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 9 – Treasure
A huge sweatdrop hung from Hao's brow as her stern gaze pierced through him. He didn't want her mood to turn foul after they had finally made their way back. He knew that it was a fact that they could never go back in time, but he knew that at least he could try to bring some of that past into the present. He wanted her to know this place. Either it be from her own memories of the things that had happened there in the past or the new memories that the two of them will share in this moment.
This was a special occasion for the two of them and he hoped that perhaps a part of her would remember this important place. Many things had happened there. No matter how many lifetimes or years had passed. Hao knew this place. It was a part of him, as it was also a part of her.
"A-ah, sorry!" He laughed lightly and lifted the bundle from her lap. He brushed the dirt off of her skirts and attempted to clean off the remaining dirt off from the bundle. Dirt remained on the old rags as he begun to unwrap it. He laid the old, worn cloth down beside her and slowly ran a hand across the top of the rectangular box as if there was some dirt on top of it, but the cloth had taken most of the damage from the earth.
"There." He held it out to her. He grinned with excitement as his eyes danced with pleasure that he had found it, a treasure that he had never forgotten about. It had remained untouched, buried and under the earth's care. He had been right to entrust this task to mother earth.
He had spent so many days by her side that he could never forget the past that they shared. Every moment that he spent with her was a real treasure to him, every memory he locked away inside of himself for safe keeping. No matter how many times that he was to be reborn into the world again. He would never forget. She was his treasure and he was happy to have her in his life again.
She didn't miss the look in his eyes, the mixed sensations that raged within his eyes. She could read him so easily. Reading other people's minds had become an everyday occurrence for her. It had once been a power that she had been unable to control, but in time she had learned to suppress the urge to read other's minds.
It didn't matter that she could read people's mind. She knew that if she had been born without the capability to read others mind's. She could read people with her keen eyes, her stern gaze that followed everything and missed nothing. She could see through people and Hao was not an exception.
She didn't know how to interrupt the excitement that she saw there. Hidden within his eyes, there was a look of anticipation. It was a normal feeling that any young boy would have toward his favorite toy. This was different, she could tell. His eyes shone like a fools yet it was like he was hungry for something that she didn't know, but with his eyes lingering over the box. She knew that it had to do with something that was contained in this small box. It was almost as if this box held something very important to him within its tiny contours.
She slowly took the box from his hands and set it down on her lap. It wasn't badly beat up and looked as if it had been kept in good condition. The lid easily lifted and she gazed at what was inside.
Anna's heart raced. She could clearly hear the sound of her own heart beating throughout her ears. A rolled up piece of parchment lied inside with a silver band wrapped around it. She knew what it was without removing the contents. The ring was wrapped tightly around the letter. It was very faint, but it was there in her mind. She didn't know what it was and yet she knew what it was. It was a letter. The contents unknown to her, but the ring she knew all too well. She couldn't control it as the tears slowly begun to stain her cheeks. She didn't know why, but it was something very important to her.
"H-How..." She turned to look at Hao and her words faded away. He was smiling at her with his mischievous grin, but his eyes hid nothing. There was a distant look in his eyes as if she was slowly losing him. To what, she didn't know, but his dream like state was getting worse and worse. The moments seemed as if he was there with her, but she knew that he was far away. Far, far away and she was running out of ideas on how to bring him back.
~~~Flashback~~~
"Anna, I have something to show you." Hao raised his hand into the air and snapped his fingers. Small bursts of flames seemed to emit from his fingertips and begun to dance around in the air.
"What is it?" Her eyes narrowed as she watched the flames dance before her. It was something that she had never seen before. Yet she knew that there was only one possible answer. It wasn't supposed to be possible, at least not for a boy of his age. There were stories of others that had been able to call them forth, but it had taken many Shaman's their whole lifetimes to get to that point. The point that Hao had just reached.
"Fire Spirits." She watched the flames circle again and vanish.
"Hao..." She turned to look at him and noticed the sweat that was steadily falling from his brow. "Are you alright?" A faint hint of worry in her voice or perhaps he was imagining things he wondered.
"I'm fine." He seemed to pause to take a deeper breathe. "I only recently was able to call them forward." He smiled at the fact that he was able to do that much. He had been able to call the Fire Spirits at will and it was due to the fact that he had wanted to show them to her. He had proved himself to be capable of surpassing what he had learned from his family and he was proud of himself. He refused to show this new power to his family. He wanted her to be the one to see it, his power. He had finally surpassed them, the Asakura family. He had overcome the power that their family wielded and gained something new that only he could do. He would not share this new information with them. He would only share this new found knowledge with her and only she would know just how truly powerful he was.
Hao rolled up the piece of parchment and hid it within another scroll. He carefully placed it with the scrolls that sat upon a table in his room. They were a collection of scrolls that he normally studied and had learned more about the world of Shamans. One could say that it was a library of scrolls that filled his room and that no one would be able to find it hidden there. He believed that no one would dare to touch the things in his room. He thought everything out very carefully before taking action. He took his time in cutting and trimming the scroll so that he could place it within another scroll. There lied the reply letter that Anna had written him.
It had taken him over a month to come up with the courage to actually write a letter to her and it took almost another month for him to compose the contents of the letter itself. He had spent countless nights rewriting the letter as his hand slipped and the ink smeared across the scroll. It just wasn't working too well for him to the point that he had almost given up all hope on writing the letter.
He didn't know what to say one moment and the next he knew what he wanted to say, but he had already begun to write something else. There was no end to it. He had rewritten the letter several times as he found the right words that he wanted to say to her. There was much that he wanted to tell her, to talk to her about, but he knew that he wasn't able to say it to her yet so he thought that a letter would be the next best way to do it. To tell her how he felt about her.
He wanted there to be more between them. She knew his secret, the power that he possessed, but little did she know that it was only a fraction of the power that was yet to come.
~~~End of Flashback~~~
"Hao?" Someone was calling his name. Hao blinked and his vision cleared. It was Anna. She touched his shoulder. "Are you okay, Hao?" He quickly nodded and grinned.
"I'm fine." He brushed the dirt off from his pants. She didn't miss that he was trying to use his actions to cover up the fact that he had zoned out again.