As Chichiri flipped forward to the next entry that pertains to what he is reading, Tasuki finishes eating and leans back as Nuriko smiles. "So, Chichiri, what memory did you regain that was of you and Tasuki in an intimate setting?"
The blue haired magician blushes a deep red and Tasuki smirks at this, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah, Chiri, ya never told me what that image was." Keeping his place in the journal with a finger, Chichiri leans over and whispers something in his lover's ear. Tasuki's mouth falls open and he looks shocked. When the monk is done, the bandit sits back and looks to him. "Ya remembered that one?" Chichiri blushes more and nods, causing Tasuki to chuckle, the others looking confused and a bit curious. "How did ya manage to not jump me after ya remembered that, Chichiri?"
"TASUKI, NO DA!" The redhead just chuckles at his lover's obvious discomfort and leans back. "We'll discuss it later, go ahead and continue readin'." Nuriko opens his mouth to ask again, but Hotohori puts a hand over it and shakes his head to his lover. "Let it be." The purple haired warrior just nods in consent to his love's command. Chichiri sighs in relief and opens the book again, starting to read.
RESCUE AND RETURNING!
It has been a very long few days, no da. So much has happened and I doubt I will be the same ever again. I now know who I am, I have my memories back and my powers restored. I have Tasuki-chan to thank for this. It all started a few days ago.
I had been reading in my room, or trying to. It was snowing in the mountains again, although just drizzling rain down here in the basin and my mind was on Tasuki and how he was fairing. It has been a couple weeks since I had seen him, although he is suppose to return the next day for supplies and I had offered him the use of my couch. I knew by that point that I was in love with him. With the memories that were coming back to me in a steady pace, there was no way that he and I could not have been lovers in our past lives, and hopefully would be in this one also. So, there I was, trying to read, when I felt it. Something that was completely alien in this life, but a feeling that I knew right off. Tasuki was in trouble.
I think I spent the next few minutes running around in a panic, trying to find what I would need, as the feeling grew in intensity. The more it grew, the worse my panic. I was about to head out the door when I caught sight of my kesa and kasa. In a moment of clarity, I knew how to use the items again. I tossed the kesa over my shoulders, grabbed my shakujou and muttered the spell and dropped the kasa over my body, disappearing into it. I emerged in the forest in the mountains, amid swirling white snow. I could see Tasuki's cabin barely to the right of me but did not feel his ki anywhere. I closed my eyes and searched for it and discovered it, weak, off to the left. It took a minute or two of trudging through the snow to find him, but he was half frozen when I found him.
Somehow I managed to roll his sturdier body onto the kesa and using the shakujou, I was able to tap into the kesa's powers and I transported us into his cabin. The fire was out and our landing was a bit rough, just like I remembered. I quickly covered him and then lit the fire, trying to warm the main room up.
I turned back to him and finally got a good look at him. He was so frozen, his lips were blue. I could see his chest rising slowly, but his breathing was shallow and not very strong. I shed him of his clothes and pulled him to the fur rug on the floor before the fire, to warm him. After covering him with blankets, I made sure the fire was lit, pulled more wood in and then settled close to him to watch over him. After 20 minutes of watching him shiver and his lips still being tinged blue, I finally approached him and pulled him to me.
We spent the night this way, me cuddling him to my chest and he slowly warming up. At one point I fell asleep and when I awoke, the fire was low in the hearth and I felt eyes upon me. I turned my head to find him blinking sleepily up at me. I remember the conversation going something like this.
"Chichiri?"
"Hai, it's me, Tasuki."
He sighed and laid his head back on my shirt covered chest and cuddled closer with a small shiver. "Are you cold, Tas-chan?"
He shook his head "Not bad, just tired. What happened?"
"I found you nearly frozen to death outside, no da."
"Ah, I got caught in the storm while checking my traps and was trying to make it home. How close did I get?"
"Pretty close, within seeing distance on a clear day." He sighed and cuddled more.
"How did ya know?"
"I felt it. I knew I had to get to you. I couldn't lose you."
I felt him smile at this point and he nuzzled into my chest. "My last thoughts before I lost consciencness were that I didn't want to leave ya, Chichiri."
I smile and hold him closer, trying to not think of how close I had been to losing him. I felt him stir and his voice was soft and sleepy again. "How did ya get up here?"
"I used the kasa to get here, located your fading ki, got you onto the kesa and teleported us into your cabin, no da."
