New chapter, new chapter! –Dances- I'm very happy with this chapter, and it clears some things up for certain characters. XD Yes!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Suzuno smiled at the sky through the window, her arms crossed and leaning against the frame. The sun was just coming up so everything was a mix of orange, blue and even purple, but it looked beautiful when looking at it so high. And after having the most wonderful meal and relaxing bath she had ever had in her entire life last night, she felt more refreshed than ever.

She stretched her arms high, then she looked down curiously at the river that surrounded the front of the castle. She could see the bridge, and the Teething fish. She frowned as she remembered how feisty they were when she and her friends had crossed it to get Amefuri; they jumped over and kept trying to pinch their teeth into their skin. She was happy that none of them got their taste.

But this morning, there was something extra that she hadn't noticed before. There were many men in the water, all surrounding long, thick wooden planks that were placed into the water. All of the men had schools of Teething fish surrounding them, but part of her wondered why none of them were attacking. The other half of her wondered what they were making so early in the day. 'It's strange. . .'

Suzuno's guest room had a closet that was the size of her own room back in Tokyo, and, like Subaru was the day before, she was blown away by the selection. She was never the type of girly-girl to try on everything she saw, but after her soak in a warm bath she stayed up hours into the night with her female warrior companion just trying on clothes and having fun.

She was wearing a white silk nightgown that hugged at her breasts but hung loosely all the way to her ankles. She quickly put on a robe and some slippers of the same color, not bothering to put her wavy hair in braids and headed outside of her room. As she walked down the hall she looked outside of all the other windows that were inbetween the other rooms on the same floor of the palace. Beams of light poured in, and the pearly colors mixed with the shimmering gold of the walls and column beams glittered.

"So, you're still alive?"

Suzuno stopped as she distinctly heard the Emperor's voice coming from somehwere. Unfortunately, the hallway was so large that the voice echoed around her, and she didn't have the slightest clue where it came from. What was strangest about the way he sounded was that he seemed serious; after all the time she had spent with his highness, she had a hard time believing there even was such a side to him. There was a kind side, but certainly not a serious one.

"I wondered if you would recognize me from yesterday." Suzuno definitely wanted to find the Emperor now, and her legs began to move. She was thankful she was wearing slippers now so that she wouldn't sound so noticable. More importantly . . .

'That second man,' Suzuno thought, listening intently as she stepped closer toward the wall to try and listen through the doors. 'That was Tatara!'

"Recognize you?" she heard the Emperor say, and she could almost imagine him sipping his wine now. She giggled at the thought. "Well, truth be told, I wasn't sure until dinner last night. But now I'm sure it's you, Kashou."

As she heard the name, Suzuno's heart nearly stopped. It took her a moment to regain conciousness of her surroundings. 'Tatara . . . I'm sure that's him talking with the Emperor. Kashou. His real name is Kashou?'

Even then, a million questions sprang through her mind as she edged closer to a wall where the voices seemed less clouded. She wondered how Tatara of all people, the same man who spent years of his life in the Haunted Mountain, was connected to the Emperor of all of Sairou. She never questioned his past ever since she met him, but this just seemed too hard to resist not understanding.

"So . . ." it sounded as if the Emperor placed a glass on the surface of something while he spoke, "You are a Warrior of Byakko. I wouldn't expect any less from someone like you. Your father would be proud."

There was a silence, and Suzuno was sure she had found the door to the room. She kept her back to the wall, sliding against it as if she were sneaking into a hideout. She inched closer to the entrance as quietly as she could, thankful there was a crack in the door. She peeked through to watch the two of them.

It was a library room, a huge one with an endless wall of books stacked in rows all the way up to the high ceiling, columns to hold it and keep it from crashing down. There was a set of stairways connecting on an inside balcony of sorts, and that top part too was littered with a mass amount of tomes. Sitting on a fluffy and short, comfortable chair with a table for his wine glass was the Emperor. Sitting near the top of a ladder with wheels that connected to the bookshelf, flipping through a volume as he spoke was Tatara.

"I never thought I would be a warrior of all people," Tatara said, placing the book he was looking in casually on the top of the shelf instead of back in its' rightful place. He picked up another one from the top shelf, a black one. "He probably thought I would never be one either; I'm not sure he'd be so proud like you believe."

"Nonsense!" the Emperor scolded, waving a hand as he looked up to the younger of the two. "He would be thrilled! When did your power come about?"

"I'd say . . . about seven years ago. Three years after he died."

