Once again, big thanks to all the reviewers. I realize that my chapters have been a little short up until now. Hopefully, this one will be longer. Let me know if this works. I'm not much on descriptive writing but this is my best shot. By the way, I've decided that Miaka never told Taka that Yui was also in love with Tamahome in the book. Seriously speaking, I just don't think she would ever bring it up. It would be an inexcusable breach of privacy for Yui who probably had a lot to deal with anyway.

Chapter 4

   Sunlight filtered through open windows only partially shaded by white lace curtains that fluttered gently in the breeze. The room was extremely tidy and had been done in pale cream and brown tones and the furniture was all pale mahogany to match. The room appeared basically empty except for the single occupant in the bed.

   Miaka lay on her bed at home studying her room. The room was so clean that it could have passed military standards. Ever since her mother had heard about the accident, she had taken to cleaning the house as a way of ridding herself of the after-effects of the tension she had suffered. That and worshipping Taka like a hero. This meant that not only was Miaka stuck in her room but also that there was nothing to stare at. Her mother had polished everything so much that the glare was practically blinding Miaka anyway. She had taken to staring at the pale cream walls and planning what she would do to make her room more interesting when her family finally stopped acting like dictators and handed the controls of her life back to her. "Yellow….. I think I'll paint the ceiling yellow. That's a nice sunny color. It would be so pretty and I could….." she murmured to herself. She had been propped up in bed for so long that she felt like she was going insane! A heavily blushing Yui had come by to tell her all about her date a few days ago but that was the last bit of excitement that she had encountered. She had tried escaping the house a couple of days ago but Keisuke had caught her every time and the one time she actually got all the way to the main door, she walked into it by mistake. Not for the first time Miaka cursed herself for being prone to these sudden fits of clumsiness.

   "I don't understand it. It's not like I'm growing anymore so it can't be because of that. Maybe I have an ear infection. Maybe I should get it checked out cause otherwise I won't be able to travel on a plane. And if I can't travel on a plane, I won't be able to make quick journeys. And I can't go everywhere by cars, busses or trains cause I'll get motion sick after a while. What about after I marry Taka? He might want to take me somewhere romantic like Paris or Venice or something and I won't be able to go because of my middle ear infection. Then we'll have to cancel the honeymoon of our dreams and go to some small town nearby. I probably wouldn't mind much but Taka may…" she rambled on, "and then he might regret my not checking out this possibility right now before it gets too serious and spreads into my brain. Oh God! What if it's already spread into my brain! Hmnnnn…. That might actually explain my clumsiness."

   Taka walked in just then and interrupted her thoughts but not before she resolved to go to a neurologist and have her brain checked. She smiled up at him innocently. He was so wonderful. He actually came to the real world for her! He had followed her from one life to the other and now she could actually be with him without anything coming in between them. Her task as the Suzaku no miko was long done and she had no need to hold her emotions back anymore. Not that she had really held back much these last few months. In the beginning when they had met in the real world, there was the need to get to know each other all over again and so she had held back a bit. Although their souls had recognized each other, they still didn't know each other as people and that had made things awkward. Especially since she had taken so much for granted and had considered him nothing but an extension of Tamahome when in truth Taka was his own person. He may have been a reincarnation of Tamahome but he did have a couple of differing tastes. But his love for making money had remained constant and manifested itself in his studies. He had turned to business management as a course and was doing extremely well, being one of the top students in his class. And one of the best looking….. She blushed a deep red as she ran her eyes over him. She really hadn't been holding herself back much anymore. His hair was falling into his eyes quite messily and shading his gray eyes from her view but she knew that they would be warm and filled with concern for her. And his body…..

   Taka looked curiously at his girlfriend as she turned a deep red and then went on to turn a most unattractive purple shade. "Miaka, daijobu desu ka?" he asked softly. But all he got in response was a slight squeak and her face turning a vague shade of blue before she actually started breathing and her color returned to normal. He wondered what she had thought of that could have caused her reaction but decided to chalk it up to her imposed bed rest. Keisuke had called him in as reinforcements to try and get Miaka's mind off escape, as today was the last official day that she was supposed to stay in bed. He smiled down at her slight figure propped up against the pillows on the bed. Her black eyes had faded to a vague yellowish shade that made her look slightly jaundiced but at least he could see her eyes now. They were open and staring at him with wonder shining in their brown depths. He had no idea why but every time she looked at him with that look in her eyes, he felt like he could take on the world single handed just for her.

   Ever since Keisuke had introduced them to each other, it was almost as though they had known each other all their lives. He wasn't sure whether or not to believe in the stories that she told him about The Book Of The Four Gods and their life together there. It seemed so far fetched with phoenixes, mikos, seishis, oracles that looked like large frogs and what not. He did, however, believe in soul mates and reincarnations. That's what he believed Miaka and he were. Soul mates – bound together forever until the ends of time. He would always find her, in this life or the next. Although he did have occasional memories of a life that was like the one she was describing, he figured they were caused mostly by listening to her stories too much and by his vague recollections of some distant past life. He certainly didn't remember any of the people that she talked about with such startling familiarity. Nuriko, Hotohori, Tasuki, Chichiri, Chiriko, Mitsukake….. These were all just names to him. He felt like he knew them but that was only through listening to all the stories she told. For all he knew, they could be Miaka's imaginary friends.

   He sweat dropped. It was more than possible that Miaka had imaginary friends. As much as he loved her, he wasn't blind to her faults. But then, why would Keisuke go along with the whole deception? Maybe this was some sort of joke. But then why continue it for so long? And what about Yui? Miaka's best friend was still uncomfortable around him no matter how hard he tried to put her at ease. It almost seemed like the nicer he got, the more distant she did. He would have almost believed her cold if he hadn't seen the misery in her eyes and the tentative smiles she would give them once in a while. At least she seemed to be much more relaxed after her date with Tetsuya, making jokes and blushing so much that he was surprised she had any blood in the rest of her. But she was still wary around him. She was the only one who still slipped up occasionally and called him Tamahome. This deception seemed way too deep to be just a joke. Maybe he should look deeper. Keisuke had said that everything had started with the book. Maika had locked it up in the attic. Maybe he should go investigate later.

   But first he would keep Miaka company and take her mind of her boredom for a while. All he wanted to do when she was near was make her smile.  Maybe then she would look at him again and he would drown in the depths of her large brown eyes…