Author's Note: So this is, admittedly, a surprise to me. I didn't actually mean to write this, and then when I realized I was writing it, I never thought it would end up half this long or half this cliche. But my friend made the mistake of mentioning how she loved this unconventional pairing, and I love my friend, so this was my unintentional gift to her. Please excuse any out of character actions, this is not my normal set of characters, and know ahead of time that most of the mentioned cards are creations of my own imagination to fit the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh or Disney's Little Mermaid. I do however own the plot and storyline of this oneshot.

The card is on Seto's desk when he walks into his office that early morning. He doesn't notice it at first, laying in the middle of his work space, glinting slightly in the warm light of the room. When he does, his first thought is that Mokuba had left it there accidentally during one of his ''secret'' times in Seto's office: Mokuba liked to come in and pretend he was in charge of Kaiba Corp and Seto didn't mind so long as he put everything back in order.

But Seto knows every card in Mokuba's deck, had given his little brother most of them himself, and unless Mokuba was trading in secret, this wasn't one of his.

Seto looks over the card as he waits for his laptop to start; it's a basic monster card, nothing special except, Seto notes, it has unusually high defensive points.

The Little Mermaid

ATK 1200

DEF 4500

Her voice stolen, this mermaid hides away, waiting for a worthy person to return her voice.

The image of the card is a very large clam shell, mostly closed, with only a pair of Caribbean blue eyes peeking out of the small opening.

Seto looks at the card, interest only slightly piqued and then his laptop pings and he easily drops the card into a drawer, forgotten in favor of checking sales records for this month.

Later, when he is leaving for the day, Seto remembers the card in the drawer, and he retrieves it to return to Mokuba – who, he had decided, must have left the card after all.

"No, sorry big brother; it's not my card," Mokuba tells him before darting off to his bedroom for the night, leaving Seto with the mysterious card. He tosses it into his bedside table before rolling over and falling to sleep.

Seto doesn't duel for fun very often anymore – it's his business, his company, and all of his free time is dedicated to improving those things, not enjoying them; but occasionally, just to stay sharp, Seto stays late at Kaiba Corp and sets the Battle Simulator to auto. He never attempts the higher levels alone: he isn't stupid: and sometimes a duel that doesn't require a lot of strategy is relaxing after a long day of dealing with the idiots in his employment.

So that's where he is now – three in the morning, alone and facing the Simulator, which should have still been set at level six from his previous excursion down here last week. It's only four or five turns in, but Seto can already tell something is wrong; his life points have been ceaselessly battered by the Simulator, the machine using tactics that shouldn't be coded for at this level. With the gap between life points: Seto a mere 1200 and the Simulator relatively untouched at 3600: Seto curses himself for not triple checking everything, too caught up in his annoyance at an accounting mistake that will cost Kaiba Corp millions to fix. Grasping for enough of a break to draw even one of his Blue Eyes: something that shouldn't have taken this long: Seto draws a card, and then stares, confused. The Little Mermaid card sits innocently in his hand, instead of in the drawer he knows he tossed it in. Suspicious – he's seen too many weird, unexplainable things in his life to not be suspicious of a magically appearing card – Seto decides to at least get some use out of the card and summons it in defensive mode. A safety wall of 4500 points between him and the Simulator.

The card materializes exactly as it looks on the card: a large clam shell almost completely closed, except for the smallest part where two large eyes peek out. Seto ends his turn, waiting patiently for his next turn to hopefully draw his Blue Eyes. The Simulator attempts to attack Seto, instead destroying its own monster against the almost impenetrable force of The Little Mermaid's clam shell. Once the holographic dust has settled, Seto notes idly that the opening of the clam shell is slightly wider, but his attention is redirected as he takes his turn; drawing Spear Dragon (ATK 1900 DEF 0). He grits his teeth – not a Blue Eyes – but decides to take advantage of the Simulator's monsterless field and summons it. The dragon dwarfs the clam beside it on the field, its scaly leg only a hairsbreadth away. "Now, Spear Dragon, attack the Simulator's Life Points directly!" Seto smirks as the gap between their Life Points finally shrinks. 1200 vs 2650

Then the Simulator activates a Trap Card, allowing for one special summoning in return for half of its life points; it summons Fabled Leviathan (ATK 3000 DEF 2000). And Seto suddenly sees its intentions. After any direct attacks, his Spear Dragon switches to defensive position – and its defensive points are zero!

