Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi yugi or Inuyasha and co.
A special thanks to Silver Pain, the only person who's reviewed so far! (teary eyes) Maybe people just don't like Fushigi Yugi and Inu crossovers. But those two shows have sooooo many things in common! Anyway, Silver Pain please keep reviewing, you are the only thing that keeps me writing now.
"Lady Kaede"? Inuyasha and co. called out in surprise. "Taiitsukun?" the seishis did the same.
"Kaede Obaasan! Taitsukun Obaasan!" Ai yelled as she hurried over and knelt down in front of the two old women as a sign of respect.
"You know her?" everyone said in surprise and at the same time. "Of course I know them," Ai said coolly, "and the same goes for you guys too, I presume."
"What's this all about?" Inuyasha said hotly, facing the priestess Kaede. "You are not even supposed to be here you old hag!" "Calm down Inuyasha," the aging priestess calmly replied, "have mercy on an old woman who's working her heart out to help you reckless young people." "And the same goes for you too, Seishis of Suzaku," Taiitsukun said. Then she looked at Amiboshi, "and Seiryu," she added with a calming dignity. After this, both women turned their attentions to Ai. "Lead the way to the shrine for these people. Then prepare some tea and rice cakes for them. I believe they must be tired." Lady Kaede instructed. People of both groups nodded in agreement at the last comment. "B-but," Ai tried to protest. "No buts," the old priestess replied. "But they…" "Ai!" Taiitsukun scolded sternly, "You just met them and already some of their manners were rubbing off on you?" "G-gomen," Ai apologized, ashamed of her disrespectfulness. "Good. Now do as you are told."
They were now sitting very formally in a meeting room of some sort inside the shrine. The teacups were empty and there were only a few crumbs left in the rice cake plate. So far the two elders had remained silent, but not oblivious to the suspicious glances Ai shot at her guests.
"I think now that everyone had fulfilled their pleasures, we should began the discussion and explain what's going on." Taiitsukun began.
"Lady Kaede and I live in two separate worlds, as do you. Yet while they are different, they are very similar in their own way. Lady Kaede and I both watch over these two environments to the best of our abilities. But sometimes, there are certain things that cannot be accomplished by two old women. But thanks to you, those certain tasks were completed and thus the safety of the worlds were ensured." At this, she looked up and surveyed the room full of listeners. Some of her own warriors nodded, but an incompetent-looking young man in a red kimono, Inuyasha was his name, she recalled, merely gave out a "Feh".
The oracle ignored his "comment" and continued, "But however powerful you may be, your powers are not complete. In order to defeat the evils you encounter, you need a priestess, and her powers are essential to your success." While she paused, she noticed quite a few people from the both groups stirred uncomfortably at the mentioning of the word "priestess". However, she continued on, "But unfortunately, it's with great sadness that both priestesses had perished in their ventures. But, the gods and the souls of Those Who Came Before Us do not wish to see the worlds in pain. Instead the souls of the priestesses had been transported back fifteen years and reborn. Both of these two girls originally came from this world, so Kaede and I told you to look for them here, for the two worlds, as well as this one, are still in grave danger. This task is not as easy as it sounds, so Kaede and I also crossed over and temporarily taken residence in this shrine to assist in the matter. Our efforts were not spent in vain, as we both made a somewhat shocking discovery recently," she took a deep breath as she watched the listeners attention-focused faces, "we discovered that the souls of the two young priestesses have been reincarnated into the same body."
The room sank into a shocked silence; no one knew what to say. Finally, Tamahome blurted it out, "It- it's not possible! I've never heard a case where two souls have reincarnated into the same body." "There are many things you haven't heard of, Tamahome," the ancient oracle replied, "the events experienced by these two girls are so remarkably similar that they linked them together after death. Not only the experiences, but the hopes and fears of the two young priestesses were also very alike. Both of them considered themselves belong to this world while the people they cared about the most are in worlds different than theirs. They are at the same age, too. So it's only natural that they shared a bond. And the good news is, Kaede and I had found the reincarnation and took her in as our apprentice, and she is sitting in front of me right now."
