Ryou:....

WSJ: ^^;; Quee?

Ryou:....I hate you....

WSJ: I know. You've said so before.

Ryou:....

WSJ: *_* Anyway, expect updates to be coming farther apart. *sigh* I started school last Wednesday, which means less writing time. But on the bright side... *grin* I'm a freshmen now! *dances* Yay!!! >> The only bad thing is that daddy's making me take biology... *makes a face* Blah...

Ryou: *sighs* Right. SJ doesn't own YGO. Most of the OCs are hers, while some are Brood's. You should know that by now. Duh.

WSJ: You're a little cranky today.

Ryou:.....A LITTLE CRANKY!?!? YOU -- MMPH!

WSJ: *has her hand over his mouth* ^^; Don't give away this chapter's plot Ry-kun...

Ryou: X* Mmmph mm mumph!

WSJ: *slightly shocked* Ryou! Don't use such language! ^^;;; Anyway, on to the fic!

Ryou: Gah!

()()()()()

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 5 -- Penalty Games and French Bread

Seto Kaiba stared in shock through his little brother's eyes as Mokuba opened the door. When the doorbell had rung, Mokuba had raced down the stairs, practically killing himself in the effort to head off the butler and answer the door himself. "I'll get it!!"

Seto really had no idea who could be so important. This morning Mokuba had spent over an hour slicking down his hair, only to spike it up again afterwards. An additional half-hour had been spent picking out his outfit (which looked scarily like one of Seto's, trench coat and all). Seto knew there were no business meetings today, and even if there were, they would be conducted at Kaiba Corp, not at the mansion.

So Seto was not really surprised but incredably horrified when Mokuba opened the door to greet Rebecca Hawkins. The blond had several suitcases and a couple cardboard boxes by her feet, and looked like she'd come to stay. She had of course, Seto just didn't know it.

"Rebecca!"

"Hi Mokuba!" Rebecca turned around to wave at her grandfather, who waved back before pulling a U-turn in his car and heading for the airport. Arthur Hawkins was to meet Soloman there in half an hour, and then they'd fly out together for Egypt. Whatever this big discovery of Isis and Shaadi's was, they had the two retired men hooked.

//Rebecca?!//

Mokuba winced slightly. Rebecca was too busy waving good-bye to her grandfather, and didn't notice. /Ur, yeah... Did I forget to mention that?/

//Yes,// Seto said sourly, scowling mentally. //What is she doing here?!//

Mokuba winced again. /...Staying for a few weeks... Or months... while her grandfather's on a dig./

//WHAT?!//

/Nii-san, calm down! It's just Rebecca!/

//My point exactly.// Seto sunk into a stubborn silence, and Mokuba sighed. Seto could be so impossible sometimes. He could feel Seto in the back of his mind, a bundle of resentment and anger and a really big scowl. Mokuba sighed again, deeper this time, and Rebecca finally noticed.

"Are you okay Mokuba?"

Mokuba shook himself and picked up one of Rebecca's bags. "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, I'll show you your room."

//....//

Shen Bakura lugged his carry-on bag off the plane and looked around the terminal. He couldn't help but smile as he took in the familiar sights and sounds of Cairo International Airport. This is where his heart was, in Egypt. He would have moved here to stay a long time ago if Ryou hadn't seemed so set on staying in Japan.

"Shen-san! Over here!"

Shen turned to see Isis waving him over. She and Shaadi were near the door, with a half-asleep Soloman Moto and half-asleep Arthur Hawkins next to them. Shen made his way over, and the five archaeologists began to weave their way through the crowds to baggage claim. "What's wrong with you two?" he asked Arthur and Soloman.

Arthur yawned. "Red-eye flight from Japan, that's what." he grumbled. "Apparently Isis-san and Shaadi-san couldn't wait to show us this big discovery of theirs, and got us the first available tickets."

Shen chuckled. "So I guess we won't be going out to the dig first thing?"

"Oh, we will be." Shaadi assured him. "It's a long drive, and these two can sleep on the way. The dig's out in the middle of no where."

Shen frowned. "Then why dig there?"

Isis and Shaadi exchanged glances, and Isis's hand moved to her neck, where the Millenium Tauk rested. "Ah, right." Shen nodded. "I'd forgotten about that. Does the Tauk tell you what it is we've found?"

Isis shook her head. "No, just that it's something important to Pharoah Yami."

Shaadi nodded. "Once we find out exactly what it is, we may just have to call him down here to take a look at it himself."

Arthur yawned again. "Fine with me, as long as we get to sleep..."

"Ryou!"

Ryou grinned as Duke came down the front stairs of the Hikawa shrine to greet him as he got off the bus. "Hi Duke. Mind helping me with my bags?" Duke grinned and nodded, picking up one of the two suitcases Ryou had brought. They started up the stairs, chatting about what they'd each been doing these past few weeks. They crested the top, and Rei waved at them from behind the shrine counter.

"This is my cousin, Hino Rei," Duke introduced her to Ryou once they got closer. "Rei-chan, this is my good friend Ryou Bakura."

"It's a pleasure to have you here Bakura-san." Rei said. "Fell free to make yourself at home. You'll have to share Yuuchiro's room with Duke though, I'm sorry."

"It's okay Hino-san." Ryou assured her. "And please, call me Ryou."

"All right Ryou-san, but only if you call me Rei."

Ryou chuckled and nodded, but the trio didn't have a chance to say any more as the sound of laughing voices came from the shrine steps. Minako, Makoto, and Usagi walked up, and Mako and Mina practically started drooling. "So Duke, is this the friend you said was coming to visit?" Minako asked.

