Lizzie:Kay,I've got my laptop now!!!!!I've been flooding with ideas so I'm writin' 'em 'fore I ferget them,....again.....Ummm...I fogot them......
Kurama:Lizzie!I told you to write them down sooner!
Hiei:*back to normal((thank Hell!!He scares me when he's sugar-high))*Give her a break Kurama,she's only human.
Lizzie:Wait!I remember now!!!Well,on with the disclaimer-ness-nessesessss!!!*blows a trumpet*
Hiei&Kurama:She's sugar-high...
Yusuke:Kuwabara,where'd you put the straight jacket?We got another pysco!
Disclaimer:If I never owned it before,what makes you think I'll own it now?I own my own charas,my poems,and the wierd places like the "Haunted House of Ana Isa" and Laperowto(pronounced:lap-uh-row-two)((that's the name of the town))
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Gang......
Kate was still blushing.Botan,nor any of the others believed her."I know you're lying!!Tell the truth Katinatinyofullintogabba Beenoyamatoyin Isatino!!!!!I'll tell your parents if you lie again!!!"
"Ah I'm cornered!!No fair!!Game,GAME!!!Lizzie was talkin' ter Hiei.I didn' want ter interupt er intrude!"
Yusuke was grinning evilly."Haha!The shrimp does have a heart!!!"Kuwabara was snickering."Hehehe!The little bastard has a crush on her....."Kurama was angry at Botan.
Botan and Yukina looked like they were trying their hardest not to "aww"."I didn't think Midget-Boy had it in him!" "Yes,Hiei doesn't show emotions often.Maybe we're wrong in thinking it..." "Doubt that!I bet we're right!He isn't hard to figure out after you get to know him,Yukina!" "I guess,you're right,Botan!Let's congratulate him when we see him alone again!"The 2 of them finally awed in unison then said,"They make a cute couple!!"
Yusuke was confused."How do you guys even know what she looks like now?"
Botan looked at him."Oh!The reason I came after you!Koenma found a more recent picture of her.It was taken about 2 months ago so she should still look like it!Guess I forgot to give it to you...."She held out a picture of Lizzie.It had been a surprise picture on her.((you know a practical joke picture where someone yells "Hey!" you look around then they snap a picture))She was wearing a blood-red shirt with elbow legth sleeves,a knee-length black skirt,a blood-red purse,and a silver locket.Her long black hair was not tied up but came down to her mid-back.She was half turned looking at the person who took the picture.She looked sad,as a young child would look if Christmas had been canceled.
Kurama took the picture and stared at it in aww."She looks so different from the girl we met,yet so similar.When we met her,she was happy and a little shy,but not anything like this...."
Botan and Yukina both looked very somber.Botan was the one who broke the girls silence."We discovered that she knows of only one member of her family.Her brother.It's been years since he was last seen.Around 7 years now.He was last seen on her birthday.He had a mirror in his hand.It's only recently been discovered that that mirror was The Forlorn Hope.I believe you 2 know the consequences of using The Forlorn Hope?"She was directing this to Yusuke and Kurama.
Both nodded looking aghast,mouths slightly open in horror.There was a long pause,Kurama was the first to speak again."There isn't evidence that he used it is there?If there isn't,then-"He got cut short by Botan.
"There's no way to find out except for someone who's deepest wish is to know to look into it tonight but then their life you'd be lost,....There's no easy way!"She looked almost frantic.Yukina still looked somber.
"Kurama?"
"Yes,Yukina?"
"I know how you can find out if Lizzie's brother is alive."
"You do?"Kurama was beside himself with joy,but he didn't show it.
She hesitated."And if he is dead,I know how you can revive him...."She hesitated again."You can use me.Normally it's my deepest wish to find my brother,but right now,it's to help Lizzie."It took a few minutes for this to sink in.'She's willing to give up her life so that Lizzie can have her brother back or even know if he is alive?!No one else here would do that!Not even Hiei!Well,maybe I'm wrong there,but Hiei wouldn't want Yukina to die for this!I can't tell her though.But I can't let her do it....'
"Yukina,that's very sweet of you,but I don't think Lizzie would want you to die for her."Kurama was hoping she wouldn't want to sacrifice herself anymore.
"I know another way!Perhaps Hiei could use his Jagan's eye .I don't really know the powers of a Jagan's eye,though.He may not be able to...."Yukina had been put into help mode.Her sweetest mode.
Kurama smiled and nodded."I'm sure Hiei will do so if we ask him.I do not know all the powers of his Jagan either,so we may be hoping invain."
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Hiei and Lizzie.......((Lizzie's POV))
I sat there staring up at Hiei,waiting for him to answer.His hand was still closed around mine.It felt comforting.He finally at least moved.He looked down at the boy in my locket.I still was covering the half with him in it.It looked like Hiei wanted to find him,the boy,my brother.He then looked at the ground and muttered something I couldn't quite hear."Hiei?Are you alright?"I closed my locket and wound it around my wrist then put my hand on top of his.It looked like itwas turning into a game of "How High Can You Reach?".That game where you put your hands out and keep putting them on top of each other's hands and move them higher and higher 'til only one person can reach the top.
"I...I'm fine......"He may be the Master Disaster Lier,but it was easy to tell that if he was fine,I was the queen of Sheeba.Lucky for him a local from the town came by.A boy that likes to help me with "haunting" the House of Ana Isa.Thank Hell,lucky for me he only saw my back and not my face.
"Hey,Liz!Do ya think the ghost of Ana Isa will come back this year?"Of course,he didn't really mean it.That was our code sentence for him to ask me if we were gonna "Haunt the House".
"Si.The ghost will return for her daughter just as she always has."This meant:Yes.We will haunt again this year.If I had said,"Nay.The daughter of the ghost has fled this place only to return next year." it would've meant:No.We're not going tonight 'cause they're going to haves someone there to look for the ghost.
"Kay....Why 'dya sound like y've been blubberin' like a whale?"