He was now looking at me, head raised, startled. "Ya remembered how to teleport?"
I gave a nod then and smiled. "Yep, just in time, no da."
He smiled and cuddled back down. "How much do ya remember now?" I was silent for a minute as I realized that in the panic and stress of finding and rescuing Tasuki, my memories were completely restored. I remembered everything, all of my past, including memories from other lives.
I looked up into his face and I smiled at the hopeful look in his eyes. "I remember everything."
He smiled slightly, fangs poking out over the beard. "Everything?"
I gave a nod. "Yes, koi. Everything."
His slight smile grew into a full blown grin at this point "About fuckin' time. I've been wanting ya to remember everything since I first saw ya at the Apache encampment."
I chuckled and our lips met together in a kiss for the first time in this lifetime and I pulled him closer as he cuddled down against me again. I lovingly ran my fingers through his hair and smiled then. "I have remembered about us for a few weeks, actually, since you gave me the prayer beads. I just thought that they were products of my imagination as I have been attracted to you since the first full day I was here."
He had looked back up to me at this point and had pouted cutely. "The first full day? Ya didn't want my sexy bod the first day?" I chuckled and kissed his lips again. "I was too scared to notice your sexy bod that first day, Tasuki, no da." He smiled and held me, not saying anything.
We woke up again much later. Well, I woke up to the feel of his lips on my skin. Apparently he had thought I needed my shirt off and he was running his lips and tongue along my skin. What happened after that, Journal, is not something to be written here. Let me just say, I wish he had grown a beard before, it was a unique experience.
(Chichiri's face is bright red as he is reading this, although Tasuki is rubbing his chin and looks thoughtful.)
The next day was spent just being together. We talk about things from our past, wonder how the others are doing, and just get to know each other again. I eventually used my kasa to return to my home and he arrived later that day to get his supplies and we spent much of the evening talking before we retired to bed.
It wasn't until he had returned to his cabin, after we discussed how often I would visit him, via use of my kasa, that I thought about my job. It will be more difficult here, in this land and time, to have a relationship with my koi, then it was in Konan. The God of this land is not as understanding as Suzaku about these things and this has led towards a fear of our type of love. For now, I will teach and he will trap and we will just have to sneak around to see each other, unless he comes to town. All I know is, dear Journal, something worth having is never easy. And he is definately worth the effort.
BACK IN CHICHIRI AND TASUKI'S APARTMENT!
Chichiri shut the book with a smile. "That is basically how John and Shaun got together in our past life."
Tasuki chuckled and sat back in his chair. "That was a good life."
Miaka smiled and the others let out breathy sighs. "So, did the people there ever figure it out, or were you made to sneak around forever?"
Chichiri and Tasuki smiled at Miaka's question. "Well, we ended up not having to sneak. People accepted our friendship due to my rescue of Chichiri from the Apache Nation. Later, that coming summer, there was a storm that started a fire near my cabin and I lost my dwelling. Of course, Chichiri immediately let me live with him and the people of Tularosa never thought anything of it. A second bedroom was added to the dwelling for me, although it became a spare room, and in the privacy of our home, we were able to live as we pleased and we were just careful and respectful to others and their opinions if we ventured out."
Chichiri gives a nod to his lover's words. "Hai, I'm sure that people suspected that Tasuki and I were more then best friends and housemates, but we were very cautious about it and in truth, the only people who knew the truth, besides us, were Harold and Karolyn, and some others." Chichiri winks at Nuriko, a move Miaka misses and Tasuki shook his head "Uh uh, remember, the Apache tribal elder knew as well. Whenever we would visit them, we were given one shelter to share. That is not custom, we were both grown men and should have each received our own smaller shelter, but we were given a larger one to share." Tasuki grinned at the astonishment on his lover's face.
The blue haired monk spoke softly. "I never knew that." Tasuki grinned. "Ya only learned the language, Chichiri, but I learned their customs. That fact was never lost on me." Chichiri chuckled softly. "That does explain somethings, no da."
Miaka chuckled softly and stretched. "That was a great story, guys. I always love hearing about your different lives since we met in the book." Miaka's eyes turn to Nuriko and she smiles. "I wonder if that was you he saw on the streets of Boston though."
Nuriko begins to chuckle. "Oh yes, that was definately me. The story doesn't end there. Chichiri was one of the last of us in that lifetime to remember his past."
