Whispers filled the glacial village as Yukina and Hiei began to tread through the snow. "It can't be, is it really him?" Yukina looked up to see two elderly ice
maidens she had once considered friends whispering back and forth to each other. "The Imiko has returned once more, he's going to kill us all!"
"But look who is with him, its Yukina…surely she would not allow him to do such an act." Yukina came to a halt, she recognized that nickname, "the Imiko." The
ice maidens had informed her she had a twin brother and they had referred to him as "the Imiko". Perhaps they thought Hiei was her brother? They did have
similar facial features and eyes.
"Yukina? Is that you?" Yukina turned to see a familiar blue haired ice apparition rapidly approaching. "Ree.." Yukina replied in a near whisper. Ree turned her
attention from Yukina to Hiei, her eyes widening in recognition. Yukina found Ree's reaction to Hiei a bit odd, was she missing something?
Ree quickly averted her eyes away from the fire demon and back to Yukina. Examining the girl more closely Ree realized something, Yukina was pregnant. "I
came here to speak to you, as you can see I am pregnant..but the thing is I have never engaged in intercourse with a man and nor have I eaten the fruit of
fertility." Ree suddenly looked terrified after Yukina had finished speaking making Hiei feel uneasy.
"No..how could they.." Ree exclaimed, tears threatening to come forth as she pulled Yukina forward and embraced her in a hug. Ree pulled away, glancing
around to see who was watching them. Nearly every ice maiden in the village was watching them, though from a far distance. A death glare appeared on Hiei's
face as he noticed a very elderly koorime watching them from high up on a mountain peak. The energy emitting from her was filled with spite and anger.
"Come with me dear, our conversation must not be overheard." Ushering Yukina into her home, Hiei followed close behind.
"Ree what did you mean out there? How could they what? And who is they? Please tell me Ree.." Yukina pleaded. "I'm so sorry Yukina…..I pleaded with them
not to do it..I thought they didn't go through with it" "Tell us what the hell is going on!" Hiei snapped. Ree locked eyes with Hiei; pain, regret, guiltiness could
all be seen swimming in her eyes. Hiei felt pity for the women, the same look had filled her eyes when she realized who he was the first time he came here.
"Some of the elders decided Hina needed to be punished in more ways than one for mating with a man. Not only was your brother to be exiled from the land,
but a curse was to be placed on you Yukina." Hiei's eyes widened, anger filled every fiber of his being as the image of the old women on the mountain peak
entered his mind.
"I overheard the elders speaking to each other about what would be done with you Yukina. Those cold hearted monsters had already decided on what would
happen to your brother, but you…they were still debating about your fate. In the end they agreed to let your mother keep you, but on one condition. A curse
would be placed on you, once you became impregnated the curse would start to come into effect…"
Tear gems fell from Ree's eyes as the memories became fresh in her mind once more. "You're in grave danger" Ree stared at the ground, not wanting to make
eye contact as she spoke her next words. "Do you remember the story I use to read to you as a child Yukina? The one about the ice maiden whose daughter
was cursed? " Yukina nodded, "Yes I do. The koorime who mated with a man..just like my mother."
Ree nodded, "The women, Leera, became impregnated and ended up giving birth to a little girl. " Ree turned her attention to Hiei, who was oblivious to the
story.
"A curse was placed on the little girl by the elders, the same curse that has been placed on Yukina. When the little girl became older and reached child bearing
age that is when the curse began to rear its ugly head. The girl became pregnant without mating with a man and without eating the fruit of fertility, just like
you Yukina. She didn't know why or how it happened, but she thought the child was a blessing. She became increasingly concerned when her pregnancy
seemed to be growing more rapidly than anticipated. Five months after becoming pregnant she went into labor..what emerged from her was no baby..a
horrible evil creature was born that day…" Hiei stared down at Yukina's belly before turning his attention back to Ree, "What happened to her and the
creature?" "The creature devoured her and disappeared somewhere deep within the Makai." Yukina placed a hand on her belly, "You're saying there is a
horrible creature growing inside me right now? But…Cheza..she said she met my future daughter..she said she was beautiful and kindhearted not some evil
beast."
Ree's head snapped up, "What?" "A friend of mine was sent into the future, she met her future son and daughter there and my daughter as well."Yukina
explained. Hope filled Ree's eyes, "My theory may still stand then. You see, I knew Leera. She was a very hateful, bitter person during her pregnancy. She was
not always that way, once she was kind and sweet like you, but after the elders found out about her mating with a man she became a completely different
person. Do you know what a spirit egg is?" Yukina nodded, "I remember Yusuke telling me about them. He said that when he died he was given an egg by
Koenma, who in turn told him the egg would feed off his energy and based upon the type of energy he emitted, the creature inside the egg would either be
born into a creature of good or a creature of bad. If the creature was evil then it would devour him."
Hiei's eyes widened slightly, "Are you saying the same concept can be applied to the baby growing inside her?" Ree nodded, "I am almost positive now. Yukina,
you are the most kind hearted, gentlest soul I've ever known..you have nothing to worry about. Your child will be born of good..I know it."
/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\Two days later/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/
"So what's this about grandma?" Yusuke asked as he entered Genkai's temple. Hiei, Kurama, Cheza, Yukina, Kuwabara, and Keiko were already inside
chattering away. The old woman had asked for everyone to be present at precisely 8:00 a.m that morning. "Keiko? What are you doing here?" Yusuke asked.
"Sit down and shut up, I'll explain everything in a moment." Genkai demanded. Surprisingly Yusuke obliged without protest, taking a seat next to his sweetie.
