As always, thank you for reading!
-I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters-
I Do however own Sonya, Jinx as well as the plot
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-TL S0nya
It had been weeks since Hiei disappeared, Kurama being vague about where he had gone as well as the others. It had begun to irritate Sonya to the point of violence whenever they refused to meet her gaze when she asked if he was back yet. Now that she found her voice, she never stopped talking, about what irritated her, about what foods tasted awful, about how the sun was too bright. It delighted her to make Yusuke and Kuwabara miserable with it all. Jinx and Kurama were a given, having heard of her complaints from time to time when she used sign language. But the other two took it worse given she never had much chance or cause to talk to them at all.
Finally one morning Yusuke seemed to have reached the limit for his patience, exactly two weeks after Hiei left, and looked at her across the table from him to interrupt her dissection of how the food could have tasted better to say sharply: "Sonya. Shut the hell up." She had looked over at him in surprise before grinning brightly and standing up to lean closer. "No, Yusuke, YOU shut up." In the sweetest voice she could manage then left the room, silent except for Jinx's quiet giggles at her friend's new-found happiness. After so many years of self-imposed silence, Sonya found everything around her a reason to talk. The flowers, the smell, the trees, even the way shadows shifted. At one point, she bored everyone around her with a hour-long discussion of how dust made it into a house and somehow always found a home in corners everywhere.
One night, two weeks and three days after Hiei left, Jinx and Sonya sat in her room, talking about anything and everything in a way they haven't been able to in years. How their lives had changed, what they liked, didn't like, what they wanted to change and what they didn't want to. Their voices died out long before the sun rose, leaving them in a comfortable silence, simply relaxing on the bed, Jinx with a book, Sonya braiding her hair while she read. "Sonya, what are we going to do once all of this is over?" She asked suddenly, looking up and making her stop fiddling with her hair.
Frowning slightly in thought, Sonya glanced to the window, watching the stars twinkle above the trees of the forest in silence for a moment. "I don't know, I don't think there's any way we can go back to the way we were before. That's impossible now, I mean look at us. We're training to fight, I have a power I can hardly control at the moment and both of us is changed... We really don't even resemble who we were before the attack. There's nothing that can stop it. I think... I think I'll stay with the boys, I'll help them. Somehow, but I can't go back, not after all I've seen and learned." Looking back down at Jinx, she forced a wry smile forward. "What do you think you should do?"
"Oh I dunno, stick around, go back home... Maybe back to America, but I doubt it. I don't think I can leave you, even now. You still need help sometimes and you know it." Jinx murmured softly, distracted by some thought that Sonya could swear she could see circling around in her mind. "I know you talk to Kurama. But sometimes there's just things you can't talk to boys about." Looking back up at her, Jinx grinned and winked at her suggestively. "I mean, who will you talk to when you finally want to decide who to stand by?" Sonya felt her cheeks flush slightly and she looked away once more.
One question that plagued her for the days after her breakdown and realization was what happened between Hiei and Kurama. Usually they were close, not buddy buddy, but close by standards that Hiei put up to be his friend. But now it almost seemed like Kurama was indifferent to the fire demon. Whenever Sonya tried to talk about him, he'd change the subject and distract her with one thing or another that would sidetrack her long enough to where she'd forget about what she wanted to ask until he was long gone and she was alone in her room. Lately, he'd been spending time with her a lot, usually helping her harness the new power she had, but also helping her talk though some of the other memories that resurfaced.
Or rather, fractions of memories. At one point she was frozen with sudden fear at the sight of a rope she spotted in Genkai's training room. Harmless and coiled up for one use or another. But the second her eyes landed on it, she caught a glimpse of herself tied up and helpless as a whip cracked across her back. Kurama found her much later, still curled up on the floor, eyes locked on the rope in front of her while she rocked back and forth. It took him nearly twenty minutes to coax her to her feet and back to her room so she could get comfortable. He wasn't pushy about having her share what she thought, not after that first night where she completely opened up. Just reminded her that she had someone to talk to, people to trust and that she wasn't alone in this anymore.
He almost seemed nervous whenever talking to her, as if he might say something to upset her, but for the life of her Sonya couldn't figure out what on earth it was that it might be. Finally one night she laid awake at night after a particularly horrible dream of being chained to a wall and stared at the ceiling, thinking about anything and everything that might distract her from it. The realization hit her when she thought of Hiei and Kurama together, it struck her that she rarely saw the two of them together around her, it was usually one or the other now.
