Chapter Eleven – Making Things Right

Two days later she'd gotten a text from Téa, pleading for a chance to apologise.

She asked if they could meet at the Motou's and then walk to a nearby café for lunch. Victoria had it in her right mind to decline the offer, but Yami took the phone and replied for her – much to Victoria's deep chagrin as she couldn't refuse now.

"I hate you." She muttered as she walked up the stairs to put on a pair of jeans to replace her daggy pyjama pants and threw a light grey jacket on over her plain brown t-shirt. She tugged on a pair of clean socks before she wandered back down the stairs and sat on the nearest lounge, crossing her arms and her legs.

Yami chuckled warmly at her antics as he worked on a new duelling strategy at the coffee table. "It'll be good for you. And you said yourself that you trust Téa with your life."

"Yeah…" Victoria agreed unwillingly with a pout.

She didn't have to sit there long, feeling the unbridled happiness Yami had over causing her such contempt for her situation. There was a knock on the door and she stood up, flicking Yami in the side of the head as she passed him. "I'll be home in an hour or two." She informed him, walking out to the entrance hall.

"Have fun." Yami farewelled with a soft laugh.

"Oh shut it." She muttered, slipping her boots on and opening the front door.

Téa looked up from scuffing her heels on the concrete. "Tori."

An awkward silence followed the statement and Victoria didn't know how she was supposed to break it. Thankfully, Téa took the lead.

"Come on. I have a lot of explaining to do." Téa said, taking Victoria's elbow and leading her out of the door. "I know the best place to eat, trust me."

"I thought I could trust you…" Victoria whispered.

Téa halted, her grip hesitating on Victoria's elbow. "You still can, Tori… Will you please let me explain?"

"Start now, if you don't mind." Victoria replied, falling into step beside Téa as they continued their advance towards the café.

"Hah, where do I begin?" Téa asked. "I've been working as Kaiba's secretary for a few months now and I don't know… I thought it would be rather difficult at first because he never had much of a tolerance for my presence when I was around Yugi and Yami. But to my surprise he was completely different. He treated me like any other employee – if anything he treated me almost better than them." She explained. "And as I got more shifts because of his other secretary dropping her shifts we… I don't know…we just got closer I guess…" She said, trailing off a little.

At that point they reached the café. It was small and rather empty so Victoria knew that she wouldn't have to endure the torture for too long – the food would be cooked twice as fast without other orders being placed before theirs. They were taken to a seat for two and Téa continued as they looked over their menus.

"Kaiba didn't really talk to me a lot. I'm sure you've noticed that unless it's in his best interest he's a man of little words. But when he did speak I couldn't help but notice that he is truly a sophisticated man." Téa complimented, causing Victoria to smile a little. She had noticed. "And intelligent beyond belief. I couldn't believe the things he came up with when he just sat in his office and made me type anything he said allowed." She sighed. "Tori, he never said a thing about you and not even Mokuba – though I can understand that."

"Why is that?" Victoria asked, feeling a pang in her chest. He'd never even mentioned her?

"If work took a heap of my life up then I wouldn't want to bring my family to work – I'd keep them at home where they should be. I'd keep them to myself, you know." Téa replied.

Victoria lowered her eyes to the menu, deciding to just pick something.

"Tori…I wish you had told me…I wouldn't have…I mean…"

Victoria sighed. "Do you love him?" She asked flatly. The question hurt her to ask, but it was important.

Téa looked down, fidgeting with the menu. "Well…he hasn't exactly given me a lot of room to work out if it is love or not, to be honest…he kind of pulled that stunt on me the other day when you walked in on us."

"Then work it out quickly. I'll accept it if it is love. If it is not then I will continue to be angry with the both of you." Victoria stated. "For that matter, Seto should seriously work out his feelings too…" She muttered, more thinking it to herself.

A waitress came to them then and they ordered their small meals and waited patiently until the waitress went back to the kitchens until Victoria continued.

Victoria sighed. "Just so you know, he's not exactly good at that so you may have to confront him."

"And you can't because…?"

"Because he didn't make a move on me, Téa." Victoria replied. "Confront him the next you see him and work out where his heart lies. If he was only taking advantage of you – and if that is the case I would have to find a way to dismantle him piece by piece – then I would suggest quitting your job. And I would suggest that even if your boss wasn't my brother."

"Yes, I have asked him to meet up with me later today."

"Another warning, when he dropped by the other day he seemed to genuinely think that what you have is a relationship." Victoria explained. "He said, and I quote: 'aren't you glad that I am in a relationship?'."

She was broken hearted, but there was a part of her – now that she was with her – that couldn't hate Téa. If anything, Téa had become an unsuspecting victim to her brother's hormones. That thought frightened her, but enough said being that her brother was still a man.

