Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh!

A/N: This is for the first round of Compy's Pairings Contest, which is MokubaXSerenity. So, this is the first time I've ever had to put a pairing warning in one of my fics! I hope you enjoy it!

Warning: Pairing of MokubaXSerenity. Fluff.

And on with the story!

Older Brothers…

"Joey, I hope you can hear me, and even if you can't…I still want to say this," Serenity began, brushing her fingers lightly over her unconscious brother's messy hair. She had risked a lot coming to see him after everyone else was in his or her own room. After all, there would be no one around if she ran into one of the more dangerous duelists on the blimp. However, feeling heart-broken, she had to see him, talk to him, even if it was only one-sided. Joey had done so much to help her, and now she could do nothing back as he fought literally for his life.

"I know you'll be okay, Joey! I know you'll wake up from this! I wish I could help you, too, but I can't do anything! I don't have the ability or the way to save you…You've always been there for me, Joey. Even when we were separated, I knew you would still be there for me, even if you weren't near. And you were…you came back, helped me, and held me up."

Serenity tried to stop the tears that had been steadily welling up from spilling over, but when she started the next section of her quiet speech, she felt the betraying drops of water trickling down her cheeks. After hastily wiping them away, she shifted in her chair and reached out to grasp her brother's hand, refusing to pay attention to how weak it felt.

"I promise, Joey, that when you get out of this, because I know you will, I will be stronger! I'll be able to protect you, just like you have for me! Okay? You won't need to shelter me anymore. I can stand on my own. Just wait, Big Brother; I'll show you!"

A flicker of movement from under Joey's eyelids caused her to gasp, tightening her grip on his hand.

"Joey? You can hear me! You'll be awake soon! You have to…you have to wake up…please…" she begged, feeling the despair she had been forcing down rise up to consume her, and she sobbed, quietly pleading for this all to be over.

--

"Big Brother, you know you need to get to sleep!" Mokuba scolded his older brother, gently enough not to get him riled up, but strictly enough to make Kaiba turn to look at him with hardened eyes. "This can wait until later. Right now, you need to rest for your next duel."

Kaiba turned his head back to the screen he was examining before he could receive the full brunt of the stern glare Mokuba was sending in his direction. "No. I need to figure out the Winged Dragon of Ra's secrets. Once I have it, nobody will be able to defeat me."

A sigh of disdain followed Kaiba's obsessive rant, before the black haired youth tried again. "Can't this wait until after you get the card? That would make it easier to figure everything out. You could examine it to your heart's content."

A subtle shaking of Kaiba's head quickly told Mokuba he wasn't interested in sleep in the slightest, and the younger of the Kaiba brothers turned to leave. "Well, if you're going to stay up, I'll go check on the other duelists. No one should be allowed to wander around this late." With that, he opened the door on the way out.

"Mokuba," his brother's voice rang out, halting him temporarily.

"What is it, Big Brother?"

There was a brief silence, and Mokuba wondered if he had forgotten what he was going to say, but softly, to the point where Mokuba had to strain to hear him, he caught his brother say, "Be careful."

The corners of the young boy's mouth curved slightly, fighting down a childish grin at his brother's concern and display of affection that only he ever got to see. "I will. I love you, Seto."

Again, there was a pause, and by then, Mokuba had swept out of the room, not wanting to unsettle his brother while he was still working. The calmer he was, the quicker he could finish what he was doing and get some much needed rest.

Walking through the deserted corridor, Mokuba refused to be unnerved by the sound of his footsteps echoing back to him. Every single sound reverberated in the empty space, his breathing, the shuffling of his clothes. Ignoring the chilling environment, he was satisfied that if anyone else was out, they would have heard him and vice versa, meaning no one could have possibly been wandering about, and if they had been, they were long gone.

Working his way back through the hallway, he headed for his own room, past those of the other duelists when something made him stop. All around him, he could hear the uneven pattern of breathing intermixed with something else, halting and unpredictable. Unbidden, the hair on Mokuba's neck stood on end.

Only after he realized the sound was coming from one of the rooms did he calm down, collecting himself enough to note that, even though he wasn't imagining things in the dark, the disjointed breathing was coming from a room that shouldn't be emitting sound at all. He stood at war with himself, debating going back to Seto or continuing forward alone. A few moments passed, during which he decided against interrupting his brother and he slid his universal key card into its slot and entered the code, opening the door.

--

Serenity had finally calmed herself to sniffling, telling herself she wasn't going to give into her emotions so easily the next time; rather, she would be strong in the face of anything that might come her way. That plan failed rather quickly as the door slid with a metallic swoosh into the frame, causing her to flinch back and wonder if someone had come to actually finish Joey's life and take hers in the process.

