The italics are Yuugi's diary entry.
Chapter 5- Friends?
Yuugi walked out into the gardens and sat down on one of the benches by the water fountain. It was her favorite place in the garden to sit. Yuugi shut her eyes and sighed.
Heba, Atemu, Honda, Anzu, Eternias, Yuesei, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik all wanted to spend time with their respective lover, so they all had gone to their own rooms.
Yuugi had figured that Yami and Mana were together, so she had decided to go out into the gardens for a while.
"Do you mind if I join you, Lady Yuugi?" a baritone voice asked.
Yuugi turned to her right and was surprised to find that Yami was standing beside her. "Of course not, Prince Yami. Please, sit down." Yuugi replied.
Yami took the invitation and sat down beside Yuugi. "While I'm here, I would prefer that you called me Yami, Lady Yuugi." Yami said.
"You're the Crown Prince, thought. Few are allowed to call you just by your name." Yuugi said.
"Yes, and you have no idea how tiring it can be to be called of those things. I would much prefer it if you would just call me Yami, Lady Yuugi." Yami said.
"Very well, but only if you will call me Yuugi." Yuugi replied.
"As you wish." Yami replied.
"May I ask why you came here as well?" Yuugi asked.
"I came to get away from the palace for a few weeks. All of the things that go along with being a Prince of Egypt does get rather tiring, and my father suggested that I take a break, and I wanted to meet Heba's family since he will be my brother-in-law." Yami said.
"What do you think of my brother?" Yuugi asked.
"Of your brother, or the relationship that he has with my brother?" Yami asked teasingly.
Yuugi smiled and said, "Both."
"I don't have a problem with them being in a relationship. I had already known that Atemu didn't like women, so it was no problem for me. As for your brother, I think that he is a great person. He is a rather funny man." Yami said.
"Can I assume that you have been on the receiving end of one of his and Jou's pranks?" Yuugi asked.
"On more than one occasion, actually." Yami answered. He frowned and said, "How did you know that?"
"They were like that before my father forced them to leave. Just be thankful that Malik was not there to help them. Heba's bad on his own. With Jou, it's double trouble. Add Malik to the mix, you have a living nightmare." Yuugi said.
"And they did that all the time?" Yami asked.
Yuugi nodded. "Yes. Somehow, they always managed to either drag me and Ryou into them, or we were the ones that the jokes were being play one." Yuugi said.
"Yes. Heba has a rather strange sense of humor. Heba does know when he needs to be serious, and when the situation calls for it, he is serious. Heba's made my brother very happy, and that's all that really mattered to me." Yami said.
"Is that why you chose to take the throne for Atemu?" Yuugi asked.
"Yes. The council wanted Atemu to marry a woman within a year's time because an heir was needed for the throne. It is true that an heir was needed, but I knew, just like Father, that Atemu would never have been happy in a relationship with a woman. You see, whoever Atemu married would have one day become queen, and most of the women that were after Atemu were rather jealous, vindictive, and spiteful women. Any one of them would have had Heba killed for being in a relationship with Atemu. Being his wife, this woman would have had the power to do that, and no one would have been able to top her. Atemu didn't want Heba to die because of their relationship, but he also didn't want to give Heba up either. I knew this, and I didn't want Atemu to have to be forced to give up Heba just because of the throne. That's why I chose to take the throne. I didn't want Atemu to have to do that. Besides, I like women, so once I find the woman who is right for me, I will marry her and have an heir with her." Yami said.
"Do you plan on marrying her soon?" Yuugi asked.
Yami blinked, confused. "What do you mean?" Yami asked.
"Aren't you and Mana together?" Yuugi asked.
Yami realized what she thought and started to laugh.
Yuugi looked at him, rather confused herself.
"Yuugi, there is nothing like that between me and Mana. Mana and I grew up together, so there is no way that I would want to be with Mana. She's like a younger sister to me." Yami told her.
"Oh! I'm sorry. She was just always with you, so I assumed that you and she were together." Yuugi said.
"No. There is nothing like that between me and Mana, Yuugi. In fact, one of the reasons that I got away from the palace was so that I could away from all the women that were throwing themselves at me. There are very few women who would not want the chance to be queen. All of them think that I will just instantly fall for them just because they are beautiful. I will admit that the women are, but I don't want a relationship based on that alone." Yami said.
"You want a relationship where you are truly in love with your wife, and she is truly in love with you. You want a meaningful relationship, not one that is based on sex and power." Yuugi added.
"Yes. How did you know that?" Yami asked.
Yuugi smiled. "Yami, I have the same problem that you do. You know that even though Grandfather allowed Heba and Jou to come back that they have no official rank in the family." Yuugi said.
Yami nodded.
