"Will your system be alright,

When you dream of home tonight?

There is no message we're receiving,

Let me know, is your heart still beating?"

Human by The Killers

XVI

As Kisara walked into Kaiba Corp. headquarter that Monday afternoon, work was the last thing on her mind. Her thoughts were occupied by her parents; Kisara knew she had to inform her parents that she wasn't going to be coming home for the holidays but she still hadn't figured out how. In fact, she had spent the entire weekend trying to figure out the best and most plausible excuse she could give them, but nothing seemed to sound right or anywhere near the truth. It didn't help that her parents had tried calling her once a day for the last week trying to find out what her holiday plans were by leaving messages and sending her e-mails asking, all of which Kisara avoided like the plague. She had to figure out something to tell them because the holidays were fast approaching and her family deserved some sort of answer.

Kisara shook her head, deciding that she would figure something out later. That was the great thing about work—it was easy to forget about the things she had to do while still being productive in the process. Kaiba Corp. was the perfect place to take her mind off of her personal life. She pondered how distracting work was as she walked into Seto's office, hardly noticing that Seto was already seated at his desk. He rose at once the minute she walked in.

"Good afternoon, Kisara." Kisara jumped with surprise. Seto took a step back, "Sorry, I keep forgetting that you're easily surprised."

"Oh, it's no problem at all, Seto—I mean, Mr. Kaiba. I just didn't see you there. You're here early for a Monday afternoon. How was your weekend?" Kisara carried on with her small talk as she placed the files in her hand down and hung her coat on her chair. Seto walked over to her. When Kisara turned around, she immediately noticed Seto was holding a white envelope in his hand. Seto held it out to her. "What's that? You're not firing me, are you?" Kisara joked with a pinch of worry in her voice.

"It's a surprise." Kisara took the envelope from his hand, still suspicious of what it contained.

"I didn't think you were a man of many surprises," Kisara said, eyeing him carefully.

"I'm not, but that also doesn't mean I'm incapable of surprises." This neither confirmed nor denied that Kisara was getting fired, and Seto could tell she still wasn't convinced about how to feel, "It's a birthday present." Kisara smiled.

"Aw, Seto… you didn't have to get me anything and not to appear ungrateful, but my birthday's next week." Seto grinned.

"I know, but you're going to want to open my present now. Trust me, see it for yourself." Kisara slowly opened the envelope and found two folded pieces of paper. Kisara unfolded them and looked down. Seto watched as the smile on her face disappeared and her eyes widened as she read what was on the papers. She looked up slowly; her mouth was slightly ajar as she stared at him. "It's just a little something to show my appreciation for all the work that you've done for me."

"Are these… plane tickets to go home?" Seto nodded.

"Round-trip, of course, but I'm giving you the next two weeks off to be able to go home and see your family. You told me it's been a while since you've been home and I took it upon myself to give you the opportunity to go see them for the holidays… in addition to your birthday," Seto stated, "And you don't need to worry about losing work days because I'm letting you leave with paid vacation. Your vacation starts today and your plane leaves tonight, so you should probably go home now and—"

Kisara threw her body at Seto, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck. Seto didn't know how to respond at first. He had nearly fallen over from her tackling him. She buried her face into his shoulder as she held onto him. It was then that Seto noticed she was shaking. "I don't know what to say… I can't even believe you would do this for me." Kisara stepped back for a moment. Seto saw that tears were now running down Kisara's face as she was looking down at the tickets. She quickly wiped them away when she remembered Seto was still in the room, watching her. Kisara looked up, "You must've spent a fortune on this. All I got you for your birthday was a name plate. And all that did was remind you of your horrible childhood."

"I hardly spent a fortune on these. I am one of the richest men in Japan, after all. Besides, the name plate was a great gift in comparison to what Isono's gotten me in the past." Seto walked over and placed his hands on Kisara's shoulders, trying to push past how awkward he felt seeing her in distress in order to come across as comforting, "Please don't feel bad about this. I have more wealth than I could ever need, I was happy to do this for you." Kisara wiped away the last of her tears and looked down again at the tickets. She shook her head and held out the tickets towards Seto.

"I can't accept these. It would take me months to repay you for these." Seto pushed the tickets back towards her.

"I think you're forgetting the way presents work, Kisara. I'm giving these to you, free of charge." Kisara continued looking at the tickets in her hand. She wanted nothing more than to accept these tickets and be home before midnight that night but she felt unworthy of such kindness. This had to be the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her, aside from the first date she shared with Seto. She was, indeed, conflicted. Her heart ached to return home but it just didn't seem right to take the tickets. Kisara looked up.

