Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Summoning Death ❯ Chapter Six: Breaking the Spell ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is owned by its creator, Kabuki Takahashi and its respective anime companies. I'm borrowing the characters and ideas for a nonprofit fan fiction written solely for the enjoyment of myself, and hopefully others.

All rights and privileges to Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.

Author's Notes: To fully understand this fan fic, which is part of a much larger arc, I highly suggest that you read Animom's "KP Duty" and the first two chapters of the sequel "Coming Clean". I am blessed that she allowed me to play this story in her richly written AU arc about what really happened when Seto Kaiba lost his soul to Pegasus. These stories are about recovery and coming to terms with oneself after the unthinkable happens. Again, I cannot stress how good those stories are and I am unable to find the words to fully convey my feelings on this subject.

He was going to have to leave soon.

Very soon.

Duo shifted in his seat as he tried to focus on the kung-fu movie that he and Mokuba were watching. Still, he felt the slight tingling on his spine: a notification telling him that it was almost time for him to go home. That was the problem with dimension jumping, there were windows involved that one had to catch, and this window would be closed in just a few days' time, or less.

"Wasn't that cool?!" Mokuba chirped, clutching to a cushion and bouncing in his seat. He pointed to the screen, where the hero had just done some Flying Dragon sort of kick that sent the bad guy sailing through the air.

Duo grinned as he toyed with Mokuba's wild raven hair. He answered in an amused voice, "Fairly cool."

"Can you do stuff like that?" Mokuba asked, looking up at him with those wide, violet-grey eyes.

Duo answered, "I can hold my own."

It was true, he could hold his own. He had gotten into a lot of fights when he was a resident at Maxwell's Church and won every one of them. However, his martial arts knowledge was a hodgepodge of aikido from what Heero had taught him to a little Jeet-Kun-Do that Wufei was trying to teach him of late. He did know the basic rules of sparring and how to pull his blows, but he was more of a street fighter, pure and simple. He fought dirty and he fought to win.

Mokuba grinned at him with the confidence that the young had. He bounced up on his knees and replied, "I bet you kick major butt, Duo."

Duo eyed Mokuba warily. He doubted that Seto knew how truly manipulative his little brother was. He knew exactly when to attack and how to do so. And right now, Mokuba was definitely trying to butter Duo up.

"I have my moments," Duo drawled carefully, keeping his eyes on Mokuba's friendly, playful face, "Why do you ask, kiddo?"

Mokuba shrugged and answered, "Well, it's just been so long since Seto had a good sparring partner. He used to really be into it you know, aikido and all. It's just that I'd think that he misses it, you know."

"So, what are you suggesting?" Duo asked as Mokuba chewed on his bottom lip and gave him wide, pleading eyes.

The puppy act faded as soon as the question was out of Duo's mouth. Mokuba blithely answered, "Maybe you could spar with Seto."

Physical contact in a positive, healthy way. Business like, totally innocent. Duo pondered this for a moment. Plus, Seto could work out some of his anger this way, get it out of his system just for a little bit.

He looked down at Mokuba again, amazed at the child's intuitiveness. He nodded and drawled, "Well, that seems like a good idea . . ."

"Come on, you'd have fun!" Mokuba pleaded, shaking Duo's arm, "And maybe you can show Seto the knife trick."

And get my ass kicked in the process . . .

"I've discovered that Kaiba Mokuba is an evil, manipulative child and I like him even more," Duo proclaimed as he flopped gracelessly onto Mai's plush couch.

Mai raised a graceful eyebrow and asked, "What in the world makes you say that?"

"Oh, he convinced me into trying to get Seto to spar with me," Duo groaned, smothering his face with a velvet pillow.

Mai's laughter filled the room as she removed the pillow from his face. She said, "I knew you were a glutton for punishment, but that's ridiculous."

"Are you saying I can't take him?" Duo demanded playfully.

Mai looked him over and said, "I think you could take anyone you wanted to."

"Not like that!" Duo retorted, grabbing another pillow and tossing it at her.

She dodged with a tiny, feminine pout. She chuckled, "With you it's hard to tell."

"Okay, fine, since I have to be very literal with you, Mistress Mai, I'll spell it out for you. Do you think I could hold my own with him in a sparring session?" Duo replied, tilting his nose into the air.

