Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift of Love ❯ Omokage ( Chapter 50 )

 

I don't know how many of you have seen the Star Trek movies, but doesn't Yoh scream “HAO!” a lot like William Shatner screams “KHAN!”? Sorry, I just had to point that out.

 

I have, since the beginning, been putting in reoccurring themes in this story, and I wonder how many of you have noticed; water/beach, snow, butterflies, gifts, swords, etc. Each has a specific meaning behind it. You'll find out the meaning behind another one in this chapter.

 

If this was a real anime, this is the part of the story which would spawn all the Ren/Hua fangirls. Haha.

 

Notes: “Fàng zhú” means “banish”.

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

A Gift of Love - Chapter Fifty: Omokage (Face, Look, Vestige, Trace)

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Pin-Mei ran from side to side, her eyes wide.

 

“Ren! Where are you? Where'd you go? Ren! Please answer me!”

 

The others watched her with grim and sympathetic faces. They had seen him leave, and most of them knew he wasn't coming back.

 

She collapsed on the ground. “No…not again…I don't want to lose him again! COME BACK!!” She put her head in her hands and cried, though the sound was hardly muffled. “Please come back to me Ren…Please…”

 

Da-Xia nudged her husband. “Darling, say something to her.”

 

“What?! Why me?! You're at least ten times better with children! You know that!” he protested. “She needs another girl right now, not me!”

 

“But darling, I think you can comfort her because of your connection with Ren. Please, just try…For me?”

 

He looked into her pleading eyes, and finally relented. “Alright, but only because you asked me to.”

 

Yi strode over to the now crying girl, scratching the back of his neck, searching for the right words.

 

“Listen…Pin-Mei is it?...I'm sorry about Ren. I know that you two were--,”

 

“It's okay, Yi,” she whispered interrupting him. “I'm alright…It's times like these that Ren would have wanted me to be strong and do what I have to do, not cry like some little baby…But…” She turned to look at him, tears streaming down her face. “…I really don't think I can do that right now. Pathetic isn't it? Not the way the wife of the heir to one of the most powerful families in China should act, right? Yeah…” She turned back around and looked at the ceiling. “Ren…”

 

“We can go look for him together, if you'd like.”

 

“What?”

 

Pin-Mei looked down again. In front of her stood a demon with long hair and a pompous, if not simply fake, smile. Yoh stepped forward, an uncharacteristic anger on his face.

 

“HAO!!!!!!”

 

Hao turned and acknowledged him. “Hello, little brother. Nice to see you again.” He shifted his attention back to the distraught girl in front of him. “I'm also very eager to find Ren,” he said. “Just as eager as you are. So doesn't it make sense for us to look for him together?”

 

He held out his hand to her. She stared at it.

 

“But doesn't that mean that I'll…have to die again?”

 

“Well of course, but I can take care of that, no problem. Now what do you say? Shall we go?”

 

She motioned to put her hand in his, but then flinched and retracted it.

 

“I…I'm not sure…” She looked away slightly.

 

Hao gave her a faux confused look. “Don't you want to be with your beloved?”

 

“I do...more than anything…but…”

 

His eyes narrowed in annoyance. “But what?”

 

“But…”

 

“But you're supposed to clear it with her parents before you ask for her hand.” Zhang stepped in front of his daughter as the rest of the shamans surrounded Hao. The pyro shaman spun angrily as he looked at all their faces.

 

“Guess I didn't beat you enough to make you learn your lesson. I guess you can't teach an old shaman new tricks,” Yi said cracking his knuckles. “Ah well, I'm all set for another round.”

 

“We won't let you have Lord Ren OR Lady Pin-Mei,” Rong said as she tugged on her sectioned whip.

 

Beside her, HoroHoro over souled Ikupasi. “You just don't know when to quit, do you Hao?”

 

Yoh glared at his brother. “I don't know how you got back here, but you're not staying long.” He integrated Amidamaru in Harusame and pointed it at the fiend before him. “I'm going to make sure of it.”

 

Hao scoffed at him. “How do you think you're going to manage to do that?”

 

“Like this.”

 

Hao turned to face forward when he was met with a tag to the forehead.

