Chapter Twenty- The Light and the Shadow
"NO!"
Sakai's claws stopped just before piercing the flesh on Kurama's neck. Both demons looked toward the direction where the overwrought cry had come from – Kurama gave her a protesting look, Sakai grinned at her. Her presence had just saved the fox's life.
"Well if it isn't my precious little priestess!" Sakai threw Kurama's prone body against the wall, where he slumped down, head falling against his knee. Asa glared at Sakai, keeping her eyes on him, but hurrying to Kurama's side. Once there, she kneeled down beside him, taking his face in her hands and turning it up to hers.
"Kurama, daijobu?" she asked, concern etched in her features.
"Hai…Asa-chan, you shouldn't…you shouldn't have come," he said in a strained, urgent whisper.
"I had to," she replied, with a small, mysterious smile. "You're here, silly." She brought his head forward, and pressed her lips to his forehead, before withdrawing again. "You know what I have to do, Kurama."
"That is why I did not want you here," he told her, furrowing his brow. "Asa, please…"
She placed a finger over his lips, silencing him, and leaned in until her lips were just by his ear. "I'm sorry, Kurama, for anything I've done to hurt you." She stood abruptly then, leaning him back against the wall, and turned to walk toward Sakai. "Long time, no see, buddy!" she said, in a falsely chipper bravado.
"Indeed. It's about time we made a date for a bite to eat, little angel," he told her, smirking.
"Yeah, I've heard that before. You men and your false promises. You never even called me back the last time!" She rolled her eyes at him, holding up her palm. An orb of light immediately appeared there, then wrapped around her forearm, forming into a crossbow.
"Ooh, the lady's learned some tricks, has she?" Sakai asked, brows reaching what should have been his hairline.
"Yup. You're gonna like 'em, too!" She held her arm in her free hand to steady her shot, and flicked her thumb, releasing an arrow of light, which shot at Sakai, who started to leap backwards to dodge it – but to his surprise, it burst into a thousand little particles, embedding themselves into his skin and making tiny explosions. When Sakai landed, there was a collection of bloody cuts all over him.
He snarled, "Nice shot," and bit back a growl of pain as he glanced himself over. Then, he looked up, eyes flashing a ruby red color. "My turn." He disappeared – well, sort of. Asa knew better than to believe he'd just vanished – Hiei had taught her this trick of deception and agility, and she let her eyes go unfocused, enabling herself to see the blur that was Sakai moving in a wide circle around her. The crossbow of light reloaded itself with an arrow, and she held her aim, then released the shot.
It made Sakai slow down just enough so that she was able to duck when he moved in to attack her. His claws caught on her back, however, and although she missed a potentially fatal blow from him, her back was ripped open. She heard Kurama's sound of concern when she cried out in pain, and threw him a reassuring look as she stood up to relocate Sakai.
She didn't see him. Brow furrowed, she turned to look over the entire room, then met Kurama's gaze, and when he gave her a pointed look, her eyes widened as she realized she knew what he was thinking, before she produced an explosive orb and threw it upward, toward the ceiling. Its explosion and a cry met her ears, and she rolled underneath some of the large leaves of one of the plants that had grown in the room, hiding herself from Sakai's view. At least she knew Kurama was in no danger, now that Sakai was after her.
Sakai held his shoulder, where the damned orb had hit, and held onto his perch on the ceiling, looking around the room and realizing that Asa had hidden from him. He looked toward the boy. "So you two can speak to each other without words now, eh? How sickeningly romantic."
Where Asa was crouched, she stuck her tongue out at Sakai's words instinctively. Then, rolling her eyes at her own childish activity, she let her thoughts roll over what she was going to do next. This was no ordinary demon now – she knew that. He must have devoured a god already. That was probably how he acquired this temple, too. From the looks of it, it was Ishi whom he had swallowed. Kind of a disgusting way to die, she thought, wrinkling her nose. But back to the subject at hand – how to defeat the bastard. She had a wounded Kurama over against the wall, so she couldn't let Sakai get anywhere near him, and she had a pretty damn strong demon somewhere above her head. Because for some damn reason, he could hang from ceilings. What a day. This is definitely going into my diary when I get home.
