Disclaimer: Kohana, Piaoliang Feng, Shen Yuan, Ayame and Ruri are my characters. I suppose that's it.

Red Wings of Fate

Chapter 3: Homesickness Has Its Good Points

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

To VanyD - I'm not sure I exactly followed what you said in your review. Kohana did realize Hotohori was a man after she found out his name. I did call him a her a couple more times on accident, but went back and tried to fix that up after reading your review. Is that what you're referring to? Tell me if I'm wrong.

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Kohana stared out the window in her palace bedroom. It had been a few days since Hotohori told her about the legend of the priestess and her seishi. She wondered if she was up to it. 'Am I really cut out to be a priestess? I'm only 16…can I save a country? I mean…sure I've accidentally summoned a couple seishi…but summon a god? I wish nee-chan was here…' She sighed and turned from her window. She looked at her dresser. There were a few odds and ends from her world. She grabbed a lollypop and unwrapped it. "Mmmm. Cherry." She smiled to herself and started eating it.

She left her room and started walking down the hall. As she walked, she bumped into Tamahome. "Sorry." She said, though her words were muffled by the candy.

"What?" Tamahome blinked.

She took the sucker out of her mouth. "I said 'sorry.'"

"What is that thing?"

"A lollypop."

"A what?"

She opened her mouth to repeat the word then stopped. "It's sugar. That's all." She replaced the candy and kept walking.

Tamahome watched her with interest. "Hey wait up!"

"What?" She stopped and turned back to him.

"I was hoping you'd tell me some more about you world." He said with a cheesy grin.

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I was curious." He smiled and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Look, maybe later…I'm not in the mood for talking. I just feel like taking a walk." She pushed his arm off her shoulder and walked away.

His face fell. He wasn't used to being blown off by anyone.

Kohana continued walking. She let out another long sigh. Homesickness had really set in. She didn't want to talk about home for fear it would get worse. She'd been away from home for longer than a few days, but she always had a way to communicate with her family. Now she was completely cut off. The only person who knew where she was now, she didn't get along with.

Tamahome wasn't making things any better. He seemed to be everywhere, trying to get close to her, asking her about her world. She didn't want to think about that. She just wanted to smack him and run off. She wanted to be alone to cry once in a while, but he made that impossible for her.

Kohana walked down to the gardens. It was empty most of the time so when she felt homesick she would go there and practice a few gymnastic moves or just relax.

She wasn't so lucky this time. There were people in the garden this time. One she knew was Piaoliang. She was there with a young man who stood almost a head taller that her. He wore minimal armor and no weaponry.

'Must be an off duty guard…Piaoliang's boy friend perhaps?' She could see how happy Piaoliang was to talk with this young man with dark red hair. Her homesickness forgotten, she began to approach. Their conversation seemed to be finishing up as she approached them. The young man smiled and reached a hand to the maid's face. His hand rested on her cheek for a moment before he left her alone. Piaoliang was too occupied watching him leave to notice Kohana coming up behind her.

"Who's the cutie?" She asked rather loudly, making the other girl nearly jump out of her skin.

"Lady Kohana! Please don't do that!" The young maid tried to breathe deeply.

"Sorry. Are you back to calling me Lady again? I'd really prefer it if you didn't."

Piaoliang lowered her head. "You're the priestess of Suzaku now, my lady. I can't be so informal."

"Come on! I thought we were past that! Please don't treat me special. I don't like it."

"Well…I can try…"

"Good. So tell me, who's the guy? You like him?"

Piaoliang blushed. "N…no…nothing like that. He's…a friend…"

"Friends don't touch each other's face like that. Tell me more. What's his name? How do you know him?"

"His name's Shen Yuan…we grew up together…we were neighbors…" She smiled fondly at the memories. "He always looked out for me…we were good friends…then a couple years ago he decided he wanted to become a palace guard so he came here…"

"You followed him didn't you?" She smirked.

"I…I did not! My parents decided it would be best for me to come to the capital and work." She blushed. "It happened to be that we left the village at the same time!"

