A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews. Oh and Keiko was outside with Yukina warning the guys the portal was about to close. Last mentioned she had come inside and was with the others when they found out that Shizuru and Botan were missing. Yeah, I like to increase Shizuru's role in this because she does have a minor role in the series, although she's such an awesome character! Plus I can see her and Kurama as an item.

Oh yeah, and I know Hiei and Yukina's ages are basically unknown, but I think I read somewhere that koorime asexually reproduce about every hundred years or so. So since Yukina doesn't have any children (that we know of) wouldn't that make them less than a century old? Just curious. And here's some food for thought, when Hiei reached that age (being a male) would that mean he'd be driven to find a mate to bare his kodomo (children)? I know he's fiercely independent and all but instincts for youkai are supposed to be really strong...mwuhahaha, there's more than one way to get Hiei and Botan together! ;-)

Dark & Light: Her Night, His Day

Chapter Three: She Who Holds the Jewel

"This...is it?" the brunette asked after stepping out into the deserted city which was once the beautiful isle of the ice maidens. Talk about your unpleasant surprises.

"Yes," Botan sighed, "it was once quite a lovely place. But about a century ago things started going downhill for the Koorimes. Now this desolate wasteland is all that remains of their homeland."

"How sad," Shizuru stepped over pile after pile of rubble, "so is it completely empty now? I mean, are there even any koorime left?"

"I'm afraid they're dying out." the ferry girl explained, "It's as if a curse has fallen upon them. Of course anyone who knows the legend of the Forbidden Child would certainly agree that they deserved this."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow, "You mean about Hiei being cast down from the island?"

"Yes, he was the only male ever borne by a koorime. They looked at him like an ill omen. The elders ordered him to be thrown off the island to parish in the world below."

"How heartless."

Botan nodded as they continued to walk, "We should try to find someone to ask about the jewel's location."

"You don't even know which koorime was given the jewel?"

Shaking her head Botan rounded another corner that lay in ruin, "The Reikai Orb was given to the elders who then bestowed it upon a single trusted koorime. She would be the jewel's guardian until either Koenma sent for it or the right person came along to give it to."

Shizuru thought for a moment, "Hm...do you know which koorime was ordered to cast Hiei off the island?"

The ferry girl paused a minute to think, "I can't recall her name, but she was the closest friend of Hiei's mother."

"Well, if the elders entrusted her to carry out that task, isn't it possible that they may have entrusted her with guarding the jewel too?" Shizuru speculated.

Botan's reply was cut short when the ground beneath the two travelers unexpectedly caved in.

The two landed with a loud THUD amidst a thick cloud of dust. Dirt poured down from above and a few cobwebs were torn from their mounts inside the underground ruins.

"Ow..." the ferry girl groaned rubbing her sore backside.

"I think I landed on a rock." Shizuru grumbled coughing and swatting at the cobwebs that had landed on her.

"Ugh, this place is filthy!" Botan exclaimed staggering to her feet and turning to give Shizuru a hand up.

"Just how are we supposed to get out of here?" Shizuru stared at the opening they'd fallen through, "We can exactly go back the way we came."

With a sigh Botan surveyed their dark and dank surroundings. "I suppose we'll just have to keep walking until we find another way out."

"Great..." Shizuru muttered sarcastically. "And if we're lucky maybe we'll run into Dracula and he'll guide us out?"

Shivering Botan shook her head, "No way, if I even see anything that looks like a bat I'm sprinting off in the opposite direction!"

"Well c'mon then," Shizuru chose a direction at random, "we're not gonna get anywhere by just standing here."

The duo started off deeper into the catacombs of the floating island. Their eerie surroundings worsened with each new turn until a final detour led them down a tunnel shrouded in shadows.

"W-why are we stopping Shizuru?" Botan stammered after smacking into the back of her friend.

"Because this exit's been caved in," the brunette sighed. "Looks like we're gonna have to backtrack."

"B-backtrack?" Botan glanced over her shoulder at the pitch black tunnel from which they'd just emerged, "B-but it was bad enough stumbling through there the first time!"

