Disclaimer: Same as it was a year ago!

Rating: R! Though it's actually earning that rating a bit more now.

Summary: Nightmares, apologies and.. murder?

Author's Notes: I just haven't written this in like a fucking bajillion years.. . Anyway, here it is. And even though it's longer than any of the other chapters, I still feel that it's rather whore.. but I'm also a loser, so whatever. Here you go. Ignore any mistakes, as I'm a very horrid editor.

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The water.. it was so dark, murky.. it had to be the dirtiest water she had ever seen, let alone been in. It reached up past her head, and she could barely break the surface, no matter how hard she tried.

She was mad at her mother.. mad at her mother for doing what she had done; but she still loved her.. How could she not love her mommy? Mommy did all sorts of bad things, but she'd always be forgiven.. It was daddy who had to be stopped.. daddy didn't love them.. She had to break the surface, so she could go home to mommy, and take her far away from daddy. It was the only way!

Her breath came out in ragged gasps when she was finally able to bring her head above the water, and she gulped in air great fully. Reaching around in the darkness for something to grab onto to keep herself up, this time. Her hands only met cold, rough, stone walls, but she dug her nails in where she could and clung to it anyway.

Why did you do it, mommy? Why did you have to be so cruel.. I was being good.. I'm a good little girl.. I'm not bad like daddy and that other man in the white jacket says.. I'm really not.. I'm a good little girl..

She whimpered, and clawed at the stone she clung to. Trying to fight her way up it, so she could just get out.

I won't hurt you any more, mommy!

One of her nails snapped off at it's base, and she cried out in pain. Losing most of her grip on the wall, she slid down the tiny way she had managed to climb, and screamed again when another two of her nails were taken on the way down.

She hit the icy water with an utterly silent splash and slowly slid underneath. Not fighting to get back up again; just slowly sinking.

Why did you do it..? I-- no.. not any more.. I won't.. I won't depend on it.. you won't come and save me, mommy.. you don't care if I'm being a good girl.. but no.. now I'll be like they say I am. I'll be the bad little girl.. everybody's afraid of..

She continued to slowly sink downward until she hit the bottom. When she did, her brown eyes snapped open, and she just glared upward through the dark water.

I hate you, mommy.. and I hate daddy, too.. Because of what you all did.. because of it--

---

Rayne woke up screaming, and sat up so quickly, and so damn straight, that her back cracked insanely. Her blue eyes wide, she stared around her dark room quietly; waiting.

She didn't sleep often, in fact she never really slept at all. It was very rare for Rayne to find a moment of quiet to herself where she could actually force herself into the rest she knew she could function without.. but it was so freaky.. not having to sleep. Rayne didn't like being abnormal.. papa already thought she was some kind of defect as it was, without having to deal with the no sleeping thing, too.

So she would cover it up as best as she could.. go to bed when she was told, and pretend to sleep.. She was positive that nobody knew about her problem, and the nobody ever would. Well, not for a long time, at least.

There was something she dreaded about actual sleep, though.. something horrible. Whenever she could get herself to sleep.. she had these.. dreams. It was like she was having visions.. but not of something to come; it felt more like something that had already passed.

It was always the same dream, too.. with the dark place.. the angry thoughts.. and not being able to escape. It made her feel like she was going crazy.

Rayne had often considered telling her mother about the dream, but she would probably just laugh, shrug it off, and tell her that it was only a dream. That it was nothing. But if it was nothing, why did Rayne always hear that sickeningly kawaii voice of an angry little girl even after she was awake? Whispering.. always whispering:

"Everyone will suffer.."

Rayne shivered, and hugged herself tightly; clenching her eyes shut, and trying - as she did every other time - to just ignore it. Whatever it may be..

---

Seto shut the bedroom door behind him, and made his way down the hallway, rubbing his temples. Shaking his head, he slowly made his way through the mansion and to the kitchen, where he found his daughter sitting quietly at the table. She was staring down at a bowl of rather soggy looking cereal. Frowning slightly, he slowly walked up behind Rayne, and stared down at the cereal as well. The little girl didn't seem to notice him. Not yet, at least.

"Rayne?" he whispered, and she practically jumped out of her chair when he did, before going completely still and not saying a thing. This made Seto frown, "Rayne? What are you doing?"

"N-nothing, papa.. n-nothing at all..," she stuttered in reply.

Seto sighed, and went over to the fridge, "Whatever you say, then.."

Rayne fell totally silent.

