Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter

by It's The Dee

Two young women stumble upon an ancient book - but wait! This isn't the ShiJiTenChiSho! What is this new book, and what do Tasuki & Chichiri have to do with it? Final Episode: "Till we meet again..."

37. Episode Thirty Seven: Battles for a

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: This episode has a running soundtrack pretty much from start to finish, so prepare yourself, Kakarot! (Ah-hem) "Belladonna's Snare" for the early Setsuka scenes, "Shadow of Doubt" for all the early-to-middle Mizu scenes, OLIVIA's "Stars Shining Out" for when the swords start swingin', and then go ahead and cue up "Determination" right after Chichiri gets his surprise visitors. You can let that one play through twice if you'd like. Finally, "Destiny -Shukumei-" functions as the ending theme. Start playing it when... uh... (trying-to-think-of-a-way-to-explain-without-spoiling-anything, and failing)... oh, just whenever it seems appropriate to you. It's a shame this site won't let me insert links so you could cue up the music easier. Alas. Well, everything's posted on my blog, as usual, so if you're up to the challenge you might wanna head over there and get those files ready to go.
...Of course if that's too much for you, the abridged, vocals-only version goes: "Stars Shining Out" for the fight scenes and "Destiny -Shukumei-" for the ending sequence. Maybe that'll be a little easier for all you minimalists out there. :)

Previously on Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter...
-Houki met her Element, Tsuchi (aka Fuyuko), who begged her to kill him. However, after an impassioned speech from Akai, Tsuchi decided to continue fighting Setsuka. Houki and Akai promised to do all they could to help him break free of his lady's control.
-Chichiri at last confronted his own mixed fears and hopes, acknowledging his feelings about Kiori, but no sooner had the revelation been made than Mizu appeared in the room where Kiori and Ritsuka were sleeping. Chichiri rushed to stop her, but Mizu halted him with a spell, leaving him crumpled on the floor before she fled, taking Kiori with her.

In honor of the stage play version of Fushigi Yuugi coming out this week in Japan, I hereby declare this the musical episode of FY:NC! Featuring such classics as "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" (Tasuki and Ritsuka), "That Face," (Chichiri and Kiori), "Hard-Knock Life" (the RAFT), and the highly ironic "Popular" (Uh...Setsuka?). It's toe-tappin fun for the whole family!
(...Okay, not really. But if this actually was a TV show, I would have totally done a musical episode. Not even joking.)

---

-Episode Thirty-Seven: Battles for a Nation-
To the Center of the Labyrinth

Keisuke wasted no time discussing the previous chapter with his friends. He didn't bother offering the book to one of them. He didn't even pause to take a breath, but just flipped to the next page and hurriedly began: "'As soon as the young Element disappeared, the spell she had cast on the room vanished as well. The remaining warrior wasted no time in seeking help, never once doubting that her companions' lives were in grave danger...'"

oOo

Ritsuka was halfway out the room's doorway when she slammed straight into Tasuki's chest, nearly knocking them both to the floor. He caught her arm before she tumbled, pulling her back to her feet. "What's goin' on? I felt a jolt, like 'Chiri'd been hurt, but—"

"They took her!" Ritsuka shrieked, tears already streaming down her face. "They took her and I was right here and I let it happen again! I couldn't do anything, just sat there useless while that little..." She choked on a sob, pointing over her shoulder at the crumpled monk. "That Element did something to him, I don't know what, he's breathing and I think he's awake only I can't get anything out of him, and what the hell took you so long to get here, we've got to get a doctor, we've got to save Kiori, we've got to..."

She tried to brush past him but he kept a grip on her arm, tugging her to a stop. "Breathe, Red. You said the Element took Kiori?" She jerked a nod. Tasuki's lips tightened. "Okay." He released her, stepping back out the door. "Doctor's farthest away so that's where I'll go. You go back t'the men's quarters, wake up Ran-shogun an' Hataku, let 'em know we're under attack. I don't think Setsuka's gonna come straight at us but we gotta be ready, so you make sure they take this seriously, get everyone in position ta defend th' city."

She wobbled another nod and turned to go. Tasuki caught her shirt, spinning her around to face him. "Hey. Calm down. If they took Kiori then that means they don't want her dead, an' if it was Mizu than that means 'Chiri's gonna be okay too." She opened her mouth to say something else, but he pinched his fingers together in front of her lips, miming for silence. "Work first. Panic attack later."

"Okay." She sounded almost composed when she said it. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

He grinned. "That's more like it. Now get goin'. You 'n' me got some work ta do."

oOo

Ritsuka returned to Kiori's room with Hataku limping a step behind her, unsurprised to find Tasuki and the head doctor Yukeda already there and attending to Chichiri. Yukeda had propped Chichiri up against the wall, his back flat on the wood and his head lolling listlessly to the side. The doctor had a hand on Chichiri's wrist, checking his pulse. He didn't look up when they came in, but Tasuki did, frowning at Hataku. "Th' defenses?"

"Are being handled by the real shogun," he said. "Ritsuka said there was an attack. Setsuka—"

"Is too chickenshit ta do it herself," Tasuki spat. "Gods damned kidnappin', an' whatever she done ta Chichiri." Hataku opened his mouth to say more, but the bandit waved it away. "We won't know nothin' 'till 'Chiri wakes up an' tells us where th' hell they took Kiori. I'll be sure ta tell ya when there's Takkan Lady ta fry, but fer now we need ya helpin' Ran-shogun. Ain't no way this ain't a trap, an' I don't want us caught with our pants around our ankles when it hits. Go."

The two stared at each other for a moment, a silent fight for authority, but Hataku was not blind to reason. "Very well. But you will keep me informed. If that woman attacks—"

"Yeah, yeah, you 'n' me c'n roll dice ta see who stabs her first. Not really my main concern right now, y'know?"

Hataku's eye slid over to Chichiri. He softened. "Of course. Keep me updated on that as well." He offered a short bow and hurried out of the room again, though neither warrior paid him much attention. Tasuki was too busy watching Yukeda, and Ritsuka was too busy watching Tasuki.

"Well?" she said at last. "What's wrong with him?"

Yukeda sighed, sitting back on his heels. "Nothing, as far as I can tell. His pulse and breathing are slow but not abnormal. Nothing bleeding, nothing broken... I'd think he was just unconscious save for the fact that he isn't." He pointed to Chichiri's hand, the fingers jerking awkwardly but not randomly, moving in a direct if not stuttering line towards his knee. "His eyelid twitches when I ask him to respond, and he's been trying to move that damned hand this entire time. Heaven knows why."

Ritsuka grinned. "Heaven and me, maybe. Here."

She knelt down beside the doctor, grabbing Chichiri's hand and slapping it against his knee. She looked back to Tasuki expectantly, but he had already snapped away, listening to something neither of the other two could hear. After a moment he cocked an eyebrow, glancing back at his friend. "You sure about that?" Chichiri must have told him yes because he leaned over, pressing thumb and forefinger into the skin just above the monk's collarbone. "Okay, but you don't get ta yell at me if I screw this up."

Tasuki drew back his fingers and then plunged them into the base of Chichiri's throat, punching and twisting in one swift motion. Crimson flashed around the bandit's fingers and Chichiri jolted forward, doubling over as he choked for air. Tasuki pulled away, studying his pinched fingers with a grin, but he only had moment to admire his handiwork before Yukeda dove at him, grabbing his collar and dragging him away from Chichiri.

"That is not helping! That is the opposite of helping!"

"Nah, I think it worked."

Yukeda spluttered. "How in the gods' names is crushing his windpipe supposed to—?"

"Sensei." The croak was all Chichiri could manage before he fell into another coughing fit, but it was enough to get Yukeda to hesitate. He stopped shaking Tasuki long enough for Chichiri to glance up, a pained smile on his unmasked face. "Thanks, Tasuki. That was perfect no da. I really wasn't looking forward to being stuck that way for another hou—" He was cut off as Ritsuka slammed forward, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him tight. "R-Ritsuka...?"

Her voice muffled in his kesa. "Just because I promised to drown you doesn't mean I want you to die, okay?" He smiled weakly, but the redhead had already pulled away again, her hands resting on his shoulders. "What the hell was that, anyway?"

"A chakra block," he said, wincing as he pushed himself into a more comfortable sitting position. He moved slowly, and the others could almost hear his joints creaking in protest. "And a damn good one at that no da." (1)

"How d'you feel now?"

He rubbed at the back of his neck, grimacing another smile. "Stupid, mostly. I don't have a talent for them myself, so I assumed that Mae-chan wouldn't either no da. Serves me right for being arrogant, I suppose." His smile faltered. "She's stronger than I'd guessed. Weaker than Nakago but more versatile. Guess she gets that from her stupid teacher. I'll have to be more careful next time no da."

"Next time." Ritsuka's face darkened. "Chichiri, they took—"

"I know." She gripped his arm and he smiled. "It's all right. Did you think I'd be this calm if they had hurt her? Kiori's fine. Mae-chan took her back to the mansion no da."

"But what about—"

"Well." Yukeda stood in a swish of robes, grabbing his medicine bag and glaring down his nose at the trio. "Since it seems I am thoroughly useless, I shall return to where I am needed. Enjoy slamming your fists into each other's throats. I'm sure it will be all the rage in the medical world before long." He turned on his heel, all but leaking pomposity as he strode towards the door. He paused only long enough to glare over his shoulder, one finger pointed at the trio. "And see that you bring my assistant back safely. Sakamoto is the only good thing this idiot's war has brought me, and I'll not be losing her because of it."

And then he was gone, slamming the door in his wake. Tasuki couldn't help but grin. "He's more puffed up'n usual today. He must really be worried about her." He sobered in a hurry when he caught Ritsuka's glare. "What? I'm worried too."

"You could try acting like it," she snapped. "Setsuka has Kiori and the two of you are sitting here cracking jokes and talking about power levels like we're in some lame shounen manga! We've got to help her, rescue her, do something before they... before she's..."

"They won't hurt her," Chichiri said, surprised at his own certainty. "They don't have any reason to. She's the only one of us who isn't a threat to them no da."

Ritsuka snorted. "Yeah, 'cause I was a big freakin' threat against that Element."

"No more or less than me," he replied gently. When she looked away, Chichiri pressed a hand to her shoulder. "I spent the last ten minutes mostly paralyzed. I've had more than enough time to both panic and be reasonable, and what I've decided is that there's no need for any of us to worry no da. Kiori isn't in any danger, at least not for a while." He looked to the bandit. "But I'm not the military strategist here. Any thoughts?"

"Only that this thing screams 'trap' so loud it's makin' my ears bleed." Tasuki sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his eyes to the ceiling. "Setsuka pretty obviously wants us ta go runnin' after her. Only real question is: does she wanna attack us, or th' whole capital city?"

The seishi sat in silence for a minute, considering this. Ritsuka's head whipped back and forth between the two of them, her face growing redder by the minute. Finally she slapped her palms to her knees. "Oh c'mon, quit sitting there trying to look smart! What's there to think about? You know damn well we're gonna take the bait. I mean it's not like we can just leave Kiori out there."

Chichiri and Tasuki exchanged smiles, but Ritsuka was all earnestness as she held out her fist, glaring at first one seishi and then the other. After a moment they reached forward, clasping hands solemnly.

"Yeah, Red. We're gonna fall right th' hell inta this thing."

"I don't have much of a choice no da. I still have to give Kiori a real answer."

Ritsuka's head whipped around. "And?"

Chichiri met her with a crooked smile. "Do you even have to ask?"

Her reply was a squeal of joy. Ritsuka sprang to her feet, breaking their handshake so she could raise her fist to the ceiling. "Yossha! Team Konan is back in action. Better start tremblin', Setsuka, 'cause the power of love is gonna save the day!" She whirled back to the two seishi. "So what's the plan?"

"Simple," Tasuki said. "We go ta bed." Ritsuka face-vaulted, and even Chichiri looked startled, but the bandit went on before either could speak. "Look, 'Chiri's still recoverin' from that chakra whatsit, and it's th' middle-a th' night. We'd be fightin' in th' dark, on unknown territory, an' with our best guy draggin' his feet." He looked to Chichiri. "Setsuka can't hurt Kiori if she wants us, an' trust me, by now she really wants us. So what's th' harm in gettin' a few hours-a rest an' then headin' out at dawn?"

"No harm at all no da." Ritsuka's jaw just about hit the ground when Chichiri nodded, shoving himself creakily to his feet. "Okay. We'll meet in the stables at dawn."

