* * * * *

* * * * *

Legal Stuff: well, a very talented Japanese woman created Fushigi Yuugi. As I am neither Japanese, nor a woman (currently withholding judgment on the 'very talented' part), I can say with some certainty that Fushigi Yuugi is not my property.

* * * * *

Author's Note: My information on the names of the Byakko Seven and the locations of their symbols comes from "Byakko no Shijin Tenchisho" at http://garuby.com/byakko/

I suggest you take a look there; it's quite nice.

* * * * *

Author's Note (again): Okay, I feel very very bad. Looking over chapter four I noticed that I had made the mistake of saying 'Chapter One' in the title. I hate it when I do stupid things! Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest. Carry on.

* * * * *

* * * * *

In The Beginning...

A Fushigi Yuugi Prequel

By: 18th Angel

* * * * *

Chapter Five

Suzuno's Decision

* * * * *

* * * * *

It was raining again. Big, fat drops of water pattered against the windowsill as Megumi waited for the next passage to appear in the book. She prayed that Toroki would be all right. What would they do if he died?

Toroki cried out in pain as the deadly venom spread throughout his body.

* * * * *

"What happened to him?" Tokaki asked.

"I don't know!" Suzuno cried, barely holding back tears. "There's a dart in his shoulder! I think it's poison!"

"Let me see." Tatara knelt down. Taking a small knife, he cut the back of Toroki's shirt open. A small trickle of blood, more black than red, ran down his shoulder from the dart wound. The skin around the wound had turned a sickening green. Tatara positioned his knife over the wound, preparing to cut an 'X'.

"NO!" Toroki lashed out with one fist, knocking Tatara away.

"Toroki, we have to suck out the poison!" Tatara said.

"No..." Toroki had to struggle to speak. "It's...not normal poison. I think...they strengthened it...with magic...If you try...to suck it out...it could kill you too!" He fell back, exhausted, into Suzuno's arms. His eye's closed and he went limp.

"TOROKI!" Suzuno screamed. For a moment, she thought he had died, but his chest still rose and fell, albeit unsteadily. She turned to the others. "Go get a doctor."

Tokaki didn't even move. He simply faded from view. A minute later, he came running back into the courtyard with four of the royal physicians close behind him, carrying a stretcher.

Working quickly, the doctors lifted Toroki and placed him carefully on the stretcher.

"Is he going to be all right?" The doctors didn't seem to hear Suzuno as they rushed back into the palace, taking Toroki's still form with them.

* * * * *

They waited for hours outside Toroki's room. Karasuki sat in silence. Tokaki paced nervously. Suzuno leaned against Tatara for support, trying to act like she wasn't terrified. Jianna also seemed to be holding onto control by the thinnest of threads. She sat upright, rigid. The only signs of emotion on her face were the one or two tears that managed to escape from the corners of her eyes to run down her cheeks.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened and the head physician stepped into the hallway.

"How is he?" Jianna asked nervously.

"Lord Toroki has been...poisoned...quite severely." The doctor said. "The poison appears to be Cobra venom, but much stronger."

"Toroki said it was magical." Suzuno whispered.

The old man nodded. "We are using leeches to remove as much of the poison as we can, but we cannot get it all. If he were a normal man...he would already be dead. He has the soul of a tiger, part of his gift from Byakko. It helps him fight the poison...but he cannot fight it forever."

"How long...?" Jianna left the question hanging.

"If he stays in bed, and does not exert himself...a few months." The doctor said. "But if we cannot find a cure by then...Toroki will die."

With that pronouncement, Jianna finally broke down. She collapsed back into her chair, weeping.

"Is there an antidote to the poison?" Tatara asked.

"For the normal poison yes." The doctor replied. "We already tried it. No effect."

"So what are you gonna do?" Tokaki demanded.

"We are making him as comfortable as possible." The old man said. "Other than that, there's nothing we can do."

"But we can..." Suzuno whispered.

"What?"

"If we can find the last three Warriors, we can use one of my wishes to cure Toroki." She said. "We have to try." Her Warriors nodded. Suzuno turned to the doctor. "Can I...go see him?" She asked.

"He's asleep right now." The doctor said. "But I suppose, just be quiet." Suzuno nodded and walked quietly into the room.

Toroki lay on his bed, the sheets were drawn up to his neck but he still shivered as if he were freezing. At the same time, sweat poured from his skin, soaking into the sheets. His tanned face was deathly pale, his red-brown hair plastered to his forehead. The doctor had said he was holding on, but looking at him there was no doubt in Suzuno's mind. Her friend was dying. Dying because he had taken a dart meant for her.

