Waiting For You

Hey, just a one-shot I came up with while dealing with a writer's block for the sequel to Left in the Shadows…there's some character insertion in the storyline of the series…(so the chance of this becoming a fanficiton by itself is near none...) hey, I'm writing in the spur of the moment with no real thought on how it's going. So just bear with me and I hope you enjoy!

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Waiting…it was all she did…all she had done for almost four years. He told her he would come back. She didn't know what he was doing. Yusuke had arrived from Makai a few weeks before and Kurama had always made trips from Makai to Ningenkai all through the preparations of the tournament to give her and the others updates on the situation. But never any news about him. Sure, the fox would tell him that he was all right, but he never had any messages. But she held fast and knew that once the tournament was over, he would return. So now she stood at the edge of the lake…their lake…in Genkai's forest waiting for him as she always did at the end of the day. There was a slight breeze toying with the ends of her milk-chocolate hair and tugging at her clothes. Every night she would just stand there, letting her thoughts flow free until the sun went down and the moonlight bathed the clearing in a silver light.

She had first met Hiei sometime after what she found out to be the Four Saint Beasts incident. Actually, it was because of that incident that she found out about Reikai and Yusuke's job as the Spirit Detective. She had gone to Kuwabara's house, wondering why her friend had been missing classes for the past week and there she met Kurama. (Yusuke had left with Keiko, trying to explain his absence and the incident at their school.) Through him, she met Hiei…and they were off to a rocky start from the moment they first exchanged words. He had looked down on her simply because she was human and therefore weak. Something that he had no trouble pointing out every time she tried to be friendly. So more often than not, they didn't get along. It later turned out that she had higher spirit awareness than normal people, though her power was more suited for healing than combat. When the Dark Tournament came around, she struggled to develop her abilities for times of need. But she was furious that Yusuke refused to take her a part of the team, so she went with Botan, Shizuru, Keiko, and later Yukina as spectators. In those two months of training before and eight days at Hanging Neck Island, she got to know more about Hiei…and her about her. Near the end, they had become…friends? Yes, that was the right word. And the more she got to know him, the more she wanted to heal him…heal the wounds on his heart. But no matter what, all he did was push her away. Before the finals, she had mustered up her courage to tell him what she had figured out during his previous match…that she loved him. But once again he pushed her away. So she waited…it wasn't until after the Sensui ordeal that he came back to her. To love her. But once again she was forced to wait…for soon after, Hiei had received a message to return to Makai to fight. And he accepted. So she went on with her life, finishing school, working, and training at Genkai's. Part of her wanted to surprise him, so she took up the sword and wanted to show him that she wasn't just a weak human. (Even though her skill in hand-to-hand martial arts was nothing to sneeze at.) Hiei had promised that he would take her as his life-mate when he returned. Her other friends always asked her why she turned down every boy who was interested in her…she never really answered them.

"Akiko?" a soft, gentle voice came from behind her, abruptly bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh hi, Yukina." She turned to face the koorime.

"It's getting late, why don't you come inside?" Akiko shook her head.

"Just a bit longer…I'll come in soon." She gave a brief smile. Yukina looked worried. She knew what was behind the serene-like mask.

"Akiko…"

"The barrier's down, Yukina." She said softly, turning away and facing the lake once more. "And yet…" she trailed off. "…Well it's probably better for him there, without all the people. He always said that if there was a way out of Human World he would take it without a second thought." The corners of her lips curved upward in a sad smile.

"But that was before he really loved you." Yukina pointed out softly. "I think…my brother has his reasons." Akiko looked sharply at the ice maiden, her hazel-green eyes widening.

"Your…" she knew, but of course wasn't allowed to say anything, especially to Yukina.

"I know…but as I said, he has his reasons. When he feels the time is right, he can tell me." Yukina smiled. "Akiko…I'm going back to the temple. It's supposed to be chilly tonight, so please come inside soon." With that, she left, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts once more. The wind blew again, tugging at the ends of her hair and clothes and bringing along the sounds of the demons that resided in Genkai's Dark Forest.

Slowly, a few tears trickled down her face and fell to the soft soil below. She always tried her best not to cry, to keep up a strong front. Her belief in his promise was what kept her going. But now…for the first time in almost four years, she wasn't so sure. What if he had decided to stay? His patrol had ended some time ago. What if…

Akiko shook her head and turned around to leave. She had to believe in his promise. If she lost faith now…then she would have been waiting the past three and a half years for nothing. She took a few steps, but stopped. She sensed a familiar aura behind her…could it be…?

"Akiko." Her hazel eyes widened and she whirled around, her breath catching in her chest.

"…Hiei?" she breathed, shortening the distance between them with a few steps. Yes it was him…he looked exactly the same as she remembered him.

"Hn, sorry it took so long…" he said looking away and stuffing his hands into his pockets, a tiny stain of pink on his cheeks. "I just-" He was cut off when 100 pounds of human crashed into him. Taken off guard, he stumbled back and the two fell into the lake.

"You came back…" she mumbled into his cloak. His crimson eyes softened and he slowly wrapped his arms around her.

"Baka onna." He chided gently. "I promised that I would." She looked up at him and he saw that her eyes were slightly red and swollen. "You were crying…?"

"It's nothing." She gave him the smile that he loved…and until now, didn't know that he missed. "What matters is that you kept your promise, koishii."

He smirked and led her to the banks of the lake. "Who said I wouldn't?" Akiko didn't have a chance to answer before he leaned down and softly placed his lips on hers.

And suddenly, it felt like the wait hadn't been so long after all.

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Meh, don't like the way i ended it...i could've done better...oh well, give me some feedback! n.n