I am feeling very unappreciated. Well, never mind…I do not work for the reviews. In fact, reviews make me want to update faster…and I want to do a new fic…never mind. I just felt a bit lonely, with little reviews and readers to cling on to. This might not be an original idea, but…I hope the story is better than the others… but rest assured, I would not stop this fanfiction halfway or anything, partly because I never liked to leave responsibilities undone, another because I like writing stories very much and lastly, I do not like people who leave their fic unfinished due to the lack of reviews.

Disclaimer: Nope, Fushigi Yuugi is never mine…though I might have original stories unrelated to this anime, I like writing about Fushigi Yuugi the best nowadays… I hate tests and exams. But, hey, it's a beautiful day!

"No such luck, Miaka…no, don't take any mushrooms, they are mostly poisonous. Why don't we pick fruits instead? There is a few trees with edible-looking fruits," Nuriko pointed, a bright smile on her face. "You are much lighter than I. You shall climb and I will catch you if you fall. And, I will try to find other means to feed the tiresome bandits."

"Yeah, yeah, Nuriko. Let me do all the work, huh?" Miaka teased, trying to climb up the tree. She was grateful that she had worn jeans and a long sleeved jacket before leaving her world. Mosquitoes were buzzing around her head, confusing her even more.

Nuriko decided to give her a scare. "I could help!" she chirped excitedly, lifting Miaka high up in the air with one finger. "I can twirl, twirl, twirl you up in the trees!" she sang, spinning Miaka like a football.

"Ko Reishun!" Miaka cried, her eyes wide. Nuriko looked around suspiciously and warily. Miaka never said her real, second lifetime name unless there is eminent danger around. Perhaps Miaka had seen something high up in the air which she, Ko Reishun, could not. She immediately threw Miaka up in the air, into the fruit tree.

"Stay in there and pick fruits! I see to the danger!" she ordered, taking a step forward. Sure enough, a large, striped tiger sprung through the undergrowth and bushes with a roar. "Wow…you are a beauty, and I like beautiful things…wait a minute, don't you attack Miaka!" Nuriko said, snapping out of her 'beauty' trance. "Pity, a lovely tiger torn to shreds. But, to get to the Priestess, you must get to me first!"

Miaka's eyes filled with unshed tears as she remembered Nuriko's previous death. "You must be in so much pain at that time…" she said as she picked out a rounded, perfect fruit, untouched by parasites and animals. "You are always following your heart, right? For Kourin, for Hotohori, for me, for Taka, for everyone…you could read minds. I swear, you are a psychic. You patched Taka and I up, you took care of Hotohori while we are both in Kutou, you tried to lighten up the mood by bashing Amiboshi up when he played the song… no wonder …everyone…was so sad… when you are the first to pass on…" she whispered, tears flowing freely.

Meanwhile, when Miaka was picking out fruits and pondering about Nuriko, the said person was finding difficulties fighting in a kimono. "I should've brought my men's clothing here!" she grumbled, as she barely dodged the tiger's charge. She threw out a clenched fist and the tiger was thrown into a tree, the tree breaking upon the impact. The tiger's backbone cracked and it lay there, panting heavily, as Nuriko towered over it with pity in her eyes. "I should've just let you go…let me end your suffering. Let's hope you get reincarnated into a human the next time, provided that you are kind enough in this one."

With that, Nuriko shut her eyes and plunged a fist into the tiger. "It's kind of like Ashitare killing me…I wonder if he had pity for me at that time…if anyone is to blame, it's Nakago. It makes me angry when he was reincarnated as a human. He should've been a dog!" she said to the deceased tiger.

However, saying that about Nakago seemed really wrong. The feeling she got was pity. She pitied Nakago, for apparently no reason at all. Something had happened in the blonde general's past, a very sad thing. "Trust the heart," her conscience said. Nuriko did, though a bit bewildered that she would pity an enemy like Nakago. She totally forgave the blonde man.

Nakago

The son of a high ranking general of Konan felt another wall collapse around his heart. Memories flashed past his eyes. "And yet another incident about being Nakago," he said. He strode up to the mirror, not admiring himself like that useless emperor of Konan, but to stare into the blue eyes he adorned on his perfect face.

He sighed. They would always be cold, no matter how tender he willed them to be. Every statement came out as a hiss or bark, and the effect was enhanced by his cold blue eyes.

"Well, it seemed that Nuriko had forgiven me. All that's left was The Priestess of Seiryu, Ashitare, Miboshi, well…practically everyone I've met who was connected to the Four Gods legend. Luckily, unconsciously Soi and Tomo had forgiven and loved me, or else I would never have remembered that I was even Nakago."

He decided to set things right on his own. Being cold and manipulative was not his true character. Under all the ice, there was a bit of humanity he had squelched in his past lifetime as Nakago had resurfaced in this life, a hundred times stronger than in the last life. "I may not need the memories, but I do need to get over the guilt overwhelming me now. Soi, Tomo, they do not deserve me."

