"Star Lovers" by Ai Yuukan
Chapter 1
"Aaahh." Lilian sighed as she watched yet another couple walk by, hand in hand, obviously in love. She was sitting on a park bench with her sisters, feeling downright miserable. It was Valentine's Day, she was eighteen, and she'd never had a boyfriend. Come to think of it, none of her sisters had ever had a boyfriend, so she shouldn't feel so pathetic, but she did, and that made her miserable.
Her shoulders drooped sulkily, her feathery soft silvery hair rippled in the cool breeze. She looked at her sisters and almost smiled at how identical their sulky expressions were. Her serene blue eyes twinkled.
"Hey, don't look so down." She said brightly. As the eldest, it was her responsibility to look after her younger sisters.
"We're single, we're crushless, we're miserable." Her sister with silky blond hair and silver eyes mumbled.
Lilian smiled. "That's not true, Kathryn. We have plenty of crushes!"
Her sister with red-gold hair and violet eyes snorted. "Yeah, and the closest we can get to them is by pressing our faces up to the screen. Anime crushes don't count."
The youngest sister, a pretty girl with light brown hair and soft green eyes, shook her head, amused. "But if they did, we'd be pretty shameless."
All of them chuckled deeply at that. Lilian thought of something. "Hey, do you all want to call Miaka?"
Everyone smiled at that. Yuuki Miaka and her friends were all penpals with the Smith sisters, and they all got along splendidly.
Kathryn, the girl with blond hair, looked thoughtful. "Hey. remember when father said we could pick a place to vacation this year? Why don't we go to Japan? And finally meet Miaka and her friends?"
Everyone brightened at the idea. Lilian was the only one who looked hesitant. "I think we should ask Miaka if it's all right, first. Don't you think?"
Everyone agreed. Kathryn looked considerably happier. "I can't wait to meet Keisuke!" She exclaimed. Everyone laughed. Everyone knew Kathryn loved talking with Miaka's brother, Keisuke, because she thought he was so much fun to argue with.
Samantha, the girl with light brown hair and green eyes, dimpled. "I can't wait to meet Taka and Tetsuya!" She smiled. "They're so sweet about Yui and Miaka! Maybe they'll introduce me to their friends who are just as sweet!" She said hopefully.
Vivien, the girl with red-gold hair and violet eyes chuckled. "I hope Miaka eats as much as she says she does. I could use a new eating partner."
Everyone laughed. Lilian smiled. "Yui's very smart. I need a good study partner. All of you don't know zilch about astronomy!"
Samantha giggled. "Well, you don't have any musical aptitude whatsoever."
Vivien grinned. "You eat like a bird!"
Kathryn smiled. "And you hate reading!"
Lilian laughed. "Well, we all agree, we all need a partner. So should we call Miaka tonight?"
Kathryn smiled. 'Why not call her now? It's the right time."
Lilian frowned. "I am not using up all my minutes!"
"Aw, come on!" Everyone pleaded. "Please?" Lilian sighed.
"Fine! But that means you're buying me more minutes!"
"We promise!" Her sisters chirped.
Lilian smiled. "But I only have Yui's number."
Vivien smiled. "I have Miaka's number!" She handed her address book to her sister cheerfully.
"Are you sure it's the right time?" Lilian wanted to be sure.
"We're sure!"
Miaka sweatdropped when her cellphone rang loud in class. Everyone turned to look at her; the teacher glared at her, promising detention. Luckily, the bell rang. Miaka fairly ran out of class, promising to strangle the person who had called her.
"Mushi mushi?" Miaka muttered distractedly, looking for Taka outside the school building.
"Hi, Miaka! It's me, Lilian."
"Nani?"
"Oh, I forgot. er. aahh. oh! Lilian Smith to moushimasu. ahhh."
Miaka giggled, amused. Lilian! She was the sister of Vivien. Hurriedly, she tried to remember her English. "You are. brother of Vivien?"
"Brother. er. no. iie. Ahhh."
Miaka knew there was going to be a problem with communication. Luckily, Yui arrived just in time. "Miaka! Who're you talking to?"
Miaka looked relieved. "Yui, it's Lilian."
"Lilian?"
"One of the Smith sisters. The one you talk to. I'm not very good speaking English."
Yui looked delighted. "Lilian?" She took the phone from Miaka. "Hello? Lilian?"
"Yui?" Lilian sounded relieved. "I think I was talking to Miaka. and I'm not very good with Japanese. so."
Yui chuckled. "Daijobu. What's going on?"
"Ne, Yui, we're planning on having our vacation in Japan."
Yui was delighted. "Hontou? I mean, really? That's wonderful? We?"
"Yeah, all my sisters."
Yui was sure her friends were going to be happy at the news. "That's wonderful! Why don't you stay in our house?"
