Disclaimer: 5 points to the house of the person who can guess who doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! (hint: it's the author of this fanfic)

"Do you think I'm a fool
Well you better think twice
I've had enough, baby
It's time you realized
That you can't have it both ways

One of these days
You're gonna reach out and find
The one that you count on
Has left you behind."

~Treat Me Right, Pat Benatar

Chapter 21

Sunday morning when Alistair stumbled out of bed and sleepily made his way to the dining room (his dreams had kept him up for the better part of the night), a surprise awaited him: another cake from Trudy, chocolate again with two layers and candles, as well as two wrapped packages.

"Happy birthday!" a smiling Trudy greeted him, obviously expecting a hug. Alistair obliged her.

"You didn't have to do this," he started, knowing that Sunday was her day off.

"Yes I did. I'd never forgive myself if I sent you off without celebrating your birthday," she said staunchly. "Besides, it's nice to be able to give gifts to at least one of my boys; the other two," she paused and looked as though she wanted to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, Mokuba told me that they don't do that anymore. Where is he anyway?"

"Still sleeping no doubt, he can have a piece later, this is for you." She pulled a pack of matches out of her housedress pocket and proceeded to light the candles. "I realized as I was making the cake last night that I wasn't sure how old you were going to be so I decided on an even ten candles," she explained. "How old are you then?"

"Oh, I guess I'm twenty," he answered, only just realizing it himself.

"And a good age it is too. Now blow them before the wax drips all over the frosting. And don't forget to make a wish!" The expression took him back to the last time he'd had a birthday cake, when his mother was still alive. She'd said the same thing: make a wish Ali, but don't tell me what it is or it won't come true!

Not knowing what else to wish for on the spot, he decided on: getting over his nightmares, then proceeded to blow out the ten glowing candles.

"Well done!" Trudy said, pulling the smoking candles out of the cake and setting them aside in order to cut slices. "How big of a piece do you want?" Alistair realized that he was ravenous and indicated that he'd have a large slice. "I'm glad that you've developed an appetite since being here," she said. "I remember the first time we ate breakfast together; I practically had to force-feed you. Here you go," she set a plate in front of him. "And don't forget to open your presents!" She nodded towards the two white tissue paper-wrapped packages.

"Trudy, you really didn't have to," he repeated, embarrassed by the fuss she was making over him, but reaching for the presents anyway. The first turned out to be a copy of Black Beauty. "Thank you," he said enthusiastically. It was a hardback with illustrations and inside Trudy had written in her lovely script: to Alistair, from Trudy and then the date.

"Oh, and open it up to the middle," she instructed. He wasn't sure what she meant by that until he noticed something sticking out slightly from the top of the book. He turned to the indicated page and saw with delight that Trudy had taken a picture of Sewell and turned it into a bookmark. The calico was stretched out on the sofa in Trudy's apartment, sunning herself. Her face was to the camera, and Trudy had managed to catch a moment where her yellow eyes seemed to be smiling.

"When did you take this picture?" he asked curiously.

"Just yesterday. I've been trying all week and I was beginning to worry I wouldn't get a good shot, but then yesterday she finally decided to model for me."

"It's really lovely, thank you."

"Now the other one," she nudged the other package, smiling. The second present took him aback. It was a framed photograph of Trudy, Kaiba, and Mokuba, seated at the very bench where Alistair had spent so many afternoons. "It's a little outdated," she admitted. "It's from Mokuba's birthday last year. Seto, as you can see, wasn't really very enthusiastic about the idea of getting his picture taken, but I insisted. It's the most recent photo I could find of the three of us." Her voice suddenly started to shake. "I wanted you to have that to take with you so that you," she sniffed, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and began dabbing her eyes, "so that you have something to remember us by."

"I could never forget you," Alistair assured her softly, very touched by her display of emotion.

"I know, it's just…I know that you don't feel like you belong, but you can always call this home." Her voice broke on the last word and he stood up to give her another hug.

"I know I can, and I'm very grateful. You really made me feel welcome here."

"I do my best," she said, beginning to regain her composure. He let her go. "Thank you for putting up with all my babying." She wiped her eyes again.

"I'll miss that," he said honestly. "And your cooking." She laughed slightly and tucked the handkerchief away.

"I guess you'll just have to come back for it then." He smiled sadly.

"I just might." Though he was fairly certain that she knew he wouldn't be returning.

Seto shoved the pile of paperwork that had built up on his desk over his lunch break aside and sighed audibly, his gaze wandering to the view outside where it was already beginning to get dark even though it was barely four-thirty. A plane flew by and Seto's thoughts instantly shifted to Alistair. This time tomorrow he'd be on his way to one of the most dangerous places in the world, never to return, and Seto was letting him.

