Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Truthfully, in My Soul ❯ Remembering Little Mana ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: Remembering Little Mana

 

Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi. Neferue is my character.

 

“Ouji-sama!” Mana continued to yell out as she skipped towards the pharaoh.

 

“Mana, you know you can get in trouble for saying that,” Atemu began. “I'm not a prince anymore.”

 

Mana just smiled back sweetly. “I know, but no one's here,” she said with pique. “Besides, I don't think you mind. We're like family.”

 

Atem nodded in agreement. She was right after all; both Mana and Atemu were close friends, so he didn't care if she called him “Prince” as opposed to the proper title of “Pharaoh”. He had known her ever since they were young children. He remembered when he met her for the first time:

(BEGINNING OF FLASHBACK)

Atemu was sitting in a room all alone, behind a desk full of spells and scrolls and textbooks of various sorts. He placed and rested his head on his right hand, bored. He didn't like his tutor, he didn't like his lessons, and most of all, he didn't like being alone.

 

Suddenly, the tutor came in. “My prince,” the tutor began to say, “you are going to have a student coming here to learn and study magic with you.” Upon this new news, Atemu's ears perked up. Then he looked at the doorway, and found a brown haired girl standing there. He could see that she was wearing a linen dress with a pleated skirt, and a linen cap covered her head.

 

The prince thought it was odd that this “student” was a girl; after all, most girls were not allowed to study magic.

 

The girl walked up to him with a happy attitude to her voice. “Hi! My name is Mana! What's your name?” the girl asked.

 

Out of politeness, Atemu replied, “My name is Atemu.”

 

The tutor was shocked. “Mana!” he cried out. “You should not address the prince like that. And you must address him by his title, not his name!”

 

“Oh,” Mana softly said, looking slightly embarrassed. From that point on, Mana had decided to make it a point to address Atemu as “ouji-sama”.

 

(END OF FLASHBACK)

 

Atemu walked over to the balcony, where he could see his entire kingdom. This was the kingdom passed on to him by his father, and his father's father, and so on. He closed his eyes, reminiscing on the past, his childhood years, when the days were more carefree and he had more freedom to do whatever he wanted.

 

He opened his eyes again. “Mana,” the pharaoh began, “do you remember the days when you and I used to sneak out of the palace at night just to play?”

 

Mana giggled. “Yes, of course I do,” she replied. “I also remember the look on the guards faces when they found out you were missing from your room.” She began laughing.

 

Atemu just smiled, then looked back outside. “It seems like I'll never get those days back,” he sighed.

 

Mana noticed the pharaoh's downtrodden attitude. “Does this have to do something with that marriage of yours to Princess Neferue?” she asked politely. Atemu just nodded in embarrassment.

 

“I heard that she was supposedly one of the most beautiful girls in the world. Other rulers are envious of you for it,” Mana replied. “Still, it doesn't sound fair to you. You're the pharaoh. Why can't you just marry who you want?”

 

“It's because it had been written down by my father and her father that we are to be wed. It was part of an agreement made a long time ago. I can't simply break my father's word, nor can she break his.”

 

Mana was just trying to cheer the pharaoh up, much like a devoted sister tries to cheer up her dear brother during sad points in his life. She didn't agree with the idea either, for it sounded unfair, but this is what society dictated for him.