The two seishi turned to go, but Ritsuka stepped in front of them, hands on hips and glare back in place. "What is with you two? Usually I'm the one who has to keep you from running off on heroic deed-a-thons." She narrowed her eyes. "This better not be more Seishi Code."

Chichiri sweatdropped. "I don't know what you're talking about no da. Tasuki's right. We're already walking into a trap. No reason to give ourselves more disadvantages than we already have no da. That makes sense, right?"

"Well, I guess so..."

"Then that's that." Tasuki grabbed Chichiri by one shoulder and Ritsuka by the other, hustling them both out of the room. "Back ta bed, then, an' hey, Red, ain't yer room next door? Did you wander in here drunk again?"

"No, Kiori asked me to stay the night because of," she caught Chichiri's eye and looked away, "stuff." She changed her mind and glared at him again. "And not just you-stuff either, so don't get a big head. War-stuff too, only she was kinda vague on that. Maybe she had a premonition about getting kidnapped or something."

Chichiri paled. He looked from Tasuki to Ritsuka. 'Don't turn away.' He took a breath. "There's something else I need to talk to you two about. You see, I—"

The bandit laughed and slapped his friend on the back, knocking the words out of him. "C'mon, 'Chiri, ya don't have ta say a word!" He winked widely at Ritsuka, keeping his arm on Chichiri's shoulder as he steered them both down the walkway. "Red 'n' me are yer pals, right? So when we rescue Kiori t'morrow, we'll be sure ta look away so you c'n give her a big kiss, all nice 'n' private-like!"

"Woo-woo!" Ritsuka crowed.

"Eh?" Chichiri tried to pull away, but Tasuki's grip just tightened further. "But that's not what I was going to—"

"Oyasumi, Red!" Tasuki called over his shoulder, all but shoving Chichiri around the corner and out of the other redhead's sight. He spoke before his friend had the chance. "C'mon, 'Chiri, th' war's almost over. Do ya really wanna go an' spoil th' endin' fer everyone?"

His eye widened. "Tasuki, you—?"

"We'll talk about it in th' mornin," he muttered, and Chichiri didn't miss the shadow that passed swiftly across his face. "Not now." He at last released his grip on the monk, shoving his clenched fists into his coat pockets. "I'm gonna give Hataku an' Ran-shogun th' full report b'fore goin' ta bed. I'll see ya at dawn. Be ready ta win this thing."

Chichiri watched, too stunned to follow, as Tasuki hurried off down the walkway. It wasn't until the bandit turned the corner that Chichiri felt a small, sad smile touch his face. "All that work just to protect Ritsuka, huh?" He chuckled softly. "Maybe there are a few thoughtful bones in your body after all no da."

oOo

The Lady of Takkan had made a few minor adjustments to her Elemental necklace, and it was now the perfect size for her to loop it around the second digit of her fingers. By curling her hand around the chain, she was able to stay in constant contact with her three remaining Elements. Setsuka studied her necklace's new fitting, flicking her wrist and twisting her arm, making sure that she could grip it in her hand without the risk of it slipping off.

Satisfied, she checked herself in the unbroken part of the mirror one last time – her hair pinned back tight, her slippers and trousers promising that she could stay light on her feet – and then swept out of her room and into the main hall. She glanced briefly at Mizu, seated on a pillow at the far side of the room, her eyes closed and her hands on her knees, before turning her attention to the unconscious Konan Warrior.

Kiori had been bound hand and foot and settled atop a molding settee, her back against the wall and her head drooping onto her chest. Setsuka studied her with a critical gaze. "So this is the woman who broke into my palace and turned one of my Elements against me? This is the woman who that seishi holds so dear?" She sniffed. "I'm a bit disappointed, not to mention ashamed."

"You can't judge people just by their outward appearance, my Lady." Mizu didn't bother to open her eyes.

Setsuka smiled. "I suppose not. How else would one explain you?" Mizu said nothing. The Lady felt her smile wilt. "Mizu-chan, please. I know you are upset about this, but..."

"It's fine, my Lady. I'm just tired. Breaking through Houjun's barrier took a lot out of me."

"Yes, but even so–"

"It's fine. I'll still be able to do what you want."

"W-well yes, but–"

She never got any further, though, because Kiori groaned, startling Element and Lady alike. They both whirled to face her, Setsuka with a smile that was almost pleasant. "Ah, so you're awake."

Kiori pushed her head away from her chest, eyelids fluttering weakly. She tried to move but groaned again, staring, puzzled, at the bonds around her wrists. A gasp shot out of her and she panicked, working on instinct as one arm jerked up and down, trying to loosen the ropes. Setsuka couldn't help but chuckle. "A valiant effort, but it's best not to struggle. Mizu-chan wove some of her power into those ropes. It would take a greater force than you possess to break them."

Kiori's head jerked up, staring wide-eyed at the Lady of Takkan. Understanding seemed to hit her at last and she nodded to herself, relaxing in her bonds but never looking away. She kept her attention on Setsuka, though if she was nervous she was careful to hide it. Rather, she seemed more curious than anything, studying the lady the way one might study a yard of cloth, trying to decide if the material was worth buying. "Setsuka-san."

"Correct – and how very polite." Setsuka offered a mocking bow. "And you, I believe, are the one known as Sakamoto Kiori, a Konan Warrior from another world, though you aren't so much a warrior as a doctor. Your closest friend is Ikido Ritsuka, you have an almost unhealthy interest in literature and fine cuisine, and you're in love with the seishi Chichiri, though you don't believe that he feels the same about you."

"You've done your homework. Chichiri said you'd been spying us." Kiori's smile was dark, a soft sorrow tinged with cynicism. "You're out of touch, though. There's no 'believe' anymore. He doesn't. Feel the same, I mean." She swallowed. "That doesn't mean he won't come for me, though. All three of them will."

"Oh, yes, I'm counting on that." Setsuka patted Kiori's cheek, sneering. "And you're wrong, by the way. He will come for you precisely because he loves you. I may have thrown away such useless feelings myself, but that does not mean I do not recognize them when I see them." She leaned down, hissing in the warrior's ear, keeping her voice low enough that Mizu could not hear. "His love will make him weak, and he will damn his nation for the sake of it. I am counting on that, too."

"Yeah? So what's your excuse?"

Setsuka jerked back, surprised by the snap in Kiori's voice. "My excuse for what?"

"For damning your nation." The warrior stared a challenge at her. "You'd have ruined Takkan if the RAFT hadn't brought you down, the same way you've ruined everything else you've touched." Kiori nodded to Mizu. "You'll ruin her, too, if you keep this up." Setsuka paled. The Element said nothing. "So I don't know, maybe you're right. Maybe Chichiri would be willing to risk Konan to save mine or Tasuki's or Ritsuka's lives. But at least he'd have a reason. What's yours?" Kiori's lip curled contemptuously. "You can throw whatever traps you want at us, but don't you dare look down on us. We aren't the ones who've lost everything."

The lady wobbled a laugh that tried to find scorn but could only find uncertainty. "W-well. Not yet, anyway."

"Setsuka-sama." Both women turned to find Mizu crossing the room, though she refused to look at either of them. Her green crystal floated just ahead of her, reflecting an image from Eiyou. "Things are moving in Konan. We should get started too."

"Ah, of course." Setsuka smoothed down her tunic, forcing composure. "Whenever you are ready."

The Element didn't respond, but just laced her hands, murmured a sutra beneath her breath, and then drew them apart again. A thin sliver of blue ki trailed between them like thread. Mizu stood on tiptoe so she could wrap one end of it around Setsuka's neck, and then bent down so she could do the same to Kiori. She beckoned Setsuka forward until all three were huddled over the settee. Kiori scooted back as far into as she could go, trying to keep her distance from the spell. It did her little good, though, as Mizu touched first Kiori's forehead, whispering, "Mei kechi kitsu mou," and then drawing her finger from Kiori's head first to her own and then on to Setsuka. (2)

"Bind."

Kiori groaned as her forehead pounded like – it had a heartbeat? it was being struck with a hammer? – but the pain was gone before she could name it. When she opened her eyes, the blue thread between the three had vanished, leaving them staring at each other. For the first time since she'd woken, Kiori tasted fear on her tongue. "What did you do to me?"

Setsuka patted her cheek again. "Silly girl. If we told you, it'd ruin the surprise. Now for the next part..."

She pulled a pouch from her tunic and turned it upside down, dropping a dun-colored pellet into her palm. She whispered a spell and tossed it into the air, letting the ki-cloaking dust cover her. With that finished she returned her attention to the lone warrior, offering her another low, mocking bow. "Well, I must be off. There's a rogue Element I need to chastise. If you ask politely, perhaps Mizu-chan will let you watch him die... though I somehow doubt you'll live to see the finale." She raised herself again, sneer firmly back in place. "Enjoy losing everything, Konan Warrior."

She turned to go, but Kiori's voice stopped her. "You can stop trying to scare me. I'm not afraid of you anymore." Setsuka glanced back at her, eyebrow cocked, looking more amused than anything. Kiori took it as encouragement. "I used to be. Then I started learning about you, from the RAFT and Hataku, and I wasn't sure what to think." She tilted her head. "But now that I've met you, I think I finally get it. You're not worth fearing. You're not even worth hating. You're just..." She searched for the right word and struck it like a bull's-eye. "Pitiful."

Setsuka backhanded her, striking so hard that her nails left welts along Kiori's cheek. Kiori's head snapped sideways and she gasped, blinking back unwanted tears, but when she looked up again there was triumph in her eyes. "See? Now you're the one afraid of me. Isn't it funny how that works?"

The shaking lady whirled, striding quickly across the room. "Mizu-chan," she snapped, fighting to keep the tremor from her voice. "I'm leaving now. Please take care of yourself. I hope for the sake of your sanity that we drain this bitch soon."

She was halfway to the door when Kiori spoke again, her voice following the lady like an angry ghost. "Hataku-san can't hate you either. Were you afraid of him, too? Is that why you tried to murder the man you loved?"

Setsuka never answered. She just shimmered silver and vanished, using Tsuki's stolen powers to take her from the mansion to a glade north of Eiyou. She stumbled into the shade of a oak, pressing her back to the wood and her hands to either side of her necklace, rolling the gems between them, trying to draw strength from their warmth.

"Foolishness," she hissed. "Weakness," she spat. "There is only power, only victory, only fear and if you cannot be that then you are the weakness and I have to kill it, I have to, I can't let those painful clutching grasping weak things back in, I won't allow it, not from that bitch warrior, not from Mizu-chan, not from..."

Her hands slowed until they were still, clasped around her gently pulsing necklace. She looked up and her face was drawn tight, eyes squinted against tears and lips pulled back in a snarl of lonely agony.

The rest was a whisper, but the wonder was that she said it at all.

"...from the man I love."

And slowly, something already cracked at last began to break.

oOo

Thirty minutes after Chichiri had said goodnight to Tasuki he was out of his room and on his way to the palace stables. The monk carried his staff over his shoulder and his amulet looped around his neck, casting glances every so often back at the palace's sleeping quarters.

"I'm sorry Tasuki, Ritsuka," he murmured aloud before letting his thoughts turn inward. 'I want you there with me but I just can't risk it, not when I know what might happen no da. I'll figure out a way to defeat Setsuka and save Kiori on my own.'

Chichiri reached the stables in silence. He whispered a few quick requests to the one stable boy on night duty, then helped to saddle the horse Rin, who had by now seen far more of the Elemental War than she would have liked.

"All ready," the boy said, giving the horse a quick pat before turning to Chichiri. "Though, uh, with all due respect, can't you just use some seishi trick to zap yourself there in a hurry?"

"I'm going to need all my seishi tricks tonight," he whispered back, offering the boy a smile and a few copper coins. "Can't waste any of them on a little thing like zapping no da."

He led his horse out of the stables and bid the boy a good night. Chichiri waited until the doors had closed behind him before at last acknowledging the presence beneath the awning. "Tasuki, what are you doing here no da?"

The bandit stepped into the moonlight, grinning. "Doncha think I oughta be th' one askin' that question?" He set his arms across his chest, and despite the hard glint in his eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Damn, but I know you too well."

"I guess you do, no da."

"You always gotta try goin' it alone, doncha? But ya still haven't figgered out that bein' a seishi means ya can't do nothin' alone. I've always come with ya, an' as long's I'm alive I always will." He flashed a thumbs-up. "After all, someone's gotta keep yer dumb ass from gettin' killed, na?"

"What about Ritsuka?" Chichiri glanced around, half-expecting the other redhead to pop up from behind the bannister. "Aren't you worried about leaving her here by herself no da?"

