Author Fangirling: Here ends the happy adventures of the childhood trio! Back to mature characters leading the courses of action. Meh, adults are lame! ...Or maybe I'm just saying that because I've aged as much as the original cast has here. It's not fair! Boushin, Juan, Shouka, let me hang out, too! ~Appa

"In other words… that was the first time you failed?" Boushin had a deadpan look at Chiriko, an expression begging him to say that it was all a bad joke. "Because you were late, and the scroll had already burned to ash?"

"You needn't forget the hand the Seiryuu warriors played in this, but yes, that is correct."

"How many failed attempts did you all have?"

"That was the only ceremonial attempt, you could say."

"I'm still surprised," he said, and allowed him to continue. And disappointed. Why did you never try again? What kind of legend is this?

The story continued on to Hokkan and Sairou, where Boushin's father did not follow. A voice in the back of Boushin's head said that had his father gone along that things would had turned out better—he would have helped Nuriko behead the wolf-man so he wouldn't return to steal the Shinzaho, or he wouldn't have allowed Miaka to run off and be tricked by the illusion-man, anything—though the fact remained that he died in vain later on.

Instead of leaving their discussion to only the evening, Boushin was asking questions as they got dressed in the morning, driving them from the point they left off the night before. "The Priestess of Byakko went home after summoning the beast god, even though she and Tatara wanted to marry each other?"

"That's correct. They asked the beast god to let her stay there as one of her wishes, but this was a wish he could not grant."

"Then even if Miaka had summoned Suzaku, he wouldn't let her stay when she was finished. That's probably what she would have wanted to wish for so she could be with Tamahome."

"Tamahome would have wished for it too. Perhaps they could have asked for Tamahome to join her in her own world, but we never had a chance to find out."

"But if she went home, she would have missed everyone else, too. You all have such a strong bond." He felt a heated question burning in his throat, waiting to be let out. "That's not why she decided never to summon Suzaku, is it?"

"What? No! The decision was never ours to make—Suzaku was sealed, and the Seiryuu warriors took the Shinzaho from us!"

"Twice."

"Yes, twice."

"But what if Suzaku wasn't sealed? What if there was some other way?"

"It's… it's still impossible."

"Why—"

They were interrupted by the usual morning knock, and the door opening before an invitation. "Is Pretty Boy ready yet?"

"Pretty Boy? Shouka, don't call me that!"

She made a face at him and Boushin would have done the same, had he not been reprimanded for such actions his entire life. Juan asked in his usual quiet voice, "Uncle Chiriko, did you hurt your foot?"

"My foot?" he looked down to the bandages he had wrapped around it. "Yes, I tripped the other day. It's fine, though, thank you for asking. Why don't you all go have a nice time together? After all, we'll need to hurry and depart tomorrow."

"What!?" protested Boushin, this being the first he had heard of leaving so soon. "But the war hasn't even started yet!"

"War?" the other two children cocked their heads.

"I already promised to tell you the whole story, so can always continue when we get back."

"But why?"

"I'm sure your mother is worried about us, and I'd like to check on the state of affairs at the palace."

"Palace?"

"He means at the 'place'! The place… the place where Tasuki lives!" covered Boushin as he pushed them out the room before they were confused by anything else. "Let's just hurry up and go!"

Outside, the boys sat in the grass as Shouka strutted back and forth, waving a cattail as she orated. "I never want to see the place where the bandits live! Treasure though there might be, gold does nothing! And with all those smelly bandits under one roof, I'm sure it reeks! I'm surprised we can't smell it from here!" There was no response. Irritated that there was no response, she shot a glance at them, but only mirrored their frowns.

Uncomfortable in the silence, Juan finally mumbled, "Why do you need to go away tomorrow?"

"I don't know," he answered in a vacant tone. "Chiriko won't tell me anything. I knew I couldn't stay here forever, but… something's wrong now, I'm sure."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. He stays up all night looking outside, like there's something out there. And he won't tell me what it is."

"Maybe's he's on the lookout for wolves coming to eat you again," grinned Shouka as she held pretend claws over his head.

"Stop it!"

