Yami: Last time, we finally arrive in Luxor and meet the Ayaats. Yugi is now dressed like... Who again?
Yugi: Indiana Jones! Kick ass action hero!
Yami: Yeah... Anyway, we found and read over some ancient texts Queen Shukura left us... with disastrous results!

Chapter 5 "The Reason", "It is You I Have Loved"

Nazo lay in a drug-induced sleep on Calpurnia's full-sized bed. Her cuts and such were bandaged up, and all of her bleeding had stopped. Her back was no longer raw from burning and glass. Luckily, all of her injuries were temporary, just like Jonouchi's had been, and were mostly healed.

Yami sat next to her on a folding chair Anzu found outside. He refused to move from her side, no matter how much the others insisted he get some fresh air or a little sleep. It had been almost twenty-four hours since they visited the Ayaat's tomb. Since then the group took Nazo and Yami back to Calpurnia's home and put them to bed. Yami/Yugi had similar injuries. But it wasn't the physical scars that Yami worried about. He thought of how frightened Nazo had been when they considered taking her to the hospital. "Someone will recognize us! I don't want to go home!" No one, not even Yami, could convince her that her father would not be waiting there for her.

He could not blame her for being scared. The images he had seen were traumatizing! He did not tell his friends about the full extent of the visions; Nazo was entitled to her privacy.

Yami stood up and lay down on top of the sheets next to her on the bed. Every time his wife fell asleep, she would wake up screaming. Calpurnia said the drugs would keep her knocked out for hours. There was no need to worry just yet.

He stroked her hair absent-mindedly. She was so beautiful! How could such a beautiful, fragile creature survive such torment? He wished he could take it all away and leave her in true peace, not some drug-induced stupor!

{And here I gave her hell for a simple misunderstanding,} he said to himself for the hundredth time. {I feel like such an ass!}

{She forgave you, though,} said Yugi materializing in the seat beside the bed. Yami's back was to him, but their restored link gave every emotion away.

{It's not fair that her father is haunting her even now! I killed him! We killed him! He ought to be out of our lives forever!}

{Some scars run too deep to heal.}

Yami moved his arm so that Nazo was closer to him, and his hips touched hers. {If only I could take away all of the pain I've caused her and others…}

{Others?}

{I'll tell you later}

{I'm here now, Mou hitori no boku.}

Yami sighed. He did not wish to leave Nazo's side, but he needed a break. {Come inside for a minute}

They both ended up in Yami's soul room. Yami quickly told Yugi about the voice he had heard, and how it ended up being him and Minkabh. "I think Minkabh was my teacher for a time."

Yugi leaned against the wall of a stairwell. "Minkabh did say that he was an advisor to your father, didn't he? If Pharaoh Akunamukanon trusted him to make the Items-"

"Or so he said. But we heard from Isis and Shadi that Akunadean created them."

"Either way, Minkabh was a powerful magician who gained his trust and could very well have taught you some of the dark magic you know."

"He taught me more than that! He was draining me of my humanity!"

Yugi's unease reached Yami's senses. "Something else?"

Yugi shifted. "Kind of." Yugi told Yami about Nazo's vision on the plane. The color sapped from Yami's face. "I… I hit her?!"

Yugi nodded. "You suppressed your emotions to the boiling point, and it all came spilling out."

Yami sat on the stairs opposite Yugi, sitting in a perpendicular position to him. He thought of all the times he had doubts in his past, that he may in fact have been an evil person. But that had been in the past! Nazo was part of his present! If he wanted her to be safe from now on, he needed to change his present self.

"I cannot help what I was in the past," Yami said in conclusion to Yugi, "but I can change who I am now." He closed his eyes and thought of Nazo, wounded and asleep. "I'll try to control my temper more, and vent my anger in other ways. She and those I care for are too precious to put in harm's way, by my hand or anyone else's!"

"It won't be easy…"

"But it's worth it!" Yami stood up enthusiastically. "Now that that's settled, we ought to figure out some of the clues from the scroll!"

"Yoshi! But let's go to my room for a while."

"Sure! We need a cheery atmosphere right now."

They rarely talked inside Yugi's soul room for a few reasons. For one thing, all of the toys got in the way, and Yugi often ended up playing with them. Also, Yugi's ceiling reflected his mood, and most of the time it was brightly lit, which got on Yami's nerves. [1] The pharaoh preferred the darkness of his labyrinth. Today, however, he felt his aibou deserved a bit of pampering, especially after their fight two nights before. Yugi's door was already open, and the smaller teen hurried in to clear a space for his friend on his bed. He took the pillow, plopped it beside a giant teddy bear on the floor, and grabbed a paper and crayon to take notes.

