Phoenix Ashes

A Fushigi Yuugi universe deathfic written by otaku-no-miko

Pairings- Do you really think I'd tell you in this chapter if I didn't last chapter?

Rating- PG-13, overall; PG for this chapter. Yui needs to have her mouth washed out with soap (but it's only once)!

Disclaimer: I own Fushigi Yuugi. While I'm at it, I also own Konami, the rights to the Harry Potter and Wheel of Time series', CLAMP, and we'll add a private island in the mix.

NOTE: Sorry guys. I kinda have no excuse for being late. First, I had this so close to finished a week ago, I was just about to post it. Then went down for nearly a week. Plus I have finals coming up and a couple projects to complete. I need to keep my GPA to keep computer access, ne? Anyways, that's my excuse, but excuses account for nothing, so really, I just wasted a minute of your lives.

Anyways! This chapter is where it gets a bit confusing. I'm going to start in modern day (25 year old Yui and her daughter), then switch to the actual story (Yui at 19) for the majority of the chapter, to end with modern day Yui telling Yuri good-night. Okay?

Oh, and reviews!

roku-kyu: Thank you so much for the constructive criticism, and for the encouragements. It means a lot!

methodicmadness: Yet again, thankyouthankyouthankyou for the wonderful advice and criticism! And, of course, you get a plushie for knowing Tetsuya's last name! I knew it, I'm just…well, not the brightest light bulb out there, let's say. I also will address the main issue you brought up: In the context of this story, EikouDen has happened. Therefore, if I remember my ending correctly, everybody is reincarnated. Not in the adult forms, of course, because that was stupid and would make things way too easy. –nodnod-

ChibiNuriko310: Thanks hun! Every author needs her ego stroked, and you did that in full. I have no plans of stopping on this story: for the most part, it's already written in my head, all I have to do is type it.

That's it! See ya at the bottom!

And it's hard
To know
Where I'm
Supposed to go.
But there is
A way
And tomorrow is a brand-new day…
-Sixpence None The Richer, "Tonight"

"Yui? Hey, Yui, you still in there?"

Yui snapped her head back up, looking at the receptionist with a mixture of boredom and utter exhaustion. She had stayed up too late with Yuri, telling her about finding the book and re-entering it until Tetsuya returned from work at nearly 1 in the morning, and the clinic had been full of people nonstop all morning.

"I'm sorry Hannah. I got nearly no sleep, and I had to get up early to get Yuri ready for school."

The American girl smiled warmly, the red and white bands of her braces glinting momentarily in the yellowed lighting of the small room. She had come to the Tokyo National Infirmary and Hospice three months ago looking for a job while she stayed in Japan as a foreign exchange student, and they hadn't regretted the decision to let her on as a desk clerk once in all that time. "I understand totally, Yui-san. But you should hurry-there's a patient waiting for you, and if I remember right, Yuri-chan will be getting out of school in less than half an hour."

"Kyaaaa! You're right! Arigatou, Hannah, I owe you!"

-----

Thirty-two minutes later, Yui was in the parking lot of Shui Preliminary School, watching the sea of tiny blue-and-white striped uniform skirts and navy button-downs with the seal of 'ichii' proudly marked in the center of the shirt to prove the child's schooling at the prestigious beginning school.

Yuri was at the very front of the crowd, tiny hands full to the brim with 'grown-up' papers her kaa-san would have to sign and a large piece of butcher paper that read in a teacher's neat, blocky script, "Konnitchiwa. Atashi wa Kajiwara Yuri." She reached the car after what seemed like an eternity, switching all of the papers to one hand to reach out for the door with the other, tiny face taut with concentration on the task at hand.

Yui couldn't help a smile at the child's fierce concentration, pushing on the door slightly as her daughter pulled it open. Yuri set the papers down reverently behind her (all excepting one, Yui noticed), and sat down. The second the seatbelt was tightly fastened, the silence was over.

