A/N: Hey guys thanks for the reviews. I'm glad I got a chance to write before my break. ZZz. Well, anyway I hope you all would enjoy my chapter, it would be cool. Thanks a lot to all who reviewed last chapter !

Wicked
Telecoi
joshua aka seto and serenity lover

Pixiewolf3
A. Valentine
mariks1andonly
Walis
Setine
Raven's Darkness
icefire3
Serenity Kou
InsaneShadowFan
setoxserenity-4ever
chinxy
flowerperson
Seto's Girl 2004
biggest anime fan
newblue

ShibiChicken
StarWolf4
xxTaintedcv

Black Mistress

A/N: Thanks bunches ! I don't own YGO.

Chapter 19: Home Again

"Joe-wee," Serenity laughed, "Leggo of me already! I'm not a ghost, but you're gonna crush me to death!" As he crushed her around the stomach, it rumbled. Boy, am I hungry!

"Oh, sorry, sis," he lessened his crushing grip, "I jest can't get ova how solid you feel-" He patted her on the back, obviously checking for something. "Um-sis-how come yer not wearin' yer underwear?"

"Joey! Is that what you say to your beloved sister after you haven't seen me in two weeks?" She went through the kitchen door and put down the heavy bag with a grimace. He always blurts out embarassing things! It's so uncool!

His boyish smile returned as he followed her to the refrigerator ("Refrigerator!" exclaimed Serenity gladly). "Sorry sis, here lemme fix ya somethin' ta eat. Ya must be starvin' like me."

"And how!" she agreed, her eyes taking in everything from the dingy gray-green kitchen floor that had once been green tiles, to the yellowish tint of the fluroscent light on the spackled ceiling pouring down. It all seemed so beautiful. I'm Home. "You know, Joey, I kinda feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, you know - when she finally came home."

Joey laughed at that and came over with two roast beef with lettuce and tomato and onion sandwiches and set it between them. "Didja click yer ruby red shoes three times an' make a wish?" I'm joking, but it's a miracle that she's alive.

"Something like that . . . " Serenity carefully plucked the bulging sandwich up to her mouth and bit; the mustard spilled out and it tasted heavenly. "Mm. It's the best thing I've have ever tasted, and I'm not exaggerating." Chewing and swallowing, she proceeded to tell him what had really happened.

"Say wha? Ya got attacked by pirates?" Joey said, leaning forward in interest in his seat across from her. "An' a tornado? Geez, sis, you really were Dorothy, ya know what I mean?."

"Well, not attacked, at least the second time," she amended. From being constantly so hungry for so long, her stomach seemed to have shrunk to cope with starvation. She was already full. "So, what happened to you? After the tornado hit?"

Seeing her curious expression, Joey replied. "Well, afta the water spout hit, ya know, I was thrown inta da water an' nearly drowned, ya know!" ("Mm hm," said Serenity.) "Den I found Yuge and Tea in da water, holdin' on a piece of debris, ya know, 'cause da boat was totally in pieces - oh, sorry sis."

"It's okay," she said after she had flinched. It was still a scary thing to remember. "So you swam back?"

"Yeah, last thing I know before I passed out, I saw da Coast Guard headin' fer us." He shook his head. "I really tried ta find ya sis! But I really thought you were gone."

She bowed her head in acknowledgment and understanding.

" . . . " Joey couldn't speak for a while. " . . . Den I found yer note." He hurried off in the direction of the living room, leaving his plate untouched. Serenity's eyes went wide in confusion, at that and because he never left food like that. He must've been really broken. Maybe I shouldn't have played a ghost . . . but it was still funny!

She was glancing around for her Mom's presence when he returned. It was a greenish Coke bottle, so dirty there was barely a discernable note inside. Serenity gasped lengthily; she opened it and read it - it was her own note she had wrote a week ago or so. "OMG, big brother . . . " she said, sounding just like him when she had pretended to be a ghost, "You got it!"

On impulse, she reread it, remembering all the thoughts and feelings she had had while writing it. Uh oh. "So . . . where's Mom?" she said, hurriedly changing the subject.

"OMG, sis, I have SO much stuff ta tell ya!" he said, slamming his hands down with a bang. Then he sat down and wolfed down. "Soooo much stuff has been happenin' since you've left. I mean, since ya were gone."

"L . . . like what?" Her fingers curled down the Coke bottle as she slid into her seat, taking another bite.

"She remarried."

"WHAT?"

"But back to dat Coke bottle." He gestured with one hand while the other fed his mouth.

