Chapter 15

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"What the hell was that?" Kaiba demanded as they helped him back to the entrance of the cavern. He shivered, the cold blood seeping from his wounds beginning to freeze against his skin.

"Hey? What happened? We heard a crash!" Tea asked, popping up from a path that twisted off downward. She was followed by Mai, Joey and Tristan and they all seemed eager to know. Kaiba turned back to them, ready to answer but the color had already left him and he fell to his knees.

"Kaiba!" Serenity called while she and Mokuba rushed to his sides. They caught him before he landed on the icy ground and helped him back up, but he tugged himself away and braced against a wall.

"What the hell happened?" Tristan called looking the bloody man over.

"There was a pokemon. It... it spoke to us. It wants to kill humans. And it's powerful." Yugi said, going over it all in his head again. "It threw a metal door at him." Yugi now turned to Kaiba who was struggling to remain composed while holding himself up.

"It tore open his old cuts." Serenity said, making eye contact with the man, trying to get him to let her help. He pulled away again and she sighed frustratedly and grabbed for his arm.

"Stop." He said quietly, pulling away again and causing himself to slip a little.

"Seto!' She scolded, steadying him. He knew he was in trouble if she was using his first name. He glanced sideways at everyone else there, but her hand brought his face back to hers not so sweetly. "I don't care who else is around to see." She said angrily, knowing exactly what was going through his head. "Stop trying to act all tough." His hand came up and covered hers, gently removing it, but not entirely.

"I may trust you, but they-"

"It wont matter in the end if this kills you. Just let me help so you can act tough tomorrow." She said carefully.

"... I'm heavy." He said finally giving in. She smiled up at him and moved under his arm.

"I'll manage. Now we need to get you out of here." Serenity helped pull him back to his Lapras and they started away from the frozen island. They could see the clouds had cleared and there didn't seem to be anymore raucous caused by the ice bird. As they reached shore, there was cheering and calling for them. Serenity glanced down and stopped. Kaiba had lost consciousness at some point along their trip. She jumped off of the Lapras and into the water, pulling him down when she was stable and working to drag him to shore with Mokuba's aid.

"Help! I need help!" Mokuba called as Serenity tried desperately to hoist him onto her back.

"He's in rough shape! Get him to the hospital." Koga shouted, lifting the man off of her and calling a few more people over. Serenity and the others followed worriedly until there was nothing left to do but wait. The doctors worked quickly, but the town was small and the medicine was slow.

"How you handling this kiddo?" Mai asked, leaning against the chair Serenity waited in.

"I'll be better when he is." She said quietly. She knew her brother was watching her. She didn't care anymore. There were more important things than stupid foolish rivalries. Mokuba curled onto her lap, hugging her closer. He loved the idea of her and his brother together. He loved knowing she actually cared about him and wasn't just after his material possessions.

"I know sweetie. Love... It's not something you can just put the breaks on." Serenity glanced up and noticed Mai was looking directly at Joey. "It's not something that some petty argument can come between. No. It's something that forgives and comforts. Real love that is." She finally looked down at the girl and Serenity smiled up at her. She knew that wasn't just to convince Joey to back off, but was a confession for Mai's own feelings for him. She just hoped he understood that.

"Um, He's awake now. We gave him a blood transfusion and put him on some painkillers. He has to stay in bed for a few days, but he should heal up well. There wasn't any permanent damage." One woman said as she left the room.

"Can we see him?" Mokuba asked, now jumping up.

"Yes, he should be able to take visitors." Mokuba glanced up happily at Serenity and moved into the room. She waited a few moments, filing in after Tea and Tristan had entered. Kaiba sat staring off into the thin blankets over him. He didn't look up as everyone entered. It wasn't until Mokuba called out to him that he even opened his eyes. He looked... sad. Empty. Broken. Still he forced a half smile down to his little brother.

Serenity's weight on the bed by his legs drew his eyes to her and she smiled taking his hand. She rose hers, cupping his cheek softly and caressing him.

"I'm glad you're alright." She said quietly. "Does it hurt?"

"Consistently." He responded with an even dead tone. She didn't like it. She gave him a sympathetic look and scooted closer.

"Let me see." She came up, glancing over his shoulder and peering down at where the most serious wound was. A breath of air hissed into her as she pulled back. It looked raw and agitated.

"Serenity..." his voice was low and she could tell he was having difficulties forcing it out. "Thank you." The entire group stopped and stared. He never really thanked anyone, except maybe Yugi once. Joey's eyes narrowed. This was really beginning to bother him. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I was too stubborn." He finished looking utterly deflated. It wasn't like him to be so open in front of so many people.

"Seto." She said as she smiled at him. She squeezed his hand and caressed his fingers as she held on to him. "Do... Do you want me to leave you alone?" His eyes were on her again. He knew she was trying to give him privacy... but if she trusted them...

"No."

"What about us. Should we let you get some rest?" Yugi asked now. Kaiba almost expected it to come from him or Mai. He always found them the most agreeable.

"I don't care." He said, not entirely honestly. He received another squeeze and looked up at Serenity. She smiled at him and he got the idea that she knew what he was doing. He tugged her hand, pulling her over him and kissed her gently on the lips.

