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. Also, I do not own 'I Feel Pretty' from West Side Story. I own nothing.
Please Read! Okay, first of all, I'm very sorry if I got the symptoms of being drunk wrong. I've never been drunk, and I've only seen someone get drunk once, so I don't have much to go off of. (How sheltered am I? Answer: Very) Secondly, I might rewrite some things in past chapters; I've been getting this nagging feeling that I haven't concentrated enough on developing relationships. What do you guys think? And thank you to Pei-chan for pointing out something I hadn't caught. I had been thinking Hotohori would get nailed with something along the lines of a poison dart, only designed just to knock him out, not kill him, so hopefully the new wording is more clear.
Drunken Confessions
The two were unceremoniously thrown into the same dungeon cell. It was dark, cold, and utterly uncomfortable. As the metal doors clanged shut, the guard outside addressed Nozomi. "Try your little magic tricks all you want, the General himself prepared this cell for you, and none of your sorcery will work to open or destroy it. I suggest you rest now. The General will want to speak with you first, little Priestess."
Nozomi spent the next hour or so trying different ways to open the door. 'Alohomora didn't work, my fire bounces back, the reducto curse didn't work on either the bars or the walls, I summoned the keys, but I can't touch them without getting burnt. I tried using my wand to put the key in the lock, but I don't have enough control to get it in. How I wish I'd taken Professor Dumbledore up on his offer to learn how to apparate now! Heck, I just plain wish that Professor Dumbledore was here; he'd know what to do. What else can I try?'
Hotohori watched as Nozomi got more and more frustrated after each effort to get them out. But he was also a little fascinated as well. 'This is the longest demonstration I've had of her magic. I never knew how much skill it takes to get it exactly right. Even now she's starting to sweat from concentrating so hard on getting the key in the lock.' Aloud he only said, "Nozomi, maybe you better rest for a little bit. You're only getting frustrated. You need a clear head for this kind of thing."
She gave him a wan smile and sighed. "I suppose you're right. I just don't like feeling helpless." Heads turned as, at the end of her declaration, a door at the end of the hall banged shut, and heavy footsteps were heard approaching. Within seconds a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man in heavy armor stopped in front of their cell.
"So this is the Priestess of Suzaku, and the Emperor of Konan. Mere children. One would think that Suzaku would pick a stronger girl to fulfill the legend. Though my guards tell me that what you lack in physical strength, you make up for with sorcery. But as you can see, I am stronger than your paltry tricks. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing what strength of character you have when I torture you." With that, the cold, seemingly emotionless man motioned to the guard. Before anyone could react, a nearby guard grabbed Hotohori's arm and pulled it through the gap in the bars, hitting his head against the hard iron, and the General himself came inside, separated Nozomi from her wand, and drug her off to a different room for interrogation.
One Hour Later
Hotohori regained consciousness with a groan. 'I've heard of hangovers from sake, this must be what it's like. I feel like my head's going to explode.' With one look around the room, he ascertained that he was alone. Panicked, he turned to the nearest guard. "Where's Nozomi? What have you done with her?"
Smirking, the man took his time in answering. When he did, his tone was condescending. "The General's not done talking with her. She must be giving him a little trouble, his interrogations don't usually last this long. But she'll break. They always do."
This of course, put horrific images of Nozomi broken and sobbing on the ground in front of the unforgiving and uncompromising General in his mind. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to do something, but not only was his brain still fogged by the aftereffects of having his head used as a battering ram, there was quite simply nothing he could do. The only thing he could think to do was to pray to Suzaku to give Nozomi strength. And so that is exactly what he did.
"Damn it! Where the hell could they be?" Tasuki screamed at no one in particular. They'd been searching for Nozomi and Hotohori for two days now, with no luck. It was like they'd vanished into thin air. The only thing they'd found were a few white feathers in a clearing, which might or might not have been from Nozomi.
Being the most sensible one in the group, Nuriko suggested they proceed as if those feathers did belong to Nozomi, and continue in the same direction they did, even if the trail ended after only a few feet. But, after going this long without a single trace of them, all the men were starting to get frustrated. And rightfully so, seeing as the trail was leading them in the exact opposite direction they needed to go…
Light giggles were heard at the end of the hall leading to the dungeons. The guard watching Hotohori looked at the source of the noise and his jaw dropped to the floor. "Oops, I tripped." A feminine voice slurred happily. At that, Hotohori's eyes widened, for he knew that voice.
