A/n- Well, it only took me two years to get here, but here it is... the GRAND FINALE of The Power Locked Within. Read and review please!
Warning- This may be a bit of a tear jerker. Get your tissues ready! (I even cried as I was typing it!)
Chapter 19: Trouble's End
The bright light coming from the amethyst gem soon began to fade into a more tolerable illumination. It was now easy for everyone to see what had come out of the locket.
In the air hovered wispy apparitions of people. They were all clad in lavender robes and had their hands folded in the most polite manner. All of the ghostly figures were at different stages in life, some being old and some young, and were a mixture of males and females. Despite these differences, they all shared similar characteristics. That is, they all had gleaming silver hair and stunningly purple eyes. Two of the faces stuck out the most to Avari.
They were her parents...
For a few moments, she seemed to forget her pain. She forgot how doomed her fate was and how much her wrist throbbed and how lightheaded she was getting from the loss of blood. She focused all of her attention on the smiling figures before her.
"Mom? Dad?" she whispered in wonder. Was it really them? Perhaps, their souls?
All of the minions, Yamiko and his sidekicks, Genkai and Team Urameshi, they all froze in place. Not a single person moved an inch. Everyone could only stare in awe at the outrageous spectacle before them. It wasn't everyday that you saw this many ghosts.
"Hey, sunshine," a middle-aged man with rimmed glasses said to Avari. He smiled gently as her. That had to be her father! Only he would call her "sunshine."
"What..." Avari began. She was cut off by a woman with delicate, flowing hair and a beautiful face that would make the prettiest flowers jealous.
"Our souls and power were put into the locket once we died," the woman said. This had to be her mother. She had answered Avari's question without even letting her voice it, which she had often done when she was alive. They had a very special mother-daughter bond. "These are your ancestors." Her mother gestured to the twenty or so spirits hovering behind her.
"Only the pure at heart can inherit this power," her father piped in. "And that's why we are giving it to you."
Avari felt her eyes begin to water. She was to touched at their generous offer... She was to inherit the family power! She could use it for the greater good, instead of Yamiko, who would use it for evil purposes. Her half-brother wasn't going to win after all! Everything was going to be fine now.
"Thank you..." she replied tearfully. She wanted to say more, but she was positively tongue-tied from all of the sudden events. This was the greatest gift she had ever been offered!
"I must warn you, sweetie. Receiving this power doesn't mean we're coming back to life. You will be absorbing our souls and our power," her father explained.
"But, we'll always be alive in here," her mother added, putting her hand over her heart.
"I love you, Mom, Dad," was all Avari could say. The tears started flowing down her flushed cheeks. She was so overwhelmed... She wanted to hug her parents, just one last time. But, that was impossible, of course.
"We love you, too, honey," her father said, smiling. Her mother nodded in agreement, positively beaming. She looked as if she was crying, too. "Are you ready?"
Avari nodded meekly.
All of the souls began to turn around in a circle, as if they were trying to make a whirl pool. They continued to increase their speed until they created a swirling vortex. A wind picked up, causing Avari's hair to flare out in disarray, as well as her kimono.
The ring of spirits engulfed Avari's body and lifted her off of her feet. One by one, the souls dematerialized into her being. Avari's body began to glow a beautiful, entrancing shade of violet as the spirits continued to be absorbed into her, single file.
After all of the spirits had become one with her body, the locket magically floated over to Avari. It clasped itself around her neck, as if claiming her it's owner. She was eased back to the ground, her kimono now a light lavender.
Avari felt stronger all of the sudden. All of her chains and wounds had disappeared. She felt no more pain, no more agony. Her loving family members were living through her, giving her more strength. It gave her great comfort to know that she was not alone.
"I guess we can see who's the family favorite, huh?" Yamiko sneered, obviously jealous.
"It's that kind of envy that lost you the family power, Yamiko! If you had been more loving and less cruel, we both might have gotten it," Avari said, her voice sounding very confident and full of courage.
"Plan on getting your sweet justice now, for all of those cruel things I did to you?" he continued, mockingly.
"Unlike you, I don't need to hurt my enemy to be satisfied! I believe in Karma! What evil you spread around, will come back to haunt you," Avari replied.
