Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ A Story Retold ❯ Chapter 8

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yugi. The original story and
characters belong to Yu Watase. Any characters that did not appear in
the original story are my own creation.

Warnings: The story picks up shortly after the last episode of the
series. If you haven't seen all of the series not only will the story
probably leave you confused, but it contains some major spoilers as
well. This story has nothing to do with the OVA, except the use of
Taka's name.

Summary thus far: Upon arriving for the second time in the "Universe
of the Four Gods," Yui and Miaka are again separated. Yui, staying at
the Kutou palace discovers that the changed events have affected her
more than she realized, and now she is expecting a child... by the
same man who raped her. Like before, Yui blames her suffering on Miaka
and resolves to again become the priestess of Seiryu. After her
confrontation with Yui, Miaka returns to her world to retrieve the
mirror given to her by Taiitsukun, thinking it will help her to locate
her warriors quickly. While she is able to arrive back in her world,
Miaka encounters one obstacle after another that keep her from
returning. By the time she finally gets the Universe of the Four Gods
back in hand, over eight months have passed in the book! And just to
make everything a little bit worse, Miaka's beloved Tamahome doesn't
even remember her now! But will that finally change when he must risk
his life to protect her?

----------------------------------------
A Story Retold: Chapter 8
By Katrina Kadabra

It was finally here. The day Miaka had waited so long for, and now she
was finally grasping the Universe of the Four Gods in her hands. Well,
it certainly had seemed like that long a time. The hours and days had
passed by horrifically slowly, Miaka might as well have been crossing
of weeks on her calendar. All she had been able to think about the
entire time was what everyone back in the book was doing. Hotohori,
trying to maintain peace between Kutou and Konan, wondering if the
girl of legend would ever return. The celestial warriors. Would they
stay together or would there be bickering amongst them as the weeks
stretched into months with still no sign of their priestess returning?

"Maybe I'm thinking too highly of myself that so much chaos would
break out in my absence," Miaka said to herself. "But what a traitor
they must all think I am. How can I make it up to them?" As the
thoughts past through Miaka's mind, the answers quickly followed. "I
can summon Suzaku as I'm supposed to, she thought confidently. That's
what I was charged to do, no matter what obstacles I might face in the
meantime. I have to be strong." That in mind, Miaka took a deep breath
and grasped the book in her hands, ready to open its enchanted cover
once more.

"Miaka, are you in there? Can I come in?" A sudden knock on the door
and a familiar voice calling out to her startled Miaka and almost made
her jump a mile. She was so locked in her concentration, she'd
forgotten where she was. Without waiting for a response, Taka opened
the door and stepped in. The first thing he noticed was the book in
her hands.

"So that's it," he sighed, looking it over. "That's the Universe of
the Four Gods." Miaka nodded, trying not to look at him. It was hard
enough to say good-bye. Even though a part of him still lived in the
Universe of the Four Gods and even though it would be a matter of days
that she was really gone from this world, that didn't help for the
long months that Miaka would be separated from her love. And now she
just wanted to make the whole thing as painless as possible.

"So you're really going back?" Taka asked her. Miaka nodded again, and
Taka sighed. "I wish you'd reconsider it. I mean, I know I said I'd
try to help you go back before, but when I thought about it... all the
danger you faced there. What if you never came back? I don't know what
I'd do, Miaka. I want to keep you here and protect you. I can't do
that if you leave me."

"Taka!" Miaka cried. "Don't you think this is hard on me too? But I
have to go there... I have to help save Konan and save everyone!" She
started to open the book again, but Taka made a quick grab for the
cover. Miaka dodged the attempt. Quickly, she stood up, forcing the
book open. Somehow, she ended up on the same page where she had just
left and a soft red light began to encompass her. She looked up just
long enough to see the painful eyes of Taka watching her, and knowing
there was no way he could stop her now.

"Forgive me," Miaka whispered. "But I have to go to them." At once,
Miaka's body vanished from Taka's view and as the red light swarmed
around her, everything began to fade.


Meanwhile, the orange afternoon sun blared through the windows of the
Kutou palace. As Yui lay in bed, she let out a long deep sigh. She was
too exhausted to breathe, even to think. She had just spent the last
twelve hours screaming in the pain and frustration of her labor. Yet
the whole thing was bordered with the prospect of carrying a new life
into the world. Nothing she could have imagined, read, or studied
could have ever prepared her for this. The time that had passed seemed
like nothing but a blur to her. All she was even conscious of now was
Toki... suddenly at her side, placing a warm wriggling bundle into her
arms.

"Congratulations, priestess," she thought she heard Toki say. Yui
looked down at the small creature she was holding. Its flesh and skin
were a bright red, its chubby little body curled up with limbs tensed.
Its small eyes were closed, its fists clenched as its tiny mouth let
out forceful cries for attention and care from its mother.

