A/N: My first Fushigi Yuigi fic...*crosses her fingers*...hope it goes well! I simply couldn't stand leaving the series alone any longer....Nuriko was crying out to me again. I love him so much! *sobs again* I bawled my eyes out when he died...and when he came back at the end....I cried so much during the second series...watashi no kami-sama. Anyway, this is a sort of alternate reality fic, but not really.
SUMMARY: Pledging their lives to the priestess, the lived and died only for her. Would the Suzaku Seven not return to live and die with her once again? What happens with the unresolved issues of the past? Do they return to be closed in the future? Do original feelings stir again?
PAIRING: Who knows? We'll just see how it all goes, though I know that Chichiri will eventually be set up w/ my friend Erika…b/c she's his other half.
DEDICATIONS:
TIFF: My college bud, the one who loaned me Fushigi Yugi and Escaflowne and Sailor Moon, etc! The Anime Queen Supreme and my fellow Legolas obsessee. I love ya, Tiff!
Erika: Known to all you fellow ff.net peeps as "Tiernoch," but known to me as Erika. My fellow Fushigi Yugi obsessee and co-owner of the Fushigi Yugi harem! WAHOO!
Marcy: Also obsessed with Fushigi Yugi...my spoiler bud. My only friend who loves SPOILERS! WA NA NA!
Lucawanox: If I didn't put you in here, you'd kill me. ; ) You know I love you!
WARNING: THIS TAKES PLACE AFTER SERIES TWO OF FUSHIGI YUGI, IGNORING THE OTHER TWO SERIES AFTER IT…BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT AS GOOD! Lol.
PS: The explanation of the title will come in later…it's a song, but it doesn't make sense yet, so the title may change in a while…who knows?
~*~
"I still can't believe it's really you."
Tamahome smiled at the petite girl. "I'm here, aren't I? I promised I'd find you, and I did."
Miaka smiled, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Tamahome." Laughing, she threw her arms around him and hugged him close. "Never let me go again!"
"I won't...I promise."
Clutching Tamahome close to her, Miaka peered over his shoulder with mist-filled eyes, thinking of how strangely things work out. "Wait..."
"Hmm?"
Miaka pushed slightly away from Tamahome. "If you came back all this way...I know you said you were going to find me...but if you're here in a new life...don't you think the others might be here too?"
"Reincarnation, you mean?" Tamahome scratched his head. "It's possible...even extremely likely. Each celestial warrior lives only for the priestess...I never really thought about what would happen after our lives ended. It seems only likely that they'll come back and find you again and again." He smiled. "We may find them yet. Who knows?"
The two released the grip they held on each other and walked off, hand in hand. Miaka sighed. "I wonder where the others are right now."
~*~
//I want to hold her one last time...Don't cry, Miaka...I'll always be here to protect you...I want to hold her...one...last...time...MIAKA!//
Nuriko shot out of bed, gasping for breath. He turned and looked, wide-eyed, at the digital clock on the nightstand next to his bed. 5:00. He turned away again, running a hand through his already tousled hair, once again damp with perspiration. //That dream again...again.// Deep violet eyes shone in the moonlight as the boy leaned back, stretching before flopping against the pillows. "What does it mean?"
"Nuriko?" The quiet voice crept in through the small crack of an opening in the doorway. Nuriko sat up abruptly, straining his eyes.
"Kourin?" The door opened wider and his younger sister scampered in, giggling, before shutting the door behind her. She ran quietly across the room and leaped up onto his bed, snuggling close to her brother.
"I heard you before...you sounded upset. Were you having a nightmare?" Violet eyes, exact matches of his own, stared up at him with a look of utmost concern. He smiled inwardly.
"No...yes...no. I was having that dream again..."
"Which one?" Kourin's voice, always so understanding and gentle. //It's always so easy to talk to her...//
"About my life...my past life...I know it sounds crazy, Kourin, but it's all so vivid...I can't believe that it's not true." Nuriko ran a hand through his sister's hair, lost in his memories. "All those people...the girl, Miaka...those two hotheaded boys, Tamahome and Tasuki...the little boy, Chiriko, and the older man, Mitsukake. Chichiri, who always wears a mask to hide his scar...and" he stopped, feeling a flush creep up his face.
"There was another one, wasn't there?" Kourin prodded.
"Yes..." Nuriko tousled his hair again, trying to force back the blush that had taken over his face. //Why always this one?// He asked himself again. //Why does this last one always stir such feelings in me?// "The last one...the young emperor...Hotohori."
