Kyla: All right, a reviewer brought to my attention something at the very end of the chapter... I was working simultaneously on another story that I cowrite with two of my friends, so Takara is the OC that ends up with Kurama in the cowritten stories The Slyest Thieves and Deviously Diverted, so sorry for any confusion.. '' This is edited for that error now, haha.
The Return of a Legend
Chapter Twenty One
Overcoming Jealousy
By
Kyla
Hiei walked through the temple in search of Danielle. He looked until he found her with Kurama, Amanda, and Laertes, of course, in the den watching a movie. The fire demon walked over without a word and perched himself beside his girlfriend, drawing her into his arms.
"Hey, Hiei," Danielle smiled up at him and snuggled into his arms. "I talked to Koenma about quitting that pub... Since we have a suspect now," she whispered to him so as not to disturb the others from the movie.
"Good, maybe now you can get some sleep," Hiei scowled in concern. "We should go on to bed," he added softly, "you need as much rest as possible if you're going to be traveling through dimensions in a few days."
"I know," she murmured and tucked her face into the crook of his neck. "All right.. let's go..." Then, in a louder voice, she sat up and pulled out of Hiei's embrace as the two stood up. "Well, Hiei and I are headed off to bed."
"Would you two mind," Hiei asked awkwardly, surprising both Amanda and Kurama, "... watching Laertes? I need some time alone with Danielle..." He looked away with a glare and slammed his hands deep into his pockets. He felt encouraged when the dimensional kitsune hooked her arm with his and smiled brightly at him.
"Sure," Kurama answered with a small smile. "Go on, we can take care of Laertes, no problem, right?" he asked Amanda, who nodded and shooed Danielle and Hiei off with a usher of "yeah, go rest!"
"Thanks, guys," Danielle replied and bent down to lightly dust a kiss over Laertes forehead. "Good night, Laertes," she murmured to the boy.
"Night, Danielle," the little boy chirped and hugged his small arms around her neck.
Hiei hmph'ed from the door, waiting on the kitsune to get through so they could go to bed. "Finally," he sighed to himself when he saw the girl approach him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and steered her from the room, nuzzling her nose and whispering, "It's about time."
"Hiei?" Danielle asked when they were out of the room, "You're not jealous of Laertes, are you?" She did not want Hiei to feel left out or ignored. Laertes was going home soon anyway. The kitsune leaned further into his embrace when she felt him tense up. "Don't get defensive," she said calmly and kissed his cheek, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean for you to get jealous. I'm just protective of Laertes, I don't know... it's weird, but I just couldn't help it. He's a sweetheart, sort of like you," she giggled, "Don't be mad, okay?"
"I can't be mad at you," Hiei sighed and pinched his nose. "I understand, but still we're not having kids for a good few years!" he exclaimed randomly as they made it to his room. He slammed his door shut and pinned Danielle to it, kissing her so deep and long that she saw stars.
"M, Hiei," she muttered against his lips, "what's the matter?"
"You're mine, onna," Hiei stated desperately and drew her into another kiss. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and moved them over to the futon in his room. The kitsune felt herself being steadily and gently lowered to the floor. She let out a gasp when Hiei began kissing at her neck, sometimes nipping or sucking here or there. "Mine," he said again quietly and rubbed her sides sensually.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Danielle giggled, "I'm yours, I get it... You go much farther though, and we may be having kids soon." She smiled up at Hiei teasingly, immediately stopping the fire demon's hands as they wandered down to the edge of her shirt. He had pulled it up a few inches and would have gone farther if the dimensional kitsune hadn't spoken up. "I'm sorry," he apologized and rolled off her, his back facing towards her in a rather cold fashion.
"No," Danielle said urgently and pulled on Hiei's shoulder. She needed him to look at her, "don't be sorry. I'm just saying... we can do some things, but you have to learn to control yourself."
"But what if I can't?" Hiei asked, and the tone of his voice sent a chill down Danielle's spine. "What if, one day, I get so jealous of something stupid that I snap and force you? I would never forgive myself..." He clenched his eyes shut tight at the thought of hurting Danielle like that.
