A/N: This chapter…I have no idea what's going to be in store for you. This is the part where I let my imagination run wild and let my fingers type whatever it is that needs to be typed. This is meant to be a romance, but I get a strange feeling that this story will also be filled with tons of drama and even more action. If you like action thrillers, this story will be a great one for you…in about three chapters. Right now though, let's kick on the romance.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Yugioh, Sailor Moon, or Code Geass.

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:2-3

Chapter 4

The Art of Patience

Mina P.O.V.

12:02 p.m.

"Please fasten your seatbelts. Take-off will be in five minutes."

I rolled my eyes. "Can it be right now? I don't want to wait anymore."

This was already going to be a long flight, but because of unforeseen incidents, Joey and I had been forced to sit on opposite sides of the plane. To make things worse, Artemis had insisted on sitting with Joey for one reason or another, leaving me to sit here alone.

No, being alone would have been preferable to the snoring of the old man next to me and the couple with the crying baby behind me. It was undeniably clear that this was going to be a long plane flight. To think it wasn't that long ago when I was on a plane just like this, heading for Domino City for the first time. Back then I had been so naïve, so determined to do whatever needed to be done to save my dad, and even though I still have the drive to save him, that drive is now geared towards saving my mom too.

What I didn't count on though was Joey's involvement in my life. When we first met, I figured he would just be an acquaintance along with Yugi and the others.

Duelist Kingdom changed everything. When Pegasus offered to pay for my father's operation, I jumped in head first without thinking. At the time I had been desperate to save him, knowing that I could never gather seven hundred fifty thousand dollars on my own. I became an eliminator, knocking out amateur duelists and following every order Pegasus gave me until I faced Yugi in a duel.

The duel had forced me to confront myself and the fact that Pegasus wasn't the kind of man who would keep his word without ulterior motives. I had fallen victim to his tricks, but after my duel with Yugi, I went on to save Seto Kaiba, who later became my boss, and I helped Yugi save his grandpa.

However, none of that would have been possible without Joey's help. He believed in me when no one else did and trusted me when no one else dared to. In that way, he was a real idiot.

At the same time though, his belief in me prompted me to do what was right and allowed me to open myself up to my feelings. For so long I had been running from my emotions, from myself. Now, while I still struggle with day to day issues, I deal with my problems head on without any hesitation…or at least try to.

Joey discovered my identity as Sailor Venus and thankfully he's the only one who did. Then again, I guess it wouldn't have mattered if Joey's friends and Kaiba had all discovered my secret because E.E. knows.

I have no earthly idea of what E.E.'s goal has been or why she's targeting me and the rest of the Sailor Scouts. All that I really know is that she tricked my mom and drove her to insanity thanks to some microchip that was installed in her brain by Gozoboro Kaiba's research team. For that reason alone, this trip is dangerous, but there's more to contend with than that.

Recently, Japan has been in an uproar. A vigilante named Zero challenged the Britannian governors that were in charge of Japan, better known as Area 11 in this day and time. His actions toward freeing Japan ended up causing a war that shook the world. Going into this, I have no idea what's waiting for me there. At this point, Joey and I could be heading into more trouble than either of us could possibly be prepared for.

What on Earth possessed me to pull him into my problems again anyway? Hasn't he been through enough with me? I mean…Joey was nearly killed because of me in Duelist Kingdom. Was it really a good idea for me to ask him to come with me to Japan when I know that bad things are happening there?

The clear answer is no, but I asked Joey for two reasons. One, Joey is accustomed to terrible things happening on the regular thanks to his father. I wanted to relieve him of that and I knew that bringing him with me would help ease that pain. After all, my friends will be there and Serena said that Ashford Academy was a fun place to be. Secondly, there's absolutely no way I could have gone through with this by myself. Initially I had intended to do so, but most likely I would have backed out or would have rushed to Kaiba's office and asked him and Mokuba to drop everything and come with me…then again; I probably would have backed out of doing that too. Dragging Kaiba into this would have been one thing, but Mokuba too…that wasn't gonna happen.

