Joined by the sixth Sei, Mitsukake, Yui and her Seishi defeated the demon Shikkonki and saved the village of Choukou. The victory came amid tears, however, as the destruction of the demon also meant the loss of Mitsukake’s beloved, Shoka. Leaving their sorrow behind, they continue their journey, searching for the seventh and final Sei of Suzaku.

Episode Eighteen:

“Is Tasuki still downstairs?” Yui asked, sitting up in one of the rented beds and pulling the blanket up over her knees. “It’s getting late, and I was hoping to get up early so we’d have plenty of time to get toTamahome’s village tomorrow.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll go and get him,” Nuriko said, starting up from her bedroll on the floor beside where Mitsukake was already snoring softly.

“No, no, that’s all right. I’ll go,” Hotohori volunteered, carefully stepping around Mitsukake on his way from the second bed to the door and slipping out before Nuriko could protest.

“Hey, Hotohori!” Tasuki shouted as he came down the stairs. “Come on down! I’ll buy you a drink!”

“No, thank you, I don’t drink. Besides, it’s late. You should come upstairs.”

“You don’t drink!?”

“No, and this wouldn’t be the time for it if I did. Yui is planning to set out early tomorrow. We should rest for the---”

“See, that’s your problem, right there!” Tasuki announced. “Ya can’t let the girl push you around like that. It’s no wonder she’s so cold to you.”

“She is no such thing.” How can he say that in public!?

“Ah, come on, don’t tell me you won’t like a little more attention,” Tasuki said, nudging him. “But ya ain’t gonna get any if ya don’t command a little respect.”

“Tasuki, I don’t see what business that is of yours. I came here as a favor to you; now will you please come upstairs?”

“See, there’s your problem. Women hate a guy who blubbers.”

Hotohori sighed, nonetheless trying to assume his most commanding tone. “Tasuki, you’re drunk. I believe you’ve had enough for tonight.”

“Hey, I don’t mean to be insulting. I’d just hate to see you lose her---Yui, that is. I wouldn’t mind losing Nuriko until these bruises heal.”

“That won’t happen. Now come upstairs.”

“Are you sure?” Tasuki asked. “You wouldn’t be the first guy to lose a girl right under his nose.

Hotohori sighed again, growing more irritable by the moment. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Oop, ya paused! Look, I’m drunk, but I ain’t stupid. You’re gonna lose her if you don’t do something, and you don’t want that, do ya?” Hotohori opened his mouth to reply. “See, of course ya don’t. So first, we gotta do somethin’ about the way you look.”

“There is nothing wrong with the way I look!!!” he insisted.

“You look like a freakin’ girl! Worse than that, you look like a HOT freakin’ girl! I mean, why do you think I was hitting on you? Despite what Koji says, I got standards. Don’t worry, I’ll fix ya up. We’ll just get ya a haircut and a beard... Well, the beard’ll take a while, but we can do the haircut right now.---Hey, barkeep, ya got any scissors?”

“Tasuki,” Hotohori started, then cut him off with “hear me out,” as he opened his mouth again. “Anything of the kind would be useless. If the person I love can’t accept me as I am, what is that love worth?”

“Ah, man, you’re cute!” Tasuki laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. “You’re just a regular babe in the woods, ain’cha?”

“But I intend to marry Yui. How could I spend my life putting on a front?”

“Ah, once ya got her, it don’t matter! Trust me, that’s what my brother did with his wife. She didn’t even like him, what with the kidnapping thing and all, but once they were married, that was that.” Tasuki paused for a moment. “‘Course she did try to kill him on their wedding night. But us bandits could all tell it was a half-hearted effort!”

“Tasuki, why don’t we go upstairs and discuss this when you’re sober?”

“‘Cause I ain’t through with you yet, dangit! And I’m gonna regret this when I’m sober so I better seize the moment. Look, you’re obviously not doin’ something right, ‘cause I ain’t seen no engagement rings around. Not that it’s any skin off my nose if the love of your life dumps ya.” He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Of course, I guess then she would be free, and she is kinda cute, in a weird kinda way... Ah, forget everything I said.” With a careless wave of his hand, he reached for his glass.

