Disclaimer: I don’t own Yu-Gi-Oh! This takes place after Dawn of the Duel, but with a twist.
Part One
Atem stared in his bedroom mirror in his Soul Room. Now that his memories had returned, his room was no longer a maze. Instead, it resembled the palace he had lived in in Ancient Egypt. When one opened the door to his soul, the Throne Room was the first room. From there, corridors led to doors that either contained places he knew like his bedroom or library, memories, or people with whom he was familiar. The journey to recover his memories had been hard and difficult, but he did it and there had been a shocking revelation that brought him to the mirror.
He studied his reflection critically before bringing a hand to his hair and flattened it. His spiky hair flowed to his just past his shoulders, except for the top spike; it stopped just above mid-back. He smiled at how his hair looked, but he frowned when he removed his hand and the hair sprang back up. Maybe a hair tied to keep it down, he thought. Perhaps, I can think up one.
“Atem?” called the voice of his other half and boyfriend, Yugi.
Atem left his bedroom and headed up the corridor toward the Throne Room and Yugi who smiled at seeing the pharaoh approaching him. Even before Atem regained his memories, Yugi had found himself attracted to the pharaoh. Now that the truth was known, both of them loved one another even more and resulted in Atem remaining in the puzzle instead of heading to the afterlife.
Yug embraced Atem before he pulled the taller boy down and kissed him. Atem put his arms around Yugi’s back and deepened the kiss. They finally parted and Yugi smiled up at him. “I still can’t believe you were actually female.”
“It was a shock to me as well when I came to after going back in time,” Atem admitted. “I had wondered how and why I changed gender when sealing myself and Zorc in the puzzle. But when my memories returned, I remembered: It was part of the sealing process when wiping out my memory. I had to be male.”
“But now?”
“Now? I’d like to be female again, even if it’s only while in the puzzle.”
“That would be nice,” Yugi said. “You were so beautiful.”
Atem couldn’t help blushing at Yugi’s comment. He had found himself acting like a girl since remembering, but he was comfortable with it since he had been born female. “It would,” he agreed. “But, it’s not possible.”
“Maybe it is. Here, hold your arms out in front of you and clench your hands.”
Atem was confused but did as instructed. Yugi folded his hands over Atem’s fists. “Now, close your eyes and picture your female self and I’ll do the same.” Yugi closed his eyes and Atem did the same. He pictured himself as he looked back then, sans the tanned skin. He felt a tickling sensation across the back of his neck and a weight on his chest. He heard Yugi gasp before saying, “Atem, it worked! You‘re female again!”
Atem’s eyes flew open to show a softer purple before they lowered to see breasts and that the clothes had altered to accommodate a feminine shape. Her hands flew to her hair to find that it was flat and then her slim fingers traced the curves of her face. “It did work,” she said in the low alto voice she used to have. She leaned down and gave Yugi a quick kiss. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I would do anything I could to make you happy. Plus, I love you.”
“I love you too.” Atem hugged Yugi and while in that embrace, Yugi wondered if there was a way to give Atem her own body. It would give their relationship another aspect aside from Atem’s gender. She would be so happy if she had her own body; although she’s pretty happy right now.
&&&&
Atem stared happily at her reflection. She looked exactly as she pictured. She had her memories and her spirit form had regained her original gender. She knew that if she took control of Yugi’s body, she would be her male self, even though her spirit was female within the puzzle. I can deal with that. After all, I spent 5,000 years in the puzzle as a boy and every time I took over Yugi’s body and whenever we talked. I’m happy right now and I don’t need or want anything more.
&&&&
“So, Atem’s female now?” Joey asked.
“Only in the puzzle,” Yugi clarified. “She would be male if she took over.”
“Sounds a little confusing,” Tristan said.
“Not at all,” Yugi protested. He saw his friends exchange confused looks and he inwardly sighed. “It’s not that confusing, is it?” he asked Atem.
“Perhaps to them, it is,” Atem said gently.
“Would you like to take over? Maybe it’ll help them understand.”