…If you get home, the pesky little annoying voice in the back of her head reminded her.
…Traitor. She leaned forward ever-so-slightly, so that she was still covered by the leaves of the plants, but could see the ceiling through them. There was Sakai, perched upside-down in the center of the ceiling. She couldn't throw another orb at him – he would see it easily. How the freaking hell was he hanging upside-down, anyway? Shaking her head to clear all stupid questions, she again looked to Kurama, who could still see her. Fortunately, he was making it look like he couldn't, so he wasn't giving her away, but she knew he was watching, and flashed a smile of encouragement before ducking low and crawling deeper into the leaves, careful not to disturb any of them or to make any noise.
"Priestess! Oh, priestess, where are you?" she heard Sakai call, laughter in his voice. What the hell's he up to now? she wondered, narrowing her eyes as she paused to listen to his stupidity. "You know what, priestess? I just remembered where I thought I knew you from when I first laid eyes on you! You look just like your mother!" Asa froze, clenching her teeth and glancing upward through the leaves to glare daggers at the black thing hanging from the ceiling still. He stood up, and released himself from the ceiling, turning and landing smoothly on the floor. "Yes, I remember your mother. She was a priestess too, was she not? I hunted her, for many years – in fact, your grandmother was one of my victims, as well." He started walking through the plants, obviously looking for her. "I finally found your mother when she was asleep in her home, the home she'd built with that god-awful human she married, who I assume is your father. I killed her by setting flame to that home – and I remember the scent of a child there. That child was you, wasn't it, priestess?"
He'd wanted a reaction – he got it. Asa stood up, through the leaves, tears in the corners of her eyes, facing her mother's killer with her palm held out before her, and releasing a barrage of attack orbs on him. He smirked when he turned his head to her, and leapt upward to dodge her attack, then flew toward her, before she could redirect it or dodge the blow that he landed across her face – the punch sent her flying, and she skidded once she hit the ground, rolling until finally the wall stopped her. The rate she'd accelerated through the air caused so much friction that her clothes and skin got burned against the floor, and she struggled to get to her feet, a new bump decorating her forehead.
She was unfazed.
But, she was pretty highly pissed the hell off.
And when Asa was pretty highly pissed the hell off, everybody knew it that was graced with her good company. Kurama almost winced at the look on her face when her eyes met Sakai's – there was actually fire in her eyes. That was just freaky.
And she had plausible reason for being so enraged, too. What had remained of her childhood after her mother was killed and for most of her adolescence, she'd believed that it was the fire that killed Mitsukai. And she hadn't been mistaken, but she hadn't been correct, either, for although the fire ultimately did take her mother's life, it was the striker of the flame who was the murderer behind the whole thing, and now that she had the confession of Sakai, she wasn't really going to let him off the hook until she'd thoroughly put him through hell, Kurama decided, blinking a few times when he realized a little belatedly that any blood loss he'd experienced was beginning to effect his vision. Struggling to his feet wasn't going to do any good, unless he had a death wish – which was definitely something he didn't have just yet. To get in Asa's way right now would mean certain and utmost death indeed.
It was then that both he and Sakai noticed the strange new aura surrounding the priestess. Her anger had brought out a whole new power from her – one that was even freakier than the fire that was still quite visible in her eyes. The aura radiated off of her in waves that reached the outermost walls of the temple, producing a sort-of layer of power overtop of them all.
"Struck a nerve, did I?" Sakai asked idly, raising an eyebrow at the power emanating from her. Asa didn't pretend to acknowledge him, but started throwing orbs all about the room – they paused around him, causing his eyebrow to arch even higher. "Trying to decorate my temple with pretty lights, Priestess?"
