Riddles of the Heart
written by Atlantis
( 2002
Alright, this would be the *hopefully* long-awaited Part 3. It would have been out sooner, but school decided to go bipolar on me and made life incredibly hectic for me, not to mention I got a pretty bad cold that knocked me out for four days. Anyways, I would like to thank all of you who critiqued so nicely on Part 2. I'm getting really lovely feedback and I appreciate all of you taking the time to write them.
This chapter was a little difficult for me to write, as you will probably see, because I'm not too experienced in writing circumstances like this, but I tried my best. I fixed Téa's name to have the accent over the 'e' so that it would look better. My sister told me that her name looked like 'tea', as in the drink, so I had to fix that. At the end, I threw in a little something for a particular critiquer whose last comment made me laugh until I cried. Special critiquer, you'll know that the 'something' is for you when you see it. Hope you all like!
Okay, I don't own Seto Kaiba, which means I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. If I did, Kaiba would be the first one I would let you all know that I own and I would rub it in your faces that he was mine and not yours. So there.
Rating: PG-13
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It (Love) is not glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corinthians 13:6&7
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PART 3
It was the phone. The freakin' phone was ringing and had woken her up. Téa woke herself up barely enough to be considered the step before unconsciousness to open her eyes and stare at the numbers on her alarm clock.
"Five A.M.?! Who the hell..." Téa exclaimed, her hand reaching out to grab the phone. Then, the ringing stopped. Her hand froze in mid air, her eyes blinking and baffled before shrugging and pulling her arm back under the covers. She turned over and fell back asleep, not thinking twice about the phone call.
It was nearly two hours later when Téa woke up again, the sounds of rushing feet echoing through the hallway. Knowing that her sisters had left early that morning to rush over to a friend's house, where they would then leave for a trip to the beach for the weekend, Téa became confused. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes and adjusting a spaghetti strap that had slipped in her sleep. Grumbling, Téa pulled the covers off and swung her feet over the edge. Throwing her hair back into a loose ponytail, she proceeded onto her full-length mirror to quickly make sure her blue cow pajama pants weren't on crooked before going for her door. As she twisted the knob, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a fluorescent yellow sheet of paper that was filled with scribbled handwriting, which had not been there the night before.
Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement as she moved to her desk and lifted the paper to her line of vision. As she scanned over the scribbled note, a foreboding feeling akin to abandonment and mounting sadness overcame her senses as the words of the letter passed by her eyes.
Princess, your mother and I were called for an emergency meeting in New York this morning and we have to be there be early tomorrow morning. The flight is a good twelve hours, not including possible layovers and the time it'll take to switch planes in San Francisco, Austin, and Philadelphia, so we had to leave this morning. By the time you read this, we'll be gone already. I promise I'll make this up to you somehow Princess, and we'll have that dinner and talk too, like I promised you. Give the girls our love. We'll see you when we get back! Love, Daddy
Téa brushed a tear away then raced out of her room when she heard the front door slam, note still in hand. Stopping only briefly in the living room after her mad dash down the stairs to search for her shoes, Téa bolted through the large double front doors to maybe catch her parents as they left. Her steps were immediately halted on the edge of her front porch, the note slipping from her fingers as time came to a screeching stop.
Everything moved in slow motion as Téa took in all in. Her father had just backed out of the driveway, his car in the middle of the street as he was in the process of straightening the vehicle to drive away. She saw him look at her, his eyes sparkling with joy at seeing her and regret for having to leave her yet again. Her mother didn't look at her. Then it was all gone in the blink of an eye.
Two trucks came speeding around the opposite corners of the small road, spiraling out of control towards her parents. They had no idea what was even happening before they were hit from both sides, the small car crumpling between the two trucks which pounded into the sides unmercifully. Téa watched helplessly as her parents were crushed inside of the car. She couldn't even find a scream in her throat, though she wished she could in the next moment because the worst sound reached her ears... the tearing of metal.
Red horror appeared before her as the force from the two trucks still had them moving, and they impact was ripping her parents' car in half. She moved forward half a step as the rear of the car went flying into a neighbor's yard and the front came barreling into their own yard, plowing over the little mailbox and finally coming to rest in the rose garden just in front of the house. Faintly, Téa's mind registered that joggers who had witnessed the accident were shouting to call 9-1-1, but Téa did not hear them.
Instead, she blinked out of her stupor and ran to the severed car, desperately searching for life. As she reached it, the stopped before continuing towards the drivers' side, the smell of death and blood hanging heavily in the air. As she got to her father, the door fell off of the car where it had been hanging on by a single bolt and clambered over it to him. His body slumped out through the opening, his seatbelt having been ripped apart by flying glass shards. She wrapped her arms around his unmoving figure, resting his bloody head on her chest, cradling it gently. Feeling movement, she leaned back a little to see her father looking at her through death-tinted eyes.
His lips mouth the words, "I'm sorry," but no sound came out, then his eyes rolled shut. Silent tears streamed from Téa's eyes as she held her father's lifeless body, murmuring "Daddy" brokenly as she rocked back and forth.
An ambulance arrived on the scene less that three minutes later and the paramedics surveyed the scene and then approached Téa cautiously, two of them gently pulling her away from her father. She tried to struggle against them, crying out, tears leaving clean streaks down her dirty face. They managed to get her away and covered her with a blanket, one of the paramedics trying to console her while she watched the others shake their heads sadly and pull her mother and father's mangled bodies from the wreckage. With great care, the placed them onto stretchers and covered them with black sheets, their eyes to never open again and see the light of day.
The police were there too, talking to the drivers of the trucks. They had survived. Téa glared at them, her hands shaking as she clenched the blanket, and she was filled with indescribable fury. Those two were alive, her parents weren't. They were hardly injured at all, a couple of bruises on one and a head bandage on the other. That was it. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks as she tuned out the paramedic who was talking to her.
A policeman walked over to her and had to touch her arm and quietly say, "Miss?" before she would respond to him . Blinking, Téa looked up at the older man and noticed offhand that he needed to shave, dark stubble covering his chin, before she realized that his lips were moving and he was talking to her.
"What?" she asked blankly. He sighed in understanding, having been to a good many accident scenes during his career.
"Miss, would you please explain to me what you saw and your relationship to the deceased," he repeated for her. Téa became pale the moment the words were out of his mouth, her face flooding with white until her face resembled that of death itself. Her mouth went dry, she felt like she was choking.
