Author's Note: As I wrote this I suddenly decided to let Chichiri come out with Tai Yi-Jun, in regard to Tai Yi-Jun I found this a bit confusing, she is a goddess, but is she major or minor? I actually am not very sure, as she is not all powerful.


The journey to Tai Yi-Jun's place was certainly entertaining and full of surprises, especially when Miaka found out the true sex of Nuriko.

"You are a man and yet you try to get Hotohori's attention." Miaka protested again, as they waited for Tai Yi-Jun to finish her preparations.1

"Love such as mine have no boundary." Nuriko declared passionately. Strangely, he was getting quite fond of this girl.

"Nuriko, even if it doesn't matter for you, I don't think Hotohori can accept that, even if he is not in love with his wife." Miaka reminded him.2

"Can that…hag really send Miaka home?" Tamahome began to complain again.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!"

At the sudden arrival of Tai Yi-Jun and Chichiri, another celestial warrior of Suzaku, both Miaka and Nuriko laughed nervously and pointed to the culprit.

"Hmph." Tai Yi-Jun snorted but she didn't do anything to Tamahome, who was already prepared for some magical lash. "I can send you back, Priestess of Suzaku."

"That's great!"

"When you come back ," the goddess continued as if uninterrupted by Miaka. "Tell this to the emperor of Konan- Hotohori: he must not forget his duty as a celestial warrior. It is to protect the Suzaku priestess, not his empress."

Hotohori did not come as he could not be away from his kingdom for such a long time. Still, Miaka had left the palace with a grand flourish, the emperor himself kissed her hand while the empress pecked her on the cheek, then the two had watched them leave, their hands joined together.

"So you went and found out why he didn't come, and you saw something that is bothering you instead of just annoying you." Chichiri said.

"Yes," Tai Yi-Jun admitted. "I saw him with his empress in my mirror and something about her worries me. I can not tell what it is but I felt a very strange feeling when I saw her…she seemed out of place."

"As if she didn't belong to our world?"

"I do not know, though I should be able to know if that is the case. Perhaps that is what is worrying me the most. But I know one thing, she is not meant to be the priestess of Suzaku, Miaka is." Realizing that the others were still watching them she coughed and said: "Well, let us began then, shall we?"


"And closing her eyes the priestess thought of the world which she came from, her family and her dearest friend." Yui continued reading the book eagerly, still wandering where Miaka went in her subconscious.

"And then she appeared…"

'YUI!" within seconds Yui found herself half buried by Miaka, who attached herself onto her so tightly that she was almost being strangled.

"Miaka, what just happened?"

The story was a not a easy one to believe but after all that happened: the blood and water on her uniform, Yuri had to believe Miaka's story.

"And one more thing, Yui, have you heard the name Houki before? It sounds so familiar but I can not recall it."

"Houki? I think I have…oh I remember, you must be thinking about Houki Yuri."

"Houki Yuri?" now that she thought about it Miaka could remember someone telling her that Houki was only the empress' title, not her name. And she could recall an occasion when Hotohori's eyes had rested on a vase of lilies, and he had muttered something about how they were his empress's favourite flowers as they had something to do with her name. Miaka deeply regretted that she did not pay as much attention as she should have.

"So who is Houki Yuri then?"

"Miaka, she is your half sister! Have you forgotten all about her completely?"

At once Miaka remembered and understood everything. Yes, Houki Yuri, that was the name of her half-sister. She remembered first seeing her when she was only five years old. Yuri had been eight years old and even then her hair was done in that pretty way with a single ribbon. As their parents argued, Yuri had turned to them, hoping to find assurance. Sadly, they never gave it to her at all during all these years.

It would be unfair to blame Miaka for not recognizing Yuri immediately as Yuri had moved out of their house when Miaka was only twelve or so. Even before she moved out, they hardly saw her.

Technically she should be about eighteen now, but the people in Konan had told her their empress was twenty years old, and had been married to the emperor for two years.

But why wasn't Yuri glad to see her at all? Why did she avoid her? Most of all, why did she show so much happiness and even relief when Miaka failed to recognize her, instead of some sadness?

Maybe it is because she is angry at us and simply wants to forget all about us now that she have a new life, Miaka reasoned, she never realized that Yuri only ever blamed herself for being unwanted. I must see her, then make amends with her.

