Alright, another chapter! I feel like I've been pumping them out lately. Lol! I think I'm loveing this because I've started to read fanfiction again. Lol! As much as I like writing it (Though I don't write a lot- just a long on one story!), I've never been a big fanfiction reader. I've been reading mostyl Naruto (Sasuke x Naruto or Sakura x Sasuke) and Kingdom Hearts (Sora x Riku). Yes! : D When it comes to Naru x Sasu though, I think Sasu x Saku make the better couple. What do you think? And I'm also glad that Riku and Sora aren't really a couple; but they're fanfics are so adorable!

taiyoukai-chan- lol! Well, you'll just have to read and see who it is. : P It's in this chapter! And as for your other question, I'm not telling! Lol! –Smiels in all her secrecy- XD

Kaeru Soyokaze- Yup, Seki is a little evil thing. But she has her reasons too; they shall be revealed later! Oooh, good guesses! You'll find out the answer here!

Mrs. Tasuki- Wow, I'm really honored that you enjoyed it! And you rea dit all at once . . O.o Crazy! Lol, just kidding! Yeah, I try to keep the errors to a minimum, though there are still a little too many for my tastes out there. I shall get them fixed soon though! : P Hee, another person who likes Suzuno! Yeay! –Puts on a puppy face- I like Miaka though . . . lol!

Suzuno Oosugi- Hmmm . . Wow, I never even thought of her being a Celestial Warrior! XD You look into it so deep sometimes. You're the second person to guess that the robed person could be a Celestial Warriors. : D Well, we shall see!

Care- Wow, I'm so happy you like it! : D You seem enthusiastic about it and everything. Hoepfully this will make you like the story even more! Yeah! –Celebrates-

Chapter Twenty-one

Amefuri opened his eyes, a low groan escaping him as he waited for his vision to clear. The first thing he saw in front of him was a young woman with short black hair and fair skin, the covers completely covering her body up to her breasts. She was sleeping so he couldn't see her eyes, but as he started to gain his senses and the sleep slowly fell away from him, he vaguely remembered they were brown.

"Morning," he muttered, more to himself than to his partner as he sat up and stretched his arms a bit, barely noticing he was naked as well. He tried to move as little as he could so that she wouldn't wake up, but when he heard her stirring, he turned to watch her wake.

At first, she was very calm, as if there was nothing strange about the arrangement she was in, but when she realized she was unclothed her face immediantly blushed a dark crimson and she covered herself as much as she could with the covers. She closed her eyes so that she didn't have to see the Warrior, who now didn't have any cover to cloth himself with.

"There's no need to be embarrassed!" Amefuri said with a heartwarming smile, and she felt his fingers caress her cheek a bit. "You did very nicely for your first time."

"But now . . ." she said in a nervous, quiet voice; he was strangely reminded of Suzuno. "But now . . . I. . . I cannot become a bride!"

"Of course you can; sex is not love. Just find a man who will understand your situation, and you'll be married in no time."

"R-really?"

"I don't lie."

The girl didn't open her eyes, even when she heard Amefuri slipping on some clothing and she smiled with the comfort she was receiving. Another question came up in her mind. "L-Lord Amefuri?"

"Hm?" he asked. Next to the bed, oppisite side of the entranceway was a dressing table. On top of it, there was a Kimono for the girl and next to it a dark jade chinese silk robe, which he dressed in while he conversated. "Is there something wrong?"

"The Emperor informed me that I might have to pay you . . . um . . . I do not have any money now, but if you could wait a little longer, I ca-"

She suddenly heard him laughing. "Don't worry about it; I haven't had sex ever since I met the Priestess, so it's more like a gift that you came to me."

There was a pause for a moment between them, and finally she dared herself to open her eyes. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, and he was no longer anywhere near her. In the same room was a large window, and Amefuri was pushing open two glass panes. Immediantly when they pushed apart, the sun's light shown through and brightened up the room as if it were being sanitized, and a serene sound of birds' tweeting came through.

"What a view," he muttered, resting his elbows on the edge and looking out. For a moment she stared, watching how calm his face looked with a sweet smile; he really did look like he was appreciating the sights. She was suddenly thrown out of her ideas when she heard him say, "Oku, if you want to leave now, you can."

"Y-Yes Sir!" she said hastily, jumping out of the bed, still holding the bed covers around her. She tip toed around the divan and to the dresser where her working Kimono lay, glancing over to the Celestial warrior to see if he would peek if she turned around. It was so strange . . .

Honestly, she hadn't remembered anything from last night, as the Emperor knew of her discomfort and let her drink plenty of alcohol before heading into the room. Because of this, she felt very self consious of her body more than ever. As she dressed, she heard every bit of the soft fabric touch against her skin. When she felt the Kimono she wore, which had covered her body completely from head to toe and even past her hands she was so tiny compared to the other women, she bowed a little, even knowing he couldn't see. "If . . . If you need me again, Lord Amefuri, I would be more than honored to serve you."