There was silence for a few minutes and the paramedic walked away, shaking his head. But the policeman waited patiently, not saying a word and only shifting his weight from foot to foot ever minute or so. With insides shaking, Téa looked up at him with hesitant yet thankful eyes as she slowly unfolded what she had seen to him. The experience, still being freshly engraved on her mind, made it feel like she was opening an old wound each time, the pain tearing at her so that she was forced to stop a couple of times and cry. When she finished, the cop looked at her, then his notebook, and back at her again. Téa thought she saw him gulp.
"And... your relation to the deceased?" he asked quietly, meeting her eyes only for the fraction of a second before retreating them to the safety of his notepad.
"Parents. They were my parents," Téa whispered.
The police had left, the paramedics too, in the ambulance that carried her parents' dead bodies. Her neighbors all had horrified looks on their faces and hadn't dared to get within fifty yards of the young woman, for fear of making her relive the accident yet again. Téa simply sat on the steps of her front porch, looking out at her yard and seeing nothing. She would have given anything to have a comforting word from anyone, even though she knew it wouldn't help. But none were given.
Her empty house sat behind her, the halls echoing with a haunting silence. It was eerie and Téa stood up, still wrapped in the blanket given to her and went inside. She wanted to move faster, but after crying for so long, she couldn't find the strength. After getting up the stairs, grabbing her keys from the top of her desk and going back down, she locked the front door and went into the garage. Climbing into her truck, she put the key in the ignition, but hesitated in turning it. As a tear slipped down her cheek, she resolutely turned it and closed her door.
She sat and listened to the soft hum of the engine while the garage filled with exhaust, all thoughts of continuing on with life gone. The air was starting to get heavy and the smell of carbon monoxide was already seeping in through the doors. There was nothing left, her parents were gone. Death was the only way. And, Téa smirked sadly, it seemed appropriate that she die in a vehicle just like they had.
All of the good times were in the past now; the people who had given them to her stolen from her in the blink of an eye. She would never again get to go on one of those pointless trips to New York or Moscow, never have to be the perfect little girl again. She would never get to see her father again, never see her mother smile at her little sisters or laugh with the president's wife...
But her sisters. What about them? Did Téa have the right to leave them alone in the world without her parents *and* her? And who would make those two reckless drivers pay for the lives they had taken?
Téa immediately grabbed the remote for the garage door and pressed the button frantically, waiting impatiently for it to open while her oxygen continued to be stolen. As soon as it was up, she shoved the truck into REVERSE and backed out of the garage, then putting it back into PARK, threw open her door and fell onto the grass just next to the driveway, gasping. Her body was wracked with coughing fits as it gained back all of the air it had lost, her lungs greedily taking in as much breathable air as humanly possible. When she opened her eyes, she was stunned to see a large brown cloud being pushed out of her garage by the gentle prodding of the wind. It looked so dirty. Téa shivered. She had been breathing that filth!
Standing up shakily, Téa pushed up off of the ground and moved to her truck, which had also been cleaned out by the gentle wind. She had to get away from her house! Just being in the front yard filled her with emptiness, trying to tempt her back to where she had just come from. Giving her head a sharp shake, she climbed back into her truck and closed the door, pulling her seatbelt across her and driving away. As she stopped at the first red light, she remembered that she was still in her pajamas and had left the blanket at home, but refused to go back and change.
Nervously drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, Téa waited impatiently for the light to turn and glanced all around her, warily watching all the vehicles that surrounded her. When the light changed, her foot grew a little heavy on the gas pedal before she realized that she was speeding. Her mind had unconsciously been trying to get her away from the cars and trucks driving on the side and behind her.
"I'm gonna be spending more time with the police if I don't slow down," Téa chided herself. She spotted Yugi's grandfather's card shop and knew that the guys would be there, only she didn't want to speak to them now. Her emotions were already raw and still bleeding and she didn't have the strength to tell them what had happened. They would just have to hear about it on the news. She thought for a moment of stopping in and just forcing herself not to tell them, but there was no way that that would be a possibility. They always asked how she and her family were doing, especially when they hadn't seen in a while. And Téa just couldn't lie to them. They were her good friends, but there were some things that she would always keep from them. The grief caused by this experience had just been added to that list of secrets.
Taking the road that led out of town and to a secluded park, Téa gratefully noted that there wasn't anyone else on the road. The tall trees on either side of the road acted like a long pathway, their leaves a dark green, swaying gently with the gentle breeze. It was another couple of minutes before Téa passed by Mokuba's house and smiled kindly before driving on. It was another minute when she passed by her own house, the one she had never lived in. She looked at it thoughtfully as she drove by, but continued on, thinking harder.
Her eyes lit up as the park came into view, its serene landscape, green grass, tall trees, and glistening lake cheering her up a little. She pulled into the small parking lot and brought her truck to a stop, then sat in the drivers' seat for a few moments. It had been such a long time since she had been out here and seeing it made her feel more at ease. Téa pulled her keys from the ignition and slipped out of her truck, careful to lock the doors and place her keys in her pocket before walking into the grass. There were small benches along the edge of the little lake at different intervals and a picnic table on the other side. Other than that, there was no indication of human intervention whatsoever.
Wrapping her arms around her body, she moved toward the edge and looked out over the expanse of the lake, the surface dancing with the bright, reflected light of the sun. It looked like a liquid mirror. To a regular city-person, it would seem as if there were no sounds at all in the park, silence reigning supreme in the pristine world. But to Téa, all of the sounds that many missed were crystal clear to her: the rustle of the leaves against each other in the trees, the sound of the wind as it moved through the grass, the gentle lapping of the water against the edge of the lake, birds twittering to each other from opposite ends of the park... They were all beautiful sounds. However, she smiled silkily, she could most definitely think of one sound that would be better than all of these put together.
"Excuse me? Téa?" Téa blinked, her mind was playing dirty tricks on her. She turned and saw Seto Kaiba standing just a few feet from her, looking at her with a dark shine in his eyes. He twisted the corners of his mouth up into a slight smile when her surprised gaze met his. "Am I intruding? I apologize for interrupting you," he said as he put his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Téa stood dumb-founded for a few seconds, just looking at him before answering.
Good lord that boy knew how to look delicious! He had on a pair of black boots, black jeans, a dark navy blue button-up shirt, and a black leather jacket. His dark brown hair was falling into his eyes and Téa's hand itched to run her hands through his hair and brush it away from his eyes. Blinking out of her admiration, she blushed and looked down, turning back to the lake.
