Warnings: Hiei's OCCness?

The Welder of BlackFire:

The Legend Lives Part II-Rose's Renaissance

Chapter Two: The Name of an Old Ally

Both Hiei and Kurama gapped at the ruler, who cringed, clenching his pacifier grindingly between his teeth, and closed his eyes tightly, hoping to avoid the rude and, no doubt, painful, retort. When he received no answer after a few moments of stunned silence, he opened a tentative eye. When he saw the expression on their faces he lifted his head, dubbing the moment safe enough so that he might emerge and further explain this sticky situation.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hiei growled suddenly, his once glazed red eyes suddenly bright with fury. In a flash he was in front of the ruler, grabbing the front of his shirt with a strong hand, his bright scarlet eyes baring into the toddler's own as he twisted the fabric mercilessly. Koenma's expression turned solemn and pained.

"Please, Hiei," he said, removing the youkai's hands from the front of his shirt. "Its the only answer I can think of. I know that you're skeptic of the idea because she was, at one time, our enemy, but you have to trust me, Hiei, with this demon's power, we're going to need all the help we can get." Kurama, who had recovered from his utter shock, stepped forward, glancing down at the fuming demon beside him.

"But Thorn doesn't exist anymore," the fox-demon said softly, trying not to upset Hiei any more than he already was, yet failing as the black-haired demon growled and clenched his fangs and fists beside him.

"But Yusuke told me that she could come back," Koenma said, confused. Kurama shook his head.

"No. I can tell he did not give you the details. Thorn forced both herself and the Black Blaze into a sleep that they could not awaken from unless the certain person who holds the code says the password. Or until Rose 'dies'. Then Thorn said she would awaken to remake her body, making her immortal. So, technically, Thorn does not exist," Kurama explained quietly. Hiei closed his eyes, intent on not showing the emotion that fought to break loose within him. "And neither does the Black Blaze. She said that only she could wake him, and told us that she did not wish to wake him ever again and Rose did not hold the needed password."

"But why?" Koenma questioned, now confused, looking up at the redhead intently.

"She wanted to assure the world that the Black Blaze would never come about again," the kitsune said.

"Well yes, Yusuke told me that, but why did she put herself into this sleep? I thought that she just got rid of his evil power," Koenma said. His eyes still held their sullen gleam, but interest sparked in them, as well as lost hope. Perhaps the girl would not be able to help them.

"It doesn't matter," Hiei growled softly. "Rose still holds her power, but her entire memory has been erased of the time we knew them."

"That is true," Kurama said, nodding. "She said that, with the proper training, Rose would be just as powerful as she, at least, physically. She said, actually, that if the world was ever in danger, that Rose would be a strong ally for you. That she would fight for what she believed was right. Perhaps she knew this day would come. Although, maybe, not so soon after she left, or she might have stayed." Koenma chewed on this thought a moment. Finally, he looked up at them, grim determination lining his features.

"Well, the mission will not be changed. Rose might not be as strong Thorn, but she still holds that power. We still might need her help," he said. Kurama nodded. Hiei remained silent, finally wrestling his expression into that of indifference.

"Then we will get Yusuke and Kuwabara and try to find her," the kitsune said quietly. Hiei was silent. Koenma shook his head.

"No, perhaps it would be better if I just send you two, so she doesn't feel threatened," the young ruler said, pondering over new possibilities on this mission.

"How are we going to find her?" Hiei asked, silently hoping he could throw a wrench in their plans. He didn't want to see her again. Thorn was dead, and Rose had taken her place. The body would be the same, but the girl wouldn't. She was no one he wanted to meet again. It would be much to painful to see her in that body, Thorn's body.

The other two in the room looked at him, Kurama trying to hide the sorrow he felt for his friend and Koenma thinking, his eyes not focusing on the youkai.

"No, I should be able to find her. It shouldn't be a problem," Koenma said. "We have her on record because she died, so finding her will be the easy part."

"What will be the hard part?" Hiei asked darkly.

"Convincing her to help us," the prince said, hopping down from his chair to walk over to a large filing cabinet marked 'Returned to Life'. He leapt up onto a stool and pulled out a middle drawer marked 'S', which was nearly even with Kurama's head, the cabinet was so tall, and began to quickly flip through the files.

"How do we approach her?" Kurama asked as he and Hiei watched the ruler skim through files.

