Hello everyone! I managed to write another chapter before the month's end. This chapter is a little short, but I promise that the next one will be longer.

Thank you LadyKeren for your reviews and for adding/favoring my story. Also another thanks to RecursiveDestroyer for adding/favoring my story and to 12345678910 for reviewing as well. Seeing you all keeping an interest in my work makes me very happy. Thank you again! :)

Please enjoy this chapter and review!

Chapter 8 - Sleep

"Mimi!" Marik shouted as he held his cheek. He couldn't believe that she slapped him that hard. ''

'She's stronger than she looks...and here I thought that Ishizu's punches were hard…' he thought while rubbing his cheek. A loud thud rang through the brick hall, indicating Mimiki's exit. Ishizu and Odion ran back into the dining room moments later.

"Master Marik? What's going on and where's Miss Mimiki? Didn't she like her present that you gave her?" Marik stayed silent as he rubbed his cheek and locked eyes with his older sister. If looks could kill, he'd be dead right about now. He'd never seen her like this and it gave him the chills. Even Odion could feel the anger building up in the room.

"What possessed you to say what you said to her? Why did you have to ruin that beautiful moment between you two?!" she asked with her hands balled in a fist.

"You heard…?" he asked.

"Oh no, what made you think that, little brother? Not only did I hear it, I saw it!"

Marik cursed mentally. "Don't get angry! You brought this upon yourself! Why would we go through all of this trouble to give her a nice birthday party for you to ruin her day?!"

Marik felt like he was knocked down a peg until she continued her rant. "You said that you were going to tell her how you felt! Is this how you really feel about her? Your best friend for the past six months? Your best friend that you've been practically attached to at the hip?!" she stressed.

Marik felt like he could crawl into a sand dune and die as she kept ranting. Ishizu was right. He did ruin her party and he goofed up in telling her how he felt about her. Not to mention…

"And you kissed her! Do you have any idea how high the possibility is that you've crushed her feelings because you said it didn't mean anything?!"

Ishizu closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose and placed her other hand on her hip. Marik looked towards Odion in the background with a pleading look of "help" plastered on his face. Odion stepped back a bit, signaling that he didn't want to get involved.

'Gee, thanks Odion for the backup!' Marik thought sarcastically.

"Marik, leave and find Mimiki and apologize to her! Right now!" she commanded as she pointed to the hallway. "Maybe if you leave now, you'll catch her before she reaches her home. Go on, now! And allow me to say this, little brother; I don't want to have such a conversation with you again over avoidable drabble! Do you understand?"

Marik swallowed hard and nodded before quickly left the room and headed for the entrance. When he arrived, the sound of strong winds stopped him. He quickly tried to push the door open, it was proving difficult as harsh winds continued to push against it. Panic started to settle in. He finally was able to push it open several minutes later, his eyes widened in horror.

"MIMI!" He shouted.

A sandstorm was quickly approaching the visibility was getting very low. He couldn't see her and tried to find at least her footprints, but they were gone. Breathing became difficult, so he ran back to the tomb and quickly closed the door. The harsh winds slammed the the door onto his right arm and part of his face, sending him falling down a couple of stairs. Sand fell from his platinum blonde locks as the pain simmered throughout his body. He tried to stand up, but knees collapsed on him; his heart sunk lower and lower into the quicksand of emotions that poisoned his heart. Because of him, his best friend was out in that sandstorm. He wouldn't forgive himself if something had happened to her.

"Mimi…"

A little while later he returned to his room and found that she had left her belongings. Seeing that made him worry himself to death even more. She had no protection out there to shield her or to help her breathe or see anything. The blazing temperature didn't help either the situation either. He couldn't imagine how she felt out there alone. He cursed and kicked himself. If he didn't act like an ass to her, she'd be with them and safe.