"You're not interrupting anything. I was just admiring the scenery and listening to the quiet," she said, hoping that he wouldn't figure out that he was included in the 'scenery'.
"Do you come here often?" Kaiba asked, moving to stand next to her. Téa bit her lip and shook her head.
"I used to come her a lot with my... my family when I was younger," Téa choked out, viciously fighting back the tears. "I haven't been out here in a long while though."
"It's been a while since I visited this place too. Life just gets so busy sometimes," Kaiba revealed, wondering in shock why he was finding it so easy to talk to this girl. He felt as if he could tell her anything and he hardly knew her. "You don't have to answer this, but why are you wearing your pajamas? They are your pajamas, right?" he asked, turning his head to look at her. He certainly wasn't complaining about the view. That small white spaghetti strap showed plenty of her long, creamy arms, her stomach peeking out at the bottom, and she looked adorable in those blue cow pants. He hadn't ever seen her with her hair up either and absently thought that it looked good on her.
*Only because you can see her neck better and think about what it would be like to kiss it,* he threw in mentally. His eyes widened, mind ready to contradict that thought, but as he looked at her more, he realized that it was true. Kaiba watched as she bit her lip and blushed before opening her eyes and looking at him. The clarity in her blue eyes was astounding, their color looking just as clear as the lake.
"Well, when I woke up this morning, I found a note that my parents had left me, saying that they had to go on an emergency business trip. I didn't bother getting dressed and I rushed downstairs to maybe get a chance to get in a last-minute goodbye. I threw my hair up in a ponytail and hurried out the front door and..." she suddenly trailed off, eyes widening in horror. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she opened her mouth, gasping as her eyes looked past Kaiba, seeing her memories instead of the real world. Kaiba took a step towards her, hand reaching up to touch her arm before she closed her eyes painfully and sank to the ground, hands covering her face.
Kaiba knelt down beside her and realized that whatever had happened to make her this way was unimaginable. It reminded him of when he had watched his parents' death. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head to rest on his chest, not understanding the sudden need to comfort her and protect her. She sobbed brokenly and wrapped her arms around his waist, seeking everything that he was offering to her. Kaiba put his chin on the top of her head gently, kissing her hair and whispering encouragement to her quietly. He felt her body shake as she cried against him, and felt as if he would break down as well.
They sat their for more than half of an hour, each blindly seeking answers to questions that life had thrown to them. Téa had stopped shaking and merely rested her head against Kaiba's chest, still breathing raggedly. Kaiba kept talking softly to her and she calmed more, amazed at how compassionate he was. Never in a million years would she have thought him to care about someone he hardly knew. Tears tried to raise once again in her eyes at the peace she felt with him, but she wiped them away before they could fall. Hesitantly, she pulled away from his a little and looked up at him, her blue eyes red and nose pink from crying so much. A tear fell, unbidden, down her cheek and she watched as he moved his thumb to her cheek, holding lightly to her jaw with a gentle hand, and wiped it away.
"Thank you," Téa whispered, not moving out of his arms. He smiled softly at her.
"It's no problem," he replied quietly. There was a long period of silence, the two of them simply looking at each other, holding each other.
"I want to tell you what happened. I have to tell *somebody* what happened," she said, her voice still low as she spoke. "But I don't know if I can." Téa dropped her head, shutting her eyes tightly.
"You can. You have to. Something as horrible as whatever happened to you shouldn't be kept inside. If you don't say anything, it will slowly eat you up inside. I want to listen to you, and I want you to tell me what happened," Kaiba said slowly. He watched as Téa slowly brought her head up and looked at him, her eyes grateful and shining with unshed tears. "Let's get comfortable first though. Here, come on," he said as he stood up and offered his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up, keeping her close to his side as he looked around. Pulling her towards the nearest tree, he sat down with his back to the tree and folded his legs, bringing Téa down in front of him. "You'll probably be able to tell me better if you're not looking at me, so I'm going to have you face the lake. Alright?" he asked. She nodded and was stunned as Kaiba turned her around and then pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Even though Téa felt horrible and knew that reliving her memories would be painful, she couldn't help the way she felt so good when Kaiba wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. Her body felt immensely warm and tingly all over. A dark voice inside her head told her to just forget telling him what had happened and just turn around and kiss him. But with that thought, Téa became mortified that he was having such a large affect on her and simply relaxed in his arms, sighing as she looked out at the lake.
"When... when I got out the front door, I saw my parents, and I was so happy. My dad was just pulling out of the driveway and he saw me. I remember him looking so sad when he saw me, he didn't want to leave again. He hated being gone all the time and he had thought that he would get a chance to stay at least for a little while. He was wrong. Anyways, I saw him and I looked at my mother, but like always she didn't look back. I don't understand why she never loved me, and I feel like I missed out on a lot by not having her love. Then, it was all gone, in the blink of an eye." Téa paused and took a deep breath and Kaiba tensed behind her. He felt as if he was reliving his own past and had an idea of how her story would end. The way she was talking about her parents, in past-tense, he was sure that he was right.
"The trucks came speeding around opposite corners of our road and... my parents, they never had a chance. They were crushed between the two trucks and then the car ripped in half. I watched as my father died in my arms. He tried to apologize to me, even with his last breath. My mother died on impact," she cried, her voice seizing up. "In my arms, he died in my arms!" Téa shouted as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, hugging her body tightly to feel something other than the pain. Immediately she was wrapped in another pair of arms, moving around her shoulders and pulling her back, as she had leaned forward during her retelling.
Kaiba simply held her, not saying anything at all. He was afraid his own voice would give into the raw emotion he felt, that she felt. It was as if he had swallowed something tangible and could feel every ounce of pain that she felt. Her story was his own and the bond he felt with her at that moment shattered many of the walls that he had built up around his heart, realizing that there were others who suffered like he did. He pulled her closer into him, comforting her as well as himself. Her arms touched his and her hands sought out his, seeking physical contact, a healing element.
Their fingers entwined and Téa cried quietly, not aware that just behind her, Kaiba allowed a few buried tears to escape as well. His head rested on her shoulder and he began to talk to her, just talking about the scenery and school, focusing on making the hurt go away for at least a short time. He told her about every beautiful thing he had ever seen and described in detail all of the exotic places he had been to, making sure to only speak of the way silence felt good and gentle joys. For a minute, he debated over whether or not to tell her about his little brother, but thought better of it, knowing that he would break down thinking about how Mokuba had never gotten to really experience his parents' love and Téa may start crying again thinking about her loss.