"Do you remember her now? I saw her once or twice when I went to your house. I remembered she was all dressed up with a pair of high heels as she was about to go work or something." Yui continued.3

"Yui, I saw her in the book world." Miaka spelt out slowly. "She is married to the emperor there. She had been there for at least two years."

"Maybe it is because time passes differently in the two world. You had been there for such a long time but in here, only two hours passed."

"I…I want to find out more about Yuri. Yui, I don't even know about my sister at all. I want to find out because I will return to that world so I want to be a sister to her!"


"About Yuri?" Miaka's brother frowned at this. "Why do you want to know about Yuri?"

"Doesn't matter, tell me!" Miaka yelled incoherently, waving her arms energetically.

"She's curious as she thought she saw someone that might have been Yuri when we were in the library." Yui lied smoothly, pushing Miaka aside. After all, the story of: "I ended up in a world in this book and I saw Yuri there, married to one of the characters in the book" was not easily accepted.

"You saw Yuri?" at this outburst from Keisuke the two girls exchanged curious glances.

"Have you been in touch with her secretly, Onichan?" Miaka asked eagerly.

"No, I know as little as you, but a couple of months ago I saw this." After taking a careful glance at the corridor to make sure that their mother was nowhere near, Keisuke pulled out a poster that was bookmarked between the pages of one of his text books.

On that poster was a large photo of Yuri, staring back at them, not smiling, never smiling. On top of the photo was the large red letters of 'Person missing'. Upon seeing the date Miaka gasped, she had only been missed for six months, so there was some sort time difference!

"I saw this stuck up by the police when I was on my way home. I then did some inquiry, even if we rather our father to never have done what he did with her mother, she is still our sister.

"Apparently, Yuri had moved into this rather shabby apartment, and one day she left her apartment and never came back, so said the apartment manager. The police are actually trying to find her, as they think she is kidnapped because she didn't take any of her stuff with her, so she was not preparing to leave or anything."

"Onichan, what was she like, our half sister?"

Keisuke shook his head rather sadly, "I never get to know her much, you know that our mother forbid us to talk to her. The only think I could say for certain is that she always seemed so sad, as she rarely smiled."

At that moment Miaka decided that she would go back and finish her quest, not only for herself but for her mysterious half sister's happiness as well. Although she did not see Yuri much she was sure that Yuri was happy in Konan as she was with Hotohori, whom she loved and was loved by in return, and Hotohori had told her that until six months ago Yuri had been very happy.


In the palace of Konan, Yuri was taking her last look at Hotohori. Due to the herbs she secretly crushed, he was sleeping very soundly. Was she risking being labelled as a traitor by mixing some of the sleeping draughts the royal physician had gave her in the emperor's tea?

"Why do I fee that you wouldn't be here when I wake up tomorrow?" Hotohori had said strangely, tightening his arms around her even more.

"Don't be so silly, of course I will be here, you must rest as much as you can." she had laughed nervously, tracing his face with her fingers. "I love you so much, you know that."

"So promise me that you wouldn't leave me, then I will sleep."

Kissing him, she nodded, even as she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

I am so sorry to lie to you again, Hotohori, Yuri thought sadly as she watched him smile in content and closed his eyes.

The draught did their jobs quickly, it was almost ironic as she only received them due to Hotohori worrying about her health.

Standing up she quickly dressed herself into the plain peasant's dress that she had on her when she was taken by the guard these two years ago, why did it seem so long now? Dressing in the costume of a serving girl from the taverns was not a wise idea for a woman who planed to travel alone, but that was the simplest dress she had.

Taking the white ribbon that had unwind from Hotohori's hair, she used it to tie her hair in a simple half-pony tail, it might be best for her to change her hair style for a while. Yuri then took her strand of pearls from her dressing table and tucked them into Hotohori's hand so that they would be the first thing he saw, then he would find her letter.

Her other luggage were already packed, all they were was some money, her sword, a dagger and a copy of the sacred book that she had secretly copied. Strangely she decided to take her fan with her although she probably shouldn't.

This would be her repentance, to try and find the rest of the celestial warriors for Hotohori right now, because who knew how long it would take for Miaka to come back with this time difference. And any time that passed until Suzaku came was time she must spend apart from him.4

Closing her eyes she allowed the tears to fall before she walked up to Hotohori and knelt beside him once more.

She kissed him gently and softly, then she turned and took the first step away from him.

