Note:
I wish there was a way to emphasize how much you need to pay attention to this chapter, but there's not, really, apart from saying: Pay Attention To This Chapter. There's so much here that will come up again later. This might be one of the most important chapters aside from chapter 29. If you need to re-read it, I highly encourage it. This was also one of my favorite chapters to write.
In case it is not clear in the chapter, most of the chapter is made up of Hiei's memories from the first timeline. And it moves around between memories of the first timeline as well as the current timeline; nothing is in chronological order, so if you're confused, know that it's not supposed to make sense. You're seeing the memories as Hiei does. The memories are notated with the first sentence italicized. The present is notated with the first sentence bolded. If a sentence begins after a line break that does NOT begin italicized or bolded, it is a continuation of the memory/scene before it.
A huge thank you to and musicnutftw for your reviews on chapter 38, and a huge thank you to anyone who is still reading this story. It's been awhile, but I'm back! I hope you like it; please review!
I do not own, in any way, the characters, places, or ideas of the Yu Yu Hakusho universe created by Yoshihiro Togashi. I only own my own characters and plot. No money or income is generated from this story.
Previously in On Dating a Demon:
Fourteen cities were destroyed by Oblivions in the current Timeline, including Tokyo, and at the same time, the Legion attacked the Terasu Forest, where the forces were camping that Yusuke and crew had amassed. Hiei left Ashley to travel to Demon World to offer aid in the battle. After the battle, the remnants of their forces sought refuge in the remnants of Tokyo where they were attacked and Hiei was gravely injured.
We learned that eight years prior to the original storyline in the current time line, Navia and her daughter, Nyoko, visited a festival where Navia found fabric inspired by the Great Mother, Talia, and "her Azar." The fabric used the same colors (rich magenta, gold, deep navy, and a light teal) that Navia's mother and her grandmother used to wear. Nyoko was approached by Spirit World with the claim that she stole the fabric. Navia tried to reason with them, and while she did, she kept feeling de ja vu, but couldn't figure it out before the Spirit World patrol injured Nyoko.
Hiei previously traveled to see the Connection that lives in the Terasu Forest in Demon World to ask her to restore his memories of the first Timeline in hopes that the secret to defeating the Legion lay there. We never saw the memories he unlocked. Connections are beings who exist in each of the worlds who retains the memories and history of each world.
There hasn't been a clear way for me to drop this detail in the story, but Oliver, Ashley's brother, is pansexual. Charlie, a man Oliver once dated in the current timeline has been mentioned a couple times, though.
Canonically, in the anime, Hiei stands at 5 feet, 3 inches tall by the end of the series. As he has matured, he had a growth spurt and stands at just under six feet tall.
Dion, the spymaster for the Legion, has made mention of a "Great Mother" to Hiei and Ashley when she cornered them in chapter 18. Hana has also made mention that every demon child knows the story of the Great Mother.
Finally, as a reminder, in the first timeline, Hiei and Ashley were in a committed, healthy relationship while she was at college, and they met through Ashley's involvement at Genkai's with her own power. The first timeline is slightly different from the main storyline's timeline ("current timeline") due to free will.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Two Loves, Lost
"Why, Hiei," Kurama began, as silky as ever. "Thank you for answering my call."
"You were incessant. I got tired of hearing the constant buzzing."
"I need to call in a favor." Hiei halted, turning Kurama's words over in his mind. Had he just heard the Fox correctly? "It seems mother needs my help this weekend and I cannot get out of it."
"Hn." He really didn't like where this was headed. Kurama never asked for anything.
"I was wondering if you would be willing to accompany our friend, Ashley, to an event she's going to this evening."
"You put it as a question when you and I both know it's not."
"You're right," Kurama chuckled. "It's not. But you do owe me a favor."
"You should have just started with that."
"So you'll do it?"
Kurama had helped Hiei out of planning Kuwabara's bachelor party forever ago, and had told him at the time that Hiei would owe him for it. Being indebted to the Fox was not a fun game, especially when you didn't know when he would call in that favor or how.
Turns out, Kurama was into slow and deliberate torture.
"Once I do this my debt will be paid, correct?" Hiei asked, curt. He was aware of the human girl, even if she was more of a passing thought than anything. She'd been training and helping out at Genkai's recently, and he'd run into her a few times.
Hiei could imagine Kurama nodding as the Fox said, "Yes, it will be paid. I really do appreciate this, Hiei." Gratitude slipped into his voice. He never said what his mother needed his help for, but did Hiei care enough to ask? Not particularly.
"What do I need to do?"
Kurama had told him where to meet Ashley and at what time. He arrived, standing outside the tall skyscraper of an apartment complex for only a brief moment before entering and finding his way to the elevators. He was greeted with bows by the footmen and when they asked, "Which floor?" Hiei provided them with the number, as instructed by Kurama. Kurama had let him know in the previous conversation of the steps he'd need to follow to access Ashley's floor, and had made it clear that there was no side-stepping the process. If he did, security would be quick to throw him out and the would be retribution by Kurama. There were those who were fun to taunt - Kuwabara, for example; Kurama was not one of those demons.
Nearly a full minute passed before the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened to a small landing which led to a single door. Hiei stepped off the elevator, the doors closing solidly behind him.
The hallway was simple, but had elegant features to it, and the single door was black with a black box above the handle with a single red light. The number of the floor was also attached to the door: 42. The building, Hiei had noticed in the elevator, had 60 floors.
Kurama had told him to knock, but before Hiei could raise his fist, the door swung open. Kuwabara was usually like that, too: he just knew.
The girl was on the other side, wearing skin-tight black jeans and a simple oversized grey sweater which hung off her frame. The sleeves engulfed her hands, but she was rolling them up as she greeted him, "Oh, Hiei!" Her eyes lit up as she stepped back back and allowed him to enter. "Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it."
Hiei didn't say a word, but instead removed his shoes at the door like he knew humans liked to do, and accepted the slippers that Ashley procured.
Kurama had explained it well enough. There was a benefit - which was a fancy dinner, Hiei had learned - that Ashley's family's company was hosting. Kurama had promised Ashley he'd be her "plus one" for it and even though Ashley was the host, the reservation wasn't able to be changed. Kurama also added that it wouldn't be right for her to go to the event alone, being a single woman, which Hiei barely understood at all. She was a strong and independent woman - much like Nyoko was - though he bit back that thought as soon as it passed his mind - and Ashley should be able to do whatever she wanted.
Nyoko had ended things years ago; he should be past this, he chided himself.
Hiei left his shoes in the closet in the entryway and pushed his feet into the slippers and followed her through the dimly-lit penthouse. Ashley motioned towards a door that she mentioned the dining room was located behind - "not that they would likely use that space, however."
The end of the hallway opened up to a large open-concept space. Even the ceilings were incredibly high. A kitchen took up the length of the wall and an island that had six barstools was positioned in front of it. The kitchen island looked out over a living space with minimalist furniture and a grand piano tucked into a corner. A flameless fireplace, built-in bookshelves covered with picture frames, and a large television covered the wall opposite floor-to-ceiling windows that made it feel as if the city was just out of reach. The sun had set an hour ago, and night bled from the outside world into the penthouse, the city lights creating a soft glow beneath the tower.
"Did Kurama tell you what to expect tonight?" Ashley asked, but Hiei only barely heard her. He'd stopped as they passed through the space, and then stepped closer to the windows. Tokyo gleamed beneath them. A thousand lights twinkled at him beyond the full wall of windows. Hiei could see far beyond the city to where the land grew dark: the sea.
Hiei was vaguely aware that Ashley had doubled back and stood a few paces away, arms clasped behind her back. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Sometimes I'll just watch the city for hours."
