Christmas of Memories, a short three-shot YuGiOh! story by Tsunami Storm

Chapter 3: Recuperation

"-It looks like he's regaining consciousness."

"-Good. That means they're all out of the woods."

"It's a miracle that the other young man survived. The paramedics said that he had a large metal bar in his chest from the car wreck. He's lucky it missed his heart."

"I heard about that. The bar sliced his right lung and barely missed his spine. That young man has one heckuva guardian angel. What did they say his name was? Seth?"

Seth- no-

Darkness- Pain- Confusion-

Is this Hell? No wait. I heard those people saying I'm alive. But then why can't I see? Why can't I move? I'm- I'm cold. Where- where am I? This could all be a trick. A torture tactic. Give me a small hope and then dash it to pieces, prove it false. That would be typical. Wait. Where's Mokuba?!

Groan. "Ow. My head." grumbled the boy in question, opening his gray-blue eyes and observing his surroundings. When in a strange place, take a moment to assess the situation. It could save your life- Seth had taught him rather cryptically one afternoon.

"Assess the situation. Okay." Mokuba said quietly to himself as he looked around him. "Just a white room. Looks like a hospital. Whoa, wait! Why am I in a hospital?! Oh yeah, the car accident. I hope everyone's all right." He worried quietly to himself. He turned his eyes down and started when he saw that his left arm was in a sling and cast. Oh great. A broken arm. Seto's not gonna like that. If he survived-

At this, Mokuba vehemently shook his head to banish these unwanted thoughts. "No way! Seto's alive. He's the strongest person I know. How could I even think that?" He whispered angrily to himself. I just hope the others are okay- He thought as he closed his eyes again.

"-How is he? Still unconscious?"

"-Yep. Hasn't moved a bit since his surgery. If it weren't for those monitors, I'd swear he was in a coma. It's unsettling. How's the rest of his family?"

"Well, Noah has a broken right arm, but he's fine otherwise. Same with Mokuba, only he broke his left arm. Mr. Kaiba has a mild concussion and a broken left leg."

"And the young woman? Kisara? How is she?"

Seth listened especially for this answer, desperate to hear any news of his beloved. As he'd slowly regained consciousness, he'd listened to the conversation between doctor and nurse. Though he was indeed concerned for the rest of his family, Kisara was the one to whom he'd given his heart.

"She has a few broken ribs and a neck injury from the whiplash, but paralysis isn't likely. Of the five, I think she sustained the least amount of injury, whereas this young man got the worst of it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This guy's got one heckuva guardian angel."

"Mr. Tanaka! Watch your language! This is a children's hospital, after all. We can't say the 'h' word, or anything that stands in place of it!"

Children's hospital? Seth wondered in confusion. Why are we here? I guess this was simply the nearest medical facility to the accident site. He opened his eyes with some difficulty, but shut them immediately in reaction to the blinding white light. Guess I'll have to 'assess the situation' another way- with magic. He reached deep into himself for that familiar spark that only a yami could possess, and allowed that spark to fill his entire body.

He surreptitiously searched his surroundings for anything out of place; in other words, a potential threat. The only other living souls in the room were the doctor and the nurse, which he dismissed immediately. These people were here to help, not harm. Accepting his surroundings as a safe environment, he then turned his search inward to evaluate the damage from the almost-fatal car accident.

Seth grimaced when he sensed that his right femur had been broken in several places, and that he had needed surgery to remove a metal bar from his right upper chest area. Having completed his internal 'systems check'- as Seto would have jokingly dubbed it- he reached deeper within himself and sent out four harmless mental probes to check on the rest of his family.

From what he could determine, only Mokuba had regained consciousness earlier, but was now asleep. Seto seemed to be in something akin to a catatonic state, but was able to receive and respond mentally to outside impulses if he so chose. Kisara was still unconscious, and Noah appeared to be in a kind of 'Sleep mode' that computers often go into when not in use. His involuntary functions such as heartbeat and breathing were still working, but everything else that was not immediately necessary had frozen due to shock. Seth was certain that this state was temporary, though. Once Noah's body had repaired itself, Noah would 'wake up' and be perfectly normal again.

-Hours later, 1:00 pm, Christmas Day-

Groan. "Ugh. My head." An annoyed, weak voice growled.

"That's to be expected, Mr. Kaiba, after what you've been through," A kind, motherly voice answered his complaint- which he had unknowingly voiced aloud. "Actually, you should count yourself lucky. Not many people survive an accident like that, much less come away from it with just a broken leg and a concussion." Seto could tell that the older woman was teasing him just a bit, and he rolled his eyes for her benefit.