Ryou nodded and smiled at them. "My name is Ryou Bakura. It's a pleasure to meet you girls."

"The pleasure's all ours!" Makoto assured him, earning her a less-then-nice look from Minako. "My name's Kino Makoto, and this is Aino Minako and Tsukino Usagi."

Ryou's face went funny as he tried to place something in their auras, and he twitched slightly. "I want you two to know right now that I have a koibito [sweetheart]." he said.

"Oooooh..." Mina and Mako's faces fell, and Ryou snickered slightly. He leaned over to them and whispered, "But Duke's free." That perked them up again, and they smiled at each other.

Ryou's face went serious, and to the surprise of all he turned to Usagi and bowed to her. "Lady Moon, you must tell me what you know of these demon attacks. Please, it's very important."

The Sailor Senshi's eyes widened, and as one girl they turned to glare at Duke, who sweatdropped and held up his hands in defence. "I didn't tell him a thing, I swear! I invited him down because of the demon attacks, since Ryou's been fighting demons in his own way for years! I did tell him about the Sailor Senshi, but I didn't tell him that they were you!"

Ryou chuckled quietly. "How could he? Even if he described you girls that wouldn't do me any good. No, I know who you are on my own."

For the first time, Minako, Makoto, Rei, and Usagi noticed Ryou's blind eyes. "But..." Usagi asked, confused. "How could you, if you can't see?"

Rei hissed at her blond friend for being rude, but Ryou just smiled. "I'm what's known as a telepath. I can sence people's life forces, or auras. You girls each have exceptionally powerful auras, which gives away who you are, at least to me."

"How about we all go inside and sit down." Duke suggested. "Then Ryou can explain to you why I really invited him here." They all migrated into Rei's room, where Duke finally noticed one absent. "Hey, where's Ami?"

"She had an after-school cram session, but she should be here in awhile." Minako explained, tucking an errant strand of long blond hair behind her ear.

Ryou nodded and sat back against Rei's bed, trying to think of how to explain exactly what he needed to. Artemus and Luna rubbed up against him and purred, and he stroked them absently. Suddenly he looked down at them with a slight frown on his face. "You aren't ordinary cats." Contrary to what most people would do, he'd spoken directly to them. The two moon cats looked nervously at the Senshi, who simply shrugged in responce.

"Not exactly, no." Luna said carefully. To her surprise, Ryou didn't flip out like Duke had, he simply nodded.

"Ah... How do I explain this..." He closed his eyes as he thought back to everything Fate and Bakura had ever told him. "Five thousand years ago, great games of terrible power were played. But these Shadow Games threatened to destroy the whole world..."

It was nearly an hour later when he finally finished his story. Duke had already heard a good portion of it, and nodded here and there. After the first few minutes, the girls and their cats were hooked. He told about Yami and Bakura and the Millenium Items, and he told about his own trips to the Shadow Realm, the Locking Rituals, the Elementals, and his powers, the stories of which are already told elsewhere in this saga.

"Hatred-sama, the guardian of the Rod, told me that the Shadow Realm would be increasing its activities this summer, but that I didn't have to worry about it because a group of fighters in the heart of Tokyo would be taking care of it. I think he must have meant the Sailor Senshi."

"He did." Artemus spoke up. "Hatred-sama told us, Luna and I, that we would soon be getting help from someone he called "The Blind Child". I'm sure he meant you."

Ryou nodded, and he smiled at the white cat. "Then you and Luna must be the guardians he said that he was in contact with. My Shadow Realm and your Dark Kingdom are most probably one and the same, and if Duke was right and he saw Rigel directing the Daimons, we may be in a lot more trouble then we think."

"Ri who?" Makoto asked, frowning.

"Rigel, one of the True Pharoah's generals." Ryou explained. "He looks like the Duel Monster Celtic Guardian, but he's really an evil spirit in Duel Monster form."

Usagi looked around suddenly. "I hate to break up the discussion, but shouldn't Ami-chan be here by now?"

"You're right." Luna mused. "I hope she's okay..."

So suddenly that it startled all the others, Rei and Ryou both jumped to their feet, their faces turned toward the west. "Something's coming..." Rei muttered at the same time Ryou yelled "A demon attack!" The white-haired telepath ran out the door, and Duke followed him after winking candidly at the Senshi. They realized what he meant, and pulled out their henshin sticks.

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

"Moon Cosmic Power!"

"MAKE UP!"

After the usual ballerina-style twirling and coloured light show, four of the five Inner Senshi stood in Rei's room, arrayed in all their glory. "Come on girls!" Sailor Moon called, leading the way toward where the Daimon attack was. In their Senshi forms, all the girls had heightened powers and all of them, not just Rei, could sence where the evil was.

They made it down to street level and turned left. It wasn't very long before they heard the screams that signified a Daimon on the loose. The Senshi rounded the corner to see Duke stading a ways back and cheering on Sailor Mercury and Ryou, who were going at the Daimon fullforce.

Sensing that the rest of the Senshi had arrived and that its life was going to be coming to a very quick end, the Daimon desided to get on with what it had been sent to do. Breaking away from Mercury and Ryou, the Daimon pointed its left palm, which had the black star tattooed onto it, at...

"Duke!" Mars yelled. Everyone was too far away to get to him in time as the beam of black energy shot out of the Daimon's hand. Everyone was too far away... but one of them could get a lot closer really fast.

"Duke you idiot, move!" Ryou tapped into his powers and teleported himself in front of Duke with a small burst of blue smoke. The Senshi stared, and for a moment it didn't register in their minds what Ryou had actually done until the black beam hit him square in the chest and he screamed.