"Yes you did. Come on, just a few more feet, and then you'll be able to rest." This time it was a man's voice, his amusement fighting for release.
"Hey! Hands off, I can walk."THUMP "Maybe not." A stumbling Nozomi with two guards supporting her came into Hotohori's line of sight.
"Nozomi, what did they do to you?" Upon hearing Hotohori's voice, Nozomi turned inquiringly in the exact opposite direction of the cell. The guard's snort of laughter was quickly stifled in favor of answering the emperor's question.
"The General decided that since his normal methods of persuasion had no effect on the girl, liberal amounts of sake would loosen her tongue."
"And did it?"
Another laugh nipped in the bud. "Not the way he wanted it too. And I must say, I for one enjoyed watching, and would like to keep her."
"What did she say to him?"
Before the guard could reply, Nozomi decided it was time to add her two cents. "I told tha' ice queen exac'ly what I though' of him…or her, I haven' decided ye'." When the men just looked confused, Nozomi elaborated. "Sat General person's either a really feminine man, or an ass-ugly woman. Anyway, I looked 'im straight in the eye, an' I said, 'I used ta be like you, so I'm gonna give you a liddle advice. I don' know who died and shoved that stick up your ass, but it's a lot more fun bein' nice.'"
Hotohori looked at the guards in disbelief. "Hey, if I didn't see it and hear it, I wouldn't believe it either. But I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Nozomi pulled the guard's sleeve to get his attention.
"Hey, he didn' like that too mush, did 'e?" Surprisingly gently, the guard disentangled the drunken miko from his side, and handed her over to Hotohori.
"Anyway, she's all yours to sober up for now." At which statement, Nozomi turned around in Hotohori's arms indignantly. Shaking her finger at the laughing guards, she slurred out a response.
"I'm no' as think as you drunk I am." She paused for a moment, struggling to think. "Yeah."
A full blown smile on everyone's face now, the guard shook his head, and wished Hotohori luck before leaving with his companion.
Turning her gently back around Hotohori looked into her glazed eyes. 'What do I do with her now?' Nozomi interrupted his thoughts.
"Hotohori, since when do you have a twin?"
'I guess first of all we should sit down.' He accordingly guided her to the floor, so she could lean against the wall for support.
"You smar' boy, the room's no' spinning as mush."
A sudden thought occurred to the young emperor. "I could probably ask you anything right now, and you'd answer me honestly, wouldn't you?"
Without a second thought, Nozomi answered. "Yep. You know, alcohol reduces a person's inhibitions as well as their reflexes an' fine motor control." Sitting beside her, Hotohori began his own interrogation.
"What did the general ask you?"
"Boring stuff. He wanted to know abou' my world, and how I go' from there to here. I think he wanted to try and go there. I don' see why he would, it's mush nicer here."
"What did you need to talk to Tasuki's family about?"
Nozomi looked carefully around her, then leaned forward as if to tell Hotohori a great secret. She then proceeded to explain all about her pills, and getting them stolen. By the end of the speech, Hotohori was red with embarrassment, and wished he hadn't asked, yet at the same time, glad he did. But then, he paused, something didn't make sense.
"But you talked to Nuriko about it, didn't you? Why couldn't she help you?"
"'Cause Nuriko's a man, silly. But shh! I told him I wouldn't tell anyone, it's a secret."
Once he'd recovered from the shock of this information, which took not only time, but several requests for Nozomi to repeat the information, Hotohori interrupted Nozomi's humming with more questions.
"What are you most scared of?"
"Gettin' angry."
"What? Why?"
"Ya ever seen me when I'm angry? I'm scary. An' I tend to think firs' an' act later. Wait, the other way." With the last sentence, Nozomi started wildly miming in opposite directions with her hands until Hotohori stilled them and gently placed them in her lap.
While Hotohori tried to think of other questions to ask her, she volunteered some information.
"You know, you guys make it difficult to concentrate on gathering warriors."
"Is that what you've been trying to do?"
"Yeah. But I can't help but like you. And it doesn' help that I keep going back to my old school patterns."
"What do you mean? You haven't reverted to hiding your emotions."
"No, I mean protector. See, the advantage to being invisible is that you know lots of things people don' know you know. I could stand only a couple yards away from someone, and they'd never notice I was there. Ya hear a lot. Yep, that's wha' happens when you observe instead of participate."