Besides, neither of them knew the whole situation, not like Joey did. He knew the ins and outs of everything that had happened with my mother, father, and my role as Sailor Venus. Not even Artemis and my fellow scouts know me as well as Joey does and we've been acquainted far longer. In the end, it's a crazy idea that someone I barely know now knows me more intricately than anyone else. The fact isn't one I'm comfortable with, but I intend to hold on to the support Joey provides for me. Right now, I need him. That's the plain and simple truth of the matter.

Even so, there may be a price to pay for bringing Joey into the folds of my complicated life. Like I said before, I have no idea what's waiting for me in Japan. To make things worse, we're not even moving towards my home country yet. Right now everyone on this plane is sitting in a state of frozen unease.

And I'm little more than a jittery mess sitting in this window seat, ripping a gum wrapper to shreds in my lap. My eyes are glued outside my window, waiting for the moment when we'll start moving.

Because the truth of the matter is that I'm not sure how much longer I can wait without screaming my head off.

Back in the city

Kaiba Corporation HQ

Kaiba P.O.V.

I am not a patient man in nature. However, I value patience in my employees and I tend to treat those employees with more respect than their hot tempered counterparts. From them and my younger brother, I have also learned to exude patience in relation to other people. Everyone has up and down days and what not. Unforeseen incidents happen and cause for problems in the workplace. Such is understandable, even if I am reluctant to show mercy on those issues.

But no matter how much effort I put into being patient, there are some issues that cannot be ignored and must be handled immediately. In those situations it is very difficult for me to control my reaction.

"YOU IMBECILE! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! YOU HAD A MONTH TO FINISH THESE BLUEPRINTS AND YOU BRING ME THIS HALF-BAKED CRAP! WHAT KIND OF FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!?"

The fool in question was cowering towards the door. "I'm sorry sir. You must forgive me. You see…"

"I do not care for your excuses," I cut in, stalking toward the window behind my desk as he stumbled closer to the door. "I extended your deadline by three weeks because of your wife's illness. Unless the woman died and you had to bury her in the cold ground, I don't want to hear what you have to say."

The man was silent for a short moment. "Well, sir…that's what happened."

I stopped in my tirade to stare back at him. "What?"

"My wife died sir," he stated, his gaze lowering to the floor. "She died last week and…her funeral…was yesterday…"

I was at a loss for words and at once my whole sense of what was happening in my office had changed. Though still enraged by the fact that this man hadn't finished his work after I graciously gave him an extension, I felt guilty for letting my anger get the best of me.

"Forgive me sir. I'm sorry for not finishing. Please don't fire me."

With a sigh I fell into my chair. "No, forgive me for losing my temper. I'll give you until the New Year to finish up the blueprints. If you haven't finished by then, I'll be expecting your resignation letter."

The man nodded, rising fully to his feet. "You won't regret it sir. I promise I'll have them finished."

"Go get started then."

I'm not sure if the man responded because by that point I had lost myself in a different set of work. All the while, Mokuba sat on the couch, watching me as my eyes started scanning an error filled software report for the new duel disk system. It would seem that I'll have to tear up the current design and start over from scratch once again.

"Seto?"

My fingers paused over the keys. "Yes Mokuba?"

"You were a real jerk to that guy."

A sigh fell from my lips, but my fingers started back to work almost immediately. "I know."

"Still, you were a lot nicer than usual. Normally you would have fired the guy on the spot without waiting for him to explain."

My fingers stopped again. Shifting my gaze I took in Mokuba's smiling face.

"What?"

Mokuba's smile widened. "I bet Mina had something to do with it."

The mere mentioning of her name sent my mood downward. Mokuba didn't know it, but my date with Mina last night was less than successful and by this time, she was on a plane headed for Japan and out of my life until after the New Year.

