Divine Connection

A/N: This story takes place after the prologue of the first OVA; when Tamahome decides if he is willing to live in Miaka's world as Taka and in process, losing his memories.

I do not own Fushigi Yuugi. They belong to Yuu Watase and co.

-o-

Prologue

"Stones?"

"Yes, you may able to return to her world but you will no longer hold your memories. They are going to be inside seven magical stones which will scatter throughout this universe."

"Who cares? As long as he finds Miaka, then everything'll be okay."

"No, you go it all wrong. Even his memories of Miaka would be erased. Therefore, he would not know how and who he'll be looking for. He would live life as a regular human in her world with no recollections of being a seishi."

"That would be hard, you know."

"Yeah, but love CAN make a difference. They already bent the rule once. This time, they can make a miracle happen!"

"So what do you say, Tamahome?"

Tamahome looked down on the ground, his fingers curled, forming a fist on either side of him. He pondered. He closed his eyes, tightly shut; the others were looking at him, expectantly. They surrounded him in semi-circle, waiting for his decision. Taiitskun, along with the Nyan-nyans stood before him, their eyes staring down at him, gently. He lifted up his head, then licked his lower lip nervously. His eyes formed tears, making them glossy. Finally, he said with a sigh.

"I cannot endure losing all of these precious experiences that are already imprinted on my mind. Our love will live on forever, that I know. I'll stay here."

"But Tama-"

"No. I won't sacrifice these. There are no full chances of being able to see her. At least, with these, I know for sure that we love each other. She'll understand."

With those final words, Tamahome walked away from the group. All pair of eyes stared at him. Then, voicing everyone's thought, Tasuki said "Jus' like Tatara an' Suzuno."

-o-

Sitting on a bench under a cherry blossom, Miaka waited for her brother and Tetsuya with her best friend, Yui. Her green eyes scanned the road for a red convertible car as she fingered the strap of her bag, thinking about the book that changed her and her heart irrevocably. She looked at the girl with her, then sighed wistfully, averting her eyes to look at the flowers above them.

"Yui…did you feel anything for Nakago?" she asked slowly, trying to feel if she offended her friend. When she brought her head down, she saw Yui with a small smile upon her lips.

"No, but he's not such a bad guy. He just had a rough childhood and didn't know any better as he grows up. He…protected me. Even just as his priestess." She replied, her thoughts were very different from what she was saying. 'But I did fell in love…' Unconsciously, she lifted her right hand and traced the creases and the outlines of her school uniform's ribbon.

This did not go unnoticed by the former priestess of Suzaku as one thought flew in her head, 'Suboshi…' She stared at the fumbling hand of her friend, a shy smile forming on her lips. She sighed for the umpteenth time of the day before they were taken out of their stupor by a honking car.

They looked over, searching for the car with wide eyes. The sound had been a surprising scream that went through their heads, almost knocking the daylights out of them. Scared out of their wits, they stood up, their knees still shaking from the unexpected. With their bags on their shoulder, they found a red car with Tetsuya waving at them to come over.

"What about Tetsuya?" Miaka blurted out, then slapped both of her hands to cover her mouth. Eyes wide, she slowly looked at Yui and blinked. The taller girl just continued on walking, her face unreadable. Not expecting an answer, Miaka just dropped the subject and looked ahead of her where her brother and his friend were waiting.

Yui looked down on the ground, passing with each step she took. Then, with a mutter so the said boy will not hear, she said, "He's only like a brother to me. He helped me throughout the whole thing…hehehe, even caught me naked…but I don't feel anything for Mr. Glasses-Man."

Miaka giggled at the nick name that her brother used for his friend, which she and Yui had grown accustomed to. She waved her right hand at the guys in the car, her left holding the strap of her bag. She turned to her companion, a bright smile plastered on her face then called out, "Race ya!" The two girls started to run, laughing all the way to the vehicle.

