Téa and Mana sit on a park bench beside Kisara as she sips on a bottle of water. After healing herself, Yugi and Seto, Mana places a hand on Kisara's shoulder with her eyes shut, healing Kisara's wounds. Téa looks over toward the exit, seeing Ziegfried getting escorted away by the police after he made his confession to practically the whole world. There are already talks about his company being shut down for good.
Mana opens her eyes, letting out a long sigh, stretching out her legs and lounging back on the bench. "What a day."
"You said it," Kisara agrees, placing a hand on her forehead.
"Are you feeling better?" Téa asks and Kisara nods her head.
"How in the world was it possible for Seto to be able to command your monster?" Mana asks, suddenly sitting up straight, her eyes sparkling with interest. Kisara chuckles, rubbing the back of her head.
"Well there's a reason why you don't see me summoning Blue Eyes very often. It takes so much out of me. But one time when I was in danger, Seto saved me. It was under circumstances nearly identical to this," she explains. "In an act of desperation, he called my Blue Eyes to attack. At the time he didn't know it was going to actually work, but it did. Plus, even before meeting me, he had this fascination with Blue Eyes in Duel Monsters."
"Hm…" Mana's eyes scroll over to Atem who stands at a distance, talking with Yugi and Seto.
"He and I have been through so much together and we have this huge connection. I know it may not appear that way on the outside since he isn't very open to displaying his affection, but we have helped each other through so much. And I'm not afraid to let him take the lead."
"You two really are meant for each other," Téa says with a smile before side eyeing Mana who seems to be plotting something in her head. "What are you doing?" she asks dryly.
Mana grins. "Just wondering what it will feel like being in control of an Egyptian gaah—!" Téa whacks her with annoyed expression and Mana yelps, grabbing onto her head.
"We're having a moment here. Don't ruin it with your immaturity."
Seto looks at the damage in his park, breathing out with frustration. It had taken him many months to get it back to normal, only for it to be wrecked again within minutes. His eyes go over to Atem and his cousin returns the side eye.
As Seto opens his mouth to speak, Atem quickly interrupts. "Any questions you may have needs to be directed at Mana." She never relayed to him her plan of paying for the damages anyway and he is curious how she is going to get out of this one. Hearing her name, she trots over with Téa and Kisara following behind.
"You rang?" Mana says with her hands behind her back.
"How exactly were you planning on paying for the damages?" Seto asks her with his arms folded.
She chuckles. "Ah, I wasn't actually planning on paying for it."
Seto sees red, clenching his fists at his side. Everyone can practically see the smoke coming out of his ears and Kisara goes to stand behind him, rubbing his arms to get him to stay calm. "Now Seto…"
"Mana…" Seto growls between clenched teeth.
"Okay, okay. I'll handle it. But first…" She levitates to meet his tall stature, looking him in the eyes. "I think you owe me and the others something."
Seto huffs, turning his head away. "What could I ever owe you?"
"Well we did go to bat for you just now," she points out, beginning to count on her hands as she continues. "I saved the passengers from falling off the tracks on White Lightning, Atem and Yugi saved the guests from the explosion by the Kaiba Dome…and if you really wanna take it back, we were there to help at the banquet. Need I continue?" She smirks and he hears him growl inwardly.
"And?"
Kisara steps beside him with a slight smile. "I think what Mana is saying is…maybe you do need the help of others from time to time," she explains. "You may think that no one else cares about your company but you, but that couldn't be further from the truth. We all care and we're all in this together."
"She's right, Seto!" Yugi chimes in.
Seto reluctantly looks at Yugi before his eyes go over to Atem who's amethyst eyes are fixated on him as well. Atem really did save the day today. If it weren't for him and the help of Mana and Yugi, Ziegfried would've gotten away and would have never confessed to his crimes. When building his business, he always felt like he was the only one passionate about what he does and the only one who cared about the future of the company. But he was and is mistaken.
With his eyes still on Atem, he slowly nods and Atem nods back in the same manner and a huge cloud between the two of them seems to have been lifted in that moment.
Téa blinks with confusion, looking back and forth between the two cousins. "So that's it? You two are cool now?"
"They're so weird," Mana comments, squinting her eyes at the both of them. "But if Atem's good, then I'm good too." Yugi smiles, happy that things are back to 'normal.'
