"Okay," The fake Kaiba flung the door open to a dusty cabin. "We're here.
Home sweet home for the next two days."
"Jeez, I really wonder what made you pick such a sweet place." Bakura
said dryly as he set his baggage down.
"Shut up," Kaiba snapped back, dropping his own duffel on the dusty
ground. "When you get your own pay from Mr. Pegasus, you can go live in the
Palace of Divinity for all I care. Right now, we need to make it do with
what we have and deliver the 'package' successfully."
"Yeah, yeah." The soul stealer coughed at the dust that was raised
up. Arielle peeked into the old lodge from behind Kaiba's long legs. She
wrinkled her nose and sneezed.
"Dusty." She said.
"We'll get through it.somehow." Bakura muttered under his breath as
he tried opening one of the windows.
"Kid," Kaiba started smoothly. "Why don't you go and play outside?
Bakura and I have something important to talk about."
"Okay!" Without a protest, she ran out of the cabin. Kaiba smiled
with satisfaction.though it looked more like a smirk.
"Okay, okay," the Albino threw up his hands with exasperation. "Now,
you foolish mortal, stop acting like an idiot and explain to me why we are
going to have a delay. I'm really not that interested in spending an extra
day with that infant."
Kaiba leaned on the doorframe and looked at Bakura calmly. "First of
all," he pointed out. "I'm an immortal, like you. Second, by now, Seto
Kaiba would notice that his precious little sister is gone, don't you think
he would have sent out the S.W.A.T. team or the state troops or even the
military after us already?"
"Yeah, so?" His companion growled, fists by his side, ready to deck
him if he didn't have a good reason.
"So," Kaiba said proudly, though a cruel glint was flashing in his
eyes. "We are going to give that foolish young CEO a chance to retrain
himself or his precious treasure would." he trailed off here, but Bakura
got what he meant. And not to admit for his life or for all the Millennium
Items, he thought it was probably a good idea. He wants to get this done as
quick and as painless as possible, so it might be a good idea to leave out
the Navy.
"Not bad." He shrugged.
"Yeah, I know." Kaiba dug his hand in his pocket, where he took out
an envelope. "Now, all we have to do is to keep that brat from knowing that
I'm not the real Seto Kaiba--"
"You're not Seto?" A voice piped from behind them. They swirled
around and cursed at who they saw. A large-eyed Arielle was looking at
them. The wild flowers in her hands dropped one by one. Without waiting for
an answer, she turned and ran. Bakura cursed.
"Well, what are you waiting for!" He hollered at a stunned Kaiba. "Go
after her! She's ticket to our next meal!"
As if just realizing what had happened, Kaiba ran after the girl and
brought her back five minutes later, screaming and wiggling.
"Let go!" She cried as she sank her teeth into his arm.
"Ow! You little--" Bakura moved aside as Kaiba angrily tossed the
little orphan onto the musty bed. "She bit me!" He exclaimed.
"That's easy to see." Bakura sighed, crossed his arms and tapped his
foot, bored. "Do you know how to handle her at all, you ignorant mortal? Do
I have to handle her on my own?" Kaiba looked up from nursing hand and
glared at Bakura, then he looked over at Arielle. The hatred in his eyes
was so intense that Arielle shivered.
"Oh, I know how to handle her alright."
