Notes: Whazzaaaaaaaaaaap, y'all?? Sorry it took me so darn long to update, but I have not, in fact, been murdered in my sleep or sucked into the Black Pit of Hell. Although I do tend to disappear from time to time, I will not stop writing these fics until they are all completed. That is my solemn promise. **nod**

So much has happened since the last chapter! To me, I mean. Not to Ryuuen. Ryuuen was stuck in some sort of timetrap walking from one room to the other for about a month. But Mouse-chan has now got the Fellowship of the Ring Special Extended Edition! With actor commentary and interviews and everything! And we also went to go see the midnight showing of The Two Towers; because finding a good seat necessitated going to the theater two hours in advance, I brought along my Merry and Pippin action figures. Schwencky and I had lots of fun, including the creation of an interesting crossover: Merry Potter. ( "Yer a Hobbit, Merry!" ) Yes, we were a bit tired and strung out on gummy candy. But hey.

(For all who might care, I enjoyed TTT immensely, but thought it seriously lacking in the hobbit department. The Merry and Pippin action figures were fairly disappointed that they didn't make it into the movie more. But anyway. ^_~ )

Shout outs to Kryssa, Roku, Aikido, Chichiri's Girl, and Tamahome's Girl, just cuz they're cool and I can. ^_~ Fish tacos and guacamole all around.

And speaking of Kryssa, everyone should go read her story, "Between Seishi and Gods!" It's so good, yet so under-appreciated. As a matter of fact, go read all her stuff, because she's cool and she develops pictures very very quickly. **nod**

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Sorry again for the delay.

YET ANOTHER STORY

Chapter 25 ½:

A Little More Optimism, To Make The
Chapter Complete. ^_^;;

The more we talked about fighting Miboshi, the more I wanted to just forget about everything. I wanted to go back home and hide in my bed and pretend everything was just a dream, maybe watch a special on prehistoric wildlife on The Discovery Channel or something, immerse myself in a different world, one that wasn't so real. A tiny part of me even started wishing I wasn't a seishi at all, just a guy with an awesome boyfriend and colorful friends. But in my heart, I knew that nothing I could do would change things, and by trying to wish them away, I was really doing more harm than good, anyway.

Apparently, Gen-chan shared my opinions.

"Shit," he mumbled as we went through last-minute preparations. "This is fuckin insane, guys. Why the fuck did Suzaku have to choose us, for fuck's sake???" His voice, which had been calm and inordinately subdued throughout most of the conversation, began to rise in volume. "What the fuck's the point of bringin us all together if we have to fuckin sit here on our asses while you guys go out and fight the fuckin war??!"

"I agree with you, Genrou," Doukun put in quietly, raising his eyes to look at Houjun and Sai. "But we can't afford to debate the issue any more. It's been decided, and this is the best way to do it."

"But if anything really bad happens, at least Chichiri has his kasa, and his kesa, too, right?" Miaka piped up, her voice shaking and anxious. "So at least you guys can get away, right?"

We all looked expectantly at Houjun, whose face had grown serious. After a moment of silence, he spoke softly. "We could, no da. But we would have to weigh the consequences of escape."

"What fuckin consequences? Like you guys not gettin the shit beat outa ya?!"

"If we were to escape at an unforeseen attack," said Ayuru, just as quietly as Houjun, "we would save our own lives, yes. However, Miboshi would never let us get close to him if he did not believe Ryuuen to be under her control. We have one chance, the chance Ryuuen has given us. If we run away, another such opportunity might never come."

Gahhh, holy crap.

I let out a small sigh, not panicking, but trying to let the idea sink into my chest and be accepted in a way that would not cause me to worry too much. If I worried too much, the worry would cloud my mind and I wouldn't be of any help at all once we got to Miboshi's Giant Bubble.

Cloud your mind, worry does. Clear it to succeed, you must.

Sai chose that moment to reach down and take my hand in his, running his thumb lightly over my skin. With a last sigh, I smiled around at my friends and sorta-friends. "So…ehe. No pressure, huh?" I joked.

That brought a few smiles, and Tom chuckled quietly, though his expression was slightly nervous. But where Miaka was concerned, it only seemed to make things worse; her lower lip began to tremble until she bit it, and she flew at us suddenly, trying to hug me and Sai at the same time.

"You better not die this time," she ordered in a quavering voice.

"And that goes fuckin double for me," Gen-chan muttered, glaring at us.

"So, uh…you don't want 'em to die…twice?" Tom inquired under his breath, and Gen-chan whapped him on the head.

I let my hand slip from Sai's and pushed Miaka back gently, so I could look into her eyes. "Hey," I said, smiling. "There's no way we're gonna die."

"Don't tell me it won't happen," she whispered, tears staring to form in her eyes, "because I never thought it could until it did."

