Disclaimer: (sighs) no, I don't own Yugioh! There. I said it, as painful as it may or may not be.
Author's note: alright, turning down the fluff levels… there. That should be good. The beginning was/is primarily fluff, but pretty soon we'll get into the plot… just one… or two… more fluffy chapters… then we'll be, mostly, done… okay, not really. This story if mostly fluff. I apologize! But this story is pretty important. It ties into another story, though I guess it doesn't matter if you've read this one or not. The next one will be just as good and make just as much sense. Anyway, if you'd like, I can go back and edit some fluff out… but please, heaven forbid, don't make me! :O
I like fluff :)
Now, off with my babbling and on to the story! March!
The ball
The entire week was fill with preparations. There was hardly any room for anything else.
The sad part was, Mana thought, that for once, she was part of the preparations instead of just goofing off like she used to do. Everything was so different now.
Atem smoothed out his shirt, looking himself over in the mirror. When he had said that he hadn't imagined himself wearing anything but his usual outfit, he had really meant it, though he supposed that this outfit was fine too. He shrugged. Black tunic, white tunic, red cape, blue cape—what did it matter?
The black tunic was adorned with fancier golden lining at the neck, waist, sleeves, and edges. Higher golden armor-in-disguise lined his legs, feet and arms. There was a double gold belt at his waist and the skirt to the tunic moved in a small upside-down w angle. The deep red cape was longer, and as his 'stylist' had said, brought out the red in his hair. He wore a variation of his millennium eye crown: instead of sapphires in the outer, overhanging wings it was amethyst.
He felt strange without his blue cape. Oh, the red was fine, he just enjoyed the blue.
As usual, Mahad was there waiting for him when he exited the room.
"Pharaoh," he greeted.
"Mahad," Atem smiled.
They talked quietly as Mahad escorted him to the grand audience room, where the ball would be held. He sat on his throne, getting comfortable and knowing it was going to be a long and rather uncomfortable night.
The ball began, naturally, with Atem giving a speech—and telling all his rules and regulations.
He had taken many ideas from the American Constitution: right to bear arms, for example. One thing he hadn't used was the commandment: Thou shalt not kill. They were already dead, so he had changed it to something akin to 'no destruction by disintegration.'
The rules and regulations were fairly straightforward: right to bear arms, right to express opinions, right to speech, press—again with the American Constitution—there was a rule to aid the government (rulers, kings, ya-da-ya) when in distress, though that law was very unlikely to ever need to be enforced. There was the 'no spirit shall pass to the World of the Living without justification or approval' rule, and the one about those aiding the Dark World, or the Shadows (the bad people) going there to join them.
Upon concluding his list of set rules, Atem closed the scroll and passed it to Seto, who passed it to Shimon—who, again, slipped it inside his sleeve for safekeeping.
"Now," Atem called, "We begin the ball. It will end at midnight, and until then," he did a fractional bow, "Enjoy yourselves and do try to behave."
Princesses with their eye on Atem started edging forward, but Atem held out his hand to the left to take Mana's. With a curtsy, Mana set her hand in his and they went off for a dance.
Atem smiled, and Mana grinned back. "Don't want to dance with all the Princesses, huh, Pharaoh?"
He laughed, "Not just that. I want to dance with you first, Mana."
Mana beamed, forcing the butterflies in her stomach to a stop. She was a Guardian—that was no way to act at a formal gathering. She was Atem's body guard, his Guardian. She was there to protect him, not fawn over him.
Atem seemed to notice her mood difference. "You seem different," he said.
"Do I?" Mana asked.
Atem nodded. "When you're playing the role of a Guardian, you seem more serious. More mature. Older."
Mana felt happy at the thought. She wanted to be a good Guardian. "Is that a good thing?"
He smiled, "I think any way you are is a good thing, Mana. The important question is whether you like it."
She nodded thoughtfully, "I like to feel responsible. When I'm acting like a Guardian, I feel more confident, like I can protect you better."
"You can protect me either way," Atem assured her. "Just make sure you be yourself."
Mana enjoyed dancing with Atem. She liked his hand on her waist and his hand in hers. But mostly, she just liked being with him. He was always so patient with her, even when they were younger.
Nearly every Princess glared at Mana rather resentfully, seeing that she got the first dance. Mana did look beautiful in her long white dress. Adorned with gold and leaving one shoulder bear, it was a longer variation of Mana's favorite dress. And tonight, she had swapped her usual white cap for a small gold circlet, engraved with grooves. The only color she wore was her ruby necklace, which she always wore.
As the dance came to a close, Mana had a sudden realization.
Soon, maybe tonight, maybe in the next several months, but soon—he would have to choose a queen of his own. He was the High King, after all.
Mana wasn't sure how she felt about that. She thought she like Atem, and she thought, maybe, he liked her too. But she just had to be sure. She would have to experiment in the next few days.
The long balled ended, and Mana and Atem did, too. They smiled, and discreetly, as they pulled apart, Atem's lips brushed her hand.
