*New Feelings*

Yami awoke this morning; not by Bener ripping the sheets from off him, or by Malik breathing on his face, but by a soft kiss that was planted on his neck. The sensation made him shiver, those lips were so soft and warm, it put a smile on his face. He opened his eyes and looked at her, she was the most gorgeous being that he had ever laid eyes on. Truly a gift from the gods. A gift that he could not except. 'What the hell did I just do. I just slept with a woman, I let her kiss me!' But that's not what scared him the most, what tortured him was the fact that he actually enjoyed it. He let go of her and sat up on his bed, rubbing his temples. He had the biggest headache, mostly, he assumed from getting drunk the previous night, but partly because he was so frustrated with himself for even coming that close to caring about someone.

  "Is something wrong Yami?" Athena asked as she sat up. Little did Yami know that she was going through the same torture that he was.

   "No, no I'm fine. I've just got a busting headache." He was partially telling the truth, his head was throbbing.

   "It's called a hangover." She laughed at him as she ran her fingers through his silky hair. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the others soft delicate touch.

   "I know." He moaned softly. She began to kiss the back of his neck. He melted with each tender impact. How could he refuse her?  It would seem like a sin if he denied her of anything she wanted. She was truly a goddess. 'By Ra.' why was she doing this to him now?

   "Athena." He whispered.

   "Yes Yami." She cooed gently as her big beautiful emerald green eyes pierced his already wounded heart.

   "I…have to…get up."

   "Ok." She said, letting go of him.

He got up from the bed, quickly getting dressed.

   " I have to go. Feel free to explore the palace to your hearts content." He said as he walked out of the room leaving her sitting on his bed.

  She just sat there for the longest time resting her chin on her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs. 'I can't care about him… I wont!' Closing her eyes, she felt a tear run down her cheek. Harshly, she wiped it away with her shirtsleeve 'oh stop it' she told herself 'don't waist your tears on him.' Too late. She slammed her face down into the pillow and cried.

* * *

Yami didn't know what to do, so he turned to the only person in Egypt that knew him, even better then he knew himself. He went to Bener. As soon a he marched out of his room, he marched right down the hall and knocked on her chamber doors before he entered. She was folding sheets at the time, when she saw that it was Yami; she put her sheets down and walked over to him. Bener could see the expression etched into his face; it was of utter turmoil.

   "Yes Yami?" She inquired.

How was he going to say this? He had never had a reason to talk to her about such a thing. By the lengthy silence, she got a pretty good idea of what he wanted to talk to her about as she beckoned Yami closer.

   "Let me guess. This conversation has something to do with that beautiful girl that's in your room?"

Yami almost choked at how clearly she could read his thoughts.

   "How…did?"

"I came in early this morning and found you two sleeping like babies." She answered his question before he could finish it.

   "Yes, well I'm hear to ask for your help. I want to get her out of the palace." Bener just stared at him. "In the nicest way possible, of course." He added, seeing the look on Bener's face.

   "I'm sorry Yami but I just can't let you do that." She said to him as she began her folding again.

   "And why not?" He asked, rather harshly.

   "Because Yami, you like her. There's no changing that." She said, glancing at him as she folded up some clean silk towels. "Dare I say it? You might even care about her."

   "Stop it! No I don't!" He couldn't take it anymore. He put his hands over his face as he began pacing back and forth. Bener was just telling him what he already knew. And it scared the hell out of him.

   "Yami, I know it's hard for you to love, but its not impossible. You know, not all love ends in tragedy." She added. Bener knew exactly why it was so hard for the young Pharaoh to admit his feelings. She had witnessed first hand what Yami was so afraid to tell. She didn't hate Akhenaten, but oh how she hated that woman. She ruined so many lives, including the life of the boy that was pacing right in front of her. Sometimes she wished that Nefrititi didn't have a chance to flee Egypt. Bener would have loved to see that woman suffer at the hands of Yami, to see her pay for all the hurt she caused.

   "Bener, what do I do?" Yami asked. In all honesty, he knew what he wanted to do. He just wanted to tell Athena everything, he wanted to take her in his arms and never let her go. He wanted to protect her from the world, so nothing could ever harm her.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," He started. "I hardly know her, but at the same time, I feel like I've know her forever. She makes me feel like a better person, when I know I'm not. I don't want anything to hurt her, and I …I want her…horribly, but there's that little thing that happened to me a long time ago that prevents me from caring for her…she's making it hard. And…I care about her." He muttered the words, not wanting to believe them. "How could I have let this situation get so far out of hand? I can't care about her, I can't want her the way I do!" Yami was still pacing around the room.

