With this fic reaching the finale soon, I shall soon upload a brand new AU Yona fic. I hope that you read and enjoy that fics as much as you do with Anna and the King.

Overview: Anna is a priestess who is revered by the mountains as their mediator to the spirit world. However, the Great Spirit requires that she must have a man with her to fully realize her powers. She must find the Adam right away. In a twist of fate, she ends up traveling with Asakura Yoh, and together they look for a fitting husband for her. Would it be Ren Tao? Asakura Hao? Or the one person she failed to notice at once?

Yes, it's cliché, and yes, it's predictable, but I hope you still give the fic a try. It won't be as ridiculously long as this fanfic, I promise. ^^;; And the plot is still a tentative up to now. If you guys have suggestion, don't hesitate to email me. Just don't suggest shounen ai, PLEASE? ^^;; I'm not good at writing those stuff.

Bratty, I was talking about the "Rennie Boy" nickname. ^^ What a cute pet name for Ren Tao!

Jess-chan, salamat as pagbabasa mo lagi ng fanfic ko. ^^ Eres, Cole (Dakilang Hao/Anna supporter), Kataru…tenk u tlaga. Kakagigil tlaga ng boses nina Hao at Lyserg, no?

Yoh/Anna for this chapter, with a twist on the end! (and I'm not talking about Pepsi.) Cole, pag nagreklamo ka pa nyan, tatadyakan kita sa dibdib. (joke, joke, joke!)

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"Anna…?" Yoh was paralyzed. He couldn't believe that his fiancée was standing before him.

She tightened the beads around the shikigamis. "Move! Get Hao's book and read what we should do with these!"

"Y-Yes!" Yoh quickly opened the book and scanned the pages. At last, he found the needed directions. "We need to imprison it in a talisman!"

"Take your necklace off and throw it down the ground!" she instructed.

He looked at the tusk band around his neck, then nodded.

She chanted a prayer and raised her prayer beads. She poised her fingers towards the necklace, and the shikigamis dissolved into the necklace.

They were engulfed by a white light, but it slowly disappeared, leaving both of them standing in the stillness of the night.

Anna dropped down to the ground, panting. Yoh immediately rushed to her side. "Anna, Anna!"

She nodded, and forced a smile. "H-Hi…long time no see-"

She stopped when he suddenly pulled her to his embrace, laughing. "Anna! It's really you!" He hugged her tighter, afraid that he would lose her once he lets go. "Anna, I missed you!"

She felt her own eyes well up with tears. "Idiot. Have you forgotten that I'm the one who's making you suffer with inhuman trainings? Why would you miss me?"

He was still laughing, so she could not get an answer from him.

She sighed and untangled herself from his arms. "I thought you've read Hao's book? Why do you still need saving then? If I haven't come…"

Yoh grinned. "Thanks."

She sighed and picked up his tusk band. She handed it to him. "Here." He took it. She continued to speak. "In case Amidamaru isn't with you, you can use these shikigamis for your oversouls. They're pretty powerful- they nearly drained all my strength!"

His eyes grew worried. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, smiling. Everything feels alright, because you're here.

Yoh grinned. "Chocolove is right! Your smiles really need to be captured! They come rarer than Halley's Comets, and are much prettier too!"

She blinked, then turned her back on him, pretgnding to look for something. Just so she could hide the faint blush on her cheeks.

He raised the book. "It's with me."

"H-Hai." She faced him again. "You better finish that book soon. Hao is staying in the same forest too, and you can't face him with the status of your power now…"

"I know," he said seriously. "I'm going to read it now, but…" He rubbed his cheek.

"But…?" she prompted.

"Will Anna join me and help me in reading this stuff?" He held up the book again. "It's quite thick."

She allowed a smile on her face again. "As her blockhead fiancé wishes." She sat down beside him, and he opened the book to read again, inspired. Why wouldn't he, when his fiancée was sitting next to him, after days of separation?

"I can still remember," he started to say as he leafed through the pages of the book again. "The first time we met in the brook. When I saw you lying there, sleeping naked. Ne, I don't know how to react at first, but like an instinct, I pulled off my shirt and placed it on your back. That's when you woke up and slapped me." He grinned. "Boy, I can't forget that! It was the first time somebody slapped me! And a total stranger, at that."

"It was I who lost more in that incident," she protested. "No one had ever seen me naked before!"

"You were given birth by your mother dressed up already?" he said, eyes wide, as if everything was possible when it comes to the itako.

She sighed. "Fine. No guy has ever seen me like that before."

He laughed. "Well, come to think of it, I wasn't able to pay too much attention to that fact that you were…um…naked." He grinned sheepishly. "I was looking at your face…it's so nice to look at."

"I-It is?" she asked. She couldn't imagine that lazy bum Yoh Asakura could actually notice things like that!

He nodded. "You were dreaming, and you looked very relaxed. I want to see that face again," he said. "But I guess that won't be possible, unless I peek at your bedroom when you're asleep."

"You're doomed when I catch you do that, Yoh Asakura."

He grinned. "You even forgot to give me your name. That, or you deliberately left me in the brook."