When he couldn't think of anything else to think about, he began to place soft kisses on her bare shoulders and neck, letting out his own hurt and healing hers. He was a bit surprised when Téa actually relaxed more into his arms instead of moving away. Making sure that he kept a hold on one of her hands, he wrapped the free arm around her waist and nuzzled his face against her neck, smelling her hair and breathing warmth against her skin.
She closed her eyes and sighed quietly, obviously allowing her wounded soul to open to Kaiba's tenderness. It never even occurred to her that she shouldn't be letting him touch her at such a pained time, realizing instead that she needed it. Her whole body felt relaxed and free rather than tight and heavy from what had happened. Téa felt as if she belonged there, in his arms, like she had been destined for them. There was nothing that weighed her down now as she let his kisses and the quiet sounds around her, the sound of the water and the rustling leaves, soak into her being and restore her peace.
Neither of them knew how long they sat there, remaining in each other's comforting arms until late in the afternoon when the sun began its descent down from the heavens. Kaiba had long-since stopped kissing her and had just held her, not daring to let go of her. His heart had grown a little joyous when he realized that she was content in his arms and had been at ease enough to fall asleep. Her quiet breathing was steady and soft, her form displaying her soft form and delicate beauty. Kaiba allowed numerous smiles spread across his lips as he just sat and watched her sleep, not feeling so alone in the world anymore.
She made him feel like she had been the missing piece of his puzzled life and had filled every empty spot in his lonely soul. How had she affected him in only a few short days? Of course he had known her from class for the better part of the school year, but he hadn't actually spoken to her or learned her name till three days ago. It was strange how he had let her access his trust and gain it entirely. There was nothing that could rationally explain it, but he felt that it had something to do with her, as a person, and how they seemed to be kindred spirits. He looked down as he felt her move in his arms and smiled at her when she opened her eyes, a bright blue after her needed rest. He marveled at their clarity before he realized that she was speaking.
"Kaiba, you stayed with me? This entire time?" she asked as she gave a small yawn. He nodded and her blue eyes widened as she sat up. "Why?" she asked, moving out of his arms and turning around to face him as she folded her legs beneath her and leaned forward a little.
"I just... I don't know. I guess I felt like I couldn't leave you. And besides, you were sleeping and obviously needed it. There was no way I was going to disturb you after what you went through today. You were also sleeping on me," he tried to joke. She blushed and smiled, biting her lip in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," Téa said, looking up. She didn't realize that her innocent face came off looking rather coy and forced Kaiba to forcefully control his buried male instincts and keep from kissing her. Instead, he swallowed and willed his eyes not to darken with desire, dumping a cold bucket of realization over himself to help him do so. She had lost her mother and father that very morning and she didn't need some newly, over- hormonal young man of nineteen wanting to kiss her breathless. His devil- conscience snickered at him.
*Buddy, you need to get laid, and bad,* it laughed at him. He blushed outwardly and good-conscience popped up and shoved the devious thing to the back of his mind and hog-tied it, making sure that it would never say anything like that again. *This is what happens when you get the hots for a total babe with legs and a body like THAT,* it added before good-conscience shoved a gag into it's mouth and then wrapped duct tape around it's head to keep it from going anywhere. Smiling appreciatively at his work, good- conscience folded his arms and allowed Kaiba to answer Téa without worrying about a hostile take-over of his mind.
"It's totally fine with me. I was actually pretty comfortable," he replied. Kaiba watched as Téa breathed in relief before looking at him directly again.
"I need to go home," she said, the sobering thoughts of the memories at her home bringing a sadness into her eyes. Kaiba nearly thought he died when he watched her spirit close up on itself and become silent. He couldn't stand the idea of her going to face the demons imposed upon her that morning alone. His next words came without thought but he didn't regret saying them.
"If you don't want to be alone, you could stay at my house," he said, not realizing that he had even said them till he noticed the shock registering on Téa's face. Kaiba watched as she blinked and seemed to consider his words before finally shaking her head 'no'. He understood. She didn't want too much comfort. She wanted to be able to feel the pain of her loss and remember them for their love by herself.
"No thanks, but that incredibly sweet of you. I think that I need to go home and face my fears. To start the road to recovery from this, I have to start somewhere, right?" she asked as she pushed against her knees and stood. Kaiba nodded and rose as well. She walked away a few steps then hesitated and suddenly turned and lunged at Kaiba, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her back as she cried on his shirt before she pulled away and wiped the tears from her face. "Thank you so much for being here for me today, even if it was by accident. Your presence was absolutely priceless to me, especially since I know I was so close to breaking down, again," she said quietly, "and I hope that someday I can repay you for the ultimate kindness that you showed me today Seto Kaiba. I know that you and I don't know each other very well, but I feel as if I've known you all my life, and although it may be forward of me, I'd like to be your friend." Téa stopped and studied Kaiba's face, dreading that he might treat the day as a one-time-thing. He pursed his lips together and then smiled, his eyes softening dramatically.
"I would really like that," he told her sincerely. Her eyes sparkled and she parted her lips, almost ready to say something before stopping and reaching for his hand. He took it quietly and they walked side-by-side back to the small parking lot where Kaiba helped her into her truck and watched her drive away before climbing into his Porsche and traveling the short distance to his own home, thoughts centered on one very special girl.
***
End of Part 3. How many of you liked the interaction between Seto and Téa in here? I did! I'm raising my hand... see! My wish is that Part 4 will be out within 2 weeks or so, but maybe 3 since next weekend is Thanksgiving for those of us in the U.S. and I'll be spending time with my family. But I will try.
Question of the week: Okies, here's a good one. As an author, I'm always wondering what types of stuff people want to read. This question isn't for me in particular, though I may use some of the ideas, but I'm just plain curious. What are your favorite types of Yu-Gi-Oh! fics? Other anime fics? For example, Egypt-type stories, fantasy, alternate universe, scripted (hey, some people write like that, so gotta ask), etc.
Also, one last thing to add. This is a horrible plug for myself, but I write Sailor Moon fanfics as well, so if any of you would like to check them out and let me know what you think, I would appreciate it muchly! Thanks.
