Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ My Dreams aren't as Empty ❯ chapter thirteen ( Chapter 13 )

This chapter is dedicated to any who read my FY fanfiction. I sincerely hope not just Miss Lynne is reading this! (laugh here)

 

I'll be moving next week and won't have the internet from the 16th til the week after. But I hope you all stay tuned until I post again! I will hopefully be posting for my Yash story before the 16th!

 

Disclaimer: Penpaninu does not claim to own Fushigi Yuugi in any way shape or form, but does claim to see the Mysterious Play in life.

 

 

“My Dreams aren't as Empty” chapter thirteen

by penpaninu

 

Yui lived with the Sukunami's for a few more weeks, while she checked on Naisen's status, all the while dating Saito and keeping up with her work at the school. Now, two weeks later, Asakura asked Yui to move in with them.

 

`He said it was so Saito would stop pouting when I go home with Miaka and Taka, but I think Asakura wants me around too,' Yui thought after she finished talking to Tetsuya by cell phone. Did Saito's twin brother have a crush on her? She would ponder on this later….

 

“Yui!” Saito waved, and greeted her with an affectionate hug that lifted the counselor's feet off the ground. Yui laughed and hugged his wide shoulders.

 

“You're going to squeeze me too hard each time you do that!” she smiled happily as she was set back down. Her fine young man smiled sheepishly but grinned widely down at her.

 

“I take it Asakura talked to you, huh?” he asked, hands playing with the edge of Yui's blouse. Yui batted at his hands, but giggled, leaning up to move his mussed bangs out of his eyes.

 

“He did! I think your brother has a good point,” Yui smiled and kissed Saito. Saito grinned but looked brightly down at her.

 

“Do you want to move in with me?”

 

“You know I do,” Yui answered. People walking by stared as Saito yelled eagerly in response.

 

* * * *

 

“So, Yui-chan is moving in with her new boyfriend?” Taka asked, rubbing his eyes. Miaka giggled, leaning against the counter beside him.

 

“She sure is! Hiroshi will miss him though,” she smiled happily. She made a mental note to visit Tetsuya, as well as her brother and Mayo. But she was genuinely happy Yui had chosen what she felt best for her.

 

Her husband groaned and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Now maybe I can have some time with you without fear of intruding upon our guest!”

 

Miaka sighed but gave Taka an indulgent kiss on the cheek. “Maybe you shall! You have to admit you'll miss Yui-chan though. I've missed having her around so often!”

 

Taka grimaced but forced a smile. “Okay, okay, I'll miss her plenty! We'll still see her at work though.”

 

Miaka pressed against Taka's back from behind, pressing against his magnificent form. He was as muscular as a familiar friend from her past, and as warm…. Taka's sigh and gentle hands were as familiar to her as the very first embrace from Tamahome.

 

Taka mistook the gesture and sighed heavily in arousal. He turned in her arms and picked her up with his strong hands.

 

Miaka squealed happily and held onto her husband's neck, as he carried her to the master bedroom. Even ducking around Hiroshi's playtime outside, he could still make her feel they were newlyweds.

 

`Tasuki has his feelings resolved. I can say goodbye to him…. from the bottom of my heart,' Miaka thought. She focused her being onto her Taka and was glad of the security of his embrace, and the convictions of his love-filled actions.

 

Suzaku's fire wasn't as high as the brief moment frozen with his warrior of flame.

 

* * * *

 

The morning of Yui's move passed quickly and peacefully despite the circumstances. Both brothers went with her to lift and move the things she had left at Tetsuya's apartment, although Asakura was the one who knocked while Yui and Saito exchanged confidant words in the lobby.

 

The tall man wearing shades opening the door could only be Tetsuya-san and Asakura stood straighter. “Good morning Tetsuya-san. I'm here to help move Yui-san's things,” Asakura greeted politely.

 

Tetsuya smiled readily enough and was polite but one could see the small amount of strain creased in his brow, and in his painful smile as he let the young college student inside.

 

“So….Yui will be staying with you?” Tetsuya asked softly. Asakura nodded, and mentally slapped his forehead.

 

“Yes, but I just happen to live with my brother! I'm Saito's twin brother, Boshin Asakura,” Asakura offered, extending his hand in an offer of goodwill. Tetsuya almost laughed in relief, and shook his hand.

