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
Note: The group of young adults will be referred to just by their names and the older adults will be Older Tasuki, Older Kei, so on and so forth. That's the easiest way for my brain to process this while writing it.
Really long chapter here people! It was like 13 pages single-spaced when I typed it up on MS Word. You've been warned!
~*~Review Response~*~
~Draco - *Hugs* You're back! I was so scared you were gone forever! You haven't reviewed since like before chapter 10! Hmmm, future future kids? Maybe if I made another sequel…well…not right now anyway. This will fry my brain enough. I need all my brain cells at the moment.
~Jamie - Like I said, here comes the true test of my coordination skills. Please don't let me suck…please don't let me suck… Hee hee. Still in hell? If you get a spare moment, you know you can always send me an e-mail.
~Cat - Well, I can't say that there will be romantic stuff between Nozomi and Nakago or not yet, I'm still planning a lot. There will be a happy ending for Nakago though. I did treat him pretty badly in the first one. And he is beating himself up a lot here too…but I swear he'll have a happy ending! Not super super sugar high happy, but it will be happy! \^_^/
~Carr Carr - Well, it's a talent to make a plot line complicated. It's an even bigger talent to be able to work well with it. We're about to see if I have that…
~Lady Viola - Get back on your chair there? I'll do my best on the amusing part!
~Cortney - Confusion is fun. It rules my life. Hope you enjoy the confusion!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Akane sighed. "I wish you people would stop staring at me!" She was nearly hopping mad.
Hiroshi stared at her. "You seem to know more than we do…"
Akane pointed at Kano. "He knows too!"
"What the fuck is going on?!?!" Tasuki snapped.
"Excuse me while I be embarrassed for myself…" Older Tasuki lowered his head.
Older Taki smiled. "This will be interesting…"
"Is that what you call it?" Taki stared at herself. "I'm so confused…"
Hotohori looked at her. "We don't have a reason not to be confused."
Taki shrugged. "I suppose…
Lily was staring at her self. There was something bothering her about her older self. 'Why doesn't she look right? Something is way different from her than me…what am I not seeing?'
Chichiri looked over at her. "Something wrong, no da?"
"Yeah…I'm just not sure what…" She watched carefully as her older self pulled Toru's hair back into a neater ponytail. 'Wait a minute…why isn't she…?'
Nuriko was trying to wrap her brain around seeing his/herself. 'I am a woman…well, if that is in fact me…I wonder if Jason knows…err…older Jason knows I used be a man…'
Older Jason was sitting with Naoko clinging to him. He looked up for a moment to make eye contact with himself. He sighed. He knew what was going through his 25 year old mind. Sheer disbelief.
'I'm not father material…I've been a womanizer most of my life…what made me settle down? Sure, Nuriko's nice, she's pretty, but how many girls have I met like that? There's gotta be more I don't get yet…'
Akane was sitting in between her parents. She looked between her mother and the younger version. 'I wish I knew exactly what was going on…I only understand so much…this is what happens when one of you parents grows up in a book world, the other one happens to share a mind with a goddess and NEITHER ONE says anything about it to you growing up…'
Older Tasuki looked down at her. "What's wrong with you?"
"Hmmm…I'm mad at you. I wish you had told me about Konan before."
"We did Akane…" Tasuki started.
"You never said it was real! You just said they were stories…you lied…" She hissed.
"Okay…that's a little harsh…but deserved…" Older Kei put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
Kei suddenly stood up. "Stop talking among yourselves! What the hell is going on? Who are you people? Why are you here?!?!"
"She speaks for all of us now…" Tasuki muttered.
The kids stared at their parents. The older adults stared at each other. They were all trying to get someone else to start.
Kimiko watched everyone stay quiet. 'How annoying…I think I'm glad I'm not sitting here with my parents and their younger selves…it's really confusing…'
Older Kei stared at the ground. "Tasuki?"
"What?" Both answered then they stared at each other.
Kei bit her lip. "This is not gonna work very well…two people are gonna answer to the same name…"
"Yeah…" Her older self agreed. "Any bright ideas?"
