Disclaimer on everything that I don't own!
Turn of the Future,
By Winterwing3000
Rain poured down from the gray skies and puddles formed on the streets. A thick heavy fog hung in the atmosphere and there were barely any cars outside.
Great way to introduce November… a downpour. Wonderful isn't it? A pregnant brunette thought silently, looking down and smoothed out the fabric over her round abdomen. In a small response, she felt her unborn child shift inside her womb and pressed a limb against her flesh.
Smiling a little, Téa petted her stomach and went to check on her mother, who was reading through some papers for her next case in the kitchen. When she entered, Téa found her mother chatting quietly over the phone, some drastic facial expression passing her aging face.
Anita looked at her daughter with a 'what-is-it?' face and Téa just shook her head, waving her hand to tell her mother that it was nothing. Nodding, Anita returned to her call, shuffling some papers here and there, a pen twirling in her other hand to cross out some lines on the files.
Sighing, Téa went back into the hallway to the closet to grab her raincoat. Mokuba should be here soon… and then… she'll be seeing him again.
Will he be happy to see her? Or angry that she has stepped foot into his household? Would he cast her out of the mansion without a second thought? Is he even going to recognize that this child was their daughter? A baby girl that needs both parents in order to grow up normally, living a happy life? And does Mokuba, the uncle of the girl, know of this… this… problem of theirs?
More questions plagued her mind as the brunette pulled out a large ocean-green raincoat, which belongs to her mother, but decided that it had to do. She needed a lot of covering other than a simple umbrella, which she usually carried with her whenever it rained. Catching a cold, even worse, pneumonia or hypothermia is unacceptable in her current condition.
Even though she may be seven and a half months pregnant, she could easily loose the baby if she were ill ridden.
Shaking her head of such unneeded thoughts, Téa told herself to stay positive and that nothing was going to happen to the baby.
The dreaded doorbell finally rang and heaving a breath, she calmed herself and went to open the door, telling her mother that she got it.
Téa slipped on the raincoat, put on her shoes and grabbed her handbag. Opening the door, she was greeted with the sight of the well-dressed chauffer with an umbrella in hand. "I'll be right there, could you please wait a moment?" Téa addressed the man, who nodded.
"Mom, I'm going to a friend's house for a couple of hours! I'll be back before 8, okay?" she said loudly into the large house and in turn waited for the answer.
After a long moment of silence, Téa finally heard, "Just be careful and don't run, jump or do anything to shake the baby in the rain! And watch out for the slippery puddles and stairs! And call me when you need a ride home!"
"Okay!" smiling to the chauffer, she stepped out of the house and closed the door. The driver opened the large umbrella and shielded the both of them from the pelting rain. As they neared the black limo, the man opened the door for her while still covering her head. Mumbling small thanks, Téa slipped into the vehicle with little difficulty and saw her tutee sitting across her, grinning like there's no tomorrow.
"Hey Téa!" the ebony boy chirped.
"Hey Mokuba, lots of homework today?" she asked politely, sitting in the middle of the leather seat.
"Eh, I guess… we're doing really long division now, with percents and fractions. Really confusing too! And I don't understand how to do 'density' in science class…" Mokuba continued with his long summary of hard subjects, while Téa only paid him half of her attention, the other half, flying out the window with troubled thoughts.
Today… hopefully, will turn out as good as she wants. Because she really needed it…
"Okay, so the remainder can be left as 'R 23' or '23 over 51' because you're diving the number, it could be in fraction for as well. Basically, fractions are de--." Téa was cut short of her explanation when Mokuba replied wisely, quoting his math teacher.
"Denominator diving the numerator, which ends up as a decimal. If you move the point over twice to the right, then it becomes a percent." The boy said in a high squeaky voice.
Téa shook her head with a grin on her face. "So, changing your career from a photographer to an actor now?"
"Nah, I still have plenty of pictures to take between you and Seto that is!" Mokuba said without a second thought.
She froze for a moment, allowing the boy's words to sink in and then bit her lower lip. Does Mokuba still think that we have a chance? Doesn't he know of what happened between the two of them? The poor kid…
"Uhm… Mokuba, has… Kaiba told why he… kicked me out of the house?" she asked hesitantly.
"Well… I guess." Mokuba said, remember the harsh words that Seto had told him when the men were moving Téa's things out of the house. Speaking of which… "Hey, Téa, could you wait for a sec? I've got something that I wanna show you."
"Sure. I'll just go get something to drink from the kitchen." The girl nodded, getting up from the sofa. She paddled into the tile floor kitchen; the house was eerily quiet, scaring her a bit. Reaching the refrigerator, Téa favored her large stomach while bending down a little to grab the carton of milk.
