Disclaimer - I do not own Fushigi Yuugi.

Chapter Eleven - Journey

"Come on. Let's get him on the bed." The amber-eyed man struggled with the semi-prone form of Ken, as he made his way to one of the guest rooms in which the emperor-incarnate resided. Meanwhile, the brunette woman walked into her kitchen, and began brewing some tea.

"Hey Sai, can you shut the door?" she called to where the violet haired woman stood. Snapping out of her reverie, she turned around and shut the door, walking into the kitchen. She walked over and sat down at the coffee table while her friend pulled out three cups. "He'll be fine, Sai-chan," the brunette spoke then. Sai looked up to see her holding a cup of warm sweet tea. Sai took the cup from her, and sipped it softly, the taste of tea calming her.

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"Are you sure you need to leave so soon?" Boushin asked. Yui smiled softly, and nodded.

"We have to find the shinzahos, Boshin-san. Our existences depend on it." The man bowed his head in defeat and understanding. Houki stood up then, approaching the two blondes. She bent and hugged Yui.

"Well then, good luck on your search. And may the gods protect you," she wished. "And to you as well, Nakago-san," she whispered quietly as she looked up at him. His eyes widened slightly.

"Nani?" She smiled then, a melancholy smile. She released Yui, and stepped in front of the tall man.

"Your appearance and your reputation has always made you a legend in every country. The man with hair like then sun, and eyes of the deepest, clearest lake." Boushin's brow furrowed.

"What are you talking about, Ma-ma?" She smiled slightly.

"Nothing the emperor needs to worry about." She began walking out the room then. "Be sure to make sure that Yui-san and Kei-san have the best to travel with, Boushin." She disappeared then. Yui looked up at the blonde worriedly. His eyes has lost their sparkle, and fallen into a dull shade. He then bowed to Boushin, and left the room quietly. Yui hastily bowed, and ran after him.

"Naka--?"

"Don't call me that!" he snapped. It wasn't loud, but just the tone of his voice told Yui that he was upset.

"What happened?" He didn't answer causing her to double her speed, and grab his arm. She forced him then to look down at her. Surprise hit her as her light blue orbs hit his cold, life-less seiran. His expression had faded into exactly what her memory of him had been. A mask. Complete nothingness. He pulled his arm from her grasp, and walked into his chambers, slamming the doors behind him. Yui stared sadly at the closed doors. She couldn't even feel his mind anymore. He had completely blocked her out.

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"How did she know?" Taka finally asked.

"Who knows, man. All that matters is that blondie has frozen on Yui," Tetsuya replied. Miaka looked up then, staring at Tetsuya with a dark look.

"And since when do you care, Tetsuya-san?" The three men stared in surprise at the malicious tone of the usually happy-go-lucky brunette. Getting up, Miaka walked out of the room and into her own, closing the door behind her.

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Yui sighed and closed her eyes, falling down onto the bed. Sighing into the soft sheets, she tiredly recalled the whole day. She had met an ally, and finally found Suzaku's shinzahou, but where did it all leave her? With no plan of action and a wall between her and the only person who can really make a difference? This didn't help at all. Turning over, she opened up her eyes and stared at the plain ceiling of the room.

"Why are you shutting me out?" She sighed. He wasn't going to answer. Yui just turned to her side and fell into an uneasy sleep.

xvx

A little girl about the age of five sat on the steps of hallway in front of the doorway to a parlor. Her hair was done in two braids at the side, and she was dressed a light blue, umbrella skirt dress, whose shade shade matched her eyes and the ribbons tied at the ends of her plaited hair. From where she sat in the darkened hallway on a plush carpet, she could see two people sitting on the couch, while her grandfather was nowhere in sight. But she could hear his voice clearly as he talked with them. The people was actually a couple who seemed quite distraught at the moment. The woman was clearly troubled, tears whelming up in her deep emerald eyes, as her coconut brown head kept shaking in denial. The man, however, seemed angered, his deep brown eyes showing his emotions, even though his semi-long black strands of hair seemed to conceal them completely.

xvx

"But Otousan! We need to see her!" the woman cried. The older man turned around harshly, fixing her with a cold, hard glare.

"You need to see her? Absolutely not," he replied coldly, but calmly. "I have allowed you into my house, treated you with civility, but I will not allow you to see her! You do not deserve to see her!" The woman sobbed slightly.

"We know! We know! But we want to make amends! Onegai!" she cried, trying to win the man over through sympathy and pity. But the old man stood untouched.

"Iie. I will not allow you to see my grand daughter." The young man jumped up, outraged.

