Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ We Will Meet Again ❯ part1 ( Prologue )

[ A - All Readers ]

He ran.

The leaves of the trees slapped against his face as he
tore through the forest, yet he did not slow his pace.
/Fool!/ he berated himself, clutching the spot over
his left lung. /Proud, obnoxious *fool*!/ he added,
dimly aware of the crimson liquid gushing from the
wound and staining his whitish robes.

The wound was worse than he thought, he realized as he
felt his vision dimming. /NO!/he swore fiercely.
/Not like this!/ He continued to gallop through the
underbrush, swatting tiny trees and branches aside
with his free hand.

A hunter. A mere *hunter* had done this to him. Was
he so confident that now he didn't pay any heed to
mysterious ki in the area? /If I hadn't been so
proud... If I'd.../ His train of thought was
interrupted by the familiar sound of an arrow cutting
through the air. He ducked his head reflexively, but
the projectile had a different target in mind. He bit
back a cry of anguish as the stone-tipped weapon
sailed through his right shoulder. "So persistent..."
he growled under his breath.

When he stumbled into a clearing, he staggered to a
halt and turned to face the darkness of the forest.

"What are you waiting for, then?" he shouted to the
trees. "Come, vermin! You think yourself worthy of
bringing back the head of Youko Kurama? Then, come!"
There was no answer. Kurama stayed his ground, one
hand still clutching his wound, the other reaching
into his robes to pull out a rose. "I'm waiting,
vermin!" he shouted, feeling uneasy at the silence of
the forest. It was as though every creature that
inhabited it had fled in the face of Kurama's
challenge.
"COME!" he demanded, his voice carrying undercurrents
of threat. The silence was deafening. Kurama stood
there for what seemed like hours, and then...

He dove to the side and rolled, ignoring the pain it
evoked from his wounds. He heard the sound of arrows
striking the dirt he'd been standing in only seconds
ago. /Fool,/ he cursed the hunter. /Do you think you
can truly defeat me now that I am aware of you? You
are about to learn what happens to those who dare to
confront Youko Kurama./

He made to raise himself to his feet once again, but
then he felt a sharp pain in his left thigh. He fell
to his side and stared disbelievingly at the new arrow
there. /How...?/ He rolled away from another barrage
of arrows and started to flee once again, no longer
knowing where he was headed and no longer caring. He
simply needed to get away. /More than one... There is
more than one.../

He ran as best he could through the undergrowth,
vision blurring at the edges, wounds bleeding
profusely, limbs aching... /Not like this,/ he
repeated. /I will not die like this... Not at the
hands of these...these.../
It was getting hard to think coherently. His head was
starting to feel fuzzy, with a need for sleep. Each
arrow-wound was becoming a distinct, blazing sun of
pain. He stumbled blindly forward, absently shoving
leaves aside, until at last he was free from the
confines of the forest, falling to his knees in the
grass.

He remained there for several moments, panting and
fighting the plunge into unconsciousness with every
ounce of strength he had left. Slowly, painfully, he
lifted his head, finding himself at the bank of...of a
pond.


~*~


Loud yet distant sound waves shook her pond. Twice,
the second more heavier than the first. Yaten opened
her lime green eyes in her air bubble beneath the pond. "Who
could it be?" Any customer knew not to yell. In the
Makai, any customer didn't *want* to attract
attention, if they were coming to her to sell objects
to Taiki-san, because it was presumable they did
not attain such objects legally.

"Who could it be?" she wondered curiously, unfurling
herself from the fetal position and stretching out a
bit, slowly sifting towards the top of the pond. The
padding of insistent footsteps soon followed the
distant shattering cries. listening for another
sound, any sound, nothing. slowly,she rised her now
wet-matted silver hair, she sensed an unfamiliar ki,
no...two, three, more... and one was closer than the
others. Next her eyes rose above the surface and
looked around the pond. "No one in the immediate area,
leaning over..." She thought as she softly gasped, the
nearer ki wavering, almost fading feeling. "Someone's
hurt..." She murmured, bringing the rest of her head
above the pond's surface. She brought her hands above
soon after, digging her nails into the damp, rich
soil, rimming the cool pond water, she pulled herself
to the edge, and her eyes above the grassy horizon.
She gasped and dived under quickly away.