He turned away from the window and picked up the phone on his desk.

"Roland," he said once the other man had picked up. "I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it Mr. Kaiba?" Roland asked, setting down the sandwich he'd been eating when his boss called.

"Can you go down to the lab and pick something up for me from Violet?"

"Of course sir. What is it?"

"A tracking device." Roland was intrigued, but when Seto didn't divulge any further information he knew better than to ask.

"Yes sir. And what should I do with it?"

"Bring it to me. I have to install it into one of our helicopters."

"But sir, all of our helicopters are equipped with-."

"I know that!" Seto snapped. "Just do as I say!" He hung up the phone before Roland could say anything more. Wasn't he allowed to do anything without being questioned?

"Do you have any idea what he wants it for?" Roland asked Violet upon his arrival at the lab thirty minutes later. She shrugged as she handed him the small device.

"I stopped asking questions a long time ago."

Once Mokuba got up he followed Alistair around like a second Sewell, refusing to let him out of his sight. They played video games for the better part of the day, stopping twice for lunch and dinner with Trudy who had offered to cook for them despite it being her day off.

"Will you sleep in my room tonight?" Mokuba asked over a bowl of Trudy's stew. "You can have the bed." He looked imploringly into Alistair's eyes.

"Ok, sure," he agreed, praying he wouldn't have a nightmare and wake Mokuba up in the middle of the night. "Can I bring Sewell?"

"Of course, why couldn't you?"

"Your brother was afraid she'd shed on his sheets and I wasn't sure if you'd be worried about that too." He was surprised he could speak so easily of having slept with Kaiba, let alone to his little brother. Mokuba nodded, trying to act as though Seto sleeping with Alistair wasn't completely mind-blowing to him.

"Yeah, that sounds like Seto." Silence fell between them.

"Does it snow where you're from?" Mokuba asked suddenly.

"Snow? Yeah, but not as much as here."

"Aren't you going to need a coat? And what about a hat and gloves?"

"You sound like Trudy. I'll be fine. I've survived until now, haven't I?"

"What about money then? Do you have enough?"

"I went with Saito to have it exchanged a few days ago, remember?"

"I remember…"Mokuba murmured, sounding suddenly glum. "Do you really have to go Alistair?" He looked up and Alistair could see that the young teen's eyes were suddenly swimming with tears. "Why can't you stay here? Is it because of Seto? I can talk to him, he'll listen to me."

"This is something I have to do," Alistair replied. "I won't be able to move on with my life without putting the past behind me first."

"That's exactly what Seto said about Battle City."

"Do you think it worked?" Mokuba looked taken aback.

"I mean, I guess so. He hasn't said Gozaburo's name since then anyway. Why, did he say something to you about it?" Alistair shook his head.

"No."

"Do you think he's ok?"

"Kaiba?" Alistair thought about what to tell Mokuba and what not. "I mean, I don't know. He …"

"It's just, he hasn't been acting like himself lately and I'm worried about him. I don't want him to hurt himself by working too hard."

"I'm sure that Kaiba will be just fine, he always is." For Mokuba's sake, Alistair hoped that Seto really would be alright. He was all the kid had aside from Trudy, and Mokuba would be devastated if something were to happen to his hero. Mokuba's brow creased.

"I really wish that you and Seto could have worked things out. I know that wouldn't have kept you from leaving if this is something you have to do, but then at least…I don't know…he would have had a chance to be happy like me and Hilary…"

"He'll find someone." Alistair tried to sound reassuring even though the thought of Seto with anyone else made his stomach lurch painfully.

"Maybe. But I mean, and this is kind of a personal question so you don't have to answer it, but how did you and Seto end up…you know…in the first place? I thought you hated each other." Alistair decided there was no real harm in telling Mokuba the story, albeit the short and much less graphic version.

"We were fighting about something one night and then we weren't." Mokuba, no idiot, got the gist. His eyes widened.

"Oh." He was dying to know more; he was very curious indeed to know if they had actually cared about each other or if they'd just…He tried hard not to think about that.

After dinner, Mokuba and Alistair played more video games until eleven O'clock when Alistair pointed out that they should go to bed.

"But why?" Mokuba protested.

"If your brother catches you up past your bedtime…"

"I'm not a little kid; I can stay up as late as I want! And what happened to you not being afraid of Seto?"

"I'm not afraid of him." Alistair rolled his eyes. "But since I need his helicopter I'd rather not get caught helping you do something you shouldn't…again." Mokuba lowered his eyes.

