The warriors of Suzaku and Miaka stood around Misara's bed, where she had been lying unconscious for the past two hours. Even Mitsukake couldn't bring her around, but that was for another reason.

It seemed that Yui had used one of her three wishes to seal Suzaku away, making each of the Suzaku warriors into ordinary humans, with no special powers at all. Each of them had felt their strength leave them, but had otherwise not been affected, except for the loss of their powers. Misara, unfortunately, had felt the force of all seven, and it had taken quite a lot out of her.

They had sat around, waiting for Mitsukake to at least try to help her, but to no avail. He did the best he could, but she almost seemed to refuse to wake up. Her face was deathly pale, and she seemed smaller and frailer somehow.

Although they were all very worried, one by one they left the room, apparently to leave Hotohori alone with her. Tasuki was the last one to leave, and he clumsily patted her hand before he left. Finally, Hotohori was alone with Misara, and he sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand in both of his. Unsure of what to say, he only sat there, occasionally wiping her forehead with a damp rag that Mitsukake left behind.

It was about an hour before sunset when Misara showed signs of waking up. Her eyelashes flickered for a moment, then flew open as she sat up quickly. Unfortunately, she had sat up too fast after passing out like she had, and she put her hand to her forehead and moaned in pain.

"Misara?" Hotohori asked tentatively. "Are you alright?"

Misara turned to him almost as quickly, then leaned over and threw her arms around his neck. "What happened?" she sobbed into his neck. "I feel so strange..."

Hotohori sighed. "Suzaku was sealed away by the Priestess of Seiryu." Misara looked up.

"So...that means that-?" she asked anxiously, looking up at him.

He nodded solemnly. "Its as if Suzaku never existed, and all of us are like ordinary people now."

"Then, am I...not the Goddess any more?" she asked very quietly.

"I don't know, Misara." Hotohori said after a minute.

Misara sighed and closed her eyes, then laid her head on Hotohori's shoulder.

"So...what happens now?" she asked him.

"I don't know..." he said again. "I guess we'll have to see what happens next."

As if on cue, there was a loud knock on the door. "Your majesty!" Someone on the other side called.

Hotohori frowned. "Yes?"

"The Kutou army has moved to attack us! This is the start of a war, your Highness!"

Misara looked up at Hotohori, and there was a terrible look in his eyes.

"Tell my advisors I shall meet with them immediately." He spoke forcefully. The person on the other side left quickly to obey. Misara let go of her hold on Hotohori's neck and sat back as Hotohori moved toward the door. Suddenly, he turned back to her, as if he just remembered that she was there. His face softened.

"I'm sorry, Misara." He said, coming back over to where she sat.

She smiled forcefully and waved him off. "I understand." She said. "Really." He smiled, and touched her chin with his hand.

"Thank you." He said, and then he was gone.

Misara sighed and climbed out of bed. She looked down and saw that she was still wearing that dress that she had taken so long to put on. Unfortunately, it too was now wrinkled. She rolled her eyes, ran her fingers through her hair, and left to find Tasuki.


It didn't take her long. He was sitting in his room, alone, which was unusual for him. Misara had knocked quietly, and after a muffled reply, she had opened the door to find him sitting at his table, a bottle of sake in front of him. Misara rolled her eyes again.

"You really should drop that stuff, you know." She teased. "It's bad for your liver."

He looked up quickly at the sound of her voice. "You're okay?" He asked. She nodded, and sat down at the offered chair.

"So you heard the news, right?" he asked.

"About Kutou? Yeah."

"Everybody's already agreed to fight with the army tomorrow, but..." he trailed off.

"But what?" She asked, already knowing where this was leading.

"Well...after what happened, with Suzaku being sealed away and all, we were hoping that you wouldn't come with us."

"Why not?" She cried, a little too loudly.

Tasuki looked uncomfortable. "Because...we don't want you getting hurt, I guess."

"Is Miaka going?"

"Well...yeah." He looked up quickly. "But Tamahome is trying to talk her out of it."

Misara looked at him for a moment. He looked right back at her, then broke eye contact and reached for the bottle of sake. Misara leaned over quickly and snatched it out of his reach. Standing up, she made for the door, bottle still in hand. Suddenly she stopped, and turned around to face him.

"Did you know that Hotohori proposed to me?" She asked, knowing full well that he didn't. Tasuki didn't look surprised, but he didn't look happy either. She ignored him. "I don't know what would possibly make you think that I wouldn't go with you. I'm still a part of this team, you know, and just because I'm not your Goddess anymore doesn't mean I'm helpless."

"That's not what I meant, Misara!" Tasuki cried, standing up angrily. "You know that's not why we want you to stay behind!"

Misara frowned at him for a moment, but she knew he was right. She sighed heavily, then walked back over to the table and sat down with the bottle of sake.

"I just don't want to be left behind..." she said quietly. "So what's the real reason you don't want me coming with you?"

Tasuki looked uncomfortable for a minute. "It's because of Nakago." He said finally. Misara looked up at the sound of his name. "Since we're not really warriors of Suzaku anymore, he'll have complete control over you. We don't want to give him any ideas by letting him see that you're on our side. We're just trying to protect you, that's all."

Misara chewed on the side of her mouth, thinking it over. She understood his concern, but she still didn't want to stay here alone.