"Isn't it romantic?" Tea sighed, spinning around on one foot to take in all the Paris sights and sounds.

"Yes, it is," Yugi agreed, and he was looking at her, not the scenery.

"Tea stop it," Bakura grumbled, crossing his arms. "You look like a tourist..."

"But isn't that what we are?" she inquired teasingly. Bakura had been in a bad mood ever since Tea had called Ryou and told him about the episode with Julien, a scene Bakura still denied steadfastedly.

Amoura chuckled and put a hand on Bakura's arm. "Do not vorry about zem, Bakura.I am not a tourist."

"Remind me to give you that line the next time you come to Tokyo." Tea giggled.

Yugi and Yami exchanged glances and laughed. Yugi was glad that Grandmama had decided to stay home. He wanted this to be a fun night, and Yami and Grandmama bickering would have ruined it.

"Hey!" he said suddenly, catching sight of a small bakery along the road. "Can we get some of that funky French bread?"

"The kind that comes in long loaves?" Tea wondered. "Oh yes please! I've always wanted to try some of that!"

"Okay," Amoura said, nodding. She gestured to a small cluster of tables at a nearby cafe. "You guys go 'ave a zeat, and I vill go get uz zome bread. Vould three loaves be enough, do you zink?"

"Plenty." Tea assured her. Amoura nodded and headed toward the bakery, while the other four went to claim one of the larger tables at the nearby cafe. Very soon they would probably be filling up, as it was about four-thirty, almost supper time.

As they all took seats, Yugi finally noticed the confused expressions that Yami and Bakura wore. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing aibou," Yami assured him, resting his chin on his hands. "But what is so special about this 'French bread'? Surely it isn't any better then Japanese bread."

Tea and Yugi looked at him for a moment, before they both burst out laughing, which just caused Yami and Bakura to look even more confused. "French bread is better Yami." Yugi assured him. "It's very long and thin, and is made a special way, and- oh you'll just have to taste it for yourselves."

Yami and Bakura looked at each other and shrugged, and the four exchanged idle chatter for a few minutes before Amoura returned, toting a large, brown-wrapped parsel over one arm, her purse swinging against her hip. "Okay you vour, 'ere is zee bread -"

She had no time to continue as a man bumped into her. He said something in French that seemed to be an apology, and Amoura waved him off with a smile. That is, until he grabbed her purse and took off with it. Amoura shreiked, and made to run after him, but tripped in the heeled boots she'd chosen to wear. Tea let out a cry and ran to her friend, and quick as a flash both Yami and Bakura took off after the thief.

With his longer legs, Bakura easily out-distanced the ex-pharoah, who soon had to slow down to catch his breath. Bakura, however, was in excellent shape from his martial arts and his many spars with Ryou. Dodging in and out of the crowded streets, Bakura tailed the thief relentlessly, although he was never quite able to catch him. Finally, thinking that he would lose Bakura in the great monument, the thief sprinted for the stairs up the Eiffel Tower.

But Bakura was an ex-thief himself, and grinned widely, knowing that the man would never lose him, and that he also now had the thief trapped. There was no where to go except up. Also being an ex-tomb robber, Bakura was very good with directions, and had mentally mapped the streets of Paris as he ran through them. He should be able to find his way back to the cafe where he'd left the others in no time. After he dealt with the thief, of course.

Up and up the two thieves climbed, until finally the Frenchman had no where to go. Spinning around he faced Bakura, and a bit of fear came onto his face when he realized his pursuier was still there. "^Who are you?^"

Bakura frowned, concentrating on the French lessons that Madame Amanda and Amoura had been giving him and the others. "^I'm your baddest nightmare. Why you want Amoura's bag?^"

Now the thief looked very scared, and was clutching Amoura's light brown purse close to his chest. "^I recognised her as the French Duel Monsters champion. I thought maybe I could steal her deck.^"

Bakura's frown deepened as he recognized the words "champion", "Duel Monsters", and "steal her deck". He advanced on the thief. "^You made mistake. Mess with her, you mess with me. Give purse.^" He held out his hand, and the thief all but tossed Amoura's purse into them.

"^Please don't hurt me!^"

Bakura's grin widened as an old, familiar, sadistic light came into his eyes. "^Oh, won't hurt you. Much.^"

"Bakura!"

Bakura turned half-way around at the shout. The thief wasn't going anywhere, but old habits of self-preservation made him turn only half-way. He knew first-hand how desperate thieves could be when they were cornered. Hell, he'd been one of those thieves. Seeing Yami leaning against the railing at the top of the stairs and panting he switched back to Japanese. "What do you want Yami? This creep was going to steal Amoura's deck, I need to teach him a lesson."

"I won't allow you to torture him and then leave the body for the French authorities to find." Yami said seriously. "We don't need an international incident. But..." Here Yami began to grin a little bit as the Eye of Horus materialized on his forehead. Bakura got the idea and cackled, and both of them turned to face the trembling thief. "You have trespassed on my friend's property, and forced me to run half-way across Paris." Both yamis smirked, and then Yami delivered the words which could be understood in any language as he pulled out his deck, Bakura following suit. Since the thief had been trying to steal Duel Monsters cards, it was presumable he had a deck of his own.

"Let's play a game."

Hiro yawned and rolled over, trying to ignore the loud laughter from downstairs. He groaned and stuck his head under his pillow, but it did no good. He sighed and got up, pulling on his clothes before heading downstairs. Hopefully, someone in this house would have had enough sense to make some coffee.

