Disclaimer: Kohana, Momo, Piaoliang Feng, Shen Yuan, Naraku, An Hua, Ayame and Ruri are my characters. The personalities and looks of the new seishi are mine.

Red Wings of Fate

Chapter 16: Waves of Emotion

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

~Conversations between twins~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An Hua sat on her brother's bed as he packed up his clothes. "Ni-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I come too? Please?" She hugged her doll.

"It's too dangerous An. I'd feel better if you were here."

"Please? You always get to do the cool stuff! I wanna go on a 'venture too!" She pouted. "I wanna talk to the pirates some more!"

"We're not going to see the pirates to talk. We have to find a…cure for the priestesses…"

"Could I come if I stay with Kohana-ne-chan and her friend?" She pulled at her brother's sleeve. "Come on. If they wake up, someone's gotta 'splain what's goin' on!"

Nuriko opened his mouth to protest, but he had to admit she was right. If they succeeded in freeing the girls, they'd probably wake up before they could return. They couldn't afford to leave anyone behind. An understood what was going on better than the pirates did so she'd be able to explain. "Okay, okay An. You win…you can come but only if you swear you will stay on Tasuki's ship. Do you promise?"

"Yeah! Pinky swear!" She held out her little finger.

"What?"

"Kohana-ne-chan said you pinky swear when you really promise to do something. She made me promise when we took…" She stopped talking. "Never mind."

"When you took what?" He eyed her carefully.

"Never mind. Can't tell." She grinned.

Nuriko wanted to press further, but he knew An wouldn't talk if she didn't want to. "Okay. I can tell you won't fess up to anything so I'll just leave it." He held out his little finger to his sister. "Pinky swear you'll stay with the priestesses?"

"Yeah!" She hooked her little finger with her brother's and hugged him. "Thanks Ni-chan! I'll go get ready!" She took off before Nuriko could even take another breath to talk.

An ran past Ashitare, nearly knocking him over. He stuck his head in Nuriko's room. "Was that happy, little blur your sister?"

"Yep."

"Should I ask why she's so happy?"

"She asked if she could come along. I told her she could come if she stayed with the priestesses."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"You wanna tell her otherwise?"

"Good point." Ashitare nodded.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nakago watched everyone standing around in the throne room. They were waiting for Chichiri to finish gathering her things from her room. She raised an eyebrow questioningly when she saw An Hua come in with Nuriko.

"What's wrong, Nakago?" Soi looked over at her.

"Are they bringing her with?"

Soi shrugged. "I've heard she's very convincing."

Nakago blew a stand of hair out of her face. "He's putting her in danger."

"Would you like to tell my sister she can't come? Because you can sure as hell try, but it won't do any good." Nuriko overheard Nakago and walked over to her.

"I can't believe you're bringing a 12-year-old child with us."

"Like I said you're welcome to try to convince her otherwise."

"Fine. I don't see how hard it is to tell her she can't come."

An overheard Nakago and Soi's conversation and walked over. "Tell me what?"

Nakago looked down at An, ready to tell her to stay in the palace, but when she looked, she couldn't. "Why do you want to come with us?"

"'Cause I wanna see the pirates." An folded her arms stubbornly.

"The pirates? That's what this is about?" She asked incredulously

"Well…" She shuffled her feet around. "I wanna stay with Kohana-ne-chan for when you guys beat up Naraku…I miss her…"

"So you don't care about how dangerous it is? Naraku can show up wherever she wants." Nakago almost felt bad about wanting to tell An she should stay in the palace.

An looked Nakago straight in the eye. "I don't. And my big brother'll help me if anything happens."

"You're very stubborn you know that?" Nakago crossed her arms.

An grinned widely. "I get it from him." She pointed to her brother.

"Then there really is no changing your mind…" She rolled her eyes.

An giggled. "Nope."

Nuriko rolled his eyes. "Come on then An…let's leave them alone."

Nakago shook her head in disbelief and looked at Soi. "I've been stopped by a 12-year-old haven't I?"

"Well…yes." He smiled. "I wouldn't worry though. She seems to have gotten to a lot of people. Like Ashitare." He gestured to the other side of the room where An was with Ashitare in dog form. She was small enough to ride on his back like a horse. Ashitare didn't look very unhappy either. He'd become very accustomed to An and took everything she dished out in stride.