"He said that?..." Téa asked softly, blushing.

"So you like him?"

"Huh?"

"That question sounded hopeful."

Téa flushed deeper. "Well…I'm sure you agree that he's attractive. It's hard not to look at him and think that he'd be a great guy to date."

"Until he glares at you." Victoria contradicted.

Téa chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I've witnessed that." He agreed. "He's not always nice, but I've seen him with Mokuba before and I'm aware that a soft side exists."

"It'll be a while until he'll project that kindness to you. I'm afraid that I know by experience." Victoria explained. "But if Mokuba is fond of you he'll make more of an effort to be kind. He wouldn't want to make Mokuba mad at him.

"Well, I'm already on good terms with Mokuba. I've noticed that he's very different to Kaiba."

Victoria nodded in agreement.

Their food soon arrived and the conversation dissolved as the two girls focused their attention on the food on their plates. Victoria had run out of things to say already, she didn't know how long she would be able to last now that she was definitely going to be with Téa for at least another half hour or so. She hated awkward silences and it wasn't like she had anything in her life to share – Téa knew just about all of it already.

"Tori…I was wondering. How did you become Kaiba's sister? I figure that you're not actually related."

So the conversation was going down that path.

"I lived in an orphanage that Seto and Mokuba visited for some Kaiba Land advertising. They saw my talent and adopted me." Victoria summarized with a shrug. "There's not much more to it – not very exciting I'm afraid." She added, not wishing to go through the whole story when it wasn't truly necessary.

Yet it confused her that she could tell the entire story to Yami without a problem.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that you're an orphan. I guess that's something that you have in common with the Kaiba's, huh?"

"Yeah, sure." Victoria replied.

. : . : . : .

Victoria kicked off her shoes and fell to her knees in the entrance way. How could lunch out with a 'friend' be so exhausting?

After all the explaining had been said and done, the extra and unnecessary time left over had become nothing but awkward silences and failed attempts at conversations that went nowhere.

How did she go from having great conversations with Téa to having none at all? Yes, she was accepting Téa's relationship with her Brother, but her chest was still tight from the pain of missing her chance.

After her moment of melodramatic tiredness, she stood to her feet. "Guys!" She called, hanging her coat on a hook. "I'm back!"

She walked into the living room to see that they weren't there. She made a short interested sound and turned on her heel to check the Game Shop. Only Grandpa was there and he feinted some kind of innocence, claiming that he didn't know where they were. She frowned a little and decided to investigate their room.

They couldn't be anywhere else.

When she got to the top of the stairs and turned onto the landing, she saw Yami and Yugi standing in across the hallway, hands behind their backs and looking too sneaky. "What?..." Victoria asked, walking up to them.

"What?" Yugi asked.

"Don't reply to my question with a question. What are you two doing?" She demanded. "You're acting suspiciously." She added with a frown.

"Well, Tori. We've organised a little surprise for you." Yami replied. "And we nearly ran out of time." He admitted.

Victoria tilted her head to the side. "A surprise?"

Yami and Yugi nodded in unison and each took a hold of her elbows, leading her to the door just a door closer to their stairs from their own room. Victoria had noticed the door before, but hadn't really bothered to ask what was in there.

Yugi reached forward and turned the doorknob, swinging the door open and revealed an extra room. There was a single bed against the far wall, settled under the window and with a bedside table resting against the left wall. There was a desk against the wall to the right and beside it was a closet.

"What is this?" Victoria asked, looking at each of the Motou's.

"This room used to be full of storage and boxes filled with junk. Yami and I have been spending the last hour or so taking it all out. We vacuumed and cleaned everything up." Yugi replied.

"So that you could have room of your own." Yami added.

"Really? But… You didn't need to go to so much trouble." Victoria said, glancing into the room.

"It was nothing, Tori." Yami insisted. "The bed, desk and closet were already there. They just needed a good dusting and sheets needed changing."

"Look, just be a selfish person for once and say 'yay thank you' and get excited about making yourself at home, okay?" Yugi instructed, nudging her into the room, pushing a hand against the middle of her back. "We cleaned this room out as a favour, no need to be modest and reserved." He said with a wide smile.

Victoria smiled, turning back to the boys and decided that thanks were in order. She embraced Yugi. "Thanks, Yugi. I really appreciate it." When she pulled away, she discovered that Yugi was blushing. He immediately fled. Victoria giggled, but paused when Yami cleared his throat. "Hmm?" She asked, turning her gaze to him.

"Where's mine?" Yami teased, a hand resting on his hip.