Kohana waved her lollypop in Piaoliang's face. "Ah, ah, ah. Fess up. You like him. Maybe even more if I'm not mistaken."

Piaoliang lowered her head. "Was I that obvious?"

"Yes and no. Any one could see you like him, but I'm very good at understanding people's emotions. People can't hide from me."

"You have to promise not to say anything."

"Why?"

"I don't want him to know…"

"What?"

"I don't think he cares about me that way. I'm just like a little sister to him…" She closed her eyes. "It's a one sided thing…"

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"Shen can have any woman he wants for a wife. All the girls in our village want to marry him. And now he's gotten really high in the ranks here. He's one of the emperor's best guards even though he's so young. He's also pretty good friends with the emperor. He was probably one of the guards out with the emperor that day you and Tamahome were captured. I don't stand a chance so I try to be happy with being friends with him…"

Kohana wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come on now. I saw the way he touched your face. He doesn't think of you as just a friend…"

She shook her head. "N…no…you're wrong…Shen and I will only ever be friends. I'll never tell him how I feel. He doesn't need to know."

"Piaoliang…you can't hold it in like that. One day being friends won't be enough. If you love him, you should tell him."

"And what happens when he doesn't feel the same way?"

Kohana wrinkled her nose. "You know, if you still carry the memories of your childhood with him and they mean something to you, they probably mean something to him too! You're selling yourself short."

"Maybe there is something between us, I don't know, but I'm not a risk taker. I…I won't risk my friendship with him because of some crazy idea of yours!" She snapped slightly. Though immediately shrank back. "I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to snap…"

"I don't mind."

"You don't?"

"No. I prefer it if you weren't afraid to snap at me. If I'm gonna be stuck here and be a priestess, I'd prefer it someone still treated me like a normal person. I don't like being treated so special. It's unnatural."

"You mean it's not the same for you back home?" Piaoliang asked with wide eyes.

Kohana blinked in confusion. Then she started laughing. "Why on Earth would I be treated like anything special back home? I'm just a regular kid. Hell, I probably so more work around the house than you do here at the palace. The workload's been even heavier since my sister got pregnant again. I cook, clean, do laundry, everything. There are no maids, we do our own work."

Piaoliang stared at her in shock. "Really?!"

"Well…yeah." Kohana shrugged. She didn't really understand why Piaoliang was so shocked.

"Your world is…strange…"

"Well, to you, sure. To me, it's this place that's weird." She crunched the lollypop and chewed on the stick thoughtfully.

"Are you alright?"

"I dunno…maybe, maybe not. Homesick, I guess…never been away this long without any way to call home…it comes and goes I suppose."

"Oh…maybe you should talk to the emperor."

"Why?"

"Well, there might be a way for you to go home without summoning Suzaku. He might know. And I'm sure His Highness wouldn't want you to be unhappy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kohana and Piaoliang started walking towards the main part of the palace.

"What? You don't see it?"

"See what?"

"Wow…you might not be as good at seeing other people's emotions as you thought." Piaoliang tapped her finger against her chin. "Or maybe you can't see it when someone else's emotions pertain to you."

Kohana's jaw dropped slightly, the stick barely in her mouth. "Wha…wha…what?!"

"You haven't seen the way Hotohori-sama's demeanor brightens when you're around?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kohana blushed.

"I think you do." Piaoliang poked her. "You're blushing."

"I am not." She huffed and tried to hide her face.

Piaoliang started to laugh and pointed at Kohana. "You have a crush on the emperor!"

"I do not!" Kohana stuck out her tongue.

"It's perfectly fine to admit you know. Everyone gets a crush on him once at one time or another."

"Even you?"

"Well, yeah." Piaoliang shrugged. "For a while I thought he was better than Shen, I'm not ashamed to admit it. But I got over it. Most everyone does. The thing is that even with all women who have ever had an interest in him, he's never had an interest in any of them. It's really interesting that he's shown interest in you."

