Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ A Figure from the Past ❯ Home Is Where the Heart Is ( Chapter 6 )

A Figure from the Past

Chapter 6: Home Is Where the Heart Is

Heaven Sent Tenshi

 

The nurse peaked through the window in the door. She was still in bed, good; she hadn't woken up, bad. She sighed, turning from the door to face Seto. His eyes slowly traveled up to her from the ground he had been staring at. She shook her head and he sighed as well. He had been sitting in the same position in the health office since first period. And the bell to signal the end of school had rung twenty minutes ago. But still he would wait.

 

“Mr. Kaiba?” another nurse asked as she passed him on her way out. “How much longer will you wait?”

 

“Until she wakes up…” he growled beneath his breath. That was the eighth time he had stated this.

 

“Well, if she doesn't wake up in the next half-hour, we're taking her to the hospital downtown.”

 

“She'll be awake by then…”

 

“Yeah… you've been saying that for the last ten minutes… How do you know she will?”

 

“She's done this before….”

 

The nurse shrugged, confused, then proceeded out the door. Seto leaned back, staring at the ceiling. A moment later, his cell phone went off. It was Mokuba, judging by the ring tone.

 

“Seto, where are you? You're late! Everyone at Kaiba Corp. has been freaking out!”

 

“Tell them I'll be there when I get there.”

 

“I tried!”

 

“I've got more important things worry about right now.” Seto's eyes drifted over to the door beside him.

 

“Like what?”

 

“You'll see. It's… a surprise…”

 

“For who?”

 

“You; you'll be shocked, at least.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Not what… more like whom… Hm… never mind what I said earlier… I'm not coming into work today…”

 

“What?! Why?”

 

“You'll find out later Mokuba… Are you home?”

 

“Yeah, and the phone's been ringing off the hook!”

 

“Stay there, then.” With that, Seto ended the phone call, powering off the device and slipping into his pocket. Slowly, he rose to his feet and made toward the door of the room in which Lea slept.

 

*****

 

Lea moaned very softly, her eyes flittering open. She sat up, looking around.

 

She was laying on a cot with a gray blanket pulled over her. The back of her head was a bit moist; looking back revealed that she had been lying on a plastic-covered pillow. Beside her cot was a bedside table. Atop it rested her headband, earrings, and choker. On the other side of the table was another, identical bed. The room was bare of much else, save a small window and the door with a glass pane inlet. She supposed that she must be in the “resting room” of the health office. How ironic; this was her original escape plan, and yet she ended up her in the end.

 

She slid her legs over the side of the bed, slipping her feet into her indoor school shoes. She lifted her eyes to the door as the knob turned. Seto's face appeared in the doorway, glowing from the light of the adjoining room.

 

“You're awake…” he remarked, entering the room.

 

“Yeah… but I have a pretty bad headache…” Lea lifted her hand to her head.

 

“I can imagine why…”

 

“Where's everyone else?”

 

“They left.” Lea looked hurt for a second. “The last bell rang twenty minutes ago.”

 

“Oh…” She smiled weakly; she had wondered whether they just didn't care anymore. But she shook the thought away. “How'd I get in here?”

 

“I brought you in after you fainted.”

 

“Just you, or did the others help too?”

 

“That's irrelevant.”

 

Lea frowned. “Irrelevant? But-”

 

“You don't have a place to stay, do you? The nurses mentioned that you haven't recorded an address.”

 

“I…” She looked away.

 

“Did you ever return to an orphanage after you ran off?”

 

“… No… I went off on my own…”

 

“At that age?”

 

“I've been on my own ever since…”

 

“Then where are you staying?” Seto scoffed before he continued, “The streets?” Lea looked away, ashamed. She had achieved nothing since she'd left, Seto was leading a company. He paused. “You're joking, aren't you?”

 

“… No… I have a roof over my head right now, but not for long…”

 

“With who?”

 

“… No one important…”

 

“Who?”

 

“A woman I met a long time ago… She's in town for a little while… I'm staying in her hotel room…”

 

“For how long?”

 

“Until I haven't the need to… or until she leaves town…”

 

“An estimate, Lea.”

