Hello everyone and thank you for reading this far. We're nearing towards the end of this arc.

First off, I'd like to say thank you to Miss Ellie D for the lovely review. I'm so happy that you like the story so far and appreciate your feedback and I'm looking forward to hearing more from you in the future. :)

To anyone that has any questions about everyone's ages to this point, Marik is 13, Mimiki is 12 (they are six months apart), Ishizu is 17 and Odion is 22. And yes, their love story will continue into the Battle City arc. Please look forward to it!

This is a meaty chapter in terms of length. I won't be updating for a while due to my schedule being busy this month. If I stay busy, I will not be updating until next month. If I get lucky, I might be able to work on the story and update it at the very end of this month. Please enjoy this chapter and please review. Happy reading!

Chapter 7

Embrace

Mimiki tossed and turned in her bed, dreaming about him. She woke up several times during the night, an hour at a time. Another factor keeping her from having a good night's sleep was her curiosity of her birthday gift from Marik. She couldn't get over the fact that she had kissed Marik on his cheek earlier in the day. She felt like she was in a trance, that it felt right to kiss him. She felt more embarrassed the more she thought about it. He said himself that she was his best friend, nothing more.

'But it's not like I actually kissed him, kissed him…' she thought.

If he brought the subject up, she'd just explain that a kiss on the cheek doesn't mean much, that she wanted to express how grateful she was to have such a good friend like him. After all, he lit up her dark world after she had moved to Egypt. As the days went by, her homesickness subsided and her sadness was down to a minimum. Sure she missed her family and friends back home, but he made it better. The two were practically inseparable, especially now that it was summer vacation.

She had crushes on boys at her school before, but they never reciprocated her feelings and she had grown tired of getting the short end of the stick. She didn't want to ruin her friendship with Marik, so she decided to keep her feelings to herself. She tossed and turned again and laid her eyes on her clock; 4:37 AM. She buried her head in the pillow and tried to sleep. The sun would be rising very soon and she just wanted some rest.

Marik rose with the sun. He was antsy about Mimiki coming over and couldn't stop thinking about her impromptu kiss. His cheek still felt tingly, his heart fluttered and he blushed. He couldn't stop thinking about it and wondered how it might feel to actually kiss each other. If a kiss on the cheek felt that nice, he couldn't imagine how it would feel on his lips. His face felt like it was on fire.

"I must look as red as tomato...I can't let Mimi or anyone else see me like this!" He took a sip of water from his cup on his desk and sat it back down. He glanced at the present he had made for Mimiki and imagined how she would react once he gave it to her.

"Happy birthday, Mimi!" He said handing her the present.

"Aww Marik! Thank you!" She said smiling happily while opening the box. She smiled harder and hugged him. "It's beautiful! It's the best present I've ever gotten!"

"That's not all, Mimi! Here's more!" He showered her with a ton of gift boxes.

"Wow! This is the best birthday ever! Thank you Marik!"

Mimiki littered his face with kisses and then planted a big one on his lips. Marik returned her kiss with full force. He was right! This felt way better than a kiss on the cheek! The two continued to enjoy their moment.

"Little brother, what are you doing?"

"I'm kissing Mimi, what does it look like?"

"Master Marik, that's your pillow…"

"Wha…?"

Marik snapped out of his daydream and realized that he was indeed kissing his pillow. Not only was he doing that, he left a small stain of saliva on it as well trying to imitate the deep kisses he had once secretly read about in one of Ishizu's romance novels. He blushed and threw his pillow to the other side of the bed. His sibling's eyes met with his and he looked away; never had he felt so embarrassed in his life. He couldn't even think of any words to say to them. How would he wriggle his way out of this one? He turned around, hid under his sheets and curled himself into a ball. Marik felt some weight shift on the edge of his bed while he heard his desk chair shift across the floor.

"Come on little brother, tell us what possessed you to ravage your pillow the way you did." Marik stayed quiet as she kept pressing the matter. Forget looking like a tomato — he felt dying a thousand deaths at the hand of Slifer.

