A/N: I'll be going back today… Waaaaaaaaaaay back… I won't keep ranting in this chappie since… well… I don't feel like it… But I also like to comment about something… Why do some people hurt the ones that love them and leave them without even a small portion of guilt weighing them down? Why is it that when some people get tired of someone, they replace them without even looking twice at what they'd feel? La lang! Tripping! But I'm happy right now… hehehe! Umm… As usual, you guys know to whom this story is for… Hey there, Francis, I know you're reading, but please review me… Heheh… Still him, that special guy…
Yume Ai: Sorry 'bout her grim mood today, she's still affected by that you-know-what.
PH: I… I… I…
Yume Ai: You see, she's practically stricken dumb… Anywayz, here's the next chappie!
Disclaimer: Six words… I… DO… NOT… OWN… SHAMAN… KING…
Chapter 7: Back To Before
"Why?"
A girl of about seventeen asked herself as she walked down the staircase gracefully.
Her placid dark eyes, long, straight black hair and milky, unblemished complexion made her look like the finest porcelain doll ever made. She had a gentle aura around her that emphasized her soft features.
She stopped at the foot of the stairs and sighed at the locked main entrance of the mansion, reminding her that she could never set foot behind the door. She went back up and found herself sitting silently on her bed in the solitude of her bedroom.
"Miss Lian?"
Her handmaid, a common Chinese girl named Xiao Li, came in carrying her dinner. She smiled at her sadly and helped her carry the dishes to her personal table facing the widest window of her room. Lian threw back the curtains of the window and sat on a chair. She looked at her food desolately.
"What's wrong, Miss Lian?" Xiao Li asked her mistress in a hushed tone, kneeling on the floor beside her and giving her a comforting look.
Lian looked at her wordlessly and lifted her right hand. The window suddenly flew open and in came a rush of cool spring air. Xiao Li made a small gasp and Lian began talking calmly.
"This…" Lian placed both her hands on the window sill and leaned over, as if breathing the air for the first time, "This is what I want. I want to see the world, Xiao Li! I want to go out and do the things I want to do! I want to see the world!"
"But Miss Lian…" Xiao Li tried to reason out, but Lian only kept on talking.
"I want to be free!" Lian started to jump on the bed ecstatically, "I want to be who I want to be! No more of these dreadful shoes-" she took off her ridiculously small Chinese shoes "No more of these absurdly rigorous trainings-" she kicked a pile of books "AND NO MORE RULES! I'LL BE FREE!"
"LIAN!"
"Oh no…" Xiao Li whispered meekly in the corner.
"Get off of there!" Lian's mother, the Mistress of the house was a very strict woman, especially on the concept of acting like a lady.
"I'm sorry, mother," Lian got down the bed and looked at the ground.
"Sorry doesn't cut it!" her mother placed a nasty slap on her cheek, "Stand straight! Chin up! And stop crying! You are a TAO, Lian, and you will not act that way again, do you understand?"
"Yes, mother," Lian mumbled, forcing back her tears.
"Good," her mother slammed the door without another word.
"Miss Lian…" Xiao Li placed an arm around her.
"It's going to be tonight, Xiao Li," Lian said bravely, "I'm busting out and you're going to help me!"
"Uh… No, I'm-" Xiao Li started to protest, but Lian had already tied her bed sheets together.
"Listen, you are going to pose for me on the bed, like I'm sleeping or something," Lian told her, "I'll be back in a while, just don't get caught, ok?"
"But, Miss Lian, what if I get caught?" Xiao Li asked nervously.
"Please, Xiao-Xiao…" Lian grasped both her hands, "Please do this for me… We are best friends, aren't we?"
"Yes we are, Li…" Xiao Li gave her mistress a hug, "Go now, before that dreadful woman comes back."
To make the long escape short, Lian climbed down the window and snuck out the huge gate, wearing a cloak over her head. Xiao Li watched from atop on her window and sighed.
"I'm free!" She started to run into the forest, laughing along as she did so.
The night was cold and the ground bore into her bare feet, but she didn't mind, all that was in her mind was to escape the hell she had been through. It was a good thing that she took her feet-binding shoes, or else the adventure would be thrice as painful to her feet. Stones cut into her soles so hard, that she decided it was time to use her special abilities. She uttered a small prayer and she was lifted up the ground and above the tree-tops.
The wind in her face was glorious. Everything her eyes beheld was a new discovery, a new treat for her. She heard the sounds the wind calling out her name in the darkness and she saw the stars twinkle merrily for her. The symphony of the night proved to be quite a delight, with the crickets chirping their violins, the birds tweeting with their lovely voices, the trees rustling with their leaves for harps and every other creature was bequeathed with an instrument to play for her amusement. She joined them with her gay laughter echoing with every note.
