Umi opened her eyes and found herself seated at a small wooden table with Yugi, Seto, and Bakura. She watched as the three young men also struggled with disorientation.

"Weren't we just in Ancient Egypt?" She asked.

Yugi looked at her and then quickly turned away blushing. Bakura covered his mouth with his hand as he tried to avoid her gaze. Seto stared, his eyes traveling over her as he chewed on his bottom lip.

"Umi, you're um..." her brother stammered.

"What?"

"Naked."

"Oh." She tried to cover herself as she looked around for anything more substantial. "I thought it was chilly." she muttered. Seto pushed himself back from the table and walked around to her. His gaze never wavered as he took his coat off. He pulled her up to him and let his eyes wander over her. She was breathing quickly, though from arousal or embarrasement, she wasn't quite sure.

"Like what you see?" she crossed her arms over herself. He tilted his head as he met her gaze. A small smile turned up the corner of his mouth as his eyebrows shot up in a suggestive manner. He slipped the long coat around her shoulders. The hem pooled on the floor and Umi felt like she was playing dress up as she slipped her arms through and pulled the opening tight around her exposed flesh.

"I always like what I see." He leaned close and purred in her ear. Umi inhaled sharply and felt a tingle go down her spine as his breath warmed her ear. He held himself eye level for a moment, his gaze lingering on her lips. She had started to move in to kiss him, but voices from across the warehouse drew his attention.

"Big Brother? Is everything alright? We hadn't heard anything in hours." Mokuba called over a loudspeaker as KaibaCorp's private SWAT team descended on the building. Seto turned and tucked Umi under his arm as he signaled to the security forces to stand down.

"Everything's fine, Mokuba." He pressed the company logo on the coat now wrapped around Umi as he spoke. "Well, we're alright, anyway." He squeezed Umi to him briefly before he caught sight of Bakura trying to make sense of what was going on. The guards rounded up Yugi and his friends as Seto walked over to Bakura and punched him in the face. He grabbed the white-haired boy by the collar and pulled him to his face.

"If you ever touch her again, I will kill you."

"What? What happened?"

"Don't play like you don't remember." Bakura was like a deer in headlights under his intense gaze. "I know you remember. Don't pretend like it didn't happen, and don't ever hurt her again. Do you understand."

Bakura nodded.

"I'm sorry. He made me."

"Don't apologize to me." Seto pushed the other boy back.

"Right." Bakura looked at Umi, but could not find his way to her across the empty warehouse. His legs were leaden and he was pinned to the spot.

Seto joined the rest of the group and slipped his arm around Umi protectively. His gaze traveled from one person to the next, challenging them to tell him anything. He lingered on Yugi who looked up at him, then to his sister, whose arms had slithered around his waist, and then met Kaiba's eyes, smiling. The smile was disarming and forced Seto to shift from his hard-assed protector mode into something different, something to which he was not quite accustomed.

"Damn, Kaiba. I didn't know you had your own army." Joey whistled impressed by the show of force.

"Holdovers from Gozaburo, but I figured it could come in handy one day." He leaned down and kissed the top of Umi's head.

Guards surrounded the table upon which several of the Millennium Items still lay. They began to pick them up, but Bakura yelled at them to stop. Yugi rushed over to collect the necklace and the rod that had been given to him by the Ishtars.

"Wait, wait, wait! These are mine." He said picking up the priceless items.

"What in the world is a high school student doing with three golden artifacts?" One of the guards asked as Bakura tried to snatch the eye and the ring from the table. Mokuba entered with a large plastic case, now that the coast had been cleared.

"Can someone help me with this?" he grunted only to sigh heavily as Tristan took the case from him. Seto raised a quizzical eyebrow at his younger brother. "Safe keeping." Mokuba explained as he gestured for Tristan to place the case near the table. Mokuba opened the box and placed four of the five artifacts within.

"Yugi," Umi called from her warm, safe spot next to Seto. "You will need those. The pharaoh's memories are unlocked, but there is still one task to complete."

Yugi looked at the glittering objects resting safely among the padding of the black case. Umi saw the flicker of sad nervousness pass over his face. He nodded as he watched Mokuba close the lid on the case.

"Mokuba, give Yugi the items." Seto instructed, much to the shock of everyone. "He's earned them." Mokuba looked up at his brother with his mouth hanging opened. After taking a moment to register what had happened, he turned to Yugi and handed him the case.