Shizuru rolled her eyes and slapped a hand on Botan's shoulder pushing her back down the tunnel. "I swear sometimes I think you're as chicken as my idiot brother."

A few more minutes passed in silence as they walked, unless you count the constant chattering of Botan's teeth. Shizuru was once again in front leading the way while the ferry girl clung tightly to her sleeve.

"Brr..." now it was Shizuru whose teeth were chattering, "...is it my imagination or is it getting colder in here?"

She sensed Botan nod in response. "G-guess it's because of the artic climate. M-must filter down here somehow."

"Hm..." the older Kuwabara thought for a moment, "...if all that cold air's getting down here, then there must be an opening nearby. All we have to do is keep heading towards the cold."

"B-but we've already been up and down this path." Botan reminded her, "If there was an opening then we should have seen it by now."

Shaking her head Shizuru placed a hand along the icy wall, "Not if we missed a turn. You feel along that wall. There's gotta be a hole or something that we overlooked."

Reluctantly Botan did as instructed and ran her chilled fingers along the freezing stone wall. She had walked another meter or so when the wall she was leaning against suddenly ran out.

"AAAHH!!!"

The brunette whipped around at the scream, "Botan?!"

Back at Genkai's temple the others were busy trying to get another portal to the Island of the Koorimes.

After about twenty minutes of screaming at his communicator Yusuke finally tucked it away and came outside where everyone else was waiting to be clued in.

"Well?" Keiko asked her voice full of worry, "What did Koenma say Yusuke?"

With downcast eyes the head Spirit Detective grunted, "He said it'd be at least an hour before he could have another portal ready. Apparently the device he uses to generate them is on the fritz."

Kurama and Hiei raised an eyebrow at this.

"On the fritz?" Kuwabara exclaimed, "How the heck did that happen?!"

Narrowing his eyes Yusuke met the orange-haired man's gaze. "Apparently someone snuck in and toasted it while the ogres were outside guarding the door. Koenma was out of the room for no less than five minutes too."

"I see," Kurama concluded calmly, "so they suspect that whoever tampered with the portal generator entered directly into the room through a portal. Possibly one from Makai?"

Yusuke nodded, "That's pretty much the gist of it."

Hiei growled and pushed himself up off the rock he'd been sitting on, "We're wasting time just waiting around here for the those fools in Reikai to fix that machine."

"Isn't there some sort of emergency generator they could use?" Yukina hopefully offered.

"Well..." Yusuke paused, "...Koenma did say something about a private portal generator. But-"

"But?" Kurama prompted him.

"But it's hidden away somewhere in King Enma's old chambers."

"Hn," the fire demon didn't look daunted in the least, "then we'll just have that ferry girl friend of Botan's sneak into the chambers and activate it for us."

"What?!" Yusuke yelped, "Do you know how much trouble that could land her in?! Not to mention us!"

The black-clad demon stared at the Spirit Detective skeptically, "Are you aware that no one on this team is a stranger to trouble?"

Frowning Kurama agreed, "I'm sorry Yusuke but getting to the girls before Inferuno does might require bending (or breaking) some rules."

Moaning in defeat the raven haired human relented, "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you when we all wind up in Spirit World Prison for this."

Keiko was about to object when Yukina placed a hand on her arm. "Please Keiko," she whispered, "I don't like this anymore than you do but we must save Shizuru and Botan."

"We?" Hiei's ears perked at overhearing his sister.

"Yes," Yukina nodded determinedly, "I know the island better than any of you. So you must take me along if you're to find them before it's too late."

"She has a point." Kurama whispered to the small stature demon.

"Shut up kitsune," Hiei snarled under his breath, "There's no way I'm letting my sister go there to be harmed by our father."

When Hiei turned back to Yukina to sternly forbid her from coming he was surprised and disgusted to see the oaf clasping her hands. "Oh Yukina my love, please reconsider. It's going to be far too dangerous for you my ice princess!"

