CHAPTER 3

"Don't stay up too late. We have to be up early tomorrow." Yusuke reminded a very busy Keiko. Busy with the small joey on her lap, and a bigger kangaroo in front of her. They found the little thing three days ago when they were hunting for foods. They saw the mother kangaroo almost dying beside her newborn. There must have been a problem with her giving birth. Keiko took care of the two, and now, the mother has fully recovered.

"Nani?!" she protested.

"There's nothing left in this place anymore. You don't want to starve don't you?"

She stood up and walked to him, maybe a sweet smile can change his mind. "What about the kangaroo and her joey?"

He held her waist into an embrace. "They can go back to the woods."

"But..."

"But what about her husband? Little joey's dad? Don't you think he misses them too?"

"Where was he when she was hurt?"

"Looking for help?"

That didn't make much sense, but Yusuke was right. They can't take the two with them. There were so many things to trouble. Besides, the kangaroo has just recovered; she doesn't want her ill again. "Alright. But how long are we gonna walk again?"

"I don't know. A couple of miles?"

"A couple of hundred miles?" she drew her face closer to him.

"Maybe." almost a whisper, as he kissed her soft lips.

Yusuke stopped from walking. He noted that the sky was dark, signaling for a hard rain... or maybe a storm. He turned his head to Keiko, who looked really tired, hugging herself as the wind blew hard. Her eyes were wetting, looking really horrified. 'Where should we stay?' he asked himself. The wind blew harder, their hairs were flying brashly, so were their shirts. Yusuke advanced to her and hugged her. "We'll be alright." he whispered as they continued to walk.

After an hour or so, the rain fell. The two were caught in the middle. They ran incompetently through the rain, all wet. And all they found was a tree. Better than nothing.

Keiko was crying. Her tears were like the pouring liquids from the sky. She didn't know what she exactly felt. It was mixed emotion of anger and self-pity. Yusuke let her cry, watching the shower absently. He was tired, and all drained. Keiko was not the only one feeling sorry for them. A loud roar of thunder came from the sky. He was now exasperated. Can't Keiko stop acting so childish just for this moment? It really isn't a bright day, why can't she stop adding up to his worries?

"Will you stop whining!" the tone was intensified. It actually shocked Keiko. Yusuke must have felt really consumed that he was able to raise his voice on her. When he saw the look on Keiko's eyes, he wanted to take the words back. He didn't mean it. All he wanted to say was maybe it would be easier to think if she's not crying. 'Damn!' he mentally kicked himself.

Keiko looked at Yusuke. Terrified? Stupefied? Whatever it was, it made her stop. She kept her eyes fixed to his, waiting for an explanation. But when Yusuke's head bowed down, she knew it, she was instantly pissed off. She got to her feet and without a word she ran away and disappeared from the thick cloudburst.

'Who does he think he is? Who made him the boss?! I should've stood before him and gave him a warm slap he'd never forget!' she thought, as she continued to weep. Where she's heading? She had no idea, wherever her feet take her, wherever away from Yusuke. Right that moment, she hated the person who was also her so-called husband. The least she wanted was to see his face.

Yusuke watched Keiko disappear. His mouth opened with agape. He wanted to stop her but he couldn't find himself to move or say a word. He wanted to follow her but something inside him told him no to. And now that she's out of his sight, he wanted to cry, cry with the hard rain, silently wishing that maybe she'll come back when his tears dried off.

It wasn't the first storm they have encountered. It was the third. What did actually made this storm different that they have to fight because of it? No. It was not the storm, it was the fact that they didn't have shelter in the middle of the storm, and they were tired, and the cold wind didn't cool their hot heads.

Finally, the storm has calmed down. Yusuke squeezed his shirt, as the water was extracted from it. He was all wet. He slipped his shirt into his head, though it's not yet completely dry. Wherever Keiko was, Yusuke was determined to find her. He wandered his eyes through the vicinity. It was dark, nine o'clock maybe, but the stars were not visible. "I hope she's alright. I hope she's not scared." he mumbled. He hung the pack on his shoulder and began to walk. "Keiko!!!! Please answer me! Where are you? I'm sorry... please..." he was desperate to hear her response, but all he heard were the sounds of the crickets and the owls.

Keiko's eyes roamed through the dusk. 'Where am I?' It was very dark, no moon or even stars to give her light. She can barely see anything around her. She restrained from walking, she was too jaded for another step. She began to sob. Why did she even run from him? She obviously acted immaturely, crying like a four-year-old, afraid of thunders and lightning. 'Yusuke.' she whispered. Yet, a part of her was still mad. He could at least have comforted her. 'What kind of life is this? What is this that we're going through?' there was no answer, of course Yusuke wouldn't be able to hear her. She waited a little longer, what's taking Yusuke long to find her? Maybe he's mad too. Maybe he didn't want her back. Maybe he became tired of taking care of her. There were just a lot of Maybes…

She noticed the sky beginning to give some light. The sun slowly swept the darkness away. The birds were once again flying up above. Another day. A glint of light touched her eyes, she altered her sight to a river in front of her. It was very clear, shining like crystals, like the stars. Behind her was a big tree. Wait a minute, this scene is very familiar. Their riverbank back at Ningenkai. Exactly like this! While she was marveling with the beautiful site in front of her, she didn't notice a tear that has found its way to her cheek. She bit her lip, savoring the salty liquid, when she realized her tears were falling nonstop.

