Chapter 10 – And the Winner is…

I fooled you all…

…The rest of the neighbourhood had gone deadly silent in the last thirty seconds. The pressure of Seto's arm around her shoulders made her sigh in satisfaction and snuggle in closer until a single word rang through the night like a silver bell.

"KAIBA!"

The couple froze as the echo of the shout reverberated across the neighbourhood for a few more seconds before the silence came once more. The hand on her shoulder tightened slightly and she didn't dare breathe lest someone hear the noise. Willing her heart to slow down its fast and furious beating, she chanced a peak up at Seto.

An arrogant fire danced in his eyes as he scanned the area for any signs of a living being. "Do you think someone's seen…" he heard her whisper softly before it trailed off. The questioning voice made him ponder that for a second. No, he doubted that anyone had been in the vicinity when they'd kissed. He'd made sure of that before he'd undergone the challenge of making her beg, quite successfully he smugly thought.

"If they had, there would have been more shouting and most of it wouldn't have been very pleasant," Seto replied, purposefully not quieting his voice. That seemed to reassure her as the tenseness left her shoulders.

"You're right. And Joey would have been all over you to try and 'protect' me," she said, chuckling.

"Try being the operative word," Seto amended. The silence was broken again a second later.

"Téa! Where are you guys?" Joey's voice hollered once more. "Mokuba! Megan! Come on out."

"Drake, Harvey, c'mon out. The coast is clear! Ollie, Ollie oxen free!" Julie's voice rang across the neighbourhood from a different direction than Joey's voice. That group must have split up to search for the missing participants.

"We'd better go join them before they come looking for us en masse." Holding the now-cold-again hand on her shoulder with her own, the two of them started to slowly trudge towards Joey's voice. That boy had a set of pipes on him that could wake the dead, should the need ever arise.

The snowball fight was officially finished.

"I hope dose two show up soon." Joey sighed once as he looked over at his friends, snow covering every exposed surface except for their faces. Joey was in no condition to mention anything about that since he was the worst of the bunch. After all, he'd been the original target and a disproportionate number of snowballs still hit him even when the fight had degenerated into a free-for-all. All thoughts of a predatory Kaiba preying on Téa in the snow had flown away during the chaos. 'Operation Keep Away' was now an utter, disastrous failure. None of them had managed to keep track of either Téa or Kaiba. Joey just prayed that Téa had been smart enough to stay far away from him and his evil plans to get her to spill on Yugi's deck. Kaiba was too smooth for his own good.

"Yeah, Téa makes really good hot chocolate and that would be perfect right now," Tristan mused, not seeing the hand heading for the side of his head until it was too late. Yugi chuckled as Tristan grumbled under his breath.

"Keep yer mind on Téa for a sec instead of yer stomach. We gotta find her 'n' Kaiba," Joey said, missing the stuck out tongue that his best friend gave him. Knots of tension rippled down his back as he peered out once again into the snowy darkness.

"Well, it was your stupid idea to keep track of them in the first place. He probably didn't even try anything out here. How could he? It's too dark to see your own hand in front of your face," Tristan replied, temper flaring slightly. It was always his fault when Joey's plans went wrong. Not this time. He placed the blame exactly where it belonged – the creator of their 'brilliant' scheme. Joey was the one that had talked them all into it. Not that he'd had to try that hard, but still…

"Maybe we should just go find them," Yugi suggested, hoping that would distract them from the brewing fight. Those two would never grow up. If it wasn't one thing they were arguing about, it was another. Yami smiled at the thought of Yugi being the referee (and peacekeeper) between those two all the time. Despite his short stature, the other two boys looked up to him.

"I still can't believe dat she managed t' talk him into comin' here on Christmas Eve anyways. And the weirdest part is dat Kaiba actually showed up. I just hope dat someone managed t' snowball his smirkin' face since I neva got a chance to," Joey said, scanning the area once more for any sign of movement. A clod of snow dislodged itself from his shoulder and fell with a 'poof' to the ground.

"Knowing Kaiba, he probably snowed theirs at the first sign of an encounter. He's not one to be taken unawares, you know." Yugi sighed and thrust his hands further into his pockets. When Téa and Kaiba showed up, it would probably be together. He was willing to bet his life savings on that.

"Yeah, I know. Dat guy always seems to be three steps ahead of everyone," Joey replied. A rustle in the trees had everyone's attention.

Julie came trudging back from her quick walk-about to see if she could spot any of the 'missing' members of the group. No luck. Mokuba and Megan were nowhere to be found. Drake and Harvey had simply disappeared although she had seen traces of a major snowball fight and the imprint of two bodies on the ground near Drake's house. Téa and Kaiba, well, she hadn't spotted them either and she hadn't been expecting to. There was something serious going on between those two… she'd felt it when they had all introduced themselves at the end of Téa's driveway.

