I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho fandom or characters. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi and to Toshihiro Togashi. I do not make any monies or profit from the writing of this story.

Thank you, thank you to those who took the time to review and to those who made this story a favorite! As you can see from the title this is a re-written version of my original story. I hope you will enjoy it just as much. I really love to hear your thoughts and comments...Please let me know what you thought of this chapter as well whether good or bad. Thank you again! Here we are another chapter! (still hoping for some fan art...)

Enjoy,

DawnFire_ice

Chapter 24

Moving a little ways away from Kagome as her power flowed outwards to form a barrier around the fortress, Hiei sat down in the trees where he would be hidden from view and allowed the Jagan to open fully. Activating the ability to project himself in to her mind he moved his consciousness through the mental link and into Kagome. Her mental shields dropped to allow him in with no hesitation. Without preamble he moved to her side and gathered her mental form to his chest.

^Why have you done this, Kagome? Did you not trust that I would see to your safety? Or did you think me incapable to fight for our freedom and family? ^ He questioned. No, he didn't believe that this was the case but part of him needed her to confirm that. His emotions were already raw, having lost Kurama and though he would never admit to it he needed the reassurance. He nuzzled her mark gently as she spoke.

"I knew you were completely capable, but I didn't want you to get hurt or taken from me when they discovered your immortality. Hiei, I know you are my protector but I was the one who failed, this time. My spell should have held. It should have been impossible to break unless one of the arrows was destroyed...I couldn't let anyone else face my mistake, but I knew I couldn't do it alone.

The Dragon asked and I could not refuse. He wants be a wise and honorable dragon like they once were before the Gods banished them."

Hiei looked at the dragons in surprise. He had never thought about or cared where it had come from or what they might have been. He had cared only for their power. He was not ashamed of his blatant use of their strength for he had conquered a dragon. In battle the victor always got the spoils and the control of the dragon had been such a spoil. If he had mastered the dragon before meeting Yusuke, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have used the dragon to destruction in the Ningenkai. He was no longer that foolish beast who yearned for power regardless of those he crushed in his pursuit. It had taken several years to realize that under all of that he had been lonely. Kurama had helped him to see that. And now Kurama was...Shuichii was...

Kagome touched his cheek softly and Hiei blinked back the blurry image of her. Gently she brushed something from his cheek before he pulled away wiping angrily at the drops of shame glistening on his cheeks. He didn't cry. "When the battle begins I will be nearby but I will not interfere." Hiei said gruffly as he drew his fury around him like a cloak. Kurama would be avenged. Using the power of the Jagan Hiei drew his full dragon back into himself and withdrew to return to his own mind. Once fully aware again he stood...

A blast of brilliant blinding blue white light streaked across his vision and struck his beloved Kagome in the chest. The force of the blast tore the cloak from her in shreds as it flung her like a rag doll. Helplessly she pitched backwards as four more blasts struck her. The final time she was flung in to the air only to hit the ground with a sickening thud. Hiei gripped the hilt of his katana. Seeing her lay unmoving he bit his lip at the anguished cry building within him. This was part of her plan. He didn't have to like it; he just had to see it through...

Patience little Jaganshi, I will not allow her to come to harm... the reassuring voice of his dragon whom he had merged with calmed him a little as he watched her chest rise and fall shallowly. Three of the SDF members stepped forwards as they moved out of their concealed locations. Hiei frowned as he searched for the other members. They had assumed they would all attack together...Damn!

Hiei was in his own personal nightmare. The SDF hadn't fallen for her ruse. Instead they had surrounded her and were taking turns beating the life out of her and the damned dragon kept telling him to be patient. Well, fuck that! How long was he supposed to just watch?! It wasn't part of the plan, but... Hiei turned his Jagan on them and sent out very strong mental attack...as he drew the battered and worn blade from his sheath fire and youki raced up the blade and something curled around the blade. Hiei thought he felt hands superimpose themselves over his and a voice not his own roared "Wind Scar!"