At those words, Yamiko lunged at her angrily. The knife he had stabbed her with before was in his hand, coming right for her. In the nick of time, Avari moved out of the blade's way, avoiding his attack and saving her life.
He continued to advance at her, wildly thrusting the knife in a mad rage. Luckily, she was able to read the path of his strikes and dodged swiftly. Although, she narrowly missed being hit every time.
"Spirit Dagger!" Avari cried, as a purple spirit energy dagger in her hand.
Although she had conjured this weapon numerous times in her life, she couldn't help but notice that this one looked slightly different. It was more solid and even brighter than usual. There was only one way to explain this. It was her family, giving her strength.
Wanting desperately to end the fight, she used her dagger to block another one of Yamiko's sloppy thrusts. She looked him straight in the eyes and noticed something. His once calm, blue eyes were now intensified, almost electrified. It must have been from all of the excitement of the fight. It was quite unlike him... He usually looked content and almost emotionless. Here, he was aroused strongly, almost looking insane.
Seeing the puny knife was no match for the dagger, Yamiko threw it aside. He put up his fists. He wanted to go for the more "hands on" approach to fighting.
Avari saw this and decided to do the same, to make the fight more fair. She was the kind of person who liked a good, clean fight. Using her dagger would make her feel as if she were cheating. Her weapon dematerialized and she put her fists up. She also positioned her feet into the traditional fighting stance.
This was going to be a piece of cake! Luckily, Martial Arts were a specialty of hers. She only spent 15 hours or more training every week for this type of thing. Yamiko was going to be in for a little surprise. He had no idea of her true fighting abilities, since they had never sparred each other.
Yamiko threw the first punch, right at her face. She moved back, using her quick ability to read his fist's path and her agility, just missing the hit.
In response, she threw a punch, hitting him square in the gut. He let out a groan from the sudden impact of her fist on his body. He winced slightly, but then looked unfazed.
Maybe she needed to kick it up a notch, as Chef Emeril Lagasse would say, and pull out the heavy artillery! This meant using her moves that really packed a punch, if you'll pardon the pun. She threw numerous punches at his face and chest at a rapid speed. She hit her target every time. As she punched, Yamiko moved further and further backwards from her hits.
She finally stopped punching and landed a kick in his sensitive area. He could have easily dodged or blocked it. That is, if he had not have been so dazed from all of the pain of previous hits. He doubled over, in pain and moaned in agony.
Avari, absorbed in the rush she was getting from the fight, conjured her dagger subconsciously. She held it in both hands and brought it over her head. It was ready to be brought down on the huddling Yamiko. Yet, something stopped her.
This wasn't like her! She wasn't one to kill and seek revenge! She didn't want to kill Yamiko. Yes, he had tortured and almost ruined her life completely, but he didn't deserve it. No, Karma had something different in store for him, for all of the bad he had committed. But, what?
She looked around for something, anything. All she saw was a bottle of pink potion, located on a shelf above the cowering Yamiko. Without hesitating, she grabbed the vial and uncorked the top. She didn't know what it would do, but she just hoped it wasn't a love potion. She poured the contents of the bottle all over Yamiko, who was hugging his knees in fear, and waited.
Nothing happened. He simply stared at her, his eyes looked clouded and confused. So much for that idea...
Wait! Yamiko began to glow a faint shade of gold... It grew brighter and brighter, until there was the sound of a pop!
Yamiko no longer sat before her. Instead, there was a creature hidden underneath the pile of his clothing. The creature popped its head out and let out a, "Quack?"
Yamiko had been changed into a duck! A real, live, feathered, waddling, web-toed duck!
Avari wanted to burst out laughing. Her brother had finally gotten what he deserved! She had to admit, seeing him as a duck made her like him a little more. It suited him well.
She felt a tight grip on her shoulder. It whirled her around. She came face to face with Rem.
He held a heavy book over her head. Before she could react, he swung it at her and it collided with her skull.
'Not this again,' was her last thought, before she grew dizzy and all went black.
---------------------------------
Avari's eyelids snapped open. She shot up from her slumber, expecting to be on the marble floor of Yamiko's castle and surrounded by minions.
