I don’t own anything, so please don’t sue me.

“I know many late sleepers. They dread the early mornings when their cacophonous alarm clock unmercifully awakens them from their peaceful slumber. The thought of the malicious tone at unearthly hours of the raw morning is exceptionally appalling to those who live on coffee alone.”

“ But in some bizarre way, most of them are grateful that this wake up call is there to make sure they get out of bed. The mere inconvenience saves them from countless forthcoming problems.”

“When I was younger, I depended on my wristwatch alarm to awaken me before my father awoke. I could not be caught sleeping. I easily memorized the times my ruthless stepfather dragged himself out of bed. It was simple math. If he had a late dinner party, I could expect him to sleep (really he was recovering from a hangover) until the light peaked through his expensive, black tinted window. I enjoyed those rare mornings. I knew I would have time to softly sneak and spend time with my younger brother. Looking back, it was really the only time I ever saw Mokuba”

“But if the beast went to bed early, I needed to be ‘up and running’ before he awoke. I could not afford to turn my alarm on snooze unless I was trying to get killed.”

“Yet as I found out, it always turned out troublesome when I switched my alarm on sleep monde. It was far too easy to ignore the high pitched buzzing and push off getting out of bed for a few more seconds. Yet as any late sleeper would know, those seconds turn to minutes, and those minutes to hours; then it suddenly becomes difficult to get out of bed at all.”

Seto Kaiba was exhausted. It had just been one of those days where you close you eyes and think you must have to worst luck in the world. But our businessman did not desire to let his mind rest. He would have stayed up late forever if time would freeze and his overworked body would allow such torture. For once, he wasn’t looking forward to the peaceful night where he could recollect his busy thoughts. As is the case with most people who have recently experienced a harsh wake up call.

“Today, at the three-year mark of my marriage, I once again looked into my wife’s exasperated, flashing eyes, and realized some important things. Seems I have been taking my life for granted. There will be some changes in our relationship, or our relationship will change. Things are never going to be the same.”

Flashback

“You don’t know me any more than you did back in High School!” Screamed a hurt woman at the man she loved.

The battle had been going on for hours. Both sides had delivered and received fatal injuries by each other’s tong. Words shot like arrows into their deepest hurts, reopening old wounds and scaring them even further.

This comment took him by surprise. All day they had been in combat with advanced new strategies only experts should experiment. Her new defense seemed something a high school girl would say, not a grown woman. He thought of screaming she was wrong, yelling that he loved her and ending the battle, but that wouldn’t win him this war.

“There’s nothing more to know” he spat back coldly.

He could feel it now. With just a little more force, victory was his.

“Huh?” said Téa softly. Her sudden anger turned to confusion as she retreated from her failed attack. Her strategy had been to grow suddenly immature in hopes that Seto Kaiba would loose his temper and start blindly shooting arrowed words in a sudden rage. His calmness was the last thing she expected.

“You’re too shallow. A one sided character. Clear as lake water. I knew everything about you the first time I saw your pathetic cheerleader face.” Seto smirked delivering another stab to her already wounded mind.

Poor Téa had no response. There was nothing to say. She figured out that when in an argument with Kaiba, it doesn’t get anybody anywhere to attack him personally. She was too hurt to open her mouth. To confused to understand what she was feeling. All she could manage was to sit down and silently let salty tears run down her bony face.

He now felt as a lion circling his prey. He was inferior. The ultimate predator. He had her in hands. All he had to do now was deliver the final blow.

“Pathetic,” he spat, “Marring me is not for the feeble minded”

There was silence for a while as Téa struggled to regain her reasoning. Too many mixed emotions were floating around. Trying to collect them now in the heat of the battle would be like stopping a bullet once it’s fired. Impossible. Knowing the war was over, Tea mentally picked up the broken pieces of her heart that were almost literally scattered on the floor around her, and decided to simply say what was on her mind. Forcing her eyes to match his she reignited the last of her fire to simply state what she had been feeling for too long now.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have married me then” she whispered, “maybe I should leave”

End Flashback

“Téa and I had met in High School, and I was her worst enemy. We didn’t quite hate each other. Hate is a stronger emotion either of us had. More of, we disliked each other with malice and anger. But you know what they say, ‘opposites attract.’ Long story short, two years out of High School we were happily married.”

“Seems I have been treating Téa more as a trophy (conquered and on the shelf) than as a companion. More like an acquaintance bound to me by a contract, than a wife that shares my feelings. The signs have been there, well, they were more like bulletin boards, but I failed to see them. Typical guy.”

Flashback

Business parties. Employees look forward to these all year. This once a year happening is the average person’s chance to feel like a king. Tonight all the miniature entrepreneurs will gather and get a miniature plaque that thanks them for all their hard work at Kaiba Corp. These workers will dress in their finest business suits and drink champagne that costs more than the mortgage on their home.