"Why is your pillow wet?" Ishizu asked as she examined it. "Were you — what do you know about kissing in this manner?! Have you been sneaking in my magazines?!" she asked, exasperated.

'Kill me now…' he thought.

So what if he took a sneak peek at her magazines while she was occupying herself with other matters? He liked magazines, too! Well not the ones that she read, but he was just curious, especially when he came across the "how to kiss" and "how to french kiss" articles. When he saw them, he couldn't believe that his sister was interested in those sorts of things since she was so refined and independent. He never saw her being interested in any guys either, but he wouldn't put it past her since she was clever and a bit sneaky.

"So you have been reading my magazines, you sneaky little—"

Marik quickly jumped up and fought back. "Why do you even have those things anyway?! Why do you care about how to kiss someone?! You're always reading those novels and stuff! What are you hiding from us, Ishizu? Is there some man we don't know about?!"

Ishizu blushed and started to sweat a little. How dare he question her personal life? She was seventeen and she could do what she pleased. She was practically a grown woman and now that she was free from the strict rules of the Ishtar clan, she'd be damned if she didn't enjoy her freedom.

"Don't make this about me, little brother! We're talking about you! Why were you in my belongings?! And french kissing your pillow?"

Before he could fight back, Ishizu covered her mouth and started to laugh and chills started to run down his spine.

"Ah, I understand now. You said earlier that you were kissing Mimiki, didn't you?" she asked, eyeing him slyly as he turned red once again.

Odion also laughed. "You care for Miss Mimiki a great deal, don't you Master Marik? I see the way you look at her when you two are together."

"What are you talking about, Odion? I don't look at Mimi any differently than I do anyone else. She's...she's my best friend."

"Yes, we're aware of that. You two spend a lot of time together." He replied.

"Yeah...we do."

"So do you have feelings for her?" Ishizu quipped.

"NO!" He quickly answered. Ishizu smiled and laughed at him again.

"You should tell her how you feel, Master Marik. Just be honest with her and I'm sure that everything will be alright." Odion commented.

The young Ishtar looked up at him worryingly. "Do you really think so, Odion?"

He nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'm sure. Miss Mimiki is a very reasonable and pleasant young girl."

"Yes, Marik. Just be yourself. A girl appreciates honesty." Ishizu added.

Marik looked into their eyes and calmed down a bit. "Okay, I'll try to tell her how I feel. I'll make sure that she has a great birthday!"

The two elder Ishtars smiled at him. "Good," Ishizu said as she stood up. "It's early and the market should be opening up soon. Odion and I will be leaving to get ingredients for Mimiki's Egyptian Palace Cake. I'm certain that she will love it. After I finish making it, I'll prepare her gift and such. You should get ready too, Marik. We will be returning soon."

"Okay. See you soon."

The elder Ishtar siblings left Marik to his thoughts as he grabbed her gift again. He really hoped that she would like it. She had told him about the birthday gifts and parties she had back home once before and he knew that he couldn't compete with what she had in the past. Before feelings of frustration could kick in, he quickly decided to move on and prepare for her arrival. Today was going to be a good day.

Mimiki woke up hours later; the clock reading 9:00 AM. She rubbed her eyes and yawned sleepily as she felt like she didn't have much energy. The sun was shining brightly through her curtains. She got out of bed and opened her curtains along with her window and a blast of hot air slapped her in the face. She gasped as she quickly closed the window. The gust of air woke her up a bit and she made a mental note to wear her sun hat and to put on more sunscreen. She slowly prepared to get ready for the day. She managed to redo her hair from yesterday's water war between her and Marik. She blushed at the thoughts about the previous day's events leading up to her planting a soft kiss on his cheek. Mimiki brushed her hair faster as she kept thinking about it.

'Mimiki you will NOT let what happened make things weird between you and your best friend!' she mentally shouted.

