A LESSON IN LOVE CHAPTER 12: MISTAKES AND REVELATIONS
disclaimer: I own nothing of Yugioh.
She watched him sleep. He was such a different person when he was asleep. So peaceful. She twined her fingers in his soft brown hair as she watched him. Her eyes wandered from his sleeping face to the silver collar around his neck.
"So many things have happened because of this one piece of metal. I would never have met Seto if it werent for it," she thought sadly. Her hand stopped suddenly. Fear and panic welling up inside her.
"Why would I be sad about never meeting him. Could I have feelings for Seto? Could I be...No. No. I can't be." She pulled her hand quickly from his hair, refusing to believe she had any feelings for Seto what so ever.
"He's a tyrant. And a Child. Throwing Temper tantrums all the time if he doesn't get his way. He has no regard for other people, or their feelings. And not to mention a complete lack of manners. He is totally not my type. Not that i had a type to begin with. But still." She looked again at his face.
"He's kind when he wants to be, even if its only once in a while. He genuinly cares for Mokuba. And as much as I hate to say it, he makes me feel safe. But that doesn't mean anything!" Her thoughts yelled as she turned around, planting her head in her pillow in an attempt to forget she even considered herself having feelings for Seto Kaiba.
MORNING- DAY 1 DOGS DON'T SKI
"ABSOLUTLY NOT! I said i would come to this stupid Cottage. I never agreed to participate," shouted a fuming Seto.
"So. Your just going to sit here and sulk all week?" shouted Serenity equilly as angrily and loudly.
"Do they do this often," shouted Yugi, trying to be heard over Seto and Serenity in the far bedroom.
"You learn to block it out after a while. Don't worry it will be over soon. Either way one will be in a very bad mood," replied Mokuba with a grin. A few moments later the door opened and Serenity stalked out, turned around and yelled back into the room,
"FINE. Stay in there forever, see if I care!" Slamming the door, she walked down the hall with an expression warning all, not to mess with her.
Seto paced the room angrily as he listened to the sound of everyone leaving.
"I never even wanted to be here in the first place. I don't even no why I agreed to come. And she had some nerve talking to ME that way."
He walked to the window and watched the group start to pile into a car. Then he saw it. Tristan putting his arm around Serenity and whispering something in her ear. Seto backed away from the window suddenly, anger welling up inside him.
"Tristan," he growled under her breath, clenching his fists. Grabbing his coat he raced outside just as Serenity was about to get into the car following Tristan.
"Your coming with me. You too Mokuba," stated Kaiba forcefully, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.
"I don't trust the mutt's driving ability."
"Does that mean your comming?" Asked Serenity hopefully.
"Yes. But only if you and Mokuba ride with me," stated Seto steeling a glance at the shocked Tristan. Tristan watched in dismay as Serenity walked away from Joey's car and into Seto Kaiba's. What shocked him even more was the smile on her face.
"She wants him to come? Why?" He asked himself in disbelief as they left the Cottage and headed towards the ski resort.
Serenity, Yugi, Joey, Tristian, Mai and Tea watched Seto in awe as he raced gracefully down the snowy slope.
"Who knew Kaiba was good at downhill skiing," said Yugi.
"Hump, I bet I could ski better then money bags, no prob," said a determined Joey as he turned towards the chair lift to the most difficult slope.
"Big brother I don't think thats a very good idea. You have never ever gone skiing before, so maybe you should start with the rest of us on the beginner slope," pleaded Serenity.
"You should listen to your sister mutt. You belong on the beginner's hill. Beginner. Your skill level in...everything," sneered Kaiba with an evil grin.
"I'll show you Kai-ba!" Said an even more determined Joey as he made his way awkwardly to the ski lift. Serenity turned to Seto briefly giving him an angry glare before starting after her brother trying in vain to reason with him.
"JOEY! Wait! JO-EY! Don't listen to him," yelled Serenity, trying to no avail to stop her older brother. The group watched as Joey got on the chair lift, followed by Serenity on the one behind him. Kaiba watched the scene unfold infront of him in slow motion. He looked from Joey to Serenity. The group moved closer to the chair lift. As he moved closer Serenity turned her head towards him. In her eyes he saw panic. Tristian watched the exchange between Seto and Serenity with great interest and was startled out of his thoughts when Kaiba asked a question,
"Can Serenity Ski?" It was Tea who replied first,
"No. She has never skiied before. Same as all of us. Why?" She never recieved an answer, as Seto raced over to the chair lift, pushing everyone else aside until he was at the front of the line. The group watched with great confusion as Kaiba got on the chair lift.
