Dark Eyes

Chapter One of Ever After

Me: HUGE thanks to Andromiel – I love the story "Dark Eyes" and the sequel "Ever After." So, after pondering a good title for the story and chapter (and after starting to sing "Ever After" from the musical "Into The Woods"), I figured that I could use those two.

(Veena: it's not called Ever After.) (Me: Too bad. Whatever it's called.)

Disclaimer: Don't own YGO, and I give the chapter and story credit to Andromiel. And Veena, Julia, Julia, Kyle and Stephen all own themselves. Arina Arono is owned by Random Person number 3. I also don't own Star Wars. I do own Hikari Daeron.

Summary: Way back in the day of the orphanage, there was a girl who befriended Mokuba and Seto. However, after they were adopted, Seto seemed to forget about her. Mokuba, remembering the girl, finds hundreds of letters that she wrote to the two of them. As he reads them, he realizes the pain she went through those years. Determined to right the wrong, Mokuba, Joey, and Arina (Arono, OC), try to contact the girl. All attempts on their part fail, until she catches up with them… and when she does, something happens to Seto Kaiba… for better OR for worse… (Veena: … he grows a beard!) (Me: Continue.)And then, later, an enemy comes and kidnaps Yugi! How will Joey, Arina, and Mokuba be able to save Yugi and Yami and save Seto's love life?

Big Brother doesn't remember her. Or, at least, I don't think so. But I do. How could I forget Hikari Daeron, the one person in the orphanage who helped us out? She was our key to the outside world. I remember that she was Seto's age, or a little younger. When we first came to the orphanage, she was there, just to visit everyone. Then we met her, and she came to visit us every day. She said that her parents didn't have enough money to adopt us both, but she would try to find someone who did. I remember that Seto would always smile for her at that time. They had become best friends. She was like an older sister to me. Her visits were the bright points of every day.

Then Gozaburo came into the picture.

The day that Seto won the chess match, Hikari was there, watching. Before we left, she tried to stop us. "Is this the life you want?" she asked. Seto did all the talking, repeating what he had told her ever since he devised that plan. She gripped us both in a firm hug. "I'll write to you, I swear! Contact me!" Seto promised that he would.

That must have been the only promise he's ever broken.

For those three years that we were with Gozaburo, we never once heard from her. I tried contacting her, but never could. Seto seemed to have forgotten about her.

Gozaburo had said something during the meeting before he jumped. "Sometimes, when you think the people who backed you have forgotten," he sneered. "They've only been hidden away from you."

Although Seto took no heed, I thought about it.

And it struck me.

When Seto was out during a press conference about being the new head of Kaiba Corp, I ran to Gozaburo's old bedroom. Seto had empted the room completely. However, I was hoping to find something that Seto had missed.

Bingo.

In his closet, I found a couple of loose floorboards. Inside of that was a chest. It was bulging with letters. I grabbed the chest and hauled it off to my room.

Letters! All were addressed to either Seto or me, or both.

And they were all from Hikari.

Every one of them had a date. It took me many hours to sort them all, but I was shocked to see that she had written one every day for all the years we had been with Gozaburo, staring with the day we left.

I couldn't help but feel rage. That bastard! How dare he steal our letters! I could see her waiting every day, desperate for an answer, seeing us on TV, looking sad.

(Veena: hey! he's only ten, he shouldn't use such language! The BASTARD!) (Me: Who? Gozaburo's definitely a bastard, though, yes…)

I looked at the date on the last letter. Yesterday! Yesterday? I looked at the clock. The mailman had probably just dropped the post!

I ran to get the mail. When I got it, I tore through it, looking, hoping...

(Veena: wait... if the stepdude was long gone, how was the letter from YESTERDAY in there?) (Me: say "stepdude" again… And I changed it. Now, it's the day after his "stepdude" jumped… (hey, it should be "adoptive" or "foster" dude… but whatever.) Where was I? Oh, it's the day after Gozaburo jumped and Seto becomes CEO.)

It was there. In blotchy handwriting, was a letter addressed to: "CEO Seto and Vice President Mokuba Kaiba."

Numbly, I tore open the letter, and read thus:

"Dear Misters Kaiba,

"I started writing to you three years ago, and have faithfully done so for every day of every year. Call me whatever you want to, but, at one point in our lives, all we had were each other.

"I don't know what Gozaburo Kaiba did to you, and I don't know whether or not he allowed you to read the letters I have sent you. However, despite this, I wish to congratulate both of you. Perhaps one day you'll remember me, or find the letters I wrote.

"Hopefully I didn't cause too much trouble or take up too much time.

"Sincerely, Hikari Daeron."

I stared at the blotchy letter, where she had obviously been crying. I looked the return address on the letter and, relieved, saw a cell and home phone number.

I tried her house first. A female answered, "Hello?"

"Hi, may I speak to Hikari? This is an old friend of hers, Mokuba, and I was hoping to surprise her."

"Hello Mokuba, this is a friend of Hikari's, Julia."

"Hello Julia, how are you?"

"I'm fine, you?"

"I'm well, thank you. About Hikari..."

