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The Heart Within	By : YoukaiFate Category: InuYasha Crossovers > General Views: 5969 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the fandom, characters, etc. That privilidge belongs to the respective owners, etc. of Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho. This story is for entertainment only, and not for profit.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the fandoms or characters, etc., of Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.

THE HEART WITHIN

Summary: She has carried vengeance in her shadowed heart for 500 years, sacrificing her self for that dream. Now, Sango just might get her chance� (IY/YYH crossover)

A/N: This is just a quick note, as I want to hurry up and post this up before I leave for the day. I want to thank everybody who has continued to read and review this story, you have just been so awesomely awesome I can�t express how much it has meant to me. Thank you very very very much. Really. ~ Fate

WARNING! SPOILERS FOR YYH BLACK AND THE THREE KINGS SAGA! SEXUAL INUENDOS AND MOUTHY DEMONS OF THE IRISH KIND, OVERLY LONG SENTENCES AND SCENES JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT AND SPLITTING THIS UP JUST DROVE ME NUTS o.O

Chapter Seventeen

Ducking outside the grey darkness of the cave�s interior, Sango raised a hand to shield her eyes from the gleaming pink light of early morning. She spied Jin on the edge of the hill, his back to her as he stretched his arms out and inhaled deeply. The sky was a rose that paled into salmon in the distance, where the hidden sun did not yet enflame the color with its rays. The air was clean and sweet, with a touch of dampness in its chilly breath.

�Ah, but this be a glorious morning to start your training, isn�t it just, Lily?� Crossing his arms behind his head, Jin cocked a blue eye back at her. The sharp tip of his small white horn glittered slightly in the shaggy flames of his bright red hair.

Sango nodded, uncertain what else to say. It was a glorious morning, but she was filled with nervous anticipation. She didn�t know what Jin had in mind, and he was so unpredictable she couldn�t even begin to guess. She was anxious to learn all she could, and eager to get started.

�Feel the air. Just breathe it in.� Jin demonstrated with a hearty inhale, his long ears wiggling as he bounced a good two feet off the ground to wiggle his toes as well. The wind rushed up around his feet as he summoned it to him. The swirling eddies fluttered the white fabric of his hakama and caused his crossed sashes to dance along his sculpted chest.

�Should I get breakfast?� Sango asked tentatively, but Jin only shook his head.

�Food�ll only weigh you down, lass. Besides, who needs food when the wind can give you all the energy you need, eh?� He spun in midair, coming to rest back down on the ground now facing her.

Startled by the idea, Sango blinked.

Leaning forward, Jin closed one blue eye to peer at her with the other. �You�ll not be knowing much of anything at all then, eh, lass?�

Feeling like a fool, Sango shrugged. �I�ve not had the need---before.� *Before I found out just what my rejected energy was costing both me and others. It seems I have a lot to learn.*

That thought was rather humbling.

�Well, then, it�s not too early to start.� Jin grinned. Dropping his arms from behind his head to prop his knuckles on his hips, he said, �We�ll begin with breathing. You do be knowing how to breathe, Lily?�

Sango could only stare as he burst out laughing at his own bad joke. This was going to be a long day.

Laughter abruptly dying, Jin�s dancing blue eyes narrowed as he assumed a surprisingly serious expression for such an animated face. �What are you waiting for? Didn�t I just tell you to breathe?�

Caught off-guard by the sudden change, Sango straightened and did as he demanded, inhaling lightly, pausing a moment, and then releasing her breath as she had been taught by her father so long ago.

�Deeper, lass,� Jin chided lightly, coming to stand beside her to demonstrate. �Fill your belly with all the air it can do hold, and then take another wee little sip to top it off.�

Sango did as instructed, holding all the breath she could, and then taking an extra gasp. She jumped as she felt Jin�s hand come to rest on her belly, releasing all of the air in her lungs in a startled whoosh.

Shaking his head, Jin scolded, �You canna be so jumpy, lass. Come, now, concentrate. Inhale---sip---hold for two---and now�release��

One hand lightly resting on the small of her back, his other palm warm on her flat stomach, he pressed lightly as she released her breath, directing all the held air to escape her lungs to the point where it almost burned. He had her repeat the exercise, again and again, until Sango almost felt light-headed.

�Can you no feel the air right down to your toes?� Jin demanded, glancing at her feet. He frowned. �Ah. Now those�ll have to come off.�

Glancing down at her boots, Sango blinked.

�Can�t feel the wind move under you while wearing those now.� Jin wiggled his toes, bouncing up into a casual sitting position as small swirl of wind formed to support him.

�And while you�re at it, lass, you can remove those wee sticks you�re so fond of.� He pointed at her belts and sword, which she had donned upon waking. Sango frowned, but did as he asked. Reluctantly laying her sword atop her abandoned boots and knife-belts, she bit her lip. She felt naked without her weapons, and shrugged uneasily, missing their reassuring weight at her side.

�You depend too much on them, Lily,� Jin said, not unkindly. �If you�re to learn the wind, you must learn to depend on it and only it to be helping ya.�

She nodded. Such was the way of any weapon. And this was more than a weapon, this was learning how she, herself, now was.

�Okay. I�m ready.�

�Not quite.� He twitted the end of her long braid. �You�d best take that out, Lily. It�s no help. It�ll be undone in the first hard blow.�

Startled, Sango touched her hair. �I can pin it up---�

�Suit yourself. You�ll be seeing it soon enough.� Jin shrugged, indifferent.

With a wry expression, Sango pulled the elastic band out of her hair and combed her fingers through the twined length. She hated having her hair hanging free to fly into her face so she bound it back up into a high ponytail. It might not do any good---not from Jin�s sardonic expression---but she could at least try.

��Nuff time-wasting.� Jin suddenly grinned at her. �You know how to add wind to your step? Then down the hill we go, and race you to the bottom!�

He was off like a shot, raising a trail of dust in his wake that had Sango coughing. Blinking the grit out of her eyes, she took a blind step forward, and then gasped as she felt broad hands tightening around her waist.

