Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Kaiba’s Christmas Carol ❯ Chapter 4: Christmas Past ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: Christmas Past

 

Kaiba blinked, then slammed the door on her. He calmly turned and walked back to his drawer, to get a better look at those drugs he took. If there's anything illegal in them, he was definitely going to give his doctor an earful, as well as probably press charges. Hopefully the doctor was trustworthy and wasn't out to kill him. Yet, his drawer was empty with no sign of the pills or the liquor bottle.

 

“This has got to be one messed up dream.” he muttered.

 

At once, the door blew open, shaking with such violence it's surprising that it didn't blow right off their hinges.

 

The fairy woman entered looking rather torked, saying, “It is not wise to slam the door on the ghost of Christmas Past. Don't you know that if you try to bury your past, it'll only come back to haunt you?”

 

Kaiba stretched, muttering, “Whatever......just go away. I'd like to wake up, if you don't mind.” Kaiba then started to crawl back into bed.

 

But, the woman wouldn't let him, grabbing him with inhuman-like strength. “It's time to go Seto, and visit your past.”

 

Before he knew it, Kaiba was being dragged into the air, flying through the snowy city, being held up by this ghostly woman, and strangely enough......he wasn't cold. Looking around, he know knew for sure there had to be something illegal slipped into those pills.

 

They landed at some small house outside the window, as she asked. “Tell me, Seto....does this place look familiar to you?”

 

“No. And the point is?” Kaiba asked.

 

“The point is you should know......it was your very first home.” she told him.

 

Kaiba crossed his arms, muttering, “Is this supposed to impress me?” He turned away, adding, “For an illegal drug, it isn't offering much of a buzz. If I'm going to have hallucinations, you'd think the doctor would make sure I'd at least enjoy it.”

 

“This has nothing to do with your pills, Seto. Look into the window and see what was.” she said.

 

Kaiba gave a loud sigh of irritation, and turned to her, not looking very happy. “Listen, lady....I don't care if you were Marry Poppins. First of all, it's not polite to go staring into other people's windows. And second.........this is my dream. I'll do what I want.”

 

She gave an almost smirk back, as the ghost told him, “First of all, no one will see us. And secondly......I would think that you would like to see your mother alive and well again.”

 

“My.....what?” Kaiba asked, and glared into the window to see what this fairy-like woman was talking about. Sure enough, there was his mother in the small little house, with Christmas decorations everywhere. She was hunched down, handing the Christmas star to a very small 6-year-old Seto, who was all smiles. He gladly took the star and rushed over to his Dad, so that he could pick the boy up, as he placed the star on the top of the tree.

 

Kaiba's eyes widened, presently lost in the moment of what he was seeing. “Mother.....” he whispered unconsciously, seeing a moment in his life he could barely even remember. And yet, as he watched it, those memories were coming to him.

 

“You were so happy then.......so full of life, full of hope.” the woman said to him. “The Christmas spirit was never stronger within you, then.”

 

Kaiba said nothing, but frowned as he looked more carefully at his mother. She was happy, but looked very tired, and her stomach..........she was expecting soon.

 

Kaiba looked away, muttering, “This was the last Christmas I ever spent with them. She died two months later after Mokuba was born. Father died a year after that on Christmas day. He had fallen apart after she was gone. Without her, he didn't have the strength to continue on.”

 

Kaiba lowered his head, hissing, “God dammit, I hate these damn nightmares.....”

 

He then glared up at her and said, “Listen, lady.....I take those pills to try to get rid of moments like this. I don't know what the point of this ridiculous dream is, but I want out of it NOW!”

 

“You obviously didn't hear what I said to you earlier, Seto. If you try and bury the past, it will only come back to haunt you.” she said.

 

“And, so you're saying by re-living the last Christmas with my parents and remembering both their deaths during this time, this is suppose to be beneficial how?”

 

“It's to make you remember the joy and love that was in your heart then.”

 

“In that case, you failed. Now, let me get home and wake up from this nightmare.”

 

“Not just yet. We have more places to visit.”

 

“No, thanks.”

 

“I didn't say you had a choice, Seto.”

 

The ghost waved her arm and soon they were inside the orphanage. There were lots of kids running around and taking presents from the workers. “Do you remember this? The workers were so nice and kind giving the children presents.”