While Boushin and Shouka bickered and teased, Juan looked back to the grass and wrinkled up his face. Before long, he sniffled, the tears started flowing, and then he buried his face in his arms and started whimpering. As if it were contagious, Boushin felt a rush of tears hit his own face, and he swallowed hard. "That's enough, Juan, it's… it's alright…"

"But you're my friend!" he shouted back, his face flushed and nose running even more than his eyes.

The words hit Boushin with enough force that he could no longer contain himself, and with his face wrinkling up and getting ready for a wail, he leaned over and hugged Juan around the shoulders. "You're my best friend, Juan."

"You're my best friend too, Boushin," he hugged back.

Touching though it might have been, Shouka folded her arms and glared down at them. "And what am I?"

"You… you're Shouka…"

"Yeah. You're Shouka."

"Well, fine. Don't go thinking that I'll miss you too, why would I do that?"

"Fine, don't!"

"You don't understand sarcasm yet, you're such a kid," she rolled her eyes, and knelt down next to him. "I'm going to have to work extra hard to keep Juan company after this, you know. He's going to cry and cry and cry."

He finally had a sense of what she meant, and smiled at her. "Sorry to trouble you."

"Just make sure to take care of yourself, too," she patted his head. "And come back when Uncle Chiriko will let you."

"More like when my mother will let me. Oh! You should come see me someday! I'll send escorts for you two and your parents to come see me where I live! There's room for all of you!"

"I want two rooms!"

"Of course!"

"I was still being sarcastic."

"Will you come see me, Juan?" he turned his attention to him, and then lowered his voice. "I've gotten to see what your home is like. I want to show you my life, too."

"Okay, I will," he nodded, though he was a little unsure of how long of a journey it could take. "Because… we Suzaku warriors gotta stick together."

Boushin was caught by surprise, but quickly remembered their game and smiled. "Right. I'm glad I can count on you."

Yui stood calmly at the boat's edge as the morning grew later, and Suboshi approached and handed her a steamed bun. She smiled and thanked him, and he gazed forward with her. "We should reach Sairou today. I know exactly where we're going after that, and I think we can get there just after nightfall."

"I'm surprised you have this so well thought out. I always thought you did things on impulse."

"I still do," he gave her a smile. Rather, he had hardly stopped smiling since she arrived. "I'm surprised, too. You're so calm. I thought you would have been… well…"

"Hysterical?"

"Something like tha—I mean, no! No! Nothing like that!"

"It's funny, isn't it?" she casually leaned on the railing of the ship. "Somehow, I knew this was going to happen. It might just be because I already fretted about it ahead of time, but I'm taking it a lot better than I thought I would."

"Whatever it is, I'm glad," he replied, and he had an earnest and fond look glazed over his face as he leaned in towards her. Yui immediately tensed back up and stepped away as casually as she could.

"So why Sairou?" she asked, but really didn't care. It was simply a matter of changing the subject. She hadn't forgotten Suboshi's feelings for her, and she was sure that he hadn't either. For now he was all she had to rely on, so for his mental stability's sake she did not want to mention having a significant other.

"Oh, right. Since you like having some warning, I should let you know that my brother is still alive."

"Amiboshi? He didn't die ten years ago? I had no idea! And you were so sure…"

"Well, he cut off ties with everyone, even me, so it was harder to sense him," he looked lonely, but was still smiling. "Not that it was all on purpose. At least, it's not his fault now."

"Not his fault?"

"It's mine." He looked innocent with that smile still stuck there. "Actually, this is the first time I'll be seeing him in ten years."

"Really?" she sounded suspicious. "Just what did you do to him to make him that mad?" she asked, but could think of a number of possible answers immediately afterward. Everything Tetsuya and Keisuke had informed her about was finally come back to her. She remembered that she had, in fact, heard about Amiboshi, as well as Suboshi forcing him to forget everything. Of course, they had also told her more about Suboshi's violence then she ever knew much about while he was serving her. A chill went down her spine, reminding her she couldn't be so relaxed.

The warrior only laughed. "Oh, Lady Yui. I've missed your wit."

"Yes, well," she trailed off and looked out at the sea. "Evidently you're not the only thing in this world that's missed me."

"Yes. Suzaku called me here to finish what was left unfulfilled," Mayo stood before the court, utterly sure of herself. "I can feel him right here," she put her fingertips to her core, "inside of me."

