Author's Note: Hi everyone! I wrote this little oneshot back in 2007 and it's 2016 now so I've finally gotten around to rewriting it. Hope you enjoy!
The snowflakes fell in silence over Domino as she stared up at them; nothing of this sort had ever fallen in the homeland, at least not whilst she had been there. She could tell this was an entirely different world to the one she had once lived in. The chill that ran through her bones was like the coolness of the night sand beneath bare feet; soothing. It alerted her to the fact she was alive, even if not permitted to be so.
"Kisara …"
The slender girl turned as she heard her name on the wind. Her response was a wanly and almost pleading smile; surely the guardian would understand her plight.
"Please Shadi, I only ask to glimpse him once and that is all."
"The Seto you knew does not exist in this world; Seto Kaiba is a very different man."
"All I ask is proof of this. After five thousand years of waiting, I would like to see him just once."
Though reluctant, Shadi found himself implored by her sincerity; maybe his years watching the reincarnations of this world had softened his resolve. He nodded his head, knowing that only heartache that would ensue. The girl flashed a smile he had not seen before, one that brimmed with happiness and he felt nothing but guilt and sorrow in response. With a heavy heart Shadi spoke his piece.
"Kisara, you have broken the laws of the afterlife. Seto was reincarnated for a reason, as was such with Isis, Pharaoh Atem, Shimone and Bakura - you were chosen to fulfil the role you chose in Egypt. You cannot exist in both roles. I can only give you this night; once the bell tolls midnight you must return to Paradise."
"Thank you."
As Shadi disappeared to the limbo he inhabited, Kisara turned and began walking towards the main street; somehow she knew where to find him. Something deep in her being guided her to him.
"Why Christmas Eve of all nights?"
Joey threw his arms into the air and ranted as he looked up at the raised platform of the dueling arena. Kaiba had challenged Yugi to yet another duel, though it had turned into a pleasant present for all spectators in Domino; the duelling tournaments seemed to have dried up after the KC Grand Prix and they were in dire need of some entertainment.
Looking to where Yugi had summoned his Dark Magician, Seto frowned in anger and made a mental note to fire the hologram animators. He had told them to fix that damn glitch that caused the Dark Magician's hair to be brown instead of purple. Glancing down at his hand of five cards, he automatically locked on to the illustration of his trademark monster. A smug smirk curled his lips and Kaiba called his command out across the duel field.
"I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse and activate his special ability, enabling me to summon-"
He didn't see all spectators squirming in anticipation, all the kids jumping up and down in excitement. The words died in his throat and Seto couldn't look away from where he had place his Blue-Eyes White Dragon upon the recognition panel. His company's holographic software was supposed to do the rest; read the code in the card's tiny chip and generate the hologram. But the red writing flashing across the miniscule computer monitor set into the station was telling him something was severely wrong.
"Card invalid; not found in KaibaCorp database."
How could his card not be found in his company's database? Anger roared into life and he silently swore to fire a couple more inept technicians! Seto knew there was nothing wrong with his Duel Monster's card; it still showed him the painted illustration of the mighty behemoth that was his Blue-Eyes and its attack power. But that was the thing; printed and painted things weren't real, not in this world.
"Kisara, you should not be here."
The girl looked up from where she stood in the disappointed crowd of spectators, who all began to leave as the CEO of KaibaCorp called in his technicians to examine the dueling station for glitches. She smiled sadly as she realized whose voice she had heard; he was looking straight down at her.
"It is alright Mahad, Shadi has granted me tonight."
And then the vision of the Dark Magician was gone as the short boy took the card from the contraption upon which he stood; nothing was real in this world. Then her eyes fixed found him; tall and handsome as he had been all those years ago. Some subtle changes in his appearance, and yet she knew it was the same Seto as his hard blue eyes locked with the softness of hers.
"Big bro? Seto, you okay?"
Mokuba frowned as he tugged his brother's arm. But Seto couldn't pull his gaze away from someone in the departing crowd. His breath left him then - white locks and entrancing rich blue eyes; he'd seen her before, he knew it. It had to be her! The girl turned and she began to walk away, threatening to disappear in the throng of people. He was following her with an air of desperation he had never felt before; since returning from that strange world where there had been two Yugis, his dreams had been filled with visions of this girl and his nightmares with flashes of her death. A death he relived again and again.
Rounding the corner to Domino Park he saw her entering the snow-dusted postcard-worthy wonderland that the green park had been transformed into. He called out, shattering the silence that had accompanied the fast-falling snowflakes.
"Kisara wait!"
