Naruto Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Strange New World ❯ Epilogue ( Epilogue )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Epilogue

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1


Koenma had finally found a way to go home... at least that was what he thought. If being caught in the reflected blast of the Jigen Tou got them there, then it would surely bring them home. However it was getting his boys to agree to go home with him. He couldn't force them to, but it would be desirable. His first stop was to see Kuwabara, he had figured out that Kuwabara would be the easiest to persuade. The human wasn't hard to find. "Hello, Koenma." Kuwabara said as the young god approached him. "What can I do for you?"

"Would you like to go home?" Koenma asked, and he saw Kuwabara's eyes light up. He had been right. "I think that I have found out exactly how to get back, and I know how much you miss Yukina and the only way for you to see her would be to return home."

"I now, and I thought that I'd never see my dear Yukina ever again!" Kuwabara said. "I want to tell her everything that happened here!" Koenma smiled.

"I have to go and ask the others. Could you ask Kurama? I believe that I will have to convince both Yusuke and Hiei that going home is a good idea." Kuwabara nodded. "We shall leave in two days time. If he is going to come, then he could meet us at the exit of the village at noon." Again Kuwabara nodded, heading off to the one place that Kurama was most likely to be found.


Kuwabara knocked on the door of the apartment that Kurama and Orochimaru shared and waited for an answer. A few minutes later and Kurama answered, wearing a simple robe. "Kuwabara, please come in." He said, inviting the taller human into his home. "Please sit, I'll be back in a moment." Kurama walked back to the room to dress, which he managed to do, even if Orochimaru was trying to keep him naked. "Kuwabara's here, and he is waiting my return!" Kurama said protesting weakly. Orochimaru smiled as he left the bed, watching as Kurama's cheeks reddened a little more when Orochimaru whispered something into his ear.

Both Kurama and Orochimaru appeared at the same time. "Kazuma-kun, would you like some tea?" Orochimaru asked. "I was just about to make some for Shuichi and myself." Kuwabara nodded, and Orochimaru gave a slight smile before he left the room.

"What is the matter, Kuwabara?" Kurama asked as he sat down. "Anything that we can help you with?"

"I'm going home." Kuwabara said suddenly. "Koenma asked me to ask you if you would be coming too." Kurama's jaw dropped open, and in his stunned silence he couldn't hear anything from the kitchen for a moment, and he knew that Orochimaru had heard too. "This could be your only chance to go home, to see your mother again." Kurama could hear water being poured, and his head dropped down, thinking.

"Kuwabara, if this is the last chance that I'll have to see my mother, if I go it will be the last time I see Orochimaru." Kurama said. "Do you understand just how difficult that is for me to decide? What would you choose, your mother or your lover? The one that gave birth to you, or the one that makes you happy?" He heard a cup being placed in front of him, and felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He didn't need to look to know that it was Orochimaru offering him the comfort. He leaned into Orochimaru's body, allowing tears to fall from his eyes.

"You should go home." He heard Orochimaru say. "You've missed your mother a lot, and although it would hurt at first, you would find another to love, and to love you in return. You can never get another mother." Kurama only wrapped his arms around Orochimaru. He didn't want to have to choose. Orochimaru had practically told him to go, told him to find another to love. Agony flooded through his heart when he thought of that, and an equally as painful agony when he thought about his mother. "Your mother will be so worried, it's been a number of years since she saw you. Do you really want to keep her worried?"

"I can't just leave you! I cannot just turn off my feelings!" Kurama shouted, his nails digging into Orochimaru's arm. "I can't!"

Kuwabara could only watch the scene as it unfolded. Now he wished that he hadn't said anything to Kurama, he couldn't believe that the kitsune had such a problem in deciding what he should do. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. The next minute, Kurama fled the room, leaving Orochimaru in the room, alone, with Kuwabara. "I'm sorry." Kuwabara said.

"I don't need your apology, Kurama does." Orochimaru said. "I think that you opened a half-healed wound. He had just got used to knowing that he would never see his mother again, just got used to forcing himself to think of this as being his home." Orochimaru sipped his tea. "Now he is placed in a situation where, no matter what he decides, he will be hurt. If he goes back to his mother, he will always regret leaving. If he remains here, there is a high chance that he will blame me for him losing his mother. This will lead to him hurting more if he remains here." Kurama could hear the strain in Orochimaru's voice as he spoke the words. "I am sure that he will come to the same conclusion when he allows himself to think over everything. If not, then I am sure that his other half will explain things to him."

"Tell Kurama that we leave in two days time. Noon at the exit to the village." Kuwabara said, having a feeling that it wasn't just Kurama that wanted to be alone. Orochimaru nodded, not trusting himself to speak. "Well... I've gotta go." Kuwabara said making a beeline directly for the exit.