"You guys live in one house?"
"Yeah, our mothers don't like it, but Tetsuya, Taka, Keisuke, Miaka, and I live in one house. We have plenty of room! Why don't you stay with us?"
Lilian sounded relieved and happy. "That would be great! Our father said we were leaving on vacation next week. Is that too soon?"
Yui smiled. "No, that's fine! I'm going to tell the others! They're going to be so happy!"
"My sisters are all excited, too!"
"Hontou?"
"Yeah. Vivien can't wait to have Miaka as an eating partner, Kathryn can't wait to argue with Keisuke, and Samantha can't wait to listen to Taka and Tetsuya when they talk about you and Miaka. She said they're really sweet."
Yui blushed. "Aaah. so I'll see you next week then?"
"Hai! I'm looking forward to it!"
Yui smiled. "Me too!"
"Jaa ne?"
"Jaa!" With a smile, Yui turned off Miaka's cellphone and turned to her best friend. "Miaka! The Smith sisters are coming next week! And I invited them to stay with us!"
Miaka lit up. "Hontou?"
"Yeah, isn't it great?"
Miaka grinned. "Yeah, it is! I hope Vivien can keep up with me!"
Yui laughed.
A nyan-nyan giggled and disappeared after she saw Miaka and Yui enter Taka's car to leave.
"The Smith sisters are coming over next week! That's great!" Taka exclaimed.
Tetsuya nodded. "They're great! Samantha's a great listener."
Yui blushed at that. Miaka nodded enthusiastically. "And Vivien and I like to eat the same food! It's so cool!"
Yui smiled. "And Lilian's smart. You can't find too many people like her nowadays."
Everyone frowned at Yui when she said that. Yui giggled. "Well, it's true! How about you, Keisuke? Don't you think it's great?"
"Your penpals are great, maybe, but Kathryn's a pain." Miaka's brother grumbled.
Miaka laughed. "Yesterday, Kathryn said she bet Keisuke looks like a dog."
Taka laughed. "She sounds great!"
Keisuke glared at Miaka's boyfriend. "Well, I bet she looks like a goose." He mumbled, irritated.
Yui sighed. "It's good we found such good penpals like them. They've been a great help. getting us over." Yui couldn't continue.
Miaka nodded sadly. "Yeah." She felt tears rise in her eyes at the thought of Nuriko, Mitsukake, Chiriko, and Hotohori. A couple of months after the final battle with Nakago, Miaka had found Vivien on the internet as an email-penpal and had grown to be real friends with the American girl. Vivien had introduced her sisters to Miaka and her friends online, and now all of them had one of the Smith sisters as their penpal. She had told Vivian a lot of things. and she had also told her about the book. Miaka grew uneasy thinking what her friends would say if they had found out about it.
Yui looked down at her tea. Lilian had helped her get over the deaths of her own seishi, and her self-loathing. She had told Lilian everything. and Lilian had believed her. She couldn't wait to meet her. She dreaded the thought of any of her friends knowing what she had done.
Keisuke grimly remembered an argument he had once had with Kathryn. She had insulted his masculinity and in a burst of temper, he had blurted out what had happened to his sister by means of defending himself. Softening, he also remembered that Kathryn had believed him and what followed had been one of their rare truces of that time. He would never tell his friends what he had done.
Taka had immediately sensed a kindred spirit in Samantha and with little argument from Tetsuya, he had also told her of his adventures in the book as the Suzaku seishi Tamahome. Samantha had believed them and even in her quiet moments, offered a word of comfort to ease his pain at losing his fellow seishi. Taka and Tetsuya had agreed not to ever tell the others of their secret.
Giggling, two nyan-nyans disappeared in a poof of pink smoke in the friends' kitchen.
Lilian dragged Vivien's last suitcase out from the claiming area and was panting by the time she reached the waiting area where her sisters were waiting comfortably in their seats. "Are they here yet?" She asked cheerfully.
Vivien looked up at her sister, smiling. "No, not yet, but Miaka- chan called and they said they'd be here in a few minutes."
Lilian nodded. "Well, they're not that late." She muttered to herself.
Kathryn had heard her. She chuckled. "Nervous?"
Lilian shook her head. "Don't be silly."
Samantha nodded, convinced. "She's nervous."
"No, I'm not!" Lilian snapped.
"You're wrong, Sammy: she's petrified."
Lilian scowled at her sister. "Well, for all you know Japanese people have this tendency to look upon foreigners with disdain. Of course, I'm nervous!" She exclaimed.
Vivien rolled her eyes. "And we're supposed to care? For goodness' sake, Lily, we're Americans. Americans don't care what everyone says about us. For all we know, they could be admiring us for our boldness and individuality."
Kathryn nodded. "You said it, Vivi."
