Hello, everyone! I hope you guys are having a great day! I'm going to update today, and I'll be posting another chapter at the end of the week, just so you guys know. Okay? I don't really have much to say, except I'm really glad you guys like this story so much. ^^ It makes me happy to know that, even if it's old, it's still a good story worth the write! lol

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH, any of its charaters, or rights. The only things I own are a few characters, the plot line, and a few other things.

And with that, let us begin the chapter! :D

-4 Months later…

It was late at night when Nozomi sat up in bed, having heard something in the distance. She had been reading a book that had caught her interest in the palace library, and was now curious as to what the sound was. Scurrying out of bed, she dawned on her robe and hurried over to the window. Shoving them open, she rushed out onto the balcony. Leaning over the railing so as to see better, she scanned her kingdom. Finding nothing wrong, she grew confused. Hearing another strange noise in the distance, she turned in the direction in which it came, and noticed that it was coming from her best friends' kingdom. There was another strange echoing sound, and that's when she realized that she had recognized the noise. They were canons.

"Leiko…"

Reacting quickly, she rushed back inside and changed clothes, putting on a pair of dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Throwing on a random jacket that she had lying around, she bolted out of her room, making sure that no one noticed her.

-5 minutes later…

Leaning against a wall in an alleyway, Nozomi watched as pirates raided the village; breaking windows, stealing jewelry, and taking food. She glanced about, wondering what was going on. She saw a mother rush past, tugging painfully on the arm of a small girl, running away from the pirates that practically jogged behind them, evil grins on their faces. The little girl suddenly tripped, causing her mother to lose grip. With a sudden shout, the mother whirled around, wondering where her baby had gone. Seeing her on the floor, she rushed back over to her and picked her up, but the pirates had already caught up. Dropping to the ground, she protected her child, like a good mother.

"Heh heh… We've got you now…"

'I don't know what to do… but I have to do something…' Nozomi thought desperately, scanning the darkness. Noticing a pipe on the floor out in the open, it having been dropped by one of the pirates that had rushed by earlier, it lay within 5 feet of one of the three pirates blocking the woman and her child.

Taking a deep breath, she ran out. Stooping down, she scooped up the pipe and, in a mighty blow, brought down the pipe on her target's collar bone, causing him to cry out in pain and drop to the floor, yet turn slightly to see who had hit him, as well as the other two pirates.

Noticing that their attention was now on her, she yelled over the noise, "Go! Quickly!"

Nodding, tears of gratefulness in her eyes, the mother stood up quickly and ran off, clutching her young daughter close to her chest. Smiling slightly as she saw that they managed to get away, Nozomi returned to her current situation. She glanced between the three pirates, who slowly approached, all with smirks on their faces.

"So, girly… Ye think we cared so much for tha' lil' un'?" One snarled, his decaying yellow teeth glistening with saliva as it dripped slightly down his chin.

"Yea… Yer much perdier than anyone else we've seen…." Another slurred, taking a large step forward. It was obvious that he was the leader of the group.

The third one stood up, glaring coldly at her. He moved his shoulder a bit, getting it back into place before fully turning and taking up a position next to his other comrades, his cutlass gleaming in the moonlight.

Nozomi glanced between the three of them, shifting her gaze constantly, not knowing where the next attack would come from. With every step they took closer to her, she took one step back, keeping the distance as she frantically tried to figure out what she was going to do. Just as they took a step forward, they heard someone shout, "Fall back! Get back to the ship!"

As the other pirates began scrambling back towards the ship, the three that were there hesitated. They all glared at the young girl before them before turning, reluctantly, and running off towards the ship. Heaving a sigh of relief, Nozomi dropped the pipe and rushed down the cobblestone pavement, heading towards the castle in a panic, seeing its condition. Unbeknownst to her, golden eyes watched her as she made her trek up to the castle.

Bursting into the remains of the castle doors, she rushed about, seeing either severely injured, or dead bodies lying about. Growing frantic, she ran over to one of the guards that looked uninjured.

"Excuse me, but, have you seen Leiko?"