This made me falter, because she was absolutely right. We'd never really talked directly about how people had felt after I'd died; aside from Sai, I'd rarely discussed it with anyone, and if they said anything about it, it was only a sentence or a word or so, or else it earned a sort of indirect mention. I guess it's not really stuff I wanna talk about, though, come to think of it. I can't just go up to people and go, "So, hey, didja feel bad when I died?" Talk about indelicate…but anyway. Miaka is similar to me in the respect that we're both…shall I say…prone to being emotional, whether we always show it or not. And if she ever died, I know I wouldn't take it very well, at all. I think if any of my friends died, I'd come very close to losing my mind.

Okay. Reflecting about this will only give me the jitters. Gotta stop.

Grinning again, I poked Miaka gently in the nose. "Well, that may be true. But I still say, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let myself die before I see the end of The Lord of the Rings."

A collective groan rose up from the bystanders, and my grin became more genuine.

"What, you think I'm kidding?" I teased, and turned to Sai, who was gazing down at the sword he held. He'd let me look at it more closely a few minutes earlier; it was slim and light, and the hilt bore the image of a phoenix and a dragon intertwined. Given the whole Ayuru/Seiryuu/Suzaku/Sai thing, I thought it was incredibly cool. "Hey, if you broke your sword in half, you could be like Aragorn!"

"Ryuuen," he said with a slight frown, "why in the nine hells would I want to do that?"

"Well…because you're both great swordsmen, and you're both rulers of your…"

"Aragorn is a terrible king," Sai said, rather heatedly. "He tries to shirk his duty by staying away from his kingdom for years! He allows his own personal fears and doubts to affect his hapless subjects. Now, in values, he would be a good king, and would serve his country well…but he can't help the people of his country if he's not there! Instead, they let this miscreant Denethor rule Gondor, and what happens??"

"Hehe…ooookay, Sai," I said, blinking. "I totally did not mean to ignite the flames of passionate debate, here…"

Sai himself blinked a few times, then looked up. "Forgive me," he said. "I think I've been spending too much time among the ranks of the obsessed." Raising an eyebrow, he fixed me with a teasing look; I just smiled wider and worked my hand into his once more.

"It's time for us to go, no da," Houjun said, and Miaka sniffed and hugged me again. I had a hard time getting her to let me go so I could say goodbye to everyone else, but eventually, I got her to switch to Sai and went around to the others.

In the back of my mind, I knew that we were making a point of saying goodbye in case we never came back, in case we never saw each other again. I kinda wished I could call Kourin and Rokou and my parents, but there wasn't enough time for that. And besides, what the heck would I say?? "Hi, Mom…Dad… Sorry, I just wanted to say goodbye. I'm off to fight the reincarnation of an evil ancient Chinese floating gnome who is currently holding some of my friends captive in a giant floating bubble…"

What's your problem, stupid? I berated myself. You'll pull through! You always have before…well…in this life, anyway. This is your chance to live a happy life, remember? It's everybody's chance. Suzaku wouldn't take that away from us, not now.

Chuin looked like he was about to pass out when Ayuru said good-bye to him. His hands were shaking, and he seemed to be having a fair amount of trouble speaking; I crossed my fingers with the hope that they'd hug, but a pathetic handshake was all that resulted from their brief conversation. Not able to help myself, I rolled my eyes.

Get a clue, Ayuru!! What, do I have to staple "Hi, I'm Chuin, I'm Single, I'm Needy, I Like You" on the poor guy's forehead??

Then again, perhaps the hugging thing was a bit premature. They'd only known each other in this life for a little more than a day, after all.

But, gahhh, they're just so OBVIOUS!

Anyway. When our farewells had all been made, Houjun looked at me expectantly, and I summoned the swirling blue bracelet to my wrist. Glancing around at everyone for the last time as Houjun, Sai, and Ayuru all latched onto me, I threw them a peace sign and pressed the silvery diamond-shaped button that would carry us all to Miboshi's lair.

"Peace out!" I called, and the world faded around us into a sea of blue mist.

TBC…

YET ANOTHER STORY AKUGI!!

Ryuuen: What, do I have to staple "Hi, I'm Chuin, I'm Single, I'm Needy, I Like You" on the poor guy's forehead??

Ayuru: Yes.

Chuin: OWWWWWWW!

^_^;;

~

**Mouse-chan Has Been Reading Too Much Tolkien!!**

Exhibit A: (original version) Chuin looked like he was about to pass out when Ayuru bade him farewell. --;;

~

(Note: According to Ryuen, Sai and Ryuuen seem to be "on drugs" in this chapter. ^_~ When asked if that statement applies solely to this chapter, the response was affirmative. What, Ryu-chan; Sai claiming half of Ryuuen's face in Chapter 18 doesn't count as "on drugs?" :P I rest my case. They've been on drugs all along, and this chapter is no exception. ^_~ )

Sorry it was short again, but it's really just a continuation of the last chapter (see title). ^_^ Hopefully, it'll be back soon.

And as for Sai's comments on Gondorian politics…don't even ask. ^_^;;

Thanks for reading! Now, go read Kryssa's stuff! ^_~