Kaiba rolled out of the water, coughing stiffly as he shivered from the cold, and he cursed under his breath.

Thankfully, he hadn't gotten lost on the way back, because his car was still waiting for him, parked on the asphalt where he'd left it. Anyone driving by on the road seeing him now must think he was a madman for swimming in the middle of winter.

Whatever. It didn't matter.

Teeth chattering and frozen to the core, Kaiba heaved himself onto his feet, dripping wet, and raced towards the car, aching for warmth.

Yanking the car door open, he threw himself inside and jammed the key into the ignition, twisting it with numb fingers as the engine roared to life.

Slamming the door shut, Kaiba blasted the heat from the vents and cursed again, seeing his phone glowing with a notification from Mokuba in the passenger seat. He clenched his jaw and slowly reached for it, knowing he was going to be yelled at for something or other.

"EMERGENCY! CALL ME BACK NOW!" in all caps was sent ten times in a row, and Kaiba swallowed nervously.

Ah shit. What happened now?

Hitting redial with a shaking finger, he pressed the phone to his ear with a pit of dread sitting low in his stomach.

Mokuba picked up after the first ring, sounding hysterical, "Seto! Where the fuck are you?! No, never mind that! Get to the hospital now! Just when Isono needed you the most, you weren't there! You're the fucking worst—"

"Wait, slow down," Kaiba whispered, his ears ringing terribly as he wondered what fresh horror was happening on Mokuba's end. "I don't understand."

"He…had…a…stroke!" Mokuba hissed through gritted teeth, sounding like he was holding back tears, and Kaiba could hear Ayame's gentle voice in the background.

The ground dropped from underneath him and Kaiba felt himself sink rapidly.
A thousand tons of bricks were falling from the sky and onto his shoulders, burying him, crushing him, suffocating him….

"Where was he?" Kaiba asked numbly, but Mokuba talked over him, sounding incensed.

"Get here, now! Suite 11." And the phone clicked off in his ear.

Kaiba lowered the phone slowly, his breathing ragged as he stared at the time stamp of the last text Mokuba had sent. Ten minutes ago.

If only he had swam a bit faster…no, if only he had been on land sooner…no, if only he hadn't been pried away from his child…no, no excuses! It was his fault. Everything was his fault.

Shaking and shivering but no longer cold, Kaiba brushed his wet bangs out of his eyes and gripped the steering wheel with so much force his knuckles burned.

He stamped his foot down on the gas pedal, his eyes burning with unshed tears.
Everything in his life was going to shit, and it was his own, damn fault.

"Emergency! Emergency!" A yellow octopus zoomed through the pillars of the palace, leaving tiny ink clouds of distress behind it as it went. "Emergency! King Atem, there is an emergency for you!"

Many heads turned to follow the yellow cephalopod, and Shada stopped to stare, wondering if he was seeing things.
A yellow octopus.
That meant it was a real medical emergency….

Mana shrieked excitedly and chased the octopus through the halls, nearly slapping Shada across the face with the tips of her fins as she passed.

"Atem! Atem, where are you?! Are you asleep? Wake up!" Mana cried, reaching Atem's door and pounding furiously on it so much, her fist turned red. "Ateeeeem!"

Atem growled angrily, annoyed. He tossed the magazine down onto his bed and floated to the door, slowly unlatching it, seeing Mana and a yellow octopus bobbing up and down excitedly before him.

Yellow…octopus?

His chest tightened strangely, recalling that the last time he'd seen a yellow cephalopod was when it had come by to deliver news of a dead king—which had turned out to be his father.

"She's hatching!" The octopus cried, doing an anxious twirl in the water and accidentally squirting ink in Mana's direction. She swatted it away carelessly and reached forward to grab Atem by the arm, dragging him out of his room and through the hallway, squealing excitedly.

"What…?" Atem reeled, growing lightheaded, and he immediately recoiled when the octopus latched onto his arm and continued to cry, "Emergency! She's hatching!"

"See? Being overcarried makes her a fighter!" Mana said happily, her eyes brimming with tears of relief. "Hatching early! She must be really excited to meet us!"

"It has barely been…a year!" Atem cried, his throat constricting with emotion as he wondered if he was ready.
He wasn't ready.
Kaiba wasn't here.
This wasn't happening.
This wasn't real.
This egg wasn't his.
He didn't deserve to even see this child.
He didn't want to see this child.
He wanted to see Kaiba, and he wanted Kaiba to tell him that everything was going to be fine, and that they would finally be together….

