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:

"Hai. As it turns out, Hiei's katana can be very persuasive- especially from a toddler's point of view."

Yusuke and Kuwabara both got sweat drops "Isn't that just like him- threatening a baby…" started Yusuke. "Well, I guess we should call Kurama and tell him Hiei's back. I'd also like to have a talk with that stupid toddler- he should've at least told Kiya, to save her the trouble of thinking that Hiei left her----even though he did….."

"You know what they say," started Keiko. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

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Chapter 24: So It Begins:

The bright sun seeping in through Kiya's open bedroom window rudely awoke her from her soundless sleep- the only real rest she had gotten since Hiei had left and come back. She groaned out loud and rolled over, digging her face into her pillow- trying her hardest to reclaim her sleep.

Wait……pillow? The last thing Kiya remembered was falling asleep with Hiei on the windowsill. The windowsill had no pillows- nor any blankets, at least, that's what Kiya thought the warmth surrounding her was coming from, a blanket.

Keeping her eyes closed, Kiay felt around her blindly. The soft mattress and comforter beneath her searching hand told her that she was indeed in a bed. Her bed.

Had it all been a dream? Was Hiei's return just a fragment of her hopeful imagination? Kami, she hoped not.

Sitting up, Kiya tiredly blinked her eyes open and inhaled deeply- catching a wiff of a very familiar scent of sulfur and pine trees. Kiya looked down at her body to find the source of the familiar scent and the warmth surrounding her. It was a black cloak, a little- too- big- for- her cloak.

Hiei's cloak.

She smiled slightly. So his return wasn't just a scenario she dreamt. He really was back- and he must have carried her to her room- but why and where he was now- she did not know.

She rose form her bed slowly, gripping the large cloak on her tightly, so the heat around her would not dissipate until she could get some of her own clothes on. Once she reached her closet, she rummaged through it for something warm to wear. She found tight fitting white jeans and a large black hoodie with a yin-yang on the front. She discarded Hiei's cloak onto her bed and got dressed quickly, figuring she could shower at Koenma's palace.

Today was the day that she, along with the rest of her friends were supposed to go to Koenma's palace. She decided that she was going to ask Hiei to come with her- she wasn't sure why. Mostly because she enjoyed his company- a lot, but there was another reason, one less obvious. It was because Kiya was afraid. For the first time in her life, Kiya was afraid- afraid for her own life, and the lives of the people around her. Kiya felt that with Hiei there, they'd all be at least a little safer.

Kiya walked out of her room, wondering if everyone had already gone to Koenma's palace without her. The loud voices coming from the living room as Kiya drew nearer to the stairs told her that they had not yet left.

The voice was yelling- and belonged to Yusuke.

"Are You Crazy?" Yelled Yusuke's voice, and Kiya stopped walking, pressing her back against the wall so that she could listen to the conversation going on downstairs without being seen. "You knew where Hiei was the whole time and you never told us? Even Kiya!"

Kiya's eyes widened. Who knew where Hiei had been? Why hadn't they told her?

Kiya strained to hear the weary and nervous voice replying to Yusuke.

"H-He told me not to. I didn't want to die!"

Kiya gasped quietly. It was Koenma's voice! That damn toddler had better have a good explanation as to why he hadn't told Kiya where Hiei had been, or she was going to give him 10 seconds to get as far away from her as possible so she wouldn't be tempted to end his little pitiful life.

"Hiei, what does Koenma mean by this?" inquired Kurama's voice.

Kiya could hear Hiei give an obnoxious 'Hn.' and she smirked. That's her little obnoxious pyro.

"H-he told me not to tell anyone that he was going to Makai…….I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"

"Hiei threatened him," answered Yusuke, but Kiya didn't hear him; she was too busy stomping down the stairs and into the living room, her eyes flaring.

She walked right over to Koenma, in his teenage form, reached up to grab the collar of his shirt, and yanked on it, pulling his face down so it was mere inches form her own. It was quite a funny sight, actually.

"You have three seconds to explain yourself, toddler, or you're going to be a puddle." She hissed through clenched teeth. If everyone's attentions were on Hiei instead of the small Kiya threatening the ruler of Rekai, they would've seen him smirking.