Deadly blades of wind arched along the ground and tore great rifts as its fury ravaged the ground and any in its path. Dust covered everything in a haze and he heard a voice next to him say "It's not over yet."

Muddy brown eyes sought him out and built a blast in his hands as he barely turned to face the intruder. Coughing reminded him of the girl he had been beating and he turned the blast on her at point blank range. A pale barrier rose to cover his mate and Hiei slammed the sword downward again as the battle cry ripped from his lips once more. He crossed the ruined land in a heartbeat.

Kagome looked over at the figure of her mate and blinked at the misty figure behind him. Silver hair blew back as his transparent eyes focused on her, amber eyes softened and then hardened as Hiei saw the same action he must have. Kagome smiled wanly-of course he would come it was his sword.

Hiei felt his rage growing to exponential levels. "You will not live to try that again!" Hiei hissed as he withdrew his blood coated fang from the heart of his victim. The blast in his back caught him off guard. He collapsed to his knees as he suddenly lacked the strength to stand. Black flames erupted around him forming a barrier. Pink energy flowed over the ground and flooded his fallen form healing any and all damage but he was still unconscious.

Kagome stood turning furious eyes on the hunter who had made his fatal mistake. Within her mark the fire of Hiei's dragon churned restlessly. "I would have let you live..." she said, "unfortunately you have angered the dragon and he will not show you mercy, now." Her eyes glittered inhumanly as the same black fire cloaked her. "Do you have anything to say? They are last words you know..." she said coldly, the dragon speaking through her.

"You Bitch-" he did not get to finish speaking before he was swallowed by the fiery maw that incinerated him instantly, not even giving him an opportunity to scream. His partner fared no better as he too was devoured before the dragon rose in to the sky, roaring its defiance to the heavens. The power within Kagome echoed the roar as it burst free and encircled her.

Hiei watched the scene with something akin to wonder and another emotion that was indefinable in his eyes. Standing on slightly shaky legs Hiei walked to his mate and let his carmine eyes wander over her, noting each cut and scrape. Every bruise on her delicate skin made him growl even as they healed as though they hadn't been. "From now on, you stay out of the battle. I will not endure seeing you handled in that manner again. Do you understand me Onna?"

Kagome nearly laughed as the ghostly figure behind him said, "Yeah good luck with that, never worked for me." Hiei narrowed his eyes hearing the same.

"I don't need advice from a ghost about my mate." Inuyasha's ghost shrugged.

Kagome sighed as she tilted her head exposing her throat and his mark. Such a move would have pacified the kitsune or an Inu but it did not work that way with Elementals. Hiei huffed but took her into his arms. Gently he kissed her, gauging her reaction. Eagerly her mouth opened to him and he greedily took what was offered. Stepping back he looked at her silently. "Never again, Onna." he reminded.

Kagome nodded as she touched his cheek. "I promise when this is finished, I won't ever put myself into something like that again. However I have to finish what I started." suddenly her eyes widened in horror as she felt her barrier shatter "Hiei! The fortress! We have to get back!" Their plan to lead the SDF away had failed...

*~oOo~*

"Spirit Gun!" that familiar battle cry rose over the other sounds of battle and shrieks of the dying youkai. Sweat beaded on his temples as he looked around the ruins of his city. It had all happened so fast. Youko behind him was breathing a little heavier as he lashed out with a well aimed rose whip. Sesshomaru was holding his own as another wave of soldiers broke over him, most of them disintegrating in the sickly green light of Bakusaigua, before they could raise their weapons. Yomi and Mukuro had erected a barrier around the fortress to protect those within.

"Yusuke, I can smell your blood, how badly are you injured?" Youko asked between flicking his rose whip with deadly accuracy and striking out with bloody claws.

"It's a scratch..." he said wincing at the sting of the cut across his midsection. The bleeding had already stopped as his youkai healing was swiftly mending the laceration. The silver haired youkai nodded as he turned his attention back to the fight at hand...