"Snap out of it," Mana reprimanded, giving him a firm shake. "I'll send a messenger to all your friends. Joey, Tristan, and the girls. I'll send our fastest messengers! See you in the infirmary! I hope she doesn't hatch on the way down…oooo!"

Mana gave his arm one last squeeze before she bolted away through the water, leaving pearly tears of happiness clinking onto the stone floor behind her.

Am I the only one who feels this way? Atem thought glumly, wishing he could disappear and hide in his room.

He was accosted by Mahad who was dashing by, and his protector grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him to the far end of the hall for privacy, his angular violent eyes shining strangely with emotion.

"My king, don't look so glum," Mahad said with effort. "You must enjoy this hatching, for Seto Kaiba's sake."

Atem blinked rapidly, feeling an odd pressure building behind his eyes. Wh…at?

Mahad gave Atem a warm hug, feeling the king tense in his arms. He was still being haunted by Kaiba's furious glares and heartbroken tears; it was hard to see the young king acting this depressed about the arrival of his child.

"What do you mean?" Atem asked numbly, wishing Mahad would let him go so he could take a proper look at his face. "Did you manage to sneak the egg out like I asked? You just got back, didn't you?!"

"Yes, I did, and he nearly killed me," Mahad said seriously, pulling away to gaze deeply into Atem's large, violet eyes. "Even you haven't commanded me with such force. I now understand how he manages to steal my most highly trained messengers. He exerts such willpower I've never encountered—"

"What did he say?" Atem demanded, cutting across Mahad's musings. "Tell me everything!"

"Here," Mahad said quietly, uncurling his palm to reveal a tear-shaped diamond in a small, woven pouch. "Is this proof enough for you? They were littered all over the sand right before I left. I had to take it, secretly, because I'm not sure he would've given it to me willingly."

"So you stole from him," Atem said coldly, accepting the pouch from Mahad, dreading what he would see. "Did he ask about me?"

"No, quite the opposite," Mahad said guiltily, recalling all of Kaiba's repeated 'fuck you' insults. "He says he doesn't want her raised in our colony. He was…very angry…to say the least."

"I see," Atem studied Mahad's face, searching for signs of deception, and he found none. "That proves she's not mine. He can have her. I'm going back to my room."

"She is yours," Mahad said instantly, his cheeks reddening with what Atem realized was embarrassment. "She is…ours. The water used in incubation was from our kingdom. She responds well to it, so she is from here."

"Then…he must've mated with someone else from here!" Atem insisted, wondering why he was so against the idea of the egg belonging to him. "I don't—it can't….be…"

"Don't worry. You have the entire kingdom for support," Mahad said warmly, leading him by the arm down the hallway to the infirmary, and Atem opened his mouth to protest, but his voice died in his throat.

It didn't matter if he had the entire ocean's support; he didn't want it.

He wanted to know what Kaiba thought about all of this, and the vicious messengers he kept sending were always so full of expletives, it was hard to decipher what he really wanted.

Swimming in through the doors of the infirmary, Atem saw his entire royal court already floating around an empty incubator, looking excited and apprehensive.

"Congratulations, my king," Isis bowed her head prettily and smiled.
Atem blinked and stared at her, noticing that everyone was smiling.
It was a strange sight.
It felt like eons had gone by since he had seen real smiles sitting on his subject's faces, and Atem's chest tightened with guilt.

He realized that this was what he'd wanted all along.
He wanted his court and kingdom to be happy with him and his actions.
Did this mean everything was going according to…plan?
But perhaps two decades too late, and without the love of his life.

"I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!" Anzu cried, swimming through the water so fast, her hair flew behind her ears. "Atem! Oh my gosh! Congrats!"

She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a crushing hug, and Atem patted her shoulder awkwardly, feeling his stomach sink steadily deeper. How could everyone be so happy when…Kaiba's last message to him was 'Fuck you, you're all keeping my kid away from me'?!

Mai and Joey swam in through the doors, arm in arm, and Joey's face was redder than Atem had ever seen it.

"Nice. A hatching," Joey said, thumping him awkwardly on the back. "I heard they're really gross—"

"Shut…up," Mai sang, throwing Atem's court members a nervous side-glance. "Don't say stupid shit in front of…them."

Shadi met Mai's gaze, and they stared at each other briefly before he looked away first.
Atem's mermaid friends from Confinement.
The king sure was unconventional, but then again, weren't all young rulers this carefree with their friends?

