Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh.

Author's notes: Ok, there are only two more chapters of battle city left (if all goes as planned that is) Marik will be back very soon. Start thinking of things you might like to see when Marik and Anu start dating each other properly. If you didn't review last chapter then I would appreciate it if you would. I always take the time to do it for others now and I would like it if people did the same for me.

I saw the part where Bakura dies in the pharaoh's memory eps! (T-T) Noooooooo! But minor arcana sent me a picture of him and dark Akunadin standing next to each other so I know he comes back somehow . He crumbled into sand just before D.A came along. That was nasty… Bakura was so scared…. Poor baby.

I decided to make Anuket tease Yami Marik cus I was bored. And I'm sure you don't mind either. We all like him really. This chapter is a bit rushed towards the end so please be kind when reviewing.

On with the fic

Unrequited Love

Chapter 27: Forever Friends?

"JOEY!" screamed Serenity as the door slid open.

She ran over to her brother who was laying on the platform unconscious. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to wake him up. Yugi and the gang were also crowded around him. Mokuba jumped onto the platform and ran over to the fallen duelist. He placed his hand in front of Joey's mouth and held it there for a moment. His expression turned to panic as he quickly withdrew it.

"He's not breathing!" he cried out. "Quick! We have to get him to a doctor!"

Roland took out his cell phone and dialled a number. "The doctors on his way"

Serenity was crying hysterically. Anuket slowly walked out from the elevator. Her eyes were welling up. Joey was one of the nicest guys she knew and she didn't want to lose him. Damn that Malik! If anything happened to Joey, she would make sure that he paid for it dearly.

Malik was sweating profusely with an outraged look on his face. He had won this duel only because Joey was too weak from Ra's attack and passed out before he could order an attack on him.

"I almost lost to that amateur! A pathetic wannabe duelist with no talent whatsoever… or so I thought. If I can barely defeat Wheeler, then how the hell am I supposed to defeat Yugi? Well it won't happen ever again!"

He stepped onto the platform elevator and pressed the button making it descend. Malik felt sick at his pitiful performance. He could feel the bile rising in his throat and covered his mouth with his hand as he almost threw up. He swallowed hard trying to regain his composure.

Those fools were trying to revive their friend. It was hopeless. He looked at Anuket standing by the elevator, and judging by the expression on her face, she knew it was hopeless too. He walked towards her and smirked. She noticed someone looking at her and turned to face Malik directly.

"One down…" he whispered seductively in her ear, holding up his index finger for her to see. He ran his fingers through her hair and made his way towards the elevator.

Once Malik was out of the vicinity, Anuket ran towards her friends who were bent over their companion. Tristan was shaking Joey ferociously, but he remained motionless, his cards were scattered everywhere. Anuket's eyes were watering profusely now making her vision blurry. She tried calling to him along with everyone else, but it was no use. She wished that she could do something to help him, but she couldn't, unless…

Anuket leant in closer to Joey hoping she wouldn't catch anyone's attention. She began to blink rapidly until a single tear trickled down her cheek and fell onto his arm. She waited patiently for something to happen, wiping her eyes and cheeks with a sleeve. It had been a few minutes now.

"Look! He's breathing again!" shouted Yami.

Anuket widened her eyes in amazement and relief and stared at Joey, who as Yami said, was breathing again, only just. She let out a shaky sigh of relief but knew he wasn't out of danger yet. He was in a very weak condition and if Malik defeated the pharaoh, he would be sure to finish what he started. The doctors finally arrived with a stretcher and lifted the patient onto it before rushing him off to the infirmary.

"Will he be alright doctor?" asked Yami anxiously.

"We need to get him to a hospital" replied the doctor gravely. "We just don't have the equipment we need to look after someone in this critical condition"

"Then call the hospital and have them send over a chopper!" shouted Tristan loudly.

"We can't do that" said a meek voice from the doorway. It was Mokuba. "For some reason we can't get through to the mainland. We're trying our best though…"

Tristan looked furious. "Well try harder then!"

Yami and Duke had to hold him back from grabbing the young boy. It wasn't Mokuba's fault they couldn't contact the hospital, but no one could reason with Tristan when he was like this. Despite all the arguments he and Joey had in the past, they were the closest friends you could ever set eyes on, and it killed him to know there was nothing he could do to help.