"Well, Heba would have been the head of the family. Since my father had no other son, I am the one who has to carry on the family name. Whoever my husband is will become the head of my family as well as gain the title and the wealth that comes along with being my husband." Yuugi explained.
"I see. So, most of the men that come here want either power, wealth, or sex." Yami said.
"Yes. There are several that have tried to force themselves on me. As you know, if I didn't stop them, then Bakura or Marik or both would have." Yuugi said.
"Yes. I know that you can take care of yourself from hearing that you broke that man's jaw from earlier." Yami said.
Yuugi glared at him. "I wasn't about to let him feel me up and think that he could get away with it. That was just wrong." Yuugi said.
"I have no argument there. You have no idea how many women have tried to force themselves on me. It gets rather annoying and frustrating when they do that thinking that their looks alone are all that they need to impress me." Yami said.
Yuugi gave a small laugh. "Sounds to me like we have a very similar problem." Yuugi said.
"Yes. It's nice just to get away form it all." Yami said.
The two spent the next few hours just talking to each other and getting to know each other.
Yami was laughing hysterically while Yuugi glared playfully at him.
"I can't believe that Heba did that." Yami said.
"Oh, he did. You have no idea how frustrating it was to have a brother that played practical jokes on you all the time, especially when it was something that embarrassed you in front of other people." Yuugi said.
"I can imagine that Heba got yelled at for causing you to trip and fall down the stairs when there were visiting dignitaries there." Yami said.
"Yes, it was, and Father did give Heba a good scolding, although I wish that he wouldn't have done that in front of the dignitaries." Yuugi said.
"That was a little uncalled for. If Atemu and I did something like that, Father would have waited until the dignitaries either left or were in their rooms before he scolded us." Yami said.
"That was a little better." Yuugi said.
"How often did you get caught in their practical jokes?" Yami asked.
"Well, being the only girl of the group did not help me in that situation. I was picked on quite a bit because of that. That's part of the reason why I can take such good care of myself. Growing up in a home that had only boys my own age didn't do much good for me." Yuugi said.
"You seemed to have turned out just fine to me." Yami said.
"Thank you." Yuugi said.
Yami looked up and said, "Ra's almost completely gone. Perhaps we should retire for the night."
"Yes. It would be best." Yuugi agreed.
The two walked back into the house.
"I enjoyed talking with you, Yami. It was nice to talk to someone who isn't trying to seduce me." Yuugi said.
"Likewise. I hope that we have time to talk later on while we're still here." Yami said.
"I'm sure that we will. From what I've seen, Atemu likes being alone with Heba at some point during the day." Yuugi said.
"Yes. They all do." Yami agreed.
The two walked to the hall where all of the bedrooms were located.
"Good evening, Yami. I hope that you sleep well." Yuugi said.
"Good evening, Yuugi." Yami replied.
The two went into their separate rooms.
Yami changed into night clothes and lay down.
'Yuugi truly is a nice person, and she didn't do anything at all to try and seduce me.' Yami thought. He let a small smile play across his lips. 'Perhaps I have found someone that I can trust not to try and become queen. Yuugi could actually be a good friend for me.' Yami thought.
With that thought in mind, he slowly drifted off to sleep.
Yuugi also had changed into night clothes and sat down on her bed.
Yuugi reached over and took a book out of a drawer of the table by her bed. She opened it and started writing.
Day 102
To my surprise, Heba and Jou arrived here today. I didn't think that they would actually come here after the way that they were thrown out of the family. They know that Grandfather, Ryou, Malik, and I had nothing to do with that. I was even more surprised to find that they had come with eight others. Atemu, the oldest Prince of Egypt, is engaged to Heba, so I was very glad that I had the chance to meet him. I also met Seth, who is a high priest and engaged to Jou. He seems rather cold and distant, but I can see something in his eyes that tell me that that is not all that he is. I'm glad that Heba and Jou found someone that they can be happy with. I also met Eternias, who is another priest and the Princes' cousin. Yuesei, who is Eternias' husband, also came. They both seem to be very wise, so I assume that they lead the younger ones in the right way. Honda is a guard. I think he came to provide protection for the Princes'. Anzu, who is being courted by Honda, also came. She is a very pretty girl, and I think that she is a good person. Mana is a friend to them all and also came. She seems to be a very cheerful and happy girl although I think that she is a little bit naïve. Yami, the Crown Prince of Egypt, also came. He is as handsome as I have heard about.
Heba and I had the chance to talk earlier. We talked about our lives for the last five years. I wanted to learn all that I could about the life that Heba has been living since I haven't had the chance to see him in all that time. I can see that Heba is very happy with Atemu, and I think that that is all that really matters in this point and time. I learned how Heba and Atemu first got together. I must say that nearly being killed isn't how I would want to confess to someone that I'm in love with them, but at least they are together.