Victoria smiled and without any more incentive, wrapped her arms securely around his waist, resting the side of her head against his shoulder. "Thanks Yami." She whispered, allowing his arms to curl around her and his chin to fall upon the top of her head.

"It was a true pleasure, Tori."

Victoria opened her mouth to speak again, but a tickling sensation rose in her nose and she pulled away, deeply breathing in, preparing for a sneeze. Her whole body coiled as the sneeze left her lungs, hands covering her mouth and nose in an attempt to hold it in. "Excuse me." She muttered, sniffling.

"Sorry, I must be covered in dust." Yami apologised, brushing his hands down his dark coloured shirt. He was right, he was covered in grey puffs of dust.

"Ew."

"It's just dust."

"Still, ew." Victoria teased.

Yami shook his head. "Well, Yugi and I bought your belongings in here so you can literally get yourself set up in here. There are coat hangers and such in the closet, as well as a built in chest of drawers."

"Okay, thank you."

. : . : . : .

Yami was comfortably back in his own bed – not that it was a problem for him to sleep on the floor, but it was certainly an improvement. Victoria was in her own room and he was glad that she'd been working on setting herself up in that room for several hours. A part of him wanted her to stay there for as long as possible. Though that was a selfish thought all in itself.

He woke in the middle of the night, staring towards Yugi's side of the room. He groaned tiredly and rolled to face the wall, hoping to capture sleep straight away, but a sound forced his eyes back open.

A terrified and muffled cry.

Yami threw his covers off himself and amazingly without waking Yugi, he ran out of the room and to Victoria's door. He knocked first, just to be polite – his reply was another cry so he just opened the door.

Victoria was arching her back off the mattress, clutching at her sheets with her fingernails. Her whole body was shaking as another cry burst from her lungs and she turned, her body flopping back onto the bed as tears slipped down her cheeks. Her hair was let out and it hung around her head in messy waves. She tossed her own body again. "No!" she cried. "How could you?"

Yami couldn't take much longer. He rushed up to her, kneeling one knee onto the side of the mattress and with both of his hands he shook her shoulders once she was on her back again. "Tori! Wake up!" He cried. "Tori!"

With a gasp her eyes snapped open, frightening Yami enough that he released her and sat down on the mattress like he was riding side saddle on a horse. Victoria lay on her back for an agonizing minute, panting deeply until her breathing began to return to a regular pace.

"Are you okay?" Yami asked softly.

Victoria's eyes closed at the question, fresh tears falling down the sides of her face and vanished into her hairline.

Yami leaned over her, desperate to hear an answer. "Tori?"

She slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at him, her eyes were glazed over like she was still asleep and it seemed that the sight of him set something off in her head. Without a warning she latched her arms around his neck and pulled him down onto her, causing him to cry out in surprise. Before he could detach her hold on him he felt her smooth lips press into the side of his neck, her hot breath coated his skin in a thin layer of sweat.

"Tori, w-what are you doing?" He asked, gulping deeply. He tried to pull away, but her hold was too strong – he was still groggy from sleep. She ran the tip of her tongue up to his earlobe and gently nibbled onto it. He tried to contain the moan that escaped his throat and the sound only seemed to encourage her.

He had to stop her.

"Victoria, please, you have to stop." Yami said, using all of his strength to sit upright and stand up. He took a step away from her when she sat up as well, tears of fear morphing into tears of rejection.

She glared at him. Something about it scared him and he took another step back. In response she stood to her feet, took a hold of his head and pulled him down to force an open mouthed kiss onto his lips – Yami gasped in surprise which made it easier for her. His better judgement began to fall weak to hte flutter of his heart and the fact that he now knew why kissing was such a big deal. It felt fantastic.

But he couldn't let her do this.

To avoid alerting her, he brought his hands up into her hair before trailing them down to her shoulders. Once he had a good hold on them he pushed her back and then took her hands into his grasp and held them tightly to prevent her from making any more surprise moves on him.

"I won't take advantage of you, Tori. I just won't." He stated, regaining his breath back. His lips were tingling and without thinking he ran his tongue over them to try and decrease the feeling.

Her eyes squinted shut and she sobbed pitifully. "I just wanna forget." She mumbled, her legs beginning to weaken.

"What do you wanna forget?" Yami asked gently, allowing her to fall into an embrace against his chest. He stroked her hair, running his fingers through the silken locks as she began to mumble against his shirt. "Tori, what did you want to forget? I can't you help unless you tell me."

She tilted her face from his shirt and whilst staring into the blackness of her room muttered. "I want to forget all about him. I just want to forget that he was ever in my life and that I ever felt for him. Why can't I get him out of my head?" She demanded desperately.

