Target: Destiny
Chapter Two
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A/N: Thanks for the nice responses in the first chapter. I'm glad you all like it so far. -Insert smiley that FFdotnet won't allow-
Dojomistressambychan: Yeah, it can be dangerous. But Bakura can be insistent at times, y'know. XD
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"My queen," a servant whispered, gently prodding Anzu in the shoulder, "my king sent me to awaken you for the meeting."
Anzu moaned softly and rolled onto her back. She rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes and yawned. The servant, her lady's maid from back on Yamisha, helped her into a sitting position.
"Thank you, Tifah."
The blonde woman smiled and offered her hand. Taking it, Anzu stood and slipped her delicate feet into her slippers. Tifah led her out into the main sitting room where Ryoko and Baku were rolling a ball back and forth to each other.
"Do you need a wetcloth, my queen?" Tifah asked, knowing how Anzu was prone to sweating in her pregnancies.
Anzu shook her head. "No, I'm fine. And how many times must I tell you to call me Anzu? We have known each other for quite some time, you know!" she scolded lightly.
Tifah laughed. "I'll try to remember."
"Ryoko, you suck!" Baku complained when his sister let the green ball roll through her legs for the third time. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. Ryoko scowled right back.
"This is a stupid game!" she retorted.
"You only think it's stupid 'cause you suck at it!"
Anzu prodded the ball with her foot, and it slowly rolled back over to the feuding siblings. "Baku, be nice to your sister." He glared at Ryoko one more time before jumping up on the couch, his feet dangling over the edge of the cushion. Ryoko stuck her tongue out at him before taking the ball and going into her bedroom.
Anzu turned to Tifah. "Which meeting room is he in?"
"In A-1, my queen. Anzu," she amended with a smile. "I'll go with you," she offered, hoping Anzu would not refuse the assistance in case she began to feel ill along the way.
Anzu had had rough pregnancies with both Ryoko and Baku as far as illness went. She was sick almost everyday for at least a short time. She also experienced bouts of exhaustion at random intervals during the day. It was not uncommon for the young queen to feel fine one minute and faint the next.
Anzu nodded. "Thank you." She turned to Baku. "Be good. Don't do anything your father might catch you doing. God knows he'll encourage it," she mumbled to herself sarcastically.
The three-year-old boy smiled sheepishly and nodded, his large blue eyes sparkling mischievously. "Sure, momma."
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Anzu entered the A-1 meeting room, bidding Tifah good-bye as she did. Bakura met her at the door and escorted her the rest of the way to her seat. Forty or so delegates from other planets were already on the vid-screen, but it would be another few minutes before the other half of the planets were represented. Bakura helped her sit in the chair between his and Malik's.
The meeting room had only one small table and four chairs inside of it. However, a hundred or so vid-screens covered all four walls. Within a few minutes, almost all of them were in use. Only ten females were shown on their respective screens, all alongside a husband except two. Anzu herself usually didn't even attend these boring meetings, but Bakura scarcely let her out of his sight; no matter how many times she assured him she was not due yet, he seemed to believe she could go into labor at any given moment.
This meeting was also more important than the others in the fact that every planet in the Bakurian Trading Alliance was represented. An annual meeting like this was held to solve any disputes that may have continued for too long, to negotiate militia help for war, or to simply answer questions and talk about trade. After Yuugi and Malik entered the room, the discussions began.
"So glad you could all make it," Bakura said by way of greeting.
"Yes, even though it is the middle of the night for some of us," one of the delegates responded in good humor.
Bakura laughed jovially. "It's terrible to be you."
After thirty minutes of boring talk about the hottest products of the next year, Anzu was startled as Baku ran into the room, screaming, "You'll never catch me in here!" as he looked over his shoulder at some unseen child. He ran right into his father and looked up slowly.
The furious expression on Bakura's face was enough to send the three-year-old running for his mother. The king crossed his arms, angry that someone had let his son into such an important meeting.
"Don't scare him with that scowling mug of yours, Bakura!" Anzu scolded as she pried Baku's arms off her leg.
"Well, who let him in here?" he demanded.
"Oh, he's absolutely precious!" one of the ladies on a vid-screen exclaimed.
"What a darling!" another one agreed.
"Queen Anzu, he is growing up to be such a dear!" one queen said with admiration. Anzu smiled graciously and thanked them. Baku beamed under the attention and compliments he knew were aimed at him.
"Quit babbling, Dohni," the last queen's husband said harshly. The woman obediently went silent, although not before she sent a furious frown in his direction.
"I'll take him," Anzu told Bakura. She kissed him softly before leaving the meeting room with their son in tow.
"You should not show affection toward your family, King Bakura. It can be seen as a weakness," Dohni's husband observed in disapproval. Bakura merely raised a brow and sat back down.
Malik chuckled and shook his head. "You do realize you're telling that to the king of one of the strongest planets in our surrounding galaxies, and possibly the entire known universe."
Bakura waved his cousin off. "The old man's just jealous because we're better-looking than him," he said good-naturedly. The sour-faced king shifted offensively in his seat.
Malik nodded in agreement. "And you know what really sucks? He ages quicker than us, so he doesn't stand a chance."
