Miaka sighed with boredom as she strolled around Hotohori's Palace, trying to find something fun to do or someone to talk to. Practically everyone was out on errands or having a group meeting with others in reference towards their next step as Suzaku warriors upon the journey. Her feet heavily trudged through the many hallways of the palace with Miaka simply sighing and complaining about how they were taking forever to come back from their many errands. Until she managed to go down the hallway that led to the rooms of her friends; walking by everyone's with a weary look of dramatic hurt from the reminiscent thoughts of what everyone had told her until she realized that there was one person who wasn't doing anything and wasn't a Suzaku warrior: Tiara.

She excitedly reached towards the end of the hall as she passed by Tasuki's door and stop abruptly as she stood in front of the door next to his. Without knocking she burst through the door with a large silly smile on her face as she entered Tiara's room.

"Tiara! I've finally found you! Let's Play!" Miaka announced as she burst in.

She automatically stopped as she widened her eyes from what she was seeing; two semi large red wings tattooed on Tiara's bare back. She stepped closer as Tiara had turned her her to see who the intruder was and blushed a deep shade of red as she pulled up her kimono, fully covering her back and tying the sash properly. She turned around fully and looked at Miaka with a blushed flash but with a weary smile as the silence began to envelop the two girls.

"Mi-Miaka, you startled me. You should knock next time." Tiara finally responded as she moved towards Miaka and motioned for her to sit down in a chair at the mini table.

"Tiara...your back..." Miaki managed to utter as she saw Tiara sit down upon the other chair across from her.

"...Yes, you've discovered my secret but If you'd be willing to listen I can explain" Tiara sighed as she poured herself and Miaka some tea.

"DOES THIS MEAN THAT YOU'RE SUZAKU?!" Miaka exclaimed as she stood up slamming her hands down upon the table.

Tiara sighed as she thought: "She surely enjoys coming to conclusions quickly".

Shaking her head, Tiara ushered for Miaka to sit down; Miaka blushed as she quickly sat down and appeared embarrassed from her statement.

"Now, you will listen to me Miaka. You are half right on your statement but I'm not not Suzaku; this tattoo was forced upon me from my childhood. The village I grew up in had wanted to offer a sacrifice to Suzaku, yet they were intoxicated with their own greed and I was automatically offered up from my family as a sacrifice for an under the table money agreement." Tiara began with a lowered gaze.

Miaka began to feel nervous as Tiara's eyes grew with darkness and anger from remembering her painful past of how she obtained the wings.

"At the shrine they practically almost drowned me in purifying water and held me down upon the shrines floor in a drawn circle as they ripped off the back of my kimono; they began to tattoo my back with these red wings of Suzaku with a heated needle and permanent liquid. Furthermore, the pain was simply agonizing for me just torture on a young woman; once they finished they tied my wrists and feet as they began to chant spells and sutras as the whole village watched. The fire of Suzaku ignited throughout my whole body as the firey tattooed wings upon my back began to glow red and Suzaku manifested his presence within me; becoming a medium for Suzaku to enter. The anger and power that surged throughout my body caused the binds that held me to burn away and Suzaku fully controlled my body." Tiara continued as she blinked with strong remembrance.

Tiara sighed as she felt tears threatening to silly from her glossy eyes. Miaka simply looked down quietly as she let the information sink into her and she began imagining how hard it must have been.

"When our bond formed...Suzaku was angry, Angry for what the villagers had done, angry for what they had done to me and angry from how angry I was. We both shared a connection with our similarities yet the anger drove us internally mad and I caused him to become tainted, he had a strong grip upon my body...as we...we killed the entire village with one strike" Tiara concluded while she hugged herself.

As Miaka was about to say something, Tiara stood up as she turned around and allowed her kimono to drop to her hips as she let Miaka gaze upon her back once more, allowing the wings of Suzaku to be viewed by her eyes. Taking in the details of how real these tattooed wings had appeared; as if Tiara could sprout them from her back and fly away, even though it was simply a tattoo with no colors painted on it the wings still posed as if they didn't need to be colored in for the outline of red simply gave it all the color it needed.

"I became a medium for Suzaku to enter; I am afraid that when you summon Suzaku my hold on him will not be enough and he will try to consume you within his flames" Tiara responded once more.

