I wish this never had to end! You guys have really been great. I want to thank each and every one of my reviewers, and every reader who didn't review I hope you've enjoyed the ride. I got7 reviews last chapter, yay! So this is it...last chapter. Ahh! Love all around! No last remarks in this chapter, so this is the very last time I'm talking to you guys...so...(sniffle) bye!
The very last quote! "I have no regrets." -Kurama
Warnings: OC!Lots of characters running around! Kuwabara being stupid! Genkai doing something she probably isn't qualified to do! Probably have a bunch of mistakes in the ceremony-thingy. Hiei...major OC, like...he talks...and is all lovey dovey and...well, what do we say about OCs though right? Their in love you morons! Of course its OC! I had to say that one last time before this ended
Rating: Yeah fine, We'll stick with M because we're trying to get over the icky-ness of last chapter.
Epilogue: 6 Months Later
"Mother! HELP!" Shiori sighed and quickly walked towards the direction her distressed son called from. She slid the old-fashioned door open and smiled at the sight. Kurama was fighting with his clothing with Yukina and Kayko desperately trying to help.
"What's wrong Shu—Kurama dear?" It was such a hard habit to call him something other than Shuichi after all those years. But as Kurama looked at her in pure anguish she smiled reminding her self that it wasn't his name or his demonic side that mattered.
"Mom…I don't think I can do this. I love him, but this is such a big thing for both of us. He's staying in the human world with this and after what happened…" Kurama trailed off, wide eyed. Shiori smiled softly, closing the door and embracing her distressed son.
"Of course you can do this sweet heart. You said it yourself, you love him…"
Hiei fidgeted as Yusuke helped him with his clothing. Kuwabara talked aimlessly on next to them fixing his own clothing as Koenma peered under random objects trying to figure out where they all had left their bow ties.
"Heh, never knew you had it in you to actually marry Kurama, Shorty. Feel sorry for him, marrying you and all, that's going to be quite the burden." Hiei twitched but kept his mouth shut. Yusuke and Koenma glared at Kuwabara, but he took no notice and continued.
"Yep, you just watch, soon it'll be me and Yukina! And then I'll have my darling all to myself!" Hiei twitched again and Koenma spoke up.
"Kuwabara! Help me find these bow ties! I think I left them in the room next door, go check!" he ordered glaring at the red headed idiot.
"Pst, what's the point? I'm not the best man…I don't think I want to wear one, and besides, Hiei will just burn his off because it'll be 'too damn annoying.' I really hope Kurama knows what he's getting himself into."
"Obviously, he does considering the fact that we're already spiritually bounded and you can't exactly reverse that you moron," Hiei growled through clenched teeth. Kuwabara waved it off while running his fingers through his hair.
"Yeah, yeah, but that doesn't count you see? Doing this means you have to stay here until he bloody well says so. Going to be difficult for you not to run off to Makai once a month isn't it?" Kuwabara turned to look at Hiei smirking. Yusuke backed up two steps and held up his hands. Hiei glanced up at him.
"I was going to try to hold you back, but not after a remark like that…" he muttered, Koenma nodded in agreement. Kuwabara looked around wildly.
"What? What did I say?" he cried as Hiei cracked his knuckles and glared up at Kuwabara.
"I've got some butterflies in my stomach, hold still while I beat you to get them out of my system," Hiei instructed. Kuwabara's eyes widened and he ran out of the room screaming with Hiei close behind.
Kurama took a few deep breaths as Shiori brushed out his hair. Kayko nervously brushed off his white tux every few minutes as Yukina dug in a drawer looking for Kurama's bow tie. Shiori put the brush down and smiled at him in the mirror.
"I never thought my baby would ever grow up…" she whispered. Kurama smiled softly.
"Oh mother…" She smiled before turning to wipe her eyes. Kayko patted her arms reassuringly. There was shouting in the hallway and the four stood up to investigate. Kurama stepped out and almost was run over by four people rushing by. They came to a stop a few doors down and Kurama blinked as he watched a tall red head being pushed to the ground and thoroughly beaten by a shorter man with black spiky hair. It didn't click immediately, but when it did, Kurama's eyes grew wide.
"Hiei?" he asked quickly and quietly. The pounding stopped and slowly the youkai turned. Kurama's heart raced and he took a step forward as that small face slowly came into his view, and then it was all over. Kurama stared at a wooden door, having been pushed back into the room, and Hiei stared at the other side between Koenma and Yusuke. Both of them jumped up and protested, and were stopped by Yusuke and Kayko, respectively.
"I'm sorry man…just a little bit longer, ok?" Yusuke reassured, placing a hand on Hiei's shoulder.
"You've gone a week without him, what's a little bit longer?" Kayko apologetically. Hiei and Kurama both stared at the door in longing anguish while being escorted back to their previous activities.
Shizuru looked at Genkai with a raised eyebrow.
"Something wrong Master Genkai?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that I never thought in a thousand years my temple, my home, would house the act of two men becoming bound together?" Shizuru laughed.
"Yeah, I guess a Gay Wedding, or Civil Union, in this old place is a bit out of character."
"A bit is an understatement. Stupid kids these days…" Shizuru smirked and looked down at her tea.
"You have to admit, it's cute." Genkai smiled warmly in agreement.
"It is…"
Hiei twitched nervously in a few minutes Kurama would enter and would walk down the small (thankfully) aisle towards him. He fidgeted and took in a shuddering breath his mind reeling. Could he do this? Could he stay in the human world until Kurama said they could leave? He swallowed hard. And finally Genkai glared at him.
