Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ In Dreams ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

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

Disclaimer: I own no Fushigi Yuugi Chararcters, Places or Ideas.



Jennifer yawned as she woke up. Since there were no conveniently placed clocks, or rather, there were none at all, she had no clue what time it was. She guessed that it was around four in the morning, just because that was the time that she always woke up and some habits were hard to break. She stretched her arms out in front of her and examined the little bit of blue cloth that was tied high on her right arm. She had noticed Suboshi's studying it and she hadn't missed the deep look that he had given it. Her first guess that it was more than just a token seemed to be correct. She didn't mind. She really liked Amiboshi and had always liked him best out of all of the Seishi, even when Marie was trying to kill her for bashing Tamahome all of the time. She almost laughed when she remembered Lilly's face when she'd said that he was "prettier" than Hotohori.

She shook her head and tried to focus, thinking of her old anime obsessed friends wasn't helping her situation any. She still didn't know exactly what Amiboshi meant with the token and she still didn't know how she was going to get the lot of the Seiryu Seishi out of Nakago's clutches. The hardest part would definitely be getting Yui to believe that he was evil and was only using her to further his own ends. Tomo would be a task, too. He would recognize her soon enough she just hoped he didn't harbor any hard feelings. She looked around her tent. She saw a new dress, or yukata, or kimono, or whatever the hell it was supposed to be, and she picked it up. She felt a little like she was betraying Kaelar by wearing so much blue, but then again, at least it wasn't white and she was in a den of blue vipers. She put it on slowly, trying to make sure that she was getting it on correctly.

She sighed. She could speak perfect Japanese, or Chinese, or whatever language they were speaking, but she didn't even know what kind of clothes she was wearing. Kaelar definitely had a unique sense of humor, he'd teach her the language, but not tell her what anything meant, if that made any sense, but, of course, it didn't. She sighed and looked around for something that she could use as a hair chop stick. She found something and then just twisted it in her hair as she walked out. Since it was still zero in the morning, no one else was awake yet. She sat on the edge of the encampment and looked out into the early morning. She really had no clue what she was doing. Sure she had been given some brief instructions from Kaelar, but those just consisted of taking care of the Seiryu Seishi first, they didn't include how to do that, or what to do once they were relatively safe.

She sighed. She was homesick. It wasn't just that she missed her home; it was that she didn't think that there was a way that she could ever go back. And then part of her wasn't sure that she even wanted to go back at all. Why go back where you aren't wanted? Sure, she was Drum Major and she had a few friends, but who, besides Mark, was really her friend? Who would she really miss if she never went back? The answer was easy. No one. Not even her brother. She wouldn't miss anyone except Mark. And was it worth it just going back for him? It had been worth it to stay alive for him, but why live in agony when she could just stay here? Granted, things were confusing and complicated and hard, but it was better than going home where no one cared.

She stretched her arms out and wished that there was a pool near-by. Usually at this time she was swimming laps at the gym, but obviously she couldn't do that today. She also wanted to go take a run, but decided against it on the grounds that Nakago would have a fit and start assuming things. She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and was thankful, for once, that she had already let the blue and black dyes fade out. It would have looked really bad if she had still had it in now. She sighed and leaned back, waiting for they day to start and everyone to wake up.



Ami boshi sighed. Whatever time it was, it was too early to be awake and lucid. The only reason that he was awake was that he couldn't stand to sleep any longer. Mark was having a terrible time coping with Jennifer's "disappearance" and was going into a deep depression. He morbid thoughts had bothered Amiboshi so much that he'd almost forced himself awake several times during the night, just to get the images to go away. He was having a hard time coping with his own Jennifer loss as well. Sure, she was, hopefully, safe in his brother's hands, but she was still in too close of a proximity to Nakago to make him feel comfortable. And then there was Suboshi himself. If Suboshi had killed Tamahome's whole family, then he must be corrupted or changed, so maybe she wasn't safe with him...

