Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I do not own the characters in the show either!!!

Okay, I'll try to update the story once per week, but as everyone should know, the first term of school is almost over. That means finals are coming up! (Scream because of horror, then faint) Therefore, I need time to study. This also means that I might not be able to update every week. So, I'll promise to update at least one per two weeks or once per month. I will try to update a.s.a.p. (of course when I have time). Fine, I'll shut up now. Continue with the story…

The Spirit of the Sword

Chapter 11

Welcome Back, Serenity!

As loud thuds of footsteps were heard, the sight of Joey and the gang also appeared in front of Seto. Joey rushed in and gave Seto a death glare. "Kaiba! Why didn't ya tell me that Serenity was still in a coma after two weeks?" Joey questioned Seto. Then, he rushed toward the bed. His brown eyes turned watery at the sight of Serenity's pale face. He caressed her cheek with his big hand.

"I thought she would wake up in a couple of hours, or days. Besides, she belongs to me now. Don't forget that you attended the wedding too. I don't need to inform a mutt anything that happened to her, now do I?" Seto tried to act as calm and nonchalant as he could. His icy blue eyes stared back at Joey.

"Kaiba! Don't push me! And don't EVER call me a mutt again!!!" Joey turned around and yelled at Seto.

"I can call you whatever I want. You were the one who started the fight at the church! You were the one that led to her coma!" Seto blamed all his anger and frustration on Joey. In his mind, he still believed that it was Joey's fault that made Serenity being hurt.

"Stop it you two!" Tea yelled. "Serenity needs some rest! Stop arguing like two little kids!" Tea walked over to Serenity with watery eyes. She sat down beside the bed and held onto Serenity's cold hand. "Serenity, we are here. All of your friends are here with you. Hang in there and please, wake up soon. We are all worried about you." Tea said quietly to Serenity. She hoped that her voice would help Serenity gain more strength and will to wake up.

"Hmph! I don't need you to tell me what to do, friendship girl." Seto snorted at Tea's order. He was about to turn around to go back to the window when he noticed both Tristan and Duke got next the bed and they were trying to grab Serenity's hand and touch her face. Seto instantly rushed toward Serenity and pushed both Tristan and Duke out of the way. He growled at them, "Stay away from her!"

Tristan and Duke was on the ground because of the strong push Seto gave them. "Hey man, why did you do that for?" Tristan complained. "Yea, we are Serenity's friend too, you know. We just wanted to help her get better." Duke wined too.

"Hmph. Anyone clever enough could tell you guys have some feelings for her." Seto snorted again. "If you want, you can talk to her, but don't come close." He said with a freezing voice and a death glare.

"Gee, fine. You don't have to bite, you know." Tristan said. "Yea…" Duke agreed with Tristan. They stood up, both looking at Seto with jealousy. They were extremely pissed that Kaiba get to marry their dream girl. They were even angrier now that they couldn't even get close to their dream girl.

Joey sat back down next to the bed. He grabbed Serenity's hand again and put her hand to his face. He ignored Seto and started talking to Serenity. Mai also came close to Joey. She grabbed onto Joey's hand, along with Serenity's hand held by Joey. "Joey, now that you are here with Serenity, I'm sure she will be fine soon." Mai wanted to comfort Joey.

Seto walked back to the window, but didn't turn around to face the outside of the window. He was eying Tristan and Duke so they would keep their distant.

"Serenity, I'm here. I'm Joey, your brother. Don't give up sis, come back to us." Joey said softly to her. Maybe she will hear us if we keep on talking to her. Joey thought.

"Hun, we are all here. You have to wake up. Don't let us worry about you." Mai said softly to Serenity. "You can hear me, right? Your friends are all here."

Yami didn't say anything since he entered the room. He walked towards Seto and stood next to him. "Kaiba. You really should have told us about Serenity's condition. Joey is her older brother after all. He should know how she was doing." Yami tried to talk some sense into the stubborn Seto.

"So? I don't need to hear your trash talk." Seto snapped at Yami, giving him a cold look.

"Be reasonable, Kaiba! Serenity needed her brother the most at a time like this, and her friends. I believe she barely knows you, so you definitely couldn't help her that much!" Yami suppressed his voice so that he wouldn't be too loud.