I couldn't help but set him straight."Whale's don't blubber,Mike.They HAVE blubber."Mike just rolled his eyesand continued wherever he was goin'.I looked back at Hiei.He was looking at something in his hand,I couldn't see what.I took my hand off his to put my locket back on.But it was gone!My locket wasn't wrapped around my hand anymore!I looked at Hiei again.I reached my head over to see what he was looking at.It was my locket!!He could see the picture of himself!!I felt myslef blushing.
"Hiei?"I leaned my head against his chest.
He snapped out of it and closed my locket."Yes,Lizzie?Are you alright?"He beagn stroking my head again.
I felt at peace while I was leaning on his chest.I felt his arm around my shoulders.I almost fell asleep because I felt so good,so warm,so comforted."Oh....I....I guess I....really...."He held me closer to him,I think he was trying to say that I could stop there.
"I think I know what you're saying....Are you trying to say that you really like me?As more than a friend?"He was smiling at me,I couldn't see it,but I could feel it.
"Yeah....."I started to cry again,silently.I could sense Hiei crying too,I could feel his tears on my head.
The strangest thing happened,tear gems started to fall to the ground in front of us.Gold ones!They were the same color as my brother's eyes.Golden like the sunrising over an ocean.I looked up at the person who had produced them,Hiei did too.It was a boy with a bright,neon green hat,an old,faded gray shirt that was torn at the sleeves,and faded blue jeans that had been ripped on one leg.The boy was wearing sunglasses,even though it was night, so his eyes weren't visible.
Hiei obviously didn't like him there.He didn't let go of me,but pulled me closer to him.He was trying to protect me,just as Brother had done."What do you want?Leave,now!"The boy seemed to have stopped crying.
He looked at Hiei,then me,then back to Hiei."I was here.I heard everything you 2 have said."He held out his hand to me,like he wanted me to stand up.I reached my hand out to grab his,but he said something that made me freeze."Raine,"he called,"Come and land!!"A pheonix flew down from the sky,an ice pheonix,just like Brother had described the pheonix Raine in his poem.The ice pheonix landed on my hand!!Just like the girl in his poem!
I looked from the pheonix,Raine,on my hand to the boy who stood in front of us."You....you.....You're....him...."I couldn't believe it.I was so caught up in my thoughts and joy that it took me until Hiei spoke to notice that he was leaving.
"Where are you going?Why were you spying?"Hiei looked very angry at him.
"Hiei,he's okay....I know he is....."Hiei was still holding my hand,but I stood up anyway.I started to walk towards the boy's slowly shrinking back.Hiei had apparently stood up also.The boy seemed to be disappearing or fading rather than walking away.I started to run towards him,letting go of Hiei's hand.He was walking faster,trying to get away from me.I began to run faster,and faster.I had to keep up with him!I had to!
Then,I tripped over a large tree root,and everything started to go black.I could still hear though,but barely.I heard 2 sets of footsteps coming closer,coming at a run,from oppisite sides of me.I felt a small gust of air.I think someone had sat down next to me.I heard someone whisper,"You can't die....You can't,I won't let you....I'll use The Forlorn Hope to keep you alive if I have to...."
Forlorn Hope,I suddenly remembered something I had read about 3 sacride((don't think I spelled that right)) artifacts,The Orb of Baast,The Shadow Sword,and The Forlorn Hope.That was the mirror,The Forlorn Hope was the mirror....My birthday....!A picture raced through my mind.That day the bus crashed,Brother had a mirror.It was an odd,old mirror,just like The Forlorn Hope!That's why I lived,Brother must have used it.Damn you,Brother!Damn you!You should have used it on yourself!Not me!
I felt someone's hand over my heart and heard a second voice."She's alive,just knocked out....She should live but we should take her to the nearest hospital.It's just inside Lapurowto."Someone picked me up,then I got my sight back for a few seconds.I saw the boy with the sunglasses running up ahead.I turned my head and saw Hiei,his white scarf stained red.He looked really worried and was also running.Then it went soundlessly black.
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The gang........((Author's POV))
Yukina wasa smiling at Kurama.She was trying to smile,at least.She was worried,very worried."Well,perhaps we ought go look for them.They've been gone for quite a while now...."She was staring off down the road,almost expecting them to be coming back now,hand in hand,smiling.She hook the image from her mind when she felt Kuwabara's hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah,not even Shiziru disappears this long..."He started off down the road again.
"Kazuma,you're so sweet!"Yukina ran up to him and grabbed his arm in a some-what hug.Kuwabara beamed with pride.Everyone started following them down the road.
Botan was humming to herself as she walked.She didn't like the silence that had fallen.She looked over at Kurama,whose head was hanging down as if he were a marionette.Botan actually looked up at the sky expecting to see a puppeteer.She looked back at Kurama."Are you alright,Kurama?You seem a bit ill...."
Kurama kept his gaze on the ground."I'm fine,Botan.Just thinking...."
"About Hiei...?"Botan was determined to find out.'I'll get it out of him if it's the last thing that I do!!That boy is such a closed book!I'm going to open him up!Even if I have to get a lever!!'
At,first it seemed Kurama hadn't heard.There was a few minutes silence then,"Yes,I'm thinkning about Hiei....And Lizzie....I'm worried about them...."He finally looked up at Botan.His face was white,and the whites of his eyes were red.Just by looking at Kurama's eyes you'd probably think it was Christmas already!
"Are you sure you're alright?You look quite ill....Perhaps you should sit here and wait while the others go on ahead....I'll stay with you."They had all stopped to make sure Kurama was alright.After getting a good look at him,they all nodded in agreement.
"No,I want to keep going....I want to...."His last words were muffled as he pushed ahead of the others.Tears began running down his cheeks.Tears for Lizzie.He couldn't believe that that sweet little girl had lost her brother.He took out the picture of her in the red top and black skirt.'She looks so sad....We've got to find her brother.Once Hiei hears the story,I'm sure he'll want to help as well.'
