TheHeartsPath: Hi everyone! Sorry that I haven't updated in so long. Last few months have been extremely crazy. My sister had her baby and so the insanity level of life increased. So I'm back and gonna try to write more chapters for y'all to enjoy! Please read and review! Hope you like the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its' characters. They are owned by Yoshihiro Togashi. I own only Ayla, her family, and any other characters that do not show up in the series.

"Talking" Thoughts ~Telepathy or mind-reading~

Chapter 16: Energy?

Ayla's POV

Waking up in another room is rather disorienting.

It took me a few minutes to realize that I was in my bedroom at Grams' temple. Another minute passed before I noticed a few more things. Like the fact that I was wearing the clothes I'd had on when I first arrived instead of my kimono. I couldn't see much of my room laying in bed as I was. But it was enough to tell me that my kimono wasn't in here. A quick look out the window of my room showed that there wasn't much light outside. Dang I was out for awhile. It's already almost evening now.

I felt better than I had before I'd blacked out. Like all of my energy was back. No longer did I feel like I was going to be exhausted just from being conscious. Even though I was feeling better I knew that I needed to be careful to not overexert myself. At least until the stuff that was happening to me was over with. Or pretty damn close to it.

"Wonder how long it'll take." I mumbled to myself.

Hopefully it wouldn't take more than a couple of months for my energy to straighten out. That was how long it had taken when my telepathic and empathic powers had shown up. If it took longer than that I was gonna go crazy. I cringed at the thought of it possibly taking longer than a couple months. Thinking about how long wasn't going to help matters any. So I shoved those thoughts away and sat up.

The door opened not even a second later. "Oh, you're awake. Are you feeling any better Ayla?" Yukina asked.

Smiling I answered, "A lot better thanks. What time is it?"

"It's 7am." she said, returning my smile.

"What?! I thought it was evening considering the light coming in from the window!" I yelled in surprise. I'd been unconscious for a hell of alot longer than I first thought. No wonder I felt better. Yukina's eyes had widened in surprise at my outburst. Sighing I said, "Sorry 'bout that Yukina. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's alright Ayla. You were taken by surprise."

Getting out of bed I asked, "What exactly happened when I blacked out yesterday?" Still can't believe that I was out for so long.

"Everyone was startled by you blacking out like that. Thank goodness Hiei was next to you when it happened. He caught you the moment you started to fall." she explained.

"Knowing my luck I'd have gotten hurt if he hadn't caught me." I said turning around and making my bed.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

Chuckling I look at her, "I'm guessing Grams hasn't said anything about my klutziness?" Yukina shook her head. "I'm a terrible klutz. You'll probably see for yourself soon enough."

After the bed was made I sat on it, inviting Yukina to sit by gesturing at the space next to me. Once she sat down I asked, "So what happened after Hiei caught me? Did he carry me in here?"

Nodding she answered, "Yes he did. He laid you on the bed then left so that Botan and I could get you out of your kimono."

"Where is my kimono anyway?"

"In your dresser. I cleaned off the blood that got on it from Hiei's arm." she said pointing to the dresser that I forgot was in the room.

"I didn't even think of there possibly being blood on my kimono. Not even when I saw what I'd done to Hiei's arm." I cringed when I remembered what his arm had looked like before I had taken care of it.

"That's because you were more concerned about Hiei's arm than anything else Ayla." Yukina reminded me.

"True." I answered with a nod. "So what's everyone up to now?"

"Genkai was talking to Kira about her empathic powers and Kurama went to find out where Hiei disappeared to. After he finds where Hiei went he's going to start making breakfast." Yukina answered.

"What about Yusuke and Kazuma?"

"Oh, they're playing video games."

"Video games...you've gotta be kidding me." I muttered, shaking my head before continuing in a normal tone, "Shouldn't they be doing something more, I don't know, productive?"

Yukina chuckled, "Kurama asked them the same thing. They said that they were because they were working on getting to the next level in the game."

Rolling my eyes I said, "Those two are idiots."

Suddenly the door opened and Kazuma fell into the room. Yusuke was standing in the doorway attempting to be nonchalant and failing miserably. "The guy on the floor is the idiot, not me." he said.

Kazuma shot to his feet and yelled in Yusuke's face, "Who're you calling an idiot Urameshi?!"

"Gee Kuwabara, who else would I be calling an idiot besides you?" Yusuke teased.

"Alright that's it! Let's you and me take this outside right now and settle this like real men!" shouted Kazuma.

"What's the matter Kuwabara? Afraid to lose in front of Yu-ki-na?" taunted Yusuke. Kazuma then tackled Yusuke out of the room and they disappeared down the hall in a scuffle.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. "Are they always like that Yukina?"

