I Give My Heart To You

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yugioh or the characters therein nor do I own Duel Monsters, GQ magazine, or the Childhood’s Memories Company or Surfer’s Monthly if either of those two happen to exist.

WARNINGS*** This story contains Yaoi (men having sex with men) as well as shouenen-ai (male/ male relationships). It also contains male/ female sex and relationships with references to female/ female sex and relationships, (a little something for everyone) swearing, violence, references to rape, guns and all sorts of other facts of life people find offensive. If you are offended by any of these things or simply do not like to read about it then leave now; you have been warned and read at your own risk.

CHAPTER WARNING**I DON’T FEEL THERE IS REALLY ANYTHING OFFENSIVE IN THIS CHAPTER BUT SOMONE ELSE MAY...SO THERE YOU GO**

“indicates normal speech of course”
{Yugi’s thoughts either to himself or Yami
{{Yami’s thought’s either to himself or Yugi}}
[ Ryou’s thoughts to himself or Bakura]
[[Bakura’s thoughts to himself or to Ryou]]
Dream sequences
Feelings communicated through mind link
*Person on the other end of the phone*
‘Thoughts of persons without a yami’

MY HEART I GIVE TO YOU
By Terra
Chapter 13

Seto very much wanted to turn over; his left side was numb and becoming uncomfortable. He turned to see what was holding him down and smiled, remembering last night.

Amara was using his shoulder as a pillow, her arm draped across his chest. Her hair fanned out, covering both their upper bodies as effectively as the sheets covering their lower. He wrapped his arm closer around her shoulders, laying his other atop hers on his chest. He no longer felt uncomfortable.

He glanced out the window then at the clock. It was too early to get up, even by his work-a-holic standards. He doubted he would want to get up had it been three in the afternoon. Seto closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth, and comfort of his bed.

He had had the most restful night of sleep he could remember. No dreams of past horrors had tormented him for the first time in years, even now he felt peaceful. The overwhelming urgency to be up and doing was gone.

“Penny for you thoughts,” Amara murmured sleepily.

“You,” he softly kissed her temple.

“You need to find a new topic to ponder, that one’s getting old,” she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Seto chuckled, giving her a light squeeze. “You should go back to sleep, Kira will be up soon.”

“I’ll nap with her later today,” she lightly ran her hand over his chest, “I much rather be awake with you, since I know you’re up for your twenty-five hour day.”

“Nagging already,” he gently scolded.

“I am not nagging. I don’t need to,” she kissed his chest. “You are too susceptible to bribery.” She grinned at the look of fake shock on Seto’s face.

He tangled his hand in her red hair, gently massaging her scalp, “Why did you call me dragon last night?”

“I don’t know; it just seemed to suit you. Why did you call me dove?”

“Same reason.”

Amara shifted her head on Seto’s chest so she could see his face, “Were you serious when you said we could ask whatever questions we wanted of each other?”

“Yes,” he an an idea what she was going to ask.

“How did you get the scars on your back?”

Sometimes it sucked being so intuitive. “They’re from my father’s,” he spat the word out as if it were foul tasting, “Lessons. He demanded perfection from me in everything.” His voice was low as if he would disrupt the darkness to speak louder. “He wanted to create the perfect automaton replica of himself to take over his company. If he found anything I did lacking, I was ‘corrected’.” Seto took a deep breath, “I took the beatings he intended for Mokuba as well, to protect him.” He locked eyes with Amara, “Mokuba doesn’t know, and I want it to remain that way.”

She saw a deep fear break through Seto’s emotional mask. “I’ll never tell him,” she reassured gently. “But I think he knows a lot more than you realize.”

“As long as he never knows it all.”

From the tone of his voice, Amara knew there was a lot left unsaid, “What is ‘it all’?”