They had reached the Lapurowto city((or in this case town)) limits."Well,uh,where do we start?"Yusuke was looking at a small map he had picked up.
Kurama was examining something,his back was turned to everyone else.
"Hey,Kurama,watcha lookin' at?"Kuwabaka had come over next to him and saw Kurama was looking at some reddish rocks.Kurama's eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply.
"I say we chack the hospital first."Everyone was shocked by his sudden statement.
Yukina looked worried."Why,Kurama?You don't think that they are hurt,do you?"
"There's blood on these rocks.It's still wet which means that it fell on here not to long ago.And the blood smells like ginger,that's Lizzie's scent.I'm guessing that the blood is Lizzie's so it's only logical to check the hospital first."Kurama looked at Yusuke."Does the map say where it is?"
Yusuke looked at the map and led them off to the hospital.
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Hospital with Hiei and Lizzie......((Lizzie's POV))
I heard something and felt something soft around me.The sound was a machine beeping,I think.One of those things you hook up to people that might die and it gives you a reading of their heartbeat.It was beeping in the time of my heart.I also heard something else,something much softer.It was a song.I recognized it as the lullaby Brother would sing to me.But it wasn't his voice singing.It was Hiei's!I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the hospital.The soft thing I felt was red-stained scarf wrapped around me.I saw the hospital clock on the wall.It read 11:59 p.m.The first thing I thought of was Mika standing inside the House of Ana Isa waiting for me to come.
Then memories started to fly through my mind.Memories of that night 7 years ago.That last time I saw him....
I heard the singing growing slightly louder,so I turned my head in the direction it was coming from.There sat Hiei,singing my lullaby to himself.Or was he singing it to me?I tried to sit up in the bed,but when I did a sharp pain shot through me and I fell back onto the bed with a soft thump.
Hiei looked up at me,still singing softly.He quickly stood up from the chair he was in and ran towards me.He grabbed my hand and started to rub it gently as he kneeled by the bed."Don't try to sit.Lie down,you need to rest."He looked like he had been crying.His eyes were bright red.The whites of his eyes,I mean.His eyes made him look like a drawing that had been perfect until the aritist came to the eyes.They looked like 2 big blots of red.I felt sorry for him.He was starting to cry again.
I layed down in a comfortable postion and looked at him.I grasped his hands in mine."Hiei,don't cry.No one's dead...."I paused for a minute thinking."Are they?"This obviously made him fell better because he laughed.He stood up which tooks his hands from my gasp.He went over to the window and started muttering to himself.I was gonna ask him what was up when the door flew open and the gang came in,Kurama looking really ill.
"Kurama,are you alright?!"I couldn't help but sit up since I was worried,even though I knew that I shouldn't.Before he could even answer,a sharp pain shot through me,and either I flinched or he sensed it because he came upto me and forced me back into a lying position.
"I'm fine,Lizzie."He smiled as the color started to return to his face though his eyes still reminded me alot of Christmas."I was....We were worried about you and Hiei."
Yusuke cut in."More you than Hiei,though."I giggled at this comment.
Hiei was still staring out the window,quietly.Kurama was still looking at me smiling.When I met his gaze and saw his eyes again,I couldn't help but sing!"Navidad,navidad,tra la la la la la la la la!Todo elmundo,canta canta,tra la la la la la la la la!Que alegria que alegria,tra la la la la la la la la!Todo elmundo canta canta,tra la la la la la la la la!Flood the halls with gasoline,tra la la la la la la la la!Light a match and watch it gleam,tra la la la la la la la!Watch the school burn down to ashes,tra la la la la la la la la la!Aren't ya glad we played with matches?Tra la la la la la la la la!"I went into a painful giggle fit.Yusuke and Kuwabara were laughing like hyenas.
Kurama was chuckling."Where in the world did you learn that?"His eyes were gleaming with delight.
"This town has Spanish origins so I learned the Spanish version from them.I learned the other version from the school-kids here!I also know a version of "Jingle Bells".Wanna hear?"After seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara nod,I began to sing."Dashing through the snow,with a pair of broken skiis,smashind into car,running into tree!The snow is turning red.I think I hit my head!I wound up in the hospital with stitches in my head!"Yusuke and Kuwabara started chucking again.Kurama looked up at Hiei because he knew that that particular version of "Jingle Bells" would mean a little more to him than jus t a child's song.
I turned around in the bed to look at Hiei also.He was still staring out the window,but there was a small puddle of water around his feet."Huh...?Hiei?You okay,Midget-Shrimp-Dude?"I remember I wanted to call him that when we first met.I guess now that would be yesterday.
Hiei chuckled,though I don't think anyone heard it except for me and him."Why call me that?You and I are the same hieght when you don't have on your shoes."He continued to stare out the window.I don't think he was really in a talk mode....I wanted to go and give him a big,BIG bear hug.I knew better than to try and sit up,he could see me in the window and would immediatly turn around and force me down.
"Ya didn't answer my question.C'mon,you okay?"I wanted to sit up so badly!!!I had to fight the urge.Hiei didn't hear me,I don't think...."Hiei?C'mon,we're all friends here."
Hiei sighed."I'm fine....I'm just thinking...."Okay,this time I couldn't tell if he was telling the truth.I didn't believe him,though.
"Yeah....Ri-ight...."I rolled my eyes."Where's the boy?"Hiei stood a little straighter.The window was acting like a mirror.I could see Hiei in it.He was wide-eyed and crying."Well?Do you know where he is?"
"Yes...and no...."He sounded kinda worried.I didn't ask though,it's not my business to know EVERYTHING....Okay it is but I thought I'd let him have one thought to himself."Hiyo hiyo hiyo hi-i-yo.Hiyo hi-i-yo hi ya.Hiyp hi-i-yo hi ya.Wah-ya ay ya,wah-ya ay ya yo way...."My eyelids started to close.He was singing my lullaby in that sweet,low voice of his....
