Recalling the Spirit
Wow! Thank you so much everyone, for the reviews! I know my last chapter was...how do I put this? Weird. Very, very weird. The chapter for some reason wouldn't come out the way I wanted it to.
Sorry about taking FOREVER (forever forever forever forever forever FOREVER) to update. I've had a really busy summer.
READ THIS! IMPORTANT: The characters in this story have been currently sleeping in the day and awake during the night, but their schedule changes due to Karma and Tsuba going missing. They now sleep during the night and are awake during the day. Get it? Got it? Good.
I've gotten a flame. Please, don't flame my story. I understand if you REALLY don't like my story, but please, if you don't, just don't review! Or just tell me the reasons you don't like it and what I can improve on.
Some replies to reviews: (A note about the reviews. I've been reading my earlier replies, and I realize that I come across as cocky. I am SO sorry, and I'll try to fix that. Sorry!)
Hawk Chick: I'm sorry about the whole Haku black hair green hair thing. You're right. Everybody's entitled to their own opinion and reasoning. If you like, just skim over the bits where I describe Haku's hair, or personally correct it in your head. Sorry for being so stubborn on the subject. apologetic grin
Demdova: Thank you! Glad you like it so far. Doesn't Miyazaki make good movies?
Samurai Knight: I know! My story is really long, probably far longer than I wanted it to be. I meant to split up Spirited Away and it's sequel, but I was skimming through the rules on Fanfiction concerning entries, and there was one that said "CHAPTERS may not be submitted as separate entries" but I thought is said "Stories" So I thought that stories and their sequels had to be grouped together. Oops! Thank you for the complement on my plot! I started writing this about...June, 2003. I think. Late June. I think that the webpage has the publish date as well as the last update date on the top of the page.
Mi Mi Penguin: By the sounds of your reviews I think you get it! Am I making it to obvious? I'm so happy that you completely understood my wonky weird chapter! YAY!
Bandita286: Thank you! Glad you appreciated the explanations.
Kataan: Wow! Thanks!
Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85:P: What's bad?
Porifra: Wow! Another amazingly long review! I LOVE your reviews! Yep, that's the one. X/1999 is the one with the "blind princess-looking-pretty-person" as you put it. You really think my writing's improved? Thanks! I love giving (and receiving) funny reviews. I like having Karma teasing the pair! It adds comic relief, though, sad to say, the humour is pretty much down the drain for the next couple chapters. And, after this chapter, the major fluff is going to be gone for a while too. Yes, Karma knew that she'd be 'Karma-napped' (lol). She can warn people against her visions, but all in all, it wouldn't do much good. She's seen the future, and no matter what she does, she can't change it. Yes, I stole a lot of Princess Hinoto (X/1999) for her character. Not her lack of sight though. Hinoto is completely handicapped (can't talk, see, hear, walk.. That's in the manga. In the anime it's different.) whereas Karma's blind. No, Aki was not being dim, though he can sure act it sometimes!
Sadly, I've been so busy, I haven't even started my website! I feel so bad!!!!!! I'm planning to, when I find the time! I promise!!!
Loved your review!!!
(PS. This reply is about 200 words!)
wo-ai-ni-kai-hiwatari: Happy you like Karma as a character. Is she your favourite? Tamiko and Akira ALWAYS fight. It's like, a law of nature or something, I swear.
WOW! I loved your super long review!!!
M.S.K: You liked the chapter! Yay! That makes me so happy! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! Oh yeah, some major Tami/Aki fluff coming up!
Ariyana: Hello! Thank you for coming and reading more of my story again! Am I right in thinking that you were one of my first reviewers? I promise I will check out your story ASAP. Thank you very much for being impressed! grin
RidingGirl: NO! Not the Inu-plushie!!!!! GRRR!!!!! Hmm, the other elementals are an option right now. As of yet, they probably will be in the story. Are Tamiko and Akira going to go find Karma? No, they are going to sit their twiddling their thumbs, going ho hum, and watching Inuyasha on a portable TV. What do you think? LOL.
Aharah Musici: I know, last chapter built nothing on the characters. Thank you again for the constrictive criticism! I'm not being sarcastic. I really like how you criticize without coming across as rude. I'm going to try to develop my characters more this chapter, okay?
Life For A Life
"I told you we couldn't trust her! But did you listen to me? NO! And now Karma's suffering for it!!!"
