NOTE: This fanfic was contrived watching too much Arc the Lad with my eyes
shut. For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about,
Amiboshi's voice actor: Steve Cannon and Yui's voice actress: Wendi Lee,
also do the voices of Arc and Kukaru, a couple in Arc the Lad. So, low and
behold that while I was listening to a romance scene between them, I did
have an insane urge to write this fanfic. And here it is...
Yui trailed her hand idly along the banister as she walked aimlessly down the corridors of the Kutou palace. Her fingers traced the tiny, almost invisible carvings until she came to a point where the line that she had been following spilt and followed two separate paths. One groove was deeper and smooth, looping only slightly, in graceful arcs. The other was shallower and a little jagged, following an erratic course through the dark grains.
"Which one did I choose?" she murmured aloud to herself. "I still don't know. Nothing...nothing seems right any more."
With an irrational difficulty, she raised her finger from the banister and leaned against a pillar, her hands seeking its cool marble surface.
"I'm just a teenager!" she protested to anything that might be interested in hearing. "None of this should have ever happened to me! If only I hadn't made Miaka go to the library with me, she never would have been sucked in and met Tamahome. I never would have gone in after her. I never..."
She stared dully at the thin scar that ran across her wrist. She didn't even have the energy to cry anymore when she thought about it. Maybe it had been her fault after all...maybe the whole thing had been her fault all along.
Then what was she doing? If there was a chance that she was wrong...a thousand people might die because she had been mistaken! But...what could she do anymore, even if she wanted to...wasn't it to late?
She needed to get away from the palace. They were supposed to set out to attack Konan in a couple of days, but she couldn't...she just couldn't...
She started down the hallway at a run. She stopped only to grab a cloak from her room and wrap it around her so that the soldiers would not recognize her exit. Then her feet were moving again. She could not put into words the emotions that drove her. Her mother had always complained that her daughter was moody and temperamental.
She slowed to a walk when she neared the exit and joined up with a train of wagons that were leaving the palace gates. The merchants, too engrossed in counting their profits, didn't seem to notice that they had picked up an extra member.
I wonder if I really got away. No...no one gets away from him. He knows everything...
She wasn't really sure why she was thinking such things about Nakago...he hadn't been cruel to her before had he? Of course not...he.... he loved her. But he had been cruel to other people. He had seemed unaffected when four of her Seishi had died, nor did he seem very dedicated to the welfare of the other two that she had left. *
Taking a deep breath, she chanced a look behind her as she walked through the gates. Her eyes scanned the courtyard nervously, and came to a sudden halt on a familiar, strikingly blonde figure. He was looking the other way, but as her eyes found him, he started to turn, as if merely thinking of him were enough to draw his attention.
Quickly, she turned back around, trying hard to slow the rapid beating of her heart. Maybe he didn't see me, she thought desperately, he wouldn't be letting me go, would he? Maybe I actually got away...
Nakago smiled slightly as his little priestess hurried out of the capital. He had known that this little temper tantrum was coming for a long time. Even a master of manipulation such as himself couldn't be expected to keep a temperamental teenage girl under control forever.
"Aren't you going to go after her?" Suboshi demanded angrily, pulling back the cowl of the robe that had allowed him to escape the young girl's notice. "It's a dangerous place out there! She could be hurt."
"I think not," Nakago replied quietly. "Lady Yui has been having doubts for a long while now. I think it would be best to let her have a little taste of freedom before we rein her back in. Let her get it out of her system."
"But you can't just let her go out there alone!" Suboshi protested.
"She needs to learn the consequences of straying to far from my protection," Nakago replied, putting the slightest bit of warning into his tone. Suboshi didn't take the hint.
"The hell she does!" he yelled rudely. "I'm going after her!"
"Suboshi," Nakago said sharply, finally bringing the boy to heel. "I will not allow your puppy love to interfere with my plans."
Suboshi blushed and clamped his mouth shut, thinking furious thoughts that he would never have the courage to say aloud.
