Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Fushigi Yuugi: Daydream's Embrace ❯ Episode 11: Torn Love ( Chapter 11 )

Episode 11
Torn Love
By: Nyan Nyan and Mrs. Tasuki

Diana and Joan were still seated on the couch, and Joan was reading over Diana's shoulder.

"How much time did you spend on this, really?" Diana asked quietly.

"Huh?" Joan asked, confused.

"I mean it must have taken a while... to write this out and everything. This is one awesome practical joke."

Joan looked at her, completely shocked. "Why don't you believe me!?"

Diana gave Joan a look of skepticism, astounded that Joan would think she was so stupid. Joan looked back flabbergasted. She tried desperately to think of some way to prove it to her friend.

"Okay... so it's hard to believe, but..." she stalled as she dismissed a million bad ideas. Suddenly, she thought of the way to verify that everything was true to Diana. "Here!" she yelled as she flipped a few pages forward. She shoved the book under Diana's nose. Diana looked onto the page and saw words appearing on the page.

"Wow..." Diana whispered.

"So do you believe me now?" Joan asked.

"No," Diana answered, still amazed, "but it's pretty cool how you get it to do that. Especially since anything mechanical you touch breaks." Joan let out an exasperated sigh.

*

"Why not?" Miaka asked. Christina looked up at the huge blue doors. There was no doubt about it... that was the Shrine of Seiryuu.

"Oh no, that place reeks of bad karma," Christina explained quickly.

"What?" Miaka, starting to raise her voice.

They both turned at the noise of guards behind them. Luckily, none of them saw the two girls. "Be quiet!" Christina ordered in a loud whisper as they quickly scurried down a different hallway.

"We should go find my friends..." Christina quietly suggested, looking around for more soldiers.

"No, you go ahead, I'll stay here," Miaka replied with much self- confidence. Christina narrowed her eyes at Miaka, beginning to seriously not trust her.

"Fine, but don't move a muscle. I'll be back soon, okay?" Christina said softly. She didn't have time to question Miaka; she had to find her friends. Miaka nodded. Christina ran off towards the palace, trying not to make too much noise.

As soon as Christina had left, the colossal doors to the Shrine of Seiryuu opened and Miaka walked into the darkness inside.

Christina ran through the shadows towards the palace and bounded over the railing that surrounded the hallways. She stealthily walked down the hallways of the palace, hoping that the hallways were exactly the same as the palace in Konan. She turned down a corner and saw about a dozen doors on the sides of the hall. She dared to peek into the first door on the left. Inside was an unconscious soldier leaning on a table. He had one horrible black eye. Christina then peered into the next door and saw two soldiers with big bruises on their heads, also knocked out. When she saw the path of destruction she was sure that Tamahome and Katherine had been down this hallway. A few doors and a few unconscious soldiers later, Christina was still checking all the rooms, not daring to let her guard down. She looked into the room and saw about twenty guards inside. She slowly stepped backwards so they wouldn't see her, but her foot landed on a creaky floorboard.

The guards inside whipped their heads around to see where the noise had come from. Two soldiers walked out of the room and looked around, spotting a girl right outside the doorframe. She took one look at the guards and bolted down the hallway.

"Get her!" the second guard yelled inside the room. The group of soldiers grabbed their spears and sprinted down the hallway.

*

Christina ran as fast as she could. Every once in a while she would glance behind her, to see if she had lost the guards, but they were always behind her. They probably would have caught her earlier, if their armor wasn't so heavy. Christina was finding it very difficult to simultaneously think of a plan to escape from the twenty men behind her and run from the same twenty men at the same time. Then, an idea hit her. She turned a corner and ran up the flight of stairs that, she hoped, led to her room.

"If I got there early enough, I can climb down the sheets again and that'd give me enough time to lose 'em!" she thought. She ran down the hall and tried to catch a glance into each one, searching for her room.

*

Tamahome decided to give Katherine a few minutes to calm down. She was scary when she was stressed out. Katherine clenched her fists and let out a loud, exasperated sigh.

"Don't let her get away!" a faint voice yelled from down the corridor. Tamahome and Katherine looked out the door to see Christina running down the hallway, followed by a flock of about twenty men.

