Umi's friends had met her at the airport to say their good-byes.

"When will you come visit?" Christa asked as she hugged Umi.

"I'm not sure. Maybe when things calm down some? I'll see if I can visit over the summer."

"We can at least talk on WhatsApp, right?" Terese offered, joining in the hugging. Umi chuckled as the three girls wrapped their arms around each other. They leaned their heads in until they all touched in some sort of mental union. They all laughed in the little circle until Umi started crying.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She said. They had met up at dinner earlier, after Umi had left her mother's house for good. Umi finally told them everything that had been happening and why she had let it happen. Her friend's parents were stunned, as were Christa and Terese.

"It's O.K. As long as you'll be safe now." Christa soothed.

"Just don't forget us, alright?" Terese elbowed her in the side. Umi fake-grunted at the supposed force of the impact, which sent a ripple of laughter through the girls.

"I'll miss you." Umi said with a sad smile as she noticed her brother walking over to them.

Seto watched the trio from the side of the airplane. Yugi had gone to assist with the stowage of Umi's things, especially the urn containing their mother's ashes. Which left Seto to watch the goings on. He was not very familiar with the behavior of teen girls, but he felt strange watching them as they embraced Umi. He knew they were friends and that they knew each other far longer than he knew her. They had a right to her far more than he did. But he could not help feeling angry that she was so emotional with them. He shook his head as he walked onto the plane. He took a seat by the window and tried to focus on the work he had piling up due to this escapade, but motion outside the window kept capturing his attention. Even from the distance, he felt strange. He could not put a name to what he was feeling. It was unlike anything he felt before. It was anger and longing, but also guilt. He pulled the shade down on the window and tried to refocus on work.

"Umi, it's time to go." Yugi said from outside the knot of young women. She pulled away from her friends, lingering in their love as long as she could.

"I promise I will message you when I get home." She told the other two, who waved at her. Terese then ran up to her as Umi locked arms with her brother.

"Wait. I may never have another chance at this." She said breathlessly as she pulled a stunned Yugi into a deep kiss. Umi giggled as she watched his eyes slide shut and his hands slither around her waist. Umi pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped a quick bit of photographic evidence. Terese pulled away from him reluctantly, brushing his cheek and tapping his nose.

"You call me too, alright?" She said, chewing on her bottom lip. Umi could not help but smile as Yugi watched her sachet back to Christa and their parents. He licked his lips as he turned to his sister, his cheeks the color of tomatoes.

"I'm telling Tea." Umi teased.

"You better not." Yugi's voice cracked nervously as he hurried up the steps into the private plane. Umi giggled.

"Oh I am. I just wish I had gotten a video of it, too."

"What do you mean,'too'?"

Umi just smiled as she flashed him her phone.

"They have cameras, ya know." She said as she posted the picture on her Instagram.

Yugi groaned and yawned.

"What was that?" Umi laughed.

"Sorry, it's been a long day." Yugi said as he found a plush recliner to settle into on the airplane. He glanced over to Kaiba, who had looked up from his phone just long enough to see the twins enter. "Good choice, Kaiba, taking the plane over the jet. These seats are amazing." A flight attendant asked Yugi if he would like a blanket, which he gratefully accepted before he drifted off to sleep.

"We wouldn't have all fit in the jet." Seto murmured as he turned his attention back to the work he missed.

Umi looked from one young man to the other. Yugi was already fast asleep as she tried to decide where to sit. Seto was once again engrossed in his own world. The flight attendant asked her politely to take a seat for take off as the hatch was sealed. There were plenty of options and her choice did not really matter, but she was nervous. She did not want to sit alone, but neither of the other passengers seemed approachable. Umi sighed at her indecisiveness as she took the seat next to Seto. He looked perplexed as she curled up in the seat, tucking her knees against her chest. She rested her chin on the tops of her bent legs as she stared at the back of the seat. He watched her for a moment before turning back to the reports on his phone. Umi felt exhaustion overwhelm her as the plane's cabin pressurized for take off. It did not take long before they were in the air. Umi felt herself listing toward Seto. Several times the movement was enough to jolt her awake, but eventually she succumbed to sleep. Her head lightly touched his shoulder. The touch startled him out of his zone of contemplation. He turned to see Umi leaning against him as she slept soundly. He watched her for a long moment, trying to decide what to do about her. He could call the flight attendant over to take care of it, maybe have her moved to a different spot so he could be left in peace to work. Her steady breathing relaxed him and watching her peaceful face made his eyes grow heavy. He put his phone away. Carefully, he slipped his arm from the spot where she had pinned it. He held her gently with one hand as he lifted the seat arm that separated the two of them. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled closer and slipped her own arms around his waist. His heart beat quickened at the embrace, but the feel of her next to him was more peaceful and relaxing than he could have ever imagined. With her there, everything felt right for once. Seto pulled her closer to him and laid his head on top of hers as he also drifted to sleep.