Bener laughed at him.

   "You're an idiot you know. Why don't you spend more time with her, then if you still wont admit that you care for her, I'll personally boot her out of the palace." Bener said this with no intention on doing any such thing. She new what would happen if Yami spent more time with Athena, it was already happening. "Now go. Get out of here." She said as she pushed him to the door.

He walked out of her room, there was no use in arguing with her, Bener always got what she wanted. Slowly he walked past his chamber doors. He couldn't go in there yet, he wasn't ready. So instead he made his way down to the guestrooms. He wasn't exactly sure where Malik was staying, but the faint smell of liquor led him to a room, not far from his own. Quietly he pushed open the doors. What he saw was enough to make him want to laugh until he died. He saw Malik on his bed, but not just Malik. Bakura and Seto were also laying on the bed, passed out in a tangle of arms and legs. The room strongly smelled like the same thing that they were drinking last night, and as he approached the bed he saw empty flasks of beer, lying on the floor. 'So, you thought you were being sneaky did you?' He laughed as he quietly slipped his fingers through Malik's blonde hair and latched on. 'I hope this hurts Malik.' With that, Yami pulled the blond boy up by his hair with all his might, and slammed him on the ground. Malik hit the floor with a loud thud.

   " What the hell…who?" He questioned. As he looked up he saw Yami standing over top of him. His cobalt eyes narrowed as he made a rather rude gesture toward Yami. "What did you do that for?"

   "You know perfectly damn well why Malik." Yami said as he picked up an empty glass.

   "Sorry for having some fun, Yami. By Ra, its not my fault your always so up tight!"

   "I wouldn't say such things if I were you Malik." Yami snarled as he lifted his hand to smack the boy, but he changed his mind. "On the first day that you met him, you got my high priest so drunk, he wont even be able to get out of bed today! I told you to just go home. Why was that so hard for you to do?"

   "I don't know Yami, you seemed like you were having a fine time trying to get home last night." Malik growled. "You and the girl!" He added, knowing it would press Yami's buttons. "But don't worry, they didn't see." He motioned back to Bakura and Seto who were still sleeping, "But that doesn't mean that I wont…" He was abruptly cut off as Yami knelt down and picked him up harshly by his hair again, he drew Malik's face in so close to his own, that Malik could feel Yami's breath across his face.

   "Go ahead Malik tell them," Yami threatened, "tell them and see what happens." Yami's blood red eyes were so fierce looking. But it was because he was scared that he was acting so irrational. He was scared of what would happen if those two boys found out about his weakness. To them he didn't have a weakness, and he intended on keeping it that way. Hell he was even scared to tell Malik. Malik being his best friend, the one he told everything to and Yami couldn't even tell him.

   "Ok Yami, I'm not gunna tell them. By Ra, I was just kidding."

Yami quickly released Malik's hair, and stood up. 'What just came over me.' He turned around and began to walk out of the room, completely ignoring the reason why he had come in the first place.

   "Yami wait." Malik called as he ran after him massaging his head. Not only did he have a major hangover, but his head was now throbbing from where Yami had pulled on his hair. "Something's bugging you."

   "Yea, the fact that you had to go and get my high priest smashed." Yami spat.

   "Besides that." Malik said as he waved away Yami's comment.

   "There is nothing besides that."

Malik looked at his troubled friend and simply stated. "It's the girl."

   "What do you mean. What girl?" Yami tried desperately to sound as normal as possible. 'Ra, is it that obvious? First Bener, now Malik!'

   "You can't fool me Yami. I may have been drunk last night, but I saw the way you'd look at her. It was as if she was the only person in the world." Malik stared at him.

   "Malik," Yami looked to make sure the two boys were still completely knocked out. "You know me better then anyone, I'm not capable of caring this deeply about someone."

   "You right Yami, I do know you well, and I know that you are afraid to care about someone, but you're not incapable of it." Malik was right; every word he spoke was the truth. "And I also know this," he continued, "I've never seen you like this before. Yami, you do care about her in some way."