Samantha said softly, "Besides, do you really think our penpals are like that? I don't think Taka and Tetsuya would think like that."
Vivien nodded. "Exactly. We got along fine with our penpals via the internet, so what should be the difference face-to-face."
"Speak for yourself, Vivi. Keisuke's probably furious that I'm here, anyway. He doesn't respond well to my argumentative nature." Kathryn mumbled.
"Ooh, do you think that's them?" Samantha stood up and began waving to a group of people headed their way.
"How do you know it's them?"
"I don't know. I just hope it's them."
"Great." Lilian grumbled.
"Oh, it is them! Aren't I lucky? They're waving back. at least four of them are."
Kathryn grinned. "I bet Keisuke's the one keeping his hand down."
"That's them?" Keisuke gaped. "Are you sure?"
Miaka looked slyly across at her brother. "Pretty much. Why?"
"They're not supposed to look like that!"
Yui chuckled. "Why not?"
"They're beautiful! All of them are horribly beautiful!"
"I think he was expecting Kathryn to be the ugly one." Tetsuya mumbled to Taka. Taka chuckled.
"Hi!" A pretty girl with beautiful red-gold hair and violet eyes greeted them. She looked at Yui and Miaka for a moment before grinning and pointing at Miaka. "You're Miaka, right?"
Miaka squealed happily, her eyes shining. "Bingo!"
Vivien's eyes were sparkling. "Yay!"
Tetsuya and Taka went to the gentle-looking girl with brown hair and green eyes. "You're Samantha, right?" Tetsuya ventured.
Samantha smiled prettily. "Yes, I am. You're Tetsuya?" She said in perfect Japanese.
Keisuke stared at Lilian and Kathryn, trying to tell who was his penpal. The only problem was: he couldn't tell who was the uglier. Kathryn was bound to be the uglier, he had wagered. He was stumped.
Yui chuckled. She went to Lilian. "You're Lilian, right? You look like you have more intelligence than your sisters." She explained.
Lilian smiled. "Yes, I'm Lilian. This should be interesting."
Keisuke stared at Kathryn. "You're K-Kathryn?"
Kathryn grinned. "Hai! And you're Keisuke? Okay, I was wrong, you don't look like a dog. much."
Keisuke relaxed and smiled. Yep, it was definitely Kathryn. Strange, her comment didn't sound as insulting as it did online. Maybe it had something to do with her smile. He hadn't pictured her as smiling when they chatted online. "Thank you. You're not as ugly as I thought you would be."
Kathryn chuckled. "You expected a hag?"
"Exactly."
"At least forty?"
"You read my mind."
Kathryn laughed. "This is so funny! I wish you could have seen your face when you saw me! I wish I had had a camera!"
Keisuke laughed, feeling much at ease with his new friend.
Three nyan-nyans giggled as they poofed out of view.
Lilian smiled at Yui. "This is a nice house."
Yui shrugged. "We basically bought it with Tetsuya and Keisuke's money. We felt better together. since we were all."
Lilian's eyes softened. "I understand." She looked around. "So where is everybody?"
Yui smiled. It was morning at their house, and everyone else had left. "Miaka and Vivien went to lunch."
Lilian chuckled. "Lunch? Or is it 'fifth breakast'?"
Yui grinned. "It's probably their sixth. Taka and Tetsuya took Samantha to the library." Yui looked away. It had already been two years, and still, any mention of the library made her feel uneasy.
Lilian patted Yui on the shoulder. "And Kathryn and Keisuke?"
Yui was grateful for Lilian's change of subject. She smiled weakly. "Oh, they're still here. They're upstairs, playing chess."
Lilian was surprised at that. "Chess? Kathryn hates chess."
Yui laughed. "Really? She's the one who suggested it. That's really funny; Keisuke hates chess, too."
Lilian grinned. "I think they both know that. I think they want to torture each other or something."
Yui chuckled. "You're probably right. So what do you want to do?"
Lilian looked thoughtful. "Why don't we visit the library."
Immediately, Yui looked stricken. "But."
Lilian looked serious. "There's another reason I wanted to come here, Yui. I wanted to help you get over your experiences in the book. The library seems like a good place to start."
Yui needed to sit down. "You don't understand. I can't get over them. You don't know what I've been through!" She accused her friend.
Lilian sighed. "I know what you've been through, yes," She held up a hand when Yui narrowed her eyes angrily. "But I know that doesn't give me the right to say I understand. But you should get on with your life. You're still alive for a reason, Yui."
Yui slumped. Lilian was right. Yui had always admired Lilian's strength and patience, and she knew Lilian was only trying to help her. She closed her eyes. 'We'll go to the library."
"Will you tell me about Nakago?" Lilian ventured cautiously, looking at Yui from the top of her book. They were in the study area of the library, looking up information on the Four Gods.
