A/N: Well everyone here's the final chapter of this story. Hope you all enjoy.
Shadows of the Pastby Yami Yue
I was awakened by the presence of another. The scent of the intruder mingled with that of mine and mate's. It only took me a moment to realize who it was. I channeled some of my spirit energy into the plant on the dresser. Without opening my eyes I knew it had ensnared my victim. I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. Hiei awoke and looked over at the youko vixen wrapped up in the tendrils of the plant. I willed the plant to cover her eyes, then climbed out of bed and quickly dressed. "What are you doing here Velaska?" I asked, my tone low and dangerous. I smelled poison and looked down at her hands. In one of them was a poison tipped dagger. "You came to kill one of us," I said as I carefully took the dagger from her hand. "Which one?" "I was trying to save you my love," she whispered as I allowed the plant to uncover her eyes. "He deceives you," I narrowed my eyes at her. "You are the one that deceives me," I responded. "Little that you have said leads me to believe that you've been truthful with me," "You've tried to destroy my family, and now you try to kill my mate in his sleep," I growled. "That I will not tolerate," Velaska visibly paled.
"Hmmm… how best to deal with you?" I murmured as I caressed her cheek. "My death tree hasn't had a good meal in a while," Her eyes widened and could smell her fear. "Perhaps I could have this plant simply strangle you," I continued. "…or I could let you leave this world in the embrace of the sinning tree," "So many ways… and yet only one would suffice," I murmured. " Ah, but I'm being selfish. You have wronged not only me but my mate as well. Perhaps I should leave your fate to him,"
I looked to Hiei. "Would you like to deal with her Love?" I asked " or shall I?" Hiei smirked. "It was foolish to invoke Kurama's wrath," he said to Velaska. " He can get vicious in ways even I don't like to think about," He reached up and undid the bandana covering his jagon. "However, I may be able to diminish his anger," he said. "For a price," Velaska looked from him to me and back to him. "What do you ask?" she inquired. "I want to know which spell you used on Kurama and how to break it," "If I refuse?" she asked. Hiei smirked. "I'll take the information and leave you to Kurama," he answered. "Alright, I'll tell you," she said. "Good," Hiei responded.
I turned on the light and retrieved the spellbook. Hiei motioned for me to give it to him and I handed it over to him. His jagon began to glow and he turned the pages. He stopped at one and looked at her. "Is this the one?" he asked. "Yes," she answered. "How do I break it?" he asked. "You can't," she answered. "Kurama will be under the control of whoever holds the spell," Hiei frowned, his eyes narrowed. Velaska swallowed nervously. His jagon glowed again and for a moment he looked thoughtful. He then turned to me. "Kurama, you are to act for the rest of your life exactly as you would if you were not under a spell, you will remember all,"
I could feel the effects of the spell and suddenly everything was perfectly clear. I was Youko Kurama, once thief and spirit detective, now Hiei's mate and the "mother" of to twin teenage boys. I blinked and shook my head. "Are you alright now?" Hiei asked. "Yes," I answered. "I think so," "Very clever Fire Baby," I said softly. Hiei ripped the page from the book and handed it to me. As soon as I took the page from him, the book was engulfed in dark fire. Within moments it was gone. Velaska gasped. Hiei grabbed her chin forcing her to look at him. His jagon began to glow brighter than the last time as he stared hard into her eyes. "You will return home and lead your people as you should," he said "You will no longer peruse Kurama, instead you will find yourself another who is suitable to be your mate," "Lastly, you will not remember this. You will remember nothing after bidding Kurama farewell," Velaska's eyes were vacant as Hiei spoke, using the power of his jagon upon her. "Sleep now and return home once you awaken," he said then released her from his power. Her eyes closed and she was fast asleep. Hiei yawned. "Maybe now we can get some peace," he said. "I trust you can take care of her," I nodded. "I'm going back to bed then," he said. "Don't be long," I smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips, then lifted Velaska into my arms. The café was empty so I placed her in a chair there and hurried back to join my mate in bed.
