Rain And Fire

Epilogue: Happiness At Last

--- --- ---

Youko stopped, looking skyward. Right on time. He glanced over at Kuronue, who was struggling to pull on his boots, and frowned. "Oi, baka, it took you long enough to get out here in time to come on the raid."

Kuronue gave him a lopsided grin, still hoping up and down on one foot. "Well, it took me a minute to get out of bed."

The kitsune rolled his eyes, obviously disgusted. "Kami-sama, what did I tell you about talking about that in front of me?"

"I don't see why it bothers you so much, Kurama." Kuronue replied, giving his boot one final tug.

"It bothers me so much because I don't like to hear about that sort of thing about my sister." Youko said, looking back out at the castle, which was their target.

"Sorry." Kuronue said. "So, is that the place?"

"Yeah, it is." Youko replied, slightly quieter. "It's supposed to have very heavy guard, but you and I should be able to handle it on our own. Bringing all of the others would have only slowed us down, and we don't want to be slowed down in a place like that."

"If Izumi was here, she'd be a lot of help, don't you think?" Kuronue asked.

The silver kitsune smirked. "Probably. Anyone who can teleport makes a good thief."

Kuronue grinned from ear to ear. "I'm sure she'd be good in bed, too."

Youko rolled his eyes. "Kami-sama, is that all you ever think about?"

"Of course, you should know that by now." The bat put his hands behind his head. "Well, let's get going before they notice us two chattering over here."

"Right." Youko replied. He and his friend dashed down the hillside, towards their target.

--- --- ---

Huo stumbled, stopping to glare at the offending root that had done it. He turned and kept walking towards the hut (which the owner of the territory, Kouga the Wolf Prince, had allowed them to keep as their own), pushing open the door and stooping to pull off his mud-covered boots. He knew his mate would be quite upset to see him drag mud into the house, so he made sure not to let them touch the floor, but rather the mat at the entrance.

He tiptoed into the kitchen, where he saw his mate fixing dinner. A slow grin spread across his face as he snuck up behind her.

He snaked his arms around her waist, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned and glared at him, and he grinned again.

"Hello, koishii." He leaned forward and kissed her nose, and she frowned.

"Baka, you shouldn't scare me like that! Do you want me to go into labor before I'm supposed to?" She tried to look angry, but found she couldn't with the way he was pouting.

"I'm sorry, Rydia, I didn't mean to scare you like that."

She sighed, but then smiled. "Oh, it's all right, Huo."

He smiled as well, and pulled away, looking at her stomach. "So, how is Huo Junior doing, eh?"

She rolled her eyes. "I told you already, Huo! It's going to be a girl, not a boy. She can't be Huo Junior."

He pouted again. "Come on, let me wish that she'll just suddenly turn into a boy. I always thought a son would be nice to have."

"You'll just have to settle for a girl, then."

"I guess I can teach a girl martial arts and fighting skills." Huo said, a playful tone to his voice. He placed his hand on her stomach, and grinned. "I felt her kick."

"I feel her kick all the time." Rydia said, turning back to dinner. "Now, please go take those muddy boots out of my house."

He opened his mouth to ask how she had known his boots were muddy, and she cut him off. "You seem to forget I'm a seer, Huo."

He chuckled. "Of course, I'm sorry."

He turned and went back to the door, grabbing his boots and walking back outside. He set them down, and looked back up at the sky with a content sigh.

"This time things will work out," he whispered, mostly to himself. "I'll make sure they do."

--- --- ---

Sesshoumaru looked up at Rin as she entered the room. She offered him a quick smile before sitting across from him at the table.

"I'm sorry I'm late. Jaken-sama wanted me to help clean up a mess that he made when he knocked over a vase."

The lord nodded, and he picked up his chopsticks once more, continuing to eat as Rin served herself. He allowed himself to take in her appearance once more. Two years had turned her from a girl, to a beautiful woman, and the Lady of his estate. Not mates yet, because he hadn't felt that she'd been prepared for that sort of thing, but close enough to call her that when introducing her to others.

She seemed to notice his gaze, and stopped, holding her food halfway to her mouth. "Is there something on my face?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing."

"All right." She took a bite of her food, and chewed silently, staring at the table.

"Are you all right? You're awfully quiet." Sesshoumaru said, setting down his chopsticks.

She swallowed, and sighed. "Well, it's been a while since I've gotten word from my sister, so I'm a bit worried. They said they were going to a really dangerous part up north..."

Sesshoumaru chuckled. "Rin, Hiei would never let anything happen to your sister. You should know that by now."

"I suppose..." she replied quietly, stirring her food absentmindedly.

"He loves her too much to let her get hurt, and he's pretty strong, so he can defend himself and her quite well. And she's not entirely defenseless either."

She smiled. "You're right."

"Go on and eat, Rin. You'll need it, if you want to be able to travel with me tomorrow."