Atlantis *^_^*
godscartungrrl@netscape.net
Alright, this would be the *hopefully* long-awaited Part 3. It would have been out sooner, but school decided to go bipolar on me and made life incredibly hectic for me, not to mention I got a pretty bad cold that knocked me out for four days. Anyways, I would like to thank all of you who critiqued so nicely on Part 2. I'm getting really lovely feedback and I appreciate all of you taking the time to write them.
This chapter was a little difficult for me to write, as you will probably see, because I'm not too experienced in writing circumstances like this, but I tried my best. I fixed Téa's name to have the accent over the 'e' so that it would look better. My sister told me that her name looked like 'tea', as in the drink, so I had to fix that. At the end, I threw in a little something for a particular critiquer whose last comment made me laugh until I cried. Special critiquer, you'll know that the 'something' is for you when you see it. Hope you all like!
Okay, I don't own Seto Kaiba, which means I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. If I did, Kaiba would be the first one I would let you all know that I own and I would rub it in your faces that he was mine and not yours. So there.
Rating: PG-13
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It (Love) is not glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corinthians 13:6&7
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PART 3
It was the phone. The freakin' phone was ringing and had woken her up. Téa woke herself up barely enough to be considered the step before unconsciousness to open her eyes and stare at the numbers on her alarm clock.
"Five A.M.?! Who the hell..." Téa exclaimed, her hand reaching out to grab the phone. Then, the ringing stopped. Her hand froze in mid air, her eyes blinking and baffled before shrugging and pulling her arm back under the covers. She turned over and fell back asleep, not thinking twice about the phone call.
It was nearly two hours later when Téa woke up again, the sounds of rushing feet echoing through the hallway. Knowing that her sisters had left early that morning to rush over to a friend's house, where they would then leave for a trip to the beach for the weekend, Téa became confused. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes and adjusting a spaghetti strap that had slipped in her sleep. Grumbling, Téa pulled the covers off and swung her feet over the edge. Throwing her hair back into a loose ponytail, she proceeded onto her full-length mirror to quickly make sure her blue cow pajama pants weren't on crooked before going for her door. As she twisted the knob, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a fluorescent yellow sheet of paper that was filled with scribbled handwriting, which had not been there the night before.
Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement as she moved to her desk and lifted the paper to her line of vision. As she scanned over the scribbled note, a foreboding feeling akin to abandonment and mounting sadness overcame her senses as the words of the letter passed by her eyes.
Princess, your mother and I were called for an emergency meeting in New York this morning and we have to be there be early tomorrow morning. The flight is a good twelve hours, not including possible layovers and the time it'll take to switch planes in San Francisco, Austin, and Philadelphia, so we had to leave this morning. By the time you read this, we'll be gone already. I promise I'll make this up to you somehow Princess, and we'll have that dinner and talk too, like I promised you. Give the girls our love. We'll see you when we get back! Love, Daddy
Téa brushed a tear away then raced out of her room when she heard the front door slam, note still in hand. Stopping only briefly in the living room after her mad dash down the stairs to search for her shoes, Téa bolted through the large double front doors to maybe catch her parents as they left. Her steps were immediately halted on the edge of her front porch, the note slipping from her fingers as time came to a screeching stop.
Everything moved in slow motion as Téa took in all in. Her father had just backed out of the driveway, his car in the middle of the street as he was in the process of straightening the vehicle to drive away. She saw him look at her, his eyes sparkling with joy at seeing her and regret for having to leave her yet again. Her mother didn't look at her. Then it was all gone in the blink of an eye.
Two trucks came speeding around the opposite corners of the small road, spiraling out of control towards her parents. They had no idea what was even happening before they were hit from both sides, the small car crumpling between the two trucks which pounded into the sides unmercifully. Téa watched helplessly as her parents were crushed inside of the car. She couldn't even find a scream in her throat, though she wished she could in the next moment because the worst sound reached her ears... the tearing of metal.
Red horror appeared before her as the force from the two trucks still had them moving, and they impact was ripping her parents' car in half. She moved forward half a step as the rear of the car went flying into a neighbor's yard and the front came barreling into their own yard, plowing over the little mailbox and finally coming to rest in the rose garden just in front of the house. Faintly, Téa's mind registered that joggers who had witnessed the accident were shouting to call 9-1-1, but Téa did not hear them.
Instead, she blinked out of her stupor and ran to the severed car, desperately searching for life. As she reached it, the stopped before continuing towards the drivers' side, the smell of death and blood hanging heavily in the air. As she got to her father, the door fell off of the car where it had been hanging on by a single bolt and clambered over it to him. His body slumped out through the opening, his seatbelt having been ripped apart by flying glass shards. She wrapped her arms around his unmoving figure, resting his bloody head on her chest, cradling it gently. Feeling movement, she leaned back a little to see her father looking at her through death-tinted eyes.
His lips mouth the words, "I'm sorry," but no sound came out, then his eyes rolled shut. Silent tears streamed from Téa's eyes as she held her father's lifeless body, murmuring "Daddy" brokenly as she rocked back and forth.
An ambulance arrived on the scene less that three minutes later and the paramedics surveyed the scene and then approached Téa cautiously, two of them gently pulling her away from her father. She tried to struggle against them, crying out, tears leaving clean streaks down her dirty face. They managed to get her away and covered her with a blanket, one of the paramedics trying to console her while she watched the others shake their heads sadly and pull her mother and father's mangled bodies from the wreckage. With great care, the placed them onto stretchers and covered them with black sheets, their eyes to never open again and see the light of day.
The police were there too, talking to the drivers of the trucks. They had survived. Téa glared at them, her hands shaking as she clenched the blanket, and she was filled with indescribable fury. Those two were alive, her parents weren't. They were hardly injured at all, a couple of bruises on one and a head bandage on the other. That was it. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks as she tuned out the paramedic who was talking to her.
A policeman walked over to her and had to touch her arm and quietly say, "Miss?" before she would respond to him . Blinking, Téa looked up at the older man and noticed offhand that he needed to shave, dark stubble covering his chin, before she realized that his lips were moving and he was talking to her.
"What?" she asked blankly. He sighed in understanding, having been to a good many accident scenes during his career.
"Miss, would you please explain to me what you saw and your relationship to the deceased," he repeated for her. Téa became pale the moment the words were out of his mouth, her face flooding with white until her face resembled that of death itself. Her mouth went dry, she felt like she was choking.
