Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Retribution ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

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Retribution

Chapter 8

Solution of Power

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Meleena felt herself slowly slip into the world of the living, and out of the deep sleep she had been in for such a long time. The bright light caused her to wince, and she turned over onto her side, trying to stop the pounding in her head that was threatening to shatter her skull. The water demoness groaned and tried to block out the light, but to no avail. A cool hand rested on her forehead, and she once again heard that warm, familiar voice of Kamirue.

“Drink this.” she said quietly. “It’ll help.” Meleena blindly swallowed the bitter tasting liquid as quickly as possible, then fell back onto the pillow she had been resting on.

“I feel like I’m dying.” the young woman moaned brokenly. “I’m hurting all over the place!” Kamirue moved to shut out the light that was flooding into the small room, and then sat by her patient’s side. “Stop this, Mira, please!”

“I can’t do anything but treat your symptoms, child.” Kamirue said, wringing out a cool wet rag and placing it on her feverish forehead. “You’re fever should break soon, and you’ll cool off.”

“What am I doing back in Spirit World?” the sick woman demanded. “I thought I told Koenma I wanted him to leave me alone?”

“You did.” the bat demoness answered simply. “I sent Kurama after you a few hours ago when Koenma couldn’t find you.”

“You asked Youko for help?” Meleena asked. “I never thought I’d see the day that would happen.”

“I asked Kurama, not Youko.” she answered stiffly.

“I was under the impression that there was no difference between the two of them.” Meleena grouched. “You’re going soft, Kamirue.”

“I’m taking care of you, and that’s not going soft on anyone.” she said stiffly. “I’ve been around since you were born, don’t think I’m going to quit looking after you now.”

“Why are you still here, anyway?” Meleena asked. “I was under the impression that you were not going to help Koenma with this mess.”

“I have my reasons for being here, Meleena.” her caretaker said softly.

“Whatever.” the younger demoness answered, yawning tiredly.

“Get some more rest, child. You’ll feel better in a few more hours, after the fever is broke.”

“Koenma wants to see me again, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, he does.”

“He’s not getting those flowers from me.” Meleena said stubbornly.

“I never said he was, Meleena.” Kamirue said gently. “I just know that he wants to talk with you. Now sleep.” The water demoness only mumbled something incoherently before once again nodding off into a deep sleep.

When Meleena woke again, she woke up to find the entirety of Koenma’s spirit detectives in a worried frenzy. She worked herself from under the heavy blankets, and quickly followed the sound of Kamirue’s shouting until she came to a small room not too far down from her own.

Outside the slightly closed door, Kuwabara was pacing back and forth restlessly, and Yusuke was trying to calm him down.

“She’ll be fine, Kuwabara.” Yusuke said.

“She’s sick, Urameshi!” the carrot-topped thug answered frantically. “Kamirue already said that she’s weak, and the labor pains are going to make it worse! What if it is too much for her? What if she dies?”

“Yukina is not going to die.” Yusuke answered firmly, grabbing the bigger man’s shoulders and forcing him to stop the pacing. “She will come through this, Kuwabara. Have some faith.” Meleena stepped out from around the corner and walked over to the door.

“What’s going on in there?” she asked, nodding towards the door.

“Yukina’s gone into labor early.” Yusuke answered when Kuwabara refused to say anything. “And she’s having some problems because she’s so weak.” Meleena nodded numbly and went into the room where Kamirue was talking to the feverish Yukina while Hiei held one of his sister’s hands, and Kurama had the other. No one took notice of her presence, though, so she stood back and watched as Kamirue coached the feverish ice apparition through the labor pains.

“Breath, Yukina.” Kamirue instructed gently. “Remember to breath. Don’t pass out on me.”

“..hurts..” the ice maiden cried, turning to Hiei with tears in her claret eyes. “Brother….it hurts…” Hiei seemed a little unsure of what to do, but Kurama jumped in to assist.

“Talk to her, Hiei.” Kurama said. “Let her know you’re here with her. It’ll help more than anything.” Hiei seemed even more unsure than before, but he began talking to his sister in whispered tones, reassuring her that everything would be fine, only to be interrupted when Yukina let out another scream of pain when the contraction hit her again.

“How much longer will she have to do this?” Hiei growled at Kamirue.

“She’s not far enough along yet.” Kamirue answered calmly. “This could go on for hours.”

“Make it…stop…” Yukina begged, tears running down her face. “…hurts…my baby…”

“Your baby is going to be fine, Yukina.” Kurama said gently, although it didn’t sound all that convincing from where Meleena was standing.

“Keep talking to her.” Kamirue ordered. “I’ll get something that will help ease the labor pains.” The bat demoness quickly washed her hands in a nearby bowl of water and headed towards the entrance of the room, nodding towards Meleena.

When the two demoness’ were standing in Kamirue’s own room, Meleena broke down and asked the question that had been on her mind since she walked into Yukina’s room and saw the ice apparition fighting to give birth to the baby.

“She’s going to die.” Meleena said somberly, watching as Kamirue measured out a little white powder into a bowl and added liberal amounts of water to it until it was dissolved. “Isn’t she, Kamirue?”

“They’re both going to die.” Kamirue said coldly. “If the labor doesn’t kill Yukina, then she’ll be dead in the next three days from the virus.”

“And the baby?” she asked, a lump in her throat.

“If she isn’t already a stillborn, then she might last two days at most.” Kamirue said sadly. “Without the ingredients I need to make the cure, every single one who is sick is going to die. Touya, Botan, Yusuke’s children, Yukina and her daughter. All of them, Meleena. Even you. Think about that.”

“I won’t help Koenma after what he done to my mother.” Meleena said coldly. “If I had to lose my mother, then he can lose Botan and feel what I had to go through.”