Mai looked him over doubtfully. She answered, "I don't know, Duo. Kaiba's intense in a fight. Jonouchi's no slouch and Kaiba slung him to the ground."

"Why did he do that?" Duo asked, meeting Mai's eyes curiously.

Mai smiled with grim amusement as she answered, "Jonouchi grabbed his lapels and threatened him, that's why."

"Oh, so self-defense then. That's good," Duo replied.

Mai chuckled, "I think he was egging Jonouchi on as well."

"Ahh, part of that getting in the face that we've noticed about these two," Duo drawled with a grin.

Mai nodded and chuckled, "And an excuse for physical contact."

"Nothing wrong with that," Duo chortled wickedly. Mai playfully smacked him with one of the pillows. Duo gave her an innocent look and said, "Contact is a good thing, and full contact one-on-one can be a lot of fun."

Mai groaned at his pun. She looked at him and asked, "That's why you've agreed to spar with him?"

"Hey, if he can handle grabs and punches and holds, then that's an improvement from flinching every time someone looks at him," Duo explained as he fluffed up a pillow just to give his hands something to do.

Mai chuckled and said, "You know, Summoning you has to be the best mistake that Kaiba's ever made."

"Well, he could of gotten one of the other Deaths, the ones who are more literal and basically do what they are Summoned to do and get gone," Duo replied, leaning on the pillow and looking up at Mai.

Mai shifted so she could face him better. She asked, "What, do the Deaths have a time limit or something like that?"

"A dimensional shift limit. It's complicated. Seto would pick it up," Duo began, scratching his head thoughtfully.

Mai pouted and asked, "And you don't think I would?"

"No, not that, it's just that the mumbo-jumbo stuff can get complicated it and it's easier to equate it to physics terms," Duo explained.

Mai fluffed Duo's pillow and said, "Try me."

"Well, each Death has free will, the ability to refuse to do the job. If they do that, they automatically go home. Or they can do the job then go home. Or they can do what I'm doing, decide to help the Summoner, in a different way than the Summoner planned. However, the dimensional shifts that I use to jump from Point A to Point B are really fickle. You've gotta time it just right when you're helping them or you could end up stuck in Point A for a very long time until the next shift shows up. If you refuse a job, automatically there's a shift. If you finish the job, automatically, there's a shift. If you do something different, you have to wait for a shift to occur within a certain time limit," Duo explained, toying with the ends of his braid.

Mai prompted, "And Kaiba Summoned you here for?"

"Vengeance. Against Pegasus and those other five guys. Unfortunately, I can't even sense where this Pegasus guy is, but Seto's got names, faces, and locations of the other five set up for me to take a peek at," Duo answered, sighing as he banged his face into the pillow.

Mai asked, "And what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to look at the files of course," Duo sighed, rubbing his temples.

Mai's violet eyes were serious as she studied him. She then asked, "Then what?"

"Honestly?" Duo sighed.

Mai nodded, her eyes not leaving his.

Duo pushed his face into the pillow, muffling his voice.

"I don't have a fucking clue."

However, before Duo was going to take a peek at the files, he decided that he'd try to do some good for Seto. Make him open up a little more, come out of his shell. To accomplish this, Duo was going to allow his ass to be kicked.

Sometimes, I'm just too nice of a guy, Duo mused to himself as he walked into the gym.

Duo looked around. It was just as clean as the rest of the house, even though the punching bag had duct tape wrapped all around it in silver bands. It was worn, fraying around the edges where the tape was placed. It was obvious that Seto liked to use the bag.

He reached out and pushed the bag with a tiny grin. It swayed back and forth before stopping again. He wondered why Seto didn't replace the bag with a new one, hell, he had the money to. Unless he was fond of it, like an old T-shirt you couldn't force yourself to throw away and still wore despite the fact the underarms had holes all in them and the threads were unraveling.

Score! There was a 12x12 patch of thick blue mat in the center of the gym. There were mirrors around the walls. There was also a weight set as well, but Duo was more concerned with the blue matting in the center.

He fell back on it. It supported his weight and cushioned the fall. He nodded in satisfaction as he rolled over and pounded it with his fists and sides of his hands a few times. Deciding that it was soft enough for him, he stood up.

Duo took a look at himself in the mirror and took a stance. He was wearing his leather pants and a black turtleneck today. He looked like a biker punk with class, he realized with a tiny snicker.