Yami was in silent agreement. He did care about her and of all the power he had as Pharaoh, he was not powerful enough to get rid of this feeling. He had to except what fate had dealt him. As cruel as it seemed, Yami had no choice.

   "Where is she now?" Malik questioned.

   "Still in my room I think. Why?"

   "I think you need to talk to her, not me." Said Malik.

   "That's the same thing Bener told me." Yami smiled lightly.

   "Well then, why don't you do it?"

   "I cant."

   "And just why not?" Malik looked extremely worried. He had only seen his friend in this much anguish once…

   "I wont!" Yami slammed his fist against the wall as he closed his eyes and leaned against it. Slowly he slid down the wall until he was seated on the floor, where he buried his head in his hands. Is this what dying felt like? He wondered, he knew this feeling all to well. It was the same pain that he went through every day of his life, amplified by the fact that only a few rooms away their sat a girl on his bed that was confusing him, drowning him, to the point where it only hurt when he breathed.

   "Shh, its ok Yami." Malik said as he sat down on the floor beside his friend and put a comforting arm around him. "You're only feeling like this because you want to. You don't want to know what it could feel like if you admitted to caring about her." Again Malik was right, Yami couldn't imagine that caring about someone could ever bring him joy. He had spent his entire life building up a wall that he could hide behind. Ever so slowly, Athena was taking it down brick by brick, he had no where to hide any longer.

   "I'm…gunna go now." Yami uttered, almost so silently that he could barely hear himself. Malik just nodded as he helped Yami stand to his feet. Slowly Yami regained his fortitude as he walked out of Malik's room.

* * *

Athena was crying for what felt like hours when she heard a rap on the door.

   "Come in." She sniffed, hastily trying to wipe away her tears.

Expecting to see Yami, she was quite taken aback when her eyes rested on a friendly looking short plump woman who entered the room.

   "Hello dear. My name is Bener; I'm the palace nanny. I brought you some food, and clean clothes." She said, holding up the trey of food. The clothes were nestled in-between her arm and her body because her hands were full. As she walked closer to Athena, Bener noticed that the poor child had been crying. Placing the food on the table next to the bed; Bener sat down on the bed.

   "What's wrong?" Bener asked, but she had a pretty good idea already. Athena looked up at the kindly woman; her brilliant jade eyes dulled slightly as she bit back the sob that was in her throat.

   "I…don't really know." She answered. Not able to suppress the tears any longer she buried her head in her hands, crying out loud. Bener took hold of her thin body in a warm reassuring hug. The type of hug that only a mother could give.

   "He hates me." She cried into Bener's arms.

   "Come now. You know that's not true. He just needs time. Yami is…well different then most guys." Bener said as she patted her on the back. She had almost said too much. As much as Bener wanted for the poor girl to know, she thought that Yami should be the one to tell her. "He cares more then you think, he just doesn't realize it yet."

Athena lifted her head up, she smiled weakly.

   "Is that true?" She asked.

   "I swear to the Gods." Bener said with a smile. "Are you hungry?" She asked reaching for the trey of food. Athena hadn't really thought about it before now, but her stomach was rather empty.

   "Very much so." She said, taking the trey that Bener handed her. "Thank you."

   "Your quite welcome." Bener smiled. "Here are your clothes," She said as she placed them on the bed, "and there is a bathing chamber right over there, if you want to get cleaned up."

   "Thank you Bener." She said again.

   "You are such a sweet child, 'no wonder Yami has fallen for you' now cheer up." Bener said as she took her apron and wiped away the rest of Athena's tears. "I'm going to go now, just holler if you need anything. My room is right across the hall." With that, Bener got up and walked out of the room.

  When Athena finished eating, she decided that she would take a bath, so she slipped out of her clothes and put on the robe that Bener brought her. It was a very comfortable robe, made of thin, soft linen. Leisurely she made her way over to the bathing chamber; as soon as she walked in she was overwhelmed with luxurious smells. Lotus flowers and fine oils wafted in the air, she removed her robe and stepped down into the huge, pool sized bath. Almost instantly, her body began to relax, the oils that were mixed into the water softened her already silky smooth skin. She swam to the other side of the bath and back a couple of times before she closed her eyes and went under.