He strode to the door of his closet and pulled out his father's armour. It was the armour he had once worn in a past lifetime. He pulled it on and walked briskly to the entrance of his house, which had sheltered him for a long time. "Where are you going, Son?" his Father asked, concerned. Nakago looked back.

"I have a personal request to make, Father. Soi and Tomo…"

"Who are they?"

"Nothing. I have some issues to settle. One that concerns past lives. You see, the armour on me…" he paused, not knowing how his Father would take it. "…was mine eighteen years ago."

"So you are really the one who initiated the palace massacre in Kutou? The General Nakago?"

"I prefer to be called Ayuru. Nakago's name seemed so distasteful to me right now. I want to try to salvage what damage my past life had wrecked, Father. Take care of the two women at my side. They are the reincarnations of Soi and Tomo."

"And what about Ko Reishun?"

"She is someone who had forgiven me for who I was. The first one, in fact, besides Taisukun, Soi and Tomo. She was really Nuriko, the one of the Suzaku Warriors."

Nakago smirked at his Father's surprised reaction. Who wouldn't, if all around you are actually reincarnations of great Warriors only told and passed down in legends? "There only two reasons I went with your plan to tie both of us up into marriage; one is that I wanted Soi and Tomo to give up on me. They should not be burdened or manipulated by me again. Second, I want to get to know more about the Suzaku Warrior I have only met once in my life. She seemed pretty nice for a person and I am beginning to regret setting Ashitare on her. Goodbye, Father, I've a quest to make. And this time round, I am going to do it right."

"Are you ever coming back?"

Silence reigned, broken only by the sounds of the dry leaves falling in autumn. Nakago contemplated his answer carefully.

"I might, but only when I got all my memories back. That means my quest for forgiveness and friendship would be fulfilled. Meanwhile, I shall go back to Kutou to help out the civilians. Most likely, they would be in pain and grief due to the fact that there is no one yet to lead them. I will bear the consequences of my past life's actions. All I want now is peace. If possible, one of my side quests is to learn how to love," Nakago chuckled at the impossibility. "But…that is only a side quest. Goodbye and take care."

Nakago turned away from the tearful, high-ranking general of Konan and left the house, left the village and left his family.

Tasuki

He saw Nuriko staring blankly at a Tiger and Miaka weeping on a tree. "What the hells' happening here? Nuriko? Snap out of it!" he yelled, waving a hand in front of Nuriko.

"Tas..uki…do you remember someone from the past?" Nuriko asked, finding her voice. Miaka climbed down the tree cautiously with the fruits, miraculously not falling hard as she always was assumed to, because of her clumsy character (though Nuriko had more experience in falling from trees, of course).

"Hell yeah! I am not the ones reincarnated!"

"Do you forgive Nakago for being the man he was?"

"You mean you had forgiven him so easily? After he killed you with Ashitare?" Miaka asked, holding out the basket of fruits to Tasuki.

"I had forgiven everyone. Hey, this is a new life. Forgive all the past enemies and try to make friends with them. Even I don't hate Ashitare anymore."

"I know you are those, damned 'I hate you for loving my boyfriend' type (even though it's short-lived), and you are also one of those dumb 'I love you for your good and forget your bad' type, but I never thought you would be the danged 'I love everyone!' type, Nuriko," Tasuki shouted flaring up. It was like a betrayal. Nuriko, loving Nakago? That's a first. "What next? You would be best friends with Ashitare or something?"

"You'll find that if you drop one hatred, you will feel brighter, lighter and better, a burden off your chest! And you might find that you like the character of your enemy!" Nuriko argued. "Nakago is a really good person, actually, it's his last life that gives us all the cooties."

"Bah!"

"Nuriko, I agree with Tasuki. Nakago was not one to be easily forgiven," Miaka said softly. Nuriko sighed. If even the lovable Miaka was saying it…but Nuriko would not change her mind.

"Nakago is a good person! I am sure of that!"

"You got hit on your head, Nuriko?"

"If he was really a good person now, let him show us personally. I don't think we would believe you now, where it concerns Nakago," Miaka said softly. She thought about Taka and felt really fearful that…Hikari would die. Hikari did not even have time to build a personality yet…

"Okay, now off Nakago. It seems like we've got food! Add the large tiger in and you'll get enough to feed the gang for a month, though they might get tired of tiger meat…" Nuriko heaved the tiger and the fruits up with one finger and cheerily made her way back with Miaka, Tasuki leading. Nuriko could tell that Miaka was deep in thought, most likely about her family back in her world.

"Yeah, Miaka, follow your heart. The heart is always right…and Nakago doesn't need me to speak up for his actions. He could do that himself," Nuriko muttered.