Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King so please don't sue me. I will not be responsible for any sudden bursts of tears that this fic may cause or the up and down feelings that you may experience from reading this. I've also begun to the use the idea with the permission of T.One to write things similar to the HaoXAnna fics that T.One has written. I've altered the story a bit to follow along the lines of the manga.
Chapter 3 – Memories
It was taking them long enough to get there. Anna didn't know where they were going still though she knew that Hao knew their destination. Her eyes seemed to stare out the window and though she could see the shops as they continued to pass them by. She was more intent on watching the image of him that reflected in the window. She knew that he was watching her.
His eyes refused to leave her. It was almost as if he were reliving the past and could somehow make up for the moments he had been unable to just hold onto her for a little bit longer.
It was a sad past that the two of them shared and though she couldn't remember it. She continued to relive it through her dreams though she hadn't mentioned anything about the dreams to him yet. He could clearly remember that day that happened so long ago, the memories of what had happened that day that he didn't want to remember. He pushed the recollections into the back of his mind so that he was able to smile for her because if he remembered the past, the events that lead to their demise. He'd grow angry again and want revenge, but for the moment. He just wanted to be with her like they had been before.
They had lived in a portion of the Asakura residence after getting married. That day had been not too long after Matamune's death and rebirth in his spiritual body with the help of Hao. He couldn't leave his precious friend behind, the only friend that he really seemed to have ever had besides the one he had married, Anna. His love for her was different than the love that he bared for the tabby cat and he wasn't even going to allow death to separate them all. He had other plans.
Hao had spent a lot of time with the nekomata in training him to become accustomed to his new spiritual form and his after life as an Oni slayer. Matamune had never liked Onis while he had been alive so it was only expected that he would become a slayer with his newfound powers that he had received from his master and friend, Hao. Matamune had always wanted to become stronger after losing his seven siblings to the epidemic disease that was going around at the time. It was only natural for that disease to eventually take his life too, but Hao had been unable to give up. Though he had been unable to save his friend and cure the cat of the disease. He did something that he was able to do, give Matamune power. It was only natural that the two understood one another and their need for power to protect the things that they cherished.
Hao trained the nekomata with the help of the Chou Senji Ryakketsu. It was the book of techniques that he had put all of his experiences into while he was mastering the five elements. It was so that one day he would be able to build an army of powerful Shamans that would help to save the crumbling Earth that he wished to preserve so that he could live his life peacefully with his wife. He dedicated his whole life into becoming stronger so that he could protect the world from its own inhabitants that refused to learn, against the humans that never seemed to understand. It was such a long time ago and yet he continued to fight for his dream to even to this day. He was reminded again of that day that seemed like today, that bitter day that everything had happened all at once.
flashback
It had been a trap, a long played out plot to destroy him in every way possible. Not just in his first life, but in every life after. There were rumors after all that Asakura Hao had the power to reincarnate himself, that he was the devil. Yet people would smile at him, cheerfully asking him for his help though they would talk about him behind closed doors, of how they should kill him before he kills them. Hao knew what they were doing, but he had Anna to worry about. He wasn't about to let her be dragged into it all even though she was also a Shaman, but it was one of the reasons why the two of them got along so well together. They understood one another, as Shamans, and as man and woman.
They had spent their youth growing up together. She had been engaged to him because her power would be an advantage to the Asakura family and their future plans, but Hao at the moment when he had first set eyes on her at the age of five. She had been a complete stranger that seemed to stare at him with different eyes. He always had the eyes of someone upon him since he was an Asakura, a Shaman destined to rise above the rest. It had been his parents' goal that he would gain power, wealth and status for their family. They had high expectations for the boy that showed so much potential of becoming a powerful Shaman at such a young age.
Hao had different plans because the moment he met her. His world changed. The girl with the calm, cool, steady eyes became his everything. Not only had she become his friend, mainly using him as a lackey to get whatever she wanted. He was like a stepping-stone to her whenever she didn't want to get her feet or hands dirty. From being around such a brilliant, intelligent mind, he learned many things. And when puberty hit, their relationship seemed to become something else completely. It was all right they believed since they were going to marry one day so why wait.
She had given him so many things in his life that he never knew how to repay her. He often felt that he was being selfish whenever he was by her side. It was common though for her to use him a lot, both when they were younger and even when they were older. One of the greatest gifts he ever received from her was a brown tabby kitten with black stripes on its back that they named Matamune, but the kitten had seemed half dead. He had been an early gift that he received from her several long years before they finally had gotten married.
Matamune had always shared a strong interest in his master and the mistress that had saved him, though the kitten had been unable to speak at the time. Anna had seemed to have read his mind and saved him before the epidemic disease could fully take his life as it had done his siblings. Through proper taking care of the kitten by the two of them, Matamune fully recovered or so they had thought. Even after death, the tabby cat remained by their side to protect his family.
Anna was one of the true pleasures in Hao's life that he enjoyed being by her side with Matamune. They were a family. He wasn't about to give that up for anything and he didn't allow anyone to use his wife as a weakness to him. She was his strength, the truth about his power, and his secret that he had never writer down in the Chou Senji Ryakketsu because he wasn't about to share her with anyone else. Though somehow, he missed something that day and it caused him to lose everything.
The people came to Hao's front door informing him about some Onis were running wild and destroying a village. It was his job to protect the people that fell into the jurisdiction of the royal court since his family was serving them. Matamune being the pure hearted cat that he was, wasn't about to let this injustice be done to the innocent villagers. He was quite familiar with the area since had had often visited many places with Hao when he had been alive, just the two of them. It had been the moments that Hao would have to handle business that the royal court would call for him to act. Though he had been unable to take Anna along, the court had allowed him to take Matamune. The cat had been his escape from the heated hate that he saw in the eyes of the people. Hao had no other choice than to let the nekomata go and handle it or he would have to have gone himself. He had a bad feeling about it all, but allowed Matamune to go. The deceased tabby cat was fully trained for combat and there was nothing that the Onis could do to harm him. He was more worried about Anna.
end of flashback
She finally turned around to look at him in the car.
"Are we there yet?"
Her eyes were cold, but the tone of her voice wasn't in the least bit harsh. It was merely a question as to how much longer they had to go. He smiled for her, the sweet smile that he reserved for only her.
"We still have a ways to go before we reach there. I don't think we'll arrive till sundown."
"But it's so early Hao. How can it take so long to get there if we're going by taxi?"
His smile took on a sinister look though he bore her no malice since he had been hiding something from her. He wanted it to be a surprise, but saw that there was no other way to do this than to tell her the truth.
"We're not going to get there by taxi." Her brow rose as she looked at him as if he were an idiot. They were riding in a taxi after all.
"Then how are we going to get there?"
"By horseback." Silence fell throughout the inside of the taxi.
"You're crazy. I don't know how to ride a horse."
"But I do."
A/N: I originally just wrote this fic for it to be a lovey, dovey type of moments for Hao and Anna just showing how compatible this pairing is, but I guess I ended up making it into a complex story with a past of mixed lives that seemed to intertwine in past and in present. Thanks much to TO.ne for giving me this awesome idea to use to bring out this fic in a much deeper meaning. XD Ya'll have to check out TO.ne's fics too especially HaoXAnna fans.