Don't own any of them, wish I did, making no money off this. Enjoy – and remember, reviews always welcome! You may find it of help to understand my take on the Yoh-Hao situation if you read my other story, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (a one-shot)

Chapter 2 – Song For The Lonely

When you're standing on the edge of nowhere
There's only one way up so your heart's got to go there
Through the darkest nights
You see the light shine bright
When heroes fall in love or war they live forever

This is a song for the lonely, can you hear me tonight?
For the broken hearted, battle scarred
I'll be by your side
And this is a song for the lonely
When your dreams won't come true
Can you hear this prayer
Because someone's there for you

- Song For The Lonely, Cher

"Yoh-dono?" Amidamaru gasped. "You're awake!"

"…not so loud, please," moaned Yoh. "My head is spinning, and I feel like Chocolove after Ren and Horohoro get to him on a bad day. What happened? And can I please get some water?"

The samurai was taken aback. "You don't remember?"

Yoh slowly shook his head, his eyes cloudy and unfocused. "Um. No. I remember a fight of some kind. You were there, and Anna, and…." He sat bolt upright in Amidamaru's arms, which brought on a dizzy spell as evinced by the crinkles at the corners of his eyes as he fought off the pain. "Hao. Hao was there. What happened to him? Is he all right?"

Amidamaru opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn't know how to tell his master the news. "Yoh-dono…why don't you lie down again while I fetch Faust. He'll want to examine you. And he'll be able to pick up the water glass."

Yoh allowed himself to be settled back among the pillows, but refused to be distracted. "Amidamaru…what are you trying to keep from me?" His eyes swept around the room. "I'm in the hospital again, aren't I? I guess it was Hao who put me here, not Ren, huh? And you know, if you draw on some of my Furyoku, you should be able to materialize sufficiently into this plane to hand me that water glass." His smile was pleasant, but it was obvious Yoh was not in any mood to be pacified.

Amidamaru hesitated. "You're still weak, Yoh-dono. It would not be right for me to weaken you further by using your Furyoku to…."

"It's my body, not my powers, that's under the weather at the moment, Amidamaru. Please. It would be preferable for me to leave it as a request." Amidamaru started at that, glancing over at Yoh in confusion. The shaman had closed his eyes and was lying back wanly against the pillows, but for a moment there the samurai could have sworn that he had heard a foreign note of exasperation in his master's voice. Cautiously, he reached for the water glass that had sat untouched for a week, and with his other hand for the carafe of water on the sideboard. To his intense surprise, he was able to pick up both easily and pour a glass of water, even thinking to add a straw before floating back over to his master and holding it close enough for the youth to turn his head and suck in a precious mouthful of moisture. Yoh sighed in relief. "Arrigato, Amidamaru. I was beginning to feel like that desert we crossed to get here." He turned his head restlessly, grimacing at the ache in his shoulders. "So, you were about to tell me where my brother…I mean, Hao, is."

Amidamaru squared his shoulders determinedly. Fine. He was samurai, he could handle this. "Yoh-dono…Hao was killed in the fight. You channeled the Furyoku of all the other Shamans to defeat him, and Faust believes that the overload was what knocked you out. You have been here for a week."

Silence. Amidamaru willed himself not to twitch. Samurai did not twitch. Well, technically they didn't cry, either, but he figured that didn't count since no one had been around to witness it. That whole thing about a tree falling in the forest making no sound if no one was around to hear it popped into his mind. He knew that if he had been alive, he would most certainly have been holding his breath right about now.

Yoh's face was completely expressionless. He turned his head and looked out the window, his heavily lidded eyes revealing nothing. The stars glittered coldly through the still night air.

"Yoh-dono?..."

"Soka." A pause. "I…remember now. I thought I was going to lose control. So much energy…it was like being burned alive." Amidamaru nodded, remembering the sudden surge of power. "I tried to stop my blade before it hit him, you know."

Amidamaru bit his lip. "Hai."

"You've killed people before, Amidamaru." Yoh still wasn't looking at him. "Does the pain ever go away?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On…how much regret you feel over the killing," Amidamaru said softly.

A small sound of bitter amusement escaped Yoh, and he turned to face his guardian spirit. "How much regret should one have over one's brother?" The shaman's gauntness only made his eyes stand out all the more in his pale face, large, luminous, dark pools that reflected an internally raging inferno. "Over one's own blood? Can you answer that, Amidamaru?"

