Musing Days

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the animes mentioned in this story.

AN: This story is based on how I met my muses. All names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Chapter Three: A Christmas Meeting

(December 24th)

"P-chan, wake up! It's Christmas! Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

I could hear Kae calling me from the end of the hall. For some reason she'd been up since six this morning and hadn't stopped trying to get me up. Normally, when she doesn't have school, Kae-chan sleeps in until noon.

I had finnally had enough of her yelling so I decided to go ahead and get up. It was well past my normal waking time anyway. Slowly, so that I wouldn't fall on my ass, I rolled out of the hamock that I sleep in and started wandering towards where Kae was.

I streached and yawned as I followed the feeling of Kae's aura straight to her living room. I stopped mid streach at the site that met my eyes. Kae's living room was decorated in a flurry of Christmas time ornaments. Lights that should have been on the house were hanging neatly all through the living room and into the connected kitchen. The tree that, only the night before, had been little more than a plastic shrub was now a ceiling to floor plush tree. All the decorations that had been on the little tree were now on the big one and the broken lights were repaired and on the larger tree as well.

My mouth fell open. "Kae, what in the world...?"

She jumped up and hugged me with all the streangth her little body possesed before she said, "It's a miracle, Piccolo! A Christmas miracle! Santa brought us a tree!"

I watched in confusion as she danced around the room in her youthful joy of what had happened. I've never seen her so happy, not even when I told her that I considered her to be my friend.

Her mother, Tanya, looked more reserved about the whole thing. Sometimes, I wonder if Tanya-san can see me too. She acts like she can't, but Kae is always hugging me and talking to me with her mother standing right there near us. Tanya-san also says things randomly sometimes that sound like she may be talking to me, but any time I look over at her she's looking in another direction.

I brought myself from my thoughts when Kae let out this weird gasping sound from near the back door. I came to stand next to her and looked to see what had set her off. It was snowing.

"Momma, look, it's snowing. Isn't it pretty?"

Her mother stood up in a single graceful motion and came to stand on the other side of her daughter. For the first time since I'd first come to stay here I got to see the expression of wonder that both mother and daughter had on their faces. Kae's mom doesn't have much time to herself since she's always working to support Kae and herself. This is probably the first time that I've seen her with a look on her face other than sadness or fatigue.

I sighed as I turned back to the tree and the larger-than-before pile of presents that were stacked up under it. This would take awhile. Might as well make myself comfortable.

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(Kae)

Later that day...

Today has been one surprise or miracle after another. First, Santa brought us a real tree and gave us presents. Second, it had started snowing. Then momma found a turkey in the oven for Christmas dinner. I still wonder how Santa knew we needed this moral pick me up this year.

I drew my thoughts to a close as I finished getting ready to go play in the snow. This will be P-chan's first Christmas with me so I hope it is memorable. This is the first time in a long time that there's been snow on the ground. I'm so happy!

I felt myself come to a complete stop as my toe nudged something in the snow. I looked down to see what it was, then immediatly wished I hadn't. It was a frozen body.

I screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I didn't stop until I felt myself pulled backwards into Piccolo's arms. He made me hide my face against his shoulder while he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Kae, stop that infernal racket and talk to me!"

I immedatly stopped.

"There's a...a..."

"There's a what?"

I took a deep, calming breath then said, "There's a dead body buried in the snow!"

Piccolo let go of me then and turned to look more closely at what had set off my screaming fit.

"Kae...He's more than just a normal person...He's a muse. He's from my world."

I blinked at him. "A muse? Here? Why?"

He didn't look at me as he drew off his coat and started clearing the snow from the wild muse at my feet.

"He's a wild one. There's no telling why he chose this house of all the places to collapse."

I nodded my understanding to my muse then knelt down to help him dig the poor lost muse from the snow. After what seemed to me like an eternity we finnaly uncovered him enough to pull him out of the snow. I gave the wild muse a once over then had to hold back a fit of screaming again. He had a child clutched in his arms.

"Oh my god...Piccolo, tell me that isn't what I think it is."

Piccolo answered me by bundling up the obviously frozen child and handing it to me.

"Hold him."

"Piccolo, he's dead."

"I know, Kae, I know. Just...hold him for a minute."

Piccolo's voice sounded very sad. It was as if some great weight had been dropped onto his shoulders. He seemed to become older before my eyes as he carefully removed the larger of the two frozen muses from the snow and carried him to the house. I followed behind him silently.

As soon as we were in the house Piccolo turned to me and said, "Kae, put the little one down somewhere then run some warm water in the tub." He gestured to the other muse he had carried in. "This one is still alive. We have to get him warm before we loose him too."

I nodded my understanding then went to do as he had asked. I carefully set down the small bundle I'd been carrying on my bed then headed to my bathroom and ran some water in the bath. I was careful not to make it too hot. I know from watching shows about hypothermia victems that you have to raise their temperatures gradually or you could send them into hypothermic shock.

