"Yui…?"

"Oh—sorry, did I wake you?"

"Where's Boushin?"

"With Tasuki. We're all at the nearest Konan camp, and he's recooperating too."

"All…?"

"Not my warriors, anyway. I told them I'd be coming to see you, so I think they'll try to heal up elsewhere before coming to check on me. And how are you, Miaka?"

"I…" she said slowly, having to take a moment to assess where each of her limbs were and how much feeling she had in any of them. She didn't feel any pain, just lethargic. Even her face felt too heavy use much expression. "I'm still here."

"That's—"

"That's good," a smiling ghost said from behind Yui. She rolled her eyes in Tamahome's direction as he beamed down to his still living lover's face, and Miaka, tired though she was, found herself smiling back.

Teased though her nerves were, Yui continued. "You're not the teenager you once were, after all. Some of your strength will come back soon, but not all of it—so just hang in there until it's time for me to use my last wish, alright? I want to see things through as far as I can first."

"Your last wish, Yui? But Seiryuu will—"

"I'm not that worried about it, silly. He's been sleeping inside of me all this time, so at some point my body became used to this. My heart has had time to recover, too. You're the one I'm worried about, Miaka—you've spent even longer rejecting Suzaku in your heart, so at this rate… you…"

"Yui…"

"Don't worry, Miaka," she sat straight back up with a wider smile, covering the quiver in her voice. "You're going to be just fine! After all, I'm going to use my last wish to save you!"

"Save… me…? But I…"

"You'll be fine, Miaka. Be brave—but you have to decide how to use that last wish first, or it will follow you forever."

"I agree, you must start considering your last wish carefully," declared the emperor as he entered the room. He had washed his face and removed the outer layers of his robes, but his lower layers had also turned brown with the blood that had seeped through. With imposing dignity for a child, he continued. "My own wishes are too plentiful to request, but I hope that I can still count on your cooperation for the continuance of this world after your final wishes are made."

"That's right," Miaka replied as Yui supported her into a sitting position. "We still don't know anything for sure about what might happen to this world."

"We can never know anything for sure, you know?" said Chichiri, as he and Tasuki entered the room behind Boushin. "But there shouldn't be any rush to use that last wish. Use it when you're ready."

"No, I'm afraid there is a rush," the child continued in lower tones. "As long as Nakago's sights are still set on the priestesses' world, they'll be his target for as long as they remain here. Please do not take offense, but you should get home as soon as possible."

"Or we could just finish 'im off now that you've got a head start."

"Please, Tasuki. Instability in Kutou would be a new problem," he smiled with a hint of a relaxed laugh. At least that much he could muster and set everyone's nerves at ease—he couldn't have them distracted by a distraught emperor. He only halfway cared about the words he was saying, keeping his mind numb to keep the images and voices from running back through his head. His body felt like an empty puppet, but even puppets have to move and talk.

Boushin, a ghostly voice echoed in the back of his mind, as if hiding his presense from the others. You don't have to try so hard to be so strong.

I'm fine, Father, he mentally retorted. He was fine as long as no one touched the fragile puppet.

The Kutou troops did not take any immediate actions, as if they were in a state of suspended animation. Apprehensive though this made everyone in Konan, they took advantage of the silence to regroup.

Boushin, Miaka, and their party returned to the palace, where only the results of the negotiation were reported to the rest of the court. Acknowledging appropriately the sacrifices the two respected counselors had made, the emperor addressed the current state of affairs so calmly that the cabinet could not help but remain calm themselves.

"Given the silence, it seems that at least an immediate attack on the stronghold has been postponed," they observed, thereby more or less coming to the conclusion that the negociations—however costly—were the right thing to attempt after all. When they praised him, Boushin smiled and accepted graciously.

"I'm proud of you, my son," Houki beamed at him. Though in her heart she felt a deep sense of loss, she felt that expressing it would cause him to lose his regal composure. If he wanted to mourn, they could do so behind closed doors later.

