C/N: Yeah, I know....I did it again, but give me a break! It's summer, I'm about to go to High School, and I joined a fanfic judging competition as a judge, so I now have to read 30 fanfics within the space of a month, and judge them as well. Yippee. Anyway, since I'm obviously terrible at betaing, I was wondering if there was someone else who was interested in the job. Basically, if you decide to do it, I would send you the unbetaed 'Tears of a Dragon' fic chapter by chapter You would beta, or correct, that chapter, and once you returned the betaed chapter to me, I would post the chapter, and send you the next one to beta. Anyone interested? And HIEI IS OOC IN THIS FIC!!! Now I don't expect to see any flames about that, got it?

Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue.

Tears of a Dragon

Chapter 5 Aishiteru

Written by-Shadow

Corrected by-Hawk

Areeyu stopped outside her door. She took a deep breath and walked in.

"Hey...... everyone?" she said as she walked into a dark, quiet room.

'What if they had followed me and found out!!' she thought.

Then the lights flickered on, to reveal the whole group gathered around the table covered in multitudes of dishes of food, and were all smiling.

Botan bounded up to Areeyu and spoke. "We wanted to thank you for your help, so we prepared dinner tonight!!" she giggled, leading Areeyu to her seat.

Areeyu smiled "Thank you so much!! You didn't need to do this for me.....dig in!!"

Late that night Areeyu sat alone outside, high in the tree that formed the roof of her home.

'How can I live with myself.....

'They all consider me their friend..........

'What will I do after my task has been completed? After that I

will have no one left........

'And I will have gained deadly enemies...........

'I won't blame them.......

'Only myself.......

She shifted to stare at the moon, marveling at how beautiful such a simple thing could be, oblivious to the presence of another being on her rooftop hideaway.

'After this, my debt to Tao will be paid........

'It would please me to know if I were to die at the hands of one of the ones I am about to hurt...........

'They won't admit it, but they have a close kinship to each other-'

"What are you doing?"

Areeyu gasped as she heard a voice behind her. Hiei stepped out into the silvery light.

"Just thinking..." she sighed.

"You can get much done in thoughts, as in actions." he said, sitting down next to her and gazing up at the stars.

"Have you ever been to the human world?" he asked.

"No. Why?" Areeyu asked, curious as to what a world other than her own was like.

"The stars there are dull and dying. Unlike the ones here." Hiei answered.

Areeyu shivered partly because of the cool night air, and partly because the person she was basically assigned to kill was right beside her.

Areeyu's eyes widened in surprise as Hiei pulled her close to him and rested his arm on her shoulders.

"Cold?" he asked. Areeyu nodded and, without realizing what she was doing, leaned her head on his shoulder.

They sat silently together for awhile.

After a few minutes, Areeyu felt Hiei's gaze on her, and turned to him.

"What is it?" she questioned.

"Areeyu, I see so much pain behind your eyes, and I can't

help but wonder why. You seem as if you have been through a lot." He whispered.

At this question Areeyu seemed to deflated a little, but just when Hiei figured that she wouldn't say anything, she started speaking in a very quiet voice.

"I have, I guess. I don't remember most of my childhood. My parents were killed when I was very small. I was left to die in the woods, but I was taken in and raised by a merciful demon. When I grew enough to live by myself, I came here and was helped to build my home. I have made a vow to find and slay the one who took my parents lives. Their greatest mistake was to leave me for dead. Only when I slay the demon that killed my family will I allow myself to grieve for them, my family." Areeyu said. By the time she had finished, she sounded as if she was almost in tears.

Hiei looked into her eyes. They shone back at him, radiating sorrow, rage, loss, and loneliness.

Hiei looked deeply at Areeyu. Her violet hair was a deep purple in the moonlight, and her emerald eyes looked almost black.

He made an effort to pull her closer, but Areeyu placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him away. She leaned forward and lay her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. Hiei kept one hand behind her neck and let the other rest on her waist.

Hiei could feel Areeyu shaking. "Please, don't make me do this..." she whispered, looking at him with tears streaming down her face.

"Do what?" Hiei quietly whispered in her ear.

"Don't make start to like you..." she sobbed.

Hiei thought to himself for a moment, and then replied, "If you wish, I will leave right now and never speak of this again. We can pretend that nothing ever happened." he whispered, drying her tears with his thumb.

Areeyu sighed and turned to face forward. She leaned her head back onto his shoulder, closing her eyes. "No. I still want you to be here tomorrow." she smiled.

"We better get back inside." Hiei said, standing up and helping Areeyu to her feet.

Hiei walked Areeyu to her room. She opened the door and walked in.

"Aishiteru, Hiei." she whispered.

Hiei stopped as soon as he heard her and turned to see her door close.

'Had I heard her right...?'

'Aishiteru, Hiei,' her voice said over and over in his head.

Hiei lay in his bed, unable to get her words out of his head.

He knew now what he had felt when he met her.

Hiei's eyelids seemed to get heavier and heavier as he slowly slipped to sleep. Before sleep over took him, Hiei whispered quietly to himself.

"Aishiteru Areeyu.".

Aishiteru...............

Aishiteru...................

I love you....

C/N: So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope one of you shows interest in becoming a beta. And for this chapter I chose to recommend a Card Captor Sakura fic called......

RECOMMENDATION #2

Childhood Crush

Written by-StarJade

Syaoran , Sakura and Tomoyo were childhood friends until Syaoran has to leave. He asks Tomoyo to write to him , but Tomoyo doesn't causing Sakura to write to Syaoran under Tomoyo's name, falling in love. But then Syaoran comes back....R&R! completed

This fic has everything from major fluff to heart-wrenching angst. It's a must-read for anyone who has read or watched CCS. Go read it. Now.