A minute later I had to avert my gaze as Piccolo brought the unconsious muse into the bathroom. The other muse had been stripped down to nothing so that his frozen clothing wouldn't make things worse. I kept my eyes pointed at the floor as Piccolo and I eased the frozen muse into the tub and began trying to get his temperature back up.

I was so engrossed on keeping this unknown muse alive that I didn't notice until he walked back in the bathroom that Piccolo had gone to do something else. I noticed the object he had in his hand and looked up at him curiously as he came to stand next to my knelt form.

"I really wish this wasn't what I thought it was. You'll probably want to see this. It was on the kid."

He handed me a rectangular shaped object on a black tie. I looked closer at it and realized it was actually designed to look like a duel monsters card. I opened it and saw a picture of a young boy with brown hair sitting in front of a chess board.

I started to cry. I knew who this was.

"Mokuba and Seto Kaiba. The Kaiba brothers. Oh my god... P-chan, what are we going to tell him?"

"I don't know, Kae. We'll figure it out once we're sure he's going to live."

"Okay." I hung my head. "But why them? These two...they only ever had each other really. Now who's going to keep him going?"

"Obviously you are, Kaetlynn. He came to you for a reason. You could see him, you could touch him. That means he's supposed to stay with you."

I blinked at him. "Are you trying to tell me that Seto Kaiba is supposed to be my muse?"

He nodded then removed the necklace from my hand and put it around my neck so that it wouldn't get lost.

"I thought only one of your kind ever came to inspire."

He shrugged then said, "That's not true all the time, Kae. Some people get a new muse whenever they start a new story or when they have a jump in the way things inspire them. Different muse for a different style. It means you're getting better."

I was about to say something else to him when Seto began to stir in the tub. I noticed something glow from the pile of clothes sitting in the sink and went to investigate. There, buried amongst his frozen and dirty clothing, was the Millenium Rod. He was packing some serious power with him.

I removed the rod from his clothes and tucked it into my belt under my sweat shirt so that he wouldn't unleash Set on us before we could make him understand what had happened to Mokuba.

I made sure my back was turned to him before I said, "Hey, you okay in there?"

I heard him moving around behind me and knew he'd gotten out of the tub. That was a good sign at least. P-chan would let him borrow some of his clothes until he was well enough to go the mall by himself. There was a long silence before I heard the sound of Seto settling himself on the toilet. I guess Piccolo brought him some clothes to change into for when he woke up.

A moment later Seto's shaky voice drifted over to me. "Where am I? I remember falling in the snow...Oh my dear Kami...Mokuba! Where is Mokuba!"

I didn't realize he'd gotten up until he plowed right into my back.

"Eeep!" I yelled as the two of us fell in heap onto the carpeted bathroom floor.

Piccolo immediatly hauled the older Kaiba brother off of me and offered me his hand. "Are you okay, Kae?"

"I'm fine, just a little winded is all." I said as I was pulled to my feet.

Seto had gained his feet as well and was glaring at Piccolo as if the other muse had done something terrible to him. I reached under my shirt to make sure I still had the rod. Seto couldn't hope to hurt Piccolo, but Set could and would.

I made sure I was looking dead at Seto before I said, "Stop harrassing Piccolo!"

Seto rocked back on his heals and snapped his head around to look at me. Piccolo had the same reaction the day I met him. It was actually pretty funny.

"Are you...Are you talking to me? Can you see me?"

"Well duh, Kaiba."

He seemed to consider me for a moment then he bowed his head in my direction and said, "Then you have taken in my brother and I. We are your muses now."

I shook my head sadly at the look Seto was giving me. He looked so relieved that they had a home. How was I to tell him his brother was gone.

"Seto, listen to me. I'm not going to lie to you. I did find both of you out there today, but..."

I was stopped when Seto leaned forward and lightly grabbed hold of the necklace Piccolo had placed on me earlier.

"This is Mokuba's. What are you doing with it?"

I could feel the heat from the rod as it responded to the nearness of it's master. His eyes were boring into mine. He's so serious looking right now. I don't think I can face him.

"Miss?"

I shook my head again then pulled on the streangth I could feel being offered to me by my silent muse.

"Seto, I'm sorry to have to tell you this...Mokuba...He didn't make it."

Blue eyes widened in a violent show of refusal. He took a single step away from me then turned and bolted out of the room.

"Seto!"

I ran after him. I knew Piccolo would be behind me. I had to stop him. In his current state he could hurt himself. The rod glowed against my stomach again. It could feel the agitation and confusion in its master.

An idea struck me. I pulled the rod from out under my shirt, held it straight out towards Seto's retreating figure, and yelled, "STOP!"

Immediatly, Seto's tall frame jerked to a stop. When he turned to look at me again, his eyes were the bright gold of Set's. I held my breath while I waited to see what the Egyptian priest would do.

