Darkness, Darkness, be my pillow,
take my head and let me sleep.
In the coolness of your shadow.
In the silence of your deep.
Darkness, darkness, hide my yearning,
for the things I cannot see.
Keep my mind from constant turning.
To the things I cannot be.
Darkness, darkness, be my blanket,
cover me with the endless night.
Take away the pain of knowing.
Fill the emptiness with light.
Emptiness with light now—
"Darkness, Darkness"—Robert Plant
An End to Bliss
Chapter II
Darkness. Such is the world of dreams. But then the void begins to fade and images appear. "What's this place? I'm sure that I've been here before." In the case of Yusuke Urameshi those images were in the form of a wall of stone. The wall was solid granite with a mixture of red clay and a trickle of water. While Yusuke pondered his whereabouts a piece of stone broke apart. Yusuke watched the stone fall…into a large pond.
"That pond! Now I'm sure that I know this place…yes! This is the Demon's Door cave, the place where I battled Sensui. Right there," Yusuke added, as he noticed a large cut along the wall; "that was where Itsuki summoned that large wall monster that swallowed Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Matarai until Kuwabara cut them free with his dimensional sword…"
"Why don't you die! Damn you, Fox!" a voice screeched not too far away from Yusuke.
"He's still here. The elder Toguro."
"What's the matter with you! Why don't you scream and…"
"Huh? He stopped…I thought that wasn't possible."
Yusuke motioned his eyes to where he had heard the elder Toguro scream. The last time Yusuke had seen the elder Toguro he was in the arms of Kurama's Sinning Tree, unable to move, but at the same time, unable to die.
As Yusuke's eyes moved closer to where he had last seen the elder Toguro he noticed large pieces of broken tree bark, and then he saw a shadow. The shadow's owner began to chuckle, and standing before him was the short figure of the psychotic elder Toguro, looking as Yusuke had seen him during the Dark Tournament.
The elder Toguro flashed a wicked grin, while two of his pale curls dangled over his yellow eyes. His eyes turned to blood, and pointing a finger towards Yusuke he shouted, "Death awaits you!"
Yusuke woke up in a cold sweat, but at least he was in familiar surroundings—his bedroom, with Kayko resting peacefully beside him.
"Was it just a dream? I'm sure it was…"
Yusuke quietly removed his bed covers—in an effort not to wake Kayko—and left the master bedroom.
His destination was his son's room. Yusuke entered Kosuke nursery just as a few snowflakes began to descend from the clouds. He stared over Kosuke crib, and took in his son's sleeping face.
"He's safe. Now I'm sure it was just…"
Yusuke's thought was cut short when a silky hand touched his shoulder. He gasped, and turned around to see Kayko standing beside him in her white night gown.
"Are you all right?" she asked in a whisper.
"Huh? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he replied in a tone similar to Kayko. "By the way, sorry that I woke you up."
"Actually, I was up already."
"Huh?"
"I watched you wake up in a cold sweat, Yusuke, but I didn't say anything until I saw you leave the bedroom…so what's wrong?"
"Nothing really, I just had a bad dream, that's all."
"What about?"
"…I'd prefer not to talk about it, Kayko…it was just a bunch of bad memories of the past."
Kayko nodded. "I understand Yusuke. But if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you."
Yusuke embraced Kayko, and kissed her. "Thanks Kayko, I appreciate that."
Kayko smiled, and grabbed Yusuke's hand. She led him over to Kosuke crib. "Should we give another goodnight kiss to our favorite boy?"
"Yeah, sure."
And together, mother and father leaned over the crib and gave their two-year-old son another goodnight kiss.