Reviewer Responses:
chinxy- Don't worry! Everything will work out for those two.
Subaru the Jaguar- pisses me off sometimes…yeah; it's good to follow Malik's advice.
Forgotten Souls- YAY! I love thou reviews! I have updates on Kyle too! I got two kisses on the cheek from him and I kissed him on the cheek! YAYAYAYAYAY!
Black-Fire Eclipse- I'm not going to write a sequel, but if an idea hits me after this is finished, I'll write another SetoxSerenity.
Setine- Don't we all!
kikoken- Thanks. I really like getting reviews, especially when they say good things.
Meluvyugi- I love Yugi too. Thanks!
norestar-angel- I don't think Joey will even be in the rest of the story… well, maybe at the end. There'll only be a few more chapters, epsecialy now that things are looking up.
RiterAnonymous- thank you SOOOOOOO much for all those reviews! I LOVE them! Anout what you said about Joey being a dog and me not liking him, I think that well make him an honorary Brooke. lol
anya06- WOW! The last 5 hours? You're a fast reader, faster than me. Do you really think that some of my scenes come to life and you can feel them?
Sakura- I hope you like this chapter too. I do. I enjoyed writing it. Thanks!
thefutureMrs.Kaiba- Thanks so much!
Tinyflyer02- sorry the update took so long. Thanks.
Squallsgurl- If you thought that was good, you should see this! Not to brag or anything. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I want to get into an art school and work on my writing. I hope I can…
Chibi-Kari- YEAH! What other music can you send me? I can send you some stuff! YAY!
Thank you so much for all my reviews! I erally do appreciate them. The reason why I didn't update sooner was because of 's updates and such.
On a side note, my birthday was August 19th! YAY!
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Fallen Snow upon My Frozen Heart
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It was a week after the night that Joey had come over that Serenity sat at her bed. She was alone in the house today. Seto had gone out to lunch with one of Japan's more important business men. As she sat there, she thought, of nothing in particular, but generally about her recent events. She thought of Seto and how he openly told her that he loved her. He had swallowed his pride, all except his last store, stashed away for when he would need it. Serenity pondered on that pride, she wondered why he had always been so headstrong about it. In the end, she gave up her thinking, and retreated to her beloved woodland behind the mansion.
As she came to the first edge of the dark, dreary wood, she stopped abruptly. She looked around, making sure that no one was there, as she had sense a presence, and proceeded to go to her clearing far off yonder. She was conscience that she had hardly ever done this before. The first time she had retreated to the woods was after her first major fight with Seto. She had been bawling the whole time, not taking any notice of where she had been going, and at last finding this very edge of the wood. As she looked upon it and entered, she thought of tat first fight, of its brutality, and of Seto's hateful words and her vulnerability to them.
She sighed as she thought of the past. It was over, meaningless, and yet, it still hurt. It had become a scar across her life, an eternal nightmare that haunted her day in and day out. Life is a nightmare, she had often thought to herself. It seemed to her now that the waking world was still so very far away, as if this universe that she resided in now, the mansion that she lived within alongside Seto, was all a dream. She had heard it said more than once, "life is but a dream". She now wondered if it was true.
She sighed as she began her walk into the woods, pushing aside such thoughts from her head. As she let the thoughts go, she became relaxed. This was not a sort of emotion that came to her often anymore. While Seto had made up with her, while the long, agonizing bouts of depression had for the most part passed on, she continued to be unsettled. She had once admitted to herself that she had dwelt in that depression, but it never dawned on her until now that she had been correct in admitting that. She had trained herself to live within that kind of environment, and now that she was out of it she had no idea what to do.
Now she only walked though the woods. She pondered her life, and as she did, was strangely peaceful. What now? She rolled the thought over and over in her head, each time elaborating it, making plans for what could be done. In the end she gave up and continued on with her walk. She looked around, seeing the misty forest floor, noting its beauty. It was late November now and the days were becoming cold with the onset of winter. Serenity had yet to see snow. She had always loved snow, despite its coldness.
As she continued on, she looked up at the lofty branches of the trees and at the last leaves, holding on for dear life, and watched as they were continually losing that battle, falling to the earth, crumbling and decomposing into its surface. Serenity watched them blackly, not thinking of them, only acknowledging their existence. She watched the dark browns of the leaves, the yellows of those not quite dead, and the deep reds of those who just refused to die. Every once in a while, she would pass an ever green, thick and ready for winter's cold nights. She breathed the crisp air and huddled her jacket around her. This was what she loved about the woods, it was peaceful. You could forget things here and travel to another world, when in reality you would be only a few miles from an industrial city.
