Eternal Flame

Sequel to Eternal Winter

Dedicated to Angelkitsune…if not for you, I would still be completely against shonen-ai of any form. Thank you for teaching me to expand my horizons.

Thanks also to my other reviewers:

Daphney16

kniai

RubyGloomDeath

KoruWing

Ms.DefyGravity11

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH. This story is shonen-ai (Kurama/Touya), but is rated ONLY for violence in terms of torture/death.

Please note that this will be a chaptered story. It doesn't end at the end of this chapter! Also, different chapters will be told in different POV. This chapter will be in Touya's POV.

I hope you like it, please review!

…………………

"Are you certain he won't arrest me?"

Kurama smiled in assurance. "Of course he won't. He just wants to talk with you."

I nodded. It had only been four months since our meeting at the Dark Tournament, but already I trusted the kitsune with my life. After we had confessed our feelings for each other, trust became easier for me. The only person I had ever trusted was Jin, and even he did not have my full confidence as Kurama did.

After the Tournament, Kurama, of course, went back to his home in Ningenkai. Jin and I left Hanging Neck Island soon after and began living secretly in the Makai. After all, now that we had been identified as members of the Shinobi, we were more likely to come across new enemies wanting to serve Enma our heads on a platter.

Even so, Kurama and I saw each other as often as possible, and my love for him grew until it was torture to be without him by my side. But, even though he felt the same, he had duties in Reikai and Ningenkai that he could not reject.

Now Kurama was on another assignment for the Reikai prince, which happened to include bringing me to see him. I was wary when Kurama first told me of this. Koenma may be grateful for the assistance of Jin and I during the Dark Tournament, but his father, however, still held our former Shinobi dealings against us.

As we drew closer to the Reikai palace, my uneasiness grew. Why would Koenma suddenly have an interest in seeing me?

Still, I trusted Kurama. I knew nothing would happen to me while he was near.

&&&&&

Eternal winter. That is what I was; that is what I am.

I could never feel the chill of a lover's breath.

I could never feel the heat of a lover's kiss.

I could never feel the sting of a lover's betrayal.

I am ice; I will always be ice. But even the hardest ice can melt. This is what I realized when I fell in love with my emerald-eyed kitsune.

The ice had finally melted.

I was able to feel the chill of his breath on my skin.

I was able to feel the heat of his lips against mine.

And, to my despair, I was just as able to feel the sting of his betrayal in my heart.

&&&&&

I was thrown violently into the dark chamber. Panting...sobbing...I lay on the cold stone floor, my cries of despair echoing through the room. My strength was gone, drained from my body upon capture. I was nothing but a pathetic low-class apparition now.

"So...this is Touya the Ice Master," a voice said, almost in amusement. "This is Touya, the dreaded Shinobi."

I said nothing; nothing needed to be said. I knew all too well that this was Enma, the Lord of the Spirit World. He knew I was Touya, the pitiful ice Shinobi, once feared throughout the Makai, now lying...whimpering...at his feet.

But it was not for my own sake. I was not begging him to spare me. No. I was crying out for the kitsune...my kitsune...to save me. Not from Enma, but from my own grief.

He did not answer my plea. I was alone in my despair.

&&&&&

After endless questioning and torture, I was thrown into a small prison cell. It was dark, cold...even I could feel the chill. I sat curled in a corner, alone, afraid. I had no thought to comfort me, and instead was left to ponder Kurama's treachery.

I trusted him with my life; he threw it in my face.

I gave him love; he gave me pain.

Was this all just a trick, some deception, to capture me all along?

Were his loving words and tender kisses simply bait for a deadly trap?

Did he mock me as I returned his supposed love; did he laugh while I was left alone, waiting in agony for him to come back to me?

Was he happy now that his ruse had finally paid off; did he reap the benefit of my pain?

Sobbing once more, I tried to rid myself of these wretched thoughts, but they were always in my mind, tormenting me.

&&&&&

Days passed, perhaps weeks. How many I do not know.

I have no memories of those days, those horrible days. Time was unimportant; time was nonexistent. No light pierced the depths of the cell; no rays of hope reached the depths of my soul.

Finally, as I lay in the darkness, the all-too-familiar scent of roses reached my nostrils.

What was he doing here? Come to bid me a final farewell? Come to laugh at this wretched creature?

I heard him approach my cell, but my eyes remained hidden in the folds of my arms. I refused to acknowledge his presence.

There was silence, and then he softly spoke my name.

"Touya?"

My eyes widened. This I had not expected. He sounded guilty...sincerely guilty.

Even so, I forced myself to ignore him.

"Touya...please..." he whispered.

I could feel him move closer to the bars of the cell, grasp them with his delicate fingers. How I longed to reach out to him, let him awake me from this nightmare. But I could not.

"Touya..."

His voice was now beginning to crack.

"Touya, I...I'm sorry..."

An apology? After all this...an apology? It was too much.

"I'm sorry? I'm sorry!" I yelled, forcing myself to my feet and staring him straight in the eye. "How dare you say that to me?"

He looked startled by my sudden response, but I didn't care.

"I trusted you, Kurama! You told me you loved me!"

"I do!" he exclaimed, a look of desperation on his face. "I do love you, Touya, I swear-"

"Then why did you betray me!"

He had no reply to this; instead looked at the ground in silence.

"I ask you again, kitsune...why?" I said, my voice no longer at a yell, for my throat was beginning to burn from lack of water.

"I...I did it...to protect you," he replied slowly.

"Protect me?" I questioned in disbelief, glancing around at the prison walls. "You call this...protecting me?"

He sighed heavily. "I had to do something...to keep you safe..."

At this he looked up into my inquisitive stare.

He sighed again. "I was captured by Enma when he found out about our relationship," he began. "He wanted information about you...he tortured me for it."

Suddenly he began to unbutton his tunic. "I have the scars to prove it..."

I gasped when he turned his bare back toward me. Welts, some of which still bled, covered him from shoulder to waist.

"He beat me," Kurama continued, putting his tunic back on. "He threatened my mother...my teammates...nothing would sway me..."

He turned back toward me and stared at me with his intense emerald gaze.

"...until he threatened you," he finished. "Somehow you were located, and he threatened to send his Detectives to kill you. He gave me a choice: either lead you here...or have you tortured and murdered before my eyes. The latter...I could not bear."

I suddenly realized he was crying. Tears streamed down his face, his perfect face.

"I swear to you, Touya, I speak only the truth!" he exclaimed.

I believed him; how could I not?

"I know," I said. "I believe you. But...I cannot forgive you."

As I closed my eyes and turned away, I heard a small gasp escape his lips.

"For me the wound is still too fresh."

I couldn't believe what I was doing; but it had to be done. I could not bring myself to forgive. I could not risk trust...and being hurt again.

The only sounds heard were the drips of his tears on the concrete floor."

"Maybe...maybe I was wrong...about you..."

My eyes shot open at this statement. What was he implying?

"I thought I could melt the ice. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe you will never escape the chill of winter. Maybe you really are just a heartless Shinobi!"

I quickly turned, but already I could hear his running footsteps echo through the prison. The door squealed open and slammed shut.

I couldn't believe what he had just said to me. Was I truly heartless?

&&&&&

Later on, I still pondered his last statement. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps the ice encasing my heart would never melt.

Suddenly, I again heard the squeal of the metal door, but this time the scent of roses did not fill the air.

&&&&&

Now I hang, shackled by the wrists and ankles, against the stone wall of the cell, bruised and bleeding. I see one of the guards unsheathe a shining metal sword and walk slowly toward me, a look of pure glee on his face.

Kurama...I'm sorry...