“Tasuki, that’s quite enough!” Hotohori shouted, taking his arm. “We are going upstairs, and you will stop this babbling!” Tasuki was rather tipsy as it was, so it didn’t take much to pull him off the barstool. Hotohori blushed between embarassment and anger as everyone in the room laughed and watched him drag Tasuki across the floor to the stairs. That is enough! I’m not saving him again; Nuriko can do this from now on...

“See, you’re actin’ manlier already, and ya aren’t even list’nin’ to me!” THUNK! “Ow! Watch it, that was my head!”

*

Chichiri rolled over and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to capture the last fragments of a dream as it slipped away. It slithered out of her grasp nonetheless, leaving only a few disjointed images of soldiers and Suzaku, and the words “Stop them.” Stop them. Stop who, from what? Why aren’t the important ones ever clear? Sighing, she opened her eyes and looking around, trying to orient herself in Hotohori’s still-unfamiliar quarters. It would sort itself out in time; they always did.

She started to sit up, then remembered and transformed herself into Hotohori again. Better safe than sorry, she thought, standing up and putting a red robe on over her nightclothes. I wonder if I could sneak out to the lake and do some fishing... No, if she kept doing that, she’d get caught, and wouldn’t that be fun to explain, especially now.

Walking softly, she padded into Hotohori’s adjoining study and sat down at the desk, lit by the light of the moon outside. Have I really done all these? she wondered, picking up a thick sheaf of edicts and straightening them. I need to cut back, I really do. I...

Oh, Hotohori’s going to be furious when he gets back. How many things had she ‘fixed’ already, edicts had she made? Twenty? Thirty? A hundred? Some of them worked well, some of them didn’t, most didn’t really change anything, but there were certainly a lot of them. No wonder the Ministers of Treasury and War are trying to have me declared insane. It’s not that I’m a bad Emperor, it’s just that I’m not a very good Hotohori. I haven’t got the self-control for this...

I hope he gets back soon, before I really mess things up. Maybe if I write him an apology... It certainly couldn’t hurt. She bent down to pull some paper from a drawer, and suddenly an explosion ripped through the air. She jumped up, then cocked her head, listening. There, barely audible through the room’s wall, were the sounds of men shouting, clashing swords and even a few cannons.

She leapt up and strode back through the bedroom to the outer walkway, throwing open the door. “What is happening?”

“Some insurgents from the border, sire,” one of the guards at the doorway said. “It’s only a small group; they won’t get through, rest assured.”

Stop them.

Suddenly, that night’s dream clicked into place. The soldiers, Suzaku... She had to stop this, as bloodlessly as possible. Without a word, Chichiri-Hotohori turned and strode toward the front of the palace. The guards blinked for just a moment before darting after her.

“Your majesty, please!” one of the guards pleaded. “You’re safest here, in the back of the palace. You mustn’t put yourself in harm’s way!”

“This must be dealt with.”

“The guard is dealing with it!”

With no response, she turned down a hall and continued on her way, passing through the great hall. Several of Hotohori’s ministers and advisors, wakened by the noise of combat, were gathered.

“Your majesty!” the Minister of War gasped as she passed through, heading for a staircase in the wing. “You shouldn’t be out here! It isn’t safe!”

Chichiri started to reply, but stopped herself. What would Hotohori do in this situation? Most likely, he would stay in his quarters and let the soldiers handle the affair, because that was the most he could do. But she could do more, she had to do more. If only she weren’t bound by this disguise. How was she going to get around it, how was she going to obey her dream without giving herself away? One crisis at a time. Taiitsukun always taught me that; one thing at a time, and sometimes the others will work themselves out.

She reached the steps and swiftly climbed them, barely controlling her urge to bound up them three at a time.

“The Emperor really has gone mad,” the Minister of Treasury whispered to the Minister of War, tagging after her as she reached the top and strode toward a balcony at the front of the palace. “We were right.”

