Dedicated to my grandfather, Tin De Peng. The most wonderful, thoughtful, lively man that I've admired since my young childhood, the man whom I'll always cherish inside my heart without a bit of spite.
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Two Years Ago
By Winterwing3000
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Seto stared blankly at the picture before him.
Two years ago... two years ago, so many things, so many wonderful things happened to him.
Like their first kiss, full of passion and eagerness.
Like their first date, full of surprises and excitement.
Like their first anniversary, full of love and happiness.
Two years ago, just exactly two years ago, she walked in to his heart and changed his soul.
Like when she literally slapped some sense into him.
Like when she showed him the upsides of the world.
Like when she gave him everything that she had.
Two years ago, there were such happy times with the three of them...
Like their mini family picnic at the park and were feeding ducks and geese that were present.
Like their special Christmas morning when her eyes sparkled with joy and gayness at receiving something that she had wished for so long.
Like their birthdays with a small cake and close friends presents circulating them.
But now, two years later, she is cut out of his life permanently... forever, like his childhood.
Like when his loyal husky, Teddy died saving him when he was three.
Like when his mother died from a mysterious fire when he was six.
Like when his father died from a tragic car accident when he was nine.
Two years ago, they took this picture, all three of them smiling happily towards the camera.
Like when he first realized that she was everything to him.
Like when Mokuba found out that they were together at last (seeing that his efforts weren't wasted).
Like when she woke up after a night of being ravished by love and desire.
And now... two years later... her smile is nothing but a ghostly memory that haunts him day and night.
In his nightly dreams, she falls into her own blood.
Her beautiful eyes were dull, without the glowing life that he always saw within her.
Her lush hair was fanned underneath her, creating an ethereal halo.
Her pale pink lips parted in a shocked 'oh'.
Her slender fingers glided up to where the deadly shot hit its mark.
Her creamy nightgown stained with the coppery scent of blood.
And her eyes closes, slowly as death inches towards her with the scythe rose.
And it came down, scattering her life into nothingness.
And all he could do was bang desperately on the projectile wall that separated them from each other.
His eyes were wide with fear and shock.
His hair was tousled into a helpless state.
His own blood slipped down his forehead like a spider's web.
His hands were scaring, bruising, bleeding from smashing it repeatedly against the barrier that kept his beloved away from his arms.
And every fitful night, he would wake up and blindly feeling for her sleeping contently next to him only to be alone in the great world.
In the mornings of the following nights, he would always smell the fragrance of coffee reaching to his senses.
However when he expected Anzu in the kitchen cooking blueberry pancakes at the electric-stove humming a merry tune to herself and when she wasn't looking, he would sneak up on her and kiss the shell of her ears, murmuring huskily 'good morning'.
There was nothing there but thin air and cold coffee from last night.
Mokuba always left before he would wake up now, leaving the Kaiba mansion emptier than ever.
Seto gingerly lifted up the picture frame, examining closely at the picture that dated back two years ago.
Bitter tears sprung to the corners of his azure eyes, his grip on the frame became a harsh clench.
He raised his hand that held onto the picture above his head and flung it across his study.
And now... the picture of her and him and Mokuba was smashed.
The glass barrier holding it in was scattered dangerously across the carpet floor, glittering in the midnight moonlight.
The ivory frame was cracked and the gold edges flew off.
The case of the memory was broken, but the memory itself was lying facedown on his desk, showing Seto her neat print.
"A family forever... with ever lasting smiles. —November 13th 2002."
A lump was forced up in his throat as his eyes began to water.
Ever lasting smiles huh, love?
Does that include leaving me all alone to grieve for you?
Does that include you leaving my side before you were to become the most beautiful bride ever seen in the world?
Does that include leaving me with nothing for me to remember you by?
Does that include taking our unborn child with you?
The grandfather clock sitting alone in the corner struck one.
Tiredly, Seto hauled himself from the chair and went to the door.
Taking a look at the picture once more, he slammed the door shut with anger and refusal.
As he stormed quietly out the doors and into the dusty falling of snow, a shadow appeared outside of the glass planes.
A draft of a cold breeze caused the drooping curtains to flutter as the glass windows were opened without the help of anything.
The shadow floated into the dark room, the glowing of her body warmed the room with every second she stayed there.