The woman looked like the grandmother-type of person, not one you would expect to see in a doctor's uniform. Seto looked over at his bedside table and was surprised to see his laptop sitting there. As if she'd somehow read his mind, the old woman wordlessly picked up the computer and set it gently on his lap. "I know that you must be a very busy young man- especially around this time of year- so I took the liberty of rescuing your laptop from the car wreck and bringing it to you." The kindly old woman smiled warmly at him, then quietly left the room to give him some privacy.

Seto watched the enigmatic woman disappear down the hall, then shrugged and typed in his password to unlock the screen. Almost immediately, he saw that his video-chat system was receiving a call, and he sighed and put on the headset and microphone and opened the window, dreading who could be on the other end.

"Kaiba-boy! I've been trying to reach you for days! Where have you been?"

"Pegasus." Seto sighed with a smirk and another eye-roll. "Why am I not surprised?" He asked rhetorically.

"Aw, tsk tsk, Kaiba-boy. Is that any way to greet an old friend? And especially on Christmas! I thought you'd changed!" Pegasus chided, feigning hurt and disappointment.

Seto had to laugh at the absolutely pathetic and humorous look on his fellow businessman's face. "I have changed, Pegasus. Let's just say I couldn't resist answering your call like that." He replied, a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Oh, I see-" Answered the gaming mogul. "Well played, my friend! Who'd have thought the ever serious Seto Kaiba would actually play a joke on me, the creator of such wondrous cards as 'Toon World'?"

Seto grimaced. If there was one card in Duel Monsters that he absolutely hated, that was it. That and 'Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon'. "Don't even go there, Pegasus. That card's caused more trouble than it's worth." He growled, remembering all the pain he and others had suffered at Duelist Kingdom because of it.

"Oh, I suppose you're right, Kaiba-boy, as usual." He then finally noticed that the Prince of Games was lying in a hospital bed. "My heavens, old friend! What in the name of Ra happened to you?!" He spluttered, for once completely at a loss for words.

"Car accident. I'm sure you'll hear about it on the news in a couple days." Seto shrugged. "Long story short, there was a huge winter storm, Mokuba had a concert, on the way home we crashed, and I got a slight concussion, a few broken ribs and a broken leg." No need to tell him about the others- unless he asks.

"Oh dear me! Is Mokuba-boy all right?" Pegasus asked, surprisingly genuinely concerned for the boy who had once been his prisoner.

"From what I heard from the doctors, he has a broken left arm and a few bruised ribs. Nothing life-threatening, thank goodness. So what was so urgent that you've been trying to reach me for days?" Seto asked, hoping fervently that there wasn't another crisis. He'd had enough of those in his young life to last five lifetimes.

"Ooh, it's nothing important. I just thought you might be interested in participating in another tournament I'm throwing. It's at the same place as last time, but I'm thinking of playing it according to your Battle City rules, minus that 'rare card ante' rule. Maybe I'll call it 'Empire of Shadows'. What do you think?"

"Sure. Duel Monsters is based on the ancient 'Shadow Games', so that's a fitting name. I like it. As to whether or not I'll participate- I'll get back to you on that." Seto replied, intrigued by this new development. "Hold on a minute. Is this tournament going to involve actual Shadow Games, or is the name just for show?" Seto asked, suddenly slightly nervous.

"Ooo, I hadn't thought of that, Kaiba-boy! Marvelous idea! I suppose we could allow those, but only if both duelists can handle it and both agree to it willingly. We wouldn't want another catastrophe like last time, now would we?" Pegasus phrased the last question rhetorically, but Seto answered it anyway.

"No, we wouldn't. Who else is invited, anyway? I hope it's not losers like Underwood and Raptor."

"Well-" Pegasus answered, slightly sheepish. "To make this the 'tournament to end all tournaments', I've invited everyone who has ever amounted to anything in the dueling world. In other words, every duelist entered into any tournament within the past five years, including duelists that once possessed the Orichalcos and some from the ancient world. Maybe even some from Atlantis, if they want to-" He added cryptically with a mischievous glint in his brown eye.

"You don't mean-" Seto gasped, horrified. "Dartz?!"

"Oh no! I didn't mean him!" Pegasus assured. "I guess I should have been more specific. I meant duelists that are still alive. I was really thinking of somehow inviting Sirs Timaeus, Critias and Hermos, but I don't know how they would get to this dimension." He explained, trying to think of a possible way for it to occur.

