Disclaimers: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi.

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Narrator's POV

"No! Don't do it Takiko! You don't belong there!" Einosuke Okuda yelled to his precious daughter, silently praying to any god listening that she wouldn't go into that garden.

"B-but... Mother... Mother is there..." Takiko whispered, more to herself than to her father. Something was pulling her towards the strange garden, she didn't know what. Slowly, cautiously, she took a small step towards it. Her body seemed to move on it's own as she put one foot in front of the other, moving slowly but surely towards the garden.

"Takiko! STOP!" She did as her father asked, hesitantly. "Don't go there. Can't you see? So many people will be hurt if you die! Think about it. Me... Your friends at school... Suzuno... Those people in that stupid book... We'll all care if you die! You can't... You can't go over there. Because if you do... I'll lose you forever!"

Takiko looked back at the break in the where she could see her father. Slowly, right before her eyes, the image began to fade, as did her father's voice.

"No! Father! Come back!" She cried, frightened. Instead, a new image appeared. At first, the image was blurry and she couldn't make out anything in it. Then, it cleared and and an image of Suzuno appeared. She was writing in her diary and as she wrote, she murmured what she was writing to herself so quietly that Takiko could barely hear her.

"--iko's been out of school for a week now. I'm worried. How long is her cold going to last, anyway? And her father won't even let me see her. He's hiding something. He thinks that I don't notice, but I do. I'm--" The image faded and was replaced by a new one. She was lying on a soft bed and Tomite was on his knees bedside her, holding her hand. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept for several days. He was... praying? But... why? Why would Tomite be praying? Takiko moved closer to the picture and listened closely, trying to hear what he was murmuring. He was praying for her! He was praying to Genbu for her to be all right! But... She felt fine. Better than she had in a long time. Her eyes fell to herself lying stiffly on the bed beside Tomite. She looked as if she was sleeping. 'But... But I'm awake... Aren't I?' She thought, even more scared than she had been before.

T-T-Tomite... Tomite, what's going on? She asked him, hoping that he would answer like her father had. But he didn't. It was like he hadn't even heard her. But he had to of heard me, right? My father did, so why isn't Tomite?'

"W-Wh-What am I going g to do?" She asked herself in a quivering voice. But before she could get any answers, the image faded again. The images began to move faster now.

Hikitsu and Uruki's grandfather having a worried whisper conference.

The emperor talking to some of his advisors about the latest movements of the Kutou army.

Namame pacing in front of a closed door muttering about how he wished that she and the other members of the Genbu Seishi would get back soon.

Iname and Hatsui standing outside that room that she had seen Tomite in earlier; peering in worriedly.

Umiyame was in the forest that Takiko realized was close to Uruki's home village, hitting a dummy of Miboshi over and over again with her staff, sweat dripping down her neck and back, soaking her worn clothes.

She didn't know how long she sat there, watching the images fly by. When they stopped, the space that they had been in was filled with fog once again. But at least she knew knew one thing. She wanted to go home! Whether it be to her world or to the book world, for both had become her home. She wanted to live. Takiko stood and ran into the thick fog, trying to get away from the garden. But as she ran, the garden almost seemed to follow her. The more she ran, the closer it got. She didn't know it, but the closer the garden got to her, the closer she got to death. Suddenly, she felt warmth and strength fill her. It was almost as if Tomite was there with her, helping her flee from death...

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Tomite's POV

Takiko was dying. Even I could tell that. So I did the only thing that I could do to help her. I leaned over her and kissed her soft lips, giving her my chi. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. I quickly pulled back, blushing, but relieved that it had worked. I had been worried that it wouldn't. Or worse that it would make everything worse.

"T-T-Tomite?" She stuttered. I hugged her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go. I couldn't believe that I had almost lost her. Suddenly, I felt a bit of wetness on my shirt and realized that Takiko was shaking in my arms. I pulled back, surprised, and saw that she was crying.

"Takiko! What's wrong?" I asked, wordily.

I... It's just... I was just so scared!" The tears began to stream down her face once again, like a small river or stream.

"What is it? What scared you?" I asked, but she was distressed to answer me. So instead of pressing her for answers, I just hugged her and kissed her gently, trying to show her that it was all right and that she wouldn't be hurt or scared again as long as she was with me.

Finally, she calmed down a bit and fell asleep in my arms. I slowly laid her back onto her bed, tucking her in. Then, I left the room, for the first time since she had gotten ill.

Once I was outside that room, I found Iname and Hatsui standing by the door. "How is she?" Asked Hatsui.

"Better... I think..." I replied after a bit of hesitation.

"Really!" Inami cried, a huge smile lighting up his face.

"Yes... She woke up earlier, and she's not rolling around in her sleep as much as she was earlier. Her temperature had gone down too." I didn't tell them the strange things that she had said or how scared she had been when she woke up. If I did, they would ask questions that I didn't know the answers to. Maybe I would tell Hikitsu. He never asked uncomfortable questions. It was one of the reasons I liked him. Also, he knew a lot more about woman than me. I absently wondered if Sora had ever acted strange like Takiko had been when she was alive. Maybe it was something only girls from other worlds did.

I didn't know much about girls. I'd never had any reason to pay attention to them. Now, I wish that I had. Then maybe I'd know what was wrong with Takiko. Or at least how to make her feel better. The strange way that she had acted when she had awaken up had scared me. I sighed. Yes... I'd have to talk to Hikitsu, for more reasons than one. But first, I was going to bed. I hadn't slept at all since Takiko got sick, and now that she was better, I was dead on my feet. I half walked, half crawled, into my bed and had drifted off into a dreamless sleep before my head had even hit the pillow...
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~End of Chapter 26~

This is a really short chapter, isn't it. Oh well. Hm... I suppose that this chapter is a little confusing. I guess that you deserve some explanations. The garden symbolizes heaven. The thing about that garden following Takiko was basically that she was getting closer to death, or heaven. When she was seeing the images in the fog, she was seeing what was really happening because the place that she was in was sort of between dimensions. Her body was really on Earth (that's was what she saw in the image with Tomite), but her soul was in the place in between Earth and heaven. When she felt all that warmth was when Tomite was giving her his chi. Also, the reason that she could talk to her dad and no one else was because she would say something and her father would read what she said in the book. Then, she would hear what he was saying, after all, she heard what all the people in the images were saying.

Hm... I didn't explain it very well, did I? Sorry. It's a pretty confusing chapter. I tried to make things as clear as possible in the chapter. Anyway, please review. More coming soon!