nothing was really on, which didn't really matter anyways, since she was too busy thinking to care. 'Marik's eyes got all dark and cloudy when I was talking to him, and then it happened with Ryou just a couple of minutes ago… So are there two souls within each of them?'
She walked over to the window and watched as the wind gently blew across the afternoon sky, "Two Ryou's and two Marik's… That's gotta be troublesome." She whispered to herself.
The minutes went by slowly at first but as she found this really cool movie on, those hours seemed to go by so fast. Before she knew it, it was time to get them awake and moving.
She went to wake Ryou first since his room was closer and all. "Hey Ryou, it's time to get up." It didn't take much to wake up this light sleeper, as she whispered so lightly he quickly rose to his feet; Scaring the living hell out of the girl.
Ryou went ahead and woke up the heavy sleeper Marik. It wasn't so easy; I think a rock would have been able to get up faster than him. But, he did finally wake up and fix himself up a bit.
~
"Relax Yugi, they'll be here. It isn't even five-thirty yet." Yami tried to assure him. Yugi nodded and stopped his needless pacing. A couple more minutes went by and sure enough came Anzu's in her car and Marik on his motorcycle.
"See, they're right on time." Yami said and Yugi nodded. The shorter teen walked out of the Shop to greet his friends and Yami went upstairs to get the blonde.
"Hey, Joey they're all here. You ready?" He asked and Joey came strolling down the stairs wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's get going." Yami nodded and both left outside after waving bye to Yugi's grandfather.
"Hey, guys are we all ready?"
"Yeah. Hey where's that girl… Um… Heh, what was her name again?" Joey asked slightly embarrassed.
With a sigh Anzu explained that she left back to Egypt and she probably wouldn't be coming back – not anytime soon anyway. So after a couple more minutes of teasing Joey about how generous he was being for once, they finally decided to head for the restaurant. To their surprise, it was like a restaurant made specifically for teenagers.
"Hey, this is a very cool place, Joey. I was expecting you to take us to a fast food place." Anzu admitted. Everyone else nodded too.
Joey rolled his eyes and soon they were seated. The latest Maroon 5 song 'Harder To Breathe' was playing and the lights were dim. Yes, it really was quite the cool place. Anyway, the menus were given and they gave the waitress their order of drinks.
"So, this has been quite the week huh? I mean first off there was that strange thing at the Dance Contest…" Anzu winced at the memory and shook her head. "Hey relax Anzu; we all know how great you are." Joey said with a smile and wink, "And then that party or whatever… And then that friend of Marik's comes in… Too bad she isn't here, she was pretty cute."
Yugi laughed a little, "Well, she seemed really cool. I hope she does come back soon. You do too, right Yami?" There wasn't a response from the silent twin of the short tri-colored teen. "Hey Yami are you ok?"
"Hm? Oh sorry, I wasn't paying attention…"
Joey snorted, "Obviously… But that's ok. We were talkin' about that girl, Ailee. Hey, you guys really think she left to go see her mother? Maybe she's some kind of spy for Egypt." Joey said in a whisper. Yugi and Ryou shook their heads.
"Are you kidding me? I know her better than most and trust me… She cannot keep a secret to save her life." Marik replied laughing at Joey's silly comment.
With a sigh Joey looked back to his menu, "So what's everyone gettin'?" He asked.
"I'm getting this grilled bacon cheeseburger." Yugi answered looking hungrily at the picture.
"I'm just going to get the Vegetarian Salad." Marik replied putting his menu down onto the table. Ryou smiled and glanced at Joey.
"What are you getting Joey?" He asked and Joey pointed to his choice. "The All American T-Bone Steak…" Ryou read aloud and 'mmm' he then placed his menu down. "Yeah, that's what I'll get too - A nice juicy steak." His mouth watered.
The waitress came by with drinks and they all placed their orders. Anzu wanted some chicken' n 'rice, Yami ordered the same. So they went on to talk about needless teenage things as they waited for their dinner to come…
~
She arrived a lot sooner than she had thought and finding the place where her mother lived was relatively easy. And lucky for her, the streets were safe and quiet for once. Actually it seemed more odd than lucky. Well, she didn't bother with thinking too much on good fortune.
Entering when she didn't get a response she started to grow worried that maybe bandits had taken over and possibly killed her mother. 'Please say she's alright…' She prayed but something told her that it wouldn't help.
