Disclaimer: I don't own the original FY characters; I own Kei, Taki, Lily, Jason, their kids and any other person who isn't a FY character.
Thoughts
Memories
~*~Review Response~*~
~Cortney - Don't worry, I wouldn't drink. Can't write when drunk. ^_^ You'll just have to wait and see what happens to Akane and Kano. Hmmm, I wonder, what fic could you possibly be talking about with Suzaku's kids? ^_~
~Jamie - Wow, I didn't think I could write that well. Seeing it from Kimiko's POV, huh? Now see why Kimiko couldn't stay behind while Hiroshi left? She had to see Daddy again. Glad you're birthday was great too!
~Cat - Thank you much. I usually consider sappy romance to be my best, so confession chapters are usually the ones I prefer to write.
~CarrCarr - Is it still getting better? Since you said you're comparing them, which part do you honestly like better? Just out of curiosity. I love creating characters, but alas, Tasuki is the only one who ever existed. If I could draw with any skill at all, I'd draw pictures to put a face with the names. But I can't.
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Nakago sat in his chambers, alone except for his young son. He buried his head in his hands. He was becoming more and more aware of how much of himself he saw in the man that claimed to be his future son.
He didn't like it.
He'd never truly seen himself until Reizo came.
Nakago was becoming aware of how twisted his mind truly was. The things Reizo told him he wanted to see happen to the Suzaku seishis' children were things he would have though up and it scared him. He cursed himself. The image of himself he'd seen earlier that week was right. Nothing good ever came about from fighting with the Suzaku seishi, only the death of those that were supposed to be his teammates.
The image of Soi came to his mind, the one woman that loved him. The he should have loved back. He regretted rejecting her everyday since she died.
He rose from his chair and went to his son's side. Carefully, he picked up the small blonde boy. His eyes were more blue than gray, unlike the older Reizo. He brushed Reizo's hair from his eyes.
"Soi should have been your mother…" He whispered.
Reizo cooed happily, oblivious as to the meaning of the words that came from his father's mouth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kouji watched his son happily crawl on the bed. He wanted only the best for his only son. He couldn't stand the thought of his son being a seishi though. He had been mad when Tasuki left to fulfill his seishi duties, he didn't want to think about what his reaction would be if Kano was called away to be what destiny called him to be.
He sighed. From what the older Kano told him, Kouji got the impression Kano wasn't a big fan of finding out he was Tamahome either.
Baby Kano crawled closer to his father, seemingly sensing how distraught he was. Kano poked at his father's hand and giggled when he let out a slightly startled noise.
"You're a little devil, aren't you?" He chuckled and picked him up. "You'll make one hell of a bandit." Kouji gently tickled his young son.
Kano giggled more and managed to take hold of his father's finger.
"You've got a good grip, don't you?" For a moment, baby Kano was distracted by something he saw in the window. "What is it?" He turned and caught a glimpse of Akane bolt from the window.
He hurried over and saw her moving quickly, yet trying not to draw attention to herself.
"Akane, what are you doing?"
"Nothing! Oh…shit…" She froze and slowly turned to see the bandit looking at her out the window. "Uh, hi…"
"Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't go get the others…" She saw him slide out the window to meet her.
"Well, I uh…don't really have one…" She scratched her head.
"Have you and your friends been following us?" He stood only about a meter away from her.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We're watching you, making sure Reizo doesn't do anything to you…" She hoped to Suzaku he believed her.
"How do I know you're not the one I should worry about?"
"If you thought I was a threat, would you have Kano with you?"
Kouji shut his half open mouth. His son was still in his arms. He didn't want to admit it, but he didn't see Akane as a threat to his son. "How long have you been following us?"
"Since we ran off last week." She admitted.
"How long will you be following us?"
"Until we can get Reizo back into our time."
He was quiet for a moment. "Have you met me in the future?"
"Yeah, you were the first one I met. Why?" She looked at him funny.
"Do you think…would you consider me a good father?" He looked at Kano. "I'm always worried I won't do what's right for him…" He couldn't believe he just told his deepest fear to the young bandit girl.
Akane suddenly smiled. "You shouldn't. I don't think Kano could have grown up any better."
"You think?"
"Akane! Where are you?" A slightly distraught, slightly annoyed Kano came out from a corner of a building. "Akane!" He was surprised to see her with his father and past self.
"Oh, hi Kano!" She waved nervously.
"Something I should know about?" Kano glared at her. "I thought we said we weren't gonna let ourselves got caught…"
"So I screwed up! I'm only human!" She huffed.
"Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna say anything." Kouji smiled.
"You're not?" Kano was surprised.
"Nah…too much work." Kouji waved him off.
Kano knew his father was laid back but not nearly that much. "Um, okay…"
"Now get outta here before someone comes. Be a little more careful too." He went back to the window he came out of.
