Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ A Story Retold ❯ Chapter 5

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yugi. The original story and
characters belong to Yu Watase. Any characters that did not appear in
the original story are my own creation.

Warnings: The story picks up shortly after the last episode of the
series. If you haven't seen all of the series not only will the story
probably leave you confused, but it contains some major spoilers as
well. This story has nothing to do with the OVA.

Summary: Miaka and Yui discover that due to a change in the
constellations, the events of the Universe of the Four Gods have been
altered and now there are eight celestial warriors on each side! The
two girls must travel back into the book in order to replay the events
and prevent a disaster. But upon arriving in the "Universe of the Four
Gods," Yui and Miaka were again separated. Yui, staying at the Kutou
palace discovers that the changed events have affected her more than
she realized, and now she is expecting a child! In this chapter, Miaka
finally meets Yui again, but Yui doesn't seem to want to listen to
her. What's Miaka to do?

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A Story Retold: Chapter 5
By Katrina Kadabra

After Yui's decision, her emotional health seemed to improve at a
rapid speed. She spent most of her time outdoors, thinking it would be
good for the child. Three months after her arrival in The Universe of
the Four Gods, Yui's pregnancy was just starting to become evident.
She often found herself stroking where she thought the infant's head
would be and speaking softly to it, despite the many times she had
seen it done by expectant mothers back in her world and said it was
silly. She talked about the weather, how she was feeling, what Soi and
Nakago and the other celestial warriors were doing. But more than
anything else, she talked about Miaka.

Unbeknownst to Yui, she had never left Miaka's thoughts. Miaka wanted
to locate all the celestial warriors before searching for Yui; she
didn't know how much time she had before she needed to summon Suzaku,
and Miaka wanted to be prepared. But also on her heart was Tamahome.
They had finally found him in a town bordering the capital of Konan,
trying to make money as usual. He had accepted his duty as a celestial
warrior graciously; he figured any job in which the emperor was
involved could mean some serious payment in time. Miaka tried to keep
herself under control in his presence, but she found it nearly
impossible. He had been so passionately in love with her, now they
were just friends. Acquaintances. Two people that came together
because of a duty not a love. And as the weeks had passed, Miaka began
to give up hope that Tamahome would ever rekindle his love for her.

In either case, the search for Chiriko had still proved futile, and
Miaka felt that she should at least check on Yui to see how she as
doing. She hadn't heard a word from her since they arrived. Chichiri
said he could sense the life force of the priestess of Seiryu coming
from the Kutou palace, and from there Miaka assumed that Yui was
safely in Nakago's care. She would have to use what memory she had of
the palace to try and set up a meeting with her friend.

Yui sat on her bed reading quietly to herself. Suddenly, she heard
what sounded like someone calling out her name.

"Yui! Yui!"

"Who's there?" Yui asked fearfully. She looked, but there was no one
around.

"Don't be scared. Just listen. My name is Chichiri. I'm contacting you
using my life force from outside the Kutou palace. Your friend Miaka
is here and she wants to talk with you."

"Miaka?" Yui questioned. She had been thinking for a long time about
everything she would say to Miaka when she saw her again, but now that
the opportunity had finally been presented, she wasn't sure how to
react.

"Yes. She wants to meet with you. Can you leave the Kutou palace and
meet us in the gardens tomorrow at sunset?"

"I don't like going outside the palace at night without an escort,"
Yui said with a sharp edge to her voice. "Make it noon." There was a
momentary pause before Chichiri answered.

"Very well, noon it is," he said. Then he was gone.

"What did she say?" Miaka asked anxiously. She had been standing next
to Chichiri while he made the connection to Yui, but she had been
unable to hear the conversation.

"She wants to meet at noon instead," Chichiri answered. "It'll be
tricky. It's a lot harder to hide ourselves, but she seemed
insistent."

"And did she sound okay?" Miaka wanted to know.

"I suppose so. A bit angry, perhaps. Or maybe just sad." Miaka's face
fell. Her spirit was sinking, but she tried not to show it.

"I guess she just misses me," she said. "She'll be happy to see me
tomorrow." Miaka said these words with a smile on her face to phase
Chichiri, but in her heart she harbored a fear that this meeting would
only be the beginning of a much larger confrontation.

The following day brought clear skies Yui stood leaning against an oak
tree, wearing a light blue kimono. She had stopped fitting comfortably
into her school uniform about a week ago. The bark of the tree was a
bit rough and it pricked her in the back, but she didn't take much
notice. Yui already had in mind what she was going to say to Miaka. It
had been on her mind for three months, the same amount of time before
her reunion with Miaka the first time they went through the book. But
before she did anything, Yui decided to at least let Miaka have her
say, she was a bit curious what she had planned.

Presently, Miaka walked through the bushes. At the sight of Yui, she
wanted to throw her arms around her and tell her how much she had
missed her. That she had thought of her every day and how sorry she
was that it had taken so long to find her. But something stopped Miaka
from moving forward. She couldn't explain it, but she suddenly felt
nervous in Yui's presence. There was something about her; Yui seemed
distant and colder to her. She tried to overlook it.

"H-hello, Yui," she said nervously. Yui expression remained the same.

"Hello, Miaka," she answered simply. "Your friend Chichiri said you
had something to say to me."

"Yes," Miaka answered. She found herself pulling anxiously at her
fingers, twisting them around in her nervousness just to keep her
hands busy. "Yui, I came here to find you. We need to get you away
from Kutou as soon as possible." Yui looked into Miaka's eyes with
little compassion. She already knew what her reaction would be.
Miaka's pleas would not stray her from the path she had chosen. But
she allowed Miaka to continue her raving nonetheless.

"If you're in Nakago's hands," Miaka continued. "He'll try to
convince you to become the priestess of Seiryu again. And it's vital
that doesn't happen."

"Is it?" Yui asked. Miaka seemed very concerned, but she was less so.
"What if I decide I want to be the priestess after all?"

"Yui, you can't mean that!" Miaka exclaimed. "Not after everything
that happened..." Yui's temper quickly flared at her friend's words.

"Don't you dare lecture me, Miaka Yuuki!" she said. "You lied to me!"

"Yui," said Miaka, trying to calm her friend down. "When is it that I
lied to you?"

"Back in our world, you told me that everything would turn out the
same. You said Nakago would be there to save me..." Yui's words were
becoming distorted as she began choking on her own tears. Miaka was
terrified, not knowing how to respond.

"And didn't he?" she asked. With a swift fly of her hand, Yui answered
Miaka's question by slapping her sharply across the face.

"You're such an idiot, Miaka!" she yelled. "You can't even tell
anything, can you?" Miaka brought her hand to her cheek. It was tender;
she could feel there was a mark left there.

"I'm going to summon Seiryu," Yui announced. "I know what to do now so
that I'm not overcome by the beast god and so Nakago does not try to
use me for his own devices. But you are not going to be the heroine
Miaka. Not this time." With that, she turned and walked back through
the palace gates. As Miaka watched Yui leave, her heart began to sink
inside of her. She had tried so hard to avoid this fight, but it
seemed everything was falling into place all over again. Why? Would
the priestess of Seiryu always be such a tragic role? Even playing it
through a second time? Miaka didn't know how to help Yui, but she knew
one thing. She had to try and summon Suzaku as soon as possible.
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