The Simulator orders an attack, and Seto can only watch, distraught at how this duel had ended up, as his side of the field is smothered under a thick miasma of black smog. He knows inside of that cloud his monster is being defeated, suffocating, and in a few moments his life points will hit zero. He waits for the loud toll that will signal his loss.

Instead, the quiet bell of victory sounds. And the smog on field dissipates to reveal his monster, perfectly untouched, and the Leviathan, black sludge pouring from its mouth like a grotesque mockery of a fountain. With a final "Victor : Seto Kaiba" the Simulator shuts down, the monsters blinking out of existence.

.

Seto doesn't wait for total shut down; he orders, "System, replay last attack." The Monitor extends from the ceiling, dropping down to hang in front of him; it lights up, a clear image of the field shown. Seto sees himself, the Simulator giving the attack order, and then the smog. "Remove smog." The black cloud disappears, revealing the field again, but now it is clear to see as the Leviathan flounders, confusion on its programmed face as it drowns in the sludge. "System, diagnose the error on field."

"No error found, Mr. Kaiba."

"The Leviathan is attacking itself. Why?"

"The Fallen Leviathan monster is being affected by the Special Effect of The Little Mermaid card."

Seto stares, confused and pissed about it, and he demands, "System, show Special Attack information on The Little Mermaid card."

"Information not available."

"What!" Seto growls, "Show all information."

Name: The Little Mermaid Level: 3 Special Abilities: N/A Attacks: N/A

There is very little on the screen. The blank spots where information should be taunt Seto; confused, determined to rectify this obvious glitch, and admittedly more than a little curious, Seto closes the information window and pins a calculating glare on the replay image of the Little Mermaid on the field. Which is when he sees it; a pale, small hand, just far enough out of the clam shell to lightly touch the scaley hide of the Spear Dragon. "It blocked the attack," Seto realizes, "Her defensive points are higher than the Leviathan's attack, so the attack rebound." The words echo lightly in the empty room. "But why?" Seto questions, his pale eyes set in a determined glare, "And what other mysteries does this card contain?"

"So the only information you have is the card's description?" Mokuba asks. Seto sighs, nodding; he had managed to waste most of the day in his attempt at finding something about the card, but any information about the Little Mermaid seemed to be nonexistent. "Well what does the description say?" Mokuba questions around a mouthful of food; it was dinner time in the Kaiba household, and the brothers were currently sitting and eating at the small table in their cavernous kitchen. Seto doesn't even have to pull out the card.

"Her voice stolen, this mermaid hides away, waiting for a worthy person to return her voice."

Mokuba contemplates on this for a while, leaving the large room to sink into silence; it is as Seto stands to clear away their dishes that Mokuba finally speaks up, "Well maybe that's it? Maybe you have to 'return her voice'; like an equipment card. I bet with the right card combo she could wreak havoc on the field!" Considering this, Seto mentally runs through the cards that were 'vocal' based: there weren't many, but enough that he thought it was worth putting his System on it.

An hour later, Mokuba is drifting off to sleep in his bed and Seto heads for his home office. His System welcomes him as he sits in his large desk chair, the cool leather familiar from long nights spent working in that exact spot. "Run all equipment cards compatible with The Little Mermaid, concentrate on vocal based cards." Seto instructs and for several long minutes he sits there and watches the flashing images stoically, his mind doing its own search – there are cards out there, rare ones, that don't register on most searches; Seto wonders if he will have to do fieldwork, travel and see what he can dig up himself. Mokuba would enjoy that, another worldwide trip...

Pulling out the card, Seto takes another look at the origin of all this trouble. And then takes a second glance at it.

"I am so done with this stuff," Seto mutters, glaring down at the card as a hurricane of different emotions start in his stomach. The urge to throw the card in the safe and forget about it is strong, but instead he tosses it on his desk and leaves without looking back. If he can deal with magical puzzles containing ancient pharaohs, he can deal with this.

On the desk, sitting innocently where it was tossed, sits the card. And from the card, in the slightly open clam shell, peeks a pale face with stunning Caribbean blue eyes and framed by long crimson hair.

"And you say this image has changed since the card appeared on your desk?"