After pouring himself a glass of water, Seto went back over to the table, and sat down beside Rayne, who visibly flinched when he did. And this made his earlier frown deepen, "Don't be so fucking jumpy. It's annoying."

"S-sorry.."

"And stop fucking stammering like a retard, too. Christ.."

Silence.

Another frown, before he asked, "What happened with your mother before she passed out?"

Again, silence.

"Answer me, you stupid little bitch!" Seto practically yelled, and slammed his glass down on the tabletop.

Rayne instantly pushed her chair out of the way, and almost fell out of it while getting to her feet. She stared wide-eyed at her father, before opening her mouth to very, very quietly ask: ".. why do you want to know?"

Rising to his feet disturbingly slowly, Seto glared down at his daughter. "Don't answer my question with another question, you insolent little wretch.. Just tell me what happened with your mother."

"I don't know."

"Bullshit!" he laughed hoarsely, "You fucking know everything about that cunt.. You're around her almost twenty-four fucking seven. Now tell me."

"I.. I honestly don't know, papa.." and she looked like she didn't know, either. But Seto wasn't about to acknowledge the expression on her face. Not any time soon, at least.

He scowled, "So.. if you're lying, and you do know what happened.. I'm going to kick your ass, and you know it. But, if you are telling me the truth, and you have no idea.. I'm going to kick your ass anyway for not keeping an eye on your mother. Now, decide whether or not you're gonna be honest with me, Rayne, because it's lose-lose for you either way."

Again, she fell silent.. But this time it looked as if she were thinking over her options. She apparently took too long to think, as Seto was soon up on his feet again, just glaring at her.

"Never mind," he growled, just leaving her sitting there, hoping that her mama would wake up soon so that she wouldn't have to deal with her father as much.

---

Getting out of bed proved to be quite the difficult task for Mai, who had just fully woken up after dozing off when Seto had left the room. Her arms and legs felt like lead... It was as if she had been in a coma for the past week. Oh.. wait. She had.

"Goddamned..," grumbled Mai, as her most recent attempt at pushing herself into a sitting position with her arms failed horribly. She was far weaker than she should be for somebody who was only out of it for seven days, but... Mai wasn't really paying attention to that much detail. Again, she tried to shove herself up into a sitting position, and upon failing once more, she opted for just rolling off of the bed, and onto the floor. Hoping somebody would hear the disturbingly loud 'thud' and come to help her.

So, there on the floor, she waited... And she waited... Oh, she waited a good three hours without somebody coming to help her. After that, though... She waited some more. At least an hour more, before just deciding that maybe a little bit more rest would help... She went back to sleep, and woke up one day later.

This time, when she tried to get up, she was greeted with much more success, albeit unexplained success, but success nonetheless. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, she used the nearby dresser to pull herself to her feet. Upon doing that, she began to open the dresser drawers to find a better pair of pajamas to wear... Every single drawer was empty, save one, which contained one pair of exactly what she was looking for. Mai slowly undressed, and changed into the clean clothes... She then stumbled her way over to the door, and out into the hallway.

Once out of the room, she looked up and down the hall, and was a bit shocked to find that she had been staying in one of the guest rooms down on the main floor of the mansion. She found it odd, but didn't bother to think about it any further. Deciding to head for the kitchen, to at least get some food, she stumbled off in that direction. And a good meal, one shower, and three hours later she was feeling very much refreshed, and a helluva lot stronger than when she'd woken up.

---

Making her way upstairs, Mai was rather intent on finding out where Seto had gone off to, seeing as she was pretty sure it was one of his days off. Upon reaching the upper hallway, she was somewhat shocked and confused to find a piece of paper spread out across the floor, with an arrow pointing in the direction of hers and Seto's room, and a bit up from that one, there was another paper arrow.. And then another, and another. Intrigued, she decided to follow the trail, which-- after about five or six arrows-- changed into a thin path of red rose petals.

Cheeks going slightly red as she reached the closed bedroom door, Mai reached out for the doorknob and put her hand on it, but didn't open the door. Not just yet, at least. Not while she was still trying to figure out what, exactly was going on, as this certainly wasn't something that had happened before... So, seeing as Seto was the only person who could have done this, it was just strange-- utterly strange and confusing.

Taking in a deep breath, and trying to ignore the fact that her face was now very hot, Mai turned the knob, and opened up the door to be greeted by...

Complete darkness.

And then lights far too dim than should be as she reached out to the right and flicked the light switch on; soon hoping that she hadn't, because before her was something that she never, ever would have expected in this lifetime, or any other.

