Twilightknight1594: I'm just going to take a minute to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July. I hope everyone has fun with whatever they are doing to celebrate, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Hello everyone!" Ryou called as he and Bakura walked in. It was nine o'clock in the morning and he and Bakura had been out all night and, while he was still aware that it was early, he had been sure that at least one person would be awake. He was sadly mistaken. Joey sat draped over the side of the chair, Tea was lying on the couch, Tristan had, somehow, fallen asleep on the floor, and Yugi, his grandpa, and Atem were nowhere to be seen.

"Well this is a lively bunch." Bakura said as he surveyed the area. "Where do you suppose his highness is?"

"Probably upstairs in the guest room. Unless he didn't get back last night…" Ryou said, wondering if that was indeed the case. Bakura just scoffed at that and walked up the stairs and down the hall, stopping in the middle of the hall and looking at two doors, one on each end. "What are you doing?" Ryou whispered. He, unlike a certain someone, was trying to not wake everyone up.

"Who do you think would be more fun to terrorize: Yugi or his highness? Or I could go after the old man…"

"That'd give him a heart attack!"

"If that man hasn't had one yet, I highly doubt that he will. But if you insist…Yugi it is." Bakura walked to the door to his left and pushed it open to reveal Yugi sleeping soundly.

"But I didn't say that!" Bakura ignored Ryou and just went right into Yugi's room. "What are you going to do to him?" Ryou asked as he walked over to where Bakura now stood, looming over Yugi.

"Calm down. It's not like I'm going to kill him."

"Then what…"

"Something I used to do to my sister." Bakura said as he sat down on the floor next to the bed. /Now, what would work in this case…Hereret didn't like scorpions but I can do better here. Hmm…./ Bakura thought for a second more before Yugi gave him the perfect idea.

"Tea, how about we go get some ice cream?" Yugi said drearily as he rolled over, now facing away from Bakura. Ryou slightly laughed at that statement and Bakura nearly did the same.

"He's dreaming about being on a date with Tea!"

"Apparently so. If he likes her that much you'd think he would have asked her out by now." Bakura got up and moved around to the other side of the bed so Yugi could hear him and got a little closer.

"What are you going to do?"

"Influence his dream."

"What? Why? How?" Ryou hoped he didn't mean with some kind of Shadow Magic.

"Just talking to a sleeping person is enough to do it. Now, hush and let's see what happens." Ryou would have protested more but he was actually very curious to see if it would work.

"Yugi." Bakura said, trying to sound nonthreatening. "Yugi, enjoying your date?" Bakura paused for a few seconds until there was a quiet "Yeah" from Yugi. "Is Tea enjoying her ice cream?" Again, Yugi responded, and said something about gummy bears that neither Bakura nor Ryou could understand so he just skipped it. "I'm glad you're enjoying your little fantasy, seeing as you clearly don't have the courage to actually let that happen in reality, but I'm curious, is someone else there?" Yugi's face went from a blissful smile to a slightly concerned frown.

"Huh?" was all Yugi said.

"You know, someone who looks like you, is about an inch taller, is stronger than you, wiser than you, and in just about every way better than you?" Yugi's face got more worried. "That's right, the Pharaoh. Where is his highness? I was sure that Tea was looking forward to seeing him. After all, he's the real person she wants to go on a date with, right? Not you."

"What are you saying? This is supposed to be fun." Ryou said, not liking where this was going, and even more so the look on Yugi's very sad face.

"It will be when he wakes up. I made Hereret jump clear out of bed one time by making her think that scorpions were in it. She used to be terrified of those things."

"I don't care. Move over. I have an idea." Bakura looked at Ryou doubtfully.

"And it is…?"

"Just move over before he wakes up." Bakura got up and Ryou sat down next to Yugi, hoping he could fix this. "Yugi." There was no response. "Yugi."

"Hm.."

"Yugi, look around. Do you see a billboard anywhere?" Both Bakura and Yugi got a confused look on their faces.

"A…bill..board..?"

"Yes, a billboard. You know, the one that has a certain picture of you from when you were four?" Yugi suddenly looked very worried.

"Not…"

"Yes. Isn't it cute? I bet Tea loves it." At that Yugi's eyes flung open and he shot up.

"No Tea, I hate worms I swear!" Both Ryou and Bakura looked at each other and then back at Yugi and then burst out laughing. Yugi turned around and saw them and got very irritated.

"What are you two doing in my room?"

"I…I'm sorry Yugi, but…we got in and everyone…th-they were asleep so ..ha..we came up here." Ryou said between laughs.

"And what were you doing sitting on the ground next to my bed?" Both Bakura and Ryou were still laughing too much to answer and Yugi just looked at them, puzzled, until it hit him. "You guys were trying to give me bad dreams by talking to me weren't you?"

