Official Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Making no money whatsoever so please put the lawyers away. This fic contains some elements (read: plot elements and etc. Though things are switched and there is a dog in the movie, but the dog I added was because I had just gotten my puppy Max when I got the idea to write this fic.) from a wonderful movie called "Return to Me" which is copyrighted to MGM studios. If I remember correctly : )

Priestess Kaiba: It's 3 am and after much debate with myself I decided to post this. I don't know if it will fly, if it will sink or stink, but I had to try right? I can't seem to focus on any other fic, so I had to upload it. This will be my 2nd Téa/Seto fic. It will be Alternate Universe, well more Alternate Reality. There will be a death, yet again. -- It had to be, for this fic to work. Trust me. Ok so without further ado, the first chapter is next.

Chapter 1- Troubled Childhood, Part 1

The Past (roughly five years ago)…

Seto didn't think his young life could get any worse that is until the day his father died. Having already lost his mother years before during the birth of his younger brother Mokuba, his father was the only parent he and his brother had. Now Seto was left to be his brother's sole father figure and family. However when his father died Seto himself was still a child. He couldn't get a job to pay the bills, so he and his brother were sent to a run down orphanage. They lived there as they waited to be adopted, but that wasn't so easy. Seto was adamant that he wouldn't leave the orphanage without his baby brother and most people didn't want to adopt two kids, so Seto would reject the adoption. No one was going to separate him from his brother, he had vowed.

Now Seto was no ordinary child, he possessed a supreme intellect and a very calculated mind. So when he heard that Gozaburo Kaiba, a multi-billionaire, business tycoon was coming to visit the orphanage, Seto came up with a plan. He would challenge Gozaburo to a game of chess and if Seto won, then Gozaburo would have to adopt both Seto and his brother. Well Seto did beat him at the game of chess and very reluctantly Gozaburo adopted the brothers. Now life seemed to be looking better. They were now adopted, they wouldn't be separated, they had a stable home, a new powerful surname, Kaiba, but Seto couldn't imagine the hell he was about to go through.

Life for Seto under Gozaburo's roof was anything but rainbows and lollypops. It was more like an everlasting nightmare. Gozaburo named Seto his successor and he immediately began to train him to be just like him, a man with the emotional range of a freezer. Many of Gozaburo's lessons were about not showing emotion, not to trust anyone because everyone is capable of betraying you and other lessons similar to that nature. He also made Seto study non-stop, day and night with many tutors. Gozaburo also took away any form of entertainment, that might cause Seto too slack off, but that wasn't the worst Gozaburo did. Gozaburo kept Seto separated from the one person he cared about the most, his little brother Mokuba. Gozaburo wouldn't let them interact with each other for more then thirty minutes a day. His reason for keeping them apart was that he didn't want Seto distracted from his lessons. Seto despite being smart and strong, the tyrant like schedule of the lessons were beginning to take a toll on him as time passed. Consequently this leads us to the events of this fateful night.


Now that Seto was sixteen he was being worked harder then he had been before, if that was even possible. On top of that for the past few days he had been sick, very sick. His illness didn't appear because of some bug floating around; he had gotten sick because of one of Gozaburo's 'lessons'. Gozaburo had forced Seto to stand out in the pouring rain with nothing but the clothes he wore for most of the night. It had been a lesson of 'discipline', so Gozaburo had said. Now Seto was beyond sick. He was coughing uncontrollably, had a headache, a fever, shivers and red watery puffy eyes, but despite that he still continued with his lessons. He wouldn't give Gozaburo the satisfaction of calling him a slacker or say anything verbally abusive to him. However Seto's body had other plans. It was exhausted and it protested against any moment Seto made. Lately Seto was feeling very faint and he was having great difficulty breathing even when he was just sitting motionless.

As Seto sat at his desk working on his lesson, the words on the paper began to blur and fade in and out of focus before him. He felt faint and dizzy, but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew something was gravely wrong with him and that he needed help. On unsteady legs he rose from the desk, took a few shaky steps forward and collapsed face down onto the carpet beside his desk.

A minute or so later, someone timidly pushed open the door. "Seto?" They called out softly. "Are you here?" Dark blue eyes scanned the room nervously. When they reached the desk they opened up wide as they saw the prone figure down on the ground. "Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed as he rushed into the room and knelt down by his big brother. He gazed at his brother's face to see that it was ghastly pale with sweat beading on his forehead and his eyes closed. "Seto! Wake up!" Mokuba tried to stir his brother by latching on to his arm and shaking him. There wasn't the slightest movement from Seto, so Mokuba shook him more urgently. "Big brother, wake up!" Mokuba screeched frightened, but still there was no response. "Seto! Please!"

"What is this racket?" The door opened further as Gozaburo Kaiba entered the room. "Mokuba, Seto, what are you two doing?" He demanded angrily looking at them deeply annoyed.

"It's Seto! He doesn't wake up!" Mokuba said in a shaky voice, tears in his eyes.

"Seto, get up!" Gozaburo said in the same tone as he walked closer to them. "Stop being a slacker!" Seeing that Seto made no type of reply, he knelt down and turned Seto around. "Seto, wake up!" He demanded loudly, shaking Seto's prone upper body which he held in his arms. Still no response, no slight movement from the unconscious boy. Gozaburo placed two fingers on the side of Seto's neck to check for a pulse, then he placed his ear right by Seto's nose and his eyes opened up wide. "Hobson! Hobson!" He yelled urgently. "Hobson get in here!"

A couple of seconds later a short bald and pudgy man stepped into the room. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba?" He asked calmly. He saw the scene in front of his eyes and he replied startled, "What's going on here?"

Gozaburo rose supporting Seto against him. "Go get the car ready! We have to go too the hospital!" He told him.

"Yes, but-" Hobson started puzzled.

"Now!" Gozaburo shouted loudly at him, causing Hobson to jump startled.

Without another word Hobson speed off to do what he was told. Gozaburo too headed out of the room with Mokuba in hot pursuit behind him. They headed out of the house and into the limo, which immediately took off toward the hospital.

Priestess Kaiba: So what did ya think, keep it or pretend this never happened? Hee hee! Ok, this chapter was supposed to be longer but I shortened it. Also this chapter was full more of background info but the next one will have more dialogue and such. If I continue that is. We'll see! So thanks in advance for your comments. Later everyone! : )