Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh plot or characters.

A/N: The nineteenth century composer, Chopin, will be mentioned in this chapter along with Jazz great Billie Holiday. If you have never listened to their music, you may wonder why their melodies affect the characters as much as they do. You don't need to know about them to understand the chapter, but seriously, go and listen to their music – it's worth it!

Thanks to my reviewers:

Kasifya – I love Mokuba too, though I've made him a bit younger than he is in the series.

XXRoseGoddess874Xx – Thanks for the review, and I read your story, Crazy Beautiful, and liked it a bunch.

Sakurelle – always great to hear from you! I'm glad you're liking the story, though it's mostly character development this chapter and only a tiny bit of action.

CHAPTER FIVE

When she got to Mokuba's room Serenity found that another mattress had been set on the floor by the twin bed, and there was Mokuba, in happy face pajamas this time, jumping up and down on the mattress.

"Oh! Hi! I'm not supposed to jump on the bed, but this one's on the floor."

Alarmed at the thought of Mokuba, especially his head, overbalancing and hitting the edge of the bedside table, Serenity quickly got him to sit down by promising to read him a story. It turned out to be a child's version of Le Morte D'Arte, After only one chapter, she got him to get under the covers of the mattress on the floor. He'd gravely insisted that ladies had to take the nicer beds because that was chivalrous. She'd agreed, glad of anything to take her mind off that disastrous conversation with his brother. After quickly using the bathroom – and missing her facial cleanser and moisturizers more than she ever thought possible – she got into the twin bed and turned out the light. A few minutes later, Mokuba spoke.

"Serenity?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you try to jump out the window?"

"I…" How to answer a question like that? She wasn't quite sure herself. It wasn't like her to give up that readily. She'd managed to complete her Master's degree when she'd felt like giving up countless times. Was it that drug they'd given her, messing with her mind? But if she blamed it on the drugs she'd sound like an addict, and somehow she just couldn't let Mokuba know his brother had given her a sedative that drove her bonkers. "I guess I was just very sad, and I wasn't thinking straight."

"Why were you sad?"

Serenity sighed, "Because I promised my brother I'd do something for him, and I failed."

She heard Mokuba roll over, and sensed him trying to see her in the dark. "But he'll forgive you! Can't you just call him and ask him?"

"No, I can't call him." It hit her again. She'd really never hear Joey's voice again. He'd never blow into town and take her out to a long lunch, smoothing it over with her boss in his own inimitable way.

"Why not?

"He's…dead." I will not let this child hear me cry, Serenity promised herself.

A small Mokuba sized cannonball hit her in the midsection, and wrapped its arms around her.

"Then I'll be your honorary brother, and I forgive you. Whatever it was, I forgive you."

With that, Serenity broke her promise and started to cry, Mokuba hugging her and patting her shoulder until she reminded him about the wound, which reminded him they hadn't put polysporan on it, so he dragged her out of bed and into the bathroom, cleaned, anointed, and re-covered the wound. Somehow in the midst of it, Serenity stopped crying and decided that for as long as she was in Seto Kaiba's clutches, she would care for this remarkable child like he was her own.

o-o-o

The days passed, one after another. Serenity stayed out of Seto's way as much as possible. She watched him like a hawk, almost hoping to see some sign of irritation or cruelty toward his brother so she could dismiss the one quality about him she admired, but he was unfailingly patient and interested in Mokuba. It was clear that Mokuba adored his older brother, who was more of a father to him than a sibling, but there was a closeness there that was rare even for a devoted father and son.

She wanted to ask someone about it, the servants, Ricardo and the two middle-aged housemaids that came every day to clean, or even the guards, but Seto's words about her being "deranged with grief" stopped her. With no idea what they had or hadn't been told about her, she kept quiet. If they already thought her insane, they'd probably been told to report anything she said to them to Seto. They'd likely think they were doing her a favor, monitoring her for suicidal tendencies.

She also kept completely silent in the classroom, earning Peterkin's grudging tolerance, if not his approval. Still, she couldn't really expect the proper, cultured old English gentleman to like having a football jersey clad bimbo in his classroom. She rather enjoyed the lessons actually, but it grieved her that her favorite subject, music, was Mokuba's least favorite. One day after a presentation on baroque music, she asked him why he disliked it so much.

"It's boring!" said Mokuba. "It's all tinkly like elevator music when you go to the dentist."

"Well, do you like rock music instead?"

