Hey everyone and as usual thanks for all the reviews and great input. I'm also sorry to say that I'm having a really bad day today. First of all tomorrow is the end of my Summer Break. So I had to move back to my dorm. However when I moved back into my dorm and started to umpack I realized that I was missing a cable that allowed me to turn my computer on and I forgot my glasses (I can's see the board and take notes without them).

Sooo I had to drive 2 ½ hours all the way back to my home town to get them and then another 2 ½ hours back to school. Then I realized I forgot the disk which I uploaded this fic onto.

Luckily (or so I thought) I had it saved on my old computer and had transferd all the data onto my new computer. However my old computer was running Windows 98 and my new one runs Windows XP (by the way I did catch that stupid new Microsoft virus! Geez I've only had this CPU for 2 weeks). So I couldn't open up the file with the fic because the formats were differnte.

So I tried to be sneaky and open it in word pad, but the crap came up all screwy, but was still readable. So in order to post in a way you guys could read I have spent the last 2 hours retyping this chapter, which also makes my upadate about 2 hours behind my normal schedule!

Oh well life's hard I guess……Well enough of my ranting, I think all this stress is just a guise for my not wanting to go to school tomorrow. Anyways I hope you guys have had a better day than me and if not, maybe my fic will bring up your spirits!

Disclaimer: My legal consultant (lawyer is such a harsh word) told me that I have no legal right to claim Yugioh or any of it's characters. He also told me that I should stop running over small animals and it's not healthy to have pictures of Yami, Jochan, and Kaiba posted all over my room, but what's he know? Okay so he has a Harvard degree and a doctrine in law, but so what!! I have pictures of Yami, Jochan, and Kaiba all over my room so I've got him beat! Take that Harvard Diploma. ::Throws dueling deck at framed diploma on lawyer's wall, shatters it into a million pieces, and runs away frantically like she didn't do anything:: Gomen! (^_^;)  

Love Kaleidoscope

Chp18 Fire vs. Ice

Seto felt as though his heart had stopped as Anzu's words echoed through him. At this point he wasn't sure whether he was dreaming or just imagined what he heard. Suddenly the world grew very silent as everyone instantly became speechless. Seto, because he was still determining whether he was awake or not, Anzu because she was still trying to figure out whether she had said the words or just heard someone else say them, and Yami because his pulse had suddenly disappeared.  

 Finally the first person to finally come to their senses, or so to say, spoke up. "You can't possibly mean what you said," whispered Seto slowly. "You weren't supposed to say that. You weren't supposed to say that you loved me!" Now Seto's voice had grown substantially louder as he could no longer keep himself under control.

"You were suppose to say that you were only using me, and that you had no real feelings for me, but no, you had to say that you loved me!" Both Anzu and Yami were taken aback as they weren't sure what had come over Kaiba.

"Then after you had told me that, all my problems would have been solved. Then I would have had the right to hate you. Then my feelings of hate would have cancelled out the feeling that I had for you before! Then I would have had the righ to stop loving you!" Anzu gasped aloud as she heard Kiaba's words. After she had told him what she had done to him, she thought for sure that Kiaba hated her and that she would never see him again. That was the main reason why she tried to deny the fact that she loved him when Mai had told her that she did. That way it wouldn't have been so hard for her to live without him in her life anymore, but when she had seen him that night she could no longer lie to herself as she finally confessed her true feelings to him. However, she would have never imagined that Kiaba would still love her back.

Silence once again took over as Seto continued to so sulk to himself and Anzu tried desperately to catch her breath again. "So you love Seto?" replied Yami monotously as he finally cut through the silence. His tone of voice would have been well disguised if not for the look of pain in his eyes.

"Yes….I do…..but I-I love you too," whispered Anzu as she cast her eyes towards the ground and balled up her fist to her sides tightly. "And that's why…….that's why I can't be with either you! I don't deserve to be loved by either of you! I don't deserve to be with either of you because it wouldn't be fair. It wouldn't be fair because I could never totally give my heart to just one of you! That's why I want you both to forget about me….and find someone you deserve. Someone who can love you each completely!" And with that final outburst Anzu took of running leaving a trail of tears behind her.

As Anzu ran away Yami took off after her, however before he could get more than two feet away, he was forcefully yanked by the shoulder and forced to come  face to face with a pair of icy blue eyes. "Let go of me Kaiba. What the hell is you problem!" Barked Yami as he slapped Kaiba's hands off himself and pushed Kaiba away.