The girl looked back over her shoulder and a small smile lit up her face; it had been far too long since she last heard his voice. The snowflakes swirled around in an intangible whiteness that threatened to swallow up her evanescent presence. Reaching out, she looked to her love.
"Come with me."
Her small, delicate hand placed itself in his as she gently led him into the frozen park; the hectic city of Domino - with its last-minute shoppers dashing about and the chitter-chatter of young children anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus - it all melted away as the peaceful whiteness of everything muted the outside world; there was nothing else except them and this gloriously picturesque park.
"Stay with me this time."
Seto spoke with a hopeful undertone to his voice; he didn't care about anyone hearing him or ridiculing his actions. There was just her as she sat on the ground beside him, head leaning against his shoulder. Staring long and hard at the frosted grass in front of him, he could taste bitter anger and knew this would end; all his life something had been missing and tearing a gaping hole inside of him, and tonight he felt whole. The mere companionship of her being there had mended him and yet he yearned for more than that. But his heart plummeted as Kisara shook her head.
"I cannot. I have broken many rules in coming here and I must return-"
"Please stay. Live with me, Kisara. I can protect you this time … just don't leave me alone, not again."
"You are not alone because I am always with you. It did not work did it?"
Watching as he twirled a small card between his fingers, Kisara reached out and traced a finger over the illustration. He shook his head in answer to her question. Trailing down to rest her hand over his, she spoke again, voice as pure as the fresh fallen snow around them.
"That is why I must leave you; I cannot keep watch if I exist as I do now. Enjoy the time we have."
And he did just that, sitting on the frozen ground as she leaned against him, enjoying the soft rhythmical sound of her gentle breathing as she idly imagined the life she could have in this world. Had she not decided to exist as his protector all those millennia ago maybe she could have been at his side now, maybe even had children in the future. But Kisara knew this world was not one for her; things were far too different; the people, the place itself, the climate, contraptions and even the clothes. So different was the ensemble she wore when compared to her scruffy peasant's dress; a warm, woolly white jumper with long sleeves and black jeans - things had diverged too drastically for her to truly exist here.
The couple lost track of time, but the knell of midnight brought with it a savage wind throughout the still park. The snowflakes formed into a blizzard around the two lovers. Standing to her feet, the ethereal visitor felt her heart breaking.
"What's happening?"
Kisara smiled sweetly as Seto stood and she could see the denial in his eyes. The pull of Paradise was beckoning her, drawing her back into its eternal depths once again.
"I told you I must go."
"Not now, please don't leave-"
"She has no choice, Seto Kaiba."
Shadi's voice resounded through the wind as his form materialized near a particularly old and knotted tree trunk, eyes looking to the young couple he had to watch torn apart for a second time. He had been close friends with Priest Seth those lifetimes ago and it pained him to do this.
As she felt his arms close protectively around her, Kisara knew he would not let her go without objections and so she stood to her toes, and let her lips brush against his in a kiss she had awaited for five thousand years, wholeheartedly returned by the past Pharaoh of Egypt. She felt warm rush throughout her body as they parted slowly and he whispered in her ear, voice low and pleading.
"Don't go."
"I must, but you will never be alone Seto."
Nature surely was a pathetic fallacy as the wind grew in intensity and the snow formed into a whip-like blizzard, obscuring his vision for only a split-second. But in that blinded split-second she had gone and he stood alone in that frozen park, the taste of her lips still warm on his. Anger, grief and sorrow battled for recognition in his chest. Something glimmered in the snow where she had stood and he bent and picked it up; a silver cartouche on a chain with Egyptian symbols that he could decipher as easily as Japanese; Kisara.
Mokuba stirred as Seto closed his little brother's door; the boy would be delighted come morning when he awoke and found the countless presents beneath the tree in their living room.
Already knowing what would happen, the young CEO of KaibaCorp walked to his own bedroom and pulled out his duel-disk from where it rested in its storage case. Tracing a finger over the cartouche that hung round his neck along with his picture of Mokuba, he lowered his Blue-Eyes White Dragon onto the recognition panel and waited for the holograph to appear behind him. A wry smirk held irony in its depths; the database had no trouble identifying the card this time around. The fat snowflakes fell fast and heavy outside his bedroom window and Seto sighed as he reclaimed the card and returned the duel-disk to its case. Sitting on the side of his bed, he stared long and hard at the Blue-Eyes and felt calm. He could almost imagine an incorporeal delicate hand resting on his own and a pure voice whispered in his ear..
"You will never be alone Seto."
A/n - Thanks for reading and hope you guys liked it! xxx
