Divine Intervention
By: Cece Williams
((Disclaimer: Already said it so many times, it gets boring.))
Cece: Sadly, this is my last chapter…
Kurama: It's been a good run.
Cece: … before the sequel!
(All except Cece anime faint)
Yusuke: Sequel?
Kori: Oh, yeah. It's going to be great, too!
Cece: Yeah! So keep an eye out!
Of all the things she had to witness in her life, Andrea never wanted to witness the death of the only guy to really care about her. Her blue eyes now had more tears in them than her eyes could handle and they fell down her face. "How can God be so cruel?" she said. She started to make another mad dash to the ring; only this time, no one stopped her.
From the stands, the others saw the goings-on. "Kurama, please get up!" Botan said out loud.
"He isn't moving; do you think he's dead?" Yukina asked them, worry etched in every corner of her voice.
"Of course he's not! He can't be!"
"Just face it, Botan," Shizuru said, a repressed sadness in her voice. "Kurama sacrificed himself to kill Karasu."
"Please wake up!" Keiko said from the stands.
In the ring, Andrea knelt next to the kitsune and held Kurama's limp form in her arms, the tears falling from her eyes. "Kurama, you can't leave me," she sobbed into his shoulder.
/Somewhere in Time Space/
Kurama woke up, but he suddenly realized that where he was at was definitely not the stadium. He looked around with his emerald gaze. "Where am I?" he asked out loud.
"About time you woke up. You've been out for ten minutes, Spirit Time anyway."
Kurama turned around and now was face to face with a woman who looked about six years older than Andrea. She wore a lavender kimono down to her feet, with pink water lilies embroidered on the satiny fabric, and her brown hair was in a topknot. "Spirit Time?" Kurama asked in confusion, only to have the answer slap him in the face. "You mean I'm…"
The woman nodded her head. "Yes, you are," she answered. "You're dead."
The answer really didn't shock Kurama all that much. "I suppose I had to do what was best for Andrea's sake," he answered.
"Seems that you care about Andrea so much, you were willing to give your own life for her," the woman replied.
Kurama nodded. "Yes, I would," he answered her. Before he could continue, he heard a girl crying. In a way, it sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. "Someone's crying."
"Your hearing's still good," the lavender-clad woman replied, smiling. "That would be my little Andrea."
Kurama now had a very good look at the woman. Oddly enough, she looked like an older version of Andrea. Now, it made sense on which she was. "'My little Andrea'…" As far as he knew, the only people who would call their children that would be the parents, but he only saw one. "You mean you're her mother?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, I am," she answered, bowing out of respect to Kurama. "My name is Lisa Stone."
Kurama bowed himself out of respect. "Was I supposed to expire so quickly?" he asked her.
Andrea's mother shook her head. "No, in fact, you weren't meant to die right now; you were meant to stay alive."
"I told Andrea that I thought it was for the best, but that's all I really remember, other than Andrea crying," Kurama answered her.
"Andrea's quite worried about you," her mother answered back.
Kurama turned his emerald colored eyes to a hallway with doors on each wall. "What exactly are these doors for?" he asked her.
The girl's mother looked at the doors. "These doors take you out of the spiritual world and into the physical world." She stood next to one of the doors. "To go back to the physical world, just enter the door."
From beyond the door, Kurama could hear Andrea crying for him to come back. "I must be worrying her," he said, his voice growing softer.
"She cares for you, Kurama," her mother said, nodding her head in agreement with Kurama's statement about worrying Andrea.
Another thought entered his mind. "I also remember telling Andrea that my feelings for her were different than those of my friends…" He stopped in mid-thought, the realization coming out of his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Only the heart knows the truth, which sometimes comes out too late."
Remembering the words he had just uttered only a minute ago, Kurama mentally kicked himself. "Of course! Why didn't I sense it sooner?"
"You still have a choice," Andrea's mother answered him.
In his soul's eye, Kurama tried to picture what would happen with his decision.
First, he thought about what if he went ahead and died. He saw a neurotic Andrea sitting at home, blaming herself for his death. He saw then that the poor girl had literally given up on everything she had believed in, but the next part was something that stunned him. She took a shot glass, filled it with gin, and drank it down. Kurama couldn't believe what his soul's eye had taken in.
