Well, I finally came back to this fiction. I had the hardest time deciding how to end it, and in the end, it took two chapters to make it seem finalized. Here's the second to the last chapter. It's going to be a bit different than my other chapters; I've even started it differently because the normal "small talk" start didn't work. I think it offsets this chapter, making it seem as significant as it actually is.

The chapter after this just ties things up. If you want to end with angst, I suggest stopping at the end of this chapter. If you like your stories with a lighter ending, continue on to the next page.

Enjoy.

Kurama didn't know what to say. He didn't have really anything he could say. Hiei...Zan...remained quietly by his side, seemingly indifferent to whether he received any reply for the tale just told. But Kurama felt he had to say something. He had to make up for everything done. He had to do...he had to do something. He couldn't lose his son when they had come this far.

"Why did you come back?" Kurama asked softly, tone displaying slight curiosity and a large amount of the frustration he felt at that moment. There was hope there too. Hiei had returned to him instead of Kurama being forced to seek the fire demon out. Perhaps...

"I needed to get the three artifacts in order to find Yukina." Hiei watched the breeze ruffle the tall grasses of the meadow. It had long been abandoned by the children hours ago. The sun was barely holding its dominate place over the earth as night closed in. "You were the only person with the right skills that I knew."

Kurama bit hard on the inside of his mouth, the pain a pleasant distraction from the understanding that came with his son's words. He took a moment to swallow, the saliva, blood, and emotion nearly making him gag.

"And what kept you? You haven't held any ill will towards me since." That he knew of. Hiei was easy to read, but Kurama was finding that underneath the simple, bull-headed Koorime lay his son. Zan, as he was showing through this latest conversation, was almost as artful as his father in the practice of deception.

Hiei took in a deep breath, the slight shudder accompanying his exhale the only sign that he was feeling something surrounding this subject as well. Kurama tried not to hope for too much this time. His son held him in the proverbial palm of his hand. Zan had complete control of this discussion, of the events to take place, and he knew it. One wrong word, and Kurama, Hiei, or both of them could break.

"I refused to give up on you, I guess." It was shattered, but not in the way Kurama had been expecting. Instead of a breaking heart, Hiei's façade had been the casualty. War played out upon his features. A struggle to keep what he wanted to say and what he had to say from becoming one in the same. "I had promised myself, when I went to look for you, that I wouldn't run away anymore. I had to keep that promise to myself because, back in those days, if I couldn't count on myself, I had no one else to count on."

"Hiei..."

"You betrayed me, Kurama." Bright amber eyes glowed as they turned their gaze to the fox. "There were so many times you could have told me and did not. I deserve to know why."

Kurama nodded. The hurdles kept coming, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could continue before he stumbled.

"I didn't think you would believe me." This part of the answer was simple and easy enough. Logic was hard to become upset over. "I didn't know you had your memories still. Shigure told me Zan might reappear, that you might merge, but that the very real possibility was that Zan was gone forever. I believed that you, Hiei, wouldn't care about Zan's family. I didn't know the strength of the bond the two parts of you shared."

"That's not all of it." Hiei sneered at Kurama, glowering at the calmness with which the reply had been given. How dare the thief continue to evade the truth when it was needed most. "Don't try to spare my feelings. It's too late for that. I know that part of you still hated me."

A pained expression flitted across Kurama's eyes.

"Yes. When I was Youko, I loathed you for killing my son. And as a human, I thought I could use Shoiri to replace you so I would no longer have to seek you. Seeing Zan's body without him in it hurt me. I didn't want to face it. So I became the coward," he admitted. "I was the one to run away that time. But when you returned to me, dying, that night..."

Kurama stopped. No, Hiei would not want to hear sentiments. He was hurt, let down by his father's actions. He wanted his information so he could come to terms with his past and move on to the future.

Kurama could not be nearly so lucky. The rest of this new life would be spent making up for the pain he had caused others as Youko, his son included.

"It's different, isn't it?" The sound of Hiei's soft voice snapped the other out of his thoughts. "When you finally see them, and you realize how much pain they have to go through because of your selfish actions."

Hiei lifted up the parcel he was holding, pulling the cloth away from the box. Beneath the alabaster cover was the sheen of red wood. Atop the box's cover was an intricately carved eye. So real, Kurama nearly stepped back in surprise. Hiei gingerly slid the cover off, presenting him with the valuables inside.

The fox's eyes widened. Valuables indeed. The box was nearly filled to the brim with Hiruiseki. The tear gems shimmered softly in the fading light, taking on the appearance of the stars themselves. It was almost magical, in a sense, that which lay before him. So many precious jewels, something Kurama would have sought were he still the youko.

"How did you get so many?" he asked in wonderment. Hiei smirked at the other's awe, pulling the box closer to him and practically cradling it in his arms.

"They're Yukina's." Hiei's eyes nearly glowed upon mentioning his sister's name. "Koorimes tend to keep their tear gems as reminders of past sorrows, happiness, and pain. Yukina...she gave these to me." He picked one up delicately as if it would suddenly disappear into thin air. Kurama could nearly feel the Yukina's energy radiating off of the jewel. Her ki saddened him more in some way.

"My sister, she told me these were all the tears she cried for me out of the frustration of not being able to find me. These were all the tears she shed for the pain of not having me nearby." He dropped the Hiruiseki back among its companions.

"She told me to destroy them."

Kurama caught the hint of a smile, and he couldn't help but mirror it despite the heavy emotion weighing him down. How long had it been since Zan had been that happy?

"Yukina believes that she doesn't need these reminders of the past," Hiei continued. "She said, 'I now have the family that I want. It's time to build and forget about the ruins.'"

Hiei reached into his pocket and pulled out a black leather bag. Kurama was reminded of the marble sacks that human children tended to carry with them. The click of many hard spheres bumping into each other only amplified the illusion.

Pulling apart the strings, Hiei slid a few of the precious Hiruiseki within onto the palm of his hand. Kurama noticed these tear gems were different from Yukina's, yet almost exactly the same, though in what way, he couldn't quite tell.

"These are the tears I cried in my struggle to find you as Hiei-Zan. As Zan alone, well, there would be a few more, but he didn't have the right ki to preserve his suffering as Hiei did."

Kurama's breath stopped as the gems Hiei held, and then the rest in the bag, were poured into Yukina's box. His cheeks slightly tickled as a set of his own liquid emotion ran down either side of his face. His hands were shaking too badly to even attempt to wipe them away. Instead, Hiei stepped forward and caught them deftly on his index finger, moving the tears over the box where they fell amongst the brightest and dullest gems.

"I'm not like Yukina. I don't forget or forgive easily." Hiei moved to the box. He placed his hands on either side of the wood, eyes closing in soft concentration. "But I think this time it'll be ok to run away. Just this once."

Black flames formed around the wood, lapping at the precious energy stored within. Slowly the dark fire slid over the contents, consuming all it touched in its path. The blaze alighted with great passion upon releasing the energy from within the Hiruiseki, then just as quickly died. Not an ash was left.

"This time," Hiei looked up, and Kurama saw the same smile as before in place. Only now it was for him. "This time, Father, I have a family I can depend on."