Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi, Shounen Jump and Studio Pierrot. And no, I do not want to be locked up for any reason, may it be legal matters or mental instability.
Eighteenth
Chapter
Christmas
Eve
SO THIS IS Christmas
Eve. There was a good few inches of fresh snow on the ground. The music of
carols lingered in the air. Delicious food, still untouched, was piled on the
table, its smells wafting throughout the house temptingly. Everything about the
place spoke volumes of the good old Yuletide cheer and the spirit of giving.
Still, the long doleful faces and red teary eyes of the inhabitants and the
guests, suggested otherwise.
Nobody
was crying anymore, though. Their tear glands have been exhausted of its salty
secretion. All of them had their time to recover from grief; throw furniture
around, punch walls, produce enough tear gems to buy the whole of Japan, scream
oneself to death. Now, only that lonely feeling of emptiness remained.
"Ano…"
began Keiko haltingly. "I know I shouldn't be raising this subject…"
She choked. "I mean, it's Christmas Eve and all…"
Yusuke
reached out to pull his wife to him. "We understand," he said quietly.
"You
want to know what happened in Reikai," said Kurama.
"Yeah,"
answered Shizuru. "We all do."
Kurama
smiled slightly. "Are you up to genetics, Keiko?" he asked.
She
nodded.
"Do
you know why marriage with a relative is unadvisable?"
"Yes,"
Keiko said. "The recessive allelle of the family might be expressed as a
phenotype of any of their offspring
since they may both have it."
"Hai.
That is the case with royal family and the Grey family. They both carry the
recessive gene that is decisive of Doom's conception."
"In
layman's term," requested Kuwabara. "Please."
"It
means they can produce children that has the right genetic pattern for the
spirit of Doom to squat in."
"Why
them?" asked Shizuru. "I mean, why those two families."
"According
to legends, the clan of Grey was once the ruling clan of Makai. They merged with
the ruling class of Reikai by intermarriage. They grew very powerful and were
able to conquer and rule over everything.
"Of
course such a vast kingdom, stretching to include three worlds cannot be
controlled by a single central power. Numerous coup de tats ensued and wars
lasted for long years. The cosmos, fate, intervened and when the turmoil died
down, cursed the two families to prevent such a thing from happening
again."
"Botan?"
"She's
part of the curse, I guess. She was born to destroy the Heir of Doom and for
only that reason. When her mission is complete, she shall cease to exist.
Actually, to destroy Doom she must be killed."
"But
why?" asked Yukina.
Kurama
scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Probably to see if there was anybody
who's willing to sacrifice his/her life for the sake of the universe."
"Then
why does it have to be the Heir of Althea?" asked Yusuke. "Any of us
could have done it."
"Maybe
it's also part of heaven's plan. I mean, we can't expect everyone to be able to
perform that ultimate sacrifice she did. You know how our personalities are
shaped by elements we interact with. I guess, Botan was developed by the right
kind so she's how she is. So maybe, the Higher Being is also testing the society
itself, to see how cruel or kind it is. To see if it can actually produce people
like Botan, who gives freely, whose heart is so magnanimous."
"And
since we all touched her life, one way or another we have influenced her,"
said Keiko thoughtfully.
"Funny,"
said Yusuke. "That someone as crazy as her is given the key to stop a
disaster like this. I mean, she tends to be rather flighty and all. I guess that
counts, too, in that test you're talking about, Kurama."
"Look
who's talking," muttered Hiei out of earshot.
"By
the way, the flower she found was her undoing. It enabled Doom to know that
she's actually the Heir of Althea."
Keiko
sighed. "So they really are victims of circumstance," she said. "Koenma,
his parents, Masago, her parents, Botan…"
"How
did they take it?" asked Shizuru. "The people of Reikai. How did they
react?"
"They
don't know of course," said Yusuke rather angrily. "Of course, they
don't."
"Where
is Koenma?" asked Yukina.
"I
expected him to announce it," added Keiko.