Tristan bolted in through the doors, tossing his spear aside on the ground and gasping for breath, "G-Guardian incoming!"

A soft murmur echoed around the infirmary, and the Medic bustled forward, waving everyone out of the way.

"Step aside, move aside, yes you too, Mana," she said anxiously, swatting everyone away from the empty incubator, which sat open and waiting for the egg.

Atem held his breath and felt Anzu grip his arm so hard, his skin burned.
He had no idea what to expect. The books he'd read couldn't prepare him for what a real hatchling would look like, but if Joey was correct, 'gross' wouldn't even begin to describe it.

A giant, red octopus crawled in through the door, silent and graceful. Mildly terrified, Atem felt himself sweat as he recalled his one encounter with the Keeper. She was incredibly shouty, and almost violent, but this octopus seemed quiet and reserved. How…strange.

A deformed, bulgy egg was tucked under one of it's many tentacles, and Atem watched with bated breath as it was gently set into the leaves of an open membrane pod before it withdrew just as quickly and swam out of the room, leaving everyone in a stunned silence.

The egg did look gross, disgusting even, and its shiny, black outer skin didn't help.
It was no longer oval shaped, and it looked too lumpy.
Something sharp was protruding from the side, and Atem had to guess that it was a tiny elbow…or teeth…or something….

"Oh gosh, wow," Anzu murmured beside him, and Atem swallowed thickly, his blood running cold with dread. He couldn't enjoy this. This was absolutely…. horrifying.

"She's moving!" Mana shrieked, grabbing the Medic and shaking her furiously. "What do you think? Teeth first? Fins first? Claws first? What color will her eyes be?"

"Mana…please," Mahad said stiffly, his stomach churning with dread when he briefly imagined a feminine version of Kaiba with long hair emerging from the egg, and the image wasn't hard to see, because Seth had long hair…. Seth!

"Did someone send a messenger to Seth?" Mahad gasped, eyeing everyone in the room, and the only person whose eyes he met was Atem's wide-eyed stare.

"Oh, Ahti! No…" Mana whispered, pressing her hands to her mouth.

"Woops, well shit," Joey shrugged, and floated higher above their heads, staring intently at the bulging egg. "I'll go get him. Tristan, wanna come before this thing pops?"

"Yep!" Tristan cried, and he received a glare from Anzu.

"You guys are so immature," Anzu lectured, her ears reddening. "We were all Hatchlings at one point in our lives."

"Yeah and I don't remember it at all, thankfully," Tristan snorted. "Be right back, kay? C'mon Jou."

"No, you're staying here," Mai said coldly, hanging onto Joey's arm, and his cheeks flushed dark pink.

"Men, we can send a messenger—" Mahad began, and he was cut off by the Medic who cried, "Quiet! Everyone, be quiet! I see a hand!"

Sure enough, a tiny hand pressed along the edge of the black membrane, and Atem's heart skipped a solid beat.

"A claws-first baby? I'm scared of her already," Mai said warmly, giving Joey's arm a squeeze. "I was a claws-first baby. I bet you were a fins-first baby."

Joey said nothing. His voice had died in his throat when he saw five, tiny, sharp claws attached to the ends of the smallest fingers he'd ever seen in his life.

"Atem, you were a head-first hatchling," Solomon said proudly, gazing down at the egg with misty eyes. "You jump into everything with calculated passion, don't you?"

Atem said nothing. His heart had stopped beating in his chest when he saw the glimmer of a tail underneath the black membrane, and the tiny merbaby inside began straining against the egg's shell.

"Ooo, look at her go!" Anzu cried, wringing Atem's arm in her grip, and Atem felt nothing, because his entire body had gone numb.

The end of a tail was beating rapidly against the edge of the egg, and Solomon reached a hand longingly out towards it.

"Let's help her—"

"No, don't spoil her before she can even breathe," Mahad held his arm out warningly to restrain the former king. "I can see it already. You're going to be the doting great-grandfather who will give her anything she wants. Let's have some restraint. It's not healthy."

"Claws, then fin…she's a smart one," Mana mused, clapping her hands happily and swimming in rapid circles over everyone's head. "Just like you, right, Atem?"

More like Kaiba, Joey thought privately, giving Atem a knowing look, but his friend wasn't looking anywhere other than at the egg, with his violet eyes wide with a mixture of fear and incredulity.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of struggling, Atem saw the tips of her claws poke through the thick membrane of the egg, and a thin, greenish liquid began oozing from the tiny five-fingered holes.