Yami let out a deep breath and led her over to her bed, seating them both down and scooted back to lean back against the wall beside the window. "Do you want to tell me about your dream?" He asked. The sooner the better.

"I'd rather not…"

"Tori, whatever happened in your dream caused you to practically attack me." Yami said. "I think it's a good time for you to begin coming clean about a lot of things."

Victoria looked away, grumbling. "It was just another nightmare, nothing I can't handle." Though she had to admit that the three nights without a nightmare had desensitised her and that nightmare had startled her more than she could have normally imagined.

"Another? How many have you been having?" Yami asked.

She mentally kicked herself. Now he was even more worried. And more to the point she was now even more embarrassed about the events that occurred just minutes earlier. What a stupid thing for her to do! "Not heaps…"

Yami sighed. "Tori, please."

"Yami, I have nightmares now and again and they always stem from my experiences as a child so I – " She gasped midsentence. Could it be? The face of the clown in her nightmares and what he had said before. Could it be that they had met before?

"Tori?"

"Yami… that guy I mentioned, the guy who attacked me the day I met Téa." She stated. "I'd met him before." She explained, trying to make the whole situation make sense to herself as well. "Back at the orphanage…"

Yami's eyes widened. "What? What are you saying, Tori?"

"Oh, he'd ever touched me." Victoria insisted, catching into what he was truly asking. "But…. I remember now… I was the one who caught him and I called the police because the teachers didn't believe me…" She said, her voice drowning down to a trance like state. "He'd been looking for me… And he's been in my dreams because my mind knew what he was after."

Yami's embraced tightened from being an affectionate to a protective. "He's kept hidden away now. Nothing can hurt you. Not while I'm here."

"And my mind knew that too. I had no nightmares those days I slept in the same room as you. It's like you ward off the memories." Victoria replied with a small smile.

Yami smiled in return, feeling warmth in his heart at her words.

The beat of her heart increased to an unimagined rate and she instantly felt lightheaded from the intensity of his gaze. She flushed, looking away. She needed to make some other kind of conversation.

"Hey, Yami?"

"Hmm?"

"You were a Pharaoh right?"

"Yes." He replied, wondering where she was headed.

"No offense, but 'Yami' doesn't really seem like an Egyptian name."

"It's not."

"Could you tell me your Egyptian name?"

His smile returned. "It's Atem."

A smile grew over her lips. "That's a wonderful name. Why don't you use it more often?"

Yami chuckled. "It's locking away an evil force – someone might try to unleash it."

"Oh I see. So it's strictly need to know basis only?"

"Basically. I decided to call myself Yami for the legal papers and such that we kind of had to have faked in order for me to exist in this time." Yami explained.

"Ooooh, so you're an illegal immigrant?" Victoria gasped dramatically.

The shock on Yami's face caused her to laugh, holding a hand over her mouth to try and muffle the sound.

"I'm sorry, but that face was just so funny." Victoria said through her laughter.

He had no reply, but he smiled, chuckled lightly and managed to catch her off guard with a glimpse at his eyes as they sparkled in the dim light shining in from the window.

"And… I'm sorry for 'attacking' you before." She added, looking away and flushing at the memory.

Yami sat back against the wall. "Well, I have to say, it wasn't really an 'attack', per se. I'd call it 'an unexpected projection of fright and sorrow'." He said. "And I admit… it was rather pleasant." He admitted, looking away.

"Uuum…. you're welcome?"

He laughed. "Don't worry about it. We all do things that don't really turn out right."

"Then next time I'll just have to make sure I do it right, wont I?"

The pair froze as she finished the sentence, realising just what she had said.

She slapped both hands over her mouth and turned away, her face continuing to burn.

Yami chuckled, bringing his fingers to her chin and directed her eyes to look into his. "Tori…you're such a wonderful person."

"What?"

"Well, you're sweet and funny. You speak your mind and you can handle Joey's crazy antics." Yami explained. "I guess I find these qualities very…admirable." He added, pausing as he tried to find the right word.

"Only admirable?" Victoria asked.

"Were you expecting something else?" Yami asked in response.

"Maybe a little…" She admitted, flickering her eyes away from his.

Yami smiled. "Perhaps…I could help you this time?" He suggested.

Victoria's eyes met his, heart pounding and her lips parted, anticipating the moment that she could taste him again. She had no words; she just wanted him to make the move.

And in no time he complied, with his head slightly tilted to the side he descended his lips upon hers. The fingers holding her chin trailed along her jaw line and he cupped the back of her head with his hand, tangling his fingers into her hair.

He'd already decided: this was their true first kiss.

"I love you."

The End

Thanks to everyone for the reviews and support~! I really appreciate it ^_^