Originally posted: 12/27/05

I actually completed this chapter before chapter 15, and originally they were going to be one long, LONG chapter. But I split them up, so now you get two updates in a (relatively) short amount of time. This chapter is bound to be a bit strange, though… I wrote the second half many months ago, and just recently dusted it off and finished it. If you notice abrupt changes in mood and quality, I apologize in advance.

Thankies to everyone who reviewed chapter 15! Much love to you all.

Fluffiness abounds! Almost TOO much fluffiness… if anyone has constructive criticism they'd like to share, it'd be highly appreciated.

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island of red flowers

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by sir mocha

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chapter 16: s h a r i n g

Serenity ran like mad down the long hall, casting around wildly for anywhere she could hide, anywhere she could evade her pursuers.

Suddenly she felt an iron grip on her shoulder, and she was pulled roughly backwards through a small door on her right. As she was pulled into the poorly-lit, foreboding storage room, she didn't know what to do: if she yelled for help, the security guards would find her and she would be in BIG trouble with Kaiba Corp and the law. But if she remained silent, she would be trapped in the small room with a mysterious captor, and that could turn out extremely badly as well.

A hand clamped over her mouth, and a voice whispered in her ear, "If you yell, you'll have half the security forces down on us, and all this plotting and scheming will have been for nothing."

"Kaiba!" she whispered heatedly, "God, did you have to scare me like that?" She turned to face him, staring up at him in the dim light of a bare bulb.

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes, "next time I'll just walk outside and yell, 'Hey, Serenity, I'm hiding in here!'"

"Well, I assume this is the janitor's closet I was supposed to be looking for. What happened with your walkie-talkie, by the way?"

"Dead battery," he muttered.

She nodded. "Well anyway, I know there's supposed to be some miraculous, devious secret exit out of this room, so would you like to clue me in as to how we're going to escape? They were chasing me in this direction, and it's not going to take them long to figure out where I went."

Kaiba smirked. "There's a utility ladder in the corner over there, which leads to the basement. We're going to be taking an alternate route out off the Kaiba Corp grounds." He strode over to the ladder, placed one foot on the nearest rung, and began to descend. Serenity quickly followed, but hesitated before stepping onto the ladder. It was dark below, and for all she knew, the ladder descended hundreds of feet down… a long fall if she was careless.

Kaiba paused, and looked up. "Scared?" he asked, inserting a hint of challenge into his tone.

"Of course not," replied Serenity hastily, refusing to cower before the arrogant CEO. She began to climb down the ladder, focusing on the cold iron bars and trying to ignore the pitch-black void around her. Well, I guess if I fall, I'll fall on Kaiba and he'll cushion the blow.

But the climb down wasn't far, and mercifully soon, Serenity's foot scraped the concrete floor below. She stepped off the ladder onto the smooth, curved surface… and promptly lost her balance, falling lightly into the cold sewer water.

A flashlight clicked on a few feet above her head, and an amused CEO stared down at her. She was just about to splash a handful of dirty grey water on his elegant, shadowed features – His FACE, Serenity, now is not the time to ogle! – when he reached down, and offered her a hand up.

Kaiba understood the dangers of invoking Serenity's ire, so he wisely kept all 'wet dog' comments to himself. Instead he glanced surreptitiously at her wet, clinging clothes, accentuating the fine curves of her body… the mentally slapped himself, tore his eyes away and tried to concentrate on the present situation.

"These, uh…" He was having a hard time concentrating. He may have been a cold-hearted, emotionless bastard far too often, but deep down, he still had to deal with all the normal human problems: fear, jealousy, insecurity… it seemed that now, finally, he was adding 'intense physical attraction to those of the opposite sex' to his list of annoyances. Fabulous.

But damn, she was good looking…

These impure thoughts were driven from his head as Serenity, impatient with Kaiba's lapse into speechlessness, hooked her foot around his ankle and jerked, sending him tumbling down into the cold, filthy water below. He sat for a moment, blinking in shock, then glared up at her. She giggled nervously, the sound incongruous in the echoing blackness. She hoped she hadn't gone too far; the last thing she needed was a livid CEO leaving her behind in this dark place.

Kaiba slowly got to his feet, looked down at Serenity through dripping bangs, and said, "I suppose I deserved that."

She smirked back. "You were staring and drooling. I didn't want you to embarrass yourself any further."

Bold. Kaiba liked that. And yet, he felt his cheeks tinge slightly at the though of getting caught staring. Thank god it was dark, and she couldn't see him very well. "Then I stand properly chastised, and I apologize. As I was saying, we are now in the sewer system that runs under Kaiba Corp and under much of Domino City. I have a map, and we should be able to follow the pipes away from the office building to a safe distance to emerge back out onto the surface."

