The Wedding Flashback.
Téa's birthday marked the merger of CKIC.
Kids had a surprise for her. The surprise Mai Valentine! Other element of the evening was Seto's eagerness to celebrate the event on a blimp. As challenged, he aimed to shock others and surprise her. What started as a pleasant round of drinks, soon evolved into a war of principle? Mai confronted Seto's lack of social skills over a Pearl. Téa ever ready to fight for his honour had the pearl crushed. She drank it with a strong dosage of absinth and vinegar. So much alcohol rendered her senses ineffective. Seto carried her to his master suite when she crashed with the wine server. He seated her on the bathroom slab, checked her for cuts and bruises. He also cleaned her stained gown. While changing her attire, her hideous scars exposed to him like the summer sun. He vowed to avenge the atrocities committed against her.
The dirigible landed at Arles rather than Paris. Mana explained about Téa's favourite painting- Starry Night Over The Rhone. So Mokuba secured the deeds of a Chateau in Arles. The friends, the drunk, and the CEO made to the newly bought castle. The friends enjoyed the magnificence, while the sober CEO carried the drunken CEO to the master bed. Sorting her out in a shower, he wrapped her in a towel while checking for a decent attire. The wardrobe hunt ended when he found a white silk caftan that barely covered her knees. It was either that or nothing. And nothing was not an option. Dressed and modest, Seto squeezed the lemon juice to calm her nerves, and probed her in drinking it. A bit on the brighter side, Téa felt like having some fresh air. He took her to the roof. A mildly sober Téa walked to the railings to enjoy the night view. But she felt his solid presence behind her. Vaguely she recalled his devotion towards her. The harshness she endured over the years paled in comparison to the tenderness he displayed.
And then - she sobbed. Grabbing him like a life jacket she sobbed it all out. He stood there firm. Rooted to the ground as her tears, pains and miseries, complaints, everything poured in him. His hands gripped her waist tugging her in his chest, shielding her from the world.
A muffled cry broke in his chest. "What?" Seto asked.
"You don't have to attend me. I'm not invalid."
He looked at her, really looked at her like he was seeing her in a new light. Her face swollen red, so was her nose. Goose bumps rapidly breaking over her skin. She was shivering but what really caught his eye were her eyes. Dilated pupils. Absinthe. Hallucinations. Great! She was suffering from an aberration induced by inebriation. She was in a parallel world. Anything could happen in this world. And here he was so happy to have her acceptance. Looking at the skies, he cursed the heavens. His complaints disappeared when she hugged him.
"Your considerations for the evening are not unnoticed, Seto."
She shivered when he rubbed her bare arms. A seductive smirk on his face. He took her hand and kissed the back of her palm delicately. His eyes beholding hers. "Then don't hesitate to accept." He took out a small box from his jacket. It was now or never.
Her eyes regarded him and then the black velvet box. Ten years ago, he'd given her shoes during their first date together. Ten years later... The ring. 'Blue Hope.' His hope! He didn't wait for her answer. There were no I do's or I don'ts in their world. They came, they saw, and they conquered. Claiming everything they liked and discarding everything they didn't. Placing the Blue Hope on her ring finger, he sealed the deal.
XXXXXXX
Sky Gazing!
"No I didn't."
"Yes. Téa. You did. You counted six stars and not seven."
It was a bright Starry Night. The sky looked an intoxicated shade of dark red. Or perhaps, red was the colour of his desire to kiss her senseless?
Granted, northern roofed tower of the chateau offered the most spectacular view of Ursa Major or The Great Bear. But this wasn't what Seto Kaiba had in mind when Téa had initiated an acceptance kiss half an hour ago. His most primitive desires set on fire. The abandoned redness coursed through him. He was so sure of consuming her, drowning her as she drowned him.
Pity! Téa had other plans- Like counting the seven stars of The Great Bear!
"O' look! There, Seto. Over there… I can see- Leo."
"It's just an aircraft." Romance and sky gazing over the Rhone took a whole new meaning. As did the limits of his patience for her.
"An aircraft? What is it doing?"
"Flying."
"Where?"
"I. Don't. Know."
"Right, I know that. Right, not to worry. Right, right… where it go?"
"STOP saying right. RIGHT NOW."
"Right. I'll stop saying right. Right! How many times have I said right?
XXXXX
Ah! The Allegation!
"You were clueless on our first night together."
"WHAT?" Seto paled. He shook. He forgot to blink. He simply couldn't find the right wording to phrase it. This allegation against his performance was the mother of all the allegations. How cruel can she be? She was accusing him of being an unimaginative partner. She was challenging his abilities on a more ahem… this was bad. But this was also the first time when they had talked about that! Was there any truth in her outrageous complaint? Seto briefly wondered. Well, she was pissed drunk.
"Look its fine." Téa continued. She could care less about his social mortification. His Stud-ness be damned. This was about her wants. "We were young. I don't hold it against you. You had no idea if you were coming or going. It took you more than seven minutes to untie the…"
Too much information! He wanted nothing more than to wring her pretty little neck. The Wench! He'd blow her pathetic drunk theory to smithereens.
This was war. "O' like you were any better?"
"I was better than you. In fact, I initiated the moves…"
"Moves or manhandling?"
"I manhandled you? Now that's a contention! What about your miss-pokes around my…" Thighs.
"TÉA?" Shut-up.
"Maybe I should thank you for being 'fortunately quick.' It saved me from pain."
At that. Seto saw red. "Fortunately quick? Fortunately quick?" He was so angry, he was repeating himself. "You were begging for more. You ungrateful cow."
"Huh!" Téa gasped in utter revulsion. A cow? Herbivorous bovine? Argh! "Begging? A bit of an over statement. Especially from a guy with an objective to load, hurl, and release."
Flashback Ends. – Himalayan Abode.
"Exclude the finer details please." Ishizu interrupted. She couldn't restrain her blush.
"I thought you'd appreciate the honesty of knowing exactly what your sister was up to." There was a hint of friendly provocation in his tone.
Ishizu had once asked Téa what she'd seen in Seto Kaiba. Téa, in one of her rarest of happy moods, had bestowed her with a genuinely content smile. An answer enough. Looking at Kaiba, Ishizu could now see what Téa had truly seen in him. But she'd be damned if she acknowledged it. Brother in law or not.
"What happened next?"