"Thank you, Kaiba." Yugi hefted the case and held it close to his chest.

"So, um, what happened?" Tea asked as everyone fell into silence. "I mean, was that real? Or did we all have some sort of mass hallucination?"

The gathered teens looked at each other. Each wondered just how much of what happened they should believe.

"I'm not sure but it definitely felt real to me." Yugi admitted. Seto tightened his arm around Umi, but when she looked up at him, his face was inscrutable and emotionless. She squeezed him back which seemed to startle him slightly.

"We should get out of here before we have to deal with the authorities." Seto said casually as he directed Umi to the exit. "Come on, Mokuba." The younger Kaiba scurried after them.

"Seto, I should probably go with my brother." Umi felt an intense sadness at the thought of leaving his side.

"You're wearing my coat. I can't let you leave until I get it back. And the last I checked," He looked down as her bare arms and the skin that was exposed as the top of the coat gaped open. "You don't have anything else to wear right now." his voice was low and deeper than normal. "Besides, we need to talk."

"Is that what they are calling it nowadays?" She gave him a side glance as he pulled opened a car door for her and she slipped into the seat. He watched as her legs slips into view from underneath the long coat as she slid to the far side of the limousine. He hung on the door a moment, putting his hand out to stop Mokuba. He leaned down to whisper to his brother.

"Go sit up front with Roland, alright?" Seto was breathless as he spoke. Mokuba looked at him confused for a moment before agreeing. Seto sat next to her, his eyes drawn to the pale thigh that seemed to glow against the burgundy lining of his coat. When his eyes met hers, he shifted in his seat nervously. His eyes were wide, anxious, and he bit his lip. She reached up to stroke his cheek and he found himself leaning into her touch and his eyes refused to stay open. Her lips brushed his and took his breath away.

"So, did what happened actually happen, Umi?" he asked as he forced himself to look at her. "Because, I really want it to have." He licked his lips. He searched her face, noting the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks and how dark her green eyes looked. He wanted to kiss her back, but he needed to know what she thought. She looked off to the distance, tilting her head in a way that made him want to lay a row of kisses along her neck. After some consideration, she looked back at him.

"Does it really matter? We can assume that it didn't, and then we would be back to square one, making goo goo eyes at each other, teasing with kisses and always wanting more but never quite broaching the subject with each other. Or, we can assume it was all real, that what happened was real, and," she placed her arms on his shoulders and locked her hands behind his head as she crawled into his lap. "doing so would make this a whole lot easier." She straddled him, letting the coat slip opened. He ran his hands up her thighs.

"That tickles." She protested, prompting him to stop them on their way to her waist and stroke the soft skin with the very tips of his fingers until she squirmed in his lap. "Stop!"

He bit his lip as he gazed at her.

"I don't think so." He tickled her once more before pulling her hips tightly against him. He kissed her nose softly, teasing her as he felt his own desire rising from her movements against him.

"Frankly, I think we should just assume that everything was real." She said, breathily before kissing him. She had only intended it to be a quick kiss, but he slipped his hands up her back and held her firm as he kissed her deeply. Umi rose up on her knees trying to decide if she should break away or not, but she could not make herself part from his kiss.

"Don't pull away." His voice was soft in her ears as he breathed the words against her lips before capturing them once more. "Not yet." Even after the kiss had subsided, he pressed his forehead against hers, breathing in her essence, holding her close. She snuggled in closer, laying her head on his shoulder. He released a contented breath as he rested his face against hers.

"I think you're right." He kissed her cheek softly as he closed his eyes.

"About?"

"That all of it was real. It certainly felt real." He stroked the bare skin of her back beneath the coat. She hummed contentedly. "But, what if it wasn't?"

"What do you mean? I don't think we'll have any problem picking up where we left off."

"I'm not talking about what happened between us there, then, whatever. What about what happened before with Bakura?"

Umi's mouth fell open as she gasped in fear. A cold stone formed in the pit of her stomach as Neferet's forceful blockage of her thoughts came back to her. The queen's spirit had blocked the memories to protect her, but Umi knew why.

"He was."

"I know," she said cutting Seto off. "I don't remember it happening, but I know what happened." She shuddered as she slipped from his lap and curled into a ball. She pulled the coat tightly around her.

"I'm sorry I brought it up." He looked at the ceiling and sighed. He turned his head to see her shoulders shaking. She had turned away from him, but he cold still hear her quiet sobs. He slid a long arm between her and the leather seat, wrapping his hand around her knees and hugging her back to him. "It'll be alright."

