The next day passed with much laughter and joy. The seishi and their miko were glad to be spending new years together and it was by unspoken rule, Tasuki's pregnancy was not mentioned at all.
At supper that night, Tasuki's mother glanced at her beaming daughter, who was talking in rapid japanese with Miaka and Nuriko. The change in her daughter from the surly tomboy to this beaming young woman was amazing. This was the first time since grade school that Genevieve had been more then passing acquantances with any woman and now here she was proclaiming two women in the realm of best friends. Mrs. Smith glanced down the table at Larry and found him conversing easily in halted English and halted Japanese with Houjun and Taka. She had never known that Larry could speak more then Konnichiwa and Gomen of the Japanese language. It would appear that all the time that Larry had spent with Genevieve had given him an inkling of Japanese.
She glanced towards Myojuan and Dokun, who were conversing in formal English with Tad and her own husband and smiled slightly. She had been very worried that her shy daughter would not make any real friends in her time in Japan and here she was, with a table full of Japanese guests who had flown the ocean to spend a week with her only daughter. She felt a flash of fear that they were maybe a cult and didn't want to let her daughter out, now that she was in. Her gaze on her daughter turned fearful.
Tasuki noticed her mom's gaze and glanced towards her parent. "What's up mom?" Mrs. Smith amazed at the flawless execution of both languages as her daughter instantly switched from Japanese to english.
"Gen, would you help me get the dessert?"
Genevieve nodded and stood. Once in the kitchen, both women went about silently in the preparation of dishing dessert. "Honey?"
"Hmmm?" Gen looked up from spooning her food. "What's up mom?"
"I'm a bit concerned. I understand about Houjun coming here, especially after the fight you both had and seeing your gift to him, but why would your friends come over. You haven't known them all that long."
Mrs. Smith looked at her daughter who was studiously scooping ice cream over brownies. She finally seemed to come to some conclusion. "Mom, do you remember my sketch's that I kept framed in my room?"
"The ones of the 8 people in the old Japanese outfits, other then the girl in the brown..." her voice trailed off and Gen looked at her mother. "Do you see it now?"
Mom nodded. "Your friends look just like them. Houjun looks like the monk, Myojuan the healer..." Her voice trailed off at Gen's nod. "Mom, do you believe in reincarnation?"
Mrs. Smith's eyes narrowed. "You can't tell me that you believe you are a reincarnation of...?"
"Tasuki. Genrou. The brash redheaded male bandit. I know this is hard to believe, but I have long believed in reincarnation and Tad and Kouji both believe this too. But there is a reason that the 8 of us, well, 9 if you count Kouji, are together." She sighed and rolled up her sleeve.
"A lifetime ago, I was Shun'u. When I ran away from home to get away from my overbearing family, I left to become a bandit with the Mt. Rekkaku bandits. Kouji and I joined at the same time and became fast friends. I changed my name to Genrou. After a time, I became second in line and was set to inherit leadership of the bandits when our leader died. I was gone when he died, looking for a cure and when I returned, I found that this pig named Eiken had taken leadership and my heritage, a metal fan that shot flames when the spell was cast. Rekka Shinen."
Gen glanced at her mother and then turned to her father and boyfriend, who stood behind her. Her father looked shocked, but Chichiri gave her a small smile and an encouraging nod.
"I came to the bandit camp to find that Eiken was mistreating this woman, Miaka. I rescued her, kind of. I kidnapped her actually, and it was while she was my hostage that she said she would help me get my gang back. Well, needless to say, we got the gang back and she said she was the Priestess of Suzaku, who is the God of the country I lived in. She was looking for the 7 warriors of Suzaku, so she could summon him and save the country. She was at the hideout, trying to find Tasuki."
Her mother just gave her a dubious look and then shared a similiar look with her husband. "And you are?"
"Tasuki, Celestial Warrior of Suzaku."
They glanced at Chichiri. "And you are a celestial warrior too?"
"Chichiri, Celestial Warrior of Suzaku."
"And the others? Are they warriors?"
They both nodded "Well, except Kouji, who was a bandit and Miaka, who is our Miko."
The parents closed in together and studied their daughter and her boyfriend. "Do you expect us to believe this?"
Tasuki glanced at her boyfriend and then pointed to her arm. "Watch my arm." She concentrated and brought her battle ki up and then opened her eyes, the red glow from her arm filled the room. Her parents were staring at her symbol in shock. "This is the symbol of the wing, the symbol of Tasuki."
