I've been working my butt off on this chapter, so I really hope you like it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Words Once Spoken: Chapter 9

Kurama's gaze fell on him. Yusuke froze and watched his friend. "Hello Yusuke." he said with a mild amount of surprise in his voice.

The shocked silence of the two succeeded in making Kurama feel uncomfortable. Both of them stood and stared at him for a while, until he began to think they had passed out while standing up. The sky began to cry, a slow, steady drizzle falling softly to the ground. The sudden feel of water against their skin snapped Yusuke and Kuronue out of their daze. "You're back!" Yusuke yelled, practically shaking with excitement.

"Well, yes... But what... what are you doing here?" Kurama had tilted his head to the side, and his face grew puzzled. He could tell by the comical, empty-eyed look that Yusuke was giving him that he should know. He just didn't get it. Why would Yusuke be here, in the middle of the woods, with him and his lover? Well... He quickly shushed the teasing voice that arose in response to the question.

"Hey man, don't worry about it." Yusuke rested a friendly hand on his shoulder, completely oblivious to the annoyed look Kurama shot his way. "As long as you're awake, I think I can safely leave you with bat man over here."

"Must you insist on calling me that?" Kuro groaned in exasperation. He bent down in front of Kurama and put his hands on his shoulders, like one would to a child. "Look foxy." he began, taking on an explanatory tone. "Your little friend here doesn't trust me, especially not around you. I invited him to come with us to ease his suspicions, and in case he had the ability to help you some way that I couldn't."

He released Kurama and took a step back. "Look, I'm just glad you're out of that daze. That's all that really matters now." He's being unusually serious. Kuronue smiled and closed his eyes, one hand rising to the fabric of his shirt. (If you can call it that) He gently slipped the sleeve down his arm, baring the creamy skin below.

At this, Yusuke leapt up. "Wait just a minute!" he screeched, quickly turning his back towards them. "Can't you guys at least wait until I'm gone before you start goin' at it?" Once again, he found himself ignored.

Kuronue's set gaze made it clear that he intended to make things right again. "I don't care if there are two of you. I can't take this anymore, so complete the bo-"

"No!" Kuronue was taken aback by Kurama's exclamation. Kurama saw this and turned his eyes away. The urge to just do as his love asked was so strong, so compulsive, that he could barely resist it. "I can't forget her, and I don't want to. She taught me kindness, she taught me to live again, she forgave me. Even if she never knew who I was, her love for me was unconditional, as was mine for her. It just doesn't feel right to let the event of her death, and the event of our union overshadow each other. So please Kuro... not yet."

Kuronue was certainly surprised by this. In a sorrowful and timid voice his love asked him this, a voice full of heartache. When Kurama looked up, his emerald orbs shining despite the darkness, Kuronue felt his heart flutter. He couldn't help but gasp at the sheer intensity held in his lover's gaze. It seemed that this request bore great importance to his fox, and that look in his eyes... Kuronue couldn't deny that that look was what scared him the most. It seemed to declare this moment a turning point, and to place the weight of what direction to choose on his back alone. Those emerald eyes held power, the power to judge, the power to condemn, and most importantly, the power to forgive.

A tremor went through the chimera's arm. Those eyes, he couldn't stand to look at them. So he tore his gaze away, clenching his eyes closed tightly, and hugged his body in an attempt to hold back the tremors that shook it. "If commanded too, would you do it?" He caught sight of the other boy, his eyes wide and awe struck. He saw that the boy watched Kurama, and for the first time was understanding just how deeply their love truly ran. He longed to have the courage to do what the boy was doing, and watch his kitsune.

But when he tried to find the strength to turn back around, an image of those eyes rose in his mind, and he could only hold himself tighter. "Only half of me..." Kurama began, his voice carrying within it, the undertones of a warning. "Only half of me swore an oath of obedience to you. Only half of me remains one of your thieves, but all of me asks you this. All of me pleads with you, just wait for me a little longer, just have faith." This last part came out as a barely contained sob, truly a sign of desperation.

