Akia kept following the strange robed man named Shadi until he reached the city. It was a little harder to follow him with all the people in the marketplace. After a few shoves and protests, she finally found the man standing still, his back facing her. When she got closer, she noticed that he was talking to two people, a girl and a boy.

When Akia reached Shadi, he turned his head in shock and looked at her.

Shadi: "Why did you follow me?"

The two people that he was talking to also looked at Akia with surprised expressions and a little fear in their eyes. Akia looked more closely at the two of them. The girl looked like she was older than Akia, but the boy seemed like he was about the same age. Akia couldn't quite understand why, but she felt as though she met the boy before.

"Marik, we have to go back."

Marik: "But sis..."

Marik's sister seemed very worried about something. Akia obviously was completely clueless to the reason why. She just felt like she didn't want that boy to leave.

"So... your name is Marik?"

Marik got away from his sister's grip and got closer to Akia. He smiled at her and rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his white hair. Violet eyes met her black eyes.

Marik: "Yup... What's yours?"

"I'm Akia."

Akia smiled back at him and started fiddling with her feet.

"Marik, we're not supposed to talk to strangers. You know that!"

Marik's sister took his hand and dragged him away as he looked back at Akia. She started to follow them when Shadi stopped her.

Shadi: "You'll see him again."

She waved at the boy, tears filling her eyes. He waved back before both him and his sister disappeared in the crowd.

"Why... Why did he have to leave?"

Shadi: "It is not the time for you to know. Just know that you will see him again."

"How are you so sure?"

Shadi: "Because... You two have a shared past, therefore you will have a shared future."

Akia didn't quite get what he meant. All she understood was that, someday, she was going to see Marik again. She promised herself that she wouldn't let him go that easily ever again.

Shadi: "You should go back to your grandfather. He's starting to notice your absence."

"How do you know?"

Shadi: "I just do."

"Can you help me get back?"

Shadi: "Of course."

With that, she took Shadi's hand, much to his surprise, and let him lead the way.

As she reached the ruins site, her grandpa, worried sick about her, finally spotted her getting closer.

Sugoroku: "Akia! Where were you all this time?"

As soon as Shadi brought her back to the camp, he disappeared. Before she could wonder how he did that, her grandpa came running at her.

"I was looking around."

Just then, her grandpa noticed the millennium scale she held in her hands.

Sugoroku: "Where did you get that?"

"A nice man gave it to me."

Akia started tracing with her finger the eye of Anubis that was carved on her scale. She felt very attached to the item. Sugoroku recognized how the item was very similar to Yugi's puzzle, even though Yugi didn't solve that one yet. At least now Akia also had her own souvenir.

Sugoroku: "I'll forgive you this time, but don't wander off again like this."

"I won't, grandpa."

Sugoroku: "Good girl. Now, it's getting late. Let's go find a hotel or something so that we can rest for the night. Tomorrow will be another long day."

They hopped into one of the cars at the expedition and went to the hotel that Mr Mutou had reserved for the trip. Akia couldn't keep her eyes off her millennium item. She wanted to try its powers, but she was too afraid of accidentally banishing someone's soul. She'll have to be extremely careful. To be safe, she decided to wait until she found a really mean person to test it on. At least then, if she made a mistake, it wouldn't be too bad to banish their souls. Who was she kidding... It would be just as bad! Akia didn't want to hurt anyone.

As she fell asleep, she started thinking about Marik. That boy... He was somehow special to her. She didn't know why. She met so many boys on a daily basis at school, but this boy was different. She couldn't wait to meet him again. She felt as though a part of her was missing without him.

Slowly she began to fall asleep with Marik's face as the last thing she thought of.

The days went by and the expedition was coming to an end. Akia didn't see the boy again. It was the day they were supposed to go back to Japan. She was starting to lose hope of ever seeing Marik again. Maybe Shadi was wrong. Maybe he just said that they'd see each other again to stop her from following him. Immediately, she regretted not doing so. Maybe if she had followed him, they would've had more time together and became friends.

Sugoroku: "Let's go, Akia. We're all packed now. I bet Yugi missed you a lot."

"I miss him a lot too."

They both headed for the airport and boarded the plane back to Japan.