"Where could she be? Where could she have gone?" Kaiba muttered, filled with more distress than he's ever felt before. "If I was a six-year- old, where would I go?" "The candy shop?" Mokuba suggested hopefully beside his older brother in the limo. "The mall? The pet shop? The.the.the book store?" He was also running out of ideas and getting desperate. "We already checked all of those placed, not to mention a dozen other places." Kaiba sighed as the transportation turned into his driveway. "Look, big brother!" Mokuba exclaimed pointing at something. He shot off the car as soon as it came to a stop. He returned to Kaiba with an envelope in his hand. Kaiba grabbed it and tore it open, hoping it was a ransom note. He would pay anything to get Arielle back. His eyes darted through the paper, then gave an exasperated growl and threw the paper down on the ground. "'If you even think about reporting this to the police or hiring a private investigator, better think again if you ever want to see her again.'" Mokuba picked up the note and read out loud. The words itself was simply written in ink, but the message gave a chilling feeling that chilled Mokuba to the bones. He turned his frightened big eyes to Kaiba. "What are we going to do?" His lips quavered. Kaiba didn't say anything. He finally looked up a moment and grabbed the piece of stationary from his little brother's hand. His eyes lit up with realization. Then he turned to his brother, his eyes filled with determination and defeat at the same time. "Come on, Mokuba." He commanded, opening the limo door once again. "Get in the car." "Where are we going now, big brother?" Mokuba asked as soon as they were both buckled in. "Turtle Game Shop." Was the grim answer. And in his hands, Kaiba clutched on to the simple piece of paper like it was the last shred of hope left in a world of complete despair.
"Hey, Gramps," Joey was drawling in his Brooklyn accent. "What do ya say? Put this card on my tab, too." "I'm sorry, my boy." Grandpa chuckled, looking apologetic and amused at the same time. "You're debt is too filled as it already is." "Then put it on Tristan's debts." "Hey, keep me out of this. What do you think, Téa?" He rubbed his smooth jaw, which was supposedly suppose to have some 'facial hairs' on it. "My beard is well on its way. I already have more than eight whiskers." He looked pleased. "I think." Téa's expression is obviously disgusted, but wasn't willing to hurt her friend's feelings because he seemed so serious. "I think it's, uh, great, Tristan." "But Yami," Yugi was protesting on the other side of the desk. "I thought my Summon Skull was powerful enough! Why do I have to do that?" "Because, Yugi," Yami was patiently explaining. "As soon as your opponent sets down their monster, your monster would immediate turn vulnerable from any kind of--" The group of friends had just returned from school and was discussing casually when the game shop door was flung open dramatically. They all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the two shadows that blocked the sunlight. "Kaiba!" Yugi was the first to recover from his surprise. "What brings you here?" "Yugi." Kaiba nodded, his voice deep and throaty. His blue eyes strayed from the tri-color haired boy, back to the rest of the group. His eyes looked from one to another, until the dark blue pools stopped right on Téa. Tristan noticed this and stepped protectively in front of her. "What do you want, Kaiba?" Joey asked, non-to-kindly. "Yeah, Kaiba," Tristan backed up his best friend. "We don't want any trouble now." Kaiba forced a dry smile and walked into the room, Mokuba following his long strides. "I didn't come here to pick fights, Tristan." He said softly, setting his briefcase down. Tristan was taken back. The snobbish billionaire had never bothered with his name before. In fact, Tristan didn't even know that Kaiba knew his name. "I need your help." The young CEO said those words with difficulty, while his hard eyes never left Téa. Everybody was silent with shock. Kaiba held his head up high. "You said before, that you'd always be there for me." He looked straight into Téa's eyes. "I'm asking for that now." "Well, young Kaiba," Grandpa broke the silence. "Of course, we'd help. Why don't you all come to the back and we'll see what we could do to help." Everyone was still speechless with shock, but they followed the elderly man to the back of the shop. Grandpa wisely put up a pot of water to boil and prepared some