"Kurama?" Yusuke asked. "You seen Hiei?" Kurama looked at him.
"Not since this morning. Have you? What about Ms. Ryu?" Kurama inquired. Yusuke shook his head. As Keiko walked by, Yusuke's hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist.
"Hey Keiko, you seen Tsuki?" he asked.
"Yeah. She and Hiei left before PE." Keiko explained.
"Thanks," Yusuke said letting her go. "See ya tomorrow."
"Bye!" Keiko waved as she walked away.
"Why do you think they…?"Yusuke trailed off. Kurama wiggled his eyebrows. "No!" Yusuke gasped. The two took off for home.
Tsuki sat straight up in bed, gasping. Just a dream. Just a dream, Tsuki repeated over and over again. She put her hand to her forehead. "Damn, it seemed so real," she mumbled to herself. She looked around to see if she had woken Hiei and found the bed next to her empty. She was alone.
Slowly she slid out of the bed and crept down the steps. Through the kitchen door she heard voices arguing. Slowly, as if remembering, Tsuki switched into her miniature western dragon form. Then she snuck into the kitchen.
Sesshomaru had returned and was in a heated discussion with Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and some of the other "leaders." Taka lay silently in the corner. Tsuki crawled over to him and when she plopped on the floor next to him, she flicked her tail so that it came in direct contact with Taka's hind leg.
'What's going on?' she asked through their mind link.
'Sesshomaru has confirmed Mau's resurrection. Place, time, everything.' Taka replied.
'When are we leaving?' Tsuki questioned.
'We? No. You aren't going anywhere. You are to stay here and watch over the ones who cannot fight.' Taka replied calmly.
'What?!' Tsuki squealed. 'I can't stay here! I have to fight!'
'No.' Sesshomaru's voice echoed in her head. He had been listening to the whole conversation. 'If Mau got a hold of you, then everything would be over.'
'I have to go,' Tsuki protested. 'This fight is between Mau and me. I called everyone here to deal with Mau's underlings. They aren't strong, but there are too many for me to handle alone. I'm going and there's nothing you can do to stop me,' she finished matter-of-factly. Sesshomaru fumed. He stopped in mid-sentence and turned toward Tsuki. No one but himself and Taka knew that the cute little dragon on the floor was Tsuki so everyone was confused.
"You are staying here whether you like it or not!" he rumbled.
'As your Queen, Master Sesshomaru, 'Tsuki began formally. 'You have absolutely no right to question my decisions or to order me around like one of your subordinates. I will go and I will go in my true form.' As she finished, she nodded her head and stuck her little blue dragon tongue out at Sesshomaru.
He growled but held back his protests.
"Fine," he finally said. "If you want to kill yourself, go right ahead, but don't expect me to cry over you. Now switch back and join in the conversation." Everyone watched as the little dragon slowly grew, then shrank and ran out of the kitchen.
"What the Hell?" Yusuke started. Tsuki then walked back into the kitchen in her human form.
"Where'd the dragon go?" Kakarot asked.
"That was my mini form. Cute, huh? I thought of it myself, though I've only done it a couple of times. It's great for sneaking out," Tsuki explained.
"Why'd you run out?" Yuya asked.
"Well," Tsuki began, turning a slight pink color. "Whenever I switch from one form to the other, I always seem to lose my clothes, somehow. That was the one thing I never figured out in all my days at the Ryu palace."
"Oh, so you're the one Sesshomaru was yelling at."
"Yep!" Tsuki smiled. "So when are we leaving?"
" Tomorrow morning." Kurama then proceeded to inform Tsuki of all of their plans. By the time that they were done, everyone had deserted the kitchen and retired to their respective beds.
"Sleep well, Tsuki," Kurama said leaving her at her door.
"Good night," she whispered back. Slowly she went in and found Hiei asleep in her chair. She went over to him and traced his gentle features with her fingertips.
"Oh, Hiei." I'm sorry, but I might break my promise, Tsuki thought. She bent down and kissed him gently, so as not to wake him. Hiei wrapped his arms around her, startling her.
"Boo," he whispered sleepily as Tsuki pulled back surprised.
"Hiei?" Tsuki wouldn't look at him. She had to ask him something but she wasn't sure how to ask it.
"Tsuki, what's wrong? Are you ok? What?" Hiei saw the instant discomfort in his love. Tsuki leaned in close and whispered in his ear.
"Hiei, I-I want to love you totally and completely. I want us to be one. Please?" Tsuki asked hesitantly. Hiei picked her up and laid her on the bed.
"I thought you'd never ask." He kissed her once more before they began to take advantage of one another's bodies.
The sun dawned bright and early. A lone figure left the Urameshi house and headed towards Tokyo Tower.
Hiei burst into Kurama's study at 6:30a.m., an hour before everyone was scheduled to leave.
"She' gone," Hiei burst. Kurama glanced up from the book he was reading.
"I know," he said simply, returning to his book.
"What?!" Hiei was hysterical. "What do you mean 'I know'?"
"She told me last night. She said that a great army of demons would be there and we needed to defeat them. But her real battle was with Mau. So we will fight them and she will fight him," Kurama explained, staring intently at his book. Hiei slammed his fist on the table.
"No! Tsuki can't fight him alone! She could get hurt!" Hiei yelled. Then he softly added "she could get killed."
"Dammit, Hiei, get a hold of yourself! How do you think she survived all these years without you, huh? She can take care of herself," Kurama yelled right back. Then his tone also softened. "Now let's go get ready to go."