Tasuki glanced away, muttering under his breath, "'Course I'm worried about her. Why else d'ya think I want her t'stay b'hind? Why else d'ya think I made up that crap about Kiori bein' safe 'til mornin'? Shit, 'Chiri, I know better'n that, but I couldn't let Red think it. Couldn't let her come along, knowin' what I do."

"Tasuki..."

The bandit cut him off. "I know what's gonna happen t'night, all right? I've sorta had a hunch ever since I killed Taiyou, and now I think I got it figured out."

"There's no guarantee—"

"Nah, but there's a damn good chance. I know that. An'..." He took a breath. "An' I'm ready fer it. But if I gotta go, then I wanna choose how it happens. None-a this Kaji the Element gettin' killed by a Konan Warrior bullshit. I ain't gonna let some legend make my answers for me." He clapped Chichiri on the shoulder. "So I'm comin' with ya. You save Kiori, get through ta Mae-chan, an' I'll do what I can against Setsuka. Hold her off. Kill her, even if I gotta get killed, too. I'm gonna die protectin' my friends, not fightin' against 'em."

Silence clung to the air, and for a moment Chichiri could do nothing but stare, touched and horrified and terribly, achingly proud of the seishi brother standing in front of him. He tilted his head for a moment, studying Tasuki with a quiet smile – and then, to the bandit's surprise, Chichiri stepped forward and pulled him into an embrace.

"Arigatou," he said quietly. "You've always been there for me, both in battle and out of it. I've come to depend on you for that, more than I think you realize – and maybe more than I'd realized, too. I'm so grateful for what you've done for me, so proud of the man you've become, and I am deeply, deeply honored to be able to call you my friend.

"After that night ten years ago, the night of that awful flood... for so long after that, it felt like I had to spend every day just trying to put myself back together no da. I thought I had finished, that I'd found all the pieces again, but recently I've come to realize that there were things I was still missing, things that I couldn't find on my own." His voice hitched and Tasuki found himself struggling with a lump as well. "You and Kiori... you've given me back something I thought I'd lost forever. And I can't thank you enough for that."

"H-hey, c'mon, Chichiri..."

He went on as if he hadn't heard. "I love both of you so much. I don't know if I ever told you that, and I know I never told Kiori that, but it's true no da. I'd do anything to keep the two of you safe. That's all that matters to me anymore." The bandit didn't notice as one of Chichiri's hands lifted from his back and shifted into a one-handed mudra for containment. "Which is why," he broke his hold, glowing crimson, "I have to do this alone."

The light spread from monk to bandit, but when Tasuki tried to move forward he found himself frozen to the spot, trapped as easily as Mizu had trapped Ritsuka. His head jerked up again, watching desperately, frantically as Chichiri turned and mounted his horse, one hand still twisted to keep Tasuki in place. He kept his head turned away and his mind on his spell, so neither could see the grief stretched across the other one's face.

"Chichiri, dammit! No! This ain't how it's s'posed ta work!"

The monk didn't reply. He just kicked his horse into a gallop, clattering down the path and toward the city gates. Tasuki struggled under the spell, his hands balled in knots, his shoulders clenched tight to his neck, but he was helpless to do anything but stare, and curse, and beg his best friend not to die again.

"Gods damn it, Chichiri! I ain't losin' another aniki, you hear me?" Frustrated tears hit his eyes but he squeezed them away, turning them into screams. "It's suicide ta fight Setsuka alone! Come back here! CHICHIRI!"

oOo

Setsuka, necklace gripped tight, held her breath as Chichiri rode past her hiding spot, thankful for Kaze's pill magic and terrified that he would know she was there regardless. He didn't, of course, and as soon as the monk was out of sight Setsuka took a deep breath, wiping a thin line of sweat from her brow.

"Step one," she whispered to herself, "gather your strength. No sense in taking any risks." The Lady's fingers curled around her three gems. All it took was a thought, and then blue, red, and green power streamed from the gems, glowing across her fingers before merging with her own spirit. "Now, I wonder which I shall exhaust first?"

oOo

Houki sat in the Takkan palace's library, palm pressed to her forehead and eyes sliding back and forth across a thick text on life force and chakra manipulation. She paused to rub at her aching neck, heaving a sigh and pressing her hand against her eyes.

"This is hopeless," she thought aloud. "I do not even know what I am searching for, only that I am certain I have read it before. Think, Houki. All those years hiding in the palace libraries must have taught you something that could help the poor boy."

She was about to return to the text when the door slammed open. Akai stood in the frame, panting, her face ashen. "Houki-sama," she gasped. "It's Fuyuko-kun. Something's started."

"Gods." The empress snapped her book shut. She tucked it under her arm and hurried out the door, Akai leading at a nervous, twitchy pace. "What's happening?"

"She's draining him again." Akai swallowed. "Faster this time, though. Like maybe she's decided that she doesn't need him anymore."

"Were you able to learn anything else from him? About how she does it?"

"He says it's like when you open a sluice gate and let the water drain into a separate channel. That's the best he could explain it, though." Akai bit her lip. "If only Chichiri-san were here. I bet he'd know how to break Setsuka's control, or at least how to put up a barrier between her and Fuyuko-kun."

Houki stopped so suddenly that it took Akai a moment to realize she was moving forward alone. She glanced back, watching the empress's pinched lips and tight eyebrows. "Akai," she said at last. "I may have an idea."

oOo

Chichiri released his hold on Tasuki as soon as he was within sight of the Eiyou city gates. The bandit seishi was mounted on his own horse not a minute after that, taking the twisting palace paths and the city roads at the fastest trot he could manage. He gritted his teeth, his thoughts clattering along at a pace frantic enough to match the clop of his horse's hooves.

'Gods damn it, Chichiri. You never stopped me from comin' with ya b'fore. Ta Kutou, ta Miaka's world... hell, even that night with Hikou, ya never once made me stay b'hind. So why now? Are ya really that worried about me?' Tasuki couldn't help but smile. 'Idiot. When're you gonna start worryin' about yer own skin fer once?'

He had to pull to a halt at the city gates, nodding to the figure of a gatekeeper standing in the shadows. "Glad ta see yer on duty. I got someplace ta go, but be sure ta lock it tight behind me."

"That's gonna be kinda hard to do, seeing as how I'm coming with you."

Tasuki's eyes widened as Ritsuka stepped into the moonlight, Holy Sword strapped to her side and a cat's grin on her lips. He sighed, surprised to find that he wasn't at all surprised. "Red, what th' hell're you doin' here?"

"Hoping to hitch a ride, and if that doesn't work I'm thinking of becoming a stowaway." He waited for a better answer. She met him with an eye roll. "Oh, come on. You're a terrible actor, and Chichiri isn't much better. I saw right through that little 'let's meet at dawn' act. What do you think I am, stupid?"

"That's one-a those questions I ain't s'posed ta answer, isn't it?"

She ignored him, setting hand to forehead and pretending to scan the streets. "Say, where is ol' monk-chan anyway? I figured the two of you'd come out together."

Tasuki looked away. "Chichiri... left already. He forced me ta stay behind."

"He pulled a Lone Wolf, huh? Man, that guy can be really annoying."

Tasuki glared at her as she grabbed his horse's saddle, scrambling on until she was seated behind him. "An' just what d'you think yer doin'?"

"Helping," she said matter-of-factly. "If we want to save Kiori then we're going to need more than brute seishi force. You're gonna need little ol' me, the brains of the operation." She snatched Tasuki's tessen out of its sling and shook it at him. "And if you even think about telling me to stay behind..."

He opened his mouth to argue, but snapped it shut in a hurry. "Fine, fine. We ain't got time ta argue about this anyway. Now what'd you do with th' actual gatekeeper?"

"Oh, he's right up there. Jin-san!" At her cry, a Konan soldier hurried out of the gatehouse, clambering down the steps as fast as he could manage. "I told him he couldn't open the gates unless I asked him to. Good thing you let me come along, or we both would've been stuck here." Ritsuka frowned, considering this while Jin worked to unlock the gate. "Hey, it's okay for all of us to leave the palace, right? I mean, Setsuka and Mizu couldn't take over the city just with the two of them."

"Th' palace guard'll be all right. Ran-shogun's really come inta his own these past couple months, an' he'll have Hataku around if he needs any advice."

"Oh, right." Ritsuka giggled nervously. "Hatchan's going to be mad at us for fighting Setsuka without him, isn't he?"

"Maybe, but I ain't takin' no chances. I want him here as our last line of defense. If we survive this thing, he's more'n welcome ta grumble at me fer ditchin' him." As Jin pulled the gate open, Tasuki nodded his thanks and rode out. Ritsuka, tessen still in hand, hugged herself to him as he broke into a canter. The two rode in silence for a moment, then Tasuki took a breath. "Hey, Red. Speakin'-a fightin' Setsuka... c'n you promise me somethin'?"

"For you, my dear Tasuki-chan, anything!"

His reply was not nearly as lighthearted. "Stay outta th' fightin', okay? Help t'rescue Kiori 'r whatever, but leave Setsuka ta me an' Chichiri. She's got Taiyou's shields, Tsuki's teleportation, Kaze's quickness an' Sora's skill with a sword. Yer tough, but you ain't gods-chosen. I want you as far away from her as possible."

"But Tasuki-chan..."

"Red. Please."

He glanced over his shoulder so he could look her in the eye. Ritsuka was struck dumb by how worried he looked – and none of that worry, she realized with a rush of blood to her cheeks and a flood of ice to her stomach, was for himself. She looked down, hugging him tighter and pressing her face into his back. "Fine. I promise."

"Good. Now hang on tight. I'm gonna see jus' how fast our guy here c'n run." He glanced down and realized that Ritsuka still had his tessen in one of her hands. "And would'ja give that back already?"

"But I might need it for self-defense. Wouldn't want me to be helpless against the might of Setsuka, wouldja now?"

"You got th' Holy Sword!"

"Details, details."

"Oh, fine! I'll let ya hang onta it 'till we get t'Chichiri, but then I want it back!"

"Aw, arigatou Tasuki-chan!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

oOo

Hataku watched from the wall top as the single horse rode out the gates, galloping hard across the Konan fields. "You'll keep me informed, hm?" He snorted, then looked to Ran, who was directing the night watchmen into position. "Shogun-sama, it seems I've some business to handle outside the city. Can you manage without me?"

The younger man paled for an instant, but a moment later he had his lips set in a line. He bowed low. "Of course. Thank you for all of your help. Oh, and please," Ran reached for a pile of firecrackers that sat beside the guardhouse, grabbing one and handing it to Hataku, "take this as well. We use them to signal one another at night. If you run into any trouble, don't hesitate to alert us. I'll send men out to find you."

"And doctors."

"And doctors, though let us hope there will be no need of them." Ran bowed again. "May Suzaku watch over you tonight."

"You as well." Hataku made one last, brief sweep of the watchmen, then, satisfied that they were as prepared as they would ever be, he turned on his good leg and limped his way down the stairs, hurrying as best as he could for the palace stables.

'Setsuka... if you're going to die tonight, then I intend to be there when it happens.' Hataku's face darkened, but his pace never slowed. 'No matter how much it'll kill me to do it.'

oOo

Kiori tugged her wrists apart, trying to give herself a little wiggle room, but the bonds were too tight even for that. She flexed her numb fingers and toes, then looked over to the young Element at the far side of the room. Mizu had her hands clasped and her eyes closed, but the dent in her forehead told Kiori that she wasn't simply resting. The air hummed with so much energy that it made Kiori's head ache, and the soft pulse between her eyebrows wasn't helping things either.

At last the silence was too much for her. "Mae-chan? What's going on?"

The Element said nothing for another long minute. But then she opened her eyes, turning them slowly to face Kiori. "It's finished."

"What is?"

"The barrier. And the chain."

"I don't know what you're talking about. If you're going to keep me here, can't you at least tell me what you're doing – to me, and to my friends?"

"I wove a barrier around the mansion and double-coated it across the entrance. Taking it down will be tough, 'cause if I do it wrong the whole place could collapse, but it'll keep anybody from coming in." She spoke so indirectly that it took Kiori a minute to realize Mizu was answering her questions. "And the chain..." She looked to the empty wall. "That's for you, me, and Setsuka-sama."

"That spell you did earlier," Kiori whispered. "But what—?"

"It isn't cast a lot," Mizu went on, her tone a weary monotone. She tugged sadly at her robe, so similar to Chichiri's, that she wore looped around her shoulders. "Houjun told me I should only use it in an emergency, 'cause it can be really dangerous, but I guess this counts... I'll be saving him, after all..."