"This is turning out worse then I thought it would" said Anuket in a low voice. "I can't believe this is happening…"

Yami clenched his fist into a tight ball and pounded the wall making a loud bang echo around the room. "Why did he do this!" he growled in frustration. "Joey made sure that he was the first one to duel against Malik. I should have stopped him!"

Tea stood up and walked over to comfort him. "Yami, he would have done it anyway. You know how stubborn Joey is. And besides, he wanted to save Mai. He had his own reasons…"

"Well I'll make sure that his efforts weren't in vain. I will stop Malik if it's the last thing I do!" promised Yami.

"Malik only won because his opponent passed out" started Anuket. "That's not skill, that's just luck! You will beat him hands down. You're the most talented Duelist on this ship. At least you've had a chance to see his strategy before you duel him"

"Yeah, he seems to have a lot of cards that enable him to bring Ra back from the graveyard" said Duke thoughtfully crossing his arms. "Maybe you can work with that" he suggested.

"Yes, but he has also seen my strategy. It will be a very tough duel indeed and it's not certain that I will even get to duel him. I still have to defeat Kaiba" said Yami.

"Speaking of which, you should prepare yourself for the next duel right now" recommended Ishizu.

"Yes you're right. Take care of Joey for me. I need to defeat Kaiba and win Obelisk the tormentor. I will need all the powerful cards I can get if I am to face Malik's winged dragon of Ra"

Yami had been gone for over an hour now and there were still no signs of Joey waking up. Anuket was growing very impatient now. How long could it possibly take to play a game of duel monsters? Sure it was Kaiba against Yami, the duel of the century she had heard someone say earlier, but this was ridiculous! She didn't know if she could stand waiting here much longer. Serenity kept bursting into floods of tears at regular intervals and Tristan was pacing around like a caged lion that hadn't been fed for months. He looked like he could kill something, anything. The entire scene before her was so unbelievably depressing she couldn't bear it.

"I think im going to go and watch the duel" said Anuket quietly.

She stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her. Once outside, Anuket leaned against the wall and took a deep breath trying to make sense of the situation, but it only made her feel worse. she stretched on the spot, reaching into the air with her good arm. She had been sitting for too long and needed the exercise anyway. Suddenly Anuket heard her name being mentioned in the room she had just left. She couldn't help but listen to what was being said about her. The Egyptian girl gently pressed her ear against the door.

"Some friend she is! You would have thought she'd stay here and wait for Joey to wake up" said Tristan angrily.

"Tristan, people deal with things in their own way. Leave her alone. She's worried about Joey too. She tried to help" replied Tea wearily.

"Wow" drawled Tristan sarcastically. "She tried to wake him up by calling his name, big deal!"

"Tristan stop it! That isn't fair!" defended Tea.

"I'll tell you what isn't fair! Joey and Mai are in a coma and there's no way of telling if they'll ever wake up again! Things all started to go wrong when 'she' came along! I admit that I had a crush on her at first, but that was before I found out she was engaged to Marik!" seethed Tristan.

"Correction, she's betrothed to him, there's a difference" said Tea. "She doesn't love him"

"Whatever! She's not even a proper friend! She's just a tagalong! It's her fault that Joey and Mai are like this! I bet she could have stopped Malik any time, but she didn't and she even had the nerve to cry! She doesn't give a damn at all!"

Standing outside, Anuket was stunned. She knew that things would never be the same once they found out about her and Marik. But never for one minute did she believe they would actually blame her for this. Anuket felt like crying, but the tears wouldn't come. It was like she didn't have the energy anymore, she felt cold and numb. Once again she felt alone and unwanted, just as she did when she was growing up in Egypt and her parents didn't believe her when she told them Marik was being nasty to her. Anuket turned down the corridor and headed towards the tower, not wanting to hear any more of Tristan's uncalled for insults.
Back in the infirmary, Ishizu was at boiling point.

"How dare you say such a thing about Anuket! If it wasn't for her, Joey would be dead now!"

Tristan turned to face Ishizu, as did everyone else.

"Anuket saved my brother?" asked Serenity looking up at the Egyptian woman.

