Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.
'Tis the Season – Chapter 7 (Epilogue)Seto stares at his cell phone like he has for the past week.
Tuesday, he moved into the von Schroeder household.
Wednesday, he called Mr. Kaiba and resigned, promising to finish up any lingering projects and close out things officially from his laptop.
Thursday, he sent e-mails to his employees telling them the news.
Friday, he called Jii-chan, promising to speak to Yami that night.
Saturday, he stared at the phone.
Sunday, he stared some more.
Monday, he opened it and got to Yami's number in his phone book before closing it again.
And here it was Tuesday again and he's back to staring at the phone.
He can do this. He has to do this. Yami will understand.
He falls on his bed away from the phone, sighing deeply. He can't do this. Taking the coward's way out, he leaves the phone and heads downstairs for a cup of coffee.
While sitting in his parka on the porch sipping the hot, strong liquid, he catches Mokuba trudging up the snow-covered walk.
"Seto," he mumbles.
"Heinrich," he replies, calmly. "Want a cup of coffee?"
Mokuba scoffs.
"You're not gonna bust my chops for coming it at two in the morning?"
Seto shrugs.
"It's not my problem. Coffee?"
Mokuba smirks amiably at him.
"Sure, why not," he shrugs. "But I'm going inside. You can freeze your ass off out here by yourself," he quips, knocking the snow off his boots and heading inside.
Seto follows, smiling lightly. They stay up the rest of the night drinking coffee and talking about 'the idiots at my school'. Seto regales Mokuba with stories of his high school difficulties from being smarter than most of the teachers and all of the students and Mokuba shares similar stories with him.
The phone lies forgotten until after work the next day. He vows to call Yami after dinner. As he hadn't slept the night before, he barely makes it to his bed before passing out.
The next evening, the phone lay on his bed, mocking him. He'd now been in Germany over three weeks and had only called Yami once, the day he arrived. He'd promised again to be home soon.
He hadn't meant to lie. He really had planned to be home soon.
Gods, Yami…
Forcing away all his fears and concerns, he finds Yami's cell in his phone book and presses the call button.
"Hello?" a sleepy voice responds after four rings.
Shit! He forgot about the time again!
"Yami, it's me," he breathes.
"Koshi?
"Yeah."
Seto hears rustling and supposes Yami is sitting up in bed. His chest starts getting tight.
"Where are you?"
"Still in Germany."
"I've been worried about you. When are you coming home?"
Seto doesn't respond. The tightness increases, it's getting hard to breathe.
"Koshi?"
"I-I'm not coming back, Yami. I'm sorry."
Dead silence. His breath is coming shorter now.
"W-what do you mean, koi? You have to come back. Your job…"
"I quit last week."
"Your apartment…"
"I hired movers to pack it up on Tuesday."
"Seto, I don't understand. You promised."
"I'm sorry, koi," he murmurs.
"But why, Koshi?"
"Mokuba can't come back right now. I have to stay here with him."
"You promised, koi," Yami chokes. Seto clutches at his chest, breath caught.
"Yami…I'm so sorry," he whispers.
"Couldn't you at least come back to say good-bye," he pleads.
"I…No, Yami."
"We could make this work, koi," Yami asserts after several minutes of silence.
"How? Your schedule is erratic, so you couldn't plan a trip here. I won't leave Mokuba so I can't see you there. The time difference prevents regular phone calls. Face it, Yami! This is the end for us!" he exclaims, voice breaking.
For a long time, all he hears are Yami's choked sobs as he strains to hold back his own tears.
"Koi?" Yami whispers, much later.
"Yes Yami," he mutters, clenching his eyes shut to stifle the tears.
"I love you."
Seto wants to say it, but he can't. He's barely making it as it is. If he told Yami that…
Instead he asks the question he's wondered about since Christmas Day.
"What was in the box, Yami?"
A pause.
"My heart."
Seto takes a ragged breath, running his free hand through his hair. Yami wanted a permanent commitment. Something Seto couldn't give him as long as Mokuba was missing.
That's why Yami was so hurt by Seto's rejection of the idea of moving in. To him, that wasn't all he rejected.
"I'm sorry, Yami. But I couldn't have accepted anyway."
A longer pause.
"I know, Koshi."
Silence.
"Yami, I didn't plan to ever leave you. You must believe me."
"I do, Koshi. I do."
A pause.
"I-I have to go now, Koshi. It's after four in the morning here and I have an 8am flight for a tournament in Singapore."
"Oh. Okay. I promise I'll write you, Yami."
"Sure, koi. Until then."
"Until then."
Yami hangs up. Seto curls up in a ball around his phone, clutching at his chest.
A/N: There will be a New Year's based sequel.