�Too slow!� Jin shouted in her ear as he lifted her up off the ground, zooming up into the sky like a rocket. Sango yelped as she felt the earth drop away beneath her, and convulsively clutched at his upper arms as they shot upward, the wind of their passage thundering in her ears and flattening her hair to her head. Her legs dangled uselessly, dragged along until she forced them up by main will alone to cross her ankles behind his knees.

�Hang on tight now!� Jin warned her and Sango tensed as she felt the muscles of his arms bunch under her grip. Slipping her hands around his back, she grabbed her left wrist and hung on for dear life as he let go of her waist and swung his arms wide like the wings of a bird. He slid into a wide arc that left her dry-mouthed as she buried her head against his chest. A laugh bubbled out of him, and she blanched as he did a series of swooping wingovers that left her stomach somewhere in her feet and her sanity somewhere back on earth.

�Isn�t this yet the best, Lily?� Jin gaily shouted as he flipped sideways, rolling over and over as she desperately hung on and silently cursed the fickle fates who had left her training in the hands of a madman.

Flopping over on his back, Jin crossed his arms behind his head and sighed in dreamy bliss as he lazily floated along on a gentle breeze some hundred or more feet off the ground. Sango tensed, waiting for him to flop back over or do something equally crazy, but when he didn�t, she cautiously opened her eyes to find him grinning up at her, a twinkle his azure gaze.

Discomfited by how she was huddled against the apparition, Sango unknotted her arms and legs and straightened up into a sitting position. Unconsciously scooting up along his prone body, she assumed the pose she had always used when riding Kirara. Wrapping her thighs tight around his, her knees lightly touching the narrow waist just below his ribs, she used the flat of her palms against his wide chest to steady her seat. Unaware of just how intimately she was positioned against him, she leaned over to glance down at the earth far below. The trees looked much smaller than they actually were from this height.

Flushing slightly, Jin coughed. �I take it you�re no scared of heights, then?�

�No.� Sango blushed, recalling her reaction when he first grabbed her and leapt into the sky. �You just took me by surprise, is all.�

Jin stirred uncomfortably as her bottom nestled against him, unconsciously seeking a better position. His voice was a little strained as he distractedly asked, �Ye�ve flown before?�

�I---knew a nekomata. She was---a friend.� Sango looked away. Kirara had been so much more than a friend. Mother, playmate, confidante and guardian since her earliest childhood memories, the nekomata had been everything to her. Kirara had been there, even through the terrible tragedy that had befallen her family and village, and Kirara�s faith in poor Kohaku had never been shaken. Her loss was the one Sango felt most keenly, for she had lost not only her beloved houshi but the sister of her heart on that awful day when Naraku�

�Ah, so you�ll no mind if I were to do this.� Jin interrupted her thoughts by suddenly somersaulting in mid-air. Unprepared, Sango shrieked as she felt her hands fly wide and their positions abruptly reverse, so that he was now floating along face-down and she was dangling like so much dead weight below him. Only her legs kept her from falling to her death.

Thighs clamped around his waist, she tried to cross her ankles, but Jin deliberately wiggled his hips. Cheeks flaming, Sango abruptly became aware of just how intimately she was pressed against him, and in exactly what way. Another wiggle and her thighs automatically loosened. A third, and he was sailing free as she plummeted like a stone, her eyes widening in shock as he called out, �Now, lass, create the wind that�ll hold you up! You can do it! Just reach in and hurl it out like a spear for you to grip on to!�

Desperately trying to unscramble her brain---which was screaming at her that she was falling and falling fast---Sango closed her eyes and reached deep inside herself, pulling the jyaki to her and sending it outwards in a focused point just as he instructed. But something was wrong---for even as the wind burst out of her in a gust of driven force, it was dissipating even as she desperately reached for it.

�Concentrate, lass!� Jin shouted at her, impatient as he swooped beneath her and back up around the other side in a wide circle so as not to have his winds disrupt hers.

Cursing her own fumbling, Sango reached deeper, again calling up her energy and rocketing it out of her. But again, the wind disappeared even as she desperately reached after it, and she had the horrible realization that she couldn�t do what he wanted. She couldn�t create the wind---she didn�t have enough power. And she realized with a sick sensation that Kagura had never really had that power, either. The wind sorceress had always used her fan to create the winds she controlled; she had never created them herself.

For a second, Sango felt her heart freeze, and she had the sudden sensation that she was falling faster than ever to the unforgiving earth below. Her mind screamed at her to do something, and she desperately racked her brain for anything. If she couldn�t create the wind, than she could at least see it (or the jyaki that existed within it, here in Makai) and use it�and wind was all around her. Not the gusts that battered her falling body---those were useless, but there were air streams and cross-currents and---there!

Reaching out, she hooked onto it, her hands closing around the invisible gust that blew perpendicular to her headlong dive. Her heart leapt into her mouth as her head snapped back from the forceful change in direction, and she almost sobbed in relief as she tightened her grip on that saving breath of air.

Brow knit and expression troubled, Jin was suddenly there, beside her. �Grab hold my tailwind, Lily, we�re going back down. I�ll align myself to yours, hold now.�

He zoomed ahead of her, and Sango felt the battering protest as his winds whipped across her own. She concentrated, sweat beading out across her brow, and saw the strong fuchsia-fueled strength of the main wind he had created. For a moment, the natural wind she dangled from merged with his, and when it again separated, she was hanging off of his wind-trail. She felt useless, dangling like that, but she had to concentrate, for his wind was different, more slippery than the natural wind that had saved her. It changed direction as he arched back down toward the ground, though he gentled it as much as he could as he called other winds up to slow their forward motion as they neared the lily meadow where she had first met him. Unprepared for the landing, Sango tumbled head over heels as her ass flew up over her head and she landed hard on her back with an �Umph!� of escaped air.

She lay there for a long minute, thankful to be back on the solid ground and trying to catch her lost breath. A concerned pair of wide blue eyes and shaggy red hair filled her dazed vision, and Jin said, �That there was a mean knocker, eh? But not bad for your first landing, lass, not bad a�tall. You�ll be all right?�

Sango gingerly nodded, smiling weakly to reassure him.

�Well, then.� Casually waving his hand, Sango abruptly found herself pushed back up on her feet by the strong gust of wind he had summoned to do just that. Rather discomfited by his casual mastery of what she could not manage, Sango frowned unhappily.