Seto Kaiba hated business parties, but more than that he hated to be late.

“I’m waiting” shouted Kaiba from the bottom of the shallow stairway. By now he was seriously annoyed. Not only did he have to hang with common people, simple peasants in his mind at a tedious party tonight, but thanks to his wife, he would be arriving less than on time.

“Be there in a jiffy” Téa shouted from her room, taking deep, calming, breaths as she put her earrings in. Her beloved husband forgot to mention the get together he was having tonight. And for a girl that needs hours to get ready, thirty minutes is not enough notice to adequately prepare.

“Okay I’m here” she announced as she bolted down the stairs almost tripping over her dress in the meantime.

“We are late” was all Seto said as he grabbed her hand and dragged his wife out the door.

Once in the limo, Téa knew she was in for an earful.

“Why are you always making me late?” the angered Kaiba asked coolly.

“Because you don’t give me enough time to prepare!” she thought. Struggling to keep her words inside her mouth, she slouched in her chair, bracing herself for another “you make me late” speech from Seto.

“Are you trying to ruin my perfect image” he spat. “Would it kill you to be on time?”

Téa was in no mood to hear his rant, so knowing what lay ahead she forced all her opinions to stay in her head. “I’ll make it up to you” she stated.

Seto stared coldly. They both knew what this meant. She would become his for the night.

“You better do a good job” he said, just trying to have the last word.

The rest of the ride was silence, as Téa wished she could be somewhere else. Tonight would be terrible. He would make her show off to everybody. She would kiss him in public and they would pretend they liked each other for the press. He would make her dance with him, showing off her slender body and her natural music skills. Anything he wanted her to do, she had no choice.

The car stopped and Téa put on a fake smile as she took Seto’s hand and walked in ‘fashionably late’ to the party.

End Flashback

“But how did we come to this morass? Why is our marriage more like a combat than a relationship?”

And there he sat. The all mighty, all powerful, Seto Kaiba. The kingfish. The Desert Fox. The Clark Kent of Japan sitting back against the wall, talking about his marriage to his faithful dog.

Unable to sleep, Tea, closed her eyes, took a deep calming breath, and decided to take a walk outside.

The wind was cold against her skin as she walked barefoot in the inviting green grass. Her body drank the warm summer air that was mixed with the darkness of the twilight.

All was still. Not even the old oak trees dared to dance in the presence of someone so strong. It was all they could do to humble themselves and let her pass without distraction.

The moon was peaceful as it remained the center of attention. The stars shone brightly above highlighting the moons specific accents.

Finally reaching her destination, Téa made no noise as she knelt down by the rushing stream. Little as it was, it gave water to all the plants in the Kiba Mansion. She ran her fingers through the water and lightly washed the salty tears off her face. Satisfied, the young woman forced her thoughts back on her early childhood.

Flashback

“Téa, have you seen the goldfish that lives in the pond?” asked Mrs. Gardner one afternoon. Little Tea nodded. She often tried to catch the fish with a worm and stick, but the fish was too smart for her decade old trick.

“It is a very old fish. I also knew it a child.” Téa causally turned her head around to look at her mother’s face. She could tell her mom was seeing the same fish.

“This fish eats our thoughts,” her mother continued, “I learned this one day when my parents told me I was no longer a child. I could no longer run, or shout, or catch bugs. I was no longer allowed to cry. If I did not obey all these new orders, Papa said he would disown me. I would no longer be his daughter.”

“That night, after Papa explained all this, I sat by the pond. I was weak, so I cried. Then I saw the fish that I had become friends with. He was drinking the tears that fell of my face into the pond. He ate them quickly. Many, many tears. When he finished, he poked his head out of the water and began to speak.”

The young fish said, “I have drank your tears, I know your sorrow, but if you always cry, you will always be sad.”

“Then the fish swam back down into the water, as I got onto my hands and knees to get a closer look. Out of its belly popped many, many eggs, one for each tear. Then the eggs rose to the surface of the water and floated to shore. Out of the eggs, emerged many bluebirds. I knew them quickly for they were birds of joy. After they sang, they put their faces into the water in which my tears fell and drank quickly. I wanted to capture this joy, so I reached my hand out to grab one. But as quickly as my hand moved, the birds flew away, brushing their feathers into my face, and flew into the air, laughing.

“Now you see” said the fish. Its voice startled me for I had forgotten it was there. “You cannot cry. Your tears only quench somebody else’s joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your tears.”

End flashback

Remembering those words, Téa again washed the tears off her face, making sure no evidence of her recent eye leakage was evident.

There, feeling desperately weak, she fell asleep.

When Kaiba finally snapped out of his thoughts, he found his dog had fallen asleep.

“Did I really spend all that valuable time thinking?” thought Kaiba as he forced his legs to move and propel his body upward into a stand.

