I woke up out of breath and in a cold sweat. It was obvious I had a nightmare, but when I tried to think about it, all I could remember was a sinister laugh. After I caught my breath, I looked over at my clock and saw that it was six in the morning. And on that note, I changed into some workout clothes and went down to get something to eat. When I opened my door I saw Kuwabara sleeping against the wall. So it begins. I tried to be as quiet as I could when I walked down the stairs. I must have been the first one up because I didn't hear anything. Oops, apparently not. I stopped short when I saw Hiei putting away a glass. He heard me in the door way and half a second later he had his sword at my throat. I only had time to squeak, but he quickly realized it was me and put his sword away.

"I'm sorry?" I resisted the urge to slap my forehead. Typical, I was the one with a sword at my throat, and I'm the one saying sorry. I'm so Canadian...

Hiei narrowed his eyes at me. "I didn't think you'd be up this early."

With a frown, I watched him leave. Was that... an apology? I just stood there for a second, in shock. But I shook it off and went to have a bowl of cereal. I was half way through my meal when I heard Kuwabara wake up. He opened my bedroom door, paused and quickly ran downstairs and straight into the kitchen. When he saw me sitting at the table, he placed a hand on his chest and took a deep breath.

He quickly linked his fingers together in a begging manner. "Please, please, please! Don't tell the guys I fell asleep!"

I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. "I suppose I can let it slide this time. But sleeping on the job, Kuwabara? Shame..."

He went to go grab a bowl and joined me to eat cereal. As we sat in silence, I realized we haven't really talked much. In fact, I haven't really talked much with anyone. I mean, yeah, we spent a lot of time together, but it only involved training. None of us have actually bonded. Man, now I feel kind of lonely.

After I washed my dishes and left them to dry, I headed upstairs to knock on Hiei's door. There was complete silence in Hiei's room. I started to walk away, but I just took one step before the door opened. I stiffened from nervousness; I've never really called on Hiei before. He just stared at me while I stood there awkwardly.

"Hi. So, um. I figured, we could start training now. I don't know if you have plans, or if you're busy or anything. But if you aren't, I figured we could just start now. You know?" Smooth, Aly-Jay, smooth. It's not like he needs another reason to find me weak... I need to find another way to deal with my nerves.

He stared at me for a couple of seconds. "Let's go." He turned to head out so I followed. Hiei only stopped when we got to the clearing. After taking off his cloak, he turned to me. I braced myself for his attack but he simply started talking. "I noticed you have some sort of control over water, even with those stupid bracelets. But you don't seem to have any control over fire."

I nodded. "Water has always been my dominate demon side. Even as a baby I showed some kind of control. In fact, my mother thought I was going to be a water demon only. It wasn't until I was five when my mother realized that I was the mixed demon the prophecy was talking about. And it was obvious that there was no way I could control it; so she bound me. Since I've had a natural control over water, I'm able to control it a little bit. I just can't summon it."

"Hmm," Hiei said as he looked like he was thinking. All of a sudden he disappeared.

"Uh.." I did a three sixty to see where he went off to. As usual, he was no where in sight. Was I suppose to wait? I linked my fingers together and rocked back and forth awkwardly.

It wasn't long before he game back with a makeshift cup filled with water. Without a word, he quickly threw the water at me. I reached out and focused on stopping the water from going any further. The water maintained it's natural flow and movement, but didn't move outside of it's shape. I acted out of reflex, without thought. When I looked over at Hiei, I didn't see any kind of emotion on his face. But he didn't give me that "weak human" look, so that's a good thing right?

"Now make a weapon out of it," he said.

I looked at what little water I was given, a weapon? I thought it over for a second before I started to create an arrowhead. Before I could second guess myself, I threw it at Hiei. His eyes widened a bit but I lost control of the water before it got to him and simply fell to ground. I sighed in defeat as he closed his eyes and shook his head. Half a second later, the burning sensation came back into my right hand. I hissed as I held it with my other hand.

Hiei came over to me and reached into his pants pocket to pull out a lighter. After lighting it, he held it out in front of me and said, "Try to control this."

