*AN: Heya everyone! Welcome to Chapter 7! What will happen to poor Yugi who's been left with Angel? How will Yami survive Egypt for the weekend? Find out in chapter 7! Reviews are much appreciated!*
Chapter 7- Return From the Sand Dunes
The King of Games sighed heavily as he sat at the head of the long meeting table. The diplomats of Egypt droned on and on about the problems they faced. He suppressed a yawn of boredom and fought to keep his eyes open. The past couple of days had been grueling. The problems that had been troubling the diplomats he had solved in an instant. He had cleared up foreign issues and booted out some of the corrupted staff that was interested in taking Egypt from him. He had to refuse countless pleas for him to stay in his home country from servants and hands.
But Something else was on his mind. Something that had been distracting him the whole time. He found himself sitting out on his balcony at night, gazing at the stars his mind wandering back to Japan. He wondered how Yugi was holding up with angle. Was everything alright? He then thought of the black haired, pointy eared beauty. What was she thinking? How was she doing? He couldn't help but to smile when he imagined her giving Yugi the fun of his life. He could see her leading his adolescent twin on a merry chase throughout the apartment, or keeping him on his toes by investigating everything in the pharaoh's apartment.
"You're Highness? Is everything alright?" the diplomat to his right asked. Yami snapped out of his thoughts and was abruptly brought back to the meeting.
"Um-what?" he faltered. the while table was staring at him expectantly.
"Are you alright? I've never seen you so distracted." the balding man repeated.
"Oh, uh, yes." he said. The rest of the men at the table didn't seem convinced but they weren't going to challenge the pharaoh. Then the older man on his right went back to droning on.
* * * * * *
Yami did his best to keep from leaping with joy as he got onto his private plane to head back to Japan later that day. Sure he missed his homeland and ruling it wasn't bad, but he didn't mess the endless meetings, foreign banquets or the servants telling him how to act of how to dress and most of all he didn't miss being lonely.... He positioned himself comfortably in the seat and glanced out the window as the plane began to take off. Waves of endless copper sand dunes wizzed by as they sped up. The scorching desert sun beat down on the flying metallic vehicle and pouted through the windows. As the plane jumped into the air the Pharaoh of Egypt watched his enormous palace get smaller and smaller. Suddenly there was a burst of fluffy white as they cut through the clouds and Yami's beloved Egypt was concealed from him.
* * * * * *
Blazing flames roared to the ceiling of the apartment, burning everything in its path to cinder. Back mist covered anything that wasn't burning and a cry rang through the air. Yugi sat in the center of the burning room, a look of terror plastered on his face as he cried out for help. Yami ran to him, but he was never getting there. The angry flames blocked his path and the cold fingers of darkness held him back. Yugi screamed for him, stretching out his hand for help but no matter how much he tried the pharaoh couldn't get to him.
"Yugi!" he screamed fiercely fighting to get to the terrified boy. Suddenly, another figure caught his eye, a shadowed slip of a person. She leapt lightly onto the large windowsill of the burning room and turned around to face him. Her wings were once more protruding from her back and she wo0re the garb that he had found her in.
"Angel!" he screamed to her. "Help him! Help him!" But her black lips curled into a smile and she shook her head slightly. Then a thought struck him like lightening to his heart. She had caused the fire in the first place! She smiled at him then turned and flew out the window.
"NO!" Yami screamed. Then Yugi's screams of not only terror, but pain, drowned his own.
"You're Highness!" Yugi screamed reaching for him. Yami faltered. Yugi never called him 'You're Highness...'
"You're Highness!" the boy screamed again. Suddenly he felt someone shaking him and his violet eyes flew open.
"Your Highness." one of his body guards repeated for the third time.
"What?!" the Game King cried as he abruptly flew upright in his plane seat.
"Uhh, we've arrived in Japan. It's time to go." the guard told him.
"Oh, right." he said getting up from his seat and grabbing his bag. Yami tended to keep his stay in Japan a secret. For he didn't want reporters following him and his friends around or every time he left of arrived in the country to be announced on T.V.
Yami was still shaken from his dream. Was it just a nightmare, or....something more...? He tended to have premonitions on occasion and he could never tell the difference between a dream and a vision. He bid goodbye to his body guards and hurried out of the busy airport.
With each step he grew more and more upset. He had to get home! If his dream was a premonition he had to save Yugi! Yami quickened his pace to a run, his mind racing. How could he leave his sweet innocent hikari with that demon?! He flew passed the Kame Game Store his breath growing heavy and his heart racing. people hurried out of the way of the running pharaoh giving him dirty looks as he passed. As he approached his apartment building he lifted his amethyst orbs to the top floor. Smoke was pouring from one of the windows! Fear seized his heart. Was it his? He fumbled with his keys and nearly kicked the door off its hinges. His heavy booted feet carried him up the stairs as fast as they would go. The faint odor of smoke reached his nostrils and cries were heard from the floor above. His floor. *Oh my gods! Yugi!* He leaped the last couple of stairs his breath ragged with effort. The odor grew a bit stronger and Yami's heart seemed to echo for all to hear. He was going to kill that card!