Hiei caught her eye. Her hair was braided loosely over her shoulder, and her makeup looked half done. She was a full head shorter than he was, but he only vaguely noticed it. He motioned back toward the direction that Ashley had been leading them; he wasn't about to discuss how beautiful the city looked with a girl he barely knew. "Lead the way."
Ashley led him through the space and to an atrium off of the living room. A spiral staircase led upwards to a second story, the windows stretching all the way to the second story. At the top of the staircase, the ceilings were nearly as tall as the first floor's ceilings, but a long hallway greeted them. The layout was fairly straightforward. There were seven bedrooms, Ashley informed him, and led him to one that was the third door away from the staircase.
Even this room had a full wall devoted solely to windows, overlooking the other half of the city. A large bed was shoved against the wall adjacent, and across from that was a desk and armchair. Picture frames lined the top of the desk of smiling faces, and Hiei noticed them first, before seeing the suit laid out on the bed.
"Kurama sent over your measurements," Ashley began, and Hiei didn't even want to begin to wonder how he'd gotten those, "And it looks like you're about the same size as my brother, so this is his suit. If it doesn't fit, though, let me know, and I'll find one of Charlie's. The bathroom," Ashley stepped away from the bed and led him to a door near the desk. Opening it and flipping on the light, a full-size bathroom appeared, "is here. You're welcome to hang up the clothes you're wearing now and shower if you need to or you can change. Whatever you need to do, make yourself comfortable. This is my brother's space, Oliver, and he knows your here and told me to tell you to use whatever you need of his. I need to finish my makeup and do my hair, but I'm just down the hall." She motioned down the hall somewhere, like he ought to be expected to know where she meant.
She didn't wait for him to reply, instead stepping around him and heading back out the way they had entered, leaving him alone in the room with the suit.
He'd worn a suit a couple of times. They weren't foreign things to him, though he only wore one when he was forced.
And this evening he was practically being forced.
Hiei made sure the bedroom door was shut, then got the water started in the shower. It was a quick thing: just enough to make sure the dirt and grime was off of him, before he put on the suit. The shower was large, and had what he needed already on display.
He finished quickly and toweled off, raising his power just enough to get the excess moisture to evaporate. He left the headband on that covered the Jagan. If someone had a problem with it, he would be happy to acquaint them with the end of his sword, though Ashley probably wouldn't appreciate that.
The tie he left undone and hanging around his neck. There was no way he'd be able to tie it with any certainty. Ashley would likely know how.
He left his belongings in the room and descended the stairs to the living area below to wait, and found himself staring through the floor-to-ceiling windows again, watching the city go on far below him.
Hiei lost track of time before he heard a gentle, "You ready?" catching his attention from behind. Turning, he saw that she'd finished her hair and had discarded the jeans and shirt, replacing them with a floor-length black dress. The neckline was simple and without straps - a sweetheart neckline? He thought Keiko had once called it - and the black fabric was cut in layers and embroidered with gunmetal gray beading and embellishments, which matched the piece of cloth that had been stuffed into his front pocket. She looked incredible in black - his color - he recognized immediately. The dress didn't hug her curves but rather the skirt flared at her waist, creating a dome-like effect. And her hair had been let down from it's braid, and soft waves were gathered at the side of her head.
They'd only known each other for a few months, but from what little time he'd spent around her, she wasn't terrible. The dress only enhanced her looks, even if it wouldn't have been easy to move around or fight in. He'd never really taken a liking to humans, but he could still appreciate her.
Approaching, she hesitated in front of him, eyes flicking down and then up again in hesitation.
"What is it?" he asked, his tone rather brusque.
"I can tie your tie if you'd like?"
It was ridiculous to think that she'd been glancing down at his lips. He tried not to let his discomfort show, glancing away but angling his body more toward her. "Fine," he snipped.
Her hands moved deftly, adjusting the fabric. This close, he realized she smelled like some kind of soft floral. He watched her, her gaze concentrated on her work, until the fabric was tightening slightly around his neck. It was uncomfortable but not unbearable, but he still shifted his head from side to side, testing the fabric to see how far it would stretch. She stepped back, surveyed it, only then meeting his gaze again.
She patted his chest twice, and with a teasing smirk that told him nothing she said, "You'll do."
The ire that rose in him didn't last long. It didn't even last the entire car ride. He was there to accompany her, and that was it. It wasn't worth it to get upset, and judging by the way her lips quirked in an amused way as he retorted, she was just trying to get under his skin anyway. As she so often did.
The event was held in some kind of large room with giant chandeliers dripping in jewels. Long white tables were set up, and they were decorated with flowers every few feet.
Ashley led the way into the room and straight to the bar. "What now?" Hiei asked as she took a menu from the bartender. Hands shoved into the pockets of his pants, he surveyed the room. Just as Ashley had said, the room was filled with stuffy old men and the women who hung off their arms were gaudy in the way they thought they were important.
"Now we drink and try to be nice." She leaned toward the bartender. "I'll have the Grand Cru-"
Just as she was turning back to him, the bartender leaned forward to ask a question. She hesitated, glancing back down at the menu, and specifying, "The Faiveley Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru." To Hiei, she asked, "Do you want anything?"
He didn't, but everyone else had a glass in hand. They hadn't even been in the space for ten minutes and he already felt the human societal pressures to conform. Mukuro would eat all of this up when he recounted it for her later. Shaking his head, Ashley paid for her drink and took the glass.
They found a quiet corner, away from the rest of the couples, and stood together idly watching everyone else mingle and smile fake smiles.
"What do you think their story is?" Ashley leaned over to him, her soft floral scent wafting. She motioned subtly with her wine glass as she raised it to take a sip. Hiei's gaze lingered on the woman and man Ashley pointed out, before continuing to scan the room, completely innocent.
The woman was heavily pregnant, and looked barely close to two decades old. But the man who's arm she hung off of was approaching eight decades at least. His glasses perched on his nose and even from their distance, Ashley and Hiei kept hearing him shout "What" every few minutes.
"Or how about them?" Ashley nodded towards another couple. The woman's jewels were like baubles but they dripped from her person. Her date was a man who was currently slack-jawed, his wine glass empty, and its contents dripping from her yellow dress. Her tone was getting louder and louder as she was chewing him out. The man's speech, however was already slurred; there was no way he was that drunk this early in the event. "I like to watch people and come up with stories for them," Ashley admitted next to him.
"I think she," Hiei nodded subtly toward the lady in the green dress who was sporting her date's wine as an accessory, "Roped him into coming. He had no interest in coming and started drinking to get out of it. Didn't work, obviously."
Ashley opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment, an older couple approached, with exclamations of, "Oh, how gorgeous you look tonight! And how you've grown! We haven't seen you since you were a child!" Which immediately ended their gossipy conversation about the other guests. Hiei stood next to her as she chatted with others who approached them, introducing him when a new couple took the place of the previous.
"No, we aren't dating," "Yes, he's a friend," "No, I have no interest in pursing music after graduation, but I'm looking forward to learning the business from my father." And on and on the pleasantries went.
There was no end in sight. Ashley had been through one and a half glasses before the final couple stepped away.
"You look miserable," she commented off the cuff as the most recent couple stepped out of earshot. For at least a solid hour the interactions had been never ending. It was maddening! And he had to just stand there as these humans made incorrect observations about him and shared looks with Ashley.
