1"Ankh Of Despair"

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Hot, passionate, kinky sex -mega drool- well, this isn't a rated R fic, so I can't write that! Sorry! I wouldn't be any good at it either. I'm afraid that I'll just have to leave lemon scenes to your imagination. . . however, in my next fic "Behind Blue Eyes" (the jouXkai fic) there is likely to be a lemon scene -hint hint- anyways, told you I would be updating before the seventeenth! It's the weekend, which means that I get to stay up as long as I want. . . so there might be two updates, including this one, this weekend. . . or at least before Christmas break. I'm estimating this fic to end around 25 chapters. . . maybe more. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the show Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters. I only own the plot of this fic.

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It was rather chilly outside and Seto was quite grateful that he had worn a coat. He wrapped his arms around himself in an almost protective manner. Piercing blue eyes glanced about his surroundings. Being that it was late fall, the leaves on the ground were all warm colors; reds, browns, yellows, oranges. . . and it took his mind away from the cool air around him. His eyes drifted up to the tree tops where only a few of the leaves remained attached, leaving a majority of the branches completely bare. There was something comforting about this that the teen couldn't quite put his finger on.

He continued his long walk, thinking about nothing in particular. A neutral expression remained plastered on his face. The last thing he wanted to do was walk around in public looking like a zombie.

Seto entered the park and seated himself on the bench furthest from the children currently at play. He leaned back and closed his eyes, letting the rays from the distant sun bounce off of his face. He allowed the wind to tussle his chestnut hair, enjoying the feel of it. The boy welcomed the familiar feeling that it gave him. . .

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Priest Seto leaned back in the evening sun, allowing for the warm, gentle breeze to play with his hair. Opening his eyes, he gazed upon the velvety, magenta clouds floating silently in the Heavens above. He was alone now, which had become uncommon ever since he and the Pharaoh had gotten together. It wasn't that he was annoyed or bored with his new-found lover, but sometimes eve he needed the peace and quiet. He could think that way, think about things like the rebels that were somewhere in the village, hiding under the guise of loyalists.

"They'll be attacking the palace any day now. . . can we stand up to them? Yes, they may be merely a group of villagers, but we don't know how large of a group it is. There could be hundreds of them, outnumbering our troops. . ." He bowed his head, sliding his sapphire eyes closed once more, "Oh, great God Seth, please grant our military the strength that it needs to defeat this evil that threatens our Pharaoh. . . that threatens my love." Lifting his head, he peered out over the shimmering water and onto the village housetops, "Whoever you are, if you must take a life in this fight, take mine and not Yami's. . . I could not go on without him. . . I will love him for an eternity. . . and if I am to forget this love in the next life then. . . oh Gods, help me remember it!" A parade of silver tears fell from his eyes as he released an unheard whimper. . .

- - -

Seto drew in a quick, rigid breath, leaning up on his bench and clutching at his chest for a reason unknown to him, "This has got to stop!" He cupped a hand over his mouth for screaming, but received a few puzzled glances before doing so. Once they had gone back to minding their own business, it took a few warning glares for them to do so, he buried his face in his hands and groaned, "What in the Hell is wrong with me?"

"Hello Seto."

The elder Kaiba jumped a few inches off of the seat, turning his head to face the offender once he had made his painful landing. He found himself glaring into scarlet eyes, and it gave him a chill that ran up his spine and left his whole body tingling with some strange feeling, "What the Hell are you doing here?!" He tried to remain calm, but failed miserably.

"I wanted to take a walk as well. . . didn't know you would be here. . . but since you are, I figured I would apologize." He looked down to his hands as though some invisible script were written on them, and Seto nearly took a good look at them to see if they did, "I was a complete idiot earlier. We may have had a relationship in the past," He looked Seto in the eyes, "But you have long forgotten it, and that is that."

". . . and if I am to forget this love in the next life then. . . oh Gods, help me remember it!"

Something in the back of his mind told him to touch the other. . . his hair looked so soft, his skin so perfect, his eyes so beautiful. . . all he would have to do is. . . "Gah! What the Hell am I thinking?!?!"

"What?" Yami arched an eyebrow at his former lover.

"Oh. . . it's nothing. . . I'm just. . ."

"Did you have another vision?"

"I had one a little while ago. . . I swear I'm going insane because of your constant Egypt drivel."

Yami sat down on the bench beside him. . . he sat as far away as possible so as not to upset the young CEO, "Tell me what you saw."

"Well. . . it was a priest," Yami fought the urge to roll his eyes at Seto's reference to his past self as just 'a priest', "and he was sitting on the ground by some water. . . I think that he was pretty high up and. . . and he was talking about rebels attacking or something. . . and he mentioned you. . . but that was it. . . at least they've been getting less weird." He shook his head as though he were trying to erase the memory from his mind.

Yami slid slightly closer, "Can you try to summarize what the priest said? Like. . . try to quote him a bit?"

The words were still fresh in Seto's mind. . . and slowly, reluctantly, he recited the lines, word by word, the former Pharaoh's mouth inching open, his eyes opening more with each movement of Seto's mouth, as though he were really only marveling at the beauty of it rather than listening to the information that it spouted.

Seto shook his head when finished, "It's a load of bullshit."

"Yes. . . ok then Kaiba. If you say so, then perhaps it is. . . it might as well be." His eyes were downcast and sad, and his heart seemed to have visibly sank down into his stomach. His arms hung loose by his sides and he sighed heavily. If he had meant to hide his depression, he was doing so rather poorly, "Well, I'll leave you alone then. I'll see you at school Kaiba." With that he was gone, but Seto Kaiba was left with a burning in his stomach.