-o-

When they settled down in the backseat, a colourful English magazine caught Yui's eyes. She picked it up and started to scan through. An article interested her and began reading it. 'A boy from New York, at the age of 13 is coming to Japan to compete in the World's Smartest that is being held in Tokyo. Duke Prio, also known as Doukun Ou is the youngest competitor…'

At the same time, a teen magazine caught her friend's eyes. All the while she was reading the article, Miaka flipped the book open and contained a startled gasp. She read the contents, '…this delicious ice- cream cake is best for dessert. Andy Won's favourite. For more information about this Chinese singer, read pg. 4.' She skimmed through the rest until her eyes settled on the given page. She started reading the page of one of her favourite singer and lingered on the phrase '…he will be coming to Tokyo, Japan to sing live…'

"Oh my…" Yui and Miaka said in unison. They looked at the magazine they were currently reading, too engrossed to notice anything else. However, Tetsuya broke the spell when he coughed lightly to catch their attention.

"What has gotten you girls so wrapped up in? I mean…you don't see Miaka reading everyday." He joked. He got a chuckle from the driver's seat and a giggle behind him; he was too content to see the seething girl who was ready to pound the life out of him, the magazine being crumpled in her hands.

Miaka, then, sat back down, her head staring out the window as she looked at the passing view. She gave another sigh, the magazine lay forgotten beside her. Keisuke looked at his sister on the rear-view mirror and held back his own sigh. 'She thinks she can just put on that happy façade. It's not going to work. No mask would be able to conceal her pain.'

With her head somewhere in the other universe, Miaka's thought went back to her adventures. She certainly missed all of them. After the battle was ended, she picked up the book and she saw the decision that Tamahome made. She fully understood why he did such thing. She knows that he'll be in the same pain as her, if not more. Then she pondered about her feelings and the way she felt for all of her seishis. She loved all of them. And not just only love either. She was in love in all of them. Not all romantically for some like Chiriko, though.

Tamahome was the first seishi she met. With the green hair and big round eyes and his love for money had made her fall for him. He treasured her as well. The way he protected her, said comforting words to her that made her heart melt and how he handled different situations made her think that he was capable of doing a miracle for her. He did.

Hotohori, her second warrior. The one with long silky chestnut hair, his bangs covering his gorgeous yet mysterious golden eyes. The emperor of Konan who cherished his country so that he died protecting it. She loved all irony and how they work. He was an emperor; commanding yet compassionate. Giving love endlessly even if he did not received it as a child. People looked up to him as a ruler, not as a regular human, but nevertheless he did not fail to give eternal devotion for his country.

The third warrior, her best- friend. Nuriko, the willow. Acting like a girl so that his sister could live within him. His strong determination and his pure heart with his smile always attached to his face had her heart beating for him. His easy-going attitude and teasing could always be laughed about. His soft violet eyes that held all his love for her matched his purple braided hair.

The all time clever monk, Chichiri. Her fourth seishi. The bright smile masked every pain and betrayal that had always burdened him since the shattering of their friendship; him, his friend and his fiancée. She had adored him greatly for the strength to carry on.

Tasuki, with his fiery hair that matched his attitude, was a bandit in Mt. Reikaku. He was the fifth Suzaku warrior she met. His great loyalty and caring for his friends had touched her significantly. It reached her heart and soul. His sense of humour had tickled her sensually.

The sixth warrior, Mitsukake had suffered a great deal as well. He failed to protect Shoka – the love of his life. He was a doctor, and because of it, he had put other's welfare before him, causing him death during the great war. She had respected him for his gentleness and benevolence for other people.

Last was the youngest seishi of all, Chiriko. His intelligence and bravery had touched everyone in the group. He was not simply a child, or a boy. He was a man. His maturity had excelled all of them. Even if he looked like a six year old innocent child, he had managed to put his fears aside and helped them throughout their mission.

Miaka looked beside her and saw her friend in the same condition she was in – head tilted, eyes staring out the window with a wistful smile on her face. Sure, even if Yui was not as close to her Seiryuu warriors as she was to hers, she was still affected by all of her seishis. The way they protected her, giving up their life to give her a safe well-being. How they had cared for her, even if they only see her as their priestess. Nonetheless, they were still her protectors, her friends and some, her lovers.

"We're here." Keisuke's voice had broken them from their trance. They kept their sighs to themselves as they picked up their bags and went out of the car, both magazines were forgotten. Tetsuya looked at them, and with a shook of his head, he tried to lighten up the mood.

"I can't believe we're living in the same building." He commented. Keisuke saw his efforts to cheer up both girls and helped his friend.

