When Misara finally opened her eyes, the sudden glare of the sun caught her off-guard and she had to shut them again quickly. She sat up and shielded her eyes, trying to look around to see where she was. She had ended up in her mother's garden, but the ground was covered in snow and there were no flowers growing. A little sad but excited to see her mother, she stood and ran over to the house. For some reason, all the doors were locked, and her mother wasn't there. As she looked through the window, she saw that there were dishes piled in the sink and the whole house looked dirty, something she had rarely seen before, since her mother kept things as neat as possible.

"I wonder what's going on..." She said out loud. Then she remembered her bedroom window. She had opened it before she left to air out her room, and it was just big enough for her to crawl inside. Her mother hadn't closed it, as she was apt to do when Misara forgot to shut it herself. Besides, she wasn't exactly dressed for winter, and she was getting cold. So she hoisted herself up and after a few moments of struggling, pulled herself inside. Her room was messy as usual, but she didn't have time to look around. She ran around the house, sure her mother was there somewhere, but didn't find her. Still confused, she went to the kitchen and cooked a frozen TV dinner she had found in the freezer.

After she had hopped around excitedly at the thought of using a fork instead of the chopsticks she had never gotten used to using, she sat at the table and thought about where her mother would be. There was a calendar on the table, and three days had been crossed off since she had left.

"Huh...time must move differently in each world..." she said to herself, but didn't really stop to ponder it, because the second she thought about that other world, she remembered Hotohori. Her ring was still on her hand, where it felt strange after going so long without wearing it.

I left Hotohori...I left Taylor and all my other friends...I left without thinking...and now I can't go back...

She felt like crying, and her dinner looked very unappetizing. She tossed it in the trash and sat on the couch in her living room. Grabbing the remote, she turned on the television, trying to think about something else. There was nothing on TV but soap operas, and she really didn't feel like watching one of those.

My life is a soap opera, she thought bitterly, a strange and twisted soap opera.

Suddenly, she remembered something Miaka had said about her brother...that he was connected to that other world in some way! She didn't remember his name or where he lived in Japan, but she could at least try to find him.

Japan can't be that big...right? She reasoned with herself.

She ran to her room to throw some clothes and other necessities in a bag. Writing a quick "don't worry-I'm all right" note to her mother, she jumped in her car.

Do I even remember how to drive?


When she got to the airport, she parked her car in the long-term parking lot, not sure when she'd be back, and ran inside. When she finally got up to the counter, she frantically asked the attendant when the next flight to Tokyo was. Luckily, she had arrived just in time to catch the flight that was leaving in 15 minutes. Her mother had an account at the airport because she flew around so much, and Misara bought her ticket using the money in her mother's account.

I'll pay her back, she promised herself as she ran toward the gate and boarded the plane just before it left.

As she settled into her seat, suddenly exhausted, she stuffed her bag underneath her feet and grabbed a pillow from the nearest flight attendant. Leaning against the window, she watched as the snowy ground grew farther and farther away, and when they were in the clouds and the ground wasn't visible anymore, she got ready to fall asleep. Suddenly, a terrible pain gripped her heart, a warning that one of her warriors were in danger. She gritted her teeth and tried not to let her pain show. It subsided after a while, but it left her breathless and scared. But she was too exhausted to think about it, and quickly fell asleep, but not before praying that it wouldn't happen again.


Hours later, after Misara had woken up, eaten a Chinese airline dinner (which tasted nothing like the food in Konan) and given up trying to watch the in-flight movie, the pilot announced that they would be landing soon in Tokyo. Misara stood in the aisle and stretched thankfully, then went to the nearest bathroom and took some soap, as was her habit when flying. They landed not much later, and Misara, in the hustle and bustle, was the last one off the plane. Wondering where she was going to stay and how she was going to pay for it, she wasn't watching where she was going, and ran into the back of some guy. She looked up quickly to apologize, but was caught off-guard when he jumped back in surprise and started to laugh. He ran a hand through his blondish hair and said something to her, but it was in Japanese. She suddenly realized that she couldn't understand him the way she could understand Miaka in the other world. He saw by her sudden spaced-out look that she didn't understand him, and before he could say anything else, the dark-haired man standing next to him took off his sunglasses and leaned over.