Hiei glanced down at her, briefly, expecting her to be sipping on the drink in hand, but instead her stormy gray eyes met his, as sharp as flint. "As I explained to Kurama, and I know he explained to you, this benefit is important, so whether or not you're having a good time, I need you to at least pretend that you are," she said. He barely saw her lift her brows in expectation before he glanced away with a shake of his head. "And if you cannot do that," her tone hardened, bringing his attention back to her. "You can leave."
There it was, his invitation to step away from all of this. The release of his debt. Ashley glanced around at the room again to make sure they weren't overheard before continuing, "The concierge of the building has a key to my apartment; I can ring them and tell them to let you in to gather your clothes and sword. You can leave the suit on the bed where you found it and you can go."
You can go. His dismissal. But her body language, the way she turned toward him, the way she had glanced to him for an escape from a couple, and the small ways she'd found to touch him throughout the night - everything pointed to an idea that she wanted him there more than her tone was currently conveying.
"But if you stay, I cannot babysit you. You're either all in, or you can leave." His choice. He could stay or go, but if he left, there wouldn't be a second evening. He'd never be able to stand close enough to enjoy her intoxicating smell. He'd never share the small glances they'd exchanged when one of the guests said or did something that neither one of them could believe happened. And he'd likely never get a chance to share secret grins with her. They would part as strangers, and they would stay strangers. He knew this as well as the way he knew his own name. But there was a gravity to her, and he'd been caught in her pull.
Hiei opened his mouth to reply, but an older lady approached, gushing over the dress Ashley wore and cutting him off. After a moment, she turned toward him. "And who is this fine gentleman?" She directed the question to Ashley, but the way the lady's gaze roamed over his body made it feel like she was directing the question to him.
Ashley started to open her mouth to reply, but Hiei cut her off and stepped closer to the woman, extending his hand the way he knew to do. "I'm her date for the evening."
He glanced back down to Ashley, whose own expression had softened. When the woman wasn't looking, she mouthed, "thank you."
The meal passed quickly enough, although too many men got up to make speeches about this or that that didn't really have anything to do about anything. And judging by how long they spoke for, they really just stood up there to hear themselves talk. By the end of the speeches, Ashley stood next to him, pushing back her chair and struggling to move around her dress. "Back in a moment!" She whispered to him as she rose. She walked around the table and took to the stage. Not for the first time that night Hiei was struck by just how natural Ashley looked, dressed up as she was and smiling with a radiance.
"I know all of you want to get back to the delicious meal in front of us, but-" she continued, thanking everyone for coming and thanking those who made speeches, and thanking everyone for their generosity. She ended with letting everyone know to stay and drink for as long as they wanted, then left the stage to light applause.
It was absolutely ridiculous.
She returned to the table, nearly falling into her seat.
"We've got about ten more minutes before we can escape," she whispered in his ear as she did. "Want to go get real food after this? My treat since you've been such a sport."
He could have left immediately. Torn off the suit and fled into the night. Maybe shown up at Kurama's and threatened him to never subject him to anything as ridiculous and pompous in his life ever again, favor or no favor, just as Ashley had said.
But instead, he nodded in the affirmative.
They were out until the wee hours in the morning, grabbing food at a food truck and then sitting on a roof and eating together in easy silence. It was the same sort of companionable ease that exuded from her at the temple. Whatever natural state he had seen her in that night at the event didn't hold a candle to Completely Relaxed Ashley. She removed her shoes, discarding the heels to the side, and folded a leg under her while allowing the other to dangle off the side of the ledge they sat on. They had scattered conversation, but it wasn't anything deep or profound. Both just enjoying the night air and ruminating on their own thoughts.
She'd said something back at the temple, weeks prior. "I appreciate you. You don't expect me to be anything else."
He'd brushed it off before as whimsical nothings of a human girl, but watching her tonight, and sitting next to her now, the two sides of her were at opposite sides of reality, and he realized he'd been given a front-row seat to what she had meant.
But he kept his observations to himself, and eventually she began yawning, and they made their way back to the skyscraper so they could both change.
"You can stay the night, if you want," Ashley said through a yawn as they left their shoes at the door and meandered into the dimly lit penthouse.
Hiei knew he should say no. Return the suit, gather his things, and leave, but another part of him hesitated. Some small part of him wanted to stay, he realized. For whatever reason, he wanted to sleep there, with her right down the hall, and not in a tree somewhere.
He didn't want to leave her yet.
The thought was terrifying but grounding. Leaning into that instinct, whatever it was, he nodded. "Thank you."
They parted at the top of the stairs, Ashley headed back to her room and unlatching the backs of her earrings as she went. He watched her until her door clicked shut behind her, before turning back to the windows stretching from the first floor of the apartment to far beyond his head. Quietly, he looked out across Tokyo's expanse, the lights from all the buildings twinkling. Far beyond the furthest speck of light he could see, a lightness colored the horizon - the first sign that the sun would return within an hour and a new day would begin.
He had stayed out with her all night. It hadn't been terrible, nor had it been as excruciating as he originally thought it would be. She was nice company; she never felt like she had to fill the silence with meaningless words. Silence could stretch between them, effortlessly, and he had noticed more than once, the desire to let down his guard around her.
Turning away from the first glimpses of the new dawn, Hiei made his way to his own room.
He didn't wake again for hours. The clock on the dresser told him it was past noon, but he made no move to swiftly rise and retreat.
As used to sleeping on the ground or in a tree as he was, sleeping in a human's bed was a nice treat - one that he didn't allow himself to indulge in often. Stretching, his joints popped. He'd let down the shades the night before - pressing a simple button next to the bed, and as he pressed it again, the shades rose, flooding the pitch-black room with daylight.
The world had gotten on, and turned into a brilliant day. Not a cloud lingered in the sky.
From far beyond his room's walls, scents wafted up to him, promising a warm meal.
He should go. He should gather his things and head back to Genkai's. He should thank her for the fun time and end Kurama's favor.
Instead, Hiei pulled on a long-sleeve black shirt from Ashley's brother's dresser, and stepped out of the room, heading downstairs towards whatever smells had found him. This time, as he descended the stairs, he took his time. Glancing out the floor to ceiling windows, the city continued on.
He paused in the living room next to to the bookcases filled with picture frames on his way to the kitchen - glancing Ashley briefly standing in front of the stove, her back to him, before turning back to the frames and the smiling faces within.
Several people were in them. Ashley was in many, but not all. Some were aged, the subjects of the photo yellowed with age: people in suits, shaking hands and cutting ribbons. Some also had older faces, lined with wrinkles and wearing thick-framed glasses. Some faces were howling in laughter or gathered around tables with other faces. Some faces had dark hair and dressed like so many women did in this world. Some had light hair with masculine jawlines and suits pressed to perfection. Some picture frames were filled with children lined up in heavy coats and backpacks on that were nearly as big as they were.
Hiei picked out Ashley immediately, with her light blonde hair and the way her eyes glinted in delight as she smiled up at the camera. She was seated at an old wooden table, a much older woman next to her. The woman's wrinkles were deep, and she watched child-Ashley as the woman pointed to the camera. In another, child-Ashley stood next to another girl with dark brown hair, maybe a few years older, and a young boy, a few years older than both of them, also with light blonde hair. All were wearing thick coats and standing in front of a train as it snowed.
None of the photos had captions with them, so all Hiei could do was observe and move along the wall. As he moved, Ashley and the other children got older. In one photo, she sat at a piano in a formal, black dress, playing the instrument. In another photo, the older boy with light hair accepted a rolled-up piece of paper from another, much older man; they both wore robes. In yet another, the boy leaned back in a lawn chair, although he wasn't a boy anymore. Light stubble peppered his jaw as he grinned for the camera, another young man smiling with him; a lake was in the background.
