Fast forwarding time, Tea by now has a faded memory of her friends back in Domino City. Her memory of them is still there; it's just faded and has been over written with new memories. Memories...of her in love with Yami-Yugi.
A year has passed by now, and Tea has grown to be focused mostly on Yami-Yugi. She still talks to Bakura, just not as often. She hasn't talked with him too much since he's been less lively and more quiet than usual. He's even had days where he is unseen for the whole day.
Yami-Yugi is having battles against himself, or, against Yugi. One night in the spring, Yami-Yugi was having trouble sleeping. He didn't know what it was, so he got up and walked to the restroom. When he turned on the lights and looked at himself in the mirror, he didn't see Yugi's body; he saw his own- Yami's body. This caused him to cover his mouth because he screamed, hoping that he didn't wake anyone up. He backed away in fear and fell onto the ground, against the wall in the corner of the bathroom. He slowly uncovered his mouth, trembling at the sight he saw.
"What was that? How could this happen?" he whispered to himself. He arose and quickly looked at himself in the mirror again. He was back to looking as Yugi.
"Huh? But I saw..." He sighed out of relief, putting his hand on his cheek.
"Thank goodness I'm back to normal. Maybe I was just seeing things."
So he turned off the light in the bathroom, and went back to bed. He did not hear the chuckles that came from the shadows in his bedroom. The Pharisees were cloaked in the shadows, a dark violet aura around them.
"Losing the vessel...Losing the control..." they whispered into Yami-Yugi's dreams, causing him to wince in his sleep.
Yami-Yugi did not want to lose what he sacrificed everything for.
One morning Tea was awoken by Yami-Yugi. "Good morning my love. Rise and shine." She sat up rather quickly, rubbing her eyes so she could wake up easier.
"Hmm? Oh, good morning Yami-Yugi." He stepped out and let her change into her every day out clothes. When she exited her bedroom, he was there waiting for her.
"Tea, today we are having a one year anniversary of me being Pharaoh. Bakura should have told you this before, correct?"
"Mhm. Yeah he did."
"Excellent. The celebration will be tonight at eight o'clock sharp in the ball room. Even though it is the morning, I would like you to prepare for it now so that you don't need to worry later. Okay?"
She smiled, still feeling that just woke up doziness.
"Okay, sounds good. Would an occasion like this be good for me to wear the dress you gave to me on Christmas? I haven't worn it yet or any of the jewelry. I wanted to save it for something special."
His eyes gleamed with happiness. "Of course Tea, this occasion would be perfect. What makes it perfect is because the dress is a dancing ball dress, and you and I will dance, along with others that I've invited."
She seemed to be thinking on something rather important. Then she asked Yami-Yugi "So, who did you invite?"
"I invited important people from all around the world, people from the United States to England to even Germany." This is where he lifted his arms in the air, walking through the hallway, and feeling as grand and mighty as any Pharaoh could be.
"It will be a night to remember, my Tea. People will soon see the beauty and glory that is Egypt is evolving into. Through all the hard work of those who work for us, we will reign supreme!" He shouted, his voice echoing, but it was in Yami's voice.
She couldn't quite understand what he was getting at, but she did notice that his voice was Yami's. "You're voice Yami-Yugi, it was in, you know, Yami's voice- you're voice!"
He did not say anything, he simply quietly said to himself "They are not slaves; they are people who volunteered to help restore Egypt's glory and peace. I treat them all very well, so why did the Pharisees tell me they are slaves?"
She looked confused, but she shook it off and smiled. He looked down rather bitterly, until Tea held his hand, which made him quickly lift his head and look at her.
"Let's head to the dining room for breakfast, okay?" slowly said Tea to him, as she lightly pulled him so that they were walking to the dining room. He did not say a word, only simply nodded his head in agreement.
As everyone did what they needed to do to get ready, the day passed by very fast, and next thing everyone knew it was eight o'clock sharp.
An announcer stepped into the middle of the ball room, holding a microphone as he cleared his throat.
"Good evening, o' people from across great lands! It is my pleasure to announce the start of the anniversary of Yami-Yugi as Pharaoh! Please give a warm welcome to the young Pharaoh himself, Yami-Yugi!"
Just then a loud applause burst in the room as Yami-Yugi was brought in the room on his royal chair. Sababah was right next to him, walking -Yugi was smiling and waving to his audience, blowing kisses to the ladies in the room, which caused many of them to faint with glee. He was taken off his chair by two guards that placed him down next to Tea, who was waiting in the middle of the ball room next to the announcer. Yami-Yugi took the microphone from the announcer, and the announcer walked away to the tech area.