Except, she wasn't.
In fact, she wasn't even anywhere near or inside of Yamiko's castle. She was in her room, back at Genkai's temple. She was lying on her cushiony mattress, underneath of the cotton sheets in her favorite pink, polka-dotted pajamas. The sunlight shone brightly through her gauzy curtains. It made her feel comforted and warm inside.
How had she ended up here? Had the whole thing been a dream? Or had she died and this was heaven? She didn't know... The entire experience at Yamiko's had felt so real. And she was pretty sure heaven was a lot prettier than her messy room, what with all of the clothes and papers in disarray on the floor.
So, somehow she had ended up back home... and in her bed, asleep. But still, how? Maybe she should go look for Genkai or someone to clarify what exactly had happened...
After throwing on a bathrobe, she walked out of her room and down the hallway, into the kitchen. She expected to find at least Genkai and maybe Yusuke sitting at the kitchen table, but no one was there.
She searched the training ball, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the living and dining rooms... Not a soul was in this house! Where had they all gone?
Ah ha! Maybe they were outside training! It did seem like a beautiful day. The sun had been shining through her window, after all. Who really wanted to be cooped up in a house if it was so gorgeous out?
Sliding the shoji screen back, she walked out onto the oaken engawa (A/n-It's like a porch.) that surrounded the entire temple. Immediately, she saw all of her friends and family. So, this is where they had been the entire time!
To her right, on the far side of the front yard, Kuwabara and Kurama were sparring. Kuwabara was getting his ass kicked by the invincible Kurama. On the porch steps, Yusuke and Genkai sat watching the match. Next to them, Avari was relieved to see Riley sitting down, looking very healthy and talking Hiei's ears off.
Genkai heard the sound of the shoji screen opening and looked over. Everyone else followed suit. Smiles spread over a majority of their faces. Kuwabara was in too much pain to notice her and Hiei just remained indifferent, although you could tell that he was pleased to see her awake.
Riley immediately jumped up from her seat and threw her arms around her best friend. Avari felt her bones cracking and her lungs being crushed as Riley hugged the life out of her. She hugged her back though. It had been so long since they had seen each other... Or both had been conscious to see the other.
"How did you...?" Avari began, but was cut off by her very chatty friend.
"They had that Red...no, Rem guy make an antidote for the poison once they arrested him," Riley replied perkily. "I'm very glad to be back and I'm glad you're back, too. You were knocked out for a good week! Man, it was almost like we had switched places... Kind of weird, no? Well, since we're both alive now, I say was plan an FFA night some time this wee..."
"So, you guys must have busted their asses once I passed out, huh?" Avari asked the others, cutting off Riley. Her redheaded friend now silenced herself and sat down on the porch, pouting. Yep, Riley was her usual, bipolar self; perky one moment, upset the next.
"We sure did," she heard Yusuke reply. "I did most of the work." He gave Avari one of his cheesy, proud smiles. She just rolled her eyes.
"Nuh-uh! I took down like...twenty of those evil things in one swing of my sword!" Kuwabara yelled in protest.
"Sure, you did, Kuwabara," Yusuke said sarcastically.
"Hey, what ever happened to Kashi?" Avari asked thoughtfully.
"The gay guy? He's working as a fashion designer for JAPHASHION magazine. And the other one, Rem is in Spirit World's jails," Genkai answered her. She then took another sip from her teacup. "Yamiko's around her somewhere, probably playing with Puu."
"Oh, I'm glad. Kashi was the only nice one in the bunch," Avari said, smiling and took a seat on the porch steps along with everyone else. She would have to go pay Kashi a visit sometime. And Yamiko was apparently a part of the family now; being a duck and all made him more acceptable.
Now, there was silence. No one really had much else to say. They were all just thankful to be alive after the past week's events at Yamiko's castle. They could just enjoy life and peace now. Everyone watched Kurama and Kuwabara's match some more.
"Uh, Avari? Can we go some place and talk?" Yusuke said, quietly. Despite his low voice, everyone had still heard.
"Yeah," she replied with a nod.
"Aw, are you going to go make goo-goo eyes at each other?" Kuwabara joked.
