Chapter Twenty-One: Relatives

Mokuba stands in the quiet hallway, staring at his brother's bedroom door. He takes a deep breath and knocks, breaking the silence. "Seto?" He asks. "Can I come-"

Kaiba opens the door, startling Mokuba. After a second, the younger brother steps into the room, uncertain as to how he should start the apology.

"I'm sorry, Mokuba... You were right." Mokuba can only stare at his brother, wondering how the teen could have come to that conclusion - it was him that was wrong, not his older brother. "I'll reschedule the appointment and reserve the first opening they have."

Mokuba sighs. "The doctor's appointment doesn't matter. Look - I'm the one at fault for our fight. I should have been more understanding. Seto, you're my brother and you'll always be my brother. I told you otherwise on Sunday, but I was wrong. You're not a totally different person, Seto, and I'm sorry I made you think you were." Mokuba looks away. "It's just that... we've been through so much together, and now... well... you've forgotten our bond..."

Kaiba's eyes widen in realization. That could explain Mokuba's sudden outburst Sunday. Mokuba didn't literally mean he wasn't Seto Kaiba, his brother meant that he didn't remember their childhood together and didn't understand their relationship. "You-You're right... I'm sorry, Mokuba... I'm sorry I've forgotten everything we've gone through together..." Kaiba tells his brother. Mokuba looks up. "I want to remember our childhood. Will you tell me what I've forgotten?" Kaiba asks.

Mokuba hesitates. He promised himself that he wouldn't make his brother re-live his past - not after what happened Saturday night after trying to jog his memory about Kaiba Land. But this time, Mokuba notices while looking in his brother's eyes, Kaiba actually wants to remember - remember what they're been through.

Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say it to me
And I won't leave this life behind me(1)
Say it if it's worth saving me - "Savin Me" by Nickelback

"Okay, Seto," Mokuba answers.

The brothers sit side by side on the bed. Mokuba has his head down. "Well... I've told you before that I never knew our mother, and I barely remember anything about our father... All I have are the stories you used to tell me when I was little. You told me about how kind our mother was, and how she could make everything okay..." Mokuba tells Seto, a smile appearing on his face. "She had the greatest bedtime stories, you said. You always thought she made the best brownies you've ever had, and said you wished I could have tasted one..." Mokuba pauses and looks up at Kaiba, trying to read his facial expressions. "You told me more about our father... You mentioned that Dad went out of his way to be more understanding after her death..."

"Daddy..." Seto whispered, holding his pillow in one hand while using the other to wipe a tear from his eye.

"What now, Seto? Can't you be a man for once and suck it up?" his father asked, annoyed.

"I..." Seto said and hiccupped, "I miss Mommy..."

His father's eyes softened as he looked toward his son, himself depressed by her recent death. "Okay... You can get in bed with me - just this once." Seto crawled into the bed and his father put an arm around his son. Seto felt better now, with the added security, and fell asleep.

"You had to help take care of me after Mom died. You said I was such a handful that Dad couldn't do it alone," Mokuba says and smirks.

There was the sound of a baby crying in the other room.

"Seto, will you feed Mokuba his bottle?" their father said while grabbing his coat from the coat rack.

"But I don't know how to-" Seto began.

"I have to go!" the father exclaimed to the five-year-old. "Look - test the milk on your wrist. If it feels cold, microwave the bottle for about five seconds and test it again. Don't get it too hot. After the baby drinks about half of the milk, pat his back until he burps," his father said while putting his coat on and walking out the front door.

"But Daddy..." Seto said as the door shut. He sighed and went to find his baby brother's bottle.

"I do remember our father taking us to the local park. He always seemed a little sad when first arriving, but after seeing the two of us having fun together, he would always perk up..." Mokuba recalls.

"That's because our mother used to come with him and me all the time before you were born..." Kaiba says while looking away from Mokuba. "It always used to be her idea to go to the park, and she was always the happiest person there..."

Mokuba stares at Kaiba in surprise. How could his brother know that? Did his stories about their parents help Kaiba get his memories back? Kaiba looks toward Mokuba questioningly, wondering what he did. Mokuba doesn't see any indication that any other memories had returned and continues with, "Well... I guess that's pretty much all I can think of about our parents. A day I'll never forget is when you told me about the wreck... I was three at the time, and you were eight. We were home alone, watching TV, when someone came to the door. You answered it, I stayed in the other room. When you returned, I could tell by the look on your face that it wasn't good. You explained to me about our father... That he wasn't coming back, like how our mother never came back."