"Mina has no impact on how I conduct business Mokuba." With that said I returned to fixing the error filled software.

"Sounds to me like your date didn't go so well," Mokuba replied, sounding a great deal older than he should. "What went wrong?"

"Nothing went wrong."

"You tried kissing her didn't you?"

My throat locked up before I could deny the truth. As the silence continued on, Mokuba rose from the couch, smiling triumphantly as he came to stand next to my desk.

"Seto, women are very complicated," he began. "And Mina is by far the most complicated person we've ever known. I mean, didn't you say that she's actually Pegasus's daughter?"

I placed my head in my hands. "You would be correct."

"Plus, her other Dad is still ill, her mom was kidnapped and taken to Japan, and a whole lot of other stuff has been going on," Mokuba continued, my view of him shrouded in darkness. "Your timing for one thing was a bit off bro."

"Anything else I did wrong, Mr. I know more about women than my older brother?"

"Just one last thing," he answered. "Mina is a romantic and romantics never accept kisses on the first date."

"Now he tells me," I thought, barely lifting my head from out of my hands. "Mokuba, how would you know any of this?"

Mokuba shook his head in what must have been shame. "Seto, I'm in the eighth grade. Every guy worth their salt knows something about girls. You just have issues because you took over this company when you were my age. It's okay though Seto. You'll learn."

The end of the world must be coming. How else would Mokuba understand women better than me? Besides, he wasn't exactly on my date last night. My brother is pulling my leg.

"Anyway, we have bigger issues to deal with right now bro."

I lifted my head fully from my hands, opting to get back to the work that was staring me in the face. "The main issue at hand at this point are the errors in this software system. No matter how many times I de-bug the program, something goes wrong every time."

Mokuba shrugged. "It may be that the original designs for the duel disk system aren't capable of handling the new software. Looks like we'll have to start from scratch all over again, but in order to do so we need the design concept Lincoln failed to finish."

"Lincoln?"

"The guy you just yelled at Seto," he clarified, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, you have to start remembering the names of your employees aside from Mina."

I kept my gaze on the program. "I'll keep that in mind Mokuba, but try not to mention Mina right now. Thinking of her will only distract me from finishing this work. If I'm going to take a break for the Christmas holiday, which I believe to be senseless but am doing so for your sake, these issues need to be settled immediately."

Mokuba stared at me for a long moment with a look of exasperation on his face. "Seto…has anyone ever told you that you ramble."

My fingers stopped over the keys. "No."

"Okay, well, you ramble Seto."

It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I refused to dignify Mokuba's chidings with any kind of response. After all, he's a kid. He has no real inkling of the drive it takes to run a company of this magnitude and keep it on top of every other company out there. This isn't just a job to me. If I ramble, which I highly doubt, I have a good reason to do so.

Besides, talking out my thoughts is one of the few ways I keep myself sane and it gives me the fuel I need to muster up the patience necessary to deal with the day to day pressures that this company brings.

Still, Mokuba's view on my date with Mina forces me to reflect on every detail of what happened. Everything had been progressing well enough. Mina was looking radiant in the floor length red dress, her hair pinned up, and her face beautifully painted with touches of makeup. She had been pacing in a small gazebo, singing a soft song to herself with her eyes closed. I found the behavior odd after having watched her perform with one of her friends.

We talked for a moment and then a familiar song wafted into the gazebo, filling my mind with old memories of when Mokuba and I had lived normal lives. For a moment I deluded myself into thinking that I was a normal man who had come face to face with a beautiful woman.

She accepted my hand for a dance and I lost myself in the music. The lyrics flowed from my mouth before I could stop them, but Mina joined in my serenade, our voices harmonizing effortlessly. I'm no romantic, but those few seconds in time with Mina were perfect. In those seconds, my entire view on the world changed. Before that moment with her, everything around me had been colored in a bleak shade of grey. While we were dancing though, I could see every color in the spectrum, the brightest being the blue in Mina's eyes. For the first time in a long time I could see purity in a world full of corruption. I could see good in a world full of evil.