Hiroshi looked at his mother and father. "How 'bout everyone just go off with their double, that way everyone knows exactly who they're talking to?"
"Sounds alright, no da…" Chichiri noted that his older self still spoke the same way.
Everyone shrugged in agreement. Kano rolled his eyes. "And what do we do? Just sit here?" He sulked against a tree.
Kouji pushed Baby Kano into Kano's hands. "You can baby sit."
Both Koujis laughed when Kano let out a disgusted grunt.
The rest of the adults scattered throughout the clearing, Lily took her older self out of earshot of everyone else.
"I refuse to believe you're me from the future…" She hissed.
"I know…" She sighed.
"What?"
"Well, I know what you're thinking right now. I thought the same thing."
"Are you mocking me?"
"No. You just refuse to believe the truth. You're a little too stubborn."
Lily snorted. "You can't be me…"
"So says you. I know why you're wearing that glove one your left hand. No one else should know right now except for you…"
"Then why aren't you wearing it if you me?" Lily pointed at the ungloved hand of the older woman. "There's no trace of the scar…" She hissed.
"From far away, no…up close, yes." Older Lily held up her hand. "You can still see where it was."
Lily saw the faintest trace of what used to be a horrible scar. "Where'd it go?"
"In about…3 years maybe…you'll get laser surgery and it'll be fine."
"Why would I do that? I…"
"Didn't kill them…" Older Lily put her hand on the younger one's shoulder. "You'll believe it in time. Besides, can you imagine taking care of newborn twin boys with it on? Babies make a lot of messes…"
She almost smiled, but stopped herself. "Does Chichiri have something to do with it?" She stared over at the two monks.
She nodded.
"But why a monk? I really can't see such a happy monk being…uh…romantic…" Lily scratched her head. "Or getting married…or having kids…you know…things like that…isn't that like…uh…un-monkly or something? Doesn't he take some kinda vow against that stuff?"
She started laughing. "He's a monk but he's not dead! He's also not a typical monk. To be honest I don't think monks like him take those kinda vows… You just wait till you need him. You'll be surprised."
"Pleasantly?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Very." She smiled and nodded.
Both women snickered. "So…I guess the next question is how did you get here? Those kids were, to say the least, confused by your coming…"
"Yeah…well, that's another story…starts when Akane found the book again…"
~*~*~*~
"So the book was supposed to be closed and she still fell in, no da?"
"That's right, no da…" Older Chichiri shrugged. "Turned out Nakago had a son who was trying to open the seal again, no da…"
"Who's his mother, no da?"
"The same woman that was Kano's mother, no da…"
Chichiri's jaw dropped. "Are you sure, no da?"
"Very, no da…"
"That's a lot to process, no da…"
"There's no denying that, no da…"
"Where is she now…er…in your time, no da?"
"Kouji said she's dead, no da. She died protecting Kano. We didn't get too many details though, no da. Kano and Akane know more, but they won't talk about it, no da…"
"Is it that hard for them, no da?"
"I've never seen Akane so quiet and Kano…well, I don't know him well, no da…but he doesn't seem to like to be emotional…"
"I see, no da…"
"Before we keep going on about what's going on, I have another question, no da…"
"Why Lily, no da?"
"Yeah…how did you…never mind, no da. Obvious answer…"
"There's more to everyone that what you get at first impressions, no da. You know that." Older Chichiri tapped the mask on his younger self's face. "You'll see her in a different light soon enough, no da. I know she does seem very violent and rebellious now but once you get to know her you'll see why she's that way, no da."
"Speaking of that, why don't you have the scar, no da?"
Older Chichiri shrugged. "I'm not that sure, no da…you'll go to the miko's world twice. The second time will be the one you stay, but both times the scar isn't there, no da…it comes back when you return here…it didn't come back this time, though I thought it might, no da…"
"I see, no da…"
"Should I keep talking now, no da?"
"Might as well, no da…"
~*~*~*~
Taki pushed her hair behind her ears. "She was really almost killed?"
"Yeah…Akane has the same resilient nature of both her parents…" Older Taki smiled.