Umi woke starving and to a heavy weight on her head. Her movement as she shifted in the seat made Seto stir to the point of waking. He blinked down at her as he struggled to remember what he had been doing and why he had his arms wrapped around a strange girl. She smiled a tired smile up at him as she became oriented to her surroundings.

"Hey." her voice was dry and cracky as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey." he replied, slipping his arms from the refuge they had formed for her and drawing them back to himself. Her face fell slightly at the loss of his touch.

"I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's alright. I've got work I need to do anyway." He rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly in an effort to stimulate himself. She stood and stretched, arching her back and arms up to the sky. When she looked back at him, he was watching her. He quickly turned his attention to something else, embarrassed at being caught in the act of admiring her. The flight attendant, with some sort of preternatural ability to tell when her charges were awake, appeared with bottles of water for each of them. She pointed Umi towards the bathroom and asked if either were ready for a meal. Umi eagerly accepted the prospect of food as Seto asked for his meds. On her way back to the cabin, Umi looked at Yugi, who seemed dead to the world.

"I guess all the excitement was too much for him." She said, retaking her seat next to Seto. He still looked perplexed as he watched her sit down. The flight attendant returned with a tray of food for Umi and a small prescription bottle for Seto. He took two of the small yellow pills out of the cannister before handing it back to the flight attendant. He downed the pills with a swig of water as Umi looked on. She watched as the tiredness seemed to leave his face and he pulled out his phone with renewed energy. She turned her attention to her dinner, but occasionally glanced at him.

"You sure you should take that this time of night?" She asked after she had finished eating. He looked at her, confused. His eyes were as sharp as they had been when she had first seen him that day though he seemed a little twitchy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Those pills. Your ADHD medicine. I don't think you should take that many at once either."

"What would you know?"

"I've had friends who are on it."

"Yeah, well, they aren't me."

"True."

He turned back to the work on his phone. Umi pulled her own phone out to kill some time. She took a few pictures of the plane. She posted on Twitter and Instagram. She browsed her friend's feeds and eventually made her way to one of a handful of games she played. She yawned as her meal settled comfortably in her stomach.

"I don't know who prepares your airplane food, but it was amazing."

He grunted in response.

"Best I've ever had, and I've flown quite a bit."

He glanced quickly at her before turning his attention back to his work.

"Never in a private plane before, though." She pulled her knees back to her chest again. The armrest that would normally turn the bench into two seats was still pushed out of the way. She leaned over towards him slightly.

"Why did you sit here?" He asked, his voice a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. She pulled back sharply at the unsteady look in his eyes.

"I just didn't want to be alone, I guess. And Yugi isn't being any company right now."

He sighed heavily as she continued to look at him.

"Fine. Go back to doing whatever you were doing." She pulled out her own phone again and got lost in her game once more, but she didn't move. Eventually he relented to her presence and turned his attention back to his work. Her small cries of triumph or grunts of frustration grated on him and he kept glancing at her. The silence was killing him.

"So, um. About what happened in the hotel." He started, trying to keep his eyes on the report he was reading.

"What about it?" She asked, not looking up from her game.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to kiss you like that."

"You didn't kiss me. I kissed you."

"That's not how I remember it."

"And how exactly did you mean to kiss me?" She asked, before cursing a bad move in her game.

