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Bakhura knew he was there long before Atem ever made his presence known. He hadn’t become known as the King of Thieves by being unaware of his surroundings after all. He glanced slightly over his shoulder, watching from the corner of his eye as the royal approached. Alone.
He didn’t move from his perch that overlooked Kul Elna. In Aaru, the village looked unblemished, as if the horrors it endured never trespassed, but Bakhura could still see it. Every charred building. Every bleached bone of a villager who’d been cut down instead of thrown into molten gold. “I’m surprised that the great and powerful pharaoh is so brave as to wander into a thief’s den. Especially without a single guard.”
Atem didn’t reply. He simply sat down next to Bakhura, staring at the village and the villagers celebrating down below. After a while, Atem did speak, though his voice was soft. “I’m surprised that you’re not there with them.”
Bakhura snorted. “I spend more time with them than you realize.” He frowned. “It’s just…” A sigh rushed from his lungs. They didn’t struggle or burn with the action, something that he still couldn’t believe. His lungs had always had some sort of tightness to them. It lingered even at rest when his breathing seemed perfectly normal. No one would have known that even with the deep breaths he took in his lungs had been trapped in a vice that had constantly squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.
He’d often stole shemshemet from the fields to use for temporary relief.
“Sometimes, it doesn’t feel real?” Atem offered.
“Yeah.” The word was barely a whisper, barely even a sound.
Atem nodded. “I know what you mean. Maybe not fully, but…” He shrugged. “Seeing my court just feels off.”
“Doesn’t help that uncle fuck face is there.”
“He’s not.”
Bakhura shifted, turning to look at Atem. “Huh?”
“I yeeted him out after I arrived in Aaru.” Atem’s eyes flashed briefly. “I wasn’t about to allow him to be around any of you. Not after what he’d done.”
“You do know that your father pretty much pulled a Jesus and absolved him of his sins, right?”
Atem snorted. “I don’t care. He’d committed a sin far greater than what should be forgiven.”
“Careful. I might actually start liking you.”
Atem’s lips quirked briefly, but kept his gaze transfixed on the village. Slowly, an emotion that Bakhura couldn’t understand passed over his features. Tears bubbled up in Atem’s eyes and he bowed his head.
Bakhura wasn’t sure how to handle a crying person, much less a crying pharaoh. Touching Atem, in life, would have been punishable by death. Especially for a person like him, but something inside of him stirred. A strange protectiveness that made him want to risk it in order to comfort his once enemy. He tried to push it down so he didn’t do something that he’d regret. “Umm…”
“He picked Kul Elna for more than just what you were forced to become,” Atem choked out.
Oh hell. They were going to have one of these moments. They were seriously going to end up having some sort of heart-to-heart that would likely leave them both in tears by the time it was done. Bakhura wanted to avoid it, but at the same time…
Knowledge and secrets were also treasures. And still a thief at heart, Bakhura coveted treasure, even if it would punish him in some way in the end.
“Why?”
Atem looked over, meeting Bakhura’s gaze. “So you wouldn’t take my place instead of Seth.”
Bakhura stared in confusion. “You do remember what I am, right?” Why would he have ended up on the throne had something happened to Atem?
“You were more direct in the bloodline…”
Cold settled inside of Bakhura’s belly, understanding the implications.
Atem looked back to the village.
“I…” Bakhura shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the information. “I don’t quite understand.”
“Your mother had been one of father’s lovers. Not his official wife. He loved her, though.”
Bakhura snorted in disbelief.
“It’d been his brother… our… my uncle who drove her back to her home village.”
“I’m guessing he’d found out she’d been pregnant.”
Atem nodded. “Yeah.”
Foreign emotions twisted inside of Bakhura. He scoffed, not wanting Atem to see how it’d bothered him. It made sense now why his mother never spoke about his father. He’d assumed as a child that he’d died, but coming to Aaru and not meeting him, not getting any information about him, he should have questioned a bit more. “Figures.”
“I refused to allow him hurt, or use family again. He didn’t deserve a place here where he could hurt you all again.”
Bakhura tensed. He wasn’t sure what to think or feel about Atem claiming him and Kul Elna as family. On one hand, Bakhura felt possessive and protective of his village and everyone inside. They were his people. He’d fought to save them, free them from the tortured existence that they had suffered. On the other hand, he felt elated. He wanted to drag Atem through the village, and introduce him to everyone. Especially his mother and see her dote on the pharaoh and embarrass him. He wanted to sink down in relief that now he wasn’t the only one fighting to protect them. Though he needn’t actually fight anymore. It was just so hard to release the sword and shield that he carried all these years.