Before her, the trail of roses led toward the bed-- which was decked out in what had to be the finest black satin sheets and bedspread in the entire mansion-- and were scattered rather lightly across the blanket, as well. Seto was sitting on the bed, leaned up against the headboard, reading one of his favorite American books-- something by Thomas Harris.. Red Dragon, perhaps-- and wearing nothing but his black pajama bottoms and a pair of glasses. He didn't seem to notice Mai was even there; that is, until she let out the breath that she had been holding in.

"Are you surprised?" he asked, looking up with a smile that sent one amazingly cold shiver down her spine.

She was nearly speechless, but she managed to nod and ask with a bit of difficulty, "Should I not be?"

Seto shook his head, and put his book down on the bedside table as he got to his feet, laughing quietly, "No, you should be. At least, Im hoping you are." He started to make his way toward Mai, but made a stop at the stereo, digging through some CDs. "I hope you understand English."

Recognizing the CDs as Rayne's, Mai shook her head, "No. I don't," she lied.

"Well," breathed Seto, "that's a pity." After a few more minutes fiddling with some CDs and the stereo, Seto pressed play, and started to grin lightly when a song that Mai recognized started up: it was a song by some American band-- Maroon 5-- called Sweetest Goodbye. She didn't know the lyrics, but it was still a familiar song for her.

"Seto..," she almost hesitated, before asking, "... What are you doing?"

"I'm apologizing," was the simply reply that made Mai's stomach twist. Seto walked over to Mai, stopping in front of her. She shivered when his arm snaked around to shut and lock the door, and stared at the ground-- feeling unexplainably embarrassed.

"Apologizing?" she repeated, trying to keep her voice level and fighting back the colour that was once again rising in her cheeks. Seto nodded, and Mai forced herself to frown, "How do I know that you won't hurt me again?"

He sighed, shrugging, "You don't," he said, "because I haven't said that I'm not going to; but I can tell you that I'll try."

"Trying isn't good enough," she mumbled loud enough for him to hear. He moved closer, and Mai had to tear her eyes away from his chest, looking off to the side instead-- she was not allowed to stray off track; not now that she had the chance to talk to him about all of this.

"I know it isn't," he agreed, "and you know that it's the most I can do."

Mai closed her eyes, shaking her head, "You can do more than try.."

"No," Seto calmly argued, "I can't."

She kept her eyes clenched shut, "You can.."

"No," he whispered, and Mai almost jumped when she felt his breath hot against the side of her neck; with her eyes closed, she hadn't noticed him lean down. "I can't."

This time, she didn't bother arguing, just stood completely still, trying to ignore how much she wanted to jump Seto at this time. She did her best to keep her thoughts as far from the way he was breathing against her neck as possible, and turned her attention to focus on the music that was playing in the background-- although she knew English, she couldn't seem to make out one word of what the lyrics to the song was, and she muttered in annoyance, albeit incoherently.

"What was that?" he asked, and Mai's attention was yanked away from the song that she couldn't understand and back to Seto, who practically had his body pressed against hers now; they weren't even touching, but she could feel the heat radiating from him.

She took more than a moment to responded, "Nothing," she grumbled; unconsciously taking one step forward to push herself closer to him. He grinned, and the only reason that Mai could notice it was because Seto's lips were now pressed against the patch of sensitive skin behind her ear-- she felt like she was going to melt.

"It sounded like something," he said, and Mai jumped slightly when she felt his lips moving.

Her face was starting to get even more red, if that was humanly possible.. and she wondered just why in the hell she was even being so awkward.

"You're nervous," he pointed out, and Mai found herself nodding in agreement, "Why?" he asked.

"I'm.. waiting for you to hit me," she lied.

"No you're not. I meant 'nervous' as in you're blushing," Seto clarified.

"I am not!" she protested, now getting even more embarrassed about the fact that he'd noticed.

"You are. I can feel it."

"Right.." she said-- of course he could feel it, her whole damn body was burning by now. Seto didn't say anything else, and Mai also fell silent-- they stayed like that for about ten minutes before he spoke up:

"You can leave me if you want. I won't try and stop you this time." he took a step back, and now that Mai could clearly see his face, it was obvious that he was worried-- calm, but worried. Probably worried about my answer, she thought.

"I might," said she, and the look that flickered across Seto's face confirmed her suspicions, "I probably will."

"Well," he started only somewhat shakily, "I don't blame you."