"Well, we go there all the time. Seth and I, I mean. We create a dimensional portal, jump through- spend a few hours there- then jump back. Wouldn't it work the same way for them? Because, technically those three aren't really Duel Monsters." Seto explained.

"You're right. They aren't. I'd forgotten about that." Pegasus answered, deep in thought. "Ah well. I'll hammer out the details another time. Well, that's really all I had to say. Get well soon, my friend, and Merry Christmas!" The window closed.

"Merry Christmas, you crazy Froot-Loop." He said with a smile, not entirely sure if he really meant that bit of harmless name-calling. He checked the rest of his mail and- seeing only a Christmas email from the Mutou's- closed the window to the mailbox. Just as he closed his laptop, Mokuba came into the room with his arm in a sling and a huge grin on his face.

"Hey, Nii-sama!" The boy greeted. "Good, you're awake. I heard the doctors saying that all of our injuries aren't serious enough to be bedridden, so I thought we could go downstairs to the lobby with the other kids and celebrate Christmas. Seth, Noah and Kisara are already down there. Whaddya say?" He asked hopefully, the picture of innocence.

Seto shrugged, giving in once again to those irresistible puppy-dog eyes. "Oh, why not. But hand me those crutches, will ya? I refuse to be humiliated by having to use a wheelchair." He grimaced, making a face of mock-horror for Mokuba's sake.

It worked. Mokuba laughed at his brother's rather silly expression, then retrieved the pair of crutches from their hook and carefully handed them to his brother one at a time. Seto nodded his thanks, then carefully sat up and moved his injured leg so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. With the aid of the crutches, he stood up, looking at his little brother beside him.

"This still feels humiliating." He grumbled to himself, low enough that Mokuba couldn't hear. Louder he said, "Hey Mokuba? Do you think you could bring my laptop down for me? I have a feeling I might need it for something."

"Sure thing, Nii-sama." Mokuba grinned, grabbing the piece of technology and holding it under his right arm. As they walked out of Seto's room into the second-floor hallway, Mokuba asked, "Do you want us both to take the elevator, Seto? It's faster than the stairs."

"Sure, kid. Whatever you want." was Seto's reply, and the two brothers walked to the automatic lift at the end of the hall. When they reached the lobby, Seto was shocked to find a wall of snow beyond the glass entrance doors of the hospital.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we're gonna be here for a while. We got snowed in last night. The EMT vehicles barely made it to the rear entrance. I bet home looks awesome right now!" The boy imagined, wonder sparkling in his huge, gray-blue eyes as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Great. Guess I'll have to shovel part of the driveway when we get home, then." Seto complained, but when Mokuba turned to glare at him, he saw humor dancing in his brother's sapphire eyes. Seto chuckled, then ruffled his brother's black mane of hair a little for fun. It was only then that he noticed that they were not alone.

A large group of children of all ages was sitting in the middle of the lobby, seated around the largest Christmas tree Seto had ever seen. Some were in wheelchairs, and some sat on the floor with their crutches near them. They all had one thing in common. They were all looking at Seto and Mokuba with polite, expectant smiles. Mokuba realized that they had been waiting patiently for them. The brothers smiled back, then joined the gathering of at least sixty youngsters. Kisara waved happily in greeting, being careful not to jostle the neck-brace she wore. Seth raised a hand and nodded kindly from a wheelchair, his upper chest wrapped in bandages. When Seto saw this, he felt a pang of guilt in his heart. My fault. It's my fault they're hurt like this. If only I'd been more careful- none of this would've happened.

Noah Kaiba looked back at them by nearly bending over backward, a greeting smile of welcome on his upside-down face. Mokuba laughed at his stepbrother, and Seto wondered how he was balancing in that position with only his left arm supporting him. His right arm was laying against his chest in a sling- just as Mokuba's left arm was- and Seto could see some faint purple bruises around the boy's temple where he had repeatedly hit his head against the car window.

Seto shyly approached the group, then sat between Seth and a thirteen-year-old girl who smiled in a friendly way. Mokuba sat on her other side, and on his other side was Noah- who gave him a brotherly shoulder nudge. The girl tapped Mokuba on the shoulder, then started speaking to him in sign language. Seto guessed that she was mute from birth, or that an accident had injured her vocal cords. Mokuba nodded at what she signed, then whispered, "Sure. I can do that." Then he got the attention of the supervising doctor. Seto realized with a jolt that this was the same elderly woman who'd brought his laptop to his room for him.

