Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter Chapter 36: Episode Thirty Six: All That Remains, a fushigi yuugi fanfic

Disclaimer: I still don't own Konan, Suzaku and all characters and seishi pertaining to them. Kiori and Ritsuka are and shall forever be mine, and that holds for all the other "originals" (you'll know 'em when they appear, trust me). Obviously the story is mine as well.

Rating: PG-13, for moderate language and violence.

Musical Selection: "Shuurei's Theme" for the scene at the Dancing Dove, "Belladonna's Snare" for the Setsuka dream sequence and "Shadow of Doubt" for all the other Setsuka/Mizu scenes, "Teppen no Ito" for the Chichiri fishing scene, and "Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac" for the second half of the Chichiri dream sequence. Phew! That should be all.

Previously on Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter...
-With the Takkan Army vanquished, the people of Konan reopened their gates and began the transition to peacetime. Only the Konan Warriors, the palace guard and the city watch remain alert, waiting for Setsuka to make her final move. The remaining warriors and Hataku try to enjoy their brief peace, but their looming troubles have left them with plenty to worry about.
-Houki and her RAFT escort arrived in Takkan, where they were reunited with friends and family. Akai told Houki about "her Element," and the two agreed to meet with Tsuchi the next day.
-Tasuki invited Ritsuka (and some soldier buddies) on a not-date to the Dancing Dove, a courtesan tea house.
-Kiori confronted Chichiri about the secrets he's been keeping, and he finally opened up to her, explaining the poem written in his scroll. It tells the order and outcome of the Elemental battles, and most startlingly of all, prophesies that Ritsuka will find herself pitted against Tasuki, aka the Element Kaji. Kiori offered what comfort she could, and in the process wound up finally admitting her feelings to Chichiri... only to have him turn her down.

I watched the Pokemon Apokelypse fan-trailer this past Monday, and it pretty much made my week. Possibly my month. And what does it say about me that I actually want that movie to be real? Either way, it's definitely on the list of Things That Can Always Make Dee Happy, right up there with the 2008 National Championship and new Tamora Pierce novels. (My nerdiness is a many-splendored thing, doncha know.)

-Episode Thirty-Six: All That Remains-
The Traitor's Last Request?

"Wait." Yui pushed herself off Tetsuya's shoulder, gaping at him. "Are you serious? But that's..." She shook her head. "You must have read that wrong. I mean, we know - everyone knows - so there's no way Chichiri could have actually..."

He smiled wryly. "You can read it yourself if you don't believe me, but it's not gonna change anything."

"But that's impossible!" Both jumped, whirling at Keisuke's impassioned cry. He was leaning forward, hands slammed against the coffee table and eyes alight. "That's not how it's supposed to work, not in these stories! That's... I mean... it's just..." He sat back down suddenly, huffing air through his nose. "I don't wanna read anymore."

Tetsuya and Yui exchanged a grin, then shrugged. "Okay." Tetsuya tossed the book over his shoulder.

Keisuke dove over the couch, snatching it from midair right before he belly-flopped against the floor. "I didn't... mean it!" he gasped, though he was mostly drowned out by his friends' laughter. He rolled over on his back and snapped the book open again, pausing briefly to glare over the cover at them. "But I really will stop reading if this one doesn't begin a whole lot better than the last one ended."

The couple clapped their hands together in mock solemnity, offering a silent prayer as Keisuke boldly pressed on.

oOo

"Sai – sho – gu, jan - ken - pon!"

Two male hands flew out, one in a fist, the other laid flat. The two young women in light summer silks sitting beside them clapped and cheered. "Ara, paper beats stone! Tenda-sama is the winner again!" the girl next to Tenda exclaimed, squeezing his arm. She grinned at the older girl across the way, who scowled and raised the sake cup, first to her own lips and then to her drinking partner's. "Keep this up and you'll be passed out before the night's even begun." (1)

"What? But we haven't had Konan soldiers since the war started, and Kaishun-sama and I were getting along so well." The other girl sighed, pressing her chin to her palm. "How unfair. Are you cheating, 'Ran-nee?"

"Cheating at janken? Is that even possible?" The soldier Kaishun laughed."I think you're drunk already, En-chan."

The group continued to tease one another, laughing as they geared up for another round of the simple drinking game. Three other young Konan soldiers sat nearby on a circle of pillows, listening to a pair of courtesans reciting a tongue-twisting song while another joined them on the pipa, speeding the tune up faster and faster every time the girls successfully completed a round. At the far end of the room and nearest the open window, a young woman in flowing purple and white robes sat between Tasuki and Ritsuka, delivering the punchline to one of the bawdier tales in her array.

"...and the man says, 'My gods, no wonder her lips were so hairy!'"

Tasuki and Ritsuka burst out laughing, holding stomachs and slapping thighs as their hostess refilled their sake bowls. She smiled, watching with genuine pleasure as the two redheads wiped tears from their eyes.

"Man, Rin-san!" Ritsuka sighed around her giggles. "Your timing is just about perfect. You ever thought about taking that act on the road? Accompany it with a little music, maybe get a partner to play the clown, you can do the straight man lines, of course... gods, I dunno how you can stay serious through that part in the rice field..."

"Years of practice, I imagine." Gyokurin, commonly called Rin, leaned forward. "But Gen-san and I have heard all my stories. Tell me something from your world, Ritsu-san."

"I dunno, most of mine involve machines that haven't been invented here. I'll have to think of one." Ritsuka clapped her hands against the table. "Oh! Ta – er, Gen-chan here should tell one of his seishi stories! Some of those are unbelievable. There's this one about a swamp..."

"...And an old man with a water demon!" Rin finished with a little laugh. "That's one of my favorites, too."

Ritsuka shot Tasuki a surprised look. "You come here often, stranger?"

He rubbed guiltily at the back of his head. "Ya remember those couple-a weeks after Aoi-kun died? When I was runnin' off inta town all the time?"

"You drank yourself stupid at the Dove, huh?"

"Gen-san was one of my best customers for a while. Nearly drained the house of sake a few times, and he always drank our other patrons straight under the table." Tasuki shot Rin a nervous look, but she just smiled and poked his arm teasingly. "The madame was ever so upset when you stopped visiting. A few more weeks of your business and she'd have been able to afford to redecorate the entryway."

"Your madame, huh? Is she um... I mean, Rin-san, do you, er..." Ritsuka hesitated, but she'd never been one for tact. "Do you, you know, like your work here? As a courtesan, I mean?"

"Like it? Does a farmer like planting rice or a minister enjoy writing laws?" She smiled, perhaps a little ironically. "It's a job, Ritsu-san. There are good nights and bad ones, charming customers and obnoxious ones." Rin shrugged. "But it's not a bad living, all things considered. I spend my nights entertaining – singing, dancing, telling these filthy stories that most respectable women couldn't even think so much as say out loud – and all those hot Konan days fast asleep in my bed. My madame is a fair woman, a former courtesan herself, not one of those tyrants who steals all her girls' hard-earned money and forces them to mount every stiff chinchi that comes a-calling. I can buy what I want, travel the city when time permits, and enjoy or refuse the company of any man who requests me. Most of the 'free-born' women in this nation can't boast half the freedom I have, lassoed to family duty and wifely virtues as they are. So yes. It's not the life I dreamed of as a child, but I suppose I like it all the same." She studied Ritsuka curiously. "Why? Are you one of those who thinks all pleasure houses are about female slavery and disgrace?" (2)

"Er..."

"There are many miserable places out there," Rin admitted. "We are governed by the laws of our mistresses, and sometimes those laws are cruel ones. But the Dove is a good place, as are most of the other first- and second-tier houses. Few women choose the courtesan life, but those of us here are generally happy to be here. We have a measure of control over our destinies, something those arranged marriages of the so-called respectable classes will never have."

She clapped her hands. "Well! Life story over!" Her eyes snaked teasingly to Tasuki. "And the second time I've had to tell it in such a short span. Such sensitive customers I have." She gave her head a quick shake, jewelry tinkling musically, and turned back to Ritsuka. "What about you, Ritsu-san? Walking this curious path between male and female. It's fascinating to me. Do you enjoy your work as a soldier, too?"

Ritsuka bristled a little, but Tasuki jumped in. "In Red's world it ain't all that unusual fer women ta dress like men an' do, er, man stuff. And y'know, there are other lady soldiers up at th' palace. It ain't exactly illegal."

"N-no need to defend her honor," Rin stuttered, caught a bit off-guard by his protectiveness. "I just think it's interesting. Here we are, two women in vastly different positions, but sharingsake freely, laughing freely, being as free as we like. I'd say we've both discovered ways to escape entrapment in the 'woman's world' of the home, but we've done it without giving up our lives as women, unlike those cross-dressing heroines you read about in the stories all the time." She tipped her glass to Ritsuka. "I respect that. I was just wondering how it happened."

"Oh." Ritsuka grinned. "I'm just stubborn as hell. Not much else to it."

"Excellent." Rin raised her cup. "I sit with two fellow mules. I believe that calls for a toast."