He was right. Mr Kennady, Gwen's Uncle Matt, Ishtar, and Malik were all sitting around the kitchen table and drinking coffee. Malik and Ishtar were murmering to each other in Egyptian, and Uncle Matt was reading the paper. Mr Kennady looked up as Hiro entered the room and smiled. "Morning Hiro."

"Morning Kennady-san." Hiro mumbled around a yawn as he shuffled to the coffee pot. "What's all the racket about?" There were loud voices coming from the livingroom, and every now and then a shriek of laughter.

Mr Kennady smiled thinnly. "It's Saturday morning. They're watching cartoons."

Malik blinked and broke off his conversation with his yami. "Cartoons? Like... Rurouni Kenshin? Slayers?"

Mr Kennady sweatdropped. "Not... not exactly."

The three boys from Japan exchanged glances, then shrugged and headed for the livingroom to see what the big fuss was about. Gwen and all her siblings were draped across various pieces of furniture or sprawled around on the floor. Hiro picked his way around arms and legs and sat down next to Gwen on one of the sofas, while Ishtar and Malik took up possitions on the floor by their feet. On the TV was what looked like a big-headed kid in a silly pink hat. Next to him were two other overly-huge-headed people with what looked like little wings stuck on their backs.

The green one said something in English, and Gwen began to giggle uncontrollably. Hiro poked her. "What's so funny?"

"'Look, I found a nickel!'" Gwen quoted. "'I named it Phillip! The bad news is, it's a girl nickel!!'" She started giggling again while Hiro, Malik, and Ishtar exchanged glances and shrugged. Fairly Oddparents soon went to commercial, and since Gwen had so many siblings who got bored with commercials, the channel was promptly changed.

"~Wait, stop!~" Gwen yelled in English, leaning forward to snatch the remote out of her brother Andy's hands. "~Kim Possible's on!~"

"~That's a girly show...~" Andy scoffed, but Kris and Gwen both sent him glares, so he promptly shut up. He then left, muttering something about practicing his guitar. The remote control now safely in her possesion, Gwen settled back against the couch. Kim Possible was just starting, and Gwen sang along to the theme song in Japanese so the boys could get an idea of what it was about.

"Call me beep me, if you wanna reach me!"

"What's the point of this?" Malik asked, scratching his head slightly.

"Kim Possible is a secret agent/superhero of the new millenium!" Gwen explained. "She saves the world once per show, but in a lot cooler ways then Superman and Batman, and plus she's a girl! And Superman and Batman don't have Ron Stoppable!"

Hiro sweatdropped and leaned over to whisper to the Ishtars, "I think I've been booted out of her heart in favor of a cartoon..."

"~Ohh!~" Gwen squealed. "~This one's my favorite! The one where Senior Senior Junior and Shiggo team up! Kawaii! I really need to write a Shiggo/Junior fanfic...~" Kris sweatdropped at her sister, while Malik, Ishtar, and Hiro continued to look clueless. They just do it so well.

(WSJ: :p I just wanted to point out how heavily this little section reflects my own life. ^^ Fairly Oddparents and Kim Possible are probably my favorite non-anime cartoons. And yes, I do think Shiggo and Junior make a good couple after seeing them team up in that one episode. *snicker* Shiggo actually got him to use his brain!!! >> And yes, I do think Ron is hot. *grin*)

The woman from the bar got back to her boarding house and shed her trench coat. She was the only boarder at the moment, and sighed heavily as she sat down at the kitchen table. The hostess of the house, Mrs Kounji, stuck her head out of the kitchen and gave the girl at the table a quizzical look. "You all right dear? You look a little down."

The woman at the table sighed and put her head in her hands. "Yes and no. I came out here for the summer to forget my life and remember the past, but when I was out tonight I think I saw a couple friends of mine at the bar. One of them was an ex-boyfriend."

Mrs Kounji looked sympathetic. "Well it was bound to happen with that big convention in town sweetie."

"Convention?"

"Some family reunion. Wheelie or Dealer, or something like that."

The blond at the table's eyes widened fractionally. "Wheeler?"

"Yes, that's it. Hey wait! Miss Mai, where are you going? You just got back!"

When Yami and Bakura finally arrived back at the little cafe, almost an hour later, they were both grinning ear to ear. Bakura had a definate swagger in his step as he presented Amoura with her bag. "Here you go m'lady." he said, bowing cornily to her.

She grinned and giggled a little. "Oh my. Merci monsier! Ve vere ztarting to get vorried about you two."

Tea and Yugi, who had known the two Egyptians far, far longer then Amoura had, thought they recognised the way that they were smiling. Tea looked started, while Yugi looked vaguely suspicious. "Yami," he asked reluctantly. "What did you do to the thief who tried to steal her bag?"

"Oh he's still alive, aibou." Yami assured him, his grin widening. "He's alive. But..."

"Let's just say that if you hear something on the news tomorrow about a lunitic being found in or around the Eiffel Tower, crazed and mad and claiming everything within sight is a handbag... don't worry about it." Bakura said, his grin a mirror of Yami's. It had been a long time since the two of them had gotten to have any "fun".

(WSJ: Oo;; I think Yami's going a little series 1 on me... *shudders slightly*)

Tea and Yugi exchanged shocked looks with Amoura as Bakura and Yami took seats. "Did you save us any bread?" Bakura asked plaintively.

Amoura sighed, then chuckled. "No, but I zhall go and get zome more." She stood up to go back into the bakery, and Tea got up, saying that she would join her, and that she had to go to the bathroom anyway. Once the two girls were gone, Yugi set his giant puppy-eyes to work on Yami and Bakura.

