12.
Hiei and Kurama's point of view
They had been heading towards the lake that you had been found at before to think about things and relax. The entire time neither of them said a word to one another verbally or telepathically. Kurama thought that Hiei was thinking about what had just happened a few minutes ago, when really Hiei had his mind on other things, even though they still involved you.
When they got to the lakeshore, they saw that you were not there and your aura was nowhere nearby. "We should probably split up. We'll be able to cover more ground that way. Then we can find her faster," Kurama suggested. Hiei nodded and headed towards the clearing that you two met Sabera at. (the right) Kurama then took off in the opposite direction and ran into the woods, hoping that they would find you soon.
Your POV
You were sitting on the edge of a cliff that was overlooking the forest and had a good view of the sunset that had just begun. On the right of you was the lake that would always calm you down. (Guess who's heading your way) You hid your energy so that even Hiei's jagan eye wouldn't be able to find you. You looked towards the setting sun and began to sketch it on the notepad you brought with you.
As you sketched the scenery in front of you with stencils, you scanned the forest and saw that Hiei and Kurama were looking for you. Hiei was the farthest away and seemed to be heading towards the clearing that you two sat in and looked at the stars in. Kurama was closer and continued to head your way while looking in trees and scanning for your aura.
You soon finished the sketch and closed your notepad. You stopped hiding your energy and saw that Kurama stopped and headed straight for you. With your head now clear and thinking straight, you jumped off of the cliff (it wasn't a very high one. Just about, three house stories high) and landed gracefully in a tree branch.
Kurama soon came into sight and saw you sitting in the tree. He came closer to the tree and asked, "Lea, could you come down from there so we can get Hiei and head back to the house?"
"Sure Kurama. I just had to get some fresh air and clear my head a bit. All I really needed was to watch the sunset a bit. I'm good now," You told Kurama and jumped off the tree and landed in front of him. You grab his hand and walk into a shadow of a nearby tree. When you emerge from the shadows you end up in the clearing that Hiei was heading for.
You let go of Kurama's hand and turn to him to tell him that Hiei would be here in a minute or two. When you turned around though, Kurama had grabbed your arms and pinned you to the tree where you came out of the shadows. Kurama then plunged his lips onto yours and you dropped your sketchbook and stencil bag. You stood there in a daze with wide eyes as Kurama kissed you. You then asked through telepathy, Kurama, what are you doing?
Lea, I-I love you. was Kurama's reply. When he said that you were thrown into even more shock. You pushed Kurama away with your spirit energy, knocking him out for a few minutes, and caught a tear that fell from your eyes which were now gray. You looked at your tear and saw that it was gray as well and was now a small gem in the shape of a heart. You bent over and grabbed your sketching things and ran back to the house at full speed as your eyes now flowed out gray tear gems freely behind you.
Hiei's point of view
You were running to the clearing you were at last night and found Kurama and Lea already there. You then saw Kurama kiss Lea and ran back to the house immediately after seeing them kiss. 'How could I be so stupid?! To think I actually thought that it was me she said she liked. From now on, Hiei Jaganshi will never love again.' You thought. When you got to the house you bolted through the front door and up to your room, making sure to lock the hallway and balcony doors.
Normal point of view
You reached the house within five minutes and bolted through the doors and to your own room. The others didn't see you go by but they saw the tear gems as they lightly clinked on the floor. You go straight to your bed and collapse on it, crying your eyes out. You were shocked, confused, and angry at yourself for not noticing it sooner.
with the others
"That was weird. First Hiei comes and goes to hide in his room, then ten minutes later someone else comes and leaves a trail of gems behind," Yusuke says. Sabera and Yukina go to the trail and look at the gems more closely.
"These are tear gems. But they're shaped like a heart and gray. It's definitely not koorime," Yukina says and looks at a gem in her hand.
"That is Lady Lea's tear gem. Something is wrong. Its gray because her tears become gems shaped like hearts and takes the color, depending on what she's crying about. I can see just a tiny shade of blue specs in it which means she's sad about something," Sabera explained.
She then continued, "Yukina-san, could you please go with Keiko-san and gather the trail of gems outside? I'm going to go and talk to lady Lea."