The redheads laughed and clinked bowls, mimicking Rin as she downed it in one swift gulp. Their bowls hit the table with a satisfying whump, and their hostess immediately set to work refilling them. "Now, about those stories."

"Hey, I got one!" Ritsuka cried, clapping her hands. "I heard this during a rakugo act on TV once, so I might get it wrong, but see, this man goes to visit his neighbor..." (3)

"Ooooi!" Tenda called, interrupting Ritsuka mid-story. "Ta – er, Genrou! Come play janken with me, will ya? Kaishun got sick on me." He winked and jerked his thumb at Kaishun, who was currently laying in the corner, his head on Gyoku'en's lap, moaning softly.

Ritsuka rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. 'Sick.' I'm so sure." Tasuki glanced over at the game, then back at his fellow redhead, uncertain. She pursed her lips and waved him on. "Oh, go get plastered. Once you've got Tenda comatose lemme know, I'll come and challenge you to a few rounds. I throw a mean pair of scissors."

"I'll be sure ta bring a good hard rock, then," he said with a laugh, clapping her on the shoulder before standing and hurrying over to the other table to the delighted cries of Tenda, his hostess, and the bandit's new female drinking partner.

Ritsuka watched the two play a round, Tasuki smacking Tenda lightly over the head when he won. The group laughed about some joke, Tasuki the loudest of all. Ritsuka set her chin in her hand, smiling to herself.

"You're soft on him," Rin said suddenly. Ritsuka whipped her head around, but the courtesan waved her off before she could deny it. "Oh, don't try to argue with me, I watch enough romances come and go to know that little smile when I see it."

"D-don't be stupid, it's not like that at all," Ritsuka insisted. "I mean c'mon, he took me out drinking to a pleasure house. I think that makes me his bro more than anything." She laughed a little. "Definitely not a date. I just..." She picked up her sake cup, watching Tasuki over the rim of it. "I'm just glad to see him happy for a change. It was starting to feel like he'd be a little bit miserable forever. But he's finally starting to look like he did when I met him. Back before Koji died."

She took a sip of her drink, still studying the seishi's grinning face, the up-and-down movement of his chuckling shoulders, the tight curve of his undershirt as it shifted with his back muscles...

"I bedded him, you know."

Ritsuka spat out her drink, eye candy forgotten as she whirled on Rin, staring at her with unabashed shock. The other woman hid a giggle behind her sleeve. "Ah, sumimasen, but please try to look more natural. I promised him that I wouldn't tell you. He seemed to think you wouldn't take it well."

"You – and him – but he – and he—" Ritsuka's pointing fingers couldn't decide where they wanted to go, so finally she just stuffed them in her lap, forcing her body to stillness even as she gaped at the smiling courtesan. "But how?"

"It was my idea," Rin admitted. "He came to the Dove one night to drink. And drink. And drink. And then, as the night wore on, I realized that he really came to talk. So we did. Three nights in a row, he mumbled about events I couldn't follow and people I didn't know. I don't think he wanted me to understand, though. I'm not even sure he wanted me to sympathize. I think he just wanted someone to listen, someone unattached, who couldn't be hurt by what he was saying." She shrugged. "I get a fair number of customers like that, to be honest. Mostly I find them whiny, their problems trivial, obnoxious. But there was something so... genuine about him. I found myself empathizing even though I didn't understand. So, on the fourth night, I asked him to my bedchamber. And he agreed."

She smiled at the memory. "He was very sweet, if you're wondering. Gave me the same interview that you just did, actually. Seemed almost apologetic about the whole thing. A real dear." She giggled behind her sleeve. "Clumsy, too. But he learned fast." She pointed conspiratorially downwards. "Not badly equipped either, as long as I'm sharing secrets." Ritsuka couldn't help but snigger.

"It didn't last long, though. A few days before he stopped visiting the Dove, he stopped visiting my bedchamber. He said he couldn't stop thinking that I was somebody's big sister, even though I'd promised him I had no known family. I missed him in my bedroom, a little, but I missed his presence in the tea house more. Customers tend to see us as actors, or sometimes as half-dreamed goddesses. And there's some truth in all that, to be sure. But Gen-san was straightforward, honest. He looked at me like I was a woman. I suppose I appreciated that.

"Anyway," Rin finished, stretching luxuriously. "I wasn't supposed to tell you all that, so don't let on that you know. But I like you too much not to be honest with you." Tasuki glanced their way and grinned, holding up his bowl in a mock salute to the pair, though his eyes were on Ritsuka the whole time. Rin smiled. "And if I'm right about everything else, then I think it's especially important that you know about his first lover. Even if I am just a lowly whore."

"Don't call yourself that," Ritsuka snapped, and Rin laughed. The redhead frowned, letting Rin's story digest before she continued. "And I'm glad you told me, but it doesn't really change anything. He's still Tasuki-chan." Her eyes flickered back to him, and she found it hard not to smile again. "Just big, dumb ol' Tasuki-chan. Thinking he has to whine to strangers, like he hasn't had to listen to me bitch and moan all the time. The idiot."

"He seems to be doing well," Rin remarked. "That's good to see. When he came by to reserve the room for the night, all spry walking and cheery whistling, I could have cried for joy. What with the war over, I was afraid I'd never see him again."

"Why's that?"

Rin pursed her lips. "Something he told me once. About a prophecy, and an... element, perhaps?" She shook her head. "I couldn't follow him, not really, but from what I did understand... well, it sounded like he didn't think he'd survive the war. Like it was written in the stars or something." She shrugged. "But the war is over and here he is, safe and sound. It's quite a relief."

"An Element for each..." Ritsuka murmured to herself, eyes widening as the rhyme's grim words at last clicked into place. "Oh, God. He must be scared half to death. No wonder he's been trying to cram so much into the last week." Her eyebrows crumpled. "But he never said a word to me about it..."

"Don't take it as an insult," Rin said. "Would you want to tell someone you cared about that you might die? Wouldn't you rather spare them that kind of suffering, especially if you didn't even know it was true? Wouldn't it be so much less painful to tell a stranger?" She smiled, patting Ritsuka's knee. "I don't know much about the two of you, it's true. But often, I think, the things that people don't say tell you a lot more about their feelings than the things that they do. And if that's the case, then I'd say Gen-san must be rather sweet on you, too."

Ritsuka just frowned and sipped her drink. But she found it nearly impossible to take her eyes off of the janken game, and even harder than that to tear them away from the laughing, drinking bandit at the table.

Tenda must have noticed her stare, because he stood from the table, waving for Ritsuka to take his place. "Ran-chan wanted to show off a song she wrote anyway," he explained, already following Gyokuran away from the table, the pair of them giggling like schoolchildren as they tickled each other into one of the private back rooms.

Rin nudged Ritsuka back to reality. "Come on. I'll be your drinking partner."

The redhead nodded and stood from their table, walking over to where Tasuki sat. She was about to circle around and sit across from him, but at the last minute she crouched down and threw her arms around his back, hugging him hard from behind.

Tasuki went rigid. "Y-you okay there, Red?"

"I'm fine," she said, burying her face briefly into his shirt, letting herself test the waters of something a little more intimate than a friendly snuggle. "And you will be, too. Okay? I'll pinkie promise if you don't believe me."

"Pinkie promise?" He chuckled, at last relaxing under her hold. "Damn, an' here I thought you were gettin' serious on me." He reached up hesitantly, giving her arm a little squeeze before dropping his hand again. "'Course I'll be okay. Who d'you think yer talkin' to, huh?"

She let go, leaning over his shoulder so she could poke him in the forehead. "The guy who's about to get his ass kicked at this game, that's who. My janken-jutsu is the stuff of Tokyo Legend."

He laughed, rolling up his sleeve and raising his fist to the ceiling. "I'll be sure not ta let my guard down this time, then. Can't let ya embarrass me at this th' way ya did at sword fightin', na?"

oOo

Darkness. A forest. She looked around but there was no one. A blue glimmer in the distance – a crystal? She moved toward it, sword forming in her hand as she went. Branches clawed and tore at her clothes, rending her finery until she looked down and was in tatters, rags, a peasant. Her necklace shone and she clutched it with her free hand. Her sword swung. The light grew dimmer. She cried out and ran at it, heedless to the gashes torn across her face, chest, thighs.

At last, exhausted and bleeding, she pulled aside the branches with a smile. "Mizu-chan," she tried to say, but the word clogged in her throat. The glow was not blue but crimson, hovering in front of two clasped palms. His face was in darkness but she knew who she saw.

Her blood was ice, her joints numb. She turned to run and slammed into a chest. She didn't want to look up but she did, he made her, and she stared into Hataku's ruined eye, dripping blood as it did on the night of her most unforgivable betrayal.

Setsuka screamed

and jerked awake, staring into a darkness pricked by blue and green sparks. She screamed again and pressed herself to the wall, blubbering pleas, but the hands that finally touched her cheeks were gentle, concerned.

"It's okay, Setsuka-sama. It's just me."