"Resilient…that's about the only way Kei can be described…"
"Yep…"
"Please tell me she'll tell her mother about…well, you should know…"
"I do…and yes. She will."
"Lemme guess, can't tell me when though. Somethin' about keeping the past in tact?"
"Well, it's kinda late for that…but yeah. Gotta keep what's left…" She shrugged.
"So…please elaborate…me…and Hotohori? What makes him different from all those other guys?"
"You'll see." She murmured with a smile.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I can't tell you everything."
"Then tell me why my future son and his girl friend can sit in front of me…"
"Well, there is that…"
"So spill!"
"I can't!"
"Jeez! I can't tell who's more stubborn! Me or you!"
"Well, it should be the same!"
"I don't believe me!"
"You should!"
"I know!"
"Now where did that get us?"
"No where! I know! I just can't think of myself with another guy!" Taki was exasperated with herself.
"Look I know it's hard, but you can't be alone forever!"
"I can damn well try!"
"Don't! Then where will Hiroshi be?"
"Oh yeah…"
Older Taki sighed. 'Man…I don't remember being so stubborn…'
"But if you were me…"
"I was you."
"Bear with me on this…can you blame me for thinking I am quite possibly wasted and imagining all this?"
She sighed again. "Have an open mind will you? "
"Well, I can try…I mean…I am in Konan…" Taki rubbed her head.
"Good. Now any idea where I was in this story?"
"Eh…" She shrugged. "Somewhere around Akane being killed I think…"
~*~*~*~
Hotohori stared at his older self. 'At least I still look pretty much the same…'
"Stop thinking about yourself."
"Huh? How'd you know what I was thinking?"
"I already thought what you thought 20 years ago."
"You remember this?"
"Well, it's pretty unforgettable."
"True…but did you go through this?"
"Well, our memories are changing." Older Hotohori shrugged. "Originally we didn't go through this, but things are changing and I remember how my relationship with Taki started differently than I thought."
Hotohori glanced over at Taki who was still talking to her older self. "How's it different?"
"I can't tell you. Who knows what that would change on top of everything else?"
"I suppose."
"I'm assuming there's more questions."
"You should know. How much can you tell me?"
"Ask and I'll tell you."
Hotohori sighed. "Did getting married and having a kid change me a lot?"
"I'd say so."
"Why Taki?"
"You'll understand eventually."
"Eventually?"
"She's a hard person to get to."
"Why?"
"That's up to her to tell you. She said I couldn't tell you."
"'She' as in Taki as you wife or Taki as she is now?"
"As my wife."
"How exactly did Hiroshi end up in a relationship with Suzaku's daughter?"
"I wish I knew. I didn't meet her mother until after her father died…well, he didn't really die…oh, you know…and Kimiko only found out a few days ago. Hiroshi always liked her…" Hotohori sighed.
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"She didn't treat him very well when they first met. I think that's all over with now though. Thank Suzaku." He looked over at his son and Kimiko sitting with the other kids who were all looking after baby Kano.
~*~*~*~
"I'll take the baby." Akane took baby Kano from Kano's hands. "You know, you were the cutest baby ever, Kano!"
"Yeah…whatever…" Kano hid his blush.
"Something tells me she still thinks he's the cutest thing ever…" Nyoko murmured to her sister.
"Be quiet!" Naoko elbowed Nyoko.
"You know it's true…" Hiroshi muttered.
Toru glanced at all the adults. "I'm starting to get dizzy."
Toshiro nodded. "One set of parent is enough…why do we have to have 2?"
"Akane, Kano, what happened while you guys were out?" Kimiko looked up.
"Well, it was pretty weird…" Akane started. "We were out there talking and suddenly they showed up."
"There's gotta be more…" Toru started.
"Of course there is! I wasn't done yet." Akane flipped her hair back, slightly annoyed. "You never let me finish."
"Well, it doesn't always seem like you're going to." He muttered.
"Watch it Toru!" Akane snapped.
"Can the killing of each other wait?" Hiroshi pushed the two apart. "Why do I always have to play peacekeeper with you two?"