"Yes she did. She failed to mention this to you all earlier, but the tombkeepers are not the only clan out there. Anuket is a member of the Heka clan. They deal with many magical items and texts throughout Egypt's ancient past. She knows several healing spells and remedies" explained Ishizu. "Why do you think she had connections with my brother in the first place?"

"She knows how to use magic?" asked Duke in awe before receiving a nod from Ishizu confirming his answer. "That's cool…"

"Her surname, Benu, is the ancient Egyptian word for Phoenix or bird of Ra. as you may or may not know, Phoenix tears have incredibly strong healing powers. Some say that they can even bring people back from death. You said yourself that you saw Anuket crying, but did you notice how she leant over Joey so her tears would fall on him?"

Silence filled the room. Tristan couldn't reply to this revelation. Had he been so blind that he was willing to blame the very person that saved his best friends life?

"Yeah! I hope you feel bad!" scolded Tea. "It's just as well you didn't say all this in front of Anuket! She would never have forgiven you!"

"I hope you show her more respect and gratitude in the future. Everything she's done, she has done it for others. She is always putting herself in danger to help other people. A habit I wish she'd break" said Ishizu despairingly.

"Yeah… im sorry… I had no idea" muttered Tristan shamefacedly. "I'm such a jerk…"

"You are" confirmed Serenity.

On the top of the tower, a fierce battle was raging between the two duelists. Anuket could have sworn she saw the outline of the two gods on the top of the tower. When she arrived at the top though, they were gone. It was approaching the end. She could feel it.

Anuket looked around at the strange sight before her. There was a hologram of an ancient roman arena. The crowds sitting in the seats were all cheering for Kaiba. What a surprise! She rolled her eyes and walked to the side of the platform to get a better view. She noticed a certain sandy blonde standing behind her, poking his head through the hologram. Anuket turned and boldly walked towards him with a challenging look gracing her features.

"I hear you would have lost the last duel if Joey hadn't passed out" she taunted.

"I hear he has yet to regain consciousness" he retorted.

"I hear that you're going to lose this tournament. You were lucky last time, but the pharaoh is a much stronger opponent. One that won't pass out so easily. I understand that's how you win these games, because you don't have any talent whatsoever"

"I hear that if a certain young woman doesn't hold her tongue, she will face a rather unpleasant punishment. Her future husband and master doesn't take kindly to insubordination and disrespect"

"You make insubordination sound like a bad thing" she replied casually.

Anuket didn't care anymore. Malik didn't scare her now and she wasn't about to let him do so in the future. Right now, she contented herself with arguing with him. Before long, Anuket was sure Malik would grow tired of her tantrums and change his mind about marrying her. If he won, she would rather be sent to the shadow realm with the others. But he saw through her.

"I see what you're trying to do my dear, but it won't work. In fact, despite what I said a moment ago, these little exchanges between us really turn me on…" whispered Malik, licking his lips.

"I'm happy that I please you so. Feel as turned on as you like, because in a few hours Marik will be back and you will be nothing more then an unpleasant memory"

Anuket crossed her arms and leant against the wall, giving Malik one last glare before turning her attention back to the duel. Malik opened his mouth to say something to her but was stopped by her finger being placed on his lips.

"Now now sweetheart. I'm trying to watch the duel. Be a darling and shut up" said Anuket in a sweet voice.

Malik's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she began to play with his ear. He tried to ignore what she was doing but quickly gave in to the pleasurable sensation on his skin. Any form of physical contact from her was welcome at this point, even if she was trying to mess with him. He leant against the wall next to Anuket, closing his eyes, allowing her to continue her massage on his ear. Her gentle touch was driving him insane with desire, but he knew she was doing it to prove a point.

Anuket held a power over him like she did with his weaker half and she knew it. He knew it also, but would never allow her to use it to her advantage if it meant his downfall.

"I will allow her to believe that she is the one in control… for now" thought Malik before losing himself to her touch completely.

Joey had been twitching for a short while now. Everyone had gathered round him, calling for him to wake up. Tristan, being the overly enthusiastic pal that he was, began to slap him. he lifted joey up and dragged him over to the window.

