Chosen Pharaoh Chronicles Part 1: Longing Reunion & The Beasts Within

Based on the original Yu Gi Oh storyline. (Combination of anime & manga canons)

Rated M

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh it belongs to Kazuki Takahashi

Chapter 1: Your Back!

Atem slowly opened his eyes due to the bright light shining on his face. He looked up at the light blue painted ceiling and familiar looking walls. Then he glanced over to a poster of himself holding the K.C. Duel Monsters Grand Championship trophy. That was when Atem knew where he was.

"OH MY GOSH!" exclaimed a familiar high pitched soft but now more matured voice.

Atem got up and turned around to the face of the voice. It was none other then his former partner Yugi Mutou. Yugi had grown a few more inches now reaching around Tea's height, but for Yugi that's like being twice as tall as before. He was also slightly more toned then before his features were more matured.

Once again focusing on Yugi, Atem tried hard not to laugh at the scene in front of him. Yugi's jaw was on the floor, as he sat in bed. The young man had morning stubble covering his jaw line and he was only wearing a white loose tank top and star covered boxers. After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence and staring, Yugi finally wiped the drool from his mouth and spoke up.

"A-Atem… i-is that really you in the flesh? Or are you just making another cameo?"

Atem gave one of his famous cocky smirks and replied with confidence in his deep regal voice.

"No my friend I am not just passing by. I am here for real this time."

For some strange reason Yugi was overcome by a motivation to jump out of bed and give Atem a hug from a long lost brother. Atem fell to the floor with a loud thud and a yelped in surprise and of course pain.

'Yup, Yugi grew all right and he gained quite a few pounds as well' Atem chuckled in thought.

Now the situation was getting a little uncomfortable for they had greeted for a little too long. Yugi looked down at the crushed, breathless pharaoh beneath him and quickly got up. He helped Atem up after apologizing for the unexpected behavior of a twenty-four year old man. That is when reality hit and something came to his mind.

"Hey man, aren't you supposed to be up there." Yugi acknowledged as he pointed up indicating heaven.

"I know but my father sent me back here."

Yugi gave him a puzzled look before continuing.

"Why? I mean talk about falling from grace."

Atem turned his head to look at the sky through the bedroom window. Domino City had not changed much from when he last peered out.

"Dunno your guess is as good as mine."

Atem bent down to pick up his bag.

"So wait no one told you why you had to come back. Not that it's a bad thing."

"Nope. Well my father told me that I need you guys now more then ever. Something about my future." Atem stated in a serious tone.

Yugi shrugged as he got a pair of sweat pants from his drawer and slipped them on. Atem smiled and said,

"I see that you're all grown up now Yugi."

"I better be! Shit a lot of stuff has gone down since you left both good and bad." Yugi tied the drawer strings on his pants.

"You seem to have grown a bit of a potty mouth too."

Yugi casually motioned his hand as to pass off the comment. "It comes with age so get used to it." He walked over to his bedroom door."C'mon lets head downstairs so I could tell you what's been up. You must be hungry."

Atem shook his head no and held up a hand. That's when his stomach gave a deep growl and produced hunger pains. Yugi chuckled and shook his head as he headed for the kitchen.

After a quick breakfast Atem roamed around the home he used to live in with his former partner. A lot had been moved around. Now half of the living room was designed like a work space with a large desk covered in papers and plastic models. Rough sketches and flattened board game boxes were pinned along the wall.

"I take it you work at home." Atem pondered.

Yugi also entered the living room. "Sort of. I decided to take up game design and various companies hire me for concepts. If they like it I get to develop the rules and create the game's mythology. From there I get a certain amount of profit from these games. Lately, I've gotten calls to help with a lot of online indie video games."

Atem nodded. "Sounds like fun and good money."

"The money is alright. It's enough for me to pay rent and live a little. The work keeps me occupied enough but not endlessly. For example I am on a holiday break. Well, if you couldn't guess from the snow outside."

"Yes, it is a bit chilly in here." Atem walked a few steps forward and looked around. He couldn't help but notice someone was missing.

"Yugi where's your grandfather?"

Yugi looked down with sadness in his eyes.

"He passed away from a stroke about a year after you left. I was hoping that you would keep him company up there."