Seto reached up to softly stroke her cheek, “Gods I hope I don’t lose you because of this,” he tightened his hold on her shoulder and turned back to the window. “I was nothing more than a means to an end for Gozuboro. And he treated me as such. When the beatings didn’t get the reaction he wanted,” Seto swallowed hard, “He started to rape me as punishment. It wasn’t all that long before he was doing it for his own sick pleasure as well.” A shudder ran through his tall frame. “Any sound on my part, any emotion I showed, only made it worse. He would beat me during and after. He wanted me to do only what he ordered and I did to keep Mokuba safe.” Seto’s voice had the same far away sound as before. “He threatened to do to my brother what he did to me if I didn’t ‘behave’ as he put it. One day, about nine monthsore ore he died, he was in a meeting, and called me in. His associate had expressed an interest in me. He handed me over to him for the afternoon. That soon became a regular business negotiation tactic for him. He thought nothing of tossing me into the deal if it got him what he wanted.”

Seto never took his eyes from the window, and his heart nearly shattered when he felt Amara leave the bed, only to nearly burst with elation when she blocked his view, wrapping her arms around his neck. He felt her hot tears falling onto his shoulder, “Don’t cry, dove. It’s long past,” he soothed.

“Not that past,” she sobbed out. “It can still hurt you. STD’s can come up at anytime. Even dead he can still hurt you.”

“He made sure I was protected from that. He didn’t want a client falling ill or dying from tainted merchandise. It was bad for business. He protected me from even himself, and I have been tested, repeatedly,” he lifted her face to wipe away her tears. “You don’t have to worry.”

“Me? You think I’m worried about me!?” The tears started anew, “Gods Seto, I could care less about me! It’s you I’m worried about. How tough are you? How much strength do you have? To endure all that and still be sane, Gods how can you even think I’m concerned about myself?!”

He held her close, letting her cry, making quiet, soothing sounds as he stroked her hair.

Amara sat up, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, “You thought I’d leave if you told me that, didn’t you?” Seto nodded. “I’m not going anywhere unless you want me to. I don’t scare off that easy.” She settled back against Seto’s chest, keeping her arms around him as if he would vanish if she were to let go. “What happened to him?”

“Gozuboro? I killed him. I threw his sorry ass out his Kaiba Corp office window.”

“Not that I’m sorry, but why?”

“I caught him ‘touching’ Mokuba.”

Amara looked at him horrified, “Does he...”

“No, Mokuba didn’t and doesn’t know what was going on. Gozuboro fed him some lie about needing to check his body, and Mokuba was so trusting, he accepted it. I’m sure as he gets older he’ll realize what was happening if he remembers it at all.”

Amara pressed her body against his, “All that you have been through, I could have never survived it.”

“I could have never done what you did either,” Seto pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

She looked at him, “Done what?”

“Kept the child of the person who raped me.”

“She is just as much his victim as I am. She is completely innocent of his crimes, why punish her? She is part of me too, and timetimes she’s the only reason I keep going.”

Seto softly kissed her lips, “I hope I fit in there someplace too.”

“You do, you and Mokuba both.” She returned his kiss, adding a few of her own, “What time are you going to go to work?”

“Later this afternoon, I want to repair the security panel at the gate first.” With little effort, Seto shifted Amara over to lie on top of him. He trailed his fingers up and down her spine, increasing the pressure ever so slightly to tickle the sensitive skin.

Giggling, she arched away from his touch, pressing their bare hips together. “I know a few of your secrets as well, you know.”

“Like what?” he smirked.

“Like this spot right here,” she licked the skin at the back of his jaw, “Makes you literally purr if I do this.” She sucked lightly. Sure enough the blue eyed billionaire was soon moaning in ecstasy. She felt his body reacting to her teasing. Leaning slightly to the side, she looked down, “Seems hav have a bit of a problem now.”

Seto clasped both sides of her bottom and firmly but gently pressed her against him, “If I have a problem, dove, you have a problem.”

“Well, I don’t think it will be too... hard... of a problem for long, if we both work on it,” she grinned, moving her hips in circles over his arousal. “Or do dragons wear out from too much exercise?”

Seto flipped them over, pinning Amara beneath him, “I’ll show you how much stamina this dragon has,” he crushed his lips to hers, savagely invading her mouth. He pulled back panting, searching her eyes for fear of his aggression.

