AN: Update Time! This chapter was quite hard to write; I struggled a bit with writers block and besides that there was a lot of things going on. :-) However, I hope you enjoy reading.

Please take the time to let me know how you liked it. Thanks for all your views and visits to the story! But feedback would really brighten up my day!

So, here's chapter five!

CHAPTER V
Confessional Dinner

I hummed another melody while I carefully did my under-eye eyeliner which was typical for the Ishtar clan. Indeed I had no idea what his plans for the evening were. Just when I finished putting on mascara and a bit of blush three gentle knocks on my door jolted me out of my thoughts.

Knock knock - knock

"Yes?" I said a bit louder.

My room's door opened and revealed Odion who stepped in and closed it behind him again quietly.

"Oh, hello Odion." My lips formed a gentle smile. "How are you? Marik said you would come."

"Mistress Jesara." He nodded firmly and placed a perfectly folded new cloak on my bed. "The question should be how you are after that attack?"

"Odion." I sighed and stood up from the golden stool by my vanity table. "How often do I have to tell you that I don't want you to call me mistress." I used air quotes for emphasis on the word mistress as I drew closer to him. Of course Marik ordered all of his servants to be called 'master', such as calling me 'mistress' and he also requested it from Odion. But instead of Marik it was always weird for me to be called like that - at least by him. Odion has always been like a brother for me since the day we met; a guardian and an adviser. He always knew what to do when I didn't.

"It's just Jesara; just like when we were younger, okay? At least when Marik isn't within earshot." I blinked at him and shot him a reassuring grin.

He nodded and answered with a wry smile. "As you wish, Jesara. Do you feel better now?"

"My waist still hurts a bit where the taser hit me. But besides that I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I explained and stroked my fingers over the brand new cloak he placed on my bed. "Thank you for bringing me a new one."

"You're welcome. Master Marik was afraid you'll cut off your fingers by the attempt of sewing your old one." Odion explained and tried to hold back a grin.

I sighed and rolled my eyes at his words. "I already know that I'm not blessed with a lot of handcrafting talents." But then I thought back at the moment when Marik patched my stung index finger and the way he did it. Again a pleasant shiver ran down my spine.

"Anything else I can help you with before you go?" Odion asked in his typical overly respectful matter.

"No, I'm good. You care too much, Odion." I smiled at him again.

"Call me if you need anything." He said calm and with that he turned to leave. But before his big hand could reach the doorknob I spoke up; he immediately stopped.

"Wait."

"Yes?" Odion's light olive eyes met mine as he glanced back at me over his shoulder.

"When I was knocked out…" I spoke up in a nervous tone. Maybe my mouth had just worked faster than my brain. I paused to put together a sentence that didn't sound too awkward.

"…how did Master Marik react? Is that your question?" Odion cut in and put together the words that were swirling around in my head like he just read my mind. I swallowed hard.

"Mhm." I nodded, my limbs tense.

Odion turned around again to face me. His light olive eyes held such a gentleness and wiseness. I held my breath.

"It's been a long time that I saw him raging like that." Odion spoke up. "First he sent that guy who attacked you to the shadow realm and later Ausar for not paying enough attention."

"He already told me about poor Ausar…" I sighed and bit my bottom lip. But I didn't dare to say out loud that I was interested in something else.

"And if that's what you want to know…" Odion continued. "Master Marik almost forgot that he just found The Winged Dragon of Ra. He cared more about your wellbeing than about the card in the first place." With that he turned again and reached for the doorknob. The door closed quietly behind him as he left.

"Yeah… Maybe that was what I wanted to know…" I muttered to myself under my breath. Since Marik changed so much it was good to hear that he still cared that much. My amber-olive eyes drifted back to the dress he chose for me to wear. I should have asked Odion what Marik had planned for the evening.

After I pinned up my hair in an elegantly messy way I checked for the time; it was almost six pm. I slipped into the long dress and wrapped the two widths of material around my chest. When I was finished the dress had a quite deep V-neck and a criss-cross in the back, but it still revealed a lot of bare skin. I wondered why he wanted me to wear that kind of dress. I loved it; it looked beautiful, but it was very very very special. It was easy to be overdressed with a dress like that. I turned left and right while I checked my appearance in the mirror.

My head snapped back at my room's door as I heard three soft knocks; as it opened it revealed Marik who stepped in.

"Are you ready?" He asked calmly with a slight smile on his gaze. His lavender irises wandered from my head to my toe and back again. As they locked with mine again his smile grew a bit wider.

"I guess so." I answered with a shrug. A wry grin played on my lips when I examined the attire he wore. It was a pitch-black slim fitting suit with a white dress shirt underneath, which upper three bottoms weren't closed and revealed a glimpse of his chest.