I heard something from the otherside of the room.It sounded like coins falling on the floor and waterdroplets dropping.I turned around to see what it was.All of them were crying,well,except Yusuke.He was laughing.The sound of coins was Yukina's tear gems.Then my eyes closed and everything was black.
((Kurama's POV))
Lizzie had fallen asleep.She looked so peaceful.If it weren't for the bandages around her head,I'd have thought she was fine.Her songs were still ringing in my ears.I couldn't help but sing them."Flood the halls with gasoline.Tra la la la la la la la la.....Light a match and watch it gleam,tra la la la la la la la la.....Watch the school burn down to ashes,tra la la la la la la la la....Aren't you glad we played with matches,tra la la la la la la la la....."I don't think the others heard me.
I started crying again,kneeling down next to Lizzie's bed.I felt a hand on my shoulder.I looked up to see Yukina.Tear gems were streaming from her eyes.She knelt down beside me,I wrapped my arms around her in an effort to comfort her.Hiei sensed his sister crying so he came over to her and gave me a quizzical look.He was asking if he could hold Yukina and play the part of brother.Of couse I let him.He put his arms on her back,with her head against his chest.
I stood up and turned around to see Botan wearing a Santa hat and suit and had a golden bell in her hand and was ringing it."Deck the halls with balls of holly,tra la la la la la la la la!'Tis the season to be jolly,tra la la la la la la la la!Don we now our gay of carol,tra la la la la la la la la!As we tell of Yule Tide peril,tra la la la la la la la la!!!"She giggled when she finished.
I sighed."I suppose my eyes must be rather red by now."I wiped my eyes and went to the bathroom to splash some water on them.It took me a few minutes to find the bathroom.I looked in the mirror and saw how red my eyes were."It's no wonder they were singing 'Deck the Halls'....My eyes look like Christmas decorations!"I splashed water on them a few times so that they looked less red.
When I got back to Lizzie's room,she was awake and sitting up in bed without flinching.Hiei was kneeling next to her on the bed removing her bandages and replacing them with new ones.His blood-stained scarf was wrapped around Lizzie like a cloak.Hiei was whispering something to her.They were facing the window so I couldn't see their faces,but from what I could tell,Lizzie was in aww.
"Umm....Lizzie?Are you alright?I mean you shouldn't be sitting up in bed like this...."I came over to her bed and sat down next to her also.Her eyes were wide and she wasn't blinking.For a minute,I thought she might be dead.But she was breathing,I could hear it....
((Lizzie's POV from when she wakes up again))
I woke up again,Hiei and Yukina sitting next to my bed.Yukina was crying.I sat up,shaking."Yukina,what's wrong?"Apparently my voice startled her.She stared up at me for a moment,then she grabbed hold of me and started crying again.Her tear gems were falling on my arm,they felt smooth and cool.I put my arms around her."Yukina,what's wrong?Are you alright?"
"Oh!Lizzie!You're alright!I'm so glad!"She started crying so much that I couldn't understand her.I just patted her on the back.Hiei stood up,smiling.He touched Yukina's arm,she stood up and went over to Botan.The two of them began to giggle.
Hiei knelt down next to me on the bed.He was facing the window,so turned around,or rather squirmed around,to face it too.He then turned to face me and fixed his scarf around me like a cloak.It was red-stained.It looked like blood.He started to take something red off from around my head,then it hit me!The blood on his scarf was mine!When I tripped and fell earlier,I must've hit my head on a rock!That would explain my I felt like I'd just been dropped from a thousand feet and landed on my head.
"Heheh...I guess I'm pretty clumsy,huh?"I smiled,but it probably looked goofy.Hiei's right hand was still unwrapping the bandages,while his left hand lay on my shoulder.It toook a few second before it hit me that he was keeping me steady.
"You're not clumsy.Your mind was occupied on that boy."He was speaking in barely more than a whisper.
"Oh yeah....I forgot about him for a minute,even though he was in my dream...."
Hiei had tossed aside the bloody bandages and was wrapping a new one around my head.He leaned his head closer to mine."That boy,do you know him?"He was speaking so soft,at first I didn't even know he had spoken.
I decided it best to keep my voice soft too."Uhh....I don't know.Do I?Wait,yeah....I think...."
"Do you remember him?His name I mean?"
"Uhh....Noooo.....Don't think so....Truthfully,I don't remember what he looks like."
"He remembers you.He said he didn't think you would remember him or recognize him.I'm not supposed to be telling you this,but I had to."
I stared out the window trying to comprehend what he was saying.I heard the door open and it dawned on me.
"Umm....Lizzie?Are you alright?I mean you shouldn't be sitting up in bed like this...."It was Kurama's voice.I felt him sit down on the bed.
"Yeah....I'm fine...."I lied.The boy,he had to be.....But he couldn't....But he's alive.....But he can't.....Can he?
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Lizzie:Hehe!!!I like stopping suddenly!!It be fun!!!
Kurama:Yusuke!We really need that striaght jacket!
Lizzie:*is sitting as quiet as a mouse*
Hiei:*blink*I think she went brain dead.
Kuwabara:I don't blame her.She wrote that chapter in only 2 days.
Lizzie:*is hyper again*I BRAINSTORMMED!!!*calms down*I just had to get that out of my system.Okay!Don't be expecting all the chapters to be really long.I was just brainstormming.Trust me,when I brainstorm,I'm dangerous!!!
Hiei:*nodnod*
Lizzie:Kay.I just had to put in the Carols!A picture of Kurama with the whites of his eyes red from crying popped into my head when I was writing this and it made me think of Christmas!And the Spanish version of Deck the Halls translates into the REAL version of it.Not the "Flood the halls with gasoline" version.*thinks*I think I'll go do that!*grabs a bucket a gasoline and some matches and heads off to her school*
Kurama:Oh no you don't!!*chases Lizzie*
Kuwabara:It's my turn!!Please R&R!Have a nice day!!*wave wave*
Kurama:Lizzie!I told you to write them down sooner!
