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MS
Chapter Three: Midnight
Nakago lay awake thinking. 'The one to find you will help you.' The phrase kept replaying in his mind and he knew that it referred to Solei. She was and enigma of sorts. It seemed that she, like the other girl Amber, wore her heart on her sleeve, but something in her eyes was different. They had been silver when he had first seen her, but something had been dissimilar at dinner. She had been more relaxed then, and when she had caught his eye, her eyes had been lavender. He shook his head. If she knew something, he would have to coax it out of her. A smile formed on his face. It would not be that difficult.
A flicker of chi hit his senses and he sat upright. The signal remained steady – definitely not one of the Suzaku warriors. Soundlessly he rose and slid out the door, intent on finding the source of the strange chi.
"Come out." The bushes shifted more and Solei waited. A tall, dark figure formed, and she scowled. "What the hell are you doing here, Sinclair?" she bit out.
"Baby, I'm sorry. Christine's a bitch, I didn't mean for that, she just came onto me…"
Solei slapped him. "Somehow I don't think that was a simple mistake. Look, Sinclair. We're through."
"I won't take no for an answer." He backed her up to a tree and started fumbling with the zipper of her training vest. She managed to shove him backwards into another tree.
"Go home, Jamie. Go back to you lover Christine." He fled. Following him with her eyes, she waited until he was out of sight before letting loose her sobs.
Nuriko paced irritably, unable to sleep. Thinking that he would just follow his footsteps, he left the room and wandered outside into the warm darkness.
"Go back to your lover Christine." The voice was harsh, but he knew it was Solei. He started to leave, not wanting to intrude, but the sound of quiet sobbing called him back to her. Walking softly so as to not disturb her, he followed the crying, stopping when he saw the huddled shape on a bench. Quickly, he sat down next to her, completely ignoring the beautiful view of a moonlit pond, all of his attention focused on the young woman before him.
"What's wrong?"
"Go away Nuriko." It was all she could do to keep her voice from breaking.
"What happened?"
She turned into him and started crying anew, her arms clinging around his waist. Awkwardly he curled his arms around her and rubbed her back, murmuring nonsense in her ear as he rocked her back and forth. After a few minutes that felt like hours, her crying slowed and her thin form stopped shaking. Nuriko carefully detangled himself from her arms and laid her down to rest on the bench, hoping that she would be alright before retracing his footsteps to his room.
He heard murmurs of conversation and crept closer, keeping to the shadows.
"What the hell are you doing here, Sinclair?"
"Baby, I'm sorry. Christine's a bitch, I didn't mean for that, she just came onto me…" Nakago raised an eyebrow. The boy was lying and he smirked as Solei slapped him.
"Somehow I don't think that was a simple mistake. Look, Sinclair. We're through."
"I won't take no for an answer." Nakago watched as the boy fumbled with her top and shook his head. Insolent fool had no idea of tact, subtlety or common sense. A firm shove from Solei sent him reeling back into the forest.
"Go home, Jamie. Go back to you lover Christine." she spat. Sliding to his right as the boy raced past him, Nakago waited to see what else would happen. He heard her begin to cry and he saw Nuriko follow her as she walked slowly to a small wooden bench.
"What's wrong?"
"Go away Nuriko." He smirked, she was strong.
"What happened?" Trust a Suzaku warrior not to recognize a dismissal when he heard one. Rather than telling him to leave, Nakago was startled to see her turn into him and resume crying. He sat down to wait, watching for anything else that he could exploit. Eventually Nuriko left, leaving Solei alone on the bench.
"Fool." he murmured. Even at his most aloof, he would never leave a girl, let alone a beautiful one, alone on a bench at night. He moved over to her and removed his cloak, placing it over her shoulders as he might a blanket. He had multiple thoughts of what he should be doing with her, and where they should be at this time of night, but he quickly shut them away behind the solid barrier behind which he kept all of his emotions. They could wait until the other plans had been completed.
At the crack of dawn, Solei lifted her head, acutely aware that she was not alone on the bench. As she carefully sat up, a cloak fell from her shoulders and she stared at it in recognition.
"Nakago's." she said softly.
"Indeed."
'Well' she thought. 'That confirms that you aren't alone.'
"Thank you for the use of your cloak." Carefully she handed it back to him, ignoring the shiver that ran through her at his touch.
"You're welcome." He kept his voice low, smirking slightly as he realized its effect on her.
"What has you awake so early?"
Rather than explain that he had seen her weakness the night before and had remained to watch over her, he decided on a simpler answer. "I like to watch the sunrise."
She gave him a slightly quizzical look, but nodded. "Same." After a moment's hesitation she continued. "My mother used to tell me that the colours in the sunrise came from people's emotions."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. The more colours in the sunrise, the happier the people were." He gave a noncommittal grunt that, from him, sounded elegant. "She also used to say that my sunrise would be black and white." There was a harsh edge to her voice. "She would say now that it would be red for anger and shame."
Nakago was stunned that she would be this open with him, but realized that the sleep was not quite out of her tones and actions. "Why were you not happy?"
She gave a short, hollow laugh. "Even the setting sun that sinks like it was caught on fire is alone/ Unable to embrace the earth or the seas" He raised an eyebrow at her cryptic answer, but she just shook her head and gave a bright smile. "Thank you for watching over me."
Slightly unnerved by her sudden personality change, his hand shot out and stopped her from walking away. "Just who are you?"
"No one important." A vein of poisonous silver wormed through her eyes.