�So. You canna create the wind.� Propping his chin on his thumb, Jin drummed two fingers against his pursed lips. �That be a right pity, but nothing we can�t work round, yes?�

�Can we?� Sango asked, troubled. �I didn�t think about it---Kagura always used a fan to control the winds.�

�Kagura?� Jin pinned her with a questioning look and Sango bit her lip.

�I�m not a real demon, Jin.� She had never had to explain it to anyone, no one had ever asked, and she stirred uncomfortably under his sharp gaze. He suddenly reminded her of Yusuke with that piercing look, as if he could peel back the layers and see right into her heart. It was not a comfortable thought.

�I had a heart transplant.� Her fingers lightly touched her chest, where her heart pounded uncommonly loud in her ears, before she turned the jerky motion into a sweep through her tangled ponytail, feeling entirely too self-conscious for someone normally as possessed as she. �It was the heart of a wind demon. Kagura. But she wasn�t a real demon, either. She was an incarnation, and somehow her heart was kept alive outside of her, and, well, anyway, after she died, I found it and�well��

�That�s no a common thing.� Jin�s eyes narrowed. �And something not easy to go through. It�d not be like a human to be that desperate.�

�I had my reasons.� Sango�s voice hardened. She didn�t have to explain her choices to anyone.

�I�ve no doubt.� Jin closed his eyes and sighed gustily. �Ah, you be as prickly as a rose, Lily, that I�m of half a mind to change me name for you.�

Sango blinked. She tended to do a lot of that around the vicarious wind demon.

�But I likes Lily better.� He suddenly grinned at her. �It certainly fits better than this Anei business. Though I�ve yet to see you flitting around in the shadows for which you�re named, so I�ll not pass me final judgment on that just yet.�

Crossing his arms behind his head, he lightly bounced into his favorite Indian-style position a foot or two above the lilies they stood among. �So, Lily, why don�t you be telling me what you know of this incarnation and what she used, eh? And maybe a bit of what it is you know how to use yourself, so I don�t be pushing you in things you shouldn�t.�

Sango told him all she knew, explaining Kagura�s attacks and how she had used her fan to summon them. She frankly admitted her own fault in not accepting herself for what she had become in the wake of her demon heart transplant, and did not flinch away from being brutally honest with its effect on others over the long years. There was a gentleness to Jin�s blue eyes that made her admit more than she would ever have thought she could, and she unburdened not only her past (though not of Naraku, that was a secret he did not need to know,) but also her troubled spirit, finally winding up with how Hiei had taught her to feel her energy and Kurama had taught her to see it for what it was and accept it.

Jin was silent for a long time, and Sango stirred uneasily, regretting her honesty and feeling rather subdued by his lack of response. But he cocked his head at her and said rather lightly, �Well, that be a muddle, and no lie, lass. You�ve been through more than I think anyone knows, and there�s more you won�t tell me, or anyone else, I�m thinking. But I know�s now what I needs to know, and that there�s good enough for now. Because while this break�s been nice and sweet here in this lovely meadow, giving us both time to recover our strength and energy, I�m now thinking about what time�s been wasted, and anxious I am to now be about and doing.�

He smiled at her, and Sango said softly, �Thank you, Jin.�

�Ah, no need to be doing all that now, lass.� He flushed, uncomfortable with the gratitude in her brown eyes. His smile turned wicked. �And I don�t know if you�ll be thanking me so much after all this be done, for now that I know what it is you might be capable of, it�s high time to see what it is you can.�

�Don�t go easy on me,� Sango said, struck by the sudden notion that he might. �I�m tougher than you think.�

�I�ve no doubt.� Jin nodded solemnly, a twinkle in his blue eyes. �Now, how fast can you move?�

That question at least prepared her for what came next. She barely jumped out of the way as he came after her with a neat roundhouse. What followed was predictable, though unconventional, as he chased her around the whole field, attacking her from every angle and any direction. Sango had to hustle to avoid him---he was nearly as fast as Yusuke, and definitely faster than her, though when he taught her how to better use the wind than she always had to help her speed, she was then able to use his own wind to her benefit.

Delighted that she had caught on so quickly to that trick, Jin rewarded her by taking it up a notch. Sango was put entirely on the defensive, and she could barely dodge as he turned the tables on her again and again, forcing her to work harder than she ever had before. Sweat poured down her body as her chest burned with the harsh breaths she was forced to take. Her arms and legs felt like jelly, but still the Shinobi pressed on and on as she retreated again and again. He seemed hardly bothered by the workout, that insane grin lighting up his sky-blue eyes as he snaked in from odd angles to attack her from above and below.

They left the field behind as Jin pressed her into the trees. Sango darted and dove, becoming utterly lost in the forest as she tried to keep away from the Shinobi�s powerful attacks. He gave no quarter, and she felt herself tiring. It was only then that she finally tapped into that hidden reservoir of energy inside herself, and leapt clear at the last moment as his fist came out of left field to smash through the tree she had been standing in front of.

Suddenly buoyant with an energy she had not known existed, Sango�s weariness fell away. Her startled expression made Jin laugh outright, and he slapped her on the back hard enough to make her stagger. �Now you�re catching on to it, Lily!�

�You�re teaching me how to figure it out on my own,� Sango wondered allowed, and Jin gave her a cheeky grin.

�Best way for you to learn quickly is to but do it. Inventing�s the son of necessary Or is it necessarily?�

�Necessity.� Sango couldn�t help but smile. �It�s a human saying: Necessity is the mother of invention.�

�Ah, well, the humans have it all bass-ackwards, they do. It�s a demon saying, it is, and it�s �Invention�s the child brought out of necessity.�� He frowned. �At least, I think that�s it. Could be Necessary. Now, that�s a question to keep a lad wondering for a good hour or two.� His ears wiggled as he made a face, before abruptly bringing the subject back to her. �Ah, well, that�s neither here nor there. Enough time�s gone. Now that you�ve tapped your true energy, lass, I think it�s time for ye to bounce.�

�Bounce?� Sango felt a twinge of apprehension. She had no clue where Jin was going with this.

