The Touch of Sapphire

Chapter 23

Ashley and all of the kids cuddled together in the theater in the Kaiba Mansion. They all decided on watching the first Pokemon movie, seeing how Ashley spoke so highly of it.

All of the adults sat in a nearby living room, talking about strategy. What they were going to do to ensure that everyone was safe, who was going to be guards if anything went wrong, who to trust, what orders to go through if something went wrong were among the topics that Seto brought up.

"Why don't we talk about this later? I just want to spend time with Ash, I'm so happy she's okay!" Mai says, crossing her arms. "Fine. Then go be with her, baby." Joey, who had Bella in his arms, leaned over and gave his wife a kiss on the lips.

Mai made her way past everyone to head to the theater, and they all broke into random conversations. Seto went into thought, not saying anything to anyone. The others chatted about randomness. Joey went on about wrestling with his father, telling Yugi, Tea, Tristan and Serenity all about his father's in ring character. Thomas joined in on the conversation, discussing several matches he's had over the years.

They were all interrupted when Randy and Kim discussed their wedding with everyone, which they had finished planning already. It was going to be held in about two weeks in Japan. They were strongly considering moving over here, however, they would have to see if Kim's sons liked it as well. That caught Seto's attention. He knew for sure that Ashley, Annessa, Mokuba and himself were invited to the wedding, and that meant meeting all of Ashley's family. That caused him to internally groan, knowing how they all abandoned his girlfriend when she ran off with Duke. That was going to be extremely difficult for Ashley to go through. 

He already knew that she was having problems talking about being raped and assaulted by those men. Any person would. But She covered it oh so nicely. The kitten is trying to be strong. The kitten is fighting to become a lion. Maybe she's already a little lion..

Seto stood, excusing himself from the gang to accompany his girlfriend. The kids exited the theater as the movie finished, leaving Ashley in there with Mai. They were having some sort of discussion, and Seto wanted to hear every word. He stood at the side of the door, peeping into their little conversation.

"I think I should end it with Seto. I don't think he deserves to be put through all of this Mai!" Seto cringed when he listened to what she was telling Mai. He hopes that Mai retorts with something sensible. He wasn't about to give up on all that he's worked on. 

"Ashley, if he didn't want to put up with you, he would've ended it already. Seto Kaiba is as straightforward as it gets. You need all the protection you can get. Besides, you two are adorable together." Seto let out a sigh. Mai was light years ahead of Joey in the intelligence department, but yet, she still made him cringe.

"I don't think any of you should have to deal with me." 'We all love you too much to allow a group of assholes to kill you okay? You're so precious.." Mai says, pulling the fellow blonde into her arms as she started to cry. It was weird how Ashley opened up to Mai. She probably would have never told Seto or even her sister how she was feeling. "I really don't feel good. I really hope that those medications that the doctors pumped me with work... My god if I end up pregnant with one of their kids, I'm telling you now, I'm fucking shooting myself in the head..fuck that shit." She spoke with little to no regard for her own life, and that disturbed Seto so much. He hated to see that Ashley felt how he used to feel.

No one should feel like that.

Ashley cried her eyes out, clenching onto Mai's blouse. "I-I Feel so dirty, I feel like a piece of shit! I know that sometimes I can be a bitch, and I know that I hurt people in the past, but why me?! I tried to stay out of people's way, I tried to be a good person, and I still get kicked in the ass!" Mai offered no response now, but just showering affection onto her. "I don't want to be a burden Mai. I should've been gone a long time ago."