• AN: Hey, minna-san!! This is Quatre. This is my first posting, so be nice!! I don't like flamers. ) I wrote this a while ago, and decided that it needed to reach the public. The kids are my own creation. Let me know if you like it, and I might write a sequel!!

    Enjoy!!

    (I can't find a reason... to let go...)

    Kurama sat on the empty king bed in the room that he had shared with his mate. It seemed hollow, now that Hiei was gone. The pictures on the dresser had been placed face down; the thick black curtains drawn across the windows.

    The closet was half empty without Hiei's things; he couldn't bring himself to fill it. It still smelled like him: the oddly comforting combination of pine and charcoal still lingered in the air.

    (Even though you've found a new love/ And she's what you're dreams are made of...)

    A wedding ring sat on top of Hiei's last letter from Alaric. The tiny youkai messenger had been instructed not to bring the reply. So Kurama was forced to sit and think about what to do next.

    Apparently, Hiei had rediscovered a love interest in Mukuro. He wrote that he was breaking off the mating bond he had with Kurama. Then he would mate Mukuro and become Alaric's ruler.

    (I can find a reason... to hang on...)

    Kurama wasn't ready to believe that it was really over. He still prayed that Hiei would come in through the window and apologize, saying that he'd made a mistake.

    (What went wrong can be forgiven/ Without you it ain't worth living alone...)

    But now the window had been shut and locked for the first time in years... He buried his head in his hands; he could not cry, for he had no more tears to shed. if Hiei didn't come back, what would he do? Sure, he'd lived alone for years before he's met Hiei, but he was different now, changed. 'Especially now...' Kurama thought.

    He stood up with a groan and placed a hand on his swollen stomach. The letter had come a month ago, and Kurama had found out that he was pregnant again two weeks before that. So he was halfway through his second month, now, with only six weeks to go...

    Kurama left the dark bedroom and made his way down the hall to a pair of small rooms near the stairs. Shuffling came from the first. He smiled a little to himself and opened the door.

    "Papa!!" Two small voices greeted his entrance. His smile dimmed for a second before it brightened again; a mask created to hide the pain. The door closed behind him, obscuring him and the owners of the voices from view.

    Kurama-

    I am writing to inform you that I will not be returning to Nigenkai. I apologise for the pain this information will cause you; however, I will not pretend to be sorry for what has happened.

    I will be breaking off our mating bond, for I have reason to believe that I have fallen in love with Mukuro. After tonight, you will not see me except for business matters. I will become Mukuro's mate and the ruler of Alaric. You will find your Ningen ring enclosed.

    Hiei

    AN: Here's Chapter 2!! Hope you like!! By the way, this story is finished. I'm just splitting it up into multiple chapters.

    Enjoy, please!!

    (Sometimes I wake up crying at night/ And sometimes I scream out your name)

    "Hiei!"

    Kurama bolted upright in the futon, tears streaming down his pale face. His shoulders shook as he sobbed.

    He didn't understand! Hiei and Kurama had been together for nearly ten years. How could Mukuro destroy that?

    (What right does she have to take you away/ When for so long, you were mine?)

    He got up, drying his tears, and went to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a box. Sitting back down on the bed, he took off the lid and gazed at the contents.

    (Took out all the pictures of out wedding day...)

    The stack of pictures was almost half an inch thick. There were a few snapshots of the Reikai Tantei on top, from when they finished their last mission together eleven years ago.

    (It was a time of love and laughter; happy ever after)

    Then there were pictures from their weddings: Yusuke and Keiko, Kuwabara and Yukina, and Hiei and Kurama. There were more of Hiei and Kurama than anyone else. This was understandable.

    They had courted for a year before becoming mates. Almost exactly a year after that, Hiei proposed a ningen wedding. By then, Hiei was about Kurama's height; he and Yukina had hit their final puberty.

    It was a traditional Japanese ceremony, with Koenma as the serving priest. There were plenty of pictures from it. These were on the bottom of the stack.

    (But even those old pictures have begun to fade)

    The photos were a little faded from sitting in the sun for so long after being taken. They were in formal clothing: Hiei wore hakama and gi, while Kurama was in a full-lenght men's kimono. It was a bit strange, with Yusuke wearing his everyday clothes and Kuwabara in a tailored suit. Keiko, Boton and Yukina all wore pastel blue, green, and pink kimono. Still, that was just who they were.

    (Please tell me she's not real, And that you're really coming home to stay)

    All that Kurama wanted was for his mate to come home. A thought struck him. What if it had been an impostor? What if Hiei had been captured, but really would come home?

    No, he thought. The letter had carried Hiei's demonic signature. There was no way to replicate it.

    (Sometimes I wake up crying at night/ And sometimes I scream out you name)

    How many more times would he wake up crying and calling out Hiei's name? How many more times would he thank Inari that the walls of his bedroom were soundproof?

    AN: Last chapter, minna!! Let me know if I should write a sequel!! It's up to you, now!!

    Hope you liked it!!

    (I can give you two good reasons/ To show you love's not blind)

    He didn't want to show them how broken he was, now that Hiei was gone. He had to stay strong for his children. If Hiei never came back, they had to know that everything would be okay.

    (He's two and she's four and you know they adore you/ So how can I tell them you changed your mind?)

    Aiko, their baby girl, was a perfect combination of the two of them. She had red hair with black streaks, Hiei's blood red eyes, and Youko's silver ears and tail, which had black tips. Eieko was their two year old son. He was a hi-youkai like his father, with Hiei's black, spiky hair, and a silver star burst in the bangs. he also had red eyes with green flecks that brown and natural gold Jagan.

    Hiei had loved their children almost as much as he had loved Kurama. 'If nothing else,' Kurama thought, 'he should come and visit his children.'

    Kurama left the large bedroom and went downstairs. It was now dark outside. Ningenkai had such short days, he mused. Hiei was supposed to be getting a home ready for them in Makai. Oh, to see the skies of his birthplace again. His babies wouldn't get human forms until they were about ten, so Ningenkai was dangerous for them.

    One hand on the bulge where his third child rested, Kurama made his was outside to where his beautiful garden had been planted. He settled on a carefully carved stone bench in the center.

    (Sometimes I wake up crying at night/ And sometimes I scream out your name)

    Tears ran down his face in silence. Kurama didn't know how many he had left, he'd cried so much in the past month. He'd never felt so empty, so alone, before this moment. Not even in Youko's memories, when Kuronue had died. Was he destined to spend his lifetimes in pain?

    (What right does she have to take you away/ When for so long you were mine?)

    The moon, tsuki, shone her gentle silver rays on him. The night was as dark as his Hiei's hair, his favored clothes. Ribbons of moonlight formed into the white scarf his mate had always worn. Would he forever be haunted? Followed by reminders of the one he had loved, still did love, who he thought had loved him?

    (I remember when you were mine...)

    Kurama looked up at tsuki, taking comfort in her gentle, kind face, and wondered if his mate would ever look at him in such a way again.

    Fin.

    AN: That's it!! My baby's all done!! /sniffle/ I'll miss her. Review and let me know if you want a sequel. I've got plenty of ideas, but I won't post unless you want it. ) Thanks!! peace out, Quatre.