The Lady of Takkan blinked, staring up into Mizu's frightened eyes. She clenched the girl's hands between her own, pulling them away from her face. "I thought you were..." But she shook her head, unable to finish, unable to know which name she'd wanted to say. She pushed lightness into her voice. "My goodness, did I wake you? I apologize. I must have had a nightmare. I've quite forgotten what it was about, though, so you needn't worry. Go on back to sleep."

"This is the third night in a row, my Lady. Ever since the army—"

She tore her hands away from Mizu's, smoothing down her hair and rumpled sleeping robe. "Yes, well, adjusting my plans has taken a lot out of me, and one cannot be expected to control one's dreams. A pitiful part of me must be concerned about our victory, that's all."

"Victory," Mizu repeated. She dropped to her knees beside her lady's bed, gripping the blankets between her fists. "Setsuka-sama, this war is driving you crazy. We've lost Takkan, the army, all our friends..." She tried a weak smile. "Can't we just stop all this? There's no shame in losing if you've given it all you've got, you know. You and me could just—"

"I haven't lost," Setsuka hissed. "We can still defeat them. Those warriors. Those seishi. We can still take them down."

"For what?" Mizu cried. "Even if you beat them what good would it do? You and I are strong, but we're not strong enough to conquer an empire by ourselves."

"It's not about the gods damned empire!" Setsuka shrieked, slapping the girl's hands away. "It's about giving them what they deserve! Konan sent my father to his death and I was helpless, had no way to fix it, but then he spoke to me, promised me peace, promised me something new. I was his, don't you get that? I was his and you were mine and we were going to fix everything, everything, but then those gods damned seishi and their gods damned priestess..." Her hands clenched against her skull as if fighting a headache, fingers curling into her hair. "Ruining everything. They have to pay for that, they have to, even if it's all I'm good for anymore I won't let them get away with what they did to him!"

"What they did to who?"

Setsuka's voice shifted to a whimper. "To the monster who murdered my mother." She looked up again, face pale and drawn, tight with too many conflicting ideals. "I keep losing. I threw away all the weak things, all those pitiful things that our enemies hold so dear. I made myself perfection, but that sentimental scum in Konan bests me at every turn. How is that possible?"

"I don't know," Mizu answered, too tired to give her lady anything better. "I don't understand any of it. But you're sick, my Lady. You need to rest. You shouldn't think about the war right now."

Setsuka lay down again under the guiding hands of her Element, arms clutching her blankets like a child with a stuffed animal. "If I can't think about the war then what should I think about?"

"Something that makes you happy, I guess."

She snorted, and the pain and confusion seemed to whisper out of her, leaving her cold and composed once more. "Another weakness. How disgusting." Mizu waited. When her Lady remained silent she stood, heading once more to her own room. But as she opened the door, Setsuka called, "Oh, and Mizu-chan?"

"Yes, my Lady?"

Her voice was a snap across the room, driving like a spear between Mizu's eyes. "Do not question me again. You have been a loyal ally, but that does not give you the right to speak to me as an equal. I forgive you for it this once, but I will not be so pleasant the second time. It is only out of my respect for you that your precious Houjun continues to live. Do not forget that."

The threat was a vague one, pleasant compared to many of Setsuka's other cruelties, but even so it made tears well up in Mizu's eyes. 'Houjun's life in exchange for my loyalty,' she thought with a thrill of terror. 'Oh, Tsuchi-kun. Were you right all along?'

Mizu swallowed. "I understand, Setsuka-sama."

"That is because you are a good girl, Mizu-chan. Now go on back to sleep, and do not trouble me again. We both need our rest."

oOo

Ritsuka returned home late, flush with sake and smiles, arms linked with the soldiers Tenda and Kaishun. Tasuki walked backwards ahead of them, he and Ritsuka teaching their tipsy friends a J-Rock song. Ritsuka laughed every time they stumbled over an English word, pausing to repeat it again and again until she was satisfied with their pronunciation. They reached the soldier barracks and the group split, Tasuki and Ritsuka waving them back to bed, making a big show of shushing the group so they wouldn't wake their comrades.

The two walked together for a while, humming snippets of a drinking song they had learned that night and snickering like twelve-year-olds whenever they got to the dirty bits. They reached Tasuki's room first, and the two hovered for a second, either unwilling to say good night or unsure exactly how to do it. But after a moment Ritsuka slapped him lightly on the shoulder, her hand hesitating for a second before drawing back again. "Riverfront tomorrow, right?"

"That's th' plan."

"Great." She hopped back a few steps. "Well, better hit the ol' hay, then." He nodded. They hovered, still grinning, something giddy in hers and something frantic in his. Ritsuka thought to pat his arm again but thought better of it. "Uh, g'night, then."

"Yeah."

And, just because someone had to do something or they were never going to get anywhere, Ritsuka turned and bounced away, still humming lightly to herself. Tasuki watched her with a half-smile, then heaved a sigh both happy and regretful before going to bed.

Ritsuka hadn't expected to skip to her room, but the combination of good liquor and good company made her feet move all on their own, dancing her down the walkways until she'd arrived in the women's quarters. She paused at her own door, then shook her head and moved on to the one next to it, knocking once before throwing it open.

"Ki-o-ri-chan?" she sang softly. "I know you're gonna kill me for waking you up this late, but I think something kind of crazy is happening, and I really need to..."

Her words and smile trailed away as the moonlight slanted through the open door, falling on the bed. Kiori sat in the center of it, her pillow hugged to her chest and her face buried in the soft down. She looked up, and the redhead went slack with terror at the tears streaming down her friend's face. "Oh God. Setsuka?"

Kiori shook her head. "Chichiri."

It was the only word she could manage before her throat closed again, but it was all Ritsuka needed. She was across the room in an instant, her knees on the bed and her arms wrapped around her friend.

Kiori pressed her face against the pillow again. "It's... so... stupid! I kn-knew this w-w-was wh-what he'd say, I alw-w-ways d-d-d-did, so wh-wh-wh... why can't I stop this stupid cryingalready? Wh-why do I have to b-b-be so damn stupid?"

Ritsuka gave her a sisterly squeeze. "Hey, no Kiori-bashing, okay? You're not the stupid one here."

"Y-yes, I really am. I'm crying about something like this wh-wh-when there's so m-many more imp-portant things to w-w-worry about."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Kiori looked up at her for a moment, her mouth half-forming the words, but she couldn't get them out. She looked down again. "Just things. W-with the war, I mean. W-we should be thinking about that, and all I c-can do is sit here like a... a..."

"Like a brokenhearted Kiori," Ritsuka finished. "And trust me, there is nothing more important than fixing that." She had hoped to cheer her friend up with this promise, but Kiori just buried her face in her pillow and cried even harder. Ritsuka winced, patting her back a few times until the sobs had faded into something easier to talk around. "Are you more-or-less together in there?" The pillow nodded. "Okay. You wanna talk about what happened?"

"He told m-me..."

Kiori kept her face in her pillow, muffling both words and sobs as she explained. Ritsuka listened without interrupting, keeping her exclamations soothing, her movements gentle, being exactly the comfort that Kiori needed. She didn't have the same kind of control over her face, though, and by the time Kiori had finished Ritsuka was livid, her neck flushed pink and her face black with rage.

"...And now it's all a mess," Kiori finished in a whisper, her sobs quieted but her voice still hoarse. "I should've just kept my stupid mouth shut."

"What? So you could be stuck listening to that old tune forever?" Ritsuka lay her head atop Kiori's, trying to keep the poison out of her voice. "At least now you know, right? So you can finally move on. Get past this. Switch from Track 2 to Track 3, y'know?"

Kiori's hands clutched the pillow. "I don't think it's gonna be that easy, Ritsu. Because, when I think about it, he didn't actually—"

"Yeah. I know." Ritsuka hugged her closer. "But hey, don't cry again, okay? It's gonna get better. I promise."

'Because I'm going to kill him,' she finished in silence, murder sparking behind her eyes.

oOo

The moon fell on the sleepless Konan Warriors, but the sun rose on a cheery Takkan palace as old and new residents alike met in the dining hall, exchanging greetings and friendly insults. Yuki and the other RAFT soldiers had been merged back in to the gang as if they had never left, surrounded on every side by rebels dying to slap them on the back, welcome them home, and demand exciting war stories.

Aji and Kita sat back a little ways, glad to be out of the center of the storm for once, and waved as Houki and her son entered the dining hall, Boshin still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"So what're we gonna do today, Mama?" he asked, releasing her hand so he could adjust his hold on his stuffed bear. "Esplore the new house?"

"I have some work to do, unfortunately." Boshin pouted into the bear's ears. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure Yuki or Tori would be more than happy to keep you company."

"Oooooh, can they, really?" Boshin giggled. "I like them, Mama. They're funny."

"Yes, I suppose they are, but—" She gasped as her son spotted the two rebels in question and dashed off across the room, waving one chubby hand in greeting. "Oh, Boshin-chan, please...!" She had nothing to worry about, though, as Yuki saw the boy coming and scooped him up, setting him on his lap and poking him in the nose. Tori said something that made Boshin laugh, and Kirei set to filling a bowl for the young emperor. Houki set a hand to her cheek. "Funny and helpful, I suppose."