She made her way to the closet to grab an outfit, picked a light cotton pink shirt with a matching ribbon and blue jean shorts and got dressed. Afterwards, she grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"Ah, good morning mom." Sumie turned and returned her greeting.

"Good morning, baby. How are you feeling this morning? Are you excited for your birthday tomorrow? I can't believe that you're finally turning 13! You're growing up so fast! I can't believe it!" she said as she hugged her daughter.

"Yes, I'm very excited! I'll finally be a teenager!"

Sumie giggled at her comment. "Yes, I remember those days. I had a lot of fun in my teenage years and I learned a lot too. I know that you'll do the same. Do you want some breakfast? I can whip something up really quick."

Mimiki nodded and replied "That would be nice. Thanks mom."

Mimiki ate a small breakfast, grabbed her water bottle and made her way to the front door to slip her sandals on. When she opened the door, the hot desert air welcomed her outside to its lovely toasty atmosphere. She grunted as she put on her hat and took a large gulp of water before she took her pilgrimage to the Ishtar abode.

Marik heard the entrance doors closing for the third time today. His heart started racing as he heard her footsteps getting closer. Mimiki wiped the beads of sweat off her face with her hand. The temperature proved hotter than yesterday and she was elated that she was finally in the shade. Marik quickly met up with her and scared her a bit.

"Marik! You scared me! Didn't notice you there."

"Sorry Mimi. I didn't mean to. I heard you coming and I wanted to meet you. I have a surprise for you!" he said while flashing a big smile.

"Is it water, because I would really like some. It's burning up out there!" she said while trying to fan herself with her hat.

"Of course! Let's go and get you some!" He quickly linked her hand with his and walked her to their dining room. They both blushed at their contact, but didn't question it. When they reached the dining room, she saw that the table had a cake, small dishes of Egyptian cuisine, bouquets of blue and white lotus flowers, water lilies, vibrant colored irises and chrysanthemums adorned the table along with a two gift boxes. Marik smiled at her shocked expression at the display, especially when she accidentally dropped her hat.

"Surprise! Happy birthday!" they all shouted.

"Everyone, what's this? It's so beautiful!" She turned to Marik as he squeezed her hand a little tighter.

"It's your birthday! Well, almost your birthday. You should be celebrated. I know that this might not be as good as one of your birthday parties at home, but happy birthday Mimi! May you shine like Ra, stand tall like Obelisk and be as strong as Slifer!"

She started to cry and this alarmed Marik. "Mimi! I'm sorry! Why are you crying? I did a bad job, didn't I? That Egyptian god phrase was…uh...corny, wasn't it? I'm sorry!" He felt useless at times like this. Girls were so confusing!

"No!" she said quickly. "This is even better! Thank you everyone!" She gave everyone a big hug. Ishizu handed her a tissue to dry her face.

They went on and sang, ate and started to open her presents. Ishizu had given her an old white dress that was too small for her. She made some alterations and added an intricate floral design in gold around the huge sleeves and the bottom hem. She had also given her some gold jewelry composing of earrings and a simple headdress with a polished rose quartz jewel in the middle.

"This is beautiful! It is really okay for me to have this?" she asked Ishizu.

She nodded and gave her a small hug. "Of course! I'm happy that you like your gifts."

Mimiki stared at them again. "I really do! Thank you! Can I try them on?"

Ishizu nodded. "Yes, of course. Please use Marik's room since it's closer." Mimiki nodded and left to change.

A few minutes later, she returned as they were all talking amongst themselves. "How do I look?"

Marik gasped at her radiance and blushed. Everything had fit her perfectly and she looked like a princess. Ishizu and Odion had commented on her appearance while Marik kept staring at her.

"Well Marik? How do you think I look?" she asked blushing. Ishizu and Odion took this opportunity to leave the room unnoticed, hoping that he would confess his feelings to her.

"You're beautiful."