"Good evening my humble guests! I am very glad to see that each of you was able to come tonight. The night will start with 2 guests saying a speech on how they view the progress of Egypt being restored, and what can be improved. After that, refreshments will be available at the long tables at the left hand side of the ball room."
Tea noticed the large screens on walls that were translating everything that was being said into several different languages. Yami-Yugi continued.
"We will first have the Prime Minister of England, David Cameron come up to speak, then the President of the United States, Barack Obama to speak. After that, the ball will start. We would love to have all of you spoken, but due to time, anything you have to say will be personally said to me after the ball has ended. Thus, ending our celebration and anniversary! Please give a warm welcome to the Prime Minister of England, David Cameron!"
A big round of applause started again, and David Cameron gave his speech, and so did Barack Obama.
Tea sat next to Yami-Yugi while he was listening intently on their speeches. She listened too, but definitely wasn't as interested as him. Tea glanced around wondering where Bakura was. She saw him working with the tech stuff. He lifted his head up and made eye contact with her, so then he smiled at her, which made her give a small wave to him.
After the speeches were finished, refreshments were eaten, and drinks were served.
Yami-Yugi was talking with his guests while sitting on his royal chair, having more of casual conversations than ones on politics and such. He proved to be cute and adorable to the ladies, while men were secretly envious of him, yet he managed to get along with everyone. He even made the Prime Minister of England and the President of the United States laugh so hard, they almost spilled their drinks on each other.
This amused Yami-Yugi very much, but he didn't show it on his face.
Tea this whole time was talking with Bakura, who was more lively and friendly than usual.
After a good hour of enjoying conversations and refreshments, it was 9:30 at night; it was time for the ball to start. The announcer had the microphone again as he said very warmly,
"Alright everyone, it's time to start the ball! If you do not wish to dance that is okay, we will not force you to. If any of you wish to leave early, now is the time to. It is 9:30, so the ball will end with the Pharaoh and his girlfriend dancing together at 10:30. Finally the ball will be ended, and you may leave or talk with the Pharaoh if you wish to. Have fun and a good time!"
Tea thought on what she just heard. *Dancing with Yami-Yugi? How romantic! Hmm, I have an idea.*
She walked over to Bakura, who was in charge of the tech stuff.
"Hey Bakura, when you play the song for me and Yami-Yugi to dance to, can you jazz it up a bit?"
He looked confused. "What do you mean jazz it up, Tea?"
"I mean like make it very romantic at first, but then make it more modern and groovy. I want Yami-Yugi to dance at first romantically and elegantly, then kinda modern with me. Can you do that for me please?"
She gave him big eyes, and he just couldn't say no to them, so he nodded his head yes. She walked away whispering thank you, then sat next to Yami-Yugi and began talking to him.
"So Yami-Yugi, it's great and all that you invited all these important people, but how come you didn't invite our friends back home?"
He paused to think on it, less energetic than before and more tired.
"I wanted this occasion to be just for the two of us. To tell you the truth, I wasn't thinking of inviting them in the first place."
She seemed disappointed, but looked away, not wanting to show that she was upset.
"I'm sorry Tea; I wish I could make it up for you somehow."
"It's okay, I understand." She sighed and shook the feeling off, the feeling of her missing her friends back home.
*Back home...what if this is my new home? By now it sure seems that way. Did I really leave my high school life, friends and family behind, to stay in a palace with the Pharaoh of Egypt? What's gotten in to me?*
She seemed troubled, but she was broken from her thoughts by the loud round of applause that was given to Sababah for dancing for the audience. He gave a small bow to his roaring audience, and then glanced at his Pharaoh, who was clapping for Sababah. Yami-Yugi stood up and took the microphone from the announcer.
"I hope you all are enjoying yourselves tonight, my guests! To finish off the night, Tea Gardner and I will be dancing the show stopper, with a romantic Middle East inspired song!" This is where he glances at Tea, stretches his arm out to her and says in the microphone "Tea, my love, will you dance with me?"
She blushed at the tenderness of his voice, then smiled and nodded her head.
"Of course, Yami-Yugi." She stood up and walked over to him. The audience awed at that, as Yami-Yugi handed the microphone to the announcer, still looking into Tea's beautiful eyes. She stared into his big, innocent violet eyes, feeling as though the world around her was beginning to blur. She saw a gentle white glow around him, as she took his hand with great ceremony. The instant she took his hand the music started.
They danced very romantically, with Tea being held by the waist and she holding Yami-Yugi by the shoulders. They elegantly twirled around, moving from side to side, and Yami-Yugi was twirled like a ballerina by Tea. Her dresses drape like pleats fluttered gracefully around her, following her every move. It wasn't until the song turned techno after the first thirty seconds of the song that Yami-Yugi stopped dancing.