"Hi kaa-san! I missed you a lot, but you were right, kindergarten is the most funnest! Nara-sensei is the nicest, prettiest, smartest lady there ever was-'sides you and Miaka-oba-san, I mean-and she even showed me how to write my name! See? And I drew a picture of Chi-chi-chiri, and she said it was the best picture she'd ever seen, and she said she'd even hang it up tomorrow!!! School was the best!"

Yui laughed. "I'm guessing you had fun, then?"

"Hai!" Yuri sent her mother a frown. "But I wanted you to come sooner, 'cause I wanna hear 'bout what Sunkake-babaa told you and Chi-chi-chiri."

"Oh, really?" Yui asked nonchalantly, swinging the small car around Komadori Lane and fixing her daughter with a warm smile. "Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait 'til bedtime again. We're gonna go see Miaka-oba-san, and then Daddy decided to take us to dinner tonight."

Yuri wrinkled her nose. "Aw, but I don't like playing with 'Kari, kaa-san. She insists we play Queen, an' she's aaaaaalways the Queen!"

Yui stifled a laugh. Poor Yuri…she remembered Queen, a bit better than she really wanted to. "Why don't you ask Hikari to let you be the Queen?"

Yuri thought a moment, then grinned. "'Kay. I bet she'd make a great Dog!"

-----

Miaka fixed Yui with a sympathetic glance, handing her the warm tea as they both took a seat at the oak table. "She asked for that story again?"

Yui nodded, bringing the warm mug up to her lips before making a face. Damnit, she'd burned her tongue again. "Yep. Yuri says she likes hearing about 'Chi-chi-chiri' and how we saved the 'whooooooooole' world."

The two women shared a laugh, Miaka trying a sip before meeting the same fate Yui had. "Ooooohh, this tea's hot! Anyways, don't you think she's too old for it, Yui-chan? I mean, I stopped telling Hikari our stories when she was four. She didn't seem to mind."

"That's the difference, Miaka. Yuri wants to know. And until she stops asking for it, it'd be unfair to her for me to just stop altogether. She'll stop asking eventually; I just have to wait."

Miaka's reply was cut short by a small blur of dirty blonde streaking past, shouting "I DON'T WANNA BE THE ROYAL DOG!!!!" to a black-haired girl behind her, who held a pair of floppy 'dog' gloves in one hand as she kept close on the tail of her prey.

"…Yui, why did Yuri just yell that she didn't want to be the 'Royal Dog'?"

"Do you remember that game we used to play, Queen? Well…"

-----

It had started raining by the time Yui was ready to take Yuri home, streetlights casting a dull orange glow over the monotony of white, single-story houses, decorated with simple brick walls and lawn ornaments that had quickly been drenched by the light downpour.

To complete the apparent perfection of her situation, the car refused to start.

Yui must have sat in the driver's seat for a good ten minutes, fuming silently as she repeatedly turned the key, her only answer a grinding of gears and a long whine as the car stopped its attempt to start, doing her best not to scream and rant at the car with Yuri in the vicinity.

Finally, she gave up, slamming the door with a bit more force than was really necessary to stalk around to the other side, opening Yuri's door. "C'mon Yuri, we've gotta walk home."

"Walk?!" Yuri whimpered. "But it's cold an' wet an' Kari says that if I go out in the rain I'll melt like a popstickle!"

"I know its cold, honey, but Daddy can't come and pick us up. He probably is just getting home. And as to melting…Hikari's being silly. You won't melt, I promise."

"Okay kaa-san…but if I melt, you'll be in deep trouble!" Yuri wagged a small, purple-mittened hand at her mother's knees menacingly, and the two started their jog back to Minami Street.

-----

Yui's day rapidly went from bad to worse as they got closer and closer to the blue flat she called home. First, her keys-all of them, even the one to her office!-went missing. She'd left them in the car, of all places. Luckily, Yuri had the key she'd made the little girl hold, so they got in. Second, Tetsuya wasn't home-he had a scribbled note that said he was so sorry, but he had to work late and he'd make sure to make it up to them.

To top it all off, the power went out. And Yuri was deathly afraid of the dark.