"Forgive me, Hotohori." She whispered. "But don't think that I am doing this because I no longer love you, I am leaving because I love you."


The palace of Konan was very different from what Miaka had remembered, it seemed that everyone was possessed by some sombre spirit. Well, Miaka decided, she would be the one to change it!

"Nuriko, why the long face!" she hugged her friend happily. "Actually why the long face from everyone? Is it because I went away too long?"

"Miaka…Empress Houki is gone." Nuriko said sombrely. "Three months ago, when we were at Tai Yi-Jun's palace, she left the palace."

"That can't be true, you are joking!" Miaka refused to believe that her sister was no longer here after she finally found out about their relationship. She had wanted to tell Yuri about her discovery so much, and she even fantasized about a joyful sisterly reunion!

"Miaka, why would I joke about such things?" Nuriko snapped back. "The whole palace is in a mess partly because most of the servants idolise the empress, while the others are like that because of the emperor."

"What is happening to Hotohori now?" she knew too well how much Hotohori loved his empress…her sister. She recollected how worried he had been when one of his advisors told him that Yuri had fainted, and she remembered the sadness in his voice as he told her that his ultimate desire was to make Yuri happy.

"The emperor… he is not doing well." And that statement might be described as the understatement of the century.


Hotohori was kneeling in Yuri's chambers again, the strand of her pearls constantly in his hands almost like a rosary, and he would often reread the letter she had wrote. His hair was no longer so carefully tied up for court, and although he was still dressed regally as befitted of a man in his status, it was clear that he no longer cared that much about how he appeared.5

"Yuri…why?" he whispered again, feeling tears falling down again.

He still did his duty but his sadness was so deep that it pained his subjects to even look at him, because they all knew that he did not wish to be here, however hard he tried to conceal it.

His mornings were still taken up by the court, and due to the recent problems with Kutou the business of the state often extended to the afternoon. But he would either spent his free time here, in her room, or in front of the statue of Suzaku, with her as the subject of his prayers once more.

The night was the worst part of the whole day. He could not bear to sleep on the bed in her chamber as he had done almost every night for the past two years, as she was no longer there. But his empty bed was equally bad, he would recall all these lonely days once more, and there had been times when she laid with him here, so it was still a reminder. Before, he had been so happy when she slept there, because she was creating happy memories for him, but now, the loneliness was attacking him again.

"Hotohori…"

"Miaka?" he could no longer view her in the same way again after what Yuri had told him in her letter. But she was so different from Yuri, even if they were just half sisters.

"I heard about how Empress Houki…"

"You know her real first name, Miaka." he showed Miaka Yuri's letter to him. "Yuri left me this letter, in it she told me that you are her half sister. Listen to this and listen carefully, because I will not repeat what you missed." Taking a deep breath Hotohori began to read the letter, though out this his free hand was tightly clenched and he was shaking slightly.6

Waking up in the morning, he was deeply shocked when he discovered that she was no longer in his arms. At first he thought she might be praying in front of Suzaku, but then he felt the pearls she put in her hands: it was like a parting gift.

He soon found the letter…upon reading it he started to weep and found himself unable to stop, even when he heard the distant uproar at the absence of the emperor at court.

He did not know how he actually managed to attend court that day without a very obvious breaking down, all the others' words were suppressed by what Yuri had say to him the previous night: that she would not leave him.

"Hotohori," he began, his voice the lightest whisper, "I love you, always remember that. All that I am doing, I am doing because I love you, not because I no longer love you.

"By the time you read this letter I would be gone, and probably some distance from the city now. Do not try to find me Hotohori, because that is not what I want.

"I must tell you the truth, what I hide for the past two years. I told you that I am a stranger in your country, that is true, but I failed to tell you that I am also foreign to your world. I am from another world, so I might have been able to call out Suzaku.

"But I did not want to because I wanted to be with you. It was selfish I know, because my death would have spared all this worrying about wars but I wanted to marry you, so that is why I never told you of my true origin.7

"I was so happy just by being with you, because I love you so much, and know that you will always love me. Even when others started to whisper that I was barren, I was still rather happy just by being beside you. I love you even more when you refused to elect another concubine although you would not be wrong to do so.

"Then Miaka came…I know you wander why I was so hostile to her. That is because Miaka might know who I am. I told you that I was the result of an affair, Miaka is my father's legitimate daughter, whom I lived with in the same house for a few years upon my mother's death. I refused to see her as I feared that she would recognize me, and in doing so you would find out that I am actually from that world.

