"You're a demon?" Yusuke yelled.

I would have expressed my own level of surprised if I wasn't so exhausted.

Koenma took a step back in shock as he looked between Yusuke and I. "You guys know each other?"

I shook my head at the same time Yusuke said, "Nah. Not really anyways. She goes to Keiko's school and we've seen each other once in a while at the end of the day." I nodded to confirm what Yusuke said.

"Well then... Aly-Jay, do you know anything about Yusuke? About his demon side?"

Whoa! He's a demon? That would probably explain my chills whenever I saw him. While I wanted to say those thoughts out loud all I could do was shake my head.

My feeble attempted of an answer must have came to Koenmas notice. "Oh right, I forgot." Koenma ran out of the room and into the kitchen.

Yusuke and I stared at each other for a second. "So..." I said, looking away from him. "Awkward..."

Yusuke laughed as he took a seat at my desk. "You're a demon, huh? I never would have guessed. I'm not sensing anything from you; spirit, or demon."

I lifted my wrists to show my bracelets. "My power... is bound."

"Huh. I've never seen anything like that before." Yusuke leaned forward to get a better look. "They just look like ordinary bracelets."

Before I could attempt a reply Koenma came back into the room with a cup in his hand. "Drink this, Aly-Jay." He helped me drink it. "It should help you become more balanced. It's like the one your mother gave you but it should be a bit stronger." I did feel like I was becoming more balanced. I was able to close my eyes and keep them closed. "Hmm.. Maybe Yusuke should return tomorrow morning. It looks like you should use some sleep."

I was able to stay awake just long enough to hear the guys leave and feel Mizu crawl up from my feet to sleep close to my face.

The first thing I did when I woke up was check the time. Finally, I slept until nine in the morning. God that was thirteen hours. I sat up and stretched before I got up to have some breakfast. Hmm, I was still kind of sleepy but my hunger overrode my need to sleep, so I headed off to the kitchen. My mother had made the same amount of food as she usually did and I ate the same amount as I usually did.

When I was done eating, my mother came to sit next to me. "I got a message from Koenma this morning. Yusuke will be coming here with a friend of his to take you to Yusukes old master. You must be really respectful towards her, she's really powerful." She paused for a second. "She'll probably be able to help you, but it wont be something that will happen in one day. I think you should pack for a couple days, at least."

"Alright," I said with a nod. After helping my mother clean up I went to take a quick shower and went about packing. I grabbed all the essentials, everyday clothes, work out clothes, and even my pointe shoes. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get the chance to use them, but I brought them anyways, simply because it was comforting. When I was done I put my bag by the door. "Mom!" I called, when I heard her reply I continued. "Do you think I could bring Mizu with me?"

"I'm sure it would be fine! As long as he doesn't go off attacking everyone!"

I laughed at that. "I guess it's a no then huh?" I bent down to pick him up. He rubbed his face against mine and gave me the sweetest look. "Then again, maybe you wont. If I bring you with me, you promise not to attack anyone?" He meowed. "That's good enough for me."

After putting him back down I quickly went about gathering stuff for the cat. Just as I was putting the last of it in my second bag there was a knock at the door. I went to answer it and saw Yusuke and the red headed guy, Kuwabara if I remember correctly.

"Hey, Aly-Jay. You ready?" Yusuke said with a grin.

"Whoa! This is that Aly-Jay girl you were talking about?" Kuwabara yelled as he looked down at me. "I totally forgot about her! Although I can't believe I could forget her height... Are you sure this is the right girl? She doesn't seem very powerful."

I glared at him. "Careful. And yes, Yusuke, I'm ready." I grabbed both bags then went to grab Mizu."

"Hey! You've got a kitty?" Kuwabara leaned down to get a good look at Mizu. My kitten's reply was a hiss and a deadly swat with his paw. "Hey!"

Yusuke and I laughed. "Sorry," I said, after I stopped laughing. "He doesn't take to strangers very well."

I turned around to say goodbye to my mother. I expected her to be in the other room but when I turned she was standing in the living room watching. "Have fun, Aly-Jay. Be careful and learn as much as you can."

"Bye, Mom." I gave her a quick hug. "Parting is such sweet sorrow," I said in English.

