Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! and all its elements are copyright of Kazuki Takahashi. No infringement is intended and I promise to return all the characters in one piece, albeit with some new and interesting psychological problems.

Here we go. Sorry it took so long. Reality has been demanding my undivided attention these last few weeks. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter. I'm not really sure about the end, but we'll see, I guess.

Chapter 3

Tea awoke to a loud thump and the sound of her husband cursing. Opening her eyes, and blinking against the first dawn rays that were shimmering in through the half-closed curtains, she stretched languidly under the soft cotton sheets. Peering over and around the piles of cardboard boxes that littered the room, she located her husband leaning against the doorframe of their shared en-suite bathroom rubbing his shin.

She lay still, watching him lazily with a small smile on her face. Dust particles glowed as golden specks in the small streams of weak sunlight that highlighted his chestnut hair and danced over his currently scowling face. He was half dressed in the black trousers of one of his many business suits, his crisp white shirt only half buttoned. His hair was mussed and his skin held the tell-tale glow of recent washing. Tea wondered why the shower hadn't woken her, before her eyes settled upon the reason. Looking at the clock that had been hastily set on the cardboard box that was serving as a temporary bedside table, she found it was only five in the morning.

Another loud thump bought her eyes back to the middle of the room, just in time to see her husband trip over another box and begin to swear colourfully. She shook her head.

"Seto". He looked up as her voice carried softly across to him.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yes" she said, getting out of bed and slipping her satin robe about her shoulders "But I don't mind. From the looks of it, I caught you before you managed to duck out on me". She looked up at him with a pointedly raised eyebrow.

Seto winced slightly "I'm sorry, I have to go into work"

He raised a hand to stop her protests before they were out of her mouth "It's only for the morning, I promise, I'll be back by lunch."

Tea shook her head and glared half-heartedly at his back as he searched around for a tie.

"Seto, we only got here yesterday. Can't you give it a rest for just one day?" She cringed. That sounded whiny even to her, but she couldn't help it. It was Seto's turn to raise an eyebrow as he turned to face her.

"Can't I give it a rest? You're going to check out the studio today aren't you?"

Tea repressed the urge to stamp her foot "That's not the point! You were supposed to watch Jessica today while I did that. If we're both going to be out this morning then who will take care of her?"

"Take her with you"

"You take her with you"

"KaibaCorp is no place for a child. She'd be bored with me. At least you'd be able to entertain her"

"Last I checked you were pretty capable of entertaining your own daughter, Seto" Tea pouted. She knew it was a lame comeback. She also knew that this argument was pointless. It was a foregone conclusion that she would take their daughter to work with her, and in all honesty she didn't mind. She just liked being contrary.

Plus she enjoyed the way that Seto's nose crinkled just a little when he was trying to be patient with her.

Finally fishing out a suitable tie from the pile of clothes on the chair in the corner and slipping it about his neck, he leaned down to peck her on the lips. Getting a smile for his efforts he grinned and walked past her…

And promptly tripped over another box.

Tipping it over, he stubbed his sock clad toes on the corner of it and let out a string of curses so colourful that it made his wife blush. Tea was giggling as she tried to shush him.

"Shh, you'll wake Jessica" she said softly.

They both looked over to the bed, where their three-year-old little girl had spent the first night in her new house curled between her parents. Tea's gaze flicked back to Seto, while her husband's eyes remained on their child. She watched as his eyes softened and his expression became vague and dreamy as it so often did when he watched Jessica.

Tea leaned into him slightly, leaning her head against his shoulder. Seto slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, burying his face in her hair and inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

"How did we get so lucky, hmm?" He murmured into her hair. She sighed happily.

"Don't know" her voice was muffled by his shirt.

They stood there a moment more, enjoying the moment. Then Tea pulled away and began to do up the remaining buttons on his shirt. He stood patiently while she knotted his tie for him and smoothed his collar. Then he kissed her. It was a sugar sweet moment before his face became serious.

"Have you thought about contacting you family, or your…friends yet?" There was a certain amount of disdain placed upon the word 'friends'.

Tea bit her lip. "I don't know. They'll know I'm here pretty soon anyway, after the studio is opened"

"Don't want to let them know before that?"

"Would you think I was a coward if I said 'No'?"