"No," she growled up at him, furrowing her brow. "Just another little trick, Sakai." All at once, the orbs blew up, surrounding Sakai in a cage of light. "It's a defensive mechanism – a sort-of trump card, if you will," she continued, advancing on him with a strange light spiking out from her body. It was as if the light were bolts of lightning – they all struck Sakai, and he winced with pain for every hit. Then, in a fit of rage at being caught by such an unworthy adversary, Sakai threw out his limbs, breaking through his prison of light and landing on the ground.
"I'm displeased with you, little angel," he confessed. "I didn't think you'd be this powerless against me."
"Powerless?" she repeated. "Sorry, dude, the most powerless one I see is, uh, you. I'm not as badly injured as you are – where I come from, that counts for something." He glared at her sharply.
"Obviously, you have not realized yet, that I've been toying with you, dearest Priestess."
She gave him a disbelieving look. "You're bluffing."
"Am I? Did you not yet notice, I have not taken on my true form." His voice turned to a roar, as he started reverting to the panther-like demon that he had been before acquiring his human form. The large black beast now stood before her, baring its fangs, and she fought back the urge to gulp, glancing at Kurama worriedly.
Her silent words were clearly understood. She was going to get to him, and flee with him as far as she could before Sakai caught up – she couldn't risk him. But before she could get to him, Sakai noticed her look, and leapt up over her head, blocking her path.
Asa didn't know what happened after that – for suddenly she was standing in the temple she'd dreamed of when Ai sent her into the past, but this time, the older priestess was standing before her. She looked around, then at Ai, raising an eyebrow at the similarities between the High Priestess of the Order of the Fox and her own features. "Uh…hi," she finally offered, realizing that Ai was waiting for her to speak.
Ai smiled cordially, inclining her head and folding her hands before her. "Konnichiwa, Asa-dono. I hope you're faring well."
Asa glanced over herself to wave a hand over her wounds – but froze when she saw that they weren't there. "Um…yeah, yeah, it looks that way. Hey, look, Ai, I hate to um, interrupt this little discussion, but wasn't I just fighting Sakai?"
Ai's expression turned grave. "Hai, Asa-dono. You were. But in your present state, you cannot win against the Shadow."
"So, we were right? Sakai is the Shadow, huh?"
"Hai, but Asa-dono, you must listen." Asa's ears perked up, and she straightened, fully attentive. "To receive the Light, the Light that will ultimately destroy Sakai, you must…"
Asa leaned forward slightly, brows raising. "I must…?"
Ai smiled at her young counterpart. "You must…confess your devotion to the one who holds your heart, dearest." Asa's eyes widened visibly, to the point where Ai couldn't help but laugh. "And he must hold you in the same regard…but he must also allow you to…make your sacrifice."
"My what?"
"Your sacrifice, Asa-dono. To save your loved ones, and the rest of the world, to release and control the Light, you must sacrifice your own life." Asa gave her a fearful look, suddenly quite nervous.
"I-I don't…I don't think I can do that, Ai. I…I don't wanna die."
"Do you want to save him?" Ai asked gently. "Do you wish to protect your friends?"
Asa hesitated for a long moment. Then, tremulously, she spoke, "Y-yes… Yes, I want to protect them. I want to save Kurama."
"Then you must make this sacrifice." Ai offered her an encouraging smile. "I promise you, Asa-dono, I would not tell you this if I didn't know that things would turn out for the best. These save-the-world escapades seem to work themselves out just fine in the end."
"That's not how your story went, if I remember correctly," Asa corrected her.
"Iiye, but my story was not finished. You share my soul, remember, Asa. And if things hadn't ended for me as they did, you would not have been born, and Shuuichi Minamino would not have come to be Kurama. Do you see now?"
"…Hai. I will do what I must. Arigatou, Ai."
"You're welcome, Asa-dono."
Asa blinked, and was instantly back in the present, in the same instant she had been visited by Ai, with Sakai growling dangerously at her, Kurama behind him, slumped against the wall, eyes wide with concern for her. She smirked at the beast before her, and with a sweeping gesture of her arm, sent a wave of her light crashing into him, shoving him out of her way. She rushed to Kurama, pulling him into her arms, to his great surprise.
