I'm sorry I haven't worked on this one in a while! I've been so busy with my other story (that's no excuse, I know) but now I've gotten recommitted to this one, so expect to see more chapters out soon! Thanks!
The tour of
the palace and the gardens ended too quickly for Hibari when the emperor told
her it was almost time for dinner. On
their way to the dinning hall, they made one last stop--at the shrine of
Suzaku.
Hibari
politely followed the emperor inside, not really interested in the giant bird
or any of the legends that the emperor began talking about. But training had taught her never to act the
way she felt, so she half-listened to him talk. The other half of her mind wondered what was for dinner.
"You have a
similar legend in Kutou, am I right?" the emperor asked her, interrupting her
thoughts and making her curse herself for not paying attention. What was he talking about again? Oh,
right--Suzaku.
"Uh, yes…"
she said quickly. "Seiryu, I
believe." He nodded calmly.
"Do you
believe in the legends?" he asked, and Hibari had to stop herself from rolling
her eyes. She had always thought that
stuff was for children, and had never really believed that a girl from another
world would come, be the Priestess of Seiryu, and save her country. Although Kutou obviously needed all the help
it could get. She tried in vain to
think of a good answer, but could come up with none.
"No, not
really." She said to him, turning back to the statue of the giant phoenix,
hoping he would get hungry quickly.
"Why not?"
he asked, a little taken aback. Hibari
turned to him again, confused as to why he would ask, and saw a strange,
disbelieving look on his face.
He
doesn't honestly believe this, does he? He's older than I am and he still believes in the legend of Suzaku! But
still, he was waiting for an answer, and once again, she didn't know what to
say.
"Well…" she
hesitated. "I suppose…I guess I never
really believed that something like that could happen…" she trailed off, but
apparently he didn't need any more explanation. He looked at her with what could only be pity, then turned back
to the statue.
"From the
time I was first told about the legend, I've always believed that the girl
would come and rescue my country. I had
hoped…" he stopped, and turned to her, his eyes serious. "Not many people know this," he said, "but I am one of the people destined to
protect the Priestess of Suzaku." With that, he pulled down his collar and
Hibari saw a shining red symbol on his neck. Her eyes widened and she took a step back without thinking. She had seen something like that, once, a
long time ago when she was only a child, and even now, she wasn't sure if it
was just a dream or not. He saw her
apparent shock and quickly covered it back up. He was about to apologize to her when a servant entered the shrine and
announced that dinner was ready. Both
the emperor and the princess gratefully acknowledged the announcement.
The emperor
gave her his arm, but didn't go anywhere. "Now do you believe?" He asked solemnly, raising his eyebrows at
her.
She looked
at him again, and for once told exactly what she felt, which wasn't much. "I…don't know…" she said softly.
He nodded,
looking certain that she would be a believer in the next few days. Finally he took a step toward the door, and
she gratefully went along. Just before
they exited the shrine, he said one last thing to her.
"You may
call me by my Celestial name, Hotohori." He said, smiling. "I like it much better than 'Your highness'
and things like that. Would you do that
for me?" She nodded, a little glad to
be even a little less formal than she had to be.
"I don't have a Celestial name," she said jokingly, "but you may call me Hibari."
