Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or the song this one-shot is based off of.

Setting: Takes place between the end of the Doom Arc and before the beginning of Grand Prix.

Running Away

By Pearl of the Dark Age

July 17, 2006

Kaiba watched with satisfaction as the island of Atlantis sunk under the dark waters of the ocean. The noise of the helicopter was slightly buffered by the armor-plated body, and he could barely make out Raphael's ragged breathing next to him. He could not wait to get back to land, grateful that this whole ordeal was finally over.

"If Raphael got his soul back, doesn't that mean that Amelda did, too?" Mokuba asked his older brother. "Nii-sama?"

"Hmph," was all he replied.

Ryuzaki chased after Haga in the hall of the hospital, shouting after him. The noise blasted right into Amelda's room, waking him. Had it all been a dream? he wondered. He sat up and looked around, quickly spying the burnt toy laying on the bedside table. He picked it up. "Miruko," he murmured. Memories of his brother, his last duel with Kaiba, and the Pharaoh's words assaulted his mind.

Tears fell onto the toy, and he straightened himself up. "Miruko, I will live on," Amelda declared aloud. He knew that it was what his brother would have wished. He could not betray Miruko again, now that his soul had been returned.

Kaiba…

It was like being born again. Amelda knew who was to be thanked, but he was not sure if he could face Kaiba now. What is this feeling? He could not shake the unusual pain that stabbed his heart when he thought of his former enemy.

He had an overwhelming desire to escape the hospital while he still could. Searching for his leather jacket provided a distraction, but no sooner than he had located it in the tiny closet, a nurse came in and ushered him back to the bed. She pulled his coat from his hands with surprising force and returned it to the closet. "I'm sorry," she informed, "but you cannot leave the hospital until the doctor clears you."

"But I didn't check myself in!" Amelda defended.

"Those who come into the Emergency Room never do," she replied suavely. "You cannot check yourself out because you didn't check yourself in."

"Is that how it is?" the redhead said sarcastically. He stood up, feeling a little shaky. "Well, you can't stop me!"

But before he could take two steps, the experienced nurse pinned him to the bed. "You'd be surprised," she said coolly. Turning her head to the door, she shouted, "Orderly! We have a trouble maker!"

Two burly men the size of Raphael in powder blue scrubs came in. "Yes?"

"Watch this one for me," the nurse ordered, and she left after a quick glance at Amelda's health stats on the clipboard at the end of his bed.

The redhead eyed the two men warily. He could even handle Raphael if he was in the mood, but two? And he did not feel well. His body had been without a soul, and it was still recovering. Reluctantly, he laid back down upon the bed and closed his eyes. Sleep overtook him before he even realized it.

The orderlies had left once Amelda had fallen asleep. They worked in the wing, so they would be nearby if he tried to escape. After 15 minutes passed they checked on him, and he was still sleeping. One smirked to the other as they passed a tall young man in a white leather jacket heading towards them.

Kaiba found the room without difficulty, opened the door slowly, quietly, and peered in. Amelda lay on the bed with his eyes closed, appearing just as he had done when he had lost his soul. The CEO walked over to him, located a chair, and sat down in it, wondering if the redhead would wake anytime soon.

Mokuba shifted his weight as he became impatient. "Let's wake him up," he whispered.

Kaiba extracted his laptop from his metal briefcase and set it upon the bedside table. "No," he answered in a quiet voice. "Let him rest."

"But I have to pee!" Mokuba half-whispered, half-exclaimed as he grabbed his brother by the arm dramatically.

"Go then," Kaiba replied with a subtle smile. "He'll still be here when you return."

Mokuba left without another word. Kaiba set to work on his computer to reclaim Kaiba Corp. Fingers typed away rapidly upon the keys, sounding like the patter of rainfall. The glow of the screen illuminated Kaiba's face with a soft, white light.

If Amelda had not known that the laptop was the source of the light, his imagination would have convinced him that he was an angel. The sounds made by the Kaiba brothers had woken the light sleeper, and he watched Kaiba as he worked.

After ten minutes or so, Kaiba sighed and rubbed his eyes gingerly. "Where the hell is Mokuba?" he asked himself aloud.

"I was wondering the same thing myself," Amelda answered, startling the CEO. He grinned at the reaction. "You are so focused when you work."

"How long have you been awake?" Kaiba's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Since your little brother left," Amelda replied quietly. He groaned slightly as he sat up straight. "When is the doctor coming? I want to leave."

Kaiba blinked a couple times before responding, "I don't know. I'll ask a nurse for you." He walked out of the room, and Amelda heard him distinctly muttering under his breath about Mokuba. He was outside the room out of earshot for only a few minutes when he returned with a doctor.

The doctor checked Amelda while the CEO returned to his laptop. "Hmm…" the doctor murmured. "Hmm…"

Irritated, Amelda demanded, "Translations, please?"

"Well, you should rest a little bit before leaving," he replied. "I think spending the night should do it."

Amelda glared at him. "I don't want to spend the night! And how am I going to pay for this? I'm not an American citizen and I don't have my-"

"Already taken care of," Kaiba interrupted without breaking his intent gaze upon the screen. After several more taps of certain keys, "There!" he proclaimed and grinned triumphantly. "Kaiba Corp is mine again!" He looked up at the open-mouthed redhead, who had not gotten over the shock that his former enemy was paying for his welfare. Kaiba smirked. "You can thank me later."

Amelda scowled at him. As if I don't I have enough to thank him for already? he mused sarcastically. Bastard! You don't have to be so nice to me!