Gently, a pale transparent hand skimmed its finger lightly along the edge of the photograph and hesitantly turned it over.
Painful tears dripped and dropped onto the surface of the picture as the thumb rubbed it back and forth.
"Oh Seto..." She whispered in remorse, stepping out into the night and once more taking flight.
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Walking through the damp and foggy atmosphere of the graveyard, Seto went directly to the only marking stone near the pond where the geese had fled.
The earthy ground beneath him filled his senses as it reminded him how much she admired the garden he gave to her as her twentieth birthday present.
Even though it was snowing so light, it doesn't affect him at all.
The snow was cooling and helpful, it matched his personality pretty well too...
Cold and desolated.
Finally stopping at the cross marble marker, Seto bent down onto the soggy dirt and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping the stone.
Her favorite flowers were present, though it looked a bit old.
"How have you been love? Your friends have visited I see." Seto mumbled quietly to her, removing the old daisies and setting them aside, replacing them with fresh white roses.
"Life has been the same as if you were never in my life... it has grew quieter with every passing year." Tears once more took over his vision.
"Have you ever thought of me? Have you ever visited me in my sleep?" the brunette boy said sadly.
Seto kneeled next to it and placed his fervent forehead on the cool stone, soothing the heat wave of sadness.
Lighting some incense, he went to the front of it and placed the incenses into the dirt in front of her gravestone.
Sitting there, Seto just stared at the slab of stone, watching it with tear-clouding eyes.
"I've been longing to see you... but yet I can't. What is it that keeps you from me, love?" He glared hatefully at the ground, his hand fisting a small amount of dirt.
"Have you tried to see me Seto?" A light voice asked.
"Who?" Seto looked around, dazed at hearing the familiar voice.
Was he hallucinating over loss sleep and appetite?
"Over here love, where you were just looking. If you can't see me with your eyes, look for me with your heart..." The feminine voice said, a hint of sincerity.
Seto closed his eyes, taking in calm breaths before opening them again.
There she was, sitting in all her goddess glory on her own death marker.
She was captivating as ever.
Her hair was crowned with flowers and ferns, twisted in an intricate braided style.
Donned in a white feathery gown caused her to look more angelic than the wings that extended from her shoulder blades.
"Could it really be you?" The question came out unsteadily.
"Yes... it is me... how are you Seto?" the girl asked.
"I'm... fine." He struggled to say these words, not looking at her straight in the eyes.
"You were never really a good liar Seto." The girl giggled a bit before approaching him with a serious expression.
Great... just wonderful.
The lack of good caffeine has driven him to be hallucinating.
"No, you're not. You're unhappy because I'm not with you in person. But I'm always with you, residing deep within your heart..." She tapped his chest lightly.
"You've been isolating yourself, being the man that you once were. The ice block of Kaiba Corporation."
The stern accusation caused Seto to stare unblinkingly at his covered hands.
How did she know?
Is she not only a ghoul of Hell that came to toy with his mind?
The small light phantom hands covered his large ones and pushed the sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbow, revealing a disgusting sight of lined scars.
"You've been picking up the razor in the bathroom repeatedly Seto... and each time, it struck my heart to see you go this far..." Silent tears coursed down her rosy cheeks.
"So you saw... if you were watching me, why didn't you show yourself?!" Seto shouted at the angel, who was tracing the brown lines on his colorless skin.
Okay, he was really losing it.
He's talking to thin air, not to his dead lover.
She's buried two yards under the soil, isn't she?
"You were in a state of distraught, or breaking into pieces. The wild thoughts that roams in your head were killing you slowly, causing your heart and soul to be blinder than any bat alive." She reasoned logically.
"I broke my own heart to see you like this. I didn't dare to show myself to you until now because... you were high on adrenaline over my death. And it caused you to do these things to yourself."
"And now... you have to stop this insanity."
Fine, so she does know what he's doing to himself.
But what can he do to stop it?
What can she do to stop it?
"Don't look like that. A scowl would kill the handsome smile on your face Seto." She jested lightly.
"To change, all you need to do is accept the facts. I'm dead in person, but not in spirit or soul. I'm always next to you... or somewhere nearby you. And you just need to feel me with your heart... your eyes are useless..."
Seto nodded dumbly as she gave him a shy smile.
"And before I leave, how would you like to see your son?"
How is it that the weird things always found their way to him?