Boushin was rather proud of himself too for staying so composed. He felt like he should be sadder than he was, but it felt so unreal that he could go on puppeteering himself quite well.

Or so he thought, until he was walking down the corridor to his quarters and was caught by surprise as a maiden suddenly struck fire to a lamp and the light immediately flooded his surroundings. A scream escaped him and his knees gave way, leaving him shaken and without words. The train of servants following him rushed to his side and surrounded him with concern in their voices, and once he was aware of his surroundings again he pushed past them without a word and locked himself in his bedroom so they couldn't see him reduced to such a fragile state.

Breathing tightly in shorter and shorter breaths, he guided himself over to his bed as his heart beat rapidly and his body shook violently. With nervous hands he reached for a pillow and held it tightly, trying to get himself back under control from whatever had startled him.

Hotohori was at his side, calling his name and trying to calm him down, but he was ignored-as if he was thin air. Whether he was unaware of him or simply did not want to acknowledge the episode, by morning Boushin behaved as if nothing had come over him.

Kutou's state of inaction did not last long.

"The food! They brought the food after all!" Mayo shouted as she read.

"What?" the young men tried to rip the book from her hands, but her grip was too strong. "Not the food from Kutou, right?"

"It is! Hey, Chiriko! Can you hear me?"

At that moment, the scholar was sitting in a carriage with Juan, heading back to the capital in part of a military caravan. He and a few of the generals thought it best to report directly and reorganize. The voice from the bear in his lap caught his attention—as well as Juan's—and he replied, "Is that you, Mayo? Are you home safely now?"

Yes! You'll never believe what just happened!

"I believe Keisuke said those same words to me a few days ago."

Before everything went crazy, Boushin made a deal with Nakago to have food delivered for the refugees in the capital, right?

"Yes, he mentioned that too."

You would have thought he'd cancel the order, but the food just arrived!

"It did?"

Just like I hoped it would! Wasn't I just saying that, Keisuke?

"You did?" Chiriko's eyes grew wider. "Your will influenced this world in such a way?"

You're saying it's thanks to me? Well, you're welcome, I guess.

"It's just a guess, or wishful thinking."

"Or maybe that's exactly what it is," Keisuke looked between Tetsuya and Mayo. "Wishful thinking!"

"Like… we can fly if we want to?"

"Don't be like that Tetsuya—this is the Universe of the Four Gods, anything could be possible in its pages. If it's recording the very words we say in this world and we've opened up such a link that we can have normal conversations now, then of course we might have some influence on it! It said at the beginning that it would make the reader's wishes come true, so that has to be it!"

"Don't make it sound too simple, Keisuke. If it were, we could write in all kinds of crazy stuff and cause who knows what kind of damage. And if what we want has such power over it, how come it never listened to me when I wanted to see Yui?"

"You just hang on, Chiriko," Keisuke directed his voice back to the pages. "We're going to need to experiment with this a bit more."

By the time the bear was silent, Juan had been staring and listening to it just as intently as Chiriko had. With wide eyes, he looked up to him for reassurance. "That was Mayo, wasn't it?"

"Yes. She's safe in her world now."

"W-why can we talk to her world?" he started to sound frantic. "I don't think we're supposed to do that!"

"Just because we've never done it before doesn't mean we shouldn't…"

"I don't understand it, but I don't like it!" the boy started crying. "I'm really scared. I'm really scared, Uncle Chiriko!"

"J-Juan! It's alright! I'm sorry! You don't have to listen anymore!"

"I don't think… hic… we should… hic… we should do that!"

The power to form words left him as he wailed, and, very flustered, Chiriko could only pat his head and and attempt to comfort him by saying how the bear wasn't talking anymore. It did, however, lead him to start to questioning if they were taking their methods too far. If Nakago going beyond the borders of the world was such taboo, shouldn't the connections they were opening be just as unruly? While the possibilities it might hold for drastic ways it could alter their world should have bothered him, it was picturing Taiitsukun's disapproving frown that ultimately made him feel just as disturbed as Juan.

