Vanishshipping (Atem x Anzu)

If he could count all the tears that had fallen today, they would fill the Nile twice over. And yet, he could not cry. He must not. He must appear strong in the face of grief. He had to assure his people that he could lead them, despite his mere fifteen years.

Atem, son of Aknamkanon, must have appeared so strong in the hot Egyptian sun: broad-shouldered, not particularly tall, but his bearing made him appear much taller; sharp red eyes that appeared emotionless, even in the face of his father's death.

It was a poor mask over the wreckage inside.

Isis gripped his shoulder. He could tell that she understood the strain he undertook, trying to hide his tears. Mahad stood stock still on his other side, staring blankly forward. Mahad had the most reason to cry. He had known Aknamkanon since he was a little boy, since before even Atem had been born. He owed the deceased pharaoh his life. Atem knew Mahad had thought of Aknamkanon as a father, and Atem had always considered Mahad as a brother. Yet he, too, hid his tears, even as the pallbearers bore the heavy golden sarcophagus into the deep, gaping hole in the ground.

Atem's shoulders shook. He clenched his fists, refusing to cry. But it grew ever harder to contain it when even Akhenaden allowed a tear to escape from his remaining good eye, and Seto had turned away to try and pretend that he was not crying.

Atem couldn't take it any longer. That was his father, sealed in cold metal, about to be encased in the cold, unfeeling earth.

Muttering some sort of excuse (he didn't know what) he turned away from the vanishing coffin, and managed a few strides away. He could not leave, no matter how he wished to. It was against all protocol for the new pharaoh to leave the funeral of his father.

But he didn't want to watch his father vanish.

Fear clutched at his chest. Could he ever be as strong, as compassionate, as self-sacrificing as his father? Could he, a boy of only fifteen years old, really lead all of Egypt wisely and correctly? Would he be able to protect it? Would he be strong enough?

A motion caught his eye. It was a mere rippling of the air, like heat rising from the desert ground as it always did. But no, it was more solid. Real. Becoming a physical shape and form.

And then suddenly a girl stood in front of him, pale-skinned with cropped chestnut hair and wide, warm brown eyes.

"It's okay!" she called, and her echoing words seemed to fly across time. "You are strong - don't forget that! You will be the greatest king of Egypt. Trust me!"

"Who are you?" Atem said. "Where did you come from?"

"I'm your friend," she said. "Look for me - in the future!"

Atem took a step forward, and then another. He reached out towards her - was she only a mirage?

But she was gone as soon as she had appeared.

Atem let his hand drop to his side.

He couldn't explain why, but his heart grew a little warmer. He clenched his fists.

"All right," he whispered. "I will believe."

And like smoke, his fear and doubt vanished.

A/N: Playing off the of the shipping name again. :D Cute pairing, although it's basically just Revolutionshipping. I totally ripped off this idea from Howl's Moving Castle, when Sophie went back in time and saw Howl meeting Calcifer, and then calling out to them to look for her in the future. No, I have no idea how Anzu got there. She just did. I'm just the girl that writes it down, the characters do what they want. *dramatic voice* And coming up next is...*dramatic voice trails off*…Unlockshipping...which is...Shadi...and Yami no Yugi...crap. *starts trembling because of her strange and unique phobia of Shadi*