Forbidden Love

By: Anncatz

"When Serenity Wheeler crosses paths with Seto Kaiba, things are bound to happen, and in this tale, they happen more quickly than anyone could expect. Love, anger, fear, and chaos are woven together as Serenity tries to melt the ice around Seto's heart."

Note to the Reader: This fanfic is a re-imagining of my same-titled story from 2003-2004. This version is in no way a sequel or new storyline, but keeps the original plot mostly intact. Its purpose is to take the original story and turn it into an overall smoother, more sophisticated work. It accomplishes this through changes in dialogue, character, and detail. Some scenes have been added, deleted, or altered.

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Chapter 1: The Elusive Name

A soft, cool breeze wafted through the park, ruffling the orange, red, and yellow leaves in the trees. Hearing the quiet shuffle, an auburn-haired girl raised her hazel eyes to the treetops and smiled.

"Isn't fall wonderful, Joey?" she sighed dreamily, turning to the boy who sat beside her.

The wily blonde grinned. "Yeah, it really is," he agreed, marveling at the autumn scenery around him.

"The trees are so colorful," the dreamer went on as she watched an orange leaf drift slowly to the ground. "It's absolutely beautiful. Every day, I'm thankful to be able to see the world, and I owe it all to you, Joey. You have no idea how grateful I am to be able to see again. I'll never forget what you did for me. You're the best brother a girl could have." She then laid her head on her beloved brother's shoulder.

"Gee, thanks, Serenity," Joey said humbly. "It sure is nice to share this again, isn't it? Just watchin' the seasons change before our eyes."

"It's wonderful…"

Meanwhile, there was another person passing through the park. He was tall and thin, with the most egotistical posture and gait. His brown hair played across his serious face in such a way that his vibrant, blue eyes shone—not in the manner of a twinkling star, but rather like that of ice that lay in the shining sun, mysterious and alluring, yet agonizing because of the harsh, bright glare…

It was none other than the young and cold-hearted CEO of Kaiba Corporation, Seto Kaiba. He took notice of Joey and the girl and let out a disgusted grunt. Wheelers. That was all that they were to him—a couple of low-class, mangy dogs, undeserving of his time or attention.

The naive girl, however, made a point to smile and wave at him.

Appalled by the friendly gesture, Kaiba narrowed his icy eyes and glared fiercely back at her. Who did she think she was, waving to him like that? He barely even knew her; he did not even remember her name. She was just another filthy Wheeler mutt. Why would she bother to wave? Did she not know better?

Still, he paused for a moment in an attempt to recall her name. What was it? He did not have the slightest idea. The thought was driven out of his mind, though, when he sensed the menacing scowl that Joey was directing at him. Kaiba grinned back with arrogance and hurried on his way.

After Kaiba departed, Serenity looked to her big brother and innocently inquired, "What's wrong with Kaiba?"

Joey laughed. "'What's wrong with Kaiba?'" he mocked. "Ya gotta be kidding, sis. He's like that all the time."

Serenity frowned. "He just seemed so unhappy," she maintained.

"Well, he probably is, but that's because he's a heartless…" Joey paused, searching for the right word to censor his language in front of his baby sister. "…guy. Listen. Don't worry about him, Serenity. He don't deserve it."

"Everyone deserves a little kindness, Joey," Serenity sweetly insisted, "and everybody deserves to be happy."

Grumbling, Joey looked away and attempted to resume the relaxation that he had enjoyed just moments before.

A couple of days passed.

Rain beat aggressively against the windows of a large, impressive mansion, while, inside, the teen billionaire tapped away at his computer. His eyes flashed from one side of the screen to the next, intently scanning the words that he rapidly typed. Work was one of his few true passions, and the hours often accumulated quicker than he realized. He was so very fixated on his company's latest project…

"Hey, Seto?" came the kid voice, breaching his concentration.

The busy tapping of the keyboard ceased. Kaiba swiveled his chair around to give attention to the boy. "Yes, Mokuba?"

Mokuba, with wide, pleading eyes, pulled out a deck of Duel Monsters cards. "I was hoping that maybe you could teach me some new strategies for Duel Monsters," he said hopefully.

"I'm busy now," Kaiba flatly refused, turning his body back to the computer. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Promise?" Mokuba asked.

"Yes," Kaiba absentmindedly answered as he began to type again.

"Great!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Actually, it's better! The weather is supposed to be really nice tomorrow! We can go to the park and-"

Kaiba interrupted his brother: "No. We don't need to go to the park for that."

"Aw, c'mon, Seto," whined the boy. "Please, can we go?"

Kaiba swiveled around again. Watching his brother's eager eyes dance with hope, he conceded, "Fine."

A big grin came across Mokuba's young face. "Thanks, Seto!"

The next day, the sun gleamed warmly upon the park, just as Mokuba had hoped. Even Seto could not be indifferent to it; perhaps the excursion would actually be worth his time.

He followed Mokuba as the boy searched the park for a good place to play cards. The younger Kaiba's eyes wandered excitedly, and soon, he found a spot that was to his liking. "There!" he exclaimed, pointing to a picnic table. "It's perfect, and look..."