"I'm going soft." She muttered under her breath.

"No one faults you for it." Soi remarked. Nakago only responded with a noncommittal snort.

"Alright people, are we ready?" Chichiri finally entered the room. Everyone nodded. "Okay, everyone stay close. The last thing I need is to lose someone." She closed her eyes. "Oh, I'm going to need such a nap after this…" She then started casting the large teleportation spell.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tasuki stood at the bow of the boat, looking into the port town. She smiled when she saw a bright flash of light and a large group of people appear.

"They here?" Ryuuchi stood next her.

"Yeah. All of 'em." She looked over at him. "Ready to deal with the Seiryuu seishi?"

"Nah, but I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope." She walked over to the side of the boat and began to lower the boarding ramp. "They're not too hard to deal with."

"I'll take your word for it. You've been around them more."

One by one, the seishi came up onto the boat. Hotohori and Suboshi carried the unconscious priestesses with them. Tasuki told them to take the girls to her room. Miboshi was very quiet as she looked around.

She looked at the sail with curiosity. As she expected, there was a detailed drawing of a phoenix on the main sail. What confused her was the color. The sails were all blue. She glanced at some of the pirates walking by, preparing to set sail. Every one of them wore small pendants in the shape of Seiryuu.

"Somethin' wrong?" Tasuki tapped Miboshi on the shoulder.

She turned and saw Tasuki wearing the same pendant. "What's with the…?" She absently pointed to the necklace.

"This? Well, Seiryuu is the god of water, not Suzaku." She adjusted the necklace. "If we're in trouble, it ain't gonna do any good to pray to the god of fire huh? We do what saves us."

"But you're a Suzaku seishi…"

"The pirates have been praying to Seiryuu for safety long before I came around." She shrugged. "It's worked for a long time, so why change?"

Miboshi shrugged and let the mater go.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hours later, the wind was good, the ship was far out to sea and land was nowhere in sight. Chiriko smiled to herself as she walked down the deck. Her hair whipped around her face as she desperately tried to keep it down. "Hmmm, at this rate, we might make it faster than Tasuki thought." As she happily walked along, she heard someone quietly swearing.

A voice mumbled. "Seiryuu forbid anyone finds me like this…"

Chiriko looked around the corner and saw Tomo leaning over the rail, moaning. "What? The all mighty warrior of Seiryuu seasick? So much for the water."

He turned and looked at her. His face was slightly green. "Oh shit…of all the people to find me…" Chiriko burst out laughing. "Leave me alone. As you can see, I'm not doing too well here." He groaned and doubled over the rail.

"I just find it funny that a Seiryuu warrior hates water." She patted him on the back.

He growled at her. "Well laugh it up then."

She quickly pulled back her hand. "Well, jeez…sorry!" She turned away from him.

He let out a long sigh. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped, but I'm sick. What do you want from me?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Well, I want…"

"Oh please don't start…" He groaned.

She looked thoughtful. "I want someone to love."

Tomo moved away from the rail. "I need a quieter place to hurl…"

Chiriko leaned on the rail close to where Tomo had just been. "What about you?

"What do you mean, 'What about me?'"

"If you could have anything, what would you ask for?"

He regarded her and her question carefully. "I dunno. I've never thought about it."

She stared down at the water. "Sorry…I've just been thinking about well…" Her voice lowered even more. "If we die…"

"Hey…don't think like that…"

She gave him a funny look. "Why do you care? You're the one who said I don't have any real power…"

He lowered his eyes to the deck. "Well…that doesn't mean you should go thinking about dying…"

"Well anyway…" She straightened up. "Have you asked Mitsukake for some medicine yet?"

Tomo gripped the rail for support. "No…I've been to sick to move very far from here…could you go?" He looked hopeful.

"I could…" She moved closer to him and put his arm around him.

"You could, but you won't right? Or you're going to ask for something."

She looked confused. "Huh?"

"Well, you said you could but you trailed off. That's pretty much a sure sign something else is coming."

"If you want me to be an ass, I can." She moved away from him, rather annoyed.

