Disclaimer: I just own my original characters and the story. Also, any song lyrics I use belong to their writers/artists. I will post where I got them as well.
Notes: And here I go! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been over two weeks since Kei had been taken. Tasuki was constantly beating himself up over the fact that she was gone. He blamed himself for it. Lily was also angry with herself. She felt so bad. Taki was always trying to calm her down.
"Lily… It wasn't our fault. We couldn't have stopped it…"
Lily slammed her fist into a nearby tree. "Yes we could have! We were to busy getting cozy with the seishi to take her back!" Taki gasped. "Don't give me that look! You know I'm right! If we hadn't starting falling for them, we would have taken her back to Hikari like we were supposed to!"
"Lily! Things happen! Plans change! We didn't know she'd be with them! We assumed she'd be alone!"
"Don't you know what happens when you assume things?"
"Huh?"
"*You make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'. We shouldn't have done what we did. Now Kei's gone and we're too blame!"
Taki slapped Lily across the face as hard as she could. "You stupid bitch! Stop acting like this!" Lily was shocked. She didn't think Taki had this in her. "You act like we can't do a damn thing to get her back! We can and we will! The seishi are on our side! We can do this! We'll get her back, but we can't if you act like this!" Taki stood glaring at Lily who had her hand over her check.
"I…sorry…you're right. I can't be this way if we want to help her." Lily looked at the ground. "Thanks…I needed that…"
"Anytime Lily, anytime." Taki winked and left the gardens. As she headed back to the main part of the palace, Hotohori joined her.
"That was quite a heated discussion…" He raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.
Taki smiled and shrugged. "It had to be done. But she really was right…"
"About what? It wasn't your fault Kei was---"
"Indirectly it was. We were supposed to just come here and get her, not stay for months. We didn't think twice about what would happen if the other countries found out she was here. We were having too much fun. All three of us…" Taki rested her head on Hotohori's shoulder.
He ran his finger through her hair. "Everything will be alright. I promise."
Taki said nothing as she enjoyed being with him. 'Lily really is right though. We shouldn't have been playing house with the guys… Look at what's happened now…'
Tasuki and Chichiri were sitting in one of the meeting rooms of the palace. Tasuki was sitting in a chair staring out the window in the direction of Kutou. Chichiri was at a table.
"You really do need to eat something, no da." Chichiri had noticed his untouched food.
"Whatever…" Tasuki waved him away without even looking at him.
"Tasuki, I know you're upset over Kei's disappearance, but you can't not eat."
Tasuki turned and glared at him. "Disappearance? Is that what you call it? She was fuckin' kidnapped! An' I couldn't stop it…"
"Tasuki, you can't blame yourself. None of us could have done anything, no da."
"I'll fuckin' blame myself all I want! I promised myself I wouldn't let anything happen to her and what happened?" He stood up and walked over to the table Chichiri was at. "Now she's in Kutou with that bastard Nakago, having Suzaku only knows what done to her! How can I not blame myself? If I hadn't been so busy makin' out with her, I'd have just taken her home like I said I would!"
"Your attitude isn't helping things, no da…"
"Fuck my attitude Chichiri! I love her, alright!?!?" Tasuki's legs gave out on him and he collapsed on the floor, crying. "I love her! I wanted to protect her and I couldn't. I can't! I fuckin' failed miserably!"
"You love her, no da?"
"Yeah, I do! I fuckin' love her! Which part didn't you understand the 1st time I said it, huh?!"
Chichiri sighed and helped Tasuki into a chair. He removed his mask. "Tasuki, I understand perfectly that you love her. I've seen it for weeks. What I don't understand is that if you love her so much, why do you sit here day in day out, blaming yourself for what happened, instead of doing something about it?"
Tasuki looked up at Chichiri. "What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean? I'd think if you love her as much as I know you do, that you'd do something about what happened, don't you?"
Tasuki stared at him. "Are you saying we should go into Kutou again, find her, bring her back to Tai Itsukun, and get her and her friends back home?"
Chichiri replaced his mask. "Now I never said that. You came up with that one, no da." He smiled and left the room. He stood outside the doorway. "Just think about it okay, no da?" He raised his hand and used his magic to close the door, leaving a very confused and upset Tasuki in the room with the food.
Lily joined Chichiri as he was walking down the hallway. "What happened in there?"
"Tasuki's still upset. This time he admitted that he loves Kei, no da."
"I had a feeling he did. Now he just needs to tell her rather than you." Lily rubbed her cheek. It was still a little sore.
"What happened?"
"Taki smacked me."
"Why'd she do that, no da?"
"I needed a wake up call."
"What for?"
"I was acting just as sorry as Tasuki was." Lily sighed and clasped her hand together behind her head. "I was being a bitch again. I deserved to get slapped."
"Maybe I should have tried that with Tasuki, no da."
