Disclaimer: We have been over this; I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh

Chapter Ten – Revealing the Past

"She wasn't there Master," a man spoke fearfully, bowing down.

"Where is she?" he demanded angrily. Did Seto Kaiba heed my warning?

"We do not know Master," another voice said. "There was no sign of her anywhere near the apartment."

"I want you to be there when she returns. Don't let her get away." His eyes were filled with fury. I am surprised at Seto Kaiba; he has a soft spot for my daughter. His efforts won't be enough to save her. She has the necklace; I will get it from her and send her where I should have ten years ago. Ah yes, my darling daughter, I never said how long I would allow you to live. Tonight shall be your last.

An evil grin played upon his lips and he turned and looked out over the ocean. Yes, tonight shall be your last.

~*~*~*~*~

Serena took a deep breath; this was not going to be easy. To trust Kaiba was one thing, to trust him with her heart was another, but to trust him with past; it was nearly unthinkable.

"I'm waiting," he said quietly, his voice seeming to grow cold and impatient.

~*~*~*~*~

"Mommy, why do we have to move all the time?" three year old Serena questioned her mother as they packed their few belongings for the fourth time since they had left the safety of the Pegasus mansion and climbed into the car.

"You'll understand when you're older darling," Celeste said, taking a deep breath and leaving behind their small home.

"Why can't we go see Uncle Max?" Serena persisted.

"Darling, we just can't. Uncle Max is a very busy man, you understand that?"

"Yes Mommy." She looked out the window and clutched her small teddy bear. Her uncle had given it to her when she was born, so she was told. It was the only memory she had of him.

"Mommy?" Serena said quietly a few hours later as they continued driving.

"Yes darling?" her mother replied tiredly, her eyes never leaving the road before them.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe," Celeste replied quietly, trying to convince herself it was true.

~*~*~*~*~

"Celeste, it is wonderful to see you." Serena peeked through the door to the tiny kitchen when she overheard a man's voice.

"Jared, what do you want? I thought I told you to leave us alone," Celeste said angrily.

"I want to see my daughter," he said simply, moving the hood from his black cloak so he could see clearer.

"She isn't your daughter anymore Jared. You ran out on me, on us, before she was even born. I've asked you to leave us alone. If you can't do that, I'll have to have the police settle it for me."

Jared's fist flew and slapped Celeste across the face. "You will not speak to me that way. Remember, I own you Celeste," he said cruelly, laughing at the red appearing on her face.

"You do not own me Jared. Leave my house," she screamed at him, rushing for one of the kitchen knives and holding it for her defense.

Jared laughed mockingly. "I'll return Celeste Pegasus. No matter where you are, I will find you."

~*~*~*~*~

"Mommy," Serena started as they were walking towards their new home. After six different homes, Serena had lost count.

"Yes dear?" her mother said, looking for the key.

"Who is that weird man over there?" she asked, pointing towards a man in a black cloak coming near them.

Celeste fumbled with the lock and forced Serena inside. "Hide," she said quickly and closed the door. "What do you want Jared?"

"Celeste, you should know by now," he said, grabbing her arm tightly.

"And you should know by now that you can't have her. She hasn't known you for five years, I intend on her never knowing you."

"My dear Celeste, no wonder I wanted you. You have fire, spunk." He pulled her close to him, a knife sliding into his hands. He pressed it against her neck and whispered in her ear. "Let me inside."

Slowly, Celeste opened the door. She was thrown inside and heard the door slam. Looking up, she saw something in Jared's eyes she had never seen before. She saw pure, evil darkness.

"Now, I'm willing to make a deal with you," he said in a business-like tone as he took a seat on one of the chairs.

Any deal he was willing to make would not be good, but Celeste was desperate. "What kind of deal?" she asked meekly.

"It's like this Celeste. You can satisfy my needs and quit running, or, I can kill you right here in front of your daughter and take her with me. What will it be?"

"I will never be your slave!" she cried out. Jared just laughed and snapped his fingers.

"Then your daughter will pay for you." He laughed as one of his men brought Serena kicking and screaming into the room. "It's your choice; you, or your daughter."

Celeste hung her head. She knew she was defeated.