I slowly reached out my burning hand to place it over the fire. My hand was almost in the fire and it helped the burning sensation but I could barely feel a difference. I tried to make the flame move in any way but I couldn't do it. After taking a deep breath I closed my eyes to focus better but I still got the same results. I sighed again and held my still burning hand against my chest. Hiei sighed as well, but he put the lighter back in his pocket and summoned a fireball in his hand. I was surprised to see him hold out his hand rather than just throw it at me. Narrowing my eyes, I took it from him.

"Try and make something out of it," Hiei said as he took a step back.

At first I tried to make a heart since it wasn't that much different from a circle. Nothing happened. I frowned and tried again. I kept trying until I started to get a headache. Was I really this weak? I can't even make a goddamn heart! Starting to get angry, I yelled and threw the fire ball at the nearest tree. This time, when I threw it, the fireball maintained it's form and actually caused a burn mark in the tree. Surprised, I looked over at Hiei with my eyes wide with shock and my mouth open with a huge smile. Hiei even gave me an odd look but he quickly looked away.

"What's this? Starting the party without us?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Yusuke standing there with a boombox in his hand and Kurama at his side. It took me a second to realize why he had a boombox in his hand. That's right, they wanted me to try and work on my defence and balance while music is playing. I watched as Kurama and Yusuke walked over to us. And I didn't miss the soft smile Kurama gave me before raising an eyebrow at Hiei.

"Sorry, that was my fault," I started. "You guys weren't around after I finished breakfast, so I figured I could get a head start on training. Especially with me being in danger or whatever."

Yusuke just waved it off. "I heard that Canadians were always nice, but damn, Aly-Jay, I think you take it to a whole new level." I couldn't help but giggle at that. "Anyways, lets get this show on the road." He placed the boombox not too far from us and pulled my iPod out of his pocket. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Now it's my time to say sorry. I noticed Kuwabara wasn't outside your room so I poked my head into your room to see if you were inside. Your iPod was on your desk so I just figured I could bring it with me to the clearing. I thought you would rather use your own music for your training."

I started to wave him off before he finished. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. It was a good idea."

After everything was set up, I went to my iPod to choose a song. I wanted something fast paced but with opportunities for me to go slow at the same time, that way I won't be totally predictable. When I came across the Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights soundtrack, I knew right away what song I was going to use. I chose "Do You Only Wanna Dance" by Mya, but before the music could start I pressed pause.

"Okay," I said as I turned to guys. "I'm ready."

"Alright." Kurama stepped forward. "I think I'll give Hiei a break, so I'll help you."

I nodded before turning back to my iPod. After pressing play, I waited a couple seconds to get into the rhythm. Before Kurama could make a move, I started to sway my hips a bit and sway side to side. I forced myself to maintain eye contact with Kurama but it was kind of hard. While I wanted to keep an eye on Kurama's moves, I'm also not that openly sexual so to move around like this felt kind of awkward. Thankfully, I usually let the music take control so it wasn't long before I tuned out the awkwardness of the situation and let my body do what it needs to do.

Much to my surprise, when Kurama started to attack, my body just started to do what it was suppose to. It was like it remembered all of my past training, I just couldn't figure out how to make it work. I half danced around Kurama, using turns to help me quickly change directions. But I also started to notice that when I would do hip sways to go along with the music Kurama would kind of stumble. It looks like this works as a distraction as well as a way to help my balance. He even paused when I slowly raised my hand to make a stop sign that went along with the music. I had to bite back a smile at that. This was much more of a success that I originally thought. We stopped when the song ended.

Kurama wasn't really out of breath, but I could tell he was impressed. "Well..." he started as he brushed himself off, "I'd say that worked well."

I felt my cheeks get hot over his comment. "Yeah... sorry. I wanted a song where I could go fast and slow. That song works for me and I kind of just let it take over."

"Yeah, yeah. While that's good and dandy," Genkai said as she to entered the clearing, "we need to move on." She came up to me and held her hands out, palms up. "Give me your wrists."