Yui visibly stiffened and a sharp pain flashed through her eyes. "W- Why do you want to know about him?"
Lilian looked down at her book, uneasy. "He was the one who hurt you."
Yui closed her eyes. "It was mostly my fault."
Lilian shook her head. "I think that's part of why you still feel so strongly about your experiences in the book. Why are you still angry at yourself?"
Yui clenched her fists. "Why do you think?" She snapped angrily. "I let Nakago manipulate me so I could go against Miaka, I hurt her, I helped cause the death of her seishi, I."
"Helped her so that could summon Suzaku." Lilian finished for Yui. "You let her summon Suzaku, unseal her god, and gave back the powers of her seishi. You allowed her to save our world and destroy Nakago."
Yui's eyes widened. How could Lilian turn the whole thing around and make it sound like she had done more good than bad? Lilian wasn't finished. "What would have happened if you hadn't given Miaka the power to summon Suzaku? Nakago would have killed her two surviving seishi, destroyed this world, and had become a god. What do you think the book world would have endured with Nakago as a god? Would you rather all of Miaka's seishi been killed? Would that have made you happy?"
"No!" Yui was trying to keep back her tears. "Miaka and her seishi. Miaka was heartbroken when so many of her seishi were killed."
Lilian didn't know why she was saying this. Why did she care so much about Yui's feelings? "You more than paid for your mistakes, Yui, by giving Miaka the ability to make things right. You have no right to be angry at yourself."
Yui stilled. Lilian. She was trying so hard to make Yui feel better about herself. and Seiryuu help her. it was working. She felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Her heart felt lighter, and her mind became clearer. She stared at Lilian, wondering what had happened.
Lilian smiled gently in understanding. "Do you. feel better, Yui?"
Yui managed a weak smile in answer. Lilian smiled. She was glad that Yui had finally realized her good deed of before, and curious why Yui hadn't realized it before. Maybe no one had thought to tell her. Lilian sighed. Yui had a lot on her mind. and she probably needed time to work things out. Lilian picked up their books. "I'll return these, okay?"
Yui nodded absently. Lilian patted Yui's shoulder as she left their table. It felt good. helping a friend. She walked back to the bookshelf to return the books. Suddenly, a cool wind rushed at her face and something splattered on Lilian's hand. Lilian froze and stared. Water. She quickly turned.
The cool wind rushed against Lilian, making her look at a set of stairs next to a juice machine. The air was moist, and cool. Helplessly drawn towards the stairs, Lilian walked as if in a trance. As she walked up the stairs, she could only think of water.
"Lily?" Yui walked around the bookshelves, looking for her friend. Lilian hadn't come back and for some reason, she felt like something was happening to her friend. With rising panic, she checked the bookshelf where Lilian had returned one of their books and felt something wet along the wooden shelves. Her heart stilled. Water.
"Lily?" Yui almost ran to the set of stairs next to the juice machine and her heart stopped. She could feel the moisture in the air and her skin prickled with a sense of foreboding. "Lily!"
"Shh!" An annoyed librarian hissed at the student.
Yui just stared at the librarian until the librarian turned away, muttering something about troubled, mentally ill youths. Once the librarian turned away, Yui ran up the stairs, her shoes strangely silent against the wood. When she reached the top, her breath caught in her throat. Lily.
Lilian's hand was on the door. Yui tried to call out to her friend, but she found that she was strangely rooted to her spot, unable to call out at all by some mysterious power. She paled with fear.
Lilian opened the door and entered the room. Yui found that she could move again and ran into the room after Lilian.
"Lily!"
Lilian couldn't hear her. Yui stared at the book in the middle of the floor with horror. It was the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho. Lilian knelt before the book and picked it up. No! Lily! Her throat wouldn't work again.
Lilian opened to the first page, and in a trance, started to speak. Yui's eyes widened. Lilian was reading the ancient Chinese! "This is the story of a girl."
Yui suddenly felt like something was terribly wrong. In her panic and distress, she had missed what Lilian said after that, but she heard Lilian clearly recite in trance-like tones, "As soon as this page is turned, the story shall become truth and begin."
A bright blue light started to shine from the book. Then Lilian read something totally unfamiliar to Yui, "Right the wrongs done by your father, daughter of Seiryuu, and erase what should have never been. Jump across the pages and restore balance to our world." The blue light enveloped Lilian and disappeared.
Yui was frozen in shock. Lilian was gone. The book lay closed on the library floor. Yui discovered she could move again. She stumbled to the book and picked it up. Her hands trembled and the book fell open on the floor. Yui couldn't help but read. "The heroine of this story found herself on the outskirts of a town, on the border of Kotou."