"H-hold on a minute….."

"One."

"HA! The baby's gonna get it," Yusuke laughed.

"Kiya, l-listen, Hiei threatened-"

"Two."

"Hiei would've killed me if I told any of you where he went….ask him why!"

Kiya held Koenma in that position for a moment longer, glaring into his wide eyes, before abruptly letting go of him and smirking when he crashed to the floor with an ungraceful 'thump'. It was then that Kiya looked around her. There, in the living room, stood Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Keiko, Shizuru and Hiei. Kiya looked straight at Hiei, who was sitting on the windowsill, looking back at her. Confidant that he was reading her mind, she sent him her thoughts.

You……me……bedroom……now.

It wasn't until after Kiya had sent the thoughts to the telepath that she realized how sexual she had just sounded- she cringed and blushed slightly. Without a word to anyone, Kiya walked back upstairs to her room, knowing that Hiei was already there- and not realizing that a pair of green mixed with amber eyes were staring at the partially revealed red mark on her neck.

"……ok……." Said Kuwabara, breaking the silence.

Once she was inside her room, she closed the door behind her and locked it, then turned around to face the stoic fire youkai standing by her far wall.

"Alright, now that I know where you went, I want to know why."

Hiei just looked at her, his eyes narrowing. Kiya groaned.

"It's just a simple question, Hiei- and could be dealt with by a simple answer. Was it because of me? Did you leave to get away from me?"

"Yes." And no. He needed to get away from Kiya to sort out his emotions- but it wasn't because of her. It was because of him.

'Yes', was not the answer Kiya wanted to hear, and her spirits dropped. Hiei had left because of her- Because he wanted to get away from her?

"You've got it wrong, onna," Came Hiei's stoic voice in her head. She would've yelled at him for –again- invading her privacy and calling her onna, but she was interested in what he had to say. "I needed to be alone- needed to think."

If Kiya had ever heard Hiei try to console someone, she imagined it would sound like this. So, he needed time to think…….

…….that was good enough for her.

Before either of them could say anything else they heard a loud knock on Kiya's door followed by a couple of snickers. Then Yusuke's voice.

"Hey! I hope you two are practicing safe sex in there!"

Both Hiei's and Kiya's eyes narrowed as they readied themselves to run to the door and tackle that damned spirit detective to the ground. Hiei beat Kiya to it.

Hiei threw open the door and Kiya could hear girlish squeals (two of them) from outside her door and could see Hiei begin to un-sheathe his katana. Kiya looked over Hiei's shoulder to see both Yusuke and Kuwabara cowering against the wall on the floor, staring wide-eyed at the sword being drawn for them.

"Run." Came the one word from Hiei, his voice low and dangerous. Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't need to be told twice. They both scrambled to their feet and dashed out of the hallway, screaming bloody murder.

Kiya began laughing her ass off while Hiei took off after the two, quite enjoying the fear he was invoking in the two 'bakas'.

While Hiei and the two detectives were downstairs, Kurama walked upstairs to talk to Kiya.

"Hey Kurama."

"Hello, Kiya." Kiya watched as Kurama's eyes quickly trailed downward to her neck, then up to her eyes again. "It is nearly time to go. Do you have all of your things ready?"

"Hai."

"Good. And Kiya- " Kiya looked back to Kurama and she thought she could see a slight sadness in the depths of his green orbs, but it was soon gone, "Hiei missed you- as much as you missed him." With that, he turned around and walked back down the hallway. Kiya frowned, and then followed.

Once downstairs, Kiya could see that Kuwabara was hiding behind the couch and Yusuke's shirt was in Hiei's grasp, a katana to his throat.

"Jeez, H-Hiei, alright. No more sex jokes."

Hiei glared at Yusuke one moment longer, then muttered a quick "Hn," and shoved the detective away from him.

Keiko and Shizuru stood against the wall, watching the show unfold in front of them. Keiko leaned towards Shizuru and whispered, "Did you notice how much Hiei and Kiya act alike?"

"It's kind of hard not to notice."