�Yes. Bounce. You know: leap, jump, soar, bound.� Jin looked at her like she was daft.

�Oh.� That didn�t explain anything. She hoped he wasn�t going to be attacking her again in order to make her �bounce.�

�Up the tree, now, Lily!� Jin pointed at the huge tower they stood beside. �Best way to bounce is to use the trees themselves to boost ya.�

�Oh! Like Inuyasha!� Sango smiled in sudden comprehension.

�Inu-who?� Jin asked, but she was already scrambling up the side of the tree, using the helpful moss that hung down like a thick net. When the moss ran out, there was a good vine or two to aid her, and by then she�d reached the lowest branches. Jin took the express elevator by shooting up alongside the tree with a blast of wind-driven propulsion.

The branches swayed and creaked as he passed, and Sango grabbed hold of the trunk as she nearly slipped off her branch. She scowled at his easy climb and doubled her efforts to reach the top. Remembering how Jin had used a burst of wind to shoot him straight up, she decided to test her own �puffs� of wind to help her go from branch to branch. Her first puff almost had her over-leaping the branch she aimed for, and she landed on her stomach with a loud �Oof!� as all the wind was knocked out of her by the sturdy limb she was draped so inelegantly over.

�Ow.�

Jin�s howl of laughter didn�t help her embarrassed aggravation as she worked her arms and legs around the branch to get her back up on her feet. Clutching the tree�s bole, she scowled.

�Oh, wee, you should�ve seen your face, lass!� Jin hooted. �Ah, but it wasn�t that half a bad idea. Just focus, lass, and don�t put so much effort into it---you�re not wanting to leap off the whole tree, just bounce!�

�Bounce.� Sango�s grimace turned it into a curse as she rubbed her poor belly and eyed the next branch, which was further than the first. This time she took the time to carefully gauge the distance and how much probable force she might need, and when she released her energy, she started smiling in giddy triumph as her bare feet touched the rough bark of the sturdy-looking limb.

Which then dipped under her weight, sending her sliding right over the other side as the last of her wind pushed her over it. Arms wildly wind-milling for balance, Sango shrieked as she fell over the other side.

To groan as that lower evil branch saved her life by knocking her right in the stomach again. She hung there limp for a moment, wondering just why it was she had signed up for all this.

�Come on, lass, hurry it up! Ye can�t hang around there all the day!� Jin burst into laughter at his own terrible joke, wiping tears from his eyes as she sighed.

He scooted around the tall tree in a dizzying spiral as he called out encouragement. �Try it again, Lily! You�ll only get the hang of it with practice, and that means practicing it, which means doing it, so come on, now, let�s see you try it once more.�

Clambering back up to her feet was harder this time, but Sango was nothing if not stubborn. She wondered how many bruises she was going to have by the end of his, and winced as she took too deep a breath to steady herself. Centering her energy, she glared at the innocent branch above her and drew on her jyaki�

ooOOooOOooOOoo

SLAM!

Sango�s moan turned into a sharp hiss as she started sliding down the tree�s trunk. The rough bark scraped across her abraded cheek, and she jerked her head back even as the stars continued to circle behind her lids. Her hands convulsively tightened, stopping her slow descent even as her fingertips screamed at the abuse as she dug her bleeding palms into the scratchy wood.

�Hn.�

She tensed at the familiar sound, willing the fire demon to go away. Gods, this was humiliating enough without having an audience.

�Like Kurama, girl, you think too much.�

Her eyes flew open and she stared up at him, squinting through the solid black eye that flowered around the right. He was perched, cool as cucumber, on the very branch she had been aiming for. The smirk in his red eyes was just as mortifying as she had pictured it in her head.

She closed her eyes again.

�It shouldn�t be this hard for you to do something so simple.�

Gods, he was insufferable.

�Go �way.� Holy crap, her thighs hurt. Thank God she was wearing jeans, or her legs would have been as torn up as her arms. Her poor feet were bad enough. Jin was a sadistic tyrant. He didn�t let up, constantly chivying her to keep trying no matter how many times she missed. Perhaps, if he had given her more time to gauge the distance between the damn trees, or assess if the damn branches could hold her weight and not sway right out from under her ungraceful sprawls across them---

�Use your instincts, fool.� The bite in Hiei�s mocking voice made her want to hit him. Jerk. What was he doing here anyway? She thought the three demons had cleared off this morning so Jin could have fun torturing her in private.

And as for instincts---what instincts? What possible instincts could she possibly draw on to jump from one stinking tree to another? She wasn�t born a demon like he or Inuyasha, she had been made one, and damn it, a human didn�t go about bouncing from tree to tree like a some deranged monkey or even more deranged fire apparition.

�You really are a simple child.�

*And you�re a jerk.* Ignoring him, she tried wiggling her body around the tree�s trunk so she could stretch a toe out to the thick branch that thrust out just beyond an easy reach.

She suddenly tensed, feeling the tree sway slightly from his launching himself off of it. She had only a single moment to widen her eyes before she suddenly felt his body along hers as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled with all his might.

She let out a hoarse cry as the solid tree fell away from her. He was gone, jumping clear as she dropped like a stone. She didn�t even have time to think before she tucked herself into an inelegant dive, forcing her energy out in a short burst of wind to propel her a good two feet to the nearest branch. Grabbing hold, she could feel it bending beneath her weight. Reflexively lightening her body�s mass, she swung her legs around in a gymnastic flip that brought her up and over that same branch to stand crouched in a defensive scowl as she looked around for that red-eyed bastard who had so conveniently disappeared.

�What are you lazying about for, Lily?� Jin was suddenly there, arms folded and blue eyes glaring. �I�d not told you to go down, but up. Get on with it. I haven�t all the day.�

Sango was ready to kill all demons. Eyes flashing, she used that burst of anger to leap for the next branch---the one she had first been aiming for before she smacked face-first into the damn trunk. This time, she didn�t give herself time to think about it, and she landed with a neat crouch, launching herself for the next even as her feet touched the first. She staggered slightly on the branch Hiei had been on, but that reminder fueled her next leap, which brought her up to the top, which she clutched in dizzy triumph.