Lily glanced over at him. "Well, what did you do?"
"Nothing really. Just asked him a question, no da."
Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? One question?"
"Pretty much, no da."
"Impressive."
Chichiri and Lily continued walking down the hall together discussing possible solutions to the problem that they were currently facing, wondering just how well Kei was doing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In Kutou, Kei was mad as hell and making it well known. She broke every possible thing she could, screamed at the top of her lungs at anyone who came near her, except Yui, wouldn't eat, and overall, wouldn't give anyone peace in the Kutou palace. Yui was the only person she would allow near her.
Yui lightly knocked on the door to the room Kei had been put in. "Kei-sama? It's me, Yui."
"Come in and don't call me Kei-sama." Kei voice came from inside the room.
"Sorry. How are you feeling?"
"As good as I possibly could here…"
"I really am sorry about all this… I don't know what to say about Nakago, he has his own ideas about what's right for the country."
"It really isn't your fault. I just wanna go home." Kei pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her knees.
Before Yui could say anything else, Nakago appeared in the doorway.
Yui was shocked. "Nakago! What are you doing in here?"
"I go where I want, Yui-sama." Nakago crossed the room, grabbed Kei and dragged her off the bed. "I came for her."
Kei tried to pull away from him. "Let me go!" She aimed to smack him, but he grabbed her other hand too quickly. She gasped.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you." He hissed in her face. "I'm tired of how difficult you're being. Now you're going to see who's in charge. And you'll pay for what you and your little friends did to me in that town."
Kei felt like she was staring at her stepfather. Either way, she was scared, but tried not to show it. Nakago dragged her into the shrine of Seiryuu.
"I won't tolerate your behavior anymore. I don't care what you are, you'll learn respect." He threw her so her back squarely hit the wall.
Kei straightened up against the wall and glared at him as he came closer. "You should learn this." Kei spit at him, getting him in the eye.
Nakago growled, with it away and punched her in the face, knocking her to the floor. "When will you learn not to do things like that?"
"When I learn to care…"
He kicked her in the head, near her mouth. She yelped and clutched her head. "You'd better learn quickly. I'm quickly losing my patience with you."
Kei pulled herself back up. "You'd better learn to have more patience. I won't change. Not for anyone or anything."
Nakago raised his fist again, this time charging it with chi. It began to glow. Kei spat some blood onto the floor and laughed.
"What do you seem to find to funny?" The glow cast a shadow over his face, making him look more evil than he was.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you…it could prove dangerous…" She lowered her head and raised her eyes while she continued laughing.
"And why not?" He glared at her again.
"You act like I don't know what I am…you couldn't be more wrong. I know perfectly well what I'm capable of. You should be more careful." Kei's eyes flashed red and Nakago was blown backwards into a wall by what felt like a giant gust of wind.
Nakago was shocked, but also intrigued. 'If she knows her power, why hasn't she killed us all yet?' He began to pull himself up from the floor where he landed.
Kei held out one hand. Her eyes flashed and forced Nakago to stay on the floor. She answered as if she could read his mind. "I prefer not to kill. That's why you aren't dead." Her voice had a different tone to it. As if the Guardian had taken control of her.
Nakago struggled against her power. He slowly got up. "If you know what you are and your power, why do you stay with those pitiful Suzaku seishi? They aren't the ones who deserve to have your power."
The Guardian was particularly annoyed by this comment. She forced him down again. "You aren't one to talk about who deserves what. You have no right to say whom I will entrust my power too. You seem to know a lot, therefore, you should know that."
Nakago was finally released from the power. He stared at her. "Why bother to let me go? Why not kill me?"
"You never listen do you? I prefer not to kill. Don't make me repeat myself again!" The Guardian used Kei's body to leave the shrine and return to the room she had. Kei was seated at the vanity mirror, finally on control of herself again. She called the Guardian forward.
"Why did you do that?"
The Guardian sat in her mirror world. "Why would you ask something like that? I was protecting you. You wouldn't listen when I said they were coming for you. Why wouldn't you let me kill him? He's only going to hurt you."
Kei lowered her eyes. "I want Tasuki to come and kill him. I want him to come for me."
The Guardian sighed. "Kei-chan, why did you fall in love? You know what's going to happen…"
Kei started crying. "I know! But why can't I be happy while I'm still here? It isn't fair! I have no control over my life! Everything was predetermined! My life was planned out before I was born!"
"Kei, you have more control than you think. You weren't supposed to have met Taki or Lily. Your grandmother wasn't supposed help you like she has. But most importantly, you fell in love. Did you honestly think that was planned? You have more free will than you give yourself credit for."
"Really? I guess I never though about it that way…" Kei rested her elbow on the table and propped her head up. "Maybe things don't suck ass as much as I thought…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the real world, Hikari stared at the book and sighed. Kei knew much more than she should. It made her worry more since Kei loved Tasuki and he loved her too. There could be strange repercussions in the end of all this but right now, she worried more about getting the three girls home.