Youko raised his nose to the slight breeze and had to shake himself as a distraction. Kagome's blood was in the wind and the taint of darkness was in the air. Just because it was the way she wanted it, didn't mean any of them liked it, however none of them had argued with her either...He couldn't after she told him that she was doing it to avenge Shuichii. Just thinking his name sent a nearly crippling pain through his heart. "For Shuichii!" With that snarl of defiance Youko lashed out at the droves of Reikai soldiers that seemed to be endless...

~*oOo*~

Sesshomaru was surrounded in what would have looked like a massive ant hill from above. His acrid poison had stained the ground around him forming a type of barrier but he was outnumbered. When the SDF attacked they sent the drones to carry out the fight preferring to remain back so that they could take out the exhausted fighters. It was an excellent strategy, one he himself had used in the past. Unless something changed the tide of this battle it would work too...

"GET DOWN!"

A voice yelled as a heavy body impacted with him. The force took them both to the ground. The copper-salty smell of blood made the great Inu lord look at the male who had hit him. Dimming blue eyes looked back. "You forgot to watch your back my Lord." Kouga coughed weakly. The blast that had hit him had purified anything it had touched leaving him bleeding to death at the feet of his lord. Kouga had taken the blast in place of the mighty lord and Sesshomaru looked at the wolf in a rare show of gratitude. "Go join your mate Kouga. You have served me well, my friend."

Kouga's lips quirked into a wry smirk, "careful my Lord, I might think you liked me..." he said and then he breathed no more.

A howl of rage left the throat of the Inu as he raised his sword, "Dragon Strike!" he froze as he heard the echoing battle cry of "Wind Scar!"

It was nostalgic seeing those blades of power and winds decimate the forces sent at them and hearing what sounded like Inuyasha's voice over the fray; as he cried out the "Backlash wave".

*~oOo~*

Shun-jun watched the battle with a contented look upon his smug face. The dead made excellent soldiers once stripped of their former minds and souls. It was a pity that Enma had not used his armies to crush the youkai vermin before they killed him. And yet for all that he could not say that he was sorry to have lost his King. Enma had gone mad in the last decade and if the youkai hadn't put him down Shun-jun would have done so. This battle was to prove superiority over the youkai, nothing more. If they could kill the so called Lords of the Makai then the rest of the beasts would fall at his feet. He would take the throne and rule!

The hairs on the back of his neck rose and he shivered turning slowly. As his eyes beheld what stood behind him, his knees grew weak and he fell to them pleas for mercy spilled from lips that trembled with horror. Death waited calmly before him as the great maw opened and swallowed him down to hell. His fellow SDF dropped also to their knees lowering their heads as they waited for death to take them.

"Pledge loyalty to Koenma, or die!" Hiei ordered as he held his dragon back raising his sword that looked like a blade of golden fire. Kagome stood beside him glowing with the radiance of her own power, a hand on his arm. Hiei had wanted to destroy them all without pause but it was Kagome who granted them mercy and a chance to live. Her hands trembled as she reached kindly towards one of the terrified SDF members.

"Will you follow King Koenma?" she asked softly of the women trembling on the ground.

At the nod of the women Kagome sighed. "Then this war is over. Call back the Reikai armies and we will tend to the injured." Kagome said as she sagged against her mate. The use of so much power was taking its toll on her but she wasn't done yet.

Walking to the center of the droves of dead soldiers she closed her eyes and prayed that they might have peace before a wave of purity washed out and enclosed them all, literally one hundred thousand dead reanimated soldiers turned to dust as their unnatural lives were ended and the sky filled with a ghostly light as all their souls were set free.

Oho looked at the Miko that they had been sent to destroy. She certainly didn't look like a danger now. However she had been in the control room when the woman had fired off a pulse of sacred energy and had watched in horror as the needle had spun uselessly unable to gauge the sheer power.