* * *

Yami had been walking around the palace for hours before he made up his mind as to what he was going to do; by now it was evening and he thought maybe he should talk to her. Ever so slowly he made the trek to his chambers, unaware of what he'd find. When he reached his doors he softly knocked. No answer. He knocked louder; still no answer. Was she sleeping? Did she leave? 'No' his heart jumped slightly, as he opened the doors. He looked at his bed. She wasn't there; he made his way over to the balcony. Not there either. But as he walked back into his room he heard splashing coming from the bathing room. 'Malik?' But it wasn't Malik. Yami peered beyond the wall that separated his main chamber, from his bathing chamber. It was her.

   "Enjoy your day?" He asked her as he walked into the room.

   " Yami I…" She snapped her head around at the sound of his deep sensual voice. "I'm sorry I didn't know you were in here." She said as she swam to the ledge. He couldn't take it any longer; he had to have her. He wanted to taste her lips on his, and ravish them to his hearts content. He walked over to the edge of the bath where she was and knelt down.

   "You're beautiful; you know that." Was all he could think of saying, as he cupped her chin in his hand and slowly brought her lips up to his own. 'She is as delicious as she looks.' He found himself thinking. Her lips were as soft as lotus petals; she was as intoxicating as the strongest drugs, sending Yami into a high of which words could not describe. Although he wanted to, Yami did not deepen the kiss, for fear of going to far. Slowly her wet arms crept around his neck and…

Splash!

She yanked Yami into the pool of water with a definite crash. She giggled as the shaken Pharaoh rose up from under the water.

   "You'll pay for that." He told her, as he looked her right in the eyes.

   " Oh really?" She said raising an eyebrow sensually.

  " Most definitely." He whispered as he gently pushed her against the pool wall. Slowly, as his hands caressed her naked body, he began to kiss his way up her neck, gently nipping on the tender skin. Athena shut her eyes, as a soft moan of pleasure escaped her lips. Her heart was beating so loudly; she was worried that Yami would hear it. Yami smiled as he felt her body shiver.

   "Enjoying this?" He chuckled.

   "Yes." She managed to say before her lips were assaulted by his.

She could feel his warm breath on her face as she slowly opened her mouth allowing him to enter.

 Hesitant at first, Yami gently pushed his velvety soft tongue into her mouth. She tasted amazing, like honey and spices; no, like the sweetest wine and fruit. Giving up, he decided that he would never figure out the sweet taste of the girl he was kissing. He ran his fingers through her dark, wet hair as he deepened the kiss.

 She pushed her tongue back into his mouth, clasping on his lips hard, his eyes shot open at the sudden invasion, but they slowly closed again as he enjoyed the embrace. Gradually she pulled away from his mouth as she playfully nipped at his bottom lip. He opened his eyes, and planted a soft kiss on the end of her nose.

   "That tickles." She giggled as she pushed off the wall of the pool, beginning to swim away.

   "I don't think so." He said as he pulled her back. "You're not getting away from me that easily." He pulled her in close to him and wrapped his arms around her possessively.

   "Yami, I just want to get out, I've been in here for a long time." She said to him as she swam over to the steps. Yami didn't bother to use the steps; he grabbed on to the side of the pool and lifted himself out of the water. When he got out, he picked up her robe, and held it out so she could slip into it. Securely enfolding it around her, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and delicately kissed her neck, as they began to make their way to Yami's bed.

   "Stop," She chuckled, "Can't it wait until we get to the bed?"

   "No." He said as he picked her up in his strong arms and carried her the rest of the way.

Lightly laying her on the bed, he walked over to his dresser to pick out some dry clothes to put on. After he pulled them out, he undressed and dried off; getting a slight chill from the gentle wind that was blowing through the window. Throwing the towel to the floor, Yami made his way to the bed. Slowly he crawled onto the bed, and sat down next to where Athena was laying.

   "I suppose you found that funny huh?" He whispered to her as he leaned down and kissed her forehead tenderly. 

   "Extremely." She chuckled.

   "I told you I wasn't going to let you get away with that, and I mean it. One of these days…"

   "What are you going to do?" She said seductively.

   "Don't know yet. I'll figure it out." He told her as he moved closer.

   "Ok. But in the mean time…" She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for another sweet kiss. He rolled over on top of her and wrapped his arms around her, pushing deeper into the kiss. His muscular arms firmly held Athena close. So close he could feel the delicate rhythms of her heartbeat on his chest. Yami felt Athena wrap her legs around his waist, as she tangled her hands in his damp hair. That sinking feeling began to set into Yami again, as his thoughts began to go hazy. It was like this every time he was around her; he would never get sick of this feeling.

