Disclaimer: I do not own Sunrise or any of its creations.

Three Wishes Or You

Chapter 5

Nimara

I woke up well into the next day expecting to have a massive headache, aching joints, and sweaty palms but instead of having these ailments, I burst into a fit of giggling. For no rhyme or reason it escalated into full-on laughter. As excitement passed through my body, I could not help but be contagious to my own laughter. My laughter was hard, not the type one would use in polite society. It was unrestrained and brash. At first it hardly sounded like laughter at all which was part of the reason I continued. I suppose my laughing skills had gotten rusty over the months. I don't know how long I was there with my hands wiping the tears from my eyes as I rolled around in my bed laughing. I think it was the need to breathe that eventually forced me to settle down. Usually I would lay in bed for half an hour before getting up to do anything but I felt no compulsion to do so that morning. Then again, usually I don't wake up laughing like a madman. I kicked off the sheets and went to open the single window in my room.

The hinge had begun to rust from the months of disuse and it took considerable effort for me to heave it up. Once I managed to open it, my room was filled with light and the fresh scent of the outdoors. It almost felt as if the room breathed and sighed in relief with me as the stale air left it. I went around the house opening the rest of the windows. I was never quite aware of how many windows I had until then. As the house began to fill with warm summer air, I felt my mind slip into thinking of what had happened. I slowly diffused the events that had occurred and when I thought of Yukino, my heart was still heavy. I knew, though, that this heaviness was different. I knew I would be okay. I told myself that time was all that I needed at that point. Smiling, I went to the kitchen to open the remaining windows and I passed Natsuki's teapot.

Unable to keep myself, I spoke her name in the emptiness around me. As I opened the last window I called her name again but did not get any response. I put a new kettle of tea on the stove, somewhat downed that I could not share these amazing feelings gathering inside me with Natsuki. I knew the most plausible answer to my Genie's disappearance had to be because she over exerted herself. I would have to wait for her to recover.

I leaned on the counter next to her teapot, nursing a cup of tea. I looked outside at my garden and glared at a patch of purple azaleas near the old wisteria tree. I always disliked those flowers. There was just something about the flowering shrub that did not rub me the right way. The thought of going outside and removing them crossed my mind. I really had no idea how to garden and most of my scenic backyard was comprised of shrubs and floral that could flourish without my care.

But...I liked...Chinese roses. Yes, Chinese roses would be beautiful. How hard could it be to plant flowers? A shovel, some dirt, and some water! Rose would look nice in my garden in place of the azaleas I was going to rip out. I could add some near the pond as well.

I laughed and looked down at the teapot next to me. "If you don't come back soon, I'm going to do something crazy like tend the garden."

-

I was a crazy person. Not only that, I was a messy crazy person. With a tiny little spade I found abandoned in the garden, I went at the azaleas at full force. It had taken a long time to break the root free from the soil and without gloves my hands became red from the pulling. It was much more difficult to do that I had expected. The floral bush put up a good fight but in the end I had won the battle. I stood and looked at the garden that was cleared of that ugly flower. To be quite honest there was dirt and debris...everywhere. On the pavement, on other flowers, and on myself. Besides dirt, roots and flower petals were strewn everywhere. I'm glad I searched for the oldest pair of pants and shirt I could find because I highly doubted that I could get the dirt stains completely out. With the edge of my shoe, I pushed the discarded azaleas into a pile. I placed my hand on my hips and adjusted the visor on my forehead.

Now what was I going to do? It's not like I had those exotic roses on hand. I didn't even have an outdoor broom to sweep the dirt off the pavement. I wiped my forehead with the back of my arm and sighed amusedly. The temperature had begun to drop as the sun prepared its descent beyond the horizon. The summer days had begun to grow cooler as well; otherwise it would not have been possible for me to work out in the garden so late in the day. For now I would abandon my garden adventure for the comfort of my home. I picked up the dull red spade from the ground and with great flourish, pointed it at the pile of dying azaleas.

"You and your kind are to be banished forever! Never shall you step foot upon my domain and bring your disgusting kin with you to wreck havoc upon my land!"

I cracked a smile as I congratulated myself from remembering an old script line from the height of my career. My smile quickly disappeared when I heard loud laughter come from the porch behind me. Trying to suppress the rising blush to my cheeks, I turned and brandished my spade at my visitor.

"Hold your tongue or thou shall meet the same fate as these lowly ones!"

The laughter stopped as she covered her mouth but her emerald eyes still twinkled with amusement.

-

"How're you feeling?"

Her voice was sober with a hint of hesitation. It was an interesting question. I had gone through the day without much thought on what I was feeling. Emotions ranging from happiness to grief poured over me like water as the day went by but none of them stood with me for very long. I did not settle on one feeling or another. I leaned back on my palms resting on the warm wood porch. Together we watched the sun set and the colors in the sky give way to the night and stars. I tilted my head over in her direction but did not look at her yet.