He let out the most pathetic moan she'd ever heard. "No please don't. I'm sorry. Please help me…"

"It's nice to know that you have confidence in me." She put an arm around him again.

"So you'll get Mitsukake?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm gonna get the local shaman! Of course I am! But you're coming too." She tugged at him.

"But I can barely walk!"

She let out an exasperated moan. "Fine. I'll go get him." She started walking away. "But you owe me!"

"Okay, okay, I owe you!" He waved her off and leaned over the rail again.

As she disappeared around a corner, Ryuuchi appeared. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He looked up at the sky and moaned. "Why can't the world leave me alone? I'm seasick, what's it look like."

"I know. And I've seen worse. I meant why'd you act like you hate that girl?"

He blushed. "Act, who's acting? I can't stand her!"

He cocked his head to the side. "I thought you two were lovers."

His eyes widened. "L-l-lovers!? Me and her, are you blind?! We do nothing but fight!"

"So you don't like her? At all?"

His blush deepened. "N-no!"

He smirked. "You know, if I didn't have Tasuki, I'd probably be looking at her."

Tomo bit his lower lip. "What exactly are you saying?"

"Oh come on, you don't think she's cute? I think she's got a thing for you. Can't imagine why…" Ryuuchi rolled his eyes. "You aren't gay are you?"

Tomo's entire face turned bright red. "I am not! She's just not my type okay?"

"Whatever." He walked off. "Hope you get over that seasickness."

Chiriko reappeared. "Hey Tomo!" She bumped into Ryuuchi. "Oops. Sorry."

He smiled. "No problem." He walked off.

"So what did Mitsukake say?"

"Um, take this when you feel sick and don't take too many otherwise you'll really be sick." She handed him a bottle.

He managed a smile. "Thanks. Thanks a lot."

She smiled back. "No problem." She sat on the deck and leaned on the rail.

"Well…I'm gonna try and get some sleep…maybe later I'll be able to keep dinner down." He began to walk away on wobbly legs.

"You uh…need some help?"

He sighed. "Though my pride says no…I have to admit I do…"

She laughed. "How the mighty do fall." She helped him stand up straight and walked him too his room.

"Thanks again. And I'm sorry for being such an ass."

"Well, we didn't get off to the best start." They arrived at his room and she opened the door. "Wanna try again?"

"Maybe after I'm feeling better. I think I'm still liable to snap at you for something stupid."

"Okay…maybe tomor-Oh shit!" She suddenly tripped over something.

Tomo reacted pretty quickly for being so sick and caught her. "You okay?"

She blushed. 'Yeah…I think so." 'I'm just soooo graceful. I wonder how much of a freak he thinks I am now.'

Tomo couldn't seem to bring himself to let her go. "Well umm…that's good…"

Chiriko was getting slightly uncomfortable. "Ummm…I think I should go…"

He blushed and let her go. "Yeah, sure. S-sorry."

She was still blushing. "No sorry…I'm bad at…walking…oh that came out so wrong…" She lowered her eyes.

Tomo chuckled softly. "I won't hold it against you."

She rolled her eyes. "Like hell you won't." Then she smiled. "Well, I hope you get better soon."

"Thanks. I think I will." He walked into his room.

"Umm…bye…" She closed the door and walked away.

"Bye…" 'Yee gods…I'm talking to a door…'

Chiriko wrapped her arms around her midsection where Tomo caught her. "Please don't tell me I've lost my mind at my age…" She shook her head and walked back to her room.

Tomo paced back and forth in his room. 'I wonder where I could find a rose…' He paused. 'Wait…why am I worrying about it? It's not like I like her or anything…though Ryuuchi is right. She's pretty cute…' He ran his fingers through his hair. 'Argh! What am I saying?!' He sighed and dropped to the bed. "I blame the seasickness…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Daylight came and went with no major problems. Before Nakago went to her room to go to sleep, she stopped in Tasuki's room to see Momo. Nakago didn't know whether or not to be worried about her. The priestesses' breath was shallow and their skin extremely pale, but they'd been like that the entire time. There was no change so although they weren't getting better, they weren't getting worse either.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. She didn't like Momo in the least. They always fought with each other, they screamed cruel things at each other, they never agreed on anything, yet Nakago couldn't stand seeing her like this.

