Hello everybody! I know that I had more than a month to update, but my little fairy called inspiration, had taken a serious vacation and she enjoyed it so much, that she didn't want to come back. So, I decided to send a search party after her and drag her back to me kicking and screaming if I must... And here I am now! I would like to thank all of my reviewers for one more time, for reading and reviewing my story. My beta-reader is EmeraldWolfChild and without her, my little fairy would still sunbathe in some beach, enjoying her vacation the most. Please, check out her Shaman King fanfic 'Phoenix in the Dark' and her Yu-Gi-Oh! one 'Secrets of the heart'. They both are really good. I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King or its characters (unfortunately!)

Chapter 3

The Heart's Desire

At that moment, the beads around Anna's neck, began to twinkle and vibrate. She touched them with the tips of her fingers. A very powerful force was near her; she could feel its aura. She made a step forward, trying to stay calm. And then she realized it. The powerful aura was coming from her room! She walked with slow steps towards her bedroom door. She was prepared to face everything. She held out her right hand (with the left she was still holding her beads) and touched the handle. She opened the door slowly. Maybe she thought that she was prepared to face everything, but she was wrong. Her eyes widened and she couldn't move a muscle from the surprise that consumed her. That's impossible!

Next to the open window there was a big silver falcon! It was standing in mid-air, its huge silver wings flapping with force. Its ebony eyes were looking towards Anna's direction with a very strange way. A dull aura was surrounding its whole body, and a golden object could be seen on its yellow beak. Anna's hand slipped slowly on her side, letting go of the beads she was holding. They fell on her chest softly.

This object... It was a chain... A golden chain...

Her golden chain...

She took her beads off her neck as fast as she could, but before she could do anything, the silver falcon sprang its wings open and flew out of the window. Anna ran towards the window and looked outside. The great bird of prey had already vanished in the blue sky. She sighed and turned her gaze back to her room, her back facing the window. A big frown made its way to her pale face. What was a bird like this doing inside her room? And why did it took her chain with it?

She headed for the door, these thoughts still in her mind. But her attention was distracted by something that was sparkling on the floor. Curious, she went near it. It was a feather. It would probably fall off the falcon. Anna bent down and picked it up. The same dull aura was surrounding it, confirming her thoughts. She stood up, holding the feather with the tips of her fingers.

There was only one person with an aura like that.

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"Hao-sama?" the little African girl asked, as she approached her master with small leaps. Hao looked at the girl. "What is it Opacho?"

"She's late, isn't she?" Opacho said, her eyes fixed on the ground. She had a worried tone in her voice. Hao's smile became wider.

"Yes, she's a bit late. But don't worry, Opacho. She's going to come." Opacho raised her head and looked at her master. He was smiling at her. Opacho blinked. "How can you be so sure?" she asked.

Hao turned his gaze at the sky. "Trust me Opacho. She'll be here at any moment now."

Opacho didn't say anything. She just looked at Hao with a look full of admiration. He was always so confident about himself and everything he did. It was like he knew what's going to happen, before it happens. He was never wrong; the most times at least. He knew exactly what to do, and when to do it. He was almost perfect...

Since Opacho was absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't notice the dark figure that was coming closer to them. It was walking slowly, and its steps echoed loudly at the silent praivailing. When it came close enough, it stopped walking and bowed lightly in front of Hao. As it bent down, its raven hair covered its face, but Opacho could see that it was a girl. A very beautiful, young girl. When she raised her head again, her violet eyes stared right into Hao's. Opacho didn't know why, but she liked that girl. Although she didn't know her for a long time because she was one of Hao's new followers, she had something special on her. Something that attracted Opacho.

"Hao-sama." the girl said with a soft and calm voice. Hao was looking at her as well, a small smile curved on his lips. He expected to hear good news. "I got it, just like you told me." the girl added, still staring into Hao's eyes.

His smile was replaced by his usual smirk when he heard what the girl said. Indeed, the news were good. Very good. "That's great!" he said smirking. A smile formed at the girl's lips. "Well, I don't need it for now, so you can keep it. But be careful with it. It can be really dangerous if you don't know how to use it." Hao said and the girl nodded. "Don't worry, Hao-sama. I'll take good care of it."

Hao's smirk became wider. He looked at Opacho. The little girl was sitting right next to him and was listening to their conversation, her gaze turned to the ground. Hao stood up. "Come on, Opacho." he said to the little girl as he snapped his fingers. Immediately, the Spirit of Fire appeared before him. "The scene is already set. We shouldn't keep our audience waiting." And with those words, he jumped on his Spirit's hand, his smirk never leaving his face. Opacho followed him, smiling. She was happy that her master's plan was going exactly as he had expected.

The girl looked at the huge Spirit for one last time before it vanished. She stood still for a while. It hadn't been long since she had joined Hao's team, yet he trusted her already. And this little girl who was always with him, Opacho, seemed to like her a lot, too. She smiled to herself. Her life was much better now. And all these thanks to Hao. She owed him everything.

With the smile still on her face, she turned her back to the direction Hao and Opacho had left, and began walking with quick steps. There was still one thing pending.

