Chapter 24

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"Set... Please... Just this one more thing and I'll leave you alone forever." Yami had his gaze fixed on Set, but when Set glared down at him, he couldn't keep the stair. Before he could respond Sarah's hand was on his shoulder.

"Maybe we should..." She whispered to him, finally making eye contact with the pharaoh. It lasted only a moment before she turned away, but Set had given his answer. A brief nod. He would go.

Back at the hotel, they were all ready to say goodbye and the group ready to rejoin the class, when Yami called out.

"Ishizu, wait." The group paused and Ishizu stepped forward.

"Yes?"

"I would like to speak with you, just for a moment." He requested. She nodded and the two left toward an exit to get some fresh air as they talked. "Ishizu, I really cant thank you enough." He said finally, after more than a few moments of silence. Ishizu felt a slight blush creep across her cheeks.

"Not at all, it was my pleasure to aid you. I would have never been able to witness the rituals of old truly come to life without you. You've opened my eyes to things I never would have imagined possible." It was Yami's turn to blush.

"Unfortunately, I regret to say, I must ask you another favor." He said, unable to look at her in case she rejected him.

"What is it?"

"Well, I feel uncomfortable asking Kaiba for additional funds to get us to Thebes. He's done so much, most unwillingly... That's not to say you haven't done as much!" Yami corrected himself, trying not to make himself sound ungrateful. Ishizu laughed.

"I'm sure I can pull something together." She said. She felt like a child, like a little girl. Fresh and new again. With everything that's happened, she felt alive, as if she was the one that had been brought back.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, You wont regret it." Yami smiled genuinely for the first time since he got back his body. Ishizu blushed again. His smile was so brilliant she felt herself return the kindness.

"Seto, I want to be there for Sarah." Serenity begged. Kaiba had had enough of his 'adventures' in Egypt. He pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to sound kinder than he felt like speaking.

"Serenity, I'm tired. I'm used to running around and dealing with huge problems, but you and your friends" He glanced across Yugi and Tea. "Have completely worn me out. I think we've spent enough time away from the class. They're suspicious enough." Kaiba tried, sounding more drained than his intended emotion of caring. He wasn't really good at this 'being nice' stuff, and made a mental note to practice.

"How can you say you're not interested in this? At least some of the ancient Egyptian practices are real! And the magics of the millennium items-" Kaiba grabbed her shoulders gently.

"Serenity..." He sounded ready to drop. "I have to deal with processing this information at my own speed. And yes, usually I'm damned fast at taking in new information, but this is different. I never believed in this stuff. I'm not just entering in new information, I'm rewriting it... and I'm no computer. I don't have a time estimate and a little progress bar to tell me how long it'll take." Kaiba paused. "I... I need time Serenity." She brought a hand up to his down turned face, and smiled.

"I'm sorry Seto. I know you've been so busy and you've done so much. I guess I was just being selfish." She brought his eyes to hers. "You've been so wonderful, and I don't want you to think that that's gone unnoticed, or unappreciated. I guess I was being greedy. I was too excited being here and seeing these wonders, that I overlooked your feelings. I'm so so-" Kaiba crushed his lips down on hers. This little angle, she could get the world from him if she wanted. But she didn't want the world. She didn't want for much at all. She just wanted him. And she never got much of what she wanted.

"This is our last little adventure in Egypt. Then we go home." He said after breaking away. Serenity hadn't even opened her eyes yet, but hearing what he said, they snapped open.

"Are... Are you sure? I don't want-" Kaiba, still not used to this being nice thing, laid a finger on her lips, silencing her.

"I think we're done talking about it." Kaiba flipped open his phone and began calling for a plane when Ishizu stepped in.

"That wont be necessary." She informed him. Kaiba glanced up, and decided he wanted to hear her explanation before continuing. "Travel accommodations have been taken care of. As a personal favor for allowing me to be your guide during these educational and informational discoveries." Kaiba's phone clicked shut. Serenity looked up at him again, making sure that he was positive he wanted to stay. He gave her a tired half smile and sat on the bed. "I've spoken to the teacher and let her know that you all will be returning early due to your illnesses." Everyone nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

They had had their adventures, seen ancient rituals and magics never thought possible, and they had done it all under the ruse of a field trip. And they had gotten away with it.

Set had a sinking feeling in his gut as the plane landed. Even though it had been thousands of years since he had last seen the city, it was still Thebes. It was still the place of his nightmares. It was different from the picture he had had in his mind. He had marred that into how he truly felt it looked. But being there in person, actually seeing it. It was too much. He should have never agreed to go.

Immediately, Yami and Ishizu led the group to a small rental agency. The group seemed confused, but tagged along. They rented two jeeps, Ishizu drove in one with the ancient spirits, and Kaiba drove the other with the modern day group. They traveled for about twenty minutes, their path leading directly into the desert. Yami navigated using the millennium ring, and when they had reached their destination, he had Ishizu pull over.

