I…have no excuse. All I can say is I'm sorry it took me this long to post this. I just hope it was sort of worth the super long wait.

Please excuse any errors in this and if things don't seem to flow together. Had to write this in stages.

Please R&R!

Disclaimer – I do not own Mummy or its characters. I don't even own the plot. All I own is the character I stuck in so that Ardeth could have some romance in his life.

Twice In A Lifetime – He began stalking toward her with a possessive gleam in his eyes. "Life in the desert is harsh." She nervously backed up a step for each one he took, mouth dry. He stopped in front of her after her back bumped into a tree trunk and placed his hands on either side of her head. "You better not regret your choice later." He breathed against her lips as his hands tangled in her hair.

Chapter Seven – Saying Goodbye

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He was not happy, that much was certain. She grimaced inwardly at his angry expression – really, did he really think she would just gallop off into the sunlight and leave him to potentially die in the upcoming fight? He would be a complete idiot to believe she wouldn't put up a fuss of some kind. Besides, the Naeemah within her screamed to never let him leave her behind again; after all, that was how he had gotten killed in the first place over three thousand years prior, fighting against the high priest. The heartbroken priestess had almost wasted away if not for her best friend the Egyptian princess. Memories from that time were filled with seemingly never ending darkness, consent longing, overwhelming loneliness and crushing despair. Naeemah had really loved Amun.

Surprisingly, he didn't immediately start railing her as soon as their horses were parallel. Ardeth jerked a hand up, somehow sending a signal to one of the twelve commanders riding close behind the two. After speaking one word in Arabic (she barely caught the end of it because of his low tone) and giving Naomi a pointed look, he urged his charcoal horse forward with a gentle nudge contrary to what showed on his face, not even looking back to see if she followed. Naomi let out a puff of annoyed air. Never mind she would do what he had implied with his actions anyway, it still would've been nice for him to actually ask her the question out loud instead.

She just really hoped this wouldn't last long. Her stubborn mind was already made up and there was nothing he could do to change it.

Some space was created for the forthcoming argument. Silence pressed heavy on her shoulders. It wasn't like the ones previous; those had been comfortable, without a pressing need to talk just to fill the silence. This one had her stomach knotting, back rigid, mind fumbling around a very simple question of who would break the thick ice first.

Naomi chewed on her bottom lip. Stupid Medjai and their old fashioned practices. She knew he came from a tribe that believed a woman's place was at home. Men were the ones capable of riding off to battle with honor and glory.

Yet that fact didn't necessarily apply to her. She wasn't Medjai after all.

Determination, along with the rather unpleasant thought of going crazy with worry over him should she go back after all, steeled her resolve. Glancing at the stoic man riding beside her with a stony face, she heaved a silent sigh.

'Might as well go out swinging.'

"I'm not going back."

There, she stated the obvious.

"Oh yes you are."

And…he ruined it.

Frustration swelled at his final tone. She dug her fingers into the palm of her hand. "Ardeth," she groaned in exasperation. "I'm not arguing about this." Her stomach flip-flopped when he turned his eyes to her. Several strong emotions swirled inside his dark brown depths, two becoming more prominent the longer she stared into them. The fierce protectiveness almost made her swoon – she was a woman for pete's sake – though the underlying fear was shadowed by his understandable ire. She idly wondered what he could possibly be afraid of.

His gaze slid away a moment later, letting her breath easier. Whenever those soulful eyes landed on her, all her fight flew right through the nearest open window. It wasn't very fair yet it seemed to her he knew about the effect…and loved using it against her.

Time for a distraction.

"How would you feel if the situation were reserved?" There was a tiny curious part of her that wanted to know what he would actually do.

Ardeth gave her a long look that spoke volumes. "There wouldn't be a need."

Her jaw dropped incredulously. He had just balantly ignored the too real fact she could fight for herself, as she had proved back in England before this whole journey to find her kidnapped nephew.

Oooh, this man was infuriating.

"You're going to have to bodily drag me away then." She snapped once regaining her momentarily lost wits. "That's if I don't hogtie myself to your horse first." All he did was chuckle at her distress.

She silently fumed as their horses continued moving forward; why couldn't he understand? All she wanted was to be with him. She guessed him sending her back to his home in Egypt was his way of expressing how he felt about her. Refusing to comply was hers. If they shared the same connection, why did he think her going crazy with worry over him help keep her alive?

