Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.

Warning: Character Death

Italics=Japanese

Yugi Moto always tried to do the right thing. He helped little old ladies cross streets, always paid his bills on time, and always helped a friend in need. Which is why as he stared at his ticket at the airport, he didn't know if leaving was the right thing to do. He couldn't be here anymore, of course. He, Serenity, and Tristan had to go back to Japan. Duke and Bakura had to be back in England. They had obligations they needed to fulfill, appointments they needed to keep. People who were counting on them. And while Joey had decided to stay behind to work things out with Mai, since he valued her more than some job at a Cafe, or classes he would miss. They had more pressing matters to attend to. Still he felt bad, he had barely seen Tea in his brief stay here and now that he was leaving he was wondering if it was the right thing to do. Then again, as much as he hated seeing Tea upset wouldn't his time be better spent talking to Kaiba. Besides Mokuba and Tea, Kaiba didn't seem to even listen to anyone else's advice besides Yugi's own. What was the right thing to do when you were so torn between two friends?

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Yugi asked. Tea nodded.

"Please go Yugi, I'd feel even worse if I got you fired." Tea said gloomily, not at all like her usual cheerful self.

"Tea, you know we care about you. You can talk to me about anything. There are more important things in life than money." He replied.

"That's right." Tristan said, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "You want me to go kick Kaiba's ass for you? I might get in trouble for being AWOL, but your worth it."

"He didn't do anything wrong, Tristan. I did." Tea replied dimly, "I never meant to hurt him."

"Cheer up Tea. There are plenty of fish in the sea." Serenity said, patting her on the back.

"She's right. And besides, if I were to rate you, I'd totally give you a 9 out of ten." Duke said, nodding sagely. Serenity whacked him on the arm.

"You should have no trouble finding someone else, wear something low cut and mention your a dancer and therefore really flexible. You'll have every guy in New York running after you." Tristan agreed. "I mean, I remember one time Joey and I did a panty tank, and used a ruler to sneak peeks underneath all the girls at school skirts. You'll be fine." Tristan said, rubbing his chin.

"Your lucky I'm too depressed to hit you for that." Tea sighed.

"I'll do it!" Joey yelled, and then tripping on the ground as Duke placed his foot forward to stop him.

"Would you two idiots knock it off!" He complained.

"Hey watch it Pretty boy!" Joey growled, shaking a fist at Duke. Tea laughed despite herself, and the three turned towards her guilty and gave her a sheepish grin.

"Tea, it's the truth you can count on us always. If things get too hard for you, just give me a call. Anytime, I'm always available to talk to you." Yugi said, smiling.

"Thanks, Yugi." Tea replied, returning a sad soft smile.

"Same here!" Tristan agreed.

"Ditto." Serenity said enthusiastically.

"Agreed." Bakura piped in softly.

"What are friends for?" Duke grinned, sticking a hand in his pocket.

"Ahh, don't worry guys. Rebecca, Mai and I promise to take good care of her." Joey said, placing an arm around Tea reassuringly.

"Heh, it's annoying but Joey's right." Rebecca agreed, pushing her glasses up with her index and middle finger.

"All boarding for Flights 153 through 160." A voice on the intercom suddenly rang.

"Well that's our flight. Goodbye Tea, I'll call you when we get there." Yugi said, giving her a hug. Tea said her goodbyes to her friends as they grabbed their luggage and left. Joey, Mai, Tea and Rebecca waited until they had disappeared from sight before walking off.

"Let's go home." Joey said, gently leading Tea away. She followed behind him them quietly, not at all her usual perky self. When they got to the car, Joey flipped on the news to end the uncomfortable silence.

"Late breaking news, a woman has fallen to her death from the Kaiba Corp building and it seems that some kind of security system has functioned and all of the companies heads are trapped inside." The news announcer declared. Joey's eyes widened and he quickly turned towards Mai and then looked back towards Tea and Rebecca who both had equally frightened expressions on their faces. Wordlessly, he frowned and quickly did a U-turn on the street, ignoring the honks from the other cars behind him and sped off towards Kaiba Corp.