Athena was the first to break away, with a little grin on her face.

   "As much as I would love to continue…"

Yami just nodded, he could see her brilliant eyes began to drop. He was tired to. Reluctantly he let go of her and fell back onto his side of the bed. Since he entered the room today, he lost track of time, but he was sure that it was extremely late. Gently he shifted closer to her, and wrapped his arms around her protectively. Athena fell back into the embrace, contently snuggling into Yami's arms, fitting so perfectly.

Yami wondered how he had lasted this long without her. It seemed that they were destine to be together. 'Give up, she's changed you. There's no use in struggling anymore.' Said a voice deep inside his head. 'I know.' He answered. Yami shut his eyes, falling asleep, far happier then he had ever remembered being in a long time.

* * *

Yami awoke this morning, with his arms still wrapped protectively around Athena. She was so warm and soft, and she made him feel complete. He shifted slightly, moving closer to her, and pulling her into his chest with a firm hold. He didn't want to move from this spot, he never wanted to let her go. If he could have, he would have stayed there all day holding her, and drowning in the warmth that she projected. Delicately stroking her back with his fingers, he felt her move.

   "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He smiled at her.

   "Its ok." She whispered back, as she turned around in the bed, facing him. She placed a soft, sweet kiss on his lips, and she put her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. He continued to run his fingers up and down her beautiful, tan back. The sensation sent chills up her spine. Yami had such a gentle touch. But the moment was too good to last. There was a soft knock on the door.

   "No, she can't make me get up." Yami groaned. He knew it was Bener, coming with her usual wake up call; a yell, followed by her ripping the sheets off him.

   "You're the Pharaoh, you have to get up." She told him.

   "Nope, I have to stay here with you." He smiled.

   "Good morning you two." Bener called as she opened the curtains to Yami's balcony, letting in the blinding Egyptian sunlight. "I didn't want to come and wake you Yami, but Seth forced me to. It seems that you have pressing matters to attend to." She turned around from the balcony and smiled at them. She was so happy to see Yami like this; it made her want to cry tears of joy. "Here's your breakfast," She handed Yami his usual tray of fruit, "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I just brought a little bit of everything." Bener said as she handed a tray to Athena also.

   "Thank you Bener." Athena looked amazed. She knew that the Pharaoh was pampered, but she had no idea that he was waited on hand and foot. What shocked her more was the fact that Yami still seemed like a normal, down to earth guy. That's what she liked so much about him.

   "Did Seth tell you exactly why he wanted me to get up so bad?" Yami asked with a slightly annoyed tone. He knew he had to get up; he was Pharaoh. His day would most likely consist of listening to boring economic reports, and all that good stuff; much like he had done for the past three weeks. He groaned at the thought. Running Egypt was hard. Yami had never wanted to be anyone else, but now he would have given up everything, his title, all his riches, just to be with Athena.

   "No, he didn't say why, but I'm sure it's important." She chuckled. "Yami sometimes you act like an infant. Not a young man of 16."

Athena laughed at him.

   "What? Do you find that funny?" He asked her jokingly. She nodded her head, laughing harder.

   "Do you find everything to be funny?" He laughed, it was rare that Yami laughed; except when he was drunk. He loved how Athena made him laugh.

   "Depends." She answered shrugging her shoulders.

   "Well then, how about you go out there and run Egypt. You can listen to my council drone on about expenses and tributes, and I'll lie in bed all day, maybe I'll take a swim in the bath." He joked.

   "Ha ha Yami." She said sarcastically.

   "Sorry Yami, that's your job. While you do that, I'm going to show Athena around the palace, to make her feel more at home." Bener interrupted. Yami finished his food and idly slumped over to his dresser. Very slowly he picked out some clothes, gazing over at Athena every so often. Bener, sensing what Yami was trying to do, quickly scolded him. "Yami, hurry up!" She snapped. "Seth wants you down there now!"

With no argument Yami listened to her, and hastily pulled on his clothes. He walked over to the bed and gave Athena a gentle kiss on the cheek.

   "I'll be back," He whispered into her ear, "Enjoy yourself today."

   "I will." She whispered back.

   "Out! Now! I have my orders!" Bener yelled at him as she scooted him out the bedroom and shut the door.

