Hello!

Now this chapter... was difficult to write. I wanted to go so many direct routes and this is the one that ultimately ran its course. For anyone reading, I know I'm dragging out till she meets the team.. or well... you get one of them here. Just bear with me okay.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own OC's.


404 A.D.

Aria sighed as her body sunk down into the over welcoming warm water of the hot spring her and Kyo had stumbled upon. It felt great to relax after running for so many years. The past 67 years have had their ups and down. A few years after meeting Mukuro, Aria had a run in with the King of Alaric after passing through his territory.

Bradax was a tyrannical ruler and was way too damn paranoid for his own good. He had sent over 200 troops to try and capture her and Kyo because he thought they were trying to overthrow him. Aria had fun kicking his men's ass and sending them running back their pathetic king with their tails between their legs. However, her and Kyo had avoided getting close to Alaric's capital again.

Now back to the running. Apparently since Aria has decided to NOT sleep with anyone in all her past 500 years, and playing around with Ryu didn't count because she didn't ever let it go too far. So, now when certain demons came around and smelt her scent, well the ones who had the balls would attack her. She couldn't figure out why until she went to see Reiko and asked her friend what was going on to make demons lose their mind with her. Kyo would just laugh and refuse to tell her so what was a girl to do?

Aria had blushed like a child when Reiko had explained it to her, but now she thought about it. Maki had explained it to her once before…

"But why am I going into heat?" Aria asked her aunt, her eyes were wide as her body started to shake from the want that was craving to be unleashed. She had just turned 100 and apparently demons go into 'heat' right about now.

Maki called it her maturity.

"Your body has finally hit its full maturity Aria. You'll go into heat now…" Maki explained as she smiled at her surrogate daughter. She had taken her away into a nearby cave and had placed a barrier over the front to keep pesky demons away. She moved towards Aria and wrapped her arms around her shaking body. "Just relax love, it'll pass soon."

"But I don't understand this feeling!" Aria cried as she buried her head in Maki's chest. Why did her body feel like it was on fire?!

Maki chuckled softly as she combed her fingers through Aria's long hair. "You're feeling that burning desire to mate with someone dear. Your body is craving the touch of someone, and in your heat, you won't care who it is as long as that desire is quenched"

Aria had jerked back to look at Maki in shock. "How many times will this happen?"

"You'll go into heat every 5 years." Maki couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out at the look of horror on her daughter's face. "Don't worry, I won't let anyone touch you as long as you don't want them to." She wrapped Aria up in her arms and gently rocked her as Aria groaned softly. Her eyes looked towards the entrance of the cave where she felt something hit her barrier.

No one was going to harm her, not while she was alive.

Aria was thrown out of her thoughts as the sound of someone joining her in the water alerted her senses. She smiled at Kyo and moved over some, so he could come rest against the rock she was leaning against. She laid her head on his shoulder as he tilted his head back and let his eyes fall closed.

"Something is troubling you Aria…"

It wasn't often Kyo dropped the 'My Lady', but when he did it was because he was coming to her as her dearest, dearest friend. That and she had asked him not to be so formal all the time…

"Just thinking about the past… my first heat actually. Maki was there with me, when she tried her best to warn me of the male species." Kyo chuckled next to her, which made Aria start laughing as she tilted her head back and looked up at him. "I love you Kyo, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Kyo laid his chin ontop of her head and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Probably end up falling for the wrong demon again and getting yourself killed." Aria sighed as she rested her body against his. She wasn't going to deny that… she probably would.

A rustling in the bushes had Aria on her feet in a heartbeat as her eyes narrowed in the direction the noise was coming from. Kyo stood up next to her, his ears twitching.

"Someone's coming." Aria moved towards her sword and pulled it from its sheath in time to block an oncoming arrow that scored from the trees, obviously missing its intended target.

"GET HIM! Don't let them escape!"

She stepped out onto the bank of the hot spring just as three figures come barreling out of the thickets. All three had items in their hands as they came running only to stop and turn to face the yelling coming their way. The most prominent one was the tall fox demon in front, Aria took note of the long silver hair, two fox ears rested on top of his head and the silver tail that swished behind him. She tilted her head as she examined him. Why did he look so familiar?

The other two from what she could smell were because she couldn't see their faces, were a bat and goat demon. Why did these three types of demon's sound and look familiar… her eyes widened when flashes of silver, golden eyes and devilish smirk played in her mind.

About 45 years ago, Kyo and Aria had been passing through a small town on the edge of one of the suburb kingdoms late at night, when alarms started to blare, and demons started to run around in a havoc. In all the commotion, Aria was knocked to the ground by someone way to dang heavy and tall. The only thing she was able to catch a glimpse of was gold eyes silver hair before whoever it was up and running away. It was only later that she discovered her bag of money she had on herself was stolen.

