A/N: Dedicated to my friend TropicaliaSonata for her birthday.

This chapter ran a bit long and a bit talky, but I hope it came out OK! I may revisit in a sequel someday (might not be for awhile since this took like a year to finish), so let me know if you'd be up for that :)

Special thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Prison of the Soul: Final Chapter

For a long moment, Atem just stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking deeply discomfited. For once in his life, he didn't seem able to meet Kaiba's gaze. "I, uh," he said. Hesitation. Another unusual sound for the former - or, Kaiba supposed, current-but-in-the-afterlife - monarch. "I'm not really sure where to start. This isn't really a thing I've done...that often."

"Too busy lecturing everyone else?" Kaiba said, raising an eyebrow. Maybe the snark helped, because Atem finally managed to look him in the eye.

"Something like that. Or that - that's part of it. I mean, you of all people would know what that's like."

"Yeah..." Kaiba wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to this time. "You've actually kind of lost me there, Pha- Atem. Why don't you just start from the start?"

"The start. OK." Atem bit his lip, looking askance around the room. He spotted a photo of Kaiba and Mokuba on the dresser. "Do you mind if I-?"

Kaiba shrugged his acquiescence. Atem moved over to the dresser, looking at the photograph without picking up the frame. "You and I are kind of similar in that regard. I mean, I know you and Mokuba were much, much more vulnerable and disadvantaged than I ever was, I meant-"

"Say what you're thinking. You know I'll correct you if I think you're full of it."

Atem looked over at him, relief clear in his eyes. The snark definitely was helping. Kaiba moved his legs over the edge of his bed and rested his hands on his knees, making it clear Atem had his full attention.

"Responsibility," he said. "That's what I meant. You were responsible for Mokuba and Kaiba Corp from a young age, just as I was responsible for Egypt." He clasped his hands and Kaiba was struck with how regal it looked. At all times, Atem's posture was formal, trained. Clearly some things persisted, regardless of whether he had once lost his memories. "I'm no saint, Kaiba. I'm used to putting my viewpoint first and believing that is righteous, and that isn't entirely from my being a leader. But I've always tried to put my needs second, behind that of my country."

He stared off, pensive. Seto dare not interrupt him. He was smart enough to know what Atem was telling him was not something he shared often...if he ever had before.

"It became such a habit I didn't know how to separate Atem from 'the Pharaoh' anymore. And to be honest, it made me feel good. I felt good that, aside from Bakura, I was able to keep Egypt safe, make her more prosperous than before. She became the centre of my every thought, whenever I was hurt, whenever I hurt others." He rested his hand on the dresser, looked away. "It's...hard to explain, but the Pharaoh is simultaneously the most privileged and vulnerable of any noble in the palace. I knew I would never go hungry, not like some of my people would, but every day was a game to keep myself alive." He stopped, suddenly self-conscious.

"Go on," Seto prompted.

"I apologise, I got... off topic. I suppose what I'm trying to say is - all of my existence was bent around being the Pharaoh, being what they needed me to be." His hand fidgeted on the dresser, betraying his discomfort. "My inner circle were all people who served Egypt with me, but even though I considered them all my friends, I -" He took a deep breath, shoulders hunching with the weight of the words. "I never thought they thought the same of me. They needed me to be the Pharaoh, to not burden them if I was worried or tired. 'Atem' was locked away, long before I even forgot that name."

Kaiba stared at him. This revelation didn't seem so momentous to him, just a natural consequence of everything. Seto had certainly felt the same about his most trusted employees. But Atem looked ridiculously guilty about it, glancing nervously at him as if expecting judgment.

"Go on, Atem. I'm listening."

"Right. Well. Years passed and I started to realise I had a destiny unlike the Pharaohs before. I was Horakhty's weapon against Zorc, powerful but effectively a pawn to fix what the creation of the Millennium Items broke. And it seemed only right, but it meant in the end the only purpose of my life was to die."

He said it so matter-of-factly, Seto couldn't help but hiss, "That's sick."

Atem looked over and smiled. It was a sad, sad smile. "Your other self said that, too. Not exactly in those words, though."

Kaiba flinched back. Normally he would have denied this so-called past life, but when he had been having nightmares of his friend's death for weeks, it felt a little silly to keep doing it.

"He'd do that a lot...actually." Atem looked down again. "Whenever he thought I was reckless, or putting myself in unnecessary danger, he'd even call me an idiot. Others at court thought it was because he was my rival, I allowed him to take liberties when addressing me." Atem chuckled, fondly. "I thought that too. Or I wrote it off as him hating royal blood being shed for commoners, things like that. He challenged me so often I even feared he had designs on my throne, at one point..."

Kaiba did look up at that. Atem looked back, shame radiating from him.

"You thought I - the priest - might try and kill you?" he said, appalled.

"I'm...not proud of it," he said, leaning into the dresser and lowering his guard. "I knew some of the elders at court preferred you, because I was making reforms that favored the commoners that scared them. I knew you wanted to best me in combat. I didn't know how far you might go." He moved his hand like he wanted to touch the Puzzle that wasn't there. "My bond with the Egyptian Gods - with Horakhty - helped keep me alive." He looked away again, folding his arms across his body. "But then...Priest Seth demanded I find another way to stop Zorc. He told me once that Egypt was not worth my life. I didn't realise why he wanted to save me."