Shaking her head she answered, "They aren't always like that."

Raising an eyebrow I asked, "Just most of the time?" After thinking about it for a couple moments Yukina nodded. "Wonderful..." I mumbled. I'm gonna have to make extra sure to keep my emotions from getting the better of me. Especially around those two idiots. Otherwise one of them may end up dead. Or both...

"What in the world was all of that noise about? Are Yusuke and Kuwabara going at it again?" a female voice said from the direction of my door.

Oh man, please don't be Botan. I don't think I can deal with her being so damn bubbly first thing in the morning. Not to mention all that pink. I barely managed to keep from shuddering at the thought of Botan's kimono. Looking at the doorway once again I saw that my silent prayer had been in vain...at least part of it. She's not wearing the kimono! Thank you whatever god or deity it is that has taken mercy on me! "Hey Botan. All that noise was them." I said in way of greeting.

"Good morning Ayla. How are you feeling?" she asked. Surprisingly she wasn't being as bubbly as I thought she'd be.

"Better, thanks." I was about to say more when my stomach decided to inform me that it wanted food. Loud enough for both Yukina and Botan to hear.

Giggling Botan said, "Sounds like you could use some breakfast."

While blushing I mumbled, "I am kind of hungry."

Yukina got up saying, "I'm going to go to the kitchen and help Kurama finish making breakfast."

"Alright, we'll head that way in a minute Yukina." Botan told her. Huh? Wait a minute. What does she mean by we? Smiling at us Yukina nodded and left the room. Leaving me alone with the perky grim reaper. With Yukina gone Botan turned to me with a look of concern. "Ayla are you sure that you're feeling better?"

Tilting my head to the side in thought I answered, "I do feel better compared to yesterday anyways. Why are you asking Botan?"

"Because your energy seems a bit more unstable today. I mean unstable in a slightly different way from yesterday." she replied.

I just sat there and blinked at her for a couple of minutes. "You just confused the hell out of me with the way you said that."

"Sorry, let me try that again." Botan said with an apologetic smile, "What I mean is while your energy was already unstable it had a certain...um, feel to it I guess you could say. That feeling is still there but it also seems like there's another feeling too. I hope that makes more sense."

Nodding I replied, "Yeah, it does make more sense that way."

"You don't seem surprised about it." Botan said.

I just looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Honestly Botan, why should I be surprised about my energy being more unstable? Think about what I found out yesterday. There are two other worlds, the Reikai and Makai; confirmation that demons really do exist; meeting the grim reaper; and also Spirit Detectives and their mission to protect and train me. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that I'm a descendant of a really powerful demon race that was wiped out five thousand years ago!" By the time I finished my list consternation had thoroughly colored my voice.

I felt my energy start to spike and immediately tried to calm myself the way Grams had taught me. By closing my eyes and focusing on slowing down both my breathing and heartbeat. Now normally I don't have much trouble calming down this way, but with my energy already wacky it was harder than usual. A lot harder.

"Botan it might be a good idea if you went on ahead of me to breakfast. I'll be there as soon as I can manage." I spoke quietly, still focusing on calming myself.

"Um, alright. See you in the dining room then." she replied sounding worried again. After I heard her leave the room and close the door I tuned out everything but my breathing and heartbeat.

My heart felt like it was beating as fast as a humming bird flaps its wings. My lungs felt as though they were being squeezed and released just as rapidly as my heart was beating. Needless to say both my heart and lungs had chosen to fight on the issue of slowing down. It finally took me imagining them as becoming heavier to get them to start to slow down. It took awhile, but after that I managed to get them under control. Which in turn got my energy to settle down. With everything back in control I opened my eyes.

And promptly had the living daylights scared out of me. Thus falling off my bed and onto the floor when I jumped in fright.

Just what was it that startled me so damn bad? How about having someone standing smack dab in front of you the moment you open your eyes? When you thought you were alone? And just who was it standing in front of me, smirking with amusement, at scaring me half to death?

"You should pay more attention to what is going on around you onna."

The answer: Hiei.

Glaring up at him from the floor I responded, "You should pay more attention to knocking on people's doors to ask for entrance Hiei."

I was getting to my feet when he replied, "Hn. Botan left the door open when she left. She seemed upset by whatever was going on in here, so I came to find out what happened."

The door was open huh? Not bloody likely Hiei. I was having trouble with my energy not my hearing. And I distinctly heard the door close behind Botan when she left. So why are you lying about it?

I crossed my arms and gave Hiei a look that said I wasn't buying what he was saying. "Hiei, do you really expect me to believe that you don't already know what happened? After all, you and the others are all probably keeping tabs on my energy. Probably to make sure of where I am. Or am I wrong?"

