Notes:

Apparently, on Tumblr, SetoKisa/Blueshipping week is this week and a real thing and I am so excited oh my goodness. So if my nonsense fanfiction can be considered a contribution to the fandom, or even contribute a little bit to this apparent phenomenon that is Blueshipping week, I am over the moon.

This one has been sitting in my drafts for a long time now, because it was inspired by a quote from Isac Asimov's Nightfall (below) which has stuck with me since I read Nightfall for English class three years ago. I think it has something to do with how it's phrased...I think it's beautiful 3 Although I felt inspired to do something with that inspiration, I wasn't exactly sure how to make that make sense. Not that the story has anything to do with Nightfall (although you should, most definitely, read Nightfall), but I'm happy with the result, like I managed to do my inspiration justice. Whether or not that's worth anything is debatable, haha.

Thank you so so so much to people who reviewed/interacted/favorited/followed this story! It means the absolute world to me. I love writing enough to be content with just shouting my stories into the void, but it feels so much better to have an audience. And as always, I would be eternally grateful for any kind of feedback, reviews, messages, etc :)

Enjoy!

"Through it shone the Stars! ...Thirty thousand mighty suns shown down in a soul-searing splendor that was more frighteningly cold in its awful indifference than the bitter wind that shivered across the cold, horribly bleak world." ~Isaac Asimov, Nightfall

The air was crisp; Kisara could see her breath in silvery puffs of smoke against the moonlight. Nestled deep into the Kaiba estate's grove of fruit trees was a marble bench. She sat down, shivering, raising her hood around her ears.

Seto sat down beside her, gripping both sides of the bench with his hands. His eyes were pointed up towards the full moon, which cast striking shadows on his pale, angular face.

"There's something I never told you," he said, after a moment.

Kisara frowned, placing her hand over his. "Oh...kay. What is it?"

Seto's gaze was still focused straight ahead. Kisara snuggled her cheek against his arm, staring up at him as he watched the sky. "I went to Egypt, before I...disappeared," he said.

Kisara kicked at a loose pebble on the ground. "Okay."

"This is going to sound ludicrous. I've never told anyone. I don't know if even I believe it."

"You can tell me anything. I promise."

"I saw...things. Hallucinations, maybe. Or holograms." Seto's voice was an eerie monotone. "I was lured to Egypt under the pretenses that...I was part of some kind of ancient cycle of reincarnation. That my destiny was intrinsically linked to Yugi Motou's. That we had met, long before, in ancient Egypt."

Kisara exhaled slowly, watching a thin stream of opalescent smoke dissipate into the cold night air. "Alright, I'll bite," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "So what happens next?"

"Really?" Seto's voice was a little bit incredulous. "You're going to believe that nonsense?"

Kisara shrugged. "I don't know. Crazier things have happened."

"Do you have examples?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not really. But I'm willing to believe. So you and Yugi Motou are eternal spirits, fated to be reborn again and again, into each others' lives."

He pursed his thin lips. "Don't be absurd."

"I'm not!"she said indignantly. "I'm just listening to your story. Is that it?"

He took a long, unsteady breath. "This...incarnation...of me. He had a lover."

"Ooooooooooooooooh."

"I'm not done. She was a priestess. She looked just like you."

Kisara couldn't contain a short, startled laugh. "No shit."

Seto turned his focus to her. "Again, I...I don't know. I'm inclined to think it's all bullshit, myself. But she...she looked exactly like you."

Kisara snorted, finding it difficult to contain her disbelief. "Really."

Seto looked hurt. "Okay, forget it. You're right, it's bullshit. Never mind." He looked away, staring forlornly into the trees. Mentally, Kisara berated herself fiercely; Seto rarely showed anything like vulnerability, and she hadn't truly intended to ruin it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You just...kind of caught me off guard," Kisara offered, tentatively wrapping her hand around Seto's shoulder.

"I'm serious. I didn't mean to be mean. I just couldn't believe it."

Seto nodded slowly, and Kisara noticed his shoulders visibly relax. "I know it sounds absurd, Kisara. And I would still be inclined to think it was all just a lot of nonsense. But..." his voice sounded hesitant.

Kisara was keenly aware of how tense Seto was; she could almost see him crackling sparks of cold white light, pure raw intensity, into the dark. She was painfully cognizant of how tenuous this moment was: one wrong breath, and it would be ruined, and Seto would close off, never to mention the subject again.

"But...what?" Kisara asked at last, holding her breath anxiously as she waited for the answer.

Seto inhaled sharply. "I want to believe that everything that happened in Egypt was just a hallucination. I don't know if I'm some reincarnation, and I don't care. I don't dwell on the past." His voice was shaky with intensity.

"I don't want to care what I saw in Egypt. But I can't explain it. When I saw you, I knew."

Kisara blinked slowly, mulling the words over in her head. "Knew what?"

Seto's eyes were fixed on something far away. "I don't care about making friends. I don't need people to validate me, who I am, what I do. Attachments will only stand to slow you down; the only thing that matters is to keep moving forwards."

The sentiment might have stung Kisara if she weren't so transfixed by the raw emotion in Seto's voice.

"But you're different. And I don't know why, and I can't explain it. I don't believe in fate, and I don't care about souls. But somehow, I feel connected to you.

That's the word. Connected. From the moment I met you, I was drawn to you, and I wasn't sure why. I couldn't understand why I felt so connected to you."

She felt like she should have an opinion, or at least something to offer, but Kisara's mind was somewhere else, replaying the moment they had met. She was almost sure she hadn't felt an instant connection between her and Seto, at least not in the traditional, romantic sense. But still, it defied common sense how she had ended up here, side-by-side with Seto Kaiba, especially after their botched first encounter. And it especially defied common sense, Kisara realized, how little she questioned how she had ended up here—almost as if she had, somehow, always known that everything was bound always bound to happen.

Silence stretched on between them for a moment. The wind rustled the trees slightly, whisking strands of Kisara's hair away from her face; she could see the strands glow like silver threads of gossamer in the moonlight.

Kisara rested her head against his shoulder. "Can I ask a question?" she asked.

Seto said nothing, but nodded softly.

"Was she pretty?" Kisara teased.

In an uncharacteristic display of affection, Seto wrapped his arm around her waist, inching Kisara closer to him. She giggled as she felt his cold lips press against her cheek, and a warm hand turning her face towards his; their lips met. "She was beautiful."

She sighed contentedly, closing her eyes. "Okay, then. I'm okay with that."

The cold and mighty splendor of the stars poured down on Seto and Kisara as they sat motionless together, as young and curious students, as mighty and powerful and ancient immortal souls.