I talked with Yami this evening. We talked for a long time. I found out that he has a problem similar to mine. He will be Pharaoh when his father passes on, which I hope is no time soon for the Pharaoh's sake. Anyway, Yami has women throwing themselves at him left and right just because they want the title of queen and the power that goes with it. I feel sorry got Yami. I know his pain. There are men who come onto me with the sole propose of gaining the power and wealth that comes along with my family. There some that also want me because of my body. Sometimes, I just hate my looks because I have men after me for them. Only a few have been genuine in their advances, although none of them have taken to my liking. Yami and I have very similar problems. It was so easy to talk to him. I felt very at ease when we were talking about these things. I think that I have found myself another friend. It's nice to have people that I can depend on not to make advances on me, and I know that he won't. I look forward to spending more time with Yami and getting to know him even better.
Yuugi stopped writing in her diary and out it away. She had started the diary so that she could write down her own personal thoughts. It was a way to release her frustration.
Today, Yuugi only wrote about her family coming back and the others because that was more important to her than anything else.
'I think that Yami and I could turn out to be great friends. I look forward to being able to spend more time with him.' Yuugi thought.
That was the last thought that she had before she drifted off to sleep.
Heba lay in the bed with Atemu. His head was restring on Atemu chest. He was still breathless from their third bout of lovemaking.
Atemu gently ran his hand through Heba's hair. "You know, I really need to find a way to thank Yami for making it to where you and I will always be together." Atemu said, kissing the top of Heba's head.
"Try finding a way to keep the women from throwing themselves at him. I'm sure that that would make him very happy." Heba said.
"I'm a man, not a miracle worker. I very much doubt that I would be able to pull off something like that." Atemu said.
"I know. That will only stop when Yami finally gets married and has a queen." Heba said.
"No, it won't. Father told me that it never stopped for him. After he was married to my mother, there were women who still came onto him. It just wasn't as often. They finally gave up when they realized that my father loved my mother." Atemu said.
"I just hope that Yami is able to find a woman that will love him for who is, not what they will gain by marrying him." Heba said.
"Don't worry, love. Yami will not marry someone that he doesn't love. I think that he'll be just fine. Yami is more than capable of finding a suitable wife for himself." Atemu said.
"I know that." Heba said.
Atemu noticed the slight guiltily look and said, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing really. I just feel a little guilty about abandoning Yuugi the way I did. I came here so that I could see my sister again." Heba said.
"You spent a great deal of the afternoon together, and I'm sure that Yuugi understands." Atemu said.
"I have no doubt that Yuugi understands. She seems like the type that would not hold that against you. Besides, we have two weeks that we are spending here. I'm sure that you and Yuugi will find plenty of time to spend together. Besides, I'll talk to Father and see if he doesn't mind Yuugi coming and spending time with you at the palace." Atemu said.
Heba smiled brightly. "Really?" Heba asked.
Atemu smiled at how innocent Heba looked. "Yes. I think Father will like that idea." Atemu said.
"What about Ryou and Malik?" Heba asked.
"They'll probably be able to come too, but I'm not sure about Bakura and Marik. I know that father cleared them of all their wrongs after they saved me and Yami, but I don't know how Father would feel about the former King and Prince of Thieves staying at the palace." Atemu said.
"It seems like Ryou and Malik have them under control, but I'll understand if the Pharaoh doesn't want them to be there. He has good reason not to want them there." Heba said.
"I wonder what Yami did while we were here." Atemu said.
"You know that Mana probably dragged him into doing something that he just did not want to do. You know what she's like." Heba said.
"Yeah. I do." Atemu replied.
It wasn't long before the two had drifted off to sleep.
Atemu, Heba, Jou, Seth, Ryou, Malik, Bakura, Marik, Eternias, Yuesei, Anzu, and Honda were startled to find that Yuugi and Yami were already at the breakfast table, laughing together, along with Mana.
"What's going on?" Atemu asked.
"Not much. We were just waiting for all of you to get down here so that we would eat." Yami replied.
"Speaking of which, I think that we can have breakfast." Solomon said, walking into the room.
As they ate, they discussed what they would do that day.
"I was thinking about showing them the Oasis that we played at as children." Yuugi said.
"That's a great idea. We haven't been there in years." Heba said.
"I guess that's what we'll do today then." Yami said.
Atemu watched his brother. 'Odd. Yami's completely at ease with Yuugi. I think that he's friends with her.' Atemu thought.
The group continued with their breakfast.
That was the beginning of Yuugi and Yami's friendship.
The next chapter will have the group at the Oasis.
R&R.