The moment I had settled under the covers Hiei placed his arms around me. "I should not have agreed to come here with Yusuke," he said as he pressed himself closer to me. "Of course you should have," I said. "We both know he needed you here," "I could have lost you if she had succeeded," he murmured. "Thanks to you she didn't," I responded as I embraced him." I had a bad feeling about this from the beginning," he whispered. "I felt something was going to happen at the tournament and that it would involve you, yet I still left with Yusuke and the others instead of going with you to escort Sata home," I nipped his ear gently, quickly earning his attention. "I felt it too," I told him. "I thought you were the one in danger," Hiei frowned. "It's getting harder to tell which emotions belong to whom at times," he said. "We've been bonded nearly twenty years," I reminded him. "...and our bond has deepened greatly,"
A shuddering breath escaped his lips as his petite form shook. "I thought I was going to loose you tonight," he whispered. "You didn't," I responded. "I thought you were going to leave, you were so full of doubt," he whispered. Guilt spread through me like wildfire. Even though it had only been for a moment, I had doubted him. "If I were in my right mind I would never have doubted you," I said softly. "...you know that don't you?" He made a soft sound of agreement. "I know," he said softly. "In the end you had faith in me," "What changed your mind?" he asked as he looked up at me. "I couldn't bring myself to believe that you were merely pretending to love me," I answered. "I couldn't believe you would deceive me that way," Hiei closed his eyes and rested his head against me. "I could never do that to you," he assured me. "I know," I replied as I closed my eyes and held him close to me.
I nearly sighed when I felt relief wash over him. I realized with surprise that my mate had been so very afraid of loosing me. It made me feel worse knowing I had caused him such pain. Hiei tightened his embrace slightly. I opened my eyes and looked down. His eyes met mine and a slight frown marred his handsome face. He released me from his hold and gently caressed my cheek with his hand. "You shouldn't feel guilty for something you had no control over," he whispered. "Like you said, had you been in your right mind you never would have doubted me," I kissed his lips gently as he embraced me once more. "I knew I made the right choice when I agreed to be your mate," I said. Hiei chuckled. "I wholeheartedly agree Fox," he said. I smiled as I placed my arms around him and closed my eyes. Hiei settled against me, with his arms still around me. I drifted off to sleep with the scent of pine trees and my mate's warmth surrounding me, reassuring me that I was not alone, that I was protected, that I was loved and in return returning that reassurance with my own warmth and sent.
I didn't awaken again until I felt Hiei shifting against me. Although wanted to cuddle him against me a little longer I let him go. The soft knocking at a door got my attention and I realized that my mate was getting up to answer it. The sent of food wafted into the air as the door was opened. "We brought breakfast," Ryou said, "Should we have waited a little longer?" "No," Hiei said warmly, "We were just waking up," "We didn't keep you awake last night did we?" I asked as I climbed out of bed and threw on my robe. Kenji raised a delicate dark eyebrow as he entered behind his twin with a second tray. His gaze shifted from his father to me and then back again. He shook his head. "I didn't hear a thing," he finally answered. "…but I get the feeling I don't want to know why you're asking," Ryou laughed.
"I take it you got your memory back," he said as they set the trays onto the table. "Yes, thanks to your father," I replied. Hiei had vanished in the momentary distraction and was standing out on the balcony. My sons and I sat down at the table and began our breakfast as I relayed the what had happened.
"Amazing," Ryou breathed. "You actually acquired two new tails at the same time? " I nodded. "Few of our kind have ever achieved such a feat," he said with awe. "It explains a lot," Kenji commented. "Yes, I passed out at Yusuke's palace when my spirit energy rose too fast for me to control. My body naturally sought to release it in self defense," I agreed. "It also explains why it took so long for me to regain the use of my spirit energy as well. My body needed time to adapt to my growing spirit energy," "I'm just glad you're back to normal," Kenji said. "It was quite disturbing seeing you so weak," "It was even more so when he didn't remember us," Ryou added. "Where is the temptress who cast that spell on you anyway?"
"Gone," Hiei stated as he entered the room from the balcony. "Good," Ryou said. "Hopefully it will be the last we see of her," Kenji made a murmur of agreement as he polished off the last of his breakfast. "Let's get packed and check out the shops," he said to his twin. " We should find something good for Yumi and Sakura," I raised an eyebrow at this bit of information. "Sakura I know of, but who is Yumi?" I asked. Kenji smirked. "Ryou's girlfriend," he said. Ryou's cheeks turned an interesting shade of red. "She's not my girlfriend," he responded. "Not yet, you mean," Kenji said. "All you have to do is ask her out. She's practically begging you to with the way she looks at you," His grin widened as his brother's cheeks turned even redder. "Ryou, you're sooooo good with a sword. Could you teach me?" Kenji teased in a high pitched voice as he clasped his hands together and batted his long eyelashes at his twin.
In a flash of sliver, Ryou leapt from his seat and tackled Kenji to the floor. They tumbled forward in a blur of silver and black, coming to a stop with Ryou straddling his brother's waist, tickling his elder twin mercilessly. "Enough, you two," Hiei said. "Go on and get packed, we leave first thing in the morning," Ryou released his brother from his torture and stood, then extended a hand to help him up. Kenji took his twin's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "Can we have some money for the shops Dad?" Ryou asked. Hiei untied the money pouch on his belt and tossed it to our silver haired son. "Don't spend it all," he warned. "We won't," Kenji responded as they turned to head back into their adjoining room. Each twin kissed my cheek as they passed by, before vanishing into their room and closing the door behind them.
