A/N: Alright this is the last chapter for this story so I'm hoping that it will come out well. There is still no official answer about whether or not there will be a trilogy but I'm still writing it anyway, just in case. Anyway, this has really been a great story to write and I thank every person who read this story and everyone who reviewed it, I owe you all more than I can ever say in this author's note.
Disclaimer: I do not own YYH, I do however own Shi and Leleel and all the OCs in this story. Please don't sue me.
Chapter 26: Finally Living A Life
It had been two weeks since Shi and the whole Rekai group left Komorum and returned home to the world that they belonged to.
Shi had yet to return to the personality that the group expected of her, she was having a hard time accepting what had happened and the fact that she had really forgotten everything so easily.
'These are the people who saved me from my old life and put their lives on the line to get me back from the shadow demons… why am I having such a hard time with this?' She asked herself from the front porch of the temple.
The weather had been nice since their return, crisp blue skies as far as the horizon, crisp temperatures lingered in the air while light breezes kissed her skin and played with her hair.
Shi leaned forward into her hands, where she had been holding the bag that contained the pieces to her broken necklace.
"What is wrong with me?" She asked sternly, squeezing her eyes closed.
"Shi?" Her eyes shot open, Hiei. She had been trying to avoid him since their return, he was the one that she couldn't bear to look at but everyday it was getting harder and harder to simply avoid him, or convince him that she was fine.
"Hey." She let her hands extend out where they rested on her drawn up knees. "What are you doing out here?"
He shrugged and came over to sit next to her. "Shi?" His eyes said it all, he didn't even have to say the words, and Shi was glad that he didn't, she didn't know how she would react if he did.
His firm crimson eyes held her blue ones for a long moment, she finally had to look away. "I'm fine Hiei, you don't have to keep doing this."
"That's not what I hear."
"Well maybe you're hearing things wrong."
"Hn, or maybe you just don't want to tell me."
She sighed, this wasn't going to be in her favor no matter how much she argued it with him. "Okay so maybe I'm not fine, it's nothing I don't deserve anyway."
"Are you saying you deserve the suffering?"
She looked back over at him, "aren't these kind of talks Kurama's thing?" She asked in attempt to throw him back into his defensive state, leaving him without his words again.
Hiei simply shrugged, "you're still my mate so I still have to come and talk to you about whatever it is."
"Wait, now you don't want to talk to me?"
He growled, "stop changing the subject baka onna! Now why do you deserve this suffering?" She smiled at her futile attempt to do such thing.
"Think about it Hiei, I forgot all of you so easily, and if it weren't for Juhani's sympathy I'd have to re-get to know everyone."
Hiei leaned back against the temple wall and looked out for a moment, then back at her, "you have a stupid way of looking at things, you do know that right?" She sighed, he was probably right.
She was quiet for a long moment, this had been the longest that they had been together since their return and still she had not attacked him like any mate would; yet another thing that she hated herself for.
"Shi stop." She suddenly looked over at him, seeing his eyes closed and head resting against the wall. "What did I do?" She asked innocently.
"Stop hating yourself for the things you do, everything will come back to you when you're ready for it, until then everything else will just have to wait." She gave him a confused look and suddenly his Jagan began glowing from under his head band.
"Can't I ever have just one thought in private?" She asked him, drawing a smirk from him as his eyes slid open on her, but she just sighed in defeat, he knew that she didn't mind it and that she really was glad that he had that ability to hear the thoughts that she was too afraid to voice.
"Whatever." Shi sighed. Suddenly, before she could think and stop herself she moved so that she was seated in Hiei's lap, his arms around her protectively. "How come you get to see what I'm thinking but I can't see your thoughts?" She asked him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"You want to?" She had to think about it she had been ready to hear him say that she really wouldn't want to hear them, never that he would be so compliant, Shi finally nodded.
Her mind was filled suddenly with his thoughts, his voice rang in her mind, but only grief, thoughts that said that it was his fault that any of it had happened because he had let them take her in the beginning.
And then, as quickly as it had come, she was filled only with her thoughts and she came back to the world, she blinked once then pulled back enough to look into his solid crimson eyes.
After a moment she exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and rested her head again, quickly kissing his exposed neck softly, "it's not your fault, and I will never blame you Fiery."
If she had seen it before she wasn't sure, but right now it was more apparent to her than anything else.
Hiei was like any other person, he really did have feelings and emotions about everything that happened and he did second-guess his actions and his words, he just hid it all better than anyone else. He had seen so much sorrow and death in his life and he held it all back so well behind those two crimson orbs, she idled him for that ability.
"Hiei." She grasped the plastic bag that was still in her left hand. "I need to get this fixed." She brought the bag down and both of them looked at it for a moment before he nodded.
She stood up with him and they moved down into the open space of the courtyard, with their intention to return to the Makai to see Jokil.
-
Shi knocked hard on Jokil's door, their trip here had been quiet… except when they got lost and Shi swore that they were going to die.
The door opened and the same Jokil stood there in his short stature and brown outfit. "Shi! You've returned!" He said thrilled, as he did nearly every time they came. "You know I get tired of these long intervals with no visit." He stated as he led them inside.
"Yeah well I would've been here before but I had some things happen that kept me from it." Jokil seemed confused, he sat them down at his table and lit the candle in the middle.
"I was almost killed again because I did exactly what you told me to do." He still seemed slightly lost. "Basically Juhani came, kidnapped me, erased my memory and put me in a war with the light demons causing me to almost die. But that's just a brief summary."