"Ryuhi, she's right. This war is over. Let's go end this." she said thoughtfully to her blonde companion as she tossed her shoulder length brown hair behind her shoulders and stood carefully. Ryuhi sighed as she too climbed to her feet. Glancing around the battle field she let her shoulders droop. She could no longer sense her other six companions. Apparently they were the only two left. "Long live King Koenma." she murmured. Beside her the blonde echoed her softly.

*~oOo~*

Yusuke sagged to his knees and then sat back as he breathed out a sigh. It was over. Beside him Youko also sat looking around the ruins of Yusuke's city. Most of the inhabitants had run but those who had stayed, were now casualties of the war. At least their deaths had been swift in coming. Mukuro and Yomi had done well in keeping the fortress its self from damage or harm and it stood as a lone building in a sea of rubble. Heavy chocolate colored eyes surveyed the damage in sorrow.

"Damn it! I should have...They were just starting to thrive...!" He punched the ground angrily. Youko laid a hand on his companions shoulder.

"There are always losses in war." he said softly as his head drooped. Shuichii would have been just as upset or more over the death toll. He raised a blood coated claw and hung his head further, it was no wonder Shuichii had not returned his feelings. He was a beast, a monster. If it had not been for him, Shuichii would have lived a normal life without all of the dangers. But then Youko would have never met him...There was no victory here to rejoice, only slaughter. Blood covered the rough hardened clay ground and was strewn with the bodies, or at least what was left of them, of his foes.

Glancing up Youko watched as a battle worn Sesshomaru raised his sword. The blade glowed blue and crackled before Sesshomaru drove it in to the ground. All around him the bodies of the dead turned to dust as the power to sustain them was taken, however the ones slain on their side began to breathe. "Tensaigua." Youko breathed as he watched the form of a young girl, who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, get up and look around with tear bright aqua eyes. With a cry she flung herself to the dirt before Yusuke.

"My Lord! What shall we do?" she wept.

Yusuke sighed as he climbed to weary feet. All around him his slain subjects rose as the power of Sesshomaru's sword returned them to life. Tears gathered in his own eyes as he looked at them. "Re-build. We re-build." he said quietly as he met the stoic eyes of the one who had saved his people. He gave a slight nod of gratitude which the Inu lord returned.

The pristine white silk was marred and stained on one side as Sesshomaru knelt beside the one he could call his friend. With steady hands he closed the sightless eyes of the former wolf prince. Tensaigua had already saved him once and would not do so again. He sighed sadly. Raising his head he looked around for any other's he might save, but his eyes widened at the sight of warm pink light surrounding his fallen friend. (Kagome.) He thought as he watched in awe as her power recreated the body that had been destroyed. She could not return the lives lost but she could grant him peace.

"Sesshomaru."

Startled by the weariness in that voice, he turned in time to see Hiei and Kagome collapse together as sleep over took them... Worry creased his brow as he looked at the damage to Kagome's clothes that were obviously over wounds. He could not see any on the Hiyoukai but that did not mean he was unscathed. It was faint but he could smell the scent of Hiei's blood too. Youko came over to where he crouched near the Miko and Hiei. Silently he examined them before turning to Sesshomaru,

"They are hibernating. It is one of the drawbacks from using the dragon." Youko said flatly. His eyes flicked over the fallen wolf and he sighed, "War is not without pain, is it?"

"Yours is reversible to an extent, mine is not. The Tensaigua will not revive one who has been brought back before."

Youko stared in disbelief at the Inu Lord. "Reversible? You mean Shuichii isn't dead?" He hardly dare to breath as he waited with baited breath for a confirmation to his question.

"Speak to Koenma. He now has the power to restore him. I am returning home. Send me word when Kagome has awakened. I wish to be the one to tell her of her friend's death. Please do not mention them until then."

Pausing to pick up the remains of the former wolf prince Sesshomaru gathered his cloud of youki and took to the skies. Those of his army who saw him rose and began the trek home carrying any who could not walk themselves, though the amazing power of the Miko had healed any severe damages.