The Momo lying on the bed in front of her wasn't the Momo she had come to know. She didn't really like admitting it, but she had some to see Momo almost as a sister she had never had. Momo was one of the few people that wasn't afraid of her. It was actually nice to argue rather than have people give up and agree with her immediately.

She laid her hand against Momo's cheek. Her skin was frigid. Nakago took a blanket and laid it over Momo's body. "I hope you're happy…you've actually gotten me to worry about you. You'll never let it go once you wake up will you?"

Nakago then looked over at Kohana. She looked pretty much the same as Momo, lifeless and hopeless. "I'm supposed to be your enemy…yet look at me…I'm here helping to save you…" She found another blanket and laid it over the other priestess. "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore…"

She sighed and left the room, closing the door behind her. As she walked, she undid the clasp on her cape and draped it over her arm. Once she entered her room, she dropped the cape into a heap on the floor. She sat on her bed, kicked off her boots and let out a long sigh. She took a book off her table and began to read. After a few pages, she put down the book and sighed.

"Something wrong Nakago?"

Nakago looked up and saw Soi in her doorway. "I'm not sure…"

"Not sure?"

"No…close the door and come here. I need someone to talk to."

He did as he was told and approached her bed. "I'm always here for you."

"I know." She sat up and folded her legs, giving him more space to sit down.

"So what's bothering you?"

"I was in the priestesses' room just now…" Nakago sighed again. "I can't stand seeing them like this."

"Is that a bad thing? None of us like seeing the girls like this."

"I know…but I thought I hated them both. Momo and I haven't gotten along from the start and I was always taught to hate Suzaku's people, but I can't find it in myself to follow those teachings…I don't understand why either."

Soi gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "Welcome back to humanity. I knew you'd come around."

Nakago stared at Soi's hand on hers. "I didn't think I was ever there…"

"Everyone is. Whether you like it or not."

"Maybe…" Nakago looked up at Soi. "Soi?"

"Hmm?" He moved closer to her.

"What's your real name?"

"My real name?" He looked at the ground. He was quiet for a while. "I don't remember…it was always Demon-Brat or Hell Spawn until people actually figured out I'm a seishi…I might not have had a real name…"

"Then pick one. Name yourself."

Soi was quiet for a long time. Nakago waited in silence with him. "Rai…" He soon whispered.

"Simple, but fitting." She smiled.

"Do you remember your name?" The smile disappeared from her face. Another silence filled the room. She closed her eyes as Soi wrapped his arms around her. "I shouldn't have asked, should I? I'm sorry."

She stayed quiet in his arms for a moment. "Sachiko…my mother called me Sachiko…"

"Sachiko…" He murmured softly.

"It sounds better when you say it." The smile returned to her face.

He kissed her deeply. "Then I'll call you that more often."

She returned his kiss shyly at first, then much more forcefully. "I love you Rai…" She whispered in a breathy voice.

"And I love you Sachiko." Soi ran his fingers through her hair.

Nakago held him close. "I can't believe I just said that."

"You don't want to take it back do you?"

"No…no I don't…" Her hands slipped down to his waistband and she tugged at his shirt.

Soi began to kiss her neck and collarbone. "What do you want?"

"I want…I want the pain to go away…I want to live again…with you…" She blushed. "Again…I'm saying things that don't sound like me…"

Soi chuckled and continued to kiss her as he lowered her down to the bed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So ya over the seasickness, ya little wuss?" Ashitare slapped Tomo on the back.

"I am not a wuss!" Tomo shoved back.

"Oh please, we weren't out here for more than an hour when you ran off puking." He laughed. "You only feel better cause your little girlfriend was willing to help you."

"What girlfriend?" He snapped.

"Chiriko, duh." He laughed again. "Ryuuchi told me about how you needed to get her help."

"That little rat…" Tomo growled.

"Hey, lighten up. No one's gonna yell at you for liking her."

"But I don't like her!"

"She tripped, you caught her and wouldn't let go. I saw you. Don't try and weasel out of the truth."

Tomo turned bright red as they walked down the hall. "Shut up!"

"Man, you should have heard An when she saw it too. She thinks it's the cutest damn thing she's ever seen. I thought I was gonna puke, but hey she's a little kid."