"You are to be the one then? The one we inspire?"

I let out my breath. "Yes. My name is Kaetlynn."

He nodded. "Very well then, Mistress Kaetlynn." He looked around. "The boy?"

"Dead."

He nodded, though a slight tremor shook his strong form. "My other doesn't understand. Where is the body?"

I squared my shoulders then held my hand out to the High Preist. "Come with me."

He quietly took my hand and followed me back through the house. Piccolo remained safely out of the way. I led him back to my room and gestured to the bundle lying prone on my bed. Set let go of my hand and went to examine the remains. I saw him shudder again and found myself unable to help going over to comfort him.

"High Priest Set...I don't know how much you knew of Mokuba, but Seto's brother was his life. Everything he did, he did for Mokuba. The loss is going to hurt him for a while, but I'll be here to help the both of you through it."

"I know. Seto Kaiba is my other, the one whose body I reincarnated into. I cannot fully understand what he's going through, but I can get the general idea of it. It hurts both of us. He does not want to accept this."

He looked at the rod that I still held in my free hand. "Until I can be certain that he will not do anything stupid, you should keep the Millenium Rod with you. If you have need of me then you can summon me the same way you did today."

I nodded again then said, "I understand. Will you put Seto back in control then?"

"Yes, but first..."

Set straightened himself from his posistion on the bed and came to stand right in front of me.

"As my other will not allow you to touch him after this..."

He leaned his entire body over and wrapped his arms around my waist. His head found the crook of my neck and stayed there. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. I could hear P-chan growling at the Egyptian preist from wherever he was right now.

"Set?"

His body crowded closer to mine before he spoke. "Seto needs this, not I. He has to have something to support himself through this. So stubborn, that one. He would never allow himself to draw streangth from you. It is against his nature, and mine. I, however, understand that sometimes one must do what one does not like in order to prosper. Please, don't be offended by me. I'm not going to do anything to you. Your presence is simply a necessity to my other."

I couldn't help but blush harder at Set's description of why he was doing this. I've never been told that I was necessary for anything. It felt strange to be told that I was needed by someone like Seto Kaiba. I slipped the rod back under my belt then brought my arms around Set's neck and held him. I felt him stiffen against me then relax as he shifted to allow me to comfort him. I realized that both versions of the High Priest probably needed to be healed in this way, though Set would never admit to it.

All of a sudden Set's entire body went rigid and he tried to draw away from me. Seto must be back in control. I shifted my arms and pulled the young duelist down far enough to give him a real hug. Then I moved back and let him go.

His blue eyes looked so haunted that I could barely stand to look at him. For a moment I had no clue as to what I was going to do. Seto looked like he was ready to bolt again. I reached out in an attempt to offer what comfort I could, but he drew away sharply and glared at me.

"Don't you touch me!"

"Seto..."

"Don't call me that! You don't have the right to call me by name! You let my brother die! It's your fault! It's all your fault! I hate you! Stay the hell away from me!"

I flinched and scooted backward onto my bed and drew my knees up next to me. Something tells me that gaining his trust is going to be hard, especially since he's lost the only person that ever meant anything to him. Kami-sama help me, I hope I have the streangth to do this.

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Thats it for this chapter.

This is the last one until after Christmas everyone.

Oh, and just to let everyone know...Sometime during this Piccolo took Mokuba's body out of Kae's room so its not in there anymore.

Seeya next chapter.

Author's Corner:

I've gotten a few good questions from my reviewers so from now on I'll answer them at the end of the chapter. To the one(s) who asked these, you know who you are.

1.) Why can't a muse touch anything except what Kae has already touched?

A) They can't touch things from our world because they don't technically exist on this plane of reality so it only makes sense that they can't touch our stuff. The reason they can touch stuff that Kae has already touched is because the muses are tied to the one they are to inspire thus anything with that aura on them becomes partly in their reality.

2) It appears recipients and muses are not aware ahead of time as to who they will be connected with. So how do the muses know when to cross over?

A) Technically, they don't cross over. Their world exists right next to ours. To put it in a way that makes more sense, the muse world is on a different vibration than our world thus making it invisible to most people. The only way for a muse to tell when they're about to find someone that they are to inspire is the feeling of needing to be somewhere and knowing that they're watching for someone even if they don't know who. Piccolo touches on this in the first chapter.

3)Why would they send muses over so carelessly if there's a risk of death?

A) There usually isn't any danger in them becoming in tuned with our world. Their world is just always in a perpetual state of mid spring so they aren't used to the winter cold. It just happened that Seto and Mokuba were going to where they were supposed to go and the cold of our world dropped them. It just happens that way sometimes. Its rare to have a muse die, but it can happen.

4)If they both were needed, what is going to happen now that one of the muses has failed to find the person he needs to inspire?

A) In this case you'll just have to wait and see.