A/N: hey all it's chapter five and all I have to say is thanks for the support and I don't own Fushigi Yuugi. But Mirai's mine. To the chapter…

We sat together held tightly in each other's arms, for a very long time, neither of us wanting to let go. It was as if we were afraid that if either one of us let go the other would disappear again.  The sky overhead grew darker and darker until finally, I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face.

"Houjun-san?" Mirai said softly, breaking the silence that had come over us.

"What's wrong?" I answered quietly.

"M' sleepy. I wanna go home."

"We can't go home yet." I told her gently "It's too dark out. We're going to have to wait for morning."

"But-but m'scared out here." Mirai whimpered.

"Don't worry, I've got you and I won't let anything hurt you." I said soothingly, shifting Mirai so that she was cradled in my arms. "Just close your eyes and when you wake up it won't be scary anymore, alright?"

She nodded. "'Kay."

I smiled and kissed her forehead. "Oyasumi-nasai." I whispered.

"Oyasumi-nasai, Houjun-san." came the sleepy reply as Mirai lay her head down on my chest and closed her eyes.

I kept awake for as long as I could but, in the end sleep claimed me, and my eyes slid shut. I had only been asleep for a few hours when I was jolted awake by a searing pain in my left side. I inhaled sharply and put my hand to my side.

"Damnit! That hurt." I cursed softly "What just happened?"

I squinted into the darkness trying to figure out what had hit me. I got my answer soon enough as I received another kick, this time to my arm, and I heard Mirai sobbing. Still half asleep, I looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms. She was covered in a cold sweat and her face was screwed up in a look of pure torture. One hand was gripping a corner of my tunic as if it were a lifeline thrown to a drowning man and she kicked out every so often as she fought whatever she was dreaming about.

"Mirai!" I whispered urgently, gently shaking her shoulders "Wake up, you're dreaming!" 

The girl's eyes flew opened and she blinked up at me for a second. "H-houjun-san?" she said around sobs.

I nodded. "That's right." I told her softly "It's alright, you were dreaming."

"No, not a dream!" she said voice thick with tears "S'real…an'…an'…" The tiny girl threw her arms around my neck, pressing her face into my shoulder and shaking like a leaf.

"It wasn't real, Mirai." I repeated, "It was only a dream, it just looked real."

"No!" she insisted tightening her hold "S'real! I saw it!"

"What did you see?" I asked, trying a different approach.

" 'Kaa-san… an' Nii-chan…in my house…" she whispered, voice made even fainter by my tunic. "Th' fire was all 'round..." She trailed off into more sobs trembling worse than ever. "An' then I was outside an' it all went black… then Nii-chan an' 'Kaa-san wouldn't wake up an' s'all my fault!"

 My eyes widened in disbelief as I realized that Mirai had just told me how she'd lost her family in the fire she'd told me about when I first met her. She thought it was her fault that they had died. These dreams had probably haunted her every night since the day of the fire and each night she would cry out and then wake up alone, in the dark somewhere with no one to hold her and tell her it was okay, that it hadn't been her fault…

Blinking back tears, I pulled the tiny girl close, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's alright." I murmured, "It wasn't your fault...it was an accident…a horrible accident…you didn't do anything wrong."

"B-but I did!" she cried, "I was s'posed to get them out…"

"It wasn't your fault." I repeated, my voice firm yet gentle "It was an accident. You couldn't have helped them, you're too young, and you were frightened…it wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. "

The child's grip on me became almost painful as she clung to me for all she was worth. I put my hand behind her head and stroked her hair, speaking words of comfort and peace in a low voice choked with still unshed tears. I could feel Mirai's tears soaking through the thin material of my shirt, I felt her shaking in my arms, and the control I had over my own emotions broke. I sobbed along with her, feeling her pain join with my own and double in intensity because I couldn't stand seeing Mirai cry.  We both sat there sobbing and holding each other as close as we could until finally Mirai's sobs softened and trailed off into muffled hiccups.

"H-houjun-san?" the girl asked softly, turning her head a little so that the fabric of my shirt didn't cover her face.

I opened my mouth to answer but a soft squeak escaped instead.

"Be okay." Mirai told me, her voice sleepy and faint. " We got each other now…"

I nodded silently and brushed some of the tears off my face. "I know... that's the one thought that keeps me alive, the thought that if I were to die, you'd miss me at least."

As I bent my head to kiss her forehead, I found that my last words had fallen on deaf ears. Mirai had fallen asleep again. I swept away the last of my tears and smiled a little.

"Sleep tight, my angel." I whispered.

A/N: well there's ch 5 for you. A bit melodramatic but hey, I kinda like it. Anyways here's the dictionary of the foreign languages I used:

'Kaa-san= short for okaa-san means 'mother' or 'mom'

Nii-chan=older brother

Oyasumi nasai= goodnight.

That's it for now see ya next chappy!

~Tenshi Kitsune~