Careful not to wake the dog, he quietly strolled over to the window to take a gander outside. It wasn’t until then that he realized something was off. For one, the sun had gone to bed, and it was nighttime.

“I guess I was thinking longer than I thought” said Kaiba aloud to himself.

Taking a final glance outside the window, he closed the drapes and headed to bed. Taking off his business cloths and changing into old worn ones was one of the highlights of his day. To him, it signified changing form work to home. At peace with his thoughts, Kiba pulled the covers over his tired body and shoved his face into his down feathered pillow.

Finally, the missing peace of the puzzle formed in his head. Téa was gone. No matter how he had treated her during the day, she was always there, by his side, to rest at night.

Quicker than thunder, Seto Kaiba emerged himself to his full emergency level.

Where was she? Did she really leave him?

Running downstairs the concerned husband called forth the closest butler possible.

“Where is she?” he asked coolly, once again not wanting to loose control and actually show emotion in to one of his staff members.

“She went outside” the well-dressed man answered trying to force his gaze to Kaiba’s face. He didn’t want his boss to notice the funny look on his face at the sight of Kaiba’s flannel pajamas.

“Where outside?” he asked trying to get more specific information. They had a big house, and an even bigger yard. If he wanted to find her quickly he needed a more detailed description.

“She was heading toward the stream last I saw” he answered promptly figuring he better not mention this awkward appearance of Kaiba (awkward to the Butler, not to Kaiba) to anyone if he wanted to keep his job.

“Thank-you” Kaiba said quickly as he brushed shoulders with the housework and walked out the door. Once outside (where none of his employees could see him worried, or panicked) Seto ran toward the stream praying that Téa was okay. Praying she could forgive him for his behavior earlier that day.

A baby robin wobbles in the soft grass chirping at ear-piercing volumes. Its desperate cry for help can be heard by the ear of its mother, but nothing can be done. Finally too tired to scream, the young bird is silent, listening for any sign of refuge. Gathering its courage, it slowly moves its broken wing. Focused pain quickly shoots up its fragile nerves, and its body shakes, but it doesn’t shriek. Finally bringing its wing to a resting position, the robin closes its eyes and listens again.

Faintly in the distance, it hears a steady beat of a running stream. Unknowing to why, it moves its feet forward, gaining less than and inch at a time. Closing its eyes, it focuses on the direction of the water. Ignoring the almost unbearable pain in its arm, the little one keeps moving in the same direction, resting only when needed.

Hours later, the exhausted body reaches the very tip of the stream. Almost too tired to move, the baby forces its underdeveloped beak into the rushing water, drinking all it can. Once replenished, it opens its mouth wide, and begins to cry out for help.

Tea awoke suddenly to a most irritating noise. Ignoring the awful sound, she buried her face into the ground and covered her sensitive ears.

“Go away” thought Tea. “Let me rest in peace”

But the screaming did not cease. In fact, with each passing minute, whoever was disturbing the peace got even louder.

“Fine” Tea said to herself, “I’ll just go inside”

Forcing her tired body to move, Tea forced herself up onto her feet and started walking toward the house.

The little bird gave one last scream. At the top of its lungs, it chirped a desperate cry for help. Too tired to go on, too much pain to bear, it collapsed onto the ground to take a long rest.

Tea turned around at the sound of the cry. “What’s making that noise?” she thought. Trying to trace where she heard the sound, she walked along the stream searching for the troublemaker.

“O no!” Tea said aloud as she spotted a little bird lying still on the ground as she rushed over to pick it up. At the touch of her warmth, the robin tried to burry itself deep into her hand. “Don’t worry little one” she promised “You’re going to be okay” Looking at the small body that rested in her hand, Tea cuddled it into her chest and held it close. Somehow she felt better holding the injured bird. She felt she was doing something good for a change. This seemed like her opportunity to help something, and do some good, and to love something in the middle of an admittedly unloving household. She silently promised to herself to make sure this bird healed

“TEA” a voice screamed from far away.

“O no, not now” said Tea half to the baby robin, half to herself. Thinking quickly, she headed for the trees, bird in hand, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.

“You can’t hide Tea I can see you” screamed Kaiba form a fair distance away. The darkness of the night covered his face, but it was obvious from his voice he was concerned.

Stopping in her tracks, did a 180 and started walking toward the fairly annoying sound.

Awkward silence stood for a moment between the couple as neither of them dared to speak. Even though they were close, Seto couldn’t see the dying bird in Tea’s hand. Part of that was due to the fact she gently curved her left hand on top of her right hand. Effectively covering most of the animal and keeping it warm at the same time.

The night air was cool, and Tea started to feel goose bumps coming on. There was a smell of dirt in the air, and an imprint of Tea’s lean body in the grass.

With nothing being said, Tea started walking again. This time, toward the lights of the house that shone brightly in the distance.

