"Cairo…" A soft feminine voice calls out to her. "Cairo, wake up."

Just a few more seconds, she says in her head with her eyes closed. She's tired. Drained. And wants nothing more but to be left alone for a minute before she goes back to doing her responsibilities.

"You're just as stubborn as ever."

That voice. It sounds so familiar. So comforting. She grunts as she opens her eyes before quickly shielding them from the bright light. She feels a presence in front of her and squints to see a silhouette of a woman. She narrows her eyes to get a better picture, but is unsuccessful, only being able to see the silhouette. She appears to have spiky hair and her pleated skirt flares out from her hips.

"I'm so proud of you."

Cairo sighs in defeat and closes her eyes, not wanting to strain them any longer from the bright light.

"I miss you," the voice says.

Cairo gasps. Could it be? "Mom? Is that you?" She tries to stand but her legs give out from under her. She crawls a few inches with her eyes shut tightly. "Mom!" She reaches out her hand and draws in a breath when she feels another hand holding onto hers. "I miss you too…"

"I'll see you again someday," her mother says, her grip loosening. "I promise."

"Please don't go!"

The sun shining through the hole in the mobile trailer warms her face. Her black hair lays scattered on the soft pillow and the cosy, blue blanket reaches just below her armpit. The birds happily chirp outside and the sound of rushing water from a nearby waterfall fills her ears. Her eyes slowly open and scan the trailer. She is surprised to see Joey laying on the floor sleeping along with Tristan and Duke. The last thing she remembers is them having to look for him after he ran off to find Dartz.

Dartz.

She stumbles off of the couch and runs outside, only to be greeted by fresh air and a soft breeze. They are no longer in the city, but at what seems to be a forest preserve. She walks up to a nearby river, viewing her reflection. The injuries that she had sustained in her last battle are all healed up and she feels almost as good as new. But why are they here of all places? The atmosphere is much different than before. It went from darkness and desperation to peace and quiet. Just how long was she asleep for?

A shadow appears alongside her of a familiar spiky haired figure. "Father," she says, turning around and immediately her heart drops. Same hair, same colored eyes, but more innocent and he is shorter. That's not her father. Her mouth drops when she realizes it's none other than Yugi standing there with a smile. "Yugi?!" She runs up to him and grabs his hands as he chuckles.

"Long time no see, Cairo," he greets.

"You're here! But how?" she asks. Is this a dream? How is it possible that he is standing in front of her right now? Have they even defeated Dartz yet? She needs answers.

"Well, you were asleep for quite a bit. But we finally were able to defeat Dartz with the help of the legendary dragons and the Egyptian God cards," he informs her. She drops his hands and places her hand on her chest as it pounds. This is way too much to take in. How in the world did she sleep through all that?

"I'm…glad to hear," she says, still trying to process this information. But at the end of the day, as long as he's here and peace has been restored, that's all that matters. Her father did exactly what he set out to do— not that she doubted him for one second.

"I just wanted to thank you for all your help."

"There's really no need."

"The pharaoh told me everything. How you're his daughter and how much you've helped along the way." He thinks back to when Cairo tried to save him from getting his soul taken by the Orichalcos. And even though she was unsuccessful, the fact that she went as far as to do that, meant a lot to him.

"It's no wonder why you were so tired," he continues. "You've done so much."

"It's nothing, really…"

"So what will you do now?"

"There's still more souls out there that I need to catch. I can still sense them." She looks down at her reflection in the water. "Hopefully now since Dartz is gone, none of them can get a hold of any strange powers."

"I hope so too. You've gone through enough already." He picks up a nearby pebble and throws it into the river. It bounces a few times before sinking and he tries it again. Fascinated by what he's doing, Cairo looks around for a rock that she can throw as well. Yugi tosses the small pebble into the water and he looks over at Cairo. His face drops when he sees her carrying a large boulder over her head with a blank stare.

"Uh…Cairo?" She throws the boulder and shoots across the river to the other side, crashing and toppling over a tree and Yugi sweat drops, laughing nervously.

"So where do you go from here?" she asks. But before he can answer, they hear quick footsteps running through the grass.

