Misara's eyes flickered open and as she looked around, she couldn't remember where she was. Suddenly, she noticed that she was being carried, and by Nakago of all people! She pushed herself out of his arms and promptly fell onto the ground, her legs too weak to hold her up. Nakago bent down to help her up, but she ignored his outstretched hand and pulled herself up. She didn't feel as drugged as she had before, but something was still not right. As she glared at Nakago, her mind raced for an answer, but she could give herself none. Then she noticed Yui standing behind Nakago, watching something below. Misara looked down and saw that they were in some sort of tower, high enough off the ground to make Misara sick. Then something else caught her attention. Standing below them, under a tree, were four figures. She strained her eyes to see who they were, and sighed in relief when she saw Miaka, Chichiri and Tasuki standing with Tamahome.

Thank goodness they found him, she thought. I was afraid that something had gone wrong...now we can all go home. She half-turned to leave when a sudden movement below caught her eye. Tasuki had attacked Tamahome! Misara leaned over the railing, her mouth open in astonishment. Tamahome was fighting back as well...but for the life of her, Misara couldn't hear what they were saying. Suddenly, she realized something else. She couldn't feel them...like she did when one of them was in trouble. She always felt it, but this time was different. She did feel something coming from Tasuki, but only if she strained to feel it. From Tamahome...there was nothing. She was interrupted in her wonderings by Tasuki flying through the air and slamming into the tree, the loud crack reverberating around her. Although she didn't feel his pain, her anger flared as usual. She spun around and ran toward the tower steps, dodging Nakago's hand that reached out to grab her. She ran as fast as she could down the steps and ran into the courtyard. Miaka and Chichiri were nowhere to be seen and it was obvious that Tasuki was losing the fight. Suddenly, Nakago appeared in front of Misara. Taken aback by his sudden appearance, she hesitated for a brief instant, then flew past him and toward her friends.

"Tamahome!" She cried loudly. He spun around, surprised, and Tasuki jumped on him from behind, proceeding to pound on him again. "NO!" She screamed again, throwing her arms around Tasuki and pulling him off Tamahome.

"What the hell are you doing?!?" Tasuki screeched, trying to wrestle himself from her grasp.

"That's Tamahome!" She yelled. "One of the Suzaku Seven! You can't hurt him!"

Tasuki finally pushed her away. "I don't care! He's trying to kill Miaka! The real Tamahome wouldn't do that!"

Misara stopped in her tracks and stared at Tasuki. "What...what do you mean?" Before Tasuki could answer her, Tamahome came out of nowhere and hit him, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. Misara screamed again. "Tamahome! What are you doing?!?" She took a few hesitating steps toward him. She was getting a few weird feeling in her stomach. He smiled evilly at her and she quickly backed away. Nakago appeared at Tamahome's side at the same time a red light shone from the bushes nearby. A giant red orb floated next to her, and inside were Miaka and Chichiri. A flash of red light and Tasuki disappeared from the ground and reappeared inside the orb.

Suddenly, Miaka caught Misara's eye. "Misara! What are you doing here?" She gasped. Chichiri looked up and gasped too.

"Come on, Misara! We have to go!" He yelled, motioning for her to get inside the orb. Misara was about to jump in when a strong hand grasped her arm and pulled her back. She turned and saw Tamahome holding on to her.

"I'm not letting you go." He said softly. Nakago, who was still standing behind him, smiled at her.

"Don't you want to see your friend again?" Nakago asked her. Misara was taken aback. She had forgotten all about Taylor...was she even still in Kutou?

Chichiri broke into her thoughts. "We have to go now! Misara! Chiriko can't hold on to us much longer!"

Misara turned back to Chichiri. "Chiriko? But he's-"

Interrupting her, Nakago smiled sardonically and waved. "She's staying. Bye now." The red orb shimmered and disappeared as Misara heard Miaka whisper, "Goodbye, Tamahome..."



