Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yugi or Sailor Moon
Ch13
The next day came quickly as the small group from Kotou rose up and got ready to travel on, but the four god-warriors stayed put near the tent where their princess and lords lay dormant and watched with slight amusement as everyone rushed back and forth. "So, who's gonna be the one to tell them that we'll continue traveling tomorrow?" Haruka asked.
The tent entrance parted as a fully dressed Seiryuu walked out. He stared calmly at the seishis with a slight disgust in his expression. He then turned to his and his brothers' warriors, who were bowing their heads in respect, and was pleased to see that they were standing protectively around his wife's tent.
"Seiryuu-papa!" Seiryuu turned his attention to see his daughter racing towards him; he knelt down as she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a hug while asking, "Is kaa-san still sleeping?"
"Yes, she is," he replied. His blue-green eyes went back to his warriors and asked, "Did everyone eat breakfast?"
"Hai, Seiryuu-sama," Michiru replied, "We already made and gave it to them. There are extras for you, Usagi-hime, and everyone else."
"Good," he said with a quick nod of the head. "Why don't you go take them exploring? I'm sure Sakura is curious to see the lands of this area."
"Hai, Seiryuu-sama," the four warriors said. "Do you want one of us to stay behind just in case you leave before we come back?"
"Do as you wish, for now I desire to have a talk with Nakago," the dragon god said. He walked over to the commanding general, who was telling everyone to get ready to pack their things so they could continue traveling. "Nakago," he said firmly.
The blonde general's eyes widened as he caught sight of the god he was destined to serve. "Seiryuu," he said in shock. He shook his head and bowed down slightly. "How may I be of service to you?" he asked.
"Hold off the traveling for tomorrow," Seiryuu ordered.
Nakago stared at Seiryuu in a slightly shocked manner before returning to his stoic face. "And why do you wish for us to do that?" he asked. He could tell from the somewhat annoyed expression on the dragon god's face,that he was probably asking for a death wish.
"Usagi was to travel about with you, but unfortunately, today will be bad for her," he said. Seiryuu turned around. He wasn't going to go and satisfy the general's curiosity with news about his wife, which was the last thing he wanted to do.
Nakago sighed and whispered, "Well, if that's what you wish." He walked back towards his tent when he came across Suboshi. He stopped the young boy and ordered, "Take Yui-sama to the nearby city. Perhaps you can find clues about where our targets are located." Without even waiting for a reply, he continued to his tent. His mind thought back to what Usagi had once mentioned about how displeased the gods were with the war. Since the beginning of history, Kotou had always been depicted as a warring country, out for my land, and now this princess of Konan and the wife to all four gods changed his ideology of how Seiryuu is like.
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Usagi was lying on her side, just sleeping to relieve her weariness from the night before, when she felt a sharp pain in her chest awaken her. She sat up abruptly causing the blanket to slide off of her naked body. "What's happening?" she thought frantically as she felt her heart rate quicken with worry. Was it her children? No, her friends are there, protecting them. Perhaps it was her brother? Did her country collapse from an attack since almost every one of the seishis had left? No, Konan may be a peaceful country, but the army can protect it from invaders.
"Usagi, what's wrong?" Byakko asked. He brought a hand to her forehead to check if it was a fever; no, her temperature is normal. "Usagi, did something happen?" he asked, turning his wife around to face him.
"I don't know," came a shaky reply. Usagi brought her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "I just have a bad feeling…like something horrible is going to happen."
"There is a possibility for it," Genbu said, from his seat by the bed. "Kotou and Konan are in the middle of a war that's about to be unleashed. There will be hundreds of casualties in both countries."
"The guards are with the children, so nothing bad will happen to them," Suzaku said, sitting at the end of bed. "But my seishis will possibly be killed before the war is over."
"Ko-kun…onii-chan," Usagi whispered, "I wish I can keep them from getting hurt."
Seiryuu entered the tent and kneeled own in front of Usagi. "That's one wish we can't grant, Usa. As seishis, their job is to protect their miko and then they will be released from their duties. There's always a possibility of them getting hurt or even killed while doing that job."
"At least, we can grant them the ability to be reborn again in case they die any time soon," Suzaku muttered.
Usagi sighed with a depressed tone, causing the four gods to worry if she would end up crying. Byakko kicked Suzaku gently with a reproaching glare, resulting in the phoenix god glaring back at him. "Don't make it worse," he hissed.
"You shouldn't be so stressed out, Usagi," Genbu said, shifting his hand through her hair. "It's not good for the baby."
When Usagi heard the word 'baby', her head shot up. "I forgot to tell onii-chan about the baby," she said.
Suzaku chuckled lightly. "I'll send a messenger to tell him. I'm guessing he's gonna have the shock of his life when he hears about it," he said. With a wave of his hand, a small parchment appeared and vanished quickly.