"That's my brother, Oliver," Ashley said gently from behind Hiei, as if trying not to startle him. As soon as Hiei found the man with the light blonde hair again, he put it together; the resemblance to Ashley was strong. "And the other boy in the photo is his partner, Charlie. They're engaged now."
Hiei didn't acknowledge her, but moved down the line of picture frames. The dark-haired girl that had stood with Ashley in front of the train was older now, and linked arms with a teenaged-Ashley, angling the camera high above their heads and causing them to both look up. "And that's my sister, Sophia," Ashley said from behind him, a warm smile evident in her voice.
"Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry?" Ashley continued, Hiei forcing himself to look away from a photo of Oliver and Charlie embracing in front of a mountain.
She was closer to him than he originally thought. Wearing a simple oversized t-shirt and a pair of leggings didn't make him any less aware of her proximity to him. Her hair, where it was still wavy from the night before, was starting to fall out, the waves not holding up against so many hours of sleep. Her floral scent wafted towards him, even over the smell of breakfast in the kitchen. His gaze dropped from her stormcloud-gray eyes to her lips, which had formed a little 'o' in surprise when he'd accidentally stepped into her space, and wondered, briefly, how soft they would be if he kissed her. How she would feel in his arms, or with her legs wrapped around his waist -
Nyoko's smile filtered into his memories, her lilac eyes lit with joy. The feeling of her body pressed against his. Hiei's heart clenched. How long would she still linger with him?
Hiei stepped back. "Can we really call it breakfast if it's the afternoon?" Hiei replied instead, forcing casualness into his voice.
As she gathered herself, she led the way into the kitchen, but he didn't miss the way her cheeks flooded with heat and she didn't meet his eyes. She chuckled, once, likely hiding her embarrassment. "I guess you're right. Lunch, then. With a breakfast theme."
She'd made nothing like what he was expecting. "It's a standard American breakfast," she said. "I hope you don't mind. I guess Sophia was here last and she stocked the kitchen with American foods."
Hiei shook his head. Food was food, and this food smelled delicious. He focused on it as she uncovered the skillet on the stove. His mouth began watering as she took two plates from a cabinet and served a bit of everything onto a plate, handing it to him. As she passed it to him, she finally met his gaze again, the pink in her cheeks finally gone. But as her hand brushed against his, a small jolt shot into him.
Wincing, Ashley apologized and said, "Genkai is going to have my ass if I don't stop doing that."
The comment was so far from what he thought she was going to say, Hiei actually laughed. He took the plate to the bar where silverware was already laid out, and went back for the other plate once she made it. Handing it off to him, she moved to fill two glasses with water.
"How often are you training?" Hiei asked. He shouldn't care.
She shrugged. "As often as I can. It doesn't help that I have an entire life halfway around the world. I still am trying to get my degree, but I come back over here as often as I can." She finished filling the glasses and moved to the bar, setting one glass down in front of Hiei's plate, and one in front of herself. She sat in the barstool next to his. "Tuck in!"
Hiei wasn't used to using a knife and fork, but he managed okay. He bit into his sausage link, the peppery meat filling his mouth with flavorful juices.
"You need to be training more," Hiei said around the food in his mouth. "Unless you plan to go around shocking people."
He saw her roll her eyes as she shoveled eggs into her mouth. "And what would you have me do? There's no one in England I can go to with the same level of expertise. The best I can do is travel here on my breaks, and of course that only happens for a week or two every few months."
"Doesn't leave you much time for anything else," he mused.
Shrugging, she replied, "I'm making it work. It's like you said: I can't go around shocking people."
"I could travel to England to train you," he said. The words were out of his mouth before he knew it, and she turned abruptly towards him, eyes wide.
Why had he just offered that? But the words were out and he couldn't take them back. He tried not to show on his face how badly he felt like he'd just fucked up. Ashley took another bite and chewed slowly. "You mean it?"
He was in it now, whether he wanted to be or not. He could back out with that question of hers, but pride kept him steady. He nodded, not trusting his tone not to give him away.
"I'll take you up on that, then. I have to get better somehow."
"When do you go back to England?" Hiei asked instead, pushing his frustration for himself into the knife he was using to cut apart his other sausage link.
"Two days. Class starts on the 3rd. We can figure out the dates, but maybe give me a week to get settled in and then come over? I can meet you on the weekends and after class gets out."
Hiei nodded, not really listening, but also still cursing himself for that fumble, while another part of him silently thanked whatever gods ruled over the three worlds that he had fumbled.
He'd see her again.
"What were you going to do?"
The question was sharp and precise, but it wasn't anywhere near the festival. Opening the Jagan, Hiei scanned the festival. Ire usually raised ones' energy levels, but everyone located in the main group was calm. There were some who were already drunk, but that wasn't abnormal, and they were laughing anyway.
The question pressed on his mind. Spirit World guards had been sent as protocol and they always liked to throw their weight around. Hiei broadened the area he searched over, and noticed a smaller group of five demons, just inside the forest. Three women and two men. Three of the five were Spirit World guards. He kept the Jagan on them, listening and watching for it to turn south.
"No," the woman pleaded with the guards from her place on the ground. One of the guards held a fistful of her hair and had yanked her up to look at him by it. "You have the wrong demon. My daughter would never-"
"This fabric is much too nice for someone like your kind. Oblivions, right?" One of the guards asked.
Another guard: "Don't you all just murder everyone you come in contact with? Were you waiting for everyone to arrive to kill them all?"
Hiei didn't need to hear any more. He took off, flitting over the festival while keeping the Jagan on them.
"I've sworn off killing," the demoness ground out. The guard was still holding her up by her hair. "Besides, we can go back to the merchant - she can tell you that my daughter would never steal."
The guard holding her hair tossed the demoness aside. The situation was escalating, as he could clearly see the young woman who was detained by the female guard watching the other demoness and the guards around her in terror. She was antsy, and could see the plan forming in her eyes.
Hiei reached the tree line, pushing himself to get there faster.
"Nyoko, it's going to be okay, alright-?"
"What's going on here?" Hiei stopped far enough away from the guards to not surprise them. He didn't need trigger-happy Spirit World guards attacking him.
The demoness and her daughter froze, their eyes watching him. His eyes cut from them to the Spirit World guards who straightened.
"Who are you?" the closest guard asked, chest puffed out. He seemed to be the leader because the others looked to him as soon as they saw Hiei.
"Hiei Jaganashi, here on orders from Lord Mukuro." He said without inflection. "I'll ask you again: What's going on here?"
As soon as he name-dropped Mukuro's name, the guards shared a look. Whether they recognized his name or not didn't really matter, though they likely did.
"We caught this one stealing-"
"Did you really, or did you assume?"
"Excuse you-"
"No. You up in Spirit World have a habit of assuming the wrong thing time and time again. If there has been a crime, it's a Demon World crime, and a Demon should take care of it, correct?"
The guard closest to him stammered, but Hiei didn't pause to let him collect himself. He crossed to the man and took the fabric from his hand. "I'll see to this myself."
It was the politest dismissal he could muster. When the guard didn't move, Hiei shot him a glare, which terrified the man so thoroughly that it shocked him into motion. The others with him followed him out of the trees and back to the festival.
The guards left him alone with the two demonessess in front of him. The younger one, somewhere around his own age, still stood where the guard had had her cornered. The older one still kneeled on the ground, but she shakily stood. Both had considerable power, he could sense, but neither held malicious intent, and there was something else beneath their power. Something other; something strange.
Hiei watched the younger one. It was obvious they were related. Likely a mother and a daughter. Both had silver hair, braided, brown skin, and lilac eyes. Both were tall, though the daughter was an inch or so taller, though that could have just been attributed to the fact that she stood shoulders back and chin high. Still, she was nearly his own height.