~*oOo*~

"I suggest that you take those two inside and let them sleep. Hiei will likely wake in a day, Kagome well I couldn't say when she will awaken." Mukuro said as she looked at the battle weary kitsune who had caught her eye during the fight. He'd caught her eye before but then he was Yomi's dog.

Now she eyed him openly her blue eyes meeting the citrine, he nodded in acknowledgement of her interest but shook his head now was not the time. He'd told Shuichii he loved him but he had known it wouldn't be returned, so perhaps an arrangement of convenience? Mukuro was a beautiful and powerful woman…

*~oOo~*

Yusuke sat in his throne room once again with a bottle in his hand of Makai whiskey. His shoulders were slumped as he looked out over the rubble that had been a city. Tourin was in ruins and nothing was going to cheer him up this time. He'd let down his old man and the citizens of his lands. Even though they had been granted life again through Sesshomaru's mercy, he still couldn't shake the guilt that ate at him that they had died in the first place. If he was any kind of a leader he would have protected them better. He loved being in the Makai, but maybe returning to the Ningenkai would be best. Hokushin could rule again in his stead.

He sighed. What kind of a man was he? Running away? Was that all he could do? Disgustedly he took a swallow of the bottle's contents and grimaced at the burn.

"Are you going to be up here all night?" her soft voice asked as Botan crossed the room and climbed in to his lap. She yawned tiredly as she rested her head on his chest. She had just returned from the last of her ferry duties. War was always a busy time. Yusuke set down his alcohol to wrap his arms around his lover.

"I made you worry. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Yusuke. I have always worried about you, when you go off to fight. It's just part of loving you. Fighting is part of you, I understand that. As long as you come back, I will always be here to hold you and tell you that I love you. The city needs us Yusuke. It is up to us to re-build it and make it better. I will be beside you."

"Am I so easy to see through?" He asked as he lightly kissed her forehead.

"No, I took a guess that you would feel that way. Hokushin asked me to tell you that this is not the worst this city has seen. So don't give up."

Yusuke sighed as he rubbed Botan's back. "We have to take Koenma to the Reikai tomorrow I guess we should get some sleep while we can." he suggested as he rose slower than usual thanks to the light injuries he'd received. Botan was cradled in his arms and he carried her down the stairs and to their room.

*~oOo~*

Youko stared at the surface of the silver mirror in his hands. If he closed his eyes he could faintly detect the unique feeling of the red heads youki. "Shuichii, I'll get you back...," he vowed as he ran his thumb over the decorative frame. Sesshomaru said that Shuichii could be revived but he had only said to talk to Koenma. A knock at his door startled him and he rose to answer.

Soft honey brown eyes looked compassionately at him as the Reikai King stepped in to his room. "Botan told me what happened. May I see the mirror?" he asked as he sat down. Youko sat on the floor and handed the mirror to the young king. Koenma looked it over for a long moment. "I can't restore him the way you were, Youko. Had I acted on putting him back the second you returned, I could have, but now your youki will kill him if I put him back in to the same body. That's not to say I can't bring him back it will just be tricky."

"No matter the cost I will willingly pay it." Youko said without hesitation. His citrine eyes were focused on the mirror. Surely nothing the King could ask was worse than losing the one he loved...

"Even if I was to tell you, that you can never see him again?" Koenma asked softly.

Youko swallowed. "Even then." he whispered.

Koenma smiled, "very well then I shall revive him for you. Oh, and don't worry, I'm not evil. I would be a fool indeed if I thought I could keep you from him. I just had to be sure that your heart was in the right place. It would be poor taste if I brought him back and you hurt him. It will cost you a tail and the remainder of your youki though and you will be quite weak until your energy replenishes are you certain this is what you want?"

In answer Youko melted into his youkai form and using his sharp teeth tore a tail from himself, yipping in pain. "I could have done it painlessly, Youko." Koenma chided.

