Chapter One:  To Remember the Lost

A/N:  Hey it's Reikachan14 here!!!  Okay, disclaimers apply, I don't own YYH and blah blah blah!!  I do own Azumi/Ayaka though!!!   I have altered this fic a bit, not a lot, just a bit.  That way it's a bit less mary-sue.  If you still think it's mary-sue say something about it in the review please!!!  I can take it!!!  I really don't mind flames or constructive criticism I just want some reviews!!!  Please review!!!

" Azumi, it's your job to get the firewood and we need some pronto, the fire's getting low. I don't want the children to get cold," whispered Mrs. Misturugi," be careful and don't get lost."

" No problem Mrs. Mitsurugi. Don't worry so much, I'm nineteen not seven," replied Azumi as she casually walked off with the flashlight in her hand.

*****

Meanwhile in Makai, Yusuke and Kuwabara were laughing so loud that it seemed that all three worlds could hear them. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and even Hiei were sitting around the blazing fire.

" Man that mission was piece of cake!" boasted Yusuke.

"Yes, I must admit it was quite easy. We haven't had much of a challenge for a while now," commented Kurama.

Everything was quiet for a few seconds till Kuwabara spoke up "Hey shrimp," he called directing everyone's attention towards Hiei, "So besides Urameshi who else beat you up?"

Yusuke and Kurama were sweat dropping in the background. Hiei just rolled his eyes and turned away. Then Yusuke joined in the conversation, "Aw come on Hiei tell us. Hey look at it this way, you tell us and we'll all go to bed. So that means you don't have to hear Kuwabara's big mouth!" he laughed as he elbowed Kuwabara in the stomach.

Hiei closed his eyes, "Fine if it'll shut that idiot up," he replied feeling annoyed, "She never really beat me but came closer than anyone else," he started.

As he looked up he saw the puzzled faces of his comrades "She????," they uttered in unison.

*****

Azumi let out a frustrated sigh, "You'd think I'd find some good firewood by now," she muttered as she walked deeper in the forest.

" Azumi, Azumi come, come find it…"whispered a hollow voice from the darkness.

" Find what?" she shouted into the darkness, "Hey! Whoever you are, find what huh? Find what?" She covered her face with her hands," I must be going nuts. Now I'm hearing voices," she continued with her task, but then she froze. A cold wind blew past her and then the same hollow voice whispered, "Your destiny."

She dropped all the wood she had gathered * which wasn't much at all!!!^_^* Then she started run " Where are you? Show yourself," she shouted. She stopped dead in her tracks as a shadowy figure stood before her on the edge of a cliff over hanging the lake.

Azumi looked at him, "Who are you?" She fingered her necklace nervously. Her fingers traced the inscription on the back of the charm, which had been broken in half. She still hoped somehow it could unlock the secrets of her past, but who w as she kidding?

,He figure stood firm and there was a certain dignity about him by the way he held himself, "Come find your destiny,"

"You're not answering my question! Who are you? How do you know my name? Tell me!" Her shouts grew louder.

The figure pointed at her, "You must embrace your destiny, accept it and welcome it with open arms.  You must save all that shall be lost, for if you don't your homeland and all you know shall be doomed." Then he vanished as if he never existed.

Azumi stood there her eyes wide with astonishment.

"Did he fall off the cliff? He couldn't have just vanished into thin air…" She walked to the spot where the stranger had just stood.

She looked around, "Where could he b----," the rock began to crumble beneath her feet. 'This cannot be good' she thought as she began to fall endlessly in to the lake.

*****

"Yeah she!" Hiei retorted sharply and began to tell his story. But what he told them was much different from what he remembered.

It was after he had gotten his Jagan implanted and he was finally restarting his quest for his sister. There he sat in the branches of an ancient tree. Hiei sighed as he looked out at the setting sun. "I wonder if I'll ever find her," he said softly to himself. Suddenly he sensed someone coming. He looked around but only darkness loomed ahead. He drew out his katana and smirked as struck his would be attacker. He heard a clash of metal.