"Don't you ever shut up?! I don't wanna hear about it!" He clamped his hands over his ears.

Ashitare laughed at him again. "You're a wuss you know that?"

"I am not!" Tomo hissed. "If you don't stop talking about Chiriko and me, I'll tell An you want to play dress up tomorrow!"

"You little son of a…you wouldn't dare!" Ashitare's eyes widened. "An's a sweet kid and all, but I cannot stand dress up! Anything but dress up!" Tomo laughed out loud. "You sir, play dirty."

"And I greatly enjoy it." He gave Ashitare a mocking bow.

"Oh you better start running Tomo…" Ashitare ran at Tomo.

Tomo let out a squeak and started running. Chiriko heard them run past her door and sighed. She heard them yelling at each other but she couldn't understand any of what they said.

"Boys will be boys…" She said as ran her fingers through her hair. "Man…I look like a boy. I should let this grow out…"

She walked away from the small mirror and changed her clothes for bed. Then there was a knock at her door. "Come in."

The door opened and Miboshi came in. "You're not busy are you?"

"Not really. What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize to you for Tomo."

"What? Why?"

"I know he can be a jackass sometimes. I had to come to the Kutou capital with him from you know, the country and wow, was I ready to kill him by the time we got there." She laughed. "But he's not so bad once you hang around him for awhile."

"What makes you think I'd hang around him long enough to have him be nice to me?"

"You like him don't you? And he likes you." She noticed Chiriko's confused face. "What? You haven't noticed?"

"He's always mad at me or making fun of me for something. That is not a sign he likes me." She shook her hair out of her face.

"Yes it is! Guys always do that to the girls they like."

"Did Suboshi do that to Momo?"

"Yeah. They were pretty mean to each other for a while."

"Fine. Did Hotohori do that to Kohana?" She crossed her arms.

"Well, probably not…" She sighed. "Fine, fine…I shouldn't say guys always do that…but a lot of them do."

"Well, even if he does like me, which he doesn't, I don't like him."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Really sure?"

"Yeah…" She let out an annoyed snort.

"Really really sure?"

"Yes! I could never like a cute jackass like him!"

"Aha!" Miboshi grinned.

"'Aha' what?"

"You said he was cute! I knew you liked something about him!"

"No I don't! And I did not say he was cute!"

"Yes, you did! You called him a cute jackass!" Miboshi laughed.

"No way!"

"You so did!"

"I did not!" Chiriko blushed.

"Then why are you blushing?" Miboshi pointed at a mirror.

"I am not!" Chiriko covered her cheeks with her hands. "It's just hot in here."

"Oh you are such a little liar!" Miboshi giggled.

"Chiriko! Miboshi! What is going on in here?" Hotohori knocked on Chiriko's door.

"Chiriko won't admit she likes Tomo!"

"Oh my God! Miboshi, shut up!" Chiriko whipped a pillow at her.

Hotohori smiled. "You can argue about that in the morning. Some of us would like to sleep tonight."

"Okay. I'll go to my room." Miboshi cast a glance at Chiriko. "You so know I'm right."

"Oh shut up. You are not."

Miboshi rolled her eyes and laughed again as she left Chiriko's room. Hotohori looked at Chiriko.

"What?" Chiriko asked nervously.

"Well, do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Do you like him?"

"N-no!" Her face flushed.

"If you say so…"

"Oh, not you too Hotohori!" She raked her fingers through her hair. "I don't like him!"

"Okay, okay." Hotohori held his hands up in defense. "I won't push it."

"Thank you." Chiriko muttered through her teeth.

"Good night Chiriko."

"Hotohori?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Kohana will like me? I mean, we haven't met yet…"

"I think you two will get along fine. There aren't too many people Kohana doesn't get along with."

"I hope I get to actually meet her soon."

"I'm sure you will. I believe we will be able to rescue them soon."

"Good night Hotohori."

"Good night Chiriko."

Chiriko blew out her lamp and got into bed. After a time, she drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Okay…I'm a little uncomfortable with that fade to black love scene…was it okay? If nobody likes it, I can take it out. It seems awkward to me, but I always think what I write is bad or awkward or something to that degree.

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~