"She will be fine," Nakago repeated. "I won't allow anything permanently damaging to happen to her." Not yet at least...not until I get my wish. Then I will have no further need her silly girly whims. Then I will have no need of anyone.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, Priestess, because it's the last time you'll ever be away from my control."
* At the time, Yui thought that Amiboshi was dead
Yui trailed her hand idly along the banister as she walked aimlessly down the corridors of the Kutou palace. Her fingers traced the tiny, almost invisible carvings until she came to a point where the line that she had been following spilt and followed two separate paths. One groove was deeper and smooth, looping only slightly, in graceful arcs. The other was shallower and a little jagged, following an erratic course through the dark grains.
"Which one did I choose?" she murmured aloud to herself. "I still don't know. Nothing...nothing seems right any more."
With an irrational difficulty, she raised her finger from the banister and leaned against a pillar, her hands seeking its cool marble surface.
"I'm just a teenager!" she protested to anything that might be interested in hearing. "None of this should have ever happened to me! If only I hadn't made Miaka go to the library with me, she never would have been sucked in and met Tamahome. I never would have gone in after her. I never..."
She stared dully at the thin scar that ran across her wrist. She didn't even have the energy to cry anymore when she thought about it. Maybe it had been her fault after all...maybe the whole thing had been her fault all along.
Then what was she doing? If there was a chance that she was wrong...a thousand people might die because she had been mistaken! But...what could she do anymore, even if she wanted to...wasn't it to late?
She needed to get away from the palace. They were supposed to set out to attack Konan in a couple of days, but she couldn't...she just couldn't...
She started down the hallway at a run. She stopped only to grab a cloak from her room and wrap it around her so that the soldiers would not recognize her exit. Then her feet were moving again. She could not put into words the emotions that drove her. Her mother had always complained that her daughter was moody and temperamental.
She slowed to a walk when she neared the exit and joined up with a train of wagons that were leaving the palace gates. The merchants, too engrossed in counting their profits, didn't seem to notice that they had picked up an extra member.
I wonder if I really got away. No...no one gets away from him. He knows everything...
She wasn't really sure why she was thinking such things about Nakago...he hadn't been cruel to her before had he? Of course not...he.... he loved her. But he had been cruel to other people. He had seemed unaffected when four of her Seishi had died, nor did he seem very dedicated to the welfare of the other two that she had left. *
Taking a deep breath, she chanced a look behind her as she walked through the gates. Her eyes scanned the courtyard nervously, and came to a sudden halt on a familiar, strikingly blonde figure. He was looking the other way, but as her eyes found him, he started to turn, as if merely thinking of him were enough to draw his attention.
Quickly, she turned back around, trying hard to slow the rapid beating of her heart. Maybe he didn't see me, she thought desperately, he wouldn't be letting me go, would he? Maybe I actually got away...
Nakago smiled slightly as his little priestess hurried out of the capital. He had known that this little temper tantrum was coming for a long time. Even a master of manipulation such as himself couldn't be expected to keep a temperamental teenage girl under control forever.
"Aren't you going to go after her?" Suboshi demanded angrily, pulling back the cowl of the robe that had allowed him to escape the young girl's notice. "It's a dangerous place out there! She could be hurt."
"I think not," Nakago replied quietly. "Lady Yui has been having doubts for a long while now. I think it would be best to let her have a little taste of freedom before we rein her back in. Let her get it out of her system."
"But you can't just let her go out there alone!" Suboshi protested.
"She needs to learn the consequences of straying to far from my protection," Nakago replied, putting the slightest bit of warning into his tone. Suboshi didn't take the hint.
"The hell she does!" he yelled rudely. "I'm going after her!"
"Suboshi," Nakago said sharply, finally bringing the boy to heel. "I will not allow your puppy love to interfere with my plans."
Suboshi blushed and clamped his mouth shut, thinking furious thoughts that he would never have the courage to say aloud.
"She will be fine," Nakago repeated. "I won't allow anything permanently damaging to happen to her." Not yet at least...not until I get my wish. Then I will have no further need her silly girly whims. Then I will have no need of anyone.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, Priestess, because it's the last time you'll ever be away from my control."
* At the time, Yui thought that Amiboshi was dead