"You're Misara, I take it?" He said in pretty good English.

Taken a little aback, she hesitated before answering. "Yes...but how did you know that?" Before he could answer, she brightened. "Are you Miaka's brother? She said-" Before she finished, the dark-haired one laughed very loudly.

"No!" He chuckled. "But HE is. I think he jumped because you really DO look a lot like Miaka." He said, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the other man, who just shrugged sheepishly.

Misara smiled. "I thought maybe you could help me...you see, I came back from-" The dark-haired guy interrupted her once more.

"Let's talk somewhere else..." he said, glancing around.


Minutes later, they were in a small restaurant, sitting in a booth far away from other customers. The dark-haired one, who had introduced himself as Tetsuya, motioned to Keisuke, Miaka's brother, and he pulled a red book out of his jacket pocket.

Misara glanced at it curiously. "What is that?"

Keisuke sighed heavily, then handed it over to her. She opened it, looked at the first page, then handed it back without another word.

"Well?" He asked. Misara shrugged.

"I can't read that." She said, a little sarcastically.

A bit flustered, he hesitated before saying, "Oh...right. Sorry."

Tetsuya sighed. "That book is called 'The Universe of the Four Gods' and it's the book Miaka and Yui were sucked into. The book tells the story of everything that happens to them, and what happens to you as well, since you're a part of the story. Even when you left the book, you were still apart of it, and that's how we knew you were coming for a visit."

Misara sat up straighter. "Then you know what's going on right now?" She asked excitedly.

"Well...we'll get to that in a second. First of all, since this book has everything in it, it has conversations that you had but might not remember. For instance, when you got home, you were sad because you couldn't go back to the book world. But when you first got to the other world, Taitskun told you that it WAS possible, but very difficult."

Suddenly, Misara remembered. "She said I shouldn't go home unless I was really in danger or my duties were completed..." She trailed off, knowing that she hadn't come home for either of those reasons.

"I don't know if you can still go back, since you came home because...well, we don't know if you can go back." Keisuke said.

"At least you could try." Tetsuya offered.

Misara nodded. "I have to get back as soon as possible." She said firmly. "Can you tell me what's going on right now?"

The two guys looked at each other, then Keisuke shrugged and opened the book to where it had left off. From the strange look on his face, Misara guessed that something was wrong.

"What?" She asked frantically. "What is it?"

Before he could answer, that nagging pain came to her again, not as harsh this time, but definitely a forewarning.

She shook her head. "Nevermind..." she whispered. "you don't have to tell me. I already know." She stood abruptly and headed toward the bathroom, taking her duffel bag with her.

"What are you going to do?" Tetsuya asked worriedly.

She turned and smiled. "Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it, but I have to go back now. I just realized what I have to do."

Keisuke stood as well, and smiled back at her. "Just make sure my sister doesn't get into too much trouble."

She nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, boys, I have a job to finish." She went into the bathroom and almost fell over. The pain that she had been hiding from them had almost gotten the best of her. She grasped the counter and pulled herself up.

Well, I started this journey in a bathroom, so there's no reason why I shouldn't start to finish it in one.

Hoisting the duffel bag back onto her arm, she gripped the ring on her hand with her other.

Please take me back, she whispered to it, closing her eyes tightly. I was wrong about not wanting to be the goddess...I want to protect my friends...please...

Although she couldn't see it, she could feel that familiar red warmth surrounding her once more. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the snow, but it wasn't back at home. She stood on top of a mountain, and saw in the distance two figures, apparently fighting.

One of them, she knew, was Nuriko.

This time, I'm going to protect him...like I'm supposed to do...