Kiori tried to keep the edge out of her voice. "My friends. What's Setsuka got planned for them?"

"They're going to die, of course. First Tasuki. Then Ritsuka. Probably Hataku-sama after that. If the fight is over fast then you might live through it, but it's pretty unlikely. Setsuka-sama really doesn't like you right now. And once that's over..." Mizu shrugged. "I don't know. We can't take Konan like this. Takkan's unorganized enough at this point that we could maybe win it back, but..." She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I just have to do what she says."

"And Chichiri?" she pressed. "Are you going to let Setsuka kill him, too? Are you going to help her kill him?"

"Houjun will survive. Setsuka-sama promised me that much."

"And you believed her? Mae-chan, think about it for a second. How could Setsuka possibly let Chichiri survive? If she attacks us then he's sure to go after her. Even if she figures out a way to kill us it's not like he'll just roll over and let Konan be taken."

"I'll find a way to explain it to him."

"Explain what? That you helped murder his friends and ransack his nation?" Mizu curled in on herself. Kiori's voice softened, just slightly. "Look, I know Setsuka's been manipulating you. She's probably told you that we're the bad guys, but that's not true at all. We just... we're just trying to protect our home, is all."

"Don't you think I know that?" Mizu's voice was hard, filled with a lead that Kiori knew she couldn't budge. "I'm not so stupid that I can't tell the difference between right and wrong." Her eyes closed again. "But it doesn't matter. I don't have a choice. My loyalty in exchange for his life. That was the deal. So even if it's a long shot, it's still the best one I have. This is the only way I can protect them both. I'm sorry."

"Mae-chan..."

The girl's head shot up as if listening to a voice Kiori couldn't hear. After a moment she nodded, turning back towards her captive. Her eyes were dull, empty, filled with the same lead as her voice. Mizu was sinking and, to Kiori's horror, she wasn't even trying to stay afloat. "It's time."

oOo

Setsuka spotted the bandit and woman riding hard across the plains. She smiled, shimmering once again with Tsuki's silver ki. The Lady of Takkan gripped the three gems in her hand and applied even deeper pressure to all of them. "It's time. Here's the moment you've waited for, my rogue Element."

oOo

Something tore from the base of Kiori's neck to her forehead, and she gasped as her vision flashed white. It wasn't until she opened her eyes and found the world tilted on its side that she realized she had blacked out. The pain had faded to a dull thud, filling her ears with cotton and her eyes with fog, but she wriggled her way back into a sitting position all the same, peering through the gloom at Mizu's tense back.

"What the hell did you do to me?" she demanded, surprised by the sandpaper in her voice.

Mizu didn't turn to look at her. "I told you. It's a chain. Setsuka only just started using it. It hurts me, too." A shudder rippled through her shoulders, but she kept her voice steady. "Anyway, you should save your strength. You only have so much left."

"So much lef..." Kiori felt a bubble of fear press against her chest. She turned her attention back to her bonds, struggling helplessly against the ropes. She spoke as she fought, trying to ignore the pulse behind her eyelids and the sudden heaviness in her limbs. "You can still stop this," she hissed, half-pleading, half-scolding. "Chichiri's probably the nicest person I know, and he loves you, Mae-chan, he really does, but even he couldn't forgive this. Even he couldn't love a murderer."

"No," she said, and this time Kiori thought she heard a sob in the word. "But at least he'll be alive."

"And if he comes for me? Then what? Would you fight him then, Mae-chan?"

"He's already coming," she said. "That was part of the plan. But I won't have to fight him. He'll never get inside – my barrier's too strong, even for him. I made sure of that."

"But what if—"

"It doesn't matter anyway." And this time Kiori knew she heard grief choking the ends of the Element's words. "I can't stop it now." Mizu buried her face in her palms, composure at last giving way to guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to do this... but... but..."

She dissolved into silent weeping, her shaking back the only sign that she was crying at all. Kiori opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it. 'Nothing I say would help anyway. Chichiri's the only one who could get through to her now.' She felt her eyes drooping and bit down hard on her own tongue, forcing herself to stay awake. She renewed her efforts on her wrists, ignoring the chafe of the rope and her growing weariness, as if a day of work had been dragged out of her in minutes. 'Chichiri, please hurry. Mae-chan and I are both counting on you.'

oOo

Chichiri rode across the Konan plains, urging his mount on even harder once the mansion was in his sights. 'There's Mae-chan... and Kiori...' He frowned. 'She's weakening. Fast. What's going on in there no da? And why can't I sense Setsuka?' He gritted his teeth. 'That ki-suppression spell. She's planning to ambush us.' He shook his head. 'Doesn't matter. I'll deal with her when the time comes no da. For now, I just have to hurry.

'Please, Kiori, hang on.'

oOo

Akai winced as Tsuchi's nails dug into her skin. She squeezed his hand hard, working to anchor his jerking form to the bed, though she couldn't tell if she was actually succeeding or if he were just too weak to do anything more than twist against his sheets. "Oh, hang on, Fuyu-kun. You can get through this." She snatched a glance at the curtained entrance before turning back to him. "Houki-sama's going to help. We just have to hold out for her. But until then you've got to do what she said, okay?"

vVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVv

"Listen carefully, Akai. What Tsuchi-kun described to you – that sense of an opened floodgate – may be our best chance to help him. I had worried that Setsuka was draining him in some unique fashion, but this sounds no different from a standard movement of life force."

"Which is?"

"Think back to everything you have seen. Ki does not travel like rain, striking a wide range, but like a river, channeling from one point to another. This means that Setsuka is dragging all of Tsuchi-kun's life force out from a single point. And if we can discover that point—"

"Then we can dam it up!" Akai finished breathlessly. Her confidence fluttered. "Right?"

"I hope so, but I need to check a few things first. For now, please return to Tsuchi-kun and explain the situation. Finding that exit point is something that only he can do. Tell him to follow that channel of his life force to the point where it leaves him and enters Setsuka. It is imperative that he be as accurate as possible. And Akai?"

"Y-yes?"

"If I am right, then this is going to hurt very much. Please be brave for him."

Akai swallowed. "I will be. I promise."

vVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVv

"But if we'd only known..." Akai wiped the already sweat-soaked towel across Tsuchi's forehead, pausing for a moment to stroke his cheek through the cloth. "Oh, keep at it, Fuyu-kun. I know you can do this."

"It's no good." His voice was a rasp, throat rubbed raw from screaming, but when he looked up at her there was no fear in his eyes. Just a dark certainty, and a pain so deep that it had turned to numbness. "She's going to kill me. Whatever Houki-sama's..." He paused, back arching as another shred of his life was dragged from him. "Whatever her plan is, it can't work."

"Of course it can."

Akai looked to the door as the empress entered, alone save for a tome clutched to her chest. "I apologize for taking so long. I had hoped to find a priest to help us, but it seems that Setsuka treated the gods as well as she treated her people." She shook her head, taking a seat beside the bed. "No matter. Have you found the exit point, Tsuchi-kun?"

"It won't help."

"It will. Tell me."

He was too weak to move his body, but his eyes rolled to face her, already clouding with death. "A piece of a soul living within each gem," he said, quoting Takkan's own prophecy. "The legend wasn't joking. The exit point is in my soul chakra. And it's living inside Setsuka's necklace."

oOo

"Say Tasuki, what d'you think you'll do when the war's over?" Ritsuka asked, trying to make small-talk as they crossed the plains.

He didn't have to think long before answering. "I'll head back ta Reikaku. I promised a lotta people that I'd b'come th' gang leader once I was done travelin', an' I don't mean ta go back on that."

"I was hoping you'd say that. They were a fun gang, I'd love to hang out around there. And that part of the country seemed like a nice place to raise kids."

Tasuki almost fell off his horse. "Kids?"

"Well, yeah. Kiori and Chichiri are gonna want to live nearby, and I know Kiori's always wanted a family," Ritsuka giggled. "I bet they'd have super-cute kids, too! Why? What were you thinking?"

Tasuki breathed a short sigh of relief, glad that Ritsuka couldn't see him blushing. "Uh, nothin'. I wasn't thinkin' nothin'."

"Heh, that's not surprising."

The bandit was about to retort when a snap of pain tore through his chest. He grunted, doubling over and pressing a hand to his heart.

"Whoa!" Ritsuka's hand darted forward to grab the reins from him, pulling their mount to a halt. "Tasuki-chan, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

He coughed and tugged at his shirt as if that might loosen the ache that had suddenly flared across his chest. "I... I dunno. All of a sudden, I jus'..." He sensed movement and jerked his head up, eyes first widening and then narrowing to slits. "Shit."

Ritsuka followed his gaze and felt her throat catch. Standing ahead of them was none other than the Lady of Takkan, a sword in her hand and a smirk on her face. "Um... isn't she supposed to be hiding out in some rundown mansion?"

"That's what I thought, too." Tasuki's left hand remained pressed to his chest, but his right slid down to his sword hilt. "Stay put, Red. I'm gonna see what's goin' on."

He gritted his teeth as another needle seemed to shoot into his heart – no, that wasn't right, it was more like it was shooting out of him, taking a sliver of his strength with it – then shook off the pain, dismounting and unsheathing his sword. He didn't move towards Setsuka, though, but instead called across the tree-speckled plain, "What th' hell're you doin' here? An' where th' hell is Kiori?"

"Who? The woman?" Setsuka nodded over her shoulder. "Mizu-chan is keeping her company, though she will have little need of it once she's dead. Your monk friend will likely join his beloved soon after that, if all goes according to plan. And trust me, Kaji, it will."

Tasuki's symbol flared. "You call me that again an' I'll—!"

The needles in his chest became a lance and he gasped, choking to find air. Setsuka's smirk only widened as she raised a finger, waggling it like a mother scolding her child. "Temper, temper, my headstrong Element. All this anger is quite detrimental to your health, you know." The pain loosened and Tasuki looked up again. He hesitated, glancing first at the lady and then at Ritsuka, torn between a desire to attack and one to protect, but Setsuka made the choice for him. "Come now, Kaji. Are you going to fight me or aren't you? I came all the way out here to offer you a fair chance at revenge. The least you could do is accept it."

Ritsuka snorted. "Like you'd ever fight fair!"

Setsuka ignored her. "Now naturally I had to separate you from that other seishi in order to make this a winnable battle for me as well, but I am sporting enough to face my enemy directly. So Kaji, how about it? A one-on-one duel to the death," her eyes snaked past him to the redhead on the horse, "winner take all."

"Tasuki-chan, wait—"

"Deal," he said, dropping into a fighter's stance. "Jus' so long as ya promise ta fight me, an' me only."

"As you wish." Her grin widened as she shimmered with Mizu's borrowed life force. "However, before we begin, a safety precaution must be taken."

"A what?" Tasuki saw a flash of blue and spun, eyes widening as a shining translucent barrier wrapped around both him and Setsuka. It trapped them in a pitifully small space, a circle with less than a five meter radius, and effectively barricaded Tasuki from both his tessen and the woman still holding it. He whirled back on Setsuka, teeth gnashing together. "Gods damn you...!"

"Calm down, Kaji," she said, and couldn't help but laugh at the way he snarled every time she used his Element name. "The barrier will not hurt you nor give me any advantage. It is simply to keep your friend from helping you." Setsuka sprang forward, locking blades with the seishi. Her voice was a purr in his ear. "And with this small of a space, using that tessen of yours would spell your own death as well as mine, wouldn't it?"

The bandit realized with an inward groan that Setsuka was right: a killing blast would easily overtake the tiny battlefield, doubling back on itself and roasting victim and wielder alike. Not that it made any difference either way. Ritsuka still had his tessen.

"You can't use Taiyou's ki-blasts, either," Tasuki reminded her, shoving her weapon away and hopping back a few steps.

"That was never my intention. Killing you like that would be far too simple for my tastes." She slid forward, clashing blades with him once, twice, three times before he got the upper hand and slashed back at her, using his strength to knock her off-balance. Tasuki swung for the kill, but Setsuka just grinned and teleported away, reappearing at the far end of the barrier. Her left hand squeezed against something Tasuki couldn't see and he grunted again, unaware of the red flow of ki that raced from his gem and up Setsuka's arm, reviving her even as it drained him.

"And besides," she added, her smile widening with every breath she stole. "This way is much more fun for the both of us, don't you think?"

oOo

"Inside the gem?" Akai repeated, too horrified to do anything but stare at the dying Element. "But – but that means we can't reach it. And if we can't reach it, then we can't..." She looked to Houki, begging for another answer. "We can't block something we can't touch. Can we, Houki-sama?"

