"Were the glasses really necessary?" Rebecca asks Cairo as they walk side by side after shopping for clothes. The trip back to Domino was long and aside from the random incident last night, she'd even consider it somewhat uneventful. But Cairo didn't mind. She's so used to being on edge, it was nice to do something that didn't involve her springing into action. And besides. She still doesn't know how she'll do in combat now that her dark powers are gone. Sure, she was considered a prodigy back then, but she was still a magician in training and certain things didn't always come easier for her.

As they walk past a store window, Cairo observes herself, placing her hands on the round lenses of her newly purchased glasses and looking with fascination. She wears a grey, plaid skirt with black biker shorts that reach her knees underneath, along with a fitted long sleeve black knit shirt.

"I wanted to see what it was like. Besides, you have them too," Cairo points out.

"Mine actually serve a purpose. Yours is just for show," Rebecca replies with dimmed eyes. "But if you wanted to make it harder for anyone to recognize you, you've definitely succeeded. Aside from the crown, that is."

"You think so?"

"Anyway, I told Yugi where we're at, so it shouldn't be much longer until they get here," Rebecca tells her, earning a groan. "That reminds me. You never told me why you ran away."

Cairo looks over to Rebecca, noticing her tone getting more serious. "What?"

"You never told me why you ran away to begin with. Did you and your dad get into it?"

"Eh…?" Cairo grins anxiously.

"I mean you really didn't seem too enthusiastic to speak to him on the phone yesterday. So what's really going on?"

Cairo sighs and lowers her head a little. "Well…long story short, I lost control of my powers and I ran off. And when I tried to come back…I guess you can say there were some things said that left me feeling upset..." She thinks back to that night. She came face to face with her father and he berated her. But his tone was completely different over the phone yesterday, leaving her feeling confused. She shakes her head. "…Anyway, as I was wondering the streets, a sorcerer was able to cast a spell that took away my dark powers. Everything went black after that and next thing I knew, I was in your trailer."

"There's never a dull moment in the life of Cairo, is there?"

She chuckles a little. "Yeah…A part of me is used to it."

"Just make sure when you see your dad you don't run away and lay your emotions all out on the table."

A question mark appears over Cairo's head. "How does one lay their emotions on the table? Where can I get this special table?"

Rebecca slaps her forehead. "Not what I meant."

"Is that the Rebecca Hawkins?" a boy calls out wearing a duel disk.

"It is!" another kid confirms.

"Huh?" Rebecca looks around as a crowd of kids surround her, enthusiastically asking for her autograph.

The crowd becomes too much for Cairo, who gently pushes her way out, taking a sigh of relief. Then she looks back toward the center of the circle as Rebecca beams with pride at the attention she's getting.

"This could take awhile," Cairo remarks. She looks for a place to sit before finding a bench off to the side where she can wait for Rebecca to get done. Sighing, she leans back, looking up to the sky. She wonders how the conversation with her father will go.

"Rebecca said to lay it out on the table," she recalls. "But where would I even start?"

"You should have stayed hidden," a voice from behind her says and she quickly sits up straight, looking over shoulder to see who it is. She gasps with shock when she sees it's none other than the sorcerer who took her abilities. Jumping up to her feet, she goes on guard, anticipating he will want to fight her.

"You!" she exclaims with narrowed eyes.

His hands remain at his sides. "Young sorcerer…"

"Here to finish the job right? Well don't underestimate me!" She extends her hand to him and a small flicker of energy emerges from her palm before disappearing.

A drop of sweat goes down the side of Arcana's mask.

Grunting and trying to prove her strength, she punches a hole in the wooden bench instead and let's put a victorious laugh. "Ha! See? I can do…that, to you!"

Arcana shakes his head. "You misunderstand. I am not here to fight."

"Well I'm leaving you with no choice unless you return my dark power!"

"It is not in my possession."

"What?! But if you don't have it then who does?"

"I cannot say," he says as he walks away.

Cairo sighs heavily with exasperation, beginning to follow him. "Not to be rude, but you're really exhausting to talk to."

"It's quite rude actually. But I shall overlook it since I've put you through so much."

Cairo tilts her head before focusing in on his energy. Where has she felt that before? As she continues to search through her memory banks, her walking slows down until she stops completely.

Including this current meeting, she has come across this sorcerer a total of three times. Before this, it was when she saved him from the construction site. He seemed pretty harmless then, and also appeared weighed down by his thoughts and emotions.