Fighting tears, Suzuno knelt down next to him. "Oh, Toroki." She whispered. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"For you." Suzuno turned to see Tatara, Karasuki, and Tokaki behind her. "He is a Warrior of Byakko. He did this to protect you, the Priestess of Byakko. And any one of us would have done the same." Tatara continued.

"You would...why?" Suzuno asked.

"It's what we were born to do." Karasuki replied.

"No." Suzuno shook her head. "No...I don't want this...I don't want any of you to get hurt...because of me." She got up and ran out of the room so they wouldn't see her cry.

* * * * *

Tatara found Suzuno in the gardens, on the very same bench where they had sat the night before. She was hunched over, crying, trying unsuccessfully to keep her sobs quiet.

"Suzuno." She looked up when he spoke, tears glistening in her green eyes.

"How can you...be so calm about it?" She asked.

"It's our destiny." Tatara said, sitting down next to her. "Some people spend their whole lives searching for a purpose, something to live for. We have one: you."

"But...it isn't right!" She sobbed. "I'm just...a nobody! I'm not worth dying for!"

"Toroki didn't think that." Tatara said. "You were worth more to him than his own life. And I feel the same way, and so does Karasuki." He smiled. "Even Tokaki. We all believe in you, Suzuno. We all love you."

"We have to save him, Tatara." Suzuno said. "He saved my life, I've just got to save his."

"I know." He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. "You will. We will."

* * * * *

Jianna sat next to Toroki, watching his chest rise and fall steadily. The leeches had cleaned as much poison out of him as they could and his condition had improved slightly. He was no longer sweating or shivering.

As Jianna watched, Toroki's eyelids began to move. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

"Toroki?" She asked, joy flooding through her.

When he spoke, his voice barely came above a whisper. "Your...highness..." Her spirits came crashing back down as she remembered their conversation the night before. Toroki seemed to see her expression change. He looked away.

"...Jianna..." He said. "...What I said...last night...I didn't mean to...hurt you...I...never want...to hurt you...I want you...to be happy..." He paused to gather his strength. "What I said...about loving you...I meant it...And...I wish...things could have...been different..."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes...I wish...that we were...different people..." He said. "...I wish...we could just...be a normal man and...a normal woman...If we were...maybe...I could have...made you happy." His head rolled to one side as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Don't you see, Toroki?" She asked, leaning over to kiss him on the forehead. "You already make me happy."

* * * * *

"Everything's ready." Tatara said, fastening the last of their equipment to his horse's saddle. "We can leave whenever you're ready."

"If I'm reading the scroll right, we should head north." Karasuki said.

Suzuno nodded. "I just want to say goodbye to Toroki first." She said.

Toroki was lying in bed awake, looking considerably better than the last time she had seen him. There could be no mistaking that he was seriously ill, but he no longer seemed to be at death's door.

Toroki smiled weakly when he saw her.

"Suzuno." He said, his voice quiet and scratchy. "You're okay."

"Thanks to you." She said, sitting down next to him and taking hold of his hand. "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen. You saved my life. And now I'm going to save yours."

"How..."

"We're going to find the last three Warriors." Suzuno said. "And when we summon Byakko, my first wish is going to be for him to heal you."

"But Suzuno..."

"It all works out." She assured him. "I get three wishes. My first wish is to cure you, my second wish will save Sairo from Kutou, and my third wish will take me home. So you just hang on until we get back, okay."

"Suzuno..." Toroki began, but he hesitated when he saw the look of hope and determination in her eyes. "Good luck."

* * * * *

"According to the doctor, we have a little less than two months to find the last three Warriors." Suzuno said. "Karasuki, lead the way."

"We need to head north." Karasuki said. "Someplace cold."

"North it is." Tatara said. "Tokaki, let's keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I don't want any more surprises."

"You got it, big guy." Tokaki replied. "Those bastards aint gonna get the drop on us again."

"Glad to hear it."

* * * * *

Three days into the journey, the weather became almost unbearably cold. They were heading into the mountains, and the air was growing thin.

"Are you sure the scroll said north?" Tokaki asked. "I'm freezin' my ass off!"

Karasuki sighed. "In a place of ice and snow, waits the Mistress of Time, Subaru." He quoted. "I'm open to alternate interpretations."

"Mistress, huh?" Tokaki suddenly seemed interested. "That means a woman, doesn't it?"

