Okay, this update took way longer than I thought it would… Sorry. I had originally intended for this whole fic to be a one-shot, but it looks like it will be a little 'ficlet' with mini-chapters instead.

December 27, 2006

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

by Pearl of the Dark Age

The Second Person

Everything around him had illuminated to a blinding white light, and Seto began to wonder if he would go blind. Mokuba's late wife had disappeared in the brightness. Seto's eyes did not sting as he had expected. After a moment, the light faded, and his eyes adjusted. He was now in his office! He had not felt a change in his position or any sense of transportation. For someone who detested the supernatural, spent precious lifetime in denial, he grew accustomed to the ways that the afterlife operated rather quickly. He walked over to his desk, facing an empty chair. A quick survey of the desktop, he realized this was not the Kaiba Corp office when he was in charge. The voice that spoke behind him did not surprise him in the least.

"I've been waiting for you, Seto," a gruff male voice said. "I bet you did not expect to see me."

"I am more surprised that they let you into Heaven," Seto remarked as he turned around to face Gozoboro, "than I am that you've been waiting for me."

The large mustache twitched slightly in irritation. "No, I'm not in yet… As you can see I've been waiting for you, and this place is outside of Heaven. I still have work to complete before they let me in there."

Suddenly, it occurred to Seto that his record was not so spotless, either. "Will I have to work off my debts?" he asked.

"Yeah," his adoptive father replied lazily. "But it won't take you as long." He smiled wryly and continued, "I have been perhaps the biggest influence on your life, which is why I'm here."

"You sure think highly of yourself," Seto interrupted. "'The biggest influence…' Hmph!"

"Without me, you would not have become the man you spent most of your life being," Gozoboro continued, ignoring Seto's sarcasm. "Without me, you would not have walked the path that shaped the majority of your time on Earth."

"I know that," Seto snapped. "Thank you very much! It's been a pleasure. Now, can we get on with this? Get to the point."

"Not only did I teach you all of your business principles and skills, I also helped to shape your personality by providing an example of who you didn't want to be."

"And you're proud of that?" Seto inquired, feeling slightly wrong-footed.

"No, but that is why I'm here," he replied with an arched eyebrow. He stood there with the same solid posture and sharply dressed suit that characterized his everyday appearance without a trace of remorse. "If you want an apology for all that I've done for you, you won't be getting it."

Seto folded his arms impatiently, smirking. "You are never going to get in that way…"

Gozoboro shrugged indifferently. "Do you think you would have been just as successful in life without me?"

"Of course," Seto returned quickly.

"What is the meaning of 'success,' to you?"

"Wealth and power, naturally." Seto began to doubt his own, automated answer.

"That's what I taught you," Gozoboro stated. "You should realize by now that it isn't true."

"Have you realized it?" Seto snapped. "Who are you to lecture me on principles?"

"If you took material gain away from your life, what would you have left to call a 'success'?" Gozoboro inquired. He folded his arms while waiting for Seto to reply.

The latter CEO was stunned. He had to think for a minute, and then he realized what the former CEO meant. "Mokuba," he answered. "Mokuba is my success."

Gozoboro nodded. "You did well with your younger brother. You insured his survival, his happiness, and his future. Without you, he would not have been even more successful than you had been."

Seto started for a second as the feeling of truth slipped into his consciousness. "Mokuba's more successful than me?" He shook his head, not really understanding it. "But his wealth was from me."

"Again, we're not talking about wealth, are we?" Gozoboro replied. "Even I was more successful in this aspect than you."

"What!" Seto spat. "How can you say that?"

"I was married, in love, and I had a child," he answered calmly. "I didn't change into the heartless monster you knew until after my wife died. Then, my son had died not too long after."

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" the brunette snarled. "I love Mokuba! Doesn't that count?"

"Well, yes… of course," Gozoboro returned slowly. "What I mean is that your life's potential wasn't met. You had a potential to have love and happiness in your life that far exceeded your choices. You failed by not meeting that potential. You did not live life to the fullest. You constrained your choices, limited your path to material gain, and ignored the true success in life."

Seto's head spun – both from trying to absorb all that he had been told and the fact that it was this man who told it. "I don't understand what potential you speak of," he said carefully, even as the inner recesses of his soul stirred in protest. "I was successful! I still am!" His arms gestured wildly to his body and the room about him. "I don't know what you mean!"

"I know you loved your younger brother," Gozoboro reiterated, "and this does mean that you were successful in this respect. You were successful in the material aspect of life as well. However, you were not successful in curing your loneliness."

"What?" Seto asked, completely bewildered. "I was never…" His voice trailed off and died.

"Remember, you can't lie in this place," Gozoboro stated solemnly. "Perhaps you will understand more when you talk to the rest of the people who are waiting for you."