Kohana's blush deepened. "Shut up! That's so not true!"

"It is!" Piaoliang shoved her gently.

"No!" Kohana shoved back.

"You baby! Admit it!"

As they walked, they got into a shoving fight. Their giggles and yells echoed in the halls as they ran around. Not keeping track of where they were in the palace, they ended up in the hall where Hotohori's chambers were.

Inside Hotohori's room, he and Shen Yuan were having a conversation when they were interrupted by the girls. They looked at each other in confusion, then went into the hallway.

The girls were too busy to notice the men for a moment. But when they saw both men, they sobered up and stood still.

Hotohori raised an eyebrow. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course!" They spoke at the same time. In fact, if it weren't for the difference in eye color and clothing, they could have been the same person.

"Are you sure?" Shen stared at Piaoliang.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." She smiled. Both girls were trying to stifle giggles.

"Never better!" Kohana wrapped her arm around Piaoliang's should. "Now if you'll excuse us. Let's go!" The priestess dragged the maid away from the men and no sooner did they vanish from sight did the laughing and yelling start up again.

Shen was a bit disappointed to see his long time friend run off so fast. Hotohori watched him.

"You haven't told her?"

Shen shook his head. "I don't really plan on it…"

"Why not?"

"I've treated her as my sister for all my life. I didn't think I'd end up falling in love with her. She's always seen me as a brother and friend. Why would that ever change?"

"She's a young woman now. Her feelings can change. Yours certainly have." Hotohori patted his friend's shoulder.

Shen smiled. "Thank you for your words, Hotohori-san. Have you told Lady Kohana of your feelings?"

Hotohori sighed. "No."

"Why?"

"I don't want to make history repeat itself…"

"Excuse me?"

"My grandfather had feeling for his priestess, but she didn't return them. Not in the way he would have liked anyway. He died for her. He never knew my father because of her." Hotohori shook his head. "It's best if I put my feelings out of the way."

"Hotohori, Lady Kohana isn't the miko your grandfather was in love with, nor are you your grandfather. There's always hope."

"Perhaps." Hotohori shrugged.

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Momo tossed some things into her bag. The book was lying on her bed. She was planning on going to find Kohana. 'No one's gonna believe me…so I guess I'll just have to help her myself. Even if we don't particularly get along…I was the one that dragged her up there…I got her there…where ever there is…' She slung the bag over her shoulder and wrote a note to her parents. She needed a quiet place to try and enter the book again.

She headed outside and started walking down the street. It was getting late. No one had seen Kohana since that afternoon. She decided to head back to the library. It was closed, so no one would be around. No sooner did she reach the large pine tree in front of the library, did she hear someone from behind her.

"Momo?" She turned and saw Kohana's brother-in-law. He looked tired.

"H-hi…" She clutched the book behind her.

"Where's Kohana?"

"I…I don't know…"

Tasuki gave her a funny look. "Momo…where is she? You were the last one with her. Ayame's getting very worried."

"I don't know where she is, okay?" She huffed. "I'd tell you if I did though."

Tasuki noticed something she was hiding behind her back. "What's that?"

"What's what?" She backed up.

"What are you hiding?" He reached for her.

"It's nothing." She continued to back up.

"Then why are you hiding it?"

"You're not my father. I don't have to answer to you."

"Let me see Momo." Tasuki grabbed her arm.

"No!" She squirmed around. The book fell from her fingers and landed with a thud.

They both stared at it. Tasuki looked at her again. "Where'd you find that?"

"None of your business!" She grabbed it.

He took a firm hold of it. "Tell me now. Where'd you find this book?"

"What's it matter to you?"

Tasuki sighed. "Kohana's in there, isn't she?"

Momo stared at him in shock. "Wha-what?"

"Answer the question. Kohana's in there isn't she?"

Momo bit her lip. "Yes. And I'm going to find her!" Tasuki was so taken aback by her words that he lost his grip on the book.

"What did you say?!"

It was too late though. She opened the book and it began to glow blue. The light engulfed the young red head and she was gone when the light died down.

