Hey, sorry for the long silence. thanks to getting locking in the house now I've got more time to work on this story. I hope you're all healthy and staying safe. With all the quarantine, I hope this helps with the boredom

Special thanks to batousaigirl16 for editing. I don't own Yugioh, only my OCs.

Enjoy:)

Chapter 72

Domino City, around 13 years ago

Yugi finished bringing the last stack of books down to the foyer. He was sure grandpa had put his deck down here. It had been confiscated after grandpa caught Yugi opening the starter packs in the back of the shop so that they couldn't be sold. It had been a whole week and Yugi still hadn't been able to locate his deck anywhere in the house. The only place it could be was down here.

Grandpa was busy in the shop and Airi was at her friend's house so she wouldn't be back for hours. Piling the final book on top of the stepstool Yugi carefully scaled the top of the pile of dictionaries and other 'boring books' he'd taken from the living room. Even with these, he could barely touch the bottom box on the shelf. Standing on tiptoe and steadying himself by grabbing the bottom of the shelf, Yugi pulled a chopstick from his back pocket and proceeded to use it as a hook to maneuver some of the boxes.

They seemed to shift, but they were too big. Stepping back a little on the boxes he studied his options. If he was going to move one of those it would come crashing down and grandpa was sure to hear him. He'd need to pick the best option and then search it and be gone before grandpa came. None of the boxes looked special, except for one of them which said puzzles. That would be the spot to hide something.

Leaning back up Yugi slipped his chopsticks under the box moving it back and forth, inching the box towards the edge. The box contents moved with a thud, sending the box sliding towards the edge of the shelf. Yugi tried to move but the box shot forward hitting him on the head as he lept sideways. Giant boring books slid off the chair with a crash and the contents of the box exploded around him.

Squinting out from under his arm shielding his head to survey the damage. Small boxes of cardboard puzzle pieces scattered all over the place, while the books had landed in a giant messed crinkled pages pile. The biggest mess came from a gold box that had landed by the stairs. Gold shapes spilled out of it. Footsteps came from the shop and the door leading to the back of the shop and Grandpa burst through the door

"Yugi, what happened?"

Yugi looked around for any excuse but there wasn't anything. "I, um, was." he looked down at his hands. "I was trying to find my deck."

Grandpa came over, gently moving Yugi's bangs inspecting his face. "You got quite a bump forming." Pulling Yugi up to his feet he gave him another look over. "I told you can't get your deck back for another week, didn't I?" Yugi nodded, still watching the floor. "Go get an ice pack and then clean up this mess. I'll put it back on the shelf . just clean up the rest of it, alright?"

Relieved he wasn't going to be in trouble, Yugi hurried up the stairs. After the pounding on his head had faded he was back to clean it all up. Everything was easy to clean up, moving the boring books and then the smaller puzzles. Then came to the gold box. Picking up the pieces turned into fascination. Yugi had never seen pics like this before. There was no rhyme or reason to the shapes. Only one with an eyeball was clearly different from the rest. It didn't realize grandpa had come in and was watching him until Yugi heard him sniff. Yugi jumped up, apologizing for not cleaning all of it up. Grandpa dismissed it, sitting on the stairs to tell Yugi about this gold puzzle.


Present Day

It had been a month and everything had already fallen into a routine. Yugi and his friends did their best to enjoy their summer before starting their Senior Year. Yugi's friends seemed to be doing their best to keep him too busy to think about Yami leaving. He appreciated their efforts, but the funny thing about memories is they aren't considerate of his time; They appear when they want.

Airi had been accepted for a job at the Domino Museum. Not the position she'd applied for, but the management had offered a part-time position organizing the collection and leading guided tours. She seemed happy for the busy time, alternating her time between work and the shop. She also encouraged Yugi to spend time out of the shop and with his friends but didn't take her own advice.

Everyone did their best to stay busy, move on from the insanity they'd live through and get on with their lives.


