Sorry for making you wiait so long! The plan was to update the story this weekend, but my computer went wacko and we had to reboot, and as you might know, when you do it everything on the harddisc is lost, so I had nada, nothing! Now you say: why did you not move the files before rebooting! I had no chance, couldn't start up Windows.
But thanks to Nithela on my dear laptop is working faster now, and if my friend Chii (she's actually called that by us) hadn't had some of my fictions on her computer, you'd never got the chance to read this chapter.
Well well, that's it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor the lyrics to Run by Snow Patrol
Warnings: Fluff?
Now, please read! Please review! And please... have a good time!
Chapter 11
Normal POV
To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do
Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear
- Snowpatrol
"Hello there", Atemu still lied on his mattress when Mana tiredly sat up and grinned towards him.
"Good morning!" She stretched on her arms, but grimaced when she felt the pain from the big bruise, and that was enough for Atemu to be on the alert.
"Easy."
After changing clothes, the two friends found their way down to the kitchen there Yugi had been kind enough to make a big breakfast to both of them.
"Goog oning", the big-eyed man said while munching on a sandwich. "How… um, ait a minite!"
Mana giggled lightly as he swallowed and finally was ably to speak clearly.
"How are you Mana?"
"I'm fine, or at least better." She sat down in front of him and Atemu next to her.
"Do you want a sandwich?" He reached out for the bread.
"Coffee, tea or chocolate milk?" Yugi offered.
"Oh, such service, you do not need to help me…"
"We insist!" The men said in chorus and then grinned at each other before they went on to help Mana, who rested her head on the arm and sighed smiling.
When everything was fixed, Atemu felt that he hadn't given Yugi that much attention I a while, so he turned towards his other self.
"Did you have fun yesterday with Jounouchi and Honda?"
"Very!" Yugi lit up and began speaking all exalted. "We even got Otogi with us, first we saw that new movie that has come out, and then we went to the game hall, you should have seen…! No, you should have come with us, there was this pair that danced on the DDR machines and they were amazing."
"Really?" Atemu took a sip from his coffee and smiled.
"Yeah, but the guy wasn't that impressed when Honda and Otogi got a crush on his girlfriend and then…"
Yugi continued speaking hastily, but the Pharaoh had caught a glimpse of Mana. She sat there quietly, without hearing anything and munched on her sandwich, staring dreamingly through the window.
"Mana, how about going to the Kaiba Dome this afternoon so you can see us play Duel Monsters? It's open for all duelists today, and free too." Yugi had noticed that Atemu was totally gone, and observing Mana instead, and said woman was staring in another direction. So Yugi decided to interrupt Mana to make a chain reaction that woke his yami up. And it worked excellently.
"Mhm? I'd love to!" She turned her head around and beamed towards him as Atemu snapped up from his thoughts.
"A brilliant idea!" He nodded and drank up his coffee before he rose from the chair. "I'll go and get my deck immediately so that I can check it!"
"I said this afternoon!"
When they arrived at the dome, after playing games at home and walking in the park until the clock had passed 15.00, they halted in the entrance hall, looking at all the people who had come.
"Has Kaiba gone nuts, having free entrance?" Atemu shook his head.
"Seto isn't nuts, he just listened to me for once!" A black fluff had appeared from nowhere and was now standing in front of them.
"So it's like commercial, but in a good way?" Yugi smiled towards Mokuba, who looked annoyed at Atemu.
"Yup, now, are you going to duel?" His eyes glistened in expectation.
"Well, yeah…"
"Oh, that would be great! You have all your fans here today you know!"
"Um". Yugi went slightly red and became very nervous. "Maybe today…"
"…is a perfect day for us to duel." Atemu filled in when he saw that his aibou was about to say 'no, thanks' and leave the dome and once again escape publicity.
"Go and get them Yugi!" Mana cheered for him as they entered the big arena. The woman widened her eyes and whispered: "It's so big!"
"The Kaiba brothers always exaggerate things", Atemu said but when Mokuba glared coldly he added: "But this was of course in a good way."
They walked through the mass of people and found free chairs in the front row and sat down to watch the duels that took place on the field. It didn't take long before Yugi was asked (or rather begged) to duel. Atemu was of course expected to participate too, but he politely let them down.
"I think that Yugi need to get more confident", Atemu explained to a surprised Mana when he once again said no.
So instead they cheered for the short man, who won duel after duel and after winning a duel, he got to blushing sign things for the fans of him.
"Thank you Yugi!" The small kids gasped when they got back their pieces of paper.
"Um, anytime…!" He waved when the last persons left the dome. "How much is the clock?"
"About eight", Atemu looked at his watch. "Time surely knows how to fly when you have fun."
"I'm glad that you have had it fun, because that time is over now." A cold voice came floating and they looked up on the field. There, in his full pride, stood Seto Kaiba and glared down on them. "So, you pharaoh-wannabe, how about a real duel?"
"You got one." When Atemu quickly rose, Mana noticed the fierce burning in his eyes.
It was with excitement that Mana and Yugi followed the duel, and they gasped loudly when Seto summoned all his Blue-Eyes to then use the Polymerization-card to get Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and they gasped even louder when Atemu destroyed them.
"It seems like you'll never learn", the man grinned when he by tribute Dark Magician Girl and Gazelle summoned Dark Magician to the field. "And now, to end this duel… Dark Magician, use your Dark Magic Attack!"
