Again....
A story will be retold once more.
Over and over, with the same beginning each time.
But therein lies an ending with many possible outcomes.

Come and see what could have been.

Mt. Reikaku

Kouji had made it into the countryside after riding for a day and only one thing, one goal, lay in his mind. He had to find Genrou so that they could help Miaka. Hell, Genrou was a Seishi which meant he knew more about this protecting-a-miko business than anyone! With every passing moment Miaka could be suffering.

Grappling with his emotions, time crawled by as he made the trek towards the mountain stronghold. He couldn't wait to meet his comrades and find Genrou with a bottle of sake in hand, waiting for his return. He'd be mad, sure, but Genrou would forgive him and he'd help make everything right again.

The evening air was stagnant; little wind was blowing through the heavy forested tree tops as Kouji entered the domain of the Mt. Reikaku bandits. It was his home yet it felt strange and empty. Was he missing Miaka so badly that the mountain felt empty without her? He arrived to find the gates left open haphazardly. The light was fading as he made his approach towards a figure slumped near the entrance. His eyes widened in shock and horror when he realized it was a human body, torn to shreds and perfumed with the heavy odor of decay. Kouji closed his eyes to the sight and pushed on. Perhaps this body was just left behind from the battle before, left as a warning to any other bandit groups determined to make the mountain their home. He made his way up the steep stone step that lead to the main rooms, where food and drink was usually always on hand. What greeted him was worse than anything he'd seen before.

Sweat poured down the sides of his exhuasted face as he backed away from the room filled with the corpses of his men. He had to go in further to see if his best friend was in the mix of oozing pieces of flesh.

No human could have done this! It had to be some monster!

Fighting back waves of nausea, Kouji searched the room, body to body, for his red headed friend and boss. Hours later he finished his search, no sign of Tasuki in the bloodied rooms. If he wasn't here, then the only other place he would be during such a difficult time would be his family home not too far away. Fighting back his exhaustion he left behind his destroyed home and hurried down into the fielded valleys below.

Genrou, please be okay! Miaka needs you…

Kou Residence

Aidou slowly rose, yawning with a heavy sigh as she stretched. Dawn would soon be approaching and she knew Ma would be up soon enough to start the daily chores and cook for her brother's friends. Pulling on her day clothes, she made her way into the kitchen, noting the dying embers in the fireplace with a furrowed brow. She would need to get firewood before Ma threw a fit. She slipped on her shoes and hastened for the door, pulling it open gently so as not to wake anyone, especially those sleeping in the living room.

As a frown eased from her mouth, Aidou made her way towards the firewood stored by the barn. Almost there, her right foot caught on something and she tripped. She squinted, trying to make out what had tripped her. It was a person!

"Dammit Shun'u…" she growled softly, assuming her brother to be the culprit, "Didn't Ma tell you to stop drinking? Get up!"

When the body didn't move, she peered closer.

It defintely was NOT her little brother.

Unsure of what else to do, she leapt back and let out a shriek.

The monk bolted upright as a woman's scream roused him from his slumber. He glanced over at Tasuki, who was still stone cold asleep. He hurried to his feet, grabbed his staff from its place against the wall, and shook the straw from his clothes.

"I heard a scream, wake up, no da!" he urged, shaking Tasuki by the shoulder.

Tasuki grumbled and rolled over, burying his face deeper into the pillow. "Meh..." His snores hitched, and he made a dreamy little sound before sleep fell over him again.

Chichiri brightened as Tasuki awoke, and then sagged as he went right back to sleep.

"Tasuki!" he shook him more violently, "Hurry, no da! Someone could be in trouble, no da!"

Tasuki wriggled down deeper into his blankets, one hand waving carelessly at Chichiri as though swatting at a fly. A sleepy, purring growl broke from his chest as he flopped over onto his back. "Merph..." and once more the snores and slight purring continued.

"We don't have time for this, no da!" he hissed.

He grabbed hold of his hand and tried to yank him to his feet. Mostly, he succeeded in dragging a sleeping bandit across the loft. He sighed. They were wasting precious time. Someone could be hurt, or kidnapped, or worse in the amount of time it'd take to wake the bump on a log at his feet.

Then, a thought occurred to him. A devious but surefire plan.

He looked from side to side to make sure no one was bearing witness to his next act. Then, with an innocent whistle, he rolled Tasuki over the edge of the loft.

The feeling of free-falling awoke Tasuki, and he had time for a surprised squeak before the ground rushed up to meet him.

With a groan, Tasuki raised himself up on his hands and knees. "Damnit, I ain't never sleepin' in a fuckin' loft again! This is th' last time I fall off'a there!" he grumbled and sat up, rubbing his abused cheek which had been the first part of him to reach the oh so forgiving ground.

He felt a tension in the air but couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. "Chiri? Ya awake?"

Chichiri sweatdropped before pulling himself together. He leapt down from the loft, his kesa billowing out around him. He landed, and the rings on his staff clanged together.

"I heard a woman's scream just now, no da. Let's check outside, no da!"

