Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Fushigi Yuugi: Daydream's Embrace ❯ Episode 4: Conflicting Emotions ( Chapter 4 )

Episode 4

Conflicting Emotions
By: Mrs. Tasuki and Nyan Nyan

Christina walked out of her room in the basement and put her new CD into the boom box. She pulled the cover back off of her pool and dove into the warm water. As she surfaced she looked through the skylights to see rolling gray clouds blocking out the sun. She glanced out the glass doors that surrounded the pool and saw raindrops falling gently. It was nice to be alone, away from her family for once.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot up her right leg. She slowly swam to the side of the pool, thinking it was a cramp. Christina lifted herself out of the blue pool water and walked into the Jacuzzi, hoping her leg would feel better. She leaned into the side of the hot tub and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she slowly opened her eyes and looked into the clear water. It was tainted red. She quickly stepped out of the Jacuzzi and dried off. Her leg was bleeding.

"How did that happen?" she asked herself as she hobbled into her bathroom. The blood started dripping down her leg onto the tile around her pool and into the next room. She grabbed some toilet paper to mop up the blood running down her leg. She rummaged through her cabinet until she found a large gauze bandage. She put it on her leg and secured it with medical tape. She put on a pair of jeans and a black tank top as she tossed her white swimsuit into the washer, hoping it wouldn't be tainted pink forever. Then she went back into her small bathroom with an old rag to clean up the mess she made.

"Christina!" An angry voice yelled. She quickly got up off of her knees and went to the bottom of the stairs to answer her father.

"Yes?" she asked timidly. Her father looked angry.

"You left the pool cover off again!" he yelled.

"I was going to put it back on but I was bleeding and-" she stammered.

"And speaking of blood." he yelled, "What the hell did you do!?!? There's blood all over my floor! AND you left the Jacuzzi on! Now go! And turn off your music! It's too loud!"

She scrambled to clean all of the blood off of the tile. Then she covered the pool and turned off the Jacuzzi. She put her CD back in its case and went back into the bathroom to finish the rest of the cleaning. Once she was done she walked back into the main part of the basement and found a pile of dirty dishes on the table. Her little brother and sister must have been eating downstairs again.

"Jordan! Ashley!" she yelled up the stairs. "Get your dishes out of the basement!" Her mother's head appeared in the doorway.

"Why don't you bring them up!" she accused. "It's your basement!"

"But it's their dishes!" Christina argued.

"Do you want to move back upstairs?" her mother threatened. "When you moved downstairs, it became your responsibility!"

Christina sighed as she loaded her arms with dishes. She balanced them carefully as she walked up the stairs. When she got to the kitchen she rinsed them out and stuffed them into the dishwasher. Suddenly the phone rang and Christina hurriedly picked it up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey Christina!" Jenn, one of Katherine and Christina's friends said. "Do you wanna go see a movie? Collin said he could drive us!"

"I'll ask," Christina replied.

"Mom?" she inquired politely. "Can I go see a movie with Jenn? I have enough money and I have a ride, so you won't have to do a thing."

"No, you can't," her mom answered.

"Why not?" Christina sighed.

"Because I said so, so don't question me!" her mother yelled.

Christina hung up the phone after apologizing to her friend. The phone rang again. "Hello?" she said slightly annoyed, still agitated at her mom.

"Can I talk to Jordan?" A twelve-year old voice asked. Christina handed the phone to her little brother.

"Hey mom?" he asked, a couple minutes later. "Can I go over to Nathan's house? I need you to drop me off in ten minutes and I want to sleep over."

"What time should I pick you up in the morning?" their mother asked cheerfully.

"Around noon." he replied as Christina's jaw dropped.

"That's not fair!" she pointed out, "You said I couldn't go anywhere!", but her mother didn't reply. She stomped downstairs to her room and flopped onto her bed. "Life is so unfair." She said to herself. "I just want to get out of this house!"

*

"You're jealous of Nuriko and me... aren't you?" Tamahome asked with a smile that took up his whole face.

"OF COURSE NOT!" Katherine shouted appalled at the idea. She was so disgusted she almost fell off the wooden bench.

"I wouldn't blame you. After all I am kind, macho, and a beefcake of a martial artist," Tamahome continued as he stood up and flexed his muscles.

"Just trust me, I DON'T, as in do NOT, love you," Katherine said hoping that he would just drop the subject.

*

Katherine was walking down the palace hallway. It was becoming dark, but she was wide awake. She had always been a 'night person' ever since she was little. She saw Nuriko leaning on the railing looking sadly at the sky. She approached her cautiously, knowing that she and Nuriko were currently enemies. "Nuriko, what's wrong?" she asked once she became within hearing distance.

"Katherine!" Nuriko yelped, slightly startled. "Will you do me a favor?" she asked in a much more serious tone.