"Tell me what happened! I know Tea wouldn't want to hear, but I do, so spill!"

Bakura and Yami both laughed. "Okay kid, listen up then. I chased him to the Eiffel Tower. Arrived long before your yami, might I add..." By the time Tea and Amoura came back with another long brown package in hand, they'd finished the story and Yugi was snickering evilly right along with them.

"Ah! So this is 'French bread'." Yami said as Amoura set the package down on the table. Both Egyptians looked on curiously as she unwrapped it. "It looks like..." Yami blinked and picked up one of the long loaves, tossing it experimentally from hand to hand. Suddenly he stood up and held the bread dramaticly so that the point was near Bakura's neck. "On guard!"

Bakura snatched the other piece of bread and held it like a rapier, his other hand cocked behind him. "Bring it on pharoah!" he said, grinning.

Tea and Amoura face-faulted, and Yugi sweatdropped. "Yami wait, you're not supposed to..." He trailed off as Yami and Bakura went at it, swordfighting with the loaves of bread and laughing like fools. "-_- Oh never mind..."

Tea giggled and pulled a camera out of her purse. The same one, in fact, that had been used when Yugi and Bakura had fallen asleep together that first night, and when Bakura had been playing with Julien. Now it was used again to capture Bakura and Yami and their bread-swords. And if Gwen and Serenity and Isis were holding up their ends of the bargain and taking pictures as well... What a wonderful photo album this would make!

People on the street were beginning to stop and stare at the two Egyptian/Japanese idiots who were swordfighting with bread and yelling at each other in some foriegn language. Several people walked around them in a wide circle, while others stopped to stare. Bakura and Yami were oblivious. They were having too much fun. Yes, fun. It's amazing.

They didn't even notice when the sky began to darken and big, fat raindrops began to plop onto the concrete at their feet. Amoura, Tea, and Yugi looked at each other and ran for the nearest cover, which happened to be a shop just across the street. Yami and Bakura didn't even notice that. What they did notice, however, was that their "swords" were beginning to get decidedly squishy from the rain.

"Heeeey..." Yami said grumpily. "My bread's melting..."

"I wonder if this is a common phenominon in French bread?" Bakura wondered as he poked at his sagging pastry product.

"Yami!"

Both turned and saw Yugi waving at them from the doorway of a store. They finally noticed how wet they were, and yelped a little before running toward Yugi. As soon as they crossed the thresh hold, however, all rain was forgotten. They were standing in what had to be the Duel Monsters store that Amoura had mentioned at the airport on that first night.

(WSJ: ^-^ Big thank you's to High Crystal Guardian and Brood Mayran. They helped me bunches and bunches with the next scene. :P Credit for most of the weird products goes to them. *big grin*)

"Holy Osirus!" Yami said in wonderment as he looked around. Every shelf was crammed with Duel Monsters merchandice. Amoura was squealing over a stuffed Maha Vailo plushie, and Tea was swinging a toy Dark Magician Girl staff around and gigling. Their eyes almost the size of dinner plates, the five wandered into the depths of the huge store. Soon they were all exclaiming and calling to each other to come look at this pice of merchandice or that. They stayed there for hours, but let's just take a few glimpses, shall we?

---------

Yami stared at what lay on the shelf in front of him. He was in the very back of the store, and the farther back they were the weirder the products seemed to get. Yugi wandered up behind him and poked him in the ribs, but the ancient pharoah seemed not to notice.

"What'cha looking at Yami?" Yugi asked, leaning around his other. "O.o; Is that Dark Magician toilet paper?"

"Ours!" Yami said quickly, snatching up a couple rolls. He saw Yugi staring, and sweatdropped. "Not that I would use them, of course. They're for, uh, Grampa! Yeah, that's it! He'll have a fit when he sees these."

Yugi just stared after him as Yami ran toward the checkout counter.

---------

"Oh! Tea, look at ziz vone!"

Bakura scratched his head. He could hear Amoura's voice, and he knew it was somewhere around here, but... Beside him, Yugi was also vaguely puzzled (harhar). Where could the two girls have gone? "Over there," he finally decided, pointing to a small corner of store that was roped off with several Japanese paper screens, all sporting various Duel Monsters designs, of course.

Yugi and Bakura walked behind them without a thought, and their eyes bugged out. It seemed the screens were there for a good reason. Behind them were several racks of various Duel Monsters lingerie and a couple changing rooms. Amoura was standing in her jeans and a bra with the price tag still attached. Bakura couldn't help but notice it had little Petite Dragons all over it. "Gurk..." he murmered as a trickle of blood ran down from his nose.

Yugi, meanwise, was staring at Tea, who was wearing even less then Amoura, a bra and a pair of panties. The little Moto blushed heavily as he spied the Kuriboh print on them. "Uh..."

The two girls just stared at them for a moment, and then let out simotanious shreiks. "BAKURA!!! YUGI!!!!!!"

Amoura grabbed the closest thing within reach and threw it at the boys as they scrambled to leave and Tea almost fell over herself in the effort of finding something to cover up with. Yugi and Bakura ran for several isles before stopping to catch their breath, where Yami soon found them.

"Bakura," the pharoah asked with a funny expression on his face. "Why do you have a leather Celtic Guardian thong in your hair?"

---------

"They chibified Exodia." Yami said in a deadpan voice, poking at the small mountain of stuffed Duel Monsters that Amoura had been cooing over when they first came in. "They chibified and plushified Exodia."

"Yami?" Bakura asked worriedly, waving his hand back and forth in front of the spirit's face. It might also be noted that the white haired thief was carrying several things he intended to buy for either himself or Ryou, including a pair of boxers with Man Eater Bugs all over them. "You okay?"

