Chibi-Malik: *scoffs*

WSJ: ^o^ *glomps Chibi-Malik* Oooooh! He's SO CUTE!!! ;_; But I feel so bad for poor Rashiid... *muffled sobs* The new episode has given me new insentive to write this!! I must make Rashiid happy!!!

Chibi-Malik: *sweatdrops*

WSJ: ^o^ Anyway, in last chapter's notes I said Malik would be in his teens. I've changed that a little, so he's about six or seven. ^~ Meee... Kawaii-ness!! *squeaks*

Chibi-Malik: ;;¬¬

WSJ: *grin* Okay, let's see... Oh yes! Couplings. Isis/Shaadi, Pegasus/Cynthia, and Angeline/Shen. ^~ I may add some Rashiid/OC later on, just cuz I want too. *snicker*

Vocabulary:
reis - Arabic (NOT Egyptian) for captain or foreman, usually the foreman of an excavation
ankh - the Egyptian symbol for eternal life (or just life). Looks like a cross with a small loop on top.

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Hot Sands, Warm Arms

Chapter 2 -- The Land of the Pyramids

Once the plane leveled off at 10,000 feet Angeline's stomach calmed down and she was able to join the conversations the three men were having. Sugoroku was bragging about his newborn grandson and proudly displaying photos he'd developed at a one-hour place the night before. Soon enough, however, it began to get late and the four of them turned in, along with the rest of the plane, for a night's sleep, be it good or bad.

They were awakened the next morning by Angeline pushing past her husband to get to the bathroom, and the pilot coming over the intercom to announce first in English, then in Japanese, then in Arabic that they were decending toward Cairo. Angeline returned to her seat and murmered a quiet apology, which the men quickly assured her wasn't necissary.

After what seemed to be an eternity of circling Cairo International Airport they set down with a reletively smooth landing. Gathering up bags, back-packs and miscellanious books the four archaeologists exited the giant 747. The dry, hot air of Egypt hit them like a slap in the face, and Angeline squeaked happily, her eyes shining. "I'm starting to feel better already!" she declared.

"Ah!" Arthur said, pointing toward the western wall of the building. "There's our welcome committee."

Indeed, the silver-white hair of Pegasus Crawford, together with his tall height, made him stand out easily from the crowd. The four Japanese fought their way through the bustling crowd of Egyptians, and immerged into the clear space of about ten feet around Pegasus's group that the security men were keeping open. Slightly breathless, the quartet bowed, and with a chuckle Pegasus returned the gesture, although none of the rest did.

"The rest" in Pegasus's group were a blond woman a little shorter then him, who smiled pleasently and waved. The other four, however, were serious-faced. Two men, a woman and a little boy in the woman's arms, all obviously Egyptian in colouring and dress, stood a little back from the Crawfords, surveying the scene with stony eyes.

"Welcome," Pegasus said in softly accented Japanese, offering a seat to Angeline. "I hope your trip was well?"

"It was, thank you," Shen said, smiling at the millionaire. "I'm Shen Bakura, and this is my wife Angeline."

"Mrs. Bakura," Pegasus said, blinking a little in surprise. "I had heard you would be unable to come because of the imminate birth of your first child."

Angeline chuckled and patted her rounded stomach. "Well, I'm not sure who you heard that from, but they're half wrong. I'm not letting my little darling stop me from working with you Crawford-san."

"Please, call me Pegasus. After all, we're all going to get to be friends, I hope."

"I'm Sugoroku Motou," Sugoroku said, stepping forward to shake Pegasus's hand. It made a rather comical picture, since Pegasus, being over six feet tall, had to bend almost double to shake the much shorter man's hand. Arthur stifled a laugh and introduced himself as well.

"I'm Cynthia," the blond woman said, her smile brighting a little. Her Japanese was just as good as her husband's, although her American accent was a bit stronger. "I'm glad to get a chance to work with you Angeline, I've admired your work with Egyptian jeweralry for a long time."

"Thank you," Angeline said, her face flushing a little. "I'm glad to meet you too."

Pegasus turned a little and gestured for the group of Egyptians to step forward. Reluctantly they did so, but remained silent. Pegasus gave them a patient smile and said something to them in Arabic. The woman eyed him for a moment, then hesitantly nodded. As if they'd been waiting for her permission, the younger of the two men with her stepped forward to introduce himself.

He was tall, although not nearly as tall as Pegasus or the other man, and whatever hair he had was wound up in a white turban. Heavy gold earrings hung from his ears, and he was dressed in long, slightly dusty off-white robes. Sweeping his cloak around his shoulders he offered the Japanese archaeologists a deep bow. "My name is Shaadi Abdul," he said in Japanese to the surprise of the quartet from Japan. "I am honored that my old friend Pegasus would consider me good enough to work with such distinguished archaeologists."

