(Disclaimer: The Twelve Kingdom Characters belong solely to Fuyumi Ono, but Mariette and the other unknown characters I am writing about belong to me. If this disclaimer is wrong, then please do not sue me.)

Chapter 36: Wishes Revealed

Mariette walked through the hall of her palace completely in a daze. Mariette kept remembering what Enki said and did and shook her head.

"I'll be fine," whispered Mariette.

"Mariette?"

Mariette flinched and turned around only to see Tenshi looking at her confusingly with two books in his hands.

"Tenshi."

Tenshi walked up to her and asked, "Is something wrong?" Mariette looked down sadly and asked, "What would you do if someone confessed to you unexpectedly?" Tenshi looked at Mariette completely confused.

"Did someone confess to you?" asked Tenshi. Mariette nodded. Tenshi dropped his books to the ground. Mariette gasped in surprise. She kneeled down to the ground and began to gather the books. She stood back up and held the books to him.

"You should be more careful Tenshi," said Mariette. Tenshi took the books and said, "I'm sorry, but tell me who confessed to you." Mariette gave a small blush and said, "Well the person didn't actually confess to me face to face. It was Enki who told me that Shouryou loved me."

"So the king of En?"

Mariette nodded and added, "I think En-Chan might be in love with me too." Tenshi clenched the books in his hand.

"What makes you think that?" asked Tenshi. Mariette rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and said, "Well he kissed me and Wuya told me that was one of the symbols of love."

Tenshi fell silent. Mariette looked at Tenshi confusingly.

"Are you all right, Tenshi?"

Tenshi looked at Mariette seriously and said, "Reject them." Mariette blinked in confusion.

"Reject?"

"Don't return their feelings of love to you. Please reject them," said Tenshi in a desperate voice. Mariette noticed that Tenshi was acting strange.

"Tenshi, why are you acting like this?" asked Mariette in concern. Tenshi smirked at Mariette and asked, "Do you remember what my wish was many years ago?" Mariette nodded.

"You wanted to remain young."

Tenshi nodded and asked, "Do you know the real reason behind that wish?"

"Reason?"

Tenshi dropped the books again and hugged Mariette making her even more confused.

"Tenshi?"

"I wanted to stay young because I wanted to be with you," whispered Tenshi. Mariette's eyes widen in surprise.

"Many years ago, I met you in my hotel and heard you sing for the very first time. I fell in love with your voice and your innocense. I even gave you roses to give you a hint of my love, but you didn't understand. You were definitely still a child. When you left and time went by, I began to long to see you again. I looked in the mirror one day and saw that I was starting to look different from when you first saw me. I wanted you to love me, but not as an old man, so I sold my hotel and went to Mount Ho to try and become king. I saw you again and fell deeper in love with you, but then you became queen. I thought you were farther away from me now, but then I became the Chousai and was able to remain by your side. I decided to keep silent about my feelings until I knew you were ready, but…"

Tenshi hugged her tighter with tears coming out of his eyes.

"I won't keep silent if it means losing you to someone else."

Mariette was frozen as Tenshi hugged her. Tenshi looked at Mariette deep into her eyes with a small blush against his cheek. He kissed her on the lips causing Mariette's eyes to widen in surprise. Tears streamed down his eyes as he kissed her.

Tenshi pulled away from her lips and whispered, "I love you, Mariette. My most desirable wish in this world is to have you for myself." Mariette turned a shade of crimson. Mariette pushed him away softly and ran down the hall.

Tenshi looked down at his fallen books sadly and whispered, "I love you."

Mariette ran all the way to her office. She ran in and shut the door behind her. Mariette staggered to her chair. She sat down slowly and touched her lips. She remembered when she first met Tenshi in the hotel; when he gave her red roses; and the way he kissed her in the hallway. Mariette blushed deeply.

"Why couldn't I see that he felt that way toward me," said Mariette in exasperation.

Mariette's door suddenly opened making her look up. In her doorway stood Rai. Mariette sighed in relief.

"You can come in, Rai," said Mariette. Rai nodded and walked in. He walked up to her desk and held up a flower.

"Look what I found in the garden," said Rai happily. Mariette stared at the flower in his hand and smiled.

"Isn't that an orchid?" asked Mariette. Rai nodded and smiled at the flower.

"I saw this flower and remembered the times in Hourai. When you were still there with me," said Rai.

Mariette giggled and said, "I remember that I used to gather the orchids in the hills near our village. I used to weave them together and use them as a crown for you." Rai nodded.

"I tried to make one before, but it kept falling apart," said Rai with crossed arms. Mariette giggled and said, "I remember that you kept yelling at flowers to stay together." Rai and Mariette laughed together.

Rai looked back at the flower and placed it on the side of Mariette's hair. Rai smiled at Mariette and said, "This orchid will have to make up for the crown I couldn't make for you back then."

