Author's Notes: See chapter one for disclaimer and explanation.
Love, Life, and Death By Annie-chan Chapter Twenty-Four: FarewellThe cavern was silent. Kôran stood still, her face deathly pale. Hikô's last words to her were echoing relentlessly in her mind that she had killed him…she had killed him…she had killed him…
She felt a slight tug at her skirt and looked down into the faces of her two older children. She knelt down and took Hana and hugged her to her chest again, then pulled Tori and Seiryoku to her with her other arm. She couldn't speak. All she could do was weep quietly.
Hôjun had felt a cold dread well up inside of him when he heard Hikô's last words to Kôran. Gathering the last tatters of strength he had left, he began to drag himself over to where Hikô had stood not half a minute before. His strength gave out and he collapsed back to the floor again with a cry of despair. He couldn't do it. He was going to die. He was going to leave his wife and children alone in the world.
Someone knelt down beside him, and he managed to turn his head up to look into uncommonly somber amber eyes. It was Tasuki. The bandit reached down and pulled him up into his arms.
"Take strength from me," Tasuki said, sounding as if he was going to cry. Hôjun readily took the offered mental link, and he felt warmth wash over him as the bandit's fiery ki flowed into his body and spirit. He took only enough to keep himself from dying, then abruptly broke off the link, despite Tasuki's protests.
"Please," Hôjun rasped, "help me…over to Hikô." He coughed once, a bit of blood spattering Tasuki's shirt. "Onegai."
Tasuki look uncertain as to what to do at first, but then stood up, pulling Hôjun with him. Hôjun wouldn't let Tasuki pick him up completely, only letting the bandit support him as he weakly stumbled over the uneven cave floor.
Hikô was not gone, not yet. In the large pool of water he had dissolved into, his faint image still shone, wavering, weak. He was barely alive, and dying slowly. Hôjun suddenly broke away from Tasuki and fell to his knees at the edge of the pool, tears spilling from both his eyes. He somehow managed to stay on his knees, and not fall completely to the ground. He reached out shakily and took one of Hikô's barely tangible hands.
"Hikô!" he sobbed. "Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai!"
"Don't apologize," Hikô's ghostly voice replied. "This is all my fault. I was stupid enough to let that monster snare me and turn me into a demon."
"I don't care!" Hôjun insisted. "I won't let you take all the blame!"
"Think what you wish, Hôjun," Hikô said, his voice a little fainter. "It's all my fault, as far as I can see. I never loved Kôran. I can see that, now that Tenkô's hold on me has been broken. It was merely a crush, like she said. He just took that crush and twisted it into something I believed was true love. He may have been working on me long before I died, in anticipation of your role as a Seishi."
"Oh, Hikô…" Hôjun clutched at the hand like his life depended on it.
"I don't know why I didn't see it," Hikô continued. "It was plain to see you two belonged with each other. Soul mates. I was an idiot to think I could break the bond and take her as my own. She said she hated me. You must as well."
"I don't hate you, Hikô," Hôjun said quietly, sincerely. "And, neither does Kôran. She couldn't hate you. She was just upset. That wasn't real hate she was feeling. I felt it in her soul." Even through his tears, Hôjun could see the confusion in Hikô's disappearing eyes.
"Naze…?" he whispered. "You have every right to hate me."
"It wasn't your fault!" Hôjun insisted.
"I should have resisted," Hikô replied. "I should have backed off once I saw how much you two were meant for each other. But, no. I went along with what Tenkô was doing to me. I had plenty of doubts, and many times, I felt close to letting my feelings for her go, but I gave into them in the end."
"Hikô…you…"
"It doesn't matter what you say," Hikô said. "It is my fault, no matter what bewitchment I was under. I let it happen. I destroyed our friendship. We couldn't trust each other. We were not friends, not anymore…"
"What are you saying?!" Hôjun sudden burst out. "You and I were best friends! We still are! We will always be! I love you! Brothers in all but blood! Nothing will change that! Dakara…"
"I return," Hikô said softly, "to the water now. Hôjun…I'm sorry…" He closed his eyes for the final time and vanished from the pool of water, the formless hand in Hôjun's grasp dissolving into nothing. All that was left of the man was the smooth ring of stone that had been bound to his forehead.
"Hi…kô…" Hôjun breathed, staring down at the small piece of ornamentation. At that moment, Kôran raised her head, finally having been able to stop her tears. Her eyes met his, and she almost withered at the overwhelming sadness she saw in her husband's face.
With a groan, Hôjun sudden went boneless, collapsing to the wet stone, all his strength gone from him. He passed out a few seconds later, the last thing he heard being Kôran's frightened voice calling his name.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He awoke later, lying on something soft, an even softer touch caressing his cheek. He lay there a few minutes, then opened his eye to see that he was back in the inn, his beloved wife sitting beside him on the bed, stroking his cheek. She smiled down at him when she saw he was awake.
