Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's the way it's going to stay unfortunately. Thanks to all my loyal readers, I hope you like this latest chapter a lot!

Important Note: The next chapter is supposed to be a flashback to the past but I don't intend to tell you more about Ri getting stabbed until later. Therefore if you want I can keep this up or do more flashbacks that are out of sequence. I am also willing to do a bit of a lime scene for Ri and Seto if you are interested so please let me know!

Don't Leave Me

Standing outside Seto's office the next day Rika twisted the straps of her purse in her hands as she tried not to look at Seto's secretary. The woman was staring at her curiously and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the fact that she and Seto were sort of a couple now was beginning to circulate. Sighing she tuned the blant stare out, having more important things on her mind. She'd come here to tell Seto she was going away for a little while and she was both worried that he'd take it the wrong way and worse, that he wouldn't care. Still, it was for the best. If loving and losing her would really hurt him as much as the others had suggested she had to do something. If he was having the same visions she was, or had any idea about the past they shared it was important to put some space in case she really did die. Rika wasn't stupid after all. As much as she wanted to believe she'd be able to take on whatever fate threw her way she knew that she could just as likely end up dead as a doornail. Again.

Finally she was told to go in and mustering her courage Rika got to her feet and headed for Seto's door, deliberately giving the secretary a dark look that had the other woman scurrying back to her desk. Opening it she went in, closing it behind her carefully since he was on the phone. Motioning her to come in with one hand as she walked over he waved her over to a seat while he finished the call which was obviously not going well from the look in is eyes. Taking a seat she waited patiently, smiling at him as she did her best to relax.

"Look, I paid you to be done by the end of today and if it isn't done I'll find someone who can produce on schedule." Hanging up Seto bit back the inventive curses that came to mind as he concentrated on his unexpected guest. "Hey, what's up?"

"Your temper for one thing." Rika replied with a smirk. "Have I come at a bad time?"

"No, I'm free for another hour before I have a meeting." Studying her closely he detected nerves, very well hidden unless you knew where to look. Something was definitely up.

"I just dropped by to let you know I'm heading home for a friend's birthday party." Doing her best to sound like this was no big deal Rika knew him well enough to see that her words not only surprised but bothered him too.

"You didn't mention this before." The idea of her leaving his sight caused actual physical pain, a clutch in his stomach that felt suspiciously like fear.

"Well I wasn't going to go but with Mai back and all...she wants to be there. She hasn't seen my friends in a while and she never likes to miss a good party."

"When will you be back?" As soon as he said it he felt like an idiot. Rika didn't live here, this city wasn't her home. She had no reason to come back here, her work here was done. But he couldn't let her leave knowing she wouldn't be coming back. The idea of being without her for a week bothered the hell out of him, much less letting her go for good. He wouldn't let that happen, he refused to let her leave him. If he had to he'd lock her up in his house for the rest of their lives without a twinge of conscience. She wasn't leaving him all alone again. Never again. It had almost killed him to lose her before and this time, this time no one and nothing was taking her from him. Even as his eyes widened slightly at the emotion and strength of those unexpected thoughts she spoke.

"I...a week maybe. I'm not sure." That wasn't what she'd intended to say at all and mentally cursed herself. But there had been something in his eyes, there just for a moment, that had made her give the promise she might not be able to keep.

"All right, call me when you get back." And now he sounded like some sniveling, overly possessive and juvenile boyfriend, Kaiba thought in disgust.

Surprised Rika stared at him for a moment before smiling. Acting on instinct she got to her feet and moved around his desk, watching him turn his chair to face her. Setting her hands on the arms of his chair Rika leaned down and kissed him, giving a muffled shriek when his arms came around her waist suddenly to send her tumbling forward and into his lap. Rika had only a brief moment to be glad she hadn't worn that skirt before her mouth went under serious attack as Kaiba ravished it, his arms bands of steel as he held her tightly against him. A willing participant Rika gave as good as she got, her hands moving to dive into his hair as her mouth moved eagerly under his. Time stopped as they held each other close, both facing their future separation like a condemned man faces the guillotine. Eager for anything they could get before that happened their hands were rushed and frantic as they slid over each other, memorizing each curve and muscle as if to imprint them in their minds.

Making a sound of annoyance at the clothing in his way Kaiba's hands were in the process of starting to tug her shirt up when she pulled away, her breathing as erratic as his own. Staring into those beautiful purple depths love swamped him out of nowhere, causing him to reach out and pull her back into his arms, simply holding her with his face buried against her neck, breathing in her scent like a starved man.

Holding him close as well Rika lifted a hand to stroke his hair. "I have to get going or I'll miss my flight. I'll call you tomorrow if you want."