Hiei:*back to normal((thank Hell!!He scares me when he's sugar-high))*Give her a break Kurama,she's only human.
Lizzie:Wait!I remember now!!!Well,on with the disclaimer-ness-nessesessss!!!*blows a trumpet*
Hiei&Kurama:She's sugar-high...
Yusuke:Kuwabara,where'd you put the straight jacket?We got another pysco!
Disclaimer:If I never owned it before,what makes you think I'll own it now?I own my own charas,my poems,and the wierd places like the "Haunted House of Ana Isa" and Laperowto(pronounced:lap-uh-row-two)((that's the name of the town))
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Gang......
Kate was still blushing.Botan,nor any of the others believed her."I know you're lying!!Tell the truth Katinatinyofullintogabba Beenoyamatoyin Isatino!!!!!I'll tell your parents if you lie again!!!"
"Ah I'm cornered!!No fair!!Game,GAME!!!Lizzie was talkin' ter Hiei.I didn' want ter interupt er intrude!"
Yusuke was grinning evilly."Haha!The shrimp does have a heart!!!"Kuwabara was snickering."Hehehe!The little bastard has a crush on her....."Kurama was angry at Botan.
Botan and Yukina looked like they were trying their hardest not to "aww"."I didn't think Midget-Boy had it in him!" "Yes,Hiei doesn't show emotions often.Maybe we're wrong in thinking it..." "Doubt that!I bet we're right!He isn't hard to figure out after you get to know him,Yukina!" "I guess,you're right,Botan!Let's congratulate him when we see him alone again!"The 2 of them finally awed in unison then said,"They make a cute couple!!"
Yusuke was confused."How do you guys even know what she looks like now?"
Botan looked at him."Oh!The reason I came after you!Koenma found a more recent picture of her.It was taken about 2 months ago so she should still look like it!Guess I forgot to give it to you...."She held out a picture of Lizzie.It had been a surprise picture on her.((you know a practical joke picture where someone yells "Hey!" you look around then they snap a picture))She was wearing a blood-red shirt with elbow legth sleeves,a knee-length black skirt,a blood-red purse,and a silver locket.Her long black hair was not tied up but came down to her mid-back.She was half turned looking at the person who took the picture.She looked sad,as a young child would look if Christmas had been canceled.
Kurama took the picture and stared at it in aww."She looks so different from the girl we met,yet so similar.When we met her,she was happy and a little shy,but not anything like this...."
Botan and Yukina both looked very somber.Botan was the one who broke the girls silence."We discovered that she knows of only one member of her family.Her brother.It's been years since he was last seen.Around 7 years now.He was last seen on her birthday.He had a mirror in his hand.It's only recently been discovered that that mirror was The Forlorn Hope.I believe you 2 know the consequences of using The Forlorn Hope?"She was directing this to Yusuke and Kurama.
Both nodded looking aghast,mouths slightly open in horror.There was a long pause,Kurama was the first to speak again."There isn't evidence that he used it is there?If there isn't,then-"He got cut short by Botan.
"There's no way to find out except for someone who's deepest wish is to know to look into it tonight but then their life you'd be lost,....There's no easy way!"She looked almost frantic.Yukina still looked somber.
"Kurama?"
"Yes,Yukina?"
"I know how you can find out if Lizzie's brother is alive."
"You do?"Kurama was beside himself with joy,but he didn't show it.
She hesitated."And if he is dead,I know how you can revive him...."She hesitated again."You can use me.Normally it's my deepest wish to find my brother,but right now,it's to help Lizzie."It took a few minutes for this to sink in.'She's willing to give up her life so that Lizzie can have her brother back or even know if he is alive?!No one else here would do that!Not even Hiei!Well,maybe I'm wrong there,but Hiei wouldn't want Yukina to die for this!I can't tell her though.But I can't let her do it....'
"Yukina,that's very sweet of you,but I don't think Lizzie would want you to die for her."Kurama was hoping she wouldn't want to sacrifice herself anymore.
"I know another way!Perhaps Hiei could use his Jagan's eye .I don't really know the powers of a Jagan's eye,though.He may not be able to...."Yukina had been put into help mode.Her sweetest mode.
Kurama smiled and nodded."I'm sure Hiei will do so if we ask him.I do not know all the powers of his Jagan either,so we may be hoping invain."
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Hiei and Lizzie.......((Lizzie's POV))
I sat there staring up at Hiei,waiting for him to answer.His hand was still closed around mine.It felt comforting.He finally at least moved.He looked down at the boy in my locket.I still was covering the half with him in it.It looked like Hiei wanted to find him,the boy,my brother.He then looked at the ground and muttered something I couldn't quite hear."Hiei?Are you alright?"I closed my locket and wound it around my wrist then put my hand on top of his.It looked like itwas turning into a game of "How High Can You Reach?".That game where you put your hands out and keep putting them on top of each other's hands and move them higher and higher 'til only one person can reach the top.
"I...I'm fine......"He may be the Master Disaster Lier,but it was easy to tell that if he was fine,I was the queen of Sheeba.Lucky for him a local from the town came by.A boy that likes to help me with "haunting" the House of Ana Isa.Thank Hell,lucky for me he only saw my back and not my face.
"Hey,Liz!Do ya think the ghost of Ana Isa will come back this year?"Of course,he didn't really mean it.That was our code sentence for him to ask me if we were gonna "Haunt the House".
"Si.The ghost will return for her daughter just as she always has."This meant:Yes.We will haunt again this year.If I had said,"Nay.The daughter of the ghost has fled this place only to return next year." it would've meant:No.We're not going tonight 'cause they're going to haves someone there to look for the ghost.
"Kay....Why 'dya sound like y've been blubberin' like a whale?"
