Chapter 19: Fire and Ice

The proprietor's wife watched the strange man and his young wife making their way to the exit. Odd couple, she thought, bemused.

The husband was tall, broad-shouldered and had finely-chiselled features. Quite frankly, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. It was hard not to notice him, with his unusual golden hair, his dignified militant bearing and his exceptional good looks. He seemed to have an almost magnetic presence, drawing stares from most of the people in the room, although he himself seemed unaware of the amount of attention he attracted.

The woman turned her gaze to the diminutive figure by the blonde man's side. Next to each other, the top of her head barely reached her companion's chin. She seemed no more than a girl…a child, really. One could easily mistake her for such, had it not been for the confident way she held herself. She noticed the glint in the girl's large, luminous hazel eyes, hinting at a fiery spirit which was completely at odds with her blonde husband's icy demeanour.

Not that there was anything icy about him last night…The woman almost blushed at the memory of the sight which had greeted her.

She had not been entirely convinced that the two were married. She had noticed the lack of intimacy when they had walked into the inn…she'd even thought she had heard the tiny so-called "wife" yelling at her "husband", so…

She had decided to check on them.

She had crept to their room in the middle of the night and peeked in.

The scene which had unfolded before her had promptly blown all her doubts about their marital status out of the water.

They had been wrapped in an extremely intimate embrace and the husband had been giving his wife the most passionate kiss the mistress of the inn had ever seen in her long career.

It wasn't hard to guess what had happened AFTER the kiss…

She caught the young wife's eye as the couple passed her and flashed the girl a knowing smile.


"That is one seriously creepy woman," Miaka sighed in relief as they made it out of the inn without incident. "What kind of sick person spies on people in their rooms in the middle of the night?"

"She was just doing her job, Suzaku no Miko." Nakago scanned the street for anything suspicious. Although they were in a large town with a lot of people around, one could never be too careful. He was a soldier first and foremost, and old habits died hard.

"Hmph," Miaka snorted non-committally even as she surveyed the crowd to their left. "All quiet on the western front."

She almost felt his attention snap back to her.

Tilting her head quizzically to stare at him, "What?" she asked impatiently.

He looked down at her, his face devoid of any expression which would give away his thoughts, "Nothing."

To say that he was surprised was an understatement. The Suzaku no Miko had unconsciously picked up on what he had been doing! Like any good soldier, she had assessed the situation from a tactical point of view and reported her findings…and the most amazing thing was that she had absolutely no idea she'd done it!

Will wonders never cease…he thought cynically. His thoughts were interrupted when she seemed to snap back to her normal ditzy self. Maybe she has split personalities. The whiny and ditzy one being the dominant personality. A part of his mind suggested snidely. It wasn't that far of a stretch.

"Can we go now? I'm hungry and I don't want to go back to that inn…" the expression on her face was faintly pleading. "The proprietor's wife was giving me such a weird look just now!" she shuddered with something very close to disgust.

He told himself that he should have known better than to be amazed at her naivete. Was the Suzaku no Miko really that innocent? Or was she just plain stupid? Quite possibly both. He almost sighed in exasperation. Almost.

Instead, he allowed a corner of his mouth to quirk in amusement. "She saw me on top of you and we were sharing such a passionate kiss…what would you think if you saw something like that?" He knew that he was deliberately baiting her, but it was always entertaining to watch her reaction.

It took precisely 2.3 seconds for her to realise EXACTLY what the woman must have thought.

Miaka beat her previous blush record by turning every shade of red in the colour spectrum. "OH MY GOD! SHE THOUGHT THAT…THAT I…AND YOU…ACK!!" Her hand flew to her mouth as a second realisation followed on the heels of the first, Oh no! Nuriko, Hotohori, TAMAHOME… EVERYONE must have seen that! OH MY GOD…! She covered her face with her hands and groaned in mortification. This was bad. Very bad…

She wanted to die of embarrassment. No wonder the proprietor's wife had given her that conspiratorial, knowing look…little did the nosy woman know that Miaka's virginity was quite intact. And it's going to STAY that way!!

Nakago had the grace to look slightly miffed, although she suspected that it was a show entirely for her benefit. The man had an ego larger than Russia, and twice as impenetrable…There was nothing in this world or any other that could dent it.

"You wound me, Suzaku no Miko," he said impassively, although Miaka could have sworn that his tone had held a tinge of amused sarcasm.

She settled for glaring daggers at him, "It's not funny, Jerk," she muttered.