Yami sat on the edge of the bed. "Where do we start?"

"How about the thing of 'three becoming whole'?" Yugi wrote everything down.

"That's easy enough. Isis told us that the Bracelet and the extra part owned by my brother were pieces of the Puzzle."

"We also found out that the last piece is a Shen." Yugi drew a triangle to represent the Puzzle, a rectangle to represent the Bracelet, and a circle to represent the Shen. "I have no idea how these would fit together!"

"You'll figure that out once we find the Shen. Now, a nomad stole the scroll and wrote the location of the respective Items."

"But how would he know?"

Yami shrugged. "Beats me! The clue for the Shen was 'One kept in its owner's sight, guarded by none.' What do we know about my brother?"

"Almost nothing. Some sketchy details on what he was like in the scroll, but that's it. Not even where he was buried."

"That would have been a good place to look…"

"Do you think Minkabh has a spy on us after all?"

"One thing at a time. What about the rest of the passage?"

Yugi thought for a minute. "'Three pieces separated forever,' or something like that… 'one of power, one of memory, one of…' Damn! I forget the last-"

"'One of life'," Yami finished.

"'Three pieces joined together bring the power of the gods. Until the three are united, the whole will not be controlled.' Sounds like we can't use the full power of your Puzzle until we get it all." Yugi groaned. "So we need the god cards, the seven completed Items, Nazo, you, and Naeem?"

"Meaning we're half way there. We have the god cards, Nazo, the Puzzle, and one of the extra pieces. The other six Items are missing. We still need my brother and the Shen." Yami leaned back. "Be glad we don't need the six priests as well! Ra knows what became of Akunadean once his soul was sent to Anubis. I hope Amut found some meat in that wrinkly skin! Don't you agree, Aibou? Aibou?" Yami sat up and saw Yugi fiddling with a plastic sword. "Yugi! Come on!"

Yugi swept the blunt, plastic blade across his wrists. "Hey, Yami?"

"Yes?"

"What was that part about each piece's power?"

Yami's eyes narrowed. "You're the one who is supposed to be taking notes instead of playing with your toys!"

Yugi's eyebrow raised. "Temper, mou hitori no boku!"

Yami gave a big sigh. "Alright. Sorry. 'One of power, one of memory, one of life.' Why?"

"Jus' thinkin' about Nazo's Penalty Game, Mind Recall. Jonouchi relived the day he tried to commit suicide and ended up with his scars for a few days. Nazo relived her past yesterday, and was hurt. Maybe that is the memory part."

"No. I saw something that never happened, thank the gods!"

"What'd you see?"

Yami hesitated. He'd promised not to hold back any more than he had to. "Your death, Aibou."

Yugi broke the blade clean off in surprise. "My what?"

"You don't wanna know. Trust me on this!"

Yugi nodded and gulped. "Uh, do you think combining the Bracelet and Puzzle will bring back all of your memories?"

"'Until the three are united, the whole will not be controlled.'"

"Right. Damn!" Yugi's head tilted at the sad expression on Yami's face. "You okay, Yami-kun?"

"We haven't gotten much further in our search, Aibou." Yami put his face in his hands. "And I can't help but think we can help Nazo-sa in more ways than we are! She needs us!"

Yugi didn't know what to say. He scanned his room for inspiration, until his eyes rested on his toy chest. "Yami, do you know why she forgot about her father in the first place?"

"Because he was a motherf-"

"I mean completely forgot. Erased it from her mind until the Bracelet reminded her." Yami shook his head. "Because it's a survival instinct. She was in no state of mind to deal with what happened to her two years ago, so she shut it away deep inside her heart. But nothing can be shut out forever. Sometimes bad memories, and life-changing ones, can break free and haunt us in dreams, in actions, even subconsciously. That would explain her amnesia, not a head trauma."

Yugi pointed to his toy chest. "Do you know why my trunk is locked, but my toys are out here all over the place? That's where I keep everything locked up that I don't feel ready to deal with. It opens sometimes, and now that I have you guys, I can deal with the bad memories piece by piece. Take my dad's death, for example. [2] Thereare parts of that I still can't handle!