She gasped shakily as she turned back to him. Her knees rested against his thigh and her head against his chest. She gripped the soft knit of his shirt tightly in her fists as she tried to bury her tears in it. Her voice was broken and so soft that he could barely understand her.

"I thought when I left America that this would be over, but it just keeps happening. Why does it keep happening? Why to me?"

Seto had no answers, so he just sat there, holding her and stroking her hair until her tears slowed. He had not often been filled with a murderous rage, but as she cried into his chest, he wanted nothing more than to slam Bakura's head into the concrete floor of the warehouse until it was nothing but a bloody pulp. He wanted to tell her that he would never let it happen to her again, that he would protect her and keep her safe. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but words and actions that had seemed so simple, so easy in the other place got caught in his throat. The words stayed lodged there, unsaid.

"Roland, take us home." He ordered, instead as he continued to brush her silky straight hair that barely touched her shoulders. It had been much longer, covering nearly her entire back, when he had first met her, though it was up in a ponytail or bun-he couldn't quite remember. After he had helped Yugi bring her back to Japan, she had cut it to her chin. He thought she looked beautiful either way, but that it was far more practical short. He brushed it back and tucked it behind her ears in an action that made her look up at him from where she had been crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was splotchy. Her nose was runny and her bottom lip trembled, and Seto Kaiba had never seen a woman more beautiful. He kissed her forehead before letting her nestle back against his chest, thinking of his proclamation to Yugi from what seemed like a lifetime ago. He reaffirmed it to himself, that one day he would marry her, even if it took another several lifetimes.

"You should probably take me home." She sat up next to him and wiped her cheeks that had been crusted with tears.

"I am."

"My home, not yours."

He blinked for a moment, struggling with the distinction. Gozaburo's house had never real felt like a home, though it was the only physical place that fit the bill. Seto was always more at home in the workshop or office, or at least with Mokuba. But home, or what all of the sentimental bullshit on inspirational quotes and greeting cards seemed to call home, Seto had not felt it since before his mother had died. He had never felt the sense of contentment one might attribute to home until he looked at her. She was his home, his sanctuary. He released a shaky breath and pressed his hands against her arms to keep them from shaking.

But she had obviously meant a physical location, he thought, shaking his head slightly.

"I doubt your grandfather would appreciate his only granddaughter coming home naked."

"You're probably right."

"So, let me at least get you a change of clothes?"

She nodded against his chest where she had once more settled herself.

"I would also like you to get checked out, physically." She went stiff in his arms for a moment before relaxing once more. "I want to know that you're alright, Umi. I can have my doctor check you out."

"Your doctor?"

"One I keep on retainer. He's a good guy, a little gruff with his bedside manner, but he knows what he's doing."

She chuckled.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking how completely ludicrous this is."

"Really."

"I mean, since the first time we met, I've been completely obsessed with you, but I thought I would get over it eventually, that nothing would come of it, but now here I am, sitting in your limo, curled against you, your arms around me, and you are suggesting that I have your doctor check me over because of some weird bullshit mass hallucination in which we..." She looked up at him and got lost in his intense eyes. She stretched up and pressed her lips against his once more.

"Became lovers?" he suggested as he pulled his lips away from hers. She nodded. He kissed her gently once more.

"Yeah. I imagined this so many times-well not these specific details, but you know. But to actually be here?" She interlaced her fingers behind his head. "It's kind of astonishing."

"If it's any consolation, I apparently couldn't get you out of my mind either."

Her face lit up with a smile that made his heart both race with excitement and ache with desire.

"I still can't, honestly." He brushed her cheek.

The limo came to a stop outside the Kaiba estate.

"Sir? Shall I get the door, or...?" Roland asked, leaving the question hanging.

"We need to get Umi here a change of clothes. Do we have anything in the house that might fit her? Also, get Mokuba to call the doctor over." He ordered. "And yeah, get the door."

"You should say please and thank you every so often, Seto." Umi whispered.

"Why? I pay him to do these things."

"Please, we both know that he's more than just an employee. Besides, it's nice and will make him feel good."

"It will make him think I've gone crazy."

The door opened and Seto climbed out of the limo. He held his hand out of Umi who whistled in awe as she took in the expanse that was Seto's home. She pulled the coat around her as Mokuba waved her over.

"Thanks, Roland." Seto said quickly before he strode off after her.