"Did you steal this?" He asked her, holding the bolt of fabric out.
She shook her head. "I did not!"
"Are you sure? I can read your mind, you know. Find out the truth." For emphasis, Hiei raised the power in the Jagan, creating a soft purple glow from it.
"Read my mind if you must," she said, not backing down from his challenge. "But you will find evidence: I am not a liar."
If it was anyone else, he probably would have read her mind, just to be on the safe side, but something in the set of her jaw and the way she didn't falter told him he didn't need to. He watched her for any hesitation, but when she never did, Hiei crossed the expanse to her and offered her the fabric.
The deflation of the tension in her shoulders told him that she wasn't used to someone believing her word. He extended the bolt to her, and she took it gently. "Thank you."
Hiei glanced back at the mother, who watched the two from a distance.
"Thank you, Hiei Jaganashi," the mother said, twining her hands together in front of her. If he hadn't reached them when he did, he didn't have to imagine the blood that would have been spilled. Spirit World had a habit of killing first and thinking second. Demon lives didn't matter to them.
Hiei nodded to her.
"You said that you're here on orders from Lord Mukuro?" the young woman said next to him. She'd softened considerably since Hiei had given the bolt of fabric back to her. "But have you had dinner yet? My papa is setting up camp, and we'd be honored if you'd be our guest. As a thank you."
He shouldn't. He should get back to his rounds, but the mother came up behind him before he could respond.
"Please. We would like to show our appreciation to you."
When Hiei still hesitated, the girl next to him continued quickly, "My name is Nyoko, and this is my mother, Navia. Now we're not strangers, if that was your concern."
It wasn't, but it was still a kindness that she should think it was.
Hiei wasn't sure why, but he wanted to accept. Maybe, if nothing else, he wanted to experience the festival as a patron instead of a watchdog. Maybe he just wanted to forget for a moment that he had a job to do. Whatever it was, he accepted their offer.
Demons fought with demons. Brother tearing apart brothers and sisters. It was a nightmare of the worst kind.
The scene had been a massacre when they arrived, the Legion descending on Koichi's forces like a tidal wave over overwhelming force. They had no warning, no ability to fight back or defend. For every Legion member they slayed, another three of their forces fell.
It wasn't even a battle. It was a slaughter.
Hiei released the dragon immediately, the power exploding from his right arm without hesitation as he leapt into the fray.
At the same time that he directed the dragon's actions, he cut down Legion demons with his sword. The familiar sing of death echoing in his ears. He was covered in blood in no time, looking like a nightmare, himself.
He caught his breath in a small clearing. Around him, the battle raged. Cries of pain and shouts of power filled the forest around him, allowing for little else.
He jumped into the tree branches, some urge overcoming him as he needed to see exactly how far the destruction stretched.
The very top of the tree swayed in the shock waves of power that washed over the land every few seconds, but he held on.
The battle was limitless, stretching as far as the eye could see. A wildfire had caught and was quickly spreading into the mountains. Another's power had cleared half of the forest behind him. Demon World already held scars from their battle, and they were only growing.
A figure moved across the ground like something ethereal, and he flitted from the top of the tree to the ground in front of them. In front of her.
Waist-length silver hair flowing in the breeze created from the shock waves of power. She wore armor, but over the armor she wore a simple sash woven from rich gold, navy, magenta, and teal. It was an odd detail to notice, but it caught his attention like something important. Something he should know. Lilac eyes caught his attention as she appraised him. He must have been a sight. She was completely unscathed, and the power he felt within her was unlike anything he had ever felt before. If Mukuro had been standing next to her, her own power would have been dwarfed. The demoness warrior's power held something other. It was powerful, but in a way he had never quite felt before.
Koenma's had felt like that. He'd felt it only once - way back when Koenma had used the Mafuken to try to seal Sensui. The warrior demoness held a power within her that held the same heaviness as his own - the same as Kurama's and Mukuro's and Enki's - while something else mixed within it. Like oil and water, they combined, but they were also separate.
"Hello, Hiei," she said, and her voice was uncomfortably familiar.
Pain.
That was what colored his existence. A weeping pain that came in waves. Mostly it started in his abdomen and spread outward, traveling from his stomach to his shoulders to down his arms and then into his toes.
Darkness fluttered, before he realized that was his eyelids.
Soft teal, cold energy, as cold as the first snow of the season, sat next to him, speaking to someone. As he tried to move, she turned and came closer.
"Rest, Hiei." She was peace, and he followed her command, the darkness covering his vision once more.
"Have you ever heard this story before?"
Her words were warm. A whispered question filled with love and eager anticipation. Her body was pressed against his side, and his arm draped over her shoulders. A blanket woven with navy, gold, magenta, and teal covered them from the chill of the winter air. Even though his energy should have been enough to ward off the chill, Nyoko had insisted she wanted to curl up under a blanket, so he hid his energy for her. Hiei had been wanting to ask her a question all night, but they hadn't been alone together for even a moment.
Navia and Shono had built a small fire outside their home, and they all relaxed around it. Nyoko had cooked, only allowing her father to help, and had served them dinner outside.
In all his time alive, Hiei had never thought he would be so content.
The night was peaceful, and after they finished the meal, Shono and Nyoko traded stories. Navia and Hiei were content to listen. Shono tried to prod Navia a few times, but each time the demoness shook her head with a roll of her eyes, brushing him off.
"Oh, please Mama!" Nyoko finally joined in with the prodding, much to Navia's chagrin.
Navia snuck a glance at Hiei from the corner of her eye and replied, pleadingly, "Nyoko, I'm sure he doesn't want to hear this. Nearly everyone has heard this at some point or another."
That's when Nyoko turned to him, leaning back to see him better. "Have you ever heard this story before? The story of the Great Mother?"
The title was familiar, but familiar in the way that he heard it so long ago he couldn't recall the details of it. "I think I've heard it once or twice, but not since I was a child." The bandits he spent his early years with used to recount the tale. One of them was a storyteller and could weave together tales that held a captive audience, no matter what their subject was. Back when he was young and somewhat impressionable, Hiei remembered that the storyteller had told the story a few times.
Any hope that Navia held that she could get out of the retelling was extinguished with Hiei's reply. However, she recovered easily enough. As Nyoko settled back against Hiei, content that they were about to receive the tale, Navia threw another log onto the fire, sending embers into the air around them. Shono settled back in his seat, watching Navia watch the embers rise, as if she was trying to find her words.
"Many generations ago," she began, her tone thoughtful but desperately sad, "there were no boundaries to separate demons and humans, or humans and spirits, or demons and spirits. The three worlds were One, and the three races lived together."
Hiei had actually never heard this before. He'd always heard what came after, with Talia and Azar. It was the romance and sacrifice that the bandits tried to dangle in front of him to create compassion in his heart.
The three worlds had been One?
"There was war, of course. The three races have never gotten along. Always, one tried to gain the upper hand over the others. As time passed, the races tired of war. Brothers and sisters were lost on all sides, so each race sent their most trusted to the Housin - the gathering place of the Council of Races where they could discuss and debate without war - to create a cease fire. It was agreed that all had lost too many and the wars accomplished nothing but created widows, widowers, and orphans. It was then that the Connections of the world were established: beings from each race who could tell of the past so the horrors of the wars were never forgotten, and the memory of the loss could never be erased. All were desperate not to repeat what had previously stricken the land.
