Lonely Angel

Disclaimer: I do not own any bit of this story, Fushigi Yugi belongs to Yuu Watase, and Harry Potter/Hogwarts belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.

Author's Note: For all you curious and observant reviewers out there, I will state that although Nozomi talked about wands and wings and pepper spray in front of Tasuki in the last chapter, he was more than a little drunk at the time, and wasn't paying any attention, therefore he doesn't remember any of it.

Nostalgic Reflections

Three Days Later

A man watched the group from afar. The one with a temper to match his hair was swearing profusely, only fueled by the fact that a small, brown haired woman draped in a cloak that was far too big for her was laughing at him.

A lavender haired woman kept punching him with such force he would be sent skidding across the dirt. A black haired man, who could have easily been a woman, kept staring raptly at the one with brown hair.

Occasionally a short tussle would break out between the red-head and a blue-haired man. In spite of the fighting they seemed a happy group. There were many Kutou spies around them, though, confirming what he had suspected. The brown haired one was the legendary priestess. She would find him soon enough, but for now, he's just take care of a few of those potential assassins.

"So what's our next clue, Hotohori?" Nozomi was having the time of her life, and she was not holding back anymore. She had been laughing at Tasuki almost the whole trip, which actually seemed to annoy him.

'He reminds me so much of Jeff, swearing like a sailor, but has a heart of gold. I never laughed like this at Jeff's antics, but now I wish I'd given in to the impulse.'

As she turned to Hotohori, he thought he had never seen a more beautiful sight, he just wished he was the one who could make her laugh like that. But now was not the time for idle wishes.

"This next one is very odd. The characters here represent fox and magic."

"Fox and magic?" Nozomi was clearly confused. "How about we come back to that one?" she suggested. "What's the next one?"

"Short and intelligence."

"Okay, so we're looking for a midget or child genius. I don't suppose you have tests for that kind of thing?"

"No, but we do have some very hard tests for government officials. Why don't you contact Tong Shen-tian and ask him if there have been any abnormally high scores lately?"

Giving everyone a quick smile, Nozomi leapt up to retrieve the mirror from her cloak, over by the horse she shared with Hotohori. "Hey, how the hell can she contact that guy from here?" Tasuki demanded.

"Tong Shen-tian." Nozomi had spoken clearly into the mirror. Soon a muffled, but surprised voice answered back.

"Miko-sama?"

"I have a question for you. We think the next warrior might be some kind of genius, possibly a child. Has anything of that nature appeared on the tests for government officials?"

"Yes, Miko-sama. There was a thirteen year old boy who scored remarkably high."

With that information, and a mounting excitement within her, Nozomi had soon obtained the name of the village where he lived, and the name of the boy who had received such a high score. Thanking the advisor, Nozomi replaced the mirror in its appropriate pocket, and sat back down by the others, and asked if anyone knew where the village was.

"Yeah, it's about a mile west of here, my family lives there. All fucking six of 'em. I hate women." Tasuki said. "Now, who the fuck were you talking to?"

"Tong Shen-tian, one of the advisors at the palace. It's a two-way mirror." Nozomi said that as if it answered everyone's questions, but Tasuki still had a bunch of them.

"What the f –"

"Tasuki, before any more profanity comes out of your mouth, I'll explain. Simply put, I'm a witch. I enchanted two identical mirrors so that we had a direct line of communication with the palace."

After looking like he was going to freak out for a moment, Tasuki settled down surprisingly well with the help of a small flask he pulled from inside his jacket. "We should get some rest if we're going to reach that village tomorrow. We'll have to get up very early." Hotohori advised.

"Before we do, Nuriko, could I talk to you in private for a minute?" Nozomi asked a little nervously. All the men looked at her a little curiously. "Just a little girl talk. Please?"

So Nuriko went off with Nozomi until they were just out of hearing range. "This is a little embarrassing, but I hadn't quite emptied all the pockets of my cloak before that guy stole it. Because of that, I have about two days before my monthly cycle starts, and no supplies."

"Monthly cycle?" Nuriko was obviously confused.

Nozomi was definitely nervous now. "No one in the harem ever mentioned the fact that they bleed every month?"

"I'm afraid not. The women in the harem didn't talk about personal stuff. I'm sorry I can't help you."

"Then can you do me one favor? Don't mention this talk to anyone? I'd be really embarrassed."

"Of course, it's the least I can do, considering what you haven't mentioned for my sake."