Umi picked at the clingy yoga pants, trying to adjust a mesh panel that felt oddly placed as it cut across her leg as she tried to hurriedly get dressed. She was grateful that she was no longer in nothing but his long white coat which somehow barely covered her, but the zipper from Seto's hooded jacket was cold against her bare skin. She wished that she had some undergarments at least, but at the same time, was also strangely pleased that he did not have random pairs of panties or bras just hanging around. She found a hair band and was trying to put her hair in a ponytail as she stepped out of the bathroom.

"Sorry, it's all we could find. I meant to stop on the way, but I got side tracked." His eyes traveled the length of her. He stopped at her chest, and Umi instinctively crossed her arms over it to cover her breasts. He turned his head nervously, blushing.

"What?" She asked, curious about his unease.

"Nothing." He replied instinctively. "It's just... the logo looks good on you." He scratched the back on his neck as he cast her a side-eyed glance. She looked down at the jacket that had been zipped over her chest, only just realizing that is was printed with the KaibaCorp logo. She uncrossed her arms and slipped her hands in the pockets of the long jacket.

"Is everything you own branded?" she asked as the door to his bedroom opened. An older man with a floppy head of gray hair and wire-rimmed spectacles hurried through the door to Seto.

"What's wrong with you now?" The man that Umi could only assume was the doctor Seto had ordered pulled the taller, younger man's face to him and observed him closely. He laid his fingers on Seto's wrist and focused on his own wrist watch for a short time. When Seto tried to speak, he held up a finger, at which Seto shut his mouth. After a few minutes, the older man crossed his arms and frowned.

"You seem fine."

"I am fine. I didn't ask you here for me."

"Then where's the patient?"

Seto looked over at Umi, who had taken a perch on the edge of his bed. He let out a small breath at seeing her there. The doctor observed his long time patient's reaction to the young woman in the room before he turned to Umi herself.

"I see. And what exactly am I here to see you for?"

"She was assaulted." Seto said. The doctor quirked an eyebrow at the tall young man.

"Did this assault damage her voice?" He walked over to Umi and began examining her as he had done to Seto upon his arrival.

"It did not." Umi shot a look of warning to her would-be lover. Seto sighed, crossed his arms and leaned against a low wooden dresser.

"And what kind of assault are we talking about?" His hand was firm on her wrist as he took her pulse.

"I was raped." Umi sat patiently as he looked over her. "By one of my brother's friends."

"I see. Are you planning to press charges?"

"Of course." Seto said from across the room. Umi glared at him briefly before turning back to the doctor.

"No."

Seto made an angry noise and the doctor tossed his hands up in the air in exhasperation.

"You, get out." He pointed to the young man and then to the door. Seto grumbled as he complied. Once the door was shut behind him, the doctor turned back to his patient as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I swear, that boy is going to be the death of me."

Umi shifted nervously once she was alone with the doctor. He caught the movement and sat back, looking at her.

"You're the one, aren't you? The one that he helped?"

Umi pulled her eyebrows together and tilted her head. She thought that there must be something more about this doctor that made Seto trust him enough to tell him about her rescue.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I wouldn't dream of it, especially given how fond of you he is."

"What do you know about it?"

"About what? How your met or how fond he is?"

"Either? Both."

The old doctor smiled in a way that lit his face. He looked less like a harsh doctor with poor bedside manner than a kindly grandfather. Umi realized that he was probably old enough to be her grandfather.

"He told me that he helped get you out of an awful situation, that he and your brother saved you from some heinous men."

"My guardian had sold me into prostitution."

"That's what he said. I guess I can check off one box here." He pulled out a form, skimmed through a checklist and then placed a mark on the form.

"What's that for?" She leaned toward him to peek at the piece of paper.

"A victim questionnaire, in case you change your mind about pressing charges."

"I see."

"It asks about your history of sexual contact, medical history, those sorts of things."

"I guess the question was about my virginity?"

"Yes. Aside from the rape, are you currently sexually active?"

"Does it matter?"

"Please answer the question."

"The answer isn't as simple as you might think."

"Enlighten me, please."

Umi took a deep breath.

"You probably won't believe me, but I have memories of three days time that I can't explain. I remember being in the warehouse only briefly before blacking out again, but when I came back to myself, we were in Ancient Egypt."

"Ancient Egypt." He looked at her skeptically.