He unzipped a pocket in his duffel – waterproof, thankfully – and pulled out a large map. He played the narrow flashlight beam over the paper, studying the network of pipes for the easiest way to escape the company's property. Serenity, hovering by his side, made suggestions, and after committing the route to memory, Kaiba re-folded the paper and replaced it in his bag, and the two started walking.

It was difficult for them to slosh their way through the sluggish, knee-high water, and since they only had one flashlight between the two of them, progress was slow and difficult. Kaiba could see that Serenity was tiring – unsurprising, considering the large chase on which she had led the bumbling security guards – but he knew that the girl was stubborn, and wouldn't admit that she was having difficulties. He announced that they should rest in this spot for a few minutes.

The two crouched in the vast sewer system, listening to the footsteps marching by overhead. Soon they dissipated, but Kaiba didn't want to run the risk of venturing out prematurely and getting caught.

"I think we should wait a while," he remarked quietly, and Serenity nodded. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the steady drip drip drip of sewer water. Kaiba was just starting to zone out when he was brought back to the present by a multitude of water droplets spraying his face.

He looked over at Serenity, who had flung her head of wet hair around rather abruptly so she could talk to him. But before she opened her mouth, Kaiba, unable to refrain any longer, remarked, "Incredible. You're shaking the water off your head like a wet dog. I think you've been hanging out with your brother too much."

She actually hit him for that, but it was a playful hit and didn't hurt. Too much. "I was going to ask you a meaningful question," she said, "but if you're going to be a jerk then we're just going to sit here silently until hell freezes over."

Kaiba wasn't averse to that, but his curiosity was overpowering his aloofness. "Fine. I won't say anything more about the M- your brother."

"Fine," she said, throwing her hair back over her shoulder and spraying him with more water. "Remember back, all those months ago, when you first told me about Rei? I was just wondering, why did the Egyptian woman choose you to be the father?"

Kaiba thought back to that fateful day he visited Mokuba in the hospital. He was surprised to find that that painful memory – pacing around like mad while Mokuba underwent emergency surgery – was less acute than it had been. It was like a certain numbness was settling in, and he didn't know whether to attribute it to the recent distracting developments in his life, or the fact that he was slowly coming to terms with Mokuba's death.

"It was the day of the incident in the park." Kaiba grimly held out his index finger and thumb, pantomiming a gunshot, and Serenity nodded seriously. "I was waiting for news and wandering aimlessly around the hospital, and stumbled into the maternity ward. I was just about to leave when she walked over and started talking to me. It was some crap about destiny and soul, so I wrote her off as a lunatic. I never seriously thought she would entrust the care of her child to someone like me."

"Well, for the most part, I think she made a good choice." There was a loud silence following Serenity's words. At first, Kaiba thought painfully of the recent problems he had had with Rei, and grimaced at the thought of letting both her and Serenity down. But this fleeting remorse was soon overpowered by a more powerful emotion: shock. Serenity had actually paid him a compliment. Even now, when he was getting to know her better, the two would more often than not trade casual insults as part of the daily conversation. It was different hearing praise, however small, issuing from her lips. And Kaiba realized that he liked it. He liked it so much that he found, to his horror and disgust, that his face was beginning to heat up again. If he didn't do something soon, he would be downright blushing in front of Serenity.

How embarrassing. This was unacceptable.

He quickly turned away, and said hurriedly, "Why did she choose YOU?"

Behind her curtain of sopping hair, Serenity grinned. She could tell that her comment had made Kaiba lose his composure, if only for a moment. But it felt kind of… fun… to have that power over the stoic young man. But then her grin faded as she remembered the incident, and the shame and guilt she felt later as a result.

"I was at the hospital too, getting my eyes checked. I have to go in every few months, to make sure they're healthy… but anyway, I ran into the Egyptian woman – literally – and she told me some stuff too, about how nice I was. Then…" Serenity gulped, "…she asked me if I would be there for her when it came time to delivering the baby. I said yes, because she seemed so alone and scared."

She bit her lip. "But when she actually went into labor, I wasn't there. I – I was off skiing, and I couldn't help her like I said I would. I don't know why she entrusted me with Rei, I had already failed to keep my word…"

Kaiba looked back at her, and could detect the sorrow in her tone and on her face. "It wasn't your fault, you know. She was an eccentric woman, and you had no responsibility to be with her when she was having her baby."

"I know," said Serenity, sighing. "But she was all alone, and going through a really tough time. She probably could have used a friendly face."