 

“Well then! It's nice to meet you,” the older man laughed. Asakura reflected that Tetsuya would get along better with him than with Saito. It was his brother Yui wanted to be with after all. He was just there to help the both of them.

 

“Like-wise, Tetsuya-san!” Asakura laughed. “You know, if you want to reach her, you can have our home number….”

 

Tetsuya waved one large hand. “I still have her cell number in case of emergencies. But, I thank you for the offer, Asakura-san.”

 

“Don't mention it, Tetsuya-san…” There was some commotion in the hallway and both men looked up to take in the new couple as they knocked and nervously made their way forward.

 

Yui stood side by side with Saito, but their hands were not joined. Asakura could only think that maybe in their own way they were trying to keep Tetsuya-san from feeling too overwhelmed, or upset. How like Yui-san, though. Sukunami-san's loving nature could only pass to her dearest friend in this world!

 

Not bothering to think on the archaic nature of his thought processes, Asakura stood back and let his twin introduce himself to Yui's ex.

 

Yui held her breathe and waited for something to go wrong. But nothing did. Tetsuya was an absolute gentleman and her eyes grew moist with tears at the careful way he dealt with her new beloved. He may have just tapped into his business side to `finish this transaction' well, but he didn't rail at or berate the young reincarnated soul.

`One day…I will tell Tetsuya that he's Suboshi. One day….' Yui thought. But that day was not today. She had no idea how her first love would handle that fact. Or Saito, for that matter!

 

Watching Saito and Tetsuya move side by side with Asakura to lift boxes and carry them to the twin's car below, Yui could only wonder how long before all would notice who the two young men had been in the last life.

 

 

* * * *

 

Yui, Saito and Asakura moved her belongings into the Boshin apartment rather easily, and with several more jokes now that they had bid Tetsuya-san a good evening. Saito laughed more and Asakura opened his mouth to jibe at his brother and friend.

Blushing red from a joke Asakura directed to her, Yui could only hope these good feelings carried them onward as they were supporting all three at once.

 

Saito carried Yui's things into his bedroom and declared she could decorate them as she saw fit. Yui went to work, but not a lot of change was needed as Saito was a man of simplicity and his bedroom reflected this.

`No pictures of half-naked women….well he may be young, but he's a step up from the rest!' Yui thought, half-giggling from the memory of Miaka informing her that Tetsuya and Keisuke used to exchange porn magazines through their college-entry days. They said it was `to survive the stress' of the time, but both women merely had sighed at that.

 

Asakura ordered dinner in for the three and mealtime was spent with pleasant company and warm laughter as the pair of identical men warred against Yui with their chopsticks over the choicest selections.

 

Anticipation was heady tonight and Yui found she was hurrying through her nightly ritual. Saito's flurried movements reciprocated her thoughts and their eyes blazed when meeting.

 

Asakura wisely bowed out of the tail end of dinner and took off for a bar or a movie. He hadn't really made it clear to which he had decided as he was in a hurry to get out of their way. An idiot could identify what was going through Yui and Saito's heads through each heated gaze and silent exchange. And he would give them some privacy their first night living together.

 

Almost waiting to hear the front door close to signal when they could start, Saito held Yui's hand, his eyes earnest and hot with passion. At the click of the door, the two met in deep kisses, stumbling across the apartment to get to Saito's room.

 

“Yui… Yui ,” Saito murmured huskily, his heart coming through in his lust-filled movements. Yui moved against him in passion but her heart clenched gladly. This tall beautiful man loved her and she was here for him finally.

 

The lights from the city illuminated Saito's dark bedroom as a former priestess undressed her reincarnated warrior. At each inch of flesh she uncovered, her eyes gleamed and traced, as well as her hands. Saito stood stock still, his chest rising and falling dramatically with his pent-up emotions and the sensation of her smooth fingers upon him. She even knelt to untie his sweatpants and press kisses along his stomach and thighs, which was arousing and sweet all at once.

 

When she stood, his naked arousal jabbing her lower belly, Saito took his turn to remove her clothing, albeit clumsier. Yui did not reprimand his eagerness, for she looked flattered really. Her eyes shone in the blackness of the bedroom as his large hands cupped and stroked, committing her form to his memory. His touch was worshipful for his age, but reverent and Yui's eyes dampened remembering Suboshi's easy smile just for her.

