Irene felt as though her feet were falling off by the time morning turned to afernoon and Rick decided to stop at last beneath a high ledge. He told them it would be the perfect spot to attack Imhotep from above.

"And," he concluded with a grin, "while you guys are busy surprising our friends from up here, it'll be the perfect distraction for me and Ardeth to go get Alex."

The others were all too exhausted to stop and argue. Satisfied, Rick swung up the steep ledge with ease, almost like he was flying, but Jonathan grumbled complaints as he half-staggered and half-fell upward.

Soon it was Irene's turn. She managed to grab onto a what she deemed was a sturdy vine, but it snapped under her weight and she squeaked in surprise as her foot slipped. "Oh no!" she gasped, feeling herself plummet downwards, but something beneath her stopped her fall.

"It was a good thing I was still here, right?" Ardeth's husky but teasing voice spoke next to her ear. She instantly relaxed, leaning her body against him, but his teasing still made her cheeks burn.

"T-Thank you, Ardeth," she mumbled. She felt his warm chest pressed against her back, and wished that they were somewhere far away, with no mummies or evil people who wanted to take over the world. Then they could snuggle for as long as she wanted...

Now wasn't the time! she reminded herself, shaking her head furiously as her face glowed brighter. Her blush was so bright it could probably light up the entire oasis by now, she thought with embarrassment.

To her disappointment, his warmth disappeared as his muscular arms hoisted her up, and Rick held out his hand to pull her the rest of the way. Ardeth jumped up after her smoothly.

"Show off," she complained, unable to stop herself from smiling.

Evie winked at her knowingly as Rick helped her up. "I can see why you like him so much."

"Not you too, Evie," Irene groaned, burying her face in her hands. It seemed like her entire family was interested in her and Ardeth these days.

They began setting up the camp. Irene curiously picked up a rifle and tried to figure out how it worked, but its complicated design made her head spin and she gave up, holding it out to Ardeth.

He looked at her questioningly. "What is it?"

"I think I like handguns better," she said sheepishly. "How do you even work this thing?"

His gaze softened, and he chuckled. "That is why I gave you a handgun, remember? They're easier to operate. Here, let me show you." Irene sat down next to him and watched intently as his hand expertly moved along the gun's long barrel. His hand purposely brushed against hers as he took the bullets she offered him and successfully located the cartridge storage.

"I'm leaving after tonight," he said, still working on the rifle.

"Can't you stay?" Irene pleaded.

He shook his head with sadness and something else in his eyes. "I cannot change something that has been decided thousands of years ago. The Medjai will be the ones who will stop the warriors of Anubis."

"What about me?" Irene pouted with annoyance. "What about...us?"

"I know," he said gently, but there was still frustration in his voice. He lifted his hand up to touch her cheek, and Irene noticed with a pang the difference between them, how calloused his hand was compared to her own, innocent one. "You deserve better than me. I...I don't know when I could die, and leave you alone like this again. "

She caught his hand in her own, meeting his eyes with her own. "That's my choice. I don't want anyone else, Ardeth. I want you. I've been waiting ten years for you, I don't mind waiting another ten years. I can even wait and meet you again in our next life, if that's what it takes for us to be together. Because I love you," she finished, her racing heart ringing in her ears as she waited for his reply.

He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "I needed to hear that," he murmured. "I already lost Horus. I can't lose you too, Rena."

"I won't go anywhere, Ardeth. Soon you'll get tired of me always following you," she teased, blushing as his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I wouldn't exchange you for anything else," he said, leaning down to touch her forehead with his own. Irene drew in a breath as she saw how close his face was to hers, feeling his warm breath caressing her cheeks.

They stayed like that for a long time, savoring each other's warmth, knowing that any time they had together was limited. All too soon, the last of the sunlight disappeared into night and it was time for Rick's plan to be put to action.

Rick stood up, studying their surroundings with a frown. "Do you hear that?"

"What?" Ardeth asked, echoing the question in Irene's mind.