Forcing himself to let her go he contented himself with placing his hands loosely on her hips as he raised his head to meet her eyes. Every instinct in him was screaming at him not to let her go, that something was going to happen to her if he wasn't there to protect her. But he couldn't make her stay and knew it. "Okay. When you get back we'll have dinner out, anywhere you want."

"Sounds good to me." Rika agreed, smiling at him for his sake. Now that she had gotten some control of her senses back she laughed lightly as she realized just what position they were in. Given exactly where they'd been headed..they definitely would have given something for Seto's secretary to gossip about.

Following her train of thought Seto smiled in a way that was identical to the look on his face from her last vision when he'd caught her staring at him in bed. "To be continued." Seto promised, leaning forward for another quick kiss before letting go so that she could get off his lap. Standing up with her he simply took her hand, cursing himself silently as he led her towards the door.

It was nearly eleven that night when the phone call came from Isis. Mokuba, who had answered the phone was told simply that his brother needed to come to the museum immediately and that it was an emergency. Taking her at her word Mokuba agreed and rousting Seto from his office the two were soon in one of Seto's Mercedes and on their way to find out what was going on. Arriving there in record time they were just getting out when a limousine came up to park behind them, none other than Pegasus stepping out to join them on the pavement. "Did she say what was up?" Seto asked, having no doubt that he was here for the same reason as them.

"No."

The two men sharing a long look they turned and without a word headed up the stairs where they were met by a security guard who gave them directions as to where they were supposed to go. Arriving at the conservatory area they entered the theater like room to find Yugi, Yami and their friends there as well as Marik who was standing protectively beside his sister. Apparently they were the last to arrive, Seto thought as they walked down the aisle. "What's going on?" He demanded, seeing no reason to start with pleasantries. He'd been in a lousy mood since Rika had left and he wasn't a people person to begin with.

"I had a vision. Tonight is the night when the princess will be tested." She'd waited until everyone was here to explain and judging from the looks on Yami and Seto's faces they knew exactly who she was talking about.

"She's in danger?" Seto demanded to know and when she nodded he pulled out his cell phone, punching in her cell phone number automatically. Getting nothing he hung up and then dialed her home phone only to get the answering machine. Leaving a tense message telling her to call him back immediately he hung up, his dark eyes pinning Isis's. "What sort of danger?"

"I don't know. All I know is that the first phase is coming to an end and the continuation depends on her actions tonight."

"What do you mean?" Yami demanded to know.

"History will repeat itself, whether the outcome is the same will be up to her. Once again the ones she loves will be threatened and once again she will risk her life for them. Whether she will die again is undecided." Her dark eyes going blank she swayed slightly, Marik reaching out to steady her as she turned in his grasp, as if in a trance to stare at the large screen in front of her. The Millennium Necklace glowing against her tanned throat the screen suddenly burst into life, displaying an ordinary street with two women walking side by side in the warm summer night air. The room erupted with the sound of their voices as they discussed the cake they were walking off because their grandmother had insisted they eat too much.

"God but every time I come to visit my diet gets blown to hell." Mai groaned, placing her hand against her stomach which she was sure had just expanded an inch thanks to her grandmother's marvelous cooking. "I don't know how you stay so thin living with her."

"At times like this I wonder too. Thank God for an awesome metabolism." Feeling rather bloated as well Rika mentally cursed herself for letting her grandmother talk her into that second slice. "And when we go back you know she's going to load us down with food to take back to your parents."

"Don't I know it. Bless her." Mai said with a grin that turned into a faint frown as she watched two men cross the street with their eyes on them. "And I get a feeling here comes trouble."

"If they hit us in the stomach we're going to throw up all over them." Rika commented with a smirk, Mai laughing in response though both girls were watching the two men wearily, on full alert. "Oh damn." Rika sighed, recognizing one of them. "Definite trouble." Cursing she looked at the lampposts which provided little light since the city had yet to get around to replacing the bulbs the last couple years.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Rika Nonaka. How you doing, baby?" The taller of the two asked, a blonde who looked rather ordinary until you look into his eyes. They were the eyes of a half starved alley cat and were glassy from the booze he'd already ingested in a rather large quantity with his friend.

"Quit calling me baby or I'll have you crying for your Mommy like one." Rika threatened, her stance becoming combative. She'd gone to school with this punk and he had a reputation for being a bully with a habit of playing rough with the women stupid enough to date him.

"Ohhh looks like she doesn't like you very much, Goh." The other one snickered, slapping his friend on the back. "How about me, sweetheart? You and me could have a lot of fun and there's plenty of me to go around." He added, leering over in Mai's direction

"While pushing you in front of traffic would be a lot of fun for us I can't see you getting much out of it but broken bones." Mirroring her cousin's stance Mai was giving off ass kicking vibes that were nearly as strong as Rika's. "Now why don't you boys beat it and go find some girls as drunk as you are."

