Author's Note- Yup, I wrote a Yugioh fanfic. My first one! ^_^ Don't be mean to me, I actually tried hard on this. I love Seto and Mokuba so much… you'll probably see more from me about them sometime soon. If you like this, that is. ^^

By the way, "Niisama" is what Mokuba calls Seto in the Japanese version. It sort of means "big brother"… but not really. ^^;

Jonouchi is Joey, Anzu is Teá, Honda is Tristan, and Korosuke is Croquet.

Just a warning- this fic is VERY sappy, so if you don't like sappy stuff, don't read it!

Anything in italics is Mokuba thinking. ^^

Disclaimer- I don't own anything. *sigh* -_-

Nearly Lost

By Eriko Myoujin

Chapter One

Niisama

Mokuba's POV

What?

There's someone touching me; there's a hand behind my head and another on my stomach. I'm lying on my back and the ground is hard and cold- am I still in the dungeon?

I open my eyes. Everything is blurry, but I can see the outline of a figure above me. It's the person who's holding me. Is it Seto?

"Niisama…?" I whisper hoarsely. The sound of my own voice scares me; it sounds so weak and broken. "Niisama…?"

My vision clears, but the person isn't Seto. He has white hair and chocolate brown eyes, and his hand lightly strokes my hair as I look at him. This boy doesn't seem like a bad guy, but I don't want anybody but my brother to touch me right now.

Let go of me… who are you? I think, staring at the boy in confusion. Where is niisama?

Looking around, I feel a shiver run down my back. I've been here before… Pegasus' castle…

"Hello there, Mokuba-kun. How are you feeling?" the boy asks.

How does he know me? I'm scared… niisama…

"Bakura! Bakura! Is he awake?" I hear a familiar voice coming closer. My eyes go wide, and I strain my neck to look.

Yugi's friends are running towards me, and they're all smiling. Strangely, Yugi isn't with them.

"Yes, he's coming around," says the boy with his hand behind my head.

Niisama isn't with them, either…

Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda stop as they reach me. Jonouchi's messy blonde hair falls around his eyes as looks at me kindly, leaning down towards me with his hands on his knees.

"Oh… Mokuba, you're awake," he says with a soft smile.

"Great!" Anzu breathes a sigh of relief.

"Hey!" I hear a voice from behind them, and Yugi runs up to the group. He looks strangely tired, and his violet eyes are a bit dull.

Yugi… a thought crosses my mind. Yugi might know where niisama is…

"Oh, Yugi, where were you? You disappeared all of a sudden…" asks Anzu.

"I'm sorry… I had to do a few things before I met up with you guys," Yugi responds with a smile. Then he turns to me. "Mokuba-kun, I've… defeated Pegasus. He's returned all of the souls."

"Niisama…" I say weakly, feeling tears prick my eyes as I look at him. "Where is niisama?"

Before Yugi can answer, Korosuke, Pegasus' little servant, walks up to us. He's wearing his sunglasses as usual, and his voice shows no hint of emotion as he says, "I'm sorry, but Pegasus-sama has fallen ill."

Yugi nods, looking a bit worried as if there was something else on his mind.

Korosuke takes a step closer to Yugi and pulls something out from behind his back. "Here, take this. Pegasus instructed me to give it to you."

He's holding a box with a card in it. Yugi takes it and everyone admires it for a moment, but I could care less.

Then Korosuke pulls an envelope out of his jacket and tells Yugi and his friends that it's the prize money. Yugi just smiles and gives it to Jonouchi, and Jonouchi says something about his sister.

I glance around as they talk, expecting and hoping to see Seto come around the corner any second. He'll be here, any second now, he'll be here and then he'll hug me and comfort me, just like he used to in the orphanage.

But he doesn't come, and Korosuke instructs Yugi and his friends to leave. Before I know what's happening, Bakura is helping me to my feet, and I'm still looking around for Seto and not responding to anything they ask or say.

Then Yugi puts his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes, and I look back up at him as tears threaten to stream down my face.

"Mokuba-kun… let's go outside. Maybe we'll meet up with your brother out there." He says, stroking my shoulder with his thumb as he speaks.

"Alright…" I reply.

Yugi smiles and lets go, looking away. "We'll go wait for Kaiba outside, everyone."

"Fine by me…" mutters Jonouchi.

Yugi leads everyone outside and through the doors, and I'm in a complete daze the whole time. I remember being in the dungeon, and then seeing my brother there. He was about to get me out when Pegasus showed up… and then after that, I don't remember anything at all.

How did I get here? What happened to niisama?