"Christina!" Katherine yelled as she started to run out the door. Tamahome grabbed her before she could get out the door.

"Don't go that way you idiot!" he warned.

"What did you just call me?" Katherine asked, not believing he just called her by Miaka's pet name again.

"An idiot," he answered.

"Don't call me that. Ever. You can call me a moron, a jerk, or even a bitch. Just don't call me an idiot."

"Why not?"

"Just don't. Just please don't." she answered shortly.

"Okay..." Tamahome said, still confused. "But here, go this way," he said while turning in the other direction and motioning for Katherine to follow him.

*

Christina continued running down the hallway. She was beginning to slow down after running for ten minutes straight. She abruptly felt someone grab her by the waist and drag her into a room on her right. She was about to kick whoever grabbed her until she saw Tamahome and Katherine staring back at her.

"Hey," Katherine greeted.

"KATHERINE!" Christina yelled as she hugged her friend.

"What about me?" Tamahome asked.

"Hey Tama," Christina said quickly. "Katherine, you will not believe who I found here!"

"Who?" Katherine asked excitedly.

"Our worst nightmare."

"Tamahome's right behind me," Katherine pointed out.

"Hey!" Tamahome shouted.

"No, worse!" Christina continued.

"You don't mean..." Katherine said as Christina nodded. "No! Not her!" she yelled while Christina kept nodding. "That SUCKS!" Katherine shouted. Tamahome just looked at the two priestesses, completely lost in their conversation.

"Tell me about it, I was stuck here with her."

"So where is she?" Katherine asked in an agitated manner.

"I left her by the Seiryuu Shrine."

"YOU MORON!" Katherine screamed as she hit Christina on her head.

"HEY! That hurt!" Christina yelled back.

"Well, duh! That's why I did it!" she yelled as Christina rubbed her head. Katherine just glared at her friend, not believing that she wasn't making the obvious connection between Miaka and the Seiryuu shrine. "So you left Miaka... alone... by the Seiryuu shrine... with Nakago around?"

"Holy shit!" Christina realized.

"You're a quick one, aren't you?"

"I'd probably be smarter if someone didn't hit me so often!" Christina shouted as they ran out of the room, followed by a thoroughly befuddled Tamahome.

*

Katherine, Christina, and Tamahome had just arrived outside the Shrine of Seiryuu when the massive doors opened and Miaka stepped out. Christina ran up to her, with Tamahome and Katherine right behind her.

"Why were you in there?" Christina asked.

"To... umm... to hide from some guards," Miaka answered too slowly.

"That's bullshit," Christina said, but Miaka just ignored her.

"Who are you?" Tamahome asked Miaka. Christina sighed angrily. This was not the time for introductions.

"Tamahome, Miaka. Miaka, Tamahome. Katherine, Miaka. Miaka, Katherine," she said quickly, while pointing everyone out. Miaka stared at Tamahome; in her opinion he was really good-looking. "Anyway, we should really-" Christina started. But she was interrupted by the twenty guards that had finally caught up with her.

"There's the intruder!" one of the many men yelled. Katherine, Christina, Tamahome, and Miaka looked at each other, hoping that someone had an idea.

"RUN!" Christina yelled as everyone split up. Tamahome ran in one direction, followed affectionately by Miaka. Katherine and Christina took off in another.

*

Christina finally stopped in front of the main gate and turned to make sure Katherine was behind her. They both looked around for Miaka and Tamahome.

"Big surprise, they couldn't find the main gate," Christina said through her gasps for breath. Christina and Katherine waited for a few minutes before deciding to go look for Tamahome and Miaka.

"Okay... I'll bet she's in the palace trying to find some food," Katherine said to Christina as they started to run again.

*

"Where are you going?' Tamahome whispered as Miaka ran into a random room. He followed her into the area and found her shoveling as much food into her mouth as fast as she could. "We... uh... we really don't have time for this," he tried to explain, "We have to hurry and get back to Konan." She finished eating and reluctantly walked with Tamahome back outside.

"Well, why don't you stay here with me?" Miaka asked hopefully as they left the kitchen. Tamahome was about to answer when a tall blonde man walked into the room. "Hey Nakago!" Miaka yelled while Tamahome shushed her.

"Lady Miaka, you should return to your room," Nakago suggested, even though it sounded more like an order.

