Arms hugging herself, Miaka tensely waited for him to emerge. She worriedly
looked about the water’s disturbed surface. "Tamahome! Tamahome!" Miaka
took a deep breath. "Tamahome!!" She shivered once and stared down at the
water in front of her.
Conflicting Emotions
(Fushigi Yuugi Chapter Five part II)
Miaka’s scream cut through the night again, urging Tamahome forward. He flew towards the sound. "Miaka!" He leaped from the pool’s bank, one foot extended in a kick at the black shape’s center. "Escape, Miaka!" he cried as his kick connected. Tamahome and the girl’s attacker disappeared with a great splash into the depths of the water.
Arms hugging herself, Miaka tensely waited for him to emerge. She worriedly
looked about the water’s disturbed surface. "Tamahome! Tamahome!" Miaka
took a deep breath. "Tamahome!!" She shivered once and stared down at the
water in front of her.
Masaka. Tamahome couldn’t have...died...trying to save me! The girl waited a second more, then raised her hands to her face. "Tamahome was eaten by a snake!" she sobbed out in despair.
Behind her, the dead man slowly surfaced. "Don’t bury me yet," he grumbled, sweat drop prominent.
Miaka turned, tears in her eyes. "Tamahome..."
With one hand on a large log, the man eyed the girl with annoyed disappointment. "You thought this was a snake? It’s a soggy log that was drifting."
She laughed with relief, one hand on her forehead. "Nan--nan da?"
Suddenly realizing what he was seeing, Tamahome’s eyes turned into saucers, focused on Miaka’s floating, dewed bosom. He quickly yanked his gaze up to Miaka’s face. Her own eyes widened, and both girl and man simultaneously whipped about, Miaka hastily covering herself with both arms.
"I didn’t see anything!" Tamahome insisted, a traitorous blush revealing otherwise.
They both stood in the water, hearts pounding.
Miaka’s grip on her upper arms softened. This is my chance. Apologize,
Miaka! Tell him you’re sorry for saying you love him! Tell him it was just a joke!
She squeezed her eyes shut. "Go—
"Gomen!" they cried together.
Miaka gasped and stared into nothing.
They were both silent a moment more, until Tamahome turned and spoke, his voice soft and uncertain. "When you said that...what I replied was not kind." He looked down at the gentle waves of the dark pool. "It’s the first time a woman has ever said she loved me. I thought...it couldn’t be true." He turned away again. "I didn’t know what to say.
"For seventeen years, the only thing that’s been on my mind is money. I still think that way."
Tamahome slowly moved through the water and stepped out onto the shore. He knelt there, then looked over his shoulder. "Demo, I’ll take you to Taiitsu-kun’s place." Tamahome stood and faced into the woods. "Recover as quickly as you can."
Miaka could see only his back, but his voice was warm and earnest.
Tamahome... She watched as he quickly ran back to their camp, listening until his footsteps faded into the night creatures’ song.
The sharp snaps of breaking wood cracked out into the air. Nuriko plummeted down from a tree on the pool’s bank, landing with a painful thunk on the grass, still damp from Tamahome’s emergence.
"Nur--i--ko!" Miaka squeezed out in dismay with a very large sweat drop.
"Shit!" Nuriko snapped her fingers in disappointment. "I was sure he’d make a play for her."
"That means--you deceived me!!" The girl leaped at the other woman, fangs bared. She clamped both her arms around Nuriko in a warm, wet hug. "Arigatou!"
Nuriko made an annoyed face and pushed the girl back. "Unhand me!"
With a wide smile, Miaka
grasped Nuriko’s collar and shook her back and forth. "It’s great! Tamahome
doesn’t hate me after all!" Her eyes opened to see Nuriko’s loose collar
slide off one pale shoulder. Miaka stared at the bared flesh with a strangled noise. She
pushed back for a better view and gaped at the very flat chest before her.
"N--nothing?! You’re--a--MAN?" Visions of over-muscled men clad in jockey shorts flashed before the girl’s eyes. A bombshell of shock exploded in Miaka’s brain.
Nuriko gaily laughed.
"You’ll note I can’t do anything as a man. So I am one. What of
it?" She--he--er...the Shichiseishi hugged themself.
