Sorry about the long wait be here's the next chapter ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own Yu-Gi-Oh or anything to do with it


Stand by Me

When Seto and Yami came back into the sitting room from their trip to the kitchen to get some drinks something seemed different. I couldn't quite place it though; it wasn't as if it was something visibly or physically out of place. No, instead it was as if Seto's and Yami's whole demeanour had completely changed, more so for Yami. What I mean is Yami seems…he seems…a little more…how can I put this? He just seems a little…distant, like he's thinking about something. And Seto, well…he's always thinking about something, but he seems a bit down I suppose. Maybe it's just me; maybe I'm just looking into to it too much. They only went to make drinks right?

I silently watched the two take their seats after setting down the tray of drinks on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Seto put his arm around me as he sat down and pulled me slightly closer to his body.

"Are you alright?" I said dropping my voice so only Seto could here me as everyone else's conversations continued.

I could have sworn I saw a flash of alarm dance across his eyes, but it was gone in a second, "Of course," He answered, gripping my hand gently to reassure me.

I looked at him unconvinced but didn't push the matter further, it could always wait until tonight, if it's important Seto will tell me about it. However, and call me paranoid if you want but I kept my eye on Seto and his different behaviour that afternoon, well as best I could without being classified as a stalker. So once we left Yugi's and Seto was called by his office to come down to Kaiba Corp I didn't follow. Instead Mokuba and I walked home together taking advantage of the beautiful weather for the second time today. Not having anything better to do as soon as we arrived at Kaiba Mansion I offered to help Mokuba pack his bag for the sleepover he was going to tonight, and considering he had to leave in less than an hour and hadn't even got anything ready for it he gladly accepted. Once Mokuba was finished packing Roland dropped him off at his friend's house before knocking off for the day as well, leaving me alone in the mansion, awaiting Seto's arrival back home.

So here I was sitting comfortably in the sitting room curled up on the sofa reading a few pages of my book while as I said waiting for my husband to return home. At a few minutes past six o'clock I heard the front door swing open and footsteps echoing off of the marble floor in the front hall.


As I finished climbing the steps up to my front door and opened it I couldn't help but like a sigh escape through my lips. After swinging the door open and closing it behind me gently I shrugged out of my coat and hung it over my right arm. Once I set down my briefcase by the door I rubbed my eyes with my free hand and sighed again. I didn't want to do this, so much so I even delayed my departure from Kaiba Corp as much as possible. The only reason I didn't call and say I was going to do an all-nighter was because this needed to be done, and the longer I prolonged it the harder it will be to tell Kisara. I slumped my shoulders slightly as I walked through the main foyer and into the sitting room where I suspected Kisara would be.

As I entered the room Kisara looked up from her book and smiled warmly, setting it down to the side. I smiled slightly, almost sadly back and draped my coat over the back of the armchair in front of me. I sat myself down next to my wife and almost slouched in my seat, hoping Kisara would blame my lack of posture on tiredness, not the dread of having to tell her the news. She seemed to as she looked at me sympathetically and cuddled up to my chest.

"Long day?"

"Something like that, yeah," I said lifting my arm up slightly so Kisara could nestle up against me properly.

"Did Mokuba go off to his friend's house alright?" I asked, mentally scowling myself for stalling and not getting on with telling Kisara.

"Yeah, he was fine I helped him pack his things and Roland dropped him off before going home himself,"

"Good, good, have you eaten?" Damn it stop stalling!

"Uh-huh, I cooked up some pasta there's still some in the fridge if you're hungry," Kisara replied looking up at me.

"Pasta? Well…I am a little hungry," I lied; I had to clench my jaw to stop my conscience from yelling out I ate something on the way home.

"I'll go and get you some then," Kisara stated as she got up and was about to head to the kitchen, while I had a small debate with myself.

Finally giving in, I got up as well to stop Kisara from leaving the room. I'm going to tell her now and that's that!

"Kisara wait," She stopped and turned on her heel to face me, a slight frown on her beautiful features as if to question why I stopped her, "Could you sit back down? I…we need to talk," I said at last, watching as her frown deepened slightly.

"Err…sure, what about?" She said, not taking her eyes of off me as she resumed her seat.

I ran my hand through my hair as I went over what I was going to say through my mind, "What's this about Seto?" Kisara asked with a trace of worry in her voice as I began to pace up and down in front of her, still pondering on what to say and how to begin.

I ceased my pacing and looked back to Kisara who had now began to show visible signs of concern as she sat there waiting nervously for my response. I decided to take a seat and sat down on the same sofa as Kisara, however creating a small distance between us.

I opened my mouth only to snap it shut again without uttering a single syllable, I then closed my eyes briefly and proceeded to take a moment to think, only to open them again as I felt a small hand envelop around mine. I looked down at Kisara's hand against my own and looked back at her, who was still waiting for me to speak, "Seto is everything alright?" She said with a gentle squeeze of my hand.

"Kisara there's something I've been needing to talk to you about, something that I'm not quite sure how to say," I looked at her hand on mine and held it, "I'm not sure how you'll react…heck I still can't believe it myself. But no matter what happens I will always love with all my heart okay? And I might not say it often but I do alright? I need you to remember that."

"Seto you're starting to scare me, what is it you need to tell me?"

"I'm sorry I keep trying to prolong this as much as I can, I should just go right ahead and say it instead of thinking of ways to void telling you. So…here goes…" I took a deep breath before continuing, "Kisara…I…I have cancer."