Then, he thought about what would happen if he went back to the living. Andrea might yell at him for a while, but he knew she was worried about him. Maybe all of the things that were thought about being said would finally be revealed.
Kurama opened his mental eyes. He knew his decision would impact on everyone, especially those who were the closest to him. "I can't do that to her."
"You must make that decision for yourself."
Kurama lowered his head slightly. "I just don't wish for Andrea to suffer any more than she has already," he answered. He looked back up at her mother. "She's already lost too many people she cares about, including her mother."
Lisa nodded her head; she already knew of the losses her daughter had suffered. "Yes, Andrea has lost a lot of people," she replied. "She believes herself to be weak, but it's her friends that give her strength. Remind her of that."
Kurama nodded. "All right; I'm ready to go back," he answered, reaching for the doorknob to take him back.
"Kurama?"
He turned his head back to face Lisa. "Yes, ma'am?"
"When you go back, I want you to do me a favor."
"All right."
Lisa gave Kurama a kiss on the cheek and looked at him. "Give that to Andrea, okay?"
"Okay."
"And tell her I love her," Lisa said to him. "Go now."
Nodding, Kurama opened the door and stepped in.
/Back at the Ring/
Andrea couldn't believe it; she now lost the one guy she loved. She held onto him, one hand on the back of his head while her other arm draped across his shoulder blades. "Come on, Kurama, you can't leave me," she pleaded. She sniffled; she thought her bad jokes would bring him back. "I need someone to hold me and tell me that everything will be okay. That and be the father of my kids."
What Andrea didn't notice was that Kurama's hand twitched.
"I should've told you sooner how I felt about you," Andrea continued. "I should've told you that I… I love you."
"It's never too late to reveal your true feelings."
At first, Andrea thought she was hearing things, but as the voice began to register in her brain, it didn't take her a second to know who it was. She lifted her head up and looked at Kurama, whose emerald green eyes were open. "Kurama… you're alive!" she said, hugging the kitsune in her arms.
"Yes, and air is a necessity, Andrea," he answered her, wincing from the embrace and also because of his injuries.
Andrea let go of Kurama, who sat up on the ring floor on his own. She had tears falling from her eyes. "Sorry."
Kurama dried her eyes with his hand. "There's no need to cry; as you can see, I'm alive," he answered her.
"I thought you were dead, and that I was too late…"
"Yes, and no."
"You mean you did…"
"Yes and no," Kurama repeated, not even sounding agitated.
"I don't understand."
Kurama looked at her, a gentle look in his tired eyes. "I did leave my body, but I was at The Door of Death," he explained to her. "I decided to come back."
"The Door of Death?" Andrea echoed, unable to believe it.
"Yes," he answered her. "But it was not my time."
"Did you see anyone?"
"Yes, in fact I did; I met someone you should be very familiar with, Andrea."
"There were so many… so many people I've lost…" Andrea sniffled. "You mean my mom?"
Kurama nodded his head at her. "Yes," he answered her. "She encountered me to tell me something. For that, I am grateful to her."
"What is it?"
"That there is always a reason to live," he answered her. "And also to tell someone the truth before it becomes too late."
"I can think of the reason, your mom."
Kurama nodded. "That and you as well."
Andrea looked down at the ring floor. "Me?"
Kurama nodded again. "And I have a message from her."
"What's that?"
Without saying a word, Kurama pecked her on the cheek lightly.
Andrea's cheeks tinged with an embarrassed shade of pink. "Are you sure that was from Mom or you?" she asked him.
Kurama only smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "That and that she said she loves you."
"She knows I love her, too, right?"
"Something tells me she's always known that."
Andrea started giggling suddenly.
Kurama looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"You've never heard of PDA, have you?"
"Now, why would you say that?"
Andrea looked around the stadium and then looked back at Kurama. "Because we're in a stadium, with a lot of people… and they're looking at us kinda weird."
Kurama stood to his feet, blushing madly almost to the color of his hair. "Sorry."
Andrea only went into a giggling fit.
Juri looked at the couple and raised an eyebrow. Turning to the crowd, she said, "And the official announcement says… the winner of the match is Karasu!"
Andrea looked at Juri with intense blue eyes. "What in the hell?"
Kurama only remained silent.
Andrea turned her eyes back onto Kurama. "Come on, please tell me she's lying," she said to him, mentally hoping that it was a lie.
Kurama shook his head at her. "No, she's telling the truth."