"Even still, I can't accept these. I wouldn't feel right taking these knowing you'd have to go without an assistant for two weeks. It's just… I can't." Kisara tried to hold them out again to Seto but again, he refused to take the tickets from her hand.

"You can, you will, and you should probably do it soon," Seto looked down at his watch, "Your plane leaves tonight and I'm sure you need some time to pack and get your things ready. Please, don't worry about me. Temporary assistants are a dime a dozen, I'm sure I can find someone to help me while you're gone. You should get moving, though."

Just as Seto looked up, Kisara launched at him again, hurling himself into another emotional hug. Though Seto was surprised, he had figured out the appropriate response and hugged her back. He hadn't hugged Kisara in a while, he realized, the last time must've been when Mokuba was sick. He liked the way she felt wrapped in his arms, he couldn't deny that.

"Thank you so much, Seto. This means so much to me." Kisara pulled away slightly, giving Seto a kiss on the cheek before breaking away completely, "I better go. I've got a plane to catch. See you in two weeks!" Kisara grabbed her coat off her chair and sped out the door. Seto rubbed his cheek slowly, totally astonished and unaware of the obvious smile on his face. He could tell she was truly happy, and though he couldn't quite explain why… he felt he was happy because she was happy.

As Kisara was speeding down the hallway towards the elevator, Mokuba was coming from the opposite direction towards Seto office. Mokuba noticed Kisara coming towards him. He waved.

"Hey Kisara! Where are you going?" Kisara lunged towards Mokuba, scooping him up into a hug and swinging him around in the air. Mokuba flailed slightly in her arms. "Whoa, what's going on?"

"I'm going home!" Kisara cheered happily, dropping him back on his feet before continuing her run towards the elevator, "See you in two weeks!" She disappeared down the hall and Mokuba was left totally confused. He ran to Seto's office as quickly as he could.

"What's up with Kisara? Why is she leaving? Did you fire her!" Seto looked up at his brother and smiled.

"No, I just gave her my birthday present. She's going to spend the next two weeks with her family." Mokuba's eyes widened and soon he was smiling too.

"Wow, good thinking Seto! That's a really good birthday present." Seto got up from his desk and walked over to the window. As he looked down below, he could just barely see Kisara coming out of the building and running to catch the next bus back to her apartment. From this height, he couldn't make out much, but her long, white hair was the best indicator. He watched as she slowly disappeared and felt his heart lift with happiness.

"I'm just happy she's happy," Seto said in a hushed voice before returning to his work as Kisara hopped on the next bus home. The twenty minute ride hardly fazed her as much as it usually did when she got off work. She was much too excited to notice anything except her apartment as it came closer and closer in sight.

When Kisara finally reached her apartment, there were a million thoughts going through her head of things she had to do before her trip. She had to pack, pay the rent for that month, clean her room, wash her clothes, and call for a taxi… all while feeling an immense, exciting happiness. She was so thrilled to be returning home, her heart was beating as fast as her arms were moving as she threw clothes into an open suitcase. She realized halfway through her packing that half of her suitcase was filled with sweaters and coats she had forgotten she wouldn't need in Egypt and she had to take them all out.

It was a miracle she had even heard the phone that was ringing. She stopped everything she was doing and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hello Kisara! Honey, I didn't think I'd get you. Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" Kisara rose to her feet, a smile crept onto her face.

"Mom?"

"I don't want to bother you if this is a bad time. I was only going to leave you a message asking when you were going to come home." The tears returned to her face, streaming down her cheeks as they had been earlier that day… almost as if they had never stopped flowing. There was a long silence between them. "Kisara, are you there? Sweetie, you can call me back later if you're busy. I only wanted to know if and when you're coming home…"

"I am coming home," Kisara finally said, her voice quivering with emotion, "I'm coming home tonight. Let Cleo know when you can." The prospect of returning home, to seeing her family, to seeing her friends and returning to her past life… it was too good to be true. It was almost as if it was a dream. A dream she had only Seto to thank. It didn't matter that this was a present; Kisara promised herself that one day she would pay him back for his kindness and generosity. She didn't know when, but one day, she would.

It was December 20th and Mokuba was bored out of his mind. There was still another week left of work before Kaiba Corp. let the employees off for the holidays. Not to mention there was still another week left of school before students were let off for the holidays. More importantly, Kisara had been gone for exactly a week. It wasn't that there was any less work that had been done around the office; the work that was being done just seemed so much less exciting without Kisara around. She brought a certain energy and excitement to the workplace that seemed to disappear when she was gone.

Mokuba loudly sighed to show his disgruntlement with the situation. Seto rolled his eyes and looked up yet again from his laptop. For the last week, it seemed, all Mokuba could do was whine and complain about how he wanted to go home while they were at work. Seto, however, had always figured it was because it was close to the holiday season and Mokuba was anxious for his winter vacation.