I had drawn closer to her, wanting to capture the memory of the feeling before it faded.

However, I realize now that drawing closer had forced her to pull back from me and toward whatever is waiting for her in Japan. Thanks to my belligerent disregard for her emotions, I had blown my chances. The realization is not an easy pill to swallow. I have never failed at anything in my life…except allowing Yugi to strip me of my dueling title, but that's beside the point. I'm successful in everything I do. This company, the cars, the mansion, those are things I earned through hard work and determination. Last night I was determined to show Mina my growing feelings for her and somehow it blew up in my face and now she's gone.

"It's just until the new year," my conscious stated. "She'll be back and then you can start over."

Again, patience is not my strong suit. Never has been. Even so, thanks to my own idiocy, patience is going to become a constant in my life for a long while.

In the Capital City Pendragon, Britannia

Airport

Fernando Green had found himself in a very incriminating situation. He knew that trying to sabotage E.E.'s wicked plans would be a slippery slope, but he had no idea of the deaths he would inadvertently cause by attempting it.

The young man trying to escape the status of villain in this story now stood outside of the airport waiting for the consulting detective that he had called to help him on his newest mission. He had met her once already upon discovering the seventh victim in a stream of murders that had circulated through the capital city for the past week. She was a spit fire woman with long red hair and piercing emerald eyes that could burn a hole through a man's soul with just one glance. She had model beauty, but her mind was something much more admirable. Her skills of deduction were beyond anything Fernando had seen in his twenty years of life and this woman was only a year older than him. To add to her long impressive background, she was currently a bodyguard for the first prince of Britannia and she was in charge of the royal guard in the region.

His first meeting with this woman had immediately assured him that he had picked the right person to help him on his mission. However, he was worried that her immaculate critical thinking would eventually lead her to suspect him of foul play.

"And she would be correct," he thought, sighing out his woes as he envisioned a recent memory.

(Flashback)

The world around him was shifting endlessly. In one moment the young man would be walking down a long corridor and in the next he would be walking through a seemingly endless desert. At that particular time, Fernando Green slowly walked down a long winding staircase that was located in a dark dungeon. His intentions for being in this shifting dimension were clear and it was imperative that he remained unseen. To be seen in this realm without either E.E. or her accomplice D.D. would be an instant death sentence.

Fernando was careful to keep his bearings as he slowly climbed down the staircase with a lighted torch in his hand. In the dim light of the fire he glanced at his watch knowing he had a short timeframe to execute his plan. The world he had stepped into shifted every thirty minutes and it had taken him fifteen to reach the staircase he was going down. With that in mind, he picked up his pace. His destination was close and there was no need for so much caution.

After a minute or two, Fernando stepped onto the stone floor. Gazing around him he noted that the area around him was void of the usual swarm of guards, a bad sign as far as he was concerned. He took another glance at his surroundings before pulling the hood of his brown trench coat over his head and placed a white hockey mask over his face. Once he secured the time he started forward. He had been in this dungeon before, so he knew his way around well. The only problem was figuring out where E.E. kept Mina's mother.

The young man wandered for another three minutes in the dungeon, his eyes searching frantically for any clues.

"Let's face it man," he thought, "I'll never find her…"

In the middle of that thought he had pressed his hand against the wall. The stone moved under the weight of his hand. In the next second, the panel of the adjacent wall opened, revealing a secret passage. Fernando didn't hesitate to rush in. A secret passage meant that there was something E.E. was trying to hide.

The stone corridor he ran through was narrow and dimly lit, but at the end of the long hall was a room enclosed with thick metal bars. As Fernando drew closer he could see a blonde haired woman sitting inside. She wore a white straightjacket but on top of that there was a rusted chain locked around her neck.

"I found you!"