"So how did you protect people?"
"I'll give you an example. There was a guy named Jeff. Reminds me a lot of Tasuki. Jeff had a little sister. He teased her mercilessly, but he really loved her very mush. Some very mean boys were planning to frame her for something she didn' do, something bad enough to get her expelled.
"I knew they were goin' to se' up the evidence after curfew, so I lef' an anonymous note to Professor Dumbledore, and Mr. Filch, the person in charge of catchin' people like that. Those kids got a week's worth of detentions for their troubles.
"Jeff never knew anyone had plotted against his sister, an' I never told anyone till now."
"Did you love him?" Hotohori tried not to let jealousy creep into his tones.
That earned a full-blown side-splitting laugh that took Nozomi several minutes to recover from. "No, but my friend Rose did. That's another thing I did. About three times a week, I'd find out where Jeff would be studyin' after dinner, and I found a way to force Rose to sit either next to, or near him. Hehe, she never caugh' on. She got kinda mad at me sometimes. Don' know why."
Suddenly Nozomi closed the gap that stood between them, and leaned against Hotohori's chest, and snuggled up as close as she could get without actually climbing on his lap. "Did I ever tell you you're really nice to snuggle agains'? So warm…"
Overcoming his surprise, Hotohori gladly wrapped his arms around her small form. 'Now. Ask now, or you might never know.' Clearing his throat, heart beating violently and carefully not looking at her, he asked, "Nozomi, how do you feel about me?"
"You're nice. So nice that if I weren't so hell ben' on not hurting Nuriko's feelings and finding the rest of the warriors I migh' even find I love you. But everyone I've ever loved has either left or rejected me. I don' wanna go through tha' again."
"Who left you?"
"My parents died. My mother's family didn't like Dad, so they refused to take me in. My grandpa died when I was nine, I was adopted by an English couple when I was ten, but when I got my Hogwarts letter and they learned I was a witch, they disowned me. I've taken care of myself ever since.
"Your heart's beatin' awfully loud. Ba Dum Ba Dum Ba Dum."
Hoping to steer her towards how he felt about her, Hotohori asked, "Why do you think it's beating loud?"
"'Cause you have a big heart. An' it's really strong."
"Your heart would be strong too, Nozomi, if only you'd trust it."
"Yeah. I really need to start doing tha', don' I? Because then I'd be able to tell you I love you when I'm sober!"
Hotohori felt like his heart stopped for about two seconds. "I thought you said you might love me, not that you definitely did."
Nozomi yawned before she answered. "My inhibitions weren' totally gone ye'. Now I'm no' only drunk bu' seepy, so they're all gone. Bye bye inbihitions!" She weakly waved a hand as if truly saying goodbye to someone.
Soaring happiness passed through Hotohori at that moment, only to be dimmed by a sudden realization. "Are you going to remember any of this in the morning?"
"Pro'lly not. Goodnigh' Hotohori." She leaned forward just enough to plant a light kiss on his cheek, and promptly fell asleep still wrapped around him.
He smiled at her peaceful expression, enjoying the feel of her warm body leaning against his. 'Well, I guess I'll just have to make you remember. Getting you to admit it will come in time.' Hotohori gently placed a soft kiss to her forehead before following her into dreamland.
The next morning, the guard who brought them their breakfast warned them that the General was going to talk to Hotohori that afternoon, and try to figure out some state secrets. Hotohori himself was the only one who heard this warning, as Nozomi was still out cold from her involuntary binge the night before. When she woke up, however, with a hangover from the devil, Hotohori confessed he was worried.
"You're worried you'll talk? Or about what he'll do to your beautiful face?" she asked with as much of a smile as she could muster.
"My beautiful face, of course!" He sounded appalled that she could even think anything else.
"Well, I can't do much about your face. But if you're worried about what you'll say, I can help you with that. There's a spell that would take away your voice until I perform the counter charm, it's fairly difficult, but I could do it."
"Really?"
"Yes. I've never tried it on a human before, but ravens are no problem, so it shouldn't take more than a couple tries to get it right for you."
"That would be wonderful, because if they try getting me drunk to talk, they'd know anything they wanted to. I talk even more than you do when I'm drunk."
The priestess started laughing a little, but stopped short as exactly what he said started to process. "Wait, what do you mean more than I do? What did I say?"
'My turn to laugh.' And laugh he did.