"No, Seto won't let me listen to rock music. He says music today is execrable" Mokuba pronounced the last word proudly, obviously having practiced. "Do you know what word execrable comes from?" His eyes lit up mischievously.

"Yes, I already know, but what music can you listen to that Seto approves of?"

Mokuba shrugged. "Seto listens to jazz and classical stuff, but it's so boring."

Serenity flexed her left shoulder. It had started itching lately, but it didn't hurt as bad as before. She made up her mind.

"Mokuba, come with me, I want to show you something about music."

Taking his hand, she led him to the main living area, a sea of coffee tables, artistic "groupings" of chairs and sofas with a huge gas fireplace to one side, and a grand piano on the other. She'd played from grade school up through college, dropping piano as her economics classes began to demand all of her time and attention. After college the tiny apartment she could afford didn't have room for a piano, though Joey had offered to buy her one. She could play by ear, and had an excellent memory for music.

Chopin. Definitely Chopin she decided, and told Mokuba to park his rear on the piano seat.

Gingerly, he touched one of the keys. "Mom used to play the piano."

"Was this hers?" Serenity wondered if she was trespassing on a memory.

"I guess." Mokuba shrugged. "What did you want to show me?"

"You like math don't you?"

"Yeah" answered Mokuba doubtfully. "What does that have to do with music?"

"Well, musical notes are like numbers in a code, and you have to decode them to tell what they are saying, to see what they sound like, and when you do you can find the story within."

"The story within what?" Mokuba crinkled his nose and cocked his head.

"In the music. Now close your eyes and I want you to imagine a bumblebee on a mission, a very important mission for the queen bee and see where he goes."

Serenity waited to see that Mokuba had his eyes closed, closed her own briefly with a prayer that it would come back to her, and launched into Chopin's fantasy impromptu.

Mokuba giggled.

"Do you see the bee?"

"Yes!"

"OK, now what's he doing?"

"He's flying around! Oops! He flew into a flower!"

And with Serenity's encouragement, Mokuba concocted a rather improbable story about the bee's adventures. After that they decided that Chopin's Polonaise in A flat Major was about a prissy little army horse on maneuvers, showing off for the other horses.

Then Serenity went in for the kill. "Would you like to learn how to make stories using the piano?"

Mokuba's eyes got big. "Could I?"

"Sure. If you just remember that notes are really like coded numbers, you can learn to read music, then you can play anything that's written down. You'll have cracked the code. It may take some time, like learning to play the Minoan game, but I think you can do it."

And that is how their first piano lesson began. Serenity started him off on chopsticks and then to heart and soul, and by then it was time for dinner.

The only problem was, how to get a child's piano book. She searched all through the music stored in the piano seat, but couldn't find anything suitable. She'd have to ask Seto.

It galled. She hadn't asked him for anything, not a scrap of clothing (she knew he undoubtedly loved the idea of keeping her in the football jersey, as it kept her from running away. She didn't even want to think about her chances of survival on the streets of New York clad only in her underwear and a jersey that only came to mid thigh) or even moisturizer, which she was beginning to realize was absolutely essential to a woman's peace of mind about her face.

At dinner she let the boy prattle on about school and the piano to Seto, but when dinner was over, instead of going with him to his room, she stayed behind. She didn't realize when Mokuba had been talking about the piano or that Seto had been watching her the whole time. At dinner she kept her eyes on her plate and stole surreptitious glances at Seto when she knew his attention was on Mokuba. And some nights she let her mind wander.

"I need a child's piano book for Mokuba" she said bluntly, as soon as the child left the room.

Seto regarded her silently for a moment. "And why should I give you one?"

"Do you want him to learn piano or not?"

"Evidently you do." Seto leaned back in the chair, a high wing-backed affair, so his face was in shadows. "What will you give me for it?"

Serenity stood. "Forget it." She snapped. "I won't tell you my brother's secret for a lousy piano book."

"How can you be sure that's what I wanted?"

Serenity felt stupid asking but, "What else could you possibly want?"

A pause, then, "Ricardo tells me you were playing Chopin for Mokuba this afternoon."

"Yes." Where was he going with this?

"I want the etude in E Major."

"What?"

"Play that for me, and I'll get you your child's piano book."

Was this some kind of trick? "What's the catch?"

A low laugh came from the chair. "If you don't play it well enough, you don't get the book."

Hah! Serenity knew the etude like the back of her hand. It was one of her favorites. This would be a piece of cake.