“Oh hell no, you don’t kiss me like that and then stop,” she fisted her hands in his hair and pulled him down into another searing kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some time later, Seto and Amara came downstairs for a late breakfast or more accurately, brunch. They passed the living room, holding hands when a familiar voice called out.

“About time!” Bakura was watching them from the living room, Ryou stood behind him, holding Kira.

“About time for what?” Amara asked, taking her daughter from the hikari.

“You and rich boy getting it on,” Bakura smirked. “You two are noisy.”

“And do I need to have animal control come remove the pig I heard squealing in your room earlier last night?”

Smirking, Seto walked over to Kira, and held his hands out to the baby. She cooed and held her arms up to him, grunting. “Do you want me to pick you up?” She squealed, kicking her feet. He took Kira from her mother, the the baby immediately began to stick her fingers in his mouth and nose.

“Great, she spews on me and gropes rich boy,” Bakura grumped.

“Awww, I’m sure Ryou would be more than happy to grope you if you ask him nicely,” Amara grinned at the spirit.

“I’d be happy to do what?” Ryou asked, returning from the kitchen.

“Grope Bakura.”

“I’d love to.” Ryou barely had time to set him drink on the table before his dark swung him over his shoulder, and trotted upstairs.

“He’ll be limping today,” Seto remarked dryly.

Amara shook her head, “I swear that guy’ll need a truss before he’s twenty.”

Tessa came in carrying a large serving tray and set it on the table, “I planned on you two being a bit late to breakfast.” She left the room chuckling.

“That was embarrassing.”

“At least she didn’t scold us.”

There was that.

While eating, Amara noticed a large portrait hanging above the fireplace, “Who’s that?”

Seto looked at whhe whe was staring at, “Gozuboro.”

Amara nearly choked on the food in her mouth. “Why the hell do you have his portrait in your house?”

“It is a reminder of what I never want to become,” he pushed his plate away, glaring at the picture with hate filled eyes. “Even though I nearly did.”

Amara took his hand in hers; she had a feeling this would be the hardest tale for the young CEO to tell. “Whenever you’re ready,” she murmured, as his gaze locked with hers. He glanced down to their clasped hands, tightening his grip.

“Gozuboro was not only physically abusive, but verbally as well, to him I was useless, worthless, stupid, a slut... Over time I believed him, even after he was dead. I was determined to prove him wrong, to prove I could do anything, and do it alone. In trying, I became cold, ruthless, cruel, and I shut out the one thing that was keeping me alive, Mokuba.”

Seto laced their fingers together, and searched her eyes for some condemning emotion. The warmth he found there seemed to give him the strength he needed to continue.

“Mokuba was taken captive by Pegasus Crawford in an attempted takeover by my board of directors. I tried to rescue him. I did everything Pegasus demanded of me, but failed. Yami ended up saving us both. But it was the events of Battle City that made me decide to fight against what I had become. Mokuba was taken hostage by Marik Ishtar. He escaped and came back to me. The fear I felt was indescribable once I realized how psycho Ishtar was. We ended up trapped in a virtual world by my step brother Noa, and Mokuba was brain washed by him, turned against me. When we finally broke through Noa’s lies, we both thought we were turned to stone to be forever apart. Once again Yami saved us when I failed.”

Seto reached out and wiped away the tears Amara didn’t realize she was shedding, “I’ve made you cry again.”

“No,” she shook her head. “Not you, never you, the ones that hurt you make me cry.”

He kissed her cheek and continued, “So after Battle City, I decided I had to change. I asked Yugi and his friends to help me feel again. That’s what led to the weekend parties. But it wasn’t working; I couldn’t let the walls down to let them in.”

“But you did for me?”

He nodded, “You so easily do all the things I can’t. How could I not let you in? I love you to the point of pain.”

“I love you too,” Amara kissed him tenderly then turned back to the portrait. “Get rid of it. Replace it with something you want to be instead.”