Just as her fingertips touched the handle, a voice behind her made her froze a second time. "You shouldn't be doing that."
Gulping, Téa closed her blue eyes and stood up straight. She counted to ten, hoping that it was just her imagination. Finally, her crystal blue eyes turned and saw the tall outline of the man that had no intention of talking to her standing right next to the kitchen appliance.
"… Oh. Well, I was just getting something to drink. Mokuba's upstairs getting something." Téa said, slowly, walking away from the opened fridge as he went over to her and pulled out the carton of milk for her.
"Call for a maid or something next time. I can't always be there for your aid." Seto said, putting the box on the counter table next to her and pulled down a cup from the cabinets. She watched with slightly confused eyes and a turmoil mind.
As Seto lifted his head to meet her, Téa just stared back with a small indecisive look on her face. The silence between them stretched until it was unbearable, but neither dared to break it.
The rain tapped on the glass windows and blue lightning flashed. Suddenly, there was a large crash and boom from the outside. The lights flickered and then went out, scaring Téa. She let out a small shriek and nearly tripped on her footing.
Two hands shot out instantly, and steadied her on her feet. Her hands were on his chest, and head on his left shoulder, body trembling. "… Thank you."
"Hn… watch yourself." He murmured, and then started to detach her grip on him and his on her when another thunder rumbled the skies, causing Téa to whimper.
"Stay, please? I… never liked thunderstorms." She asked audibly, shirking as the lightning flashes.
"Very well." Seto muttered, staying as he was. Téa clung on to him a little tighter for protection.
Once more, the silence hung. Sighing lightly, Téa pulled her head back and looked up, over the bridge of his nose and into the dark reflections of her eyes. "Do you… want to… feel the baby?"
Why am I asking? … Right… to get rid of this silence. I'm so stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Stupid mood swings! The girl frowned mentally at herself as Seto quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Don't worry, its not going to hurt me," she said reassuringly, seeing a bit of his hesitance. "And it is your daughter."
"Here." Téa took on of his hands and guided to her abdomen. Relaxing a bit, Seto carefully allowed his hand to brush lightly on her clothing, feeling the swell of her stomach.
Then, as he went back to the starting point, he felt a slight kick in his palm. Seto abruptly pulled away as Téa smothered her giggling. "Its daddy, baby. He's saying hi to you."
She said quietly, placing a glowing look around her as she petted her stomach. Seto watched wordlessly, stunned at her motherliness. "Babies are responsive when they sense that one of their parents is nearby. At least, that's what I read. But I'm probably being paranoid, and I'm getting all… all… sentimental again."
If Seto could have fallen over, he would. But that seemed impossible and the only thing that came to mind was panic as Téa suddenly started crying.
"Geez, big brother, what did you do to Téa?" Mokuba asked as he came into the kitchen with a flashlight in one hand and a wooden box in the other. He moved his light from the hugging brunettes to the carton of warm milk on the counter.
"And I think you spoiled the milk too." he commented slyly, putting it back into the refrigerator as the two broke apart. Seto straightened out his apparel as Téa blushed lightly, wiping away her fountain of tears.
"What were you getting for me Mokuba?" she asked, sitting down in one of the low stools.
"This." the young boy said, handing the wooden carved box and snapping on another flashlight that he had took out from the drawers.
"This… I thought I lost it! Where did you find it?" Téa asked, amazed, hugging her treasured music box.
"… Well, I sorta took it when the people were taking your things out of your room. I thought that I wouldn't see you again and if I don't, then I can't meet my niece or nephew." Mokuba said proudly.
"Aww… that so sweet of you Mokuba!" the soon-to-be mother crooned, placing a kiss on the boy's cheek, which made him blush.
"Ew, cooties!" Mokuba moaned, running to the bathroom to wash away the girl germs, Téa chuckling as he went.
Seto just stood there, watching the whole event pass by.
Téa accepted her role in this… problem wholly, while he has been burrowing himself away in agony and hatred. Instead of taking responsibility of what the both of them had done, though how still remained a mystery, he was shrinking away and pretended to be dead to the world. His little brother, barely 15, had taken his place in Kaiba Corp and tried his best to help him, the ignorant and obnoxious older brother, back to his feet.
It had snapped him back to reality when Mokuba literally punched him in the head. It showed him how much he was hurting his younger brother by disregarding everything around him, living in his own world of darkness. He couldn't change what has happened and he needed to start becoming something other than his past self.