There was silence for a few minutes and the paramedic walked away, shaking his head. But the policeman waited patiently, not saying a word and only shifting his weight from foot to foot ever minute or so. With insides shaking, Téa looked up at him with hesitant yet thankful eyes as she slowly unfolded what she had seen to him. The experience, still being freshly engraved on her mind, made it feel like she was opening an old wound each time, the pain tearing at her so that she was forced to stop a couple of times and cry. When she finished, the cop looked at her, then his notebook, and back at her again. Téa thought she saw him gulp.
"And... your relation to the deceased?" he asked quietly, meeting her eyes only for the fraction of a second before retreating them to the safety of his notepad.
"Parents. They were my parents," Téa whispered.
The police had left, the paramedics too, in the ambulance that carried her parents' dead bodies. Her neighbors all had horrified looks on their faces and hadn't dared to get within fifty yards of the young woman, for fear of making her relive the accident yet again. Téa simply sat on the steps of her front porch, looking out at her yard and seeing nothing. She would have given anything to have a comforting word from anyone, even though she knew it wouldn't help. But none were given.
Her empty house sat behind her, the halls echoing with a haunting silence. It was eerie and Téa stood up, still wrapped in the blanket given to her and went inside. She wanted to move faster, but after crying for so long, she couldn't find the strength. After getting up the stairs, grabbing her keys from the top of her desk and going back down, she locked the front door and went into the garage. Climbing into her truck, she put the key in the ignition, but hesitated in turning it. As a tear slipped down her cheek, she resolutely turned it and closed her door.
She sat and listened to the soft hum of the engine while the garage filled with exhaust, all thoughts of continuing on with life gone. The air was starting to get heavy and the smell of carbon monoxide was already seeping in through the doors. There was nothing left, her parents were gone. Death was the only way. And, Téa smirked sadly, it seemed appropriate that she die in a vehicle just like they had.
All of the good times were in the past now; the people who had given them to her stolen from her in the blink of an eye. She would never again get to go on one of those pointless trips to New York or Moscow, never have to be the perfect little girl again. She would never get to see her father again, never see her mother smile at her little sisters or laugh with the president's wife...
But her sisters. What about them? Did Téa have the right to leave them alone in the world without her parents *and* her? And who would make those two reckless drivers pay for the lives they had taken?
Téa immediately grabbed the remote for the garage door and pressed the button frantically, waiting impatiently for it to open while her oxygen continued to be stolen. As soon as it was up, she shoved the truck into REVERSE and backed out of the garage, then putting it back into PARK, threw open her door and fell onto the grass just next to the driveway, gasping. Her body was wracked with coughing fits as it gained back all of the air it had lost, her lungs greedily taking in as much breathable air as humanly possible. When she opened her eyes, she was stunned to see a large brown cloud being pushed out of her garage by the gentle prodding of the wind. It looked so dirty. Téa shivered. She had been breathing that filth!
Standing up shakily, Téa pushed up off of the ground and moved to her truck, which had also been cleaned out by the gentle wind. She had to get away from her house! Just being in the front yard filled her with emptiness, trying to tempt her back to where she had just come from. Giving her head a sharp shake, she climbed back into her truck and closed the door, pulling her seatbelt across her and driving away. As she stopped at the first red light, she remembered that she was still in her pajamas and had left the blanket at home, but refused to go back and change.
Nervously drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, Téa waited impatiently for the light to turn and glanced all around her, warily watching all the vehicles that surrounded her. When the light changed, her foot grew a little heavy on the gas pedal before she realized that she was speeding. Her mind had unconsciously been trying to get her away from the cars and trucks driving on the side and behind her.
"I'm gonna be spending more time with the police if I don't slow down," Téa chided herself. She spotted Yugi's grandfather's card shop and knew that the guys would be there, only she didn't want to speak to them now. Her emotions were already raw and still bleeding and she didn't have the strength to tell them what had happened. They would just have to hear about it on the news. She thought for a moment of stopping in and just forcing herself not to tell them, but there was no way that that would be a possibility. They always asked how she and her family were doing, especially when they hadn't seen in a while. And Téa just couldn't lie to them. They were her good friends, but there were some things that she would always keep from them. The grief caused by this experience had just been added to that list of secrets.
Taking the road that led out of town and to a secluded park, Téa gratefully noted that there wasn't anyone else on the road. The tall trees on either side of the road acted like a long pathway, their leaves a dark green, swaying gently with the gentle breeze. It was another couple of minutes before Téa passed by Mokuba's house and smiled kindly before driving on. It was another minute when she passed by her own house, the one she had never lived in. She looked at it thoughtfully as she drove by, but continued on, thinking harder.
Her eyes lit up as the park came into view, its serene landscape, green grass, tall trees, and glistening lake cheering her up a little. She pulled into the small parking lot and brought her truck to a stop, then sat in the drivers' seat for a few moments. It had been such a long time since she had been out here and seeing it made her feel more at ease. Téa pulled her keys from the ignition and slipped out of her truck, careful to lock the doors and place her keys in her pocket before walking into the grass. There were small benches along the edge of the little lake at different intervals and a picnic table on the other side. Other than that, there was no indication of human intervention whatsoever.
Wrapping her arms around her body, she moved toward the edge and looked out over the expanse of the lake, the surface dancing with the bright, reflected light of the sun. It looked like a liquid mirror. To a regular city-person, it would seem as if there were no sounds at all in the park, silence reigning supreme in the pristine world. But to Téa, all of the sounds that many missed were crystal clear to her: the rustle of the leaves against each other in the trees, the sound of the wind as it moved through the grass, the gentle lapping of the water against the edge of the lake, birds twittering to each other from opposite ends of the park... They were all beautiful sounds. However, she smiled silkily, she could most definitely think of one sound that would be better than all of these put together.
"Excuse me? Téa?" Téa blinked, her mind was playing dirty tricks on her. She turned and saw Seto Kaiba standing just a few feet from her, looking at her with a dark shine in his eyes. He twisted the corners of his mouth up into a slight smile when her surprised gaze met his. "Am I intruding? I apologize for interrupting you," he said as he put his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Téa stood dumb-founded for a few seconds, just looking at him before answering.
Good lord that boy knew how to look delicious! He had on a pair of black boots, black jeans, a dark navy blue button-up shirt, and a black leather jacket. His dark brown hair was falling into his eyes and Téa's hand itched to run her hands through his hair and brush it away from his eyes. Blinking out of her admiration, she blushed and looked down, turning back to the lake.