She became strangely curious as the person outlined in the doorway paused as well, leaning back slightly only to walk haltingly into the room. "Serenity? What are you doing here?"

It wasn't a voice she had heard all that much, but the tone was unmistakable. "Mokuba?"

The door shut with a hiss, causing them both to startle, but Mokuba was quick to recover and respond. "Yeah, it's me. But, why are you in here? You should be in your own room, not in Joey's."

The muted lighting in the room couldn't mask the flush that appeared in Serenity's cheeks and spread upwards to the tips of her ears. "I…" she began slowly, trying to hide her embarrassment and not sound as childish as she suddenly felt. "I had to see Joey. I needed to know he was okay."

"Oh."

An awkward silence filled the space between them before Mokuba broke the tension again.

"But, you do know that you really shouldn't be walking around by yourself, especially with everything that's been happening, right?" he asked, attempting to sound casual and reprimanding at the same time.

Her head hung before she looked up in question. "Yes, but I had some things I needed to get off my chest. I'm aware that I shouldn't even be out of my room…"

"It's alright. I understand why you have to see him, but…" Mokuba trailed off, trying to come up with a valid argument for exactly what was wrong with this situation.

Serenity flashed him a small smile. "Would you really have told me I couldn't come to see him? I know you care a lot about Seto Kaiba, and if you were in my-"

A tone of barely suppressed anger and pain cut her off. "I've been in your place Serenity!" he snapped in an outburst of his short temper. Vaguely, he realized he shouldn't be shouting, but for her to imply that he didn't know what she was going through set him off. "I know what it's like to feel like you've lost your brother! I thought Seto was dead once! I'm sure Joey's filled you in on some of the things that happened, but maybe he forgot to mention that detail to you! Believe me, I know what it's like to be where you are right now!"

The younger Wheeler appeared to be the only one affected by the speech, as her eyes flickered over towards Joey and he still made no movement upon the bed, but as she glanced at Mokuba again, she recoiled slightly. He was still breathing heavily from his rant, yet he appeared apologetic and in a state of emotional pain.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to yell at you. The stress of this tournament must be getting to me…" he muttered, sounding meek even to his own ears.

"It's okay, Mokuba. I understand…I shouldn't have said that to you," Serenity whispered, feeling just as awkward at this strange conversation playing out between the two of them. However, standing up, she allowed her caring nature to show, pacing over to Mokuba and embracing him in a short, one-armed hug. Pulling back, she asked, "Are you alright now?"

The startled expression outlining his eyes faded as he let himself be comforted by Serenity's calming presence, the only other person aside from his brother that he had ever truly felt safe around.

"Yeah…I guess I didn't realize how much…" He couldn't finish his statement, but she seemed to know what he was trying to say, and she nodded kindly. Smiling suddenly at the thought that crossed his mind as he looked back and forth at the two Wheelers, he had to say it aloud. "It's a bit weird that our brothers fight like cats and dogs and now we seem perfectly fine around each other. How could you possibly be related to that clumsy, loud person?"

Serenity felt a bit uplifted and she let herself laugh, a small chiming sound that filled the room. "I could ask the same about you." At Mokuba's puzzled glance, she elaborated as well. "How could you be related to the person who's likely still absorbed in his work, uninterested in anybody aside from yourself and Yugi, and seemingly colder than any winter I've experienced?"

"You've got a point," he admitted. The two grinned wider at what seemed to be the beginning of an inside joke that felt like it would only grow between the two of them. Mokuba's eyes grew soft and sad as he caught sight of the clock upon the wall. "It's past one o' clock, Serenity. You should probably get some sleep."

"Oh, but…" she immediately objected, turning away and looking at her brother one last time.

"He'll be fine, Serenity. Trust me." And strangely, she did as he wrapped his fingers around her wrist to pull her away. "Let me walk you back to your room. I don't want anything to happen to you on my watch," he said, trying to make it into a professional matter, even though she could detect the concerned undertones in his voice.

"Of course," she agreed quietly, letting herself be led to her quarters. She wasn't exactly sure of how their older siblings would cope with this new interaction between their younger siblings, but she knew that they both would have to deal with the possibility of the "overprotective big brother" and the unavoidable fighting between the two. And yet, the best part of thinking that was that she knew that Mokuba was right. No matter what Joey was going through, she could see him pulling through, see him in the future having all of those fights over the two of them and with Seto Kaiba, and she was perfectly fine with that.