"I... I didn't expect to kiss you at all." Seto stumbled over the words. He looked at her again, willing her to look at him. "It just sort of happened." He lied to himself that it was an accident, but he could not deny that he wanted it to happen again. He watched as she chewed on her lip angrily before she put her phone down. She closed her eyes and took a deep, frustrated breath.

"Stupid ballistas." She muttered before turning to him. The look in his eyes took her breath away. Her gaze traveled his face, taking in the details before landing once again on his too-blue eyes. The nervous, uncertain desire she saw there mirrored her own. She wanted to return to that hotel with him pressing against her. She chewed on her lip again only this time it was in an effort to control her emotions.

"Why did you follow me on Instagram?" She asked, trying to fight the paralysis of his eyes. He looked away to the floor and she could breath again.

"It was an easy way to keep tabs on how things were going with you." he tried to explain.

"You mean an easy way to stalk me." she countered

"I'm not stalking you." he sighed in frustration. "Mokuba said the same thing, but that was never my intention."

"OK then, let me ask you a different question. Why do you have an Instagram account?"

He sighed, realizing that he had been trapped.

"So I can stalk you." She chuckled at the resignation in his response. "But I still wouldn't call it stalking. When Yugi asked for help earlier, I told him 'no', which is why Mokuba came with him. But I felt guilty so I decided to help in the best way I knew how."

"And that was stalking me."

"Yes. No. Not stalking. Uncovering information. Which was surprisingly easy to find once I knew your name. That was more difficult to discover."

"So you googled me."

"Yes."

"And found my Instagram."

"Yes, and your twitter, and pictures from the robotics team, even your old dance recital photos. You were absolutely adorable in your ten year old costume, by the way."

"How the hell did you find those?"

"Your mom posted them on Facebook."

"Dammit. I was hoping they would disappear from existance."

Seto chuckled.

"Why? You were so cute."

"Ugh, I hated dance. Well, not dancing, per se, but I hated recitals and the costumes. I love dancing. When robotics entered my life, I couldn't drop dance fast enough."

He smiled at her.

"I felt the same way about violin. But Gozaburo insisted that I learn an instrument, and he wouldn't allow anything uncouth like drums or guitar."

"Gozaburo?" She turned back to him.

"My adoptive father. He was a real piece of work."

"I see." Her eyes lingered on his profile and the way his jaw moved as he spoke.

"I already knew a how to play the guitar a little. My dad taught me, but Gozaburo did not approve. So he forced me to play violin instead. Something about it being the instrument of a well-rounded intellectual." He turned to her and fell captive to her stare. Before either realized it, their lips were pressed together. Seto's arms snaked around her waist, pulling her into his lap as Umi's hands rested against his chest or stroked his cheek. His hands slid underneath the hem of her shirt and pressed against the soft skin at her back. He kissed her hungrily, feeling her presence fill the lonely holes within his soul. He clung to her. She moaned against his lips as he slid his hands further up her back before she pulled back from him in panic. She looked at him with fear-filled eyes as she tried to untangle herself from his embrace.

"I'm sorry." she said as she returned to her seat and pulled herself back into a ball.

"Why?" his voice was still shaky and belied his desire.

"For... I don't know, for panicking, I guess?" She stared directly in front of her, though he felt that she wanted to look at him again.

"Don't be. I was being too demanding." He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at her. His desire was strong, almost too strong but his will was stronger.

"That's not something I'm used to hearing." She rested her chin on her knees once more. "Lately, it's only been, Umi says 'no' and everyone else says 'fuck you, I'll do what I want'. It's sort of killed my faith in the goodness of men."

"We aren't all bad."

"I know that, on some level, but my gut reaction tells me otherwise. So, thank you." She turned toward him slightly, but kept her eyes fixed on the seat before him. She did not want to risk falling into his gaze again.

"For what?"

"For being a decent person."

"I'm not, not usually. But I do know what it's like to tell someone no only to have them trample your wishes."

"It sucks."

"That it does."

They sat in silence for a long time before Umi spoke again.

"Still. It was a very nice kiss."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And I can't complain about having your arms around me either." She glanced quickly up at him, but ever so briefly to keep from falling. He slipped one arm around her shoulders and the other around the knees she had pulled up to her chest. He pulled her into his side.

