Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh

Authors notes: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I've been busy on my other fic, plus some other things that took my mind of it for a bit. Made me feel a little weird. I was asked out by someone last Saturday when I was at work. Completely threw me off what I was doing. Had no idea he liked me. Anyhoo, I wont bore you with my sad love life. This chapter is a little longer then usual as apology for taking so long to update.

Romi's new costume is on my deviant art page if you want to see it. Just click on my homepage in my bio.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

The Thieves of Ancient Egypt

Chapter 7: Second Meetings and Discoveries

It had been another month since Romi had woken from her blood poisoning sickness, and so far so good, she hadn't been recognised by anyone. The guards had searched the towns and villages high and low for any sign of the mysterious girl that had escaped through their tight circle of soldiers. They eventually began to wonder if she had died. After all, her injuries weren't minor. Where else could she have gone? The three men who were responsible for keeping Romi safe encouraged this rumour. Soon enough, that is what everyone believed.

The moment she was well enough, Romi began to work at the inn for Gheb by way of thanks for saving her life. She never imagined that she would enjoy working as a waitress at all, but to her amazement she did. The male customers were always trying cajole Romi with their 'charms' to which she always knocked them back, hurting their pride and masculinity but at the same time keep them coming back for more. There were probably the odd one or two that wouldn't hesitate to use underhanded means to get her, but the majority saw it as a kind of sport, to see who could win her over first.

She enjoyed the banter with the customers. Even though she wasn't interested, it was fun to play with them, just to see what they would do. Ever since Romi arrived, the place had been busier then ever before. She was very popular with the men and this very good as it meant bonuses and tips galore. To be honest, Romi liked being the center of attention. To know that she was better then everyone else.

Another thing that Romi now did was perform at the inn with a few other girls from the village. She was persuaded by Rebekah, one of Gheb's nieces, to dance as it was a good and easy way to earn some extra cash. It didn't take Romi long to save up enough money so she cold buy herself a new attire. The scribe uniform she wore wasn't the best thing to walk around in for someone hiding from palace officials. She bought herself some blue and pink fabric which was very expensive because of the dye. She used the fabric to create a long blue skirt that rested on her hips with a pink sash and used the remaining fabric to wrap around her chest.

Romi walked up the stairs from the secret cellar that had been converted into a bedroom to reach the bar. She smiled to herself; she couldn't remember ever being this happy with her life. Not since before she left home that is…

"That reminds me" thought Romi. "Maybe I should try talking to Gheb again to see if it's alright for me to go home now"

She knew that she didn't really need his permission to leave. She was free to go as she pleased, but he had looked after her and put his own neck on the line to keep her from being caught and almost certainly executed. She looked up to him in a way, almost like a father figure. And besides, he had informant's that passed to him information regarding goings on in the palace. Whatever was going on, he knew. That was how his business was still going. He'd know if it was safe for Romi to leave or not. She'd asked him several times before, but he had to decline. He said it wasn't safe yet. Sometimes Romi believed it would never be safe.

She pushed the trapdoor open and climbed up and out of the cellar, closing the thing behind her and straightening the mat concealing it. She stood up straight and brushed off her clothes of invisible dust and grime and made her way towards Gheb on the other side of the room. It was pretty quiet at the moment she noticed. There were only a few customers around enjoying a drink and a meal. It would be a different matter later on though she thought.

"Hey Gheb!" she called raising her hand catching the man attention.

"Yeah? What can I do for ya?" he asked, brushing breadcrumbs off the table.

"Well you can tell me what I want to hear for a start. Are they still looking for me or can I go home?"

Gheb stopped what he was doing and looked up at Romi. "Why do you keep asking me that? I thought you liked it here" he said with a groan.

"Yeah, I do, but I want to see my family. I haven't seen them since I was five" she knew he was going to try and stop her again.

Gheb took a deep breath. "I don't think it's a good idea"

Romi began to get angry. "So when will it be a good idea! Are you ever going to let me go home or are you going to keep me here until my dieing days?"

"Of course im not" he replied. "It's just too soon for you to be travelling around outside of town. It's safer here."

"Gheb, they all think im dead." She said in a matter of factly tone. "And they don't even know what I look like. I've changed my clothes and my wound is all healed. What are they going to do? Match up the hoof print my horse made on the poor dead soldiers back? I don't think so. And I don't think they are going to stop every girl that passes by either. That's just stupid. Come on, please? If they do stop me I can always feign innocence"

Romi looked up at Gheb, trying to put on her most innocent look. Her big amber eyes glinting from the small amount of light that streamed through the nearby window. Had he not known what she was like, Gheb might have fallen for it. But he knew that he couldn't keep refusing her.