"What is it this time, Mokuba?" Seto asked trying to sound as kind and considerate as he usually was towards his younger brother.

"I'm so bored," Mokuba said, elongating the 'd' in 'bored.' Seto shifted in his chair and turned his head.

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that. It's not like we ever come to work to play, Mokuba."

"No, I know that," Mokuba stated, crossing his arms and slumping in his chair, "It's just that things are so boring now without Kisara."

"How do you figure that? All we ever do is work. Nothing special happens. It's not like anything is different."

"Yeah, but when Kisara's around, you guys flirt in between work. Now all you do is work and it's really boring." Seto chose to ignore that comment completely and silently return to what he was doing on his laptop. Mokuba sighed again, before perking up with realization, "Hey, isn't today her birthday? You should call her!" Seto slammed his hand onto his forehead and turned all the way around to face Mokuba.

"Would you quit it with the 'love guru' thing already? You're thirteen years old. How is it possible that you know more about this relationship stuff than I do?" Seto snapped. Mokuba unfolded his crossed arms and shrugged.

"Because I've cared about other people longer than you have? Or maybe it's because I've watched more romantic comedies than you? I don't know. It was just a thought." Mokuba rose from his chair and headed towards the hallway, "I think I'm going to hang out in the break room for a while, maybe grab a snack. Call me when we're leaving." Seto wasn't sure if he had upset Mokuba with his rather blunt altercation but Kisara had become a sensitive topic for him. After all, his best assistant had been gone for a week and in her absence, Seto had felt something he hadn't since he was a boy, soon after his parents had died.

Seto felt a longing for Kisara. It was a strange feeling. It was as if… he missed her. He missed having her around. He missed her smile, her laugh, her presence… he missed absolutely everything about Kisara. Never in his life had he ever missed someone, except maybe the one time he had sent Mokuba off to a week-long summer camp (something he dared never to do again because he missed Mokuba so much). His life had become less bearable without her around and that was both a dawning and painful realization to have. There was nothing he could do, though. Kisara wasn't due back for another week so for now, all he could do was wait and think of her.

Thousands of miles and eight time zones away from where Seto was; Kisara awoke from her deep sleep. Every night since she had arrived home had been filled with pleasant shut eye for Kisara… she hadn't slept so soundly since, well, before she had moved to Japan. It had taken her a while to adjust to the time zone in Cairo, Egypt, and even after a week she was still getting the hang of waking up at a reasonable hour. Waking up at 8am wasn't so bad, she felt, as she walked to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast.

Her parents had left for work earlier that morning, she assumed since it was a Monday, and her grandparents were probably still out for their morning walk. She had hardly noticed the bouquet of flowers sitting on the kitchen table with a card underneath the case they were in. Kisara quickly placed her orange juice down and walked over to the table, expecting a loving card from her parents and grandparents. To her surprise, the letter wasn't written in their handwriting, and her mother had written a note beside it.

"Kisara, I found these flowers by the door this morning. I brought them in for you. Happy birthday, darling! You'll have to tell me all about this boy that is sending you flowers! Love you, Mom." Kisara tore open the letter that had come with the flowers and found a simple, yet elegant note, addressed to her.

"Happy birthday, Kisara. Sincerely, Seto Kaiba." Kisara leaned over and buried her face into the bundle of roses. They smelled wonderful and fresh. Once again, Seto had blown her away with his extraordinary generous gestures. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what this meant for them. What were they to each other? He was sending her flowers, they were going on dates: Were they together or just… great… friends? Kisara had be pondering this question for quite a while but didn't know how or when to bring it up. She had decided then that it was time and that she would somehow find a tactful way to bring it up the next time she saw Seto.

A/N: Hey all! So I've gotten a couple reviews from people that seem to think my story is ending… I just thought I would begin this author's note by assuring you I have a LONG way to go before this story is over. I could not figure out why until literally today when I read my last author's note; when I was talking about the ending I meant the ending of the chapter, not the story. XD Sorry if I confused you guys! Now that it's almost been a month, I don't even remember why the ending of the last chapter was so difficult. But I suppose I can only move forward and how better to do that than with an early update? The reason for that is because this will probably be the only day I have time to post and do my proper review replies and such before the week begins with work and my leaving for Chicago on Wednesday which is SUPER exciting! I can't wait. Anyhow, I figured an early update would be more fun for everyone than a late update so here it is! Also, I can't thank my reviewers enough for their support and comments. It's just incredibly thrilling and I guess the reason I mention it every time is just because they always blow me away and/or make my day. So thank you for reading, reviewing, living, and smiling! You're all just fantastic.