'Oh.' Suzuno's heart sank as she listened, and she almost started to feel guilty for eavesdropping. This Tatara . . . he didn't sound the same as the kind, brave one he knew. This Tatara was speaking carelessly, almost coldly about someone's death. From the way he acted, it was as if he hated his father. 'But could he really . . .? I never thought he would hate anyone.'

"A change of subject," the Emperor said, picking up the wine he put down earlier and sipping some of it. "Have you found your sister or brother yet?"

"Half sister or brother," Tatara corrected with a smile. Although shocked at the news of a sibling, Suzuno felt at ease again, seeing his warm expresssion. At the same time he closed another book. "No, not yet. I gave up six years ago when I couldn't find out where their mother lived."

"Gave up?" the Emperor inquired.

"It seemed too much to look for one person at the time. I was only fifteen, and was still taking care of Mother. I didn't have time to go look for them."

At that moment Suzuno heard footsteps in the hall and backed away from the door, trying to walk along now while trying not to look conspicuous. She suddenly took in so much information all at once, and about Tatara no less! 'He never talked about himself before, but around the Emperor he seems so calm about it . . .'

"Lady Priestess!" called the servant girl, Oku, as she jogged to her in the long hallway. Suzuno hadn't gone far from where she was when Oku stopped before her, bowing and greeting her. She quickly excused herself and opened the door to the library. Suzuno found this as a quick reason to walk in as well so Tatara could see her. For some reason, she just loved being around him, even if he was still mysterious.

"Ah, Oku!" the Emperor said in a chipper voice, getting out of his chair. "Is there something you need?"

"Y-Yes Sir," she replied in a meek voice. Suzuno looked at the girls' nervous expression and the way her fingers fiddled with each other over her chest as if she were nervous. Was she new and still getting used to the palace life? Oku turned to look up at Tatara, who had yet put another book on the top shelf. "Lord Tatara . . . w-well, her highness Nashie requested you to . . . to come outside to the front. Please, Sir."

She bowed again for him, looking up at him with pleading eyes, as if begging him not to let her get into trouble for disobeying the future Empress. He smiled sweetly and nodded, turning so he could climb down the ladder to the bottom. When at the bottom, he also bowed for the Emperor and dismissed himself, saying a quick hello to Suzuno.

"I'm coming too!" Suzuno said, wondering why he was acting as if she were going to stay. She walked next to him behind Oku, doing the same respectful gesture to the Emperor that the two previous to her did before she left the room. He laughed a little bit again the same way he did at dinner, making her heart flutter. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied as the three walked down the hall. Suzuno noticed Oku turning her head every once in a while, as if checking to see if they were really following or not. "You just seem energetic this morning."

"How?"

"You're not normally so loud, saying things so definitely like that. And you never seemed the type to spy in on a conversation."

Suzuno felt her body tense up when Tatara said that, but she tried her best to cover it up with by laughing. It only came out as a nervous giggle, and that feeling of being ashamed filled her up again, her cheeks burning and her heart throbbing. 'So . . . he knew I was there all along? How? Is he angry?'

She gasped a little when she felt his arms wrap around her an pull her in. She lied her head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat and already feeling calmer. Something about him, just being against him like this . . . It made her feel so much better. She relished the moment as she smiled a little and nuzzled against his warm body. She was relieved that he didn't seem angry at all.

"It's alright," she heard Tatara say. He was speaking softly in her ear. "I think anyone would be curious; maybe."

"I guess," she agreed, feeling much better about speaking to him again. "You never talk about yourself, so it was sort of a neat thing for me."

"Umm . . ."

Both looked over to Oku, who seemed so unsure of interrupting the moment she looked ready to cry. The two barely realized they had stopped in the middle of the hallway, and Suzuno blushed deeply, pushing herself away and apologizing to Oku. The servant girl shook her head, saying that it wasn't their fault in the least before she turned to walk down the long passage of stairs before them. This led to the floor below them, but right away there were two more sets until they reached the ground level.

As the three walked outside, Suzuno noticed the same men diving into the river, still building that same wooden object underwater like before. Not only were they were, but Amefuri, Subaru and Lanva were there as well, all along the edge. Walking towards Suzuno, Oku and Tatara was none other than Princess Nashie, whom she had only briefly met in her time here.

"What the hell took so long!" Nashie shouted to Oku, her hands on her hips as she became nose to nose. The young lady looked as if she were about to cry again, and she held both her hands over her mouth. "How long does it take for you to go find one person!"

"I-I'm so sorry, your Highness!" Oku stuttered. "It's just that . . . I-I thought the Emperor would be in his room, but . . . but . . ."

"No 'buts' around here! Go back inside and help fix the morning meal!" Nashie arched her eyebrows as she backed away and crossed her arms. "Or are you going to get lost looking for the kitchen as well?"

