A/N: I wrote this story a while ago, so it wasn't really my best work. I'm going to be editing it and adding more. So, for old readers, I hope you like the revised version. For new readers, thanks for reading and feel free to leave your opinion of the story. I just ask that you don't be rude and nasty in your review. Other than that, enjoy the fanfic!
Disclaimer: It's chapter 9 and I don't own YuGiOh. Moving on.
PS: What I write in no way reflects the policies of Tisch. Everything I've written is purely FICTION.
The Next Day:
"Hi Téa!" Mokuba yelled as he spotted Téa sitting in the garden, a book in her hand.
Téa looked up to see Mokuba running towards her with a smile on his face.
"Hey kiddo," she replied with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, something that Mokuba took a note of.
"Guess what I found?" he asked as he plopped onto the seat beside her.
"What?" she asked, putting down her book.
"You'll have to come with me! It's a surprise," he smiled at her as if he were a 5 year old. She was about to decline when he shook his head and grabbed her arm, as if he sensed that she was going to say no. "And I won't take no as an answer."
Not willing to argue with him, Téa let out a sigh of resignation and followed after him.
"Can you at least give me a hint?" she asked him as he guided her to his 'treasure'.
"Nope. You have to see it for yourself," he replied, turning around and giving her an impish smile.
"Okay. Can you at least tell me where it is? " she asked as they headed further into the garden. Suddenly, Mokuba stopped and pointed towards a small cottage in front of them. It was old and looked as though it hadn't been used for years. The windows were dirty and shuttered and there seemed to be cloth covering them.
"It's in there," he said, excitedly pointing at the building. Téa looked at the building before turning towards Mokuba, her eyebrows raised.
"In there?" she asked, skepticism obvious in her voice. "What could you possibly have found in there? Why were you even in there?"
"It doesn't matter," Mokuba replied impatiently before pushing Téa towards the entrance. "Just go in there."
"Maybe I'll check later," she said as she looked at the cottage before she turned away. Mokuba, however, wasn't having that and shook his head.
"No! You have to see it. If you want, I'll go with you," he said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the cottage.
"What exactly did you find?" she asked again as Mokuba pulled her along.
"You'll see," he smiled mischievously at her before he turned and opened the door. Mokuba ran inside and turned on the light. Téa let out a gasp as the light illuminated the cottage. It was larger than she'd previously thought. Inside the cottage was a dining table with two chairs, a mini kitchen, a door leading to what looked like a bathroom, and another door leading into the bedroom, which seemed to have a bed in it.
"Did someone live here?" she asked as she entered the cottage. There was a sofa along one of the walls as well. However, everything was covered with sheets and dust, indicating that no one had been in the cottage for quite some time.
"Our gardener use to live here before he died. The new one stays in the mansion," Mokuba replied and Téa nodded.
"Well, what exactly did you find in here?" Téa asked, looking around the room.
"It's not here as yet," Mokuba mumbled to himself.
"What?" Téa asked, turning towards him. He quickly smiled and shook his head before replying, "it's in the bedroom."
Téa, however, remained still and looked at the teenager, suspicious as to what he was planning.
"What exactly is in there, Mokuba?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, just go in and see for yourself," he replied. When she didn't move, he let out a sigh and pleaded, "trust me. Just go in the room."
Smiling to himself, Mokuba watched as Téa entered the room. He heard some yelling and turned to see his older brother running towards the cottage.
"Right on time," he smiled to himself as he quickly slipped out of the cottage, unnoticed.
"What?" Kaiba growled into the phone. "How did that happen?"
"Apparently, the young master decided to sit on one of the chairs in the cottage. But, it collapsed and he fell backwards and hit his head. We called the doctor and he said not to move him, so he's still in the cottage," Hiro replied on the other end.
"I'll be there in 5 minutes," he snapped into the phone before he ended the call.
Turning, he rushed out of his office making a mental note to postpone the meeting he had later that day.
He'd told Mokuba a million times not to go into that cottage. It hadn't been used in so long and he hadn't paid for it to be repaired since the gardener had died.
"What exactly am I looking for?" Téa wondered as she walked around the bedroom. There was nothing but dust and dirty sheets everywhere. Everything was covered as well. "What could he have possibly found in here?"
Sighing, she exited the room, ready to return to her book.
"Mokuba, I don't know wha-" she began saying before she stopped as she realized Mokuba wasn't in the room.
"Mokuba?" she called, heading towards the bathroom. She popped her head in but didn't see him in there.
"Mokuba, where are you?" she called as she exited the bathroom. "This is no time to play hide and seek."
"Mokuba!" Téa turned to see Kaiba charge into the cottage. He stopped and glared at her before breathlessly demanding, "where is he?"