Jin beamed, launching himself into a swooping circle around her. �That�s the way of it, lass! See? I knew you�d get the hang o� it!�

Wiping her sweaty forehead, Sango offered him a weak smile. Damn, she hated the fact that little red-eyed bastard was right. She had been over-thinking, instead of just letting her body do what it had already been trained to do.

�Come now, Lily! You still have six more to go to the forest�s edge. Let�s bounce!� Jin landed on a branch just long enough to launch himself across the twenty feet that separated the two trees from each other. Sighing, Sango followed suit, adding two bursts of her wind to get her over the same space that he had only used one. This time, she landed with far more grace, and was up and off to the next tree without first thinking about it. Perhaps she had gotten the hang of it. Elation filled her as she made the next four jumps with none of the problems she had had before, and she leapt to the last one with a grin, delighted in the way the air whistled around her as she body arced up high and then swung back down so fast.

Too fast. *Damn!*

She made a grab for the tree, arms protesting as she slammed into the prickly needles of the tall pine as it bent almost into a sideways L as her body was hurled over it, completely flipping over so that she now hung by her bare hands over her head, the bent tree behind her.

Crap.

She hung on for dear life, praying that her arms would hold her even as they screamed in protest and shook from the strain. She ruthlessly dug for that pool of elemental energy that she had discovered inside herself just that morning, and realized in shock that it was almost gone. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to think, damn it, and nothing came. *Damn it! I can�t just hang around here all day.*

There was a gusty sigh beside her, and Jin shook his head as she glanced over at him. Lying on his side beside her, the wind demon breezily floated, his head propped up on one fist as he wagged a finger at her with the other. �Now, lass, if your own energy�s all used up, wouldn�t it be occurring to you that there�s more about that you can? The very air�s full of jyaki, and it�s all around you. I shouldn�t have to tell you that.�

�Why not?� she demanded.

�Cause you�re thinking too much like a human and not enough like a demon, who�d take it for granted.�

�I am a human. Or was!� Sango protested, arms screaming.

�Well, you�re not now, so quit acting like it,� Jin scolded, though his blue eyes were compassionate for her struggle to understand. He suddenly smiled. �And since you have enough energy to sass at me, than that tells me you�ll have enough energy to get yourself down, no?�

He was off, leaving Sango to stare after the disappearing speck of him even as she
sighed. Damn him, he was right. She had been in much worse circumstances than this, and with much less energy to draw on. Forcing her tired body to obey her commands, she buoyed her dwindling jyaki with what existed around her, drawing it in like a siphon, though it was harder to tap than she had expected. It did restore her enough so that she could finally descend. Lighting her body weight to a mere fraction of what it was, she fell like a feather from branch to branch, until she finally fell on the grass in an untidy sprawl.

�He�s really kicking your ass, isn�t he?�

Sango forced her eyes open. She shouldn�t have been as surprised as she was to see the Spirit Detective sitting there with a lop-sided grin on his face. Damn demons were everywhere.

�I can manage,� she growled, heaving herself back up to her feet.

�Probably.� Yusuke grinned at her. �Nice black eye, by the way.�

�Thanks.� Her voice was dry as she put her knuckles on her lower spine and stretched. Several vertebrae popped. At least the soreness and bruises would be healed in a few hours. Ugh. She felt like she�d been hit by a bus, and the day wasn�t even over yet. Jin probably had a whole new set of tortures he was just dying to put her through.

Speaking of which---she whipped around to face the Wind Master, who was standing in the shadows behind her. He gave her a toothy grin, fangs glinting at he emerged from beneath the tree and out into the rosy daylight.

�Well, I see you made it down all right. I think that�s enough leaping about for now. How about I show you some attacks?�

Curiosity piqued, Sango felt her exhaustion drain away. �Really?�

�Wow, I should really be disturbed by just how eager you suddenly are.� Yusuke smirked, getting to his feet. �Don�t mind if I stick around, do you, Jin? I wanna see this.�

�Don�t mind at all, Urameshi, and that�s no lie. You can tell me if her aim�s off.�

Sango didn�t particularly like having an audience, especially a smart ass like Yusuke, but she wasn�t going to fuss about it, especially when Jin added with a sly grin, �We can use you for target practice.�

�Wait---what?� Yusuke stopped in his tracks with a scowl.

�What, are you afraid of a few gentle little breezes, Urameshi? Or have you lost that nice speed of yours while you�ve been lazying about since the Dark Tournament?�

�Heh.� Yusuke grunted, borrowing one of Kurama�s pet phrases but putting a lot more smirk into it. �See if you can even catch me, you old blowhard!�

�Now there�s more the spirit!� Jin threw Sango a wink. �I thought you were getting a bit soft in your old age, Urameshi.�

�Soft? Me? Ha!� Yusuke grinned wickedly. �Just wait until you feel my fist along your face, Jin---you�ll see how soft it is!�

He swung and Jin ducked, laughing as he threw a good left of his own and Yusuke barely turned aside to avoid it. They continued to bait and bicker and dodge each other�s half-hearted punches as Sango trailed after the crazy pair. She shook her head over how they could insult each other so badly that it made the other crack up in a fit of laughter even as they tried to top the other�s lame threats.

They finally came to wherever it was Jin was leading them, and she surveyed the sloping valley with an eye for the dead trees that stood like short, grey sentinels here and there. Grass had sprung up among the razed timber, for the area had not been made naturally, but was the result of a forest fire some time in the past.

�I think this�ll do nicely, no? Plenty of room and nothing much to tear up.� Jin bounced to the middle of the oblong field, landing on a pointy grey trunk to scout around with a smile.

�This place will work as good as any other for me to kick your ass.� Yusuke shrugged.

�Ah, but you forget, Urameshi, much as I�d like that and have no doubt, we�re here to show Anei a thing or two, no?� Jin wagged an admonishing finger at the Mazoku, who grinned.

�Ah, well, any other time will work, too, I guess.� Scuffing the grass with his bare feet, Yusuke dropped his hands in his pockets. �So where you want me, windy?�

�Ah, that there�ll do fine, lad. I�m thinking to show Anei what it is that I be doing with the wind. Why don�t you sit your pretty self down, lass, and I can show you my famous Tornado Fist.� Jin flexed his arms, much to Sango�s amusement. She�d never seen so much posturing as those two were good at. Willing to let them, and curious to see what Jin could do, she settled herself under the shade and watched as Jin called up his energy.