He offered Tasuki a hand up.

Tasuki flinched and gripped Chichiri's hand, making tracks out of the barn. The wind blew past them so fast that it stung Tasuki's eyes and bit at his skin, but if Chichiri had heard a scream there had to be trouble brewing.

One name came to his mind; Miaka. Seems as though the tiny little miko was a magnet for trouble, and Tasuki would be damned if he let her get hurt.

Tasuki forgot to let go of his hand, and Chichiri just sailed along behind him like a banner in the wind. Together they rounded the corner of the barn and raced for the house. It wasn't long before they stumbled upon the source of the trouble: a flame-haired woman, aghast and staring down at…

"Kouji-kun, no da?"

Tasuki skidded to a halt, and Chichiri went flying into his back.

Tasuki's heart slowed from its fear induced thumping, and he stumbled forward a bit when his Chichiri kite slammed into his back. He paid no attention, opting instead to crouch down and tap at the bandit who lay in the grass. "Aidou, shaddap! Yer gonna wake Ma!" he glared up at his older sister for a moment before turning back to his best buddy. "Yo, Kouji, wake up man. Ya can't go scarin' th' shit outta my fuckin' sister at the ass-crack of dawn without gettin' an earful from me. WAKE UP, AHO!" he shook Kouji's shoulder and growled at him.

Finally calming down, Aidou looked the bandit over, slowly recognizing him as one of her brother's friends. She wondered why the bandit hadn't made it to the door like everyone else. Slowly, she set the back of her palm against Kouji's forehead.

"He has a slight fever, probably from exhaustion. Shun'u, get him in the house. He'll be okay as long as he gets some rest, a cool rag, and something to eat."

Miaka was still asleep. Dreams had yet again filled her head. At first, happy things: banana splits, ramen, dumplings, crepes, bubble gum! She munched on her pillow happily.

Gradually, the dream turned to this world and the things she'd experienced. A cold sweat ran over her as she relived fighting against the beast man who'd grabbed her. She was thrashing about in the covers, trying to beat him away. A piercing shriek woke her from the uncomfortable dream land. Rubbing her eyes, she quickly forgot the dream and headed the direction she heard the scream come from.

She pushed open the door quietly and looked into the hall. "Hello?" she half whispered.

"Miaka?" Nuriko called out softly, walking over to her. He'd also awoken as a result of the commotion coming from outside. "Sounds like Tasuki everyone is outside. Want to go see what's going on?"

Offering a hand to steady her, he turned for the door by the kitchen to outside.

Miaka nodded her agreement, taking Nuriko by the hand. With the rising sun, the floor no longer groaned its complaints with her every step. How was it possible that floors could be so loud at night? Back home there were a few times she'd come home late from studying (or so she told her mother) and the floor was super creaky.

As the wandered outside she stared at Nuriko a little, in amazement. Nuriko was one of those things... a seishi. Whatever that meant, Miaka was happy to have someone who cared about her. Someone to keep her safe that wouldn't try to take advantage of her.

"It looks like they're over there." She approached carefully as Tasuki and Chichiri were helping another man. "What's going on?"

Her heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of that face. Kouji. Every part of her mind told her that his being here was a bad thing. But that tiny little voice in the back of her cared. "Is he okay?"

It was impossible. Utterly impossible that Kouji could be here. Yet here he was, right before his eyes. Chichiri stood gawking during Tasuki's exchange with his sister, but once the bandit started to pull Kouji up, Chichiri took Kouji's other arm and slipped it around his shoulders. Together, they could move him much more quickly.

Just as he was about to take his first step, Miaka and Nuriko appeared.

"Miaka-sama," Chichiri frowned beneath his mask, "He should be all right, no da. We're going to bring him inside and check him out, no da."

Tasuki was grateful for Chichiri's help in dragging the unconcious bandit into the house, his shoulder ached both from the still healing bite and from his impromptu meeting with the barn floor.

He faltered when Chichiri didn't move at first. Glancing up to see why the monk wasn't moving, he caught the direction of Chichiri's gaze and followed it to the miko standing not far from them.

He winced as he remembered how down and depressed his miko was at the mere mention of Kouji, he could hardly imagine what seeing him would do to her.

For once he kept his mouth shut, nodding in agreement when the monk spoke to Miaka and held his tongue as he drug his best friend inside.

He wasn't even sure he had heard it at first. He was deep in a dream when the scream hit his ears. Tamahome's eyes shot open and searched the dimly lit room for trouble. Nothing. It all seemed pretty quiet. He shrugged and was about to go back to sleep when he heard Miaka and Nuriko squeaking around and whispering in the shadows.

They made there way to the door and Tamahome reluctantly followed. Miaka was safe and present if she was wandering around with Nuriko, and the others could handle themselves. He yawned and blinked away the sleep. Maybe the scream wasn't real at all and he was just about to interrupt a girly/girly-guy moment.

Tamahome hung back in the doorway until he felt the strange sinking feeling. He scanned the front yard. There was a rough, ugly looking guy being lifted up by Chichiri and Tasuki, but his eyes settled on Miaka. She was watching them help the newly-found-wounded man with a strange look on her face.