"Helpful, nothin'," someone snorted from behind her. "They're just lookin' fer an excuse ta get outta chores."

Houki turned to see Kazuo and Akai standing behind her. Akai smiled, pointing to the less crowded end of the table. "Breakfast first, Houki-sama?"

"And then the Element?" she finished.

Akai's smile wilted. "Yeah."

They finished breakfast at about the same time, Houki eating quickly and Akai eating little. The former champion grabbed an extra bowl of soup – "For Fuyuko-kun," she explained – and then trudged to the door. Houki bowed low to Aji and Kita as thanks for both the meal and for babysitting her son – not that the rebels seemed to mind in the least, as their attention had quickly shifted from war stories to entertaining the cheerful boy – and then followed Akai through the long hallways and down a narrow staircase.

Akai had walked slowly from the dining hall to the stairwell, but once they reached the bedchamber she rushed through it, keeping her eyes forward, refusing to look at the three empty beds. Houki followed a step or two behind, running a finger through the dust on one nightstand – and shivering when she saw the three lumpy pellets beneath the grime. "Pill magic," she whispered. Her eyes shifted to the other beds and she understood they were in an abandoned place, a room haunted not by spirits but by a pervading sense of loss. She drew her hands to her chest and hurried on, throwing back the curtain and stepping into Tsuchi's chamber.

Akai had already lit the lamp and was struggling to waken the pale, shivering lump in the nearest of the two beds. "Come on, Fuyu-kun. I brought breakfast. You need to eat."

"Please, Akai-san. She doesn't stop anymore. Just let me sleep."

The former champion glanced over her shoulder, then took a breath and said, "But I brought someone important to meet you."

She leaned back, allowing Houki to get a full view of the sunken cheeks and matted hair of the boy in the bed. His eyes were dulled with pain and seemed more bronze than gold, but they widened when they landed on her. "I've seen you," he breathed. "Through the crystal."

"This is Hou—" Akai checked herself. "Er, Dowager Empress Youtaikou, I mean. Of Konan."

"The empress?" Tsuchi winced, struggling to rise. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty, I should... ugh..."

Houki was across the room in three short steps, grabbing one of his shoulders as Akai grabbed the other. They pressed him gently back to the bed. "Just Houki will do, and please, forget protocol for now. There will be time enough for bowing and scraping when you are well."

He barked a weak laugh, then let his eyes roll up to watch her. "Is Konan safe? I didn't feel Setsuka win, but I can't think of any other reason you'd be here."

She smiled sadly. "That is a story as long as your own, I am sure, but I shall tell it to you as best as I can."

oOo

"Mizu-chan?"

The young Element glanced up from her book as the Lady of Takkan stepped into the overgrown garden. She was immaculate for the first time since the Takkan army's defeat, every hair in place, every wrinkle meticulously smoothed from her dress. Mizu winced as she met her mistress's gaze, but she found kindness instead of ice. It made her hesitate long enough for Setsuka to catch her with silver, pull her in with her power.

She smiled softly. "I'm glad that you didn't run away."

"I wouldn't leave you, my Lady."

"Even after last night?" Mizu winced again. Setsuka cleared the space between them, spreading her skirts before taking a seat beside her last ally. "Please allow me to apologize. I was... not myself. I said horrible things to you, things I should never have said. I know you only spoke out of concern, and is that not the highest form of loyalty? I should be more grateful to have you near."

Her arm fell lightly on Mizu's shoulder. The Element had to fight not to shiver. "But you must understand, Mizu-chan, how terribly frustrating this is for me. Defeating the Konan Warriors is not such a hard thing – I have spent months watching them, and I know their vulnerable points perhaps better than they do – but your divided loyalties have made my work infinitely more difficult. Not only must I defeat them, but I must do it in such a way that does not endanger your Houjun. If we attack, he will fight to protect them, and if he fights then it is impossible to guarantee his safety. It's quite the dilemma, you see."

Mizu nodded. "I can't let him get hurt, though. Him or you."

"Such foolishness," she said, though there was an edge of sorrow beneath her scorn. "But I need you beside me, and so I have done what I can to honor your wishes. And now, finally, I believe I may know how we can both achieve our goals." Setsuka turned Mizu's face toward hers, forcing their eyes to meet, forcing the Element to feel the waves of her Lady's will crashing against her. "Mizu-chan, what do you know about a spell called a chain?"

oOo

Chichiri sat in the cold water bathhouse, his arms against the outside ledge and his head resting atop his arms. He had his eye closed, half-dozing, but he looked up when Ritsuka stormed in and planted herself in front of him, hands on hips. He met her glare with coolness, too weary to feel any embarrassment. "This is the men's bathhouse, you know."

"Pfft! Like you've got anything worth seeing anyway."

His eye narrowed. "If you're going to be rude, then you can leave no da."

"I'd like to see you try and make me." He stared at her and Ritsuka sweatdropped. "Okay. Well. Technically you could." Her rage came back fourfold. "But that's not the point! Kiori told me about last night. Just what the hell is wrong with you, huh?"

He closed his eye again, resting his head in his arms. "I told her the truth no da. Do you want me to lie to her?"

"I want you to find your balls and stop acting like a goddamned coward! Pulling that whole 'it's not you, it's me' routine, hiding behind an excuse like a kid under his covers. How is that supposed to answer anything? Kiori deserves closure, an honest I don't instead of this I can't bullshit."

"I can't do that no da." He never raised his voice, though Ritsuka thought that had less to do with a lack of emotion and more to do with pure exhaustion. The circles under his eyes suggested that he'd gotten even less sleep than she had, and there was a distinct ripple in his voice, as if even his words were on the verge of collapsing. "I told you already: I'm not going to lie to her."

"So you do love her."

"I didn't say that."

"Then which is it?"

"It doesn't matter no da."

"How the hell doesn't it matter?"

"Because it doesn't!" he finally snapped, head jerking up so he could meet Ritsuka's accusing glare with a pained one of his own. "It doesn't matter how I feel about her because I can't be with her. How hard is that for you to understand? You want it to be simple but it's not, Ritsuka, it never is, because it's not just about two people, it's about – responsibilities, and, and promises, and—"

"Being scared."

She said it without emotion, like a kick to the chest. He looked away. "It's extremely complicated. That's what I'm trying to tell you no da. So I'm sorry if I can't say what you want, but this is the only answer I have. I care about Kiori, I do. But past that, I really can't..."

"Hypothetical," Ritsuka said suddenly, making him look up again. "You like dumb hypotheticals, right? So here's one for you." She set her hands to her hips, watching him with a scowl. "Throw away the prayer beads. The robe. And all that," she gave a little wave, "baggage, too, the old stuff that makes you wanna wet yourself when you think about getting involved with a girl again. Chuck it out the window, just for a second. And then answer my question: Do you love Kiori?"

"I told you, it's not—"

"Yes, it is." She laughed weakly. "Look, Chichiri, I'm not gonna pretend that I know a damn thing about falling in love, because I don't. As far as I know, I never have. But I know a whole lot about falling in like, and the truth is, it's really, really easy." She held up her hands. "Now don't get me wrong: it gets complicated in a big damn hurry. Relationships are probably the most complicated thing there is. But the starting part?" She shrugged. "That's easy as slipping on ice.

"So stop making excuses already." His eyebrows jerked up at that, but Ritsuka was too worked up to care. "Keep it simple. Boil it down to you and that girl who makes your face go all sparkly every time you see her. And then you go and you give my best friend a real answer – or so help me God, I will send you to the bottom of Tokyo Bay, just like I promised."

"And if my answer is still no?"

"Then we're in for some awkward dinner conversations, ain't we?" Ritsuka sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "Believe it or not, I actually do like you. So if you really just aren't into Kiori – she's not your type or whatever – well sure, I'm gonna think you're an idiot, but I'll get over it. Kiori will too, eventually. But I'm not gonna let you keep her in this limbo place where she still doesn't have the faintest idea how you actually feel about her. You say that you care about her? Then act like it. Tell her the truth, and not just the half-assed one."

She scowled, turning away again. "That's all I had to say. Enjoy your bath. Be glad I didn't drown you in it."

The few other bathhouse guests watched with wide eyes and towels clutched to their thighs as Ritsuka stormed past them, not sparing any of them a second glance as she marched out the bathhouse doors and into the Konan courtyard.

She had taken maybe three more steps before someone grabbed her braid, tugging her to a stop. She whirled, fist raised and fire practically streaming out of her mouth, but stopped just short of a wallop when she saw Tasuki standing behind her, holding her braid like a leash.

"Down, girl," he said, giving her hair another light tug. "I ain't th' one yer tryin' ta kill t'day."

She jerked her braid out of his hand, though already her scowl was beginning to fade. "What do you want?"

"First, fer you ta not bite my head off. Second, fer you 'n' Kiori ta come down ta Riverfront with me like we'd planned. 'Chiri's takin' a break t'day. An' third? Fer you ta walk with me ta Kiori's room, so we c'n get outta this palace an' start havin' some fun already." He jerked his shoulder forward, urging her to follow him. "Now you comin', or you gonna stand there lookin' like a pissed-off dragon all day?"

