Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ A Story Retold ❯ Chapter 6

[ 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 thus far: Upon arriving in the "Universe of the Four Gods,"
for the second time, Yui and Miaka are 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... by the
same man who raped her. Like before, Yui blames her suffering on Miaka
and resolves to again become the priestess of Seiryu. Now Miaka must
try and find a way to gather her celestial warriors and summon Suzaku.
Could there be something back in her old world that could help?

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A Story Retold: Chapter 6
By Katrina Kadabra

"How did it go, no da?" Chichiri asked Miaka when she arrived back at
the palace.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Miaka mumbled sadly as she walked past
him. She then went into her room, shutting the door behind her. Nuriko
watched her go with a sigh.

"That doesn't sound good," he noted. "I guess things didn't go over
well with that friend of hers."

"We should be trying to search for the other warriors, no da,"
Chichiri pointed out. "We have no idea when Kutou may try and attack."

Unbeknownst to Chichiri and Nuriko, Miaka was still listening in on
the conversation from inside her room. "Of course!" she said to
herself when she heard Chichiri's comment. Why didn't it occur to her
earlier? When she had come to this world before, Taiitsukun had given
her a hand mirror that displayed the symbol of a Suzaku warrior
whenever he or she came close. Like Nakago's earring, it had strangely
not vanished when The Universe of the Four Gods was closed. And now
that mirror was...

"Whaaah! I left it sitting on my dresser! How could I leave something
like that behind?!" Miaka cried out. Suddenly, she heard a pounding on
her door. Miaka gasped; someone was trying to break in! The pounding
continued until the latch finally gave way, and Hotohori and Tamahome
stumbled into the room.

"Miaka!" Hotohori cried. "We heard you calling out! Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Miaka answered, breathing a sigh of relief. "I just
thought of something." Tamahome fell chibi-style down on the ground.

"Did you have to think so loud? You scared his highness and I half to
death! We thought you were being attacked or something!" Miaka
blushed.

"I'm sorry Tamahome," she said, touching her pointer fingers together
sheepishly and looking down at the floor. "But I remembered something
I left in my world that could help us find the last two warriors!"

"Your world?" Hotohori questioned. Miaka nodded.

"But I don't know how to find a way back there now..." Hotohori stood
in thoughtful silence.

"Perhaps," he mused. "It's possible..." Miaka looked up excitedly.

"Really? How?"

"Well, we have six of our eight warriors. Together we may be able to
channel our energy to send you back." Miaka looked over to Tamahome.

"What do you think?" Tamahome shrugged. "I suppose it's worth a try.
But don't you need to connect with something in your world first?"
Something in her world. Miaka had forgotten about that part. It needed
to be something that existed in both places. That was identical. But
what fit that description? What was identical in both this world and
her own?

"Of course!" she suddenly gasped. "That's it!"

"Huh?" Tamahome gave Miaka a look that said she was crazy. "What's
it?" But Miaka knew exactly what she was doing. She walked over and
placed her hands on Tamahome's shoulders.

"Don't think I'm totally nuts here, Tamahome," she said. "But you're
going to be the link between our two worlds. Get the other warriors
together as soon as you can."

Within a few moments, the six celestial warriors were gathered in the
room.

"Whad'ya call us here fer?" Tasuki wanted to know.

"I need leave you for a short time and go back to my world to get
something," Miaka explained. "Well, actually, it might be a little bit
of a long time, because time passes much quicker here than there."

"Yer confusin' me."

"Sorry."

"How will you get back?" Mitsukake wanted to know. "And what are you
going to get?" Miaka paused. She wanted to be careful how she worded
things.

"There is someone," she said. "There is someone back in my world who
can help transport me back. Once I'm there, I'll obtain a hand mirror
that we can use to find the other warriors. But I need your help."

"Of course, we'd be happy to help you," said Hotohori. "But who is
this person you're talking about?"

"I..." Miaka hesitated. "I can't really tell you that now. But I
promise they can do it."

"Very well," said Hotohori. "Then let's all gather in a circle. We
will concentrate our power better that way." The celestial warriors
nodded and began to form a circle around Miaka. Nuriko sat on one side
of her, and Hotohori on the other. Miaka sheepishly cleared her
throat.

"Oh, I have to be sitting next to Tamahome," she said. Hotohori looked
like someone just stabbed him in the heart, so Nuriko quickly stood
up.

"It's okay, your highness. I'll move. Come on, Tamahome, she wants you
next to her for some reason." Tamahome was a little red. He didn't
like being such an important part of this and yet so completely
clueless as to what was going on. Still, Tamahome nodded and stepped
in between Miaka and Nuriko. Everyone closed their eyes and the room
became silent. Miaka could feel them sending her life energy to her,
the force to send her back, if she could only make the connection.

"Please," Miaka silently begged. "Please hear me."

