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.
Chapter 8 – Searching for something
Anna pulled one of her hands out from Hao's tight hold and placed it onto his thigh. It was more than enough to draw him out of his own thoughts. His grip lessened and he opened his eyes, he noticed the tiny nail marks that he had dug into her hands.
"Sorry!" He cried grabbing a hold of the reigns and pulling the horse to a sudden stop. He turned in the saddle to look back at her. "Was I hurting you?" His brow was arched, tiny crinkles running across his forehead. If it had been any other moment, she would have laughed at the worried expression that he had on his face, but there was a hidden sadness in his eyes. Something had been bothering him and since he hadn't brought it up, she didn't want to bring it up. Things always seemed painful for him when he talked about things with her. She wanted their trip together to be on the bright side though she knew she wasn't a vivid person. He was the more cheerful one and she the stray cat that he had picked up off the street one day.
"Let's just continue." She reached around him and took the reigns, placing them back into his hand. He continued to sadly look at her and finally nodded as he nudged the horse forward again. It didn't even take ten minutes to reach their final destination.
The area was almost a clearing that was surrounded by trees and a river with the base of a mountain touching the water's edge. A waterfall ran off from one side of a mountain and into the water that seemed to run downstream. The area was pretty secluded and all too familiar to him. He could remember it all so clearly, very few things had changed. He turned to look at her to see if she was experience the same feeling that he was, but the expression on her face showed that this was all new to her. She didn't remember.
He helped to lower her down to the ground before he dismounted the horse and tied it off to a tree nearby. He walked over to the small river. Its size was no longer what it once was. The raging waters that he once knew were no more. He squatted down and dipped a hand into the water. It was no longer freezing cold as it had been before, the sun's rays cooling the water as it now a certain warm feel to it making it useless for training anymore. He sighed as the feeling returned.
This was the exact reason why he wanted to become Shaman King. The world around them was being destroyed, crumbling in around him. Humans were taking their toll on the Earth and letting it fall apart throughout the years because of human's constant abuse and negligent care as to what was happening to the world around them. It was things like this that bothered Hao the most. It was places like this that were being destroyed constantly everyday. Spots like this one that held so much meaning to them that was being destroyed.
Anna walked around and stretched, trying to get all of the kinks out of her body from being in the saddle so long. He noticed that she rubbed her bottom a few times when she thought that he wasn't looking. He wanted to comment on it to her. Mainly to tease her, but ended up not saying it as he glanced around at the trees and noticed that the area had changed more than when he had first looked upon the spot. Where trees had been before, other trees had replaced them and as his eyes fell onto a large tree that seated itself not too far from where he sat, off to the side.
He knew it instantly. It was the tree that they had often sat under together, the same tree that held the hidden compartment that the two of them had put things into it in hopes that one day they would be able to return and claim the items. That day had never come until now.
He slowly stood up and dusted himself off as he walked over to the tree. He lowered himself to the ground at the base of the tree and begun to look around at the roots. He couldn't exactly remember where the compartment was. Anna peered over at him.
"Hao, what are you doing?" He continued to look around and feel around the roots.
"Looking for something." She walked over to his side and looked at what he was looking at.
"There's nothing here. It's a tree Hao. That's its roots." He paused and pushed himself up onto an elbow as he looked up at her. He squint his eyes and stuck out his tongue at her.
"I already found the tree. It's something else that I was looking for." She hunched down beside him.
"What could there possibly be around a tree besides grass, dirt, twigs and roots all over the place." She wasn't asking. She was telling him. He shrugged as he fully lowered himself back onto the ground and partially crawled along the ground, his hair cascading down on each side of his face and being dragged through the dirt. It didn't seem to bother him as he continued to search for whatever it was that he was looking for.
She leaned back until her bottom landed on the ground and planted her feet onto the ground with her knees bent. She looked around at the area. She had seen this before she silently told herself yet she knew that she had never been there before till now. It was just her imagination she told herself; by looking at the scenery she could tell that it could have that kind of affect on a person. She glanced over to Hao as he continued to practically roll around on the ground. She didn't understand what he really was looking for, but this place was having some kind of weird effect on him too. He suddenly sat up.
"Found it!" He lifted a small bundle out of no where and held it triumphantly out to her. She eyed it with its old worn cloth that was wrapped so protectively around the bundle of whatever it was. The cloth appeared to be really old and had mostly decayed over the years. She had no idea what it could possibly be as it was layered with ancient dirt that had packed its around so tightly around the bundle, but she wasn't about to touch the dirty old thing. Her eyes fell on him instead. There were pieces of grass still in his hair and dirt smudged on his cheek. How it had gotten there, she hadn't noticed how close he had been when he was crawling on the ground. A grin was slapped on his face as he begun to fiddle around with the small bundle.
Her breath caught as she stared in wonder at him. It was a side of him that she had never seen before. Yes, there had been countless times that she saw that stupid Asakura grin, but when had things turned out like this she wondered. When had the smallest things that involved him begun to amuse her so much no matter what she found him doing. She was always entertained by his actions. Every moment that she spent beside Hao, she felt like it was something new and yet she could feel that she somehow knew that moment. That somewhere else, someplace else she had stood beside Hao before. That she had meet and embraced that moment before, but she faintly shook her head to clear it of such thoughts.
She remembered awhile back the dream that she had of Hao from somewhere else, but she had pushed such thoughts and memories away. She was not an interrupter of dreams and she had yet to meet a shaman that could explain to her what the dreams meant. She had her own ideas, but that is all that they were. Ideas and she would not act on them until she were to find out the truth for herself. For now she just wanted to be with him in the present and that was all that mattered. There was no longer a place for her beside Yoh, but she had in the aftermath found her place beside Hao. Her eyes continued to graze over him.
There were moments of playfulness between them, but they also had their serious moments with each other. She had never made him crawl on the ground or dig around the bottom base of a tree. It was no surprise that they had often found themselves rolling around in the grass with one another before. Nothing had clung to his dark tresses at those times, but the sight before her was highly amusing her. A smile played at her lips.
"You're such an idiot." A totally perplexed look washed over him as he stared at her.
"Huh?" He didn't know what she was talking about. What had he done wrong now?
"Nothing." She sighed and snatched the bundle away from him. She turned her back to him and walked over to a grassy area. She sat down and eyed the small package. Dirt was crumbling off from around the bundle and beginning to form a mess on her dress. She glared over at him.
A/N: I went and reread the story that I've done so far. Sorry I haven't updated in like 2 years almost.. hehe, but I couldn't seem to get in the right frame of mind to start working on fics again. I tried working on it and even now I'm trying my best to continue. It's crazy too cuz after rereading it all. My own story brought tears to my eyes… haha But I'm currently still stuck in South Korea. I'll continue to try to finish for everyone that has been waiting this long. Gomen nasai!!!! ;D Please feel free to review too. It's what keeps me writing. Arigatou!!!