Absently, he petted the head of the one in his lap. It crooned, pleased by the attention, sucked up snatches of black Fire now and again, gleeful.

"Otousama," Juei said quietly, "Are you -- " She took a deep breath. "You have to eat something." Hiei blinked, looked down at her.

"I'm not hungry," he told her truthfully. She sighed.

"You're not doing anyone any good sitting up there."

"You don't have to stay," he replied, leaning his head back against the tree and closing his eyes.

"His mother could likely use the support," she went on. "She trusts you, and so does he." Hiei opened his eyes, looked down at her again.

"He believes," he snarled softly, "that I beat and raped him on a regular basis for over a year."

"He knows, somewhere inside him, that it wasn't you. He needs you, very much."

"He needs to heal."

"And you can help him."

"He doesn't want me there."

"He's terrified," she replied.

"I'm not going to force him to put up with me when just looking at me makes him pull away like that."

"Otousama," she scolded, "how many times do I have to tell you, he -- "

"I'm tired of this," Hiei snapped, turning his glare to the sky. "Shut up, or leave." She was quiet a moment; and then he heard her slip away.

Hiei sighed. The demon on his shoulder began to whimper for attention. Hiei reached up to stroke its scaly skin, and closed his eyes.

Yukina watched her daughter playing quietly on the floor, and frowned. Hiei had not been in a mood like this for a very long time.

She stood up, brushed imaginary dust from her kimono, and left the nursery, headed for her 'meditation' room -- the tiny library Kazuma had added to their house when Yukina had one day offhandedly expressed a need for quiet solitude now and again.

She shut the door behind her and knelt on the huge square cushion Kazuma had bought especially for her; taking a deep breath and exhaling, she folded her hands and closed her eyes.

She always had to be careful about listening to her brother's thoughts; for some reason he didn't want her to know that he was her brother, and so she respected that. She didn't understand it; she was hurt by it; but she respected it, and she had never made mention of it to anyone save Kazuma, and he had kept the secret very well.

Yukina took a deep breath, exhaled, and began to focus on her twin. It was difficult to cross worlds with her thoughts; but she and Hiei were inseparably bonded -- they had once been the same set of cells, had shared their mother's womb, had drawn their first breaths together. No matter where he was, she could find him.

He was in the Makai, now, his thoughts turned inward, his mood a frightening one. His thoughts were darker than normal; Yukina skirted them cautiously, keeping her presence unnoticed. Roiling fear and anger and betrayal clouded his mind; and at the centre of it all was an icy void.

Yukina opened her eyes, got to her feet and went in search of her husband.

Reikaze crossed the room, sat on the edge of the bed, watched him sleep for several minutes. Lifting one hand, finally, she caressed his cheek. Dark red eyes opened slowly, looked up at her, hardened in an instant. "Wake up," she said softly. He took a deep breath.

With an effort, he wondered after Juei. Reikaze laughed, smoothed his black hair away from his forehead. He really _was_ a beautiful boy, she mused. He clenched his jaw, and she smiled.

"She's run away," she said. "She didn't even spare you a thought when she left." His eyes turned to stone, his expression became distant. "You see," Reikaze shrugged, "what I told you about her is true."

He asked where Juei had gone.

"She's still in the Makai," Reikaze assured him. "But I don't think she'll be back here for a long time. If ever." He turned his face away. Reikaze took his chin in her fingers and forced him to look up at her. "Did you really think she would get you out? Did you think she cared enough to take you with her? She barely knows you." He ground his teeth and closed his eyes. She laughed again. "I'm going to let you up for a bit. I want you to gather some strength. Then I have a little task for you to complete for me." She drew her finger across the smooth, unbroken skin of his forehead. "If you serve me well, you'll earn a little more freedom." He did not respond. Reikaze stood up, turned toward the door, paused there.

"You know," she said, "I control your life. If you refuse to obey me, I can force you to do what I want, Hiei. If you cooperate, we'll have a wonderful working relationship." With that, she slipped out the door and back to her throne.

"Why is it dangerous?" she demanded.

"The twins," he reminded her, "are taking a lot more out of you than -- "

"Kazuma-san," Yukina said, adopting a stern tone, "I am well aware of my status. I am well aware of our children. But I am also well aware that my brother needs me."

