Constrained

By:

Setalina Muro

Summary: Things should have been normal, but they weren't. Not for her. She loved Kaiba Seto. They went to the new tournament on D.K. together. And there was someone else there. He could offer her something even Kaiba couldn't. Or so she thought. Now she has to make a choice…SxSxP

A/N: Well, Yamiko, You'll see what Pegasus's plan was this time. At least part of it. As to what Pegasus's whole plan is, that will be in the next two or three chapters. Hope you all enjoy!

To the Reviewers:

Imperfect Paradise Yamiko, if you thought that was bad you will hate the 7th chapter. for Pegasus he'll be playing mind games with her for the next few chapters and then breaking Seto's heart a few chapters later.

Stormrose Dewleaf Lol. Lovely review. I used the 'starfish midgethead' line in some crazy thing I wrote in 6th hour. (I can't put it up on FFN. It's like

'Kura: blah

Seto: blah

So on and so forth. O but its cute). Was also inspired by these absolutely adorable picies I have of Seto, 'Kura, and Joey as kitties. O So kawii! And I'm going to go find some pics of Yugi and Yami as kitties next.

Setine Thank you, Setine. I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but I've put up the first chapter of "Shadows of the Pain", a sequel to "Shadows of the Night". I also took a look at the story you entered in this contest for Yamiko, and it was really good. I liked it a lot. Definitely a worthy competitor! Can't wait to see it finished.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any places, people and/or other things you are familiar with from the show or anything else. The idea for this fiction was from Yamiko Yakou. Blame her if you have a problem, well actually don't. I don't have a problem and if you do, don't read it!

A Note on the Story:

Pegasus never lost the Millennium Eye, so he can still read minds and takes souls and stuff (hey, you never said he couldn't!)

I never realized how creepy this pairing is until I actually had to write an interactive scene between the two.

Ch. 6

"Seto," Shizuka cooed, smoothing his dark hair back from his face. Her eyes were still over bright as she watched him, though now they were encased in dark circles. "Seto, please, you have to wake up soon. Please, Seto. I still need you."

He didn't move. His chest and arms were covered in bandages from the first attack. His arms and face were covered in smaller cuts, all now wrapped in gauze.

She clutched his hand and laid her head down on the bed. It had been nineteen hours since the duel and the only movement Kaiba had made was his deep even breath as his body recovered from the damage. Shizuka hadn't been able to sleep at all.

She jumped as the door swung open. Standing in the doorway was Pegasus. He waked over and stood at the foot of Kaiba's bed. Shizuka cowered back slightly as Pegasus's glance turned from the unconscious Kaiba to her.

"You look tired," he commented, smiling coyly at her. "Have you been here all night?"

Nodding, Shizuka inched her chair closer to the bed nervously.

"And you haven't slept?"

She shook her head.

"Eaten?"

Again, she answered with a shake of her head.

"Hmmm," Pegasus said thoughtfully. "Maybe you should take a breather. Kaiba will be fine."

Shizuka shook her head. "I-I don't want to leave him."

"Ah." Pegasus nodded sympathetically. "You remind me of Cyndia." He smiled fondly, as if at an old memory. Yes, Shizuka was quite similar to his previous wife.

"Cyndia?" Shizuka asked, surprised to hear that there might have been a woman in Pegasus's life.

Pegasus nodded. "My wife…deceased…" The far-away look was still in his eye.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Shizuka said.

He shook his hand as if wiping away a vision. "It was several years ago. After only a few months after our marriage."

Shizuka felt pity well up in her heart; then a doubt at her brother and lover's words. Maybe Pegasus wasn't all bad…

"She liked plants and gardens," Pegasus said, slowly. "I brought her out here and she planted so many things. Tulips and roses and baby's breath. She loved lilacs, too, so she planted bushes and trees. But nothing was like the beautiful apple and cherry trees she planted at the edge of the forest. Two separate groves of them. About this time, they burst into bloom and the blossoms fall like snow…" he trailed off.

"Wow," Shizuka said. "It sounds beautiful."

He nodded. "It is. Cyndia and I treasured it." He paused, looking at her curiously. "Would you like to see it?"

Shizuka blinked, but the doubt of Pegasus being less than human had lessened slightly. She looked back at Kaiba, who, once again, did nothing.

"Yes," she said, suddenly needing to get out to the room. "I would like to see it."