"It's a girl," Toki informed her.

"A girl..." Yui mused. She continued to gaze at this wonder Toki had
just named her daughter. She couldn't seem to stop. Even though it was
something she had nine months to contemplate, holding this tiny child
physically in her arms brought on a whole new meaning. It was the sort
of thing Yui had always placed so far ahead in her future and now here
it was. A girl. Yui ran her finger gently down the child's cheek. She
looked nothing like her father, Yui grateful for that. She only hoped
that she could still think of her as a separate person of her own
right, not just as a result of... that.

While Yui lost herself in her thoughts, her daughter's cries
intensified.

"She's hungry," Toki observed.

"Well then, get her a bot... oh," Yui had almost forgotten where she
was. Vendors in ancient China most certainly did not carry baby
bottles. "No, I guess we can't do that," she sighed. Toki seemed to
understand.

"It's alright," she said. "Here, let me take her for you." Yui handed
over the small child. The maneuver was clumsy and clearly showed her
lack of experience in dealing with infants. Then, sighing, she undid
the sash tied around her waist, loosening her robe and exposing her
chest. She glanced back at Toki with a self-conscious look to her.

"Now...?"

"Now you take her back and let her eat," said Toki simply, placing the
infant back into Yui's arms. "Babies are quite smart. Just guide to
where her she needs to be and she will handle the rest." Yui brought
the tiny body in towards her and as Toki had predicted, the infant's
lips quickly found their way to one of Yui's nourishing breasts. Yui's
whole body tensed as the baby suckled.

"You're not at all what I expected," she told her quietly. "But you
are beautiful... Yuiren."

"Her name?" Toki asked curiously. Yui nodded.

"Yes, well, everybody in my family is named after somebody, so I
thought..."

"I see," Toki said. "It's an excellent choice." Seeing Toki's
approval, Yui's shoulders finally relaxed as she leaned back on the
head of the bed, watching her daughter contently. Then she closed her
eyes, feeling the warmth of the tiny body cradled in her arms.


The first thing Miaka sensed as she came to was the smell of cherry
sweet blossoms falling gentle past
her face and a warm breeze that blew through her hair. Miaka didn't
have to open her eyes to know where she was. The emperor's gardens.

"I made it back," she whispered, sitting up. "Finally." As she looked
about, she saw Tamahome was standing not far away from her; she
recognized his glistening dark green hair and his vigorous alert
stance anywhere.

But something was wrong. Tamahome was not just here to take a stroll
in the garden. He was fighting with someone. As Miaka's eyes
refocused, she saw it was a spy from Kutou.

The two were heavily locked in a brutal match. Tamahome on the
offensive, dealt blow and after blow; it seemed all the spy could do
was try and avoid being bashed in the head. But he was very good at
it. With amazing agility, he dodged one hit after another. Suddenly,
he took a flying leap backwards. As he did, he drew a bow from inside
his concealing black cloak and let an arrow fly towards Tamahome.
Tamahome easily avoided the attack and continued trying to bring the
spy down by force. But the spy seemed so agile, Miaka could barely
keep up with him watching from the sidelines. She sat cowering in fear
at the possibility that Tamahome's ability to follow his moves was
that much harder. As the spy finally managed to position himself with
Tamahome's back to him, he quickly drew another arrow and took his
aim.

Miaka could bear it no longer.

"Tamahome, watch it!" Miaka shouted at the top of lungs. She then
immediately slapped her hands over her mouth. It was a stupid thing to
call out to Tamahome now, but she couldn't seen to stop herself. For a
brief moment, Tamahome turned and looked at her, but quickly refocused
his thoughts back to the battle. His opponent, however, was not about
to let an advantage like Tamahome dropping his guard for even a moment
go wasted. Like lightning, another arrow flew from his fingers.
Tamahome jumped to the side, but he could not totally avoid the
attack, and from what Miaka could see, the arrow struck him in the
arm.

"Tamahome!" Miaka cried. "Tamahome!" The spy drew another arrow, this
one aimed for Tamahome's heart. But the brute did not get that far.
Miaka heard the swift fly of a metal blade that cut through his body,
killing him on the spot. As the thug fell, Hotohori stood behind him,
the blood still on his sword.

"Hotohori!" Miaka exclaimed.

"I heard you calling," Hotohori said, lowering his weapon. "It has
been a while, Miaka."

"I know," Miaka said. "I'm so sorry I kept all of you waiting like
that. But..." As Miaka spoke, she heard Tamahome let out a low groan
as he stood up. Miaka quickly dropped her conversation with the
emperor and hurried over to where Tamahome was standing

"Are you alright?" Miaka asked him anxiously.