He sighed. Giving her half of his head band as he had had been the best protection that he could give her form his brother. Of course, it did imply that he was her koibito, but that was what made Suboshi protect her, he hoped. His little brother had always wanted to keep him from any pain, so the best way to do that was to keep his sweetheart well, right? He hoped that was what Suboshi would think. He also hoped that the meaning of the symbol came to be true. Even though he'd only known her in his own mind for a day he felt connected to her and like he'd known her for the two years that she had known Mark and besides, she was the girl of his dreams. He shuddered a bit as he remembered the end of the dream that he had experienced the night before.



Amiboshi shivered. The images and thoughts that Mark had were burned into his memory now. He knew what the letter contained; he remembered when Mark had written it. He remembered why... He fought back tears as those memories came back to him as well. It was terrible. He hated these dreams, he wished that they would just leave so he could live his own life, not one bogged down with traumas and stress form things that hadn't even happened to him. His body shuddered as he fought the depression that always came from Mark's memories.

He pulled out his flute and began to play. He played a slow mournful tune that he had created in his parents' memory. He played it now to clear his heart. To free it from the chains that Mark had wrought around himself and unwillingly around his brother. The longer he played, the freer he felt. As the tune rose to the beautiful climax the sun was shining down, lighting him and he reveled in the feeling, drinking it up, putting it into the song. All of the joy and hope that the new light brought, all of the freedom, all of it was put into the sound.

When he stopped playing and looked up into the faces of the Suzaku Seishi, who had gathered around him, he saw a mixture of tears and joy in their eyes. He smiled back at them, wiping unnoticed tears form his own face. The power of his song drifted through all of them. Giving them new hope. Awakening the feelings that had been trapped inside since Nuriko's death. Despite their words, hope and joy had been gone until this moment. It was also with this moment that Amiboshi first felt truly one with the Suzaku Seishi.



< br> Jennifer saw Nakago flinch, halfway through a step. She looked at him confusedly and then turned to Suboshi who had the strangest look on his face. When he seemed to come back to reality, she asked him, "What was all of that?"

"Amiboshi was using his ki. We could all hear it." She thought that his face looked more than a little deliriously happy and terribly sad at the same time.

"Please elaborate, I didn't hear anything."

"Oh, sorry. I meant us as in the other Seiryu Warriors. We're all connected." He turned and looked at her and she saw that his face was back to normal. "Shouldn't you have heard it too? You're connected to everyone as well." Tarakai shook her head.

"I don't know... I guess." She shook her head some more, it felt a little muddled. She took a deep breath and tried to feel all of the Seishi. When she was able to trace everyone, Jennifer felt a little better. She stood up and dusted her clothing off, still wondering about why she hadn't heard anything. She shrugged it off and went to see Yui.

She stretched a little as she walked to where the Priestess was sitting, once again practicing her English. This amused Jennifer terribly because she had been given the knowledge of whatever language they were speaking, she still had no clue what it was, but assumed that it was Japanese since Miaka seemed to be getting along alright, and poor Yui had to study English because Seiryu didn't think it was necessary to give her the language. Of course, it wasn't, but it was still amusing watching someone struggle with something that one found easy. Jennifer decided to help because Yui was having trouble with the "that that" concept.

"Need a little help with that Your Eminence?" She said in English placing emphasis on the word "that." Yui looked up completely surprised. It was close to a deer-in-the-headlights look and amused her to no end.

"You speak English?" Yui asked, casting a glance at Suboshi. Jennifer thought that the look was probably because he had asked her earlier in the story what she was "chanting" and it had turned out to be English and now Yui was confused the Suboshi's new friend was obviously very good with the language.

"I would hope so. Most American's do. That is, unless you are in Southern California, then they speak convoluted Spanish." She could tell that Yui didn't understand all of what she said, so she didn't bother laughing at her own joke, even if she had understood the words, Yui probably wouldn't have got the joke in any case. (1)

"You're an American? I never would have guessed, you speak Japanese like a native speaker," That explains what language we were speaking then, Jennifer thought, "Well, you do look like an American now that I think about it, or at least as American as any one person can look." Yui had reverted back to Japanese, but Jennifer didn't have a problem with that.