Meanwhile, in the real world, someone had very much noticed Miaka's
absence: Taka, the boy who looked remarkably like Tamahome of the
fictitious world and who had quickly become the love of Miaka's life.
He had had dreams since his childhood of the world of the Universe of
the Four Gods and the priestess of Suzaku. He believed that it was
destiny that he find and protect this girl with all his heart, which
Miaka had not taken as coincidence. Tamahome had traveled into her
world. He had taken on another self and crossed even the boundaries of
a real and fictitious place to be with her, and she loved Taka with
all the passion of his fictitious counterpart.

But now, he and Miaka had been separated once again. Taka wasn't
terrible worried at first. Originally, they were planning to meet
after school at the ice cream shop, but Miaka had never showed.
Unusual of her to miss a date, especially one that involved sweets,
Taka had thought. But then, she might have just had a lot of homework
to do and had gone straight home.

But now it had been more than a day since Miaka was anywhere to be
seen, and Taka was growing increasingly worried. He decided to stop by
the Yuuki's house, but no one answered the doorbell. Because a truly
devoted boyfriend is never unprepared,
Taka reached into his pocket and pulled out the spare key that Miaka
had given him. He slipped it into the hole, turned the knob, and let
himself in.

The first place Taka looked was Miaka's room. He tapped lightly on the
door. No answer. He then slowly opened the door. Please don't let her
be lying in bed and smack me in the face again, he thought. Taka
looked around the room. It was empty. As he looked closer, he saw a
copy of The Universe of the Four Gods sitting on Miaka's shelf.
"What's she doing with this?" he thought. Suddenly, an incredible pain
grabbed Taka's body, sending a fierce throbbing wave to his head. Taka
screamed and grasped his hands over his brow.

"What is this!?" he yelled. "It feels like my head is being torn in
two!"

"Taka!" A voice called faintly to him, but Taka recognized it
anywhere. "Taka!" it called again.

"Miaka!" he cried back. "Miaka, where are you?"

"I'm here," came Miaka's voice more clearly. At last, the aching in
Taka's head began to cease. "I'm inside The Universe of the Four
Gods."

"You... went back?" Taka asked. He only had faint memories of this
place, most of them from his dreams and the stories Miaka had told
him. He never guessed that this world of fantasy would ever make
itself physically known to him.

"You went back into that world? Why?"

"Taka, I'm sorry," said Miaka. "But I had to come back. I should have
told you. Please forgive me. But you see, Yui was starting to be
ravaged by Seiryu again, and... never mind. I'll explain it all when I
come back there. Right now I need your help."

"My help?" Taka questioned. What could he possibly do for her if she
was in another world?

"I'm going to come back to our reality," Miaka explained. "But I need
you to be the medium between these two worlds to do it. Just hold the
book and concentrate on my voice and thoughts of my returning home,
okay?"

"Okay," Tamahome answered. What else could he say? He carefully shut
the door in case Miaka's parents actually did come home so they
wouldn't take him for a complete imbecile, not to mention throw off
his concentration. Meanwhile, in the world of the book, the Suzaku
warriors continued to focus all their energy towards Miaka. Slowly the
characters of each constellation began to appear on their foreheads:
Chichiri, Mitsukake, Tasuki, Nuriko, Hotohori, and Tamahome.

"I can feel their life force flowing into my body," Miaka thought.
"It's strong... and warm." She lifted up her head to the sky, calling
out silently to the one she loved.

"Taka, bring me back. Please guide me safely back to our world." Even
as the thoughts crossed the lips of Miaka's mind, she could feel
herself being pulled away from her current reality and into another
one...

"Ow! Geez, Miaka! Cant' you find a better place to land?" Miaka opened
her eyes slowly and gazed about
her surroundings. She was in her room, in her old world again.
Everything was just as before, as if she had only momentarily stepped
out of the room. The bed, the dresser, the desk, and even her school
supplies lined up like she had left them. And Taka...

"Taka!" Miaka quickly stood up when she realized that the landing spot
she was sitting on was none other than Taka's face. "I'm so sorry!"
she cried, helping Taka up.

"I'll live through it," Taka assured her, rubbing his sore jaw. "But
tell me what happened to you." Miaka sighed. At least Taka deserved to
know the whole truth about what was going on.

Meanwhile, back in the Universe of the Four Gods, Tamahome sat
perplexed. His eyes were staring at the spot where Miaka had
vanished, but his mind was a million miles away from that place.
Something had struck him the moment the priestess had disappeared,
something so distant but so clearly familiar.

"What's the matter, Tamahome?" Chichiri asked. Tamahome shook his
head.

"I don't know exactly," he said. "Only for a brief moment, I had these
feelings. Like memories from a long time ago. That I knew the
priestess sometime before. In some other place and time..."


"So know you know everything," said Miaka, as she just finished
telling her story to Taka. Taka leaned
back on the wall and sighed. It was all a little much to take in.
Everything from his memories and dreams was clashing together at once.
While he stood and mused, Miaka began anxiously searching her room for
the item she had come to retrieve.

