Chapter 37

The air was warm, rather warm. Warmer then he remembered. The sun warmed everything in sight with nothing in its way. There was no breeze, not like the last time he had been here. But then the last time he'd been here it had been impossible for him to see further then a metre in front of him. Whereas now he could see for miles, the desert couldn't have looked more stunning. But something was different this time. The desert held memories, recent memories that weren't exactly pleasant ones. A sigh escaped his lips before he could stop it. His eyes tracked an invisible path from the trailers that stood nearby and off into the desert. The route Yugi had, or at least he was pretty sure, he'd taken during the storm. It was an odd feeling he was experiencing, one which he couldn't quite label. Taking in a breath he turned away from the desert and headed towards the trailers. Most of the dig sight had been taken down. The vast pits that had been dug had been filled in, the many tents surrounding them deconstructed. Only the canteen tent and trailers remained, with many jeeps parked nearby all of which were ladened with equipment or tent canvas. Approaching the trailers he saw that most had the doors closed, or at least partially closed, apart from one. One door was wide open, clothes were flying through the door on to the sand outside. Knowing who's trailer it was Yugi couldn't help but smile.

"We agreed that we'd split the room so we'd have half each to pack!" He heard someone say.

"Well this is my half!" Another voice said.

"No no this is my half! Stop throwing my stuff outside!"

Yugi shook his head as Joey and Tristan continued to argue.

"Joey why on earth are you laying everything out individually? That's what's taking up the whole space!"

"I'm packing!"

"You know there's this thing called a pile, you could try that." A pause, "There look at that, amazing!"

"Tristan! Now how am I supposed to know that I've got everything."

"Stop! No! Don't you touch my pile! Joey!"

Yugi laughed as a rather large pile of clothing flew from the trailer door followed by a rather disgruntled Tristan. He scowled in Yugi's direction as he began picking up the various clothing. Shaking his head, Yugi turned and headed into the trailer. He paused after stepping inside, he hadn't set foot in here since before the incident at the sanctuary, or at least he didn't think he had. During the storm Yugi hadn't paid enough attention to the interiors of the trailer to know who's they'd been inside. The interior looked much the same as it has done, nothing was out of place. His and the former Pharaoh's belongings were exactly where they'd left them. Exhaling he set to work, pulling out the suitcases which had been stored away. It wasn't exactly an easy task. He only had one hand available to him which slowed the process right down.

It may have taken some time but finally Yugi slammed both suitcases shut. Dragging them one by one to the door he sighed a heavy sigh of relief. There was no way he was going to attempt to take them outside, not with just one hand. He'd have to ask someone to help him with that part. Wiping beads of sweat off his forehead he straightened up and headed outside, with the intention of heading into his grandfather's trailer, but a scene outside caught his attention. Tea was heading towards the trailer, but she wasn't alone. Someone was hurrying after her.

"Tea! Tea I'm sorry can we please just talk about this."

"There's nothing to say Elijah so just leave it."

"No wait!" Elijah ran in front of her blocking his path, "I screwed up ok but it's fine, everyone is fine now so we can move past this."

Tea stared at him, "Move past it? Elijah don't you remember what you did?"

"All I did was say that it wasn't worth Joey and Tristan risking their lives but that's irrelevant because Atem is ok, so is Yugi."

"But that there is the problem. You don't care!" Tea was losing her cool, "Atem isn't ok and Yugi almost died trying to find help."

She took a breath.

"The point is in that moment you showed me that you wouldn't lift a finger to help a friend, if you knew anything about me then you would know that friendship means a lot to me. I don't give up on people ever, unlike you."

She brushed past him, obviously finished with the conversation but Elijah clearly wasn't.

"That's not true," He protested, hurrying to block her path again, "I'm realistic, maybe to a fault but can you blame me? They could have died in that storm, if you ask me what Yugi did was worse then what I did."

Tea halted, anger clear in her eyes and she looked at him, "Yugi put his own life on the line to help a friend. He was braver than you, what he did makes him ten times more of a man then you could ever be."

Elijah made to say something, but Tea pushed past him clearly showing she had no intention of listening to anything else he had to say, she continued moving closer to the trailers. Elijah moved forwards as if to continue to plead his case but he saw not only Yugi but Joey and Tristan, who'd emerged from the trailer to investigate the noise. He gazed at them before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away without another word. Tea, who'd not realised her argument had been overheard stopped as she saw Yugi watching her. The realisation hit her as she gazed at him. There was a long moment where the two of them simply gazed at each other. Unseen by either of them Joey and Tristan had exchanged a look before retreating back into their trailer. After what seemed like a long time Tea took a breath and smiled.