Pain filling his heart, and desiring not to be seen in this state, Kurama stalked off quickly, soon vanishing into the darkness. As he faded into the night, Kuronue looked after him, the weight of Kurama's words etched into his face. Foxy actually thought Kuronue would do that to him, that was what hurt the most. How could he? After all of the years they had lived together, did Kurama honestly believe that he would ignore his feelings like that? If so, he intended to set things straight.

So he too vanished into the rain, being engulfed in darkness. Yusuke remained where he stood, staring at the spot where they had been. He understood now, just how great their love truly was. The burden that hung on both of them, it practically thickened the air that they breathed, Yusuke could feel it too. Panting, he sank to his knees in the mud, his forehead moving down to rest in the mud as well as grief clenched his heart in its fist.

"Kurama..." He had truly underestimated the depth of their feelings for one another. He had considered himself an expert on love, and up until just a few moments ago, he had doubted one of them. "If I just witnessed true love , then Keiko and I truly know nothing." The backlash of their feelings swept through him, and left him, a newly enlightened quivering mess.

As Kurama fled blindly through the woods, he could feel Kuro chase behind him and close in quickly. In the brief moment he allowed himself to worry about being found, his foot caught on a tree root protruding from the earth, and he was pulled to the ground. He didn't waste time though, he struggled to pull himself onward, ignoring his physical pain. A bit of tugging was all it took to rip his pant leg and shoe off, and free himself from the root. Time had been lost however, and he could feel Kuro's energy drawing nearer, this time from above him.

Once again, he forced himself onto his feet, and took off into the woods. Tears rolled freely down his face as he stumbled persistently onward. After what felt like hours of mindless sorrow, Kurama found himself at, of all places, his house. He knew that his heart had brought him here, he knew that he had to face Kuronue and let his pain be seen, that was the only way to heal. He owed it to Kuronue, Shiori, and most of all himself. So he stopped running and leaned against the side of his house, panting and clutching the shoulder that had been hurt when he fell.

Kuronue had slowed his pursuit when he realized where Kurama was. He set his feet on the ground and walked into the garden raised by Kurama's erratic energy the night of Shiori's death. He saw Kurama standing there waiting, sobbing silently with his face hidden behind a hand. "Youko?" he said not unkindly, putting a comforting hand on his back. One touch had Kurama flying into his arms hard enough to push them to the ground, and clinging to him as tightly as he could.

Seeing his love in this condition was almost more than the fun-loving bat could take. "Please Youko." he begged. "Just mark me. We don't need any more pain, we can be happy again!" he felt the trembling figure in his arms calm. Despite the clouds, moonlight peered through and shone down on them.

"Why?" Kurama turned his head upwards from his lover's chest. He looked down at a very sentimental Kuronue, and wondered why this had to be so hard. If he could just face up to him now... but no, he couldn't do that. Not yet at least. "I'm more subservient to you this way. You've always enjoyed having control over me whenever you could, so why should you object to it now?"

At this, a wry smile came to his chimera's lips. "How is it that you can still think that little of me?" Kurama's eyes widened. "Do I really seem that uncaring to you?"

"No, of course not!" Kurama assured him hurriedly. "I love you more than anything in the universe. I know you care for me as well. Shouldn't you like me better like this though? All I want is to make you happy. I don't mind being like this while I wait and recover. I'm not ready to mark you, but I would never think less of you for holding power over me! Never."

"Youko!" Kuronue snapped, flipping them so he hovered above Youko, an arm on either side of his head. "That's exactly what it means. Don't try to tell me that you believe I would ever desire you to be like this." he had Kurama's full attention now. "I love you with all of my heart, and I can't ever be happy if you aren't. You aren't a slave Youko. You may have been once, a lifetime ago, but you aren't now. I can never be happy with you behaving like you're lesser than me. I'm insulted that you think I would actually enjoy seeing you like this. I live to see that you're happy. I'll be the happiest once I've seen that all of your wishes come true!"

"I'm sorry..." Kurama reached out a hand and stroked his lover's cheek. "I didn't mean to think of you that way. I shouldn't have done that." he smiled sweetly at his bat. "But you don't have to worry about me. My only wish is, as it has always been, to be with you. My wish is your command love. As long as you're happy, I'll be fine." his voice was steady this time, reassuring and calm.