"Ah, yes, Hotohori...I believe he was particularly handsome, wasn't he?" Kourin teased.
"KOURIN!" Nuriko gasped, horrified. His sister burst into uncontrollable giggles.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding...though...you did mention something to that extent," Kourin reminded.
"Only because he looked so much like a woman!" Nuriko insisted. //But that's not it, is it?// While Hotohori had looked very womanly, with his long, dusky gray hair and his smooth pale skin and sparkling eyes, there was a defined masculinity to him. The cut of his jaw, the curve of his shoulders, the tilt of his chin...all defined his masculinity. All that added to the womanly beauty he had made him absolutely gorgeous. Not that Nuriko was anything to sneer at either. Nuriko was actually mistaken for a girl on many an occasion. Long, flowing hair which was a strange but beautiful shade of pale purple, coupled with wide violet eyes, long thick eyelashes, and a smile that could turn anyone weak at the knees gave Nuriko a distinct beauty which was usually hard for males to pull off. Pull it off Nuriko did...and with panache. The two looks were distinctly different, however. Nuriko's looks were more feminine than those of Hotohori. //I'm not gay...am I?//
"You know, it doesn't matter, Nuriko," Kourin said softly, her voice now serious.
"Huh?" Nuriko turned to face his sister, surprised.
"It doesn't matter what reason you like him for. I'm just teasing you. But if you did like him that way, it doesn't matter. You have to follow your heart. Who knows? Maybe your dream is actually true. Maybe these are memories of your past. If you loved someone in a past life, it would only be natural for those feelings to resurface. Then, you'd only be stupid if you didn't follow your heart in a situation like this." Kourin smiled. "Just follow your heart."
Nuriko stared at his sister in surprise, and then smiled. "Thanks, Dr. Freud. No, seriously, thanks Kourin. Not that it matters. It's not true at all." He leaned back against his pillow and closed his eyes, thinking back on the dream.
"You don't know that!"
"Mm hmm," Nuriko responded sleepily, already beginning to doze off.
"I'm serious, Nuriko! Listen!" Kourin glared down at her older brother, who made no move to open his eyes. "Okay then, fall asleep, but I'm going to continue talking. A year ago, I had a dream. I only had one, but it was so vivid that I remember it still as clearly as if it was yesterday. I dreamt that you and I were brother and sister in ancient China, in the land of Konan. We looked so much alike that people thought we were twins, and we even dressed alike to confuse them more. Then, one day, I was running after you through the street, and I was run over by a carriage."
A small, dark corner of Nuriko's mind suddenly jumped to life. //Carriage? Konan? Why does this sound so familiar?//
"You decided you would live life for me, and began dressing as a girl and calling yourself Kourin...then you were sent to be a member of the harem...the harem of the young emperor Hotohori."
At his sister's words, Nuriko's eyes flew open, and he sat up abruptly, staring wordlessly at her. She continued.
"You were a celestial warrior, predestined to serve a girl who would come from another world to be-"
"The Suzaku no miko," Nuriko whispered, finishing his sister's sentence.
"Yes," she said softly, staring at him. "You met up with six more celestial warriors...I don't remember any more than their names...I woke up long before I would have liked to. In my dream, I watched you from above...almost like I was protecting you from heaven or something strange." She laughed nervously. "I don't know. I just don't want you to rule out the possibility that this is real. Don't give up on something as good as this. Just...follow your heart."
Nuriko pulled his sister into a close hug. "I'm going to miss you when you leave tomorrow," he whispered. "Why do you have to go to that stupid boarding school?"
"Because it's one of the best in the world!" She laughed, hugging him back. "It's only for a year!"
"Oh, that's all?" he said sarcastically, but he released her. "You better go back to bed, squirt. I love you,"
Kourin slid off the bed. "I'm not a squirt!"
Nuriko swatted her butt. "Are too!" His action elicited a shriek from his sister, who hastened to the door. "Hey, Kourin!"
She turned to face him. "Yes?"
"Thanks for listening to me. And for telling me about your dream." He smiled. "Thanks for the encouragement."
She smiled back. "No problem. I love you too." She left the room as quickly and quietly as she had entered.
Nuriko shook his head, grinning. //That girl's insane.// For the third time, he collapsed against his pillow, hoping to finally get some rest, half-hoping for no rest at all, since that rest would only come if the sparkling-eyed emperor stopped haunting his dreams. "Follow my heart, eh?" //I'll try, Kourin. I'll try.//
~TBC~