Disclaimer: Man! I swear, I write at least ten of these a week! Goodness. It's getting a bit painful to say it (though I'm slowly starting to accept it), but I do not under any circumstances or in any way, shape, or form own even a part of Yugioh.

Author's note: Now that we got that long and pesky disclaimer out of the way—hey! I'm about to put the plot in! Here's the plan: We'll have a few building of suspense, low fluff chapters first… then a few, ah, high content fluff chaps… THEN we bring in the major plot and tone it down some more. This story won't be very long, actually! Then I can get on to the NEXT part of the story—a separate story—The Return of the Pharaoh! Yes, one of my favorites to write. So stay tuned!

Goodness, I run at the mouth a lot! Sorry :) (runs off to procrastinate some more)

Hide-and-seek: finding Atem

Mana twisted her fork around her plate, lips pursed thoughtfully while she squished her cheek against her palm. Beside her, Mahad nudged her elbow with a look that said: mind your manners!

She rolled her eyes, smiled, and lowered her arm to rest on the table so her elbow wasn't on the table anymore. Good ol' Mahad.

Atem looked thoughtful, too. Mana kept glancing his way, trying not to let him see that she was peeking at him. Atem, unbeknownst to Mana, was doing the same thing. So far it seemed to be working.

Atem frowned into his breakfast, trying to think. Lately he couldn't seem to decipher his own emotions. They all got jumbled into a pile, trying hard to separate, but having difficulty doing so.

This most often happened when Mana was around.

Why?

That was what he was trying to figure out. He thought he might, but… did he?

Boys could be so clueless.

Mana, on the other hand, knew full well what she was feeling, and was trying to figure out a way to find out if it was as far as she thought it was—for her and for him. She slowly chewed her cheek, glancing, once again at Atem out of the corner of her eye. She had to do something. Mana wasn't one to just sit around and wait, she wanted to act. And there was only one way to do that.

He's cute when he's thinking, Mana thought fondly, and then mentally slapped herself. I've gotta find a way to get him on his own… the rest of the Guardians are never far away. Even when it's technically just us, there's always one of them around the corner.

Almighty Ra…

This was going to be more difficult than she anticipated. How was she supposed to find out if they really liked each other?

Glancing at each other without noticing would have to end eventually, and as Atem peeked at Mana, she looked at him the same time she did. They both grinned, and Mana began conversationally: "Thinking about something, Atem?"

"I suppose," Atem answered vaguely.

What's that supposed to mean? Mana wondered irately.

Inwardly Atem smacked himself. I suppose? Great move, Pharaoh.

They both lapsed into their own thoughts, and as breakfast ended, Atem dismissed everyone. Mahad, surprisingly, caught Mana's eye and raised both eyebrows before slowly turning away. Mana gave his back a weird look. What was it with Mahad lately?

He stayed just long enough for Seto and the others to go, they thinking that Mahad and Mana would keep an eye on the Pharaoh for the day again. As everyone exited, Isis turned at the entrance and glanced back at the pair, sharing a significant glance with Mahad. Without a word, they both left, closing the door rather slowly and pointedly and leaving them both there alone.

Atem and Mana looked at each other. "What was that about?" Atem wondered.

Mana smiled. "No idea."

He shook his head. "Well, Mana, what are we doing today?"

And that, of course, was the question. Mahad had made a point of leaving them alone. That problem, at least was solved. Now was the question of experimenting.

She sighed, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" he asked, clearly surprised. "I would have thought you had a plan."

"Well, why don't you come up with a plan today? Then you'll see that it's not so easy," she said defiantly, earning a laugh from Atem.

"Here's something you seem to enjoy—why don't we play a game of hide-and-seek?" he suggested. "This time, you get to find me."

Mana inwardly sighed. How she would ever experiment with their relationship, she just didn't know. She put on a smile, "Okay! I'll give you five minutes to find a hiding spot."

"Five minutes isn't nearly enough, Mana. Last time you had all the time in the world."

"Suck it up, Atem!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and dragging him from the room. "The King shouldn't even need a head start, so you should feel lucky you have one at all."

"Fine," Atem chuckled. "But trust me when I say you won't find me."

"We'll see about that, your mightiness," Mana replied, folding her arms.

"No peeking," Atem instructed, turning away with his cloak billowing behind him.

Mana closed her eyes and started counting.

Mana looked everywhere. She had no idea where Atem could be hiding!

Plopping down on the cold stone floor of one of the outside corridors, she set her chin in her hand and put on a pouting face. How was she supposed to find him?

"Why do you have to be so good at games, Atem?" Mana wondered, shaking her head. Standing with a sigh, she entered the nearest garden and searched the trees—again. "If I were Atem, where would I be…" she murmured.

While Mana had liked hiding in vases and small crevices where she could surprise him, Atem had liked to hide in plain sight, where Mana would never think to look. That was the problem. She would never think to look there.

"Oh well," Mana told herself. "He'll come out eventually. He always does."

Pulling herself into a tree, she sat on one of the branches towards the center, her feet dangling below her. She let out a gusty, textured breath and tried to think. Not only about finding Atem, but about their relationship in general.

They were best friends, of course—he was her oldest and probably dearest friend, along with Mahad. But it wasn't just that. She had always felt a sort of deeper connection to Atem. Somehow, without realizing it, he had always been more to her. A first, she had though of him as not only her best friend, but her brother, even as close as a twin, but now she felt something even deeper than that.

Maybe she had always felt this way…

"I thought you were supposed to be looking for me?" asked an amused baritone voice.

Mana, startled, cried out in shock and stood up on the branch. "Atem!" she called. "Where are you?"

There was no one in sight, and yet he answered as if he were close by, "Does this mean you give up?"

Mana bit her lip, debating. Finally, she called abruptly: "No!"

"Then come find me!" he challenged.

Mana's eyes narrowed as she scanned the area. The only person in the area was a servant dressed in cream robes, tending one of the trees, planting flowers maybe.

As Mana moved to get down from the tree and search for him, she lost her balance, screaming. The plum tree had been one thing. This tree was much taller, and she was higher in the tree that she probably should have been.

Plunging to the ground, Mana knew she was going to pay for her clumsiness.

Surprisingly, she landed on something that definitely wasn't as hard as the ground would have been. Opening her eyes, she glanced down at what had cushioned her fall.

"Atem!" she cried, surprise mingling with relief as she immediately hoped off of him. "Are you okay?" she asked in a flurry of movement, fluttering over him. He sat up, blinking and shaking off the headdress he had used to disguise himself. He was wearing the cream robes of a servant. "You disguised yourself as a servant?" she asked incredulously.

To her surprise, he began to laugh. "I told you you'd never find me."

Mana laughed with him. "I can't believe it! You really disguised yourself so I wouldn't find you!" They rose laughing—Mana couldn't believe Atem had been the one to do the craziest hide-and-seek prank.

"I learned from the best," he grinned, his eyes amethyst laughing as they met her aquamarine-emerald ones.

She beamed. "Seriously, though. Are you okay? You broke my fall!"

"I'm fine, Mana," he assured her with a grin. "I'm just glad I was the one breaking your fall and not the ground."

Mana embraced his waist. "Me too."

Her insides tingled. Atem felt very content with Mana. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, hers snaking around his waist, they turned away laughing, strolling off with their arms around each other.

Yay for minimal fluff! Next chapter is kinda major fluff, just to warn you. After that we'll have little fluff… then major fluff and plot… then more plot and more fluff… well, you get the idea. Lots of fluff ahead!

-Anevay