"That was why I was so happy when Miaka asked who I was, but Hotohori, when she was sick she remembered her shadowy half-sister. I cannot bear to see your face when you discovers my secret. To see you hating me, I rather die.

"I think I am being punished for being so selfish, so I want to repent myself somehow. Perhaps I owe a duty to everyone in Konan too, but I am still selfish because beloved, I am only doing this because of you. I will go and try to find the celestial warriors, and maybe I can make things easier for you somehow, and let Suzaku be summoned faster.8

"Hotohori, I cannot ease this guilt I have until Suzaku is summoned, then I will go back to you if you want me to. I am sorry for breaking my promise to you but then, you had broken yours too, although it is not your fault at all.

"I love you.

"Please forgive me."

There was nothing Miaka could do but to walk up to Hotohori and hug him, hoping to offer him some support through this gesture, even though it was his sister that he desired to embrace.

"Yuri, you stupid girl, you did nothing wrong." Hotohori whispered brokenly, his voice muffled by the tears that always appeared when he read that letter. "I would never have forced you to be the priestess of Suzaku if the price is to lose you! You are the most important thing to me, you are first, Konan is second! I told you that I would never let my kingdom take me away from you permanently so why this…

"What am I suppose to do now? What do I do when you are not here beside me? How can I continue…"

"I am so sorry Hotohori, you love my sister so much and…"

"Perhaps too much for a man in my position, but then with her I am Hotohori, not only the Emperor Saihi. I truly wish that I am just a simple man, so I can be with Yuri as much as I want, and give her the attention she deserves. But yet I was content with my current life because by being there, Yuri made me happy, as she made my life the best as it could be. I could go through my days more easily because there was the knowledge that I would be with her eventually. I…how do I explain this?9

"Until I met Yuri I was alone because I am an emperor. I…my father died when I was fourteen, and my mother made me the emperor as my father never chose which one of his sons should succeed so they naturally asked his queen. My mother made me the new emperor although I wasn't even the eldest son of neither my father or her.10

"I never wander why though, it was because I was more easy to manipulate. I was a more willing puppet then either of my elder brothers. My elder brother was three years older and he was filled with many radical ideas, he was also so much more strong willed then me.

"Then there was my other elder brother, one of my half brothers. He was the oldest out of all my father's children, six years older then me, yet his mother was only a concubine. I think my mother did not consider him as a candidate, as all his life he was deeply resentful of my brother and I, for being borne from the empress.

"Not that it mattered much, my mother being the main consort instead of the side one, as my father did not favour any of his children. He was always too occupied with the business of the state to bother about his children.

"So I became the Emperor…and Konan broke into a civil war, my two elder brothers both lead a rebellion against me, each supported by one of my other half brothers. My mother was harsh and even cruel in crushing the resistance.

"The strings that tied around me were cut with the death of my mother, but the puppet fell into a cage. I was surrounded by a permanent silence even though I was constantly surrounded by people. It is such a strange feeling, to be lonely even if I am always with people. 11

"I think it is because I was always apart from everyone else by being the emperor. To everyone I was only an object instead of a person, reverence and respect being the barrier that separated me from everyone else.

"Then I saw Yuri and I loved her the moment I saw her, although I could not explain why I immediately wanted her to be my empress." At this memory Hotohori smiled slightly. "She thought that I was crazy for wanting to marry her after I just met her.

"The more time I spent with her the more I love her. I ended up so happy whenever I was with her because she made me stop feeling lonely. When she told me she love me I was so happy because for the first time in my life I was special to some one as a normal man, not as the emperor.12

"That is why," Hotohori chocked out, now grabbing Miaka's hand very firmly. "I am begging you to find the rest of the celestial warriors and summon Suzaku as fast as you can.

"I go down on my knees, Miaka, to beseech this of you. I am not just begging you as an emperor on behalf of his kingdom, but also as a man for the sake of the return of the one he need and love the best."

Miaka's eyes were filled with tears too, she crouched down so she could be on eye level with Hotohori, before she nodded.


1 As I said in the front, this story is focusing on Hotohori and Yuri so the rests' part will get diluted. Miaka, Nuriko and Tamahome managed to travel to Tai Yi-Jun's place without that much trouble and she didn't test them with the mirror. And Hotohori didn't go with them, that should be alright cause I'm sure they never said all the celestial warriors had to be there.