Kurama watch in bemusement as Hiei's eyebrow started to twitch, his eyes were shut tightly in agitation. Obviously he was holding back his rage to avoid hurting his sister's feelings at setting her admirer ablaze. Hn, if that moron only knew whose sister he was messing with...

Yukina was smiling warmly back at Kuwabara, "Oh don't worry Kazuma, I promise to be extra careful. And all of you would be there to protect me too."

"Of course!" Kuwabara declared passionately striking a heroic pose, "I'll defend you to the death my darling!"

"One can only hope." Hiei muttered his fingers itching to draw out his katana and put an end to this shameless display of utter foolishness.

Yusuke was already back on his communicator. After requesting to be transferred to The Research Department he was finally connected and smirked upon seeing a pale-skinned ferry girl's face appear on the screen. "Yes?"

"Ayame," Yusuke answered, "I need a favor. Can you access King Enma's old chambers? Specifically the one with the back-up portal generator?"

The dark haired woman's serene expression faltered. "I-"

"C'mon Ayame!" Yusuke began whining, "The toddler wouldn't have told me about it if he didn't want us to try and use it! We've got to get to Botan and Shizuru on the Island of the Koorimes before Inferuno does!"

Ayame seemed to be nervously weighing the pros and cons of this. "Well, obviously Koenma doesn't want to know about your unauthorized use of the emergency generator that's supposed to be off limits. I suppose I might still know of it's exact location."

"Great!" Yusuke exclaimed, "We're at Genkai's temple, get us a portal to that island pronto!"

The communicator was disconnected before she could object.

Back inside the underground tunnels of the floating island...

Shizuru hugged herself for warmth as she stumbled over to the opening in the wall that Botan had fallen through. "Botan? Botan!"

From the other side of the wall the blue-haired girl felt herself being lifted up from behind. She presumed it to be Shizuru who was helping her. "Thanks."

"It's nothing," a feminine voice other than Shizuru answered, "you must be more careful. These crumbling pathways can be treacherous."

The ferry girl's fuchsia eyes widened with fear, "Who are you?!"

Shizuru emerged through the opening and spotted Botan standing in front of a second unidentified figure who appeared to be wearing a faded kimono. "What's going on?"

Gentle eyes shifted to gaze at the brunette, "Forgive me, but I was above ground earlier when I heard you discussing the exile of the Forbidden Child. And I believe you also mentioned a jewel?"

"Yes, the Reikai Orb!" Botan nodded, Oh I hope that this woman can tell us where to find it! Then we can go home!!

The koorime smiled at the blue-haired girl. "Well I might be able to help you."

"Great," Botan dug through the fold of her kimono and pulled out the scroll. Unrolling it she showed the picture to the woman and explained, "this is what it looks like. Lord Koenma sent us to retrieve the item before an evil fire youkai could steal it."

"An evil fire youkai?" this seemed to spark the koorime's interest.

"Apparently he has access to several illegal portals in Makai and can alter them to lead anywhere." Shizuru said, "Koenma wants the Spirit Detectives to take possession of the jewel and bring it back to Reikai for safe keeping."

"I see," the koorime stared at the two girls gravely, "but you must understand the Koorime were given the jewel to watch over until someone deserving of it appeared to use it properly and for the good of all three worlds."

Frowning Botan pleaded with the woman, "Oh but you must give it to us! We can't go home without it!"

"Not to mention that if that fire youkai gets his claws on it he'll probably use it to conquer all three worlds." Shizuru added, "And that kind of defeats your purpose of guarding it too."

The koorime seemed torn on what to do. Finally she spoke, "I know of the jewel's location. And I also have my suspicions as to who the fire youkai is. Tell me, is he of any relation to the Forbidden Child?"

A bit surprised the two girls nodded.

"H-he's Hiei's father." Botan answered in a low tone of voice.

"I was afraid he was," the ice maiden sighed, "this will his second attempt at claiming the jewel."

"Um..." Botan was hesitant to ask but she had to know, "...you wouldn't happen to be the koorime in charge of casting the Forbidden Child off the island would you?"