 

“What…?!”

 

Hua smiled at him. “It's a shame you're so evil, because you're also such a cutie.” She gave a dreamy sigh and said simply, “Fàng zhú.”

 

“CURSE YOU ALL!!” he screamed as he disappeared.

 

Hua took the tag and grinned at it before it went up in flames. “No, curse you,” she said.

 

“Hua…” Zhang whispered.

 

“Hm?”

 

He motioned to Ren's body, where Pin-Mei was now sitting and clutching it.

 

“I'm sorry, Ren,” she whispered. “I don't know how to bring you back right now…I'm so sorry.” She lost all the composure she had feigned and cried into the cold shoulder. “I don't know what to do anymore without you here…It doesn't seem worth it…I…I…”

 

She stopped as she felt something cold on her cheek.

 

What?

 

She looked up. Her eyes widened.

 

It was snowing.

 

“But it never snows here…” she whispered. “What does this mean?” She looked down at Ren. “It's impossible…” She let out a small gasp. “If this is happening…and it's impossible…then…does that mean that the impossible…is actually possible?”

 

She stroked his hair, giving a slight smile. Then she stopped.

 

“No, I was wrong. There IS a way. I AM going to bring you back. I promise.”

 

She stood and produced two small knives. “I'm going to do this.”

 

Pin-Mei positioned her arms so that a blade was against each wrist. She inhaled before quickly slashing them. Rong and the others ran over to her.

 

“What are you doing, Milady?!” Rong yelled to her.

 

Pin-Mei dropped the knives and knelt beside Ren again. She smiled at her mother.

 

“I'm going to do it, Mom,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. “I'm going to use the Soul Search.”

 

Everyone looked at Hua, whose eyes were wide.

 

“Hua, what is the Soul Search?” Zhang asked.

 

“The Soul Search,” Hua whispered. “A resurrection technique where the user uses their blood to make a connection to the otherworld and goes to search for the soul of their beloved. But if they find the soul they're looking for, the life of the user is sacrificed to bring that one back…If they, by some chance, do survive, memories of the person may be taken away. Maybe a few, maybe all of them.”

 

Pin-Mei smiled at her. “Just be sure to tell Ren I love him when he comes back, okay?” She turned back to the body as she got ready to hold it. “Now…SOUL SEAR--,”

 

She stopped as she was stabbed through the chest. Pin-Mei looked across from her where Hua had grabbed Bason-tou and thrust it into her own daughter.

 

“Mom…why…?”

 

“If you do this, then the cycle will never end, and you two will never be together. I can't let this go on. I'm ending it now. You're staying.” She smiled sweetly. “Mother knows best.” As Pin-Mei closed her eyes and collapsed, Hua gave a small smile. “I've been waiting for a chance to say that.”

 

Rong took Pin-Mei in her arms, splashing some elixir on the wound, which wasn't very deep, only enough to knock her out. Everyone watched Hua take the knives and slash her wrists, gathering the blood in her hands. She looked at them, still smiling.

 

“I trust that none of you have any objections?”

 

No one said anything.

 

“Good, because I want it this way. I'm not supposed to be alive to begin with. I'm only putting things back the way they should be.” She looked at Pin-Mei's now sleeping form. “The whole time I've been here, I have only caused my daughter more pain. I thought I could be a great mother, just like I had wanted, but it's apparent that it's not what I'm meant to be. For once, I'm going to do something to my make my only daughter, my only child, happy.” She looked at Ren. “And that's bring back the boy I loved like a son.”

 

Zhang looked at her sympathetically. “Hua…”

 

She smiled at him, a few tears in her eyes. “Think she'll ever forgive me?”

 

“She will, if she was ever mad at all,” Yoh grinned. “She never got mad while I was around her anyway.”

 

Zhang nodded. “She always put a picture of you next to her at dinner when Suo wasn't there, but always on her birthday. And there's that picture of you on her nightstand. She loves you Hua, because she knows that you love her back. She knows you could have decided not to have her and live, but you chose her over yourself. And she thanks you for that.”