Tamahome stepped aside and held open the screen door for the three, glancing back to Miaka as they passed. He kept the door propped, waiting for the others to come in.

Tasuki wasn't sure where he would put the scarred bandit. The best place was the room Miaka was occupying but he wasn't sure how she would react to having Kouji take her bed... especially if they had problems.

"Anou, where are we gonna put him? Mi-chan's got my old room, Aidou's got Ji-hime in her room, Ma ain't gonna give up her bed an' th' common room is full a people. Th' only other place is th' barn an' it's too drafty if'n he's sick. Any ideas?"

At Tasuki's reluctance to use Miaka's room, Chichiri glanced backward at his miko. It bothered him that she might blame Kouji for disappearing, when it had really been at his request. From the look on her face, she was worried about his condition too. Whatever reasons Tasuki had for not wanting the two of them in the same room, Chichiri couldn't help but follow his heart in this situation. If it backfired later, he would deal with the consequences.

"Let's use your room, no da," Chichiri said, tugging them in that direction.

"So Bandit-chan decided to join the party!" Nuriko joked, trying to cheer everyone up.

Aidou hurried about the house, preparing a broth and cold compress for the injured bandit.

"I'm not tired anymore, so it's okay." Miaka smiled again, looking up at Tamahome as he held the door open for her.

"Thank you." She moved inside, following the others as they dragged Kouji around, trying to decide where to go. It would have been funny under more normal circumstances, whatever normal was in this place.

Miaka was smiling, but inside she was resolute. Despite feeling guilty about being unable to return his love, Kouji was wrong for her.

She looked back at Tamahome. With all these people here to protect her she was feeling safe at last.

Tasuki shrugged and lead them back to his old room. He wasn't about to argue when he'd been over ruled by two others. It was way too early for him to be awake, much less start an argument.

He nudged the door of his old room until it swung wide enough to allow them inside and hurried over to the rumpled bed.

He nodded to Chichiri and eased Kouji down enough to sit at the edge of the bed then pushed Kouji backward and covered a grin when he flopped over. He bit his lip to keep from laughing as he elbowed Kouji in the chin while he 'covered the poor dear up'.

It was a game they played; see who could do the most damage to the other before they woke up. Kouji was the four year champ and Tasuki wanted a few points in before Kouji got his turn.

It never mattered who was sick or just sleeping, the rules were simple; sleep until ya get woken up to bodily harm then try to best your buddy next time.

He coughed to cover a laugh when he pictured Kouji's face when he woke. This was too much fun.

Kouji awoke slowly, blinking to clear his blurred vision, trying to figure out where he was. His eyes caught up with him and he struggled to sit up.

"Genrou! Yer okay!" he coughed, looking around as he slumped back weakly. "Th' others… they…" slowly, he reached up, rubbing his eyes as he fought any tears. "Somethin' got th' others!"

Miboshi had spent the night listening to the report of a jewel-eyed crow. When the commotion began, she lazily rolled over and attempted to drift back to sleep, but unfortunately, the king of brainless mountain's voice traveled through the walls. She'd be quite surprised if anyone could sleep now.

She rose from her tiny, wretched excuse for a bed, took the comb from the scratched, chintzy nightstand, and ran it through her hair.

What is this about?

New man. Kouji. Knows the red-hair.

Miboshi sighed and rolled her eyes. Talking with the tengu was always obnoxious. It wasn't that they couldn't speak more eloquently, no, they were quite capable if they were attempting to woo a hapless victim into their clutches - they just preferred not to waste their energy.

A friend of Tasuki's, hm? That's all?

Sick. Coming in.

It was probably time to make an appearance. She could hear voices in the hall, feet pounding on the floor, and the shuh of someone being dragged across wood. Once her hair was silken, she held a strand in her hair and watched how it shone in the first sunlight. What... what had her own hair looked like, so long ago? She closed her eyes. She was forgetting.

Not that it mattered.

Miboshi stood and picked up the crudely made bronze headband Aidou had given her. It was beneath her, really, to wear something like this. And it'd make her quite happy to just toss it into a fire and laugh at the supposed 'goodwill' the elder Kou had shown her, but for appearances, it made for a lovely show of her bond with this group. People always went in for that sort of thing. She placed it upon her head and made for the door.

Once outside, she could clearly hear voices from Tasuki's room. None of them belonged to Suzaku's maiden, and thus they carried no interest for her. She stepped out in the living room and found her there, looking up at Sou.

So the reports were true. They'd barely known each other for a few hours, yet they seemed to have developed some sort of bond. She had to wonder just what was wrong with Sou's eyes if he chose a flat-chested, childlike little girl like that over the body she was in. Maybe he could still be persuaded otherwise. If she cared. Unfortunately, the persona she'd created for 'Ji-hime' obviously did, and it'd be highly suspicious for her to stop now.

"Sou? What's going on?" she asked innocently, rubbing lightly at her eyelid with one knuckle, "Is everyone all right?"