"Yugi!" he cried as he burst through his front door. *What the hell?!* He gazed around the apartment in shock. It wasn't covered in blazing flames or cold darkness, it was...perfectly fine.
"Yugi?" he said, this time less loudly.
"Yami?" he heard his aibou's innocent voice call. Yami stepped in from the doorway and saw Yugi and Angel sitting on the carpeted floor of the family room. It appeared as if he was trying to teach her to play one of his beloved games. Angel whipped her black head around her blood red tips flying.
"Yami!" she cried running up to him and flinging her arms around his neck. He then felt her soft lips caress his cheek in a brief kiss. Yami, his eyes almost as wide as they could get, stared at her in utter shock. He then looked at Yugi, who had come up to him as well. He smiled.
"Well, she's not completely mute now." he said. "She knows a couple of words. Like your name and my name and just a couple other things." he told the pharaoh.
"Really?" Yami managed to irk out.
"Yeah." Yugi replied. "She learned your name first, actually."
"She did?" He looked back at the female card who had gone back to Yugi's game. Yami's head still spun, if his apartment wasn't on fire then what was all that smoke? And what of the cries. He looked out the glass doors of his balcony and saw smoke! He slid open the door and hurried out. The apartment next door was the one with the smoke.
"Damnit, Herb! You can't cook to save you life!" cried an old woman's voice.
"That's why this is your damn job, woman!" replied an elderly man. Yami breathed a sigh of complete relief. *Damn neighbors...* he thought.
"You ok?" the tenth grader asked from the sliding door.
"Huh? Oh-yeah." he replied his heart rate slowing and his breath on its way to normal. "Uh, so how'd you survive?" Yugi sighed and ran his fingers through his tri-colored hair.
"Well she sure has a lotta energy. And a couple of weird things happened." Yami leaned over to pick up his bag but stopped in mid-bend.
"Oh-er, really?" he asked picking up his bag and closing the front door behind him. "Like what?"
"Well for one thing she's got pointed ears."
"Heh, yeah, that is kinda weird." Yami headed up the stairs and to his bedroom. Yugi followed.
"And sometimes at night it would seem darker inside than outside."
"Oh?" The King of Games dropped his bag on his bed and hurried out. He was growing increasingly uneasy, he knew Yugi was going to want answers soon.
"I Know you said she was easily amused, but wow! I didn't know she was that easily amused! The T.V. captivated her for hours! It was like she'd never seen one before!"
"Heh" Yami grunted in reply As they entered the kitchen Yugi grabbed the pharaoh's arm.
"Yami, what's going on? Who is she?" Yami stared into Yugi's confused violet orbs. He wished he could tell him, but he just couldn't. He didn't understand it himself, much less explain it to everyone else. Plus he didn't want to worry anyone.
"I told you. She's my friend." he said.
"But why is she staying in your apartment? why can't she talk? Why does she have pointed ears and why did you leave me with this blank card?" He fired off the questions as he dug out Angle's card and held it before Yami. Yami quickly took it and hid it, his eyes darting down into the family room to Angel to see if she saw it. Thankfully she hadn't.
"Look, Yugi, she just my friend and she's only staying here for a couple of -" Ring! The phone's cry rang through the apartment. Down in the family room Angel jumped. *Saved by the phone.* Yami thought gratefully as he grabbed the kitchen phone.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hello? Yami?" came the voice of Yugi's grandfather.
"Oh, hi, Sugoroku." Yami said turning to Yugi. The boys eyes widened and he jumped down the stairs. He snatched up his bag and collected his game from Angel.
"Sorry, Angel." he said apologetically as he stuffed it in his book bag.
"Is Yugi there?" Sugoroku asked the pharaoh.
"Uh, no. I thought he went to Jonouchi's house?"
"He did, but he's not there."
"I'm sure he's on his way home right now." Yami said reassuringly.
"Yeah, you're probably right." said the old man. "Well, talk to you later, Yami. Bye."
"Bye." said Yami hanging up the phone. Yugi was already heading towards the door. Yami stepped down the stairs to see him off.
"Bye, aibou. Thanks for everything." he said.
"No problem, Yami." the wild haired boy said smiling.
"Yugi?" said Angel uncertainly.
"I have to go now, Angel. It was great staying with you!" Yugi replied. she then flung her slim arms around him in a tight embrace. Yugi blushed bright crimson and awkwardly patted the girl's bare back lightly. When she pulled away he waved and quickly turned away.
"C'ya!" he said.
"Bye." Yami said closing the door behind him. He then warily walked over and flopped into his squishy armchair. Angel followed.
"Yami!" she said again happily leaning across his lap to get close to his face like a child. Yami couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, Angel. Miss me?" She just stared at him, her bright green eyes happy. The pharaoh glanced at the time. It was nearing seven.
"So, are you hungry?"