hot tea. "Now, Kaiba." Téa started gently. "What happened?" Kaiba looked obviously uncomfortable but he still put up his airs, held his place, and said without trembling, "Arielle's gone." Téa gasped and Joey jumped up, dumfounded. "Whadaya mean, she's gone?!" He demanded, fists curled up by his side. "How could she be gone? I thought she was happy living with you guys. What did you do, Kaiba?" "Don't accuse my brother of anything!" Mokuba also jumped up, defending for his older brother. "He didn't do anything!" "Sit down, Mokuba." Kaiba said quietly. Mokuba looked hopelessly at Kaiba, "But." He protested. "Sit." Mokuba sat. "Now, now, you young people all calm down. We'll repair whatever was done." Grandpa poured everybody a cup of soothing tea, which everyone seized gratefully. "Now, Kaiba, start from the beginning." So Kaiba told them everything that had happened including in the part about his VirtualPod and what he said. He took out the note that Mokuba found and laid it on the table. After everyone had a chance to inspect it, everyone was quiet again, looking grave and sober. "So," Mokuba finally whispered, too scared to break the silence. "What are we going to do now?" "Do you have any idea who kidnapped her, Kaiba?" Yami turned his amethyst eyes toward the teen. "I have good reason to believe Maximillion Pegasus has her." Kaiba stated flatly. "That slimy sleaze ball is still alive?" Joey whispered to Tristan. "I thought we were rid of him for sure." "What are you basing it on?" Tristan asked, his eyes thoughtful and serious. "Well, if you guys had taken a closer look at the word imprinted on the stationary the message was written on, that could be where it was based." Téa leaned forward. "'Industrial Illusions.'" She read. "But, Kaiba," She argued. "You can't base something this serious on a piece of stationary. This person could have gotten it from anywhere." "It could be our first lead, anyhow." Yami pointed out. "But why? What could Pegasus possibly found useful in a six-year-old orphan?" "There is something about her that you guys never knew." Everybody turned toward Kaiba's low tone of voice. "About her past. Nobody knew, not even Mokuba. I was the only one she told it to." He took a deep breath and began. "Arielle's former last name was Winthrop. Her late parents were Geoffrey and Victoria Winthrop. They were the founders of Industrial Illusions, before it became famous." A few gasps could be heard from different parts of the room. He waited a moment, then continued, "Pegasus was their partner and his greed led to their murder. But he had failed to eliminate their young daughter. Arielle was dropped off in front of the orphanage for safety, while her parents were on the run. They were planning on taking her back as soon as the whole ordeal was over, but they never got the chance. Pegasus never knew where Arielle was but had never stopped looking for her these past two years. Now, he's found her." At this point, Kaiba's voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "So, Pegasus wants Arielle because he wanted to." Yugi shivered. ".kill her? Or maybe to use her as figurehead?" "He doesn't need her for figurehead anymore, but there was also another reason," Kaiba's voice was lowered again. "Pegasus was Arielle's godfather." "He's WHAT?!" The sandy blonde jumped up again. "Ya mean that white haired freak was actually related to Arielle? Ya've gotta be kidding me!" "I'm getting a headache!" Tristan moaned, holding his head. "This is weird," Téa shook her head and said to Yugi. "And bad. This is very bad." Only Yami remained quiet. "Well," he finally said. "It's too late to do anything now, the sun would be going down soon. If we're to do anything, it'd have to be tomorrow." "We'll come up by something tomorrow." Grandpa nodded in agreement. "Right now, I think it's time all of you get going home. Tomorrow is going to be a long day and all of you will be needing a fitful rest." Kaiba almost snorted, like he could sleep in this condition. But he didn't. For Grandpa had placed a hand on Kaiba's shoulders, giving him assurance and hope to go on. It was just a small thing, yet sometimes, just a little is all a body needs to pull himself back together. "Come on, Téa, I'll take you home." Kaiba motioned the girl. "Thanks, Kaiba." She nodded. Neither of them said a word as the limo stopped in front of Téa's house. "Would you like to come in?" Kaiba turned to face her, "Is your parents home?" She shook her head.