"Yeah, fine," Tamahome answered, standing up and holding his hand over
the wound. "The arrow just grazed my arm a bit. It'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" Miaka asked fearfully. She couldn't say why she was so
worried, but something was told that Tamahome was in much more
imminent danger than he let on.

"Positive," Tamahome answered. "Stop worrying so much about..."
Suddenly Tamahome stopped. His face turned a deathly pale and he
collapsed on the spot.

"Tamahome!" Miaka cried. Tamahome slowly opened his eyes. Hotohori
pulled Tamahome's hand away from his arm and examined the wound.

"This is nothing serious. But I fear those arrows may have been doused
with poison." At the sound of the word poison, Miaka fell into
hysteria.

"Hotohori!" she cried out, grabbing the emperors' arms tightly. "Go
get Mitsukake! Please!" But Hotohori only turned away.

"Miaka, Mitsukake is not here."

"What?"

"He and Tasuki left to fetch supplies from the market. We were
planning on leaving tomorrow to continue our search for our last two
warriors."

"No!" Miaka cried, shaking Hotohori abruptly. "That's not true! If
Mitsukake isn't here, Tamahome will be..."

"We'll bring him back to the palace and I'll have the doctors there
look at him," Hotohori answered firmly. "That is all we can do now."
He turned to the guards behind him. "You three!" he commanded,
pointing each of them out. "Carry Tamahome back at once! The rest of
you find Mitsukake and Tasuki and bring them back as soon as you can!"

"Yes sir!" the group answered in unison. A bunch of them quickly ran
off to begin their search for Tasuki and Mitsukake. Miaka watched
painfully as the other three scooped up Tamahome's limp body.

"Please," Miaka whispered. "Please don't die." Weak as he was,
Tamahome still managed to force Miaka a smile.

"Don't worry," he said. "It would take a lot more than this to kill
me. Besides, who knows what kind of trouble you'd get into without me
around to protect you. I have to stay alive for us..." At that,
Tamahome passed out.

The guards were quick in following their orders. Within minutes, they
had carried Tamahome from the garden to one of the many bedrooms
located in Hotohori's palace. Hotohori immediately summoned several
medical experts to examine Tamahome. They all agreed that Tamahome was
suffering from a deadly poison, but none had any clue on how to cure
it. And Tamahome was growing weaker in Miaka's arms by the moment.

Meanwhile in the palace, a young boy walked up to the in front of the
room where Tamahome was being tended to. Posted in front was a palace
guard, dressed in red armor, his helmet adorned with the silhouette of
Suzaku and his hands bearing a large spear to ward of would-be
intruders.

"What's happening in there?" the boy questioned. The guard, quite
surprised to see a child approach him, cleared his throat.

"His majesty and the other celestial warriors are tending to once of
their injured, " he replied in a most official tone. "You should not
be here disturbing them."

"Hmm," said the boy thoughtfully. " I don't know if I'd exactly call
poison an injury, but it will certainly prove just as fatal to
Tamahome if an antidote is not administered within the quickest
possible time."

"What?" The guard's grip on his weapon intensified. He didn't know who
this child was that he was aware of the whole situation and spoke with
such confidence about it, but it was clear that there was more to him
than simply his small body and innocent face.

"Here," the strange boy said, placing a fistful of leaves into the
guard's hand. "Give these to the emperor, if you will. Their juice may
prove a key element in saving the life of Tamahome. With those few
words, the boy bowed graciously and went on his way. The guard,
puzzled as well as curious, did exactly as the child had instructed.


"You say a stranger gave you these?" Hotohori questioned.

"Yes," the guard replied. "He was very young, I'd say no more than
twelve. But he seemed very knowledgeable. He claimed the juice of
these leaves would prove a key element in saving the life of
Tamahome."

"Is that so?" Hotohori asked, a cunning and thoughtful look to his
eye.

"I say we should get rid of them," said Nuriko. "We don't know
anything about this boy. He could be a spy sent from Kutou to try and
kill Tamahome."

"But in Tamahome's present state, what choice do we have?" Hotohori
asked. "We are running about of options." He turned to Chichiri.

"Take these leaves, if you will, and grind them up. Extract as much
juice from them as you possibly can and bring it out here."

"Right away, no da," Chichiri answered as he took the leaves from the
emperor's hand and quickly headed off.

When Chichiri returned, Tamahome's condition seemed to only have
worsened. Miaka stayed at his side the whole time; she couldn't bear
to leave him for even a moment. She hadn't even said a word as the
group sat discussing whether or not to administer this mysterious
remedy. She only wanted to hold him in her arms as long as she could,
not to be distracted by a conversation. But when Chichiri arrived with
a ceramic bowl containing the juice of the leaves, Miaka finally spoke
up.