"Is she not our daughter as well!? What give.."

xvx

"Yui!" The little girl looked up to see one of the few maids looking down at her.

"Hai?" The woman gave her an unpleased look.

"What are you doing here, chibi-chan?" She held out her hand then. "Now come on. You need to have your afternoon snack." Yui nodded, and stood up, brushing off her dress before taking the woman's hand.

vvvvvvvvv

Nakago snapped open as he jumped from his resting position. He then grabbed onto his head. That memory! The cruelty of it all. Taking in a calming breath, he began to practice martial arts form. His punches shot through the air as his kicks sliced into it. His body moved at a furious pace, his mind forgetting his surroundings and just concentrating on the movements, the tension, the pull of each and every muscle. Sweat began to slip off his pale, taut forehead, trailing down the side of his face, and then taking the dive after it reached his chin.

"You will be a prince, Ayuru-chan."

He turned then, suddenly launching out a spin-kick.

"You have always been my son."

Nakago executed a jumping cartwheel in the air, and landed into a sweep kick-to-spin kick combo.

"You wanted something, and you used the best means to aquire it! I can't blame you for that!"

He stopped then. The line Yui had used. "Something he wanted." So what did he want now? He stopped then as he noticed the white lotus sitting on the bedside table.

"I want to win this! I want to prove to myself that I'm not weak!"

Smiling slightly, he grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off himself and went off to find his blonde miko.

"Let's fight this together."

vvvvvvvvv

"You never were weak, little one." Taiitsukun stared at the seiran eyed god that sat there, hovering over a calm lake. "You're feeling the pull too, aren't you Ma-ma?" Taiitsukun smiled at the god referred to her as mother.

"Yes." She then lifted herself up and floated over next to him. He looked at her with calm eyes, an expression showing that he had been meditating all day to keep his hold on now all four countries.

"Are you worried?" Her expression then changed slightly, showing off how old she really was.

"If your miko does not hurry, she will cease to exist, Seiryuu," she replied before drifting off into space.

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"What does she mean, "cease to exist"?!!" Tetsuya cried out.Keisuke sat there with a brooding look covering his features, while Tamahome had gone to get Miaka.

"What are you talking about?" Keisuke and Tetsuya looked up to see Miaka there with a horrified look on her face. "What do you mean!?" She asked. She walked over to Keisuke, kneeling down in front of him. "It has something to do with Yui and Nakago, doesn't it?" Keisuke nodded. Miaka bowed her head. All of sudden, a ruby aura surrounded the brunette as she began chanting. 'Suzaku' lit up on her forehead as the book also glowed red.

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"Holy Suzaku." Boshin stared up at the golden statue of his god. "Call Yui-san, and Kei-san immediately," he ordered.

vvvvvvvvv

Nakago sighed as he knocked again on Yui's door. Finally, he just opened the door to see the blonde miko sprawled across the bed, sleeping. He padded over and leaning over the bed, brushed her locks back, revealing her troubled features.

"Yui, wake up," he whispered softly. The girl stirred slightly. She turned over then and looked up at him. "Ohayo."

"Ohayo," she replied groggily. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"I'm not sure." Yawning, Yui sat up and stretched.

"And what have you been doing?" He smiled then, allowing her to see that he was better. She could now feel his presence again. "I see that you've been thinking. Well, that's not going to get you off the hook," she remarked dryly. Before he could reply, a guard appeared at the door.

"Yui-sama, Kei-sama! Heika-sama has called for you! Hurry!" Both Yui and Nakago tensed at the urgency in the man's tone. Both jumped off the bed and followed the man back to the shrine. Both blondes stared up at the glowing bird in surprise.

"I see that you don't even know what is going on." Yui and Nakago turned to see Boushin standing there, obviously worried.

"When did it start?" Yui asked. Meanwhile, Nakago walked up to the glowing figure.

"Just a while back. I'm not too sure." Yui's brow furrowed.

"Ha..."

"Someone is chanting." Both looked over to the tall man.

"Nani?" He turned back slightly to look at Yui from the corner of his eyes.

"Someone is chanting. I believe it is Miaka." Yui frowned in frustration as she walked over to the blonde. Listening carefully, she could know also pick up the sounds of a female voice chanting.

"It is Miaka," she finally confirmed. "But why would she be chanting?" Nakago's eyes narrowed then.

"We have to leave. Now. Soi!" The seishi showed up.

"Hai?"

"We're leaving." Yui jumped then as the blonde began to walk away.

"But why so sudden?" Nakago paused to look down at her.

"Your friend would only be chanting if she knew something was going to happen. You said that the one's who were reading the book would be able to read Taiitsukun's thoughts as well, no?"