Chichiri stepped to the railing, surveying city below. The rebels had set several government buildings aflame, and tongue of fire reached up like monstrous tentacles, illuminating the battling forces below. So many innocent people are being hurt...

“Sire, please, come back inside,” the Minister of War said in the tone generally reserved for children and lunatics. He gently took her arm. “There’s nothing you can do here.”

“Unhand me!” she boomed in Hotohori’s most commanding voice. Almost instinctively, the Minister let go.

Closing her eyes, she pulled her hand back into the long sleeve of Hotohori’s robe, opening a gateway to the ‘Space Between’ reality, as she had so many times in her hat. A small clam shell fell into her palm and she closed her fingers around it, then clasped her hands to pray.

“Suzaku, please, stop this bloodshed,” she said. Safely hidden by her disguise, she felt her character appear and opened the shell.

Suddenly, there was the sound of gushing wind, and the sky was filled with a colossal bird. Its red feathers glimmered like liquid rubies, and its golden crest and tail shone so brightly that the city lit up as on the sunniest of days. It’s not right, she thought with slight panic. My illusion’s not right, it doesn’t quite look like the god.

“Suzaku,” the people gathered behind her whispered, falling to their knees.

A faint sigh of relief escaped her lips. I guess it’s good enough...

In the streets below, there was a thunderous clamor of hundreds of soldiers dropping their swords at once. Slowly, one by one, the attackers fled, fearful of having angered their god.

“Hakuujinraiho,” Chichiri whispered, too softly for anyone to hear, and rainclouds sprang up above the burning buildings, extinguishing the flames. The image of Suzaku flapped its wings once, and Chichiri closed the clam shell, ending the illusion.

She turned toward the Ministers, all of whom were in a full kowtow and utterly awestruck. “Fortify the palace in case that was not the main attack force, and then send any remaining guards to arrest the subversives. I will be in Suzaku’s Shrine, offering my thanks.”

She took a step forward, and everyone scrambled to obey her orders. “Ahem, Ministers?”

The Ministers of War and Treasury froze. “Yes, your Majesty?”

“I trust there will be no more questions concerning the validity of my judgment.”

“None, Your Majesty,” they said, kowtowing again.

She nodded and walked back toward the Shrine, barely withholding her smile. Whew! Two birds with one stone! Now all I have to do is figure out how to explain this...

Oy no da...

*

“‘That night, the Emperor thought deeply about what Tasuki had said,’” Hiro read. “Uh, oh. Sounds like a bad sign... ‘The following morning the Suzaku no Miko and her Seishi set out early for Tamahome’s village, and as they were buying supplies at the village market, the Emperor secretly bought a silver ring.

“‘They traveled until mid-day, and the sun shone brightly, and the day grew hot.’”

*

“How long has Tamahome’s father been ill?” Mitsukake asked.

“I don’t know exactly,” Yui said. “I think he said it’s been a few months.”

“We’ll be there soon,” Nuriko added. “There’s a stream just a little bit ahead and if we follow it north, it runs close to his house.”

Mitsukake nodded and fell silent once again.

“Meowr?” came a muffled cry.

Mitsukake smiled. “Where did you get to this time, kitty?”

There was another “Meow,” and a jingle, and the cat poked its head out of the money pouch at Nuriko’s waist.

“The little guy got tired awhile back and hitched a ride,” Nuriko said. “If Tamahome were that size, he’d probably want the same spot.”

“He’s always getting into trouble,” Mitsukake said. He held out his hand and the cat jumped onto his arm and climbed up to his shoulder.

“Does he have a name?” Yui asked, reaching up and petting the cat. It purred happily.

“Not really,” Mitsukake said. “This past year, there usually wasn’t anyone else around, so he knew who I was talking to without a name.”

“I don’t guess that’ll work anymore,” she mused, rubbing the cat’s chin. “Let’s see... He’s sweet, but always getting into trouble, and he apparently likes money... a lot like Tamahome, really... Let’s call him Tama-chan.”

