If you recognize it, I don't own it.

13. Behind the Mask

Sen tapped her nose couple of times with her index finger.

"What to do? What to do? What to do?"

She tried to concentrate, but it no avail. Her mind was too occupied by the fact that she seemed to be awake in her own dreamland. The changing sceneries were driving her insane little by little.

"Calm. Down." She said to herself as she sat down to a pink bubble. "Concentrate."

She closed her eyes and thought back to the time she came to this universe. She thought how it had felt being all alone in the world, and how it felt when she realised she wasn't alone anymore. She thought of Koji and Tasuki teaching her how to fight. She thought the time Chichiri had pulled the fan out of his hat, magic, he had said.

"The hat." She murmured, opening her eyes. A small smile played across her face. "That's it." She closed her eyes again and tried to remember a dream where he was in. Quite a few came up, but none of them were.. Usable. After a while she was ready to give up, when the hat suddenly was there. It just popped out from nothingness as she reached out for it.

"Yes!" She let out a small hysterical laughter.

---

He smiled at the girl. The sun was at her back so he couldn't see her face, but he didn't need to. He knew her honest face, every inch of it. He waved his hand goodbye and watched his two best friends walk off.

---

Sen emerged from the hat. She fell for few feet and landed on a soft, wet, grass. She quickly tied the hat to her neck, letting it fall on her back.

"Chichiri!" She yelled. "Chichiri! Where are you!"

No answer. Well, that would have been too easy. She grimaced and took one tentative step forward. When nothing jumped at her she grew bolder. Her gaze wandered the riverbank as she walked forward.

"Come on, where are you?" She whispered, just as she came across a huge fallen tree. She climbed over it with ease and the sat down and leaned her back to the tree trunk. I'm not going to find him this way; she despaired, letting her head hung. This is pathetic.

Laughter.

Sen's head shoot up. She looked over the fallen tree to see a girl under her twenties walking with a boy by the same age. The girl was laughing and the boy reached out for her and held her hand.

"What the..?"

She saw another boy stand next to the fallen tree. Sen tried to hide, but soon realized the boy couldn't see her. He was too occupied looking at the couple now kissing. Sen quirked an eyebrow as the boy turned and walked away. She turned her attention back to the couple just in time to see the girl look at the boy that had kissed her, with horror in her pretty eyes.

"Oh.. My.. God…" Sen whispered to herself. "That's his dead fiancée…" She turned to look at the boy walking away.

"Then that's gotta be…" Her eyes went wide. "Chichiri…"

The dream changed rabidly.

---

"Wh-Why?" He cried. The hand that was holding the dagger trembled. His other hand grabbed the boy standing in front of him on the river bank. "Why did you betray me?"

Sen stood few feet's away from the two, eyes wide with horror. Had the white haired man been right? Was it all true what the bastard had said?

"Give her back!" He shouted, thrusting the blade into his friend chest. He lost his foothold and collapsed with a loud splash. He watched with horror as the other boy was being swallowed by the water.

The river roared. She saw the flood coming and screamed a warning, but the boys didn't seem to hear it. She reached her hand out to grab them, but only managed to knock herself out of balance. Shit, she thought as her foot slipped. And then she was under water.

"...Houjun. Help..." He heard his friend gasp for air.

"What have I done…?"

"Hikou!" He yelled, reaching his hand out. Hikou managed to grab it. He smiled.

And then the log hit him to the face.

---

It's not real! It's not REAL! Her mind screamed. It's just a dream. But the water felt very real as did the fact that she was running out of oxygen, fast.

She surfaced and gasped for air.

"Just.. A.. DREAM!" She yelled.

Sen was yanked out from the water. She found herself standing on dry land. She looked around, the river was there, and the trees were there. But where was he, and what had saved her? Something nudged her hand. She turned around, surprised.

"Horse?" She stared eyes wide at the beast. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait. Wait." She shook her head. "I don't want to know. Girls and horses, I get it." She chuckled. "I would have thought something more original…"

---

His face was burning as he lay there, staring at the sky. Everyone's dead, he thought, everyone but me. He reached out to probe his face. His eye was gone, he knew it. He didn't care.