Pegasus smiled. "I'll give you a moment."

Shizuka nodded as he stepped out of the room, then she leaned down toward Kaiba. Gently smoothing back his hair, she kissed his forehead. "Everything will be okay if you wake up, Seto. I'm going out for a little bit, but I'll be back, okay, Love?" She kissed him again and walked out the door…

Five minutes later, Pegasus was leading her through the archway that led to the large garden.

The morning sun shone all around. Birds and butterflies flew along the field of endless flowers.

"It's beautiful," Shizuka whispered, running to the edge of an ivy-covered balcony overlooking the wide expanse of vegetation.

Pegasus walked over more slowly and stood next to her, observing the wind playing her hair softly across her face.

Shizuka brushed the hair back from her face. She cast a sideways glance at Pegasus, who was smiling sweetly back.

"Enjoying it?" She nodded and his smiled widened slightly. "Good," he said. "I'm glad." They looked back over the garden and were silent for several minutes.

"Pegasus-san?" Shizuka suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" he was still staring off into the garden.

"Your different…" she answered musingly. "You're not the monster that my brother and Seto-kun said you were, are you?"

He shook his head slowly. "I'd like to think I'm not."

Shizuka still didn't understand. "I knew you weren't a monster, but why….why have you done what you've done?"

Pegasus looked at her slowly, blinking, pondering his answer. "I-I did it for my wife…"

Shizuka remained silent, looking at him and recalling the pained look he always seemed to get, silently urging him to continue.

"After she passed away, I couldn't handle it. I went in search of a way to bring her back and I found the Sen-nen Items. You know the rest."

"But what you did….you kidnapped Yuugi-san's grandfather and Seto-kun's little brother. It was just…cruel…"

Pegasus sighed and pulled a card from his pocket. The Duel Monsters card had the picture of a Kuriboh. He placed it in her hand.

"When something is…soft and cuddly, you tend to poke it and prod it. But when it gets harder, colder…you know better than to mess with it."

"You distanced yourself?"

"I wanted them to think I was untouchable," he said nodding. "It was the easiest way to avoid getting hurt."

Shizuka was silent, contemplating whether to believe him.

"I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt," he said, burying his face in his hands. "I'm sorry for what I did."

"Did you…did you mess with Seto's duel disk?"

He paused and tensed. Ah, of course, her mind was still on him…

He looked at her apologetically. "I wanted to talk to you….I needed Kaiba out of the way…"

Shizuka jumped slightly, standing up straighter and looking at him in disbelief. "Pegasus-san, you could have killed him!"

"I'm sorry." He looked away, a heart wrenching sadness in his eye. Pity he had no heart.

Shizuka looked away. He had done this…done this for her…She didn't want any of this, really. She wanted to be out on a nice, quiet date with Seto-kun; with the sweet silences and intellectual conversations; away from cruel people and their powerful greed…

Instead, she was here, with Pegasus. Seto was unconscious and injured. Standing in the garden in the bright sunlight made her feel guilty.

"I'm sorry, Shizuka-chan," Pegasus said, still unable to meet her eye. "I went about this all the wrong way. I wanted someone to share the little things with…times of silence, good intelligent conversation…I thought that maybe…you…could replace Cyndia…"

Shizuka watched him as he traced his finger nervously on the grey wall, waiting for her answer.

"I've said this before, but you are very much like her. Smart and kind and ….very, very beautiful." He reached up and tentatively brushed back her hair.

Shizuka felt color rise to her face as he stroked her cheek.

"I used to paint," he said, withdrawing his hand. Shizuka let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "But after Cyndia…I never wanted to paint again. I think-" he smiled. "That I could paint again now."

Shizuka couldn't help but smile back.

They both turned suddenly as the door to the balcony opened and Pegasus's servant, Croquet, walked through the doorway holding a white basket covered in a cloth.

Pegasus looked down and smiled at her. "I had them arrange a picnic," he said, taking the basket and waving his man away. 'I though you might be hungry."

Shizuka's stomach gave an involuntary growl and she blushed. "I am actually quite hungry."

Turning, he beckoned her to follow him through the heavily-scented garden. A small gold and red hummingbird flirted past her ear and she turned to watch it as it hovered.

"Hummingbirds are the only birds who can hover," she commented, reaching her hand to touch it and laughing as it dodged her hand and flew to another flower.