 

How he had wanted to hold her this way….Yui wrapped her arms around his neck and strong shoulders, pulling Saito down for a glad kiss. He groaned happily and laid her gently across his bed. His large hands were on her breasts again and his head lowered to the curves he held. Yui's head tilted back and a low moan was dragged from her upturned throat as her young man treated her like the finest silk.

 

When she pulled his face up and moved her legs around him, the satisfactory smile on his lips told her he'd wrap himself in her, which made the silk analogy rather funny to her all of a sudden. Yui squashed a giggle as that may give her young man the wrong idea, and ran her hands over him, wanting him. In each gesture she let him know she was his.

 

Saito arched his tip against her and Yui moaned. His eagerness to get her here made him realize he had forgotten contraceptive and he lay over Yui in a hurry to reach the bedside table. He slid the drawer open, palmed a condom and knelt back, tearing at the latex wrapper. Yui sat up and kissed his shoulder while he focused on the damn wrapping.

 

Once his large fingers tore the wrapper open, his smile was large and triumphant.

 

“Hail the conquering hero,” Yui teased. Saito grinned too but moaned deeply when his girlfriend's hand wandered low and squeezed his length. He throbbed in her hand and Yui watched him in amazement. He was truly magnificent…

 

“Wait, Yui, let me get this on,” he whispered and rolled on the condom with a minimum of help. Finally they rolled back against each other and Saito pushed himself into Yui quickly.

 

They had both waited awhile for this so the hurried rush was fun but now they both gasped, filling one breath together in the small room in a Tokyo apartment building. Stretching and stretched, they were as close to heaven as they could reach in that tiny room.

 

Until Saito thrust against her and Yui's hands moved up and down his sweaty back as her legs squeezed him close. Harder and faster they slid against each other, breathy moans and gasps uttered against the louder sounds of the major city outside of the window. They heard and felt only each other and when they reached a peak at the same time, heaven was definitely reached and the rest of the world drowned out.

 

Seiryuu blessed this union, Yui thought fuzzily when Saito leaned against her, heaving in exaggerated breath. Her ears were so stopped up they may as well have been filled with water. She could hear only Saito.

 

“Yui, I love you,” he murmured, his eyes closed tightly. Yui kissed his sweaty brow and rubbed the large expanse of his back. He was rather heavy so she tilted him to the side. But she didn't let him go from her.

Not that she needn't have worried. Throughout the night, Saito's hands sought her again and again. They made love twice more between resting and sleeping. In every way, Yui was made to feel loved and needed.

And she was glad to have the chance to know Suboshi again and finally show him that she had loved him.

 

* * * *

 

“Stay away from her. Stay away from Yui-sama!” He screamed and ran after the tall dark-haired man who cursed and took off running. What a bastard! He'd make him chase him the whole way down the alleyway!

 

“Suboshi! Let him go,” the most familiar voice in his world made the young man turn and he panted in frustration as the blond girl made him stay at her side. He would always be by her side, but damned if he'd let that bastard just get away!

 

“Yui-sama…what did Tamahome want from you?” The young man, Suboshi, was that his name?, asked of the blond girl. Yui was so young. Her hair used to be so short. Why did she look so upset?

 

The girl's hands clenched around her cape and she folded the garment around….a middle-school uniform? He didn't know Yui when she was in that grade! He would have been in grade school!

 

“Never mind that! Just come with me, Suboshi,” Yui ordered and the young man bowed his head, frustrated. Why must she treat him like this? He wasn't a child! He was a man and he loved her. He always tried to prove to her he could take care of her wants and needs, whether they be listening to her study, or guarding her on the journey through Sairyou.

 

Saito opened one eye, the sharp cold of that snow-filled ancient town disappearing from his senses. Just what the heck kind of dream was that? Why had he dreamed about Yui in middle school? He was several years younger than her, not the same age. Why would he be so young with her at that young age?

 

Yui lay against his arm, bare and warm against him. His flesh responded to her closeness but Saito merely held her close and closed his eyes. Dreams were funny things, but Asakura and Yui would say they were the key to memories or wants. He didn't want Yui to be upset with him like she had been in the dream. So why would it fall into the category of memory?