"I don't blame me, either," she frowned, "I'm going to bed-- I'll sleep in Rayne's room."

She hadn't even started to turn around when Seto stopped her, "No," he put a hand on her shoulder, and she felt her whole body shake when he did, "stay here tonight. Please.."

"Seto, I can't.." she knew what would happen if she slept in here with him.. well, she probably wouldn't even get around to sleeping. As much as she wanted him right now, she just couldn't take the risk of being in his arms in the morning and wanting to stay.

"You can," he persisted, turning halfway to face the room and making a wide gesture with his arm "I did all of this.. we can't just let it go to waste, can we?"

"It's beautiful, it really is.. but.. I just can't. Not now."

He turned back to her, "Mai, I'm begging you.." he sounded so desperate.

"I don't care if you're begging, you can't change my mind about this."

"I can.."

"You can't."

"Why not?" he asked, not giving Mai enough time to actually respond before kissing her. For what had to be the billionth time that night, she froze up entirely. "I love you," he mumbled before kissing her again, and this time she responded: slipping an arm around Seto's neck and parting her lips when his tongue begged entrance.

Seto soon had her pinned back against the door, and his desperation from earlier was justified when Mai could feel his arousal pressing against her stomach. It was then that she realized just what was happening, and forced herself to push him away, even though her body was screaming not to.

"Don't," she half-moaned, reaching behind herself to grasp the doorknob, "I'm going to bed.."

"You don't want to go to bed," he whispered.

She stared at Seto silently, briefly wondering whether or not she should stay; maybe she would be able to muster up the strength to have sex with him and still be able to leave in the morning if she so wished to.

"You want me," he continued, "I could feel it in the way you were kissing me, and how you're looking at me right now."

She didn't admit it, but she wouldn't deny it either.

"I'm not trying to make you stay forever," he went on, "just for tonight."

"I.. do you promise that you're not going to make me stay any longer than I want to?" she asked somewhat warily, even though a part of her believed that he was being honest.

"Hai. I promise."

Rather than opening the door, she twisted the doorknob in the opposite direction to lock it. Seto smiled at her, but neither of them moved yet.

"I'm going to kiss you again," he warned, and Mai said nothing against it. When he stepped closer again, she was ready for him-- lips seeking out his before he had a chance to lean close enough to initiate anything himself. Seto tried to push her back against the door again, but Mai wouldn't let him.

"No," she broke away from him, mumbling, "bed."

He seemed just slightly annoyed at that, but Mai felt herself getting hoisted up and into his arms and he took her over to the bed; he sat down on the edge and lowered Mai onto his lap. She was slightly amused when Seto grabbed her hips to keep her from moving when she tried to get herself comfortable.

"You said that you don't know English, right?" he asked, taking her off guard.

"What? No, I know--" wait, she had t old him that she didn't, right? "Ah.. no, I don't."

He smiled-- actually smiled-- like had done before, and it made her feel something that she couldn't quite describe; she was shivering when he leaned in to kiss her, and she was surprised when she didn't feel his lips against hers. "Seto?" she asked.

"Mm, yes?" his voice was directly beside her ear, and he was speaking very quietly.

"What are you doing?"

He laughed, rubbing his cheek against hers-- she could feel him grinning, "Nothing."

"Liar."

"I am not a liar."

She started to grin somewhat herself, "You so are."

His laughter subsided, "Think what you will."

"I'm going to, thanks."

"That's good," Seto muttered, before the two of them fell silent for what was definitely not the first time that night.. or day.. or whatever it was-- Mai wasn't entirely sure.

"You're not going to make me do all the work, are yo--" her sentence was cut short when she felt Seto's hand slip inside her shirt, quite obviously seeking out her breasts; her back arched, pushing her chest against his hand when it reached its destination. "I'll take that as a 'no'," she groaned, biting down on her lower lip.

He was whispering something in her ear, but she couldn't quite make out what it was-- she was far too busy focusing on his gently massaging hand. Even through her bra, his touch was enough to set her nerves on fire.

".. far as an eternity.." was a little excerpt of what Seto was saying to her that she actually managed to catch, and though her mind already wasn't making much sense of anything, she knew that those words would have been confusing even if she was thinking properly.

It took her another few seconds than it should have to form coherent words, "Mm.. what was that?" she questioned, and he didn't respond, just continued to say whatever he'd been telling her already. Now frustrated, she forced her mind away from what she was currently feeling and to the voice that was breathing down her neck.

