A/N: Whee, another day, another chapter. I'm getting back into the swing of daily updates… just in time to go back to school on Tuesday. D'oh.

Review Responses:

Willowwind: Hmmph! With respect, my chapters are longer then yours, and I update more... Only joking. I couldn't be annoyed at you. Although, if you tell me what else YOU would put in the chapter, I'll tell you where you can shove it... :P Annnyhoo... As to the fluff, you may have noticed a distinct lack of Seto last chapter. So unless you were expecting her to get with Joey... Ahem. Anyways, you needn't worry about squealing yourself to death this chapter either... It's odd...

Dragonlady222: ...Eh? Look, I've been feeling dumb recently, so I'm afraid I don't quite understand... Sorry... but, 'real gift'? Let's work on the assumption, for a second, that you meant thegifts they brought him. (Sweatdrop) Well, in my defense,do you know how hard it is to think of enough presents for everyone! I'm rapidly running out of ideas...

Disclaimer: Out of anything vaguely interesting to say, so… Oh, the song, 'Dashing away with the smoothing Iron' is just an old folk song, to be sung in… well, kind of a Yorkshire accent, if that means anything.

And now, chapter 15, in which Seto, Az, Ryou, me and possibly you guys get very confused. And it's probably not what you were expecting…

Fifteen: Crying in the Rain

February

Laughing, Azreal stood up. Another lunchtime over, another Friday almost done, another weekend ahead. Life just kept moving on.

"I'll see you later, Seto." She sighed as she picked up her bag. "If you get home from work soon enough, that is…"

"Az!" Seto said suddenly, gently grabbing her arm to stop her moving off. "You don't need to get Mokuba tonight. He's spending a night at his friends, that's all."

"Oh." She replied, almost disappointed. She quite enjoyed hanging out with Mokuba. She was starting to get good at Soul Calibre now… She should really get it for her Gamecube, and then she could have Link… "Then I guess I'll see you Monday, Seto." There was no chance he'd have the weekends off. Okay, so technically he had Sunday, but he'd just end up working from home…

"You could come round anyway…" Seto tried slyly. "I may have taken the exact night Mokuba wasn't home off… purely by accident, of course."

Azreal laughed. "I'd love to. In that case, I'll see you after school…"

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It had rained and rained for days, and had never stopped for more then a few minutes, and it looked set to do it for a few more. But at that moment, Azreal decided she didn't care as she stood on the school porch with Seto, looking out.

"It's really tipping it down…" Seto commented. "I can barely see… Ah, there's the car…"

She caught his hand, and he looked at her curiously.

"Let's walk." She said spontaneously. "Let's walk it."

Seto shrugged.

"Alright."

And so, they blew off the ride home, and they walked back to the mansion through the streaming rain, laughing as they ran and splashed along the pavement.

And she didn't let go of his hands.

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By the time they got back to Seto's, they were absolutely soaked.

He looked at her, bangs stuck to her cheeks, water sliding down her face, glasses collecting water that eventually dripped down her nose; until she took them off and wiped them ineffectively on her sodden jacket.

She looked at him through blurred lenses, hair slicked to his forehead, running in streams down the sides of his face, and dribbling down his neck; he absently rubbed at them as she removed her glasses and attempted to dry them off on wet clothes.

"You're gonna get one serious cold." Seto said, trying to sound stern.

"As are you." She replied, smiling.

They promptly began to warm each other up, only separating when Azreal really did start to shiver from the cold.

Seto looked at her disapprovingly.

"You need a shower." He decided. "A hot one. In the meantime, if you shove your clothes outside the door, they can go in the dryer."

"And what about you?" She asked. He smirked.

"You think we don't have more then one bathroom?" He replied. "And, unlike you, I have a change of clothes here. Because I live here."

"And yet, I seem to be here more then you are." She giggled.

"Yes." Seto replied seriously. "I'm considering charging you rent."

"Then I'll charge you for 'baby sitting'." She smirked back.

"I don't need to retaliate to that. Mokuba would hate you on principal if you did that."

"Heh." Azreal laughed. "Then I guess you win."

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Seto didn't employ many staff inside the house, just a cleaner who came in once or twice a week. She was an old, arthritic lady, and Seto often felt like he was taking advantage of her. But she really seemed to love it, and could often be located by her cheerful singing. It was a constant mystery to Seto how she managed to clean the entire house in just a few hours, but she did, and to a state that even Seto couldn't complain about. Pointing Az in the direction of the closest bathroom, he set off to find the elusive Ms. Mary Portly. Before too long, he could hear her cheery voice echoing down the hall.

