Chapter VII: The Morning After
Hello, Whisper readers! I am terribly sorry that it's been so long since I've gotten a new chapter out to you. Don't worry, I haven't lost interest in this tale and I don't intend to let this tale lie around unfinished. It will be completed. I just needed time to solve a few things. Anyway, when last we left the group, they had all settled in for the first long night since Yugi tried to kill himself. What will the morning bring?
Disclaimer: Peach doesn't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. She also doesn't own Dea Cantat or Coro di Dea, which belongs to the composer of the anime movie, "Ah! My Goddess." Peach doesn't own that, either.
At 4:30 in the morning, Mokuba Kaiba awoke, disoriented. He realized where he was and what had happened. Seto was sound asleep next to him and the small boy, just a few weeks short of his twelfth birthday, was awake and afraid. He'd had a nightmare where someone really bad had tried to hurt everyone, and the man had been stopped by… Mokuba wasn't sure what it was as it danced on the edge of his mental vision.
"Mokuba, is everything all right, sweetie?" Kisara asked softly, coming over to him.
"I…I had a bad dream, Kisara," he admitted. "I kind of remember what it was about but…it's fuzzy. I don't want to wake Seto. He's been working late a lot and since he donated blood, he needs the rest," Mokuba concluded.
"You're really close to him, huh?" she asked.
Mokuba nodded. "He's my brother and my best friend. And he's not mean like everybody thinks. He's not bad…"
"I don't think he is," Kisara said. "Otherwise, you wouldn't love him so much, and he wouldn't have done what he did a few hours ago to save Yugi. Now, what happens usually when you have a nightmare?"
"I usually crawl in bed with Seto and he tells me it'll be okay and then I'm able to fall asleep again. But…you're not him."
Kisara thought a moment. "Would it be okay if I sang for you, Mokuba?"
He nodded. "Seto says Mommy sang to me when I was in her tummy. I…sort of remember, but Seto thinks it's because he told me so many times. What do you think?" he whispered.
She smiled. "Mokuba, there are some kids that remember their time in their mommies' tummies. Maybe you do remember. Is there anything you'd like me to sing, honey?"
The boy shook his head. "You pick."
"Okay, then." And Kisara thought back to a song she'd heard in an anime movie, called Dea Cantat. The song's worded version, Coro di Dea, was in Latin and it was about being close to someone through your emotions. Mokuba climbed into her lap and she held him close, rocking him. And she sang the song softly, but not in words. She sang in la la's, brushing the boy's raven locks until he fell back to sleep.
"You sang him to sleep," Seto remarked quietly. He'd awakened and heard his brother and the young doctor's conversation and her song.
"Oh, Seto…sorry, did I wake you?" she asked, concerned that she had.
"No…I awoke when I heard Mokuba wake up, but I didn't want him to worry that I hadn't gotten enough sleep. What was that song you sang for him? I thought it was beautiful," he said gently, not wishing to disturb the sleeping little boy.
"It was Dea Cantat, from an anime movie I like, called…"
"'Oh, My Goddess,' right?" he asked. Her blue eyes widened in shock. "I've watched it," he admitted. "I love the imagery and the idea that angels do live among us…well, it's comforting," he concluded, flushing slightly.
She regarded him for a moment very seriously. "You're embarrassed to admit that. Why?"
"I guess I have a hard time with the spiritual. And everyone here will tell you I had a hard time accepting the supernatural. Or at least, I tried to ignore it…"
"Why?" she asked again. "You seem like the type that would accept it."
This assertion surprised him. "What makes you say that?"
Kisara looked at him piercingly. "You want the truth?"
"That would be preferable," he answered.
"I can sense things about you, Seto. You hide yourself because…you don't want to get hurt again. You've been hurt, haven't you?" she asked him softly.
Seto's eyes widened in shock. "How do you know that?" he whispered harshly. "Nobody knows that…"
"They do," she whispered back, gently, gesturing to the sleeping people around them. "Mokuba definitely does. He knows when you hurt, even if you try to hide it from him."
"But how do you know that?" he asked again.
"Well…this may sound strange to you, but…I can tell your emotions. And right now, part of you does believe me," she said, a little bit stunned.