Crimson eyes narrowed impatiently. Koenma closed his eyes drawing on the power he'd received when his father died. Slowly the tail shifted in form until it resembled the body most familiar to them all. Crimson hair cascaded over the rug. There was a bright flash and the mirror shattered. Youko paid no heed to anything else as the chest of the figure rose and fell. Slowly dark lashes fluttered open revealing verdant eyes.

Youko yipped happily as he pounced on the confused male...

~*oOo*~

Shuichii had been drifting. It had been like and yet unlike the time he had died. Instead of darkness there had been a sort of light. It was dim and eerie; making him feel disconnected and lost. It had only taken a moment for the avatar to figure out that Youko was not in the strange void with him. Straining his ears he found that he could hear things outside of where ever it was that he was. At first he could only hear faint sounds but then he heard Hiei clearly.

He was speaking in his usual no nonsense tone asking about a mission...what mission? It seemed that it was somehow important. Although he couldn't recall why...He had been doing something before that strange tugging sensation had made him drift. The pain had been exquisite in its complexity as he'd been ripped away, not that he enjoyed it. On the contrary he had nearly blacked out from the torturous feeling. It was the feeling in Youko's harsh voice that drew him back to listening. Youko was angry, murderously so but he was bordering on an emotion Shuichii had never heard in the kitsune's sensual vocal tones before. He was in pain.

"Youko I'm here! Listen! Can't you hear me?!"

Shuichii was not certain why he felt that he needed to reach Youko so desperately, but for some reason unknown to him, he knew that something horrible had happened and Youko was blaming himself for it and that could not continue.

"Youko!" Shuichii tried again also flaring some of his youki.

Nothing he tried had worked and Shuichii slumped into a sitting position as much as he was able. Crossing his arms over his knees he lowered his chin to his arms. Now what was he supposed to do? He had stopped trying to listen as the effort seemed to cost him precious strength. His verdant eyes slipped closed as he thought...

'The terrible ripping sensation must have been my soul being ripped from the body.' Shuichii thought as he sighed. The pain had numbed a little but he still could feel the ghostly echo of it. How did one survive with losing a part of their soul? The answer was simple: they didn't.

Now that he had a moment to think, well far more than a moment, he contemplated the situation between him and Youko. If he was to be honest and he saw no reason to lie to himself, he would say that he had always admired the kitsune. He was powerful and beautiful and part of him or at least he was...He could not deny the sharp pain that he felt shoot through his incorporeal chest.

Since first hearing the voice of Youko in his mind at five years old and every day since, he had developed feelings of a sort for the kitsune. However, they were too complex to phrase with love and not dark enough for hate. It was more an acceptance that they were, for better or worse, one. Closer than lovers and at times, less than friends that was how it was. He supposed that falling in love was a single aspect of a whole. After all love was an affection for another, a feeling that drove two to seek completion with their chosen other half. How was that different than what had always been for them? Theirs was a perfected version of that desire, well perhaps not so perfect. It was after all tiresome to have a constant witness to every thought and feeling one had. There was no privacy in that situation.

Shuichii had always known that Youko was the better one when compared to the two of them. Compared to him, Shuichii was plain and nearly lackluster. His movements were rough and unpolished and his fighting skills, lacking in comparison. In short he was a disgrace to be housing the kitsune. He could not compare. It was a thought that had always lingered just out of reach from the kitsune. In fact Shuichii doubted that the kitsune knew that he felt lacking. Or if he did, that he would care. Now though Youko had changed everything with three seemingly harmless words.

Shuichii could not have replied to those words had he wanted to. His throat had gotten a sudden lump and he had been glad that Youko retreated to the deepest parts of their mind. If he had spoken what he had felt in that moment he would have sounded like a fool. He could handle anything that came his way except Youko's scorn. Every time he earned the kitsune's scorn he felt hollow like something had been taken from him, like something had broken... He sighed pulling his knees closer to his chest. He felt so alone...

