For the first few days I was back, all I did was sleep. That was just about all my body felt like doing after helping to fight off Fehreil and his minions, and undergoing my first transformation. One thing Mother told me about transforming was that it was very taxing to my energy to attain such a form, and the intense fighting I did while in that form would be very taxing on my body, which still wasn't entirely developed yet.

The thing that surprised me most about the days after my homecoming was that no one came to visit. The Kuwabaras were too occupied taking care of Yukina's funeral preparations, and Yusuke was off on a "case", or so Mother said. Nobody in the neighborhood knew us, and, for the most part, we had no intention of attracting too much attention. It was all we could do now to deflect questions about strange things that seemed to happen at our house. I had noticed years ago that many people were in and out, a lot of people I didn't know.

Whenever I worked up the courage to ask Mother about these people, she made up an excuse, usually a chore that needed doing. Eventually, I learned that it was best not to ask about things too much when it came to my mother. She always found a way to get out of answering a question...always.

Thursday...it was the day of Yukina's wake. First, I was dressed up in black, a form-fitting dress that hung down to my knees. Mother wore a simple black dress also, but she looked so elegant, and so perfect, while I just looked out of place, my red hair clashing against the black fabric. "Now try your best to be quiet," Mother warned me, brandishing a finger in my face. "And remember, death is only the beginning of immeasurable freedom." After she said this, she looked down solemnly, as if she almost didn't believe her own words. She picked her head up and hurried me out the door after a few more seconds.

People were gathered in the Kuwabaras' apartment, but I didn't expect to see so few. Hiro and Mikari were off to the side, standing at the door to their room. I wanted to go and comfort them, but Kazuma found us before I could. "I'm sorry I wasn't more understanding about you and Kurama,"he said, staring at my mother sadly. "I just didn't know what it felt like to lose someone who's so close to you." Mother embraced him, letting him cry on her shoulder.

"It's alright," she whispered. "I couldn't have expected you to understand." She paused for a moment, lost in a memory. However, it wasn't long before she snapped back to reality.

"They were both so young...so full of life," she continued absently. "I don't know why fate decided that they should die so soon." Suddenly, I was thrust back into a scene from long ago, over ten years ago...

People bustled about in a cathedral laden with roses. At the front sat a coffin, so large and imposing that I was afraid to approach it. Yet approach it I did, and I would regret it later. There was the youth who had fathered me at such a young age. Red hair flowed down the length of his back, and though his eyes were closed, I knew that emerald brilliance that was present in all the photographs.

A woman came down the aisle, trembling visibly as she walked. Her dark hair was disheveled, and her eyes were reddened with tears. Upon reaching the coffin, she shouted words of helplessness at the dead body, wishing he could hear what she had to say. She stroked a beautiful, rose-carved ring, and then pressed it to his cold, lifeless chest. Eventually, she scooped the body up in her arms, and embraced it as though he were still alive, so passionately in love with her. "Mother?" I called when I saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. I longed to comfort her and help her through his death. Though I had never known him, he was my own father, and he held a special place in my heart.

She didn't react to my voice at all, and slowly the world melted away before me, and I was walking toward a different coffin, and there were no rose petals strewn across the aisle...

There I was, walking toward Yukina's body as she lay there. It was so different to see her in this state. When I had left, she was sick and abed, but she hadn't seemed terribly ill. Mother walked away from the coffin and allowed me to see the body. There was kind, serene Yukina, but I had never realized before how full of life she was. At times, I had wondered how she could possibly attract someone like Kazuma, who was hardly quiet. However, as they grew out of adolescence together, the extremities had faded away, and Yukina had learned to laugh, while Kazuma had taken a more serious attitude on life and commitments.

Unsure of what else to do, I knelt at the side of the coffin, taking one of her hands in mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mikari leave the room after Hiro said something. I decided to focus all my attention on Yukina. "I...I'm sorry I never tried to know you," I began, trying to think of what to say. "Kazuma was always the one who would talk at parties, and...it just never occurred to me that you might have had more to say, but you were so gracious, so kind, that you just stood back, and, and..." My voice trailed off as I choked on silent tears, trying not to let Hiro hear me sob.

I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder. It wasn't even my sadness about Yukina's death that made me cry...it was the fact that Hiro and Mikari and Kazuma would all be missing a very big part of their lives. They would have to live with an emptiness that nothing could fill, and no amount of time would erase the pain. "It's okay to cry," someone whispered in my ear. "You don't have to be calllous all the time. It's alright to break down once in a while." I leaned into Hiro and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, rubbing my arm as I cried.

After a few minutes, we moved into a side room, and I tried to choke back my sobs. Whatever happened, I didn't want to make Hiro cry too. He was always strong, always had something to say that made everyone else feel better. "Emotions can't be held in forever, Ri," he told me, smiling with his now-glistening crimson eyes. They shimmered with unshed tears, but somehow, he didn't let them go. He didn't want to while I was there.

"But I don't want to make everyone else around me sad," I said quietly. "All I seem to do lately is make trouble for other people."

"But," Hiro said, looking me straight in the eye, "you're capable of so much more. Don't deny it."

I thought about that for a second. What was I capable of beside causing trouble? Wasn't I able to do something right rather than making everybody else feel bad about how unthankful I was? Scenes rushed through my mind, and I couldn't sort them out at all. The coffin containing my father, strewn with roses. Hiro's eyes, the girl by the river...what did it all mean? Why was I recalling memories I had never experienced before?

"I came home early because Mother heard that her very insane father had kidnapped me, and she didn't want that to happen again," I said. "Jakiri and Sakore came to rescue me because Jakiri is my mother's closest friend, and Sakore was closely tied to my father at some point. Even Hiei came to save me, but he was so reluctant, and I was such a burden on them all. I could barely fight, and they took care of the fake in a matter of seconds." Right after I finished my rant, I burst out crying again, and Hiro comforted me, whispering soothing words in my ear.

The wake had ended by eight, and me and Hiro were still sitting up against the wall together. Finally, I could hear Kazuma walking past, into Mikari's room. She had to have been hit hard by her own mother's death. The two of them had shared something of a telepathic bond when they were together, and Mikari had never liked to stray far from her mother for too long. Though I wanted to see if she was okay, I didn't want to interrupt the two who had been most affected.

"Will you be alright?" Hiro asked, turning to face me. "I think Dad wants the guests gone pretty soon, but you can call me if something's still bothering you." I nodded my head silently, meaning that I would be fine, and Hiro squeezed my hand, which had been firmly in his grip.

"Keiryi?" Mother called, and I came to answer her. It was time to go home.

The time for tears had passed, and I knew I should have been able to move on. But the look in Hiro's eyes as he left me was unbearable. Had it been possible to steal away his sorrows and his hidden pain, I would have done so. Whenever I called and asked him if he was okay though, he always responded heartily, with something like, "Yeah, Ri, I'll be fine. Why wouldn't I?"

That night, in my dreams, I saw him again for the first time in a while. I wasn't sure why he came to me that night, but I was glad that he was there, no matter why he had come...

A/N- And there she blows...the cliffie. Yeah, short chappie, but I didn't want to run over too much. This sort of ends the first stage of MRII, so now we get to move into the really good stuff. Yay! Later!

Peace Out,

Miari