"What?" She was stunned.
"I did stay down longer than ten counts," Kurama explained to her.
Andrea shook her head, not believing what she had just heard. She couldn't and wouldn't believe it. "That doesn't matter; Karasu's dead, that's all that should matter."
"Yes, that's all that matters," Kurama agreed before he started to limp off of the ring.
Andrea wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him off the ring. "Why can't they see that? I mean, it's obvious you killed him before the ten count was over."
"Evidently, the committee didn't see it through your perspective."
"You still won, Kurama!" Andrea pressed. "How can you not; I counted how long you stayed down!"
As much as he loved her optimism, Kurama had to disagree. "But you can't go against the ruling, Andrea," he said to her in a calm tone.
"Screw the committee!" Andrea said to him, her blue eyes still adamant about her line of thinking. "I'll shove my foot up their…" 1
"Andrea…" Kurama interrupted her.
"And another thing, why did my mom visit you?" Andrea seemed to calm down a little from her ranting. "What reason could she possibly see you when you were on the brink of death?"
"In truth, she told me a lot of things, but there was something she wanted you to remember," Kurama answered her.
"What was that?"
Kurama held onto her shoulders lightly. "Your friends give you strength. Just remember that we're always here for you."
As much as she loved her mother, the riddle only made her more confused. "What did she mean by that?"
Kurama smiled down at her. "Looks can be deceiving; you're not as weak as you say you are," he answered her. "You have a big heart, and it's in the right place."
Andrea looked up at him. "Really? I do?" Her blue eyes seemed to glitter, not with tears, but as if stars had been imprinted into her eyes, even though it wasn't nightfall.
Kurama nodded his head, smiling. "Yes, you do," he answered. "And that makes you stronger, Andrea."
With a slight blush creeping onto her face, Andrea lowered her head. /My friends give me strength?/ Andrea thought to herself. /Heh, funny; I always felt more confident with them around./
Kurama lightly kissed her on the forehead. "I'm telling the truth."
"Kurama, I believe you." She smiled at him.
/On the Boat, Headed for Home/
Andrea leaned on the railing, looking out at the sunset and sighed. She was oblivious to hear someone walk up beside her.
"What seems to be troubling you?"
Andrea turned around, startled. "Oh! Kurama, you startled me."
"I'm sorry," Kurama apologized. "But something's troubling you."
"Yeah, the Tournament's over. I was just thinking about the future."
"The future?" Kurama looked at her. "How do you mean?"
"You know, what we're gonna do, what our lives will be like," Andrea answered him. "Ever think about that, Kurama?"
"Yes."
"What do you see?"
"Other than graduating high school, who knows?"
"Yeah, no one knows what their future's gonna be, unless you're a psychic," she answered.
"Which I can assure you I am not," Kurama said to her. "But it doesn't take a genius to figure out that something's wrong." His emerald green eyes looked at her, worry etching into the green orbs. "Would you care to tell me?"
"It's hard to say."
"I promise if you tell me, you'll feel better."
Andrea looked back to the water. "I... I have to leave soon."
Kurama looked at her, surprise slowly filling his eyes. "Leave soon? Where are you going?"
"Home… in Orlando," Andrea answered. Her eyes now showed the sadness she had been trying to hide since Kurama came back.
"How long will you be away?"
Andrea shrugged. "I don't know; maybe a year or two."
Kurama looked at the sky; he felt the sadness that Andrea was going through. "I see."
"I don't want to go, but I have to. I'm sorry."
Kurama looked back at Andrea. He didn't want her to leave, either, but she didn't have a choice in the matter. He nodded and turned her to face him. "As long as you can take care of yourself, Andrea."
"Hey! I can take care of myself!" Andrea said in mock-protest. "Just as long as you do the same, Kurama."
Kurama smiled. "Naturally." With that, he gently kissed her on the forehead again.
/At the Airport, Several Days Later/
Andrea stood with Kurama in the airport, where Andrea was waiting for her flight. Unlike most girls, Andrea only carried one suitcase and her bookbag.
"So, this is goodbye for now?" Kurama asked her. He was wearing his school uniform, as he came from school to see her off.
Andrea, who was wearing a light pink cardigan and a Hawaiian-tie skirt with black sandals, looked down at the floor as she nodded. "Yeah."
"You'll write?"
