Guardians

Note: Okay, chapter thirty eight, full speed ahead! Well, this didn't take me as long as I'd thought it would! Enjoy it, everyone, and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh! I'm just borrowing Seto and Joey for the purpose of this fic! Oh, and I don't own Incomplete, either... so no suing me, Backstreet Boys and fans.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Raindrops and Heart Thoughts

Betty hired her on the spot and gave her the uniform. "It's yours now," she said with a grin. "We'll have your nametag tomorrow when you get here. Same time, okay?"

Karmina nodded and slid the apron and hat into her messenger bag, snapping it shut only after fumbling blindly for a minute. She was pretty rattled up from seeing Seto, still so angry at her, outside of school.

As she walked in the cold night air, skittering along in the dark, she felt a chill go down her spine that was unrelated to the temperature. Glancing up, she saw a limo go by. Seto. He's probably out of aspirin.

She watched it go, standing stock still as the few people still out rushed around her as if she wasn't even there. Only when it began to snow and the light she was standing by started to flicker did she continue on the way to Joey's house.

"What took ya so long?" he asked at once.

"I was… walking… enjoying the night."

"You hate da cold."

"Since when are you my keeper, Joey?" she snapped. He actually jumped, taken aback by Karmina's bad temperament. She was usually always kind with her words, whether she felt like it or not, unless you'd done something to make her angry.

"Sorry Karmina… I was just worried about ya, bein' out so late an' all."

"No… I'm sorry. It just hasn't been a very good day. I shouldn't take that out on you."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

Even Joey could tell what that tone and pain in her eyes meant. "Kaiba's bein even more of a jerk dan usual, isn't he?"

"No, Joey… I told you… it's nothing."

He gave up, tempted by the sound of the microwave beeping. "I made hot chocolate!" he declared.

"I can tell," she said, smiling at the brown mess that had formerly been the kitchen. "There's coca everywhere."

"I guess dere is," he said, pulling out two overflowing mugs with a sheepish grin. "I'm not dat neat wit cookin'."

"Obviously," she drawled. She was feeling far too warn out to mind her tone of voice, and let the weariness show for once. "I'm tired," she told him. "I'm going to bed."

She sulked off to the bedroom with a heavy heart, remembering that she still had math homework to do.

A half hour later she finished the long division worksheet and slid into bed. "That was painstaking," she muttered, putting a hand to her head. "I need painkiller."

As she sulked into the kitchen for painkiller, she thought about Seto. He's probably getting himself some painkiller about now, too. Strange. And though she couldn't have known this, the instant she tipped her glass and took her pills, Seto Kaiba opened his cabinet to get his own. Somehow, I don't think that this medicine is really going to help me… but it's going to have to be enough.

Karmina walked over to the window and stared out at the full, glowing moon. It was so whole, so real, and somehow that bothered her. She downed the water as if it could erase the past and make her feel better. Naturally, it didn't help. She sighed and glanced up at the sky, only to see a shooting star. A small smile graced her lips, and she realized that she had no idea what to wish for. I could wish… to be set free… to be able to fall in love again, only this time with Joey… but is that a wise wish to make? I mean… is it what I really, truly want? I want to be happy, but… maybe… I think somehow I'd be happier if… I don't know. But I wonder… is Joey the right person for me? He makes me smile… and he makes me laugh… but… he doesn't make me… make me dream of his face at night… and think about him all the time… and I don't feel that warm content when I'm around him. Isn't that… isn't that love?

She seated herself on the bed and continued to watch the shooting star. It was such a simple thing, really, but still so complicated. The way it streaked through the sky in a path like that seemed like such an easy thing, but thinking about all the technicalities made it confusing and amazing all at the same time. It was like love, like life. It sounded so simple, sometimes… but it really, truly, was a complete mess.

"Gosh, I'm in an interesting mood tonight," she said to herself with another empty little smile. "It must be because I saw… him… today… talked to him… and had no way of getting away… trapped like a bird in a cage… and I didn't even try to fix things… I'm such a baby. I wish… I wish I had the courage to face him… to really face him… and tell him how I feel… however it is that I feel… And sure, I have no idea what I'd say, if I could… but just being there and trying it would mean so much…"

She stared up at that full moon, wishing, hoping that she would somehow know how it was that she really felt inside. And suddenly, just as the first bottled up tear came rolling down her cheek, the rain started to fall. And in his office, Seto Kaiba was staring up at the same moon, and watching the same rain fall down. Somehow, it seemed, they both knew that this was a moment they shared, a pain they both could recognize. Even Kaiba had to admit the connection with her he felt that night.

"It's strange, but I think she's looking up at the sky too. It's almost like I feel her in my head again," he said to himself before realizing what he was doing. Talking to himself. Just like she used to do. You know…even though I try to hate her, hate her because she wouldn't forgive me, and because I don't want to need her this way… I still can't seem to do it. I think about her still, all the time. Even when I don't mean to… even when you'd think I'd be too busy… she's always there. Why? Why can't I get her out of my head?

Karmina raised her face to the sky, opened the window, and climbed out into the cold rain. "If I can't make myself forget… can't let go… then at least I can try to numb the pain," she told herself, letting the cold beads hit her skin, hoping that somehow, they'd wake her up, and take her back to life as it had been without him, knowing that that wasn't really what she wanted.

Seto Kaiba opened his laptop, and typed away in his journal, feeling foolish but relieved all the same. Maybe I won't throw myself into the rain as… she… does… but this helps, in its own way.

The girl spread her arms wide and danced in circles, letting her tears fall and mingle with the rain. She wouldn't go there, to her place, because it was too near to him and all of the new things that made her sad. Instead, she'd find a place inside herself where she could feel just as safe, and just as open and honest about how she felt.

And somewhere in the distance, as he typed away on his computer, Seto Kaiba could hear, though faintly, the sounds of a radio, the sounds of music that, for once, was not Karmina's voice. "I tried… to go on like I never knew you… I'm awake, but my world is half asleep. I prayed, for this heart to be unbroken but without you all I'm going to be is… Incomplete."

That was exactly how he felt, although he would rather die than admit that a song could really explain how he felt. Besides, that would be all to similar to her. And there he was, thinking about her again.

…………………………………………………

(And here you thought I wouldn't include Wheeler) Joey Wheeler watched Karmina from his window, wishing that he could go out there and comfort her. But he knew that he would only make things worse. As much as he hated to admit it, even he could tell that Karmina belonged with Kaiba. It was something in the way that her eyes were so deep where his were so closed… the way that they both hid their pain, in different ways. He was nothing like Karmina, could never be like her. And as much as he wanted to, he knew he could never really understand her the way that his nemesis did.

"Dis sucks," he said sadly. "I love hr, I know I do… but dere's nothin' I can do ta make her betta, except stay away… stop tryin' to make her like me… 'cause I want her ta be happy, most of all."

He watched her dance, and cry, and sing strings of unconnected choruses and verses that he couldn't make much sense of. It was sad, really, to see a singer not knowing what to sing. And even so, her voice was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. He took a step towards the open window, to close it or to go out, he didn't exactly know, but then stopped.

"Dis is da time for makin' a decision, I think. I want her ta be happy, so… I'd betta let her work things out for herself. And it ain't likely she'll pick me, but dat's okay… dere's lotsa hot girls at school." It was a half hearted joke, but Joey was right when he said he wasn't like them. He could pick himself up with ease. "Now I need a big ole donut!" And the food helped, of course!

End note: Sorry about the lack of action… this was one of my overview and emotional chapters without much forward momentum. Just summing up the way our characters feel!