10 MINUTES LATER
"Big brother I'm scared. Please don't do this. You could get hurt. Please big brother," pleaded Serenity her hands gripped tightly around his arm.
"Don't worry sis i'll be fine," replied Joey gently pulling his arm from her grasp. He had been standing for a couple minutes staring over the edge. The hill was very steep and it looked as though it went straight down. Signs at the beginning warned beginners not to attempt the hill under any curcumstances. He also noticed that most of the people on the chair lift never attempted the hill, but rather went over to the easier hills on either side. Swollowing hard he moved towards the edge, determined to show up Kaiba.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a cold voice behind him.
"Kaiba. What are you doing here. Come to laugh at me some more. Kaiba looked at Serenity. This was probably one of the hardest things he had ever done. Under normal circumstances he would never have done anything. Hell he would have enjoyed the show. But these weren't normal circumstances. And something inside him told him this was what he had to do. Swollowing his pride he continued,
"You don't need to do this. You don't need to prove anything. Don't be stupid."
"Please Joey listen to him. He's right," encouraged Serenity.
"No," replied Joey. Moving forward, Joey disappeared over the edge of the slope.
"JOEY," screamed Serenity moving forward to go after her brother only to be stoped by Seto. She looked briefly into his eyes before he turned from her and decended down the slope after her brother.
Joey tried to duplicated what he had seen Kaiba doing earlier but it was no use. He tried deperatly to slow himself down. He could feel his balance slipping away from him as he hit a small hill. He knew if he fell going this speed he would seriously hurt himself, or worse. Another hill and he dropped a pole, his ski's crossing dangeriously as he started tipping forward. Just as he was about to loose all control he felt a hand on his arm holding him up. Looking up he was presented with a most shocking sight. Seto Kaiba.
"Uncross your skis I can't hold you up forever. Follow my instructions exactly." Letting go of Joey he began to direct him.
Another small hill and Joey started tipping again. Seto, straining against gravity grabbed Joey and pulled him up just as he hit another bump. Kaiba grunted against the pain of his arm being pulled to far to fast.
CRACK
The pain was intense. Seto could feel his arm being pulled in a way that wasn't natural. The pain was intense but be forced himself to focus on the task infront of him.
Kiaba began directing Joey down the hill getting him to turn to slow their momentum. By the end of the desent Kaiba had pulled Joey up 4 more times as he lost control. Each time damaging his arm more and more.
Seto and Joey slowed to a stop at the foot of the hill where they were greeted by a very worried group friends.
"Are you guys okay?" Asked a worried Tea.
"Why did you do it?" Asked Joey suddenly to Kaiba's turned back.
"Why did you help me?"
Kaiba not bothering to turn around replied simply,
"I did not do it for you."
With that he skiied off silently towards the lodge.
"BIG BROTHER!" Yelled Serenity as she skiied up to the group.
"Your okay! I was so worrie...d. Were's Seto?" She asked.
"He went back to the lodge," replied Joey.
"Maybe we should go too. I think we have had enough skiing for today!" Said Yugi.
"Agreed," replied the rest of the group.
"Hey i'll go find Seto. You guys go on ahead, we will meet you back at the cottage," said Serenity.
"You sure sis. We'll wait," asked Joey.
"mmm. No. Thanks though. I'll be fine." said Serenity with a smile as she skiied towards the lodge.
Once inside Serenity began looking for any sign of Seto. Nothing. She wandered from one end of the busy common area to the next. That's when she noticed a room reserved for private meetings.
"Somewhere quiet," she thought as she tested to see if the door was unlocked. It was. She pushed the door open tenitively and walked inside only to be greated by the sight of Seto sitting in a chair by himself staring out the window wearing an expression she had never seen before. He looked...lost.
When he had reached the lodge all he wanted to was a quiet place to himself where he could think. He knew exactly where to find one. He had been on hundreds of business trips. Many of them to ski lodges. He knew there would be a board room somewhere. Locating his target he tried the doors, finding them unlocked he walked inside and sat down. His arm hurt like hell but that wasn't the main thing that was bothering him. Inside his head his thoughts were all jumbled and confused. He couldn't figure out why he had done it. Why he had helped Joey. He hated Joey.
