A/N: Sorry 'bout the wait; I have issues being able to get onto the computer that has Internet access at home, so I do it at school (I'm taking a summer class). I'm also going to post a second chapter right after this one, which means a double update! Whee! Anyway, disclaimer still applies (I don't see any major changes in the published story, do you?) and I'm having fun putting this up for you guys!

Buh-bye!

(Hiei's POV)

I listened to the music the Stones and wind were making, scarcely able to believe that those giant hunks of stone could make such a beautiful sound. Suddenly, I wanted to go closer to the rocks, see how the music was made. The others weren't paying any attention to anything but the music on the wind, so it was easy to sneak away. How I managed to miss Li-Sanya's empty spot, I had no idea, but I did, so it was a surprise when I found her standing in the middle of the stones.

Any thoughts of listening to the music disappeared as I looked at her standing there. She seemed to be looking for something, because she kept moving her head side to side. Once, I thought for sure that she had seen me, but the shadows must have hid me because she just moved on. Huddling in the darkness next to one of the stones, I waited with her for whatever it was she was waiting for. I didn't have long to wait.

A few moments after I arrived, a section of shadow across the circle from me detached itself from the rest and came towards Li-Sanya. As he stepped into the moonlight, my eyes went wide. It was a tall cat demon with glowing amber eyes, dressed in a long black robe. He stopped about a foot in front of Li-Sanya and they talked for a moment; it was all I could do to not jump forward and knock him away from her. Instead, I strained to hear what they were saying. To my surprise, it turned out to be pretty easy to hear, considering that the wind was blowing in the opposite direction.

"No." Li-Sanya was speaking at that moment. "Not here. Chikara, please. Let's just go to the Tower." I frowned; the cat demon was Chikara, the guy who had stolen the amulet? I listened to his response.

"You want to go to the Tower? Whatever for, Sanya?" He asked, incredulous. My frown grew deeper; he had a shortened name for her, just like Kurama did (and the others as well, but who cares about them?), except it was the other part of her name. "This place is much better for this sort of discussion." I frowned even more at that. What did he mean? Suddenly, I remembered that listening wasn't the only thing available to me and I sent out a cautious strand of thought into both of their minds.

Li-Sanya had a fairly strong barrier, but I quickly found a weak spot and wriggled in. Chikara had absolutely no barrier what so ever, so it was even easier to get into. What I found in both of their minds surprised me beyond belief. I had thought that Li-Sanya had been acting a bit weird lately, but this just confirmed it.

She had been on edge for the past week, but I had just put it down to being back in the Makai after a fairly long absence. Now I found out the real reason. It was that other cat demon, Chikara. He had somehow contacted her and he had done or said something that had made her scared; I got the impression that it had to do with Kurama. Then he had told her to meet him by the Singing Stones. After that had come a flood of memories and those alone would have been enough to curl even my hair (mine defies physics, remember.), let alone hers. I learned more about the former queen in those few moments than I had in the past week and a half.

Chikara's mind was even more messed up. Apparently, he'd had a thing for Li-Sanya about three thousand years or so ago, and still did. Somehow, though, she had gotten away from him, he assumed because someone else had seduced her away, though, looking at his and Li-Sanya's memories, I figured he didn't know she knew about his secret, and he'd been trying to get her back for the past two thousand some odd years. He'd gotten word of an amulet of incredible power, so he'd stolen it, hoping to use it against whoever had stolen Li-Sanya away from him. Thus the revenge part. She, on the other hand, had absolutely no intention of ever going back to him; she was doing this so she could get closer to the amulet to destroy it.

While I had been analyzing their thoughts, the two cat demons had been talking rather animatedly about going back to the Tower or not. When I tuned back into the physical world, I was startled by what Chikara was saying, but probably not as surprised as I would have been if I hadn't just looked into his mind.

"Sanya, I don't want to force you to do anything, but if you won't tell me why, then I'll have to use extreme measures and that fox of yours isn't what you think he is." I nearly decapitated him in that instant as I realized he was talking about Kurama. Stinking liar, I thought viscously, She wouldn't love him if she didn't know what he was. For a moment, I was startled by my choice of words. Then I realized that it was true, however much anyone avoided saying so outright, especially her and Kurama, who had avoided each other like the plague for the past week. My thoughts were interrupted by something that was totally unexpected and just about made me faint in shock, which is probably the hardest thing to do in the world.