The spirit looked at his master sadly. "I died to avoid killing the man I called my brother, Yoh-dono. And I killed many men in the process. But what you did was necessary…an evil for the greater good." He looked down for a moment, then met Yoh's burning gaze. "Shikashi…just because it was necessary does not mean you are not allowed to have regrets. Or to grieve for the fallen."

Yoh stared at him for a moment, then dropped his gaze. "I miss him," the Shaman…the boy admitted softly. "When I woke up and couldn't feel him…I knew…I didn't want it to be true, but I knew…" he began to cry softly. Amidamaru watched for a moment helplessly, then floated closer and awkwardly took Yoh in his arms, soothing him by rubbing his back as one would with an infant. He could feel Yoh's tears falling against – and through – his shoulder as the youth wept for the brother he had sacrificed for the fate of the world.

By the time Faust tapped lightly at the door, Yoh had cried himself back to sleep in Amidamaru's arms. "Ah, so Yoh-kun has finally awakened?" said Faust softly as he took in the scene before him. The spirit nodded, trying not to blush as he became aware of how compromising a position he was in. "Don't worry," smiled the doctor as he carefully felt Yoh's forehead, "I'm sure he just needed a shoulder to cry on." His brow furrowed slightly as he noticed the half-drunk water glass, but he put that question aside for another time. "The next time he awakens, come and let me know. It's time he got something nourishing in him. Ryu and Tamao have been letting off steam by preparing various herbal concoctions for Yoh to take when he's ready."

As Faust headed downstairs, he was almost bowled over and impaled by a running, spike-headed Chinese shaman. "Faust! I felt him. I felt Yoh's presence return."

"Hai, hai," reassured the necromancer. "Yoh-kun awoke for a moment. He's asleep again, but I believe he's out of that comatose state and should be fine by morning."

"Can I see him?"

Faust hesitated. "I think it would be better to let him rest for now, Ren. You can see him tomorrow, all right? Don't worry about him; Amidamaru is with him."

Ren seemed to be struggling with himself for a moment, then sighed. "All right. I suppose we should go and tell everyone else anyway." Faust nodded, and the pair headed out of the hospital to the nearby inn housing their friends.

The warm sunlight creeping over his eyelids woke Yoh early the next morning. He stretched, enjoying the feeling of his physical body here and now, as he did every morning that he woke up. Unfortunately, one of his hands appeared to be trapped against…Amidamaru? Yoh was very confused, until a wave of memories came rushing back. The Shaman Fight. Hao. The pain…his mind shied away from examining it too closely. "Amidamaru?"

The spirit snapped out of the deep meditative state he had put himself in, the equivalent of sleeping for those already dead. "Ohayo gozaimasu,Yoh-dono. How are you feeling?"

Yoh smiled. "Daijoubu." Amidamaru smiled, tears coming to his eyes. "Nani?"

"It's just…I never thought I would hear you say those words again."

The shaman laughed sheepishly. "Ah…don't worry, Amidamaru. I would never die and leave like that…Anna would punish me severely!"

"Oh, that's right!" the spirit fretted. "I must go and let Faust and the others know that you are awake. They will want to see you! Do you have any preference as to who you would like to see first? I doubt Faust will let more than one visitor be with you at a time."

Yoh cringed. "I don't really have a choice there, Amidamaru. But after Anna…I'd like to see Manta. And Ren and Horohoro after that? And can I get something to eat?" Amidamaru nodded and made ready to depart, only to be stopped by a hand on his sleeve. "Arrigato, Amidamaru. For understanding, last night. You'll stay with me even when the others are here, right?"

"Of course," replied the spirit, gesturing towards his memorial tablet on the sideboard next to which lay a pair of battered orange headphones. "I would never leave you, Yoh-dono."

The shaman nodded in relief and lay back again as Amidamaru disappeared. Idly he watched the leaves outside his window, letting his mind drift and empty of its worries and cares, until…

When he is better I am going to kill him for making me worry like this.

Yoh blinked. Had he just…that was definitely Anna. He had heard it in his head, clear as day. He knew he had some reishi ability, but he generally needed to be very, very close, physically speaking, to the person, and that thought had definitely come from some distance away. There it was again…

I'm going to make him train until he drops. This happened because he was too weak. He could even sense the fear that underlay her thoughts.

"Crap," Yoh said out loud into the empty room, seemingly to himself. "I really don't need this right now."

The door slammed open. "Need what?"

"Ah…ohayo, Anna."