"He started it…"
"No way…you did."
"Quit it. I'll keep talking." Kano rubbed his head. "So we were shocked when they came in."
"You were swearing at you dad…"
"Quiet Akane. You were just a shocked at I was."
"I know. I'm just being annoying."
Kano rolled his eyes and continued. "So we asked them how they got there and they said Nozomi got them through."
"But she told us they couldn't come back to the book world. What happened?" Nyoko asked.
"Let him talk." Kimiko clamped her hand over the younger girl's mouth.
Nyoko let out an annoyed snort while sitting there with Kimiko's hand over her mouth.
"Thank you." Kano sighed. "Nozomi told them that something went wrong with the spell she originally cast when Akane fell into Konan weeks ago or whenever it was."
"So it's Akane's fault?" Toshiro smirked.
"That is not what he meant!" Akane hissed at her younger cousin.
"That's what it sounded like."
"Shut up Toshiro!"
"Why don't you shut up?" They were up in each other's faces now.
"Why don't the both of you shut up?" Hiroshi pushed them apart. "I'm getting tired of this!"
They turned away from each other and let out annoyed grunts.
"Some people would swear they were siblings…" Nyoko muttered.
"They shouldn't be yelling around the baby. Gimme." Naoko took baby Kano away from Akane.
"Hey!"
"No shouting around the baby. Now keep explaining." Naoko bounced baby Kano on her leg.
Kano sighed. He couldn't believe he was sitting there with the world's most energetic kids ever. "Anyway…as I was saying before I got interrupted…" He glared at Toshiro. "According to Nozomi the spell was never right in the first place. Akane didn't really do anything. She just happened to be the next person to get the book. She also thought that your parents couldn't get back in. She was wrong."
"That was blunt." Akane muttered.
"That's me. Remember?"
"Right…" Akane sighed.
"That's it? That's the whole story as to how our parents got here?" Hiroshi stared at them, waiting for something else.
"Yep." Kano and Akane shrugged. "Not as complicated as you thought, huh?"
"That's weird…everything else seemed to be complicated. Why not this too?" Naoko asked.
"Well, I don't think it's all that weird. I mean, one parent in all our families came from here so I think something being weird is normal for us." Kimiko sighed.
"She's got a point." Akane said as she took the baby back from Naoko and startled cuddling him.
'Dammit…why can't 1 year olds have memories? I'd kill to actually remember this…' Kano tried not to show any emotion while he felt extreme jealously towards himself as a baby so close to Akane.
~*~*~*~
"So she's really dead?" Kouji lowered his head.
"Yeah…died right in front of me…" Older Kouji hated thinking about Kanako, but hated himself for not wanting to think about her.
"Reizo killed her…" He repeated the words his older counterpart had just said a moment ago. "He killed his own mother?"
"He wasn't aiming for her…he meant to kill Kano…"
"I can't believe that…that Kano is related to Reizo…"
"I can't accept it either…" He swallowed hard. "But someday I'll have to…you have more time to accept it now though…"
"This is way to much to comprehend." The normally lighthearted bandit clutched at the sides of his head. "I loved her…"
"She loves back…it's just not like you'd expect it…" He sighed. "She died to protect Kano…that's her way of showing she cared…"
"Damn strange way of doing so…"
"Yeah…" Both Koujis looked at their sons, baby and grown up, and at Akane.
"He's pretty good considering…"
"That he didn't have a mother? Yeah…he's a good kid…"
"And Akane?"
"Tasuki's girl? Well, she's the first girl he ever showed interest in."
"The first? Really?"
"Yep…she's perfect for him though. Just wait till she comes for the first time. Don't get too mad at her either."
"Why would I?"
"You'll see."
"Well, that's helpful."
"Hey, I can't spill the whole future, can I?"
"True…"
"Just hang in there okay? Things gotta get better from here…"
"How can I be sure?"
"You've gotta keep up for Kano's sake…and if I ever happen to drop into the past again, I'll give you an update on how life goes."
"I won't hold my breath about it."
