Ryou: What are you so chipper about?

WSJ: :D Jeskan's going to be okay!!!

Ryou: ?_? Who?

WSJ: ^^ Jeskan, a friend of Brood's who had to have heart surgery a few days ago. But he's going to be all right!

Ryou: ^^ That is good news.

WSJ: I know! Yay! ;) Anyway, I'd better get on to the fic. Hopefully, this chapter won't be nearly as long as the rest.

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO. Amoura, Lisa, Amoura's family, and Yunet belong to Brood. Gwen, Hiro, Scott, and various others belong to me.

*sighs happily* What a night. Chex Mix, iced tea, and the Cats soundtrack. What could be better? *grins and begins to sing along with what she's dubbed "Malik's Song"* Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity...

*cough* I need a bit of help. Does anyone know Orgoth the Relentless's Att/Def points? *sweatdrop* Not for this story, I need them for my Otogi-centered story Of Cards and Dice. *pout* No one ever writes about Otogi-kun...

()()()()()

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 4 -- Letters: Egyptian Discovery

Dear Serenity,

Hi. How's Kyoto? I'm glad you're not going to be away for the whole summer, like practically everyone else is. You'll be back in a few weeks, right?

Joey and Scott driving you crazy yet? I hope not. ^~

Things around here have been rather boring. Oh! Except for what I'm using to write this! *grin* Kaiba put his minds together and invented me a braile keyboard with a printer, so I can write letters. But that's not the best of it. It has a screen that's sorta like electric jelly. It molds itself into braile, so I can run my fingers over it and "read" whatever's on the screen. It still has a few bugs, but Kaiba's promised he'll work on them. I've already gotten a couple e-mails from dad, and it works great!

So what have I been doing with my time? Well, let's see... As I think I told you, I'm helping out at Raiden-san's dojo. I thought I'd be just helping with chores and cleaning up and such, but it turns out that Raiden-san wants me to help teach. So I've got a class of about fifteen kids to work with over the summer.

And guess what. Mokuba, Lisa O'Kelley, and Rebecca are all in my class. ;>> Lisa and Mokuba are constantly at each others' throats, and Rebecca keeps trying to flirt with Mokuba, even though he's completely oblivious. XP I don't know if I'll survive this summer or not...

A few of the kids are really cute though. When you get home, you have to come with me and meet Sasami. She's so adorable! And Hikari's pretty cute too, for a kid.

Sasami's guardian, a guy by the name of Tenchi, came to pick her up at the dojo after classes a few days ago. Raiden-san's nephew, Ranma, stopped by around the same time. Both of them are martial artists, so we had a practice match. They were really good, too. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to finish. But we are going to have a rematch in two weeks at Ranma's place. Maybe you'll be home by then, so you can come watch? I hope so.

I miss you a lot, but then, I guess you already knew that. I love you. See you in a couple weeks Serenity-chan.

Yours, Ryou

Dear Ryou,

I'm doing great. No, Joey and Scott haven't driven me bonkers yet, although they came close two nights ago when they went out and got drunk. ;>>

The one who is driving me insane is my cousin Sakura. Grrr... She and I have never gotten along, but she had the nerve to insult you! Of course, I insulted her boyfriend right back, but... ^^; Suffice to say what followed wasn't pretty.

Sorry, I won't be home in time for your rematch. I get home three weeks from Sunday, if all goes like we've planned. How about we meet at the Game Shop to catch up and visit with Mr Moto and Mako?

I miss you too, and love you lots. Sorry this note is so short, but I have to get ready for the picnic this afternoon. Too bad you couldn't come with me, I think you would have liked Tamahome, cousin Miaka's fiance.

Yours forever and a day,
Serenity

Dear Gwen,

Hello from France! ^_^\\// How's California? Having good weather? Surfing lots? It's been rainy here, so we haven't had any time to go site-seeing yet, although Amoura's promised we will eventually.

*exhasperated sigh* Yami and Amoura's grandmother, Madame Amanda, have been at each others' throats constantly. I'm not even really sure why! Bakura thinks it has something to do with their pride, about Yami being ex-pharoah and Madame being a high-born lady. I dunno, you'd have to ask him.

Speaking of Bakura, maybe he should have gone to Cali with you. After all, you're the one with all the siblings. *_o; Did you ever imagine him as the type of person that's good with kids? Neither did I. But from day one, Amoura's little brother Julien latched onto Bakura. And Bakura doesn't mind! He actually likes the kid! Julien calls him "Baka" >> And again, Bakura doesn't seem to mind. It's getting a little scary, actually.

For instance, a couple days ago, Bakura and Julien were out on the pourch. It wasn't raining for once, but it was wet out. Julien was running around in circles for reasons I can't remember, I think he was pretending to be an airplane or something. Anyway, he fell off the pourch and right into a mud puddle. Here's where it gets weird (if you've known Bakura as long as I have, anyway). Julien started crying, and Bakura fished him out of the puddle and put him on his lap, not even caring if his clothes got muddy, and started rocking him and singing to him! I swear, he did! Yugi and I were right there, we saw it!

