A/N: Final chapter. YAY!

Type 1 fic warning

Recap: Botan and Hiei plotted to run away together, Koenma overheard the whole thing.

Chapter 19: They Don't Know

But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melted to the ground
Found something true
And everyone's looking 'round
Thinking I'm going crazy
But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding love
(Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis)

Botan had been staring at her reflection for so long that when she closed her eyes she could see an imprint of her own face on the inside of her eyelids. She had bathed and dressed in her traditional pink kimono, taming and tying her hair up in a high ponytail that was scraped perhaps a little tighter than usual, mainly because she was nervous and unable to fully control her movements. It was late and almost time for her to leave her quarters and return to the prison wing one last time to wait for the guard on duty to finish his shift so that she could sneak in and release Hiei. She was terrified that she would be caught or that her plan would somehow go wrong: but strangely not because of what it would mean for her, but rather what it would mean for Hiei, as he faced certain death if she could not get him out of spirit world.

She wished that he had not removed the Mejiru Shiiru label he had attached to her back in demon world.

She was however glad that he had returned the Concentration Ring, as she had been able to return it to Koenma, which had cheered him and helped ease the tension that had been building between them. In the many years that Botan had worked for Koenma there had never been any tension between them, but since her return from the city of ghosts and apparitions, things had been terrible, and she knew that it was mostly because she was hiding secrets from him. Hiding secrets was a very dangerous thing to do, and usually Botan did not like keeping secrets, but this was one she would always have to keep. And the rewards would be worth it, she told herself, because she was going to be with Hiei.

Botan saw her reflection smile. She had never thought that she would find love, and it had happened so suddenly and unexpectedly. It had also happened with a demon who had claimed not to believe in love, but that had not stopped him from gaining an appreciation for it. She was looking forward to spending more time with Hiei and him opening up more to her and better understanding the real meaning of love – the true meaning of love – rather than the warped idea he had about it in his head. Before being trapped in the city of ghosts and apparitions with Hiei, Botan had never wanted anything for herself, but she was now consumed by her desire to have Hiei for herself.

She tugged at her clothing one last time before finally turning away from the mirror. The clock on her bedroom wall told her it was almost half past one in the morning – the prison guard on the twilight shift finished at around ten minutes before two – and she had planned to leave her room at exactly half past one in order to get to the prison wing in time to carry out her plan. She decided instead to leave immediately and use the extra few minutes to double-check that Koenma was still in his private quarters (and therefore most likely still asleep). Whilst she did not expect Koenma to follow her even if he was awake and in his office, she was aware that, in general, the residents of spirit world slowed down and slacked off their duties slightly when they knew for sure that Koenma was asleep and not watching over them, which would make it easier for her to get to the prison wing without being seen going there.

Botan left her room and walking swiftly and silently through the halls of residence and towards Koenma's office. It was a journey she had made so many times, she thought she could probably have done it with her eyes closed; but, she realised, this would probably be the last time she did ever make that journey. She felt a little sad, but her excitement about starting a new life for herself was too great to be overcome by any minor regrets she had. She soon reached her destination and found her boss's office to be in darkness, and, peering in through the doorway and looking about, she could not see any signs of life within the room, and, as there were no guards, administration ogres with unreasonable piles of paperwork or ferry girls in the immediate vicinity of the office door, Botan turned around and started towards the main atrium and the prison wing beyond it.

She had rarely wandered around the temple at night, as usually she was either sleeping or working, and it was always eerie to see the halls so devoid of life. The silence around her seemed almost too much, and she found herself straining to listen for noise and then worrying that if she did encounter someone or hear something, she would probably be startled after enduring such solitude and silence for so long. Her nerves were already frayed to the point that her extremities were numb and every time she turned a corner she felt a little light-headed, and so she tried to distract herself by focusing on looking at ease and walking casually, so that if she did encounter someone, they would not be suspicious of her.

As it was, Botan made it to the prison wing without incident, seeing barely more than a dozen ogres and only one ferry girl, none of whom had noticed her as they moved about their own business. At the prison wing she slowed down and crept up to the main door, spying through it to see the guard on duty doing a few final checks on some of the prisoners in the main prison hall before ending his shift. Botan slipped into an alcove and concealed herself in the shadows, where she waited until the ogre had exited the prison wing and walked off. Once she was sure that he was out of sight and out of earshot she dashed over to the main entrance and quickly typed in the over-ride code to the door lock.