Kurama
frowned. "Koenma has disappeared from Reikai. Atsumori is the new heir to
the throne."
"What
of Masago, then?" said Shizuru.
"She
fainted when she saw Botan dead. Until now, she's still sick in bed. Apparently,
she blames herself. Guilt can create much havoc in a person's soul."
"Overacting,"
muttered Hiei.
Yusuke
glared at him. "She also found out that Kumagai isn't her real father and
that she almost married her own brother and that she's an illegitimate child and
that she's actually Enma's daughter. What would you do if you're in her
shoes?" he demanded.
"Hn."
"You
wouldn't give a damn, I'm sure," snapped Kuwabara.
Yukina
placed an arm on his shoulder. "Anata…"
Kuwabara
turned away from his brother-in-law. "You don't understand…"
"'Course
I do," grunted Hiei. "Look at the trouble it caused." He snorted.
"Love. Who needs it?"
Silence.
"I'm
really sorry about Koenma," said Yukina sadly.
"Yeah,"
said Keiko. "You know what they say, people usually say 'I love you' only
when it's already too late."
"I
really miss her. " Click! A tear gem dropped on the floor. "I can
almost imagine Koenma's pain, his regrets…"
"Listen,
Yukina," said Kuwabara. "We shouldn't dwell on bad feelings. I'm sure
we all hurt but I'm also sure Botan would be awfully mad if she finds out we're
mourning on Christmas day instead of being happy."
Keiko
wiped a stray tear away, as Yusuke squeezed her hand in comfort. "She
always has been a cheerful person," she said. "And she likes to share
her good spirits."
"Yes,"
said Yukina. "She once told me she takes spirits for a ride to watch the
stars when they need cheering up, especially the children."
She
rose and walked towards the window. Drawing the thick curtain aside, she deftly
drew a caricature of a girl holding up a peace sign, using her finger, on the
fogged up glass. Looking through the childish artwork, she gazed up at the
numerous dots of light scattered through out the eternity of the dark sky.
"Merry
Christmas, Botan-chan."
Immortality
So
this is who I am,
And
this is all I know,
And
I must choose to live,
For
all that I can give,
The
spark that makes the power grow
And
I will stand for my dream if I can,
Symbol
of my faith in who I am,
But
you are my only,
And
I must follow on the road that lies ahead,
And
I won't let my heart control my head,
But
you are my only
And
we don't say goodbye,
And
I know what I've got to be
Immortality
I
make my journey through eternity
I
keep the memory of you and me inside
Fulfill
your destiny,
Is
there within the child,
My
storm will never end,
My
fate is on the wind,
The
king of hearts, the joker's wild,
But
we don't say goodbye,
I'll
make them all remember me
Cos
I have found a dream that must come true,
Every
ounce of me must see it though,
But
you are my only
I'm
sorry I don't have a role for love to play,
Hand
over my heart I'll find my way,
I
will make them give to me
Immortality
There
is a vision and a fire in me
I
keep the memory of you and me, inside
And
we don't say goodbye
We
don't say goodbye
With
all my love for you
And
what else we may do
We
don't say, goodbye
Somewhere
else, the winter constellations above him, and white snow under him, a young man
spent his Christmas Eve alone.
"I
will wait. Even if thousands of years come to pass, I will wait. Time shall be
the test of my patience and strength. I will wait. Forever."
~The End~
Well?
To Seiyo: I told you not to expect much. ~sigh~ Anyway, thanks for prodding me
often enough. You're the only reason I finished this. Thanks again.
Am
I corny or what? Like I said, I don't have much background on romance. And
don’t hate me for killing off Botan. I just thought it was time for me to live
up to my pen name. Good night.
Immortality is written by Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb/Maurice Gibb (I think). It was sung by Celine Dion from the album Let's Talk About Love. (if I'm wrong about that please inform me ;-)
Question:
Is Koenma immortal? Does he live forever? Is he like invincible? Or does he
simply have a very long life span?