Airi rubbed her shoulder as she walked home from work. Moving boxes for a week was doing a number on her shoulders. The museum was rearranging the storage to make room for new collections. Being the new employee Airi got tasked with moving all the boxes around the basement storage to new locations, condensing objects into fewer boxes, and throwing out questionable trash left in the dirt collecting heaps around the boxes.

All in all, Airi didn't mind the work. It gave her a chance to reflect and try to comprehend the events of the last few weeks. She tried to keep most of it positive. She's finally been to Egypt and was able to share it with her brother and friends. Seto had been at least civil when they parted, though he still had given Yugi some distrusting glances. Thankfully he'd kept his word and hadn't called Yugi a cheater again.

Even with these positives, there was no way of keeping away the shoots of pain in her heart. The destruction of Ancient Egypt. Burning corpses. Yami walking away through the portal.

Her phone went off. Pulling out of her pocket her eyes widened at the words "Mokuba" flashing across the screen.

She answered. "Mokuba?"

"Hey, Airi. You busy?"

"Ah," she glanced around the sparsely unpopulated sidewalk. "No."

"Good. I'm sending a car to pick you up."

"How-" Airi broke off as a black limo came to the curb. "Ok, see you later I guess."

The ride to KaibaCorp seemed longer. Airi attributed this to confusion. She texted Yugi to make sure she knew where she was.

Mokuba met her in the lobby. "I'm glad you could come."

"Did I have a choice?"

Mokuba ignored that. "Let's go to my room."

The building had changed a lot since she was there. Several updates and renovations had changed every hall and room into a tech paradise. Mokuba noticed her staring and grinned.

"Cool isn't it? Seto's been branching KaibaCorp out of games into other industries."

"Seto around?" Airi expected Kaiba to descend from the ceiling or appear dramatically from a sliding tech door.

"He's been really busy lately. Planning something really big."

They reached Mokuba's room. Posters, mainly KaibaCorp promotions and duel monster artwork. Mokuba sat on his bed and motioned to Airi to sit on the bed next to him. They sat in silence, Airi waiting for Mokuba to speak first.

"Airi." Mokuba asked. "I wanted to ask you a favor."

"What is it?"

"Seto's been really moody lately, and I mean more than usual."

Airi smirked. "I didn't know that was possible."

Mokuba didn't acknowledge the comment. "Did something happen in Egypt I need to know about?"

Airi's smile faded, chills running through her skin. "What did he tell you?"

"Not much. Lots of dueling and a send-off. He's been looking at me weird since he got back. He's also been spending a lot more time with his duel simulators."

Airi considered for a long moment. She wasn't about to say they saw a burning Mokuba. Even then, she didn't know what she could say that didn't sound insane.

"Does it have to do with that spirit stuff Yugi's been a part of?"

"You know about that?"

Mokuba cocked an eyebrow. "I haven't been spacing out of the last few years. I know Seto doesn't acknowledge it, but I know somethings been going on. Monster's flying around, people falling over unconscious, does it have to do with that?"

Airi took a long breath. "Alright, I'll explain, but I warn you it sounds unbelievable in several spots."

Recounting a shorthand account of the past two years was harder than she thought. Simplifying the adventures and struggles while keeping her voice steady was faster than she thought. Mokuba stared at her wide-eyed as she finished. Airi had kept some of the information to herself, mainly her relationship with Yami; there was no way of explaining that in shorthand.

"So," Mokuba said after she finished. "Yugi's just lost a friend. Why is Seto so upset then?"

"He's probably upset he didn't get to duel Yami before he left."

"I guess. But there's gotta be something else. Airi, could you talk to him? I'm sure you'd be able to do something. I don't know how to help."

Airi considered. Every time she and Seto talked nowadays they were always testy with each other. She had to say something. Mokuba was really worried about his brother.

"I've always found what's helped me feel better is when Yugi plays a game with me. Maybe if you offered to play with Seto that might help him."

Mokuba's face fell. "I can't play with Seto. I'm not on the same level as any of you."

"I could help you become better if you want."

"Really!"

"We can start now if you're up for it."

After a few rounds of duel monsters, Mokuba was getting discouraged so Airi suggested changing games to chess. Mokuba relaxed considerably with the change of games. He managed to win two of the six games, improving more and more through each of the games. By the time she arrived home in the Kaibacorp limousine, Mokuba seemed much happier.