"You're right. We come in all colors." Yui did laugh that time and Jennifer was a little happy. Yui had always seemed so serious and depressed. "So, what are you having trouble with? I'm a writer, so I know the language better than most."



Su boshi watched as Tarakai helped Yui with her "English." Suboshi still thought that it sounded like spells, but since Tarakai knew it and since he knew that she was almost completely useless, in the nicest way possible, that it couldn't be spells. He sighed, Tarakai knew things and she was smart, but she couldn't do anything. That much she'd told him herself, or rather she had complained about the fact that she couldn't do anything. He rubbed the back of his head as he watched them. It always made him sad when Yui would "practice her five main subjects" because it was always a reminder that she was eventually going to go home to her world where he didn't exist and couldn't go.

He wished that she wouldn't have to leave, but he knew that she had no choice. When he had been talking to Tarakai the night before, before she started coughing, she had said that eventually she and Miaka and Yui would all have to go back to their world whether they wanted to or not. She said that their being in this world upset the balance and that they would sicken and fade away, not even die, if they stayed too long. She had said that they didn't have a place that this world didn't have enough energy to support them, living or dead. He didn't really understand why that all worked, but he believed that they couldn't stay in a world not their own. He just wished it wasn't that way.

He reached up and fingered his own head band. He dearly wished to spilt it and tie half on Yui's arm, in a gesture like Amiboshi's, but he knew that she would never accept it. She would somehow know what it meant, or demand to know and then he'd have to tell her. She already knew his feelings and obviously fought against them. He hoped that most of her fighting was because she felt that she was unworthy of love because of her believed condition, but he would never knew, or at least he wouldn't know unless he asked her, which he didn't have the courage to do. He sighed as he thought about her supposed condition. When he had said that it didn't change his feelings for her, he had been telling the truth. The only difference that it had made was to make him full zealous anger at those who had done it to her.

He closed his eyes as he felt tears close to the surface. He cared for her so much. She just didn't seem to understand that. He could only guess that she had been too damaged in the past to understand love... Tarakai had made some comment about her family life being bad, but he had forgotten to ask her more about it. He opened his eyes again and affixed his eyes on Yui once more. He felt someone watching him and turned his head to see Nakago staring at him, a look of triumph evident in his steely eyes. He turned around and stalked off before Suboshi could decide what the look meant.

He watched Nakago's retreating figure until he was out of sight and then turned back to Yui and Tarakai. As he looked at Tarakai he remembered something that had completely slipped his mind hitherto; he had absolutely no clue what Tarakai's real name was! He only knew her by the name that Nakago had given her when they'd found her. He was about to get up to ask her when he remembered what she had said about being compliant. If Nakago wanted to pretend that she was really called Tarakai then he should just go along with that. He was in too precarious a situation to begin with since he had failed in finding Amiboshi.

Suboshi shuddered and was glad that there was no way for Nakago to know Amiboshi's true meaning with the token, even if he ever found out about it, which Suboshi doubted. He turned his gaze from the lovely form of Yui over to Tarakai. He wondered just how much she knew about what the token meant. She had to have guessed by now that it meant more than just what Amiboshi had told her. He shook his head. He couldn't ask her a question like that without revealing the true meaning of it and that might ruin anything that Amiboshi had planned for her. He made a face and then leaned back to watch Yui some more as she struggled with the strange foreign words.

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(1) Okay this was just a joke. I live in So. Cal and was just making fun about all of the people there that don't speak English. This isn't/wasn't meant to offend any one, I have relatives that only speak Spanish, so I have nothin against them. (granted, they are relatives by marriage, but still...)

"Thanks to :
Ryochan8:Yes, I know, I almost cried when I was writing it and then when I wrote the Mark Part in this one, I was sad too.
Lireal1:It's alright, I'm short on words a lot too...( I use them all up when I write )
Tryouts are tomorrow! Wish me Luck!"
-Tk.DuVeraun