Inside the main prison, Botan tried to tip-toe by the cells unnoticed, but, unfortunately for her, several of the inmates were still awake. They were all demons, they were all relatively weak and they were all being held for minor offences, but although she was in no real danger from them attacking her, when they began calling out to her she did worry that they might be heard and draw attention to her unauthorised presence there.

"Hey, hey, check it out! Here comes the entertainment!"

Botan gasped and glared angrily at the horned demon who was leering at her through the bars of his cell, and promptly realised her mistake when he grinned at her response.

"Careful, it's one of those tightly-wound, virgin ferry girls!" another demon called over.

"Hey!" Botan protested.

"They're not real though, right?" a third demon asked.

"I dunno, she looks real enough to me," the first demon said, eying Botan over in a way that made her shudder in disgust and start to walk faster. "If I can see her and I can feel her, isn't that real enough?"

Botan screamed and broke into a run as the demon in question reached a hand out of his cell, his arm extending and flexing around the bars to follow after her. The other inmates howled with laughter and cheered him on, and a glance over her shoulder showed Botan why: the demon's arm could extend faster than she could run.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted, summoning her oar and quickly dodging out of his reach.

She ducked and weaved her way along the long corridor and down the steps at the end of it, taking herself to the door to death row. There she leapt off her oar and used it to smack away the demon's hand which had, miraculously, managed to reach her there. She quickly typed in the over-ride code and leapt into the darker, smaller wing of the prison, hurriedly opening the lock on Hiei's cell door and sliding the door aside. Hiei emerged from the darkness as the demon's hand reappeared near Botan, and in a move too fast for Botan's eyes, Hiei grabbed at the hand and closed his fist around it, tearing the hand from the demon's arm.

Botan gulped as she heard a distant scream, her eyes watching the bloody stump of an arm retracting back out of sight. Hiei casually flung aside the hand he had taken and then wiped his hands on his coat.

"Where are my possessions?" he asked.

Botan numbly pointed back in the direction she had come from and Hiei nodded his head at her oar. She awkwardly lowered it and sat onto it, waiting until she felt Hiei climb on behind her before taking off again. As they flew back through the main prison the nature of the jeers from the other prisoners changed from perverse suggestions to demands for freedom, and Botan had to fight to block them out. She took Hiei to the main entrance where they recovered his sword and a small amount of demon world currency that had been taken from him.

"Relax," Hiei said as he stuffed the money into a pocket of his coat.

"I can't, I'm scared," Botan whispered back.

"It's too late for that," he replied, fixing his sword to the back of his pants and then concealing it beneath his coat.

"Hold my hand," she said.

Hiei hesitated, his eyes on Botan's outstretched hand, and for a moment she thought that he might refuse.

"We have to move quickly," he reminded her before finally taking her hand in his.

She smiled and lingered for a few seconds in the comforting feeling of the warmth of his touch. She knitted her fingers through his and silently marvelled at the way their hands fit together so perfectly before nodding and sitting onto her oar again. Keeping hold of her hand, Hiei climbed onto the blade of the oar, and together they took off out of the prison wing and back into the main atrium.

Koenma, George and the ogre due to start the next shift of prison guard duty all sat around a television screen. The picture was frequently changing as George switched between security cameras to allow them to follow Botan's progress through the temple. So far she had, without hesitation or apparent doubt, carried out her plan to release Hiei from prison and escape with him to the living world.

"Lord Koenma."

Koenma looked over the top of the television to see the twilight shift guard entering his office.

"Come in, sit down," Koenma greeted him.

The guard nodded and moved over to join them. He sat down and for a little while longer, all four watched Botan swooping through the temple on her oar, with Hiei as her passenger.

"Sir, Hiei had a last request," the newly arrived guard eventually said.

"I noticed," Koenma dryly replied. "He chose to take his freedom and one of my ferry girls."

"No Sir, he asked if I would deliver this for him after he had gone."

Koenma turned to the ogre to see that he was holding out a sealed envelope towards him. Koenma took it, looking down at it for a long time before shaking his head.

"This doesn't make any sense," he concluded, turning to the guard in the hope of hearing an explanation.

"I guess not," the ogre agreed with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Why would he want you to deliver this to…?" Koenma began. "When did he give you this? Before or after he planned his escape with Botan?"

"After, Sir."

"That makes even less sense."

"I know."

Koenma looked down at the envelope again. It seemed like every time he thought he understood what Hiei was thinking, something else happened to leave him even more confused than before.