"Hey, watch it Mr. Jumpy!" shouted a girl in an annoyed voice.

Hiei jumped to the ground followed by the girl. Both stood ready to attack.

Hiei eyed the girl suspiciously. She had short sliver-white hair, that had lost some of it's sheen, dirt riddled it.   Her clothes weren't in the best shape.  She studied him with keen blue eyes. "Why were you spying on me?!!" He demanded

"Wow, nice to meet you too," she said feeling irritated but continuing," I had to make sure you weren't who I thought you were," she replied a as she made her staff disappear.

"Who are you talking about?" He asked keeping his katana drawn.

"That's not important right now," she sighed as her gaze rested on his katana, "Why do you still have that thing out. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't have a reason to," She said putting her hands on her hips.

"Nowadays people usually don't need a reason to hurt each other," Hiei snarled remembering his painful past," So I suggest you take your weapon back out."

She slowly closed her eyes," You're right, you know, but I'm not going to fight you right now. I haven't eaten or slept in several days. So, if you want a friendly match then we do that after we eat. Okay?"

" Whatever." He said as he turned away. The girl smiled and threw a piece of fruit while his back was turned. Hiei caught it with ease.

" Why don't you come sit down and eat?" Hiei stayed silent as he jumped into the tree. As he turned around, he was shocked to find her standing right behind him on the same branch.

She giggled, "You're not the only one who's lightning fast."

"Yeah well you're the only one who's getting on my nerves right now," Hiei retorted sharply.

She looked at him and smiled "You know what? I like you. I'm Ayaka." She stared at him as he sat silently eating, "Well, what's your name?"

He swallowed his food, "It's Hiei." Ayaka gave him a small half smile as she turned back to her food.

Hiei looked at the girl with an unusual sense of curiosity. She looked almost innocent and carefree, but behind those sky blue eyes, he could see something that she kept hidden. He could see all this in one glance, he had been getting better and better at reading people. Yet still didn't know why she had sparked his curiosity so.

Ayaka turned to him unexpectedly, "Hiei, I was wondering about your jagan. Why did you have it implanted? I know that in the future, it will be a great asset but there are many drawbacks. Whatever it was must have been very important to you."

' Does she actually expect me to answer that?' he thought his head ringing with alarm. "That's not your concern," he answered trying to evade the question. A gentle breeze blew past them.

A faraway look crept into Ayaka's eyes. "So, you're looking for your sister. That is something truly worth the trouble."

Hiei's eyes were wide with shock but soon they narrowed burning with anger. "How do you know that? How do you know so much about me?" Hiei gripped his katana pointing it at Ayaka. She looked completely calm. "Tell me now!" Hiei demanded.

Ayaka smiled serenely, "The Wind. It has spoken to me ever since I can remember. My old friend, my only friend."

Hiei looked at her with renewed curiosity. He put his katana away. "So can your Wind tell me where my sister is?" he asked.

" Sorry Hiei, but I don't get to choose what it tells me. But when you do find her, what are you going to tell her?"

"Hn, absolutely nothing."

A bewildered look crossed her face, "Why not?"

"That's none of your business, girl."

"My name's Ayaka, not girl." She sighed as she brought her knees to her chest, hugging them with her arms. "Have you ever felt trapped? As if …you didn't have any control over your destiny."

Ayaka turned to look at Hiei who looked as if he were in deep thought, so she continued," I loved my home, yet I still felt so alone. So many decisions were being made for me. Then the one who we thought had left us long ago had returned to destroy everything I had known. She was after me, so to save my mother I left. I guess I'm trying to buy them some time… or hope, but sooner or later, I'll have to face her. I just hope I'm ready." She was shocked at herself, not to mention mentally slapping herself perpetually. She absolutely had no idea why she had just spilled her heart and soul to someone she hardly knew.

"Why are you telling me all this?  Do you always have these mood swings?" He asked, equally surprised.

She grinned sheepishly, "I don't know. I just had to tell someone I guess."

"But why tell me? Why not someone else?"