I hesitated a second before resting them in her palms. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" She gave me a stare that almost made me take a step back. "The only reason I'm asking is because the last time we did this, not only did it actually kind of hurt, it gave me away."

"I think it's safe to say that they already know that you're here. What we need to focus on now is getting your powers in check so you can fight them off. If they're really from demon world, the only way you'll be able to defend yourself is to use your demon powers." She placed her fingers on the inside of my bracelets. "Brace yourself."

I took a deep breath and tensed as they fell off. Everyone fell silent in anticipation and I could feel their eyes on me. It was actually quite unsettling. While the silence had this calm feeling, I couldn't help but feel like it was the calm before the storm. Just as that thought went through my mind, I began to feel my powers surge. I braced myself for the sudden pain to start in my fingers and toes. But this time it only felt like a little burning tickle at first. My fire side still tried to gain complete control but it almost felt like it didn't have as much energy as before. Maybe the first time my bracelets came off actually did help. When the burning sensation reached my chest I started to feel pain. It wasn't as bad as before, not by a long shot, but it still caused me to hold my chest and fall to my knees. My chest felt like it was overheating, causing my breathing to get difficult, and that my ribs where about to rip open.

The pain only increased causing a scream to escape my lips, no matter how hard I tried to bite it back. I tried to focus on my breathing, hoping it would help, but all I could manage was to pant. Genkai came up to me and tried to put my bracelets back on but I pushed her away. She was right, I needed to fight through this or I'll just be stuck in this same problem. If I don't start working on these powers now, I wont be able to defend myself. And I am NOT going to let some gross demon kidnap me because I'm "special". I braced myself on my hands and knees as I continued to focus on my breathing. The pain no longer increased but I could still feel the fire trying to gain control while water fought for balance. Neither refused to give in.

I saw a shadow kneel in front of me. I looked up, ready to push Genkai away again, but it was Hiei in front of me. Frowning, I tried to question him but I couldn't through the pants. My frown deepened when he pulled out the lighter again. Without a single word, he lit the lighter and held it in front of me. I slowly reached out and tried to pull the fire into my hand. Hoping it would be similar to how I control water, I focused as if it wasn't any different. Much to my surprise the fire flew into my hand with ease. I wasn't sure if the gasp I heard was mine or someone else.

Even more of a surprise was how fast my fire side seemed to take a step down. I could feel that my fire side wasn't done but it did start to feel at ease a bit. Still holding the fire in my hand, I began to stand up. Thank god, I can breath properly again, but I still had this intense burning in my chest. I tried to make a fire ball in my hand and it actually worked. I couldn't help but smile. This is good progress right? It had to be. I tried to throw it at a tree, but just like what happened to the water earlier, it simply vanished before it hit anything. I frowned in disappointment.

"That was amazing!" Yusuke said. "How did you know that would help, Hiei?"

Hiei just shrugged.

"Good," Genkai said, "now how do you feel?"

I winced at the burning sensation in my chest. "Honestly? Sore, and like my chest is on fire."

Genkai nodded. "I would think so. There's no way you can just gain control in a matter of minutes. Your fire side will continue to fight until you can push it down and demand balance. Now we need to figure out how you can gain that control." She paused for a second. "Now, I'm pretty sure it's lunch time."

After our lunch break, I continued to train, both hand-to-hand combat and to gain control over my powers. Much to my disappointment, there wasn't a lot of progress on my demon side but Genkai thought it would be best if I left the bracelets off. Apparently, I needed to live with this pain in my chest to get a better "feeling" of my fire side. That and we all figured that I'd start back at square one if I put them back on. Which actually made a lot of sense. Now if only this pain would go away.

By the time I was ready to go to bed, I wasn't actually tired, I just felt like I needed to lie down. I was on my back, reading a book while petting Mizu who rested on my chest, when I felt like someone was watching me. But it didn't make me feel uncomfortable or like I was in danger. I actually kind of felt safe. I looked out my window and only saw the nights sky so I slowly got up to open my door to peak out into the hall way. There was no one there. I figured that could only mean one thing.