It was nice to see Anna, but it was still a relief for Yoh when she finally left…without mentioning training or punishment. While he was touched by her concern, he was more concerned at the moment by the fact that he was having trouble keeping the world out of his head. Fortunately, she had attributed the pained look on his face to his being unwell, and had even insisted on spoon-feeding him the broth that Ryu had prepared. "Be glad Ryu can cook," she had said dryly. "Tamao kept crying into the soup-pot and ruining meals." The soup had been excellent, and Anna had also brought him some oranges, which made for a perfect meal. Yoh smiled contentedly at the thought. She really did love him, even if she had an odd way of showing it. Anna was like water, in many ways. Still waters could run deep and cold and powerful. Water could destroy, but it could also bring new life; it was flexible and adaptable, and often associated with defenses, something Anna was a resident expert on. His musings were helping to distract him from the static in his head, so he was slightly irritated to be roused by a tentative knock on the door. "Come!" he said somewhat peremptorily.

The door cracked open and Manta peered around the edge. Yoh's eyes softened. "Manta!"

"Yoh-kun!" The little human ran eagerly across the room and scrambled up onto Yoh's bed as the shaman shifted to make room. "Oh, I'm so glad you're all right…we've all been so worried…Ren's hair is starting to look like a giant cactus, and Horohoro's developed a weird twitch. But that could just be a reaction to Chocolove's jokes, I suppose."

Yoh laughed happily as he and Manta proceeded to swap stories. He had sometimes wondered what it was about Manta that made him feel so at peace. But sitting there, he knew that it was Manta's genuine unpretentiousness and concern for Yoh as a person first, shaman second. When Manta looked at Yoh, all he saw was his friend. So his friend had some interesting abilities that were far-out-there by most standards. It didn't matter to Manta so long as Yoh was happy and safe. With a start, Yoh realized that his reishi ability had picked up on the purity of Manta's heart all along. Like the roots of a tree, Manta's kindness, and earnestness and inner strength bolstered his friends, and his mind was as open and expansive as the spreading branches above. This thought brought tears to his eyes, which put Manta into a mild panic. "Yoh-kun? Are you all right? Are you hurting? I should go and get Faust, it's all my fault, I must be tiring you out!"

"No, no," reassured Yoh. "It's…it's nothing. Except that I'm glad you're here, and that you're all right."

Manta smiled his gentle smile, looking wise beyond his years for a moment. "I'm glad too."

By the time Manta left, Yoh was starting to get tired again. And hungry. He hoped whoever was turning up next was going to bring food. He had managed to dig up a couple of old exercises from his childhood that his grandmother had taught him to help put up mental shields, which were helping to turn the volume down on the mental yammering going on around him. It was no wonder Hao had gone a little…well…nuts, if this was what he had put up with for a thousand years.

Still no food. Yoh dropped a shield carefully and reached out with his mind, trying to find his friends. A very bright, hard mind was on its way over, he realized. Definitely Tao Ren – like his weapon of choice, the kwan-do, Ren's mind had a sharp metal edge to it, strong, almost inflexible. He felt vaguely guilty for prying, but did brush against it hard enough to quickly ascertain that Ren was peeved at being only number three in the line-up…and that he was bringing two lunches, his own and Yoh's. The mind twitched, and Yoh hurriedly retreated.

Ren frowned. He could have sworn he had felt a tickle in his subconscious. Pausing a moment, he swept his senses around the area carefully, on guard for any suspicious presences. He felt nothing, however, and after an uneasy moment, continued on. He didn't know why he felt this mix of longing and fear at the thought of seeing Yoh. But being a Tao, he was determined to confront the issue head on. Walking up to the door, he rapped on it firmly, then turned the handle and walked in without waiting for an invitation. "Yoh."

His friend was sitting up and looking towards the door expectantly as if he had known Ren was outside. "Hi, Ren." His eyes fell on the packages tucked under Ren's arm, and he immediately began to drool. "Is that lunch? I'm starving."

Ren snorted. "You've missed meals for a week; shouldn't your stomach have shrunk by now?" He set the lunchboxes down and began to unpack them, carefully spreading a napkin out for Yoh and handing him his utensils.

Yoh grinned. "Nope, still a growing boy! I've got a long way to go to catch up to Silva!"

"Baka, you're Japanese. You're probably not going to be as tall as him, ever. Look at your grandfather."

"But my parents aren't as short," Yoh pointed out hopefully. "Oh well, it'll all work out in the end." Ren sighed, shaking his head, but a very small smile curled up the corners of his mouth as he opened up his own lunchbox.