Back at Kaiba Corp, Mokuba moaned as he slowly pushed himself to his feet and surveyed the situation around him. After Eric had pulled a gun and shot his brother, the security system and then his weapon had malfunctioned and went off, randomly trapping everyone inside and firing into the room. At first it only shot up the table they had all left, but when everyone realized they were trapped they had went into a panic and tried rushing towards other doors causing the system to react and began another round of firing. He had seen them trample his brother and had tried to push past them but had ended up getting knocked down himself. After that he didn't know really remember what else what happened. He felt very weak and tired though. He looked down and numbly realized that he was covered in blood but he didn't know if it was all his own. He lifted up his shirt and then threw up at the sight of the tiny whole in his side where a bullet had lodged. He surveyed the scene around him and saw Alister in a corner. He was physically unharmed but sitting down on the ground, his arms wrapped around his knees sobbing and muttering something in a language Mokuba didn't understand. He seemed to be having some kind of flashback or nervous breakdown, his brother's dyna guy action figure clutched in one hand. He turned glanced to his left and saw Eric Valkner's body lying face down on the ground near where his sister had fallen, judging by the pool of blood underneath his body he was probably dead. His eyes glanced towards Pegasus, who was staring up at the wall his breathing shallow and ragged. He had blood trickling out his mouth but he didn't appear to actually be shot. He noticed Moore's body next, slumped on the ground, a trail of blood on the door leading to him. He'd probably had his back pressed against the door when he died.

"Mister Kaiba." He heard, he turned and saw Ohhhira motioning towards him He appeared to be completely uninjured, hiding in a corner with the table flipped over. "Come here, now." He insisted. Mokuba glanced over at his brother, and saw him laying on the ground his eyes shut. He chose to crawl towards him instead, but Ohhira grabbed him and dragged him over to him anyway.

"If he is alive, it's best not move him." Ohhira said by way of explanation, pulling out a medical kit. Mokuba saw that Jackson, Warner and Thompson had also taken refuge. Thompson's body was slumped over and leaning against the wall, even though he didn't appear to be injured.

"Heart attack, I do believe." Warner said, noticing Mokuba's eyes. "I think he's still alive, but his pulse is as weak as your brother's was when we last checked. It's entirely possible they are both dead now. Either way, it's best not to move them. It's the only real hope we have left."

"Seto..." Mokuba sobbed. He cried out in pain as Warner quickly embraced him, as Ohhira used tweezers to fish out the bullet and toss it to the side.

"Bite this." Warner said, handing him the old wooden figurine Warner always kept in his pocket for luck. Mokuba placed it in his mouth and then cried out in pain again as he felt wiskey get poured on him from Ohhira's flask. Ohhira drank a little himself and put it in his pocket and then began sewing up the wound.

"How long was I out for?" Mokuba asked when the pain had finally subsided enough to form coherent thoughts. He tried to ignore the urge to run and grab his brother.

"Not every long, I think you got knocked down when the system began malfunctioning. I still don't understand what happened, it was inspected last week." Ohhira said quietly, wiping back a tear. Mokuba heard a banging on the door.

"Mokuba's waken up! Other than that no change!" Warner shouted.

"They are trying to contact the makers of the locking mechanism. Since it can't even be knocked down with a sledge hammer. Problem is they went out of business and we need the reset code." Ohhira explained.

"Where's Siegfried?" Mokuba suddenly remembered, "and my Aunt?"

"That crazy German bastard is trying to hack into the thing now. Your Aunt is helping him by holding the only working flashlight for him. He was the first one she woke up, she sewed up his wounds and told us what to do if you woke up." Ohhira explained. "Apparently shes a doctor now. She took charge of the situation very quickly, and we all have her to thank for being alive. It was her idea to flip the table, and she pulled as many of us underneath as we could."

"My Aunt is a doctor?" Mokuba said in surprise. He realized she must have stolen their inheritance to pay for medical school. He felt angry and confused and relieved all at the same time as this information.

"Yes, which is why I told you to leave your brother alone. She's done all we can for him here, now we need to get out of here and soon." Warner replied.

"I see..." Mokuba whispered quietly. Then he buried in head in his knees and began to sob. Their futures depended on their rival being able to hack into their security systems and his Aunt's medical skills that she stole from them to pay for.

Meanwhile, Kaiba looked around him. He was sitting on the ground, leaning on something that didn't really feel like it existed though the sensations on his back indicated otherwise. He wasn't wearing anything but a pair of snug white shorts but he didn't feel any of the usual embarrassment at being exposed. He felt strangely peaceful and calm, though he had no idea where he was. He was surrounded by an endless expanse of brightly lit,white nothingness.