2 It's so weird having to describe Nuriko using the masculine version. Any way that is a point I think most of us have thought about, the fact that it is not just Nuriko not minding about her gender.

3 Yui started working at a rather young age.

4 This is not Yuri's purpose, I thought I'll clarify this now in case some people think that Yuri is sent to the book world for this sake. She is not sent into the book for the sake of finding the celestial warriors during the period of Miaka's absence. Her real purpose will be discovered a few chapters later.

5 Considering how vain he is this should be quite a clear sign of him being very upset at what happened. Actually, in this is not the first time I used his vanity so show his love for Yuri. Yuri is pretty and rather beautiful but most people would still regard her as rather normal. But Hotohori regards her as very beautiful, even more beautiful then him because he loved her so much. It was love at first sight!

6 Gosh, Hotohori sounds a bit cold doesn't he? But given what happened it is probably reasonable. Reading that letter out aloud will defiantly be harder then just reading it silently. Eek, I do feel much better but spending about two hours typing this up is probably not a good idea, it's like half past one in the morning.

7 I think the reason Yuri feels such a strong guilt and really believed in the concept of the greater good is partly due to the fact that as a child, she would have been constantly reminded that her presence is a blight to her father's family, and been accused of ruining the family's happiness by Miaka's mother. I mean, I'm not trying to make Miaka's mother a villain because I think her blaming Yuri a lot will be very logical and even understanding, to find out that your husband had an affair and then having to have the result of the affair living in your house with you children, and even worse, to still house her when your husband left. In fact the last action is rather admirable, as she is under no obligation of keeping Yuri in her house.

The other reason of why Yuri have such a strong guilt complex, I think, is because she is the consort to an emperor, so she would be constantly witnessing the idea of the greater good, acting for your people instead of doing what you want. Also, she will be constantly reminded of this by Hotohori's advisors when she failed to show signs of pregnancy.

8 I know that technically only the Suzaku priestess can find the celestial warriors but in a way Yuri is not breaking the rule, she will find them but ultimately they only joined the rest when Miaka found them. So I guess what Yuri will be doing is persuasion and making the path a bit easier, but it is still Miaka who must travels the path. Ah…you guys will see what happens in the next chapter.

9 Saihitei is his title in japaness and since I called Yuri the empress Houki it will be pretty inconsistent to call him Saihitei when I am not calling Yuri Houkigou. According to the online translation tei is a way of writing emperor so Saihi must be his tittle. Even though it is really weird, occasionally I will describe Hotohori as Emperor Saihi.

10 I got these information from winkepaedia and I am not sure whether they are fully accurate because I had no idea where that person got these information from but this is what they said about Hotohori's family. He had two half younger sisters, and three half brothers (Ogi, Bogyoku and Kotsuki) and an elder brother named Shu Tendo. I think that in ancient China the eldest son does not always became the heir, even though he usually will be the heir. There were many cases when emperors would not tell anyone who the heir is, and the people would 0only discover the information hidden somewhere after the emperor's death, I think the Qing dynasty tended to do that, but I am not that sure. I can remember reading this story when I was little about how a emperor in the Qing dynasty wrote on this paper that his fourteenth son should be the heir, but the forth son took the paper and changed it so he became the heir. Since Hotohori is not the eldest either way I thought there must be some sort of semi conspiracy going on as he ended up being the emperor. I guess I'm giving my random version. Although it seemed that he was the heir all along in the manga as they called him the title they use for the heir.

11 I really love what Hotohori said in regard to his loneliness because he said it in such a beautiful way so that is why I want to make this bit really good. I admit that I am biased but I am really moved by him in that bit of the manga/anime.

12 Random author's comment: I really liked writing this part because my fan fiction allows me to twist the story, as I always feel so so so sad when I read the bit when a young Hotohori thought about the Suzaku priestess as someone who would love him for him who he is, not what he is. It is so sad that his hope and dream did not come true.


Author's Note: Another chapter done! I got so excited that I am finally free for a few weeks, having done my last exam I just spent the night typing this up. Well, the next chapter should be interesting. Yuri is meeting Taisuki and it's a chance of twisting what happens in the manga. By the way, please review (pleading eyes), as reviews are such a big motivator for me! So please give me some reviews! I feel really happy when I get a review as it shows there are at least some people being interested in what I write, so please review after you read this!