The woman barely lifted her head, but that was enough to stop Fernando in his tracks. The woman's eyes were completely bloodshot, her hair mangled, and her body was shaking uncontrollably, but what was more troubling was the expression of inexplicable horror on her face.

"Don't…leave me alone…"

Fernando was frozen stiff for a long moment. It was clear that Mina's mother was bordering on insanity. However, it didn't take more than a few seconds for Fernando to snap out of his daze. "I'm letting you out of here so you can find your daughter."

With that said, Fernando placed the torch inside a holder on the far corner of the room. After returning to the front of the cage, Fernando typed a key-code into the keypad that was attached to the metal bars.

The device blinked green. "Now releasing experiment 21-A."

Fernando frowned, stepping backward as the bars shifted to the right. The chain around her neck snapped unlocked in the same moment.

"You have to get out of here Mrs. Aino," Fernando told her, hurriedly kneeling by her in order to untie the belts that held her straightjacket together. "Mina is in danger. You have to get back to Domino."

The woman didn't move. "You're releasing me?"

"Mina needs you," Fernando answered, unlatching the last belt from around her ankles. "You have to find her."

The woman blinked, recognition momentarily flashing in her eyes. "Mina…E.E. will kill her. I have to…I have to stop E.E. from killing her."

He nodded. "I'm going to release you and give you some time to escape. If we meet again, I'll have no choice but to capture you."

"Understood, but who are you" she replied as Fernando pulled her to her feet.

"I'm not someone you need to know. Just get back to Domino and do everything you can to protect Mina from E.E."

A horror stricken look flashed in her eyes. "E.E.! She's…the chip! I can't see Mina…if I do…" she trailed off, suddenly falling to her knees. In the next second she was pressing the palms of her hands to her temples. "Oh, no!"

Fernando would have questioned the behavior, but that was when his watch started ticking. He only had a minute to get himself away from the scene before the realm shifted for him. Plus, it wouldn't be long until guards came after Mina's mother.

He quickly pulled her up. "You have to run. Don't let E.E. win!"

Those words were all it took for her to snap out of it. With a nod, Yumi Aino fled from the scene just as sirens started wailing throughout the dungeon. Fernando took a different route, knowing that the rest would have to be left to fate.

(End flashback)

Fernando wasn't sure of much, but he knew for certain that Mina's mother was the serial killer that he was looking for. He was sure for a variety of reasons, but the main reason was because of the crane shaped symbols that had been carved on the backs of each and every victim of the murders. It was the symbol of Geass, a symbol he knew Yumi was familiar with.

Rather, he knew it was a symbol Cecelia Ashford was familiar with.

"Hey!"

Fernando inclined his head toward his right. The bangs of his chestnut brown hair fell into his eyes slightly, blocking his view a bit, but he recognized the voice easily. When the brisk winter wind picked up, he was able to see her silhouette.

"Looks like I'm dealing with a diva," he thought, smiling as consulting detective, Kara Fennette, strode toward him. Her blazing red hair stopped midway down her back, the bangs of said hair framing her heart shaped face. Over her piercing green eyes she wore diamond studded shades that were a bit out of place since it was a cloudy day while she pulled along a black carry-on bag. Her outfit consisted of a long sleeved lime green blouse, a grey vest over it, a matching grey above the knee skirt, lime green tights, knee length black boots, and her signature black trench coat that defied the laws of gravity. On her arm she carried a simple black purse.

Kara smiled, passing Fernando and the single black duffel bag he held. "Let's go. We have a murderess to catch."

"Did you find out where she was going?" Fernando questioned, following in step behind her. The two of them were inside the bustling airport seconds later.

"Of course I did," she stated, pulling out two first class tickets from her purse. "Her last victim had a business meeting in Area 11, once known as Japan, and with recent misgivings surrounding the place, it's possible that this woman is of Japanese descent, but I'm not inclined to make that deduction until I figure out what that crane shaped symbol means. Plus, forensics found a blonde hair left behind on the last victim."