Yugi searched through the closet at the bottom of the stairs. Grandpa's version of 'Summer Activity' was to clean everything on-site before Yugi went back to school. Even though no one had thought about updating the Christmas decorations or organizing old boxes for years gramps got one of his whim and ordered Yugi downstairs to clean the closet.

Door propped open to let any hint of a breeze and wearing a tank top and shorts to combat the afternoon heat Yugi brushed the sweaty bangs out of his face and nudged another bag of discarded junk. How did they fit all of this down here? There were things down here he'd never seen in his life. Leaning against the door frame he surveyed his work. The bottom half of the closet was separated into 'keep' and 'charity' piles with absolute trash squished together in the bin setting on the bottom step. He rechecked to make sure the box of beads on top was closed properly. He didn't need it spilling everywhere and Airi killing him for losing beads when she got home. That's if she noticed.

Since they'd returned from Egypt, Airi seemed distant. She responded to the concern with a smile and that she was just tired. Yugi thought she sounded like a broken record. Too often she'd stare out the windows at nothing. Yugi had hoped to get her involved with his friends before school started, but Airi had accepted her job at the museum so Yugi hadn't been able to see too much of her since. He was sure she was avoiding being home. She wouldn't admit it, but Yugi suspected it was him she was avoiding. He didn't exactly blame her. He had banished her almost-boyfriend to the afterlife. He knew what he'd done was the right thing to do but that didn't make his own guilt go away. He wanted to talk to her about it, but she wasn't ready. She's even declined his offer to a duel, a first.

Yugi shook himself. This wasn't getting the work done. Gramps would chew him out if he was caught slacking. All that was left to do was the top shelves. Yugi looked over the crammed shelves with boxes with multiple labels from repurposing, with the old one having an x over it. A pang of realization shot through Yugi as some of the boxes were marked 'Jiro's Things' meaning they were probably filled with remnants of his dad's life along with things from their family's old apartment.

Yugi nudged the step stool over to the closet with his foot before stepping up. Pulling out the first box proved to be tricky. Gently wiggling it out, Yugi stepped off the stool, placing the box on the third step before removing the top.

Inside were carefully packed frames divided by old washcloths. The majority of them were pictures of younger Gramps, Grandma Misaki, and Yugi's dad through the years in dated settings and different degrees of faded photographs. Fascinated, Yugi took out each picture, his smile growing at each new image. He regretted not cleaning out the closet before this. He knew family photos were kept down here but this many? Replacing the photographs in the box and stashing it in a safe corner of his 'keep' pile he retrieved more boxes marked 'pictures' going through them.

The shadows grew long by the time Yugi got to an envelope of loose photographs. Carefully he pulled out the pictures and began flipping through them. The edges were yellow-brown with age, but the images inside were clear. They seemed to have been taken around the time Gramps was still doing archaeology. A few shots of Solomon with a much younger Prof. Hawkins in front of several tombs and statues. Airi would get a kick of these. The time period shifted. Gramps and grandma at duel tournaments, back when they used small tables and mats. Another shift in frozen time was the early days of the game shop with baby Jiro.

Yugi's fingers froze in mid-movement as he stared down at the next picture. The setting was the kitchen upstairs, barely changed from how it was now. Middle-aged Gramps sat at the table with his son who was probably around 12. Gramps was laughing while Jiro glared at the floor, arms folded refusing to smile. Spread out across the table next to a familiar gold box were the pieces of the Millenium Puzzle.

Blood pounding in his ears, Yugi flipped the picture over. In a fancy handwriting, clearly not grandpa's, the words 'Jiro gives up on putting together the Millenium Puzzle 19XX'.

Yugi gaped at the words. His dad had tried before him to put the puzzle together? His dad had been a genius when it came to puzzles. Why did he fail at this one? Yes, Yugi took eight years to construct the puzzle but had done it. Maybe he'd been so desperate to get a wish granted and free time.

