10 Years Later

Planet Earth

On a warm summer morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise, a lone figure wandered through the cemetery. It was nearly silent, the only sounds being the gentle cooing of doves and the rustle of wind through the trees.

The figure walked past several stones until he reached a specific one. As his eyes fell on it, he couldn't help but chuckle. It was almost completely covered in flowers, offerings, and Blue Eyes White Dragon stuffies.

"Heh... " The figure knelt down by the stone, placing his own white lily among the pile. "Even though I woke up early to get here, I still didn't beat the crowd. They always manage to get here first, big brother." His purple eyes turned to gaze at the name on the stone.

Seto Kaiba

Protector of Earth

Mokuba clapped his hands together, looking upon the grave of his beloved sibling. "Seto… I'm sorry I haven't visited in so long. I wanted to visit more often, but life has been pretty busy lately. Being CEO of Kaiba Corp is a lot more difficult than I thought, I don't know how you managed to keep up with everything!"

"We're still a video game company, but Roland helped me to open up a new division. I think you'd like it!" He couldn't help but give an excited grin. "We're helping develop better space technology! A lot of companies liked the Kaiba Corp satellite, and we're helping to build better ships and Earth defenses, that was nothing like…"

The young man trailed off and frowned, his expression tightening as a memory unwillingly resurfaced. He remembered that day, ten years ago, vividly. Everyone heard of the strange meteor hurtling towards Earth, everyone had been prepared for massive damage and high death counts when it fell. But then, Seto Kaiba saved Earth by sacrificing himself. The explosion from the satellite was so big, it had been seen all around the world.

"Satellites aren't even supposed to be able to move like that. I didn't know you added a way to move it, but…" Mokuba sniffed weakly. "I- I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, huh? You always were prepared for anything."

After the satellite had exploded, Mokuba remembered how horrified he had felt. He had run out of his classroom and all the way to where one would normally enter the satellite. He had yelled and cried, desperate for anyone to tell him where his brother was. That was when he learned the horrifying truth, his brother had died in the satellite's explosion… The only casualty.

"You know, they call you Earth's protector now. Everyone remembers how you saved us, especially today. It's been ten year since it happened and…" Trailing off, Mokuba reached up to his neck, clutching his locket tightly as the tears began to fall. "Seto… Why did it have to be you?"

Mokuba didn't care about the expensive white suit as he dropped to his knees, his tears tumbling down his cheeks. "Why did you have to be the one to save us? Why was it you?!" He squeezed the locket tighter. "You should have come back home, back to me! You promised you'd take care of me! I didn't want you to be the hero, I just wanted my big brother!"

The young man sobbed in front of the stone, mourning for his older brother like he would every day for the rest of his life. It took several long minutes for the young man to regain even a little control of his sadness once more.

"I miss you so much, Seto… More than anything in the world." He shakily rose to his feet. "I'll never stop missing you. But, I'll keep living for you, I promise."

He stood there for a long time, silent as he paid his respects to his big brother. A gentle beeping from his wrist pulled Mokuba out of his stupor. He pulled his suit cuff back, finally noticing the time. "I've been here an hour already?"

Mokuba sighed, and sent a sad glance to the flower-covered stone. "I wish I could stay longer, big brother, but I have to go now. I have to sign some papers and then I'm meeting up with Yugi and the gang. It's been a while since we've gotten together like this, so I don't wanna be late." He smiled, imagining Seto complaining about 'the geek squad' as he used to. "I know you guys never really got along, but after you… After you were gone, they were there to help me."

That was quite the understatement in all honesty. If it weren't for Yugi and his friends, he wasn't sure if he would still be alive. Seto's death had hit him hard, and he was still dealing with the loss to this day, it was only thanks to his friends that he hadn't lost himself in the pit of despair that he'd fallen into after losing his big brother.

With one last gaze at the grave, Mokuba gave a weak smile. "I hope you're doing well too… I love you, Seto."