"Huh? What gives?" whispered Yami-Yugi to Tea.
"I want you to follow my moves. Just trust me."
Looking confused, he shrugged it off and followed her moves. Their dancing style changed from twirling to a hip hop style, fast and on time with every beat of the song. Yami-Yugi was surprised that he had no trouble at all keeping up with her, and enjoyed dancing hip hop with her more than romantically. He felt her energy sky rocket; clearly she loved dancing this way, and he did too. After a minute and a half, the song finished with them back to back, arms crossed.
There was a long pause from the audience, which made Yami-Yugi very nervous. As soon as he was about to say something to Tea, the audience roared with cheers and clapping, which surprised Yami-Yugi. Tea elbowed him, and he and her bowed for their audience. Tea was waving and he was too. The announcer gave the microphone to Pharaoh.
"Thank you all for coming! It was a pleasure to have you all over in my humble home! Please exit through the back doors. If you wish to talk to me, I will be near the refreshments tables in ten minutes."
He gave the microphone to the announcer very quickly and head to the ball rooms restrooms. Tea was surprised to see him leave so quickly. She walked over to Bakura, who was putting the tech stuff away.
"Hey Bakura, Yami-Yugi left pretty fast to the restroom. Can you go see how he's doing for me?"
"Ah, okay. I'll go right now." He dropped the cable he wrapped into a bag, and then walked away towards the ball rooms restrooms.
When he was in the hallways that lead to the restrooms and was alone, he began to run to the restroom and to the nearest sink. He stumbled and held onto the counter, head down; he felt very tired and dizzy, and then heard a familiar voice in his head.
*You...once I called you friend...how could you have betrayed me?! All this pain and devastation that I feel inside, and it's all because you betrayed me!*
Yami-Yugi twitched as he immediately looked up in the mirror, and saw Yugi's body in the reflection, pain and sorrow all over his face. When Yami-Yugi felt his face, he knew that he was in own body, in Yami's.
Bakura reached the men's restrooms, but he hesitated to walk in. Something in his gut told him to wait and spy on Yami-Yugi. He pressed his ear against the door, listening intently for Yami-Yugi's voice.
"Yugi? How is this possible!?" yelled Yami-Yugi at the mirror; anger growing on his face.
*How could you betray me!? Using my body and corrupting it, was the last thing that I wanted you to do with it! Why Yami!? WHY!? LET MY BODY GO!* The Yugi in the mirror bursted into tears, looking straight into Yami-Yugi's eyes, but only bitterness and anger was in Yami-Yugi's eyes.
"You who I called friend, how could you have come to hate me so?! Is this what you wanted me to feel!?" said Yami-Yugi as his eyes grew even colder and bitterer.
"Then let my heart be hardened, and never mind how high you're pain may grow! This will still be so! I will NEVER let your body go!" He banged his fist on the counter, causing it to rattle and crack in half.
Bakura winced when he heard the counter crack, but kept quiet anyways.
The Yugi in the mirror was shocked, but then faded away as Yami-Yugi calmed down. He looked away from the mirror, letting his steam blow off. After a long pause he felt his face again and he was back in Yugi's body. Oddly enough, when he looked back at the mirror, he felt disgusted from seeing himself in the mirror. He was walking to exit the restroom.
Bakura heard him coming so he freaked out and ran into the women's restroom. Yami-Yugi was walking back to the ball room, and heard some girls squeal in the restroom when he was walking away. The girls kicked Bakura out of the restroom, and he landed on his bottom rather roughly.
Yami-Yugi had fists by his sides as he walked to the refreshments table, and he noticed the line of people that wanted to talk to him was immensely long. He sighed, but talked to each and every one of them. Of course his attitude was more negative than before, but he wasn't necessarily rude to any of them.
When Tea saw that Yami-Yugi was upset, she sighed and went to bed, but said good night to Bakura first, who by then was at putting away the tech stuff.
"So was Yami-Yugi okay?"
"Yes he was Tea. I'm wondering why he looks so upset now though."
"What did you say to him?"
"All I did was asked him if he was okay and he said he was."
She nodded her head and said good night again to Bakura before walking to her bedroom.
In her bedroom she got changed into her night gown and immediately went to bed. She thought over and over what a fun and exciting night she had, and she couldn't see any pattern that may have made Yami-Yugi upset.
"I don't see a pattern of things that would make him upset. Maybe something happened while he was walking out of the restroom? Maybe..."
She stopped herself. She didn't want to lose the good feeling she had before, so she simply went to sleep. Yami-Yugi that night didn't get any sleep at all. Neither did Sababah.
As for Bakura, he slept very, very well that night.