Once Orochimaru knew that he was alone, then he allowed himself to feel the pain of his words. Giving up Kurama would be one of the hardest things that he would ever have done, if not the hardest. His hands clenched into fists, feeling his nails dig into the palms, he felt warm blood fall from the wounds. He wouldn't let his feelings over run his mind, he couldn't allow it. Inside, his heart felt like it was dying.


In his room, Kurama lay silent on his bed. His heart was heavy with the weight on his memories. With Orochimaru, he had allowed them to run free, to run away from him. Now they returned ten-fold. He had wanted nothing more than to find himself in another's arms, that one loving him as much as he loved them in return. Someone that he could tell all his darkest secrets to, and who would still accept him for who he was. 'Youko Kurama, what should I do?'

'It is your decision, Shuichi, not mine.' The kitsune spirit said. 'I cannot influence you any way. You need to decide what you would be willing to lose. Would you be able to look at Orochimaru the same way, knowing that you sacrificed the chance to see your mother once more? Would you be able to forgive your mother for keeping you away from your lover? Would you be happier here, or back from whence we both came?' Youko wished that he could take the agony his other side felt and bury it in the back of Kurama's mind, but he couldn't.

It was a knock on the door that roused Kurama from his inner discussion. "Come in, Orochimaru." Kurama croaked. He hadn't realised how much he had cried until then, and Orochimaru walked in, and handed him a glass of water, which Kurama drank.

"I wish you didn't have to decide." Orochimaru said quietly. "But you have only two days. That's what Kazuma-kun said before he left." He looked down at his hands. "Whatever you decide, make sure that it is right for you. As long as you are happy with your choice I'll..." He was cut off by a kiss.

"Don't talk, just love me." Kurama said when he pulled back. "Give me two days to remember no matter which way I choose." Orochimaru gave a single nod and pulled the kitsune into a hug, before kissing Kurama and lowering him to the bed.


Two days passed by too fast for Kurama, and Kurama picked up his packed bag. Orochimaru had given him a few things to take as a reminder, and had pleaded the night before for Kurama not to waken him when he left. That he didn't think that he couldn't stand saying 'good bye'. Kurama took one more look at the sleeping figure and leaned over, stealing a kiss from the sleeping man's lips, placing one of the midnight roses that he had picked from that glade where he had told Orochimaru that he belonged to him, on the pillow beside Orochimaru, before turning once more and leaving the room, then the apartment, and then the village.


A figure walked up to the door and run the bell before he disappeared. A black-haired woman answered the door and saw a bunch of the most beautiful roses that she had ever seen, and saw an envelope amongst the flowers, it was addressed to her. She walked back inside, closing the door behind her. She put the roses into water before turning her attention back to the envelope. "Who was it darling?" Her husband asked as he entered the kitchen.

"There was nobody at the door, nothing except these flowers and this." She showed him the envelope before she opened it, showing a letter.


Mother,

If you are reading this then I have changed my mind, for good this time.

I never meant to leave you three years ago, and there isn't a day that I don't miss you, that I wish that I was with you. However I have also made a life for myself where I am, and it was the hardest decision that I could have made, to give up one or the other. Had I taken the chance to leave here, I would have been heartbroken. I would have lost one of the best things that I have ever had. I have the kindest, most loving, caring partner that I could ever have found. Orochimaru wanted me to leave him to return to you, to the life I led before the accident happened.

Please understand, although I love you, I love him also, and I wish that you could meet him, but it is impossible, at least at the moment. Although I can assure you that he treats me well. We hve our ups and downs, as any couple does, but we love each other deeply.

I wish you, Hatanaka and Shuichi all the best.

I love you.

Shuichi.


Quietly Kurama opened the door to the apartment, walking in and closed it behind him. In the end he couldn't go through with leaving Konoha, and Orochimaru, behind. He couldn't say good bye to the man he loved, and although his heart hurt, he knew that in time, it would mend. There would always be a space there for Minamino Shiori, and he would never forget his mother, but he refused to give Orochimaru the satisfaction of getting rid of him. He looked into his room and saw that his bed was empty, but that the rose had been moved to the kitchen. 'So he's up at least.' Youko said as Kurama walked into the living room. There he saw Orochimaru, asleep, in Jiraiya's arms. The other Sannin clearly pained by Orochimaru's sadness, however his eyes widened when he saw Kurama at the door. Kurama swiftly moved into the room and with a nod from Jiraiya, he lifted his love from the other Sannin, mouthing 'Thank you' to him.

Orochimaru could feel another lifting him from where he was sitting, and automatically protested, but that was stopped when he saw red hair, his eyes widened and he muttered 'Kurama'. "I couldn't leave." Kurama said. "I couldn't go through with it. I love you too much just to say good bye to what we had, and still have." Kurama blushed. "That is if you still want me."

"I'll always want you. You're mine forever, and for always." Orochimaru said, kissing Kurama gently. "I will never squander our time together."


End of 'A Strange New World.