Seto scowls, "Yes. The clam shell has opened wider." He grabs the card from where it lays between the three of them, strangely protective of the troublesome card. "I thought you may have some valuable input, but maybe I was wrong."

Ruby eyes stare at Seto in exasperated amusement, but it is the owner of the amethyst eyes that speaks up, "We can't be sure, but doesn't that seem familiar? A card with a moving picture?" Yugi looks between the two men, and when no sign of understanding appears, he sighs and suggests, "Pegasus?"

Yami nods, comprehension dawning, "Right, Yugi; your grandfather's spirit card."

Seto grits his teeth, anger still as fresh as the day Pegasus stole Mokuba's soul, and he demands, "You think Pegasus is back to his old tricks?"

Yami shakes his head, "No; Bakura saw to that when he stole Pegasus's Millennium Eye. But it is very possible someone has learned how to copy his ability."

"So some poor girl's soul is trapped in that card?" Yugi stares in concern at the card held carefully in Set's hands, "How are we supposed to get her out without Pegasus or even knowing how she got in there in the first place?"

Seto stands before anything else can be said, and at the dual curious glances from his table mates, he declares, "Thank you for your insight; but I'll take it from here."

"Kaiba, we should really-"

Seto cuts Yugi off sternly, "I can handle this on my own, Yugi." And then he leaves, walking out of the small cafe without a look back.

Back at the table, ruby eyes stare after Kaiba, contemplative. "I am happy that Kaiba no longer sees us as rivals, but I do not believe he fully understands the concept of 'friendship'."

Yugi slips his small hand into Yami's larger one and smiles up at the ex-pharaoh optimistically, "Hey, at least he said thanks this time; and he called us, too. Baby steps, Yami."

Upon returning home, Seto instructs his System to research any of Pegasus's old business partners still operating; rationalizing that a business partner would be the most likely to have been close enough to the man to learn the secrets to his soul-stealing act. With that search running, Seto turns to the hologram system in the corner of his office.

He sets the Little Mermaid card in the reader, and watches with blank eyes as the shell materializes. The shell is as large as ever, exactly as Seto had expected, but now there is a distinct awareness in Seto that this may not be just another hologram. This may in fact be a soul, trapped in a card by means Seto was still trying to fully believe possible, and that changes the way Seto looks at the hologram.

Caribbean eyes stare at him, a glint in the orbs that Seto would have called a light pixel mis-coded but now pegs as curiosity and maybe hope: emotions he sees in Mokuba all the time. A small smile appears on the girl's face, and a pale hand appears in the gap to wave before disappearing again.

"Hello," Seto greets awkwardly, shifting to stand directly in front of the hologram. The girl opens her mouth, but closes it again with a frown. "You can't speak." She shakes her head, sad. "Someone stole your voice, and locked you in this card." Now that is definitely hope, bright and shining, and it is pure enough to draw Seto's lips in a slight twitch of a smile, touching a place in his heart that is usually reserved for his little brother. But still there is a touch of sadness in those eyes, a hint of despair that makes Seto suddenly fiercely protective of the girl, "Don't worry. I'm going to get your voice back and get you out of there." Tears overflow onto the girl's pale cheeks, but the smile on her face tells Seto that it's not fear or sadness causing her crying, but happiness; and Seto feels a miniscule piece of it in him too.

"Big Brother, there's a problem in Section Five!" Mokuba's voice come over the intercom, a system between his home and Kaiba Corp for emergencies, and Seto sighs, stepping back. The girl watches him, still smiling, and she waves just before Seto shuts down the hologram. He stares at the empty space for a long second, before turning away and leaving, his face carefully blank.

That night, after he tucks a slumbering little brother into bed, he checks over the results of his search. There are a substantial number of Pegasus's old business partners still working, but when Seto cross references that list with the results of his other search, the one for an equipment card, the daunting number dwindles to only one single suspect.

Curiously, Seto notes, the card that is left is a card that has only been cataloged once – it had been removed from play without being activated; the curiouser thing, though, is that the card had never been put down on the field. It had appeared without either duelist laying it down, and the one to pick it up was Pegasus's old business partner, Ms. Ursula Ink.

Seto sits back in his desk chair, a pleased glint to his eyes as he realizes he is now one step closer to his goal. There was little that made Seto as happy as success (but that number was growing, without Seto even realizing it).