".. I'll never leave you behind, or treat you unkind.." he said, and the tone he was using with her was a very normal one, but it made her breath catch in her throat-- not because of the context of his words, but because she understood what he was doing: he was translating. He thought that she didn't know English, and he was translating the song-- which she now realized was probably on repeat-- that he had put on earlier.

"Seto.." she gasped out, pressing herself even closer to his body. There was something about him doing that that she just found so extremely.. romantic, and it just turned her on more than she already was.

He leaned back, sitting up somewhat properly and flashing Mai a smile that appeared to be somewhat smug and gave her a fleeting suspicion that he was up to something.

"And with a tear in my eye,

Give me the sweetest goodbye

That I ever did receive."

Mai was starting to get rather fidgety, and she was squirming around on Seto's lap-- he tried to stop her with the hand he still had on her hip and his grip on her breast roughened considerably, though it was really no use. There was something just building up inside of her chest, and when she felt him hard against the inside of her thigh she just let it out and moaned-- quietly, but so deeply that she was sure she felt Seto shiver from it.

"Pushing forward and

Arching back;

Bring me closer to heart attack.

Say good bye and just

Fly away.

When you come back,

I have something to say."

She felt the head of his hand leave her breast as the skin of her stomach went cold and her vision was momentarily obscured when Seto tugged on her shirt, pulling it up and over her head; he threw it somewhere across the room. She only remained cold for a moment before his hands were running across her abdomen and around to her back, searing her flesh wherever he touched her; he skillfully removed her bra, and it found its way across to where her shirt had gone.

"How does it feel to know

You'll never have to be alone,

When you get home?

There must be some place here

That only you and I could go,"

He flashed her an award winning grin and kissed her quickly, "So that I can show you how I feel." he moved out of the way when Mai tried to get him to kiss her again.

"Don't do this to me, Seto," she whined.

His grin brightened, "Do what to you?"

"Make me want to fuck you."

"When don't you want to fuck me?" he laughed.

She hesitated, and mainly because she was antsy enough for it to be hard to concentrate on one thing. "When you hit me," was her answer.

"Well, I'm not hitting you right now."

She kissed him, somehow gathering up the willpower to make it quick, "I know, and that's the problem."

One of his eyebrows rose, "What? You want me to?"

"No! No," she shook her head, hoping it would work as an emphasis that she didn't want that, "I just don't think that we should do this right now-- oh." she went tense when she felt Seto's lips at her neck, slowly kissing and nipping downward.

"Seto, don't.. I'm trying to tell you something," she muttered; groaning in annoyance when he wouldn't stop. Goddamn him, she mentally cursed as his lips found their way down between her breasts. Grabbing onto his shoulders, she wanted to push him away but ended up using him as some kind of grip on reality. Though her mind was going foggy again, it became apparent that this was Seto's way of keeping her from scolding him.

She could feel his muscles flex beneath her hands as he wrapped his arms around her waist to pull the lower half of his body as close to him as he could. Running her hands down and along his back, Mai was slightly confused to find that he seemed so much colder compared to her, but was still quite content with the feel of his skin against hers.

"Seto..," she moaned quietly, not at all trying to gain his attention, although she did anyway. He lifted his head away from her chest, shooting her a questioning look.

"You still want me to stop?"

She stared at him like he was crazy, and spoke in a similar fashion, "No I don't, you tricky bastard."

Seto seemed quite proud of himself, "You know you love it."

"No," she went serious, "I love you."

He tilted his head to the side, sounding as if he hadn't already known that, "Then why will you leave?"

"Can we talk about this later?"

It seemed like he was getting a bit angry, "I want to know now."

"You know why, Seto."

"No, I don't."

".. I'm leaving because I hate you."

He scoffed, "This from the woman who just said she loves me.."

Mai sighed, "Just because I love you doesn't mean I'm not allowed to hate you. Are you going to kiss me again?"

Seto didn't say anything, just frowned at her silently for a few seconds before moving forward to kiss her. He was interrupted mere centimetres from her lips when the bedroom door flew open.

"Mama!" it was Rayne.

Seto's eyes narrowed, glaring over Mai's shoulder at the little girl in the doorway before leaning back to give his wife the same look, "What the fuck?"

"I locked the door.." she mumbled. At least.. she thought she had locked the door.. damnit. Mai glanced back over her shoulder at Rayne, who looked like she had recently been crying, ".. What's wrong?"

The girl sniffled, and she looked devastated about something, "I think I killed Sara's parents.."