Chapter 22

After a hard day of dueling, the stats were listed like the following: 1st Yugi Moto, 2nd Marik Ishtar, 3rd Illidan Stormrage, 4th Seto Kaiba, 5th Marie O'Dell, 6th Noa Kaiba, 7th Bakura Ryou, 8th Joey Wheeler, 9th Mai Valentine, and 10th Bandit Keith.

Yugi had won his duel against Bakura, as did Marik with an easy duel with Mai. Noa had dueled Marie, but lost to her in the end. Joey beat Bandit Keith badly, thus causing Keith to lose more ground. Finally, Illidan and Seto had dueled. Illidan had won a hard fought battle and became the first double champion in the history of Duel Monsters.

That night, a party was thrown for Illidan winning both titles. Almost everyone congratulated Illidan on his victory.

Yugi was first to say "Congratulations Illidan. I'm glad you won."

Smiling, Illidan replied "Thanks Yugi. I'm really glad I won too. Seto was an excellent opponent too. It's amazing that I beat Obelisk."

Smiling at his friends comment, Yugi said "Yeah, the Egyptian God Cards are powerful. You should be careful though, for they are stronger than you think."

Nodding, Illidan responded with "Yeah, I guess I should."

About that time, Marie walked over and kissed Illidan on the cheek and said "My hero!"

Illidan had to laugh at that comment, yet blushed due to it as well. Throughout the night, the party continued on till it was finally time for everyone to go to bed. Illidan went to his room and set both his titles down on his coffee table. Then he slipped his Duel Disk off and set it beside the titles.

Once he made sure everything was taken care of for the night, he brought his Millennium Key out of it's concealment. He then created the cloak of concealment around himself. Quietly, Illidan opened his door and went into the hall. Slowly, he pad down the hall till he finally came to where Marie's room was.

Silently, he opened her door and walked in, checking to see if he could see her. He couldn't see her in the front part of the room, so he walked on into the bedroom to find Marie sitting on her bed, seemingly waiting for him. He then released the veil of darkness that surrounded him to reveal himself to her.

Smiling, Marie said "About time you got here Illidan."

Illidan was quite shocked by this statement. Then he noticed that the Millennium Necklace was visible on Marie's neck. "So, she does possess it after all."

Lightly chuckling, he said "So, you saw that I was going to come tonight?"

Nodding, she replied "Yes, I've been expecting you to come for quite a while. I was wondering why you hadn't come to talk to me sooner though."

Rubbing the back of his head, he said "Sorry I didn't. I kept thinking Ishizu was the holder of the Millennium Necklace, and I had to wait for my chance to talk to her. Then I found out today she didn't have it anymore. She told me she gave it to it's true owner. I immediately figured out who it was since my memories have returned to me about the past. I remember that long ago, in ancient Egypt, we were both serving under the pharaoh, Yami. We both were given a Millennium Item each, and were put in charge of helping keep peace within Egypt. I was given the Millennium Key and you the Millennium Necklace. And like now, we both loved each other very much. I remember so much from that time, the good and the bad. Unfortunately, my memories are not fully restored. They just come to me in visions from the Millennium Key at different times."

Smiling, she replied "Yes Illidan, they will continue to slowly return. The Millennium Necklace has shown me all of my past memories as well. I've seen what happened in ancient times, and I've seen what is to happen in this tournament, well, to a certain extent."

Puzzled, Illidan asked "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Marie responded with "I can't see who faces Gozaburo. It's confusing because I've had five visions with four different people facing him. You faced him in two of my visions. The others were who faced him were Yami, me, and Marik. I'm just not sure who will face Gozaburo. It could be either of us, or anyone else for that matter."

Thinking for a moment, Illidan said "Hmm, we need to figure out how to stop him. I don't want what happened in the past to happen again."

Illidan was staring at Marie and remembered his visions of that frightful battle with Gozaburo over the Millennium Crown. He had nearly lost her in that battle, and he blamed himself for not being able to protect her that day. He would never allow that to happen in this new life with her. He'd die before he'd allow Marie to come to harm by Gozaburo this time.

Curious, he asked "Marie, you are the true reincarnation of yourself from ancient Egypt, correct?"

Lightly giggling, she replied with "Yes silly. Are your memories that jumbled up that you can't remember me?"

Sighing, he replied "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure. I didn't want to have another hunch like I had had about the owner of the Millennium Necklace."

Smiling, Marie walked closer to him and said "Illidan, we've been separated from each other for so many years. I've missed you so much."

They then embraced each other in a tight hug. Illidan held her tightly, never wanting to let go. As he did, more memories of how things were with him and her in ancient times flowed into his mind. It only made sense that in their reincarnated lives that they'd cross paths once again. Illidan had always felt so alone in his reincarnated life, but had no idea why. Then he met Marie, and he felt as if something deep within was reclaimed, like something he had lost so long ago was back with him again. Of course, he realized what he had been missing when he received his Millennium Key again and his memories showed him visions of him and Marie in ancient times. It seemed almost like destiny that they fell in love again in their new lives. At long last, they had finally come full circle in their lives.

Slowly, both released each other. Staring into her beautiful brown eyes, Illidan remembered so many good things that he had experienced with Marie in the present and past. Their first kiss, their first date, and so many other things that they had done along the way. He felt nothing but pure love for her, and knew she felt the same for him. Deep in his heart, Illidan hoped things wouldn't repeat like in the past. He had no idea even if he or Marie had died in the past from their battle with Gozaburo, but it mattered not. It only mattered now that he and Marie were together again.

Realizing he needed some sleep for the next day, he said "Marie, my beautiful …"

Marie put her finger up to his lip, silencing him. They then kissed one another slowly and finally broke away. Staring at her face, Illidan wondered why it was she loved him so much and why he could never get enough of her.

Finally, he said "Marie, I must go."

Knowing this, she said "I know. I love you Illidan, and will always."

Nodding, Illidan replied "I love you too Marie. I promise you that I'll always be there for you, and shall always protect you. Good night."

Smiling, she responded with "Good night."

After kissing her hand, Illidan then pulled the veil of darkness back around himself. He then left her room and slowly walked up the hall to his room. Once there, he silently went into his room and let his cloak of darkness fade. He then prepared for bed and finally slid underneath the covers and hoped to dream of something peaceful this time.