Over the past two hours, he had attempted to leave the tomb, but the storm was still raging on. He had grown frustrated and waiting for the storm to subside felt like an eternity passing him by. On his latest attempt as he walked to the entrance, he couldn't hear the strong winds anymore. He had enlisted Odion and Ishizu for help, as the weight of the sand was a little too heavy for him to handle. His heart raced as they pushed the door and it flew open; hot, smooth sand hitting them in the face. After regaining their eyesight, they saw desert horizon and a clear blue sky, as if nothing had happened.

"Everything is clear Master Marik. Would you like us to accompany you to Miss Mimiki's house?"

"No, it's fine Odion. I made this mess myself, so I'll fix it myself. Thank you, though. I appreciate your kindness. I promise to make everything right with Mimi. Hopefully she didn't get caught in that storm..."

Odion smiled and nodded. "I understand, Master Marik. Good luck with Miss Mimiki."

"Yes. Good luck, little brother. Remember what we discussed. We'll be expecting your return later."

He waved and ran out to her house immediately. Fear rang through his soul when he discovered that she didn't make it home. He checked around town and no one had seen her. His despair grew deeper with every burning step he made back to his home. Before he went back into the tomb, he sat on a half wall nearby with the notion that he was going to rip his hair out. He was tired, very hot and not to mention embittered. He hated that he was so cut off from the modern world and wished that he could call her. He cursed his family's loyalty to the pharaoh and wish that he could be a normal teenager, just like her.

Before his anger could truly steep, a sudden strong gust of wind blew sand onto his face, making it difficult to see and breathe. He coughed, stumbled a bit from the wall to a small half dome enclosure made of old brick. Once he regained his composure, he used the dome to pull himself up and stepped on something firm, yet soft. He questioned it and wiped the sand away to find a slender tan hand.

His eyes widened in horror as he dug away and found Mimiki's body buried under the sand with the exception of her head and unconscious. "MIMI!" he screamed. He dug faster and faster to dig her out and managed to pull her body from her sand coffin.

"MIMIKI! MIMIKI!" he screamed again as he shook her. Her body was burning up from the heat and the sand and she didn't move. As he brushed more sand off her body, his fingers hit something familiar on her leg. He pulled her dress up to find teeth marks above her ankle and gasped.

"A snake bite…?"

The site of the snake bite was red and Marik's heart dropped instantly. He started to shake at the thought of her being dead. His mind went south when she still showed no signs of moving and that she wasn't breathing. He started shaking and began to cry as he held her in his arms.

"Mimiki...I'm so sorry!" he said between sobs. "I didn't mean for this...to happen!"

He continued to cry over her body as his mind was flooded with the memories they shared together. He felt like darkness was closing in on him again just like the time his father died months earlier. He had no one to blame this time but himself and it made him feel like complete shit.

"Please don't leave Mimiki…please! I'm so sorry!" he cried as his face nuzzled his face against hers, his tears staining her face.

"I'm sorry that I ruined your day! I wanted to do something nice for you and I ruined it! I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I let you die! Please come back! Mimiki!" he screamed and cried as the darkness closed in on him.

"Marik…" a familiar voice called out. He looked up to see Mimiki standing before him in the desert sand with blank eyes. She looked at him sweetly and smiled. "Mimi? You're alive!"

His heart jumped for joy as she continued to stare at him. He didn't know whether to cry or scream. "You're okay!"

His heartbeat slowed as he calmed down and sighed in relief. He quickly ran up to her and smiled. "Mimi! You have no idea how happy I' am to see you! I was really worried about you! Are you okay?"

She continued to stare at him and nodded slowly. He sighed again and locked his fingers with hers, feeling the warmth. Yes, everything was okay. It wasn't a dream. Everything was okay, until the next question that she asked him sent his world spiraling down to hell as she broke his hold, stepped back and placed her hand on her cheek and propped her elbow with her other arm. Her bangs hid one side of her face and her smile curled upward into a devious smile.

"Why'd you let me die, Marik?" she asked in her sweet voice.