Seto didn't know how to be a father, or even a boyfriend. The closest thing that he has been was a friend and a brother, an enemy and an ally. He wasn't prepared for this sudden role of a parent, but he needed to learn. Many children out there were homeless or parentless, much like him when he was younger. Though, he contributed greatly to the orphanage funds, he was only indirectly helping the children. And so, he would start helping them by helping his own child.
He will not let his daughter be raised with only a mother. He will not let his daughter be without a father. He will not let his daughter suffer the consequences in the future while growing up alone. He will not let his daughter become what he has…
A selfish and cruel heartless beast, that doesn't care for a shit in the world other than having the title of the best and his company. A human being, who in the past has done many things without regret, until his present catches up with him.
But… how as he to regain the trust of someone that he had wounded deeply?
He was never the one to apologize or even try to gain such things. But… if he were to help his daughter… he needed to. Be it hurting his pride or not.
"… Téa…" Seto started, a lump forming in his throat.
"Hm…?" the pregnant female turned her attention to him.
"… I… would like to ask… for your forgiveness." He said almost inaudibly. Téa's eyes widened with surprise, mouth parting a bit.
"You… I, of course! I… can't really hold a grudge against you for hating me… but… why?"
"I'd like to start over. To take responsibility of my unknown actions." Seto said tentatively, unsure of his choice of words.
"… I see. Well, I know that… betray your trust and our friendship wasn't the greatest thing. But I will forgive you, and I hope that you could forgive me as well. We don't have to be that close… but I hope that we can be at least friends again." She bowed her head, both hands on the swell of her stomach.
"… Of course."
Téa smiled brightly at him, despite the heavy pattering of rain and the fading rumbling of the thunder. To Seto… it brightened the whole room.
And without knowing, he gave a small smile himself.
"No… it's gone wrong!" An aquamarine haired girl whispered, clenching her hands.
"Now, now. Calm down. This was only a minor set back, we still can perform the ritual, but the plan has to be altered slightly. I'll set up another discussion with her mother, so you make sure that our little pawn is kept away for the time being." A blond man said, pulling the shorter girl to him.
The lighting overhead flashed, uncovering their shadows in the high branches of the tree nearby the kitchen windows. When lightning struck again, the two black cloaked people were gone, leaving only a black leather glove.
"Just you wait Téa… not everything has happy endings…" the mysterious voice said, carried by the wind.
AN: -faints- I've been yelled, badgered and manipulated by my many readers to get my ass working on this chapter. And it is finally finished (tho' a tad short). And I apologize for ignoring it! I've been busy working on Branded and 30 Kisu! But, I'm now devoting myself to this only! Hopefully, I'll meet my deadlines or things will get rocky again! –winces- I've also renovated/re-vamped all of the chapters so far, so if there's still some confusion, email/review me and I'll answer your question in the next chapter! Again, sorry for the long update! (2 months and a half! EEKS!)
Review time!
Yukina Kaiba: thank you for loving it! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. As for if Seto will be coming around for his child, I'm not spilling any more beans. So what do you think he'll do?
SportZScooby: hehe… Kaiba has to have an heir to his company because well… guys are like that. Obsessed, I guess?
darkness-consumes-me: -chuckles- sure thing! –hands buncha candy- thank you for reviewing!
Crystal Koneko: YAY! Crystal reviewed! –hugs- and stop hitting poor Seto! –sniff- he has a lot of abusing these days! Lol, anywho, look out for the next chapter! Its gonna be a bang!
The lady winged Knight: -winks- no duh you're unique! You're you! And I'm gonna have a LOT of angst heading your way, so be prepared! Mwahahah!
animeaddict99: eep! –runs behind big teddy plushie- No chainsaws allowed! And thanks for… uh…. Reviewing! –shrinks away-
sam: no problem and thanks for liking it!
Ms. Cassandra Chant: CHANT! Whee! –huggies- and you're the first one to point out Seto's overprotectiveness! I was trying to make him realize something there… but… bleh, he's a dimwit! (Seto: HEY!) and I'm sure that he's going to love both Téa and his daughter dearly, as any father should!
inuyoukai-san: wow, thanks for the ice cream treat! Though, I like vanilla better! lol, Mokuba does have his finger wrapped around Seto, thus, the eldest Kaiba is a whipped dog! Bwhahah! Enjoy reading!
Kagome21: I was … stunned to oblivion when I read all of your 14 reviews. No one really reviewed for all of it…. so I was like a gaping fish when I saw them! Thank you and here's my pretty update! Oh as the 'most consecutive reviewer of the year', I here by award you with this, the Consecutive Reviewer certificate! Say cheese to the press! –Snaps camera and tacks picture on bulletin-
Raquel: Lol, don't be mad! Be glad! I've updated!