“She is leaving” thought Kaiba as she started to walk away. At this realization, several thoughts went rushing through his head simultaneously.

“You can’t” he said aloud, “What will I do? Where will you go? What is going to happen to us? Who gets the dog?” Silence occupied the night again as he walked behind her, too much going through both of their minds to speak.

Seto had many words to describe a situation like this. If his marriage were a business deal, this would be easy. As he felt all his schooling gush out of his brain, he finally gathered together enough sense to put together a sentence. “Where are you going?”

Tea too, had much too many thoughts circling around, but she wasn’t focused on most of them right now. Right now, her primary concern was for the warm bundle of feathers she held in her hand.

“Help” she said.

They were near the house now and for the first time they could see each other clearly.

Unsure of her exact needs, the concerned Kaiba didn’t respond, figuring it was better to not push her over the edge at the moment. So he followed her.

“I need help” she finally stated impatiently.

There were many sharp remarks the elder Kaiba could have said at that moment. She had already told him she needed help. Why would she say it again?

Looking up from his thoughts he saw Tea was walking up the stars into their bedroom. While jogging to catch up, he finally noticed the way she was carrying her hands. Normally when she walked up the stairs, Tea would hold onto the railing. Not that she needed it, but it was habit for both of them. This time, she walked as if she were hiding something. Something she didn’t want him to see.

The house was warm, and Tea felt the hairs on her arms start to lie down. By now, she was a bit more comforted at the warmth of the indoors.

“I need a shoe box, a small lamp,” Tea announced as they entered a room, “and a dry warm rag.”

Seto, still feeling as if he were walking on eggshells, paged his butler with the list. (He always has electronics on him) Within minutes, a man came walking in with everything but the lamp.

“I need a lamp” said Tea as he entered.

“You already have one miss,” said the butler politely. He was obviously nervous. Tea guessed he didn’t want to spend any more time in the same room with either of the two ‘lovebirds’ than necessary, “over on your nightstand.”

Tea nodded and Seto excused the butler. Relieved, he practically ran out of the room.

“This rag goes in the box, and this box goes beside the lamp” Tea explained. “I would do it myself, but I have my hands full.”

He nodded and did what he was told. It was seriously annoying him now. What was in her hands?

The room smelt like vanilla, thanks to the convenient glade plug-ins sitting at each electrical outlet. The room, their bedroom, was warmer than the hallway, and Tea’s body temperature was now at a comfortable level. The walls were blue and it was pretty much a normal husband wife bedroom, except with the luxury of sound-proof walls.

Walking over to the nightstand, Tea carefully revealed the mystery she held. What Seto thought was a dark secret, turned out to be nothing more that an injured baby bird.

With all the preparations set up, Tea gently placed the baby into the cardboard box.

Tea giggled, temporarily forgetting the fight they had and laughing at Seto’s astounded face. It had been ages since she had surprised him. Normally he knew every move she made before she even thinks it. “Well what did you think it was?” She said grinning widely.

Seto, a little self-conscious about the fact he had thought she was hiding something terrible, was even more embarrassed that she had called him on it. Trying to restore some pride to himself he snapped out of his trance and replied, “How was I supposed to know? I never know when you’re around.”

What was meant to make her angry only made her pleased. Tea felt relieved that she hadn’t lost her impulsiveness, and that Kaiba still acknowledged her spontaneity. But although momentarily distracted, Tea’s was still focused on the baby bird. “What do we do now?” she asked. Although she would have liked to take care of the bird herself, she really had no idea what she was supposed to do. Kaiba was the know-it-all, not her.

The bird stirred in the box and gave a quiet chirp as it moved its wing. Tea rushed over to the box trying to think of any way she could help it be more comfortable until she figured out what she was going to do with it. Once she saw it settled, she looked over to Kaiba for instructions.

“Why is she looking at me like that?” thought Kaiba. “What would make her think I want to help? The famous Seto Kaiba doesn’t help baby birds!” Looking again into her face, he noticed the almost desperation in her expression. “Then again, I guess it is important to her.” There was silence for a moment as the CEO had a mental battle between his pride and his wife. Deciding now was not the time for arrogance, he decided to humble himself.

Tea knew Seto. She knew the mental discussion he was thinking of. Wanting to see if he would put his pride before her, she waited. This was his test. Having failed the test too many times before, Tea prepared herself for the worst. Figuring he wasn’t going to help, she turned to the bird and rubbed its head gently.

“You don’t want to touch it anymore” came his reply, “People hands are not good for baby animals. Especially birds.”

Tea froze. The realization of what happened hit her hard. He was helping her! Taking her hand away Tea looked at her husband almost disbelieving the words he had just spoken. Getting to her feet, she ran up and hugged him tightly as a token of her appreciation.

Kaiba also froze. He didn’t know something so simple could mean so much to her!

“Well” Tea responded, “What do I, no, we do?”