"He's fine," Kazuma snorted. "Hiei likes to be alone."

"He likes to be by himself," Yukina told him softly, "but he doesn't like to be alone. Something's wrong with him, and I'm going to go to him." He stared at her, mouth open. "I'm not afraid of him, Kazuma-san. He would rather be hurt himself than hurt me. We -- " She put her hands on her barely-swollen middle. " -- will be fine." He sighed, hung his head, nodded. Yukina smiled. He really was a darling man; a little overprotective, but what woman didn't appreciate a husband who held her in such high regard? She was the luckiest person in the Ningenkai, and likely in the Makai as well, she mused, moving close to him, resting her cheek on his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed again.

"Gomen nasai, Yukina-san," he murmured into her hair. "I just remember what it was like when you were carrying Yuume, how weak and tired you were, and since there's two -- "

"I'm going to comfort my brother," Yukina whispered. "I'll be fine." He was not solaced; but he said no more about it.

She folded her arms and frowned. He stretched out on his branch, pressing his cheek against the bark, letting his arms dangle. "Baka," Juei said softly, little caring if he could hear. "You would rather sit here and let him die, than go to him so you can heal one another." He twitched, but gave no other sign that he had heard her.

She jumped at a sudden gentle touch on her mind.

>>Hiei,<< she returned. >>Where -- ?<< An image was impressed on her mind; he was weak, could not hide that from her.

>>Stay where you are,<< she pleaded, and sped away, silently apologising to her father for leaving him. If he noticed, he said nothing and made no movement.

He rolled his eyes in her direction. The moment Juei had turned her back, Hiei glanced up at the demon sitting on his shoulder. It smirked at him, its fangs bared, and vanished.

Hiei closed his seeing eyes, and rearranged himself on his branch. Opening his Jagan, he watched, and waited.

Reikaze tapped her fingers impatiently. If things went according to her plan, Hiei would be more concerned about his own miserable life than Juei's, and would throttle the little bitch the moment he got close enough.

She didn't expect things to go according to her plan, however, and so had a few dozen youkai ready to finish off the two of them.

Reikaze summoned a window in the air, and watched the scene unfold.

He might have known Reikaze would send him out with no you-ki, no physical strength. He was meant to be bait for her trap, nothing more.

He nearly stumbled, and cursed silently; he stopped near a tree to wait, and leaned back against the trunk. Juei was on her way. He reached out with his thoughts and felt her gently probing, her tender concern warming him, bringing a smile to his face for the first time in a long time. He closed his eyes.

And she was there, suddenly, her hands on his face, kissing his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his mouth, her thoughts a flurry of anxiety. He brushed her cheek with his fingertips, shoving aside his fears and simply being with her. She held him tightly, trembling against him. When he could stand no more, he pushed her gently away from him. Juei smiled knowingly, sadly, understanding his actions.

"Hiei," she spoke softly, "why did she let you go?" It had been to find her, he told his sister, looking deep into her dark red eyes, his own eyes, though surrounded by curly lashes.

"If she's watching, then there's no time," she told him, turning away, leading him. He trotted after her, summoning you-ki from around him, desperately trying to strengthen himself, knowing that he would not have time to undo what Reikaze had done over -- how many years? "I know where we can be safe," Juei told him.

"Do you, now?"

At the sound of Reikaze's icy tones, they froze. Juei moved in front of him, to protect him, and he nearly laughed, for he should have been the one to protect _her_.

"It would seem no one in your family wants to cooperate with me," Reikaze sighed mournfully. She appeared in front of them, surrounded by her guard. Hiei turned; the youkai had formed a circle around him and Juei. He swallowed, turned back to Reikaze.

He pleaded silently with his mother to let Juei go -- to take him instead. Reikaze laughed, and shook her head.

"How sweet," she said. "What loving concern, for someone you only just met." She glanced at the Captain of her Guard. "Kill them both," she said. "It doesn't have to be quick."

He prepared to fight, knowing he didn't have the strength, praying to whatever gods existed that Juei at least would get away, run far away --

His vision was obscured suddenly by a dark blur, and a voice he had longed to hear all his life rang out over the Makai, and he knew his Avatar had finally come for him -- for _them_ -- had finally remembered what he had tried so hard to forget --

"You will not take them away from me again," their father snarled into Reikaze's startled face.