"I said you probably wouldn't believe me. But while there, Seto and I," she sighed. "That was the only time since I moved here. Honestly, it was the only time I wanted to." She chewed on her thumbnail, feeling warmth on her cheeks. "But that all happened within the span of about four hours or so from the time I blacked out, at least that's what Mokuba said."

He scribbled details down as she shared them. The pencil scratched across the paper in the silent room as she finished speaking. He looked up once he stopped.

"That is quite the story." He skimmed the words once more. "Can Seto corroborate?"

"I think so."

"Ok." He stood up. "I'm going to talk to him. I would like to examine you, take samples for evidence, run some tests. You will need to put this on with ties in the front. Feel free to get under the blanket if you would like." He pressed the gown into her hands before turning sharply to the door. Umi looked at the bed beneath her. She knew that it was his bed. She had wondered often what it would be like to curl up under his blankets, but she never imagined to get there like this. She pulled the zipper down on the hoodie as the door closed behind the doctor.

"Spill it, Son." the doctor crossed his arms and stared the young CEO down.

"I'm not your son." Seto said defensively.

"Seto. Tell me what happened." The older man's voice softened as he read the anxiety of his typical patient.

"I'm not entirely sure. It was weird. I'm still trying to figure out if I believe it was a mass hallucination or some bizarre shared dream."

"She told me that the two of you were... intimate during the, well, the whatever it was."

"She did now?" Seto's voice broke in a way he had not experienced in years.

"I'm not judging you, either of you. Is it true?"

"I didn't intend for it to happen. It just sort of did."

"Intending and wanting are two different things. Did you want it to happen?"

"Of course." His response was automatic. "I mean, I've wanted her since I don't know when. But I haven't pushed her into anything if that's what you're worried about. She's had to deal with enough of that."

"That she has." The doctor closed his eyes before leveling his gaze on the taller young man. "I haven't run any tests yet, but I am going to operate under the assumption that you might be worried she's pregnant?"

"It had crossed my mind."

"If the answer is yes, could it possibly be yours?"

"That depends on the nature of our experience."

"Speak plainly, Seto. I don't have time for theory."

"If our memories are real, and we really did experience three days in another time, then the answer would be yes, there is a chance she could be pregnant with my child."

"And if they were a hallucination?"

"We haven't had sex here, now, only in the dream."

"So, no, then."

Seto nodded.

"Would you want me to run further tests if she is pregnant?"

"What would that serve? To prove that something happened that should not be possible?"

"Isn't the impossible your stock in trade?"

"It's her decision. If she wants to, sure, but I don't want to force anything on her that she doesn't want."

"Of course." He turned to knock on the door, estimating that Umi would be changed by that time. He stopped his fist before it rapped on the wooden surface and turned back to Seto.

"Do you love her?"

Seto froze and shivered as if a chill ran up his spine. He rubbed his palms against his pants and chewed on his lip. He knew the answer, of course, but the words had seemed to get lodged in his throat.

"Why does that matter?"

"It's unlike you, putting someone else's desire before your own. Especially when you have the chance to discover something new." The doctor pointed out.

Seto considered the question once more before he found himself nodding slightly.

"I can't stop thinking about her."

"Obsession is not the same as love."

"I know. I just, I can't describe what I feel for her. It's like nothing I've ever experienced. It's funny, while we were there, I had no problem saying it, but here, now, I can't get the words out."

The older man nodded and knocked on the door.

"Umi?" he called through the heavy wooden closure. Her voice was small through the thick slab, but she had called him inside.

"You want to come with me?" The doctor turned to Seto as he pushed the door open. Seto followed him through the door, his eyes down cast. He chewed on his lip as he glanced up at Umi. She was laying back in his bed, her head against his pillows. The bed had, admittedly, not seen much use as of late, since he had taken to passing out while working. But seeing her dark hair spread against the crisp white of the pillow made him ache to curl his long body around her and take a nap. He found himself yawning as he sat on the bed's edge.

"Is this alright?" He looked at her beleaguered face. The recent events had taken its toll on both of them, regardless of the question of their validity. She looked tired as she held her hand out to him. "Do you mind if I stay?" He gripped her hand as she smiled at him. She squeezed his hand.

"It's fine."

The doctor gave them both orders as he performed the examination. Eventually, he asked her about her contraceptive use and her decisions should they have failed to prevent pregnancy.

"I've been on the pill for, I guess, three years, maybe two."

"And you are diligent about taking it?"

"Every day."

