Ok, I realize that Kaiba is not his name in the past, but it's never said what his last name is back then and I wanted a last name to use, so I just used the same one. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Panic struck her. They had arranged a marriage for her, had an engagement party, and all the while never told her a word. Of all the people that could have proposed, it was the one person she loathed.

Seto Kaiba was the leader of a group that was set against the Pharaoh. It was the very group that most of her family was a part of, and that she was against. She felt herself becoming dizzy when she saw him coming toward her. This was not what she wanted! Did her feelings not matter? He approached her with a smirk on his face. She had never liked the way he looked at her. He would come to her matches at the arena, and the only thing on him that moved were his eyes as they followed her every movement. She had always been able to stay away from him and avoid conversation with him, but now that he felt he had some merit to her she did not see how she was to avoid his looks nor his touch. She was scared and furious at the same time. He pulled her over to the middle of the crowd, and asked her to accept his hand in marriage. She felt as if the room was spinning and she was going to pass out. This was not what she wanted. Everything was going terribly wrong. How could her family do this to her?

"Answer him," her mother said urgently. It brought her back to full consciousness.

"We will be married in three days," Kaiba said with an awful grin on his face. He did not even begin to acknowledge that she had not answered him. She knew what she must do.

"I cannot and will not marry you, Seto," she said with malice in her eyes, "I am faithful to the one and only true ruler; the Pharaoh! My family may be in this with you, but I for one am not! I want to have nothing to do with this silly fight, but if I am forced I will not join your minions, but will fight you for my king." The room was silent. Her mother and father were shocked and appalled at her rant.

Kaiba grabbed a hold of her arm, dragged her into the next room, and slammed the door shut. He threw her against the wall, and came within an inch of her face. "You will never defy me," he grabbed her face and forced her to kiss him, "You will be my wife, even if I have to slaughter your so called king right in front of you. You belong to me now. In three days, we will be married, and your faith will be in your husband as you will swear in that ceremony."

"You hardly know me," she said trying to break his grip, "There are thousands of women in this kingdom. They are no different than I. I am sure there are plenty who would be overjoyed to take your side, so just leave me be."

"I have made my choice," he said as he tightened his grip and pressed her harder against the wall, "I will not change it. I have found what I want, and I will have it."

"You talk as if I am a possession," she spat back at him. His grip was beginning to make her fingertips grow numb. "I do not belong to anyone. Especially not some sordid, chauvinistic traitor like you!"

With that he hit her across the face throwing her to the floor. He grabbed the back of her neck pulling her back up, then threw her across the bed. He held her down, and slowly tightened his grip around her throat. She started to choke. Was he going to kill her? She started to cough as she was trying to gasp for breath. He brought his face up to hers and harshly whispered, "You will never disrespect me. You are mine, and you had better get rid of that attitude of yours. I will not tolerate my wife speaking to me that way," he let go of her, and got off the bed. He straightened his clothes as she was coughing and gasping for air. "Tomorrow I will send a tailor to fit you for your garments. There will be no argument. Now, get yourself together, and get back out here," he then left acting as if nothing had ever happened. She laid on her side with tears streaming down her face. She felt ashamed that she had backed down and taken his abuse, but she was afraid of his power. She knew that he was very powerful, and that her fighting skills alone could not hinder him. The only way out she could see was the open window across the room.

She pulled herself through the window. As she set one foot on the ground, she lost her balance and fell. She looked through the window to see if anyone heard, but no one came barging into the room. She could hear the music and the laughter coming from the main room of the house. She cursed them. They all danced and rejoiced while she was fleeing from her own home.

She walked down the paths winding through their village. She kept her head down as some of the patrons stared at her. She decided she had better pick up her pace if one of them recognized her, and decided to tip off someone at the party. She did not know where she was fleeing to, but she just kept going. She needed to clear her mind, and get her thoughts in order. The thoughts of becoming a drifter had come to her, but she knew that Kaiba would find some way to find her and bring her back.

It was dark out, and the chill of the air began to nip at her. She needed to figure out what she was going to do for the night at least even if she could not think of a solution to the real problem at hand. Feeling tired from all of the emotions she was going through, she sat down on a bench and drew her feet in. She felt ashamed, but she could not help but let her tears stream slowly down her cheeks. She did not know what to do. She felt lost and alone. There was no one to help her, and in her heart she knew the only solution was to marry Kaiba.

"Why are you crying?," a strong, soothing voice asked her.

She looked up shocked that someone was standing there. In front of her was a cloaked man. His hood was up and she could not see his face. She wiped away her tears quickly, then pretended that they were never there. "I wasn't," she replied turning partially away from him. She wanted no pity.

