I'm back; with the sequel to Dreaming of Reality!!!

I know I told Botan Urameshi that I'd write a ficlet for her, and I'm working on that, I promise!!! However, all the work I had previously done on it, is now lost. So, I have to start from scratch. But, no matter -it will arrive soon!

Anywho; this disclaimer goes for the entire story, because I will forget to put it on all the other chapters...

Disclaimer! I do not own the characters in this story, except the ones that are not in the anime or the manga. Obviously, those would belong to me, or somone that I know.

Anywho; without further delay... LIVING IN REALITY!!


Living in Reality: Prologue

The room was dark; light barely filtered in through the open window blinds. She was on her bed, sitting up with her blanket falling around her waist. Her hand was on her mouth, trying to cover her sobs. Tears were streaming down her face, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

A small alarm was ringing from her bedside table. Koenma was calling her to his office. It was loud, signaling that this was not the first time he was calling for her.

In panic, she ripped away from her bed, throwing the covers off of herself. Her long blue hair fell around her shoulders, and she bolted for the exit. Subconsciously, she wondered why her hair was long again –wasn't it supposed to be short? She didn't stop to ponder it, however; she had to get to Koenma.

She ran as fast as she could, the tears stopping quickly as she did so. Koenma was going to kill her! Soon, though, she was exhausted, and began to walk instead of run.

How long had it been since the tournament? It felt like forever. She could barely remember it –was her memory going fuzzy? Her eyes caught a flash of red, and she stumbled back away from it, tears springing to her eyes again.

Kurama

She blinked the tears back, reminding herself that he was gone now. She kept her eyes low, glad that the carpet was blue instead of any other color that would remind her of him.

She opened the door to Koenma's office without a sound. "You called for me, sir?" she asked, without looking up.

"Botan, I need you to…" he paused, "Botan, what's wrong? Why aren't you like your normal, happy self?"

She balked, how could she be happy after losing the person she loved?!

"Koenma! How could you even thi-" she started, and then she screamed.

Green eyes stared at her from across the room. His pale, flawless face looked confused as she covered her mouth with a hand; and his crimson locks fell over his shoulders. He stood normally, beside three others that she knew as well.

"How… no! This isn't!" helpless to form a complete sentence, she screamed again, pointing her finger at him.

"But… you're dead!"

She had transported herself back to her own room after that. She was crying and screaming, and she knelt in the fetal position, still keeping on her feet. They had all tried to come towards her, then; and that sent her into more hysterics.

Finally, realizing that she couldn't stand her own hallucination anymore, she used her Dragon power to transport herself back to her room. When she called upon her power, it felt old and rusty. No wonder, though; seeing as she hadn't used it since the tournament.

Now, she knelt at her bed. Her arm was draped on top of it, underneath her head. The rest of her was leaning against the bed for support, and she faced the single window in her room. It was big, and the curtain was drawn. She watched as the heaven's cried with her, bringing on lightning and thunder with its tears.

It didn't surprise her; the weather usually reflected her mood anyway. She was surprised the land wasn't flooded by now –it had rained every day since the tournament. Of course, she couldn't really remember what she did during those days… it was just a fact that she knew it had rained… why couldn't she remember anything else? …

Her door opened, and Koenma walked in. She knew it was him by the energy that accompanied him; and she knew he would come for her since he had been paging her for hours. She had simply taken the alarm and stuffed it inside her closet and then ignored it the rest of the time. She didn't want to see him; not now.

"Botan, do you want to tell me what's going on?"

She glared icily at him, and then sighed, her gaze softening. There was a pause in the thunder. "I'm sorry, Koenma-sir… I saw him again today. I thought I was over it, but I guess the tournament had more effect on me than I thought. I'll get back to work as soon as you need me to."

There was a pause, and then, "Botan, what are you talking about?!" Koenma exclaimed, "Who's 'he', and what tournament?!"

Botan balked at him, disbelieving. "I know you told me to get over it, sir; but I think this kind of attitude is wrong!" she exclaimed. "Especially when I am clearly not over it yet!"

"Botan; what are you talking about!"

"Kurama! I saw Kurama today –but it's obviously impossible, because he's dead!" she screamed the last two words at him, leaning her upper body towards him for more force. The thunder was loud now, going along with her outburst.

"Botan, he's not dead! What gave you that idea!? You just saw him yesterday!"

"NO! Stop lying!" she clamped her hands over her ears and the lightning struck dangerously close to her window. She curled into herself, and the thunder nearly shook the entire palace.

Vaguely, she registered the door being wrenched open, and a taller figure appearing instead of the baby form of Koenma. Lightning struck again, illuminating the room for an instant.

Red hair and green eyes swam in her vision before she clamped her eyes shut again. Soft hands brushed against her face, only to take her own hands in a calming grip.

"Botan…" he whispered. She shook her head wildly, tears flowing again. "Botan, look at me."

She refused to open her eyes –her heart hurt too much. She could feel a wind picking up around her as her powers went unchecked. The lightning struck again, crashing against the outer wall of the building. The lights flared, and then everything was dark again.

"Botan, I'm right here." The voice told her. She wanted to give in so badly, but she knew it couldn't be true. She had seen him die! He couldn't be alive now… could he?

"Botan, open your eyes."

Her eyes opened widely and took in the face of the very warm, and very alive, Kurama.


So... there you go... anyone confused yet??

hehehe...

Read and Review!! I love you all!!!