"I noticed that," Pegasus said, looking over his shoulder t her. "But I never really understood why. It's something to do with the rotation of their wings, right?"

Shizuka nodded. "Their wings are flexible at the shoulder so each wing can go one hundred and eight degrees, stop, reverse, and move to counter the original motion. It repeats as long as they hover, so there's only lift. They can also fly backwards and upside down."

"Hmm," Pegasus said, impressed. "I didn't know that. And I had the birds imported! The climate here is temperate all year long so they never have to migrate further than the other side of the island. So, how do you know all this?"

"When I was twelve, we went on vacation in America and it just happened that the person we had stayed with fed hummingbirds. So, I spent the whole vacation researching and watching these hummingbirds. K I had always wanted to be a lepidopterist, but I just loved the hummingbirds so much more than butterflies. I had several books about them as well."

"I'm sure the little jewels are some of the most fascinating creatures around."

Shizuka smiled at the name.

While they had talked, Pegasus led her to a heavily laden orchard. The trees were thick with boughs of white blossoms.

"These are apple trees," Pegasus said, waving his hand around. "I know I said I would show you the cherry trees, but this grove is closer and I figured that you'd be hungry."

Shizuka smiled. "It's fine."

He nodded and they sat down to eat.

The air in the orchard was thick with the scent of honey and pollen as bees flew back and forth among the sweet flowers, the sound of their heavy droning echoing softly.

Shizuka sneezed.

The sound instantly disrupted the peace of the grove. There was a moment of stunned silence, in which they both sat and stared at each other.

Then Pegasus's stern face cracked and his mouth twitched.

Shizuka covered her mouth, eyes wide with fear, as his face twitched again.

It wasn't another moment before he burst into laugher.

"You...just…you….your face was all…" he made a face trying to mimic her shock, but he couldn't contain it and continued laughing, rolling over on his side.

'Wow,' she thought as she watched him. 'He is human. He's had to deal with so many things; the death of his wife, the fact that he could never get her back, and now he has to live without her. It must be so hard…' She looked at him again, smiling softly. 'Maybe he just needs a friend…'

Pegasus sat up, sighing contentedly. "Ah," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "That was a good laugh. Now, on to lunch."

He grabbed the basket and pulled a checkered blanket from it. Spreading it on the soft, springy grass, he began to pile implements from the basket and lay them out. Food and drinks followed a set of plates.

Smiling warmly, he offered her a sandwich that she gladly accepted. She bit into the cold meat and chewed with satisfaction. Pegasus smiled again and brushed a stray bit of mayonnaise from her face and held the napkin out to her.

Blushing again, she took the napkin and wiped her face again.

Pegasus smiled and so it continued. The day passed in harmonious bliss and pleasant conversation.

The sun was setting on a beautiful day as Shizuka and Pegasus walked back to the castle talking animatedly. All too soon they were in front of Shizuka's room.

Smiling warmly, Pegasus reached for her hand and, bending low, kissed the back of it. After he stood back, Shizuka did a peculiar thing that surprised even Pegasus. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

After a moment of shock, Pegasus returned the embrace, burying his face in her fiery hair.

"I had a wonderful time," she said, pulling back.

"I did, too," Pegasus whispered, gazing deeply into her eyes. He was biting his bottom lip for a moment before Shizuka was drawn closer to them…to him…

The kiss was brief. Not that it lacked its own form of pent-up passion, but mostly it was wracked with a certain amount of guilt and self-loathing on her part.

Pegasus savored every second.

Once again, it was Shizuka who pulled away, completely this time. She wrapped her arms around her thin waist and looked away from him.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I s-shouldn't have…."

"Shizuka." Pegasus reached a hand out and gently brought her chin up so he was looking her in the eye. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." He kissed her again.

Shizuka was slightly confused, but she decided to savor the moment. It wasn't like so would take it any further. (A/n: shudders) When Pegasus pulled away, she felt that it was almost too soon.

"If you'll excuse me, I've gotten an inspiration," Pegasus said. "Good night, Shizuka."

Shizuka sat by the door and watched him walk away.

"Croquet," he called. "Get my painting supplies from the attic…"

Shizuka smiled as she moved to enter her room.

And Seto was the furthest thing from her mind…

A/N: Okay, next two chapters should be up tomorrow or Monday (oh, hell they might be up Tuesday with my luck!). But they're short so it won't take long to type them. Laters!

Please R&R