"'Twas on a Monday Mor-or-ning that I beheld me dar-ar-ling, she looked so sweet an' char-ar-ming in every fine degree!"

Yes, defiantly on this floor…

"She looked so sweet an' char-ar-ming a' hangin' out her wash-ash-in'…!"

Getting closer, in one of these rooms…

"Dahin' away wiv the smoothin' iron, dashing away with the smoothing iron…"

Seto patiently waited for her to finish her song.

"She stole me heart-art awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

He knocked on the door to find her polishing, and politely asked her to run Az's clothes through the dryer and then put them back.

"Will do, sir." Was all she said. She didn't ask any questions. "But, if I may say, you need to dry off yourself or you'll catch your death, you will!"

Seto didn't comment, thanking her and leaving.

She smiled. There had once been a day when she knew he had only been polite because he couldn't get anyone who'd do her job better. But now…

She'd be glad to dry off the girl's clothes. Mokuba loved her, so did Mr Kaiba himself, and all in all, she'd been a blessing to this house.

Maybe she'd even iron them. She quite fancied a bit of ironing…

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When, a shower and a change of clothes later, Seto returned to the main room, Azreal wasn't there. But the bathroom door had been ajar when he'd passed it, so she wasn't in there either…

She was nowhere in sight.

However, there was a rather delicious smell coming from the kitchen, so he went to investigate. And, predictably, he found Azreal there, washing something off her hands.

"What's going on?" he asked, although it was a pretty silly question. "Az?"

"I felt uncomfortable just sitting there." She replied, getting the last of the mash of her hands and heading to the fridge. "And I knew we'd just end up eating take out, so I decided to make my special Shepherds Pie." She pulled some cheese out the fridge. "Now, where do you keep your cheese grater?"

"In the draw to your left," Seto replied mechanically. "What's so special about this pie, then, in comparison to all the others?" He teased lightly.

"One hundred percent real Shepherd." Azreal grunted in reply, beginning to grate the cheese.

"I'm serious…" Seto threatened.

Azreal laughed. "Firstly, it's my favourite thing to make, if not to eat. Secondly, I put cheese on it. Excuse me."

She pulled on some oven gloves and pushed past him. "Yup, I'd say that's done… for now." She placed it on top of the stove before turning the oven off. Pulling off the gloves, she grabbed her small pile of grated cheese and spread it over the top of the potato.

"That's real mash, there." Azreal informed him, as she slotted the 'pie' into the grill, gloves back on. "Oh, that has cheese in it to. Mokuba loves this stuff, so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't." She swatted him with the oven glove as she took it off.

And Seto continued to stand there in bewilderment. He couldn't quite understand why she couldn't stand to be in the front room on her own, but had no qualms about cooking a meal…

A few moments later, she was dishing it up, onto three plates.

"One for you…" She explained. "One for me… and one for your brownies."

"My what?" Seto asked in confusion.

"Your brownies." Azreal repeated. "Or House-elves. Or Oompa-loompas. Or whatever it is that not only dried my clothes, but, I suspect, washed and ironed them in the twenty minutes I was in the shower."

Seto laughed. "I'll tell her you appreciated it." He promised as she left it in the oven to keep warm. She passed him a plate, and he squinted at it suspiciously.

"Is this edible?"

She poked him. "More so then what you cook." She replied, archly.

Seto had to admit, it did smell lovely…

The rain continued to tumble down and down, but they talked and ate and laughed in cycle, and generally had a great time.

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Azreal became dimly aware that the sound of rain on the window had stopped"I should go." She yawned, straightening up, pulling herself off Seto's shoulder. She forced herself to stand up. It was getting dangerously close to her falling asleep on his sofa again. "While the storm's letting up."

Seto stood to. "Do you want a lift?"

"No, it's okay, I'll walk thanks." Azreal replied, stretching. "I had a great time tonight… phone me this weekend if you get time, alright?"

"Of course." Seto smiled. "Have you ever seen Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves?"

Azreal blinked at the abrupt change of subject. "You mean 'The Swashbuckling adventure film with just the right mix of humour, action and romance'? Of course, I love it. Why?"

"They're re-showing it at the cinema in a week. On Valentine's night." Seto told her.

