I like to thank the reviewers who last reviewed Ugly Duckling:
FireFairy032003, NinjaAngel, NKingy, Anayas-Creater, XxSexiItxX, Z Star The Hidden Dragon, AnimeQueenSaphira, Miz Blu, Komo PineConeSeed, Sakurelle, Kaylee Ishtar, -&- BlackSheep2193
I like to thank Ceara Corey for all her help. The inscription is her idea.
Italics are thoughts.
Here is the one-shot sequel to Ugly Duckling. I hope everyone will enjoy it.
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O. Swan
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-2 Years Later-
-October 25-
Serenity laid on her boyfriend's couch, looking at the pictures in an art book. Seto had paintings in his mansion, all the dragons in Duel Monsters, except for one. Because of her brother, Seto had no tolerance for the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
Wearing a fitted baby blue long-sleeved blouse with a pair of dark blue jeans, she stretched her petite body before getting up.
She put her book on the coffee table, sat up, and slid on her green-blue flannel-patterned slippers. She looked at her watch. It was only two hours until Seto's birthday party. A smile crossed her lips as she stood up and made her way out his office. Running as fast as she could, she pushed the kitchen door open and saw the chef making dinner. Clasping her hands together she walked to the pantry and took out a recipe book and a glass bowl to make her cake. The cake was going to be a checkered chocolate-vanilla cake and she was the one who was going to make it.
She opened the book and skimmed over the ingredients. She walked back into the pantry and got the ingredients she needed. She set those down on the table next to the bowl, and went to the cabinet to get the measuring cup, a spatula, and a mixer.
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Seto was in a meeting with another company that wanted him to be a partner in their products. He didn't understand why the companies didn't get the picture. He gave them a straight answer, "No." No matter how much the companies plead, Seto turned them down without a care.
He rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. It was 7:30 p.m. He looked up at the ceiling. Serenity was on his mind and in his dreams all the time. He didn't want to lose her. She and Mokuba meant everything to him. He knew today was his birthday and he didn't want anything for his birthday… except for one thing.
He leaned back in his chair, and put his hand in the pocket of his blue trench coat. He took out the little blue velvet box and he wanted to smile. Lost in his thoughts, thinking of Serenity, he didn't hear the speaker ask him a question. He turned, his eyes becoming cold, and stood up.
"You know my answer. It was a waste of my time presenting such a ludicrous item to me," he said harshly as the speaker tried not to cry.
"Leave my building at once and don't show your face again. You do, and I'll make it appear like your company never existed," Seto said coldly as he walked to door and left the meeting, leaving the speaker shocked.
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Seto sat in his office and opened the box. He looked at the silver ring he was going to present to her tonight and hoped she would say yes. If she did, it would be the best birthday present he ever had: she as his wife, he as her husband. The thought made him happy. He remembered the first time he met her and called her an ugly duckling. He regretted calling her ugly after he found out so much about her. Serenity was always there to heal his wounds.
If he lost her, he didn't know where he would be, and that always terrified him.
He looked at the silver band and read the inscription inside, "To my duckling who grew into a beautiful swan."
Duckling, he thought. He wanted to present the ring to Serenity in a special way. Not bending on one knee, opening the box slowly and asking the question. An idea popped into Seto's head. He opened his laptop and typed the words into the search engine.
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Serenity was wrapping Seto's present in metallic blue-and-white-striped wrapping paper in his bedroom. Actually, Seto was getting two presents from her, and the idea made Serenity blush like a garnet stone. A maid walked and saw Serenity's face. The maid became quite worried and asked if she was allergic to anything, but she replied with a polite no. Serenity didn't want to tell the maid why she was red.
Serenity grabbed the silver ribbon and began to tie it around the present. She immediately blushed again as she thought of Seto's other birthday present. It made her heart pound like a drum.
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Seto finished his little gift and slid the ring onto his finished project. He smiled and took out a small cardboard box. He opened his second drawer and looked for something soft. He knew his little brother would always place construction paper or anything that had to do with art in this drawer. Mokuba enjoyed making his lovey-dovey things for Rebecca. Seto took out the construction paper and a big chunk of cotton.
He immediately fixed it in the box. He laid his project in the center of the box gently and took out the scotch tape. Tearing the tape into small pieces, he placed some tape on the bottom of his project to keep it in place before setting it on the cotton.
He closed the box and opened his silver briefcase. He put the cardboard box inside and closed the briefcase. He looked at his royal blue watch. It read 8:10 p.m. and he decided to go home early for a change.
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Serenity took the cake from the oven and looked at the time: 8:30 p.m. Seto called her ten minutes ago. She took out the chocolate frosting and started to spread it with a spatula that the cook gave her. She had to hurry, but didn't want to ruin the cake. He should be arriving home any time soon.