"Where do you think you going? I havn't dealt with you yet!" smirked Seto as he ignored Yami's piercing glare.

"I have to talk to Anzu! I don't have times for you!" shouted Yami back frantically.

"You won't be doing anything until you solve your problem between us." Glared Seto.

"What problem? The only problem I see between us is that you standing in my way!" growled Yami as all his tolerance for Kaiba suddenly disappeared.

"Think about it Yami. You'll go stupidly skipping after Anzu and then what? It's pretty obvious that Anzu is confused and can't decide what she wants. That's why we need to settle things between us first and make the choice for her." Yami was suddenly quiet as he contemplated on Kaiba's words carefully. His attention was definitely caught now.

"All though I didn't ask for this I somehow mad the mistake of falling for that girl and now I just decided to give up and come to grips with this harsh reality. So now that I know that Anzu loves me too, I won't let her go, and the way that I see it, the only thing standing in my way is you!" Now Yami was completely on guard as he fully turned to face Kaiba.

"Well I love Anzu too, and there's no way I'm going to give her up either. So I'm sorry to dash your fantasies, but there's no way I'm letting you have her." Threatened Yami as his blood suddenly started to boil.

"You have no right to be with her, you've already lost your chance, besides you don't deserve to love her, not after how many times hurt her! She mine now Yami!" thundered Seto angrily.

"Shut up Kiaba!" growled Yami as his crimson eyes begin to flare with rage. "She's not some kind of thing you can just own, she can make her own decisions!

"I know that! But I don't care! I won't let you hurt her again! I just couldn't live with myself if I did! I can't let her be with you. Not with someone like you who can't even make up his own mind what he wants! Besides you didn't want to be with her until she decided she wanted to be with me first!"

Upon hearing Kaiba's words Yami lowered his gaze toward the ground solemnly. "That's not true at all," he half whispered. "I never wanted to hurt her, but I had to….."

"At first I wasn't sure how I felt about Anzu, and then when I saw you two together I got jealous. It was then after that point my feelings for her became much more stronger, and before I knew it had fallen in love with her."

"Yami are you aware that your only reinforcing my argument?" smirked Seto as he crossed his arms over his chest in an unamused manner.

"And then," continued Yami as he completely ignored Seto's snide remark. ""And then I decided that no matter how much I loved Anzu I could never be worthy enough to be with her, not if my love for her was generated purely out of feelings of jealously. That's why I told myself that I didn't deserve to be with her and that's why I forced myself to hurt her. I lied to myself and to her because thought what I was doing was best for her. I felt that she deserved to be with someone who could love her more honestly and purely." Kaiba begin to drum his fingers against his arms impatiently as he wasn't sure what Yami's point was.

"However," continued Yami as his voice begin to soften. "Now I know I was wrong. My feelings for Anzu hadn't been uprooted purely out of jealously. The real reason why I got so angry and jealous when I saw Anzu with you wasn't because I just didn't want her not to be with you. Now I know the real reason why I got so angry was because………"

Seto unconsciously moved closer towards Ymi as he could barely hear his rival's faint whispers. It was obvious that Yami had as much trouble expressing his feelings as Seto did.

"It was because I finally realized that I had lost her, I had lost something that I didn't realize I had treasured, needed………, loved so much. For so many years I had took for granted the fact that Anzu wouldn't always be there by my side. For so long I deluded myself into believing that she would always be with me loving and caring for me as she always had before, but when I saw you two together I got jealous! It was at that point I realized that I was wrong and that I had quite possibly lost her love forever!"

"At first I thought my feelings only became so strong for her after that point because I was jealous, but now I realize my feelings for her had always been that strong! You see Kaiba I have never been in love with anyone like this before, so I never could quite understand the feelings I had until now! It wasn't until I got a kick in the soul when I saw you two together that I realized just how deeply and truly in love I was for her. The thought of never being with her, never seeing her smile, or hearing her laugh again was almost too much bear!"

"It was then that I realized the true nature of what it means to love someone, and when I realized how much it hurt to do so and how vulnerable it makes you my heart hardened and I begin to lie to myself. I made myself believe that my feelings for her were purely out of jealousy and that I didn't deserve to be with her but now…. Now I can no longer lie to her or myself! Now I know no matter what, the love I feel for Anzu is definitely something worth fighting for and I'll be damned if I give her up to you without a fight."