"Probably best you don't."
~*~*~*~
"I wish you'd stop staring at me like that…" Older Nuriko sighed.
"Like what?"
"Like I have a second head growing out of my neck. If you've got a question, ask it!"
"Okay…how did this happen?!?!" She was obviously referring to her sudden transformation from a him to a her.
"Magic. How else?"
"Does he know?"
"Does who know what?" She smiled.
Nuriko bit her lip. "You know the who and the what."
"Yeah…I was just seeing if I could get you to say it."
"Well, does he?"
She just nodded.
"Are he still cares?"
"Well, I'm still married after 16 years and we have the girls too."
"What did he say when he found out?"
"You'll have to wait for that. For now, just be happy with the fact that he'll love you for you, not just because of you've got a woman's body."
"If he loves you for you, why are you still a woman? I thought you just said it didn't matter."
"It doesn't. It was my choice. I wanted to raise a family."
"Oh…"
"Anything else?"
"Why am I not dead?"
"What?"
"I died before, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Never did figure that part out. Just woke up that one time." She shrugged.
"You're so nonchalant about it."
"Yeah…well, it is in the past for me."
"Not for me!" Nuriko huffed. "The question is still fresh in my mind!"
"Let it go. You're not gonna find out. And it really doesn't matter. You're gonna have a perfect life. Well, as perfect as it can get anyway."
"Jason doesn't seem like the settling type to me…"
"He wasn't. It takes a lot of pushing. Believe me though, it's really worth it."
"Are you implying something?"
"Probably." She laughed.
"Oh my God!" Nuriko started freaking.
"Well, you have to do that to have kids…"
"Stop it!" Nuriko flailed around. "I don't need to hear that yet!"
Older Nuriko laughed again. "That's life."
"Well, I've heard enough of life for today!"
~*~*~*~
"I still don't see why I'd settle down…" Jason frowned. "I don't understand anything that's going on here…"
"You won't for a while."
"Then can we just say I'm wasted for now?"
"No…this is real."
"How do I know?"
"Didn't Kei punch you in the head a night or so ago?"
"Uh…yeah…how'd you know?" Jason rubbed his head where the younger girl had hit him the pervious night.
"Well, duh…I remember. She punches hard." Older Jason rubbed his head. "You don't get hurt in dreams or when you're wasted."
"I guess…I'd still rather think I'm wasted…"
"What? You don't wanna think Nuriko is real?"
"What'd you bring her into this for?"
"Why do you care which one of the seishi I talk about?"
"Well, I uh…forget it…"
"Should I?"
"Whatever…look you have to tell me something…"
"I do?"
"Lily won't like what I have to tell her, will she?"
"Ah…no…she's gonna wanna beat the shit outta you."
"Not that it's undeserved though…"
"True…that really sucked…"
"That's not encouraging."
"Who said I was supposed to be encouraging? I'm just here for my daughters."
Jason sighed. "Alright-y then…"
"Don't sound so annoyed. I put them before me."
"Dammit…you're to different to be me…"
"You've got growing up to do." He muttered.
"I'm 25!" Jason snapped back.
"That means jack shit!" Older Jason sighed. "Everyone has growing up to do! We're all different in the future. The book made us change!"
"What's so special about it?!?!"
"You just wait till Kei…" He stopped. "Never mind."
"What? I just wait till Kei…what?"
"I said 'never mind'. I can't tell you any more."
"You can't leave me hanging."
"Give it a couple of months and you won't be hanging anymore."
"Months?" Jason's jaw dropped. "I don't have that kind of patience!"
"This'll be good practice for you then."
Jason scoffed. "I'm impossible."
"A lot of people say old people are stubborn. Guess they're right."
"You're not that old are you?"
"20 years older than you."
"Well, I got time to grow then…"
'Too bad it happens all at once. We don't get to ease into anything…'
~*~*~*~
Reizo sat alone in the room he was given in the palace. 'They are all here? How is that possible? Those spies must have been blind…it is not possible for their parents to be here!' He fumed silently. 'And that father of mine is not doing anything…what is wrong with him? This is not the father I was told about growing up…'
He left the room and went to find Nakago. Reizo found his father in his room with the baby.