He made his way down the corridor that led to the throne room, rubbing his temples, he got a headache just thinking about the long boring day that was ahead of him. He so desperately wished that he could have brought Athena with him. She would have made the day so much more bearable. If he wanted to, he could have, but he didn't want anyone to see them together. It was bad enough that Malik saw, let alone his entire council. Yami finally admitted to himself that he cared about her in some way, but admit it to someone else? Ra no.

 Continuing to walk, he approached the throne room doors. He pushed them open to see his entire council, along with Seth and Seto sitting and waiting for him. Upon his entrance, everyone in the room stood until Yami made his way to the throne and sat down.

   "You may sit." He said. Everyone resumed their positions as one man from the council remained standing and began to read the list of financial numbers.

Yami leaned his head in his hand. 'Boring.' He sighed. He may have been Pharaoh, but he was still only 16. He glanced over at Seto. Who looked just as bored as he did. As he looked at him, Yami remembered something that he had been meaning to do. It would just have to wait until this good for nothing council meeting was over though.

* * *

  "What would you like to do today?" Bener asked Athena, as she made the bed. Athena walked out of the bathing room drying her hair with a towel. She was dressed in the clothes that Bener had brought her yesterday. It was a beautiful tight, white linen dress, extremely comfortable.

   "I'm not really sure." She answered Bener.

   "If you would like, I would be glad to show you around the palace."

   "I would love that! I haven't been out of this room in nearly two days. Plus, ever since I was little I always wished I could see the Pharaohs palace." Athena said. "I never imagined that I'd see his bedroom though." She added, blushing slightly. Bener looked at her and smiled.

   "You know, Yami hasn't been this happy in a long time. It's great to see you two like this." Bener could see what Yami liked so much about this girl. She was kind, and sweet. She had a joy and a light about her that the palace had not seen in years. It was quite a welcoming change. "Anyway, I can introduce you to all the servants. There are a couple of girls that are your age. I think that you will get along great with my grand daughter. Her name is Anzu."

   "Well then, what are we waiting for? Lets go!" Athena shouted as she followed Bener out of the room.

  Bener took her down the long passage ways as she showed her all the wonderful paintings and hieroglyphs that were on the walls. Neither one of them could read the words though; it was sacred writing, with magical properties, meant only for the Pharaoh and the priests. But by looking at the pictures they could see pretty much what the hieroglyphs described. Glorious Pharaohs, who had depicted their accomplishments and all the great things they contributed to Egypt.

  They made their way to the royal courtyard, which was centered in the interior of the enormous palace. There was no roof, so that the sun could shine in on the hundreds of plants that were growing in it. In the middle of the courtyard was a beautiful pond, where there were some servants girls doing laundry.

   "Anzu!" Bener shouted. "Anzu come here!"

A tall dark haired girl turned around from washing clothes. Her brown eyes lit up.

   "Hey grand ma!" She yelled as she ran over to them, wrapping her arms around Bener. Bener kissed her forehead, as she brushed Anzu's dark brown bangs away from her eyes.

   "Athena, this is my grand daughter, Anzu." Bener said, with her arms still wrapped around the skinney girl.

   "Hi." Athena said shyly.

   "Hello," Anzu answered, looking puzzled. " Grand ma, who is this?" She asked. "Is she the new servant girl?"

   "No Anzu, this is Athena. She's a…uh…close friend of Pharaoh Yami." Bener told her.

   "Oh…OH!" Her eyes went wide as she looked at her grand ma in disbelief. "Really?" She turned to Athena, who by now was beat red.

   "I, guess." Athena muttered.

   "You seem real nice." Anzu told her.

   "Th…Thank you." Athena stuttered, turning redder, if that was possible.

   "Well. Athena, Anzu I have to go now. Lots of work to do. Anzu, introduce her to the other girls, make her feel welcome. I'm sure you two will have something to talk about." Bener sighed, as she walked off.

   "So…" Anzu didn't quite know what to say.

   "Yea…" Neither did Athena.

   "How did you and Yami become friends?" Anzu found herself asking.

   "Funny story." Athena smiled. "We met about four days ago. I was tied to his bed." They began to walk around the courtyard.

   "What?!" Anzu looked stunned.

   "Yea. Priest Seto wanted to give me and my two friends to Yami as a gift."