Seto looked at her quizzically, “Like what?”

“Anything, Dogs playing poker! It doesn’t matter as long as it is something positive. Something you want in your life.”

“And what do you propose I do with that?” he pointed to the current portrait.

“Make a bonfire with it, use it for target practice, auction the thing off, donate it to charity. It doesn’t matter, just replace it.” Amara pulled Kira from under the table she had rolled beneath, while she and Seto were talking, setting her in her swing. When the child was happily swinging, she returned to the sofa, a fire burning in her eyes.

“Seto, you’re still letting him control your life,” she held up a hand, stopping his protest. “Hear me out. You have a lot of things that were his still around, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And do these things bring up painful memories?”

“Sometimes.”

“Then change them, wipe him away by ridding your life of everything that reminds you of him. And the things you chose to keep, like this house and Kaiba Corp, make them yours.”

“They are mine,” he narrowed his eyes at her, not exactly sure where she was going with this.

“I know, but they hold painful reminders for you,” Amara was getting frustrated not being able to get her thoughts and mouth to cooperate to get her meaning across. “Take the house for instance, if there is something that reminds you of him, toss it, even if it is as small as a vase. I mean change the rooms, paint them, redo the furniture, whatever. There is an entire floor you never go to because it was his floor. Gut it and redo it. Wipe him away.”

“What do you suggest I do with it afterwards?” She missed the amused glint in his azure eyes.

“Make a bowling alley! It doesn’t matter, just do it.”

Seto smiled at the flustered girl then became totally serious, “I’m not sure I couldthatthat.”

“Then let me help, or do it even,” her eyes were nearly pleading. “I know what I’m talking about. I couldn’t get over being raped until I got rid of the reminders, for me it was as simple as throwing out a set of clothes, but it helped. It may help for you too.”

“It couldn’t hurt.”

“That’s the spirit!” she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him a sloppy kiss. “Where do we start, house or office?”

Seto stretched out, laying his legs out along the cushions, Amara lying atop his body. “This is familiar,” he kissed the tip of her nose. “I don’t care, you chose.”

“Office,” she answered without hesitation.

“Why there?” he ran his hand through her hair.

“Well, you have Mokuba, and Kira and I, and on occasion, our friends here at the house. At work, you don’t have all the positive people around,” she gave him a slow sensual kiss. “Together we’ll wipe him away and leave happiness in his wake. Think that’ll be enough to make him turn over in his grave?”

Seto shrugged, pulling her up his body, “I’m a lucky man.” He leaned in to...

“Ra, get a room!” Bakura and Ryou walked in, having finished their activity upstairs.

“Can we use yours? Seto’s is kinda messy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seto had been in the house maybe all of three minutes when the doorbell sounded. Amara came hurrying down the stairs and stopped short when she saw him.

“You can answerthisthis time, I’ve bowed so much today I’m dizzy,” she sat down on the bottom step and waved at the door.

He opened it, surprised to find a family standing there hog a g a basket. They handed him the basket and expressed their gratitude for the help they received the day of the earthquake, bowing respectfully. The young billionaire accepted the basket graciously, returning their bows.

“That has been going on all day,” Amara took the basket and motioned for Seto to follow her into the kitchen. The counters and table were covered with gifts from grateful people they had helped that fateful day. “I just have no idea how to return the plates and bowls. Some of them look pricy.”

“You don’t,” Seto peeked under the cover onlatelate and began munching on an egg roll. “Those are part of the gift too.”

“Oh,” she snagged a snack herself, absently fingering a particular tray. “There was one family that was bowing on the floor.”

“They wereressressing great respect for our household by doing that. Bowing to others is the Japanese way of showing respect, the deeper the bow the greater the respect. And it’s good manners.” He cast Amara a sideways glance, “You’ve mastered that custom rather well.”

She wasn’t certain if he was teasing her or not, “After today I have, that’s for certain.”

Seto chuckled, taking another treat form a different tray, “Yami called. He and Bakura have finished the translations, and he wants to discuss it with us.”