"Actually," Yuugi cut in. "I think he's just ruffled because he doesn't have a cute, little tot of his own to get mad at for disrupting meetings."
Bakura was genuinely surprised to hear Yuugi come to his defense, but he realized moments later that it was probably in Anzu's defense rather than his own.
The king glared at his wife while saying, "Well, if she would bear me a son instead of all these daughters!" The woman looked away uncomfortably.
Yuugi's eyes narrowed. "Of course, you realize that having so many daughters is your fault, and not the female's."
The king gasped in outrage. "What!"
Bakura cleared his throat and decided to stop the argument at its beginning. "All right, gentleman, we've had our fun. Back to the topics at hand, if you please."
After Malik was done snickering behind his hand, and the angry king's face was back to its cyan pallor instead of cherry-red, Bakura rolled out his agenda. "First, we'll check inventory. Ascenia first." He looked up from his papers and over to the left wall where Ascenia's vid-screen was located. Seto's scowling face was boring into Bakura's, his arms crossed over his chest regally as always.
The meeting continued for a few hours before finally drawing to a close. Bakura stood and stretched, and Malik and Yuugi followed suit.
"Well, Bakura, I know you'll miss me dreadfully, but I must be going," Yuugi declared. Bakura feigned disappointment.
"Do hurry back, little prince!" he exclaimed with mock sadness. Yuugi grinned like a cat stalking a mouse.
"Don't worry. I can't leave Anzu for too long."
Malik shook the younger man's hand and rushed him into leaving via his instantaneous transportation device before Bakura became truly angry and beat the living hell out of the Earthling prince.
"That bastard," he muttered after Yuugi was gone. Malik smiled.
"He's just trying to rile you up," he told his ivory-haired cousin. Bakura mumbled an incoherent agreement before exiting the meeting room with Malik behind him.
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"Uncle Jou, Aunt Mai! When are you coming to visit me?" Ryoko asked with a pout. She looked wide-eyed at the vid-screen showing the two Earthlings.
"Meh, who'd wanna visit you, Ryoko?" Baku asked, sticking his tongue out cutely.
"Bakura!" Anzu reprimanded her son. "You've been nothing but naughty today. Don't make me tell your father."
The three-year-old frowned, but ended his torments on his older sister.
"I promise we'll come visit really soon," Mai told the young girl. Jounouchi nodded his agreement. The pair waved before disappearing from the vid-screen.
"Oh, great, more of those damn Earthlings are coming?" Bakura observed distastefully as he entered the main sitting room. He pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it aside.
"Don't sound so excited," Anzu replied sarcastically. Bakura padded over to their joint walk-in closet and retrieved a light shirt and sweat pants.
"No, really, I almost care," the king told her. She glared at him. He continued, "And anyway, when are they going to have another of their 'world wars' and wipe themselves out completely?"
Anzu punched him in the shoulder. He rubbed the sore spot and scowled. "I'm going train," he told her. He pulled her in for a kiss, but was interrupted by a popping from behind them. The king and queen looked in the direction of the sound.
"Damnit, what the hell are you doing here now!" Bakura yelled, turning away from his wife. Ryoko gasped at the 'bad words' while her brother laughed and pointed. Yuugi stood undaunted at the Bakurian king's outburst.
"Well, I couldn't leave without telling Anzu good-bye myself," the Earth prince responded coolly. He moved to go to Anzu, but Bakura blocked his path.
"Yes, you could have. It's simple even for people with two-digit IQs. I'll get you started: turn your ass around and get out."
Anzu frowned at her husband. "Don't be difficult," she complained while shaking her head. She hugged Yuugi and said a quick good-bye. This seemed to satisfy the Earth prince, for he soon left for good. Bakura clenched a fist as a vein throbbed in his forehead.
"Your friends are morons," he told Anzu. She merely lifted a brow. He padded over to the door to be certain Yuugi had truly left.
A sweet scent caught the king's nose, and he looked down in the doorway. A tall, crystal vase held a dozen cerulean-blue roses. He bent down and picked up the vase, examining it curiously. He flipped open the note, but it only read two sentences: As beautiful as you. Your admirer.
He clenched his teeth and crumpled up the note. He doubted his seven-year-old daughter was old enough for this. So then, his wife had a secret admirer? He gripped the vase jealously before realizing how absurd he was being. So what if she had an admirer; he married her, after all! He re-entered the main sitting room with the flowers in hand.
"Anzu, someone"
"Oh, Bakura! You got those for me?" she exclaimed happily.
"W-Well..." he stammered. Finally, he just handed her the vase with an awkward smile. She hugged him tightly before taking the vase into another room. He stared after her, feeling slightly guilty; the feeling only lasted mere minutes, of course.
"Daddy, daddy!" Ryoko screamed, running up and jumping onto her father's back.
"There's my princess!" he replied and bounced her up further on his back, all thoughts of the admirer forgotten.
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Sorry for the delay. I've been mega-busy lately. Like... I'm-going-to-die busy. Things should slow down a bit after this-coming week though. I'll be able to write more. Also, please take a minute to check out my Yami Bakura x Anzu fandom site "Vexation" at http:an-eternityDOTcom/vexation. It has some great stories by equally great authors, and it's growing everyday!