Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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Previously:

Tomorrow, they would go to Genkai's temple.

(A/N short, sweet and to the point)

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Chapter 6: Surprise, Surprise and Training Hell

"You've got to be kidding."

"Nope,"

"I have to climb all of those?"

"Pretty much."

"……..hey Yusuke,"

"Hey what?"

"Can I get on your back?"

"No."

"Aw, why not?"

"Hey, we'd get to the top faster if you'd both just SHUT UP!"

"Kuwabara's right…..woah, never thought I'd say that."

"Very funny, Urameshi, now lets go!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked around to where Kiya once stood.

"Hey, where'd she go?" asked Kuwabara.

They both looked back to Kurama, who merely pointed to the long staircase leading to Genkai's temple. There, on the staircase, was Kiya, going up the stairs as fast as she could. The smug gloves she wore on her hands that went all the way up to her elbows shone in the sunlight, the leather, a glowing black.

Since Kiya had been told they were going to be doing 'training' of some sort today, she wore tight black sweat pants and a light-weight black tank top that slightly showed her mid drift. Of course, black converses were tied smugly on her feet.

"HaHa! I'll beat you all to the top!" she yelled behind her, addressing all of the guys.

"WHAT!" yelled Kuwabara.

"YOU WISH!" Yusuke.

The two spirit detectives soon joined in the race, jumping 3 stairs at a time, which just encouraged Kiya to go faster.

Kurama started to climb the stairs as well, but at a calmer rate. He looked behind him at the fire youkai who was still standing at the bottom.

"Are you coming, Hiei?"

"Hn."

The Kitsune shrugged, then continued on his path up the stairs, leaving Hiei behind.

--------20 minutes later---------

"Ha! (pant) im beating (pant) both of y(pant)ou." Stated the tired Kiya proudly when she was finally only 20 steps from the top. A little ways behind her were Yusuke followed by Kuwabara, who had tripped twice, earning him the position of dead last. Even Kurama, who was calmly walking up the stairs next to Yusuke, was ahead of Kuwabara. Hiei was still at the bottom.

Kiya, Yusuke and Kuwabara were now at the point of literally crawling up the steps.

When Kuwabara finally realized that Hiei was not with them, he looked back to see him just standing there at the bottom, watching the events on the staircase unfold.

"What's the (pant) shrimp doin'?" He asked no one in particular.

"HA! Im (pant) only three steps (pant) from the top. (pant)"

Kiya weakly raised her hand, and placed it on the second step from the top, pulling the rest of her body up onto the third step. Raise hand, place it 1 step from the top, pull up body.

Just as Kiya was about to place her shaky hand on the top step, therefore declaring her victory, a black blur sped past her, making her hair flip wildly.

"What the…." The water elemental (A/N anyone got a Japanese word for 'elemental'?) looked up, to see Hiei already at the top, walking calmly to the temple, his back to everyone.

"Hey, how'd he do that?" she asked as Kurama also reached the top step.

"Let's just say that he has never lost a race." He stated amusedly before helping Kiya to her feet and walking with her to the temple. Kurama had never seen Hiei partake in one of Yusuke's and Kuwabara's contests, and it was quite odd. Kurama was becoming aware of changes occurring in his life-long friend, and he knew for a fact that a certain water elemental was casing these changes.

All Kurama could think is, it's about time. Thankfully, Hiei had not been reading his thoughts.

"Hey! You gonna help us?" Yelled Yusuke after finally reaching the top step, tugging on Kuwabara's arm. Kiya looked back at them to see that Kuwabara had given up, two steps from the top, and he was now sprawled on his stomach, looking very much like a liquid.

Kiya just laughed and continued walking with Kurama until an old lady with faded pink hair and a raspy voice confronted them. Kiya saw Yukina smiling happily at her from the temple steps while she tried to help Kuwabara walk. Kiya smiled back.

"It's about time you all got here! Since you're late, Kiya will have to start her training immediately." The old woman yanked Kiya forward by her arm with a strength not expected by any human, let alone an old woman, and led her past the temple into the forest. Kiya was confused and looked back at Kurama who was following them. Yusuke and Kuwabara were still crawling, but now they were on their way to the temple door, and Hiei was no where to be seen.

