A/N: Well guys, this is it. I know this has been a long time coming, but we've finally reached the end. I feel like this chapter is mostly to wrap up loose ends, but the final scene is where I had been planning to go for a while now. As of right now, I don't have any ideas for an epilogue, but if there is any demand for one, I will see what I can do. Anyways, I am currently working on a Captain AmericaxOC fic, and hopefully I can start posting that soon, if anyone is interested. But for now, I will leave you to finish up Mambo! Please, please leave a review. I sincerely appreciate them and they really help me to continue writing. Thank you for sticking around with me. All of your views and reviews are appreciated and brighten my day immensely!

"Hiei, you don't have to – I…" Mai stuttered, flushing a brilliant red.

The fire apparition smirked and lifted a hand that felt vaguely like a block of lead, cupping her cheek. "After everything we've done and been through, that makes you blush?"

Ignoring his teasing, she took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. She met his gaze again, saying, "Hiei, you don't need to say it. I know that you do, and-"

He shook his head and said, "No, koi, I do. I thought I had died and all I could think of was that I had left you behind and had never once said it. You may not believe me still, but I sincerely do not deserve you as a mate, and should do everything in my power to try to be what you deserve. And not being open about that…"

Mai moved so she was lying next to her mate, careful not to jostle his still injured body. She nuzzled his neck affectionately. The fire demon let his eyes fall closed, exhaustion seeping through him before forcing them open again.

"You should go back to sleep. You really took a beating in that battle," Mai said softly.

"I will, as soon as I am done with this conversation," he promised. "I just want you to know the reason I never said it before now. Everyone I ever considered family has either left me or been separated from me. My mother, my sister, my bandit foster family… I think I was afraid that if I said it, then it would be real and we'd be our own little family. And I can't lose that again."

"You won't lose me," the blonde promised, looking up at him with wet moss colored eyes. "I couldn't bear it either. Trust me; I know now more than ever."

"You were fantastic in that battle," the fire demon mentioned, crimson eyes finally becoming too heavy to keep open.

"I don't know what came over me," she mumbled. "I have never felt so… primal before."

Hiei hummed his agreement before saying, "I was surprised at your… technique for taking out my wannabe killer."

The blonde gently placed a hand on her mate's chest, lost in thoughts that had been plaguing her on top of her worry since the battle.

"My mother told me why she wanted to kill me. The power that is passed down through my clan became dormant in me when we mated. And whoever were to kill me, though perhaps only if they were a member of the clan, would gain that power."

"Power can make a person do insane things," Hiei said sleepily.

"I know," she nodded. "But I think… I think I unlocked that power while fighting her."

Hiei smiled and turned his head to kiss her temple, though it ended up being more like bumping his jaw against the top of her head. "You'll have to tell me about it, koi. But perhaps… later?"

"Of course. Sleep, please. You need it."

"Agreed," the fire apparition managed to mutter before falling into a deep sleep.

"Shut up, you cretin," Hiei growled, finally tiring of his so-called friends' drunken teasing.

"It's true, Shrimp!" Kuwabara insisted.

Hiei sighed with annoyance, immensely regretting his decision to accept the idea of celebrating the end of the battle with his comrades and their women. He thought it would be the normal eating followed by someone getting into an argument and then the group would disband. But no. Alcohol was brought into this torturous group meeting and now he was subjected to their increased stupidity. The only positive outcome was that Mai had attached herself to him. They were sharing an armchair, which was made possible by the fact that she was curled up in his lap, one arm around his waist, the other draped over his shoulders, and her head resting against his chest as she occasionally burst into giggles. He had attempted to dull his annoyance with the burning liquid being passed around, but it seemed to only make him angrier faster.

"What's true?" Keiko asked, lifting her head from Yusuke's shoulder and blinking slowly.

"Those two would make like… the tiniest baby like… everrrr," Yusuke explained in a drawl.

"I mean, they're like… barely five feet averaged together right?" Kuwabara asked. "Their kids would be so itty bitty as babies…"

"Stop talking about it," the fire apparition warned.

Yusuke burst out laughing suddenly and through it, he managed to choke out, "Imagine Shorty as a dad!"

Hiei's eyebrow twitched and he came close to setting the former spirit detective aflame.

"I can imagine him now," Kuwabara chortled. "The baby would be crying and he'd be all like, 'Silence you incompetent!'"