After taking a sip of tea, Genkai proceeded to hand everyone a small white ticket.
"A cruise ticket?" Kuwabara asked while examining the paper more closely.
Everyone exchanged confused glances, prompting Genkai to explain. "You all have had a lot on your plates lately. I want you all to take some time off to relax
and enjoy life for once." Yusuke eyed Genkai suspiciously, "What are you up to you old hag!?" "Yusuke!" Keiko exclaimed while reaching over and giving him a
good whack. "Oww! What the hell Keiko!" "I suggest you get to packing, you only have three hours before the ship departs." Genkai commented. "What!? I
have school today! I can't just up and leave at a moment's notice!" Kuwabara remarked. "Koenma pulled some strings. You don't have to worry about your
schooling, same goes for you Keiko." Genkai's eyes drifted to Kurama, seeing that he was about to say something. "Don't worry about Stella and Daisuke I will
take care of them." Hiei's eyes narrowed, but he remained silent. Yukina was not protesting, meaning she was going to go..which meant he would be forced to
go as well.
"How long does this cruise last anyways?" Yusuke asked, a bit of excitement now in his voice. "Five days."Genkai replied. "I don't think it would be wise to
leave Stel.." " I am not taking no for an answer Kurama." Genkai interrupted. Silence ensued, soon interrupted by Yusuke. "Well? What are we waiting for
guys? lets get to packing!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Wow!" Cheza exclaimed while entering the room that Genkai had reserved for her and Kurama. Two large circular windows were located in the medium sized
room. One of the windows was located next to the queen sized bed that occupied the room, giving a spectacular underwater view. Kurama's arms wrapped
around Cheza, "Maybe Genkai is right, a vacation might be just the thing to relieve some of our stress." Cheza nodded, "Yeah..but I am already feeling
separation anxiety." Kurama chuckled, "That is to be expected, but it is reassuring to know our children are in good hands."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\meanwhile/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"This is amazing!" Keiko exclaimed while looking around her and Yusuke's room. One large window occupied this particular room, a beautiful underwater view
for the couple to enjoy. Yusuke began to laugh as he looked out the window. "Whats so funny!?" Keiko asked while looking out the window as well. "Did you
see Hiei's face when he found out he would be sharing a room with Kuwabara!?" Keiko giggled, "I must admit his face was priceless. Hopefully Yukina will keep
them from killing each other."
/\/\/\/\/\\/\\Evening/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\/\/\
Hiei found himself sitting at the stern of the ship, watching the ocean waves peacefully. The others were inside enjoying dinner, he found the dining area to be
to noisy and crowed for his liking. Every now and then a rogue child would come up to him and ask him why he was sitting there all alone, he would simply
glare at them and the kid would scream and take off running. Hiei stared down into the water's depths, his eyes widened. A woman with green algae like hair,
pointy fangs, and red glowing eyes stared up at him from below the water. Instinctively his hand reached for his sword, but it was not there. The others had
forced him to remove it, after all he was boarding a ship with humans. He cursed under his breath before turning his attention back to the water, the woman
was no longer there. Was he just imagining things? He had heard stories about evil mermaids occupying the oceans of makai…were there ones here in human
world too?
"Mr. Hiei?" Hiei looked up to see Yukina standing a few feet away from him. "Yukina!" he exclaimed, the ice maiden had caught him off guard. He had been so
engrossed in his own thoughts he hadn't sensed her approaching. "I..I didn't mean to interrupt..but I wanted to see if you were okay. You barely ate your
dinner and no one knew where you had gone to afterwards." Yukina commented. "I prefer to be out here with the quiet serenity of the sea."Hiei replied.
Yukina smiled, "I see. May I join you?" Hiei nodded and the two sat in comfortable silence listening to the waves.
/\/\/\/\/\/\Middle of the Night/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Cheza awoke from her slumber, finding Kurama fast asleep beside her. Flipping to her other side, she now faced the large circular window occupying their
room. A pair of glowing red eyes bore into her own, a man with short dark red hair and sharp pointy fangs staring menacingly at her. A scream escaped her lips
and she quickly stumbled out of bed. Kurama jolted up, "Cheza!? What' wrong!?" he asked a hint of panic in his voice. She pointed to the window, Kurama
looked out seeing nothing but a few fish. "There..there was a man staring at me..a..fish man thing..I..I don't know what it was"
Kurama frowned just as their door opened, Hiei stood in the doorway a sword in hand. "Hiei! " Kurama exclaimed. "What's going on? I heard Cheza scream"
His eyes instantly went to their window, but he saw nothing. "Cheza..stay here, I'll be right back." Cheza nodded, her eyes not once leaving the window.
Shutting the door to his and Cheza's room, Kurama's attention fell upon Hiei. "Hiei, you can't be walking around with a sword in your hand..there are humans
aboard this ship." Hiei placed his sword in its sheath, hiding it behind his cloak. "What was she screaming about?" Hiei asked. "Cheza believes she saw a
..merman I guess you could call it, staring at her in the window." Hiei's eyes widened slightly, Kurama took notice. "You have seen one as well?" Hiei nodded,
"A woman is what I saw..not a man."
"I have heard many stories of demons being devoured by mermaids out at sea in makai..but never have I heard of any occupying any body of water here in
human world." Kurama replied. "Hey, what's going on out there. I heard someone screaming." The two turned to see Yusuke exiting his room in a pair of green
boxers. "Yusuke ,I believe this trip is not going to be much of a vacation after all." Came Kurama's reply.
To be continued …