"Do I have to?" she whined, "I'd rather go with him!"

Nakago looked over at the boy, sizing him up. He turned to Miaka. "Lady Miaka, he is one of the Suzaku Seven, your enemies." Tamahome assumed a fighting stance and his mark began to shine.

"The mark of ogre," Nakago said, more to himself than anyone else. "You must be Tamahome."

Tamahome jumped towards Nakago, trying to kick the general. Tamahome landed on the ground a second later and grabbed his leg in pain. "He's good..." he thought; he hadn't even seen Nakago move. Nakago walked over to Miaka and whispered something into her ear. He grabbed her wrist and led her away, with Miaka looking over her shoulder at Tamahome. A few minutes later, Christina and Katherine ran up to Tamahome.

"Are you okay?" Christina asked as Tamahome stood up from the cold stone ground.

"Yeah, but that bastard took Miaka."

"This is SUCH A PAIN!" Katherine whined.

"He probably took her to the Shrine of Seiryuu," Christina said.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going in there," Katherine said.

A muffled scream came from behind her. A soldier had grabbed Christina from behind and put his spear threateningly against her neck. When Katherine had turned around, a guard also grabbed her. The two girls could only watch while various guards tried to capture Tamahome. It took about five men, but they eventually secured him.

The guards dragged the trio back towards the Shrine of Seiryuu. It was quite a production to carry them across the palace grounds, since none of them gave in very easily. Christina was trying to kick the guard behind her in the face. Katherine was able to jab her elbow into the guard's ribcage, causing the guard to let go in pain, but shortly after she was free two more guards took a hold of her. Tamahome knocked out a few soldiers, but more men came to fill in their fallen comrades places. Eventually, Christina, Katherine, and Tamahome were behind the doors of the Seiryuu Shrine once more. They were brought into the Shrine and tossed onto the floor. The guards quickly filed out and the doors shut behind them.

Chichiri stationed himself on the roof of a different part of the palace and watched soldiers come out of the Shrine and closed the doors.

Tamahome, Katherine, and Christina slowly got to their feet and looked around. Nakago stepped out of the shadows, with Miaka right behind him. Christina felt her body become numb, like her whole body was falling asleep. Christina looked over at Katherine and saw that she was feeling the same lethargy she was feeling.

"Until Lady Miaka summons Seiryuu, no one must interfere," he said coldly. A blue mark lit up his forehead as he threw a blue ki-blast towards the two priestesses. It burned their skin upon contact and flung them a few feet away. "You are a threat to Lady Miaka's summoning Seiryuu, a threat to this country as well. You will never return to Konan," he continued. The blue symbol lit up his forehead again and Christina was hurled across the room. Right before she hit the wall, she stopped in mid-air. Chichiri appeared; he was holding Christina. Miaka stood by Nakago completely terrified as she watched Nakago, her savior, almost kill someone.

"That was pretty close no da," he told her. "If you'd hit the wall at that speed, you'd have died no da."

Nakago looked down at Chichiri's knee, where his seishi symbol was glowing. "A servant of Suzaku who can break the barrier and enter here," he skeptically said. "Ah, now I see. You were the one who cast that spell on me before," he said to Chichiri, referring to the incident at the Kutou Border Gate.

"You got it, no da!" Chichiri answered.

Tamahome took his chance to run across the room and punch Nakago in the stomach. Nakago was thrown back a few feet, and he skidded to a halt and kneeled on the floor.

Suddenly, Chichiri put two fingers up to his face and created an explosion. The huge pillars crashed into the pools of water and onto the ground. Tamahome quickly grabbed Katherine and shielded her from the blast. Nakago did the very same for Miaka. The dust and smoke was so thick it clouded everyone's vision. After most of the dust had cleared, Chichiri gently placed Christina onto the floor. Katherine and Tamahome rushed over to her.

"Are you alright?" Tamahome asked.

Chichiri responded by taking his hat off and handed it to Tamahome. "Tamahome, get into this hat with Katherine and Christina, no da," he told him. "It'll take you to them, no da."

"'Them' who?" he asked while taking the kasa from Chichiri.

"Now! While I delay this guy, no da!" he ordered. Nakago sent another blast towards them. Chichiri held his arms out in front of him and halted the blast. "Hurry no da!"

