If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody. Galatians 6:3 (NLT)

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Lily returned to Japan, disappointed that her brother was a free man. She thought of all the possibilities if she had done things differently. Would people have believed her if she had told them the truth? She highly doubted they would, but she questioned whether she did things right. In retrospect, everything done could have been better or improved upon, but once things happen, they're set, done.

She told Kaiba all about what happened, and they were taking an evening stroll in downtown to get her mind off of it. Arm in arm, they watched the sunset and enjoyed the cool breeze.

Suddenly a man grabbed her and put a gun to her head, "Lily," he breathed and dragged her into the alley, "Remember this place?"

"Who the hell are you?" she said, trying to get free, but his arm wouldn't budge.

"Is that how you greet your brother?"

"You sick bastard. You were here that night?"

"I oversaw the events, yes."

"You disgust me."

"No, you're the one who lied and ruined me!"

"You weren't even convicted!"

"SO? You RUINED ME! Bad publicity, okay?"

"You can't get fired."

"They got rid of me."

"Like mutiny?"

"Yes, okay? And now I have nothing. NOTHING!" he turned his attention to Kaiba, who couldn't do much but watch the situation and hope for the best. He had called in the police, but obviously, they hadn't arrived. "Now, give me control of your company, and I'll give you Lily."

Kaiba laughed at the craziness of his proposal.

You're laughing, and I have a gun at my temple. Thank you, so much, for your help.

"That's ridiculous. You seriously expect me to hand you my company, when the police are on its way?"

"Fine," he muttered, "Have it your way," and he dragged Lily into a car, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, and drove off before Kaiba could stop them. The police arrived ten minutes later.

In the car...

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I have nothing anymore. And it's your fault. Therefore, I'm dragging you down with me."

"That's very nice of you."

"Keep up the sarcasm and I'll kill you," he pointed the gun at her.

"Fine."

"You know what else happened? My wife left me for a richer man!"

"So? You didn't even tell me you had a wife!"

"I didn't have to; anyway, you screwed everything up."

"Well, maybe, you should have planned your murder better!"

"Well, maybe, you should have not LIED!"

"You're free anyway! What I did doesn't affect you."

"Yes it did! Now shut up, before I put a bullet in your head."

"Thanks bro. Anyway, you do realize that Kaiba probably would have lent you money to live a decent lifestyle, since you are my brother, if you just asked."

"I don't want CHARITY! And shut up." He cocked the gun.

Lily just rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the whole situation, but she was well aware of the danger. Her brother had the capacity to kill his own family, proof being their father. Thirty minutes later, the two arrived at the airport.

"Why are we at the airport?"

"We're moving to Canada."

"We?"

"Yes."

"Well, I appreciate the early notice, you know, so that I could pack, say goodbye to friends—"

"Too bad."

"Considering we don't have any money, and I had some at the apartment...did you even plan this?"

He ignored her question and paid for two one-way tickets to Vancouver, Canada.

"So that would be my money...I'll take the silence as a yes."

Meanwhile, Kaiba searched possible leads to where Lily could be. When she didn't attend school for a week or return his calls, he knew something was wrong. He visited every place she could have been, the first place obviously being her apartment. He found it trashed, with no sign of anyone living there. He tried running searches on airplane flights, but since they paid with cash, he had no way of tracing where they went. By the end of the school year, he gave up and accepted the fact that she was gone.

-----

"YOU'RE FIRED!"

Lily had been told that for the third time that month.

"Well, I didn't want to work here ANYWAY!" she yelled back and stormed out the door of Jim's Pet Supplies. She walked back to her little "shack," which was actually a highway overpass, a few blocks away. Taking a book out of her bag, she made herself comfortable, leaning against the cement wall. Her brother had dumped her on the street and took all the money for his own purposes. He figured she was as good as dead anyway.

Lily moved from job to job; minimum wage labor was not her thing. Most didn't even want to hire her, based on her disheveled appearance, despite her attempts to clean up after sneaking into a fitness club.

She managed to get another job a few weeks later, and was walking to her "home" when she felt incredibly sick. She leaned against the fence of the house she was passing by to compensate for the pain in her stomach. Her head decided at that moment to give way, and she became so lightheaded that she collapsed to the floor.

"Dear, are you okay?" an elderly woman said as she looked up from her garden. When she didn't respond, she, apparently very fit and strong for her age, carried her into the house and set her down in a bed.

A few minutes later, Lily blinked in confusion at the unfamiliarity yet comfort of her surroundings. The woman next to her greeted her, "Are you feeling better now? You collapsed right in my front yard! I'm Mrs. Lum, and who might you be?"

"Lily," she quietly said and looked around the room, "Uh...thanks."

"No problem, I understand what you're going through," she said warmly.

"What...wait, what do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you don't recognize the symptoms."

"Of...what?"

"I could tell by your slightly expanded stomach; I was cleaning you up."

"Aww crap."

"You do know the father right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then why aren't you thrilled? Bringing a child into the world is always a wonderful thing."

"I don't know where he is, I don't have a place to stay, I can't keep my lousy job, and I'm condemning this kid before it's born. I'm a failure."

"Don't worry about that, you will stay here, and I will take care of you. I'm not giving up, and neither should you."

"That's too much trouble for you. I don't have anything; I'd be too much of a burden," Lily said as she was getting out of the bed.

"You stay put and rest. I know you need the help, so say goodbye to that pride of yours and accept my help. Now, I expect you're a bit hungry?"

Lily nodded, and Mrs. Lum smiled.

-----

"Gran! I'm home. Hello?" a tall man said upon entering the house, "I have the multigrain bread you like so much. Hello?" He walked throughout the house, inspecting each of the rooms, and came across the guest room that she was staying in. "Oh, sorry, did I wake you?"