At Li-Sanya's refusal to talk about anything here, as she insisted that they go to the Tower, Chikara had pulled her in closer, so that they were nose to nose. Li-Sanya struggled to free herself, but Chikara's grip on her arms was too tight and she couldn't get away. He whispered something cruel, judging by the way that Li-Sanya's fear spiked. Suddenly, he pulled her in for a lingering kiss and I could feel Li-Sanya just about faint with surprise, disgust, fear and anger at herself for having to let him do it. Needing to do something other than kill the other demon, I steadied her mentally and felt her surprise at my action. Then she realized what I was doing there and her initial panic subsided.

Hiei! She said as Chikara drew away, her mind voice sounding rushed. Tell Kurama why and don't let him come after me, no matter what. You have to get to the Tower on your own; Hakana knows the way. I'll see you there. Now, go! Before he realizes you're here! I didn't bother answering as I raced back towards the campfire and the others. Not even the music echoing from the Stones behind me made me pause.

Back with the others, I found them in much the same positions as before. Sighing, I yanked on some of Kurama's hair and pushed Yusuke into Kuwabara. All three of them turned on me in anger, but I held off their protests with my hands and a few choice words that put them all into a shocked silence. Hakana even fainted.

"Li-Sanya has gone to the Tower."

(Kurama's POV)

I couldn't believe it. What Hiei was trying to tell me wasn't true. I turned to him, exasperated and in denial, and told him as much.

"Hiei, stop it." I said, at my wit's end. "What you're saying couldn't possibly be right." Youko had told me what had happened the night before we had left and I knew she wouldn't do what she had done if she didn't mean it. I knew it…thought I'd known it. Hiei sighed as well; he was exasperated almost as much as I was, though he didn't let it show as much.

"Kurama, look." He said, for what seemed to be the millionth time. "She had to do this. She wouldn't have been able to get close enough to the amulet to destroy it if she didn't do this. It's not because she doesn't love you; she does." I cut him off with a sharp movement of my hand totally ignoring his odd choice of wording.

"You've been saying that, but how do I know it's true?" I exclaimed, torn between believing him and my own feelings. I could feel Youko's consciousness stirring restlessly in response to my own frustration and I clamped down hard on my out of control emotions. If Youko came out, any chance for reason to get through would go out the window. I turned back to Hiei. "Give me something more concrete!" I demanded, not really expecting him to actually do so. He shrugged.

"Okay." I blinked at him, but that was all I had time for. Suddenly I was taking a trip through memories not my own, feeling emotions I had no recollection of feeling, seeing places I had never been to. I realized with a start that Hiei was showing me what he'd seen in Li's mind.

A short while later, after what has seemed like an eternity, the memories ended and I simply sat there, slightly in shock. I turned to look at Hiei, amazed at what I had seen and experienced. "I had no idea…" I said slowly. Hiei shook his head.

"Of course you didn't. She didn't want it widely known." He said, crossing his arms. "Now do you believe me?" I nodded.

"Yeah…" I said. Then something else occurred to me, something about just before we had started our journey and had been on her mind since. "What was it that made her do it?" I asked, somehow knowing Hiei would have the answer.

"Chikara threatened her with your life." He said simply. I stared at him. My life…? Suddenly, what he'd been saying all along hit me. 'It's not because she doesn't love you; she does.' She…loves…me. The concept had the effect of a train hitting me. I supposed I'd known it all along, but to have it said so plainly really made it real. I stared at Hiei and saw his smirk as he realized that it had finally hit home.

"Then…" I felt like I was in a dream, that nothing I did was actually happening. "Then…we should…we should…"

"Follow her directions and keep going to the Tower." Hiei said for me when I couldn't say it. I nodded as I stood up slowly, feeling as if I was moving in slow motion.

"Yeah…the Tower." Then I narrowed my eyes and turned to face the direction of the Tower of Hyre. "The Tower. Where that scum-bag Chikara is…and Li."

A/N: Hmm...so Hiei finally had to knock Kurama over the head with the truth to get the silly fox to accept it. Chikara had better look out when Kurama gets there...heck, I'd be scared.

See you next chapter!

Haliaetus