"Excuse me, Dr. C? Savannah was wondering if you could turn on the radio to the Christmas music, so the kids can start opening their presents." Mokuba asked shyly, smiling up at the elderly woman.

"Oh dear me! I'd forgotten all about our little tradition. The radio tower that broadcasts our Christmas music was knocked down by the storm, so I'm afraid that we won't have music for a few days until the tower is repaired." The woman answered sadly.

Hmm- Seto thought to himself as a lot of the other children groaned, Perhaps I can arrange a little Christmas miracle. Out loud he said, "That won't be a problem. Mokuba's put about a hundred Christmas songs on my computer over the years. If I could connect my computer with your speaker system, I should be able to get the music to all corners of the hospital, for the kids who aren't able to move from their rooms." He suggested, confident that his idea would work.

Mokuba scowled a little at his brother for blaming it all on him again. What?! You put more songs on that computer than I did, Seto! But when the first song came on- an instrumental version of 'Let it Snow'- Mokuba forgot his earlier irritation and beamed at his big brother, looking as though he would burst with pride. Seto really has changed. Giving of yourself to help others, now that's the true spirit of Christmas. He's the world's best brother! The boy thought happily, not for the first time.

-After a few minutes-

As the children passed around and opened presents, Seto noticed the old doctor standing alone in a corner, smiling. He picked up his crutches and made his way over to her, then leaned against the wall, hoping she would buy his act of nonchalance. "Thank you-" He mumbled after a moment of silence. "-for taking care of my family. You have my deepest gratitude, Dr. C."

"No Seto, Thank you." The woman answered. "You have no idea how much your simple gesture has helped these young ones. And please, call me Mary. Mary Christmas." She asked with a rather impish smile, but true thanks and gratitude shone in her blue eyes.

"Interesting name, Mary." Seto said with a smirk of his own, looking back around the lobby. The building looked more like a mall than a hospital, with its three-story lobby that reached up to a glass-covered roof and the floors around it represented by balconies. The huge Christmas tree- Seto noticed- was about 25 feet tall and reached up almost to the transparent ceiling. The group of kids was still around the tree, and Mokuba glanced back and waved at them with his good hand. Kisara had wheeled Seth under a bough of mistletoe, and when she gestured to it with her head and pecked her husband on the cheek, Seth blushed. All the young girls went, "Aww!" And all the boys- including Noah- reacted, "Eww!"

Seto and Mary snickered at that, then Seto rejoined his brothers in the group, passing gifts to the children around him. One girl had received a white kitten from her parents- who were coming by later in the week to take it home- and Seto thought the tiny creature looked oddly familiar, its emerald eyes sparkling with- was that mischief? Shaking his head, Seto resumed distributing the other gifts, trying not to look at the cute little furball in the young girl's arms.

Mary watched her young charges for a little while longer, love sparkling in her eyes. Then she looked up at the roof just in time to see her husband fly by in his trademark sleigh. With a final smile, she whispered, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" before disappearing in a shower of silver, gold, crimson and emerald sparks. The only living thing that noticed her departure was the unusually intelligent white kitten with emerald eyes.

The Kaiba family- once mostly healed- went back to their home a few weeks later. They never saw the mysterious Dr. Mary C. again, but they never forgot the kids at Healing Hands Children's Hospital. Every Christmas Day, a selection of one hundred Christmas songs would come on the speaker system, and none of the staff could find where the signal would come from.

But the kids knew.

The End

I got the 'Mary Christmas/Mrs. Claus' thing from an old 'Peanuts' comic. So blame Mr. Schultz if it sounds too weird. XD

Like I said, I've had this rather plotless story stuck in my head since Christmas 2010. But fluff really isn't supposed to have a plot, now is it?

I couldn't resist putting Hana in there from my other stories. She just wanted to say, "I'm still around." So there. Who knows? Maybe one of the kids needs a little non-human comfort now and then.

Now I can finally focus on that BMG fic I've been itching to write! Hooray! Well, it's just a fluff/angst one-shot, but oh well!

See you then!

God Bless!

Tsunami Storm

Almost forgot. About the 'Empire of Shadows' tournament thingy, I just needed an excuse for Pegasus to annoy Seto a bit. A friend of mine gave me the idea. Did I get his character right? I hope I did. Please say I did!

-Oh no. Now I'm starting to talk like our favorite Froot-Loop! NOOOO!