A/N: Hi!!!! It was almost two months ago since I updated, but no worries, I should be able to do this faster now that "Chance" has finished, but since I have finals in the nx two weeks, you've gotta give me more time for the next chap though.

Thanks for all the awesome reviews!!!!

Enjoy!

Chapter Ten

Delia wandered around the mall after speaking with her mother. She was still a little shaken from the meeting, but it was for the best. They didn't want her there, so why stay? Somehow, she ended up in a duel monster's game shop. The Monster Reborn card caught her eye. She didn't know why. It wasn't a rare card or anything, but she somehow felt a connection with it.

Suddenly, an image of a young maiden dressed in a white robe with golden jewels in her chestnut hair appeared in her mind, but it disappeared just as quickly, but she recognized the girl. The face was unmistakably hers, or Hara's. Before she had any time to ponder on it, her cellphone rang.

"Hey Delia, it's Jyn. Several of us are thinking about going to a karaoke place after Duke gets out of school. Wanna come with us?" Jyn asked when she answered the phone.

"Are you crazy? After almost losing my hearing last time, heck no!"

"Come on! Dean and Tyson are coming too."

"And why's that?"

"What? We can't visit our pals here?" Tyson's voice suddenly came through.

"I thought he said you are coming, not that you're here already."

"What's the difference? Besides, I like to look at my favorite girl," Dean said this time. Delia could hear Jyn in the background trying to regain control of his phone. She could almost see them fighting over the little piece of gadget and breaking it in the process. It had happened before.

"What? Where're you?" Delia looked around her. It only took her a few seconds to spot the four guys since they stood out a lot. All she had to do was to see where the other girls were flocking. Kirk was also there, but was trying to ignore the stupidity of the others. They were standing in front of a sports ware store.

"You guys are seriously morons," she said as she crossed over to them.

"Glad to see you too." Dean flashed her a grin that would melt any woman's heart, Delia's included.

"So you coming or not?" Jyn finally got his phone back when she stopped beside their little group.

"I really, really don't want to hear you sing," Delia pronounced each word slowly so that they'd understand her.

"Too bad. You're coming anyway," Dean said with finality.

"That defeats the purpose of asking, doesn't it?" She glowered at him but gave up. She wasn't going to get out of this when all four of them were being this stubborn. However, she did sigh with relief when her phone rang again. Perhaps someone would save her from their horrific singing.

"Hey, Delia."

"Oh, hi Hara," her voice cooled considerably as she answered. It didn't escape the notice of her friends either.

"Look, Seto told me what happened."

"What happened?" Delia made a mental note to tell Seto later to mind his own business. That is, if she ever see him again.

"Why are you doing this? Mom would be furious," Hara whispered, shocked.

"Mom!" Delia rolled her eyes. "Is that all you care about, Hara? Oh, Mom this, Dad this! Cut it out! I'm not like you! And for future reference, mind your own goddamn business!" She snapped the phone shut and fumed, looking for potential victims to vent out her anger on and they were there, four of them, especially when they looked at her in that concerned way.

"What are you looking at? I had a fight with Hara! That's it! I don't need your pity!" she shouted and ignored the passerbys who stared at her with disapproval. She'd received enough of those looks to know how to ignore them.

"Delia, we didn't know," Jyn said for the group.

"Well, now you do!"

When they all glanced down shamefully, she instantly felt guilty. It wasn't their fault. But she also hated herself. Why must she feel guilty about every little thing she did, good or bad?

"Sorry, but I just… I just need some time alone. I'll see you guys later," she muttered an apology and left before anyone could stop her.

"Saki, is Mr. Kaiba or Hara here?" Delia asked Seto's secretary.

Saki, who'd became a good friend of hers during the time she'd stayed at Kaiba Corp, looked up from her work and smiled brightly. "No. They're both at a meeting right now."

Delia sighed with relief. She was depending on that so she could get her things without seeing either of those two. It would just feel extremely awkward. She wasn't ready to face Hara yet. As for Seto Kaiba, she didn't know how she felt, but she didn't want to examine her feelings too closely at the moment.

"Great," she said with her most cheerful smile. "I just need to get some things I left at the office."

"Sure, no problem."

Delia entered the office where she shared with Hara. She searched the drawers and found all the notes she'd taken on the works she'd done. It might be of no use to her in the future, but it wouldn't hurt to keep them.

Damn it! Where's the picture? She'd brought a picture her father took of her and the guys together at her 16th birthday. It was really special to her. She'd brought it to the office because for the past few weeks, she'd spent more time here than at home.