“You have a point. I believe I will take over.” The puzzle glowed briefly and Atem took control, the flat chest the first clue that she was a he again. He took in his friends’ stunned looks and smiled in amusement.
Finally, Tea said, “So, I guess you’re male and female now.”
Atem nodded. “However, only Yugi can see me female,” he said in his deep voice which sounded unnatural to him. His desire to be just female was felt by Yugi, though the pharaoh didn’t speak it either verbally or telepathically. Yugi smiled to himself. I’ll help you be just female, Atem. It’s not right that you have to be male in the real world while your true self stays hidden.
An hour later, Yugi took over and was soon buried in books at the library, exploring the idea of giving Atem her own body. The problem was that no one’s ever encountered a situation like his and wrote about it. Yugi thought as he left the library. Maybe Marik and his family have a way or at least an idea that might work. I’ll give them a call.
“I’m sorry, Yugi. The Millennium Items are unique and the process that Atem used to seal herself and Zorc away was also unique and quite powerful,” Marik said. “Though, your love for one another was strong enough for Atem’s spirit to become female.”
“True. Well, thanks anyway, Marik. Bye.” Yugi hung up and sighed sadly. It seemed like Atem would be male and female for possibly forever…or until he was ready to let her go to the afterlife. Maybe I should let her go now, he thought even though his heart ached at the idea.
Atem sensed the feelings in Yugi’s heart and decided to tell him her feelings. “I’m not ready to go yet, Yugi,” she said, appearing beside him.
“I’m not ready, either,” Yugi admitted. He smiled as Atem put a hand on top of his. He had no idea how she could do that as a spirit, but he didn’t really care how it was possible.
“I know what you’re trying to do and I appreciate the effort.”
“I sensed your desire to be just one gender and I knew if you had your own body, it would solve the problem.”
“It would also give us an actual physical relationship,” Atem smiled at the idea, but then the smile faded. “But, it seems there isn’t a way.”
“It does, but I’m not giving up yet.” Yugi stifled a yawn and Atem did the same. “Maybe we should get some sleep. Perhaps a new idea will come tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. Sleep tight, Yugi.”
“You too, Atem.” The female pharaoh returned to the puzzle before Yugi put it on his desk, got dressed, and went to bed.
Part Two
Atem was snuggled in her large bed and fast asleep when a chorus of voices called softly to her in a whisper, “Pharaoh, pharaoh.” She jerked awake and sat up. “Who’s there?” she called, looking around for the originators. She further wondered who could invade the puzzle. It’s nearly impossible for anyone to get inside unless they were wearing it.
“Pharaoh,” came the whisper again before lights started to glow and shimmer on one side of the room. Atem got out of bed and watched in amazement as the lights coalesced into six spirits: Her sacred court! All six had gentle, knowing smiles and she blushed when she realized that those smiles told her that they knew of her love for Yugi.
Mahad approached and gently brushed a bang to one side. “We’ve been watching over you since the puzzle had been solved and you were reborn. We had been waiting for the time when you remembered who you are and returned to your true self.”
“And why is that?” she asked.
Seto came forward. “The six of us have enough power to draw you out of the puzzle and into a physical body of your own.”
Atem’s eyes sparkled with hope and happiness. “Really?”
“Yes,” Isis answered coming forward and guiding the pharaoh back to bed. “But first you must go back to sleep and we will cast the spell while you sleep. In the morning, the spell will activate and you’ll have a body.”
Atem didn’t see how she could possibly go back to sleep, but the moment she put her head on the pillow, she was instantly out. Her court gathered around her bed, three on each side. Seto stood on one side with Mahad and Isis and looked up to lock eyes with his father before looking at Atem’s peaceful face. It had been a surprise to learn that Atem was his cousin and it was sad that her reign and life had been cut short. Now he had an opportunity to give her a way to truly live her life. He closed his eyes and held his hands above Atem’s body as did the others.