After clumsily expressing her thanks, Nozomi and Nuriko headed back to camp, where Nozomi was questioned about her slightly red face. Assuring everyone that she was fine, she turned to Tasuki.

"I take it from your earlier statement that you have women in your family?"

"Yeah, six of 'em. Why?"

"Because we're going to pay them a visit tomorrow. I'm making an executive decision."

Before Tasuki could spurt forth more profanity, Tamahome interrupted. "Why are we visiting flame-boy's family?"

"It's a very short detour, it won't take that long, and I need to talk to a woman."

"You just talked to Nuriko."

Nozomi paused slightly before saying, "I need a second opinion."

"If it's an opinion, can't you talk to us?" Hotohori was obviously a little hurt that Nozomi didn't want to talk to him about whatever it was.

"No. Don't get me wrong, if this was anything else, I could turn to you guys, but none of you could help me on this one. I need to talk to a woman." Another pause. "Other than Nuriko. And somehow, the relative of one of my warriors makes it feel much less like talking about a personal problem with a complete stranger."

"Personal problem? Tell me again how we can't help you with this? What's wrong?" Hotohori was definitely worried now.

"I'm fine. Can you just trust me on this, please? I promise, I'm fine, this is just a perfectly normal thing that I'm totally unprepared for, and I need to know how to deal with it."

"And Tasuki's family will be able to help you, but not us?"

"Yes. That sounds about right. Believe me, if I could turn to you, I would. Can we leave it at that, please?"

Taking pity on the girl, Nuriko jumped in. "Let it go, guys. Trust me, she's fine, and she's right when she says that none of you would know how to answer her question."

With Nuriko backing her up, they had no choice but to let go the mystery of what Nozomi needed to talk to a woman about, and do their best to sleep.

It was a long time before Hotohori was able to sleep. He watched as Nozomi's breathing evened out as she drifted off into dreamland. Watching her snuggle deeper into the blankets and listening to her make soft noises in her sleep made it feel like they were all alone, even if Tasuki's snores were little short of deafening. It put him in mind of the one time at the palace when they were truly alone, and had their first lengthy conversation.

Flashback

It had been the night before they left the palace, and try as he might, he could not settle down enough to fall asleep. So, he walked to Nozomi's room, as he had many times, though she didn't know it. Somehow he just couldn't sleep unless he knew she was alright. Not only was she just fine, she was awake too, watching a strange blue fire burn merrily in the fireplace.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Nozomi, but I couldn't sleep. Can I come in for a bit?" he asked softly.

She turned to him and gave him a slow, heartwarming smile. "Of course, I couldn't sleep either. But now you're here, we can try my method that never fails; a nice chat over a steaming cup of hot chocolate."

This being said, she walked over to the corner of her room, where cold water resided in a porcelain pitcher. She conjured some type of metal pot, and poured the water in it, before placing the pot over the fire. The next objects to emerge from her wand were two large mugs, and then filled those mugs halfway with a strange brown, powdery substance.

"What's hot chocolate?" It took him a while to ask, because he was busy memorizing every movement, cherishing every second with the woman of his dreams.

Again he was the recipient of one of those smiles. "You'll like it, trust me. And once you finish that glass, you'll be very sleepy." After she had regained her chair, she asked him some questions. "So, why can't you sleep? Anything on your mind?"

"Probably the same things that are on your mind. I'm just worried and excited all at once about our trip. And I'm very glad that I got to meet you at last. All my life, I've been told of the legend of the Suzaku no Miko, and now it's finally happened. It's all rather like a dream to me. Sometimes it's hard to believe that it's real."

"Life does have a dream-like quality sometimes. When my grandpa was alive, he made everything fun. Don't get me wrong, we worked hard, but it was fun too. Nothing has been quite the same since."

The water began to boil, Nozomi retrieved the pot from the fire, and poured the now hot water over the brown stuff in the glasses, and began to stir. When everything was nicely mixed together, she handed one to Hotohori, and took a sip out of her own. When she caught the suspicious look on the emperor's face, she laughed. "Trust me; you'll like it, so try it already!"

Tentatively, he took a sip, and realized she was right, it was very good. After saying so, he took the opportunity to bring up what he feared would be a sensitive subject.

"You know, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you're very different from when you first came here. When you were first here, you seemed reserved, withdrawn. Now, somehow, that seems to have disappeared."