"You don't want to go to the dance?" She asked, in mock surprise. He laughed.

"I'd rather jump in a swimming pool full of acid." He responded. "I hate dances." Then he looked at her face. Not mock surprise. Real surprise. "Az?"

"Oh, Seto…" She said. "I'm…so sorry, I didn't even think… It's just Téa, she was so excited, I kinda got caught up… she made it seem like so much fun, you know, I've never been to one before… I should've thought…"

"Ssh." Seto said, keeping his face carefully blank. "I'm not going to force you out of anything you want to do."

"And I'm not going to force you into anything you don't want to do." Azreal replied.

Silence fell.

"Well," Seto said, his voice steady even as his thoughts were reluctant. "There's no rule saying we have to do something together."

"No." Azreal agreed hastily. "We don't always have to be joined at the hip."

"Of course we don't. We'll just do something another time."

"Yes."

"Fine."

"Great."

"Well, see you, Seto." Azreal said, reluctantly.

"Goodnight."

She left.

It was great and fine. It was the logical choice. A perfectly sensible thing to do, so now they'd both get to do what they wanted- or didn't want to- do. It was the best thing to do.

So why did they both feel awful?

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"They're not talking…" Téa said, worry clouding her eyes. "Just… eating."

"You might not want to watch so blatantly, Téa." Ryou told her, sneaking a glance across the canteen towards Seto and Anna himself. "But you're right. They have seemed awkward with each other recently."

"I wonder if they had an argument…?" Yugi thought aloud. "But then, why are they still eating together?"
"I hate to admit it," Joey said, shrugging. "But Azreal has seemed kinda down recently. I hope she sorts it out with him- I hate seeing her so miserable all the time!"

"It's the Valentines dance tonight." Tristan pointed out. "She'll cheer up, you'll see."

"That's right!" Téa clapped her hands. "She has to! She came shopping with Mai and I on Saturday, and she got the most gorgeous dress- oh, Kaiba's just going to die when he sees her in it!" She sent a sly glance at Joey. "Although, Mai's is pretty nice to…"

"Mai's coming?" Yugi asked in surprise. "Doesn't that mean someone from this school had to ask her?"

"Yup!" Téa continued cheerily as Joey tried desperately not to choke on his food. "I wonder who it could be…?" She tapped her chin in apparent wonder, waiting for Joey to admit it. It wasn't like he could get any more obvious.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"They're late…" Joey muttered, anxiously. Yugi laughed.

"You sure are nervous, aren't you?" He chuckled. "If she didn't want to go with you, she wouldn't have said yes."

"Yugi, this is Mai. She'd just want to come to the dance."

"Phfft." Yugi scoffed. "I don't know how you can say that after the way she kissed you on Christmas Eve…"

"Mmm…" Joey rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

Yugi and Joey were waiting outside the school, standing under the porch to avoid the rain, for Téa, Mai, and Azreal. The original plan was that they were all going to met up and go inside together, but Ryou, looking like he'd rather have stayed home, had been dragged off sometime ago by his girlfriend, Duke was no doubt out 'playing the field', and Tristan was probably attempting to follow his example.

"Besides," Yugi continued. "You heard what Téa said earlier. She and Mai are planning to ambush Azreal and make sure she gets dressed up for this. Apparently, they had a hard time just getting her to buy the dress, so you can bet it's going to be easier said then done."

Joey laughed. "I feel sorry for the girl. Oh, here they are." A taxi had just pulled up, and was currently regurgitating Téa.

You knew she was looking better then ever just by Yugi's face. Téa was in the traditional 'little red number', with no sleeves, just thin straps running over her shoulders. It was beautiful in it's simplicity, just like Téa, widening slightly at her waist, giving her enough room to move comfortably. She looked good, that much was plain by the fact that Yugi was turning a colour to match her dress.

Before Joey had time to have a good laugh at him though, Mai climbed out of the car. Her dress was tight, and black, and in relative terms to the rest of her clothes, long- it reached all the way down to her knees. Then Yugi wasn't the only one blushing.

The last one out of the car was Azreal, looking apprehensive, and Joey and Yugi looked at her to calm their faces and pulses a little.

Téa hadn't been lying about that dress. Kaiba would, most likely, keel over when he saw her. The thing was, by modern stereotypes, Azreal was not beautiful. Cute, perhaps, in the same way that a hamster was, but not beautiful. Yet, with that small, nervous smile on her face, in that pale blue, white, silver- who could tell- dress that showed a shape she seemed unknowingly to hide, she really did look radiant. It was the smile that did it. She was one of those people who seemed to have a smile that lit up their entire face, would make them beautiful even if they'd ploughed through an entire rainforest of ugly-trees.