"Yugi!" Rebecca calls out with excitement as Téa, Joey, Tristan and Duke follow behind. Cairo takes one step to the side as Rebecca throws her arms around Yugi, causing him to lose his balance and fall. Téa's eye twitches, feeling very annoyed at the sight of them.

"Uh…hi Rebecca. Can you please let go now? I can't breathe," he says politely and she lets him stand.

"We got a message from Kaiba," Tristan informs him.

"He's holding a tournament tomorrow and he wants you, Rebecca and I to participate!" Joey says excitedly.

"He certainly didn't waste any time," Duke comments.

"Oh!" Is all Yugi manages to say. Joey tilts his head in confusion at his friend's response. He was expecting a much bigger reaction.

'What's wrong Yugi?' Yami asks, appearing beside him in ghost form.

'Well, I know you wanted to get the show going with finally fulfilling your destiny and uncovering the mysteries of your past.'

Yami chuckles. 'Thank you, Yugi. But it's alright. I've waited over 5,000 years to find out about my past. I really don't think a day or two is gonna hurt,' he assures him and Yugi smiles.

'Thanks pharaoh.'

"So are you down for the tournament or not?" Joey asks.

"Yeah! It should be a lot of fun! I can't wait!" Yugi replies. It would be nice to actually be able to duel for fun and not duel with everyone's lives hanging in the balance for a change.

"Will you be going too, Cairo?" Téa asks and the girl raises an eyebrow in suspicion, remembering the last time Téa asked her that same question and was stuck shopping with her for a day.

"If I say yes, will you subject me to your little shopping spree?"

Téa and the others laugh and begin to joke amongst each other and Yugi smiles at thought of them being able to hang out for a minute before going to the tournament.

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The streets are crowded with people, dressed appropriately with shorts, tank tops and flip flops due to the warm weather. It's no wonder Florida is called the Sunshine State. There's plenty of sunshine to go around and a lot of people seem to be in pleasant moods.

Cairo frowns, walking with her arms folded, having been bumped into far too many times. She is starting to think she should have stayed behind. Her eyes narrow and she groans, tapping her arm with her index finger. Yami appears alongside Yugi in his ghost form and they both exchange looks. Without saying a word, they nod and make a switch. Noticing the change, she looks at her father from the corner of her eye.

"You alright?" he asks as Téa, Tristan and Joey chatter about.

"This is not my kinda scene." She grunts when someone else bumps into her and she shoots them a glare. The guy with sunglasses, a black tank and red shorts whips around, shaking his fist at her.

"What where you're going kid!"

"Maybe you should do the same," Yami says defensively.

"What was that?!"

"Hey! Back off punk!" Joey says, coming to the rescue.

"Yeah! You're really pathetic yelling at a kid!" Tristan joins in to Cairo's surprise. To think at one point he wasn't fond of her. Now he's coming to her rescue. The man waves his hand dismissively and storms off.

Cairo smiles. "Thank you Tristan."

Joey smells a tasty aroma in the air and his stomach immediately begins to growl in response. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving! I'm gonna get a bite to eat!" He rushes off in the direction of the food and Tristan follows.

Téa shakes her head and then turns to the pharaoh. "I'm gonna go join them. You two should take this time to have some bonding time," she suggests with a smile. She knows that it is pretty unlikely that they will be able to have time like this to themselves again. She waves and then goes about her way.

"So…where would you like to go?" Yami asks.

"Anywhere but here," she replies with dimmed eyes after being bumped into again.

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Cairo breathes a sigh of relief as she and her father take a walk in the park. Compared to the busy streets, the park is a lot calmer and there aren't a lot of people around. She stretches her arms and puts her hands behind her back.

"Tell me, Cairo. What did you enjoy doing in the past?" Yami asks as they continue to walk down the dirt path.

"Hmmm…" She looks up in thought, having to dig deep into her memory bank to remember. "Well I liked to run around in the palace, practicing my spells any chance I could get. And play pranks on Priest Seto."

Yami blinks. "Seto?" She nods. "I had almost forgotten that there is a past version of him as well."