"Sure, what is it?" she replied, hoping that maybe Nuriko was starting to like her.

"I lost an earring that's very special to me. It looks just like this one," Nuriko started as she showed the priestess the light green earring in her hand. Katherine let out an agitated sigh; she knew what was coming next. "I believe I lost it somewhere by the pond. It's easier to find it at night, since it glows, but all of my servants are too scared to go. Can you please find it for me?" she innocently asked.

Katherine just stared at Nuriko for a second to see if the courtier actually expected her to believe that story. Right when she was about to scream at her for trying to trick her, she thought it would be better to just go along with it. This way Nuriko could be satisfied with herself for tricking the priestess and Katherine could have some time to herself. "Sure. I'll be back ASAP!" Katherine said as she turned around and ran down the hallway.

*

"What?" Hotohori asked to his two advisors. They were standing in a pagoda that rested on the calm pond.

"Well highness you're already eighteen. It's time that you considered choosing an empress," the first advisor started.

"Why else have we assembled the most beautiful women here to serve as your royal escorts? But yet you continue to ignore them," the second advisor added as they started to walk out of the pagoda.

"That's because I am far more beautiful than they are," he replied. Both of his advisors look at him strangely. "That was a joke."

"OF COURSE!! Hahahaha," his advisors said in unison as they laughed awkwardly.

"Right now my main concern is calming the people for a rumor is going around that we are going to war with Kutou. I just can't think about choosing an empress at a time like this," Hotohori continued.

"But highness, what about that girl... Nuriko isn't it?" the second advisor asked.

"She is one of the Suzaku Seven; she must be relieved of her duties as an escort. And besides, I have always had the ideal woman pictured in my mind, ever since I was a boy," the emperor replied, recalling his past.

"Your ideal woman?" the second advisor questioned.

Hotohori saw Katherine sitting in the soft grass looking up at the stars. "Advisors, you are dismissed," Hotohori said without moving his eyes off of her.

"But Highness!" Hotohori turned around and looked at them so seriously that they could tell that there was no way of changing his mind, even for safety reasons.

"What are you doing here Katherine?" Hotohori asked as he walked in the wet grass since it was already forming dew for the next morning.

Katherine turned around in shock, since she thought she was alone. "Oh! Hi Hotohori!" she said cheerfully. "Nuriko tried to trick me into finding a nonexistent earring all night long, but I knew she was lying. I told her I would look for it since I thought it would be a great way to get some me- time," she continued happily, not letting Nuriko annoy her too much.

"Oh I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone then," he replied as he started to turn back around.

"No wait! I want you to stay," she shouted after him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, still unsure whether or not she truly wanted him there. Katherine smiled and just nodded.

"Okay," Hotohori said uneasily while sitting down beside her. "I'll have to talk to Nuriko about tricking you like that."

"Oh no. Please don't," she rebutted.

"Why not?" he asked curiously.

"Well h-she doesn't like me, but I can accept that, I just hope someday she won't find me all that bad," Katherine started as she fiddled around with the grass.

"I'm sure she'll come to her senses," Hotohori said as he put her arm around her shoulder.

"And besides," Katherine continued trying to stay serious, even though inside she was smile large and wide, "you can't force someone to feel something they don't." Hotohori sat in silence, contemplating on that statement as Katherine continued to look at the stars.

*

"That girl is such a fool! Going out to a dark pond to search for an earring that doesn't even exist! I never set one foot outside the palace. To think I'd ever go there!" Nuriko said boastfully as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Indeed, I wonder if she's gotten soaked in the pond yet. That may be fitting for a girl from another world who doesn't know anything about court etiquette," her servant behind her agreed.

Nuriko heard a noise behind her and turned around to find Tamahome standing at the door frame with a shocked look on his face. "Tamahome." Nuriko whispered under her breath.

"Is what you said true?" Tamahome asked in disbelief, but when he looked into her eyes he knew that it was. He started to run off to the pond, but it was in vain. "Let go of me you muscle-bound.!" he screamed at the Nuriko, who had grabbed his arm.

"I won't let you go, not to her!" Nuriko said raging with anger.

Just then Katherine walked by arm-in-arm with Hotohori. As she passed the doorframe to Nuriko's room she gave the courtier a victory sign without Hotohori noticing; Nuriko turned as red as hell. "OH THAT GIRL!!!" she screamed in a threatening manner.

*

"Well, here's your room," Hotohori said while they stood in front of Katherine's door. "I feel as though I should say something else... but I just don't know what..." he thought as he looked down into her eyes.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow.." Katherine said awkwardly as went into her room. She wanted to say more, but the correct words just were not to be found.

"Sweet dreams," he said with a slight smile.

"Thanks. You too," Katherine replied while blushing as she closed her door.