"Yeah, come to think of it, why don't we give one room up? Miaka can stay with Yui and you can move in with me." 'The less we can pay for the rent, too' Keisuke added silently. Both girls looked at the guys and with a grin, they nodded their heads. He knew what his sister would like, and at least, with this plan, everyone would be satisfied more than the previous living arrangement – a separate room for Yui, another room for Tetsuya and a third room for the Yuuki siblings.

"Really, Keisuke? Awesome! I'll start packing now." Miaka ran towards their building and managed not to hit herself on the wall. Taped on the glass door was a flier with men on uniforms playing soccer. On the bottom, it read Brazilian soccer players would be visiting Tokyo Japan and would be going on a few selected schools to discuss the requirements of performing different careers, such as being an athlete, with the students. The schools would be the following…Hana Elementary School…Sora Middle School…Jonan High School…

As the girls passed by the lobby to go up to Miaka's room to pack, they didn't notice the paper hanging on the lobby door. The college guys acknowledge it and read the information given. "Jonan High School, huh? I guess they would be going to their school."

"Hey Keisuke, look at that woman. She keeps staring at me." Tetsuya whispered to his friend while they were waiting for the elevator.

"Uhh…are you sure she's staring at you? I mean, look at those instruments attached to her head." His friend patted him on the back as a calm-down sign.

There, on the lobby's waiting bench was a woman with sunglasses and hearing aid. After the two guys left, she stood up and walked away. Putting more pressure to her ear, the woman said quietly, "Boss, I found him."

-o-

That night, after everything was settled, Miaka laid down on her bed. She gave her room a scrutiny gaze if everything was in order. The bed she was now laying on was beside the window – so every night she can star gaze as much as she want. Her desk was by the foot of her bed and not far off to the right was her clothes drawer. Near the closet was another desk full of jewellery and cosmetics with a mirror on it. On the other corner was a body-length mirror.

Yes. She and Yui had done a great job fixing the room for her. Just across the hallway was Yui's bedroom and at the right end was the bathroom. The other end of the hallway was a big space for the kitchen, living room and the dining room. Beside the living room was a door that leads to the balcony. It was facing the park and the mountain across the horizon miles away. The glass windows were from the ceiling to the floor.

"Hey Miaka," Yui called out. She peeked in her friend's room where she found her lying down. "Do you want to go clubbing tonight?"

"Sure. Just let me grab the right clothes." Miaka looked down on what she was wearing. It was dirty considering that she just fixed a room. "And get cleaned up." She added with a bright grin. She picked up her garments which were consisting of a leather skirt and a halter. Then, she headed out to the bathroom for a quick shower.

-o-

"Hey, hun. I just called the college you are going to go to on Monday, 'kay?" A motherly voice called out to her son.

The boy grunted softly in acknowledgment. They just had moved from Hokkaido and his mother enrolled him in Ration College. A cooking school. No matter what his friends say, the college boy only wanted to cook. It was his hobby and his dream to be a great chef. He got teased plenty of times because of his "maternal care" and his obsession for money, facts that didn't fit together.

"Sure!" he called out after realizing that a mere grunt couldn't be heard from a closed room. Then as an after thought, 'It's only Friday.'

The boy closed his eyes and laid his head on his arm as he sprawled across his bed. He gave out a sigh and let his thoughts fly. 'Is it true that people tend to think a lot when they're in this position?' Then, 'Why is the sky blue?'

With a shake of his head to lose the train of thoughts, he sat up on his bed – causing his long hair to fling on his face – and trotted down the stairs with a thought of food in his mind. 'I'll just grab something for dinner.'

-o-

Yui and Miaka exited the bus and headed to the club. Both girls were in the right age of sixteen; third year of high school. They showed their I.D.'s to the guard. With the approval, they continued inside the building. The D.J. was playing Gyrate by Da Muzicianz featuring Mr. Collipark. After the girls sat down by a circular table – just a foot away to the bar, Miaka made her orders to the bartender.

"I'll have a strawberry colada, please. And give my friend a martini." she ordered. Yui was seating down so she can look after their purses. She paid the bill and slowly carried both of their drinks to the table, as to not spilling them. "Here you go." And set the glasses down on the flat surface.

"Hey Miaka, while you were ordering, I saw this guy with a really weird hairdo."

"Well…what do you expect Yui? I mean, a lot of guys have their brains wired these days. Especially punks."