The empress's eyes stayed on Akai's for a while, then slid back to Tsuchi. She said nothing at first, thinking hard, her hands clenched tight across the book in her lap. "No," she said after a long silence, broken only by Tsuchi's labored breathing. "No. We can't." She looked to the boy again. "But he might be able to."

She snapped open her book, flipping from page to page, eyes skimming complex characters faster than Akai could even decipher some of them. "Houki-sama, what... is that book, anyway?"

"Poetry," she murmured.

Akai almost fell over. "Poetry? But how—"

"The writer was an enlightened being from centuries ago. He wrote poems about his travels, all of them serving as metaphors for his disciples, many of which dealt with chakra manipulation and ki flow. I read them dozens of times when I first joined the palace harem, but it has been so long... His words are almost as cryptic as the ones in our own legend, yet I am sure..."

"No!" The two women jerked up to look at Tsuchi, his back arched and his eyes opened wide. There was something glassy in the gaze, though, as if he wasn't staring at the ceiling but rather through it. "Setsuka," he gasped, "Setsuka's attacking Kaji! She's draining him... she's going to kill him." He jerked, hand clawing at the air. "Kaji, be careful!"

"What?" Akai leaned over him, snapping her fingers in front of his face. He didn't even flinch. "Fuyuko-kun, where are you? How do you know she's fighting Tasuki-san?"

"I can see it," he whispered. "Like I'm there. Through Setsuka's eyes, I – ah!" He clapped his hands to his face, though it seemed to do little to staunch the visions. "He almost had her. Damn Tsuki's powers... come on, Kaji, you've got to beat her!"

Akai looked to the empress for help, but Houki had already turned her eyes back to the text, murmuring frantically to herself. "She's absorbing his ki into her, using his strength to battle Tasuki." Houki bit her lip. "This is bad. We must hurry. I know there is something, something about the channel... life force is not exactly like a river, after all, it can flow both ways, from one person and back again, whenever the wielder chooses..." She gripped her hair in one hand, feeling hot tears hit her eyes. "Oh, gods damn it, why can't I remember? Something Chichiri told me... something I read in the past...?"

oOo

Tasuki blocked another of the Lady's quick sword swipes, then stumbled backwards, pressing himself to the barrier and breathing heavily. He tugged at his aching chest again, cursing his own fatigue. 'I've gone way harder'n this in th' rings, an' fer longer, too. What th' hell is wrong with – shit!'

He ducked as Setsuka lunged, using his seishi speed to slide under her seeking weapon. His arm burned and he glanced to the side, hissing as blood stained his sleeve, but he had little time to consider it. She was after him again, barely even panting as she pushed him backwards, away from the barrier wall and into open territory.

"You're not going to last much longer," Setsuka remarked. He swung, but his arms moved as if they were weighted down, and she had no trouble blocking his sloppy attack. "I suppose you realize that, after I kill you, I still have that one to deal with." She glanced over his shoulder at Ritsuka, who was watching the battle from behind the barrier, her face contorted into a helpless snarl. "I'll have a lot of fun with that one. Maybe I'll keep you alive to see it, hm?"

Tasuki flared crimson, striking with such force that Setsuka felt her arm go numb. "You so much as touch her an' I'll—!"

He tried to strike again, but Setsuka was ready this time. Her fingers twisted from Mizu's gem to Kaji's and she pulled hard, dragging so much ki with her that her hand glowed crimson. Black spots shot up across Tasuki's vision and he stumbled, missing his mark. He still managed to nick Setsuka's thigh, but the force had been taken out of his strike, and he left a scratch where he'd intended a gash. He recovered just in time to stop a sideways slash, but his feet couldn't keep up with hers. He lost his footing and fell backwards, his sword clanging against the barrier and slipping from his grasp.

Ritsuka slammed her fists into the wall, a horrified scream tearing out of her throat. "Tasuki-chan!"

The Lady of Takkan's eyes widened as her blade plunged downwards—

vVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVv

The young man stumbled, blood streaming from a cut on his cheek. The girl who sat nearby could only watch helplessly, struggling under the arms of a cutpurse. Tears welled up in her eyes as the blood trailed down his chin, blood he was spilling all because of her.

Her scream ricocheted around the alleyway.

"HATAKU!"

vVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVv

—and Setsuka twisted to the right, missing Tasuki's vitals and instead stabbing straight through his left hand.

He grunted but didn't cry out, clenching his right fist and raising it for the strike. He hesitated for an instant, taken aback by Setsuka's slack jaw and open eyes, as if she were staring at something that terrified her, but his confusion did not last long. His fist connected with her cheek and she staggered backwards, reeling.

From the other side of the barrier, Ritsuka collapsed to her knees, hands clenched against the blue shield. "Oh, thank God."

Tasuki stood on shaking legs, pressing his bleeding palm into the folds of his jacket. He retrieved his own sword, whirling back to the lady to find her recovered, her sword reappearing as she wiped the blood from her jaw. She stared at the sticky red across her fingers as if she wasn't quite sure what it was, but Tasuki's voice jerked her out of her reverie.

"What... was that for?" he demanded, bent over double as he fought to regain his breath. "Why didn't you... jus'... finish me, huh?"

"Why?" She chuckled, curling her fingers back around her necklace. The lie came easily, perhaps easier than the truth ever would. "Because killing you like that would have been much too painless. You've been quite the nuisance, you know. I want to see you suffer a little before you die."

Tasuki accepted her answer, gripping his sword in his uninjured hand and launching the offensive this time. "Good thing I'm merciful, ain't it? Yer death'll be short an' sweet, so when they write songs about this battle they c'n leave out th' part with all yer moanin' at th' end."

oOo

Hataku rode up, unnoticed by Ritsuka and the combatants. He steered his horse to the nearby grove of trees, then dismounted so he could get a better look at the battle. He watched the fight with one hand gripped to a tree branch and the other to his sword hilt, grateful that no one could see the small, sad frown that wouldn't leave his face.

oOo

Chichiri reached the mansion at the same time Hataku arrived at the battleground. The monk hopped off Rin's back and set a hand to the hard, transparent wall that barred his entrance. He closed his eye and took a breath, then sent a quick shock of power into the barrier. It flashed crimson for a moment but didn't even tremble.

'Not that I'm surprised. Mae-chan really poured her heart into this one. I won't be able to just slip through no da.'

He opened his eye again, setting his staff on the ground so he could press one hand to his lips. He murmured a powerful counter-spell and sent his ki racing along the barrier. He felt his power meld into Mizu's, the strength of his spell and heart racing along the field, tracing its surface in an attempt to find a weak spot, some chink that he could penetrate and then use to cancel out the rest of the barrier. He swore as his power doubled back on itself, returning with nothing to report but a solid field, a complete bubble without so much as a single crack.

Chichiri took a breath and braced himself. 'Nothing for it but to shatter the whole thing, then.' His hands clasped in a mudra of power. His body shone, Suzaku-given strength building first in his soul and then focusing into his hands. He took another breath and then slammed his palms into the barrier. "...Kai!"

oOo

Mizu's head jerked up as if someone had grabbed her by the hair. Her eyes darted about as the floor shook, threatening to collapse if the field laced through its soil was shattered. A ball of panic nestled in her throat.

"No... it can't..." She pressed her hands together and hissed a spell for strength, crystals whirring at her sides. "I won't let you in, Houjun! No matter how much it hurts."

Kiori fought to raise her head, looking with heavy lids to the room's entrance. 'Chichiri.' She tried to stay focused, but her neck tilted again, dropping her head back to her knees. Her eyes fluttered closed as darkness overtook her. 'I'm sorry, but I don't think... I'll be around... to greet you...'

oOo

Chichiri felt his heart flutter as both barrier and mansion trembled under the blast. Not a moment later the shaking settled, returning the evening to its former silence. "Did it work?" He sent his ki across the barrier once more, searching for any holes or dents he might have created, something he could use as a starting point for another attack.

He checked the entire thing three times over.

And found nothing.

His head snapped up, staring at the barrier with his physical eye, this time. "That's impossible. I had to have done something to it, anything, but...This can't be right. Even against Nakago, I was able to at least—' Chichiri's eye widened. "Oh, gods."

'Mae-chan knows what I know. I taught her how to build a barrier... and how to break one. So of course she'd know all my counter-spells... and of course... of course she'd be able to defend against them...'

Chichiri, hands still pressed against the barrier, found himself slumping until his palms were on the ground. "No, no... I can't lose her, not when I've only just found her..." His hands curled into fists and his eye squeezed shut, fighting to stop his helpless tears. "Her life force is fading, but I can't... there's nothing I can... Gods, what am I supposed to do? What else can I do? There's nothing left... all this power and I'm as helpless as I ever was... I, I can't..."

Someone with strength to spare smacked him across the back of the head. "What, so you're just gonna sit there and give up?"

Chichiri whirled, mouth dropping as he found himself staring at the four ghostly forms of his seishi family. His eye shifted from one to the other, back pressed against the barrier and one hand raised timidly, as if he weren't sure whether to embrace them or run from them. "H-how...?"

Hotohori smiled, the same distant, lonely one that Chichiri remembered from life. "Do not look so surprised, my friend. Our nation is in danger as well. You couldn't really expect us to let you and Tasuki fight this war by yourselves, could you?"

Nuriko, the one who had spoken first, pressed her hands to her hips and glared down the monk. "That's right! We've been busting our butts to make sure you guys win this thing, and then you go and give up just when the end's in sight?"

"It's not a matter of giving up," he snapped back, hovering between gratitude and frustration. "But what else am I supposed to do? I can't—"

Mitsukake's calm baritone cut through his protests. "Since when has it ever been about 'can' or 'can't'? If you love her, then there is always something that can be done."

Chiriko's smile held all the confidence in the world. "We all believe you can save her, Chichiri-san. But we can't do it for you."

"Then how...?"

"It's like I said about the scroll," Chiriko replied. "You just have to look at it from a different angle."

"And have a little faith in yourself, okay?" Nuriko patted the right side of the monk's chest, winking. "You've got everything you need right here."

Chichiri glanced down, understanding Nuriko's double-meaning at once. He jerked on the cord around his neck, pulling up the amulet that Kiori had given him. He clutched it, feeling the extra power coursing into his life force. A smile twitched at the side of his mouth. "Minna..." But when he looked up, the seishi had gone. His smile softened but did not subside. "Arigatou." He tightened his jaw and stood, facing the barrier once again.

He squared himself off, studying the staff in his left hand. 'A weapon of Suzaku, hm? All right, then.'

Chichiri pressed his staff forward, sliding it straight through the barrier. His hand couldn't follow the weapon, so he pulled back once the shakujou was wedged in the shield, caught like a bug in amber. He pressed the amulet to the barrier and then set his other hand atop that, angling his hands so they lay against the barrier and right above the rings of his staff. He closed his eye, concentrated, let the power course through him. 'It's simple object manipulation. So... pull.'

He twisted his hands to the side in a wide arc. His staff followed, attached by a thread of life force, and slowly, so slowly he almost thought it wasn't working, the barrier began to crack around the shakujou, unable to stand to force of the Suzaku weapon as it moved through the field of ki. Chichiri opened a space just large enough for his palms and grabbed his staff with his left hand, letting his right hand – and the amulet clasped within it – slam into the bottom of the opening, squeezing against the splintering shield.

"Kai!" he cried again, and this time the barrier cracked like dried earth, rending a tear from his staff to the ground. The amulet shattered in his palm but he kept pressing, sweeping his staff around until the hole was just wide enough for him to slide through. He plunged through as the barrier snapped shut behind him, his feet clearing it by mere inches.

He shook the shards of the amulet to the ground, wiping his bleeding fingers against his kesa. He allowed himself a brief grin of victory, but Kiori's life force flickered and his smile died. He bolted across the courtyard, heading for the two pulsing ki – one strong, one pitifully weak – and praying that he wouldn't be too late.

oOo

Mizu's eyes snapped open as she felt her barrier crack. She looked over her shoulder, taking in the woman at the far end of the room, her body crumpled in on itself, eyes closed, breath coming out in short, shallow gasps. Mizu looked away again. 'It doesn't matter. There's nothing he can do anyway. She'll be gone by the time he reaches her.'

oOo

Tasuki was in trouble. Anyone watching could see that he was struggling, and Ritsuka – her palms pressed against the barrier, her heart practically stopping every time Setsuka lunged or Tasuki slid to the side, seishi speed the only thing keeping him alive – had been doing nothing but watching, her hands clenching harder and harder against the blue wall as Tasuki slowly succumbed to fatigue.