"Guys, it's a moot point," Mai spoke up for the first time in quite a while. It surprised Hiei, for he had figured she'd fallen asleep. "I can't have kids so we won't ever know if the baby would be tiny or anything like that."

"I'm sorry, Mai," Keiko apologized, her lips pulling into a trembling frown. "Is it something with your health; are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It was one of the first steps to becoming a slave of Kazai's. You're of no use if you get pregnant, so he just… took out the key parts."

"Koi, don't think about it," he muttered, running his fingers through her hair.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," Keiko said again, her brown eyes growing wetter by the second. "You've been through so much and you're so young and you can't have babies and, and-!"

"It's okay, Keiko. I'm perfectly happy with where I am in my life."

"It's great being in love, hm?" the brunette mused, suddenly less close to tears.

"God, guys, I hate to be a mood killer, but I am close enough to vomiting without talking about this cheesy shit and reproduction," Reika moaned from her spot on the floor. Kurama merely muttered his agreement from the sofa. Who would've guessed the fox demon would be a lightweight?

"Fine, fine," Keiko muttered. "But first, I will say that I'm glad we're finally all happy."

There were halfhearted moans of annoyance at the sentiment, but Hiei found that he actually appreciated the human girl's words. He was finally happy.

Dinner with Mai's father had never felt so awkward. The fire apparition couldn't explain what it was; there was no prolonged silence, no blunders of speech, no disagreements or conflicts, and no one had done anything embarrassing. On the surface, it felt like a normal, happy gathering. In fact, Hiei was beginning to wonder if perhaps he was imagining the awkwardness, watching the hanyou and her father talk and laugh as usual over their food.

Finally, the conversation came to a lull, and his suspicions were confirmed when her father spoke. "You don't have to protect me, Mai. I know your mother is dead."

The blonde looked surprised for a moment, then ashamed. "Dad, I-"

He held up a hand to quiet her. She did, flushing pink with guilt. "I felt her presence leave when it happened. It's part of the bond of a mating, feeling that person's life energy. And Mai, you need not worry about me feeling angry or disappointed or resentful of you for any reason. Whether for not telling me or however her passing came to be… I just want to know what happened and if you are okay."

"Well… I suppose an abbreviated version of the story would be that mother had been out to kill me for quite a while. Since not long after I met Hiei, actually. So she sent a few guys after me, but, obviously, none of them were successful. So then, at some point, she must have teamed up with this guy whose entire clan was out to kill Hiei. Basically, we… discovered that this clan was preparing an attack and so we, using Hiei's connections in the Makai, prepared our own army to fight back with. The faceoff occurred about a week and a half ago and that's when we discovered that mother was linked into it all and that the previously unexplainable attacks could all be traced back to her because she wanted to take back the power of the royal clan of the wind which I had inherited upon my birth. And so, we fought. I won."

"Were you hurt at all?" her father asked, concern written over his face.

"No," she shook her head, still unable to meet his gaze.

"I'm thankful of that," he sighed, relieved. "Your mother changed when her clan put ideas into her head about you, and about her mating. I denied it for so long, and I apologize for all of the trouble and pain that caused you over the years."

Well, Hiei officially felt incredibly awkward now. Sensing this, Mai glanced at him then looked pointedly at her father. "Dad, it's alright. I understand the tough time you had and I wouldn't have wanted you to lose any of that image of mother as she was when times were good. But we can talk about this later. I think it's time to break out the ice cream."

Her father nodded, getting the hint. The blonde gathered their now empty plates and left to the kitchen. Hiei shifted in his seat, still a little uncomfortable. At least the strange dinner had provided a distraction from the thoughts that had been constantly turning over in his head.

"I'm sorry if that was strange for you to have to sit through," Mai's father mentioned.

"It's fine," the fire apparition shrugged it off, the aforementioned thoughts beginning to surface in his mind again.

"Something bothering you besides that then? Not that it is my place to pry," the older man added quickly.

"I've been thinking about something lately, yes."

"Call it fatherly intuition, but it involves my girl, doesn't it?"

"It does," the dark haired male nodded.

The two men sat in silence for several moments, eyes locked. After a few minutes, Mai's father grinned widely upon realizing what those thoughts were about.

"Well, I obviously approve, and I hope there's no apprehension or nerves in those thoughts of yours. There's no way she wouldn't accept."

Hiei would have responded, but a bowl of sweet snow was placed in front of him at that moment, announcing the arrival of his mate as well as providing another great distraction from those thoughts.