"It may be because I feel I owe you. You know, about your sister and all, but I really think it's because I trust you." Hiei looked at her with disbelief.

' How can she trust me? She doesn't even know me. No one's ever told me that before' Hiei's head was reeling with questions and his confusion was obvious. 

Ayaka hid her amusement as best she could, "Uh… hey forget about it, I was just rambling trying to make conversation."

"Has anyone ever told you, you talk too much?" Hiei asked.

"Nope, but has anyone told you, you don't talk enough?" She saw Hiei frown. "Hey you need to lighten up, come on!!!"

She jumped out of the tree and down to the ground, motioning him to follow.

Hiei did the same and landed beside her. "Don't expect me to go easy on you because you're a girl," he warned smirking.

"I'd be disappointed if you did go easy on me Hiei-san, I expect this battle to be a great challenge." Then she raised her hand to the sky and winds began swirl around her, "Wind Staff!" and with that a silver staff with a blade at the end appeared in her hand sparkling in its glory. Now it was Ayaka's turn to smirk.

Hiei stood grasping his katana ready for battle, ignoring the cocky smirk that played on Ayaka's face.

With that, they launched at each other swinging their weapons at each other and dodging and ducking blows. Not only did they fight with their weapons but also with their fists. Ayaka matched Hiei blow for blow and matched his speed.

She could tell he was holding back, although she had to admit she was too.  She watched him carefully; seeing his technique was a bit better and he had more strength.  Her only advantage was the fractional difference between her speed and his, but it still wasn't much.

Their weapons clashed, the sound ringing through the empty wood.

They stood face to face. Ayaka grit her teeth, "Stop holding back, Hiei. Don't worry about killing me, I'll survive."

"Who ever said I was worrying?"

They smiled at one another. 'This is going to be fun,' they thought in unison.

They fought on for several more minutes and all the while, he was observing his opponent. He noticed a fire in those eyes, those eyes the color of forget-me-nots.

He could tell she loved the thrill and challenge of a fight.

"Here let me show you a technique I created. So stand still and trust me, okay?" She gave him a reassuring smile. Then winds began to whirl around her and blue energy erupted from her fingertips in the shape of a bow and arrow, "Aero-Sniper!!"

Hiei was suspicious about her intentions but he stood his ground unafraid. The arrow flew past him, piercing a falling leaf right through the center.

Ayaka smiled triumphantly, "I'm also a master archer." Then in the blink of an eye, she disappeared from his sight for a moment flitting from tree to tree.

The exhibition was over and the battle on again.

Hiei stood there watching her show off her speed, a speed that matched his own.

He smirked as he picked up a rock and flung it at Ayaka. As she landed on a tree branch gracefully, the rock hit her hard in the back of her head, causing her to lose her balance. She landed face first in the dirt.

"Ouch! What was that for? Hiei-san, that was NOT funny."

Hiei looked at the girl who stood before him. He had to say she looked ridiculous. Dirt covered her face and the front of her clothes. In her right hand, she gripped her staff and she had her left hand balled up into a fist. The most comical feature, though, was the unnatural frown on her face. Finally, Hiei could not contain himself any longer and he bust out laughing. It was the first time he had laughed EVER!

Ayaka just stood there dumbly, not knowing how to react. Then finally she began to laugh also. A breeze blew past them and Ayaka froze as she heard a chillingly familiar voice in her mind, "Hmm… it's a shame this boy has to die. Pity he was so naive as to associate with you."

Ayaka's blood ran cold as she heard a faint whistling noise. Arrows!

"Hiei, watch out!" she knew he turned to see them.  At best, he could dodge most of them, but that wouldn't be enough. So, she sent a rush of wind to push him out of the way. Then she jumped toward the arrow's intended destination and caught it.

" What the h$#% was that for?!!"

" It was to keep you from getting dead," she retorted dryly.

"Hn. I can take care of myself."

She sniffed the arrow and broke it in half distastefully. "Poison."

" What did you say?"