Yukina and Keiko nodded and started picking up the gems. Sabera went into the shadow of the couch and came out in your room.
Normal point of view
You were still crying on your bed and a sea of gray gems was spread out on your bed as you laid on it. You felt Sabera enter your room but you paid no mind to her. You just continued to cry.
"Lady Lea, what's the matter?" Sabera asked and hopped up on your bed with you.
"Its nothing Sabera. I just want to be alone for a while. I might sing a bit and get my mind off of everything," you reply and gather the gems on your bed.
"ok. I will leave you alone for a while, but please, don't keep things bottled up. Its not good for you," Sabera said and left. You smiled a bit and put the gems in a small pouch. You put the pouch in a drawer in your nightstand and laid on your bed. You were facing the wall and crying a bit, not as much as before but it was still crying.
Suddenly you felt two strong arms wrap around your waist. You look down to your waist and see the arms. They had black sleeves and the one on the right had bandages, Hiei's arms. You then lean into the chest of the arms' owner and they hold you tighter.
"Are you ok?" Hiei asked. You nod and he continues, "Good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to my angel dove." At this your eyes shoot open and you struggle against the arms. Your attempts fail and a cloth is placed over your mouth and nose. You accidentally inhale and something goes into your system.
With the last of your conscious you send a telepathic message saying, Hiei help!…Bret…knock out anesthetic… With that you fall into a deep sleep, left to wake up to an unknown room later on.
Hiei's point of view
You were out in the woods since you decided to practice with your katana. In the middle of attacking a tree you got a telepathic message from Lea. Hiei help!…Bret…knock out anesthetic…
You sheath your katana and dash off to the house. You may have sworn that you wouldn't love her anymore but you still had to at least protect her since she was needed for the tournament and the kitsune would have never forgiven you if you let her be kidnapped when you could have done something to prevent it. Honestly you didn't care what the kitsune thought of you. He was the one that stole Lea from you in the first place. You knew how that Bret was though, from the last encounter you had with him. More than likely he would force her to be his mate one way or another, and you knew that no one should have to go through something like that.
About half way to the house you saw someone with large bat wings flying away from it. You took a closer look at it and see Lea limp and unconscious laying in his arms, her tail limp and lifelessly following her and her tiara faintly glimmering in the night. You could also see that the man had a black dress laying on her. More than likely the dress that she was in when the transformation happened, and her soon to be wedding gown if she wasn't rescued soon. After you saw them you knew that you couldn't reach them at that altitude so you headed back to the house even faster than before.
When you got through the front door you saw Yukina picking up some gems on the stairs with Urameshi's girlfriend. You were curious as to why there was a trail of the gems that went up the stairs and why Yukina was picking them up. Yukina looked up at you and smiled, "Hello there, Hiei-san. Huh, what's wrong?"
"Hn. Something's happened. I need to speak to the detective and the kitsune," was all you said. Yukina nodded and lead you into the living room where the bakas were arguing about whatever and Kurama was reading a book. You thanked Yukina and went over to the kitsune. He looked up from his book when you approached him and you could have sworn that you saw some sadness in his eyes but you shook it off.
"Hello Hiei. Did you need me for something?" He asked.
You nod and reply, "The baka onna was just kidnapped by Bret. He probably wants to make her his bride. He appears to be a bat demon too. According to the onna's message, he knocked her out with some knock out anesthetic."
When you said that she was kidnapped, Kurama's eyes went wide, Sabera bolted up to a sitting position, the bakas stopped their stupid fighting and all the girls gasped and looked at you. The rest of that night, everyone thought about their next course of action and decided to see if Koenma could track down where she was.
Normal POV
You wake up and bolt into a sitting position screaming Hiei's name. You look around and see that you're alone in a high-class room on a black king size bed that was now covered in cold sweat. The reason why you screamed Hiei's name was because you had a nightmare that had Bret killing Hiei and the others in front of your eyes and forcing you to be his bride. You look at your left hand to look at the ring you got the night you met Sabera but you see that it isn't there anymore. You check to see if you're wearing your chocker and pendant but the pendant is gone as well.