She took off after him, arms clutched to her chest. "So you heard what happened?

"Chichiri filled me in at breakfast." He chuckled. "I heard most-a what you jus' yelled at him, too, if that's what you were askin'."

"Hmph. You didn't come rushing to his aid, I see."

"Me, a big tub-a water, an' you all pissed off? Sounds like a soggy death waitin' ta happen." She had to grin at that. The two walked in silence for a moment, then Tasuki rubbed at the back of his head. "I didn't interrupt yer little lecture in there 'cause Chichiri prob'ly needed someone ta yell at him fer while, but try ta cut him some slack, okay? You know this don't have a damned thing ta do with him bein' a monk."

Ritsuka pouted. "Yeah."

"If that's all it was, he'd find a way around it. He ain't so attached to those prayer beads that he'd rather be miserable than be a laymen."

"Yeah, but still—"

"An' by th' way, you do know he c'n sense life forces, right?"

She jerked to a stop, surprised by the sudden question. "So?"

"So, when he felt you barrelin' towards him, all ready ta skin him alive, he had plenty-a time ta dry off, get dressed, an' teleport back ta his room." Tasuki glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "So why didn't he?"

"Well... because..." Ritsuka threw up her hands. "Oh, I don't know! Maybe he likes being miserable!"

Tasuki laughed. "Or maybe I wasn't th' only one who thought Chichiri needed someone ta yell at him t'day." Ritsuka stared at the walkway, but she looked up again when Tasuki's hand landed on her head. "Oh, stop frownin', yer gonna give yerself all kinds-a ugly wrinkles. C'mon, we're gonna take Kiori inta town, stuff her full-a seafood, an' get both yer minds off this mess fer th' day."

She glanced up to meet his grin and surprised herself with a blush. She nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. Okay." He took his hand off her head and started forward again, slowing his long-legged pace so he could stay in step with her. She fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt. "Hey, Tasuki-chan? You think this is gonna get figured out by the end of the week? All this worrying about Kiori is giving me a stomachache."

"You sure that ain't jus' yer hangover from last night?" She shoved him, but she was laughing when she did it. Tasuki regained his balance and shrugged, answering her question seriously this time. "But yeah. If 'Chiri's smart, he'll have this worked out by t'morrow, an' you 'n' me c'n go back ta bein' the ones who never get along."

Ritsuka sighed wistfully. "Aah, the good ol' days." She paused, blue lines appearing under her eyes. "Wait a minute, Tasuki-chan. You just said 'If Chichiri's smart.'"

"Yep."

"But haven't we sort of proven as a scientific fact that, when it comes to stuff like this, he's about as dumb as a brain-damaged jellyfish?"

"Yyyyyep."

"So...?"

His hand fell solemnly on her shoulder. "So let's jus' worry about stuffin' ourselves with seafood b'fore we both wind up with stomachaches."

"Now that is an idea I can get behind."

oOo

Houki heaved a sigh, spreading her hands as she finished her tale. "And here I am. Protecting Konan's heir... and facing my Element."

"So this is it, then?" Tsuchi looked up at Houki, and although his eyes shone with tears there was a smile on his face, the first true smile that he'd felt in months. "I'm finally going to be done with it?"

Houki jerked. "Excuse me?"

He leaned forward on his elbows, gripping the empress' hands. "You're going to kill me, and it'll finally be over. Senpai told me death was the only way out. I didn't want to believe her, but if that's the case – if that's really all that's left for me, then... then okay. I'm ready." He nodded, gaze never wavering. "And I'm not afraid."

Houki recoiled. "I... I think you misunderstand. I am not here to kill you. I don't think I could."

"Why not?" he whispered. "Everyone else... the warriors they fought all did what they had to do. Why wouldn't you do the same for me?"

"Because I am not a fighter, and neither are you!" she snapped back. "Akai-tachi all fought their Elements because they had to, not because they wished to. There is no reason for me to so much as scratch you, never mind killing you." She shuddered. "The very idea is barbaric."

"No reason?" The tears rimming his eyes at last spilled over, but there was no joy in them anymore. "Then how about because I want to die? Isn't that a good reason? Isn't that enough to make you take Akai-san's sword and... just...!" His elbows gave out and he collapsed against the bed again, clutching his chest and crying bitterly. "I've waited so long, and now when you do show up... it's no good, it's no good at all..."

"I don't understand." Akai sat on the bed beside him, pressing a hand to his shoulder. "Why would you want to die? How could you ever—?"

"Because I'm trapped!" he wailed, pressing his hands to his face. "I turned against Setsuka but what good did it do me? I can't beat her, can't pull away from her, so I'm stuck here with her torturing me - feeding off of me! I'm helping her, don't you get that? And there's nothing I can do to stop it!"

Akai gripped both of his shoulders, pulling him forward so they were looking each other in the eye. "Of course you can break free. My friend Tasuki-san was an Element, just like you, but Setsuka doesn't have any power over him anymore. And if he can do it, then I'm sure—"

Tsuchi shook his head. "Kaji hasn't broken free either, or that red gem on Setsuka's necklace would've shattered. He didn't know her like I did, so she doesn't have as tight a grip on his life force, but at close range I'm sure she could hurt him the way she's been hurting me." He looked back and forth between Akai and Houki, his face a mess of snot and tears. "Don't you get it? There's no escape! I can fight it all you want, but there's nothing I can do!" He crumpled forward, head resting weakly against Akai's collarbone. "And I'm tired of fighting it... I just want to die..."

Akai's teeth snapped together. Her hands turned into fists and she shoved them at Tsuchi, throwing his paper-thin frame back against the wall. "You idiot!" she roared. "You think that just because you're tired you can give up? You think it works that way?"

"Akai..." Houki murmured, setting a hand to her friends arm.

Her champion ignored her. "The Warriors in Konan have suffered more than you could ever know! They're as sick of this war as you are, but do you see them surrendering? Do you see them lying down and just waiting for someone to come along and kill them? And it's not just in Konan, either! The RAFT gave life after life to free this country, and they succeeded because they never stopped fighting, don't you understand that? You can't win anything if you give up on it!"

Tsuchi opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when a pair of tears slipped down Akai's cheeks. "The two men I loved are dead because of this war, and you wanna treat your life like it's a curse? Then find a way to give it to them, so I can see Aoi-kun and Koji-san again! But don't you sit there sniveling about the best gift you've got, you hear me? Don't you dare tell meyou're the one who's got it rough. You, who's lucky enough to still be alive." She pulled back, looking away. "If you believe that, then you really are just a stupid kid."

Without Akai's hands to support him, Tsuchi slid down the wall, still staring at her even as the rest of him caved in on itself. He swallowed hard, turning his eyes down to his hands. "But what else am I supposed to do?"

She turned back to him, unrelenting. "It comes down to a choice: you can either keep fighting, or you can run away." She stood in one smooth motion, unsheathing the sword from her back and offering the hilt to the Element. "I'm not heartless enough to deny a coward his last wish. But I won't let you dirty Her Majesty's hands, either. So if you really want to let Setsuka win, then fine. Do it yourself."

Tsuchi's shoulders rattled with tears. "Akai... please... help me..."

"I can't, not with this," she said coldly. But a moment later she smiled, and some of the harshness slipped away from her. "But if you decide to fight back, then you'll have as much of my help as you can get, and Houki-sama's, too. We'll do everything we can to help you survive. But the first part is up to you."

He looked up at her through his sweat-soaked bangs, eyes shifting first to the empress, fidgeting beside the bed, and then to Akai, standing over him, her sword gleaming blue in the lamplight. The threat of tears still glistened her eyes, but she didn't blink them away, and her lips never once trembled.

'Akai's my age, and she's already lost so much... but she can still live, even after all that? She can still smile and laugh, even after losing them? "The two men I loved," she said...' He swallowed, staring hard at his trembling hands. 'So, so if Akai can go on living, then maybe... maybe I...'

He clenched his hands to still their shaking. It was a struggle to look up again, but he managed it, meeting Akai's stare. Something like hope glimmered in her eyes. "Well?"

His pushed the hilt. "I'll fight her. Until she kills me, I'll fight her." He collapsed, too weak to hold himself up any longer, but both Houki and Akai caught him and held him up. He glanced at Akai again and saw that she was smiling. He didn't know how he did it, but somehow he smiled back. "I'm going to hold you to that promise, though. So please, Akai-san, Houki-sama... do whatever you can to help me survive."

oOo

Chichiri stared at his bobbing fishing pole, watching the water ripple away, blurring the lines of the sunset. After Ritsuka's intrusion in the baths, the day had passed in an exhausted blur, shifting from failed meditation to a lonely evening out by the pond. His net was empty, but then again his lure wasn't baited either. He wasn't here to fish, not really. It was just something to keep his hands busy, something to focus on other than the little lead ball that had settled in his stomach.

His head began to nod and he jerked it up again, blinking hurriedly. 'No sleeping,' he scolded himself. 'If I go to sleep I'm just going to have one of those dreams again, and I'm too worn out to deal with that on top of everything else no da.' He sighed, letting his head thump against the tree behind him. 'I did what I needed to do. I should be relieved. So why do I feel so...?'