"You're not interrupting anything. I was just admiring the scenery and listening to the quiet," she said, hoping that he wouldn't figure out that he was included in the 'scenery'.
"Do you come here often?" Kaiba asked, moving to stand next to her. Téa bit her lip and shook her head.
"I used to come her a lot with my... my family when I was younger," Téa choked out, viciously fighting back the tears. "I haven't been out here in a long while though."
"It's been a while since I visited this place too. Life just gets so busy sometimes," Kaiba revealed, wondering in shock why he was finding it so easy to talk to this girl. He felt as if he could tell her anything and he hardly knew her. "You don't have to answer this, but why are you wearing your pajamas? They are your pajamas, right?" he asked, turning his head to look at her. He certainly wasn't complaining about the view. That small white spaghetti strap showed plenty of her long, creamy arms, her stomach peeking out at the bottom, and she looked adorable in those blue cow pants. He hadn't ever seen her with her hair up either and absently thought that it looked good on her.
*Only because you can see her neck better and think about what it would be like to kiss it,* he threw in mentally. His eyes widened, mind ready to contradict that thought, but as he looked at her more, he realized that it was true. Kaiba watched as she bit her lip and blushed before opening her eyes and looking at him. The clarity in her blue eyes was astounding, their color looking just as clear as the lake.
"Well, when I woke up this morning, I found a note that my parents had left me, saying that they had to go on an emergency business trip. I didn't bother getting dressed and I rushed downstairs to maybe get a chance to get in a last-minute goodbye. I threw my hair up in a ponytail and hurried out the front door and..." she suddenly trailed off, eyes widening in horror. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she opened her mouth, gasping as her eyes looked past Kaiba, seeing her memories instead of the real world. Kaiba took a step towards her, hand reaching up to touch her arm before she closed her eyes painfully and sank to the ground, hands covering her face.
Kaiba knelt down beside her and realized that whatever had happened to make her this way was unimaginable. It reminded him of when he had watched his parents' death. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head to rest on his chest, not understanding the sudden need to comfort her and protect her. She sobbed brokenly and wrapped her arms around his waist, seeking everything that he was offering to her. Kaiba put his chin on the top of her head gently, kissing her hair and whispering encouragement to her quietly. He felt her body shake as she cried against him, and felt as if he would break down as well.
They sat their for more than half of an hour, each blindly seeking answers to questions that life had thrown to them. Téa had stopped shaking and merely rested her head against Kaiba's chest, still breathing raggedly. Kaiba kept talking softly to her and she calmed more, amazed at how compassionate he was. Never in a million years would she have thought him to care about someone he hardly knew. Tears tried to raise once again in her eyes at the peace she felt with him, but she wiped them away before they could fall. Hesitantly, she pulled away from his a little and looked up at him, her blue eyes red and nose pink from crying so much. A tear fell, unbidden, down her cheek and she watched as he moved his thumb to her cheek, holding lightly to her jaw with a gentle hand, and wiped it away.
"Thank you," Téa whispered, not moving out of his arms. He smiled softly at her.
"It's no problem," he replied quietly. There was a long period of silence, the two of them simply looking at each other, holding each other.
"I want to tell you what happened. I have to tell *somebody* what happened," she said, her voice still low as she spoke. "But I don't know if I can." Téa dropped her head, shutting her eyes tightly.
"You can. You have to. Something as horrible as whatever happened to you shouldn't be kept inside. If you don't say anything, it will slowly eat you up inside. I want to listen to you, and I want you to tell me what happened," Kaiba said slowly. He watched as Téa slowly brought her head up and looked at him, her eyes grateful and shining with unshed tears. "Let's get comfortable first though. Here, come on," he said as he stood up and offered his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up, keeping her close to his side as he looked around. Pulling her towards the nearest tree, he sat down with his back to the tree and folded his legs, bringing Téa down in front of him. "You'll probably be able to tell me better if you're not looking at me, so I'm going to have you face the lake. Alright?" he asked. She nodded and was stunned as Kaiba turned her around and then pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Even though Téa felt horrible and knew that reliving her memories would be painful, she couldn't help the way she felt so good when Kaiba wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. Her body felt immensely warm and tingly all over. A dark voice inside her head told her to just forget telling him what had happened and just turn around and kiss him. But with that thought, Téa became mortified that he was having such a large affect on her and simply relaxed in his arms, sighing as she looked out at the lake.
"When... when I got out the front door, I saw my parents, and I was so happy. My dad was just pulling out of the driveway and he saw me. I remember him looking so sad when he saw me, he didn't want to leave again. He hated being gone all the time and he had thought that he would get a chance to stay at least for a little while. He was wrong. Anyways, I saw him and I looked at my mother, but like always she didn't look back. I don't understand why she never loved me, and I feel like I missed out on a lot by not having her love. Then, it was all gone, in the blink of an eye." Téa paused and took a deep breath and Kaiba tensed behind her. He felt as if he was reliving his own past and had an idea of how her story would end. The way she was talking about her parents, in past-tense, he was sure that he was right.
"The trucks came speeding around opposite corners of our road and... my parents, they never had a chance. They were crushed between the two trucks and then the car ripped in half. I watched as my father died in my arms. He tried to apologize to me, even with his last breath. My mother died on impact," she cried, her voice seizing up. "In my arms, he died in my arms!" Téa shouted as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, hugging her body tightly to feel something other than the pain. Immediately she was wrapped in another pair of arms, moving around her shoulders and pulling her back, as she had leaned forward during her retelling.
Kaiba simply held her, not saying anything at all. He was afraid his own voice would give into the raw emotion he felt, that she felt. It was as if he had swallowed something tangible and could feel every ounce of pain that she felt. Her story was his own and the bond he felt with her at that moment shattered many of the walls that he had built up around his heart, realizing that there were others who suffered like he did. He pulled her closer into him, comforting her as well as himself. Her arms touched his and her hands sought out his, seeking physical contact, a healing element.
Their fingers entwined and Téa cried quietly, not aware that just behind her, Kaiba allowed a few buried tears to escape as well. His head rested on her shoulder and he began to talk to her, just talking about the scenery and school, focusing on making the hurt go away for at least a short time. He told her about every beautiful thing he had ever seen and described in detail all of the exotic places he had been to, making sure to only speak of the way silence felt good and gentle joys. For a minute, he debated over whether or not to tell her about his little brother, but thought better of it, knowing that he would break down thinking about how Mokuba had never gotten to really experience his parents' love and Téa may start crying again thinking about her loss.