"That's true…Ok." He powered down the game consol and started to clean up. Alistair helped him replace disks in their proper boxes and then left to brush his teeth and retrieve Sewell from Gozaburo's old room.

As he picked her up, he realized that this would be the last night he'd ever get to sleep with her; he'd never get to hold or play with her again either. All he'd have left would be the bookmark that Trudy made him.

He turned down Mokuba's offer of the bed and instead spread his comforter out on the floor.

"Night Alistair," Mokuba said, sleepy despite himself.

"Goodnight Mokuba," Alistair replied, laying his head on the pillow as Sewell snuggled up beside him, her purring lulling him to sleep.

When Seto returned home that night he ate the food that Trudy had left out for him and proceeded upstairs, too exhausted to go swimming despite having slept in that morning. A virus had infected the Kaiba Corp mainframe that afternoon, and it had taken him eight hours to straighten the mess out and make sure no important files had been compromised.

He dropped his ever-present briefcase and jacket off in his bedroom before going to check in on Mokuba.

He padded to his brother's room and gently tipped the door open. Peering in, Seto was surprised to see Alistair lying on the floor with his cat by his side, but assumed that Mokuba had requested that Alistair spend the night. Mokuba had his back to him, but Alistair was facing the door. As Seto watched, his brow became furrowed and he let out a small moan, indicators to Seto that he was having yet another nightmare.

I just don't want him to wake up Mokuba, Seto reasoned as he entered the room, intent on shaking the redhead awake, his right arm up protectively in case Alistair tried to hit him.

"Alistair," he whispered, lightly shoving Alistair in the shoulder. Sewell awoke and hissed at Seto, swiping at him with her paw. Seto reflexively swore and hit her back. She mewled and hunkered down again, watching him warily. "Alistair," he repeated, "wake up."

"No," Alistair mumbled, on the border of being awake and asleep.

In his dream he was back in his hometown and hiding with Mikey in a half-collapsed house. He turned to Mikey to make sure he was ok, only to see the ghoulish version of his little brother scowling up at him.

"No!" he yelled, scrabbling backwards to get away, but the thing that wasn't Mikey reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Alistair," it taunted him. "Alistair."

"Alistair!" The voice suddenly sounded different. Deeper, older, familiar…

"Seto," he said, and with a jolt he woke up, sitting up so fast he almost head-butted Seto, who quickly ducked out of reach.

"Watch it!" he grumbled. "Go back to sleep and try not to wake Mokuba with your nonsense." He stood and prepared to leave.

"Thank you," Alistair said gratefully to Seto's retreating back. Sewell merely growled until Seto closed the door. "What's the matter?" he asked her, scratching under her chin. "He was only trying to help." Sewell meowed, unconvinced, but lay back down next to her master, preparing to return to sleep. Alistair was sorely tempted to get up and follow Seto to his bedroom but in the end he merely allowed himself to drift back to sleep.

The morning of his departure dawned cold and misty which perfectly matched Alistair's mood. Half a year ago he never would have imagined that leaving the Kaiba estate would be so difficult. But a half a year ago he was a very different person.

He'd woken up before Mokuba, at around six-thirty in the morning and gone back to Gozaburo's room for one last luxurious shower.

As the hot water ran down his back he tried his best not to succumb to the melancholy that was trying to find its way into his heart. It was his choice to leave, this was what he wanted, something that he needed to do. The only future he had here was that of being Kaiba's lap dog at best, whereas there he could be someone's hero.

He got out of the shower and pulled on his dark jeans and a muscle shirt over which he threw his jacket. He'd be cold with no heating system to keep him warm, but there was nothing he could do about it now but suck it up.

Breakfast was a somber affair. He could tell that Trudy was doing her best to be cheerful and she said multiple times how wonderful it was that he was going to do something so noble and that she was certain he come back a hero. Mokuba tried to mirror her energy but was none too good at it. Seto merely sat at the head of the table silently drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. He hadn't even looked up when Alistair walked in. Alistair had sat with Sewell on his lap, trying his best to participate in the charade and succeeding more than anyone else, joking that with him out of the way they now had room to take in a new charity case. Trudy hadn't found that very funny, nor did Mokuba.

"You aren't a charity case," he insisted. "We're really going to miss you! All of us…" He glanced over at his older brother in time to catch his eye, but then Seto's gaze returned to the newspaper. He couldn't believe that Seto was really going to be so stubborn as to not even attempt to get Alistair to stay.