"Koi, you look amazing," Hiei complimented, a rarity for him, but her appearance was definitely worth breaking character for.

Mai smiled at him, taking one last look at her reflection in the mirror of their bedroom. She wore a dress with a tight black bodice which was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. The black fabric ended at the base of her rib cage, giving way to a mint colored high low skirt. She had added a thin, sparkly gold belt to emphasize her hourglass figure, which the fire demon appreciated immensely. The short front of the skirt fell a few inches above her knees, while the low back grazed the back of her calves about halfway to her ankles. Black peep toe heels allowed her a few more inches and made her legs look amazingly curvy. Her hair was pulled into a side pony tail, her thick waves tumbling over her shoulder. Gold hoops hung from her earlobes, matching the bracelet he had given her which hung from her wrist. Her makeup was simple, including only some eyeliner, mascara and lipstick. She looked the part of the natural beauty she was, and Hiei couldn't have felt luckier to be able to call her his mate.

For his part, Mai was doing plenty of ogling herself. He wore a black button up shirt, with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, emphasizing his muscular arms and broad shoulders perfectly. You could practically see his muscles moving beneath the shirt as he moved. Dark wash skinny jeans, black converse and a mint tie completed the look, and he looked like the hot bad boy she had only ever fantasized about falling in love with. Yet there he stood, sexy and perfect and hers for the keeping.

"Thank you," she smiled. "You look great, too."

He didn't seem to hear her words. Rather, he looked quite distracted.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked, her brows meeting out of confusion.

"Yeah," he nodded absently, but didn't move from his spot.

"Hiei, we're going to be late meeting up with the others at the club."

"I was just thinking," he muttered. Clearing his throat slightly, he continued, "Our relationship started, in part, because of dancing."

"Yes, I suppose it did," Mai allowed, her confusion growing.

"But metaphorically, too. We started out dancing around each other, too embarrassed of our pasts, when really we just needed each other. And then we were mated, and everything fell into place and we could work together, in sync like partners in some professional dance. Like a tango or a mambo or some other inane ningen word. And now we are going out to dance again like we have been since the beginning. It's… fitting."

"Where are you going with this, Hiei? Not that I don't appreciate the eerily accurate though sweet comparison…"

"I have told you before that I always intended to keep in mind your ties to the ningenkai, and I fear I keep forgetting about that intention. I know that tradition dictates that I should have some speech memorized to persuade you, but the fitting timing is what I have to offer you. Oh, and the offering of jewelry which is also customary."

"Hiei?"

"Mai, our mating means nothing in this world. Your world. I want our bond to be recognized in both of our worlds, so I was hoping we could make things official in the ningenkai as well by asking you… if you'll marry me?"

Her moss eyes widened as he slid a ring from his pocket, presenting it to her as he watched her face for her reaction. A huge smile slowly spread across her lips and she offered him her left hand.

"Of course I will, Hiei," she accepted as he slipped the ring onto her ring finger. It was a simple white gold band with a smoky diamond nestled between two smaller white ones. "I love you."

"I love you, too, koi," he said, slowly getting more comfortable with stating the sentiment aloud. "And I am happy you have accepted. Kurama explained that there are certain rights that come along with this ningen matrimony, and I want them."

Mai giggled. He was blunt as always. "I do too. This way, no matter which world we end up in, everyone will know that you are mine."

"And that you are mine."

Mai smiled softly again before their lips met in a tender kiss. His arms came around her waist as hers wound around his neck. They remained like that for several moments, sealing the deal.

Pulling apart, Hiei spoke up again. "I know that the ring is something that ningens assign meaning to, but it doesn't really have any significance to me, other than the fact that ningen men will know that you are taken. So I would like to present you with something that does hold sentimental value."

He withdrew from his back pocket a gold necklace chain from which dangled his mother's tearstone.

"Oh, Hiei, I couldn't! It's all you have from your mother, and I can't take that from you."

"I want you to have it. You are the only one I would want to have it."

Mai blinked back the moisture in her eyes and nodded. She lifted her hair off of her shoulder and turned around, allowing him to place the chain around her neck before clasping it there securely. The stone was surprisingly light and somehow felt like it was supposed to be there. The blonde turned back to her mate, whose lips were twitched up in a small smile.

"You were completely right with that analogy," she said softly. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she continued, "We did just dance around each other in the beginning. But I'm glad we've come to dance together. I don't think I could have asked for a more perfect partner."