Botan pressed her back against the wall and side-stepped along the corridor. She glanced to one side to check that Hiei had taken her advice and remained back before peering her head around the corner. There was no-one in sight, but the annexe they were joining was a favourite recreational area for the officers of the Special Defence Force and their immediate subordinates, and it was too big a risk to take to just openly fly or run right through it. Unfortunately, passing through that part of the temple was the only way to access the permanent portal to the living world, and so Botan and Hiei had been forced to adopt stealth tactics to continue their so far surprisingly successful and undetected escape. Luckily Hiei was an expert at blending into the shadows and Botan herself was quite skilled at hiding and sneaking around unnoticed – which was another reason why Koenma had asked her to be Yusuke's assistant when he had become the new spirit detective.

The portal Botan was trying to get to was one of the two reasons why the annexe had been constructed and why it was typically frequented by soldiers, as it literally was a permanent and free passage to the living world. She had used it many times in the past, though more commonly she used the main portal to the living world over the temple gates. That portal had been an optional route for her and Hiei to take out of spirit world, but Botan had avoided it on the basis that ferry girls worked round the clock, and there would be others passing through it both directions ferrying souls, regardless of the hour, whereas the one she was approaching now was typically only visited by one or two soldiers in the middle of the night, and only then to ensure that it was not being misused.

Botan slid around the corner and began creeping along the shorter corridor to the refectory beyond it. It was not the only way to the portal, but it was the easiest way to stay hidden. She stopped again at the open doorway leading into the large dining hall and cautiously looked about herself as she leaned over the threshold. She could feel Hiei was close behind her – literally, because of the warmth radiating off of him – and although she was frightened, she was reassured by his presence.

"Okay, we're clear," she whispered, edging into the room and beckoning for Hiei to follow her.

The lights mounted in the high ceiling were all switched off, and the only light in the fifty table dining hall was coming from a row of self-serve drinks and snacks dispensers by the kitchens at one side of the room. The soft glow of the machines was casting long, blurry shadows over the dining area, and, as she caught sight of Hiei's ragged shadow cast onto the far wall, the peak of his pointed hair almost reaching the ceiling, Botan yelped softly in alarm and stumbled into a chair, which squeaked against the hard floor. She stopped short and grabbed at the chair as she tried to calm herself. Under any other circumstances she would have laughed off her own silliness, but as she was trying to flee spirit world with a prisoner and they were passing through a part of the temple most commonly littered with spirit world's most powerful warriors, her predicament was anything but funny.

"What happened?" Hiei hissed, stopping on the other side of the chair she had pushed out of place.

"I thought I saw something," she vaguely replied. "But it was just… A trick of the light."

She forced a smiled and righted the chair, but as she completed her task and met Hiei's eyes again she found him no longer looking directly at her, and there was something decidedly unsettling in his expression. She felt a flutter of panic again, remembering that there were far more terrifying things to concern herself with than a flying shadow.

"Get down," Hiei whispered sharply.

"What?"

Botan gasped in shock as Hiei grabbed her into his arms and yanked her down behind the nearby table. He was crouching in a controlled position, but as he had pulled her down suddenly and sharply, her legs had literally splayed out beneath her, and the only thing holding the upper half of her body off the ground was Hiei's arms, which were around her waist a little awkwardly. She gave him a questioning look but the sight of a grave expression on his face and a small shake of his head made her stop. He had obviously sensed something, and she trusted him: but she did worry about who or what it was and how safe their hiding place was. They remained still for some time before Botan started to hear what Hiei had presumably seen, heard or sensed much sooner: a set of footsteps moving quietly through the tables.

"It's one of those SDF soldiers, we won't get past her unnoticed."

Botan stiffened, her panic-stricken brain taking several seconds to calm down and realise that the voice she had just heard had not spoken out loud, and that it was Hiei talking to her telepathically through his jagan eye.

"We need a plan to get her out of the way. You know this area, what can we do?"

Botan thought for a moment before coming to a difficult and reluctant decision.

"I will go out there and distract her," she thought, meeting Hiei's eyes as the words crossed her mind. "I'll get her out of this room and then you can pass through the portal. It's accessed from the door at the back right-hand corner of the room, which leads to an indoor garden. The portal takes you to a hill a mile outside of the city of Nagasaki. If you climb to the top of the hill, there is an old tower built there. Wait there for me, I will join you as soon as I can."

"I understand."