"She broke through!" Anzu celebrated, giving Atem another crushing hug, and Atem couldn't do anything other than stare at the thin stream of greenish wisps of mystery-fluid seeping from the egg.

"Very good," the medic praised, looking very relieved. "This will give her some time to slowly adjust to the water out here. I was worried she was going to come out fins-first."

"I'm so proud of you!" Solomon cried, hovering over the egg and hovering his finger too close to the edge of the membrane. "You're a good girl! Are you an intelligent baby? Yes you are!"

"Ugh," Shada rolled his eyes and backed away from the oozing egg. "Right. Now, fetch me when she emerges. I have things to do."

"How long do you think she'll stay like that?" Tristan asked fearfully, his eyes darting to the door and back. "I heard this stage can take, like, several sunlit days."

"It depends on how well she acclimatizes to our water," Mana said bossily, folding her arms across her chest and nodding. "Maybe she'll need Chrysalis water. What do you think, Medic?"

The medic hovered around the deflating egg, frowning. "She's…quite energetic, so I think the water here is fine for now. Warrior Mahad should be on stand-by. He can rush her into shallow water if needed, but since her amitotic fluid was a clear green, that means she can breathe just fine down here."

"Of course she can, because she's my great-granddaughter," Solomon puffed, and it was Isis's turn to roll her eyes.

"Ambassador Shada, we have a meeting, don't we?" She said, giving Atem a polite nod before swimming towards the door.

"Yes, a meeting," Shada sniffed, sounding not at all interested. "My congratulations to you, King Atem."

They floated to the door, and Shadi followed them silently.

"Clearly, they don't care," Mai muttered, glaring after them as they left the infirmary. "They don't even want to see her face—"

"Mai, what happened to shutting up?" Anzu sang delicately, her eyes nailed to Solomon and Mahad.

Atem watched this from afar, feeling as if he was living outside of his own body.

The egg had now completely deflated, and the clear outline of her body could be seen through the membrane.

Faint crying was coming from underneath the thick, blackness, and the Medic rushed forward to gently peel the membrane away from the baby's body.

"Already?!" Mai cried, sounding shocked, and Mana nodded in agreement from above as pearly tears clinked onto the floor around them.

"What happened to 'this can take days'?!" Joey echoed, giving Tristan a nervous look.

"She was over carried, remember?" Mana whispered, watching the Medic continue to peel membrane away from the baby's body. "We thought she'd hatch in five years, and it's barely been one and a half, so everything has been accelerated! She might age like a human baby for the first few years of her life, at this rate!"

"How wonderful!" Solomon gushed; his eyes nailed to the black sliminess clinging to the edge of a bright blue fin. "I'll live to see her rule over us! Atem, you made a great choice. Look at her fins! What a color!"

Deeply shocked, Atem stared at the tiny merbaby with her fists balled, and her eyes shut tight while her mouth was open in a huge 'O' shape as she hiccupped loudly…looking like she was…suffocating.

"Listen to that," the Medic smiled, waving water over the baby's face with practiced ease. "There you go, Princess. Breathe…. Breathe…"

"She can't breathe?" Joey cried, gripping his hair in distress, and Atem could only look on with horror as the baby's chest heaved up and down, it's tiny face turning slightly purple.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, rich boy was in human form, shit—" Tristan ranted, and he was punched in the stomach by Anzu. Wheezing, he doubled over, coughing loudly. His choking was mirrored by the baby, and her tiny coughs echoed wonderfully through the chamber. The entire room let out a collective sigh of relief.

The Medic cradled the baby and rocked her gently back and forth in her arms as more residual streams of greenish sludge and black membrane floated away around her body, and Atem internally recoiled.

"Here you are," she whispered happily, turning to face Atem. "You must hold her now, so she can bond to you."

Atem wanted to shake his head so badly, but he caught a dark look from Mahad, and he silently agreed.

Holding his arms out shakily, he let the Medic place her against his chest, and an incredible warmth began spreading from the center of his core, slowly warming him up.

"Awwww!" Anzu leaned over Atem's shoulder, smiling happily. "She's pretty! And wow, fangs already? Look at that!"

Terrified, Atem glanced down and saw tiny fangs peeking out from underneath her lips, and he couldn't stop staring at them. A thin sheen of translucent, green scales covered her arms and chest, it was a disturbing sight to see. She had gone quiet, and was now sleeping peacefully in his arms, so Atem was afraid to make any sudden movements that would wake her.

