"...ight's green!"
The smoke slowly receded, my thoughts became clearer. Wait...smoke? What smoke? There's no...Okay, what's going on here?
I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was my hands on a steering wheel. Huh...I must've passed out. Who put me in my car? Wasn't I...?
"Seto! Didn't you hear me? The light's green! You gotta go!"
I glanced up, saw a traffic light. Indeed, it was green.
Wait...never mind what I'm doing in my car, why is Serenity...?
I turned to look over my shoulder. Serenity...
...wasn't Serenity.
Serenity was Mokuba.
I looked at him for a moment, then turned away. I knew this would follow me forever, but...not like this...
Somebody behind me honked his horn. "Let's go, man! Some of us gotta get to work!" a man screamed at me.
"Alright, alright, damn it," I muttered under my breath, and started driving again. I pulled over at the side of the road and parked, leaning back and rubbing my temples. This...this was too much...
"Seto? Are you alright?"
I slowly turned my head again, looked at my brother...
No...No way...Nightmares or a bunch of songs, that's one thing. But Mokuba talking to me is another.
Frowning, I asked "What...what happened?"
Mokuba frowned as well, concern evident in his eyes. "You fell asleep at the wheel, Seto. Are you okay?"
Fell asleep at the wheel...I fell asleep.
It all began to fade. I couldn't remember any of it, not clearly.
My entire body began to tingle.
It wasn't real...none of it had been real.
I looked around me. Everything I saw and heard had a clarity in it that hadn't been there before. This was real. I wasn't sleeping now.
This was real.
I wasn't sleeping. I wasn't dreaming.
Mokuba was alive...it never happened. It never happened!
A wide grin spread on my face as reality sunk in. I had to fight the urge to laugh out loud. It never happened!
"Seto? What is it? What's so funny?" Mokuba asked.
Mokuba...my Mokuba...
"Uh...nothing, Mokuba. Nothing."
In the rearview mirror, I saw Mokuba roll his eyes. "Okay, big brother...if you say so..." He leaned back in his seat and looked out the window. "Are you gonna go, Seto? School starts in ten minutes."
I nodded, pulled back onto the street and began driving toward Mokuba's school. Several times I had to choke down laughter. I couldn't believe it...Mokuba was alive. Looking into the mirror again, I saw him. Yes, there he was. Alive.
"Oh!" Mokuba said after a while. "Yeah, I wanted to ask you something, Seto. See, I know you got that meeting to go to today...so, I was wondering if maybe I could go to my friend's house after school. She lives real close, I could walk there."
Cold, sharp fear such as I had never felt gripped me as I slammed on the brakes. Someone behind me honked his horn, but I didn't hear him. I shook my head. No...No...
"Seto?" The concern was back. "Seto, what is it? Are you sure you're okay?"
I wasn't going to answer, until I came to a sudden realization...
...I could change this. I could change everything. I could fix everything. Inwardly, I smiled. Things would be different now. You'll see, Mokuba. I'll be the brother you deserve.
As I started driving again, I looked at his reflection in the mirror, feigning concern. "Well," I said, "I'm fine, but...you look a little red...Mokuba, do you have a fever? Are you sick?"
"Huh?" he asked, confused.
I reached back and felt his forehead. Of course, his temperature was perfectly normal, but I gasped and frowned. "Mokuba! You're burning up! Oh, no, no, this won't do...No, I can't have you going to school in this condition!"
"Seto, what—"
"No, no, I'll have no backtalk from you, mister!" I snapped. "You're not going to school, and that's final!"
"Seto, I'm not..." he stopped. "Well..." he said, his voice a little weaker. "Now that you mention it...my forehead does feel kind of warm..."
"I knew it!" I declared, throwing my hands up. "That's the first sign."
"And...and my tummy hurts..." he put a hand on his stomach.
"There's another sign! Fever, stomach ache...and I'll bet you don't feel like doing schoolwork, do you?"
"Oh, oh, no," Mokuba said in mock seriousness, shaking his head vehemently. "That makes me sicker just thinking about it."
I heaved a sigh. "I knew it...I was afraid of this, but now there's no denying it...This...this is so serious, this is so bad...they don't have a name for it."
"Whoa," Mokuba's eyes widened. "Whoa."
"But," I said triumphantly, holding up a finger. "There is a cure."
Mokuba gasped. "What is it?"
"We have to get you at least...one gallon...of ice cream."
Mokuba raised an eyebrow. "Ice cream? What's that gonna do?"
"Why, cool you down, of course. We have to get rid of the fever!"
"Oh..." Mokuba said, as if he understood.
"And...next...the second most crucial part of recovery...cake."
Mokuba stared at me. "Seto..." he said. "Come on, now. Ice cream, okay. But...cake?"
"Yes," I said, nodding. "This virus hates sugar. And, as we both know, cake is loaded with sugar."
"Sugar?" Mokuba repeated.
"Yes. You need to have so much sugar—"I slammed my fist down...
...on the horn.
The sudden noise caused both of us to jump.
We both began to laugh.
When we both had control of ourselves again, I cleared my throat and feigned seriousness. "Now," I said, "don't think that this virus will be easy to beat. Cake and ice cream are the easy parts. The third step to your recovery is excessive strenuous activity."
Mokuba looked at me oddly. "Huh?"
"You have to play in the park for at least five hours," I said.
Mokuba smiled.
I pulled out my cell phone and punched in a number. "Hello? This is Seto Kaiba. I'm calling in for Mokuba; he won't be able to come in today, he's ill. Okay. Thank you."
I hung up, called another number. "I'm not coming in to work today," I said. "Don't do anything stupid."
I put my phone back into my pocket.
"Seto?"
I glanced up into the rearview mirror again. "Yes?"
"Um...I know I'm s'posed to play in the park, 'cuz of my sickness and all, but...do you think we could just...do something together today? Play a game or something at home?"
I frowned pensively. "Well...we can...but," I held up a finger again, "we'll have to get you more cake and ice cream to make up for it. Now, I'm sorry, but that's how it goes."
Mokuba smiled again. "I love you, Seto."
I smiled back at him. "Love you, too, kiddo."
After driving in silence for a while, I reached over and switched on the radio. The song that was playing was familiar.
It's something I must live with everyday..."
With a jolt, I realized why it was familiar. It was from my dream. I remember that when I first heard it, the song had made me angry, frightened, depressed. Now, it was soothing.I started listening again."...That's why I need you to hear,
I found a reason for me,
To change who I used to be,
A reason to start over new,
And the reason is you..."
I smiled again.This was the beginning of a new life, a new me. I vowed then that I would never go back to the way I was. Mokuba deserved better than that, and so did I. Yes, things would be different now.
I'd been given another chance, and this time, I wasn't going to mess it up.
My vision began to blur, and I blinked.
A single tear fell down my face.