I tried uploading this yesterday and it didn't work. Oh well. It's uploaded now so... :)

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. It's copyright (c) Yoshiro Togashi.

Thanks to all who read and review. :)

Enjoy!

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My father paused for a moment in the doorway leading to the room Hiei, Kurama and I were in. I was certain that the scene before him wasn't one that he enjoyed, and he certainly didn't appear to be happy. He walked in and Hiei squeezed my hand.

"What is the meaning of this?" My father asked.

I was quiet.

"Rein! Answer me! Why is Hiei here?"

"Father I... I'm sorry." I looked down. "I know you love me, and I love you too, but... I can't take it anymore!" I looked back up at him. "You've been keeping me all to yourself, not even allowing me to leave the castle grounds. I've put up with it for too long, and I want... I want to do what I want now. I want to be able to have my own life. I'm not saying that I don't want you to be in it, because I do! I want you to support me in what I want... And right now, I want freedom, and I want Hiei. I love him. And he loves me... At least, I hope he does. I want him... I want him to be my mate. I know you wanted to choose for me, but I don't want that, and if you truly care about me father, you'll accept this."

He was silent. I continued.

"I've loved him for quite some time. I wanted to tell you, but I felt that I couldn't. I was afraid of what you would say but I'm saying it now. I love Hiei, and that's not going to change, no matter what you say or do." I closed my eyes, feeling the tears wanting to come out.

"Rein..." Kurama turned his head toward me.

"Kurama, you knew of this?" My father finally spoke. Kurama nodded. "Yes and I must say that I am happy for her. I think the two should be together, and I'm willing to defend what they have, even if it comes down to a fight between you and myself."

"I see." He started to walk toward me. Hiei pushed me behind him. He was glaring at my father.

"If you're thinking of striking her, think again."

I'd made up my mind. I wasn't going to hide from this and let Hiei take what was meant for me. I grabbed his arm and pushed him to the side. He got back in front of me.

"Move." I ordered.

"Is that really what you want?" I nodded and he moved. I looked at my father, who, in moments was inches from me. I was scared, but I wasn't going to back down. He reached for me and I flinched, expecting the worst. Instead, I got something unexpected.

He pulled me toward him and embraced me. I was immediately baffled. He held me tight.

"You're... Just like you're mother. So much so that for all I know, I'm holding her right now."

"Father...?" I looked up at him. He smiled down at me sadly.

"Do you want to know why I never let you leave the castle?" I nodded.

"Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning, if that's okay with you." I nodded again. He sighed.

"Risika, your mother, was not someone I expected to love. She was one of my first maids. She arrived shortly after I'd risen to power as King of Gandhara. She'd been taking care of not only myself, but the castle—She even helped to build it—for over a hundred years before I'd really noticed her. When I finally started to pay attention to her, I regretted not doing so sooner. She was so beautiful, not to mention she knew everything I enjoyed. She was "the one," and I knew it. There were problems though."

"What do you mean?"

"How disgraceful it is, to be a King and mate with a servant. You couldn't get much lower. Even mating with a common citizen was considered less degrading than with a servant. I had to keep my reputation up in order to keep my kingdom. I wasn't as strong then as I am today. I wish I had been..." He paused for a moment. I couldn't think of anything that I could say, but I didn't have to. He continued speaking.

"I gave her family large sums of money, to raise her up to a higher class. I told her to quit and to come back when she was ready. She only smiled at me and said that she was already ready. There was nothing she could do though. She was still a servant, and I a King. At least, that's what I thought. She left for only a short amount of time and brought her family back to the castle only hours later. She led them to the room where I was..." He paused again.

"Father?"

"I remember it so well, it's hard to believe it happened so long ago..."

I was sitting, contemplating just how I was going to admit to her how much I cared for her. She was my life, and I desperately hoped that I was hers. She came bursting in, still in her maid uniform and her family followed her. I brought my head up, facing her. She wore an expression I'd never seen before.

"Is something the matter, Risika?" I asked. "Why is your family here?"

"Yomi... I have something to say, if you'll permit me to speak freely."

"Of course."

"I love you. I always have. And I don't care what anyone says. They can't change how I feel. I want to know how you feel for me... I know I'm a worthless maid, or at least I was until my family somehow got a lot of money..." I never had told her it was me who'd given her family the money.

"But Yomi... You're my life, and I truly hope that I'm yours." I couldn't believe my ears. She turned to her family, who had never really felt any favor toward me in the first place, considering she worked for me. I suppose they didn't like the idea that she was a maid, and that I had been her master.

"You," she said to them, "cannot say anything to convince me that Yomi isn't perfect for me. In fact, you can leave now. I just wanted you to know that, if Yomi feels the same way, I want him to be my mate."

