Disclaimer: I do no own Yu-Gi-Oh, manga or anime. I merely borrowed the characters Kazuki Takahashi's creative mind invented and the given storyline for this fan fiction (that's why it's called fan fiction after all)!

Title: "Marry Me"
Status: One Shot
Rating: K+
Category: Romance
Pairing: Yami no Malik x Tèa
Main characters: Yami no Malik, Tèa Gardner
Warnings: Fluff, Fluff and Fluff, OOCness

Summary: After Tèa realised she could never live her dream of "happy ever after" with Yami no Yugi she got over her crush on him and moved on. However when everything turns out different than it should and the former pharaoh's spirit doesn't leave for the underworld, Tèa has to tell him that she doesn't feel the same for him anymore. Hurt in his pride because after getting his second chance he had hoped for her and him to be together, the dark Yugi begins to treat her not as a friend anymore but more of an enemy. Hurt and confused Tèa finds comfort in another's arms: Yami no Malik!

A/N: Completely redone and now reposted! This is a pretty old fanfic, probably about four or five years old and even though I do admit that even nowadays I do feel the need to write fluff sometimes, it's usually not that fluffy. Hormones must have gotten the best of me, back then. ;)
Anyways, for the most part this piece does not fit into the actually Yu-Gi-Oh! series. I know that even though Yami no Yugi probably would be hurt when the girl he liked told him off but he wouldn't treat her cruelly for that.
Ah, but that's me speaking years after writing this, after all there was a time when I didn't like the dark Yugi… I'm so glad that's over with! g

Marry Me

Tèa was on her way back home from school. She had had a long, strenuous day, having to put up with her friends, or rather former friends and at the same time dealing with the approaching finals.
The school year was indeed nearing the end and soon the young woman would graduate… if she would be able to endure the last weeks of torment.
Deep in thought, trying to figure out why the man whom she had loved for a long time but who had never returned her feelings would act the way he did, she made a right turn into the street where she lived with her parents in a nice middleclass house.

Sighing, her thoughts drifted to another topic that had been on her mind lately: She was bored!
Sure, the finals and all kept her busy but she had not been part of any kind of adventure for the longest time. There was no evil maniac trying out for world domination or any kind of Duel Monsters tournament where she could have tried out her own skills for once. Not that she thought she could actually beat any of the professional players, no she hadn't played for a long time and probably had gotten pretty rusty, but Tèa had decided that she would not be the one on the sidelines anymore, after all who would she cheer on anyway?
She giggled at that thought because unbeknownst to the dark Yugi and his friends there were people whom she could and would cheer on, people who would not hesitate to cheer her on if she needed it, too.
Not noticing an old woman who passed her by looking funnily at the bright smile the girl wore, she continued on her way, feeling already a lot better, after only thinking of those people she could still count on.

Her step, somewhat more self assured again was graceful and the rather short skirt of her pink and blue school uniform swung around her slim legs. She was a dancer after all and after a long time only trying herself on modern types of dances, she had asked Isis for some lessons in belly dancing. Something her boyfriend would surely be fond of once he found out. Again a giggle escaped her as she imagined him with his eyes wide open in wonder, to see her dance a dance that was traditional in his homeland… she would enjoy that look, she mused. She always enjoyed it having him watch her, with that softness in his eyes that she could have never imagined a few years ago. He truly had changed, for her nonetheless, only for her.
Tèa still remembered Battle City, the first time she had met Malik, a nice boy that was for sure, but back then his hate for everything related to his fate to guard the tomb of the pharaoh had eaten him up and then… there was him.
Another yami, different from Yami no Yugi and Yami no Bakura who were ancient spirits, yet he was a yami. Malik's dark side as everyone said existed only to hate, only to destroy and hurt. It had been true to some extend, Tèa thought, but that wasn't the whole truth, she was sure of it. While Malik's yami had indeed been created by the willpower the kid had brought up because of his hate that didn't mean he only consisted of hate. No, there definitely was the potential for every other human feeling and the young woman smiled a brightly in pride, knowing that he had learned to love and he loved her.

A few strands of her chin length brown hair tickled Tèa's nose as a small wind picked up and she pushed them back behind her ears, by now nearing the driveway to her house.
She asked herself what her Malik was doing right now and concluded that he probably lazed again, watching TV or him and Malik where duelling. Rolling her eyes at that thought she asked herself when she had begun to call him her Malik and not Yami no Malik, dark Malik or Marik like the others did.