"Like this?" he whispered as he nuzzled the top of her head. She sighed contentedly as she relaxed against him. She tucked her feet beneath her and rested her knees against his thigh as he tightened his grip on her shoulders. She slid her arms around his waist and scooted closer to him.

"Yeah. This is nice." She laid her head on his shoulder. He picked up his phone again and propped it on her shoulder as he began to skim through another department report. She turned in his arms and took the phone from him.

"Hey!" he protested as she opened the camera and took a picture of them cuddled together. She posted it to his Instagram account, tagging herself in it before she returned the device. She snuggled closer to him and drifted back to sleep once more.

Seto stared at the photo she had taken. He was overcome with emotions that he no longer had names for. He kissed the top of her head, realizing that he would do anything he could to protect her, even if he was protecting her from himself. He wanted her, yes, but he wanted all of her, not just her body as so many others had taken. He felt calm and relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever. He kissed her head again, relishing the smell of it. He decided then that he would wait for her to be ready, even if it meant waiting a lifetime or two.

Yugi sat up slowly as he looked around. The realization that he was on an airplane dawned like molasses as the memories of the whirlwind trip to get Umi unfolded within his mind.

"Umi." he muttered as he looked around the cabin for her. He found her sleeping on the other side of the cabin, wrapped in Kaiba's arms. Yugi felt a rush of panic at the sight that did not arise from within his own heart. He turned quickly to look out the window into the blackness beyond.

"Pharaoh? What was that?" he asked the other spirit dwelling within his heart.

"I don't know. But I don't like them being together."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, Partner. It just makes me so angry. Why am I so angry?"

"Do you think this has something to do with the darkness within her?"

"Maybe."

"And your lost memories? Could you have known her somehow?"

"Perhaps, but I don't know how I could have known her. She's your sister, not mine."

Yugi shrugged as he tried to piece a plausible solution together.

"If Kaiba and I are reincarnations from Ancient Egypt, could she also be someone from your past? Someone that you can't remember?"

"That makes sense, but who could she be?"

"We will figure it out, Other Me." Yugi glanced back at the pair and felt the anger rise within him once more. Seto caught his stare as he looked up from his phone, but Yugi could not tell what the other was thinking from his inscrutable face. Yugi eventually turned back into his seat. He felt jealous, he realized. The Pharaoh was jealous of Kaiba. He remembered feeling the same flash of anger when he had walked in on them in the hotel room. They had jumped apart pretty quickly, but Yugi could tell they had been kissing each other at the very least. Kaiba had not been able to meet his eyes as Umi hugged him. And Umi's heart had been racing. He had also been angry, admittedly. They were there to rescue her from people who were abusing her, and when he walked in, Kaiba was pressing her down into the bed.

He glanced back at the pair. Now all he saw was a tenderness that he never expected from Seto Kaiba. His sense of Umi was filled with contentment and a sense of easy peace that he had not felt within her since before their mother had died. But for some reason, the other spirit within filled him with an angry jealousy every time he looked at them.

"Other Me? Do you... like my sister?" he asked the spirit hesitantly.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, I don't. I barely know her. How am I supposed to like someone I barely know?"

Yugi sighed.

"You can be attracted to someone and not know them." He explained patiently. The spirit was silent for a moment.

"Attracted? Like you are to Tea?"

Yugi felt his cheeks grow warm. He had never denied his feelings for Tea-physical or otherwise, but it still made him uncomfortable to realize that someone else knew of them even if that other person was a spirit that shared his body.

"Yeah, like that. I mean, you kept feeling her, um, stimulation... while I kept feeling her anger about what was happening." he said nervously. He did not want to think of his sister in that way, and even if it was his Other Self doing the thinking, it was still his body that responded. The spirit rippled nervously, uncertain of his thoughts on the matter.

"She is pretty." The Pharaoh noted, non-committedly. Yugi looked back at her sleeping cuddled up to Kaiba's chest. Her face was buried against his neck. Yugi had to admit that his Other Self was right. Umi was pretty. She always has been. He reached out for her spirit and was pleased to feel her sense of quiet ease as she slept.

"You should let her sleep." The spirit said as they brushed her mind.