"He... He's a kitsune..." she thought, holding her
breath under the water, blinking. "Who is he? What
does he want?" She suddenly panicked. "What is he
doing here?" She demanded to herself, small bubbles
escaping her lips.

"There's only... one way... to find out..." she
compromised, slowly, returning herself to her previous
position, looking at the tall, well-built youko. "I've
never seen a youko before..." She thought,
blinking, watching him intently. Every wavered breath,
every pulse of his body, the trickling of crimson
fluid... "Baka! He's hurt, how could you forget that?"
she quickly scolded herself. "But what... what if he
is faking? What if he intends to hurt me... I've never
met one of him before." She started to doubt herself.
"No, his ki, it's unsteady, I have to help him." She
confidently confirmed herself, slowly lifting her body
out of the water, careful not to soil her light green
gown against the muddy lining of the pool. She
stepped softly and slowly towards him, almost
terrified of a reaction from him. "I have to help
him..." She continued to repeat to herself. "I have
to-- Damn, did his tail just move?" She asked herself,
pausing stiffly in her footsteps. "Stop it, stop
doubting..." She bit her lip and moved closer to him.
"You can do this. He won't bite, will he?" She
frightfully doubted herself again as she softly
reached down to his level, wrapping her arms slowly
around his middle and lifting him up. She had never
seen a youko before, let alone lifted one.
"KUSO!" She groaned softly at his weight. "He's
heavy..." She wobbled slightly. "I have to bring him
closer... closer to the pond... so I can heal him
better..." She struggled, regretfully dragging his
lower half along the ground.

"I'm sorry..." she apologized softly, knowing he must
be in pain, and her weakness was not helping his
wounds. Her body was designed and trained to be strong
for water, for currents, for sea creatures, not
lifting heavy things on ground. She groaned again as
she neared the pond. "Just a few more steps..." She
moaned softly, and gently placed him beside the pond.
"I'm so sorry..." She knelt beside him, not caring of
her garments anymore. "I didn't help your pain....
I'll help now though." She spoke softly, reaching in
the cool pond and using her powers to wash away the
dirt and scratches on his face. Next she moved behind
him, careful not to upset any wounds anymore, she
propped him up, and scooped cool clear water into her
hand to let him drink. "Please don't die. I'm so
sorry..." She started, apologetically feeling as
though his death would be a result of her weakness,
even though she knew deep down inside it wasn't. "I
can heal you. I can. If you can wait a few minutes,
I can get supplies and heal your wounds." She said, a
few tears trickling down her cheeks. "Why do I feel
this way? I don't know him." She scolded herself. "Is
it because he looks beatifull? Baka onna," she told
herself.


Pain. All other feeling had abandoned him, leaving
him only with pain as his constant companion. But it
was becoming distant...fading... He was losing
consciousness...falling...

He was moving... No...he was being moved... Who...?
A warm breeze...

The trickling sound of water...

<I'm sorry...>

…Who...? He tried opening his eyes, but the lids were
simply too heavy. Soon, he simply succumbed to the
darkness awaiting him, falling down...down...down...
He fell into a sea of raging fire. The flames licked
at his clothing, curled around his limbs, burned into
his very existence...

In the center of the sea of orange flames, stood a
shrouded figure. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion,
and gasped as the figure raised a bow, arrow set and
ready to fly. He turned and fled blindly from the
figure. He staggered away, trying vainly to escape
the flames, and ended up stumbling in his weakened
state, falling down, splashing into a pond of cold
water. He struggled to remain afloat and tried vainly
to swim for shore, even though he had no idea where
that might be.
He swam as hard as he could, focusing all of his
energy on keeping his head above water, that it took
him several moments to realize that he was no longer
in the water at all, but instead was attempting to
swim along a sandy riverbank. He pushed himself to
his knees and looked around. He was surrounded by
darkness. Suddenly, a light shone on him from above.
He looked up, and saw a hand reaching down for him.
He reached upwards, stretching as best he could to
touch the pale fingertips offered to him--

--and came awake with a start, gasping for breath,
body damp with sweat.