"Alright then, but not because of the look you just gave me. I'll have a word with my informer to see what's going on at the palace. If he says it's alright, then I won't stop you"

Romi smiled and patted him on the shoulder in thanks before walking off in the direction of the bar. "I knew you'd see it my way" she said.

88888888 later that evening

Romi slipped between tables and groups of people as she attempted to take customers their drinks over. It was much busier then she had thought it would be, and it didn't help her mood that every time she passed by a group of rowdy men they pinched her rear, making her almost spill whatever it was she was carrying. The first few times, it was annoying but bearable. After the fiftieth time however Romi was ready to kill.

In order to save her sanity, she decided to go behind the bar with Gheb, away from wandering hands.

"How you holding up?" he asked sympathetically. He knew how irritable she must be right now.

"If one more person touches my ass, I'm going to tear him a new belly button!" she growled under her breath.

Gheb smirked to himself but hid it when he saw Romi glare at him. "Look, why don't you join the rest of the girls in the back room?" he suggested. "They're going to dance soon. Why don't you as well? You can let off some steam"

"Yeah…" murmured Romi as she made her way past Gheb. At least while she danced, the men wouldn't be allowed to touch her.

888888888888888 Enter Our Fave King of Thieves (round of applause)

Bakura slammed the door wide open, letting it bang against the wall. All the people who sat nearby jumped out of their skins at the sudden loud noise. Bakura smirked as he watched them try and compose themselves. He enjoyed doing that to people; it was one of his many sadistic qualities.

He strode over to a round table in the corner of the room and slumped down in the seat. A young woman came over to him shortly after.

"What can I get you?" she asked in a weary voice.

Bakura mmmm'd and ahhhh'd for a few minutes before ordering himself a big gourde of wine and chicken legs. The girl walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Bakura to muse about his plans. He leant back against the wall and grinned. The money from his last heist had almost gone and it was time to get ready for the next raid. He pondered about whether or not he should go after the pharaoh Akunumkanon's treasure next, but decided he would give the new pharaoh a chance to recover from his emotional scars before he ripped them open again.

These pleasant thoughts were interrupted when the music stopped suddenly. He looked up to see the musicians preparing for another song. They began to play a fast, exotic tune that had everyone dancing along to in their seats. Bakura rolled his eyes at their idiocy. However, he perked up a bit when he saw a line of young, scantily clad women enter the room. His pale cloudy blue eyes followed every movement they made as they twisted and turned to the music. Unruly catcalls echoed throughout the room as the dancers' movements became more and more flirtatious and seductive to their audience.

The girls all looked like they were enjoying the attention they got from the audience, all except one that is. Bakura studied the face of the amber eyed girl. Her expression was the complete opposite of the other girls. It was emotionless and blank, almost like she couldn't hear or see the people in front of her.

Bakura watched this particular female as she performed. The way she moved in time to the music was seamless, perfection in Bakura's opinion. She was slim and curvaceous and was very well endowed in the cleavage department. He began to fantasise what it would be like to have his way with her in bed, snapping out of it when his food was brought over to him.

"Who is that girl at the end?" He asked the waitress, pointing towards the dancer at the end of the line.

The girl looked to where Bakura was pointing to and squinted her eyes. "Oh, that's Romi. Forget it mister, you wont get anywhere with her" she said, walking off again.

"We'll see about that" Bakura said to himself as he watched the women finish their dance.

888888888888

The dance finally came to an end much to Romi's relief. The audience stood up from their seats cheering them for an encore. The girls were about to comply, but Romi caught them before they could snap their fingers.

"Don't give them what they want!" she hissed. "Let them wait until next time"

They all returned to the room they came from to change back into their normal clothes. Romi was glad that was over. Now all she had to do was survive the rest of the night. The only thing that made her feel better was knowing that tomorrow she would be going home to see her family. Gheb had had a word with his contact; completely unawares that's Romi was standing behind him. She overheard the man say it was safe and chose that moment to make herself known. Gheb knew he couldn't refuse her now, so agreed to let her go, with an escort of course. His nephew Khonsu was going to go with her to make sure she was safe.

Romi frowned at the thought. She didn't need a babysitter. Khonsu wasn't exactly the strongest man in the village, hey; he wasn't even a proper man in her opinion. He was the same age as Romi, maybe a little older, but looked a lot younger then he actually was.

"Easy picking for brigands" she thought to herself.

She made her way back out into the bar and began to pour herself a drink much to her employers annoyance. She was just enjoying her drink when Rebekah came up to her.

"Hey Romi, guess what I just found out" she said staring at her with big shiny eyes.

"What?" asked Romi in a monotone voice. She wasn't in the mood for games right now.

"Well, you see that man over in the corner? He was asking about you apparently" she titled her head sideways.

Romi shifted her gaze towards the direction Rebekah was hinting at to see a man with shoulder length white hair staring at her. He took a swig from his drink, all the while his piercing blue eyes never moving from her face. Romi rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her friend.