"Each race had their own way to govern, of course. Even though the worlds were One and the races existed together doesn't mean that they mingled. They were still separated for the most part, as they are now. The Demons had their own Kings. The humans fought amongst themselves much of the time, but they still had their own clans and countries and ways to govern. And the Spirits had the Courts and their High Ruler." Here, Navia paused so briefly Hiei thought he missed it, but then she continued where she had left off.
"The Council of Races decided, collectively, that the High Ruler of the spirits should govern over the three races as a High Lord. The High Ruler had previously been chosen to lead the spirits because he was level-headed and just. He listened without judgment and was fair to all who came before him. Demons and Humans also approached him at times and he heard them. He looked beyond race and power to the core of the individual. He turned down the position of High Lord, but the Council made the case that the world needed someone to not only govern them, but lead them. Someone to unite them when all they saw were differences. So, the High Ruler became the High Lord and for a millennia there was peace. The races learned to live with one another, and it was good.
"The High Lord had two daughters, because before he was appointed as High Lord he had started a family of his own. His daughters were Talia and Reiana, and the races loved and cherished his daughters just as much as they loved and cherished him."
Here she paused, finding her place in the details of the story and taking a breath. "Eventually skirmishes started again. Corruption and lust for power had made its way into the spirit courts, the humans' governments, and the demons' hearts. Each wanted the power, territories, or gold that the others had. The High Lord and his wife went to the front lines to try to reason with those who decided war was the better path rather than gathering at the Housin. He and his wife were killed. To this day no one has taken the blame, and over the years it has been forgotten apart from the Connections. Talia, the eldest of his daughters, was next in line to take the position of High Lord. She had trained with her father for years, but at barely a century old, her age made her an unsuitable candidate to assume power so immediately, so her aunt, Aellan, who was also a Lord of the spirit court, stepped into the position until Talia could reach maturity. In the meantime, Talia continued to learn under the Connections and under the highest Kings with each of the races. It was while she was learning under King Raizen that she met one of his men, Azar, who was an ambassador for King Raizen to the High Lord's court, and who served as a delegate to the Council of Races when needed. Azar was one of the first Oblivions, and a powerful demon. He and Talia grew close while she studied with King Raizen, but with the position they were both in, him as King Raizen's ambassador and one of Talia's teachers, and her as the Heir Apparent, they remained friends. She eventually returned to the spirit court.
"Azar met her at the High Lord's court years later and the feelings that had kindled when they first met were finally explored. Talia and Azar Bonded."
Navia gasped, and Hiei realized absentmindedly that he was completely engrossed in the story. He was vaguely aware of Nyoko at his side. This was where Hiei knew the story the best, though he'd never known that Talia was a spirit. She was always heralded as the Great Mother by demons, so it made sense to assume that she had been a demon.
"During this time, demons were no longer looked at as one of the most powerful races, but rather nothing more than the dirt on one's soles. Humans started seeking power for themselves and elevated their psychics as powerful warriors and respected members of society. Spirits saw themselves as holy and above all others: demons and humans needed direction, and who better to direct them than the spirits who had their own government and order to things? Aellan gave orders to establish quarantines within each race - to try to keep the races separate and maintain power. The Council of Races gathered at the Housin, including Azar, to try to come up with a different plan to present to High Lord Aellan. A plan that didn't elevate the spirits so far above humans and demons, and a plan that worked to re-establish the peace that they had known for so many years under the previous High Lord, but even after coming up with a plan, they fell upon deaf ears. It is here that history tells us that Aellan staged a coup."
Hiei was engrossed. The world around him had ceased to exist.
"Talia was days from ascending to the position as High Lord and was determined to cultivate peace between the races when she did, but Aellan, after learning about her bond with a demon, claimed that Talia was too immature to ascend and in her fury, split the world into three to permanently keep the races separate – including Talia from Azar. Aellan held onto the position as High Lord and hired assassins to kill Talia, claiming she had committed the worst crime, but in reality, she wanted to remove the threat of her existence from Aellan's lust to hold onto power. Talia defeated the assassins and fled." She paused, eyes on the fire, and lost in the story, herself.
Navia took a breath and continued. "Talia fled to Demon World to be with Azar. The demons and spirits and humans who knew her supported her birthright to be High Lord, including King Raizen, and he stood aside as she united the clans and families and tribes to wage war against Aellan on the throne. By this time, Aellan, who had heard that Talia had defeated her assassins, created her Celestials - the most powerful of her advisors she turned into weapons of war - and elevated them to become her own personal guard, terrified that Talia would return and try to kill her.
"Additionally, Aellan created the Spirit Defense Force to enact her commands, employing Enma as leader of Spirit World to command them. Aellan was molding the worlds into what we know them as today: convincing humans that demons were the enemy. Gathering the spirits loyal to her to rule as absolute law over the different regions of Human World and Demon World. It was here that Spirit World became the power we now know them to be." Navia took a breath.
"Talia was determined to take her back her birthright, and waged the bloodiest war against Spirit World yet. But Enma created the kekkai barrier and its sister between Demon World and Spirit World, trapping each race in their own world and separating that which should be One. He claimed, of course, that it was for balance, but truly it was so no one could unite against Spirit World's power.
"Talia and Azar led their people until there was no hope left. Finally defeated, they accepted their fate and fled to what is now Alaric. Talia was pregnant, and if they couldn't unite the three worlds the way they should be, then they could at least cherish their time together and raise a family.
"Talia wasn't able to lead the races as she had prepared her entire life to do, but she was forever heralded as the Great Mother, who united the races to try to gain back sovereignty within the races themselves, and tried to unite the worlds as they should be."
It felt like there should be more. Hiei waited for Navia to continue, but she never did. A question bit at him, and as much as he didn't want to ask, he knew he was unable to stop it from tumbling from him. "What happened to them?" He was like a child; he chastised himself, but it was too late to take the words back. The storytellers had never told him these details.
Navia's gaze was sad, but there was something almost regal in the way she sat.
"Talia and Azar had their children, and with the nature of the bond, it both shortened Talia's lifespan, since spirits live so much longer than the other races, and lengthened Azar's so they lived together until they died. Their children had children, and their children had children. Eight generations have passed since the worlds split, but I would assume their descendants are alive today, unless their lineage has been wiped out." Her eyes traveled from his gaze to his lap - or rather, the blanket he and Nyoko were wrapped in? - but her attention snapped back to Shono just as quickly. "I apologize, but I need to retire. I'm suddenly so tired."
Shono was immediately all over her, helping her up and making sure she made it back into the house safely. Soon, the door to their home shut and Hiei and Nyoko were the only ones left in front of the fire.
"How did you like it?" Nyoko asked into Hiei's neck. "Mama tells it the best, I think."
"Hn," he agreed, lost in thought. He squeezed Nyoko closer to his side and leaned his head down to her hair, placing a kiss against her forehead. "It was a good story."
And it was a good story. It was the legend that all demons knew, and therefore it had to be based in truth somewhere.
His mind drifted, and Hiei realized that they were alone, finally, without Shono or Navia. "I… have a question for you," he murmured against her hair, and she sat up straighter, sensing the seriousness in his tone. She didn't say a word, but Hiei kept an ear on the house. Shono and Navia were still inside.
He wasn't sure how to say it exactly, so the words tumbled out, awkward and stilted. "I would like to formally court you."
Of all the things she was expecting, Hiei was positive that was the last thing. It took her a full beat to process what he said, and then she visibly relaxed. "I thought you were about to break up with me!" she exclaimed with a laugh.
But she kept laughing, glancing toward him every once in awhile, only to dissolve into more giggles. A blush crept to her cheeks, but she was nodding enthusiastically as her giggles disappeared. "Yes! Of course - yes!"