"Not…bad dreams Yugi. J-Just..slightly amusing."

"How's the worm episode from when I was four funny?" Yugi asked, no longer irritated, but angry. Bakura just smirked.

"I'm not sure Yugi, but I guarantee that Tea enjoyed it." Yugi blushed so red you would have thought that he had just come back from the beach with a really bad sunburn, which caused both Bakura and Ryou to laugh more while Yugi got out of bed and ran down the hall. It was a few moment later that they heard some feint stirring. "That will be the Pharaoh."

"Then let's get downstairs." Ryou said as he picked himself up.

"Curiosity. How did you know about that picture?" Bakura asked as they made their way down.

"Quite honestly I didn't. I was just trying to turn his dream out of whatever nightmare you had changed it into. But now I really want to know." Bakura just looked at him for a moment and then continued laughing, waking up Tea and Tristan.

"Uh…what time is it?" Tea asked, rubbing her eyes.

"It's nine thirty. Good morning." Ryou said as cheerily as he had the first time.

"Where were you guys?" Tristan asked from his spot on the floor.

"We went to the apartments where the Pharaoh and I were kept hostage to see if there was anything that could tell us who that piece of camel…" Ryou looked at him with a look that meant 'Please no swearing.' "…dung, was working with. Sadly, there was nothing."

"You guys went back there alone? That's nuts!" Tristan said, now standing up.

"Well, we had to go and see. We didn't find anything so it's not like it will be causing your father any problems."

"Yeah Bakura but what if someone had found you?"

"Then I would have handled it." Tristan looked down and sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this one.

"Hey, Ryou, what's that stuff?" They looked by the door to where Tea was pointing and there was a small bag sitting by the door.

"Oh, that's some cat food that I got on the way back. You see, yesterday I stopped in an alley and there were some stray cats who looked very hungry so on the way back I got some food to feed them."

"And I'd say you made a new friend by doing so Ryou." Yugi's grandpa came down the stairs still in his pajamas and stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Look, he's waiting for you by the door right now." A simple meow was all that was necessary for Ryou to get his meaning.

"Socks!" The cat sprinted over and jumped on Ryou, climbing on top of his head. Then there was another meow and another cat came and jumped on Joey, waking him up, and then jumped on Bakura's head from there.

"What in-?"

"Bakura, why is there a cat on your head?" Atem asked, still somewhat asleep, from his place on the stairs. Yugi stood behind him, still a little irritated looking, but the Pharaoh looked to be in a pleasant mood. Apparently he took the joke the same way Ryou and Bakura had.

"I have no idea." Bakura looked up at the cat. "Why did you follow me?" The cat just responded by purring and doing something with its paws that Bakura just found to be weird.

"You must have made a friend too." Ryou said happily as he played with Socks. "You did help me feed them."

"He did?" Everyone asked, surprised. That is, save for Joey who still didn't know what was going on.

"He did what to who?"

"Fed stray cats." Tristan said.

"Oh."

"Well, at least he's grateful. We had to go out of our way to get that food."

"And don't forget the cat nip toys." Ryou pointed out.

"And the toys. Yes."

"Hey, maybe you could take him home with you." Tea said. She found this whole thing to be kind of sweet.

"Ha! Right. If you think I could get away with that you are out of your mind." Everyone looked at him in a funny 'We don't get it' way.

"Cats were sacred in Egypt and many still keep that belief in the afterlife. As it stands, Bakura really couldn't take that cat. At least, he couldn't let anyone see it." Atem explained. "Besides, it doesn't really follow the criteria."

"What do you mean?" Joey asked from the chair that he was now sitting in correctly.

"He's not dead." Bakura stated bluntly.

"Oh." was Joey's only response.

"I have a problem with this too. Cats aren't allowed at my apartment. I could get in trouble. Besides, I don't know if I have enough money to keep a cat. Once was fine but that can be financially taxing."

"I told you not to go and feed them."

"Would you have had me leave them to starve?"

"They wouldn't have starved. I'm willing to bet that they grew up on the street and would have been perfectly fine. Now we'll have to dump them somewhere and…" Then the cat on Bakura's head, a brown cat with jade eyes, poked its head down to look Bakura in the eyes in a way that he could have sworn that it was pleading with him to do otherwise.

"And..?" Joey and Tristan said teasingly.

"…and…" Bakura looked down at Ryou. "I'm dumping him off on you."

"WHAT?"

"Have fun." Bakura picked up the cat on his head and put him down by Ryou and took a step back but the cat just came back to him and began rubbing his ankles.

"Awww."

"Be silent!"

"I don't think that will work." Atem said, smirking as he took pleasure in Bakura's situation. He could offer to see if he could take him to the palace and see if he'd be ok..but it was much more fun watching Bakura sort through this predicament himself. Bakura was looking down at the fuzzy, four-legged creature that apparently was not going to leave, trying to figure out what to do, when a voice came through the door.