Then he noticed blue garbed figure in the doorway mirrored at him. Duo watched as Seto's reflection drew closer until the taller teen was right up behind him. There was amusement playing in Seto's blue eyes as he took Duo's stance in.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Seto asked, folding his arms as Duo turned around to face him.

Duo scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. "Sorry, Mokuba told me about the gym and I couldn't resist. He had me watching bad kung-fu movies all of yesterday."

"Bruce Lee?" Seto asked as he adjusted his duster.

Duo shook his head with a tiny grin. "Jackie Chan. Something about a Drunken Master."

"Mokuba loves that movie. He knows all the bad dubbed lines by heart since he always watches it in English," Seto replied fondly with a tiny shake of his head.

Duo moved his mouth then said in a bad Chinese accent, "I will show you the power of my Fist of Flame!" Then he turned to the side and punched the air with a fierce grunt.

Seto's smile was reward enough for Duo. He grinned back and relaxed. "Yeah, they're corny. It makes them fun."

"I take it you know some moves," Seto added.

Duo lifted an eyebrow and asked, "What, wanna take me on?" I am so going to get my ass kicked. I'm going to be lying on that mat groaning in pain. I can see it now. Damn your Puppy Eyes, Mokuba!

Seto's blue eyes lit up while the rest of his face stayed the same. He shrugged his shoulders and answered, "It's been a while since I've gotten a good work out."

"Well, let's go change and meet back here," Duo replied cheerfully as he ran off.

Yep, my ass is going to be screaming in pain.

However, seeing the pleased look on Seto's face was worth it.

Within minutes, Duo was back into the gym, dressed in a pair of black sweat pants and a tank top. He had re-braided his hair, making sure that the braid was tight and secure, keeping his hair out of his face. He began to tape his knuckles when Seto padded into the room barefooted.

The slender teen was dressed in a pair of navy blue draw string sweats and a pale grey T-shirt. There was a look of anticipation in his blue eyes as he looked Duo over. He put on padded head gear before he started to wrap his hands.

Duo put on similar head gear as well, smashing it over his hair. He bobbed his head left to right to make sure it was secure. He bounced on the balls of his feet and shook his shoulders, loosening his muscles. He stretched his arms over head and behind him.

Seto, on the other hand, was doing a practiced set of typical tai-chi stretches. His hands, arms, legs and feet moved with precise, elegant motion. He then did a set of quick lunges before straightening up to look Duo in the eye.

"Any set rules?" Seto asked, rolling his shoulders.

Duo nodded and answered, "Pull your punches. And no groin shots." There, I said it. Even though Duo, in an actual fight, wouldn't hesitate kicking a guy in the groin. It was a good, dirty shot that was usually effective.

Seto nodded in agreement as he walked to the middle of the mat. Duo pulled off his socks and followed him. He cracked his knuckles and faced Seto on the mat. Seto bowed, his eyes never leaving Duo's. Duo mirrored the bow, licking his lips nervously.

"Now, we start," Seto stated as he rose up, quick as a snake.

He threw a punch and Duo narrowly dodged it. Seto pivoted on his feet, turning his body for a roundhouse kick. His foot shot up to Duo's face.

Duo slid his arm up to catch Seto's heel. He then jerked back, sending the taller boy stumbling. Seeing the opportunity, he moved forward, throwing a punch.

Seto caught his wrist with a tiny grin and twisted it behind Duo's back. Duo flinched as Seto held him in the arm lock, easy as could be. Their bodies were pressed together, one of Seto's feet was pushing Duo's left foot away from his right, making him unbalanced.

Duo looked up as Seto looked down. Their eyes met and Duo grinned, resting his weight against Seto's chest despite the burning line in his arm. Then, without warning, Duo took his free hand and placed it against Seto's neck.

Seto's eyes widened as Duo lightly caressed Seto's neck before bracing against it. He spun towards Seto, using his neck as leverage, causing the other boy to let his wrist go. Duo then curled his fingers against his palm and thrust up.

Seto parried the blow, pushing Duo's arm away to the side. Then he kneed Duo in the gut, not hard enough to cause damage, but just enough to let Duo know that Seto had let him go. The two stood there, facing each other. Duo grinned, wiping sweat off of his brow as Seto watched him intently.

The next movement was too fast for Duo to follow. One moment Seto was facing him and the next Duo was falling back towards the mat. He managed to catch himself at the last moment, bouncing back to his feet.