Téa stared at him, surprised by his sudden entrance. "Where is Mokuba?!" Kaiba snapped at her, his impatience getting the best of him.
Snapping out of it, she shrugged before replying, "I don't know. He was here a minute ago."
"Where the hell could he have gone? He has a concussion!" Kaiba thundered, getting an even more confused look from Téa.
"Concussion? What?" she asked, shaking her head. Swift comprehension crossed Kaiba's face and he quickly turned to leave the cottage. However, the moment he did, the door slammed shut, effectively trapping the two of them in there.
"Damn it Mokuba! Let me out!" Kaiba growled in anger as he heard his younger brother's laughter from outside the cottage.
"Not until you two start talking again!" Mokuba yelled back, eliciting a growl from Kaiba, who looked over at Téa before turning back towards the door.
"We're gonna talk! Just let us out first!" he called.
"No! You didn't even apologize to each other as yet!" Mokuba yelled back, causing his brother to let out a frustrated huff.
"Fine!" He turned towards Téa and spit, "I'm sorry."
He turned back towards the door and yelled, "I apologized. Now, let me out Mokuba."
"That wasn't an apology, Seto! Do it properly!" Mokuba yelled back and Téa swallowed the laugh in her throat. Mokuba was teaching his older brother about manners.
Kaiba turned towards her and made a face. "I am sorry for yelling at you. I was," he paused, looking ready to murder someone. "Wrong."
The moment the words left his lips, Téa's eyes grew wide. She hadn't expected him to actually apologize.
"Well, don't just stand there like you're stupid! Accept my apology!" he snapped at her and she scowled at him in response.
"I accept your apology," she replied through gritted teeth.
Kaiba turned towards the door and called, "did you hear? We apologized to each other and we're talking again."
"That's wonderful!" Mokuba yelled back, clearly delighted that his plan had worked.
"A deal is a deal. Let us out, Mokuba!" Kaiba yelled back to his brother, who replied, "I would love to but I can't."
"What? What do you mean you can't?" Kaiba asked.
"I kinda lost the key," was Mokuba's response, earning a sharp intake of breath from Kaiba and a groan from Téa.
"What?" Kaiba growled in anger. "How did you lose the keys?"
"I don't know! Hang on and I'll go and get Stevenson. He'll know how to fix this!" Mokuba yelled.
"No. Mokuba, wait!" Kaiba yelled, banging on the door. However, he heard Mokuba's retreating footsteps and let out an angry yell.
"Great!" he huffed as he turned around.
"You!" he snarled as his eyes fell on Téa, "this is your fault!"
"Me? How is this my fault?!" she huffed at him, folding her arms.
"If you hadn't snuck into my study and read my mother's diary, we wouldn't have fought. If we hadn't fought, Mokuba wouldn't have come up with this plan to get us to talk again. If he hadn't come up with this plan, we wouldn't be trapped in here!" he growled at her, watching as she narrowed her eyes in anger.
"Don't forget, you asshole, that you were the one who yelled at me! I was trying to help you and you yelled at me!" she shot back at him, earning a scoff from him.
"Don't forget that you slapped me!" Kaiba thundered to which Téa retorted, "because you insulted me! I was trying to help you!"
"Who told you that I needed your help?! You were asking to be insulted!" he yelled at her.
"Well, I'm sorry for trying to help you! Clearly, you have more issues than I could possibly help you with!" she yelled back at him.
"You know what? I don't have time to argue with you. I need to get out of here!" he said before he turned and headed towards a window.
"I'll try to open this one. Instead of standing there and confirming that you are useless, try to open that other window," he ordered as he tried to pry the window open. Téa glared at him and was about to refuse but decided against it. The sooner they could get out, the better it would be for her.
Turning, she walked towards the window and attempted to open it.
"It won't open!" she called over her shoulder, watching as Kaiba struggled with his own window. Grumbling to herself, Téa turned back towards the window and let out a scream.
"What the hell happened?" Kaiba asked as he turned around and saw Téa backing away from the window.
"Spider," she whispered, pointing to the window. Kaiba turned to look at the window before looking at her with a slightly amused expression on his face.
"A spider? That's why you screamed?" he asked, clearly amused, causing Téa to glare at him.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" she hissed and he nodded.
"Yes. The fact that you're scared of a spider is very funny," he replied and she folded her arms.
"For your information, arachnophobia is among the top ten phobias experienced by people. Recent studies also indicate that it might be partially due to evolution," Téa explained, watching as Kaiba's face took on a bored look. At his expression, she scowled at him.
"They also have too many legs and eyes," she huffed, looking like an angry child.
"I'm sure that they don't like you either," he mumbled before he turned back towards the window. "Try the other window."
Téa uneasily looked at the window before replying, "it's still there."