Yugi awoke to sunlight on his face and his eyes opened to land on the puzzle. He gazed at it lovingly and with a touch of sadness. He loved Atem, but could only enjoy her company within the puzzle. She could appear outside it in a spirit form and touch him, but he didn’t actually feel it and he couldn’t touch her to return whatever gestures she gave him. He sighed as he got up and reached for the item.
The eye of the puzzle glowed causing Yugi to pull his hand back. He watched in amazement as a gold beam shot from the eye and stopped in front of the far wall. The beam turned vertical and coalesced into a familiar female form: Atem! She was dressed as she had been in Egypt. She staggered slightly as the glow ended before regaining her balance and stared at her now solid hands for a moment. She looked up at Yugi and a smile appeared.
“Atem?” Yugi gasped, surprised that she was standing there in a physical body. “How?”
“I had a visit from my sacred court last night. They had been watching over me since you solved the puzzle. They had been waiting for me to regain my memories and my real gender so that they could give me my own body.”
“That’s wonderful.” Yugi grinned as he moved forward and took Atem in his arms before sliding her arms around her waist. Atem put her arms around Yugi’s back and nuzzled the spiky hair across her cheek. Yugi rested his head on Atem’s upper arm and the two stood there, enjoying the feel of being in each other’s arms in the real world.
“I’ve dreamed about this since you said you loved me at the end Battle City,” Atem said softly.
“Same here,” Yugi agreed. “You know we’ll have to get you some legal papers.”
“Yes, but first let’s show your grandpa and explain how this happened.” Atem and Yugi left the room, hands intertwined.
Solomon leaned on the register counter, business being slow and thought about Yugi. After winning Battle City, his grandson told him about the spirit of a pharaoh who lived inside the puzzle. He went on to say that he had fallen in love with the spirit and that the feeling was mutual. Solomon wasn’t too thrilled that Yugi was gay and in love with a spirit, but knew there wasn’t much he could do about it. So, when the pharaoh’s memories returned, he was surprised that the young man Yugi fell for was actually a young woman. The fact that Atem was still a spirit and male still made their relationship an odd one. He heard two sets of footsteps coming from the house and turned to see Yugi hand-in-hand with a young woman wearing the clothes of an Egyptian royal. Her resemblance to Yugi left no doubt in his mind who she was.
“Well, someone managed to free herself from the puzzle and change gender as well.”
“The gender change happened about two days ago,” Atem answered. “Last night, the spirits of my sacred court appeared to use a spell to give me a body which activated this morning.”
Solomon took in the happy expression on both teenagers before going to the store’s front door, locking it and putting up the closed sign. He turned back to the couple with a smile as he herded them back into the house. “Yugi, you go get dressed and then we’ll all go clothes shopping.”
Atem nodded her thanks as Yugi bounded upstairs; as nice as her current clothes were, they were conspicuous and she wanted to blend in with the people. She intended wear one of her new outfits out of the store once it was paid for. Yugi came down a few minutes later and Atem noticed Yugi was wearing the puzzle which amused her: He had been wearing it for so long it would have felt strange to Yugi if he didn’t wear it. Solomon led the way out and soon he was driving them into town to shop.
Atem looked through a rack of dresses, down at a piece of paper containing her measurements and back to the rack. Yugi and Solomon had volunteered to look at socks, pantyhose, and shoes as well as brushes and hair accessories. She sighed as she looked through the rack again before lifting one up and examining it.
“I think blue’s more your color,” said a familiar voice suddenly, making Atem turn around startled.
“Tea,” she said.
The brunette smiled as she came up beside the pharaoh. “I saw Yugi and his grandpa a few minutes ago and told me what happened. It’s great that you have your own body.”
“It definitely is.” She put away the dress she was holding and grabbed a different one. “So, you think blue would be better?”
“Oh, yeah.” She picked up a black dress covered in different colored flowers. “I think this one would look good too.”
“Great.” Atem accepted the dress. “Tea, would you like to help me?”