"It's dyed red, or was it yellow? Anyways, it's also a little bit bushy. Who ever came up with straight bushy hair? And there was a really long tail by the nape of his neck." Yui described the punk's hair with confusion. She also remembered the guy dancing with the him. Another weirdo.

Miaka looked at her, a brow raised in question as she played with the straw of her colada.

"Well…at least he's not bald with a long hair-tail coloured differently." Both girls looked up and tried to imagine. With success, they both shuddered at the thought.

Giving a nod of her head, Yui agreed and said, "True."

After they drank down their snifter, taking small sips at a time, they felt much more in the partying mood. Yui looked at her friend who was just staring on the floor. "Let's go!" She shouted from all the noises and dragged her friend in the dance floor then she began swaying to the beat of the music.

Miaka followed her friend's movement. She took a spot near Yui and began dancing as well. They were a graceful pair, dancing to their hearts' content. They caught most of the eyes in the bar, but they refused any guys who wanted to dance with them. They dance alone, if not, they dance together.

A couple of songs had passed when they decided to take a break. They sat down on their chosen seat and watched the dance floor with keen interest. Their eyes roamed the crowded area. Most people can dance, and others need to work on their moves. Those without backbones sat on their chairs, drinking, talking, making out or a mix of the three.

A circle had formed in the middle of the floor. Shouting with excitement, people cheered on the dancer as he showed of his moves. 'Go, go, go!' They chanted at the same time. This caught the girls' attentions and looked at the source of the noise. Break dancing with free style was what the guy in the middle doing.

"Can you beat him?" Yui looked at her friend; eyebrows rose expectantly. They got off their seat and started to joined the crowd. Miaka adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder after she shrugged them.

"I dunno. I haven't seen him dance before." Making a good point, Yui dropped the subject and looked ahead. The more they got closer to the horde of people, the more Miaka got nervous. She thought that Yui wanted her to challenge the guy. Sure, she was very good at dancing – at every kind – but that doesn't mean no one can beat her. She looked at her friend nervously then looked at the dance floor again.

"Uhh…Yui? You know what? Let's just dance and enjoy ourselves." Miaka told her friend. She wanted to avoid the competition as much as possible and after seeing the guy's fiery-head appearing then disappearing from the little space that the crowd provided for them, she knew that he was good. Nobody can move that fast in a matter of seconds; but the guy managed to do it.

They stopped walking and Yui faced her questioningly. Then she breathed out and said, "Okay, but I just wanted to see the guy." She explained. "Oh well, it's too hot to go to a more populated place, anyway." She agreed and started to dance again.

Miaka breathed in relief then tagged on Yui's example. She took a glance at the dancer once more before looking away. There in the middle of the circle was a fiery red hair and a head with midnight blue tresses.

-o-

Plopping down on the sofa, the two very exhausted girls threw their purses beside them. After having a rough, yet fun, night was a great way to end the school week. Dragging their selves off the couch, they took off their shoes so their feet could relax as well.

After deciding that they could rest better in their room, they shuffled their feet until they got into their respective area of privacy and they dumped themselves on the bed. With a very contented sigh, both Miaka and Yui laid their head on the pillow – still wearing their party clothes and all – instantly drifted into a peacefully deep slumber. The memories of the day's event lay forgotten somewhere in the back of their minds.

-o-

Ring Ring

The loud sound echoed in the room, instantly rousing the inhabitants of the house. Grudgingly, Yui - who was unfortunately the owner of the apartment room; the reason why she had to get the call – got up and headed outside. The phone kept ringing, slowly waking everyone up in the household. She heard her friend grunted and the squeaking of the bed which just confirmed her that her friend moved to get more comfortable.

After what it seems like an eternity, she picked up the phone and muttered a faint hello. She waited for the person on the other line to respond. Receiving none, she repeated herself, only a little bit louder.

"Oh, hello." The caller replied this time. "Is this Yui? It's me Tetsuya." Still not fully awake yet from her sleep, she gave a faint grunt to inform that she was listening. "Anyways," Tetsuya continued, "What time are you guys going to the library? 'Cuz me and my bud are going to research something too."

"You called me for that!" Enraged that she was taken off her bed for some stupid schedule, Yui yelled on the speaker. A soft 'be quiet!' could be heard from Miaka's room. Then she whispered, though harshly, "Why couldn't you have called me like when everyone is actually awake in this country? Some people are still asleep, namely the people in here!"

