Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Generation – Part 37

Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Generation – Part 37

Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi. Yuu Watase does. I own this story and the new characters in it. Don't steal. Tama-neko is watching you. ç =^._.^=

Author's Note: That last part was very hard to write. Sorry to all of you who felt sad. But, I've been saying that I've got something up my sleeve. Come on, now. We're not done yet. All shall be revealed. This part is short, but informative for those of you who were wondering about things.

Mariko was somewhere else. She wasn't at the altar. She was in some sort of limbo. Mariko was nude. She didn't even have Nuriko's bracelets on her wrist. Her hair was loose. She was floating in midair. The place she was at was warm like a mother's womb. Everything around her was dark red.

"Am I dead?" asked Mariko softly. She could hear the sound of a heartbeat. She could feel a burning feeling from her sensation.

"You are not dead, Mariko-sama. You are with me," said a gentle, booming voice. The voice echoed throughout Mariko's location. Mariko looked around her. She couldn't tell where the comforting voice was coming from.

"Suzaku?" whispered Mariko.

"Yes. I have been you all along. Always," answered the voice.

"If you've always been with me, then why did you let my seishi die?! Why did you let my best friend die?! Where were you when all those people were murdered?" cried out Mariko. She lifted her arms, so that her hands could wipe the hot tears from her face.

"Come with me," said the voice gently, "I have something to show you."

"What choice do I have?" asked Mariko with annoyance.

Mariko was somewhere else now. She was still naked, but it didn't matter. No one could see her away. She was brought back to the past.

"Today is the fourth of July, seventeen years ago," said the voice.

"That's my birthday. I don't understand. Why are we at the hospital in Tokyo?" asked Mariko.

"Just watch," instructed the voice.

It was a delivery room at Tokyo General. Mariko could see her mother in labor. Her father is holding her hand. Miaka is sweating and trying to control her breathing.

"It's all right, Miaka. The baby's almost here. Everything is going to be fine," said Mariko's father as he wiped her mother's brow.

"OH, SHUT THE HELL UP, TAKA!" shouted Miaka in pain. The doctor was desperately trying to deliver the baby safely, but there was something wrong.

"I'm just trying to be supportive, Miaka. There's no need to yell at me. You didn't yell at me when you had Hoshi," Taka reminded her.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THE BABY IS A MONTH EARLY! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" shouted Miaka. Taka winced, and decided that it was best that he just be seen and not heard. Otherwise, Miaka was going to kill him for sure.

"The umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby's neck. I'm going to make some incisions and try to unwind the cord from the baby's neck. All right. I got it. Now push this time, and the baby should come out," said the doctor.

Miaka pushed, and the baby finally came out. "She's a girl," said Taka happily as he kissed his wife. There was still something wrong with the baby. The doctor called in a neonatal unit to work on the baby.

"What's wrong with my baby? Why isn't she crying?" asked Miaka frantically. Taka looked at the baby with concern. The baby wasn't moving at all. Mariko realized that she was the baby. Mariko saw something else. There was a small fireball that came out of no where. The ball of fire entered the baby's chest. Suddenly, the baby gave out a mighty cry. Taka and Miaka had a look of sheer relief on their faces. The baby was still crying, but it was the most beautiful sound that Taka and Miaka had ever heard. "She's so beautiful. What should we name her?" asked Taka.

"Mariko. I've always liked that name," answered Miaka sleepy.

"Then, Mariko, it is. Hi. My name is Sukunami Taka. Your name is Sukunami Mariko. I'm your father, but some call me Tamahome," he said with a grin to his face to the bundle he was holding in his arms.

Mariko was transported back to limbo. Mariko realized that the fireball that entered her chest was Suzaku. "You've been with me since I was born?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I have been with you that long. I have remained dormant all this time waiting for the day you would summon me. I protected you," said the voice.

Mariko's eyes widened. The burning sensation in her chest. The reoccurring dreams where she was being devoured. The fact that she was able to activate and unable to remove Nuriko's bracelets. The red aura that protected her from Zai Rei. All this was the work of Suzaku. "Why did you interfere with my life? You're the reason I'm in this mess. You were the one who controlled me the day I went to that temple where Amai, Miwa, and Yoko were," she said.

"You were wondering why you were here even if you hadn't agreed. Your compliance was not needed because I was already with you. You have also wondered if you were good enough to do what your mother has done, and you have proved to be more than worthy. If I had not stepped in seventeen years ago, then you would have died. You would have never made it this far," answered the voice. Mariko realized the sound of the heartbeat was hers, and that the voice was coming from her chest.

"Are you going to fix everything, now?" asked Mariko.

"The four gods cannot fix all the damage that has been done to the world. Only the people can be saved. The people are the world. The world is the people. The crumbling will be ceased, but the damage that has been done cannot be fully repaired," said the voice.

"WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS?! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE THING?! WAS THIS ALL FOR NOTHING?! THE WORLD IS GOING TO END ANYWAY!" exploded Mariko. All that work for nothing. She just couldn't believe it.

"Taiitsukun said that the crumbling would stop, but she didn't say anything about fixing all the damage. That is up to the people of this world. The time stream will remain as it is. It is now in sync with your world. The borders between our worlds are almost gone. However, there are still barriers present. The two worlds are more connected than ever. You exist in both worlds, so does everyone else. The time will come near when everyone can move between the worlds. Everything is now aligned this way," said the voice.

"But…Sei…the others…my brother…" stammered Mariko "You were the one who put Sei with me."

"Things are not as bad as they seem, my child," said the voice, "I have had to joy of watching you grow up. I have seen you lose your best friend. I have given him back to you. You will always have your brother, but you lost someone else precious to you. Your brother wouldn't have let you grow and expand as well as he has. You have a hidden love in your heart that has yet to be explored. Open your eyes and your heart. Fear nothing. You will know it when you open your eyes."

"I just got back my best friend only to lose him now. You gave him back so that he could just be lost again," said Mariko. The heat from her chest surrounded her in a mock embrace that brought some comfort to her. The heat dried her tears. Mariko could feel the heat increasing around her. She remembered during the lonely moments in her life, there was a heat that would always come and comfort her. "I trust you. You've been with me all along," whispered Mariko.

"You must summon me now. I must leave you for the time being," commanded the voice. Mariko looked surprised.

"What? You have to leave now? What am I suppose to do without you?" asked Mariko. Her eyes were sad.

"You do not need me as much as you think you do. It isn't until now that you have been aware of my presence," said the voice.

"But…I understand. There are others who need you. You've been planning all this for the past seventeen years," said Mariko. She knew this was part of her destiny.

"Summon me now," commanded the voice again. Mariko nodded.

"Kai-jin," whispered Mariko.

~*ClareBear's Omake*~

Everyone has swirls in their eyes. They are running around superdeformed.

Tamahome (waving his arms in the air frantically): I don't believe this! Suzaku's been with them the whole freakin' time!

Nuriko (holding up a fist with a vein throbbing in his fist): If he wasn't my god I would…

Chiriko (rubbing his head): I need a good wall to bang my head against.

Mitsukake (looking around): I know I'm dead, but I need a place to lay down.

Hotohori: Suzaku could have come out at anytime. He didn't need to get all the seishi, scrolls, and the shinzahou together. Why does he always have to make things so hard on us seishi and mikos?

Tamahome: It's 'cause he's god! He's never wrong.

Miaka (thinking out loud): Well, what do you know? Suzaku's always been with Mariko. I guess with all the excitement we didn't know about that fireball coming in when Mariko was born. I thought that it was strange that I could actually hold her when Zai Rei attacked her in dreams. Hmm. That was also Suzaku's doing.