He looked at her, stunned himself. A few short months ago, he would've tried to hide this feeling and deny it strongly. But now, he couldn't deny it, so he said, "Yeah. I do believe you. I guess I've seen too much to leave me a complete skeptic. And…Egypt taught me some things. I couldn't deny what was in front of me anymore. There is magic in this world and things that can't be explained by logic. I just hope those things can help him." Seto looked at Yugi's still form. "I still can't believe Yugi did that. I understand why, but…part of me still can't believe he'd try. He seems to have everything. I…wouldn't have admitted this, but all that time, I was jealous. Yugi didn't get tossed into an orphanage with his brother when his mother's sister and her husband wouldn't take them because they were too much trouble." His eyes spoke of pain that the young physician could see even without her talent.
"That's what happened to you," she said softly. "You and your brother were in the orphanage because someone was selfish and hateful. You didn't deserve that. May…may I hug you?" she asked. He nodded and she shifted to give him a gentle hug around the shoulders, but he hugged her normally. "Are you okay?" she asked when they released.
He nodded. "Could we just talk for a bit if it doesn't disturb you?"
"Of course," she answered softly. And so they talked until dawn.
At 7 AM, Mokuba awoke in Kisara's arms. "Huh? Oh, Kisara, what time is it?"
"It's seven, Mokie," Seto answered before she could. "You sleep okay?"
"Yeah, big brother. Did I wake you up?" he asked softly.
Seto knew he couldn't lie to his brother. "It's okay, Mokuba. You know I don't sleep a lot anyway. Kisara and I have been getting to know each other. Is that okay?" he asked. The boy nodded solemnly.
Shortly thereafter, everyone in the room except for Yugi awakened. Joey was the first to talk. "Morning, everybody," he said gently as Mai moved her head from his shoulder. "Anything, doc?" he asked Kisara. She shook her head.
"He's just sleeping thanks to the sedative. We have some nourishment going in through the IV," she explained softly, "so we won't have to worry about waking him to feed him until tomorrow. By then he should be okay to wake up."
"Yugi," Solomon murmured, brushing his grandson's bangs. "Kisara, what will he need to recover from this?"
"He's going to need counseling, Solomon, but he already has other elements that he needs. He has people who love and care about him and won't leave him through this. He's got an excellent support group and he won't be under a lot of stress. It's going to take some time before Yugi's better emotionally, but he's going to heal physically within the next couple of weeks if all goes well. We'll have to see how his hands are. Dr. Rhodes doesn't think Yugi did any permanent damage to his hands, but she has to wait and see how he moves them. She said nothing was severed, but Yugi's hands may temporarily be numb. But we won't know until he wakes up," she sighed. "So that means if he wants to duel, it'll have to wait until he recovers. Again, though, he's going to be okay with time and care."
Everyone nodded in agreement. "We'll all stay with him, if that's all right, Kisara," Teá said calmly, looking around at the group. "We want to be with him so he isn't alone when he wakes up. Should we just keep talking?" she asked.
Kisara nodded. "Of course…" Some of the gang had talked last night, so now, it was Mokuba's turn. He moved to the chair closest to Yugi on the right side of the teen boy's bed and brushed his arm.
"Hi, Yugi…it's morning and we're all glad you're here. We've all decided we're not leaving until you wake up. I'm here, Seto's here, your grandpa's here…" Mokuba named everyone that had stayed. "I bet lots more people are going to want to see you and talk to you, so you need to just come back to us. You've missed a lot of stuff already. Joey and Seto finally said they're going to stop fighting and Joey's mommy and Serenity are here. And…" Here the little boy looked around for a moment and moved close to the teen boy's spiky head. "…I think Seto likes Kisara…He's acting funny."
Mokuba hadn't whispered quietly enough, evidently, because the teens now looked at each other and then at the CEO and the white-blue blonde doctor. Kisara was slightly pink, as was Seto. "Mokuba…" the blue-eyed teen male muttered, slightly shocked.
"Sorry, big brother," the small boy apologized. "But you never act like this…"
"Like…what?"
Before Mokuba could answer, the room door flew open and… "YUGI-KINS!"
So who has just entered the picture, everyone? Can you guess? So what will happen? Stay tuned next time to find out the answer! It won't be entirely pretty. I'll try to update this much more quickly, folks, so read, review and stay tuned until next time!