"Kouran… Hikou…" He whispered.

"It's my fault."

"Why..?"

"Why was I spared…?"

And then he cried. Darkness took over. He was dying.

---

She finally found him. Or more likely the horse did, but it didn't matter. He lay on the grass with his arm over his face. Sen dismounted the horse and carefully made her way down the riverbank.

"Chichiri?" She whispered. He didn't move. "Oi. Chichiri." She kneeled next to him.

"Doushite?" He whispered.

"Eh? What?"

"Why?" He cleared his throat.

"I dunno. Luck?"

"Luck?" He lifted his arm to reveal the maimed face. Sen gasped as she saw the empty eye socket. "You call this luck?"

"You're alive, aren't you?"

"I should be dead."

"Come on Chichiri, don't be like that…"

"My name is Houjun."

Sen stared at the boy. And then realized her mistake. She was looking at Chichiri's dream-image. The boy that had been hurt so severely that he still controlled the man living today. She sighed and patted his shoulder in comforting way.

"Yeah, I know."

And then the dream changed.

---

"...Nuriko…"

"...Chiriko…"

"...Mitsukake..."

"...Hotohori…"

The names echoed in the darkness. Sen spun around, trying to find the source of the sad voice.

"Hello?"

"...Everyone's dead…"

"Who's there?" She narrowed her eyes to see into the shadows.

"...It's my fault…"

"Where are you?"

"Sarah…Elisabeth…"

"Eh?" She spun around just in time to see a red bird emerge from a sea of flames. She screamed and blindly ran to the shadows. Her hands shot up in front of her. She might have been scared, but wasn't going to run face first to a wall.

"Suzaku." A voice whispered close to her. Sen tried to see through the darkness but no avail. She roamed around until she stumbled into someone. With a surprised yelp she fell on her bum.

"Owwww…"

The darkness faded and Sen found herself sitting on a floor of what seemed to be a shrine of some sort. There was a huge golden bird statue in the middle of the room, incense was burning on a small altar nest to the statue.

"Suzaku." Said the voice again. Sen turned to see Chichiri sitting few feet away, staring at the statue. "Why? Why am I still here?" He questioned in silent voice. "Haven't I lost enough friends and loved ones? Haven't I given you enough tears for lifetime?" He sighed. "Haven't I suffered enough?"

"Chichiri.." Sen could feel her eyes tear up. "Oh Chichiri, what are you saying? There are people who still love you here. There are people who care." She cried. He turned to look at her, shock and sorrow were playing in his face. "I love you, you idiot!" She stood up and ran to him, but before she could reach him the dream vanished and there was nothingness again.

---

"Why?" Echoed the voice.

"I don't know. "Sen answered.

"You were the chosen. The One. You had the power to stop them, but you didn't." The voice sighed in defeat. "Instead, you came here."

"Who are you?"

"You can't heal him Sarah." The voice said. A light flickered in the darkness.

"I can try."

"He won't let you. His pain is too deep, his sorrow is too great."

"Still, I can try."

"He has lived with the pain for so long, he will die if it's taken away."

"Who are you?"

"I am Suzaku."

"Suzaku."

"Yes. It is time to wake up. Wake up Sarah.."

"Sen!"

She woke up with a start. Her hands flew to the sides of her head and she cried out loud. Her eyes wandered the room, stopping for a while to the shocked bandit standing next to the bed and then to the monk sitting on the floor. When their eyes met she knew he had heard her in the dream.

"I…" She tried to speak. "I saw.." Red light filled the room. There was a shrill shriek and Sen could feel herself being lifted to the air. "What the..!" Behind the red mist she saw Chichiri reaching out for her. It looked like he was yelling something. The red light swallowed her.

Silence.

---

TBC

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AN: A cliffie, oh boy, it's a jolly good thing I don't do much of those...:P

Oh yeah, 2 updates in 24 hours! Can you handle it? Can you? Huuuuuh? Heheh, sorry, next chapter is called '14. Wo Ai Ni'.