"Hello!" He shouted, he heard his voice echo from a distance. Shrugging he sat back down, resting his head on his knees. He felt sleepy.

"Seto, my love." He heard a familiar voice call out to him. He looked up in shock and saw his mother and father standing before him. His mother was wearing an ethereal white dress and his father was wearing a white robe like that of the ancient Greeks.

"M-mother?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes, my child." She replied walking towards him. She stopped a few inches from him and placed a hand gently on his face, her hand felt impossibly warm and soft to the touch. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent, before breaking down and sobbing. He felt his father's arm wrap around his back and it made him sob even harder. The tears he had been holding back for years finally coming out in uncontrollable, heart wrenching sobs. Tears slid down his face and landed on the ground, where they splashed strangely into golden pools and then disappeared into nothingness. He didn't know how long they stayed liked this. It could have been a single moment, it could have been years. He couldn't really make heads nor tails of time, but it mattered very little. All of the memories of his part was flashing before his eyes, every moment, every decision flashing before him all at once.

"My brother is strong, he has to survive this." Mokuba said at last, pulling out his locket and staring at it.

"That's what is inside these?" Ohhira asked, glancing down at the picture of his brother. Mokuba nodded and showed the picture of his brother to Ohhira. "Was this taken at the orphanage then?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." Mokuba growled.

"But he looks so happy." Ohhira said, a frown forming on his features. "That place sounds awful."

"It was, but it wasn't all bad. I think I preferred it there actually." Mokuba replied. "Back then, Big brother knew how to smile."

"How can he smile in a situation like that?" Ohhira questioned, "And then be in forever a bad mood now."

"Maybe if you people weren't so incompetent, he'd be in a better one." Mokuba snapped.

"I'm good at what I do, which is why Mr. Kaiba did not fire us which I was sure would happen if we lost here." Warner growled in reply.

"Heh, well if he doesn't survive you can't bet that you will be." Mokuba replied angrily, glaring up at them. "I don't know where you guys got off siding with someone who was trying to harm our company..."

"There you go with that our business again. This company is more than just you and your brother." Ohhira snapped at last. "I work tirelessly too, I've put more money into this company that you have Mokuba. But I don't get any respect. He comes and goes on these tournaments as he pleases. We'll tell him we need him here, and he won't come just because he was told to come back. Just because he owns the majority of the shares. It doesn't matter if Paradis is taking over, so long as he we don't tell him what to do. He's rude and he never listens to anyone elses ideas. Didn't the last financial board member kill himself because your brother continuously rejected all of his suggestions even though he supported the change from arms to gaming?" Ohhira questioned. Mokuba eyes softened and he stared at the picture again. Crump had sided with the rest of the board after his brother had been especially cruel in his dismissal of a penguin themed area at Kaiba Land. It wasn't even that ridiculous of a suggestion. Sometimes he wondered if Crump would have been an ally and told them what the rest of the board had intended to do if his brother hadn't belittled him so often. They all had at one point, helped him overthrow Gozaboro after all. Without them, his brother wouldn't be in the position he was in. Not that it excused their betrayal or subsequent actions. They had gotten what they deserved in the end, but he still couldn't help but wonder.

"I know my brother can be hard to work with sometimes," Mokuba admitted at last. "But that doesn't excuse your behavior. If you hadn't sided with the Valkners, perhaps we could have found a better solution than what happened here today."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Ohhira growled at last, "If I didn't have so much money riding on your brother I would have cut and run long ago. Don't think I won't stop trying to get some control over him. He's not a king, this is a business we are all supposed to be working together to maintain. I won't more responsibilities instead of him doing everything. I want my ideas heard. I want to get my way sometimes, and I won't stop until I make that a reality." Ohhira declared.

"Well said." Warner agreed. Mokuba frowned.

"My brother isn't used to trusting others, and you guys don't exactly make it easy to do so. Why should he trust you when your pulling stunts like this?" Mokuba snapped, turning towards them. "You get what you deserve."

"It's not like things started this way. And so what if he was an orphan, a lot of people were and don't grow up to act like him. He's luckier than most even if he didn't have the most food there. He was adopted by Gozaboro Kaiba and groomed to be his heir. Gozaboro must have been a great father judging by your demeanor. And now he's rich and powerful and famous. He's one of the lucky ones." Ohhira growled. Mokuba's eyes softened and he shook his head.

