By: Lady Harlequin
DISCLAIMER: Fushigi Yuugi is NOT mine, and never will be. I'm just borrowing the characters for a couple minutes, maybe…or some hours…make that days…weeks…years. ANYWAY, the characters that I borrowed will go back to their respective owners when I'm done. Any and all original characters are MINE, and you have no right to use them without MY permission. Oh yeah, and I have put in here a part of the song "On My Own" from the musical "Les Miserables", sung by Lea Salonga. Once again, I do not own "Les Miserables" or the song "On My Own"; they are the properties of their owners.
RATING: I will rate this with a PG-13 or an R because of Tasuki's language and implications of sexual activity, and later on, (if I feel like doing it) rape. So if excessive swearing and/or sexual innuendoes disturb you, then don't read this. You have been warned.
EMAIL: ladyharley2002@hotmail.com
ladyharlequin@ilovechocolate.com
NOTE: This fanfic is partially based on truth. A few of the characters here are real people, and Riana's school actually exists. Whatever may happen to them in this fanfic, however, are NOT real, but the products of my hyperactive imagination (though I wish my school would be able to acquire the Book of the Four Gods for the Reference Section ^_^). And now, on with the fic!
DATELINE: This is an old, OLD fic I wrote during the height of my FY mania, so it might not come off as good as some of my more recent works. Still, rather than let it rot here in my hard drive, I decided to post it. Just…don't compare it to my recent works, all right?
Prologue: Someone New to Love…She gazed at the man as he awoke from his long slumber. Well, "long" was an understatement. He had been out for five whole days.
He groaned, and uttered something that she did not understand. Thinking that he was in pain, she approached the bed where he lay. "Shhh," she whispered soothingly. "It's alright. You are safe now."
But he was still restless, his sky-blue hair wet with sweat. "Hiko…Kouran…no…"
She lightly brushed her hand over his forehead, sweeping away his bangs. "Calm down. You are safe with me. No one can harm you while you are here."
He settled down at her words, and opened one eye, for the other was scarred closed. She waited patiently as he collected his wits and his thoughts so as to speak with her.
But she had not anticipated his suddenly sitting up from bed. Startled, she moved back so as to put some distance between the two of them.
He eyed her suspiciously as he asked. "Who are you?"
* * *
He waited, watching warily as the woman he had been talking to smiled at him and said something to him in a language he could not understand.
He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't understand what you are saying."
The woman gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then she got up and walked over to him. She reached out, and lightly touched his ears with her delicate fingers.
At first, he felt apprehensive about what she was doing, but then, he heard a mighty WHOOSH, and when the woman removed her hands, he heard her ask, "Can you understand me now?"
"What did you just do to me?!" he demanded.
The woman blinked, surprised by his outburst. "I merely cast a spell that allows you to understand whatever I say to you." She turned pale all of a sudden. "Have I done something wrong?"
He felt his rage die away at the frightened tone of her voice. I have scared her. "Forgive me if I have frightened you. I did not intend to do so."
"It is alright. I am used to it by now." Her voice was soft and gentle, a warm caress to his bleeding soul. She approached him again, her footsteps almost inaudible. "What may I call you, sir?"
"Hjoujin. Hjoujin Ri." Hjoujin glanced at his hostess. "May I know your name?"
"Maria." A beautiful smile lit up her face, and for the briefest of moments, Hjoujin swore it was Kouran who smiled back at him.
Her giggles brought him back to reality. "Why are you laughing?"
"Because you looked so funny just a moment ago. You resembled a confused fox." Maria's laughter reminded him of the merry tinkling of bells and of a stream rushing over rocks in a forest.
But another question weighed heavy in his mind. "Maria, where am I?"
Maria's smile faded from her face, and Hjoujin could not help but notice that she looked beautiful whether she smiled or frowned. "I shall answer all of your questions tomorrow. It is very late already. And besides, you are still weak. You need your rest."
Hjoujin shook his head. "No, I wish to know now."
"You are in my home. We are in one of the vast forests that cover the slopes of Mount Banahaw." As she spoke, Maria stood up, and brought over a small bowl and a cup. "Here. You must be hungry. If you want to get well soon, you must eat."
Hjoujin took the bowl and cup, and he once again posed a few more questions. "Do you live alone here? Why? And how did you find me?"
Maria smiled at him as he ate what she had given him, her dark brown eyes glimmering in the soft lamplight. "Getting ever more inquisitive, are we? I found you when I was drawing water from the spring. I saw this bright flash of light from the opposite side, and I decided to find out what it was."
"And you found me," Hjoujin finished.
Maria nodded, then continued. "As for your first question, yes, I live alone here. And as for why, well, that is a completely different story. As I said, it is getting late, and you need to have your rest. I shall tell you all that you wish to know about me tomorrow." She gently laid a hand on his knee, and smiled at him. "And then maybe, you'd like to tell me a little more about yourself?"
Hjoujin laughed slightly, even as the shivers coursed through his body. Her touch… He nodded. "Yes, perhaps we should continue this discussion tomorrow." He looked around. He realized that he was lying in the only bed in the house. "But where will you sleep?"
Maria gestured to a mattress laid out in one corner of the hut. "I will sleep there for the night. You are the guest here in my house, and besides, you are injured quite severely. Who is to tell that your wounds will not open up if you lie on the hard floor for the night? Do not worry; I am used to sleeping on the floor."
Hjoujin opened his mouth to argue, but Maria shook her head. "Do not worry so much about me." She blushed, and turned away. "I am not so used to someone worrying about me, or being so concerned about my well-being." She turned to him again, and pressed her hand against his chest. "Now sleep. If you would like, I will sing a lullaby for you to help you relax."