"O-okay everybody," started Koenma, now trying to re-compose his stature, "We need to get going."

Everyone in the room nodded and Kiya could hear Kuwabara say quietly, "Here I come, Yukina." She rolled her eyes and whilst doing so, saw Genkai in the doorway out of the corner of her eye.

Kiya walked to the old psychic and bowed slightly. "Arigato, Genkai-sama- for letting me stay here, for training me and-"

"Shut it," came the raspy interruption. "There's no need for sappy good-byes."

Kiya smiled and reached forward to hug the old psychic- who didn't hug back of course.

"This is incase I don't ever see you again." Kiya whispered, referring to the hug, then let go and walked over to Hiei. "Are you going to come with us?" Kiya could hear everyone behind her entering the portal.

Hiei looked to Kiya, then past her shoulder to Yukina, then back to Kiya.

"Hn." He said with a small nod, and Kiya beamed. She figured that the only reason Hiei was coming was to keep an eye on Yukina.

Still in denial I see, Kiya.

Shut up. I'm not in denial about anything.

You're in denial about being in denial.

And how does that work out?

Nevermind………He's going to keep an eye on you and Yukina, dumb ass.

Ah……

Kiya stopped talking to herself when she felt a tug on her arm. She looked up to see Hiei looking back at her impatiently, everyone else who was in the room a minute ago had gone.

Hiei turned around towards the portal, pulling Kiya with him.

"Patience is a virtue, Koi." (Love)

"I have no interest in virtu-" Hiei stopped dead in his tracks. He spun around to look at Kiya. "What did you call me?"

It took Kiya a minute to realize what she had said, but when she did, she just gave Hiei a sly grin. "I called you Koi, Hiei." She leant up and pressed a quick kiss to Hiei's lips and then walked past him. "Move it or lose it, fire boy, let's go." Having Hiei back was doing wonders to both her mood and self esteem- she was even mouthing off to him! Now that took guts.

It took Hiei a minute to re-collect his control- (all of which was focused on keeping himself from pouncing on Kiya to finish what she had started), then shook his head slightly and followed Kiya through the portal.

Once on the other side, Kiya and Hiei were met by Koenma immediately beginning to explain everything. "Okay everybody, I know you're probably wondering about Botan, and I'm afraid that I have both bad and good news. The good news is that her spirit has not yet come through spirit world-"

Isn't that a bad thing?

"-Which means that her spirit could still be out there, just lost. But with that comes the bad news. Not being able to find her spirit could also mean that her spirit was destroyed by the poison that was injected into her system. All we can do is hope that her spirit is still out there somewhere."

The solemn silence that filled the room urged Koenma to go on.

"On another- still-not-too-cheery-note, the elemental energy in Makai has boomed once again- and I'm sorry to say that I have no idea what they're going to do next. All I know is that if they are going to do something, it's going to be soon." By now, Koenma was looking straight at Kiya. "I'm sorry Kiya, but you aren't safe by yourself any longer. Even here. Now-" He looked around the room, "Who wants to be Kiya's escort- her bodyguard?"

"I will." Said Yusuke- figuring that it was an 'older brother's' job to protect his 'sister'.

"I'd be more than happy to be Kiya's escort." Came Kurama's reply- although, it was mostly Youko speaking. Kurama knew that Kiya was Hiei's territory, and therefore he would probably end up being her escort. Kuwabara was too busy drooling over Yukina to hear what was going on.

Koenma was about to open his mouth to announce who, out of Yusuke and Kurama, was to be her escort, but a possessive grunt and a hand grabbing Kiya's arm had declared who Kiya's 'bodyguard' was to be.

"Alright, Hiei. You will have to stay with Kiya at all times, never let her leave your sight-" Before Kiya could cut him off, he hastily added, "Except for when she's in the shower……and using the bathroom…….and getting dressed….

"How about I just show you all to your rooms."

------------------LATER THAT NIGHT------------------

Kiya was sitting on the bed in the room that she shared with Hiei- writing in her journal, Blaze. Hiei was sitting on the windowsill. Instead of looking outside, the fire youkai's eyes were intent on Kiya.