Tracking down Ursula was easy – her name was splattered across every tabloid, some stupid fuss about her recent engagement to some rich fishing tycoon – and luring her to Kaiba Corp on the false offer of a business deal was pathetically simple. And once she was on Kaiba property, Seto had no intention of letting her leave with the equip card.

"Seto!" The woman's voice had already grated Seto's last nerve- and even he knew he didn't have many to start with. "Seto, when are you going to tell me where you are taking me?" Seto chooses not to respond, maintaining his silence; they enter one of Seto's private dueling chambers, and the doors close with a resounding boom. "Seto Kaiba, I demand an explanation or-"

Seto cuts her off coldly, "I didn't invite you here to discuss business." He turns to face the hag, his coat flaring impressively around his legs, "I brought you here because you have something that I want and you aren't leaving until I get it."

"Well, Kaiba, I'm sorry to tell you but I'm currently involved with Mr. Triton, of Triton Sea Operations." Ursula oozes satisfaction, batting her gunked-up eyelashes and puckering her grotesque botox lips. Seto doesn't try to disguise the disgust in his steel blue eyes.

"I want your Shell of Songs card and, when I beat you in a duel, you will hand it over."

The cold calculating stare of a schemer settles in Ursula's dark eyes and she asks in a low gravelly tone, "And just what drew your attention to that card, Kaiba?"

Instead of answering, Seto opens the card-locket around his neck and easily catches the card that he had placed there for safe-keeping; with a smirk he flashes the card at Ursula. Her fury is evident through clenched firsts and harsh breathing, and Seto takes pleasure from it. Without a word, he moves to his side of the field and Ursula takes hers, glaring enraged flames the entire time.

It's seven moves in that Seto has the two cards he's been waiting for and with his two thousand life point lead, Seto sees victory in reach. Ursula is floundering under the brutal onslaught of one of Seto's Blue Eyes, but Seto had learned the hard way not to draw out duels just to watch his opponents squirm and he was more concerned with getting that card than he was with humiliating Ursula. He could do that later.

"As much as I've enjoyed watching you hide behind your pathetic eels, I have more important matters to deal with. So for this turn, I summon The Little Mermaid in Defensive Position and place this card face down." Seto expects the clam shell to be as open as it had before, for the pale face to be peeking shyly through the gap, wide eyes sparkling with mischief. Instead, as soon as the card materializes, Seto catches sight of terrified eyes before the shell slams closed with a boom.

"Oh deary me," Ursula laughs mockingly, "Seems the poor, unfortunate soul is shy." Seto grinds his teeth, seething at the hag's audacity. "Maybe this will draw her out!" Ursula activates one of her face down cards, revealing a trap – Burial At Sea.

Seto braces himself against the sudden onslaught of salty water and gale forces; the wind grabs at his coat, battering at his skin like needles. In the middle of the hurricane, Seto calls out an order.

As sudden as it had started the chaos stops, revealing a shocking truth: the clam shell remained, while the absence of Seto's Blue Eyes was glaringly obvious.

"What!?" Ursula shrieks.

Accepting the discomfort his action had caused himself, Seto gloats, "Did you expect me to just let you send The Little Mermaid to the graveyard? My Blue Eyes blocked your pathetic trap card, sacrificing itself to save her." Before he can say anything more, Seto's attention is diverted to the field, surprise striking both duelists at the new sight. The clam shell is half opened, and white knuckles keep a cautious grip on the edge – ready to close it at a moment's notice – but the big difference is that now Seto can see her, or at least most of her. The mermaid hangs over the side of the shell so that she can twist around the giant thing to see behind it, see Seto with wide eyes full of curiosity and shock and thankfulness; crimson locks fall gracefully around pale shoulders, and seashells keep the girl's modesty in check. She stares at Seto, mouth gaping in honest surprise, but when Seto meets her eyes, she smiles and mouths 'thank you'.

Seto suppresses his own surprise and forcefully reminds himself that yes, he is choosing to believe that is a real girl's soul trapped in this card. He nods back to her.

And then Seto remembers he's in the middle of a duel, and he turns his cold glare on Ursula, who is gaping like a dead fish at the girl. He announces confidently, "Your attack activated my magic card- Bandit's Choice! This lets me choose one card from your deck and add it to my own hand!" The moment Ursula realizes his intentions is a memory Seto intends to keep. "And I choose the Shell of Songs."