 

“… A few weeks… tops…”

 

Seto paused again. “Then where are you going?”

 

“… I don't know… I have no place to go.”

 

“Then you'll stay with me and Mokuba.”

 

Lea's head shot up as her eyes widened. “What? No, Seto, I couldn't. I don't want to intrude-”

 

“You wouldn't be… Mokuba will be happy to see you.”

 

“But…”

 

“You have no permanent place to stay. You need a bed and a home to go to.” Lea looked away again.

 

“But…”

 

Seto reached down, taking her chin in his hand. He slowly forced her to look up at him.

 

“No more buts.”

 

Lea shut her eyes, tears brimming them. Soon, a smile split her lips, her eyes opening again. She nodded and Seto smiled as well.

 

“Alright…” she whispered. She knew now what Ishizu had meant when she said that she would know when she would leave.

 

Seto released her chin and took her hands in his. Carefully, he pulled Lea to her feet. As soon as she was up, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. For once, since that fateful miscommunication, things felt right again. They stood in the middle of the health office in silence as Lea's memory began to drift back to a time they were just as happy together.

 

~~~~~

 

The sky had clouded over and a gray drizzle had begun to fall. Lea sighed as she sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. Soft snores came from a few of the beds in the large room. She looked around at the other orphans in the hall. She knew that no one would be playing outside today, due to the rain that would soon fall more heavily.

 

Lea slowly crawled out of her bed, pulling her night gown off and her clothing on. She wore a short purple dress with long sleeves which accompanied a black tee-shirt, a pair of matching, though baggy pants, and a sash tied around her waist in a bow. She retrieved her necklace, earrings, and headband as well before she left the sleeping quarters.

 

She slowly made her way down the halls until she came to a room filled with chattering children. She picked her way between the tables of orphans, attempting to survive her journey to her friends. When she came upon the brunette and his black haired brother, she smiled, running toward them.

 

“Hey guys!” she cried.

 

“Lea!” Mokuba chirped, leaping up from his chair to hug her round the waist.

 

“Good morning,” Seto added, sighing in response to his brother's action. Lea merely smiled, hugged Mokuba back, and took a seat at the table.

 

“Looks like we can't go outside…” she remarked glumly.

 

“That's ok,” Mokuba giggled, “Me and Seto got a puzzle from the corner; you can help us!”

 

Lea smiled, looking up at Seto. “Sounds like fun.” He smiled back, handing to her the lid of the box. “Oh, it's so pretty!” The picture was one of a curved bridge over a stream as it disappeared behind a grove of trees.

 

“I like it too!” the youngest chirped, smiling.

 

“But, it isn't all that challenging…” Seto murmured, taking several pieces from the small pile. He seemed correct; the puzzle was nearly complete, missing only a chunk from the middle and one or two from the outlying area.

 

“It's fun, though!” Mokuba also picked up a couple of pieces as Seto began to place his own on the table, linking them to the mass of colored cardboard-like pieces.

 

Lea nodded, helping to place the pieces, smiling again. Ten minutes hadn't even passed by the time they had finished. Seto looked down at the last piece on the table. He took it in his hand and turned it over.

 

“Last one,” he murmured.

 

“Put it in!” Mokuba cried happily.

 

“Yeah, Seto; it'll look better when you do!” Lea added

 

Seto paused, watching the puzzle and the piece in his hand. Slowly, his eyes traveled up to Lea as she looked on in expectancy. “You do it,” he suggested, handing the piece to her.

 

“Me?” Lea sounded as surprised and as happy as she looked.

 

“Yeah,” he nodded.

 

“Do it, Lea!” Mokuba cried, still happy. Lea smiled, taking the piece from Seto and placing it in its spot. “Yay!”

 

Lea smiled again. She felt, suddenly, of high stature. It was an honor to her to be offered to place the last piece by Seto. She blushed, hugging the boy and continued to smile as the other two smiled as well.

 

Another ten minutes had passed when the three wandered from the room and began an aimless journey down the deserted hallways.

 

“Are we allowed to come down here?” Mokuba asked.

 

