Yukina looked up as the door cracked open, a shaft of light stinging her eyes. A familiar silhouette appeared and slipped in, closing the door behind them. The room returned to semi-darkness. Two tall candles flickered on the table next a little wooden cot. Yukina sat beside it, wringing out a damp cloth into a bowl and placing it on the head of the prone person in it. Hiei stepped up to her. She smiled up at him with tired red eyes.
"How is she doing?" He nodded with his chin to her friend.
Yukina's smile faltered. "Sick…and nothing seems to be helping. Her fever won't go don't I-I've tried everything I know. My powers just don't work the same here..." She said in frustration, her shoulder's fell as she said this.
Hiei reached for her instinctively, hesitated, and then put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She reached up and squeezed his fingers when he did. It surprised him, but then he squeezed back, savoring the warmth of her small warm hand in his.
"You…really should rest.." He said softly. You haven't slept since you got here." Yukina gave him a wan smile and shook her head even before he'd finished speaking.
"No… she was hurt protecting me.. I want to be Here… in case.." she faltered. "I-in case she needs me.." She looked up at him pleading, her eyes shone with unshed tears.
Hiei stood there for a moment not sure what to say.. she was clearly raw, and exhausted and needing rest herself. Damn that selfless heart..
He tried again. "There's food downstairs..." He said, please to see her perk up a little at the mention. "Sophie made it." He added quickly. "Not Iris. It's pretty good for human food..."
Yukina's stomach growled, giving her away and she laughed in spite of herself. "well.." she looked pained, worry etched her face as her gaze drifted back to her friend.
"I'll watch her." Hiei volunteered. "She'll be perfectly safe. Now go." He nodded down the stairs. "Eat."
Yukina, stood, stretched and brushed herself off. She walked over to Hiei and places a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you Hiei.." She made her way to the door, and down the stairs.
Hiei was left in the gloom. He touched his cheek. It was such a simple gesture. He'd seen her do it hundreds of times to their friends... He'd even earned a few himself. But the novelty of it never seemed to wear off. Touch. Something he'd very much lacked in his life.. Only twice in his life had he actually been held by someone; Once many years ago at the end of an arduous battle with Lord Mukuro at a Demon World tournament after freeing her from the shackles of her past, and once after a terrible terrible loss during the bloody battle when a group of demon lords had decided to violate the treaty with spirit world and lay waste to Sariaski City, by Yukina as he lay dying, split open; a bloody mess in her arms... it was her soul, her Love that had saved him that day... He fingered a recessed white scar on his chest thoughtfully where one of her tears had landed in his open wound...upon his very heart solidifying into a precious tear-stone, unleashing the true powers of the Hiruseki. Her innate healing powers combined with their shared blood restored him. Now? He would carry that tear sealed in his chest for the rest of his life. He thought he could feel it sometimes, and it always gave him comfort. Benevolent shrapnel... A scar he wanted to keep.
His silent reverie was interrupted by a soft groan from the little cot. Hiei sat on the stool beside it and pressed the back of his hand to the creature's cheek. Burning hot… He took the cloth and soaked it in the ice water Yukina had left in the bowl wringing it dry, and setting it back upon her forehead. She murmured what sounded like a thanks.
"Hn. I don't know what manner of creature you are… But for Yukina's sake, I hope you make it." He pulled a knee up to his chest, resting a foot on the stool and watched the being shift slightly at the mention of the name.
"Yukina…" She rasped "Her ankle... she needs care. She needs…" they drifted off.
"Yes. Her ankle is broken. But healing, she will be alright…. He added "Thanks to you."
The girl sighed... "thank goodness..." She seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. He sat with her for a long while in silence, watching. Checking her cloth every now and again, trying to keep her fever at bay.
"You're too kind.." the girl said after some time as he rested a hand on her cheek. Still too hot. "you must be Hiei… She spoke of you.""
"Yes. I am." He said, quietly while finishing his task. "Who are you?" He asked out of reflex, not really invested in the answer.