In the distance, she spotted a big patch of light coming from the tree trunks. She picked up speed and landed just beside the patch of light. She saw that it was a primitive village of some kind of indigenous tribe. They were laughing and talking to each other, eating their spoils for the day. There were, as Lian estimated, about ten families in the bunch. One of the boys looked into the darkness and was smiling at her. He nodded for her to come nearer. Something in the boy's gentle dark eyes made her trust him. Picking up her courage, she decided to step out of the darkness and into the light of a big bonfire in the middle of the village.
"Um… hello…" she smiled at the people before her, short, sturdy and heavily tattooed people.
The people only looked at her in confusion, not understanding a word of her Mandarin-Chinese. One of the boys in the group approached her. Unlike the others, he wasn't that heavily tattooed and was smiling at her.
"It's ok, she's my friend!" the boy yelled to his companions in a strange language that Lian didn't understand.
The boy took Lian by the hand and led her closer to the bonfire. She as greeted by everyone in the village and was offered a magnificent meal of dog salmon garnished with some herbs. She found out how famished she was and started to devour the food. She didn't understand a word they were saying, but she was laughing with them. The boy who saved her kept glancing her way.
The evening meal was soon finished and the people prepared to go to sleep. She thanked them and started walking away, but the boy that had saved her held on to her shoulder. She turned to him and he smiled, beckoning her to stay with him for a little while. He took her hand and led her away from the village and into a clearing where a huge waterfall was found. Not only that, there were fireflies everywhere, making the scene look like there had been a shower of shooting stars that landed there.
"It's beautiful," she muttered and the boy nodded happily.
"I, Kino," he pointed to himself, speaking awkward Chinese, "You?"
"Lian," she smiled, "Where did you learn Chinese?"
"I hear when I go big house," he pointed to the direction of Lian's home, "You there?"
"Yes," Lian nodded, "I ran."
"No," Kino put on a sad face, "You go away from me? You stay. Stay?"
"Yes, I'll stay."
"This is beautiful friend."
"Yeah, the beginning of a beautiful friendship, I heard that line before."
For the next six months, Lian went back to the old village every night, dining with what they called the Ainu. They accepted her as one of their own now and they were what she considered as her family. She had learned their language and they learned hers. She also saw more of Kino and was caring for him more and more with each passing day. One night, Kino had finally popped those three words to her.
"I love you, Lian."
The joy inside them was barely contained when Kino said those words. Each was feeling the same way for the other and was dreaming of what the future may bring. And sometimes, the bottled-up passion between them cannot be restricted any longer. And it was that one single night that Lian failed to come home on the same time she usually did. It was one time that they lost themselves to the pleasure of seeing heaven for the first time. (A/N: You know what I mean! Now, don't let me go to the details, ok!)
It took nine months of solitude for Lian. Her mother barely saw her and she was cooped up in the attic with Xiao Li most of the time. She didn't even go out to see Kino anymore. However, those efforts paid off with a baby boy named Miko. He was kept in secret in the attic with Xiao Li attending to him 24/7. His mother returned to the Ainu village and told his father the good news. Kino was, as we all know, delighted and so ecstatic that he practically woke up the whole village. The two had to go to their little firefly paradise to get privacy.
"This is very pleasing! I ignore that you not see me, I understand," Kino hugged her tightly, "You not tell me before, Lian. Why?"
"I wanted it to be at the right time," Lian beamed at him, " I'm sorry. Anyway, I'll bring him to you once we get our affairs in order."
"I marry you, Lian," Kino took Lian's hand and placed a broken-heart necklace made out of a precious star-ruby that gleamed in the sunlight, "I promise I take Miko and Lian out of house. I come to get you in eight days."
Lian looked at Kino speechlessly and hugged him tightly. However, a piercing shriek pierced the night.
"LIAN! YOU BITCH OF A DAUGHTER!" her mother was now stomping menacingly up to her, "YOU INGRATE! YOU SELF-ABSORBED SCUM!"
"Mother, I can explain!" Lian started, but Kino blocked the distance between her and her mother.
"You no touch Lian! I love Lian!" Kino declared bravely, but it only made her mother angrier.
"HOW LONG, YOU AINU SCUM?" her mother waved her hand and sent a blast of violent furioku hurling towards Kino, "YOU WILL NEVER SEE MY DAUGHTER AGAIN, FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE! I WILL PERSONALLY TAKE CARE OF YOU MYSELF, YOU HEAR! YOU AND YOUR MORONIC PEOPLE WILL SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! COME, LIAN!"