�Ah, you would start with that crap.� Yusuke rolled his eyes. �You gotta get some better moves, Mr. Windy-Pants.�

Jin only smiled, ignoring the ex-detective to explain, �Now, Lily, I start up the wind with a roll of my arm, see here? Feed my energy into it, keep it rolling, and see how the wind starts spinning round it? Ain�t it a thing o� beauty? I invented it meself, you know.�

Yusuke made some crack about how he should have known that weak-ass move was one only Jin could come up with, but Sango was surprised by the focused turbulence that surrounded the youkai�s extended wrist. A literal tornado had formed around the wind apparition�s lower arm, from elbow to just past his fist. The whipping wind was strong enough that it was pulling even her ponytail over her shoulder, and bits of leaves and grass were torn up in its swirling eddies.

�Now, I�ll show you what it can do, and if Yususke will just stand there and oblige me, I�ll knock him right into next week.� Jin was off like a shot, spinning fist aimed straight for the smirking detective.

�Like hell!� Yusuke dodged at the last minute, easily avoiding the demon�s fist. Jin�s blow landed on the ground, drilling into the earth a good foot or two and churning up grass and dirt and rocks in a wide circle around it. Yanking his hand back out, Jin leapt again for the Mazoku, who dodged and taunted, staying a step or two ahead of the chasing wind demon as they raced around the field like two little boys playing tag.

Two rather dangerous little boys, for the field looked pretty pathetic once they got through with it. Jin�s Tornado Fist had managed to destroy most of the dead trees and had carved several good-sized holes out of the sloping ground by the time they finished the impromptu game. Hardly winded by the exercise, the two of them slapped each other on the back and declared a truce as they climbed back up to where Sango had sat and watched the show.

�Ah, that was fun, and I�d like nothing more than to chase you all day, Urameshi, but we should see what it is the wee lass can do, yes?�

Expression growing measuring, Yusuke looked at Sango, who met his brown eyes squarely. He smiled. �I don�t think she�ll have the same strength of arm that you do, Jin, to pull off your signature windy-punch.�

�Aye,� Jin agreed, studying her critically. Sango frowned. �Much as she�s got a good muscle on that arm, she�s still a wee bit of a thing, and don�t be forgetting she�s just a girl.�

�What has that to do with anything?� Sango demanded, brows coming down. There was nothing that could rile her up faster than to be denied something just because of her sex.

The two demons exchanged a grin just before Jin propped his arms behind his head and said oh-so-innocently, �Ah, don�t be cross, Lily. Much as I�d like to see you all hot and bothered---and on account of me, no less---we were just agreeing that you probably don�t have the strength to do just what it is that I do with the tornado wind and all. I think you�d be better at the wind blades, or even making something you can go and toss about.�

�Wind blades?� Intrigued by the idea, Sango flexed her fingers, missing her knives and wondering if that was what he meant and how she could do such a thing with something as ephemeral as the wind. But then, come to think of it, Kagura had had that move.

She said so, though she cautioned him that Kagura had always used her fan to help create her Dance of Blades, and wondered if she could even hold something for longer than the few seconds her �puffs� of energy had allowed her when trying to fly and bounce, as Jin had so succinctly put it.

Jin smiled. �Ah, but there�s one wee difference. It�s a short burst of energy that you�ll need to start with. Tie it to the wind around you, and it will feed on itself.�

Sango�s brow knit in confusion. �Tie it to the wind?�

�Think of it this way, lass.� Jin sat down beside her and brought up his hands. Lightly circling one finger above his open hand, he formed a small tornado in the cup of his palm. He held it there for a minute, than brought it up to his mouth and blew lightly. It grew larger. �See how it grows with just my breath? That�s how something ye form can feed on itself.�

�So I should breathe---�

�Hold now, Lily, I�m not done.� Jin�s blue eyes twinkled at her impatience. �Now, you don�t have the energy in you, being a half-demon, to sustain your wind. You can create but a short burst of energy or force, yes? Which goes like this�� He let the small tornado go; it immediately dissipated. Starting another one, he said, �But if you toss it, like this, you�ll see that it creates its own wind just by moving, no? And it will last longer.�

He made a throwing motion, and the small, spinning tornado arched up for some few feet before finally dissolving in a whispering breeze. �Now---with practice, mind---you can put more force behind it, and add more of your energy to give it strength and distance.� He demonstrated with a third tornado, the muscles cording along his arm before he let it go. Yusuke whistled in appreciation as it whizzed out across the field, growing bigger by its passage until it finally hit the ground with a muffled blast.

Standing up to better catch its descent, Sango�s mouth fell open.

�Why the hell didn�t you use one of those wind-bombs back in the Dark Tournament, you damn hold-out?� Yusuke punched Jin in the shoulder in surprise.

�Ah, well, Urameshi,� Jin blushed, rubbing a hand through his shaggy red hair, �they�re not so good for getting in close enough to your opponent so as to know if you were the one who felled him or not. I like to feel my own punch land, you know? That way you can tell if it was a good solid knock or not, yes?�

�You crazy bugger!� Yusuke grinned, completely understanding. He usually kept his Spirit Gun as a last resort just because he liked using his fists. It was a whole hell of a lot more fun that way.

�Ah, if anyone would be the one to understand, it�s you, lad.� They both turned in surprise as they felt a fresh wind whip past them.

Eyes closed and turned slightly to her right, Sango again drew her arms past her in a half-circle, gathering the jyaki in the air up to then send it arching out across the field. It spread like a wide wave, gathering strength as it swept over the grass, finally spending itself on the trees along the far side, who bent and groaned restlessly in its wake.

Delighted, Jin leapt to her side. �Ah, so you do know how to throw your wind out. And do you see how it gathers strength and creates more wind just by its passing? And you already know how to tie the first wee burst to the second, without even so much as me having to explain it---do it again and you�ll but see it for yourself!�

Frowning, Sango swept her arms out again, this time concentrating on the jyaki that existed in the air she sent curling away from her. She saw how the energy funneled right out of the palms of her hands, which tingled with her heightened awareness. It then swept out beyond, gathering more jyaki from the very air of its passage before it spent itself against the far trees. She wasn�t certain how it twined together---perhaps it was the way she bent her hands and curled it out. She tried a few times, just to get the feel of it, and when she laid her hands flat, the air just dissipated, so that had to be it.

