Lion Heart

EvilPharaohAtem: Uhm… well that might take me a bit longer °sweatdrops° Yaoi will happen… yeah, I’m sticking to that and not saying anything that might get you to wanna kill me +nods+

J Chan: Yuugi’s staring at you in confusion. I thought I’d mention that XD Also, he’s missing his wallet all of a sudden. You wouldn’t have anything to do with that now would you?

Dragonlady222: Yes, Teana is a bitch. Sadly, she –can- actually get worse. Yes, I’m outdoing myself with her XD Cya tomorrow!

Cosmic Tomato: Yeah, Jou and Seth usually make things more interesting don’t they? Very amusing ^^ And of course I’d make Atemu remember something like what happened back when Yuugi got ‘killed’. I just figured he wouldn’t completely recognize Yuugi though… yeah. The challenge should be fun for all to watch XD even though there realy isn’t much of a contest going on really. Have fun with the new chap!

Keara: Actually, I don’t like Yuugi as a character much. I like the Yami/Yuugi couple to death, number 1 pairing of all anime actually, but Yuugi as a character just… I dunno, I don’t like him much. So I can quie easily disagree with what you just said. Those eyes ain’t working on me! NOW WILL YOU PLEASE GET THE LASERS AWAY FROM ME! °sulks°

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Well, this’ll be the last chap I post here in Holland before I go to the US tomorrow morning. I’m freaking out on the inside about it but at the same time I’m really looking forward to meeting both Tavi and Dragonlady222. Next chapter from the US! If I don’t update next week, you’ll know who to maim for not letting me get on the comp °grins at Tavi° Have fun and R&R folks!

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--: 09 :--
News

Two whole weeks. It had been two utterly horrifying weeks. To some this was probably nothing and if you compared it to a human’s lifespan it seemed so insignificant, really. To Teana though, the past two weeks had seemed longer than any period of time she’d ever gone through, not including the time when her father had nearly died. These two weeks came as a very close second to that occasion though.

In the two weeks that Hikari had started ‘living’ in the palace, Atemu had changed drastically. Not so much in the character department – because Atemu would never change from the person he was for anyone – but he’d become more absentminded. He seemed to be daydreaming more and more. And although his rule did not suffer, his attention for anything not including his country or Hikari was near to non-existent.

Teana scowled as she sat at the lunch table. She’d been trying to get Atemu’s attention for quite some time now and still all he did was absently answer to yes or no questions. Any question asked that would require a longer answer was either ignored or simply not heard. Atemu was simply staring off into seemingly nothingness and no one but she seemed to care very much.

Seth, in fact, was smirking knowingly instead of scowling like he usually did.

Calming herself down and simply thanking any god that was listening that at least Hikari wasn’t here currently, she put on a new smile and tried once more to get Atemu’s attention. She refused to give up on the little challenge she and Hikari still had going, no matter how obvious it was that the lion had already won.

“So there haven’t been any attacks lately?” She gained a nod and Atemu slowly brought another bite of food to his mouth, his eyes still unfocused and his thoughts obviously somewhere else.

“Well that’s great; maybe Bakura and Mariku have finally given up.” She smiled, trying her best to make Atemu look at her.

“Maybe.” Teana would’ve screamed and would’ve gladly thrown a fit at the lack of attention but etiquette forbade it. Instead she glared at the amused look Seth threw her.

“It’s not like you’ll get any more out of him.” She hissed at the brunette, by now having learned that whether she used manners or not, the High Priest wouldn’t care. Her temper was all too happy to finally have an outlet though, so not using manners was far more appealing to her at the moment than using them.

Seth rolled his eyes and glanced over at Atemu, “Any word from Hikari?”

In less than a second of the name ‘Hikari’, Atemu’s eyes focused and he looked at Seth attentively. Teana’s jaw would’ve dropped if it wouldn’t have been un-lady-like. “He’s been scouting the desert for clues a lot but so far he’s come up with nothing. He was gone this morning before I woke up though, so I wonder why he was in such a hurry.”

Seth threw a quick smirk of victory at Teana who glared back in answer, before turning his attention back to the conversation with his cousin. He was about to answer when Jou entered the room with some food. His mouth instantly closed again as he stared at the blonde for a moment, cursing himself afterwards for once more losing his train of thought the moment Jou came in sight. The slight chuckle coming from Atemu as he noticed the immediate change in Seth wasn’t quite helping either.