The officials looked to each other with mixed responses. A few were cautiously excited, others suspicious. "She ate Suzaku?" Counselor Chou whispered to Counselor Shu.

"No. That's the center of her chi," the older one whispered back. "Surely that must be where she feels him resonating the most."

"But how can we be sure of what she feels?"

"I'm not sure of it myself, Chou. I know you're skeptical, and even though I can't say I'm qualified to know, I believe I can feel his presence here myself."

"That's hope getting the better of you."

Houki could hear their conversation, and was taking a shrewd look at Mayo. Her clothes and belongings were nothing that could be found in Konan and probably not even in nearby lands, and she was a blossoming young woman, still childlike as Miaka was when Houki had made her acquaintance. If Suzaku were to seek a replacement, she seemed an appropriate choice. Still, how self-assured she was made Houki ill at ease.

Mayo stood quietly and looked straight back at them as they analyzed her, but her knees began to give way. Houki was the first to notice and stood in surprise as she yelled for someone to catch her, which a guard did just before she hit the floor. Houki's gown swished around her ankles as she stepped quickly to her side. "Lady Mayo, it seems Suzaku has sapped you of your strength."

"Yes, it's exhausting."

"Prepare a room," she ordered, and held on to her arm as she helped her back up to her feet. "I'll assign a handmaid to you shortly to try to keep you comfortable."

"A handmaid can only do so much," she replied and put a hand up to her dizzy head. "What about the Suzaku warriors? Shouldn't at least one of them still be here?"

"He is absent for the time being. I will have him speak with you as soon as he returns from his journey." After all, thought Houki, someoneneeded to determine what was going on.

Chiriko was increasingly on edge. He couldn't say anything was wrong yet, but sudden changes could only make him think something would be—how surprising, he thought, that something as good as his powers returning could only make him so nervous.

Even more terrifying, he thought he felt a presence he had hoped to forget. With a gasp, he looked up at the sky. Of all the things to sense again—

"There you are, Chiriko!"

His thoughts were cut off as his clothing combusted into flames. The flames were quickly extinguished as he and Tasuki patted them out, and, thoroughly singed, Chiriko had the energy to shout, "What was that for!?"

"Sorry! I forgot it did this so easily," he held up the tessen, which had regained its ability to start fires. "Ya' need to chill out, you were completely spacin' out there! Shouldn't your character be back, too?"

"It is, I'm just concerned about everything else that might be happening. Everything has started to move again."

"It makes me nervous, too. I mean, why now, outta nowhere?"

"Now that you're here, let's go straight to Miaka and Chichiri."

"Boushin stayin' here, or what?"

"No. I still need to keep an eye on him."

"How much trouble could he get into with Mitsukake?"

"You'd be surprised."

When they found them to announce that it was time to leave, Shouka (the real cause of trouble) excitedly brought the "Suzaku mushrooms" for Tasuki to try, but he barely acknowledged her playfulness today. The children's parents came to bid the group farewell, leaving Boushin and Juan to have everyone witness their final goodbye.

"Um," the younger one said, and fidgeted with something in his hand. "It's a long way back, isn't it?"

"It is, but I'll come back again someday, I promise! Or you can come see me!"

"I don't know…" he trailed off. He didn't have the courage to finish that statement by telling him he was afraid to go, so instead he outstretched his hand. "I… I made this for you."

"Oh," the young emperor replied, putting out his hand to catch what he'd drop into it. It was another pouch on a string. "Is this more medicine?"

"No, it's… it's a good luck charm, but it smells nice too. It's to keep you safe… it'll be a long way, so… I can't go with you, but… but this can."

Boushin broke into a smile, and almost into tears. "I'll wear it every day." With that, they embraced, choking back the sobs they already shared the day before. Boushin whispered, "We'll see each other again soon."

Once he left with his chaperone and bandit acquaintance and disappeared behind the trees, Juan was left watching. Shouka stayed with him, thinking carefully. Uncle Tasuki wasn't himself today. Boushin said Uncle Chiriko was tense. Whatever's going on, they're taking Boushin into the middle of it. She tightened her grip on Juan's hand, grateful that he was left with her. She could not shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.