I did not originally intend to write this chapter! Originally, this was going to be the first final battle with Zorc...but the response to my Mana and Atem has been so favorable I decided to add one more happi(er) part before hitting them with tragedy.

Please enjoy!

.:Sunset, Sunrise:.
-chapter II: dusk-

Dusk: the darkest stage of astronomical twilight, the portion of day between sunset and night when the last vestiges of light are disappearing.

Nights like this one were precisely the reason Mana was grateful she and Atem no longer had to spend them alone.

"I am really the one you want."

The young pharaoh shuddered under her touch, his head resting in her lap. She continued to stroke his hair with her fingers, offering what little comfort she could.

"Leave my son alone."

"Father!"

The battle they'd been drawn into at the Kul Elna ruins had been long and taxing, and they were tired. This time it had not been Atem, but rather Aknamkanon who had saved them all: absorbing the angry spirits of the 99 sacrificed souls to save the Guardians and most importantly, his son. Mana was not sure how that worked, but whatever he'd done had been successful: Bakura had no longer been able to use the spirits' anger to protect his Diabound, and the Guardians had been able to defeat him.

Then Aknadin had transformed into a grotesque monster. And revealed that their Seto — their noble Priest Seto, who had grown up in humble settings — was actually Aknadin's own son, one that he had abandoned for Egypt so many years ago. Seto was no commoner at all, but the Pharaoh's own cousin.

They had not much time to dwell on this before Aknadin kidnapped Seto and transported him to Ra-knew-where.

Then Atem and the rest of the guardians had been separated from each other.

Mana cradled his head closer as his grip on her tightened.

"He could not hurt his own son, could he?" Atem asked, his voice a whisper.

"I don't know," she said honestly, squeezing his shoulder. "I wouldn't think so." But just a few short days ago she would not have believed Aknadin could have been capable of any of the things he'd done today. Atem shuddered again, and Mana held him tighter.

At least she and Atem had found each other rather quickly. They would not have to search alone. Soon after that, Shimon found them.

"It grows dark, my king," the old man said. "Come, we must take shelter for the night." But Atem shook his head.

"These are the homes of those who were sacrificed to create these items," Atem said. "I do not feel right about staying in those." Mana thought.

"A home on the edge of town? There will be stables for the horses; we can use one of those."

Atem was grateful he was with Mana and Shimon; Seto would have surely said something about the indignity of a king being forced to sleep in hay like a commoner.

HIs heart twisted again. Not only his most ardent supporter and adviser, but his family.

"Follow us, Pharaoh," Shimon said, gently urging him forward. It did not take too long to locate a house with horse stables and hay; it was old, but it would keep them safe from the harsher elements.

"You rest, Your Highnesses...I will go in search of some water and food. In the morning, we'll continue our search for the others," Shimon insisted.

"Atem...let's do what he says," Mana said, tugging her husband into the stables with her and settling down on the hay with a sigh. She was worn out and bummed out. She and Priest Seto had butted heads of course, and he often criticized her or Mahad for her mistakes...but he could always be counted on when things got tough. He had to be okay; he just had to!

Behind her, Atem was settling on the hay, himself. Mana's frown deepened...however much she was worrying, his had to be greater. Much greater.

"Atem?"

"Hmm?" He smiled at her, but it was forced. She placed her hand over his.

"You don't have to pretend you're okay." She looked him in the eyes. It wouldn't do any good hiding it from her: she already knew. The battle against Bakura, seeing Aknamkanon, seeing Aknamkanon sacrifice himself to protect them and not fully understanding what consequences that might entail...watching his own uncle betray them all (who knew what part of him was really Aknadin and what part of him was the Darkness?). Now there was the knowledge that Seto was not only Atem's priest and Guardian but his family, as well. Anyone would be shaken. Atem's forced smile slowly turned downward, and he looked away, swallowing.

"I couldn't protect them…" he said at last, shaking his head. "It's my duty as Pharaoh...I'm supposed to protect them! And my own cousin...I never knew."