"Come with us!" Tamahome yelled to Miaka, but she did nothing. "Hurry!" he yelled urgently as Katherine climbed into the kasa.

"You musn't!" Nakago ordered as a sent a blast towards Tamahome and Christina. Chichiri moved over and blocked the blast.

"Would you go already, no da!? I'll be right behind you no da!" Chichiri shouted. Nakago sent another blast towards Chichiri. Chichiri sank to the ground, and his smiling mask slipped off of his face.

"Chichiri!" Tamahome yelled.

"Get going no da!" Chichiri repeated as Christina climbed into the hat.

"I swear I'll come back and save you," Tamahome vowed to Miaka as he followed Christina into the kasa. Chichiri grabbed his kasa and lifted it over his head.

"Well then, time to say goodbye, no da," he told Nakago and Miaka as he dropped the hat over himself. The kasa dropped to the floor, leaving Miaka and Nakago alone in the wreckage of the Shrine of Seiryuu.

*

"No! Really! I wanna know! Is it like invisible ink? Does it like appear over time or something?" Diana asked Joan.

"IT'S NOT INVISIBLE INK!" Joan shouted. "I'M TELLING THE TRUTH!"

Diana sighed and continued to read the book. "The Suzaku Seven were not defeated by Seiryuu, but they did not triumph either."

*

Christina felt someone gently shaking her shoulders and heard a voice calling her name. She quickly sat up, remembering that she was fighting Nakago in the Shrine of Seiryuu, and saw Tamahome leaning over her. He looked down at her chest and blushed. Christina was too busy looking around, trying to figure out where they were. She was sitting in a big white bed in the middle of an endless large room, featureless except for a door a few feet away. Christina looked back to Tamahome and, seeing that he was looking at her, gasped in surprise as she realized she wasn't wearing anything. She quickly pulled the white sheets over herself.

Katherine woke up, groggily looked over to the left of where she was sleeping, and saw Tamahome practically lying on Christina. She noticed Tamahome was wearing nothing but a white sheet, which Christina was also covered in. "AHHHHHH!" she screamed at the sight before her, shattering the silence. Tamahome and Christina both jumped and turned their heads at the loud noise.

"What!?" Tamahome yelled back at Katherine.

"What are you DOING!?" Christina shrieked at Tamahome, still struggling to cover herself up.

"I just woke up, and we were all wearing nothing!" he protested angrily.

"Well, you don't have to molest Christina, just cuz' we're not wearing anything!" Katherine yelled as she whacked him upside the head. Christina and Katherine both scooted to the edges of the bed, leaving Tamahome in the middle of the mattress. All three started to fight over the sheet, desperately trying to cover themselves.

"What about me!?" Tamahome yelled, "I need the sheet too!"

"Use a pillow!" Christina yelled back as she pulled on the sheet.

"Hey!" Katherine yelled, struggling to retain her corner of the cloth.

Suddenly the doors burst open and Taiitsukun, followed by Chichiri and a pack of Nyan Nyans, floated into the room. Christina took one look at Taiitsukun and hid behind Tamahome. "FREDDY KRUEGER!" she screamed.

"Taiitsukun?" Katherine asked.

"Chichiri?" Tamahome questioned.

"It's been awhile, Katherine, Tamahome. Chichiri arrived here unexpectedly with you three covered in wounds," Taiitsukun explained in a scratchy voice.

"Katherine! Long time no see!" one of the Nyan Nyans called happily.

"Your wounds were fairly light, so it didn't take long for me to-" she continued.

"Heal them! Heal them!" another Nyan Nyan interjected.

"Mend your clothes! Mend your clothes!" yet another Nyan Nyan added.

"Oh...! I can't get a word in edgewise!" Taiitsukun yelled as Tamahome hid behind a pillow and the Nyan Nyans ran from the room.

Chichiri handed Katherine her clothes and then walked around to the other side of the bed, where Christina and Tamahome were still cowering in fear and gave them their garments.

"Thanks Chichiri!" Christina said happily.

"Yeah, thanks!" Katherine agreed.

"How do you know about Mt. Taikyoku, Chichiri?" Tamahome asked.

"Well," Chichiri answered, taking off his mask, "I've been training here for about three years, no da."