Miaka abruptly stood up as she quickly walked towards Tiara as she hugged her from behind, feeling the warm of her back making contact with her cheek as she simply hugged Tiara tightly and silently. Tiara simply turned her head and looked down at Miaka as she grinned with the content of knowing that her comrade understood that this journey had been tough for everyone. Miaka released her, allowing Tiara to cover her back once more with her Kimono, tying the sash again and turning around to face Miaka.

"But Tiara, how long have Tasuki and you been together?" Miaka asked randomly.

Tiara blushed a deep shade of red from the sudden question.

"f-four years" Tiara responded as she looked at Miaka.

"Then, how does he not know about those wings; don't you guys, well have fun in bed" Miaka asked with a silly grin and a nudge.

"M-Miaka! I can't believe you would ask me such a question y-yet, I figured you'd be curious how I've kept these wings hidden." Tiara responded with a tired look.

Tiara raised her left hand as she looked at the plain metal ring band upon her finger as she gave it a good thought with a slight grin.

FLASHBACK

"Tiara" Tasuki called out as he found her eating alone in the kitchen at a small table.

Tiara looked towards her right and saw Tasuki making his way towards the table as he pulled out the chair and sat down in front of her.

"Yes, Tasuki? How were the rounds?" she asked him with a sip of her drink.

"Fine, the guys didn't find anything out of the ordinary like usual besides their asses being on the end of my Tenzin" Tasuki said with a fanged grin.

Tiara lightly laughed as she thought about the men cowering from Tasuki's threats. Yet, she knew that he only talked big so the men would continue to respect their leader and that he simply cared. Tasuki simply grinned as he watched Tiara laugh as he thought about what he was going to tell her next. He looked straight at her with a straight face, causing Tiara to slowly stop laughing and look at him with the same expression. She reached for his hand as he clenched his hands tightly together yet he moved them away from her attempt as he lowered his gaze.

"What's wrong? Tasuki, tell me." Tiara questioned.

"Tell me." Tasuki murmured.

"What?" she responded.

"Tell me why you don't trust me" Tasuki firmly stated; letting his fiery eyes look at her once more.

Tiara withdrew her hand as she averted her gaze; he meant the fact that she'd never let him fully un-dress her or allow herself to succumb to his promises of complete love-making. That even though they were somewhat together, they couldn't be completely together since she herself allowed her darkest secrets to create a wall between them; they were so close, yet so far. She stood up as she simply hugged herself with an averted gaze. She finally opened her mouth and spoke:

"It's not that I do not trust you, never once have I not trusted you within these past years. I just have things that I can't tell you; it's just...I'm protecting you Tasuki" Tiara stated.

Tasuki stood up as he made his way towards her with an angered face.

"Protect me? Protect me?! From what? The only one doing the protecting here is me!" he exclaimed with angered look.

"Well, I am protecting you! Because if I don't then the secrets will come out and I don't want you to-!" Tiara stopped midway as she abruptly shut her mouth.

"Don't want me to what!" Tasuki exclaimed once more.

"not like me anymore..." Tiara calmly said as her tears spilled as they made direct eye contact.

She averted her gaze as she wrapped her arms around herself with a saddened look as her tears simply continued to trail down upon her cheeks.

"You'll find me disgusting and not even want to look at me, let alone touch me the way you do anymore" she finally said.

He simply stood there shocked as to how far he had pushed her, he knew she had secrets but she was doing what she thought was best for both of them. He simply drew her into a tight hug as she silently let herself be enveloped within his warmth. He drew her back as he brushed away her tears with both of his thumbs as he simply sighed. She knew how much he cared for him, how much he was willing to wait for her, how much he would do for her yet she had to keep him at a distance to protect what little they had for one another.

Suddenly, she felt him raise her left hand as he encased her ring finger with a small, cold, circular and hollow object. She looked at her hand and saw a plain metal ring band upon her finger as she looked at him with a face of confusion at shock. He looked away in an upward glance as his cheeks became flustered.

"Well, I won't force you to tell me but I can wait until you're ready" Tasuki stated.

"But...this...you" Tiara uttered.

"I'm a bandit, not a rich man but consider this as a small promise or engagement thing; girls usually like this kinda stuff right?" Tasuki's blush increased.