“Good, I can send some of this back with him.”

“Looks like Tessa doesn’t have to cook for a day or two.”

Amara sighed, “Try a week or two,” she motioned to the refrigerator. “This is just what wouldn’t fit.”

The doorbell rang again. Amara walked over to Seto, and gave him a peck on the cheek, “Tag. You’re it. Go answer your door.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four teens sitting in the Kaiba mansion living all had an equally somber expression.

“I found a copy of the original spell in my soul room,” Yami announced.

“Did you bring it?” Seto’s tone was guarded.

“No. It would be too dangerous. It is a summoning chant to bring forth ‘the desire of the darkest heart’, also known as the Heart of Darkness.”

Amara didn’t like the sound of that, “What is the Heart of Darkness?”

“A Duel Monster. For some reason, that monster wasn’t banished to the Shadow Realm; the stone encasing it was shattered, and entombed. As with all magics, a counter spell was devised, in case its abilities were ever needed, and placed in the tomb as well. The spell Bakura was trying to change was that spell.”

Amara’s eyes widened, were they implying she and Kira were this monster?

“You nor the baby are this evil,” Bakura reassured her. “The spell was to summon a vessel for the Heart to inhabit.”

“Much the same as a yami inhabits a hikari, with one exception. A yami will not take over the vessel’s body and banish the vessel’s soo tho the Shadow Realm. The Heart of Darkness will.”

Seto noticed Amara’s white knuckled hands clenched in her lap, “Yami what are you trying to politely say?”

“An innocent child, conceived in violence, born in the midnight hour on the first night of a full moon is needed to be the vessel.”

“That’s Kira,” Amara began to tremble, gripped by a violent vision. She saw a dark wave rolling across the desert, destroying everything in its path. People ran, trying to flee the black flood to no avail. She saw Yami, Seto and Bakura standing before it, each holding a golden item. They looked exhausted and were bleeding, Seto badly. Tristan and Joey lay at their feet in a huge pool of blood, obviously dead.

She felt someone shaking her, calling her name. Her eyes began to focus on three concerned faces before her. Seto was lightly slapping her cheek, “Amara, come back. Come on, dove. Come back to us.”

“Little sister, we will not let anyone take your child. I swear this.” She blinked at him as the last vestiges of vis vision faded.

“We need only protect her until the new year,” Yami spoke reassuringly. “The necessary conditions for the summoning will begin to separate then and she will be safe.”

Seto turned her to face him, “I easily have the means to guard you both until then.” He tenderly kissed her forehead, “She’ll be safe.” He turned to the two spirits, “What do you suggest we do now?”

“We need to call Isis Ishtar. She is the expert, and she may have information we don’t.” Yami returned to the sofa, fingering his Millennium Puzzle. “The original spell was to call for ‘the desire of the darkest heart’ and the merged spell was to call for ‘the means to the heart’s desire of all present’. Each should have summoned only one person.”

“Could the shadow magic Bakura used have brought us both?” Amara’s voice was shaky but she was determined to stand up to her fear and keep her daughter safe.

“Possibly, but someone else had to have read the speOtheOtherwise we wouldn’t have these attempts to kidnap Kira. My magic may have been what summoned you to me instead of them.”

“Perhaps it was Bakura’s wording that did it,” Seto looked thoughtfully at the thief. “It stated ‘the means to the heart’s desire of all present’; maybe they both were needed to accomplish that.”

“Either way, we need Isis Ishtar,” Yami nervously ran a hand through his spiky hair. “I will not attempt a return spell without more information.”

“I want to stay,” Amara’s quiet voice got the attention of all three men.

“None of us really thought you would want to leave, Amara,” Yami smiled at her. “But a counter spell will be useful if someone else emerged as well and the Darkness is unleashed. There is no way of knowing if they have a vessel or not.”

“I will send messages through the museum and via e-mail to her. I’ll ask her to come to Domino City, leaving the details for later,” Seto had a determined air about him.