"Please let me do it. I want to be the one to give it to him."

"Of course, no da," Chichiri answered, handing the bowl to her. "Just
be careful, no da. We can't afford to spill a drop." Miaka nodded.
Then, grasping Tamahome's head in one hand, she lifted the potion to
his lips and allowed a small amount of liquid to slowly flow into his
mouth. She sat his head back once again, hoping that the medicine
would be able to trickle its way down his throat. After a moment, she
sat him back up and repeated the process until the potion was
finished. Miaka then grasped Tamahome's body in her arms. She could
hear his heartbeat and his frail breathing on her cheek.

"Tamahome," she said. "Please come back to me."


" I have to stay alive... for us." Tamahome's words echoed through the
darkness. Tamahome felt like he was sinking deep into the ocean, and
nothing but walls of water surrounded him on any side. But somehow far
is the distance he thought he heard a voice calling his name.

"Tamahome! Tamahome!" That voice. It was family to him. A girl was
calling. But why was it so sad? It was like... like someone calling
out to their lost love.

"Tamahome!" Now Tamahome heard another voice, this one male and very
similar to his own. While the last voice seemed to be begging, this
one was very demanding. Tamahome turned around. A person who looked
identical to him stood before him.

"Wh-who are you?" Tamahome stammered.

"I guess you can say, I'm another you," the person answered. He held
out his palm and pressed it against that of his counterpart.

"I knew when I saw that red light embracing her, I wouldn't be able to
follow and protect her. Please, guard the priestess in my place." All
at once, the world around Tamahome began to fade and he felt a warm
pair of arms embracing him. He slowly opened his eyes to see Miaka's
face, her head laying peacefully on his chest and her arms grasping
his body, unwilling to let go. For some reason at the sight of her,
Tamahome could not stop himself from crying. Memories were beginning
to come to him about his friends, about his battles with the
constellations of Seiryu, and about the girl he loved.

Miaka finally awoke when she felt something like a teardrop fall on
her face. She quickly sat up to find Tamahome's beautiful gray eyes
staring longingly back at her.

"Tamahome!" she exclaimed. "You're awake! You're alive!"

"Yes," he answered, putting his arm around her.

"It seems Tamahome is feeling better now," said a familiar voice.
Miaka turned swiftly around. As the scene had calmed down a bit, the
same boy who had given the mysterious medicine, had slipped back into
the room. He stood wearing a light green robe, his gray eyes sparkling
with enthusiasm and his light brown hair done up tightly on top of his
head. Miaka could never forget this person.

"Chiriko!" she exclaimed at the sight of him.

"Chiriko?" Hotohori gasped. "You are..." The boy smiled and pulled up
his robe just enough to reveal the glowing red mark etched on the
flesh of his left foot.

"Yes, I am the constellation known as Chiriko. My apologies for taking
this long to find you, Suzaku warriors."

"Think nothing of it," said Hotohori. "We are very grateful to have
you with us. But how is it you knew how to cure Tamahome?" Chiriko
smiled.

"The Kutou armies are known for coating their arrows in a very
specific type of poison. I also happened to know that the leaves of
that plant I gave you carried a natural antidote."

"Chiriko, " said Miaka "I don't know how to thank you. If I lost
Tamahome, I don't know what I'd..." Miaka suddenly stopped herself.
She had almost forgotten. There was no love between her and Tamahome
anymore. He didn't remember her, their passion for each other, their
desire to protect each other, none of it. It was all from another
place and time, lost forever. But Miaka's doubts were soon to be
challenged as Tamahome nodded approvingly and then turned back to the
girl he loved.

"Don't worry Miaka. I'm never letting you go again. Never. Not when I
love you this much." Miaka suddenly pulled away, wondering what sort
of trick her ears must be playing on her.

"Not while you lov... Tamahome, you remember? But how?"

"I don't know exactly," Tamahome admitted. "But while I was
unconscious, I had this dream of this other person who looked just
like me. I guess he was me in a sense. He said he couldn't follow you
but he wanted me to guide and protect you. It was after that, I
started to remember all these events. I met you before, and I loved
you before. I swore to you I'd never leave your side and protect you
with everything in my being." Tamahome paused for a minute. "I can't
explain it much more than that. I can't say I have any memories beyond
it." Tamahome took a teary-eyes Miaka in his arms.

"But know this Miaka," he said. "I will always, ALWAYS love and
protect you."

"Tamahome..." Miaka whispered as she held her beloved in her arms.
Again, he had created a miracle of love and crossed dimensions of time
and space just to be with her. Their course was now set. They would
find the last warrior, summon Suzaku and together bring peace to Konan
once and forever more.
----------------------------------------