"What is wrong with him?" she muttered from the sidelines. "He hasn't been sick all summer and now suddenly he gets like this? This is more than just crappy timing. Something's gotta be up here."

Setsuka pressed her back to the barrier just in front of Ritsuka and the redhead scowled, studying the flickering life forces that danced across the lady's body. Ritsuka blinked, noticing for the first time that there were small flecks of crimson mixed in with all the other Elemental colors. 'Tasuki-chan? But how...'

Her eyes roved across the Takkan lady, at last landing on the golden chain clasped in Setsuka's hand. She caught the flash of a red orb and her eyes snapped open, remembering the first time they had met: the lady's proposal, Tasuki's refusal, and then the way Setsuka had gripped her necklace and Tasuki had doubled over, gasping in pain...

'It's just like Hataku told us. She's got a hold on all the Elements. Even...'

"Tasuki-chan!" Ritsuka bellowed. "Setsuka's got your gem on her necklace! She's sapping your energy with it like she did the first time you met her!"

His head jerked around, staring open-mouthed at her. "She's what?"

"That's why you're wearing out so fast," Ritsuka said, "and that's why she's not tired at all. Tasuki-chan, you've gotta beat her soon, or she might..."

Tasuki nodded. He parried another of Setsuka's thrusts, eyes shifting to the necklace in her hand. He glared at her. "Yer pathetic, y'know that? Can't even take me on in a fair fight."

Setsuka shrugged. "Pathetic, perhaps, but it makes little difference if I'm the victor. The one who wins is always the hero, and the one who fails is always the fool." Her eyes glinted malice. "Take your friend the bandit, for instance. If he hadn't been stupid enough to let Kaze kill him, he would have survived and been revered as a great warrior. Instead, he died and will be remembered as an idiot."

Tasuki tore at her like an animal, too furious to worry about conserving his strength. "You bitch! Koji was a hero!" The seishi put on a burst of speed, and Setsuka had to fight to avoid the storm of sword strikes. "An' even if we lose, even if you kill us all, it ain't gonna change nothin'! 'Cause the people of Konan 'n' Takkan will remember what we did, they'll remember how hard we fought ta keep 'em safe! An' as long as they remember an' keep on rememberin', then it won't matter how many of yer kind rules over Konan – they'll all be th' idiots!" Tasuki pressed her back against the barrier wall. Their blades locked, his sword inches from Setsuka's throat. "But not us. Never us!"

Her face slackened again, shining with something foreign – uncertainty? regret? sorrow? – but she quickly covered it with scorn. She shimmered and vanished again, reappearing at the far side of the field. "Keep on babbling, Kaji. It just wears you out that much faster."

The two continued and Ritsuka went back to pacing, her hands twisting around Tasuki's tessen, her eyes never once leaving the battlefield. She watched him stumble again and again, each strike growing weaker, each block that much slower than the last. He seemed to be aiming for Setsuka's sword arm now, his blade seeking to take either arm or hand and cut her off from her power source, but Ritsuka feared that her revelation had come too late.

"Come on, Tasuki-chan," she hissed, choking on his name. "You can't die now, you stupid bandit. Not after everything we've been through."

oOo

Tsuchi latched onto Akai's arm, though his grip was so weak she could barely feel it. His glazed eyes stared into the distance, but she knew that he was trying to speak to her. "Setsuka's going to kill him. She's going to kill him with his power and mine if we don't... do... something..."

"Here!" Houki cried, finger pressing triumphantly. "Yes, yes, this is it! Poem 42, 'A Jealous Lover Meets the Stalwart Wife!'"

"Er, no offense, but this really isn't the time—"

"Do not take everything so literally, Akai. The poem is a metaphor." She looked up again, hands squeezing against the Element's shoulder. "Tsuchi-kun, if you can see what Setsuka sees, then it means she is absorbing the last of your life force – but it also means that you can absorb hers!"

"I... could stop her?"

"You could certainly slow her down. If nothing else, we may be able to reach a sort of stalemate. You have worked with ki manipulation before, correct?"

"Y-yes, but..." Tsuchi squeezed his eyes shut, fighting to concentrate. "But never into myself. Always into someone else. Something else. I'm a doctor. We give life. Don't steal. I can't..." He moaned again, and the rest of what he was going to say drained away, so that all he could manage was, "Don't know how."

Akai didn't hesitate. "Then give it to me." His eyes shifted to her, and for a moment she thought that he was looking at her again, and not at some far-off battlefield. "If you have to send your life force somewhere, then open another path. Send it to me. It'll at least have to go through you first, right? So even if it doesn't make you stronger, it'll buy you some time. You won't die right away."

"But you don't need it," Houki said. "If he were to push that kind of power into a body with no need of it..."

"Would it kill me?"

She looked away. "Not immediately, no. But too much spiritual energy can kill a person just as easy as too little. If you're not careful, you might—"

"I'll control it."

The two looked to Tsuchi, writhing in a twist of sheets and sweat. He could barely control his own breathing, and yet the stare he gave Akai, straight and certain, with a clarity that the brief moments before death often brought, promised that he would not fail.

"I'm a doctor," he said again. "It's my job to keep people alive."

Warrior and Element stared at each other for a long, calculating moment. Then they nodded as one and Akai reached out, clasping Tsuchi's hands in her own. Her smile was grim, but a smile all the same. "Houki-sama, tell us what to do."

"Right." She looked back to the esoteric text before her, running her finger hurriedly down the long, convoluted poem. The empress translated quickly, shifting seamlessly from metaphor to meaning as she read. "The exit point – the soul chakra, you said? – is where the flow of ki shifts from Tsuchi-kun to Setsuka. You simply have to find that point and pull back. Will yourself back to yourself."

"I... but I don't..."

Akai's eyes lit up. "I do! It's like the hokuden sword style. You turn your enemy's strength against him." She leaned forward. "Fuyu-kun, I don't know the first thing about ki manipulation, but you tell me if this makes sense. Follow that flow of ki to the exit point and then past it. Follow it right down into whatever's left of Setsuka's grimy soul." Her grip tightened on his arm. "And then you come back. Use her power, the force that she's using against you, to whip it right back around. Make your own life force into a loop and then throw that loop into me, where Setsuka can't touch it again. Does that make sense? Do you think you could do that?"

"...I can try."

"Then do it. Now."

oOo

Setsuka sensed victory and pressed in harder against the weakening bandit. Tasuki fought back with everything he had left, but it wasn't much, wasn't enough. His mind raced as he dodged her blade, trying to find something, anything that might finish her off for good.

'But what c'n I do? What c'n I possibly do t'stop her? She's got her own strength an' three other Elements t'fall back on.' He shot a glance over his shoulder at Ritsuka, who was still standing against the barrier, watching him with panic building in her eyes. 'An' if I fall... then Red will...'

"Dumbass!"

Tasuki gasped, barely managing to bring his sword up to block Setsuka's latest attack. He knew that voice, but he shouldn't have been hearing it. Not here. Not in this life.

"Are ya really that stupid? What th' hell did ya use t'beat every other enemy ya've gone up against?"

"I can't," he hissed aloud, though he couldn't be sure if he was talking to Koji or just his own exhausted imagination. "Red's got it, an' she's on th' other side-a th' barrier."

The groan that followed almost made Tasuki smile. "Is there a brain in that fluffy head-a yers? Yer tessen sure as hell went through Taiyou's barrier's all right, didn't it?"

Tasuki shot another look at Ritsuka, the fan still gripped in her right hand. "But th' space is too small. The fire might—"

"Ch, you, get done in by a few pissant flames? You got th' demon king's own luck, must be t'make up fer th' lack-a delicacy." Koji's voice softened a little. "B'sides, if it's fer her, would it really be sucha bad way t'go?"

Tasuki slashed hard at Setsuka, forcing her back a few steps before setting his jaw and nodding once. "Yeah. Yer right."

As usual, they finished as one, and Tasuki could hear his dead friend's smile.

"Who the devil are you talking to?"

Tasuki ignored the lady and threw back his head, bellowing to the woman behind him. "Red! Ya gotta do somethin' fer me!" Tasuki thought fast, struggling to speak in a way that she would understand but Setsuka would not. "Use the spell! Stick th' edges through an' use th' spell!"

"Yeah, that made sense." Ritsuka cocked her head, sweatdropping. "What do you want?"

"The fan! Y'know, mahariku 'n' all that! It'll get through, so use it! Maybe you c'n...!" Tasuki winced as Setsuka's blade found an open spot, slashing his left forearm to the bone. "Hurry! I can't hold out much longer!"

Ritsuka looked at the tessen, then at the force field in front of her. "Mahariku..." It hit her like a ki-blast to the chest. She slammed her fist into the barrier. "What? Are you crazy? The fire would – you might – I couldn't!"

"You have to!" he roared over his shoulder, putting Setsuka on the defensive with one last burst of speed. "Don't you get it, Red? 'An Element fer each.' I'm yer Element! Do it, Red! We won't get another chance like this!"

The bottom dropped out of Ritsuka's stomach. "No. Oh, God, no."

oOo

Chichiri tore into the mansion's main hall, eye flitting across the room – first to Mizu, sitting in one corner, her face to the wall and a light blue bubble of magic surrounding her, and then on to Kiori, propped against a settee like a thrown away mannequin.

He ignored Mizu as easily as she ignored him and hurried to Kiori's side. She was breathing so shallowly that it was almost unnoticeable. The monk set a hand to her cheek and almost collapsed to his knees. She was too pale, and far too cold. He patted her cheek, willing her to awaken, but already he could feel what was left of her fading, slipping like water through a sieve.

His strength drained with his fear, but that same fear pushed it back again, willing him into action. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed her drooping head to his chest. "From you to me and back again," he murmured, and threw his life into her.

The room shone crimson, drawing Mizu out of her troubled meditation. She glanced over her shoulder, watching miserably as Chichiri's strength shifted. His ki enveloped Kiori and then sunk into her, leaving him with half of what he'd had before.

The light faded and he really did collapse to his knees this time, trembling from head to toe but never once taking his eyes from her face. His hands pressed against her cheeks, holding up her head so he could watch her, waiting for some hint of movement.

Kiori's mouth twitched. She moaned softly, eyes fluttering open with an effort. She had perhaps half a second to take in the tear-filled eye of the seishi before he wrapped her in an embrace, all but crushing her to him. She smiled sleepily, resting her head against his shoulder. "Always have to make a flashy entrance, huh?"

"I'm a show-off like that." He pulled away again, holding her at arm's length so he could study the ropes and ki that bound both her hands and feet. He muttered a few words and made a swiping motion in the air. The bonds fell away as if they were made of dust. "Are you all right no da?" he asked, rubbing her hands between his own, trying to work the blood back into them. "What happened? I thought..." He glanced around, at last remembering the missing member of the group. "Where's Setsuka?"

"Not here." Kiori winced, taking one of her hands away from his so she could rub at her aching forehead. "She's fighting Tasuki."

He hissed a curse. "Damn. So that was her trap no da. She wanted to separate us, and I walked right into it."

"I couldn't tell them," Kiori murmured, already fighting to keep her eyes open. "Tasuki and Ritsuka. You were right. I couldn't tell them about the legend. I, I tried, but I just... I just couldn't..."

"Sh, it's okay. We'll get you out of here and then we'll go back for them. No problem no da," he chirped, using an English phrase that he'd picked up from Ritsuka. "Can you stand, or should I..." He trailed off, pressing a hand to her cheek so he could keep her head steady. "Kiori, what's wrong? Why's your life force...?"

"I don't know. Something with us and Setsuka. Mae-chan called it a chain, but—"

His hand tightened against her cheek. "Gods." He whirled on the Element. "Mae-chan! You used a chain on her?"

Mizu looked away, too ashamed to meet his eyes. She offered him nothing but the smallest of nods.

Kiori's curiosity overwhelmed her fear. "What's a chain?"

"A ki transfer between three or more people," he said through gritted teeth. "The last person sends their ki to the channeler, the channeler to the user. In other words, it's giving Setsuka strength, barely hurting Mae-chan, and... and it's killing you."

"Can we break it?"