You got mad and your eyes turned crimson because you assumed that Bret had taken them, thinking that they were both from a boyfriend or something because you weren't wearing them last time he saw you. You try to clench your fist but find that the anesthetic hadn't completely worn off. You add a little of your spirit energy to it and you were successful. You then lay back down so that they would think that the drug was still in effect.
Ten minutes went by and you kept thinking of strategies on how to get out of wherever the heck you were. You made sure that your mind barrier was up by putting up a second one behind the one you subconsciously put up, just in case Bret was a telepath. 'Damn it. I can't believe I fell for that. Bret just happened to be a shape shifter didn't he? How the hell am I going to get out of this one? And where the hell did he put my ring and necklace?!' you thought.
Just then you saw Bret walk in with a small impish servant. It kind of reminded you of the house elves from Harry Potter. You lay there motionless and glare at them through the corner of your eye. Your eyes were still a deep crimson red and your glare surpassed even Hiei's, you were currently at your peek and would be pushed over the edge if Bret did anything to anger you more. The servant saw your glare and cowardly whimpered behind its master. Your glare softened a bit as you looked at the frightened creature. If you were going to be held hostage here and Bret was going to have these little guys tend to you then you would respect them and give them gratitude on their work. Honestly you hated their master to your very core, but you couldn't help but feel sorry for them that they had to wait on Bret hand and foot. You would give them the respect they needed.
"Ah, Angel dove, I see you've awaken. I had hoped you would. The drugs are still in effect I see. That's good, I wouldn't want you to miss the ceremony today. Amstra, could you go and get a few more of you so that you can help our guest into her wardrobe for the ceremony?" Bret asked the elf. The elf nodded and scurried out the door. You hardened your glare and turned your attention back towards Bret.
"Bret, where the hell is my necklace and ring?! I want them back NOW!! And what ceremony are you talking about? I want answers and I want them now," You demanded. Bret was now by your bed and loomed over you with a smirk on his face.
"Heh. First I want you to tell me who gave them to you? I know for a fact that you didn't wear them before. Did that shrimp with the spiky hair give them to you?" Bret questioned.
"My parents gave them to me for my 15th birthday. I didn't wear them before, yes, but I've recently worn them everyday. Now give them back!!" you hissed. Bret seemed convinced by this and pulled them out of his back pocket. He gently slipped the pendant over your head and placed the ring on your right middle finger. He also had a second ring that had a gold band and a small diamond from Makai. He then placed that ring on your left ring finger.
"Bret you better take that ring off of me and put my other ring back where you found it. Also, tell me what ceremony you're talking about!!" You yelled at him. You were just about to crack if he didn't give you some answers.
"Please my dear. In the position you're in you shouldn't be making idle threats. As for the ceremony, it's merely a party I'm throwing. To be more specific, it's our wedding shower. You must attend, after all you are my guest of honor. And please call me Brandon at the party. I'll be calling you Leana of course. I've even given an extended invitation to Lord Koenma. He'll be more than welcome to bring his Great Spirit detectives. I've heard so much about them. You'll be wearing the dress I found in your closet as well. As I'm sure you've figured out by now, I'm a shape shifter. I will be taking on a different form there. I hope you like it," Bret explained.
He then transformed into a man about Kuwabara's height. He had a voice that sounded like Aayame's from Fruits Basket and had the same structure as him for the body. The facial features looked more like the Inu no Taisho from Feudal Era Japan, a.k.a. Inuyasha's father. His hair turned from a short brown to a long silver and was up in a high ponytail. The newly formed Bret then bid you farewell as Amstra and a few more elves scurried through the door holding the outfit that you would be wearing that day. They also brought in some matching black slip-ons and a bit of make-up with them.
You growled and before Bret could leave you say, "Bret, I'll go to this stupid party, but on three conditions. One, you have to stop calling me by your pet names. You can call me dear or honey if you want but no angel dove or any of that got it?" he nodded and you continued, "Second, I'm not going to wear any of this damn make-up. And lastly, I'm not going to mingle at the party if I don't feel like it. I may mingle here and there but I won't be forced to mingle or dance. You must also allow me to dance with anyone who asks and I say yes to. Got it?" Bret nods again in agreement to your deal and leaves so you can change.