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Chapter 9

       Bakura removed his hat for a moment to wipe his forehead and run a hand through his tangled hair, then he quickly replaced it.  He was far too pale for this desert sun.  He groaned as he saw the muddy sweat on his hand.  His hair was filthy.  Perhaps he should have gotten it cut before coming to Egypt.  He quickly dismissed the thought. He liked his hair, even if it did seem to be in the way sometimes.  He would never cut it.

       Resuming his former course he weaved his way through the crowded camp heading toward the ‘administration’ tent.  It was, effectively, Kaiba’s office for the time being.  The flap was open so he stepped inside.

       Seto Kaiba was sitting at the desk, hands on his knees, staring into space.  Bakura stopped uncertainly.

       “Kaiba?” he did not answer but continued to stare as though lost in thought.  Bakura had noticed that the normally focused CEO had been doing that a lot lately.  He was a little worried about his friend. But then, Yami and Bakurai had been acting strangely as well.  This whole crown thing had them all tied up in knots.

       “Kaiba.” He said a little louder, stepping closer to the man.  He waved his hand before Kaiba’s eyes.  Still no response.

       “SETO!”

       Kaiba sat up with a start and turned to him.

       “Uh, yeah?”

       <YEAH?!> Kaiba never said yeah, always yes.  Not once, in all the time Bakura had known him, had he ever said ‘yeah’.  And, even more unsettling, Bakura could have sworn there had been something in his eyes for just a moment when he realized who had called his name.  Had it been pain?  Anger?  Jealousy?  A mixture of the three, perhaps?  But why?

       <Bakura,> he told himself <you have quite the imagination.  Why would Seto Kaiba be jealous of you?>  It was a good point.  The handsome young CEO had everything anyone could ever want.  Still…

       “Are you alright?”

       Kaiba studied him with such lack of emotion that Bakura was sure he must have imagined the earlier reaction.  “Of course.” He responded lightly, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

       “Uh, no reason.  Just wanted to let you know that we’ll be stopping a little early tonight.  Some of the rubble is unstable and I want to bring in a special crew.  Can you arrange it?” Kaiba nodded.

       “Was there something else?” he asked when Bakura did not leave.

       “Uh,” Bakura shifted uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck.  <Yuck, more grimy sweat> he grimaced and quickly pulled his hand away. “Yes, as a matter of fact.  I’m a little worried about Yami and my partner.  They grow increasingly agitated as we go further into the tunnel.”

        “I see.” Seto studied him for a moment, “what do you expect me to do?”

       Bakura shrugged, “I don’t know.  I can’t talk to them, I don’t understand.  But you do.  At least… more than I do.  At least you recognize the artifact.  I… I don’t.” he finished quietly, moving his hands in a helpless gesture.

       “I’ll see what I can do.  Now,” Kaiba looked pointedly down at his desk, “if you’ll excuse me.”

       “Of course.” Bakura turned and left relieved that Kaiba would talk to the others, but with a vague feeling of unease.  That had been the oddest conversation.  Kaiba was his friend, but he had acted as though he wanted nothing more than for Bakura to get out of his presence.  It was as though he couldn’t get rid of him fast enough.  And Bakura was almost positive he had heard Kaiba sigh in relief when he left the tent.

       Since when did Kaiba sigh?

       Casting a glance back over his shoulder Bakura saw Kaiba through the flap.  He was staring straight ahead once more, and there was an unbearable sorrow in the depths of his blue eyes.

       <What could be wrong?>

***

       Tea pushed a piece of lettuce around on her plate.  She flipped it over once, then again, then she moved it to the other side of the plate and lined it up with another piece of lettuce.  Apparently satisfied, or perhaps just bored, she moved on to the small pile of carrot shavings.  She began to arrange them in a sun ray pattern, then smashed them all back together and clanged her fork against the plate absently.

       Yugi watched all this with a mixture of amusement and concern.  Tea wasn’t the kind to play with her food.  He had only seen her do it a few times, when she was nervous or something was weighing heavily on her mind.  Finally he reached out a hand, placing it over hers.  Her fork fell with a clang.

       “Tea.”

       Her startled gaze darted up to meet his and he saw confusion flash there for a moment before recognition set it.  <Now that was certainly strange> he thought <almost as though she didn’t know I was here.  As if she had forgotten all about me>

       “Are you okay?” he turned their hands so that he could clasp their fingers.

       “Um,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a nervous habit, “sure Yugi.”

       “Are you worried about them?” she didn’t bother asking to whom he was referring.  It was what conversation usually turned to in the last few weeks.

       “I guess.  I mean who knows what they will find, how long it will take, or how it will change them.”