"I will. It just feels good for her so peaceful." As he watched her sleep, he saw Kaiba rub his cheek against the top of her head, his eyes sliding shut and a faint smile on his face. "She feels happy. It's been so long since she felt happy." Yugi told his other self as he fought against the involuntary twinge of jealousy that echoed throughout their shared heart.

"What about that other girl? Umi's friend?" The spirit asked.

"What about her?"

"Why did she kiss you?"

Yugi felt a grin spread over his face as he bit his bottom lip. It was a mannerism that he and Umi shared.

"I don't know." He admitted.

He felt a sense of warmth spread through him as he remembered Terese's assertiveness on the tarmac. It was the first time he had ever kissed anyone and he certainly had not expected it. But the memory of her pressing against him made his blood run hot.

"She is pretty too." His Other Self noted.

"Yeah." Yugi remembered her request before she left, to call her. Yugi smiled as he realized that she liked him, that she wanted him as more than a friend. And he realized that she liked him for who Yugi was, not for the confident Pharaoh who shared his body. "It sucks that she lives in America."

"What do you think Tea is going to say when she finds out?"

"She's not going to find out. We can't let Umi tell her." Yugi said panicked. The Pharaoh's spirit rippled in amusement.

"What? I would imagine that girls fighting over you would be a good problem to have."

"Except I don't know if Tea wants me like I want her."

"Who do you want more? Tea or Terese?"

"I don't know."

Neferet seemed to purr in delight from deep within Umi's soul. Umi could feel her desire to pursue further intimacy with Seto, but Umi panicked at the thought. The trauma was too fresh.

"Neferet." she chided the spirit, begging her to hold back.

"I'm sorry, Umi. I've just missed him so much." Neferet's remembrances of her priest flashed through their shared mind.

"But it's not even the same person."

"Do you see the wonders of creation in his eyes, Umi? Does his every glance paralyze you? Does his every touch set you on fire?" The ancient queen begged to be understood. She knew what Umi felt as much as Umi knew her own heart. Neferet had told Umi that they were one being, one soul reborn through time. Umi had not wanted to believe her, but as Neferet described how she had felt with her own lover, Umi had to admit that her feelings sounded very similar to what she was feeling now.

"You know I do, Neferet."

"It is the same as my Seto, Umi. He is the same. I can feel our soul singing in only the way that he can bring about. It wants to join him in union."

"Neferet." Umi warned nervously as the spirit coaxed her sleeping body closer to his warmth.

"Please let me have at least this, Umi? Let me have him?"

"Stop, Neferet. Nothing more, just sleep." Umi muttered, unaware that she muttered it aloud.

"Very well." the spirit relented.

They were surrounded by a fuzzy warmth as Umi realized that the flight attendant must have draped a blanket over her.

"Sir. Is there anything else you need?" The attendant asked, as she handed him the blanket. He spread it over the young woman in his arms.

"No, that's fine, thank you."

"Very well, I will be up front if you decide you do need something."

Seto needed to get up, but he did not want to disturb the sleeping girl. He also did not want to leave her side. Her touch was as intoxicating as it was soothing. He gently tried to slip out from where she had crawled on top of him. She curled back into a ball in the seat. Her knees went to her chest again as she leaned against the back of the seat. He stood and stretched before walking around a bit. He used the time to refresh himself and look in on the sleeping Yugi. He took his phone and tried to sit on another bench a few feet away from her, but even sleeping, she was a distraction. He found himself yawning as he looked at her. Somehow she was making him feel every bit of his weariness. He put his work away and walked to the cockpit.

"Oh, Sir. Is everything alright?" the co-pilot asked as he peaked into the small room.

"Yes. Everything is fine. When is our estimated arrival time?"

"We should be back by 2 am local time."

Seto nodded.

"And how long is that from now?"

"About four hours, Sir."

"Thanks."

Seto left the cockpit and wandered aimlessly through the rest of the cabin. He got a snack from the galley. He used the restroom. He looked out the windows at various points in the cabin. He sat in one seat and then another, all the while he kept glancing at her sleeping form. He wanted to go back to her, to lay with her in his arms, but he resisted. He picked up his work once more, but it did not help. The flight attendant watched him meander.

