Chapter 13

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"I still don't-" Serenity started, but by this point her brother moved to Kaiba's side.

"It's true Ren. He told me a while ago. It never really bothered him other than just annoying-"

"Never really bothered? Isn't he the cause of your continuous pain?" she fought back, but Kaiba waved his hand.

"That's not why I told you. He wants you Serenity. I'm afraid he'll use my body to get to you. I don't... I don't know what to do..."

"... Let me talk to him."

"He can hear you." Serenity stopped and looked around before turning back to Kaiba.

"Where is he?" He pointed towards a small desk in the room and she moved to it.

"he sitting on it." Kaiba said, aiding her in how close she could get. She looked back at him, looking up and down his body and finally tilted her head up to the height she thought she needed. The elder Kaiba looked at her confusedly as she looked right through his eyes.

"I forgive you." A look of shock fell over every face in the room, even the unseen spirit's. "I know we... We didn't work with you, but you've changed that here. You may not have gotten what you wanted, but we deserve to try, don't we?" He trembled, looking away from her but she couldn't tell, so she kept talking to the same spot. "I deserve to learn about him as he learns about me. It's healthy that way. It right. It's natural. You may be Seto Kaiba, but you're not my Seto Kaiba. So please... take my forgiveness. And my apology." He turned back to her. "I didn't fight hard enough for you. You were worth more than I gave. I'm sorry." Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he wiped them away.

'I love you...' He whispered, knowing she couldn't hear it, but finding it hard to hold the words back.

"I love you." She added, almost on cue, and he chocked back a sob. He trembled as he rose, moving through her to Kaiba's bedside.

"What are you doing?" Kaiba asked as Serenity and Joey turned to face him. The spirit lifted the small card locket Kaiba wore, shocking Joey and Serenity.

'You know... this was the key to get rid of me all along.' he said quietly, holding the thing. He glanced back at Serenity, who's eyes were glued to the locket then back at Kaiba. 'I hate you.'

"I know." Kaiba returned quietly.

"What's going on?" Joey asked, but the spirit moved again. He held the thing in both hands diagonally.

'Don't ever let her hurt.' Before Kaiba could finish nodding, he ripped golden bracings in half, letting the photo inside fall onto Kaiba's lap as he disappeared.

His eyes fluttered open. The musty smell of the mansion came back to him. He glanced down a this hands and flexed them a bit. They were old. Old and strong. He looked around and unhooked himself from a heart monitor. The thing picked up a single steady tone as it disconnected from him.

"Seto?" A sweet aged voice called. His eyes narrowed. He was definitely home, but... "Seto, you're... you're awake..." An elderly redhead moved into his room and sat by his bedside. The shock was apparent on his face and she giggled. "I wasn't sure you'd be back." She shifted a little.

"Back?" She couldn't mean...

"Sweetie, give it a few minutes. You'll remember." She moved out of the room quickly, leaving him to his own thoughts. He stared at the bed before him as images filled his mind. They were wrong. They were... of them... from... from the moment he fought himself... only he was young... he... He changed the past. He changed his past. He remembered everything. She came back in the room and he suddenly remembered his wedding. His honeymoon... his-

"Ow, ow, ow! Kikio keeps hitting me!"

"Well, Hatsu keeps looking at my cards!"

"You show them to me!" The little girl and boy were ten and six, respectively, and they were his.

"Hey, it's your responsibility as a honorable competitor to not look, even when the advantage is presented. And you, there is no reason to be physical. If he's cheating, call him on it, or tell one of us." Kaiba said, getting right back into the life he was beginning to remember. As he glanced around all memories of his life without them faded.

"You're back... I was worried. I've thought about this day, worried about it, ever since he... you broke that locket. I thought... I didn't know what to think. I was just scared that you wouldn't come back."

"Did you do it daddy?" Hatsu jumped up and crawled over to his father. "Did you save you?" He asked cutely.

"Yeah... I did. I did."

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The end ~~~~ What did you think? I was torn between Kaiba killing his older self, Kaiba's older self choosing to die in the end because he broke the bond, and this ending... but dearest sweet Steph, the person who inspired every character with the same name in any of my stories, told me if I killed any more people in this story she would take away my computer... and it's my preeeeeeecioussssssss. So I couldn't kill any of them. But I must say, I like how it came out.

On a side note, the story I talked about in this past chapter will be up in a matter of minutes. Looooove!

Read, Review, Enjoy~Lova Ya!