[Yeah, I know I know, I just updated like, 4 days ago… Well… This story is all typed, I'm going good with the sequel… I wanna get it all up as fast as I can, so, expect at least one update a week from now on…]

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Dance the Forbidden Dance

Chapter Sixteen

"Do You Remember Me?"

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Asenath was sitting in the courtyard, staring at the deep, blue sky with wide, awed eyes.

She couldn't stop crying.

For the past few days, it had been rejoicing all around. People, at first, thought that this strange wekaness to venom meant the fall of the royal line... But then Yami came back to life. Without any explanation at all, Yami was back from the dead.

It truly was a miracle.

It was difficult, trying to keep the truth from him. They had to watch what they said around him, and they had to come up with explanations for the rejoicing. Yami hadn't been allowed outside since the announcement to the city, for fear he might drop dead.

So he was now secluded to his bedroom, where he idly sat and let the time dwindle by. He was allowed into the courtyard beneath his bedroom, but that was it. There were guards everywhere, the Imperial Order having situated more soldiers at old posts. Even the militia was trying to keep him safe.'

Yami was walking into the courtyard when he saw Asenath sitting there, staring at the sky. He narrowed his eyes and at her and walked straight towards her. He decided he wanted some answers.

Now.

"Asenath," Yami called, not really asking her name but stating it. Asenath looked up, her black braid swinging.

"What is it, Yami?" she asked gently. Yami slid to the stone ground beside her, staring at the ground.

"...I want the truth..." he started slowly. Asenath frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Asenath... I'm not buying all the lies I've been told," he said softly. "Why would the city care that I woke up? Why were they all prepared for mourning? Asenath..." He turned to her slowly, his eyes locking into hers. "...I remember seeing so many things... It's almost like part of me drifted away to see the city... And I saw you... What happened?" Asenath just stared at him, into his eyes. She could see his fear, his curiosity and his stamina. She saw the sincerity of his nature, a childlike attribute he possessed.

She could see so many things inside him... His smile, his strengths like his celerity and his incredible sense of knowing; his fears, like the darkness and letting them all down... He would always be immortal, sempiternal... Deathless... Through the history of Kemet... What she had seen in her dreams...

"...I don't how to tell you this, but..." Asenath sighed and stared at her hands, avoiding eye contact. "Yami... just a few days ago, you... You died."

Yami's jaw dropped.

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Teana decided to give up asking people to go by.

She could resort to violence if necessary.

"Move--please!!" she stammered, pushing through the large crowds. Her back was aching and her right arm was bandaged and bloody, but she didn't care. She had to get at least near the palace... She had to see Yami.

"Excuse me!" she cried, shoving someone out of the way completely.

"Hey!" someone called angrily. "What the hell are ya thinkin'?"

"Fuck off!!" she yelled back. Suddenly--

"Whoa! Lady Teana, where do you think you're going?" Jono said, grabbing her shoulder. He pulled her back and out of the current of people, making her irritated and angry.

"Jono! Let--me--go!" she stammered, attempting to kick him. Jono pushed her back onto the sand, staring down at her. She landed with a loud thud.

"You know as well as I do that there is no way you're getting near to the palace," he said in a calm voice. "Besides, I thought you hated him."

"I don't--I mean, I do! I mean... Oh!" she cried, standing up. Jono took a few steps back, his eyes widening.

"Teana...? Were you whipped??" he asked, seeing the bloody marks on her arm. She had fresh wounds embedded into her forearm, ones obviously made from a roughly-made whip.

"...Maybe..." she muttered, staring at the palace. Jono sighed.

"Teana, what did you do?" he asked slowly. She shook her head.

"All I did was return home. I got... I got the punishment I deserved, then Mistress fixed me up and sent my on my way..." Jono gasped.

"You were... dismissed?" Teana grunted, wiping her sweaty face with her arms.

"Doesn't matter. I'm leaving Kemet next chance I get," she explained, smiling devilishly. "And I'm taking Yami with me."

