Well, a strange alternate YuYu universe, I guess. I don't know much about how Mukuro's and Yomi's governments work, so just bear with me, and tell me how wrong I am ^_^ Enjoy!

Intertwined

I look up in surprise. What is he doing here? I give a smile to my current lover. He is a mere century old, but I had sensed potential in him for something greater when I had met him. With a smile, I tell him to go out and search for something to eat. Sensing something afoot, he nods and quickly walks away. I watch him for a moment, and then nod. He has greater potential then I had thought.

With a quiet tone, I call out, "Hiei... stop hovering and just come down here." A moment later, he jumps down to the ground from the treetops, giving me a contemptuous look for my choice of words. I look at him. It has been too long. How many years... how many decades had it been? Long enough so that I see something that I didn't want to see.

I look around, eager to say something, do anything that would distract my mind from the truth. The truth that I don't want to acknowledge. With a strained voice, I say, "Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Inside my head, I curse at myself. That had sounded truly awkward and inane. Couldn't I, a youko of not-inconsiderable power and the ruler of a third of the Makai, manage something better than that?

Hiei has never been much for small talk. Instead, he merely says, "Kurama. You know... or at least you should. If you don't, you're going blind, and you're paying your spies too much." He has changed, from that naive demon that I had known before, so long ago. But then, so have I. Ruling has a tendency to do that.

I reply with yet another evasion. I don't want to be right..."So, how is Yukina-san? It has been too long since I've seen her last."

Both he and I know that this is yet another attempt to get our minds off the subject. But as always, he's willing to talk about his sister. He replies in an aggrivated tone, "She's as fine as she can be. She lives at the outskirts of my domain with her memories --who knew that that idiot Kuwabara would make her like that? She still thinks of him after all this time."

After a pause, he adds, "She's become something like a guardian angel to their descendents. They even have a saying about her -- that if they pray hard enough and focus on a certain clear stone, a goddess would appear and save them... I suppose I should stop her from breaching the borders between the Makai and the Ningenkai, but I want to allow her this one happiness..."

I sigh, and lean against the tree nearest to me, feeling its pulse of life. "That reminds me too much of Yuusuke... he's dwells almost as much in the past as your sister does. Did you know that he has kept track of every single one of his and Keiko's descendents? He goes to each of their funerals, and has also become something of a legend to them..."

After staring out into the sky, I whisper, "Neither one of them could let go, could they? Let go of the humans, and of their short-" I interrupt myself. This conversation is going toward a subject that I don't want... "So, Hiei- ah, how is-"

He looks at me with an annoyed expression. "You know I'm not here to talk about any of that, Kurama. You know as well as I do why you chose this spot to have your litle tryst. Because this is a linking point between our two domains. You expected me to come, after your spy informed you-"

I can't stand it. None of those power-hungry idiots who spend their time trying to depose me are here... and quite frankly, I wouldn't care if they were. Power does not mean that you are invincible to pain in your heart... Sitting down with arms around my knees. I let my pain show... this once, there is no need to hide it...

"Hiei. Stop it. We have not seen each other in so long... why must you wait until now, until this is looming over our heads, before we meet?"

He replies with a world-weary tone that the old Hiei would never have used. "Why? You know why. Our three kingdoms- yours, mine, and Yuusuke's must never come together -- there is no way for us to be more than old friends who respect each other. If there had been signs of an alliance between any of our countries, all of the war-mad idiots would cry out that the other would betray them. It would give them an excuse to try to take power from us, resulting destruction a hundred times beyond what the Makai had seen. That's why. None of us can afford to seem weak, or willing to give up our rules -- that's the fastest way to death."

He clenches at something he has in his hand. Then wordlessly, he hands it to me. A crystal, a gem of purest black. His tear gem...

"You know when this was made -- during that stupid, idiotic night that we spent together. We shouldn't have, and we both know it. But it happened, and there it is. Do you really think that either one of us could have let go, back then? If we had seen each other even once more, alone like this, do you think we could have lived as we have done?"