"Wait-! What's this about Mom remarrying? Who?" She said blankly with a blink. Joey paused, swallowing, and noticed how different she looked. There was a certain shrewdness around her demeanor, and her usually warm dark eyes was gazing at him fixedly. Well, I guess living in da jungle would make a person more unsettled. I dunno. A noise of a tree branch hit aganist the window, Serenity jumped a foot and took a quick look around.

"Geez, sis . . . " he said as her boring look fixed in him again, "Doan look at me all shrewd. Mom remarried Dad. Today." He scowled, not liking either.

I'm . . . in shock. This is me . . . totally in shock. Serenity felt her jaw hit the floor. "WHAT?" she yelled again. "This is wonderful, Joey! Now, we can be a family again!"

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled as she hugged him again. "At least I get ta spend more time wit ya, dat's fer sure. An' I tell ya, after dis, I'm neva lettin' ya outta my sight again!"

Serenity's smile dropped. "Uhhh . . . right. Well, tell me! How did it happen?" she said eagerly.

"Well . . . ya know . . . da usual way," said Joey. "Ma was all torn up about you bein' dead, and Pop was really shaken up when the telegram came to our 'partment." He didn't like either of their parents so he wasn't as thrilled. "They met atcher funeral, and Ma was sobbin' when they lowered what was left of you - yer windbreaker and s . . shorts." He looked her up and down then, taking note of her baggy white T-shirt and red pants.

"And? And?"

"An' . . . dat's how dey got ta talkin'." Joey shut up and concentrated on his food mutely.

Serenity, however, was enthralled. "Wow . . . " They must've eloped! How romantic! "And . . . Dad . . . isn't . . . you know . . . "

Another deeper scowl. "Well, he doesn't drink anymore, if dat's whatcha mean." It was. Serenity stood, beaming as he went on, "An' yer death really made him change. So, sis, about dat Coke bottle . . . you did write it, right? I recognized ya handwriting." Now it was Joey's turn to put her on the hot seat. "So . . . tell me . . . how did he treat you?"

Gulp. Serenity thought fast; she knew that she had - stupidly - written who else was on the island with her, and that included Kaiba. And by the way Joey was boring her with an impaling stare, he knew. Plus, he had even stopped eating. "Really. Well. You know, that's a really, really, really nice shirt you have on, big brother - oh hey, Mom!"

She was saved when the front kitchen door opened. Joey was disappointed, but determined. "S . . . Serenity . . . " Her mother fainted, when she saw her dead daughter standing there, beaming. Her father started slapping her cheeks, and she revived after a while. "Honey . . . she's alive! Oh, thank the Lord! Thank you Jesus."

Serenity straightened, and was again engulfed in both her parents' crushing embraces as they all praised God. Joey's question had made her wonder about Seto. I wonder if he's doing all right and is as happy as me to be back?

Meanwhile

Scowling, tipping the guard's cap low over his forehead, Seto stopped before the meeting room, to overhear some information about Mokuba's whereabouts. "Has the mission been successful, Gangsley?"

"No," answered a gruff voice. "The old man never returned alive. But it doesn't matter. According to the law, it's has been over fifteen days now. If the owner of a corporation doesn't return in fifteen days, it is automatically passed down to the next of kin."

Chuckles. "And has the little boy been taken 'care' of?"

"He is in an orphanage in St. Brutus." Appreciative murmurs. "But . . . there are rumors the little rascal escaped when they were cleaning his cell. Mwa ha ha." Disappointed groans. Seto clenched his fists. "But no matter; alone on the streets he will perish anyway." Not taking any more, he eased silently into the room and whipped off his hat- "-Kaiba Corporation is property - huh?"

"Of me!" There was a scrambling back as everybody gaped in their suits. Some were on the verge of fainting, then turned and ran away. Seto glared at the rest of them. "GET OUT of MY HOUSE!"

"Y-yes!" They all knew it was him, back from the dead, by that unmistakable rasp of his. And it was at its raspy-est. Yep, still got it; Seto watched in satisfaction as they all scurried away; the last one even hit the light switch. No matter. Standing in the glow of the streetlight from outside, Seto really did feel good to be back. Then he got a good look in the mirror. Whoa. And saw what scared them away.

Meanwhile, Joey was still trying to ask her that question while Serenity retold her parents of what happened; he gave up and settled back into scowling. I guess they're right, the important thing is dat she's all right, but . . . I'm really glad she looks okay.

"Honey, what is dis?" her father's gruff voice asked her, picking up her duffel bag. Serenity scurried over and took it from him. Her smile grew wider, and they all looked at her curiousity etched on their faces.