As she entered she expected to see a horrible and terrible scene, but instead everything seemed normal. Nothing was misplaced; nothing that she could see was missing. "Mother..?" She called out. Her home was just as she remembered; except for the fact her mother was nowhere to be seen. "It's me, Ailee." She called out again. Still there was no answer.
Ailee went up and around, but found only that she was home alone. "Where is..?" Her head lowered to a picture frame that had been dropped on the floor. It was broken She looked at it carefully and it held a picture of herself and Marik, but Marik's face had been cut out. Her breathing grew fast and heavy as she then noticed a shadow glooming over her.
Standing back to her feet, she slowly turned around to face the intruder; since it was more than obvious her mother had been killed or taken somewhere. "Who are you? Where is my mother?" She asked taking in the sight of a man in white robes. His auburn hair falling loosely against his tanned skin He said nothing, but glared confusingly at the girl. "I asked you for your name. This is my home and you're invading my property." She said bravely.
The man sighed and pulled out a golden – very ancient – artifact. She stared fearfully at the thing and backed up some once it started to glow. 'Who is this guy…? What does he want?' she asked herself and gulped as his dark eyes glinted with satisfaction. {Don't look so surprised…} She gasped as a deep voice echoed through her mind and then everything went blank…
~
Bakura gasped as he felt like he had just been pierced through the chest. Unknowingly he let this pain sail through his link with Ryou causing the teen to also gasp in shock. On the other end of the table, Marik winced as he too felt the impact from his dark half's own hurt.
But both weren't noticed as everyone's attention rested upon Yami who had dropped his fork, it landed with a 'clink' against the table. "Yami what is it?" Yugi questioned not at all liking the look of terror on his friend's face.
"Yami are you ok?" Joey exclaimed, as the boy in question calmed himself down. With a small smile and a sigh he nodded.
"I think so… I'm sorry guys; I just had a bad thought or something. It's nothing I'm sure." He replied and lifted his fork back up. They stared uncertainly at him, but after three or four minutes passed they went back to eating.
After eating at that restaurant, the group decided to hit the small club not too far from where they were. So, the incident with Yami (and the two quiet teens) was soon forgotten. Ryou and Joey rode with Anzu in her car, and Yugi took Yami and Marik. And off to a night of fun and possibly dancing they went.
~
He smirked where he stood and took some time to go over what he had just learned. His face darkened as he pondered on why 'he' would be conversing and spending time with them… {Come.} He commanded the now comatose Ailee. Her eyes were completely black and her arms hung down by her side. She is nothing more than a puppet; no soul or memory.
{… Japan… I must go to Japan…} He thought as he and his servant exited into the dark streets…
~
"I had fun you guys. Even though my mom's going to kill me for how late it is." Anzu said checking her watch. Yami went ahead inside without saying bye or anything. "Hey, Yugi do you know why he's feeling so blue? Did something happen?" She asked in a small whisper.
"I have no clue why he's acting so strange Anzu. I'll try and talk to him about it tonight, before I go to bed. Well, anyway I guess we all owe Joey big thanks for paying for our night.
"Hey don't mention it Yug' it was fun… Besides it was long overdue." He smiled at each one and got into his car. "Hey hop in, Ryou… I'll drop ya off." Ryou went over and waved to Yugi, Anzu and Marik. He had been a bit quiet after leaving the restaurant as well.
"Well, Yugi goodnight. And good luck with Yami. I hope he's ok." Marik said with a bit of concern in his voice. Yugi disappeared into the Shop and so Anzu and Marik both nodded to one another. So, everyone left for home, and Yugi went over to his twin's room, but Yami was asleep. With a sigh, he walked over to his own room.
At the sound of his door closing, Yami bit his lip. 'What was that earlier? It felt like I was on fire…' He shivered at the intense pain he had felt before. With a gulp and a shake of his head, "It must've been a stupid day-dream or whatever." He yawned and let himself fall into the land of sleep. Everything was fine; He had his friends and a great step-brother like Yugi, nothing could go wrong. Life was…… Perfect.
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Owari…?
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Tammi: I hoped you liked it. And yes, this is the ending of 'Sometimes'. Anzu and Marik are just friends. Tell me if you want that sequel, which will have some romance, angst, suspense and tragic events - Different than this one obviously. -_-;; Anyway review.
Later…