The young man turned away from the grave and hurried out of the cemetery, making sure that he didn't look back. If he did, he knew he would go back and remain there the rest of the day.

The only sign of his visit was the single white lily that rested comfortably against the supportive grave stone.

Mokuba absolutely hated the mansion, it was too big, was extremely difficult to heat and cool correctly, and had way too many rooms for one person to use. He had complained about it many times, threatening to tear the whole thing down and move into a much smaller apartment… But he knew he'd never do that, because it was once Seto's home too.

He knew it sounded foolish, or even selfish, but he just couldn't bring himself to leave. This was the only real home he and Seto had ever shared, they had many memories here (both happy and sad) and he didn't want to lose any reminders or memories of his big brother, he only had a few that belonged only to them.

Most of their shared memories were tainted by their abusive adoptive father or turned into something else by the media. The truly genuine items or memories that he had to remember his brother by were few and far between, so he held onto them as tight as he could. The memories, his necklace, his brother's duel monster deck, he would never let them go.

A gentle knocking from behind him jolted Mokuba out of his thoughts. "Oh… They must be here." He hurried to the front door and pulled it open eagerly, wanting to push away his darkening feelings for as long as he could. "Yugi! Everyone! You made it!"

"Of course we did, we wouldn't miss a chance to hang out with ya, kid!" Joey happily exclaimed, holding a package in his arms. "Now let us in! This cake is heavy!"

The young CEO let a small smile grace his face as he opened the door, and let everyone file inside to begin the festivities. They brought food, games, and movies and settled down in the entertainment room.

As soon as the food was passed around, they all began to talk and catch up. In the past ten years, they hadn't been able to meet up as often as they would have liked to, but Mokuba always enjoyed hearing about what everyone had been up to when they could.

Yugi was the one he saw the most. Other than growing taller, the King of Games looked nearly identical. He had taken a job at Kaiba Corp at Mokuba's request and quickly became his second in command. They worked on games together, came up with concepts, and dealt with the horrifyingly boring meetings together.

He still saw Tea a lot, considering she and Yugi were married, but she had a different schedule than them. She was a famous professional dancer, and did dance lessons on the side. She was traveling as much as her husband was!

Joey sometimes worked with them as a playtester, but he had taken a surprising course in his life. He managed to pull his grades up during university, and ended up working as a veterinarian, opening his own clinic after years of working. His schedule tended to be very busy, considering his clinic was one of the best in Domino City.

Tristan had taken over his father's factories, and though he didn't enjoy the job much he proved to be a very competent boss. He kept things running and did weekly checks on how the employees and machines were working. He had more free time than Joey, however, and eagerly jumped on the chance to playtest things.

Duke hadn't changed much either. His own game company was growing at a healthy rate, and he wasn't too competitive about it. Sometimes he and Mokuba collaborated on projects and shared funds, it was always fun and Mokuba would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the confusion of other CEOs when they saw that friendship helped with business.

Serenity was working as an artist, often collaborating on projects at Duke or Mokuba's companies. Thanks to this and her own art galleries, she had become a very well known artist all around the world. And, despite Duke and Tristain's best efforts, she had not fallen for either of them. In fact, she had met a very lovely girl at one of her recent art galleries and they had been dating for a few months.

Mai was still modeling, and had even started planning to make her own modeling company. She said it was because only a model like her knew how to run a good agency, which Mokuba believed. She and Joey had started dating soon after Joey finished college, and though they argued like an old married couple, it was obvious how much they loved each other.

Bakura was the most surprising, in his opinion. After graduating college, he decided to become an archaeologist and was training under Yugi's grandfather. He traveled the world and went out on expeditions, all while working on getting his next degree.

Though he was now in his eighties, Solomon still worked at the game shop and did expeditions with Bakura. He spent lots of his free time with Yugi or Mokuba, and was very kind to the young CEO despite how rocky their relationship started. He'd practically adopted Mokuba after the loss of his brother.

