Chapter One-The Christmas Promise

"What do you want for Christmas this year,Ronnie?" Vincent and his sister were enjoying one of his rare days off. He'd been taking alternate weekends,but when the holidays approached,he had been forced to go back to his busy schedule.

"The only thing I want for Christmas is to see you in the morning,in person." She told him,with a smile. "And I want my virtual pod fixed." Her gaming pod had been on the fritz for months,and she'd been trying to convince him to fix it. His reasoning for not fixing it was that he didn't want her galivanting off to see Noa at her leisure. The truth was,Veronica hadn't seen Noa Kaiba since the night she awakened back in her arcade. It was as if the whole thing had never happened. The only evidence of it's occurrence was the silver bar she wore on a chain. The bar was the Virtual Key,which Noa had gifted her with. Also,no one aside from herself,Vincent,and sister of Vincent's rival,Onyx knew about it.

"I think I can handle both. I was thinking of us going to take a trip to Japan to see our cousins too. How does that sound?"

"It sounds great!" Veronica smiled over her large sundae. "I'm really excited about it."

"I thought you might be. I'll call Onyx in the morning to see if he'll send Gee over to fix your pod while you're in school." Vincent looked at his watch. "Ooh. Hey,turn the news on. We have to check the stocks."

"Okay!" Even though it was one of the more boring rituals they did everyday, Veronica was happy to do it. She had learned to accept business for what it was:business. "Vinnie? What happens if our stock goes down?"

"I have to work harder." Vincent replied,sipping his tea. "How's dueling?"

"It's alright. I need a new Deck Master though." She grinned to herself. Thanks to Noa,she'd decided to up the dueling challenge. Deck Master dueling was sweeping the city of Anahiem,and it was her doing. She grinned proudly. "Everyone loves Deck Master dueling."

"That's wonderful,Ronnie." Her elder smiled. "And dance class?"

"It's fine. We have our first recital of the season next weekend. You won't miss it, will you? I got the part of Clara!"

"Next weekend? Oh Veronica......" Her brother looked at her,sadly.

"You've known about this forever. Don't tell me you forgot....."

"I did know. But I have an important conference that weekend...I was going to take you with me."

"Well...It's okay. There's going to be others. You can go to those. " Disappointment was clear in her voice,but the younger Skylar smiled."I'll have Max video tape it for you."

"Alright..." Vincent didn't miss the disappointment on his sister's face. "Things will be a lot better after Christmas. You'll see." He nodded to Veronica's new nanny,who had appeared in his study doorway.. "I think Helene is ready to take you up for your bath."

Veronica nodded. "Good night,Vincent. See you in the morning."

"Ah..no. I'm going in early. We'll have dinner at the office tomorrow night,okay?"

"Sure." She followed the woman silently up to get ready for bed.

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Gozabouro Kaiba chuckled from his chair. "So,she's not forgotten about Noa. Well,I haven't forgotten him either,and ever since he locked me away,I never stopped planning me revenge. "

"Sir,you don't mean to say you're going to use that girl against him,are you?" Gansley asked.

"That's precisely what I mean." Kaiba Sr. replied. "Seto might have taken Noa and made him a lot older,but he's no more wiser than he was before."

"Sir,I hate to remind you,but he won last time." Krump pointed out.

"Well,not this time. He won't fuss with me while I hold something so precious to him. " Gozabouro stood up.

"With all due respect sir, how do you plan to capture her?" Gansley asked.

"Noa's not the only one who can shape shift." With that, he turned into the form of his son. In Noa's voice,he added,"You see,she won't know he's got a new form. She'll have expected him to have stayed the same." He walked out of the prison he'd been in for the last three years. "It does feel good to be free. Now I will finish what I started. "

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That night,Veronica stayed in her arcade until late. She couldn't sleep. Her mind was on other,more important matters. Her brother had promised to be home on Christmas,but he couldn't even remember a simple dance performance. She fingered the Virtual Key,and looked at her pod. She wondered if it would be worth it to visit Noa,and see if he would want to come. There were plenty of ways to hide him there in her world. She walked over,and turned it on. I know I promised Vinnie,but you made a promise to me too. You don't keep yours,so why should I keep mine? Scowling at this revelation,Veronice touched the virtual key to the console,and disapeared into the portal she created.