"No sign of anyone on the other side of Drake's house," Julie announced and watched the three boys' faces fall in disappointment. "It's like the darkness just swallowed them whole."

An involuntary shudder raced through Yugi, Joey and Tristan. Memories of Shadow Games and white haired maniacs bubbled to the surface only to be brutally squashed. There wasn't a chance that maybe… somehow…

"Don't say that!" Joey exclaimed, a hand running through his fringe and getting wet from the snow still stuck in it. Taking a deep breath and forcing away thoughts of mad men with Millennium Items and white hair (Pegasus, Evil Bakura, Marik's darker half), he prepared to holler once more for Téa and the others when another rustling in the trees grabbed everyone's focus.

All eyes turned towards the noise and watched as four bodies came into view through the tree branches. Two of them were small and holding hands and the other two, taller ones were holding each other up. Seconds later, Ryan and Bryan re-appeared from their search across the other side of the cul-de-sac near their house and Megan's. Judging by the downcast eyes, they hadn't spotted anybody, although they did brighten at the sight of four of the missing six members.

"Mokuba! Megan!" Yugi exclaimed, waving at the pair holding hands. "Do you know where your brother and Téa have gotten to? Have you seen them recently?"

Mokuba waved back and the two moved closer, holding hands tightly, before he answered Yugi's questions. He needed a minute to think of a plausible answer. Megan kept quiet, knowing that it wouldn't be right to speak for Mokuba. And there was something shifty in the way Mokuba's mouth was set, as if he was thinking hard about something. "I saw them a few minutes ago, heading that way." Mokuba carefully pointed far away from where he'd actually seen the pair slip off to, more towards Harvey's house than Téa's. It wouldn't do to have the secret spoiled just yet.

Blinking once, Megan understood what Mokuba was doing. 'Throwing them off the trail of his brother and Téa,' she thought. Maybe they didn't know that those two were together. How could they not? Even a blind man would see the vibes those two were giving off. Téa's friends obviously were a couple sandwiches short of a picnic.

"Where's everyone else? Has anyone gone to find Téa and Kaiba yet?" Ryan asked, shaking the snow off his hat. He and his brother were just as snow-covered as everyone else and the grin they shared testified to the enjoyment of the fight. A hacking cough was heard in the background just as Drake and Harvey finally stumbled into the ranks of the group. They looked worn-out, exhausted, drained and slightly snow-mannish.

"Those two…wow…" was all Harvey managed to blurt out before falling to his knees. Drake didn't look any better at all, his hand on Harvey's shoulder to keep the swaying down to a minimum. Neck to ankles, both front and back were encrusted with white snow. So much of it was stuck to them that it was hard to tell what colour their coats were.

"Which two?" everyone asked at the same time, although the question was absolutely rhetorical. There was only one possibility of which two they could be talking about.

"Téa… and that… guy… Kaiba," Drake muttered, his harsh indrawn breath proving just how tired he was. There was no more fight left in him. Joining Harvey on his knees, one hand scrubbed through his hair at the memories of that wicked fight. It hadn't taken very long but it had been fast and furious. He never wanted to face that guy in a snowball fight ever again. And if his dad ever offered him the chance to run the company, he was going to flat out refuse. Meeting Kaiba in a boardroom would be a hundred times worse than any humiliation he suffered in a snowball fight. Besides, his older brother Scott was set to inherit so there should be no chance of him taking over anytime soon.

"Kaiba and Téa teamed up together? Aw, man, we're too late. He's already turned her to the dark side!" Joey exclaimed, covering his face with his hands. He should have been protecting Téa instead of chasing after a cute girl in a pink jacket. It was all his fault that Téa was about to become dog meat at Kaiba's hands. Tristan clapped him on the shoulder, sharing in his friend's unspoken misery.

Everyone except Yugi and Tristan were confused by Joey's outburst. What 'dark side' was he talking about? Those two were so cute together that it wasn't even funny. Could they not see that? Harvey did not intend to ever ask Téa out again until he heard confirmation that those two were finally broken up and Kaiba had moved to Africa or somewhere else equally far away. Drake didn't even want to hear Téa's name since it would probably be in conjunction with Kaiba's and that would just bring back too many memories. Julie wanted to congratulate her on finding someone worthy of her time and attention. Megan was too busy holding Mokuba's hand and blushing as she snuck peaks at him to even think more on the subject. And Mokuba, well, he was grinning fit to split. He knew exactly what was going on between those two but that all slipped out of his head when Megan gave his mittened hand a gentle squeeze.

Speak of the devil…

"Hey guys, what's up?" Téa asked brightly as she stepped out from the cover of trees, Seto, with his trench coat flaring dramatically, not three steps behind her. She hadn't heard anything that Joey said but was curious as to why everyone looked so clueless. Drake cringed at the sight and a whimper escaped Harvey's lips. Those two were never going to live down tonight's humiliation. Ryan and Bryan looked at the two cowering in the snow before looking at each other. This was their year to make the lives of those two teenage boys a miserable one. All they had to do was start a rumour and then… their smile was absolutely downright evil.