Almost as if he had read her mind, Tasuki spoke. "Mitsukake and Chiriko are staying behind, to help with the wounded that come in." But Misara still wasn't convinced that she should stay, and Tasuki could see it in her eyes.

While Misara was deep in thought, she picked up the bottle and took a drink without thinking. "Yuck!" She cried, snapping out of her mood. "I still don't get how you can drink this stuff!"

"What are you talking about?" Tasuki said, offended. "That's good stuff!"

"It's disgusting." She grumbled. Tasuki reached over and tried to take it away from her. Her eyes widened and she put it behind her back. "I don't think so!" she grinned.

"What?" he cried. "If you're not going to drink it, give it up!"

"No!" she laughed. "It's bad for you, and I don't like you getting drunk all the time. Maybe you should just stick to water." She teased.

"Water?" Tasuki yelped. "I hate water!"

Misara looked surprised. "Don't you even drink it?"

"I like sake just fine, thank you very much!"

Misara smiled evilly, and took another drink of the sake, grimacing after she swallowed it.

"If you don't like it, why are you drinking it?" Tasuki grumbled.

"Just teasing you." She replied, taking another drink. This one was a little too much, and she set it down in front of him. "Blegh...I think I'm done teasing you."

Tasuki quickly grabbed it and took a drink. Then he tucked it under his arm and glared at her suspiciously, waiting for her to change her mind. Misara rolled her eyes as he took another drink a few seconds later.

"Nice room." She said, looking around. Actually, hers was better, and she knew that he knew it. Tasuki shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered, looking lost in thought.

Misara turned back to him. "So...do you have a girlfriend back at the mountain?" she asked casually.

Tasuki turned white. "Hell no! Girls are scary!"

Misara stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. The tough front that Tasuki had always put on...it was too funny to think about it. He looked serious, too, and that only made Misara laugh harder. Tasuki, fearless Tasuki, was afraid of girls?

He took another drink of the sake and scowled at her. "What's so funny? I'm not afraid of you, in case you wondered."

"You sure looked pretty scared when I threatened to take away your sake!" she laughed at him.

"Whatever..." he grumbled.

Misara laughed again and stood up. "Well, if all you're going to do is drink all night, I think I'll go find better company." Tasuki waved her off.

"Go on, get out of here, ya harpy." He said, turning back to his sake. Misara laughed again and headed for the door, but just before she reached it, Tasuki spoke again.

"When, uh...Hotohori asked you to marry him...what did you say?" he asked uncomfortably. Misara turned back to him and saw that he was trying to focus all his attention on the bottle of sake, as if her answer didn't really matter.

Misara shrugged. "I told him that I would think about it." She said simply.

"Have you? Thought about it, I mean." Tasuki finally looked up as Misara looked down at the floor.

"No...not really." She admitted. "I mean, he asked me right before Suzaku was sealed away, so I haven't really had the chance, I guess." After a moment of silence, she looked up at him tearfully. "I don't know what to do..." she confessed. Tasuki stood quickly, a fearful look on his face.

"Well, whatever you do, don't cry!" he said loudly. "I hate when girls cry!"

Misara sniffed, wiped at her eyes and laughed weakly. "Sorry..."

Tasuki sighed heavily in relief and motioned for her to sit down again. She did, and then took a rather large drink of the sake. Tasuki eyed her nervously.

"I thought you didn't like that stuff." He said suspiciously.

"I lied." She said, smiling widely.

Tasuki's eyes widened and he reached for the bottle. "I think you've had enough of that, Misara." He said, trying to take it away from her.

Misara sighed loudly and handed it back to him, then crossed her arms on the table and put her head on them. "I'm so confused, Tasuki." She said softly. "I know I love him, but...I don't know if I could stay here with him for the rest of my life." She looked up quickly. "I know you said that it wasn't possible for me to stay here anyway, but even if I could, I don't know if I would be able to leave everything behind. I don't know what my mother would do without me...she's probably worried sick about me right now." She sighed again. "I just wish I didn't have to choose between him and my world." Suddenly, her face lit up and she snapped her fingers. "That's it!"

"What??" Tasuki cried at her sudden cheerful look.

"I'll go ask Miaka!" Misara said happily. "She's got the same problem as me...I wonder what she's doing about it." Misara stood up once more. "Thanks for all your help, Tasuki." She reached over and patted his head, and he swatted her hand away.

"Stop that!" he cried. "I didn't help you!"

Misara laughed and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him several times on the cheek. Suddenly, she straightened and gave him a frightening look.

"I forgot...you kissed me in the monastery in Hokkan. Why?"

Tasuki looked extremely uncomfortable. "Well...you were...gonna..." he stuttered.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"You were going to go with Nakago to summon Seiryu!" he said all in one breath.

"Oh yeah..." Misara said thoughtfully, looking at the ceiling. Tasuki stood up and put his hands on her shoulders.

"He had too much control over you, remember? That's why I don't want you coming with us tomorrow to fight!"

Misara didn't say anything, but instead threw her arms around Tasuki's neck again. "That was my first and only kiss!" She cried loudly.

"Yeah, I know..." Tasuki mumbled. "Sorry about that."

"That's alright!" Misara laughed. "I'm glad it was you...and not Nakago." She added softly. He gave her a strange look, but she ignored it and headed for the door.

"I'm going to talk to Miaka now!" She called over her shoulder. "Enjoy your sake!"