But the time before that is even more haunting when she realizes he's one of the souls she sensed at the parade. She slowly looks up to him, his back is turned to her. Her body begins to shake and her heart beats quicker with every passing second.

He looks over his shoulder, seeing her head bowed. "You've figured it out then."

"I really misjudged you," she says lowly.

"Do not take it personal. I was merely following orders," he tells her. He knew she wasn't as bad as Marik made her out to be. But he was acting out of desperation, hoping Marik would uphold his promise. But as time went by, it became increasingly clear that Marik had no intention of helping him.

"We really shouldn't be seen around each other," Arcana tells her. "While you're altered appearance may help you, he will eventually figure out you're still around. And he will cease your existence for good."

She looks up at him. "You're my enemy. Why should I listen to anything you have to say?"

"Have you noticed your hallucinations have stopped completely?"

She scrunches up her face, confused.

"It is because prior to me taking your dark abilities, I released you from your curse."

Cairo's eyes slowly grow wide. When she thinks about it, she does remember him placing his hand on the crown of her head and there was a white glow at first. Then when he stole her power, there was a seal along with a red glow.

"I had hoped that you wouldn't have been able to make your way back here if I had teleported you somewhere far away."

"But I don't get it…"

"I had my own reasons for following the master's orders. Reasons I doubt you'd understand."

"Who is this person you keep referring to?"

He begins to walk forward again, but this time Cairo doesn't follow.

"Be careful sorcerer."

"It's Cairo," she corrects him before turning in the opposite direction. She has no idea what to think of that conversation, but if one thing is clear, she will have to stay on guard for whatever threat he is referring to.

As Rebecca finishes up her photos and autographs, she looks behind her to see Cairo approaching. "Oh, there you are!"

Cairo manages to smile. "Finished?"

"Yeah, but I sure could use a snack after all that. Let's go to a nearby convenience store."

Cairo shrugs her shoulders. "Fine with me."

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

A loud growl followed by a low groan is enough to annoy Téa as she she walks in between Joey and Tristan who hunch over clenching their stomachs. Telling by the way the two boys drag their feet along the sidewalk, it's apparent they won't be doing much more walking unless they get something in their stomachs.

"Don't start…" Téa grumbles as her eyebrow twitches.

"But we're so hungry!" Joey complains.

"You two had plenty of time to eat before we left out!" she scolds them.

Tristan looks down the block, spotting a local convenience store and he perks up. "We're saved!" he exclaims, catching Joey's attention.

"Good thinking!"

"You guys!" Téa protests, glancing back at Yugi and the pharaoh who walk several feet behind them. She knows Atem is anxious to get reunited with his daughter. But telling by the way Joey and Tristan's stomachs are growling, it doesn't seem like they'll let up on the snack subject.

"It'll take us sixty seconds!" Tristan yells before speeding off with Joey.

"It better!" Téa calls after them before sighing. "I need female friends."

Meanwhile, inside the store, Cairo follows Rebecca around as she goes through different aisles. Her purple eyes light up at all the different colored candies and sweets. Though she has seen them before in passing, she has never actually taken the time to really admire the multicolored, oversized lollipops or the different flavored bags of chips.

"What else have I not taken notice of?" she asks herself. Has her dark self really clouded the simple pleasures normal people would enjoy in life?

As she turns a corner, she bumps into a man carrying an armful of snacks. One of his bags of chips drops on the floor and she politely picks them up, apologizing. Lifting her eyes, she pauses when she notices it's someone she knows.

Walking in the opposite direction, Rebecca turns around. "Come on Cairo, let's—Oh hey Tristan!" she greets.

"Rebecca? We were just about to meet you!" Tristan says as Joey joins him as well.

"Oh, funny seeing you here," Joey says, carrying his snacks under his arm. "Cairo's with you right?"

"Yeah, where is she?" Tristan asks.

Rebecca shakes her head. "She's literally standing in front of you."

Tristan blinks. "Huh?" His eyes slowly scroll down to the girl holding out his bag of chips. From her bright eyed expression, long hair and rounded glasses, he initially doesn't believe it's her. That is until his eyes land on the golden crown on her head.

Joey and Tristan's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. "CAIRO?!"

"Hello!" she replies with a slight wave.

"What happened to ya?" Joey asks.

"Yeah! Aside from the glasses, we haven't seen you look like this since we went to the Memory World!"

Cairo rubs the back of her head. "Long story."

"Is the pharaoh with you?" Rebecca asks.

"Yeah, he should be outside actually," Joey replies. "Let's hurry up and pay for this so we can meet up with him and the others."