'Maybe it's time for another trip into the book for me.' Hikari sighed and began reciting a spell that surrounded her in a bright red light. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been a few days since Tasuki and Lily got wake up calls from Chichiri and Taki, respectively. The three seishi, Taki and Lily agreed to go Tai Itsukun's palace and ask for help. Nuriko was going to stay at the palace and watch over things for Hotohori. Tasuki was, of course, particularly anxious to get moving. He really didn't care that they had also agreed to send the girls back after the rescue. He just wanted to get her back.
The trip to Tai Itsukun's palace was short and, of course, through Chichiri's kasa. Taki and Lily felt funny after doing that for the first time. When they got there, they all heard two women screaming at each other. Taki and Lily looked at each other. They recognized one voice. The seishi recognized the other. A short walk brought them to a room with the doors cracked open.
Lily carefully looked through and saw who was yelling. She backed up. "It's Hikari and some old hag."
"She's not and old hag. That's Tai Itsukun, no da."
"Oops."
Hikari heard the girls and seishi approach. "Taki! Lily! Get in here!"
Lily and Taki froze. Hikari didn't sound happy. "Eww…" Taki slowly slid open the door. "*Yes?"
"*Don't 'yes' me, young lady. *You know why I'm here and why I'm angry…" Hikari was glaring at both of them. The seishi were a bit confused.
Lily wrung her hands together. "*I don't suppose saying sorry would help…"
"*No, it won't. *Come with me." Hikari beckoned them. They reluctantly obeyed.
Taka began laughing. He didn't understand what they were saying, but he found their fear hilarious. Though he wouldn't soon.
Hikari looked at him. "You're Taka, right?"
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"You come here, too."
Taka slowly walked over to the woman. She promptly backhanded him across the face, sending him crashing to the floor. "Don't ever come near my granddaughter again. You'll have more than hell to pay if you do…" Her sapphire eyes flashed at him.
Taki and Lily stifled laughter and Tasuki chuckled to him self. Everyone else was a bit shocked. Taka quickly got up and moved back over to the group.
Tai Itsukun floated forward. "I believe some introductions are in order. Minna, this is Kazama Hikari, Kei's grandmother. Hikari, these are the---"
"I know who they are, you stupid hag. I still have a copy of the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho, remember? I still read it to keep up on what's going on here."
Tai Itsukun was taken aback by her biting remarks. "Stop acting like a child, Hikari. You act the same as you did last time you were here."
"Practice what you preach! You act no different from the last time I was here." She crossed her arms. "Now like I was saying, you really blew it this time."
"I had no power over what happened to Kei-sama and you know that!"
"Like hell you didn't! You saw that coming!" Hikari turned to the two girls.
"*Girls, why don't you take your friends somewhere else? *It's about to get ugly in here."
"*More so than it already is?" Taki snickered.
"*Yes. *Now hurry up and go."
"Yes ma'am." Both girls walked back over to seishi and ushered them out. They both let out sighs of relief after the doors were closed.
"What the hell is goin' on in there?"
Lily rubbed her forehead. "Hikari-san's really mad at Tai Itsukun. Hikari blames T.I. (I'm getting tired of typing Tai Itsukun.) for what happened. I'm just glad she didn't smack us."
Taki stared at the door. "She will later. That's one pissed off granny! We're not gonna get off with just a lecture this time."
The seishi questioned how casually they talked about Hikari. "How can you do that, no da?"
"Do what?" Lily cocked her head to one side.
"How can you talk so casually about the most powerful miko to come to this world?" Hotohori almost sounded insulted.
Taki scratched her head. "Well, she never was anything more that a really good storyteller to us. She's our grandmother and I guess it's hard to think of her as anyone but the woman who took care of us growing up… We never believed stories about Konan, do we never pictured her as a miko. Now we have to go back and believe everything, even if we don't really want to…" Taki stared out a window in the hall they were in.
Lily took a peek into the room again. "They aren't calming down. It could be awhile until we actually get to talk to T.I. Is there anywhere else we can go around here? I'd rather not just stand here."
"I suppose we could just walk around until they finish or lose their voices, no da."
"Sounds like a good idea." Everyone agreed to come back here in an hour or so to check on the argument. Taka was, of course, pissed off since he got knocked over by an old lady. Miaka comforted him in her own special way.
The argument between Hikari and T.I. continued late into the night. The moon had risen high into the sky when the seishi and the girls finally got to talk to T.I. and Hikari about what they needed to do. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Um…that really sucked. I hate this chapter, any one else feel the same way? It's okay if you do. The usual end of chapter stuff applies.
Sorry about the paragraphing on the other chapters I recently did. I dunno what happened. I hope it's fixed now…
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~