I couldn't help but set him straight."Whale's don't blubber,Mike.They HAVE blubber."Mike just rolled his eyesand continued wherever he was goin'.I looked back at Hiei.He was looking at something in his hand,I couldn't see what.I took my hand off his to put my locket back on.But it was gone!My locket wasn't wrapped around my hand anymore!I looked at Hiei again.I reached my head over to see what he was looking at.It was my locket!!He could see the picture of himself!!I felt myslef blushing.
"Hiei?"I leaned my head against his chest.
He snapped out of it and closed my locket."Yes,Lizzie?Are you alright?"He beagn stroking my head again.
I felt at peace while I was leaning on his chest.I felt his arm around my shoulders.I almost fell asleep because I felt so good,so warm,so comforted."Oh....I....I guess I....really...."He held me closer to him,I think he was trying to say that I could stop there.
"I think I know what you're saying....Are you trying to say that you really like me?As more than a friend?"He was smiling at me,I couldn't see it,but I could feel it.
"Yeah....."I started to cry again,silently.I could sense Hiei crying too,I could feel his tears on my head.
The strangest thing happened,tear gems started to fall to the ground in front of us.Gold ones!They were the same color as my brother's eyes.Golden like the sunrising over an ocean.I looked up at the person who had produced them,Hiei did too.It was a boy with a bright,neon green hat,an old,faded gray shirt that was torn at the sleeves,and faded blue jeans that had been ripped on one leg.The boy was wearing sunglasses,even though it was night, so his eyes weren't visible.
Hiei obviously didn't like him there.He didn't let go of me,but pulled me closer to him.He was trying to protect me,just as Brother had done."What do you want?Leave,now!"The boy seemed to have stopped crying.
He looked at Hiei,then me,then back to Hiei."I was here.I heard everything you 2 have said."He held out his hand to me,like he wanted me to stand up.I reached my hand out to grab his,but he said something that made me freeze."Raine,"he called,"Come and land!!"A pheonix flew down from the sky,an ice pheonix,just like Brother had described the pheonix Raine in his poem.The ice pheonix landed on my hand!!Just like the girl in his poem!
I looked from the pheonix,Raine,on my hand to the boy who stood in front of us."You....you.....You're....him...."I couldn't believe it.I was so caught up in my thoughts and joy that it took me until Hiei spoke to notice that he was leaving.
"Where are you going?Why were you spying?"Hiei looked very angry at him.
"Hiei,he's okay....I know he is....."Hiei was still holding my hand,but I stood up anyway.I started to walk towards the boy's slowly shrinking back.Hiei had apparently stood up also.The boy seemed to be disappearing or fading rather than walking away.I started to run towards him,letting go of Hiei's hand.He was walking faster,trying to get away from me.I began to run faster,and faster.I had to keep up with him!I had to!
Then,I tripped over a large tree root,and everything started to go black.I could still hear though,but barely.I heard 2 sets of footsteps coming closer,coming at a run,from oppisite sides of me.I felt a small gust of air.I think someone had sat down next to me.I heard someone whisper,"You can't die....You can't,I won't let you....I'll use The Forlorn Hope to keep you alive if I have to...."
Forlorn Hope,I suddenly remembered something I had read about 3 sacride((don't think I spelled that right)) artifacts,The Orb of Baast,The Shadow Sword,and The Forlorn Hope.That was the mirror,The Forlorn Hope was the mirror....My birthday....!A picture raced through my mind.That day the bus crashed,Brother had a mirror.It was an odd,old mirror,just like The Forlorn Hope!That's why I lived,Brother must have used it.Damn you,Brother!Damn you!You should have used it on yourself!Not me!
I felt someone's hand over my heart and heard a second voice."She's alive,just knocked out....She should live but we should take her to the nearest hospital.It's just inside Lapurowto."Someone picked me up,then I got my sight back for a few seconds.I saw the boy with the sunglasses running up ahead.I turned my head and saw Hiei,his white scarf stained red.He looked really worried and was also running.Then it went soundlessly black.
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The gang........((Author's POV))
Yukina wasa smiling at Kurama.She was trying to smile,at least.She was worried,very worried."Well,perhaps we ought go look for them.They've been gone for quite a while now...."She was staring off down the road,almost expecting them to be coming back now,hand in hand,smiling.She hook the image from her mind when she felt Kuwabara's hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah,not even Shiziru disappears this long..."He started off down the road again.
"Kazuma,you're so sweet!"Yukina ran up to him and grabbed his arm in a some-what hug.Kuwabara beamed with pride.Everyone started following them down the road.
Botan was humming to herself as she walked.She didn't like the silence that had fallen.She looked over at Kurama,whose head was hanging down as if he were a marionette.Botan actually looked up at the sky expecting to see a puppeteer.She looked back at Kurama."Are you alright,Kurama?You seem a bit ill...."
Kurama kept his gaze on the ground."I'm fine,Botan.Just thinking...."
"About Hiei...?"Botan was determined to find out.'I'll get it out of him if it's the last thing that I do!!That boy is such a closed book!I'm going to open him up!Even if I have to get a lever!!'
At,first it seemed Kurama hadn't heard.There was a few minutes silence then,"Yes,I'm thinkning about Hiei....And Lizzie....I'm worried about them...."He finally looked up at Botan.His face was white,and the whites of his eyes were red.Just by looking at Kurama's eyes you'd probably think it was Christmas already!
"Are you sure you're alright?You look quite ill....Perhaps you should sit here and wait while the others go on ahead....I'll stay with you."They had all stopped to make sure Kurama was alright.After getting a good look at him,they all nodded in agreement.
"No,I want to keep going....I want to...."His last words were muffled as he pushed ahead of the others.Tears began running down his cheeks.Tears for Lizzie.He couldn't believe that that sweet little girl had lost her brother.He took out the picture of her in the red top and black skirt.'She looks so sad....We've got to find her brother.Once Hiei hears the story,I'm sure he'll want to help as well.'