They talked desultorily. The weather, which was fine. Tao Jun and Pailong's blossoming relationship, which Tao Ren was not enthused about, thank you very much. The thirty-three places in China that Ren could name off the top of his head with better hospitals/food/lodging than Patch Village. Faust and Manta's odd-couple friendship. Ryu's renewed obsession with Tamao. And Lyzerg. And some female Patch who worked at the local burger joint. And Anna, except that he was simultaneously petrified of her.

"What about you and Horohoro?" asked Yoh.

"What?" spluttered Ren. "What about me and Horohoro?"

Yoh shrugged. "I don't know, the two of you are always arguing…some people think that's a sign of attraction. You'd be kind of a cute couple."

Ren clenched his jaw, and his fingers twitched as if itching to bring out his kwan-do. "That's…that's just…sick. I can't believe you'd even joke about it!"

Yoh looked surprised. "Na…Ren, love is love, it should be open to everyone, don't you think? The world is too lonely a place to go without it. Just like friends, don't you think?"

The yellow-eyed Chinese shaman stared at his friend, who stared back, eyebrows lifted. "What? Fine, fine, you and Horohoro are just friends…who argue a lot. All right?" Yoh patted the edge of the bed soothingly. "Come on, sit down and let's have dessert. Your element really is metal, Ren, you're too stiff and brittle sometimes. Lighten up!"

Ren sat down grudgingly. It had been on the tip of his tongue to give Yoh a tongue-lashing, but Yoh's innocent eyes were too disarming. Yoh's whole presence was disarming. He was eating heartily enough, but it would take more than two or three meals for him to regain the weight he had lost, and his wrists seemed painfully thin. His skin was still so pale as to be nearly translucent, and Ren could see the flushed capillaries running under the skin, giving Yoh's now too-prominent cheekbones heightened color. The sunlight made his complexion glow as if lit from within, and the overall impression was that of a refinement and purification, as though a purer essence had been extracted from the dross that existed before. As if he felt Ren's eyes on him, Yoh's flicked up suddenly, and Ren flushed, caught in the act. He could hear a roaring in his ears, and the world seemed to shrink down into a narrow tunnel with Yoh's face at the end of it. Yoh's onyx gaze was cool, as if measuring him up for a moment, then the Japanese shaman suddenly broke into a smile. "What? Have I got something on my mouth?" A pink tongue appeared and ran enticingly over almost too-red lips. "Is it gone?"

"Um. Yes. Yes, it's gone." Ren closed his eyes and bit down on the inside of his cheek. Hard. "I have to go now, Yoh, my…um…my sister wanted me to run an errand for her."

"Sure," came the blithe reply. "Thanks for coming by, Ren. Hopefully Faust will let me out of here soon, and we'll be able to hang out again. Manta says he'll have a plane waiting as soon as I'm better. I can't wait to get home! You'll come too, right? For a few days?" The Chinese shaman nodded, turning on his heel and leaving the room with almost indecent speed. Once safely outside, he turned, and carefully began to bang his head against the wall, berating himself for not saying anything – again – to Yoh. But what would the point have been anyway? "If I am Metal, Yoh, you are Wind. And Wind is not meant to be captured. It is not meant to be sullied," he whispered to himself. "No one can cut the wind."

Little did he know that Yoh could hear every word he said…and did not say. A wistful smile crossed the Japanese shaman's face. "Oh, Ren."

Amidamaru chose that moment to reematerialize. "Yoh-dono, perhaps you should rest now."

"Ah. You're probably right, Amidamaru. I am getting rather sleepy again," yawned Yoh tiredly. As he shut his eyes and wriggled under the covers, he felt Amidamaru drawing at his Furyoku slightly, just enough to allow the spirit to pull the blanket up and tuck Yoh in gently, before disappearing back into his memorial tablet. "Arrigato," he mumbled. "You're my rock, Amidamaru, did you know that? Steadfast beneath my feet. I love you…all of you…my elements." His hand twitched slightly, reaching towards his chest. "You too, you old pyromaniac." And a small familiar smirk spread across his face as he drifted off to sleep.

Oyamada Manta says:

Yoh is getting better and we can all go home soon! But why is he becoming so much stronger, and why doesn't he want to tell anyone? His love for nature also appears to be reaching new levels of obsession! It will be hard to return to normal life after all the excitement that has happened, how will everyone cope? In the next Shaman King: Do You Believe In Destiny: Chapter 3: Even Heroes Have The Right To Dream