"Of course not. It's your choice."

He kissed her again for good measure before sliding his feet into his shiny black shoes, sitting on the edge of the bed to tie the laces. Jessica stirred as his weight compressed the mattress slightly. Seto leaned over and gently smoothed back her soft chestnut hair, so like his own. Dropping a feather light kiss on her forehead he stood up and picked up his suit jacket, draping it over his arm.

"I'll be back around midday."

"Same here"

"Well, after lunch, we'll unpack some more. Especially in here, I need to be able to get dressed in the morning without hurting myself."

Tea laughed softly and stood on tip-toes to kiss her husband. As she pulled away, she gave his tie one last tweak. "I love you"

Seto smiled and kissed her again. "I love you too"

And then he was gone. She heard his car start up in the driveway as she settled back down next to her daughter for a few more hours of sleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Tea was woken, rather more abruptly, two hours later by her daughter. Jessica was bouncing on the bed with enthusiasm and gusto that had been learned from her doting uncle. Seeing her mother looking up at her with bleary eyes, she plopped down on the bed and graced Tea with a positively angelic smile.

"Hi mama" came the breathless greeting.

"Hello Jessica" was the less than enthusiastic reply. "What did I tell you about jumping on the bed"

Her daughter had the good grace to look ashamed "I'm not s'posed to do it." She said glumly.

"No, that wasn't it" Tea said, sitting up and grabbing her daughter around the middle. "You never do it without me!"

And with that she lifted Jessica into her arms and staggered to her feet, leaping into the air and letting the mattress springs propel them both back upwards when they came down. For the next five or ten minutes, the only sounds that echoed through the halls of the otherwise empty Kaiba house were the shrieks and giggles of mother and daughter.

Tea collapsed back into her pillows with Jessica in her arms. For a moment she lay there, trying to catch her breath while her daughter's giggles slowly subsided.

"So, what do you think sweetie, what should we have for breakfast?"

Jessica's brow furrowed in thought for a moment, another of her fathers mannerisms.

"Fruit salad" she said simply. "Can we have that mama?"

"I think we can manage that, my darling. Race you to the kitchen, five second head start?"

She didn't get a reply as Jessica sprang off the bed and tore out the door. Tea counted to five in her head and then calmly walked after her daughter. She found her rooting through the bags of groceries that had been delivered the previous evening, pulling out her favourite fruits. Soon there was a banana, an orange, an apple, two kiwi fruits, a grapefruit and a large melon lined up on the counter. Tea rooted in a box until she found a chopping board and a knife and began slicing the fruit in to suitably sized chunks as Jessica pottered around the room, looking in cupboards and under counters, chattering constantly about nothing at all, as children always do.

Mixing the fruit in two bowls and handing one to her daughter, Tea leaned against the counter as Jessica arranged herself on the floor, still talking cheerfully around bites of fruit. Tea's only contribution to the otherwise one-sided conversation were a series of non-committal noises and the occasional "Don't talk with your mouth full" or "Don't slurp".

One hour later saw both mother and daughter freshly washed and dressed and ready to head out the front door.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Seto Kaiba found it refreshing to be in his own office with the knowledge that he didn't have to get straight on a plane when he was finished with whatever he was doing. Leaning back in his large leather desk chair ('a must for all evil geniuses' as Tea had once put it, spinning around in it gleefully) he gazed out of the large wrap around window that made up three walls of his office. His office, situated on the top floor of the one-hundred-and-ten story KaibaCorp. building offered spectacular views over Domino City all the way to central Tokyo in the distance. On a clear day, glimpses of Mt Fuji could be had, if you were looking.

Seto sat absorbed in the view for a moment, remembering when he would sometimes come here in the middle of the night, just to gaze over the twinkling lights of the city below. He remembered especially one such night…

"Okay, and the reason we're here is…." Tea looked questioningly at the tall figure in front of her as he unlocked the door to the KaibaCorp building and disabled the alarm.

"I need to pick up a file. We'll be five minutes, I promise"

Seto led the way to the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. Tea stood beside him, staring at their reflections in the mirrored walls. Idly she wondered how many people were employed by Seto Kaiba for the sole purpose of cleaning the smudges and fingerprints off of them at the end of each day. She considered asking him, but thought the better of it. His good mood was on the edge of turning sour already, and she didn't want to end tonight on a fight.