"You guys look great!" Yugi managed to get out when they were close enough, having run through the rain.

"I feel like an idiot." Azreal laughed. "I've never owned a dress before…"

"You don't look like one." Téa promised, sounding approving. "You look wonderful. Seto's going to love it!"

"Oh, Seto's not coming…" Azreal replied, trying to keep her tone light. "But I thought I'd come and play wall-flower."

They stood in an embarrassed silence

"Well," Mai said eventually. "Are we going in or are we just going to stand here!" She took Joey's arm, and the group of them trooped inside.

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Meanwhile, Seto was working on his computer. Or, he was supposed to be, anyway. In actuality, he was idly playing Minesweeper. Beside him on his desk was the present and card he'd got Az for Valentines. A silly, sentimental gesture.

Would she even accept them?

Of course she would. They hadn't had an argument. They had just… gone their separate ways.

Not a big deal.

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Once, when Azreal was still in musing school, Ruby had returned from a job inspiring a band, explaining that she had left when they'd got back on track, playing at a school dance. Human dances were odd, she had commented, because people seem to do more talking then actual dancing.

Well, that had certainly proved true. Azreal was standing alone for the first time that night, swaying slightly to the music. A slow song, so all the others were with their respective partners. She sought them out in the mass of moving people.

Joey and Mai, she had seen very little of. They'd hardly let go of each other all evening.

Yugi was dancing with Téa, laughing. So was she, and Azreal joined in as she watched Téa whispering instructions to him. Apparently, he still hadn't got the hang of this dancing lark.

It was scarily like her dream all those months ago, because Tristan really was dancing with Ribbon. But he was holding his own, and not treading on her feet too much, so it was alright.

Even Duke, who had been surrounded by girls all night, had chosen one, and they were dancing together. At that second, it didn't look like she was the only one who thought it was the start of a real relationship…

Azreal wondered vaguely what Seto was doing at that moment. She knew he didn't like dancing, but she wondered if he was any good at it. It would be just like when he held her, only moving… his warmth, the beating of his heart, and the beat of the music as they swayed…

No! Azreal stopped the thoughts right there. Don't think about it… She told herself over and over again, because she knew that if she did it might just stick a knife in her chest. Feelings didn't listen to logic.

Trying to distract herself, Azreal searched for the last of her friends… Ah, there he was- Ryou, his hair catching the light. He was talking to his girlfriend, but they were hardly moving now. Suddenly, she pulled out of his grasp, slapped him hard round the face, and ran out of the room. As Ryou straightened his head, rubbing his cheek, her friends ran out after her. He wandered back over to where Azreal was standing, ignoring the looks being thrown at him, to where the group of them had been standing all night, looking surprised.

"Wow." Azreal commented. Judging by the way Ryou's head had snapped back, she had hit him hard. "What did you do?"

"…I'm not sure." Ryou admitted, rubbing the side of his face. "We were just talking, and she asked me if I liked to dance. And I said, 'No, not really', and she pulled a face like this-" He demonstrated a semi-surprised, semi-annoyed face which quickly changed to a sort of half smirk. "And asked me why, in that case, I was dancing."

"And what did you say?" Azreal asked, trying to suppress a laugh. She had a feeling that she knew where this was going…

"That I was dancing because she told me to." Ryou replied, sounding thoroughly baffled.

Azreal really did laugh. "Ah, well, yes, I think that would've been your opening to say something romantic, Ryou."
He blinked. "Really?"

"Yes." Azreal grinned. "You know, tell her that you didn't like dancing but you liked dancing with her, that it didn't matter what you had to do if it meant being close to her…that kind of thing."

"Oh…" Ryou said, as though he hadn't thought of that. Which he evidently hadn't.

"I mean, for pity's sake Ryou, all you had to say was 'because I love you'…" Azreal shook her head. "You really are clueless."

"Well…" Ryou shrugged. "I guess… but she always said she liked someone who was honest…"

"You don't sound like you're enjoying this relationship all that much…" Azreal commented.

Ryou said nothing, continuing to rub his stinging cheek absently.

"Here." She said, changing the subject. "You'd better let me have a look at that… she must have got you hard if it's still hurting…"

"It's alright." Ryou said, hastily.