Mariette placed a delicate hand on the orchid and smiled.

"Thank you, Rai."

Rai stared at Mariette and asked, "Do you remember when we met again in Kei?" Mariette nodded.

"I met you in the alleyway, but of course I didn't recognize you," said Mariette. Rai smiled at her and said, "When I met you again I was extremely happy. I remember when I saw you fall off the cliff, I thought you were dead. I blamed myself for it."

Rai looked down sadly and said, "I felt depressed for so long until I couldn't take it anymore. I went to the cliff and jumped hoping to die."

Mariette looked at Rai with wide eyes.

"You tried to kill yourself, but why?" asked Mariette in concern.

"Because I wanted to be with you."

Rai chuckled and said, "I ended up in the twelve kingdoms instead and tried to make a living there hoping that you were there too. Three years living there and I finally find you."

Mariette smiled at Rai and said, "I'm glad I met you again, Rai." Rai nodded in agreement. He stared at Mariette and gave a quick peck on her lips making Mariette confused.

Rai smiled at Mariette warmly and said, "I will only love you, Mariette." With that, Rai left the room. Mariette stared at her door and began to blush.

"Rai loves me too?"

Mariette clenched her head and said, "Why did Rai say that so suddenly?" Mariette remembered her times with Rai in Hourai and sighed.

"His type of love must definitely be childhood love," whispered Mariette. Mariette shook her head and began to work on random paper work to take her mind off of Rai.

After hours of working, Mariette placed her work down and stretched her arms.

"That made me feel better," said Mariette as she stood up from her chair. She walked out of her office and strolled down the hall. She suddenly heard yelling in another room and leaned toward its door.

It didn't take Mariette long to realize that it was Narumi yelling.

"Why are you going to give Mariette that ring?"

Mariette's eyes widen in surprise and whispered, "Ring?"

"If I give her this ring, then maybe she can finally let go of her ex-fiance and stop comparing me to him."

Mariette stared at the door realizing that the other speaker was Hitaki.

"Giving her that ring won't change anything. She will only see you as that guy."

"I don't want that. I want her to see me for me."

There was silence for a while, then Mariette heard Narumi ask, "Do you love Mariette?"

"Yes. I loved her ever since I first saw her in the Shusei tent. I was serious when I said that I wanted to marry her back in my tent."

Mariette placed a hand to her mouth in shock.

"So that ring is supposed to be like a proposal?" asked Narumi.

"That's right."

"Why did you wait for this long?" yelled Narumi.

"I was afraid, but after waiting this long, I am brave enough to ask her."

Mariette suddenly heard a punching noise causing her to gasp in surprise.

"I won't let you have her!" screamed Narumi. There was silence and then Hitaki asked, "Are you saying that you want her more?"

"I love her more than you do, monkey," said Narumi angrily. Mariette stepped away from the door in shock.

Mariette ran down the hall in tears and redness against her cheek.

"Why them too?"

Mariette ran into her room and shut the door tightly behind her. Mariette fell onto her bed with tears in her eyes.

"Why?"

Mariette looked at her side table and saw a letter on it. She picked the letter up and saw the signature of Yue.

"I guess Usagi placed this here," said Mariette when she noticed Usagi's teeth marks on it. Mariette opened the letter and began to read it.

Mariette,

How are you doing? I heard that your kingdom is about to become one of the riches in the twelve kingdoms. That is a great achievement. I plan to visit some time this month, so make sure to be prepared. I hope you like my small present.

Love,

Yue, king of Kou

Mariette stared at the letter and focused on the word love. Mariette shook her head. She shook the envelope of the letter and saw a flower shaped like a heart fall out of it. Mariette stared at the heart shaped flower and remembered one of the symbols of love.

"Does this mean that Yue loves me too?" said Mariette with a blush against her cheek. Mariette shook her head and flopped onto her bed. She noticed another letter not in an envelope on her table and picked it up.

It read:

Mariette,

I visited your room without your permission and I apologize for that, but I wanted to ask you something. I don't have the courage to see you face to face, so can you please tell me by letter what you think of me? I know it sounds strange for me to ask you this after so long, but I didn't want to surprise you too suddenly. I never want you to feel troubled by my words, so I'll tell you on paper. I love you ever since you saved Rokuta from death. Just don't tell anyone else about what I wrote, especially Rokuta, the Kirin, because I know for a fact that he loves you too. I just wanted you to know, so I hope to see you soon, Mariette.

Love,

Kouya

"Why me?" said Mariette after reading the second letter.

Mariette thought of all the confessions she heard today and the signs of love she had discovered from them and hugged her pillow close to her chest.

"I love them, but not like that."

Yoko stared at Mariette and said, "It must be hard for Mariette to learn all this from them all at once."