Her shoulders slumped, eyes downcast. That was the problem wasn't it? He wanted her alive so not riding into battle against the Army of Anubis accomplished that. He probably didn't stop to think about what would happen should he die. The will to live would be lost. It was crazy how deep her feelings for the Medjai had developed in so short a space of time.

Shrugging off that depressing road, Naomi looked at the Medjai king. Ardeth was scanning the desert before them, a crease forming on his forehead. The concentrated look made Naomi wonder if time had been in her favor. A stragety she hadn't expected to play out yet it seemed now he would have no choice but to let her stay by his side.

"Besides," she smirked confindently, bringing his wayword attention back to her, "Who's going to save your sorry hide when an Anubis warrior kicks your butt?" He raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. She kept the smirk in place while grinning sheepishly inside her mind.

When. Not if.

"You think I'll lose?" He asked in a low tone.

She rolled her eyes. "Actually lose? Probably not." She grinned. "Have your butt handed to you though? Most definitely."

The Medjai king unwillingly felt a smile forming. For a brief moment, an image of Naeemah covered Naomi. It rallied the Amun part of him to stand firm. If truth be told, it wasn't Naomi's fault at all for his protests about her tagging along. His past self (and probably his present as well if he was totally honest with himself) had been, and apparently still was, adamant about keeping Naeemah (who was a part of Naomi) out of harm's way.

And going into battle against the Army of Anubis was definitely violatimg that.

.

A sudden gust of hot wind whipped their hair back. Dread built as an unusual dark cloud crested over the horizon in front of them. Naomi glanced at her partner in life, found his lovely dark brown eyes on her, hand on the hilt of his scimitar. After handing a second scimitar to her that had been hidden somewhere in his billowing black robes, Ardeth raised his other hand to signal the rest of the Medjai army to stop. The cloud became a shadow moving swiftly across the golden brown desert sands towards them. Naomi grimaced when she spotted a top half of a scorpion guiding the shadow along.

This was it.

This had to be the famous Army of Anubis.

The scorpion king had been awakened then and now it was up to them to put back down his undead army friends. Naomi's gut churned at the sheer width of the shadow before them.

They…were probably doomed.

"So it begins," Ardeth spoke softly in Arabic.

The shadow stopped then seemed to sink right into the ground, turning the once golden brown grains gray. It puckered up and settled down once, tons of smaller individual bits forming mountains within the shadow itself. Each morphed into a jackal standing on its hind legs with a varity of weapons in their hands. The jackals shook off some darks grains as they organized themselves in neat rows while the commander stood out in the very front.

Naomi swallowed thickly at the rather large amount that had surfaced and couldn't help muttering her rising fear.

"We're…gonna die."

Ardeth looked her skeptically. "With that kind of thinking, yes." Then he turned his horse sideways and rode off down the line of Medjai. She watched him go silently, somehow knowing he was trying to gage just how big the army actually was. He came back a bit later, scimitar resting by his side, face grim. Giving Naomi a tight smile, Ardeth raised his weapon in the air and shouted a battle cry in Arabic. Echoes of the same shout followed his own and mixed with the ringing sound of metal being drawn. Naomi subconsciously gripped her scimitar in a death grip, heart pounding madly, emerald eyes hard and a little scared. She caught Ardeth rotating his right wrist before yelling another word in his native tongue and charging forward in her perphional vision.

Naomi automatically kicked her horse to a gallop, staying near Ardeth's flank, eyes never straying from the upcoming fight. The thundering sound of a thousand hoofs pounding across the ground pulsed inside her ears and she tried not to think about the possibility of never seeing her brother again. All that mattered was putting down some undead jackal butt and returning with the Medjai king to his homeland. Some part of her knew she would more than likely be separated from Ardeth yet her memories from her previous life included a very handy perk – Naeemah had been well trained in the art.

The jackal commander was eventually overtaken by its soldiers, much the same way with the Medjai. Naomi swallowed thickly as the two armies finally began clashing. Metal hitting against metal, loud cries of pain or victory, the swishing noise when a jackal was beheaded and disinagrated to grains that were swept away by the wind filled the air. She casually sliced off a jackal's head that had been aiming to impale her, eyes flying to her side when something shiny came in her direction. Ducking the thrown spear, she hacked another jackal's head from its body, grimacing as the black dust went straight into her face. She immediately tried clearing her vision, forgetting for the moment where she was.