Tamahome had caught the glance Miaka threw at him when he closed the door. He smiled back, glad to see a bit of the weight lift from her face.

When he heard Ji-hime's voice, he broke the gaze.

"Oh, Ji-hime!" he jumped and nervously scratched the back of his head. He felt an absurd blush coming to his cheeks as if he had been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

"Miaka and I,.. I mean, we, they, found a person in the front that they know and, um , well they were trying to find a place so he can sleep." He forced a laugh. "Guess Tasuki knows him, being a bandit and all... I'm gonna go check on them. A hahaha ha."

He stiffly turned and escaped. Once he rounded the corner, he dashed into the bedroom, shut the door, and rested against the back of it, sighing.

Miaka put a finger to her bottom lip. "I wonder what that was about..."

She followed behind everyone as Kouji was put to bed, babbling about something and hugging Genrou... perhaps she should call him Tasuki now. Cautiously, she peeked into the room. Something... got the others? What did that mean?

She stayed back a bit and listened. Tasuki had an explosive temper and who knew what was going on with Kouji. Still, she wanted to be near the people she cared about.

Tasuki growled and elbowed Nuriko aside, grabbing Kouji's shirt collar and shaking him. "What the hell do you mean 'something got the others'?" his tone was deadly, his eyes piercing as he shook Kouji once more.

"Answer me, damnit. Wake up. If something's wrong with the guys I have to know. I wouldn't be much of a leader if something happened and I didn't know about it." His accent was conspicuously absent as he growled at the half unconscious bandit.

Kouji winced weakly. "I don't know what did it but… they're all dead. I was tryin' to get back t' find ya t' get yer help with savin' Miaka and I figured you'd be at the 'hold. But when I got there…" Taking a gasp of air, he continued, slightly softer. "I came here to try to find you!"

Tasuki flinched and dropped his hands from Kouji's shirt collar. "What?" his voice was soft with shock. "That ain't funny Kouji, that's a real mean joke man." He tried to laugh, but it was strained and hollow.

He could go to the mountain before they all left to go to the palace and check things out. He was fast; he could be there and back in a few hours. Surely they would wait while he checked on his men?

Tasuki shook his head with a sigh as Kouji fell back asleep. He could care less if there were others in the room; he looked pleadingly at Chichiri. "Kitsune-chan, I've got to check... I have to make sure they're okay and Kouji's just delirious or something. You can wait three hours, can't you? Those guys... I'm responsible for them. It's my job to make sure they're safe. I have to go. Just wait for me to get back?"

Chichiri was deep in thought as he listened to Kouji's story, trying to unravel the knots and tangles. There was a good chance he was delirious, as this entire situation was ridiculous to begin with, but he knew that things couldn't be left at that. Especially not with the knowledge that there was at least one real beastman roaming through Konan.

Chichiri reached out a hand and placed it on Tasuki's shoulder.

"I can wait, but you shouldn't go alone, no da. I'll take Miaka-sama and Kouji-kun to the palace so that Mitsukake can heal them, no da. Hotohori-sama will look after them, no da. If you come with us, I can transport us all to the mountain after we know they're safe, no da. We can start now, na no da."

His hand slipped from Tasuki's shoulder. With one swift motion, he drew his kesa from around his shoulders and laid it on the floor. He took his beads and made a magical signal - and the kesa glowed for a moment, before settling back to its original color.

He looked around at all of their faces - Tasuki, Kouji, Nuriko, Tamahome, and Miaka.

"I wanted to have more time to explain, but I guess this'll have to do, no da. Hotohori-sama, the Emperor, is also a Suzaku seishi, and we'll all be safe at his palace, no da. I'm a monk, trained in the magical arts, and I can transport us to the palace, no da. Mitsukake, another shichiseishi, is there, and he can heal Miaka-sama, Kouji-kun, and Tamahome-kun's wounds. Tasuki-kun's too, once we find out about his friends, no da. Step onto my kesa, and we'll be at the palace in a minute, no da."

"The palace?" Tamahome muttered to himself.

The mantle Chichiri was wearing was draped onto the floor and emanated a strange light for a second. Tamahome had to blink twice before he was certain he was just seeing things. Then everything seemed to be dished out in condensed form.

He blinked.

"The Emperor?" he questioned, trying to decide weather or not to trust the magic-enchanted vestment. Having the Emperor as an ally would make everything much easier. Someone like that, with so much power and, *gulp* money as one of them... Tamahome smirked. Maybe he wouldn't be opposed to making the role of seishi a paid position.

"Hey wait, that's where I've seen you before!" he wiped at the drool in the corner of his mouth. "You were at the palace when it was burned. Is it still there?" he asked a bit frightened.

Sou ran away, and shortly thereafter, Suzaku's chosen girl followed, leaving Miboshi standing by herself in the living room. She crossed her arms, glaring at the space where they once stood.

How dare they...

Their deaths would be torturous. Yes, slow, and painstakingly plotted out. She'd be worth paying attention to then, wouldn't she?