The second I uttered those words it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, but that still didn't take away the reality of the situation. I looked up one last time to catch a glimpse of Kisara's reaction; she was still looking at me as though what I'd said had gone straight over her head.

Remaining quiet Kisara simply sat still opposite me. I began to grow unnerved at the lack of response from Kisara; I didn't know what to do, I expected some signs of emotion, anything but she just sat there deadly quiet. My uneasiness grew with each passing second, "Kisara? Please say something," I asked gently, reaching out to cup her cheek with my hand.

"Can…cancer…?" Her voice shook as she said the simple word in a mere whisper, "Wh-what…what does this mean?"

"It means in eighteen months or so my time will be up," I didn't even have to finish my sentence before I heard a short gasp escape Kisara's lips. I knew I was being blunt with handling this conversation, but too be honest I had no other ideas on how to tell her.

"Eight…eighteen months?" I could hear the raw emotion lace each syllable she spoke, and as I continued to looked at my wife I could see tears threatening to fall.

Again I was stuck on what to do, should I continue? Or simply comfort her? Well I knew what I wanted to do, and so I didn't waste another minute contemplating and brought Kisara into my embrace. I encased by arms around her petite frame, almost acting as a shield. I could feel Kisara's small hands fist into my shirt as if she was holding onto dear life, onto my life. And finally the tears that threatened to fall finally did as they poured down her face and dampened my shirt slightly.

"Yo…you can't go Seto, I…I won't let you," Kisara whimpered as she tightened her grip on my shirt.

"Shh shh, don't cry Kisara please don't cry," I hushed soothing, rubbing her back for comfort.

"Isn't th…there treatments? Or the…therapy?" Came the stuttered crying response.

"There are, but past results have only shown a two percent success rate, but-"

"So…so you're going to…to…to give up?" She cried before I could finish my sentence.

"No, no of course not, Kisara look at me," I murmured in her ear, gently pulling back from her and tilting her head up. Her watery eyes met mine and her bottom lip quivered.

"I'm not going to let this disease beat me, okay? I'll take whatever treatments, therapy and anything else that will help because I'm not giving up," I stated strongly as I locked my gaze with Kisara's.

I paused and toned my voice down to a more comforting level, "I promise I won't leave you and I never break my promises," I said drawing her into a hug again, gently rocking back and forth slightly.

I felt Kisara nestle against my chest as I held her, "I don't wan…want you to leave…what about our future? Everything we've talked about? It was so per…perfect,"

I tightened my grip around her slightly as I too thought back to what we had discussed in the past. And she was right, everything was perfect. We were going to leave Domino for a year or so, and take a tour around the world, everywhere that was romantic in anyway. From city nights in Paris to sunset beaches in Hawaii, simply just enjoy each other's presence. And then after, after we'd seen the world and all its wonders we would return back home to Domino and start a family of our own. We'd experience the joys of becoming parents, from telling everyone we knew about the pregnancy to the seeing the life developing inside Kisara at the first sonogram to building a nursery for the baby.

We had it all planned, in everyway it was perfect, but I guess we forgot that life, no matter who you are is never perfect.

"Shhh, everything will be fine we'll get through this," I shushed, murmuring quietly in Kisara's ear.

"What if we can't? What if-"

"We're not going to think about 'what ifs' Kisara, all I know is that I'm not leaving you for anything," I cut in, however not harshly, wanting to erase any doubts in Kisara's mind, they were already eating away at mine.

"I'm scared Seto, I don't want to lo…lose you," Kisara whispered.

"I know, I know…and I'm…scared too," I admitted kissing Kisara on the forehead as I did so, "But it doesn't matter because like I told you, I'm not going to let this beat me. We're still going to have everything we planned for, just we're going to have to wait a little longer until we do," I finished, stroking Kisara's silky hair.

"You…you promise?" She sniffled quietly.

"I promise."

After that the room remained quiet except for the occasional snivel from Kisara and my few soothing words every now and again. However soon that too faded and when I looked down at the woman I was holding I noticed she had fallen into a deep sleep. Letting a rare smile make an appearance I couldn't help but forget about our past conversation, and just watch Kisara's peaceful features. After a moment or two of just appreciating the goddess before me I raised to my feet, taking Kisara with me in my arms. Careful as not to wake her I then cautiously walked out into the main foyer and up the staircase to the first floor. Once on the landing I walked along the empty corridor, arriving at our bedroom door. I then shifted Kisara's position slightly and with slight difficulty turned the handle and opened the door.

I set Kisara down on one of the sofas in the room and then crossed through the archway separating my bedroom and office and reached my bed. Pulling back the bed's quilt cover and fluffing up the pillows I then returned back to Kisara's sleeping figure and took her in my arms again. After setting her down in the bed and loosely covering her with the quilt I sat on the edge of the bed and took my shoes off. I decided not to change into something to sleep in due to my tiredness and joined Kisara in the bed. As if sensing me, Kisara sub-consciously nestled up closer to my body and rested against my chest.

I sighed and held Kisara close, savouring each passing second I had with her in my arms. Closing my eyes I tried to forget about today, about tomorrow and what ever else was to come in the near future. For once in my life I just forgot about everything and let my dreams take me away to somewhere without the cares of the day.


Author's Notes

What did ya think?

It's a little short and I do apologize, but please let me hear any comments you might have ;)