"Well whether you were there or not, I think she knows you meant well. And you've worked hard to take good care of Rei, so you have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Thank you Kaiba," she said, giving him a funny look. "Even if you're a bastard now and then, you always know just what to say." She hesitated a moment, then leaned over and gave him a shy kiss on the cheek.

The sensation of her warm lips on his already-heated skin was like a catalyst for his emotions. He brought his head around and looked into her eyes, only a few inches from his. He saw unusual, new, and powerful emotions in her light-brown gaze, and though it was dim in the underground tunnel, he could see himself reflected in her eyes, the image distorted to almost the point of unrecognition. Ironic, he thought briefly, before bending down and capturing her beautiful lips with his own.

It was a tentative, inexperienced kiss that contained all the emotional power the two could muster. Despite all their arguments and fights, despite their recent awkwardness around each other, and despite the unlikely conditions – hiding from police in the middle of a dim, damp sewer – it was the most thrilling thing either of them had ever experienced. In the instant their lips made contact, they both knew, for the first time, what was meant by 'true love.'

Serenity was the first to break the kiss. She pulled away from Kaiba, her face scarlet from embarrassment. "I didn't… we really… I mean…"

Kaiba frowned, his own face tinged from excitement. "You didn't want me to kiss you?" he asked, suddenly fearing what she would say. The stoic CEO would never admit it out loud, but he had felt a powerful connection to the girl, and he had sworn she felt it too, from the way she kissed back so delicately. But what if he was imagining things? What if he was being a fool, as his stepfather had warned him against so many times? Crushes, romance… it disillusioned so many, a weakness that could cripple even the strongest. Had he fallen victim to its trap?

"No, no, it's not that," said Serenity, biting her lip, and Kaiba nearly breathed an audible sigh of relief. "It's just… well, it's all so, uh, strange and I didn't really expect that, um…" She looked up at him, searching for a sign of comprehension in his deep blue eyes.

"Just because it's strange," he said quietly, "doesn't mean it can't be nice." And with that, he leaned down again and kissed her. She wrapped her hands around his neck, and he in turn wrapped his around her lower back. They remained that way for what seemed an all-too-short time for both, until Kaiba broke away and looked to the side.

"I thought I heard an echo," he muttered, his heart still moving impossibly fast. "They're going to search down here sooner or later, and we need to be out of here before they find us."

"Yeah… yeah, you're right," agreed Serenity, looking disappointed that their time alone was interrupted by the arrival of the armed law enforcement. Kaiba paused for a moment, glancing at the girl whose beauty radiated through the mask of grime and sewer water she had acquired. He gently brought a hand to her face, and brushed her dripping hair back behind her ear.

Her eyes sparkled for a moment, before she said, "I really don't mean to interrupt, but we really SHOULD be moving." She hopped off the ledge and into the knee-high water. Kaiba shouldered his duffel and followed suit, and the two began making their way through the meandering tunnels, turning right or left according to what the map said, until they stood at last under a manhole cover that would hopefully emerge a block from the apartment.

Kaiba gestured to the ladder. "Ladies first," he said courteously. He had been brought up with a set of polished and perfected manners… that, and he figured the view following Serenity up would be well worth it.

If she let onto his less-than-innocent plan, she didn't say anything. She climbed quickly up the ladder, Kaiba following close behind. At the top, it was a moment's effort for her to lift the cheaply-made manhole cover and emerge into the street above. With a last glance at her cute posterior, Kaiba followed, replacing the metal disk and standing next to her on the quiet, deserted street.

"Kai- Seto?" she said sweetly, and he grinned at the new and welcome familiarity.

"Yes?" he replied, blushing again.

"…You stink."

He blinked, and said smartly, "What?"

"You stink," she said in that same sweet tone. "You smell like sewer water and mold and dead rats and…"

He raised one aristocratic brow. "Thank you for that opinion," he said levelly, and then in a completely un-Kaibalike move, swooped forward and picked her up, throwing her over one shoulder. He began to walk like this towards the apartment, while she giggled and sneaked a quick glance at HIS back-end.

"What was that for?" she asked. "You're supposed to be serious and boring! I don't think I've ever seen the playful side of Seto Kaiba before."

"In a few days I will regain my company and my assets," he said, continuing with his quick stride. "I believe I have reason to celebrate. Besides, I only have a few moments more to work out my post-successful-break-in rush of adrenaline before I have to go back into your apartment and act like a bastard towards your brother." As if to prove his point, he suddenly swung in a big circle, and Serenity shrieked from surprise.

Oh my god, she thought, as Kaiba once more headed towards the apartment, humming tunelessly, he's giddy. What kind of monster have I created? She grinned broadly.

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