Tatara turned to him. "Is sex all you ever think about?"

"No." Tokaki replied. "I think about foreplay a lot too."

Suzuno smiled and shook her head. After meeting Tokaki, she would never again accuse a boy at school of being a pervert. She couldn't bring herself to be offended because he was such a kind person, but it amused her to know that one of her Warriors was exactly the sort of boy her father used to warn her about.

That thought sent a twinge of sadness through her. She had been so caught up in searching for her Warriors that she had almost forgotten how homesick she was. She wondered what her father was doing. She had been in the book for almost two weeks. If he didn't realize she was in the book, was he still looking for her? And what if he did know? What could he do? She missed him in a way she never thought possible. And if they failed, if Toroki died...

Stop it! She told herself. Toroki is not going to die! We're going to summon Byakko and save him, and then I'm going home.

"Are you all right, Suzuno?" Tatara asked.

"I'm fine." Suzuno replied.

"You just looked a little sad." He said.

"I was just...thinking about my father." She admitted. "I just wish I could talk to him. Just so I could let him know I'm okay."

"You two are really close, aren't you?" Tatara asked.

Suzuno nodded. "My mother died when I was very little." She said. "He's the only family I have. Well...unless you count...Takiko."

"Takiko?"

"My best friend. We were...like sisters." Mercifully, Tatara didn't keep up the questions. Perhaps he saw how much talking about Takiko bothered her.

"So how are we gonna find this 'Mistress' lady?" Tokaki asked.

"There's a town up in the mountains." Karasuki said. "They say the snow there never melts because it's so high up. I thought we'd start there."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Suzuno asked.

Karasuki turned to her and smiled. "We're staying there tonight."

* * * * *

The streets of the town were choked with snow. The white powder had been swept aside just enough to allow people to walk around. The village had only one inn. They entered to find the main room empty. Tables and chairs were set out, making the first floor look like more of a tavern than an inn, but the chairs were currently unoccupied.

"You want rooms?" A tired, angry-looking old man sat behind the long counter, surrounded by a cloud of pipe smoke.

"Uh...yes, please." Tatara said.

"How long?"

"I'm not sure." Tatara said. "Possibly a few days."

The old man sighed. "You pay up front." He said.

"Fine." Tatara slid a few coins across the counter. "That should cover us for a few days at least."

If the other man was impressed, he hid it well. "You want food tonight?"

"That would be nice, thank you."

The old man nodded. "DOULIN!" The four of them jumped slightly at the sudden yelling. The old man turned to glance behind him, a look of annoyance on his face. "DOULIN!" He yelled again. "Get out here!"

A few seconds later, a girl Suzuno's age stepped out of the inn's kitchen. Some of her long hair was pulled into two loops on the top of her head. The rest fell in pale green waves down her back. Suzuno had never seen anyone with green hair before, but it worked for this girl, accenting her light blue eyes perfectly. She wore the dirty, threadbare clothes of a scullery maid, but the dress wasn't quite frumpy enough to completely hide the stunning figure underneath. Suzuno could practically hear Tokaki drooling.

"Take them up to their rooms." The old man ordered.

Doulin let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm in the middle of cooking here." She said.

"NOW!" The man snapped. The girl cringed and made a gesture for them to follow her. As she led them up the stairs, the old man called after her. "And while you're doing that, reflect on who gives you a job and a warm place to sleep at night! And maybe consider showing a little gratitude for a change!"

* * * * *

"You'll be happy to know that you each get your own room." The girl said as she led them down the narrow hallway at the top of the stairs. "You're the only guests we've had in months." She opened the first door they came to, gesturing for Suzuno to enter. Karasuki and Tatara got the next two.

Without warning, Tokaki found himself alone in the hallway with an extremely beautiful woman.

"So...your name's Doulin?" He asked.

"Last time I checked." She snapped back.

Tokaki hadn't been expecting such an aggressive reaction, but he wasn't about to give up. "So...uh...you're the owner's daughter, right?"

"Hardly." She replied. "I work here for room and board. That's the extent of our relationship."

"Oh...well...listen..."

"Here's your room." She said, gesturing through the door. "Dinner's in an hour." With that, she turned and stormed away down the hall, stomping down the stairs and out of sight.

Tokaki just stood in the empty hall, stunned. That wasn't how it was supposed to work. He spoke and girls swooned. That was how things had been ever since he was fourteen years old. Who was this Doulin lady to come waltzing in with her silky hair and baby blue eyes and disrupt the natural order of things?