The woman choked back a sob at her hated deed, "Yes, I am Ruri. And I'm the one responsible for carrying out the elders' sentence upon the child. I-I am the one who caused my dearest friend to die of a broken heart."

Wow...Shizuru's expression softened...I almost feel sorry for her. What a terrible punishment, to live with that on your conscience all this time.

Glancing down at the barely visible stone floor of the cave Botan spoke, "Yeah I was afraid you were. I never understood the elders' reasoning behind that sentence."

"Neither did I." Ruri admitted.

"Then why'd you go through with it?" Shizuru questioned.

"Because I had no choice!" Ruri burst into tears. The tear gems clanged as they scattered across the stone floor, rolling off in various directions. "I knew if I refused the baby would simply be given to another koorime to be disposed of! Only by casting him out myself could I tuck away Hina's tear gem and give him some hope of coming back for his sister and to punish the koorimes for their cruel sentencing!"

Botan regarded the woman with sad understanding, Tucking the tear gem into Hiei's wrappings was her way of ensuring he'd remember to come back to the island and seek revenge. What a desperate means of atonement. "And you wanted him to kill you."

"Yes," Ruri nodded, tears still streaming down her cheeks, "I hated what I had to do. But it was my only chance to help the boy. For Hina's sake I had to do something. She never forgave me. When she died of heartbreak...I was left to raise her daughter. I told Yukina everything--only--I wasn't aware of what became of him until after she'd left to seek him out. I didn't even recognize him when he returned to the island. And..." she broke down in sobs again, "...and when I did discover his identity I begged to be punished. But, he wouldn't. He just left to find his sister. All this time, and I've still been left to live with my guilt."

The kindhearted ferry girl swiftly took the crying koorime in her arms. Though I find what you've done to be terrible, I don't think it's unforgivable. "Maybe...maybe Hiei forgave you that day?"

Ruri shook her head which was currently resting on Botan's shoulder. "No, I don't deserve to be forgiven. My only consolation was knowing that one day the Forbidden Child would return to avenge the pitiless elders and myself."

"But killing you wouldn't have solved anything." Botan argued rubbing Ruri's back soothingly, years of experience consoling self-loathing souls of the departed before ferrying them to Spirit World had taught her how to best handle such situations. "And Hiei may be a bit on the violent side," she paused, amending her understatement, "alright, he's probably one of the most violent youkai I've ever met. Still, he's not evil and he's not heartless. He must have forgiven you. You did after all watch over Yukina, slip the tear gem in his wrappings, and you seemed to be the only koorime beside Hina who wanted him spared."

Who is this woman? Ruri pondered, How is it that she knows so much about the Forbidden Child? And why spare me any agony? I'm just as guilty as the elders.

Shizuru stood back and curiously watched the scene play out. Botan's defending Hiei, and comforting Ruri. Hm, she must really care about that cold little demon. Of course, this isn't the first time she's defended his honor. There was that fight with Bui during the Dark Tournament where the ogre wanted Hiei to attack Bui when he was kneeling to take off the tacky armor of his.

Given a few more seconds Ruri pulled back, finally able to collect herself. "I thank you, for your kind words. But I must ask--you said Koenma sent you--but exactly who are you?"

"Oh," Botan laughed placing a hand behind her head, "I'm so sorry, how silly of me! My name's Botan and this is Shizuru."

"I'm the older sister of one of the Spirit Detectives." Shizuru explained, hoping Ruri knew of spirit detectives.

"And I'm the head ferry girl of Reikai and assistant to the Spirit Detectives!" Botan chirped. "Just think of me as a very pleasant grim reaper!"

Ruri regarded Botan with bewildered amusement. "I would have never pictured Death to be so...bubbly."

Flashing a cheesy grin Botan chuckled, "Yep, I get that a lot."

"Well then," the koorime smiled, seeming slightly less melancholy than before (Botan tends to have that effect on people), "perhaps we can bend the rules just this once. I will accompany you back to Reikai with the jewel and see it directly into the hands of Koenma."

"You're coming with us?" Shizuru inquired surprised.