All of them had wildly different jobs, schedules, or obligations which made it difficult to actually hang out as often as they used to. Sometimes the best they could do was a text group or video calls, which made their in person get togethers all the more special. Especially today, on the tenth anniversary of Seto's death.

"I'm… I'm really glad you guys could make it today." Mokuba glanced at all his friends with a shy smile. "The mansion is really empty without anyone here."

Joey wrapped an arm around Mai's waist. "You know we'll always be here for ya, kid! You're our buddy, and so was your brother, even if he was an ass sometimes!"

Mokuba slumped over slightly. "You don't have to lie, Joey. I know you hated him…"

The blonde winced, seemingly realizing he had said the wrong thing. "I didn't hate him…" He ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Besides, he was pretty chill after I lost my soul. Tristan said he saved me from falling, and he cared about his little bro a lot. I know exactly how he feels."

Serenity smiled towards her brother, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't know Seto well, but I always thought that it was amazing how much he cared about you, Mokuba. It reminded me of what Joey did for me at Duelist Kingdom."

"Come to think of it, Seto was doing the same thing for Mokuba then too." Tea recalled,"During that duel, when he stood on the ledge. It made me so mad then, but I think that was the first time I realized just how much he loved you, Mokuba."

Mokuba chuckled. "He's always been like that, even when we were little. One time, when we were at the orphanage, these older kids took my toy dragon and pushed me off the swing. Seto came out of nowhere and tackled them! He got in so much trouble, but he told me it was worth it to see my smile when he gave me the toy back."

The young man suddenly hunched forward and sighed. "I know that he loved me more than anything, that he would selflessly sacrifice himself for me but…" Some tears began to slide down his cheeks. "I wish he could have been a little selfish that day. I wish he was still here with us. I miss my big brother…"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Despite their individual feelings about Seto Kaiba, all of them had mourned his death. They had known the man, many of them had fought for their souls along with him. Him sacrificing himself in such a way wasn't surprising, but it left them all heartbroken at such a loss.

Yugi shuffled in his seat, and then set down his own grease covered paper plate, sufficiently filled after several slices of the best pizza Domino City had to offer. "I have an idea! What if we went around the group and talked about our favorite Seto memory? Mokuba and Joey already spoke, does anyone else have anything?"

Duke suddenly snorted and then let out a soft laugh. "Remember when you guys were running to get back to the blimp? Mokuba, you were falling behind and then Seto just grabbed you and chucked you towards us! I was pissed at the time, but looking back it was kinda funny!"

Tristan started to laugh as well. "I remember that! And then he just jumped up there like some kind of ninja! I mean, I knew the guy was strong but I wasn't expecting him to just throw Mokuba like he was a paperweight!"

"It worked, didn't it?" Mokuba teased me with a smile. "Good thing I was a scrawny kid!"

Joey reached out to ruffle his long hair. "Eh, you're still a scrawny kid in my eyes! Just a little taller than before!"

"I'm taller than you, Joey!" Mokuba stood proudly, ruffling Joey's hair right back.

Mai laughed while her boyfriend childishly slapped Mokuba's hand away and covered his hair. "Well, you certainly got that from Kaiba too! A family of giants, I swear! You must be just as tall as him now!"

Mokuba blushed sheepishly, and reached up to grab his necklace, once again feeling a somber mood overwhelm him. "Hey… Do you think… Do you think Seto would be proud of me? I know I'm not as good of a CEO as him, but… Do you think he would be proud?"

The happy mood vanished again, but that didn't get rid of the smile on Bakura's face. He leaned forward to take Mokuba's hand and squeeze. "You know your brother better than any of us. No matter what you did with your life, I know he would be very proud of you."

"Bakura is right, Mokuba. Seto loved you more than anything, and nothing would change that." Yugi smiled. " I know that he's probably watching right now, and he's very proud of you."

"And he's probably calling Joey a mutt that eats too much of the food…" Tristan muttered under his breath.