There were a few seconds of silence before Kaiba said, "I guess I should call the hospital and reschedule the appointment."

'The soonest opening they had was tomorrow, about an hour after school ends,' Kaiba thinks while walking back to his bedroom. He opens the door to his room.

"Hello?" Seto asked after opening the front door. Two people were standing outside, a man and a woman.

"Are you Seto?" the woman asked with a smile, kneeling down to his height.

"Yes..." Seto answered hesitantly, noticing her suspiciously nice behavior toward him.

"We're here to help you and your brother... Your aunt and uncle have agreed to let you two live with them. Is that okay with you?" the woman asked.

"I donno... I guess..." Seto replied.

"You and your brother can pack a few of your things. When you're done, come outside and we'll drive you over to your new home. You can return for the rest, later."

"Seto, where are we going?" Mokuba asked his brother, who was sitting in the seat beside him.

"We're going to our relatives' house. They're going to take care of us, since Mommy and Daddy can't anymore..." Seto answered.

"Oh..." Mokuba said. Seto went back to looking out the car window, nervous about what was happening. Seto noticed a house up ahead where two people were standing at the edge of the driveway. The car slowed down and came to a stop by that house. Seto and Mokuba got out of the car, Seto carrying a duffel bag. His aunt and uncle didn't look familiar to him, since he was too young to remember the last time they had visited. The brothers walked into the house with their relatives. The aunt and uncle showed the two to a small room and told them where they could put their things.

"We bought these bunk beds just for you two," the uncle told them. "You do realize that we could have used that money for something else, right?"

Seto looked around the house as Mokuba watched television. There were various knickknacks all over the house. Seto started to pick up a small porcelain figure, when his aunt saw him.

"Don't touch anything!" she yelled. Seto moved his hand away. "Those are breakable, you little brat..." she mumbled before leaving the room. 'I wasn't going to break it,' Seto thought angrily. He went to watch television with his brother.

"You two get in here if you want dinner!" Their uncle called. The brothers entered the dining room. Seto thought it felt strange to eat in a dining room instead of in the kitchen at a small table like he always used to with his father and brother. The chair he was sitting in was different than what he was used to, also. While in the chair, he couldn't feel the floor under his feet, since the chair was too high. His aunt brought out the food. There were several things that she brought out, even though it wasn't a holiday.

"But... It's macaroni day..." Seto said sadly.

"Macaroni day?" his uncle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Daddy always makes macaroni this day of the week..." Seto explained.

His uncle laughed. "Your aunt is too good a cook to make something like Macaroni, Seto. While you're with us, you'll get some good food. It's a pity your mother died when she did... Maybe if she didn't, you two wouldn't be so malnourished."

"We're not malnourished," Seto told him.

"You don't even know what that word means. Don't talk at the dinner table, young man," their aunt said.

Seto climbed up the ladder of the bunk bed, upset about the early bedtime his relatives gave him. He now wished that he had brought his pillow with him. Their pillow felt... different. He also felt as though he were laying on a board, his old bed being so much softer. He eventually drifted off to sleep, but it was a restless one. First he dreamed that he was in the car with his father when the wreck occurred. He cried as he screamed, "Daddy!" Then, his mother and father were holding hands while looking toward him and Mokuba. They turned away from him and his brother, though, and began walking away. "Noo! Come back!" Seto called as his parents walked away, into the darkness.

Wake me up
Wake me up inside
I can't wake up
Wake me up inside
Save me
Call my name and save me from the dark - "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence

"Seto? Seto...? Seto!" Seto woke with a start. He took a few deep breaths, then looked over the edge of his bed. "When will Daddy come back?" Mokuba innocently asked from the lower bunk.

"Dad's where Mom is now, Mokuba..." Seto told his brother. Mokuba looked toward Seto confusedly. "He's not coming back," he explained to the naïve toddler.

"Oh... I forgot..." Mokuba answered.

(1) The true lyrics for "Savin Me" are "And I'll leave this life behind me", but they didn't match right in the story...