"Hungry?" Marik asked cooly. His golden earrings jingled as he cocked his head to the left. He looked quite androgynous in his attire in combination with his light golden hair and golden jewellery.

"Starving." I answered short and crisp and nodded. "So we're going out for dinner to celebrate that you found Ra?"

"Exactly." He answered with a grin and motioned for the door. "Shall we?"

xx

The egyptian sun was about to set behind the horizon as we crossed the city boarders of Cairo again. Marik's tanned hands held the steering wheel in a tight grip. We didn't talk much while the black SUV drove through the busy city streets of Cairo. I was a bit curious about where we were going, but it gave me somehow a blissful feeling that we were about to spend a few 'normal' hours together.

He pulled into the parking lot in front of a huge, modern tower which was beautifully illuminated in various colours. It was the famous Cairo Tower and I knew from several lifestyle magazines that it inhabited one of Egypts best restaurants on the top floor. I looked at the impressive building with my mouth agape as the engine of the SUV became silent.

My glance wandered over to Marik beside me. I gave him a questioning look, but his only answer was one of his charming grins plastered on his face before he opened the door and got off the car. My amber-olive eyes followed him as he walked over to the passengers side and then opened the door for me.

Without saying a word he stretched out his hand to help me out. I hesitated for a brief moment and thought back to what happened last time when he offered to help me up. Mentally I smiled when I recalled that short moment in my mind, but then I accepted his offer and laid my hand in his. Marik also closed the car's door behind me.

"Thank you." I said with a smile, still waiting for him to tell me where we wanted to take me out for dinner, although I was already certain that he was about to spend a fortune in that fancy overpriced restaurant on the top of the building. My fascinated eyes were glued to the tower that stood imperious in the oriental night.

"Ready?" Marik asked in gentleness and my attention snapped back to him. He stood right beside me with his arm offered for me to hook in. My eyes went from his face down to his elbow and then back up to his lavender gaze. Then I nodded and cautiously accepted his offer.

"Don't tell me that you're going to take me to that sinful expensive restaurant on the top." I wanted to know while we walked into the direction of the entrance. The parking lot was full of luxury cars like Maserati, Maybach and Ferrari. It was obvious to me that only people of the egyptian high society came here. I watched his reaction from the corner of my eyes.

"We can also celebrate at McDonalds and enjoy a happy meal if you want." Marik smirked heavily as he held the door of the entrance doors open for me. My eyebrow immediately shot up at his sarcastic proposal, but I didn't say anything in return and walked through the glass doors into the foyer.

xx

A blonde waitress led us to a small table for two beside the window that offered a breathtaking panorama view of Cairo city. Marik used the millennium rod to get the table without having a reservation. Since we got off the car I highly doubted that he had one. I knew from several press articles that the restaurant had a wait list of about 3 months. The waitress gently handed us the menu such as the wine card and left to give us some time to figure out what we wanted to order.

"Oh my god…." I tried to be as quiet as possible when I saw the price of the cheapest wine they had to offer.

His pale lavender eyes bored into mine. "You are supposed to choose what you want eat and drink, Jesara." An amused smirk played softly on his lips. "Not read the prices."

"We're going to be broke after ordering just a soup, Marik." I urged almost whispering.

"Nonsense. And you know that." Marik sighed, the smirk still evident in his gaze. "Just order whatever you want. We can afford it and we have to celebrate a huge triumph."

"I know." I said and rubbed my right temple with my index and middle finger while I looked through the menu, trying to ignore the horrendous prices. Hopefully he knew what he did.

The waitress came back to our table and took our order with a polite smile. My heart skipped a beat when Marik ordered one of the most expensive white wines. I decided for a beef tartare and handed the menu back to the kind blonde women. I guessed from her accent and type that she probably was from america. Marik ordered the Taameya and then lifted his glass of wine and gestured for me it was time to clink.

A smile came to my lips when our glasses touched. The restaurant was full of people, most of them couples and a pianist played beautiful melodies on the snow white piano in the middle of the room. This truly was an unique place and probably really worth the high price. The restaurant was only illuminated by a dim light beside the intense warm light of the candle on every table. The flickering light of the small flame accentuated Marik's tanned face in a stagy way and I could't take off my eyes from him while he looked outside the window into the night.

We talked about the last night and the latest events, the taser attack and - how could it be different - that he finally found Ra. By now I already sensed how the alcohol of the wine kicked in, although I just drank a single glass of it. When it was empty Marik filled it up again, but I decided it was better to slow it down a bit. I didn't want to get too drunk in such a noble restaurant. Besides that I was still too young to drink, but we both were lucky enough to look more mature than we actually were.