Jin sat back, a smirk on his face, letting her work it out on her own as he had done with everything, really. His teaching manner was a far cry from her father�s, who had broken each and every move down into its separate and distinct parts and then had her practice each until the motions became automatic. This was rougher, and she had to work harder, but it would also allow her to practice on her own, without Jin�s supervision. And perhaps that was entirely the point.

�Now ye see how to make the energy flow,� Jin jumped down from his airy seat and stalked over to her side, �I want you to try to contain it within your very palm.� He pulled her right hand up, lightly cupping it in his as his other finger made a swirling motion in the middle of her palm. Sango watched, fascinated, as one of his small tornados formed, tickling across her skin. �Take it over, lass, and feed your energy into it.�

She did, delighted as it grew slightly larger. But that wasn�t the point of the exercise, rather it was to keep the small tornado steady, and channeling her energy at a constant restraint required a lot more concentration and hard work than she expected. Sweat beaded her brow as she focused on keeping it going. Her arm started trembling, but she ruthlessly stilled it, bringing her iron will to bear as her eyes narrowed and her jaw firmed.

�Stubborn, ain�t she?� Yusuke grinned at Jin, who smiled distractedly. He let her keep the tornado going for a minute more, until she found the correct balance between directing her energy and keeping the flow sure and steady, then touched her wrist lightly to gain her attention.

Sango blinked, and he winked at her. �Now that you�ve got the rhythm of it, lass, I want you to toss it out like you be doing with the breeze.�

Biting her lip, Sango turned just enough so that the little tornado�s winds could twine with the jyaki in the air of its passage, and watched with exhilaration as it arched across the field, landing not far from Jin�s tornado-hole and carving a small hole of its own.

Yusuke whistled, rather impressed. �Damn, that�s pretty good for your first try!�

�Isn�t it just?� Jin beamed, more than smug with his student�s quick aptitude. He patted her lightly on the shoulder to show his approval, but got straight back to business, cautioning her, �Now comes the hard part. Making your own wee tornado.�

Making her own tornado proved to be beyond her ability, and Sango grew frustrated as her spinning finger did little more than tug at nearby breezes and swirl them around her. But that actually gave her an idea, one she proposed to the wind demon, who looked surprised and rather intrigued by the notion.

�Well, now that�s not half-bad,� he murmured thoughtfully, and Yusuke, who had grown restless with nothing much happening, snorted.

�Ah, just fucking try it. Can�t hurt,� he growled, crossing his arms and waiting impatiently for them to just get on with it.

Jin grinned. �Well, if it ain�t the truth than we�ll find the lie of it sooner than later, eh? So, lass, let�s see if what you think will help.�

Sango nodded absentmindedly, biting her lip as she thought of what movements she could use that might work best. There were certain hand-to-hand defensive maneuvers she had learned over the centuries that were a rough rudimentary of modern tai chi, and that might help. Relaxing and grounding herself, she brought her hands up, waving them around each other in a poetic dance that was actually nothing of the sort, for the muscles along her bare arms stood out as she held the tension within, feeding her jyaki into the air she was pulling in around her by the simple motions.

Right over left, left over right, slightly angled---tighter on the second go, even tighter on the third---and suddenly it was there, a ball of spinning wind that was like and yet unlike Jin�s miniature tornados, for it spun every which way and whirled on a constantly changing axis. She tried feeding her energy into it, trying to keep it alive like she had Jin�s tornado, but the edges were already starting to slither away into errant little wisps of breezes.

�You�ll not be able to keep that one up, it�s too unstable, lass, so best to let it go, and right quick. It�ll do the trick well enough, though, for what you�ll be using it for.� Jin grinned, pleased with her accomplishment.

Sango did as he instructed, throwing the small, wind-laced ball with all her might. It soared up, growing slightly larger as it fed on the wind of its passage, and then gouged a respectable, if small, sized hole in the ground as it landed. Clods of earth flew out from the spinning impact, and the grass was tossed back a good three feet in a mad circle around it.

�Now that�s a nice blow job.� Yusuke smirked, particularly pleased with that clever double entendre.

Sango didn�t find it that funny, but Jin certainly did.

ooOOooOOooOOoo

After several attempts at her �wind-balls�---a name Yusuke had coined and one Sango was determined to replace, and the sooner the better---Jin called a halt and had her practicing simple sweeps of the air. He had her focus on strengthening the outer edge of each until they resembled Kagura�s Wind Blades, after a fashion. The move was awkward, though simple. Throwing her weight and jyaki behind her dominant arm, she swept it from behind her in a half-circle motion, fingers spread and palm down. The half-circle of wind that formed behind the motion then swept out while she concentrated on reinforcing the jyaki of the outer edge until it became as keen as a tornado�s wind, which had the force to drive a piece of straw right through the middle of a tree.

Knowing what she had to do and doing it was proving rather difficult. She was tired, not just physically, but mentally, and she could feel her reserves stretching to the point where she was ready to fall flat on her face. She ignored the weariness, sinking into that dangerous place where one felt no pain, and pressed on, determined to succeed. It was only when Jin noticed that her hands were shaking, something she hadn�t even felt, that he called a halt to the exercise.

�Enough, lass. Ye�ll no be learning everything in the passing of a single day. What�s important is that you now know what is you can do and what it is you�ll need to do. Only practice will give ya more, and there�s plenty o� time for that. Now, I say it�s high a�time we call it quits.� Jin smiled at her frown. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he gave her a light squeeze in understanding. Sango was too tired to shrug him off, and was by now so used to the wind apparition�s grabby habits that she didn�t even half-notice as he bumped his hip against hers and turned his grin on Yusuke, who was rubbing his bare stomach as he yawned.

