AN: Sorry about taking so long with the next chapter. Well I hope you enjoy it and the twist in the story! Oh and by the way any italics in the story are either thoughts or thoughts being used as speech. Such is the way of a mage.
The fire crackled and popped into the cold night air, the flames dancing before the mage's eyes. Satura had tries to sleep for the past two hours but met with no success. Heart-sister you are troubled. Satura glanced over to where the horses were tethered. Her stallion, Bonfire was staring at her. Yes I suppose I am, Bonnie. The mage replied affectionately. Bonfire walked over to where the mage lay.
The two of them had an unusual relationship even for a wild mage. It was rare, but sometimes a person with wild magic bonded more closely with one animal than any other. That was the case with her and Bonfire. The funny thing was he wasn't her guardian. She had cast a spell on Bonfire to give him the same life span as hers. That bit of magic had left her bedridden and drained of power for weeks. But it was worth it; at least in her opinion she couldn't vouch for her mother.
You seek the love of one who obviously loves you, so why are you so troubled by that? Bonfire said. "What if he doesn't love me?" she asked, forgetting to use mind speech. "What if he does?" a soft voice asked. The woman gasped and turned around to find Garret awake and looking at her.
"So the cat's finally out of the bag, huh?" he asked. The bard got up and walked over to the mage and sat down by her. I've been thinking a lot about us. Tasuki and Miaka's display only served to boost my resolve." He said, quietly. "What resolve?" "This resolve." He leaned forward and tilted her chin up and kissed her. Satura, for once in her life let her heart take control, and kissed him back.
The kiss went on long enough to make the watching horse begin to wonder if they were going to suffocate. Garret finally pulled away gently and looked directly into her eyes and said strongly and clearly, "I love you, Satura." The mage blinked back sudden tears of joy. "I love you, Garret." A long pause followed. "But what do we do? We have no way of knowing if either one of us will survive in the end." Satura said. "You of all people should know after all these years around a bard the we only live for the moment. That my dear is what we should do in this situation." Garret said. "Your right." Satura smiled. And now if you're through with this little romantic drama, I recommend you sleep. Bonfire said. "Yes, Father." Both humans said mockingly. The stallion snorted and shook his head.
Garret got back to his feet after a quick kiss from Satura and went back over to his bedroll. He slipped back under the covers and glanced over where the mage was. She was already asleep with a peaceful smile on her face. A sudden idea occurred to him. Grinning wickedly, he got up and dragged his bed over to where Satura slept. Bonfire snorted and clearly said in his mind. I hope you're prepared to deal with the consequences in the morning. The stallion warned. Garret had a touch of wild magic; just enough to speak mind to mind with animals, so he wasn't disturbed at having the horse speak to him. Oh I'm prepared to all right. He replied. He settled down under the covers and reached over and hugged the woman's body to his own. He then noticed for the first time that he wasn't the only one with this particular idea. Tasuki held Miaka in his arms, while he snored peacefully. A happy smile was across his face. Looks like I'm not the only one who's going to have to face the consequences in the morning, Garret thought closing his eyes and falling asleep.
*****
Chichiri woke up the next morning well rested only to find something strange. He looked over to where Tasuki should have been sleeping. "Da? Where is he?" the monk then spotted him sleeping with his arms around Miaka, a happy smile on his face. He then spotted Garret in the same position, only with his arms around Satura. Chichiri had a sneaking suspicion neither of the woman were aware of the situation. He wandered over to a rock, sat down, and began meditating.
*****
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" two shrieks of rage and embarrassment broke the peaceful mood. Satura and Miaka were both wide awake and applying their magic. Miaka was frying Tasuki with fire. Satura was sending electric bolts through Garret's body. Both men were apologizing profusely, trying to get the two women to calm down. "WE'RE SORRY! WE'RE SORRY! WE WON'T DO IT AGAIN!" they howled. Satisfied both women calmed down and sat down to eat breakfast, which Chichiri had been preparing while both men were being magically assaulted by the mage and miko. The monk didn't interfere because he felt both men had gotten what they deserved. The group finished eating and packed up. Then saddled the horses and started the day's journey.
*****
The group calmly watched the star appear overhead, twinkling like bright diamonds against the velvety blue-black sky. The night air was cool enough to be pleasant without causing them to shiver all night. Nobody said anything for a while. The group was in a reflective mood. The five of them had formed into a sort of family of the road. Being in one another's company on a day to day basis had helped them to form close friendships in a short amount of time. This reminded the Suzaku people of their times with the other seishi.
This was a constant ache in Miaka's heart. She missed her seishi's companionship and friendship. "If I could only-" she was stopped as she sensed something on the edge of her magic. Miaka had done a lot of changing over past 5 months. She was very good now at using her bow and arrows, staff, and knife and hand to hand combat. She never feared using her magic now. She had come a long way in a short amount of time. So it was she glanced around the campground cautiously around the campground with the others.
A sudden flash of light appeared out of nowhere, temporarily blinding the group. The light cleared to reveal a tall blonde woman wearing a white dress. "Greetings medallion seekers, I am the Goddess Salaya. I have chosen to grant you each of you two wishes to be used at anytime you desire. Your valiant efforts to find the medallion have caught my attention. So I grant you these wishes. But I must warn you, if you use a wish to bring a person back from the dead only two people can use one of their wishes, so choose who you will resurrect carefully." With that the goddess was gone. "Anybody mind %$^&*(% explaining what the hell that was all about?!" Tasuki said.