A frown grazed her lips as she remembered. It had been that day, the day that she had told the dark Yugi that she held no feelings for him anymore besides friendship. After all she hadn't known it would turn out like that, she had believed that he would leave her to finally find peace in death. How could she have known it would come different and there would be no need for her to get over her crush?
But he had obviously thought that she did, as he asked her to go out with him, weeks after their trip to Egypt had ended completely different than it should have, in disaster as they had to find out that the way into the underworld had a barrier that wouldn't let the ancient spirits pass.
The result? Shaadi had used the last of his power to create bodies for those spirits. Formed of the fertile Egyptian soil, the man had taken into his hands the creation of vessels for the restless souls that would have to live one more life before being allowed to trespass into the underworld.

What he hadn't known was that by forming new bodies for the pharaoh and the thief king, using his ancient magic, he would set Yami no Malik free again. While the procedure had been easy for the two others, it was much more painful for Malik's yami because Shaadi had not prepared a vessel for him. The consequence was that his spirit had had to form another body for itself, the only material given to him, in the catacombs where the group had retreated to, was not the soil soaked with the Nile's life giving water, but sand and rocks and all the while as that happened he had been fully conscious.
Smiling sadly as she remembered how weak he had been after that, how her instincts had taken over and she had rushed to his side to help him, to make him feel better, she stopped at the mailbox in front of their house's long yard that her mother, a woman who spent most of her life outside in her garden, had designed to look more like a small jungle, organized maybe but still a mess in Tèa's eyes.

Pulling out a bunch of mail, she scanned the senders carefully, looking out for anything that might be for her. Nothing but a postcard from Miho, who had moved abroad, to England, was among the post. Grinning at the image of the Big Ben on front of the card, she closed the mailbox again and made her way to her home. Nearing the end of the driveway she was surprised to find a motorcycle standing next to the house.
Knowing it was Malik's bike Tèa wondered what he would do here but shrugged it off turning towards the front door while searching for her keys inside of her bag. Scrunching her eyebrows together, she huffed as found it after some time because it had slid below her books.

Speculating where Malik was, she was about to put the key in the lock as two arms snaked around her, encircling her waist and pulling her back into a hard body. Gasping she looked down to find them to be tanned and muscular. Malik, Tèa thought and was about to comment as she felt a kiss on her neck, teeth softly grazing her skin and a tongue glide over the spot.
This wasn't Malik, Tèa realised, well it was but this was her Malik. Softly she laughed, tickled as he tried to give her another love bite.

"What are you doing?" she asked laughing trying to squirm out of the grasp but knowing all the while that he wouldn't let her go anyways.
"What does it feel like?" a deep voice asked behind her and she could hear him chuckle. "So, how was school today?" he asked and loosened his hold on her so that she could turn around. Grinning, she complied and saw amusement dancing in his eyes but also worry. Knowing he feared what the ex-pharaoh could have told her, she kissed him reassuringly before drawing back again and tugging playfully on his black wife beater.
"Considering that you are here now, it was definitely worth it!" she said and was answered by another kiss, deeper than the last.
"So, the wretched pharaoh won't get over the fact that he's not worthy of you?" he smirked and Tèa tapped his nose with her index finger, blushing as he gave it a playful lick with his tongue.
"He will have to!" she told him, "What other choices does he have?".

Her eyes now rested on the motorcycle that stood, innocently near them.
"Don't tell me you stole Malik's bike to come over here?" she asked and couldn't help a small smirk forming on her lips as she imagined how furious Malik would be. The grin her boyfriend wore told her otherwise though.
"I didn't steal it!" he answered her question and looked like he would burst out laughing any moment, trying hard not to look her into the eye.
"So what did you do?" she asked, tapping her foot feigning impatience, for she knew what other pranks this man had already come up with.
"Don't look at me like I tried to murder someone!" he laughed, "I haven't for years!" the smirk on his lips told her about what he was thinking: crushing Yami no Yugi in a duel, but his eyes were sincere and she knew she could believe him. He wouldn't lie to her.

Reluctantly he began to speak again, yet again trying to avoid her gaze, even stepping back from their hug.
"It was a bet!", he looked at her for a moment and continued, "Actually, a drinking contest, whoever would fall first would be the loser!".
Malik looked at her again, sheepishly this time and Tèa made no secret of the fact that she was not amused.
"What if you had lost, Malik?" she asked but felt warm inside as he shot her a boyish grin.
"Eh, I didn't win!" he said but his grin didn't falter for a moment, in fact Tèa was sure he was happy about losing that bet and that made her raise an eyebrow in question. Both Maliks would never be happy for a lost bet. Of course, her Malik had changed but his nature had stayed the same.

