Chapter 9 Jinn
Tohru was no longer aware. A struggle was taking place inside her. Saki felt her friend's aura winking in and out. Arisa ran to Tohru's side the moment she began slipping to the floor. Tohru's eyes were wide and vacant. She was breathing but unresponsive.
"You sonuvabitch!" Arisa cried, rage in her eyes, "What have you done to her!" Hanajima just stared in shock.. Aodoriku was unfazed.
"Dey is a war raging inside o' your friend. If she be strong den she will come to momentarily. If her mind be a weak 'ting, den you will soon meet de jinn."
Tohru looked around in fear. The tinkling sound of laughter seemed to come at her out of the whiteness. Everything was white, as far as she could see. She seemed to be alone, however she sensed someone else with her. The laughter came again, it whispered past her ear and she whirled around, raising her hands nervously.
"wh…who's there?" The laughter came again, a menacing note entering the disembodied voice.
"How delicious. The dark one didn't tell you about me did he?"
"Are… are you the jinn? The one who can help me?" Tohru asked hopefully.
"Help you? Oh no darlin', I'm not going to help you, I'm going to become you. It's been centuries since I last had a body, and yours is… well its perfect. You are well formed and finely proportioned with a great deal of strength in your limbs. I am pleased with my new host. But you, I am afraid will have to go."
"What do you mean?!" Tohru cried out.
"I mean dear one," And here the voice fell to a sinister whisper, "I mean there is only room for one of us in here so you will have to go to sleep so that I may come out and play." The brilliance of the white-space became dimmer.
All around Tohru it felt as if the shadows were pressing down on her. Unable to stand from the increasing pressure her legs buckled and she fell to the ground. Her lids were getting heavy. She was so tired. She tried to fight it, to maintain her awareness but she felt herself going out. Like a candle in a brisk wind she felt the flame of her spirit flicker and dim. She couldn't give up! Yuki, Kyo! They were counting on her.
"And Tohru mutti has this love for Momiji? This love that never dies and always finds a way…." A vision of Momiji smiling with such trust into her eyes flashed before her.
"Mo…mi…ji…kun…" Tohru whispered brokenly, her eyes snapping open, before drifting closed again.
"You have made me into a better person, Honda-San… Your kindness has saved me Honda San…"
"Yu..ki-kun!" She cried out struggling to push herself upright. Somehow she had fallen supine to the ground and she had to struggle just to raise her head above her elbows. She saw Yuki smiling up at her with sadness hidden behind that smile.
"I want to be the kind of man you can be proud of…" She remembered Kyo's words.
"Kyo…" she protested weakly.
"Shhhhh." Came the voice of the jinn. " Just relax. Sleep."
"Kyo…" She cried out again, tears falling from her eyes.
"Be peaceful." Came the voice yet again. This time a slender arm cradled her head in a soft lap. "Let the darkness hold you."
"Kyo…" Tohru protested again.
He was all alone. Trapped in the dark. She was his only hope. And she was fading. Tohru knew if she let the darkness claim her she would never resurface again and Kyo and Yuki would live and die slaves to Akito's will. It didn't really matter so much to her if she fell into the dark forever. But she didn't want Kyo to be trapped there as well.
"Kyo!" She wailed loudly. She focused all her energy on fighting. She had to fight. For her family! For Yuki and Momiji. And for Kyo! A dark red haze began pushing back the encroaching night. The voice of the jinn gasped in surprise as Tohru struggled to her feet. Tohru could taste the jinn's fear. The red light pulsated and with a wail like a fire siren rejected the shadows trying to swallow it. When Tohru raised furious eyes to meet those of the Jinn the red fury coalesced into the shape of a butterfly flapping its wings, before fading out and returning the world to its pure white splendor.
"I will not give up." Tohru cried aloud in a voice strong with conviction. " I have learned to be strong. I have learned to fight for what I want. And what I want is Kyo and Yuki. I want to be with Momiji and I want to cook supper for Shigure and Hatori. I want to see Hiro grow to become a man who will protect Kisa. I want to be friends with Kagura and Rin and help them find happiness. I want my family back!" Tohru's hair began moving erratically, the power of her spirit lifting it up and around her. A shimmering light began forming around her, the power of her will overtaking the white space. " I will not be stopped by you. I will not be stopped by Akito. I will not be stopped by anyone. I am Tohru Honda, daughter of the Red Butterfly, I will fight a God and brave a mystic to save the people I love, I will not be defeated by you jinn." The silhouette of the Jinn rose from the ground. Tohru glared at the creature with hard eyes. She was slightly taken aback at the jinn's appearance. She looked just like Tohru, but her hair and eyes were red and her skin had a pinkish cast to it. She gazed seriously at Tohru.
"I will not be enslaved again. I would rather die!" The Jinn's knees trembled but she lifted her chin in defiance. "You need me or I wouldn't be here, but I will not be silent. As long as we are one it's my life too." Tohru's eyes softened.
"I do not wish to enslave you jinn. I need your help."
"I know what you need. I am in your mind. You get three wishes. I do not kill. I will not do harm. I cannot make people fall in love with you. I cannot hurt the God Akito directly. I do not wish to hurt anyone. I want to be free! I want to live!"
