Embrace the Darkness

*Disclaimer* Still don't own anything...Why do I write these things, anyway... It's not like anyone reads them...

Over the next few months, Kurama found himself surprised again and again over his treatment by the Goddess of Darkness. He had expected to be little more than a slave, used for menial labor and, possible, sexual pleasure. Instead, the Goddess looked at him more and more like a friend, a constant companion, and, grudgingly, Kurama found that he felt the same towards her.

Youko was the first to accept the Goddess. Though she had killed his lover, she treated him kindly, hardly ever asking him to do anything for her. She seemed to enjoy pampering him, feeding him rich foods, ordering her servants to indulge his every whim, letting him wander the castle as freely as he wanted. The winning factor had been when he had stumbled upon her rose garden.

The Goddess' rose garden was a huge thing, taking up the entire west courtyard in an explosion of reds, whites, pinks, yellows, and, occasionally, blues. Youko had found it in one of his morning explorations and had promptly laid down in the very center and fallen asleep. He had woken to find the Goddess silhoutted against the stars behind her, laughing softly.

"I take it you like this garden?"

Youko only gave a somewhat drunken nod. The Goddess laughed harder.

"Then it is yours."

Youko sat bolt upright. "It's-what?"

"It's yours," she reiterated. "My servants do a pretty good job of keeping it in bloom, but if it would make you happy, I would love to see the improvements if it was kept under a youko's care."

The fox was speechless. From then on, he devoted at least three hours a day to tending to his garden, humming happily and occasionally helped by the Goddess herself, who would come down and roll up her sleeves, working alongside him in comfortable silence. It was during one of those times that Youko realized she was trying to gain his friendship, his love, and that she had succeeded.

Shuuichi was slower to forgive and forget. He remained aloof whenever Youko gave up control of their body, choosing to remain locked in his room, and had his meals brought to him. Youko was constantly trying to get him to at least talk to the Goddess, but he bluntly refused.

The first nudge toward friendship for Shuuichi came on the day that the Goddess came bursting into his room without knocking, something she had sworn never to do. Shuuichi tensed and stood, ready to give her what-for, when he caught the flushed, excited look on her face and promptly sat back down again. Whatever she had to say was important, that much he knew.

The Goddess didn't even notice. Instead, she reached into one of her sleeves and produced a small glass vial filled with liquid. It gave off a steady, pulsing white glow, and Shuuichi found himself almost mesmerized as he gazed at it.

"I've done it," the Goddess whispered, sounding somewhat in awe.

Shuuichi looked sharply at her. "Done what?"

She didn't look at him, but kept her shining eyes on the vial. "This vial contains the potion that will make you and Youko tangible to one another."

Shuuichi drew in a sharp breath. 'Can it be?'

Youko sounded just as breathless. 'I think so. She promised she would try, and, with her powers, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd actually done it.'

Shuuichi stepped forward, hand outstretched. The Goddess placed the vial gently in his palm, and Shuuichi now realized that it pulsed with heat, as well.

"What do I do?"

"Just drink it. If my calculations are correct, it should work." The Goddess watched anxiously as Shuuichi downed the entire contents of the bottle in one go, shivering with delight as the warmth spread throughout his body. His eyes slid shut as his skin began to tingle, and when he opened them again, the Goddess was staring at him with her mouth slightly ajar.

Shuuichi frowned. Had it worked? His answer came when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked down at it to see that it was pale, and that the fingers were tipped in deadly claws.

Turning slightly, he followed the hand, the arm, up to the shoulder, where it connected to a tall, pale, flawless body. His eyes locked with Youko's gold ones.

'I-it worked.'

'Yes, Shuuichi. It did.'

A sudden cry from the Goddess made them both turn in surprise. She had jumped into the air, punching her fist up in celebration.

"YES!!"

Both males laughed, the sound finally mingling in the outer air in a perfect blend of alto and baritone. The sound made them stare at one another in shock again.

"How, exactly, does this work?" Shuuichi asked suddenly. "Can we rejoin?"

The Goddess nodded. "Yes, you merely need to concentrate on the process, and then embrace one another. The one who is giving up control will be absorbed into the body of the one who is not."

The boys shrugged, then stepped forward and embraced one another. In a flash of light, Youko was absorbeto Sto Shuuichi's chest, and then only the human stood there. He turned once more to the Goddess, eyes shining, happy tears trickling down his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but then, his eyes steeled again, and he shut it with a snap, turning away from her abruptly. The Goddess only sighed and left without a word.

Shuuichi did not truly begin to love the Goddess until his first visit to the human world. It fell on his mother's birthday, and as he appeared before her, and her eyes filled with tears of shock and gratefulness, Shuuichi felt his heart warm to the Goddess. After all, it was only with her help that he was here at all.

When he returned that night and found Youko and the Goddess seated at the kitchen table playing cards, he smiled and asked softly, "Mind if I join you?"

Both looked up in surprise, and the Goddess gave a huge smile.

"Not at all, Shuuichi. Jump right in."

The human pulled up a chair and sat beside her, taking the cards she offered him, and allowing his fingers to linger on her hands for a moment as he took them, letting her know of his changed feelings. They played in silence for a while, until Shuuichi began to tell them about his visit. From that moment on, the three formed an unbreakable bond, and Kurama found himself truly happy.

Well, I think I'll end it here for now...I had more, but I figured it would be way too long if I continued it all in tchapchapter... I think I want to put in another lemon, between the newly-separated Youko and Shuuichi... How do you guys feel about that? Write me a review and tell me what you think, okay?

Mz.Bitz.: Thanks for the review!! Yup, Youko and Shuuichi are separated now... It's always something I've wanted to see, their interactions with one another if they were ever in separate bodies. I mean, they never really interact in the shows, but Youko seems to care for Shuuichi, and that formed the basis of this...rather strange idea...Leave a review and tell me what you think, okay?