Prisoner of War

Part Thirteen: Freedom


It was strange walking through the woods this time. So many things had changed… it was so different.

Probably because half the woods had burned down.

And the whole safe house was gone.

But more than that, there was a sense of… safety, a sense that there hadn't been before. It didn't make a lot of sense, considering the things that had just happened, but there was no worry or fear in the traveling this time.

Calai took a deep breath, taking in the scent of burnt grass and greenery as she continued her walk through the woods, thinking.

All things considered, it was probably a good thing that she didn't listen to Kurama.

Or anyone else, for that matter.

When the attack on the house had occurred, she was somewhere between the clearing and the house. And she was back at the house when the clearing combusted.

How lucky can a person get?

Not as lucky as she wanted to be. After the last of the flames had died down, Calai returned to the clearing hoping to find the fire yokai—looking for some indication that he was still alive.

But she hadn't found anything, and it didn't sit well with her.

She sat on the ash covered ground in the clearing, trying to grasp what had happened.

The house was gone.

She had no where to go.

Hiei was dead.

Life really wasn't looking too great.

"What now?" Calai asked no one in particular. "Everything I had…. God, I'm just screwed. That's it! There's just nothing left for me. I might as well just—"

"Who're you talking to?" a voice questioned.

Startled, Calai turned to the direction of the voice and looked up. "Hiei?"

Without answering, the yokai sat down on the ground next to Calai.

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, gazing out to what was left of the woods.

Calai was the first to speak. "I thought you were dead."

"Hn. I'm not."

"Obviously. What happened? I mean, after Mukuro found you."

"We fought. The woods caught on fire."

"Yeah, I figured that much out. What happened?"

The yokai didn't say anything.

A realization dawned on Calai. "You killed her."

Still Hiei didn't speak.

"I guess you didn't have much choice," Calai said softly. "Have you seen the safe house?"

He glanced at her. "No."

"It's gone. Completely destroyed."

"Mukuro?"

"No, it happened while you were fighting with her."

"She probably still had something to do with it."

"Maybe."

Silence pervaded over the two of them once again. For no apparent reason, Hiei pulled Calai to her feet and turned her to face him. Then he did something that Calai would never have expected.

The yokai placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"What was that for?" the girl asked as he pulled away.

"Because you'll never see me again."

Calai blinked. "What?"

She didn't receive an answer. Before the question had fully escaped her lips, the yokai had vanished and she was alone in the ashes of the clearing.

In a way, she understood what he meant.

Everything was starting to get better.


"Damn, we really did lose everything," Yusuke said, kicking at the ashes at his feet. "When those guys raid a place they really raid it."

"It doesn't look like anyone got away," Kuwabara said, as he and Kurama dug through some of the rubble. "I guess that means we were too late twice today."

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah. Hiei and Calai both…."

"What about me and Hiei?" Calai's voice asked from somewhere behind Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Both of them turned to see Calai ambling to them looking a bit weary and ragged but very much alive.

"Calai!" Yusuke said. "What the hell—we thought you were dead!"

She shrugged. "I'm not. And neither is Hiei, by the way. I just saw him."

"What happened?" Kurama asked, abandoning his digging.

A soft smile lit Calai's features. "I don't really know," she said. "But I think we're gonna be alright now.

"I think everything's gonna be alright."



End Part Thirteen.