When the large shipment of food arrived in the capital, Boushin was nearly as surprised as everyone else. The others did not even have advance notice, as he thought it too unlikely of an exchange to be worth mentioning. "It really came," he said nearly under his breathe.

"What d'ya mean? Didja know about this?"

"I-I did, but seeing how the meeting with Nakago ended, I hardly expected him to honor his agreement."

"Agreement? You got Nakago to agree to this?"

He went on to say more about the meeting by telling the people that Nakago had agreed to send aid as a sign of trust in the negotiations, and sent the official carrying the order out before they were attacked by Suboshi. Once they verified that the food they received was not poisoned, they decided that what most likely happened was that Nakago had not returned to the palace, and no order had been sent to cancel the first. They congratulated the emperor on his careful negotiation and stroke of good luck, and they proceeded to distribute it among the people, telling them of the deed their ruler had done for them.

Boushin's clout continued to increase once the chieftains of the stronghold arrived and bowed before him, praising him for his valour and quick thinking in seriously wounding Nakago.

This was the first the others had heard of this. Though they had heard Nakago was injured, they had assumed the assassin who entered to claim his life had inflicted it—it had never occurred to anyone to ask Boushin for more details. Embarrassed, he could only acknowledge the truth when it was paraded in front of him and everyone pressed him to say what happened.

"I had my father's sword with me when I was threatened," he explained, not making eye contact as his face burned bright red. "I would like to think my father's spirit was what protected me."

"Since you are still with us, that must have been so! Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"

"Maybe he's forgettin' that it was Miaka's wish that saved his hide," grumbled Tasuki, but Miaka smiled and shook her head.

"I won't take any of Hotohori's credit. That was you at that moment, wasn't it?" she sweetly asked the ghost in their midst.

"I wouldn't take Boushin's credit," he frowned. "And none of it would mean anything had you not saved him. I'm eternally grateful, Miaka," he bowed, hiding his face as pondering what might have been was getting the best of him. "I could ask you for nothing more."

"Please, Hotohori! It's alright! You're just going to make me feel awkward."

Tasuki opened his mouth to comment about how she made it in time this time around, but he closed his mouth and thought the better of it. Seeing him do so, Nuriko smiled and lowered the red armlet he had ready to pound him the moment words left his mouth, which the bandit didn't particularly appreciate it. "I'm not that bad."

"Of course you're not. I trust you to value your life more than to cause His Majesty any unpleasantness."

"Geez. After all this time, you're still his keeper?"

"Even if I'm dead, my heart is the same," he winked flirtatiously.

Amidst the confusion and cheers in the emperor's name, Juan had to stretch his neck to look above the crowd and spot his friend. Almost as soon as he did so Boushin noticed him as well, and ran through the crowd to meet him face to face. "Juan, you're back!"

"I am," he smiled.

"You must have been having all kinds of adventures," he greeted him as positively as he could think to. "You have to tell me everything!"

"Yeah," he continued smiling.

"I'm so happy to see you!"

"Yeah," still smiling, he trailed off as he began to sink forward and Boushin caught him by the arms.

"J-Juan!?"

"He still needs to get some rest. I'm sure he'll be happy to talk with you more after he gets some sleep."

The boy could tell this was more than just sleepiness. "I can order medicine to be made right away!"

"You needn't worry, I already…" he replied and would have said more, had he not noticed the Miaka, Chichiri and Tasuki approaching. "You're all here! I heard about everything, including the food."

"With all the hubbub about it, how could you not, you know?"

"Miaka! How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine! Do you have my teddy bear? Have you found out anything else?"

"Yes, and… but…" he looked back to Boushin, more concerned about what he had experienced.

He didn't look terribly bothered that Chiriko was getting distracted by his Suzaku comrades. "Go and discuss whatever you've learned," he ordered calmly. "I'll have my servants arrange a room for Juan."

With a frown, he did as instructed.

Miaka and the others, including Yui, gathered in privacy around the bear, and after getting filled in on everything else they had discussed, Miaka addressed it. "Can you hear me, Big Brother?"