Yaten frowned as the poor youko slipped into a
feverish nightmare, thrashing around violently in
desperate attempts to get away from whatever was
chasing him. "It's okay," she whispered softly,
hugging him slightly to comfort him. "It's alright.
You're going to be all right. I'm here," she told him,
hoping he would calm down with her words. She bit her
lip and closed her eyes.

She placed one hand inside his bloodstained vest and
the other in the pond and through her power, funneled
the water through her body and into his to reduce his
temperature, remembering to stop before his
temperature lowered too much. She began to brush his
wild bangs from his face, revealing the golden eyes
that hid beneath them. Wiping her cold wet, hand over
his face, wiping away the sweat.

"My name is Yaten, and I'm right here. I won't hurt
you, no one will. I'm here, I'll heal you." She told
him warmly, going back to funneling him water with her
cupped hand to his mouth again. "If you can wait, just
a few minutes, I can leave and get supplies and heal
you better…" she told him, only able to heal his minor
wounds right now with the pond water. "I just want to
make sure you don't think you're alone, before I go. I
want to make sure you will be all right before I leave
you. I don't want you to fear anymore," she spoke
warmly again, now leaning over him, so he could see
her face. She felt her heart flutter in her chest as
she held him, as she spoke to him. Something with him,
something to do with him, set something afire inside
of her. "What is this... why is this..." She thought
to herself. "No. He's hurt. Stop thinking stupidly.
You. Must. Heal. Him," she told herself firmly.


He regained conscious thought slowly, fighting the
darkness that threatened to take him once again.
She...she was...the most beautiful illusion he'd ever
seen in his life. Shining green eyes...a long,
silver hair...gentle facial features... She
was...speaking to him. Her mouth was moving, but he
couldn't entirely register the words she spoke.

He continued to stare at her through half-lidded eyes,
watching her soft link lips form words spoken in a
soothing tone. Had he died already? Was this the
ferry girl who had come to take him to the Reikai?

No...surely not...he could not be dead. Death was
supposed to be painless, was it not? If he were dead,
he wouldn't be in such *pain*. His arrow wounds
continued to throb, causing him to twist slightly in
agony. When he noticed the girl moving to leave, fear
and reflex took over him, and he reached blindly to
clutch her hand.

She gasped slightly when he grabbed her hand, panic
returning to her, fearing momentarily as the idea of
him hurting her flooded back to her. When she saw the
look on his face though, of panic himself, pain, and
tiredness, she smiled faintly relieved.

"You're still afraid, aren't you?" She smiled
softly, moving back towards him. "Alright then, you
win, I'll stay for a while longer, but I have to leave
soon to heal you," she informed him, leaning over and
kissing him softly. "What the HELL was that?" she
suddenly demanded, shock shooting like lightning
through her mind. "What am I doing? I need to heal
him. He's hurt... He's in pain… He's handsome!" She
blushed slightly as she admitted to herself the
attraction. "Onna, you're falling in love with a dying
man. What the hell is wrong with you?"

She continued to berate herself, but no matter how
much she did, she couldn't withhold the pull of her
body towards his. She moved closer, careful not to
touch the wounds, she held him close to her. "It's
alright..." she spoke softly. "I'll be here…" she
murmured, placing her head close to his.

The girl looked faintly shocked when his hand closed
around hers, but seconds after she merely leaned in
close and murmured more soothing nothingness at him.
Then, she brushed her lips against his, just the
faintest hint of contact. He accepted the soft
caress, his eyes closing. He felt her pull him
against her body, and he inhaled the scent of her
body. She smelled like...ocean mist--that was the
best way to put it. Ocean mist. A beautiful girl
from the stars. an angel, and a healer, now he could see that.

So kind...so gentle...and she didn't even know him.
Slowly, he reached up and let his fingers fist part of
her green vest. He struggled to get his voice to work.
It took several tries to work his mouth, but
eventually, he managed to form a single, whispered
word. "Name...?"

"Yaten." She smiled softly, glad he accepted her
embrace, a bit surprised at his grab at her vest. "Do
you need more to drink?" She asked him, raising a
water-filled hand to his lips again.