No one was going to take from him two of the three most treasured persons in his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He ran a hand nervously through his salt and pepper hair. His boss had demanded to be notified if there were any developments at the Kaiba mansion. But after his last report he wasn’t so sure he wanted to go into that room again. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door, opened it, and entered.

“Report.” The boss’ voice sounded weak, and pained.

“Sir, an internet message was intercepted from the Kaiba estate. They are requesting the assistance of someone by the name of Isis Ishtar.”

The darkness began to swirl, concentrating around the man slumped against the window. “No, NO! PLEASE, NOT AGAIN! NO! PLEASE! NO!”

He ran. He didn’t care. If it made his boss scream and beg, he didn’t stand a chance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seto sat in the limo, rubbing tired eyes. Last night had been rough for the young CEO. Amara had tried hard not to give in to the fear she felt for her baby, but the stress had caught up to her in the shower. Hearing her crying, he had walked in to find her huddled in a corner. She had looked so lost and frightened.

He had gotten her to bed and held her all night. She had eventually fallen into a restless sleep, clinging to him like a child to a security blanket. He didn’t get much sleep himself; being caught up in his own thoughts about what the spirits had told them.

Seto didn’t regret comforting Amara last night, never in a thousand years. But he was glad he didn’t have any meetings scheduled today.

He glanced out the window as the limo pulled away from the mansion. Amara stood in the open doorway, holding Kira, watching it drive away. To Seto, she looked as vulnerable now as she had last night crying in the shower.

That was unacceptable.

“Anthony, stop the car,” he demanded. The car slammed to a stop, throwing him foreword.

“Sorry, sir. Is there a problem?”

Seto was heading back up the drive before his driver could get his door open. “Pull the car back up to the door and wait.”

“Yes, sir.” Anthony had been hired soon after Seto took over from his deceased father, and his boss had never acted as strangely as he had the last few weeks.

Amara watched the car jerk to a stop, and Seto come striding back to the mansion. He walked straight towards her, a determined smirk on his face.

“What’s up?” she asked as he took Kira from her.

Smiling, he kissed her, “Get whatever you and Kira need for the day packed up.”

“Why?” she followed him through the door.

“Because the two of you are going to spend the day with me at the office.”

“Won’t we be a distraction?” Amara was having a bit of a problem absorbing what he was saying.

Seto waved his hand dismissively, “Everyone else will just have to make modifications.” He looked into the living room then the kitchen, “Andrew!”

“Sir?” The butler was surprised to see his employer back in the house so soon after leaving for work.

“Load the playpen in the limo and have Tessa pack some things for Kira and Amara. They will be spending the day with me at the office.”

Tessa popped her head in from the laundry room, “Well, let’s get going dear,” she took Amara’s elbow steering her towards the stairs, “You’ll never get there just standing around.”

Shortly, Amara was sitting across from Kira in her car seat, heading for the Kaiba Corp building. “You like getting your way, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Seto smirked at her. “I always get what I want.”

“And just what is it you want?”

He leaned over, tenderly kissing her, “A few more of those would be nice.”

Amara kissed him again, “You can be incredibly corny at times.”

Seto gave her an exaggerated frown, “It is only corny if it does not work.”

Amara giggled, “And if it does?”

“It’s considered romantic,” he kissed her deeply.

Kira sat in her car seat, laughing and watching the two teens, very pleased with herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The young CEO received more than a few odd looks from his employees as he walked through the lobby of his company building, a diaper bag slung over his shoulder, Kira in one arm, and holding Amara’s hand. It was either that or the fact Amara carried his briefcase. Either way, he was secretly pleased to be shocking everyone. Anthony walked behind them carrying the playpen, making it very obvious what was going on.

Once Kira and Amara were settled, Seto reluctantly started his work day. There was a reply to the e-mail he had sent to Isis Ishtar. “Isis will be here in less than two weeks.”

Amara looked over his shoulder at the response message, “She is the person Yami wanted to talk to.”

“Yes, she needs to finish some work there and then she’ll be flying out.”

“Good, maybe we can get this resolved then.”