"No, they're not going to be home until after midnight today." Kaiba frowned. Somehow, his protective instinct surfaced and he doesn't like the idea of just leaving her in an empty house. He found himself asking. "Then would you like to come to my house until then?" Téa looked surprised as she opened her mouth, looking like she was ready to decline the offer. Then, as if she changed her mind, she answered cheerfully. "Sure, if you don't mind." "I offered, didn't I?" They were once again silent, and they stayed that way, even Mokuba, until dinner was over. Mokuba retired to his room, getting ready for bed, as Kaiba and Téa retreated to the two-person swing in the back of the mansion. "So," Téa began. "What do you think we should do tomorrow?" Without asking, Kaiba knew Téa meant about Arielle. He set his jaws. "I don't know." He answered. "Get to Duelist Kingdom, somehow. That's the first thing we can do." "What if Arielle isn't at Duelist Kingdom? What do you think we should do then?" "Find the goons that had taken Arielle." Was his hard answer. "Do you think we can? With the little information we have?" Kaiba stood, causing the swing to shimmy. He walked to the marble stone railing and gripped it. "I am not going to loose her." The vehemence in his voice almost took Téa's breath away. "I almost lost Arielle once, I'm not going to loose her ever again." "I'm-I'm sorry, Kaiba." Téa stammered. "My parents died and left me. I remembered how terrible that period of time was. We--Mokuba and I--hurt so much, so bad, and no one could help us. No one wanted to help us. We were alone. Nobody understands or even cares. Not the orphanage people, not the kids, not the counselors, and definitely not my foster father. No one. Then I almost lost Mokuba when Pegasus took his soul. I'm never going to loose Arielle in Pegasus's grasp!" "You've never told me those before." Téa watched Kaiba's shoulders quivering in the evening sunlight. She felt panicked suddenly, because she'd never once seen Seto Kaiba break down like this. "You should have said something." "Why? What difference would it have made?" Kaiba thought of all the times he was alone in this world when he was young, wishing someone care and understand and love him. Wish somebody would stand by his side and be his friend. "We would have helped, Kaiba. We would have been with you. We would have understood." "Nobody could have helped." Kaiba's voice was hard and unforgiving. "They are only dreams. Foolish dreams that would never come true." "You're wrong, Kaiba!" Téa's sharp voice made Kaiba turn away from the sunlight. "There is good in this world!" Her defiant figure was filled with determination. "Not everything is bad. There are a lot of good things on this earth, you only have to accept them! And dreams! Dreams are never dumb. They are our fears and our deepest wishes. They tell us about ourselves." Kaiba, not agreeing nor denying, was in no mood to argue. He only said tiredly, "I think I'll take you home now." But her words were impressed in his mind as he came back home and checked on Mokuba. Kaiba wondered if he was afraid. Or was he longing for peace and serenity such as he'd felt in the dream? After seeing that the younger boy was okay, he went into his study. His refuge. His sanctuary. Kaiba sat down in his leather couch and closed his eyes, thinking. He thought back to what the pastor had said. His very words echoing in his mind, haunting him. "Love is a combination trust, loyalty, and faith. The belief in love itself." "Love is not limited by time or space or age. It is the highest expression of human emotion. When it's given purely, without expectation or return, and accepted freely, without parameters and conditions, it is a gift unto itself." "For all, the discovery that true love transcends the self and makes a person the better for having touched it." "Time. Time doesn't stop love, but it does limit the power if you didn't recognize love in time to respond to it. Not only yourself would be hurt, but the other person also. Remember, you don't know what's in store for tomorrow. There could be the possibility of never knowing the was love between both of you, and worse, if you don't show it, the love.the power itself, would be wasted and vanish." "There is good in the world, Kaiba!" Tea's voice cried out to him. "You only have to accept them!" "He who wants to experience love with amazing, life-changing depth, must have the responsibility of recognizing and opening himself, allowing the love to enter. The very first step is to admit the love and allow the love to do its job." "Each person must learn that nothing can break love's bond, not even the face of death, and that this is one treasure that makes