"I suppose, since you guys are now under gag order and can never talk about or reveal anything about my brother's personal life, I can tell you the truth about that. The truth is, our life with Gozaboro was the opposite of what you would expect, of what we expected. He kept me separate from my brother all the time, my brother wasn't allowed to play or have fun or have friends or do any of things that children should be able to do. The only game he had I smuggled into to him, which was a few duel monsters cards including a blue eyes white dragon what I hand drew him. Instead of playing, he was forced to study for hours on end. He was lucky if he got a three hours of sleep a night, often he went without any at all. To ensure he didn't try to sneak off and play, he was forced to wear a dog collar was literally chained to his desk during lessons. If he made a single mistake, he was beaten with a whip." Mokuba explained.

"Then the scar removal plastic surgery he had, wasn't to get rid of scars he obtained when he was kidnapped?" Ohhira asked. Mokuba shook his head.

"Gozaboro did that to him. The last person he really trusted, was Gozaboro. After that, he hasn't been able to trust anyone. And you all certainly didn't help matters with this little stunt." Mokuba growled. "He isn't doing everything himself because he loves to undermine you, he's doing it all himself because just wants to make sure everything is being done right. Because nobody is going to be as slavishly devoted to not making mistakes as he is, because no one else has a phobia of making them. He figures as long as he makes you money, you should be glad that he is willing to work so hard. Besides that, he's worked to hard on this company to let someone else call the shots."

"I see..." Warner replied, glancing over at Kaiba's still form. "Well, all that aside we still deserve better treatment, and if he is unable to provide it and work with us we're going to have to force him whether he likes it or not."

"I would seriously seek employment elsewhere if you really think that's ever going to change. Seto is Seto, he's not perfect but this company is his baby and he's going to be the reason it sinks or swims." Mokuba shrugged. "Only a Kaiba is allowed to be chairman, and if you really think I'm going to be any different than he is should you cause him harm, you got another thing coming to you." Mokuba declared, glaring at them. Ohhira frowned and rest his head against a wall.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He complained aloud.

"Got it!" Siegfried declared loudly, as the doors finally opened up. The paramedics rushed into the room the second the door opened.

Kaiba pulled away from his mother and father and leaned against the wall of the room as another realization dawned at him.

"Does this mean that I'm dead?" He asked, he was a little surprised to note that the idea of it didn't bother him as much it probably should have. In fact, he felt a little relieved. He was so tired.

"Not yet." His mother answered. "You are close my son, but you have not moved on to the afterlife yet. "

"Then why are you here?" Kaiba asked, frowning.

"When you are close, loved ones come to greet you to encourage you to fight for your life if it's still possible or to welcome and ease you into this next life, if that there isn't a chance for survival." His father answered.

"Then why are you here?" Kaiba asked again, suddenly remembering his talk with his Aunt. "If it's supposed to be a loved one."

"We love you very much." His mother replied as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Then why did you abandon me?" Kaiba said, a tear rolling down his face. "And why were you going to give me up even before your death? I tried my best to be a good son. Why wasn't that enough for you? What wasn't I enough for you? I tried so hard. I loved you so much."

"Seto, my son, I didn't abandon you." His mother insisted. "The truth of the matter is, that I loved you very much. I made the decision to have Mokuba because I wasn't supposed to survive your birth either, but I did. It was arrogance that lead to my death, my own. It wasn't your fault and it wasn't Mokuba's fault. I know you both have struggled with that, but it's not true." His mother said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Same here, son. I thought I could save that girl and outrun the vehicle. I didn't think it would hit me instead. It was stupid pride that got me killed, thinking I could be a hero and save the day. You did nothing wrong and you shouldn't blame yourself for my death either." His father nodded.

"If you loved me so much, then why were you going to give me away? Why was Mokuba going to be a fresh start?" Kaiba asked, pointing an accusatory finger at them.

"I could haunt my sister..." Kaiba's mother said sadly, placing a hand on her hip. "The truth is that you witnessed some things you shouldn't have had to witness as a baby, for example getting fed chicken fingers in the back room while I applied to be a stripper at another bar. We thought it might have been why you were so tough and irritable. Your father and I thought that maybe Mokuba wouldn't have to witness those things and that he would be sweeter. Maybe taking care of him would be a good influence on you. It wasn't because you were unloved." His mother explained.

