DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My spelling may seem a little odd to some readers at times. Just so you know, I'm not misspelling words like 'realise' and 'judgement' - that is how they are spelled here in Australia.

A New Beginning
Chapter 5: Conversation with a Cat
By Shadow's Mirror

As Bakura brooded over his likely fate in the antechamber and Yami attempted to not crow in triumph, but be sensitive to his former-enemy's state of mind, neither of the boys realised that not all of the conversation inside the Hall of Judgement had ceased.

- - -

"That was most well done, I must say." The white cat seemed to smile as the one she was talking to blinked and looked down at her in surprise.

"Oh... are you still here?" Osiris did his best to sound as bored as possible.

The cat chuckled softly. "But of course. I could not resist congratulating you on an excellent judgement." She began to delicately lick one paw.

Osiris made a sound that, coming from any lesser being, would have been considered a snort. "In other words, one which suited your purpose." He sounded amused rather than annoyed.

Again, the white cat chuckled. "That too. Although, I suspect it suited yours, also."

Only the tiniest jerk of his body betrayed that she'd hit upon the truth. "As I said... I judge the dead, nothing more and nothing less. The lives of mortals do not concern me in the slightest." He shrugged, still sounding bored, then frowned at her. "Must you do that?"

"What?" She paused in the middle of wiping her dampened paw over her face and blinked at him.

"That... thing... you are doing with your paw." He looked a little disgusted.

"You mean this?" She wiped her face again and chuckled as he scowled at her in response. "As I said earlier, you caught me in the middle of a bath."

"That is no reason to continue it now!" Osiris shuddered. "How that can be called 'bathing' is beyond my comprehension. Cats are not clean... they are merely covered in cat drool."

She laughed in obvious delight. "Now now, there is no need to be so grumpy. It is a good day, after all. We both got what we wanted. The spirits will return to the mortal world and the boys who wait for them. The danger will be averted, the world will be saved and everyone will live happily ever after." Her blue eyes gleamed.

Osiris frowned at her. "You make it sound as if this is some fairytale. We both know that things may not go as smoothly as that." He looked towards the great door that led out to the antechamber. "The white-haired one was listening. He knows it may not work out well for him." Perhaps it was the way his soft words echoed slightly in the large room that made his voice sound a little sad.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." The white cat smiled. "I notice that you did not refute what I said. But as I said before, it was a superb judgement. The way you listened to the others and then went ahead and did exactly what you had intended to do from the beginning was simply magnificent."

"No." Osiris shook his head and looked seriously at her. "Not from the beginning. I had believed it to be a normal judgement. When they came in here, I was as shocked to see them as anyone."

"That was when you realised who they were?" She sounded curious and not at all surprised by his revelation.

Osiris smiled slightly. "The moment they entered the room. There could be no mistaking their hair. I knew I had to do something, but I was still debating with myself as to exactly what when the white-haired one spoke up, as bold as you please." He chuckled. "Time has not made him any more reverent to us."

A soft chuckle preceded her reply. "True. However, he is not quite as he once was."

"Oh?" Osiris tried so sound as if he wasn't interested. He failed miserably.

She nodded. "There is gentleness in him when he deals with the mortal child who carries the other half of his soul. Not a lot, but it is there and it has been growing. Slowly, but still... It is a start."

The death god eyed the cat thoughtfully. "A little gentleness is not much to bear the weight of such great hopes." His words were cryptic, but he knew she would understand him.

"I know." She smiled gently. "But a mortal heart filled with kindness and sensitivity is well able to support it enough so it can."

Osiris smiled a little and nodded. "I see." He was quiet for a moment before he sighed softly. "Do you suppose the others... suspect?" His words were so soft they were barely audible even in the chamber where whispers sounded as loudly as shouts.

"That you called them here solely so you could avoid their complaining later on that you had done entirely as you had pleased in this matter, without regard to any possible consequences? I doubt it very much. Well... Anubis and Thoth might... and your sisters of course. The others will be too busy talking about what a strong and commanding judge you are to realise that their opinions on the matter were entirely dismissed." Her eyes twinkled merrily. "You struck the perfect balance in what you said. They felt as if they had been consulted and had guided you to your judgement. I am sure they will never realise your decision had been made long before they entered this chamber."

"Yes... well..." Osiris cleared his throat and tried not to grin. Just because she had chosen to ignore almost all protocol and appear in the hall in her current form, it didn't mean that he could just forget his sense of dignity. "Even so, what I said was not untrue. I am bound by certain limits and this was bordering on being outside my jurisdiction. I could not have made such a judgement without good cause. Your words provided that." He eyed her curiously. "Was that why you came here?"

She smiled and shrugged. "You called for all of us. Even now, I remain one of you."

Osiris wasn't convinced. "You seemed to be incredibly well prepared for this, considering that the summons caught you in the middle of 'bathing', as you call it." He grimaced and she laughed softly.

"I have been watching recent events as they unfolded on the mortal world. When I realised they were coming here, I decided to do what I could to help them." She shrugged again.

The death god eyed the small white cat thoughtfully. "You did not come here to merely inform us all of the prophecy, did you? You came here willing to speak on their behalf, if necessary."

"Someone needed to." Her voice was very soft. "Every word I spoke was true. A danger draws ever nearer and it will take the Millennium Items to deal with it. However, the spirits do not really need to return as well. Not for that. But with everything they have done, everything they have faced... I believe that they have both more than earned some time to simply be happy and live their lives with those they care for." She licked her paw and wiped it across her face again.

Osiris eyed her thoughtfully and decided not to grumble about her actions. "All of this... for them? The Pharaoh, I understand. His actions have always been for the greater good. But... why show such concern for the Tombrobber?" He was baffled and not afraid to show it.

"Because I do not believe that he is entirely beyond all hope of redemption. Of course... whether or not he gets the chance to prove it will depend on his Light taking him back now. His fate lies in that boy's hands." The white cat stretched, her back arching, as Osiris nodded.

"I must confess... I am curious as to what his answer will be."

"As am I." She moved slightly and then sat down again.

Osiris blinked at her. "You are sitting on my foot."

"Of course. I am a cat, after all. It is what we do."

As Osiris tried to make sense of that reasoning, Bastet, daughter of the most powerful Ra, the God of the Sun and Osiris's great-grandfather, calmly continued to sit on his foot as she began to clean her whiskers.

Despite her intervention and the best judgement Osiris could have made, in the end, it all came down to the decision of two mortal youths.

- - -

Anubis had followed his orders to the letter.

He had visited Yugi Moto's dreams and informed him of the situation... and then found himself being tightly hugged by a very happy and excited boy who couldn't wait for his Yami to come back home to him.

Ryou Bakura's dreams had also been entered and the situation explained, but the bearer of the Ring's reaction had been very different to the bearer of the Puzzle's. On hearing that he could choose to have his yami return to him, the boy had bowed his head and bitten his lip hard, but remained silent.

Anubis's voice was almost kind. "If you need time to consider your decision..."

Ryou shook his head and looked up, then smiled a little sadly. "Thank you, but no. I have made my choice."

To be continued...