I know, it's been forever. I've finally been working on this story again, though. After I had written Chapter 9 a year or two ago, I got fed up with the story, thinking it was irrevocably another Mary Sue. And for the most part it is, I admit. But then I sat down and wrote most of Chapter 10, and I hope I've fixed that problem, even in the slightest. It was fun to write, and there's an attempt at humor at the end. That's not the last chapter, though. I still haven't worked out an ending for this story yet. But, believe it or not, I have actually finished a story. I know, it's hard to believe, and it's a first for me. So yay! And...no other news, really. Pure laziness has kept me from updating this story. So here I am, trying not to be lazy...and all I'm doing is rambling. Here's Chapter Seven:

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Chapter Seven
Dreaming of Times Long Past

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-- In Reality --

The sound of creaking floorboards instantly brought Hiei out of his thoughts. He had jumped to the darkest corner of the room seconds before the door opened, bringing in a dull light and three teens.

Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama grouped together at the foor of Atsuko's bed, staring intently at Rhys. "Kuwabara, I thought you said she was awake," sounded Yusuke's grumpy voice.

"No, I said I felt her using her spirit energy," Kuwabara replied in defense.

"I don't believe a person has to be awake to use their spirit energy," Kurama added quickly, sensing another disagreement brewing.

"Whatever, I'm going back to bed." Yusuke walked to the door and paused when he heard Kurama ask Kuwabara to turn on the light.

Once light illuminated the dark room it could be seen that Rhys was quickly losing color. The kiyone clamped her hands around her stomach and groaned in her sleep, turning to her side.

Kurama quickly felt her forehead and announced, "She's burning up. We'd better take her to Genkai's."

Kuwabara nodded along with Yusuke. Kurama moved forward, about to pick up the small demon, when Hiei stepped from the shadows.

"I'll take her."

It wasn't an offering, it was a command. The fire youkai made that obvious by cradling her in his arms and walking as quick as only he can out the door, undoubtedly to Genkai's temple.

The three just shrugged to one another and followed his leave when Kurama stopped them. "We forgot about Botan and Yukina. Someone has to stay with them."

Kuwabara instantly jumped at the chance to be near his dearest Yukina while Yusuke and Kurama hurried off to Genkai's temple.

- - - -

-- In Rhys's Dream --

Rhys rolled slowly over onto her back, eyes closed tightly and hands clenched over her stomach. She ached everywhere and it seemed as though she wouldn't stop vomiting until her stomach threw itself up.

Soft footsteps sounded near her, causing her to try and sit up. Black dots instantly clouded her vision for a moment and she almost threw up again. Controlling the urge, she slowly propped herself up with her hands behind her and looked up to see a black-skinned, hazel eyed demon with flowing silver hair staring down at her.

Her surprise instantly turned to panic when she realized she was totaly helpless - and the poison in her blood wasn't helping. That and the demon was approaching her - moving almost as slow as she, but moving nonetheless.

She tried to crawl backwards but was stopped by the trunk of the tree she had been leaning on. Only a few inches from her, the demon stopped and bent down so that he was level to her. He moved to take her arm, which she jerked back violently, feeling pain shoot up her arm and fade away. Before she had time to move again he had grabbed her wrist and seemed to be...checking her pulse?

His next move was to feel her forehead and cheeks, all the while muttering to himself. She raised her questioning orange orbs to his hazel ones and he gave an unexpected smile. "You'll be okay," he told her, his voice sounding like only one person she remembered. Maybe it was her present state, or maybe she was just hallucinating, but his voice sounded like Tomoru, her childhood friend.

"Who are you?" she asked in a whisper, as it hurt to talk loudly.

The demon didn't answer, but instead passed a hand over her stomach. Rhys was about to ask who he was again when she was overcome with a strong feeling of having to vomit once again. She quickly sat up and emptied her stomach onto the green grass beside her, ignoring the dizzy feeling recieved resulting from sitting up too fast. Done, she rested her back against a tree and let out a breath.