"But... Wait... You can't!" Jono protested, grabbing her arm. "Teana, where will you go? You can't just drag the Prince out of the palace--"

"I can! And I will! Because I love him!" she cried unexpectedly. Surprised, Jono loosened his grip on her arm, and both of them fell into the sand. Coughing, Teana pushed herself up, dusting off her skirt.

"You... love..."

"Yes, alright? I love him! I love Yami!" she exclaimed, tears starting in her eyes. She attempted to wipe them away, only smudging the sand and dirt on her face with salty tears. "I... Want to be with him! And I know he loves me! So..." she trailed off. She turned to Jono, tears streaming down her face. "You love Maia. Tiet loves Aya. I love Yami. It's hard; it's difficult... But..." she smiled, staring into the sun. "We can go to my homeland. I know where it is, and we can make it there." She closed her eyes.

"...I know he doesn't want what his fate will be..."

Jono nodded.

"...Everyone knows.... He doesn't want to be Pharaoh..."

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"You're lying."

"I'm not lying."

"You have to be!"

"I'm not," Asenath protested, staring at him. "Yami, you died. Alright? Now you know." Yami just gaped at her, speechless.

"B-but... How..." he stared down at his hands, shaking his head slowly. Asenath sighed.

"Look, you fell into the Nile. You were bitten by... something. I don't know. A water viper, I think. You... you had a fever," she continued, remembering the recent event, "...and we didn't get to you in time... You died in your room. You just... stopped. Nothing moved. No vital signs."

"None?" Yami asked timidly. Asenath nodded.

"You weren't breathing. Your blood was cold. Your body was cold. Your heart had stopped. Your skin was white... Every sign you can think up... Your kaa even left your body to scope out a place for you in the Afterlife!" Asenath exclaimed. "It was headed there, and then it would return for your baa..." Yami shook his head. He was still in shock.

How could I have died? I'm right here! He thought to himself. And yet...

He couldn't remember much anything from that night. He remembered... darkness. Yes, a lot of darkness. The sounds of voices had become inaudible mumbles to his ears. The touch of his blankets under his fingers, his head against a pillow, his clothes on his body... He couldn't feel anything.

He remembered a surge of energy racing through him and almost erupting right out of his heart... Like a part of him had separated and left...

Oh, no.

I remember it.

I remember my kaa leaving my body... Right... before... The next thing was impenetrable darkness surrounding him.

Asenath watched him as his eyes widened in shock and horror, and then he turned to her.

"I... I... My gods..." he whispered, his hands shaking. Asenath grabbed onto his hand, holding it with both of her own. She would never, for the rest of her life, forget the look of pure terror on his face.

His beautiful crimson eyes were wide and alive with shock and horror, his pupils dilated as the memory re-surfaced in his mind. His lower lip quivered, and all the color drained from his face. His upper body was shaking, as if he had a seizure. Asenath gripped him tighter, swinging her arm around his shoulders and wrapping him into a tight hug.

She pulled him close to her shoulder. She could feel how rigid his body was, how in shock he must have been.

"Yami," she whispered. She closed her eyes, a tear escaping from one. "I'm sorry. I... I don't think you were ever supposed to know." She felt his body relax; his arms settled around her lower back and gripped her tightly. She wasn't sure what was happening, until she felt hot, wet tears dripping down her bare back.

Nothing more was said.

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Teana stared at the sky, breathing slowly and calmly. She had to talk to Yami. She then settled her eyes on the seven-foot wall made of mud brick and granite that lined the inner courtyards of the palace. She knew Yami was most likely behind one of those walls. She hoped he would remember her...

Of course he remembers me, she thought to herself. She smiled. How could he not? She looked at the palace again, thinking of her plan... It would go into play in a few days.

I'll get you, Prince-sama, she thought, smiling and turning away quickly, running to hide with the militia as the Imperial Order made their rounds.

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[and there you have it! The aftermath!! ::cheers:: w00t! Yeah, I know, shooooort... hehe. Next chap, the thing you've ALLLLL been waiting for... The thing you've been anticipating… You know what it is… They've gotten close to it before… Hehe. Chapter 17: Nighttime.]

Shibby-One