"Hmm?" Kaiba glanced up. His eyes widened as he realized that it was occupied and surrounded by many people. All of them were familiar faces to Kaiba, but one stood out above all the rest: "Yugi," he growled.

Seeing the face of his respected adversary both irritated and intrigued him. Yugi Muto always seemed to awaken his harshly competitive nature. Unfortunately, the great King of Games was accompanied by all of his friends—Joey Wheeler and his sister, Tristan Taylor, Tea Gardner, Ryou Bakura, Duke Devlin, and Mai Valentine—and they would surely only serve as an annoyance.

His cold eyes met those of Yugi for a moment, and both of them understood what must be done. A duel between them was inevitable. Knowing this, Kaiba adopted a smug and boastful expression, while Yugi smiled broadly and greeted, "Hi, guys! Whatcha doin'?"

Such detestable cheerfulness.

"Seto and I came here to play Duel Monsters," Mokuba replied as he jogged over to the group. "Looks like you guys beat us to it," he observed.

"Yup. It's a perfect day to duel. Wanna join us?" Yugi offered.

Kaiba stepped forward. "Yugi," he began, pointing at the spiky-haired teen, "stop the small talk and allow me to prove to you that I am more worthy of the title 'King of Games!'"

"But Seto," Mokuba whined, "you said you'd help me."

"And I will," Kaiba snapped, "as soon as I defeat Yugi."

"Hey, have a little patience, Kaiba," Yugi advised. "I think we should all have a chance to play. There are plenty of people here; why don't we make a little tournament out of it?"

"Hmph. Why should I waste my time watching a bunch of amateurs struggling to remember the rules?" Kaiba retorted. Nodding in Joey Wheeler's direction, he added, "Besides, I don't play with dogs that can't defend themselves."

Mokuba begged, "Come on, Seto, this will be a great way for me to learn a lot of new things."

Sighing, Kaiba reasoned, "Look, there are ten people here. That's an imperfect number for tournament play; however, if a couple of people just sit this one out, we'll have a nice, round number to work with." Then, with a smirk, he turned to Joey again. "So, Wheeler, if you're afraid that you may have to duel me, it's perfectly okay for you to run and hide. I'll just have to humiliate someone else in your place."

"I ain't afraid!" Joey proclaimed, his face becoming red with fury.

"Wait a minute, Seto," said Mokuba. "There's gotta be a way we can do this without making somebody just sit and watch." Mokuba thought for a moment. "How about this? We'll keep track of all the scores, and the two people whose match is the closest during that round will both advance. Does that sound good?"

"I think that's a great idea, Mokuba," Yugi complemented. "It ought to be fun too. What do you say, Kaiba?"

To Kaiba, the idea felt like nothing but an inconvenience, but if it were to result in a duel with Yugi... "Fine," he agreed with a sly grin, "I'm in."

"Wait, Seto, you've got to help me first!" Mokuba reminded his brother.

The two Kaibas put some distance between themselves and the others while Seto provided Mokuba with some new cards and the helpful tactics to go with them. When this process was finished, names were drawn to decide who would play whom.

The first duel was between Kaiba and Mai, and he spent the entire time mocking her. Despite her experience with the game, her skill was not great enough to defeat the powerful dragon master.

Ryou and Duke dueled next. Feisty Devlin proudly announced that he would win the match for Joey's lovely sister, but his efforts were ultimately fruitless.

Tristan, who also would have loved to win a duel in the pretty maiden's honor, ended up having to play against her instead. Distressed and flustered, he was defeated.

Mokuba did his best to execute the strategies that his brother taught him, but, being unfamiliar with the new deck, he disappointed Seto by losing to Tea.

The round ended with quite a heated battled between Yugi and Joey, the two best friends. Yugi emerged as the victor, but it was so close that, due to the tournament's rules, they both moved on.

In the second round, Kaiba's opponent was the Wheeler girl. Upon hearing the announcement that she was his next victim, he glanced over at her. Until then, he had given her little thought. He had, in fact, completely ignored her game against Tristan. The sudden awareness of her presence brought the memory back to him.

Did he not see her in this very park a few days ago? Yes, she was sitting on a bench with her dog of a brother, watching the leaves drift down from the branches. What was her name? ...Surely it did not matter.

He sat across from her at the picnic table, not bothering to speak to her, and began to shuffle his cards.

"Good luck, Kaiba," she told him politely. "I know that I'll probably lose, but I'll try my best."

Without replying, Kaiba placed his deck on the table, expecting her to cut it. She grabbed his cards hastily, brushing her hand against his as she did so.

Kaiba looked up at her questioningly. What was her name? It still eluded him.

She returned his deck to him, then allowed him to cut hers. Afterward, both players drew their cards, and the girl began the match by playing a very weak monster in attack mode.

Kaiba looked to her, skeptically raising an eyebrow.

She merely smiled back at him, clearly unaware of her unintelligible decision.

"Well, Kaiba?" Joey asserted. "Aren't ya gonna say somethin' already? I mean, you made fun of Mai, so why don't you go ahead and make fun of my sister too?"