"Now that's not very nice, is it, Touma?" Goh said to his friend, giving Rika a dirty look. Prima donna bitch, thinking she was so hot. This was certainly not the first time she'd treated him like he was nothing more than slime on the bottom of her shoes but it sure as hell was going to be the last time. "Seems to me these girls need a lesson in manners and we're just the ones to give it to them."

"You're not smart enough to teach a five year old how to walk backwards without falling." Rika informed him, not afraid or particularly worried. It was obvious the two had already consumed plenty and they'd been swaying a little when they'd crossed the street. They weren't in any condition to be the trouble they might have been sober. Not that Goh would have had the balls to take her on without the booze in his system.

Growling low in his throat Goh charged, drawing back his fist with the intent to plow it into her face. Easily dodging Rika used his momentum to send her fist driving into his gut, enjoying the startled gasp of pain as he doubled back, his arms automatically wrapping around his stomach in defense. Watching the other try to rush her to defend his friend he got Mai's foot in his groin for his trouble. Stepping back the two cousins stared down at the two pitiful examples of the male species, both on their knees and looking like they wanted to curl up and die somewhere.

"Now that's pathetic." Mai stated with a toss of her blonde waves.

"Tell me about it." Rolling her eyes Rika shoved her hands into her pockets, sharing an amused look with her cousin. "Lets head back. This is just too sad to watch anymore."

Giving the men their backs they'd gone about half a block when their instincts kicked in, having them whirl around to see the one called Touma running at them, a blade in his hand, raised in preparation to sink into one of them. Before he could get within a meter of them a large male hand come out of an alleyway, wrapping around his neck before throwing the punk back onto the pavement. A large man with dark hair coming out from the alley to stand between them Rika and Mai had a sense of a very built man dressed all in black who'd arrived in time to be their knight in shining armor.

Touma struggling to his feet with the blade still in his hand, charging recklessly at the stranger in some wild move that was as stupid as he was. Grabbing the wrist of the hand holding the knife the stranger used his incredible superior strength to twist the arm back around, the sound of bones breaking filling the silence as the punk felt the blinding pain of his arm being snapped like a twig as the knife hit the cracked sidewalk. His screams filling the air they were cut off in mid screech as the man's other arm came up to drive his fist into Touma's face. Going limp the punk dropped to the ground bonelessly, out before his head hit concrete.

"Wow." Was all Mai could say.

"I second that." Rika agreed, marveling at the strength and speed as they watched the man grab the poor bastard by the collar and throw him onto the nearby lawn as though he weighed nothing. "Uhm hey..thanks." Rika called out, not sure what else to say. Mai added her own thank you as the man looked over at them though he was too far away for them to get a good look at his face. Watching him start to walk over to them Rika felt a weird flutter in her chest that wasn't fear but something else. No, this was something she didn't recognized. Then he was close enough for her to get a good look at his face. Her eyes going wide with recognition she opened her mouth with no words coming out.

"Please, please tell me the name Aries means something to you. Cause if it doesn't I need to go in for a C.A.T. Scan." The man said with a rather desperate look on his face, the face of the man Rika knew as Henry Wong.

"Henry...Henry." Rika repeated, unable to say anything else as her eyes slowly took in the man in front of her. It was Henry all right but the body was all wrong or at least it sure as hell hadn't been this way when she'd seen him off to England a month and a half ago. This was a buff, well muscled version of Henry who also appeared to be at least a couple of inches taller than the last time she'd seen him. His words finally computing as well as his anxiety coming in clear she slowly smiled. "So you're Aries...every where I look I'm running into reincarnations of people. So...shouldn't you be bowing before me about now?"

The relief plain on his face he took the few steps necessary to reach out and pull her into a tight hug. 'Thank God. I thought I was going crazy." Henry muttered, holding on tight to his best friend who was apparently also the reincarnation of his former princess. "One minute I'm me and the next thing I know I've got tattoos I don't remember getting, a buff body that my parents are convinced are a result of steroids and memories of a life that took place centuries ago."

"Tell me about it." Rika said with a laugh, rubbing his back in sympathy. A back that was a lot bigger than she remembered it being, Rika thought in amusement. It was no wonder the Wongs thought their son had to be taking something illegal to get to this size. Henry have never been short or scrawny but he'd certainly never been anything more then average build wise.

"See, I told you you weren't going crazy." Came a peppy voice and everyone turned to see Henry's sister Suzi walking over with a smile. "After all, it's not like we'd both go insane on the exact same day with delusions that coincided with each others."

"You too?" Rika asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You betcha. Former High Priest Mahado's loyal and incredibly cute assistant Mana, at your service, Your Majesty." Suzi answered with a wink, grinning at the idea of calling her childhood friend your majesty. "Long time, no see huh?"