Over 50 reviews!!!! ::cheers:: I never told anyone, but my goal for this story once I found out that people liked it was 50 reviews by the end, and this isn't over yet!! I think I'm rather stuck making an alternate ending to appease the wrath of my dear friends who wanted them to live, so it's got a ways to go... ::sigh:: I don't know if I'm capable of a happy ending... Well, appreciate my reviewers I must, even if some of them aren't happy with me:
Zan Artemis – But I threw the boot at Hiei... Never mind. I like Nozomu, though personally I think Yuugao's better. ::cheeky grin:: Yeah, your ending needs work, but I have faith in you!! To hell with ten minutes.
Punk Rocker Yugi (and Friend) - ::starts crying hysterically and runs out of the room::
Kitty – It's a little different in this one too, but I tried. Why'd you have to bring them up??! They were dreams, nothing more!! ::glares:: And Larmo's Mary's, not mine!!!!
Bar-Ohki - ::backs away from sA:: I'm gonna start work on the alternate first thing in whenever I start working on it, probably tomorrow night after Yu Yu Hakusho!!
What2callmyself – I defiantly appreciate someone complimenting the way I made them and how I chose to end it, but I'm going to try to make an alternate happy ending for all those who seem to wish to kill me. I value my life, unfortunately. Can I have some of that caffeine?
Chrisoriented – No one wants them dead!!! ::sighs:: I'm working on it...
Animechick13 – Yeah... I DO love angst...
Kira – Yeah, I know what you mean. That's kinda one of the reasons I did it. Thanks for the compliment, and I'm going to work on the alternate.
Raging Pheonix - ::scratches head:: I suppose I deserved that...
Kuruna Icefire – Thank you SO much for not being the hundred and thirty-first person to ask for an alternate ending!!! Glad you liked it!
Ryuu Ie Mizishi – Thank you! ::bows:: I made you cry too!! sighs An angst writers dream, I tell you... I love your name, does it mean something? I know very few Japanese phrases and I'm trying to expand my vocabulary... I don't know much more then 'fox' 'stupid' and 'I love you' and it would be kinda awkward if I said them to anyone... ::coughs::
Gods I love you guys, kisses for everyone!! ::holds out a giant bowl of Hershey's kisses:: Even if you do annoy the hell out of me telling me you desperately want the alternate ending I offered. Give a girl a break already!!! Oh, and extra chocolate for Chrisoriented, number 50!! Here's the epilogue. Actually not quite what I planned, but it kinda sounds finished... Oh, from Yusuke's point of view, still first person.
.:.:.:.:. (::hums::) .:.:.:.:.
"It's been a year now since it happened. You know what I'm talking about, don't make me say it. It's been really... different around here without them. No snide comments from the shadows, no enlightening speeches to answer our stupid questions. Yeah, we miss 'em alright. Things just haven't been the same without 'em.
You know, I was there when it happened. If it hadn't been my friends being killed it would have been like one of those rare awesome moments in the middle of a chick flick that they put in to keep the boyfriends relatively interested." I pause for a moment and look out over the small group of people here with me. They asked me to give a speech, so here I am; saying shit off the top of my head. Genkai, that old hag, is here and Keiko too; Botan and Yukina, standing next to Kuwabara like she has been almost constantly since 'it' happened. Shizuru's standing a little off to the side with Shoiri. Don't know who invited her. Koenma's in the back. It's a real crowd. I feel like I'm 'saying a few words' at a funeral. In a way, I kinda am.
"It was... terrible. I saw Kurama hug Hiei and get pushed away right before the darkness dragon blasted from Hiei's arm and away from them. Kurama just grabbed him again and took some seeds out of his hair. I don't know what he was thinking. What chance does a plant have against a dragon from the darkest pits of the Makai?" Shoiri's crying and Shizuru's trying to comfort her. When it happened I was the one who had to tell her her son was dead. I decided to tell her the whole story. She took it pretty well except the whole breaking down and crying on my shoulder thing.
I take a shuddering breath and continue. "He started to grow an enormous tree before the dragon managed to turn around and come back at them. I don't have a clue what he was growing, but when the dragon tried to eat it, it... I don't know. It kinda merged with it I guess. It started growing faster. I think it was sucking the energy out of both their bodies... Kurama screamed and half transformed and Hiei just went real stiff. I don't even know if he felt it." Yukina just sat down real fast and covered her face with her hands; another person crying. They asked me to tell the whole story, I ain't stopping now.
"The plant thing was getting huge and I couldn't really feel their spirits anymore when it started to grow its roots through their bodies. I don't think I've ever seen so much blood in my life... The thing seemed to eat their bodies before covering them up and growing into the ground. I still have nightmares about that..." I shudder and try to keep tears from running down my face. I won't tell them about how their flesh sounded when it was ripped apart by a tree, or how their bodies shuddered and convulsed before they were torn apart. I look up and everyone has tears in their eyes. They miss them too.