My mother laughed then tightened her hug. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too." I let go of her then followed Yusuke and Kuwabara out the door. Even though I wanted to look back, I knew I couldn't. Goodbyes are totally not my thing, and I had the hugest feeling that I wouldn't be gone for just a few days... "So, boys... where are we going?"

"We're taking you to Genkai's place," Yusuke replied. "She might be able to help train you, and if she can't she'll probably know someone who can."

I nodded. "And this Genkai used to be your trainer, or something?"

"Yeah," he seemed irritated by the mention of her name. "And she's a total bitch too."

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled, "that isn't very nice. I bet she could still kick your ass. Anyways," Kuwabara turned to me, "she this very powerful martial artiest. I'm sure she can help you with whatever problem you're having."

"Um, thanks?" I moved Mizu in my arms and made sure he was wrapped in the tiny blanket in a way where he can't run."

The rest of the trip was silent as we walked to the train station. Half an hour later we got off the train. It looked like we had gotten to the country side. Why wasn't I surprised? "Not to sound like a five year old or anything, but are we there yet?"

Both boys laughed at that before they said we were almost there. We walked for another twenty minutes before we reached a forest that had a long flight of stairs. I couldn't even see the top. I really hope this is it, I could feel that restlessness crawling back through my nerves. "Please tell me this is the right place." They nodded. "Good. Do we climb to the very top?" They nodded again. "Good." I waited for the guys to take the first step up the stairs. The moment they did I ran up the stairs as fast as I could. I hoped it would help with the restlessness and it kind of did. Fives seconds later I had reached the stop.

I heard Yusuke laughing a couple seconds later as he followed me. "Whoa, Aly-Jay. A warning would be nice next time. I thought you couldn't use any of your powers."

"I can do a few things, like heal quickly, run fast, and use my real strength." I heard running from behind me and saw Kuwabara struggling up the stairs.

"That wasn't very nice, you guys! Leaving me behind like that!"

"Oh, get over it you big baby," Yusuke said while playfully punching him in the arm. "Besides, we got to find Genkai to tell her we've arrived with Aly-Jay."

I followed them as they walked around the compound. The place was huge and covered by a thick forest. We walked straight ahead to what appeared to be the main hall or.. room of some kind. When the guys opened it I peaked inside to see it was empty. "Hmm," Yusuke said as he scratched the back of his head. "I wonder where she is."

"Yukina!" I jumped at the sound of Kuwabara yelling. I turned to see why he reacted that way and saw him running towards a young women with minty green hair. Holy shit we were almost the same height!

I looked over at Yusuke and saw that he seemed embarrassed by Kuwabara. I watched him slowly walk over to this Yukina person. "Hey, Yukina, do you know where Genkai is?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think she's talking to Hiei."

"Hiei is here?" Yusuke asked in shock. "Is there some kind of reunion that I didn't know about?"

"Um, not that I'm aware of."

"I wonder why he's here then." Yukina opened her mouth to reply but Yusuke saw someone approaching from behind her. "There you are Grand-ma! I thought you had died on me or something."

I took a step to the side to try and get a better look at who he was talking to. Holy shit! I am beginning to like this place. Not only are there people my height, but there are also people that are even shorter than me.

The short elderly lady that was walking towards us must be Genkai. "What? And leave this place in your hands alone? I don't think so. You'd probably destroy it in a matter of seconds. Is that the girl Koenma was talking about?"

Finally, I was really starting to feel awkward just standing there while everyone went off to talk to this Yukina girl. I walked down the steps from the main room and walked towards Genkai. Remembering what my mother said about being respectful, I bowed slightly. "It's nice to finally meet you, Master Genkai."

"Hm, I like this girl."

Yusuke rolled his eyes before he said, "She has these bracelets on her wrists that are holding her powers. Do you know anything about them?"

I held my wrists out for Genkai to examine them. She turned my wrists in every direction to get a good look at them. After she gave them a good tug to see if they'd slip off she nodded. "Yes, just as I had suspected. They're demon made and much like the ones I gave you during the dark tournament. Only these ones are meant to bind and hide her powers while yours was to hide and make your power stronger. I don't know much about these ones but I can try my best. Come with me, Aly-Jay." Yusuke and I followed her into the forest until we got to a large clearing. Once we reached the centre Genkai turned to me. "If I'm right, then it wont be pretty when we take those bracelets off. Since you have had your powers bound for so long the moment we take those bracelets off then they will be unleashed at a very strong rate."

