Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Story inspired by the Princess and the Pauper

The Pharaoh and the Pauper

-I-

The sun rose over Egypt as it had many, many times before. It peeked over a window cut out of a sandstone hut its golden gloss slowly drizzled over the Yugi's face like molasses. Normally he was up before the sun could peek its golden crown over the horizon.

He worked all day in the market selling dates to make money to care for his grandfather. He also worked odd jobs, anything that would fetch a penny. Today, however he failed to wake due to the hard work he had done the day before. Yugi would be man if he found out that his grandfather had failed to wake him. His grandfather decided to take pity on the boy and let him sleep for once.

"Oh, my boy, you try so hard to keep us alive. Your mother and father would have been proud." He smiled and stoked the boy's cheek. Yugi's parents had both suffered horrible deaths when he was just a child of three. His father had gone missing in the desert and his mother slipped on the bank of the Nile collecting silt and was crushed by a hippo. Since then, Yugi, worked.

"Grandfather?" the small voice came from the lips of the half asleep boy

"Hush, my boy, rest. You deserve it" he whispered and walked out of the room and out to the street. How had the kingdom gone so wrong, he remembered the days when everyone worked together and no one was rich but they weren't poor either. Ever since Pharaoh Aknamkanon had fallen ill his second in command had taken over. He looked out at the people on his street as they scrounged for food and water.

"Oh, Pharaoh, I hope you get better, and then you can save us all from darkness." Grandfather mumbled to himself and jumped when he felt something hit him in the back of the head, he turned and looked down at a date then looked up. "Yugi."

"Why didn't you wake me?" his face scrunched awkwardly in anger for he hadn't an angry bone in his body. "You know I don't have time to sleep, not if we want to eat tonight. Now Jou and Honda have found the perfect place to set up our stands and I am going to be late getting there." He grabbed up his parcel of Dates and hurried out the door and up the street.

"Oh, my boy, you deserve so much more." He sighed and walked back into the hut.

-II-

Jou and Honda were busy trying to sell what they could to the people in the market, it seemed that no one had money, no one that is, but the guards.

"You call this water?!" a stout guard sipped at a glass of Jou's fresh water, "it is nothing, not even the rats should have the privilege of drinking this filth! I won't pay!" He said and gulped down the rest with a smile on his face.

"Hey! Leave my friend alone! He has gone far to get that, you wont find water any better in all of Egypt except at the palace!" Yugi yelled at the guard. "You have to pay him for drinking it, you have to!"

"Ha, look at that, a runt. What are you going to do if I don't hmm?" he laughed and kicked at the parcel in Yugi's hand sending dates everywhere. As Yugi bent to pick them up the guard hooked his foot under Yugi's chin and made him look into his cold eyes. "Pathetic. I don't know why our master doesn't order us to kill all of you worthless urchins." With a powerful push Yugi was kicked back and landed hard on his backside. "You will do well to learn your place!" He laughed boomingly as he walked off.

"Yugi!" Jou ran to his side and helped him up, "are you okay? You know better than to yell at the guards."

"What were you thinking" Honda added.

"I am just tired of them picking on us. We do all the work and all they care about is themselves." Yugi sided and rubbed his butt. "Forget it." He said and began picking up his dates. "How is today looking guys?" Yugi asked as he picked up the last date and placed it in a basket next to Jou's water and Honda's sun hats.

"Eh, not too good, the guards keep adding taxes to their food and then they go around trying the food and saying it's not good. I think we would all be better off if the guards were all-"

"Finish that sentence," Ordered another guard of dark tan skin and a big muscular chest, "Go on!"

Jou gulped, "if they all had one big party to celebrate how cool they are." Yugi and Honda averted their eyes waiting for the blow to come but it never did, instead a loud laugh filled the air.

"That is a good idea! And I shall let the whole city know it was your idea. We will all have a feast, and all the people will donate something to our cause. Brilliant!" He walked off to tell the others.

"Damn!" Jou cursed, "Everyone just forgot my last stunt. Now everyone will hate me again. They will stone me for sure this time."

"Don't worry about it Jou, it's no different from what the Guards have already been doing." Honda said sadly. "But it looks like we won't be eating for a few weeks."

"Yeah, well where is the Pharaoh when we need him! I don't think he really cares about us." Jou said and Yugi covered his mouth.

"Don't say that. The Pharaoh does care about us, he is sick remember?" Yugi asked rhetorically. "It's not his fault all this is happening."

"Yeah well he sure aint helping us either."

"I don't think he knows how back this guy is. I know Pharaoh loves us. We just have to have faith in him and hope that he gets better soon." Yugi added.

-III-

"I just want to go outside and see. I never get to go out there." The young prince pouted.

"It is a dangerous place, you should know that." The captain of the guards said

"Well aren't you and your men supposed to make sure it's safe?" he remarked his face alit with a smirk.

"Yes, But some people are still very dangerous and my men need to keep the order they cannot be bothered by watching over you."

"When my father gets better then you will see. Everything will be better and I will fire you." He said smugly.

"On what grounds? You'll fire me for keeping you safe? Honestly, if you are to be Pharaoh some day you really must grow up." He patted the young Prince on the head and stalked off into the shadows. 'Foolish boy, your father is not sick; he is dying, slowly and agonizingly. And once he is gone, I shall rule through you.' He thought darkly.

"Prince!" a voice of jubilee rang out

"Mana?" the prince turned and smiled at her, "how can you be so happy?"

"I should be morning huh, sorry Prince, it's just that I know Pharaoh's gonna be okay. I can't be sad when I know this is true. Oh, but why are you so sad?"

"Other than the fact that my father is really sick and I can't see him? Well I really want the chance to see the outside world before I am king. I can here the children on the other side and they have so much fun. I wish to have fun as well."

"Oh." Mana looked down at her hands and sat next to the prince in ponderment.