I'm extremely sorry about this. There's no excuse for it. I tried for months to write this chapter, and nothing worked. I eventually settled on this, and while it feels somewhat like a cop-out, I had to do it this way or I never would have finished it.

I swear the next chapter won't take this long.


WHEN he opened his eyes, the first thing Noa saw was the ceiling.

By process of deductive reasoning, he surmised relatively quickly that he was in a horizontal position. Further reasoning dictated that, as he had just regained consciousness, he had been sleeping.

And when something completely nonsensical and impossible was your most recent memory after waking up from sleep...well, that meant one thing.

A dream.

The realization slapped him in the face, and he suddenly felt the urge to close his eyes again and just wait to die. He didn't want to wake up again. No. Uh-uh. Nothin' doin'.

"Waking up, Noa?"

Oh, crap. Mokuba.

Couldn't very well ignore him...

He opened his eyes. "...Yeah."

He forced himself to a sitting position.

He saw the pair of blonde strangers looking at him.

He blinked.

Mokuba laughed. "Yeah, they're real. Trust me. They're solid and everything."

Noa blinked again.

And again.

And again.

"...No. No, because...no. That can't...no."

"Yes. Yes, because...yes. It can...yes."

"But...b-but...no."

"Yes."

He shook his head. "No."

"Yes?"

"No."

"Noa...what are we talking about?"

He gestured. "They...I...no, but...he...and...then the...with..."

"How do you know what they aren't when you don't even know what they are that they aren't?"

Noa blinked again. "...Huh?"

"Exactly."

"Sorry...I..."

He took a deep breath and tried again.

He looked at the older of the two strangers, almost certainly the younger's father. "...Who are you?"

"Name's Henry. Henry Roderick. Your brother tells me my cousin, Neil, helped with your recovery?"

"Doctor Roderick...? Yeah. He did."

Henry nodded. He patted the boy sitting next to him on the soldier. "This is my son, Kyle."

"Hi," Noa said.

"Hi, big brother!" the boy said excitedly.

Noa stared at him like he'd grown a third ear on his forehead.

"...H-Huh?"

Mokuba got up. "Try to stay conscious this time, Noa. I'm gonna go get Seto."

"H-Huh...? Wha...?"


"I...I just want to say...I'm sorry for doubting you."

Seto remained seated, still looking at the screen, for a long moment. "There's no need. I would have thought the same, in your position."

"Still...I...for so long I wanted nothing more than to avoid you, you and everything to do with the Kaiba name. And here you have...you..."

Sasha breathed deeply and started over.

"I know you didn't do this for me. You didn't even do it for Noa, did you? That letter was true?"

"Yes. It was. He asked, and I did it. When we first met, Noa and I...were at odds. Left to my own devices, I would have forgotten him completely."

She nodded. "I can't blame you. I...I want to demean you for that, but...I did nothing different, myself."

"Stop that. It wasn't your fault and no one is blaming you for it."

Seto frowned at this, chuckled slightly, and shook his head.

Sasha nodded. "You're right. Of course you are."

"Someone's opening the door."

Sasha flinched, then remembered that Seto's computer had a voice. She turned toward the door.

Mokuba slipped inside.

"Ah, it's you," said the computer. "Good day, Little Kaiba."

"Hello," Mokuba said.

"What is it, Mokie?" Seto asked.

"I just thought you'd wanna know that he woke up. He's really confused."

Seto smirked. "No surprise, there. So...let's clear up that confusion. Sasha? Are you ready for this?"

"Not really," she muttered as she headed for the door.

She stopped at Mokuba's side. "Thank you...both of you. I know you didn't do it for me, but...but I won't ever be able to repay this."

"Yes, you will," Seto said, standing. "By being your son's mother again. I hope you won't disappoint me."

There was a hard edge to Seto's voice at that last statement, and Sasha realized that, conscious of it or not, Seto had established himself as Noa's father.

And judging by the letter she had seen...Henry would likely never take that title from him, no matter what Sasha might want.

She realized then that she wouldn't be taking Noa home with her when she left. This was his home, and it always would be. She had no right, nor did she have the ability, to take that from him.

She supposed that she had assumed, from the beginning, that she would take him home with her, if he was even alive at all. As his mother, she supposed she'd thought she still had a claim to him.

But that wasn't fair.

She had forfeited that sort of control over her son's life the moment she had turned her back on him. Seto was Noa's father now, and she thought that she would now be a secondary part of his life.

But that realization only hurt for a moment.

Noa was in good hands, and he was old enough now to make his own decisions, anyway. Despite how he looked, he was no boy anymore.

She smiled.

She left the room.

Seto and Mokuba followed her.