Tamiko and Akira were searching the perimeter of the bathhouse, on the thought that Karma and Tsuba couldn't have disappeared that far away in the short time span between the time that Tamiko went to sleep and the discovery that the two girls were missing. They had already thoroughly checked most of the woods, and the field that connected this world to the mortal realm. The sun was now beginning to set, and they had been looking for Karma and Tsuba for the last seven hours. Tamiko had been hiding her worry, fear, and sense of helplessness underneath her anger, which she was currently venting at Akira, and had been for the last half hour. Akira had closed in on himself, not saying a word, sadness showing in his eyes. But Tamiko's berating had slowly been gnawing away at his composure. Anger was slowly simmering under the surface, and Tamiko's last comment caused it to overflow.
"SHUT UP!!!" He shouted angrily.
Tamiko's eyes widened at his sudden outburst, and her mouth involuntarily snapped shut.
"Look." Akira explained, trying to keep his voice calm. "We have to find them. We don't even know who took them. We have no idea what happened. I realize..." he voice went hoarse, but he continued. "I realize that their disappearance is probably my fault. Tamiko...please just stop it. Stop giving me a hard time. You're probably right. I've been stupid." As he spoke, his voice cracked. Tamiko suddenly felt guilty.
As they both entered the forest again to check this area again, they were silent. They reached a small clearing, and stopped to rest their legs. Akira sat on a nearby log, and proceeded to remove the bandages off his stomach where Tamiko had stabbed him, and Tamiko lay on her back on a large flat rock. She looked up into the sky, at the fading sunset, and what she saw horrified her.
The sky was blood red, smeared across the hastily blackening sky.
It was like an evil omen. She shot up in terror, a shiver tingling down her spine, chilled to the bone. She suddenly knew, with sudden clarity, that someone she knew would die. Tomorrow night, someone would die.
"Akira!" She said sharply. "We have to go!" She began to stride towards the trees, but Akira grabbed her wrist. "What do you think you're..." she lashed out angrily, but Akira interrupted her harshly. "Tamiko! We won't be any good to either Karma or Tsuba if we faint from exhaustion! We can't just go on a rampage, looking for them!!! Be sensible!!!"
Tamiko looked at him like he was insane. "Are you crazy! We have to find Karma! Before something terrible happens to her!!!"
"We won't be able to find her if we go unconscious from lack of sleep! Don't you think I want to find them too? We have to rest!!! First thing tomorrow morning we'll look for them!!! Besides..." His voice softened slightly. "You look exhausted. Listen, Tamiko, we need to rest."
Tamiko sagged. "Yes. You're right." Akira let go of her wrist, motioned for her to drag a log towards a pile of branches and leaves he had piled up. As she did so, Akira lit the fire, summoning the flames from the palms of his hands.
When the fire was high enough, the couple sat on the log, and stared into the fire. Tamiko spoke hesitantly, still gazing into the embers of the fire. "Akira. I think you know I'm crazy, but I think Tsuba took Karma. We don't know who she is, and...I don't trust her."
Akira was quiet for a moment, staring into the fire. Finally, slowly, he answered, not taking his eyes away from the dancing flames. "I think you're right. But why? Was she controlled, or was she doing it of her own free will?" Tamiko was going to retort again with one of her jutting remarks about how it was his fault, and how he shouldn't have trusted Tsuba when she heard the pain in his voice. He tried to hide it, cover it, make sure that she didn't know how he felt, but she knew him too well for such tricks to work. She abruptly pulled her eyes away from the fire and looked at him. Sorrow, guilt, and self-rage showed clearly in his eyes, and sadness flickered across his face as he fought to keep his emotions hidden.
"Are you all right?" She asked softly instead, concerned for him. He looked so upset...She wanted to reach out and touch his shoulder, but refrained from doing so.
His head shot up, and as he looked at her, surprise flickered across his features. He smiled wanly. "Yes." He replied, and then his face collapsed. "No. It's all my fault that Karma's been stolen. I shouldn't have trusted Tsuba, I shouldn't have let her hang around with us so easily, I should've listened to Karma, I should've listened to YOU..." His voice was filled with self-loathing. Tamiko could almost hear his thoughts running through his head. 'How could I have been so stupid? I trusted Tsuba and now Karma might die from a STUPID mistake I've made...'