I interject weakly, "Stupid? No, it wasn't stupid... it was right. It felt right..."

He continues, as if he hadn't heard me. "We wouldn't have -- no. We couldn't have let go. We both know that. If I had shown you this back then, we would have gotten too tangled up within each other. In our hearts, we agreed to this tacit little agreement to not see each other again, until-"

I interrupt, strongly this time. "No! Don't-" Closing my eyes, I sit against the tree, trying to block it out...

Inexorably, he speaks, louder now. "We would allow ourselves to meet for just one last time, when one of us is dying."

Dying. That word reverberates in my soul, in my heart. I try to deny it, try to ignore the evidence that my spies, that my very eyes have given me, but I can't. He is dying, and he is gifting me with this evidence of our love as a last farewell..."Why, Hiei? Why tell me this? Why did you even bother to meet me if there's no hope?"

He looks at me, with an expression so full of grief and love, that I cannot speak. I know that he sees the same expression on my face. "Why? Why... because, at the end, I want both of us to know, in our hearts, that if things had been different, if we hadn't been saddled with this responsibility, that maybe..."

He gives a look full of bitterness. "I could never have said something like that before, could I? When we could have..." He shakes his head. "No dwelling on what-could-have-beens. We have to talk about something else." He looks at me with serious eyes. "The question of an heir has come up, and while there are a few likely candidates, there are none who are definite. Depending on how long I live, this could get very messy."

He pauses, and looks at me. "I need you to be able to keep matters under control here, after I am gone. I don't think Yuusuke would manage this as well as you... if anything, he'd probably make it worse. Just... make sure everything stays intact, until a new successor emerges. I'll try to decide on one, and train that one well, but..."

Then, quickly, without a word, he gives me a kiss. A kiss that brings back memories of that forbidden, tragic night. Abruptly as he had come, he disappears -- back to his own kingdom, where, presumably, he will spend his last few -- weeks? months?-- trying to get his affairs in order. That kiss... It is in my heart forever, to be cherished, remembered. I feel the years I have left stretch out like eternity before me...

How long have I been sitting with my heart, my soul threatening to break? Too long- at least, long enough for my little lover to come back, bearing the fruits of his hunt. He looks at me cautiously, and brings me my portion. Then he stays away from me, keeping his distance. Such keen judgement is unusual to find in such a young one. Yes, he has great potential...

I am back in that jungle for the second time in only a few days. Here, at the last place where Hiei and I were together, is the only place I can truly concentrate. I have left my lover behind -- no, he is not my lover anymore. Better to say that I have left my potential successor behind, entrusting my advisors enough to see him through the basics... still, it be a long time before he will be ready for anything by himself.

I look at the the gift, the proof that Hiei has given me. I can still feel his presence here, and on the gem... I stare into it, thinking of him, and then suddenly, I smile. A smile, I think, of both pain and happiness, because I see...

He is before me, a dark shadow in the night. I keep quiet, waiting for him to speak. In an irritated manner, he asks, "Kurama, why are you calling me here like this? I suppose you want an explanation of some kind." He shrugs, and adds, "I have no idea why I'm still alive. But it's been long enough for me to train someone, so-"

I turn, and step away from the shadows. He almost gasps, a rare look of surprise flashing across his face, as he manages to whisper, "Ku-kurama? W-what happened..."

I know what he sees. Truly, only a few decades have gone by since our last meeting. Years which Hiei should not have lived, and years which haveleft their mark on me too strongly. He looks at my aged face, stunned. I know that I've aged well, with hair now white rather than silver, and a body still strong. But I am old, and we both see it.

"What have you done to yourself? Kurama- how could you have aged so much ...?" I laugh to myself... Hiei was never one for tact. "My spies never said anything about this-"

I laugh, aloud this time, and answer back, "You and I both know that our spies merely tells the other what we both wish known. I had all your spies captured, and told them quite explicitly exactly what they should not tell you- they were quite cooperative..."