"I hear that you're a bit confused about all this," Seto said as he strolled into the room, a nonchalant air about him as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Uh...huh?"

"Oh, come now, Noa," Seto said. "Did you actually doubt me? I'm Seto Kaiba. I can do anything."

"...Uh?"

Chuckling, he shook his head. "I told you I would find her, Noa. Didn't I?"

Sasha stepped up beside Seto.

She smiled and said nothing.

"M...M..."

"Hi, sweetie," she said. "It's...been a while, huh?"


"What are you doing?"

"Researching."

"Researching what?"

"...I don't even know anymore."

Leaning over her husband's shoulder, Jen laughed. "What is this?!"

Darren shrugged. "I think it might be a sign of the Apocalypse."

"Hey!" Katie snapped. "Irena started that site! It's really popular, you know!"

"Yes, I can tell...but the forums are frightening...very frightening...you do realize that if Seto ever sees this, he is going to have each member of this site arrested, don't you?"

Eyes scanning the topics, Darren stopped at one.

"...Have Irena delete this one," he said, eyes suddenly narrowing.

"Huh? Which one?"

Katie looked over.

She scrunched up her nose. "Yeah...that thread's weird."

"It's not weird. It's wrong. Have her take it down."

"That's...a little extreme, don't you think, Daddy?"

"No. I don't. This is disgusting, and it's going down."

"Darren..." Jen started.

"Call her or I will, Kate. Your choice."

"O-Okay...I'll call her."

"Darren," Jen said after their daughter left to find a phone. "I know it's obscene and...well, morally wrong, but there is such a thing as free speech, you know."

"Tch."

Darren stood up.

"Remind me never to look either of them up on the internet again. I'm tempted to have those idiots arrested."

"Darren, I think you're taking this a bit too—"

"I think I don't give a shit!" he snarled.

He stopped, caught himself, and took a deep breath.

"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. But no...I'm not taking this too far. They are, and I want that thread taken down before Seto – or worse, Mokuba – has a chance to see it. I know, there're probably other sites around that have such things on them. I'm not going to track them all."

"Then what's the point of taking this one down?"

"...I don't know. I just can't stomach seeing it."

"That's fair, but Mokuba is a celebrity, and you have to know that celebrities have some pretty weird fans. I bet most of them are joking."

"Weird fans...yeah. Mokuba's had some weird fans, all right. I met one...his body, anyway. Wouldn't surprise me if he started that thing."

Jen, the only person outside of those directly involved in Mokuba's case who knew the details of it, frowned. "So that's what this is about..."

"What else would it be about?"

"...Fair enough. Katie's going to ask why, though."

"And I can't tell her. Not my place. I shouldn't have told you."

Darren turned and walked past his wife. "I need to go out for a walk."

"...All right."

He left.


"...Really? He said that?"

Sasha nodded. "Oh, yes. Said you were the brightest student he'd ever had. Leonard always was a softie...I should give him a call."

Noa smiled. "I'd like to see him again. He was nice."

"...Which is probably why he ended up fired," Sasha mused.

"Father never did much like sugarcoating, as he called it," Noa agreed. "Praise is nothing but useless words. The only thing a student needs to know is what he does wrong."

"Sounds like a peach," Henry muttered.

"He was nice for about seventeen hours," Sasha said. "After that...well, I don't know. I guess I just liked his house. He certainly didn't interest me."

Henry laughed. "Oh, yeah. Real prince. And you're not shallow at all, are you?"

"Me? No, of course not. Never."

Now Noa laughed. "That explains the Jewelry Closet."

"Jewelry...closet?" Henry asked incredulously.

Sasha shrugged. "So I picked out some things. Not like he was hurting for money."

"I wonder if it's still there," Noa mused. "I never thought of checking."

"Hmmm...maybe. Gozaburo never cared enough about what I bought to even think of getting rid of it, I'm sure."

"Hey, Mokuba, do you know if—"

Noa stopped.

Mokuba was sitting on the other side of the couch, chin on his chest, asleep.

"...Guess it's kinda late, huh?"

Henry checked his watch. "Oh, wow...two-thirty. Sheesh."

"So how exactly did you meet your brothers, anyway?" Sasha asked.

Noa frowned. "Uh...well...kinda complicated. See...Seto, uh...well, actually, I'm not sure how it happened, but Seto's board of directors tricked him and a bunch of other people into...jacking themselves into my world, I guess you'd say. I met him in there. Both of them."

"That must have been interesting."

"Uh...no, not really. I wasn't very hospitable. I...turned them both into statues."

"You...what?" Henry asked.

"It was a contest. I...I guess I wanted to prove I was better. Father's mind was in there by that time, too, so...so I wanted to gain his favor. I...I also brainwashed Mokuba into forgetting who Seto even was. It wasn't...well, it wasn't a good time for any of us."

