Author's Note: Since nobody even tried to guess the crystal, I'll just tell you. It's blue lace agate. Also all the crystal information is taken from various websites, with sometimes conflicting information, so I just used the website that had the info that suited my purposes. I tried to be as accurate as possible. Also Suyuan has reached its climax and is now travelling downwards to the conclusion. Sorry if that saddens you.
Disclaimers:
I don't own Peacemaker Kurogane or any of its characters. I do, however, own Amaterasu, her father and mother, and any other characters I may come up with. Comments of the positive and negative variety are like the naturally light/refreshing flavor of a baby tea leaf.
Just to put a date on this, it's like the end of February 1867 (only because it snows in February).
o o o
The snowstorm had come out of nowhere. It had raged on for hours before Soji decided to bring Amaterasu some blankets. He arrived at the building just as the storm eased to find the door open and Amaterasu nowhere to be found. Her cats were meowing furiously at something and he went over and found a rock on the raised deck that was stained with blood. He looked out into the distance and made out a barely visible trail of footprints leading away from the building. He dropped the blankets and ran to the clinic to tell Yamazaki what had happened, for some reason Amaterasu was more at ease around Yamazaki than the other more rambunctious members of the Shinsengumi. Grabbing their swords and some medical supplies, wasting no more time both went off to find Amaterasu.
o o o
She barely managed to force her eyes open. Despite feeling very tired, she also felt the strange sensation that she was floating. The sound of footsteps echoed around her and then she felt a dull sensation in her right hand, but for some reason she didn't care and let herself drift back into unconsciousness. The man lit more sticks of incense, bringing the total burning to thirteen, then left the room and shut the door behind him.
A few hours later, Soji and Yamazaki arrived at an abandoned building on the outskirts of the village.
"I figured someone would show up eventually, but I never expected you this soon" Amaterasu's father spoke as he came around the corner of the building into view. He glowered at them before taking a long drink from a sake bottle.
"What did you do with Amaterasu?" Soji demanded.
"Nothing that bastard witch didn't deserve" her father smirked as he responded.
"Yamazaki" Soji said abruptly "go find Amaterasu. I'll take care of him" he continued as he laid his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Yamazaki circled around the man, never taking his eyes off him, and entered the building. The first few rooms were empty, but then he noticed smoke drifting through a crack in the door in front of him. He shoved the door open only to be assaulted by a strong odor that he identified immediately…opium incense. A lot of opium incense. As the smoke drifted out of the room, he saw Amaterasu lying on the floor. He entered the room, the noise from the fight clearly audible (it sounded like Soji was winning), and rushed to Amaterasu. He started to lift her up, but he felt a slight resistance. He glanced over her body and his gaze froze on a sword that impaled her right hand.
He laid her back down and slowly pulled the sword out. She didn't even react, but that was to be expected since the opium had numbed her ability to feel pain. He tossed the sword aside and laid her hand on her stomach to minimize blood loss before carrying her outside. He arrived at the exterior raised deck to find her father laying face down in the snow, his own sword sticking straight out of his back.
"Is she alright?" Soji asked as he approached Yamazaki. Yamazaki didn't respond, instead stepping off the raised deck and laying Amaterasu down before grabbing a handful of snow and gently rubbing it her face.
"What are you doing?" Soji demanded rushing over to Amaterasu.
"There was opium incense burning in the room where she was kept" Yamazaki explained "the cold from the snow should help her become conscious."
As he said that, Amaterasu moaned and her eyelids fluttered open. She slowly rolled onto her side before throwing up the entire contents of her stomach, then proceeded to fall into a deep sleep.
"That's good" Yamazaki said relieved "hopefully this got some of the drugs out of her system." As he spoke he ripped a piece of fabric from the sleeve of Amaterasu's kimono and used it to bandage the wound in her hand. "He put a sword through her hand" Yamazaki said in response to Soji's questioning gaze.
Soji picked Amaterasu up "Don't tell her I killed her father, just tell her that he was dead when we got here." Yamazaki nodded his consent. They arrived back at Shinsengumi headquarters without anyone noticing they were gone.
o o o
Two days had passed and Amaterasu hadn't left her room. She barely ate anything, never slept, and didn't speak to anyone or allow anyone to see her. Soji had had just about enough of her self-imposed exile, which is why he was going to see her. He slowly opened the door and saw Amaterasu staring into a small fire, holding a piece of green crystal in her right hand. He entered the room and sat a tray bearing a single cup on the floor.
"He's still here" she spoke out of the blue "every time I close my eyes I can still see him, still hear him yelling at me. He's even in my dreams and I can't make him go away."
Soji laid his hand over her right hand and opened it to reveal the crystal "What's this?" he asked distracting Amaterasu from her thoughts.
"It's alexandrite to help my hand heal" she replied. She shifted the crystal to her other hand, revealing the wound. It had almost completely healed, but would leave a scar. Soji felt her hands shaking beneath his. Yamazaki had told him that she might suffer withdrawal symptoms for a while.
"I'm fine" Amaterasu said bluntly cutting off what Soji was about to say "I don't need Yamazaki's help."
"Drink this" Soji said as he handed Amaterasu the cup, keeping one hand on it to keep it steady "it will help you relax." He watched as she drained the entire cup. She sat the cup down and rubbed her eyes. Soji helped her to lie down and pulled a blanket over her. "Your father can't hurt you anymore. I promise" he said as Amaterasu fell into a medicinal tea induced sleep his hand still tightly clasped in hers.
"Don't go" she whispered as she fell asleep. Soji smiled as he lay down beside her, content to watch her sleep and ready to comfort her should she have a nightmare.
o o o
Whew!! Chapter six is finished at last, and much quicker than chapter five (which I am utterly shocked about). I'm accepting suggestions for chapter seven. Also I am curious about what you think of Amaterasu. Is she a well-developed character? Is she too Mary Sue-ish? Should she kill me because of all the stuff I put her through in the story? And any other thoughts you have. Pineapple upside-down for everyone who reads this story and those who review get an extra piece with two cherries on it. Thank you all for blessing this humble little author with your readership. Hopefully chapter seven will be out soon. Also go check out Last Time of My Life which is a continuation of this story, but focuses more on Okita. I am absolutely addicted to that story. I'm so excited I'm going to be the big 21 on Sept. 12. Well, that's everything until chapter seven. See you there.