Disclaimer:I do not own Hotohori or Miaka. They belong to Yu Watase, Flower Comics, VIZ communications and Pioneer animation.
AN: I know what your all thinking, what an update? Sorry but no, due to the posting on home page I'm led to believe that the admins are basically going to close all accounts with song fics in them, so to avoid having my account closed I'm removing all the lyrics and hopefully I'll get around to editing them and adding some new paragraphs and things to replace the lyrics. sigh and I am working on Faith in the Soul's love and Dawn of a New Beggining. I'm going to start using my profile to post any story news.
Spoilers: Episodes 4-8
'Three months since she left. She's not coming back. She's probably forgotten about us.' Hotohori thought to himself. "Your Majesty, something has to be done about this situation!" One of his advisers broke his train of thought. He couldn't help feeling a little guilty for not focusing on the problem with Kutou. Hotohori let his head fall to his hand, "Yes, but-" A sudden weight on his head caused him to stop speaking. A very heavy weight. A weight which caused him to fall in a not so majestic way flat out of his chair onto the floor. "Owwww!" he moaned. He sat up somewhat painfully and dumped the weight on his back to the floor. "Ouch! That hurt!" said a very familiar voice. Hotohori turned around and saw the last person he expected to see sitting in his conference room.
"Miaka!" The emperor grabbed the priestess in a tight hug. "Miaka I've missed you." One of the advisers cleared his throat. Hotohori looked up at him. "Perhaps his Majesty would prefer we left?" He asked tactfully. The seishi blushed slightly, but nodded his head. The advisers all stood, bowed, and left the room.
He then turned back to Miaka, who had let her backpack fall to the floor. She was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and something he couldn't identify. "How have you been, Miaka?" Hotohori asked softly. Miaka gave him a gentle smile. "I've been fine, but when I got home I found myself feeling lonely for everyone. So, I decided to come back." The girl said. The emperor smiled at her and said, "And we've missed you." He sobered suddenly. "But in the three months that you've been-" "THREE MONTHS!" Miaka shrieked. "I've been gone for three months!" Her facial expression was one of total shock. "Yes three months." Her seishi replied calmly. "Kutou, a neighboring country has declared war on us. There are rumors that they've found their own miko, Seriyuu no Miko." Hotohori watched as Miaka's face grew pale, but not from what he just said, she had stopped listening to him. "Yui-chan? Could Yui-chan be in Kutou?" The girl said to herself. "Yui-chan? Who's that?" The emperor asked. Miaka jumped as his voice broke through her thoughts. She looked at him. "Yui-chan is my friend form my world. When I got back home I found out she was missing. That's one of the reasons I came back She explained. "Is that the only reason you came back?" The seishi's golden eyes bore into Miaka's green ones.
Miaka found she couldn't look into his eyes. "Maybe-Maybe I should go tell the others I'm back." She said, stuttering slightly. Hotohori sighed and nodded. Miaka grabbed her backpack and bid a hasty retreat out the door. The seishi watched her go, trying to ease the pain in his from watching her walk out the door and (at least he felt) his life.
Watching the candlewick go down wasn't the most exciting thing to do, but it helped him to think. This was the first opportunity that he had to be alone all day. The rest of the day after Miaka had left had been spent discussing the Kutou war. He had left after the last meeting to think about other things. Like a certain miko.
A knock on his door drew his attention. "Who is it?" "It's me." said an all to familiar voice. "Come in." The emperor watched as Miaka entered the room. "What are you doing up this late, Miaka?" "I was going to ask you the same thing." she smiled. "The real reason I came is because I was thinking." "About what?" "About that time that-that," She blushed. "The time I was talking to you and Tamahome and Nuriko came and we were talking. I-I was thinking about what you said that night." She took a deep breath. "I realize I had feelings for Tamahome, but their-their not as strong as the ones I have for you." She looked at him. "Its you I love." Miaka said softly.
Hotohori sat stunned for a moment, but then he stood quietly and walked over to her. Pulling her into his embrace he looked into her eyes and replied, "I love you, Miaka." With that he leaned down and kissed her. The emperor ended it a few moments later and looked at Miaka. "What about the other thing we talked about that night?" He asked softly. The miko blushed but nodded and smiled. "I'll be your empress, Hotohori." That was all the emperor needed. Joy filled his heart and in a show of un-Hotohori like behavior,he grabbed her and spun her around. He set her down on her feet and kissed her again. Somewhere, far away, a phoenix's cry broke the night's silence celebrating a new love found and formed between a miko and her seishi.