Seto continued relentlessly, seeing the weakness and taking advantage of it. Duo barely kept Seto's fists and feet from connecting, reeling from one set of blows into the next. Finally tired of this, Duo shot a good, old fashioned left hook.

Seto caught his wrist, twisted and flipped Duo to the mat. Duo hit hard, knocking the wind out of him. He lay there, starring up at the ceiling in a daze.

Seto was taking off his head gear. He asked, "Duo, are you okay?"

"Ask me again in a few minutes," Duo answered as Seto reached over to take his head gear off.

Seto pushed both sets of head gear away, shaking his brown hair from his eyes. Duo held out his hand and Seto took it, pulling him into a sitting position. Then Seto sat down beside him, his chest falling and rising heavily.

They sat there, both catching their respective breaths.

After a moment, Seto said, "We should do cool-down stretches."

"Let me stop spinning and I will," Duo replied, sweat trickling down his face.

Seto looked over at him. Duo noticed that they were sitting close enough that their thighs were brushing together. A casual movement put them even closer, Seto's thigh almost covering his, their shirts grazing each other.

Seto said, "I didn't throw you that hard."

"Tell that to my back. You knocked the wind out of me," Duo retorted with a tiny grin.

Seto frowned and stated, "Well, if you actually could settle with one style instead of weaving back and forth to I have no idea what, then I wouldn't have had to do that."

"Well, I knew I was going to get my ass kicked," Duo replied with a shrug.

Seto asked, "Then why did you suggest it?"

"Momentary lapse of sanity," Duo answered, reaching up to brush his hair out of his face.

Seto, however, beat him to it. He pushed the sweaty strands back, smoothing Duo's bangs from his face. However, he continued to stroke his hand down, smoothing the loosened strands back onto the plait. His hand ended on Duo's shoulder, the touch feather light.

Kiss me. You can do it. Take this tiny step. Kiss me. Duo silently willed he inhaled the smell of mint and the tang of sweat. Duo turned to face him and swallowed as blue eyes met violet. Seto's mouth parted as they looked into each other's eyes.

Duo watched as Seto's head lowered towards his, his eyes half closed. Seto sighed as he rested his forehead against Duo's. Duo tilted his face up, his heart racing in anticipation as he placed a hand on Seto's chest. Under his fingertips, he felt Seto's heart beating frantically, like a caged animal.

He didn't urge Seto closer; he waited for the other boy to make his move. Seto's hand shook as he slid his face down, their noses brushing against each other in a feather light caress.

It took every ounce of will power that Duo possessed not throw himself into a kiss, drown himself in crystalline blue eyes, silky hair, and long, slim limbs. He sat perfectly still as Seto tentatively brushed his lips against his.

"Niisama!" Mokuba's clear, young voice shattered the silence.

Seto jerked away as if he had been set on fire. He looked up at his younger brother's knowing, grey eyes. Mokuba said, "Oh … if you two wanna be alone . . ."

Great timing, kiddo, Duo thought with wry amusement.

Seto cleared his throat as his pale cheeks turned crimson. He stood up and looked his little brother over. Mokuba was smiling behind his fist.

"Do you need anything, Mokuba?" Seto asked, stretching out his body in one clean, slender line.

Mokuba answered, "Dinner's ready, but I think it can wait."

"We'll be there in a minute," Duo said, waving Mokuba away. The dark haired imp giggled as he ran off.

Seto looked down at Duo, blushing. He managed, "I don't know what came over me. . ."

Duo stood up and lifted his finger to Seto's lips to hush him. Seto looked at him with wide eyes. Duo removed his hand and grinned.

"You don't need to say anything, Blue Eyes. Come on, dinner's ready and I'm hungry after that ass kicking," Duo said with a playful grin, holding his hand out to Seto.

Surprisingly, Seto took it.

"Millie, could you show me any new files that Seto started? " Duo asked as he sat in front of the large screen. He had kept the lights dim, the blue glow of the screen blanketing over him in a soothing manner. The rest of the house was asleep, so why should he bother them?

"I have found numerous under a new directory named Tantalus," Millie replied, "Would you like to view it?"

Duo nodded and answered, "Pull it up, babe."

andros.r
gynos.r
daimos.r
enviros.r
cnvrstn.c
frply.c
fckng.c
knk.c
trtr.c
cmfrt.c

Duo leaned back in the chair and asked, "Could you explain them to me?"

