Possession
By: Asurahime

"Never again will either of you cross between both worlds, but you may meet up with your seishi on your world."

Tasuki was at a loss for words. The bright crimson light of Suzaku, enveloping the only girl.... no, woman he has ever grown to love. Miaka's green eyes were alight with the joy of being with her loved one, but little does she know that every second that passes, she is slowly destroying one who has given up everything for her.

Miaka turned back one last time to look at her protectors. With a silent plea, she says her final words to her seishi. "Minna, thank you for everything.... Last time, I said 'goodbye'... but this time, I'll not say that. I'll just say 'until we meet again', for I am sure we will...."

Listen as the wind blows

from across the great divide,

voices trapped in yearning,

memories trapped in time....

A red-haired boy wandered up the slope of a rocky mountain, pale in grief and haggard in sleeplessness. The moon was the only light which illuminated his path, and the fickle wind was his only animate companion. The young man wanted nothing more, these ethereal and untouchable beings are the only attendants he wanted, the only ones who could understand his current situation. You could have figured out that something was not right with his life, but you would not know to what extent the grief which resides in his heart.

Tasuki....

A single word, spoken in the region between time and space had been his salvation. The one he protects was the one who protected him in the end.... His world has been turned upside down, all for the sake of a beautiful girl with long auburn hair and determined green eyes.

Miaka....

Falling to his knees beside a small stream, the seishi looked at the reflection of a man who has given up everything, all that mattered to him has disappeared along with the crimson light of the Phoenix of Love. Tasuki raised his eyes to his surroundings, but everything remained as it was-- dark, desolate, and forbidding.


The night is my companion

and solitude my guide,

Would I spend forever here

and not be satisfied....


Miaka looked up at Taka Sukunami, formerly known as Tamahome; her life, her love, her desire, her wish, and her everything rested on his happiness. She knew what he had been ready to sacrifice for her, but she could not help but erase from her mind the flame of desire and the ardent confession that one of her seishi admitted.

Her cheeks burned at the memory of it. The flames of passion, the burn of desire, the fire of love, were there... but it could not work out. She has never really known that Tasuki loved her, he didn't make too much of an announcement of it, but the intensity of his feelings scared her. Not even Tamahome had been so... so expressive in telling her how he felt...

"Miaka! Are you coming along?" Taka smiled at the girl as he held out his arm towards her, beckoning her to come to him. "Yui, Tetsuya, and Keisuke are waiting for us you know?"

"Taka.... do you miss the others?" Miaka walked up to him and wrapped both hands around his arm. "I long to be back with them inside the book..."

Brushing dark auburn strands away from his beloved's face, Taka kissed her forehead and led her on. "I also miss them, but Miaka... we have to live on, this is what they wanted us to do. They have sacrificed themselves for our happiness," He turned her to face him. "And I would give anything to make you happy... I will make you the happiest bride ever!!"

"Taka... Arigatoo...."

Taka tilted the girl's face up and kissed her alabaster cheeks. "Of course.... Miaka... daisuki...."


And I would be the one

to hold you down,

kiss you so hard....


Tasuki looked up at the ever-luminous moon and unsheathed his tessen. He could not live on like this, he could no longer bear to see people looking at him with sympathy and compassion. Their words and actions could not heal the deeply ingrained wounds of a truly broken heart. Should there be a miracle and he would make a recovery, the scars would still remain to remind him of the only cure to set him free.

"This is the only way... Everyone is dead... Nuriko, Hotohori-sama, Mitsukake, Chiriko... Chichiri would eternally be better off without me to worry about... and Miaka......" Tasuki lowered his face and a single drop of the most precious crystal dropped upon his hand to separate itself into a hundred shards of diamond. This was followed by another and another, until on the seishi's face flowed twin rivers of crystal. Lifting his weapon up above his head, Tasuki closed his eyes against the pain which inflicted his mind.


I'll take your breath away

and after I'd wipe away the tears,

just close your eyes dear....


"TASUKI!!!! DAME!!!" Miaka jerked up from her bed and fell hard on the floor. Wiping the cold sweat from her face, she tried to orient herself back to reality and out of the dream world. "That.... dream..."

Miaka vaguely recalled a familiar red-haired seishi as he smiled at her with his two small fangs visible. Feeling herself smiling back at him, she reached out her hand happily, but then disaster struck. A wall of fire, as torrid as the fire of Suzaku erupted around the seishi, shielding his profile and only showing a blurred silhouette. Although, unlike the comforting flames of the Phoenix God, these flames were the kind which could burn a man not only physically, but also burned them to the very core of their spirit until all that is left is a charred and corrupt soul.