“I’d love to.” She smiled as Atem put the dresses in a shopping cart and headed for the jeans and pants. Atem is definitely beautiful. She is still the same pharaoh we’ve known for years, but is familiar with what girls are like in this century and the two of us can hang out together. She watched Atem pick up a pair of jeans and headed over to offer her opinion.
Atem was enjoying herself as she and Tea went through the store, selecting clothes and garments that appealed to her. She never had the opportunity to clothes shop like this mostly because she had been male and always wore a version of Yugi’s clothes when in spirit form or controlling the body. But now, she was picking clothes with Tea and it was easy with her numbers and sizes written down. That didn’t stop her from trying them on, though.
She admired her reflection in the fitting room. She had on the blue dress she had chosen earlier, a white bra, a pair of panties, pantyhose, and pair of white flats. The tags from her clothes had been removed and given to Yugi so he and Solomon could purchase it along with the other items. Her Egyptian jewelry were the only things left of her previous attire; she had elected to leave them on as they looked great with her dress.
She came out with her old clothes over her arm and in her hand to see Tea, Yugi, and Solomon waiting, the latter two with shopping bags. As Atem put her clothes and shoes in one of the bags and accepting some of them, Yugi said, “Wow, you look great.”
“Thanks, Yugi. I think so too.”
“So, what’s the next stop?” Tea asked as they left.
“Legal papers,” Solomon answered. “Atem needs things like an ID, education transcripts, a backstory, things like that.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you later.” Tea left, leaving Atem and Yugi to look at Solomon with concern.
“Uh, Grandpa? How are we going to get those legal papers?” Yugi asked.
“Yugi’s got a point,” Atem said. “For one thing, I didn’t go to school. I was educated, of course, but not like Yugi.”
“Yes, you’re both right. I was thinking of asking Kaiba for the papers.”
“Kaiba!?” both teens repeated.
“Yes, Kaiba.”
Part Three
Kaiba regarded the trio before him and the young woman in particular. He knew who she was; after all he had been in the Memory World and had seen the female Atem but was aware that upon return to reality, Atem was male again. He didn’t know how Atem could be standing there real and female and he didn’t really care.
“So, you want me to fake some papers and provide a backstory?” he said at last.
“Some of the story will be true,” Atem interjected. “Birthplace and birthday, for example.”
“Birthday?” Kaiba raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you have a different calendar than what we use?”
“You’re right. However, I was able to convert it and found that I was born around July twenty-six.”
“Hmm.” Kaiba grabbed a pen and scribbled something down that could have been the date. “I’m assuming your birthplace would be Egypt. Cairo, maybe?”
“That will do.”
“You’ll need a last name and an explanation of why you are in Japan.”
“I think I’ve got both,” Yugi said. “The last name could be a variation of mine. Spell it M-O-T-O-U. Grandpa and I can claim Atem’s a distant cousin whose parents recently died and she learned of her relation to us.” He stopped and waited for Kaiba to finish writing.
“Why come here, though? I mean, she seems old enough to have a job and take care of herself.”
“I’m only sixteen,” Atem said quietly. “At least I was when I was pharaoh.”
“All right, then.” Kaiba scribbled a bit more before continuing. “I can forge transcripts so she can be in Yugi’s class.” He fixed Atem with a stern look. “You better live up to the level I’ll be putting on the transcript.”
Her face impassive, she said, “Of course.”
&&&&
“Sixteen?” Yugi said as they drove home. “I always thought you were older, I mean you seemed so wise and mature.”
“Yes, sixteen. I believe the wisdom came from being in the puzzle for so long. The mature part I believe is a combination of being groomed to lead and having to take the throne at a young age. Of course, we know that didn’t last long.”
Yugi grinned at the half-sarcastic, half-amused tone in Atem’s voice. “But, it worked out. We met and fell in love. In fact, how about we go to the movies this weekend?”
Atem caught on to what Yugi was saying and smirked in response. “It’s a date, Yugi.”
Atem put her new items away in the guest room that was now her bedroom. Once the last of the items were put away, she stood in front of the mirror. She just couldn’t get over the fact that she was a woman again as well as having an actual body. She was grateful to Yugi and her court for bringing her to this moment in time. And I look forward to our first date.
