Hidden Destiny

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Miaka stared blankly at the open textbook in front of her, sighed loudly, and then closed it with a thud. Studying was impossible when Tasuki's kiss was still fresh in her mind. Flopping over on her back, she stared up at the ceiling, and closed her eyes and brought a hand to her lips, touching them lightly, imagining he was kissing her again. When her face grew warm and she quickly lowered her hand, clasping its mate at her waist. Tamahome and Hotohori had both kissed her before, but even the most passionate of those kisses had never made her feel as if she were on fire as Tasuki's brief caress of her lips had, or want to relive them again and again in her mind.

She rose to her feet and began restlessly pacing around the room, pausing only when she heard a knock on the door, her heart speeding up at the thought that it might be the flame-haired seishi. Running a trembling hand over her hair, Miaka walked to the door and opened it, her heart sinking in disappointment as the identity of her visitor was revealed.

"Oh hi, Nuriko." She said, forcing a smile.

The purple-haired seishi frowned slightly. "'Oh hi, Nuriko?' Well, there's a warm greeting! Were you hoping for someone else?"

Miaka shook her head. "Not really." Turning from him she began once more to pace the room as Nuriko came in and closed the door behind him. Stopping she looked at him biting her lip in thought. "Could I ask you to do something right now?"

"Sure, anything." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'd like you to kiss me." She blurted out.

"You want me to what?" Nuriko exclaimed, his arms falling to his sides and his eyes widening. A dark blush stained his cheeks as he shook his head in confusion. "What's going on, Miaka?"

"I don't know!" She cried, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration. "I've been having serious doubts about my feelings for Tamahome, and then Tasuki kissed me today and ever since then I've been feeling on edge, and I figured if I kissed you maybe I'd feel the same way as when Tasuki did and then I would know that I'm not falling in love with him instead." Miaka stopped to take a breath, looking down at the floor. "That doesn't make much sense does it?" With a heavy sighing, she sat down on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands. "Oh Nuriko! I'm so confused!"

Rolling his eyes and sitting down beside her, he put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Do you still love Tamahome?" He asked softly.

Miaka looked up wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I don't know. I think I do. But not like I thought I did. His kisses don't make my knees weak… Tasuki's did though." A small smile came to her lips. "What am I going to do, Nuriko? I can't deny any longer that I'm in love with Tasuki. I am so stupid, aren't I? I finally win the love of the handsome, noble warrior I thought I wanted and then I go and fall in love with the one who hates girls!" She wailed, her face going into her hands once more. "He'll never love me!" She muttered.

Nuriko shook his head and couldn't help laughing. "You are so blind." He forced her hands from her face and lifted her chin. "Miaka, we're all in love with you, don't you know that? Tasuki is too, even if he won't admit it." Giving her a soft smile, he wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Nuriko?"

"Shhh. Don't say anything. None of us would ever admit it to you because of your feelings for Tamahome. Tasuki's love for you is obvious to anyone who takes the time to notice, but he's also a stubborn idiot, which means he'll never tell you how he feels. You have to be the one to bare your heart."

Miaka stared at him, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry I asked you to kiss me. I didn't know…"

"Hush, it's okay. I'm not telling you now because I think I have a chance with you- I just wanted you to see this from Tasuki's point of view, that's all. After I leave this room we'll pretend this part of the conversation never happened. "

"Oh Nuriko…"

" Miaka, I want you to be happy! I have had a feeling for a long time that Tamahome wasn't the one for you. If I had paid a little more heed to what my instincts were telling me after getting to know you better, I would have never pushed the two of you together." He kissed her forehead softly then stood. "I will always be here for you. Not as a warrior but as your friend. Remember that."

Starting for the door, he paused when he heard Miaka's voice calling out to him.

"Nuriko….thank you." She said softly.

He grinned at her over his shoulder. "Sure thing! Now dry your eyes and go talk to Tasuki; if I know him even a little bit, he's probably blaming himself for the whole thing and thinks you hate him."

Giving her a wink Nuriko left the room, the door closing silently behind him.

Tasuki sat by the reflecting pond in the palace gardens, trying to achieve the inner peace that Chichiri always seemed to find in communing with nature. Unfortunately, his efforts were doomed to failure, because thoughts of Miaka kept intervening with his meditations. Growling in frustration, he stood and tossed a pebble into the pond, watching it skip across the smooth surface before disappearing beneath the ripples it had created.

Kissing her had been a stupid move, no doubt about it. And what was worse was that he had actually thought for a moment she had responded to him. Fat chance of that, most likely she was trying to get away from him. She probably hated him now.

Who cares? He thought. "You do." He answered himself aloud. " Way too much." There was no getting around it, the thought of her despising him made his heart hurt. He would go to her, tell her he was sorry, and hopefully that would patch things up between them.

A twig snapping behind him interrupted his thoughts, and he turned quickly, reaching for the tessen on his back. "Who's there?"

Miaka emerged from the brush and stood before him, her hands clasped in front of her. "Sorry if I scared you." She said.