 

Yui sighed in her sleep and pressed closer against him. Saito's lips spread in a wide smile and he drifted back to sleep against her. Best not to worry about weird dreams. He didn't need to dream again now that he held in his arms what he had always wanted.

 

* * * *

 

Naisen clasped his hands together and sat up straight, as he was being considered by a few grown-up couples. He was slender and tall for his age with that shoulder-length blond hair and bright blue eyes, but he hoped the most strict of these middle-aged couples could perhaps be swayed by his fervent hope to be someone else's son than be judged by his half Japanese heritage.

 

At Naisen's side, a skinny boy crossed his fingers and shoved his hands into his pockets. He tried to act nonchalant, but Naisen knew he was as terrified as he was that he wouldn't be considered or picked that day. The stay at the foster care was a new experience, but Naisen was learning to let his guard down slowly and surely for he knew he would never have to go near that tall office tower of his father's again. No one knew what had happened to Yasunori-san, but the rumor that Naisen heard from overhearing his caseworkers, was that the powerful business tycoon had fled on a `business' trip and escaped police questioning. He could only run so long, and the police still wanted to talk to him, but Naisen feared money and influence were powerful tools in this world.

 

It had always been important to have, Naisen reflected, his small clasped hands shaking as an elderly woman stooped to look into his eyes, and seeing their blue color, dismissed him and moved onto the next child. Naisen let out a slow breathe of air and tried not to show he cared. But he found these days that he did care, quite a lot.

A care worker had gently informed Naisen that his half-japanese blood may turn off many potential parent figures. He looked too much like a European cast-off, that most may not notice he was part Japanese at all. Naisen merely nodded, and prayed to a nameless god to let them see his heart.

 

Hongo-sensei had promised as soon as his foster care was arranged, he would still be able to attend the school he had been at since his first year. It was too close to where his family used to live, but Sadako still was near, and Hiroshi too, and perhaps Toya. He never did find out where that kid lived, but Naisen found he missed them and hoped they weren't forgetting him.

 

Yui pushed through the office doors and smiled seeing the small group of young children waiting for scrutiny. She recognized Naisen right away and laid a hand on his shoulder. Naisen lifted his blond head and brightened, the smallest of smiles darting across his lips. He had had a dream about Hongo-sensei last night, and it didn't feel too good, but she had trusted him and believed in him. And he had been so tall and so strong, that no one could harm him….Sadako-chan was there too, and she had loved him, but Naisen didn't know why he didn't let his heart bleed as it did now….

 

“Hongo-sensei, you came to see me?” Naisen grinned hopefully. Yui nodded and took a seat next to him.

 

“Your friends at school made you this in hopes you'll come back soon,” Yui smiled, handing a paper card to the young boy. Naisen's hands shook and his smile stretched to his ears as he opened the card to see the childish kanji and his friends signatures scrawled across the expanse of the paper.

 

“Thanks, Hongo-sensei! Please tell them I hope to be back!” Naisen grinned, tucking the card into his pocket. Yui smiled and hugged her young seishi around the shoulders.

 

“So, how are your prospects?” she asked. Naisen sighed a boyish sigh and filled in his school's guidance counselor. As Yui laughed or smiled, Naisen found himself more content than he had been in years.

 

* * * *

 

Sadako sat on her family's apartment balcony, Ash frisking at her ankles. She watched for the bright constellation of stars that had blinked so familiarly to her a few months ago, but they were hidden, obscured by the clouds and the city's natural light pollution.

 

Naisen hadn't come back to school yet. But the police had come for his mother, and his raving father, and movers had come to pack up the whole apartment. Naisen was staying with foster people until they figured out where he would be living, or if he would be adopted, and Sadako hoped with all of her young heart that Naisen would be adopted, but that he would still be close to her.

 

She missed climbing over into his balcony, and hugging him far into the night before school! She missed their few but serious talks of dragon gods, cascading waterfalls and working for the land and its people. Naisen seriously groused that they knew their duty to the land far better than their ruler had, but the thought was too complex to pick apart with their seven-year-old and eight-year-old minds.