She saw Kaiba stop and turn to face her, annoyance written clearly on his face. He looked around and his eyes fell on an old newspaper sitting on the table. Grabbing it, he moved towards the window and slammed it down on the spider.
"Better?" he asked, turning to face her. She made a face and shook her head.
"What now?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"It's not dead," she replied and he looked at her with disbelief in his eyes. Was she insane?
"I just killed it. You saw me slap it with the newspaper. There's no way it's still alive," he huffed but she shook her head, refusing to move. Letting out an annoyed yell, Kaiba turned and brought his foot down on the corpse, effectively smearing it on the floor.
"Better?" he asked, looking over at her. She took one look at the floor before giving him a beaming smile. As she smiled at him, Kaiba felt strange. She was looking at him with such happiness and joy, all because he'd killed a spider.
However, he quickly turned away and walked back towards the window.
"Now, if you've finished screaming, can you try to open the window?" he asked. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes and nearly laughed when he saw her tiptoe over the spot where the spider's dead body lay. Watching, he saw her stare at the window for a few seconds, clearly inspecting it to make sure it was safe, before she finally approached it. He turned back to the window, but knew that he wasn't going to get it open.
"It's no use. It won't open," Téa said as she headed towards him.
"And Mokuba hasn't come back as yet," Kaiba sighed as he moved away from the window. Sighing, Téa moved towards the table and sat on one of the chairs.
The moment she sat on it, it groaned before it collapsed underneath her. She let out a yell as she fell to the ground.
"I told you that you were fat," Kaiba smirked at her as she picked herself up from the ground.
"Shut up," she hissed at him, brushing her butt off.
"It know the truth is hard to believe, but you should accept it," he smirked at her and she felt her temper rail up.
"Maybe you should accept that your mother loved you and didn't want to leave you!" she snapped. The moment she did, she gasped and covered her mouth, wishing she hadn't said that. She watched as Kaiba's face darkened and anger filled his eyes.
"You really should think before you speak, Gardner," he spit, his every word trembling with rage.
"I'm sorry. It slipped," she replied in a small voice, looking down.
"You shouldn't talk about something that you know nothing of, Gardner, especially when it does not concern you," he said, watching as she turned red.
"Even if it doesn't concern me, I can still see that you're uncomfortable talking about it," she replied, unsure why she was still talking about it. However, she continued, determined not to let it go. By confronting his problems, he could heal and move past it.
When he didn't say anything, she continued, "why don't you just stop with your acting and pretending to be cold? Don't you realize that being cold and pushing people away is just making you even more miserable? If you want help, it's fine. Just tell someone."
The moment she said it, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards him, his eyes angry as he shook her slightly and demanded, "who told you that I want help?"
"You don't have to say it. Your eyes and expression are enough," she replied, causing him to pull her even closer.
"What do you think Gardner? That I'm a book you can just read and analyze?" he growled down at her.
"No, of course not," she replied.
"Good. Because I don't need you to help me with anything," he snapped as he released her just as they heard yelling, indicating that Mokuba had returned. "They're back."
"We're not finished," Téa said, grabbing him and turning him around to look at her. Angrily, he grabbed her and pulled her towards him.
Leaning down, he ground out, "yes, we are. Stop pretending to understand me. Because, no matter how hard you try, you never will." With that, he violently released her and moved towards the door, not noticing that she'd fallen as a result of him releasing her.
"Mokuba, did you get the key?" Kaiba yelled as he reached the door.
"Not yet. Stevenson is having another one made. It'll be here soon," was Mokuba's muffled response.
"Great," Kaiba growled, turning to see Téa sitting on the floor. Her legs were to the side of her and her eyes were cast down. Kaiba turned away, choosing to ignore her.
"Can this get any worse?" he mumbled to himself.
The moment he asked the question, the lights flickered before shutting off. Complete darkness engulfed them.
"Great!" Kaiba yelled in frustration. He just had to ask. Suddenly, deep breathing filled the room. Kaiba turned in the direction of Téa and realized that the deep breathing was coming from her.
"What's wrong with you now?" he asked, stumbling around in the dark to find her. Instead of responding, her breathing sped up and she began making wheezing sounds.
"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling out his phone. Using the light, he found her and quickly made his way towards her. She was hunched over and rocking back and forth.
"Tea," he said, reaching out to touch her. The moment he did, she let out a loud gasp and moved backwards.
"Stay away from me," she breathed, her breathing rapid as she pressed herself into the wall.
"What the hell are you talking about? It's me!" he exclaimed, trying once again to touch her. However, she let out a shriek and ducked her head.
"No! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry!" she cried, shaking and trembling in terror.
"What?" he asked, looking at her shaking form. Suddenly, the light flickered on again.
"Téa, are you okay?" he asked, looking down at her shaking form.