Yusuke grew beet red at this and motioned for Avari to follow him, which she did.
She followed behind him to the back of the temple, away from all of the commotion and humiliation of the others. They sat down on a bench that was near the trickling pond. It was surrounded by hnudreds of blossoming flowers and left a strong perfume permeating through the air.
"So..." Avari started.
"Uh, I talked Koenma into giving you your job back," Yusuke said, getting straight to the point. He handed her a dark blue compact communicator.
She gratefully accepted it. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets in disbelief, as her jaw dropped. She opened the compact and examined the numbers and the screen. It was real... She really had her job back!
"Wow..." was all she could say for sometime, but eventually she found her tongue. "But, why? After the way I treated you and the soup incident, I thought you hated me. And why did you come to save me? Did Koenma assign it to you as a mission? Or am I missing something?"
"You're missing a big something...Here it goes." Yusuke said, taking in a deep breath. "I took it upon myself to make sure I saved you. I did promise that I would protect you, didn't I?" He looked at her with those delicate, chocolate eyes and took her hands into his warm ones. "Look, I was wrong to have ever broken up with you. I've been doing so much thinking this week, while you were unconscious. I realized that I never did love Keiko. I just felt lonely when you shut me out. I felt that maybe it had been a mistake to have gone out with you. But, I was horribly wrong..."
At this point, Avari felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She hadn't been expecting any of this. The job, the protection he had given her, the confession... She felt so guilty after having treated him like dirt and throwing the soup at him. He didn't have to be so nice to her. She didn't deserve it.
"I guess what I'm trying to say, is that all along, I've been a fool. A fool in love, that is. I love, I love, I love you with all of my heart, every fiber of my being, Avari Raji. I would be honored and blessed if you would go back out with me. Please. I need you to survive," he pleaded. His brown orbs penetrated into her own amethyst ones, searching into her soul for that one ray of hope. Oh, how he hoped she still loved him, if she ever had. Didn't she realize how much she had been killing him when she had frozen him out? It had really hurt... but, here he was, giving her a second chance to make things work again!
"Yusuke..." she started, looking down at her lap. She knew what her answer was going to be; she just didn't know how to go about saying it.
"I know we had our rough patch, but we can work through it this time," Yusuke said, trying to reassure her. He wanted, he needed her back. She was his only ray of sunshine in this sinful world.
"Look," she tried again. She grasped his hands firmly, but still didn't look at him. "You hurt me so bad last time, and I know that I hurt you, too." She looked up at him, her eyes red with tears again. "I don't want to hurt you again!"
"Well, you're hurting me right now," he whispered, looking down. He knew what she was going to say...
"Don't get me wrong. I care about you so much. So much in fact, that it sometimes scares me," she said to him. She lifted up his chin with her hand so that he was now looking at her again. "I just don't think I'm ready yet. I've been through so much these past months. I still have a lot of things to work out with myself..."
"Let me work them out with you," Yusuke begged, gripping her hands harder.
"I do love you. I want you to know that," she said, letting a few tears stream down her flushed cheeks. "But, as I said, I'm not ready."
"So, that's it?" Yusuke looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "We just forget about everything? I thought we had something really special. You make me so happy, you know that? I've never felt this way before..." He ran his hand through her silvery, gleaming hair. She saw a glint in his eye. Was it a tear or a spark of affection?
"We do have something special," she reassured him. "We have a deep friendship. Even when I didn't consider you a friend, you still were there to protect me. I am so grateful for that..."
"But, I want to be more than friends," Yusuke admitted, his eyes turned red, too. Who knew that a tough guy like him would cry? "I want you to be mine." A single tear streamed down his cheek. "I know that sounds like I'm being greedy, but I have a right to be!"
"Someday." Avari gently wiped away the tear. "Someday, I promise. Until then, we can be friends."
"I guess I'll just have to wait," Yusuke finally agreed, looking crushed. "Being friends is better than being nothing." Even though it felt like a part of him was dying, he knew he would have to go with this compromise. She was worth it. They're relationship was worth it. He would wait forever if he had to.
"Thank you, Yusuke," Avari replied, tearfully. She pecked him on the cheek and pulled him into a tight hug. He thankfully squeezed her back.