"I need you to trust me."
Nyoko's tone was sharp, her anger barely contained. They were in a clearing in the forest, and even the creatures had gone silent beneath their fight. She continued, "I'm just as capable as you are, and I am powerful in my own right. Even before you met me, I was fine."
"You don't have the experience!" Hiei snapped. The words he wanted to say rose in him, but he clamped them down.
"Yes, I know you have decades more life experience than me, but I can fight my own battles!" Nyoko snapped back. "I don't need you hovering over me or shooing me to the side. I need you to trust me and respect me enough to know that if or when I need your help, I will ask for it." She paused, taking a breath. Hiei opened his mouth to argue, but she steamrolled over him. "It's insulting and disrespectful to me that you think I'm some delicate flower that needs protecting at every waking moment! Even if I had no power, or a fraction of what I have, I can hold my own!"
"If I don't protect you, my own demoness, what else am I good for? Being Mukuro's watchdog? Or Koenma's? What else is there to this existence? There is nothing else in this mundane existence! I am nothing!"
His confession was out before he could think better.
Silence stretched between them.
"I don't deserve you," Hiei continued, the confession falling from him. The words had cycled through his brain on the darkest of nights when he was dispatched to end someone's life for Mukuro, or when he had gone to clean up some mess for Koenma. He had sworn they didn't exist for the longest time, but now they were known.
His gaze didn't dare leave Nyoko's lilac eyes. "I have done terrible things. I have killed good demons and good people. There is nothing good in my life except you!"
"We are not doing this." Genuine confusion seeped into his mind. It must have showed on his face because Nyoko huffed a sigh and continued, "don't you fucking dare put me on some kind of pedestal. Do you know what I see? I see a powerful demon who did what he had to to survive after being dealt the worst possible fucking card, and making something of himself." Her words struck true, but he'd never considered them before. "So don't go telling me you don't deserve me because of who you are or what you've done. Or that I shouldn't love you because of the choices you made before we met. That's the entire point! You've survived just like the rest of us. I might have been dealt a lucky hand to who my parents are, but that's it. Hiei, your choices and your life have made you into the demon before me, and that's beautiful, and I hate that you can't see that! You deserve happiness, too, can't you see?"
He couldn't find the words to express the hesitant optimism budding in his chest, so Hiei could do nothing more but watch her silently. Gaze sharp, lips pressed into a hard line, otherwise he was devoid of emotion. Shut it away - shut it away - don't let them see what they can use against you -
"Don't shut me out." She was there in front of him, hands cupping either side of his face. Her lilac eyes shone with tears unshed, her bottom lip quivering. "But if you can't see what an incredible demon you are, including your actions, then we have nothing further to discuss."
He couldn't stand to look at her. He could feel it breaking - the walls he'd erected over the years around his heart. The walls he'd put up to keep everyone at a distance. If he kept them away then he couldn't get hurt. He couldn't be susceptible to being manipulated, and he couldn't fall prey to anyone.
But he had to open himself up, and he had to trust her. They'd had this very discussion before, and it wasn't fair to her. And he had tried to do better, but habits were hard to break.
But Nyoko was serious, and she was right. They couldn't keep doing this. If they kept doing this, then they couldn't fully be with each other. And she deserved so much.
But just as importantly, he knew he deserved it, too.
And that thought alone broke him.
He never cried. Crying was for infants, and people who couldn't control their own impulses. Crying was weak. Crying showed that you had weakness, and could be cut down with little effort.
But the emotion that welled inside of him, clogging his throat and seeping out of his eyes couldn't be pushed down. He tried. He tried to take the steadying breaths that he always had when emotion gripped him. He tried not looking directly at Nyoko - the person who was bringing this out in him.
But it was no use. The emotion that hit was like a gale force and it was determined to show in him. And maybe this oncewith a woman who swore she would never hurt him, it would be okay.
Nyoko pulled him to her as she saw the tears welling in his eyes and the sharp intake of breath as he tried to hide the emotion. Her touch was so gentle. Her embrace radiating love. He tried standing his ground, but her touch was firm, and deliberate, and before he knew it, she was cradling his body against hers.
It was tender and loving and sweet.
Hiei broke, gripping her back, desperately, and they stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other.
He was okay. He'd survived, and that was powerful. He had to believe it. He couldn't lose her.
"Breathe," he commanded next to her ear, his voice firm.
Ashley had just taken his full power. She had endured, and she had glowed beneath its weight. She had struggled, yes, but she had stood her ground and didn't so much as cry out.
Pride and adoration filled him as he held her against himself. His shirt had disintegrated as it usually did, but she didn't seem to mind. As she caught her breath, chest heaving, she clung to him.
Storm clouds still raged above them where she had called on her power - she still relied too heavily on the electricity itself rather than just letting her power out in its natural form; Genkai would likely have words with her later - but as they swirled across the land and slowly dissipated, Ashley's desperate gasps calmed.
"You're incredible," he said into her hair. There was no being - neither human or demon - anywhere who held more awe and respect for anyone else than he did for her in that moment.
As her breathing evened, she stilled, and he knew she was feeling his energy in her chest as he could now feel hers.
It was like an orb of gentle coolness. Like a cool wind that came before a thunderstorm, it was comforting. She raised her energy slightly, testing her own bond with his energy, and in return, he could feel the bond in his chest grow in intensity. It wasn't uncomfortable; it was a powerful reminder of the love and commitment she felt toward him.
He lifted his own energy to her level, matching her, and she gasped as she felt the power in her chest grow in direct relation. She stepped back a step, but her hands didn't leave his arms, and neither did he let go of her. She didn't look at him, but he watched her. Watched how her eyes widened in awe and her face expressed the incredible curiosity and discovery of what she felt.
It wasn't that he wasn't also in awe of the nugget of power within him, but watching her experience it was so much more dynamic. She expressed herself so vividly; she couldn't keep anything hidden.
The only reminder of the passage of time was the sun. Out in the Siberian landscape, the sun hung low in the sky. They only had a few hours of daylight before it would slip below the horizon again for the next dozen hours or so.
The sun cast an ethereal glow across everything. Being autumn, it was so low in the sky the shadows were long even though it was midday.
"I want to see the dragon."
Her voice was so quiet he almost didn't catch it, but when he did, Hiei realized there was a reverent awe to her words. "If that's part of your power, I want to see it."
She finally caught his gaze as he stumbled over all the reasons why it was a bad idea before any of them could be spoken aloud, but her excitement was catching.
Ashley had struggled to stay on her feet from the weight of his energy's pressure, but she was still eager to experience it again. A low heat throbbed in him, but rather than give in to his urges, he asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes." She was breathless as she absentmindedly traced the lines of his chest and trailed a finger low down his abs -
He caught her hand, as the breath caught. "If you keep going that direction, we'll need to wait on the dragon."
Hiei didn't mean to growl like he did, but her touch was nearly unbearable, especially this soon after their bonding.
Her own pupils were dilated, and he heard her breath catch as soon as he touched her. Ashley swallowed heavily, and he watched as she glanced down to his lips. Lust grew in her gaze, and he could feel her energy stutter with need.
He wasn't sure if he moved first or if she met him in the middle, but the dragon was briefly forgotten as they fell back to the earth, entwined with each other, and were re-introduced to each other as bonded partners.
Ashley lay next to him, radiant and her eyes alight from her orgasm. He stroked the side of her face tenderly, watching her watch him. She shivered, and he was intimately reminded that the sun would set soon. The heat that radiated from them as they had gloriously fucked on the soft lichen and moss was quickly being replaced by the autumn chill in the air. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he tugged her body into his. The chill had no affect on him, as usual, but it wouldn't do for his new mate to get cold when he was right there to supply an endless amount of heat to her. One day, she might even be able to utilize the heat from her lightning power, but even with her immense amount of energy, she still struggled through the most basic of techniques.
