Disclaimer: Yugioh, Yugioh… won't you be mine? Sigh. Don't own Yugioh, fic-ers.

Author's note: ^o^ I can honestly say that I have some loyal reviewers/readers that I love! Huzzah!

Thanks/responses:
Angel's Riot: Dang, I love your reviews! They're lengthy and informative XD Mahad is probably one of my favorites hahah! Ah, Atem and Mana—huzzah for Vaseshipping and its origins. And the "He's gonna kill me!" I know, it's killing you to know who! Maybe you'll get to find out in the next few chaps ^o^ but I ain't sayin' yet! Thank you for the great review!

Princess atemma: I'd say that right now there are going to be maybe three or four more chapters. There isn't much more I can put in here. Everything will be continued in The Return of the Pharaoh, in case anyone hasn't been paying attention.

xMocha: haha I wouldn't either!

And thanks to Aqua girl 007 and me for always reviewing! It reminds me of why I continue to write X) so I can put something fun for people out there to read!

That it? … yup, think so.

Hooray for Yugioh! ^O^ (look at the chapter heading! Go ahead—have a little freak out moment)

The Wedding

Atem was a bit rattled from his dream, and that kept him on edge all day.

But, that wasn't the only thing that kept him on edge.

The wedding was today.

He paced the length of the throne room, unable to think or say anything. The only people in the room with him were Shimon, Aknadin and Aknamkanon, who were talking amongst themselves and paying Atem no attention.

There was a reason they were ignoring him. Every time anyone talked to him, he would snap back at them anxiously, or suddenly switch into a happy mood and beam, babbling without shutting up. In such an unpredictable mood, they decided it best to just leave him be.

He didn't know whether to thank them, yell at them or just leave—or maybe all of the above.

Carefully, Aknamkanon guided his son away to a room where he would be promptly dressed and readied. The spectators were already outside and waiting. There had been talk of having a private ceremony due to recent events, but had decided against it because everyone was looking forward to the wedding, and Atem didn't want to disappoint his people.

As was the practice, Atem hadn't seen Mana all day, or half the previous day. He was just about ready for all the hullabaloo to end.

Originally, an Egyptian marriage ceremony only entitled a sort of contract and then they were married, but things had changed in five-thousand years or so. Now they did something rather similar to a modern marriage ceremony, with the exception that it was in ancient Egyptian.

Atem was dressed and primed by several hands that weren't his. He would much rather have preferred to dress himself, but this was quicker. He wore a pure white tunic and a white cape to match, which he found an interesting piece. His crown still sat on his head, but it shined newer and brighter, the sapphires in the jutting wings glistening.

He also wore his usual adornments, with the exception that he now wore a gold armored vest beneath his shirt and his accessories were more like armor now instead of just accessories. Gold and white boots were on his feet, with barely an inch of space between the golden bands that ran up his legs to meet his kilt, which he had an armored kilt beneath it. Instead of single wrist bands, he now wore long bands that went to his elbow, engraved with patterns and symbols. His upper arms wore similar bands, longer than usual but simple, too.

He took a moment to get comfortable with the added weight. The choker at his neck was thicker than ever. He wasn't used to wearing quite to much heavy gold on his person, and it would take a moment to adjust.

One last piece of gold was added to his left shoulder: the ceremonial wing of Horus.

He fingered his cartouche, tucking it away and feelings the butterflies in his stomach. It was just moments away. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

After forcing himself to relax for several minutes, he nodded to himself.

Aknamkanon observed his process and spoke after Atem nodded and opened his eyes. "I'm proud of you, son," he said.

Atem glanced around, "What for, father?"

"You're so much more mature than I think you are sometimes," he said, "I forget that you're older than I think. And you chose Mana."

"I thought you wanted me to choose a princess," Atem raised his eyebrows.

Aknamkanon laughed, "No, I knew you would never fall for that. Princesses are too air-headed for a man like you. Mana seems air-headed, but she's not. She's smart and keeps you happy when I know you would be focused on the kingdom all the time without her—she makes sure you enjoy yourself. You take care of each other. I knew Mana was the only one for you."

"Then why…?"

"Why the parties?" Aknamkanon smiled, "I had to force you two together somehow, didn't I?"

Atem shook his head, "I suppose I have you to thank partially for all this, then."

"Partially?" he raised an eyebrow.

Atem grinned, "Mahad kept telling me, discreetly, that Mana and I liked each other."

Aknamkanon laughed loudly, "That Mahad! He's a lot cleverer than I give him credit."

Atem waited beside Mahad and Seto, hearing the talking and cheering of the crowd.

He couldn't see anything, because a curtain separated him from outside, but he could hear it alright. In a matter of moments, he knew, the ceremony would begin.

He felt a little guilty that Yugi and the gang weren't there to see it, but they were better off where they were. They didn't belong here like he did.

Trumpets were sounded as a warning that the ceremony would begin soon. There was the last minute scrabbling to get in a comfortable position or move closer, and then the noise died down. As soon as nearly all was quiet, or as quiet as it could get, the trumpets rang out again, this time longer and more elaborate.

Atem closed his eyes and breathed. He felt hands on each of his shoulders and smiled to see Seto and Mahad on either side, smiling slightly, though in Seto's case it was more of a smirk. Their presence was reassuring, and he nodded. As the trumpets came to an end, he entered the open air, high stage.

It was elevated above the crowd on a platform outside the palace. It had been erected explicitly for this purpose, and now everyone could see them from below. Of course, the wedding would be broadcasted to every available place in the Spirit world, which Atem found annoying yet inevitable, so everyone would be able to see it close-up sooner or later.