“I know that it’s not my place to call any of you as family, but…”
Bakhura took in a breath. “I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. It’ll be a while before I truly will want to share them with you, however…” He trailed, staring at the buildings, watching the villagers dancing in the distance. His ears could pick up the trills of music and song, the rumbles of laughter and muffled conversation. Even at this distance, he could smell the rich scent of food. The entire village was his family. The Gods gave them all back to him. He met other villagers who’d crossed over long before his birth. Generations and generations of family were given to him. And now Atem. “However, I supposed that it wouldn’t kill me to give you a chance first.” He looked over at Atem. He’d wanted a sibling as a child before the fire. After the fire, he’d been grateful that he didn’t because otherwise there would have been a chance that he would have watched them burn and melt down with the others.
Only, he didn’t. Instead, he’d been the one to try and kill his sibling, his younger brother. He’d dragged his father’s mummified remains into the palace to hurt his brother, so that he’d feel what Bakhura felt every single time he saw someone wearing, holding one of the sennen items. He’d pushed that pain onto his blood.
Pressure built up and his throat tightened.
Atem’s arms circled around Bakhura, squeezing him firmly. “Don’t cry. It’s all right. Please… don’t cry.”
Bakhura noticed the wet trails on his cheeks and the uneven gasps that sputtered in his lungs. “Fuck…” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Fuck! I fucked up so badly.”
Atem circled closer, shaking his head. “No. You didn’t. Neither of us knew at the time. I don’t hate you for it. Not anymore.”
Bakhura wiped at his face.
“I’m sorry,” Atem said. “For not listening. You’d tried multiple times to tell me the truth of Kul Elna, and I refused to listen.”
Bakhura snorted with a strangled hiccup. “It must have been the little brother instinct.”
Atem chuckled faintly, though it ended with a hiccup of his own. His cheeks were damp from his own tears. “Maybe.” The smile faded. “I swear, I don’t ignore you again.”
He’d called it. A heart-to-heart that left them both in tears. “Sure, Atem. You actually listening to someone other than Yuugi would be drastically out of character for you.”
“Bakhura, I’m trying—”
“I know. It’s just… overwhelming. All of this. It makes me angry. Everything that I did to you.”
“To be fair, we’ve both done things that we regret.”
Bakhura circled his arms around Atem, already feeling protective of the other man. The laws against such contact be damned. Atem was kin, of his blood. No law was going to stop him from holding someone of his blood. “It’s going to be hard, you know. Starting anew.”
Atem smiled. “Yes. There will likely be times where we’ll fight and have to be pulled apart and sent into time out.”
Bakhura snickered, imagining his mother holding them both by the backs of their clothes up off the ground with a disapproving glare before separating them.
“But there will be times when we can be bad influences on each other,” Atem continued.
“Does this mean that we can break into the tombs here?” While the tombs weren’t truly tombs like back in the mortal realm, there were still traps and treasures.
Atem gave him a disapproving look, but his lips had a faint quirk to them. “Does this mean that I can steal you away for games and get me out of tedious ruling work?”
Bakhura cackled. “Already a bad influence on you.”
Atem joined him in laughter. “I’ve never claimed to be a true saint,” he said. “I never claimed anything. We’re more alike than Yuugi and the others realize.”
“Of course. Some things are just genetic.” Bakhura really couldn’t help but throw himself into this situation head first. It felt natural. "Hey, Atem?”
“Hm?”
Bakhura closed his eyes. “Thank you. For getting rid of him.”
“He didn’t deserve to be here.”
“Sometimes, I feel like I don’t either.”
“You do. You were trying to avenge them.” He nodded to the village. “To save them. You went in to restore balance. And you had to be alone.”
“But… I tried to release…”
“He used you like a pawn.” Atem’s eyes flashed with anger. “I wish I had the ability to make him suffer for that.”
“Big brothers protect the younger ones,” he pointed out. “My brotherly advice to you — if that fucker is still alive somehow, stay away from him.”
Atem opened his mouth to argue, but Bakhura shook his head.
“Trust me. If Necrophades is alive, he will try to use you like he did me. I don’t want you to go through that in any form.”
Atem sighed heavily.