*

Hotohori sat on his bed, saying a quick prayer to Suzaku before he fell asleep when a heard a soft knock at the door. "Who is it?" he asked wondering who it might be, for his servants rarely entered his chambers. He reached his hand out touching his sword, just in case.

"It's me," Katherine said as she opened the door slightly.

"Oh. Come in," Hotohori said more relaxed as he moved his hand away from his sword.

"I know this could have waited till morning, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep well unless if I told you know." Katherine started. She stopped for a moment or two, not sure how to phrase what she was about to say next. Hotohori looked at her patiently as she searched through her mind for the right words. "I feel bad for Nuriko, and I'm afraid I'm not helping," she continued while staring at the floor.

"How?" he inquisitively asked as he tried to understand what the priestess was telling him.

"Well, she loves you... and her seeing me monopolize your time is making her even more angry and depressed," she stated without moving her gaze from the white flooring.

"I see..." Hotohori said as he turned his head away from her and blushed slightly.

"I'm just asking if you could pay just a tad more attention to her," she said as she finally looked up.

"I'll see what I can do..." he replied reassuringly.

"Thanks. And goodnight... again," Katherine said as she moved towards the door.

"Katherine. Wait."

"Yes?" Katherine asked while turning around.

"Do you love someone?"

"Um. why- why do you want to know?" Katherine stammered nervously. She knew what was coming. She had been waiting for this moment ever since she got to Konan, but something just didn't seem right.

"For a long time I've loved someone... a girl I dreamed of," Hotohori started as he turned his head to the side and staring at his bedspread, almost ashamed of what he was about what he was about to say.

"When I was a child, and first heard the story of the Priestess of Suzaku, a girl who would appear from another world I always wondered what she would be like. Katherine, you are the girl I imagine... no wait, you are even better than the girl I imagined. No one else holds an interest for me. You are the only one I want to know about. everything I imagined and more is in you. Will you become my wife and empress once you have summoned Suzaku?"

"This just doesn't feel right..." Katherine kept on telling herself. A couple days ago she would have rushed in head first, knowing that sooner or later she would wake up in her bed and start another boring day, but now the thought that this was a dream was slowly disintegrating in her mind, then she remembered one of her favorite quotes Hotohori had once said. "The Priestess of Suzaku..." Katherine mumbled as she was backing up towards the door, "a girl who will appear from another world. Maybe she'll be able to save me from the loneliness I feel. Maybe she'll be able to love me as a person and not simply as the next emperor. Surely."

"What?" Hotohori asked, now becoming confused, since he made out some of the words.

"You have no idea how much I want to say 'Yes', but I can't. I need to make sure you love me as me and not as the Priestess of Suzaku," Katherine said as she became teary-eyed. "I should go..." she whispered as she ran out as fast as she could, and left Hotohori stranded.

*

Hotohori lay awake that night staring at the ceiling and contemplating over what Katherine had just said. "Could I have... do I? Do I treat her the same way I've been treated? Do I only look at her as the Priestess of Suzaku and not as Katherine? Have I been blinded by my dream?" he thought as he tried to drift to sleep. Hotohori decided that tomorrow he would apologize to her and ask for a fresh slate. Once that was decided he had another thing on his mind. "How could she have known?" he kept asking himself. He never told her about that night, he was sure of that, and he was the only one there when he said it. "It must have been my imagination... she must have been mumbling something different..." he kept telling himself until he fell asleep.

Hotohori was not the only one that lay awake that night; Katherine had problems of her own. "How could I just say it so coldly to him? What if he stops liking me period? What if he now thinks I don't like him?" Katherine thought as she buried her face into her pillow out of frustration and sadness. "Has he figured out that I know what's going to happen? Why did I say it out loud? It was almost as if my mind was talking not my mouth. and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Even if I was just mumbling it he must have picked up on a couple of words. Does he think I'm some sort of witch now?" she asked herself repeatedly, but she knew that obsessing of these questions wouldn't answer them. She would just have to wait what tomorrow would bring.

*

Katherine woke up fairly early in the morning considering that she didn't get much sleep the night before. She arose from her bed and saw that her clothes were now extremely worn out. "When I go back I'll have to remember to bring several changes of clothes," she thought to herself. She opened her closet and saw dozens of kimonos and dresses before her. "Wow! I wonder when they did this!" she exclaimed as she picked out a violet-red kimono and put it on. "Now I have to go find Hotohori," she thought as she walked out of her room. She started to aimlessly wander around the palace. She watched her feet hit the flooring repeatedly. She suddenly ran into something. "Oh no!!" she thought as she looked at Nuriko's furious face.

"HOW COULD YOU!!" Nuriko yelled at her, her face bright red with anger.

"How could I what?!" Katherine screamed back angrily. She wasn't in the mood to put up with Nuriko today, not with what happened the night before.