Millie answered, "They appear to be shell files for the VR system. Not much code is written. This is all the information I have on this as of this current time."

Men, women, conversation, foreplay … He's making a VR sex program . . . Not too happy to see kink and torture, but at least comfort's there too. Duo chuckled in mild disbelief before asking, "Any other recent files? I'm looking for anything earmarked for me specifically."

"Yes, Seto instructed me to show you this," Millie answered as she opened files in a directory named "Duo_Maxwell."

Each of the new windows had three photographs: a head shot, a profile, and a full body shot. There was the general information of name, employer, current whereabouts, and age; just basic information about each of the five men that had tortured Seto. They seemed to be rather normal guys. None of them had any criminal records other than a few speeding and parking tickets. Hell, one of them even was married and had a newborn son.

It sickened Duo to think that these five normal guys could seemingly violate a young teen for fun. Especially the one with the baby. Duo groaned as he buried his face into his hands. He felt physically ill at the thought of it.

"Duo, are you well?" Millie asked, her normally sarcastic voice filled with concern.

Duo blinked as he looked up at the screen. He answered, "Not really."

"Anything else you want me to look up?" she asked, the screen flickering for a moment.

Duo rhetorically asked, "Why would a man with a new family torture a teenage boy?"

To his surprise, Millie answered, "Because depravity is a natural human state. Society places limitations on the human psyche that one cannot act upon. When given a chance to act upon the id's desires, many humans jump at the chance."

Duo sighed, "And I wouldn't be any better than they are if I killed them."

Millie stated, "You were Summoned here for a purpose, Duo. You are serving justice."

"No, I'm serving Vengeance, not justice or even retribution. I'm striking back for someone who couldn't. And if I do strike back, I'm not any better than those who attacked Seto," Duo explained, sighing heavily.

Light flooded the room. Duo flinched as he shielded his face. He turned towards the door to see Seto standing there.

"You shouldn't work in the dark. You'll strain your eyes," Seto said matter-of-factly.

Duo retorted, "I have great night vision."

"I was wondering if you were going to look at those or not," Seto said, his voice wavering as he looked at the screen.

Duo met his eyes and replied, "I had to."

"Are you going to go after them?" Seto asked. His voice was forcedly casual, but one of his hands was clenched tightly in a fist. Duo noted the strain as the fine muscles began to tremble there. This afternoon, after their sparring, during that brief almost-kiss, Duo felt that they had managed to get past a major hurtle. However, giving the order to kill these five men would be something Seto would never forget. It would lock him in the past, preventing him from moving on.

Duo replied, "What good would that do?"

"They would pay for what they did to me," Seto stated.

Duo shook his head, causing his braid to fly. He reached out and gently took hold of Seto's trembling fist. He uncurled the fingers, then twined his fingers with Seto's long, graceful ones.

"Death is one of the greatest finalities out there, Seto. There'll be five cold, unfeeling bodies on your conscience if you fall to their level. And then what? You'd prove that you're no better than they are. If you rise above them, then what they did becomes pointless," Duo gently explained, rubbing his thumb in gentle circles over Seto's delicate wrist. "It falls away from you."

Seto looked at him with those crystalline blue eyes. He squeezed Duo's hand in return and asked, "How do I rise above, then?"

"Live. Surpass them, that's what I suggest," Duo answered, a tiny smile playing on his gamine features.

Seto asked, "How? What would you do?"

"Leave them alone and be the best I can be," Duo answered truthfully, "Shove it into their faces that I'm better than they are." Then Duo grinned, "And I'd shake my ass going, 'Nanananana!'"

Seto stared at the screen thoughtfully, resting his other hand on Duo's shoulder. Moments passed. Duo watched the play of emotions cross that handsome face and flicker over those sapphire eyes.

After a few more beats, Duo asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Leave them alone," Seto answered, his voice croaking.

Duo smiled gently as he patted Seto's hand. "Good for you, Blue Eyes."

At that moment, Duo felt the air change around him. His mission was almost complete. He would be going home shortly. Back to Heero and Relena.

However, part of him wanted to miss the window and stay here . . .

Duo mused, "Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Right. I'm going back to bed," Seto replied, letting Duo go with a lingering clasp, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Duo smiled brightly, "Tomorrow."