He didn't say anything in response. Nor did his eyes show anything. Damn he's good at the no emotions showing in the eyes. However his Heart's Song held a bit of surprise and amusement. Though what the hell he was amused about escaped me.

Sighing I said, "You know what? Forget it. I'm too hungry at the moment to deal with this. Let's go and get some breakfast." Going around him I headed for the door. Opening it I looked over my shoulder at Hiei. "Well? You coming along or not?" I asked.

"Hn."

I rolled my eyes at his monosyllabic answer and left the room. He came out a moment later without closing the door behind him. Glaring at his back for a moment as he kept walking I shut the door. Then I hurried to catch up with him. Once I had done so I walked with him deciding to stay quiet and just enjoy his company.

"The difference in your energy that Botan mentioned, don't worry about it." Hiei suddenly said.

I looked at him in surprise as I wondered how he knew. A moment later I realized that he'd just proved that he knew exactly what had happened. Looking away from him I watched him from the corner of my eye as I asked, "So if you came to find out what happened, how is it that you knew about Botan telling me that?"

He stopped walking for the barest of moments before resuming. "Hn."

I found the way he reacted to realizing he'd just given himself away amusing. But I chose to not make a big deal of it and settled for a small grin along with a chuckle. He in turn glared at me but it just made my grin bigger. "So why shouldn't I worry about the energy difference? Do you know what it is?" I asked, grinning like the cat that got the canary. Hiei didn't respond immediately. In fact he looked a little stunned. "Hiei? You okay?"

Blinking he looked away. "Hn, I'm fine onna."

Raising an eyebrow I said, "Okay..."

Well that was odd. Wonder what that was about. Wait...is he...blushing?...Nah, that can't be. Maybe he's flushed from anger? But why would he be angry? Could he be mad at himself for having given himself away about earlier? Hmmm...wonder what it could be? Only thing I can tell is that his Heart's Song is a mixed up mess again. Can't figure out what he's feeling right now. I swear, he's the only person whose Heart's Song gives me so much trouble when trying to understand it.

When he didn't say anything else I frowned. "Well? Why shouldn't I worry about it and do you know what the energy difference is or not?" I asked feeling slightly annoyed. Amusement in his Heart's Song picked up at my tone. Guess now it was Hiei's turn to be amused.

"Of course I know." was his arrogant reply.

"...Would it kill you to give me an answer that was more than a few words? And don't you dare reply with a simple 'Hn' Hiei." I responded while glaring.

Looking at me with that trademark smirk of his, he answered with his other trademark, "Hn."

I could feel my eye twitching at this and glared harder. His smirk grew before he looked ahead again.

"Of all the males in existence, I just had to get stuck dealing with the most arrogant one ever." I grumbled as I stomped ahead. Stomping off may have been childish but I didn't care. It made me feel better dammit.

"Demon energy." Hiei said from behind me.

I stopped walking, turned and looked at him. "Huh?"

He stopped walking once he was next to me. "The energy difference, it's your demon energy. It's starting to get strong enough to mix with your spirit energy and be noticeable." he calmly said.

"Oh...So it's normal?" I asked.

With a nod he explained, "It's a normal occurrence that happens to humans when they have demon blood that wakes up and they are still alive. Though the majority of humans that have this happen are the child of a demon and a human. Not a descendant from an ancestor like you or Yusuke."

Confused I asked, "Um, but wasn't Yusuke dead when his demon blood woke up? Was that just a coincidence or did that have to do with the type of demon that he is descended from?"

"Yes, he was dead when his woke up. Yusuke is the descendant of the Mazoku. Only when a descendant is strong enough will their demon blood awaken upon their death and revive them." Hiei answered.

"Darn...I'm glad I don't have to die for mine to wake up." I said as I started walking again. "Thanks for letting me know what was going on with my energy Hiei. Now let's get ourselves some breakfast!"

Hiei's POV

"Darn...I'm glad I don't have to die for mine to wake up."

Hearing those words from the onna made my heart stop. The fact that she thought about herself dying, even for a moment, for any reason, bothered me greatly.

"Darn...I'm glad I don't have to die for mine to wake up."

She had started walking again right after that. "Thanks for letting me know what was going on with my energy Hiei. Now let's get ourselves some breakfast!" she said. For the rest of the way we walked in silence.

"Darn...I'm glad I don't have to die for mine to wake up."

I tried over and over again to get those words out of my head. I couldn't understand why they were bothering me so damn much. I wish I knew why they did, but I don't.

"Darn...I'm glad I don't have to die for mine to wake up."

There was something I did know though. Something that I did understand. Something that I now vowed to always do.

"Darn...I'm glad I don't have to die for mine to wake up."

I would never let her die.