"It's time to go." Seto spoke for the first time that morning, pushing his plate aside. "Thank you for breakfast Trudy, that will be all. Alfred will be here any minute so anyone who's going needs to be ready to walk out that door when he arrives." He stood and stalked out of the room to retrieve his briefcase from his study. Lately he'd taken to wearing white suits to work which neither Alistair nor Mokuba could understand; they looked out of place on him.

Alistair very reluctantly put Sewell on the ground. All of the goodbyes would be hard so he figured he might as well start with the one that wouldn't really understand that he was leaving. He hoped that cat's memories were short so that she would soon forget him. Crouching down beside her, he scratched under her chin until her eyes closed in contentment.

"I'm going to miss you," he told her. She licked his hand and rubbed her head against his palm. "Behave for Trudy, ok? She's very nice to look after you."

"Oh it's no trouble at all," Trudy said. "She's a sweet girl now that she's not scared of me anymore." He smiled and stood up, turning his back on the cat.

"I just have to go grab my backpack, I'll be right back."

"I'll come with you," Mokuba said promptly, getting up from his chair.

"I'll just clear the dishes and get my coat then," Trudy sighed.

"You're coming too?" Alistair asked, surprised.

"Of course," she replied staunchly. "You don't think I'm going to stay here while one of my boys flies off, do you?" He smiled at her.

"Thank you," he whispered, hating how shaky his voice was, but he couldn't help it; hearing her say that so resolutely was very touching. No one had cared about him or for him in a very long time, and she did so unconditionally simply because she had sensed that he needed her love. "My mom would be very happy to know that someone's been looking out for me." Then Trudy really did start crying and rushed forward to embrace him.

"Of course I've been looking out for you. I knew as soon as you offered to share your breakfast with me that first day that you were one of the good ones and that you were going to be one of my boys, just like Mokuba and Seto." As though she'd summoned him, Seto suddenly walked back into the dining room wearing a black winter coat over his suit.

"Pull yourself together," he said gruffly, and Trudy immediately let go of Alistair and began dabbing her eyes. "You too Mokuba." Mokuba hastily wiped the tears off his face. "Are you ready to go?" It was the first direct statement Seto had made to Alistair that day. Their eyes connected. Seto's eyes were as flat and dead as a snake's.

"I just need to grab my backpack," Alistair said slowly. "I'll be right back. He left to return upstairs.

"Mokuba, stay here," Seto commanded, stopping his brother in his tracks. Trudy, usually not one to talk out of turn, rounded on her boss.

"How can you be so cold?" she demanded, fresh tears leaking from her eyes. "I know, you don't have to pretend that…" she trailed off. Seto was taken momentarily off guard. Trudy knew too? Did everyone know? He narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean you know?" he asked, careful to keep his emotions masked.

"She means that she knows about you and Alistair, and you know that I do too," Mokuba piped up.

"That's right. And if you let that poor boy leave without a single kind word I'll—."

"You'll what?" Seto was beginning to lose his patience. Before she could reply he continued. "If you ever threaten me again you can find yourself a new job." Mokuba gasped. Never had Seto spoken to Trudy like that.

"How dare you?" Trudy was suddenly so furious that her hands were shaking. Her outburst scared Sewell who ran and hid under a cabinet of dishes. "I practically raised you and you have the nerve to threaten to throw me out? What happened to you? You were so kind and caring…now you're just selfish!" She started to cry again and Mokuba quickly hugged her, staring openmouthed at his brother over her shoulder.

"Seto…" he started.

"She should know her place," Seto said flatly. "She is an employee. I pay her to cook and clean, nothing more. I should have drawn that line a long time ago. I'll be in the car." As soon as he left Trudy collapsed into one of the dining room chairs, sobbing into her trembling hands. Mokuba did his best to comfort her and rubbed her back and told her that Seto didn't mean it, that he was just upset.

At that moment Alistair returned with his bag. Seeing Trudy so upset made him feel terrible since he thought he was the one who was the cause of it.

"Don't cry Trudy." He joined Mokuba at her side.

"It's not you," Mokuba said grimly, and he caught Alistair up on what he had missed, ending with, "but I think he's upset that you're leaving. It's just how he deals with it."

"I don't care what his problem is, he has no right to treat people that way. Especially not you," he said gently to Trudy.

"You're very kind," Trudy said thickly. "I'm sorry Alistair," she added, looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "But I don't think I can go with you now; I'm too shaken up."

