Yugioh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

"No! No! No!" Mana yells, going into her room with Atem following her and closing the door so that no one will hear their conversation. "There's no way I'm getting married!"

"I was not expecting this myself," Atem remarks with his arms folded. "You're just going to have to go along with it."
"WHAT!?" Mana exclaims with disbelief.

"You are me, so you will have to do what I would do."

"This isn't fair," Mana pouts, sitting on the bed. "Why look for a wife? I mean, you and I are--" She drops her head and Atem smiles slightly, knowing what she is about to say. The wife thing isn't the only thing that's bothering her.

"Mana, I know how you feel, but this is something you must do for now." Mana leans back on the bed with a groan as he approaches her with a smirk. "Not so easy being pharaoh is it?"

Mana turns her head, looking away. "It's not so bad…"

Atem chuckles. "Good night Mana."

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYG

Atem stands in the throne room, observing every princess in there. He stands, leaning on a stone pillar with his arms folded. There were about five in there, all looking their best to impress the pharaoh. The priests are in there as well. He closes his eyes and smiles to himself. 'I have to admit, I'm glad Mana is the one doing this and not me.'

He reopens his eyes when Shimon announces that Mana has entered the throne room. He looks to the entrance, watching as Mana walks down to the throne and all the priests including him bow in respect. She sits down and then gives Shimon the signal to let everything begin.

Music plays and there are dancers to perform. One by one, the women go up to greet Mana and get to know her better. Mana turns almost everyone of them down until she gets a look from Atem, telling her to choose at least one of them to talk to. The last woman has brown, shoulder length hair and blue eyes, wearing a white robe and purple cape.

"My name is Princess Teana. Nice to meet you," she greets with a curtsey.

"…The pleasure is all mine," Mana replies as a drop of sweat goes down the side of her head.

"My is it hot in here. Would you like to go for a walk?"

"Yes." Atem watches as Mana departs with Teana for a walk. But when a shadow appears behind him, he turns his head to see who it is. It is one of the guards of the princess.

"Can I help you?" asks Atem with a calm and fearless look on his face.

"What's a cute girl like you standing all by yourself for? You should dance with me," he says with a snicker and Atem folds his arms, turning his head, completely ignoring him. "Well?"

"Are you still here?"

"You cannot resist me."

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I've already been taken."

"So that is how it's gonna be huh?" asks the guard, getting enraged and he grabs Atem's arm tightly.

Atem looks at him with narrowed eyes and orders him in his regular voice, "Unhand me."

"What the?" He feels a tap on his shoulder to see Mahad standing behind him and Atem smirks.

"I believe this young lady told you to leave her be. So if you please…" The guard growls and lets Atem go, storming away.

"Thank you Mahad."

Mahad nods before asking, "How do you think Mana is doing?"

"I don't know. But I hope she is handling everything well."

"So how does it feel to be king of Egypt?" asks Teana as she and Mana walk through the courtyard.

"It is a great honor," Mana replies as best as she can. Although she doesn't feel that way, she wants to answer in the way that Atem would.

"I bet it is a lot of responsibility as well."

"Yes."

"But from what I've heard, you're a great pharaoh. But it's gotta be hard. As if ruling wasn't difficult enough, now you have to choose a wife." Mana doesn't answer. She doesn't want to choose a wife for Atem. Isn't she, herself good enough? Her eyes start to water up but she quickly closes them to keep the tears from pouring out.

Teana notices this look and asks, "What is the matter? Are you alright?"

Mana takes a deep breath before opening her eyes again. "You have to excuse me Teana. I am not feeling all that well."

"Then maybe we should go back to the palace," she suggests and they turn around, making their way back. "I understand what you're going through. Can I be truthful with you?"

"Go ahead."

"Well you see, being someone's wife has never come to mind. But I was told to do this by my advisor. So I know what you are doing now is tough." They make it inside where a table has been set for dinner. "Do not stress yourself out," Teana says to Mana. "Everything is going to be just fine."

Mana smiles slightly at her. "Thank you."

Finally, after a day of festivities, all of the women leave, giving Mana some relief. But that isn't until Shimon walks up to her and she sighs, knowing that he has an important question to ask.

"My king…"

"Yes Shimon?"

"Have you made your decision?"

"Shimon…"

Shimon nods. "I understand if you feel that you are not ready just yet. I shall give you more time."

"But I don--"

"You should be getting your rest. It is quite late," says Shimon and Mana reluctantly agrees and walks out to her room with a lot on her mind. She is so into her thoughts that she doesn't even notice that she has just passed Atem up.

'Responsibilities…decisions…' she thinks to herself as she enters her room, holding her head. She sits down on the bed, looking down at the floor. She couldn't remember the last time she has had so many thoughts going through her head. Actually, that has never happened. She used to live without a care or big responsibility in the world. But now in days, she doesn't get enough sleep from all the thinking.

"Is everything alright?" asks Atem and she flinches at the sound of his voice. The door closes and he stands a couple of feet away from her with his arms folded. Before he can even open his mouth again, Mana stops him.

"Don't…"

"Don't what?"

"I already know what you're gonna say and yeah, you were right. This isn't so easy after all. I just can't do this anymore!"

"Yes you can. You have been doing well all this time."

"Atem…I can't handle the responsibility, the major decision making and the stress." She looks up at him with tears welling up in her eyes. "I want my old life back."

"Mana, don't cry," he pleads, not wanting to see her this way. But as soon as he says that, tears fall from her eyes, leaving a wet trail down her cheeks.

"I was wrong. Being pharaoh isn't so easy after all," she sobs and she wipes some of the tears that comes down but more come anyway. "There's just so much that you have to do. You have to care for your people, act a certain way…I'm not meant to do all that stuff. I want to be free to do whatever I want! I want to be able to be myself! I…"
"Shh…" Atem hushes her, sitting down beside her and wrapping an arm around her as she sobs. "Soon Mana…soon we will get our bodies back and live our normal lives again. But we have to be patient and have faith in Mahad."

Mana sniffs as he wipes the tears off her face. "My head hurts…" Atem moves closer to her and takes off the heavy crown, placing it on a stand near the bed. Then he places his hands on the sides of her head and starts to slowly and softly rub her side temples. She closes her eyes, enjoying the massage.

As he does this, he takes this time to think. Sure, life has been easier in Mana's body, but he couldn't help missing his old life as pharaoh. The hard work bothers him sometimes, but he can deal with it better than Mana. Plus, he has had a lot of things to prepare him before becoming pharaoh.

He later lets Mana fall gently onto the bed on her side and he lies across from her. They look into each other's eyes, seeing their reflection in them. How they wished to be in their normal bodies right about now. But like Atem said, it will take time and they will have to be patient.

"Everything will be fine…" he tells her. "All we can do is wait…"

Things will get a lot more interesting in later chapters so keep reading! Review please!