Okay, here's the rest of it. Enjoy!

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Words Once Spoken: Chapter 19 part 2

"Youko!"

He felt it again, the strange pulsing in his chest. What was this feeling? It reminded him of the village drums, and how the sound would make the ground tremble. Nothing was so strange to him as this. Almost like the way he felt before Katashi struck him, but also with the feeling of a strange fragility: so fragile that he couldn't let it end.

Sometimes, when this feeling came upon him, it was all he could do to tense up his whole body. It felt like, as long as he held himself in the exact state he was in, that fragile feeling wouldn't change; nothing could change.

It felt like there was another consciousness present all around him, and somehow that thought made him safe. If he never moved, he would never know what that feeling was. But at the sane time, any movement could shatter his quiescence, and he would never know.

He lay there frozen, afraid to move, afraid not to, when he felt a bead of water fall on him. Just like that, the moment vanished forever. Then there was pain. Not just in his body, but a deep squeeze in his chest. And somehow, that pain hurt the most of all.

His ears twitched at the sound of sobbing. He opened his eyes, and saw it was night. And beside him, the little one sat. Youko forced himself to sit up, and his first instinct was to run. Then he saw her face. Her mouth was contorted so her teeth stuck out, and her oversized ears drooped down the sides of her head. Water slipped from her eyes with persistence.

He didn't know what made him do it. Maybe it was because she fed him, or because he couldn't sense any malice in her. Or maybe it was just Youko instinct to comfort a little one in tears. But what Youko did know was that a look like that didn't belong on a face like hers.

So he reached out, and before either of them understood what happened, she was wrapped in his arms. And then he felt sudden warmth that had nothing to do with their body heat. It was because… because that was the first time that he ever reached out to somebody else.

"Oh Youko." She sighed. And then he understood that she was referring to him; and it made him glad.

"I'm sorry he hurt you." She whispered, her tiny fingers clenching his silver hair.

Then she pulled back, and looked at him frowning. And he didn't like that look on her face, so he reached out again, and he touched her face. And then she understood that he was comforting her, and that he was the one being comforted.

"I am Kasumi." She pointed to herself. "I'm happy to finally know you Youko."

And he looked at her, and her yellow eyes, and he understood. So he pointed to himself and he said "Y-ou-ko."

And she nodded her head, and smiled brightly up at his face. "That there is beautiful." She told him.

"Youko!"

His eyes shot open automatically when he heard his mate's call. "Why are you crying?" he asked, concerned. Kurama gasped and brought a hand to his face, only to find that he was indeed crying.

"What happened to you fox boy? You just suddenly collapsed in the middle of a battle." Yusuke asked, punching the last of their opponents to the ground and walking over to them.

"I'm not sure…" Kurama muttered, struggling to regain his senses. "I was dreaming."

"You were dream- What the…!" Yusuke cut himself off, looking around as and eerie white mist began to rise from the snow.

"It looks like there are more of them." Kuro said, rising to his feet. "Are you okay to fight?" he asked Kurama, holding out a hand. Kurama nodded and clasped the chimera's hand.

It would be difficult to ascertain anything under these conditions, Kurama thought.

"There are only three." He heard Hiei's gruff voice in his head.

"Hiei?" Kurama asked as the demon appeared beside them. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you really asking that after you collapsed out of nowhere?" the demon asked. "Baka."

The shorter demon turned away as their opponents approached them. "Let's kick some butt." Yusuke said sadistically, hitting his fists together.

"Wait." Hiei told them. "There's something strange about these three."

"What is it now?" Kuro grumbled in annoyance. "Wait a second… why aren't they moving?"

Kurama could see them clearly now. They had just frozen and were staring into space. All three of them had terrified looks on their faces as they stood there. "Damn!" He heard Hiei curse, clutching the eye on his forehead. "Someone's controlling their minds."

"What?" Yusuke asked, looking at them closely. "How can you tell?"

"I can see the threads of energy connected to them." Hiei snapped.

"Okay okay! So why are they just standing there?" Yusuke asked.

As if his words were a cue, the demons began attacking each other. A red energy surrounded them as soon, the snow was stained with blood.

"Okay, this is strange." Kuro said, turning to Kurama.

The demons attacked, and then disappeared in one huge explosion of energy. The force slammed into them, pushing them all to the ground. "Oww." Yusuke muttered.

"Are you all okay?" a female voice asked from behind them.

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Yes the last part of the chapter did suck, and yes, it was very rushed. Sorry, but I have work to do, and I've been working a lot this weekend. The good news is that that was the last bad action-y scene of this story. Hooray!

I enjoyed the dream part… though it does make me think of the bible. Right now I'm in the process of watching Gunslinger Girl, which is suitably dark for my tastes. I also joined the mock trial team at my school… yikes!

I just signed away more of my free time. But oh well that's life. I'll do my best to update again next week as well. Until next time, see ya!