For a few moments, none of them spoke. Irene edged a little closer to Ardeth, fazed by the silence that was almost too silent. There was no wind, no whispering of the leaves, not even the sound of a cricket chirping. The hairs on her arm stood on end, and she shivered at the thought that there was probably something wrong.

At last, Rick broke the silence to answer, stashing his gun into its resting place in his pocket. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Irene accepted the handgun Rick passed to her, wrapping her hands around the tiny weapon. It was amazing how something so small could be so deadly at the same time. A few years ago, she probably wouldn't have even dared to touch it, yet now, when their lives were on the line, she was willing to do anything to help.

Jonathan's awed voice echoed out of the small, dark cave behind their makeshift camp, breaking the intenseness of the silence. "My word...I say, chaps, look at this," he called back to them. "Look at the heads. I'd love to know how they do that."

Four heads turned to stare at him with equal unamused expressions, making the poor man shrug in defense. "Just curious."

Ardeth got up and headed towards Jonathan, nodding at the gun that he had picked up from their weapon stash. "You any good with that?"

"Three times Fox and Hounds champion, I'll have you know," Jonathan said proudly, though Irene didn't think Ardeth would know what he was talking about, because she sure didn't. "You any good with that?" he asked back, indicating the blade resting in the Medjai's belt.

"We'll know soon enough," Ardeth said, and in a move faster than Irene could blink, the sharp end of the blade was pressed against Jonathan's throat. "Because the only way to kill an Anubis warrior is by taking off his head."

"I'll remember that," Jonathan said with a gulp, stumbling backward as Ardeth pulled the weapon away.

"Do you want to try, Rena?" he turned at the stunned look on her face, chuckling. Irene didn't know how he could be so serious in one minute and suddenly relaxed in the next. It was so not fair. "Just remember what I taught you."

"Oh, don't worry. My muscles remember the pain," she joked, jumping up at the opportunity.

Ardeth nodded, his eyes gleaming proudly, and moved into position. But instead of feeling the cold steel on her neck like what he had demonstrated for Jonathan, his lips suddenly crashed onto hers, and his arms hugged her to his body.

Irene gasped, parting her own lips in surprise and letting him deepen the kiss. Desperately, she ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him towards her, too.

It was nothing like the sweet kisses they had shared on the dirigible. This time, as darkness fell, they knew that there was a chance that one of them could die, even if they didn't want to admit it out loud. It would make it more real, more painful.

She let out a small moan as he nibbled on her lower lip, marking her as his in response to her earlier confession. She eagerly kissed him back, curling up her body so she was pressed against him, the scent of the forest and sand from his body flooding her senses.

Rick coughed next to them, making Ardeth pull back from their embrace. "Time to go," he said shortly, slapping Ardeth's back in understanding.

"I'll be here," Irene promised, squeezing his hand. He nodded curtly and headed off with her brother, leaving Evie, Irene, and Jonathan to protect their home base. She looked after Ardeth's retreating back longingly, hating how she had to always wait for him and how they shared so little moments when they were together. She lifted her finger to her lips, feeling the intensity of the kiss even after he was gone.

"They'll be fine," Evie spoke quietly from next to her, reassuring herself as much as Irene.

Irene nodded, still gazing after him. "Once this is all over, I'll marry him," she vowed. "So you better get back here, Ardeth, whether the gods want you to or not. You hear?"

Her sister-in-law perked up with interest. "When you do, can I be your bridesmaid?"

"Of course," Irene blushed, picking up the gun that she had dropped and getting to her post. "You don't have to ask."

"Can I be best man?" Jonathan asked hopefully.

"Ask Ardeth," was all Irene managed to answer, trying her best not to laugh at his comical attempt to pout.

Irene and the others were soon preoccupied with the task of shooting their enemy, the red-scarved men who worked for Imhotep. She no longer flinched each time she fired a round, instead aiming at the men with confidence. Ardeth and Rick were depending on their help, after all.