Lowering his hand back to his side, Tasuki smirked. "I wasn't scared. Ya shouldn't sneak up on people, though."

"S-sorry about that," She stammered. "But I've been looking all over for you. I need to tell you something."

"I need to talk to you too," he interrupted. "Look, about earlier when I….well, when I did what I did. It's the only thing I could think of to make ya stop laughin' at me." He turned his gaze back over the water so she wouldn't see the lie in his eyes.

"T-that's the only reason you kissed me?" She asked softly. "To shut me up?"

Swallowing hard, he nodded. "Yeah. Ya know I don't like girls, so why else would I…do that?"

Her voice quavered. "I don't know. I thought maybe it was because you were-"

"It didn't mean anythin'." He stated flatly.

Miaka glared at his back. "Could you drop the tough guy act for five minutes and talk to me?"

"What do ya think I'm doin' now?"

"You're avoiding me is what you're doing! I came to tell you something and I'm not leaving until I do so knock it off! " She walked to him and grabbed his arm, turning him around to face her. "When you kissed me earlier I felt something for you that up until now I had only dreamed about."

He smirked. "Lust, you mean?"

Her eyes narrowed and she released his arm, her hands fisting at her sides as she shouted at him. "You are such an idiot! Not lust…love! Let me tell you why I was awake all night! Not because Tamahome and I had a fight, it was because of you! I realized last night that I'm in love with you, and it scared the heck out of me." Her hands relaxed, and a tender smile appeared on her face as she gazed up at him. "I'm not scared to say it any more though. I love you, Tasuki."

He stared at her for a moment, shaking his head, before turning his back to her once more. "Ya don't love me, Miaka." Closing his eyes tightly, he prayed he would be able to hold off the tears that threatened. "Ya don't even know me. Go back to Tamahome and forget what happened earlier."

Miaka stomped her foot in frustration and anger.

"I know you better than you think, Tasuki! I know that right now you're scared. You're afraid that I'm lying, maybe that I have love confused with something physical. Right now you think that turning me away is what you're supposed to do. And I also know that I'm about to turn around and leave and then you will be sorry for giving up the one thing that might have been bigger than anything you've ever imagined. As soon as I'm gone you'll realize how much you hurt me and you'll hate yourself. You see, Tasuki, I do know you but you don't know me at all. If you did, you'd see how hard it was for me to come to you. I was afraid to tell you how I felt. I finally worked up my courage and you….and you…"

She stopped her tirade, unable to go on for the tears that pelted down her cheeks and the lump in her throat that threatened to choke her. Wiping the tears from her face with angry swipes of her fingers, she did an about face and started to run back the way she had come.

As he listened to her receding footfalls, Tasuki felt the tears he had been holding back stinging his flushed cheeks, all because he had done the one thing he had never wanted to do- he had made her cry. He stood alone, looking out over the tranquil pool of water, crying and cursing himself because he knew every word she said had been the truth.

He was sorry for not telling her how he felt, and he hated himself for hurting her.

Running a hand through his wild hair, Tasuki then rested his hands on his hips, tilting his head back to look up at the clear blue sky. She didn't understand that no matter how much he wished it wasn't so, he and everyone else around them knew he just wasn't good enough for her.

But on the other hand, there was the fact that in spite of all his obvious flaws, she had wanted him.

A smile slowly spread across his face as he realize that it didn't matter to Miaka that he was a bandit with no manners and bad language. She had seen and gotten through to the heart of the man he was, beneath his rough exterior.

"I'll be damned." He whispered, his smile turning into a blinding grin. Quickly he turned and headed in the direction she had gone, eager to try to fix what he had broken.

She was only a short distance in front of him. Tasuki picked up his speed, catching up to her quickly.

"Wait." He said softly, grabbing her arm to stop her flight.

Miaka stopped, closing her eyes in apprehension as she waited for him to speak.

"I'm sorry." He said releasing her arm. "Everything ya said back there was right. I hate myself right now cause I made ya cry, and I'm scared t'death that I've screwed up the one good thing that's happened t'me in my life. Miaka, please…would ya at least look at me?"

She obediently turned to face him, but was still avoiding his gaze so he reached down and lifted her chin with a finger. "I love ya, Miaka. I always have, and I guess I always will-but I don't know if I can promise a future together." He said quietly. "Once this whole thing is said and done, I have t'go back take up leadership of the bandits again, and there's Tamahome- I'm assumin' ya haven't told him about this yet?"

"I don't care about promises- I just know I love you. Being able to be with you right now is all that matters." Miaka stated firmly. "As for Tamahome…" She sighed, her expression growing troubled. " I will tell him…soon." With an effort, she shook off her sadness, and met his gaze with a loving smile. "Tasuki? Will you do something for me?"

"Anything." He smiled into her eyes, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

"Tell me again." Slipping her arms around his waist she leaned into him.

Tasuki grinned and cupped her face, bringing his lips closer to hers.

"I love ya, Miaka." He whispered, right before their lips met.