"Oh Yugi I'm sorry about what happened, and no I didn't see him but…"

Atem walked up to Yugi and put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"But I'm sure that he's with his other relatives and is looking down proud of his grandson's growth."

Yugi smiled and nodded. Besides it had been four years since his death and Yugi had gotten well over that. He figured that his old man would finally get some well-deserved rest.

"Anyway, so do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?" Yugi suggested.

"Uh I don't know. Bad news first."

"Well first of all do you remember when you showed up during my duel with that weird Egyptian kid and his Cubic thingys?"

"Yes. Another problem caused by Zorc's possession of Bakura." He sighed. "Not to mention Seto used that cube to teleport himself to my dimension. Luckily I was able to pull a few strings to get him back here before he ceased to exist."

Yugi scratched the back of his head. "Yeah well all of that started when Kaiba's dumb-ass though it was a good idea to try and bring you back for another stupid duel. When we came back from your realm he somehow managed to bring this back and Mokuba was kind enough to drop it off."

Yugi grabbed a familiar golden box and pulled out a pendant causing Atem's jaw to drop to the floor. It was the Millennium Puzzle. Atem wanted the Millennium items destroyed so that their dark powers could never be used again. He even remembered making the object disappear.

"Why is this thing still around? Did he bring back the others?"

"No man don't worry this was the only one that Kaiba cared about and well I guess it's best left in your hands now."

Yugi handed Atem their old pendant an object passed down to succeeding pharaohs, a deed Atem had not properly performed. Normally the pharaoh's heir would have been given the object, but Atem produced none. Well, none that survived. The grave memories hit the former pharaoh like a freight train. Yugi noticed Atem was in his own world and it seemed like something was bothering him.

"Hey pharaoh you okay?"

Atem snapped out his train of thought and responded.

"Yes I'm fine it's just…" Atem didn't know if he wanted to talk about what haunted him. Like a dark blanket over his thoughts and heart. Sometimes he swore it had developed in to a type of PTSD.

"Just what pharaoh?"

Atem placed the gold box on the table, he would have remember to put the object in his bag later. "Please Yugi don't call me pharaoh. I am no longer King of Egypt. My days as royalty are long gone. Anyway why don't you finish explaining what has happened while I've been gone. Also speaking of which, have you and Rebecca gotten into a serious relationship over the years?"

Yugi didn't buy Atem's sudden changing of the subject for he knew there was something bugging him.

"Well, no my heart has always swayed toward another woman, a childhood friend of mine. A woman who will understand any situation, is a voice of reason, and has a heart of gold."

Yugi had a smirk of pride on his face. A smirk Atem was known best for, his grin of pure pride, confidence, and intimidation. It was clear Yugi has become everything Atem wanted him to be, a true success of his teachings. A class 'A' student, Yugi can now truly be considered the old pharaoh's present day doppelganger. Atem was no longer the big man of the house and he knew it. Atem was about to ask of Yugi's heart desire until he saw the photograph of him and Tea apparently happy to be together. Atem smiled happy to see his friends living life, as they should. Yet, he could not deny the ping of jealousy coursing through him. Deep down he knew better than to be possessive but this felt like a primal instinct begging to crawl its way out. Luckily he had a great poker face.

"Ah-ha so it was Tea all along. When did you two hook up? After she got back from New York?"

"Well that's the other bad news. You see she went to New York but only for like a year. And well I guess you can say it was mostly my fault."

Atem arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean Yugi?"

"You see when news got out that gramps passed away, Tea felt the need to come back and help me out with organizing the place. I told her she could sleep here for as long as she wanted. But one day I came down and found her crying her eyes out. Something I couldn't blame her for... "

"Why was she crying?" Atem hated Tea being in any sad state. He always wanted her to be happy with that beautiful smile on her face.

"Cause she missed you even more than me because… she wanted..." Yugi found it slightly uncomfortable being honest about this topic. Yet, he figured since he was in an established relationship with the woman it could not be completely harmful. Still he found it difficult to shake the suspicious that telling the truth would open a nasty can of worms. "Uhhh Atem what I'm trying to say is Tea, well unless you've been so thick not to notice, she liked you…a lot. Shit she has felt that way ever since she found out that I had an alter ego. She knew about you even before I did."

