Untitled
 by: Trowa-kun
e-mail: fujisaki_suguru@hotmail.com

I'm really rolling now! ::grins:: This is the third part to this fanfic and I still don't have a name for it.

~*~*~Part Three~*~*~

Catherine looked at Hotohori and smiled. He looked back at her with a quizzical look. She giggled, "Gomen ne, its just, I haven't seen Trowa so happy since we were both children, before we were separated."

Hotohori smiled, "Perhaps that is the reason Suzaku brought you here."

She tilted her head to the side, "Who is Suzaku?"

Hotohori paled slightly, "No one's told her!" He smiled, "He is the god that protects our country."

Catherine just blinked, "Oh…" Hotohori paled more at her response and rose from his chair, offering her a hand to help her stand. She took his hand, but had a confused look on her face, "Where are we going?"

He smiled, "You'll see…" They walked down the breezeways till they came up to Suzaku's Shrine, "This is Suzaku's Shrine…" His voice trailed off as he watched her face that had paled dramatically as they walked up on the shrine. She walked up to the doors slowly, tentatively reaching out a hand to touch it. She jerked her hand back momentarily, frightened of it, but then gained her confidence and placed the palm of her hand on the cool, smooth surface of the door. Slowly she pushed the door open and walked in.

Hotohori watched her and slowly followed her in, slightly relieved that Suzaku would let her into the shrine, meaning that she wasn't an enemy. He watched as she drank in her surroundings, her face filled with a mix of emotions, he became worried about her. "Catherine, is something wrong?" She turned and looked at him, tears on the verge of rolling down her cheeks. His eyes went wide and he immediately stepped up to her to, pulling her into a hug and letting her sob on his shoulder.

~*~*~*~*~*~


Trowa and Catherine sat out in the gazebo after dinner. Both had been extremely quiet at dinner and both were still extremely quiet.

Catherine was the first to break the silence, "So, did you have fun today?"

Startled, he looked up at her, "What do you mean, 'have fun'? We're in a land we don't know, we don't know how we got here and we don't know how to get back!"

She blinked, startled by his response, "Ano…. I meant when you were out riding with Nuriko…."

"Oh!" He blinked and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah…I guess…the look on his face was priceless when I tossed him into the lake…" Catherine gave him a funny look. "What?"

"You…. just called…. Nuriko…a 'he'………" her voice trailed off in confusion.

Trowa blinked, and then chuckled, "Umm…yeah, I discovered that while we were wrestling."

Catherine put a hand to her mouth, trying to hide her laughter, "Oh my…." Trowa chuckled and nodded.

~*~*~*~*~*~


Nuriko sat and watched as Tamahome plowed through some more plates, "Ano…. Tama-chan, dinner has been over for an hour now…"

Tamahome looked up at him, "Don't call me Tama-chan!"

Nuriko shook his head and stood up, "Why don't you go get some rest, Tama-chan." He scowled at the other seishi before getting up and walking off. Nuriko groaned and looked up towards the ceiling, "Miaka, please hurry back…I don't think the palace supply of china can handle much more of this…"

He walked out of the room and looked around, spotting Trowa and Catherine sitting in the gazebo talking. He sighed to himself, "I hope they will be ok…"

"Don't worry Nuriko, I'm sure they'll find a way home…" a voice came from behind him.

Nuriko spun around, and gasped, "Hotohori-sama!"

Hotohori chuckled at Nuriko's reaction, and then his face became solemn. "I took Catherine to Suzaku's shrine today…"

Nuriko listened intently, "What happened?"

Hotohori shook his head, "She looked around and burst into tears…"

Nuriko nodded slowly, "I took Trowa by earlier as well, he seemed rather upset himself."

Hotohori nodded, "The shrine must have something to do with them being here then." The two Suzaku warriors just stood there for a while and just pondered the situation. Hotohori broke the silence, "She did say something else…" Nuriko raised an eyebrow. "She said her brother seemed much happier here than he had been in a long time, from where they came from…"

~*~*~*~*~*~


Trowa had seen Catherine safely to her room so that she could get some rest. After that he just wandered around the palace for a while, trying to think things out. He walked out into the courtyard and looked around. The place was lit only by the full moon above, and not a soul was around. "Who would be up at this hour anyways? It must be two or three in the morning now…" He walked around, not even looking at the variety of flowers that were actually in full bloom this late at night. Those were of no interest to him. What he wanted was a way to get Catherine safely home.

He noted that the gates that led out to the city were locked, and he wasn't about to ask one of the guards to let him through. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone. But he did want to get out of the palace and go back to where he and Catherine appeared to see if he could find any clues.

With that decided in his mind, he nimbly leapt and landed on the top of the wall surrounding the palace. From this vantage point he could view a good portion of the city and was able to find the spot that he and Catherine appeared.

With a little jump, he landed on the ground outside of the palace, his hand tucked in his pockets. He glanced around to see if anyone saw him land, and with a satisfied nodded he started walking back to the 'spot'.

During this time, Nuriko had been watching him from the shadows. He was amazed when he saw Trowa land on top of the wall, and once he disappeared over the edge, Nuriko jumped up and hunkered down low to follow him without being spotted. He watched as Trowa walked off in the direction, which he and his sister first appeared, and once he had rounded the corner, Nuriko jumped down to the ground, not nearly as graceful has Trowa had. He stood up quickly and dusted himself off, then turned to the side of a building, peeking around the corner.

Trowa heard a thump behind him and paused, "Someone is following me…" He hurried around the corner and waited patiently, certain that the person would show themselves eventually. And sure enough, moments later indigo hair peeked around the corner. Trowa reached a hand around and grabbed the collar of the person, pushing him up into the wall. He looked up at the face, then his jaw dropped, "NURIKO???"

Nuriko looked down at him sheepishly, and waved. "Hi…" he chuckled out.

Trowa let him down carefully, "What are you doing?"

Nuriko looked at him, "I could ask you the same thing."

Trowa eyed him, "I was going to look for clues…"

Nuriko straightened his tunic, "Well, I was just following you to make sure that you didn't get hurt. Konan has some pretty rough thugs that come out at night."

Trowa turned his back to Nuriko and started walking off, "I can take care of myself."

Nuriko just stood there with a frown as he watched the taller boy walking off, "I know you can handle yourself against the thugs of Konan…but can you handle your own emotions?" Nuriko shook his head and trotted to catch up to Trowa.

Trowa looked over at him, "What are you doing? I told you I can take care of myself."

Nuriko shrugged and grinned, "Thought you could use the company."

Trowa stopped dead in his tracks and watched Nuriko as he walked on ahead of him. Nuriko turned and looked at him, "What's wrong, Tro-wa?"

Trowa looked at him, "What makes you think I need company?" Nuriko blinked, "Ano…"

Trowa just grumbled and started walking again, brushing past Nuriko. Moments later he realized Nuriko wasn't following him, causing him to stop and look back. Nuriko just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face. Trowa sighed, "Well, are you coming or not?"

Nuriko's puzzled look washed away and was replaced by a grin. He ran up next to Trowa, grabbed his hand and continued to run, "What are we waiting for?"

~*~*~End Part Three~*~*~

11/30/01