"Naomi!" The sudden frantic call of her name had her bending over her horse, still spitting out dark particles. Her horse jumped over a couple of unmoving black robed bodies and she slid sideways from the jarring impact of the animal hitting the ground again. One hand held onto the brown leather saddle for dear life while the other with the weapon cut an arm off a nearby jackal. She found it was very hard to defend oneself while trying not to fall off their horse running at high speeds.

I need to somehow get off this darn horse.

Naomi managed to free her leg curved across the saddle with difficulty, eyes flying from one enemy to the next. When the horse rammed into a pack of undead jackals, she pushed against the animal at the split second delay and rolled through rough sand grains. Once her momentium stopped, she spat out some desert sand, body aching from the less than graceful landing. The sound of metal ringing through air made her jerk sideways, a wickedly curved sword hitting the sand right where her head had been. She kicked a leg upwards, catching the jackal's arm and dislodging its hold on its weapon. Flipping onto her feet, she raised her scimitar to slice off the undead creature's head, the black grains shifting away with the gentle breeze.

Panting heavily, Naomi twirled around on a single foot, scimitar zinging right through the jackal sneaking up behind her. It snarled and thrust its spear at her unprotected chest. She danced out of harm's way, her weapon ending its misery. She shook her head to dispel the collecting particles and searched for the Medjai king. Her prediction had been correct – they were already separated and she needed to stay alive.

She saw Medjai fighting against the undead army with everything they had. It looked to be an even match, the body count rising as the jackals were disingrated to dust. Adrenaline spiked inside her blood the more she hacked off a jackal's head, earning cuts, bruises and even torn clothing for her efforts. All sense of time faded as the battle raged on. Her only thought was getting back to Ardeth's side so she could whack him upside the head for ever thinking he could've done this on his own, without her help.

After what seemed like days, the infamous undead Army of Anubis slowly began retreating. Naomi was able to spot the Medjai king as some of his warriors chased the scattering jackals. He sliced off the last one foolish enough to not run, gaze lifting to meet hers. She nodded at his unspoken question while carefully picking her way to him. They had lost a lot of good men because of this battle and the consequences were going to need to be dealt with. But that could also happen at a later time.

The surviving Medjai loudly cheered, thinking they had prevailed. Naomi had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, warning her of impending danger, stifling any thoughts of joining in the celebration. Ardeth looked around him, not cheering as well – which only worried her further.

She voiced her troubling thoughts once beside him. "That's can't be all."

"This isn't over yet," he agreed quietly. He reached up a hand, trailing his fingers down her cheek. She smiled at the affectiate gesture and gently tugged one of his long dark locks in response. It was their own way of reaffirming the other was alive and well. Maybe a little worse for wear and tired as heck but still breathing.

Her head whipped to the side when she heard a rumbling noise in the distance. Knowing Ardeth had heard the foreboding sound, she turned around to start racing between the men, Ardeth right at her heels. The warriors stopped their joyous cheering and followed after them to the crest of a hill. Naomi halted next to him, eyes searching for the cause of the dread filling noise, scimitar resting at her side. She sucked in a sharp breath at a stretching ebony line on the horizon.

A huge horde of jackals running straight for the Medjai materialized from the wave, the sheer amount almost making her faint in hopelessness. There was no way their mediocre army could kill that many. It just wasn't feasible.

And I thought it had been bad before!

"God help us," Ardeth muttered in his native tongue.

Naomi snorted then murmured, "We're gonna need it."

Black was all they could see. Wave after wave of undead jackals come over the horizon and seemed never ending. The Medjai warriors looked to their king for guidance though he rested his eyes on the woman standing proudly beside him after merely glancing to both his sides. She knew what this fight would mean – one of them might not make it out alive. Her jaw set in a grim line. The reality that she didn't even get to spend some quality alone time with him yet brought tears prickling her emerald eyes.

He raised his scimitar and yelled, "'till death!" His courageous men copied his movements, shouting the same words back to him.