"I won't be far away," she told him quietly as he took Chris, Dartz' daughter, into a dance to avoid all the others. Atem nodded and took Kris into a swift almost Celtic balled dance.
"You like her," Chris said immediately.
Atem started, "What?"
Chris smiled knowingly. She really was a beautiful Princess—long brown hair done in braids, an old-fashioned pink dress with long shawls hanging down from the sleeves. Big eyes and a ready smile, yet a quiet voice, Chris had turned out very pretty.
"You like her," she said again. "Mana."
"Well, of course I do," Atem agreed, "She's my best friend."
"You know that's not what I mean."
Atem cleared his throat nervously. "Well, I mean…"
Chris smiled again, "It's okay to like her, you know. Like you said, she's your best friend. The person you love should be your best friend. You know everything about each other. It's what makes you perfect for each other."
Atem swallowed. He had barely touched on the subject of Mana, and still wasn't sure. "Well, I guess, I-I might."
She giggled. "That's alright, Pharaoh. You don't have to admit your feelings just yet. It's good to develop them over time. You'll figure it out soon."
For a princess, she sure was smart, Atem thought.
That night he danced with more girls than he could count. Before long they all just kind of swirled together until he couldn't distinguish one face from another, all of their names moving in circles in his head. He was quite sure some of them had tried to kiss him, which was disturbing enough.
Mana was both steaming and giggling the entire time, finding it funny that Atem had to dance with so many girls and rather infuriating, too. She couldn't help but feel a strong protectiveness for him. She knew that by now, he would be feeling awkward, tired, annoyed and nervous all at the same time—which, in and of itself was hilarious.
Every time a girl tried to get too close to him, Mana had to step in, grabbing Atem's arm and steering him away to another princess who looked fairly safe. Though none of them were ever really safe.
Mana had a fairly accurate guess that ninety-nine point nine percent of the princesses hated her. Not only did she get close contact with the Pharaoh, but she pulled him away from them when it was their turn.
Hey, Mana thought, just doing my job, ladies.
Atem, for his part, only ever recognized Mana in the millions of faces he saw that night. He would see his Guardians and friends he already knew, but of all the girls, he only really ever knew it was Mana when it wasn't one of the princesses hanging on him.
But finally, finally it was over.
Atem crashed into his throne, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Thank you, Mana," he said gustily. "If you hadn't been there to save me…" he trailed off in horror at the thought. "All those princesses!"
Mana giggled, "Come on, Atem, time to get some sleep. You're exhausted." She hauled him out of his throne, dragging his arm through hers.
"You did well tonight, Pharaoh," Seto complimented.
"Thank you, Seto," Atem smiled.
"Yes, I believe they were quite impressed," Isis agreed, and Mahad consented.
"I never doubted that you would do well, Pharaoh. Mana, you did an excellent job of ah, protecting him."
Atem scowled. All those princesses! Mana just grinned, "Thanks, Mahad! It was actually really fun. Now they all hate me, though."
"Yes, well," Atem said dismissively. "I don't like most of them very much, so you don't have to like them either."
"Glad I have your permission, 'Your Highness,'" Mana mocked playfully. Atem smiled tiredly while Mahad shook his head.
"We've got to clean up," he told them. "Just get him to his room so he can sleep. The guards outside his room can keep him safe from there. Afterwards, you need to come help as well, Mana."
Mana pursed her lips. That didn't sound like very much fun. She shrugged and pulled Atem off in the direction of his room, their arms linked. "Tell me you had a little fun, at least," Mana said.
"I enjoyed dancing with the ones that weren't hanging all over me," Atem replied.
"I liked those ones too!" Mana agreed, laughing.
"Did you find that funny, Mana?"
"Yes, yes I did, actually."
"I'm glad someone enjoyed themselves," Atem rolled his eyes.
"You must have really enjoyed some of the dances," Mana prompted.
"Well…" Suddenly Atem seemed nervous. They stopped at the corner turning to Atem's room. Atem looked at her like he was seeing something new, the way he had when they'd danced. "I enjoyed the first dance thoroughly."
Mana felt her heart speed up again, and gave a small smile, "I did, too."
They continued around the corner to Atem's room, arm in arm. The guards, previously sitting on the ground playing a game of Senet, quickly rose at the sight of him. Atem waved them off, "That's alright. I'm not quite ready to go in yet. Go on and finish your game."
The two exchanged glances, gave a deep bow and nodded nervously, getting back to their game. Atem and Mana stopped before his room, and Atem turned to her with that same look on his face.
"Goodnight, Mana," he said quietly. And to her shock, leaned in and kissed her cheek briefly.
"'Night, Atem," Mana breathed when he pulled away.
He smiled softly before entering his room. The door closed softly behind him, and Mana smiled to herself, turning and skipping off, thinking that maybe she might not mind cleaning up after all.
Well, that's that—hey, look! There wasn't that much fluff in that chapter! Just a little bit (holds fingers a little ways apart). See, now we're getting somewhere! Lemme know what you think. And just endure with me—there will be maybe two or three major fluff chapters before it's just little fluff. Promise! Plus, don't you want some good major fluff?
-Anevay