Yui leaned up against the bookshelves and began to read.
"Aaahh." Lilian sighed as she watched yet another couple walk by, hand in hand, obviously in love. She was sitting on a park bench with her sisters, feeling downright miserable. It was Valentine's Day, she was eighteen, and she'd never had a boyfriend. Come to think of it, none of her sisters had ever had a boyfriend, so she shouldn't feel so pathetic, but she did, and that made her miserable.
Her shoulders drooped sulkily, her feathery soft silvery hair rippled in the cool breeze. She looked at her sisters and almost smiled at how identical their sulky expressions were. Her serene blue eyes twinkled.
"Hey, don't look so down." She said brightly. As the eldest, it was her responsibility to look after her younger sisters.
"We're single, we're crushless, we're miserable." Her sister with silky blond hair and silver eyes mumbled.
Lilian smiled. "That's not true, Kathryn. We have plenty of crushes!"
Her sister with red-gold hair and violet eyes snorted. "Yeah, and the closest we can get to them is by pressing our faces up to the screen. Anime crushes don't count."
The youngest sister, a pretty girl with light brown hair and soft green eyes, shook her head, amused. "But if they did, we'd be pretty shameless."
All of them chuckled deeply at that. Lilian thought of something. "Hey, do you all want to call Miaka?"
Everyone smiled at that. Yuuki Miaka and her friends were all penpals with the Smith sisters, and they all got along splendidly.
Kathryn, the girl with blond hair, looked thoughtful. "Hey. remember when father said we could pick a place to vacation this year? Why don't we go to Japan? And finally meet Miaka and her friends?"
Everyone brightened at the idea. Lilian was the only one who looked hesitant. "I think we should ask Miaka if it's all right, first. Don't you think?"
Everyone agreed. Kathryn looked considerably happier. "I can't wait to meet Keisuke!" She exclaimed. Everyone laughed. Everyone knew Kathryn loved talking with Miaka's brother, Keisuke, because she thought he was so much fun to argue with.
Samantha, the girl with light brown hair and green eyes, dimpled. "I can't wait to meet Taka and Tetsuya!" She smiled. "They're so sweet about Yui and Miaka! Maybe they'll introduce me to their friends who are just as sweet!" She said hopefully.
Vivien, the girl with red-gold hair and violet eyes chuckled. "I hope Miaka eats as much as she says she does. I could use a new eating partner."
Everyone laughed. Lilian smiled. "Yui's very smart. I need a good study partner. All of you don't know zilch about astronomy!"
Samantha giggled. "Well, you don't have any musical aptitude whatsoever."
Vivien grinned. "You eat like a bird!"
Kathryn smiled. "And you hate reading!"
Lilian laughed. "Well, we all agree, we all need a partner. So should we call Miaka tonight?"
Kathryn smiled. 'Why not call her now? It's the right time."
Lilian frowned. "I am not using up all my minutes!"
"Aw, come on!" Everyone pleaded. "Please?" Lilian sighed.
"Fine! But that means you're buying me more minutes!"
"We promise!" Her sisters chirped.
Lilian smiled. "But I only have Yui's number."
Vivien smiled. "I have Miaka's number!" She handed her address book to her sister cheerfully.
"Are you sure it's the right time?" Lilian wanted to be sure.
"We're sure!"
Miaka sweatdropped when her cellphone rang loud in class. Everyone turned to look at her; the teacher glared at her, promising detention. Luckily, the bell rang. Miaka fairly ran out of class, promising to strangle the person who had called her.
"Mushi mushi?" Miaka muttered distractedly, looking for Taka outside the school building.
"Hi, Miaka! It's me, Lilian."
"Nani?"
"Oh, I forgot. er. aahh. oh! Lilian Smith to moushimasu. ahhh."
Miaka giggled, amused. Lilian! She was the sister of Vivien. Hurriedly, she tried to remember her English. "You are. brother of Vivien?"
"Brother. er. no. iie. Ahhh."
Miaka knew there was going to be a problem with communication. Luckily, Yui arrived just in time. "Miaka! Who're you talking to?"
Miaka looked relieved. "Yui, it's Lilian."
"Lilian?"
"One of the Smith sisters. The one you talk to. I'm not very good speaking English."
Yui looked delighted. "Lilian?" She took the phone from Miaka. "Hello? Lilian?"
"Yui?" Lilian sounded relieved. "I think I was talking to Miaka. and I'm not very good with Japanese. so."
Yui chuckled. "Daijobu. What's going on?"
"Ne, Yui, we're planning on having our vacation in Japan."
Yui was delighted. "Hontou? I mean, really? That's wonderful? We?"
"Yeah, all my sisters."
Yui was sure her friends were going to be happy at the news. "That's wonderful! Why don't you stay in our house?"