"What do you want Reizo?"
"Why are you not planning?"
"Planning what? Another attempt to kill them that will fail, like all your other suggestions?"
"What? I did not fail!"
"Then why aren't they dead? You keep attacking them and they keep winning." Nakago turned angrily to his son. "You're killing my soldiers."
"What is a few soldiers if the followers of Suzaku are killed?"
"It wouldn't be much if and only if they were actually dead."
"I will not fail again."
"First of all, two seconds ago you weren't at fault. Second of all, you won't get another chance to fail."
"Excuse me?"
"Go back to where you belong. You aren't helping things here."
"Are you telling me you want me gone?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. You're telling me what to do and what not to. No one tells me what to do."
"You are not going to survive again. Is that what you want? If you do not follow me, they'll kill you again."
"Maybe it was meant to be like that! I won't have an impudent whelp, even if he's mine, tell me how to attack my enemies!"
"You cannot turn me away like this." Reizo felt his blood boiling.
"I can and I did. Get out and leave me with my real son. The one who doesn't try to run my life." Nakago still hadn't moved away from his toddler.
"You will only lose it."
"One way or another everyone dies. If I choose to make history repeat itself, that's my choice!"
Reizo pulled a knife from his belt. "And I can here to change that, one way or another."
"Are you threatening me?" Nakago was taken aback.
"I suppose I am. I cannot stand to see the followers of Suzaku win. If I have it I will kill you and take charge of Kutou myself."
Nakago growled and pulled out his own knife. Though instead of pointing it at the 20 year old, he held it above the baby. "Kill me and gravity takes its course."
Reizo was frozen. He couldn't move or else he was dead anyway.
"You're a mirror image of myself Reizo. And I hate it. You're sick, you're twisted, you only wish to kill an entire country. I see myself in you every time I look at you. I see how wrong I was to do what I did…but time will go the way it should. I won't follow anything you say, but I'll work according to what you told me will happen. I'll kidnap her. I'll get Tasuki mad at me. I'll eventually kill the girl, then get myself killed. But right now, I want you gone. If I ever see you again and you aren't the small child under my weapon, I'll kill you. I don't care. Now leave."
"You are not the man I was told about growing up…" Reizo put his weapon away and began to back away from his father. "I made a mistake coming here to see if I could keep you from being killed."
"You're right. I'm not the same. You changed me. You made me see what was wrong with me. You did make a mistake. And you didn't come here to keep me from getting killed. You came here simply to kill people." Nakago was still holding his knife above his young soon.
Reizo left the room. A voice in his head started screaming at him. 'Kill him…kill him…KILL HIM…KILL HIM… KILL HIM…KILL HIM… KILL HIM…KILL HIM… NOW!!!!!' He shook his head. 'It is not worth it…he's not worth the time it took me to come here…'
Nakago's spirit laughed at him while he walked away from the door. "I told you you couldn't win. It's your fault he doesn't want to follow your plans."
"You again…who the hell are you?"
"Just a lost soul. Here to keep the past partially in tact."
"Get away from me."
"Ah, ah, ah…it's not nice to talk to your father like that."
"My father is not dead yet…"
"I'm from your time. I am dead."
Reizo said nothing else to the spirit and stormed down the hall.
Nakago heard the conversation from the other side of the door. He sheathed his knife again. "I'm so sorry Reizo…" He picked up his son. "I wish I could be there for you and stop this…but I don't think I can…I think I have to die before you're very old…"
Reizo obviously didn't understand his father's words but he understood the feelings in them. He hung onto his father. Nakago quietly wished for a different life.
~*~*~*~
"I hate woman. I'm not getting married to her."
"Funny…I said that 20 years ago too."
"Shut the fuck up."
"You're gonna have to stop that. Akane picks up on it too much."
"Kei swears too."
"You do it more than her."
"She the most insane girl I've ever met. I can't fall in love with her!"
"She's not insane."
"Yes, she is. All women are."