"You're right, Akira. It is partially your fault. I'm not going to lie to you and say it's not. But maybe I should have kept on you about Tsuba. Don't interrupt." She added, as Akira opened his mouth. "Truth be told, I was jealous of her. So we both made mistakes. Maybe Karma should have warned you, too. She didn't trust her either, I don't think. But the thing is, Akira, what happened, happened. You can't live in the past. You've got to deal with the future. So stop thinking about the 'what if's' and realize that you can't change what's happened!"
For the moment, Akira was shocked out of his misery. Had something happened to her, in the past, to add that extra force to her words?
The eighteen year old girl turned her head back to the fire, and stared into their depths. "Look, when I was young, I made choices. I chose not to fall into fashions. I chose not to change who I was so that everyone would like me. I chose to be who I was. Since I made those choices, people were mean to me, disliked me. Because of the way people treated me, I learned not to be trusting. I've never had many friends. I chose to spur many some with my temper, thinking I couldn't trust them, thinking that they would betray me, talk about me behind my back: how was I to know they wouldn't? It had happened to me before. I almost chased away you." She said with a fleeting smile. "The point is, I made my choices in life, and because of them, I am who I am. Some of them, I wish I had chosen differently, but I deal with the things I've done. So should you." She took a deep breath.
Akira gave her a small, sad smile. "I guess you're right."
Tamiko sighed. There was something about the night air, and the moon in the sky, and the soft warmth on her face that caused her not to be able to keep any secrets. "If it makes you feel any better, I've always admired the way you can think clearly in any situation. It's something I've never been able to do, and I envy you for it. Like today. I wouldn't have opted to rest. I would've charged headlong into the forest, and fainted from exhaustion." She flushed slightly from embarrassment, thankful that it wouldn't show in the light of the fire.
The nineteen year old boy grinned crookedly into the fire. "That's funny. I've always wished that I had the initiative to do things like you do. I wish I had a temper like yours, your...rage. Sometimes I consider possibilities in my head too long, and by that time it's too late. You're spirited, fiery. I really like that." He added, and then wished he didn't. Although to most people it would sound like an off-handed remark, the way Tamiko and himself reacted to each other right now was fragile. Neither knew what was going on. That last remark could be taken the wrong, or even worse, the right way.
Silence.
Akira spoke up. "Tamiko, why did you never tell me about your childhood? About yourself?"
Tamiko bristled slightly, and retorted, "Because you never told me much about yourself. All I know is that your mother's missing, your father's got issues, and that you're a fire elemental!"
"That's not what I mean. Why didn't you tell you never had many friends?"
"That's personal. It's none of your business."
Akira tried to keep his mouth shut, trying to stop the words, but he couldn't. "Tamiko, you can trust me. Tell me." He winced, knowing that Tamiko would, at best, completely lose it. He shouldn't have pressed the issue; he was about to receive the freak out of his life...
Tamiko sighed slightly, and turned to directly look squarely in his face, surprising Akira. "One year at school, grade five, everybody in my class ganged up on me, even my so called friends. Just because I had didn't want to play their stupid little games, and didn't act younger then I was. They all talked behind my back, gossiped about me, insulted me, told lies about me...after that, I never really trusted people. That's basically it." She spoke with a forced lightness. Trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal. In the back of her mind was a repressed panic, panic that something could happen to Karma while they were resting...
Akira could see right through her. "It upsets you, doesn't it?"
Shock registered on her face. "How did you..." she got out, before she realized what she was saying, and shut herself up.
Akira grinned lopsidedly. "If there's anything you taught me, it's that people are allowed to be upset, and don't have to keep everything bottled up."
Tamiko gave him a wry smile, and then turned back to the fire, thinking for a moment. She then spoke hesitatingly. "Akira...there's something about you. You know me almost better then I know myself. I've always known that I could trust you. You're always able to get past my defences and see who I really am, deep inside. And...when I thought you were dead...I...wanted to say..." She trailed of, her face brick red. Akira, how can you do this to me? How can you affect me like this? She stood abruptly, facing away from him. Don't let him see me blushing... "I'm going to bed." She muttered, beginning to walk away.