"Sir. Perhaps you should try to get some rest." She handed him a blanket of his own. He looked at the woman who was several years his senior. She looked pointedly at the sleeping girl before fixing him with a challenging stare. He took the blanket from her and walked back to the sleeping Umi. He slipped around her before reclining her seat. She started briefly. He froze, scared that he had woken her, but she settled back down quickly. He sat next to her and reclined his own seat so that they were sort of laying together. He watched her back expand and contract with each breath before she uncurled herself and turned toward him. She seemed to seek him out, craving his warmth. He slipped his arm under her head and wrapped it around her shoulder as she rolled toward him. Her leg slipped over his and her hand fell on his chest. The touch made his heart race and his soul sing as he covered the both of them with the blankets. The smell of her overwhelmed him as he drifted to sleep and dreamed of the desert and her face smiling above his as she playfully kissed his lips. In the dream, their naked bodies were pressed together in a sweaty tangle of flesh and he felt more happiness than he had ever felt he had a right to experience.

The limo pulled up to the game shop at nearly dawn. Despite coming in on a private plane, or perhaps because of it, Umi, Yugi, and Seto had been subjected to extensive scrutiny by airport security and customs. Umi had had a conniption fit when the customs agent told her that her mother's ashes would have to be quarantined. She had tried to explain what had happened and why they had not been able to go through proper channels, but the agent, though sympathetic to her plight, could not break the rules. Umi had fumed the entire ride to her grandfather's home. Yugi tried to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be alright, but she just stared angrily out the window at the pre-dawn city. Seto just took her hand and held it. He looked at her, hoping for her to turn her gaze to him, but he said nothing. He just squeezed her hand and brushed the back of it with his thumb. When the driver opened her door, she got out without saying a word and pulled at the door handle.

"Umi, you're being rude." Yugi said quietly as he unlocked the door. The driver helped Yugi bring in the boxes and luggage into the shop as Umi turned back to Seto.

"Thank you." she bowed slightly in forced gratitude. When she straightened, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She laid her head against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat as he held her. She felt safe, secure, and she did not want to leave. She wrapped her arms around his waist as her shoulders began to shake. She could no longer hold back the tears that she had put aside for so long. She had thought that she had grown so numb as to not feel the shame, the pain, the anger and the fear. But as she was wrapped in the security of Seto's arms, she felt far too much, more than she could handle. She squeezed his waist tightly as she whimpered against his chest. He smoothed her long black hair and soothed her with a his deep voice.

"Shh. It's alright. You're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you again." He lifted her chin so that he could look into her red-rimmed eyes. "Alright?"

She nodded as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. He pressed his lips against hers softly before kissing her forehead. He brushed her hair back from her shoulders. She laid her head against his chest again, allowing his strength to support her until Yugi came back out of the shop.

"Umi, we've got everything inside. Grandpa's helping to bring everything upstairs." He held out his hand for her. She looked up at Seto as she pulled away from him and took Yugi's hand. Yugi ushered her inside the door. Once she was inside, Yugi returned to Kaiba. He looked up at the tall young man with gratitude.

"Despite everything we've been through, Kaiba, I never quite knew if I could trust you. You were always out for yourself and yourself alone. I never knew where you stood with anything else. But I cannot even bring myself to think about what she would be going through now if it had not been for you. Thank you, Kaiba. I don't know if there is anything I can do to repay you, but..."

"Don't mention it, Yugi." Seto cut him off. "Seriously, don' t mention it ever. With this, any debt that I had with you is paid in full, got it?"

Yugi sighed. Seto turned to get into the limo.

"Of course. You know, you aren't as bad of a guy as most people think. I can't imagine that she would care for you if that was the case. But If you hurt her, I will have zero qualms about mind crushing you again."

"Noted." Seto looked up at him in bewildered fear before he closed the vehicle door.

Yugi stepped back and watched the large black car drive away into the dawn. When he walked back into the house, Yugi found his sister and his grandfather crying on each other's shoulders. Yugi wrapped his arms around both of them and felt the emotional roller coaster of the trip slam into his heart as tears began to fall from his own eyes.