"I understand, and it's ok, don't feel guilty about it. Besides, it's not like we're really saying goodbye: I have the book you gave me, and every time I read it I promise that I'll think of you. And you can think of me when you see Sewell." At the sound of her name being spoken by her human, she trotted over to him and indicated she wanted him to pick her up. He did, but then placed her in Trudy's arms. "I know that she'll be very happy with you because I was, and she and I are a lot alike." Trudy couldn't help but smile. "That's very true." She turned to look at Mokuba.

"You can tell Mr. Kaiba that dinner will be served at seven O'clock and that since I'm not required to save some for him, he shouldn't bother looking for leftovers tonight." Mokuba nodded glumly. "You however," she said to Alistair, "are not my employer, and so I will gladly send you off with a packed lunch and the rest of your cake. If you'll wait just one more moment I'll retrieve them from the kitchen." She carefully set Sewell back on the ground and stood, straightening her dress and hair before leaving the room, still brushing tears off her cheeks.

"Seto's never said something like that to her before." Mokuba still wasn't over his shock.

"Yeah, well, there's a first time for everything."

Once Trudy returned with a packed lunch of some of her sandwiches and the remainder of his birthday cake which he quickly stashed in his bag, the three made their way to the door. Trudy gave him a tight hug saying: "take care of yourself and don't put yourself in more danger than you have to; I don't want to hear about you on the news unless it's for them to say that you singlehandedly brought peace to the nation, do you hear me?" She let go of him so that she could look into his face.

"I won't."

"Do you promise?" He crossed himself.

"I swear." She nodded.

"Good." Alfred, probably on Seto's say so, honked the horn. "Oh, it seems it's time to go." She pulled him into a last hug and kissed him on his cheek and then he and Mokuba walked out the front door, leaving Trudy to wave at them as the car pulled out of the driveway. Then they were gone. She closed the door and sighed. Suddenly she heard a meow. Looking down she saw Sewell standing in the entrance to the foyer.

"I guess it's just you and me now," she said softly. Outside, it started to snow.

The atmosphere in the car was just as frigid as the weather. Mokuba and Alistair were both furious with Seto for having made Trudy cry but neither of them said anything. Alistair's anger did not move him, but having Mokuba glaring at him made him feel guilty. Once they'd been in the car for ten minutes it was Seto who found himself unable to handle the tension.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," he snapped, crossing his arms. Mokuba rolled his eyes.

"You better. Oh, and by the way: she said that she's not going to leave food for you tonight."

"What are you smirking at?" Seto demanded of Alistair who had tried to hide a grin with his hand.

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought."

They arrived at the Kaiba Corporation skyscraper fifteen minutes later and Seto had Alfred pull them around back. He'd had Roland tell one of the other pilots to fly the chosen helicopter to the landing pad on top of the skyscraper that morning. They walked into the building and boarded one of the elevators. They rode to the top floor in silence, Mokuba hanging onto Alistair's arm.

Alistair started to shiver as soon as they walked out onto the roof.

"Is that the only coat you have?" Seto asked unexpectedly. Startled, Alistair nodded. Seto rolled his eyes. "Are you trying to catch pneumonia?"

"What?" Seto stripped out of his heavy winter coat and tossed it at Alistair who only just caught it. He searched Seto's face for an explanation.

"I don't want to give up one of my helicopters if you're just going to die of exposure in a week."

"Of course." There was a pause.

"What are you waiting for?" Seto asked him, starting to shiver himself. "Fireworks or something? Just go!" At this, Mokuba burst into tears and threw himself at the redhead.

"Don't listen to him Alistair! Stay here! I don't want you to go!" Alistair stroked his back.

"I have to," he said softly.

"No you don't!"

Seto felt a lick of jealousy in his gut though he wasn't sure if it because of Mokuba's loyalty to Alistair, or the fact that his brother got to hug Alistair goodbye when he couldn't.

Eventually Mokuba let go of Alistair long enough to run to Seto and bury his face in his chest.

"Thank you for letting me have one of your planes," Alistair said, rather formally, to Seto. "And for letting me stay at your house, that was very generous." Seto merely nodded. They stared at each other for a moment, both too stubborn to give the other a more personal farewell. Eventually Alistair threw Kaiba's coat over his arm and turned to enter the helicopter knowing that he'd regret this moment and not going to kiss or at least hug Seto goodbye for the rest of his life. It was with a heavy heart that he waved to Mokuba as he lifted off from the roof and flew into the snowy sky.

Author's Note: *sharp inhale* Yes, Alistair really did leave. And let's be real: why shouldn't he have? Aside from his own personal reasons, Seto wasn't giving him much of a reason to stay given that he hasn't treated Alistair very well of late. Let's see if absence makes the heart grow fonder, shall we?