"No.... that can't happen... he's Tasuki and nothing can crack through that personality. Besides... it was just a dream... just a dream..." Miaka tried to comfort herself, by repeating this, but she knew that is was not helping. If anything, it was making it worse. "I have to go back.... I have to find a way..."


Through this world I've stumbled

so many times betrayed,

trying to find an honest word,

to find the truth enslaved....


Tasuki rapidly swung and buried his weapon on the ground, his character was blazing red, his tears flowing freely, but the normally smooth incantation rose from his throat like the cry of one who's soul has been ripped away. "Rekka Shinen!!!"

A barrier of light and fire originating from the diamond weapon swirled with the wind and completely hid him from sight. He uttered not a single cry and allowed not a word to escape from his lips, but the amber-eyed seishi shut off the world from around him and surrendered himself to his fate...

"Mia... ka... please... hear this....." Tasuki whispered the few simple words and the name of his beloved as he breathed the very essence of his flame. He had never managed to tell Suzaku no Miko how he felt and therefore, this was the only chance he had left.... "Please... if anything... don't forget ... who would protect you... with.... life..."


Oh you speak to me in riddles

and you speak to me in rhymes,

my body aches to breathe your breath,

your words keep me alive....


".........."

"Miaka? Is something wrong? You haven't been very cheerful lately... have you been eating all right?" Yui looked at her friend across the ornately carved cherry-wood table with genuine distress. Seiryuu no Miko tied back her short blonde hair in order to inspect Suzaku no Miko more closely. "You haven't been like this ever since you almost lost Taka that first time we confronted Tenkou. Although, even then, you weren't like this."

Miaka got up off her chair and pulled back the immaculately white curtains of the windows of Yui's apartment. "Yui-chan... nothing is wrong. I just haven't been feeling very well these days."

Yui stood up and put her hands at her hips. She has known Miaka for nearly all her life, and can read the auburn haired girl's feelings like a book. If Miaka was not hiding her feelings right now, then Yui would swallow her text books whole. "Miaka, I know there's something wrong, don't bother hiding it."

Suzaku no Miko looked up at her former rival with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. "I can't hide anything from you, can't I?"

"Miaka, I have know you for almost all our lives and isn't that enough reason for me to be worried because you're worried? Sure, we've had our differences in the past, but now you have to trust me again."

"I have a feeling that something is not right in the book.... That I am still needed, but I'm needed here also..."

Yui took up the book from her desk and handed it to Miaka. "But didn't Suzaku say that you shall never cross between the two realms again? And anyway, if you do... what about Taka? Don't you love him?"

"I'm not sure about my feelings for Taka anymore, Yui-chan. I still love him.... but that isn't everything..." Miaka took out the picture of her and her seishi and placed it on the table. She looked at one of the people in the photograph with an expression filled with longing which she did not seem to be aware of.

The Priestess of Seiryuu glanced at the Priestess of Suzaku and followed where her friend's gaze was directed at. It wouldn't have surprised her if it was Tamahome, but it was startling in her realization that Suzaku no Miko's gaze rested on another-- a boy with fiery red hair. Is that what is bothering you??

"Minna...." Miaka picked up the photograph and sighed dejectedly. As she was about to put the picture away, a thin line of smoke unexpectedly rose from the edge of the paper and within seconds, the piece of paper was on fire.

"Miaka!! Hurry and put it out!!" Yui shouted this as Miaka stamped out the minuscule yet dangerous flame. When it ended, Yui peered at the photo, and to her surprise, there were only seven people present.

Without being noticed by the two girls, a being quietly slipped away from the window of Yui's apartment. It heard more than enough of what it needed, and the time to act was soon.


And I would be the one

to hold you down,

kiss you so hard....


The maelstrom of fire has already ceased, being stopped by violent winds incessantly whipping through and destroying what it can. The figure of a red-haired man can be seen kneeling on the rocky soil and shaking, not with cold, but with despair.

"Even nature is against me." said Tasuki, his voice harsh and grating against his throat. He was exhausted, both physically and psychically; his ki was low, his temper non-existent, and his self-respect has dropped to minimum. "I'm better off dead..."

Blinking back tears which he should have shed long ago, Tasuki closed his eyes completely and used his tessen to prop himself up to his feet. It was a slow and painful process, but he managed.

/Tasuki! Why are you doing this to yourself?! You stupid baka!!/ A familiar feminine voice cried out loud at the Suzaku seishi.

A bright red light suddenly appeared in Tasuki's line of vision; a soothing light which seemed to heal all of his injuries and his burns. /You damaged yourself pretty badly, but you'll survive./

/Tasuki-san, it isn't like you to inflict such tremendous physical and mental pain upon yourself. You have never beaten yourself up this badly... except for that one time. I didn't think that you were in such a great hurry to become one of us!/

/He doesn't Chiriko... Tasuki has a pain in his heart which nothing but one can heal. We can't do anything except protect him from causing anymore damage upon himself./

"Ne, Tasuki." The comical face of a blue-haired monk instantly appeared only three inches from Tasuki's own face. "Are you alive still, no da? You can't die until you are re-introduced to someone, no da."