"I meant what I said. You were really brave during that storm."

Yugi managed to slap out of his trance enough to reply, "I er.. I well.. Thanks."

Tea smiled at him. There was another brief pause as the two continued to look at each other. Yugi wished he could say something… anything but he seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Thankfully he didn't have to.

"I came to see if you need any help." Tea continued, "I've finished all my packing so thought you'd need a hand given… well given you only have one hand and three people's things to pack."

Yugi, somehow, managed to laugh, "Oh I… Yes it's true." He internally shook himself, "Well, I've done our things, luckily Atem is much tidier than me so his stuff didn't take that long."

"That's good, so shall I grab the bags and then we'll tackle your grandfather's stuff."

At Yugi's nod, Tea smiled at him before heading into the trailer and re-emerging a moment later with the two suitcases. Watching her walk away Yugi found himself lost in many, many thoughts. His eyes once again turned to the horizon. Tea had called him brave during that storm. Something about those words warmed him but at the same time memories floated back to him. For a moment he thought he could feel the storm once again, feel the sand biting him and the wind tearing at him. Atem's plea to leave him floated back to him as clearly as it had been spoken. Pain laced his body, blood poured from his wounds.

A hand came to his shoulder. He nearly jumped a mile. Turning to look Yugi saw Tea was at his side, a look of concern on her face. Blinking he looked around; the storm wasn't real. The weather could not have been calmer. He turned back to Tea, who was still watching him.

"Are you ok?"

Slowly Yugi nodded, but found for some reason he could not speak. His eyes turned to the horizon again. Tea followed his gaze before a wall of realisation hit her. Her gaze, if possible, became even more sympathetic.

"This must be hard, being back here, after everything that's happened."

Yugi made no move, his eyes still on the horizon. Tea's hand squeezed his shoulder slightly.

"Why don't you take a break?" She said, "I'll deal with the rest of the packing."

Yugi looked at her, "No it's ok, I should deal with Gramps' things."

Tea smiled, shaking her head, "No it's ok Yugi, you go."

Not quite having the will to argue with her he nodded before walking away. His eyes found the spot where Elijah been but then they found the horizon again. His eyes traced the sand, something was telling him to walk this way. So, he did. Slowly he walked across the sand and began climbing up a nearby sand dune. But he didn't stop when he reached the top, he kept going. Walking along the top of the dune the wind seemed to pick up a little, carrying with it the voices of his friends laughing as the memory of them racing each other down the dune played out in his mind. A sigh escaped him but he pressed on.

He continued walking for a while, although he couldn't be sure how long it was. But eventually a shape loomed before him as large rocks came into view. He stopped a few feet away from them, taking in the dark red stains that litters the rocks. He knew these rocks; he knew whose blood covered them. Some of it was his own and some was Atem's. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. He wasn't entirely sure why he'd come here but something had drawn him here. Perhaps it was his guilt, he'd hated leaving Atem here in the condition he'd been in but it had been necessary. Had he not then it was possible that Atem would have died in the storm just has Elijah had said. He shook himself. Atem wasn't dying. He wasn't. Atem was safe in hospital with Grandpa there keeping an eye on him. Opening his eyes he stared around, his memories playing out in his mind. His mind processing them. Something heavy seemed to lift from him. What had happened here was the past, they were both safe which was all that mattered. All of that was over. Over.

"I see you survived then."

Yugi wheeled round, the heavy feeling returned as he set his eyes on a tall man with dark hair and a face he recognised. Het was wearing a smirk as his eyes looked him up and down, surveying his injuries. For the longest time Yugi just stared at him. It was a dream, it had to be. But it wasn't. Het held his gaze, the smirk never leaving his face.

"What – What are you doing here?" Yugi asked eventually.

"Oh, but you know."

Yugi didn't respond for a moment, of course he had an idea, but he was reluctant to say anything either way just at that moment.

"You came to see that the prophecy had come true."

Het nodded, "And I see it has."

Yugi tried to keep his face carefully controlled.