"That's because I'm not sad any more. You, Tamahome, and Nuriko have put me in touch with something I had forgotten existed. I don't know how you did it, but the three of you have given me a place where I belong. And that's very precious to me. Quite frankly, I don't know how to thank you enough."

"How did we do that?" He was very confused.

"I'm not sure; all I know is that I've been searching for this feeling for nine years. I had only one friend during my years in school, and she was four years younger than me, and to this day has no idea of my special abilities.

"Though I must say, I did nothing to deserve her friendship. I pushed her away so many times, hurt her feelings so much. I'm surprised she still talks to me. It was my fault, but I always felt like everyone would have been happier if they didn't know me."

"I don't believe that. I myself have been so much happier since I met you, Nozomi."

"Thank you. That really means a lot. Most people thought I had no emotions whatsoever. So some of them would insult me, attack me in the middle of the lunch room, and sabotage my homework, every day, for seven years. Because I never fought back, not once.

"I thought my depression was because I didn't feel needed, so during the summers, I volunteered at animal shelters and nursing homes, but it didn't make a difference. And on top of everything else, I really hated it. The nursing homes especially, because everyone there is either so drugged up they're practically comatose, or bitter and angry at life. I almost got more abuse there than I did at school. Well, verbal abuse anyway."

"Why did you continue to go?"

"I was that desperate for human contact. Even insults from angry old ladies were better than my own company. Besides, I couldn't really get any more depressed than I already was. And there was always the possibility that under the insults, one or two of them might have been glad for the company too. They were almost never visited by anyone they knew, so it's possible."

"You didn't have anyone you felt like you could turn to? No men you were interested in?"

Here Nozomi finally erased her serious expression and outright laughed. When she spoke, the sad note had left, leaving only a slight amusement. "No. You see anyone who didn't insult me, didn't know I existed."

"That can't be right. I'm sure they knew you existed. Ignored you maybe."

"You want an example? Our last year in school, a boy in my grade, who had had all his classes with me, five days a week for seven years, came up to me in the library one night and told me that the curfew for first years was at 7:00, and to go up to the common room before he gave me detention."

"What'd you say?"

"I showed him the book I was reading, which happened to be the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7, and said, 'Tony, I'm older than you.' He asked for proof, so I gave him the exact date of both our birthdays, and just to be a brat, asked if he needed to see my birth certificate. But enough about me, let's hear about you for a change."

"I've never had any friends. When I was younger, I had to study all the time so I would be ready for the throne. And as the future emperor, all the other children my age were considered beneath my notice, so I was forbidden to even talk to them."

"What about your parents? Couldn't you turn to them?"

"My father was too busy with affairs of state to visit me much, and he had many other children too. My mother…well, I was never good enough for her, the only thing she ever had to say to me were insults, how I was never going to amount to anything, I was too stupid to be the emperor, and the only reason she wanted me to inherit the throne was because of the position it would give her." Hotohori paused as Nozomi reached out and took his hand in hers in a comforting gesture.

"My father died when I was fourteen. At first I was nothing more than a puppet with my mother pulling the strings, but then she died, and I was all alone. At least while my parents were alive, I had something of a family. But after they died, I was a solitary bird in a cage, no contact with anyone other than my advisors, and, well, you know what they're like."

"Yes, unfortunately I do know. Why do you think I was so insistent that you come with us? You need a break from them. The only question now, is what are you going to do with your newfound freedom?"

"Why do you ask?"

"For the simple reason that your cage is open. You're leaving on a journey in the morning, away from any expectations of behavior. You will have complete freedom to be yourself starting tomorrow, and I was just wondering what you're going to do with it."

"I don't know, somehow I think that I'll never be completely free to be myself."

"Okay, that's it, put down your hot chocolate and come with me." She commanded.

"What are you going to do?"

"Show you what I would have done if your advisors were still making a stink about you coming with us."

Intrigued, Hotohori put down his half finished drink, and walked closer to Nozomi. She took his hand, and led him outside. Drawing him closer, much to his surprise, she let her wings out, and under the cover of night, they flew far away from the palace. The sensation was wonderful. He felt weightless, powerful, the breeze stroking his face and hair was soothing, and the situation was only enhanced when he heard Nozomi's voice say lightly in his ear,

"So my dear, where do you want to go?"

Savoring the sound of her voice, as well as the surprising endearment, he took a long time in replying.

"I have to be decisive all day, everyday; this time I'm leaving the decision to someone else."