"When the thing was done growing, there was the most amazing tree I've ever seen. Emerald green leaves lined in silver reaching towards the mouth of the canyon. The trunk's this ashy color that looks like something tried to burn it and failed. When it blooms, and it's always blooming, it bears two types of roses; silver with red edges and black with white centers. Theirs stems are intertwined." I look at the tree I'm standing in front of and touch one of the sets of roses. They're really something to look at, nothing like them in any of the three worlds. If the last set of demons who tried to pick them hadn't been eaten by the tree they'd probably be in all the demon lords' homes.
I keep talking even though everyone already knows what it looks like. Hell, I'm standing in front of the damned thing. "Hiei's sword is embedded in the bark," I say softly, running my fingers over the blade. It looks like one of the displays people put up in their living rooms. "surrounded by tear gems. It's almost like they were controlling the tree and were making sure we wouldn't forget them. Have any of you ever been here at night?" I ask suddenly and turn around to face my friends. I can feel tears rolling quietly down my face but I don't pay attention to them. Everyone else is crying too. They all shake their heads. No one else can speak.
"The mist doesn't come anywhere near this tree; it's like it's afraid of it. And in winter you can come here and there's no snow on its branches or under it. You come within ten feet and it feels like spring. Smells like it too, the roses are still blooming and the moss on the ground never dies. When it snows, all that touches anything near this tree is a warm rain. I think it's the dragon that does that. It doesn't like the cold." I'm just talking now, it's like I need to get all this off my chest. I don't know why. Maybe I just want them to know how often I come here or something.
"It feels like they're still here." I whisper and turn halfway towards the tree. "I keep thinking that if I look hard enough I'll see Hiei sleeping in the branches, or Kurama'll come out from behind the tree laughing and saying it was a bad joke. I keep hearing both their voices when we're on missions, saying all the stuff they used to say. When I turn around I'm almost surprised they aren't there." Some one puts a hand on my shoulder. I turn slightly and see Keiko trying to give me some sort of comfort.
"We all miss them, Yusuke." She whispers calmly, tears falling from her eyes as she blinks. "You're not the only one who hears them sometimes." I pull away quickly and keep moving away from her until my back's pressed against the bark, and the blade, of the tree.
"You don't get it, Keiko." I whisper thickly, looking anywhere but her face. "I hear them all the time. Half the time I think I see them too. They weren't supposed to die!! I could have stopped it!" I completely break down and fall to the ground staring at my hands. "I knew something was wrong with Hiei. I was the saw him when I called and he looked like shit. I should have known something big was up, but I didn't. I ignored my instincts to tell Kurama about it and just thought he'd been in a bad fight or something. Nothing ever got to Hiei like that!! Especially not a fight! It looked like he'd been crying or something!! I should have known what he was going to do!"
"Yusuke!" I think Genkai's shaking my shoulders trying to bring me back of my rant. Not gonna happen.
"Then later at the party, I saw him talking to Kuwabara. I thought it was weird and was going to go over, but then I decided it was his business until I saw his eyes flash like someone had hurt him or something. Then I tried to go over and help him, but he left through the window before I could do anything!! I should have gone over when I first saw him!! I could have stopped him from leaving!! Then when Kurama showed up and took off outside, I didn't really try to stop him either. By then even I had figured out what Hiei was trying to do. I could have stopped Kurama too! I could have saved one of them!! But did I?" Someone slaps my face hard and I let my head loll against my shoulder.
"You incompetent fool!! It wasn't your fault! It wasn't anyone's!! Will you quit blaming yourself and let it go! You have nothing to feel guilty over. If you don't get over the flaw in your character that makes you blame yourself for everything you're going to do something stupid!! I'm not going to lose my heir over something as stupid as misplaced guilt!"
I blink up at Genkai as she stands over me with tears flowing from her eyes. "I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that. It might not be my fault, but it still feels like it, you know?" I whisper and stand up. Kieko shows up besides me and hugs me.
"It's ok, Yusuke. We understand. We all feel like we could have done something, it just all happened so fast. There was nothing any of us could do." Now I know why I love this girl, she always knows the right thing to say. I wrap my arms tightly around her waist and stand like that for a long moment before pulling away.
"I think it's time to head back." Koenma finally speaks up and turns to walk away. Kuwabara follows, supporting Yukina. She's really taken the loss of her brother hard. Shoiri and Shizuru go next, with Genkai Keiko and me coming up at the end. We make a weird parade heading back up the steps I made and through the forest. I pause at the top of the ravine and look back at the tree.
"Maybe they were trying to tell us something with that." I say, pointing at the leaves that are very visible from where I stand.
Keiko looks too and smiles slightly. "Yes, I think they were, too." She whispers before turning and walking away. I wonder what she thinks they were saying... I haven't got a clue.
The End? God I hope so...
.:.:.:.:. (one down, one to go...) .:.:.:.:.
Ok, Yusuke was NOT supposed to go on a major guilt trip. ::glares:: Can anyone figure out what I loved about the idea of this epilogue who I HAVEN'T previously told? ::looks pointedly and Zan and Kitty:: You two can't answer.
Hiei – It's not like anyone cares.
Will you just shut up and go to hell?!
Hiei - ::rolls eyes:: Been there, done that.
::sighs:: Well, that was that ending. Does anyone still want a different one?
Thank you for reading be kind and review!! There's no food in my house and they keep me going!!