After her friends had disappeared, Misara stood very still, unsure of what had happened and what she should do next. Tamahome let go of her arm and Misara looked up at him. To her surprise, she saw tears running down his cheeks. I've never seen him cry before, she thought. She heard footsteps and saw Yui running toward them. She threw herself around Tamahome.

"Tamahome, are you alright?" She asked frantically, then noticed his tears. Speechless, she could only stare at him. Nakago was glaring at Tamahome.

"Where is Taylor?" Misara asked. None of them seemed to be paying any attention to her, and Misara grew angry. "Where is my friend?" She all but screamed.

Yui jerked her head around. "What are YOU doing here?" She cried. "Go home!"

"What???" Misara said, astonished. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Yui put her hands on her hips. "I mean, GO HOME!" She said, articulating the words. Misara's eyes narrowed. She was so infuriated that she almost couldn't speak. Almost.

"I'd love to go home!" She exploded. "Just point out the exit and I'll gladly leave! I'm sick of this place, so if you can tell me how to get home, please do!" She turned to leave, then spun back around. "By the way, give me my friend before I go!"

Nakago interrupted their squabble. "You want to see Taylor? Of course you do." He held out his hand. "This way." Misara ignored his out-stretched hand and waited until he had turned around and headed back into the palace. She followed him closely, not wanting to get lost. She took one last look at Yui and saw that she was watching Nakago very closely, her eyes full of suspicion.

As Misara followed Nakago through the dark hallways, she wondered why he was being so civil to her. She was, after all, still an enemy of Seiryu because she still protected the warriors of Suzaku. Even now she couldn't comprehend what Nakago had done. Taitskun had told her that there could only be one Goddess of the Sky...which was why Nakago couldn't use Taylor. But she had also said something about how only one god could call the Goddess, and apparently Seiryu had called her too. Didn't Nakago say something about it being her decision? She shook her head, unable to remember exactly what had happened. When she focused again on the present, she was standing in front of a door and Nakago was standing next to it, watching her with a small smile on his face.

"Go ahead. Your friend is inside." His smile grew bigger.

Misara sneered at him, which only made him smile more. She rolled her eyes and pushed open the door. The room was pretty elaborate, for a literal dungeon, Misara thought sarcastically. In the corner of the room was a bed, and someone was sleeping in it. The lamp on the table was lit, and it cast an eerie glow around the room. How like Taylor, Misara thought. She could never sleep in absolute dark like Misara, who couldn't stand even a bit of light when she was trying to sleep.

"Taylor-your best friend is here." Nakago's voice boomed out behind Misara, who whirled around in annoyance. I wish I had closed the door, she thought. The girl in the bed sat up quickly, the lamp turning her usual red hair into a burnished gold.

"Misara?" She asked in disbelief, throwing back the covers and climbing hurriedly out of bed. She walked toward Misara, slowly at first, then when she realized that it really was Misara, she ran toward her and threw her arms around her best friend's neck.

Misara happily returned the embrace. "I can't believe you're really here!" she cried.

"You can't believe I'M here?" Taylor exclaimed. "I can't believe you're here! When you didn't come back from the bathroom, I went to find you and you weren't anywhere in the restaurant. I looked for an hour! I finally had to go home and I was so worried about you! The next morning you weren't in school an-" she stopped and looked over Misara's shoulder. "Oh, it's you..." She said flatly to Nakago, who returned her greeting with an emotionless stare.

"Can't I talk to my friend alone?" Misara asked angrily. To her complete surprise, Nakago bowed and left the room without another word. After his footsteps had echoed off into the distance, Misara turned back to Taylor, who was staring at the floor. "What's wrong?" Misara asked, confused.

Taylor sighed. "Nakago is...rather...intimidating, I guess. Even though he's good-looking, he still kind of freaks me out."

Misara rolled her eyes. "He's incredibly arrogant. I don't think he knows what belongs to him and what doesn't."

"He told me you were...what was it?" Taylor's forehead wrinkled in thought.

"The Goddess of the Sky." Misara said softly.

"Yeah, that's it!" Taylor's face lit up. "Why am I not surprised? It's sounds just like you. I always knew your talents were unrealized back home."