"Wonderful, another admirer" she muttered sarcastically.

"He looks cute, why don't you go over and talk to him?" urged Rebekah.

"Because I don't want to. I've had enough of men, always trying to tie me down in one way or another. I say to hell with them…" she took another long sip of her drink.

Rebekah snickered to herself as she walked off to a group of men calling for her. Romi didn't want to mingle with the boisterous punters tonight, but she did. She left Romi to her own miserable self and went off to enjoy herself.

As soon as she was on her own again, Romi noticed movement from the corner of her eye. She turned her head slightly to see the man with white hair come towards her. As he came closer, she noticed he had a scar on his right cheek, or rather three scars that overlapped. She could tell from a glance that he wasn't just a weak everyday villager as his body was covered in muscle, but not too much. She realised that she had been looking at him too long and didn't want him to think she was interested so she looked away again returning to her drink.

He stopped at the bar right in front of her and crossed his arms, resting them on the counter. He stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to look at him again. Romi simply ignored him and walked to the other end. Bakura raised a brow in amusement. So she was playing hard to get eh? He followed Romi to her new spot.

"Romi isn't it?" he asked, knowing full well that was her name.

"Wow, five minutes after someone tells you my name and you still remember it, what a dreamboat. I can tell that you're not being led by the large thing under your kilt" she said sarcastically.

Bakura looked at her in amusement. "Fiery aren't you? I like that; it makes a change from the other girls I've been with"

"What do you mean 'it makes a change?' There isn't going to be a change because im not interested. Why don't you ask one of the other girls here? There has to be at least one of them looking for a good time" she muttered, walking of to clear a nearby table.

Bakura smirked at Romi and waited for her to return with the empty gourds and plates of uneaten food. The moment she put them down Bakura saw his chance to wind her up. He walked up behind Romi and snaked his strong arms around her waist, pulling her into his chest and biting her neck from behind. Romi's eyes grew wide in horror and shock when she realised what was happening, but by then he had already let go of her and was halfway towards the exit.

She stared at him as he turned around and waved at her, a smirk playing on his lips. She was fuming. Romi touched her neck where he had bitten her and saw that there was a small amount of blood on her fingers. He had drawn blood. Romi stormed out of the inn to confront that man. How dare he have the audacity to touch her like that?

She pushed the doors wide open and looked out onto the deserted street. He had disappeared from view. That was odd. She tried to think of where he could have gone when suddenly a familiar pair of arms once again made their way around her waist. This time, she was turned around to come face to face with the very man she was looking for.

Bakura looked into her amber eyes hungrily. He was about to lean in and claim her lips when suddenly he felt his jaw go numb. He let go of Romi and touched his face where he had been struck. This girl was unusually stronger then she looked. Romi looked back at him triumphantly.

"That's payback for what you did here!" she growled, gesturing to her still bleeding neck.

"I guess I deserved that, but now you need to be punished for what you did to me…"

Romi's smile disappeared as she saw Bakura coming towards her with a mischievous grin on his face. She didn't know what he had planned, but she knew she wouldn't like it. She turned on her heel and sprinted off in the opposite direction, Bakura hot on her heels. Normally, she could outrun most men, it was an ability she was very proud of, but this man was rapidly gaining ground behind her. He was obviously used to running at high speeds.

After a little while Romi finally admitted defeat. It pained her to think that, but she knew she couldn't outrun him for long. He was a lot bigger then she was. She twisted to the side so he shot past her and stopped in her tracks, holding her hands up. Bakura turned around ready to race again thinking that last move was a ploy to gain her some distance, but saw her standing there, out of breath and looking very aggravated.

"What do you want from me?" she said in an abrupt tone.

"Well, I was hoping you'd like to come and warm my bed…" he trailed off, licking his lips. Romi wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"No! I wouldn't sleep with you if we were the last two people on this earth! Even if the future of mankind depended on our being together I still wouldn't do it!"

"Are you sure? I can show you a really good time" continued Bakura, tracing a finger along her jaw line. Romi threw his hand away.

"What a shame" he said, shaking his head in pity for the girl.

He was about to advance on Romi when a group of drunkards fell out of the inn, singing loudly and hanging off of each other. While his attention was diverted, Romi took the chance and ran off into a nearby alley. She looked around her surroundings; trying to find somewhere she could hide and saw some barrels. She climbed on top of the largest one and hoisted herself onto the balcony just above it. She crouched down and peered through the tiny gaps in it. Romi could see the white haired man still standing in the streets. He was now looking around trying to see where she had run off to.