Two weeks of constantly having Jou around him had made it quite obvious to the brunette that his mere crush – as he’d thought it to be – had changed into plainly being in love with the other. The more he taunted Jou and tried to convince himself that since Jou hated him he should just give up, the more his emotions lashed out at him for being a jerk in the first place. If he wasn’t as stubborn as he was he would’ve probably given in by now. Luckily for him, he had too much pride in him to simply surrender to some stupid feelings for someone that was far beneath him.

“Seth?” Seth snapped out of his thoughts and glared instantly at the amused look he was being given. “You’re no better than I am, Atemu.” The guilt that flashed on Atemu’s face before it could be hidden spoke volumes.

Before another word could be spoken, Hikari rushed into the room, making everyone present at the table look at him. Teana gave a scandalized look at the rude entrance but no one else seemed to be very surprised. These types of entrances weren’t uncommon when Hikari was in a rush.

“Hikari?” Atemu stood up from his chair as Hikari quickly walked closer, noting that Jou was still in the room and would therefore not have to be brought up to date later on.

/ I found out some information. Can we talk? / Hikari gave a quick look at Seth and Jou to make sure they too would come along.

Atemu nodded in silent agreement, he too giving a glance at Seth and Jou. Jou instantly left the room to put away the empty plates he was carrying and to slip away without anyone noticing. Seth gave a slight nod as he stood up.

“Pharaoh, is everything alright?” Atemu glanced at Shimon who had risen to his feet as well. Atemu mentally grimaced because he knew Shimon had been increasingly suspicious about what was going on. Shimon knew very well that he was being kept out of something and since he was the royal advisor, he obviously wasn’t too happy about that. Atemu knew he should probably include the rest of his council on Hikari’s secret to simplify things, but his friend was quite adamant about keeping the group who knew who he was as small as possible.

“Everything’s fine, I’ll be right back.” Both Atemu and Seth left the room quickly to avoid further protests and questions, following after Hikari who had already started off towards Atemu’s room. Meetings between them had been going on there for the two weeks that Hikari had lived there now simply because it was the safest place in the palace for Hikari to transform back into Yuugi.

“What do you think the rush is about?” Seth glanced aside at his cousin in question. “Do you think he might’ve found Bakura and Mariku’s hideout?”

Atemu frowned, “Perhaps, though I’m just happy he’s back. He hasn’t been around much lately.”

Seth chuckled and gave a wry smile, “How screwed are we exactly? Both falling for people who are probably out of our reach?”

Atemu grimaced and sighed, “Pretty screwed, though you might have a better chance with Jou if you’d stop acting like a jerk.”

Seth snorted, “You know me better than that.”

Atemu chuckled at the comment as they entered his bedroom – guards being send away for the moment to make sure no one would overhear them. They saw that Jou was already sitting on the bed, glancing up as they entered. Hikari quickly rushed behind his ‘bed’ as he released the magic for his transformation out of sight and put on his clothes, before coming back out and practically crashing onto Atemu’s bed with a tired groan.

Atemu quickly made his way over to his friend, “How much sleep have you been getting?” he sat down next to Yuugi, beating Jou to it as the blonde had been about to shift closer to his friend.

Yuugi groaned again and closed his eyes, “Not much.” He opened his eyes again and forced himself to sit up, “I’m too worried to sleep.”

Atemu sighed and shook his head, “And that’s why you’re now tired and in desperate need of sleep. You’re staying here and sleeping the rest of the day.”

Yuugi gave a tired smile, “Yes Master.” Atemu glared lightly at the comment but Yuugi chose to ignore it in favour of actually discussing why he’d dragged everyone to the room, “I found out some useful information today about Bakura and Mariku.”

Atemu put his concern to the side for now to listen to this new bit of information, “What did you hear?”

Yuugi sighed, “For one, the reason why they always attack my hometown. Apparently people tend to think that if you can’t even protect a village so close to you, you definitely can’t defend anything that’s further away. There are even those who think you simply won’t defend the town because you don’t care.”

Seth scowled, “Typical, no one actually sees the amount of effort that’s been put into defending that town or the others that are being attacked. It explains why so many people distrust you though, Atemu.”