life beautiful." I love her. Kaiba's eyes popped open. Shock and surprise ascending onto him. I love Arielle. All of a sudden, Kaiba felt free. He felt free from his cage. Free to be himself. Free and ready for anything that's about to happen. For he had just admitted to himself that he loved Arielle, his first step to opening himself. He was ready to trust, ready to love.ready to led a normal life. For he's learned that you often don't get to choose who you love. Love happens when you're not even looking for it. It was that way for him when he met Arielle. Though he's never admitted it, Kaiba looked back and found that he had always loved Arielle. Ever since that day when he first saw her in the courtyard of the orphanage, so helpless against the big bullies. Kaiba learned then that he loved her as just as he loved Mokuba. Maybe in someway, even a little more. He was just too stubborn and scared to admit it. Oh, Arielle, he thought silently, burying his face in his hands. What have I done? What have my doubts and suspicion lead you to? Will I ever get the chance to show you how I really feel about you? What have I done? What have I done? Within the silence of the room, Kaiba lifted his head from his palm as he heard the vibration of soft footpads walking on the carpet. He turned. Peeking around his door was Sugarcookie. They eyed each other for a moment, then Kaiba broke the ice. He and Sugarcookie had never really gotten along, but he sensed now that they have one thing in common. "So you miss her too, huh?" He said quietly as he read the cognition from the feline's eyes. Sugarcookie didn't spring away like she usually would. Instead, she actually took another step gracefully into the room. "I never knew I needed her so much." Kaiba admitted, his voice cracking. He turned back to the work as he cleared his throat. He doesn't know why it bothered him so much that the cat was watching him make a weakling out of himself. In fact, he doesn't know what inspired him to talk to the cat in the beginning. To him, this cat was a connection to Arielle. When the cat was near, Kaiba felt like Arielle was just as near. As he pondered over everything, he suddenly felt soft, velvety paw pads placing themselves on his chest. He looked down and saw Sugarcookie daintily sitting in his lap with her two tender front paws up against his chest. As if knowing he was feeling disheartened, she purred and rubbed against his trenchcoat. Kaiba laid a hand gently down on Sugarcookie's lustrous snowy hair and patted her. Together they sat in the fading warmth of the sunlight, watching shadows lengthen across the landscape. A breeze broke a few fading leaves from the treetops, and they spiraled downward, hitting the patio like teardrops. And there they stayed, two creatures bonded together from the invisible presence and their love for little girl.
"Where could she be? Where could she have gone?" Kaiba muttered, filled with more distress than he's ever felt before. "If I was a six-year- old, where would I go?" "The candy shop?" Mokuba suggested hopefully beside his older brother in the limo. "The mall? The pet shop? The.the.the book store?" He was also running out of ideas and getting desperate. "We already checked all of those placed, not to mention a dozen other places." Kaiba sighed as the transportation turned into his driveway. "Look, big brother!" Mokuba exclaimed pointing at something. He shot off the car as soon as it came to a stop. He returned to Kaiba with an envelope in his hand. Kaiba grabbed it and tore it open, hoping it was a ransom note. He would pay anything to get Arielle back. His eyes darted through the paper, then gave an exasperated growl and threw the paper down on the ground. "'If you even think about reporting this to the police or hiring a private investigator, better think again if you ever want to see her again.'" Mokuba picked up the note and read out loud. The words itself was simply written in ink, but the message gave a chilling feeling that chilled Mokuba to the bones. He turned his frightened big eyes to Kaiba. "What are we going to do?" His lips quavered. Kaiba didn't say anything. He finally looked up a moment and grabbed the piece of stationary from his little brother's hand. His eyes lit up with realization. Then he turned to his brother, his eyes filled with determination and defeat at the same time. "Come on, Mokuba." He commanded, opening the limo door once again. "Get in the car." "Where are we going now, big brother?" Mokuba asked as soon as they were both buckled in. "Turtle Game Shop." Was the grim answer. And in his hands, Kaiba clutched on to the simple piece of paper like it was the last shred of hope left in a world of complete despair.