It's probably in his office. She left the room and noted that Saki was no longer at her desk, but it didn't matter, she had the key to Seto's office. He had given it to her when she actually started arriving earlier than him. Just the thought gave her the creeps. Just what did they do to her?

She turned the doorknob, and was surprised that it wasn't actually locked. When she opened it fully, she found out why. Seto was on the phone at his desk. He glared at her, no doubt wondering why she was here, while continuing the conversation on the phone.

Quickly, she went to the desk where she studied, surprised that he didn't have it removed already, and found the picture standing on the desk. Behind her, she heard Seto saying good-bye and put down the phone. Darn it! She was hoping to leave without having to talk to him too.

"What are you doing here?" Seto asked. He stood up and crossed over to her.

"I just needed to get some things. I'm leaving right now," she replied and backed away, wanting to get as far away from him as possible while images from last Saturday appeared in her head. She couldn't believe it was only last Saturday when he'd kissed her. It had felt like years due to everything that had happened afterwards.

"Where are you staying?" Seto moved with her, blocking her escape. Somehow, she thought he looked ridiculously sexy at the most ridiculous time.

"At Duke's place until I go to Egypt. Then I'll find an apartment when I come back," she replied while watching him warily.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him." Seto's voice took on an angry edge.

"Why should I? He's my best friend and the only one I can depend on right now," she spoke the truth and stepped toward him defiantly. A most unwise move, as that gave him the chance to grab her and haul her against him. Her breath came out on a gasp as she slammed against his hard chest.

"Stay with me," he hissed the words huskily before crashing his mouth down to hers. The desperate need she sensed from him wiped all thoughts of resistance out of her mind. Instead, her arms wrapped around his neck as she deepened the kiss as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

For the first time in days, she felt right, as if this was where she belonged. His kiss took away all that stressed her and left nothing but peace behind. When he pulled away, she had already made up her mind.

That night, Delia went with Seto to his home, to stay until she leaves for Egypt. She didn't return to Duke's place to pick up her things, mainly because she was bone tired, so she'd decided to go back tomorrow after getting some rest.

Seto lived in a mansion some thirty minutes away from the city. The placed was walled in like many other mansions they'd passed on the way. She wasn't really amazed, as she was used to such extravagance growing up. Honestly, it was what she had expected.

"Here's your room." Seto took her up to the second floor and led her to the room she'd stayed before, which hadn't changed, except right now red silk sheets covered the giant bed in the middle of the room. On the desk to one side of the room was a laptop, which she was sure wasn't there before.

"Are you sure I can stay here?" she asked him, finally having some second thoughts.

"Delia, I want you to be here," Seto said. Nowhere near that Devlin, he added to himself. She looked so weary as if she was going to collapse any minute. He needed to know she was OK. "My room is next door if you ever need anything." He indicated down the hallway. "Now make yourself at home. I'll come to check on you when dinner is ready."

Delia watched him disappear into his room and then went in hers, locking the doors behind her. Since she had no clothes to wear, she went to the closet to see if there was anything in there, though it didn't seem likely. However, when she entered the walk-in closet, she gasped. It was filled with clothes of every style, from the most formal evening dresses to jeans and t-shirts. All of them looked her size too. Did he plan on her being here? Was that why all the clothes were prepared for her?

Sighing, she picked out a white halter and a pair of black jeans and headed to the bathroom, which had a Jacuzzi to the one side and a shower beside it. She shrugged out of her clothes and stepped into the shower. She sighed with comfort as the hot water washed over her body. After taking a long shower, she dried off and changed into the new clothes.

When she went outside into the hallway, there was no one there. It was so quiet and eerie in a way, so she just headed down the hall and found the stairs eventually.

"Hara, is that you?" A boy that was about thirteen or fourteen suddenly appeared from one of the hallways to her left. Before she could answer, the boy answered his own question with a thoughtful frown, "Wait! You're not Hara. Who are you?"

"I'm Delia. Hara's my twin sister. Who are you?"

"I'm Mokuba. You must be that girl Seto brought in the other night and what the doctors were here for. I'm Seto's brother. Nice to meet you," he said and offered his tiny hand.

She shook it, feeling rather amused at being treated so formally by this small boy. "Nice to meet you too."

"Delia?"