"What are you after anyway?" Taka asked. "You said it was something to
help you find the last warrior?"

"Yes. I'm looking for... ah! Here it is!" Miaka picked up the mirror.
Under the bed, slightly off to the right, just where she had left it.
And her mother told her she needed to get herself organized. Taka
looked at the small object in Miaka's hand.

"THAT'S what you had to cross dimensions to retrieve?" he asked. Miaka
pushed the mirror into Taka's face.

"I'll have you know that this little thing is going to find the other
warriors for us. But I need to get back right away. Where's the
boo...?" As Miaka was talking, she heard the front door open and
footsteps approaching her room. In moments, Miaka's mother walked in
the door, and Miaka quickly thrust the mirror into her pocket and
Tamahome slipped the book into his jacket. Miaka's mother looked at
her with a very perplexed expression.

"What are you still doing up, Miaka? It's almost midnight."

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Guess I got busy studying."

"Well, get to bed right now. You need your rest." She looked over at
Taka. "Oh hello, Taka. When did you get here?"

"Uh, just a little bit ago," he answered nervously.

"Well, you'd better get home. I know how much you care about Miaka,
but she needs her sleep."

"Uh, right, Ms. Yuuki. See you tomorrow, Miaka!"

As Taka walked down the stairs, he reached inside his coat and felt
something like a book. Oh no, he thought. I forgot that I've still got
The Universe of the Four Gods with me. Miaka's mother noticed Taka
holding something under his jacket and didn't hesitate to point it
out.

"What have you got there, Taka?"

"Uh, nothing, just a book of Miaka's." He brought it out a little to
show her the cover, but she still wasn't satisfied and promptly held
out her hand.

"Let me see it," she said. Taka decided not to argue and handed her
the book. Miaka's mother carefully looked it over.

"I don't remember her having this."

"Well, you see, she got it at the library for a school project."

"That so?" She opened up the front cover. A blue sticker caught her
eye with text that read, For Reference Only. Do Not Remove From
Library. A sweatdrop appeared on Taka's forehead. This situation was
getting harder and harder to explain, and he was running out of ideas.
"Seems to me she took it from the library."

"Oh that," said Taka. "I'm sure she didn't notice. You know how Miaka
can be." Ms. Yuuki nodded.

"True, but it seems she been particularly careless recently. I haven't
even seen her around that much." She closed the book but she did not
hand it back.

"I'll return this to the library on my way to work tomorrow," she
said. "You head home and no more late nights over here, understand?"
Taka started to protest, but soon decided it wasn't worth the effort.
Miaka wasn't going anywhere tonight anyway. He bade Ms. Yuuki good-bye
and headed out the door back to his own apartment.

Meanwhile, Miaka was tearing her room apart.

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is that book? I can't believe it's
not here! Where did it go?" Miaka was in a total panic. She had used
the book to come back, but now it was nowhere in sight. Where could it
have gone to? And what if she couldn't find it again? How would she
get back? And what would happen to all her friends. Miaka hit her
cheeks lightly to snap herself back to reality.

"Get a grip, Miaka," she said to herself. "It's got to be somewhere."
She thought for a moment. "I know! I'll call Taka! He was trying to
hide the book from my mom when she came in - maybe he took it with him
by mistake." She quickly grabbed the phone, unable to dial the numbers
fast enough for her nervous hands.

Taka was surprised when he arrived home to hear his phone ringing. At
first he wasn't going to answer
it, thinking it was either some solicitor from a different time zone,
or some guy who'd had a little too much to drink and couldn't
correctly dial his phone number. Still Taka picked up the phone by the
third ring and brought the receiver up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Taka, is that you?"

"I'm the only one who lives here. Miaka?"

"Yes, it's me. Listen, I've been looking everywhere for the Universe
of the Four Gods book, but I can't find it. Do you know where it could
be?"

"Um, yeah, about that..." Taka nervously cleared his throat as he
prepared to tell Miaka what had happened.

"You did WHAT?!" she exclaimed. "You gave the book to my mom?! Taka,
how could you? What were you thinking?!"

"Calm down. I really couldn't say no, she had me cornered," Taka
explained. "Besides, I think you should take the time to relax and
gather your thoughts. You can't go anywhere now anyway, your mom would
notice right away that you were gone." Miaka sighed. What Taka was
saying made sense, but that still didn't change the fact that she was
leaving her friends behind. She wanted to return back to that world as
soon as possible so she could help them and restore peace in their
land.

"Okay," she said into the phone. "First thing tomorrow. I'll get the
book back and return to that world."

"Just take it easy," advised Taka. "Get some rest for now and we'll
talk about it the morning."

"Right. In the morning." There was a slight pause. "Taka?"

"Yes?"

"I... I love you."

"I love you too Miaka. Good night."

"Good night."
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