His thoughts trailed away, eye widening as he sensed a trio of familiar life forces coming closer. He looked across to the far shore of the pond, sitting rigid as Tasuki, Ritsuka and Kiori flickered in and out of sight, moving between the trees. They were walking slowly, their stances relaxed, their steps unhurried. Laughter carried faintly over the waters, Tasuki's rough one perhaps louder than it needed to be, more boisterous, encouraging the girls to join in.

Chichiri frowned, surprised by the pang of loneliness he felt at seeing the three walking along without him, the bandit in the middle with the girls flanking him, smiling at whatever joke he had just cracked. The gap between Tasuki and Kiori was just about the right size for him, he thought, as if the two were keeping his place, waiting for him to catch up and for things to be like they'd been before.

He slumped back against the tree. 'Only it's never going to be the same, is it? Things will get better, eventually, but...'

Kiori glanced across the pond, and although Chichiri couldn't see her face he could tell by her slowed steps and jolting life force that she'd spotted him. She hesitated, then raised her hand in a weak wave. He almost looked down again, almost pretended not to see her, but then he swallowed his cowardice and hailed her back. They hovered, awkward and unhappy, until Ritsuka grabbed Kiori's arm and pulled her forward, back into the group. Chichiri stared after them, surprised to find himself smiling sadly.

'Ritsuka's right no da. Kiori deserves a real answer. She needs to be able to put this behind her so she can settle into her life in Konan, her work as a doctor. Move on. Meet someone else. Maybe even start a family.' His hands tightened on his fishing pole. 'And we'll drift apart.' He shook his head to clear whatever had been building. 'It's not surprising. It's part of who I am – part of the vows I took no da. So I don't have any right to be upset. This is just how things are.'

And like lightning, Ritsuka's voice crackled back to him, demanding and tactless and true:

"Stop making excuses already."

He set his fishing pole to the side, reaching into his kesa and pulling out his scroll, still tied with its honey-yellow ribbon. He unrolled it slowly, eye scrolling down the long Elemental prophecy before resting on the words at the bottom, the "gibberish" that he hadn't bothered to mention to Kiori:

To those you will love, I have offered advice. To you, I offer those you will love. There are things we must cling to and things we must release. Knowing the difference will make all the difference.

(Do you understand me? the seer had scribbled along the edge of the scroll, his writing a scrawl almost as desperate as his words, I cannot see as you see nor think as you think but I feel as you feel and for once I will try to be clear. It is futile, it will not be enough, it will have to be.)

The future is what it is only when it is no more. Its doors still stand open. Do not lock them before they have closed. The key is the answer but will you look to it? I see that you won't. I pray that you will. But what is the use? Tathata - things are what they are, and my visions have never been wrong. But this was your excuse. There is no excuse for an excuse. Turn away from them. Look to yourself. That and one other you must never turn away from.
Luck is as false as fate but I wish it on you regardless.

Chichiri sighed, dropping his forehead into his palm, letting the scroll roll into the grass. "As clear as you could make it, huh? No wonder I can't find your name in any of the palace records – your emperor must have been so frustrated that he didn't even bother to appoint you as one of his diviners no da."

He tumbled onto his side in the grass, then rolled onto his back, staring up, watching as night chased the day away, the blanket of black slowly overtaking streaks of purple and orange. "There is no excuse for an excuse," he murmured to the awakening stars. "Ritsuka was more right than she could have known no da."

He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, taking another long breath. 'There's an answer to this riddle. I know there is no da. The key is the answer, but what is the key? I can't see it.'He squeezed his eye shut. 'No – not that I can't see it, but that I won't no da. The seer said that. Ritsuka did, too. But what is there to look at? The answer... myself...'

His hand slipped from his forehead. He felt himself drifting, sinking, but he was too tired to stop it this time. As his sleeplessness caught up with him, pushing him softly into the murmuring darkness, his last thought was of excuses, and answers, and things he had tried not to see.

"To myself... and one other..."

oOo

Mizu listened carefully to Setsuka's plan, her lips pressing tighter with each word. She tried to look away but Setsuka kept her hands on Mizu's cheeks, forcing her to feel the strength of the bond between them. The young Element's eyes went from wide to narrow to wide again, until finally some light inside of them flashed and then, abruptly, went out again. By the time Setsuka finished, Mizu's face was empty and her gaze glassy, unreadable even to her mistress.

Setsuka frowned. "Well? Do you think it will work?"

"Work?" The question seemed to knock her back to the present, though the spark in her eyes remained dimmer, somehow. She swallowed hard. "I can do it, if that's what you're asking. Only... Setsuka-sama, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"It's the only way?"

Setsuka fixed her with another long stare. "It is."

Whatever tears had been building, whatever panic Mizu had been fighting disappeared. She looked away, nodded once. "Okay," she whispered, beaten. "I'll do it."

Setsuka's hands landed tentatively on her shoulders. "If there was any other way..."

"But there isn't. I know. That doesn't mean I don't feel awful about it." Mizu's shoulders shuddered beneath her lady's hands. "I'm still going to be a murderer."

"You'll be my champion. And you'll save your Houjun." Setsuka tried a smile, forced her voice to gaiety. "That'll be something, won't it?"

She waited, but when Mizu said nothing Setsuka let her hands slide from the girl's shoulders. She stepped back, watching the Element, searching for some kind of reaction, but Mizu kept her back straight and her eyes fixed ahead, her gaze as blank as the cloudless sky above them.

Setsuka clenched her teeth, stumbling back into the mansion and the safety of her room. She meant to lay on her bed, but a flicker to her right made her stop. She turned and found herself staring into the dusty glass of the room's single mirror. She watched herself watching herself - the calculating gaze, the proud rise of her chin, the soft curves of hips and breasts offset by the sharp lines of her shoulders and back, as if she had switched out bones for steel, had traded her blood for ice.

"It's necessary," she snapped at her reflection. "It doesn't matter who I hurt, doesn't matter who I lie to. So let her believe she can save the monk. Let her think this isn't going to kill him. I don't care what happens to her. If it gets me what I want - what I deserve - then it doesn't matter. The rest can go to hell. Even her. Even him."

The reflection's eyes crinkled, tried to shed tears, but Setsuka slammed a fist against the glass, sending spiderweb cracks across its surface. Her eyes flickered across the disjointed slices of her reflection. It was pale, shaking and afraid, a stark contrast to her callous words. It only made her angrier. "Shut up," she hissed at the silence. "I'm right. I am. I am."

She waited as if expecting an answer, but of course the mirror offered nothing. Setsuka watched her face tighten, lips pulling back, eyes squeezing shut, and then she was struggling too much to keep looking. She crumpled against her cracked reflection and slid to the floor, hands clenched to her chest as she gasped for breaths she couldn't quite find.

"Gods damn you, Mizu-chan," she rasped, pressing her forehead to the glass. "Not like Sora. I won't let you be like Sora. I'll fix you when it's over, I will, so please... please... please... Don't you dare look at me the way she did. It brings back the old weakness, and I won't stand for any weakness. I can't. Not now, not when I'm so close."

oOo

He came awake in darkness, which was how he knew he wasn't awake. His feet were bare and wet to his ankles, and when he reached for his prayer beads they were gone. His kesa too. He was down to nothing but a layman's robe and trousers. He held his arms close to his chest, partly to fight the cold, partly to fight the sense of nakedness, vulnerability.

He walked on. Sparks of light hovered ahead of him like ghost fires, flashing and fading, their green tails leaving trails of color through the void. He began to wade towards them but a voice broke through the gloom, stopping him in his tracks.

"Where am I?"

He moaned softly. He knew this dream. He closed his eye and murmured, "Wake up," but when he opened it again it was still dark and her presence was still with him. He took a breath. "Kiori?" He held out his hand and she took it, just like she'd done before. The words rolled off his tongue the way they were supposed to, the way this shadow play had to run. "Stay close, okay? We'll find a way out of here soon no da."

"Mm. I trust you, Chichiri."

"Yes," he said wearily. "I know you do."

They had only gone a few feet before the ground gave way and the current picked up. Chichiri pulled back sooner than he had the last time, a vain attempt to break the cycle, but it did him little good. He called for her to wait, but it was too late – she was over the precipice and into the water, and her hand was dragged from his, and then there was nothing but the dark current, dragging her away from him.

His legs bunched automatically, but She was there before he could dive, just like the other time – like all those other times – wrapping her arms around his chest and pulling him to safety.

"Houjun, stop! Please!"

Kouran's voice, desperate, pleading, reminding him of all the dangers. He tried to find a reply but couldn't, tried to find his strength but couldn't. Just like before. Just like all the befores.

"You mustn't! It's too dangerous! You could – something might... I'm afraid for you. I can't stand it. Please, Houjun, just let her go."

There is no excuse for an excuse.

His fists bunched at his sides. His jaw tightened. And suddenly he could speak again. "Stop it," he said, so quietly that it was almost lost beneath the crashing waves. There was a strength beneath it, though, building like the waters behind a dam. "You've got to stop doing this."