"No one." The girl said, without any emphasis. "Just…. a friend I guess."
This surprised him somewhat, and actually made him want an answer. "Tch... Everyone is SOMEONE..." He said wryly. "What? Were you not born with a name?"
"Sierra, then. Why? Does it really matter?" She gave a one noted chuckle.
"No.." he admitted, and they sat in silence again.
"I lost her..." The creature spoke again, her voice cracked with raw grief.
"Who?" Hiei asked, genuinely wondering.
"Angelina..." She choked. "we were just shopping and then... it was all gone, I-I lost her hand it the dark... it was SO cold… and the water…I tried. I Tried. I searched everywhere." She looked directly into his eyes and her shame and sorrow were palpable. "I failed her."
Hiei didn't know exactly what she meant, and his powers here were muted by the Citadel but even blunted he could feel the emotions roiling off of her in waves. Rage, and fear…pain. so much pain... an impossible grief that spanned a lifetime, capped with this one last profound perceived failure. He guessed the sorry creature in the bed before him was just one more tortured soul, perhaps even not unlike him. He reached out, surprising himself, and rested a hand on the being's shoulder. The heat radiated off of her, burning to the touch. He guessed if she were human, she'd have been long dead by now, succumbing to the fever and the poison in her blood. The bed was soaked in sweat and smelled of sickness and death. She shivered.
"Hiei.." she whispered, her shivering breaking his name into three syllables. He leaned in.
"Yes." He said. "I'm here."
"If I die here... please tell Yukina I'm sorry"
His eyes widened, and he sat back.. "Don't think like that.." He said in a low almost growl. "You'll be fine. She'll be fine..."
She chuckled almost soundlessly. "You know…You're a shit liar." She regarded him. "Look at me Hiei… This is it.. I.. can feel it. I don't have much left in me. Just…please tell her I tried?.. I'm sorry." Her eyes were bruised and sunken in their sockets. "I'm just so tired.. You know? I don't want to hurt anymore."
He felt bad for this creature.. She suffered so.
"Ok, I'll tell her." He said softly, taking her hand. "It's probably better this way. She doesn't need to see."
"She doesn't…" The woman agreed. "Ive never met someone so pure and kind.." She smiled. "what a treat that I got to meet her." Her gaze shifted to him ,seeking his face among that shadows... he nodded gently. "Can I ask for one more selfish thing?"
Hiei simply looked at her.
"Please, don't let them bury me.. I want to be burned. I just want to be ashes.. in the sea..or anywhere really. Just… free. I don't want an epitaph marking my name somewhere. Just let me die, and let me be forgotten…Please." She smiled at him. "Thank you for being will me at the end. You have such a very beautiful soul. I know by your touch that you've seen immeasurable sorrow, but I hope your life going forward is blessed and impossibly beautiful." Shaking, she brought his hand up to her face and brushed his knuckles with her burning cracked lips. "Hiei." She said softly, her hand going limp, allowing his to fall to his side.
He sat beside her for a moment unsure of the mixture of emotions in his chest. Here lied a gentle creature... haunted certainly, but…. good. How rare. He felt her lifeforce slipping away. She whimpered, as the poison ravaged her body. She didn't deserve to die.
Hiei decided he had one more kindness he could offer. His psychic strength was nowhere near where it should be with the dampener on, but while maintaining touch he could still help some. He could ease her pain. Help her forget.
He reached out and took her hand, leaning forward he pressed his forehead to hers, He felt a rush as the floodgates open, He was suddenly awash in fire. He felt her pain.. it was like burning needles stabbed everywhere at once, sending their fire beneath his skin, he let out a scream... focus, focus.. reach…He found her, curled in a ball hugging her knees, burning, floating in the fever-poisoned inferno.. he grabbed her and pulled. She looked up at him with a start. They landed softly in a snowbank. She sat upright with a shock, and looked around wildly. "where am I"…who?.." she scooted away "who are you" Hiei stood and brushed himself off.