If that son of a jackal were to set his foul eyes on Atem, Bakhura would do anything to protect his brother, even if it meant setting him down a dark path once again. Family was always his greatest weakness. Now that he knew Atem was family, now that the concept was settling into his brain, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to protect Atem.
“Do you miss it?” Atem suddenly asked.
“Miss what?”
“The mortal realm. With the people we’ve met. Yuugi… Kaiba… Ryou…” He glanced at Bakhura with a faint quirk of an eyebrow. “Marik.”
Heat filled Bakhura’s cheeks at the mention of Marik. While nothing truly happened between him and the tomb keeper turned crime boss, he had found himself feeling fondness toward Marik, he’d been willing to risk his mission, Ryou’s body, for Marik. They didn’t have the time to explore what could have been. Too much had to be done for the both of them. But maybe, one day when Marik’s time came to cross over, they could explore their feelings.
And then there is Ryou. Ryou, his former host…
He’d spent the early years of possessing Ryou taking care of the other. Oftentimes he felt like he’d been the one to raise Ryou. There was a time before Ryou even realized he was there, that Ryou had been sick and Bakhura had taken care of him. He’d heard Necrophades in the back of his head, grumbling about what Bakhura needed to do to ensure their host would get stronger for them. He hadn’t dared to joke at the time about how Necrophades seemed almost worried about Ryou’s wellbeing. Whether it was because they needed Ryou, or if it was genuine worry, Bakhura didn’t know. He didn’t care because Ryou was far from Necrophades’ claws now. He was safe. Just like how Kul Elna was now safe. His family was safe. Finally, truly safe.
“Sometimes,” he admitted softly. “If I didn’t think it would make the separation hurt worse, I’d get a mirror to look in on them to see how they are doing.”
“A mirror?”
Bakhura nodded. “Something I learned from Ryou. You can use a mirror for scrying, portals, and communicating with spirits, among other things. Mirror magic can be a bit… well, it’s safer than Shadow Games, but I wouldn’t count it as truly safe magic.” Too many risks are involved, especially if you don’t know how to properly shield yourself, or close the connection when done.
“The fact that Ryou even knows that makes me worry.”
Bakhura grinned. “He’s smart. Smarter than us considering our history.”
Atem hummed softly. “You don’t know the half of it. Of the things that I’ve done prior to you and Ryou moving to Domino.”
Bakhura squeezed Atem to him briefly before loosening his hold. He wasn’t going to ask, to push. If Atem wanted to tell him, he would in his own time. They had an eternity now. “I do wish I could tell him about Amane, though. She comes here, sometimes.”
A smile filled Atem’s lips. “Oh, I know. I got kicked in the shins.”
Laughter erupted from Bakhura’s lips. “What? Why?”
“Because of that duel in Battle City.”
“Damn. I put Ryou through hell and I get more of a cold shoulder upon meeting, but you get full-on kicked?”
“I sense favoritism.”
Bakhura broke into more laughter, unable to stop them. It felt nice to laugh. It caused joy to swell up and burn inside of him with light as powerful as Ra’s divine light. Had he not already been in Aaru, he would have feared that he’d burn from the inside out, reflecting the sins he’d committed.
But his actions for Kul Elna had balanced the scales. His crimes didn’t tip the scales enough to sentence eternal damnation in the jaws of Ammit. He’d been blessed with this moment, for all the moments that he’d gained in Aaru. He had his village back and he didn’t have to fear losing them again. He didn’t have to fear someone coming to cause harm.
Atem laid his head on Bakhura’s shoulder. “What are they celebrating?” His eyes were back on the village.
His gaze followed Atem’s. He listened to the celebration, savoring the joyful sounds. Much more pleasant than the howling screams and wails of their mangled spirits when he’d been alive. “Life… freedom… family. It’s sort of a mixture.” Why not celebrate now that their souls no longer suffered. Just like him and Atem… They’ve both suffered. And it’d started because of one man. Bakhura nodded to himself. Why bother waiting? “Let’s join them.” He stood and offered his hands to Atem.
Atem stared at his hands for a long moment before looking up at Bakhura. “You sure it’s all right? Isn’t it, you know, soon?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Bakhura shrugged. “But this is honestly the perfect moment for you to get to know the rest of your family. What do you say? Are you ready to come home?”
Atem was quiet for a moment longer before relief and delight filled his features. He accepted Bakhura’s hands. “I’m ready.”