She snuggled into his chest, tracing the lines of his pectorals and freckles, and pressed her cold body into his. In truth, it was nice to be cooled down, but the suddenness of her chill was shocking.
Once her shivering stopped, Ashley turned, grabbing her sweater that was strewn not too far from where they lay, and sat up, tugging it on.
"What if this life is all we have?" She asked, her words so quiet he barely heard her. He froze, trying to discern what she had said. She faced away from him, so he couldn't even read her face.
He hadn't noticed her mood shift. The bond that had settled into his sternum was like a light, but it didn't clue him into her moods at all. It was only a flare of her power, and a beacon when he needed it to be.
Hiei sat up next to her, and she repeated, "What if this life is all we have? It doesn't feel like it's enough, to just love you in this lifetime. What if when we die, we never see each other again?" The bond would lengthen her lifetime and shorten his, but one day, far into the distant future, she would die before him, as fragile as humans were.
Everything in him rejected the idea immediately. "Impossible," he growled, reaching for her hand and cupping her cheek to level his gaze to hers. There, in her gaze - her happiness had been replaced with a terrible sadness. "I am tied to you, inextricably." He promised. Ashley searched his eyes as he continued, "I do not believe that this will be the only life we share. We may be born into different forms, but I do not believe that I will never love you again. Even if we were to die tomorrow, I will it into existence now: We will be together again. I will find you in every lifetime."
Her eyes didn't change from that sadness. Hiei continued fervently, squeezing her hand so she would know his words' truth, "Even if the gods come down and claim this is the only life we have, I vow to kill them all. I will find you in everylifetime."
There it was, that smile - as soft as the sun breaking over the horizon after the longest night - but it was there.
He cupped the back of her head and pulled her to him, pressing his lips to her forehead. She finally released a sigh, and he pulled her back to his chest, his warmth encompassing them. She wrapped her arms around him, and rested her head in the crook of his shoulder.
Why had she even had those thoughts? How could she even think about loosing him after their bond? It was unfathomable, but he still held her and traced the divots of her spine as his eyes focused on the sun nearing the edge of the horizon.
"If we don't call on the dragon now, I can't promise we'll be able to do it today," he said after several minutes of just holding her and breathing together.
She nodded against him, and he stood, offering her a hand to rise to her feet. He put distance between them as she pulled on her jacket, originally discarded when they started the bonding process. He kept walking until there was enough room to call on the dragon without worrying about getting her caught up in it. Worrying about her withstanding his energy's pressure was no longer a concern, really. She had felt his energy at it's strongest and had completed the bond. The bond would always support her anytime he powered up so she would never struggle to stand in his presence again. No, he put distance between them so that she wouldn't accidentally get hit by any of the dragon's black lightning as he called it out.
Satisfied with the distance from her, he focused on his right arm, clasping his right wrist in his left hand to keep it steady, and raised his power, directing it into the tattoo carved into his body.
Opening his Jagan once more, Hiei raised his energy steadily and past the point where he would normally stop for Ashley's sake - She would be fine; the bond would protect her - and kept raising it: an offering for the Dragon.
The sky darkened, as power that was not his own coursed through him. His body was a medium; a way to pull the power of the Darkness through the depths of Spirit World and pour into the world where he stood. If he held onto it for any longer, it would overpower him and drive him mad. Instead, Hiei released it, and in a shockwave from where he stood, the Dragon's power exploded from him.
Ashley stumbled back a step from the shockwave, but otherwise did not appear flustered. The Dragon's power swirled around his feet and flattened what little vegetation there was. Isolated boulders carved from glaciers long ago crumbled to dust beneath the weight of the Dragon's power.
The world went silent save for the black lightning that cracked from the sky and tore through the earth. What few animals that chirped and chittered went deathly silent, somehow aware of the danger that rose with his power. The lighting that tore across the earth echoed with the deepest rumble: a promise of destruction and oblivion to the enemy that faced him. Except it was not an enemy, but his mate, who wished to see the Dragon she'd often heard about from him and their friends.
The Dragon's power crested at a fever pitch within his body, his own power dancing along with it, and Hiei released the second wave of it, the Dragon shooting from the earth and into the sky, it's power immense and terrible.
He watched as it clawed its way through the sky and turned back toward his mate , spotting her and changing it's path to fly directly for her.
Ashley did not move, watching the beast intently. At the last moment, the Dragon changed direction and landed upon the earth, shaking the ground as it landed. It watched her wordlessly, as she took it in, and then closed the distance to the Dragon.
Hiei's breath caught - the Dragon never landed. It had never paused it's attack long enough to stop. Hiei's energy tugged at it, but the Dragon did not waver, nor did it look back at Hiei.
He was at Ashley's side in an instant, his body between hers and the Dragon's. His hand found hers, but she did not shake like he was afraid she might. She squeezed his hand as she wordlessly exchanged a silent look with him, and then stepped around him, letting go of his hand to close the distance to the Dragon. He watched wordlessly as she came to a halt in front of the Dragon without hesitation, staring up at the monster intently.
"Oh, thank the stars!"
Her voice was breathy and desperate. A whispered cry of relief as emotion welled in her tone.
There was still pain, but he knew the teal woman who sat next to him. Yukina. She had been there in the beginning and she was with him now.
"Thank the stars you're alive," she said, and he could barely make out the shining wet paths down her cheeks.
A dull pain pulsed in his abdomen, but it wasn't nearly as all-encompassing as it was before.
Yukina was crying, and he tried to reach a hand to her in his daze. She needed to stop. He would wipe away her tears and make sure nothing could harm her again -
But as his hand moved toward her, lost in its journey to where she was, she caught it and leaned her cheek against the palm of his hand. Wet traced a path from her cheek and down his hand and arm before her tears formed into pearls and clinked on the floor. He felt wrong, like something was off, but he couldn't quite grasp what. It took all of his focus just to think -
Ashley.
And Nyoko before her.
The way Nyoko trusted him fully. The way she challenged him to be more. The way he trusted her to fight her own battles, and he would protect her when she asked. The way he learned that he needed to open up and trust her, and she wouldn't betray him. The way she taught him that he could be vulnerable, and she would be vulnerable in return. But… he'd never known Nyoko in this life - in this timeline.
Ashley….
"Thank the stars - oh, thank you!" Yukina placed his hand back on his chest and rose. "I'll be right back! I need to tell the others!"
She left in a flourish, the door to the room slamming shut behind her.
Alone, Hiei breathed. The room was quiet. It was warm. Somewhere, a clock ticked the seconds away. The pain in his abdomen throbbed, but was less overwhelming than before.
Something wet gathered at the edges of his eyes - had Yukina's tears fallen on his own eyes?
Hiei, though his arm wobbled as he moved it, devoid of strength, touched the edge of his eye, pulling his hand away to look at it.
Sure enough, dampness clung to his fingertips. It had been decades since he'd seen them, but he recognized the dampness immediately for what it was. Tears.
It was then that he recognized his hand for what it was, too: The same hand that had cut down enemy after enemy. The same hand that had tugged Nyoko closer to him as they sat around the fire. The same hand that had cupped Ashley's face as they bonded. The same hand that had pushed her away after the Fourteen Gone.
Sucking in a breath, the world broke over him. Hiei let the tears fall, quietly and silently.
I've been a fool.
Note: Yes, I did deliberately end this chapter in a parallel to how I ended chapter 38.