He shook his head. "The user – Setsuka – can start and break the chain at will. But the only other way to stop it is if..." His eye shifted back and forth between Kiori and Mizu, grief building into a tremor behind each of his words. "Is if someone in the chain is killed."

oOo

Tsuchi felt himself sinking, drifting down through pain both physical and spiritual, stripping it away until he came to the center, to the faint sphere that remained of his life. He felt more than saw the stream of it, channeling away up through his body and out his eighth chakra, normally located above his crown but perverted, somehow, captured in a gem hundreds of li away from him. His mouth screamed but he wasn't aware of the pain, couldn't feel it as he let his consciousness take the channel, following the flow of his life force to the exit point, where it merged with a veritable rainbow of other ki and disappeared into a place that was not meant for him.

'It's okay. I've done this before, just not with this many souls. The trick is to not forget myself.'

He braced himself and plunged into it, crying out as he brushed against a ghost of sky, a shadow of wind, was even shoved back by a strong double-pulse of moon and sun. Then he spun to the center, following water and fire, touching them briefly, feeding courage into both before moving on, latching onto the main flow, the golden glow that belonged to his mistress. He was almost overwhelmed by it – rage and malice and a guilt so deep he nearly drowned – but his body gritted its teeth and his soul pushed forward, into the maelstrom, tugged along by the raging current as Setsuka attacked her remaining Elements, never once suspecting that one had chosen to fight back.

Tsuchi found the center, let her drag him to it, let it almost swallow him before he jerked to the side, whipping around the pulse of her soul and spinning back. He dragged the current with him this time, willing himself back to himself, back to where he and the rest of his stolen life force belonged. It was almost too easy, but he shouldn't have been so surprised. A soul, after all, always wants to find its way home.

'Brace yourself, Akai. I'm coming.'

oOo

Setsuka smirked at Tasuki, confused but triumphant all the same. "Hm, it looks as if your little lover isn't going to listen to you. Not that it would have worked anyway. Nothing can break through Mizu-chan's barriers."

Tasuki ignored her, shoving away her weapon so he could take a few hurried steps back, buying himself a handful of seconds. "Red!" he tried again. "It doesn't matter what happens t'me! As long as we take Setsuka out, then—!"

"Bullshit!" Ritsuka roared right back. "Of course your life matters, you idiot! Just because you're some damned Element doesn't mean I can just...!" She pounded her fist into the barrier. "I know we have to defeat her, but... God, Suzaku, somebody... there's gotta be another way to do it..."

"Your waist," a boy's voice whispered in her ear. "Akai's Suzaku weapon."

"Ao...?" Ritsuka's head whipped around, but of course there was no one. Her hand fell automatically to her waist, brushing against the hilt of the Holy Sword.

And for the first time since the start of the fight, Ritsuka felt herself smile.

She stuffed the tessen into her belt, then unsheathed the sword and cocked it at her ear. "I'm gonna keep my promise, Akai," she muttered, and thrust the tip straight through the barrier.

Ritsuka gritted her teeth against the strength of the field, pulling the weapon in a wide circle. Sparks flew as if the blade were striking flint instead of energy, but eventually it completed the circle, leaving a thin, circular crack in the blue wall. She pressed against the center of the circle, hoping to knock it inwards like robbers did to windowpanes, but it didn't budge.

"Come on." She hissed and tilted the sword sideways, wriggling it back and forth, trying to work a gap between her circle and the rest of the barrier. The Holy Sword was more willing to work as a blade than as a lever, though, and she felt the steel bending, giving way against the enemy force. She kept at it, working with reckless speed until she felt the edge of the circle jut outwards, just slightly.

Ritsuka grinned and threw her weight against the sword. The barrier cracked even further, but this time it took the blade with it, snapping it and leaving Ritsuka with little more than a half foot of jagged steel. She stared at it, sweatdropping briefly - "Houki-sama is gonna kill me" - before stuffing it back in her scabbard and reaching again for the tessen. She jammed the fan into the crack, then used her fingers to pry at the corner of her makeshift doorway. The barrier groaned, crackled, and fought her every step of the way, but with one final wrench the chunk of wall came free, turning to steam in her hands. She grabbed the tessen before it could fall and threw herself forward, diving through the gap. She hit the ground just as the barrier closed itself behind her, locking her in with seishi and lady.

Tasuki had his back to her and hadn't the faintest idea what she was doing. Setsuka saw her but didn't pay her any mind, her attention focused on the bandit before her, his legs wobbling so badly that he could barely stand. The Takkan lady took two steps back, raising her sword and preparing herself for a finishing blow.

oOo

Tsuchi tore along the ki channel and back into his body, passing the soul chakra point and reversing the flow. He ripped his life force out of Setsuka, through him, and into Akai.

She screamed—

oOo

—And so did Setsuka, reeling backwards and into the barrier wall. Her hand tore at her chest, nails digging through cloth and into flesh. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling through her necklace to find the source of the attack. She screamed again, but this time it came with a name.

"Tsuchi!"

She did not hesitate. Her fingers snapped down on the emerald gem, shattering it.

oOo

Tsuchi and Akai jerked as if someone had hit them under the chin, then collapsed against the bed, hands clasped tight and eyes rolled up in their heads. Green-gold power crackled briefly across their fingertips, then fizzled away into nothing.

The last thing Houki realized before she ran for a doctor was that neither of them was breathing.

oOo

Tasuki saw Setsuka reel and moved to attack, but when he tried to crouch his knees gave out instead, sending him stumbling backwards. He would have fallen but for the arms that caught him, shoving him to his feet and snatching his sword away from him. One of the calloused hands slapped a tessen into his palm, holding his arms from behind and clasping them together around the crystal fan.

Tasuki glanced over his shoulder and caught a flash of hair. "Red?"

She winked. "You're the one who wants to kill her so damn much. Don't you think you oughta do the honors?"

"But you—"

"Made my choice." Ritsuka shrugged. "So just kick her ass already, would you? We'll survive it somehow."

He shot her an exhausted grin, then set his jaw and turned to face Setsuka. "All right, then. Let's do this. Together."

Ritsuka steadied him, keeping his arms level and pointed at the Lady of Takkan. The ancient tessen chant echoed from both of their mouths, a half-religious ritual that spoke of courage, and camaraderie, and perhaps even of love.

"Marariku, maharita..."

oOo

Something inside of Setsuka had broken with her connection to Tsuchi, leaving her gasping. She lunged for Mizu's gem, dragging strength from the captured Konan Warrior. She jerked her head up, focus back, preparing to turn and face Tasuki before he had a chance to attack first—

—And found herself staring through the barrier, across the field, and straight at Hataku.

A vice clamped around her chest and she almost collapsed, but the chanting "yamubara" from behind made her turn. Part of her, the part that grasped her necklace and stroked at her two remaining gems, knew exactly what she was seeing – recognized the tessen in their hands, the redheaded woman behind the bandit, keeping him steady so he could finish what he had vowed to his dead aniki months before – and that part of her instinctively threw up one of Taiyou's shields, protecting herself from the impending flames.

But another part of her didn't see the warriors at all. Instead, she found herself staring down a gritty Takkan alleyway, trapped between a wall and a street gang, alone, except for...

vVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVv

"Hataku! Oh, gods, Hataku, are you okay?"

He wiped the blood from his cheek, leveling his weapon at the remaining swarm of thieves. "I'm fine."

She tried to run to him, but the cutpurse tightened his hold, stretching her skinny arms back until it felt like they might snap. She couldn't help but cry out.

Something feral flashed across Hataku's face. He was across the alley in an instant, slashing the leg of one thief and the throat of another before he had crossed the distance between them. The cutpurse tried to pull a knife but Hataku twisted his sword and slid it up and under, missing Setsuka by inches but gutting the man behind her. He fell with a gurgle and Setsuka was free to run to Hataku's side, pressing herself against his back.

"Setsuka-sama," he hissed. "I want you to run. I'll tear a path through them, hold them off as long as I can. It should give you enough time to escape."

Her guardian sagged on tired legs, but he never had the chance to stumble. Setsuka curled her hands against his shoulders, supporting him so he could face the circling bandits. His eyes widened and he glanced back at her. "You can't—"

"The only thing I can't do is leave you," she snapped, fire crackling behind each word. "So let them come, Hataku! We'll take them, one at a time or all at once." She propped up his arm with one hand, helping him to level his sword at their enemies. "C'mon, you dirty bastards! I'm not going to let you hurt him without hurting me too!"

"Setsuka-sama..."

She smiled up at him, the fiercest smile she had ever worn. "Don't. Let's just win this." She turned her head resolutely back to face the advancing thieves. "Together!"

vVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVv

Setsuka pressed herself against the barrier, and it was all she could do not to slide to the ground. "Why... am I...?"

"Ya ya ya ma..."

"All of this... how is... all of this...?"

The two redheads raised the tessen, bringing it down and pointing it straight at the Takkan lady. Baritone and alto rang together through the night sky, shouting the final words as one.

"REKKA SHIN'EN!"

oOo

"If someone is... killed?" Kiori repeated. She struggled to understand, fighting back horror and panic as she choked on her words. "There's nothing we can do?" He didn't answer. She swallowed hard. "Then you have to leave. You have to help Tasuki and Ritsuka. If I'm lost, if there's really nothing we can do, then—"

Chichiri pressed his thumb to Kiori's forehead. "I didn't say that. There is one thing left no da."

He drew his hand away from her, leaving a long string of crimson ki between them. He lifted his hand above his head as if to drop the loop around his neck, but Kiori realized what he was doing and reached out, grabbing his wrist and jerking it back to his side."You can't! If you attach yourself to the chain, then you'll—"

"Maybe," he said. "Or maybe Tasuki and Ritsuka will defeat Setsuka before my time runs out no da. We should probably have a little more faith in them. Besides," he added with a chuckle, "Suzaku gave me all this extra power. I really can't think of a better way to use it than like this."

Each word was a struggle as Kiori fought to explain, fought to swallow exhaustion and fear and make him understand. "But if they don't – if they can't – Chichiri, please, listen, I know what you said but it doesn't change it, me, I really do love you, so if you – I couldn't—"

He didn't try to argue. He just pressed his empty hand to her cheek and kissed her.

Kiori first stiffened and then relaxed, her one hand still holding his wrist while her other dropped down, settling against his forearm. She squeezed it hard, pressing lips and hand and chest as tight against him as she could, and it wasn't until he felt her lips tremble atop his that he realized she was crying.

Mizu watched them with wide eyes, her hands clapped to her mouth to keep herself from shouting. "Houjun," she breathed, her eyes filling with tears even as a smile touched her face. 'You were always so sad, but... for the first time you're actually... y-you're really...'

She looked down as Chichiri pulled away again, still cupping Kiori's face, his lips hovering just above hers. "It's all right, Kiori. I'm much too happy right now to do something as stupid as killing myself, so you have to trust me when I say that I really, truly believe that it's going to be okay, that our friends are going to come through for us no da." He kissed her again, once on the lips, then once on each of her tear-stained cheeks. "But you have to understand that I love you, too, and if there's even the slightest chance that I can save you then I'm not about to let it slip away. So you have to let me do this. Please."

She shook her head and tightened her hold on his wrist, the red thread still glittering from her forehead to his fingertips. But her strength was waning again, drawn through the chain that connected her to the battling lady, and Kiori could only protest weakly as Chichiri untangled her fingers. He cupped them in his free hand while his other formed a loop around his head, letting the crimson ki settle into a noose before dissolving, adding his life force to the chain. Kiori collapsed against him, sobbing curses.

"It's all right," he said again, holding her close, smiling faintly. "We've given Tasuki and Ritsuka a little more time no da. Now we just have to believe in them."

On the other side of the room, Mizu's horrified gaze trailed from one warrior to the other, watching through ki-sensitive eyes as the life force siphoned from Chichiri to Kiori and on into the Element herself. Mizu stared at her glowing hands, watching as her tears spattered and stained her open palms.

'I'm killing him,' she realized suddenly. 'And not just now. I was killing him even before he got here. By letting them die... by letting her die... I was killing him right from the start.' Her swimming eyes snaked to the blue crystal at her side. She reached for it, cradled it in her palm – and then tightened her hand into a fist. "I was killing him," she murmured, her voice lost to the shadows before it could reach the far side of the room. "But that doesn't mean I still have to.

"Houjun."

He turned at her call, Kiori's red-rimmed eyes following a moment later. Mizu smiled sadly as she snatched up her other crystal, holding one in each of her hands. "You're right, Houjun. It is going to be okay. Your friend is going to come through for you. I promise."

Chichiri arms went slack. Kiori looked up at him. "What's going on?"

"The crystals," he breathed. "If she smashes them, she'll..."