A growl crawled its way up her throat but before she could do anything Kyo's arms wrapped around her and pulled her back and behind a boulder before anyone spotted them. They both watched as several dozen demons came rushing out the thickets behind the three thieves. Aria's grip on her sword tightened as she narrowed her eyes at them all. She was vaguely aware of Kyo wrapping cloth around her bare body.

"Your dead fox, this will be the last time you make a full out of me." The leader of the brunch growled out, Aria was surprised to hear a woman's voice and even more shocked when said woman came strolling forward through the throngs of men. From how she was dressed, she was obviously important… or she thought she was.

A deep chuckled sounded throughout the area before a voice that Aria knew was downright sinful to have swept over her sensitive ears. "Oh, you know enjoyed it." The female snarled before signaling her men to attack.

Aria watched fascinated as the fox demon reached up into his hair and pulled out one of the most beautiful roses she had ever seen or smelled for that matter. She stepped forward and placed her hand against the boulder she was hiding behind as she watched that single rose turns into a deadly sharp whip. She was sure her eyes were doing that sparkly, dazzle thing as she took in the vision happening in front of her.

Who knew someone could be so…. Mesmerizing.

She didn't even pat attention to the goat or bat, even when the goat landed at her feet and looked up at her and Kyo with wide eyes. Blood sprayed all around as that deadly whip sliced its victims in half like they were butter.

When only the female was left remaining, Aria snapped out of her daze and glanced down at the goat demon still at her feet. She gave him a fanged smile and looked back towards the fight. A frowned graced her lips as the fox took a step towards the female, without thinking she vanished from her spot and appeared in front of her in time to raise her sword and stop the whip from slicing the woman's head off.

"Now, now, let's not be hasty." Aria said as she smirked up at the tall demon, who was glaring down at her. Aria looked over her shoulder at the stunned woman behind her. "Now you, why don't you crawl back into the hole you came out of… daughter of the lord of Gandara, slumming with a thief... The scandal."

She ignored the angry growl that came from the pesky witch and turned her smiling face back to the fox. "If you don't want the whole of Gandara chasing you down, I wouldn't be killing this wench." With a flick of her wrist she cut the part of the whip that was on wrapped around her sword and sheathed it.

"You'll pay for that comment half-breed!" Aria blinked at the woman and raised an eyebrow at her. Half-breed? Oh, that's right.

"Sorry if my father isn't my brother also." She commented which earned her a look of absolutely hatred from her. "Now scamper off before I let the fox demon rip your damn head off." Aria growled out as her demon energy spiked, her blue aria swirling around her body like a quiet storm. The annoying witch finally turned and ran off back to her daddy which let Aria look up at the tall fox demon.

"Explain to me why I shouldn't kill you." The fox growled as he stepped up to her, making Aria tip her head all the way back to even look him in the eye. How tall was he? 7 feet? She watched Kyo move in her peripheral, but she inclined her head to tell him to stay back. She was not scared of this fox demon.

"Maybe because I just saved your foxy little behind. If you would have killed her, even though she does deserve it, nothing would have saved you from the wrath of the King of Gandara…" Aria's nose wrinkled at the thought of that stupid hermit. She propped her hands on her bare hips and smiled wider. "Besides, you owe me money."

At the fox's raised eyebrow, she let her smile pull into a smirk before she jumped up and planted her foot on his chest, the move taking him by surprise since he easily fell on his back with her sitting on his chest. "You stole my coin purse about 45 years ago in the Kingdom of Almeria. You owe me 46 jewels, Youko Kurama."

Said fox let his eyes run over her before he smirked. "Usually when I have a naked woman on top of me, I am unclothed as well." Now that DID earn an angry growl from Kyo as he promptly ripped her off Youko and wrapped the cloth from earlier, which was his white jacket around her shoulders. The goat demon sighed as he shook his head at his friend.

The fox chuckled as he stood up and brushed himself off. "Let's be going now…" He looked her way and smirked. "Maybe I'll see you again someday, then we can talk about that 46 jewels."

Aria opened her mouth to comment but promptly closed it as the three men took off. Aria turned wide eyes to Kyo who just sighed and looked down at her. "Yes, you were just brushed off." Kyo had an unsettling feeling hit when a mischievous smile graced her lips. He watched his lady quickly get dressed and throw her into a ponytail before she winked at him and took off after the three demons.

"What are we getting ourselves into?"

…..