At these words, Tasuki bolted to his feet and looked around, hoping against hope for the answer to his prayers. "Minna.... you're all still here... I am a damn fool for having done what I did, but I couldn't fuckin' think of what else to do!! I am nothing but a hindrance, everyone will be better off with my damn body six feet under."

"That's where you are wrong, you fanged idiot!!"

Everyone turned towards a figure with dark cerulean hair and violet eyes. A figure which does not belong in the world has returned to the world within the book.

"Tamahome??"


I'll take your breath away

and after I'd wipe away the tears,

just close your eyes.....


"Taka? Taka?" Miaka entered her boyfriend's apartment, but noticed that he wasn't home. Instead, what she saw was the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho and his marriage ring. Seeing the ring, Miaka looked at the ring on her finger and burst into tears. She knew that Taka would never go anywhere without his ring, just like she would not go anywhere without hers.

"TAKA!!!!!"


Into this night I wander,

it's morning that I dread,

another day of knowing of

the path I fear to tread...


"Tamahome-kun, how were you come back here no da? Where's Miaka-chan?" Chichiri's worry and and amazement made him wary of the violet-eyed seishi. He could still clearly remember what Suzaku said about the Priestess of Suzaku and Taka never returning to the world within the book.

Tamahome ignored the question and just walked forward until he was only a mere two feet away from Tasuki. "Why have you been trying to take your life? Are you so wishing of death that you would do such a thing?"

"Why in the hell would you care?!" Tasuki sheathed his tessen and ripped of his overcoat, which was now bare rags. "You should be back in the other world and taking care of Miaka!! Wait... what are you doing here? If you have done something to her... I'll--"

/Tasuki, put a rein on your temper!/ Nuriko's arm guards appeared, and that was enough to keep Tasuki in check.

Chiriko took out a red scroll from the inside of his robe. /There must be something wrong with Miaka-san if Tamahome-san is here.../

"No, not in the way you mean." Tamahome lifted up his hand, and from thin air, a small metal band of silver appeared in his palm. "Take it, Tasuki."


Oh into the sea of waking dreams,

I follow without pride,

cause nothing stands between us here

and I won't be denied...


Miaka sat down in Taka's bed with tears running freely down her face. She was alone once again, but this time, her loneliness was unexpected. There was nothing and no one she knew who would even think of getting an advantage by Taka's disappearance.

".... If I had been back in the book... Tasuki would have been the first to cheer me up.... like that time with the kodoku... and at the festival.... also at Sailo... then at my moment of weakness before the summoning of Suzaku...." Miaka gave a sincere smile, which belied her tears. "In the day Taka got possessed with that female demon, and..... in the inn..."

Miaka picked up the book and flipped to the end, but to her surprise, it was unfinished; but a single name was being written at that very second. ".... Tasuki..."


And I would be the one

to hold you down,

kiss you so hard....


"What do you mean that you want me to take your place?" Tasuki's amber eyes were wide with surprise and confusion. "Don't you fuckin' love Miaka? YOU TWO BELONG TOGETHER!!"

Tamahome shook his head in sadness. "Of course, Miaka is my life and my love.... but I have no longer been able to provide her happiness... she worries about you."

"What do you mean?! She has sacrificed her life for yours so many times and you think that she doesn't worry about YOU!?" screamed Tasuki.

"That's the point, she has sacrificed everything for me... while you have sacrificed everything for her." Tamahome placed the ring in Tasuki's palm. "You and her are meant to be."

/Are you sure about this, Tamahome?/ asked the emperor of Konan's ghost.

"I can no longer return to the other world if Tasuki does." said Tamahome.

"WHAT!!?" screamed everyone.

"Don't you know? Taka is the one who should be in the other world, upon removing that ring, I became Tamahome and he doesn't exist in our world." Tamahome turned to Tasuki. "Tasuki, if you truly care about Miaka, put on the ring. You would be able to go to that world, but if you do... you won't be able to return to this one."

"Why are you doing this for me?" asked Tasuki.

Tamahome smiled. "For my beloved's happiness, which is my happiness. And also... for the happiness which you should have had."

Tasuki's eyes widened, and he reluctantly put on the ring in his left ring-finger. "Tamahome.... arigatoo.... hontoo ni arigatoo... Thank you."

Everyone watched entranced, as a life-giving crimson flame engulfed the fiery-haired seishi. "Sayonara.... gambatte!"