Seto grabs the card from the automated transfer system and he spares it a brief glance; its just a gold spiral shell on a dark purple background. Such an insignificant card- and he's gone through a hell of trouble for it. "I play Shell of Songs!"

At first, there is no change and Seto is more than a little pissed. And then the song starts- a wordless melody that is as haunting as it is beautiful. He watches, stupefied, as the clam shell fully opens and the mermaid flows out onto the field; she flips and twirls in the air, her tail reflecting better than any emerald, her movements more graceful than a prima ballerina, and her song unceasing. It is in the midst of a flip that the girl spots Ursula, and with a sudden end to her song, the girl freezes. Seto watches, not concerned enough to interfere: he can see the set of the girl's shoulders, the clenched fists that shake slightly, and everything combines to tell him that this is not fear but rage, pure unadulterated fury contained in such a small body. Ursula is a statue, however, halted by shock and more than a little intimidation.

The mermaid attacks suddenly and, without warning, an ear shattering wail destroys Ursula's pathetic eels and blasts forward to decimate Ursula's remaining life points; the hag collapses to the floor, but Seto doesn't care enough to notice. He's watching the girl, as she floats over towards him; they pause only inches away, staring at each other, devouring every detail they can see. Seto has no doubt this is a real girl now – no hologram could portray the amount of emotion that the girl's eyes do now: not even his own.

"You're here," it slips out, mumbled but heard.

And she giggles, small hands covering her pearly teeth, and then she speaks, "Yes, I am; and thanks to you, Seto Kaiba, I'm finally free of that witch's curse."

Seto nods, his eyes soft as he looks over the girl who had caused so much trouble (though secretly he could admit he hadn't really minded). "What do I have to do to free you from the card?"

She smiles. "Nothing." And then the hologram fades.

Feeling cheated but not really sure of what, Seto stalks out of the chamber, ordering his men to give Ursula over to the nearest authorities: he didn't care why, he was sure they could find some crime.

Then he leaves for his home, where he shuts himself in his room without a word. Once alone in the privacy of his bedroom, Seto retrieves his deck and shuffles through it, looking for the card. He shuffles again, eyes glaring down at the familiar cards, and then once more with frantic hands, half of his deck falling between his fingers as panic spikes his chest. When his cards litter his floor, Seto has to accept that the card is no longer there. The Little Mermaid has disappeared from his deck just as suddenly as it had appeared on his desk.

Seto leaves his cards where they lay and stalks off to his office.

"So you see, that's why you have to help me, Yugi!" Mokuba stares up at the older boy with wide, pleading eyes.

Yugi nods, thinking deeply as he glances up at the other person in their group, "What do you think, Yami? If Kaiba is really acting this strange, we should make sure he's okay."

"Yes," Yami agrees, giving Mokuba a reassuring look, "We will help you pull Kaiba out of this dark mood, Mokuba."

The relief is obvious in the young boy's eyes, and he smiles, "Thanks, you guys! Seto spends all day at Kaiba Corp, but I have a plan to get him to leave and remember what he's missing!" The sadness and loneliness of the passed few days: days spent being ignored by his big brother for an unexplained reason: are swept away by a new hope, and Mokuba spares a thought to be thankful for his friends who are willing to help him out. Now to get to work on pulling Seto out of his funk.

Seto sits, uncharacteristically slumped, in his office chair, staring with tired eyes as numbers flash by on his monitors. He's supposed to be triple checking the yearly finances of Kaiba Corp, but the numbers were just blurs, and the data wasn't making sense to his sleep deprived mind; still, Seto refused to leave. He would stay here, drilling his mind with useful information, productive actions. Anything to keep his thoughts away from th-

"Mr. Kaiba, your presence is requested in the lobby, sir." His secretary, Miomi or Miana or something, buzzes to his desk intercom, and Seto raises a hand to rebuke the request: he had said no interruptions!: but she adds, "Someone named Triton, sir." And Seto is standing before he makes the conscious decision, heading for the lobby before he can reconsider it.