"Mm…Kôran, no da?" he said drowsily. "How did we get back here, no da?"
"I'm not sure, Koibito," she replied. "Not long after you passed out, a red light suddenly rose up and brought us back here. Perhaps Suzaku took pity on us and personally returned us to safety."
"Maybe, no da," Hôjun said, and closed his eye again. It snapped open a split second later as he suddenly remembered something. "The children, no da!" He sat bolt upright in the bed.
"Daijôbu, Hôjun," Kôran soothed. "They sleep beside you. Look." He did look, and saw that they were curled up beside him in the large bed. Tama-neko was there, too, snuggled up between Tori and Seiryoku. Hana was on the other side of him, and she was wide-awake, Kôran's hand resting protectively near her. She cooed and reached her tiny little arms up to her father. He picked her up and hugged her gently to his bare chest. "Mitsukake healed your body, Hôjun, but he said only the children and I can heal the wound in your soul." She took a hold of his chin and turned his somber face to her. "Will you let me, Hôjun? Please don't shut me out like you've done so many other times."
Hôjun bowed his head. She was right. He had occasionally let his guard down and spilled his heart to her when something was wrong, but that was a rare happening. He usually kept his pain and helplessness locked up inside, wishing not to burden his wife with his troubles. "Hai…I will let you, no da."
He told her everything that had been said as Hikô lay dying. Tears started flowing slowly down his face as he spoke.
"He didn't believe me!" he whispered. "He kept saying it was all his fault! He wouldn't even listen to me when I said we didn't hate him! You…you don't really hate him, do you?"
"Iie," she assured him. "I shouldn't have said that. I…I was just so afraid for you and the others that I didn't know what I was saying. I wish I hadn't." She had her arms around him, mindful of Hana in his arms, and stroked his hair soothingly. It was all she could really do at the moment. "At least he's free now, ne?"
"Iie," he said, a sudden, disturbing darkness settling in his eye, eclipsing the ever-present darkness in it from loss after loss. "Tenkô's immediate hold on Hikô had been broken, so he can think for himself again. But, Tenkô still has overall possession of his soul." He hesitated a moment, then added, "Tenkô must be defeated utterly, if we don't want Hikô damned for eternity for his service under Tenkô. Same for a young brother and sister he also has possession of."
Kôran looked up at him, cold terror and fear filling her eyes. "You mean…Hikô is…"
"Iie," Hôjun said before she could finish her question. "I don't think he is in Hell right now. What I mean by damned is I think he is in some kind of void with Renhô and Miisû—the brother and sister—for Tenkô to manipulate them, if he so chooses. The bodies he gave them may be dead, but their spirits are still his to command, no matter that their ability to think freely has been returned to them. I can only pray that he does not decide to use them against us again. Slavery with free thought is worse than slavery while brainwashed."
"Oh…no…" Kôran murmured, shaking slightly. "Hikô…those poor siblings…"
"The only way to completely exorcize them and set them free would be Tenkô's death," Hôjun continued gravely. "I may be wrong about all this, but my gut feeling says I am close to the truth. And, not only are the fates of those three souls at stake, but the fates of two worlds. This…this will be the greatest battle for the Suzaku Shichi Seishi yet. We may be completely alone in the fight. Tenkô seems powerful enough to ensnare Suzaku himself in a trap, and perhaps the other gods as well, if he tried hard enough."
Kôran shuddered, remembering her encounter with the Demon God. She had been forced to let him touch her, and he had made her stare into his eyes, his almost physically piercing eyes. It was something she would never forget, no matter how much she tried.
"Sleep now," she said, taking Hana from his arms, and gently pushing him back into a lying position. "You need to save your strength for this fight."
He nodded and pulled her down with him to lie on his chest, holding her tight. As he drifted back into a light sleep, he made a mental note to teleport his wife and children straight home as soon as he woke up again.
To be continued…Author's Notes: Yes, I know it's been forever since I updated last, but school and work got in the way. Now that the Christmas shopping frenzy is over and I'm on Winter Break from school, I should get at least a couple more chapters written and posted by the time I return to school. I don't think chapter twenty-four here was my best work, but it will suffice. Please, please, please give me feedback, no da! I really, really, really want to know what you think of my story so far! Either review the story or send an email to mangareader@hotmail.com, onegai shimasu! Oh! And, wish me good luck in getting more X mangas (which I've been collecting since I got all the Fushigi Yûgi mangas). I need to convince my mom to take me down to Kinokuniya Bookstore to get them (I'm so lucky to live near one!).