Misara forced a laugh. "It's not all it's cracked up to be, you know. I have real work to do in Konan." She smiled, but it was a real one this time. "Good thing they didn't pick you for the job, because then they'd be in trouble."

Taylor rolled her eyes and pointed to a chair, sitting down in another across the table. Misara sat down tiredly.

"So what's Konan like? Is it like Kutou? Are the people nice? And, most importantly, did you meet any cute guys?" Taylor asked excitedly.

Misara laughed. "Very nice, not really, yes and...YES."

"Oh, do tell." Taylor said, smiling.

"Well," Misara started. "first of all, there's the emperor, Hotohori. He's beautiful beyond belief, but unfortunately, he's a narcissist."

Taylor groaned. "Figures."

"Anyway," Misara continued. "Then there's all the warriors of Suzaku that I have to protect. Tamahome's alright, but he's in love with Miaka. Nuriko dresses like a woman, but lets not go there. Chichiri is really nice, but he wears this mask over his face. I don't know why...he feels sad all the time, too."

"What do you mean, 'feels sad'?" Taylor asked, confused.

Misara looked lost for words. "Well...never mind about that. Anyway, then there's Tasuki." Misara stopped again.

"What? What?" Taylor asked impatiently. "Oh...I get it..." She started to laugh.

Misara's eyes got wide. "No way! It's not what you're thinking!" Taylor kept on laughing. "Knock it off Taylor!" Misara cried.

"Okay, okay...I'm sorry. Although I don't believe you, keep going." Taylor said, still snickering.

Misara rolled her eyes. "Well, Mitsukake is nice, but he doesn't talk much and kind of keeps to himself. Then there's Chiriko." She stopped once again, thinking about what had happened before she left Konan.

"Chiriko...?" Taylor said. "Is he cute?"

"No." Misara answered too quickly.

"Uh-huh..." Taylor said, raising her eyebrows again.

"Don't even think about it, Taylor." Misara said tiredly.

"Oh alright." Taylor sighed. "Anyway, your friends all sound kinda nice. I wish-" She stopped.

"What's wrong? What's it like here?" Misara asked worriedly.

"Oh, it's alright. I'm not really allowed to go anywhere, and Nakago can get really annoying after a while." Taylor shrugged.

"What about Yui?" Misara asked.

"Oh, she's pretty nice sometimes, unless Nakago is around, and then she gets all weird."

"She didn't seem that nice to me." Misara said bitterly. "In fact, she told me to go away."

Taylor looked surprised. "That doesn't sound like Yui. Maybe she was...I don't know." She shrugged again. "Maybe it's because you look too much like Miaka."

"Why would that matter?" Misara asked, confused.

"Yui hates Miaka...a lot. It's kind of scary. Apparently they used to be best friends, just like us, but Miaka did something to Yui and now Yui hates her."

Misara was still confused. "Miaka doesn't hate Yui though...but she doesn't really talk about her that much."

Taylor shook her head. "I don't know what's going on between those two. I think Nakago did something to Yui's mind, to tell you the truth. I don't understand how she could hate Miaka after being friends for so long."

"Well, I wouldn't put it past Nakago...he seems like the kind of guy that would do that." Misara said angrily. "Anyway, this doesn't sound like such a great place. Let's get out of here."

"How would we do that?" Taylor asked anxiously. "Nakago won't let me leave, and I don't think he'll let you either."

"Why not? I don't belong to him!" Misara said.

"Every time someone mentions you, he gets all weird. I don't know why, but it's kind of scary, the way he goes off in his own little world."

"That's crazy. Let's get out of here, now." Misara said determinedly.

"Again, I say how?" Taylor asked.

Misara winked at her. "Don't be scared, but hold on tight." She took Taylor's hand and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing now?" Taylor asked, laughing.

"Shh!" Misara whispered, concentrating. A red light surrounded them, and Taylor squeaked in dismay.

I want to go back...back to Konan! Misara screamed to herself. Suzaku help me get back home, to Konan, with Taylor!