"Nobody did except Master Aknadin," she said. "And he kept it a secret. It's not your fault."

"If I were only stronger-"

"Atem." She said her husband's name with more force, cupping her other hand to his cheek and turning his head so he would look at her. "What was it you said to me about Mahad? That I couldn't have done anything to stop him. You couldn't have done anything to stop him, really, and you're the Pharaoh!" Indeed, an earlier conversation between herself and Atem had brought up that very notion: Mahad had sealed himself inside that pyramid, planning to go so far as to sacrifice his own life in order to stop Bakura. He had done all of that not only to protect the people of Egypt, but to repay the more personal debt he felt he owed the Pharaoh. With that in mind...would a direct order from Atem really have been enough to stop Mahad? It seemed unlikely.

"You did everything you could," she said, looking Atem in the eyes. "Probably more." Upon seeing his guardians in danger, the young pharaoh had immediately offered himself to the vengeful spirits of Kul Elna...and he would have gone through with the self-sacrifice, had his father's spirit not appeared and taken the burden, instead.

"You couldn't have prevented what happened next," she insisted, meeting his worried eyes. Atem would have run himself into the ground trying to protect his friends and people and probably died himself in the process. He'd done it before...not because he had a death wish, but because he couldn't stand seeing people he loved being hurt over a sin his family had committed. It was his burden to bear, his atonement to make. "Nobody saw it coming. Nobody could have; we didn't know!" Atem reached up, placing his hand over the one she held to his face. Gripping it.

"There was nothing else you could have done," she repeated, stroking his face with her thumb. Slowly, Atem removed her hand...then moved in to rest his head in her lap and curled his other arm around her waist. He didn't speak. With a frown, she adjusted herself to make both of them more comfortable, then began combing his hair with her fingers.

"Master Seto is strong," she said. "I think it must run in the family." Atem's lips rose in a brief smile at the compliment, and Mana's own spirit lifted—just a little—as well. She would take whatever victory she could get at this point. "I'm sure even now he's fighting; he will do whatever it takes to return to us, as well."

One hour passed, and then another. Shimon returned with water, and some fish and dates. Neither Atem nor Mana had much appetite, but forced themselves to eat. They would need that strength to fight, and they didn't know when the next battle would arrive.

"Thank you, Shimon," Atem said, offering the old adviser a tired but sincere smile.

"Don't you worry about our Priest Seto," Shimon said. "He's strong, as was his father. And his cousin." Shimon winked, and Atem's smile widened—just a little. "Fear not, my King. Justice always triumphs in the end, and there is none more desiring of justice than he. We will prevail, my King."

They had retired shortly thereafter, Shimon bunking on the other side of the hay from the Pharaoh and his Great Royal Wife. Atem took off his cape and laid beside her, then settled it over both of them. It was light, but it was better than nothing. Their spirits were slightly better for some food and water in them, and he pulled her close to him under the makeshift blanket. The hay was scratchy and kept poking her, but it was softer than the ground.

"We will win, Atem," she assured him again. He smiled.

"We will. Darkness shall never triumph." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you."

"Hmm? For what?"

"Being here."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Some of you may have noticed the disparagement between my spelling of Priest Seto's name in the previous chapter, choosing instead to call him 'Priest Set'. This was a result of my thinking that 'Set' was his real name, mistranslated by 4Kids as Seto. I continued that so as to distinguish him from Seto Kaiba. However, that was a misunderstanding on my part; 'Seto' is indeed the character's real name, and thus I will be using that from here on out.

So...I'm of the mind that the events played out in Memory World have to have been mostly accurate, since Atem plays to where his memories end. The TIME it took for these events, however, THAT is where the manipulation lies. Travel-time on horseback alone would have extended the actual events to weeks, if not months. So I took a liberty here and there, like this one ;)

I don't know when I will have the next chapter out, but brace yourself...we all know what happened to Atem in the end T.T

Thank you all for reading!
~MoonlightTyger