Atem was blown away and shocked to hear this. Tea felt the same way for him as he did her, possibly even stronger. And on top of all that Atem was too focused on other things to figure it out. Therefore he just left her in tears in a collapsing tomb. What a way to repay her for all that she did for him. Guilt swelled up throughout his body at the realization. Yugi could sense the sudden coldness in the room. Even without the Millennium Puzzle or sharing one body Yugi could still connect with Atem's emotions. He wondered if he could still talk to Atem using whatever remains of their mind link.

'Hey Atem are you okay? I mean it wasn't your fault that you had to leave. It was your destiny after all. And Tea doesn't hold any grudges… well not that I know of.'

Atem's eyes widen when he heard Yugi. He was surprised that after all these years that they still had a connection. It wasn't as strong but when one was open to the other they could talk through a mind link. Still Atem didn't let Yugi get too far into what he was thinking.

'I'm fine Yugi it's just that I was surprised that Tea felt that way towards me and…'

Atem cut the link and let the incredible guilt for hurting Tea take over him.

'Why didn't she tell me this? We could've at least talked it out.' He thought to himself.

Suddenly a powerful memory came to his state of thought.

"Atem my dear, I am ready for you," said a soft female voice.

Only the silhouette of the woman could be seen through the dark colored curtains. They fluttered in the wind as the view was directed to a young man. When Atem saw himself he was a mere teenager around the age of seventeen. Atem stood there leaning forward on the balcony as he looked toward the kingdom he would one day rule as pharaoh. Then he turned with a smile across his lips to look at his love.

"Oh Teana my love you look so beautiful, may I still enter thee for I cannot resist any longer" prince Atem stated.

Even at his young age Atem was still incredibly fit and well toned. His voice was not as mature yet but still very deep.

"My- my Atem I must say you are marvelous!"

She was the same age as he was, so she wasn't shy about being too old or too young for her prince. Her sapphire eyes had him lock on target as he crawled onto to the soft bed, covered by the fine linen sheets and the fur of animals that Atem had proudly hunted in the past year. Atem was nuzzling his head on hers as he massaged her thighs with both of his hands gently. She giggled for the sensation tickled. He sat up to look in her eyes before continuing. Deep crimson melted into sapphire and heartbeats accelerated. As of right now she needed, no wanted him. Yet before even their lips met to begin the passionate dance, Atem finally snapped back into reality.

"Hey Atem… you okay? Cause I said that reply of yours is BULLSHIT!" Yugi stated get his point across to the daydreaming pharaoh.

Atem was still frozen in deep thought and it took a few more seconds for him to respond. What was worse was the arousing memory left the man's heart racing. Whatever issue he was suffering from was sure to be mild trauma since he was triggered so easily.

"Uhhh… yeah I was just thinking." Atem muttered obviously not hearing the end of Yugi's last sentence.

Yugi looked at him curiously, shook his head then stated.

"Uh bullshit again… and thinking about what?"

Atem didn't know how to respond.

'Should I tell him?' he asked himself in thought. 'No then he'll start worrying about me and then he'll ask like a million questions. But if I don't say anything they'll eventually find out about something and I can't just say she didn't exist. That's just plain wrong.' He argued with himself before coming up with a reasonable solution. 'All right I won't say anything now, and if they ever ask I'll just say that she was my fiancé and that she mysteriously disappeared. Wait, what would Tea think if she found out that I married her ancient Egyptian doppelganger and now I love her too just as much...' Atem was now mentally panicking about the situation in his mind. Little did he know, that Yugi had been waiting for Atem to respond for the past minute.

"Hello… Earth to Atem you're going out of orbit." Yugi began tapping Atem's broad shoulder. Yugi could tell that he was pretty tensed up about something.

"Nothing. I'm just surprised Tea didn't say anything to me about this. I mean we could…"

Atem stopped before finishing the sentence. He didn't want Yugi thinking he had feelings for Tea. Luckily Yugi didn't hear that last part of his statement and replied.

"Well, I guess she was scared to admit and maybe ruin a good friendship. Ya know since you two had been through so much together. Especially when guys rescued me from Dartz remember."

Atem remembered and it wasn't a fond memory. 'The past is the past' Atem thought.

"Miss your family, don't you?"

"What do you mean? What family?" Atem responded nervously as his pupils moved quickly from side to side.