The arms around his chest squeezed him once, softly. "After all," she whispered, daring him with the question he always refused to face, "you don't even love h—"

"I said stop it!"

His voice was a crack that broke through the darkness. The current subsided. The ghost lights vanished. The arms around him loosened but didn't release. He took a breath, let it out, and stared at the emptiness in front of him. "There is no excuse for an excuse," he said aloud. "This isn't a betrayal, so stop making Kouran the villain. It's unfair to her memory. There are things we must cling to and things we must release." He pressed his hands to the ones clasped around his waist, the ones he still knew by touch alone, despite all the years between them. He felt a tear slide to his chin, but it was one of relief, not regret. "Let her go, Houjun."

The hands released him and he turned, not at all surprised to find that there was no one there. The ghost lights reappeared to hover around him and below him. He looked into the waters at the faintly rippling image of himself, then crouched beside the pool, staring at his layman's tunic and breeches, his hair grown long again. "Keep it simple, hm? Fair enough." He flicked at the spot that reflected his scar, smiling to himself. "D'you know, I should be able to see out of both eyes when I dream, but these days it seems like I never do. What do you suppose that means no da?"

"You really want my answer?"

He didn't look up, instead watching the water as Kiori's reflection stepped up beside his. Chichiri chuckled. "Seeing as how this is my dream, it's really just my answer, isn't it? But I told you already. I like listening to you no da. Go ahead."

Her reflection crouched beside him, chin in hands. "Well, if I had to guess, then I'd say it means you're sort of comfortable with it. Like that scar is a part of who you are now, so it's with you all the time." She smiled. "That sound about right?" He nodded slowly. "Two points for me. Now it's your turn to answer." Her reflection looked at him, though he kept his eyes on the water. "Can you wear the other scars as comfortably as this one?"

"I think I already do, no da."

"Then why are you so afraid of me?"

He stared at his hands as they clasped and unclasped each other. "Because someday I'd lose you."

"Minus two points." He looked back at the reflection, surprised to find her smiling, teasing, like she was making fun of him. "You're losing me right now. You chose to lose me, in fact, so that can't be the part that scares you the most. It's got to be the part before it. The falling part. That's why you keep building walls, finding all these reasons you can't be with me instead of thinking about whether or not you want to be. That's why you wouldn't answer Ritsuka's question." Her reflection leaned forward, peering at him. "Well? Am I right?"

"I... I think so, yes."

"Two more points for me, then. You ask the next one."

His hands twisted. "Can you promise me that this wouldn't all fall apart, like it did the first time?"

"No." Her reflected hand extended, offering him her palm. "But I promise to be honest about it. So that even if it does fall apart, days or months or even years from now, I won't try to hide it. You'll always have the truth." She laughed. "But you're such a pessimist. Try pretending for a second that it won't fall apart. That would be pretty amazing, wouldn't it?" He didn't reply. The reflection didn't withdraw its hand. "My turn again. Are you ready for this one?" His nod was small, but it was enough. She took a breath. "Are you in love with me?"

He stared at the water. Slowly his hand reached out, cupping her offered one, letting his fingers slide between her own. "Since that day in the woods, when those Takkan trackers almost caught us. I looked up at you, terrified and brave and beautiful, and... and that was it. My life didn't belong to me anymore. It was all yours."

"You've loved me for that long?"

"I think I must have no da."

The reflection gave his hand a squeeze. The smile was still a mocking one, but why wouldn't it be? The reflection had known his answer long before he'd been willing to admit it. "Well," she said, laughing, "I think this is the part where we're supposed to kiss."

"Probably."

"It's tricky, though, with this being a dream and all. In this strange way, you'd sort of be kissing yourself."

"That doesn't sound very romantic no da."

"It isn't really. So let's try a magic trick instead. Close your eye." He did as she said. The ghost lights vanished. The sloshing water went silent. Even the reflection's hand dissolved.

"Okay. Now open it again."

Chichiri stared at leaves in shadows. Fireflies flickered like ghost lights. Water lapped quietly against the pond shore. Everything looked hazy, out of focus, more like a dream than the dream itself, and for a moment he thought that he'd gone through one of those strange shifts where one scene faded to another. It took him a moment later to realize that the blur was not from dreaming but from tears.

He took off his mask and wiped his hand across his face, over both scarred and working eyes, before letting it rest against his mouth. He watched the sky through the branches, the faintly glittering constellations of passed friends and living ones alike. His other hand slid sideways, touching his unrolled scroll. He smiled...

And then he laughed, great, heaving peals of relief and joy and understanding. He let them roll on and on, across the pond and up to the heavens, each crashing laugh taking a chunk of worry and frustration and fear with it, leaving him somehow unburdened, free, careless for the first time since the war's beginning.

As the laughter trailed away and his hand slipped from his mouth to his chest, fingers rolling pleasantly across his prayer beads, he let out a deep sigh, surprised at how easy it came. "Was it really that simple no da?" he murmured around his smile. "Is all of it really that simple?"

"Of course it is," he could hear the reflection saying, teasing him yet again. "You beat the bad guys, save the country, get the girl, and live happily ever after. That is what you promised Tasuki, isn't it?"

"Happily ever..."

Chichiri sprang to his feet, grabbing his scroll and shoving it back into his kesa. He paced the shore in a giddy rush, hands gesturing to nothing, simply too excited to stay still. "I have to tell them everything. All of them, all of it. How late is it?" He looked to the moon, already high in the sky, and hissed a curse. "Late. Okay. Tomorrow then. At breakfast no da. I tell them everything. I have to. Because the key is the answer, and if they're the answer, then... And Kiori, she needs to know, I don't even know if she'll forgive me but I have to tell her, to explain, all these stupid things I've been so afraid of, all these messes I've made for us both, when all I had to do was... And Tasuki and Ritsuka, they should know too, about the legend, about everything..." He laughed. "It doesn't matter no da. We can beat it. I'm sure we can. I'm sure we can."

He stopped suddenly, whipping around to the north. He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted across the waters, the words pouring out of him as fast as his laughter had. "You hear me, Setsuka? I've figured it out, and you don't stand a chance no da! Konan, the people I love – I'm going to save it all! You don't stand a chance!"

Chichiri paused, blinking at the sudden outburst, then pressed his face into his hands and laughed again. "Suzaku help me. I really am in love no da."

oOo

"Mizu-chan."

The young Element ran a sleeve across her eyes, then turned to face her lady. Setsuka stood behind her, dressed in men's trousers, her hair tied in a tight bun. A warrior's garb. Only the necklace, its three gems glowing faintly, its lady's fingers running again and again over the green and red ones, betrayed her former finery. Mizu looked from Setsuka's clothes to her face, expecting to spot the malice she'd glimpsed the night before, but there was no spark in her mistress's eyes, no flicker of excitement or vengeance or even fear. She was dim. Tired. Sad.

Mizu watched her, sorrow ricocheting between them. "My Lady?"

"It's time. Are you ready?"

She swallowed. "I have to be."

"Then go. And hurry. I want this finished soon."

oOo

Chichiri slid the door to his room shut behind him, still smiling to himself. He snapped his fingers and the lamp beside his bed flared to life. He set his mask beside the lamp, then unclasped his kesa and slung it over the back of his chair.

He had just sat down on the bed when a breeze jolted through the room, making the lamp flicker and knocking one of the many scrolls off his nightstand. He looked to his window but it was half-open, hardly wide enough for a gust of that size to get through. Chichiri frowned and picked up the half-open scroll, eye landing on the bottom lines. It was the first scroll the group had received, with that one last riddle he still couldn't quite solve. The monk smoothed out the parchment and sat down at his desk, tracing the kanji with a finger.

"Will Konan prevail? Only time shall tell. / The answer lies within love's well." Chichiri chewed on his lip. "The key is the answer, he said, and the answer lies... where? The well might have something to do with my seishi symbol, but love's well, a well of love... what in the world is that?"

The voice of a brilliant young seishi seemed to whisper in his ear. "He doesn't see how you see or think how you think, remember, Chichiri-san? You have to read it from a new angle. And hurry! You don't have much time."

He glanced up, but of course there was no one there. He smiled grimly and looked to the scroll, his finger tapping first the kanji for love and then the one for well. He started to move back to the first but stopped, eye snapping open. "It's an inverse. Like 'weave a prayer.' It's not love's well, it's well's love!" He jerked upright, taking in a breath. "But that's—"

In a room on the other side of the palace, an Element appeared. Her feet landed silently on the wooden floorboards of the bedchamber, never once disturbing the woman in the bed and the other on the futon, but her life force was like a war drum for the monk.

"Kiori."

Chichiri's chair clattered to the floor as he stood, grabbing his staff and sprinting for the door.

oOo

Kiori had been having a pleasant enough dream, but it soon turned into a nightmare. She was trapped, unable to move, barely able to breath. A monster was clutching her in its claws, cold and hard and as unavoidable as death. She tried to shout, but no sound would escape. The creature was moving in, teeth bared—

Her eyes snapped open, but she found her reality to be little better than her dream. Kiori really couldn't move, though not because of a monster. A girl stood in front of her, bangs masking her golden eyes. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." she whispered, her crystals humming at her sides.