"No!" she pleaded, "don't come near me!"
Suddenly, the light began to flicker and she let out a scream.
"No, I'm sorry Mommy! Don't hurt me!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face.
"Téa, it's me, Kaiba," he tried to approach her again but she continued rocking back and forth, her breathing rapid and intense.
"No, I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault! Leave me alone!" she screamed as the light flickered again. Kaiba caught sight of her face as she raised her head. Her eyes were wild with fear and she looked hysterical. She screamed again as the light flickered once more.
"Téa!" This time he did grab her and held her as her body trembled.
"No! Leave me alone!" she screamed in horror as she tried to pull herself out of his arms. She began to flail, attempting to push him off of her.
"Téa!" he yelled, grabbing her hands in an attempt to subdue her. As she looked up at him with wide eyes that were full of fear, Kaiba realized that she was gone, lost in her own mind as she fought whatever demons she was fighting. As he looked down at her, Seto Kaiba felt fear coursing through his veins. Téa looked as though she'd seen a ghost, her eyes wide and darting back and forth as she looked for a way to escape. Her face had also become deathly pale.
The lights flickered once again before they went off. Téa let out another scream and struggled in his arms before the lights flickered on again. As they did, Kaiba looked down at her pale face and saw that her eyes were beginning to close as she began to slip into darkness.
The lights went off again and her breathing increased once more as she tried to struggle free.
"Seto, what's going on in there?" he heard Mokuba yell as the lights turned back on.
"She's having a panic attack!" he yelled back at his brother. "The lights went off and she freaked out."
"The lights are off?" he heard Mokuba yell before he heard Stevenson ask, "the lights are off?"
Suddenly, there was banging on the door.
"How is Téa?" was Stevenson's muffled yell. Kaiba looked down at Téa, whose eyes were wide in fear and who was trembling in his arms.
"She's having a panic attack," he yelled back.
"Hang on! We'll get you guys out of there soon!" Stevenson yelled back to them. Lifting Téa, Kaiba stood and looked around. There was no way out!
He looked back down at Téa, who was starting to go limp in his arms, her eyes glazing over as darkness began to engulf her.
"Hold on, Téa. We'll get you out," he promised her. However, he knew that she couldn't hear him. She was too far gone to know what was happening around her. Just as she went completely limp in his arms, the door flew open and Stevenson staggered into the room.
"Téa!" he yelled, running towards them while rubbing his shoulder. Mokuba ran into the cottage as well, followed by Hiro and Aimi.
"Is she okay?" Mokuba asked, looking at Téa, who was unmoving in his brother's arms. Kaiba looked down at her and, after seeing the gentle rise and fall of her chest, nodded.
"She'll be fine. She just needs some rest," Stevenson said. He moved to take Téa from Kaiba. However, Kaiba tightened his grip on her and moved towards the door.
"I'll take her to our room," he said before looking over at Aimi. "Can you please make some soup and bring it to my room?"
She nodded and Kaiba turned towards his brother. "Mokuba, can you call a doctor for me?"
With those final orders, Kaiba headed into the mansion, his unconscious wife in his arms.
"What happened to her?" Kaiba asked, looking down at Téa, who was asleep in the bed. They were waiting for the doctor to arrive to check her and make sure that she was okay. Kaiba watched her chest rise and fall, relieved that her breathing had returned to normal. However, her face was still slightly pale and there were dark circles around her eyes.
"Nothing. She's just scared of the dark. That's all," Stevenson shrugged before he stood.
"No one has a panic attack like that from fear of the dark alone," Kaiba scoffed, glaring at Stevenson. "There's more to it. What's wrong with her?"
"Téa just has a really bad case of nyctophobia," Stevenson shrugged, earning another scoff from Kaiba.
"I realized that when she screamed and passed out," he replied as he folded his arms. "What I want to know is why."
Sighing, Stevenson said, "I can't tell you that. That's up to Téa. I'll go check and see if the doctor has arrived." With those words, he turned and left the room, leaving Kaiba staring after him. Scowling, Kaiba turned towards Téa, who was tossing from side to side.
"Mommy, I'm sorry," she mumbled as she tossed in the bed.
Kaiba stared at her, going over the words in his head. That had been the exact thing she'd screamed in the cottage as well.
He watched as her face twisted in horror before she screamed, "don't hit me! Please!"
Don't hit her? His face grew pensive as he thought back to their first night together several months before. She'd shrank back when he'd moved towards her, almost as if she'd been anticipating a hit. He'd found it strange back then, but now he was more than curious to find out why she'd reacted like that.
Obviously, there was more to her than he thought. And no one wanted to tell him.
"What's your secret, Gardner?" he asked as he looked down at her troubled face.
So, reviews! Tell me what you think about the new and improved chapter!
-DramaQueen95