They had spent the morning in a pretty village a little way outside of Domino, sitting on a blanket by the river and talking. At one point he had fallen asleep in her arms, if only briefly, and she had studied his features carefully. There were dark shadows under his eyes and faint frown lines on his handsome face. She'd never have seen them if she hadn't been up close and looking, but they were there none the less, and it bothered her. She had long been of the opinion that he worked far too hard. There was only so much responsibility he could heap on himself before he buckled under the weight of it all. In that moment he had let his guard down and allowed himself to give in to the exhaustion. But it ended all too soon for the young woman who held him. He dozed for ten minutes only, and then his eyes snapped back to their usual alertness.

He had been edgy and disgruntled ever since.

So she went with him on this little 'detour' with little argument, not wishing to spoil the day by having to face his infamous temper. As the elevator came to a stop, Seto strode forward into the small foyer on the top floor and flicked on the lights.

"Wait here" he commanded shortly as he unlocked his office door and went inside, closing the door a little harder than was necessary. Tea sighed in irritation and tried to suppress the disappointment that was welling in the pit of her stomach. The day had started out so well, and now Seto was in a foul mood just because he had somehow damaged his fragile male pride by falling asleep for a short while with his head in her lap.

Personally, Tea was of the opinion that his ego was too enormous to even be dented by something like that, but that man was a mystery. She didn't like it, but she knew that he still kept a lot of himself from her.

"Tea, come in here for a moment" was the call that snapped her out of her reverie.

"Why?"

"There's something I want to show you, come here"

Tea rolled her eyes and walked towards the door. "As you command, your excellence" she muttered under her breath.

She gasped as she opened the door to be greeted by a warm golden glow. Tiny candles littered every surface in the office, a blanket and picnic basket were spread out in front of the enormous window. Tea was only vaguely aware of the door being closed behind her, too caught up in the sight of a glittering Tokyo spread out beneath her. But when strong arms embraced her from behind, and a familiarly spice scent enveloped her she snapped back to reality.

"What is this?" she asked softly, turning her head slightly to look at Seto.

"I thought I'd take you out to dinner" he replied. She laughed.

"It's not a restaurant, but the veiws are unbeatable" he said, very deliberately looking at her.

She felt a stab of desire run through her as she looked into his eyes. Brushing his lips against hers, he took her hand and led her to the blanket. They ate in comfortable silence, her enjoying the view over the city, him looking at nothing but her…

The rest of the night was a warm, flesh coloured blur of hot kisses and tangled limbs. Seto rolled his shoulders and stared at his computer screen, not allowing himself to glance at the spot where they had lain, wrapped in the blanket they had sat on for their makeshift 'picnic'.

He did allow himself a look at the photograph of his wife and daughter that sat on his desk. His wife…his daughter…even after almost four years, the words seemed alien to him. The peace and happiness he had experienced these last few years was unlike anything he had ever known before. But he had a feeling all that was about to change.

As soon as Tea's so-called friends got wind of this, they were sure to make trouble. If Seto was honest with himself, he wasn't quite sure what to do about them. But then how often was Seto Kaiba honest with himself? He did know, however, that if any of them dared to come near his daughter, he would have them killed. He may have mellowed through fatherhood, but some of the hard edge of his teenage years still remained.

He'd protect his family no matter the cost.

Okay, short chapter this time. It was supposed to be twice as long, but I am rushed off my feet and I figure this is better than nothing. I'm a little unsure about the end of this chapter…I was afraid of making Seto too soft here. Balancing him and fatherhood and keeping him in character is very hard, and I wanted to show that even though he obviously cares for his family, he hasn't changed that much.

Also, I know that there should be that little thingy over the 'e' in Tea. It was there in the first half of chapter one, but my computer got all messed up halfway through writing it and the keys on my keyboard all switched around. So now I can't get my keyboard to do it, no matter which command I put in. I can't get the pound sign anymore either. When(if) I get it sorted out, I'll come back and edit it all, but for now this will just have to do.

Thankyou so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm afraid I haven't time to list you all, but thankyou anyway! I can't tell you all what it means to me. I really hope that the next chapter will be out a little quicker than this one was. Until then, take care and keep safe!