"I'm a bit surprised to see you alive again, then."

"So was I. Seto says he did it for Mokuba, and I know that's true...what makes me wonder is why Mokuba wanted me around. Seto says it's because he was lonely, and wanted someone else in his family."

"They were orphans before Gozaburo adopted them, right?"

"That's right."

"I can see why that would be lonely...what with Seto working so much."

Noa nodded. "I'm sure."

"They're extremely close, aren't they?"

Noa nodded. "Extremely."

She was about to say something else, when Mokuba stirred.

Noa turned to look at the boy. "Huh?"

Gone was the peaceful nothingness of dreamless rest; Mokuba frowned, fists clenched at his sides, body tense and jerking. He muttered something and turned his head.

"...No..."

The word was a distant whimper. Noa barely heard it.

"Hm?" Sasha murmured, raising an eyebrow. "Looks like he's having a bad dream."

Noa stiffened. "Oh...uh-oh. This might be bad..."

"No..." Mokuba whispered, louder and fiercer this time, jerking his arms across his chest as if hugging himself. He curled into the fetal position and lowered his head. "No...no, no...no more...no..."

"Oh, God..."

"What? What is it, Noa? What's wrong?"

"You're right...he's having a nightmare. A bad one."

"Should we wake him?"

She reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

Mokuba's reaction was explosive. He shrieked, smacking the hand away and pitching himself away from her. Though clearly still asleep, he cried, "Don't touch me! No more! No more touching! Go away!"

Noa flinched. "No...no, leave him alone. Don't touch him."

"What...what is he dreaming?" Sasha asked breathlessly. "He looks terrified. Poor thing..."

"...I think I know."

Noa decided to try his luck.

"Mokuba..." he whispered as gently as possible, and tried to shake his leg.

He screamed again. "No! No! Go away!!"

His voice broke, and he succumbed to tortured sobs of nonsense, every so often a "No" coming out.

Seto was suddenly there, as if he'd teleported into the room. He knelt down and pushed Noa away.

"Mokie," he said. His voice was calm, as if he were simply asking what he'd like for breakfast the next morning. "Mokuba, wake up. Wake up, little one."

Nothing.

He reached forward.

Mokuba pulled away with another cry.

"Mokuba..." Seto whispered. "C'mon, kiddo, it's okay...you're safe."

The boy's eyes snapped open, wet and wide and terrified. "No!" he cried again.

"Mokie...Mokie, it's okay..."

Blinking confusedly, Mokuba slowly looked at his brother, breath coming in jagged gasps. He whimpered pitifully. "S-Seto...?"

Seto smiled soothingly. "It's okay, Mokuba...just a nightmare. You're okay..."

Mokuba sat there, dumbfounded, and then threw his arms around his brother's neck, the tears starting again as he buried his face against Seto's shoulder.

Seto returned the hug. "It's okay..." he whispered. "You're okay...I've got you, baby, I've got you...no more crying...shhhhh-sh-sh..."

Sasha stared. "What...what happened? Why...what...?"

Noa caught her eye and shook his head. The look in his eyes, haunted and far too old for his face, clearly said,

Don't.

"S-S-Seto...I...I..."

"Shhh...I know...I know."

Mokuba began to cry harder, hands like claws clutching at the cloth of Seto's coat. Seto held him tighter.

He lifted the boy easily off of the couch and slowly carried him out of the room.

Henry blinked. "That...that was..."

Noa scowled, and his glare was hot with murderous rage.

"Let go of him, you twisted fuck..." he spat bitterly.

Sasha's eyes widened. "W-What?"

She flinched away from the look in her son's eyes as he looked up at her, and for the first time the realization that Noa was over two decades old really hit her.

The look in his eyes wasn't one of an angry child.

"...Sometimes I wish what Seto did for me could be done for anyone...just so some people would die again."


The scene with Darren is a protest. I'll let you fill in the blanks.

I could have picked a gentler way to reveal what happened to Mokuba to Sasha and Henry, but this is the only way I really felt it would work. I'm tired, though, so who knows? I might find a better way later. I just wanted to get this up as soon as I finished it.

Well, I've been working on this behemoth for two years now. Crazy thought, isn't it? I know it had me reeling when I realized it. I've probably lost quite a few readers in the process, but those of you who've kept with me this long, and those of you who are recent readers, thank you. This project is a huge one for me, and not just literally. And you're the ones who've kept it alive.

I'm sorry again for taking so long. I hope I haven't lost any more of you in the seven months since my last update, although I can't blame anyone who has.

Again, next chapter won't take nearly this long.

I hope you'll stay patient with me.

Take it easy, everyone.