Botan started to stand but Hiei held onto her a moment longer. She paused, searching his eyes for a reason. He slid one arm from around her and brought his hand to her face, lightly dragging the backs of his fingers down her cheek. She smiled and caught his hand in hers.

"I love you, Hiei," she whispered softly.

He nodded and released her completely. She scurried along the length of the table and leaned past its end to check the location of the soldier, shortly spotting her walking towards the back of the room two rows of tables over. Botan quietly stood up and ran along a few more tables before deliberately kicking a chair to get the soldier's attention.

"Halt! Who goes there?" she shouted, spinning around and shining a light at Botan.

Botan squinted and lifted up one long kimono sleeve to shield her eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's only me, Botan!" she called back.

"Botan?" the soldier asked.

"I'm a ferry girl," Botan explained, slowly moving towards the middle of the room and strategically altering the angle between herself and the officer to steer her away from Hiei.

"I don't usually see ferry girls down here," the soldier called back to her. "Especially not at two in the morning. Can I help you?"

"Oh, no thank you!" Botan said, edging towards the source of the light. "It's just a silly thing, you see. I've become rather fond of the sweet fruit juices in that drinks dispenser, and I often come here to sample them. I just finished work and it's been such a tiring day, I just wanted to get myself a drink. I'm very sorry if I interrupted you."

Botan quietly sighed in relief as the soldier finally lowered the light and she was able to lower her arm. When she blinked, she could still see the glare of the light, but she could see that the soldier who had been wielding it looked more disgruntled than angered, and so she let herself relax.

"This area is really only meant for the warriors of spirit world," the soldier said.

Botan stopped moving and pretended to look confused.

"Don't you ferry girls have tea rooms in your own part of the temple?" the soldier asked, starting towards her.

"Yes, of course, but I do so like the drinks you have here," Botan replied, blatantly continuing her lie.

The soldier sighed and began to march towards Botan.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," she said sternly. "You shouldn't be in here. I just received word a prisoner has escaped, it's too dangerous for a defenceless little girl like you to be out on her own."

Botan felt a little insulted as the officer grabbed her wrist and began dragging her out of the refectory as though she was a child who had been caught playing truant from school. As they left the room, Botan looked back over her shoulder, and she saw a faint blur of movement by the point where Hiei had been hiding. She smiled in relief and then turned back to concentrate on where she was being taken and planning how she would get back to the portal.

"I'll take you to one of the ogres on duty," the soldier continued as they walked down the corridor away from the dining hall. "And in future, you shouldn't leave your own designated sector without a bodyguard. There are portals near here, you could have encountered anything coming this way on your own. And what would you have done? You have no offensive or defensive capabilities whatsoever. A cute smile maybe helps you charm lost souls toots, but it won't do you much good in the face of a demon."

Botan pouted indignantly and glared at the back of the soldier's head.

"I'm a very resourceful girl, I'll have you know!" she said moodily.

"Yes, you're a girl, and that's the biggest problem," the soldier said through a sigh. "This is a place for men and women. The girls' playroom is back up in the admin block."

"…You're very harsh," Botan muttered.

"I'm not harsh, you're just over-sensitive. And that's why I'm in this uniform and you're in that pink disaster."

Botan gasped again and yanked her arm from the soldier's hold.

"Now you're just being mean!" she said.

They both stopped and faced each other, each staring at the other intensely. Eventually the soldier sighed and flipped open a communication mirror.

"Captain, I've got a stray ferry girl here down by the mess hall," she said.

"Get her away from there," a voice answered her. "I've just received word from Koenma that there is a rogue ferry girl on the loose. She's with the escaped prisoner and she's trying to help him. We have to catch them at any cost."

The captain of the Special Defence Force may have said more, but Botan never heard it, as she had already snuck away from the soldier and started running back to the refectory. She made it halfway through the large hall before she heard the soldier yelling after her, and she then quickly summoned her oar to speed her escape.

She shot through the already open door in the back corner of the room and pointed herself at the portal to the living world, speeding through it without hesitation.

Koenma was impressed when Ayame lowered him to the exact spot Botan was lying on. He had not seen her from the sky, mostly because she was lying amongst long grass by the base of the ruins of an old tower on the hillside, but Ayame had apparently managed to spot her. They silently landed close to Botan and Ayame politely eased the blade of her oar down to the ground to allow Koenma to hop off of it.

"Thank you Ayame," he said as he disembarked her oar. "Would you be so kind as to give us a moment alone now?"

"Certainly Milord," she replied.