"Hey, Gramps," Joey was drawling in his Brooklyn accent. "What do ya say? Put this card on my tab, too." "I'm sorry, my boy." Grandpa chuckled, looking apologetic and amused at the same time. "You're debt is too filled as it already is." "Then put it on Tristan's debts." "Hey, keep me out of this. What do you think, Téa?" He rubbed his smooth jaw, which was supposedly suppose to have some 'facial hairs' on it. "My beard is well on its way. I already have more than eight whiskers." He looked pleased. "I think." Téa's expression is obviously disgusted, but wasn't willing to hurt her friend's feelings because he seemed so serious. "I think it's, uh, great, Tristan." "But Yami," Yugi was protesting on the other side of the desk. "I thought my Summon Skull was powerful enough! Why do I have to do that?" "Because, Yugi," Yami was patiently explaining. "As soon as your opponent sets down their monster, your monster would immediate turn vulnerable from any kind of--" The group of friends had just returned from school and was discussing casually when the game shop door was flung open dramatically. They all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the two shadows that blocked the sunlight. "Kaiba!" Yugi was the first to recover from his surprise. "What brings you here?" "Yugi." Kaiba nodded, his voice deep and throaty. His blue eyes strayed from the tri-color haired boy, back to the rest of the group. His eyes looked from one to another, until the dark blue pools stopped right on Téa. Tristan noticed this and stepped protectively in front of her. "What do you want, Kaiba?" Joey asked, non-to-kindly. "Yeah, Kaiba," Tristan backed up his best friend. "We don't want any trouble now." Kaiba forced a dry smile and walked into the room, Mokuba following his long strides. "I didn't come here to pick fights, Tristan." He said softly, setting his briefcase down. Tristan was taken back. The snobbish billionaire had never bothered with his name before. In fact, Tristan didn't even know that Kaiba knew his name. "I need your help." The young CEO said those words with difficulty, while his hard eyes never left Téa. Everybody was silent with shock. Kaiba held his head up high. "You said before, that you'd always be there for me." He looked straight into Téa's eyes. "I'm asking for that now." "Well, young Kaiba," Grandpa broke the silence. "Of course, we'd help. Why don't you all come to the back and we'll see what we could do to help." Everyone was still speechless with shock, but they followed the elderly man to the back of the shop. Grandpa wisely put up a pot of water to boil and prepared some hot tea. "Now, Kaiba." Téa started gently. "What happened?" Kaiba looked obviously uncomfortable but he still put up his airs, held his place, and said without trembling, "Arielle's gone." Téa gasped and Joey jumped up, dumfounded. "Whadaya mean, she's gone?!" He demanded, fists curled up by his side. "How could she be gone? I thought she was happy living with you guys. What did you do, Kaiba?" "Don't accuse my brother of anything!" Mokuba also jumped up, defending for his older brother. "He didn't do anything!" "Sit down, Mokuba." Kaiba said quietly. Mokuba looked hopelessly at Kaiba, "But." He protested. "Sit." Mokuba sat. "Now, now, you young people all calm down. We'll repair whatever was done." Grandpa poured everybody a cup of soothing tea, which everyone seized gratefully. "Now, Kaiba, start from the beginning." So Kaiba told them everything that had happened including in the part about his VirtualPod and what he said. He took out the note that Mokuba found and laid it on the table. After everyone had a chance to inspect it, everyone was quiet again, looking grave and sober. "So," Mokuba finally whispered, too scared to break the silence. "What are we going to do now?" "Do you have any idea who kidnapped her, Kaiba?" Yami turned his amethyst eyes toward the teen. "I have good reason to believe Maximillion Pegasus has her." Kaiba stated flatly. "That slimy sleaze ball is still alive?" Joey whispered to Tristan. "I thought we were rid of him for sure." "What are you basing it on?" Tristan asked, his eyes thoughtful and serious. "Well, if you guys had taken a closer look at the word imprinted on the stationary the message was written on, that could be where it was based." Téa leaned forward. "'Industrial Illusions.'" She read. "But, Kaiba," She argued. "You can't base something this serious on a piece of stationary. This person could have gotten it from anywhere." "It could be our first lead, anyhow." Yami pointed out. "But why? What could Pegasus possibly found useful in a six-year-old orphan?" "There is something about her that you guys never knew." Everybody turned toward Kaiba's low tone of voice. "About her past. Nobody knew, not even Mokuba. I was the only one she told it to." He took a deep breath and began. "Arielle's former last name