"Asa, what are you?"
"Sh," she said, laying a finger on his lips. "I just had a discussion with Ai. I know what to do now," she explained then, to his chagrin. "I can release the Light, but only with your cooperation."
"My cooperation?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"
"Kurama, do you love me?"
"Nani?" This certainly wasn't the way he'd planned this conversation. He looked up at her quizzically, but she held his chest in her arms to prevent him from seeing the tears that were forming in her eyes.
For you…for you I have to do this… "You heard me," she finally said, voice betraying her sudden timidity. "Do you love me?"
"Asa…"
"I need to know, Kurama."
"…Hai," he said after a long moment, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I love you, Asa. I love you more than life itself."
She smiled, hugging him more closely. "Good. I love you, too."
"Was this really the time for this, though?"
"Yes, it was. I need one more thing, Kurama." He pulled back, but again to no avail – she only tightened her hold on him, keeping his cheek pressed against her heart. "I need you to promise that whatever happens to me, you won't mind."
"What do you mean, I won't mind?" he almost snapped the question, but remembered who it was he was talking to, and held back the bite in his voice. "What could happen to you, Asa?"
"You already know. You've been afraid of it for all this time." His grip became fierce, and he choked on what he would have said to dissuade her from doing anything to release the Light and destroy Sakai. She stroked his silky hair, smiling down at the back of his head, able to read his thoughts without his voicing them. "I promise you, Kurama, everything will turn out alright. But you have to promise me, promise me you won't interfere with what I have to do. Please? I need this."
He finally felt her grip on him lessen, and raised his head to see her clearly, cupping her face in his hands. "I can't lose you, not now," he whispered.
She shook her head. "You never will. No matter what happens to me, I'll always be with you. Remember, Ai and Youko? Well, look at us now. She died, and now she's a part of me. He died, now he's a part of you."
"But if you…if you go, I'll be losing you…again." She knew he wasn't referring to Ai's death.
"I give you my word, Kurama. You're not going to lose me. But you have to trust me – trust me to do the right thing, and let me go." He hesitated. It wasn't a question of his trust – he trusted her completely. But he didn't trust himself to be able to do without her. If he lost her, he would die. Finally, with a sigh of resignation, he pulled her into a hug, and then loosened his grip. She let him lean back against the wall, and then stood, turning back to Sakai, who was breaking his way through her wave of light.
He loves me…he said so. A surge of pure joy shot throughout her entire body – one that she couldn't suppress. The anger she felt toward Sakai, the hatred, all the negative energy dissipated, leaving only an airy feeling, a whole feeling. She knew what Ai meant now by calling her power the Light – only light could be used to describe something this pure.
The creature that was formed from the light above her Kurama could only describe as an angel – it wrapped its wings about Asa, and she closed her eyes, concentrating on that light while Sakai leapt toward her, fully intent on ripping her to shreds. The angel of light's wings, however, blocked him from the priestess, and she opened her eyes to look through the ethereal feathered wings at the black beast. Her eyes, Kurama noticed, had turned completely golden.
"You who have harmed the innocent and the good," Asa spoke, her voice entwined with several others that sounded deeper and melodic. "You who have wronged the balance of Nature. You who have threatened the existence of mankind, you who have infringed on the rights of those who live. You who have sinned against the gods, and destroyed one. It is time that you are taken care of."
The angel was speaking through Asa. The Light had taken over her! Kurama winced at the power that was now generating from her – she was easily stronger than an entire army of hundreds of thousands of Yusukes. Sakai squirmed in the grip that he was in – it seemed that the lair of quintessence surrounding Asa had caught him, like a gel-like substance.
Asa's glowing eyes turned to meet Kurama's – and for an instant, flashed back to their icy blue color. Then it was gone, and she raised her right hand, splaying her fingers upward, her palm facing Sakai. The angel copied her movements, spreading its wing that had trapped the demon so that Sakai was still directly before Asa. Then, the angel's other wing wrapped around both Asa and the beast, covering them from Kurama's view.