The group smiles and Miaka settles back, feeling another story is starting. "I had seen Chichiri in the street and most of my memories were returned at that point. I had been a bit cautious of calling out to him, not knowing his name then, so I went into the store that I was standing in front of and got Hotohori to come outside, but by this point Chichiri was gone.
Hotohori nods "We had continued to wonder about him for awhile and did some searching, both physically that day and later on, inquiring. His hair is very unique. We found out who he was not long after he left for Tularosa. We wanted to contact him, but didn't know how."
Chichiri and Tasuki, having heard this before, although a lifetime ago, smile and settle back into the seat they occupy, content to listen. Miaka and Tamahome, the only two not knowing this story, are listening intensly.
Nuriko continues "About a year after Chichiri went to New Mexico, Hotohori and I met Harold and Karolyn at a party. We were always very careful about exposing people to our lifestyle and went to party's as friends only. Those two saw right through that and at one point Karolyn and I were on the balcony, alone, getting some fresh air when she asked me how long Hotohori and I had been together. I was very surprised by her acceptance, and Harold's. A few gatherings later, we were having a quiet gathering of the four of us at their house when they revealed that their closest friend was in love with a man out in New Mexico. It was arranged after that to have Hotohori and myself write to John and Shaun, to become penpals."
Chichiri and Tasuki start to chuckle. "I remember Nuriko's first letter to us, no da. I was shocked with Karo and Harry's complete acceptance of our situation to the point they found us another gay couple to communicate with, as we did want interaction with other male and male couples. It took some time for it to grow, but after awhile we began to suspect that Ryan and Seth was really Hotohori and Nuriko."
The regal couple smiles and the others chuckle at this. Miaka leans forward "How did you know?"
"At one point, Seth called Ryan "My lovely Willow" and at another Ryan called Seth "My beautiful sea serpent." Miaka bursts into laughter at Tasuki's words.
Nuriko smiles "By then, thanks to Harold and Karolyn's descriptions of the two of you, we thought you were Tasuki and Chichiri." The couple nods.
"Yep. Not long after we got that letter, Tasuki and I took a vacation to Boston for the birth of Harold and Karolyn's first child, as I was to be the godfather, no da. We arranged a meeting with Ryan and Seth during the time we were visiting." The group is smiling now.
Miaka looks around. "What happened?"
Hotohori chuckles. "Ryan got a glimpse of Chichiri and Tasuki before the meeting and realized our suspisions were correct, so instead of it being a meeting between the four of us, Mitsukake and Chiriko were there also."
Tamahome and Miaka turn to these two seishi. "You were there also?" Both nod and grin. "I was a doctor for Nuriko and Hotohori. I knew from the start who they were and of course they only trusted me. About a year after they started coming to me, Chiriko came in. He was about 7 years older then the rest of us and had a young family." Chiriko, now once again the youngest, smiles at the memory.
"I very much enjoyed being the oldest that time around, but being the youngest has it's benefits too. My oldest child was 6 and he had broken his leg. We had just moved into that part of Boston due to my job as a lawyer and Mitsukake's office was the first I had come across. I also had my memories and knew right off who he was."
Nuriko gives a nod. "So, we set up a private dinner at our house and invited everyone over. Chiriko and Mitsukake were already at our house when Chichiri and Tasuki arrived. Let me tell you, the first few moments were tense as we beat around the bush, not knowing if Chichiri and Tasuki knew, and them not knowing if the rest of us knew."
Hotohori chuckled at the memory, as did the others. "Till Nuriko got a brilliant idea. He asked me for the time in Chinese. Chiriko, Mitsukake, Chichiri and myself all responded in kind, at the same time. That broke the ice."
Miaka smiled at them, pleased to hear that they had all reunited before this life. "I am so pleased that you all knew each other in past lives, that gives me hope that this won't be the only life that Taka and I are together."
Chichiri smiled and drew Tasuki closer to his side. "It's all a gift from Suzaku, no da. We lucked out being the Celestial Warriors of the God of Love, no da." The group picked up plastic cups from the table and an impromptu toast was given at these words.
THE END!
(A/N Ok, I think the ending sucks, but I'm not sure how else to end it. I hope you liked it. I had the ending a bit differently at first, but after a few days of thinking on it, I rewrote it to this and like it much better. I hope you all enjoyed it. And see what happens when i move? You guys get stories. LOL Everqueen)