Ai felt quite embarrassed as the focused glances of the strangers rested upon her for the third time. Her head is swirling. She felt that her brain is overloaded with information that she didn't need, nor want. She had often wondered about where her mysterious powers came from, but had never imagined something as wild as this. The reincarnation of two priestesses? And they came from this world too, just like her? Oh, what the, she didn't even know that there were worlds other than this one! But the idea did sound quite cool…
"Child! Are you even paying attention?" Taiitsukun's sharp voice took her out of her trance. "I'm sorry," she apologized, barely knew what she was saying. "Anyways," Taiitsukun continued, "after today's events, I know that the young priestess had discovered her powers long before we did. Though I'd say that she'd hidden it quite well for reasons unknown. I had detected her powers ever since I met her. But neither Kaede nor myself had known that it's this strong." She turned her head towards Ai, "But child, along with powers came obligations, and since you know about the legends of the four gods and the Sengoku Jidai…" "Well…" Ai dropped her head. "Well what, young lady?" Taiitsukun asked sharply. "Well, I didn't exactly pay attention when you and Lady Kaede taught me those stories." Ai confessed. "What! Why?" the oracle demanded in disbelief. "Well I didn't think it was important," then she added, "at the time." " Chichiri and the monk Miroku can explain it to you then," the oracle said tiredly. " But as I was saying, along with powers came obligations. Child, you possess those powers for a reason. You are a priestess; that you cannot deny. Priestesses have duties. In your case, you'll have to travel back in time and save the world from annihilation, working with people you don't know. Well at least in this lifetime. Are you up to it?"
Ai was silent for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and replied steadily, "Sure, I'll do it."
"Look," Inuyasha said impatiently, "are you really brave or are you just dumb? You think that a trip back to the feudal era is just a walk around the park. Well it's not. There are evil demons and equally as evil humans everywhere. It's not a decision to be made in a excited whim." "Though I don't know who the speaker is, nor do I agree with his choice of words, but I agree with him Priestess," Chichiri said. "Dangers and perils greet us everywhere we go, no da. And our enemies certainly are strong…"
"You guys are the ones who need to 'look'," Ai said, surprisingly angry. "I don't know if I'm brave, yet. But I do know that I don't consider myself 'dumb'. I know perfectly well what kind of danger awaits me; I have some imagination you know. And it's obvious that you all want me to go, and you all need me to go. It's not like I have any choice; the whole world, no, three worlds, are at the stake here. You don't expect me to turn around and run, do you? Fine, I'll think long and hard about it, fight my inner turmoil, perhaps even shed some tears, and after all that I'll still say 'yes'. I have one question though, the decision I make after a struggle with my emotions, and the clean-cut decision I make now, what difference does it make? And I said I'll do it, isn't it enough? What more do you people want?"
Everyone was speechless; they hadn't expected the girl to be so determined. Her being hesitant is exactly what they expected. Perhaps, Chichiri observed, it's just that they were afraid if she'll accept them or not. After all, they were very different people…
"Now," Lady Kaede said as she re-composed herself, "I believe it's time for the young lady to introduce herself."
Ai nodded. "My name is Ai Akimoto, hajimemashite."
A/N: When I said Kagome and Miaka have a lot of similarities, I didn't mean to say Kagome is a klutz. But they really are similar. If you have watched the first movie of Inuyasha, Kagome really did have a "Miaka moment". It involves Inu by the way.
The name of the main character, Ai, means love in both Japanese and Chinese. But at the beginning, I intended for it to have a different Chinese character that means a kind of fragrant wild herb that was used to ward away demons. But I decided this one is cornier, but better.
Her last name, Akimoto: Aki means autumn, moto means book. In Chinese the kanji for moto also means source.
Hajimemashite means "nice to meet you." (yeah right)
Obaasan means "grandmother". (I like Lady Kaede, but Taiitsukun? Eww)