"It's obviously not." Azreal raised her eyebrows. "Just let me look… It's not like you can see the side of your face, is it?" She poked his chin gently, but also firmly, turning his face so she could see.

By this point, the others had realised something was up and were making their way over.

Azreal gave a low whistle. "Wow. That's gonna hurt in the morning…"

"It's rather hurting now, actually…" Ryou admitted, half laughing.

"Yeah, you're going to want to put some ice on that, mate, or your face is gonna swell up like-" She began to pull away, releasing him as the song drew to a close. But before she could let him go completely, before she could even finish her sentence, a loud scream interrupted her. Ryou's livid soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend stormed up to them.

"I've not been gone five minutes and you're already with another girl!" She accused.

"No, I-" Ryou began, but- and he really should've seen this coming- she slapped him harshly again, this time on the other side of his face, shot Azreal a dirty look, and stormed off again.

"Well, at least you match now…" Joey tried, arriving.

"Yeah," Tristan said slowly. "I think you just got dumped, Ryou."

"It certainly seems likely." Ryou replied. He didn't sound too bothered.

"I'm so sorry!" Azreal wailed. "I totally didn't mean to, I didn't realise she would think-"

Ryou held a hand up to stop her.

"It wasn't working out anyway." He said, sounding positively cheerful. "I wanted to dump her, but couldn't figure out how to do it without hurting her feelings. But I think that problem has just been solved for me. And now you have a fellow wallflower for company!"

Azreal laughed. "I guess I do… but you really might want to go put some ice on that. On them, I guess."

"I suppose you're right." Ryou said, as though the notion had only just occurred to him. "In that case, I'll be back shortly…"

He wandered off, looking as lost as ever. Gradually, her friends drifted back out onto the floor as another slow song came on, and Azreal was left standing, swaying alone.

The night had certainly been…eventful.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Azreal was standing alone, watching the dancers, perfectly happy.

Well, almost. She was having fun. Except for the niggling guilt…

Oh, shut up. She told it irritably. We're old enough now to be mature about doing something separately. It's not a crime. Go away.

"Are you all alone…?" Someone asked her sympathetically. She turned, recognising him. Daisuke something-or-other, from the year above. He was popular, yes, but it seemed to be for a good reason. He was a decent guy, and a good laugh.

"At this precise second, yes." Azreal replied easily. "But my friend should be back in a minute."

"Oh, the guy who got slapped, right?" He asked. "That looked painful…is he okay?"

"Actually, he seems rather happy about it." Azreal laughed.

"What about you?" he asked suddenly. "Don't answer if you don't want, but you've seemed pretty down in the dumps all night…"

"Well…" Azreal began, embarrassed.

"Look, it's Anna, isn't it?" He asked.

"That's right…" She nodded, heart pounding.

"Well, let's dance, Anna." He said, holding out a hand. She hesitated. "Oh, come on…" He said, sympathetically. "It's a shame to come to a dance and not do any dancing."

"Now?" Anna asked hesitantly. He was right, but it was a slow song…

"Duh." He looked confused.

Oh, why not?

"Sure." Anna smiled, placing her small bag on her chair and taking his hand. "I'd love to."

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Seto growled in frustration, slamming his elbows down as he held his head, the keyboard bleeping in protest. He just couldn't concentrate! All he could thing about was her face, after he'd told her he didn't want to go…

She understood that I didn't want to go, Seto told himself. Again. I hate dancing.

You're just scared… another voice in the back of his head.

No I'm not. I just hate dancing. He replied stubbornly. Great. Now he was arguing with himself.

You are. You're scared of looking stupid…

No, I just hate dancing! And now he was yelling at himself. And still, all he could think was how disappointed she'd looked…

Okay, fine. You hate dancing- but don't you love her?

Internal conflict over.

Seto stood up, cursing. And grabbed his coat.

"Mokuba!" He yelled, as he began to pound down the stairs. "I'm going out!"

"Where?" Mokuba asked, appearing from his room.

"Where do you think?" Seto replied, smiling grimly. "Mokuba, I'm a fool."

His younger brother tutted. "That's what I've been trying to tell you all night! Well… good luck then!"

"Here's hoping I won't need it." Seto answered, slamming the front door behind him as he plunged out into the rain.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Ryou's quest for ice had been unsuccessful. However, he had managed to get himself a drink. That had ice in it, at least. He'd got one for Anna to, but…

Where was she?