"But you won't," Danielle assured him, gently massaging his shoulders in comfort. "You always stop when I tell you to," she whispered into his ear, "you love me... I know you would never purposefully hurt me, and I'll never purposefully hurt you. Just relax... don't worry about it. Come on, roll back over," she urged and begged until the fire demon finally gave in. She grinned and kissed the tip of his nose. "It'll be fine," she said again, as if settling the conversation.
Hiei chuckled and gathered the kitsune into his arms. "I love you," he murmured into her long hair.
"I love you too," Danielle yawned and settled in for a good night's sleep. "G'night, Hiei..."
"Good night," Hiei replied gently and listened intently until he heard her breathing even out. He threaded his fingers steadily through her hair. Sleep did not want to claim the fire demon, so he contented himself with admiring Danielle's slumbering face. He traced her lips and cupped her cheek numerous times. He petted her hair for another hour before he finally fell asleep himself.
The next morning when the fire demon woke, Danielle was humming softly to herself, stroking the hairs on the back of his neck. The tune she hummed was not one that he recognized, but he loved listening to it. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to pretend to be asleep for a little longer.
Soon, however, resentment and jealousy began to bubble up inside the short demon when he heard the door open. His nose caught the scent of an elf child wandering into the room, and he had to bite back a growl. The fingers continued to stroke his hair, despite the interruption, so he willed himself to relax, not showing any sign that he was awake.
"Did you need something, Laertes?" Danielle asked quietly, her voice drifting over Hiei and to the little boy.
"I had a bad dream," Laertes murmured, trying to swallow the sniffles he had. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and he clutched his little fists tightly in the fabric of the borrowed, too-big t-shirt.
"Oh," Danielle said softly. She felt torn. Hiei had been feeling ignored, but then again, she couldn't just drop the boy either. Both of them trusted her. She was at a loss and did not know what to do.
"Then, come over here and tell Danielle about it," Hiei said suddenly. He sat up and wiped at his face in an attempt to remove any sign of sleep. He gave the boy a light scowl and nodded to Danielle. He knew she was torn between the two of them, and he was not going to resent her for wanting to help the boy. He was a long way from home, after all, so the fire demon decided he could survive until Laertes was taken home.
Danielle thanked Hiei with her eyes, the bright smile on her face telling him that she would make it up to him. "Yeah," she crooned at Laertes and opened her arms, "come here and tell me all about it." She cuddled the boy closely when the little elf raced into her embrace. Tears broke free, and more sniffles were soon followed by muttered words of distress. The dimensional kitsune hushed and comforted the little boy, and the whole time, Hiei could not take his eyes off the scene.
Danielle is really good with kids, Hiei idly thought. A small smile wormed its way onto his face while he fondly watched her. He told himself again that he was lucky to have her. He was proud she was his, and he was going to be sure no one else stole her away from him. She was not his possession, but he did feel very protective of her, and he hoped that she could tell the difference between treating her as a thing and treating her as a loved one.
"Do you feel better now, squirt?" Hiei smirked at the small elf when Danielle and Laertes began giggling.
Laertes nodded his head vigorously and smiled toothily up at Hiei. "Everyone here's so nice," he said, "thank you so much!" His statement was spoke to both demons, and he gave Danielle a big hug. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he crawled over to Hiei and snaked his small arms around Hiei's neck in a hug.
To say Hiei was surprised was an understatement, and he sat shocked, unsure what to do. Apprehension and annoyance were his next feelings as the boy did not let go as quickly as he had Danielle. The fire demon asked Danielle without words what was going on, and she mouthed at him to hug the little boy back, even going so far as to glare at him when he made a face. He ended up caving in. The boy giddily tightened his hug in response to Hiei's own arms wrapping around the little elf.
Now that he had gotten what he had wanted, Laertes released Hiei from the hug and stepped back. "I'm hungry... can we go get some breakfast?" he asked, looking from Hiei to Danielle.
