A/N: I'm on a roll. I felt good writing this one, cuz its about a character whom I feel is under appreciated. The fact that Takahashi-sensei drew such a stunning tarot card for them says a lot. So read on, and see what you'll learn today.

After a long and busy lifetime, building, creating, loving, hating, fighting, compromising, failing, succeeding, the Fool feels a profound need to retreat. His silvery hair hangs limp, his limbs ache as his muscles protest the long working hours. Sweat and grime cover his skin, stinging the small cuts , and new formed calluses grow on his once smooth porcelain hands and feet. In a small, rustic home deep in the woods, he hides, reading, cleaning, organizing, resting or just thinking. His hair begins to shine and become full, his wounds and calluses heal, while his eyes glow bright with renewed strength and life once more. But every night at dusk he heads out, traveling across the bare, autumnal landscape. He doesn't really know why, but he feels it in his heart, that something calls out to him. He feels no alarm or worry, just peace and a deep inner relaxation. He travels alone in silence, pondering about all that has happened, and what possibilities the future holds. Thus he fails to notice the small glimmer of light bobbing towards him along the path.

****
The withered old hand carries the shining gold in firm grip, as the elderly gentlemen walks alone along the path. Despite his age, he walks with vigor, health glowing from his body in a golden aura. He is dressed in the finest linens, creams, blues and purples with his gold shining like a beacon of light, a lantern. Upon his head he wears a royal hat, with a serpent embroidered upon it. The Hermit is a man of introspection, analysis and, this is not a time for socializing; he indicates, instead, a desire for peace and solitude. He has observed a great deal, many things from when the game was began to when it ended in light. All the while he made connections, and gave advice to powerful kings and one who became the center of it all. Without him, the wheels of fate would never have begun to move.

The Hermit's stride is slow but sure. He takes each step with a deliberate, conscious approach - knowing that each step of the journey is a small imprint upon the larger picture of his path. He does everything in this manner - each breath he takes, each word he speaks, every decision he makes is a deliberate act.

This is one prime source of the Hermit's wisdom. In recognizing that each of our thoughts and actions is a brick we use to build our lives, we partake in the creation of our own reality. The Hermit has had to learn this lesson by means of distancing himself from the regular, routine world. By removing himself from the "normal" stream of societal thought, the Hermit is able to listen to the inner stirrings of his own intuition and act upon it. That was how he became a game master, how he beat the most difficult challenge of all and found the glowing treasure as his prize. By purposefully choosing to remove himself from society he also runs the risk of being misunderstood and labeled inappropriate. While others may see him as a reclusive gamer and gambler, it is only because they are too wrapped up in their world cares, ignorant and blinded by the material world. These labels do not concern him as his path of spiritual knowing and higher wisdom are his prime concerns.

He is guide, a teacher, mentor, but his wisdom is not for everyone. Only for those earnestly seeking them, and willing to climb the heights of enlightenment. After all wisdom is not a gift presented to you on a platter. It is a gift you give yourself. The lessons of life cannot be rushed, or forced, or made to happen before it is time for them to happen. This statement, in fact, is one of those lessons that everyone must learn. But simply reading it on a page, or hearing others tell you about it, will not give you the experience of the lesson. Only by doing - or not doing - can we ever hope to understand. Knowledge only becomes wisdom when we earn it, through the sacrifice of our familiar surroundings and all the people we hold dear. If you think about it logically, everything you leave behind when you follow the Hermit's call will remain when you return. The only thing that will have changed is you.

That is how he teaches, how he found the source of his own power. He unlocked a great being, warm and bright like the burning sun, but its power is split into pieces and only he holds the key. His wisdom allows him to use the power carefully, to protect and assist a king and his partner, who the fates have mercifully allowed to be of his own blood. He could bring the two worlds together and share the collective wisdom of both.

People come to the Hermit for advice on all kinds of personal problems, and he is able to pronounce based not upon the dogma of the religious establishment he is attached to, but on the practicalities of life. His advice is purely for that person, and not a generality. After all, how many people go to a happy couple for advice on relationships? The Hermit is inner directed, and unless asked, he keeps his counsel to himself. The Hermit works from within, spiritually and magically. The problematical side to the Hermit is seclusion, feeling isolated or unable to interact with other people. There may be an obsession with secrets, his storage of ancient games, and artifacts that most never knew existed. Indeed he sometimes worries if he did the right thing in allowing the small child the golden box. He kept all knowledge of its true nature to himself and he sometimes wonders if that was wrong.

But it matters little now; the past is gone and can only be learned from. For now it is time to illuminate the path of another student…

*****
In the dark just before the dawn, the Fool notices a small bobbing light only a few feet away. It glows brightly like the sun in the shape of a key, or an Egyptian ankh, symbol of life and rejuvenation. A short old man carries it, holding it before him like a lantern. As he approaches, by its light or magic or both the Fool sees and realizes things he's missed, about himself and the world. It is as if the secret corners in his head were being slowly illuminated; corners he never knew existed. In a way, he has become the Fool again; as in the beginning, he goes wherever inspiration leads him. He sees the pack he carried at the beginning of his journey, glowing white in his mind's eye. The Fool was like the pack, whatever it was he could be was wrapped up, unknown. The Hermit's hand extends out before him, not behind. And it carries a key power and magic, not a pack. The old man smiles kindly and warmly like a grandfather, his eyes full of knowledge and serene power. The Fools brown eyes widen as a large figure grows behind the man, clearly Egyptian with a Nemes headdress and arching cobra on its forehead. It seems to shimmer in the light and power given off by the Hermit, for the Hermit is like the key, illuminated from within by all he is.

R&R. Constructive Criticism welcomed.