"That . . . is my surprise. Remember how I told you that pirate contest team that rescued me told me I won? Well . . . " She spilled out the contents' of the bag, a little bit. "I won . . . five million dollars!"

Her family stared at all the gold winking and shining up at them. Hundreds of coins. "It's . . . a miracle, B-bob," he mother said faintly, clutching onto him. Even Joey forgot about his questions, all one million of them. For the moment. Now they'll never have to live in poverty again!

Six days later...

Serenity started to realize every time she said delightedly, "Microwave!" and "Toilet paper!" that her family thought she was weird. So she stopped. (Around them.)

Of course, neither of them knew how she'd suffered; without those "everyday" things. They all took them for granted. Even with toilet paper; she had to go and use a wild bush. And sometimes it had had thorns - ouch - or even poison ivy.

Scratching at her bottom, she absentmindedly turned a page while eating breakfast one morning. Today she was starting in a new private high school, dressed in an expensive uniform with her brother. Her parents hadn't wanted him to disrupt his studies - he was a junior and she a freshman - but now they wanted her to be under constant supervision, at all times!

That sucked.

"Hi, Joey! Ready for school?" she said, in a bright good morning. Joey was a bit grumpy about leaving his other friends in his old high school, but they'd promised him they'd keep in touch.

"Sis, what're ya readin'?" he mumbled, getting a carton from the fridge.

"Da newspaper," said their Dad in his gruff tone, with the same accent of all male Wheelers. "Something ya should consida!" Serenity quickly hid the paper and tucked it away in her bag. Truth be told, she had been scanning for any new news on KaibaCorp. to see if Seto had gotten his company back. For the last few days. She hadn't seen him since.

Joey continued to survey her suspiciously.

She gave him a "Look at me, I'm so innocent; how could you ever suspect someone like me?" look and a smile. He kept his mouth shut. Sis looks different since she got back . . . her cheekbones stick out more even though she's gain mosta her body weight back, and . . . she gotta strange, shrewder look in 'er eye dat wasn't dere b'fore. . .

It was true: all the way to school, Serenity kept jumping into tiger position, everytime a car honked loudly or roared by. And last night he'd coughed and she had jumped a mile and hit her head on the ceiling when sleeping. After school, they were walking, talking about their day, and her shoe got stuck in some mud puddle, and she'd started to panic.

"I'm sinking! I'm sinking in quicksand!" she yelped.

"Geez, sis. A lil' jumpy today, aren'tcha?" Joey easily lifted her out of the mud puddle, which had only come up to her shoe. She explained that she had fallen in quicksand on the isle. "Ya did? Den who pulled ya out . . . oh, yeah." He scuffed his sneaker, brand-new from the best store, on the Moto's front door welcome mat. "I guess I oughta be grateful to dat Kaiba, since he was-" He voice stuck a little bit. "He was dere. Wit. You."

"Yes, you should! You should be grateful!" Serenity didn't miss the opportunity to remind him as she patted his sleeve.

"I guess . . . I oughta thank him. But, ah well!" Joey snapped his fingers, grinning. "I doan go to school wit him anymo'! Too bad! Guess I can't!"

"Yeah . . . I guess that's a good thing, I guess..." Serenity hadn't really wanted to come to be gawked at by his friends, even though they were lovely people, but...Already news reporters have been hounding her for interviews: of surviving 18 days in total wilderness with the famous and infamous Seto Kaiba, no less! She hadn't wanted to say anything in case it jeopardized his chances of finding Mokuba.

"Hiii, Joey! Hii, Serenity!" A little black-haired boy answered the door. Apparently he'd been watching from the curtains.

"M-mokuba?" she stuttered, peering around him in hope.

"Oh yeah, sis," Joey said, while removing his shoes, "I fergot ta tell ya. Mokuba ran away to here. Yugi's place."

"I didn't run away!" The little messy-haired boy pouted. "I ran away from the orphanage. Those Big 5 men tried to stick me in there, but I outsmarted them!" Except for Yugi, Tristan, Tea, the place was empty.

" . . . oh." She said finally.

"We're waitin' for Kaiba ta come an' pick him up," Joey said, watching her like a hawk. She pretended to greet the others exhuberantly. "You doan happen ta know where he is so he can, do ya? "

"No."

"What are you grilling her, Joey," said Tea, a girl with a brown bob and big round eyes. Right now those guys were sternly fixed on Joey. "Come and sit down. Hi, Serenity. We're glad you're all right!"

"Thanks." She did so. The other began questioning her about her adventures, somethings she felt acutely uncomfortable with talking. She told them as much as she could, and they looked at her in awe. It was all very flattering. Mokuba especially looked fascinated.