And I'll say good bye.

"So, are you Seto's boyfriend now?" Mokuba asked as he held an empty plastic bottle in his hands.

Duo taped up the makeshift target on the wall and nodded at it in satisfaction. He looked back at Mokuba, who was tossing the bottle up in the air and catching it before repeating the motions again. The youngest Kaiba was grinning at him mischievously and happily.

Duo walked over to the boy and tousled Mokuba's unruly tresses. He picked up an empty bottle of his own and looked at the target. He thought about Mokuba's question and the pressing urges in the air, telling him that he needed to go home.

Part of him wanted to stay here, be with Seto and Mokuba. The more logical part of him warned him that he couldn't do any more real good here. And, a third part of him kept bringing Heero's face into mind, constantly reminding him of someone that would always haunt him. Someone that, despite the choices that Heero had made, Duo wasn't ready to give up quite yet.

"No. I can't be, Mokuba. I have to go home," Duo answered kindly, weighting the bottle in his hand. Last night had been proof enough of that. He had helped Seto all he could, except for one more thing. A little, almost insignificant thing that could be vastly important to Seto.

Mokuba's eyes welled up as he looked up at Duo. Duo sighed as he bent on his knees, wrapping his arms around the boy. He whispered, "I wanna stay here too, but I can't."

"It's okay," Mokuba said bravely, wiping away his eyes and sniffling loudly. The little boy pulled away and looked at Duo. "I understand. You probably have people who love you too."

"Now, I wouldn't go that far," Duo drawled sarcastically.

Mokuba hugged Duo and replied, "But I'll miss you. And Seto'll miss you too. You were the first person who was nice to my big brother."

"He deserves it, kid," Duo said, ruffling Mokuba's hair till it stood up in a haphazard mess, "He's a good guy. Help him remember that, okay."

Mokuba nodded and chirped, "Sure will, Duo."

Duo grinned and suddenly asked, "Hey, what do you think of Jonouchi?"

"He's one of Yugi's friends. Why are you asking?" Mokuba replied, frowning.

Duo shrugged and replied, "Just humor me."

"He's goofy. Used to get in a lot of trouble before he was friends with Yugi. He's got a little sister that he won money for at Duelist Kingdom to pay for some operation for her eyes." Mokuba added with a raised eyebrow, "Seto calls him a dog."

Duo grinned and patted Mokuba's head. He stood up and threw the bottle at the target. It hit almost as well as a knife would.

"Just curious, that's all."

Duo found himself back on the roof. He looked up at the half moon thoughtfully. Its white light washed everything in shades of grey.

He hoped that Seto was ready to try to move back onto the human race, that he was better than when Duo had found him. If the spell Pegasus cast could be broken. Duo smirked at the whimsical turn his thoughts were going to.

And I don't even like fairy tales, he thought with a tiny snort.

"I thought I might find you up here," Seto said behind him. "Mokuba said you were leaving."

Duo tilted his head back as Seto sat down, closer to him this time than the first time they had spoke together up here. Duo looked back up at the sky. Then he turned back to Seto with a tiny grin and a nod.

"Yeah," Duo answered with a wry chuckle.

Seto stated, "Don't."

"What?" Duo asked, blinking at him, his violet eyes wide. He hadn't expected that. Most people would thank him and that would be it. No one wanted him to stay.

Until now.

Damn it, Duo thought as his eyes began to water. He blinked back tears and shook his head with a wry chuckle. Seto was studying him intently.

"I don't want you to leave. I must confess, I like having you here. I can be myself around you," Seto said, watching him intently.

Duo turned to face him and replied, "You need to find someone else you like having around, that you can be yourself around."

"You are . . . kind to me. I don't want you to leave me. And Mokuba adores you to no end. He thinks the world of you, and that's enough for me," Seto argued, his hand gently reaching up to cup the side of Duo's face. "And you touch me. I enjoy it."

Duo stroked Seto's hair from his eyes with a fond smile. Duo asked, "Can't you find anyone else?"

"I doubt it," Seto whispered, looking down.

Duo tilted his face up so that their eyes met. Duo smiled and chided, "Now, don't go erasing all that hard work I've done. I've got you this far. You've gotta help yourself now. I've made the base repairs, you've gotta do the fine tuning."

Seto looked back up at him.