Kaiba glared at Joey, but did not say a word. Naturally, the girl was a weak opponent. She was a Wheeler; it was expected of her. But her elusive, mysterious name perturbed him. Dwelling upon it, he remained quietly distracted as he continued the duel.

The silence was uncomfortable to Joey, who was accustomed to Kaiba's typical insults and arrogant laughs. He leaned close to Yugi and whispered, "What's up with Kaiba? He made fun of Mai—and she's an experienced duelist—but he's not sayin' anything to Serenity. I don't get it."

Yugi shrugged and whispered, "Me neither."

As the duel progressed, the girl actually managed to put a small dent in Kaiba's Life Points, though that was a greater accomplishment than anyone expected her to achieve. Still, Kaiba won with ease, and when the game was over, he stood and approached her. "You did better than I thought you would," he acknowledged.

The girl stood and smiled up at him, taking his words as a compliment. "Thank you, Kaiba. It was an honor to duel against you. "

His serious expression met the bright, lively one for just a moment, and without thinking, he smiled for the shortest fraction of a second. Abruptly serious again, he reached out his hand.

The girl's smile grew broader as she took his hand and shook it.

He could not wait any longer. The question must be answered. "What's your name again?" he asked.

"Serenity."

"Right." When Kaiba turned to the others, he noticed that they were staring at him. He grunted, then asked, "What are you staring at?"

"Oh, nothing," Yugi dismissed. "I suppose we should get on to the next duel."

While watching the last two duels of the second round, Kaiba was not himself. Yugi dueled Tea... Joey dueled Ryou... but it did not matter. He had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew her name now: Serenity.

Why, then, was he so unsettled?

Joey's voice suddenly rang through his ears: "Hey! Pay attention, moneybags! It's time to duel!"

Apparently, the next round had begun.

The duel against Joey quickly allowed the young businessman to regain his poise. His usual sarcasm and belittling mannerisms came back to him as he slowly but surely crushed his unworthy rival.

Then, at long last, Yugi secured his spot in the final match by defeating Ryou. It was just as predicted: only Kaiba and Yugi remained.

By this time, the sun was beginning to set, and the sky glowed a charming shade of orange that complemented the warm colors of the autumn leaves. Kaiba eyed his nemesis carefully. Countless times he had tried to overcome little Yugi, only to fail. With the evening sun beating down upon him, he felt that this was his moment. "Are you ready, Yugi?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I sure am, Kaiba!" Yugi exclaimed lightheartedly.

The duel was characteristically grueling and difficult for both duelists, yet Kaiba noticed that Yugi's style was not as firm and determined as usual. It had a casual feeling to it, as if the boy were just dueling for fun—an unfamiliar concept to the aggressive CEO.

In the end, Kaiba finally conquered his greatest adversary. The sensation of it should have been one of triumph, but Kaiba could not help but feel a tinge of disappointment.

"That was a great duel, Kaiba," Yugi acknowledged.

"Were you even trying?" Kaiba bitterly wondered.

Yugi shrugged with indifference. "Yeah, but I just wanted to enjoy it. Things may have been different if I would've let my other half take over."

Kaiba growled spitefully, "You know that I don't believe in that rubbish."

"Think what you want, Kaiba, but the Millennium Puzzle doesn't lie."

Kaiba grunted in reply.

Then, Serenity stepped forward and approached him. She looked into the businessman's serious eyes and said courteously, "Congratulations on winning the tournament, Kaiba."

"Thank you," he stoically responded.

"You're welcome," Serenity happily said.

Kaiba looked to his brother. "If you'll excuse us, Mokuba and I will be going now. Goodbye…" Remembering the name, he added, "…Serenity."

The girl beamed back at him and waved, "Goodbye, Kaiba."

With that, the two Kaiba brothers started to walk away. Meanwhile, the other friends talked amongst themselves.

"It's getting dark," Ryou observed. "We should go."

"Yeah," Tristan agreed. "It's time to turn in for the evening."

"Hey, guys," Tea piped in eagerly, "before we go, we should stop and get some ice cream."

"Oh, I'd love that!" Serenity exclaimed.

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Joey grinned. "Let's go."

They, too, started to leave, but Serenity paused to look at Kaiba and Mokuba in the distance. "What about those two?" she asked.

"Let 'em go," Joey suggested. "They wouldn't have fun anyway."

"But we should at least invite them," Serenity insisted. Intent on this idea, she ran after the two brothers, calling to them, "Hey! Kaiba! Mokuba!"

Kaiba turned around slowly. It was her. Serenity.

"We're going to stop for ice cream on our way home," she explained sweetly. "Would you like to come with us?"

"That would be great!" Mokuba excitedly accepted.

"No," Kaiba firmly asserted. "Mokuba and I don't have time for things like that."

"But Seto!" Mokuba pleaded stubbornly.

Serenity urged hopefully, "Yes, please come with us, Kaiba."

Kaiba looked to his brother, then to Serenity. For a moment, he stared into her hazel eyes, which shone with the same hope that he had so often seen in his own brother's face. He sighed, and then reluctantly agreed to go with them.