At first, Oku thought Amefuri hadn't heard her; he didn't move from his spot of staring out the window, nor did he speak. When she was about to repeat herself, he finally replied, "Only if you want to."

This alone brought such a harsh shade of red on her face that she thought he would be able to feel the temperature that shot up. Before he would have been able to, were it possible, Oku bowed deeply once again and rushed out, unpolitely slamming the door behind her. He sighed.

"She was far too tense in bed, even if she was drunk," he muttered, looking down at the lake. He hadn't remembered crossing the bridge that went over the large body of water, but he had been reminded during his chat with the Emperor that he fell asleep in the middle of crossing it. He couldn't help it, he was tired. "Hm?"

In the lagoon he spotted little silver sparkling dots coursing throughout it, those which he knew were the violent fish Ryeu-Chou-Rai told him about. What made him more interested than the excited little specks speeding around was the long one. It was the same color as the Teething Fish, but much more elongated and like a wavy stick. As he observed its' slow movements as it scuttled across from one side of the viaduct and underneath to the other side, he felt something wasn't right.

"Amefuri," he heard a woman's voice call, and turned around to see Nashie at the door. She had one hand on her hip and she walked all the way across the room without the sound of a single step being heard to the window he was at. She leaned her elbows in the same manner he did on the windowsill, staring across from it.

"Did you know I've never been out of Daini Toshi?" she told him, and he wondered why she brought up something so random. "It sounds pretty dire, I know, but . . . it's also sort of nice. People here do whatever you want, and there are people who come to see me . . ."

"I was told that you were in love with his Highness Sousui, and not his Highness Amai."

She whipped her face to look at him. "How did you-"

He smiled slyly. "Secret, my Princess."

Nashie's expression clearly told him that she was not pleased to be told that the way he found out her secret was a secret itself, and he also could tell she didn't like being 'talked down to' by a commoner. At least he wasn't any commoner, but a Warrior. 'Perhaps that will help her pride,' he thought. She scoffed, looking back outside to no particular spot, obviously completely irritated.

"So," she started, emphasizing the word with her anger, "I guess you know that I don't want to get married?"

"I thought so. Otherwise you would be worse than me." She snorted again, partly in anger and partly in laughter.

"Worse? Than you? You're garbage! How could I be less than you when I'm the future leader of not only one, but two countries?"

Now it was his turn to be angry, but he didn't say anything like he had with Doulin. Looking back, he realized that just telling her not to judge him wouldn't work, and for someone as so naive as Nashie, it would be impossible to understand. He decided that even if he hated it, the best decision would be to let her think what she wanted.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence, and at the same time the both of them sighed as they watched a small white bird fly over to them. It perched itself on the small bench that stuck outside of the window, hopping around on its' two twig-like legs and poking at their fingers a bit, as if telling them to move from his spot. It eventually jumped into Amefuri's palm and he lifted it until he was eye to eye with it, petting the tiny cranium softly.

"How much do you love Sousui?" Amefuri asked, quickly forgetting the formalities. Nashie made a small noise like she was about to speak, but paused for a moment before forming words.

"I remember when I first saw him . . . Sousui . . . I was eleven, so it was eight years ago, and he had just become Emperor after his Father, Taiso the Second, had died. He was only sixteen. He came over to our Palace to meet my Father, and he was so, so nice . . ." She stopped speaking and closed her eyes for a moment, as if imagining a most pleasant memory. He was completely surprised with how her attitude changed when she spoke of him. Is that what love did to people? "Everytime he smiled, I felt like even if I had the whole kingdom it wouldn't be enough. Just having him would make me feel like I had everything."

"And?"

"Eventually, it just grew and grew . . . I always look forward to him coming by, and I remembered when his wife died last year. I was actually sort of happy."

Amefuri raised an eyebrow at Nashie, looking at her like she was the strangest person in the entire world. "You're evil."

"I can get you killed by order, you know."

". . . Really evil."

She laughed a little instead of getting angry. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood since you mentioned Sousui!"

"Right."

Out of nowhere on the outside, a high pitched scream put the both of them in alert. Amefuri leaned over the window as much as he could, trying to look straight down to see the small strip of land that seperated the palace from the river. The bird that was twiddling in his fingers was very disturbed and in a spooked manner flew off. Unfortunately for the Warrior, no matter how far he looked out, he couldn't see nothing but water.

"Damn," he muttered, still trying his best to look. Then something out of nowhere had caught his eyes, but just barely; a long, silver glitter in the water. It could have been the teething fish, but somewhere, he was sure it was that one creature that stood out among them all.

Amefuri turned to Nashie, who was looking at him, her back leaning against the window and crossing her arms as if waiting for his answer. He nodded to her like she would understand and began to walk off.

