Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Firebird ❯ A Connection Discovered ( Chapter 5 )

"Firebird"

Ch. 5 "A Connection Discovered."

Hotori smiled as she and Hotohori started back inside just before dark. She couldn't help but smile because now life was perfect.

"Hotori!" A familiar voice called. "Hotori!"

She turned and saw Mire and her brother Aoi running towards them with two grownups, but she couldn't tell much about them. She waved and the little girl ran faster.

"I found my daddy." She said, stooping just in front of Hotori. "He and Mommy wanted to meet you"

The grownups caught up with Mire, and smiled at their daughter's new friend.

"Why don't we go into the throne room?" Hotohori suggested. "You three can become better acquainted in there."

"Wonderful idea!" The woman said, and the small group headed to the throne room. Nuriko and Chichiri noticed the small precession, and decided to follow.

"Tamahome, Miaka, I'd like you to meet the new Suzaku no Miko." Hotohori said after they got there. "This is Hotori."

"Nice to meet you." Hotori smiled, shaking Tamahome's hand.

"Wait just a minute!" Nuriko said, startling everyone.

"What's wrong, Nuku-chan?" Hotori asked, looking at her friend oddly.

"You two look like each other!" She replied. "I should've figured it out sooner, Nee-chan, but there's something else there too………"

"Miaka's eyes, no da." Chichiri stated, and everyone looked at him. "Isn't it obvious, no da?"

"Are you from………modern Japan?" Hotori asked, daring to hope Chichiri and Nuriko might be on to something. They both nodded. "Me too."

"How old are you?" Miaka asked, obviously on the same train of thought.

"I'll be 17 next May." She said. "May 15."

Miaka and Tamahome looked at each other, then at her.

Same name, same time, same age, and she looked like them. It had to be their daughter.

* * * * *

Hotori sat in her room with Miaka and Tamahome. She wasn't sure what to do or say. There they were; her parents. After 16 years she'd found them, and could finally find out why she'd been given up.

"Why?" She asked softly after a few moments of awkward silence.

"We were young." Miaka said just as soft. "We'd just gotten back from this world, and we were in too much of a rush."

"It was a hard decision to make." Tamahome added. "But we weren't ready to be parents. It was the best thing we could do for you."

"Oh, dear, please don't be upset with us." Miaka's eyes were pleading.

"I'm not." Hotori smiled. "I understand. I'm just glad you're here now."

They both smiled and hugged her.

* * * * *

Hotori decided to spend the morning with her little brother and sister. Surprisingly, they weren't very confused that they suddenly had an older sister. She smiled as she looked down at them.

`They both look more like Mom.' She thought to herself. `But I look more like Dad.'

It felt wonderful to have someone to call `Mom and Dad', to finally know them.

"Hotori?" Aoi asked suddenly. "Are you coming back home with us when it's time to leave?"

"I really want you to." Mire added, beaming up at her.

"I don't know yet." Hotori smiled back. "We'll have to wait and see."

"Hey, look! Over there! Yo, old buddy, who are the kids?" asked a tall, red-haired man in an Osaka-Ben.

Hotori gave the stranger a confused look. "My little brother and sister…………"

"Really?" the newcomer asked as two others, a boy about her age, and an even taller man with a small cat on his shoulder, walked up and stood next to him. "I thought they were killed."

"Tasuki, uh………" the boy said with a strange look to his companion.

"Not now, Chiriko, I'm talking. So, what have you been up to in the modern world?"

"I was born there………" Hotori answered, even more confused than she was a few seconds ago.

The taller man was trying hard not to laugh.

"Tasuki, I don't think that's Tamahome," the boy, Chiriko, finally got out.

"Nah, it's got to Tamahome, he's got the-"

"Tasuki, SHE is not Tamahome!"

"Sorry," the taller man apologized, extending a hand, which she accepted. "He's had too much sake today. I'm Mitsukake. And by the way, you look very much like your father. And your mother's eyes, might I add."

"If you haven't noticed by the baka's babbling, I'm Chiriko."

"You should already know Tasuki," Mitsukake said with a smile.

Tasuki had a very shocked look on his face.

"If you'd like to meet my father, I could show you to the REAL Tamahome. By the way, I'm Hotori."

"I'm Mire!" her little sister cheerfully explained.

"I'm Aoi!" her other sibling clarified.

"Now, they look like Miaka!" Chiriko said with a grin as they went into the palace, Tasuki still with a rather shocked look on his face.