"Listen Short-shit, if you don't calm down, I'm going to have to hurt you," she growled. Hiei nodded nervously, not wanting to trust his voice as the doors slid open. He turned towards them and saw Kurama walk in. His heart raced and his knees felt weak as Kurama looked at him, eyes shining and walked up to the altar with his mother. Shiori kissed Kurama on the cheek and looked at Hiei.
"You take care of him—I don't care if you are a demon, I'm a mother, I'm more powerful." Hiei chuckled and nodded as Kurama rolled his eyes. Yusuke, standing behind Hiei, had to plug his nose so he wouldn't laugh out loud. Shiori squeezed her son's hand one final time before moving to take a seat, wiping her eyes. Kurama looked at Hiei, his heart swelling, a smile permanently plastered on his face.
"Hey…" Hiei smiled at him and they turned to Genkai.
"Hey," he replied, taking the Kitsune's hand in his. Genkai looked between them before finally sighing.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Demons and Humans, Ogres and Spiritual Beings, welcome. We are gathered here today for the joining of these two fools who have finally decided to actually get married." There was general laughter in the mixed crowd as Kurama shook his head and Hiei snorted. Genkai smiled and looked at the two.
"These two have both been through a lot, together and separately. To be honest, I couldn't be happier to see them together. I know, as most of us do, that this human joining is nothing to some of the bonds that they share, but to them, it means much more.
"Because with this joining, they are not just saying that they shall stay by each other's side forever no matter what, the bond of their friendship has told them that through out the years. They are not saying that they will take care of one another forever no matter what either, for their bond of love has already made that clear. What they are saying—and I hate to put it so simply—is that they are not ashamed of their love. That as long as they have a heart, be it demon or human, or simply a metaphoric one—because we're still trying to get Koenma to tell us if we have hearts when we die—" The living beings laughed nervously as the Spiritual ones giggled as Genkai paused before continuing.
"They will stay within the same world, and hopefully under the same roof together. Enough of this old woman's ranting though, dimwit, where are the rings?" Kuwabara and Yusuke both jumped and scrambled to find the rings. Kayko rolled her eyes and glared at Yusuke as Yukina and the rest of the crowd giggled. Finally the two held out the rings and Genkai glared at them.
"Well? Hand them to the grooms you morons!" Yusuke and Kuwabara turned bright red and moved around to make sure they were giving the right ring to the right person before handing it to them. Kurama bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing as Hiei snatched his ring away from Kuwabara muttering obscenities under his breath. Genkai nodded at Kurama who took Hiei's left hand and lifted it up. There was still a slight burn around his finger, despite all of Kurama's plants. It was getting better, but he feared that there'd always be something there to remind Hiei of what had happened. Swallowing he smiled at Hiei, tears threatening to fall.
"Hiei, I…I honestly don't know what to say any more. I love you so much, and, well Genkai has said it all hasn't she? You and I both know what this wedding means to us, and it—I love you so much. I couldn't be happier, I hope you realize that. Everything that has happened to us, the good and the bad, has finally brought us here. And even though there are times I wish that some things had happened differently, or didn't happen at all, I'm sort of glad they did, otherwise, I might not have you," Kurama said, tears falling forth. Hiei reached up with his right hand and brushed his tears away as Kurama slipped the ring on to his finger. Kurama let his forehead rest on Hiei's as the shorter man took his left hand. The tears fell out of his eyes as he watched Hiei examine his hand before speaking.
"I've never, I've never really had friends, you know that. I never really had hope or love in my life. Before I met you I was a ruthless demon with no where to go, and a very bad heritage that made every one else hate me. You were my first friend Kurama, well, ok, you were an ally first, but you were the first ally to tell me no and walk out. That's when it all started wasn't it? You walked out and I was so angry with you, and then you got in the way of my sword when I was trying to kill Yusuke. And then you got me out of jail, after all of that. Even before we knew we were in love with each other you gave me chances to run, to get out of the human world. You offered your assistance, and then after, after we found out, you gave me even more chances. Not just to leave or go back to how you knew I was used to things, but to leave you. I don't think I'll ever fully understand you, and I want to keep it that way. After all, we can spend the rest of our lives now can't we? The rest of our lives just trying to figure out how the other one works. I heard someone say a long time ago, that if you say something three times, every one will know it's true. I said it once before I left, once when I came back, and I'm going to say it one more time in front of every one…" Hiei paused and looked up at Kurama straight in the eye as he slipped the finger on to his hand.
"I love you…" Kurama closed his eyes and nodded, tears streaming down his face. Everything was quiet except for the occasional sniffle from the audience. Genkai spoke softly.
"Kurama, do you take Hiei as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, until death do you part?"
"I do," Kurama whispered.
"And do you Hiei, take Kurama as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, until death do you part?" Hiei brushed a few tears off of Kurama's face and smiled.
"I do," he replied. Genkai smiled and nodded. Hiei tilted his head and Kurama slowly let their lips connect. Hiei threw his arms around Kurama's neck as the Youko picked him up and held him tightly before they pulled away to the cheers around them. Their eyes never left each other as they smiled happily.
"You're stuck with me and the human world forever now."
"Eh, that's fine, I'm sure they'll play something decent on TV eventually." Kurama laughed and kissed him again before putting him down and turning to face their family and friends together hand in hand.
The End