Cairo finds herself feeling very nervous to see her father after the last time she saw him. As she waits in line behind Joey, Rebecca and Tristan, she goes over in her mind what she is going to say and what he might say in response.

From the corner of her eye at another register, she sees a worker looking almost as anxious as she is, but for a different reason. The customer in front of her seems to be giving her a hard time. Squinting her eyes, she sees the man is carrying a knife, discreetly pointing it at her as he asks for certain high priced items behind the counter.

No one else seems to have noticed and Cairo makes a mental note to take care of him on their way out.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

Outside, Atem, Yugi and Téa walk down the sidewalk about to reach the convenience store. Atem could hardly sleep the previous night, anxious to be reunited with his daughter. He still isn't fully healed, but he doesn't plan on letting that slow him down.

"What are the odds she would end up bumping into Rebecca?" Téa asks with her hands locked behind her back. "She sure can travel far in such a short period of time."

"Well telling from the conversation with Rebecca, it doesn't look like Cairo intentionally got to where she was," Yugi says, looking over at him.

"Oh, seriously?"

"She washed up on a beach," Atem says, still keeping his eyes forward. "And it just so happened after I ran into Mimic who now has her dark powers."

"So she must have had some sort of battle beforehand," Yugi guesses to which Atem nods.

"But if she doesn't have her dark powers, then what does that mean for her?" Téa asks. "Will she still be able to defend herself against the evil souls? Or even get it back?"

Atem sighs. "My memories of her prior to the darkness are admittedly unclear. I only got to see her abilities briefly and according to Mana, she had huge potential at her young age."

"Well that's somewhat promising right?" Téa says optimistically.

Joey and Tristan are the first to walk out of the store with bags of snacks, followed by Rebecca who beams from ear to ear when her eyes land on Yugi.

"Yugi!" Rebecca squeals, trotting over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I can't breathe," Yugi grunts.

"That's enough," Téa mutters loud enough for her to hear.

Cairo is the last to walk out of the store, staring ahead with her arms at her sides. Atem raises an eyebrow, as well as Téa and Yugi.

"Hey, who's your friend?" Téa asks Rebecca.

Right as Rebecca is about to answer, the criminal that was holding up one of the registers walks out of the building, his hoodie stuffed with stolen items in his pocket. He snickers, thinking he has a clear path to get away.

As the man is about to move past Cairo, she slowly turns around, grabbing onto his wrist that contains the knife.

"Hey!" the man yells. "Let go you brat!"

She squeezes his wrist so tight, he cries out and drops the knife, causing everyone to gasp. Her back is turned towards Atem and the others, making it hard for him, Yugi and Téa to see who she is.

"I said let go!" the man screams.

"Go back and pay for that please," she says politely.

"W-what?"

She suddenly flings him back, sending him crashing through the storefront's window before turning to face the others, revealing her crown.

Atem's mouth goes agape as it finally hits him who it is. She looks exactly as she did when Mana extracted the dark presence from her body, reverting her back to her original self. And before the darkness initially took over.

"Cairo!" Atem, Yugi and Téa yell.

Cairo cringes at the broken glass. "Oh dear. I meant to throw him through the open door," she panics. "I really miscalculated. I hope the owner won't be upset. Sorry!"

A drop of sweat goes down Rebecca's temple. "We should probably get outta here."

"Agreed," Atem says, having a similar reaction.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

At a nearby park, Atem and Cairo sit on opposite sides of the bench with their backs facing each other. He sits with his arms folded and a leg over the other while she sits with her legs interlocked. It was at his daughter's request that they speak like this and although he did not understand why, he complied. Even as they walked to the park, she avoided eye contact and appeared distant and bothered by something.

He assumes it's due to her losing control of her powers, which is only the partial reason. In actuality, it's due to what she believed was a conversation with him. He scolded her, berated her and practically cursed her existence.

She skips over that part of her story, instead telling him how she lost her powers and ended up hundreds of miles away.

"He wore a red suit and a mask," she tells him.

His eyes widen at her description. 'Could it be? Arcana stole her dark powers?' he thinks to himself. Yet another escaped soul from his recent past has re-emerged. Like Seeker, he went against Arcana during the Battle City tournament and ultimately his soul was taken by Marik, despite Yugi's attempt to save him.

"But when I got back here, I ran into him again and he said he doesn't have my powers anymore. So I'm just…confused."

"That's because Mimic has them," her father replies.

"Huh? Who's that?"