It turns out that they got themselves into quite a bit of trouble. After Aria chased the fox demon and his two underlings down, she had proceeded to challenge Youko into a duel. The stakes? If she won, he had to let her join his band of thieves. If he won, he got claim her as his own.

Guess who won?

Seeing as how Aria still has her purity intact, easy guess. Although it had been close, Youko almost won.

That was 35 years ago and now… now they were sitting around a camp fire with the three demons and some other men in Youko's troop laughing and telling tales about a recent heist. Aria was resting in-between Youko's outstretched legs as he braced his back against a tree stump. The goat demon, Yomi, and bat demon, Kuronue, were currently arm wrestling with the men cheering them on. Kyo wasn't very far away from his lady as he watched her chat animatedly with the stoic fox demon.

In the past years, Youko had come to look at the young woman like a sister of sorts. None of them even dared touch her for the fear of Youko's wrath. A loud whooping had Kyo looking over to see a smug Kuronue and a pouting Yomi, guess you know how won that little match.

"Yo! Kyo! Let's go!" Yomi yelled as he moved towards the wolf demon, sighing he shifted to get comfortable on the log and clasped hands with Yomi.

"Go KYO!" Aria shouted out which earned a smile in return. She leaned back more into Youko's chest and ran her fingers over his tail that was draped nest to her arm.

"I want a tail… it would be so cool to have." She felt Youko's chest vibrate some and tilted her head back to look up at him. It took many, many years but... she was finally able to crack that thick shell he had, and she wormed her way into his frozen heart.

He was still cold and callous at times, but Aria knew he cared in his own way.

"You'd look good with a tail…" He mused out loud as his clawed hands weaved a path through her lose blond hair. The hair she threatened to cut a while back, after an ass kicking from him she quickly decided against it.

"You should come with me to meet my father one day." She sat up when Youko made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded like a snort. "What?! I am sure he'd love just like I do."

"I doubt the King of Tourin would be so lenient as you are." His eyes held a strange look as he frowned. "You are far too soft hearted for a demon… I fear one day that will get you killed." Aria waved him off and leaned back against his chest again to get comfortable once more.

"Don't worry, my death is long off from now… there are things that must be done before I die." She said as a shadow crossed over her face. She hadn't forgotten the demon that ordered the hit on her and ended up killing Maki, not in the slightest has she forgotten. She will find him, and she will end his life… and there was… him.

She hadn't forgotten her promise to him either.

"Aria. " Youko started only for said girl to stand up and turn to face him, a wide smile on her face.

"Enough talk! Let's dance!"

There were cheers around camp as demons took up their instruments and started to play. Aria found herself in-between Yomi and Kyo as she danced to the beat of the drums around her. Her blue eyes opened to meet Youko's and the fox demon sighed before hauling his ass off the ground and joining them.

You only live, once right?

….

"I said not to follow us!"

Youko yelled as he glared down at Aria, who was glaring right back at him. Her hands were plastered on her hips, her chest covered in bandages from wounds she had received.

"If I hadn't, you'd be dead right now!" She spat back at him.

Yomi and Kyo were standing back by the entrance of the tent as they watched the two argue. Kuronue was laying on a cot with a giant hole through his midsection.

"Now shut the fuck up and move, unless you want him to die now!" She said as she moved around Youko to get to the bat demon. She knelt next to him and picked the soiled bandage off him to look over the wound.

"You were reckless Aria. What would I tell your father or anyone for that matter should you have died tonight?!" Aria ignored him as she plucked a bottle from her bag and pounded it over the wound. Kuronue jerked as a slew of curses flew from his mouth. Aria was about to start cleaning it when a clawed hand ripped her away and into the air.

Her back slammed into a wooden beam painfully, her eyes opened to glare into the golden orbs of the fox demon who held her by her throat in the air. She had never seen him look so angry, but damn it! She was angry as well!

A growl ripped from her throat as she swung her feet up and dug them into Youko's sternum. Her knee came up to connect to his chin, but Youko leaned his head back to avoid it, dropping her in the process. She coughed as she breathed in lungsful of precious air.

Something snapped in her…

Something primal…

Her lips curled back over her teeth to show her incisor closer her canine had grown and sharpened. Her iris's swirled like a rolling storm cloud as thunder cracked overhead. The sound of rain falling on the top of tent could be a moment later.

Without hesitation she launched herself at Youko. Her shoulder connected with his stomach and both went sailing out of the tent and into the rain, where they rolled across the now muddy ground.

"You selfish bastard!" Aria screamed as she threw a punch at his face, Youko caught her hand and threw her off him as he climbed to his feet and raised his arm in time to block her next punch. "Why can't you just see the truth!" Her leg lashed out, her foot connecting with the side of his face.