Yami squeezed his eyes shut, much like he was now wringing the neck of the hideously cute Exodia plushie. "Exodia is not meant to be a plushie! WHHHHHYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Bakura backed slowly away.

---------

Amoura spied a rack of Duel Monsters doujinshi, and her eyes lit up. It was all in French, of course, and she was the only one who could have read any of it. Yugi was already examining one, and showed it to Amoura. "What does it say?"

Amoura's face twisted into something halfway between a grimace and a smirk. "Zparkly Pink Loverz: A Dark MagicianxCeltic Guardian Hentai Extraviganza."

"Meep!" Yugi dropped it as if it were a hot iron as Amoura giggled in the background.

---------

O.o;

o.O;

O.O;

"...Please tell me these are not what they look like?"

Ignoring Yami's stunned comment for the minute, Tea reached out at poked it. "Yup, it is."

".....Think Joey would like it?"

"I'm sure he would." Tea said. "In fact, there's a Blue Eyes version, let's get it for Kaiba."

Yami snickered and picked up the Red Eyes Black Dragon bobble-head, leaving the Blue Eyes for Tea.

---------

Yugi held up a box triumphantly. "Look at these!"

Bakura and Yugi had found an isle completely full of Duel Monsters food. What he was holding was a box of Duel Monsters fruit snacks. Bakura shrugged and gestured to the cart he was pushing, which was already dangerously full.

"What the heck, toss it in."

---------

"Hey, Bakura!"

Bakura turned to where Yugi was waving him over. The girls had understood that peeping on them hadn't been intentional, and Bakura and Yugi had only recieved minor beatings. Now the two girls plus Yugi and Yami were gathered around something that they'd rescued from an old, dusty shelf. "What is it?" Bakura asked curiously, pushing in between Amoura and Yami.

What it was was a box, about a foot square, made of what seemed to be plain wood. That is, if plain wood shimmered in the strange way this box was. The lid was on metal hinges, and was locked shut, although the lock seemed rusty and could probably be broken quite easily. Carved into the top was some sort of word, although it was obscured by dust.

"Ve are not zure." Amoura said. "But zee shopkeeper zaid ve could break the lock, as long as ve either bought it or paid him for it avtervard."

"Well it has to be related to Duel Monsters somehow," Tea reasoned. "Otherwise it wouldn't be here. I say we go for it."

"Wait a minute," Yugi said. "What's it say on the top?"

Yami wiped away the dust. "'yokomon52', whatever that means." he said.

Amoura conversed with the shopkeeper a moment, then turned back to the rest of them. "He zays zat zat vas zee name of zee previous owner of zee box. She pawned it, I zink."

"Well, let's find out what she pawned." Bakura said reasonably. Yami nodded and broke the lock. The ex-pharoah then lifted the lid, and for a moment both Yami and Bakura were stunned speechless. Then Bakura gently lifted the box out of Yami's hands so he could get a better look. His eyes widened as he shuffled through the cards inside.

"This - this is amazing! Whoever this 'yokomon52' person is, I'd like to find her and thank her!" Bakura's eyes rose to meet Yami's, and Yami saw them suspiciously misty. "Ryou's never been able to get over the fact that he can't duel anymore, and I think we've just been handed the perfect birthday gift." He hugged the box full of cards to his chest. "They're even coded so Ryou could use them on Kaiba's duel disks, if he wanted."

"What is it?" Tea asked impatiently.

Bakura smiled, and his friends could see how happy he was for his hikari by the way his eyes seemed to waver on the edge of being compassionate, as opposed to his usual indifference. "It's Ryou's exact deck, all in braille."

Shen's breath caught in wonder as he caught his first sight of the tomb door. It looked to be carved directly into the rock wall of a cliff, down a short flight of stairs. Unlike most other tomb doors, which were wooden and rotted away, this one was made of stone and carved with hiroglyphics. Eagerly the archaeologist ran his fingers around the edges, finding where the royal seals were still in place.

Arthur and Soloman, both now thouroughly rested, crowded down the stairs after him, each wanting to see this stone door that was so amazing. Isis and Shaadi would be joining them shortly, after they gave instructions to the workman who would be helping clear away any rubble or debris they came across. Ahmed, an old friend of Shaadi's, was the foreman, so work was sure to go smoothly. The dig truly was in the middle of no where. It lay about ten miles south-west of where Yami's tomb was, guarded by Shaadi's family and never actually lost at all.

"So, what do you think?" Isis asked as she came down the stairs behind them, carrying a flashlight and a shovel. She was dressed, like the others, in khaki shorts and a polo shirt, with sturdy hiking boots. A water bottle was strapped onto her belt, as it was sure to get hot in the tomb, especially if it had been sealed up for a few thousand years.

"Isis, I'm ashamed of you." Soloman said.

Isis looked startled as Shaadi joined them. "What?"

"You should have recognised this carving, even if Shaadi did not! Clearly this is the Dark Magician!"

"What?!" Isis and Shaadi both rushed forward, chagrined to see that Soloman was right. The tall figure with the staff had to be the Dark Magician, even though he wasn't dressed in his usual armor or tall helmet/crown/hat thing. Isis realised something else. "Aarg, I feel like an idiot. Shaadi, that's Pharoah Yami!"

Shaadi leaned closer to inspect the shorter of the two figures, and his eyes widened. "So it is. We didn't recognise him at first because he's wearing a nemes[1] to cover his hair, and the Millenium Puzzle is surpressed to the point of not being there at all!"