"What Nazo needs from you, from all of us, is support to deal with her past. Otherwise it'll get worse, and we'll have to go back to having her think you're my cousin again!" Yami did not notice the light in Yugi's soul room dim slightly. What he was saying applied to all of them in many ways. "In the end," he continued, "she is the one who has to confront her fears and fight them off in order to move on with her life. We only have to make her believe that she has friends always at her side."

Yami clapped. Yugi sweat-dropped. "What?"

"It never ceases to amaze me how you can be so childish and so wise at the same time!"

More sweat-drops. "Thanks… I guess…"

"Aibou?"

"Un?"

"From the bottom of my heart, I wish we really were family."

Yugi smiled. "As far as I'm concerned, mou hitori no boku, we are!" [3]

Yugi looked at the photos on his bookshelf, particularly the one of him and Anzu as kids. "I need to deal with something, too. I only hope that Anzu and I can still be friends, at least…"

"What happened between you two?"

Yugi blushed. "I - uh - accidentally walked in on her… naked!"

Yami's eyes widened, and a smirk spread across his face. "Re-ally?"

"Please don't tease me, Yami-kun! I feel bad enough!"

"Alright, I won't." He stood up. "Just do yourself a favor and be honest with her, whatever you say."

"Yeah, I guess so."

The hot, Egyptian sun sank slowly in the west, casting its final rays over the desert as electric lights began to take over. Anzu sat on the stone wall around the hotel Keiko and the Kaiba brothers were staying at, taking in the beautiful landscape. It was so peaceful compared to the hustle and bustle of Domino City or New York. To think that the desert stretched for thousands of miles westward! And much of it had been left untouched for thousands of years!

She inhaled the scent of the air as the wind blew from the east. The plant life along the river provided an exotic aroma of freshwater and flowers. Mixed in with them were scents of food cooking in the local houses and restaurants. The soft sounds of people and horses softened as the light of the sun died down.

'I'm so glad I came here,' she thought, swinging her legs from side to side. 'I wish my dad was here to enjoy this, too. Maybe I should write to him and tell him where I really am.' She frowned. 'But that would put Yugi and Nazo in danger. I'd better just enjoy this while I can.'

Something stirred behind her, and Anzu turned around to see Yugi walking around the corner. "Hey, Yugi," she called out to him.

Yugi looked up momentarily, then back down. "Oh! Anzu! I-I was looking for you. I just wanted t-to apologize for… And I know an apology isn't enough, b-but… Well, I d-didn't mean but, but still… Yesterday was kind of weird for me, and-"

"Yugi, it's alright. Nazo told me she left our door unlocked. An apology is enough. It was an accident. Come on and sit with me. This sunset is amazing!"

He pulled down the brim of his hat to cover his eyes, but Anzu could see his nervous smile. "I-I'm just glad you don't hate me." He sat on the wall a good three feet away from her and faced the sun.

"We've been best friends for almost ten years! I could never hate you! But you can do something for me."

"What's that?"

"You can look at me without turning beet red."

Yugi gulped and lifted his face to face hers. "That's better," she said. "Now, sit closer to me." He scooted over about an inch. "Next to me, Yugi. I'm starting to think you hate me!" He quickly moved next to her. "Good, now just relax and sit with me for a while."

The two sat on the wall in silence for a few minutes. Anzu listened to the music playing inside the hotel. "Hear that? Egyptian is a weird sounding language, ne?"

"Actually, that's not Egyptian, its Arabic. Most of the population speaks Arabic, only the more educated people speak English."

"Ryou said that Egypt hasn't been an independent country from the UK for very long."

"February or March of 1922, I think." Yugi's eyes went up, as if he was reading the facts from the brim of his fedora. "And before that were the Turks, the Arabs, the Romans, and the Persians. But that was at least a millennium after Yami's time."

Anzu was impressed with Yugi's knowledge. "Wow, so many kinds of people picking on them! It doesn't seem fair!"

"Well, that is over a 2,000 year time period. And before that, the Ancient Egyptians had an organized government under a Pharaoh for 3,000 years. Unlike Japan, which remained kind of isolated until World War I, Egypt doesn't have miles of ocean to set up a defense. And the vast desert didn't help to protect them."

"The desert must be harsh day or night. Especially since the Nile is the only source of fresh water." She said this mostly to sound a little smarter next to such an expert. She shivered; the air was getting cooler.

"There are some oases around, but not many." Yugi took off his leather jacket and draped it over Anzu's shoulders. "Better?"

"Yes, thanks."

