I decided to make this a two-shot. Again, I own nothing.

Atem

When I lost the Ceremonial Battle, I had actually been shocked. I had never actually thought that Yuugi would have defeated me. I had thought that I would stay in the present.

I had been wrong. I should not have thought so slowly of my aibou, but we both knew I was the better duelist. I would stop at nothing to win a duel. (Something that Anzu and Yuugi had been teaching and helping me not to do.) However, Yuugi had somehow surpassed me, something I had always knew would happen, but I had thought it would be much later in his life.

I did not really wish to go. My quests had been completed and I knew my name again. It was time for me to return to the Afterlife. It was something I should have been overjoyed about, but I was not. I put on a brave face and said my farewells. I needed to leave; my extra time on Earth had been expired.

I know that Anzu wanted to stop me. I am secretly glad that Jonouchi stopped her, though. If she had reached out and grabbed my shoulder and I had turned to look into her glorious azure eyes, I would have stayed. I would have told them that now that I had my own body, it was my own to do with as I pleased.

However, I needed to leave. I could not endanger Yuugi, Anzu, and the others anymore. I tried to push it out of my mind that I had saved them all, because after all, I had caused their distresses. Yes of course there had been times where it had not been my fault. Such as when that lowly criminal had slapped my precious Anzu.

Still, I put on a brave face and left the world of the living. I had thought that seeing Seto, Teana, Mana, and the others would have made up for leaving my present friends behind, but I was wrong. Seeing Teana only made me yearn for Anzu more. And seeing Seto made me long to play Duel Monsters again.

I tell myself everyday that it is better this way. Yuugi and Anzu would find comfort in each other. Jonouchi and Honda each had their own lives to return to. It would be like before I entered their lives.

When Yuugi first awoke me, I knew he had feelings for Anzu. Those feelings had soon become my own after spending so much time inside Yuugi's mind. I made sure to not share my feelings with either of them as Yuugi had, as they say, "seen her first." I even tried to give Yuugi advice as to how to make Anzu love him.

Those feelings had always been there, inside us both. They had been our constant companions. I had never expected Yuugi to ever find someone else. However, when he met Rebecca, his feelings for Anzu slowly died down to friendship. I just hope that Yuugi remembers the love he felt for Anzu so that she can find some comfort from him.

If I could not have Anzu, then I would want her to be with Yuugi. If I had never been awoken, then Anzu and Yuugi would have ended up together. It would have been the natural course of their lives. However, I had altered their paths. I just pray that it can be repaired.

Anzu was unlike any girl -woman, really- I had ever known. Teana was not even like her. And I was certain that if I had lived long enough, I would have taken Teana as my bride. If we had all lived normal lives, then, I was certain, Teana and I would have been together, while our futuristic alters, Yuugi and Anzu, would have. We each had a soul mate. Though, what if the gods of time had made an error? Was it possible that I had not completed all of my missions? That I was supposed to tell Anzu how much I loved her? Impossible. It had been hard enough leaving without telling her. Telling her would have made matters worse.

Though, try as I might, I could not stop thinking about Anzu. I now had all the time in the world to do as I pleased, and I spent it thinking about her. The way she looked so passionate while her lithe body twirled, performing dance moves she alone knew. The way her eyes would lite up when she saw Yuugi or me. Her soft and supple lips that I longed to press against my own…

I needed to stop thinking about her. It was truly better this way. She was alive and surely she was happy. I did not belong in her time and she did not belong in the Afterlife with me. We were never meant to be.

And all I had to remember her by was the simple cartouche she gave me. She wanted me to have a way to remember my name no matter where or when I was. Though…it only allowed me to remember one name: Mazaki Anzu. It did little to be able to remember one's name when the one you loved was not there to share it with.

And I wanted to share everything with my precious Anzu. I wanted to not only share my name, but my life with her. I wanted to be with her forever and always. I wanted to claim her as my own. If we had lived in ancient Egypt, I would have made it so no other man could touch her. I wanted to be the only man who could cherish her. Though, that was partially why I never I told her my feelings. Because it would not have been me holding, kissing, and loving her; it would have been Yuugi. And that was too much to bear knowing I would never be able to really feel her soft lips or hands as they caressed my shared body. Why should I torture either of us?

Tormenting her was not something I wanted to do. I had hoped that my quick departure had been a clean break. Surely she would have only cried a little and moved on with her life, presumably with Yuugi. I made sure to leave nothing behind. Other than Yuugi's winnings of duels, there was no proof that I had ever been there. For all I knew, they had all woken up the next day pretending that everything had been a bad dream. I hoped they had done that.

When I thought of Anzu being in pain, I felt a deep, sharp pain in my chest where my heart would be. It literally hurt me to think of her being hurt. Anzu deserved so much in life and pain was not one of them. I longed to hold her in my own arms and murmur sweet nothings in her ear. To tell her that everything would be alright. Though, I knew that for me nothing would ever be alright again.

Because I had to wait at least sixty or eighty years to ever see her again. Sixty or eighty years were a long time. Enough time for her to have moved on. Enough time for her to forget about me. Enough time for me to be driven mad by not seeing her azure eyes that were like windows to her light and pure soul.

However, when those sixty or eighty years were over, I would hold her in my own arms and tell her how much I loved her. How much I needed her. Because we were soul mates.

Anzu, my precious apricot, I love and need you more than life itself.

I think this really is the end now. Lol. Review!

~Azarath101