Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or "Hey Soul Sister" by Train.

Author's note: And here, as promised, the other half of the chapter. Some odd things are starting to happen. Maaaaaaaaaaybe that kiss jump started something? Who knows? You'll just have to read and see.

Hey Soul Sister

"Sing for me." Atem's voice echoed in the darkness, almost as if it were its own entity. There was silence in the emptiness, mixed emotions floating about without a mind to settle in. Another voice started to murmur, but too soft to be understood. "But I am Pharaoh, I can make you." Another murmur, the air lifting a little bit with the obvious joking tone Atem took. "Really? Perhaps I should change that" The tone was silly, flirting. As the disembodied sounds of laughter, the second voice more audible now. It was a female voice. Her laughter was loud and squeaked every now and then. Atem was playing with someone. "Will you submit to me?" He asked, both voices quieting once again. The female voice murmured her answer once again, and a sense of calming and relaxation suddenly filled the blackness as a warming white light cut through the eternal blackness.

/Atem…/ Crimson eyes slowly opened, responding to the slight nudges coming from the owner of the intruding voice in his thoughts. "Atem, wake up." Yugi's soft angelic voice echoed through the still very open mind link the two still shared despite the destruction of the millennium puzzle. The link the two boys figured only remained as a scarring from the power of the puzzle that once contained Atem's spirit. After all, it was kind of hard for anyone in the group of friends to believe that a power so ancient and great could really vanish from the world so easily.

/Did I disturb you, Aibou?/ Atem asked, using the nickname he gave to Yugi when they first met. Atem stretched on the sofa he was sleeping on, forgetting for a moment that Akila was woken up early that morning and brought him and Yugi pillows and blankets.

/Your mind is a bit restless today. Have you called Ishizu yet concerning your missing memories?/ Yugi asked, Atem turned onto his side, searching for his friend who was still laying on the floor, looking asleep to anyone else who might have seen, but Atem knew he was very much awake, at least his mind was. Yugi did this every now and then, when he was really tired still, he would lay there as if fast asleep, but would talk to Atem a little bit before he would doze back off for a little while.

/I haven't been able to get a hold of her. It seems there is a lot going on at the museum these days./

/So Akila has been telling us. She said there were new artifacts coming in soon and she wouldn't be able to intern there for a little while. Something about the scientists needing to work on the mummy they were getting in or whatever./ Yugi continued

/A new mummy?/ Atem asked curiously before he felt Yugi yawn mentally. Despite Yugi's want to help his friend with what was going on, his body was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep. /Go ahead and sleep Aibou. I'm sorry I woke you up./ He told him, feeling a wave of guilt flood through Yugi's mind. /Don't trouble yourself with this stuff Yugi. It's your turn to live your life, and I have a new life to live. I bet I only received the memories I needed to save the world, and now I just need to make a new one in this life. I wont worry about it anymore I promise./ Yugi felt sad at hearing his partner giving into defeat so easily, but he could tell that all Atem wanted was to live. It was just the nagging in the back of his mind that he didn't really know himself that was bugging the former Pharaoh.

/It's not a crime, Atem, to want to know your self. I'm sure you will discover the missing pieces soon enough. It might be kind of like Amnesia./ Atem seemed confused. Yes he had a form of amnesia in the sense he couldn't remember his past so well, but this was different, it was magical not medical. /Amnesia patients can sometimes have their memories come back with a trigger. Perhaps you just need to wait for something to trigger your remaining memories. Did you ever thing that maybe getting back all of your memories at once was a little too much for your brain to handle?/ Atem thought about it and figured it was the more logical way of thinking and it would suffice for now. He felt too jumpy waiting for the next evil to come at him, but he knew it wouldn't happen now that the items were gone.

/Go back to sleep, Aibou./ Atem reiterated before he felt his partner's mind becoming hazy, and Atem felt the need to detach himself from Yugi's mind before he too succumbed to the haze of sleep again. No, he couldn't go to sleep right now; he had to apologize to Akila before everyone else woke up. He now understood how Yugi felt about needing his privacy, not that Atem never gave Yugi his privacy before.

Slowly and quietly, Atem stood up from the sofa and folded up his blanket, giving himself an excuse to go up to Akila's room where he was sure to find her. He remembered what he did when she gave him the blanket and pillow, and felt awful about it. He needed to remind himself that not everyone he will meet in this time had anything to do with his past. He quietly left the entertainment room, checking behind him making sure none of his movements disturbed the others. Once he was satisfied that everyone was sound asleep, he ventured up the staircase where he remembered Akila's room was at. He lightly tapped on her door, hearing the sounds of music playing on the other side of the door.