"Fine! Let's get this over with." She did a smart about face and stalked her way into the living area, her guard, Dan again, jogging after her while Seto followed more leisurely.

The notes flowed throughout the room. Seto had paid a professional to situate the piano so that the acoustics would be perfect. He'd kept it tuned and oiled out of deference to his mother, who'd loved that piano, but he hadn't heard it played except at business dinner parties, which he gave as rarely as he could. At those functions he hired professionals to play low-key background music. Not like this. Serenity put a sweetness, a passion into the etude that he hadn't heard in years. At the side of the piano he watched her play. Most of the time she kept her eyes on the keys, but there were moments when her eyes closed to slits as she felt the music pouring through her, in the way only someone who really loved music can.

Angus had been hounding him for a decision about her. He thought just the threat of physical harm would be enough to make her talk. Seto was no longer sure he even needed her information. He was willing to give the computer program more time to use the symbols on Joey's game chip to discover the secret behind the game. Barring that, it meant going to Greece, to breach the reclusive Niko Andromachus's defenses and see if he couldn't find a clue there. Niko had been the one to take the Minoan relics and make them into a board game with rules. There must have been something he saw there that he hadn't told anyone. People liked secrets, like Serenity's hidden talent for the piano. She was playing the piece sublimely, without hesitation, and without the music in front of her.

When it was done she sat still at the keyboard, her head bowed reverently, as was fitting for a Chopin piece.

"You can have your music," Seto said abruptly and left.

o-o-o

It was just music. Anyone halfway competent could play Chopin. She wasn't even a virtuoso. She was just…competent. Seto kept telling himself that as he exited the apartment and took the private elevator down to the car. He'd have to drive himself back to the office, as he'd dismissed his driver for the day. That was fine with him. He enjoyed driving when there wasn't any traffic, and it was late enough now that the gridlock should be completely gone.

Soon he was on the road, and alone with his thoughts. They turned, as they often did, to the girl. Eventually he'd have to decide what to do with her. Keeping her a prisoner in the apartment was a temporary measure at best. He couldn't get rid of her until he knew what she did. Silently he cursed Joey Wheeler for putting him in this position.

Even the incredibly powerful computers of Kaiba International couldn't seem to decipher the patterns despite having the silver game chip's markings. There really had to be some other bit of information, and Seto was afraid the only way to get it was through the girl. Joey must have known something or learned something from that junkie, Larson. Larson had been on the same dig as the legendary Niko Andromachus – inventor of the Minoan game. Perhaps he'd seen something during the excavation that he hadn't told anyone about before. Larson and Joey Wheeler were roommates for a time in college. Perhaps they'd been closer confidants than anyone knew. After all, Larson sold the gamechip to Joey even though he'd tried to offer it first to Seto, and anyone would have to be insane or very committed to cross the CEO and owner of Kaiba International.

Seto didn't indulge in false modesty. He knew his own reputation as a ruthless businessman, but junkies were notoriously unreliable. Kaiba knew that Larson may also have offered the chip to lots of other people. At least some of those other people were hunting for the same prize he was.

"The power to rule over the earth." Seto repeated the words softly.

That was the engraving on a fragment of gameboard found in the Minoan ruins. It had only been translated fairly recently, but the article in the archeological quarterly sent a shock wave through Seto. The Minoan game was his obsession. He'd already been playing it pretty seriously before his parents died, but after they were gone, he'd spent every spare moment developing his skill. He'd even taught Mokuba to play when he was old enough to hold game chips, as a way to spend time with him. The more he'd played the game, the more he sensed that it was designed to hone skills, very particular mathematical and strategic skills. There had to be a reason why the Minoans played, apart from enjoyment. The engraving had been his epiphany. He didn't know exactly how the ancient civilization had used the game to increase their power, but he'd read the histories and learned that they'd been on their way to being the most powerful trade nation in the Mediterranean when they'd suddenly fallen.

Power was everything. If you had power, you could do whatever you wanted and get away with it, but more importantly you could keep people from hurting you and those you loved. No one would ever hurt Mokuba if Seto had anything to say about it.

A sudden flash of light made Seto glance to the right just as his front tire blew.

Things happened very fast after that. The car swerved immediately toward a light-pole on the sidewalk. Seto had just accelerated to make a yellow light when the tire blew, and all the extra speed was not helping. He jammed on the breaks and hauled the steering wheel to the left, shrieking the car into a dangerous u-turn, and leaving him in the oncoming traffic lanes facing the opposite direction he'd been heading in.