"Really, I'm not playing with you, what did I say?" No difference in the emperor. "Okay, if this is about that time Tanaka-kun and I decided we were ballerinas and ran around in pink tutus in the middle of a Jujitsu convention, that was so not my fault." In response, the obviously completely insensitive and insane man laughed harder, almost doubled up at this point.
'Maybe I better shut up now. Am I more pissed, or amused? I'll go with pissed till he stops laughing.' Aloud she only said, "Oooh, silencio!" Abruptly, the laughter stopped, though the motions continued until Hotohori realized that sound was no longer coming out. "Hey, worked first time, awesome!"
At the emperor's indignant look, Nozomi just laughed. "What goes around comes around, and you deserved it. Brat." When Hotohori continued to look upset with her, Nozomi tried to explain better. "I'm sorry, but it is easier to do if I actually want to you be quiet. So I used my wish that you'd stop laughing to good use. I'm sorry I cast it too soon for you, but this way at least we know it's in place, and they won't be able to get you to talk. Do you understand?"
With this Hotohori nodded, and kissed the back of her hand to show she had his forgiveness. She smiled at him, all the while thinking, 'So cute! Must cuddle!' repeatedly. Soon the urge grew too strong, and she pulled him into a hug reminiscent of a little kid with their favorite teddy bear.
'I could get used to this feeling.' They both thought at the same time, and unconsciously sighed with content.
"Oh for God's sake, quit it with the cuddling already. Every time I see you two, you're practically plastered against each other." The two broke apart quickly to see one of the same people who had kidnapped them from their camp. "Come on now lover boy, the General is waiting for you."
Nozomi gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go entirely. Regally, Hotohori glided out of the cell as if it was his own throne room, and followed the man to where the sake sat in waiting.
"This is bogus! We've been traveling for three days and not one fucking sign of them! When are we going to fucking admit that we don't have a damn clue? For all we know they ran off and shacked up somewhere."
WHAM! Tasuki met dirt, compliments of Nuriko. "Neither Hotohori-sama, nor Nozomi are that kind of person. Nozomi said she'd see this whole priestess thing through to the end, and I believe her. She's the kind of person who keeps her promises."
"How do you know that? My experience with women is that they do whatever the hell they feel like. Damn women."
"I know because Nozomi has made two promises to me, and she's kept them. And they were promises I never asked for. She kept them because she knew it's what I wanted. A person like that just doesn't abandon her responsibilities or her friends."
"So you are the person she was protecting when she aggravated her leg injury in the city." Tamahome added. At Nuriko's inquiring look, he explained. "I met up with the slave traders just after you two escaped; they gave me enough information that I figured it out on my own."
"And she never confirmed or denied it, did she?"
"Not a word. And she kept her promise to never go out in the city again without an escort, and not at all while she was still injured."
"See Tasuki? I told you."
"Hmph. I still say this is a waste of our damn time. We would have found some trace of her by now if she'd gone this way, right? Damn it! We need to do something. I hardly feel like a man anymore! We have to protect her!"
Nuriko was saved a response by the glowing of Nozomi's two way mirror. An involuntary groan escaped him. 'When will they stop bugging us? I'm running out of excuses for Hotohori-sama and Nozomi not being here.'
"Nuriko-sama! What is this I hear about Kutou having a public hanging of our priestess and emperor? Aren't Miko-sama and Heika-sama with you?"
"SHIT!"
A truly irate blonde general dragged a thoroughly trashed, silently laughing Suzaku warrior down the hallway leading to his cell. 'That damn woman did something to him, and I'm going to find out what!' To the world however, he maintained his ever-present mask of cold indifference.
Once he reached the cell where a young woman was seen to nurse the migraine from hell, he motioned for the door to open, and he threw the man inside, startling the woman who was now the object of his scrutiny. "What did you do to him?"
For a moment he thought she wasn't going to respond, she remained motionless, staring at the floor and nothing else. But before he could demand her answer, she surprised him by looking up and smiling rather viciously. "Now general," she said coyly, "just because he wasn't receptive to your advances doesn't mean I did anything to him. I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason for ignoring you."
'I hate women. They never give you a straight answer.' He could barely restrain a frustrated growl from sounding, or from frowning in front of at least three of his guards. "As you know, I have most effective methods of persuasion. Yet, he spoke not one word. Now tell me what you did to him."