Atemu nodded in thought, “It does. And since most people still think I’m like my father, the thought isn’t really all that strange.”

Jou cocked his head to the side, “But you’re nothin’ like your father. I’ve been here for two weeks and I’ll stake my life on that fact.”

Atemu smiled, grateful that at least some people actually believed in him, “Thank you, but most people don’t know me personally and until I prove once and for all that I’m not like my father in any way, which can probably only be done by winning this war and rebuilding Egypt completely, people will continue to doubt me no matter what.”

Jou simply rolled his eyes at that and muttered darkly under his breath. Yuugi chuckled at the words that were too incoherent to actually understand, though the main point of what it was about was quite clear, “I remember you doubting Atemu like that just as much as other people still do so you have no right to speak.”

Jou opened his mouth in protest before closing it again and sulking. Sadly it was true and he couldn’t go against it. Yuugi simply grinned at his friend before turning his attention back to the entire group and continuing.

“On top of that, the reason why there haven’t been any attacks at all since the one two weeks ago is apparently because Bakura and Mariku are planning something big. We’ve been expecting a full attack for a while now, and apparently it’s coming very soon.” Yuugi sighed, “I couldn’t find out when exactly, but I don’t think it’ll take too much longer. They’ve already had two weeks to prepare so…”

The room fell quite silent at that announcement, everyone thinking about the news. Even though Seth and Atemu had seen it coming, it was still a shock to actually hear it as a certainty.

Atemu swallowed, not quite sure if he wanted his next question answered, “Anything else?”

Yuugi frowned in thought for a moment, seemingly hesitating before speaking again, “I don’t know. I managed to talk to a few people who have actually been to Bakura and Mariku’s hideout before. I couldn’t get out of them where it was, but they did say strange things were going on there. No one would say exactly what was so strange but all said that both Bakura and Mariku sometimes seemed completely different people and that a strange voice could sometimes be heard. I don’t know to believe that or not and it isn’t really helpful, but I’m just telling you what I heard.”

Atemu and Seth shared a look as Jou just shrugged. Although it sounded strange, it didn’t seem really helpful to them. Atemu and Seth both shrugged as well.

“Well,” Seth sighed, “I suppose we’ll have to start preparing ourselves too. I’ll go back to inform the others.” He gave Atemu a meaningful look with a quick glance at Yuugi he was sure wouldn’t be noticed, “Why don’t you stay here and get some rest as well; you look terrible.”

Although it wasn’t completely true, Atemu did look tired since he too hadn’t been sleeping too well. He was a lot more used to it though so it didn’t bother him nearly as much as it was obviously bothering Yuugi. Still, it was a chance for Atemu to maybe get a bit closer to Yuugi and Seth knew that’s what Atemu really wanted, whether he voiced it out loud or not.

Atemu hesitated for moment, torn between his duty as the Pharaoh and the prospect of just hanging around with Yuugi for a while and maybe getting some extra rest. At the slight glare Seth threw him for his hesitation he sighed in defeat, “Fine, but not too long. If we’re going to prepare for this attack I do actually need to do something.”

Seth nodded, “Good, Come on, Mutt.”

Jou glared at the brunette, “Damn it, stop callin’ me dat!” he rushed after Seth to start one of their usual arguments as both Yuugi and Atemu watched them go in amusement.

Yuugi lay back down on the bed with a tired sigh, closing his eyes since he could no longer keep them open even if he’d wanted to, “Rest…that sounds really good right now.”

Atemu chuckled and lay down next to the other, one hand starting to run through Yuugi’s hair in a soothing way out of habit. Even if he now knew Yuugi’s human form, some habits simply didn’t die down. He was so used to patting Hikari that he’d simply continued that with Yuugi. Yuugi didn’t seem to mind much though. “Yes, rest does sound like a good idea though I really should get back to the council soon and-“

Yuugi rose up slightly and gave a slight glare and Atemu stopped mid-sentence, “Or I could just get some sleep for a bit…”

Yuugi smiled and lay back down, subconsciously nudging Atemu’s hand to continue running through his hair, “Much better.”