 

Kaiba glanced over at the version of himself reading a book, totally avoiding all the other kids. The only time he looked up was to check on his brother once in awhile, before going to back to his reading. “Not really. In case you haven't notice, I wasn't paying much attention.”

 

“But, you wanted to. You wanted to be part of the fun and joy, then.” she said.

 

“I wanted to be with Mokuba.” Kaiba answered. “But I couldn't. On Christmas, I was normally locked away from the other kids, being punished for protecting my brother from the bullies there.”

 

“And yet, even now you continue the same tradition of locking yourself away, this time without being force to.” she said.

 

Kaiba turned and glared at her, snapping, “Who the hell are you to judge me? You're supposed to be a ghost. Have you ever been alive before and been in my position? If the answer is no to either of those question, then you have no right to tell me I should change!”

 

Kaiba then turned to the group, as he continued to spout, “This whole damn picture is nothing but a sham! You think those employees give a damn about those kids? It's not their money....it's not even the orphanage's money that got those toys. Every worthless piece of plastic was donation money that could have been better spent on clothes and blankets, rather than this useless crap!”

 

“Well....the children and even your brother seem happy with the new toys.”

 

Kaiba retorted, “They would have liked new clothes and blankets to keep them warm at night just as well.”

 

“Is that the reason you send blankets and money specifically marked for new clothes to the orphanage every year?”

 

Kaiba huffed, “It's a good tax deduction.”

 

The woman smiled and nodded her head. “Of course it is.”

 

“You really need to make up your mind. Am I supposed to be haunted because I'm ignoring Christmas, or are you parading me around because I'm such a good Samaritan?” he snapped back at her.

 

At that moment, Mokuba approached Seto, offering him a Christmas gift that he had made for him. Seto smiled. It almost made the present-day Kaiba smile, seeing it.

 

“Even the simplest of gifts can make the loneliest of people smile on Christmas. At least back then, you tried to make the best of the holidays, and attempted to make this holiday into something better than you remembered.” she said to him.

 

“Hmph.” he grunted. “One of many past mistakes, I suppose.”

 

“So, you should have been more persistent in pushing him away and telling him how you hate Christmas?” she asked him.

 

“No.” Kaiba said, looking away. “He was too young to understand then, anyway.”

 

Then turning back towards her, he snapped, “And I'm not pushing him away! I do everything for my brother. There's only one thing I've ever asked of him and that's to leave me alone on Christmas. If that's too much to ask, then that's too damn bad! Personally, my family is none of your damn business!”

 

“Must you always look upon things so negatively? How can living with much hate in your heart help you?” she asked.

 

“You'd be surprised how far it's gotten me.” he smirked. He crossed his hands imperiously in front of him, stating, “So, what's next? Is this the part where you cast me to my Christmas's with Gozaburo, to show me all the wonderful times I had on Christmas over there? Because I can tell you now, you wont find any.....so don't waste your time nor mine.”

 

Christmas past replied sadly, “I don't think I need to show you. It's those times in your life that are burned into your mind the most. You never let them go. And it's his teachings that have caused you to hate so much.”

 

“Tell me something I don't know. Are you done? You keep boring me like this and I'm going to go back to sleep before we make it back.” Kaiba replied.

 

“Your brother had experienced no pleasant Christmas's during this time, either. And yet.....he didn't allow Gozaburo to win and crush those spirits. You were the fighter, and yet.....you had given up.” she said.

 

“Are we done with the lecture?” Kaiba asked. “You know.....maybe the wrong spirits are being used. Maybe you should bring Yugi over here to shatter my heart a second time, and see if that would help me gain interest in this stupid holiday. I'm not the only Christmas hater, you know......there are many people out there. I'm just a realist, that's all. This isn't a day for giving......this is a day for profit.”

 

She glared angrily at him, stating, “There is nothing further I can do to help you.”

 

In a blink of an eye, they were back to Kaiba's bedroom.

 

Kaiba went back to his bed, stating, “Good.....maybe this loser dream is finally done trying to `save' me.” as he rolled over to sleep.

 

With a heavy sigh she added, “I wouldn't get too comfortable. The other two ghost shall be here for you soon.” Then she vanished.

 

Kaiba just muttered, “Great, just what I need....more delusions to appear. As if I haven't had enough Christmas this holiday, I have to start having nightmares of tacky Christmas movies, now.”