"I brought you to this place..." He looked up watching the crystalline puff of his breathe... "to save you from the pain." His eyes looked soft.
When he spoke a look of recognition set upon her face. "H-Hiei?" He nodded. "Oh.. I thank you.. I.." She paused. "Am I dead? She looked up at his as if expecting an answer, but seemed to make up her mind without one. "Of course I'm dead... There's no way you are that beautiful in real life…." She smirked. "Man it's..so COLD. Bhhhrrrrrrrrrr" She shivered and clambered to her feet shedding snow. It was then that Hiei realized this woman was only wearing the thin paper gown from the guild's infirmary.
"Um..." he said removing his cloak not knowing what else to do. "Here.." He handed it to her. She wrapped herself in it and smiled gratefully.
"Thank you" Her Smile wavered, "but…aren't You cold?"
He scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't get cold." He looked down at her bare feet, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Oh," She chuckled. Don't worry.. "I've had worse. They're cold enough now I don't feel it anyway."
A tinkling of laughter behind then caught her attention. A small girl with teal hair, maybe 4 or 5 years old was walking in the snow with a little gathering of woodland creatures trailing at her feet. She laughed and sang a little song to them, a bird alighted on her head and chimed in.
"That looks like.." Sierra began.
"This is one of my memories..." Hiei said touching his temple. "The only one I could think of in the moment.. a safe place." He nodded at the little girl. "This was the first time I saw her … I didn't reveal myself. But.." He trailed off watching the scene play out. The girl moved on in the memory leaving them standing in the snow. "I always remembered." He looked after her wistfully.
"She loves you, you know?" the girl smiled.
He looked startled for a moment, then nodded. "She told you."
"Yeah. I've never seen someone light up the way she does when she talks about you.." Its sweet.
Hiei opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. "I…know."
"So.." She shifted from one foot to the other and looked up at the white sky. "What happens now?"
Hiei put his hands in his pockets. "Is there anything You want to remember?" He asked her.
"You can see mine too?"
Hiei nodded.
"Ok.. What do I do?"
"Just think of it, picture it in your mind and-"
"but…aren't we like… in Your mind…like, right now?
Well, act- um…no." He sighed "its just… easier this way, ok? Picture it. Want it. Close your eyes"
A faint cool mountain breeze ruffled Hiei's hair, when He opened his eyes he saw the girl, but much younger, running barefoot through a dark wood, past a creek and a giant willow, slipping under a sign that said "Private Property" She ran and ran.. until she reached a clearing and stopped catching her breath, she looked up at the full bright moon hovering in the clear night sky. She smiled, throwing her head back, and cupped her hands to her mouth as if she meant to shout but only a tiny hushed sound spilled forth "awwoooooooooooooooooooooo" she whispered. The quietest little howl offered to the night, and sprinted of in a giddy silence. Hiei watched this wild feral little girl run through the woods, marveling at her surefootedness in the dark. She climbed a tree and sat happy and breathless looking out over the forest and mist covered mountains in the distance. Hiei landed quietly beside her. She laughed, a child in her element. "Thank you for this..." she gestured. "I ran these woods when I was little. I knew every blade of grass by heart. I'd stay out all night. She looked at him with mischief in her eyes. It was my secret... I never shared it with anybody. Not ever.." She giggled, a light sound. "Until you, I guess. Hey! Want to see my room? I have some really cool stuff!" She leapt of the tree, landing lighting on her feel and took off running in the direction they hay come, not waiting for an answer. Hiei followed. Within minutes they came upon a small pink house with a tire swing hanging from a willow in the yard. The girl hopped, cat-like up a stack of chopped fire wood and into an open window. Hiei smirked at this. His preferred method of entry as well. Once inside He saw the little girl's room. It was decorated in hues of pink and blue with barbies, dolphins and ballerinas everywhere. She laughed in delight as she picked up an elegant porcelain figure of a dancer mid twirl. "Look! Oh…She was my favorite! Oh, and this!" She jumped onto the bed rolling herself up into a pink throw featuring a smiling Barbie. "I missed this too!" She laughed out loud in delight. A long deep belly laugh, that gave Hiei an unfamiliar tug in his chest. She stopped suddenly, and covered her mouth, listening. Eyes wide.