Then the incessant wailing began.

"Shh, it's fine, Yuiren, nii-san is taking care of everything," came the voice of Sou's little brother, as he trailed his younger sister into the living room.

"I want to go home!" Yuiren demanded.

"We can't go home yet, Yuiren," Chuei explained with remarkable patience for his age, "We have to stay here until nii-san says it's safe to go back."

"I want to go home! I want to see daddy!" she whined.

Miboshi fought the urge to roll her eyes or smack her upside the head. It took a concentrated effort. She'd only been awake for a few minutes, and already she felt that oh-so-familiar wish to decimate the entire human race (or at least those which currently surrounded her).

A prickling sensation skittered across her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. There was powerful magic closeby, and no doubt it was the monk's doing. She'd be damned if she was going to be left out of whatever was going on in there.

"Little one," she knelt down before Yuiren, "Why don't we go talk to your nii-chan?"

Yuiren blinked at her through her tears, "Nii-chan?"

"Yes, he'll know what to do, right?" she smiled gently.

Yuiren nodded slowly. Chuei sighed.

"Thanks," he said.

Ji offered her hand, and Yuiren placed her little hand in her palm. The princess rose to her feet and led the two small children to their brother. She knocked lightly, and before there could be any response, drew open the door enough to peer inside.

"Sou? Your sister wanted to talk to you," Ji said, locking eyes with him meaningfully.

"Nii-chan!"

The door pushed open.

"Yu-Yuiren!" Chuei exclaimed.

Yuiren toddled into the room and clung to her brother's leg.

"I want to go home, nii-chan," Yuiren snuffled.

Chuei sighed and adjusted his sling, "I tried to tell her we had to wait."

Ji stood in the doorway, watching the little family reunion with an empathetic frown - the reverse of which was her internal satisfied smirk. They'd served their purpose. Clearly, the monk had enchanted his cloak, and they were all preparing for a spell of great magnitude. And thanks to the bratty toads, she wouldn't be left out of it.

Tamahome looked down at the little girl attached to his leg. Her tiny hands clung to his pants and she looked up at him with shining eyes. His heart broke, reminded that she still didn't know about the fate of the rest of their family.

Tamahome knelt down and placed his hand on her head.

"Chuei is right Yuiren." He patted her fine hair. "We can't go home just yet."

Tears filled her eyes again and her lip quivered. "Nii-chan..."

"Hey, hey." He cooed into her hair, wrapping his arms around her tiny shoulders. "It'll be ok. I'll make everything ok for you." He pulled her back and pressed his finger to her nose. "Trust me?"

Yuiren smiled through her tears and giggled at the poke. She nodded fiercely, trying to be strong for her Nii-chan.

"That's better." He smiled at her and then to Chuei, who was standing looking down at the floor. "Listen to Chuei, ok?

She nodded again and wiped at the wet streaks on her cheeks.

With the presence of the children, Miaka was reminded that while this all seemed a great fantasy, these people had real lives and families. War was breaking them apart. Her presence was causing much of this. She wanted to go home, but she wanted to help too.

The palace... the Emperor. He'd been so wonderful to her before. How could she just show up and expect him to feel as he did before? How did she feel about him, for that matter? She looked between Tamahome and Tasuki, finding her face flushed.

"The Emperor is really a very kind man. He'll take care of us. I bet he'll even be happy to let Chuei and Yuiren stay at the palace! Maybe Hotohori-sama can help you on the mountain too!" She was sincere in wanting to be of some kind of help, even if it seemed to be speaking for the Emperor. She just didn't want to be left all by herself again. Bad things always seemed to happen.

"Are... are we all ready?"

She looked around at everyone collected in the room.

Tasuki sighed and shook his head, his mouth opening to rant at the monk but the words died in his throat as the chibi's came in. Yuiren was crying. That stopped him better than anything else on this earth could.

He got to his feet and pulled Chichiri to the side, whispering to him so that the rest of the group piled into the room couldn't hear him. "Look, I know ya c'n do that ki findin' thing, but if'n ya don't know who's ki yer lookin' for it's kinda useless; especially if'n Kouji's right an' all th' guys are dead. I'm gonna go ahead up there while you guys go get Mi-chan, Tamahome an' th' kids healed up. When yer done, you c'n follow my ki an' find th' Stronghold. Don't worry 'bout me; nothin' on this planet c'n catch me."

He brandished his right forearm, the gently glowing symbol for 'wing' casting a soft red glow on the monk's face. "My symbol ain't 'tsubasa' fer nothin'."

Tamahome was smiling. At the palace there would be plenty of room, and a gate and guards to protect them when he wasn't around. He had a hard time thinking that the Emperor would be so kind hearted as to let them stay, but maybe she was on to something. He lifted Yuiren to his hip and stood up, taking Chuei's hand in his.

"If I can take them to the palace, I'm ready to go."

Chichiri nodded in affirmation of Tamahome's statement.

"Step on the kesa when you're ready, no da. Nuriko-kun, could you help Kouji-kun there, no da?" he asked.