"No."

"I'm Steven."

"Lily." She inspected his features, noticing that he was around 20, and either a wealthy business man or a salesman from the suit. His face looked a bit tired, but other than that, quite young. He was a bit skinny, and seemed like a nice person, based on his tone of voice.

"Is there something on my face?" he commented on her staring.

"Oh, sorry," she looked at her hands.

"Do you know where my grandmother is?"

"She stepped out to get some pudding."

"She shouldn't be having sweets; it's bad—"

"Oh, it's for me," she said, eyes fixated on her dirty fingernails.

"Well, I'm sure there's a good reason to why you're here," he said with a polite grin, "I've got some work to do; if you need anything or something, okay?"

"Thanks."

"You don't have to keep your head down; I'm equally a person as you are."

She didn't move.

He walked over to her and brought her face so that they could see eye to eye, "Now that's better," then he noticed the tears on her face.

Out of embarrassment, she wiped them with her hand and turned away. Unsure of the appropriate way to act, he exited the room after saying, "I'm sorry I bothered you."

I should be the one who's sorry. You came in and acted as if I were an expected guest; if I saw someone looking as awful as I look I'd yell at him or her and kick 'em out. These people are so nice. I can't believe it.

Moments later, Mrs. Lum returned with pudding, along with crackers, fruit, ice-cream, and bread. She went to her grandson's office and was shocked by a lack of enthusiasm and cheer in his greeting.

"Something wrong, hun?"

He looked up from a disarray of papers, "I made her cry."

"Who?" she took a seat on the sofa located to the right of his desk.

"Uh...that girl, Lily."

"No, she's just going through high estrogen levels."

He raised one eyebrow.

"She's pregnant, and she's not that thrilled about it."

"Oh."

"She'll be staying with us."

"Okay," he said and returned to his work.

-----

Lily heard the door open and close.

"Cooking? Just don't burn down the house. Where's Gran?"

"Taking a stroll."

"Hungry?" she asked as he opened and closed almost all the cabinets.

"A bit."

She took out two bowls and put fried rice in each, "Here."

Taking a bite, he said, "Wow, two months you're here and you haven't told me that you're a cook!"

"Emily won't let me cook, so I have to secretly do it when she's out," she grinned mischievously, and they sat down at the table.

The two heard the door open and close again.

"Lily, how many times have I told you? You've got to let me prepare things for you," she put her coat and hat away before entering the dining room.

"Oh, I did the cooking, Gran."

She took a bit out of the rice before saying, "No way, I know you can't cook this well." She proceeded to talk to Lily's stomach, "Hey, how's the little baby doing today?"

-----

"The weather's great today, isn't it?" Lily asked.

"Care to join me for a stroll?"

"Gladly."

The two walked to the park, a few blocks away, and sat on the bench.

"Summer's my favorite time of year," Steven commented.

"Me too."

He slipped his arm over her shoulder, and the two watched the kids play on the playground, and the whole picturesque scenery of the park.

-----

Lily gave birth to a daughter that September. She named her Emily after the caring woman who took her in, and Steven provided her with the very best of everything. Lily graciously accepted everything, and although she missed Kaiba, she knew she was very well off and was very happy with the way Emily was growing up. The only thing that made her sad was the fact that she didn't know if Emily would ever know her father, and she wasn't sure if she should just have Steven be called father, since he was already filling the role nicely.

Five years later, with financial support from Steven, Lily managed to open up her own restaurant. Despite a shaky start, it soon grew to prosper in a few years. Steven and Lily lived as husband and wife, but without the titles. They had grown fond of each other. Actually, they never even kissed each other, held hands, linked arms, but never kissed. Still, the time they spent together brought them very close. He gave her space, and understood that she wasn't ready for a relationship. Her priorities were all connected to Emily, not herself. It was good that he understood, because Lily still thought of Kaiba. The frequency diminished from every day to every week, but she still wanted to see how he was.

In all her time spent in the loving and caring environment of the Lum's, Lily changed. Her pride and hardness in her heart cracked, and matured beyond sarcastic comments and insults. She learned of all the happiness life offered in the companionship of others, and how much more comforting it was to have others than to be all alone. She was ashamed of her selfish past and was overjoyed to have a stable source of income, rather than just getting checks every month.

-----

Emily was seven years old, and the four were celebrating Lily's birthday at home. It was nine o' clock, so both the Emilys had to go to bed. The two were sitting on the couch, opened presents spread on the floor, and the moonlight shining through the window was the only source of light.

"Thank you," Lily whispered.

"Oh, well, Gran arranged—"

"I meant for everything. You've given so much to me, and all I've done is receive."

"Don't worry about it," he held her hand.

"I don't know how I could ever repay you. You've made me rethink my priorities in life...I'm forever in your debt."

"Don't say that."

"Emily is so happy, and you've contributed so much to that."

"And so have you. You can't underestimate the motherly influence you have."

"Still, thank you," she said with a smile. He leaned towards her and kissed her softly.

"Lily, I...I've always wanted to start a family, and I've grown very attached to you and Emily over the years, and I think I've given you time, and I think we're ready and it would work...so I, well..." he slid off the couch and got on one knee, "Will you marry me?"

Lily stared at the gorgeous diamond ring.

-----

okay...so i've just ZOOMED through a whole bunch of years. but that's only because Seto's not in it, and if i developed it too much, you'd get bored. so bear in mind, people grow on each other as the years pass, so the proposal wasn't out of the blue.

and, i almost ended it here...actually i was gonna make her brother shoot her in front of kaiba, and was gonna make him choose his company over her, but then i was like...that sucks. so, there are gonna be more chapters later, okay? :D oh yeah. review!