It was quiet here.

The wind blew and the stars in the approaching night sky shinned. That was it.

Kurama faced Hiei and said, "I know how to break the seal. It may hurt..."

"Get on with it, Fox."

Kurama flexed the fingers he had run over the seal. They were still numb. He thought of his mother. He thought of the look he had seen for a moment in the eyes of the heartless demon before him. "Very well." he said.

He suddenly turned and walked to the edge of the clearning in which they stood. The Bureau of the Dead was visible above the branches, but it was better here. The silence, the movement of the grasses and the trees close around him-it was a comfort he hadn't experienced in too long.

Kurama knelt. When he stood he held a red flower in his hand. It was small, delicate and fragrant. Hiei sniffed at the air and took a step back. "What is that? It smells of..."

"Do you want the seal removed or not, Hiei? It is a strong seal." He stepped 'til he was an arm's distance away from the suspicious demon. "What is your choice?" He held the plant out to him.

Resolve hardening, Hiei grabbed the flower. "Now what?" he demanded. The seal was working again, Kurama noted, the fire-demon must truly be desperate to do what was so against his nature: trust Kurama, the 'traitor'.

And Kurama was a traitor.

The fox closed his eyes. Traitor to his own kind, locked in a human body, helpless to the needs of his mother's love, his need to feel this wind in his hair that he had not felt in so long, the need to touch the trees and plants around him and feel them bend towards him like flowers to the sun. His needs....His needs didn't matter. He would unseal Hiei's jagan. He would do the only thing he knew he must do...save his mother. Her, at least, he would not betray.

"Hiei...?" he said quietly, not opening his eyes.

"Hn?" The voice held curiousity, uncertainty, suspision.

"Before I do this, you must make me a promise."

"I'll do no such thing."

"Promise me, Hiei, if something...if something happens, you'll watch my mother. You'll protect her..."

"What are you talking about?"

"The seal is strong." Kurama whispered, knowing he could hesitate no longer. The smell of the flower was sickly. "Eat the flower, Hiei. Now."

"Kurama..."

"Now!"

Kurama opened his eyes in time to see the glare Hiei cast him and enough to see the flower disapear into the little demon's mouth. Despite himself, Hiei grimaced at the taste. Kurama would have laughed had the situation not been so dire. "Remember your promise, Hiei." he said.

"What promise...?" Hiei began, but was abrupty cut off as Kurama transversed the distance between them and pushed the fire demon against a near-by tree. Hiei began to growl a warning, but that was when Kurama's lips covered his own and after that, he had

no words.

....to be continued....