"Now why don't I believe that, Girl?"
"Because you are a naturally distrusting person?" The quirk of her lips clued him into her joke at his expense, but he did not release her wrist.
"Why do you seem familiar?"
"Lots of blondes run around here. I wouldn't be surprised if you ran into one of them." Her smile was tight and he knew she was nervous.
"Your eyes-"
"- I got from my mother." She broke free of his grip and gave another dazzling smile. "Now, I suggest you come in. You don't want me to have to whistle for you when breakfast is ready." Without another word she turned on her heel and all but fled from the pond, leaving Nakago with a bemused smirk and the smell of lavender.
An ear-splitting whistle woke him up, just as he was about to see the beautiful princess in his dream.
"Damn it!" he yelled. He was suddenly assaulted by a flying pillow.
"Shut up, Tasuki." Nuriko's groggy voice said from the other side of the room.
"What the hell was that whistle?" Nuriko was already up and heading out the door.
He turned in the doorway. "Breakfast." he said simply.
"Oh, right. Breakfast. Where are we again?" Tasuki asked as he hopped into his pants.
"A temple, you idiot."
"I knew that."
"Right."
Another whistle broke off their conversation, though not as loud as the first, followed by a loud cry of: "BREAKFAST!" from Amber. Tasuki and Nuriko exchanged glances before heading out the door.
Deciding that mass cooking was easiest on a grill, Solei quickly began to make pancakes, setting the table while the first batch began to cook.
"AMBER!" The shout was just loud enough to rouse the sleeping girl and notify her that breakfast was coming. A minute later, a tousled, but dressed, Amber came waltzing into the kitchen.
"You yelled?"
"Yeah, would you set the table?" As an answer Amber began setting out the plates and knives. As she flipped the pancakes she pursed her lips and let loose an ear-splitting whistle to summon the remaining people in the temple. With grumbles they began to file in, Suzaku warrior bickering as they pulled up a pair of chairs. With a smooth gesture, Amiboshi pulled the chair out from under Tasuki and fought to smother his laughs as the fiery red-head fell to the floor. Moments later Amber was holding her sides in laughter, having calmly reenacted the trick on Amiboshi.
"Sorry." The grin on her face betrayed her sincerity.
"Here Amber, You can have the first batch."
"All of it, 'Lei?"
"No, part of it goes to Grandfather." A short old man waddled into the kitchen and took the plate that the blond offered him, grunting his thanks and shuffling off through the other door. She grinned at the looks on people's faces. "That was Grandfather. It's also just about as talkative as he ever gets."
"Right..." Tasuki watched carefully as Amber prepared her pancakes, and was startled when three of the golden circles landed on his plate.
"Delivery." Solei called out in a sing-song voice, flicking another three onto Nakago's plate as well. They were soon trying to eat the strange foods, and Amber bit her lip as she watched Tasuki drown his in syrup.
After everyone had eaten, Solei finished off the last of the batter, eating all of the remaining pancakes and laughing as she saw their startled expressions. "Honestly," she said, "You should see me when I'm hungry. Then I eat around twelve." Amber started to sneak out the door. "Amber, where are you going?" the question dripped with false malice.
"Outtopracticeonthemanikinsyoudecimatedyesterday."
The hand on her shoulder froze her in place. "You, my friend, get to do the dishes."
"WHAT?"
"Tough luck. I did dinner and I cooked. You know the rules."
With a groan Amber walked over to the sink and began washing the plates, pointedly ignoring Solei and muttering under her breath. "Stupid Angel, always getting out of work…"
"I heard that." Solei's voice carried a warning and Amber returned her attention to the dishes with a sigh.
She guided the men out of the kitchen and began striding towards the working field.
"What was Amber talkin' 'bout in one breath?" Tasuki asked.
"We have a training field here at the temple, my Grandfather used to use it, now it is pretty much just Amber and I."
"That where ya got so good with knives?"
"I'm not that good, Tasuki."
"You have a place where we would be able to practice weapons?"
Solei nodded to Nakago's soft question. "Of course. I also have blades if you want – to borrow only."
"Of course, but I have my own blade."
Solei raised an eyebrow, impressed even through she knew of his sword. "Nice. Not many people around here carry blades on them. I'll show you to the field if you would like." Nakago nodded his consent and all four men followed her as she resumed walking.
After finishing the dishes, Amber made her way to the training field, expecting to find only Solei. However, she was not surprised to see the warriors at work as well. She saw Nakago and Solei bow to each other and unsheathe their swords, bringing the tips up to a ready position. Amiboshi, who was sitting off to the side fiddling with a flute, called out a beginning and Amber's eyes went wide as she watched her friend begin to fight.
'She'll get mauled!' she thought. "STOP!" she yelled. They simply continued to fight, completely ignoring her. She drew her own pair of swords and cringed as the blades collided and the shock waves from the power of their blows shivered down her arms. "DESIST!" she repeated. Calmly, each of the fighters flicked a blade out of Amber's hands and continued, ignoring the interruption. They were evenly matched, strike for strike, parry for parry, and eventually Amiboshi called a draw. The motion of their blades stopped immediately and they again bowed. The situation was repeated over and over, only pausing briefly when Solei's grandfather called her in for assistance and she returned with lunch. Conversation was strained and they continued training, falling into an easy rhythm as they day began to close. Finishing another fight with Nakago, Solei shot a glance at Amber and her eyes went wide as she felt the strip of lightning blaze past her and hit her friend with a scream.
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MS