She turned at the sound of her name. Mokuba released her hand and ran to his brother's side. His hair was damp, so he must've taken a shower as well. He had changed out of his work clothes into a pair of khaiki slacks and a black turtleneck. Somehow, he no longer looked like the no-nonsense Seto Kaiba she knew from work, but just another teenager, which only made him more attractive.

She suddenly remembered the kiss they'd shared in his office and blushed. Seto seemed to know her thoughts and smirked, transforming back to the businessman and earning himself a glare from her. Luckily, he only said, "Come on. Dinner's ready."

He turned and headed to the left hallway. She followed him and Mokuba quickly, not wanting to get lost in this huge mansion.

Dinner was a small affair, with just the three of them in a dining room that can hold at least thirty or so people, but it was delicious. The onigiri was the best she'd had in a while. She was quite surprised to be served Japanese food. She'd thought Seto was a Western food kind of guy, but she guessed there were a lot of things she didn't know about him.

They made small talks at dinner, though she was pretty nervous since Seto was mostly quiet, but Mokuba couldn't see to stop talking. For brothers, they were like opposites, kind of like her and Hara. After dinner, Mokuba left to do this homework and Seto returned to Kaiba Corp to finish some business. He must've had a lot of work to do and had to leave because of her, which warmed her heart.

With nothing to do, she retreated to her room and called her friends if only to pass the time. She already had several messages, all from her friends asking where she was, since she was supposed to be back at Duke's house an hour ago. She dialed Duke's number and he picked before the first ring had finished.

"Delia, where are you? Why aren't you back yet?"

"I uh… I'm staying with Seto. I'll go get my clothes tomorrow."

"What?" Duke's practically exploded and she heard an echo in the background.

"Jyn, are you listening?" she asked suspiciously. No one answered, not even Duke. "Come on! Duke! Who was that? Did you put me on speaker?"

After a few seconds, someone finally answered. She recognized the voice as Dean's. "What do you know? Our Delia's found herself a guy!"

There was collective laughter in the background. She groaned as her face turned beet red.

"Why are there so many people over at your place?' She tried to sound normal even as she dreaded facing them ever again. Maybe she could sneak in tonight and kill all of them to save herself some embarrassment later.

"Uh…That…Well…They just came," Duke explained lamely.

"What are you not telling me, Duke?"

"Why would Duky lie? Since it's the weekend, we just wanted to drop in and surprise the two of you. Who'd have thought we'd get a surprise ourselves?" She could see Jyn's devilish grin in her mind.

"Yeah! You tell that Kaiba boy that if he touches you, he's got a whole pack of us after him."

"Haha, you wouldn't be able to swat a fly, Mike."

"Yeah, but I have a great left hook."

Delia couldn't help but laugh. God, it was good to talk to everyone again. "I'm sure Seto would be scared out of his mind, if he doesn't sic his bodyguards on you first. So I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"Yeah, wouldn't miss it for the world!" This time, Tyson answered and blew her a kiss across the phone.

She felt so much better about everything after she hung up. She sprawled and stretched on the huge bed. Who needs a loving family anyway? she thought. I'll just keep all of my friends.

She yawned and curled up on the bed with a soft and satisfied smile. I'll just take a quick nap. She closed her eyes and soon fell dead asleep.

She was trapped in the darkness. She was so terrified and confused as to what had happened. Where were Mommy and Daddy? Her small hands were bound together behind her as she lay on the cold ground. Something covered her eyes so that no matter how hard she tried she couldn't see beyond the darkness. There was something in her mouth that tasted nasty and prevented her from calling out. All she could make were little sobbing noises as she tried to recall what had happened.

She had gotten mad at Mommy and Daddy because they ignored her again just to take Hara to a stupid math competition. They'd promised to take her to the new amusement part that had just opened two weeks ago. The babysitter wouldn't take her anywhere either, so she snuck out of the house, determined to go on her own to show that she didn't need anyone.

On the way, she'd met this really nice man who gave her candy and said he'd help her get to the park. She had gotten in a car with him, but afterwards things started to get muddy and blurry.

Mommy? Daddy? she thought when she heard the door open. It must be them. They were punishing her for running off. They were always so angry at her ever since Tony disappeared. Whatever she did, it never pleased them.

"Hello, little princess." It wasn't her parents, but the nice man who had given her candy. She felt big rough hands on her, groping and touching her. She tried to scoot away from him, but he held her in place. She didn't like the way he touched her. It hurt, not like the gentle way Mommy always checked for scrapes when she fell, though Mommy hadn't done that for several years. She wondered why that was so. Did Mommy hate her?