"But why?" Arthur asked. "Why is neither one of them in a form that would be easily recognised?"

"Maybe they didn't want Pharoah Yami to be recognised." Shen mused, half to himself. "According to Bakura, there had to have been a lot of upheavel after the Shadow Games were sealed away. After all, that was where nine-tenths of the preists got their power. Yami's decision to seal away the Shadow Magic probably made him a lot of enemies. What if a small faction of those loyal to Yami hid this tomb as well as they could, because they didn't want anyone coming in to vandalize it because it was connected to Yami."

"Possible," Shaadi agreed. "Look here." He pointed at a section of hiroglyphs in the upper corner of the door and began to read them outloud. "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.' This is obviously not Yami's tomb, but it does appear we've found some friends of his."

"There's something else that's bothering me about this door..." Isis mused. Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "Of course! The Dark Magician in this picture is standing right next to Yami, and is taller then him to boot!"

"So?" Shaadi asked. "Everyone's taller then Yami."

Isis gave him a sour look. "You know what I mean!" she snapped. "In carvings, especially those on tombs, the Pharoah was always taller then anyone else, and no one stood beside him. It was required that his Queen be shown behind him and smaller, and his children behind her and smaller then her."

Arthur and Soloman were both nodding. "The only exception achaeologists have found is a relief of Nefertiti standing beside Akhenaten with her arm around his shoulder." [2]

"Right." Isis agreed, then gestured at the door. "This carving could be considered blasphemy!"

"Unless," Soloman said slowly, "That Yami considered this Dark Magician friend enough to allow the carvings to be done in life-size. Back then the monsters were real, and there has to be a reason the Dark Magcian is Yami's favorite. Maybe he knew one personally in Egypt? I mean, the Dark Magician had to be taller then Yami. Like Shaadi-san said, everyone's taller then Yami. So maybe he allowed this carving, at least, to be done realisticly. After all, these carvings were never supposed to be found."

"That's just speculation," Isis warned, but Shen cut her off.

"We'll never know unless we either call up Yami and ask or get inside and find out."

The other four smiled at him. "I vote for both," Shaadi said, hefting the door-opening tools he'd brought down with him. "But the latter before the former."

"Here here!" everyone agreed, and Shaadi moved toward the doors.

None of them noticed that they were being watched. Of course, even if they had noticed, they wouldn't have been able to find who was watching them. Sitting on the top of the cliffs, two figures gazed down at the quintet of archaeologists like a pair of hawks. "What do you think?" the female of the pair asked.

The male smiled and took the girl's hand. "I think that after five-thousand years we are going to be reunited with our Pharoah."

Yugi and Bakura stared at what lay before them. They had retreated to a reletively unoccupied corner of the store and had just opened a pack each of Duel Monsters fruit snacks. For the most part, they were delicious! Little Petite Angels that tasted of strawberry, tiny Happy Lovers that smacked of orange, smallish Penguin Soldiers that tasted like grapes.

But unfortunately for them, that wasn't all.

Bakura stared at the little lemon-lime Petite Dragon that rested in his palm. His nose twitched and felt much like it was going to begin to bleed again as he remembered Amoura's choice in lingerie. "Gaaaah..."

Yugi balked in horror as a tiny fruit punch Kuriboh met his eyes as he also remembered intamently his childhood friend in... not much. "Gack!"

Both men looked at each other.

"I'll never tell if you won't."

"Deal!"

Everyone stood frozen as Ryou screamed. The telepath fell backward, and Duke caught him with a cry. "Ryou you idiot! Why'd you do that!? Ryou wake up!"

No one seemed to notice the dice master as they stared at Ryou's Heart Crystal, which was now floating free of its carrier. Instead of the ruby-coloured crystal that seemed normal for most people, Ryou's was pure white. It rotated slowly in the air, and then emitted a bright white light that almost blinded those looking on.

On the roof of a nearby building Rigel cackled. "Not only a pure heart, but the heart of the one who killed Jalila! Oh this revenge is sweet..."

Almost right below him, although neither party knew it, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune exchanged glances. "It must be a Talisman!" Uranus said excitedly. "Come on Neptune, we have to grab it!"

Neptune hesitated, playing with a lock of her sea green hair. "Are you sure Uranus? If we take his Heart Crystal, that boy will die."

Uranus shook her head sharply and grabbed Neptune's hand. "We have no choice. Come on Neptune."

In the middle of the street, Duke was on his knees with Ryou in his arms. Despite himself, he could feel tears on his cheeks. Ryou's skin had gone a sickly grey colour, and he didn't seem to be breathing at all. "Come on Ryou, please wake up..."

But the telepath lay still.

[1] A nemes is the cloth headdress that priests and high-ranking Egyptian officials wore to protect their head from the sun. When not wearing their crown, pharoahs often wore them too. The best example I can think of is King Tut's funerary mask. Remember the striped headdress he has on that drapes over his shoulders too? That's a nemes.

[2] Eye of Horus, by Carol Thurston, pg. 108 hard cover edition

()()()()()

WSJ: As some of you may remember from when I announced my two-year anniversery in YoTU:F, the day I joined FF.N is June the 6th. However, recently there was another kind of anniversery for me. I would have posted it ON the anniversery, but my internet was all screwed until today. v__v; Gomen minna-san. Anyway...

It was exactly one year ago on August the 23rd, believe it or not, that I posted the first chapter of Visions of the Heart. I'd written it because I was bored, and never intended to continue it at all. *grin* But you guys made me. Over the next two months I received at least forty reviews for just that one chapter. I figured I'd better post another chapter. But you guys kept reviewing. So I kept writing. And here we are.

