"Seto Kaiba… here!?" Téa thought to herself. Somehow, it defied all logic. Dare she get her hopes up? Dare she assume that he had come here now because he hadn't had the chance to talk to her before?

"It looks like someone's arriving at this hotel… What is that thing, anyway?" asked Caerii. "It looks like an alligator with wings!"

"I'm going to check it out," Téa bluffed.

"Wait up; I'll go with you."

Téa flinched; the last thing she wanted was for someone to be present while she was talking to Seto. The conversation would be difficult enough without having to deal with spectators.

As they headed out into the corridor, Téa was further dismayed to see that the other dancers were interested in checking out the new arrival. The other dancers began to gather in the lobby as Seto entered, and he immediately rolled his eyes upon noticing them.

Seto proceeded to the concierge's counter to have a word with him as Téa pushed her way to the front of the crowd.

"Who is that?" asked Hesper, unimpressed.

"Isn't he that game designer from Domino?" asked Aurus. "Aww, man; what's his name again? Hey, Téa; you said that you were from Domino, right? Do you know who he is?"

"Is it possible to know someone and not know them at the same time?" Téa asked herself, still trying to come to grips with the knowledge that he was, in fact, here.

"He's Seto Kaiba," said another dancer, before Téa could respond.

"Has he come to see the show?" asked a third dancer. "If he has, we can use that for advertising, can't we? If the show is good enough for a famous game designer, it might mean even more publicity…"

"What is going on here!?" asked the elder Kayser, arriving. "Shouldn't you all be at the restaurant?"

"But we just saw--" one of the dancers began.

"It doesn't matter," said Kayser, ushering them all out of the door. "Come on. Move, move, move! Our reservations aren't eternal, you know; you can gawk all you want later. But for now, stick to the schedule."

"Not exactly Mr. Charm anymore, I see," Téa thought to herself, somewhat derisively. He had been far more charismatic when he had showed up at her dressing room, asking her to join. Then again, that had been all but a sales pitch.

"Téa, are you coming?" asked Aurus.

"Um, yeah; just hold on," she replied, pretending to turn back. "I forgot something upstairs; you go on ahead!"

"The Tessurcas and I will wait outside for you!" he replied, with a grin.

Of course, she didn't go back to the room; she was waiting by the elevators. After everyone had cleared the lobby, Téa began to head back, but nearly collided with Seto, who was heading for the elevators.

"Watch it, Gardner!" he said.

"Is that how you always greet people, Kaiba?" she asked, unable to feel slightly sarcastic.

"I didn't come here for a meet-and-greet," he replied. "I'm here to track down someone who seems intent on giving me and my company a hard time."

"Oh…" Téa replied, her hopeful feelings fading away to nothing. So he hadn't come to talk to her, after all. She had to face the fact that it had been too much to hope for. "Well, I… I hope you catch whoever it is…"

Seto sensed this; he had spoken without thinking. But he didn't know what to make of the situation. He could just imagine what Mokuba would be thinking if he saw the scene. He wanted to leave, but for some reason, Téa's expression begged some sort of response from him.

"Listen, Gardner; I was too busy to make it to your send-off," he said, unaccustomed to this sort of conversation. "So let me just say now that I hope you find this little dancing venture of yours worthwhile." He wanted to be out of this situation so badly; apathy and sympathy were waging an all-out war in his mind. "She doesn't realize that my work is the most important thing right now," he thought. "I can't afford to go soft and talk to her like this; that crook could get away, and my company, and my name, would be ruined."

He tore himself away from the spot and entered one of the elevators.

"Kaiba…" she began. He stopped and turned back, standing in the elevator. But she didn't say anything more; she was unsure if unburdening her heart was the wisest idea. The emotions inside her were a mess. She wanted to talk to him about how she wasn't fully sure about this endeavor. She wanted to yell at him for forever being obsessed with his company and money. She wanted to plead with him… to get him to understand how she felt...

"Close the door," Seto's mind ordered, as though he could sense what she wanted to say. "You can't afford this now; just close the door."

"Téa!" a voice called from the lobby. It was Aurus. "We're waiting for you; are you coming now, or what!?"

Téa glanced at Seto, who, for some unexplainable reason, was still holding the elevator door open.

"Yes, I'm coming!" she called back. And without another word, she turned away and left.

Seto breathed a sigh and allowed the door to close.

"That's ended that," he said to himself, firmly. "She already built up a new group of friends for herself in typical Gardner fashion…"

And that was when it struck him as odd that he had ended up at the same hotel as she and her fellow dancers had. He had been following the cell phone signal that Mokuba had traced for him…

"Impossible," he thought, with a shake of his head. "There's no way some dancer could be behind this plot. By the looks of this hotel, they live in enough luxury, and they probably don't even have time for playing games… in which case, they wouldn't even be familiar with Kaiba Corporation…"

Perhaps it was just a coincidence. But, to be on the safe side, he could always ask her if she noticed anything suspicious.

"As if she would help you…" part of his mind snorted with derision. "After that 'conversation' you just had (if you can even call it that), she wouldn't be willing to aid the likes of you."