"Maybe it's the collar?" He asked himself hopefully.
"No. I still have free will. If the collars didn't force me to help what did?"
That's when she walked into the room. Her pale cheeks glowing red from the cold. Serenity. When he saw her he couldn't help but get the feeling of butterflies in the pit of his stomach. Shaking his head briefly he placed both his hands on the table and pushed himself up to his feet.
CRACK
Wincing in pain he sat back down. His head swimming. He had forgotten about his arm. Serenity rushed towards him in worry.
"Seto! What's wrong."
"I'm alright. I injured my arm a bit, thats all," he replied coldly.
"Leave," he added.
She stood, head down, by his side, not moving.
"No." He looked up at her. He looked into her eyes. What he saw he wasn't prepared for. In her eyes she held the look of genuine concern. For him. No one ouside Mokuba had ever cared about him for as long as he could remember.
"Why? Why do you care what happens to me? By all accounts you should hate me. I am the reason this has happened to you. If it wasn't for me you would be living with your brother living your life the way you wanted. You would never have been sucked into my world. You would be happy," said Kaiba not really sure where the words were coming from. All he knew was they had to be said.
"The universe has a way of putting us were we are supposed to be even though we may not understand right away. I am where I should be. I will always have my brother and he will always be apart of my life whether I am living in the next room or the next country. I care. Despite our differences, and our disagreements, I care and I-I...never mind. And who said I wasn't happy?" Said Serenity putting a hand on his hand and smiling. Come on. Helping him out of the chair they walked out the door and to the car.
"I am driving you to a hospital whether you like it or not," said Serenity as she helped Seto into the passanger seat. Seto leaned back in the seat too weary to fight. His head was still spinning, and his arm hurt even more now.
It had been 3 hours by the time Serenity and Seto returned to the cottage. Joey flew at Serenity bombarding her with a million questions all of which were halted suddenly followed by a gasp at the sight of Seto. As he exited the car everyone noticed his bandaged arm. They all watched as Serenity ran around to the other side of the car and helped Seto walk to the house. His movements were slow and unsteady as he made his way through the house to her room to lie down. After a few minutes Serenity closed the door gently and went to join the others.
"What's wrong with big brother?" Asked Mokuba, worry creeping into his voice.
Taking a deep breath Serenity sat down the the couch, weary herself, she would have to tell the story quickly and get back to Seto.
"When trying to save Joey he had to help keep Joey from falling. The strain on his arm was intense causing it to be dislocated and several of the muscles to tear. The damage was extensive, the doctors say only time will heal it. They gave him drugs to dull the pain, however they make him very tired. He will probably be asleep for the next few days because of them."
"Serenity I..." started Joey.
"I am not the one you should be apologizing too," cut in Serenity.
"I am going to stay with Seto tonight, please do not disturb him by coming in. Good-night." Standing up Serenity turned to Mia and Tea.
"May I speak with you for a moment?" Nodding once, they followed Serenity into the Kitchen. Speaking in a hushed voice so no one else would hear Serenity asked Tea and Mai a favour,
"Both of you read the guidelines for the collars right?" They both nodded in agreement.
"So you know that I have to stay with him right. Can both of you make sure Joey, Yugi, and Tristian don't come in tomarrow before I get up. Ask Mokuba to keep Tristian occupied if you have too. They can't know. Not yet. It would break my brothers heart if he knew the truth. And I don't know if Yugi and Tristian would be able to keep it a secret from him. So please, can you help me," begged Serenity. Tea and Mia looked at each other and smiled,
"Don't worry. Leave it to us!"
"Thank-you," said Serenity before hurring out of the kitchen and to Seto's side. Mia turned to Tea and smiled,
"She loves him doesn't she?"
"Yes, I think she does," replied Tea.
"Do you think she realizes it yet?" asked Mia
Thank-you to everyone who reviewed. Sorry about the wait. Oh and also the grammer and spelling is bad in this chapter because I no longer have word and the grammer and spelling gods do not smile upon me. Anyway I will try and get either the next chapter of this story up soon or the next chapter of my other story up soon.
Pixie