"Come on in." Akila's voice rang out from the other side before Atem slowly opened the door to revealed Akila sitting at her computer, dressed in a different outfit from the one she wore the night before, making Atem believe she already showered and got herself ready for the day. She was wearing a bright yellow tank top that some how made her skin look darker then it did the day before and a pair of dark blue denim shorts and a pair of ankle boots that Atem noticed made her legs look nice even though she was sitting at her computer. Today she had her long hair in a side ponytail, the ponytail was twisted after the elastic band holding it in place and her bangs swept over the side of her face. It was something she saw in a magazine and decided to try out this morning, and apparently she was successful in her attempt, at least to her satisfaction. She looked at Atem, standing in the doorway with the pillow and blanket in hand and smiled. She had her thick rimmed reading glasses on, obviously to help her see whatever she was reading on her computer. "Good morning, Atem." She said sweetly, Atem not really knowing what to think of her attitude. He remembered after the kiss she seemed a little shocked, but now she seemed fine, no awkwardness or uncertainty about what happened.

Akila stood at the sight of her things and promptly took them out of Atem's hands without giving him a chance to object and offer to put it where it belongs like she knew he would. She walked to the side of her bed and promptly flung the blanket over the bed, holding onto one side of it and let it drift lightly onto her bed. She quickly fixed any crooked, even sides of the blankets so if fit over her mattress perfectly before tucking the sides under her mattress. "Easy" She said showing Atem it was perfectly okay that he didn't assist her, she was fine on her own. "I hope this made things a little more comfortable for you. Sorry I fell asleep before I could get you and Yugi something to use." She said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as she remembered how she woke up herself, cuddled up against Atem.

"I actually wanted to talk about something with you." Akila looked up at him, knowing what he was bringing up and kind of wishing to herself he wouldn't.

"I know what you're going to say, but honestly, it isn't a big deal. You were half asleep. Don't worry about it." She said dismissing the subject right away, but kind of hoping that wasn't why Atem had kissed her. Akila reached up and took off her glasses and laid them on the computer desk and smiled at him. "So are the others awake too? I was going to make stuff for us all to eat for breakfast." She said, really not wanting to talk about what happened between the two of them if the others were around. Atem shook his head, and she knew then that she wasn't going to get out of this.

"I just want to apologize. I stepped out of line there. We just met and you said you wanted to get to know me better. I shouldn't have done that." Akila waved him off, really not wanting to hear this right now, still confused about what happened.

"It was fine. I'm not bothered by it. I kind of liked it to be honest…." She slowly said the last part; not really knowing if she wanted to let him know that, but once the words were out it wasn't like she could take it back. The two stood there for a moment silent, trying to see if the other wanted to say anything more on the subject.

"You listen to music a lot." Atem said, changing the subject so drastically that it caught Akila off guard and didn't know what was going on. She shrugged, not really expecting Atem to drop the subject so quickly.

"I suppose. I told you yesterday that I like to play the songs I listen to on the radio." She said as she went back to the computer and minimized whatever she was doing on the computer before he came in.

"Can you sing one for me?" Akila blushed. She really wasn't expecting that. No one really asked her to sing or anything. It was just something she did for free time or in her choir at her old school.

"What…?" She asked, making sure she heard correctly.

"Yea Akila, we want to hear you sing to!" Atem and Akila bother jumped, having been so wrapped up in their conversation they failed to hear the others come up the stairs. Atem was even surprised to see Yugi standing there with his blanket folded and tucked under one arm and his pillow under the other one. He smiled a little when he noticed how tired Yugi still looked; a little grumpy too which made Atem think he didn't get up willingly. Yugi noticed Atem's smirk and sighed.

/Tea stepped on me when she got up/ Atem let out a small chuckle that earned him a confused look from Akila, the only one in the group unaware of their link. /Shut up!/ Yugi grunted, making Atem smile more. It was always interesting, for lack of a better word, to see Yugi grumpy considering he was so childlike.

"Come on Akila, you said you like to sing, let's hear it." Joey urged her, causing everyone's focus to be back on her. She sighed her defeat and walked to her guitar when she put it away the day before, and walked to take her seat in his computer chair.