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Seto got out of the limo with his silver briefcase in hand. His security men opened the door for him as he walked inside his mansion, Mokuba ran to him with open arms.
"Welcome home, Big Brother, and happy birthday!" Mokuba yelled excitedly as Rebecca walked up to them.
"Thank you, Mokuba," Seto said happily, giving his little brother a warm hug. Mokuba had grown tall, maybe four inches shorter than Seto. He and Rebecca were now in high school.
Rebecca held out her hand. "Happy birthday, Seto," she said as Seto shook her hand. He nodded to her and she nodded back.
"Where's Serenity?" Seto asked, looking around.
"She's waiting for us in the dining room," Mokuba answered.
"All right. Tell her I'll be right there. I just need to put my brief- oof!" Mokuba interrupted him, grabbing Seto's right sleeve.
"No, Brother. I'll put your briefcase away. She wants all of us in the dining room ASAP," Mokuba said, taking Seto's briefcase away and pulling Seto toward the kitchen.
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Eventually, Seto got his briefcase back, but wasn't allowed to go to his office. He wanted to go to his office to put his briefcase away and take the box out of it.
Walking into the luxurious dining room, he saw presents and balloons on the table. He raised his up his right eyebrow.
"Aren't I too old to be having balloons?" Seto asked curiously as Mokuba and Rebecca laughed.
"Seto, you're never to old to have balloons. What's wrong with having them?" Mokuba grinned sheepishly as Seto rolled his eyes.
Serenity opened the door with the chocolate covered cake in both her hands, as she walked slowly to Seto. His eyes went wide.
"Yay!" Mokuba and Rebecca cheered as Serenity giggled.
She placed the cake in front of Seto. "Happy birthday, Seto," she said with a beautiful smile.
Seto smiled back at her. He looked at his cake and couldn't help but smile even wider.
"Make a wish," she whispered in his ear.
Seto made his wish and took a deep breath. He blew out the candles hoping he didn't leave any one of them lit. He wanted his wish to come true.
He smiled and hugged Serenity, pulling her into his lap. She blushed as Seto smiled. The chef came in with paper plates, napkins and chocolate-chip ice cream. Mokuba's eyes went wide and licked his lips as Seto, Serenity, and Rebecca slapped their foreheads. They knew the younger Kaiba was going to be really hyper tonight.
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Seto fed his girlfriend a piece of cake as she fed him the same way. Mokuba decided to take Rebecca home and stay there for a few hours. Seto hadn't opened his presents yet. He decided to do it after he and Serenity finished eating the special dessert.
Serenity licked her lips as Seto watched her. He looked down at his briefcase and gave a small sigh. He just hoped his wish would come true.
"How was work?" Serenity asked as Seto took the fork away from his mouth.
He swallowed his small piece and placed the fork on the plate. "Boring. Papers, designing the new duel disk, and I had a meeting to go to. To tell you the truth, I wasn't paying any attention to the meeting. I just told the guy what I usually tell other companies and left to my office. Since it was my birthday, I decided to come home early for a change."
"Really? This is the third time you've come home earlier on your birthday. And when it's my birthday, surprisingly you take the whole day off," she said, biting her vanilla piece of cake.
"Is that bad?" Seto asked giving her those puppy eyes.
Serenity blushed and giggled. "No. I just wish once in a while, you'd take at least a one-week vacation. It's good to have you home earlier. It's better to have you home when you have a day off, but I bet it's the best to have you take a vacation. You need to take that stress off of you," she said as Seto blinked at what she just said.
Seto knew he could take a vacation, but he was the C.E.O. of his company. Taking a vacation never occurred to him. Maybe it was because of the way he was brought up by his step-dad.
Seto leaned in and kissed his girlfriend. Serenity blinked and closed her eyes as she kissed him back. Her heart thumped as Seto wrapped his arms around her small waist. He began to poke her sides as she broke the kiss and started laughing. His heart did flip-flops as he saw her reaction. It made him happy.
"Seto! St- stop- that!" she chuckled as Seto stopped and laid his head on her chest.
Serenity smiled down on him. "Don't you want to open your presents?" she asked gently as Seto nodded. She reached for the nearest present and read the tag, "To Seto from Mokuba".
Seto took his time tearing the paper. Serenity squealed, wanting him to hurry up. Seto smirked at her, making her face redden. He opened the box and inside was scattered blue and white tissue paper. Inside the box was a picture of Seto and Mokuba together, when they were younger. Seto picked it up and smiled. Serenity looked at it and smiled as well.
"How sweet," she said as Seto blushed a little, hoping Serenity didn't notice.
Seto put the box on the table, as Serenity gave him his present from her.