"The second one," she said. "I don't like being indebted to other people."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"Because I can live all by myself without the help of other people," she said, shrugging.

"That's sad," he said. "Does that mean you haven't felt what is it like to love?"

Her eyes widened. "W-Why did we reach that topic?"

He shrugged, then looked ahead. "Horo Horo told me something that his father told him before he died. Horo's father died of an illness that his wife learned of only when he was beyond saving. When Horo asked his father why he kept it a secret from his mother, this is what he said."

"Time will come when you will understand why I did that. When you find the woman you will love your entire lifetime, your wife, Horo Horo, you would feel a kind of emotion that you can only feel for her. You wouldn't want to hurt her, even just a little bit, and as long as it is possible, you try to keep her from getting hurt."

"Even if it hurts here," he pointed to his heart. "You will still endure the pain, if only to see your loved one happy. You will do everything for the woman you love."

Anna didn't comment. She merely listened.

"So…I kind of figured out that since you do not like being involved with other people…I thought…well… that you haven't fallen in love yet."  Yoh looked at the book, grinning tentatively.

"Love is a lke," she said quietly.

He looked at her. "Huh?"

"Love is a lie," she repeated. "It's an excuse for weak people who still need others to survive. I'm not like that. I can live on my own."

"But you're not on your own. I'm here. We're here for you," he protested. "Don't you know that?" he added softly.

She looked down. She couldn't stand his steady gaze. "But for how long? Eventually, you might get tired of understanding me. You'll go too. You can't be with me forever."

Yoh laid his head on his arms. "Well, you've got a point. Nothing is forever, only for always."

"Huh?" She didn't get it.

He merely smiled. "Remember, always is longer than forever. Forever is still measurable, you know. It is still a period of time, one that is uncertain. But always…it promises constancy and being there every time.  Forever may run out, but there are things that would still remain afterwards."

"Like?"

"Like love," he said, smiling at her.

"Who told you that?" She seriously doubted that the shaman had formulated such thing all by himself.

"It's a commonly known fact for people who had learn already how to love." He looked up at the moon. "Even when Horo's father died, it still feels as if he is there, watching us. He won't be around forever, but he'll stay in our hearts for always, because we love him." He turned to her. "Do you understand now?"

Anna wanted to cry. No one promised her that he would be there for her for always. She didn't understand…she couldn't comprehend. She knew all those chants, prayers and rituals, but of all the things, why didn't she know love?

Because all my life, I've been alone.

"At some point, I might get fed up with trying to fathom why you refuse to have friends, dakedo, I won't leave." He pointed to his heart. "Because what my mind cannot reach, my heart can go beyond. I will then stop understanding you with my mind, and I'll start understanding you with my heart."

"Yoh…" Before she knew it, she was crying. All those years of bottling up all her emotions inside, they all broke out of her like water spilling from a dam. She wanted someone to understand her that way. She wanted to be cared for that way. She wanted to count on someone for always, without the fear of time, death, or distance taking that person away from her, the way it happened to her own loved ones.

Yoh was stunned. No, he couldn't believe that someone like Kyouyama Anna could cry so bitterly. He thought she was someone numb, unintimidated and unhurt anymore, because she carved her own stonewall around her heart. He thought she was someone emotions could never touch, whom tears could never erode.

He thought wrong. And he was sorry that he knew only now. Her pain could have been eased earlier. "Anna?"

She was still weeping.

He took off his shirt. "Here. Blow your nose."

She calmed a little, looking at him as if he just suggested that she tapdance.

"I don't mind," he said, smiling. "It can make you feel better, I promise."

So she did, and he was right. She felt better.

He smiled and stroked her cheek. "Ne, Anna? I'm sorry I made you cry, but I'm glad you did anyway."

"I feel the same way," she agreed. "I feel so much lighter."

Yoh grinned. "Remember, you don't need to carry the burden all by yourself. I am here, and I'll be by you, now and for always."

She didn't want to start crying again, but his solemn vow was enough to make her do so again. Now she felt more at peace, knowing that if she falls, someone will catch her. If she turns to a wrong path, someone can bring her back. If she gets lost, someone can show her the way. She need not be scared of life anymore. She was alone no more.

Yoh would be there for her.

Now and for always.

And she realized that she wanted to promise that to him too.

"Now and for always, Yoh," she whispered, before contentedly laying her head on his shoulder, snuggling close to him.

Yoh smiled when he felt her warmth radiating on his skin. He heard her vaguely whisper"something, but decided that he must let her take a nap first before asking her what she said.

For thg meantime, he better get started on the book.

If he wanted to be worthy and deserving for Anna, he must become stronger.

It was near morning when Anna woke up. She looked up at the sky, then back at her self. She was lying in Yoh's arms, on the ground an opened book. His arms were around her, almost crushing her to his bare chest. She looked at his shirt, then decided to wash it on the nearby river.

While washing the cloth, she caught a glimpse of herself on the clear blue water. On her face was a blissful smile, one she would never imagine herself wearing under ordinary circumstances. Her face was glowing and her eyes were twinkling. If there was a visual definition of happy, she would surely fit the bill!