Seto turned his chair to Amara and pulled her down to sit on his lap, “I will protect the two of you, dove. I promise.”

She laid her head on his shoulder, taking comfort from his presence, “No matter how rich and powerful you are, Seto, there are some things not even you can protect us from.”

“I can damn well try.”

His intercom buzzed, “Yes?”

“Sir, there is a gentleman to see you.”

“I have no meetings scheduled for today,” Seto was irritated at having his plans interrupted.

“Yes sir, he says he’s the CEO of Childhood’s Memories and he received a notice of pending legal action from you.”

“Ths ths the company that made the crib that fell on Kira,” Amara whispered.

“Send him in.”

Seto moved to stand in front of his desk and Amara sat in the floor beside Kira. Seto’s secretary knocked then opened the door for a tall, gray haired, smiling man.

“Good morning, Mr. Kaiba,” he greeted, extending his hand. “I am Kyle Rivers, owner and CEO of Childhood’s Memories and I would like to discuss the matter of your pending lawsuit against my company.”

Seto motioned for the man to take a seat then sat behind his desk. “I see no problem, Mr. Rivers. A defective product made by your company nearly resulted in injury to an infant. That is unacceptable by any standards.”

“I agree. However I was not the one responsible for the substandard quality,” Mr. Rivers shifted in his chair, “Let me explain. My son-in-law was placed in charge of the furniture division of my company, and once I realized his lack of concern for product quality, I separated that division from the main company and gave it to him. Now, Mr. Kaiba I love my daughter as much as you do yours,” he motioned to Kira, “And I could never cause her any kind of sorrow, but her husband is an idiotic ass.”

Amara was amazed at Seto’s business persona. His face was a blank mask, giving nothing away to the man across from him. He seemed completely detached, bored even, but was listening to ever word the man said. ‘No wonder his company is so successful. He’s got a killer poker face.’ She turned her attention back to Mr. Rivers.

“Mr. Kaiba, my son-in-law is a lazy bum looking for a free ride. He has cheated on my daughter and taken advantage of her kindness. There comes a time when children must learn things for themselves, and I promised her not to interfere as long as he could provide for her and my grandchildren,” the sadness that crept into the man’s voice didn’t go unnoticed by the others in the room. “That is where you come in Mr. Kaiba. I will provide you with whatever you need to ruin him, as long as you leave the main holdings of my company alone.”

Seto picked up his desk phone, “Mr. Rivers, if you would excuse me for a moment, I will call my lawyers and see how feasible your proposal is.”

With a nod, Kyle Rivers stood and joined Amara in the office sitting area. “I take it this lovely child was the unfortunate victim of the accident.”

“Yes, but she was unharmed”

“Oh, you speak English.”

Amara hadn’t realized she had spoken to him in English. “Yes, I’m from America.”

The man seemed to brighten, “I do enjoy my trips to Japan, but I seem to find the customs a bit confusing.”

“They are different, that’s for sure,” she grinned.

They chatted amiably while Seto completed his call. When finished, he joined them, offering Mr. Rivers a drink. “I believe we can come to an agreeable arrangement,” he shook the older CEO’s hand. “You send me whatever you feel to be pertinent and I shall keep you up to date on all developments.”

“Thank you Mr. Kaiba,” he handed the younger his business card. “I would like have a meeting with you after this situation is resolved and see if there may be a lucrative business partnership to be had between our companies.”

Seto thanked the man again and saw him out. He sat back down, watching Kira, not realizing he was smiling at the baby.

Amara dropped a coin into his hand, “What’s on your mind?”

“He thought Kira was my daughter.”

She slipped her hand in his, “So does everyone else we meet since you keep saying our last name is Kaiba.”

He smiled at her, ‘Her eyes look like the sky, on a clear day.’ “I liked the way it sounded.”

The intercom buzzed again. With a sigh, Seto answered it.

“Sir, there are four security men to see you.”

“Send them in.” He motioned Amara over to his desk, “You are about to meet your bodyguards.”