"Of course," Ruri nodded, "I have no desire to stay here, and no reason to now that Yukina is gone and her brother has spared me. It would be nice to get off this forsaken island, just once."

"Wonderful!" Botan clasped her hands over Ruri's, "I'll show you all the sites of Reikai and if there's time we can even go shopping with Keiko and Yukina in Ningenkai!"

Clearly puzzled Ruri simply smiled back at the jovial woman, "That sounds exciting. I've often wondered about life off the island. And it would be good to see dear Yukina again."

"Oh I'm sure she's missed you!" Botan exclaimed. "She's spoke of you before. Her kind guardian who gave her hope of one day reuniting with her long lost brother, simply uplifting!"

"Alright Miss Optimism," Shizuru grinned placing a hand on Botan's shoulder, "for now let's just go get that jewel so you can call up Koenma and have a portal opened for us. We can't exactly leave on your oar being that there's three of us now."

"You needn't worry about finding the jewel," Ruri assured them, "I have it with me. It never leaves my presence."

"Then I guess the rest is up to me," Botan happily pulled out her communicator. No sooner had she opened the line then a very peeved toddler glared back at her.

"BOTAN!!!" the ferry girl cringed at his harsh greeting, "JUST WHAT IN THE THREE WORLDS DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING JUMPING THROUGH THAT PORTAL?! AND TAKING A HELPLESS NINGEN WITH YOU?!!"

"Hey! Do I look helpless to you?!" Shizuru sneered brandishing a fist over Botan's shoulder. "And it was MY idea!"

"Um...Lord Koenma sir...we have the jewel." Botan explained.

"YOU DO HUH?!" Koenma was still very angry, "WELL I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT YOU'VE BROKEN AT LEAST EIGHT--no--TEN RULES IN DOING SO!"

Wincing Botan put on her best kitty face, "Aw but Lord Koenma, we didn't want to risk the fire youkai stealing the jewel before another portal could be opened. Can't you overlook us breaking a few itsy bitsy rules, just this once? Meow?"

Koenma sucked furiously on his pacifier, "You're lucky that this was such an important case Botan, or else you might've just earned yourself a cell in the Reikai prison, not to mention a few hundred spankings!" Botan sweatdropped, the dreaded 'spanking sentence'.

"So does this mean we're off the hook?" Shizuru questioned casually.

The tiny ruler huffed, "This is your one and only pardon. I'm afraid that the portal generator is broken so you're temporarily stranded on the island." Koenma paused a moment to glare at the ogres working on the device who took the hint and nervously fled the room. Once he was sure they were gone he sighed and folded his arms. "However, I have reason to believe that Yusuke and the others might know about my father's old private portal generator. So keep an eye out okay?"

Botan winked understanding, "Right sir, we couldn't use my oar anyway. You see, the keeper of the jewel is coming with us. She insists upon delivering the Reikai Orb to you personally."

Koenma nodded, "I understand Botan, just remember, you're responsible for her safety. Now I suggest the three of you take cover. There's no telling when Inferuno and his minions are going to show up...if they haven't already."

With that said the connection was closed and the three women were left to seek out a safe hiding spot until a portal was opened for them.

"I hope that dumb brother of mine stops fawning over Yukina long enough to get us out of here." Shizuru muttered as Ruri led them out through the tunnels.

"Yukina has an admirer?" Ruri questioned over her shoulder while rounding another corner.

Botan and Shizuru exchanged glances before the ferry girl laughed aloud, "Boy have we got some things to tell you!"

And voila, chapter 3! One more question, to anyone who has seen the episode where Hiei returns to the island and meets Ruri again: is she taller than him? Or is the small height pretty much a koorime thing? Ugh...must get hands on more YYH episodes!

Hn, just when they thought it was safe to go home...dun dun dun...disaster strikes in the form of a very malicious fire youkai! Will they survive until a portal is opened? How far will Inferuno go to get his mitts on the Reikai Orb? And will I get anymore great reviews from you gracious readers?! Tune in next update for the answers to these questions and more...