"Do you all know 'Hey, Soul Sister'?" Everyone replied with a nod, including Atem who, despite his recent transition into this world, has heard it on the radio in Yugi's room every now and then. Akila then plucked the strings of her guitar to make sure they were in tune. "Hey, hey, hey, your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains…" Akila started singing, smiling at the joy of it. She closed her eyes, focusing more the on the strings of her guitar and the words that came from her lips, calming herself and drifting into her mind as she found herself doing more and more often whenever she sang, as if her singing put her into a kind of trance.

Atem's chest began to burn a little, and he reached for it as if he were reaching instinctively for the puzzle that he had, for a moment, forgotten was lost deep within the tomb in Egypt. But, the burning was so familiar. As if, despite the fact the artifact was physically gone, its phantom still lingered, imprinted on Atem in a way. Suddenly he felt as if his mind were being sucked back into that aforementioned artifact.

"Where did you get that harp, priestess?" Atem heard his voice, like he had in the dream.

"My, Pharaoh!" This time the other voice was audible, a female voice. "You won't tell the musicians, will you? I was going to take it right back when I was done. I just couldn't help myself; it's so beautiful out here…"

Yugi looked at Atem with some worry. His partners face was completely blank, but once again something was coming from his partner's mind that made him anxious. He looked at the others around him who seemed to be so engrossed in the song; he doubted they even noticed the strange feeling in the air and Atem's vacant expression. He bit his lip worried before he too was over taken by Akila's song.

"So you can really do things with your voice?" Atem asked interested.

"Of course, why else would the great Pharaoh Aknamkanon have me brought here to learn under Priestess Isis?" Atem sighed at the formality this girl voice seemed to need to express. "Though sometimes, I can't help it. I still can't control it. It's not the words I sing, it's my voice. Or at least that is how Priestess Isis explained it to me."

"What can you do?"

"Anything. I suppose that is another reason I am here. I could be a big threat to the kingdom, or a great weapon." She suddenly silenced herself as if she almost forgot for a moment whom she was talking to, and once she remembered, realized she might have just signed her own death warrant.

"Don't be afraid. I trust my father's judgment, and the judgment of my priests." A sigh of relief filled the darkness. Atem gave up on ever seeing the scene that played out in his mind, but just focused on the voices and what was going on. "So what were you doing out here that you needed to steal the musician's harp?" There was a light hearted giggle heard.

"This might sound silly, my lord, but I don't exactly know. I think it is just your garden. I get sucked in here for some reason." It was as if the women remembered something else. "I keep trespassing into your garden. Please forgive me!" there was a sudden thud and the feeling of dread and fear filled the air.

"Do not fear, this is the second time I have caught you in here, and this is the second time I find my garden more alive then ever before. I think I have you to thank for that." Despite the Pharaoh's reassurance, the air was still thick with uncertainty and fear. "What is your name, priestess. If I am going to keep seeing you in my garden I may as well learn your name so I tell the guards not worry if they happen to see you in here."

"You mean…"

"Yes, I don't mind you in here. Like I told you before, my garden looks more alive after you've been around."

"Husn, my Lord. My name is Husn."

The burning came back just as it had before, but instead of the darkness pulling him within himself, a light was bringing him back to the world. It almost felt like a person being pulled out of a hole, freeing, like a breath of fresh air.

"Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Tonight"Atem looked around the room as Akila finished her song. Everyone looked as if they hadn't noticed anything going on, even Yugi. The others clapped as Akila blushed and put her guitar away figuring she had embarrassed herself enough for one day. Atem suddenly felt his stomach drop, worried now. Nothing like this had happened to him before and it really freaked him out not knowing what was happening.

"That was really good, Akila, don't you think Atem?" Atem nodded, not really hearing Yugi but figuring it was the correct response. "Are you alright, Atem?" Yugi was worried again. Something was right with the Pharaoh and he could feel it.

"Yes I am alright. I just need to step outside and make a phone call." Atem said standing up, grabbing his phone, that Yugi's grandfather had given him as his way of helping the Pharaoh rejoin the world of the living, and walked out of the room.

"Atem, do you want pancakes?" Akila called after him, not really understanding what was wrong with Atem. She looked just as worried and confused as the others did, and for once, everyone was on the same level when it came to their cluelessness. Everyone heard the front door slam close, and everyone wanted to run out to find out what was going on, and everyone knew that it was probably best to leave him alone for now. Even Yugi didn't bother to try and listen in to his partners thoughts.

"Did you say pancakes?" Joey and Tristan said almost in unison, trying to break the awkward silence.

Author's Note: I was listening to "Hey, Soul Sister" the other day and i felt it was kind of fitting for this story, so i had to use it. I hope y'all are enjoying the story. love hearing your feedback.