"I knew you would see it my way. I will return. Oh, and Celeste, don't bother running or telling your brother; you wouldn't want to endanger him or your little girl anymore than they already are."

~*~*~*~*~

Serena took what seemed to be her millionth shaky breath. Reliving the terror of her childhood was hard for her, but so far, she had managed to hold in her tears. Kaiba had been so quiet during her explanation of her past; she seemed to almost forget he was even there.

I used to think my past was the worst, but I never went through the hell she has. Slowly, he pulled Serena closer to him as his arms wrapped around her tight. "It's alright, you're here right now," he whispered in her ear.

"I'm not finished," she said quietly, leaning her head against his chest.

"It's ok…you don't have to finish." For the first time in his life, Kaiba realized something. He had been classifying every person in the same group, a group that was below him. And then, Serena came. She didn't care about his name or his company or his money. She didn't care about his status. She seemed to care about the person inside. She had finally opened his eyes and he was beginning to put his trust in her – another person; something he'd never done before.

"No, Seto, I need to," she whispered, nearly inaudible to his ears. He was certain about one thing she had said though; she had called him 'Seto.'

She pulled away, much to Kaiba's dismay, and began to continue her story.

"For the next year, my mother was a servant for Jared, doing everything he asked of her, all in an effort to save my life. She stopped writing to my uncle because anything she would say to him would be a lie. I will never forget the day Jared killed my mother. My uncle had been doing a search on Jared, but no matter what he found, he could never reach my mother…I think he may have given up altogether. My mom wrote a letter to my uncle, explaining everything to him. He never did get the letter though." Serena paused as fresh tears formed in her eyes. "Jared found it, and that night, he killed my mother. He knew I would be too scared to say anything, and even if I did, no one would believe me. This necklace, it's the last memory I have of my mother. Jared was after it. My mother had kept it hidden from him and on the night she died, she gave it to me. I wear it around my neck as a constant reminder of my mother and her courage." She paused again and looked deep into Kaiba's eyes. "I never did understand why we continued to move from place to place; I never did understand everything that happened in my past and why it happened to me. I never did understand until I turned fourteen and it was as if everything was revealed to me; as if my necklace was showing me the images of my past, images I wanted so badly to forget," she murmured gently.

Kaiba looked at the necklace and realized he had never seen her without it. "It's a millennium item," he mumbled more to himself than to Serena.

"It gives me the power to read minds," she said quietly, believing Kaiba to think her crazy.

"That's how you knew I thought you wanted to overtake my company." The light of understanding was beginning to dawn.

"Yes," she responded quietly, shifting her weight.

That's when Kaiba noticed it; a long scar on the base of Serena's neck which was normally hidden by the necklace. A wave of emotion came over him as the images from his dream flooded back to his memory. "What is that?" he asked coolly, his hand grabbing hers so she couldn't cover it up.

"What is what?" she asked innocently, knowing very well what he had seen.

Don't make the dream come true, just tell me Serena. "The—"

"The scar is from Jared. I received it the night he killed my mother. It's nothing Kaiba."

"Serena, can you trust me?" he began, calming himself.

"The question isn't if I can trust you, the question is, can you trust me?"

~*~*~*~*~

"She's not here Téa," Joey said, looking around the apartment.

"But where could she be? She said she wasn't going anywhere," Téa mused as she flopped down on the couch.

"Maybe this will help," Yugi said, holding a piece of paper up.

"What is it Yug?" Joey asked, grabbing the paper. "A note from Serena!" he answered himself.

"What's it say Joey?" Téa asked, trying to grab it from him.

"Let me read it," Yugi said, taking the note from Joey. "Téa, Kaiba came and said he needed to talk to me."

"She's with him?" Joey said disgusted.

Yugi ignored him and continued reading the note. "I don't know what is going on, but the look in his face tells me it isn't good and I'm in too much of a rush to read his mind. I'll return later tonight, but I don't know if I'll be staying. The only reading I can get from Kaiba's mind is that he feels a need to protect me from an imminent force of danger. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Serena."

"Do you think she's ok Yugi?" Téa asked worriedly.

"I'm sure she's fine Téa," Yugi replied, unable to conceal the worry showing on his face. Yami?

She's fine now Yugi, but I sense danger; life-threatening danger. She's going to need us; now more than ever.