Cheyenne: I'm at school. And I'm bored.

Go figure.

So, I have decided to whip up this random little Darkshipping/Casteshipping one-shot while my classmates take forever to finish their exams. It's angsty, I'm warning you.

Disclaimer:I obviously don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, I'd be writing the actual series like this, instead of being on FanFiction ;3

Edit: 04/01/10--This thing is surprisingly hard to revise, due to the strange style I wrote it in. Gah...

I didn't think it would end this way, though I suppose in my subconscious I always suspected it would. It was a love condemned by the start; condemned by the gods.

Yet... it still happened. You still happened. And even now, I know that deep in my heart I still love you.

At first... we hated each other. It was simple. A famed Thief King and a Pharaoh. Enemies by pure fate. Prejudiced views. Assumptions, lies, deceit.

And then...

"Watch where you're going, boy!" A voice snarls. I look up and see you properly for the first time. Tan skin and a strong build that is not overly muscular. Sharp eyes and that striking white hair.

For a moment, I wonder what you think when you see me.

Not much, I'll bet. You see a young man, dressed in the common wear of every average Egyptian. I have hidden my tell-tale hair under a hood; it is too easily recognized and identifiable.

You don't notice. I exhale in relief. What would you think if, instead of the peasant man in front of you, you saw your Pharaoh? The man you had sworn to destroy?

I didn't mean to run into you that day.

But now... I'm glad I did.

I have heard of you. Had heard of you. Before that moment. Heard the tales of your exploits, your cruelty, your ruthlessness. I reflect on this, as the heat of the Egyptian sun beats down on us.

And in your eyes, I saw that it was all true.

But there was something else. A fierce spark of determination. A flame, burning inside your soul. Raging, endless...

"I apologize, sir!" I stammer weakly. Your eyes look relieved, if only for a moment. I can tell you're happy I haven't given you away.

Or perhaps you thought I was too stupid to recognize you.

But I did.

And I helped you, oh, yes. I helped you. I helped you when the guards came; I told you where to run. I told you to follow me. I took you to the palace. You hid in the gardens, and I pretended to be a servant in my own household to keep both our secrets.

And you believed me.

You had never seen me: The Pharaoh; the man you had sworn to annihilate for reasons beyond my comprehension. You had never seen him. Never seen me. Yet you blamed me for the destruction of your village. You spoke of my Puzzle. Of the other items. How you were going to use them to take over Egypt. I would nod quietly. I wondered what you would do if you ever found out who I really was.

Yet I still helped you. You, who had sworn to destroy me.

We continued like that for awhile. I'd meet you in secret, I'd help you hide.

And sometime in between those heists and lies, I fell in love.

You were my first. Every touch trailed down my body, every moan that escaped your lips... I can still remember it.

Do you?

It would have continued like that.

If it hadn't been for that one night.

I had retired early. My councilmen had driven me to the point of insanity with their constant blathering. I was dressed like the Pharaoh, for I was the Pharaoh. Atem.

But you... you called me Yami.

I wasn't expecting it. What I saw. For when I walked into my room, you were there. You had some jewellery in your hand, and for a moment we just stood there. Staring at each other.

I watched as your face twisted into a mask of rage, pain, and betrayal.

I hope to never see such an expression cross anyone's face ever again.

You looked at the puzzle, then back up to my face. The expression was still there.

And then it moulded into a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred. My heart broke that day. I deceived you. I lied to you.

And ultimately, we both paid the price.

It had been one year. One year since that night and the last time I saw you. I still heard of you, though. You were gaining fame. You raided the tombs of Pharaohs and killed with a savagery I knew was partially my fault.

You really were the Thief King.

And when you came back to the palace, I hardly recognized you. Scars criss-crossed across your torso. Another one in the corner of your eye. I felt my breath hitch, though.

To me, you were still beautiful.

I looked at your eyes, though, and I saw with a dreadful certainty that you still hated me. You had come here to end it, dragging my father's body across the floor and sporting the treasures that I had seen as a little boy. You laughed; a cruel, cold, harsh laugh.

At that moment, I think I hated you, too. You challenged my Priests, and when they fell, I defeated you. I pushed past you to my father's body, kneeling beside it.

You were not the man I once knew.

You had changed. And deep down, I knew that, too, was my fault.

Your monster, Diabound, was strong enough to match the forces of the Egyptian gods. In an effort to save my people, I sealed our souls into the items, awaiting the day when they would be found once again. I cut off my memories, using my own name to seal them away. I knew that if you somehow found them – if they fell into the wrongs hands – then all would be lost.

As it was, I was awakened three thousand years later. And, apparently, so were you.

But I did not remember. I faced you, that first time in Duelist Kingdom. I beat you. I always could. Your soul was sent to the Shadow Realm. But I did not remember you.

You always came back. I don't know how, but you returned every time. Each instant you were determined to beat me. To destroy me, like the vow you had taken so many years ago. Like the love I had unwittingly destroyed with deception.

You wanted to kill me. To lock my soul away to be damned for crimes I had no memory of.

I did not know. I did not remember.

I do now.

The door is opening. Can you see it? The Eye of Wadjet, set upon the door, is glowing. It matches the Sennen Items that have been set in the stone. I stand there, in front of it, the Sennen Puzzle swinging against my chest. Though my heart aches to stay here, with Yuugi, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu, I know it is time for me to move on.

I see you, too. The Sennen Ring is glowing against your Ryou, and you appear in a majestic flash of white light.

I smile, though you cannot see it. You are entering the void of light, and you are gone. I see my friends, my family. Seth, Mana, Mahado, Isis, Kalim, Siamun... they're all there, and more. They're waiting for me.

Anzu pleads for me to stay, but I merely smile again. Or am I smirking? I walk forward. My jacket swirls around me, and I suddenly find myself in Pharaoh garb once again. I step in. Into the afterlife.

I walked in after you.

The door closes. I never once looked back.

I stand in an oasis. A place I have only seen once before. I look down at my arms. I realize I am taller now. Taller, with the crimson eyes and tanned skin I possessed back in Egypt.

And you are there. I see you. Standing at the edge of a pool of water. Your red cloak billows around your feet. You, too, have reverted to your Egyptian form.

You sense me coming and turn around. I see that glint in your eye. That glint that, until now, I had never realized I missed. You open your mouth to speak. I am prepared for accusations and pledges to end my life, but instead, all I hear are five simple words; words that send my world spinning. Crashing. Freezing, yet warming.

"I've been waiting for you."

And in my heart, I knew that you meant it.