OMG! Can you believe it? I updated… what a year later? I don't ask forgiveness for being late in updating, rather that I do not own the characters… Well, I'm sad about it.

She laid in the hospital bed, her eyes closed, her skin pallid. He knelt on the floor, his hand holding hers, his thumb running up and down across her fingers, his head on the bed, just staring at her hand, the worst news had come to them, his wife was dying. Téa Gardner Ueda Kaiba was dying. She was struck with some illness, mysterious to these oh, so advanced doctors after the initial birth of their twins, now allowed to be taken home.

…

"Mrs. Kaiba I'm sorry to tell you this. We've run your scan and did some tests." She looked at the doctor, her hand slipping into Kaiba's. Joey andYugi, Tristan, too, were in the room, she insisted on having them there since they were her friends for so very long. Kaiba only wanted himself there for this, but he succumbed to her wishes. "You're dying." her hand tightened, but not as much as his hand. She closed her eyes and her boys gasped, Kaiba himself buried his face in her stomach and she laced her fingers through his hair. They drowned out the rest of what she was saying. "… I'll leave you alone." She closed the door behind her andYugi and the other two faced her.

"No way! It ain't true!" Joey cried taking a step forward. "We'll prove 'em wrong. Today's the day your gunna show 'em that Téa Kaiba ain't no quitter!" she scoffed, smiling as she continued stroking her husband's hair.

"You're so right, Joey." In truth she was glad to see that he accepted her as Seto's wife. He shifted from his position, sitting up, his eyes dark with denial, she smiled at him and touched his face gingerly, stroking his cheek with soft fingertips. "It's okay baby." he drew her into a hug.

"I'm not letting you die. We'll find something, if it's the last thing I do. We're a family now Téa, that means something." She nodded.

"Yes, it does. I believe you." she was so soft-spoken, he wondered if she was in pain at this moment.

…

She shifted and he rose his head, she yawned and looked at him lovingly. "Hey." she whispered and he greeted her, just as softly. He leaned forward and pressed his lips quickly against hers, still stroking her fingers. She sat up and there was a gentle knock on the door. They let themselves in, smiling and not speaking. "Mom, daddy." she removed her hand from her husband and stretched out her arms to get a hug. Her mother hugged her daughter first, tears spilling from her tired eyes. She didn't let go of her daughter, only whispered repeatedly: My poor sweet, baby.

"I'm so sorry, I wish I had treated you better." she cried and her husband, pried her away to give his daughter a tight embrace, he kissed the side of her head. Life should never be this complicated. Seto rose to his feet and shook the hand of his father-by-marriage, he moved to do the same with Téa's mother but she embraced him, her words were filled with anger, notat him, but the situation. "You're rich, you better do all you can to save my daughter." she let him go, glaring. He didn't like how she was speaking to him. He was Seto Kaiba and it didn't matter if she was or wasn't his wife's mother. He however, kept his mouth shut and sat back on the bed.

"I'm doing all I can."

"He really is mama, but…who can tell really?"

They stayed as long as they liked but the reason for their trip to hospital was that Téa had asked them to take the Twins, Seto would have them, but he had said that he would rather be at the hospital with her as much as he could, she gave in and told him that she would arrange for her parents to take care of their children. They left the room after hugging her again and Seto knelt back down on the ground and took her hand in his, kissing it gently. "But I wonder... how very scared I am."

"I swear on my life, we will stop this. We'll fight this together." he squeezed her hands and she smiled at his expressionless, yet determined face. It came all to suddenly, she sat up, yanked her hand from his "Cole! I have to find Cole!" he started, his mouth working to say something. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Téa… Cole's dead." She stopped trying to climb out of the hospital bed.

"Dead?" she started crying. "I don't remember." Seto rose and sat on the bed, holding her shoulders, moving his arms across her back and resting his cheek upon the top her head.

"Shush. Its okay, calm down." he soothed. sniffling she relaxed against his leaned body, her fingers clutching his infamous white trench.

"Oh, isn't it terrible? At a time like this, I'm worried about how crappy I look." she laughed, crying harder. Seto pulled back, looking into her blue eyes, darker than hers, but she was still oh, so beautiful.

"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." he confessed and she smiled warmly at him.

"Do you always like splotchy girls?"

"It's my curse." Seto joked, kissing her gently on the forehead, she put her head back on his shoulder

"Sing to me?" Seto breathed in and pulled away.

"I don't know any songs."

"Okay." she sighed and laid back against the pillows, eyes closed, her hand locked in his and he suddenly felt bad for not knowing any songs or even liking the thought of singing to his only wife, the only woman he had ever loved in his entire life. "The light hurts my eyes, but I don't want you to turn it off. Everything is just so bright and loud." he watched her, the love of his life… withering away? She kept talking, becoming more delirious. "Oh, God! I sinned. I've sinned, and I'm being punished. I don't know what's wrong. I never got a C- before. Uh! Sorry. I'm sorry. Make it stop!" she cringed the pain was now attacking, he could see her clench her chest and tighten her hold on his hand, he moved further on the bed as to hold her. This was sheer torture, unable to do anything for her, his eyes hurt with the quick movements they were making, he didn't realize tears were forming in eyes that never cried. "Death! It's bigger than anything. I won't win."

Seto leaned in closer. "I don't believe that." She moved deeper into the bed, writhing.

"Uggh!" she cried out in pain, pointing at Seto suddenly, her outbursts bewildering. "I'm with him!" she began crying again in anguished "He won't leave me now. We're so close."

"I will never leave you." he promised and sighed as if he were trying to reason with her, how could heprotecther from this. The pain, indescribable, for both husband and wife.