Akira had been sitting stunned. Nothing had happened between them since the night when Tamiko had been controlled and even then... does she mean what I think she means? He thought wildly. Standing, he grabbed Tamiko's wrist, and turned her around. As she stared at him (what on EARTH is he doing?!?!) he searched her face. There was still a faint blush spread across her cheeks, he noticed, halfway between amusement and embarrassment. He looked into her eyes, nut brown with specks of amber. They glimmered in the moonlight, and emotions shone through them as clearly as the sun shines through the clouds just after a long storm.
He lowered his head slightly to hers and brushed his lips against hers. Tamiko gasped, but then slowly relaxed, as Akira's arm circled around her waist.
She finally drew back, bright red. "I...we...should get some...sleep." She stuttered, turning away from him. Akira, just as red as she was, also turned away, and put out the fire. What had possessed him to do that?!? He was furious at himself.
The two slowly went to sleep under the starry night sky.
"Tamiko. Wake up." Akira growled, shaking her awake. It was a little after noon, the sun bright in the sky.
"Wha...Oh. Right." Tamiko sat up, groggily, and then realized what was going on. They had to look for Karma. Panic flickered in her eyes. "Akira, we have to go!" She exclaimed, tugging him into the forest, all of the sudden wide-awake.
A scream tore through the air. "That came from the bathhouse!!!" Akira exclaimed, changing his direction towards the burnt out building. As another scream was uttered, Tamiko began to run towards the bathhouse, Akira following behind her.
When Tamiko broke out of the foliage, she was horrified by what she saw. Tsuba was standing inside the ruins of the former spirit house, holding Karma at knife-point. Blood blossomed across the white, grimy dress that Karma was wearing, caused by a deep wound in the young girl's shoulder.
"So." Tsuba smirked. "You've come. Didn't I tell you they'd come?" She questioned the young Dragon of Britain.
Karma tried to struggle, but Tsuba only put the oriental dagger closer against her throat.
Tamiko narrowed her eyes, trying to override the panic that she felt inside. If she didn't work fast, then Karma might be killed.
And so could Akira. He hadn't caught up with her yet. She was always the faster runner.
"Who are you? And what do you want with us!?!" Tamiko demanded angrily.
"Who am I?" Tsuba replied, her voice hard. "Don't you recognise me...Taiko?!?" Her figure shimmered and blurred. Her long hair was replaced with chin length mud brown hair, and her features were traded for masculine ones. The boy who now stood before her looked about fifteen, with icy blue eyes. Tamiko stared at the boy, before gasping out his name.
"Kyu!"
A humourless smile twitched at the corner of Kyu's mouth. "The Elemental of Ice, Kyu. So you do remember me, Taiko. Of course, I've learned a couple of tricks since we last met."
Tamiko was furious. "Why did you take Karma?!?! What do you want?!?!"
Kyu smiled, though his eyes remained cold. "Tamiko, daughter of Kohaku, river spirit and Dragon of Japan. At one point I would have settled just for you. But now I have a better idea."
Tamiko growled, her hands balled into fists. "Is this the point where the bad guy tells the good guy all about his evil plans because they think that they'll just kill the good guys off, and it won't matter anyway?" Rage pumped through her veins, and it was all she could do to keep herself from lunging at Kyu.
"No. This is the point where the bad guy causes the good guys some hurt." He closed his eyes, and began chanting under his breath, still keeping his knife at Karma's throat.
Tamiko was too angry to think cautiously. "What do you think you're-!" Her words died in her throat as she felt her mind losing control of her body, as her consciousness was being drowned under frothing waves of nothingness. She could feel herself losing all of her senses. It was like drowning in a creek. She was sinking in murky nothingness, her world completely silent, except for the beating of her heart throbbing in her ears.
I'm drowning...I'm losing control... was Tamiko's first thought, but then she realized what was happening. Kyu's taking over my body!!! It's him that did that to me in the first place, who made me stab Akira! Anger boiled up inside her. Akira could've DIED! Is this all over some elemental fight?!?!?!? Screaming internally with rage, Tamiko tried to tear herself from the mental bonds. It was like a thick coarse woven cloth was all around her, and she had to rip free.
Her ragegave her power, and she managed, with a final burst of energy, to see and hear the world around her.
Akira had just emerged from the forest, and was staring at Kyu. "Is...that who I think it is?" he questioned her, his eyes cold and angry.
Tamiko struggled for control of her mouth, trying desperately to scream a warning, but she was helpless. Her last effort had cost her too much. She had no more strength.