"Sure," Danielle grinned and stood up. She held out her hand for Laertes to take it, swinging both hers and his arm when he did. "You coming, Hiei?" she asked, gaze settling on the fire demon sitting Indian-style upon the futon.
"Hn," Hiei replied and stood up. He nodded for her to go on ahead and then trailed after her when she and Laertes left the room in search of breakfast. Words fell from his mouth rarely because he was much more content to sit and admire Danielle and the way she was handling Laertes. She was stern when he raced ahead and knocked lightly into Yukina, making the boy apologize, but she was also kind and caring, ruffling the boy's hair and helping him into her lap to eat.
"Hiei?" Danielle asked a few hours later, "Would you mind watching Laertes while I go meet Rumiko?" She looked to the fire demon, the elf child in her arms and settled on her hip.
"I'm not letting you go alone," Hiei snapped testily, eyes narrowed in warning.
A sigh fell from the dimensional kitsune's lips. "All right, I'll go ask Amanda agian," she murmured and turned around. She left the living room and began looking for her best friend. She wandered into the kitchen and found Amanda sitting there with a cup of hot chocolate, looking thoughtful. "Amanda?" Danielle asked and sat in the chair beside her friend.
"Oh, Danielle," Amanda replied, eyes losing their pondering glaze, and looked to the kitsune. "Did you need something?" she asked and forced a smile.
"Yeah, but you first," Danielle said, knowing something was bothering the wolf demoness. She released Laertes and told him, "Go hang out with Hiei for a few minutes, okay? Tell him Amanda and me are talking." With a nod, Laertes obediently ran off, leaving Danielle and Amanda alone. "Okay, go ahead," the dimensional kitsune prompted.
"What do you mean?"
Danielle rolled her eyes and said, "I know something's up, so let's hear it!"
Amanda tried to tell her friend that nothing was wrong, that everything was just fine, but the kitsune did not waver, adamantly prying and prodding the wolf demoness for answers. "Okay," came the defeated reply once Danielle had worn the other girl down enough, "okay... the thing is... I... I like Kurama... Really like him..."
"That's great!"
Amanda gaped at Danielle and exclaimed, "No! Not great! Very bad! He's a jerk! I can't like him!"
"Why not?"
"Because he... he's...! He's just," Amanda spluttered, unable to form the words she wanted to say. Heck, she didn't even know what she wanted to say. "What if he doesn't like me back?" she asked finally, her voice meek and quiet.
"That's stupid," Danielle scoffed, "why would he not like you? Besides, I happen to know for a fact that he does like you!" She smirked at the shocked expression that morphed on the other's face. "Mhm, he does! So, you should tell him!"
"I'm not going to tell him!"
A sigh. "Why not?"
"Because it's the guy that should do the work! He should tell me he likes me! He should ask me out or something!"
"What's the big idea of sending me the elf, onna?" Hiei asked from the doorway, face scrunched up in a scowl of annoyance. Attached to the fire demon's leg was none other than Laertes, giggling and holding tight to Hiei's pant leg so he would not fall off as the short-tempered demon moved around.
"I'm having a private conversation with Amanda," Danielle said coolly, not liking being interrupted, "now shoo! We're right in the middle of something! Go on, shoo!" She stood up and made shooing motions at her boyfriend as she walked closer to the doorway. "Just give us a few minutes, okay?" she asked this time, begging him with her eyes.
Hiei squirmed under the puppy-dog stare. He could never resist that look, so he was forced to give in. "All right," he sighed, "come on, squirt, let's leave the women to their talk." With that, he limped back out of sight, Laertes squealing happily from his place clutching to the fire demon's leg.
Danielle and Amanda laughed while the dimensional kitsune closed the kitchen door. She resumed her seat at the table and looked to Amanda. "All right, so he has to make the first move, in other words?" she asked. At the nod she received, she sighed, "You do realize he has been making moves on you for a while now... Most of the time when I see you or him, he's with you, talking about something or another."
Amanda had the grace to blush and focus her gaze upon the tabletop at that comment. "Yeah, I know... but if he'll make just one more move, I would act this time... I've just been.. cautious."