"Anyway, Tèa, you know… I've wanted to ask you this for some time now but never quite... got the chance," he told her looking away again, "this is really not because of that bet, even though Malik was the one to ask me to finally… do it."
Slightly bending her head to one side, curious as of what those twos' bet had been about, Tèa found a bright blush spreading on her boyfriend's face which surely was something new, he never blushed.
"Well?" she asked softly, trying to not make him feel anymore embarrassed than he obviously already did feel.

The former yami was by now a bright red, his eyes wandering from Tèa's bright blue ones to the ground and back.
Of course he would have never thought that he would ask her this… no, he hadn't even wasted more then a thought on her as he met her during Battle City. She had only been one of the pharaoh's companions, a beautiful one with her perfect little body that felt so good against his own marred one but he had never thought about her as more than a toy he would have loved to claim.
But now… he was in love with her! He had been from the moment he could open his eyes, his own eyes and see her face clearly. That moment in which he had turned human and she had been by his side, the only one by his side. Why she had so willingly accepted him, would remain a mystery to him, he knew but she treated him like a human being and he had fallen in love with her for that.

Exhaling deeply, he knew he had to do it. Not only to keep his face in front of Malik but to not regret not asking her for his entire life.
Grabbing a small bundle he had hid inside of his jeans pockets, he looked into Tèa's eyes again and smiled at her, a genuine smile, as he found nothing but love and trust in the depths of her blue orbs.
Without another doubt, he got on one knee and now had to tilt his head upwards as she had to, normally, finding surprise written all over her features.

"Tèa, I'm not doing this because of the bet, it was Malik's way to push me into finally doing it," he told her once again, "actually I'm carrying this ring around with me for two weeks by now and I just never was courageous enough…"
He held the small box in his hands and opened it for Tèa to find a ring inside of it, golden and with engravings of hieroglyphs and a small but beautiful gem sitting on top of it. A gasp escaped her and the young woman could feel tears welling up, as the man she loved spoke to her, his voice full of emotion.

"Tèa… will you marry me?"

With the tears now running freely, she got to her knees in front of him, wrapping her arms around him to draw him into a passionate kiss, before answering.
"Of course, you idiot!" she sniffed and giggled as she saw his confused expression.
"I love with you with all my heart, how could you think I wouldn't say yes?" she asked and a small sob escaped her, as the happy tears continued to stream down her face.
Her hands clutched his shirt tightly by now as he hugged against him. Then Tèa felt him tugging on her left hand and drawing back she watched as her fiancé slid the ring on her ring finger where it fit perfectly and gleamed in the sun.

"Say Cheese!" another voice could be heard to their right and both lovers looked up, surprised to find Malik, a flashing camera in his hands, a smirking Rishid and a smiling Isis, standing merely a few metres from them.
The group laughed at the faces they were welcomed with and Isis, tears in her eyes reached for Rishid's hand who stood beside as he smiled down at her.

Tèa felt Malik loosening his grip on her and a moment later leap to his feet to chase his former host.
"YOU!" he thundered, a fist raised in the air before he was stopped by two frail arms holding him in place.
"Not today!" the young woman said, smiling up at him with shimmering eyes.
"Let's just do something fun together, all of us, okay?" she asked and looked first at the man who was now smiling back at her and then at the others.

"Sure," Isis said and nodded, "let's go to that ice parlour that opened a while ago!" she exclaimed and then smirked playfully at the one she viewed as another brother by now.
"After all this is a reason to celebrate, don't you agree little brother?" she asked. Tèa looked up from Isis to her fiancé, who smirked down at her.
"Up for a ride?" he asked her chuckling, his eyes darkened with amusement as he felt her squirm, but Tèa was already dragged towards the bike. She turned around towards Isis, as she found herself seated behind her Malik and was being handed a helmet.

"How will you get there?" she asked, worries that Isis considered walking because it was a far way to the ice parlour.
"No problem!" she was answered and the Egyptian woman pulled out a pair of keys.
"At the prospect of having him (she pointed at Malik) moving out soon, I bought a car just yesterday!" she laughed and then turned towards the brother who still held the camera.
"And once you're gone I'll have a large pool build in the backyard!" Isis told him, chuckling at the infuriated look on her little brother's face.

Suddenly, the helmet was taken out of Tèa's hands again and then pushed on her head, by an impatient looking male in front of her. Giggling she turned around once more and pointed at the backpack she had left lying in front of the door. Isis nodded, acknowledging the silent question.
Then the engine roared and Tèa found herself tightly holding on to her Malik, her fiancé, thinking that she didn't need the dark Yugi if she could have him.

A/N: I would appreciate reviews a lot though please don't tell me that I suck because this was OOC, I told you after all. ;)
Normally, I prefer constructive criticism over anything else but keep in mind that this piece is not one of my latest, so the language, the style, about everything should be a little if not a lot different from how I write these days.