"Ey! What did you say?! Who paid for the damn pizza, ya nimrod?!" Joey exclaimed as he jumped to his feet.

The group burst into amused laughter again, and the conversation was once again steered towards happier thoughts. After a quick wrestling session between Tristain and Joey, broken up by an irritated Tea, they settled down and brought out the many games they had brought to the meet up.

Duel monsters, chess, cards, some games on old consoles, they played them well into the night. As it was getting dark, the alcohol was brought out and they returned to stories as they sipped on beers and finished off the chocolate parfait Mokuba had ordered.

"Wait, wait, really? You guys had planned to make a theme park for that long?" Duke exclaimed.

Mokuba nodded as he took another swig. "I'm serious! We built it in a sand castle, and we even got a picture of it! Seto looked at it when talking to the architects about what it should look like! I was so happy when I saw it!"

"Oh! Do you have the photo still? Can we see it? I wanna see baby Mokuba and Kaiba!" Mai cheerfully exclaimed. "I bet you had the most pinchable cheeks!"

The young CEO blushed again. "Ah… I might? I have a photo album in the attic, I think it has photos of me and my big bro when we were little, it might be in there! Hang on, I'll go get it!" He got up, walked to the edge of the room, and then spun back around. "Don't touch my parfait, Joey!"

The man in question froze, his hand already outstretched for the glass, and then quickly yanked it back and leaned on the back of the couch, acting as if he hadn't just been caught red handed.

With a good natured roll of his eyes, Mokuba stumbled out of the room, up the stairs, and to the attic. He hadn't been there in a long time. He didn't mean to avoid it, but sometimes the memories were too much, and he'd take long business trips just to stay out of Domino.

He found the light switch and illuminated the area, revealing dozens of boxes, old electronics, and bookshelves filled with old papers or novels. He explored the area and searched all the bookshelves, but couldn't seem to find the album.

After he left the bookshelves, he noticed the old desk in the corner. It was covered by a sheet, and there was a heavy book on the table. "Oh, that must be it." He grabbed the book, flipping through a few pages to confirm. The sight of the happy face of his brother made him sigh longingly. "Seto… Why did you have to go?"

He was about to walk away, but found himself looking back towards the sheet. "Hm…" He reached out, yanking the sheet off the desk and then letting out a surprised noise. "Oh my gosh, I forgot about this!"

It was an old computer, but not just any old one. It was a desktop computer that Seto and Mokuba had built themselves, it was one of the first things they had done after his older brother had taken over the Kaiba Corp company.

"I remember that day… It took hours to build it, but it was so worth it. It could play so many games! I remember how we would stay up so late to play on this, and he'd be so tired at his meetings the next day." He ran his hand across the keyboard. "Hmm… I wonder if it still works?"

He put the photo album down, and scourged the ground until he found the plugs for the monitor and computer. Once they were plugged in, he pressed the power button and stood in front of the monitor, waiting to see if the old games were still installed.

After thirty seconds of nothing, the computer suddenly started to whirr loudly and the monitor began flashing different colors. He smelt burning plastic and jumped backwards as the colors began to switch even more violently. "What the hell?!"

"Mokuba…"

The young man felt his heart skip a beat. He jumped forward, staring at the monitor in shock as the colors stopped flashing for a moment, revealing a garbled, half corrupted picture of… "Big brother?!" But the picture vanished instantly later as the monitor began to spark.

"I survived… I'm still alive, little brother…"

Mokuba felt his heart pound against his chest. "W-what? What is this?!"

"Please… Earth…"

The lights in the attic began to flicker, and the message grew more garbled.

"I… Help… Mokie…"

The flashing suddenly came to a stop as the computer let out a puff of smoke, shattering in a small explosion. The monitor went black, and the power in the mansion completely shut off. But Mouba barely noticed any of that, his eyes still staring at the monitor in complete shock.

It had been weak, and garbled, but he knew what he'd seen. He knew what it meant.

"Seto… He's alive!"