Tiara simply threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace as she simply kissed him on the cheek as he had a shocked look as he managed to look down at her, their faces inches apart; a small chain caught her eye as she realized that he was wearing a ring too but it was hidden. She simply grinned from how happy she was. She released him as she gave him a little bit of space to breath from this sudden event. He simply wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her back into the contours of his body with a playful grin. They looked at each other as they passionately kissed.

FLASHBACK OVER

"Don't let his strong boy act fool you, even though he claims to hate girls he could never hate you or me. He respects my privacy and space so he usually restrains himself, I know it bothers him internally but he's just trying to let me feel comfortable " Tiara responded calmly to Miaka.

Miaka simply decided not to butt into Tiara's privacy any longer as she decided to lighten the mood by allowing Tiara to change into pants and a Chinese top as they began to walk outside and socialize about different things from each others worlds'. Both enjoying the fascination and questions that came into mind as they both happily asked questions while enjoying a calm relaxing day outside along the grassy side, laying down enjoying the breeze. The day had slowly become a beautiful portrait of a fiery sunset, allowing Tiara to enjoy it in silence as she looked down towards her right and realized that Miaka had fallen asleep. She was grateful to have a friend like her to open up to and know that her secret was safe until the time came for Suzaku to be summoned. She yawned as she realized that everyone was most likely back from their travels', knowing that it was time to put Miaka and herself to bed; standing up, she also realized that she wasn't as strong as a man to pick up Miaka, with a sigh she wondered how she was going to carry Miaka all the way back to the palace.

"Need some help?" a masculine voice asked.

Tiara turned around and found herself gazing at Chichiri's happy face, with a sigh she nodded as she motioned towards Miaka. Chichiri made his way towards Miaka as he knelt down and began to pick her up in a bridal motion. He stood up as he began walking towards the palace with Tiara at his right side, shyly holding his robe to keep up with his pace. He chuckled from how cute she was, like a small duckling following it's mother.

"Um...Chi-Chichiri?" Tiara asked shyly.

"Yeah Tiara?" Chichiri asked.

"Are..Are you sure that I can't come with you guys tomorrow?" she asked.

His brows furrowed a little as he thought about how to respond to her question; he knew that she was concerned for their well being but too many people wouldn't be good. It's not everyday that they will be sneaking into the Kutou palace to find Tamahome.

"Too many people would not be good for our sneaking technique ya know? I know you're worried but you just have to trust us on this one, we'll be sure to go in, get Tamahome and come back. It may take a while but have faith in us, ya know?" Chichiri concluded as he looked at Tiara with a grin.

She smiled and nodded. She knew that it wouldn't be helpful to add herself as a dead weight to the group yet she just had to continue having hope that everything was going to be fine and dandy even though her tattoos lightly burning told her else wise. When they reached the hallway, they parted ways as they said goodnight allowing Tiara to travel the rest of her way alone to her thoughts when the end of the hallway drew in near and she stopped in front of her room's door. She opened the door to the dark room and stepped inside but felt there was someone in the room already, her tattoo glowed a little bit as the lamp candles flickered on with small flames. Her eyes adjusted as she was shocked to see someone sprawled on her bed sleeping, she stepped closer as she narrowed her eyes a tad with a faint smile; Tasuki had waited for her and ended up falling asleep on her bed in a ruffled manner.

"well, time to wake up sleeping beauty" Tiara whispered to herself as she kneeled upon the bed and began to lightly shake him.

"Hmm, wha-sake" tasuki muttered with a sleepy tone.

Tiara decided to be playful, she lowered herself down and pounced atop of tasuki causing him to wake up in shock and have a playful wrestling match with tiara. Once they concluded their play fighting, he had her pinned down upon the bed as they both heavily breathed to catch their breath from the sudden late night exercise.

"Trying to catch me off guard, woman?" tasuki asked with a fanged grin.

"You could say that, but I figured we haven't had a chance to be playful since we've mostly been pre-occupied with the dangers and plans that are coming our way" Tiara responded with a tired sigh.

They looked at each other as he lowered himself down and laid next to her with an arm wrapped around her waist as he nudged his face into the side of her neck. Looking down at him slightly, she grinned a little as he simply maintained normalcy as to not scare her. Soon, she herself began to doze off and allowed sleep to take over her as the night time concealed them and the flames died down until they were gone, fully allowing the darkness to hide them. While her dreams were plagued with prayers that her instinct would be wrong and that everything would be fine tomorrow.