He smiled at the picture, placing the group back into the envelope. It was good to know he was part of the proud tradition of Muto men putting together challenges. He wasn't sure if he wished his dad had done the puzzle so the last few years weren't so painful, or grateful because he wouldn't have made his friends and met Yami. maybe dropping the puzzle on his head as a kid had muddled his brain.

Yugi stopped, realization hitting him. He looked up, taking another hard look around him at the foyer.

"Yugi, you're an idiot," he muttered.

Putting the pictures down on the steps he went back to the closet shifting boxes searching for the box he was sure would be there. Yugi shifted boxes, searching. They couldn't have thrown it out. He turned the next box and grinned as he saw the scrawl of 'puzzles 'across the side. A grinned in triumph.

"Yami you've got to see-"

Yugi trailed off, looking back at the empty foyer as his grin faded. He turned back to the box. What was he thinking? He already knew the puzzle box was upstairs in his room. The puzzle itself was gone. All this was a box filled with toys.

"You ok?"

Looking down Yugi saw Airi standing in the open doorway. He hadn't realized how late it was getting.

"Ah, yeah." Yugi shifted. "Just cleaning things up."

Airi nodded, pushing hair out of her eyes. "Let me get changed and I'll help you."

"No, I'm fine. The gang's coming over so I'll get them to help me out."

"Oh, ok." Airi smiled, not hiding the tiredness in her voice. "Have fun." with that she's gone.

Yugi looked back at the box and turned it so the label was facing the wall and pushed it to the back of the shelf.


Airi got the rest of the evening to herself. Grandpa had an evening out with his friends, as did Yugi. Yugi offered that Airi come with his friends, but she declined. Thankfully Yugi had only nodded in understanding before he and the others tossed the trash bags out before heading out on the town. Airi watched them go from the window with a twinge of envy. Yugi was lucky to have friends to keep his mind off of things. Her hand went to her armband, fingers tracing the characters on the red bead.

Pulling out some of her old textbooks she flipped through the section on Egypt, her grin growing as she recognized pictures of locations they'd passed on their boat ride on the Nile or an inscription Nisara had explained more meanings behind the symbols. It was a good distraction for the first few hours but she began realizing she was staring off into space more and more, staring at the dining room table where she and Yami had tried to research more about his past life.

She picked up her last book, a book of translated inscriptions Pro. Hawkins had given her. She frowned at the cover, remembering Yami's comment on how terrible the grammar of some of the inscriptions was. That shouldn't be a deterrent, she reasoned. No one thought their writings would be preserved through the centuries to present day for picky professors, or pharaoh spirits, to criticize. She flipped through a few of them. Most seemed to be religious texts or hymns, but some were personal inscriptions, probably letters or poems.

Flipping through the poem section was the most enjoyable. Some were cringy, but the majority of them were sweet, describing the receiver as 'flower of my heart' or 'sun of my sky' in small paragraphs.

One of the pages had been dog-eared. Airi frowned. She didn't remember doing that. The poem on that page was short only a few lines at the very end of the section. Airi read it to the room, eye-widening as she went.

Queen of my heart, owner of my heart and eternal soul.

Protection follows you through life and the path of death.

The gods smile upon many years together with you.

My lotus in treacherous waters.

My love, my life.

Airi looked down at the attribution. 'Nameless Pharaoh' seemed to scream off the page. Airi pulled the pen she'd placed behind her ear and scratched the name out to replace it with 'Atem to Esset.'

It was then she realized there were indentations on the other side of the page as if someone else had already written on it. She turned the page to find a message written in pen on the blank page.

Airi, forgive me for writing this message in your book, but I wanted to make sure it was protected. I feel the end of my journey here on this earth is drawing to a close soon. I wanted to leave you something to remember me by. I know I'm a just fragment of a soul, but knowing you has made me feel complete. I can not voice everything I want to say but know I love you. Every bit of my soul which is truly myself belongs to you. Please, live your life to its fullest, for yourself. Never forget me. Yami.

