Author's Note: The prompt for this oneshot is simply "Memories" which immediately made me think of a song from my favourite musical ... which I then shamelessly used as inspiration! xxx

Midnight and not a sound echoed from the deserted pavement. Domino City had shut up shop a couple of hours ago and the last few stragglers were only making it home now. A strong typhoon was set to hit the main island of Japan before midnight and a weather alert had been issued earlier in the day.

Most of his staff had been sent home by noon to prepare for the onslaught of the weather front and only the vital staff had remained until evening. That evening deadline had passed a few hours ago, but he had needed to be sure everything was backed up and safe – if the power was out for a few days, then he needed back-up generators prepped to run KaibaLand and the databanks of KaibaCorp's HQ building.

Withered leaves skittered down the road, prisoners to the moaning wind that had been building for a while now. Common sense told him he should have headed home a few hours ago, but Seto had to be sure everything was ready for the worst-case scenario.

No one else was foolish enough – or was it sensible? – to be out in the streets as the moon shone down through a break in the heavy clouds. Turning a corner away from the main business plaza of the city, he lowered his head and pushed on through the building wind. Rain began to fall then and it was as if a pathetic fallacy was foretelling of the typhoon's arrival; the weather itself was bemoaning his decision to stay in the city until this late.

And yet there was someone waiting at the bus-stop further along the street. Idiot. At least he had the excuse of running a company to keep him out in this weather, but this girl was all alone in the middle of a dark city about to be hit full-force by an angry typhoon – was she trying to put herself in danger?

Shaking his head and concluding it was the woman's own naive fault, Seto Kaiba buried his hands in his pockets and jogged past the bus-stop, intent on getting home safely and making sure his little brother was safe and sound too. Roland had collected the teenager from school earlier in the day and given him strict instructions to remain at the mansion for the duration of the bad weather.

Thunder boomed in the clouds above and a bolt of lightning split the dark sky in two. More rain pelted down and soaked the quiet city streets in an instant, storm drains at their threshold. Gritting his teeth as his conscience flared to life, Seto turned and made for the bus-stop again. The foolish woman was someone's daughter or sister and he knew he wouldn't like Mokuba out on the streets in this kind of weather.

Pulling his phone from a pocket, he fired off a text to Roland and requested a pick-up; walking to the distance to the mansion in the worsening weather was infeasible, especially if he had an unexpected guest to deal with.

The streetlamps flickered in the wind, each failing light becoming a fatalistic warning. Reaching the bus-stop, Seto tried to wipe his soaked hair out of his eyes and called above the whistling wind.

"The busses aren't running tonight, haven't you seen the news?"

No one answered him because the bus shelter was empty; nobody sat on the bench inside the three-walled waiting area. He was sure he had seen a woman sitting there through the Perspex walls. Whatever – she had probably gained some modicum of sense and made for home, just like he should. Shaking his head, he turned away from the empty bus-stop and kicked away an empty soda can.

"You once knew what happiness was …"

Someone muttered close-by and he spun towards the voice and dropped into a fight-stance with his arms raised up in a guard, years of self-defence training and Judo coaching springing to mind. Call off the search and rescue; he had found the foolish would-be bus passenger. Not catching what she had said, Seto shrugged away his initial jumpiness and walked towards the end of the street; Roland would pick him up there.

"Do you need a ride home?"

Rolling his eyes up to the angry heavens when the woman didn't answer him, Seto sighed and walked on. If this girl wanted to play dumb, then that was fine by him; he was getting a lift home and she could fend for herself if that was what she wanted.

Another roll of thunder clashed overhead and lightning lit up the city for a split second. In that half instant, Seto halted as he saw the girl standing at the end of the street before him. Throwing a look over his shoulder, he frowned; she had been behind him a second ago. She must have run ahead without him noticing. Calling out over the wind again, he tried to quash the uneasy feeling creeping over him as he walked towards her.

"Look, where do you live? Are you even listen-"

Laying a hand on her shoulder, he lost his words as the girl turned to look up at him and he took a few rushed steps backwards. A well-timed flash of lightning lit up her features liked a ghost.

Dark blue eyes that stared out from beneath soaked colourless hair. The rain had saturated her clothes and her hair hang lank around her small frame. But it was the same face, the same eyes he had seen once upon a time in Egypt. Dreams and nightmares had plagued him after that trip to the ancient world, but rationalisation had banished the memories and immutable convincing himself that the past was the past had seen the end of the flashbacks.

But this wasn't a dream and he wasn't in the throes of some unconscious nightmare. This was the real world, in an actual city and on a tangible street in the twenty-first century. Maybe he had been working for too long today. Shaking his head, Seto looked to this woman and tried to laugh it off – he just needed sleep and his head was playing tricks on him.

"You … you're just a memory."

"When the sun rises, tonight will be a memory too."

She held out a pale hand and offered a small smile. This was it. After a life time suppressing all he had ever been through – abandonment, abuse, conditioning, back-stabbing, betrayal and working too hard – he had finally let his mind slip into an ebb of madness.

Her fingers touched his and Seto Kaiba jumped as a car horn sounded above the moaning winds. Looking into the glare of the headlights, he shielded his eyes and felt a rush of relief as Roland stood by the black car and beckoned him over. A confused scan of the area showed him to be alone on the street corner and Seto wasted no time and seated himself in the back of the car, not saying one word to his employee.

He had no words to say; all he had left were the memories.

A/n- Thanks for reading guys and I hope you liked it! xxx