Through the wing, which had become more solid, he saw the faint outline of both priestess and demon, and he saw a bright flash coming from inside the angel's wings, but he couldn't tell what had happened – he assumed that Asa had just attacked Sakai with her Light. The angel's wings wrapped more tightly around the two enemies, forming a cocoon of sorts, then exploded outward in a barrage of feathers. Kurama struggled to his feet, leaning with one hand against the wall, holding his injured side in the grip of his other arm, watching the feathers settle, then the dust that had come from the explosion of the Light.
There was no sign of Sakai, but there was no sign of Asa, either.
He didn't stumble once as he stiffly walked to where he'd last seen her, then turned his eyes about, his plants finally beginning to return to their original forms. Still no Asa. But there, from the hall, came an ongoing call – someone was calling for them. "Asa, Kurama!"
Kurama recognized the voice – it belonged to Yusuke. Yusuke appeared in the doorway, and his eyes widened as he took in the scene, then he looked up at Kurama. "What happened, Kurama?"
"She…she used the Light," he answered, voice barely above a whisper, as his emerald eyes dropped guiltily to the ground. "She made me promise not to interfere, and I kept my word, but she broke hers."
"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked, concerned. He slowly walked to his friend's side, and helped him stay upright, taking Kurama's arm and wrapping it around his shoulders.
"She said that everything would be alright…but it isn't, Yusuke, not like this. She's gone."
"Gone…you mean…? Oh, damn her to hell…" Yusuke's eyes dropped, as well, and his face fell. "That damn girl. She was so stubborn – she tricked us. She had us believe that we were going after Sakai – but she really sent us after the gods…I'm so sorry, Kurama."
"Where are the others?" Kurama asked, quickly changing the subject and lowering his head to hide his eyes.
"They're outside – Jin and Touya are trying to keep the in-laws at bay, 'cause they're blaming each other for Asa's tricking us all. The twins are just staying at the temple – they're all worried about you…they'll want to know what happened." Kurama nodded, allowing Yusuke to help him walk away from the site that had ultimately undone his life. They'd be taking the long way home…
Kurama couldn't help but remember Asa's promise not to leave him. (Hey, really really quick a/n: don't kill me just yet!)
-
In the next week or so, with the assistance of the gods, they were all safe and sound, in Genkai's temple. However, not a one of them could utter a word, and a black coat of despair hung over the place. Although everyone had been pretty sure of what Asa's fate would be, none of them had realized that, without her, theirs was a simply loathed existence – there was no one to make them laugh when they felt depressed, no one to come in and do something crazy, no one for the girls to experiment on with makeup, no one to give silly nicknames to everyone, no one to put the light back in Kurama's eyes.
And it was true, there had been no light in those eyes since the moment Yusuke had found Kurama standing alone in the onyx temple. Ishi, the God of Stone, had had a son, Kuroishi, who had taken up his throne, and so the Divine World was set to rights, but their world had truly lost a creature worthy of living in Kamekai, or heaven itself.
While the others 'celebrated' their victory – really a rather bad celebration, for it was more sepulchral than a funeral – Kurama decided to take a stroll, his wounds all fully healed, his temperance and patience with his friends not at all recovered. They kept trying to cheer him up – and they were failing miserably, quite contradicting their original goal by agitating him further. He didn't wish to speak about what happened – they kept asking him questions anyway; he didn't desire an interview with Jeri, afraid to have to explain what had happened to his daughter – but for some reason, he kept running into the man; he didn't want to see another picture of Asa, for it sickened him to see so still an image – more and more pictures kept popping up, especially around the temple.
So, naturally, escape was his only option. He left the temple before the others could notice him, but, also naturally, there was one who could detect his every notion, and met him at the door, leaning against the frame with his hand stuffed into his pockets.
"Hiei," Kurama paused. "Are you standing in my way with reason? You've done so before."
"Hn. Iiye, no reason this time. I'm just wondering whether you're going to Higurashi Temple."
"Why would I be going there?" Kurama asked curiously.