I gesture to myself, to my too-aged form. "Surprising, isn't it? It doesn't really matter anymore, our strength. You and I now have successors who have become strong enough to survive on their own, ruling. What would it matter if I lived a few more centuries? Those would only have been centuries when my successor would become resentful of my power, and try to take over-"

He takes my chin and makes me look down into his eyes. His beautiful, blood-red eyes whcih are shining... "Kurama. What have you done?" I gesture to the necklace around my neck, to the black stone attached to it. "You gave me a link into your soul, into your life force. It was a gesture of infinite trust, and it was one which enabled me to prolong your life. I merely gave you a small portion of my life force- enough for you to live, and be able to function until a peaceful succession was guaranteed."

I laugh sadly, and a little bitterly, too. "But as always, my heart betrayed me. After you had made your choice, I didn't want to let go of our link- my only link to you. The little portion I fed you grew, subtly so that you didn't notice, until it became as much as I could spare- enough for each of us to rule, but only for this century. I'm burnt out, and I'm afraid I can't forestall your death anymore, either. I'm sorry..."

I look up at him, with what I know to be a mad glint in my eye. Well, it is a mad wish... "I can't stop it, and neither can you... so lets run away. Our successors are ready, and it's known that both of us are failing, even if no one says it to our faces. Lets spend our last month alone, together, like we wanted to do for so long..."

Hiei looks at me and nods, a matching grin starting to light his face. Finally, he lets go of my chin, and takes my hand. We both feel it, the mad, mad joy in our hearts. We know that we are free of the life that fate, karma, chance, or whatever you wish to call it has given us. And so, we do it. Secret messages are sent to our successors. One last farewell to Yukina, who smiles gently at us. Another to Yuusuke, who looks at us with both envy and understanding. I feel that both will be following us soon...

We go off into the jungle, living our last days together. And we survive for ten precious days, during which there is nothing between us. We live the life we had envisioned in centuries of longing, and when we die, it is together, our selves and souls intertwined.

I blink. I think that perhaps I've seen her before... but I can't seem to remember much. My memory seems to be getting a bit fuzzy... A name pops up in the mists of my conciousness. "Bo-Botan? Is that you?" She looks at both us with a sad smile. Then, with a gesture, she leads us across the river of death. Memories are pouring out of me, as if through a sieve. Memories of Minamino Shuuichi, of Kurama, mixing together before drifting away.

I don't resist, sensing the futility of such an attempt. But I look around, and see a hand clasping mine. Who is he? I can't seem to remember... but he feels familiar -- like a part of me. I try to memorize his face, and try to keep it in my heart, imprint it in my soul, but the young girl's face appears before mine again. With a expression full of sadness, she shakes her head, and all my trying is for naught. As my thoughts fade away, I feel him pulled away. As I reach, I feel the hardness of a stone in my hand. It is warm... what is it?

I feel his presence behind me lurking in the shadows. As he jumps at me, I turn and say, "Gotcha!" My looks at me with a bit of chagrin on his face, and then starts to laugh. I join him, and together, we sit beside the fire. There are no lights beyond that, only nature and the dark, and the remnants of our dinner. I look at him, and somehow, it feels right. Light and shadow, fire and darkness. It mingles around us as I sigh, content.

I start as he reaches over and drops something in my hand. A stone, warmed from his touch. With a puzzled expression, I ask."What's this?"

He replies a bit sheepishly, "I found it while I was fishing. I dunno- I just thought you might like it... it seemed like a good idea to give it to you at the time, but now I don't understand why I would think-"

I interrupt him with a kiss, silencing his ramblings. I look at the curious gift that my lover has given me. It is not a stone, but a crystal, black and flawless. It's almost as if the depths of night were within it... But looking deeper, I see that there is a thread of red embedded with in it. The color pulls my eye until I see it so entangled in the crystal that it doesn't seem black at all.

"I love it." I smile at him as I hold it to my heart. He grins back, and then holds me close to him. As we look up at the stars, I absently play with the crystal in my hand. Maybe I'll put it on a string and wear it around my neck...

---Finis---

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