"I see," Fernando replied, glancing around at the bustling crowds of people. "So you believe that the killer, whoever she is, killed this woman knowing that she had a plane ticket to Area 11 and is a blonde?"

Kara rolled her eyes from underneath her glasses. "There's more to it than simple elementary Agent Green. Serial killers are usually men statistically, but this one is a woman, but why? The reason, she must be a woman scorned, but not by a man. Oh no. This woman has been scorned by another woman. How do I know? Every victim thus far has been a woman and every victim thus far either has blonde hair or green eyes."

"Really?"

"Really," Kara answered, barely glancing back at her companion. "First victim, Mildred Baker. She was a fifty-four year old woman with leaf green eyes. Second victim, Kelly Iglesias. She was a fifteen year old with shoulder-length blonde hair. Fast forward to our latest victim Tamara Grey, a blond woman in her late twenties with piercing leaf green eyes. That particular murder was by far the most vicious of all, but why? My deduction, Tamara Grey looks identical to the woman who scorned our killer. This woman wants revenge."

Fernando was pleasantly surprised. "Impressive Ms. Fennette…"

"Kara," she interrupted, smiling as they came to the security checkpoint. "Just call me Kara. And don't be impressed just yet Agent Green. We won't be able to get the whole story until we figure out what that crane symbol means. She left it on every victim. It must be significant."

"Very well, but Kara…"

Kara stopped, turning around to give her full attention to her temporary companion. Fernando noted her piercing gaze over the rim of her sunglasses.

"Yes Agent Green?"

"Fernando. Just call me Fernando."

Kara shook her head as she turned away. "I don't think so. Your name is too long. I'll call you Green to keep our conversations short."

Fernando was taken aback a bit. "But you…"

"Ms. Fennette is a long title Green," Kara cut in. "You calling me by my first name keeps things short and easy. I would call you by your first name if it weren't so long, but it is long so I'll just call you Green. Get it?"

Fernando nodded. "Yeah, sure." He definitely had his work cut out for him. He had to keep someone like Kara in the dark as well as make sure that E.E. never found out that he released Cecelia from the dimension the evil immortal woman had trapped her in. Not only that, but he had to deal with the fact that his attempt to help Mina's mother had caused seven deaths thus far.

At this point, he had to capture her again. If Cecelia Ashford was let loose in Japan, it was only a matter of time before everything fell apart.

In Japan

1:50 a.m.

A lone figure stood in a graveyard, watching the waves of the ocean as the waves crashed along the coastline. In the distance stood Tokyo Tower, the monument that separated the Tokyo Settlement of Area 11 from the Juban district that was recently conquered and renamed Juban Ghetto.

Bright leaf green eyes stared into the star studded sky. A smile tugged at the lips of a woman who appeared to be innocent but was in reality the most cunning of witches.

A noise from behind alerted her that someone was approaching her from behind, but the woman had no reason to be afraid. She had been anticipating this moment.

"Nice of you to finally greet me. I've been waiting."

"I'm sure you have. I came to settle things once and for all."

The evil woman smiled her gaze still on the stars. "You don't have the power to settle anything. I hold all the power and all of the pieces to the game."

A gasp sounded as a new set of footsteps sounded from behind the evil immortal woman. The sound increased in intensity as something slammed into the person she had just been speaking too. A scream sounded only to be cut off before it could echo out into the night.

E.E.'s smile widened as the metallic scent of blood wafted into the cool air. "You would have been wise to exercise some patience."

A/N: I'm totally on fire right now. Everything around me just inspired me to write today. In this chapter you have received more foreshadowing, but if you've read A Date With Destiny and a good portion of Here We Go Again, then you get a clear picture of what's going on. If not, then you might be a bit confused, but things will be cleared as time goes on. Thanks for reading and for putting up with my late updates with this one. I had the worst case of writers block for a long time.