After they had put their clothes back on, Tamahome, Christina, and Katherine followed Chichiri down a hallway to the exit. Halfway down the corridor, Taiitsukun popped down from the ceiling. Katherine, Tamahome, and Christina all grabbed onto Chichiri.

"I'm scared!" Tamahome cried.

"It's like Night of the Living Dead!" Katherine cowered.

"Or Nightmare on Elm Street!" Christina trembled.

"I've been here for three years, so I'm used to her looks no da," Chichiri explained as they continued down the corridor.

"Bye, Taiitsukun!" Christina called, still not looking her in the face.

"Bye, Nyan Nyans!" Katherine called as they all piled into the new kasa that Taiitsukun had given him, "See ya later!"

*

Hotohori was sitting on his throne when he heard a collection of voices entering the next room. "Guess who!" Katherine cheerfully called into the room as she, Tamahome, Christina, and a strange-looking man with bright blue hair entered the room. Hotohori rushed down from his throne and hugged Katherine tightly.

"Thank goodness," he breathed. "You're alright!"

"I missed you so much!" Katherine told Hotohori.

Christina just looked at the two, watching Katherine and Hotohori make the perfect couple gave her hope about herself and Tasuki. "Oh yeah," she remembered, "Hotohori, this is Chichiri."

"Da!" Chichiri greeted Hotohori. Nuriko ran into the room and hugged Christina and Katherine.

"Nuriko!" they both said happily as all three of them turned around and walked out of the room, gossiping happily.

"So what happened?" Nuriko asked as they turned a corner.

*

After explaining everything to Nuriko, they all sat down to dinner. "So there's a Priestess of Seiryuu?" Nuriko asked.

"Can we talk about someone else?" Katherine asked tired from everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

"Yeah, I'm eating," Christina joked as she made a face of disgust.

After dinner, Katherine and Christina were faced with an immense problem: what to do for the rest of the night.

*

Katherine and Christina decided to brainstorm in Katherine's room until they thought of something. "So what do you wanna do tonight Katherine?" Christina asked.

"I dunno," she shrugged, "do you have any good ideas?" The girls thought very hard, dismissing ideas as soon as they came into their heads.

"OH!" Christina shouted. "Light bulb!"

"What?" Katherine asked. Christina ran down the hallway to her own room, and Katherine had no choice but to follow. Christina opened one of her boxes and started rummaging through piles of CD's and batteries. She finally pulled out what looked like a big walkman.

"Listen to music?" Katherine said.

"Nope," Christina said slyly while flipping the top open to reveal a screen. "I borrowed my brother's portable DVD player."

"WE COULD HAVE A MOVIE MARATHON!" Katherine said. Then a problem struck her mind. "You did bring DVD's, didn't you?"

"Well, DUH!" Christina answered as she brought out a huge collection of movies. "Should we watch scary movies, or funny movies, or action movies, or sad movies?"

"I feel in the mood for a CHICK-FLICK MARATHON!" Katherine yelled as she jumped to her feet. Christina quickly pulled out a dozen movies.

"But where to have it?" Christina asked out loud while bringing her hand to her chin.

"What about my room?" Katherine suggested. "All the food's in there anyway."

"OK!" Christina said as she grabbed a heavy duffel bag and started to drag it, along with the DVD player and movies, to Katherine's room.

"What's in the bag?" Katherine inquired.

"My stash," Christina replied as she unzipped the bag to reveal what looked like a lifetime's supply of candy and chocolate. Katherine smiled and went to get her own provisions.

Soon Katherine's room resembled the perfect slumber party. Bags of candy surrounded the bed, which was covered in so many blankets that it was a good foot higher than it used to be. The DVD player sat on a nightstand in front of the bed and, for once, Christina was extremely glad that her parents spoiled her brother and bought him a DVD player which an extra large screen.

"Hey, do you think someone else wants to watch with us?" Katherine asked. Christina nodded and they walked out into the hallway, trying to decide who would want to come to their 'sleepover'. They looked down the hallways and saw Nuriko walking into his room.

"Hey Nuriko!" Christina called. The sei looked over and walked towards the priestesses.

"What?" he asked sleepily.

"Do you wanna watch some movies with us?" Christina asked while Katherine nodded.

