AN: Here's Chapter 2 of the RETOLD version of Sea Spirit. Hope you guys enjoy. I'm sure you may have noticed that I took down the old version because.. Well.. I just couldn't look at it anymore without cringing hard at what I wrote.

A little dragon's promise

The next day, sounds of battle were heard inside a seemingly abandoned warehouse, with flashes of different colors seen for briefs seconds witnessed through the mostly boarded windows. Inside, a hard training session was taking place: it was Mokuba and his water magic vs Joey's own. The floor was mostly soaked as the younger Kaiba flung spheres and darts of water at the blond, who blocked the blows with his diamond coated arm, which flexed into a shield. The two were already sweating a bit, but the two were smiling as well.

"C'mon, Mokuba! You got this!" Tea cheered from her spot on a nearby crate.

"Move your feet! Watch his movements!" Bakura called out next from Yugi's side.

Spotting water near Joey's left foot, Mokuba got an idea. Smirking now, he would smack his foot against the concrete and Joey would find himself being hoisted up by his ankle as a watery tendril ensnared him and flung him to the side like a rag doll, sending him into some empty cardboard boxes.

'That was smart thinking on Mokuba's part. He's gotten stronger since Kaiba gave him his powers,' Yugi spoke to Yami, who nodded in agreement while observing with that trademark smirk on his face.

'Indeed. He definitely has taken his training to heart. I believe he will be a formidable guardian one day. I'd say he and Kaiba would make a deadly duo if faced again with foes like Susiros and Resheph. I just hope he will be ready when the time comes.'

'Well, with us helping him along, I know he can do it,' Yugi spoke with assurance before turning his attention back to the fight with Mokuba slowly gaining the upper hand. Taking his water magic to the next step, the young boy, to the surprise of the others, formed a bo staff of water before rushing for the blond, who blocked again with his diamond arms.

"He formed a weapon!? How did he learn to do that!?" Tristan gasped in disbelief, eyes bugging out before turning to Kaiba, who let out a chuckle.

"Did you really think these little gatherings were the only time Mokuba's been training?" he said before his face dropped into a serious expression as he continued to watch the spar, not taking his eyes off his kid brother. "I've seen him work on his abilities and to get them ready in case any other craziness happened on our watch..." That would remind him of that one night he saw his little sibling at Kaiba Dome... with no other than the God of Water, Blue Eyes... and also overhearing something that surprised him even to this day.

Flashback

As Kaiba would finish his latest test on a project he was working on, he saw something blip on his computer screen. Furrowing his brow, he checked the time: 2:33 am. He would check where the blip was coming from and to his surprise, it was coming from the Kaiba Dome. Who was in there this late at night, he wondered. So he would tap into the camera.. and his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he saw who it was.

His kid brother.. sparring off against Blue Eyes, the God of Water from the Duel Monster world!

Without sparing a moment, he grabbed his jacket and dashed out of the office. Without even thinking, he transformed into a shower of white sparks and zipped out of the building as fast as lightning. Inside the arena, Mokuba dashed about, not taking his determined gaze off the dragon as geyser after geyser was hurled at the newest guardian, yet the attacks were either warded off by Mokuba's own water magic. Of course, the dragon was holding back, not wanting to cause harm to the brother of the Blue Eyes master. Rolling to one side, the boy flung watery darts at the dragon, who used one of his wings to block the attack before firing off another spout of water.

Tapping into Yingya's old magic, the boy threw up a wall of glass and used it to redirect it away from him before firing off a large watery sphere with a battle cry. As Kaiba would arrive inside and stood near the door, he saw that most of the area was soaking wet from the amount that had been either thrown or deflected. He then looked back to his little brother, who was now on one knee, panting hard and his tank top soaked with sweat. As he made to get to his feet, the dragon let out a soft roar and Kaiba translated it as "That's enough". Slumping almost with relief, Mokuba continued to heave and pant, hands upon his knees.

"Sheesh.. that.. was a workout," he managed to say between huffs before grinning at Blue Eyes. "That was great, Blue Eyes! I'm glad that you came here to help me." That earned him a nuzzle of appreciation and Mokuba stroked his snout. "... Hey, Blue Eyes, I want to tell you something." Blue Eyes perked a bit as the raven haired boy looked him in the eyes. Kaiba leaned against the doorframe, wondering what he had to say.