They had reached the Lapurowto city((or in this case town)) limits."Well,uh,where do we start?"Yusuke was looking at a small map he had picked up.
Kurama was examining something,his back was turned to everyone else.
"Hey,Kurama,watcha lookin' at?"Kuwabaka had come over next to him and saw Kurama was looking at some reddish rocks.Kurama's eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply.
"I say we chack the hospital first."Everyone was shocked by his sudden statement.
Yukina looked worried."Why,Kurama?You don't think that they are hurt,do you?"
"There's blood on these rocks.It's still wet which means that it fell on here not to long ago.And the blood smells like ginger,that's Lizzie's scent.I'm guessing that the blood is Lizzie's so it's only logical to check the hospital first."Kurama looked at Yusuke."Does the map say where it is?"
Yusuke looked at the map and led them off to the hospital.
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Hospital with Hiei and Lizzie......((Lizzie's POV))
I heard something and felt something soft around me.The sound was a machine beeping,I think.One of those things you hook up to people that might die and it gives you a reading of their heartbeat.It was beeping in the time of my heart.I also heard something else,something much softer.It was a song.I recognized it as the lullaby Brother would sing to me.But it wasn't his voice singing.It was Hiei's!I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the hospital.The soft thing I felt was red-stained scarf wrapped around me.I saw the hospital clock on the wall.It read 11:59 p.m.The first thing I thought of was Mika standing inside the House of Ana Isa waiting for me to come.
Then memories started to fly through my mind.Memories of that night 7 years ago.That last time I saw him....
I heard the singing growing slightly louder,so I turned my head in the direction it was coming from.There sat Hiei,singing my lullaby to himself.Or was he singing it to me?I tried to sit up in the bed,but when I did a sharp pain shot through me and I fell back onto the bed with a soft thump.
Hiei looked up at me,still singing softly.He quickly stood up from the chair he was in and ran towards me.He grabbed my hand and started to rub it gently as he kneeled by the bed."Don't try to sit.Lie down,you need to rest."He looked like he had been crying.His eyes were bright red.The whites of his eyes,I mean.His eyes made him look like a drawing that had been perfect until the aritist came to the eyes.They looked like 2 big blots of red.I felt sorry for him.He was starting to cry again.
I layed down in a comfortable postion and looked at him.I grasped his hands in mine."Hiei,don't cry.No one's dead...."I paused for a minute thinking."Are they?"This obviously made him fell better because he laughed.He stood up which tooks his hands from my gasp.He went over to the window and started muttering to himself.I was gonna ask him what was up when the door flew open and the gang came in,Kurama looking really ill.
"Kurama,are you alright?!"I couldn't help but sit up since I was worried,even though I knew that I shouldn't.Before he could even answer,a sharp pain shot through me,and either I flinched or he sensed it because he came upto me and forced me back into a lying position.
"I'm fine,Lizzie."He smiled as the color started to return to his face though his eyes still reminded me alot of Christmas."I was....We were worried about you and Hiei."
Yusuke cut in."More you than Hiei,though."I giggled at this comment.
Hiei was still staring out the window,quietly.Kurama was still looking at me smiling.When I met his gaze and saw his eyes again,I couldn't help but sing!"Navidad,navidad,tra la la la la la la la la!Todo elmundo,canta canta,tra la la la la la la la la!Que alegria que alegria,tra la la la la la la la la!Todo elmundo canta canta,tra la la la la la la la la!Flood the halls with gasoline,tra la la la la la la la la!Light a match and watch it gleam,tra la la la la la la la!Watch the school burn down to ashes,tra la la la la la la la la la!Aren't ya glad we played with matches?Tra la la la la la la la la!"I went into a painful giggle fit.Yusuke and Kuwabara were laughing like hyenas.
Kurama was chuckling."Where in the world did you learn that?"His eyes were gleaming with delight.
"This town has Spanish origins so I learned the Spanish version from them.I learned the other version from the school-kids here!I also know a version of "Jingle Bells".Wanna hear?"After seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara nod,I began to sing."Dashing through the snow,with a pair of broken skiis,smashind into car,running into tree!The snow is turning red.I think I hit my head!I wound up in the hospital with stitches in my head!"Yusuke and Kuwabara started chucking again.Kurama looked up at Hiei because he knew that that particular version of "Jingle Bells" would mean a little more to him than jus t a child's song.
I turned around in the bed to look at Hiei also.He was still staring out the window,but there was a small puddle of water around his feet."Huh...?Hiei?You okay,Midget-Shrimp-Dude?"I remember I wanted to call him that when we first met.I guess now that would be yesterday.
Hiei chuckled,though I don't think anyone heard it except for me and him."Why call me that?You and I are the same hieght when you don't have on your shoes."He continued to stare out the window.I don't think he was really in a talk mode....I wanted to go and give him a big,BIG bear hug.I knew better than to try and sit up,he could see me in the window and would immediatly turn around and force me down.
"Ya didn't answer my question.C'mon,you okay?"I wanted to sit up so badly!!!I had to fight the urge.Hiei didn't hear me,I don't think...."Hiei?C'mon,we're all friends here."
Hiei sighed."I'm fine....I'm just thinking...."Okay,this time I couldn't tell if he was telling the truth.I didn't believe him,though.
"Yeah....Ri-ight...."I rolled my eyes."Where's the boy?"Hiei stood a little straighter.The window was acting like a mirror.I could see Hiei in it.He was wide-eyed and crying."Well?Do you know where he is?"
"Yes...and no...."He sounded kinda worried.I didn't ask though,it's not my business to know EVERYTHING....Okay it is but I thought I'd let him have one thought to himself."Hiyo hiyo hiyo hi-i-yo.Hiyo hi-i-yo hi ya.Hiyp hi-i-yo hi ya.Wah-ya ay ya,wah-ya ay ya yo way...."My eyelids started to close.He was singing my lullaby in that sweet,low voice of his....