"Movies?" Nuriko questioned.

"Yeah! We're having a chick flick marathon and thought you might wanna come."

"What?"

"Just come with us," Katherine said as they pulled Nuriko towards Katherine's room.

*

Soon Nuriko, Christina, and Katherine were lying on the bed and eating chocolate. Christina put a DVD in the player.

"What's that?" Nuriko said while pointing at the DVD player.

"You'll see," Katherine answered.

"Oh yeah," Christina said, realizing how confused Nuriko would become as soon as the DVD player turned on. "No one on the screen is real, they're just pretending so that they can tell the story realistically." She guessed that was the best way she could explain it.

The screen turned on and turned bright blue while Nuriko watched in awe. The words 'SONY DVD' flashed across the screen. The menu popped up and Christina pressed 'PLAY' on her remote. Pearl Harbor started to play.

"What is this?" Nuriko asked

"Cool huh?" Christina asked. The words "This is based on a true story" appeared on the screen.

"What does that say?" Nuriko asked.

"Oh yeah! Sorry, we forgot that we have different letters," Katherine said.

"It just said that the movie is based on a true story," Christina explained, "because the movie is based on Pearl Harbor, which was a battle in World War Two."

Utterly lost, Nuriko decided the easiest thing would be to go along with the girls and not question their mention of a nonexistent war. "Oh," he said. Then they turned their heads back to the screen and to watch the movie.

*

Tamahome woke up to loud crying through the walls in his room. He slowly got out of bed, wondering where the sobbing was coming from. He padded down the hallway and stopped outside Katherine's room. The weeping was definitely coming from inside her room. He slowly pushed open the door and saw Christina, Nuriko, and Katherine sitting on Katherine's bed and sobbing. They were all bathed in an odd, bright glow that was coming from the box sitting on the table. Christina had tears running down her face and Nuriko was shredding the tissue in his hands as tears filled his eyes.

"I always cry when you see that they named him after Danny!" Christina wept.

"I LOVE Josh Hartnett!" Katherine cried.

"That was so SAD!" Nuriko sobbed.

"What happened to you guys?" Tamahome asked.

"Oh, hi Tamahome," Christina sniffled as she looked up at him. "We're just watching a movie."

"A what?" he asked.

"Never mind," Katherine said as she wiped her eyes.

"It's like a play," Nuriko explained sadly.

"A play made you cry?" he chuckled.

"It was a GOOD play!" Nuriko countered.

"You're so insensitive!" Christina yelled through her tears as she threw an empty DVD box at his head. He quickly sidestepped the box.

"Tamahome get out! No boys allowed!" Katherine shouted.

"What do you call that?" Tamahome said, pointing towards Nuriko.

"He doesn't count!" Christina replied angrily.

"Fine then, I'll leave you to your tear-fest," he said jokingly as he walked out of the room.

"What movie should we watch next?" Katherine said.

"What about A Little Princess? That ALWAYS makes me cry," Christina suggested. Katherine reached down and picked up the new DVD to put it in the player.

To be continued...

~*~

(When we were writing the end of this episode and Christina mentioned how she was bringing her "stash" to Katherine's room, we thought that it kinda sounded like she was bringing a stash of drugs... SO HERE'S A FUSHIGI AKUGI ABOUT THAT!)

FUSHIGI AKUGI

"I feel in the mood for a CHICK-FLICK MARATHON!" Katherine yelled as she jumped to her feet. Christina quickly pulled out a dozen movies.

"But where to have it?" Christina asked out loud while bringing her hand to her chin.

"What about my room?" Katherine suggested. "All the food's in there anyway."

"OK!" Christina said as she grabbed a heavy duffel bag and started to drag it, along with the DVD player and movies, to Katherine's room.

"What's in the bag?" Katherine inquired.

"My stash," Christina replied as she unzipped the bag to reveal a mound of green pot, some lighters and pipes, and some hits of acid.

*

"This is gooooddd... stuff..." Christina commented.

"Can you believe I've never had mari-ju-wana before?" Katherine asked.

"I'm dizzy..." Nuriko added.

"Whoa no da... no da... no da..." Chichiri said.

"How'd you get here Chichiri?" Christina asked.

"I don't know no da... da."