"Sorry. We thought that you're gonna go before lunch." He answered lamely. Searching for a way out of the trouble, he muttered, "Okay, I'll just hang up now."

Yui, with a keen sense, saw this coming. She instantly spoke up before he could actually hang up. "Too late, buster. Besides, who, in their right mind, would actually go in the library before lunch?" She emphasized by making the words slower and their accents thicker.

"Uhh…nerds…um… and geeks?" he guessed and laughed nervously. No one messed with Yui Hongo when she was in a bad mood. She could be really frightening. Waiting for the worse of her to blow up, he held the phone a little farther to his ear. A moment later, he didn't hear anything so he put back the phone against his ear.

"TETSUYA!"

When that got off her system, he interrupted and hastily said – the phone inches from his ear, "Well… look at the time. I gotta go. Bye!"

The busy dial tone met Yui's ear when he hung up. She looked at the instrument she was cradling in her hand for a while before giving up a sigh. She put it down and headed to the couch, hoping to catch some sleep. She sat down and looked at the marble clock on the wall. Nine-twenty five. She pulled herself away from the couch and went to the kitchen instead. No use of going back to sleep when there was only five minutes left.

She heard shuffles from Miaka's room indicating that she was awake. A couple of minutes later, a drowsy girl with dishevelled hair and wrinkled kitten pyjamas came out and met her in the kitchen.

"Who's that?" Words slurred, Yui still managed to understand the words coming out from her friend. Looking away from the breakfast she was making, she faced her friend and grumbled the culprit's name.

Surprise took her out from her state of being sleepy. "What does he want?" Moving around the kitchen, she helped Yui making the breakfast. She took out the jug of orange juice and set it down on the table.

"He was asking what time we will go to the library."

Catching on to the drift of her friend being irritated, Miaka nodded in knowing. "They want to go with us? Why so early to call, though?"

"That's the point!" Yui exclaimed. Good thing that at least someone knew how she felt. She threw her hands up in exasperation, carefully not to hit the prepared meal. She ran both of her hands on her face and threaded them in her hair.

"Well…best to forget about it since we can't do anything for now. We can't let a small thing ruin our day, now can we?" Miaka soothed her friend and sat down on the table getting ready to eat. She helped herself with the foods served on the table and started to gobble them one by one. "Aren't you eating Yui?" She looked up from her food to Yui with an innocent face.

With a chuckle, Yui joked, "You're never going to change, are you?"

-o-

Settling on one of the library tables, the four people started to get ready on their tasks. One by one, they got up to search for the books they needed around the library. Because of the wide variety of books, it was more difficult for them to look for what they need.

Tetsuya and Keisuke already asked the librarian for help and she gave them one but the information given didn't help much. Miaka's head was bent down, her eyebrows furrowed together. She was concentrating very hard but she couldn't help her imagination to fly. Foods would be always in her mind. Yui, on the other hand, was having no trouble at all with her work. She was writing continuously, only pausing when she had to read more.

Their table was almost buried under all the papers and books. Four different piles for on the table and some were still open, laid forgotten somewhere on the small area that was left. Their bags were against the chairs they were sitting on.

A deafening silence could only be heard except for the scrapes of pencils on the paper and the flipping of the pages.

Silence.

When the movement of the chair made sound, the rest of the people looked up to see what was going on. It was Keisuke. He stood up to look for more information books about Mt. Vesuvius and the history of Italy.

Tetsuya, Miaka and Yui went back to their work as Keisuke walked away. He went to the shelves in the World Fact section and slowly went through their labels. Australia…Denmark…. Ecuador ….

He went to another shelf and started to look for the country he was working on. England….Ethiopia….France….He was still far away from what he was searching. He moved two shelves down and started looking again. Ah, he was closer now. Indonesia….India….Italy!

After looking through the books about Italy, he picked up the most appropriate one; the one which gives most of the information he needed – the history, not geography. He went back to their table while looking around the area. There were round tables with four chairs scattered around the long rectangular table in the middle.

In one of the table was another student scanning through novels. It looked like he was doing a biography. But what caught his gaze was his hairstyle. His bangs were sticking up like a Mohawk and a long ponytail hanging by his neck.

'Nerds are looking weirder everyday'