“That’s fine, but what has Yusuke done to warrant his children’s deaths? What have those two innocent babies done to be condemned death?” Kamirue questioned angrily. “You’re willing to let them die because of something they couldn’t control? What about Yukina? Or Touya?”

“Don’t lecture me, Kamirue.” Meleena snapped angrily as the well known feeling of guilt settled in her. “You don’t know what I went through.”

“You, Meleena, need to realize that you’re not the only person who has lost the ones they love.” Kamirue snapped back. “I lost my mate and both my children. They died in my arms, just like Blaize died in yours. So don’t tell me I don’t understand what it’s like to give someone I love up for dead!” The bat demoness sighed and let her anger flow out of her, then walked over to Meleena and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m not going to tell you what to do, Meleena. But I’m asking you, as a friend, fight with Koenma later. It’s not worth condemning these people to death just because you’re looking for retribution from your father.”

“He can’t replace my mother.” Meleena said stoically.

“No, he can’t. But Hiei can’t replace his sister and niece either.” Kamirue said. “If you’re so determined to stop Koenma from marrying Botan, you don’t have to let her die. All you’ve got to do is refuse him permission to marry. You’re his daughter, and illegitimate though you are, you still have a say. You can stop it without having to kill the ferry girl. Think about that.” With that parting admonishin, Kamirue left Meleena to her own thoughts and quickly returned to Yukina’s side.

Meleena followed behind not long afterwards, and stood in the shadows for another three hours as Yukina battled to give birth to her first daughter.

“Don’t…let her…die.” Yukina begged brokenly, clutching desperately to Kamirue’s hand while the demoness coached her through the labor pains once again. “…my…baby…”

“Hold on, Yukina.” Hiei said. Meleena noticed that the fire demon looked almost frantic, something she had never heard or seen before. But what surprised her the most of all was seeing Hiei and Kuwabara put aside their differences and work together without complaint to reassure Yukina during her suffering.

“How much longer?” Kuwabara asked for the thousandth time.

“It should not be long, now.” Kamirue said calmly. “I can see the head. Push, Yukina.” The ice apparition bore down as hard as she could, half sitting up and half lying down on the bed as sweat poured down her face, mingling with the tears from her eyes.

Kurama sopped a rag in cool water and wiped the apparition’s face clean. But he frowned when he apparently noticed that Yukina’s fever was still raging. The kitsune avatar knelt down and murmured something to Kamirue, causing her to frown greatly and nod dejectedly. Another scream broke through the panting, and Meleena had to cover her ears at the pitiful sound coming from Yukina.

“..baby…my baby….” she begged, tossing her head from side to side as her fever continued to rage on. “…keep her….alive…”

“Come on, Yukina, just a few more pushes, and you can see your baby girl.” Kamirue coaxed. “One more push. Push hard for me, Yukina.”

The ice apparition was apparently coherent enough to follow through the directions, and bore down once again, finally letting up when Kamirue called for her to relax.

This went on for anther few minutes. Yukina would push with all her might, then cry, scream, toss, and beg for them to keep her child safe before quieting down for a few moments before the next contraction came and she was forced to bare down again.

Meleena watched as Kamirue finally pulled a small, bloody body from Yukina. There was no sound from the newborn, and Meleena had convinced herself that Yukina’s child had been stillborn, only to hear a weak cry come from the baby girl a few moments later.

‘Life is precious.’ Her mother’s words reverberated in her head as she watched the scene in front of her.

The newborn’s umbilical cord was severed and tied, then she was passed off to Kurama while Kamirue turned to catch the afterbirth, only to find that Yukina had went deathly still. Hiei tried to rouse her by shaking her, and Kuwabara kept calling her name, but the ice apparition never responded.

‘As is love.’

Kamirue ran to the head of the bed, checking for a heartbeat and a pulse. Meleena had thought the ice apparition had died, but she was once again proven wrong when Kamirue reported that she’d just passed out from exhaustion.

‘Without those two things, our world would be barren.’

While Kurama cleaned up the newborn, Kamirue cleaned up Yukina as best she could. Hiei and Kuwabara were still on each side of her, and Yukina was sleeping. Kamirue took the baby girl and laid her on Yukina’s chest when Kurama handed her over.

‘Preserve life, and love will find a way to heal your hurts away, no matter what they may be.’

Meleena frowned and stealthily slipped out of the infirmary, heading towards Koenma’s office.

There was something she needed to do.

Koenma let out a huge sigh of frustration and collapsed into his chair, rubbing his temples to ease some of the tension building in his head.

He opened his eyes and looked around his desk to the mounds of paperwork sitting there, but his eyes landed on a folded up piece of paper right in the center. He hadn’t remembered seeing it before he left to go to the meeting with his father, so he reached down and flipped it open, thinking it was some sort of message from one of the ogres.

Imagine his surprise when he recognized Meleena’s neat script flowing across the page.

‘You can have the blossoms under the condition that you, Koenma, agree to stand before the Elders Council and stand trial for what you done to my mother and the other elders. Be at the border to our lands at dawn in the morning, and someone will be there to escort you to the Council meeting’

Meleena

This is your one and only chance. Don’t screw it up.

Koenma heaved a sigh of relief and read over the letter a few more times just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. When he had finally convinced himself that it was not a joke of some sort, he thanked the Fates for his daughter’s sudden change of heart.

He didn’t know what had made her change her mind, but he was not about to question it. And he had no intention of screwing up this time.

Not if he could help it.

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A/N - Okay, I know it’s kinda short, especially considering the length of the last chapter. But hang in there, the next one is already halfway done, and twice as long as this one.

Later,

A.A.

Oh, and remember to review. I want to know what you are thinking.