Joey sneered and looked away, aiming to leave, but Mai stood in the doorway, arms folded across her chest as she watched him. He simply glared and turned back.

"Seto, you're a sweetheart." Serenity giggled out.

"That's a first." Kaiba said, just as everyone else was thinking the same thing. She giggled again and he shifted, laying himself down. He grimaced as his sore back came in contact with the stiff mattress below him but closed his eyes and was determined to rest up.

Serenity never left his side. He fell asleep for a few hours, woke, shifted and fell back over and over and she was there every time. Sometimes she would help him turn, others she would watch him wearily and sometimes she would just be asleep across his legs, hugging him. She was a comfort he didn't think he could afford to lose.

"Serenity." he called, and she stretched a bit and looked up to him. "Get me your brother." She paused, staring at him for a moment before wordlessly moving out of the room. She looked worried, but he knew he had to try something. It seemed like forever before Joey came into the room and he didn't seem all too happy about it either.

"Seriously Kaiba, you're really testin my nerves. If this is gonna be a recurring thing, at least fucking make some sort of schedule damnit." Joey growled as Serenity moved in behind him.

"Serenity, can I have a moment?" Kaiba asked, glancing past the blonde. She cautiously stepped out and shut the door and Kaiba turned his gaze on her brother. "How does Wednesdays sound?" Joey looked at him incredulously.

"You really think you can convince me that you're not out to hurt her?"

"I'm not."

"You said it yourself." Kaiba sighed and glanced downward.

"I... I lied. I was giving up on her. I was going to pretend I didn't care about her so you two wouldn't fight anymore. I did it because I care about her." Joey just glared at him. "Your sister means a lot to me and you can understand, this isn't something I would say so casually. I'm damned good at a lot of things, but this... this isn't a strong point I have. I don't like sharing my feelings and making myself vulnerable. But you're important to her, and I just... I just want her to be happy. She's not going to be truly happy unless you can accept me." he just wanted this conflict over already. The words came out easier than he thought they would, but that might have been due to him just wanting this all over with.

"Never gonna happen."

"That's why I tried to back off. But she's... stubborn. More stubborn than me even." Kaiba let out a small chuckle thinking about the girl. "What do you want? I can give you anything. I'm not asking for friendship. I'm not saying I want to spend time with you. I just... I just want you to stop fighting. I'll do anything." Joey looked over the boy. He had no idea what game this was this time, but it almost seemed... legitimate. But could Kaiba be trusted? He only ever thought about himself before. How could he have changed so quickly? He had a plan. He had to have a plan. Joey just couldn't see it yet... right?

"I'll think of something." Joey said, still not buying it. Kaiba only nodded.

"Then in the meantime... can you at least talk to her?"

"You're in no position to be requesting anything." Joey warned. He had given his answer, he didn't want anything else from the boy. He started towards the door but paused. Maybe he did want something from him. "Kaiba, you said anything, right?" He turned back to Kaiba who was now staring at Joey a little stunned. He expected a little more time and thought to go into the request Joey would make. There was a knock at the door, but the boys ignored it as Joey turned and pulled his deck box out of his pocket.

Kaiba had insisted that they use deck boxes if they were no longer wearing the duel disks in case someone should accidentally drop their deck off his blimp to prevent the decks from being ruined by the waters below, like what happened to Exodia. The boxes themselves were water sealed and floated for easy retrieval. He had no clue how useful they would truly be. Joey scanned through his cards as the door behind him opened.

"I want your blue eyes. All of them." Serenity stopped, barely inside the room as Kaiba froze.

"What's going on here?" She asked, glancing between the two. Kaiba sunk into himself. He cared about her, that much was true, but was it worth his prized possessions? He thought back to her taking care of him. Trusting him. Saving him and there was only one thing he could do. He fished his own deck box out of his jacket and popped it open. "Wait... you're not really going to... Seto, what... Joey?" He didn't look at her. Neither of them did.

Kaiba glanced across the three cards he treasured above everything else and sighed. He passed them over to Joey and Serenity just stared in shock. Joey placed them in with his deck, fanning through the entire thing a few times and almost put it away, but he stopped again. He pulled out three particular cards and held them up in front of him for Kaiba to see, waited a moment then brought his other hand up ready to tear them down the center.

"Joey, what are you doing! You cant do that!"

"I'm just showing him how it feels. This is what he did to Yugi's grandpa after all." Joeys voice was dead and cold and Serenity shook as she watched exactly what her brother was capable of. Kaiba's whole body tensed as he looked at the back of his three favorite cards in the hands of the person who hated him the most.

"That's not fair Joey!" Yugi cried from behind, but Joey wasn't hearing him.

"You were so mad and hurt when he did it, what makes you doing it any better?" Serenity questioned, trying to find a way out of this. Joey just looked Kaiba dead in the eye and ripped the things in half.

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First chapter since my hiatus. What do you think? I think I've changed writing styles and focus a little. Is it bad? Good? Man I wish I got some reviews on this story.

Anywho, Read, Review, Enjoy~Love Ya!