I didn't tell Atem what craziness I saw the night before, mostly because I didn't want to freak him out. However, there was another reason for why I wasn't telling him... I was sure there was, but I couldn't figure it out.

Anyways, I wasn't feeling particularly good the next morning cause I barely slept. My stomach, for some strange reason, was turning the entire time in nervousness.

I didn't actually think that I saw the wizard... did I?

I mean, that was practically impossible. I watched Atem kill him!

Was I so ignorant to the power of magic to realize that bringing people back to life was possible?

No... that's ridiculous.

But then again, a year ago I would have said time traveling Pharaoh's were ridiculous too.

As I pondered the possibility of my ignorance to magic, Atem walked into my room with my massive, red hot water bag.

It was purchased a couple years ago specifically because every month, on the second day of 'that time of the month,' my uterus felt like it was going to rip right out of my tummy. A nice, hot water bag on my belly would always reduce the pain.

But I had used it on Atem when he once hit his head against the cupboard in the kitchen because I left it open, and so now he knew about it.

So yeah, he walked into my room, hot water bag in hand, and spoke to me with his usual annoyed look, "is your back still hurting?"

"Kind of," I said. After washing my face and eating breakfast, I had returned to bed because of that weird nervousness still in my belly. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Atem thought it was because of my back.

I didn't like this feeling.

It was kind of like the feeling I would get when I found out that my marks were up. Or the feeling you get right before an exam.

Ugh, it was so uncomfortable.

The slight throb in my back was nothing in comparison to what was going on in my stomach.

And the worst part was, I couldn't understand it.

"Turn around then, and put this on your back," Atem said.

I did as he said, turning myself around so that I was lying on my front on my bed.

Atem sat next to me on my bed, placed the bag on my back and patted it a couple times before looking down at me, "what exactly was it that startled you last night, May?"

I swallowed back some of that nervousness. "It could have been a mouse," I lied.

"A mouse? Is that something you people are afraid of? Tiny, harmless mice?

"Mice are pretty scary!" I argued, "they can be vicious!"

"Oh, dear Ra, you're pathetic," he put his legs up on my bed despite insulting me.

I sighed and turned my head away from him, resting it on my pillow, "god, I'm so tired."

"But you just woke up."

I didn't say anything to that. Instead, I stared at the wall and thought of a way to change the topic and feel better.

But instead, I did exactly the opposite.

I looked back at Atem, "how crazy is magic in your world?"

"Crazy?" He looked down at me. He was leaning against my headboard and I only now noticed that he had a book in his hands.

"Like... were there people in your world who could bring people back to life?"

"Only the gods could bring people back to life."

"Only the gods?"

Atem nodded, "in the afterlife, of course."

"So... a wizard or witch or sorcerer couldn't bring someone back to life?"

"No. That should not be possible," he said, "even the goddess Isis was unable to completely bring her husband Osiris back to life. She managed to bring him back to life just long enough to conceive baby Horus but then Osiris passed on to the underworld. If Isis couldn't do it, no simple being should be able to."

I looked at him and then looked back down at my bed covers, "oh."

"Why do you ask?"

I shrugged, "just curious, I guess."

Atem didn't say anything for a moment, then when he spoke up, I was a little surprised.

"Does this have anything to do with your aunt?"

I hesitated.

Did it?

Was that why I felt this weird nervousness inside me?

It was kind of random and out of the blue... but it could have been because of my aunt.

"When did your aunt pass on?"

"It'll be three years ago in April. April fifth," I sighed immediately after I said it.

"What happened to her?"

"It was a car accident," I said. "On a Friday night. And it was raining and she was coming home from work and a drunk driver drove his car right into her side of the car. She survived for a couple days after but wasn't able to hold on too long." I bit my lip for a moment and then continued, "then she was gone."

"Drunk driver..."

"Yeah," I sighed, "she didn't deserve to die."

"Most people don't," Atem remarked. He then went silent for a moment, as if thinking about what he just said, then he continued. "Tell me about her."

"Why?" I asked, looking at him, "since when did you care?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're the one who always says that talking about it helps," he said, but then his expression softened. "Besides, I'm curious to know who she is. She seems to have known everything about me though I know nothing of her."

I smiled at him, a little happy that he wanted to know more about Aunty Maya. I could talk about her for days if someone would let me. "She was fantastic. Like... everything I dream of being when I'm older," I started, "she was smart and pretty and kind... and she had this great sense of humor. She laughed at practically everything."

"When did she join your family?"

"When I was a kid. I knew her most of my life because she and Uncle Ethan started dating when they were young," I said. "She brought a lot into my life, you know. She made me start to appreciate the little things."

"Really?"

I nodded, "and I really didn't have a great role model as a child. My parents weren't bad parents. I mean, I'm certain that there are thousands around the world who have it worse than I do. But my mother was busy and never around and my father was... the guy we know today. When she became a part of my life, she really taught me what it's like to be... a good person."

Atem simply watched me, waiting for me to continue.

"Her father died when she was young, from cancer... and she always told me that he loved her and cherished her and made her who she was despite the fact that he was always so sick. And she passed on all that stuff to me.