I'll take your breath away

and after I'd wipe away the tears,

just close your eyes dear....


"Taka.... doko... imasu ka.... I need you..." Miaka hid her face into Taka's pillow. "I'm so alone... Tasuki...."

She picked up the the ring off the bed and held it in front of her. The silver of the ring had become a dull metallic color. Miaka looked at the ring on her own finger, and it had the vibrant sheen of the love it once represented. "... Why..."

"Because he wanted you to be happy...."

Miaka gasped as she looked at Taka's ring, but to her shock, her hand was being held by another hand wearing the ring. ".... Dare..."

"Boku..... you called for me..."

Suzaku no Miko looked up and saw a face which she has longed to see for all the years that they have been apart. "Tasuki.... but it can't be..."

Tasuki smiled as he ran his hands through his hair. Carefully tilting his love's face up, he took her completely into his arms and kissed her as passionately as he has always wished.

Miaka was surprised, but she surrendered to his desire and closed her eyes. Lifting up her hands to his dear face, she ran them through his fiery red hair, but was astonished when she realized that the flame-colored locks were now darker and shorter than they used to be. Out of breath, Miaka broke the kiss to inspect what had happened to her seishi. "Tasuki.... what have you done to yourself?!"

Tasuki blushed crimson and sat down on the bed. "Miaka.... Tamahome is back in the other world, and he can't return to this world."

"What?" Miaka gasped as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Why?! Why did he leave!?"

"He said it was because he was no longer able to provide for your happiness. That you have been sad...."

"........."

Lifting up Miaka's hand, Tasuki looked at the ring. "What have caused you to be like this? I damn well know that you wouldn't behave like this unless something is truly bothering you."

"I don't know.... I have been so worried about something... and now Taka's gone. Tell me something, Tasuki." Miaka knelt down before the seishi and took one of his hands into both of hers. "Is Tamahome happy?"

Tasuki looked down at his priestess. "He said to me... that your happiness was his happiness. You called for me and he sacrificed himself to bring me to you. Should you want it... I would do anything to reunite the two of you." At this, he covered her mouth with a kiss before she could speak. "Just know this, I don't want anything to change between us. I know that I have no chance with you... that is why I look like this right now. I turned my tessen upon myself. I didn't mean for you to know about it from all the way here. You seemed to be so distant from me that I was hoping to spare you the knowledge of that deed. Just remember, please... aishiteru zutto, Miaka. Itsumo, wo ai ni."


And I'll hold you down...


Tasuki took up the book in his hand and flipped to the back page. Holding a pen in his hand, he was about to write the one line which would force everything back to the way they used to be. Taking one last look at the startled face of his only love, he was ready to go back.


Kiss you so hard....


The Priestess of Suzaku watched, terrified at what her seishi was about to do. He was about to take himself out of her life forever. A brief memory of what happened at a certain inn flashed through her mind.

"Iie.... Tasuki, onegai... yamete."


I'll take your breath away....


The seishi stopped at mid stroke and looked at the unfinished sentence in the book. The sentence that would never be finished. "Miaka...."

Before he could react, Miaka was standing before him with a thin red ribbon around her hand. "Please... don't leave me. I need you, Tasuki. I've always needed you. I don't want to be alone anymore."

"But what about Tamahome? You and him..." He was immediately silenced by a sweet, chaste kiss on his lips.

"I love you.... as long as he's happy, I'm happy... and I must go on with my life... and I don't want that life to be without the one I love..."


And after I'd wipe away your tears....


Miaka took the ribbon and wound it around Tasuki's left ring finger and her left ring finger. A sign of everlasting love, which binds two hearts into one by a single thread of red. A bright light played before the lover's eyes after the task was completed, and they found themselves before the presence of a red-gold phoenix.

_And may you be blessed with happiness for as long as you live. You have given your everlasting vow of love to each other, keep it well, for I am the Phoenix God of Fire and Love-- and that is what this union represents. Give your names to each other and be bound until the end of time._

"Kou Shu'nu.... Tasuki."

Miaka looked up at him and saw his burned hair take up its former fire-red color and light up his dark face with a flame of laughter which have been absent ever since she left the other world. Within his eyes were the bright spark of a provocation which recalled their former lives. She smiled slowly, as if she was expecting the challenge of it.

"Suzaku no Miko.... Miaka."


Just close your eyes........



~~~~~

Notes:

Hey, what did you guys think of it?  Terrible, ne?  ^_^



Disclaimer:

Fushigi Yuugi doesn't belong to me, and it never will belong to me, and neither does the song "Possession". I forgot who it belongs to, but it's not mine.... I'll find out one day..... and so you people better not call me threatening to sue me unless you want to catch this everlasting cold which I have. It's absolutely horrid!! Oh well, Jaa mata.

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