Romi smirked as she watched his puzzled expression turn to anger. She made herself comfortable and laughed mentally as she watched him stalk off back to the inn. She stood up and went into the room adjoining the balcony. Inspecting the room, it was nothing special, just a place to store things. She found a ladder that lead out onto the roof of the building. There she found planks of wood placed across the gaps. Shrugging to herself, she walked across them with ease, not once loosing her balance. Eventually, she found herself near the roof of the inn.

She jumped across the last gap and opened the hatch to go inside. She didn't want to go downstairs. That strange man would be there, and she couldn't deal with the customers tonight either. Instead, Romi found herself a spare guest room and made herself comfortable on the bedsheets. She closed her eyes and drifted off in the comfort that tomorrow she would be going home again at long last.

88888888888 next day

Romi smiled as she thought about her family. How long it had been since she last saw them. She wondered what their reaction would be to see her again. She couldn't wait. Khonsu and Romi had been on the road for a long time now. So far there was no trouble from bandits and the like. Khonsu had no idea exactly where it was they were going. He just left the navigation to Romi. She had learnt a thing or two about it from the maps in the library.

"We should be there by sunset!" called Romi to the man behind her.

The sun was scorching hot and they were beginning to feel it through their travel robes. Romi adjusted the fabric around her head and face to cool herself a little. She was thankful when they eventually came to an oasis. They rested there for a while to eat and water the horses, and stayed in the shade of the palm trees until the sun began to descend to a comfortable position in the sky.

They started off again, feeling much more refreshed then they had been before. Romi's heart began to thump excitedly as she saw an outcrop on a cliff in the distance. She would recognise rock anywhere. The sun was beginning to set now; the sky was orange with gold streaks across it.

By the time they reached the entrance to the valley, the sky had darkened to blood red. As they entered the valley, Romi couldn't help but feel a sense of worry. There was something in the air that told her things weren't as they should be. She brushed the feeling off, believing it to be her nervousness at seeing her family again. Soon buildings came into view. Romi looked puzzled, there were no people about. How strange, there were always people about no matter what time it was.

Khonsu squinted his eyes and looked at the place surrounding him. His eyes widened suddenly as he realised what had happened to the place. He looked at Romi who hadn't yet noticed as she was too wrapped up in thought, wondering why everyone was inside their homes. Should he tell her now or let her figure it out for herself? He didn't get the chance to decide, because something had caught her attention.

Romi had jumped off her horse and ran towards her old home. The village drew nearer and nearer and she could finally see why the streets were deserted. There was no one here, not even inside. The buildings were in ruins, with little to no belongings left inside of the people who had lived there. Romi found herself entering any and all buildings she could, just to see if there was anyone around at all. Distressed, she ran towards her old house. It wasn't as badly damaged as the others, but it was still in bad shape. She looked inside, hoping to find her mother and father sitting there waiting for her, but there was nothing… literally. It had been looted a long time ago.

She walked slowly into the house, taking in her surroundings and went into her old bedroom. Her things were gone. the only thing that caught her attention was a scarf, darkened by age. Romi recognised it instantly. It was her mothers. She used to wear it outside as a veil to cover herself from the sun. Romi slowly reached out and carefully took a hold of it, as if it were to disintegrate to moment she laid a finger on it. She brought the scarf to her face. Her mothers scent had long since disappeared. It was musty and smelt of death.

The last time Romi had cried, was when she had left this place all those years ago, and now that she had returned, so did the tears.

"What happened?" she cried to herself in a whisper. "Mother…. Father….."

Romi felt a comforting hand, rest on her shoulder. It was Khonsu.

"I think I know who did this…" he started, unsure of whether or not he should finish what with Romi feeling so down.

She looked up at him, her eyes glistening with fresh tears. The look she gave him urged him to continue. Khonsu held up an old spear to her.

"Recognise this?" he asked, certain that she would.

Romis eyes narrowed when she saw the item. It was exactly the same kind of spear that was forced into her leg. That same kind that the guards used at the palace…

"The deceased pharaoh did this…" she said, realising the truth. "He killed my family and friends…"

Khonsu watched as Romi's tears were replaced by anger and hate. He wondered if coming here was a good idea after all.

"He won't get away with this" she growled through gritted teeth. "I will make sure that I get revenge for what he has done to me. a shame he's dead, but fortunate that his son isn't. Yet…"

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Sorry it's taken so long to update. I've been busy. Well, now Romi knows. What will she plan next? Even I'm not completely sure. I'll have to have a think, but I have an idea. Let me know any ideas you might like to see happen. ill see if it fits the plot and put it in. if not, ill try and write it to fit the plot. Its all good! Get brainstorming people!

Hope you liked this chapter. it had a nice Bakura scene in there for ya. Oh, and by the way. Romi is going to get nice and nasty for those who wanted to see her as a bad girl. she may even start killing and stuff. You never know.

Review please. And thanks for giving this fic over 80 reviews so far. I hope that there will be more new readers. Enjoy.