"Oh, yes, Hikari. Unfortunately, she just left the house. Should I tell her you called?"

I paused for a moment. What was her friend doing there then? Perhaps Hikari had only left for a minute to grab something. "No thanks, I'll try her cell phone."

"Alright then. Goodbye."

"Bye."

Hanging up, I picked up the phone again and tried her cell phone. I got her answering machine.

I hung up.

I tried to reach her many times, but never got hold of her. I tried for months, past Duelist Kingdom, through Battle City, and even some times during Doma.

Finally, I gave up, and went to read her letters.

I didn't tell Seto about them. Afterwards, I found that that was a wise decision.

I cried while reading a lot of the letters. Snippets of some still float into my mind when I'm staring off into space.

"I've waited for your response for so long…"

"Gozaburo must be hiding these letters, otherwise you would have gotten back to me…"

"I hope you're not hurt, I've been so worried about both of you…"

"Been writing every day for maybe three years now, I miss you so much…"

"Perhaps we could get together, once this whole mess with Gozaburo and no replies is cleared up…"

"I'm trying to be patient, but I can't help but crave a response…"

"My friends have told me to get over you two, that you won't respond, but I know that you will eventually…"

"My friends call my obsessive, but I just want to hear your voice, to read your handwriting…"

"My parents don't realize that I'm spending so much on stamps, they don't know that I still write to you… but I don't care…"

"I saw Gozaburo on TV again, but haven't seen the two of you. I don't know how you look like now, I'm sure you've both changed so much…

"Maybe some day I'll see you two again."

I finished reading all of the letters by the end of the week. I had stayed up many nights and taken some to school. Seto might have suspected something, but didn't say a thing.

On the day that I had finished the letters, I noticed two of my friends – Arina Arono and Joey Wheeler – waiting for me after school.

"We were let out early," said Arina, smiling. "So we thought we'd come and get you to go out to eat somewhere. Joey's treat."

"Hey!" said Joey, punching Arina playfully. "That's not cool." Joey was using his educated voice. In reality, Joey Wheeler was a smart, educated fellow. However, because his family is so poor, he was in gangs and in the street for a couple of years. He picked up a street accent to blend in, and generally stuck to it. Arina and I are the only people who know this.

(Veena: that's not true. he was born in Mexico but lived in brazil until he was 67. then he moved to Seattle.)

"Well you are," Arina and I said at the same time. We grinned at each other. Joey looked exasperated, and we all laughed.

"So, Mokuba, what's been on your mind?" Joey asked as we sat in a popular café. "Don't lie, we've seen you preoccupied lately."

I sipped my drink, thought for a little while, and told them everything.

Arina and Joey looked at each other. "And you can't contact her?" asked Joey.

"No," I said glumly. "Not through phone, anyway."

"Let me try," offered Arina. I gave her Hikari's home number, and she dialed it. I heard the other person pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Hikari?"

"No, it's her friend Veena. She – hold on a minute – GUYS SHUT UP! No Stephen, I will not make out with you – "

I heard a guy in the background say, "VEENA!"

"Kyle," continued the person on the line, "Put that Light-Saver away!"

"Veena, it's called a Light-SABER," said a female who I recognized as Julia, the one who had picked the phone up the first time I had called.

"Yeah Veena, get your words straight!" said another girl.

"Light-Saver, dammit," said Veena. She then started to speak into the phone again. "Sorry, my friends are going a little crazy. Anyway…"

"About Hikari…" said Arina.

"Oh, right. Hikari can't talk right now; I don't know where she is. Try back… tomorrow?"

"Okay, I will. Thanks."

Arina was about to hang up with she heard Veena say, "Are you sure you want to keep avoiding these calls, Hikari?"

Arina froze. Joey and I crowded around the earpiece as she made it louder.

There was no answer, and then I heard a voice say, "I'm in shock." It had changed slightly, but there was no doubt about it: that was Hikari.

"But aren't those the people who you've been writing to for what, three years?" asked a guy who must have been Kyle, seeing that it didn't sound like the one called Stephen.

"Yeah," said Hikari. "But to suddenly try and contact me after three years makes me a bit skeptical."

"But you stopped writing to them," said the girl that wasn't Julia or Veena.

(Veena: was it Jake?) (An: VEENA! Poor Zambo…)

"Yeah, I did Julia." Okay, so there were two Julias. I thought of the people in that room: Hikari, Veena, Julia, Julia, Kyle and Stephen. Six people. Hikari continued. "I didn't know that now Mokuba would try to contact me."

"Why don't you just talk to him?" asked Stephen's voice.

"I will. Soon."

It seemed that Veena noticed that she still held the phone, because she hung up then.

(Veena: I'm stupid that way.) (Me: Aw, I love you Veena… but you would do that. Completely.)

Arina closed her flip phone and looked at us. I shrugged. "I guess that's it, then."

Joey stroked his chin. "I don't know. I think that she'll come find you, not vice-versa. But don't give up on her. Can you blame her for being wary?"

I shrugged. "I suppose not." I sighed. "Oh well. I tried."