        Yugi understood how she felt.  In truth, the same thoughts had crossed his mind more times than he could remember.  But he knew that everything would be alright.  It had to be, because he knew Yami, he knew the Bakuras, and he knew Seto.  And he knew that nothing would change who they were; their essence would remain the same no matter what happened to them.

       “Tea, they’ll still be our friends.”

       She sighed, “I know.”

       He studied her for a moment longer as if sensing she had more to say.  It was understandable, he had been very close to her for many years.  And even without that, Yugi seemed to have a sense for people.  Perhaps it was because of his incredible innocence and his forgiving heart.  He was very empathetic and sensitive to the moods of others.

       She moved and he allowed her to withdraw her hand.  Picking up her fork once more the made little circles in the dressing on her plate.  “I’m a little upset.” She stopped and he waited silently.  She considered how much to tell him.  She didn’t want to burden him, and she didn’t want to cause him difficulties at work, or with friends, but she was used to telling him everything.  Maybe if she left out the specifics…

       “There’s…” she took a deep breath, averting her eyes, “There’s this guy I kind of like, or at least, I think I do, I don’t really know.” She knew that she was rambling, babbling, but how could she speak coherently when she still wasn’t sure how she felt or what she was thinking.

       “Do I know him?” Yugi asked.

       “Uh…” Tea wasn’t sure what to say.  She didn’t want to lie to him and yet… she couldn’t exactly tell him either.  It was bad enough that Bakura knew.  “You’ve seen him around.”

       Yugi could tell that she was uncomfortable and decided to let the matter drop, “so, what’s the problem?”

       Tea stifled a sigh of relief and looked up at him, “I don’t know how he feels.  I mean, I know he doesn’t dislike me, but I’m not sure he’s attracted to me romantically.  I kind of thought maybe he might be, but then, well, he got really distant all of the sudden,” <in more ways than one> she thought bitterly, “And now I think maybe he didn’t ever care about me at all. You know?”

       Yugi nodded, taking her hand once more, and she smiled gratefully.

       “The hardest part is that I don’t even know how I feel.  I don’t know if I should go after him, or just let it be.  I was trying to sort it all out, but it’s kind of hard when he won’t even talk to me.  I haven’t seen him in a while so I really can’t weigh my own actions.  Do I like him?  Or do I just want to be friends?  Is it just that I know he’s handsome and desirable and I’ve been alone such a long time?  Or is it real attraction with the potential for something more?”  She looked at him bleakly, “Does this make any sense?”

       Yugi smiled, giving her hand a squeeze, “Sure.” He paused studying her intently.  He nodded firmly, and to Tea it seemed as though he had made a decision of great importance.  “Tea, I’m going to tell you something that might be a little awkward for both of us, but it might help you.”

       She eyed him with curiosity, but remained silent.

       “You know I used to like you, a lot.” It was more of a statement than a question, but Tea nodded anyway.  “It was really hard.” He confessed, “I thought maybe you liked me too, but I was so small, and I wasn’t very cool, and you were so great.  You always stood by me, and helped me, and you gave me strength.” He ducked his head, blushing a little, “I- I really loved you.  And,” he looked up with confidence, “I still do.  Just not the way I thought I did.”  He waved his free hand.  “Anyway, the point is, I just wanted to be near you – all the time.  Even when it hurt because you were with someone else, or you were talking about another guy.  I just wanted to be there.  It made me feel better.  And it made me happy to see you happy.  When you were busy or I hadn’t seen you in days, I missed you.  A lot. 

       “I would wonder where you were, what you were doing.  But, at the same time, I didn’t want to be in your way.”

       He pulled her hand closer, placing his other hand over it, “But it wasn’t like that at first.  At first I made up excuses.  ‘I need to see Tea about that assignment’ or ‘maybe I should tell Tea about that, in case she missed it’.  They were silly excuses, and deep down I knew that they were just that.  But I didn’t want to admit that I had a crush on you.  Because, if I admitted that, that would open up a lot of opportunities for pain.  Once I admitted my feelings for you, I gave you the power to break my heart.  Love opens us to pain, Tea.” She opened her moth to speak, but he shook his head, briefly holding up one hand, “But love is worth all the pain it brings.” He said honestly.  Her eyes widened in mild surprise and she looked down for a moment, obviously confused.  He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, drawing her attention back to him.

       “Not once, in all the times I watched you with someone else or heard you talk about someone else, did I ever regret loving you.  Not even when it was Yami and it hurt like I was being torn in two and my heart was a constant ache in my chest, not even then did I wish I had not fallen for you.”  He smiled warmly at her, “Because, you see Tea,” he explained, “love brings pain, but it also brings joy.  Through my pain I was happy because you were happy.  And that happiness is the purest joy you’ll ever feel.  To be happy for someone else’s sake, for the sake of the one you love, is infinitely sweeter than to be happy for your own sake.  Love does that.  Love is selfless and wonderful.