"That was to be her temple, was it not?" Kurama glared at him for a moment, then nodded.
"It was. But that doesn't mean I'm going there, now does it?" His friend shook his head with a smirk, and stepped out of his way. "Thank you. I'll return shortly." Again, he got a shake of the head, and gave Hiei a second curious look.
"No, you won't," he explained. "You really shouldn't lie, it doesn't become you. You'll be wandering about all night."
"Good night, Hiei."
Agitated, Kurama hurried off into the darkness of the trees, his path lighted only by the moonlight filtering down through the leaves. He didn't need light, though – he knew his path by heart.
And although he hated to admit that Hiei was right…he ended up at Higurashi Temple sometime after midnight.
The temple was dead quiet – all its occupants had doubtless already retired for the night. But Kurama had been inside this temple, and knew his way around. He didn't exactly know why he was going to the garden, but it seemed his feet had decided that it was his destination.
There was a large ringlet of sakura trees, in the center of which was a fountain, a stone path, a marble bench, roses, lavender, musk…a collection of flowers. He sat upon the bench, hands folded in his lap, and looked about with a sigh. As beautiful as this place was, it seemed melancholy with the knowledge that there was no Asa to make it worthwhile.
A second sigh, and he leaned back against the back of the bench, crossing his arms over his chest and staring into the water of the fountain. Koi were swimming around, very strange-looking with their red, white, and black scales reflecting the moonlight. They didn't seem to mind being stared at – on the contrary, they seemed to enjoy showing themselves off, and swam even closer to the water's surface, their fins breaking through sleekly.
You broke your promise. You said everything would work out. You said you'd never leave me, that you'd always be here. But where are you now? I can't see you – I can't hold you. I kept my word, why didn't you?
He was angry, and it made no sense, because he really had no reason to be. It was her word that she'd always be with him, yes, and he could still sense her…somewhere nearby. So really, she hadn't broken her promise, but he needed to vent on someone…and she was the one who died. But it wasn't fair to her, and it was a betrayal to his own heart.
- She's never done you any wrong, why blame her, when it was her fate to wield the Light? -
I'm aware of all that. Will you please just leave me be, Youko? Right now isn't the time.
The elder demon's voice was silent then. Kurama's head fell into his hands, and he sighed a third time.
"I'd like to tell you a story." The voice caught him off guard – he jumped, looking up, already jumping into a defensive stance. He froze, however, when his eyes met two icy blue ones, whose owner had a smirk painted on her face.
"Asa?" He thought it was her – he was almost positive. But the white filmy dress she was wearing and her long black hair falling down around her didn't match the usual Asa he knew. In fact, she looked…different. Her eyes had flecks of gold in them, and of silver, and her hair was even longer now, straight all the way down to the tips, until each strand turned into a ringlet. And she looked a little taller – not much (she was still the third shortest of his closest friends), but a little.
"Sit down, Kurama." He did as he was told, somewhat mechanically. "Thank you. Now, about that story…"
"Are you…real?"
"Are you going to let me tell you the story or not?" Surprised, he nodded. Well, she certainly acted like the real Asa. "Good. Now, where to begin…" She sat down beside him, a thoughtful expression upon her face as she tapped her chin. "Okay. I know. Well, you don't know this, but in the Divine World, time flows…differently. And, there are different rules for who lives and who dies. Well, a few…months ago, in Kamekai time, the prophecy was fulfilled – the Light conquered the Shadow." Kurama's expression tightened into one of anger. She rolled her eyes. "But obviously, you knew that. And you also knew that, to wield the Light, its user must…make a sacrifice." He nodded at her, urging her to continue. "Well, again, we return to those things you didn't know. When a wielder of the purest power sacrifices themselves for the benefit of others, it's called a "selfless act." Apparently, the gods seem to take favor on those who act selflessly – and despite fatality, that person is taken and changed…into something that can't die so easily."
"What, a Divinity?"
"Precisely. So, I'm sure I don't have to go into any more detail."
"You were turned into a Divinity. So, you were in Kamekai for…how many months?"
