Disclaimer: I do not own YGO.
Tour Guide to Memory Lane
Chapter 5
He hovered hesitantly in her doorway, uncertain but unwilling to turn away. She warily sized him up, deciding he was harmless since he could be no more than thirteen years old.
"May I come in?" he asked.
She stared at him for a moment, trying to understand why he too triggered a sense of belonging within her, even as the green silk drapery over her bed had. It was not a side-effect of the sedatives since they had worn off halfway into the morning. It was now mid-afternoon and aside from the nurse, this boy was the only human she had yet seen. Of course, she had not even dared to leave her room to search out anyone. Aside from feeling weak from six weeks of bed rest, there was too much of a risk of crossing paths with the blue-eyed glacier as logic dictated this was his home. So she had been spending her day contemplating the strange scars she had discovered on her hands, wondering where they had come from.
"Yes," she said softly and felt strangely pleased when his face brightened at her reply.
"Seto said I shouldn't bother you, but it's been so long since…" he paused not knowing how to finish.
A part of her didn't want to ask the next question. She had a feeling it might offend him, but not knowing would only make things worse.
"What's your name?"
It was well hidden and she decided he must have been forewarned, for there was only the faintest hint of hurt in his expression.
"Mokuba," he replied as he climbed up onto the bed beside her. His marvelous blue-violet eyes fixed her with a thoughtful gaze. It didn't occur to her to wonder what he might be thinking as she studied those strange eyes, swirling with determination and strength no thirteen year old should be capable of. Was he related to the glacier? How could someone so warm be family with someone so cold?
"He told me you don't remember anything," he said and she pulled out of her musings. "I'm just glad you're okay, if… not having a memory is okay…" he faded off again not knowing what to say.
"It's okay, Mokuba," she said softly. "It isn't a taboo subject."
He smiled slightly. "Is it true that you don't remember anything?"
"I remember waking up in the hospital, and the doctors and the nurses…" she drifted off, realizing that her total memories consisted of only a few days.
"I'll help you remember, Ari," Mokuba declared suddenly and she looked up, favoring him with a smile.
"That's kind of you, Mokuba."
He grinned and jumped off the bed. "You just stick by me, Ari," he crowed as he planted his feet and pointed a confident thumb at himself. "I'll make sure you get your memory back!"
For the first time since waking, Ari laughed. "I guess you are my only hope, Mokuba."
She didn't think it possible, but his grin widened even more. "Don't worry, Ari. You're in good hands."
It was impossible not to regard him with amusement. "So how do you intend to help me remember my past?"
His expression turned thoughtful and he pressed a finger to his lips as he considered her question. "I think we should try to jog your memory with familiar things. I'll take you around the mansion, see if you remember anything. Maybe in a couple days Seto will take you to Kaiba Corp."
"Kaiba Corp?"
"Sure! You have an office on the 16th floor."
"Oh," she said simply.
"Don't worry, Ari," he said, gently patting her knee. "It'll all come back eventually, I'm certain of it."
Her first tour proved fruitless. Nothing seemed to provoke the feeling of familiarity throughout the Kaiba mansion other than Mokuba's company. His presence felt like one she would like to indulge in as frequently as possible as it seemed to hold at bay the anxiety she felt in this new place.
"Don't be discouraged, Ari," he offered confidently. "You only stayed here for a few weeks, so it's okay that you don't remember it right away."
"I didn't live here?" she asked confused.
"Only for a little while. Seto had you put in your old bedroom when they brought you home from the hospital. But you have your own apartment just a few blocks from Kaiba Corp headquarters."
"I see. So, why was I staying here, before, I mean."
"You got hurt," he said simply at first and seeing the blank expression on her face he sighed. "I'd hate for this to be the first thing you remember Ari, but I'll tell you. We were attacked, you and me. Some creeps tried to kidnap me and you saved me. Broke a bottle over the jerk's head just like that!" He emphasized the account with a forceful swing of his arm, evident awe over her act of heroism ringing in his voice. Ari could almost see the imaginary bottle shatter over some unsuspecting man's head.
"Then you and I made a break for it, but they were chasing us and you tripped. I wanted to help you, but you told me to keep going so I ran all the way to Kaiba Corp to get Seto. One of the creeps caught you and," sadness seeped into his pretty eyes, "he started knocking you around. If I could 'uv gotten my hands on that guy…"
Fierce anger flashed across his young face and Ari immediately saw the resemblance the boy shared with the glacier.
"Anyway," Mokuba sighed when his anger subsided. "We took you to the hospital, but the doctor said you were only banged up, nothing broken. Seto decided that until he found those thugs, you were going to stay with us so you would be safe."
He wanted me to be safe? Why would he care?
"Why were those men after us, Mokuba?"
He frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know, Ari. Seto said they were working for someone else, but he never explained everything to me. He thinks there are some things I shouldn't know about."
Ari nodded, intrigued by the story despite the fact that it did nothing for her blank memory. Why would anyone want to hurt Mokuba? There were a number of reasons for kidnappings, but Seto Kaiba had seemed to think she was in further danger as well.
This is too confusing, she thought as she pressed her hands against her temples to still the throbbing that was on the increase.
"Are you okay, Ari?"
"It's just a little headache, Mokuba."
"Probably from trying so hard to remember," he offered. "Well, let's do something else then. We could play a game."
"What kind of game," she asked with interest as she dropped her hands from her head.
The boy grinned. "Take your pick! I've got just about anything you can imagine. But maybe I should start you off with a simple card game."
"Okay," she smiled. "I think I can handle cards."
Kaiba stared blankly at the pile of mail in his hands, sifting through it without seeing. Finally he set it down on the table and turned his face towards the stairs.
"Excuse me, Mr. Kaiba?" a thick accented voice asked and he paused.
"Yes, Rory?"
"Shall I set three plates for dinner, sir?"
He turned then to look at the middle-aged woman who looked as though she belonged on the cover of a cookbook. Of course the entire staff knew Ari had returned to the mansion, but knew little regarding the situation that would follow.
"Ms Nieche will dine alone in her room tonight, Rory," he said softly and she nodded acceptance.
"Very well, sir."
A scowl settled over his features as he turned back to the stairs and ascended quickly to the second floor. He would like nothing more than for things to be as they were before, but he must now shoulder the reality that though Ari had regained consciousness, she was no longer a woman he knew at all. It would be best to avoid contact with her to not aggravate her fears for the time being.
He told himself that was the real reason he didn't want to see her. But a nagging voice of conscience, one the woman had managed to revive within him several months before, reminded him that he loathed to see the fear within her eyes as she looked upon him as a stranger. Had anyone warned him it to be possible, never would he have believed that love could so easily be forgotten, especially by a woman as tender and sincere as Ari Nieche.
Laughter filtered down the hall and his steps froze, his heart leaping as it wasn't meant to do when encased in ice. That sound, that voice…
He urged his steps forward until the soft murmur beneath the laughter took shape into voices and words.
"You should have seen him, all covered in mud. All you could see were his eyes just blinking in shock! After that he demanded a reassignment so Seto sent him to one of the subsidiary labs and Washiro became my new bodyguard."
"I suppose it would take a resilient man to keep up with you, Mokuba," Ari replied with a cheered smile. It felt good to laugh and throughout the afternoon Mokuba had regaled her with animated stories of his antics until she forgot that she was nothing more than a blank slate. "I think it's your turn."
"Oh, right!"
Seto peered through the open door at the two sitting on the floor of Ari's bedroom with cards spread out before them in a game of Rummy 500. Nurse Jiura was sitting indifferently in a corner reading a book. As long as Ari was not having a hysterical breakdown, her services were not required.
For the first time in his life, Kaiba felt a sharp pang of jealousy for his brother. It was plain that Ari did not fear the boy. Far from it, he seemed to have the same uplifting effect on her as he had had before she lost her memory. It was almost like she had never forgotten him at all!
The painful anger that swept over him was not eased by the charmed laughter he had missed for so long. She laughed for someone else and this incensed him even more. His fist clenched and the slight motion caught her attention.
Ari stiffened almost instinctively before she even locked eyes with him. The cards in her hand were immediately forgotten, slipping and falling like the dead leaves of autumn.
"Ari?" Mokuba looked up surprised at her suddenly stricken expression. Following her gaze, his eyes brightened when he saw Seto.
"Big brother, you're home! I thought you would be working late!"
"Not tonight," Kaiba said simply, his voice devoid of emotion. His gaze never shifted from her, trapped by those pale eyes.
Mokuba swung his head back to Ari. "Ari, are you okay?" he asked as he reached out to touch her. Suddenly she leaped up and took several steps back.
"Ari?"
"Stay away," she whispered and hurt washed across Mokuba's face. The warning had not been for him, but he felt it all the same.
"Ari it's okay," he said as he stood and took a step towards her.
"NO!" she screamed as she fell to her knees and grabbed her hair, folding in on herself.
Mokuba stared stunned as the Nurse flew between them and wrapped her arms around the woman.
"Shh. It's okay! I'm right here! No one is going to hurt you," El Jiura assured her as she hugged the trembling woman.
Seto watched dispassionately from the doorway, never having moved an inch throughout the moment.
"Mokuba," he called and his little brother turned towards him with wide eyes. "She needs her rest," Kaiba told him and turned away. After a few moments, he heard Mokuba leave the room and close the door on the aching cries.