“You’ve already done the first part” he replied, “for now we need to wait a little until he gets comfortable with its new surroundings.”

“He?” asked Tea.

“It’s a boy” Seto responded.

“How do you know?” she asked. Secretly she was hoping it would be a girl bird.

He sighed. Not because he didn’t want to answer the question, but he was starting to get tired. “The colors are brighter for boy robins than girl robins.”

“Oh” she said sighing.

These sighs killed Seto. The sadness in her voice and tone made him feel horrible. He was the provider. It was his fault she was sad.

Kaiba sat down on the edge of the bed and held up his head with his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.

Tea, ignoring her own distress, sat down beside him. She shuddered quietly thinking of the fight they had earlier.

“I am sorry” Kaiba admitted. “I’m just so…sorry”

Tea backed away to take a look at him. He looked so lost. If he were a puppy, she would have taken him in her arms and cuddled him, anything to make that look wash away. Then she felt it too. The same loneliness he was feeling. How was it that two people can live together yet be so alone? They saw each other every day, slept together, and ate together. Yet, they knew nothing about each other. Each lived in their own world. Each had their own priorities that were placed in front of their relationship.

They sat in silence for a while. Each preoccupied with their own thoughts, but feeling the same things.

Finally, Kaiba broke out of his trance and decided to formulate a plan. There had to be some organized instructions somewhere of what to do in a situation like this. Somebody has had to have experienced the same thing and had to have wrote it down at some point. Right? It was decided. He was going to fix this. Do his research and make everything better.

Tea too broke out of her thoughts and attempted to focus on a solution to their problem. (This is really hard to do when you’re emotional by the way) After some thought, she decided she needed a long talk. They would talk into the night and start picking up some broken pieces of their relationship. It was a wonderful idea!

Seto, mind set on fixing the problem, got up of the bed and started heading toward his computer.

Tea, mind set on talking, decided to stop him.

“Wait” she called.

Seto spun around reluctantly. Couldn’t she see he had a problem to fix? Why was she delaying him?

“We need to talk” she announced.

“Is she crazy!” he thought “We can’t talk. Past experience proves it. It’s a fact. Every time we meet and hold a rational conversation, we irritate each other. Before you know, we are on the verge of breaking up. No. I can’t talk. I need focus.”

“Sorry,” Kaiba started, “I have work to do”

Tea could have fallen off the bed. They were in the middle of a crisis and he had work to do? “What is the matter with him? It he so oblivious that he can’t tell I am walking on eggshells?” Thought Tea, “Couldn’t he listen to me just this once for the sake of our relationship?”

Angry, Tea protested. “No” she said boldly, raising her voice slightly above normal. “I want to talk”

Was she crazy! They couldn’t talk. What was she thinking! “No.” Seto protested, “I need to work”

“You can’t just work” Tea almost shouted, “I want you here. With me. Not with your computer”

“At least my computer doesn’t talk back” Kaiba spat.

A small chirping could barely be herd a few feet away.

“How dare you!” she shouted.

The baby bird’s volume increased.

“How can you be so blind that you can’t see I need to talk to you? But forget it! I’m tired of talking. I’m leaving!”

At the sound of her voice dropping, it was the first time either of them was quiet enough to realize the baby’s cry for help. During their battle, the little guy had taken a turn for the worse. Now with the noise silent, both rushed over to see if it was alright.

“It needs more warmth” Kaiba announced as he saw its condition.

“So we need a heater” Tea thought.

As if reading her mind, Kaiba pulled out his phone, and texted the message to his butler. Seconds later, the well dressed man came running in with a small portable heater. Kaiba tore it out of the poor man’s hands and without saying a word, plugged it into the wall and placed it gently beside the baby’s box.

“Does it need food?” Tea asked

“Desperately” Seto admitted, “but we have to wait until it is stable enough to eat.”

“What does it eat?” asked Tea

“I don’t know” Seto admitted.

“If I may” asked the butler looking for any excuse to quickly leave the room, “I’ll go and find out Mater Kaiba.”

“Go” was all he replied before the little man scurried out the door.

Again there was silence in the room.

Figuring he blew his last hope, Seto Kaiba finally broke the silence. “I’ll just leave you to pack”

“I’m not going” she said softly.

“What do you mean you’re not going?” Said Kaiba confused.

“My bird needs me” she simply stated.

“Oh.” He said softly.

Another silence filled the room as both partners thought about what to do next. By now the robin had stopped chirping and was sleeping comfortably by the warmth of the space heater combined with the lamp.

They were now at the bottom of the pit and both of them knew it. This could be their darkest hour, or their greatest triumph. Except, nothing was no indication of what they were supposed to do.

Tea saw two options. Leave Seto. Possibly remarry to somebody else and live the rest of her life without her true love, or stay with Seto, and let his words cut her deeper with every passing day.

Kaiba however, found a different option.