"Oh, I see," he said, then held out his hand to her, "Will you walk with me?"

She had nothing to lose, so she took his hand, and they began to walk. He knew something was not right, but did not question her.

"I love it at this time of night," he said striking a conversation, "It is so peaceful."

"Yes, I suppose it is," she replied thinking of the darkness that now engulfed her future.

"I enjoy walking at this time of night," he continued, "It lets me get a sense of who these people really are. It lets me see them in their home environments."

She noticed that he kept himself completely covered, even though it was in the dead of night. "Why do you cover your face with that hood?," she asked him hoping he would remove it.

"We all have our secrets," he replied. She knew he meant her withholding from him her reason for crying.

"Things are taking a turn for the worst for me," she said looking down at the ground once again, "I know that there is no way out of my situation, and I will have to just let the worst happen."

"Surely there is something that could help you," he suggested, "If you tell me what is wrong, maybe I could help."

"No one can help me," she replied, "He has me blocked on all sides."

"He?," he asked.

"Yes. There is a man that will take all the joy from my life," she replied as her eyes turned red from holding back tears, "I have no choice but to let him."

"Perhaps you should not look at it in such a black and white perspective," he turned, pulled up her face, and wiped away a tear, "No one deserves eternal grief. You must trust me when I say this. Even when everything is closing in on you, and the world begins to turn black. There will always be a light to save you."

She never wanted him to let go of her. She did not know who he was, but she knew that his touch sparked hope in her. She had never felt anyone on her flesh like that before. Even after he let go of her, her cheeks were almost singed from the burn of his touch. He continued to walk.

"Thank you," she said, "I hope that my light comes soon."

"Trust me," he replied, "It will. For now I am going through a dark time, and I know soon that it will ebb away."

"What is it that plagues you?," she asked genuinely concerned for this man that she felt drawn to.

"I have rivals that threaten me," he said his tone going cold, "They are blinded by what they think is right, but I will not falter for I know that the light will reach me."

"How can you be so composed?," she asked, "There are people threatening you, and you are not shaken at all?"

"I will admit that I am not weak myself," he said with a little bit of laughter streaming through this statement.

They continued to talk until the sun started to rise. She had never been able to talk to anyone like that before. She trusted him more than anyone she knew. It was strange after just a few hours, but she knew he was special, and hoped that he thought the same about her. "I almost do not want this to end," she said truthfully. She did not know who this man was, but she did not want to see him go. What if she never saw him again?

"Neither do I," he took her hand, "Come stay with me. I could use some company. It gets rather lonely where I am. Please, grant me the pleasure of being your host."

"Of course," she replied with her heart leaping out of her chest, "I would be honored, but I must go back to my home before I do."

"It is understood," he said, "Meet me back where we first ran into each other."

"One thing before I go," she said approaching closer to him, "May I see your face?"

He nodded, and then pulled down the hood of his cloak. She gasped and stepped back. The face staring back at her was none other than Pharaoh Yami himself.

She threw herself to the ground in bowing to him, but she felt herself being lifted back up to her feet.

"Do not bow," he said lifting her face up to him, which she was trying to keep to the ground. It was lack of respect for any common peoples to look directly at the Pharaoh, "This is why I sometimes like to walk through the villages covered from sight. It lets me see my people as they really are without ranks and such getting in the way. Do not look at me now as Pharaoh, but as a person."

"If it is your wish, your majesty," she said trying to keep herself from constantly looking at the ground.

"Just call me, Yami," he said lifting up her face again.

"I cannot call you that," she said looking at him dead on this time, "It would disgrace you for someone common like me to call you by no title."

"I do not want, I being Pharaoh, to get between us," he said smiling, "I trust that you will still hold true to our agreement, and come to stay with me, Ateyda."

She could not help but to truly smile at these words, "Yes, I will. I gave you my word, Phar. . . Yami. Wait, you know my name?"

"Yes," he replied smiling, "You are a wondrous fighter."

"I did not think you watched the matches until you oversaw them at the finals," she said not believing that he would remember her name.

"Cloaks can be useful in more ways than one. I will meet you tonight then," he said giving her a small nod.

"Yes, until tonight, Yami," she turned back toward her home. Her heart was racing in her chest. She had met a wonderful man, and he then turned out to be the Pharaoh! Her mind was racing, but then it made a very sudden stop. How would she tell her family?

Review Please!

I know I stopped this at a weird point, but the next good stopping point is a lot later in the story, and this was already getting too long, so sorry if it seemed kind of strange.

I need to make a special thanks to Black-Rose-of-Death for all of her support! Thank you! Check out her story also! "Love Affair". It is good!