"I don't want to…" Lian stuttered, "I love him, mother… And we have a son…"
"COME, LIAN! IF YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO GET HURT!"
Furious tears were falling down Lian's cheeks as she last glanced at Kino. The Ainu was pleading to her in his native language not to go, but she knew she had to. Her mother tugged on her arm violently and dragged her by her hair towards the mansion.
"Kino!" Lian yelled, "I… I… LOVE YOU!"
"Lian! Nooo!"
"Kino!"
"Lian!"
"Kino!"
"Lian!"
"Kino!"
"Lian!"
"Erica!"
"Richard!"
"Mokuba!"
"Big brother!"
"Hey, Yu-Gi-Oh and Daimos dudes! You're on the wrong story! Anyway… Kino!" (A/N: Hekhek… Always wanted to do that…)
Her mother dragged her all the way to the mansion and up the staircase, Lian pleading, cursing and crying at the same time.
"Where is the child!" her mother asked her menacingly.
"You'll have to kill me first to get through to him!" Lian spat at her mother.
"Let's see about that!" her mother dragged her again to the attic and threw the door open.
"Miko!" Lian's heart was gripped in maternal fear as her mother entered the bedroom.
"WHERE IS THE CHILD, LIAN!" her mother demended, gripping her hair in a more forceful manner with each word.
"I… I don't know…" Lian can only imagine Xiao Li's name in her mind.
"Very well…" her mother threw her in the attic violently and locked the door, "You will not eat until that child is found! And that Ainu will have the end he so deserves!"
Lian sunk to desperation on the attic floor. Days and nights went by, but hunger was not felt, not even by a single fiber of her being. The only thought that lingered in her mind was Kino and Miko. Her mornings would be full of tears and her nights would be the same. The day of March 13th dawned and Lian Tao brought the knife she had found swiftly down her neck.
One thousand years later, however, Anna Kyoyama was snooping around Kino's old things. Yoh was behind her, unearthing Kino's old clothes and his weapons. Jun stood outside silently, acting as look-out.
"Hey, Anna," Yoh placed a hand on her shoulder, "I think this is enough."
"You're right," Anna nodded.
"Say, Anna…"
"What?" Anna bunched all of the things together, "Spit it out."
"Do you think we'll get out of this situation with all our body parts intact?" Yoh asked somewhat stupidly.
"What do you think, moron?" Anna sighed and placed all of the things in a bag.
"Well, just in case we don't," Yoh breathed deeply, "I just want you to know how happy I am to be your fiancé. You're a great girl, Anna, even I can't deny it."
"Well," Anna hid her blush, "I'm just glad you don't find me disgusting."
"Not at all," Yoh faced Anna, placed both his hands on her hips and started to kiss Anna softly.
"YOH! ANNA!" Jun's scream pierced the evening atmosphere.
A/N: Hehe… AnnaxYoh fluff? Hope you like this extra chapter… I'm kinda hoping that this story would never end because even I don't know how it'll turn out! Anyway, ignore the unnecessary random Yu-Gi-Oh and Daimos stuff, I don't even like Yu-Gi-Oh and Daimos anyway… I just got really crazy… Oh wait, here's my replies to my beloved reviewers!
Rui Hanasawa- Iba magmahal ang Kapamilya… hahaha… Anyway, Gee's a cool writer though… And here's the update! I hope you enjoyed it!
Angelraine- salamat naman, maraming pinoy d2 sa I hope we have a community of our own here… haha… The song I used in the last chapter was from Hercules. I think it's called "I Won't Say I'm In Love"… Hercules was one of the fave movies of the person this fic is dedicated to!
pendulum-swing- Ah… one of my most loyal reviewers! D'you want me to give more warm fuzzies on the next chappies?
Feathertop- Gee… I have to tell you something very important… Eric is macho! Hahahahahaha! I wonder how it would be like if Ren really sings… With his British accent and all…
Draguzta- Yep… Pretty long kiss, wasn't it? Lol!
Carlos Vinci- I'm pretty sure he could get to you because a.) he's a Tae Kwon Do gold medalist, b.) he's really cute, and c.) you are so not John Cena… And yes, I'm kinda into the sibling relationship thingy… And be cool? It's not even cool! And it's soooooo annoying that you get to go to Boracay! Pasalubong ko ha! Daman mo lang…
Anyway… That's all… I just want to give warm fuzzies to everyone who read my fic! You guys rock! 'Til the next chapter! Au revoir and bonne nuit!