Hjoujin wanted to refuse her offer, but then decided against it. "Alright then." He lay down, and closed his eyes. He had barely done so when he felt himself beginning to slip into the warm, comforting arms of slumber. The only sound that reached him was the sound of Maria's voice, her song a powerful spell to ward off his nightmares.
* * *
Maria ended her song as soon as she noticed that Hjoujin was asleep. This sleep will not only heal his physical wounds, but the wounds of his soul as well.
She gazed at him for the longest while by the low light of the oil lamp, taking in his handsome and noble features. With slightly trembling fingers, she laid her hands on his chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed. Little streams of energy flowed through her fingers. He has the gifts. They are strong, and many. But he does not know about them yet. They were dormant before, but now they are flaring up and alive within him. He must learn of their existence. He must learn to control them.
As these thoughts moved through her head, she noticed a glowing light coming from under the covers. She pulled the blanket back slowly, and realized that the light was coming from a symbol on his right knee. She stared at it, amazed. What kind of sorcery is this?
A deep, gentle voice responded to her unspoken question. "I've had that symbol for as long as I can remember. It comes out every once in a while, but I don't remember it being this bright."
Maria felt the blush creeping over her face as she turned to Hjoujin. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."
He shook his head at her, and he smiled. "It's alright."
Maria looked back at him. "How did you know the question in my mind?"
Hjoujin shrugged. "I don't know. I just…knew."
Maria smiled. Then it won't be too hard to teach him. "Then it is just as I suspected."
"Excuse me?"
Maria looked at him solemnly. "When I first touched you, I felt this strange burst of energy from your body. That burst of energy can be found only in those blessed to have the gift of magic." She waved her hand, and a little sphere of flame floated in between the two of them. "I am one of the fortunate few to have been blessed with the gift of magic, but it isn't the only one that I possess. I have the capacity to heal any injury with the use of my magical energy, as well as the capacity to read minds and talk to others in their heads."
"Is that the reason why you live alone?"
Maria frowned, and turned away. "Yes, your assumption is correct. Magic of all forms is feared in the village from whence I came, and they feared me as much as they feared my powers. As a child, they abused and brutally beat me, and they abhorred me as though I was some sort of leper. When I was finally old enough, they cast me out of the town to live here, in this forest, alone." She turned to Hjoujin, and tried to mask her pain with a smile. "You have gifts, Hjoujin. That is how you found out about my thoughts. You carry the gift of telepathy."
"Yes, perhaps I do." He reached out, and gently took her hand. "So that is why you live alone."
Maria moved closer to him. "Would you like to tell me what has happened to you? I don't think that we can keep our stories secret any longer, can we?"
Hjoujin frowned, and lowered his gaze. "A couple of months ago, my fiancée Kouran and I set our wedding date." Maria noticed his face light up for a moment at the memory of his beloved. "I loved her dearly…we'd grown up together along with our good friend Hiko," He smiled. "The three of us were inseparable." His eye closed at that moment, and the smile on his face was wiped away. "About two weeks before the wedding, I walked in on Hiko kissing her." He shook his head. "I don't understand… If she was in love with Hiko, why…?
"At any rate our wedding was called off. On what would have been my wedding day…I confronted Hiko." He winced, and his voice broke. "I didn't mean to kill him! We fought…we were by the river and it was beginning to flood. We were so enraged with one another that we didn't even notice. I punched him, and he slipped in when he tried to block. He never learned how to swim…oh gods, I didn't want him to die… I tried to save him…I had just grasped his hand when a downed tree limb borne by the water struck me on the head," he gestured to his left eye. "And I let go." His voice was softer now, barely a whisper. "I let him die."
Maria gazed at him with pure and unadulterated concern and sympathy for him. With her gifts, she could feel the strong wave of rage and regret that swirled within his soul. She reached out to him, and enfolded him in her arms. "Oh Hjoujin…no, it wasn't your fault…it was an accident…"
"NO!" Hjoujin roared. "I let him die! I let my best friend die!" He pulled away from her. "Look at me, Maria! Look at my face! You should have let me die! I don't deserve to live!" He gasped for breath, and in a voice that was drowned with tears, he added, "I am not worthy of love."
Maria winced when she heard those words. With her own tears flowing from her eyes, she stroked his face, wiping away at the gleaming streaks of moisture. "Hjoujin, Hjoujin…you are worthy of everything that the world has to offer. You are worthy of life, and most certainly of love. Especially…especially the love of a woman, a woman who will cherish and honor you with her whole heart, a woman who can understand your pain and soothe the wounds of your soul."
Hjoujin started, and gazed up at her, his eye wide with wonder and amazement. "Maria…"
Maria blushed at the apparent message of her statement. But it was too late now. She moved closer to him, her hand slipping into his own. "I… We…have been lonely for so long, and we have to reacquaint ourselves with the feeling of being loved. I have lived much too long in isolation, shunning all forms of human companionship, that I thought that I had forgotten completely what it felt like to be loved. That is, until I met you."
The silence that hung in the air between them was deafening. Maria shook her head, and turned towards her pallet in the corner, ready to go to sleep. But then, Hjoujin's hand tightened around her wrist, and she was tugged back onto the bed. She whirled around to meet him, and noted the passion burning brightly in his eye.
His deep voice was soft and husky. "Stay with me tonight, Maria. Please…help me to love again." He leaned closer to her, and kissed her gently, seeking to find a way into the depths of her heart with his love for her.
Maria could not resist him. This is…truly meant to be. The gods have led us together, prepared us both for this moment. And who am I, who are we, to go against the wishes of the gods?
Hjoujin blew out the little flame of the oil lamp, and drew Maria down into the bed with him. And the world melted away in the heat of their passion.