The uppercut she received in return had her teeth locking together as she arched into the air, she flipped around to land on her feet. The wind picked up around them as she glared at Youko, who was wiping the blood off his mouth.

"My lady cease this at once!"

Kyo's voice rang out to her but it didn't register in her mind, apparently neither did Youko care if his men were currently surrounding the two.

"I should have killed you all those years ago." His voice was cold as the rain pouring on her, as was his gaze as he looked at her like she was nothing. If she was thinking correctly, she knew her heart would be hurting to have such anger coming from him.

She screamed as they both shot at each other. Back and forth they traded hits, back and forth they yelled at the other. In the back of her mind, a little voice was telling her to pay attention to him. He had yet to use his renown rose whip on her. She had yet to release her Excalibur from where it rested on her back.

She gasped out loud when she was thrown through a couple trees before contacting another. A clawed hand grasped her throat tightly as she clawed at his hand.

"Why do you care?"

The question had her stopping, she ceased her fighting, ceased her anger, ceased her mind. She blinked at him as she just hung there. Why did she care?

The hole reason they were fighting was because she had followed them in a dangerous mission. She had gotten to the compound they were stealing from in time to see the trap that was set up spring into action. Aria had jumped into the fray in time to save Youko from being skewed through the back by a javelin. Unfortunately, it ended up piercing her through her stomach. Which had pissed Youko off, but he even more angry that she had followed them when he ordered her not to.

She felt tears swell in her eyes and spill down her cheeks as she stared at him. His lip was busted, and his right eye was bruising. His tunic was ripped, and various cuts and marks decreed his skin. She knew she looked worse… she could feel it.

"Because…" She gasped out as the rain washed her tears away. "I… love you…I don't wan.t anything…to happen to…you."

Youko's grip on her slackened slightly as he stared at her. With a sigh he released her and set her gently on her feet, to which she immediately slumped to her knees. He knelt in front of her and tilted her chin up to look at him.

"You are by the far… the most stubborn demon I have ever met Aria." That a brought a smile to her face. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she hugged him.

"I'll take that as 'I love you' back." She muttered into his chest to which he just chuckled as his arms wrapped around her as well. He stood up making Aria lock her legs around his waist as he carried her back towards his tent.

Kyo and Yomi were waiting at the entrance for them. They opened the flap and let them enter before following. Aria was dumped at Kuronue bedside, to which she glared at Youko for before got to back to what she was doing earlier.

Once she was done patching Kuronue up she stood up to leave the tent, but her wrist was caught by a clawed hand. Following the hand, she followed it up to the face. Youko was staring at her. Kyo and Yomi had already retired hours ago while she was working on keeping Kuronue alive. Her healing abilities sucked. She was aware that a few demons came in to grab Kuronue and then left again, leaving them alone.

"What is it?" She asked Youko as she turned her body to fully face him. Arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled forward enough for the fox demon to rest his head on her chest.

"Stay with me… in here." Aria opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by his finger on her lips. "Not like that, I know you aren't ready to give yourself away to a man just yet, just… lay with me."

Pursing her lips, she thought it over before shrugging, she followed Youko up into giant pelt of blankets and waited for the fox to get situated before lying next to him. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm loosely around his midsection.

"Goodnight… Kurama."

"Night, Aria."

527 A.D

One hundred and twenty-three years.

That's how long Aria had been with Youko… 123 years, and they were magnificent. Well they were after that once incident but, after that her and Yo… no Kurama's relationship had changed. She didn't know what it was… but she wasn't afraid of it.

But now, they had to say their goodbyes. Youko needed to go off by himself for a bit, he may have a physical body now, but he was still a spirit fox. He needed to turn again and be the spirit for a while. Aria had woken up one morning and found a single rose next to her pillow as her goodbye form him. She will admit she cried… like a baby. She was going to miss him, but she knew she would see him again.

Yomi and Kuronue stuck around with them for a bit until they to departed, leaving Aria and Kyo alone once more.

"So? Where to now my lady?" Kyo asked as he laced his fingers with hers. They were currently standing on top of a giant hill that overlooked Gandara."

"I miss the human world."

"Then let's go! I want to see that village you used to take care of when you were younger."

Aria smiled and gripped his hand before takin off down the hill.

"Let's go to Human World Kyo!"


And there is our lovely Kurama... he is such a hard character to write when he was cold and callous. I'm pretty sure I failed.

Next chapter will have them in the Human world... we will see even more new faces and some familiar ones as well.

I hope you enjoyed this one! And look forward to you next chapter!