In walked the oddest group of men Amara had ever seen. One man was short with long curly green hair in a ponytail and wearing jeans. One was tall and bald with glasses and earrings all the way around one ear also in jeans. The other two were of average height and normal hair color but one looked like he had stepped off the cover of GQ and the other from Surfing Monthly.

“Smitty and Cage are your back up guards and Derek and Ray will be assigned to you regularly,” he turned to the four men, “This is Amara and Kira,” he pointed to the baby currently rolling across the floor. “They are your assignment until told otherwise by me. Guard them the same as you would Mokuba, understood?” All four nodded.

Amara gave Seto an odd look, which he chose to ignore. “These four are my best men. They each are sharpshooters and experts in unarmed combat. You will have a driver at all times and at least one guard when you go out regardless of who you are with or where you are going, when alone you will have both.” He turned back to the men, “You start on...”

“Wednesday,” she gave Seto a look that said no argument.

“...Wednesday and you answer to me, not her. Remember that.”

The four security guards looked at each other smirking; they all thought their boss had met his match in this slender red haired woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seto returned from an emergency meeting with his department heads to find Amara sitting at his desk with Kira, pointing out the animated Duel Monsters flying across the computer screen.

“See there goes the big white dragon, chasing that boney one,” she clapped the chubby hands together, “Yea, go white dragon.” Kira squealed in delight, kicking her feet against her mother’s knees.

“She’s easily entertained.”

“Just wait til she’s old enough to walk and reach the keys,” she effectively caught those chubby hands before they could smack the keyboard. Kira was just as happy to smack at her mom’s arm.

Seto perched on the edge of his desk, “Why is that?”

“Children like to do what they see everyone else do, and since you are constantly typing, she’ll have to try it out too, on your computer, and probably whe you are nearly finished with something you have been working on for months and you lose it all,” Amara smirked at the look on his face.

“Not funny.”

Kira smacked a key, making the animated figures disappear. She began to fuss, reaching for the screen. Seto tapped a few keys and the figures returned, earning him a giggle from the now happy child.

“She loves this. There should be a keyboard for kids.”

Seto didn’t get where he was by not recognizing a great idea when it was practically dropped in his lap, “What do you mean?”

“A keypad type of thing that could sit comfortable on a kid’s lap, soft, with a lot of sensor spots so that every time they smack it, something happens. And have learning software to go with it.”

Seto’s mind was already planning the prototype, “What kind of software would you suggest?”

Amara shrugged, “Something simple, maybe recognizing colors, shapes, and letters for younger kids, and simple word recognition for older kids but make it fun, like a treasure hunt or something.”

“I like that idea,” he grabbed the desk phone, “Would you pitch that idea to my Research and Development team?”

“Now?” He nodded, arranging the meeting over the phone.

“I want you to write up a few software ideas and work with the design team on the keyboard. Kira can try out the prototypes as they are ready and this should be ready to market by next Christmas.”

Amara was a bit taken aback by the CEO’s enthusiasm, “Happy to help.”

Seto swept her up into a tight hug, spinning her around, “This could be the new idea I was looking for,” he kissed her deeply, “You just keep coming up with these ideas and Kira’s grandchildren will never have to work a day in their lives.”

“I’d settle for you taking a few more off.”

“One or two more of your ideas, and I just may be able to take a lot more off.”

“I think you’d get bored.”

He nuzzled her neck, “I think you could help keep me occupied.”

Neither one noticed the baby chewing on the cuff of Seto’s dress pants, drooling on his shoe.

TBC

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

To Lady Elfskye: I do understand about a chaotic home life. I think I am quite the accomplished typist considering I have a cat lying on my keyboard and a two-year old using me for a jungle gym. With a teenager pestering me for the car keys and a husband who misplaces nearly everything, I look upon more than 5 uninterrupted minutes as divine intervention. And people wonder why I answer the phone, “House of Chaos”.

To Seraph: Thank you for the compliment, very much. I am glad you like the fic, and my yami and hikari both thank you as well. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.