"That's Genkai, the temple owner."

Kiya nodded and followed Genkai obediently as she came to a clearing in the forest.

Genkai walked to the center of the clearing, then abruptly sat down, conveniently pulling Kiya down with her. Kiya landed on her rear with and uncoordinated 'thud' Genkai let go of Kiya's arm, then crossed her legs. Kiya did the same and watched in wonder as the woman closed her eyes. Kiya, not knowing what to do, side-glanced at Kurama, who was leaning against a tree, watching them. He just motioned towards Genkai.

"Close your eyes, dimwit." The raspy voice of Genkai startled Kiya and she immediately closed her eyes. "Now, relax every muscle in your body, all the way from your head, down to your toes. Relax them. Now, take deep breaths, inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth."

Kiya did as she was told and began to breathe slowly. She suddenly felt very light, and dizzy. Kiya kept breathing, actually liking the feeling that meditating brought to her.

"Good, now clear your mind. When it is clear, envision a glowing blue orb floating above the ground as though it had invisible wings. Imagine it levitating."

Kiya did as she was told and cleared her mind after a little bit of trouble from the song that would not stop playing in her head.

This is the song that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friends….

SHUT UP!

……ok.

Kiya smiled contently to herself at her accomplishment, then began to envision the orb.

It came to her almost instantly. The orb was blue, as it was instructed to be, and it was glowing, as if it had an incredibly powerful energy trapped within it's round confines. It was floating, flying as Kiya saw it. Flying in place. Kiya was almost so mesmerized by the blue orb, that she barely heard what Genkai said.

"Well, I thought it was going to take longer than that."

Kiya, wanting to know what Genkai was talking about, peeped one eye open to see that Genkai was no where in sight. She kept her eye halfway closed, so that the world was still blurry from behind her black lashes and said, "Genkai?"

"Im down here."

Confused by Genkai's response, Kiya opened her eyes fully, only to gaze around her, her eyes wide.

The ground on which Genkai sat was at least 10 feet below her, and Kiya could see over the temple. Kiya was floating!

"Woah….." she said quietly, as if by speaking loudly, she would fall. "….Oh. My. God……..I can fly!"

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I want to end it here so badly, but I wont, because that wouldn't be fair to all my wonderful readers. ……and you'd all probably chase me with pitchforks and soup ladles(don't ask) so I wont.

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"She can fly?" asked Kurama, who was now looking up in wonder at the floating girl.

"Of course she can fly! Didn't Koenma tell you? Every elemental can fly."

"Uh, Genkai," Kiya spoke a little louder this time. "H-how do I get down?"

"Close your eyes. Is your orb still there?"

Kiya closed her eyes, and sure enough, the floating blue sphere of energy was still there. "Yes."

"Okay, now release it…." Kiya didn't listen to the rest. She released her orb quickly, only to be sent flying to the ground. "AHH-'bump'"

Genkai rolled her eyes at the stupid girl and finished her sentence. "…slowly."

Kiya groaned as she rubbed her sore back.

Genkai rolled her eyes distastefully at the girl. "Kurama, you can have her now, (A/N not in the gross way, you perverts! Get your heads outta the gutters!) I'm going inside to make sure the dimwit hasn't broken anything."

Kurama nodded then bowed respectfully.

Kiya, still on the ground, made a nodding motion with her head that was supposed to signify her bowing, but Genkai was already on her way back to the temple, so it really didn't matter.

Kurama turned his attentions to Kiya and said "Okay, I will be training you in tapping into your elemental powers."

"Didn't Genkai already do that?"

"No, it seems she only wanted to see you fly. We will train for only a little while, then I will turn you over to Hiei, who will train you with your speed and a weapon of your choice."

"Will we be…..fighting?"

"Probably."

Gulp.

"Okay, so we're going to sit down for this. Now I want you to meditate just as you did with Genkai."

Kiya nodded and repeated the relaxing and emptying the mind thing. Or she tried to empty her mind, but a certain small blue light in the back of her mind wouldn't budge.

"Okay, you should be able to see an energy in your mind soon."

Oh, so that's what it was.

"I see it."