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"Come on now Ren! You cannot be like that during the whole trip!" a Chinese girl with green hair and emerald eyes said, walking out of the door of a huge mansion. A tall jiang-si with a chinese symbol on his chest was walking beside her, carrying two big suitcases. The boy with the purple-blue hair and the Tongari haircut stopped walking and turned to face his sister with his yellow, tigerish eyes.

"What do you expect?" he asked glaring at her. "You know very well that the last thing I want, is to go to Tokyo!" he said angrily.

Jun stopped walking as well, and stood next to her brother. "Oh, Ren! Stop complaining! It has to be something very important for Anna to ask us to go there! We can't ignore her!" she said, but Ren had started walking again. She sighed and ran behind him. "And don't tell me you didn't miss your friends!" she added when she reached him.

Ren glared at her once more. "You know I didn't." he murmured as he hastened his pace. Jun followed him.

"No. That's what you want to believe, but I know you did. You missed them. Besides, you haven't seen them since the tournament was over." she said. Ren didn't answer. Jun noticed that a big frown had made its way to his features. Just like everytime she refered to the tournament. Ren hadn't got over it yet.

The two Chinese shamans were heading for the taxi that was waiting for them. They should be at the airport soon. One of the spirits that lived at the Funbari Inn had come to their house earlier that day with a message from Anna. They had to go to Tokyo as soon as possible, because something very important came up. That's what the spirit told them. Ren didn't pay any attention to this, but Jun insisted to go. And since she had such a big influence on her little brother, she convinced him to come.

They were silent while the taxi was driving them to the airport. Ren had his gaze turned out of the window, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Jun was sitting beside him and was looking at him worried. He was like that since the tournament was over. Since he had lost. The only thing he was doing was training, because he wanted to get stonger. Stronger than before. And stonger than Yoh.

After some minutes, the taxi reached at the airport where a plane was waiting for them. It was one of the private planes of the Tao family. It wasn't very big since Ren and Jun would be the only passengers on it. It was very comfortable though. There were some seats for the passengers in the front and a room with two beds and a small fridge at the back. When Ren and Jun got on the plane, the pilot greeted them. He was working for the Tao family for many years and usually he was the one who was taking them wherever they wanted. Jun smiled at him, while Ren didn't even looked at him. He went towards the seats and sat down.

Besides, he had other things in his mind.

He looked outside the small window. Why did he agree to take that trip? The last thing he wanted was to see Yoh and the others.Or should he call him the Shaman King now? His eyes narrowed at that thought. He should have won this title and not Yoh. He was much more powerful than him. Yet he had lost. He felt a huge lump inside his throat. Although two years had passed since that day, he still felt the bitterness of defeat.

"Don't worry. Everything will be ok!" Jun said as she sat down beside him. Ren turned to face her. "Isn't that what Yoh always says?" she asked.

Ren didn't answer. "I'm sure they will all be very glad to see you again after so long." she added as she leaned on the back of her seat. "You shouldn't worry about that."

"And who told you I'm worried?" Ren said without looking at his sister.

"I can see it in your eyes, Lian." Ren turned his gaze towards her, surprised. "Even though you want to believe that you're better without them, you're wrong. And you know it. If you didn't miss them and you don't want to see them again, then why did you agree to come? Maybe you can fool me, but you cannot fool yourself."

Jun's words penetrated him like a sharp knife. She didn't know how he felt. She had no idea. All of his hard work had been to no avail in just some seconds. All of his dreams and hopes had been destroyed. No. She didn't know anything. And she could never understand.

"What do you know?" he asked her looking straight into her eyes. "You don't know how I feel."

Jun looked at her little brother with a look full of compassion. "Yes, I do. I know how you felt when you lost to Yoh. I know how you felt when you saw him taking the title of the Shaman King." She sighed. "Oh, Ren. We've had this conversation many times before. Just forget about the past. Forget what happened in the tournament. What's done is done and you can't do anything about it. Yoh is your friend, remember? He has done so many things for you. Don't let your friendship be finished like that."

"It's already too late." Ren muttered to himself. None of them talked for a while. In the end, Ren was the one who broke the silence.

" Everything will work out." he said with a tone of bitterness in his voice.

Jun raised her eyebrows. "What?" she asked.

"That's what Yoh always says."

A small smile made its way to Jun's face. Maybe it's not too late brother, she thought.

The plane had already taken off. But nobody knew what expected them when they would reach their destination.

END OF CHAPTER 3

And that's the end of the third chapter. I feel so relieved that I finally finished it. I was working on it for almost five weeks! I know that it's not as good as the previous ones, but I couldn't help it. Well, school started last Monday and I've been extremely busy. I don't know if I'm going to update soon or not, and I can't promise anything to you. Thanks again to: EmeraldWolfChild, YohandAnna4ever, Holy Girl, mogami 4869, jjayu (bittersweetness), NeWb1e, Ms. Chidori Sagara, luv-lacey, Mrs Asakura Hao, Smart Angel, Little-Anna-Chan, BabyKaoru-sama, toakf-o and crrazzychick007 for reviewing my story. I hope you liked this chapter. Read and review please!