"No!" Seto Kaiba would have banged his fists in a table if he had had one, but instead he acted cool and folded his arms. "Alright, so you won this time. I'll still take you down."
"Have you noticed, nisama has learned to control his temper better!" A proud Mokuba rushed up on the field to comfort his big brother, but halted promptly. "Why is that hologram still on the field?"
They all stared at the hologram of the Dark Magician who stood in the middle. Suddenly the tall figure turned his gaze towards Mana. But it was when he spoke they everybody jumped in surprise:
"Mana…"
"What is this?" Seto angrily went to find a control panel. "The holograms shouldn't malfunction like this."
"What if… it isn't a malfunction?" Yugi stared with dropped jaw at the purple clad magician.
"Master Mahado?" Mana rose from her seat and climbed up on the field, reaching out and touching him. "What are you doing here?"
"Pharaoh Seto need you, we all do. It was irresponsible to leave us like that."
"You mean… you're going to take me home?" Mana barely dared to look up into the tall man's eyes.
"Yes."
"NO!" Yugi sprung up on the field to. "But she just came! We though…" He looked at Atemu, who stared down on the ground with his golden bangs hiding his eyes. "We thought Mana would stay with us."
The Dark Magician turned towards Yugi's other self and bowed deeply.
"Pharaoh… please, Mana must follow with me."
"But…" Mana rushed past Mahado and halted in front of Atemu, and carefully looked up in his face through the bangs. "But you can come with me, right Atemu? You can return to Egypt and become our pharaoh again!"
"I do not belong in your world anymore." Smiling faintly, Atemu laid his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her green eyes. "But you and I will meet again, I promise you. Now, save Egypt together with Seto for me."
"Atemu…" Yugi shook there he stood.
"This is the way it has to be, aibou." He replied as Kaiba returned to his brother, not looking that impressed, but nobody cared.
"Mana, we must leave." The Dark Magician's voice had become softer and his apprentice nodded quietly.
"Thanks for meeting you and your friends, Yugi", Mana smiled warmly.
"Goodbye Mana and I'm still sorry for that shouting…"
"Yugi, friends never say goodbye." She walked over and gave him a hug before turning towards Atemu again. "I'll miss you."
"I will miss you too…" he hesitated a bit, but now was the final chance he had to speak the truth. "Not only because you are my closest female friend, my oldest friend… but for that I love you so much."
With blank eyes they hugged each other tightly and Atemu kissed her forehead.
"I love you too Pharaoh, I always did and I always will… our own unique love story", she whispered before breaking the hug. It was in that moment Mana started to faint away, and in slight panic she said: "Do you see me?"
"I'll always see you", he said as the young, brown-haired woman and her master disappeared, leaving no trace that they'd ever been there but unforgettable memories.
-
A few days later Sugoroku Mutou arrived outside the shop and he made his happy "ho ho" when he opened the doors and carried the bags into the house. It had been a wonderful trip to USA but also a very interesting one and he had a lot of photographs and souvenirs to show.
"Your old grandpa is home!" He called and heard how someone came running down the stairs.
"Gramps!" Yugi beamed towards him and hugged him warmly. "It has been so empty here without you!"
"Oh, but I haven't been away that long, have I?" Sugoroku chuckled. "Now, where is Atemu and Mana, I have something to show you all!"
"Um… Atemu is upstairs in his room and Mana… she has returned." His grandson didn't know how put it. "Her master came and got her."
"Oh, I see…" The old man nodded slowly. "But get Atemu, I still think he need to take a look at what I have here."
"Alright, I'll try." The short guy ran upstairs and carefully knocked on his yami's door.
"Yugi… could I please be alone?" Was heard from inside.
"Actually, no!" He burst in through the door and found Atemu sitting on his bed, looking at two cards that Yugi knew was Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. "You can't sit here all day, come on, Gramps has got something to show us!"
With some talking from Yugi, Atemu finally decided to join him. And when they came down into the kitchen there Sugoroku waited, he tried to show mild interest.
"There you are!" The grey-haired man then dived into his bag and when he appeared again he held a bunch of photos in his hand. "I think you'll find this very interesting."
He smiled his usual mystical and still comforting smile before leaving them.
"Oh, it's Egyptian artefacts!" Yugi said happily and went through the pictures, but stopped at one. "Atemu… look at this one! It seems to be some sort of tablet, I think."
"Hmm?" The taller one took the photograph and stared at it. It was picturing a typical Egyptian woman who held some sort of staff in her hand.
"What does it say?" Yugi looked curiously over his shoulder.
"It speaks of a powerful woman who became the pharaoh's lead spell caster", Atemu smiled when he read the hieroglyphs. "I couldn't have expected less from you, Mana."
"So you really fell in love with her?" Yugi sat down again, next to him.
"Not in that way you are speaking of, our love story was… no, is the finest between two friends."
The Pharaoh's hikari beamed warmly there he sat.
"Like a puzzle with only two pieces?"
Atemu nodded and carefully shuffled the two cards into his deck.
Believe it or not, that was the end of this story. Hope you've found it somehow not too bad. Anyway, it's been fun writing it and I've loved every review SO MUCH! You've really encouraged me to write more! Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Alright, I overdid it there, but you get the point, right? I'm a bit exalted!
Now, have it wonderful!