I continue to ask myself the same questions over and over, but I can't come up with an answer for any of them. Then we're all outside, and the sunlight is almost blinding, even though it's obviously late in the day.

When I can see again, I look around frantically for Seto, but he's not there. I glance at Yugi in distress, and he smiles sympathetically. "Don't worry, Mokuba-kun. He'll come."

I sit on the steps for a moment and watch my surroundings. Nothing happens, and the only sound is of Yugi talking quietly to his friends behind me.
For a moment I look back at them, but only the boy named Bakura sees me. He smiles and walks over to sit next to me, watching me gently with his deep brown eyes. "It's alright. He'll be here, Mokuba."

I nod my head, not meeting his eyes.

"Why don't you call him? You know, to let him know where you are." Bakura suggests.

Call him?

"Will that… work?" I ask, slowly meeting his eyes.

The white-haired boy shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's worth a try, I suppose…"

I stand up, deciding to try it. I'm so desperate; I'll try anything at the moment. "Niisama!" I call, standing up and walking down the steps. "Niisama!"

"Come on, Kaiba…" I hear Bakura whisper, but I ignore him.

"Niisama!"

Yugi and his friends stop talking and watch me, and a silence falls over the place, penetrated only by my voice.

"…Niisama!"

"Where is Kaiba…?" Yugi mutters, and then his eyes go wide, and his mouth opens in a wide smile.

The doors at the end of the walkway are opening, creaking loudly on rusty hinges, and standing behind them is…

A figure silhouetted against the sunset, tall and thin, his jacket flowing out behind him in the breeze. His short mahogany hair is swept back by the wind, and even from a distance I can see his blue eyes sparkling.

Niisama…

I feel my heart start to pound at the start of him, tears finally overcoming me and filling my eyes. I keep staring at my brother for a moment, unable to move, my mouth open and gaping. Then I take a deep breath and find myself smiling, and my legs take me forward towards him.

As I run to him, I begin to cry, and the tears run down my cheeks. Guilt stabs at me- Seto doesn't like to see my cry. I can't help it, though, and I give up trying to hold them back.

Seto stops and waits for me to get to him, his eyes still shining. I plunge into him, throwing my arms around his waist and burying my face in his jacket. "Niisama!"

My brother puts an arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer, not seeming to mind my tears. I grip his jacket with both hands, sobbing, pressing into him and choking as I tried to stop crying. I can hear Yugi and his friends coming up behind us, but I don't pay any attention to them. "Niisama… niisama…" My brother grips my shoulder tighter as I cry.

"Mokuba…" Seto whispers.

Every part of my body is shaking as I cling to Seto. I grip him tighter, fearing that if I let go he'll be taken away from me again. Taking deep, shaky breaths, I stop sobbing, and Seto reaches down and wipes away my tears. Then he gets down on one knee, and I pull away from him, but he keeps his hands on my shoulders.

"Niisama…" I say, looking up at him. He's smiling one of those smiles I haven't seen in a while, one of the ones I'd only seen when we were back at the orphanage.

I pull the locket out from around my neck and show it to him, remembering something important I had to tell him. "Niisama… they didn't find out that this card was the key…"

"Yeah?" he asks, and reaches behind his back to retrieve his own locket. "Mokuba… you've protected our Kaiba Corporation."

I smile at him, unable to speak again. Seto stands up to face Yugi, his smile fading. "Yugi… you saved my little brother. I owe you one."

"It's alright, Kaiba."

I smile at Yugi, and he glances at me for a moment and smiles back. Bakura is also smiling. "I told you it would work, Mokuba-kun."

At this, I giggle a bit, my old happiness slowly returning.

Seto turns away from the others without saying goodbye, and I look at them for an extra second before I follow him.

Niisama doesn't consider them friends at all…

Seto stops and urges me to follow, and I walk after him.

"Niisama…" I say as we walk around the corner, leaving Pegasus' castle behind us. I know that we'll never return to that place again.

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad your back…"

Seto smiles and puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. "I'm glad to have you back. Mokuba… nothing will take us apart like that again."

I lean close to him, sighing. "Promise?"

"Promise."

~Fin~

End Note- Hmm… that didn't turn out like I thought it would, but I still like it. ^_^ I was trying to try out a new style of writing with the "first person present tense" thing. I've never written anything like that before, so be nice! ^^;

By the way… if I get good reviews, there will be a second chapter to this, in Seto's POV. The second chapter will take place when Seto and Mokuba get home, and it's mainly about Seto thinking about how he almost lost his little brother, and wondering what life would be like if he had.

REVIEW? Please? *begs* ;_;