"Obviously she saw this contrast between her parents and my own... which is probably why she worked so hard to make me happy. To take on the role of my parents so that I could experience what it was like to have a mother who really was there for me."

"Did you consider her a mother?"

I nodded. "She really was. There were lots of times when I would accidently call her mom," I let out a chuckle. "I think it flattered her every time though."

"How did your parents feel about that?" He asked, shifting slightly so that he was facing me more.

I started to frown, "my parents... and my uncles entire family, to be honest, didn't like Aunty Maya much at all."

"I thought you said she was a good woman."

"She was," I said, "but it was Aunty Maya's free spirit and confidence that gave Uncle Ethan the guts to get out of law and do what he adored. Uncle Ethan's a lot like me, you know... he didn't want to do law, but that's what his entire family tried to force him into. Thanks to Aunty Maya though, he changed his mind and look at him now, a professor of Egyptology."

And as I was talking, I suddenly remembered something, "After she got hit my the car, she was in the hospital for a while and I remember overhearing my grandfather tell my uncle that he knew he shouldn't have married her."

Atem raised an eyebrow, "harsh."

"I know," I said. "I absolutely hated my grandfather at that moment..."

And then I suddenly sat up, letting the hot water bag fall off of me while I faced Atem and crossed my legs. I grabbed a hold of a handful of bedcovers in both my fists as I spoke, "Aunty Maya was such a beautiful person, you know. It made me so furious to think that people didn't like her. I mean, how could you not like her? She as so kind and giving... she would have given anything to see the people she loved happy." I let out a breath and then turned around. I reached over to my bedside drawer and opened it up, pulling a photo album out of it.

When I sat back down, I placed the album on the bed, "wanna see pictures?"

"Sure," Atem said, a small smile on his face.

I opened up the album that was filled with my favourite photos of my aunt.

As I explained the context of nearly every photo to Atem, I was kind of surprised to see that he was paying complete attention.

But then again... maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Atem and I both know that we wouldn't be here if I didn't have that strange dream with my aunt on the night of my birthday. Maybe he really wanted to know the woman who... I guess... saved his life?

Or maybe I was just exaggerating.

"That necklace," Atem said, stopping me from turning the page, "you have the same one."

"Yeah, they're the same one... she had this necklace since she was a kid. Her father got it for her as a gift because she's always been interested in Ancient Egyptian history," I said, "she gave it to me right before she died."

"Oh," Atem said, "so the one you have is the exact one in the picture."

I nodded.

I then turned the page, revealing a photo of my aunt and I at a museum. "This is when we were at this fantastic museum in another city," I said, "I was mesmerized but all Aunty Maya could say was that these were nothing compared to seeing the real deal... it was before this photo that she promised to take me to Egypt for my eighteenth birthday."

"That was when I met you."

"Yeah," I sighed again, "I didn't get to go the Egypt with her, but instead she throws an Egyptian Pharaoh at me."

He smirked, "quite humorous."

I smiled at him and then pointed at another picture, "and I stole this one from Uncle Ethan," I chuckled as Atem looked at it.

It was a photo of a couple under an umbrella. Of course, it was Uncle Ethan and Aunty Maya.

They both had a friend who was a photographer and apparently the story was that they were all invited to a party downtown and the friend shot this photo while they were walking to the hall after parking their car.

I liked this photo a lot.

It was a photo of the two of them just being themselves... Aunty Maya giggling while Uncle Ethan kissed her cheek under an umbrella that protected them from the heavy rain.

They looked so young and happy and perfect.

"I always dreamed of finding a love like theirs," I said, "they were so happy. And it's not like they never fought... they fought like any couple would... but they forgave almost instantly." I started to smile, "Aunty Maya would always used that quote... it went something like: if a light bulb in your house went out, you fix the light bulb not change houses."

Atem chuckled, "there's a similar saying in Egypt," he said, "if an oar breaks while sailing through the Nile, you get a new oar, not abandon the entire ship."

I looked at him with a grin, "that's pretty hilarious." It was quite interesting to know that the Ancient Egyptians thought the way we did.

Atem smiled back, looking rather pleased.

And then I sighed again, for the hundredth time in the short little while that past. "Uncle Ethan is so strong... I don't know anyone stronger than him."

Atem looked back at my face as I closed the album, though there were still a bunch of photos we could look at.

"Can you imagine," I said, looking back at him, "loosing the love of your life? The girl you thought you would spend the rest of your life with? The woman you thought would one day be the mother of your children?"

Atem didn't respond, he just blinked and let out a breath.

I looked down at my fingers as I picked at my bed covers, "She had always been the one who understood him," I said, "I remember him saying that at his wedding reception... she was the one who got him. No one else could understand him like she did. And now she's gone."

"That's life... May," Atem said, "people come and go in our lives but we must learn to move on."

"I know," I said. Ro says the same thing. "I know."

He reached out and hesitated for a moment before he touched my hand.

"He's like my dad," I continued. "He's everything I wanted in a dad... when Aunty Maya was in the hospital high off of drugs because she was in so much pain... he held me and let me cry on his shoulder without shedding a tear. He was so strong."