“Let’s begin again,” he suggested.

“What?”

“I can still remember,” repeated Kaiba, “when we said our wedding vows. We gave the Lord our hears, and our home. But lately we've been so busy it's changing us somehow. I wonder if that's why we feel alone. So let’s begin again. Let's leave the loneliness behind.
Take my hand and then we can find a new beginning while there's still time.”

“You mean just start over?” thought Tea aloud, “Is that even possible?”

“I don’t see why not”

“Okay then. Clean slate. All is forgiven, on both sides.” Tea responded, still a little in shock. Probably not fully grasping the abrupt concept.

“Okay then” Seto responded just to make a clean slate in his mind.

Looking at each other, they both burst into laughter. No, there wasn’t any particular reason, it just needed to be done. Feeling lighter and more free, Tea decided to ask what was on her mind for the last few minutes.

“Seto” she started out.

“Yes?”

“What were we fighting about this morning? I can’t remember”

“Come to think of it, neither can I” he told her. And he honestly couldn’t.

“Seto” she asked again.

“Can we go to bed now?” she asked yawning.

Looking at the clock, he realized just how late they had been up. It was now almost four in the morning! Looking back at Tea exhaustion set in.

“Yes” he said walking over to the bed. “Yes we can”

“Seto” Tea asked one more time crawling into the covers. “You love me right?”

“Of course,” he said quietly as he kissed her goodnight. Wrapping his arms around her, they fell quickly asleep.

Minutes later, a butler came in with a bottle of brown liquid for the baby bird. Deciding they were not going to feed it tonight, and definitely not wanting to disturb them, he placed the liquid on top of the heater.

“Good night” Master Kaiba. “Sweet dreams” Misses Kaiba. And with that said, he left the room.

Seto awoke to a now familiar noise around five in the morning. The little robin, who was causing the disturbance, was now bigger and almost fully recovered.

Kaiba, only half coherent, rolled out of bed and rubbed his dry, red eyes as he made his way to the sparkling kitchen. Opening the impressive refrigerator and grabbing a small plastic container, he softly grumbled and slowly made his way back up the winding stairs, clutching the handrail tightly for support.

Walking into his bedroom, he opened the lid of the contraption, pulled out a few wiggly worms, and set them in the bird’s cage. With that done, he stumbled in bed, and fell back asleep.

Dream/Flashback

Young Seto walked into a big room he had never seen before. Kids his own age were running around everywhere! Some were crying, and some were running as if they were being chased by an invisible force.

“So this is kindergarten?” Seto thought.

Taking a second look around, he noted the brightly colored walls and all the childish toys that he had given up playing with two years ago. Walking around the classroom, he mentally memorized the general behavior of his fellow classmates.

On one side of the room were the boys, and on the other side the girls. Quickly noting the pattern, he casually strolled over and found one boy, all by himself, that looked like he could possibly be smart enough to befriend.

“Can I join you?” he asked one of his classmates.

The smaller boy, named Yugi remained speechless, but scooted over at the short table to give Seto a spot to sit down.

Looking over, Seto saw Yugi was toying with a rubrics cube. Wondering what this strange device was, Kaiba watched carefully as Yugi eventually got all the corresponding colors together on the same side.

“Can I try?” asked Seto determined to solve this strange puzzle.

Yugi simply handed him another cube, and watched as Seto’s determination took over and he toyed with the block for quite a while until it looked like Yugi’s.

“We did it!” he exclaimed happily. With that said, a group of girls walked, giggling and awing, at the pair of boys who just solved a rather complicated riddle.

It was a strange moment for the boys who had never been around a group of girls before.

That night, Seto wrote in his journal, (he was a smart kindergartener.)

Today I had my first experience with a bunch of girls. Teacher Kim tries her best to get us used to our new surroundings. We sit boy, girl, boy, girl in class, and every game we play we boys are paired with girls. But at recess today, guys played with guys, and girls with girls. It’s not that we are fighting with each other. Compared to home, that big room is rather peaceful. I think were just different. And somehow, I think those differences run deeper than the pink and blue sign on the two bathroom doors.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Seto grunted as he slapped the snooze on his alarm clock. He had a surprise for Tea today, who had the day off work.

Using his arms to propel his body upward, Seto forced himself to sit up. Tea, undisturbed by the alarm, was sleeping soundly beside him. Habitually, Seto made a quick check to make sure their bird, named Elsu (meaning Flying falcon), was okay.

“Mornings hate me” Seto thought to himself as he finally decided to suck it up and leave the warmth of his bed. “Well, maybe not hate me, I’ve seen worse morning people, but it does dislike me with malice and anger.”

Making his way to his walk in closet, Seto pulled out some simple street cloths and proceeded to get dressed.

“Oh what a beautiful morning!” Tea thought to herself as she opened her eyes. “I bet its going to be a wonderful day!”