"As for the adoption, that was my idea. I thought that maybe you would be better off with a family who could afford to give you all the things that you deserved. You even had a sleepover with a prospective parent. But after just one night without you, one night where you weren't my son, I wanted to hang myself. I couldn't bare to be apart from you. I loved you far too much. So I selfishly called it off, even though they would have provided you a safe home where you could have learned just as much as you did with that monster without the abuse." His father finished. "I just couldn't do it though. Your mother and I were selfish people sometimes, and we couldn't bear to be apart from you. We loved you too much. So we did what was best for us, not you and it's honestly the only regret I have about my old life. If I had known you would end up in someone else's home anyway, I would have made sure it was a good one. The one you deserved."

"The only regret? But you were a bouncer after dropping out of school. Your life was nothing but one tragedy after the next." Kaiba said softly.

"I agree with your father though." His mother said, "Even though at first I was unhappy with my life. Because being a stripper and prostitute brought me a lot of hardships. I was attacked, sometimes men forced themselves on me, and for a brief period I was even addicted to drugs. But I wouldn't change a single moment of my life, save that one. Because, if I did, I wouldn't have met Fuwa. And I wouldn't have met your father or had you. I'd endure even the greatest hardships a thousand times over with glee, just for your safety son. You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me. You were worth all of it."

"I'm actually quite happy with the way my lifed turned out." His father agreed. "As far as I'm concerned, I left the world a better place than it started. Your mother and I lived lives of value to society. Because your mother and I had you for a son."

Kaiba grew silent for a moment, and then buried his face in his knees and began to cry again. This time though, it was tears of happiness. He felt a great weight get pulled off his shoulders and he hadn't remembered being so happy in a very long time.

"Follow that ambulance." Tea insisted as Joey pulled up to Kaiba Corp.

"How do you know he's in that one?" Joey asked.

"I can just feel it." Tea replied. Joey shrugged and made note of the hospital it was going to.

"I know a shortcut to that hospital." Mai said, glancing over at it. "Joey, switch seats with me." Joey pulled over and the two quickly switched seats, and Mai turned off into a side road. Only to reach a bunch of traffic.

"Damn it!" She yelled, honking her horn at the cars. "Move it!" She yelled at them.

"Shut up lady!" Someone yelled back.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"She shouted in reply, before poking her head back in the car.

"What if he doesn't want to see me?" Tea said quietly, biting her lower lip.

"Then we'll mug some nurse for her uniform and see him anyway." Rebecca grinned. "Besides, I'm sure Mokuba will still see you even if Kaiba refuses."

"I hope it's that easy..." Tea said wistfully, placing a hand on her chin and looking out the window. "But I doubt it will be. I'd understand if it wasn't. What I did isn't something thats really forgivable. I just want to know if he's okay. Then if he doesn't want to see me, we'll know he's okay because he can talk enough to refuse visitors. We'll just leave if that happens. I'm not trying to make things more difficult for him."

"Tea, we all make mistakes and you've forgiven him for much worse. Remember Death-T?" Joey said, lighting a cigarette to calm his nerves.

"That's different." Tea said, shaking her head. "He was mentally ill, and it took a shadow game to cure him of that mental illness. Nothing in our modern society could have. I won't hold that against him."

"Then what about Duelist kingdom. That little stunt he pulled on Yugi."

"He was desperate." Tea replied. "I looked at his duel disk afterwards. He had a negate attack in his deck, he didn't have to risk his life. He wasn't thinking clearly."

"That don't make up for what he did. That just makes it worse, as far as I"m concerned." Joey growled. "I bet he was just playing mind games to get off on it."

"I think he was just scared he was going to lose his brother, and forgot it was there. It looked like he freaked out when his blue eyes started melting. It was like watching someone getting a penalty game being placed on them, the way his eyes looked. That's why I had to stop Atem. I couldn't let him go through with it, I couldn't watch a life slip through our fingers when we had a chance to stop it."

"Yeah, well his little stunt could have cost Yugi's grandpas life."

"I always knew Yugi would find a way into Pegasus's castle. I believed in him. I believe in all my friends." Tea explained, glancing out the window. "And I don't believe Kaiba was thinking clearly when he did that, even though I was probably the one of the angriest one of us all at him for doing such a thing. I wanted to slap him for doing such a thing to Yugi" Tea reasoned, "And for placing so little value on his own life. To play with it like it's just another card..."

"Well at Battle City..." Joey began.

