Expectations

The blue-haired traveler cocked an eye at Darla. "You want me to what?"

Darla sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to figure out the best way to explain their situation. She didn't really know if anything would come of it, but, seeing as they didn't exactly have a plan, going to Hotohori seemed the best option. "Look, I know this is weird. And…random. But Alora and I kind of just fell here – I mean literally fell – and I have this gut feeling that we need to see Hotohori."

Alora grinned and nodded to the man before them. "You'll learn to trust her "feelings," they've gotten us this far," and she winked at her friend.

With a poorly concealed smirk, Darla addressed Tamahome once more. "We don't know how to get to the capital, and more than likely two women on the road will draw attention. I'm asking you to take us there as an escort. Please."

Tamahome looked between the two girls in front of him, weighing his options. The blonde's got a point. The two of them alone, especially dressed like that, are bound to get into more trouble. But why me? Why did I even step in? It's like something – He shook his head and groaned again. "Fine. I'll take you. But when we meet the Emperor, I'm out. My name's Tamahome, by the way."

"We kn – OW!" Alora reached over and pinched Darla's elbow before she could put them in an even worse situation. It was bad enough that Alora had blurted out Hotohori's warrior name, they couldn't go spilling everything yet.

When Tamahome gave Darla a quizzical look at her outburst, she shrugged. "Bug bite. Are you riding or walking?"

Tamahome smirked and nodded his head to the horse. "It's still about an hour from this point. You two go ahead and ride. Wouldn't want you ladies getting tired, after all."

Alora stepped past Darla and hopped into the saddle in what she hoped was a smooth movement. Darla had gotten to ride in college, but Alora never had a lesson – everything she knew was from movies. Darla handed her the reins, and told her that it was like driving a car: pull to the right to go right, pull left to go left. Pull backward to reverse – but try not to do that. Kick to go – but don't kick too hard.

Alora was about to ask Darla why she wasn't getting on, when she saw the glare glance through the blonde's gaze. Awe shit, seriously Dar? A power play now?

Tamahome hadn't seen Darla's look yet. "What, you think you're walking lady? I told you, it's at least an hour – "

"I wasn't aware that an hour was so difficult. Maybe you should be riding, if you're so worried about the trek." Darla locked eyes with him, then tossed her mane and set off in the direction the lord had been taking them. Alora rolled her eyes and kicked the horse (though she had to do it a couple times, since she kept thinking she would hurt him), then followed her best friend.

Tamahome held back a moment, and stared after the small figure as she walked away from him. Now there's a prideful one, and an attitude to reckon with. He wiped a hand over his face and sighed. This should be an interesting trip.

Suddenly, he yelled out and jogged to catch up to them. "Hey! Why do you need me if you know where you're going?!"

"Because I don't know where I'm going!"

Alora yawned and laid the reins across her lap, stretching her arms up above her head. She looked a ways ahead where Darla and Tamahome were walking side by side. The brunette had slowed the stallion down to barely a walk, but was fine with just lounging on his back.

Tugging the ends of her hair, she sighed at her best friend's actions. So we finally meet Tamahome. And what happens? She's already arguing with him. Typical. They better not pull this bullshit all the time, or I swear I will shove my fist so far down their throats they'll taste my fingernails. Anyway. If he's Tamahome, and we're going to see Hotohori…I wonder if Tasuki will show up? Or if the others are…wait a minute. Why didn't Tamahome know Hotohori?

"Darla!" Alora called out, a twinge of nervousness laced through her voice.

The blonde turned around but kept walking – backwards. "What?"

"Well first of all, you might want to watch out for that – " *crash* " – sign. Darla, you okay?"

Alora heard a groan and pulled the horse to a stop near Darla's prone form. "Yeah," the blonde grumbled, reaching up to rub her head. "I'm good."

Tamahome grumbled and reached his hand down to the girl. "Get up already, you didn't hit it that hard."

Darla glared at him, but allowed the man to pull her to her feet. She yanked her hand out of his and went to Alora. "What's up?"

Alora reached down to her. "Can you ride with me? We need to talk about something."

Confused, Darla took Alora's outstretched hand and pulled herself behind Alora in the saddle. "Is everything okay?"

Alora shrugged and smiled to Tamahome. "Girl talk. Mind walking a little ahead?"

With a shrug he turned and continued down the path, muttering under his breath about clumsy girls and annoying friends.

Darla wrapped her arms around Alora's waist and rested her chin on the brunette's shoulder. "What's going on?" she whispered, understanding that whatever Alora was going to say was only for their ears.

"Darla," Alora began, "Don't you think it's weird that Tamahome doesn't know who Hotohori is?"

Realizing in an instant what her friend was insinuating, Darla stiffened. "Oh my God. You're right. So, wait, does that mean everything we know is…wrong?"

Shaking her head, Alora kicked the horse lightly and began following Tamahome down the path. "That's what I'm thinking. If he doesn't know Hotohori, then he probably doesn't know the others. And if they never met, that means Miaka and Yui were the fictional characters – not them. Darla, they were never here."

As was her nervous habit, Darla raked her fingers through her hair, and grasped a bunch of it in a fist at the back of her head. She did this a lot when she was thinking particularly hard. She bit her lip and her eyes widened with realization. "Alora, that means Miaka wasn't the Priestess of Suzaku. So unless they had another one…"

"You don't think it's one of us, do you?" Alora turned to look at Darla, and saw the girl shaking her head.