 

Ash whined and nuzzled his mistress' leg. Sadako smiled, and picked up her puppy, her hair loose from the usual confines of bun braids. “We'll see Naisen-kun again one day! I'm sure of it,” she assured her animal brother. Ash's eyes shone and he licked Sadako's cheek.

 

* * * *

 

A young boy swept a shrine front walkway and paused to lean on his broom, looking up into the sky in hopes of seeing the constellation of stars that had intrigued him before. His shaved head shone in the lights of the city at night, and the sounds rose high in his ears but the young monk's assistant closed his slanted eyes trying to focus, but to no avail. It was far too noisy. It would always be far too noisy at a temple in Tokyo, and he missed the small village temple his family had solicited him to first. But this roadside temple had a prestigious standing, having survived air raids during the second Great War, and having been erected far early in the century, a few years before the shrine's current owner had been born.

 

“Mitsuko! Mitsuko-kun! Come inside!” The old lady called now and the young boy shouldered the broom, smoothing his robes carefully with his free hand.

“Yes, Yuriko-san!” he called, and made his way into the temple to aide the old priestess. He would try to watch the stars another time. Although, he wished that tall blond lady would return to them. He had a feeling he owed her something, but he wasn't sure what it was.

 

Mitsuko slid open the temple doors, bowed and entered. “What is it you require, Yuriko-sama?” he deferred to a far more elaborate suffix to show respect.

“Have you settled all the flower arrangements in today?” Yuriko asked, hands clasped for prayer as she knelt seiza-style. Mitsuko nodded, and went to boil water for tea for her.

 

“Hai, great lady,” he responded respectfully. Yuriko clapped her hands twice, spoke not a word for several minutes, and finished with a short chant.

“Shall we share a cup of tea before I let my son take you for mediation?” she asked, her wrinkled face cracking into a wide smile.

 

Mitsuko grinned in response, his slanted eyes shining. “Of course, my lady.”

The priestess and the monk's assistant shared a quiet cup of tea.

 

* * * *

 

Toya held his delicate bathrobe together as he peeked around his parents to try and catch a glimpse of the evening sky. Those stars weren't out swirling and flashing as before, but that didn't mean they wouldn't ever again, Toya thought to himself.

 

“Where are you going, young man? We need our beauty sleep do we not?” Toya's father asked, coming to the sliding door with his face bathed with beauty cream. Toya never did tell kids at school that his father used the same beauty treatments his mother did to keep himself young for the screen, but there you had it. It was no wonder he was so articulate and pretty for his age when you had parents like that now was there?

 

“Coming, father,” Toya called, and folded his hands elegantly before himself. He hoped Naisen-kun would return to school soon. It just wasn't fun with Hiroshi-kun calling the shots.

 

* * * *

 

Saito and Asakura sat side by side on their apartment's small balcony, cross-legged and leaning against the glass door to stare out over the city's nightlife.

 

“You and Yui-san getting on okay?” Asakura teased and his brother socked him in the shoulder something good.

“What do you think, ototo?? We're getting on great,” Saito grinned happily as he listened to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo's nightly activities. “It's not disturbing you is it?”

 

“Yeah, all the girls don't want to be here because Yui-san is,” Asakura bemoaned jokingly. Saito laughed and clinked his beer bottle against his brothers in mock commiseration.

“Well that's too bad! Because I love her,” he confessed quietly. Asakura nodded and sipped his beer.

 

“Yeah, she's great isn't she?” Asakura added. Saito whistled and laughed.

“She just makes me so freaking happy, bro. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't have gotten to be with her,” Saito murmured. Deep in his mind's eye, he remembered throwing something….what was it? He was throwing something with intent to kill against a man he hated. Why did Yui-sama care so for him and not?….

 

Saito rubbed his eyes. These strange thoughts were cropping up far too often. He had Yui now, she was his girlfriend, and she loved being with him. When she had told him she loved him a week ago, he thought he had stopped breathing.

`This is as close to heaven as I'll ever touch,' Saito had thought. Yui was his heaven, and he could be a man when he was near her. The other comrades hadn't mattered…

 

“Aniki? Bro, you okay?” Asakura nudged his twin in the side. Saito shook the cobwebs from his mind and forced the thoughts to stay. His brother, he had always been with him. In their mother's womb, and maybe beyond…. how else did their God know to send them to the same woman together?