Standing there, Tokaki came to a decision. He would make Doulin fall for him. No matter how long he had to try, and no matter how much of his charm it took, she would be his.

* * * * *

"So do you think Subaru is in this village?" Suzuno asked. They were seated in a corner of the tavern. Several locals had come in shortly after they sat down. Now the room was nearly full. Apparently there weren't many other places people could go on snowy nights.

"Well I haven't really had a chance to look around yet." Karasuki said. "But it seems like just about all the locals are here, I thought we might ask them. That sound good to everyone?" Tatara nodded. Tokaki didn't seem to be paying attention. "Tokaki?"

"What do you guys think of her?"

"Who?" Suzuno asked.

"Her." He nodded toward the serving girl who had led them to their rooms. "Doulin."

"Were we supposed to be thinking about her?" Tatara asked.

"Imagine you're us and have, you know, normal hormonal levels." Suzuno said. "Would you still be thinking about her?"

"Of course I would." Tokaki said defensively. "Didn't it ever occur to you guys that maybe she's Subaru?"

"Not really." Karasuki said.

"Why not?"

"She's just so...ordinary." Karasuki said. "Celestial Warriors tend to stick out a little more than that."

"Okay, if you're so smart; out of all the women in this room, who's a more likely candidate?" Tokaki asked.

"Tokaki, I can't just look at a woman and know she's the one we're looking for." Karasuki said.

"Then how can you just look at Doulin and 'know' she aint the one we're lookin' for?"

"Fine. I can't. Happy now?"

Tokaki shrugged. "Happier I guess."

"Well since you seem so sure that she's our girl, Tokaki, why don't you go ask her?" Tatara said.

"What do ya want me to do?" Tokaki asked. "Just go up and ask if I could look for weird marks on her body?"

"Come on. I'm sure this wouldn't be the first time you asked a woman to show you her body." Karasuki said. Suzuno struggled not to laugh.

"Oh you think this is funny, Suzuno?"

Suzuno could only nod, still holding back laughter.

"Fine." Tokaki said. "I'll go talk to her. And in time you're all gonna have to swallow your pride and admit that I was right." He stood up and made his way across the bar to where Doulin was waiting to take the next round of orders.

Suzuno followed Tokaki with her eyes as he stepped up and spoke to Doulin. She flinched slightly when the young woman slapped him hard enough to jerk his head to the side. Then she followed him with her eyes as he made his way back amid the jeers and laughter of the tavern's regulars.

"You didn't actually ask her if you could examine her for marks did you?" Karasuki asked.

"Of course not." Tokaki replied, rubbing his sore cheek. "I asked if she had any marks. I think she must have just inferred the lookin' part."

"Well that proves she's not Subaru." Tatara said. "If she was actually a Warrior she would have known what you were talking about."

"Yeah, I guess." Tokaki said dejectedly. "It's a damn shame."

* * * * *

Later, as they headed for their rooms, Tokaki thought he heard yelling in the kitchen.

"You guys go on ahead." He said. "I'm just...uh..." His eyes fell on the bar. "I'm just gonna have a quick drink, okay."

The others mumbled acknowledgements and proceeded up the stairs. Tokaki quietly crept closer to the kitchen door, until he could make out the words being said.

"Don't think I didn't see your little display back there, Doulin!" The voice belonged to the innkeeper, Tokaki was sure of it.

"What are you talking..." Doulin began.

"Do you think we have enough boarders that you can just slap them whenever you feel like it?"

"You're worried about losing business?" She asked. "Those guys will be gone in a few days and all the drunken idiots in town will still come here to get wasted!"

The next thing Tokaki heard was not speech. It was the sharp, quick sound of an open hand striking bare flesh. And given the conversation, Tokaki had a pretty good idea who had been slapped.

"This will never happen again, Doulin. Is that clear?" The old man demanded. "Don't think for one second that I won't toss you out in the cold if you push me any more!"

Tokaki heard footsteps coming toward him. He ducked into the stairway just as Doulin rushed past, tears in her eyes. She ran through the inn and out the front door, slamming it behind her.

Tokaki debated for a few seconds, then followed Doulin out into the snow-covered streets. He found her sitting on the steps of the inn. She wasn't actually crying yet, but the look in her eyes said that tears weren't far away.

"Hi." He said quietly. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

She looked up. "It's not your fault." She sniffed. "Slapping customers is bad for business, that's all."

"Is this the first time he's hit you?"

"How did you...?"