"Téa! Are you all right? Has he been buggin' you?" It was amazing how fast Joey's emotions could change. Like quicksilver. He rushed over to her, heedless of the snow still clinging to him and protectively placed his arm around her shoulders. With a glance behind him at Kaiba, Joey noticed a flare of… something in his eyes as he put himself between his best friend and his worst enemy.

"I'm fine, Joey. And no, he hasn't been bugging me. We just shared a snowball fight together." If Joey had been paying closer attention, he would have noticed Seto's fists clenching hard enough to draw blood. The mutt was seriously closing to breaking their truce. The quick wave of Téa's hand behind her back was the only thing that stopped him from nailing the doofus with a well-placed snowball to the back of his mangy, blonde head.

One thing stood out in her mind as Téa surveyed the gathered group before her. They were all white. "Looks like you guys had a good time." They followed her eyes as she scanned them all once more and then took a good look at her.

There wasn't a single flake of snow on her that looked like it could have come from a snowball fight. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. No one could believe their eyes. They knew she was good, but they didn't realize she was that good.

"TÉA!" Julie exclaimed, unable to contain her happiness. "You won the snowball fight. There's not a flake on you except for what's fallen from the sky. You know what that means, right?"

The grin spreading across Téa's face let everyone know that she knew what winning meant. The second year in a row. How many more good things were going to happen to her for the rest of the night? She couldn't wait to claim her prize. And the boys were going to pay for it. Life was good. "Well, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Kaiba, Mokuba. Do you know what I want for winning the snowball fight?"

Seto's thoughts immediately went naughty as he imagined what she wanted. Everyone else, except Mokuba, just groaned.

"No, Téa, not again. Please Téa, not that." Tristan collapsed to his knees, arms outstretched in the air above him as he grovelled before her.

"Please, anyting but dat." There were actual tears starting to form in Joey's eyes.

"You wouldn't make us do that again, would you? After last year's disaster?" Yugi's gaze caught hers and pleaded with her to relent on her decision to do this.

The gleam in her eye as she surveyed them all let them know that yes, she was planning on a repeat of last year's prize.

"So what is it that you want for winning, Téa? Why are Yugi, Tristan and Joey complaining about it?" Mokuba asked, feeling a little left out of the whole conversation. Megan could only grin. She'd heard second hand from Julie last year when Téa had won. A giggle was quickly smothered as Mokuba swung his gaze to her. It wouldn't do to spoil the surprise for him just yet.

"Well Mokuba, last year for winning the snowball fight, I had the boys take on clean up duty. After breakfast, they did the dishes. After opening presents, they cleaned up the paper and garbage. After lunch, they again washed the dishes. I'm assuming you get the idea now?" The look she shot Seto should have told everyone what was going on between them but as usual, the boys were too busy whining over their set duties for the next day to pay any attention to it.

Could she somehow already know of his plans to join her that night? Seto folded his arms more tightly across his chest as he returned her smouldering look. He suspected she was psychic. She had an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what he was thinking.

"But what disaster is Yugi talking about? What happened last year?" Mokuba was just full of questions tonight. It may have had something to do with the girl standing next to him. He really didn't want the snowball fight to end. That would mean it was time for them to stop holding hands and go their separate ways, something he wasn't looking forward to. Now he knew how Seto felt every time he had to say good-bye to Téa.

"Nothing serious. He's making it worse than it really was. They broke a few dishes and then my Mom made them buy replacement ones. I told them to be careful but no, they just had to horse around when they were washing and drying the plates. It was their own fault." Kaiba's smirk was relentless as he filed the information away. Who knew when it would come in handy to know something like that about Joey, Tristan and Yugi? Téa's glance over at him and the knowing look in her eyes was too much and the corners of his lips tugged up into a smile. A very small one, but a smile nonetheless. The only other person who caught it was Yugi.

"Julie! It's time to come home, dear. It's getting late," a woman's voice broke through the excited chatter of everyone talking at once. It seemed that that was just the beginning of calls for everyone else in the group to come home for the night.

"I guess de party's ova, eh?" Joey asked, just a little rhetorically, as he watched the 'other' group head to their respective homes for the night.

"The party's just beginning," Téa replied, glancing back at her friends, her blue eyes lingering on Seto for a split second longer than anyone else.

Yup, she was definitely psychic.

Well, here it is, Chapter 10 finally. It's a little short but I hope you enjoyed it. It's just a prelude to what's about to happen in the house for the next little while. Remember, they still have to eat cheesecake and play another game of 'Idiot'.

I've already started writing that chapter, so I should have it up in a couple of weeks. (Keeping fingers crossed)

Aphrael21;)