"Did your mate have black hair?" Mana asked curiously, and she pointed to the tiny thin patch of black hair covering the baby's head. "Didn't he have brown hair, like Seth?"

"Babies' hair can change color over time," the medic said, sounding slightly worried. "But from black to brown…I'm not sure…."

Atem swallowed thinly and froze on the spot when he felt the baby move in his arms.
Mokuba had black hair, and he was Kaiba's kin.
Was this a bad time to bring it up?

"Go on, talk to her," the Medic encouraged warmly. "She hatched so fast, it's almost as if she wasn't incubated in the Chrysalis for that long!"

Mahad shifted uncomfortably and looked away, wondering if Kaiba touching the egg had done anything to accelerate her hatching time. But thankfully, Atem asked the question for him.

"Do eggs hatch at different rates depending on their parents?" Atem asked cautiously, wanting to avoid the subject of Kaiba ever touching the egg. It would mean the egg had left the Chrysalis without permission….

"Yes, most definitely," the Medic declared softly, gazing down at the baby in Atem's arms. "And again, it does help that she was overcarried naturally. Merpeople don't do that anymore these days, because they would feel sick for decades. The bearer must have been extremely dedicated."

"That's one way of saying it," Joey muttered under his breath, and Tristan began slowly backing away to the door.

"What are these scales on her skin?" Atem asked loudly, hoping to draw attention away from Joey. "Will they come off when she gets older?"

"You had those scales when you were a Hatchling," Solomon said, floating closer to him and bending down to smile into the baby's wrinkled face. "Aren't you a pretty girl?"

Atem's stomach churned uncomfortably, and he felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder, belonging to Mana.

"Can I hold her, please?" She begged, her eyes shining. "Oh gosh, she looks so Pure! Right, Medic?"

"Indeed," the Medic nodded, watching Atem gently hand the baby over to Mana. "The linear pattern of her scales is quite amazing. They came out well, even though the bearer was in human form. Incredible."

"Incredible," Mahad echoed coldly, now itching to leave. "I must send a Messenger to Seth. Please excuse me."

He was ignored, and Mai floated into the space he left, hovering beside Mana's elbow with her blonde hair grazing Atem's cheek as she bent down to give the baby a soft smile.

"She's very pretty," Mai praised. "She'll be the talk of the Kingdom. Let's go, Joey. We'll give them some privacy."

Joey obeyed immediately and hastily spared Atem a nervous glance over his shoulder before floating out the doors with Mai beside him.

Atem's heart sank when he wished he could join his friends outside, so they could openly discuss what they'd just witnessed, but he couldn't leave. The baby was being handed back to him, and the odd warmth enveloped him once more when her bright blue fins curled lovingly around his elbow.

Unable to breathe properly, Atem only managed to stare down at her in his arms, unsure of what to do. Mana kept circling him, whispering excitedly with Anzu and the Medic, while Solomon kept leaning into his face to coo at the baby.

He felt like he was being suffocated, and he desperately wondered what Kaiba was doing now.

Kaiba sat stiffly at Isono's bedside, hating the cold atmosphere in the room while the heart monitor beeped loudly.

Mokuba was sitting stonily in a chair on the other side of Isono's hospital bed, and Ayame was outside in the hallway, tending to Noah, who was beginning to get fussy.

A ventilator was hooked up to Isono's face, and a horrible hissing sound emitted from it with every rise and fall of his chest. Staring intently at his manservant's folded hands, Kaiba noticed wrinkles and dark spots on them for the first time, and his stomach twisted terribly.

They looked like the hands of an old man. When…did…Isono get so old?
Had he always been this old?

Lifting his head up to look at Mokuba, he caught another cold glare, so he hastily looked away, thankful that he was wearing the steel cuffs. He wasn't sure if he could deal with the harsh criticisms Mokuba was undoubtedly spouting about him in his head.

The silence stretched on and on, for what seemed like an eternity before a soft knock sounded at the door, and Kaiba curled his fingers over his knees. His pointed nails dug into the wet fabric of his slacks, and he didn't care that he was ripping a hole in his pants.

Entering the room softly, the doctor eased the door shut behind him and bowed deeply to the Kaiba brothers before speaking.

"We're not sure the extent of the damage," the doctor said carefully, keeping his gaze aimed at the patient. "This is unlikely, but…does the patient have a current will? Is there anyone we should call?"

Kaiba grit his teeth so hard, his jaw ached. This was bad.
The doctor would usually say stuff about recovery if there was hope, but instead, he was asking about end-of-life shit. How bad was it really?