Yui was lucky enough to find a tea candle and a matchbook on her first trip across the room, following the flickering shadows and her daughter's muffled sniffling back to her previous position at the door, crashes of light illuminating the room enough to help her back.

The living room wasn't all that big-in fact, if Yui had wanted to be blunt, she would have said it was tiny, but Tetsuya took those sorts of things seriously and probably would have built it larger, just to make her happy. She liked it small-made movement easier, especially when the power went out.

After the candles had been lit and set their flickering glow on the room, Yui returned to her daughter, hugging the child close to her. Yuri was snuffling, forcing back sobs of fear. "K-k-kaa-an? Where are you? It's dark, an' I'm scaaaaared…"

"Maa, maa…it's okay, Yuri-chan. The lights'll come back on soon."

Yuri's only response was to hiccup tearfully and burrow her face further into her mother's comforting embrace. Yui's mind began whirring-what could she tell Yuri to keep her from being so afraid of the storm?

The story. That was right. Concentrate on that.

"Yuri-chan, remember where we were last night in the 'wari story?"

Yuri's hiccups stopped, and she thought a second. "You an' Chi-chi-chiri were gonna go see Sunkake-babaa."

"That's right! Well, Sunkake-babaa didn't exactly build a teeny-tiny palace. Chichiri and I had to walk a looooooong way to get to her throne room."

"What was the throne room like?" Yuri interrupted.

"Oh, it was gorgeous-a huge room with gold-gilding in the ceiling and huge statues of each god with real gems in the eyes, and her throne had rubies and sapphires and amethyst and was all gold. But, before we got there, Chichiri and I talked a bit…"

-----

"So, how has Miaka-san been na no da?"

Yui shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. "Miaka's been doing well. She gave birth to her first child a year ago, Hikari."

The mage nodded. "So that would mean both of you are nineteen no da?"

"Yes." Thinking a moment, Yui added, "How old are you, Chichiri-san?"

Chichiri gave a long-suffering sigh. "I'll be thirty-six in a month na no da."

"Really?" Yui favored the older man a warm grin. "You don't look it at all! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were twenty-seven at most."

The monk smirked in return. Two could play that game! "And if I didn't know better, I'd say you were flirting no da."

"I could say the same thing to you!" Yui shot back teasingly.

Chichiri pretended to look affronted, mask assuming a look of innocent surprise. "Me? I'm a monk na no da!"

Yui rolled her eyes, pushing open one of the mammoth doors leading to Tai-Itsukun's chambers. "Whatever na no da."

"See? There you go again no da!" Chichiri whispered teasingly as Tai-Itsukun turned to them, features grave.

"There you two are. I was wondering if I would have to send Nyan-Nyan after you."

At mention of her name, the sprite popped up behind the Oracle, running almost immediately over to its new guest.

"Yui-san is here! Yui-san is here! Nyan-Nyan was waiting and waiting and waiting for Yui-san to come!"

The wizened woman sighed. "Nyan, that's enough."

The childish figure pouted. "But-"

"Show Yui-sama Seiryu-seikun's message!"

The little girl looked forlornly over to the newcomer before nodding to the Oracle, red eyes closing momentarily as a breeze played at the corners of her skirt and her braids, the breeze whipping up to a tornado's might in the span of a second. Azure light exploded from the tiny body, the whirlwinds dying instantaneously as the light faded, revealing a man of twenty, once-proud face now lined and grave, aquamarine eyes downcast.

"Seiryu…" Yui breathed, stepping forward to her god almost tentatively.

"My priestess. I am sorry to have to call you back from a home and a life that is so complete. I wish there was a way to fix what wrongs I have done you and all the people you hold dear, and especially wish I didn't have to lay the burden of correcting the mistakes of a foolish god on your shoulders."

Yui and Chichiri shared a Look, the former mouthing 'mistakes?'. Seiryu continued.