Since last Saturday was the one-year anniversery, I just wanted to honor a few people who have made it possible. ^~

First and foremost, my neesan, Brood Mayran. I "met" Brood when I stumbled across her uber-awesome fic Another Chance at Everything. In return for my reviews, she decided to read through a few of my fics. ^~ We started e-mailing back and forth, and the rest, as they say, is history. When I started writing Yamis of Tokyo U, I knew that most of the boys would room with each other, but I needed roommates for Tea. My mind instantly lept to Amoura, and Brood was kind enough to allow me to borrow her. *snicker* Oh the things I have planned for the future...

Second off the presses, High Crystal Guardian. *glomp* She's another of my great friends. She and I met almost exactly the opposite of how Brood and I did. She started reviewing my fics, so I decided to read hers. ^~ I fell in love with her fics, her writing style, and her OCs. ^o^ She borrowed my Elements for her fic Negative Chaos, so in return I decided to "borrow" Kawari for a vision of Ryou's. *snick* And I am also Kaze's #1 fangirl! ME! Not you all, ME!!!! (Kaze: >> Oh dear Ra, no...)

Myotismon13, Gyakutenno Megami, Cettie-girl, Katia, Millenium Slinky, and Windswift have all offered amusing, long, and often downright weird reviews, for which I am thankful. ^~ Myotismon13, after realizing my obsession of Discworld, even dedicated a fic to me. *sniffle* I'm so touched!

I would also like to use this little anniversery party to make an annuncement, and deliver a teaser for an upcoming fic or two of mine. Okay, announcement first. After I finish all twelve stories in Tales of the Child of Fate, I'm going to go back and revamp it, from head to toe. I mean a complete makeover. I've already started revising Visions of the Heart. After the end of the last story, which is Yamis of Our Fathers, I'm going to re-release the entire series, all in one volume, as a special edition. New chapters, new scenes, new dialogue and side-stories, even. It's going to be good. ^~ But that's a looooong time from now, so let's hit a few things closer to home, shall we?

Here we go, a teaser for the future of this series. ^~ This is a scene I've had written for the longest time, and it takes place during the very beginning of The Yamis of Our Fathers, twenty-one long years after the beginning of VotH.

"Daddy, mommy! Daddy!"

Bakura groaned and rolled over as his nine-year-old son launched himself onto the bed. Bakura burried his head under the pillow and tried to go back to sleep. What had he just been dreaming about...? Oh yes, the last time he'd seen Ryou.

Beside him, his wife rolled over as their son continued to bounce up and down on the foot of the bed. "Jonathon Ryou Bakura, it's six o'clock in the morning. Go back to bed!"

"But mom! It's Christmas!"

Bakura chuckled and pulled his head out from under the pillow. "It is Christmas," he said, giving his lover the biggest puppy-dog eyes as he could muster. "What did you get me?"

His wife arched an eyebrow at him, taking one of his hands in hers. She laid a kiss onto the palm, then she grinned and placed Bakura's hand against her stomach, right above her belly button. "Guess."

Bakura sputtered as he felt the rise in her belly, still so small that it couldn't be seen, only felt. "You... you're... But... How did this happen?!"

She threw back her head and laughed at him. "I think you are partially to blame, love."

Bakura spluttered incoherantly for another moment or two before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell back onto his pillow.

"Hey, what's wrong with dad?" Jon asked, crawling up to lay next to his mom.

She grinned as she stroked his silver-green hair. "Don't worry about him Jon, he fainted last time too."

"Last time what?" he asked.

"Last time I told him I was going to have a baby."

Jon stared at her a moment before he gulped and flopped over, proving just how much like his father he really was.

WSJ: ^~ There ya' go. That's your special reward for sticking with me this long. *glomps* I WUV YOU ALL!

Note: Everyone go read The Falcon! It's a side-story, and takes place right after HSH. ^^ You don't have to read it, but I'd appreciate the feedback. I really like how it turned out, and I wanna see what you guys think too.

Chapter 6: Shen: (V/O) Oh my Ra...

WSJ: *chuckles* (V/O) The archaeologists seemed to have discovered something a lot bigger then just a mere servent's tomb.

Isis: *staring at the carvings* If I'm reading this right, we've just found the tomb of two of Pharoah Yami's most powerful mages, not to mention closest friends!

Arthur: *examining another wall* Yes, but it looks like they died horribly, definately after Yami sealed away the Shadow Games. The poor mages... They look so young...

Shen: *backing out of a nearby room with Shaadi at his heels* Hey Isis? We've found the mummies.

Isis: Wonderful!

Shaadi: Not wonderful. They have guards.

Isis: *face fault* What?

Soloman: *runs out of the buriel chamber with a Kuriboh clinging to his hat* Heeeelp!!!

WSJ: (V/O) *snicker* Duke gets down and dirty with Sailor Uranus for Ryou's sake. (For whoever mentioned that Uranus was their favorite... *cough* She's my least favorite. I'll try not to bash her too terribly much, but...)

Uranus: Gimme that Heart Crystal, kid!

Duke: Ha! Like I'd give it to you willingly...

WSJ: (V/O) Tea and Yugi have a small moment together...

Tea: Oh Yugi! Let's go up on the Eiffel Tower! Please?

Yugi: Well... *thinks a moment* All right Tea. Let's go.

WSJ: (V/O) And Joey gets the surprise of his life.

Joey: *opens the door and blinks* Mai?

WSJ: (V/O) All this and more, next time! ^~\\// Ja for now!

God bless minna-san!