"Stocks aren't so good," Kaiba muttered to himself. "I'll have to come up with a plan to fix that. Perhaps the opening of Kaibaland…" and his voice trailed off, lost in thoughts. He seemed to snap out of it a moment later, and glanced at Amelda. "How would you like to come to the opening of Kaibaland?"

"It really does exist?" Amelda asked curiously.

Anger flickered in Kaiba's eyes for a second, but he smirked. "Yes. It's almost finished. Construction was halted when your…" he could not think of an insult good enough for Dartz to assuage the resentment at the moment, so he merely continued, "took over Kaiba Corporation."

A sudden fear paralyzed Amelda. "No!" he shouted.

Taken aback, Kaiba was more curious than angry to the redhead's reaction. "Okay, I just thought you might like it…" He shrugged indifferently. "By the way… what are your plans now that it's all over?"

Amelda looked at him with a horrified expression. "I have no idea…" he breathed. "Go back home, I suppose."

"Well," Kaiba mused, closing his laptop, "you are welcome to visit me if you ever come to Japan."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Amelda asked nastily, standing up to his full height, which matched Kaiba's.

Kaiba stood up, too. I don't even know the full answer to that myself, he thought. "I told you that we would talk about everything once it was all over. I told you I would help you. When are you going to realize that I'm not Gozoboro? That I'm not Dartz?"

"Shut up!" Amelda made to slap him, but Kaiba caught his wrist deftly before his hand made contact. "Let me go!" Amelda shrieked.

"Why are you fighting me?" Kaiba asked in quiet, sincere voice. It caused the redhead to stop struggling and listen carefully. "I'm not your enemy, Amelda."

"How can I believe you?" he asked, sounding hopeless. I want to believe you so badly, Kaiba! You have no idea.

As valid as this question was, Kaiba was annoyed to an extreme. "Listen," he growled; his face just mere inches away. "I did enough to prove that I'm willing to give and sacrifice! After you lost your soul, I am the one who carried you! I am the one who sent you to the hospital to be cared for. I dueled Dartz and staked my soul… for you! And after all that, after you crashed my multimillion dollar airplane and ruined my company, put my soul and my brother's soul on the line, I came here to the hospital just to see you."

"Why?" Amelda asked, his voice shaking. "What do you want from me?"

"I just don't want you to give it all up," Kaiba replied quietly. "You don't deserve that. I know that you aren't suicidal, just a man with nothing to lose. Don't leave your own life collecting dust." The CEO released Amelda's wrist and took a step backwards. He couldn't look Amelda in the face anymore. What is this... feeling? Why do I care so much?

He chanced a glance at Amelda. The redhead gazed at him as if he had never seen anything like him before. The anger and fear was gone, and so was the confusion. It was replaced by… What?

"What?" Kaiba inquired, feeling slightly unnerved.

"How can you care so much for me after everything I did to you and Mokuba?" Amelda asked incredulously. "You are not a fucking saint!"

Kaiba laughed darkly. "That's true," he said just above a whisper. "Tell me the truth, Amelda. Are you going to give us a chance to be?"

"A chance to be…" Amelda repeated softly, "what?"

Kaiba started, realizing what he had just said. He now knew what that feeling was. Is it me? Or is it him? he wondered. He reminds me so much of whom I could have been…

When Kaiba did not answer, Amelda feared his imagination was playing tricks on him again. "I'm leaving," he hissed. He strode around the edge of the bed toward the door, but Kaiba held him back. "Let me go!"

"I just want you to tell me the truth," Kaiba said softly. His voice sounded strange. "You know I would do that for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Amelda squirmed to free himself from Kaiba's grip, but the CEO only grabbed him with both hands firmly and forced Amelda closer to him. "Let me go!"

"Why are you running away?" Kaiba asked softly.

"You don't need me!" Amelda panicked. "You are talking crazy! Let me go!"

Kaiba pulled him closer. "You are right. I don't need you to tell me that everything's going to be alright. I know it will because I make it so. I don't need you to feel sorry for me, because I never dwell in the past. I always move forward. Move forward with me, Amelda. Forget the past."

Amelda stopped struggling for freedom when Kaiba smashed his mouth against his, kissing him passionately. Their teeth knocked together as tongues wrestled for dominance. Amelda moaned softly, feeling his pain ebb away and his body go limp. Kaiba's embrace felt natural, secure… No!

This can't be! It's too good to be true! Total fear overwhelmed Amelda. He could not trust anything this wonderful. Good things don't happen to me! It's a trick! Freaking out, he pulled himself away from an astonished CEO. "I won't let you betray me!" Amelda screamed at him. "I won't let you break my heart!" And he ran from the room, grabbing his coat as he went.

Kaiba stood there, completely stunned. He could barely come to terms what he had just done, much less Amelda's reaction. If it was not for his usual, stoic disposition, he would have crumpled to the floor in a sobbing mess. Why are you running away, Amelda? Is it me? Is it you? Is there nothing I can do or say to make you change your mind?

Mokuba meandered in the room, almost as if on accident. His expression was carefree. "Sorry I took so long, Nii-sama," he said jovially. "But I ran into this really cute nurse and she…" His voice faltered at the look on his brother's face. He was the only one who could read the stone cold expression. "Did I miss something?" It was then he noticed that Amelda was no longer in the room. He looked inquiringly at Kaiba.

"No," his brother answered firmly. "Let's move forward, Mokuba, and leave the past behind. Never look back."

Inspired by the song

"Running Away"

By Hoobastank