"He saved my life." She finished. Joey ran a hand through his hair in frustration. It was the truth really, for some reason Tea had always gotten a lot further with Kaiba than the rest of them had. She was able to yell at him without him trying to humiliate her, and he stopped and listened to whatever she had to say. Even if he did just mock friendship afterwards. It was further than the rest of them had gotten, save for Yugi.

"Heh, I guess he was more cruel to Yugi and I than he was to you. But still, the guy was a creep back in the day and you forgave him. As far as I'm concerned, he owes you one." Joey said at last, blowing rings of smoke in the air to distract himself from the gravity of the situation.

"Thanks Joey, but I'm the one who owes him. A real apology. If nothing else, I hope I can tell him that." Tea replied, sighing sadly.

"Which one are you here to do." Kaiba said at last, picking at the hem of his mother's dress. He was resting his head on mother's shoulder, while he dad rubbed soothing circles on his back. They had sat down next to him.

"We want you to fight for your life son." His father answered easily. "When you hear the doctors voice, run to it. You won't have a very long window of opportunity."

"What if I don't want to live?" Kaiba sighed, "I'm so tired. Nobody loves me back there, and I'm just tired of fighting." He admitted. It was weird pouring out all of his emotions here, but it was impossible to hold even the smallest one back even with his herculean strength when it came to holding back emotion.

"That's not true. You have friends there, friends whose worry I can sense. Mokuba loves you very much as well, as does that cute girl you've been seeing. I can sense her beating herself up as we speak, shes extremely depressed despite being a normally very bubbly personality." His mother laughed.

"Yugi would get over it, he's lost closer. And Mokuba and Tea betrayed me. The only people in the entire world I was supposed to be able to trust." Kaiba replied, unable to help the tear that rolled down his cheek. His father quickly wiped it away.

"Seto, you've done some pretty bad things to Mokuba too. The experience of death? That was pretty cruel. Much worse than just sleeping with a girl you both happen to like. And he forgave you." His father chastised.

"But I don't understand how." Kaiba said, knitting his brow in confusion.

"Well, I will say this. In normal circumstances, I would not forgive someone who did what they did to you. In most cases, that person deserves to be kicked to the curb and I'm very glad I dumped the sacks of garbage who cheated on me." His mother explained "But you two aren't most people. You never have been. The supernatural has surrounded you two and bonded you three together in a way that is literally not possible for anyone else on Earth except you and Yugi's group. Those who deal with the supernatural are bound together with a secret they cannot share with anyone. They are heros are the rest of the world doesn't even know it." .

"And Mokuba was kidnapped with Tea, those two share a bond that is stronger than glue. Mokuba confused that with romantic love and made a huge mistake. A mistake he understands was wrong and desperately wants to make it up to you for. The girl is the same." His father added.

"If you go back, you'd be well within your rights to never forgive them. But sometimes, because you love someone. Because having that person in your life is more important than being right, you can forgive them. It wouldn't be easy, and it would take a long time to rebuild trust. But with hard work, you can try to salvage the relationship. It's up to you to determine if that's what's right for you. Do what's best for you, my son." His mother finished, squeezing his shoulder. Kaiba nodded, and sighed.

"I suppose the best things that have come to me in that world have all required hard work to obtain." Kaiba reasoned, "And I do still love them despite knowing that I shouldn't. But...i'm just so tired of fighting for everything."

"Then let others take on some of the burden for you. You don't have to do everything yourself, son." His father said, smiling at him. "I had to learn that lesson the hard way too. But trust me, if you open your heart and let love in it will be the greatest thing you ever do."

"Besides, we have never left your side son. We'll always be watching you, and we'll always love you so don't go around thinking nobody does." His mother chastised, playfully swatting him the arm.

"Alright. Then can I ask you one thing. If you see Gozaboro, can you let him know I never meant for him to die." Kaiba requested. His mother frowned.

"That evil jerk hasn't passed on yet, he's still trapped in the place between life and death unable to move because his data is stored on some island somewhere or something. I'd be highly surprised if he got sorted to the same place we are." She explained. Kaiba thought about this for a moment.

"I'd still want him to know, if he you see him in this holding place that we're in now. I may have hated him, but only because of the way he treated me. I didn't want him to die, and I didn't take his company over for that. I took it over because I wanted a new life, one that involve me getting abused. I regret that he thought it meant he had to die. I would have liked the opportunity to start over and come to love him. But what he did was unacceptable and I wouldn't change what I did if I could. I couldn't let him hurt me anymore." Kaiba said thoughtfully, he felt another weight get lifted off his shoulders as another regret flew away.