       “I don’t know if that will help you sort out your feelings.  But even if it doesn’t it can serve as a warning.

       “Human beings don’t like pain, Tea.  We do everything we can to protect ourselves from it.  That’s why we flinch away when something is thrown at us, it’s why we close our eyes when something passes too near.  Our hearts do it too.  It’s all too easy to talk yourself out of love.”  He met her gaze earnestly, “Don’t let fear of pain prevent you from realizing true love.”

***

       “Mail call!”

       Kaiba turned as the loud shout sounded through the camp.  They had employed thirteen natives to assist in their endeavor so the camp was fairly large.

       He wiped the sweat from his brow and dropped his pen, rising to go outside.  This was, by now, a familiar scene.  Twice a week the mail came and everyone would gather around the mess tent (that was their ‘dining’ tent) to receive news from home.  Even the natives came as they had been living at the camp for nearly a month now and they rarely went home.  Their families had taken to sending small treats and notes.  For the others, however, mail call was far more exciting.  Only at this time did they receive news of Domino and the goings on there.

       Kaiba joined the bustle around the mess tent and waited for his name to be called. 

       Each of them – himself, Yami, Marik, Bakura, and Bakurai – always received at least two packages.  Today he had five.  Taking them gratefully he slipped back to his tent to read them privately.

       Once again he wiped at his brow.  It was incredibly hot.

       Quickly he flipped through the envelopes.  One from the gang, one from Mokuba… and three from Cynthia Hagarthy.  He was tempted to toss the latter without a second glance, but he refrained.

       The first was thick and heavy.  The reason for that was that it contained letters from each of his friends in Domino.  The gang had decided to cut down on postage by sending their greetings all in one envelope.  They all got one extremely thick envelope at each mail call, and generally one other, separate letter, from the one closest to them.  For example, Mokuba wrote him, and Yugi wrote Yami.  He was fairly certain Ishizu wrote Marik as well.  But Bakurai only received the group envelope.  It was unlikely he had any close friends, aside from his room mate and partner, who was here with him.  Bitterly he wondered if Tea wrote Bakura under a separate letter.  He was certain she must, after all, her letters would be more… personal, but he had never stayed around to see.  Somehow the uncertainty was easier to deal with.

        He read the letters from the gang and Mokuba, laughing a little at Joey’s teasing jabs and comical ‘insights’ into Domino life.  Finishing them he penned a few lines back to his brother, and a few more to Yugi, asking them to relay his greetings and best wishes to the others.  E-mail would certainly be more efficient, but, unfortunately, not reliable.  The Egyptian sun did strange things to laptops and they had no air conditioning and precious little shade.

       Sealing the letters and placing them on the corner of his desk, where someone would pick them up later, he turned resignedly to Ms. Hagarthy’s letters.  How had she found him out here?  He had hoped to avoid her unwelcome advances, at least for a time.

       Fortunately she had not felt the need to come visit him.  Her letters and gifts were annoying enough.

       The excavation was progressing slowly, yet, at the same time, much more rapidly than any of them had anticipated.  And certainly more rapidly than Seto would have liked.  He was happy for the sake of the yamis’ – they had lived in shadow far too long, unable to recall their own lives – but he was not ready to return to Domino.

       Bakura and Bakurai had warned them that excavation was a painstaking process, especially if one wished to keep the artifacts in tact and in good condition.  It sometimes took days simply to remove the sand from a small carving.  Still, they were an efficient team with an intuitive talent for archeology.  And, as money was no object, they had all the equipment they could have hoped for.

       They had already cleared much of the rubble from the tunnel.  A tedious task as they did not wish to disturb the rest of the underground structure.  They could take no heavy equipment into the tunnels and the rubble had to be wheeled out manually.  The rubble had extended far further than they had anticipated. Unfortunately this meant that the man made walls of the tunnel had collapsed.  Earthen walls remained, but they were simply sand and stone solidified by years of pressing together.  Whatever stories may have been recorded in this tunnel were lost.

       Despite this rather disheartening fact they continued on. Bakura suspected, from the layout of the tunnels, that there was a chamber at the end of this tunnel. It was in that place than anything of true importance would have been recorded.  Hopefully that chamber would be intact.

       The Bakuras, Yami, and Marik, spent nearly all their time down in the tunnels, while Seto spent most of his time on the surface in the camp attending to the administration and management of the project.  This was a great relief to Bakura and Bakurai, who had always found that part of archeology to be tedious and time consuming.

       Tossing aside Ms. Hagarthy’s letters Kaiba turned back to the paperwork on his desk.  Tomorrow was pay day and he had things to get done.  That woman would just have to wait.