"You guys live in one house?"
"Yeah, our mothers don't like it, but Tetsuya, Taka, Keisuke, Miaka, and I live in one house. We have plenty of room! Why don't you stay with us?"
Lilian sounded relieved and happy. "That would be great! Our father said we were leaving on vacation next week. Is that too soon?"
Yui smiled. "No, that's fine! I'm going to tell the others! They're going to be so happy!"
"My sisters are all excited, too!"
"Hontou?"
"Yeah. Vivien can't wait to have Miaka as an eating partner, Kathryn can't wait to argue with Keisuke, and Samantha can't wait to listen to Taka and Tetsuya when they talk about you and Miaka. She said they're really sweet."
Yui blushed. "Aaah. so I'll see you next week then?"
"Hai! I'm looking forward to it!"
Yui smiled. "Me too!"
"Jaa ne?"
"Jaa!" With a smile, Yui turned off Miaka's cellphone and turned to her best friend. "Miaka! The Smith sisters are coming next week! And I invited them to stay with us!"
Miaka lit up. "Hontou?"
"Yeah, isn't it great?"
Miaka grinned. "Yeah, it is! I hope Vivien can keep up with me!"
Yui laughed.
A nyan-nyan giggled and disappeared after she saw Miaka and Yui enter Taka's car to leave.
"The Smith sisters are coming over next week! That's great!" Taka exclaimed.
Tetsuya nodded. "They're great! Samantha's a great listener."
Yui blushed at that. Miaka nodded enthusiastically. "And Vivien and I like to eat the same food! It's so cool!"
Yui smiled. "And Lilian's smart. You can't find too many people like her nowadays."
Everyone frowned at Yui when she said that. Yui giggled. "Well, it's true! How about you, Keisuke? Don't you think it's great?"
"Your penpals are great, maybe, but Kathryn's a pain." Miaka's brother grumbled.
Miaka laughed. "Yesterday, Kathryn said she bet Keisuke looks like a dog."
Taka laughed. "She sounds great!"
Keisuke glared at Miaka's boyfriend. "Well, I bet she looks like a goose." He mumbled, irritated.
Yui sighed. "It's good we found such good penpals like them. They've been a great help. getting us over." Yui couldn't continue.
Miaka nodded sadly. "Yeah." She felt tears rise in her eyes at the thought of Nuriko, Mitsukake, Chiriko, and Hotohori. A couple of months after the final battle with Nakago, Miaka had found Vivien on the internet as an email-penpal and had grown to be real friends with the American girl. Vivien had introduced her sisters to Miaka and her friends online, and now all of them had one of the Smith sisters as their penpal. She had told Vivian a lot of things. and she had also told her about the book. Miaka grew uneasy thinking what her friends would say if they had found out about it.
Yui looked down at her tea. Lilian had helped her get over the deaths of her own seishi, and her self-loathing. She had told Lilian everything. and Lilian had believed her. She couldn't wait to meet her. She dreaded the thought of any of her friends knowing what she had done.
Keisuke grimly remembered an argument he had once had with Kathryn. She had insulted his masculinity and in a burst of temper, he had blurted out what had happened to his sister by means of defending himself. Softening, he also remembered that Kathryn had believed him and what followed had been one of their rare truces of that time. He would never tell his friends what he had done.
Taka had immediately sensed a kindred spirit in Samantha and with little argument from Tetsuya, he had also told her of his adventures in the book as the Suzaku seishi Tamahome. Samantha had believed them and even in her quiet moments, offered a word of comfort to ease his pain at losing his fellow seishi. Taka and Tetsuya had agreed not to ever tell the others of their secret.
Giggling, two nyan-nyans disappeared in a poof of pink smoke in the friends' kitchen.
Lilian dragged Vivien's last suitcase out from the claiming area and was panting by the time she reached the waiting area where her sisters were waiting comfortably in their seats. "Are they here yet?" She asked cheerfully.
Vivien looked up at her sister, smiling. "No, not yet, but Miaka- chan called and they said they'd be here in a few minutes."
Lilian nodded. "Well, they're not that late." She muttered to herself.
Kathryn had heard her. She chuckled. "Nervous?"
Lilian shook her head. "Don't be silly."
Samantha nodded, convinced. "She's nervous."
"No, I'm not!" Lilian snapped.
"You're wrong, Sammy: she's petrified."
Lilian scowled at her sister. "Well, for all you know Japanese people have this tendency to look upon foreigners with disdain. Of course, I'm nervous!" She exclaimed.
Vivien rolled her eyes. "And we're supposed to care? For goodness' sake, Lily, we're Americans. Americans don't care what everyone says about us. For all we know, they could be admiring us for our boldness and individuality."
Kathryn nodded. "You said it, Vivi."
