The warriors of Suzaku, Miaka and Misara spent the night at Tokaki and Subaru's home. The next morning, everyone was exhausted and slept in longer than usual. When most of them did wake up, they walked around lazily and didn't do much. However, there was some noticeable tension between Miaka and Tamahome, but no one could figure it out. Misara was too tired to pay much attention, but she couldn't help noticing the outburst at lunch. It seemed Miaka had made lunch, along with Subaru and Tokaki's daughter, whose name Misara couldn't recall but didn't really care about. But when she heard that Miaka had made lunch, she knew nothing good would come of it. In fact, the lunch that Miaka made tasted horrible, and Tamahome for some reason told her just that. Horrified, Miaka ran out of the room, while the rest of them just stared at Tamahome.

"That wasn't very nice, no da..." Chichiri said in awed voice.

But Misara was a little sick of the way Tamahome was acting, and she decided that he didn't deserve to be let off so easily. Besides, she reasoned with herself, she was tired, and when she was tired, she got cranky. She stood and threw her plate of food at Tamahome.

"You jerk."

She didn't stay to find out what he would do, but instead went to find Miaka. She finally found her by the edge of the river, and sat down heavily next to her friend.

"Hey."

Miaka sniffed in reply.

"I know you probably want to be alone, but I just wanted to see if I could help. Is everything alright between you and Tamahome?"

Miaka swallowed. "No."

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?"

Her friend shook her head. "He told me that he didn't think we should love each other anymore." She trailed off as she started to cry again.

Misara stared at her in amazement. "Why?"

Miaka shrugged violently. "I don't know! He just...did...."

Misara grew silent, and the two of them sat there for a few minutes before Misara stood up. "Do you mind if I talk to him?" she asked Miaka.

Miaka hesitated.

"I know it's none of my business-" Misara said quickly. "But I want to help..."

Finally Miaka nodded. "I'd appreciate it." She said thankfully.

"Except...I kind of threw a plate at him..." Misara muttered as she walked away.

"You WHAT?" Miaka shrieked from behind her.

Misara wandered around for a while, looking for Tamahome, but she couldn't find him anywhere. While she was searching, Tokaki came out looking for her and caught her while she was tromping through the garden. He seemed to know that she was looking for Tamahome, and he pulled her aside, telling her that he wanted to talk to her about Tamahome and Miaka. His unusually serious look led Misara to follow him quietly.

"I'd appreciate it if you would not talk with Tamahome about the Priestess of Suzaku. It would be better for him if he would just forget her."

"What do you mean??" Misara cried, confused but indignant that he knew exactly why she was looking for Tamahome.

"I told Tamahome that he should forget about loving the Priestess of Suzaku."

"But...WHY?" Misara shrieked.

Tokaki sighed impatiently. "Once she summons the beast god, she must return to her own world, and Tamahome will never see her again. It is better for him if he learns to get along without her now instead of after she summons Suzaku."

Misara hesitated. "Are you sure that she has to go back to her own world? I mean, how do you even know?"

Tokaki looked at her with an expression she couldn't read. "I know, because the same thing happened to the Priestess of Byakko and Tatara. She summoned Byakko, then wished to stay in this world with Tatara, but the beast god would not grant that wish." Misara looked up quickly at him but he didn't see her surprised face and continued. "I taught Tamahome martial arts when he was just a kid, and I don't want him to be hurt the same way Tatara was. Please think about what I've said, and don't take the Priestess' side on this. It's better for both of them." He finished quietly, then looked at her as he waited for her to agree.

But Misara had forgotten about Tamahome and Miaka. She was thinking about Hotohori, and when she didn't answer Tokaki right away, he reached over and tugged on her arm, causing her to jump. He looked at her strangely, but she didn't offer any explanation for her distraction. She nodded absently and he quietly sighed with relief.

"This is all for the best. You know that, don't you?" He asked once more.

"Yeah..." Misara said distractedly as she turned on her heel and headed off to her room.



Later that night, about an hour before the sun was about to set, Misara was still in her room. She had refused to come out for dinner and wouldn't tell anybody what was bothering her. She wanted to contact Hotohori, but her mind was too confused for her to concentrate and she didn't think of looking for Chichiri. Suddenly, Tasuki burst into her room.

"Have you seen Miaka?" he cried loudly. "We can't find her anywhere!"

Misara shook her head slowly and Tasuki stamped his foot.

"Then she must have...damn..." he said quietly.

"What's going on?" Misara asked curiously. "She must have what?"

Tasuki didn't answer right away.

"Tasuki?" Misara said, a little impatiently.

He looked up, a frown on his face. "She must have gone up to that stupid tower. Great." He added quietly to himself.

"Why is that bad?" Misara asked as he turned to leave.

"Because there are monsters up there!" He said loudly, turning around and giving her a look.

"Well I didn't know that!" She shouted back at him as she followed him out of the room. The two of them hurried to find the others and found that they had already left for the mysterious tower, so they began the long trek to the tower by themselves.

Misara's brow was furrowed in frustration. Angry at Tasuki for assuming she was an idiot and more than a little upset at Miaka for going off alone, she pouted halfway there. Weaving through her angry thoughts were thoughts of Hotohori and the summoning of Suzaku. Finally, she asked Tasuki why Miaka would have gone up to the tower in the first place. Subdued from walking with Misara ignoring him, Tasuki answered her sullenly.

Apparently, legend said that if two lovers kissed on the top of that tower at the exact moment the sun set, they would never be separated. Lately there had been accounts of monsters killing people as they went up there, so everyone had been warned against going up there, the warriors of Suzaku, Miaka and Misara included. Misara didn't remember anyone saying anything to her, but she wasn't about to tell Tasuki that. Regardless of the danger, Miaka had told Tamahome to meet her there before the sunset, obviously hoping that Tamahome had changed his mind. While Tamahome, Nuriko, Mitsukake, Chiriko and Chichiri went up to the tower, they sent Tasuki to get Misara and to see if Miaka was with her after all. As he finished his story, they reached the gate to the tower just as Tamahome and the others ran toward them.

"She's not there." Tamahome said flatly. He held out his hand and Misara saw one of Miaka's ribbons.

"So...where is she then?" Misara sighed. Everyone shrugged except for Chichiri.

"I have a good idea, no da..."

Minutes later, they arrived at the monastery. They couldn't hear anything, but after a moment of concentration, Chichiri gave them the bad news.

"Miaka's in there, for sure, no da. But so are at least 4 warriors of Seiryu, including Nakago and probably the Priestess as well. Also...there's one more person with them...and I think it's Tatara, no da."


Boy, what a stupid ending to that chapter...but I was getting kind of tired and when I get tired, I get cranky...anyway, thanks for reading so far-I'll get to work on the next one soon, I promise. Sooner or later I'll just be cranking them out, so be patient! Thanks again! (I love you for not hating my story!)