"Brother! I brought Akeifa!"

"I'll get it." Yugi said, recognizing the voice.

"Oh Ra no." Bakura whispered. "Yugi, don't you dare let her in!" Yugi froze where he stood at Bakura's demand.

"W-why?"

"I'll get it, you just stay there. The same to the rest of you."

"Brother what took you?" Bakura nearly jumped back as he turned to see his sister in the doorway.

/Oh why? I cant let them see that…/ "Why are you in here? I was coming!" Hereret just stood there.

"The spell broke?"

"Oh, yes, it did."

"But how? Mana and Mahad said that it would take weeks." Atem looked uncomfortable as he got ready to offer some answer, and everyone else got ready to hear some for the details they had been wanting to hear for a while.

"It rained." You could hear everyone being let down as they were deprived of the information once again.

"It…rained? And that's it?" Hereret asked, trying to figure it out. She had assumed that it would be harder to break a spell like that.

"That's it. Now, how are you here? Actually, let's just go."

"Now?" Ryou asked, surprised.

"Bakura, what's the hurry? You're sister shows up and now you want to leave? And who's Akeifa?" Joey asked. At this Hereret smiled.

"Oh, Akeifa's an old friend of my brother's."

"No."

"He's known him since he was even younger than that spell made him."

"Don't even."

"He's right here if you want to see him."

"Whatever this is payback for I'm sorry, now don't do it!" Everyone looked from Hereret to Bakura and back.

"Oh, come on. I have him right here."

"What have I ever done to you to deserve this?"

"What about the scorpion thing?" Bakura spun around and glared at Ryou and mouthed "Shut-up!" at him.

"Scorpion thing..." Hereret said, as if trying to remember what he was talking about. Then her voice became a little harsher. "Oh! Yes. That's right. You had me thinking there were scorpions living in my bed and I was slept with mom and dad for a week!"

"Yes, I know. I had to do double the chores the entire time."

"Not good to mess with people's dreams, is it Bakura?" Yugi asked, his voice though, still showed his irritation.

"Yug' what're you talkin' about? What'd he do?" Yugi looked at Joey, a bit nervous. He really didn't want to share his dream with them. Especially with Tea in there.

"Oh, um…I was having a dream…" He couldn't for the life of him think of how to explain this without mentioning Tea.

"A very good dream by what I hear…" Atem said. He knew that Yugi didn't like it when he bugged him about Tea, but it was necessary if Yugi was ever to get over his fear of asking her out…without forcing him go out on the date for him. That was his story and he was sticking to it.

"Don't start Pharaoh!" Atem just laughed. Joey, Tristan, and Tea looked at Yugi and Atem, and then over at Bakura, Ryou, and Hereret, and didn't know what was going on.

"Hey, Yug', I'm kinda feelin' left out here." Tristan said.

"Yeah what gives?" Joey asked.

"Oh, don't worry. He's sure to have that dream again. He'll talk in his sleep so just go up and ask. He'll tell you all about his moments with…"

"No don't!" Yugi called, feeling like he was being tortured. Bakura just laughed, while Hereret, not liking that her brother was doing this again, did what she thought would be a very appropriate punishment.

"Hmm. I don't know what's going on, do you Akeifa?" Bakura immediately stopped laughing at Yugi's embarrassment and spun around to see Hereret holding up a stuffed animal that looked like a jackal in plain view.

"That's Akeifa!" Ryou said, surprised.

"What is it? Some kind of dog?" Joey looked over to Atem for an answer.

"It…looks like a Jackal. Is that…an Anubis doll...of Bakura's?" Atem was a bit dumbfounded. Hereret giggled a bit at his expression.

"No, but close. Here!" She tossed the doll over to Atem, who caught it and saw that it was, indeed, a jackal. "Mom made that after she saw my brother playing with some jackals when he was little and because they were my brother's favorite animals." Hereret looked over at her brother, smiling at her memories of her brother before the massacre, and saw that he had his hand over his face, grimacing as if in pain.

"Hey Pharaoh, toss it here!" Bakura looked through his fingers and slightly flinched as Atem threw the plushie over to Joey.

"Hey, why's its name Akeifa?" Joey asked, looking at the doll curiously.

"That was the name of some old thief in out village. He was kind of famous."

"Hey, Joey, let me see." Again, Bakura slightly flinched as Joey tossed the doll to Tristan, who just barely caught it.

"That's just…" Bakura said, too angry and embarrassed to finish his sentence.

"That's what you get when you mess with one's dreams." Hereret said, thinking that that was exactly what he deserved for that. Ryou looked at them both and gave a sad smile.