"How would you feel?"

My eyes watched as the edges of her mouth curled upwards and her head lifted to the sky. A whisper of a sigh passed her lips.

"Good point. A little overwhelming, isn't it?"

"A little." I watched her soft smile deepen and her eyes scan the streaked sky. It was hard to believe that someone like her could be more beautiful but seeing her bathed in the sunset's orange rays was breath taking.

"You're feeling...okay though, right?"

She must not have noticed I was looking at her because when she turned her head to look at me she jumped. I nodded with a smile. Everything was still quite unbelievable but I guess what mattered most was that I was doing well. More than just well. This was akin to receiving a second chance at life. I looked at her and she looked back at me with her lively emerald eyes. They were so deep and filled with emotion. I thought back to the first time we met. Her eyes back then had been dull and painful looking. What I would give for her to never have those eyes again. She was too great of a person to have the eyes of the living dead.

Just looking at her evoked a tidal wave of raw emotion in me. My usual calmness was replaced with anxiety as questions filled my head. It hit me that I knew very little about this person who had changed my life in such a short time. A tinge of shame pricked my heart. I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know what made her eyes look so desolate before. Why was she a genie? Why was she so patient with me? Why did she ki-...

The question broke me out of my reverie. My head whirled at the thought of what had taken place, something I had not remembered until then. My gaze had dropped down to her light pink lips. I had to fight the reflex of bringing my hand to my own lips in remembrance. The kiss was unmistakable. I had engaged in many kisses in my life so far, on and off the stage. I would know what a kiss felt like even in such a disorientated state.

Her lips parted slightly and my eyes darted back to meet hers. Her face had exploded with color. By the feel of the heat racing up my neck, my face was going to match hers soon.

"Thank you," I quickly breathed out, making sure to keep my eyes appropriately on hers. Hoping for a smooth save I continued, "Really, what you did last night was amazing."

Her blush receded slowly but she fidgeted like she usually did when she was nervous.

"It is my duty. It wouldn't have worked if you hadn't trusted me." Her eye contact broke.

"I trust Natsuki with my heart."

I leaned forward and looked out at my messy garden in the little bit of sun light left. Trusting her with my heart was exactly what I had done. What she did back there was beyond the call of duty and we both knew it. There was a passing silence that I took as a sign that she was no longer going to continue on that particular topic. The silence fortunately was neither awkward nor tense. It was peaceful and accepting.

I watched as two swallows swooped down onto the cobblestone path in front of me and began to hop around the pile of debris that I had collected. They had caught Natsuki's attention as well. It did not take very long for the two to pick out small branches from the aftermath of my garden raid. From there they took off to a nearby tree. They returned surprisingly fast back to the mess I had created and picked up more small pieces. There was something soothing about watching the two birds fly back and forth.

They seemed to be working hard in whatever sunlight was left to gather as many pieces as they could.

"They are building a home," Natsuki said quietly almost as if she had never meant to say it at all.

"It's an odd time for them to be building a nest. Isn't it usually a spring season behavior?"

Natsuki shrugged, becoming a little more animated. "Typically. Yesterday I saw them fighting with a crow. It probably destroyed their nest."

"That's really unfortunate. It probably takes a lot of time and effort to build another nest."

Natsuki stretched out her legs. "It's something they must do. Their lives are too short for them to contemplate giving up."

She looked over at me for a short second, probably not even on purpose, but at that moment I felt as if I had been chastised.

Softly I spoke letting her know that I got her point, "Our lives are short as well." I chuckled and smiled into the garden that had now become dark. "I guess there is a lesson to be learned right here in my backyard."

She snorted, "My life has been far from short."

I winced at my careless thinking. "I'm sorry, Natsuki. I didn't mean to…"

"Don't worry about it," she barked lightly but then softened. "If I trusted my genie more back when I was a human, I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble."

I swallowed, my fingers playing nervously at the hole that had begun to form in the knee of my pants. Carefully I asked, "Nastuki, why are you a genie?"

There was a long pause and I hoped I had not done some sort of irreparable damage to our friendship. It was obviously a sensitive topic to bring up to her but I just had to know.

"I…"

My breath hitched as she began to speak but then stopped. I could just barely hear her mouth open and close trying to form words. Come on, Natsuki, open up to me. I knew better than to speak but I didn't want to lose this opportunity to know more about her.

"Natsuki…-"

"My mother died when I was a human," she breathed. "Her name was Saeko Kruger and she was a well known woman in southern Japan for being a wonderfully amazing wife."