"He has the ability to impersonate anyone," he tells her. "When I went out looking for you, I came across him and he was disguised as you."

Cairo gasps. "What?" A person that can disguise himself as anyone? Even her?

But if that's the case…

"Dad…?"

Atem lifts his eyes and turns his head slightly. "Yes Cairo?"

"Am I…a burden? Or a monster?" she asks. "Or…do you regret releasing me from the Shadows?"

"I am confused as to why you're asking me this," he replies. "But the answer to that should be clear."

She lowers her eyes. "Well…"

"A burden? No. A monster? Never," he tells her. "And do you really think I would regret saving my own daughter from a prison she shouldn't have been in to begin with?"

Cairo can feel her eyes watering up and she sniffles. "Really…?" So her father never said those things after all. It was the imposter he just referred to. How could she be so stupid to believe her father would even say those things to begin with? Has he not always been there for her? Defended and helped her whenever she was in trouble without a question? Even when he has had the weight of the world on shoulders or not at his best, he always goes above and beyond for her.

"Where is this coming from?"

She wipes her nose with the back of her sleeve. "At one point I believed that was what you thought of me. But I see now it was nothing but an imposter posing as you who said all of those awful things."

Atem gasps lightly. "So you came across Mimic as well…!"

"Guess so…"

Atem shakes his head. "When you ran away I was so worried about you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something devastating were to happen to you again," he tells her, only making her tear up more.

"Dad…"

"Now that that's cleared up, can I turn ar—" He suddenly feels her bump into him from behind, wrapping her tiny arms around him as much as she can. His body initially tenses up and his eyes widen briefly at the sudden motion, not expecting a hug from his daughter who is typically unexpressive. But he attributes that to her reverting back to her old self.

"I'm sorry," comes a muffled sob as she buries her head into the back of his black jacket. She goes onto express more of her emotions, but it is hard for him to understand. He gently takes one of her hands, silently rearranging her so that he is now in front him. Her glasses are fogged up and stained with tears and her crown is slightly tilted to the side.

"I'm sorry for running away," she apologizes, sniffing in between. "I was just so upset and embarrassed at my behavior toward Bakura. He just…looked like him and it triggered so many emotions," She lowers her eyes. "Maybe that imposter was right about one thing…maybe I do deserve to be locked away in the shadows. At least I wouldn't be able to hurt any innocent people there. I truly am a disgrace to your legacy."

"So you'll listen to the words of a stranger over your father," Atem says.

She looks at him tearfully. "B-But…"

"I've said before. You didn't deserve to be in the Shadow Realm. Not when the cause of you being there was something out of your control. Need I repeat myself more?" he says. She slowly shakes her head.

"I kept telling myself I accepted the gods' decision in banishing me. But in reality, I was angry and resented them…How could they not see that I was innocent? That I was doing everything against my will?"

"Cairo…"

"So…I guess I really haven't come to terms with everything and I'm still struggling."

"It understandable," her father says as he goes to adjust her crown. "You received a harsh penalty. And if I were in your shoes, I would share your exact feelings."

"I don't want to be bitter or linger on it anymore. How do I finally heal?"

"Part of healing is talking about it," he replies, gently removing her glasses to clean them. "So thank you for opening up to me. I know that must have been tough for you."

She smiles a little. "No. If you haven't noticed already, I'm an open book when I'm like this," she chuckles lightly. "The other me would have had a much harder time expressing herself."

"Just take it one day at a time. And start getting into the habit of not being so hard on yourself and showing yourself some—"

"Grace?" she finishes his sentence and he nods, smiling as well.

"Interesting," he comments, studying her glasses. "What made you get these?"

"Uh…I thought they looked…cool?" she replies, rubbing the back of her head with one hand and using the other to put them back on.

He chuckles. This is a side he is not used to seeing from her and will definitely take some getting used to. Though there are other issues weighing on his mind, like the whereabouts of Mimic. And there's no way he can forget about Marik. He hasn't made an appearance lately and that makes Atem feel more suspicious as to what he's up to.

"You're thinking about it too, aren't you?" she asks him all of a sudden, bringing him out of his thoughts. "About Mimic?"

"And Marik," Atem adds. "I don't trust him."

"Yeah…me either…"

He looks up toward the sky as the wind gently blows against his face and she does the same. "But you're not alone. Whatever comes our way, we'll be ready."

Cairo nods her head. "Right."

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

AN: And thus, father and daughter are finally reunited and everything has been cleared up. But there's still more to come! Leave a review and see you next time!