"I always did like your dad, Kano."
"Whatever…you should be more careful."
"Don't you tell me whatever again!" She sounded annoyed.
He laughed. "Whatever."
"Oh you!"
Kouji smiled while he listened to the two kids. He thought back to earlier in the week when Akane risked her life to save Kano and realized that she liked him. The tone of Kano voice a minute earlier told him Kano worried and cared about Akane as well. Baby Kano smiled up at his father. "You're gonna grow up and fall in love with the girl that saved you. What do you think of that?"
Kano merely giggled. He didn't understand the situation yet. Kouji wasn't sure he understood much more than his son. Things were happening too fast for him to deal with.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kei set down the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho for a moment. She wanted her daughter back home. She wanted her nieces and nephews back home. Tasuki wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Kei, they'll be okay…"
"I'd believe that more if they were here…"
Jason looked up at Kei. "You really shouldn't worry. Akane takes after you. Nothing's gonna stop her."
"Maybe…" She sat back. "I'd just feel better if they were back here. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with her running around the Konan countryside with Kano either…"
"There's nothing wrong with Kano." Tasuki muttered in defense of his friend's son.
"He's still a 19-year-old boy." Kei shot back. "And they're in love."
Taki chuckled. "Spoken like a true mother."
"What? You're not worried about Hiroshi and Kimiko?" Lily asked.
"Hiroshi worships the ground Kimiko walks on. He'd never even think about going to far with her." Taki murmured.
"You don't sound to happy about it. Looking for grandchildren already?" Jason laughed at the appalled look on Taki's face at his comment.
"That's not what I meant! I'd kill Hiroshi myself if he got her pregnant. What I meant was I don't like the fact that he'd probably jump off a bridge if she told him too."
"Taki, I don't think he's that bad…" Chichiri rolled his eyes.
"He's almost to that point." Hotohori had to agree with his wife.
"I can't believe Kimiko is Suzaku's child." Nuriko shook her head in disbelief.
"I agree no da. I didn't think the gods crossed over and had mortal families."
"Does that mean there could be other half immortal kids running around out there?" Jason raised an eyebrow.
"It's possible, not very probable though, no da."
"Kimiko and Hiroshi still haven't said anything to the others have they?" Nuriko asked.
"I don't think so. They haven't even told the others that they told each other that they're a couple now." Taki shook her head. "There's not much chance they'll say anything about Kimiko's bloodline."
Kei stayed relatively quiet for the remainder of the conversation. Her mind was plagued by too many thoughts of what Reizo could do to Akane. She could only hope that the gods protected the children. Though it had never occurred to her before, she was afraid of Konan. Going there had brought her happiness, but it was at a great cost as well. She didn't want Akane to see that cost.
She quietly got up and went upstairs to be alone. Tasuki slipped up after her.
She stared out the window of their bedroom, tears falling down her cheeks. Tasuki was surprised to see her cry again. He couldn't remember the last time she cried because she was upset.
"Kei?" He asked softly.
"You've always gotta follow me, don't you?" She whispered.
"Kei, I know you're worried, I am too…but we didn't raise Akane not to be able to take care of herself. She's not alone either." He held her close like he used to when she cried.
"You…you're right…I guess I can't get past what we went through…" She laid her hand on his arm.
"Everyone's experience there is different."
"But she was already almost killed once…"
"And Kano got her out. He's a seishi now. He has power he never dreamed of." Tasuki sighed. The thought of his daughter in love with Tamahome sounded weird in his head. "Now quit crying…you know I hate it when you do that."
She smiled and wiped away a few last tears. "Some things never change." She let him go. "You're completely right though. I need to have more faith in them."
"Good. Now let's go check up on them, huh?"
"Sure." She followed him back downstairs with a renewed sense of confidence in them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Akane blinked a few times. The sun was bright at this time of day. The light reflecting from the small lake nearly blinded her. It was only a few hours after Kouji caught her and let her go.
She hoped Kano would be like his father when he grew up.
'Leave it to me to like a guy from another world. My taste for bandits/seishi must some from Mom…' She shook her head. She sat down at the edge of the lake and stuck her bare feet in the water. They'd been walking a lot and the cool water felt good. She giggled uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" Kano looked down at her.
"Nothing…" She stifled her laughter.
"Whatever…hungry?" He sat next to her.
"A little." He handed her a sweet bean bun. "Thanks."
"Akane, can I ask you something?"
"Depends. Would I have the right to smack you if I found it offensive?"
He thought about it for a moment while she ate. "Yeah. I guess so. Can I ask you then?"
"Hmm…I dunno…"
"What?! I just said you could smack me if you didn't like it!" He was shocked.