Kurama eyed the girl suspiciously. She wasn't supposed to be able to see her energy so quickly, it was not normal. But then again, being an elemental wasn't normal, so he continued.

"Okay, now bring it out. Tap into the energy and focus on making it show itself. Hold out your hand, palm facing outwards in front of you."

Kiya did as instructed as Kurama got up and stood behind her. Whatever energy Kiya was going to bring out, Kurama did not want to be in it's way.

Kiya's breathing suddenly became slower and deeper as her entire body began to glow a bluish hue. Kurama back away slightly.

"Now focus that energy into your hand." Kurama ordered from behind.

Kiya didn't do anything to show she heard him, but the glow around her slowly began to move across her, leaving the rest of her black-clad body un-glowing, and her hand glowing brightly. The remaining energy that wasn't around her hand snaked up from her back, traveling around her gloved-arm and to her hand, slinking between her fingers.

Kurama smiled approvingly and said, "Now release it."

Kurama could sense Kiya's hesitation. She was worried. She had never done this before and she had no clue how it was going to turn out. But, Kiya was never one to care about consequences, so she shrugged and prepared to release the new-found energy from her hold.

That's when Kurama saw Kuwabara.

He was walking out of the forest towards Kiya and Kurama, walking slowly. As usual, he was too stupid to realize that Kiya was about to release an attack, but he did sense her energy, and he stepped to the side slightly.

But that did not dub him out of harm's way, and Kurama knew this.

"Kiya, wait…" he attempted to get her to hold on for a moment so Kuwabara could get out of the way, but it was too late. Kiya had already released her energy, sending a large transparent wave of blue energy out in front of her. By now, Kiya's eyes were open and she was watching in wonder, until she too saw Kuwabara.

"KUWABARA, MOVE!" she yelled.

He didn't hear her. The roar of the wave was too loud, and it was now plowing right into Kuwabara, sending him flying into a nearby tree. (Kuwabara haters: YES!) As soon as the wave hit Kuwabara, it dissipated, the blue energy returning in the form of a long spiral into Kiya's body. She quickly got to her feet and along with Kurama, ran to Kuwabara, who was now lying face first on the ground, pieces of the now-destroyed tree he flew into were scattered everywhere.

"Kuwabara, you still alive?" asked Kiya as Kurama crouched down next to him and turned him onto his back. To their relief, Kuwabara was still very much alive, and he had swirls in his eyes.

Kiya sighed in relief and at that moment, Yusuke, Yukina and Genkai rushed to Kuwabara.

"What happened?"

"Kazuma!"

"Ha, Kuwabara lost to a tree!"

Came the three statements.

Kiya could've sworn she faintly heard an amused grunt coming from above her. She looked up to see a black-clad figure flitting away. The branches of the tree where the figure previously sat quavered slightly with the sudden departure.

Hiei.

She sighed. He was so…..weird.

"KIYA ALMOST KILLED ME!" the now fully sane Kuwabara yelled.

"I did not! You just refused to listen and move out of the way." She defended, smacking him upside the head.

"HEY!"

"Im sorry to interrupt, but Kiya must return to her training." Said Kurama politely.

Yusuke laughed and pulled Kuwabara up, leading him back through the forest and to the temple, with Genkai and Yukina following them, Genkai muttering something about 'stupid dimwits who cant listen.'

Kiya followed Kurama back to the middle of the clearing and said, "Alright, what's up next, Yoda?"

Kurama, momentarily confused about this sudden nickname, replied, "Nothing with me. I think that's enough for one day, now Hiei will train you until it's time to go home."

"Which is?"

"In about 3 hours."

Double gulp.

"Have fun." Kurama joked politely, chuckling slightly behind his back, already on his way back to the temple.

"Of course, I've always thought it would be fun to DIE!" she yelled after him.

"Baka onna," Came a cold voice behind Kiya.

"Jeez…." She yelped while spinning around, seeing Hiei behind her, holding a blade in it's sheath.

He threw it at her, making it hit her right in the face, then plopping onto the ground.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" She yelled at the fire apparition, who was glaring un- approvingly at her. Kiya rubbed her sore nose.

"Hn."

"THAT'S NOT EVEN A WORD!"