The two teenagers blushed and Mimiki looked down a bit, twisting her foot on the floor to distract her from his comment. A boy had never called her beautiful before besides her family members, so it was a big deal to her. Silence grew between them as she locked eyes with him again until he handed her another small box.

"This is for you Mimi. I hope that you like it."

She smiled as she took the box and opened it. Inside laid lapis lazuli, peridot and carnelian triple beaded bracelets, three in all. They all had three fire blown colored clay flowers on them; one being white water lilies, pink lotus flowers, and lastly cornflowers. Each flower had a corresponding jewel in them; the water lilies had lapis lazuli, the lotus had garnets and the cornflowers had carnelians.

Mimiki's eyes widened as she looked at them. "Marik! These are beautiful! I can't accept these! This is too much! Why did you spend so much money on me? You didn't have to do that."

Marik looked up towards the ceiling, still blushing. "Well, I made them myself. The jewels weren't hard to come by. I had some help from Ishizu and Odion. My mother had taught them various skills before she died. Jewel making and mining are one of the ways our family has earned income over the years, so it's okay. Besides, you're my best friend. You deserve the best!" he said as he slipped the lotus bracelet onto her tiny wrist. "See? Fits perfectly!" he said with a sheepish grin.

Mimiki quickly hugged him tightly. "Thank you Marik! I don't deserve such a good friend like you! You're too kind...sometimes." she joked as she let a out a small laugh.

"But really, I appreciate this. This is the best birthday ever. Thank you." He blushed again as she released him from her hug, but he quickly grabbed her arms and they locked eyes again. The tension between them grew and Marik couldn't handle it anymore. He had to distract himself.

"Well I'm only kind sometimes? I guess you're beautiful...sometimes." he said grinning mischievously. Mimiki puffed up her cheeks like always.

"Hey! I was joking! You're so ruining our nice moment, Marik! Don't be a jerk on my birthday!" She spat before sticking her tongue out.

"It's not your birthday yet, Mimi. It's tomorrow, remember?" he said, still sporting his grin.

"Don't treat me like that! This party was not my idea! You asked me to come over, remember?"

Marik smirked at her attitude. This was the perfect diversion from his feelings. Now that the mood was gone, he didn't have to tell her how he felt.

"Yeah, yeah." He replied. Mimiki groaned. "You can be such a jerk sometimes!"

He replied with the same "yeah, yeah" response to make her more angry. "Marik, why are you trying to ruin my party?! It was going nice until you had to open your mouth!" As she kept complaining, Marik grew irritated and turned to her.

"Mimiki!" he yelled.

"WHAT?!" she yelled back.

"Would you please shut up?!" he asked as he grabbed her by her waist with one arm and cupped her cheek with his other hand and closed the gap between them; their lips finally connecting as Mimiki's eyes widened like dinner plates. It felt like an eternity before Marik broke the kiss. His lips tingled greatly as he blushed and looked away to try to recover from the bold move he just made. It felt way better than he imagined. Mimiki on the other hand, was as red as a tomato and still in shock.

'My first kiss?!' she screamed mentally.

Marik snickered and opened his mouth again. "I knew that you were cute when you were quiet, but I didn't know that you'd be this beautiful when you're in shock and awe! You don't have to thank me, just forget about the whole thing."

Mimiki quickly snapped out of her shock, hurt at what he had said.

"What do you mean "forget about the whole thing?" That was my first kiss! You stole it from me and you want me to forget about it?!"

He turned and looked at her and immediately felt awful about was he said when he saw the pain in her eyes. She knew that she could be loud sometimes, but she couldn't let the event of her first kiss be stomped into the ground. This didn't feel like a magical Disney princess movie moment to her at all. It was the complete opposite.

Mimiki clinched her fists tightly, fighting back her tears. Since when was a kiss just "nothing", especially one planted on the lips? He stole her first kiss, her first kiss! Anger exploded as she landed a hard slap on his cheek, tears staining her face.

"I can't stand you sometimes, you-you stupid...boy! I'm leaving!" She quickly ran out of the room and left the tomb.