Deciding to stop being a coward, Kaiba slowly rolled up his sleeves to remove the steel cuffs from around his wrists, so he could hear the doctor's thoughts.

"We have power of attorney, and we are his closest living family," Mokuba answered shakily. His black hair was disheveled, and a few strands were coming loose from his usually neat ponytail.

"I see, well…" The doctor continued, and Kaiba winced when both Mokuba's and the doctor's voices streamed into his head rapidly.

…My fucking god, can this doctor stop beating around the bush already?!

…tThe patient isn't well. I'm not sure how to say it…

"Yeah? What does that mean?" Mokuba demanded, folding his arms across his chest haughtily. "Say it directly. We can take it."

No, I can't…that would be horrible bedside manner! The doctor thought as he paled and stammered incoherently, "Well, you see…"

I don't care about this medical mumbo jumbo! He needs to spit it out already. How much time will Isono need to recover?

…The machine is breathing for him, isn't it obvious?
Goodness, I'm going to hell for this. How do I say it?
God, help me…I should've asked Takayama-san to come in with me, but I had to decline….
The older Kaiba is as scary as the rumors say.
Wait, which one is the older one?
Long black hair…shit, I should've read the article like Takayama said.
They look nothing alike.

"Is there brain activity?" Kaiba asked intrusively, aiming his gaze at the doctor and seeing the man bow again and avoid his eyes, his thoughts loud and clear.

Yes, very faint, but it's there. But the issue is the patient isn't waking up.

"…So, he's dead," Kaiba said shakily, seeing the doctor's mouth move, but all he could hear were frantic thoughts all jumbled together in his head.

WHAT?! How did Seto get 'dead' from that?!

Sharp! Scary! No, not dead, not really. Well, how would we even begin to medically…physically define 'dead'? He is very much alive…heart is beating, irregularly, but it's beating. Brain activity is low, and physically, he is…

Seto couldn't be more callous if he tried! Isono can fucking hear him!

…for an almost eighty-year-old man who lives an active lifestyle, it's almost….

Besides! Isono isn't that old. He's got a good fifteen years left in him! He said he wanted to walk Noah to school in the next few years!

"I can't be in here," Kaiba stood so quickly, his head swam. "I need air."

Mokuba and the doctor blinked at him, and their thoughts grew louder and more incessant in his head while they both talked at him at the same time.

"Where the heck do you think you're going, Seto? Sit down!"

This is the older Kaiba?! What the hell?!

"Mr. Kaiba, I assure you, all is well if we just follow the recovery plan I have drafted for you here…"

I'm going to kill him! I fucking swear, Seto, if you can hear me right now, I said I'm going to kill you…

Feeling a horrible pressure building behind his eyes, Kaiba escaped the room and dashed down the hall, brushing past Ayame who was standing beside the vending machines.

He ducked into the stairwell and sagged against the wall, seeing tears sliding annoyingly down his face and clinking down onto the steps beneath him. He leaned over the railing and glanced down the curved spiral at the very bottom, half-considering jumping to his death.

F-Fuck! No. He couldn't do stupid shit like that.

What the fuck was happening in his life?

He had forgotten that…so much time had passed.

Sitting down onto the top step, Kaiba hung his head in his hands, staring at the tips of his shoes which still had bits of sand clinging to the sides. His body was still wet from the ocean, and he realized the damp clothes helped keep his skin moist.

Stop it! Kaiba reprimanded himself, wondering if his mind was going to slowly convert into mer-thoughts if left unchecked.
Maybe, there was some kind of mer-medicine that could help Isono recover.
But Seth and Kisara were currently on another shore, probably fucking each other and having fun without him, so his underwater contacts were too far away to be helpful.

He heard a door slam somewhere below, and the patter of footsteps echoed up through the stairwell.

"Daddy! I found a diamond!" A little girl's voice traveled up from the bottom floor, and a man's voice replied gently, "that's somebody else's. Better leave it there in case they come back to look for it."

"But look, I found another one!" The girl cried, sounding elated. "Look, daddy, look! Issa diamond, right? Sparkly!"

Kaiba palmed his face irritably, biting back more tears of anger and frustration that seemed to flow unchecked from his eyes. Fuck…this! Why was it so hard to stop crying once he started? And why were the waterworks happening so frequently now?

Palming the stray gems that slid messily down his face, Kaiba shoved them into his pocket, accidentally seeing a few smaller ones slip through the cracks of his fingers, and they clattered down over the side of the railing, landing on the ground where the girl and her father were still standing.