"For you see, this truly is all my fault. In my haste to outdo my younger brother, Suzaku, I broke the cardinal rule of this world. Two gods can never be summoned at the same time. It simply can't happen. The threads of magic holding this land together will be stretched too thin, the unfortunate mortals who are blessed with god's powers prematurely thrown out of balance with fate." His gaze grew sadder. "Through my anger, I destroyed a balance of magic beyond even the powers of us four gods. Our world is dying."

The image flickered out of existence for a moment before dying, Nyan-Nyan pitching forward in a dead faint. Tai-Itsukun was quick to catch the little girl, setting her to the ground gently before turning back to Yui.

"My son's words hold true, Yui Hongo. You were never meant to enter the book along with Miaka Yuuki, although you had been selected as a miko. Because of the double summon, our world was literally ripped apart. We as gods attempted to fix it by separating completely from your world, but soon found that it was deteriorating faster. In desperation, we have brought you back to re-summon both gods and hopefully stop the destruction."

"Wait a second. Summon both gods? All my seishi are dead. Five of Miaka's are too. I can't summon two totally different gods with two of fourteen seishi!"

The wizened face wrinkled into a smile, barking out a laugh.

"Who said they were dead? They have all moved onto a new life of their choosing. You must find them."

Chichiri stepped in, mask in one hand as he fixed the Oracle with an incredulous glance. "Sensei, this seems too easy no da. Find twelve children and save the universe? There must be a catch."

Tai-Itsukun nodded approvingly. "You are right, Suzaku no Chichiri. There is a catch, as you put it. The gods are weakening in their efforts to keep this world from being destroyed, as am I. The magic we are dealing with is old and fragile, and breaks easily. In one month's time, it will be worn too thin. At that time, this world will cease to exist."

Yui's eyes widened, watching her feet in dismay. One month to find twelve children? They couldn't do it! It was simply impossible, her mind screamed. Besides, she had botched one summoning ceremony, hadn't she? Who was to say that this time would work?

A hand rested on her shoulder, and Yui looked up to lock gaze with a single mahogany orb.

"You can choose to say no, Yui-san. This is a lot for anybody to have to deal with. We won't hold it against you."

Yui took a shuddering breath before shaking her head. "No. Then I'd spend the rest of my life in what if's and knowing I could have saved this world but didn't want to risk failure. At least if I mess up this way, I know I tried." Steeling herself, she took a step towards Tai-Itsukun, stopping to fall into a low bow.

"I will be Seiryu no Miko, Tai-Itsukun-sama, and save this universe from destruction. What do I need to do?"

-----

Yui trailed off, choking back emotion as Yuri watched her intently, mother and daughter silent for a long moment. It was Yuri who broke the silence.

"So you said yes, kaa-san?"

"Yes to what?" a pleasant voice asked, lifting Yuri from Yui's lap. "C'mon Ri-Ri, let's get you to bed, ne?"

"I'll take care of it, Tetsuya." Yui said gently, taking the child from Tetsuya, accepting his embrace before heading down the hall, stomach sinking. Tetsuya hated the 'wari story with every bone in his body. She didn't want to think of the confrontation that would come of it.

Tucking her daughter in, Yui kissed her cheek. "Oyasumi, hon. Sleep well."

-----

Aaaaaaugh! I hate that ending! But it had to stop there, or else I would have added the entirety of chapter 3 in. I also think that I messed up a bit on characterization-am I taking too many liberties with these guys? Are they too OOC?

That reminds me-I have a few cameo spots I can open-advisors, maids at Houki's palace, and two or three innkeepers. If you're interested, please give me a bare-bones descript (age, build, gender, etc.) and name, plus any personality quirks you'd like added. Be warned, I won't take any Mary-Sues, and really really don't want many teenagers. Try to be realistic in characters is all I ask.

…I'd better try to sleep. It's almost ten-thirty and I have a LOT of studying to do in the morning plus a project to finish before I can go to bed. Hooray for the last full week of school before winter break, and boo for finals! See you all next week!

-otaku

Summoning of a beast god-$600

Restoration of half of Tokyo-$500,000

Bragging rights-priceless

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Mastercard.