With that thought bouncing around in her brain, Mrs. Kaiba bound out of bed and downstairs to breakfast.

“Good morning Roland” she greeted sitting down at the kitchen table.

“Good morning Mrs. Kaiba” he greeted formally, “what can I get you for breakfast today.”

“Coco-puffs” Tea responded in her all cheery morning voice. Needless to say, she was excited to finally have a day off work.

“And eggs benedict for me” announced Kaiba as he walked into the room.

“Yes sir” said Roland as he walked into the kitchen second kitchen where the stove was.

“Tea,” Kaiba started out, “Do you have any plans today?”

“Well, I thought I would go shopping or something” she said running her fingers along the edges of the table.”

“A client of mine is working in Tokyo.” Started Kaiba, attempting to announce a special surprise to her, “And in order to show how his own allucinations are far to copious for his diminutive comprehension…

Tea never could fully understand Seto. Literally. She knew nothing of his entire business lingo, so she learned to act like she was listening inventively until Seto could bring himself to the point he was making. Looking Seto in the eyes, she was thinking about a particular new shirt she wanted, and planned to get today. Deciding to let her eyes wonder to his face, she figured he was almost done talking, and tuned her brain radio back into the conversation.

“…so I thought I could cash in my favor and have him give us a tour of Tokyo. If that is alright with you.”

“Sounds wonderful!” she exclaimed.

“Just think of all the shopping I can do!” Tea thought, though she didn’t voice her intention aloud.

“I’m sure she’ll love seeing all the national monuments” Seto thought to himself.

All conversation was then silenced as Roland brought out their breakfast, and both parties ate in silence, thinking about the upcoming day.

“Wow!” Said Tea as she stepped out of the limonene, “sugar!”

She stood for a couple of moments in awe, at the scene before her. They were visiting a popular tourist ally named Kashiya Yokocho, or “sweet store ally.” It was and is lined by several stores, housed in old buildings and selling traditional Japanese sweets. Among the sweets sold are various candies, rice crackers, sugar coated, deep fried cookies (karinto) and sweets made of red bean paste and sweet potatoes.

“Yum!” she said as she rushed over to a vendor to look though all the candy.

The street was lively with tourists, brightly colored, and crawling with people. Just the way Tea liked it. Still deciding how many rice crackers she should buy, she felt a strong hand on her arm.

“We don’t have much time” Seto said impatiently.

“I’ll hurry up” responded Tea, quite annoyed at the sudden urgency to leave in the presence of so much sugar.

“Two of those” she said while pulling money out of her purse.

Seto, growing more impatient, grumbled to himself beside her.

“Thank-you miss” the vendor replied.

Tea had just enough time to grab her rice-cakes before being dragged out of the crowd toward the limo by her husband.

“We need to leave” he said while entering the limo, “we have a lot to do and not much time.”

She nodded understandingly, and offered Seto some of her candy, which he refused.

The entire day went on in a similar manner. The schedule they were on required little time between each stop, and the lovely couple got to see most the main sites in Tokyo.

It was the kind of day Kaiba loved to conquer, charge through, triumph over, and accomplish.

That was the good news.

Unfortunately, they often found themselves in the vicinity of Tokyo’s colorful marketplace. That meant a number of key shops to “visit.” Just the kind of day a woman loves to savor, linger over, and enjoy.

That was the bad news.

Conquering and savoring are not really compatible, at least not at the same time. Charging through and lingering are--to say the least--quite different approaches to the same thing. It was not an easy day. She was tight, he was tight.

“But,” Seto thought, “we got through it. We did it. Checked it off the list. It’s conquered. It is over.”

Or so he thought.

That night, the couple was to stay on Mount Mitake. A wooded mountain near central Tokyo. Our lovely couple was walking along one of the ancient paths among a particularly beautiful part of the mountain.

Lovely grey stones lay beneath their feet, marking the path which they were to follow. Brightly colored paper lanterns lit up edges of the trail. Beautiful shades of green were everywhere. From the moss that consumed the rocks and trees, to the soft bushes that brushed against their skin. The Milky-Way swept across the clear night sky, and the wind gave a soft blow, causing the fire in the lanterns to flicker lightly. The setting felt pretty romantic. So did the man.

“This is wonderful” Seto thought, “a beautiful night.”

Gently, Seto put his hand on Tea’s shoulder, pulling her slowly towards him. To his surprise, she seemed…well, a little unyielding.

Not wanting to loose the moment, he lowered his voice and whispered tenderly in her ear. “Honey, I really love you.”

A strange look flashed across Tea’s face as she slowly pulled out of his warm embrace. “Oh, really?”

“Uh-oh” Seto thought, “this isn’t turning out to be the evening I had in mind.”

She added, “It takes work to love me, you know.”

Seto’s journal.