   "So…so you're just a pleasure slave?" Anzu looked ashamed. Pleasure slaves were the lowest of all beings, put on this earth for one purpose, to be the plaything of the Pharaoh. He could do what ever he wanted to them, and then when he was satisfied, he could merely throw them away as if they were a toy. But she never imagined Yami to be that kind of man.

   "No. It started out that way, but he let us go. I was so scared; scared of what he would do, how he would treat us, I never imagined that he could be so kind, or that he would ever let us go."

   "If he let you go, how comes your still here?" Anzu asked, still looking extremely puzzled.

   "Well, we did leave. We found a nice room at a tavern in Thebes. I was only there for one night though. When I was coming down to get dinner I saw Yami there. He came over to me, and invited us back to the palace. My friends said no, but I…"

   "Said yes." Anzu finished her sentence. She could see too what her grandmother saw. There was something special about this girl.

   "Yea." Athena smiled. "Anzu, can I ask you something?"

   "Sure."

   "What do you do when you care about someone so deeply, but you desperately don't want to?" She asked, her voice faltering slightly. Anzu stopped walking and turned to Athena looking her right in her olive eyes.

   "You can't choose who you care about… or who you love. All you can do is accept it, embrace it." Anzu spoke like she had experienced love before. "You wont know how it'll turn out, but you can live each day like it is your last, or…you might never get the chance to say what you wanted, or to do what you wanted." Athena saw a tear run down the girls' cheek.

   "Anzu."

Anzu wiped her tear away and gave a weak smile to Athena.

   "You can't hide it from me Athena, I can tell by the way you talk about him. You care; you're just scared to admit it."

Even though Athena only knew Anzu for ten minuets, she felt as if Anzu had known her forever. That was exactly how she felt, she did care about Yami, but for fear of getting hurt she didn't want to admit it.

   "Anzu, thank you." She choked.

   "Your welcome, Athena."

The girls continued to walk and talk, late into the afternoon, becoming closer and closer with each passing minuet. They shared many stories of their childhood's to one another, Anzu told Athena about where she used to live before she and her grandmother became servants.

   "We had a nice little house on the outskirts of Thebes." Anzu told her. "I had the three best friends a girl could ever have." She said, smiling at the sweet memories.

   "Who were they?" Athena asked her.

   "Well, there was Jounouchi." She said as she giggled. "He was such a child, never taking anything seriously. But he always made me laugh, there was never a dull moment with him around.

   "He sounds nice." Athena smiled.

   "Yea. And then there was Honda. He was more on the serious side. He would have done anything for his family and us. He cared so deeply for anyone that he knew. Him and Jounouchi were real close friends. They kind of balanced each other out. Honda made Jounouchi work, and in return, Jounouchi gave Honda a sense of humor." She paused.

   "And what about the third one?" Athena questioned.

   "Yugi…" Anzu whispered as she put her hand over her heart.

   "Yugi?" Athena repeated.

   "Yugi was a small boy, with a big heart. He cared too much for other people, including his grandfather." She sighed.

   "What do you mean?" Athena questioned.

   "Do you remember the plague that swept through Egypt three months ago?" Anzu asked her.

   "Yes." Athena knew it all to well. It had claimed the life of her parents, and the parents of her two best friends.

   "Yugi's grandfather caught that disease. And for weeks on end he stayed by his grandfather's side, never leaving. Sometimes he would stay up all night and cry. Many times Honda and Jounouchi tried to pry him away from his dying grandfather. They told him that he was only killing himself. I was scared, I had never seen Jounouchi so serious before. After a month Yugi's grandfather died, and Yugi… he couldn't take it. But the plague caught up to him. His body was weak; he hadn't gotten any sleep in days. So it was my turn. I stayed by his side until the end. But by the end he was so unrecognizable, his frail body had wasted away to nothing, frequently he would scream out in agony, it was almost to unbearable to watch, to know that there was nothing I could do to ease the pain." Anzu had tears pouring down her face. "Two weeks after his grandfather died, Yugi too had gone to join the gods. He died in my arms; I never wanted to let go. Jounouchi and Honda had to pry me away from his dead body. We gave him a proper burial, along side his grandfather, which is where he would have wanted to be."

   "Anzu… I understand. Both my parents were killed by the plague. My two friends and me stuck together, until all this happened. I never in a thousand years would have dreamed of being here. But, I'm glad I am." She forced a small smile on her face as she hugged Anzu.

From that moment on, Athena and Anzu became close friends.