"Because he was your true friend," Seto said, the F word coming a little easier to him. "It said as much on that rock."

Atem nodded, thoughtful. "Then it happened again. After I was sealed, I lost everything but an impression of who I was. And when Yugi freed me, I was...not happy, but I had...purpose again. As his protector, you know? And then the protector for all of his friends, too." He stared off into the distance.

"Just like old times?" Kaiba asked, trying to keep him talking. Atem chuckled.

"Something like that." He looked Kaiba dead in the eye, the shame seeming to choke him again. "I really did think of Yugi and the others as my friends, some of the best friends I've ever had. But I couldn't escape the thought that they needed me for what I could do for them, not what I could be with them. Even though they came to help me and I was grateful, I couldn't help the thought that... In the end, they needed me to go. To stop getting in the way of their lives. So when they told me I could go back to the Afterlife and Yugi wouldn't be in any more danger because of me, how could I not?"

Kaiba couldn't help but be aware of a big omission in this part of the story. He swallowed, and said, "What about me?" in an embarrassingly tiny voice.

Atem took a deep breath in. "You were different, Kaiba. Just like Priest Seth, you challenged me. Called me an idiot when you felt like it. But more than that, you became the only friend I had that I...that I thought I mattered to, independent of how much Yugi mattered."

Kaiba frowned. "You mattered more. You know that."

Another guilty look. Atem nodded. "But then even you... I thought you only needed me for the duels, for the greater and greater challenge we gave one another. A function, once again, and not a person."

Kaiba stood. Atem didn't notice. Now he was talking a mile a minute. "So when we were getting ready to go to Egypt and we didn't hear back from you straightaway when Yugi emailed, I just assumed that you were - you were done. Done with it all, with me, maybe at peace since you and Mokuba had a new dream to chase. I didn't want to hurt you by leaving, I just - I wasn't expecting you to care. And when you showed up and started talking about duelling, I thought - nothing's changed. Nothing's changed..."

The guilt and shame had turned to a thousand-yard stare. Atem didn't even seem to see him as he spoke. "I thought maybe I had - I had gone my entire 3,000 year-long life without ever having a real friend. So long as I was protecting someone...or fighting something...it would be all right...that's what I thought..."

Shame had turned to humiliation and sadness. Seto watched him, deeply uncomfortable. He knew this, all too well. Except for him, the only substitute that had worked for a long, long time was being the victor in everything he had done.

Atem had disrupted that for him.

Maybe Seto could repay the favour.

"Atem," he said, folding his arms. "Look at me."

Seto could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He'd definitely overestimated himself with regards to this friendship thing. He had no idea what was the right thing to say here. How did the friendship squad do this on a daily basis?

Atem looked at him, an utterly wretched look in his red eyes. Seto took a deep breath. He knew just what to say.

"You're an idiot," Seto said.

Atem blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, you should be." Kaiba raised an eyebrow and stared him down. "All that baggage - I get it, but it's - it's stupid. Monumentally stupid. All those people who followed you, they weren't doing it because of what you do but what you are. They want to be friends with you because you make them believe in how powerful friendship is. God, you've even got me invested in your stupid bullshit."

The faintest of smiles started on Atem's face. "'S not bullshit..."

"This friendship thing - it's about more than what you can do or be for someone," Seto continued, hardly believing the words coming out of his mouth. "I don't have the right words to fix this, except - except - stay."

Atem's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry?"

Kaiba took a deep breath. "Stay. I - I'm trying to change. For good. But what about you? You go back, nothing changes. Everyone expects you to go back to being the ruler of the Afterlife, or whatever the hell you do, right?"

"Right..."

"So don't do it. Say, to hell with it." Kaiba grabbed him by the shoulders, Atem's eyes getting wider by the second. "Stay here longer. Not to duel - though I want one eventually - but to live. Challenge me, educate me, do whatever the hell you want - have a life of your own."

"I... I'll have to go back eventually..."

"Sure. If you must. But you can travel here again, don't you get it? Most politicians take breaks, you can too." Kaiba let him go, picking the photo up from the dresser. "I know what it's like to have people depending on you - lots of them. But nowadays I have the structure of Kaiba Corp built so that I retain control, but Mokuba and I can have a work-life balance when we need it." He held the photo out to Atem. "Can you say the same?"

Atem hesitated, then took the picture in his hand. "I'm sorry," he said, looking Kaiba in the eye, his old spark returned. "For what I put you through."

Kaiba shrugged. He didn't want to admit how much weight he felt lifted off his shoulders. "Call it even," he said. "I could've - gotten in touch sooner. Not assumed."

"Guess we're both idiots?" Atem said, smiling wryly.

"Just this once. I guess." Kaiba smirked at him, but he still hesitated. "So, what do you think? We really get this system up and running, we could revolutionise people's understanding of this dimension! Don't you see it? We have a world to change."

Atem laughed. "You never change, Kaiba." He looked down at the photo, at young Seto and Mokuba staring nervously out, no idea what was to come in the near future. Standing in a room in his manor with the spirit he had basically kidnapped from the afterlife using his technology, Kaiba's head spun with the thought of how far he had come.

And then Atem looked up, his customary confident smirk back in place. "Let's get to it," he said.