Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. -lawyers disappear-

Something happened today. It has both a good side (A VERY good side!) and a bad side, so I shall outline both.

Today Father, Akunadin, Seto, Karim, Isis, Shaadii, Mahaado, Mana, and I had one of our little sparring tournaments. Highly amusing things they are, especially when the Pharaoh of all Egypt's son can beat the Pharaoh of all Egypt!

We sorted ourselves into four teams of two which were Father and I, Seto and Mahaado, Akunadin and Karim, and Isis and Mana, and decided the first pairings, which were to be Father and I versus Isis and Mana, and Seto and Mahaado versus Akunadin and Karim, and each team was having a strategy-planning session. It was single elimination, and the two losing teams would have to sit and watch, not a fun thing to do. But you see, that is part of our punishment for losing, to ensure that no one throws the game.

Father and I were conversing in a corner of the room, and he was planning which we should take. He seems to have an odd knack for that, so I let him instruct me on that part, though overall my fighting instinct is better than his.

"I'll take Isis, and you tackle Mana, and we're sure to win. I doubt either of us will even need relief from the other," he stated. But it must have shown on my face that I was less than enthusiastic, because he turned to me. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I... nothing." What I was thinking was that sparring with Mana was not exactly what I wanted to do, and now I wish I had said something, but alas, I didn't, and so all the teams proceeded to face each other, beginning to spar at Father's word.

I dove at Mana and she did so equally as hard at me, so that must have been how the females' team planned it as well. She aimed a punch at my face but I grabbed her fist and twisted it so that she ended up on the floor, not without dragging me down, of course. This is why our fights are so amusing. By now all the pairs were on the ground, and if a servant were to enter the room we were using, I think the whole kingdom should laugh at the story of how the Pharaoh, his son, his six High Priests and one Magician-in-Training were all on the ground, clawing and biting just to top their opponents!

Mana aimed a good kick at my ribs and tried to pry her body on top of mine. Of course, I couldn't allow that. She would win for sure if she were to get on top; I'm much lighter. That is one disadvantage to my smaller size and frame, though I believe it pays for itself in the agility and speed it allows me. Naturally, I responded by flinging a hand out towards her chest... and I apparently I hit her in the wrong spot to hit a girl. She took in a sharp breath and my face became, according to Seto, 'redder than a blood sun.' So here the two of us found ourselves in an interesting position. Neither of us was moving, in truth because the rules of our sparring games were that you had to pin your opponent to the ground, and neither of us quite wanted to sit on top of each other because of my little accident. All the other groups had finished sparring, and now they were watching the two us us, waiting to see a victor determined. Mana's eyes were glazed, and I realized our predicament. Everyone had seen what happened, everyone. Great. I offered Mana my hand and she took it, the two of us getting up together, and my face all but burned. I turned to face her.

"My apologies, Mana. I'm sorry for that." To Father, I said, "Father, may I be allowed to forfeit this match and return to my chambers? I wish to be alone." My face was still flaming, I knew.

"Yes, go. Actually..." He cleared his throat. "I don't believe any of us really wish to continue with this, not today at least. You are all excused." Mana ran from the room and Isis followed her. I sighed, and made to continue out of the room, but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"Son." It was Father, of course.

"I didn't mean to do that," I said, turning to face him.

"I know you didn't, but you and I need to have a talk."

I sighed. But if I am to be Pharaoh someday, I must learn to handle uncomfortable situations maturely. "All right. You may wait for me in my bedchamber. Right now, I have an apology to make and a friendship to mend."

He nodded solemnly and gave my shoulder as squeeze. "That you do." He left and I headed to Mana's room. I knocked on her door lightly upon reaching it, and waited patiently for a response. A small, "Come in," came from within, and I did so.

Mana stood over her washing table, gazing at her reflection in a small bowl of water and brushing her milky blond (A/N: It's blond in the manga, people. So it shall be blond.) hair. The brush she was using snagged on a knot and she tugged a bit until her hair gently parted.

"Mana," I said, stepping towards her, "Mana, are you all right?"

She turned to face me and I saw tear streaks running down her face. Her eyes were red and dewy and her cheeks flushed upon seeing me. I remembered how Seto looked like this sometimes. When I asked him why, he described something along the lines of emotional breakdown.

"A-Atemu!"

"Mana, I came to apologize for what happened just now. I didn't mean to do that, and I certainly didn't mean to cause you the embarrassment I obviously did. Can you forgive me? I'm so sorry, Mana."

To my surprise she neither accepted or rejected my apology, but instead began to cry. That was one thing I was not ready for. I can debate with a lion's tongue; I can fight with a vulture's claws, but dealing with emotions has never been my strong point. She just stood there crying, and I had absolutely no idea what to do. My first instinct was to get away.

"Do you want me to leave?" I asked uneasily. She shook her head 'no,' taking a few rattling breaths.

"Oh Atemu, I'm sorry too! The other night at evening meal... Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that! It just came out of my mouth, and-" But she stopped; I had moved closer and put a finger to her lips.

"It's all right, Mana. What's done is done. Can we just move past that, and forget each of our accidents?" I removed my finger from her mouth.

She nodded mutely, and a sob escaped her lips. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm crying again! I'm so stupid!" She sniffed and tried to turn away, but I caught her around the waist. I found her eyes and kept her gaze.

"Don't ever say you're stupid, Mana. You're not. You're smart and strong and beautiful, and I'll be very angry at you if you ever dare call yourself stupid again."

