:sighs: Well, this is the last chapter of meh story :sniffs loudly: arigato gozaimasu to everyone who's been reviewing; you all are really awesome! I hope you enjoyed my fic and enjoy this last chapter, which, I'm warning you now, has a major major cliffie at the end . Arigato again!

25. The Calm Before A Storm:

Kinou sat with her chin resting on her knees, her back against the backboard of her bed in the guest suite. It was still in disarray from when she had torn though it in her search for Emily, and she was in no rush to clean it up. A small bandage had been put over her cheek and her bruises were turning a light yellow in their healing; the skin around Tanurah's shot was still grey-green, but her arm wasn't sore anymore around where the needle had penetrated her skin. She had barely slept over the past week; flashes of the terrible events were playing through her mind like a movie reel, and she could not stop them. When she closed her eyes, she saw Marik, staring at her with the burning passion in his eyes before going and sacrificing himself to save her. Emily was clutched limply in her hand; Kinou had talked to her more than she ever had in her whole life in her waking hours since the death of Marik. All throughout the day, the sounds of construction were loud and incessant as building crews scrambled to uncover most of the ruins and rebuild a structure to keep that end of Kaiba's mansion from collapsing on top of it. No bodies had been found yet in the excavation, and Kinou had pretty much given up asking anymore, grimly assured that they would never find either the doctor or Marik.

A quiet knock on her door interrupted her gloom and she wearily called to let the person know that she was in there. Not that she needed to, she had not left her room at all, but she merely did it out of habit, perhaps to reassure the person that she had not died or something. Kaiba opened the door and she slowly raised her eyes to him as he quietly closed it behind him and walked over to her bed. As he sat down, she said nothing, but looked at him, asking him the same question she had been asking over and over again with her eyes. He caught her glance and looked away with a heavy sigh.

"No, Kinou, they haven't found anything yet…" he murmured.

She nodded to show that she had heard, and turned her head to one side, resting her cheek on her knees instead. This had become almost a daily routine, and usually it ended with Kaiba telling her the same news and going, but today he did not leave her as he usually did. He moved his legs onto the bed and scooted until he was right next to her; he put both of his arms around her and put his head on hers, rocking her from side to side. "I hate to see you like this, Kinou," he said. "I wish there were something I could do to brighten your mood, but the only thing that might even have a chance would be news that you could go home, and I can't truthfully tell you that. I promise I'll get people working on that as soon as that mess is cleaned up, if it'll make you happy."

Kinou smiled slightly for the first time in days and snuggled a little bit closer to him, turning her head instead to lean on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "I'm trying to get over it… I am…" she whispered.

"I'm not asking you to hurry up and feel better for me, Kinou. It's hard to lose someone you love."

Kinou's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't," she said.

"What?"

"I've been thinking a lot these past few days, and… I've realised that I didn't really love him; I only thought I did because of the way he had helped me. He was the one person that really offered me comfort through the dark times, and for that reason I felt especially close to him. But after thinking about it for the past few days, I know now that it was just a warm feeling I had for him; it wasn't love," said Kinou softly.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Kaiba.

Kinou sat up and looked deep into his eyes. "Because I had already given my heart to someone else." She reached out and put her hand on his cheek, and his face broke into a genuine smile, as did hers. He leaned forward, moving his hand up her back and behind her head to guide her face to his. When their lips met, Kinou felt a warmth within her awaken, calming her more than anything else had. His tongue did not wend its way into her mouth as it had before; they just sat by each other, holding the kiss for only a moment or two before Kaiba broke it and rested his forehead against hers, a small sigh blowing soft, warm air onto her cheek. "That's about the best thing I've heard all week," he said.

Kinou laughed slightly and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his neck lightly. He kept one of his arms around her and used his other to gently stroke her hair as they sat in silence for a few minutes. Another person rapped on her door and Kaiba sat up and called for them to come in. As one of his guards came in wearing a grim expression, his hands behind his back, Kaiba swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up with his arms folded. "What is it?" he asked.

The guard stopped in front of him and cleared his throat. "The building crew just uncovered the bodies underneath a particularly large pile of rubble." Kinou's eyes began to water, and she was just about to speak before the guard continued: "The bodies were almost beyond recognition, but there was one thing that survived completely intact beside one of them." He moved his arm out from behind him and held out Marik's Millennium Rod to Kaiba, who looked shocked. "We weren't sure what to do with it, so we thought we'd let you decide, Mr. Kaiba. We can easily dispose of it if you wish."

Kinou slid forward on her bed and hung her legs over the side, gazing at the Rod. Kaiba threw her a glance before turning back to the guard. "I'll take it," he said curtly. "Make sure that the bodies are given a decent burial, but clearly mark the one that holds the body near which this was found." The guard nodded, and Kaiba took the Millennium Rod from him before he left, closing the door with a snap.

"Thank you for not throwing it away," said Kinou.

Kaiba seemed not to hear her; he was staring at the Rod as though he had never felt anything like it before, and he slowly turned it over in his hands. "This seems extremely familiar to me… I don't understand; I've never held this before in my life, but it fits into my hand as though it were made for me…"

"That was yours once."

Kaiba turned to her, suddenly breaking the trance that the Rod had put on him. "Don't tell me you believe those lies that fool Ishizu told me? That I was a high priest in Ancient Egypt and this was my item?" he scoffed.

Kinou nodded slightly. "I do believe her."

Kaiba made a noise of contempt and looked rather angry. Kinou decided to take this opportunity to leave. "I'm going to visit Lonu for a little while. I haven't seen her for a really long time, and…" she trailed off, pushing herself off the bed and getting her shoes on, walking toward the door. She took one last look at Kaiba before shutting the door behind her to go to the hospital wing: his attention had turned once again to the Millennium Rod, and he was staring at it like it was an unsolvable puzzle.

After she shut the door, Kaiba raised his eyes to follow her, a sick smile playing across his lips. The Rod had begun to glow with a powerful aura, and Kaiba's eyes were unfocused and dark as he snickered, clutching the Rod firmly in his hand. "So we meet again, Anji," he said, his voice deeper and frightening. "And this time you won't escape from me… I will be sure to finish what I started five thousand years ago."

:takes a bow: Well, there you have it . Nasty cliffie, ne? Especially since it could take me quite some time before I post the sequel, since I'm at a complete block at the beginning of the fourth chapter of it. And I mean completely stuck. Not to mention I have started another fic called Kiseki that's keeping me quite preoccupied at the moment, so if you get bored waiting for the sequel to go up, read that . I'm glad you all have taken the time to read and review this! ARIGATO! :huggles everyone: Ja' ne for now!

Edie Adams