"Come on Joey! Don't you wanna see Yami beat Kaiba and Malik? You'll miss everything if you spend all day sleeping!" he complained.

This seemed to provoke a reaction from the blonde.

"Come on Joey!" called Tea getting in on things. "Remember the promise you and Yami made to see each other in the finals?"

A low groan came from the young man held up by Tristan. "Urggggh…."

"Oh yeah! Results!" cheered Tristan. "Let's get him up and running!"

Anuket was growing very weary of this little act. Malik was practically asleep now from her 'massage'. His eyes were shut and he kept nodding off for a few minutes. She grinned as she thought how simple this plan was. Malik had never seen the pharaoh duel before now. The main reason he came to watch was to see his strategy and Anuket knew this. She came up here with the sole purpose of distracting him.

At first she planned on arguing with him, but it was clear she could not do it for long. She didn't like talking to him because he kept making references to their 'glorious future together' Anuket realised that the only way she could cut him off from reality, was by using a method told to her in secrecy by Ipet.

Ipet seemed to be a jack of all trades when they were in Egypt. She did all sorts of weird and wonderful things, which was probably the main reason Anuket came to spend most of her time with her in the first place. She remembered a particular conversation she had with her once. It was about massages and how certain parts of the body affected others. In this case, Anuket was taught that by touching a mans ears with gentle circular motions, it would make him sleepy and more controllable.

It seemed to be working. All she had to do was make sure he didn't fall on her. Suddenly from the corner of her eye, she saw a group of people run up. One of them made Anuket smile broadly. It was Joey. He was awake now. He called to Yami, letting him know he was okay. Joey looked around and turned white when he saw Anuket next to Malik. So did everyone else.

Anuket put a finger to her lips and smirked at them. She looked at Malik who was somehow asleep while standing with a very contented expression on his face, and imitated him by drooping her head, then making out she had woken up suddenly. She nodded her head towards the duel and stifled laugh.

Joey nodded in realisation before turning back to his pals.

"She's made da guy fall asleep. He wont be able ta see Yami's strategy if he's asleep! Clever girl" he said laughing

"Yeah…" muttered Tristan, feeling bad about what he said earlier.

They had told Joey what had happened. He wasn't at all happy when he found out that he had lost. For some reason he believed that he had won the duel against Malik. He had even checked on Mai to see if she had woken up yet. He was surprised to hear how Anuket had revived him. He couldn't get it through his head that she had powers of her own and belonged to a clan similar to that of Marik. Joey immediately decided to go and watch the rest of the duel after that. He wanted to thank her for saving his life. There was a little problem with the doctors from the mainland. Mokuba had managed to get through to them and had a helicopter from Kaiba corp sent over with a stretcher to carry him back.

He would wait until he could see her on her own. Then he would tell her. After the duel.

It took a while, but Yami had finally won the duel. It had all been down to the last few cards in the deck thanks to a magic card played by Kaiba. He had to choose his cards carefully. Fortunately he had chosen his hand correctly and defeated his opponent with a momentous move. Kaiba, to say the least, was not at all happy.

"Take it!" growled the ceo as he threw his Egyptian god card towards the victor.

Yami caught it with ease. He watched as Kaiba stormed off, with Mokuba following closely in his stead. He flicked through his deck and pulled out Slipher the sky dragon. He held the two cards together and admired them.

"Just one more to go" he said looking at Malik.

Anuket had joined up with the group to praise the pharaoh's win. Malik however was slowly waking up again, completely unawares of where he was. He shook his head and focused on his surroundings. By the time he was able to walk, he realised that he the only one up there. Everyone else had long since disappeared.

"Argghhh!" roared Malik in frustration. He hadn't seen how the duel ended. Who won in the end?

"Curse that woman!" he thought angrily. "She's cleverer then I thought"

He felt humiliated. Everyone must have seen him sleeping like a baby, and she must have laughed along with them. He allowed her to use him the way she used his other half! He promised himself that he would never fall for a dirty trick like that. Malik stormed towards the elevator. Whatever the result, he still had a chance to defeat the pharaoh.

It would soon be time for the final duel of the tournament.

All done. One more chapter of Yami Malik then all will be well with the world. Or will it? You'll have to wait until next Wednesday to find out.