"Oh... well, if that's the case, then... I doubt Kurama's given up yet, so no worries."
"Give up what?" Kurama asked as he opened the door to the kitchen and stepped in. He had only caught Danielle's comment and had no idea what the two were talking about. The redhead became even more confused when Amanda blushed a bright red and kept her gaze staring at the table. Furthermore, when Danielle—Danielle—had the gumption to glare at him, an eyebrow rose delicately in silent curiosity. "What were you two talking about?" he asked conversationally.
"What did you hear?" Danielle asked in retaliation.
"I only heard you saying something about me not giving up yet," Kurama said, and the dimensional kitsune could see that he was being sincere. He watched suspiciously as Danielle leaned down to whisper something in Amanda's ear, but he forced himself not to pry. "All right... I just came in to get some tea," he said conversationally and set about making tea. "Do either of you want some?" he asked and set the kettle down on the eye of the stove.
"Sure, I'll take some," Amanda answered somewhat stiffly, but the smile on her face was genuine.
"Sorry, I can't... I need to go meet Rumiko," Danielle said, "which reminds me... Would either or both of you mind watching Laertes? Hiei isn't going to let me go by myself, so..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked from Amanda to Kurama.
"I can watch him," Kurama said and directed a brotherly smile over to Danielle. Then, he anxiously flicked his gaze to Amanda and cleared his throat, "would you want to help me watch him?" he asked the wolf demoness, "he can be quite a handful on one's own..."
Danielle's face lit up, as did Amanda's, and the wolf demoness replied, "Yeah, sure, that'd be great."
Relief flooded through the redhead, and he smiled that charming smile of his. "Good," he said brightly.
"All right," Danielle giggled, "I'll go get him now... I left him with Hiei, so maybe he's not burnt to a crisp yet..." She was only joking, but she still hurried from the room, not wanting to force the fire demon to watch Laertes any more than he had to. When she found him, she was surprised by what scene sat before her in the living room.
Hiei had Laertes cuddled up into his lap, his small head propped on the fire demon's shoulder. Not only that, but the little elf was asleep, snoring lightly while the demon he sat with hummed softly, fingers carding through the elven blond locks of hair.
Danielle couldn't hold back the smile that spread across her face. She tip-toed over and leaned against the back of the couch that the pair sat on. "How come you never hum for me?" she asked quietly, her breath tickling at Hiei's demon ear.
Hiei immediately stiffened. The humming ceased, as did the dancing fingers in the little boy's hair. "Danielle," he gasped, then with a sigh, allowed himself to relax. "You startled me," he accused in a near-whisper and continued playing with the elf's hair.
"And you didn't answer the question."
Hiei rolled his eyes and craned his neck back so that he could meet his kitsune's gaze. "You never asked," he stated.
"Oh, did Laertes ask you?" Danielle asked surprised.
"No, he didn't feel good. The brat had a stomach ache because someone let him have too much ice cream earlier," he said with an accusing scowl at Danielle. When the kitsune looked ready to say something in reply, he plowed on, "So I let him sit in my lap and tried to copy some of what I've seen you do before... and... I remembered what it felt like this morning to wake up to you humming, so I thought that maybe I could copy it and it would help the elf calm down."
"Looks like it worked," Danielle said in a tone of voice just above a whisper. Peace and contentment flooded through her, and she smiled sweetly at Hiei and leaned forward to place a gently kiss on his lips. "I love you," she said dreamily.
Hiei gave her a fanged grin and replied, "I love you too, onna."
"So, you ready to go? Amanda and Kurama said that they would watch Laertes until we got back," the dimensional kitsune said after a few moments of silence.
Hiei nodded and carefully stood up, maneuvering the little elf until he was adjusted sufficiently enough so that the fire demon could walk to the kitchen and cautiously hand him over to Amanda without waking the boy up. The short demon then looked to Danielle and nodded as a sign that he was ready to leave. Then, he and Danielle departed, leaving Amanda and Kurama to watch the young child.
Kyla: Okay, problem is fixed!