"Of course she would," his pride replied. "She is Téa Gardner; helping people is in her résumé. And she'd especially help you, driven by those feelings of hers. Not that you need it, of course…"

Would it have mattered whether or not she had feelings for him? Of course not; she would summon her friends from Domino in a heartbeat, and then they'd all be on the case (driving him crazy in the process). No; he was better off alone, just as he always was.

"Or is there some other reason why you don't want to ask her?" asked a normally silent part of his mind. "Are you worried that you might have feelings for her, too?"

Seto silence the voice there. Never in a million years would it be possible! It was preposterous! And it couldn't happen… could it?

"You aren't eating anything, Téa," Aurus noticed. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" she asked, coming back to the present. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a lot of stuff on my mind."

"Like…?" Aurus prompted.

"No offence, but it's kind of personal," she said.

"No offence here, either, but seeing as though you're going to be hanging out with us for the next few years of your life…"

"…That's only if I don't get thrown out for dancing out of step…"

"You won't," Aurus assured her. "Believe me, Téa; from what I heard my cousin say about you, the only way you'd leave here is if you get recruited by a better troupe when we arrive on Broadway. Though I'm hoping you wouldn't abandon us just like that…"

"I doubt it…" said Téa, deciding to give only half the story. "My whole problem was saying goodbye to my friends. And I wouldn't leave here knowing that I'd have to go through all of that again…"

There was no point in bringing up her feelings for Seto Kaiba; it was between the two of them (not even Yugi or Joey knew the slightest thing about it, although she expected that Mokuba was somewhat aware of it). And she doubted that there was anything that Aurus could do to change the situation.

"I should've said something…" she told herself. "I mean, he was right there, and I just left. At this rate, I can't blame him for not saying anything to me. And I don't even know if I'm going to see him again… but I suppose I should be grateful that he at least wished me good luck. Well, if I ever see him again, I'll just have to tell him exactly how I feel… He's probably never going to talk to me again, but I'll never forgive myself if I don't--"

"Téa, you've got to eat," said Aurus. "Do you have any idea how many calories you burn dancing like this?"

"Of course I do; I was a dancer back in Domino."

"Oh, yeah…"

"He put his foot in his mouth… just like Joey would…" she thought, and then she began to eat. It dawned on her that she never did get to send that email; she would have to wait until she found a moment to herself.

She glanced around the room; several of the dancers were deep in conversation as they ate. It was a kinship, she realized. She wasn't a part of it yet, but she hoped she soon would be.

But more than the kinship of dancers, it was taking all of her self control to not get up right where she was sitting, walk back across the road to the hotel, and speak to Seto Kaiba. Knowing what words to say wasn't a problem; it was saying them that was so difficult.

A movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn towards the hotel. She had seen someone go into the building. Her glimpse had been fleeting, and it had been too dark to see the visitor's face, but she was certain that she knew him from somewhere; perhaps he was a Kaiba Corporation worker she had met in the hallway, here to speak with Seto about some latest development in the case.

"You know what, guys?" asked Téa, getting up from the table. "I'm not that hungry after all; I'm heading back to the hotel. I'll see you all at rehearsals tomorrow, OK?"

"If you're sure…" Aurus replied, with a shrug.

"I'll be there in a while," said Caerii in a half-hearted voice, not even looking at her. Hesper didn't even say a thing.

"By all means, take your time…" Téa thought, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.

She returned to the hotel, keeping an eye out for the man she had seen coming in. And she found him, facing away from her, speaking to the concierge.

"I'm afraid I don't have the authority to tell you which particular room a guest is staying in, especially when he has requested to be left alone," she overheard the concierge say.

She was intrigued; did someone want to see Seto? He certainly would've given the orders that people steer clear of him. And apparently, someone had some news for him. This would be interesting, to say the least. She crept closer, hiding behind a pillar close to the front desk.

"You can glare at me all you wish," the concierge went on, not intimidated by the man. "I cannot help you in this matter."

The man turned around furiously, and Téa finally saw his face in full view. And she was unpleasantly surprised to see that he wasn't a Kaiba Corporation worker at all; he wasn't even an honest worker. She couldn't explain how, but the notorious Bandit Keith was standing a few yards from her.

Téa quickly turned away, concealing herself fully behind the pillar.

"Please tell me he didn't see me…" she pleaded silently. She wasn't sure if Keith would even recognize her, but she was not willing to take that chance.

And then, suddenly, everything hit her like a ton of bricks. Seto had come to this hotel tracking down someone who was stealing his money, certain that he had the element of surprise. And, somehow, Bandit Keith had turned up, seemingly out of the blue, and was apparently searching for Seto. It could only mean that the card shark knew that Seto was onto him. And not only did it mean that Seto no longer had the element of surprise, it also meant that he was in huge trouble, for there was no way he could know that Keith was onto him.

But there was only once chance right now. Keith didn't know where in the large hotel Seto was. Téa didn't know, either, but for Seto's sake, she would have to find out before Bandit Keith did.

Otherwise, she (or anyone else) would never get the chance to talk to Seto Kaiba again; Keith would make sure of that.