No long author's notes today. Here's the next part to Miaka in Yuugiland. Enjoy!

***All Alice in Wonderland and Fushigi Yuugi characters and plotlines belong to their respective creators and I own nothing, except a computer, some twisted ideas, and on occasion, some original characters.***

2) In Which Miaka Follows Tamahome into a Tree and Finds Herself in a Situation

Miaka had come to a dead end. Although most people would have given up and gone back home, not Miaka. She knew what she wanted in life (good food, someone to cuddle with, and a trademark name for her hairstyle) and was determined to get it.

"This is where Tamahome was last," she said. "I think. Where did Tamahome go? Was he kidnapped? Did Nakago take him away again?" Miaka asked herself. Somehow, her eyes had missed the eye catching hole in the tree and the footprints leading there.

Finally, she saw the tree and the hollowed-out-cave-like space.

"Wow! What a big cave-like space. Maybe-- nah. Is it possible that-- nah. I know! He--nah." While Miaka's brain debated the issue on whether it was possible that Tamahome walked in through the opening of the tree, Miaka's legs, which were not attached to her brain and thus had a mind of their own, began walking toward the tree.

"Oh well," she said as she was propelled forward, "I guess I'll just have to find out. Maybe he is in there. Then if I get in some sort of trouble, Tamahome will save me and pat me on the head." She did the hand-clutching-at-the-chest-thing again and her eyes proceeded to vibrate to the point where it probably becomes dangerous to a person's health. This pose was held for a few seconds. She then made a fist with her right hand and held it in the air.

"Go!" she cried, and ran through the opening.

She proceeded into the interior of the tree. As she walked in further, it became progressively darker and harder to squeeze through.

"Oh dear! I hope I don't get stuck in here. And I hate the dark. I wish Tamahome was here so he could comfort me in my time of need. Maybe he is here and he's just--AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Miaka's last sentence broke off as the floor gave way. It then resumed when she began screaming and plummeting downwards. After screaming her lungs out and flailing like a fish for several minutes, she realized that she was falling, but very slowly.

"I wonder where I'm going? To another world, perhaps? Will I get to be Miko there?"

Miaka pondered this and other important matters ( was there good food in this world?) for a few more minutes until she started seeing light at the end of the vertical tunnel. Drifting to the ground, she landed, not on something soft or on something hard, but on someone's head. Rolling to the ground, she picked herself up, brushed the dirt off her clothes, and looked around. She stood in a small, square room, empty save for the man she landed on and the desk he was at. The man sat, writing a letter, and paid no attention to her.

She peered at the man, hoping to get his attention. He was in his late teens, had his brown hair done up in a bucket hat, and was wearing the ugliest clothes she had ever seen. He wore a large red maternity dress, complete with frills and ruffles. Shoes with upturned toes that looked like duck beaks finished the outfit.

"Miaka," the man said, looking up. He smiled, and seemed to shine, or sparkle perhaps.

"H-H-Hotohori!" Miaka exclaimed, clearly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I am composing a letter." he answered. "So good of you to drop in on me."

"Sorry ," she apologized, "I didn't mean to."

Hotohori smiled again, and he became so sparkly that she had to shield her eyes.

"Don't worry about it. Why I --Miaka! What's wrong?" Seeing Miaka squint her eyes, a concerned look crossed his face and he stopped sparkling.

"N-Nothing," she lied as a teardrop formed over her head.

"Good." Hotohori turned the corners of his mouth up into a smile, but Miaka caught this. She waved her hands and shook her head hoping to keep him from smiling so he wouldn't blind her.

"Please, you don't have to smile, Hotohori."

Hotohori nodded at what she said, and went back to writing. Afraid she had hurt his feelings, Miaka opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced when Hotohori looked at her.

"The key is on the table, Miaka. It opens the door ." He pointed to a table in the far corner that hadn't been there before. Puzzled, she walked over to it. On it lay a gold plated key, with most of the gold flaked off. She picked it up and placed it in her pocket.

"Wha--" she began, but stopped when she found that she was the only person in the room.

"Where did Hotohori go? Did Nakago take him too? And where's that door Hotohori mentioned? I don't see a door."

Miaka scrutinized the room closely, looking for any sort of hidden door that Hotohori might have used as an egress. While doing so, she found something of more importance than Hotohori or an exit: food.

On the table where she had found the key, a bottle now appeared. It had no label, just a sign that read "Drink Me".

Being quite thirsty, she swallowed the contents of the bottle in one gulp, disregarding the little voice in her head that screamed, "It's probably poisoned!"

A great jabbing feeling in her stomach was felt, and she doubled over in pain. When it stopped, she found that the table had grown much larger than her.

"Now how did that table get so big? Or did I get so small?"

Her stomach now growled and snapped at her, informing her that it needed food. "Too many questions. I'm soo hungry. I haven't eaten in an hour." she said, griping her middle.

A chime was heard, and a box of Dingie Rings (tm) appeared beside her with a sign that read "Eat Me ".

"Ooooh!" she cried. "Dingie Rings (tm)!" Ripping open the package, she stuffed three in her mouth at once. She proceeded to eat in this uncivilized manner until the whole box was gone. Her stomach went into spasms again, and when they stopped, she was ten times her original size.