Chapter 7

The cabin was dark and quiet. Many of the passengers were either taking part in some quiet activity or attempting to sleep. Yugi stretched slightly in his chair, there was no way he was going to be able to sleep. For some reason he could never sleep on planes despite his best efforts. He'd long given up on trying to attempt to sleep, if he was sleepy enough then perhaps by some miracle he would fall asleep. He gazed at the screen in front of him which was silently playing a film he'd lost interest in some time ago. The headphones were still plugged in so if he merely reached out, he could replace them in his ears and start watching but at this moment in time it seemed like too much effort. Looking across he saw Tea engrossed in her book. Tristan was also immersed in a book and Joey… well he couldn't actually see what Joey was doing from this angle, but he imagined he was probably watching the film given the flickering from the screen in front of him. Turning to the person sat next to him he saw Atem was in the same position as he had been when he'd last checked on him. The once King was still deep in sleep, he had been for the whole time they'd been flying. In some ways Yugi envied him, it was one way to make a flight go quickly but then he didn't fancy experiencing what Atem had suffered from which had caused him to be like this. It was rare to see Atem so deep in sleep given he was normally such a light sleeper, but Yugi was grateful he was getting a good sleep. It had probably helped that not long into the flight the lights had been dimmed so the former Pharaoh was in quite a dark corner which very much suited sleep. Yugi had reached over to pull the window shade down at the same time as the lights dimmed. He'd not been sure how long the former Pharaoh would have stayed asleep at that point, but he'd wanted to encourage him to sleep for as long as he needed. Yawning Yugi looked over to the others, Tea looking up from her book as he did.

"Is he still asleep?" She whispered.

Yugi nodded.

"He's been out this whole time hasn't he?" Tristan asked, quietly.

Once again Yugi nodded, "He needs it though, he really didn't sleep much when he was really ill."

"Hopefully he feels much better after this." Tea continued, marking the page in her book before closing it.

"He'll be alright guys don't worry."

"Hey... he's not the only one snoozing guys." Tristan suddenly said.

The other two looked at him, Tea leaning forward slightly to see. Tristan was looking at the person sitting next to him. Joey was slumped slightly in his seat, light snores being emitted from his throat. A devilish smile crossed Tristan's face and he turned back to face the other two.

"Guess who's getting their beauty sleep." He smirked.

Yugi and Tea exchanged a grin before Tea leant ever further forward in her seat.

"Don't Tristan you know what he said last time."

Tristan waved her off, rummaging around in his bag. "I'm not scared of him Tea what's the worst he could do."

"I'm more worried about the rest of us." She remarked.

Again, Tristan waved her off sitting up in his chair, a pen in his hand. He exchanged a glance with Yugi before turning to Joey. Yugi watched him before glancing at Tea, who was shaking her head but not completely with disapproval. A couple of minutes past before Tristan turned back to them, a grin on his face. Yugi had to stand slightly to see what had happened but when he did he stifled a laugh and sank back into his seat shaking his head. On Joey's left cheek was a smiley face, drawn with thick black pen. This happened every time they went somewhere. Every time the group travelled it was almost a given that Joey would fall asleep at some point and then Tristan would take advantage of that by drawing something on his face. It was remarkable that Joey never woke up in these moments, being a deep sleeper there was nothing that could really wake him up.

As Tristan returned the pen to his bag Yugi stretched once again, gazing around more for something to do then anything else. They were probably more then halfway through the flight but that was almost worse then being right at the beginning of the flight. For him at least, once he got halfway through a flight he was rather keen to get off, gone was the excitement of finally being on the way and the boredom had set in. There was only so much you could do to try and pass the time. Even watching his favourite film didn't seem to help. He felt it much harder to watch something when he was doing it more because he had nothing else to do. Silence fell again as both Tristan and Tea seemed to return their attention to their books. Yugi shuffled in his seat again, trying to encourage sleep. Although he knew this was a fool's errand because sleep would never happen, but he had to do something to pass the time. But he closed his eyes no less. He listened to what little sound there was. He could hear whispers from other passengers and flight crew. The more he listened he found the sound of the plane's engines as it moved through the sky. He had to admit now that he thought about it that it was remarkable how slow it felt as though the plane was moving when in actual fact they were moving at hundreds of miles per hour. Shifting again he tried once again to encourage sleep but soon found that having his eyes closed was more annoying then anything else, so he opened them once again. Letting out a sigh of annoyance he stood and stretched, perhaps a walk would help.

"Will you keep an eye on him?" Yugi quietly asked the other two, indicating the former Pharaoh.

They nodded without looking up before Yugi strolled away moving to the back of the plane which was the furthest point away from his seat. He didn't really pay much attention to the other passengers around him until he wondered back a few minutes later. He heard someone calling his name and turned to see a couple of young fans smiling at him. He paused to talk to them for a while, signing a few cards before making his way back to his seat. But when he sat it felt like no time had passed. Although now Tristan was watching a film and Tea was still reading. Sighing he turned to look once again at Atem, who was still asleep, before reaching out for his headphones and restarting the film he'd abandoned watching.