"Our sisters and mother don't define all women."
"Yes they do and don't say 'our'. You can't be me!"
"Shut up! Yes I am!"
"Prove it!"
"How? Dammit you're dense! I don't see why you have such a problem with this…"
"Problem with what?"
"Believing in the future! You are a bandit who's a Suzaku seishi who deals with women from the real world a lot. You never had a problem with it! Yet you have a world of problems with this!"
"Never had a problem with it?!?! I freaked when I first found out about being a seishi!"
"I know! But you got used to it too!"
"Barely!"
Older Tasuki threw his hands in the air. "I don't know why I'm trying. Kei warned me not to try to hard in convincing myself…"
"What? Now you're taking orders from a woman on how to deal with yourself? You're whipped!"
"I am not whipped! I care about my wife and daughter…"
"Fuck that."
"No! Sweet Suzaku…you are gonna freak when history plays out…"
"Look, maybe you are from the future, but it has to be some other future!"
"Why?"
"I'm not getting married as long as I have anything to do with it!"
"Are we back to that? Dammit…"
"Of course we're back to that! That's what we've been talking about the whole time!"
Older Tasuki was beginning to lose his temper. He grabbed his younger self by the shoulders and started shaking him. "What the hell is your problem?!?! You can't tell what the future brings! So why when you're given a situation like this, just go with it! I can't believe I was this stubborn!"
They began to fight more than talk or argue.
~*~*~*~
"Is he like that often?" Kei stared at the Tasukis fighting.
"Just when he loses his temper…"
"How often is that?"
Older Kei began to count on her fingers. Kei began to worry that she was counting times in a week. "I'd say that's the first time in like, oh…I dunno… 15 years…there about…"
"15 years? He seems awfully uh…temperamental now…"
"Yeah well, dying kinda changed that…"
"Wait… What?!?! He died?" Kei was royally confused now.
"No, you'll die! Then come back to life in like what was it…like a week? Something like that…"
Kei was knocked speechless.
"I know, I know…dead people usually don't come back, but that a perk to having an immoral goddess in your head."
"Why would she care what happens to me? It feels like she trying to kill me right now."
"She's just eager to get out. Don't worry about it. Try to work with her more than fight her."
"Work with a goddess who wants my body? Uh huh…how exactly do I do that, pray tell O bearer of futuristic knowledge?"
"Don't get smart with me!"
"That's just the way I am!"
"I'm perfectly aware of that! I'm just saying put it on the back burner for now!"
"I am a little ball of fire about to turn 20! Nothing is gonna calm me down!"
"Suzaku! It's a miracle Tasuki's put up with me for so long!"
"A miracle that he put up with you? He's a lunatic! How do you put up with him?"
"It's a very loving relationship filled with communication and happy family vacations!" Older Kei smiled sweetly knowing it would annoy her younger self.
"Ugh! Don't make me gag! That was so much sap!" Kei gagged. "This is too weird for me!"
"You're the granddaughter of a Suzaku no Miko! You're friends with 3 of the most mismatched people ever! You're standing in a clearing with the warriors of an ancient Chinese flaming chicken! Nothing is too weird for you!" Older Kei huffed. "Even without me here, this is too bizarre for words!"
Kei was once again speechless. "Uh…right…" 'Wow…I'm an energetic old lady…'
"I'm not old, I'm 40."
"What?"
"Stop thinking I'm old. I remember what I thought when I was you."
"This is so wrong. It's like you're psychic. I have no private thoughts. You know everything."
"Sucks to be you."
Kei snorted. "I don't change a bit in 20 years…"
"Not really, no."
"Can we reconvene now?" Kei shouted to all the other pairs of people.
Everyone kind of nodded and went back to back to where the kids sat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ah…now that I'm done and my brain is thoroughly fried, as I'm sure yours is, (at least partially maybe not as much as mine) I do have enough brain cells left say I hope you enjoyed this and that I'm going to sleep from a long time.
If you looked my brain right now, it would probably look like a fried egg…Owwie…
Until my brain repairs itself, readers!
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~
6/24/03