Broken Bridges

Disclaimer: This story is not based on the CMT movie with the same title. I am simply using the title. I also do not own Lindsey Haun's song "Broken", but the song itself will play a small part in the story. I also do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Chapter 1

"Kaiba, wait! Hey! Slow down a minute, will ya? Oh for the love of…Kaiba!"

Two men entered the doors of Raynie Days, an upscale bar in central Domino. The taller of the two was Seto Kaiba. At the age of twenty-four, he had more money in his pocket than many others could earn in a lifetime. He was quite attractive with a slender but muscular physique. He was fair-skinned, but in a way that worked for him. His chocolate-brown hair fell over his forehead and ended just above piercing blue eyes and fell into a point at the nape of his neck. Standing at about 6'1", he wore a black turtleneck sweater and dark blue denims over a pair of black boots.

A few seconds after Kaiba's almost unnoticeable entrance, a loud blond named Joey Wheeler burst through the door. His face was red and his chest was heaving, possibly from having to sprint after the long-legged brunet (who had practically sprinted himself, but looked twice as dignified). His shaggy blond hair fell around his face in a thick curtain as he struggled to regain his composure. Once that was accomplished, he straightened to his full height at 5'10" and narrowed his chocolate brown eyes in what was supposed to be an intimidating glare.

"Hey Kaiba, what gives? You call me and ask me to come here with you, and you practically ditch me once you park the car. If you wanted to leave me behind, why'd you call me in the first place?"

Kaiba spun on his heel and clapped a large hand over the blond's animated mouth. His sapphire eyes seemed to scream "Shut the hell up before I make you!" He raised the index finger of his free hand to his lips in a gesture for his friend to silence himself. Joey looked at Kaiba with confusion spilling from every pore on his face. Kaiba finally removed his hand and Joey continued his rant, just in a softer voice.

"Kaiba, why did you ask me here? Couldn't you ask Yugi or Mai? Hell, I'm sure Tea would have said yes. Why'd you ask me of all people?"

"Because," Kaiba responded in a voice barely above a whisper, "it's about Artemis."

Joey's brows knit in frustration as he tried to remember why the name sounded so familiar. Kaiba, seeing this and on the brink of strangling the blond (who had been pestering him with questions on the way there), sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Artemis Sloane, Wheeler. Remember? Senior year? The girl I went out with?" The brunet fought the urge to slap himself in the forehead upon seeing Joey's blank look. "Your sister's best friend?" Kaiba hissed in frustration.

Joey blinked for a few moments, before connecting Kaiba's clues. "Oh yeah! You mean the one that you kno—?"

Again, Kaiba interrupted him by clapping his hand over the blond's mouth. Then, after checking to make sure that no one had overheard, he nodded. Joey's eyes widened and he nodded vigorously as if to say "oh yeah, I get it. We're on the same page now." Sighing with frustration, Kaiba removed his hand and wiped it on his thigh while muttering something about dog germs.

"Please put your hands together for the lovely, the talented, Artemis Sloane!"

Kaiba's head shot up as he heard the familiar name. He looked towards a darkened corner of the bar, only to notice that the whole bar had gone dark. A makeshift stage was set up in the corner with an array of colored lights arranged above it. A single white spotlight was shining in the center of the stage on a girl with long auburn hair clutching a microphone. Even from his spot across the room, he knew it was the same girl he had fallen in love with so many years earlier.

"Hello everyone," Artemis said into the microphone. "Tonight, I'm going to sing a song I wrote. It's called 'Broken'." She cleared her throat and nodded towards the band standing behind her. Music began to play and she clutched the microphone to her lips. "I wake up to a sunny day, not a cloud up in the sky. And then it starts to rain. My defenses hit the ground and they shatter all around, so open and exposed."

Kaiba and Joey stood rooted in their spots. Joey fell silent and sank backwards onto a barstool. Kaiba stared wide-eyed at the girl whose heart he had broken seven years earlier. Artemis had been beautiful as a teenager, but she looked even more so now. Her body was still slender and muscular, but still very much feminine. She wore a long white skirt and a dark violet spaghetti-strap shirt. A white cotton scarf was wrapped around her neck and her long auburn hair was pulled back into a bun.

"But I found strength in the struggle. Face to face with my trouble." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "When you're broken in a million little pieces, and you're trying, but you can't hold on anymore. Every tear falls down for a reason. Don't just stop believing in yourself when you're broken." She closed her eyes and pulled the microphone off its stand. She stepped off the stage and walked onto the floor, occasionally stopping at tables as she sang.

"Little girl don't be so blue. I know what you're going through. Don't let it beat you up. Heaven knows that getting scars only makes you who you are, only makes you who you are."

Kaiba's eyes watched Artemis as she moved through the bar, coming closer and closer to him with each and every step. He was hypnotized by her voice, the same voice that had pulled him to her when they had first met.

"No matter how much your heart is aching. There is beauty in the breaking. Yeeeeeeeeeeah. When you're broken in a million little pieces and you're trying, but you can't hold on anymore. Every tear falls down for a reason. Don't just stop believing in yourself when you're broken."

Artemis was only a couple of yards away and getting closer. She started to move towards Kaiba and Joey, but her eyes were looking back towards the main crowd. When she looked towards the people she would be serenading next, her heart stopped in her chest. But just as quickly as it had happened, it vanished and she continued to sing. She got right up in Kaiba's face and sang with more passion than she had ever sung before.

"Better days are gonna find you once again. Every piece will find its place. When you're broken. When you're broken." The music rose to a crescendo and she whipped back around to the main crowd, but Kaiba could tell that she was singing to him now.

"When you're broken in a million little pieces and you're trying but you can't hold on anymore. Every tear falls down for a reason. Don't just stop believing in yourself when you're broken. Oh, when you're broken. When you're broken. When you're broken."

As she neared the end of her song, she crossed back to the stage. As the music died, she replaced the microphone in the stand and bowed respectfully to her audience. She blew kisses to them and thanked them before stepping off stage. She quickly glanced towards the back of the bar, only to find that neither Kaiba nor Joey were there.