That taken care of, he turned back to Tasuki, keeping his voice low.

"I'll come find you after I drop the others off, no da. Just remember that if you don't come back, Miaka-sama can never get back to her own world, no da," he warned.

He looked back into the bandit's eyes, knowing he couldn't dissuade him now, but worried for his safety.

"Be careful, no da."

Back to the palace! There was clean clothing, warm water, comfy beds and lots of food! Peking duck, sticky rice, won ton soup...

She'd begun to drool again.

Wiping her face she eagerly got onto the kesa. "I can't wait for you all to meet Hotohori-san! He's really nice and very pretty. I'm sure he'd worried sick about all of us."

My brother and Tetsuya are probably worried too. No matter, she'd be back soon enough and then she could get a little well deserved rest. She stepped on just enough so that there would be room for the others. Now it was just a matter of waiting to arrive at the palace.

"Come on Bandit-chan!" Nuriko giggled as he casually picked Kouji up and held him over his shoulder. "Let's go see the Emperor!"

Eyes at half-mast, Miboshi examined the purple cloak adorned with silver markings reminiscent of crystal balls. The soft glow of a teleportation spell was folded within its fabric, and the others made mention of visiting the Emperor's palace. There was no force, divine or mundane, that would keep her from this journey.

Ji stepped hesitantly into the room.

"Sou?" she moved to his side, "Is everyone going somewhere?"

Tasuki flinched. He didn't want them to know where he was going until they realized he wasn't with them.

Tamahome had just stepped up onto the kesa next to Miaka when Miboshi stepped shyly into the room and asked him if they were going anywhere. He nodded to her, placing Yuiren down on a comfortable spot.

"We were all going to go to the palace to… well," he faltered, forgetting that Ji wasn't part of their group and should probably not be told about the summoning, "Hopefully we could find some more permanent living arrangements." A blush crept to his cheeks, but then he thought of a great idea, "Ji-hime, you should come with us too. You'd be more at home in a palace, and I don't think we're coming back here."

He offered an outstretched hand.

"You…" Ji stared at his hand, and then looked up at him as if he were out of his mind. "Why are you all standing on that cloak? Shouldn't we be acquiring horses for the journey?"

Tamahome frowned, he had forgotten the lunacy of standing around of a piece of fabric and declaring a journey was taking place.

"The thing is, this is how we are going, and you should hop on." He looked to the others and did a double take. They had started to sink into the fabric. It was a crazy sight for him as well, but he just looked back to Ji-hime and smiled.

"It's magic… no da." He added, imitating the smiling monk.

"No da," Yuiren repeated with a giggle.

Chichiri sweatdropped, then he eyed Miboshi carefully. A woman with as much power as he felt surrounding her and she knew nothing of magic? Was that possible? Yet there was nothing in her demeanor that would suggest she was anything more than a simple princess.

"Hurry, no da," Chichiri urged.

Ji looked at him doubtfully, but she couldn't distrust her own eyes. She grabbed his hand tightly. He pulled her to his side, and she wrapped her arms around his, clasping her hands on top of his shoulder. Chuei stood before her, holding his hand, and Yuiren looked down at the kesa with wide, curious eyes.

Together, they stepped onto the kesa, and disappeared.

Tasuki winked at Miaka as she sunk through the monk's robe. "See ya in a bit, Chibi Onna!"

Chichiri stood as the last on the kesa, his staff at his side.

"You better not die. Bye bye, no da."

Imperial Palace of Konan

As far as living space went, the Emperor's prisons were not the worst he'd seen. A bit of sunshine from the slit up the wall (which he was carefully avoiding). The smell of body odor wasn't washed with blood. And there was enough room in one cell to uncomfortably accomodate eight to ten criminals.

When he'd awoken in a pool of his own vomit, Myojuan wiped off his chin, and drug himself up out of the dirt. He plastered himself against the bars and rested his weight against them. The effort it took to hold himself up, even with supports, was too much, and he slumped to the floor.

He stared forlornly at a stain on the wall of the opposite cell. No one was in there, just the inground dot of whatever it was in the brick. What was wrong with him? How had he let things come to this? Things had been going so well until Shoka...

His throat closed up, and it took him a few minutes before he could clear it. The hacking and wheezing brought a guard to his side. He felt himself being poked. He opened one eye and looked up.

"So the Suzaku seishi drunk has awakened, huh?" the guard grinned at him, "Rise and shine, 'celestial warrior'."

"Hey..." Myojuan grumbled, his voice gravely with disuse, "Water..."

The guard dipped a long-handled ladle into a bucket of water and then held it up to Myojuan's lips. He drank long and deep. The cool liquid helped to clear his head.

"You know, public drunkenness used to be punishable by a few days in the stocks. Maybe you could use that. We're sick of seeing you down here, Emperor's orders or not."

"I'll keep that in mind," Myojuan winced and pulled himself back up to stand, "Can you let me out now?"

"I think they've cut you off, you know. The servants have been told not to bring you anything even resembling an alcoholic beverage," the guard reported cheerfully.