 

Hua nodded, more tears coming. “I wish I had gotten to know her better, like a mother should…but now…I have to bring back the person who knows her better than I ever could.” She gave a small wave. “Goodbye. Nice meeting you all.” She looked lovingly at Zhang. “See you soon.” She smiled at Jun, who looked a little guilty. “Jun, smile. You were so much prettier that way. Besides, Ren will be back soon.”

 

With that, she knelt beside Ren and held his hands. She suddenly looked back at Rong and HoroHoro. “Take care of one another. You both need each other.” They both blushed.

 

“Wait,” Yoh said. “Pin-Mei's blood is already on his hands. Does that mean…the thing about the memories…?”

 

Hua looked shocked as she gazed at Ren's hands. They were already red with her daughter's blood. She had no way of washing it off.

 

“I…I don't know. But if it does, I'll try to make sure it's something minor. I can't promise anything, though.” She dipped her head. “I'm sorry.”

 

“Ren would be so heartbroken if Pin-Mei didn't remember him…” Jun whispered.

 

“Like I said, I'll try,” Hua said again. “I don't want that to happen either. I know how much it would hurt Ren.” She nodded to them once again. “So long.”

 

She held Ren's cold hands tightly. She took a deep breath, her last. “SOUL SEARCH!”

 

Hua's eyes rolled back and she fell on top of his body.

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Ren could feel himself falling agonizingly slow towards the depths of Hell.

 

“You assisted in a murder, so we've decided that it's straight to the Chamber of Avici for you. The world will be safer this way.”

 

If he had a heart anymore, it probably would have felt sad. But they had allowed a pit stop in the Chamber of Heart-Digging and removed it, taking with it any feelings he had. As it was now, he was finding it hard to remember who he had left behind on Earth, and who was responsible for the deep wounds in his limbs, chest, and neck. It was getting to the point where he could hardly recall his own name.

 

Mao…Bao…Dao…Was it Tao? Tao Ken? I can't remember…All I know is that I've sinned…and this is where I belong…I can't be where that person is…Where that person will be once they've died…That person I can't remember…

 

Down, down he went, falling ever deeper into the despair which houses the eternally damned.

 

The falling suddenly stopped with a jerk. Someone was clutching his elbows, trying to bring him closer to them. He flailed his arms.

 

“Don't…don't touch me…” he murmured.

 

“I'm sorry, Ren, but I have to. Someone will be upset in the long run if I don't. Please, let me. I promise I won't hurt you,” a gentle voice said. A soft hand stroked his cheek. The muscles in his arms relaxed as he felt something warm go inside his chest, and he allowed himself to be pulled against someone's chest.

 

“Ren…Ren…”

 

He didn't shift his head.

 

“Ren…Ren, darling…” Fingers lightly tapped his head. “Ren…That's you…Ren…”

 

“Ren…” he whispered back.

 

“There's a good boy. Look at me, Ren.”

 

He gazed up at her with child-like innocence. Hua looked into his faded eyes sadly.

 

“It's okay, Ren,” she whispered. “You have your heart back. You'll regain yourself soon…”

 

“I lost myself…?”

 

“Yes…When they took your heart, you began to lose yourself. Now that you have it back, you'll return to normal. I promise.”

 

“Promise…I have an important promise to keep…To someone…two people…look the same…Can't remember…”

 

“It's alright, honey. It's still too early for that.” She stroked his hair again, trying to calm him down. “Just relax…everything will come back on its own. Just wait.”

 

“No…someone…someone… `I love you'…to someone…who…? ...I don't know…”

 

Hua could tell he was trying to remember Pin-Mei. She had been the first thing he thought of. Oh Ren… “Did someone say that to you? Or did you say it to someone?”

 

“To me…To her…Both…To me first…Then to her…”

 

“Good boy…Do you remember anything else about this person?”

 

“Long hair…smile…ring…butterflies…pictures…on a bridge…”

 

“Did she do anything for you that you liked?”

 

“Smiled at me…used my name…kissed me…slept beside me…She didn't care about who I used to be…”

 

She noticed how complete his thoughts were becoming. He had gone from one word, to two, to three, then a whole sentence. That's right…Keep going…Keep going

 

“I miss her…” he whispered.