Airi blinked back tears as her eyes rested on the last part of the message. A simple sketch of Yami's face, with his name in hieroglyphics along the side. It was a strange realization this was the only real image she had of Yami. She pulled her card-shaped locket from under her shirt and compared the image to the photo Yugi and Yami had taken with each of them in control of the body. The images were close, but the photograph still had hints of Yugi. in this drawing, simple as it was, there were more angular features. She could see hints of the spirit form in the drawing. A honking of a passing car made her look startled. It was getting darker hints of colors in the window. Snapping the locket and book shut, Airi ran all the way to the balcony, throwing the door open to reveal the colors of the sunset spreading across the sky. Airi stared at it as she leaned against the wall and slid down to a seated position. She let the book fall open to the spot her finger had been holding, Yami's image staring up at the sky along with her.

The tears came in full force and she didn't stop them. The colors blurred in the salty cascade down her cheeks, soaking her shirt collar. The sky darkened around her, the street lights' glow replacing the sun. Still, she stared up at the sky, tear tracks dry on her face.

A hand rested on her shoulder. Startled, she turned her head to find Yugi crouching down next to her, his own eyes shining.

"I see you found your message, too."

"Too?"

He closed the door, sitting down next to her. "He left mine in my gold box. I didn't find it until after, you know, our last duel."

Both siblings stared up at the sky. Stars peeked out behind the glow of the street lights. Fewer than Egypt, Airi noticed, but she knew the rest were there just out of sight

"So," Airi broke the silence. "What's the next move?"

"For me?" Yugi frowned at the sky as he collected his thoughts. "Keep living, I guess. Simple enough. Yami's saved my life enough times not doing my best would be ungrateful at this point."

Airi smiled. "He'd probably come back from the dead to smack you if you tried.

Both laughed.

"How about you?" Yugi said.

Airi looked at the book, fingers stroking the words lightly. "He wants me to move on." she swallowed. "I'm not ready to do that, not yet at least. But I will live the best I can. That will be my thanks for everything he's done for us." she carefully closed the book, holding it close to her chest in a hug. She mentally promised she'd keep this close as she could until she was ready to let go.


The news played in the background. No one was really paying attention except for Gramps and Airi. Yugi and his friends had taken a break from trying to find ways to waste the rest of their summer outside and were chilling on the floor. Tea and Tristan were in the middle of a game of Rummy, the score currently 5 to 4 for Tea. Joey kept trying to incorporate duel monsters into the game and had been banned from playing several rounds back, and Yugi was taking a break from card games for the evening.

Airi tapped Yugi on the shoulder and pointed to the TV. The news anchor talked about a breakthrough in archaeology that had just been announced by the British Museum. The banner under the anchor read 'Nameless Pharaoh Mystery Solved' before switching to an interview with the director of the museum.

"It's amazing." the director said. "All these texts and carvings with a blank cartouche and recently they have been filed in. My staff had no idea how this came to be. We've contacted other museums and they've experienced the same thing with Nameless Pharaoh artifacts. Now that we know this is not an isolated incident we are proud to announce that the name of the formerly Nameless Pharaoh has been discovered to be Atem."

The screen shifted again to the news anchor, who smiled. "Maybe they'll do a better job cleaning their artifacts next time."

Airi and Yugi exchanged knowing smiles.

The doorbell rang. Airi got up, wondering who would be calling this late. She opened the door and froze when she saw who it was.

"Mai?"

The blond woman gave a half-smile. "Hey. Sorry for the late hour, but I just got into town and-"

She got caught off by Airi throwing her arms around here.

"Where have you been?" Airi said. "I've been so worried about you and I couldn't locate the hide or hair of you." she pulled back. "Mai what's wrong?"

A tear slid down Mai's cheek. "I didn't think you'd want to see me?"

"Huh?" Airi suddenly remembered the last time Mai and their friends had seen her Mai had been on the Orichalcos side. Technically the last time Airi had seen her she'd been soul snatched and been a puppet of Dartz.

"Mai, it's so good to see you again. I'm just glad you are alright."

Mai finally smiled for real. "Me too."

Airi pulled her into the foyer and closed the door behind them. "So where have you been? We've all been worried sick."