"He's calling me Kaiba again. . ." He shrugged it off, but on the inside, he was wondering why on earth that would bother him. Something in his gut told him to get up and apologize. . . and it frightened him to think that his body would tell him to make such a gesture. Seto Kaiba? Apologize? Never! But, once again, he had that feeling of guilt in his gut, and he knew that it wouldn't be leaving him alone anytime soon.

Seto sighed deeply, burying his face back into his hands, hoping to be left alone this time to his thoughts. . . no, not even that. He wanted his mind to go completely blank for once, he wanted to be numb like he used to be. . . why was it that he felt now? All of those years building up a wall of ice to protect his heart from the outside world, only to have it come crashing down in such a short time that the ice prince himself had neglected to notice.

His wishes of time to himself were not granted as he was "graced" with a light tapping on his shoulder. It was so light that Seto nearly passed it off as a figment of his imagination, but he lifted his head anyways, expecting to find only the wind, and yet there stood the white-haired devil, Yami Bakura.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Now, now, priest! What kind of way is that to greet your boyfriend?" He tried to do his best pouting face as he waved a finger.

"Greet my. . . no, I just said that yesterday to get Yami Yugi off of my back. You are not my boyfriend." He glanced at the children who were playing in the distance.

The thief sighed and took a seat beside him, pursing his lips as though he were trying to make a decision of some sort.

"You still love him, don't you?"

"What?"

"You love the Pharaoh." For once, his face didn't bare a smirk, but his lips were shaped into the form of a frown, something that puzzled Seto greatly, yet he didn't think to question it at that moment in time.

"No. He isn't a Pharaoh, I'm not a priest. . . it's a bunch of-"

"Bullshit?" Seto nodded and Yami Bakura shook his head, "Seto, Seto, Seto. . . don't you recall anything?" Seto faced him, "Do you remember when I kidnaped you? Do you remember making love to Yami? Do you remember the battle against the rebels?"

"Even if all of that did happen, it was someone else. I never died in a battle against rebels!" He paused, a shocked look coming over his face. Since when did he know that he had died? Was he just assuming?

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The fighting had finally silenced and a loud knocking came upon the pharaoh's chamber door. For fear of his own life, Yami didn't open it, but when the sound of Mahaado's panicked voice came from the other side, the crimson-eyed boy ran and unlocked it, permitting him entrance.

"What is it Mahaado? Please, tell me what the matter is?"

"My Pharaoh. . . we were able to defeat the rebels, but at the cost of much blood shed."

Yami felt his heart skip a beat as the color drained from his own face, "Yes, and?!"

"My Pharaoh, please forgive us we. . . we tried our best, my Pharaoh. . . we tried our best to save him. . . to save the priest Seto, but. . . oh my Pharaoh, his dying wish was that we gave you his love!" The normally-strong priest fell to his knees before his superior in a fit of sobs. Seto had been like a brother to him, and now. . . he was gone.

Yami, too, fell to the floor, he couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't think. . . all that his mind would register was images of Seto. . . dead. A little voice rang out in the back of his mind. . . it was Seto, voicing his promise of love in the next life. . . a vow that the young Pharaoh was sure to hold to him. . . but how was he to live in this life without his beloved?

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"Earth to Seto!" The white-haired thief waved a pale hand in front of dazed, blue eyes, "Anybody home in there?"

"Hm? Yes. . . I think I should be going. . ." He clutched at his hair with his right hand, his lips slightly parted and his eyes darting about in confusion. Though he appeared to see, he was, in fact, lost within the visions of his mind. How had he known of this death before the vision even came? 'It was a lucky guess' he told himself over and over again as he left the park and began his journey home.

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The sound of the door slamming shut started Yugi, causing him to nearly drop the plate that he was currently drying. He stepped into the living room where his Yami had just come in, "I take it that the walk didn't help any."

The former Pharaoh looked to his ancestor, eyes lined in red and glossed over with unshed tears, "Seto was at the park. . . he doesn't love me anymore Yugi. My Seto is gone. He's been replaced by this, this. . . this fucking asshole!!!" He slammed his fist into the nearest wall and Yugi was amazed that he hadn't created a whole with the amount of force he had used.

"Please Yami, just give it some time. Mokuba is going to talk to him and-"

"No Yugi. . . I don't want to push this on Seto anymore. Let the past be just that. . . the past. He is a completely different soul now and I am not going to force him into loving me. . . that isn't what love is about. . ." He sighed, having a seat on the couch, Yugi following suit, "You know, Yugi, all of those millennia ago, Seto had told me that if he were to die, then he would be waiting for me in the next life. Ever since his death, I have been waiting. . . all day long, I have been having these visions, and each vision reveals a little more of my memory and now. . . now each of those events is so vivid in my mind. . . it is as though they happened within the past week!" He sighed again, tears finally falling from his eyes, "I just wish it were the same for Seto."

"I Just wish that there were some way I could help, Yami." Yugi leaned against his darker half in an attempt to comfort him. . . 'Don't worry Yami, I have a plan that is sure to get you and Seto back together again, and as long as Bakura and his Yami agree to it, you could get your priest back!'

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Oh yeah. . . this fic is going to drag on for ages 'cause I have like, this huge idea and it's gonna be soooooooo cool! Anyways, rate and review 'cause the more reviews I get, the sooner I am to update and the longer the chapter will be. . . I would really like to make 100 reviews before chapter 20! Help me reach this goal! Ja ne, minna!