"I told you that you are the only present I want," he said, grinning as Serenity kissed his forehead.
"But I still got you a gift, and I love you," she said happily and wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you, Serenity," Seto said happily as he pulled the paper away and hurriedly opened the box.
He was shocked at what he saw. He picked up his new black trench coat and stood up. He felt the leather. There were more buckles than his previous trench coats had and he was grinning with pure delight. Seto took off the one he was wearing and slipped on his new trench coat.
"Like it?" Serenity asked happily as she knew the answer already from his grin.
Seto smirked at her and put his lips on hers. Serenity blinked a few times and gave in. Her heart belonged to Seto.
Seto broke the kiss and replied, "I love it."
Serenity blushed and realized how good-looking, more like handsome, he looked in all black. Serenity tugged at her sweater a few times and wondered if the temperature was too hot.
"Which reminds me...I have something for you as well," Seto said as he hurriedly put his briefcase on the table and opened it up.
Serenity looked at him confused. Why would he buy something for me, if it were his birthday?
Seto took out the box and placed it on the table. Serenity tilted her head to the left. He noticed her confused expression and smiled at her. Closing his briefcase, he opened the small, cardboard box. Inside was just chunk of cotton. Seto bent down on both of knees and took Serenity's hands gently in his.
"Serenity, ever since you came into my life, you changed me, by caring for me, being nice to me and loving me. I have never felt like that for any person in my life. I was always taught that women made a man weak, and yes, you did make me weak when I started to feel emotions for you. However, I needed you. I need you more now than ever. I don't want to protect you, hold you, and make you happy. I need to protect you, hold you, and make you happy. I'm terrified of losing you. Serenity…what I am trying to say is," Seto started to say as Serenity's eyes became watery.
Seto took the top piece of cotton out of the box. He carefully took out his little project he had made at work and placed it in the palm of his hand, revealing an origami swan with a silver band around its neck. Serenity put her hands on her mouth as the tears started to fall slowly on her cheek.
"Will you make marry me?" Seto asked as Serenity started to cry happily.
"Oh Seto… I do… I will marry you and I will always be by your side!" she exclaimed as Seto's wish came true.
He took the ring from the swan's neck and placed it on Serenity's hand. Serenity looked at it at one more time before jumping on Seto. She began to kiss him as he kissed her back. Serenity then looked at the swan that was still in his palm and gently took it. She smiled as she remembered the past. He still feels guilty for that matter. Serenity smiled at the origami swan.
"Seto, thank you for the origami swan. It's so cute!" she exclaimed as she continued looking at it, noticing how crisp the paper was.
Seto smirked at her and gave her another passionate kiss. Placing the swan on his briefcase, she quickly ran to his room. Seto saw this and took the swan, careful not to crush it in his hand, before following Serenity.
There was still one more present for Seto to open, of course.
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The next morning, Serenity and Seto were asleep in their king size bed. Serenity yawned and Seto stretched his body. Serenity blinked and got on top of Seto. That's when the flashbacks from the previous night made her blush madly. Seto took noticed and smirked at her. Serenity was about to get away, but Seto put his hands on her petite waist and this made Serenity anxious, yet satisfied. His touch was intoxicating, just like him.
Seto sat up, still holding Serenity in his hands. He leaned in to kiss her as she kissed back. Their tongues danced as if there was no tomorrow. That's when Seto noticed the swan on the small, black dresser. Serenity smiled as Seto placed it on the top of her head.
"Remember when you called me ugly duckling?" Serenity asked as Seto's face became sad.
"Yes, I do. I still feel guilty for saying such harsh words to you and I know I can never be forgiven. I'm very sor-," Seto started to say as Serenity interrupted him, by putting her finger on his soft, thin lips.
"Don't worry about it, Seto. I have told you many times before that I forgive you, but it seems that it hurts you more than it does me. Forget it, Seto, because I am now yours!" she exclaimed as Seto smiled at her.
She smiled back and they kissed. That's when it was her turn to put her origami on top of his head. Seto felt this and broke the kiss.
"Serenity? When did you make an origami swan?" Seto asked.
"I made it after our, um, uh, rendezvous last night. You fell asleep and I decided to make you an origami swan, but bigger of course, because you are tall, charismatic, handsome, and just everything. Yet you have been so wonderful and make me happy all the time when I'm with you," she said, kissing Seto's cheek.
Seto nodded and leaned down to kiss her lips, as both origami swans touched their beaks.
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Fin
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I hope you enjoyed the story. I'm still surprised to have done a sequel.And yes, it was hard for me to think of a way for Seto to present Serenity a ring.
I thank Ceara Corey for all her help. Please check out her story After Hours. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys SxS fictions.
Ki Wingz