Duo crossed his arms and mused, "And you gotta be ready for whatever punches life throws at you."

"Like you leaving," Seto replied, sounding annoyed.

Duo chuckled, nudging Seto lightly. "Aww, come on, I know that you'll miss me, I mean, who wouldn't miss me, but the best thing you can do is throw on a pair of leather pants in my honor and find somebody that you have a spark with. Then, build said sparks into a roaring blaze and have fun."

Seto snorted, "Fire's destructive."

"Yeah, and it's also fun. It's pretty to watch, it keeps monsters away, warms you up, and you can cook some tasty treats with it," Duo retorted with a nod.

Seto shook his head with a tiny smile. "Why does everything turn to sex with you?"

"Because good sex is one of the best things there is," Duo grinned as he elbowed Seto gently in the ribs, "And remember there are a couple of good embers that would blaze right up if you stirred them a bit. Like Mai, or the puppy, or Yami no Yugi. Hell, you probably wouldn't have to stir anything with that guy. He'd jump you as it is." Duo rolled his eyes before he finished, "Just have to pick one of them and give it a try."

Seto looked at him and asked, "How do I 'stir' these so-called embers?"

Duo studied Seto thoughtfully before answering, "Well, ask Millie to look up flirting. Or you could just pretend to be me, which is very fun by the way, and I'm speaking from personal experience." Or pretend that they're me.

Seto looked down at his hands. He replied, "Sorry, but I'm not the hyper, bubbly flirty type."

Duo drawled, "Or you could just keep working on that VR sex program that you started."

Seto gave him a cross yet slightly amused look. He asked, "I can't keep anything from you, can I?"

"Nope," Duo chirped cheerfully, "That's what friends and lovers are for. They know all your juicy secrets and love you despite, or because of, them."

Seto looked at him and asked, "Are we friends then? Since my hesitation wasted our chance to be lovers?"

Duo nodded and smiled brightly. He then rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yes, we're friends. Even though you are a pain in the ass."

"Look who's talking," Seto retorted, nudging him slightly. They sat together for a few moments, quietly looking up at the stars and moon. Duo studied Seto's profile one last time, committing it to memory.

Then Duo mused, "Before you came out here I was thinking about fairy tales. Seems to me, this started with an evil wizard and a curse. And you know how to break a curse, right?"

"Counter curses. However, a few curses you can't escape from," Seto sighed. "The Unforgivable Curses."

Duo chortled, "Well, you break some spells with a kiss."

Seto looked at him with wide eyes as Duo leaned closer. He stroked the silky strands of glossy brown hair as he placed a hand on Seto's neck while he pulled the taller teen closer by the waist. He rested his forehead against Seto's for a moment, staring into those blue eyes for what seemed like a small eternity.

Then, he kissed him.

It was a simple kiss, filled with good intention and caring. A kiss to banish enchantment. There was no burning passion driving the sweet caress: Seto would find that later.

He pulled away to find Seto looking at him with wide eyes. Duo stood up, kissing the crown of his head before he reached his full height. Seto blinked in a dazed fashion and touched his lips. He looked at his fingers then back up at Duo.

Duo smiled and said, "Good luck, Seto, and may the spell be broken."

With that, as fast as he had came, Duo Maxwell, a Shinigami, was gone.

The End

First off, I apologize for the wait for this chapter. Unfortunately, that bitch known as Real Life got into the way. I've been job hunting and struggling with the current job that I'm holding. That's the reason why this chapter took so long to come out.

Okay, I'm lying. I didn't want the story to end. I liked playing with Duo and Seto. They have amazing chemistry together. I wanted them to have fun and perhaps write a fun, steamy lemon between the Dragon and Death. However, this story is about healing and not romance.

Duo's helping Seto get from Point A to Point B, which will continue in Chapter Three of Animom's Coming Clean. Which I suggest you read. Trust me, I wouldn't have written this without her influence.

Now, to Animom, who was midwife to this story. This was a long and difficult birth. She's like the godmother to this story. Without her, it wouldn't have been written. Or at least not like this. I'm proud of this story, defiantly proud.

Secondly, I'd like to thank the KG boarders, mainly Akaiblush. Their support and information helped a lot in this fic. I hope that it doesn't disappoint and lives up to everyone's high standards.

Finally, to you readers. Without you, there would be no story. Thank you all.

Now, go read the rest of Coming Clean, damn it!