First case was with those geeks and their magic accessories, second with the stupid illusions of Duel Monsters popping up in the world, third with the so-called Egyptian past and him being a reincarnation of a psychotic priest who wanted to dominate the Pharaoh, his own cousin.
Is the world really that small for everything to revolve around him?
Wait! Did she just say... 'his son'?!
"Chiyu! Come meet your father!" The girl shouted into the dark abyss.
Soon, a young boy with wide, innocent, crystal blue orbs and deep chocolate hair sat by his mother, and tilted his head to the side as if thinking curiously.
"'Kaa-san... this really 'Tou-san you talk?" Chiyu asked in a childish tone with mispronunciations here and there.
"Aa Chiyu. This is your 'Tou-san. Seto meet Chiyu, your two year old son." The girl said, turning her eyes from Chiyu to Seto, absentmindedly stroking her son's hair.
Carefully, Seto reached out and tried to feel the warmth that vibrated from his son, Chiyu but only to be disappointed by grabbing thick cold air.
The little boy giggle harmlessly at his father but crawled down from his mother's lap and onto the soil, tugging at Seto's trench coat.
"'Tou-san... no cry please? 'Tou-san cry, Chiyu cry too!" Chiyu exclaimed as he used one of his chubby hands and patted at his father's cheek.
The touch was cold but comforting.
It felt so soft and real.
But they were just ghost, angels, soul illusions, mind tricks... and nothing more.
It's been like that for two years, two years ago, he would've still felt this touch from his beloved.
But that was two years ago.
Just as he came, Chiyu disappeared back into the darkness.
"He didn't have very long to see you... there are limitations for angels to appear before living mortals." She explained gently, seeing the fear in his eyes.
"And my time is about up as well Seto. I'm not just an ordinary angel... I'm a guardian. I guess it's true on what the Christians say. If you do good deeds while you're spending your time on earth, your place in Heaven would be a good one." The girl fidgeted in her white wavy gown, looking up to the stars that were twinkling above them.
Seto followed her gaze and saw a chain of stars hanging over their heads.
Was that the... the Scorpius?
The star constellation of 'The Scorpion'?
"You... are the Guardian of...?" Seto was loss for words.
She watches over his birth sign?
How absurd can this get?!
First he sees her, then learns about his son and now she telling him she protects the Scorpius?
Things are turning really ugly without coffee.
Maybe he should rest a bit when he gets home and then get a nice cup of black coffee with it.
"Of your birth sign? Yes. But look, I'm a guardian of two constellations..." She pointed out the Scorpio and the Leo, her own birth sign.
"So remember... I'll always be looking down at you no matter what comes to pass. I have to be going now... my time is up. But remember this... you'll see me soon. But until then, keep smiling for me!" She said genuinely.
A white light engulfed them and impaired Seto's vision momentarily.
As it faded bit by bit, he swore on his own grave that he felt her lips pressed against his.
It was chilling, traumatizing, delicate, and ... gone.
Seto then realized that he was covered in a thin coat of snow from sitting there for so long...
He had left at one in the morning and now it was... four... did the time really fly?
Standing up, Seto brushed himself free from the snow and took one more glance at the gravestone.
Bending over, he placed a butterfly kiss on the rock, melting the snow with his warm lips and wiped the crystallized water off, tracing the writing lovingly and straightened himself.
"I'll visit you again soon love. Wait for me when I return..." Seto said to the sky, as the gazing stars were disappearing from his sight.
With a puff of visible breath 'goodbye', Seto walked out of the cemetery and to his parked Ferrari.
The snow ceased to fall as he left the marker and a gently sway of the willows brought a string of sugar-covered leaves onto it.
"Mazaki Anzu. August 18th 1983—November 13th, 2002. Loving Daughter, Loyal Friend, Beautiful Fiancé. May The Wings of Faith be With Her, Wherever She Might Be."
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Tin De Peng. November 14th 1929—November 13th 2002. –To my caring grandfather... may our prayers be with him for eternity.
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AN: Anyhow, the date for my grandfather's birth might be off a few years or so, but that doesn't matter... all that matters is that he's happy up there with all the things we've given him. This isn't one of my best works at all... it is just dull and lame... but I couldn't help it. I was crying myself to type this for him. Reviews or Comments? Anything is welcomed...