Time seemed to move ever slower as Yugi watched, but as he finally got to the of the film he just happened to look ahead of him and saw the cabin crew slowly making their way down the aisle passing out food. Well, at least that would give him something to do. At the same time there was a sudden movement from beside Tristan as Joey suddenly sat bolt upright.

"Where's the food?" He asked groggily.

The other three exchanged a glance before laughing.

"Trust you to have a sixth sense for food." Tristan said, shaking his head slightly.

Yugi watched him for a moment, his eyes drawn to the smiley face on his cheek. A grin spread it ways across his face but he quickly hid it when Joey looked at him.

"What are you laughing at Yugi?"

"Nothing." Yugi replied, innocently, "It's just… you do seem to have a thing about food."

Joey narrowed his eyes, "Well, a growing boy needs his food."

"I'm not sure you can make that excuse anymore Joey, you're almost an adult." Tea remarked.

Joey scoffed, "Just watch me, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go freshen up before food."

Standing he squeezed himself past Tristan and made his way towards the front of the plane. Yugi shook his head as he watched Joey pause for a moment to see what kind of food would soon be heading their way before disappearing from view. The others looked at each other for a moment.

"You know he's going to spot it." Yugi said, looking at Tristan.

Tristan shrugged, "He may not, he's so focused on food he might not even notice."

"You hope." Tea replied, "If he spots it he'll go nuts and being as we're in a plane there's nowhere to hide."

Tristan waved them both off, "You both worry too much, we shall find out enough but whatever you do don't tell him."

Yugi shook his head, he certainly wasn't going to tell Joey. He wanted to get off this plane in one piece. The food got ever closer but Joey had not yet returned. For a moment Yugi thought he must have spotted the face and was desperately trying to scrub it off. But when the trolley became only a matter of rows away Joey reappeared, eagerly squeezing past the crew to retake his seat.

"Why is there a face on Joey's cheek?" A quiet voice asked.

Yugi bit his lip and shook his head hastily, trying to prevent a smile from making its way onto his face. When Joey was safely back in his seat Yugi turned to look at the former Pharaoh. Although he still looked a little pale the sleep had seemingly helped. A few more sleeps like that and he'd be as good as new. His gaze followed Joey before turning to Yugi. A questioning expression made its way across his face and Yugi leant in, whispering in his ear. When he sat back a small look of amusement crossed Atem's face before he sat up right, leaning forwards ever so slightly. A cough rose within him, but he managed to stifle it as much as possible, although Yugi still patted his back. The other three had obviously noticed as they were looking over but all three seemed satisfied when the former Pharaoh smiled slightly at them.

The trolley of food finally made it to them it was like neither Joey nor Tristan had ever been fed, ever. Their eyes were glued to the trays as they were handed them. Joey's gaze met one of the crew as he went to thank them. The crew member, a tall woman with dark hair, smiled and gave a little giggle before she turned her attention to the next passenger. Joey looked at his friends, a wide grin on his face.

"I think she likes me." He said, turning round in his seat to look at the crew member.

Next to him Tristan was hiding his mouth with his hand, evidently trying to conceal his smile. Tea was just shaking her head, somehow managing to keep her face composed. Yugi, on the other hand, was having a real hard time stifling his laughter. He was attempting to take small sips of his water but every time he tried a laugh would almost escape him. Beside him Atem was looking rather amused, patting Yugi on the back so he didn't choke. Joey looked at each of them for a moment before looking back at the women. They'd made it to the back of the plane and he could see the four crew members whispering and looking back in his direction. When they saw him looking they burst into a fit of giggles.

"Well I guess it's true what they say, no one can resist the charm of Joey Wheeler."

Tristan scoffed and rolled his eyes causing Joey to round on him.

"Hey, I didn't see them giggling at you."

"No you're right they didn't, there must be something about you which made them smile."

Joey nodded, "As I said, it's my irresistible charm."

When his friends all held similar expressions of amusement, he eyed them all before sinking back into his seat and turning his attention to the food. It came to no surprise that both Joey and Tristan began to heartly devour what was in front of them. Those two always seemed to be a bottomless pit when it came to food. Not only did they eat all the food they'd been given but they also ended up eating the food which the once King refused. It wasn't a complete surprise to Yugi that Atem had ended up eating very little. He may be feeling a lot better than he had been, but his appetite had yet to return. Yugi wasn't going to worry about that just yet, it was hardly surprising but also he didn't want to annoy the former Pharaoh. He knew that internally he was hating the attention and questions over and around his health.

In inflight meal seemed to pacify both Tristan and Joey as they both slumped in their seats. They gazed dreamily off into the distance, looking as though they would fall asleep at any moment. It was the calm before the storm, the others knew that as soon as they got off the plane there would be trouble. It had been luck so far that Joey had not noticed what was drawn on his face but that was unlikely to stay the case for much longer. When he did eventually notice they wanted to be somewhere safe. The remaining few hours seemed to pass fairly quickly, Tea absorbed herself in her book whilst Yugi engaged in conversation with the former Pharaoh. Before they knew it the announcement came that they were beginning the decent. Opening the window shade, Atem looked out at the view. The view of his homeland. It was certainly different but there was no denying it, this was his home. An odd sensation rose within him, one which he could not quite place or put a name too. It wasn't like he'd not been here before since he'd been released from the puzzle but something was different.