"Even though you’re a man, you love Hotohori!" Miaka leaned into Nuriko. "And you kissed Tamahome!"
With a smile, Nuriko leaned back, pinky proudly held aloft. "I can put aside my manhood for love."
Miaka grimaced. I’ve suddenly developed a headache. I wonder if I’ll be able to reach Taiitsu-kun’s mountain safely.
*******
Broken, aged laughter accented the scene of Miaka and Nuriko on the bank, framed by the golden rim of a mirror. "Suzaku no Miko, ka?" A dark figure floated before the mirror, sitting on a red cushion and surrounded by weightless, drifting scarves. "Interesting. You should be worried about reaching my mountain." The shape laughed again.
*******
Tamahome stood in the prow of the long, thin boat that moved down the river. Even the
horses enjoyed the break in traveling. Miaka leaned on the side of the boat and listened
to the sound of the water. 
Ahhhh, I’m already
wiped out. When will we arrive at Mount Taikyoku? I want to return to my world as quickly
as I can.
"Yoshi! How about we eat at the next village?" Hotohori brightly offered.
Miaka instantly brightened. "Yatta!"
*******
Head pillowed on her arms, Miaka groaned. "I can’t take anymore! I’m too tired for an appetite."
"What a lie!" Tamahome bellowed over a mountain of empty bowls and places. "You’ve wolfed down this much!"
"Calm down, she’s sick," Nuriko urged him with a tolerant grin.
Miaka sat back. "By the way, where’s Hotohori?"
"Yeah, where is he?" Nuriko seconded.
"I’ll go find him!" Miaka offered. She left the simple restaurant and walked through the green trees, birds chirping overhead. The air was scented with grass, leaves, and the warm smell of sunlight. Just beyond a tree, she looked out and spotted him. "Hotohori?"
The Emperor was sitting close to the edge of the grassy cliff, gazing out over the valley and the purple mountains in the distant horizon. Miaka stepped near him and bent over with a bright smile. "Hotohori, whatcha thinking ‘bout?"
"Just watching the mountains. Absent-mindedly admiring the view...is not something I can normally do."
"Sou ka. You always have to be Emperor." She sat down next to him, stretched luxuriously, and breathed in the fresh air. "I know what it’s like. Before I came here, I concentrated on nothing but my high school entrance exam. I had to attend school and juku every day. I tried my very best for my mom.
"So I know what you mean," she concluded.
Hotohori’s gaze left the mountains to stare at the grass before him. "Your mother, ka?" His voice was soft and serious. "I was fourteen when I took my father’s place at the time of his death. It was my mother’s wish that I be Emperor. I was just a puppet for her...but then my mother also died. Since then, life around me has become unearthly quiet. There were only royal vassals, and other such people. In the midst of that quiet, I noticed my loneliness.
"I’ve been like a bird in a cage."
With a great flutter of wings, three white doves soared past the pair and cliff, out over the valley. They vanished into the distance.
Miaka turned to Hotohori with a smile. "If that’s the case, fly from now on. Anywhere you wish!"
Hotohori could only stare at the girl in amazement.
"You’re still young," Miaka chuckled and looked back out over the view. She braced her chin in her hands.
Hotohori reached out his right arm and pulled Miaka against him, his eyes closed. "You’re such a sweet girl...always cheerful, free, and warm-hearted." He held her there, his grip and chest warm and firm.
No--I-- Miaka’s mind raced in shock. Why is my heart fluttering over Hotohori?
Hotohori leaned his cheek against Miaka’s soft hair, treasuring the moment for as long as he could. I want to be with you forever, Miaka.
Behind them, the cracks of another breaking tree branch echoed out. Nuriko slammed head-first into the ground, lavender tresses flying.
Miaka blushed bright red and turned to see a furious and struggling Nuriko, barely restrained by Tamahome.
"Damn you, Miaka!" Nuriko screamed.
"Why are you angered, Nuriko?" Hotohori asked with surprise.
Tamahome’s eyes blazed accusingly into Miaka’s own. She sadly looked back at him.
Tamahome...
*******
"Oh, looks like I’m going to have to test them," the dark, stout figure half-way laughed at Miaka’s dispirited face, which was once again framed in the gilt-edged mirror.