“Meowr!”

“Oh, how could you do such a horrible thing to that poor little cat?” Nuriko teased.

“I don’t know, he seems to like it,” Mitsukake said. “Tama-chan?” The cat meowed happily. “See? He’s used to it already.”

Hotohori walked up beside Yui and noticed a sad smile on her face. He gently took her hand. “You miss Tamahome, don’t you?”

She nodded. “He was a pain sometimes---”

“Preach it,” Nuriko muttered under her breath.

“---But it was sweet how he was always looking after me. I’m worried about him; I can’t wait until we’ve got him back from that place.”

“That place...?” Mitsukake queried.

“Remember? We told you how he went to Kutou,” Nuriko said.

“Ah, yes.”

“Hopefully we’ll have him back soon,” Hotohori said, squeezing her hand. Tamahome loves her, and has always been the one to protect her, even now... He thought about that silver ring. Perhaps I shouldn’t take her for granted...

“Forget him, I’m dyin’ back here!” Tasuki groaned. “I’m hungry, my feet hurt, my head hurts, I’m thirsty, and it’s getting hot. C’mon, can’t we stop!?”

“It’s your own fault you got drunk last night and have a hangover, you woke up too late for breakfast, and you’re wearing a coat,” Nuriko shot back.

“And it’s a darn good-looking coat, too! Come on, it’s gotta be about time for lunch!”

“I think I can hear the stream nearby, and the trees are thinning out,” Mitsukake said. “There won’t be a better time to stop if we want water and shade.”

“You are a saint, Big Guy,” Tasuki sighed, plopping down on a rock as they came to a stop. “But don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you.”

Nuriko sat down, swung the pack off her shoulders---What I get for being ‘the strong one’...---and found the water-bottle and set it out. “I’ll go and fill that up in a minute.”

“I’ll do it,” Hotohori said, picking it up.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Nuriko asked.

“No, thank you.”

“See, he’s sayin’ he can do it without help; it’s a guy thing,” Tasuki said, then gave an affected sniffle of emotion. “I’m so proud of him...”

“Actually,” Hotohori started, pausing. “I’d rather not do it alone...” He looked directly at Yui.

“Geez, what did I tell you!? Get a spine and ask her!” Tasuki snapped.

“And I ought to tell you to mind your own business,” Yui chided, following Hotohori down to the stream, where the laughing of the water almost drowned out the din of Tasuki and Nuriko’s latest altercation.

Yui sat down in the grass with a contented sigh as Hotohori dipped the bottle in the water. “I can’t wait until we get home. Traveling like this makes everyone tired and gloomy, and it’s been forever since I was able to just sit down alone with you.”

“It has, hasn’t it.”

“And you look so serious,” she said. “I feel guilty for bringing you out here if you don’t smile anymore.”

“No, no, I’m all right,” he said, smiling intentionally.

Yui looked at him intently. “I’d say that’s your... ‘I have to be strong for her’ smile. I mean your ‘I’m so happy’ smile.”

“I had no idea my face was so expressive.”

“I had no idea I was such a good judge of character,” Yui chuckled. “I guess between the bandits and demons and things, it’s just natural. But, if we’re not giving up our plan of being happy forever, I think it’s time I took matters into my own hands and came up with something happy for you to think about. Tell me, what’s the first thing you’ll do when you get home?”

“After I see that you’re comfortable, I believe I’ll have a long, hot bath,” he mused, seeming to relax a bit at the mere thought of it. “When we get back, we’ll be summoning Suzaku soon. And after that...”

“‘Happily Ever After,’?” Yui surmised.

“That sounds about right. Have you thought of what your three wishes will be yet?” He lifted the water bottle and closed it.

“Just three? I’ll have to wish to protect Konan forever, and I want to wish for Miaka and me to be friends again.” Her face grew serious. “I guess the last one would have to be for me and Miaka to go home.”

“Go home? To your own world?”

She nodded. “That is where I belong, I guess. I don’t know if I can leave my family, and I don’t want to keep Miaka here, or be separated from my best friend... I have so many plans for what I want to do with my life there...”