Kiya stood in horror as Hiei just provided her with three words.

"Speed and defense."

Then, he disappeared.

"Kuso.." she mumbled as she spun around frantically, searching for the fast moving youkai.

Suddenly, she was hit from the back with a katana blade, making the skin of her upper back break, forming a long scratch in her black shirt. She felt a warm liquid falling down her back. She gasped in pain.

She turned around to look at Hiei. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"Hn." And he disappeared again.

Kurama, who had returned a moment earlier, deciding it would be interesting to see Hiei train and Kiya attempt to be trained, yelled, "Kiya, use the katana!"

It took a moment for Kiya's mind to grasp what Kurama had instructed her to do, but then she finally complied, quickly picking up the sheathed sword. She fumbled slightly while trying desperately to un-sheathe the blade as fast as possible.

That's when a blade made contact with her skin…again. This time on her right arm. Kiya quickly spun to her right a swung her katana.

She hit nothing. Hiei had already moved.

"Damn,"

She heard the grass rustle behind her, and she turned around, to come face to face with a katana blade coming down quickly towards her head.

"Hiei!" yelled Kurama, but was soon silenced by the sound of two katanas 'clinking' loudly together.

Kiya peeped open one of her now closed eyes to see that she had raised her blade above her head and it had met Hiei's blade, mere-centimeters from her face.

Hiei looked at her emotionlessly for a moment, before shooting her a chilling smirk.

Before Kiya had a chance to question this out of character facial expression, a foot had made contact with her gut, sending her flying 3 feet, then falling to the ground.

Hiei looked emotionlessly down at her, before once again flittering out of view.

Kiya groaned and stood up again, hoping that her luck of blocking Hiei's attacks would keep up.

--------3 HOURS LATER---------

Let's just say that her luck didn't keep up.

After her 3 hours in hell, Kiya was crawling out of the forest, fresh scratches and bruises everywhere, muttering something about 'stupid ego-crazed fire youkai's with big, pointy sticks', while Kurama was walking beside her, trying his best to hide his laughter behind his hand.

…..which wasn't working all that well.

He could sense Hiei flittering through the trees above them, finding it un-like him to stick with them instead of just going ahead to the temple. But hey, Kurama was not one to question the powers of the attraction between a powerful fire youkai and his attract-ee. (A/N not a word, I know)

Although, Hiei had no clue that it was attraction. True, that he did feel different around this girl, and he didn't know why. That's why he was following her, to find out what the hell was happening to him and why this girl seemed to be triggering this odd 'illness', as he like to call it.

Kurama had stayed for the whole training session, finding it amusing that Hiei had never severed one of her limbs. Not once. Well, there was a first time for everything, and those first-timers had been coming out of the Kitsune's friend constantly lately.

Once they reached the temple, Koenma was waiting for them in the living room, along with Yukina, Genkai, Yusuke and a still pissed off Kuwabara.. Kiya, finally able to stand, leaned against the wall, mostly for support, and said to Koenma, "You had better be providing us with a portal to get home."

"Of course Kiya, but first, here." He handed her a box that was about the size of her forearm. It was wrapped in a blue cloth, and had a note on it. She read the paper outloud.

"To Kiya. You'll be needing this soon."

With her brows furrowed, she began to unwrap the package.

Kurama noticed the figure suddenly appearing at the windowsill, watching Kiya.

When the package was fully unwrapped, Kiya opened the top of the brown cardboard box and suddenly pulled out a long, deep red piece of clothing.

Confused, Kiya pulled the cloth all the way out of the box, dropped the box on the ground and began to examine the…. cloak, as it seemed to be.

When Kiya got around to looking on the back of the cloak, her eyes widened. She gasped loudly, and threw the cloth onto the ground, away from her.

She backed away from the cloak and into the wall, her eyes wide with fear.

Everyone in the room looked at Kiya, then at the cloth that was lying on it's front on the ground, it's back fully exposed to everyone.

There, on the back of the cloak, was a silver sign. A water drop encircled by a long, blue spiral.

Beneath the sign that clearly meant, 'water', was another note, pinned to the cloak.

You belong with us, Kiya.

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Hehe.

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!