Samantha said softly, "Besides, do you really think our penpals are like that? I don't think Taka and Tetsuya would think like that."
Vivien nodded. "Exactly. We got along fine with our penpals via the internet, so what should be the difference face-to-face."
"Speak for yourself, Vivi. Keisuke's probably furious that I'm here, anyway. He doesn't respond well to my argumentative nature." Kathryn mumbled.
"Ooh, do you think that's them?" Samantha stood up and began waving to a group of people headed their way.
"How do you know it's them?"
"I don't know. I just hope it's them."
"Great." Lilian grumbled.
"Oh, it is them! Aren't I lucky? They're waving back. at least four of them are."
Kathryn grinned. "I bet Keisuke's the one keeping his hand down."
"That's them?" Keisuke gaped. "Are you sure?"
Miaka looked slyly across at her brother. "Pretty much. Why?"
"They're not supposed to look like that!"
Yui chuckled. "Why not?"
"They're beautiful! All of them are horribly beautiful!"
"I think he was expecting Kathryn to be the ugly one." Tetsuya mumbled to Taka. Taka chuckled.
"Hi!" A pretty girl with beautiful red-gold hair and violet eyes greeted them. She looked at Yui and Miaka for a moment before grinning and pointing at Miaka. "You're Miaka, right?"
Miaka squealed happily, her eyes shining. "Bingo!"
Vivien's eyes were sparkling. "Yay!"
Tetsuya and Taka went to the gentle-looking girl with brown hair and green eyes. "You're Samantha, right?" Tetsuya ventured.
Samantha smiled prettily. "Yes, I am. You're Tetsuya?" She said in perfect Japanese.
Keisuke stared at Lilian and Kathryn, trying to tell who was his penpal. The only problem was: he couldn't tell who was the uglier. Kathryn was bound to be the uglier, he had wagered. He was stumped.
Yui chuckled. She went to Lilian. "You're Lilian, right? You look like you have more intelligence than your sisters." She explained.
Lilian smiled. "Yes, I'm Lilian. This should be interesting."
Keisuke stared at Kathryn. "You're K-Kathryn?"
Kathryn grinned. "Hai! And you're Keisuke? Okay, I was wrong, you don't look like a dog. much."
Keisuke relaxed and smiled. Yep, it was definitely Kathryn. Strange, her comment didn't sound as insulting as it did online. Maybe it had something to do with her smile. He hadn't pictured her as smiling when they chatted online. "Thank you. You're not as ugly as I thought you would be."
Kathryn chuckled. "You expected a hag?"
"Exactly."
"At least forty?"
"You read my mind."
Kathryn laughed. "This is so funny! I wish you could have seen your face when you saw me! I wish I had had a camera!"
Keisuke laughed, feeling much at ease with his new friend.
Three nyan-nyans giggled as they poofed out of view.
Lilian smiled at Yui. "This is a nice house."
Yui shrugged. "We basically bought it with Tetsuya and Keisuke's money. We felt better together. since we were all."
Lilian's eyes softened. "I understand." She looked around. "So where is everybody?"
Yui smiled. It was morning at their house, and everyone else had left. "Miaka and Vivien went to lunch."
Lilian chuckled. "Lunch? Or is it 'fifth breakast'?"
Yui grinned. "It's probably their sixth. Taka and Tetsuya took Samantha to the library." Yui looked away. It had already been two years, and still, any mention of the library made her feel uneasy.
Lilian patted Yui on the shoulder. "And Kathryn and Keisuke?"
Yui was grateful for Lilian's change of subject. She smiled weakly. "Oh, they're still here. They're upstairs, playing chess."
Lilian was surprised at that. "Chess? Kathryn hates chess."
Yui laughed. "Really? She's the one who suggested it. That's really funny; Keisuke hates chess, too."
Lilian grinned. "I think they both know that. I think they want to torture each other or something."
Yui chuckled. "You're probably right. So what do you want to do?"
Lilian looked thoughtful. "Why don't we visit the library."
Immediately, Yui looked stricken. "But."
Lilian looked serious. "There's another reason I wanted to come here, Yui. I wanted to help you get over your experiences in the book. The library seems like a good place to start."
Yui needed to sit down. "You don't understand. I can't get over them. You don't know what I've been through!" She accused her friend.
Lilian sighed. "I know what you've been through, yes," She held up a hand when Yui narrowed her eyes angrily. "But I know that doesn't give me the right to say I understand. But you should get on with your life. You're still alive for a reason, Yui."
Yui slumped. Lilian was right. Yui had always admired Lilian's strength and patience, and she knew Lilian was only trying to help her. She closed her eyes. 'We'll go to the library."
"Will you tell me about Nakago?" Lilian ventured cautiously, looking at Yui from the top of her book. They were in the study area of the library, looking up information on the Four Gods.