Tasuki hissed. "Shit…" He picked up the book. "You gotta be kidding me…" He read a few pages and there was no doubt in his mind Kohana was in the book, fulfilling her destiny. "Ayame will not be happy about this…" He closed the book and tucked it under his arm. He was going to head home and try to explain things to his wife, but then stopped. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

~Hello?~

"Amiboshi…it's me."

~Hey Tasuki. Did you find Kohana? What's up?~

"Nothing good…"

~Did something happen to Kohana?~

"Yes…and that Momo girl."

There was a pause on the other end. ~What…what happened?~

"Remember when Tai Itsukun said Kohana would become a priestess?"

~Oh no…~

"I see I don't have to say anything else…"

~Do you have the book?~

"Yeah…Momo just went in to find Kohana. I couldn't stop her."

~What color was the light?~

"Blue."

~Dammit…~

"Exactly."

~What are you going to tell Ayame?~

"Damned if I know. She'll kill me when she finds out I knew."

~Then don't tell her you knew.~

"I can't lie to my wife. She's pregnant."

~Want me to come over? Maybe the two of us would be better.~

"Yeah. Bring Ruri too. If Ayame goes off on me, Ruri might be able to calm her down.~

~Alright. We'll come over. Want us to pick you up?~

"Yeah…I'm at the library…"

~Alright. See you soon.~

"Right…" Tasuki hung up and stared at the book. "Are you really worth all the trouble?"

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Kohana tossed and turned in her bed. Sleep wouldn't come. Every time she closed her eyes she'd see her sister and brother or Ruri and Amiboshi or her niece and nephews or some other person that made her want to go home. She was afraid to close her eyes for fear of who would show up next.

She threw back her covers in disgust and left her room. Maybe a walk would make her tired enough to go to sleep despite her homesickness. She tightened the belt on her robes and slipped on a pair of shoes.

The moon was nearly full and lanterns around the palace kept her from getting completely lost.

Her first thought was to look for a midnight snack. It used to help her fall asleep. Then she realized she'd have to go past Tamahome's room to get to the kitchen. She didn't want to risk waking him up. He wouldn't make things any better.

So she headed in the other direction towards the gardens. 'I wonder if I spend to much time there…' But she pushed the thought from her mind and went anyway.

She paid no attention to whether or not anyone else was there and sat on the rail in the gazebo. She stared up and the moon and stars. 'So much brighter here than back home…' She wished she hadn't thought that. Tears came to her eyes at the thought of home. She swallowed hard and sighed.

A loud voice broke her train of thought. "Who's there?!"

It scared the crap out of her. She tumbled off the railing to the floor of the gazebo, landing with a dull thud and covered her head with her hands. She could see someone standing in the darkness with their hand on what looked like the handle of a sword. "Don't hurt me!" She squeak, too scared to say anything else.

She tried to curl herself into a smaller ball when she heard approaching footsteps. "Kohana?" A hand touched her arm.

Her muscled tensed and she peeked through her fingers. She immediately relaxed. Hotohori was crouched over her, looking as though he was holding in a laugh. "Uh…good evening?" She slowly lowered her arms.

He smiled and helped her up. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you."

"I…I'm fine." She took a deep breath. She tried to calm down. Her heart stopped racing, but now she had the tears to worry about.

"What are you doing up this late?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd take a walk. Why are you up?"

"The middle of the night if usually the only time I have to myself."

"Oh. Okay. I'll leave if you want some time alone." She straightened out her robe.

"No. Don't." He cursed himself when he grabbed her arm. He'd promised himself he wouldn't do anything like that. He didn't want to fall for her anymore than he already had.

Kohana blushed. "Uh…okay…" She stood still. It was then that Hotohori noticed her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Were you crying?"

"What? No. Not me. Just…something was in my eye and it hurt…" She rubbed her eyes, trying to make her story look better."

"Kohana, what's wrong?" He looked worried.

She turned away from him. "It's nothing important."