Myojuan frowned at this man's propensity to overuse the phrase 'you know'. Right now, he didn't much care about anything he had to say. All he needed was to be out of this cell and in a nice comfortable bed to sleep off his hangover.

"Let me out," Myojuan warned.

"Yeah yeah. You know..." the guard unlocked the cell, and Myojuan's body swung open with the door.

He didn't bother to stop and listen. He was on his way to the guest room he'd been given as as 'Mitsukake', the chosen healer of Suzaku. Ha. Some healer he was. It never did anyone he cared about any good. All it got him was a stay in the palace and free booze, and neither of those were working out so well.

He didn't really bother to check which room he was tossing himself into. He just flung open the door, found the bed unoccupied, and shuffled right into it. Once he was laying down, he rest the back of his hand on his forehead and stared at the ceiling.

Sweat stuck not too pleasantly to his cheeks. Rhythmic drums were pounding in his temples. There was an unsavory scent, and he was pretty sure it was coming from him. This... was pathetic. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been sober. He was just a waste of space. A waste of life. His existence was meaningless, and when he wasn't drinking, fraught with nothing but pain.

Ever since she died, he just didn't have the will to go on anymore. Facing the long, empty days alone was more than he could bear, but the nights? Those were far worse.

He heard a soft 'mew' and Tama pushed open the door. The cat padded softly inside, leapt onto the bed, and nuzzled Myojuan's cheek with his fuzzy little head. He mewled sympathetically.

Tears welled up in Myojuan's eyes, and he tilted his head slowly to the side so that they could drain out. He was supposed to be a doctor. The one who, blessed by Suzaku, could miraculously save lives. But who would save his?

Ou brushed another character on to the page, than sat and thought for a bit. The exams were coming up soon, and while the provincial ones hadn't been very difficult, the imperial civil service exams were renowned not only for their difficulty, but their attention to detail. There were stories of candidates dismissed or given frontier posts because a spot of ink had spilled on their answer sheets.

And then, the cat had wandered into his view. "Myu?" The cat seemed interested in what Ou had to write, but made no move to play with the brush or the ink pot.

"What's your name?" Ou set aside his brush and concentrated on the cat. It was a somewhat dingy shade of white, as if it had gotten into a fight with a dust cloud and lost. After studying it for a while, Ou put his papers, ink, and brushes away.

"Let's see if we can't find out whose cat you are. Can you take me to your owner?" The cat looked at Ou, then jumped off the desk and headed out toward the baths instead. Ou followed, trying to remember whether the cat was heading toward the women's bath... or worse, the Emperor's. Luckily for him, the cat was surprised by a steam cloud issuing from one of the baths. In that hesitation, the cat stopped and Ou caught up. Peeking in the doorway, Ou saw a couple other exam candidates preparing themselves for a bath. Ou spotted a bucket with a little water in it, and brought it out for the cat to examine. The cat seemed uninterested... until Ou dumped the water on the cat.

From there, Ou had to sprint to keep up with the rapdily-drying, but much more brightly white cat as he dashed back toward the residential quarters. One dry, the cat slowed somewhat, but continued to keep up a quick pace until it darted inside an open door. Ou peeked inside to see the drunkard from before... he hadn't really done much to clean himself up from the last time. And he might have stunk more than before.

And when the cat rubbed itself up against his cheek, Ou shook his head.

"Niao," Tama pawed at his owner.

"Tama-chan..." Myojuan grumbled, then wrinkled his nose, "Why do you smell wet?"

The cat bounded down the length of the bed and motioned with its paw to Ou. Shiny, pleading kitty eyes looked up at him.

Myojuan followed Tama with his gaze. He noticed someone in the doorway and shifted up to a sitting position. His head reeled at the sudden motion, and he held it within his left hand. A faint glow emanated from his palm, and the worst symptoms of his hangover lessened.

A closer look at the person in the doorway revealed that it was a little boy. His face was dimly recognizable from the previous night. Myojuan hung his head as sudden shame washed over him.

"Hey," he said tiredly, "Would you mind getting the servants to bring me some water?" he asked.

Ou nodded, and managed to spot and get the attention of one of the servants before too long. "Water, for both of us, please."

As the servant went to fulfill the request, Ou returned his attention to the man lying down on the cot and his cat, named Tama, apparently.

"Feel any more sober than you were last night?"

The cat, now that the dust had been washed out of it, looked a much brighter shade of white than Ou had envisioned. And despite the appearance and self-preservation instincts of his owner, the cat looked to be well-cared for. This was a puzzle - generally people who were always in the bottle wouldn't have pets, much less be sober long enough to properly take care of them. That Tama didn't seem too worried about the stench that his master was making meant that this sort of thing wasn't out of the ordinary, but Tama also didn't seem afraid at all of him. Ou wondered what happened to this person, that they could be both a raging drunkard and someone with the kindness to take care of a cat...

Before he could continue with that line of thinking too far, the servant reappeared with a bucket of water and directions on where the baths were to be found.