Shiiiiit.

"Oh, someone is throwing them," the girl commented, and Kaiba decided it was no longer safe inside the stairwell. He stood fluidly and hurried back into the wing, making sure to ease the door shut behind him so that it wouldn't slam.

He passed Ayame by again, and he heard Noah call out to him excitedly. "Papa!"

"No, that's uncle Seto!" Ayame shushed, and Kaiba couldn't bear to turn around, but he could practically see her face reddening in his mind's eye.

"I want Papa!" The child said loudly, and Kaiba rested his hand on the doorknob to Isono's room, barely able to see inside through the blur of his own tears. He shut his eyes tightly and slowly counted to ten, willing himself to pull it together.

"Oh, Seto, I'm so sorry," Ayame whispered, approaching his side and hefting Noah onto the other side of her hip. "It must be hard on you—oh, you're wet! Did you fall into a…pool somewhere?!"

"No, I was caught in the rain on the way here," Kaiba lied evenly, hearing Noah's voice so loudly inside his head, it made his ear's ache.

PAPA!

Kid, stop, Kaiba thought evenly, making direct eye contact with Noah and seeing the boy's eyes widen ever so slightly, and his face split into a grin.

PAPA PAPA papa PAPA papa PAPA! Papa!

"Since when…could he talk so much?" Kaiba asked through gritted teeth, no longer feeling depressed as another, more welcome feeling overtook him: anger.

"All he says these days is 'Papa'," Ayame said dryly, rolling her eyes. "Sometimes he'll say 'Mama' or blabber, but 'Papa' and 'no' might be his favorite words right now."

"NO!" Noah shrieked, gripping a fistful of Ayame's black hair and giving it a tug. "Give PAPA!"

"Papa is busy! Stop it!" She admonished, looking deeply embarrassed. "Time to go somewhere else. Want down? Want juice?"

"WANT…PAPA!" Noah yelled so loudly, his voice echoed up and down the hallway and people turned to stare.

"I don't want him in there," Ayame confessed, keeping her eyes downcast. "I don't want him to see…I mean—" Oh crap. How do I say I don't want him to see an unconscious old man in a hospital bed hooked up to all those tubes?! Poor Isono…Noah might recognize him and call him papa too! God….

"I'll stay out here with him to keep him quiet," Kaiba said tiredly, holding his hand out instinctively towards Noah's outstretched one, and a chubby fist wrapped around his index finger and tugged happily.

Papa, play! Noah cried, gurgling his spit. Not hungry. Play, play, play!

Kaiba blinked and stared incredulously at the one-year-old.
Babies could think more than they could talk.
Scary.

Play, play, papa, play? Papa, papa papa, play papa? Papa! Papa…

"Ugh, he's hungry, I'm sorry," Ayame shifted Noah to her other hip, looking worn out. "We brought some of his favorite snacks in the car. I'll go get them."

"He's bored, not hungry," Kaiba said automatically, and to his rising surprise, the child grinned at him.

"Borr…" Noah repeated, and Kaiba bit the tip of his tongue.
Shit.
He'd been cursing at this kid in his head since day one.
Did this mean Noah inadvertently learned some bad words too?
Fuck….

"Fuck…" Noah echoed, and Ayame looked absolutely horrified.
She pressed her hand over the child's mouth, her face beet red.

"Where did you learn that?! No, no, no! I need to have a talk with Mokuba," Ayame said instantly, shoving Noah into Kaiba's arms and knocking firmly on the door. "I know you don't say those things in front of him, so it has to be Mokuba! This is very serious! He must've let him watch TV on the wrong channel or something!"

"Maybe…" Kaiba breathed, his chest oddly tight with a mixture of anxiety and laughter.

Down, down, down! Noah thought loudly, thumping his tiny fists on Kaiba's shoulder. Down!

He watched Ayame disappear inside the hospital room before gently setting Noah down on his feet.

YAY! Noah celebrated, gripping onto Kaiba's hand so tightly, he began to lose circulation in his fingers. Fun! Play, papa, play!

We're in a hospital. There's nothing to play with here, Kaiba replied coldly, letting Noah cling to his leg and look up at him with shining eyes, so he repeated himself in his head.

No playing.

Noah's face contorted and he opened his mouth to wail. "Wa-Wa-WAAAAAAAAAAA—!"