As she breathed that air, cold and moist with the falling mist, she looked up at the sky. It was bleak and white. There was no color to it. It was only a continuing whiteness, stretching out and reaching. She pulled her jacket tighter as she realized just how cold it was. And then, as she was looking up, she wished for snow. The sky was white, the air was cold, the trees seemed ready, the mist fell, but where was the snow? And then, as though Heaven was granting a wish to her, it fell. As she looked around, she could only see a few flakes falling to the warm ground and disappearing as the melted into the earth. She held out hope, however. Perhaps the snow would stick.
With snow, came an irresistible feeling. She could not ignore it; it came upon her so quickly and suddenly. She had no time to think of it, no time to shun it away from her. She giggled now, laughing as if she was a child. She wanted to escape, to go somewhere far off in her own land far away from existence. She followed that desire and bounded down the beaten path in the woods that led to her clearing. She thought of herself at first as a princess, run away from home, and then as a lady of the woodland. Her adult self told her that this was stupid. She stopped running and looked around her. There was no one to tell her "no". For now, she could be whomever she wished. She followed that dream.
As she came to the clearing, she began to think of herself as a queen of snow. Fantasy had always interested her. It was as though she was living it now. She could forget her troubles, forget the Kaiba Mansion, and most of all forget Seto. It wasn't that she wanted to forget him deliberately; it was that she wanted to be free. Freedom was what she had here and now. It was a feeling that could not be explained with human description.
She frolicked along the edges of her clearing, picking from the ground as she went the wild flowers that had survived this first cold wave. She thought of them as something beside flowers that not even she could explain. She was lost in her fantasy now, playing as if she was a little girl in a wonderland. She was alone, without any direction or anyone to tell her that she couldn't. She loved it.
As she looked around, she saw that the snow was beginning to stick. The plants were becoming frosted with small crystals of ice as the clearing was turned into her own type of magical wonderland. She stayed for only a short time before her conscience got the better of her. It told her that Seto would be waiting, that he would be mad, but still there was hope. Perhaps he could be persuaded to come back with her.
Now as she ran through the woods, running literally, she took in the essence of having the wind in your face. She was cold, her hands nearly freezing. She stuffed them into her pockets as she ran. Her face was cold now. She was aware that her nose was runny and that it was probably blotchy with red. That was the consequence for staying out too long in this weather.
As she exited the woods, she hesitated. "I will come back…" she whispered to herself, and yet also to her precious wood. As she ran up though the lawns back to the mansion, she ran up the steps to find Seto there. She stopped and smiled at him.
He smiled back at her, "Where have you been?"
"In the woods," she replied, "I have to show them to you."
"I've been once or twice," he stated casually, and then looking down at her he seemed to notice her appearance, "You look cold."
"Yes," answered Serenity. "It's snowing."
"I see that." Said Seto, "come inside."
Serenity immediately followed him into the warm back rooms of the mansion. Her face flushed with color, she began to unbutton her coat, beating the snow out of it as she went. She could see Seto leave the room silently as she finished with her task. Following him, she came to the library. She could see him walk over to the fire place as she immediately followed suit.
"What are you doing?" she asked, wondering about his day and why he was not working away as a slave of darkness for his company.
"I'm taking a day off," he answered.
At this Serenity could almost feel herself jump. It was extremely unlike for Seto to stop any sort of work, let alone take time out of his own job, "any reason?"
"It's snowing," was his answer, "that and I wanted to spend time with you."
Serenity thought of he beloved woods and of the snow. She wanted Seto to be able to enjoy it in the same way she did. In the end, she gave up, decided that it was too cold to go out into the snow now. Instead, she just collapsed against Seto.
She could feel his arm wrap around her, then a kiss on the top of her head. She wrapped her small arms about him and squeezed him. She could feel his warmth against her, feel his passion. It wasn't long before they were locked into an embrace that they could not back out of…
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Well, I guess you could call that last paragraph a lime. The rating's not high enough to do anything else with 'em. Meh… Next chapter, they go out into the snow at night! Yippie!
Malik: REVIEW!