"Hm. I was just thinking about that. Ah ha!" he cried triumphantly, pulling from the drawer a thin, cream-hued folder. He jumped down from his stool and carried it over to his desk, placing it atop a few open books and removing the documents from it.

"Hm. Let's see. According to this, she lives in America, which we already knew. But New York to be exact, in a small town called Tanglewood. She goes to the local high school there. Hm, it says here that when she died she was in eighth grade, which means she'll be in tenth grade now," Koenma explained, his brow knit in concentration. "Perhaps you two could be registered at her school and approach her there. It would make it much less conspicuous." He glanced up at the two, uneasiness hinting in his expression as he looked at Hiei, who was growling under his breath at the thought of mingling with humans. "As long as Hiei agrees to give up his sword and not kill anyone. It shouldn't take more than a week, I think, so it shouldn't matter." Kurama looked over at Hiei, who snorted and looked away.

"It would hardly be worth my energy to kill them," he grunted. "Just as long as they stay out of my way." Kurama stepped toward Koenma's desk.

"It think it would be wise if we both were entered in the same classes as her, this way, there is a better chance of at least one of us talking to her," he said. Koenma nodded, still eyeing Hiei uncertainly.

"Yes, I'll put you into as many of the same classes as her as possible. But I'll make sure that you both have the same schedule," he said, knowing that Kurama could help Hiei with his distemper toward ningens. "Well, I guess I should get to work them. You'll be sent to America tomorrow to attend classes on Monday," he said decidedly, dismissing them. They nodded and turned away as the toddler began rifling through other papers. Kurama closed the door softly before he and the youkai beside him began to walk back down the hall from which they had entered. They walked in silence, the bellowing from the working ogres behind them filling the void before fading away as they continued down the hall.

"Are you okay with this situation, Hiei?" Kurama asked. His voice echoed off the high ceiling, roughening the soft edges of his voice in its vast space.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked hotly with a touch of a growl.

"You know why, Hiei. This is a different person we'll be dealing with, not Thorn. I hope you realize that."

"I do, Kurama, and I know that this is a mission. I will not let the past interfere with it," he replied, his voice bland.

"You know it was a mission last time as well, and yet...." Kurama let his voice trail off, yet he clearly got his point across to his friend, and received a guttural rumble as an answer.

"I know," Hiei answered.

Authoress' Note: well! Here everyone goes! Wonderful new chapter! I'm going to try to be better about updating. I realize we have some new review's and it rocks! Its really encouraged me to keep this up. I realize that now that we know the Black Saga starts this Saturday, this story doesn't seem very plausible, but -shrug- hey, I've only read spoilers about the ending and so couldn't really have written it from there. Please bear with me as OCC on Hiei's part comes about. I'm going to try to edit this a bit to make it a bit more realistic. But, hey, this is fantasy! anyway, don't expect any real romance in this one folks, and no making-out. Sorry. it's a bit more depressing and frustrating. Especially for a certain fire-youkai! . Don't worry, you like real depression? The side story to this is coming along [second chapter complete!] and THAT'll be intensely depressing. Well, enjoy!

Reviews:

miyako14:

thank you! Glad to hear yer looking forward to this fic. It'll take a while to put up. But I don't think it'll be as long as LL. And the side fic will prolly be less than 10 chapters. I hope.. Lol. Thank you so much! [and yes, it made sense]

baka-chibi-puffs:

Lol! I swear yer the oddest reviewer ever! Not to say that's bad… because its not. Kurama, bad boy for dissin' the cake! Cheese cake rocks all the world, boya! -recieves cake- -sparkly eyes- yay! Nope, this conversation NEVER happened..

Gambit's Panther:

Thank you, new reviewer! Wonderful to see new names about! Thank you!

Hiei's1girl:

Thank ye! glad to see yer back! Here's an update fer ya!

Antwone:

why, thanks! Yeah, that last line comes into play later! Glad you liked it! Here's the sequel, and soon the side story! [once I get past… errr… the first… err… all of it. ] 0.0 why, thank you. Such compliments! Glad to see a new name to my reviewer list! Thanks!

Reallydizzy:

Yay! Snackies! I like food. I know my other fic shot down the story-line really bad. Actually, now that I think about it, I started writing it over a year ago! 0.0 -blink- wow. Back when we were JUST beginning the DT saga. Thank you for that wonderful review! Here's the next chappy fer ya'll!

J

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