 

“You got the stars in your eyes, Aniki. What are you thinking?” Asakura asked. Saito leaned on his twin's shoulder for comfort and sighed happily.

 

“I think we finally got what we always wanted,” Saito confessed strangely. To his surprise, his twin brother nodded.

 

“I feel the exact same way.”

 

* * * *

 

Tasuki knelt on his hands and knees and set to scrubbing the tiled floors of Suzaku's shrine with a fervent desire to clean and not play around as he once had liked to. Chichiri swept by him, his shoulder covering sweeping around him grandly as he seemed to survey his fellow warrior's work.

 

“Oh, you missed a spot, Tasuki-kun!” Chichiri joked cheerfully. Tasuki looked up under his mop of red hair and gave a bark of laughter.

 

“Then why don't you get your skinny butt down here and help, Chiri!” the fire seishi laughed and sat back on his haunches. He opted for sandals, loose pants and a sleeveless tunic for the work he had taken upon himself. And while he wasn't so dressed up as he usually liked to swagger around looking as, his jade earrings still dangled from his earlobes, and his strands of beads hung around his neck settling in the hollow beneath his throat. They swayed with his scrubbing movements when he set back onto the tiles with a vengeance.

 

Chichiri tapped his staff on the tiles, the top jangling for attention as Tasuki grunted and scrubbed earnestly. “I never knew you to be so pious, Tasuki-kun,” he added seriously. “Did something happen to make you see the light?”

 

Tasuki grimaced, but it was a happy contortion of pain as he sat back on his heels, scrubbing rag dangling in his large hands. His braid dangled over one shoulder and he pushed it around to his back as he contemplated his words. Chichiri watched him, impressed that his once brash and brazen friend was contemplating how to go on. Usually he blurted out what was on his mind and while this was a frank and honest way of expressing oneself, he was clearly going for tact this time.

 

“Well, Chiri, Suzaku did visit me recently… that night you `couldn't find me,' “ Tasuki laughed, his eyes shining in remembrance. Chichiri nodded, noting instances in the past where his patron god had taken him aside in time and space to declare deeds that needed to be done, or to whisk him to Taitsu-kun's mountain personally.

 

“What did Suzaku Sekun ask of you?” Chichiri asked. Tasuki thought long and hard then grinned.

“He didn't ask me anything. I asked him something,” he laughed. Chichiri took off his mask, revealing a stern expression of longing. How he had worked long and hard for their lands' god! Whereas he would never ask for reward, it was clear that Suzaku had favored a change of Tasuki's heart and had granted him a boon…..

 

“Well what was it, Tasuki-kun?” Chichiri smiled, his scarred visage pulling with the expression. Tasuki smiled widely, glad his friend was showing him his true face for this serious confession of passion.

 

“I asked Suzaku himself to send me to Miaka. I had to you know…. apologize,” Tauski flushed in anger and embarrassment, and scrubbed at his bare neck vigorously. “And then we got ta talking! Miaka's doin' so well, Chiri, Taka's working a good job, and she's looked after well and hell they even have a kid. Portrait of him looked good,” Tasuki went on and Chichiri nodded, waiting for the real conclusion his friend obviously wanted to talk about.

 

“Go on,” Chichiri urged, kneeling down instead of sitting cross-legged. A small amount of decorum was allowed as they were in Suzaku's Shrine after all.

“Well, I told her my feelings. I finally was able to tell her, Chiri. And Chiri….she said….” Tasuki flushed as red as his hair, as red as the flame he conjured with his beloved tessen that swung from his left hip as he knelt on the tiles.

 

“She said I didn't need to try so hard. And…Chiri, I kissed her,” Tasuki murmured, brushing at his reddened face with one wrist. Chichiri nodded, waiting for his friend to continue.

 

“I'm glad you were able to tell her, no da. I'm glad Miaka cares for all of us,” Chichiri said. Tasuki nodded vigorously.

 

“She said that she loved all of us! And me….maybe not the way I love her…but I was able to tell her. And she took it well,” Tasuki went on, his eyes far-off and not part of Konan as he reminisced. Chichiri clasped his hand over his friend's shoulder.

