Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
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They all sat down. Aida looked at Yami and started to continue, "What do you remember?," she asked.
"The only things I know are that 5000 years ago I ruled over Egypt as Pharaoh and now I reside in the millennium puzzle," Yami replied holding up the puzzle.
"I have been waiting 5000 years to see that puzzle again. I knew it would lead me to you. I loved it and hated it at the same time," she said, "After my first death, I was awoken for the first time. I went in search of you. Then. . ." Before she could continue every window in the apartment broke. Wind whipped through the room. Aida ran to the corner where the metal rods were, grabbed one, and stood ready to fight.
"What's going on?," Anzu said getting scared.
"I don't know," Jonouchi replied. There were dark shapes moving by the broken windows. They could hear the crunch of the broken glass under their feet as they stepped inside through the windows from the fire escape outside.
Aida turned quickly, "Get out of here!"
"We will not leave you!," Yami called out.
"At least get her out of here then!," she shouted at Jonouchi and Honda. They nodded and pulled Anzu from the room. As Aida turned back to the windows, something struck her across the face. She landed on some glass and it cut her deep into her skin. The figures were rare hunters.
"We are here to claim the millennium puzzle," one of them said.
"You will never get my millennium puzzle," Yami sneered at them. They started to surround him. One of them approached him about to attack. They heard a swish through the air and the approaching rare hunter was thrown through the window out into the street a story below.
"What makes you think I am out of this game?," Aida said now standing between the rare hunters and Yami. There were small streams of blood coming from her cuts running down her arms and legs making her look even fiercer than she already did. Her eyes flashed at them awaiting the first move, "Yami, get yourself out. I can handle these wimps."
"No! I can't let you do that. This is. . .", Yugi started to say, but in a flash Aida opened the door shoved him out and locked it tight, "Aida! No!"
"Yug," he heard Jonouchi's voice, "what's going on?"
"Rare hunters," he replied, "she is attempting to take them on herself. We have to get in there." There were bangs and crashes coming from the apartment. They could hear Aida shouting.
"Come on, Jonouchi," Honda said, "We'll break down the door."
They heard the noises inside stop. "Aida?," Anzu called through the door, "Are you ok?" Silence answered her. "We have to get in there," she said, "something horrible may have happened." Jonouchi kicked the door open. They were afraid of what they might find. They walked in to see Aida standing with rod in hand looking out the windows. The streams of blood had stopped and dried. The wind whipped around her, and she had a dangerous look in her eyes. It was an impressive sight. The last one standing after battle.
"Where are they?," Yami asked her cautiously, "Where are the rare hunters?"
"Gone," she replied continuing her glare through the window, "They weren't here for the millennium puzzle."
"What?," Yami said, "then what did they want."
"They heard that I had awoken," she replied, "and since this is the first time I have awoken when the Pharaoh has returned, they needed to test how strong I really am."
"I don't understand," Yami said looking at the dark mistress before him. He felt attracted to her, but he did not know why. Did it have something to do with what Shadi had said? Something about the empress being the Pharaoh's love?
"Perhaps explanations are best kept for later," she said finally taking her gaze from the window, "I cannot tarry here any longer. I must find some place else for now."
"You could stay with my grandfather and I," Yugi said. Seeing her distress to get out of there, he took over and offered his home to her, "We can protect you."
"I don't need protecting," she said in a suddenly cold tone. Her eyes flashed angrily at him, but then in Yami's place she saw a boy no older than 15 or 16 with innocence in his eyes, "You must be the one who solved the millennium puzzle."
"Yeah," he said unsure after he saw the look in her eyes, "I'm Yugi. Yugi Motou."
"Very well," she said, "I'll get a few things." With that she went into the back of the apartment. A few minutes later she was fully dressed again, and had a black satchel hanging around her shoulders. She packed up the metal rods that were sitting against the wall. She grabbed a cell phone that had been plugged into the wall, "Let's go."
Yugi said goodbye to the others, and then lead Aida to his house. They were silent most of the way. Yugi kept glancing up at her wondering what was on her mind. When they came through the front door, Yugi's grandpa was waiting. "Hey, Yugi! How was schoo. . ." he then noticed the woman following him in, "oh, I see you have a new friend."
"Yeah, Grandpa this is Aida," Yugi told him then turned to Aida, "You can go ahead upstairs. I'll meet you up there." Aida nodded then made her way up the staircase. She could hear Yugi tell Grandpa her situation, "It isn't safe where she is. Can she stay here with us?"
"I don't see why not," Grandpa replied.
"Great!," Yugi said he then ran up the stairs to Aida, "you can stay in the extra bedroom."
"Thank you," she replied. He led her to her room, then left her with her thoughts. He went to his room, and changed into his bedclothes.
"I need to find out what she was going to tell me back at her apartment, Yugi," Yami told him, "It may be the key to unlocking everything."
"Maybe we should let her settle in a little," Yugi suggested, "She has had a long night."
They then heard shouts coming from the backyard. Yugi ran downstairs. He came to the back door to see Grandpa looking out on the back lawn. "Grandpa, what's going on?," he asked worried.
"She has amazing skill," Grandpa replied, "I wonder where she learned it from." Yugi walked up to the open door to see what he was talking about. Aida was out in the back yard practicing with one of the metal rods. She was amazing. She wielded it as if it was an extension of her own body. "I know I have seen her somewhere before," Grandpa said stroking his chin in thought, "I can't remember where." Grandpa then shut the door, and motioned for Yugi to let her finish. When Grandpa left the room, Yugi went back to the window to watch her.
"There is something very familiar about her form," Yami told Yugi, "I have seen it somewhere before."
Aida loved practicing. She always strived to increase her speed. If she was upset or angry for any reason, fighting always took her emotions away. When she was fighting, nothing mattered but the movements and motions that brought her to victory. Even with all of the emotions she had been through this night, fighting took the stress away.
After she had finished she went upstairs to take a shower. This washed away the rest of her worries and emotions that fighting had left behind, but there was still a speck that would not go away. It was the thought that the Pharaoh had forgotten everything. He had forgotten all the times they had spent together. He had even forgotten the day they became one.
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