She blinked and nodded, still crying. My arm was still around her waist and I pulled her to me, not saying anything. The melody of a snake charmer's music drifted in through her window and I slowly began to move from side to side in what I hoped was a soothing way, snaking my other arm around her waist. At first she looked surprised, but she made no move to pull away. Rather, she set both arms around my neck.

I don't know how long we remained like that, slowly moving from side to side to the snake charmer's tune. At one point she began to cry again and I tugged her closer still, burying my face in her thick hair. "Don't cry," I whispered. Instead she began to sob, and I ran the fingers of one of my hands through her silky locks, continuing the gesture until her cries died down to small sniffles now and then.

Mana yawned and leaned her head on my chest, and I leaned my head on hers. Our sideways steps soon became circles and we rotated slowly on the spot for a while, lost in our world.

I suppose either dancing or emotion, or both, tired us both out, because we fell onto her bed as one, Mana still clinging to me.

The next thing I knew, I was being prodded in the small of my back. My eyes cracked open to see the top of Mana's head, her face buried in my chest. Her arms were still wound tightly around my neck, as were mine around her waist. I smiled; for some reason it was the happiest I'd felt in a long time. Of course, that all melted away into the unreachable side of my emotions when I looked up to see Father standing over Mans's bed. I scrambled to get up without waking Mana, face as red as... something very , very, very red. I brushed my clothes off and faced Father.

"Hello, son."

"Father... hello."

"So the two of you made up, I see?"

"Yes." I was taking deep breaths, trying desperately to rid my face of its furious flush.

"Well... possibly you didn't mind so much the comment she made at evening meal not so long ago."

Maybe I didn't. I think it was impossible to deny my feelings for her at this point. And I didn't. I replied truthfully.

"I minded at the time, because the presence of such an attraction was new to me, and thus scary, but now I don't mind it, no."

He just stared at me. I had given up trying to control my blush, and I'm sure I looked quite amusing to his eyes. Fine then. So be it.

"I believe that now would not be the best time for the two of us to have our talk. Midday meal is in a short while, by the way." He left, and I followed him.

"Father!" He turned.

"Yes?"

"Do you... Would you... Can I have your approval to... to..." I couldn't say it.

"To court Mana?"

I nodded and even more heat rose in my cheeks, though I thought it impossible.

"You may." He left for the dining hall, presumably to check on the preparations for our meal.

"Atemu," I heard a small voice say from behind me. I turned to see, of course, Mana.

"Mana..."

"Do you really want to... to court me?"

"Do you wish to try it, to see how it goes?"

She nodded happily, a smile spreading over her face. I laughed and brushed at a few bangs that had fallen over her eyes. "Then we shall." She hugged me, and I'm sure by that time there was so much blood in my cheeks that it must have looked as if my getting back to my usual tan complexion would be impossible, but thankfully it wasn't.

My hand hurts now, so I believe I shall close off this entry. So you see there is, like Mother says, a silver lining in every cloud. I now get to court Mana. This should be an interesting experience, at the very least...

Oh, and I think I'll get a mouthful from Mahaado as well. He'll probably be all, "Don't you dare hurt my Magician-in-Training, or distract her from her studies in any way, shape or form," yak yak yak blah bah blah yadda yadda yadda... Mahaado really needs to realize that there's more to life than magic.

And Seto should have an interesting reaction to this. Two of his best friends, courting... hmm... I can't wait to see the expression on his face when he finds out...

-Atemu (I'm beginning to lose hope that I'll ever find something interesting to sign as. At least I don't have to sign everything 'Akunamukanon, the Pharaoh of Egypt, Morning and Evening Star,' as my father does. Of course, when I become Pharaoh, I will have to do all that fanfare as well, but I shall always have three less syllables in my name. I see this as a definite plus. See? Silver lining in every cloud.)

Thanks, Ksaturn! And I will update soon, don't worry! If not this, Band War.

Thanks also, norestar-angel!

Ah Ninqe, you are where my short replies end! Yeah, I've gotten something published... but I can't tell you what it is, sorry. That would be giving away my identity online, an idea I'm not too keen on. You don't need to apologize for not reviewing every single chapter; you are my most loyal reviewer on this site! You ROCK! I know! Isn't Seto just so CUTE in his clothes in the Egyptian episodes! Oh man, I just called Seto Kaiba cute... I think I need my mind examined... well... He's cute but vicious, how's about that? Oo;;; I actually didn't know what Seto's kaa was either, so I made one up. Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes go together well, so it was convenient for writing the kaa dancing scene. Oo;;; I think it would be cool to have a kaa monster too... I think mine would probably be human, just because I don't like animals that much, though cats in general seem to have a thing for me... Yeah... ah... heh heh. Yes, Muka. I thought you'd find that amusing. I know what you mean about Seto and Kisara. I LUV them together for some reason! How did I do with Atemu and Mana? Yes, I have tweaked Seto's character a bit... just a bit... so that he now has a sensitive side. -snickers- YES, this is THE HIGH PRIEST SETO, with a sensitive side... ah well... I tried...

Spirit Seer, you didn't know that bit about Seto because I made it up! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I have made Seto nice! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Whoa... extreme hyperness there... ah... heh heh. Thanks for the compliment! He's very much in love with Kisara, isn't he-cackles evilly-

So that's it, people! Next chapter coming soon!

-BlackCharmgirl