"Your cheek's red." He replied. Doulin nodded. "And I was eavesdroppin'." He added nonchalantly.

"Heh. An honest pervert. That's rich." At least the thought brought a smile to her face. Tokaki didn't want to make that smile go away again, but he felt compelled to press on.

"So is it?"

"The first time?" She asked. "Not exactly."

For a while they were both silent. "You know...When we find the person we're lookin' for, my friends and I are leavin' town."

"I figured as much." Doulin said dryly.

"We could take you with us."

She turned, looking genuinely surprised. "What makes you think I want to leave?"

Tokaki shrugged. "You just don't strike me as the kind of woman who likes gettin' slapped around, that's all."

Doulin sighed. "It's a decent job and a place to live." She said. "I'm willing to put up with a few occupational hazards. At least the pig's only asked me to sleep with him so far. If he ordered me..."

"You wouldn't actually do that, would you?" Tokaki asked.

She gave him an odd look. "You really are terribly naive, aren't you?" She said. "If the alternative is sleeping in that alley over there..."

"Then come with us." Tokaki said. "We're goin' to Sairo. You can find a real job there."

"Right." She said. "And then I'm in your debt, so if you ever decide you want a piece..."

"What?"

"Thanks, but if it's all the same to you, I'll stick with my current exploiter. At least he doesn't pretend to care about me." She stood and went back into the inn, leaving him sitting on the steps, alone and very discouraged.

* * * * *

The next night they were back at their table in the corner.

"Cheer up Karasuki." Suzuno said. "I'm sure there's lots of villages with snow. We'll try another one."

"It was this one, I'm sure of it." Karasuki insisted.

"Well we talked to every woman in town." Tatara said. "We didn't find her."

"Maybe Subaru's a man." Suzuno suggested.

"The scroll said 'the Mistress of Time'. So unless you think there's a cross-dressing Warrior out there, I think we're looking for a woman." Karasuki said.

"And we're sure it's not Doulin?" Suzuno asked.

"Yeah." Tokaki spoke up. "I wish she were, but she's just a girl."

"You're really upset about this aren't you?" Suzuno had expected that Tokaki's crush on Doulin would be as fleeting as his fixations on her and Jianna were. She wondered what was different about Doulin. Was she really that much prettier than they were? Or did Tokaki's concern for her extend beyond physical attraction?

He sighed. "I just...I wish she was Subaru. For her sake."

* * * * *

"They're gone." Doulin said, watching the travelers leave.

"Go clean up their rooms." Her boss ordered her.

"I have to start cooking for tonight." She protested.

"Are you arguing?"

"I'm not arguing." She sighed. "But I can only do so many things at once."

"You know, Doulin, sometimes I think you don't appreciate what I do for you." He said.

She was silent.

"Well?"

"Yes." She said. "I'm very appreciative." It wasn't technically true, but it was what the old man wanted to hear.

"You know how you could avoid all this work." He reminded her.

Doulin sighed heavily. It always came back to that. He lusted after her body and he made no secret of the fact. She thought back to her conversation with that young guy the night before. How long would it be before the old man's 'requests' became orders?

* * * * *

"So where do we go now?" Tatara asked as they rode away from the village.

"Farther north I guess." Karasuki said.

"Are you okay, Tokaki?" Suzuno asked. Tokaki had been looking back over his shoulder the entire trip, even after the village passed out of sight.

"I just...I don't like leavin' her there."

Suzuno gave him a comforting smile. "You asked her to come with us." She said. "You can't make the choice for her. You did everything you could."

"Yeah." He said. "I guess you're right. Too bad it wasn't enough."

For no particular reason, Suzuno chose that moment to look back over her shoulder toward the village. A smile came to her face.

"Maybe it was."

* * * * *

A lone figure rode on horseback down the mountain path, galloping to catch up with them. They stopped and waited. As the figure drew closer, Tokaki's face lit up. It was Doulin.

Megumi set down the ancient book, trying to figure out how she was supposed to feel. It was nice that Tokaki had rescued Doulin from a life of servitude. But it didn't bring Suzuno any closer to summoning Byakko and coming home.

She decided to take a break and see how Takao was doing. The study was quite as she approached it. Stepping through the door, she found him slumped over his desk amid a pile of books, snoring quietly.

Megumi silently tiptoed out of the room and went back to the kitchen to continue reading. The poor man was exhausted; he deserved some rest. She would give him a few more hours at least.

* * * * *

To Be Continued

* * * * *