"Well yeah, but if you agreed to it, that means I could very well find it offensive."
He let out a disgusted sigh. "You…I don't know about you…"
She laughed. "Go ahead and ask me."
He stared at the water from a moment, then he looked at her. "Are you jealous of Kimiko and Hiroshi or not?"
She raised her hand to slap him. He closed his eyes and braced himself for her hand.
It never came though. He opened one eye to check up on her. She hand put her hand down and stared at the water again while finishing the bun.
"What did I say?" She looked awfully depressed.
She let out a sigh. "Yes…"
"Yes what?"
"I am jealous of them." She whispered. "I'm jealous of them, my parents, the twins, my aunts and uncles…I'm jealous of everyone I've ever known who ever had someone who understood them, who they could talk to about anything…" She choked back her tears and kept talking. "I always wanted that special someone see me the way I am, to listen to what I had to say, to listen when I had problems, to help me find the way through…no one ever saw me that way. No one pays attention to me in the way I'm looking for…" She stared up at the sky. "I am jealous and I hate myself for it."
They stayed quiet for a moment. Kano wrapped his head around her words and she kicked her feet back and forth in the water.
"Akane?" He looked at her after the silence.
"What?"
"There's a second part to the question…"
"What is it then?" She really didn't look at him.
"What am I to you?"
Her head jerked up. "What?" She almost couldn't comprehend his question.
"What…am…I…to…you?" He repeated it a little slower.
She lost her voice and her poise. "I…you…ah…um…" She couldn't think of a way to answer the question without the words 'I love you' slipping in.
"I thought that might be your response." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to kiss her, one arm around her waist, the other holding her at the back of the neck.
She was almost too shocked to figure out what was going on. When Kano's lips touched hers, she got a little more grounded. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself closer to him. She let him pull her from the water and they fell back into the grass, still kissing.
Kano's simple question made her realize she had no reason to be jealous. She overlooked the person she was looking for and not looking for at the same time. Kano listened to her, he comforted her, he saw her for more than a tomboy or her bloodline.
When she finally eased away from him, she stared into his bright emerald eyes. Her amber eyes sparkled with unnecessary tears. He wiped them away and kissed her again.
"Good answer." He chuckled.
She smiled. "You idiot."
A smile played across his features and they kissed again, for longer than before.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How much longer till they say it?" Kimiko looked at Hiroshi.
"Hopefully not as long as us." He smiled.
"You're horrible!" She squeaked and swatted at him.
"Well, it's true." He shrugged.
She sighed. "Hey Hiroshi?"
"Huh?"
"How are we gonna tell the others that I'm not completely human?"
"Yes you are."
"What? Hiroshi, you saw my wings, I told you what happened. How could you say I'm completely human?"
"Human is the way you act. That's what I count anyway."
"What do you think they'll think of me?"
"Why should they think anything different? You're still Takani Kimiko, right?"
"Well, yeah. But now with added frills."
He sighed. "So you're more than we thought. All that means is there's a reason besides Akane that you came here with us."
"You think I came here just for Akane?"
"Didn't you? You were worried about her before we went."
"She's not the only reason. I was worried about you too. When you told me where she was and that you were gonna go after her, I wasn't about to let you out of my sight."
"Kimiko…" He was surprised at her emotion.
"I've heard enough of this place to know that no one should be alone. I felt the need to go with you." She bit her lip.
He hugged her. "Whatever the reason is, I'm glad you came with."
She kissed his cheek. "Me too."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lily concentrated on a presence she felt in the forest. It was different from what she felt when the kids were around.
"Something wrong no da?" Chichiri saw her intense concentration.
"Someone's following us."
"Is it those children?"
"No. Someone else. Someone evil."
Chichiri suddenly felt the same thing she did. "Those kids weren't lying, were they no da?"
"I suppose not. At least not about people being after us."
"And the other part you still don't believe, no da?"
"Do you?"
"Not really."
"Then we're even." She took one last look at the forest. "We should keep moving towards the capital. I hate being followed."
"Agreed, no da."
The troop of adults kept their plan to head towards the capital. The seishi were telling the real world people about Konan, Jason didn't pay too much attention to it though. He paid more attention to Nuriko.
The evil presence Lily and Chichiri felt from before soon made itself present. Reizo sent a small yet powerful troop of soldiers to kill the adults.
The kids, of course, were still following them and had to help out.
Reizo was watching the soldiers but he didn't help out. The attackers started with Kei, thinking she'd be the easiest to kill. Tasuki was compelled to help her. He fried two of the soldiers that went after her. Kei was shocked to see the power of the Tessen.
'I'll have to remember to try and stay on his good side…' Kei thought to herself just before Akane jammed a knife into the back of someone else going after her. "You again?"