I couldn't help myself from touching my bracelets. When she says it like that then I think I'll just keep them on. Maybe I can find some hardcore ballet company to join.

"Or," Genkai continued, "your powers might just find the freedom from the bracelets a release and you'll just find your body and mind at peace. But there's only one way to find out." She held her hands out for me to place my hands in.

After I handed Yusuke Mizu and put my bags down, I placed my hands in hers. She turned my hands over and gently pressed a certain part of the inside of each bracelet. And just like that they fell off. I don't know how I feel about them coming off so easily. Knowing they could have come off if I touched them wrong was not a settling thought... As I rubbed my naked wrists I noticed that nothing was happening. "Hm.. Maybe my powers just-" I didn't have time to finish my sentence before I went through one of the most painful experiences of my life.

At first it felt like the pain was ice cold, like the moment when someone pushes you into a cold lake when you weren't ready. That split second where it's so cold that it feels like there a hundred needles poking you. I was so shocked by it that all I could do was open my mouth with shock. It started at my fingers and toes and worked its way into my chest. The more it spread the more painful it became. The moment it got to my shoulders and the top of my thighs I couldn't stop myself from throwing me head back and letting out a scream. I have never experienced this kind of pain before, and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get it to stop. I tried to relax and breath and I tried to find some kind of control over my powers. Nothing helped. And it didn't end there.

I thought I heard Genkai and Yusuke trying to get me to stop, and I heard them trying to run towards me. They couldn't get very close because the moment they tired the pain had reached my chest and got a whole lot worse. While before the pain was ice cold, when it finally reached my chest it suddenly changed to a skin melting hot. I screamed again as both my powers fought for control but the struggle lead to bad mixing and resulted it them lifting me off the ground. All I could do was let my body fight it out as I dangled in the air screaming. Water had control for most of my life, but fire was not happy about that and tried to push water down. I could feel it happening within me. One side of my body felt ice cold while the other was scorching hot and the level of intensity from each element would get stronger. It was like they were trying to find a balance. While fire wanted more control because it was always in the shadows, water just wanted the balance my body needed.

I felt like this was going on for months, years, centuries. I'm pretty sure I got to a thousand years before fire and water started to find a balance. They still struggled but it gave Genkai the time she needed to bind me again. At least, that's what I think since I heard Genkai yelling something before I passed out.

Hiei watched Yukina walk away from him as he held the stone he tried to return. She is so naive, she should have just taken the stone because he had no intention to tell her that he's the brother she's been looking for. Such a child for still believing that he's alive after all he's told her.

"She's not as naive as you think she is, Hiei."

He quickly hid Yukina's stone under his shirt before he looked behind him to see Genkai walking up to him.

"She's not a child anymore, Hiei. She knows more than what you'd expect. After staying at my compound for so long she has learned many things. You need to stop trying to baby her."

"Humph," was Hiei only reply.

"Don't want to listen to me? Fine. But you're going to have to accept it sooner or later. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mixed demon I need to go see."

Mixed demon? Is there such a thing? Rather than voicing his questions Hiei watched Genkai walk away.

"What a surprise to see you here, Hiei. I never would have thought you'd return so soon."

Ugh, what is this? I return to human world to tell Yukina that her brother is dead and it's like everyone needs to plan some kind of welcoming party...Hiei turned around to face Kurama. "Well, it's not a surprise to see you here, Kurama. That soft heart of yours prevents you from leaving this so-called 'gang'."

Kurama smiled. "What can I say? These guys grew on me. But I must ask, what are you doing here?"

"I came to give Yukina her stone back."

"Oh?"

Hiei could read Kurama's reaction like an open book. Kurama has such wishful thinking when it comes to Hiei telling Yukina the truth. "And tell her that her brother is dead."

"I see. I guess you will never give up on that." There was a long pause before Kurama continued with a conversation. "So, are you going to return to demon world now that you've talked to Yukina?" Hiei nodded. "Are you not a little bit curious about this mixed demon?"

"Please," Hiei said as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "There's no such thing."