Yugi shifted uncomfortably on the couch two days later. He was a bit nervous about his first date with Atem, even though he’s known her for years. Grandpa noticed his grandson’s nervousness and patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. Both heard footsteps, stood, and turned to see Atem enter wearing a white blouse, a skirt the color of Yugi’s high school jacket, pantyhose, and low-heeled blue flats. A small black purse hung from one shoulder and a pair of gold clip-on stud earrings winked from her ears.
Solomon smiled as Yugi went over to his girlfriend. “All right you two. Have fun and enjoy the movie.”
“Okay. Bye, Grandpa,” Yugi said as they headed out the front door.
Soon, the couple were seated in a dimly lit theater waiting for the lights to go out and the previews to start. Other people were also in the theater and there was chatter all around them. Yugi didn’t mind; he was re-living the walk to the theater. It had been an easy conversation they had had. He wondered why he had been so nervous. He felt Atem move a little closer to his seat and he smiled at this. I love you, Atem, he thought.
“I love you too,” Atem whispered.
Yugi blinked. “I didn’t say anything.”
Atem also blinked. “But, I heard you.”
“I didn’t say it, but I did think it.”
“Can you hear me, Yugi?”
“Yeah. I can.”
Both smiled at each other as the theater darkened and thought the same thing. “Cool!” they chorused.
They left the theater two hours later, mentally chatting about the movie. Neither one was entirely sure why they still had a mental link, but Atem suggested that they might still be connected by the Millennium Puzzle which Yugi was wearing and Yugi suggested that they test that by taking it off when they got home.
“Hey, Yug’!” called someone. Both teens looked to see Joey waving from a table he was at along with Tristan, Tea, and Ryou. Yugi and Atem headed over and took empty seats at the table. Joey took in Atem’s clothes and grinned at Yugi. “Are we on a date?”
“Yes,” Yugi answered. “We were just at the movies.”
“That sounds like fun,” Ryou commented.
“Oh, yeah. Loads of fun,” Bakura sneered from the Ring. Ryou ignored the comment; the tomb robber had been irritable ever since finding he could not move on to the afterlife. Ryou promised him that one day he’ll help him move on.
“How are those papers coming along?” Tea asked.
“Grandpa asked Kaiba to fake some of those papers,” Yugi said. “Basically passport, ID, and school records.”
“He’s also putting together a backstory that Yugi invented,” Atem added. “Only my birthplace, birthday, and age are real.”
“When’s your birthday?”
“July twenty-sixth.”
“So, you’ll be nineteen next year?” Joey asked.
“No. I’m only sixteen right now.”
“Sixteen!?” exclaimed their friends, except Ryou who had received that information from Bakura some time ago.
“Yes, but Kaiba’s going to fake a transcript so that I’ll be in your class.”
“That’s two weeks and Atem will need to pick up a school uniform,” Yugi said.
“Today was great,” Atem said as they sat in Yugi’s room.
“Yeah, it was and I look forward to when you’ll be starting school with us.” Yugi removed the puzzle and thought, Can you hear me?
Atem tilted her head and blinked. “I do hear you. Perhaps the puzzle left us our link but now it’s not necessary to be wearing it.”
“I’ll still wear it, but I do like having our link without having to wear it. Well, good night.”
“Good night, Yugi.” Atem gave Yugi a kiss before heading to her room.
&&&&
“Hurry up, you two! You don’t want to late for school!” Solomon called two weeks later.
“Coming, Grandpa,” two voices replied.
Yugi and Atem came down the stairs dressed in their respective uniforms, Yugi with his backpack on and Atem holding a handbag. All of Atem’s legal papers were in order and Solomon insisted on the pharaoh calling him Grandpa and she agreed.
“Have a good day!” Solomon said as he hugged both and ushered them out the door.
Yugi and Atem waved before heading off to school, holding hands, and facing the future together.