I went over to my window and opened it all the way. After poking my head out to look out into the darkness I realized I couldn't see anybody. So I took a shot in the dark... no pun intended. "I know you're out there, Hiei." I called out, not to loudly. "You might as well come in." I took a step back and waited. Nothing happened. Please tell me it's actually him out there. "I can be just as stubborn as you so you might as well save us both the trouble and come inside. Plus, it's kind of creepy knowing you're out there keeping an eye on me when I can't even see you."

Much to my surprise, Hiei landed just outside my window and humphed before coming inside. Without a word he took a seat at my desk and looked out the window. As he seemed to get comfortable Mizu got up and went up to him. I tried to grab him before he could try and attack Hiei but he surprised both of us by jumping onto Hiei's lap then curled into a ball. Hiei looked down at Mizu with his eyes opened wide. I could tell that he didn't know what to do with the situation.

All I could bring myself to do was say, "Whoa. He likes you."

Hiei looked over at me before looking down at the cat. I raised an eyebrow when Hiei seemed to settle again and stare out the window. Since this is how it's going to be, I went to sit on my bed with my legs crossed, facing Hiei.

He looked over at me with a frown. "Shouldn't you be sleeping or something?"

I crossed my arms. "Shouldn't you?" I paused before giving him a real answer. "I'm not tired. Besides, this burning in my chest would make it hard for me to sleep anyways." There was another pause as Hiei looked back out the window. I took a deep breath as I tried to think of some kind of conversation. If he was going to train me on my fire side, we might as well get to know each other, right? I guess I could always start with the basics. "Hi," I started. I could see Hiei look at me through the corner of his eye. "My name is Aly-Jay Brooks, and I grew up in Vancouver, Canada. I'm eighteen years old but I often get told I have an old soul. I think of myself being a quiet type, but talk about my height and I will do or say something about it. I try not to let myself get picked around in any way because of my height. If people underestimate me, that's their problem and they'll have to deal with the consequences. I often get thought of as being weak because of my height and weight, but I refuse to let people continue to think that way about me. And... I think that's it." When I was done Hiei was plainly staring at me. I couldn't see any emotion in his eyes. "So... yeah."
Once again there was silence. I looked around the room, trying to figure out what else to do. My eyes landed on one of my bags. Hmm... I wonder. I got up to check one of the small side pockets. Ah-hah! Bingo. I pulled out an old deck of cards that I had brought to Jessie's house once. Since I don't play cards a lot I didn't have a reason to take them out of my bag after that visit. After grabbing them, I went back to my bed and placed my pillow against the headboard. I sat against the pillow with my legs crossed so there was room for Hiei to sit across from me. "Come," I said as I patted the place in front of me.

He frowned at me. "I don't place silly games."

I let out a fake gasp. "This is no silly game. We are going to play War. The name alone should appeal to you. Plus, the faster you go the more fun it will be." I gestured towards the space in front of me. "Oh come on, Hiei! Please, just come play. If you're going to train me, we should at least get along or something. Please?" I stared at him, waiting. I think we stayed like that for five minutes before he finally gave in and got up, gently placed Mizu on the ground. "I told you I could be stubborn." He sat across from me and crossed his legs as well. I explained the game to him and dealt the cards. When we were ready to start I pointed at his forehead. "You use that eye of yours and I will hit you." I stared at him, trying to look as serious as possible. He closed his eyes for a second and I could have sworn I saw smirk.

Hiei opened his eyes again and placed his right, bandaged, hand over his deck of cards. "Lets do this."

We must have played for hours, with Mizu in his lap. I had a hard time keeping up with him at times, which caused me to let cards go flying sometimes. And each time I couldn't help but laugh. Part of the appeal of this simple game is those silly mistakes when you start to go to fast. Well Hiei never let on that he was enjoying himself, he didn't say he wanted to stop. I personally thought he was actually enjoying himself. I had to bite back a smile at that thought; I think I'm making some progress with him.