Her parents moved forward and her mother ran a fingertip over the mark in awe. "So it's true?" Tasuki nodded "Yes, I had some access to my past in this life even before I was reawakened. My track record is thanks to my unawakened Suzaku powers."
Chichiri came forward at this. "Tasuki's power is speed, but he also had a tessen that Suzaku blessed and made diamond. The fan would not work for anyone but Tasuki after that." The red head nodded and her symbol faded.
Chichiri sighed. "I think it would help if I showed them some of my powers, Tasuki, no da!"
The redhead nodded "Show them your previous appearance, Chiri."
The monk nodded and reached into his shirt, where he kept his prayer beads and grasped them lightly, as Tasuki had seen him do countless times before. With a small "Hmph" the monk was back in his original form, mask and all.
Chichiri reached up and grasped his mask, removing it to show his scar. Mom and dad stared in shock at him and then Tasuki. "So, it's real." Both warriors nodded. "Yes mom, it's real."
Chichiri gave another humph and returned to his current form and smiled slightly. "We were all awakened and just waiting for Tasuki to return. When Taka found Genevieve at the airport, we knew that it would only be a matter of time till she was reawakened and she was returned to us by that Friday."
Dad frowned slightly "Were the two of you together in your past life?" Both nodded and mom spoke softly. "But you were both men in your past life." Tasuki gave a nod. "Yes, and if I had been born a boy in this one, I still would have loved Chichiri. He is my soulmate mom, our god approved of our union then and he does now as well."
Mom and dad gave a collective sigh and glanced at each other. Mom finally spoke after a long while. "As weird as this situation is, we both believe you. I have also believed in past lives and felt that you and Larry were two peas' in a pod with how well the two of you got on and how fast your friendship grew. Larry's mom and I had discussed this a few times. Is Larry aware he was around in your past life? Tasuki nodded and then grinned as her dad cleared his throat. "The ice cream is melting."
They all glanced at the forgotten bowls and laughed as the scoop went back into the container and bowls were passed into dad and Chichiri's hands. "Here serve these, we will bring the rest." The two guys left the women to their thing and left with the dishes.
Tasuki glanced at her mother as she scooped. Mom spoke after awhile. "So, it's safe to say that you probably will never return to live here again?"
Tasuki gave a nod. "Yeah. That's probably really accurate." Mom sniffled and wiped tears and then gave a smile. "Well, your father and I always wanted to come and visit Japan. Guess this gives us reason to." Tasuki laughed and hugged her mother and then the two women put the remaining ice cream back and grabbed the last bowls and walked into the dining room.
After Chichiri and Mr. Smith had risen from the table to go check on their collective women, Taka frowned and followed after a moment. He returned a few seconds later and smiled. "Tasuki and Chichiri are informing her parents about our shared past." The others smiled and Tad and Kouji looked towards the kitchen after Chiriko had repeated Taka's statement in english.
When they felt Tasuki's battle ki rise a few moments later, they all jumped slightly, minus Tad and Kouji and glanced towards the kitchen. Chiriko turned towards Mitsukake and spoke in rapid japanese. "Is it safe for her to power up like that?"
The healer thought for a moment. "Yes, I believe so. She isn't fighting, just raising her battle ki. Most likely to get her symbol to shine. She will be fine." The rest of the group nodded and the conversation switched back to English and when Chichiri and Tasuki's dad returned, Chiriko was telling of the failed summoning of Suzaku to Tad and Kouji. Mr. Smith set bowls in front of Tad, Kouji, Miaka (who got the largest portion) and Taka. The group listened with awe to the retelling of the failed summoning and Tasuki and her mom paused at the doorway and out of the corner of her eye, mom caught Tasuki's frown.
"Come on, Chiriko, couldn't you tell a more uplifting story? Amiboshi's betrayal is not exactly dessert material at the dinner table."
The group smiled at the former bandit. Chiriko's eyes lit with a mischievious light and he grinned. "Well, there was the time that we were prepping the boat to go to Hokkan to get the Shinzaho and Tamahome... er, Taka here, discovered that Tasuki couldn't swim and decided to toss him into the river." He grinned unabashadly at the bandit who sighed and set the bowls down in front of the others and then tapped her Seishi powers and quickly disappeared into the kitchen and grabbed the last two and then returned with them,all within a few seconds. "I think we can find something more entertaining to talk about then Genrou's lack of swimming capabilities, which I am proud to say has been rectified in this current life, thank you."