Hotohori held the water bottle close to his chest. “I can understand that, but... I might ask you to reconsider. I...”

Yui stared at the grass between her feet. “I’m sorry... I guess I knew that was my plan all the time, but I’ve been putting off thinking about it, and that was cruel to you...”

“Yui, you know that you can belong here, if that’s what you want.” He set the water bottle down and knelt beside her. “I... You know that I care about you, and I wouldn’t... wouldn’t do what I have frivolously. You know that I need you...”

“You’re not alone anymore, even without me. You have friends...”

“Yui, no one matters to me as much as you, no one makes me feel at ease as you do,” he said. “I... I wanted to ask you...”

Yui put her arm around his shoulder. I’ve never seen him this nervous... “What is it?”

“I wanted to ask, about another plan, another future you could have here,” he said slowly, choosing every word. “When I was young, I was told again and again that I had to take an Empress, that I had to marry, and I wanted to have love in that, as well... All these years I dreamt of the Suzaku no Miko... You aren’t that person, but... I understand love more and I love you more than before you came, when it was a fairy tale I told myself... But when I found this person I loved, I always planned to be with her forever...” Slowly and a little clumsily, he found the silver ring and held it out in his hand. “I always planned to marry her...”

Yui didn’t even look at it for more than a moment; she rested her face on her hand. “Please don’t ask me. I wish I could, but I can’t. I have a life where I come from too. It’s too much to give up...”

“And what I’m asking is not too much to give up for that life...?” he asked gently, touching her shoulder.

“Stop it!” she cried, pushing his hand away. “Why do I have to give up my plans and my dreams for yours!?”

“Yui, I don’t mean to say that!” he insisted. “But my dreams are dear to me, too. I can’t let go of them any more easily than you. And so, I have to try. I have to ask. And if you would rather return to your world than stay with me, I want to know.”

“You’re just like Tamahome!” she said, rising. “He promised he wouldn’t make me choose, but...”

“I would protect you from this decision if I could, but it has to be made, and only you can make it.”

“Do you think I don’t know that!?” she cried. “I swear if I do leave it’ll be because everyone here is always on my back to do something, and it can never be something easy...!”

“Yui...”

“I wish you’d just stayed in the palace! I wish you hadn’t even come here!”

A heavy silence fell over the two of them, pierced only by the laughing water. Yui looked away, afraid of seeing the hurt in his eyes. Why did I say that...? I was so afraid of losing him; why did I say that!? “It’s... I didn’t mean it like that. I get worried about you... I’m sorry...” She sank to a seat again and sobbed into her hand.

Slowly, he moved beside her and held her around her shoulders. “Yui, I want to be with you and protect you and make you happy every moment that I can. Maybe I haven’t done that in the way I should, but maybe that’s more important, to do that now, than dreaming and planning. We’re together now, and we can make the most of this time, and then we can look back on it as good time whether it’s our last chance or not. If it will make you happy, I take back everything I asked.”

Yui looked up at him, slowly. He was smiling, just a little, although there was a sparkle in his eye. He held up the ring again, between two fingers. “You know what you’re going to do, but if I want you to marry me, it becomes a dilemma, and it makes you feel guilty about what you’ve chosen, is that right?”

“I guess it is,” she managed. Her voice was ugly with crying, and the tears welled up again in shame.

“Then, don’t feel guilty,” he said. For one moment, that was all, then he tossed the ring with a flick of his hand.

She watched it land in the stream with a quiet plunk, and stared at the water as the ripples were swept away in the current. In another moment, there was no sign that the ring had ever been there, and she cried still. It seemed like anytime her mind tried to move, she could only cry. Only the most trivial path was safe, and she finally managed to calm down. “Everyone’s waiting. We should take the water back, but...” her voice broke at the thought of everyone seeing her like this.

“Do you want me to?” Hotohori asked. Yui nodded wordlessly, and he held her shoulders for a moment and kissed her cheek before he stood and walked away.