Yui visibly stiffened and a sharp pain flashed through her eyes. "W- Why do you want to know about him?"
Lilian looked down at her book, uneasy. "He was the one who hurt you."
Yui closed her eyes. "It was mostly my fault."
Lilian shook her head. "I think that's part of why you still feel so strongly about your experiences in the book. Why are you still angry at yourself?"
Yui clenched her fists. "Why do you think?" She snapped angrily. "I let Nakago manipulate me so I could go against Miaka, I hurt her, I helped cause the death of her seishi, I."
"Helped her so that could summon Suzaku." Lilian finished for Yui. "You let her summon Suzaku, unseal her god, and gave back the powers of her seishi. You allowed her to save our world and destroy Nakago."
Yui's eyes widened. How could Lilian turn the whole thing around and make it sound like she had done more good than bad? Lilian wasn't finished. "What would have happened if you hadn't given Miaka the power to summon Suzaku? Nakago would have killed her two surviving seishi, destroyed this world, and had become a god. What do you think the book world would have endured with Nakago as a god? Would you rather all of Miaka's seishi been killed? Would that have made you happy?"
"No!" Yui was trying to keep back her tears. "Miaka and her seishi. Miaka was heartbroken when so many of her seishi were killed."
Lilian didn't know why she was saying this. Why did she care so much about Yui's feelings? "You more than paid for your mistakes, Yui, by giving Miaka the ability to make things right. You have no right to be angry at yourself."
Yui stilled. Lilian. She was trying so hard to make Yui feel better about herself. and Seiryuu help her. it was working. She felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Her heart felt lighter, and her mind became clearer. She stared at Lilian, wondering what had happened.
Lilian smiled gently in understanding. "Do you. feel better, Yui?"
Yui managed a weak smile in answer. Lilian smiled. She was glad that Yui had finally realized her good deed of before, and curious why Yui hadn't realized it before. Maybe no one had thought to tell her. Lilian sighed. Yui had a lot on her mind. and she probably needed time to work things out. Lilian picked up their books. "I'll return these, okay?"
Yui nodded absently. Lilian patted Yui's shoulder as she left their table. It felt good. helping a friend. She walked back to the bookshelf to return the books. Suddenly, a cool wind rushed at her face and something splattered on Lilian's hand. Lilian froze and stared. Water. She quickly turned.
The cool wind rushed against Lilian, making her look at a set of stairs next to a juice machine. The air was moist, and cool. Helplessly drawn towards the stairs, Lilian walked as if in a trance. As she walked up the stairs, she could only think of water.
"Lily?" Yui walked around the bookshelves, looking for her friend. Lilian hadn't come back and for some reason, she felt like something was happening to her friend. With rising panic, she checked the bookshelf where Lilian had returned one of their books and felt something wet along the wooden shelves. Her heart stilled. Water.
"Lily?" Yui almost ran to the set of stairs next to the juice machine and her heart stopped. She could feel the moisture in the air and her skin prickled with a sense of foreboding. "Lily!"
"Shh!" An annoyed librarian hissed at the student.
Yui just stared at the librarian until the librarian turned away, muttering something about troubled, mentally ill youths. Once the librarian turned away, Yui ran up the stairs, her shoes strangely silent against the wood. When she reached the top, her breath caught in her throat. Lily.
Lilian's hand was on the door. Yui tried to call out to her friend, but she found that she was strangely rooted to her spot, unable to call out at all by some mysterious power. She paled with fear.
Lilian opened the door and entered the room. Yui found that she could move again and ran into the room after Lilian.
"Lily!"
Lilian couldn't hear her. Yui stared at the book in the middle of the floor with horror. It was the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho. Lilian knelt before the book and picked it up. No! Lily! Her throat wouldn't work again.
Lilian opened to the first page, and in a trance, started to speak. Yui's eyes widened. Lilian was reading the ancient Chinese! "This is the story of a girl."
Yui suddenly felt like something was terribly wrong. In her panic and distress, she had missed what Lilian said after that, but she heard Lilian clearly recite in trance-like tones, "As soon as this page is turned, the story shall become truth and begin."
A bright blue light started to shine from the book. Then Lilian read something totally unfamiliar to Yui, "Right the wrongs done by your father, daughter of Seiryuu, and erase what should have never been. Jump across the pages and restore balance to our world." The blue light enveloped Lilian and disappeared.
Yui was frozen in shock. Lilian was gone. The book lay closed on the library floor. Yui discovered she could move again. She stumbled to the book and picked it up. Her hands trembled and the book fell open on the floor. Yui couldn't help but read. "The heroine of this story found herself on the outskirts of a town, on the border of Kotou."
Yui leaned up against the bookshelves and began to read.