Atem kept a firm hold of my hand, "fathers often are the strong ones. They stay strong for us."

"Exactly," I said, "that's exactly it... he stayed so strong for me... while she was in the hospital, when she died... even at her funeral... he was so strong. Then, on the day that he had to go clean out her office at the University, I volunteered to go with him... I helped him clean up but then I had to go... so I left but then realized I left my phone."

I started to choke up, remembering this moment so clear in my mind.

"When I got back... I peeked through the window and I saw him on his knees," I sniffled and the waterworks began, "I never ever imagined... I should have known how much pain he was in... how much pain he's still in. He loves her so much."

Atem sighed, "oh dear Ra, you are so pathetic."

I wiped away my tears, getting ready to growl at him. I was totally not surprised that he resorted to being mean, but that didn't stop me from getting ready to talk back.

However, just as I opened my mouth, he reached out and pulled me into a hug.

A tight, warm and strangely comforting hug.

It wasn't one of his awkward back patting hugs... this was the real deal.

"Everyone feels pain when they loose someone they love," Atem said, "you should not feel upset because your uncle felt that pain. It's hard to understand why we lose people to death but is that not why we believe in gods and destiny and the afterlife?"

I swallowed back my tears as he pulled away and looked at me.

"There have been countless times where I questioned the gods and the destiny that they have set forth for me, as I am sure many people do... but nonetheless, it's important that we have hope. Hope is something that seems to be lacking in your society, May."

I looked at him, it was strange how our conversation went from an aching back to hope.

"My people... no matter the circumstance, would have hope till the end. They would hope for something as grand as a prosperous life, or something as small waking up to feel the sun on their skin the next morning. But even more important is that they had hope in the fact that everything happened for a reason."

I let out a small laugh and looked at my hands.

"You've said that yourself, May. So why worry about such things? Everything happens for a reason. Your aunt has passed on... yes. You and your uncle must accept that. But instead of being gloomy, why not look at it differently."

"How can I look at my beautiful, wonderful, and loving aunts death differently?"

"For starters... you told me that I was sent here, to you, for a reason. You said that maybe I was sent here for a second chance," Atem said, making me look back at him, "but in all honesty, I never believed I deserved such a fate."

Now I was confused.

"I understand now that there's a whole different possibility," he continued, "my arrival here triggered a vision from your aunt. For you and your uncle, am I right?"

I nodded.

"Then maybe my being here... this entire curse... maybe all of this is a destiny woven by the gods to remind you, and maybe even your uncle, that your aunt isn't truly gone. She is here, watching over you. Still loving you. I believe you deserve that more than I deserve a second chance."

I let out another laugh and started smiling, "I guess it is possible." I mean, it could be.

He could be right. Though I didn't really agree with the fact that this wasn't at all a second chance for him. I think it was a second chance for him. But who says that it couldn't also be a wake up call for Uncle Ethan and I?

Now that he mentioned it... there was no way Uncle Ethan didn't consider this. He must have already figured out that Aunty Maya was there somewhere. I mean, he was a lot smarter than me.

And maybe that's why I've noticed him being a lot happier these days. It wasn't the same Uncle Ethan... but it was better.

So I smiled at Atem, grateful for this little talk. "Thanks Atem. You're right."

"I'm always right."

I rolled my eyes but decided to let that go this time around.

"I wish I could have known her," he suddenly said, "she seems like a good person."

"She was wonderful," I smiled, "I wanna be just like her."

"I think you already are... a lot like her," he said, "at least... that's what I think from what you told me."

I kept smiling, flattered but also happy.

Then I leaned forward and kissed his lips.

Despite the fact that I was going around saying he was my 'boyfriend,' it still took a lot of guts for me to do that.

But I did it, and he kissed me back.

Just like before, despite his harsh and cold demeanor, his lips were soft and his breath was warm against my skin.

When he pulled away, he had a small smile on his face. "It's only your second time kissing a man and you're already getting better."

Well technically, it was the third, since the first was all messed up. But whatever. That's fine.

I was suddenly in a good mood, so I decided to finally unleash confident and fun (and maybe hopefully sexy) May on this man who I was slowly, seriously falling for.

"Then why don't you let me practice so I can get better?"

My comment seemed to impress him, because his smile turned into a smirk and he kissed me again.

Score!

Talk about confidence booster.

But as I kissed him, I finally realized why I was feeling so nervous. As much as I loved and missed her, it didn't have much to do with Aunty Maya at all. Nor was I scared of the wizard.

At least, not the wizard himself.

What scared me was that deep down, I had realized that if the wizard was back... there was a possibility that I wouldn't be able to have conversations like this with Atem anymore. That I wouldn't be able to kiss him anymore. Because that meant Atem would have to go back to Ancient Egypt.

The wizard being back brought forth the possibility that Atem would have to leave me.

And deep down my stomach turned because I knew that it was so selfish of me to pray that the wizard really was dead. That he was gone for good and he wasn't going to bring a sort of magic into this world that could potentially take Atem away from me.

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