Time passed slowly though in the dim light that he was trapped within there was no real way to tell how much time had passed. Was it an hour, a day? Perhaps a year, time was meaningless in this void where he was all alone. The sounds from outside had stopped altogether, and that made him even further concerned. Did anyone know he was here? "Hello!?" he yelled out, wishing there was even an echo to call back. Anything would be better than this horrible endless silence.

"Shuichii?"

Verdant eyes shot wide at the sorrow filled voice he had become so accustomed to.

"Youko! Youko can you hear me?!" he cried.

Youko continued without pause and Shuichii felt the ache in his chest worsen at the sound of despair in Youko's voice.

"I don't know if you are there or if you can even hear me now...but I miss you. It's like my heart has been ripped from my chest and I can barely tell I'm still even alive. Enma's dead and the battle has started, but it feels hollow now, there was no victory won by killing him, if it meant losing you. I never thought I'd have to live without you. I thought that we would always be together-," Youko's voice caught in a choked sob and Shuichii blinked in wonder, the proud kitsune was crying over him?

"If...If I had known...If I could go back...I-I wish it had been me who had been taken into this damn mirror, so that you could live what was left of your life semi-normal. It should have been me Shuichii, not you. Not you... Inari, not you, Shuichii...I'd give anything to have you back!"

Youko's voice broke again as he sobbed softly his words no longer audible. Shuichii lifted a hand to his own cheek surprised at the wetness there. The tears he had withheld broke like a torrent and clutching his knees tightly he wept. He was miserable without Youko. He knew now that Youko's confession had been sincere and heartfelt even if it had been gruffly given. As unbelievable as it seemed Youko cared about him. "I miss you too, Youko." he said aloud as he looked up towards the origin of the light.

*~oOo~*

The light had brightened considerably as Shuichii had waited impatiently for someone, anyone to speak again. It had been too long since Youko had cried over what he said was a mirror containing his soul...

"Shuichii? It's over...-" Youko chuckled lightly, "you should have seen Kagome. She scared the hell out of me and I wasn't the one she was angry at. I don't know what she did, but the power rolling off of her, even contained, was something else. Like Hiei's dragon but stronger purer. She did it for you Shu. She did whatever it was for you. That pompous Inu Lord, resurrected as many of the dead as he was able, but that wolf -" Youko drew a breath. "Sesshomaru told me that there may be a way to get you back, but-"

Youko cut off mid sentence and Shuichii let loose a low oath. Even though he knew he could not be heard he couldn't help but to complain at the unfinished phrase. "Youko! Tell me the rest! Youko don't leave!" He gasped as he doubled over in soul shattering pain. He felt like he was coming undone but also like he was in two places at once it was a feeling he did not want to feel in the slightest.

Shuichii felt heavy like he had turned in to lead and was plummeting down through layers of solid granite. His body ached like it too. When he stopped falling abruptly, he kept moving. With a jarring sensation he jerked as he hit the bottom of whatever he had been falling into.

It was dark. So much darker than when he had died and there was sound. Far away sound that was slowly becoming clearer. Thunder echoed around him in a steady thrum. Somewhere he could hear the whooshing of air as it traveled in and out in steady bursts. The darkness was fading and he had the feeling that if he opened his eyes that the light could come in fully. Slowly he opened his eyes...they felt heavy but he tried again this time succeeding in fully opening them. The darkness remained for a moment and then he blinked closing his eyes swiftly at the sudden penetration of light to his unprepared pupils.

Something warm and active pounced upon his chest and he exhaled swiftly with a grunt as the wind was driven from his lungs. His eyes focused suddenly drawing all of the fuzzy, unrecognizable things in to recognition. A silver face with crimson eyes was mere inches from his face and before he could speak a pink tongue lashed up his cheek.

"Youko?" he asked in a voice that sounded like it had never been used before. The raspy whisper-quiet sound was far from pleasant as it grated on his ears. He coughed. That swift pink tongue lapped over his cheek again followed by a happy yip.

Rough fabric was tossed over his shoulders and he realized with a bit of a start that he was completely nude and that there was another in the room.

"Welcome back Kurama."