"Uh, err…I'd say about three. That's why I got taller and my hair got longer. But, uh, the eyes and the ringlets…they kinda came with the whole Divinity package."
"And the dress?" he asked, voice laced with amusement.
"That wasn't my choice. I had to change wardrobe because mine was kinda destroyed in that explosion," she explained in a growl, giving him a "don't even go there" look as she blushed.
"Oh, I see. So you were, um…naked whenever you came back to life."
"Didn't I already give you the "don't even go there" look!" He laughed at her, pulling her into a hug. "And by the way," she added, giving him a playful punch on the arm, "you doubted me."
"No," he corrected. "I got angry with you. You…left."
"Actually, if you wanna get technical, I died. But I was never really gone. I told you I wouldn't leave you. I kept my word."
"I'm aware of that."
"And I love you."
"I'm aware of that, too."
"Kurama!" she scolded in annoyance, furrowing her brow up at him.
"Alright, alright – I love you, too." He kissed her forehead, then gave her a look.
"What?" she asked curiously.
"Do you know that we're going to have to explain all of this to Yusuke, and Kuwabara?"
"Eeehhh…" She made a rather freaked out face. "We'll be talking all night and all day!"
"Possibly. So what do you say we put that off? I think your father will want to see you."
"Daddy? Oh, of course! He must think…have you told him…?"
"No…I couldn't. But he is getting curious as to your whereabouts."
"Okay. That's our first stop – maybe I can actually get back into something I like," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the dress.
"And our second stop?"
She looked up at him with a wicked twinkle in her eyes. "Have you ever pulled a prank in your entire life?"
"Not that I know of, why?"
"Maybe we'll experiment with pranking a few of the boys while they're sleeping…" He chuckled at her, pulling her up into his lap and giving her a questioning look. "What, you're asking my permission?"
"It's only the gentlemanly thing to do," he replied.
"Well, you have all the permission you need." That exchange over with, he took her face in his hand, and drew it upward, to his, until their lips met in a tender kiss. When he pulled away, she smiled. "See, that was too gentlemanly."
"Oh, really?" Amused by her playful insult, he kissed her a second time, less "gentlemanly," as she'd put it, then, stood, holding her in his arms, despite her protests. "So…what exactly were you doing in Kamekai?"
THE END
-
Okay, so. That's it! Until, of course…the sequel. (sly devilish glance) Lol, seriously, though. I suck at titles and summaries (obviously) so the sequel to AOF will probably be something just as corny. Ick.
Yusuke- Yeah, and you almost did get killed, by the way. Just felt like pointing that out.
Oh shut up. I didn't ask you.
Yusuke- Actually, yeah, you did. …Sort of.
…(glare) Just do the stinkin' review response thing you do.
Yusuke- Okay. Sun Priestess, OMG that was freaking hilarious! No one's gone "all 'rahr'" on Meka, you're the first! Go you! And thanks for reviewing so…threateningly. (nervous glance)
Hiei- Lala…um, hi. It's a good thing all the chapters put you in a good mood – we'll have to remind the onna to do that more often – she's already planning MAJOR cliffies for the sequel.
You just used lit. slang, hah!
Hiei- …Right.
Kurama- Why do I always respond in EVERY chapter?
Because everybody loves you.
Kurama- Do they? (feels loved)
Yeah, so. Respond. Now. Lover-boy. (evil grin)
Kurama- Hate you. Anyway. Dragonmount. Good evening. (bows) Thanks for the review. And don't fall off your chair – it seems to hurt. Meka does it every time she writes. (whisper whisper) She falls asleep writing.
Shaddap!
Kuwabara- Can I FINALLY put down this Disclaimer sign?
Hmm….yeah, I guess so. I'm proud of ya, though, bud. You've held it the ENTIRE story. Go stretch awhile, until I post the beginning of the sequel.
Kuwabara- YAY! BUTTERFLIES AND KITTENS ARE RUNNING AROUND HERE!
…….Yeah, um…….no more coffee for you. Until next time everybody! (big huge wave)