"Oh yeah? I have the best doctors to heal Serenity. Besides, aren't you guys here already? This conversation is over. I don't want to hear another word from you." Seto said nonchalantly and turned away.

Yami let out a sigh. Kaiba will never change his arrogant attitude towards others. Poor Serenity, how will she survive in his castle? But there was nothing he could do right now. He walked towards the bed, standing next to Tea. He also tried to say something to Serenity, trying to strengthen her will for survival.

As Serenity's friends and especially her brother were now with her, perhaps she would be able to wake up sooner…

Serenity was still sitting on the ground, allowing the fire around her to keep on burning. However, the fire didn't really burn her, it was just the high temperature that made her extremely uncomfortable. She had given up all of her hopes that someone would come to save her from the darkness. She had been sitting here for an awfully long time. But no one appeared. Joey didn't come. All of her friends didn't come. And Seto didn't come.

Suddenly, she heard distant voices talking to her. She heard someone called out her name several times. Listen more carefully, the voice seemed like all of her friends. Joey's voice was there too.

"Joey?" Serenity mumbled hesitantly. She raised her head and looked up at the light all the way up there. She could never reach the light. It was too high up. She had no idea how deep she had fallen down. When Serenity was about to give up again, someone tapped her on her shoulder.

Serenity jumped up and turned around. She saw Joey! "Joey! You came!" She exclaimed. She gained back more energy and hope after she saw Joey. I knew he will come and save me, just like he always does! She smiled and jump toward Joey. But just when she was about to touch him, he disappeared. Serenity froze. Although the fire around her seemed to have gone already, she was still a bit scared. She looked around for traces of Joey. Then, she saw Tristan some distant away from her, on top closer to the light.

"Tristan? Are you going to help me get out of this dark abyss?" She yelled at him. He was all the way up there. How could she reach him? She saw that Tristan was smiling at her. He was holding out one hand, hinting for her to go to him. Serenity found a little more strength. Then, her body was floating upward very slowly.

"I'm flying?!?" Serenity was shocked. Her body just float up, like there was no gravity down there. She smiled happily and wanted to reach her friend faster. But Tristan was flying upward too fast for her to catch up. Soon, he disappeared into the light. "Wait, Tristan! Don't leave me behind again!"

Duke appeared right next to Serenity. He extended an arm toward Serenity and pulled her up faster to the light. She was smiling that her friends were here. Duke was even helping her get closer to the light. When she was about to say something to Duke, he let go and flew upward himself. "Duke! Don't go yet! Help me!" But Duke smiled before disappearing into the light.

Then, she saw Tea near the light. She was smiling at her. Tea was saying something to Serenity, but she couldn't hear because Tea was too far away. Serenity tried to go to Tea as fast as she could. Her friends are finally here to save her. She was no longer alone in the darkness. A faint smile appeared on Serenity's face, as she extended her arms so that she could reach her friends faster.

Then, Yami was smiling at her all the way at the light. He held Tea's hands and stopped for a while. Then, Yami and Tea disappeared again into the light. "Wait for me Tea! I'll be there soon! I'm almost there!" Serenity was desperate to fly into the light. She didn't want to stay in the darkness any longer. Just when she was about to reach the light, a hand grabbed her smooth hand. She saw a handsome man with brown hair and cold blue eyes. "Seto…" Serenity was shocked that Seto was here too. With his strong arm, Seto pulled Serenity into the light…

Serenity blinked several times. Her fingers also moved a little. But she frowned at the light, which was blinding her for the moment. She tried to open her eyes when she felt a sharp pain on her back.

"Ah…" Serenity mumbled in response to the pain. Her movements had already informed all of the people around her that she had finally awakened.

"Serenity! Sis! Ya are finally awake! Welcome back to the wonderful world!" The joyful voice of Joey sounded so close to her. He grabbed her hand tightly, as if afraid to loose her again.

"Serenity! You are awake!" She heard many voices exclaimed. She recognized most of them. It was Yami, Tea, Mai, Tristan, and Duke! They were all here with her!