"Kyu. Yes it is. We have to save the Dragon of Britain!" Tamiko heard her mouth say.
Akira raised his eyebrow at her wording. The dragon of Britain? But he was obviously more preoccupied with the Elemental of Ice. He stepped forward, leaving Tamiko just behind him and a little to his left.
"Kyu! Was it you who's been doing all this?!? Where's Tsuba?!?!"
Akira! He IS Tsuba! Tamiko cried silently, pleading for him to understand the danger he was in.
Kyu grinned dangerously. "Ah, so it's the Elemental of Fire. Come to try to best me again?"
Akira glared at him. "What is your PROBLEM? Didn't you get hurt enough last time I visited the spirit world? Why do you keep getting yourself involved?"
"Do you want to know the real reason?"
If Akira were any less angry, then he would have rolled his eyes. "YES I do! Stop making clichés and get to the point!!!!!"
"The point? Taiko chose you over me. You beat me in a battle between elementals. I was disgraced in the eyes of spirits everywhere. I was kicked out of the bathhouse, and was welcome nowhere else. So, when I take control of this whole spirit world everyone will have to respect me, and have to listen to my rules! I alone will rule! And for that, I need sacrifices. The dragon from each country must die, along with the leader of the bathhouse, Mei."
Tamiko's rage stopped for a moment. Mei...as in my Mum's friend Satsuki's little sister? Mum told me she disappeared! She is the mistress of the bathhouse?!?!?!
Akira stepped forward. "I can't let you do that, Kyu. I won't let you." Flames sprung into his open palms. A smirk twitched Kyu's lips. "Oh, a duel? Fine with me." Frost rimed his fingertips on his one hand, glinting like the cold eyes of its elemental. The other still held the knife to Karma's throat, whom was paralysed with fright.
I can't hit Karma. I'll have to be really careful Akira thoughtHe sent a torrent of flame, just to the left of Kyu, trying to scare him so Karma could get away. Kyu laughed, not a sinister laugh, but one of someone who is having a lot of fun with a new toy.
"It that all you've got?" He questioned as he shot a storm of sharp icicles at the Irish Elemental.
Akira jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the attack. He narrowed his eyes at Kyu. He'd have to take a risk. It was the only way...
He threw a fireball at Kyu's head. The Ice elemental brought up both of his hands to create a shield, freeing Karma from his grasp and dropping the knife, which fell the handle just touching the sightless British nine year olds fingertips. The young girl just lay there, not making an effort to get up, lying at Kyu's feet with her eyes closed.
"Karma! Get up!" Akira shouted, as he shot another fireball, cracking Kyu's shield. The shield shattered, and Kyu had to duck swiftly to the left to avoid the flames.
Unnoticed by anyone, Mathus slithered across the ground to his mistress. Karma opened her sightless eyes, and lifted her head weakly off the ground. "Mathus." She whispered, her voice trembling with exhaustion. "Is that you?" And for a moment her shockingly blue eyes seemed to rest on her dragon.
"It's almost time, isn't it?" she asked softly.
Kyu quickly crafted a sharp blade made of ice in midair. It sparkled in the sun, glinting like glass. A Japanese stabbing sword. With a smirk, he sent it hurtling blade first at Akira, whose eyes widened. It was coming so fast he wouldn't be able to dodge it...
It whistled straight over his shoulder, burying itself into the ground just beside Tamiko. Akira quickly looked back to see if she was all right, then visibly calmed as he saw she wasn't harmed.
"You missed!" He called out to Kyu tauntingly.
"Maybe you weren't aware of what I was aiming at." Kyu replied.
"Wha-" Akira was cut off as pain exploded in his chest; blood ran down his back and his front, where the point of the ice knife was protruding. He began to collapse.
As he fell, he saw Tamiko standing over him, her eyes blank, her one hand gripping the ice blade, which was dripping blood. His blood.
As Akira's eyes went hazy, and his breath came to him in harsh gasps, his last thought as he saw Tamiko as a blur, was: Don't blame yourself.
His body hit the ground with a sickening thud.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Tamiko screamed inside her mind. She tore at the bonds of her control, and she was free.
Dropping the blood soaked knife, she knelt at Akira's side. He was abnormally pale, making his hair seem redder then it actually was. His eyes were glazed and, as Tamiko bent her head to check, no air escaped from his mouth. He wasn't breathing.