Yui still sat there for some time, on the bank of the river, holding her knees and hiding her face in her arms. It felt like she would sit there forever, but before long she heard footsteps coming closer. “Hotohori---” She stopped short, finding herself mistaken.

“I’m sorry if I disappoint,” Mitsukake said, sitting down beside her. He offered her some crackers and dried fish, and Tama-chan, who still sat on his shoulder, got a light scold for sniffing and meowing at the food.

“Thank you,” Yui said softly, taking it and holding it in her lap, making no move to eat. “So... you know?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “Tasuki said ‘I told you so,’ but I don’t know what it’s about. I just know Hotohori was afraid his face would sadden you, but none of us wanted to leave you alone. I suppose I was the only one with nowhere else to be.”

Yui nodded. She nibbled at one of the crackers, but when Tama-chan jumped down and meowed at her, she started feeding him bits of the fish. Before long he climbed up into her lap and rubbed his head under her hand.

“Be careful; you’ll never be rid of him now,” Mitsukake said. “He’s lived with me for almost a year and it all started with one fish. I also set a broken leg for him, but he was actually somewhat less happy with me about that at the time.”

“It hurt?” she asked. Mitsukake nodded. “Well, he won’t be as happy with me as he thinks, either. I’m not going to be around too much longer.”

“What do you mean?” he asked with concern. “Are you all right?”

Her voice cracked again, despite herself. “I’m going to be going home before long, that’s all.”

“Ah, yes, you are the girl from another world... So you can’t stay here?”

“I guess I could, but I don’t want to leave my family and friends. I have things planned that I don’t want to miss. I’m going to be a doctor, too, you know,” she said, and forced a laugh.

“Yes, I understand. I can see where someone would be happy to be home after everything that’s happened... What did Hotohori say that so upset you?”

Yui chewed the last of the cracker slowly before she spoke. “He wouldn’t ask me, but... he wanted me to marry him,” she said. She made herself say it just as a cold fact and not think about what it really meant.

“And you had to tell him you didn’t return his feelings?”

“No, it’s not that!” she insisted. “I love him, but... I’m not staying.”

“Maybe he could go with you,” Mitsukake suggested.

Yui shook her head, even that simple motion feeling awkward. “He’s even more tied down than me, now can we just stop talking about this?”

“I’m sorry.”

By now Tama had curled up in Yui’s lap with one paw on her last cracker and was settling in for a nap. He’s not thinking I’m going to stand up in just a few minutes. I’ve been as stupid as this cat, thinking I could get comfortable and not looking at the future when it was so obvious... “It really seems unfair,” she said, tears coming to her eyes again. “If I stay here, I won’t see my classmates graduate, I won’t see my little sister grow up, but if I go back I won’t see you all again...” She covered her eyes with her hand and choked back her tears. “Whichever I do I lose someone I love...” Several moments passed and Mitsukake remained silent. When Yui looked over at him, his eyes were clouded with distant thoughts. He lost someone he loved, too. He had to lose Shoka to save her... “I’m sorry. I should’ve thought, you’ve had your own troubles...”

“No, no,” he said, coming back to the present with a deep breath. “I accepted long ago that Shoka was gone and I would have to find my way without her. It was difficult, but the loss itself wasn’t the hardest thing. The worst was the regret.”

“Regret...?” Yui said, as gently as she could manage.

“I wasn’t there when Shoka died,” Mitsukake said, still saying it hesitantly after all this time. “I blame myself, thinking I could have saved her, but the worst thing is that I can never know. I didn’t realize the decision was so important, but when I chose to take that trip, I chose one path, and now I’ll never see what might have been down any other. I’ll never know if I could have saved Shoka, or if she and I would have been married, if we would have been happy together, if we would have had children, or what they would have been like...” He paused there for a long moment, and took another deep breath. “The worst is never knowing.”

“We’re ready to go anytime you guys are,” they heard Tasuki shout from the edge of the trees. “You asleep down there or what??”