"If you die on me, I'll never forgive you!" She told him balefully over the noise. Ardeth chuckled at her unsaid order then lightly kissed her forehead. Now was not the time for anything else. That was the best she was going to get for a just in case goodbye.

Not that she would ever let him leave her again.

Nothing more was said as they waited for the vast horde to reach them. This was probably the real size of Anubis's army. Naomi could feel cold fear welling up inside her, swirling together with the stubborn determination. This wasn't going to end well, she just knew it. Ardeth had gripped his weapon tightly and she subconsciously stepped closer to him, needing his silent strength. Her fingers clenched the scimitar between her hands in a white knuckled grip. Their enemies were fast approaching now.

She tried to breathe deep, readying herself for the upcoming hard fight. Then suddenly, the huge army was dusted, the black particles rushing over them. Throwing an arm protectively over her face, body bending sideways from the force, she waited until after she didn't feel any grains hitting her to slowly look up, seeing nothing but golden brown sand. Glancing at the Medjai to her side only confirmed what she had already been hoping.

The Army of Anubis had been vanquished. Rick must have killed the Scorpion King, thereby saving them all. Naomi squealed in joy, clapping her hands together, showing a more childish side she usually kept hidden.

It was finally over.

Ardeth lifted his arms to the sky and shouted, the warriors behind him copying his actions. Naomi rolled her eyes at the typical male behavior for victory. There were other, more pleasant ways, to celebrate victory in her opinion. The loud noise continued for several seconds and she finally got tired of it. Swiftly reaching up to grab the collar of his robes, she yanked him down to her level, cutting off his shout by pressing a kiss to his still opened mouth. She merely smirked after releasing him at the look on his face.

"What?" She shrugged, keeping a light hold on the dark material. "You weren't stopping."

The explanation made him chuckle before surprising her by picking her up and twirling her around. It was so unlike him that she could only stare at him in pure shock, not quite conprihending the action. He bent down, almost like he was heading to fully kiss her but was frozen by the sudden bellow from behind the Medjai. They whirled around as one to see an enormous black cloud high in the air in the distance. A face within the cloud looked to be in pain but it disappeared below the mountain just as swiftly as it had appeared. The resulting earthquake like ripple made Naomi stagger into Ardeth, his arms automatically holding her for support.

"What the…?" She uttered in confusion. The Medjai king shared a look with the reincarnated priestess then realization dawned across his face.

"I think," he started, staring down at her with a tender glint in his dark brown eyes, "that O'Connell accomplished his goal."

Naomi grinned as she found her footing in the sand. "So does this mean everything is finally over?" She kept a hand in his as Ardeth led her back through the once again celebrating Medjai warriors, him nodding at her question along the way.

"Let's go home."

She had a good laugh when they came across his wayward horse mindlessly chewing on something a few yards past the black robed army. He immediately swung up onto the saddle then held a hand out to her. Using it as leverage, she landed behind him and slipped her arms around his waist. He turned the animal in the direction she assumed his home was in, smiling brightly upon spotting the repaired dirigible in the sky ahead of them.

"May Allah watch over you, my friends." Ardeth kissed his fingers before touching them to his forehead. Naomi happily waved at the people aboard and hoped her brother wasn't too mad because of what she had decided. As the dirigible ascended higher, the black horse reared onto its hind legs, making her tighten her hold on Ardeth so she wouldn't fall from the saddle.

After the horse landed, he placed a hand over hers and turned to look back at her. "Do you regret not being given the chance to say goodbye to your brother?"

"No," she laughed quietly, having already known the answer to that question, "I think he'll understand."

He smiled softly, facing forwards once again, nudging his horse to start walking. She pressed her cheek against his back, knowing this was the beginning of her life with him.

And honestly, she was happier than she could ever remember.

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Oh and I might add an epilogue that just might have some spice between Ardeth and Naomi. If anybody wants them to "get it on" so to speak then I'll need you to tell me please.

Thanks for reading!

Lightning Mistress

Also a major major thank you to these people for their reviews – SNOstorm, silverimon, LillyoftheNile, CeffylGwyn, i'mgonefromherw, Skyward, MusicLover, LittleRin26, Fairy Princess Yuugi, Avalanet, AcaciaDawn105, Guest, LiLou-Wolf-Fox, PheonixTears589, emmatrinket, ThePhantomismyLove, and RayOFTheDawn.