Koenma watched her smoothly lift up into the sky again, waiting until she was more than out of earshot before turning to the splayed tangle of pink and blue at his feet.

"Botan?" he said gently.

"Just kill me," she replied.

Her face was almost completely hidden beneath her hair, which had mostly come loose from its ties, and one of her hands was partially covering her eyes and nose, making her voice sound muffled and foreign.

"Botan, I've come to take you home," Koenma said. "I don't expect you to be quite yourself or quite ready to return to duty just yet, but I think, with a little time, you'll come to understand and accept what has happened and then you can move on."

Botan slowly sat up, pushing her hair back to reveal that, as he had suspected, her face was stained with tears, her eyes were red and her mouth turned downwards in misery.

"I don't understand…" she said quietly.

"I know, Botan," he answered her. "I know about everything."

Her head whipped around and she fixed him with a fearful stare.

"I know that you freed Hiei," he explained.

"Oh…" she said faintly.

"And I know now that Hiei did not kill Tarukane," he added.

"…Oh…."

"And I know that you were planning to run away with Hiei and live with him here in the living world."

"Yes… But he didn't come…"

Botan looked up at the sky as though she expected to see Hiei there.

"No, he didn't," Koenma agreed. "You took Hiei to the gateway. He had the choice of taking the portal to here, the living world, or taking the other portal to the border of the spirit world owned sector of demon world, a mere stone's throw away from his former home. Did you honestly think that he would choose to go back to the human world when he had the chance to go back to his beloved demon world home?"

Botan sobbed and dropped her face into her hands.

"Botan, I know this is difficult for you, but I need to get you back to spirit world, and you need to make me a promise," Koenma continued.

Botan did not lift her head, but he could tell by her altered breathing that she was attempting to control herself, which at least indicated that she was listening to him.

"I need you to promise that, once we get back to spirit world, you will never talk about this again," he said. "You can't ever talk about Tarukane's death, your time in the city of ghosts and apparitions and you most definitely can't ever talk about your feelings for Hiei or the fact that you broke him out of prison and tried to run away with him."

Her sobs eased off slightly.

"It's important that you agree to this, Botan," Koenma insisted. "If you ever admit to freeing Hiei, killing Tarukane or falling in love with a demon, you will be sentenced to a fate worse than death. Do you understand?"

"I'm already dead anyway," she muttered into her hands.

"That's not true," he replied. "You were never alive to die."

"Exactly."

She sighed and her hands slid from her face. She had that hollow look in her eyes again, but as she looked at Koenma – who was on eye level with her as she was still on her knees – she forced a smile.

"I was never alive to feel," she said quietly.

Koenma was unsure how to interpret her response. She was smiling almost naturally, but her pupils were unfocused and blank, and the overall effect was worse than simply seeing her looking miserable. He was so accustomed to seeing her eyes sparkling with cheer and to hearing her laughing and having fun that it seemed doubly bad to see her looking so vacant and grief-stricken.

"This is very important," he said slowly, hoping to impress the magnitude of the situation upon her. "If you mention any of this to anyone, you will condemn yourself and Hiei. Your silence allows both of you to be free and to live your lives as you were meant to and in the worlds you each belong in. Do you understand?"

A flicker of life returned to Botan's eyes but her smile vanished.

"Free and where we belong?" she asked quietly.

"That's right, yes," Koenma agreed.

He felt slightly relieved that she was at least focusing on the most important point.

"I see…" she said, nodding slightly.

"Good," he said. "Now let's go back home."

"Home?"

Koenma frowned slightly but Botan then forced a smile and stood up.

"Spirit world, of course," she said.

She looked almost cheerful, but her voice sounded awkward and strained.

"Try to remember how the old saying goes," he advised her. ""Time is the greatest healer, and"…"

Koenma looked down at his feet for a moment as he realised his mistake, inwardly cursing himself for almost having finished what would have been the worst thing he could have said at such a moment.

"Let's go back to spirit world, Sir," Botan said quietly.

She summoned her oar and climbed onto it and Koenma clambered on behind her. She did not look directly at him again and he decided not to bother her unless she specifically spoke to him first. As long as she did not say something irrational that endangered her own existence, as long as she understood and grieved in private, everything would be alright, everything would return to normal. He had no desire to see her suffer, but it was far better that she mourned over a lover abandoning her than she was sent to limbo or simply erased from existence.

And he was almost certain that Hiei's original claims of having used her and misled her with promises of romance during their time together in the city of ghosts and apparitions were true.