He entered the area before Mana did, and saluted his people to enormous cheers. Shada stood behind him, ready to speak the ceremony accordingly. His voice could be made grave and could waver and change as he chose, and so it was best that he spoke it.

Music sounded as Atem took his place before Shada, and Mana entered slowly from the opposite curtain from which Atem had come.

Atem caught his breath, beaming at her.

Her dress was predictably white, a tradition the Egyptians had adopted some time back. It was long and slim, making her look taller than she was and very graceful. The sleeves were short and graceful, and there was a simple, thin belt at her waist. One shoulder was artfully done: a strap and a separating sleeve that hung off her shoulder. The neck was outlined in an intricate pattern of gold, and the sleeves were outlined in strands of it. On her head she wore a gold crown much like a tiara, inlaid with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and amethyst.

Her wrists and upper arms were adorned with gold accessories that served as armor as much as they did accessories. On her feet were slim gold sandals, incredibly delicate.

She approached Atem with glittering aquamarine-green eyes. She took his hands with a smile, and Atem intertwined their fingers. Neither took their eyes off one another as Shada read the ancient Egyptian words and vows.

Aknamkanon and Amisi were in tears, as were Isis, Kisara and Shimon (good ol' Shimon). Karim was grinning at Shada like he knew something was coming and Seto, predictably, wasn't crying but smirking. Mahad looked pretty close to tears, his mouth twitching in an effort not to smile and his gray eyes blinking as he tried, unsuccessfully, not to cry.

They each slipped the rings on to one another's fingers: Mana's intricate, with a ruby at its center and beautiful made, and Atem's a simple gold engraved with hieroglyphs.

Finally, Shada spoke the last words, shutting the book and adding the rather modern phrase: "Pharaoh, you may now kiss your Queen."

There were laughs and applause, and finally Mahad was fully crying and smiling all over. And he may have imagined it, but he thought he saw Seto wipe away a tear, even though that was nearly impossible.

Without hesitation, Atem took Mana's face in his hands and kissed her enthusiastically. When they pulled apart, their foreheads touching, Mana laughed and embraced him tightly. The crowd was impossibly loud, crying, cheering and hugging all over the place.

But the happy mood was brought to an abrupt end at the roar of a mighty dragon.

Everyone fell into a shocked silence and they looked around for the source of the sound. Atem immediately summoned his diadhank, his eyes roaming the sky. He placed himself between Mana and the crowd, but his movement was for naught as she stepped to his side and took his hand, her own diadhank on her arm and a determined gleam in her eyes.

A dragon shimmered into existence, a man on its back. It was a sleek deep black; metallic black scales on its neck and underbelly. Its head was horned and its big black eyes bore into those they fell upon, causing them to shrink and try to hide.

Everyone screamed. The Guardians and Atem held their diadhanks before their faces, glaring at the beast that had shown itself. The dragon reared its magnificent head and the man on its back laughed, "We meet again, Pharaoh!"

Atem focused on the man, realizing that he recognized him. "You!" he snarled, and his diadhank glowed. "How dare you!" Atem bellowed, "Why betray the Afterlife? Why betray your world?"

"For a better one!" he yelled, and the dragon roared, preparing to attack.

The Pharaoh reacted quicker than the others. Atem roared, "Slifer the Sky Dragon, come forth!" The enormous red dragon appeared, growling menacingly as he sensed his master's anger.

Before anyone could stop him, Atem leapt forward onto Slifer's back, rising to the other dragon's height. The Guardian's cries of protest died behind him, but Mana and Mahad weren't ready to give up yet. They transformed into their Ka's: Mana the Dark Magician Girl and Mahad the Dark Magician.

They readied themselves to follow. The black dragon took off and Slifer followed with Atem on board. Mana and Mahad were quick to tail them, moving as fast as they could and leaving the other Guardians to deal with the panicked people.

Slifer fired after the black dragon, forcing it higher into the sky. Some distance away from the Palace, the dragons faced off. "What do you want?" Atem bellowed.

"Your soul!" the man cried, "What else do you think I came for? A pleasant chat?"

"It's not the first time someone's wanted my soul," Atem muttered, mostly to himself, "Tell me, Hamon, what made you join the Soul Collectors?"

"Join them?" Hamon laughed, "I lead them!"

"You?" Atem gasped, "But why?"

"Because your rein is corrupting our world! We were just fine without you, but then you had to come back. Not only are you not the Chosen King," he snapped, "But you didn't choose me for your Court of Kings."

Atem laughed harshly, "Hamon, your reasons are just as twisted as you are. I didn't choose you because I knew you weren't worthy! Then I knew that you weren't worthy, but I didn't sense darkness in your soul until now. What made you change?"

"The cold hard truth," Hamon replied darkly, "That this world isn't any fairer than the last! The dark souls are angry, Pharaoh. They want retribution for those who put them there. They want to be free! And I'm going to do it."

"You're insane," Atem hissed.

Hamon laughed, "Insane, Pharaoh? I think not. It is you who shall fall today."

"Not if there's any justice in this world," Atem cried back. "We can settle this right now and I can banish you to where you should be!"

"I'd love to see you try!"

"I'll do more than try," Atem said, "Hamon, you can't win!"

"We'll see about that, Pharaoh!"

"Dia-ha!"

Okay, so I'm not sure how to spell that word they use for 'duel' in the last arc, and stupid Google didn't have the answer (I know, shocker). And hey, you got a longer update than usual, so be grateful! ;)

Anyway, I had to stop it here just to be all suspenseful. Well, hope you liked it! Review please! ^o^

Warning: make sure you put marshmallow repellant on tonight! Those marshmallows can be vicious biters.

-Anevay