Her bag was still on the chair, but she was nowhere to be seen. Getting a sudden sinking feeling, he scanned the hall for her.

And there she was, dancing to a slow song with some guy from the year above.

Oh no… Ryou averted his eyes. What was he supposed to do? He hadn't been here to stop her, to make her see sense…

He didn't know what she was playing at, but he hoped to dear goodness she'd see sense. She'd been with Seto too long and had been too good with him to drop it all like this… She was making a big mistake.

And he could only stand by and watch her make it.

Kaiba really needed to get his backside down here.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Anna tried to convince herself she wasn't doing anything wrong as they moved. Daisuke was right. It was just a dance. Why shouldn't she? She was at a dance. Why couldn't she dance? And nothing Seto said would convince her otherwise.

Only, something inside reminded her. He's not saying anything. It's you who can't convince yourself.

Still, it was just a dance. It wasn't like she was kissing the guy. Although, the song was finishing, and she could feel him pressing against her, and leaning towards her…

He wouldn't look twice at you if you weren't all dressed up.

So what?

Seto would. You know. He did.

Yes, but Seto wasn't here. Seto hadn't come with her, Seto hadn't danced with her, Seto hadn't made her feel special…

You didn't exactly make him feel special either…

Whatever. After all,Anna reminded herself as he loomed ever closer. It's how you end a slow dance. Part of the dance, everyone else was kissing. It's just a dance.

Just a dance…

Just a dance that she wanted to dance with Seto.

She leapt away from him, feeling disgusted with herself. She had been about to… she would've…

"What's wrong?" He asked, and, looking in his eyes, she could see the concern was false.

"You tell me…" She whispered. "What is wrong…?"

She meant herself, of course, but he answered anyway.

"You won't kiss me… And so, I'm going to lose money." He added spitefully.

Azreal looked up at him in confusion.

"A bet, sweet pea." He explained, laughing at her. Then he saw she wasn't laughing with him as she realised she'd been fooled. "Hey, don't look at me like that… It's just a joke, no need to get all offended… I was just having a bit of fun, seeing how far you'd go, that's all…"

She wanted to slap him. She wanted to slap him so much. He had got her to dance with him, he had tried to kiss her…

But she knew that wasn't true. Because she could have said no. Only she didn't. She went and danced with him, and she had almost…

She ran from the hall, ignoring those who called out to her.

How could she face other people when she couldn't face herself…?

She ran and ran until she crashed almost painfully into the school fence, sobbing, tears mixing with the rain. Shuddering, she covered her face. What was wrong with her? What had she done?

"You've really gone and done it this time…" Azreal muttered. "You've really gone and done it…"

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Azreal vaguely became aware that the rain had stopped. Only… No, it hadn't. Someone was holding an umbrella over them both.

"You know," Seto said softly. "People say that you can cry in the rain then no-one will see. But there's an art to it. Because I can always tell…" And I can't bear it. He added mentally. He couldn't. Couldn't stand to see her standing out here, all alone, crying… because of him. "Your friends said I might find you out here." He added. She still hadn't said anything. Why wasn't she saying anything?

"Listen, Az…" He said uncertainly. She didn't turn round and face him. She didn't stop crying. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I didn't realise how much this dance meant to you…Heck, if it means that much, we can go in there right now and we'll dance, just please, please stop!"

"Did my friends tell you why I was out here?" Azreal sniffed, not turning round.

"Az… I never meant to hurt you… I hate to see you crying because of me… Please, stop it. Just… stop, please."

Azreal couldn't stand it. He thought it was him. She just found herself crying harder, and she could feel his concern, even though she couldn't see him, knew that his eyes would be full of worry and fear and a million other things…

"Azreal…" He tried again. "I'm sorry… I didn't want to hurt you, I just didn't realise-" He reached out as he talked, covering the small distance between them that the umbrella would allow and touched her shoulder in the vain hope that she'd turn around. "I was stupid, I didn't know-"

"Stop it!" Azreal yelled suddenly, pulling away from him, back out into the rain. "Just stop it! I can't stand it!"

Seto looked shocked, but he didn't try to move close to her again.