Koenma watched George collect his breakfast dishes onto a tray. Neither of them had slept the night before, as they had stayed up because of Botan and Hiei's escape and then after it had all ended, with Hiei fleeing to demon world and Botan returning to spirit world, neither of them had been able to sleep.

"Do you need me to deliver that letter, Sir?" George asked, pointing at the envelope on Koenma's desk.

Koenma turned his head to look at it, feeling a little surprised as he had forgotten about its presence there during the chaos of the previous night.

"No, I don't think that'll be necessary," he said, picking up the envelope.

"I suppose it wouldn't be right to deliver it," George agreed. "Hiei said to deliver it after he was gone, and he's still alive."

Koenma frowned slightly. The guard who had collected the envelope had specifically said that Hiei had used the words "after I've gone" as opposed to "after I've died", and so, he supposed, Hiei really had been plotting against Botan all along. He had used her in demon world to satisfy his own carnal desires and then he had used her in spirit world to obtain his freedom.

He wondered what manner of vile diatribe the fire demon had written in what was effectively his farewell letter to Botan.

"Sir!" George yelped as Koenma began ripping open the envelope. "It's improper to open someone else's mail!"

Koenma ignored him completely, removing the letter from the torn remains of the envelope and unfolding it to find that it was quite short and written on just one page. He skimmed through it and felt that he must have missed something. He scanned over it and felt that he had misunderstood something. He read it and started to feel confused. He studied it and realised he may have been wrong about Hiei and what had gone on between him and Botan.

"What does it say, Sir?" George asked.

"I thought you said that reading someone else's mail was improper, ogre," Koenma replied, giving him a flat look.

"No Sir, I said opening someone else's mail was improper," George replied.

"You protested me opening it, but you're fine with me actually reading it?" Koenma asked.

"I don't think there's a rule about actually reading it, just about opening it."

"…Right. Well, since you're so clued up on rules and manners ogre, maybe you can you can tell me what this means. "You and I argued about it a lot, but the fact is, we were both wrong. The demon world definition is wrong, but so is the spirit world definition. In a twist of irony, we demons are wrong, you spirits are wrong, and the miserable humans are the only ones who got it right. It's not completely the demon world way nor the spirit world way, it's a blend and balance of both. It needs both to truly be, and when both are present, it becomes something bigger than just the sum of the two: it becomes something worthy of great sacrifice.

"I understand that now, and perhaps you do too. The life I've had is enough to turn any soul bad, and I've never denied or fought that fate. My life, my ambitions and my future concern only me, and me alone. There is a road I must travel, and though the journey leaves me weary, I must continue it, and it must be travelled alone. I have a purpose in demon world and you have a purpose in spirit world. I will continue my journey and you will continue yours, and although we move in different directions, know that we will never be apart, we just won't be together.

"The rulers of spirit world have decreed a terrible fate for me in the afterlife, but I don't think that it will ever come to pass because I believe in you and all that you are, and I think that faith will one day redeem my soul, despite my many wrongs.""

Koenma looked up from the note, watching George expectantly.

"I don't know what that means, Lord Koenma," the ogre replied honestly. "Maybe only Botan would know. Maybe Hiei deliberately wrote it so that only she would understand it."

"Yes, that's what I was afraid of," Koenma sighed, folding the letter over. "But it seems to suggest that Hiei did care about her on some level. And it also does confirm that he never intended to run away with her and that he always intended to return to demon world without her."

"Sir, don't you think that Botan should be allowed to read that letter?" George asked.

"No George," Koenma said, stuffing the letter back into the remains of the envelope. "Right now Botan believes that Hiei betrayed and abandoned her, and as long as she believes that, she will grow to resent him, and resenting him will cause her less pain than eternal longing for him would. And as she comes to resent him, he will come to feel that she hates him, and he will never bother her again. If he ever returned to the living world or spirit world, he would be arrested and put to death unless Botan was convicted in his place, and if that happened, she would be sentenced even more severely than Hiei would. This way they can both live and they can both move on with their lives."

"It seems a little unfair, Sir," George said.

"Perhaps it is," Koenma agreed, dropping the letter into a drawer in his desk and locking it in. "But it's better this way for both of them. It's just better and easier if they don't know."

THE END

A/N: Please review. Extra HAPPY to the first person who correctly identifies the (deliberate) little inconsistency in chapter 18 that was (deliberately) not resolved by the end of the fic.