"Now about the park…" Seto looks back at Mana who chuckles.
She gazes over his shoulder, waving to someone and they all turn around to see no one is there. Instead, the individual magically appears right next to them in the form of Arcana. "Yes, dear Mana?" he asks.
"I'm gonna need your help with this," she replies turning to the rest of the park.
"No problem. But let's hurry shall we? I'd love to get home to my wife and child before they go to bed."
"Of course!" she chirps. Simultaneously, they close their eyes and stretch out their hands toward the damaged park as everyone watches. Then they reveal their glowing eyes and their hands emit the same color. Little by little, the park is restored to what it once was. The damage sustained at the Kaiba Dome is no more and the gap in between the tracks of the White Lightning is closed up. Any trees and furniture, like park benches and tables, are also fixed. Park spectators look in awe, being able to witness this up close and some continue to record.
The two magicians lower their hands after their work is complete and Mana looks over at Arcana with a smile. "Thanks a bunch. I owe you one."
"Don't worry about it," Arcana says with a graceful bow before disappearing.
A realization hits Seto and he once again finds himself glaring at Mana who quickly hides behind Atem's back. "You mean to tell me you could do that all along?! Why didn't you do that before?!"
Mana chuckles nervously, peeking over Atem's shoulder. "Well you were super mean to us the last time, so I figured since you felt like you could do everything yourself, then you could rebuild your park!"
"That's cold, Mana…" Atem mutters to her before clearing his throat and turning his head, trying not to laugh.
Seto clenches his fists before releasing, turning his back toward them all with a smirk appearing on his lips. "Let's go Kisara."
Kisara giggles and waves as she leaves. "See you later guys!"
Yugi looks over to Atem and down to the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck. "Never thought I'd see the day where you'd bring that back out. I'm surprised."
"To be honest, so am I," he replies, staring forward.
Mana observes it as well. "You really caught me off guard with that one, Atem. It's been so long since I've seen you use it, I'm surprised you were even capable of doing what you did. You'd think you'd be rusty, but no…" She folds her arms, raising her eyebrow suspiciously. "Someone's been training more than they put on."
"I admit that I have been training more since Ziegfried came in the picture," he confesses. "I figured it would be best to be ready for whatever he threw at us. But using the Millennium Puzzle was a last resort. I didn't think it would go that far…"
"But then you saw me getting hurt and you totally let loose!" Mana swings her arms around his neck, pressing her cheek against his. "My hero!"
"What exactly did you do to get him to confess, Atem?" Téa asks.
"Probably a Penalty Game of some sort," Yugi guesses and Atem nods. "Say no more." He has somewhat of an idea of what Atem is capable of doing, including causing illusions and inflicting other supernatural punishments.
"Was having everyone recording something you anticipated on happening?" Atem asks and Mana pulls away with a smile.
"Yup! I knew that there would be a nice turnout today and I also knew that Ziegfried would destroy the cameras. I wanted him to believe that he could get away with anything with the cameras being broken," she explains, raising her index finger and winking. "But little did he know that we're living in the age of social media and people record everything nowadays."
"Wow, I'm impressed Mana. Who knew you could come up with something like that," Téa teases and Mana cuts her eyes at her.
"Oh hush." She sighs happily. "I'm just glad it's all over."
YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO
Mana squeals as Grandpa Mutou hands Cairo over to her. "Did you miss me? I missed you!" She spins her around as the baby laughs before bringing her close to her chest and walking over to the television while Atem and his grandpa talk nearby in the kitchen.
"I see things went well," grandpa says. He is a short old man wearing green overalls, a white shirt, a black bandana and gray spiky hair. "They're already reporting things on the news. That Ziegfried fellow is in a lot of trouble."
Atem nods. "Serves him right."
"Summoning all three gods was quite impressive Atem." The old man looks down to the Millennium Puzzle. "I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. How do you feel?"
"I'm hoping this won't be the norm," Atem replies, placing a hand over the puzzle. "I don't want to go back to…that." The capabilities of the puzzle can be quite useful, but sometimes things can take a dark turn when dealing with shadow magic and he would rather not have to resort to using that very often.
"I understand. You, Yugi and Mana have been living that life for years now. I'm hoping nothing else comes up."
