A Bond Tested

Prince Hiei woke with a start only to discover that he had fallen asleep at his desk. He rubbed his eyes and let out a loud yawn. Upon standing he noticed the bandages on the ground and glowered down at them. Mukuro had just left them there, as if to say you see? There is so much that you can't control. That bothered him to no end. First, what appeared to have been a lovely woman, turned out to be none other than Youko Kurama, the man who had been a thorn in his side ever since his older brother, and first heir to the throne, went to fight in a Holy War. Initially Hiei was pleased that his brother was gone, leaving the kingdom in his hands, but every time he tried to accumulate more wealth Kurama always managed to thwart him. Then one of his most trusted companions was a woman, well that wasn't so bad. Yukina, his sister, was also among those whom he could trust. But she was family and not a soldier; Mukuro had violated the honor code of men in arms! And yet he could not blame her, he still wanted her to stay, and not just to save his own reputation as he had previously claimed. He actually enjoyed her company, not that he would ever tell her that. With his mind cleared he left his office to demand an earlier breakfast and to see his sister.

Once Kurama left Yukina and Kuwabara alone they separated a bit both blushing profusely. Though he was an outlaw he was still a gentleman. They told each other stories of what happened during the weeks they spent apart and Yukina mentioned the tree asking if he remembered it. Kuwabara took her hand and said,

"Of course I remember."

He gave her hand a squeeze and flashed a smile even as remembering it brought him a lot of sad memories as well. He tried to keep it all inside, but Yukina noticed the stiffening of his shoulders and the way his smile did not come to him as easily as before.

"Kuwabara?" She questioned looking into his eyes, which she knew would make it impossible for him not to answer.

"It's just, it just reminded me of my sister that's all."

"Ah, I'm sorry Kuwabara." She gasped covering her mouth with her other hand.

"No it's all right, maybe it's better if we talk about her."

"I heard she passed away, were you two close?" She asked knowing that she shouldn't press too much but she was curious.

"Heh we were closer than-than a horse fly on the back of a horse!" He raised his arm in the air energetically. "She practically raised me growing up so she became a kind of mother to me." His eyes filled with an emotion that Yukina had only seen him use when he talked of Kurama's past exploits.

"I met her once, she was very kind to me."

"Yeah, I saw her talk to you, it was on your birthday, the day I carved our initials onto that tree."

"I think it was thanks to her that we were able to do whatever we wanted." She giggled. He loved it when she laughed. He smiled a true one and pulled her closer to his side. They walked the rest of the way in silence, simply enjoying the cool evening air and the sound of their footsteps across the forest floor.

Kuwabara was very aware of her presence but he also felt himself slipping into the past. His older sister, Shizuru had been a plain seamstress, they were both poor and were just getting by when one day a man of noble birth saw her protesting and generally making a spectacle in town so he became interested in her. It was lucky that he talked to her, drawing her off the crates she had been standing on, because if any of the king's men had seen her shouting in the street she may have been in a world of trouble.

His name was Sakyo and as it turned out he was a cousin to the royal family. He began meeting with Shizuru in all his spare time and he eventually invited her and Kuwabara to live with him. They went wherever he went and that was how Kuwabara ultimately met the love of his life. Sakyo was invited to Yukina's tenth birthday party and he was allowed to bring as many guests as he wished. The party took place on her birth date but the royal family decided to elongate the stay for visitors. They ended up staying at the palace for several days and in that time a young love blossomed. However, about three years later Sakyo was killed in an explosion and Shizuru died afterward of a broken heart, leaving Kuwabara all alone. Fate again played its part when he ran into Shuichi Minamino in the woods. Together they decided to live off the land and look out for one another, and that was the beginning of Youko Kurama and his merry band of thieves.

Kuwabara shook his head and looked down at Yukina beside him, she seemed to have a pensive expression and he wasn't sure if he should say anything but he felt bad for allowing himself to get lost in the past, when what mattered most was the present. He stopped when he realized that they were close to the secret spot. Or that was what he called it in his head at least.

He had the idea to lead her to it completely blind, there was still some light from the moon that managed to filter in through the leaves so he carefully stepped behind her and covered her eyes with his hands.

"What is it?" She asked only a little surprised.

"I want you to open your eyes only when I move my hands." He told her, his voice warm. He moved forward so she took slow steps as well, and they walked like that for only a few feet when he stopped and removed his hands.

She opened her eyes and saw a river that glowed, not only with the moon's reflection but also by numerous fireflies that blinked on and off as they flew every which way above the water. She laughed and spun to Kuwabara, "It's beautiful!"

"I think so too." He mumbled bashfully, "But there's more."

"Oh Kuwabara you make me so happy!" She went down to the bank and skimmed her fingers over the water and floating water lilies. Kuwabara came over and crouched next to her picking up her hand again he slipped one of those flowers around her finger. She looked down at the improvised ring and felt tears begin to form in her eyes.

"Yukina my love will you marry me?" Her eyes sparkled and a tear slid down her cheek. She nodded wiping away the tear quickly before wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes." She said hugging him even more tight and marveling at his hug in return, which was not too gentle nor too firm.

"I'll get you another ring I promise Sweetheart."

"This ring is better than anything you could have bought, or stolen."

"Yukina!" He whined, "I'm going to make a man of myself just wait a bit longer please?"

"I'll wait as long as it takes Kuwabara."

"Thank you." They watched the fireflies, observing that two of them seemed to be chasing each other.

"That one's you." Yukina pointed giggling.

"Why do you keep flying away from me?" He teased back.

"I'm not flying away I'm - look there, they're together now." She looked up at the sky, and Kuwabara watched the light bounce off her eyes, they were together now.

A servant returned to the prince with a worried face.

"The princess is nowhere to be found." He breathed as if it was going to be the last thing he would ever say.

"What!" Hiei exploded slamming his delicate teacup down on the table.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am sorry for the slow update and the short chapter T-T I will try harder in the future!

Review if you think Hiei is hot ;)