I heard something from the otherside of the room.It sounded like coins falling on the floor and waterdroplets dropping.I turned around to see what it was.All of them were crying,well,except Yusuke.He was laughing.The sound of coins was Yukina's tear gems.Then my eyes closed and everything was black.
((Kurama's POV))
Lizzie had fallen asleep.She looked so peaceful.If it weren't for the bandages around her head,I'd have thought she was fine.Her songs were still ringing in my ears.I couldn't help but sing them."Flood the halls with gasoline.Tra la la la la la la la la.....Light a match and watch it gleam,tra la la la la la la la la.....Watch the school burn down to ashes,tra la la la la la la la la....Aren't you glad we played with matches,tra la la la la la la la la....."I don't think the others heard me.
I started crying again,kneeling down next to Lizzie's bed.I felt a hand on my shoulder.I looked up to see Yukina.Tear gems were streaming from her eyes.She knelt down beside me,I wrapped my arms around her in an effort to comfort her.Hiei sensed his sister crying so he came over to her and gave me a quizzical look.He was asking if he could hold Yukina and play the part of brother.Of couse I let him.He put his arms on her back,with her head against his chest.
I stood up and turned around to see Botan wearing a Santa hat and suit and had a golden bell in her hand and was ringing it."Deck the halls with balls of holly,tra la la la la la la la la!'Tis the season to be jolly,tra la la la la la la la la!Don we now our gay of carol,tra la la la la la la la la!As we tell of Yule Tide peril,tra la la la la la la la la!!!"She giggled when she finished.
I sighed."I suppose my eyes must be rather red by now."I wiped my eyes and went to the bathroom to splash some water on them.It took me a few minutes to find the bathroom.I looked in the mirror and saw how red my eyes were."It's no wonder they were singing 'Deck the Halls'....My eyes look like Christmas decorations!"I splashed water on them a few times so that they looked less red.
When I got back to Lizzie's room,she was awake and sitting up in bed without flinching.Hiei was kneeling next to her on the bed removing her bandages and replacing them with new ones.His blood-stained scarf was wrapped around Lizzie like a cloak.Hiei was whispering something to her.They were facing the window so I couldn't see their faces,but from what I could tell,Lizzie was in aww.
"Umm....Lizzie?Are you alright?I mean you shouldn't be sitting up in bed like this...."I came over to her bed and sat down next to her also.Her eyes were wide and she wasn't blinking.For a minute,I thought she might be dead.But she was breathing,I could hear it....
((Lizzie's POV from when she wakes up again))
I woke up again,Hiei and Yukina sitting next to my bed.Yukina was crying.I sat up,shaking."Yukina,what's wrong?"Apparently my voice startled her.She stared up at me for a moment,then she grabbed hold of me and started crying again.Her tear gems were falling on my arm,they felt smooth and cool.I put my arms around her."Yukina,what's wrong?Are you alright?"
"Oh!Lizzie!You're alright!I'm so glad!"She started crying so much that I couldn't understand her.I just patted her on the back.Hiei stood up,smiling.He touched Yukina's arm,she stood up and went over to Botan.The two of them began to giggle.
Hiei knelt down next to me on the bed.He was facing the window,so turned around,or rather squirmed around,to face it too.He then turned to face me and fixed his scarf around me like a cloak.It was red-stained.It looked like blood.He started to take something red off from around my head,then it hit me!The blood on his scarf was mine!When I tripped and fell earlier,I must've hit my head on a rock!That would explain my I felt like I'd just been dropped from a thousand feet and landed on my head.
"Heheh...I guess I'm pretty clumsy,huh?"I smiled,but it probably looked goofy.Hiei's right hand was still unwrapping the bandages,while his left hand lay on my shoulder.It toook a few second before it hit me that he was keeping me steady.
"You're not clumsy.Your mind was occupied on that boy."He was speaking in barely more than a whisper.
"Oh yeah....I forgot about him for a minute,even though he was in my dream...."
Hiei had tossed aside the bloody bandages and was wrapping a new one around my head.He leaned his head closer to mine."That boy,do you know him?"He was speaking so soft,at first I didn't even know he had spoken.
I decided it best to keep my voice soft too."Uhh....I don't know.Do I?Wait,yeah....I think...."
"Do you remember him?His name I mean?"
"Uhh....Noooo.....Don't think so....Truthfully,I don't remember what he looks like."
"He remembers you.He said he didn't think you would remember him or recognize him.I'm not supposed to be telling you this,but I had to."
I stared out the window trying to comprehend what he was saying.I heard the door open and it dawned on me.
"Umm....Lizzie?Are you alright?I mean you shouldn't be sitting up in bed like this...."It was Kurama's voice.I felt him sit down on the bed.
"Yeah....I'm fine...."I lied.The boy,he had to be.....But he couldn't....But he's alive.....But he can't.....Can he?
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Lizzie:Hehe!!!I like stopping suddenly!!It be fun!!!
Kurama:Yusuke!We really need that striaght jacket!
Lizzie:*is sitting as quiet as a mouse*
Hiei:*blink*I think she went brain dead.
Kuwabara:I don't blame her.She wrote that chapter in only 2 days.
Lizzie:*is hyper again*I BRAINSTORMMED!!!*calms down*I just had to get that out of my system.Okay!Don't be expecting all the chapters to be really long.I was just brainstormming.Trust me,when I brainstorm,I'm dangerous!!!
Hiei:*nodnod*
Lizzie:Kay.I just had to put in the Carols!A picture of Kurama with the whites of his eyes red from crying popped into my head when I was writing this and it made me think of Christmas!And the Spanish version of Deck the Halls translates into the REAL version of it.Not the "Flood the halls with gasoline" version.*thinks*I think I'll go do that!*grabs a bucket a gasoline and some matches and heads off to her school*
Kurama:Oh no you don't!!*chases Lizzie*
Kuwabara:It's my turn!!Please R&R!Have a nice day!!*wave wave*