" It's poison that comes from a plant where I live. It paralyzes you and then while you can't move or speak then the bast#$!s kill you. They think poison gives you an easy death so they make you suffer instead. You should leave before you get yourself killed Hiei. It's dangerous."

"Like I said before I can take care of myself girl. Anyway, you can't take all of them on yourself. If anyone is going to get killed it'll be you."

"So what is this? A partnership?" she asked, a grin beginning to cross her face.

He smirked, "Call it what you want; it makes no difference to me.  Just don't get killed yet, I want to finish our fight."

They stood back to back getting ready for the coming onslaught. The arrows rained down upon them. The sound echoed in their ears. They dodged them with ease. She sensed her. She was coming.

"Follow me," she shouted to Hiei.

They ran through the brush and behind an ancient tree. They looked around making sure no one followed. Ayaka gripped the arrow tightly, fearing what was to come.

Hiei looked out beyond the tree; using his Jagan to seek out their adversaries.

"They won't get here for a while, but I'd rather go out and meet them. First we fight."

"You're right, I should stop running. It won't do any good. It's time to fight…I'm sorry." She took the arrow and pierced Hiei's arm, just enough to break the skin and let the poison flow through.

Hiei stiffened. It was hard to breathe, even harder to speak.

" Traitor… I was a fool to trust you. You had this planned from the beginning. You betrayed me." With each word spoken, he could feel a numbness creeping throughout his body. The poison was kicking in.

"Go ahead… kill me."

His eyes were cold and emotionless. Every word he spoke felt like a stab in Ayaka's chest. Tears threatened to fall, but she held strong. She couldn't cry now, not yet.

"Hiei, I'm sorry. I had to; this is my battle. I can't have you interfere. You'll get killed.  Hell, I'm going to get killed. She's stronger than you think. You'll be safe here and I'll put up a barrier to keep anyone from entering. I hope you can forgive me, farewell." Then with one final look at Hiei she whispered a few words that not even Hiei could hear and a wall of cold wind rose between them. As she turned away, she shed a tear, which no one ever saw. Then she left to meet her fate.

Time passed on for what seemed like forever and finally some feeling began to return to his body and he could move again. The wall Ayaka had created to protect him while he was paralyzed had worked well, but it would not hold him back. He noticed Ayaka didn't make the wall very strong; she knew they're enemies were weak compared to them. So, using the power of his Jagan he broke down the wall of wind with comparative ease. Then went onward in search of Ayaka.

As he ran through the forest of Makai, he sensed two ki levels. Both were fairly weakened. He knew where he had to go. He ran through the forest showing off his amazing speed trying to sort out his feelings. That girl, Ayaka, who was she?

Why was he even bothering to pursue her? If he found her, what was he going to do? Kill her? No. 

"This is insane! Stupid girl," he muttered under his breath," Stupid, stupid girl!!!"

He finally came to a clearing; a whirl of vicious winds surrounded the area. A dark vortex opened and revealed a dark abyss of nothingness. An inhuman scream shattered through the roar of the wind. Hiei could see a figure being sucked in. He couldn't see its face, but heard its evil laughter as it was pulled farther in. He saw Ayaka lying in front of the vortex. He could see the pain in her eyes. He knew she could barely move. The figure was now fully immersed in the nothingness and the vortex was beginning to close; yet, he could still hear its laughter ringing through his ears. Why the hell was it laughing? It was losing.

Then it hit him.

" Ayaka! Look out!" but she couldn't hear him, his voice was lost in the wind. Then he saw it an energy blast emerged from the vortex, headed straight for Ayaka. He couldn't get to her, not in time. $#*%. There wasn't enough time!

But he tried anyway; he ran through the cutting winds, put up to keep him from entering, but why? Why was he doing all of this for her? It didn't make any sense. He brushed away his thoughts without hesitation and focused on the task at hand. He pushed his body to its utmost limits and beyond. He reached her, but barely and they both received a fragment of the blast. Then the vortex was fully closed and everything fell deathly silent. He looked down at Ayaka, her face was smudged with dirt and blood, and yet her eyes were still a brilliant blue.

