15 years ago... hadn't the moon been full that day, too?
Dying, hadn't Youko stared up into that moon?
"I cannot die this way." that's what he said.
"I cannot..."
The trees of Demon World had shivered and the flowers that slept in the night had sprung open. No! they cried in agreement.
Live.
That's what the grass whispered.
Live.
That's what the ivy hugging the trunks of ancient trees urged.
Live.
That was the only thought in Youko Kurama's mind.
Foolish to have been caught, even by such a hunter. Foolish that the hunter had left before ensuring that his target was indeed dead.
Live.
The breeze of Demon World was warm as it was always warm against Youko's face. It almost made him change his mind. It carried with it the sights and smells of Demon World. It carried with it the sounds of his adventures, the ones that even now made him grin.
It would only be 10 years.
But 10 human years.
His eyes slipped close. He was so tired; so very...tired...
He started.
His breathing was fast now; shallow.
His eyes were suddenly wide.
They were fastened on the moon.
When he had opened his eyes, they had fastened on the moon.
And although he had never thought it, never in all his life, he thought then about that moon. "Like a woman's face or...the face of a lover..." he whispered without realizing he was speaking. "Surrounded by light...such warm light...."
His vision blurred.
The moon became a watery reflection in the ocean of the sky.
"Live..."
He opened his eyes again. When had they shut? He couldn't remember. The moon remained in the sky, brighter than before. Demon world hushed around him as he chuckled softly to himself, his voice gurgled with his own blood.
"Live?" he said to the moon. "A youko in the human world? Perhaps I have truly lost all sense of pride." He paused, but no one confirmed or denied his statement; certainly not the moon his eyes gazed upon so gently. "But..." he said, his voice weaker than before, "But I would like to gaze upon such a moon again. Surely....even in the human world....there is such....warmth...."
His voice faded.
And so did Youko.
He had made his choice.
And so his body evaporated to become nothing but the pale light of a dying soul. Slowly, so slowly one would believe it would not make it to the human world, could not make it, it rose into the air, closer and closer to a moon it so longed to reach for. Reach for... and somehow, touch.
...to be continued...
Author's Note: HI!!!! Hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas and/or Holiday :) Mine was pretty cool. It seemed like all me and my sisters did was clean up the dishes or something every 5 minutes, but it was actually really nice.
Author's 2nd Note: Well. Thank you again for all of your reviews (as always :) If you thought you were confused before, I think after this update, you might want to throw in the towel (BUT DON'T! PLEASE! JUST PUT THE TOWEL DOWN....DON'T THROW IT....yah :) Is it confusing? It's sorta the whole Kurama broken between his old life and his new one and Yusuke being totally lost (and therefore totally pissed), Tohru trying to find what is real in all of this and Hiei being stubbornly stupid. Does that help?
Author's 3rd Note: There's more to come, but (actually) it's winding down. There WILL be a sequel to this (if you're still interested and you haven't thrown down that darn towel that I already asked you so nicely to gently set down :). It'll be more light in tone than this one. Maybe I'll put a preview in one of the final updates (maybe, but I'll have to start writing the sequel first-I don't even have the next part of this down yet :)
Author's 4th and FINAL Note (yi-pee!): Well, Happy New Years (in case I don't update by then)! Hope you all had a great, or at least interesting, or at least you made it through 2004 and hope you have nothing short of a wonderful 2005 :)