Miaka! When did you get there?

"Are you even reading?" she looked cross.

We are! We were just saying that we need to come up with some way to try out influencing the book with our own wishes—as readers, and what we want to see happen!

"Then time hasn't progressed for you at all since we last spoke," Chiriko looked exhausted to the point of smiling at the craziness of it all.

I don't think it's going to work, Tetsuya's voice joined them. After all, I never wanted anything more than to see how Yui was doing, but this stupid book wouldn't show me anything!

"I'm flattered," blushed Yui, "But didn't you will that earring into the book to get it to me?"

I… well, if you want to say that… not that it was even my idea…

Duh! came Mayo's voice. That must have only worked because Coach was sure it would.

How come the book likes you so much, huh?

Because I believe in it.

Both rooms fell silent as they pondered the thought. Chichiri was the first to speak. "We do know that Mayo's will has had a lot of influence on this world—even to have unsealed Suzaku. But whether she was being called to first, or if the events of this world led up to her getting involved, we have no way of knowing, you know? Same with the food—it might just be a coincidence."

So what, you think my will is no more powerful than a coincidence? Fine. Give me something completely unlikely and I will wish hard for it just to make you all eat your words. Well?

Geez, you are still crazy.

Shut up!

"That would be one way to try it out, you know," Chichiri folded his arms, then looked to Chiriko. "What do you think we could use?"

"Hmm?" he looked up. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening that closely. I'll leave that to you all to think about—I need to go see Boushin."

"Boushin?"

"I'm sorry! I'll be more helpful tomorrow!" he frowned pleadingly before exiting the room. With quick footsteps so that he wouldn't be interrupted by anything else, he went searching for the emperor. He was not in his quarters, but a maid pointed him in the direction of Juan's room.

There, Juan was sleeping peacefully, and Boushin was sitting at his side. He stood when a maid showed the counselor in, and stared back expectantly; speaking once the maid closed the door and left them alone. "Yes? Do you need me for anything, Chiriko?"

"Boushin," he blurted out, words and troubled expressions flowing out before his thoughts were put together. "You saw Counselor Shu and Counselor Chou die!"

A chill went down his spine at the words. "Yes. That I did…"

"To think we'd lose them," he was hit with first rush of tears, and then without proper restraint in an emperor's presence, he approached and embraced Boushin tightly as he cried. "I wish you didn't have to see that. I wish they didn't have to die!"

Boushin's body tingled with the sense that he should flee less he become weak, but his feet were grounded to the spot as Chiriko's cries rattled through his small body. Slowly, but surely, he found himself clinging back, and emotions that had been laid at rest welled up and took over. "I… it was horrible, Chiriko!" he whined, the slightest sense of dignity gone. "I watched Nakago kill them both! They're dead because of me!"

When they could manage no more words, they squeezed tighter and sobbed more.

Although Juan did not stir, they were being watched. Hotohori was silent and downtrodden, with only Nuriko to hear him. "Children need people they can put their arms around, don't they?"

"That's not all they need, but I'm afraid they do, Your Highness. I don't think the Nyan-Nyan would appreciate you borrowing their bodies for long term use."

This got a smile out of him. "I'm not quite that desperate, Nuriko."

"And what is it you're desperate for?"

"I just wanted to make sure he wouldn't be lonely," he looked back. "But there's nothing more I can do."

"It was good for him to meet you. Please don't regret that," the other said. "You can watch as long as you want, but there are plenty of other people watching him just as closely."

"Watching. Ha! I've done a lot of that over these years. Not just Boushin, but Miaka, Houki, and little Juan as well. I've watched my entire country, but my chance to do anything more than watch has ended."

"You're telling me! Maybe you've done enough watching. Maybe you deserve to take part in that happiness yourself now."

"That's your sweetened way of telling me I should hurry up and move on. What about you, Nuriko? Do you have any regrets keeping you here?"

He had a smile full of peace and radiance. "You're my last regret, Your Highness."