"TURN DOWN THE EMPEROR'S PROPOSAL!" Nuriko hollered, putting special emphasis on the word emperor.

"Oh... you heard?" she replied meekly.

"Gossip spreads fast, especially bad gossip. the whole palace knows!" Nuriko continued to yell for everyone to hear.

"Oh great." Katherine thought as she let out a long sigh.

"At least now I can comfort His Highness." Nuriko said, now in her own daydream.

Just then Tamahome walked by. "Hi," he said to Katherine as he nodded once and strolled on.

"Hey!" Katherine happily replied turning around to see that back of his head. Nuriko ran after him, forgetting about her daydream, and started fawning over him.

"Well they're off to the market place to sell my pepper spray... NOW FOCUS... go find Hotohori!" Katherine thought as she continued down the hallway.

*

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Tamahome hollered to the writhing crowd as he tried to get their attention. Half of the crowd turned their heads toward the young man standing on the top of a flight of stairs.

"Who's he? What's he selling? What's going on?" several peasants wondered.

"You've all heard of the Priestess of Suzaku right?" Tamahome asked them. Everyone else's' heads turned.

"The Priestess of Suzaku isn't from a neighboring country, or even a distant land! She's from a completely different world! Everything, her clothes, her possessions, are from this other world!" he continued. "I have a treat for you folks! With me I have one of the priestess's possessions!" he yelled as he held up the pepper spray.

"It has foreign writing on it," someone exclaimed.

"We'll start the bidding at one gold ryo!" Tamahome shouted.

"That's way too much!" someone replied.

"Not at all! There's only one of these in existence!" Tamahome explained as he pointed to the pepper spray.

"Wait a minute..." one of the people in the crowd questioned, "Why would you have anything to do with her eminence?" he cynically asked as he looked at Tamahome's commoner outfit.

"Yeah!" another person yelled. "I heard she was staying with the emperor!"

"You could have just scribbled writing on there to pass it off as the real thing!" a different person shouted. The smile on Tamahome's face disappeared.

"Are you saying that he's lying!?!" Nuriko yelled.

"Well we don't know if it's true!" someone answered back.

"The crowd began to press in closer and closer. "You're an imposter aren't you?" they questioned.

"Let's get him!" one person shouted as the mob obeyed. Tamahome and Nuriko looked around them and saw no escape. All they could see was a mob, hurling insults at them. Nuriko ducked down on her knees and shuffled out of the crowd. Tamahome followed close behind. They ran into an alley and leaned against a wall, trying to catch their breath.

"Sorry to interrupt this love scene, but we got business to discuss with you," the two sei heard someone say behind them. Nuriko and Tamahome turned around and saw a bunch of thugs.

"What business?" Tamahome questioned.

"You wanna work in this town, you gotta pay for it," one of the men explained.

Tamahome turned to Nuriko to see one of the thugs had his arm around her neck. "I wouldn't be doing that if I were you..."Tamahome warned as he searched his pockets for the pepper spray, thinking that this would be the perfect opportunity to use it, but it had disappeared.

"What are you gonna do about it?" the leader questioned.

"Me?" Tamahome asked. "You really shouldn't be worried about me," he continued with complete confidence. Suddenly they all heard a horrible scream of pain. They turned their heads to see Nuriko standing over the man who had his arm around her neck lying on the ground.

"Tell you what," the boss said. "I'll pay you thirty gold ryo for her."

"How dare you insult me?!" Tamahome started. "That's way too cheap!" Nuriko's jaw dropped and she punched Tamahome in the back of his head. He fell to the ground. The Nuriko proceeded in beating down the rest of the thugs while Tamahome tried to stand up.

"Let's get back to the palace before I have to hurt anyone else," Nuriko said as she dusted off her hands.

"I lost my stuff that Katherine gave me!" Tamahome complained as he frantically looked around for it.

"Who cares?" Nuriko asked sarcastically.

"I do!" Tamahome shouted back.

"SHUT UP!" Nuriko yelled while grabbing his collar causing him to loose his balance and fall to the ground. She started to pull the blue-haired sei back to the palace.

*

After a couple more minutes of searching Katherine saw the back of Hotohori's head walking slowly down the hallway.

"Hotohori... wait!" she said while running to catch up with him.

Hotohori turned around to see her coming and stopped. "I'm truly sorry, but I have a conference to go to."

"Well, this won't take long... I just wanted to ap-"

"Please... can't we talk later," Hotohori interrupted, for hearing her apologize would just make him feel guiltier. "I really have to go," he said as he turned around and started to walk to his conference.

"BUT WAIT!!!" Katherine shouted after him. All of the sudden she started to feel dizzy; all around her went black. "Katherine!!" was the last thing she heard before she collapsed on the floor.

To be continued...