“We're fine,” Seto murmured, running a hand through his own hair.

 

“Yeah, Moki, it's ok.” Lea wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a comforting way. She ignored Seto as he sighed. “So, where are we going?” The brothers shrugged in response. Lea frowned for a moment, but the trio kept walking.

 

After a few minutes, Lea stopped. Having let go of Mokuba by this time, the brothers nearly left her as she stared at a door. When a pair of footsteps were noticed missing, they stopped.

 

“Lea?” Mokuba asked, looking back at her.

 

“What is it?” Seto added.

 

“This room's empty… I bet no one will bother us if we went in here…” Lea reached forward and took the doorknob in her hand.

 

“Lea, we can't just go in.” Seto took Lea's shoulder in his hand, a frown lining his face.

 

“No one will bother us,” Lea repeated. “C'mon, we can talk and stuff, like we were outside!” She turned the knob and pulled the door open.

 

The room was mostly empty, save a few cobwebs and a light-fixture above the window opposite the door. Lea smiled, entering the room and plopping down on the floor in front of the window, watching as the raindrops assaulted it from outside.

 

“Are you sure it's ok?” Mokuba asked, concerned.

 

“Yeah, just close the door; we'll be fine!” Lea turned back to see the brothers as they did as she told them, though they nearly seemed reluctant. Mokuba hurried over to sit beside the girl as Seto stood behind her. He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Something wrong, Seto?”

 

“No,” he stated flatly, staring out the window.

 

“Aw, don't be like that, Seto,” Lea pried, “What's wrong?”

 

“Nothing's wrong.” Lea watched as the other's eyes drifted over to Mokuba as the younger took Lea's arm in his own, smiling. She paused.

 

“Moki,” she began, looking down at him, “wanna play a game?”

 

“Sure!” he twittered, his eyes meeting hers.

 

“You like hide-and-seek, don't ya?”

 

“Yeah! Who's the Seeker?”

 

“Me and Seto'll be Seeker together, ok?”

 

“That's not fair, you'll find me then!”

 

“I guess that just means you'll have to find a really good hiding place, doesn't it?” Lea smiled. Mokuba paused, then leapt to his feet and scurried out the door.

 

“Start counting!” he cried, hurrying down the hallway.

 

“One, two, three…!” Lea began, stopping as his footsteps faded into silence. She sighed, smiling as Seto glanced down at her with an odd look.

 

“What on Earth…?”

 

“You didn't wanna talk with him in here, so I got him out.” Lea patted the floor beside her. “Talk to me.”

 

Seto frowned, accepting the offer, though grudgingly. “There's nothing to talk about.”

 

“How about why you keep sighing every time Mokuba does something.” Seto scoffed, looking away. Lea continued, “Why's he bothering you?”

 

“He isn't bothering me…”

 

“Then why do you act like it?”

 

“…He just acts so foolish some times…”

 

“Like when?”

 

“… His reception this morning…”

 

“He just hugged me, Seto; what's wrong with that? I hugged you.”

 

“That's beside the point…”

 

“Then what's the point?”

 

“You're encouraging it…”

 

“Seto, you're not making any sense…”

 

“You don't have to baby him like you do.”

 

“When did I `baby' him?”

 

“In the hall… you didn't have to hug him to make him feel better, he would have been fine…”

 

“… You're not jealous are you?”

 

Seto's eyes widened suddenly as he looked at her in shock. “Jealous? Why would I be jealous?”

 

“Why wouldn't you? You're jealous because I've hugged him twice today, and only hugged you once.” Lea nodded in a knowing fashion.

 

“That's stupid; I'm not jealous of Mokuba.” He looked away to hide the blush creeping over his cheeks. Lea sighed.

 

“Sure you aren't…” She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. Seto stared at her for a moment before she readjusted herself, sitting closer to him and laying her head on his shoulder. He sighed, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips and wrapped his arms around her as well. The two children sat in silence for a moment.

 

Lea suddenly looked up at Seto. “Mokuba will worry if we don't go look for him…”

 

“Yeah, you're right.” Seto rose to his feet, helping her up. Just before he turned toward the door, Lea leaned forward, kissing Seto on the cheek before she ran off, leaving him nearly stunned.