"Welcome home Atem." Yugi whispered beside him.

The former Pharaoh glanced at him before looking back out the window as the ground grew ever closer. There was a slight jolt as the plane touched down then the immediate pulling feeling as the pilot slammed on the breaks. It was possible to feel the anticipation throughout the plane, everyone was desperate to get off and stretch their legs properly. If anything, it seemed to take an age before they were finally informed that they were allowed to disembark. Joey and Tristan wasted no time in leaping from their seats and charging off the plane. The other passengers didn't seemed to impressed by this but the two men who'd been sat beside them the whole flight looked rather pleased.

"We better catch up with them before Joey kills Tristan." Tea said, securing her bag on her shoulder, "I'm genuinely surprised Joey hasn't noticed yet which means Tristan is in for it."

"Why did Tristan do that?" Atem asked.

"Oh, its been a thing for ages." Yugi replied, passing the once King's bag to him, "It started on a trip a while ago when Joey dozed off and now Tristan takes any opportunity, didn't I tell you?"

"Not that I can recall."

Atem gazed off for a moment, trying to recall if that conversation had happened. But to his knowledge he couldn't remember Yugi ever mentioning it. Looking back he saw Yugi giving him a look before smiling at him and motioning to him to follow. Together the three of them joined the queue of people making their way slowly up the aisle and off the plane. The hot, dry outside air hit them like a wall as they emerged out of the plane and descended the stairs. They had to walk across the tarmac to make it into the airport itself, each of them gazing around as they walked. However, one of the three had to pause for a moment as the dry air aggravated the back of his throat. Yugi moved back to his side but before he could do anything Atem had straightened himself, a smile appeared on his pale face which was all the reassurance Yugi needed.

They finally tracked the other two members of their group down by the baggage reclaim belts. They'd managed to find all five bags before they'd got there which certainly helped. Together they began walking down a corridor which, if the sign was to be believed, would take them to the exit of the airport.

"So your Gramps is definitely going to be here to pick us up right?" Joey asked.

"That's what he said before we flew out." Yugi replied.

"Well, let's hope he's there otherwise we'd be stranded in an unknown country. Actually, I guess it's not unknown to one of us."

Joey clapped his hand playfully on Atem's shoulder who in returned shared another smile.

"I think I would be just as lost as you Joey."

Yugi grinned at the former Pharaoh's response before a movement ahead of them caught his eye. Emerging from the corridor they saw two elderly gentlemen a head of them, one of whom had his arm raised and was waving in their direction. Recognising Yugi's grandfather they made their way towards him.

"You made it." Solomon said, smiling at them all. "How was the flight?"

"It was a walk in the park." Joey declared.

"Yeah for the ones of us who managed to sleep for part of it." Tristan commented, rolling his eyes.

Joey threw Tristan a look but then caught the look on Solomon's face. He was looking at him with a rather confused expression.

"Joseph, what in the world have you done to your face?"

Joey merely blinked before glancing between Solomon and his friends.

"W-what do you mean?"

Solomon grinned, "Ok new question, when's the last time you looked at your reflection?"

Joey's eyes widened before looking at his friends with a glare, waiting for a response from them. When none came he quickly spotted a nearby bathroom and dashed towards it, leaving his bags behind. Solomon looked after Joey for a moment but shaking his head in amusement. Turning to the others he smiled.

"Well, before the trouble starts let me introduce my good friend Marcus Roberts."

The other man, who was slightly taller then Solomon, smiled and inclined his head at each of them in turn.

"I'm so pleased you could join us on this expedition." Marcus said, smiling.

"Thank you for having us," Yugi replied brightly, "We've been looking forward to this."

As Yugi chatted rather animatedly to the professor, Solomon stepped over to the former Pharaoh and pulled him to one side.

"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly, "You still look a bit peaky."

Atem smiled, "I'm alright Solomon, I assure you."

Solomon smiled at him, despite the former Pharaoh's appearance he could tell that Atem was definitely feeling a lot better then he had. Yugi had kept him informed of his condition, so he knew just how bad Atem had really been only a couple of days ago. Had that fever not broken the following morning Solomon would have been on the earliest available flight back. Opening his mouth he made to say something else to the once King but a shout interrupted them.

"Tristan!"

They did not need to ask who exactly was shouting at them. Tristan grabbed his bags and turned to Solomon.

"I believe it's time to go."

Solomon merely chuckled watching as Tristan hurried out of the terminal, despite not knowing where he was going. Joey could be seen running after him, a rather large black smudge across his cheek. The others grinned at the sight before following, Solomon picking up Joey's bags.

"Well, I believe you all will be the most amusing company." Marcus observed.

Exiting the terminal they climbed into the waiting Jeep. Once Joey had finished his shout at Tristan the two of them also climbed in. Joey had a face like thunder but Tristan looked rather amused. As the jeep left the airport and drove out of the city the landscape around them became more of the desert they had expected. Yugi grinned around at his friends, this trip was going to be unforgettable.