Disclaimer- I own Yu-Gi-Oh! Yes I do! I own the world also! (evil laughter) I RULE ALL! (gets taken away by men in white suits who lead her to a padded cell)

APOLOGISES! I'm so sorry people! I know it's taken me like ten weeks or something to update each and every (Yu-Gi-Oh) fanfiction of mine, but yes, I have finally done it! It's all because of school, now that I'm in my pre-senior year I get a TON (or so) of homework every night and I just really didn't have any time for anything aside from homework! But currently I'm in the middle of my October Holidays, meaning I can finally update all my fanfiction, yay! And for the next five weeks after these two weeks I'll probably get tons of homework as those weeks as my revision weeks, then I have my two weeks of Exams, then the next week I'm not at school but doing this thing where I work for a company, then there's only two weeks left before X-mas! So HOPEFULLY I'll be able to update much sooner before December, especially for my Halloween story!

So once again, I'm sorry for taking so long, but thanks for being patient!

This is to all my readers and reviewers.

(This note has been posted in every story's Author's Note.)

Please read and review, thanks.

Crystalline tears flooded down her pale cheeks, you could see in her hazel-brown eyes just how terrified she really was- and it pained Jou to have to see it too. But what was he to do? His mind was telling him to do one thing while his gut was telling him to do another. He was tore between two choices. But he just had to save Serenity!

The man, whose face was blank, as if missing, motioned for the blonde to near him; Jou silently agreed to the attacker's terms, he really had no choice, if it meant saving Serenity, then he'd do whatever the man told him to do.

Suddenly, everything seemed to run in slow-motion, yet it felt like it was all passing in a flash, as Jou watched the knife being removed from it's previous position infront of his sister's throat and then suddenly it vanished, out of sight, when suddenly a searing pair emanating from the back of his neck caused him to cry out in agony. And then… darkness…

Beautiful pools of swirling caramel fluttered open, gleaming brightly from the sunshine, which rays were filtering through the windows beside the golden blonde's bed.

He weakly glanced to the side; his eyes widened in surprise when he instantly recognized the one person who he thought would not be there- the handsome billionaire Seto Kaiba.

Seto, who was reading a book, casually glanced up after hearing some movement from the boy beside him, before jumping slightly when he realised the blonde had finally woken, "So you're awake…" he trailed off, sliding a bookmark in and gently placing the worn book on Jou's bedside table.

"Kaiba-" Jou mouthed, before blinking in surprise when he could hear no noise, why couldn't he hear himself? Had he gone deaf?

Wait, that can't be it, if I'd gone deaf I wouldn't be able to hear money-bags…

Suddenly, fear and worry filled the ex-street punk, shivering he opened his mouth again, "Kaiba, can you hear me…?" suddenly glistening tears started prickling at the corners of his eyes, what was going on here? He could even feel a slight pain whenever he attempted to speak.

Trying to hold back the tears, he tried one final attempt, "Kaiba, can you hear me? If so talk back…?" when his response given was a raised eyebrow from the CEO, Jou couldn't hold back the tears anymore, letting them flow down his delicate face freely, what the hell going on? Why can't I hear myself? What's wrong with me? He started to scream inside his mind.

Kaiba frowned in worry once seeing the blonde begin to cry, it was bizarre, he had been mouthing words to him for some strange reason then waiting as if the CEO could reply to his silent words, and then all of a sudden he bursts into tears, but why?

Azure eyes shot wide open, He's not…? He hasn't…

Standing up, Seto walked over to the end of the bed, but Jou was oblivious to all this as he was silently crying to himself- the taller man picked up the clipboard and read over the other teen's progress over the past day. He gasped at something in particular that he had read, and forced himself to read over it several times before allowing himself to actually believe it.

He sighed heavily, it was obvious Jou didn't know what was going on yet, and Seto was going to have to be the one to tell him, he was the one who was going to have to drop the bomb- life's just a treat, ain't it?

Placing the clipboard in it's original place, he took his seat but pulled it closer to the whimpering boy; he glanced at the shivering duellist, then down at his hand, maybe it would be better if he tried comforting him? But no, Seto Kaiba never did physical contact, not unless it was hugging his little brother or something, but maybe he could make an exception this one time? Especially since it was Katsuya… Wait, did he just call the mutt Katsuya?

Reluctantly he took the blonde's hand into his own, instantly gaining the attention of the panicking boy, "Jou, I've got something I think you need to know now…" he sighed heavily, hesitating and choosing his words carefully, "Jou, do you remember what happened? The attack? Well, the man who attacked you, he… He stabbed you in the back of your neck; it punctured your vocal cords and also damaged your windpipe too… Jou, you're officially dumb, you won't ever be able to talk again…" he stopped, gazing into those shocked honey orbs, which were currently drowning in a sea of tears.

Seto had no idea what to do, Jou may have lost his voice but he was crying so much Seto could hear him creating weird sobbing noises, which were very faint mind you, but noises nonetheless.

Unexpectedly, he acted on impulse, leaning closer and taking the weeping boy into his arms tenderly, protectively holding him close to his chest and softly stroking his gorgeous shining saffron hair.

Jou was surprised to say the least, but after a moment he relaxed into the embrace, it felt good to be held, to be comforted- something he had never been given during his life, well aside from the occasional giddy hug from his sister but aside from that, he'd never been held in someone's arms before and he had to admit, it felt lovely…

He wished that he could remain like this for the rest of his life, comfortable and warm in this hold, it felt so nice being protected, being shielded from the world around him, he sighed softly, yet his tears were still falling.

Seto started pulling away, breaking the hug when suddenly Jou clung to his shirt desperately, "Please don't let me go…" he mouthed, "Don't go…" he begged, teary eyed, "…I feel safe… with you… Please don't let me go…" he finished, hoping that the brunette was able to lip read.

Kaiba blinked in astonishment, he was expecting for the slightly younger teen to frown in disgust after being hugged by the CEO, but for some reason, he wanted to be held longer, he nodded before wrapping his arms tightly around the other boy once again, placing his chin on top of Jou's head comfortably.

And the pair remained in that position until Jou finally fell asleep, as Seto gently wiped the tears away from his cheeks…

I know this took me so long to update but it's finally here! And no, this isn't the end, I am putting more- more conflicting emotions for Seto and more pain for Jou to have to experience, hehe, I'm evil, am I not?

Reply to Reviewers:-

DyingAngelRyou- Thank you for the nice review- you're too nice

DreamCherry66- LOL, yes, i'm starting to think Seto should do that also.

Insomniac Jaki- Thank you for the review

IcySapphire15- Yup, denial can be a awful thing can it not? Hehe

wicked-omen- Thank you

Sarah1281- You will have to wait and see if they catch the guy who did it!

anne-rich-fan- Thank you