"And I regret my actions that caused that guy who I threatened to destroy his business if he didn't give me the blue eyes white dragon to commit suicide. I shouldn't have done that and if I had known that the mafia would burn down his house instead of a picture as a warning, I never would have done it. I didn't mean for him to die, and I'm sorry about that too." He confessed again, "And for all the other people I hurt on my quest to power. If you see any of them, please let them know that I'm sorry." He felt the last of his regrets melt away and he suddenly felt lighter on his feet. His mother and father smiled at each other and then at him.

"I think you'll be fast enough now to be at peace. I think you'll be strong enough now to make it." His father grinned. "Please go on and live for us my son. We're rooting on you and hoping for your success. And remember, no matter what you become, we're proud of you."

"We love you so much!" His mother agreed, when suddenly Kaiba heard the sounds of the hospital staff.

"Come on you arrogant bastard, don't die on me." He heard the doctor's voice echo throughout the strange room.

"I guess that's my cue. I love you!" Kaiba said quickly, hugging them one last time. He lingered for just a moment before rushing towards the door way that spilled out impossibly more light into the room. He ran as fast he can, when he saw the door start shutting on him. He looked back one last time at his mother and father's form, before bursting through the door. He suddenly felt himself falling and let out a soundless yell of surprise before everything faded from sight again.

Mokuba bit his lip as he paced back and forth in the private hospital room they had given him. When he saw the doctor come in.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked him, taking his pulse.

"I'm fine! How's my brother?" He snapped.

"I'm your doctor, not his. You'll have to be patient, we're doing everything we can." She replied, writing some information on her clipboard. "You have some visitors, would you like to see them?" She asked. Mokuba nodded and he saw Tea, Joey, Rebecca and Mai come into the room.

"I'm so glad your okay!" Tea exclaimed, hugging him tightly. Mokuba sighed, pulling away. She wasn't his girl anymore, he reminded himself.

"Thank you." He said, as he felt Joey suddenly give him a bear hug next. Mokuba rolled his eyes as Joey pulled away.

"Man, I'm glad your okay!" Joey said, rubbing his hair. He looked over and saw Mokuba had a tray of untouched food. "Aren't you going to eat that?" He asked.

"No..." Mokuba replied, watching as Joey grabbed his jello and took a seat. "Man, I always get so hungry when I'm nervous."

"Your always hungry. Your stomach is like a never ending black hole." Mai admonished, shaking her head. She turned towards Mokuba.

"How's your brother hun?" She asked. Mokuba shrugged bitterly, and Tea fell backwards. Rebecca quickly placed a chair behind her so she fell into the chair instead of on the ground. Before Mokuba explained, the doctor walked in with a smile on his face.

"I have some good news for you." He said, glancing at Mokuba and then at his visitors. "Would you like for me to speak to you in private?"

"No, here is fine. They are his visitors too." Mokuba replied.

"Very well. Your brother is now in stable condition." The doctor began, Mokuba released a breath he didn't know he was holding and Tea cried out in relief. Joey cheered and while Mai and Rebecca collapsed into chairs with smiles on their faces. They had been trying to be strong for their loved ones, but the truth was that they had been worried too despite not knowing Kaiba that well. They were glad that maybe now they would get the chance to know him better, seeing how important he was to their friends.

"That's great news doc, where is he?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, hes in ICU right now, but we should be able to move him here pretty soon. I do want to warn you though that he did actually die on the operating room table but we were able to resuscitate him. He's going to have to take it easy for a while. He was shot in the chest after all. The hardest part is over though and we're hopeful he'll make a full recovery." The doctor explained. He left the room and Mokuba sighed in relief, wiping away of tear of happiness. He looked over at Joey who he saw crying too and realized their wasn't a dry eye in the room.

"Well, now that I know he's okay. I guess I'll go. I don't want to upset him." Tea began, getting up.

"Tea stay, please." Mokuba said, grabbing her by the hand. "I could really use a friend right now, and you probably won't get another chance to make things right with my brother. Nobody carries a grudge better than him." Mokuba laughed.

"All right then." Tea agreed, biting her lip nervously.

"Don't worry Tea, money bags is strong. I swear that bastard has nine lives or something." Joey said, patting her roughly on the back. Tea nodded.

"Yeah, it's one of the things that I love about him." She agreed, smiling softly.