XP Here's the scariest part of all. Amoura walked outside at that moment, and she, of course, ran over to Julien, asking Bakura if he was all right. Bakura assured her that he was, he'd just fallen in the mud. Then Amoura grinned and said something along the lines of "You'll make a great father zomeday, Bak'ura." And Bakura blushed!!!

By that time of course, Yugi and I were in severe mental shock. God, I can't wait to tell Ryou! He'll flip! I know Amoura likes Bakura, but could Bakura like Amoura? This is too weird.

Anyway, I have to go. It looks like Yami and Madame are steaming up for another fight, and I don't want to miss it. Yugi, Bakura, and I are keeping a running tally. So far, out of six fights, Yami's won four and Madame two. Out of three Duel Monsters duels, Yami's won two and Madame one. So Yami's ahead, but Amoura seems sure her grandmama will make a comeback. We haven't gotten to the point of placing bets yet, but it'll probably come to that eventually. Care to toss anything in the pot?

Whoops, must go, Madame just called Yami something nasty in French, by the way Amoura's wincing. See you later Gwen!

Your friend from half-way around the world,
Tea

Gwen,

I'm going to kill you! This is enough to make me turn psycho again!! Xo Why didn't you tell us your dad spoke Japanese?!?

~Ishtar

Oops, did I forget to mention that? *laughs nervously* Who did you think taught me? ~Gwen

*grumbles* No, that fact must have slipped your mind... Baka onna... [idiot woman] ~Ishtar

Hiya Ryou.

How goes the martial arts? *snicker* Stuck with Mokuba (not to mention Seto), and Lisa, and Rebecca? I pity you. Much.

What have I been doing lately? Well, let's see... What, you mean besides keeping track of the running score in the Yami/Madame fued? If they were closer in age I'd think they were fighting because they liked each other. Then again, Yami's only 5000, and who knows how old Madame is. ^_^; Don't tell Amoura I said that, okay?

;>> Who told you I'd been playing with Julien? Lies! All lies! I wouldn't care about a kid if it was stuck in sinking sand. Xo Ow! Don't hit me so hard Amoura, I was just kidding...

Well, at the moment I'm in the middle of this really great novel called The Eye of Horus. It's pretty good. A few of the details of ancient Egypt are off, and they don't even mention tomb robbers, but hey, no one's perfect.

(WSJ: If I may butt into Bakura's letter... ^~ I am currently rereading Eye of Horus for the forth time. :p And I still love it. It takes place during the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (King Tutankhamen's reign, for those of you wondering), and according to Kazuki Takahashi the eighteenth dynasty is indeed when Yami ruled. Which is why Bakura would know if it was acurate or not, since he and Yami most likely grew up either just before or during Tut's reign)

The rain's finally stopped, so Amoura wants us all to spend the evening in Paris. I'd better go get ready. See you at the end of the summer!

~Bakura

Ryou,

Hi from Juuban! ^^ Okay, you're probably wondering why in hell's name I'm writing to you. I'm the last person you'd expect, right?

Simply put, there's something strange going on in Juuban. I can't tell you everything, but there's a band of soldiers here called the Sailor Senshi trying their best to fight of what seem to me to be Shadow Realm demons. Everyone around here calls them Daimons, but they sure look like demons to me.

There's also two other soldiers, not part of the main group, who seem like they're bad guys. They call themselves Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, but they sure don't fight like Senshi.

I know you have been fighting the Shadow Realm for years now, and I thought you'd like to know that there's apparently a new group attacking Juuban. I was near one of the fights recently, and I could have sworn I saw a Celtic Guardian ordering around the "Daimons". But... He didn't look quite right. He was just... I don't know, off somehow.

If you want to come down here for awhile and check it out, you'd be welcome to stay at my cousin's shrine. ^~ Well, I just thought I'd let you know that something arcanic is definately going on, and it seems a good bet that it's connected to the Shadow Realm in some way.

Your friend,
Duke Devlin

Shen Bakura
c/o Greece Antiquities Department

From Isis Ishtar
Egyptian Buerau of Royal Antiquities

Shen-san,

We know you are on a dig in Greece, but from what Ryou has said it isn't turning up anything useful, and could even be called boring.

We propose a much better way to spend your summer. We have uncovered what seems to be the door into a tomb, seals still in place and intact. Either we have discovered an unlooted tomb or the tomb robbers resealed it after them. And somehow, from talking to Bakura, I don't think that seems likely.

Plane tickets are enclosed, and even as I write this Shaadi is composing a letter to the Greek Antiquities Service with a request that you be transfered to our dig. If all goes well, Soloman Moto and his old friend Arthur Hawkins will be flying to Egypt as well, and you should all arrive within an hour of each other.