"Don't worry, princess. I'm not going to hurt you," the man spoke again, the words somewhat hurried and slurred. He was panting, as if he just came back from a run.

He was touching her again. She had nowhere to run. No! No! Stop! Mommy! Daddy! she screamed, but no words came out. She could only cry and gasp against the gag in her mouth. Stop! She struggled against the wandering hands, but she couldn't get away. Don't touch me! Stop!

Delia's eyes snapped open with terror. She was sweating and shivering badly.

"Delia! Delia!" Someone called her name and held her.

"No! Don't touch me!" She fought madly against the person, but he only held on tighter. She was back in the dream again. She couldn't get away!

"Delia, it's me! It's just a dream!"

She continued to struggle, but the voice finally penetrated her fear. She looked up and faintly saw a familiar face. Her eyes met a pair of sky blue ones that were filled with concern.

"Seto? Seto?" She lifted her hand and traced the contours of his face almost reverently, as if she couldn't believe it was really him. "Oh God," she whispered as the dream came back to her, as all the memories associated with it came back. She buried her face against his chest and cried as everything she'd lost returned.

Why did she have to remember? She would've been happy living in ignorance forever.

"Shh…it's alright." His arms wrapped around her tightly and held her against him. He was shaking. Her terror had shocked him to the core. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what had caused this, but he had to be strong for her. She needed him.

"No, it's not. Nothing will ever be alright anymore," she sobbed. She finally remembered. The six years of childhood she'd lost simply because they had hated her for losing Tony, simply because they ignored her for that day. The tears eventually ran out, but she stayed in his arms. It was the only comfort she could find for the moment. She told herself she only needed another minute or two to pull herself together.

Slowly, she crawled out of his arms and stumbled to the computer. She had to check, to make sure that she wasn't going crazy, though a part of her knew what she'd find on the Internet could only prove that she was right.

"Delia, what are you doing?" Seto sat down beside her as turned on the laptop.

"I need to see, to prove it."

"To prove what?"

"To prove something that may ruin my life all over again," she whispered and refused to let herself think what Seto would do, or think, after he finds out, which would be soon. Even if he deserted her afterwards, she would still be grateful to him for staying and comforting her after the dream.

She opened the web browser and calculated the years before typing in the keywords, "child kidnapping 1997 Delia Yasune". Seto stiffened beside her, but she didn't look. If she looked, she might lose her courage and never find out the truth.

She clicked on the first one that came up and skimmed through it. The article had everything, from the day that she had disappeared to the moment she was found. If possible, Seto was even tenser as she read through the article. It had a picture of her as a little girl, and another of her parents, grieving for their second lost child. Yet, mostly, she wanted to know what had happened that she'd forgotten everything.

At the end, she found it.

"Delia Yasune was found on the streets, unconscious. Authorities suspect that she had somehow escaped from her kidnapper, but had collapsed from hunger and thirst. She was brought to the hospital." Then the article jumped to several days later when the medical results came out, but other than the most general, the rest was private information.

"Seto, can you hack into the hospital records?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Yes, but are you sure you want to know more?"

"Please just do it."

She hugged her knees to her chest and watched Seto ordering the central computer to hack into the records. She knew what she would read even as she read it. She closed her eyes afterwards as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. She had been sexually abused and raped. She had had amnesia when she woke up from the shock. The doctors weren't sure when or if she'd ever remember those events.

Even after everything, her parents still couldn't love her as much as Hara, or Tony. They loved their ghost of a son more than her. Perhaps they thought since she was soiled, she brought shame to the family name. She didn't know.

Seto watched her, not sure what to do. She looked so fragile, as if she would break from the lightest touch. Fury filled his being, but he had nowhere to direct it. Mixed in with the fury was despair, that he couldn't have saved her from the agony that the knowledge brought.

In the end, he picked her up from the chair. She didn't make a sound. Her eyes stared ahead, unseeing, no doubt reliving that nightmare. He recalled that there was no ransom. Whoever had kidnapped her didn't want any money, only the perverse pleasure of torturing a child.

He laid her down in bed. She turned away and curled into a ball, withdrawing into herself, but he wouldn't let her go this easily. He climbed in beside her and curled himself next to her, holding her small form against his chest. If anything, he wanted her to know that he wouldn't abandon her, not now, not ever.

They will get through this together.

A/N: Aww, poor Delia... she'll never get a break, will she? *sigh* anyway, I think most of the "revelations" are done. The next few chapters should be more smooth sailing.

Till next time...

As always, please REVIEW!!!