"Hi!" Akane wretched her knife free and went for some more. "Talk later!"
Kano occupied himself with watching his father. Kouji needed help considering he had to watch baby Kano as well. He was grateful for someone to help him.
Nuriko couldn't understand how the two little girls seemed to be just as strong as her. Nuriko thought she was the only one with super human strength.
"How'd you do that?" Nuriko grabbed one of them just after she slammed one of the black-cloaked men into a tree.
Nyoko sighed. "We inherit these things from you."
"What?"
"Never mind!" Nyoko grabbed her mother's sleeve and pulled her down as a knife went flying over their heads into another tree.
"I'm really starting to wonder about you…" Lily and Toru took down another one.
"About what?"
"Maybe you are related to me…"
"Look, I really don't care what you believe."
"I know that…"
"Then why'd you bring it up?"
"Just for the sake of conversation." She hurried off to fight some more.
Kimiko found herself back to back with Taki. They were surrounded by a circle of soldiers. In her mind, she debated the safety of trying out her newly discovered powers.
"Hey, kid?"
"What?"
"How well can you defend yourself?"
"Well enough." She shrugged.
"Good." Taki pushed her hair back behind her ears and glanced over at Hiroshi and Hotohori. They were dealing with their own group of soldiers.
Kimiko clashed hand to hand with two at once. 'I'm not sure I'm cut out for this…' It was awfully hard to keep her eyes on both of them at once.
Taki only took on one at a time. She seemed almost annoyed with the trouble they were causing her friends, but the annoyance was pushed away by the need to survive.
The fight was short but fierce. Weapons clashed and a few trees fell to magic courtesy of the blue-haired monk and fiery bandit.
A loud shout stopped everyone. "Fools! I told you not to go after that one!"
Akane saw the owner of the voice in the forest. "REIZO!"
"Kimiko!" Hiroshi screamed when he saw her double over in pain. The soldier standing closest to her looked shocked at his actions.
"Idiot!" Reizo shouted and threw a knife into the offending soldier's back. "Those who cannot follow orders should not be put on important missions. Everyone else, get out." They all disappeared.
Kimiko dropped to her knees and clutched at her stomach.
"Kimiko!" Hiroshi ran to her side. "What's wrong?"
"Ow…" That was the only thing that came out of her mouth.
"What?"
"Ow…" She took her hand away from her body. A layer of blood covered her palm. A bloody knife lay next to her, obviously the weapon the dead soldier used to injure her.
The adults were shocked to see her wounded so badly and still living. Anyone else probably would have been killed by such a deep wound.
"Kimiko!" Akane knelt on her other side.
"Dammit…this hurts…" She winced and clutched the wound again.
"I don't suppose anyone's much of a doctor…" Jason didn't like the look of the gash.
"I don't need one…" Kimiko spat. "I'm fine."
"That's not fine…" Kei frowned.
"Someone just help me stand up…" She grabbed Hiroshi's shoulder.
"I don't think you should…" Toshiro thought it would be best for her to lie down.
"Don't tell me what to do." She snapped. He stepped back. Kimiko hissed in pain while Hiroshi helped her up. She was beginning to realize she was feeling a little too cocky since she found out she was immortal. "Sorry…"
"Kimiko, don't force yourself…" Hotohori was concerned about the young girl who had recently bruised his hand.
"I'm not…" She let her head fall forward, deep violet hair covering her face. "I'm just trying to help myself…" She took a deep breath and started to concentrate on her wound.
"What's she doing?" Tasuki asked Akane.
"I wish I knew…" Akane gasped as the wound began to seal itself without leaving so much as a mark. "Kimiko?"
A shock wave passed through everyone except for Hiroshi. Kimiko let him go and straightened up. "All better…"
Akane grabbed Hiroshi by the shoulder. "Hiroshi?" She hissed through her teeth. "Is there something you need to us about Kimiko?" Her nails dug into his skin.
"Ow, ow…" He made an attempt to get out of her reach. "I can't talk when you're digging your nails into a pressure point. OW!"
"Akane, let him go." Kimiko looked up. He hair covered half her face. "It's not his fault. I asked him not to say anything…"
"Anything about what, no da?"
"About my dad…"
"What about him? Didn't you tell me he was dead?" Kano looked confused.
"Well, I thought he was…" She looked down again. "Before I explain further, I should describe him to you all…he was tall, he had bright green eyes and bright red hair…but on occasion, he was a giant phoenix…" She pushed back the hair that fell across her face, the red symbol of Suzaku glowing in the middle of her forehead.
The kids and adults all let out startled cries, even Jason. Kimiko stood there quietly with Hiroshi and they waited for the shock to subside and the questions to pour out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
How are Kimiko and Hiroshi going to answer the inevitable questions to come?
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~
5/30/03