"Well it can't." At Alora's questioning look, Darla blushed and looked at the passing ground. "According to what we know, the Priestess has to be pure. And you and I aren't exactly…well I mean especially me…we've known our fair share of guys."

Alora growled under her breath. "Then why are we here? Just because we asked?"

Darla shrugged and looked up at the road before them. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. "Oh wow!"

The brunette followed Darla's gaze, and let out a quiet "woah" as she realized that the road was ending and straight ahead was the imperial palace. Their friend Kaley was Chinese, and the scene before them looked like something straight from Kaley's paintings of Ancient China.

Tamahome waved them down from where he stopped about a hundred feet ahead. "Come on ladies, the Emperor awaits!" Alora urged the horse over to him, and side by side they entered the city.

The two girls stared amazed at all of the sights and sounds that greeted them. There were vendors everywhere, as they seemed to be moving straight through the marketplace. Paintings, food, and silks of every color were everywhere as far as the eye could see. Darla's eyes were caught by something glinting in the sun, and she slipped off the horse's back to stare in wide-eyed wonder at a table with some of the most beautiful jewelry she had ever seen. As she reached out to touch a necklace with an emerald stone the size of an acorn, the shop keeper suddenly grabbed her wrist. His grip tightened painfully, and Darla cried out as she tried to wrench her arm from his grasp.

"Let go! I was just looking!"

"Sure ya were," the salesman sneered. "Until I turn my back!"

"Let go!" Darla yelled again, as she continued to tug. Abruptly, she was let go as Tamahome appeared and wrapped a hand around the other man's neck.

"I believe the lady asked you to release her," he said in a low, dangerous voice.

Realizing he wasn't in the best situation to argue, the shop keeper let free Darla's wrist. When Tamahome let him go, the man glared at them both before turning around the deal with other customers.

Darla cradled her arm to her chest and nodded to Tamahome, giving him a sheepish smile. "Thank you, for saving me again."

He shrugged, and reached over to her. Using his right index finger, he lifted her chin and smiled wanly at her. "You have no idea how much trouble you are."

The blonde found herself caught in his gaze, and it didn't go unnoticed that he had changed his hand's position so that his fingers lightly brushed along her jaw. Darla felt herself grow warm, and blushed when she felt a tightening in her lower belly. The spell of his stare having been broken when she looked away, Darla strode over to Alora while shaking her head to dispel any stray thoughts.

Alora had watched the whole scene in earnest, a sly grin appearing on her lips during the exchange between Darla and Tamahome. Oh yeah, this is going to be fun. Before Darla could see her expression, Alora slipped clumsily off the horse's side and handed the reins to her friend.

"I think it might be better if we don't sit where the world can see us," the girl explained, "and you need something to focus on, so lead the horse."

Confused, Darla took the reins in her left hand, and stroked the horse under his neck with her right. She was still amazed by everything around her, but decided that it wasn't the time to explore. Not yet, at least.

The small group continued through the marketplace at a steady pace, but once they emerged past the last vendor, Alora and Darla began to pick up speed. Their excitement at meeting Hotohori wasn't dimmed in the slightest by their discovery that nothing was as they had assumed it would be.

But really, Alora wondered, what had we expected? Then again…I wasn't actually expecting anything. I still can't believe we're here –

"We're here." The two girls stopped short – Darla narrowly missed being stepped on by the stallion – and craned their necks back to take in the full view of the palace.

It was magnificent. Flat-structured, but still high enough to be impressive. The roof was red, and gleamed gloriously in the sun. The walls and supporting beams were white, with decorated borders all around. There were two floors, each enclosed by railings, and a wide staircase led to the main door of the palace. The sheer size of the palace astounded the girls, who had rarely had the chance to see anything of this caliber.

Tamahome smirked at their behavior, then laughed outright. "You look like two fish with yours mouths gaping like that!"

Alora just turned to him and laughed, while Darla put her hands on her hips and huffed. "You know we're not from around here! Of course this is amazing to us! Why do you have to be so – " but Tamahome was laughing even harder.

"Damn woman you can't even take a joke!" Wiping tears from his eyes, Tamahome finally stopped laughing and straightened up. He smiled at them and then bowed slightly at the waist. "Well ladies, this is where I leave you. Have fun with the Emperor!"

Panic seized the girls, and Darla immediately ran to him, forgetting about holding onto the horse. "No, wait!"

"Eh?" Tamahome turned and looked down to find Darla had laced her fingers with his, and wrapped her other arm around his arm. She looked up at him, and he was interested by the look of desperation in her eyes.

"Please don't go," the blonde said, not once breaking her gaze. "We don't know anyone else. And besides, perhaps the Emperor can help us find a way to repay you for your kindness. Just, please, don't go."

Darla told herself that he had to stay because he was one of the Suzaku Seven, and things would probably make sense when they were all together, so that's why he couldn't leave. She told herself that but…on some level, she didn't know if she believed her own reasoning.

The blue-haired man stared back at her, confused as to why he suddenly felt like he couldn't move. I guess I should stay, make sure she's safe – and her friend, too. Wait, her friend! He looked up from Darla's eyes to see Alora standing patiently by the horse and staring at them, a smirk just barely touching the corners of her mouth.

"Come on, Darla," she said, and turned to move toward a guard at the front of the palace. "Time to meet royalty."

Hi darlings! Sorry it took a while for me to post this - been kind of distracted by other peoples' fanfiction. I noticed I have a few international readers, and I'm so friggin excited about that! Everyone, please review, follow, favorite, anything! I just want to know if people think it's any good or not, to be honest. Regardless, I shall return by Wednesday with Chapter 5!