"Apparently we're courting the Gods' favor and they've decided to reward us by giving us two wishes each." Satura explained. "And you can wish people back from the dead, but only two." She added. "I'll use one of mine." Miaka said. "I will too, no da." Chichiri said. "So who are you going to wish back? Some of your seishi?" Garret asked. Miaka nodded and smiled. Satura gave the girl a stern look. "Be careful about who you choose, Miaka. We still have many months of travel ahead of us, not to mention the danger we'll probably get into when we go into the areas were the medallion pieces are." The mage said. "Won't they just appear where they died when they're brought back?" Tasuki asked. "No the Gods of this world gave the wishes, so they'll be brought here." Garret replied.
"Well who should we bring back?" Miaka asked. "Nuriko should be one his strength might come in handy. "It would be too dangerous for Chiriko, so I'm afraid we can resurrect him." Chichiri said regretfully. "Mitsukake would be a good choice because of his healing ability." He added. "You already have two healers." Satura said. "Da? What do you mean na no da?" "Garret and I both have healing magic. Granted, his isn't as strong as mine, but he's still got a very high level." Satura explained. "What are you two, the epitomes of magical perfection or something? How the hell do you two have so many of the same magic types?" The bandit grumbled to himself. "So that means Mitsukake is out." Tasuki said speaking loud enough for the whole group to hear him. "He never was a good fighter anyways." He added, wincing a little.
The three Suzaku people felt like they were picking out clothes or food in some market. They wanted all their friends back, but Satura had point. They needed to take the next few months into consideration, so they could only pick the two who would the most helpful. "Hotohori-sama and Nuriko it is then." Chichiri said. "Ready to wish them back Miaka-chan?" Miaka gave an eager nod. She was ready to start but a sudden thought entered her mind. "Uh wait a min- "Just say 'I wish for so and so to be brought back to life." The mage said, guessing what she was asking. "Oh. Well, then." The miko took a deep breath and said, "I wish for Nuriko to be brought back to life." "Not the most original thing in the world, but it works." Garret mumbled to Satura. The woman hid a smile behind her hand.
A light suddenly appeared and a human shape began to take form. Purple hair, arms and legs- it was Nuriko as they had last seen him when he was alive. His eyes were closed and he lay close to them on the ground. He was sleeping and they all decided to let him wake up on his own. Tasuki then looked a Chichiri and rasied and eyebrow. The monk looked at the exact spot next to Nuriko and said, "I wish Hotohori-sama were alive again." "Slighlty better wording than Miaka's." Satura murmured. Garret just shook his head. The entire situation had a dramatic flair to it than not even he, a bard, could really stand for much longer.
Another form with long black hair came into place beside Nuriko. Satura and Garret had been making plans the whole time. The bard looked at the trio and cleared his throat getting their attention. They looked over at the couple. "We think it's better if we both left for the night. The two seishi are going to be confused and we think this will give you time to explain the situation as well as spend time with them." Garret explained, smiling. "Thank you." Miaka said. "It's a good idea na no da." Chichiri said. Satura called over Bonfire and Mystic, Garret's mare. "The both swung up to the saddle and gave the other three a smile. "We'll be over in that clearing over there." The mage said pointing to it. "Out of sight but close enough in vase of danger." "Good-night, then." The pair rode off and out of sight.
A groan drew their attention back to the two men. Nuriko sat up and looked around. "Where am I?" then. "I'M ALIVE?!!" "Nuriko!" The seishi looked up to see a figure flying toward him. "Miaka!" he exclaimed. He swiftly stood, just in time for Miaka to plaster herself to him. He hugged her just as hard as she was hugging him. "I missed you, Nuriko." The girl said. "I missed you, too." He looked over at Chichiri and Tasuki. Both seishi came over to greet their friend. Meanwhile, the miko was hugging Hotohori who had woken. The seshi let go over her to say hello to the other three. After the old friendships were renewed Nuriko asked, "Miaka where's Taka?" "We broke up." "WHAT?!" both seishi exclaimed. "Yes, you see that's part of the problem…" Chichiri said.
Three hours later Miaka, Tasuki, and Chichiri had finished their story. The other two just sat there blinking for a while. "Okay, let me get this straight. Miaka's a magician, in love with Tasuki, we're in another world, you three are part of a group of people who have been propheszied to find a medallion in order to save this world?" Nuriko asked, a little hysterically. "Yes." Chichiri said simply. Nuriko had reached the breaking point. He fell over in a dead faint. "NURIKO?!" the others exclaimed running over to where he lay.
The emperor had a pretty good idea of how he felt. First being brought back to life, then all the stuff about Miaka and the others. So he pretty much knew how Nuriko felt. Meanwhile, Chichri had managed to revive the seshi. "Why don't we all go to sleep?" Hotohori suggested. "I think we've all had enough for one day." The others nodded. They went over to their packs and found two extra bedrolls among them. Satura's doing… Miaka, Chichiri and Tasuki thought affectionately shaking their heads. Everyone grabbed a bedroll, crawled under the covers and fell asleep.