"Don't play dumb man. Your mother, father, and so on."

Atem sighed in relief and responded quickly this time.

"Well perhaps a little, but I don't have much to miss anyway."

"True. I mean you had a crazy double crossing uncle and a snappy cousin."

"Seto was loyal."

"Heh, WAS loyal, you see him now don't you!"

Atem chuckled remembering Kaiba's stuck up asshole attitude.

"So why don't you tell me about how you and Tea got together." Atem said, as he got comfortable on the couch.

"Well don't get too comfortable and fall asleep on me cause it's a long story."

Atem nodded to let Yugi start.

(Flashback)

It had been a week since Grandpa Mutou's funeral. Tea decided to stay at Yugi's place for the time being to help re-organize the house and game shop. A lot of change was in order with the old man gone. First of all Yugi was now the owner of the shop and Mobuka had recently offered a scholarship for specialized game designing school. Not to mention he promised to hire him for his first major game project that caught the Kaiba Corporation's attention. Yup, this place needed a new work space for the developing game designer. The two were pretty quiet that first week; only exchanging gestures and small conversations about chores and when to eat. Yugi's mind was certainly heavy with grief. So was Tea's, but she was better at hiding it. At least that is what she thought at first.

The day was slow moving and in her boredom Tea decided to rummage through some old pictures she found in a dusty cardboard box. It was probably something Grandpa kept around. As she moved through each image, she came across a photo taken perhaps only a few years ago. It was an incredibly rare sight. A photo of Atem. Finally someone caught him on camera without posing for another duelist promo or magazine. He was featured with Joey, it seemed like a short time after the first Battle City Tournament. Upon looking the image for another good minute, a tear slide down the brunette's cheek. She didn't even notice the tear until it spilled onto the photo. Tea gasped lightly, shocked that even after a year she still felt this stinging pain. There was still a hole in her heart that may never be filled.

"Hey you okay?" A concerned soft voice asked.

Tea never realized that Yugi's voice wasn't as high pitched as it used to be until now. It had developed a soft velvety texture to its sound. Her eyes looked at the small puddle of tears on the photograph. Yugi must've noticed it and turning her head would only confirm his worries. How the hell was she supposed to admit her feelings when they would only be in vain. Besides he had enough on his mind.

"Tea. C'mon I know something is up. Please talk to me." He moved over to sit beside her on the couch.

Upon looking at her face he witnessed the tears continuing to flow from her eyes. She had yet to usher a sound or even a sniffle. It must have been a deep sadness. Moving his pupils to the direction of the photo in her hand, he concluded why she was crying.

"It is okay...I miss him too. Feels like we have lost so much from just two people." Yugi scratched the back of his head. "But in light of all this grief I..."

He felt his heartbeat quicken and began to think to himself. 'Is this really the best time to tell her?' Funny thing is every time he asked himself this it always resulted in him waiting another six months or Tea leaving somewhere. Hell he should have really told her the week before she left to New York.

"Go on Yugi." Tea said, her voice was not yet broken. Yet it sounded monotone from whatever sadness she was feeling.

'Now or never Yugi' He inhaled gently. "I'm just glad that you are here. Not just to help me out but I'm just so happy to have you in my life. You mean so much to me Tea. I'm not one hundred percent sure what is bothering you but just know you don't have to go through it alone. Especially not when someone loves you."

Tea's heart felt another sharp sting. "Tell me Yugi, did he ever say he loved me?"

Ouch. That felt worse than a rejection. He figured this is what was bothering her. He has always known that she loved Atem. How could she not? He was everything Yugi was not, well at the time they met. It would a be lie if he didn't feel a small amount of anger and jealously to his spiritual counterpart. However, this was not the time to be an asshole.

"He never said anything to anyone. And to be honest I will never be sure how strongly he was fond of you. I know he cared for you greatly but I don't know in what way aside from friendship." He sighed. Mustering up some courage he placed a hand on Tea's. "Look I'm no King of Egypt but I'm not going to let you wallow here like this. You like to dance right? Well we are going out to dance."

So as you can see I've made changes to this little flashback and honestly it sounded a lot nicer than a prom. New readers will have no idea what I'm talking about but hopefully you enjoy this tender moment. Don't forget to review! =)