The guard turned to her in shock, not recognizing her, due to the fact that she had put her hood up so as not to be noticed. Seeing his hesitation, she threw down her hood.

"It's me! Nozomi! Where's Leiko? Where's Yusuke? Is everyone okay?"

Relaxing a bit, the guard nodded, knowing now wasn't the time for formalities. "As far as we know, everyone is fine. At the moment we're just trying to find the ones that are still alive, and burying the ones that have lost their lives…"

"But…" She was horrified, fear clutching her heart. She knew something terrible had happened, she just didn't know what. "That's not good enough! Have you seen her? Or Yusuke? How do you know that they're all right?!"

"Calm yourself, princess. I'm sure they're both fine…"

"Rose!"

Whirling around at the sound of her nickname, she saw Yusuke and Kuwabara running towards her. Ignoring the guard, she ran past him and hugged Yusuke, who was like a brother to her.

"Yusuke! Kuwabara! Thank goodness!" She hugged Kuwabara, then pulled away, glancing between the two worriedly. "Where's Leiko? Have you seen her? Is she okay?"

Both boys glanced at each other before glancing back at her, both having sad expressions on their faces. Nozomi knew the answer before they even said it, but still, she just wouldn't believe it. She grabbed the front of Yusuke's shirt, pulling him closer. As she drew him closer, fear clutched her heart tighter.

"What's wrong? Tell me!"

With a heavy heart and incredibly sad eyes, Yusuke gently grasped both of her hands in his and said very softly, "She's gone, Rose… They took her with them…"

There was a moment of awkward silence before Nozomi slowly slumped to the floor, tears rolling down her soft cheeks. She cried silently, her gaze focused on a spot directly in front of her on the rubble filled floor.

-The next day

Back at her rightful palace, Nozomi wandered about like a zombie, her gaze empty. When someone addressed her, she was often slow and unresponsive. In her wandering, however, she entered Youko's room, closing the door silently behind her.

Hanging from a bar on the ceiling, Youko did crunches, his sweat dripping down his muscled torso and down into a puddle on the floor. She watched him silently, her gaze appearing to see through him.

Having heard her come in, he did a few more before grasping the bar with both hands and, after doing a flip, dropped down to the floor with a sigh of satisfaction. Turning his back to her, he calmly walked over to a small coffee table and picked up a white towel. Placing it around his neck, below his long silver hair, and took the part that hung from the right side and wiped his face with it. Now he turned to look at the zombie-like princess, his face expressionless.

After a few silent moments, Youko asked in a quiet voice, "What brings you here, princess?"

After a few more prolonged moments of silence, she replied very softly, "I…don't know…"

With a sigh of slight irritation, Youko picked up a small glass of water on the table and drank, his eyes closed. Once again moving like a zombie, Nozomi walked over to his bed and sat down, her eyes downcast. Silently watching her movements, Youko gave a soft sigh before going over and sitting next to her.

As the moments seemed to tick on by, there was a strange sadness hanging in the air. And then, something caught his attention; a strange noise. His ear twitched to his right, and, looking down, he saw the cause of the noise. It was Nozomi; she was crying. A bit surprised, yet with great hesitation, he scooted about half an inch farther from her.

"Why are you crying?"

She sniffled, her eyes overflowing with tears. "I…I…" She trailed off, her voice cut off by a small hiccup.

With a sigh, Youko wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and allowing her to cry on him. 'I'm getting soft…' He thought miserably as she hugged him tightly and sobbed openly. 'I have to get outta here… Before I get too soft… But, I can't leave her like this, not now...'

-And that's the end of the chapter. I know it's short, but, hey! It's still a chapter! As I'm sure you've noticed, not to mention that I've said it before, this is the exact chapter where the two stories, As Red as a Rose and As Blue as the Sky coincide. That is why I call it the Mirror Story; cause it happens at about the same exact time as ARAAR. Now, that being said, I want everyone to know that the next chapter is going to be an important one. Just to give you a heads up. ^^ I hope you like this chapter, and are looking forward to the next one! Don't forget to review!