A faint laugh escaped from Kaiba's lips as he shook his head in remorse. It wasn't until now that Kaiba realized just how similar he and Yami were. They were definitely standing in each other's shoes. Neither one of them really deserved to be with Anzu and yet both had every right to be with her.

Yami wasn't much different than him at all. He had used Anzu too. He had used her feelings of love for him and took for granted the fact that love is something that could never be one-sided. And for why?

Yami had never been in love with a person before so he couldn't understand his own feelings. It was then that Yami realized for the first time in his life, he didn't know everything and the thought of that scared him. That would mean that he would run the risk of getting hurt and also risk finally losing at something! That's why he lied to himself and had hurt Anzu in the process. Sure his overall intentions were good, but underneath it all he was just as deceitful as Kaiba! He had used Anzu believing she would always love him and before he knew it had fallen in love with her too!

'But what about me? I'm not that much better myself.' Contemplated Seto. Seto had also used Anzu. Those were his very intentions from the start! He had never intended to have feelings for her. The only thing Kaiba had wanted from Anzu was to learn how to become a stronger person.. He knew that she was the only one who could teach him. She was the one who had broken through his defenses and seen him for who he truly was!

It was then that Kaib had realized just how strong of a spirit Anzu had compared to his own poor, weak, and abused soul. That's when he had decided that he could feed off her spirit, feed of  her very life in order to make himself stronger. If he could of, he would have taken her very soul away from her and used it for himself.

But then he realized that it could never be that simple and then the more time he spent with her the more captivated with her free spirit, her love for life, her very simplicity he became. It was something he wanted and had to have….something he couldn't get enough of.

And then……..then without even trying, rather then making him a stronger person in the way that he wanted to be, she ripped his very cold soul out of his heart and set free the other Seto within him, the Seto that he had tried so hard to lock away in his heart.  Was that Seto a strong person? He wasn't sure, but one thing he did know as that this was the Seto who had the ability to actually live. The Seto who wasn't afraid of the pain of life and then without knowing it he had fallen love with her too.

So did either one of then deserve to be with Anzu more than the other? No neither one of them deserved to be with her because they had both used her so selfishly and yet both of them deserved to be with her merely for the fact that they both equally loved her!! And in the end isn't loving a person all that matters? It doesn't matter how or why you fall in love with that person just as long you love them. Sure that doesn't make sense, but love isn't something a person can simply rationalize! Maybe that was the true reason why Seto and Yami both had so much trouble understanding it. All their lives they had survived by depending on their wits, and now they were faced with a problem that neither one could ever figure out. Damn! Why did love have to be so illogical?

Both teens suddenly begin to curse under their breath as they begin to think this same thought. Now they both finally realized this fact to be true and there was really nothing they could do. Both also realized that they were in the same painful situation and both would do anything to win Anzu over.

"Well then Yami, do you have any bright ideas?" Muttered Seto sardonically.

"Well I suppose we could fight it out, but would that really solve anything?" Smiled Yami suggestively.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'd break you like a twig!" Scoffed Kaiba aloud as his eyes lit up fiercely.

"Would you," smirked Yami evilly as his Sennen puzzle begin to light up and the trade mark eye of Ra lit up on his forehead.

They stared at each other in a long could silence, eyes flaring at each other threatfully. Yami's crimson eyes burned fiercely as his love for Anzu fueled his burning gaze. Kaiba however was not at all intimidated as his own ice blue eyes froze icicles around Yami's heart. This time his love for Anzu had hardened his heart and mind and there was no way he was backing down either.

Fire and ice were now clashing as their fierce battle suddenly begin to cower in fear as the tress shook restlessly and all nearby wildlife ran to find refuge.

Finally Yami spoke up. "Very well Kaiba, I see that at this point were are at a draw. If we continue our battle like this, we will never get anywhere, however I think I know the best way to solve this problem."

Yami's raging ora finally begin to die down as he reached in his side pocket and pulled out his deck.

"A duel! Exclaimed Kaiba incredulously. "You intend to decide the fate of our love over a duel!" Sure he even Seto had to admit that he had chosen plenty a bad time to challenge Yami, but now was different. Didn't Yami feel his love for Anzu was too important to be decided over a mere duel.

