Love Will Find A Way (Sequel To Sands of Time) ~Complete~

Chapter 8: Strange Meeting

The sun was shining brighter than Atsuko had ever seen it before. Over the vast sand hills all around her, no one in sight, not even a breeze was brewing in the air. What struck her as strange was that she didn't feel overly hot though, which she expected from the desert looking scenery. She took a couple steps as she rubbed her eyes then she immediately noticed that she was somewhere else when her hands left her line of sight. There where thousands of people, all wearing very poor looking clothing, but unlike poor people in Tokyo, they appeared to by incredibly happy. Atsuko looked up at the sky and blinked at the blinding sun light and when she opened her eyes, she, once again, was somewhere else. This time, she was indoors, looking at the high ceiling in awe and noticed that the people here were dressed a lot better. Suddenly people stopped what they were doing to look at the large doors that opened, allowing a large group of people to walk through. Some of them looked familiar and it shocked Atsuko. Atem, Seto and Ishizu, who were dressed the most extravagant, walked with sad expressions, along with the others, and in Atem's hands he was carrying someone. The people around Atsuko began to kneel as the group walked by but it became apparent to Atsuko that no one could see her. Atem was close enough for her to see who was in his arms and she became horrified for the girl looked exactly like her, her body very lifeless.

Atem looked across the small space between the two rows of seats and saw that there was an agonized expression on Atsuko's sleeping face, which once had an expression of lightheartedness. He was the only one sitting in the back of the plane with Atsuko at this point because Joey and Tristan were worried that they were going to wake her up, causing them to move closer to the front of the plane. Atem heard Atsuko's breathing hitch, probably meaning that she was having a bad dream. Atem moved to the set of seats that Atsuko was lying on and slowly lifted her head and placed it gently on his lap. He looked at the angelic complexion on Atsuko and immediately wondered if he should be the one to tell her about what her past really was. Yoshirou felt that it was oddly quiet in the back of the plane so when he saw Atsuko asleep, it answered his question. He noticed Atem's face go into shock when he saw Yoshirou move to the seats across from him.

"It's fine." Yoshirou said, "If it was my father however, this would be a very different conversation."

"Is there something I could help you with?" Atem said politely.

"Actually, yes. I was wondering how you knew my sister. You two seemed very close during your duel."

"You saw that?"

"Of course I did. Atsuko is my family, we are always there for one another."

"Well, we are very close."

"But didn't you two just meet at this tournament?"

"It's a little complicated."

"There's still a couple hours left on the flight." They both laughed a bit as Yoshirou said that. "Listen, if it's something you two wanted to keep quiet, I understand, but I am her brother after all. Atsuko has done things for me that I would never be able to pay back in a life time so keeping this one thing secret is a good start."

There was a pause before Atem started to speak again, trying to find a good way to start the conversation. "Did Atsuko ever tell you about a dream she had when she was unconscious?"

"Briefly. Something about real life duel monsters and evil taking over the planet back in ancient Egypt."

"Well, it wasn't a dream. She really was there and that's how we know each other."

"You're joking right?"

"Why would I lie?"

"It's impossible for that to be true. Let alone for her to even know it had happened. There is nothing about it in the history books so it's impossible to have happened."