"Wait a second!" she shouted, pulling on some of his longer hair and jerking him back, making his neck snap a bit. "You're not going to just leave without telling me anything!"

Amefuri massaged the back of his head a bit as he gave her an almost childish, pouting face that she thought was sarcastic. "You didn't have to pull like that. You can come too; I'm going to your Father first."

"It wouldn't matter if everyone if the palace died," Nashie suddenly said coldly, putting her hand on one hip and leaning a little. "My Father wouldn't do a thing; he's too lazy, always drinking."

Instead of being disgusted, Amefuri gave her a sort of sympathetic smile and a small laugh. "He hasn't changed."

Amefuri sighed and looked up at the tall, glass-like ceiling; everything in the room was the same color, and it was so clean that it was almost like a mirror room. You could see the same thing everywhere, reflecting in each other. He looked down at the floor and saw the sky from the window on the ground, clear as could be. An idea struck him, and instead of making his way to the door again like he was doing in a rushed manner before, he walked to the casement again.

"Well," he began, and she curiously wondered what in the world he was doing. "Your Father won't do anything . . . Standing here doesn't help . . . and running through the palace loses time . . ." He braced his hands on the pane of the window and jumped up, sitting himself on top of it and dangerously close to falling quite a life-threatening drop. "Let's take the short route."

Nashie looked at him like she was crazy, then turned her back on him and continued towards the door. "You're a stupid commoner."

"Well, you're a stupid Princess."

Before she could turn to shout at him, he was already gone.

Suzuno stared wide-eyed at the figure before her. She recognized him instantly, with his long, dark hair and lilac eyes staring down at her. He was so serious now, but that didn't falter the excitement of seeing him again. She smiled like a little girl receiving her favorite gift to play with.

"Tatara!" she said, putting down the hands that were trying to be protective of Subaru. It was then that the male Warrior smiled calmly as well, turning his body a bit to shut the door and lock it. She looked around him to the knob curiously, wondering why he was doing such a thing.

"Listen, Priestess," he began, turning to look at her again. "You are in danger. The Kutou soldiers know you are here, and they are coming. Now."

"What?!" she said, suddenly feeling her heart beat rapidly. That nervous feeling of failing shot through her again, and while she tried best by herself to think of a plan as quickly as possible, her mind was too busy filling up with fears. In the middle of it, she felt Tatara pick her up again like he had the last time they had met, and he held her protectively close to his chest.

"We have to leave," he told her, nearing a window towards the back of the room. For the first time, he noticed Subaru, who seemed almost completely frozen in place on the bed. She stared at him like he was a foreign object, then back at Suzuno. Then to Tarara, then to Suzuno, again and again.

"Subaru!" Suzuno said suddenly, snapping the female Warrior out of her peculiar trance. The woman stood up abruptly and moved in the path of Tatara, her anger rising.

"What are you doing?!" she shouted, grabbing the Priestess's arm as if to pull her out of the man's grasp. She failed to do so, as he squeezed her tighter and protectively without replying. Subaru looked completely infuriated. "Who are you?!"

"It- It's okay," Suzuno said, a small bit of unfortunate stuttering coming back. Subaru tried her best to calm down, knowing that the only reason she would talk like that was because she was uncomfortable. "Tatara is the Warrior . . . From the Haunted Mountain."

"Oh. Him."

Tatara ignored his fellow companion's obvious dislike for him and continued toward the window. Luckily, since they were in a rambler, it wouldn't take much to jump out in the back. A small gasp came from the two girls when slams were heard in the door. Tatara opened the door with one hand, perfectly supporting the Priestess with the other, making sure to be as quiet as possible.

"Hurry over!" he told Suzuno in a sort of demanding whisper, and not wanting to test his patience, she quickly crawled through, landing on the ground and feeling a biting chill. She was facing the large, open dessert she had just traveled through earlier that day, and she realized just how much she didn't want to go through it again if they had to escape. It was far to much work, and to see another Scorpion Fish . . .

She shivered. She didn't even want to think about that.

X x x x x

Well, most of you guessed right on who the hooded man was! : D And I hope you're jumping for joy, because it's almost been like, what? Tne chapters since Tatara's last appearance. OMGosh, I'm shameless. He's supposed to be the hero! What's up with that? XD Now the question is, is he here to stay? –giggles- If he isn't here to stay, I have a feeling people will come to my house and beat me up and take my lunch money. Lol!

Ooh, and Ame-chan is snappy! Saying that whole little line just right before he jumps to his doom! And Nashie . . . Awww! She's really in love! I bet some of you can't wait to see what Sousui is like. Maybe? Sort of? Lol! Who knows when he'll come in. I mean, it's 21 chapters and I still only have three warriors! Again, what's up with that? –giggles again-