"The prophecy said that only one would survive that storm and I was that one. Haji would be pleased." He paused, looking at Yugi, "It is unfortunate that you were involved in that but if you will insist on hanging out with insects then what can you expect. I suspect you were there when the great Pharaoh died. You must tell me how it felt, how did it feel to watch the lights drain from his eyes."

Het's smirk intensified. Yugi could almost feel his hatred and glee pouring from him, the hatred of Atem and the glee that he was dead. Or at least, that's what he thought.

"I can't tell you." Yugi said, finally.

Het tilted his head slightly, "I see. You left him. Well, good for you. It's better that he died alone, its only what he deserved. I must ask though, why did you defend him to begin with?"

Yugi's eyes narrowed, "I told you, he's my friend."

Het laughed, although it was more like a bark.

"You should be more careful who you choose as friends. In particular don't make friends with scum like him."

Het spat on the ground, making his disdain for Atem even more apparent.

"But he's dead now." Het continued, "I was the surviving eagle, just as the prophecy dictated."

"No, you're not."

Het's gaze once more settled on the boy. He took in his grazed face, seeing the determined look on it. What could this boy be on about? The prophecy had come to be, the Pharaoh was dead. He died in that storm just as the prophecy had dictated. Slowly he advanced on the boy, staring at him.

"What could you possibly mean by that?"

Yugi, holding his ground, narrowed his eyes again, "That prophecy spoke about two eagles, how can you be sure it meant you and Atem."

It was Het's turn to narrow his eyes, "What possible other could it have referred to?"

"The prophecy said, until it flies free with another, do you really think you are that other?"

"What are you saying, boy?"

"That other eagle. That other eagle is me." Yugi replied, his gaze locked with Het, "I am the other eagle the prophecy spoke about, I am the one that survived. But don't celebrate yet because the prophecy hasn't come to pass."

Yugi waited, wondering if Het would make any sort of response to that, but it seemed he would not. He merely stood staring at the boy in front with a dangerous look in his eye. When it became clear that Het was not going to say anything Yugi continued.

"The prophecy failed, and it will never come to be. Atem is alive. He survived that storm so the prophecy can never be fulfilled."

"That cannot be."

"It is." Yugi stated, "No prophecy is stronger than he is. He defied that prophecy and continues too just by simply being alive."

Het's eyes narrowed, which Yugi thought couldn't really be possible given how narrow they already were.

"Who are you to him? If you are this other eagle, then who are you?" He spat finally.

"I once held the Millennium Puzzle, I released him from it and helped him fulfil his destiny."

"Oh, so that makes this your fault then." Het took a step forwards, "Had you not done that then we wouldn't have this little problem."

Yugi said nothing, he continued to hold his ground even as Het drew ever closer, he seemed to tower over him.

"I think you will come to regret your decision to side with the Pharaoh, maybe not today but someday you will. Some day you will wish he had never crossed your path, one day you will realise that nothing good comes of an insect like him. Only then will you understand the pain he causes."

Yugi shook his head, "You're wrong."

"You may not think that now. But the day when you lose everything, that will be the day you understand."

Het stared at him, still smirking as he backed away from Yugi. The longest time past before Het broke his gaze, turned and disappeared into the desert. Staring at the place he'd disappeared from Yugi felt a weight drop. A shaking breath left him, his body was shaking. How long had he been shaking? He shook his good hand, trying to stop the shaking but he could not. Turning he hurried back in the direction he'd come, wondering if that had actually happened. He couldn't think about it just yet, he had the strongest urge to get back to the former Pharoah to check he was alright. But everything was alright. Surely after everything that had happened nothing more could happen?

Surprise! Guess whose come to brighten up your Wednesday... that's right its me... although you probably worked that out.

Anyway, as stated in the previous chapter and through readers' requests I will be delivering two chapter this week. The next chapter will be uploaded thing coming weekend as per normal! I hope you all enjoy the double upload this week!

And my dear Fentir you asked me about a certain trap card which was mentioned last chapter. Well, the truth of it is this trap card is actually a rare one. So rare in fact it does not have a name... or a description... or image. In fact its so so sooo rare that it could be said that I don't know what the trap card is... as... well... When i wrote that section I didn't actually have a card in mind. I just thought to myself pick any type of card and trap card was the first to come to mind... sorry. That was probably pretty anticlimactic for you, I do apologise. Are you mad? I hope not!

I wish you all a pleasant week and I shall see you again this weekend!