Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. But if I did…..oh the possibilities…….
An interminable amount of time passed before Tea emerged from what was once again only her chamber. The screams had only recently faded into quiet sobs and then into an even more disturbing silence. As the widowed queen passed through the halls, her eyebrows shaved in mourning, everyone she met was shocked by her sudden transformation. The once vibrant and youthful Tea, while still beautiful, was now as pale as the limestone that surrounded her. But the most startling change was in her eyes. They were haunted, but burned with a passion and determination that only she could identify.
Tea attended to all of the funeral arrangements herself, not allowing anyone else to get involved. She commissioned a special sarcophagus with slots to hold the seven items she had given Yami. She worked like a woman possessed, and the rest of the court was beginning to believe she was. Finally, the preparations were complete. As there were no physical remains, only an empty casket adorned with seven golden items was interred in the Valley of the Kings to represent the pharaoh.
Peculiarly, the most difficult part of the funeral for Tea had been placing the pyramid-shaped puzzle into its niche. She felt as though she had banished the only real part of Yami left to a cold, dark crypt. During the brief, solitary lulls between furious bouts of planning, the queen had actually talked to the relic.
~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~
Tea sat on the too-large bed, turning the puzzle over and over in her hands. She no longer screamed, but in the privacy of her quarters a constant stream of tears slid noiselessly down her face.
"Where are you, love?" She addressed the puzzle, shaking her chestnut head.
"There was nothing left, you have to be somewhere."
As a fresh wave of despair washed over her, Tea felt it being pushed back by something else. It was a feeling she had not felt in what felt like forever. The warm tendrils of love wrapped themselves around her, easing her pain. The young woman gave herself over to the soothing presence that seemed to emanate from the puzzle she cradled against her. A foreign, but not unfamiliar, voice entered her thoughts with a simple message: "Miss you too. We'll find each other…" Tea sat bolt upright, eyes wide in shock. "Yami!"
~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~
The widow eventually convinced herself that the voice was merely a product of her angst. Still, as she sat in the room she had shared with Yami, she was beginning to wish that she had not sealed the object that had given her momentary comfort within the pharaoh's tomb. Suddenly incapable of staying in a room so crowded by memories, Tea bolted unescorted to the temple of the Gods. She threw herself down in front of an altar, frantically praying to whichever god happened to be listening.
"Just take me to my love. PLEASE!"
Tears mingled with slight variations of this plea for hour after hour. Food and water were brought but left at the entrance, as no one dared to disturb their queen. Tea poured her soul onto the smooth stone of the altar, and somewhere in the heavens it was deemed worthy. With a cosmic snap of the fingers, her wish was granted.
Before she had time to react, blackness enveloped Tea and she was whisked off to a most unlikely time and place.
Sixteen year-old Tea Gardner groaned as she rolled over to slap the snooze button yet again. After flailing unsuccessfully for a moment, she was forced to open her eyes. The red numbers stoically declared the time. "Oh my God! I'm late again!" Tea screeched as she vaulted out of bed. She struggled with her pink and blue school uniform, swearing to murder the misogynist who designed it. Dressed at last, Tea darted out her front door, narrowly avoiding colliding with the short boy who stood before it. "Oh, hi Yugi!" Tea exclaimed, her eyes locking with his large purple ones.
Authoress' Note: Ah, the joys of deus ex machina.