"If it makes you cry I think it is."

"Well…I just…I couldn't sleep. And I was gonna get something to eat, it used to help me go to sleep. But then I didn't want to wake Tamahome up so I came here…and then you accidentally scared me…"

"Why didn't you want to wake Tamahome up?"

"Because he drives me insane."

"He drives you insane?"

"Yeah. Every single friggin' time I see him he asks me about where I'm from. I don't want to think about it right now!" She clenched her fists and swallowed again. "I don't want to think about home!"

It dawned on Hotohori what she meant. "You're homesick…"

"Yes! And he doesn't understand that!" Her tears were starting to fall. "When I think about my sister and my brother and my little nephew I just…I wanna go home dammit!" She held onto the rail for support. "He thinks he's being nice or something when he's only making me miserable!" She let out a sob. "There are only so many people I'll cry in front of and he's not one of them."

"Have you told him you want him to stop asking or that you're homesick?"

"No. I don't feel comfortable telling him my feelings. He wouldn't understand."

"But you feel comfortable around me?" He inched closer to her.

Kohana took a deep breath and attempted to hide a blush. "Well…yes…you don't try to force things out of me…I feel comfortable letting you know how I feel. I feel closer to you than I do to him. I don't know what it is about you…"

He smiled. It was like some weight had left his shoulders. "Kohana?"

"Yeah?" She wiped her tears away.

"Where do you see yourself in the future?"

She looked at him for a moment confused. "Well, I'd like to think I'd be happily married to the man of my dreams…a couple of kids maybe…I dunno."

"Do you think you'd know that man if you met him?"

"Maybe…I think…never mind…"

"What?" They weren't standing very far from each other at this moment.

"Never mind. It's silly." She shook her head.

"Please?" He smiled kindly at her.

She blushed. "Well…don't laugh…but when I was 6, I asked my older sister what it's like to fall in love and meet that person you'll spend the rest of your life with…she said you just know. Maybe not the first time you meet them, but you'll know sometime. And I think if I meet that person…I'll just…you know…know." She looked up at him, waiting for him to laugh at the idea.

He didn't. He continued to smile. "It's a nice thought."

"Do you have any thoughts on love?"

"Emperors don't marry for love."

"Emperors can do what they want." She smiled.

"Not always." He murmured. "Have you ever felt that you've meet that person?"

She found herself trapped by his soft golden eyes again. "Just once." She murmured back.

"When?" He slowly began to close the distance between their lips.

"Now." She whispered and let him embrace her. He gently pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes fluttered shut and he became her world. There was nothing else at that moment.

He was absolutely intoxicated by her scent. It was the same as when he had held her bandana in his hands. He loved it. His hope lived again now that he knew she had strong feelings for him as well.

He slowly released her. She stared up at him with wide eyes, wondering if he had really just kissed her. She'd never had a kiss like that. She'd had a couple of boyfriends that she cared for dearly, but neither of them had ever made her feel the way Hotohori just had.

"Kohana…" He whispered. "If you go home to visit, would you come back?" He held her right hand in his left.

"Y…yes…I said I'd be your priestess…I meant it." Her head was still spinning.

"We'll begin looking into getting you home in the morning."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Can you get back to your room all right?"

"Can you walk me back?

"Of course."

Still hand in hand, Hotohori led Kohana back to her room.

"Thanks again."

"I'm here for you Kohana."

"I know."

She was a bit sad when her walk with him ended. She knew she was falling in love with him. She felt something when she was around him that just felt right.

She gave him a hug before he left her alone. She closed her door and went back to her bed. She sighed and stared at the ceiling. She felt a lot better than she had about half an hour before hand.

Her homesickness was still there, but it didn't seem so bad anymore. 'Homesickness isn't always bad…I did just get the greatest kiss of my life…' She smiled to herself and sleep claimed her almost immediately.

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So how's it looking? I need completely honest feed back people. Don't sugar coat! If it sucks really bad, tell me and tell me how to fix it. Please?

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~