Tohru smiled gently. "Then come to me jinn. Let us live. Together." Tohru opened up her arms. A Golden butterfly appeared behind her, gently flapping wings of gilded light. Tohru was bathed in a heavenly glow. The jinn looked upon her new host and experienced an emotion that she hadn't felt in centuries. Hope. Tentatively she stepped into Tohru's embrace. Tohru Honda wrapped her arms around the jinn and held her close.
She was no longer alone.
\Tohru moaned and blinked her eyes.
"Tohru-kun!" Arisa cried from above her- before practically smothering her in a relieved hug. The girl's face was a mask of fierce anger and grateful relief.
"Tohru!" Saki cried falling to her knees to embrace the girl. The three held each other for several heartbeats.
"Tohru," Saki began, "Tohru, are you well. Do.. do you have what you need." Tohru's eyes changed in an instant from blue to red. A smile of jubilation crossed her face. In a voice that was Tohru but was not she answered.
"She does. I will aid this woman."
"Let me speak to Tohru!" Arisa demanded. Tohru's crimson eyes flashed back to blue.
"I'm alright Uo-chan." Tohru smiled. "The Jinn is here with me, we are…communicating. It is very strange but… I… I like her. She reminds me of you Uo-chan." Tohru grinned happily.
"Den my part of dis bargain is done." Aodoriku stated.
The girls glared at the man. Tohru's eyes flashed scarlet for barely a second. There was a loud bang and then a whooshing sound. The earth began to rumble beneath them. Tohru's red eyes were locked on the Mystic, a small half smile on her face
"I think we should leave this place. NOW!" Hanajima commanded. She grabbed Tohru's arm and Arisa's as well; yanking them up she pulled them outside. Just in time too. The second the three girls got out of the hut the earth beneath it shifted belching a fireball from the gaping maw that appeared.
"Dammit!" Aodoriku shouted as he leapt from the hut. The hungry earth, after incinerating the hut, swallowed it whole the crack in the surface eased back together and only a blackened patch of earth marked where the hut had stood only moments ago. "Get out of here. I know dis was da work of dat' damn jinn! You," he shouted, leveling a large finger at Hanajima, "I will see you in one year. Now be gone! Ay-ya me! Me house is gone." The three girls left the mystic bemoaning the loss of his residence and began the trek home. Tohru had a small smile on her face. Her eyes were blue again.
"Tohru," Arisa asked, " was that you?" Tohru shook her head.
"It was Jinn. She has been a prisoner for a long time. She was tricked by that mans ancestor and kept caged in that gourd for three hundred years. Her last owner was an evil man who had her do some very bad things. He promised her freedom when she was done but in the end he tricked her, trapping her in that gourd. The earth swallowing his home was not the worst she wished to do to Aodoriku- sama."
"Then why didn't she do her worst?" Arisa asked. Tohru nimbly avoided a fallen tree as she answered.
"I asked her to restrain her fury. Aodoriku is not a nice man, but he is not his ancestor. He should be judged on his own merits and not held responsible for the misdeeds of others."
"Then why did she take his house?" Hanajima asked.
"Why, because of what he did to you Hana-chan." Tohru answered with a frown. "Jinn will not tell me why Aodoriku wants you Hana-chan, but she knows, and I can sense that he is an evil man. I will not let you take this burden for me."
"We have a year before we need to worry about that Tohru-kun." Hanajima soothed.
"So does this jinn have a name?" Arisa asked. Tohru nodded smiling, her eyes held a far away look. "She does but she will not share it. A jinn's name is its only act of free will when in service. It is a jinn's right to keep secret or reveal their name to a master. She has not chosen to reveal her name to me. So we will call her jinn."
"Are you… okay Tohru?" Arisa asked again. Tohru stopped walking and turned to Arisa, placing one hand on her arm in a friendly squeeze.
"I am me, Uo-chan. I am just no longer alone, in here." She grinned before knocking on the side of her head. "Now I have three very good friends, Hana-chan, Uo-chan, and jinn-san." The girls continued on. Tohru was excited. She knew that in the next couple of days she would be reunited with Kyo and Yuki and the others. Her joy was contagious and pretty soon all three girls were smiling and laughing. Hana and Uotani were both so relieved to see the old Tohru back in full force that they pushed their own doubts to the back of their minds.
I do not know if I yet consider you my friend Tohru-san. Jinn muttered guardedly.
It's okay jinn-san, I know it will take you some time, you have been hurt and you are afraid. But, while we are together, you are not alone. I am so thankful to you for helping me. I know that together we will be able to find a way to rescue Kyo and the others!
You're not mad because I won't tell you my name? Jinn snapped almost belligerently.
No. You have explained to me about being jinn. Your name is all you have. I would never want to take from you what you would not willingly give. It is okay for jinn-san to be jinn-san as long as she wants. Friends don't always have to tell each other everything.
Jinn perked up. Have you ever kept secrets from them? She asked referring to Uo and Hana.
Tohru smiled sadly. Yes. To protect the Sohma's I kept the Zodiac curse a secret from them for four years.
But you finally told them? It was more a question than a statement. Tohru nodded.
Sometimes you discover there are more important things than secrets. When the people you love are in danger, to protect them you will tell any lie, spill any secret do anything you have to do to save them.
Like you did to save Kyo?
And Yuki and the others. Tohru affirmed.
But mainly Kyo. Jinn taunted.
"Yes." Tohru said aloud. Arisa and Hana looked back at Tohru curiously. She just smiled at them. Soon she would be with them again. She wondered how they were.