Gently, I took my mate's hand in mine. Hiei closed the distance between us and without a word climbed into my lap. I placed my arms around him, drawing him closer to my body. Tentatively, I brushed my lips against his. He captured my lips with his in a tender kiss as he placed his arms around my neck. "Why so shy Fox?" he asked once we had broken the kiss. "Not shy love," I assured him "…just distracted," Hiei's gaze became inquisitive and I smiled. "I was just thinking it would be nice to renew our vows, in another two years we'll have been married twenty years," "…and you wish to do it then?" Hiei asked. "Yes," I answered. "…I want to have another ceremony like when we were first married," "Fine with me," he agreed. I smiled and gave him a swift kiss on his lips. Not satisfied, he deepened the kiss. I let loose a soft moan as he released my lips and gently trailed kisses down my neck. "Why don't we go back to bed?" he suggested, then lightly nipped my throat with his teeth, earning him another moan.
I could feel heat radiating off him, as well as the desire building within him. He slowly ran one hand over my chest underneath the thin clothing I wore, teasing my sensitive flesh. All coherent though was slowly fading as I fell into a pleasure induced haze. The spell was broken however when I realized that his hands were warmer than usual. He abandoned his teasing caresses momentarily to cup my cheek, gaining my undivided attention. "Something wrong?" he asked. I placed the back of my hand to his forehead, my eyes widened slightly at how warm he felt. "You're burning up," I said softly. "Then shouldn't you put me to bed?" he murmured, "…or must I persuade you to do so?" he continued, his voice taking on the deep husky tone that sent shivers up my spine. He brushed his body against mine, creating a delightful friction that sent pleasure resounding though me, making me moan once again. Hiei captured my lips in a hungry kiss.
"We're gone!" Kenji exclaimed from the room he shared with his twin, startling me. Unknowingly, I released my grasp on my mate and turned my head toward the sound. "Have fun," I called back. "Be back by lunchtime," Hiei untied the belt of my robe while I was distracted and was working on my nightshirt. "…better make that dinner," Hiei called as his hands wondered southward. I could hear both the twins chuckling in the other room. "Okay," Ryou called. "If the door's not open we'll have dinner with the uncles," "Fine," Hiei responded as he climbed out of my lap. As the door slammed shut next door Hiei claimed my lips with his, demanding my undivided attention. I closed my eyes and gave into the heated kiss. He tugged on the robe and I pulled my arms free of the sleeves. His hands grasped mine and tugged toward him.
I opened my eyes and stood, obeying the silent command, allowing him to lead me to the bed. As soon as I'd settled down upon the mattress he pounced upon me, covering my body with fevered kisses, nips and licks. At some point he'd managed to remove my nightshirt, but I'd been too lost in the sensations I was feeling to notice. "You're more aggressive than usual," I commented as I tugged the knot loose on the belt of his robe. As soon as it was loose he tossed it aside, revealing his well sculpted upper body. "Maybe I just find you harder to resist than usual," he replied as he leaned forward to flick his tongue over one of my nipples. Finally, my mind returned to life long enough for me to piece together the cause of my mate's behavior. "You've gone into heat haven't you?" I asked breathlessly as attacked my chest yet again with his searing kisses. He paused for a moment to consider the question. A feral smile graced his features as his eyes met mine. "So I have," he answered then removed the last of his clothing. "…and if my calculations are correct, it won't be long before you are too," I broke from his ruby gaze, licking my lips as my eyes swept over his unclothed form. He was right, I'd felt the first stirrings earlier. With his desire fueling my own it would be a matter of hours before we were both in full blown heat, with little thought of anything but mating on our minds. I hungrily leaned upward to taste his flesh, earning a moan as I teased him with my lips, tongue and teeth. As I gave in to the desire burning within me I couldn't help but think "The trip home should prove interesting,"
Author's Note:
Looks like no one guessed the show Velaska's spell came from. It was from the animated series "Gargoyles" the episode was "Temptation". Although in the episode when Demona cast the spell on Goliath he went into a zombie like state, that wouldn't have worked for this story.
Oh and a special thanks to angel of darkness flame for the info. Too bad I didn't know before I'd written the last chapter that he already had seven tails. Oh well, for the sake of the story he now has seven. And by the way Angel, i just saw that episode today. Got my new video from Suncoast this morning.
Thanks Sapphire Angel for pointing out that I spelled sequel wrong. Hopefully I've correted that mistake.