He parted his lips slightly, allowing the liquid to
flow down his throat. It was cool against his
stomach. His body went limp once more in her arms,
but he kept his grip on her vest. "Thank...you..." he
managed.

She bit her lip. "Please, I am sorry. Don't move, I'm
going to remove the arrows now..." She ripped a piece
of her vest off, the part he clutched, and put it to
his mouth. "Bite on the cloth if it hurts," she
ordered, carefully grabbing an arrowhead and snapping
it off, moving to the next, until they were all off,
and pulling them out at the back. "I have to go get
the supplies quickly, to stop your bleeding... please.
Don't die." she pleaded him, tears rolling down her
cheeks as she laid over him. "Please?" She repeated,
laying him on the cool grass. "I am weak," she scolded
herself. "Not only physically, but emotionally.
Seiya-san would kill me if she saw me like
this..."


He groaned low in his throat and bit down on the
cloth, fighting the urge to buck in pain. His mind
didn't register when the pain stopped. Soon, he was
being laid back on the grass.

"Don't die." The girl's words were clear and
pleading. "Please?" Droplets of warm water were
falling on his face... Rain? No...the
girl...she...was crying...for him. He tried his best
to give her a small smile, and raised one hand weakly
to point at himself.
"...Kurama..." he whispered, hoping she would
understand.

She smiled softly. "I will never forget it," she told
him. "I'll be right back," she told him, leaning over
to kiss him again, a bit harder than before. Then
pulling back and moving away, she moved calmly into
the deep forest, disappeared
beneath the depths of the forest to retrieve healing
materials.

"Hurry, hurry, where's it?" she
demanded, searching
frantically, paranoid that he would leave when she was
gone.


Had he the strength to kiss her back, he would have,
but alas, he was simply too weak. He watched as she
left his side, not able to raise his head and see
where she was going. How could she be so kind to
someone she barely knew?

He felt something tickle his senses. A dreaded,
familiar ki. /Will you not leave me in peace?/ he
demanded mentally, struggling to sit up. He was going
to die anyway, that much was certain. The
arrows...the arrowheads were tipped with poison. He
didn't have long to live. He struggled to stand, and
winced as his body slowly and shakily started to obey.

Soon, he was on his feet at the edge of the bank.
/Stay wherever you are,/ he silently willed the girl.
/Don't let them take you, too.../ He looked to the forest
, searching for some sign of the
hunters.

That's when it happened. A sharp, piercing pain, hot
as liquid fire, shot through the center of his chest.
He gasped, and doubled over, coughing up blood. His
heart. It had struck his heart. The poison...his
heart...lungs... He stumbled forward, toppling into
the pond. His blood mixed with the water as he sank
toward the bottom.

Caring green eyes filled his vision before a curtain
of darkness settled over him, closing him away from
the world around him. He surrendered to the
blackness, knowing that the cold water would be the
last thing he ever felt.

She looked up as a shadow was cast upon the water.
Crimson blood pierced the liquid as a body collapsed
into it. "Kurama?" Yaten looked up, eyes shimmering
in emotional pain as she saw his lifeless body start
to sink. "KURAMA!" she screamed, runing and jumpimg to the
pond to scramble out and catch his bleeding,
floating body. "No..." she murmured, bubbles escaping
her lips. "No...!" she cried, paddling to the
surface. "No, you can't die, Kurama... No..." she
yelled, struggling to pull his heavy body on the
surface.

"Don't die…" she sobbed, dragging his corpse out of
the watery grave. "Please don't die. You were supposed
to wait for me..." She continued, grabbing his vest.
"BAKA KITSUNE!" she yelled, crying into his chest.
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WAIT! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAIT?"

"Kurama... I'll get your vengeance. Wait for me,
wherever you are. I'll find you...." she sniffled, a
while later. She took a piece of his silver hair and
fastened it into a locket she kept around her neck.

"I'll avenge you..." she sniffled again, hugging him
closely and pushing him back into the pond. "Pond,
keep his grave." She frowned and stalked off to find
his killers.

To shed blood for the first time.


~*~
End of part 1

did you like it this is my first Yaten/Kurama fic and please no flames
reviow!!