The doctor nodded.

"The pill is highly effective, so the risk of pregnancy is low, but given how recent the event is, whether it occurred twelve hours ago or three days ago as your memories suggest, standard pregnancy tests are not reliable. You have two choices. Wait and see, which would require you to take a pregnancy test in about a week. Or I can prescribe an emergency contraceptive that you can take tonight."

"I want the emergency contraceptive." Umi said without hesitation. Seto shifted on the bed next to her as the doctor left the room to call in a prescription.

"Why don't you want to press charges?" He swung his feet onto the bed as he inched his way closer to her. "He hurt you. He should face the consequences."

When she looked at him, his face was pinched in confusion.

"But it wasn't Bakura that did it. Should I ruin his life because of something over which he also had no control?" She sat up but did not move toward him. He seemed to consider her words before laying back on the bed. He stretched his arms over his head and then crossed them underneath it, between his head and the pillow as he stared at the ceiling.

"But it was him, physically. How are we supposed to punish the evil intent of something that doesn't exist, or that we can't capture? It worked through him, so he's at fault."

"Is he? How would you feel if someone made you do something you didn't want to do, but you couldn't stop it? Would you feel like it was your fault? Would you feel guilty? Or would you say that because the situation was out of your control, then you are not responsible?"

He thought about it as his eyes seemed to trace lines on the ceiling.

"I guess I see your point." He turned to look at her. "Doesn't mean I have to like it, though."

"No it does not." She stretched herself out on the bed, rolling her body next to his. He slipped one arm down around her, allowing her to use it as a pillow as she settled herself against him. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For coming after me."

"Always. Though you might not want to thank me."

"Why not?"

"I was going to trade your brother and his artifacts for you. At least until I saw what he had done to you."

"What?" She sprung up, using her hand against his chest as leverage. Her face was filled with disbelief. His eyes were intense. He narrowed them as she scrutinized him.

"There is nothing more important to me than you. If you need me, I will do anything for you."

"You can't just trade people for other people, Seto."

"I would do anything to keep you safe, Umi."

Her eyes grew wide and she felt as if a blow had struck her chest.

"Would you have traded Mokuba if that had been the price?"

Seto's face blanched at the thought. He had fought so hard to keep his brother safe. The thought of sacrificing him for her had never crossed his mind. He did not know if he could make a choice between them if he were faced with one.

"Almost anything, I guess."

"If you would not sacrifice your brother, how could you expect me to sacrifice mine?"

He propped himself up on his elbows. He was struck with surprise. He had never considered anything except her safety, had not thought about how such a decision on his part would affect her.

"He's my twin, Seto. Losing him would be like, like, losing part of myself."

"I'm sorry." He sat up and turned away from her. He felt himself shaking. He had no love for Yugi, and frankly would be happy to be rid of him and the reminder of failure for which he served. But Umi had been his sister long before their rivalry began. He had forgotten that, and how close the twins were. Just as he could never do anything that would jeopardize Mokuba's safety for Umi, she must be equally appalled as the idea of harming Yugi for his sake. Her hand on his shoulder startled him.

"Just don't do it again, alright?"

His eyes glistened with bottled emotions as she turned his face toward her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry." he murmured against her hair as he buried his face against her. He sighed as she embraced him and ran her fingers, soothingly through his hair.

Umi closed her eyes as she held him against her. She glanced at the bed upon which they sat, toying with the idea of laying back down with him. She was still dressed in the gown she had been asked to don for the exam. It had fallen opened as he pulled her to him. Part of her had hoped that he would have slid his hands against her bare skin, but he had not. And he seemed far to fragile in her arms at the moment for her to push him.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." His voice was so soft, Umi thought she had imagined it.

"It's alright."

"No, it's not." His voice broke as he looked up at her. Tears that he had needed to shed for years glistened on his cheeks. He wiped them away angrily.

"I promised myself that I would never hurt you."

She brushed his cheek and forced him to look at her. She frowned in concern as she searched his eyes.

"You can't make promises like that. We can't promise to never hurt someone. Sometimes we do so by accident." She tried to smile at him, but felt her lips twitch in only a half-smile. "Accidents happen, mistakes are made." She cradled his face in her hands. "The important thing is to recognize when it happens. And to make amends the best you can when it does." She pushed the hair that hung in his eyes back from his forehead and kissed the exposed skin lightly. He bowed his head and brushed the hair back over his face when she had let him go. "Okay?" She asked, her hands resting on his shoulders. He raised his eyes to her and stared for a long moment before nodding.