Hello again, Blaze.

Writing all of my thoughts down completely might take a while, so I'm going to sum them down a bit.

I'm now living, along with everyone else, in Koenma's palace- apparently Ningenkai was no longer safe for any of us. I didn't have my transformation last night, and I'm too afraid to ask why….afraid of the answer. I share a room with Hiei- Yes. Oops, I hope he doesn't read that- or see it in my mind. Living with a telepath can be a bitch- but its okay because he's hot. I hope he doesn't read that either.

I called him Koi today. He didn't go as crazy as I thought he would, and that's good. I think I love him, Blaze. I'm not sure what love is supposed to feel like, but I'm pretty sure this is at least close to it. The fluttering of the stomach whenever I see him, the feeling of separation anxiety when he's gone. I sort of feel like a trusty dog.

I don't want to be a dog………..

Alright, Hiei's staring at me and it's sort of freaking me out. I guess I'll write later.

Assuming that I live that long.

-Me

Kiya closed her black leather-bound journal and placed it to the side. She turned her face to stare back at the Jaganshi, who had turned his head already to stare outside.

"Are you alright Hiei?"

She got no response.

No- Hiei was not alright. He couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen- for his Jagan had not stopped burning since last night.

Kiya sighed and got under the covers for her bed, yawning- not even bothering to get into pajamas. "Good night, Hiei." She reached up and pulled on the cord dangling above her head, and therefore extinguishing the lights in the small palace guest room. Kiya was surprised that the room could fit all three of them.

That's right, the three of them. Kiya, Hiei and Hiei's ego.

Hiei was surprised how quickly Kiya fell asleep, and he couldn't help but stare at her sleeping form, feeling a sudden surge of triumph and pride when his hawk-like gaze caught sight of the red mark on Kiya's neck.

She was his- and he couldn't believe it. She was finally his.

After hours of staying awake, his over-protective senses aware of everything happening around him- he allowed his eyes to close.

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Hiei awoke almost immediately once feeling that the precious presence in the room with him was gone. His crimson eyes snapped open and immediately went to the bed in which Kiya had fallen asleep in just 4 hours before.

It was empty. The covers were thrown, and the door to the room was wide open.

Hiei let out an in-humane growl as he quickly got off the window sill and flitted into the living room. He could still sense her in the palace, she was close, but something was wrong with her.

Hiei, his mind now over-ridden with fury and concern- emotions he had only felt for one other person in his entire life- flitted away to follow Kiya's aura.

After minutes of nerve-wrecking searching, Hiei found his beloved water elemental in the main hallway, the one leading right to the large palace front door. She was walking gracefully and slowly, as if she were floating- towards the large front door.

Hiei, immediately sensing that something was incredibly wrong with Kiya, flitted in front of her, blocking her path.

He was about to demand to know what she was doing out of bed, but the sight of Kiya's eyes stopped the words, trapping them in his throat.

Her eyes were blue….. Completely and totally blue- the same devastating mid-night blue as her hair. His own crimson orbs widened as he hissed. Those damn elementals were beckoning her- calling her...

…….Trying to take her away from him. Kiya continued walking, nearly bumping into Hiei until he roughly placed both his hands on her shoulders, trying to make her stop walking.

But it didn't work, Kiya just pushed on- breaking through Hiei's grip and walking past him, muttering a quiet but firm demand. "Do not try to stop her Hiei- the elemental goes to the place that calls to her." The voice belonged to Kiya, but the mind creating the words did not- therefore, Hiei had no remorse for what he was about to do.

He came up behind Kiya, with his katana in hand and into her mind said, "This is for your own good."

With that, Hiei sent the hilt of his katana hurtling towards Kiya's head. The two objects collided with a muffled 'thunk' and Kiya's body dropped in a limp heap into Hiei's awaiting arm.

Hiei sheathed his katana with his free hand before using it to pick up Kiya, one hand under her knees and one beneath her back.

It looked to Hiei that there would be no more sleep for him for a while-which was fine with him. If he were to chose between sleep, and the safety of his koi……

……..he would force himself never to sleep again if he had to. Kiya was his main priority.

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!