 

She smiled at him. “Be strong. You're going to see her soon. Be strong, like you usually are.” She touched his face again and looked into his eyes, which were regaining their light. “What was her name?”

 

“Name…?”

 

“The person who told you they loved you…What was her name? Who did you say `I love you' to?”

 

“I…I love you…P…P…Pi…Pin…Me…Mei…Pin…M ei……” His eyes shot open. “Pin-Mei…Pin-Mei…Pin-Mei!”

 

“Yes! Yes, Ren! That's right!”

 

He wriggled from her grasp and looked at her. “Hua? Why are you here?”

 

She smiled at him as she brushed back his bangs. “I came to release you from the unlawful binds those judges put you in. They were abusing their power…again. You don't belong here. You're going back.”

 

He looked at her quizzically. “To limbo?”

 

“No, you're going back home. To China. To Tao Castle. To your family…”

 

“To Pin-Mei…”

 

She smirked slightly as she nodded. “That's right.” She giggled. “I'm just glad you're back to your old self again. Although the helpless you was pretty adorable.”

 

He blushed. “Don't be absurd. I'm never helpless.” He softened as she laughed at him. “You know…Your voice…it sounded so familiar when I heard it. Almost like I had heard it years ago…like my conscience or something…”

 

She giggled again. “Like when?”

 

“Like when Pin-Mei was drowning…”

 

“Go save her! She's drowning! Please! If you don't save her, she'll die!”

 

“…or when I was going to go inside when she was crying…”

 

“Comfort her…she's in pain…you're all she has right now…”

 

“…and when I was looking for her in the rain…”

 

“She's in the woods, hiding among the roots of the trees…go there, now!”

 

“Even as recent as the night of our banquet…”

 

“She's at the beach…”

 

He stared at her. She was smiling again. “It was you all along, wasn't it?”

 

She looked innocent and shrugged, then giggled again.

 

“You've been watching over us the whole time. Even when we were fighting Hao.”

 

“Ren, you have to keep fighting…keep their hopes alive…lead them…”

 

“Well, I don't know about THAT. That could have just been your own determination.”

 

“My determination doesn't sound like a woman.”

 

She shrugged, then pulled him close to her again. He blushed, uncomfortable with the position he was in. “But I meant what I said. You're going back. You don't belong here.”

 

He looked away from her. “I do…I killed so many people…Even though I've tried to repent my past actions, the judges wouldn't forgive me, and I don't blame them. I'm a horrible human being…No…I'm not even human…Anyway, there's no way a sinner like me can escape hell.”

 

She smiled at him again. “You can always get around the big guy if you go to his boss,” she said.

 

His eyes widened. “What are you saying? You mean you spoke to…”

 

She nodded. “The King of Spirits. No one's controlling him now, so he's free to make his own decisions. I told him about you, and he wanted me to pass something on to you.”

 

Hua pulled on Ren's arm so his left ear was near her mouth. She whispered something in it, and his eyes widened more, then quivered and glistened. A tear fell from each one as she released him. His right hand motioned to cover his mouth, but never made it there. Before more tears could come forth, Hua wiped his eyes.

 

“Hey, hey, now. Don't cry. You may want to save those tears for when you get back to the living world. I know there's someone who's going to use up all of hers on you.”

 

She looked into his eyes, still smiling that kind smile of hers, happy tears in her eyes. She knew how much this meant to him. Those words he had been longing to hear for three long years. Thanks to her, he had heard them. She touched his lips.

 

“You won't be able to say anything else until you get back there. But I want you to know that even though you're not my son, I'm really proud of you. I couldn't have hoped for a better son-in-law.” She kissed his forehead. “Thank you for loving my daughter.”

 

Ren thrust his arms around her. Surprised, she hugged back, then gently pushed him away and watched him vanish. Hua turned as she heard her name called.

 

She watched as a young Kai ran and hugged her.

 

“Neesama…”

 

Hua smiled down at him, then to herself as she remembered the words the King of Spirits had asked her to deliver to Ren.

 

“For your sins, Tao Ren, you are forgiven. Walk on Earth with a cleansed heart and care-free spirit. I say again, you are forgiven.”