"N-No ma'am!" With that, she turned and ran right back into the castle as quickly as she could.

Lanva, who had his legs dangling in the water, held up his hand to cover his words while he whispered to Subaru and Amefuri next to him. "Man, what a bitch she is. That girl looked like she was on her deathbed!"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Amefuri replied, smiling. He turned his body so he was in the direction of the Princess, shouting, "Nashie! Could you try to be nicer to Oku? You know she didn't mean it!"

Nashie stuck out her tongue childishly back at him, though there was a bit of an ironic smirk as well. "Ordering me around again? Me, the future Queen of-"

"Two countries, yes, yes. So sorry, you Highness."

Subaru and Lanva sniggered to each other, and after a moment of pouting even the Princess laughed. Suzuno smiled at the happy site, glad to know that the shouting wasn't the only side to Nashie. She turned to the two of them, her hands back on her hips and her face demanding, but not too serious. "Nice to see you, Priestess of Byakko."

"Nice to see you too, Princess Nashie," Suzuno replied politely, though it already seemed Nashie was turning back to the person she had called for.

"Tatara; Subaru told me your ability is to make vines and controlling plants, am I correct?"

"Yes," Tatara replied, nodding a bit.

Nashie pointed over to the contraption the men were making. All of the servant men who were diving in had planks of wood bundled in their hands. "We're building a water gate to try and capture the Serpent that has the Toroki symbol on its body. We can do fine with what we have, but your power might come in handy."

Subaru stood up from where she was seated, running over to give Suzuno a quick good morning hug. As she let go, she smiled at Tatara, who was listening to Nashie's explanation. "Tatara, would you like to help us put the water gate together? It might help us with clues to find the real Toroki."

Tatara smiled back, reaching for his necklace around his collarbone and pulling off a few of the seeds that were encased around it. "Of course I'll help. Tell me what to do."

As he walked over along with the Princess and Suzuno, Lanva, Amefuri and Subaru stood up and greeted them. Up close, the Priestess could see a sort of ring surrounding the men as they went into the water, one so thin that it would have been impossible to see it from her guest room before. It followed the servant men as they swimmed, and the Teething fish never came close than that barrier. She pointed to it, asking, "What's that?"

"It's poison," Amefuri replied, only turning his head slightly to look back at the water as he explained. Lanva had already gone back to looking far across the river towards where the forest on the far end was, finding something interesting to look at. "It's sort of a sleeping antidote for insomniacs, so if the Teething fish get close, they're asleep."

"How come it doesn't work on the people?"she asked, curious.

"Alright, well . . . so it's not really an insomnia cure, putting it that way . . . It's a tranquilizer for land and aquatic animals."

"Oh, I see."

While the rest were speaking, Lanva had caught a glance at something. It was in the water, a little bit of a distance away, shimmering just slightly.It seemed to be coming towards them; it was a long, thin, white entity. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he turned to all of the servant men still working. "Everyone, get out of the water! Now!"

"What for?" Nashie snapped, obviously protesting. "If you must know, I'm the one commanding everyth-" Lanva pulled on her arm despite protest, pointing in the direction of the object. As he glanced at her for a moment, were shocked expression told her she understood. "Damn."

X x x x

Truthfully, I've been waiting to give out this chapter for a long, long time! After thirty-seven chapters, you finally learn Tatara's real name and something of his past. Poor guy, he's an orphan. T.T So, Kashou . . . He knows the Emperor. Cool! XD I don't remember where I got the name from, but I like it. XD lol!

And Nashie is still so mean to poor little Oku. But she and Amefuri are perfect friends now! So, I hope you all enjoyed!

Kaeru Soyokaze- lol, yes! Guys like Ame-chan are great. XD He does deserve a girlfriend! He's so mature, but there are gonna be times when he acts almost as immature as Lanva in the near future . . . XD XD XD

Care- Wow, seriously? Hmm, I never thought of it . . . Well . . . –Thinks- Tatara would be about 5'10 or something, and Amefuri isn't that old (He's 16, but he just turned 16 a couple months before the story even started O.o) so I would think more average, like 5' 7 ½ or 5' 8. Neat question! Well, Suzuno and Amefuri have already seen each other, so they had their reunion thingy. XD It just wasn't a lot, I guess . . . I totally forgot any idea of a tearful reuinion! –Shame- lol!

Suzuno Oosugi- Yeah, Ame-chan is perfect! –Is very happy with this character- There's going to be plenty of semi-romantic hinted moments between Suzuno and Tatara; I love how Watase-sama makes the characters fall in love so quickly, but I want a slow romance for them for some reason!