Please read and review. It's incredibly encouraging to hear how you feel about the story and the characters, where it's going and what can be improved. I tend to rewrite obsessively, and this really encourages me to just save and post.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the only chapter told from the third person point of view, instead of being narrated by one of the characters. I wanted to give the sense that Kaiba, Yami and Mokuba are all witnessing Seto's memory/nightmare, which Yami has brought to the surface.

Additional Author's Notes and Responses to Reviews are at the end of the chapter.

CHAPTER 12: GOZABURO'S OFFICE

THIRD PERSON POV

Yami stared at Kaiba's office. "No, not Kaiba's. Gozaburo's." he thought.

Gozaburo and an almost nine-year old Mokuba were the only ones in it, in this past world. Mokuba looked nervous, but not frightened. Then the door opened and a younger Kaiba walked in.

"Gozaburo-sama" he said coldly, his tone robbing the honorific of all respect. He did not glance at his brother, did not ask any questions.

"I called you here, because I wanted to settle a question. What do you feel for your brother?"

"A pointless question. You've expended a great deal of time and effort to insure that I feel nothing at all. Are you worried about the results of your handiwork at this late date?"

"Yes, but the ties of flesh and blood are strong. I don't know if I could have done to Noa, what I did to you. So I wish to test a theory." Suddenly he grabbed Mokuba's arm. He slowly, deliberately, pulled out a lighter, and held the flames so that they heated, but did not quite burn the soft skin. He was careful to create no lingering scar, as he watched Kaiba, with Mokuba's screams ringing in their ears.

The older brother smiled. "Do you expect me to react because he's my flesh and blood? You should know your creation better." Languidly, he came over to Gozaburo and held his hand out for the lighter. Wordlessly, Gozaburo dropped it in his outstretched hand.

"Let me show you how I feel about my flesh and blood," he said. He unbuttoned his left sleeve, carefully rolled it above the elbow. He smiled as he adjusted the setting on the lighter and watched the flame shoot up. Still smiling coldly he thrust his arm into the fire.

Eerily calm, though the sweat was trickling down his forehead, he started talking about baseball, clearly continuing a past argument over whether Kaiba Corporation should sponsor a team, as the smell of burning flesh filled the room. Smirking, as if he noticed Gozaburo's angry face for the first time, he finally flicked the lighter shut, tossed it to his adoptive father and said, "Sorry. I forgot. You don't like games, do you?" As he opened the door to leave, he said to the security officers waiting outside, "Take the weakling away and bandage him." He had not looked at his brother once.

As the memory faded, they could hear Gozaburo saying, "It seems that you are indeed ready for our final challenge."

Kaiba lay starring at the ceiling with unseeing eyes, as rigid as after the Death-T Tournament. It was Mokuba who answered Yami's unspoken question, shrugging as he said, "I'm not sure what he was talking about. A year later Nisama was in charge of Kaiba Corporation and our adoptive father was dead."

"I didn't kill him," Kaiba said tonelessly. "He jumped." It wasn't clear if he was talking to Mokuba, Yami, or even himself. He refused to look at either of them, and turned to face the wall, closing them out.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've always felt there was an element of gamesmanship to the relationship between Seto and Gozaburo. After all, it began with a chess game, and ended with Gozaburo's suicide following Seto's successful challenge for control of Kaiba Corporation. I think the idea that some of the abuse in this relationship took the form of games and challenges, fits in with Seto's later inability to play games for fun. In the manga, Gozaburo says something like 'defeat means death' and Seto answers that he will remember his teachings. Anyway, I hope you liked this glimpse into the past.

RESPONSE TO REVIEWS FOR THE LAST POSTING:

Kagemihari – Your review had a cliffhanger of its own – I'm curious – where did you think it was going? Mokuba: Thank you – you are the first person to mention his narrative. I love him, and love writing in his voice. He'll be back for another narrative a little later.

Blue September – Relationship: I see the sexual relationship as flowing out of the emotional one. Hopefully, I can create the sense that both aspects are developing together, and are to a certain extent, inseparable. I'm trying, anyway.

Crimson Winter, Tainted Fortune, Tammi 1, Unsolvable Riddle – Characters, Inner Dialog: Thanks, I'm trying very hard to stay in character. Having the characters narrate makes a big difference, because it helps me focus on what they would actually say and do. Of course it means I have to try and give each one a distinctive voice. Occasionally, I have had the characters say or think something, and later come across a translated manga where they say something similar to what I imagined – which is such a kick!

Animebay-b, KatarznakYue, Lone Wolf 55, mrsbinx1013 – Updates: The upcoming middle chapters, will be longer. They are trickier to write, because I'm trying to show the different facets of their developing relationship, while still maintaining a sense of flow and movement. It's like I know what I want to say at the beginning and end – it's getting there that's difficult. I'm trying to update at least once a week, because I hate waiting for updates when I'm following a story. Also, I love getting reviews, and the only way to get them is to update. So thanks for your continued encouragement.

Red Dragon 4, Spirit Star -- Cliffhangers: It was fun finally writing one. Actually I think the entire story will only have one more. My thoughts just seem to fall into natural chapter breaks.

Angel Yami-ko – Age, again: I just keep messing up on the age question. I know in the manga, Yami is younger than Seto, but I just can't picture him as a 13 year old – not to mention Seto could land in jail! (And I can't picture him sleeping with someone who's only a little older than Mokuba, anyway.) So Yami's older in my story. I really think of Yami as having the sane age as a Tolkien elf – the way Sam describes them, "They are quite different from what I expected – so young and old, and so gay and sad…" Well, thanks for giving me the chance to quote from LOTR!