A dark, miserable chuckle slipped out of the bat's lips, Kurama just didn't understand the situation they were in. "The bond effects me too you know." He saw that Kurama didn't seem surprised in the least. "All of my senses scream that you're mine to do anything I want with. Even worse, I know this to be true. The longer our marking goes unfinished, the harder it gets for me to restrain myself." He relaxed his body, allowing it to rest gently against the smaller form below him. "Even now, the drive to torment you, to flaunt my power over you, continues to push at me. The longer we wait, the more I'll begin to mistreat you." Kuro made eye contact with his kitsune, hoping that he would relent, but somehow knowing that he wouldn't.

"It's alright." Kurama nodded at him. The only one I would ever surrender my mind to is you my love." He smiled a bit at the exasperation in Kuronue's expression. "My love for you will never change. I'm just not ready yet, so while you're forced to wait, you don't need to restrain yourself." Kuronue sighed in resignation of his soul mate's stubbornness.

Moving back off of Kurama, he couldn't help but start down memory lane. "Well, you can't deny that you got your request. Master Kuro is here, and it doesn't seem he shall be leaving anytime soon." He reached out and pulled Kurama over so they sat facing each other. "The situation is more drastic, but this reminds me of when you were a young apprentice. Even as I ordered you around I felt drawn to you. I would have never thought that those feelings would develop into love."

As he spoke Kurama had moved closer, and slipped his arms around him. It was a silent plea for love, for comfort and shelter from the tragedies that had, since the bat's death that had gone unconsoled. Kurama buried his face in Kuronue's shirt, unbothered by his rain-soaked skin. Kuronue smiled down on the needy creature and returned the embrace. "It'll be alright." He ran his fingers gently through the matted hair, working out the tangles as he soothed him. "It'll be okay, I'm here now. Everything will be fine." he felt Kurama slowly begin to relax in his arms and continued his soothing. "Shhhh, it's okay now, you don't have to cry anymore."

After a while, his grip had loosened, and he lay calmly against his bat. The pain hadn't left him, but with Kuro there, somehow everything seemed a little brighter. As long as they remained with each other, nothing could ever hurt him again. He leaned up slowly, hesitantly capturing Kuro's lips with his, relishing the taste. He closed his eyes as he allowed his lips to linger a moment longer before he pulled away. "I always wondered how it would feel for you to have me in this body. I was a bit distraught when we were together before, such a shame." his tone was breathy and seductive, no trace of shame to overshadow the implications of his words.

"You know I would never take advantage of you and take your body while you were upset, right?" He ran a hand absently up and down Kurama's side, fully intending to accept his offer.

"Yes love." Kurama captured the older demon's hand in his and pressed it to his lips, a tongue darting out to stroke one of the long digits. "I know that you only took me that first night. But I want you to know I don't mind whatever you wish to do to me now. It's my choice to leave you unmarked, and I'm the only one responsible for putting myself in this position." He drew two fingers into his mouth, sucking gently.

"Well I think -uhhh don't stop- that you know what I want to do now." He withdrew his fingers and pressed his lips harshly down on Kurama's, cutting off his breath. Their tongues darted out, seeking comfort in each other. Kuro's arms tugged insistently at the redhead's clothes, as the other's arms did the same to him. Passion blinded them now. Their past didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was that they were both hurting, and they desperately wanted to find comfort in the other's arms. They were just two lovers that fate had seen fit to reunite and allow to at last find happiness.

So there, in a sheltered garden sprung forth from pain, the seeds of love had once again been lovingly brought forth into their lives. The softly falling rain never lessened nor intensified as the two lover's put it out of their minds for the night. It almost seemed as if the rain was a testament that as long as their love survived, nothing else would hurt them again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That was longer than usual, but it seemed necessary. I hope you like the chapter, I know I do. Next chapter will be a bit fluffy, I decided that we needed a break from all this angst, though the end of that chapter may have a little. We'll also take a peek at how Hiei's doing. So that's all for this week, I'll see you next time on Words Once Spoken.