I enjoyed the evening more than expected. It felt so normal, having a candle light dinner and looking down to the ocean of city lights. And I had to admit that the beef tartare actually was worth the money. After we finished our meal the waitress took away the empty plates and took our dessert order. By now I was afraid the evening would cost us more than a new car.

"Marik?" I cut in to change the topic of our random conversation; I loved to have some normal time with him and loved how much time we spent together in just one day. "How did you find out about Ishizu's possible connection to Zaha Hadad?"

He took another sip of his wine and his typical smirk came back to his gaze. "It was so easy to find out that I really doubt the intelligence and skills of our servants." He sighed and pivoted the glass of wine playfully in his hands while he rested his chin in his palm. "Long story short. During my research I found a press article in an american news paper. And there was a photograph of my precious sister and Hadad. That's why I had the suspicion that they could have worked together."

"Makes sense." I answered and had to admit that it maybe really was easy to find out about their connection. "But I still feel sorry for him… I mean you messed up his mind into an alien abduction nightmare."

A chuckle left his lips. "And yet it was a lot of fun."

There was a brief silence between the both of us and my gaze wandered down to the busy streets and the city lights. When did he start to be so amused about other people's misery? Just a few years ago he wouldn't have been able to hurt a fly.

"And as soon as I found all of the three god cards I can finally fulfil my destiny. Our destiny." He continued and refilled his wine glass, still wearing a smirk on his lavender gaze.

"Mh…" I murmured. "Are you happier with the way things are now? I mean… breaking with everything we were? With all our ancient traditions and purposes? Didn't you ever feel sorry for that?" My amber-olive eyes locked with his and I could tell from his expression that he didn't expect to hear such a question from me. But it was something I really wanted to know for so long.

Silence filled the space between us before he finally answered. "Jesara, everything we were as tomb keepers is in the past now. Those times are over. And no, I don't miss anything. Not a single second."

His answer made me a bit sad. 'Everything we were' also included our relationship as friends, all those moments we shared and our history. And still there was something that didn't make sense to me. I swallowed to collect all my guts to press out my next question.

"If all of that is over for you… And if all of our life as tomb keepers is something you broke with completely…" I murmured and nibbled on my bottom lip nervously. His gaze grew curious, his lavender eyes stared at me attentively.

"Then… Why do you still call me your wife?" I pressed out. "I mean… you broke with everything, but somehow that's the only piece that's left."

Silence.

I haven't missed it that I felt somehow a bit weird about him in a special way. Maybe he noticed that too, but I wasn't sure. Most of the time he was too busy with hunting rare cards and especially the god cards. Somehow it didn't just feel like 'friendship' to me anymore; what I felt for him was much more intense. Because of that my stomach seemed to turn upside down the longer the silence lasted. Our eyes were intensely locked. By now every readable expression had vanished from his face.

"Enjoy!" The polite voice of the watered startled me out if my thoughts and broke the awkward silence between us. She served our dessert that we ordered to share. It was a delicious, quite artistic looking chocolate mousse with various fruits and sauces. She had a perfect bad timing.

When she left again the silence continued. Didn't he know what to answer?

"Eat." He commanded and broke the silence as he handed me one of the two forks. Maybe he tried to avoid to answer my question. I sighed mentally and took the fork from him. We both ate our dessert in silence. I worried that I said something wrong or maybe ruined the evening that started so abnormally normal. Now it had turned into something awkward…

After the bill was payed - I didn't dare to ask how much the evening cost him - we stood up and again he offered me his arm to hook in. I accepted it thankfully. I felt a bit drunk and dizzy from the wine, so I was happy to have him for providing me with some more balance.

The elevator doors slid shut in front of us; we were we only ones in the big and luxurious cabin. Nothing else than my unanswered question was on my mind. Slowly the elevator descended.

"You still owe me an answer." I said under my breath and looked up at him beside me. Thank Ra that alcohol lowered my inhibition threshold. I didn't care to ask anymore.

His piercing lavender eyes looked down at me - composed. He sighed. Marik's behaviour tangled me.

"Maybe because after all you are the only good that ever happened to me." He exhaled calm while his orbs bored into mine. I stared at him in puzzlement and tightened my grip in his arm as my whole body tensed. He slowly leant in to me, bringing his face closer to mine until it was just an inch away from mine - his lips just so close to mine that my heart skipped a beat before it started to race uncontrollably.

Suddenly a loud BING cut through the intense moment we shared, our heads snapped back to the opening doors of the elevator as an older couple stepped in. My eyes were glued to the floor, my cheeks felt like they had the deep red shade of a cherry. Then I felt how Marik loosened my grip in his arm that I hooked into. I gasped when he wrapped his hand around mine.

My hand fitted so perfectly into his.

AN: Oh no! A almost-cliffhanger again :D Hope you liked it. Their relationship is getting closer now.

And now: Review! :P