I started to yawn as I gathered up the cards to shuffle them. Hiei looked up at me than at the clock next to my bed. It was a little after one in the morning. He got up and took a step towards the window. "I should go patrol the area." Because I was actually really tired, I went over to the window to close it after I said goodnight and watch him leave. I crawled into bed and instantly fell asleep, despite the burning in my chest.

The next few days were much the same. I was either training or eating. Although, this time I was really able to improve on my water skills. Without the bracelets on, I wasn't just able to command water, I was able to summon and take control as well. It almost felt like water wanted me to take control. Fire on the other hand... nothing. Absolutely nothing... But I did feel like I was making better progress with Hiei. Every night that Hiei was watching me I would invite him in and we would either play War or just simply talk... with me doing most of the talking. Hiei even started to pet Mizu whenever he crawled into his lap.

But I think the worse part was the fact that I was actually starting to get feelings for him. Every time I thought about him, I felt like I needed to hit my palm against my forehead. Falling for the bad boy, typical. But it was true... I couldn't help but feel like his lone wolf attitude added to his appeal. And with both of us being comfortable being alone at times, I couldn't help but feel like my feelings for him were only getting stronger. Way to go, Aly-Jay. Fall for the guy you have no chance with.

Tonight, I thought I'd try something different, hopefully I could get Hiei start talking more. When I went up to my room for the night I went to my window to open it but this time, I didn't call for Hiei to come inside. This time, I'd like to see if Hiei would come inside on his own. As I waited, I shuffled the cards then placed them on my bedside table then I grabbed one of my books and began to read. I can gotten through a whole chapter before Hiei actually came in through the window.

"You shouldn't keep your window open like that. Someone could easily come inside and grab you."

I actually smiled at him. Right, because he just came inside like that as a demonstration. I sat up and made room for Hiei on my bed. We played a couple games before I started to feel restless. I felt like I had to do this. Share my deepest secret. I need to know where Hiei stood between us. I mean, I know he's comfortable with me, why else would he be willing to hang out with me at night? But is that it? If I don't try to take it a little further, to see how he feels, I know I'll regret it.

After I shuffled the cards for a new game, I decided it was a better idea to do this sooner, rather than later. I placed the cards next to my bed and sat sideways, with my feet touching the ground. I took a second to gather my courage, but Hiei must have taken it as a dismissal since he slowly got up and headed to the window. "Wait," I said. "I have something I need to say." Hiei paused and turned to face me. I patted the pace next to me so he came and took a seat.

"My fire side hasn't always been hiding in the shadows." I could feel Hiei's eyes on me. "When I was five, my mom was babysitting our neighbours daughter who was the same age as me. They were basically best friends so our neighbour trusted us. I was also really close to their daughter. I can't remember her name anymore. We'd play together every chance we got. But one day, as we were playing outside, while my mom was watering her plants, and she was suddenly becoming really rude." I paused as I thought about this memory. For some reason, I could remember it as if it were yesterday. "She wouldn't let me be the leader or anything. I always had to follow her around while she made the rules. She was starting to make me angry, really angry. And to make things worse, she would grab some of my best toys and claim them as hers. Angry and frustrated, I just reacted. I screamed at her, just screamed. The next thing I knew there were flames everywhere. Suddenly I wasn't screaming anymore, she was. My mom rushed over and took out the flames. Since she's a water demon she was able to do it quickly. The girl was rushed off to the hospital, my mom and I with her. But I didn't understand what was really happening. I didn't understand where those flames had come from. That night, when my mom tuck me into bed, she placed those bracelets on my wrists. They grew bigger as I did, so they were always a perfect fit. And my mom made me promise that I would never talk about that day again. The fear in her eyes made me scared so I did. Less than a month later, we were moving. That's when I knew that this secret was serious. I couldn't tell anyone." I paused as I thought about that girl. "God, I don't even know if she's still alive."

There was nothing but silence for what felt like forever. Finally, I looked over at Hiei to see if he had even listened, or if he was still there for that matter. My eyes came in direct contact with his. I felt frozen as he stared at me. It looked like his eyes had soften up a bit, but it was hard to tell. He looked down at our hands that were side by side, resting on the bed. The next thing I knew, he placed his on top of mine.