Yui tried to get up, and Tama took the hint and jumped off her lap, but she felt a pang inside her, as if some part of her were attached to the spot and moving pulled against it. “I need a little longer,” she called back.

“Wouldn’ta thought you’d lose her to the big guy, but hey, weird things happen,” Tasuki said, barely audible in the distance; Nuriko’s response, however, could probably have been heard for miles.

“Should I go back?” Mitsukake asked.

“No, just a little longer,” Yui said. What’s wrong with me? She looked at the stream. It was silly; it wasn’t possible. This world was so dangerous... Is that it? Am I going to leave just to be safe? Back home, things seemed so certain, here it was all a battle. But that meant here, she would never know... If I go back, I’ll see Hiro graduate from medical school and start a practice. I’ll study hard and be a doctor like him. If I know Miaka she’ll probably find a nice guy and get married... I don’t know what Azami will do but I know she’ll have Mom and Dad and Hiro to take care of her; she’ll be safe and happy, I’m sure. She had a mental image of her sister being a concert violinist. Everyone would be upset, but all of that would be pretty much the same without me. But what about here? Konan will be protected forever, I won’t have to worry about that, but... Without me, Hotohori will have to find another Empress. Will she love him? Will he be happy? Will Nuriko’s secret ever get out? What’ll happen to her? Tamahome’ll be a hero as one of Suzaku’s Seishi; what if he gets rich, then what’ll he do? Yui smiled briefly, though tears were still running down her cheeks. If I stay, I don’t see Azami grow up, but if I go, I don’t see Yuiren grow up...

Well, it’s not as if I don’t know what’ll happen if I stay. Hotohori and I will get married, and I’ll be the Empress. Maybe I could ask Mitsukake to teach me, and I could be a doctor, too, she thought, a little whimsically. It brought a smile to her face again. The Miko, the Empress, and a doctor! I’ll just be amazing, won’t I? Maybe Hotohori would listen to me if I had my own ideas. Maybe I could convince him compulsory public education would be a good thing. Wouldn’t that be grand, if Yuiren and Shunkei could go to school?

She smiled more with each “maybe I could,” until the next one. Maybe I could be amazing back home, too, if I tried harder. But what could she do? There were a lot of schoolgirls. There were even a lot of doctors. She could be her best and make a difference to the people she met, but the Empress would be an inspiration to everyone. Maybe I could tell my story... But it couldn’t be anything but a story. No one would believe this. She seemed to remember once, long ago, thinking “There will come a day when I’ll believe none of this ever happened.” No! I’d never forget... But no one would believe me. They’d think I was crazy. I’m not brave enough to stand up for the truth. I’d have to lie; I’d have to tell them I’d just made it up. I’d keep saying it until I believed it... Or else fear being called insane until she believed that. She’d have to forget. Someday she might have to forget Hotohori and find someone else...

It was too much, and she turned her face away, back to the other possibility, back to being the amazing Miko/Empress/doctor, back to being an inspiration to everyone, especially Hotohori, who she’d love forever and never abandon, and he’d smile when he saw her, and she’d be happy when she saw his smile, and they’d keep making each other happy, back and forth like that, and be happy forever...

Yui sprang to her feet, but this time she didn’t feel that pang; the chain binding part of her to the ground was broken as she splashed into the stream up to her knees. She reached down in the water, and it came up to her shoulder. It was troublesome to keep her face above the surface it was so deep, and the whole front of her kimono was soaked. But she felt so lucky! The streambed was flat sheet rock; no mud for a tiny object to sink in or gravel to settle into...

“Yui!?” Mitsukake started up.

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” she said. “I have to find something! There’s a ring here, in the stream---I have to find it!”

*

“Are you sure you don’t want any fish, Hotohori-sama?” He shook his head. Nuriko hadn’t really expected anything different; for someone charged with keeping him safe and sound, he could be a nightmare when he was in moods like this. Of course, Nuriko barely had time to think that she hadn’t gotten around to dealing with the fact that Yui would soon be gone before she again brushed it aside to think about later.