He was dead.
Tamiko brushed her hand along the side of his face, which was as cold as ice. Tears came, and she made no move to stop them as they streaked down her cheeks. She felt empty, lost, and there was an unbearable pain in her chest that she knew would never leave her for the rest of her life. Inside, she was screaming endlessly, but no sound would come out of her mouth. Her lips were dry, and her throat had a lump in it that she would not have been able to swallow past, if she had tried. She was crying silently, tears pouring down her face, sobbing as she rocked back and forth. She was pale, and the hands that covered her mouth were shaking.
"Akira..." She finally was able to whisper in between sobs, her voice hoarse and croaking. "I'm...so sorry..." She began to cry harder. It felt like her heart was being torn in half, that she would never be able to be herself again, never be able to live a normal life again. She had just lost the person who was the dearest to her.
"Akira..." she burst into another fit of tears.
Karma had heard the whole incident, and the she was crying too. "When there is a battle between two elementals not yet grown into power, somebody is bound to get hurt. When there is a battle between two full elementals, somebody will die." She paused, and then whispered, "I can't let this happen."
Tamiko looked up at Kyu. Her eyes had lost the spark of energy and life that they had used to contain, and now they were dull, tears swelling in them.
"Why?" She asked him, misery making her voice tremor, and yet her voice was quiet, lacking the anger that she normally had. Each word was difficult to say. "Why?"
Kyu looked on, his face blank and emotionless. "He shouldn't have fought me. He was not a sacrifice."
"So, just because he isn't part of your plan, you killed him?" Tamiko's voice came out as a rasp. All she wanted to do was curl up and cry, but she knew she had to see this through.
"Yes. All who are not the sacrifices will not be harmed as long as they do not stand in my way."
Anger melded with Tamiko's misery, and she looked down at Akira's still body. I'm sorry, Akira. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry!!!!! She glared at Kyu, her fiery gaze made somewhat more dangerous by the endless sorrow that throbbed within them. It was only a shadow of her old self, her old temper, but it was enough. Kyu took an unwilling step back. "Murderer." She hissed at him. "You would end the lives of Nile, Karma, my father and many others just to give yourself power? How dare you?"
Kyu took another step back. "I don't need you to criticize me." He spat back. "Right now, all I need is the Dragons..." Remembering Karma, he looked down at the girl, only to find that she had gotten up onto her knees, the white sleeveless dress that she wore, the sacrificial white that Kyu was adorning all his sacrifices in, dirty and torn, and she was holding the oriental knife, pointing towards her throat.
"Girl, what are you-" Kyu started, but Karma called out in a strong, powerful voice. "I, Karma, nine hundred and eighty fifth of the Dragons of Britain, protest against this crime that has been caused to the Elemental of Fire, which has cost him his life. I will end my own life, to bring back his, using the secret power of the Britain clan. May the next Dragon pave the way for others as I have done."
For a moment her blind eyes met Tamiko's, and the older girl heard a whisper in her mind.
Tamiko...take care of my big brother for me...goodbye...Tamiko screamed out, realizing what the young girl was going to do.
"Karma, NO!!!!!"
But it was too late, the young girl had already stabbed. Tamiko let out a wild scream as Karma collapsed, crimson blood flowering on the white dress, bright blue eyes closed for the last time.
Kyu nodded. "One sacrifice done." With a quick movement of his fingers while he muttered something under his breath, he was gone. Mathus let out a half growl half howl filled with pain for his mistress.
Tamiko began to sob, falling forward so her hands hit the earth while she still knelt. Her tears spotted the dirt on the forest floor. Karma...Akira...why?
Suddenly, there was silence. Not what foolish people call silence, where there are quiet noises such as the scratching of pencils, or the rustling of tree leaves. It was completely noiseless. Tamiko took a deep breath in, and was startled that she couldn't hear herself breath. She focused, but couldn't even hear her own heart beat.
What the...am I dead?But no, she could still see all her surroundings. She could still feel the stab of emotional pain inside her. As much as she wished it wasn't so, she was still alive. She looked over at the young British girl's body. What a waste her death was. She thought, before staring. Something was happening.
Karma's body began to glow with a strange golden light, which started out soft but eventually grew so bright that Tamiko had to cover her eyes. She let out a soundless gasp. The white light blinded her, she could feel herself collapsing...