She missed Ningenkai. Her family, friends... Yusuke... Where is he? She lifted her hand to wipe the tears on her eyes, as the light touched the silver thing on her finger, she was blinded for a second the sparkle hit her eyes. It was her ring, her wedding ring. The ring that Yusuke had slipped into her finger. She carefully slipped it out of her finger. She stared at it with all amazement. Engraved inside was 'Yusuke - Keiko 'til death do us part' It was the first time she took the ring off her finger, the first time she saw the words on it. She smiled, crying with tears of joy.

Yusuke kicked a pebble on the ground. Why can't he find Keiko? He sat for a while. 'You're a good for nothing youkai! You can't even find your wife.' he pointed his index finger as if he ready for a rei gun. For what? To clear the way from the thick trees, the mountains, maybe behind those was where Keiko hid. He noticed something sparkled from his finger. "Oh, the ring." He took the ring off and played with it. Trying it on every fingers of his hand. It suddenly slipped from his grip and fell on the ground. He picked it up and was ready to put it back when he realized that there was something written on it. He chuckled. 'Kurama, Genkai, Koenma, Kuwabara, Yukina, Botan, Shizuru, Hiei... I wonder whose idea this was. Cheesy!' he thought. But it made him more determined to find Keiko. 'Yeah. 'til death do us part'. He slid the ring back and started to march again. But what if Keiko didn't want to come back to him anymore?, 'I should do something to make her...', But what if it didn't work? 'It Will! It should. I'm not the great Urameshi for nothing!'

"Keiko." he said, his voice was soft.

She turned her head and found the guy standing beside the tree. It's almost sunset. She thought she wouldn't see him for this day. Her eyes were damping. She leaped and threw her arms around him. He was crying as well. "How did you find me?"

"I don't know. I just... I felt you were here."

"What took you so long?" He remained quiet, but tightened his embrace. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting so..."

"It doesn't matter." They stayed like that for a couple of minutes. They wanted to stay like that forever. Yusuke pulled her gently. "I have something for you." he whispered.

She smiled. As he cupped his hands on her cheeks and rubbed her tears with his thumbs. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise. Will you close your eyes?"

She nodded. He put his arm behind her legs, and the other on her back, he lifted her slowly like an infant on a mother's care. "What's going on?" she giggled.

"We're going to a place I found while I was looking for you. It's kinda far so I'll carry you so you won't get tired. And because I'm so excited about it, we'll make it fast into getting there. You ready?"

"How fast?"

"How fast is Hiei?"

"Whoa! Put me down..."

"Nah-ah. I'm not as fast as him."

"Good."

"What do you think? Y'know I'm faster." he held her firmly as they leapt from trees to trees. Keiko closed her eyes, he didn't even gave her a chance to oppose. All she was able to do was anticipate their landing. Her grip almost tore his sleeves.

At last, she felt his grip loosen. He safely put her down. For a second she thought everything was moving in circles. She heard Yusuke snorting. She raised an eyebrow on him. "That wasn't fun! You know I'm afraid of heights!"

He advanced to her and stood behind her. He rested his chin on her shoulder and took her hand. He slowly lifted it pointing the red orange sky. That is when she realized they were on the top of a hill, and from there, the sunset was very apparent. Below was the wide sea - calm and innocent, reflecting the scarlet sky, sparkling like thousand gems. He whispered, "This is beautiful."

"Hm."

"We'll stay here. For sure, there'll be no problems about foods."

She replied with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

He pressed his cheek to hers. "I'm sorry." He kissed her softly, "But, that's not my surprise."

"What then?" she was intrigued.

He stepped back, she followed, he released her and gestured his hand into their rear. There was a small hut, built with thick tree-trunks, making it look really rugged. Something that can stand any kind of storms, or winds. Keiko swallowed, she knew he made it for them, for her, because he loves her. Her heart skipped with joy and so much love, her tears began to fall. A lot of times she just can't help to be so emotional. She gave him a look.

"Well, it's not as big as the one we used to live on back at Ningenkai. We can renovate it, I just wanted to finish it today so..." he noticed her crying. "I... I... tried..."

She hugged him, assuring that everything is okay. "I'm so happy."

"That's all I wanted you to be. Sorry for the kind of life I can offer you."

She put her finger on her lips, rested her forehead on his, "No. This is paramount. I can't ask for anything else. We're in this together right?"

He tilted towards her and they shared a long and passionate kiss. "Kurama's tools were useful."

They chuckled. She gave him another kiss.

The sun set behind them. Tomorrow will be another day. The sun will shine and it will set, when it's gonna rain again, nobody can tell, will there be hails or snows, still remained unanswered. For it was a land still to be discovered. But tonight, it's gonna be a long night. A new home, a genuine love to share... A night when to hearts, souls, and body will unite and become one.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks a lot for taking time to read this fic…I know it's done and all, but I still would love to hear from you! Reviews please…