When he couldn't think of anything else to think about, he began to place soft kisses on her bare shoulders and neck, letting out his own hurt and healing hers. He was a bit surprised when Téa actually relaxed more into his arms instead of moving away. Making sure that he kept a hold on one of her hands, he wrapped the free arm around her waist and nuzzled his face against her neck, smelling her hair and breathing warmth against her skin.
She closed her eyes and sighed quietly, obviously allowing her wounded soul to open to Kaiba's tenderness. It never even occurred to her that she shouldn't be letting him touch her at such a pained time, realizing instead that she needed it. Her whole body felt relaxed and free rather than tight and heavy from what had happened. Téa felt as if she belonged there, in his arms, like she had been destined for them. There was nothing that weighed her down now as she let his kisses and the quiet sounds around her, the sound of the water and the rustling leaves, soak into her being and restore her peace.
Neither of them knew how long they sat there, remaining in each other's comforting arms until late in the afternoon when the sun began its descent down from the heavens. Kaiba had long-since stopped kissing her and had just held her, not daring to let go of her. His heart had grown a little joyous when he realized that she was content in his arms and had been at ease enough to fall asleep. Her quiet breathing was steady and soft, her form displaying her soft form and delicate beauty. Kaiba allowed numerous smiles spread across his lips as he just sat and watched her sleep, not feeling so alone in the world anymore.
She made him feel like she had been the missing piece of his puzzled life and had filled every empty spot in his lonely soul. How had she affected him in only a few short days? Of course he had known her from class for the better part of the school year, but he hadn't actually spoken to her or learned her name till three days ago. It was strange how he had let her access his trust and gain it entirely. There was nothing that could rationally explain it, but he felt that it had something to do with her, as a person, and how they seemed to be kindred spirits. He looked down as he felt her move in his arms and smiled at her when she opened her eyes, a bright blue after her needed rest. He marveled at their clarity before he realized that she was speaking.
"Kaiba, you stayed with me? This entire time?" she asked as she gave a small yawn. He nodded and her blue eyes widened as she sat up. "Why?" she asked, moving out of his arms and turning around to face him as she folded her legs beneath her and leaned forward a little.
"I just... I don't know. I guess I felt like I couldn't leave you. And besides, you were sleeping and obviously needed it. There was no way I was going to disturb you after what you went through today. You were also sleeping on me," he tried to joke. She blushed and smiled, biting her lip in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," Téa said, looking up. She didn't realize that her innocent face came off looking rather coy and forced Kaiba to forcefully control his buried male instincts and keep from kissing her. Instead, he swallowed and willed his eyes not to darken with desire, dumping a cold bucket of realization over himself to help him do so. She had lost her mother and father that very morning and she didn't need some newly, over- hormonal young man of nineteen wanting to kiss her breathless. His devil- conscience snickered at him.
*Buddy, you need to get laid, and bad,* it laughed at him. He blushed outwardly and good-conscience popped up and shoved the devious thing to the back of his mind and hog-tied it, making sure that it would never say anything like that again. *This is what happens when you get the hots for a total babe with legs and a body like THAT,* it added before good-conscience shoved a gag into it's mouth and then wrapped duct tape around it's head to keep it from going anywhere. Smiling appreciatively at his work, good- conscience folded his arms and allowed Kaiba to answer Téa without worrying about a hostile take-over of his mind.
"It's totally fine with me. I was actually pretty comfortable," he replied. Kaiba watched as Téa breathed in relief before looking at him directly again.
"I need to go home," she said, the sobering thoughts of the memories at her home bringing a sadness into her eyes. Kaiba nearly thought he died when he watched her spirit close up on itself and become silent. He couldn't stand the idea of her going to face the demons imposed upon her that morning alone. His next words came without thought but he didn't regret saying them.
"If you don't want to be alone, you could stay at my house," he said, not realizing that he had even said them till he noticed the shock registering on Téa's face. Kaiba watched as she blinked and seemed to consider his words before finally shaking her head 'no'. He understood. She didn't want too much comfort. She wanted to be able to feel the pain of her loss and remember them for their love by herself.
"No thanks, but that incredibly sweet of you. I think that I need to go home and face my fears. To start the road to recovery from this, I have to start somewhere, right?" she asked as she pushed against her knees and stood. Kaiba nodded and rose as well. She walked away a few steps then hesitated and suddenly turned and lunged at Kaiba, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her back as she cried on his shirt before she pulled away and wiped the tears from her face. "Thank you so much for being here for me today, even if it was by accident. Your presence was absolutely priceless to me, especially since I know I was so close to breaking down, again," she said quietly, "and I hope that someday I can repay you for the ultimate kindness that you showed me today Seto Kaiba. I know that you and I don't know each other very well, but I feel as if I've known you all my life, and although it may be forward of me, I'd like to be your friend." Téa stopped and studied Kaiba's face, dreading that he might treat the day as a one-time-thing. He pursed his lips together and then smiled, his eyes softening dramatically.
"I would really like that," he told her sincerely. Her eyes sparkled and she parted her lips, almost ready to say something before stopping and reaching for his hand. He took it quietly and they walked side-by-side back to the small parking lot where Kaiba helped her into her truck and watched her drive away before climbing into his Porsche and traveling the short distance to his own home, thoughts centered on one very special girl.
***
End of Part 3. How many of you liked the interaction between Seto and Téa in here? I did! I'm raising my hand... see! My wish is that Part 4 will be out within 2 weeks or so, but maybe 3 since next weekend is Thanksgiving for those of us in the U.S. and I'll be spending time with my family. But I will try.
Question of the week: Okies, here's a good one. As an author, I'm always wondering what types of stuff people want to read. This question isn't for me in particular, though I may use some of the ideas, but I'm just plain curious. What are your favorite types of Yu-Gi-Oh! fics? Other anime fics? For example, Egypt-type stories, fantasy, alternate universe, scripted (hey, some people write like that, so gotta ask), etc.
Also, one last thing to add. This is a horrible plug for myself, but I write Sailor Moon fanfics as well, so if any of you would like to check them out and let me know what you think, I would appreciate it muchly! Thanks.
Atlantis *^_^*
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