There came a sound of Yui’s voice and splashing water, and Hotohori half-rose as Nuriko looked up and Tasuki turned to look around the tree he was leaning on. He paused for a moment as the sound continued, then started down toward the stream, but he had only gotten a few steps before Yui came into view, dashing toward him, her clothes soaking wet. She almost knocked Tasuki over in her haste, and she ran to Hotohori and threw her arms around him, laughing with tears in her eyes.

“Yui!?”

“Yes!!” she cried, turning her face up to him, but her eyes were closed with laughter.

“Yui, what do you mean?”

“Yes, I will!” She opened her eyes, because she had to see the look on his face when she held up the silver ring.

He stared for a moment, and slowly his face brightened with comprehension and joy. “Yui!” he cried, taking her in his arms with his hands in her fluffy short hair, and he laughed—not a prescribed laugh, or even the excited giggle Yui remembered from the first time she met him, but a deep, light laugh of pure joy, and they kissed each other fervently.

“Whoo-hoo! Now that’s more like it!” Tasuki cheered.

Hotohori and Yui looked up at him and started to blush. “Here,” Hotohori said more quietly, gently taking the ring and placing it on Yui’s finger.

“It’s too big,” she said, laughing again. She bent her fingers and shook her hand, and the too-large ring bounced between her palm and knuckle.

Hotohori let himself fall against a tree and covered his eyes with his hands, but he was still smiling brilliantly, and his body trembled with laughter.

*

“Nakago-sama!” the black-cloaked man following the shogun started.

“Hm?” Nakago looked up from the coded report in his hand to see Tamahome outside the door of his room, dragging something very large---the bed!? “What is going on here!?”

Tamahome looked up and sighed. “All right, I’ll put it back,” he said, starting to push the bed back through the door.

“Why did you feel compelled to move it!?” Nakago asked, intensely puzzled.

“Maybe you could ask your Miko about that.” Tamahome held up his right hand, and Nakago could see a chain connecting an iron cuff on his wrist to the frame of the bed.

“Rest assured that I will!” The shogun took the chain in his hand, and with a flash of the Mark of Seiryuu on his forehead, broke a link of it between his fingers like a twig. “Speaking of my Miko, I have some news that I must tell you, because I doubted she would. Shall we?” The character in Nakago’s forehead glowed again as the bed was pushed back into place by bands of blue light, and he motioned toward the door.

Hesitantly, Tamahome went back into the room and sat down in a chair as Nakago and the black-cloak followed him in. “I thought you would be happy to know, the Suzaku no Miko has been cured of her illness. She found another one of her Seishi, whose powers were able to counteract the effects of the disease.”

As Nakago spoke, Tamahome’s cynical face opened into hope and relief. “Is that true? You’re sure!?”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” the black-cloaked man said.

“You saw her? How is she? Is she all right? Tell me!” Tamahome demanded, rising to his feet.

The man glanced up at Nakago, who nodded to him. “Last I saw her she was in good health, and very happy because she had just accepted a proposal of marriage.”

Tamahome stood silent for some time before finding his voice. “‘Marriage...!?’”

“Yes, to her Sei Hotohori.”

Tamahome’s face darkened with rage. “Why you!!!”

*

“‘When Suzaku’s Sei Tamahome heard of his Miko’s betrothal to the Emperor, his vexation knew no bounds, and the Fair-Haired Shogun used his power to protect his messenger from Tamahome’s wrath,” Hiro read. What about my vexation!? What am I going to do if the story ends and I don’t get her back? What am I going to tell Mom and Dad? But even getting Yui back wasn’t a total solution. Written there in the book, he had seen her thoughts; he had never known his sister to be so excited about a dream, so assured of belonging and love, such a chance to be amazing... What am I going to say to her if she comes back and loses all that? He glanced at his watch. 5:00 AM. What am I going to do when the sun comes up?

*

To Be Continued...

*

PREVIEW

As Yui finds peace with her decisions and her friends, the seventh bearer of a red character appears. Despite this, Yui and her Seishi cannot imagine the struggles that still lie before them.

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