"Big brother actually cooked monkey brains?" He sighed a little bit. "He hadn't had those since we wented to India."

"And he made ya eat it, sis?"

"Joey, they were starving. Even you'd eat anything if you were starving." said Yugi, a short boy that looked eight, with firecracker hair.

"Joey'd probably munch on a tree!" laughed Tristan. "And get a splinter!"

Everybody laughed. Mokuba said, "Splinters are gross. D' he come with you on the boat home, Serenity?"

"Yep."

"Then he must be getting here soon. He'll find me."

Serenity began to fuss with her hair. Joey was busy wrestling, but Tea noticed.

Hmm . . . "So, Serenity, Joey came to find you, you know." She came to sit with her on the sofa, brown bob swinging.

"Oh, I know."

"Ya do?" Joey stopped putting Tristan in a headlock for splinter joke. "Ya mean ya saw me? Why didn't you say anything?"

Mistake. "Oh . . . well . . . I couldn't." She thought up another excuse to lie with. "He-was-holding-me-from-yelling-out-because-I-had-kicked-him-in-the-pants-and-they-were-soggy-because-I-tried-to-fix-him-and-he-was-in-pain-and-he-didn't-want-to-be-seen-with-wet-pants-and-no-it-wasn't-because-he-got-too-'excited'."

She said it all in one breath.

Oops, I forgot. I don't lie.

Luckily, she'd said it in French. P h e w !

She'd learned it in school.

Joey didn't take French. "Huh?"

Tristan didn't either. He looked equally befuddled.

Tea did. "Mmph!" she choked in a sip of water. "Ha!"

Yugi did, too. "Okaaay..." He gave an Oo stare.

Mokuba didn't take it, but he knew it from traveling around the world. "My poor, poor, poor big brother! You BIG MEAN-Y!" He scowled fiercely at her and the doorbell rang. "It's him!"

They all filed out, with Joey giving his sis looks over his shoulder, but figuring she had done something bad to Kaiba, and he was all up for it. "Aren't you coming?" Tea said to Serenity.

Suddenly, she was afraid. What if he had remembered it, as well, and was holding a grudge? Or something? Of course, he had done a lot of stuff too, to her, that was "mean." Besides, it was a reflex! Yugi was looking sideways at her as if he hoped she wouldn't kick him there and edging away a far back as possible, when she finally joined the others.

She almost gasped. When she had sawn him a week ago, he had had unkempt, tangled hair - another thing I did him wrong - and was wearing a T-shirt, all torn up and ripped . Her heart soared. But now, he was in his KaibaCorp. uniform, looking all professional and even better looking even though she preferred the non-latter.

And with neat hair! She was afraid that she just stood there. Leveling. Like the rest.

"I thank you for taking care of my brother, Yugi," Kaiba was saying, while patting a hugging Mokuba and Yugi smiled back and said something cheerful and easygoing, like: "It's no problem, Kaiba. Anytime."

Joey said while Mokuba wiped his face, and it was so obvious by the way his voice crackled with reluctance that he was begrudging, "I guess. . . I oughta thank ya fer lookin' afta my little sis, Kaiba."

Serenity heard Tristan and Tea take in a breath in suspense and dread when Joey held out a hand, she saw his gaze flick over her and give Mokuba a handkerchief. Mokuba gratefully took it from his beloved big brother, watching him with adoring watery eyes, and then scowled at Serenity, when Kaiba gave her a lip-curved glance. It was obvious to him that she hadn't told her brother a thing.

"You're welcome, monkey-boy. Anytime." He shortly shook the proffered hand and turned, "Come on, Mokuba." The welcome bell chinked softly.

"Monkey-boy?" Joey was infuriated, crossing his arms scowlingly.

"No, no, big brother." The others looked over at her. "He was talking about, see, the monkey I told you about, you know, the one I cooked?" He remembered! Sigh...

Tristan let out a yell. "Ha, ha! Maybe that's a sign, dude, that he wants to cook your brains! Won't he be disappointed!"

"Why, I oughta-!"

To Be Continued Next Chapter


A/n: I think, out of all the names Kaiba calls Joey, I like monkey-boy and lab rat the best. He did call him a 'lab rat' when he was about to duel Marik. And Joey said, "I'm NO lab rat!" LOL. That was funny; the way he said it. It made me laugh; Anyway, plz review for the next chapter ! The conclusion: Kaiba and Serenity meet ! And talk ! And-well you just have to guess ! Which I bet you can ! LOL