They left the town that morning, following an obscure trail up into the mountains. Nakago tried to recall what he had heard about the ancient amulet his predecessors had hidden away so carefully. It had been said that it contained great power, capable of doing either great damage or great good. Many a time, it had been a close call as to which. Regardless, the stories he had heard about it had been steeped in myths and rumours that were vague at best.

Still…they were already in possession of all the shinzahos. It would be a pity to turn back now, wouldn't it? Nakago's eyes flicked over the Suzaku no Miko. After they got the amulet and she summoned Suzaku, his debt to Tamahome would be considered repaid…and he could finally get back to his own life. Thank the gods. If he never saw any one of the annoying Suzaku shichi seishi or their Miko again, it would be too soon.

They came to a fork in the path. The Suzaku no Miko was staring at the orb the violet-haired Suzaku seishi had given her in Sairo, shaking it as though she suspected that it was broken. She scowled at it when it did not give her an answer. Her actions were amusing and he almost chuckled at her childish attempts. He cocked his head to one side, listening carefully. In the distance, he heard a faint roar.

Running water. More specifically, a waterfall. Water was considered sacred. Surely they would hide something like the amulet near a sacred element? He found no flaw in his reasoning, and anyone would have been hard pressed to dispute the logic in it.

The path on the left branched out in the direction of the waterfall, and every instinct he had told him that their objective lay there. He could not explain it…it was as if there was a powerful force drawing him…urging, calling out to him…

His instincts had never failed him.

"Which way?" she asked quietly, somehow sensing that she could trust his judgement on this matter. This was the stomping ground of his ancestors after all…she wondered if all the Hin people were obnoxious from the very beginning of time or whether it was just Nakago. With the kind of luck she had, it was entirely possible that she was stuck with the one and only member in the whole Hin race who had a dysfunctional personality. Sometimes she suspected that he had actually been hatched from a very hard-shelled, very stale egg…

Instead of answering, he started up the left path, not even turning to make sure she was following.

Miaka sighed, having become used to her travelling companion's ways and knowing better than to waste energy getting irritated. It just wasn't worth arguing with him…and she lost most of their verbal sparring matches anyway. Current score…Arrogant Jerk: 45, Miaka: 2. Rolling her eyes, she wearily trudged after her enigmatic guide.

It wasn't long before they rounded a bend in the path and were confronted by the sight of a spectacular hundred metre high waterfall. They had emerged on a plateau three quarters of the way up the waterfall, and it afforded a stunning view. Miaka was struck speechless at the sheer beauty of the falling water. At the shimmering pool at the foot of the waterfall, animals and plants of all kinds drew life from the water and flourished. Miaka could not help but notice a rainbow tracing a delicate arc above the mist.

Nakago was looking intently at the waterfall, or more precisely a small ledge almost completely hidden in the mist and spray thrown up by the rushing water. His eyes followed the indistinct outline of the rock shelf and found that it disappeared directly behind the waterfall. He could sense something behind the water and was willing to bet that it was a cave of some sort. Beyond that...

Only one way to find out.

He made his way through the thick undergrowth, pushing it aside until he came to a small trail which connected to the narrow shelf of rock. Miaka had not noticed the outcropping before, but now she could see that it was very narrow…only about two feet wide.

"Do we really have to do this?" she whined petulantly, eyeing the ledge nervously. Not surprisingly, he did not dignify her question with a response. Reluctantly, she followed his lead, inching sideways along the cliff face. She tried not to look down at the long drop just below her feet.

"Suzaku no Miko, can you swim?"

The abruptness with which he asked the question startled her, almost causing her to lose her footing. "Yes…" she said haughtily, then her eyes narrowed at him with suspicion. "Why?"

"Just wanted to make sure, in case you fell off the ledge." His words were blunt and direct, with no hint that he would even care if she fell to a watery death.

She glared at him, wanting nothing more than to kick him off the ledge. He looked back at her with an expression of feigned innocence. She would have bet anything from dollar bills to dill pickles that he was smirking under that damned impassive mask of his.

Jerk.

As they got nearer to waterfall, Miaka was able to see that hidden exactly behind the sparkling curtain of water was a cave carved out of the rock on the vertical cliff face. She could feel the excitement building. They were so close to accomplishing their goal!

In fact, she was so excited that she failed to notice that the ledge had become slick with water and slimy green algae. Before she even had a chance to register that her foot had hit a slippery patch of rock, her feet shot out from under her. She felt herself losing her balance and falling off the ledge…


Notes:

1) Literally a cliffhanger! grins What IS it with Miaka and cliffs and/or water? Either she falls off the cliff, falls into a river, or both...

2) Yep, Nakago is back to his normal, evil self. Comes complete with huge ego. Batteries not included. Hehhehheh. :-)