Frowning slightly, she shifted on her bed and stared at the wall across from her. Nearly three weeks gone and still not a single word from the Fire Hazard, nothing to let anyone know if he was alright, nothing to tell where he had gone. Of course, she suspected they all knew, but wouldn't tell her for some reason. Probably thought it would scare her for some reason. With a low sigh, she got up and pulled her shoes on, intent on getting out of the temple to go for a walk. As she pulled them on, a soft knock at her door caused her fingers to pause before answering with a low grunt of approval. Slowly the door swung open to reveal Kurama, hands tucked away in his pockets, shoes on his own feet and a small smile.
"I thought you might want some company." He said softly, revealing his uncanny ability to read her actions before she knew them herself that he showed from time to time. Sonya smiled back at him, suddenly grateful for his presence. "As usual, Kurama. You exceed expectations of people everywhere." She teased lightly, getting to her feet and walking over to join him at the door. "Only around you, it seems." He answered evenly, a hand reaching up to brush across her cheek then turned and motioned for Sonya to go first. Once they got outside, they both paused to breath in the air and take in the nighttime beauty around them in silence.
"So... Are you ever going to tell me where Hiei went, or are you still under the idea that it might somehow mentally break me?" Sonya asked quietly, tucking her hands away in her pockets before turning to head across the grass, heading towards the woods with Kurama walking beside her quietly. "He went to Demon World." He finally answered, making her pause in her steps and look up at him in surprise at his direct and honest answer. "We kept it from you so you wouldn't work out why he went." He went on to explain, still not looking at her as he walked along, eyes trained on the distant trees, intent on keeping the conversation going without being side-tracked by her expression.
Looking forward herself, Sonya frowned quietly in thought then tipped her head back to study the stars, stopping her feet and standing still in the grass. "He went back to him... Didn't he?" Kurama stopped a few feet away from her and slowly turned to study the blank expression he knew she forced. Searching for something, anything that might tell him what she was thinking then let out a sigh. "Yes. The only consolation I have is he isn't dead yet, or Koenma would have gotten a hold of us by now." She nodded idly, her eyes turning to look around the clearing, then settled on the forest. "Or perhaps if you looked behind you, you could see that for yourself." She said quietly, unable to look away from the form of Hiei standing under the shade of a large oak, watching them in silence.
Kurama turned around and felt a frisson of excitement for the first time in weeks. He had been anxious to know if he had been successful, and the only reason he would have returned would mean he found the bastard and had him up in chains somewhere. Once he turned to look at the Fire demon, Hiei moved forward into the light, heading towards them with his usual amble pace, not hurrying for anyone other than himself as he walked along. "Koenma wouldn't let me stay." he finally said once he was in within earshot of the two. "Insisted I come back and tell you he's there." Kurama nodded then turned to smile at Sonya only to see a torn expression on her face as she stared at the two of them side by side and understood quickly. She couldn't decide who to thank first. She knew what it would imply and didn't know what to do.
Casting a side glance at Hiei, the two of them stayed silent, simply waiting for her to make the first move. Hiei, for the first time, patient as he waited, relaxed and at ease while she watched the two of them, teeth biting into her lower lip. This was the moment the both of them looked towards and dreaded, one they never spoke of, but knew it would happen. As she opened her mouth, she paused suddenly, a confused expression crossing her face before looking down at the large, silver band that suddenly snapped around her waist before being yanked back across the grass.
Frozen in surprise, Hiei and Kurama stared after her in shock before turning as one to run after the girl as she tried to grip everything she passed, trying to stop her sudden backwards motion then yanked up into the air to dangle there helplessly as she struggled. "About time you returned to me, my little Star." A cool voice sounded above her, causing her body to freeze and eyes to snap shut on instinct, rules the voice had beaten into her since she first arrived in his home. Do not look, move or speak unless told to. She thought to herself suddenly, repeating the mantra that kept her alive while under his care. Do not protest or deny his orders. Do not fight, and you will live to see another day.
Sensing the sudden change in Sonya, Hiei and Kurama stopped below her, unsure of what to do as they watched her drift higher into the clutches of a tall man with flowing black hair and a cruel smile punctuated by sharp teeth as they flashed in the light. "I've come to collect my property. Thank my eyes and ears for letting me know, will you?" At that Sonya jerked her head up, seemingly snapped out of whatever stupor she put herself in and locked eyes with the two below her, hands reaching out to them as her mouth opened in a scream while the man carried her off.
And a final for I see Fire in your Eyes! Now, for those that will be looking for the Sonya/Kurama story, keep an eye out for a story titled 'A Rose of Another Name' and for those that will be looking for the Sonya/Hiei story, look for a story called 'Claiming the DragonHeart'! Thank you all for reading and I promise the next series will be just as good if not better than this one!
-TL S0nya