"The pleasure is all ours," Sugoroku said after a moment of surprised silence. Smiling a little, as if he knew what they were surprised about, Shaadi stepped back to allow his fellow Egyptians a turn.

The second man, who was so tall he towered over even Pegasus and Shen, who were both over six feet in height, was completely bald save for a small area at the back of his head, where his coal black hair was pulled into a long tail. He had piercing gray-green eyes and earrings that looked like small ankhs. He was also dressed in long robes, but his were of deep blues and purples. "I'm Rashiid," was all he said before stepping back.

The Japanese blinked for a moment, and the woman chuckled, shifting the little boy around in her arms. "Don't mind Rashiid," she said, smiling for the first time. Angeline could see a friendly light in her eyes, and sighed a little in relief. "My name is Isis Ishtar, and this is my little brother Malik. Say hello to Mr. Pegasus's friends Malik."

"'Lo," Malik said, smiling shyly before hiding his face in his sister's long black hair.

"My parents are both dead, so I'm Malik's legal guardian." she explained. "He speaks Arabic quite fluently, but isn't quite up to speed on Japanese yet."

"Oh the little dear!" Angeline grinned as Isis sat down next to her. "He's so cute."

Isis blushed a little. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you all decided to come," Pegasus said, addressing the group in general. "Shen and Angeline are our restoration experts. They'll be the ones piecing together any scraps of pottery we find, re-stringing jeweralry, and the like. Shaadi and Sugoroku are what I term exploration, they will be the ones scoping out new sites. Arthur's our linguist, he'll be working on translation of any written texts we find. Cynthia's our mummy expert, if we find any, and she'll be working with Isis, who's our doctor in addition to general, all around archaeologist. Rashiid's our reis, our foreman, he'll be the head of all the workers and will be in charge of keeping them in line. I'm the team's artist. I have to make detailed scale drawings of all the artifacts and wall paintings or carvings we find."

"Malik's just around for moral support." Isis said, causing everyone to chuckle quietly. Hearing his name, Malik lifted his head and smiled shyly at everyone. His light hair was a direct contrast to Isis's dark hair and both their tanned skin. Hmm... They made a nice picture together. Pegasus would have to think about painting them when he had a free moment...

"'Sis?" Malik asked, tugging on the shoulder of his sister's gown. He said something in Arabic, and Isis blushed. Rashiid blinked, and Shaadi looked mildly scandilized. Pegasus, Shen, and Sugoroku, who all knew Arabic and understood what he said, choked. Pegasus went into a coghing fit, Sugoroku just blinked, and Shen had blushed nearly as scarlet as Isis. Angeline, who also knew Arabic, started laughing and took Malik out of his sister's arms, setting him on her lap.

"No Malik," she said, ruffling the little boy's hair affectionately. "I'm not fat. I'm going to have a baby."

"Baby?" Malik asked, tilting his head to the side adorably.

Angeline resisted the urge to squeal at his cuteness and nodded. "Yes, a little baby person. Here," she took his hand and gently moved it over her stomach. "Can you feel her kick?"

After a moment Malik's face lit up as he smiled. "Baby! Baby girl?"

Angeline chuckled and shook her head. "We don't know yet. We don't want to know until it's born." She winked at the little boy, who giggled.

Pegasus was smiling faintly, and had slipped his hand unconciously into Cynthia's. "Well, shall we go? I have two buses waiting outside to take us to a hotel. We'll be leaving for the dig tomorrow, and you all still need to get your luggage."

Angeline stood up, but when Isis moved to take Malik back from her Angeline shook her head and smiled. "He's all right. I don't mind carrying him."

Isis nodded, and the two women began to walk toward the baggage claims a little behind the men, who were lost already in a conversation of their own. After a moment Cynthia dropped back to join them and took Malik from Angeline. "So what are you going to name him or her?" the blond Crawford asked, indicating with her chin at Angeline's belly, since her arms were currently full of wiggling Egyptian six-year-old.

Angeline smiled, a slightly dreamy look on her face. "Shen and I have decided on Ryou Emerson Bakura if it's a boy, and Amane Amelia Bakura if it's a girl." [1]

~*~

[1] - This is a small tribute to one of my favorite writers of all time, Elizabeth Peters. ^~ Emerson and Amelia are the names of her famous Egyptologist detectives, whom I absolutely love! ^^ Keep writing Peters-sama, you're doing just great!

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WSJ: *sigh* Yes, I know, the chapter was incredably short and very boring. I promise it'll get more exciting soon. *I hope* ^^;

God bless minna-san!