I didn't often hear about someone being well known because they were a good wife but times had changed and such a position was looked upon more critically back then. The story, though, was about her mother and I could only guess what had happened between her and Natsuki.

"What happened to her?" I asked delicately.

"I did." There was an edge to her tone that I wasn't sure was agony or regret. Maybe it was a bit of both.

"Natsuki?" I gently pushed.

"I was at my new husband's house," she replied with a soft tone that didn't seem to fit her. The word husband jarred me for a moment. She looked no older than me and may have been even a couple years younger. But again, things had been different back then. She said she had been a genie for over four-hundred years right? Marrying young must have been the norm.

"I was very unruly at the time and unaccustomed to married life. Actually, unaccustomed wouldn't be the right word." I saw the corners of her mouth turn up ever so slightly. "I was totally against being married at the time. I drove my new husband crazy to the point he had to write to my family. My mother was so distressed because her pride and honor as a Japanese woman was on the line."

The small smirk she bore sunk away. "How could she have raised me to be such a troublesome girl? The other Lords and their wives would have surely frowned down on her if they heard. Any day, I was about to do something so brash that word of it couldn't be confined to the walls of my husband's home. My mother came with urgency hoping to save my name and hers. A three day ride…"

She trailed off, put her hands together, and sighed. My own heart ached for her and my hand went up to touch her back but then stilled. I couldn't touch her. There was very little I could do to comfort her besides listen carefully. Still I wanted to know, I wanted her to tell me. She spoke before I could urge her forward.

"Bandits. They were an increasing problem at the time since civil war raged across Japan. Two footmen were not enough to fight off a band of blood thirsty scoundrels whose ears had heard a Lord's wife would be travelling. My mother never made it to my husband's house to reprimand me. I was constantly reminded by that fact by those around me."

I felt sick hearing about her loss. It was not that her mother had died. There was a deeper emotion than just loss and despair for Natsuki. It was guilt. The same guilt that consumed me and made me rot. I almost felt disgusted to be so intrigued and curious about her predicament. I didn't want to trap her like this. I did not want to bring up anything she was not ready to handle.

"We can stop, Natsuki," I whispered and began to stand.

"Wait…" she rasped and I felt a cold shudder run down my back. Quietly I did as I was told and sat back down next to her. I could not even look at her, afraid to see what type of pain-ridden face she wore.

"My first wish was on impulse," she said with a steadier voice that calmed me. "My husband, despite hating me for not being the wife he wanted, still protected me. He was the only person that stood between me and the rest of society that deemed me an unfit woman and a hellish wife. Even my own father chose not to speak to me after my mother's death. They would do anything to see me dragged through the mud.

"Shou, my husband, even attempted to compromise with me. He would allow me to ride horses and practice katas at my leisure if I just did simple things like cook, clean, and attend parties in a docile fashion. I was much too angry and resentful, though, to see his attempts to put together our broken marriage. After my mother died, it didn't matter. The guilt had run deep and I did exactly what everyone expected of me. Things happened though and I fell upon the genie's talisman. My first wish...was to save Shou.

"Wounded after a hunting trip, no one was sure if Shou would make it. Back then, it was difficult to tell if the wound was fatal or not sometimes. At his bedside, I realized he was a better man than I had let myself believe. He was a better person than I was. I also knew that I would not last a minute in society if he died."

When silence grasped us, I could hear my heart beat rapidly. My mouth had gone dry and I carefully processed everything.

"He lived?" I asked.

"He lived. He would forever have a mild pain in his gut when he ate but he lived for a very long time."

"Your second and third wish?" Oh, I knew what she had wished for but I wanted to hear it.

"I didn't have a third wish. After saving Shou I began to wonder the limits of the magic. I wanted to see if it could bring my mother back."

Subconsciously I held out my hand in front of the both of us. "Did it?"

Her hand settled on top of my open palm and for a second it looked as if our fingers were perfectly laced. I closed my eyes and waited.

There was a flutter of warm wind and then she spoke, "Yes. Yes, it did and I died in her place."

-

A/N:

Hi there! It's been a while I know. I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks to my BETA who did this chapter for me despite being a busy. She's wonnnderful. We still have some wishes coming up (OR DO WE?!) so get ready for those! Natsuki's story will continue onto the next chapter. Oh yes, I know you guys will complain about the lack of ShizNat ness but good things will come to those who wait.

As for my other ongoing stories and their chapters: Our Lady of Angels is about 80% done. The Greatest Gift though is only around 25% completed (I know shoot me).

As always, I'm especially grateful to all my readers and reviewers. You guys sometimes are the backbone of my determination and resolve to get the chapters put out. A lot of times I just have a chapter sitting in my computer for weeks on end without releasing it. Hehe.

Thank you for your support! Please review and let me know how you guys have been.

Nimara