"Hmph. Oh. Hmm." she panted, her eyes open and filled with tears, she panted heavily and rolled onto her side to look up at the man she had come to love when she was pregnant with her first born, now deceased. "That was bad, but it's better now. You won't leave me?"

"I won't."

"My boys. I walk with heroes. Think about that." She was remembering Battle City and other times,stranged and wonderous as well as dangerous journeysto outrageous for Seto to ever believe in them, brushing them off as crazy dreams. But he was slowly falling apart, this was the first time he was experiencing the affects of her illness.

"You are one." she had done things to help people out, especially battling Marik, no matter how small the victory.

"Superhero. And this is my power: to not let them take me. Not me." she sighed and reached her other hand out to him, her illness seeming to calm.

"That's right."

"That's right." she whispered lacing her fingers through his "He's with me." Now speaking to herself as her eyes drifted shut again. "Will you kiss me?" he laid down next to her on the bed gathering in his arms, he pressed a kiss to her lips

"I've loved you since I've known you. No, that's not—I think maybe even before." he stated and she smiled warmly her breathing slow now. She leaned her forehead against his and apologized.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered and he shook his head, rubbing her arm.

"No, no, no."

She began coughing, trying not to cough she began to speak again. "I need you to talk to my parents. They have to know I wasn't scared, that it was quick. That I wasn't scared." Her body jolted a little. "Oh, God."

Holding onto her shoulders he made her look at him. "You have to fight. You don't have to talk, just concentrate on fighting. Just hold on." he pleaded and she looked into his eyes, quivering

"I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared." her grip loosened and she tilted her head down, "Please, Seto, why can't I stay?"

"Please don't talk like this. Téa, please?" she nodded and held him.

"Will you stay here tonight?"

"Yes. I'll stay here." his cell phone went off and she nodded.

"Go ahead, it might be important." he sat up as she snuggled onto his lap, he stroked her hair gently. He pulled the cell phone out and flipped it opened.

"Hello? Hey, Mokuba. Yeah, she's trying to sleep. She just had an episode." he said quietly, hoping he didn't offend her.

…

He sat on Yugi's bed, his hands against his temples, muttering to himself. "Are you hungry?" Yugi wondered, turning in his chair, facing his former mind/body occupant. Yami shook his head. he should be in Egypt but he changed his mind in the last moment, he had Zahra boarded, she would be in Egypt by now, furious with him for his trick, but how could he leave, knowing what he knew?

"This is so stupid. If I could… I would take her place."

"Naturally, you love her." Yugi said, standing. "But… this is more Seto's fight. He is too be the rescuer in this relationship, she's his wife. They have children together."

"Oh! God! The twins… what if Téa really dies? They'll never know their mother?"

"You want to go see her, I know, but… its not proper. Her need is dire and Seto is going to be there."

"Because he's respectable and loyal?"

"To those he loves, I know he comes off cold, but look at how he cared for Mokuba in all that time." Yami nodded, being a grown up in this day and age was terribly hard. He believed to the depths of his heart that this would not happen otherwise if he were back in his timeline.

"I have to see her Yugi."

"I think you should get some sleep. I'll go get you some food, wait here." He did wait and after a moment he snuck off, leaving the turtle shop… he was going to the hospital, he was going to see Téa, whom he had seen in his dreams of the past from years on end. Yeah, he saw now his foolishness for ignoring her feelings, but he was going to make up for that, he had to share his life with her before she left this world, though he was sure he would follow her.

…

"I'm thirty-three for a moment still the man but you see I'm a theya kid on the way. A family on my mind." she opened her eyes to soft, nervous singing, his fingers running along her soft hair. "I'm forty-five for a moment, the sea is high and I'm heading into a crisis. Chasing the years of my life. Fifteen… there's still time for you. Time to buy and time to lose yourself within a morning star. Fifteen… I'm all right with you fifteen… there's never a wish better than this when you only got one-hundred years to live… Half time goes by, suddenly you're wise another blink of an eye sixty-seven is gone the sun is getting high, we're moving on…"

"Seto… that's beautiful." she said gently, taking hold of his arm, rubbing his arm.

"I'm ninety-nine for a moment, time for just another moment and I'm just dreaming counting the ways to where you are." he stopped singing completely and took hold of her hand. "I had Mokuba send me the song and you know… you wanted me to sing to you."

"I did?" he nodded, not minding one bit that she didn't remember her request.

"There will be time when you won't remember what happened in the last few seconds. I'm sorry I can't elaborate more on the symptoms, but we only know so much."

Seto didn't like excuses, especially if it was related to something valuable, important and his wife was a vastly important to him, she was wife and mother. He just couldn't imagine raising his children without her, she was an expert at it, she raised Cole until his untimely event. "Whose Cole? That name keeps bouncing around in my head, but I can't remember why its so important."

"He's your son, Téa."

"Well, when is he coming to see me?" she asked, locking her fingers around the chain that held his locket around his neck. He pushed back her bangs and kissed her forehead.

"Dear, he's dead." she made a sound indicating that she hadn't been aware and stated the fact that that information was sad, but thanked him for reminding her. This was torture.

"I love you." she whispered, tears were threatening to spilland he pressed his forehead to hers, but sat up when the door opened.

"I'm just here to give you a check-up."

"Doctor, she's forgetting, she had an episode earlier."

"I wish you had informed me. In here." two men came in with a bed on wheels. "We're just going to run some test, all right, Mrs. Kaiba?" Téa nodded, looking curiously at Seto who gave her a faint smile. They helped her stand and then onto the bed. "Can you tell me what went on during her episode?" Seto nodded as they wheeled her out, Seto and the Doctor followed, talking about what went happened earlier.