was Winthrop. Her late parents were Geoffrey and Victoria Winthrop. They were the founders of Industrial Illusions, before it became famous." A few gasps could be heard from different parts of the room. He waited a moment, then continued, "Pegasus was their partner and his greed led to their murder. But he had failed to eliminate their young daughter. Arielle was dropped off in front of the orphanage for safety, while her parents were on the run. They were planning on taking her back as soon as the whole ordeal was over, but they never got the chance. Pegasus never knew where Arielle was but had never stopped looking for her these past two years. Now, he's found her." At this point, Kaiba's voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "So, Pegasus wants Arielle because he wanted to." Yugi shivered. ".kill her? Or maybe to use her as figurehead?" "He doesn't need her for figurehead anymore, but there was also another reason," Kaiba's voice was lowered again. "Pegasus was Arielle's godfather." "He's WHAT?!" The sandy blonde jumped up again. "Ya mean that white haired freak was actually related to Arielle? Ya've gotta be kidding me!" "I'm getting a headache!" Tristan moaned, holding his head. "This is weird," Téa shook her head and said to Yugi. "And bad. This is very bad." Only Yami remained quiet. "Well," he finally said. "It's too late to do anything now, the sun would be going down soon. If we're to do anything, it'd have to be tomorrow." "We'll come up by something tomorrow." Grandpa nodded in agreement. "Right now, I think it's time all of you get going home. Tomorrow is going to be a long day and all of you will be needing a fitful rest." Kaiba almost snorted, like he could sleep in this condition. But he didn't. For Grandpa had placed a hand on Kaiba's shoulders, giving him assurance and hope to go on. It was just a small thing, yet sometimes, just a little is all a body needs to pull himself back together. "Come on, Téa, I'll take you home." Kaiba motioned the girl. "Thanks, Kaiba." She nodded. Neither of them said a word as the limo stopped in front of Téa's house. "Would you like to come in?" Kaiba turned to face her, "Is your parents home?" She shook her head.
"No, they're not going to be home until after midnight today." Kaiba frowned. Somehow, his protective instinct surfaced and he doesn't like the idea of just leaving her in an empty house. He found himself asking. "Then would you like to come to my house until then?" Téa looked surprised as she opened her mouth, looking like she was ready to decline the offer. Then, as if she changed her mind, she answered cheerfully. "Sure, if you don't mind." "I offered, didn't I?" They were once again silent, and they stayed that way, even Mokuba, until dinner was over. Mokuba retired to his room, getting ready for bed, as Kaiba and Téa retreated to the two-person swing in the back of the mansion. "So," Téa began. "What do you think we should do tomorrow?" Without asking, Kaiba knew Téa meant about Arielle. He set his jaws. "I don't know." He answered. "Get to Duelist Kingdom, somehow. That's the first thing we can do." "What if Arielle isn't at Duelist Kingdom? What do you think we should do then?" "Find the goons that had taken Arielle." Was his hard answer. "Do you think we can? With the little information we have?" Kaiba stood, causing the swing to shimmy. He walked to the marble stone railing and gripped it. "I am not going to loose her." The vehemence in his voice almost took Téa's breath away. "I almost lost Arielle once, I'm not going to loose her ever again." "I'm-I'm sorry, Kaiba." Téa stammered. "My parents died and left me. I remembered how terrible that period of time was. We--Mokuba and I--hurt so much, so bad, and no one could help us. No one wanted to help us. We were alone. Nobody understands or even cares. Not the orphanage people, not the kids, not the counselors, and definitely not my foster father. No one. Then I almost lost Mokuba when Pegasus took his soul. I'm never going to loose Arielle in Pegasus's grasp!" "You've never told me those before." Téa watched Kaiba's shoulders quivering in the evening sunlight. She felt panicked suddenly, because she'd never once seen Seto Kaiba break down like this. "You should have said something." "Why? What difference would it have made?" Kaiba thought of all the times he was alone in this world when he was young, wishing someone care and understand and love him. Wish somebody would stand by his side and be his friend. "We would have helped, Kaiba. We would have been with you. We would have understood." "Nobody could have helped." Kaiba's voice was hard and unforgiving. "They are only dreams. Foolish dreams that would never come true." "You're wrong, Kaiba!" Téa's sharp voice made Kaiba turn away from the sunlight. "There is good in this world!" Her defiant figure was filled with determination. "Not everything