Kiori didn't waste time struggling. She'd felt this power once before and she knew she couldn't fight it. So she did the only thing she could: she screamed, one shrill, piercing blast before Mizu threw out a hand, snapping a coil of magic tight across her mouth. Kiori choked on the crackling power, gasping for air, watching in terrified silence as Ritsuka jerked upright, still blinking sleep from her eyes.

"Kiori?" The crystals buzzed and Ritsuka came awake in a hurry, staring with growing horror at the tendrils of magic wrapped around her friend. She tried to move but found her body frozen from the neck down, rigid as ice. Her eyes snapped from Kiori to the girl at her side. "Who are you? What the hell is this?"

Mizu kept her head down, her face shaded by her bangs. "Please don't struggle. It makes it harder for me to concentrate."

Kiori and Ritsuka's eyes met across the distance, but they could do nothing but stare helplessly, Ritsuka roaring curses, Kiori unable to do even that. The cord around her mouth tightened with each jerk of her head, and every attempt to break free only seemed to weaken her. Her chest moved in a panicked rise-and-fall as she fought for air, but already her vision was blurring, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. 'Somebody, please...'

The door slammed open and the wash of familiar power at last made Mizu look up. She had to fight back a wave of vertigo. "Houjun."

Mizu had blanketed the room in her ki, so it only took a moment's thought to snap her hold down on Chichiri as well. He struggled under the spell for a moment, then squeezed his eye shut, throwing his heart into a short, powerful sutra. A crack like the sound of lightning hitting a tree snapped through the room and the blue cords melted away from him, vanishing as quickly as they had been formed. Chichiri opened his eye again, ignoring the Element completely, his attention fixed on the unconscious woman in her grasp.

So of course he didn't see the lance of blue fire that blazed across the room, shooting straight through his throat.

There was no struggle, no jolt of pain, nothing to prove that he had been hurt at all. He simply collapsed soundlessly to the floor, his head tilted back and his limbs askew at his sides.

"Chichi—!" Ritsuka choked on the name, snapping back to face Mizu. "If he's dead—"

"No!" Mizu shrieked, crystals screaming at her sides. "It's not like that, I just—"

"Mizu-chan!" The Element stopped mid-sentence, looking to the ceiling as Setsuka's voice rang through her mind. "What's taking so long? If there's trouble then I want you home now, mission completed or no. That's an order from your lady!"

Mizu nodded once. Her eyes slid across the room one last time – to Kiori, limp in her chains – to Ritsuka, pinned to the floor, contorted with fear and rage – and finally to Chichiri, unmoving, a rag doll left forgotten in the corner. "I'm sorry," she whispered again.

oOo

"'...And then, with a hum of crystal, she and Kiori were gone.'" Keisuke swallowed hard. "End Chapter Thirty-Six."

-
Chichiri: Kiori... all this time, I've been trying to figure out myself out. And, now, when I finally have my answer, you're... No! I can't let this happen! I am not going to lose you! Setsuka, you wanted to lure me out? Then fine, here I am. And I'm going to end this.
Drawn out, separated, and pitted against friends and enemies alike, the Konan Warriors struggle to protect both their home and the people they love. But what if you can only save one? Do you make the choice? And how? Our questions are the same but our answers are our own, and the choices we make could save or ruin everything we've fought for.

The Next Episode of Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter: "Battles for a Nation – To The Center of the Labyrinth."

I won't let my past repeat itself.

End Notes
(1) Janken – I tried to make this as obvious in the description of the game as possible, but janken is just rock-paper-scissors. Long before American siblings used it to decide who had to do the dishes this week (and then, upon losing, immediately resorted to "best two of three" and "I'll arm-wrestle you for it instead"), several East Asian countries were playing the game and countless variations of it as a means of getting good 'n' hammered with their friends. I would imagine, of course, that their children were playing it to decide who had to do the dishes that week as well.

(2) Pleasure Houses and Courtesans - This scene is historically accurate but admittedly non-canonical. Watase has made it known several times in both FY and FY:GK that she has nothing but distaste for the brothel system of medieval China, generally portraying it as little more than sex slavery. And to an extent she's correct, but I feel it's unfair of her to take such a harsh stance against it. True, few women willingly became courtesans, but few women willingly became minister's wives or farmer's wives or merchant's wives, either. Life in a low-level brothel was harsh, but mid-tier or top-tier courtesans often lived quite comfortably. Many were renowned for their beauty and talent (some of China's top female poets were courtesans, in fact) , and more than a few eventually became second wives or consorts for respectable ministers or businessmen. As courtesans, they experienced a great deal more freedom than the cloistered gentlewomen of the day (and yes, some could and did turn down distasteful customers), and most were given better educations than much of the peasant class. Some were even able to live independently, making a living off their poetry, music, or as the madame of their own top-tier tea or pleasure house.
Er, excuse the history lesson. (sweat) My point is, I know I diverged from Watase, but I did so in the interest of preserving historical accuracy. I'm not really trying to make a politico-feminist-anything statement. The reader is welcome to draw their own conclusions about the courtesan system; I just wanted to give you the full picture.

(3) Rakugo – A kind of traditional Japanese stand-up (or "sit-down," as is the case) comedy, revolving around a single storyteller with minimal props and a wide array of clever puns. I haven't read up on it recently enough to tell you more than that, but I'd encourage you to search YouTube for some subtitled or English performances if you're curious to learn more. Some of it really is quite funny.

Ye Olde Author's Note: September 24th, 2010
Ni-hao, minna-san!
So I kind of love this chapter, and I hope that everyone else does, too. Almost everything in it is either new or so majorly revised as to be unrecognizable from the original scene, and I'm just so much happier with this version. The Ritsuka-Chichiri scene may be one of my favorites in FY:NC - I love how straightforward she is, and how she's one of the only people who can actually get a rise out of our mellow monk. She's very good at pushing buttons, but I think she also has a knack for forcing people to confront some unpleasant truths about themselves. You sort of get the feeling she's a lot more perceptive than she lets on, you know? Anyway, she lays some truth on us this chapter (insert hipster snapping here), which leads to my second favorite scene, the Chichiri dream sequence. Majorly revamped, but in what I hope is a rather poetic way. And Ahn Trio's "Lullaby" really adds to the mood, so I hope ya'll were listening while you were reading.

I'm fresh out of character profiles, so I thought I'd throw out some Fun Facts for the last few author's notes (just three more to go! Can you stand the excitement?). Just some random tidbits for the curious reader.

FY:NC Fun Facts: "In The Original Outline..."
-FY:NC was 16 chapters long, an extremely linear, 2-dimensional story line that had almost nothing to do with the Elements, Hataku, the RAFT, or even Akai, Houki and Koji. It was, simply put, a love story, and a rather straightforward one at that. All the battles have stayed basically the same, and the format for the first 13-16 episodes of the current version follow the original outline pretty closely. Past that, characters and events started gaining a mind of their own. Needless to say I like the complexities of this version a whole lot better.
-Akai was supposed to die in the battle with Sora. She was going to give the Holy Sword to Aoi before she died, then Aoi was going to pass it on to Ritsuka because "he didn't feel worthy" carrying it. I flirted with the idea of flipping it so that Aoi was the one who was killed in the battle, but I honestly didn't know which of them was going to make it out alive until I actually wrote the scene.
-I mentioned this briefly before, but Hataku's role as "Takkan turn coat" almost belonged to Tsuki. I was going to have him survive Chichiri's attack, be taken in by the Konan Warriors, and eventually join their cause, swearing vengeance for his brother against Setsuka (or something dramatic like that). So why didn't I? Because Setsuka wound up being more complex than your cardboard cutout villain-lady, and I needed a "turn coat" who could reflect that complexity... And also because Hataku is just way more interesting. (laughs)

And finally, I really should remind you to Never Edit at 1am, particularly when you've got a scene that takes place in a pleasure house:
—Ritsuka's pointing fingers couldn't decide where they wanted to go, so finally she just stuffed them in her lap, forcing her body to stillness even as she gaped at the smiling courtesan. "But how?"-Me: "Well you see, Ritsuka, when a man and a woman love each other very much... or when they're lonely or horny or just kinda drunk – they get together and" (begins miming the bone dance) "awww yea-ah..."
—At the Dove, after Ritsuka hugs Tasuki, the original line read, "Tasuki went stiff" – and then your Very Mature Author shouted, "Yeah he did, ow-ow!" and spent about five full minutes laughing hysterically. Once I wiped the tears from my eyes, I decided that I probably ought to change the line to read "Tasuki went rigid" and save us all a lot of unnecessary gutter-thoughts.

Thanks to Amaya, IttyBittyTidbits, LordAxelLover, antyem, Ayriel, VirginiaWolfe, and The White Phoenix for leaving some of the most amusing reviews I've ever had the pleasure to read (I think I laughed out loud a couple times), and I hope to hear all your frustrated snarls after this one, too! :)

See you in October!—Dee