�Lord knows I�m hungry enough to eat a bear---even a demon one.� Yusuke grimaced, running his fingers through his black hair. �Have I mentioned, Jin, that I really hate camping? Living rough sucks, and I�m starting to think demon world is one damn big park.�

Dropping his arm from around her shoulders to jab Sango in the ribs with an elbow, Jin laughed. �Ah, Urameshi, you�ve yet to see the best part of Makai. We�ve a few cities here and there, with any and all the amenities you ever could wish it for. I just didn�t know you were so soft, lad.�

�Soft?� Yusuke rounded on the demon. �I�ll show you soft, you breezy bastard!�

He swung, and Jin ducked away, laughing. Yusuke pounced, and it was Jin�s turn to send a fist flying. Somehow, their ridiculous antics carried them back the way they had come, and Sango followed with a tired smile and shake of her head as the two fighters kept disappearing and reappearing among the trees in front of her path. She felt weariness settling across her tight shoulders, and her feet felt heavy as she finally trudged that last bit up the hill to their deserted campsite, leaving Jin and Yusuke back among the trees.

Well, relatively deserted. For even as she forced her feet up that last bit, one hand steadying her against a convenient rock that thrust out at the right height for her to grip onto and lean against, she heard a familiar snippy demon making a cutting remark at her.

�How pathetic. Beaten by your own element.�

Beaten was right---she could just imagine what she looked like, black eye and bruised head to toe, with enough scratches and cuts across bare skin to make it look like a spider web. The fat lip probably didn�t add much charm, either. That obnoxious little bastard didn�t have to bother pointing it out though, damn him. Bad enough he had basically tossed her bodily out of a tree today. But she was too damn tired to even summon half a glare to scowl up at him, so she chose to be the bigger person, and just ignore him.

Her belts and boots were laid neatly beside her folded cloak just to one side of the cave�s entrance. It looked too inviting a pillow, and she flopped right down onto it, not even caring that it was outside and she was lying on stone. Her body went limp and her brain went dead. Within seconds, she was sound asleep.

ooOOooOOooOOoo

�Hn.�

He had to do everything, didn�t he? If those two morons weren�t still playing pounce among the trees, than he could have made one of them haul her dead carcass up and into the stupid cave, or if she had not been so stupid as to expend all of her damn energy trying to do so damn much, than he could have woken her up to do it her own damn self. As it was, Kurama was half-a-wood away, and he was up here with a passed out idiot of a taiji-ya who didn�t know when to call it quits.

The corner of Hiei�s mouth twitched. He actually had to respect that. Tenacious, stubborn, all-consumed and completely uncaring if she wasted her energy down to nothing so long as she did all she damn could to prove herself.

�Foolish woman.� He sneered at her as he neatly jumped from his perch on the cave�s roof and down by her side. �What a bother.�

His eyes said different as he hauled her up in his arms. She was surprisingly light, as if made from the very air that was her element. Her head lolled until he reflexively shifted his shoulder so that her cheek nestled into the curve of his neck, her breath warm against his throat, which tightened slightly at the feel of it. Somehow the heat of her was transferring to the heat of him, and he could feel his body temperature rising minutely in reaction.

That had to be the reason. It couldn�t be the fact that there was something rather appealing in the fact that she was so soft and limp in his strong arms as he stalked into the dark cave, dragging her damn cloak along after them.

What a ridiculous thought. He despised weakness and despised stupidity even more. She was an idiot to have drained herself so thoroughly that she had left herself at the mercy of any passing demon by passing out like that, and not during a real fight, when the expenditure of energy for one�s very survival might be necessary, but no, it was because she was just too damn stubborn to know when to damn well quit.

He frowned, eyes glowing slightly in the darkness as he finally chose a relatively good spot to dump her. The rocky ground dipped a bit, providing a kind of cradle that might be a little better than the hard, unforgiving floor. Wrapping her up firmly in that annoyingly long cloak with its stupid spells, he carefully laid her down so that she faced the wall. The dark bruise around her right eye was already healing enough that it was starting to green and yellow around the edges, adding a distinctly putrid cast to the purple flower against her creamy skin. The thin fold of one edge of her cloak didn�t look too comfortable a pillow, and he stirred irritably.

Before he could dwell on his unnatural actions, he had pulled his own coat off. Folding it, he lifted her head up with a gentle hand so that he could slip it under her. She let out a sigh, rubbing her cheek along the warm fabric before slumping back into somnolence. Her black bangs feathered across her cheek, covering the putrid flower around her eye, and she looked---peaceful.

Innocent.

Hiei�s attention turned sharply as he heard Yusuke�s whine coming up the hill. He could sense Kurama not too far behind, Jin�s windy aura beside him. Scowling, Hiei cast one last glance back at the sleeping slayer before ducking back outside into the coming dusk, his eyes hooded and expression kept carefully blank.
*~*~*~*~*~*

SECOND A/N:

And since that wasn�t enough reading and typing to torture you with, I have a scrap of a scene that I deleted but had to tag on the end as a �Just For Shits and Giggles� because I loved it. It just had no place in the flow of this insanely long chapter. So here it �tis, as a belated gift for St. Patty�s Day. Erin go Bragh!

�I�ll be needing a few recruits to help me out.� Jin smiled. �With the training, mind.�

�You should use Kurama. He�s more ruthless than Hiei. Hiei�s honor won�t allow him to use his full strength on someone weaker than him.�

Sango glared.

Cocking an eyebrow at the serene fox, Jin looked doubtful. �I dunno, now. I�m thinking he might be a bit too involved emotionalleee-oh-aye, OW! What�d you do that for, you wee bugger?�

�You are a fool, air demon. Kurama will never allow his emotions to get in the way of what he ever thinks he must do.� Hiei sneered, his fist still curled.

Rubbing his bruised cheek, Jin looked thoughtful.

�What, are you now considering that Hiei go after her with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame?� Yusuke demanded with a grinning leer. Hiei gave him a flat stare.

�What�s that?� Sango asked, curiously looking at the fire demon.

�Oh, uh, well, hopefully you�ll never know.� Yusuke shuddered in memory of it.

�I�d say that Dragon�d make a rather lousy house pet, wouldn�t it just? Oooh---OW! What the hell, Kurama, that whip�s a wee bit much, doncha think?�

HAHAHAHAHA!
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The Heart Within