Tasuki awoke later, bruised all over. Painfully, he sat up. Tamahome, Chichiri, Mitsukake, and Chiriko stared at him worriedly. Miaka. He shot up. "Where's Miaka?" Chichiri gripped his shoulder. "Don't worry, Tasuki, she's just fine, you know? I promise you. See?" He made a wide gesture to Tasuki's left, where Miaka slept soundly, wrapped in blankets. Tasuki sighed. "Good." Slowly, he laid back down. "What happened, you know?" Chichiri asked. Tasuki turned away. "I...I don't know Chiri...I just remember findin' Miaka on the ground..." He lied as he groaned at his swollen back. Chichiri nodded slowly. Tasuki forced himself up, and hobbled over to Miaka's sleeping form. She'd strewn her blankets aside, leaving her lying in little more than a slip and her underwear, the same as back in the ice cave. Tasuki turned red as he stared at her. Not too long ago was he on top of her... He swallowed hard as he looked at her wrists, red and raw, and her thighs blue. Her ankles were swollen as well, along with most of her small body. Tasuki felt...so terribly low he didn't think he even deserved to live. Slowly, he made his way to the clearing where he'd caught Miaka. He stared at the snow...it was terribly thrashed and diced into uneven mounds. He saw where Miaka laid, where he'd fallen to his knees, where her small feet had smashed into the snow, he saw everything in that clearing of broken snow. He fell to his knees in the same place as before.

Miaka, please...please find it in yer heart to forgive me fer this...

He thought as he stared in disbelief at the snow-white battleground before him.

A/N: Well, okay, it probably didn't make you feel like running among sunflowers singing nursery rhymes, but still, I worked hard. Tasuki can be hard to write sometimes...sheesh, especially when he's called for a serious situation. I hope I didn't make it too annoyingly dramatic, I blame the opera music I listen to. Maybe my light-heartedness among the author's notes will make you more accepting of this blah-ish fic. Reviews are welcome, and thanks so much for reading :F