"Oh, come on! You know you're meant for each other!" a peppy voice called out.
Avari and Yusuke released each other from their hug instantly. They looked over to see the entire gang standing behind Riley in some nearby bushes. They should have known. No one could ever get any privacy when the gang was together!
"Don't you all have something better to do?" Avari yelled.
"Nah," they all replied in unison.
Yusuke and Avari growled in aggravation. So, everyone had heard that entire confession and rejection... Great! Just great! And now, they would both be mocked mercilessly for weeks. Friends always had to be so cruel... but, they did these things out of love.
"PUU!" the entire group heard.
They all turned to see Puu, Yusuke's odd alter ego, flying over. Below him was a rather terrified duck, who just happened to be Yamiko. It appeared that the blue penguin was chasing the poor duck.
Everyone started cracking up at the sight. It wasn't everyday that you saw Puu tormenting an innocent duck! It seemed that this was Karma's true way of getting back at Yamiko. Avari wished she had a camera. This was priceless!
"I say we cook him for dinner. I could go for some duck," Kuwabara said, contemplating the thought of a roasted duck wing.
"Anyone for some foie gras?" Kurama said jokingly and let out a chuckle. (A/n-Foie gras is duck or goose liver. Gross!) Avari had to laugh at this one. Who knew that such a polite guy could crack a joke?
"Nah, how about we get some pizza?" Genkai offered. "You can go get it, dimwit." Yusuke turned to her in disbelief at the mention of his nickname.
"Why do I always have to get the food, grandma?" he complained.
"Because you're not the one paying for it! And I give you training for free, so don't even start with me!" Genkai barked and headed back towards the temple.
She left Yusuke looking rather guilty for putting up a fuss. He then followed behind her, as did everyone else.
"You know that Hiei guy? He's pretty cute, in an I'm-a-loner-and-I-have-gravity-defying-hair way. Mind it I add his name to the rape-able list?" Riley asked Avari, as they lingered behind the rest of the group. She noticed that Hiei looked back at them curiously. He probably heard his name mentioned.
"Be my guest," Avari replied happily. She finally felt like life was going back to normal, or as normal as it could get. She now had a duck to take care of, but he was definitely going to be an improvement from the brother she used to have.
Avari felt like this entire experience had filled up an empty spot inside of her. Things were going to be okay. Her half-brother would no longer be harassing her. Instead, she could harass him! This was going to be fun. She now possessed a new power that she could experiment with later. She gained a whole new group of friends and got back others. She had her old spy job back, making her feel like she had more purpose in life.
Above all of these things that rounded out her life, she felt like she had finally gotten some closure with her parents. She had finally gotten her chance to say goodbye, and that felt great. She still felt a little lost without them by her side, but she had Genkai... And, Riley and Yusuke and all of her other friends, too. They would be the comfort and confidence she needed to get past the sorrow and move on with her life. Someday, she might even be ready to get back together with Yusuke. But, until then, Life was good. It was all good.
-Fin-
Last A/n- Well, there it is. My first fanfiction that I ever wrote is now complete! That was quite an experience. I had initially wanted to finished this in 2 months, but it ended up taking 2 years! I learned that I don't update as fast as I say I will. And I have also seen how my writing as progressed over these years. I read the first chapter before posting this and realized how crappy my writing was back then... and how crappy it still is. I mean, I read some of this stuff other people write and I'm like," Whoa! I wish I could write that good!" I still have TONS of room for improvement, but it was fun. I got to be really creative with this series and it was a fun learning experience. I don't think I am ever going to do another OC pairing though... I still can't help but wonder if people think Avari is a bit Mary Sue-ish? I don't really know. Adding OCs, to me, can mean some risky business. Now, I am going to go on hiatus for a while and focus on my demanding schedule as school starts! But, I WILL BE BACK in a few weeks with new one-shots and shorter series. That way I will update faster...maybe. I love and appreciate everyone who stuck it out with this series! Thanks so much for the encouraging reviews! Ta-ta for now!
Hey, Do you see that thing that says 'Submit Review' down there? Well, Click the GO! button next to it and write me something pretty!