Chuckling, Nozomi complied. She soared higher and higher, taking him far enough up that he could see almost the whole of Eiyo. The view was breathtaking, along with everything else about this trip through the clouds. Soon Nozomi started singing a tune that seemed to fit the situation perfectly. A deep sense of peace overcame him with the sound, which seemed to go straight to his heart and innermost self.

"What are you singing?"

Looking a little embarrassed, Nozomi explained. "It's called 'A Whole New World.' It's about a man and a woman's feelings as they go on a magic carpet ride. I thought it fit."

"What happened to the man and woman?"

"Well, the woman was a princess, and the man was a simple commoner who disguised himself as a prince so he could marry her. Eventually she fell as deeply in love with him as he had with her, and she convinced her father to change the law so they could get married. But the first time she began to fall in love with him was when he took her on a magic carpet ride over the town."

"Yes, I think it fits." It was hard to tell in the dark, but it looked like he'd made her blush. Success had never felt so good. "Would you finish singing it?"

Still blushing slightly, Nozomi resumed her singing. Once again a feeling of peace came upon him, and he relaxed in her arms. It surprised him how easily she held him, even though he weighed more than she did. It was extremely easy to trust her with his safety.

As Nozomi finished up the song, she landed gently on top of a small clearing. It was a grassy area, with the subtle fragrance of nearby wildflowers wafting in on a slight breeze. The most spectacular thing about this spot, however, was not the gentle smell, or the expanse of green lawn, but the view of the city, and the woman next to him. She stood close to him still, looking out on the city.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she whispered quietly. "The air is so clear here, and everything is in harmony. In my world, it's almost like the buildings and other man-made objects are battling with nature for space, but here everything seems to cooperate much better."

"Yes, it is certainly beautiful, but to me, you are much more pleasant to look at than the view." Nozomi looked up at him, clearly startled. "Nozomi, there is something I have tried to tell you every time we have had a chance to talk, but I've always been interrupted. I want to tell you now."

Gathering his courage, he continued. "I told you that I've heard and known of the legend of the Suzaku no Miko my whole life. As a child, I had hoped that the strange girl from another world would be the one to love me as a man, not as the next emperor of Konan.

"Now you're here, and you're everything I imagined, and so much more. I love you; I've loved you for as long as I can remember. When all this is over, I want you to be my Empress. I won't force you into anything you don't want to do, but I am determined to make you fall in love with me."

Nozomi's feelings upon hearing this declaration were in complete and utter turmoil. She felt grateful, flattered, confused, an odd warmth, and startled all at once. She opened her mouth to speak, but found she had no idea what to say, or what she ought to say.

Without seeming to know what she was doing, she plopped down in a sitting position on the soft grass, where Hotohori kneeled next to her in concern and anxiety. Eventually, she realized that she had to say something, so with the deepest of efforts she scrambled to find something appropriate to say.

"I'm sorry, I'm just in shock. It's certainly not everyday that a handsome, kind, considerate and all around great guy tells you he loves you. I just…don't know what to say. I feel like I should, but I don't know where to start. I guess you could say I'm befuddled."

Hotohori smiled reassuringly at her. He didn't want her to feel pressured, after all. "That's okay; you don't have to answer right away. I just wanted you to know how I feel. I've been trying to tell you for so long that it's a relief to finally succeed." An attractive frown settled on his features as a thought struck him. "But shouldn't you say beautiful, rather than handsome?"

Smiling a little, for she had heard his narcissistic remarks before, she said, "I didn't know which adjective you'd prefer. Not many men I know would like to be called beautiful. But I want you to know that I like you, I really do, I just don't know if it's love." She seemed very anxious. Once again, he smiled reassuringly at her.

"Nozomi, you don't have to be nervous around me. I respect you as a person, and I'm not going to push you. I just needed to tell you how I feel, and tell you that I hope for a return of those feelings."

She looked uncertainly at him. "So I don't have to be all uncomfortable around you?"

"Please don't." He was still smiling at her. "I imagine that would make our journey a very long and uncomfortable one, don't you?" Sighing in relief, she agreed. After that exchange, they both sat side by side in companionable silence, looking over the city they were to leave in the morning; before heading back to the palace where they slept soundly, each with pleasant dreams of being held in a loving embrace.

End of Flashback

Absently, before Hotohori drifted off to sleep, he wondered if Nozomi's feelings had changed any since that day…