With luck, and if the carvings on the door are of any indication, whoever is burried here could very well be richer then King Tut. The carvings depict a figure who is undoubtably pharoah, and a tall figure behind him that is carrying a staff of some sort. It reminds me a little of the carvings in my collection, the ones with Pharoah Yami on them. Shaadi agrees with me that the figures look familiar, but neither of us can think how.

Shaadi and I are holding off from entering the tomb until you and Moto-san and Hawkins-san get here, but I think Shaadi's about to go crazy from the wait, so I do hope you will get here soon.

Yours, Isis Ishtar

Dear Moto-san,

Can you spare a little time from the Game Shop to come out to Egypt for a few weeks or months? Isis and I have uncovered what appears to be the door into an unlooted tomb. Yes, we know that for all purposes you are retired, but we felt it was wrong somehow to not include you in this find.

Shen-san will be abandonning his dig in Greece and coming in to help us as well, so we hope you'll be able to make it. Can you imagine? The find of the century! And the names attached to it for years to come will be ours! We'll be as famous as Howard Carter, probably more so!

;>> Isis just scolded me for trying to appeal to your greed. Alright then, may I appeal to your sence of adventure? I know you've probably had more then your share of life-threatening situations, but what about one more, eh? X( All right, all right, I'm sorry Isis...

We hope you'll be able to come Moto-san. Plane tickets are enclosed, one for you and one for your friend Arthur Hawkins, if he is able to come. Isis and I would be honoured to have two such honoured archaeologists with us on this dig.

~Shaadi

Arthur,

How do you feel about one more trip to Egypt? Up to the challenge of an unlooted tomb? ^~ Just make sure you bring some water this time.

~Soloman

Mr Mokuba Kaiba,

Greetings. My name is Arthur Hawkins, I'm Rebecca's grandfather. As you may already know from Rebecca, I am an archaeologist by trade, from the top of my hat to the bottoms of my sand-caked boots.

I recently recieved a letter from my old friend Soloman Moto, whom you are acquianted with, I believe. Some friends of his in Egypt say they have discovered something big, and they want Soloman and I to fly out and help with the excavations. I believe their names are Isis Ishtar and Shaadi something-or-other.

I would love to be able to go to Egypt, but I'm afraid I can't take Rebecca with me. She has her martial arts classes, and my trip very well may last into the school year, if this discovery is as big as Soloman makes it out to be.

So I have a proposition Mr Kaiba. Would you be willing to let Rebecca live with you while I am in Egypt? You'll be able to reach me easily if you need to. I know you and Rebecca get along well together, and I don't see any problem with letting her stay at a boy's house. If you have a problem, however, get in touch with me through the Tokyo U archaeology department, or through Soloman, either way.

I need your answer, be it yay or nay, by next Wednesday. That's when Soloman and I are scheduled to fly out to Egypt. I appreciate it and thank you.

Yours, Arthur Hawkins

()()()()()

WSJ: MWAHA! I was right when I said it wouldn't be as long! ^^ Heheh... *sweatdrop* Expect the next one to be reeeeeally long though...

Chapter 5: WSJ: (V/O) Next, on Home Sweet Home!

Ryou: Oh hell! Duke, move!

Duke: Ahhhhh!

WSJ: (V/O) Ryou takes a trip to Juuban, but it isn't just a friendly visit. Meanwhile, back in Domino...

Seto: No way! Mokuba, you've lost it!

Mokuba: Oh come on 'nii-sama, it's only for a few months!

Seto: My point exactly! No no no!

WSJ: (V/O) *grin* Seto doesn't exactly like the idea of Rebecca moving in with them. But she's going to have to, because Dr Hawkins is already on his way to Egypt. Speaking of Egypt...

Soloman: *gasps* Isis I'm ashamed you didn't recognise this carving!

Arthur: *peering at it* He's right Isis. This is clearly the Dark Magician. And look, that looks like your grandson, Soloman.

Isis: That's not Yuugi, that's Pharoah Yami!

Soloman: *blinku* You mean we've found Yami's tomb?!

Shen: *studying another section of hiroglyphs* I don't think so Moto-san, but I think we have found the tomb of some friends of his...

Shaadi: *reading the hiroglyphs off the walls* Herein lie the most loyal servents of the Everliving Pharoah, the Morning and Evening Star, Son of Osirus, Horus on Earth, Master of the Shadow Games...

*All five archaeologists turn toward the inner wall, where another, unopened door awaits them*

WSJ: (V/O) *chuckles* Seems they have made a big discovery after all. In France, they're just chillin'.

Yami: *brandishing a loaf of bread* On guard!

Bakura: *snatches up another loaf and holds it out in front of him like a sword* You're on!

WSJ: (V/O) *sweatdrop* Or not. All this and more, next time! Ja!

God bless minna-san!