"Well, after everything that happened I needed some time to think. Put my life in order." Mai sat on the third stair. "To be honest I couldn't bring myself to face you guys, after everything that happened with Dartz."

Airi nodded. "It's crazy around here as well."

"I heard about that," Mai said. "Saw the results of Kaiba's latest tournament. Your brother is sure kicking butt duel wise."

Airi nodded, allowing her friend to think that was the only adventure that had happened to the Muto household. "Yeah, he's been doing great. I hope he doesn't get too burned out."

"Well, he's got you and Tea to look after him right?" Mai's expression became uncomfortable. "Um, how has the gang been doing?"

Airi guessed the double meaning. "Joey's been doing good. He and Tristan haven't slowed down at all, on eating or getting into trouble."

Mai smiled. "That's good."

Airi glanced upstairs. "The group's here if you'd like to say hi."

Mai also glanced at the apartment but then shook her head. "Maybe some other time. I'd rather talk to him when he's not busy. That's why I'm here actually. Well, besides coming to see how you were doing. Do you have Joey's address?"

Airi caught herself trying to send a mental link message to Yugi to bring Joey downstairs. There really wasn't any tactful way of getting Joey to come down himself. "Yeah I think I have his address around here somewhere." she pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts. "Here." she held it out for Mai to copy into hers. "Are you sure you don't want to just talk to him now?"

Again, Mai shook her head. "It's getting late anyway."

Airi scrolled through her phone again, until she came up with a new contact screen. "Let me get your new number at least."

Mai agreed and they exchanged numbers. Airi considered texting Yugi, but she was bad at texting discreetly.

"Call me soon, alright," Airi said, pulling the blond into another hug.

"Promise." Mai left. Airi waved before closing the door.

"Airi." Yugi appeared at the top of the stairs. "Who was that?"

"Mai."

"Mai!"

There was a scrambling sound and Joey appeared in the doorway. "Did you just say Mai? She's here?"

"Yeah, she just left."

Joey pushed past her and headed for the door. Through the door, Airi could see Mai was just about to get on her motorcycle. Holding her helmet she stood frozen as Joey ran up until he was only a few steps away. They stared at each other in silence. By this point, the rest of Yugi's friends and Yugi were crowded around the doorway to watch.

Mai moved first, placing her helmet on the seat. She took a step towards Joey, who still hadn't moved. Again she froze, looking at the pavement between them. They couldn't hear what she was saying. The next moment Joey had closed the gap between them pulling her into a hug. Mai stood there frozen for a long moment before she broke down and returned his embrace.

Tea put her hands on the boys' shoulders and pulled them back into the house, while Airi quietly closed the door.


An invitation appeared in the mail. Airi paused when she noticed the KaibaCorp insignia on the seal. She guessed what it was before dropping it on the game shop counter. Yugi glanced up from the inventory lists, stared at the envelope, then looked up at his sister.

"It's for you," Airi said.

Yugi glanced back down. "It just says Muto. could be for either of us."

Airi sighed before Picking up the envelope and breaking the seal. Looking at the invitation she couldn't keep back a groan. She handed Yugi his, holding hers in her hand.

"Another Battle City Tournament?" Yugi read aloud.

"It's a franchise. It's got to continue."

"But he just held a tournament a few months ago."

"He's got the money."

Yugi glared at the paper. "Do I have to do it?"

"It's your choice." Airi put hers back in the envelope slipping it into a drawer. "Thought, it might give you closure."

Yugi looked at her. "For what?"

"Proof you are the King of Games." she paused. "An official duel without Yami."

Yugi glared at the floor. "I already dueled. I don't need closure."

Airi walked behind him, giving him a hug. "It's just a suggestion. Think it over at least." she let go and headed for the back.

"Airi."

She paused. "Yeah."

Yugi turned in his chair. "I'll do it if you do."

Airi swallowed. "I'll think about it." she disappeared into the back room.


A/N: Yep, now I've got to write a tournament. which means duels . . . oh boy. Anyway. Please review. Please stay safe and take care in these crazy times. Take care and God bless.