She grinned at Taka "We can always talk about how much Tamahome loved to meet his old friend, my tessen. REKKA SHINEN!" Every seishi at the table flinched at the cry, old habits dying hard. Tasuki burst into laughter and sat down next to Chichiri as the group began to once again regail the others at the table with stories of their travels, all fun, none of the sad parts were brought up.
Chichiri was patting a choking Tasuki on the back after the monk had reminded her of "Wiggle Wiggle part 2" and the whole drinking episode in Tomo's illusion when Tasuki's mom cast a glance at the clock. "Oh my, it's 10 already, we've been here far too long. You guys should hurry up to the college if you are going to partake in any of the First Night festivities before midnight." She smiled at the younger adults around the table as they all agreed and stood, running towards the spare room, where their coats were kept. Tasuki started to help her mom clear the table, but mom shook her head. "Go have fun. Be careful driving back though." Tasuki nodded and left the table, leaving the parents to look at each other.
"I take it you believe more fully now that Tasuki and Chichiri are more then just their imaginations?" Dad nodded to mom's question and the two cleared the table in silence.
The group walked among the white lights lit campus of NMSU-A. Tasuki had an arm laced through Chichiri and Miaka and Nuriko were doing the same to their significant others. The group was very impressed with the celebration for such a small city. They had just passed the singing group of the Alamogordo Music Theater when a shocked voice sounded behind the others. "Ohmygod, Genevieve?"
Chichiri felt Tasuki tense beside him and she turned slowly and plastered on a fake smile. "Hello, Charity."
The bubbly looking girl fairly bounced towards them. "I didn't realize you were still here. I didn't see you anywhere at NMSU. Are you going to college here?"
Tasuki sighed. "No, actually I got accepted into a college in Tokyo."
The blonde frowned in thought. "Where is that?" Muffled laughter filtered through the group and Chichiri managed almost successfully to hide his laughter as a cough. Tasuki just sighed though as she felt Kouji lean across her back, his head propped against the top of hers. "It's in Japan."
The bouncy girl gaped at the former bandit. "Can you, like, even speak Japansese?" Kouji was now chuckling into Tasuki's hair and the short girl gave her best friend a very hard poke in the stomach with her elbow, cause a small huff of pain from Kouji. "It's Japanese, Charity and I speak it fluently."
The girl glanced from the local track star to the foreigners surrounding her. "So, these are your friends from Japan?"
Tasuki nodded "Yes, these are my friends from Japan. This is Houjun, Dokun, Miaka, Taka, Ryu, Seiheti, Myojuan and I believe you know Larry." Kouji gave a small wave and a wink from over Tasuki's head.
The girl gave the former bandit a disgusted look and then her eyes focused on Chichiri. "Houjun huh? Well, Houjun. I will give you the distinct pleasure of escorting me tonight." The girl's tone of voice as she said this made the group think that she was use to men just falling into line to be with her.
Kouji's arms immediately encircled around Tasuki as she surged forward, keeping her from attacking the other girl. A murmur of disagreement filted through the group at Charity's words. Chichiri's voice was cold as he responded. "Thank you for the offer, but I will stay with Genevieve, no da."
The woman's expression turned cold. "What does that lesbian have that I don't?" Kouji's grip on Tasuki tightened and Nuriko slapped a hand, lightly, over Tasuki's mouth as she started to sputter insults at the cheerleader. Chichiri was silent for a second as he glared at the woman. "I don't think it is very kind of you to insult Gen, no da. And she has something that you will never have." Miaka muttered "Class?" behind the group and Taka sputtered with laughter as Chichiri spoke again. "My heart."
With that he grasped Tasuki's hand, Kouji and Nuriko let her go and he pulled her past the shocked girl. The rest of the friends followed, Nuriko and Kouji making threatening gestures at the girl as they passed her. They heard her faint voice behind them. "Well, I never."
They walked and slowly Tasuki stopped grumbling under her breath. Midnight was fast approaching and in reality was only 30 minutes away when Kouji muttered "Jackass alert."
Tasuki, who had been talking softly with Miaka and Nuriko, looked up, panic on her face and she swung around just as she heard a loud voice shout over the crowd. "There is my precious buttercup."
She was suddenly grabbed by a tall, solidly built man, who swung her around and then tried to kiss her. She shoved him hard and his lips connected with the side of her head as she spun out of his grasp and used her seishi power to dart back towards Kouji and Chichiri. "Leave me the fuck alone, Dennis."