Ardeth was engaged in battle with Lock-Nah below, swiftly dealing a strike to his shoulder to finish him off. Irene was mesmerized by how deadly his blows were, how his muscles rippled through his arm as he moved. It was a really good thing that he was on their side, she thought, trusting that he would be able to defeat the other man and come back to her.

Just then, her breath hitched as a second man appeared from behind him, his gun pressed into Ardeth's back as he prepared to attack. Ardeth froze, his own eyes wide with shock, unable to move.

"Ardeth!" Irene screamed with horror, pushing Jonathan out of the way and pulling her gun's trigger at her target. In her desperate state, she didn't even blink as she jumped to action without thinking.

The man fell to the ground with a thud, and Ardeth looked up at her with wonder and amazement, the implications of what she just did crackling the air with tension. Irene could only stare at the gun - it felt like a foreign object in her hands -with disbelief dancing in her eyes. She, someone who had never dared to lift a finger to kill and had once lived a sheltered life without a care in the world, had just killed a man to save Ardeth's life.

Her shocked eyes shifted back to Ardeth's, and the smoldering look he returned told her he couldn't ever thank her enough for what she did for him. Giving her one last nod, he disappeared into the shadows of the oasis, but the gaze he held had told her that he too promised he would come back. And for Rena, that was enough.

She sank to the ground, the adrenaline vanishing now that he was no longer in danger. Only then did she realize that the scenario that had just played out was exactly like what Rick had told her to imagine when he had been training her once horrible aim.

"Let's go," Evie said urgently, reminding them that despite that the enemy had been defeated, they had more inportant matters to deal with.

"Thank god for that," Jonathan puffed in relief, helping Irene up and snapping her out of her reverie. "You did good back there, Rena!"

She shuddered at how close to death he had been, how she could have lost him if she hadn't acted even a millisecond sooner. "I don't ever want to go through that again," she said weakly, running after them.

It wasn't long before they finally met up with Rick and Alex in a clearing not far from the battlefield, and Evie flung her arms around Alex as Irene and Jonathan stumbled in after her.

"What were those...creepy little pigmy things?" Jonathan asked Rick, referring to the screeching noises that had accompanied the attacks in the forest. It had been too dark to see clearly, but he was able to guess what they were after seeing the heads in the cave.

"Just the little natives," Rick dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand.

Jonathan wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"

"There's nothing, there's nothing," Rick reassured him as Irene sank to the ground and too hugged Alex with relief. She hadn't seen him in so long.

"Alex!"

"Aunt Rena!" Alex hugged her back tightly, then remembered something and reached into his bloated pocket. "I got Uncle Ardeth's gun for you!" he said gleefully, taking it out and showing it to her. "I mean...I can call him Uncle Ardeth now, can't I?"

Irene shook her head with amazement, wondering how he could have gotten it back when Lock-Nah had so forcefully taken it from her. But then, what Alex said next finally registered in her mind, and she jumped. "Not Uncle Ardeth. Not yet," she denied firmly. Changing the subject, she ruffled his hair in concern."Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"That's not important," Alex answered impatiently, turning back to his parents. "We have to get to the pyramid. I have to get the bracelet off now!"

"Oh, leave it on, Alex. It looks good on you," Jonathan joked.

"No, you guys, you don't understand!" Alex explained in a hurry. "He told me the bracelet will kill me if I don't get inside the pyramid before the sun hits it. Today!"

Evie's eyes widened at the news Alex had brought for them. "Oh my god."

Irene's blood turned to ice. Just when they thought everything was finally going to get better again, things were taking a turn for the worse...

A/n: Oh wow, 90 reviews! you guys are all so wonderful!

I'm so glad everyone is still interested in the story despite slow updates. thank you so much for all of your support! hope you enjoy the fluff and extra long chapter to make up for my absence XD. I promise to write more~

I know Jonathan was the one who killed the guy in the movie, but I think Irene deserves to be the one in the story because of how much she had grew over the course of her journey. And sorry for the awkward cliffhanger ending.. I wanted to end the chapter before it got too long XD /hides/

Leave a review and let me know what you think?