She looked at Yoh, who was still sleeping against the bark of the tree. Her smile of fondness widened. She went back to the tree and hung Yoh's shirt by the branch, letting it drip on the other side of the tree so Yoh wouldn't get wet. She then knelt next to him and touched his hair.

"Last night was the best thing that ever happened to me," she told the sleeping Yoh. "I would treasure and cherish it all throughout my life. You saved me, and I didn't even know that I was drowning already before you came into my life."

"I have found already the person I will love in my lifetime, and now I understand. I don't want to hurt him even a bit, so I would have vo do this. I'm sorry I have to this, but I don't want him to be hurt if possible." She clasped his hand with hers and brought it to her heart, where he rightfully belongs. "Even if it hurts here, I will endure the pain, because I want to see him safe. I cannot say if he will be happy, because he himself doesn't really know what makes him so."

"I will do anything for the person I love the most. I would do anything for you, Yoh." With that, she bent down and planted a light kiss on his forehead. "Goodbye. My last time I would say this…and it hurts…so much." Tears were threatening to spill down her cheeks again. "No regrets, Yoh. I wish you'll be happy all your days, because I know I will too, if only for last night."

Hao was sitting by the tree branch when Anna arrived, quieter than usual.

"I know where you've been." He wasn't angry. He was lonely.

"I came back, just as you wished," she sakd, the blank voice returning. She had to be strong, for Yoh's sake.

"Shall I bake you a cake then to"say my thanks?"

"Hao," she began, calling him by his first name for the first time.

He observed that. "What is it?"

"I'm…I'm…" She dropped down to her knees. "Hao…please don't continue with your plan anymore. Let's just leave this place. D-Don't take your revenge anymore. You have already shamed Yoh and his family. Isn't that enough?"

Hao clenched his fists. "Anna…"

"I-If something happens to Yoh…" she whispered, voice tight.

"No, please. Don't do this." It was now Hao begging.

"T-Then let's just leave this place quietly and let them go back to their peaceful lives," she said.

He looked at her for a moment, looking grim. "You love him that much?"

"Hao…"

"Alright," he said at last. "But in one condition…"

She looked at him expectantly.

"Marry me."

Tsuzuku

 Hai, hai. I know marriage proposals between pre-teens are really weird, but you see, Hao is a man figuratively, so I figured out that he should understand what marriage is. As for Anna, she's too mature for her age, so I thought that her mind is ready for such thing.

*yawn* It's past elgven. Gotta go back to sleep.  Nighty-night!

*Omake*

Syao-chan's site is down because of bandwidth, so she decided to post her interpretation of Omakage in this fic. ^^ Don't take me too seriously.

So the scene starts with a vulnerable Anna hugging herself while standing up against a black background and on shattered glasses... BAREFOOTED. Then she herself breaks. *snicker* I know, I know! That was for artistic effect, but while I'm typing this, I couldn't help but laugh.

at the sideview of the face reflected in the mirror
I place you over iv and
my heart is breaking
like the passing wind
I can't catch it why is it you?

That explains why we've got rotating pieces of glasses with images of Anna, Yoh, and Hao. And Hao??? Wooh, I smell romantic competition!

*cough cough*

In my interpretation, Anna's the mouthpiece of the song again. Here it goes...the 'you' she's referring is Yoh. ^^ Her heart is breaking because she cannot "catch" Yoh's heart, elusive as the wind.

the finger tips that will never reach
I hold them alone
the words that will never be exchanged are
drifted into the stars in the night sky

Anna can't "catch" Yoh, thus the fingertips that will never reach. And since she can't catch Yoh, of course, she's alone. ^^;;

* cough cough *

since she is alone, the words she want to say Yoh (the nice ones), she throws into the wind - a.k.a she decides to shut up and don't tell him anymore.

In the animated theme, Anna is seen crawling in a dark floor full of broken pieces of glass, a couple of them resembling some parts of Yoh...and Hao. *yum yum* How she managed to get out of that floor without getting cut or wounded is not part of my interpretation. All I know is she stood up and threw the pieces of glass on the air, not caring whether the pieces might fall on her. Perhaps, she is not yet aware of the danger of excessive hemorrhage in case something happens.

I won't turn back
ah even sadness, even loneliness
is the proof that we were born
ah the flowing
end of my heart
I made up my mind

But she won't surrender, because she accepts that sadness and loneliness as proof of existence - she is hurt, therefore she is still alive. All thanks to Yoh's clueless ness. That should motivate Yoh to ignore her more! *snicker snicker*

Flowing end of my heart? Perhaps that's blood - a piece of the shattered glass you threw on the air awhile ago accidentally stabbed your chest! Waahahaha, Anna is really cute! ^^ Kidding aside, in the animated theme, in this part, the broken glasses began to mend again, showing Yoh...and Hao! And Hao! Goddamit! It's really Hao/Anna/Yoh! Rejoice!

As "I made up my mind" flashed, a scene showing Anna touching Yoh's reflection is shown. Whew! So, Anna made up her mind that it's Yoh after all.

And that ends our mini interpretation. ^^