"Hey, it's not always easy, caring for someone. Sometimes it's going to be the most difficult thing in the world, but don't ever forget that I do love you, Seto."

His body tingled as she spoke, like her words touched a deeper part of himself that was trying to make itself known to his normal, conscious being. He felt the words he wanted to repeat bubble up from his gut. But as light as they seemed in his head and his heart, they felt like rocks in his throat and lodged themselves there. He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She tried to smile at him, to reassure him that she did not need to hear him say it, but she felt a pinch in her heart at the distress that showed on his face. She kissed his forehead once more, then his cheek, then his lips. She could feel him relax somewhat as she stroked his cheek before nestling against him once more. They held each other in silence until the doctor returned. They jumped apart as the door opened. The doctor looked at each of them in turn, his face a mask of skepticism.

"Here. This should alleviate any risk." He handed Umi a pill and a glass of water. She looked at the medication in the palm of her hand. The pill was small, white, and round. It looked ordinary, and she was quite familiar with it from her time in servitude. She had hoped to never need it again. She sighed as she tossed it into her mouth and swallowed some water to help it go down. It had a chalky feel to it which left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. She grimaced as it went down. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Seto watching her expectantly.

"At least it was easier to take than that potion in... our memories." She smiled bravely.

The doctor nodded and gave her a few more instructions. He glanced at the young man he had thought of as his charge for since his adoption into the family. Satisfied that they both understood his orders, he bid them farewell and left.

Seto heard voices outside the room as he leaned into umi and wrapped his arms around her once more now that they were alone.

"Are you sure that was what you wanted?"

"Yeah. I'm not ready for that type of consequence. There's too much to do. Besides, I don't want to be the mother to Bakura's child, even less so to the spirit that possessed him."

"Is there someone's who... Nevermind." Seto let her go, sighing as he laid back on the large bed and stared at the patterns in the ceiling.

Umi sat cross-legged next to him. She glanced back at his long body, wanting nothing more than to cuddle with him. The doctor had forbidden much more than that, but she still would love to have his body pressed against hers, his arms surrounding her in the protective way that he held her. She was still peeved, however, with his intentions for her brother, even though she understood why he had planned what he did. She wanted to forgive him and stay, after all, he was punishing himself enough for both of them.

But she could feel Yugi's worry floating to her mind. Seto had absconded with her so quickly after they came back, that she had not had time to really talk about what happened with Yugi. She could feel that Yugi needed her. She scooted herself off of the bed and began dressing once more.

"What are you doing?" Seto sat up. Umi zipped up the hoodie before facing him. His face was painted with confusion and hurt.

"I need to go home."

"But."

"I need to check on my brother."

His face fell as he looked away from her.

"Fine." The bitterness in his voice, the tone he used so often with everyone else, made Umi stop.

"Hey." She stood at the end of the bed. Her arms crossed as he looked at her coolly. "I have to see how he's doing." She could tell that he was angry, but that he was fighting it, in the way he closed his eyes and sighed. "You don't need to be like this, Seto." When he looked up at her again, the anger burned just beneath the surface. "I have obligations. I have my own desires, my own dreams. I am my own person and will do what I want. If you want me as a possession, Seto, you are going to have to learn that I cannot be what you want. So drop the attitude." She turned to the door, feeling her own anger spike in response to his.

"Umi, wait." He launched himself from the bed and captured her from behind. He held her tightly, his head bent so his face was buried in her hair. "Don't go just yet. Please? Everything that happened is, well, it's hard to explain, but I'm having a hard time with it too. The only steady thing right now is you. Or so I thought."

She turned in his embrace, her anger at him evaporating in his gaze. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her ear against his chest. His heartbeat was strong but its rhythm was unsteady and the tempo was rapid.

"I'm so scared." He admitted. "Scared that everything I thought is a lie, that I might lose you, that, that, I don't know. I'm just scared, Umi. Nothing makes sense anymore. Nothing except you. I'm sorry I got angry. Of course you need to see how Yugi's doing. This whole thing is crazy, and I'm sure it's crazy for him most of all. But, I don't want to be alone." He stepped back slightly to look into her eyes.

She looked at him for a moment, shocked at his vulnerability. She had always known it to be there, buried beneath his aloof exterior, but he seemed more fractured than normal.

"I'll be back soon, Seto." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "I promise."