Both jeeps stopped in the middle of nowhere, and everyone got out.

"What are we doing here Atem?" Set demanded. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be in the deserts again. He knew where there was civilization, and knew there was transportation to get there, but just being in the desert was enough to give him much unwanted flashbacks.

"You will see soon cousin." Atem stood over a small mound of sand and the ring glowed. "I did this for you. Yami's head was hung low, and he glanced over sorrowfully at Set and Sarah. "To honor you." Set shot him a questioning glare, but Yami had turned back toward the sands. He placed his millennium puzzle onto the sand, face down as if it was a pyramid. The ground shook violently, and the earth moved beneath them. A large opening formed, revealing an ancient staircase leading into darkness.

Yami started down, followed by Set, then Sarah and Ishizu. Yugi gave a glance to everyone else, then ran hurriedly down to follow them, followed by the rest of them. Yami had grabbed one of the few torches at the entrance of the cavern meant specifically for him when he returned. He dipped it into a basin of oil and struck the flint and steel to light it. They were led down a long hall and as they passed a doorway, Set stopped and breathed in quickly. Yami stopped and looked back, bringing the source of light into the room he had entered.

"These are..." Set started, brushing his fingers over a number of old books. Yami nodded.

"Your personal journals, the ones I could save. All of the worldly belongings you had cherished. They're all here." Yami outstretched an arm, pointing out so many familiar objects. Set wandered about the room, touching things he never thought still existed.

"Why?" He asked, turning to look at the ex-pharaoh. Yami just smiled and led him on, down the hall to the room at the end. The chamber was huge. gold lined the walls, and many treasures were placed around the walls. Set froze and Sarah gasped. Before them were two sarcophagi. Beautiful paintings and once decadent fabrics covered the stone coffins.

"I performed the second life rituals myself. I had hoped that I could undo the wrongs I had done in our past lives in this one." He explained. He moved to a large table behind the sarcophagi. Removing a shawl, he unveiled two large books. "I also took the liberty to personally write books of the dead for each of you. Without these rites and rituals, it's near impossible to find another method of preparing the soul for a next life." Sarah touched the face of her sarcophagus with trembling hands. Behind Set, this was the most touching thing anyone had ever done for her. Set was still frozen in his spot.

"Why? Why would you do all of this? Why would you... why..." Set was at a loss for words.

"Because you are my cousin. Because I could not live with myself after our final duel. After I killed you..." It was true. When Set did return for revenge, the loss of the duel had ended his life. Yami looked at him solemnly. "I stole away with your remains before the guard could find you. I had already taken Sarah, and prepared her. This tomb was hers. I wanted... I wanted to keep you together. Hidden, so the world would never separate you again. I used my puzzle to hide you in the sands. And then... I locked the shadow realm away in them. I never wanted the power of the shadow realm to destroy anyone else like they have destroyed us.

I had no clue at the time, that when you both died, your souls had been locked away into the items you were wielding. I buried my soul into the puzzle as the sacrifice to seal the items. The sealing broke the puzzle into many piece, unusable by anyone who didn't solve it. I also didn't realize the breaking of the puzzle would lock away my memories until my soul and body could be reunited.

I never wanted to hurt you. Either of you. I'm so sor-" Yami was cut off by Sarah. She had hugged him and was crying softly into his shoulder. He looked up at Set, who had turned away.

"We've... Been together... this whole time." Set's voice was broken and raspy. His hand grazed his tomb, and then hers. Their resting place. Together. Sarah pulled away from Yami and placed a hand on Set's arm. He was trembling and still looking away. Before anyone could move, he was on Yami. Everyone stood dead still as Set embraced his cousin. Yami, frozen, still couldn't quite comprehend what was going on. "You... You kept us together. You made it possible for us to be together in this life. This whole time... trapped inside the rod... I hated you. I thought you hated me... I... I never knew. This... This is what you tried to show me... when I returned." Set pulled back enough to see Yami nod. "But I wouldn't listen. I challenged you. I wanted my revenge, and I wouldn't take no for an answer. I didn't even give you a chance." Yami smiled up at his cousin.

"I understood. It killed me to fight you, but I had hoped that after the battle, you would listen. That you would come and see her here. But..."

"I jumped into the last blast... I died with my blue eyes... I didn't believe there was a reason to live anymore." Set finished for him. Yami nodded, sadly reminiscing on that day. "I... I forgive you. And I'm sorry."

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So I was thinking of starting a prologue fic covering exactly what happened in ancient Egypt, obviously according to mainly Set and Sarah, But it will also cover how Bakura and Malik gained items and second lives. I figured, well crap, I've already come up with the entire story, why not write it... of course, now you all know how it ends.

Let me know what you guys think... review pls? I look forward to hearing from you.