The only thing that saved him from bashing into cars in the oncoming traffic was the fact that the light had turned red, so no cars had been advancing at the time. Now his car was faced in the correct direction for the lane he'd ended up in, but people turning right into those lanes at the intersection were bound to hit him if he sat there at a dead stop.

His heart still racing from reaction, Seto took his foot off the brake and hit the accelerator, not caring that his tire was flapping ominously on the pavement. As his car began to move, and other cars started joining him, he heard another car peel rubber. In his rearview mirror he saw a dark blue four door sedan on the side of the street he'd recently been in, zip right around the corner.

"I've got to get back to Mokuba," thought Seto. Ignoring the flat tire, he drove home as fast as he could; jumped out the minute he got to the parking garage, and threw the keys at the startled guard posted there.

"Check the tire, I think it's been shot," he yelled, and headed to the penthouse to go check on his brother. Anyone crazy enough to try to cause a fatal traffic accident with innocent civilians around would have no qualms about going after a little boy. Seto had to be sure Mokuba was safe.

o-o-o

Serenity sat at the piano a long time after Kaiba left, trying to sort out how she felt about what amounted to singing for her supper, or playing for a piano book. She let her fingers touch the keys again. What had Mokuba said about Seto's taste in music? Jazz and classical stuff? She picked out the notes of a classic old Billie Holliday song, then stopped and blushed when she remembered the lyrics were about a woman mourning a lost lover.

What was she doing? Why was she still here? She rested her right forearm against the music shelf of the piano and leaned her forehead against it, staring down at the keys. She should be trying to escape. She should be doing something, anything but tamely letting herself fall into the Kaiba's routine. The problem was, she was growing used to it, and it was so much easier to just go with the flow and act as if it were natural for her to be living in a penthouse apartment with a multi-millionaire and his little brother.

The alternative was what? Walk around crying or screaming all day long? She stole a peek under her arm, and caught sight of the guard, Dan, stationed by the doorway. She was never alone or unguarded. The gilded cage was still very much a cage.

Dan straightened, and stood almost at attention as another man entered the room. Serenity raised her head. It was the older Scotsman, Angus. He saw her, greeted Dan curtly, and started walking towards her. For some reason, Serenity felt a chill coming over her. The last time she'd been this alone with Angus, he'd been yelling at her, trying to get her to talk.

When he was about halfway across the room, his cellphone rang.

"Angus here." He'd stopped to answer it. Whatever he'd learned evidently didn't please him. His face tightened.

"Understood." He said, and clicked the phone shut. Then he turned around and started walking back the way he'd come.

"Angus?" Seto Kaiba nearly collided with the Scotsman as he came into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"You changed the meeting to here, remember, lad?"

Seto stared. "I never changed the meeting. I was on my way to the office when someone shot my tire out."

"Murphy left a message on my phone that you'd changed it."

"Where is Murphy?"

"I'll go find out." Angus left the room at a jog.

"Is Mokuba…?" Seto called after him.

"He's in his room." Dan answered, since Angus was already out of hearing range.

Seto started walking toward a sideboard with a crystal decanter on it, then noticed Serenity and stopped. For a moment he just stared. Serenity didn't know what to say. "Sorry someone shot at you," didn't seem right. Besides, he'd kidnapped her. She wasn't supposed to be sorry someone shot at him.

He shifted his gaze to the decanter, poured a splash of whatever it was in a glass, and started coming toward her again. She began scooting toward the end of the piano bench to flee, but he grabbed her arm, her right, unwounded one fortunately, stopping her. He sat on the bench next to her and released her immediately.

"Play." He commanded.

Serenity looked down at the keyboard. Flustered, she let her fingers pick out the Billie Holliday tune again, and played it softly from start to finish. She'd learned some jazz music in her college piano courses, but hadn't like it much, and focused on classical instead. She was hyper aware of Kaiba sitting next to her, drinking.

Actually he didn't drink much apart from a few sips at the beginning of the song, then he stopped and just listened. When she was done she stayed staring at the keyboard, not daring to move.

Seto got up and moved away. Serenity watched him go. At the doorway, he placed his glass on a side table, and just when she thought he'd completely forgotten about her, he turned, fixed those magnetic eyes of his on her and said, "Thank you." Then he was through the doorway and lost to sight.