"This…this is a memory-memory, right? Not just…something I created in my head?" she whispered.
Hiei nodded an affirmative and the color drained from the girl's face. "We need to go, go now!"
"Wh-" He began, but was cut off by the door slamming open, a large sour-faced man came stomping in, reeking of whiskey, and the girl cowered, screaming. Hiei watched in horror. As the man picked the little girl up by her arm, twisting it. She dangled in his grip.
"How many TIMES. HAVE. I. TOLD. YOU… YOU LITTLE BITCH!" The child squirmed begging.
The man used his free hand to undo his belt. Hiei's eyes widened and he stepped back, expecting the man to beat the child with it.. a cruel but not-unheard of human punishment. But…she didn't do anything that he could see. Nothing that warranted something like This.
"PLEASE! NOOOOOO, I-I'LL BE GOOD! I'LL BE QUIET! I PROMISE! IMSORRY-IMSORRY! I-" The man used his free hand to whipped her across the side of her head dropping her to the bed, she tried to crawl away but was dragged back by her ankle. The man began to undo his pants, and Hiei's horror grew to rage.
"GET OFF HER!" He roared, throwing himself at the man but Hiei went through him as if he were only smoke.. These weren't his memories. He couldn't interact with this past... The girl screamed.
No…
Hiei scrambled to his feet. "Sierra!" He called to her. His voice cracked, sharp and frantic.
"Hiei!" She sobbed Please, make it stop. PLEASE!"
"Close your eyes!" He shrieked, "Think of something else!"
Then it was dark. Hiei felt himself tumbling through blackness, seized and buffeted by a seemingly endless stream of visions. Horrors... Ugly memories. Her memories. They tore and bit at him, battering his soul. Somewhere he heard her screaming still. He HAD to get control of this. He focused with all his power, fighting the onslaught… still tumbling through the dark he felt with all his senses for his living body.. his feet on the ground, a clammy hand clutched tightly in his.. yes... almost. He heard a small whimper from far away…Somewhere, somewhen…now. Now.
His eyes shot open and he gasped... falling back off his stool. Shaking he drew in deep raged breaths for a moment staring at the dark wooden ceiling. He sat up, eyes wild, looking at the silent, still figure on the bed. He stood up, and felt her. Ice cold. Was she-
A tiny whimper escaped her lips. She was still alive. He realized in alarm that she was still trapped in her memories... a nightmare. He took her limp cold hand and began to rub it between his.
"Hey!" He said "Hey, wake up. Not like this… NOT like this. Don't let it win!"
She was so cold. Not knowing what else he could do he sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled the girl up into his arms, he clutched her to his chest and focused on raising his body temperature. CURSE THIS BLASTED CITY, if he could just reach his energy, he could melt steel in his hand. His temperature climbed slowly, and the girl began to shiver. Good, that was a good sign. It meant that she was still fighting. He continued to focus on warming her up, bringing some life back... Eventually a little color returned to her face, and her shivering ceased. He kept going, until her clammy skin, her gown, and the sweat drenched bedding beneath them was dry and warm. Once she seemed to be of a self-sustaining temperature, he let himself relax, readjusting her body so he could lay more comfortably. She looked as though she might even live through the night...
Hiei leaned back against the headboard, utterly and completely exhausted, trying to stave off the ugly flashes of memories that were not his own but would haunt him for the rest of his life. He checked the girl; she was breathing, soft and even, and her brow was unfurrowed... She curled a hand into the hem of his scarf and settled easily against him. The nightmare had passed. Thank goodness, he thought as a heavy sleep crept up on him. No one deserves to die like that; in terror and in pain… not like that. He tucked a protective arm around the sleeping creature, making sure she was bundled in the blanket, and let her slow soft breathing lull him to sleep.