Surprisingly, she felt better.

Much better.

In fact, she felt so much better that she stood up without feeling dizzy. Her attention returned to the silver-haired demon standing next to her and she flashed a smile. "Thank you."

He bowed his head. "You're welcome."

Now she was sure of it - he sounded exactly like Tomoru. She cocked her head to one side, debating with herself whether she should say anything or not.

"Have we...met before?" she asked him, eyes expectant.

The demon only smiled mischeviously and replied, "I think you'd recognize me better in my human form."

She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant when sudden swirls of fog appeared out of nowhere. They enveloped the demon and flashes of different colored light streamed out of the smoke. When it had cleared, the overbearing demon from moments before had disappeared.

In his place stood a crimson eyed, young, tall boy, a white star-burst standing out in his pointed black hair. She was about to call him 'Hiei' when a wide grin relaxed his sharp features, eliminating all thoughts that this could be him. This demon's eyes were friendlier...and Hiei never smiled.

Rhys smiled back, realizing this could only be one other person. "Tomoru?" she asked in a whisper, as if he was a dream and talking too loudly would make him vanish.

The demon nodded eagerly.

Before allowing herself to get too excited, she narrowed her eyes and asked suspiciously, "Since when were you a demon?"

A guilty look quickly crossed his face and he looked at her apologetically. "All my life. That's why my parents forbade me to see you." He looked extremely sad for a moment before another grin lit up his face.

Rhys was about to ask what it was when two hands clamped over her eyes, shielding her vision completely. She blindly struggled with her attacker, but their grip was almost as tight as Hiei's. A light giggle met her ears, making her suddenly stop struggling.

A smile graced her lips as she connected the giggle with a face from her past. Old memories came flooding back to her mind as her eyesight was regained and the hands left her face. She whirled around, anitcipation shining in her eyes. Only one person - besides Tomoru and Stahr - had ever dared do that to her - another old childhood friend who was like another sister to Rhys.

"Laina!" she cried, giving her best friend a giant hug. Laina hugged her as well, then stood back to take in her old friend and all her changes.

"Rhys, you've changed so much!" Laina said in surprise.

"Me? What about you?" In all the years Rhys had known her, Laina had always kept her beautiful auburn hair long. Now she sported auburn curls reaching just past her shoulders. Also changed was her height - she now just about towered over Rhys. Not that everyone else didn't, but it made Rhys feel slightly sad to see how much the two had changed.

Much later, the three friends sat in a sloppy triangle on the forest floor, chatting as if hardly any time had passed between their last visit. Tomoru and Laina had already shared what had happened in their lives since the last time they all saw each other. The conversation had drifted from old friends to family relationships to new relationships.

Rhys put in the occassional nod and murmur, but had stayed mostly quiet. This was nothing abnormal, though, as she was normally the most quiet out of the three. It was Laina who asked Rhys the first direct question.

"So Rhys, how's your life been?"

Rhys didn't answer right away, debating with herself whether she should tell them about running away from her home, or meeting the Reikai Tantei, or her feelings for Hiei, or - she stopped herself, her heart skipping a beat. Since when did she have 'feelings' for Hiei?

Tomoru gave her a little nudge, waiting for her answer. She glanced quickly at him, silently berating herself for almost calling him Hiei again.

She opened her mouth to reply when the earth underneath them began to shake and throw them around. "What's happening!" shouted Laina to her two friends.

They all stood shakily, fighting to keep their balance against the shaking. Tomoru and Rhys weren't able to answer Laina's question, as a giant crack spread across the forest floor. It seemed as if the earth was tearing itself into two pieces of land. The worst of it was Tomoru and Laina were on one side and Rhys was on the other.

The crack was still relatively small and Rhys judged she could jump it without a problem. She motioned to her friends to move aside and backed up to give herself a running start. 'Breath, you can do this,' she told herself, inhaling and exhaling deeply. It was now or never.