There went the moment. Like air out of a balloon, the magic was gone. What had happened earlier that day was ancient history to me. Not to Tea. I learned something today. We are more different that I thought. I, personally, am more compartmentalized. Focused. One thing at a time. What happened in the kitchen has no connection to the bedroom.

But Tea is connected. Comprehensive. Especially when it comes to relationships. Everything comes and goes together. What happened in the morning has everything to do with what happened in the evening. And Tea was right--loving someone ‘different’ is hard work.

“Step, shuffle, step, step” Tea said aloud. Her class of four and five year old dance students was her first and favorite class of the day.

“Step, shuffle, step, step” they repeated.

“Great!” she exclaimed happily. Let’s try if together now, from the beginning.

Seto watched quietly from the doorway. Luckily, she was too busy with her mini-students to notice his steady gaze upon her. It was quite entertaining to watch her work. Everything she did, the little ones would copy. as if she was playing an invisible game of ‘Follow the Leader.’

Snapping back into reality, he reluctantly turned around, and while exiting the building, left small a note in her gym bag.

Now the real work began, but first he had to think.

“How do you speak woman?” he mentally asked himself.

He then remembered some of Tea’s close friends that had come over for dinner a few months back, and how they ate in the dining room, instead of the kitchen counter.

So, he went to work setting up two spots in the dining room.

Admittedly, to him, it didn’t make much sense. To eat in the ‘fancy’ room meant he had to haul the food farther, get out heavier dishes, and clean a bigger table.

“But” he said to himself, “if that’s what it takes, that’s what I’ll do.”

Once finished he looked approvingly at his work. The china and crystal were set up next to each other on different corners of the square table, just like they do in old movies.

“Now comes the bigger challenge” he thought to himself, “What am I going to put on the china?”

Now you must know, Seto didn’t cook at all. If he were to go hunting, he’d live off doughnut holes and milk.

“I know” he mentally shouted, “Sometimes, on Sunday nights, Tea takes and English muffin, cuts it in half, and fixes a little tuna thing.”

So that’s what he did.

Now this took a lot longer than you, or I might have taken. We know were the cooking utensils, and food in our kitchens is. But Seto had never actually ‘cooked’ in his kitchen before. So he had to take his time to find the basic supplies. Especially the can-opener, who knew they have a special machine to open cans for him now?

“Great, now it looks really lovely.” Said Kaiba aloud, “A pile of tuna on a tiny muffin, all by itself on a big white plate.”

By now, I should tell you, Roland was watching this entire scene with extreme curiosity. Here he is normally the one to do the cooking, and watching his master attempt was, to say the least, entertaining. But upon seeing his dilemma, he decided to help him out.

“Sir” said Roland politely, (not wanting to make his master angry by interrupting him) “what else does Tea sometimes put on her Sunday night meal.”

“Cheese and pineapple” he said as he started walking toward the fridge.

For their drink, he got out some fruit punch and put it in the crystal.

Finally, he stood back to survey his work. Honestly, it looked pretty classy. Okay, it wasn’t Better Home and Gardens, but it wasn’t too tacky either.

Now, all he had to do was wait.

Tea sighed, knowing she had to go home.

Admittedly, her relationship with her husband had improved exponentially over the past month, but she still felt there could be more.

Casually, she strolled over to her gym bag to change from her leotard and into her more, comfortable cloths. Without looking, Tea carefully unzipped the fabric and dumped out all her belongings onto the floor. On top of them, was a folded piece of notebook paper, obviously ripped in a hurry, for the edge was jagged.

Curiosity arose as she unfolded the note and began to read.

Hey Honey.

Hope you had a wonderful day!

Seto

The sad, almost depressed Tea suddenly felt herself burst with joy as she did a ‘happy dance’ around her studio. The fact that her husband had actually thought of her during his busy day made her heart fill with the ‘warm fuzzes’. It seemed as if her entire dance studio seemed brighter and more cherry than before.

Ending her dance, she rushed to get changed.

Seto’s journal.

Then she came in the door. You would have thought I’d bought the Queen Mary and announced that we were going on a year’s cruise. She was absolutely blown away. All I said was “Hi Honey,” but in her language, I’d just recited a Shakespearean sonnet accompanied by mandolin. I wasn’t only speaking “Woman” I was singing! That simple effort (for pity’s sake, it was only tuna fish) communicated in a way that was all out of proportion to the act itself.

The responder portion of Tea is so strong! It seems to take even the most feeble effort of masculine tenderness and reflect it back in a blaze of feminine glory. When Tea responds with such joy and warmth it almost makes me ashamed at how seldom I exert myself in that direction. But the fact remains…when I was the lover and initiator attempt to speak her language and penetrate her world, she is all I’ve ever dreamed of as a woman in response to me.

So, that's all for this chapter. Review if you want to. I tried to get that little line thing to seperate all the different schenes, but it wouldn't work. Sorry about that. Next up: Seto learns to make friends.