Myojuan didn't bother answering the boy's question, he gave a sort of nod, and that was the end of that. Tama jumped down from the bed and wound himself around Ou's legs.

"He likes you," he said simply.

He peeled the covers off himself, got up, and then knelt beside the bucket of water. His reflection, grizzly and worn, glared back at him from inside the bucket. He dipped his hands in the water and drank from them.

Now that the pain was mild, and his head was clearing, a bath was sounding like a good option. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this disgusting. It was a wonder the kid wanted to be in the same room with him.

"What're you doing here at the palace?" he asked, wiping water from his chin.

"Well, first I came to deliver a message to the Emperor. After that, I realized that the imperial exams aren't that far away, and so I'm staying here until I get through those. I think what I have will last that long... if not, I'll have to go find some work to do." Ou reached down and pet Tama, which the cat responded to with a pleased-sounding purr.

"Imperial exams?"

Myojuan eyed the boy carefully. He couldn't be more than thirteen. Maybe hardly even ten. Did they even allow anyone that young to take the exams? True or not, he was feeling even more pathetic. Here he was, a grown man, drowning his life in sake, and this kid was trying to make something of himself.

Further conversation was stalled with the arrival of a servant. "His Majesty requests that the one called Mitsukake go and take care of an injured protector of the Priestess. My advice is that you bathe first, and then go see His Majesty."

After the servant left, Ou wasn't quite sure what to do - he hadn't been invited along, but he was curious to see what was going on. As far as he knew, the Emperor was still out chasing the Priestess. But now the Emperor was back - did that mean the Priestess was back, too?

When the servant informed him of the Emperor's desire for his presence, Myojuan sighed heavily. Couldn't these guys avoid getting hurt for even one day? It wasn't that he didn't want to heal them. That was his calling, his gift. He'd been praised his entire life for it, and a never-quite-forgotten part of him yearned to help others. It just seemed so pointless in the end. Everyone would end up dying sometime anyway.

Rising to his feet, he wiped his hands on his pants, and looked down at the boy.

"What's your name?"

"Doukun Ou. If you need a little help finding the baths, I can guide you. Although your cat may not want to go back. The last time he was there, he got a cleaning." Ou started to head out in the direction of the baths. "What's your name, then? And why are you here?"

"Myo juan," he said, following alongside the boy. Tama climbed up his side and took his place on his shoulder.

"I'm a doctor," he said, "I'm here to take care of Suzaku no Miko and her protectors."

He pulled open the door to the baths, and Tama jumped down, shaking his head vehemently. Myojuan smiled down at the frightened cat.

"You don't have to come."

Tama sighed with relief and scampered up onto Ou's shoulder. Myojuan threw a towel over his vacated shoulder and looked down at Ou.

"This is my stop. It was nice meeting you, Doukun-kun," he was about to head inside when he hesitated and looked back, "Could you tell them I'll be there soon? Usually it's not an emergency, but they can be impatient."

Ou nodded and absentmindedly pet Tama, who purred in appreciation.

"I'll relay the message."

Thus, with the cat on his shoulder, and a lot to think about, Ou twisted his way back through the palace's corridors.

"He's one of the Celestial Guardians? I suppose it makes sense to have a healer on board, but if he's going to be drinking all the time..."

Something else tugged at his brain. He didn't quite have it all worked out, but the knots were untangling...

"The prophecy says that only when disaster is around will the protectors and the Priestess appear... things are bad, especially out in the provinces, but it's not like there's an army invading. Not yet, anyway - the dragon's kin have always been stirring restlessly, raiding the borders, but there's been no war, really."

Ou was thinking hard enough that he didn't notice the tiny character on his foot emitting a very soft glow.

"And there was that one strange time where I blacked out. I wish I could remember whatever it was that provoked it. I can only remember that I was close to the Emperor - maybe I was just so in awe of him that I fainted." Turning another corner, Ou almost ran into one of the guards on patrol outside the Emperor's chambers.

The guard looked down. "What are you doing here, kid?"

"I'm delivering a message from the doctor that was sent. He's busy cleaning up at the moment, and he'll be along shortly."

The guard shook his head. "Don't tell me that. Tell them." The guard pointed behind him, at the open door.

Ou nodded, took a breath for confidence, and then walked around the corner toward the Emperor's chambers.

Warm water cascaded down his back, washing away the grime of the dungeons. His hair drizzled down into his eyes, and Myojuan took a deep, cleansing breath of steam. When he looked up into the mirror, he could not recognize the man he saw there.

It was time for a change.

First, he thoroughly soaped himself up, then rinsed off. Grabbing a razor, he carefully shaved away the beard he'd been growing. He patted himself on the cheek, and then turned the razor on his hair. He chopped it short and spiked it up. Then he gave it a good scrubbing. When he was satisfied, he smiled softly at himself in the mirror.

A toweling later, and he was dry and dressed in new, clean clothes. He tied two bandanas around his head - one signifying health and the other protection. It was time to go take care of business. Time to live up to his destiny. Time to be Mitsukake.