"I know you agree with me yourself in saying that love is something we could never rationalize. I know your thinking I probably lost my mind, but think about it this way……since we can't decided who deserves Anzu the most, we will let fate decided it for us. Seto was still having trouble believing that Yami would do such a thing, but at this point he didn't care. Yami was right. This wasn't a battle neither one of them could win by force.

"Draw your deck Kaiba, and listen to what I have to say." Mesmerized by the questionably calm smirk on Yami's face Kaiba pulled his deck out his own pocket without a further word of protest (Heh-heh where do Yami and Kaiba really keep there decks hidden?)

 "Now here's the game, we will each draw one card from our decks and who ever draws the card with the strongest life points wins. It's that simple."

"How will I know you won't cheat by using your stupid little heart of the cards magic?" Snapped Seto defensively.

"You have a point, that is why I suggest that you draw your card from my deck, and I will draw my card from yours. That way for sure we will know this is a duel of fate and we will only have the betrayal of our own decks to blame.

Seto wasn't sure what to decide. For one thing, Seto knew that the ratio of strong cards was much higher in his deck compared to Yami's but then again if he let Yami draw from his own deck then he would run the risk of losing to Yami's belief in the heart of the cards. This was something Seto had lost to too many times before. "Very well Yami, have it your way. Well play this game by your rules.

"So who shall draw first? Smiled Yami exquisitely

"I will," snapped Seto as he couldn't wait to wipe the smirk off Yami's face. Seto slowly reached his hand towards Yami's deck as he felt himself grow weak.

Yami watched on intently never taking his eyes of smile off of Seto. Slowly Seto drew the card from Yaim's deck. With eyes half shut from anticipation he brought the cart to his face.

"Hmm-" smiled Seto in an equally nerve racking manner as Yami. "It would seem as though your own deck has betrayed you."

"Or should I say your own favorite card." Smirked Seto as he finally revealed the card to Yami.

"The Dark Magician!?!" gasped Yami under his breath. Seto couldn't believe his own luck. Fate must have definitely been on his side. It must have been a sign. Not only did he draw one of Yami's most powerful cards, but he also drew his most favorite and loyal one at that. It was going to take a lot for Yami to beat this.

"I wouldn't smile just yet, this duel isn't over! Although he felt a little betrayed by his Dark Magician, Yami knew that this game wasn't over. Fate was a mysterious and capricious lady who often times worked in ways Yam could never comprehend.

Seto was a little disappointed as he expected to get a better reaction out of Yami However, Yami still had managed to keep the same piecing smirk on his face and was still pretty well composed.

Seto watched with his breath baited as Yami slowly reached into his deck. It felt as though centuries had passed by as Yami slowly brought his fateful card to face.

Yami's eyes widened with excited fear as he still somehow managed to keep his smile firm. "Well then Kaiba…….." whispered Yami as he paused for longer than he needed to. It was enough to drive Seto crazy. Now he knew he should have never let Yami draw last. He should have guessed that Yami would prolong this moment only for the soul purpose of torturing him. Okay maybe he would have done the exact same thing, but that was beside the point. "Damn!" Muttered Seto to himself "He's even more vindictive than me!"

Finally Yami removed his eyes from the mystery card and looked straight into Seto's eyes. His blazing crimson's cut at Seto's soul, as his smile began to fade.  "It would seem as though the card I have drawn is……."

To Be Continued

Muhwahahaha, am I one evil person or what!?! HOHOHOHOHOHO cough-hack, cough. Eh I guess my evil anime laugh gotten a little rusty. Okay now don't you all go trying to kill me all at once here (Dead writers cannot finish ficcies). You know I couldn't resist. I know what, why don't you guy all express your love for my evil cliffhangers in many, many reviews!! (:P)

So guys we now are approaching the near climax of this fic and now there's no turning back. This is your last chance to vote for who should win Anzu. So get those votes in and for any of you who want to change your minds it's not too late.

So which card shall Yami draw? Well I already have two ideas however your votes shall determine which one it will be, so be ready for my next update. Oh and seeing as how I didn't have much of a head start on this one and I gotta wait on your votes, my update might be a little later that usual (Aghh stop glaring at me like that!!!) Ja ne!!

Quote of the Week: "Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do!"