"When I got my powers, I made a promise to myself that I would get stronger. Ever since we were small, Seto has always watched over me and protected me. He even saved me a few times when I was in danger, especially when Yingya tried to drown me. He's always had my back..." Mokuba would then look down sadly and Kaiba felt his heart clench a bit.

"He's done so much for the both of us and sometimes... sometimes I feel helpless, like I can't do anything to return the favor. When I got these powers.. it's like a way to do so finally opened up to me, even though it was not under the best circumstances." The dragon master could've sworn Mokuba was holding back tears as he poured his heart out and he couldn't help the feeling of wanting to go in there right now and hold him. But he stopped himself, wanting to hear out the rest of what he had to say.

Once more, he would look up with a smile returning to his face. "But the saying goes 'There's a silver lining to every cloud'. And I believe that, a lot. That's why I wanna ask, Blue Eyes.. will you please keep training me? I want to show Seto that he doesn't have to worry about me. That I, too, can be strong, just like he has been when we were growing up. I want to be the one to watch his back this time."

Pressing his forehead to the dragon's snout, he closed his eyes as a tear finally ran down his cheek. "Will you please help me? Help me learn to protect the one I care about?" he softly pleaded.

After a few moments of silence, the dragon finally nodded and Mokuba's face lit up with excitement before hugging his nose again. "Thank you, Blue Eyes! Thank you so much!" he yelled out with joy.

Kaiba could only stand there, surprised at what he heard from his little brother. But to be honest.. he felt proud. Proud that he wanted to show his big brother that he didn't need to worry for his safety. To show that he too can become strong in his own way. He felt a little smile tug at the corner of his lips.

'Mokuba... you've grown up on me. Just a few years ago, you were just a little kid. Even though we had our hard times, you've stuck by me, no matter what we went through. And.. indeed, I've always been the one protecting you.' As Kaiba turned and began to silently walk out, he would add in his mind '... I'm proud of you, Mokie. I know you'll do us both proud.'

Flashback End

And from that day on, Kaiba, after work, would go and check up on his brother whenever he caught him training in the Kaiba Dome. He wouldn't go inside, just watch from the shadows as Mokuba worked his tail off in harnessing his newly given magic. Sometimes, he wouldn't come home until almost the wee hours of the morning, exhausted and sleeping until the afternoon. This would continue up until a few weeks ago when he finally stepped in during one training session, wanting to see how far he had come along. Needless to say, Mokuba was surprised to see his brother come in and thought he was going to get in trouble for being up so late. However, that was not the case and he instead heard his brother request a one-on-one session with him, to which the little Kaiba eagerly agreed on.

He was not disappointed as the young sibling had kept up with him during the spar, even when Kaiba shifted into his Blue Eyes form. Even though it was Kaiba who had won, the water user took the loss in stride and used this as motivation to keep going.

"Since then, he's been getting tougher, more than a match for puppy Wheeler over there," Kaiba smirked, the insult not going unheard by Joey.

"WHATCHA SAY 'BOUT ME?!" The blond yelled but cried out in surprise as once more, Mokuba tripped him up with another watery tendril from the floor and ensnared his wrists and ankles, rendering him immobile as the water user laughed a bit.

"Should've been paying attention, Joey," he teased before dropping him on his butt, making him cry out and rub his behind with a groan.

"Dang it, rich boy! Ya distracted me!" Joey snapped at Kaiba, who just gave a non-caring shrug.

"Not my fault you get easily sidetracked by facts, Wheeler. Perhaps you should've been paying attention to my little brother instead of yelling back at me," replied the dragon wielder.

"Here we go again..." Tea sighed and shook her head. "This is why I need more female friends.."

"I'll show ya facts, rich boy!" Joey started to march towards Kaiba, but Tristan quickly grabbed him with his extended arms and snagged him back, restraining him from doing something stupid.

"Knock it off, Joey! Don't let him get to you, dude!" he grunted as he held back his seething friend while the others (minus Kaiba) had anime sweatdrops forming on their heads. Just another day with the group of guardians. Some things will never change.

Indeed, some things never change between the group. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. But from the next chapter onward is when things really kick off. As you can tell, I changed things around from the previous version of this story. I hope you'll find a bit more understandable and less cringe worthy.