A sorrowful song from a mourning dove startled Tamiko, the noise surprising her more then anything else.
She knelt up and rubbed her eyes, which still stung a little. What had just happened?
Everything that had happened since she had entered the clearing hit her like a punch in the stomach.
Tears streaming down her face yet again, she unsteadily got to her feet, and looked around. Karma's body had disappeared, but Mathus was curled up, completely still, reptilian eyes closed, where she had once lay.
She forced her gaze back on Akira, and collapsed to her knees. So it wasn't a dream. He was gone.
Sobs wrecked her body as she sat there, she didn't know for how long. Unnoticed to her, a pale hazy light, almost invisible, surrounded the Irish boy, flowing around him like golden water.
"Akira, I'm...so sorry..." Those were the only words Tamiko could manage as she burst into more tears, her heart feeling as though it had wrenched apart. She had never got to tell him...he had never known...
"Ach, Tamiko, it's not your fault!"
Tamiko froze, her one hand halfway up to her face to wipe away some of the tears. "Aki...ra?" She whispered, knowing that deep in her heart, that it must be some hallucination.
A crooked smile spread across the Irish boy's face, as he sat up, wincing with pain. Tamiko stared at his wound, which seemed to have almost completely healed itself and seemed to be surrounded by a strange golden glow, and then back at his face, hardly daring to believe it.
"Did you miss me?" He asked her, grinning.
Tamiko didn't move for a second, then she tackled him in a hug, causing Akira to thump on ground again with an 'oomph' of surprise. She began to laugh and cry at the same time. "Akira! You're alive!" She gave Akira another hug, which he returned. Pushing her off of him gently, he sat up, and she got onto her knees, still crying gently.
Akira reached out one hand and wiped her tears away. He looked at her, and realized how torn up she had been over his death. Her eyes were red and puffy, from crying, and they had lost their usual glow. "You were really worried about me, weren't you?" he questioned her softly, still touching her face.
Tamiko swallowed hard. She knew this might be the only chance she would have, before she closed up all her emotions again. She needed to tell him...she thought he had died without him knowing...
She brought her one hand up to cover Akira's. Fighting down her fear of rejection, she looked at him, and said the words that she had felt for so long.
"Akira...I love you."
The Irish boy's eyes widened in shock. Tamiko looked away, a heavy blush covering her cheeks. She knew what was coming. He would have a girlfriend somewhere else, or he'd say he didn't like her...somehow or other she would feel like a fool. How could I have been so stupid?! She raged at herself.
"Tamiko..."
She refused to look at him, tears of anger welling up in her eyes.
Akira put a finger under her chin, gently turning her so she faced him. She still didn't look at his eyes.
"I care about you, too."
Tamiko's eyes shot up to look into Akira's. Is he teasing me?!?! She thought wildly for a moment, before he kissed her.
"Akira..." she murmured softly, giving him another hug.
After a few minutes, Akira drew back, and finally brought up the question that was in his mind, still holding Tamiko's hands.
"Why am I alive again?"
The happiness in Tamiko's face faded slightly, and she told him.
"She's...dead?!?!?" Akira exclaimed a couple of minutes later, tears welling up in his own eyes.
"She died for you. She called you her big brother..." Tamiko had long cried herself out, and was now tight lipped with misery. "I think Mathus is dead too."
Akira clenched his fists. "We have to go save the dragons of Britain." He said, tears streaking down his face, which was twisted with sorrow. Tamiko gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
"We should leave then." She said softly.
Please, wait a moment, mistress of Taneesh, daughter of the Dragon of Japan. The voice was a faint, dying whisper in their minds.
"Who said that?!?" Tamiko demanded harshly, not in the mood to deal with someone like Kyu again.
It is I.
Author's Note
Whew, that took me FOREVER!!!!! And it's long and weird and mushy. Oh WELL!! I like mush. So ha! I just can't write it the greatest, though I hope I'm improving on it.
Aw, Karma DIED. starts sobbing Believe it or not, I was almost crying when Akira died, and I was devestated when Karma died, though, believe it or not, I've been planning it for quite some time.
Sorry the update took so long! First of all I had to get around to writing it, and THEN one of my story's got taken of FFnet becuase it was interactive. (If anyone's curious, it was Inuyasha Improv) Bit upset over that but oh well.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope the next chapter takes less time then the last!
Jo-chan-ANIME