She was still alive, "Hn, I see you're still alive."

She coughed up some blood," Yeah, and I'm doing peachy-keen. Can't you tell?"

He had to smirk at her sudden sarcasm, "Why don't you shut up for a while girl?  That way you don't kill yourself before I get a chance to when we finish our battle.

She gave him an optimistic smile. She could feel her own ki weakening. She wouldn't be here much longer.

" Hiei, I'm sorry."

" For what?"

Her eyes looked sad," For everything. Please forgive me."

Hiei was silent.

" Your sister is in Ningenkai. Hiei say something. Please."

" You betrayed me."

Her voice grew desperate," I had to you would have been killed. I'm sorry. It was my fight; please understand."

He looked at her. His eyes were hooded. " I understand."

Ayaka smiled. " Here take this." She reached inside her shirt and took out a necklace. On it was a circular charm. It had a heart being held by hands with a crown over it. On the outside of the circle was a pair of wings. " The crown stands for loyalty and trust. The heart stands for love. The hands stand for friendship. And the wings stand for freedom and hope." She broke it in half and handed half of it to Hiei.

He looked at it closely.

" Look on the back."

He turned it over, engraved in the metal were words, 'We shall find each other again and together we shall ride the on the wind.'

" Why are you giving me this?"

" Think of it as a goodbye gift."

Hiei looked skeptical," So you're just going to give up like that? I thought you were stronger than that,"

" It's okay, I have feeling our paths will cross again; and when they do, your half of the charm will glow when I'm near."

He could feel weakening with every word she spoke.

She took his hand and in a whisper only Hiei could hear she said," Please don't forget me my friend."

Then her Forget Me Not eyes closed. Ironic, he thought her eyes being the color of Forget Me Nots. Then a wind swept by and he swore he could her saying farewell. Slowly her body began to fade before his tearless eyes. When it was gone, his eyes were still dry, and he began again on his quest to find his sister. He had still kept his promise; he would never forget his first friend.

He remembered all of it vividly, as if it had just happened yesterday. No one knew about, it not even Kurama. Yet instead of this story all he said was," I met some girl in Makai, we fought, she left, and later she died."

Kuwabara scratched his head," Man you suck at telling stories, shrimp."

" Hn. Aren't you supposed to be asleep, baka?"

" Why I oughta beat your puny #$$!"

Yusuke pulled Kuwabara into he tent with many protests and beatings. Hiei decided to take first watch and allowed Kurama to rest for a while. He sat on the branch of an ancient tree his eyes piercing through the darkness. The night wore on and the fire began to die, casting everything into the shadow.

 A gentle voice broke the stillness, "Hiei, that wasn't the whole story was it?  I'm surprised you never told me about it before."

"You're supposed to be asleep Kurama."  Hiei looked down at his friend, green eyes peering up at him through the darkness.  "Fine, I didn't tell you the whole story, but I never told you about it in the first place because you never asked."

"So who is the girl?"  Kurama inquired.

"Her name was Ayaka.  I met her in the forest, and like I said we fought for a while until we were ambushed.  Whoever it was, was after her.  I don't know why I even friends with her to begin with; she was so annoying.  She was so optimistic and happy…  I can't understand that.  But she pointed me in the right direction to find my sister.  It was something like she could speak with the wind, or else she was insane."

Kurama chuckled in the darkness, "Conversing with the wind is a  rare trait but I'm sure it's not impossible."

Hiei looked down at his friend, "You should be  sleeping Kurama."

"Yes I suppose I should.  Good-night Hiei."  With that, Kurama walked off towards his tent.

***********************

Azumi felt the cold water as she fell into the lake. She fought to get to the top. Air rushed in to her lungs and finally she could breathe. Her necklace was glowing, but she didn't have time to think about it as she crawled to the shore.  She was completely exhausted, so Azumi just laid there reveling in the feel of solid earth beneath her body.

************************

Hiei heard a splash. Something was happening. He saw a light shining from within his cloak. He took out a small charm from a hidden pocket; it was glowing a bright blue.