Kurama looked down at Hiei. "Have you not heard of the prophecy?"

Before Hiei could reply there was a random burst of wind that carried an odd sense of demon energy. Both Kurama and Hiei frowned in confusion. The moment they heard a girl scream and felt a large burst of energy, they both took a step back from the impact.

"What the-?" Hiei said before both he and Kurama ran towards the energy. Before they could reach the source the energy simply vanished. Hiei followed Kurama's lead when he stopped running. "What was that?"

"I wonder..." Kurama said, while he got lost in his thoughts. "Could that really have been the mixed demon?"

Hiei then saw Yusuke coming out of the forest with a young girl in his arms and Genkai at his side. Did that power really come from her? He didn't sense anything before when he should have.

"What happened, Master Genkai?" Kurama asked. "Is she the mixed demon?"

Genkai nodded. "Yes, and she's not what I expected. She has more power than I thought would be possible. While I thought she would just have half the power of water and half the power of fire, it appears that she has full power of both."

Hiei frowned as he thought something like that was even possible. No one could survive with power like that.

"Is that even possible?" Kurama asked. Hiei was grateful that Kurama was here to asked the questions Hiei refused to ask.

"Barely, it obviously had a toxic reaction to this young girl. Her mother put these demon bracelets on her at a young age and I can't decided if that was a good idea or not. It might have helped her survive over the years but her powers were bound for so long." All of them looked down at the bracelets that have returned to her wrists. "I was able to put those back on, and after that release of power hopefully it wont be as bad when we take them off again. But I want both of you to come with us. We need to talk about what we should do with her."

Hiei humphed. "You'll have to excuse me but I have to return to demon world."

"No, Hiei," Genkai said as she started to walk towards her compound. "If anything, we'll need your help the most."

No one gave Hiei the chance to argue as they all started to walk away. Once they got to the front of the compound they placed the mixed demon in the training building and had Yukina try to nurse her back to health. As Yukina placed a damp cloth on the mixed demon's forehead the guys and Genkai stood back to watch her.

"What's her name?" Kurama asked.

"Aly-Jay Brooks," Genkai replied. Everyone looked at Genkai with a confused expression. "She was born and raised in Canada. Her human father named her."

"She's half human?" Hiei couldn't stop himself from asking.

Genkai nodded, "I guess what the prophecy left out was that the mixed demon needed some human blood in order to inheriate both elements."

Kurama frowned. "How does that make sense?"

"Since when has a prophecy ever made sense?"

"Good point."

There was a pause before Hiei asked the question that has been on his mind. "How am I involved in all this? I don't have time to just stand here and stare a sleeping half human."

Genkai closed her eyes as if to fight back a nasty remark. When she opened her eyes she looked up at Hiei and said, "As I've said before, Hiei, she isn't just half water demon, half fire demon. She's a full water demon and a full fire demon in one body. "

"Yes, you've said that already..."

Genkai ignored the impatience tone in Hiei's voice. "From what I saw in the clearing she doesn't have any idea how to control the element of fire. It's as if her fire side had been bound to the point of none existence and when her bracelets came off it demanded to have complete power. She doesn't have the control or ability to put fire in it's place on her own. And with you being a fire demon..."

"No," Hiei said firmly. "I didn't come here to start baby sitting again." He started to leave the room.

"Oh, when are you going to grow up?" Genkai yelled.

"Excuse me?" Hiei turned to Genkai with a snarl.

"You don't want to accept the fact that you actually like being around Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara? Fine, I don't care about you're stupid stubbornness, but we all know that you do have some form of a heart. Are you really just going to let this girl spend the rest of her life suffering through her power struggle? We all know that if we leave her like this she'll eventually die sooner than when she's meant to."

Hiei turned his back to Genkai. "Find another fire demon."

Genkai crossed her arms. "We should all know that the only fire demons I've met ended with me killing them." When Hiei didn't say anything Genkai added, "Besides, you've got to be at least a little curious. She's the only mixed demon that's ever lived. Once she gains full control over her powers, would she be more powerful than yourself? Hell, would she be the most powerful demon in all of demon world?"

After Hiei thought about it for a second he turned his head to look at Genkai, then he simply walked away.

Once he was out of sight Kurama said, "I think that's a yes."