"Agreed." He looks over at Mana who continues to bounce Cairo up and down. "I hope Cairo didn't give you much trouble."
Grandpa chuckles nervously. "Well…"
Atem's eyes widen at his hesitation. "What is it?"
The old man goes over to Atem so that they can whisper amongst themselves. "Did you two anticipate her having abilities this young?"
"What did she do?"
Grandpa motions over to a nearby plant that has a hole in the middle of it. The inner part of the hole appears to be burned to a crisp and Atem tugs his collar before they both look over at Mana and Cairo who are seemingly oblivious to their conversation. "Might want to keep an eye on her. And maybe you should hold back on telling Mana right now."
"No kidding."
YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO
Atem sets the Millennium Puzzle down inside a gold case and then sits on the bed with one leg crossed over the other and his arms folded. Today has been quite the day to say the least. He looks forward at the television, seeing them report on today's events, including a clip of him summoning the Egyptian Gods.
"Looks like it's your turn to be featured on the news," Mana jokes, walking in from the bathroom. She remembers when she got featured for getting rid of a bomb at the park's first grand opening. She sits beside him. "How are you feeling?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" he asks, still looking at the television.
"Well…you know…" She rubs her arm and looks the other way. "I kinda feel responsible for this somehow." He looks at her questionably, only to be met with the back of her head. "Let's face it. I'm a bit of a trouble magnet." She chuckles lightly. "And I know you said you wanted to settle down and then this happened. I'm sorry. I was only thinking of myself and…"
She feels him place his hand on her leg and she looks over to him, surprised to see him with a soft smile on his lips. "There's no need to revisit the past, Mana. Besides, this was all Ziegfried's doing at the end of the day."
"But I…"
He wraps an arm around her, bringing her close. She rests her head on his shoulder and sighs. "Everything has worked itself out," he says.
"Atem?"
"Yes?"
"I think I'm ready to slow it down too." He pulls away from her somewhat abruptly, looking at her with complete surprise and she blinks, not expecting that reaction from him. He places a hand on her forehead and she giggles. "Stop it, Atem. I'm serious."
He thought he would never hear those words coming from her mouth. But he wants to make sure that this is something she really wants to do. He doesn't want her to make that decision purely because of him, in fear of there being some resentment from her further down the line. His decision about settling down came after years of fighting and coming to his own conclusion and realization. So Mana needs to do the same. But the smile on her face makes him believe that this really is something she wants to do. He asks just to be certain. "Are you sure?"
She smiles. "Yeah. At least until something else comes up that would require us to take action. Hopefully that doesn't happen for a long time. I want to enjoy these moments with you and Cairo."
"I see." His mind goes to his recent conversation with grandpa. He knows he was advised not to say anything, but Mana deserves to know. He takes a deep breath. "Do you know about Cairo and her—"
"Recent developments? Yeah…you guys aren't really good at whispering." He doesn't say anything and she giggles. "What about it? That doesn't change a thing about what I just said. I'm definitely not taking Arcana's approach on parenting on a young sorcerer."
"Oh…okay," he replies, feeling relieved.
"I just wanna focus on us right now as we go through this journey of parenthood and this thing called life." She leans back on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him while inhaling deeply with a smile. But as soon as she gets comfortable, the sounds of Cairo's cries come through the baby monitor and her head pops up.
"I got it," Atem says, preparing to get up, but she yanks him down by his shirt, grinning at him and leaning down to give him a kiss on the lips. He returns the kiss before pulling back. She turns around to leave, her eyes widening when she feels a firm grab on her rear and she whips her head to look at Atem who smirks. "Hurry back."
"Oh, I will. You just be ready when I do."
While it took her awhile, she finally gets it. Though she is a powerful sorcerer, there's no need to chase that dangerous life and live recklessly simply because she has the power.
She has so much to live for, especially now more than ever…
She looks down to her now sleeping daughter who rests peacefully after she rocks her back to sleep.
...And she will be sure to be a good example, guiding her daughter as best as she knows how…through this thing called life.
YGOYGOYGOYGOYGO
And that's the end folks! I really hope you enjoyed this story! If I ever feel up to it, I may write a sequel, but it will be awhile since I'm trying to finish my other two stories as well.
Leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter and the whole story! Stay safe!