She grinned, the action making her look like a child. "Okay!"

--- --- ---

Rain ran hard, her lungs and body aching with each agonizing step. She couldn't let herself be caught! The three feet of snow on the ground wasn't exactly helping her run any faster, and the cold air bit at any exposed skin.

She came to a sudden stop right at the top of a hill, waving her arms in circles to try to regain her balance.

Suddenly, someone tackled her from behind, and the two went rolling down the hill, landing with a soft thud in the mountain of snow at the base of said hill.

She sat up, coughing from the ache in her chest. Then, she started laughing, looking down at the demon sprawled over her.

He narrowed his crimson eyes, and sat up as well, brushing the snow from the top of his hair. "That wasn't funny, you know."

She laughed harder, doubling over. She looked up at him, her eyes watering up, and then quieted herself down to mere giggles.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." She said between laughs.

He snorted. "You're right, you shouldn't have. Now give me back my sword, Rain."

She smirked. "Oh, you going to make me, Hiei?"

"I will, if that's a challenge." He replied.

She burst into giggles again, and pulled his katana out from under her, where it had landed when they fell. "You can have it back on one condition."

"Oh?" He uncrossed his arms and looked at her warily. "I'm not going to make a fool out of myself, so don't bother asking me to."

She smiled. "What made you think I'd ask you to sing again? I just want a kiss for it."

He smirked. "Now that's something I don't mind doing."

He leaned forward and kissed her, and she started laughing again, which made him pull away and frown.

"What's so funny?"

She handed him his katana, shaking her head. "I was just thinking that two years ago, you would have told me to kiss your ass if I asked you to do something like that. Now you don't mind kissing me at all."

He rolled his eyes. "You really are strange, Rain."

She threw her arms around his neck and smirked. "Well, that's why you love me, right?"

He smirked back. "Exactly."

He kissed her again, and this time, she didn't interrupt it by laughing. She broke away, and smiled.

"I love you, Hiei."

"I love you, too, Rain."

--- --- ---

Author's Notes: Waaaaaah! That's it for this story! All done! Finito! I'm sorry if Hiei seemed OOC, but......uh.......TOO BAD!! Also, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but this is the best I could come up with with my writer's block, so be appreciative that I actually posted something sometime this year.

Okies, here's who won the favorite character contest! Rain! Second place was Huo, and third place was tied between Izumi and Hiei. I liked Huo the best huggles Huo until he turns blue because he's my wittle baby!! And mommy wuvs her wittle baby!! LOL. I'm just kidding, don't mind me. I liked him, and I'm glad he was among the top three characters...Rain beat him out by one vote. ONE VOTE!! Alright, I'll shut up now.

I'm going to go ahead and put together a mailing list for those interested in the Shards of Shadowed Darkness story (the summary is in the previous chapter). So, if you want to know when I've posted it, tell me SPECIFICALLY in your review that you want to be part of the mailing list. Also, I'm putting together a preview page, like a little teaser of the story, so you can get a better idea about what it's all about. www . geocities . com / kitsuneinabubble


Tears of a Dragon: Well, you can read Huo's story, and I'm CONSIDERING doing a sequel, but it's just talk right now.

pyro22: Thanks! Glad you like it!

Wolf-black-flame: If you want to be part of the mailing list, go ahead and say so in your review, and I'll tell you the second I post it! I'm glad you're excited about it, because I'm ecstatic!!

HieiFan666: I have an idea of what I could do for a sequel, but whether or not I'll do one is debatable. I'll consider it, and I'll tell you when I decide. Also keep in mind that if I do write a sequel, it won't be posted until I finish Houki no Majo, and I've gotten more work done with New Generation and Shards of Shadowed Darkness (and judging from your name, I'll assume you love Hiei, and that story will also center mostly around him and his little love interest).

Icebreacker: Sorry, no lemons. I don't do lemon.......I hope the kiss scene was okay.......I thought it sucked......I'm sorry!

kagomewannabe-2008: That you'll find out about in his story, which will be called "Horse Thief", though I'm probably gonna change that, because it sounds funny...

Chibi Lady: I'm glad you're happy that they finally kissed...LOL.

Kaze tsukai: KAZE-CHAN!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!! How's school going? How are you?? Is Jin still yours?? LOL.

TPM-girl: I should post that pretty soon, when I get more free time!

Coodle: I would have made it more cute, but then Hiei would have been a little TOO OOC.......which I didn't want. And yes, Shards of Shadowed Darkness should have more love in it. LOL.

miyako14: Do you want me to add you to the mailing list?

FieryKitsune: I love Huo!!!!

slave2anime: I like Izumi too!

Story Weaver1: Die-hard romantics unite!! LOL. Shards of Shadowed Darkness is going to be a pretty good romance, with LOVE TRIANGLES!! MWAHAHAAA!! I'm experimenting with them, and I've got AT LEAST three for that story planned out already.........WOOHOO!!