"Juhani kidnapped you?" He asked
"Did I stutter?" She asked sarcastically, she found it funny how this place seemed to bring out her personality the most.
"Oh Shi you must tell me about this." He said leaning in with interest.
"I really don't want to get into the fine details Jokil I'm having a hard enough time recovering as it is." She said rubbing her forehead. Jokil nodded, "so? You said there was a war, where was it fought, were the leaders involved, did anything happen to Leleel?" the worry in his voice was most prominent at the last question.
"You seem more worried about her." Shi stated, crossing her arms; Jokil shrugged, "your father would never forgive me if something happened to one of you. Especially if the light demons had anything to do with it, they are his enemies you know."
"No, Leleel's fine, still a little messed up in the head I think, but still fine. Why would my father's own race be his enemies, I don't understand."
Jokil sighed heavily, "I think you have both the age and the mind capable of understanding what Leleel can't."
Shi looked confused but he continued, "Leleel has been around the light demons for so long that her mind is blackened with the thoughts that they wanted her to believe and even though she is a strong ruler and is very good with handling the future she could never comprehend the past."
"Your father was the light demon ruler for quite a long time and he brought them into an armistice with the shadow demons. But like I've told you before all he really wanted out of life was to have a child and to let them have a good life, so one day he declared that he would no longer be their leader.
"Well as you can imagine this upset them all quite a lot so they hunted him out until they finally killed him." Jokil sighed, "I do have to wonder though what he thinks about how his two daughters turned out in the end, completely opposite of each other and flourishing greatly depending on how you look at it."
"I don't know Leleel seems to be suffering." Shi stated. Jokil nodded, "a good number of things gives her the right to suffer. Someday I do wish to get the chance to speak with her and get a better understand of how she thinks."
Shi shook her head quickly, "no, no Jokil you really don't."
He smiled, "well what is it that you've come for, it can't just be for those words? Though I do enjoy speaking with you and telling you the truth."
"I… I don't know exactly how to tell you this." Shi put the bag on the table. "But when Juhani kidnapped me and took my memories, he also shattered my pendant."
Jokil starred at the broken pieces of the silver heart in the bag for a long minute then smiled. "Oh Shi that's not the real one."
Shi sat dumbfounded for a long minute, "it's not?"
"Of course it's not the original thing! Do you honestly think I would trust someone like you of such carelessness to have such a thing?" He stood up and went to the door where he always took out all of her treasures.
Hiei, who had been seated in the chair next to her leaned in closer, "you know Shi, he does have a point." She glared at the smirking Hiei. "Oh shut up, no one asked you."
Jokil returned quickly with a new necklace that looked exactly like her old one except that it was brighter and sparkled in the candlelight. "Here, this is the original one, Shi don't break it." He carefully handed it to her, who unclasped it and held the two ends behind her head for Hiei to clasp again.
Jokil sat in his seat, leaning on his hand, his eyes soft now. "Shi I know you've never been one to stay here for long, so before I forget, when you see your sister again tell her to come by here, I do have some things I'd like to give her as well."
"Like what?"
"That's private." She glared at him, "what makes her so much more special? I want to know!" Jokil shook his head, "of course she's like this, the constant hatred and rivalry. Is she always like this?" He asked Hiei who nodded, "most of the time."
"Hey! I'm right here you know!"
"Sorry Shi, what?" Jokil asked with a smile on his face simply to get a rise out of her. She narrowed her eyes then stood up, "thanks Jokil but I'm leaving before my own mate leaves for her!"
"Come back soon!" Jokil called to her as she left out the front door, Hiei following close by.
They walked back to the place where they could open a portal quietly, Shi didn't really believe that Hiei would leave her for her sister… but there was that part of her mind that had to wonder.
"Shi." She stopped and faced him. "Yes I know you would never go for Leleel, drop it." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, beginning to walk again; him beside her.
Her eyes opened and her hand reached out and took his, her eyes met his slightly confused ones.
"You do know what this means right?" She asked, when he didn't answer she took it as a no. "This means that from now on we can begin living our life, together."
He looked confused, "no suffering?"
"Nope, none at all. And if there is any we'll deal with it then."
"And your sister?" He just had to ask.
"She's in Komorum, not Ningenkai, so I'm not worried about her right now, let her deal with her own issues without them involving me for a while." She was proud of her answer, maybe now she could push the stupid light demon that she still hated out of her mind!
"Then what are you going to worry yourself with to replace that?" He asked with a small grin.
"Well our future for one thing and the future of our children!" His look fell and she laughed at that.
"Now you're thinking to far into the future." She continued to smile at her mate, "and I think you just don't want to think about it! Face it Hiei, someday that's going to happen."
"Hn, I seriously doubt it." She stuck her tongue out at him but let the subject drop. It was true though, there was nothing else to distract them now from simply living their lives together… no matter how strange it would be.
THE END
A/N: There it was, the end of In Joy And Sorrow and I am actually very happy with the way that it turned out. Anyway, I know I said it before but everyone who reads this and reviews this, you all get a big thank you from me, you all are really the reason why I have everything on here and you're the people who give me the will I need to keep going with everything.
As sad as I am to say it this is the last chapter but there may be even more ShiHiei coming with the trilogy, no title yet, but I'm thinking of calling it 'For This One Last Time' But like I said I don't know.
Please Review this last chapter!
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