Chichiri pulled her to his side and Kouji stepped in front of her. "I told ya before to leave Gen alone, man. I don't know what it's going to take to get it through your thick head that she isn't yours."
The man leered at Kouji "Oh, you are just jealous that she is mine and not yours, I understand." Kouji sputtered in disbelief and Dennis turned his attention to Chichiri and Tasuki. "Get your hands off my woman, jap." Tasuki gasped outright at this and surged forward and slapped Dennis across the face. "How dare you insult him. He is more man then you will ever be."
Her mistake was that she got back into Dennis's range and he grabbed her again. One beefy arm wrapped around her neck and the onlookers backed off, fear for Tasuki's safety pausing all celebration. The exception, of course, are the Suzaku warriors. A red glow lit every single one of them, symbols appearing clearly on Taka, Hotohori, Mitsukake and Nuriko. Chichiri had his prayer beads out and Miaka was fairly growling in anger as Chiriko put a hand on her arm to restrain her, while he glared at Dennis himself.
The crowd was silent as the area lit with a red glow. Dennis clumsily stepped back, taking Tasuki with him when the small woman in his arms also lit with a red glow. "What the?"
He let her go, shoving her towards the others. She stumbled two steps forward and spun on her heel. "How dare you touch me. I have never been your woman and I never will. You disgust me."
Chichiri stepped forward and drew the wing warrior back into his arms. His voice was cold when he looked at Dennis and spoke "I would suggest that you leave and never approach Genevieve or her family and friends again."
The ex football player backed up and turn and stumbled away. The red glow faded as symbols faded and the group tried to ignore the stares of the bystanders. "Are you ok, Tas-chan, no da?"
Tasuki nodded and suddenly burst into laughter. "Did ya see his face, he will think twice about accosting defenseless women again." The group burst into laughter at this and Nuriko spoke. "Tasuki, you are far from defenseless." Taka muttered "And not all that womanly either." Chichiri watched as Tasuki's fingers twitched and barely managed to grab her as she made a lunge towards Taka. "Bring it on, Tamahomeboy." She snarled at the ogre warrior and he growled back at her while Miaka pulled on his arm and Chichiri whispered "The baby, love. Think of the baby, no da." She almost instantly quieted as did Taka, who looked slightly ashamed that he had just picked a fight with a pregnant woman. As they started moving again, Tasuki leaned close towards Taka and muttered under her breath, also a bit embarrassed "Don't feel bad, I forgot I was pregnant also." She gave him a fanged grin and he muttered "Baka" but smiled and draped an arm over her shoulder and gave her a hug. "Have I told you lately how much fun it is that you are back, Tasuki?" She just smirked.
The group moved towards a more quiet section of the campus and sat down to watch the start of the fireworks. Tasuki was looking up at the show in the air and did not see her friends backing away and leaving Tasuki and Chichiri in relative privacy. Midnight was now only about 2 minutes away when Chichiri cleared his throat and Tasuki lowered her head and a surprised look crossed her face as she took in the private setting. Their friends were still in sight, but were turned away from the couple giving them privacy.
Tasuki turned to Chichiri as he dropped to one knee and held up a box. Kanji on the top announced the name of a jewelry store in Tokyo that Tasuki didn't know and she gasped in surprise as a simple diamond ring was revealed to her. "I don't think I really have to go on about how you are my soul mate and that I will love you till the end of time, because you know it is true, no da. I brought this with me from Japan, Tasuki. I am not asking because of the baby, I am asking because I love and adore you and I always have. Will you marry me, na no da?"
Tasuki looked up and tears sparkled in her eyes. She suddenly let out a loud cheer and launched herself at Chichiri, crying "Of course I will" as she hugged him tight. Cheering came from their friends and she let her love go and he pulled back slightly and slipped the ring on her finger. As she stared at it, the fireworks bursting overhead colored it in blues and reds. She smiled and then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Ya know, Chiri-chan. It was your turn to ask, cause I asked you last time." The monk just burst into laughter and nodded "Hai, I know. I was thinking we could have our original rings remade for our wedding bands, no da." Tasuki glanced up at him and smiled. "I would love that."
As they kissed for the first time as an engaged couple, a loud cry of "HAPPY NEW YEAR" rose from the distant crowd and the university's speakers began to play music. Tasuki pulled away from him and smiled as their friends converged on them, cries of Happy New Year mingling with laughter. The group clung to each other, in a massive group hug, as they watched the sky lite up with celebration of the new year.