"It's not you…" She cried. "It's not you… You're not the stupid one, it's me! Just like it's always me! I just wanted to feel good! I…I just wanted to dance a slow dance with another person! I just wanted to feel beautiful, but I don't, I feel ugly, because I should have realised, I didn't want to dance a slow song, I wanted to dance a slow song with you, and I didn't figure that out! I'm the stupid one for not realising… for thinking that he'd like me… for thinking that it didn't mean anything… It was my first slow dance, and it did mean something, something I didn't want it to mean! Because I should have waited! I should have waited for you and…" She just collapsed into tears, able to get no more words out.

"Azreal!" Seto cried, trying to figure out what she was talking about. And more or less failing. "I don't care! I don't care! I didn't realise it meant that much to you! Look, I'll go in there and dance with you if it'll make everything alright again…"

"No…" She whispered, shaking her head. "You've always been 'alright', Seto, it's me who's screwed up… and… and you don't deserve it!" She just ran. She hardly knew what she was doing, but she ran.

Seto looked after her. He still wasn't entirely sure about what was going on. And did he go after her, or give her space to think?

Go after her! The voice screamed. Go after her, you eejit!

Wait. What kind of a word was eejit? And why was he saying it to himself all of a sudden?

Seto turned. Ah, so it hadn't been his thoughts after all. Bakura had apparently come out just in time to see Azreal leg it.

"What are you waiting for, Kaiba!" Ryou roared at him. "She must still love you if she didn't kiss him! So-Go, already!"

At first, Seto wasn't going to. It really wasn't any of Bakura's business…

But then, it wasn't like Seto had any better ideas. So he went after her.

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Azreal stared down at the floor, scuffling the wet gravel with her feet. She wanted to look up into the sky, but the rain stung her eyes. She sighed deeply, all cried out. She'd really screwed up. Seto didn't deserve this. She would have kissed Daisuke, she was sure, if… if what? If she hadn't been thinking about Seto the entire time?

The bottom line was, whoever she had been thinking about, she hadn't been dancing with Seto. But how did she know that it wouldn't happen again, and if it did, how did she know that this time she really wouldn't kiss them? It had come close this time…

As if her life hadn't been uncertain enough already. And Seto didn't need all this hurt on top of all the rest he'd had in his life. He would've been better off if she'd never showed up! Then he would still have his indifference and nothing, not her, not anyone or anything would hurt him. Her future was uncertain, he didn't need that. And how was he ever going to trust her now?

"You realise that you've probably ruined that dress." He said, gently, sitting down next to her. So, he'd followed her all the way out to this lonely little park bench.

"I know." Azreal said quietly. "…I'm so sorry…

"Az…" He said, unsure of what was going to come out. He decided to disengage his brain and let his mouth do the talking. "Look, personally, I think you're overreacting. So you danced with someone else. Big whoop. You stopped short of kissing him, and that means a lot more, speaking personally. I don't care about some dumb dance- it's you that's doing this to yourself, can't you see that…? I couldn't care less, but it's fairly obvious you think you'd screwed up big time. So you shouldn't be asking me to forgive you. You need to forgive yourself, no? And, for pete's sake, just stop with all the self-pity. It'll kill you." He stood up, shrugging. "Look… this isn't you. You're not yourself." He looked at her. Earlier, she would have looked so beautiful in that dress, with the make up that was running down her face… but it wasn't her. "Just go home, get your ordinary clothes back on, and go back to being the Az I know."

She didn't reply, still staring at the ground. Seto couldn't see what she was thinking, but he had to give it one last shot.

"Here." He said, pulling the small present and card out of his pocket and putting them down next to her. "…Happy Valentines Day."

Seto turned and went to walk away. The ball was in her court now. She'd have to decide what they did next. If she thought just that little thing was irredeemable, then… He continued to walk, and she didn't call him back. Inside, he felt resigned… Oh well, Seto. Time to go back to being alone…

"Seto!" He turned instantly. She was calling him. She was standing up, holding the gift. "Seto!" She paused, looking a little sheepish.

"The dance is still going on, you know." He offered.

"Mmm." She sighed. "But… if we hurry, we might make the last showing of Robin Hood."

Seto looked at her, smiling.

She looked back. "Just let me go home and get changed first."

"I'll wait." He promised.

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A/N: There. Happy, if confusing and predictable, ending. Now I have to go before certain people take up on their threat to strangle me with my mouse if I didn't write something cuter then this. Oh, and I also have to figure out what's gonna happen over the next 3 months, unless you're ready to accept 'In March, April and May, nothing happened'… But it's about time we made Willowwind Squeal at the fluff again, don't cha think?