is bad. There are a lot of good things on this earth, you only have to accept them! And dreams! Dreams are never dumb. They are our fears and our deepest wishes. They tell us about ourselves." Kaiba, not agreeing nor denying, was in no mood to argue. He only said tiredly, "I think I'll take you home now." But her words were impressed in his mind as he came back home and checked on Mokuba. Kaiba wondered if he was afraid. Or was he longing for peace and serenity such as he'd felt in the dream? After seeing that the younger boy was okay, he went into his study. His refuge. His sanctuary. Kaiba sat down in his leather couch and closed his eyes, thinking. He thought back to what the pastor had said. His very words echoing in his mind, haunting him. "Love is a combination trust, loyalty, and faith. The belief in love itself." "Love is not limited by time or space or age. It is the highest expression of human emotion. When it's given purely, without expectation or return, and accepted freely, without parameters and conditions, it is a gift unto itself." "For all, the discovery that true love transcends the self and makes a person the better for having touched it." "Time. Time doesn't stop love, but it does limit the power if you didn't recognize love in time to respond to it. Not only yourself would be hurt, but the other person also. Remember, you don't know what's in store for tomorrow. There could be the possibility of never knowing the was love between both of you, and worse, if you don't show it, the love.the power itself, would be wasted and vanish." "There is good in the world, Kaiba!" Tea's voice cried out to him. "You only have to accept them!" "He who wants to experience love with amazing, life-changing depth, must have the responsibility of recognizing and opening himself, allowing the love to enter. The very first step is to admit the love and allow the love to do its job." "Each person must learn that nothing can break love's bond, not even the face of death, and that this is one treasure that makes life beautiful." I love her. Kaiba's eyes popped open. Shock and surprise ascending onto him. I love Arielle. All of a sudden, Kaiba felt free. He felt free from his cage. Free to be himself. Free and ready for anything that's about to happen. For he had just admitted to himself that he loved Arielle, his first step to opening himself. He was ready to trust, ready to love.ready to led a normal life. For he's learned that you often don't get to choose who you love. Love happens when you're not even looking for it. It was that way for him when he met Arielle. Though he's never admitted it, Kaiba looked back and found that he had always loved Arielle. Ever since that day when he first saw her in the courtyard of the orphanage, so helpless against the big bullies. Kaiba learned then that he loved her as just as he loved Mokuba. Maybe in someway, even a little more. He was just too stubborn and scared to admit it. Oh, Arielle, he thought silently, burying his face in his hands. What have I done? What have my doubts and suspicion lead you to? Will I ever get the chance to show you how I really feel about you? What have I done? What have I done? Within the silence of the room, Kaiba lifted his head from his palm as he heard the vibration of soft footpads walking on the carpet. He turned. Peeking around his door was Sugarcookie. They eyed each other for a moment, then Kaiba broke the ice. He and Sugarcookie had never really gotten along, but he sensed now that they have one thing in common. "So you miss her too, huh?" He said quietly as he read the cognition from the feline's eyes. Sugarcookie didn't spring away like she usually would. Instead, she actually took another step gracefully into the room. "I never knew I needed her so much." Kaiba admitted, his voice cracking. He turned back to the work as he cleared his throat. He doesn't know why it bothered him so much that the cat was watching him make a weakling out of himself. In fact, he doesn't know what inspired him to talk to the cat in the beginning. To him, this cat was a connection to Arielle. When the cat was near, Kaiba felt like Arielle was just as near. As he pondered over everything, he suddenly felt soft, velvety paw pads placing themselves on his chest. He looked down and saw Sugarcookie daintily sitting in his lap with her two tender front paws up against his chest. As if knowing he was feeling disheartened, she purred and rubbed against his trenchcoat. Kaiba laid a hand gently down on Sugarcookie's lustrous snowy hair and patted her. Together they sat in the fading warmth of the sunlight, watching shadows lengthen across the landscape. A breeze broke a few fading leaves from the treetops, and they spiraled downward, hitting the patio like teardrops. And there they stayed, two creatures bonded together from the invisible presence and their love for little girl.