The sun was almost completely down, and Anzu wanted to talk to Yugi, but not about facts of Egypt. She still had not worked out her feelings for him, but how did he feel about her? She watched his profile as he watched the sunset. He certainly looked more dashing in his new hat and outfit. His eyes held the truth of his spirit: gentle, quiet, loyal… and brave. Did he really love her?

She wanted to know his feelings for her! She had to! "Yugi?"

"Un?"

"I… I wanted to know… Why did you ask me to the movies last week?" She put the tips of her forefingers together shyly. 'It's only Yugi! Say whatever you need to!' "Was it… Was it a… you know…?"

"I don't know," said Yugi a little too quickly. But he added, "I-I mean, o-only if you want it to be."

"I don't know. I really don't know what to think."

There was another long pause. Suddenly, Yugi gave a deep sigh, stood up, and said, "I promised I'd be honest and I am!" He faced Anzu, suddenly with a stronger stance. "Misaki Anzu, I am falling in love with you!"

The wind blew again, and Yugi's gold bangs brushed across his face. His eyes held a look of surprise at his own daring, determination for a response, and apprehension at what it might be all in one. He had the kind of eyes that could convey many emotions in one simple glance, but this was an outright stare.

Anzu held Yugi's jacket closer to herself, suddenly tongue-tied. Her blue eyes widened, filled with shock at his boldness. "You… You're falling in love… with me?"

Satisfied that she didn't respond negatively, he continued. "I don't know how long I've felt this way. It's been so gradual, I think it even started when I first met you in the park ten years ago. All I do know is that it gets stronger every single day, and now I can't live without you in my life!" He paused to catch his breath; his heart was pounding almost as hard as Anzu's. "I'm not big or strong or smart or anywhere near what you are worthy of, but I can't help what I feel! Everything about you is so wonderful, and I know that what I'm saying sounds silly, but…" He trailed off, losing confidence. "Anzu, if you can't love me back, I understand. But if you can, even if it takes ten more years," he smiled, "my love for you will be all the stronger."

Anzu's heart flipped. When she was a girl, she had always pictured the man she fell in love with to be like the classical image of Madam Butterfly or "Rurouni Kenshin." [4] He'd be one of those wandering samurai, who would fearlessly save her from danger, sweep her off her feet, and protect her from anything that came near. When she had first heard Yami save her, she thought her dreams had come true. But Yami did not love her in return, and she had dealt with that. And Yugi? Yugi was the small, sweet friend that spent his time playing games or reading books. Could she possibly love him?

But, come to think of it, Yugi had told off those boys who were picking on her for wearing pants ten years ago! He was always sticking up for other people, even when anyone could see he was scared. Even as he spoke to her now, his hands shook with terror, but he stood firm in his spot, and his words rang with the utmost truth.

Was this not bravery at its finest? Could the hero she was waiting for have been right under her nose all along?

Before Anzu said anything, Hanif Ayaat rounded the corner. "There you are!"

Anzu and Yugi jumped. "Mr. Hanif," exclaimed Yugi in English. "Good evening to you."

"I beg your pardon, Miss. Misaki and Mr. Moto. My sister and Miss. Tanaka request your presence immediately. They sounded quite urgent."

"Thank you, Mr. Hanif. I will be there in a minute!" Yugi turned to Anzu and gave her a bright smile. "Thank you for listening to me. And… for not laughing at me."

"No no!" She blushed. "There's nothing to laugh at! What you said was the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me!"

Yugi pulled at his collar, a little nervous but relieved. "So, uh, I'll give you some time to think about it. And - uh - maybe we can go out again?"

"Assuming we clear your name of murder, definitely!"

[1] Yugi's soul room ceiling - changes slightly as the series gets more serious, so I'm providing a reason. Think of the ceiling at Hogwarts, only according to Yugi's mood.
[2] Jaone Moto's death - Read my other story "Dance With My Father Again".
[3] I could just hear the groans or screams at the dramatic irony for this part! What did you do when this happened?
[4] Rurouni Kenshin - Arguably the best anime ever created. Based on the true story of Himura Kenshin, an assassin during the Japanese Revolutionary War of the mid 1800s.
Madam Butterfly - A classic opera about a Japanese girl bought by and married to a western officer.

Yugi/Anzu's theme for the chapter: "It Is You (I Have Loved)" by Dana Glover (from Shrek)

Yugi: Hey! It's me, Yugi! Nazo's been awake while Yami and I were gone, and came across something amazing! Because of it, we need to go to the ruins of Yami's palace now! But what we find there... Well, let's just say I'm not sure we're coming back alive!