Rhys realized she was running a few seconds after her legs had started on their own. The sight of the widening crevace made her slow down slightly, but before she had a chance to stop she had jumped as far as she could. She could see the other side so clearly - the green grass, her friend's happy faces, the blue skies.

She was a couple of feet into the middle of the gaping hole when she realized she wouldn't make it.

The last thing she heard was Laina's defeated cry of, "NO!" before she fell into the dark unknown of deep inside the earth's crust.

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-- Still In the Dream --

Rhys looked up to realize she was laying rather uncomfortably on a hard marble floor. She stood shakily, confused at her new surroundings.

She was in a hallway of some sort and there were doors leading to unnamed rooms surrounding her. Lamps were placed periodically along the wall to make up for the lack of windows, but other than that nothing decorated the wooden walls. A heavy, important looking door rose in front of her, the bronze handle old and worn.

She looked at the door as if waiting for the answer to an unvoiced question. After standing in front of it for a minute or two she finally opened it. A few steps into the somewhat large room revealed it held a giant screen almost the size of one wall and a desk with chairs both in front and behind it. As she took the room in, she got the vague feeling she had been there before.

"Ahem."

Rhys turned to see a toddler staring at her expectantly. "Hello, Rhys. I expect you've come to see me about your sister, Stahr." He spoke in a casual tone, as if the two had met before and planned a meeting.

Rhys was left bewildered by his statement about her sister. Before she could stop herself she had blurted out, "Who are you?"

The toddler cleared his throat again and proclaimed, "I am Koenma, co-ruler of Spirit World. I gather Yusuke and the others have mentioned me?"

This was Koenma? She couldn't hold back the giggle from escaping her lips.

He looked slightly offended and she said in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, but I imagined you to be...different." 'More like taller and older,' she added in her mind.

"I am at least five times your age, but let's not get into that now. About your sister," he said sternly.

At the mention of Stahr Rhys immediately sobered. "Yes...sir?"

Koenma clicked a button on a remote toward the giant screen and it illuminated behind her. She turned to see a now familiar scene - her living room, herself, and her sister. The same sick feeling crept over her again as she watched Stahr attempt to murder her younger self again.

Tears stung her eyes, but she wouldn't allow them to spill over. Crying in front of Hiei was one thing, but crying in front of a demi-god was another.

"Your father was a skilled demon, as you can see."

At the sound of his voice she whirled around, processing the words in her head. "What do you mean?"

Koenma raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "You mean you didn't know your father was a demon?"

"Well, I kind of guessed as much by now, but no."

The toddler looked pensive for a moment and said, "He had the power to control minds. He used Stahr kill you, but as you can see, you instead killed her."

Rhys stepped back from the desk and the toddler, trying to absorb the information. "Why would my own father want to kill me?"

"Power," the toddler stated simply. "You were too powerful, even more than he was. He didn't want to be defeated by you when you got older, so he tried to make you weaker, and eventually tried to kill you," Koenma finished, hands folded in front of him on his desk.

As she opened her mouth to ask another question, the room began to fade from sight, eventually leaving Rhys lost to an empty atmosphere of pitch black.

- - - -

The next thing Rhys knew, she was slowly opening her eyes to find herself in a small, square room well lit by sunlight. She was changed into all white clothing, somewhat resembling a hospital attire, and was laying on soft blankets.

The sudden light made her eyes hurt and she shut her eyes again, vaguely aware of a door sliding open and someone entering the room. The person walked closer to her, but stopped before coming too close. Rhys could feel their gaze on her.

She opened her eyes to see an older woman with and faded pink hair standing near her. The woman's lips curved into a smile, almost as if to reassure her that she was safe. Before any words were spoken the woman had left the room, leaving Rhys to wonder if the sudden encounter had happened at all.

Genkai slid the door to the young kiyone's room shut and walked briskly to a room on the side of the temple. She joined Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Botan, and Yukina sitting on the floor and announced, "The girl is awake."

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