"Yeah. But you'd be pleased to find that he isn't as stubborn as this present version. He's actually quite loyal to you."

"Really?" That part shocks him. The present Seto is so bent on working alone, so he can't imagine Seto actually being loyal or taking orders from him.

She giggles. "Ah, you're gonna be in for loads of surprises when you finally revisit your past. Like who my mom is." They stop by a tree with a nearby bench and they sit down to catch their breath. Cairo smiles and swings her legs back and forth, thinking about her mother.

"What is she like?" Yami asks, gaining even more interest. It's definitely a question that has crossed his mind, but he hasn't put much thought into who her mother could be or what she looks like.

"You two are almost like complete opposites," she begins before chuckling. "You're serious and she's a bit goofy. But they say opposites attract, right?"

"That's what they say…" He looks up and folds his arms. There truly are many things he knows nothing about in regards to his past. All of this time, there has always been talks about him protecting Egypt. But to find out he had a whole family of his own? "Tell me more."

Cairo looks over at him. His eyes are now closed, as if he's trying visualize everything in his head that she's telling him. So she tries her best to paint a picture that he can clearly visualize. "Back then you'd always used to tell me that she was the calm in your storm. Much had occurred when you were on your way to becoming pharaoh. As you can probably already imagine, the journey of being prepared to be the King of Egypt is no easy task and it can be quite stressful." She smiles before continuing. "But mom had this…power…just her presence alone can brighten anyone's day."

"And…what did she look like?" He finds himself growing more and more curious as his daughter continues.

"She was beautiful. Slim, yet fit. Brown hair." She starts to list everything she can remember about her mom, the images appearing vividly in her mind. She remembers the strong embrace her mom would give her every morning. Or the kisses on the forehead before she went to bed at night. That cheerful voice, her smile and her strength. "I could go on and on about my mother. But I'd like to think, when you see her again, you'll know it's her. Because the bond between you two was strong."

Cairo leans back on the bench and sighs, her head lowering. "I miss her so much."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"

"No. No it's fine!" she assures him. "I just wish there was a way for the gods to reconsider their decision of banishing me to the Shadow Realm. I know it's been 5,000 years. But I wish they could see me for who I truly am."

"Cairo…"

"Once you're through fulfilling your destiny, you'll be reunited with your loved ones. I, on the other hand, will be sent back to my prison."

Yami clenches his fists and stands up to her surprise. It just doesn't seem fair for her to be banished for something that was out of her control. And her current actions should be more than enough proof to show that she is indeed good. "I won't let you stay trapped in the Shadow Realm forever."

Her eyes widen in shock. "What are you saying?"

"When that time comes for me to return to the afterlife, I will speak to the gods myself."

Cairo jumps up and he turns to kneel down to her. "But dad…" She lowers her eyes. In a brief moment she goes from feeling a glimmer of hope to realization that the gods might just deny his request. She doesn't want to get her hopes up. "What if they say no?"

He brings her chin up so that he's looking directly at her. Her amethyst eyes begin to water up as she fights to hold back the tears. "I promise you...I will do everything in my power."

"Dad…" The tears begin to fall and she runs into his chest to his surprise, but he quickly embraces her as she begins to sob, clenching onto his navy blue jacket. Although it is still uncertain as to whether or not the gods will go with his request, something deep inside tells her that her days of being a prisoner to the shadows are possibly numbered. Her father has never let her down in the past. So why now?

"I'm not going back to the afterlife without you." She has suffered for far too long and he refuses to let her suffer any longer. They pull away from each other and Cairo quickly wipes her tears, turning her head with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all emotional."

"There's nothing wrong with showing your emotions, Cairo. It's alright."

She wipes the remaining tears and smiles shyly. "Yeah, you're right. It's just...when you've been in the Shadow Realm so long, you're forced to be strong. Can't let anyone see you sweat or they think they can overpower you."

"Well when you're finally freed, you'll be able to finally relax," Yami says confidently.

Cairo smirks. "I'd like that very much."

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Sorry it took a while to update! But hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know in the reviews!