The form raised one arm and pointed with a gnarled finger at a distant mirror. The heavy, immense object rose from the ground and hovered in mid-air.
The mirror began to spin on its middle axis as the words rang out, twirling faster and faster in the air until it was a white blur.
The whirling mirror collapsed in upon itself and disappeared into nothing.
*******
"Oi, Miaka!" Tamahome called to the girl, who was energetically swinging her arms a ways in front of the group. "Don’t be in such a rush!"
"Heiki, heiki!" The girls’ shoe toe caught on a tree’s upraised root, sending her sprawling forward onto the ground with a cry. Miaka’s skirt flared up, revealing bright, white panties for all the world to see.
Tamahome’s saucer-eyes returned. He blinked twice, then stepped to the girl, knelt, and held out a hand. "Why didn’t you listen?"
Miaka quickly scrambled up off her stomach and sat on the ground, hands
tugging down on the back hem of her skirt. "Did you see anything?!" she demanded
with a blush.
"I haven’t seen a thing!" Tamahome insisted, looking off to the side.
"Uso! You saw me in the nude before!"
"Shit!" He turned about, arms crossed behind his head. "I don’t feel a thing when I see you naked," he sourly informed her. "If you had bigger breasts and were sexier, I’d admit you’re a woman!"
Miaka rose behind him, trembling with anger. She slammed a fist into his cheek, sending him flying. The girl whirled and ran, crying freely. "Tamahome no baka!" She vanished into the mist.
*******
"Nuriko, something’s not right," Hotohori commented, disturbed.
Nuriko
appeared behind him, starry-eyed, hands clasped together most becomingly. "It’s
fine, we look great together!"
"No, I mean...a fog is odd for the middle of the day."
Nuriko straightened. "Now that you mention it..." The Shichiseishi looked around at the mist that had permeated the forest, creeping up on them unawares and unannounced. "It feels like we’ve been going in circles."
Tamahome appeared out of the fog, leading his mount, worry creasing his face. "Hotohori-sama!"
The Emperor stepped forward. "Tamahome, Miaka wa?"
"The fog suddenly thickened, and I lost her."
"Nani?!"
*******
Miaka angrily walked through the trees, unheeding of the strange mist, thinking dark and evil thoughts. Why is Tamahome like that? Hotohori treats me much nicer. Miaka paused, arms crossed behind her back. A bird shrieked behind her, snapping her out of her musings. The strange surroundings finally sank into the girl’s awareness.
"Where is everyone? Am I lost?"
A scent caressed Miaka’s
nostrils, carried on the mist in a succulent red wave of air. The girl’s eyes
widened. "This incredible smell is suteki! Beef
steak with cream sauce! Soup with tons of vegetables! Tuna salad! Spaghetti with meat
sauce! The sweet and sour flavor of blueberry sherbert!" She struck a defiant pose,
finger pointing towards the succulent odors’ source.
Miaka’s eyes saw the beautiful, celebrated vision in the distance. A table laid with a white and pink tablecloth, covered with dishes and more food than anyone could eat. Miaka grinned. "Yappari! There it is!" She ran towards the dinner with delight.
The girl tripped through an unseen barrier and landed on her knees inside a dark void. The forest was behind her, visible only through a large, round portal. She stared at the food, the quickly stood and pounded angrily on the portal with her fists. "What’s going on?!" It sounded like she was hitting thick, unbreakable glass.
"Welcome inside the mirror, Miaka," a cool voice greeted her.
Miaka slowly looked over her shoulder to see herself staring
back. The other Miaka’s arms were crossed, her eyes narrowed, and a low laugh sounded
deep in her throat.
"D--dare?" Miaka softly asked with shock.
*******
"Within the mirror was another Suzaku no Miko. She sneered at Suzaku no Miko."
*******
"What a gluttonous girl," the other Miaka commented with disgust. "I’m so ashamed of myself."
Miaka gasped. She took a step back, hand at her mouth. Nani kore?!
** end episode five **
This summary is based on the translation by Karen Duffy and Yamazaki Masatomo. Used with permission. Adaptation by Sailor Two Moons 4-9-99. FY Chapter Five part II last tweaked on 11-15-01, when I tweaked links to bypass the problematic code.