AN: Fushigi Yuugi doesn't belong to me. Only Hitoshi and Yumi do. ^-^

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"Nuriko?" Miaka whispered in shock. The purple headed man nodded.

"Nuriko!" Tears of happiness welled up in her eyes as she ran to him; and fell right through him.

"Itai!" She moaned. Nuriko chuckled.

"Baka! I'm still dead." Miaka's bottom lip trembled as the memories of his death flooded back to her. Nuriko's eyes softened.

"Gomen, Miaka. I want to stay here with you, demo..."

"Demo?"

"...I can't. I've only come to encourage you. You looked like you were about to give up hope. You can't give up, Miaka! You can't. I won't let you." Nuriko raised his voice to get his point clear. Miaka stared at him in shock.

"Miaka, are you just going to give up because your seishi aren't here? Are you going to let Hitoshi get his way? What about Chichiri and Tasuki? What would they think if you gave up on them? Miaka, the power within you is immense. You can't let Hitoshi have it." Nuriko paused to let the information sink in. "The only thing stopping you is your insecurities."

"Insecurities? What do you mean?" Miaka frowned in confusion. Nuriko sighed.

"Whether or not you like it, the dead seishi-gumi (AN: If I'm correct, gumi means group) have been watching you, even since you returned to your world." Miaka gasped, then blushed. Had they seen everything?

"We saw you and Taka fall apart, slowly at first. We also saw when you began to fall for fang boy." Nuriko chuckled at the surprised look on Miaka's face.

"N-Nani!? What are you talking about?!" She shrieked, blushing from head to toe. Nuriko rolled his eyes.

"Whether you admit it or not, we can all see it. And he loves you. He has always. He only pushed it aside for the sake of you and Tamahome. Miaka, he's not a bad man. He protects you, he makes you laugh, and he hates seeing you cry. What more can you ask for? Give him a chance." Nuriko begged. He wanted Miaka to be happy. And he knew if he were still alive, he would have claimed her, regardless of Tamahome. Miaka studied the ground. It was true. She did care a lot about Tasuki. Was it really love? She shook away the thought. There was no time for that now. She could sort through her feelings later.

"Arigatou, Nuriko. I'll think about what you said. Demo, right now...I've got some friends to save." Miaka smiled and gave Nuriko a thumbs up, one which he happily returned.

"I'll be watching you, Miaka." Nuriko smiled one last time before disappearing. Miaka continued to stare at the spot he was just in and smiled. Taking a deep breath, she hiked back up the hill and to the main road, before starting her trip to the Kutou empire.

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"That baka, she's probably going to come and try to rescue us." Tasuki growled, struggling against the bonds that held his wrists and legs securely together. Chichiri nodded.

"She probably will, no da. There is no way to stop her." He frowned, removing his mask. Tasuki muttered some curses under his breath. If anything happened to her, he could never forgive himself. He sighed.

'Gomen Mi-chan, I can't protect you. Please be safe.' He silently prayed as he rested his back against the wall and fell asleep.

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Miaka grinned, despite the situation she was in. She was finally at the palace. It wouldn't have taken as long as it did, but there were guards all over the place. She quietly snuck out of the bush and crept up the steps, thankful it was dark out and no one would be able to see her. She looked over her shoulder before silently slipping into the slightly ajar palace door. She turned to walk down a hallway, but a voice stopped her.

"Going somewhere, miko?" She froze. She was caught.

"Welcome miko. I see you came." Hitoshi sneered, arms folded smugly across his chest. Miaka turned to face him.

"Baka, of course I would come. They're my friends. I wouldn't leave them. I bet you don't even have any friends." She said hotly, glaring at the young boy.

"I have Yumi, and that's all I need." He growled, snapping his fingers. In an instant, two guards seized Miaka by her arms.

"Let me go!" She struggled against their grasp.

"If you aren't quiet, you won't see your seshi." He informed her. She stopped and let her body sag against the guards.

"Take her to the dungeon." He ordered. They nodded and roughly pulled her down the hall.

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"Chiri! Can't you use your powers to get us outta here?" Tasuki whined. He had woken up from his nap and was now pestering Chichiri. Chichiri shook his head.

"There's a powerful force field surrounding us. I tried before, no da."

Tasuki frowned, a fang peeking out o the corner of his mouth.

"Itai! That hurts! Where do you think you're grabbing me!?"

The two people in the cell looked up in shock as an auburn haired girl was pushed rather roughly into a cell across from theirs'. She lost her footing and fell on her butt. She quickly jumped up again.

"Itai! Watch it!" She growled, glaring at them. They snickered and walked off. One guard left the room entirely, while the other stayed near the door.

"Miaka?"

Miaka turned and immediately smiled in delight.

"Chichiri! Tasuki! You're okay!" She exclaimed, grabbing hold of the rusty cell bars. Tasuki nodded.

"We need to get out of here, and fast." Miaka said, looking around the cell for any terms of escape.

"And just how the hell are we going to do that?" Tasuki eyed her skeptically. Miaka sat down. He had a point. All though she could....She blushed. In front of them? Did she really have the guts? The distance between her cell and theirs' wasn't very far. She was sure if she could just....