"Thank god you have finally awakened! It's been three weeks already!" Tea exclaimed. They had been here for one week already. They were staying in the room with Serenity everyday. Of course, Seto Kaiba was the one who allowed them to stay, otherwise they would have been all kicked out of the Domino Castle already.

"Serenity! Do you know that we have all been here for one whole week without leaving your side? We were so worried about you!" Mai said.

Everyone had an expression of relieves on their faces. Serenity had finally awakened from her coma! Serenity blinked some more to get use to the light. She was sort of confused by what her brother and friends were telling her. What are they talking about? Have I been unconscious for so long? Why would I be unconscious? She finally opened her eyes and looked around her.

Joey was at her left, with Mai beside him. Duke and Tristan were at the back of the bed. Tea and Yami was on the right of the bed. There were also several old men with long white beards. They seemed to be doctors. But no sign of Seto Kaiba. Serenity was a bit disappointed that Seto wasn't there. She lowered her eyes to cover her disappointment in the eyes. Right, now I remembered, Seto stabbed me on the back, that's why my back hurts… ouch.

"Hey guys! Hey Joey!" Serenity said, but her voice was a bit dry. "Where's Se…" She was cut off by a cold voice. The voice was from the window direction, so she turned to see who it was.

"Finally awake? That took long enough." Seto said, trying to sound as indifferent as possible. He was observing Serenity from the window. She finally awakened. She seemed much better, not as pale as last week.

Serenity was surprised to find Seto in the room too. She thought he was probably doing some paper works about his kingdom instead of wasting his time on her. He probably didn't even like her. She was still confused on his intention to marry her. But she felt dizzy after thinking, because she just recovered from a coma. She hasn't eaten for three months. She needed to rest right now. I'll think about that later.

"Um… I'm still very tired… can I get some rest first? Sorry guys…" Serenity felt guilty that her friends had been here for the whole week, but she wanted to get some rest right after she wake up, so they'll have to leave.

"It's okay, sis. We'll stay in the guest rooms. I'll come and see ya after ya get some rest, k?" Joey asked. Serenity smiled happily and nodded her head. Joey leaned down and kissed Serenity's forehead. He then pulled up the sheet to cover her better and went out with the others, leaving Seto with Serenity. Although Seto didn't really want the whole gangs to stay, but seeing the smile on Serenity's face made him swallow his refusal to let the gang stay in his castle. Therefore, he just kept quiet.

Serenity closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. Her soft auburn hair was spread out on the white pillow. She turned to her side, facing the window, which was also where Seto was standing.

You owe her an apology. Seto reminded himself, but his arrogant attitude prevented him from apologizing to Serenity about hurting her. He just stood there for a couple of minutes, with his icy cobalt eyes observing Serenity's face.

When is she going to be able to tell me everything about making swords? I have wasted three weeks already! Seto's arrogant self asked impatiently.

But she just woke up. I should let her rest some more. Maybe she will be more willing to tell me if I treat her nicer. Besides, I do have to apologize for wounding her. The nice side of Seto thought.

What is wrong with me? Why do I care for her? What about Mokuba, huh? My little brother is much more important than that Wheeler! She is a Wheeler, don't forget! Rebuked the cold side of Seto.

Seto was now frustrated. He was struggling about what he should do to Serenity next. Should he let her rest for another week, or make her help him right away? He was also a bit confused about his feelings in his heart. With frustration, he stormed out of the room, banging the door loudly. Damn it! I need to think things over! Seto stormed back into his library to think alone.

Serenity jumped at the banging of the door. She thought that everyone went out already, including Seto. Apparently not. He was in the room after everyone left! Serenity blushed a little at the thought of Seto watching her sleeping with his cold sapphire eyes. But then, she was too tired to think of anything now. Her eyes slowly closed and she fall asleep within five minutes. She had a sweet smile on her face, indicating she was having some happy dreams.

Okay, I'll stop here. I'm really tired, probably didn't get enough sleep yesterday. (Look hatefully at the pile of homework in front of me. Blame the homework and school that I didn't have enough sleep.) Lolz. I simply couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I'm going to take a nap.

Just one more thing, please review! Thanks.