Atemu shook his head as he stared at Yuugi for a moment, the younger having closed his eyes again and actually seeming to purr softly at the touch. He hesitated for a moment before gentry pulling the other closer to him, Yuugi not protesting in the slightest and he snuggled closer without a word. Either he was already half asleep and had no idea what was going on, or Atemu might just have a chance with the other after all.

Atemu chose to believe the latter of those two options for the time being, even if it was maybe just because he needed a little hope to latch onto at this moment. Things were seeming dark enough as it was without him trying to depress himself. He could use some positive thinking.

With a content sigh, Atemu shifted a little to get more comfortable, resulting in Yuugi snuggling closer yet again and the younger teen’s head coming to rest on Atemu’s chest. Atemu looked at the sight for a moment longer, firmly noting that Yuugi’s breathing hadn’t evened out yet and he couldn’t be asleep yet, before closing his own eyes and drifting off for some much needed rest.

Neither of the two noticed two wide blue eyes staring through the still slightly opened doors, shock and anger flashing through the depths and fighting for dominance.

Teana had excused herself from the table only moments after Atemu had left the room. Any questions about where she was going had been answered by a glare, and no one had bothered to ask any further. She’d quickly made her way to Atemu’s room, putting her ear to the door so she could listen in. She’d silently listened to the conversation, frowning as she heard two voices she didn’t recognize. She was sure one of them had to be Hikari, probably the one that didn’t have a ridiculous accent to it.

After a while she’d heard Seth leaving and had quickly ducked out of sight, seeing him and some blond boy she recognized as one of the servants leaving and arguing. Something about Seth having called the blonde a ‘Mutt’ and the blonde saying that he wasn’t one. She’d been shocked that Seth had actually continued the argument and hadn’t just send the blonde off to prison at such a disrespectful tone, but the brunette seemed to be enjoying himself more than that he was actually offended or angry.

She’d stared at the two as they left, before walking back to the door that had been left slightly open this time. The shock that had still been in her system at seeing Seth in such an uncharacteristic way only increased as she looked into the room.

There was Atemu, lying on the bed with someone else. A boy that was probably only around 15 max, probably under that. The resemblance between Atemu and the boy was shocking, though still quite visible. She instantly recognized the voice when the boy spoke as one of the two that she hadn’t recognized, and hearing it now without a door to muffle the sound, she also recognized it as the one she’d heard in her mind on those rare occasions that Hikari spoke to her.

Hikari, apparently, was nothing more than a child. One that didn’t look like he could hurt a fly for that matter.

And he was lying with her Atemu.

Her eyes narrowed as she slowly moved away from the door, silently fuming about what she’d just seen. That was the person she’d been fighting with over Atemu? Worse than that, that was the person she’d been losing that fight to?! And why had he been lying practically on top of Atemu? What was he trying to do, take her Atemu away from her? She was the one destined to be the queen of Egypt. To marry Atemu and rule side-by-side with him. She, not some silly boy that had just happened to acquire some useful powers. She was the only one who would ever love Atemu with such passion!

Going over all the information she’d gotten by listening in on the conversation and with the feeling of jealousy and anger guiding her, Teana formed a plan in her mind that would let her win the little challenge between herself and Hikari once and for all without question. She’d become Atemu’s wife no matter what, and she would do whatever it took to get to that position.

And it getting to that spot meant that she had to go through Hikari, she’d gladly do it. She’d do anything.

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Yes, Teana is evil. Anyone care to guess at what she’s gonna do? The answer ‘Evil things’ will not be accepted XD Anyway, I’m going to continue my panic attack about the whole flight to the US tomorrow now so I’ll see you all next week ne? Seriously, blame Tavi if I’m not on. HER FAULT!! ^^ Review everyone!

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Bakura was in the room, arguing with what seemed like the shadows themselves. Stranger than that, a whispering voice seemed to actually be answering from those same shadows. To top it all off, Bakura seemed to be having some kind of break-down, grief emanating from every fiber of his being as he kneeled on the ground, though not a single tear could be seen on the other’s face.

“I know what he did, damn it! You don’t have to keep reminding me of that!” Bakura glared, though it was obvious even he didn’t quite know what exactly he was glaring at.

“Then cease your resistance and simply do as I command you to do.” The shadows seemed to darken and a strange gleam appeared in Bakura’s eyes, before the King of Thieves shook his head violently and regained his old expression, glaring once more even though it seemed to do nothing.