Kaiba sighed and moved to sit on the bench outside the door, setting Noah down beside him, letting him throw the tantrum. Nurses passed by and threw him dirty looks, but Kaiba ignored it.

The kid was being a brat on purpose.

"WA-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Okay, maybe this was becoming annoying and rude.

"Kid," Kaiba moved to kneel in front of the child, and he rested his hands on Noah's tiny shoulders, gazing deeply into his angular eyes, appreciating how similar he looked to Mokuba. "Listen. I know you can understand me."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Noah screamed spitefully, keeping one eye open to look at him.

There were no tears. Only volume.

"Do you know who Papa number two is?" Kaiba asked stiffly, feeling ridiculous, but to his surprise, the kid stopped crying and hiccupped at him. He took this as a good sign and pressed on.

"Papa number two is the one who always wears black and reads you stories on Friday nights, you know," Kaiba said warmly, hearing a stray thought from the nurse behind him.

…Is this the older Kaiba? So fatherly…. Where is Mokuba Kaiba?

"Ya," Noah said glumly, kicking his legs on the bench as he continued to writhe in his seat. "Borr. I'm borr. Play!"

"We can't play right now, because Papa Two is…hurt," Kaiba said slowly, wondering if he was ruining the kid, but he really couldn't find any other way to explain it. "Papa One and Mama are inside with the doctor…helping him get better. I'm very sad that he's sick, so I don't want to play right now, okay?"

"…Papa Two, sick?" Noah asked questioningly, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes, and I'm Papa number three, right?" Kaiba said, feeling extremely silly, but it seemed the baby-talk was getting through to Noah. "Now, no more screaming. Use your words to ask for it. If you scream, no one will understand you."

"Want…Papa," Noah said with effort, his cheeks turning red as he tried to clearly restrain himself from yelling. "Give…Papa."

"Which papa?" Kaiba asked kindly, feeling a smile tugging at the corners of his lips against his will. "Papa one, two, or three?"

"Papa one!" Noah cried, kicking his feet irritably on the bench. "Papa one! Give me Papa one!"

"See? Very good," Kaiba praised, gripping Noah's tiny hands in his and giving them a pat. "You asked nicely, now I will go get him."

"Ya," Noah frowned and pouted.

Kaiba rose to his feet with effort and nearly bumped into the nurse coming up behind him.

"Mr. Kaiba? I can watch him out here for you while you head inside…" She said quietly, bowing. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was watching you from the front desk and it looks like you could use some help."

"NO!" Noah shrieked, raising his voice again, and Kaiba felt the child's hot hand wrap around his fingers and squeeze painfully. "No, papa, no!"

No, no, no! Don't like! Don't want! Want Papa! Papa, papa! One!

"Oh, he hates strangers, doesn't he?" The nurse said sympathetically, nodding at Noah. "Hi, I'm Auntie! I'll play with you until your daddy comes outside!"

"No," Noah said coldly, hanging tightly onto Kaiba's hand. "Mama only."

"Awwww," she gushed, and Kaiba resisted the urge to roll his eyes, because Noah was continually chanting for 'Mama' in his head.

"I'll just call him," Kaiba said stiffly, sliding his phone out of his pocket and waving it. "Thank you for your help."

"Of course, no problem." She blushed and hurried away.

Hitting the redial button, Kaiba pressed the phone to his ear and listened to the rings while Noah continued to tug at his hand, chanting 'play, play, play,' in his head while grinning, showing off his tiny teeth.

Mokuba picked up after three things, sounding tired and angry.

"Just come inside, Seto. Why are you calling me from out in the hallway?"

"I have your kid," Kaiba said stiffly, feeling very odd saying this phrase. "He keeps asking for you. Come out here and make him shut up."

"Shut up, shut up," Noah chanted, and Kaiba threw the child a glare.

"So you're the one teaching him the bad words!" Mokuba cried, his voice raising dangerously. "Ayame, you can't keep blaming me for being uninvolved when Seto is the one who—"

The phone clicked off in his ear and Kaiba blinked, realizing Mokuba had hung up on him again…and that he was having a little spat with Ayame inside the room next to an unconscious Isono.

Was it his fault?

Better not think about it too much.

"Shut up," Noah said staunchly, grinning. "Papa, shut up."

"Yeah, you like saying bad words, don't you," Kaiba threw Noah a wry smile and heard the child laugh delightfully.

Author's note:

I'm sorry, this was the death chapter.

But it was also the birth chapter.

y…ay..?

let me know your thoughttts!

-Ugli

this chapter was edited by: chocolateyeti