 

“I'm glad for you, Tasuki-kun. Did she take being kissed well?” he asked lightly. Tasuki flushed even deeper if that was possible.

 

“We uh….I don't know what happened, Chiri! But I think we were made into one,” Tasuki confessed and went on to explain the surrounding of Suzaku's flame that carried both of them on a tide of powerful passion and longing, taking them away to a pocket of time and space perhaps where they knew only each other.

“I really think that we….and Chiri, I can die happy now! Miaka accepted all of me, I know she did, and we…..” Tasuki flushed again and shut up.

 

Chichiri held one hand up in reverence to Suzaku and nodded a silent prayer of thanks to the Phoenix Beast God. “Then I think you did. Suzaku took you both away that moment for perhaps that. Miaka has always had a large heart, and I'm truly glad you're part of her deepest affections.”

 

Tasuki looked forlorn a moment, then wound up laughing happily. “She's one hell of a woman, Chiri!” he exclaimed.

“That she is, Tasuki-kun. Come on, I'll help you wash the tiles,” Chichiri suggested, taking off his shoulder wrap and rolling up his tunic sleeves. Tasuki made room for him and the two scrubbed away on their knees.

 

“You're only doing this because Suzaku let you hold Miaka, no da?” Chichiri asked. Tasuki threw a rag at the monk.

 

* * * *

 

A young boy watched the children on the playground, his finger in his mouth as he contemplated who to ask to play. A little girl ran by, her purple hair pulled back into a neat braid and ran into him.

 

“I'm Nana! Come on, why are you standing here?” the little girl asked pushily and the young boy smiled. His short brown hair was combed neatly and he clasped his hands shyly.

 

“I didn't feel like running! But I'll race you,” he offered. Nana brushed her dress off and took off.

“You got a deal! Hey, what's your name?” Nana called. The boy smiled.

“Mareshi!”

 

“Okay, Mareshi, come on,” Nana urged. The parents of the children smiled and sat down to watch over their offspring.

 

In the heavens above the other world, Suzaku and Seiryuu locked elbows and watched their reincarnated souls.

 

End for now

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why did I name Suboshi's new life as Saito? Well, I not only needed a Japanese male name that started with the letter, but I happen to be a Shinsengumi fan. I'm not just talking about the character of Saito reflected in the Rurouni Kenshin series. I'm talking about the real life figure at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Many animes and stories have tried to rekindle the feeling behind the Shinsengumi Shogunate police group from the end of the nineteenth century, with some interesting views or so, and I find the whole looking back almost nostalgic although I myself am not Japanese.

I am a fan of history though, as well as mythology, and the ideal of a team of samurai formed to `keep the peace' during a time of civil war seems almost romantic. However the Shinsengumi were employed to keep `rebel' samurai out of Kyoto affairs, not to employ flowery images of rugged samurai who try to uphold a three hundred year political system. Although they worked for the Shogunate, they were strictly Japanese and an Emperor was always on the throne, just never in power. I find that I myself respect Japan for keeping their sacred imperial line (Said to be descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu-sama) where other countries did away with theirs as a sign of out-lived politics.

 

Times change and countries go through upheavals and forced movements, but Japan is blessed in that they cannot let go of something sacred. I've been told historically and politically they may be cursed in that almost sense of being `unoriginal.' I find certain traces of tradition admirable and their quiet passion….I don't have a word for it. I try to remain emotionally unattached but even my heart swells when I scream “Banzai” , even if it is before a Legend of the Five Rings tournament. Baka gaijin I am.

 

Anyway! I enjoy the Shinsengumi's part in the end of the Tokugawa era. I just saw an anime from the wondrous works of director Kon Satoshi where the Shinsengumi had a background cameo role during the walks through Japanese eras and history highlights. Watch “Millenium Actress” today.

 

The twin thoughts are from rl experience, as I am the elder in a set of identical twins. I love my other half far dearly as we have a close link. My younger sisters have seemed to tap into that close link, for all of us get along far too well. I like to think we were `meant to live now' together as we are.

 

Nana is pronounced differently, and is a Japanese name! Ten points if you name the soul. And Mareshi as well. I was keeping in tune to keeping the same first letter for the new names.

 

Like it, hate it? Please review!

 

Most sincerely yours, penpaninu 11/12/05