"You may have gotten me so drunk I can barely remember last night, but I do remember enough to know that I never gave you what you really wanted. So why should he?" Her voice, he noticed, was laced with indecent suggestion, as if he had actually taken off his armor for her, and she had refused him. He could feel his pride bristling at that. 'Now the guards will never believe that I wasn't the poor bastard who got turned down by my drunken prisoner. And worse, the more I deny it, the more I will prove her implications in their eyes.'
Belatedly unclenching his fists, he fought to control his temper. Even when she was drunk she had gotten on his nerves. Never before had he come across anyone who could annoy him as much as she. So he got particular satisfaction in imparting his next bit of information.
"Unless one or both of you talk before tomorrow morning, you will both be publicly executed tomorrow at noon." A cold smirk settled on his features. 'Now watch the bitch whine and plead with me to save her pitiful life. Let her go on about her duties as a priestess, and tell me about all her loved ones back in her world and beg me to have mercy. Which of course, I shall have none. If my mother had to die, then she does too.'
"Famous bad guy words. You say that to get me to talk, I talk, and then you kill me anyway. I know the routine, and you can forget it. I'm not giving you that satisfaction. Now go away, I have to sober him up." The condescending bitch then proceeded to turn her back on him to tend her warrior.
Inwardly seething with an anger he hadn't known since that long ago day when his mother had died, he turned away, frightened that he would lose control. Control was the one constant his life held now. If he lost that, he lost everything he'd gained. Power was important, but without control, the power would wither. He'd learned that over the years.
Nozomi sensed, rather than heard him walk away, and so she finally allowed herself to shake as much as she pleased. 'Damn he's scary. And what the hell possessed you to say things that way! What's the use in antagonizing him? Not cooperating is fine, but why the hell are you making this harder on yourself than it has to be? Why are you making him more angry? Gah! Stupid!' After she'd finished scolding herself for her stupidity, Nozomi checked to make sure no one was around, and then removed the spell keeping Hotohori silent. Quick as a wink, sounds of breathless mirth filled the room.
"So…funny!" he managed to squeeze out. "You're always…so…funny!"
Still shaking from having annoyed the crap out of her scarier than hell, ice-block kidnapper, Nozomi was something less than amused. "Yeah, I just pissed off the one guy on the face of the planet who could kill us both in a heartbeat and not feel the slightest touch of remorse. This is freakin' hilarious."
At the dryness of her tone, his laughing had calmed down enough so he could talk without ten second pauses in between every word. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."
"Yeah, I see he didn't damage your beautiful face." She was still scared from what had happened earlier, but as always, in spite of everything else, Hotohori's narcissism brought a smile to her face.
"Yes, I do believe I'm more beautiful than ever, if that's possible." Looking at his reflection in a puddle of water on the floor, he continued. "Yes, indeed, I'm just so damn pretty."
Upon hearing his emphasis on the word 'pretty', Nozomi came up with an idea that was quite possibly pure genius. A full-blown mischievous smile bloomed across her face, "You know, there's a song in my world called 'I Feel Pretty.'"
Suddenly all business, Hotohori plopped down right next to her, and put on a drunken impression of his 'emperor' voice. "Well, you must teach me this song right away, so we can both sing about my beauty to the whole world."
All the while thinking, 'Payback's a bitch.' Nozomi quite obligingly taught him the song. Within minutes, Hotohori was twirling around, preening himself and singing at the top of his lungs.
I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty,
I feel pretty and witty and bright!
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me tonight.
Hotohori pranced over to Nozomi, and threw his arm around her shoulders before singing the next part.
I feel charming,
Oh, so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel!
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real.
Dramatically, he sighed, as if his beauty was such a great burden to bear. Standing up again, he posed as if he was indeed in front of a mirror.
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!
Twirling again, he swiftly gathered Nozomi into his arms and began dancing with her. Both of them were occasionally tripping on the other's foot, as he was drunk, and she didn't know any of the steps to begin with. Not to mention she was shaking so hard with laughter it was hard to move at all.
I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty
That the city should give me its key.
A committee
Should be organized to honor me.
I feel dizzy,
I feel sunny,
I feel fizzy and funny and fine,
And so pretty,
Miss America can just resign!
I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
For I'm loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
As the last line was sung, Hotohori dipped Nozomi so low she almost fell over, and her silent laughter was stopped in its tracks as Hotohori kissed her soundly on the lips.