The blue one shrieked in Mizu's hands. Kiori's arms fell from his waist, pushing him forward. "Go."

Chichiri raced across room, reaching Mizu just as the blue gem shattered in her palm. It let out a hiss of pain, ki screaming out of it before vanishing into the darkness. The right side of Mizu's body seemed to collapse against her, the crystal shards falling out of her limp hand and clattering to the floor. The Element gritted her teeth until she tasted blood, but she didn't hesitate as her hand closed around the green crystal, the one that had been her eyes, had allowed her to be a part of the happy life she hadn't been able to lead.

Chichiri's hands closed around hers, trying to pry her fingers away. "You don't have to do this."

"Yeah, I do. You can feel it too, can't you? How Setsuka-sama is pulling more and more power from us?" Chichiri said nothing. Mizu tilted her head. "So see? I don't have a choice. Because there's no way I can let either of you die."

The mansion floor shook as Mizu's barrier began to dissolve, her spells vanishing with her strength. Clay tiles and wood beams crumbled from the ceiling, shaken from their posts, threatening to cave in around them at any moment. It was a sign of something Chichiri hadn't wanted to admit. But as his hand clutched around his adopted sister's, begging her to release the tiny chance she still possessed, he knew, somehow, that he'd arrived too late. Tears sprang to the corners of both his eyes. "Mae-chan, please..."

She ignored his grasping hand and squeezed. A long crack trailed down the green crystal, and a similar crack snapped through her leg. With nothing left to stand on she caved forward, falling into Chichiri's arms. Through eyes already misting with death she looked up at him, her smile a grimace but a happy one nevertheless. "Please don't cry. It's not your fault. I'm doing this because I want to. I love you so much, I just want you to finally be happy." Her eyes curled in a smile. "That's all I ever really wanted, Houjun."

"Mae-chan..." He choked on the words. Chichiri clutched the dying girl to his chest. "I wanted to save you. I wanted to save you both so badly..."

She smiled, nestling her head into his kesa. Her body was broken, her life quickly fading, but she couldn't remember the last time she had been so absolutely at peace. "I think you did," she murmured. "I'm not sad at all. So please, Onii-chan... you have to be happy too, okay? You really, really have to."

With her last burst of strength, she pressed down on the dying green crystal. It shattered between her fingers, leaving shards of itself embedded in her palm, but the pain meant nothing to the Element. Ukizaki Mae had died with her last crystal's hiss, a small smile forever etched on her young, peaceful face.

oOo

Fire erupted from the tessen just as Mizu's gem shattered in Setsuka's hand. The force of both the seishi's spell and the Element's death slammed Setsuka back against the barrier. Her eyes widened, lips parting in a soft, horrified gasp. 'Mizu-chan... too...?'

The flames tore across the battlefield, smashing against the barricades and licking Taiyou's smaller shield, but Setsuka watched them through a haze. Her eyes had filled with tears, and for once she thought she understood why.

"And to the victor goes... nothing."

She smiled thinly, bitterly, at last letting herself cry without restraint. Her hand loosened and the golden chain slipped from her fingers, taking both its power and its final, blood-colored gem with it.

She turned as Taiyou's shield dissolved, letting her eyes shift to the field behind her, to Mizu's vanishing barrier and to her silent, watching lover. She smiled through the smoke and tears, though she doubted he could see it.

"Hataku... forgive me..."

And then the fires caught her, and there was nothing but silence.

oOo

The battlefield's barrier fell slowly, dissolving from top to bottom and giving the flames more than enough time to ricochet back around, turning the field into an inferno. Tasuki closed his eyes as the fires turned back on their creator, letting his body sag as he waited for the blast that would, without Mitsukake there to save him, surely kill him this time.

Something slammed into his back, knocking his knees out from beneath him and sending him toppling to the ground. Hands grabbed the back of his coat and swept it forward, pressing down with jacket and arms to cover Tasuki's exposed head.

His eyes snapped open again. "Red?"

"I promised Akai," she gasped, mouth pressed to his ear, "that I'd... protect... the people I loved."

Tasuki's eyes widened further, then softened again. As the smoke and flames roiled over them, he used his last ounce of strength to roll sideways, dragging Ritsuka from her spot on top of him and hugging her to his chest. Their arms wrapped around each other, covering however much of the other that they could, Ritsuka with her face pressed to his neck and Tasuki with his buried in her hair.

He squeezed his eyes shut, murmuring around a half-crazy grin, "Heh. Well. Guess we both made good on our promises t'night, huh?"

She didn't reply, but Tasuki wouldn't have been able to hear her anyway. Both of the redheads had faded into darkness.

oOo

Chichiri glanced up through his tears as the mansion trembled again, bringing chunks of ceiling down with it. He gathered Mae up in his arms and turned back to Kiori. She was trying to make her way across the room, but the rumbling building and her own sapped strength had forced her to her knees just a few feet from the settee. She tried to rise again as he hurried towards her, but Chichiri shook his head once and she sat down again, working to shield herself from the debris.

She watched as he drew closer, grabbing his arm almost before he'd knelt beside her. She didn't need to ask about Mae – the tears flowing freely down his face told her all she needed to know. "Chichiri, I—"

He met her eyes, all business. "It's collapsing. We need to get out of here." He settled Mae's broken body against his shoulder, holding her with one arm while his other hand grabbed Kiori's. "I'm going to try sending us someplace safe. I don't know if we'll make it – I've used a lot of power tonight – but I want you to know that, no matter what happens, I'm not going to let go of your hand. I won't lose you without first losing myself. Okay?"

Kiori nodded, gripping his hand with the same force he gripped hers. Her other hand she cupped against his face, brushing the tears away from the corner of his scarred eye. "We'll make it," she murmured. "We all will."

He couldn't reply without crying again, and so he just nodded, closing his eye and muttering one last, desperate sutra.

oOo

"'The soft, reassuring grip of the other's hand was the last thing either felt before they were thrown into the void.'" Keisuke took a deep breath, trying to still his own clamoring nerves. "End Chapter Thirty-Seven."

-
Houki: As smoke clears and lives falter, it is "the ones who lead" that emerge, unscathed but not unharmed. For the hardest decisions are the ones made after the sword is shielded, when the white banners fly and the barricades have turned to ash.
Save what you can, when you can. Toss aside your pettiness, your sentimentality, your hopes and your hates. Make the choices your people need most. Ignore what is wanted and do what is right. For the ones who stand with you, the ones who stood before you - and the ones who stand against you.

The Next Episode of Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter: "Settling Dust – Promises Made Long Ago."

Where mercy and justice overlap, there is...

---

End Notes:
(1) chakras – the word gets tossed around quite a bit in this chapter, and although I assume you are at least vaguely familiar with the concept due to Avatar, Naruto, and all manner of exciting Asian media, a short explanation is probably in order. So: Chakras are a Hindu concept that found their way into Buddhist sects, New Age thought, and apparently Ninja school. They are, simply put, force centers or energy points located in a more-or-less straight line through the body, starting (or ending) at the feet and ending (or starting) at the crown of the head. There are seven major chakras and several minor ones, including the one Tsuchi refers to as the eighth/soul chakra, located just above the crown of the head. Each controls certain emotions/motor functions, and the blocking of a chakra can supposedly effect a person in all manner of ways. This is what happens to Chichiri at the beginning (by the way, Mizu hits him in the vishuddha, or throat chakra, which controls communication, independence, fluent thought and one's sense of security. Tough stuff). My own knowledge of this rather complex concept is admittedly weak, particularly since the rules change slightly depending on the religion/mythology/manga you're studying. In the spirit of all these varying sources I've put my own twist on it for FY:NC. I did my best to keep it simple, so hopefully it wasn't too confusing for you guys.

(2) Mizu's spell – true story, the sounds used for this spell are the on readings for several kanji that do, more or less, have a meaning, but... I didn't write them down as I was researching and I can't... actually... remember what that meaning was. Suffice to say it was important. Terribly so. Probably your entire understanding of this chapter will be ruined for not knowing it. Damn.

Ye Olde Author's Note: October 22nd, 2010
Ni-hao, minna-san!
So you know why I love this chapter? Because at the end of it, you have no idea who's alive!

(Dodges various pots and pans) I regret nothing!

But seriously, I'm not sure if I could have written a bigger cliffhanger unless the characters were actually dangling off the edge of a cliff. The original was pretty intense too, but I wove the plot lines together a lot more intricately this time around, so when Shit Went Down it went down hard. I struggled a little with clarity and fluidity, juggling as many overlapping story lines as I did, so I sincerely hope everyone was able to follow along all right as Tasuki/Ritsuka, Chichiri/Kiori, and Tsuchi/Akai/Houki fought their pants off to keep each other alive. Whether or not they succeeded, of course, has yet to be determined...

To be honest, I'm reluctant to do much talking about this chapter (short of writing the word EPIC in huge block letters again and again), mostly because I feel like anything I say might accidentally spoil something in the next chapter. And we certainly can't have that, not when we're so close to the Big Finish. So let's just skip the episode commentary and move on to a few Extras, shall we?

Allusion of the Episode: Houki's "Poem Number 42" serves as a subtle tip-of-the-hat to Douglas Adams and his classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. This is one of those little homages that quietly crops up in a lot of writer's works, including some of my other original pieces. Because let's face it: the answer is always 42.

FY:NC Fun Facts: "What's In a Name?"
-I'm not exactly proud to admit it, but 14-Year-Old Me made up most of the characters' names on the fly, without bothering to check and see if they were actual Japanese names. I lucked out for the most part, though "Kiori" seems to be a very rare name and "Ritsuka" is often used on boys. (Somehow I think she'd approve.) Anyway, the kanji I use for Ritsuka's name is 立夏, which can also be pronounced "Rikka," meaning the first day of summer.
-As you already know, "Akai" and "Aoi" are colors, and while Aoi is often used as a name (it's unisex, though more common with girls), Akai really isn't. I almost changed her name to Akane in the edit (same basic meaning), but in the end I was too attached to Akai - real name or not! - to get rid of it.
-Setsuka's original last name was Yukibara, meaning "Snow rose," which a younger me thought was rather clever. I changed it "Rei" for two reasons: First, because "Yukibara" is not a real last name, and certainly not a good one for a Chinese setting where the last names would likely be much shorter. Secondly, because as luck would have it "Setsuka" is spelled with the characters for snow (雪: SETSU) and flower (花: KA). Pure, awesome coincidence is a lovely thing.
-Nowadays I spell Hataku's name 霸乇, using the characters for "leadership" and "to entrust with," but if you just look up the word "hataku" in a Japanese dictionary it means "to strike" or "to beat." Another coincidence, I promise... Though the part of me that enjoys black humor was rather tickled. (sweat)
-The RAFT's names tend to be short and sweet, partly to make them easier to remember and partly to make them easier to type (heh). I pretty much just dragged them out of my limited Japanese vocabulary, so each name has a stunningly simple meaning. In no particular order: Kita (North), though "Ankita" means "one with auspicious marks" or "conqueror" in Hindi; Yuki (Snow); Tori (Bird); Kirei (Lovely/Pure); Kazuo (First son); Ayame (Iris). Like I said, pretty straightforward.
-And no, I didn't forget Aji, I just wanted to give him his own mini-section. See, "aji" generally just means "taste/flavor," but you can use it on a person to denote a sort of charming eccentricity. Referring to someone as "aji" would be roughly equivalent to saying "he's quite a character" in English. This was unintentional on my part, as usual, but it fits him so well I don't mind pretending that I planned it that way. :)

Never Edit at 1am...
There was no exact line that inspired this, but when I was reading the part where the three stories (Tsuchi-Setsuka-Mizu) start to overlap, I muttered out loud, "Madness." Then I looked around to make sure no one was nearby, grinned, and whisper-roared, "Madness? No. This - is - KONAN!" And then I imagined Tasuki kicking Setsuka off a cliff. Which is, if you were wondering, pretty much the best mental image ever.
...And you know who we should all feel the worst for? The people who actually owned the mansion that just came crashing down around our heroes' ears. "Well kids, it was rough for a while there, having to move in with your grandma in the capital and all, but the war's over and we can finally go ho - ahhh, son of a bitch!" Poor random Konan family...

Okay, that's enough silliness for one author's note. (What can I say? The episode was so serious that I had to get out all my goofy in the author's note.) Thanks to The White Phoenix, Lord Axel Lover, Ayriel, antyem, and inuphantom for your screaming reviews o' rage, and I'll cross my fingers that you'll be back to shout at me after this one, too.

Till Next Time – Dee