/I wonder if that is what Amane and I could have been like./ He then shook it off, not wanting to spoil the otherwise good mood of the moment. Then he looked back over at the brother and sister and had a small laugh. /That was pretty…evil. I guess that is what he was going to call it. It looks like evil runs in the family, only Hereret is a bit less malevolent. Oh well, he deserves it./

"Alright, that's it. I would l like A…" Bakura stumbled over the name. "Oh Ra, just give Akeifa back!" Tristan looked at Bakura, and then at Joey, and they both smiled mischievously, while Bakura stood there, wondering what they thought they were going to do, until they both turned and cheered:

"KEEP AWAY FROM BAKURA!"

"GIVE IT HERE!" Bakura yelled as he ran over to Tristan who just threw it over to Joey when Bakura got close, and Joey threw it to Hereret, who didn't throw it back to Tristan since her brother was charging over there giving her little opportunity. "HERERET!"

"Yes brother?" She asked coyly as she dodged every attempt he made at trying to grab back the doll. A few times he reached for his daggers but didn't get them. He wasn't going to use them on his sister and she knew it. He thought she was going to keep it, but she looked over at Ryou and smiled.

"Hey, Ryou, join in. I'm sure there's something that you want to get my brother back for."

/You have no idea./ Ryou set his cat down and nodded. Hereret threw him the stuffed jackal which he caught only to throw it again just in time to Joey again. Atem, Yugi, and Mr. Mouto watched from the stairs.

"Are payback and revenge the only things they think about in that family?" Atem asked no one in particular.

"Ha! No. I think that this is just a sibling squabble. They'll get over it." Mr. Mouto had to duck after saying that as the jackal came flying over to them. Atem caught it, and then threw it back to Tristan. Bakura shot him a glare, which he met with a look that just shouted that he was enjoying every minute of the Thief King's torture.

"Tristan, give it here now!" Bakura growled, daggers drawn. Before Tristan could react, Bakura had taken advantage of his pause and grabbed Akeifa from him. After which, Hereret grabbed him and did something no one would have ever thought of: she tickled him into submission. "S-stop it!" Bakura was now on his knees on the floor with everyone watching the two. Hereret pulled back and sat on the floor laughing for a few seconds and sighed.

"Ahhh, revenge complete."

"So, where'd you get this from anyway?" Bakura said, fighting back laughter himself, even though his image was forever damaged. His pride just wouldn't allow it.

"Mom dug it out to give to you. She thought that, since you were that little again, you'd like one of your old toys.

"Meow!"

"What was…? Aw! It's just like the cat we had when we were little!" The cat that had liked Bakura so much walked over and sat down next to him, and had started purring. Hereret picked it up and held him and it started playing with a hanging strand of hair.

"You guys had a cat?" Mr. Mouto asked, knowing full well that only priests and royalty normally had cats in ancient Egypt.

"Yes. When we were little we were racing home one day and I found an injured cat. I took it home, against my brother's protests…"

"You know what could have happened to us."

"But it didn't. And we got to have a pet for a while. Anyway, we nursed it back to health and one day released it at the palace when it was well. I think we released it in some part of the courtyard. We figured it would get the best treatment there. Actually, he looked a lot like this one." She looked down at the cat who just 'meowed back. Atem stood at the steps, silently thinking.

"What're you thinking about Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, noticing that Atem was focused on that cat in Hereret's arms.

"Well, there was a cat that looked just like that at the palace that people used to say just showed up in the court yard one day about two years before I was born. It had a small mark where it had been injured and someone had tried to treat it. It was my and Mana's favorite cat to play with." He smiled at the memory and then looked down at Yugi. "But don't tell him that."

"Of course not Pharaoh. Just don't ever bring up that dream again." Atem smirked.

"Of course Yugi. I wouldn't dream of it."

Twilightknight1594: The longest chapter of the story and that I have ever written. All in all, pretty light in comparison to the rest of the story.

Atem: Did you actually have a toy like that?

Bakura: …I suppose I could have. Although, I'm sure it got burned. I'll be sure to thank your uncle for that later.

Atem: (Sigh) Ok, have it your way. Don't admit it. But, saying that he didn't, where'd you get the name for that?

Twilightknight1594: I've seen it a few places as a guess at Bakura's name in Egypt. It hasn't been verified though. At least, not that I've heard. And, as a late disclaimer, let me say it now, I don't own that name if it turns out to be in anyway related to Kazuki Takahashi's works.

Atem: Either way, I think I enjoyed this chapter.

Bakura: I bet you did. I LOOKED LIKE A FOOL!

Atem: You looked human, which is a rare occurrence.

Twilightknight1594: Before I forget, there's a more in detailed version of the cat Hereret mentioned in my other story Unexpected Returns. It's on chapter 13, and not too long for anyone who cares to read it. Anyway, I'll update soon. Bye. And, as always, thanks for reading.