"Yea, but... Omigod." Yui's eyes widened in horror. She took off on a run then. Nakago followed her lead. Something was going to happen. He could just sense it.

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"Ah, Hitonaka-san." The tall man smiled at one of his close friends.

"How are you Aki?" The ebony-haired man smiled.

"Good. And you and your Inu-chan?" The broader man laughed.

"He's perfectly fine." The two men smiled. This was their way to relax. From the outside, it looked like a doctor and a veterinarian would meet up at a local cafe and talk over a kettle of tea. For them, it was a weekly reconnaissance between two best friends.

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Yui jumped up onto the horse. Nakago climbed on behind her. Beside them, Soi already sat on his horse. Boushin and Houki stood, watching them.

"I'm sorry to just leave on you like this, Boushin-san." The young emperor smiled at the blonde girl.

"Not at all, Yui-san. You are here for a purpose. Don't let me get in your way." Houki then came up to Yui, and took her slender wrist. She began to tie a red string around it.

"You keep safe now, Yui-san," she whispered. "You are the hope of our worlds now." She then turned slightly, and took Nakago's wrist, tying a similar thread around his wrist. "You too, Nakago."

"Why do you insist on calling me that?" The woman smiled.

"It is not the title that you scorn, but the memories themselves." Nakago stared quietly, taking in her words.

"Then will you tell your son who I really am?"

"I already know, Nakago-san." All turned and stared at the emperor of Konan.

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"WHAT??!!"

"HE KNOWS!!!???"

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(A/N): Finish! HAH! That was a bit evil, but I'm out of inspiration.

Anyways, it's been quite a while, hasn't it? Well, in this chapter, it's kind of like the action is finally gonna start. And they finally get going. Also, I put in a couple flashbacks scenes which just sort of came to me. Frankly, I think this fic is getting too influenced by my other one, All Falls Down (which at the moment is going through a major re-vamp....).

Now, I'm just going to put in a list of characters that a few people have asked me for.... (since I do use different ways to refer to them) The first six are in order of how fast my brain is working. The rest are in order of first appearances.

1 - Hongo Yui (our heroine!) I do refer to her as "blonde girl" or "blonde miko" at times.

2- Nakago (the hero?) His real name was "Gi Ayuru", but it's also "Tsukiniyo Kei", since he's been reincarnated. And yes, he's a blonde too.

3 - Yuki Miaka (Supporting female lead) I refer to her sometimes as "Suzaku no Miko" or brunette.

4 - Yuki Keisuke (Would he be considered a supporting male?) I just refer to him by his name, nothing else.

5 - Tetsuya (Does he have a last name?) Just Tetsuya, nothing else.

6 - Taka (Supporting male lead) I think I might refer to him as Tamahome at some time, but I'm not sure.

7 - Taiitsukun (The elderly person that knows everything. Every movie has one...) I something refer to her as "the creator" or "Tai-yi-jun", which is the Chinese pronunciation.

8 - Seiryuu (Another one of those people who know everything.) I refer to him as "seiren eyed god", and that's it.

9 - Adia (Just a one scener.) He's not going to show again. At least, I don't think he will.

10 - Subaru (A one scener) I have no plans at the moment to go back to her.

11 - Toroki (Another one scener) The same with him.

12 - Dark Seishi (The villain's henchmen?) You will see these guys a lot. And yes, I know their name is kind of corny.....

13 - Houki (The regal person that everyone fears.) Houki is sometimes referred as the "Dowager Empress" which I think means mother of the emperor. Well, that's how they used it in "Anastasia".

14 - Boushin (The regal person that everyone likes.) Boushin is referred as his name, "heika-sama", and I think that's it.

15 - Soi (An ally) Soi is just gong to referred as Soi, because I can't think of any other thing.

16 - Ra Ken (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

17 - Sai (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

18 - Brunette Female (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

19 - Ebony haired, amber eyed Male (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

20 - Shun (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

21 - Yuiren (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

22 - Hitonaka (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

23 - Aki (One of those people who's identity is a big part of the story) You'll find out....

And that's it...

Wow, I have a lot more characters that I thought...... The ones with question marks around them are the ones I haven't completely explained. Yet. Anyways, I'll post a complete list around the last chapters, just in case.

Now to the reviewers::

To Midnight Shade - Wow, you are hyper... Anyways, yes I've finally gotten back to writing. And here's your character list. Thank you and you're welcome!

To Otaku-no-Miko - Really? So will you review this one too? big puppy eyes And yes, that whole thing with their pasts is my fault. Bah! Anyways, thanks for the review!

Till the next one, Ja!

(and review!)