"Psst! I've got a plan. But you have to swear that you trust me. And I need your help." Miaka whispered loud enough for them too hear. They nodded.

"But we won't be much help, Miaka-chan. They've got us tied up, no da." Chichiri looked down at his wrists.

"Right. Umm, Tasuki, go back to back with Chichiri and...Don't give me that look!" She scolded. "Use your hands to try to untie his. If you can do that..." She trailed off, watching the two struggle against the bonds. Within five minutes, the rope was loosened enough for Chichiri to slide one hand out, then the other. He sighed in relief and rubbed his wrists, then quickly undid Tasuki's.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Tasuki mumbled.

"Because you're a boy and girls are smarter." Miaka boasted happily.

"Yea yea. Now, what's this plan of yours?" Tasuki waved off her teasing. She debated whether or not to tell them the whole plan, but she decided against it.

"I'm going to distract the guard and get him over here. I need you guys to get the keys from his belt." She explained. Chichiri nodded.

"Nuh uh. How about we distract him and you get it." Tasuki didn't like the idea of Miaka trying to distract anybody. Miaka shook her head.

"Trust me." She winked, before turning towards the guard.

"Oi! Mister! Over here!" She managed to squeeze both arms through the bars and began to wave them around wildly. The guard looked at her, not amused, and walked slowly until he ended up in front of her.

"Nani?" His tone was cold. Miaka winced inwardly. Would she really be able to pull this off? She blinked, and took a deep breath before beginning.

"I was just admiring you from over here and you seemed lonely." She placed her index finger on her bottom lip, watching him innocently. He tensed noticeably.

"What are you up to?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing. You're cute when you're mad." She giggled and ran a finger down his cheek.

Meanwhile, Tasuki and Chichiri watched in shock. They couldn't believe what she was doing! Miaka continued to trace his face, all the while gagging on the inside. She peered over his shoulder and sighed inwardly, seeing Chichiri slowly taking the keys off his belt. He carefully put it in the key hole and turned.

"Do you really mean that?" The guard asked, sake evident in his breath. No wonder he was so easy to fool.

"Of course." She purred.

Clang

Miaka's eyes widened in horror. Chichiri had dropped the keys on the floor, the door half opened.

"What was that?" The guard began to turn around. Miaka panicked and did the only thing she could think of doing to stop him. She quickly grabbed his chin in her hand and turned him to face her. Her lips crashed down on his. Tasuki's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed as he glared at the guard. Chichiri took this opportunity to open the door the rest of the way. Tasuki pushed past the monk and tapped the guard on his shoulder.

"Huh?" He turned around and a fist met with his face. He passed out.

"Thank god! I thought I was going to puke." Miaka shuddered as Chichiri opened her cell door. The three of them stood in awkward silence.

"Where the hell did ya' get that idea?" Tasuki asked angrily.

"Well...you remember when we went to rescue Tamahome from Nakago? I kinda did the same thing back then too." She smiled sheepishly. Tasuki's jaw dropped to the floor. Chichiri patted him on the shoulder, all the while chuckling.

"C'mon. You can yell at me later, we gotta get out of here." Miaka ushered them towards the door, then stopped, causing the seishi to crash into her back.

"What is it, no da?"

"There are probably guards outside the door." She whispered, looking around the room. Her eyes landed on a window. She slowly crept over and motioned for them to follow. Tasuki quickly stepped up to it and kicked it open.

"Tasuki! That defeats the purpose of not going out the front door!" Miaka hissed angrily. He shrugged and grabbed her by the waist. She shrieked as he hoisted her up and gently placed her out the window. Once she was down safely outside, she reached her arm down to pull Tasuki up. She struggled before finally getting him halfway up, but was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Aiie!" She screamed as the unseen guard behind her wrapped one arm around her waist and the other clamped her mouth shut.

"Miaka!"

"Miaka-chan!"

Chichiri gave up on "hiding their chi" and grabbed Tasuki. They teleported out of the dungeon and in front of the guard, who eyed them nervously. Miaka took this time to take a bite of the guards' hand.

"Itai!" He dropped her and she easily scrambled away. Tasuki then proceeded to beat the crap out of the man with his bare hands. Chichiri and Miaka sweat-dropped.

"This is for trying to take Miaka ya bastard!" He kicked him in the side.

'He's not a bad man. He protects you, he makes you laugh, and he hates seeing you cry. What more can you ask for? Give him a chance.'

Miaka thought back to Nuriko's statement. He was always doing things for her, wasn't he? She smiled.

"C'mon Tasuki, we gotta get out of here." Miaka said as she gently tugged on his arm. His attack on the poor man stopped and he nodded, his eyes softening. They grabbed Chichiri's staff and teleported them out of there. They would have to think of another way to get in. Hitoshi watched angrily from his window.

"Hitoshi-sama?" A small voice reached his ears. He turned around and greeted Yumi with a smile.

"I told you I would come back, did I not?" He asked. Yumi nodded happily. Hitoshi gently patted her head. He'd get the Suzaku no Miko. And he'd take her power. He would avenge his parents' death.

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AN: This was a kind weird chappy! ^-^;; If anyone has some ideas for a plot, tell me cuz I'm on writers block. (maybe because I started like five different stories at once ^-^). Anyway, hope you liked it.