The expression her mother wore was priceless. She was disgusted that she'd been talked down to, especially by an ex-maid. Her family left and she turned her attention back to me.

"Well? You've got my heart right there, in your hands. What are you going to do with it?" I jumped up and grabbed her and lifted her up so I could finally kiss her, taste her. I must have been the happiest soul in existence.

She pulled herself away after a moment. "What about what everyone in your kingdom will think?"

"To hell with them." I couldn't care less, at that point, if they'd all dropped into a pit of acid, much less about what they thought. I wanted her too much to care.

My father sighed again. "I was so reckless, and she only poured gasoline onto the fire. Not long after you were born, a demon attacked."

"A demon?" I had a feeling this was about to turn in a horrible direction.

He nodded. "An upper-class demon who'd been a long-time enemy of mine, Ryuka. He led a small army and they invaded the castle. All I cared about was protecting your mother and you. I didn't pay attention to anything else. I didn't even notice that I'd gotten myself backed into a corner... I should have paid much more attention... There were too many of them for me to handle—again, I wasn't nearly as strong as I am now—and your mother knew it. She called them cowards for not fighting a woman, and they came at her. I managed to kill some of them as they turned toward her, but not enough. I yelled at them, taunting them, and they turned back in my direction. By that time, I'm sure they knew that there weren't enough of them to kill me if they attacked individually, so they built up their energy and simultaneously fired at me. It would have been enough. Enough to end my life."

"Mother... She..." was all I could say. I knew how this was going to end.

"She set you down and ran as fast as she could... She took the blast in my place. There was... Nothing left of her... Not even a trace of her body..." He paused again for a moment.

"The demons who'd sent the blast ran... They were too weak to fight me. They'd used up all of their energy on that blast to kill me... And it had failed. I killed every last one of them. Then I went after the one who'd started this in the first place... I went after Ryuka. But he'd run off. I couldn't find him anywhere. I sent numerous groups out to search for him. I wanted him alive so I could make him feel the pain physically that I'd suffered mentally, if that was possible. But he was never found."

"So that's why you wouldn't let me leave then... He's still out there..." I understood now, and felt terrible for ever thinking that he'd done it out of selfishness.

"Yes, I had the feeling—and still do—that he would kill you if he had the chance to, and I wasn't about to give him that chance."

"Father.... I'm so sorry..." I started to cry. "I'm sorry for mistaking your intentions..." He kissed my forehead.

"I don't hold it against you. You didn't know, and I'd hoped to wait a long time before we had this talk. Seems like it came sooner than later."

"So you're still not going to allow her to leave this place, then?" Hiei blurted out. I jumped. I'd completely forgotten that we weren't alone. Kurama was standing next to Hiei silently.

"I would prefer it to be like that, but I'll allow it if—and only if—you, Hiei, and Kurama are with her."

"So, you are okay with us being together then father?" I asked, ceasing to cry.

He smiled and nodded. "I want you to be happy, Rein. I'd do anything to make you happy, and if putting up with him will, then so be it."

"Despite the fact that he's working for Mukuro?"

"He's not anymore, are you Hiei?" Hiei shook his head. I was confused again. My father explained.

"Thanks to the tournament, Mukuro is fighting for himself. So will Hiei. They're equal now. In fact, Hiei is considered equal to me also. Am I not correct, Hiei?"

"You're correct."

I hugged my father's neck. "Thank you! I'm so happy!"

He laughed and hugged my waist. "Of course, sweetheart."

After a moment, we broke apart and I left the room to get a drink. When I came back, Hiei was the only one in the room. I asked where my father and Kurama had gone to.

"They went to get your kid brother."

"Where is he at?"

"Lost in one of the cities." he chuckled. I hit his arm.

"What was that for?"

"You shouldn't laugh at that. Poor Shura..."

"Poor Shura? He's picking fights with the locals."

"What?"

"He's telling random people that he's able to kick their asses."

I laughed. That sounded like him all right. Hiei hit my arm.

"What was that for?"

"If I can't laugh at him, then neither can you."

"You're a jerk!"

"I love you too." He placed his hands on my hips and pushed me against a wall then kissed my lips. I was hypnotized by his touch as he moved from my lips down my neck, his hands moving up my shirt.

"So I was thinking about where we were going to stay..." He started.

"You want to stay on that island in the Buddha Triangle or whatever it was, right? In the Human world?"

"Yes."

"So do I, then." I brought his head back up and kissed his lips lightly. He smirked.

"Good, because if you didn't, I was planning to knock you out and drag you there anyways."

"You really are a jerk."

"But you love me for it."

"Yeah. I do."

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