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Hotohori was sitting on his throne, restless and anxious for the news about his little sister and nieces and nephews. The parchment Suzaku had sent popped out of thin air, surprising everyone. The young emperor took the message into his hand and read the news. His golden brown eyes widened as he jumped up and shouted, "WHAT? When did this happen?"
"Your majesty, what's wrong?" one of the advisors asked.
"Usagi-chan…" was all that he could say.
The soldiers and advisors in the room all gasp in shock. "Did something happen to Usagi-hime? Is she all right?" Questions were flown at the young emperor as everyone was anxious to find out what had happened to their beloved princess.
Hotohori fell against his throne and stared at the message in disbelief. "She's…"
"She?" everyone else said, silently filling in the blanks with the worse case scenario.
"She's…" Hotohori tried to form the words and force them out of his throat.
The advisors and soldiers leaned forward. "She?" they asked
"Usagi-chan's pregnant," Hotohori replied after several minutes. Everyone who heard the news all fell to the floor in one complete domino effect; they had thought that something horrible must've happened, but it was only news about their princess being pregnant.
"Why that's wonderful," one of the advisors said joyously, "Who's the father this time?"
"Byakko," came the soft reply. Hotohori stared at the message, ignoring the celebration in the throne room. Half of advisors had hoped to spread the joyous news of the pregnancy, but the other half said that it wasn't the right time since they were in the middle of planning for a war. Hotohori was too worried for his sister's safety to think about anything else; he doesn't doubt the gods and the warriors' abilities to protect Usagi, but right now she's pregnant and really shouldn't be fraternizing with the enemy. "Suzaku, please keep Usagi-chan safe from harm and protect her children," he whispered, leaning his forehead against his hand.
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Suzaku smiled as he listened to the emperor's prayer. "Don't worry about a thing, Hotohori," he said silently. He watched as Byakko was hugging Usagi from behind, trying to calm her down. "I would rather die a painful death than to let anything happen to her. That's a promise."
Seiryuu looked at Suzaku with a silent question in his eyes; the red-haired god nodded his head. "It appears that there was a party to celebrate the news, Usa," Seiryuu said, turning to his wife.
Usagi looked at him and smiled gently. "Onii-chan is probably pulling his hair out now since I'm pregnant and traveling with his enemies," the young princess said. She thought about the Suzaku seishis and the other half of her warriors and asked, "How are the others doing right now?"
"Right now they're researching on what the Genbu no miko had used to summon me," Genbu said, "No doubt that the Seiryuu seishis are probably doing the same."
"I hope everyone will be okay," Usagi whispered. She stood up, only to fall back down on the bed with the four gods rushing to her, trying making sure that she was okay. Usagi smiled sheepishly and said, "My legs are still sore." The deities glanced at each other before laughing out loud.
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The four warriors of the gods walked back towards the campsite with the three young princes and princess in front of them. The three children were talking, or trying to talk, in Katsuya and Katsura's case, in an animated manner about the vast wilderness that they were camping in. There were a couple of crude comments about the Seiryuu and Suzaku seishis being incompetent from Haruka, resulting in two different results, an agreement from Sakura and a slap on the head from Michiru for her language.
They arrived to the temporary base and saw that Usagi was sitting by the fire with the warriors' masters and the children's fathers by her side. Usagi was looking a bit tired and worried as the gods were trying to keep her calm. Sakura, Katsuya, and Katsura all ran over to Usagi and talked about the different animals and features of land they had seen in their exploration. Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, and Setsuna walked in a more tranquil manner and watched as Usagi and the four most powerful men ate breakfast while listening to the details from their children.
Suzaku watched when he felt a puzzling commotion in his chest. He closed his red eyes and concentrated on who it was that is confused and lost. He saw Tamahome chasing after Yui and an argument had occurred, with an outcome of a perplexed seishi and an outraged miko(1). "Things had just became more complicated, it seems," he said silently.
"Suzaku?" The phoenix god opened his eyes and looked at Usagi, who was staring at him worriedly. "Is everything all right?" she asked.
"No reason to worry her even more," he said silently. He smiled and said out loud, "Everything's fine." He knew that by the look in her blue eyes that she was doubting his words and grinned even more. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "There's nothing to worry about," he whispered. "I hope so," he added mutely.
(1)This happened when Yui and Tamahome met in one of the towns in Hokkan and Yui told Tamahome that he was a character in a book, causing him to be confused.
AN: Chapter 4 is done. I'm really sorry for those who had been waiting for the stories, it's just that time is really an issue for me now. College is completely different from my high school time and it's taking time for me to get use to it. In high school I had a free period everyday where I'm allowed to go to the computer room. In college, I had to go from class to class and after school, I have to head over to my mom's preschool to help out. Now that I'm trying to finish a new story that someone had requested (I'm trying to finish it before this year is over).