People rush out of his path, a few throwing themselves to the side in an effort to get out from in front of the man striding purposefully down the narrow hall. Seto's long legs cover the distance from his office to the elevator easily, and he pushes the button for the lobby with a new energy. He is alone in the elevator, and in the brief seclusion, Seto clenches his fists anxiously, his stomach tight as he suddenly wonders if this Triton will have the answers he needs. When the elevator doors open, a blank, collected Seto steps from the small machine and begins his trek to the front desk, his coat flaring behind him for the first time in days; the drive for answers returns the cool, strong look to Seto's eyes, and it's refreshing to have a purpose again, something outside of the car-.

Taking the last corner with a sharp snap, Seto finally sees who had requested his presence. The man is tall, possibly Seto's height but no taller, and must have went gray early in his life because he sports a well trimmed white beard but a youthful face; Seto pauses just outside of touching distance, and nods his greeting to the man.

"You must be Seto Kaiba," the man unnecessarily states, "I'm James Triton, of Triton Sea Operations."

"I know who you are," Seto informs him bluntly.

"Then you know of my family's recent troubles as well."

That, of course, being Triton's sudden, unexplainable engagement to that hag, Ursula Ink, and then the Anonymous tip that led to the discovery that Ursula had been dodging the IRS for years, laundering money, and conducting many other illegal activities; which of course led to the breaking of their engagement and Ursula's imprisonment. And then Seto had stopped caring, stopped researching the only connection to Ursula that could have possibly been useful in a lead for finding his mermai-

"Yes. I do." Seto snips, not deliberately short but driven to it by a combination of irritation at his own betraying thoughts and sleep deprivation. He wished Triton would just get on with what had brought him all the way down here – probably wanting to express his gratitude for Seto's help with exposing Ursula.

"Then you know why my daughter was so insistent on coming down here to speak with you."

Wide blue eyes pierce Triton's, confusion evident on Seto's face: daughter? Triton manages to keep his smile small, and with a tiny flourish, the man steps aside to reveal the person who had been standing behind him.

She is tiny, barely reaching Seto's chin in height, and everything about her seems delicate. Delicate, and familiar. From her crimson locks to her pale skin to those Caribbean blue eyes that are staring up at him, full to the brim with happiness and joy and elation. Emotions that are reflected in Seto.

It is impossible to know who made the first move, but the next moment has Seto with his arms wrapped around the precious girl, a small smile on his face as he buries his face in her hair and relishes finally, finally, being able to touch the girl who had caused so much excitement in his life this passed month or so. Seto doesn't think he can feel any happier, but then the girl pulls away, leaning back just enough to meet his eyes with a wide grin, and she tells him in her light, bright voice, "I never got to tell you before – my name is Ariel." She laughs, overjoyed, "I'm Ariel, and you're Seto, the worthy person who gave me back my voice and my freedom." And she kisses his cheek, a blush on her face but joy in her eyes, and Seto hugs her closer, unwilling to let go and chance her disappearing on him again.

"Would you like to come to my home for dinner?"

In a strategically chosen spot just around the corner, three people stare in slight shock at the happy scene before them.

Yugi manages words first, "I don't think you need to worry about your brother anymore, Mokuba."

Mokuba shakes his head slowly, a gradual grin appearing on his lips before suddenly exploding into being, "Seto has a girlfriend! Way to go Big Brother!" The brunette runs off, presumably heading home to prepare for their new guests and to tease his brother incessantly.

When the younger boy is no longer to be seen, Yugi turns to look up at Yami, curious as to why the older boy had stayed quiet; Yami meets his eyes with a small smirk, "Kaiba is not the type of person I would have pegged for such a cliché scene."

Yugi glances back to the scene to see Kaiba and the girl have moved towards the front entrance, the girl with a wide, adoring grin and even Kaiba looking more relaxed and happier than Yugi can remember ever seeing him; the scene is, admittedly, cliché and straight from a bad romance novel, but Yugi feels a familiar little warmth in his chest as he turns back to Yami. "I think they're cute; kinda like a fairytale, or a Disney movie with a happily-ever-after." Intertwining his fingers with Yami's and giving a small squeeze, Yugi tells him quietly, "Reminds me of us, actually."

Using their connected hands to direct Yugi to the exit, Yami gives one final input, "Ra forbid we were ever that sickeningly cute."

AN2: Yes, that was my attempt at a Seto Kaiba/Ariel oneshot, with hints of Yami/Yugi. It was fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review!