Andrea nodded her head. "Of course," she answered. "What about you?"
"You know I'll write you," Kurama answered her.
"But what about the others?" Andrea asked Kurama. "You know how Yusuke is." She attempted an imitation of Yusuke. " 'Fox-boy, that's the tenth letter you wrote her this week!' "
Kurama shrugged. "I'll handle them," he answered. "Oh, and Andrea? Your Yusuke needs work."
Inwardly, Andrea chuckled, but outwardly, she was still sad. "I just don't want to leave yet, Shuichi." She was careful to say his human name so the people around wouldn't know that the "perfect" Shuichi Minamino wasn't so perfect after all.
"I know, but you have to return to your birthplace, you know," Kurama answered her. "And goodbye is not forever; it's only a period of time."
"But what about the cases and all that?" Andrea looked at him; worry etching into her blue eyes. "I mean, who's going to take over?"
"If we need help, Koenma will ask Botan to help," Kurama answered.
"This is all so stupid," Andrea said, mentally kicking her in the head. "I mean, you almost left me, and now I'm leaving you." She let a few tears fall from her eyes. "I feel like I'm punching you in the face or something for doing this."
"You'll never really leave us," Kurama answered her. "You'll be back someday."
"But how soon is that?" The tears fell slowly from her eyes.
"I just have a feeling," Kurama said, reaching into the bag he had at his side.
"A feeling?" Andrea looked a little confused.
"I never doubt my feelings," Kurama answered her, pulling out a bouquet of red and white roses with zinnias. 2
The sight of the flowers he gave her made her smile, but also blush. "Oh, my God," she said, taking the flowers. "They're gorgeous."
"Of course they are." And with Kurama being a fox demon, he knew.
The flowers did look beautiful. "But I don't have a vase for them," she said.
Kurama only chuckled, but answered her in a low voice. "I placed some youki in them so they'll stay fresh for a while."
"I don't know what to say…"
"You don't have to say anything, just that you'll write."
"Of course I'll write," Andrea answered him. "Just as long as you don't let Yusuke write anything."
"Sure."
The PA system interrupted their conversation. "Flight number 575 to Orlando is now boarding. I repeat, flight 575 is now boarding."
Andrea looked up at Kurama. "Well…"
Kurama looked down at her. "This is goodbye," he finished for her.
Trying to remember some of her Japanese, she said, "Kitto sayonara wa piriodo ja nai sa. Eien no saka wo nobotte yukeba, kimi to mata aeru." 3
Kurama smiled and countered with a phrase of his own. "Kyou no sayonara wa mirai no hajimari. Kokoro nara ore wa soba ni iru sa." 4
"Oh, there's something I want to give you," Andrea said, digging into her purse and pulling out an angel pendant with a chain.
Kurama raised an eyebrow. "What's this for?"
Andrea clasped the necklace around his neck. "Who knows?" She whispered in his ear. "When you're fighting, you'll know I'm with you."
Kurama smiled again. "Same with me with your hardships."
The PA, once again, interrupted. "Last call for flight 575. Repeat, last call for 575."
Andrea looked at Kurama again. "Well, that's my flight." She kissed Kurama on the lips lightly. "Aishiteru 5, Shuichi-kun! Ja ne!" she said as she waved at Kurama while catching her flight.
"Ja!" Kurama said, waving at the departing girl.
Andrea got on the plane and as she sat down, she heard a clink in her purse. "Huh?" she asked, digging into it and taking out a small box. As she opened it, she saw a gold rose pendant in her hand. "Oh, my God…" As she fingered the pendant, she whispered, "Aishiteru… Kurama."
Cece: Okay, things to know about this chapter:
1. I think we know what Andrea was about to say.
2. In the language of flowers, red and white roses together are "unity" and that zinnias are for "affection and remembrance."
3. What Andrea said to Kurama was from "Sayonara wa Mirai no Hajimari." You should get the song if you can. Here's what her line translated to: "Surely a goodbye is not a period. If I go on and climb the everlasting hill, I shall meet you again."
4. What Kurama told Andrea was also from the same song. Here's the translation of that part: "Today's goodbye is the beginning of tomorrow. If in my mind, I shall be beside you."
5. Aishiteru means, "I love you."
Yusuke: So, that's it?
Cece: Yeah, but keep your eyes out for the sequel. Buh-bye!
