Fushigi Yuugi is copyright Watase Yuu, Flower Comics, Studio Perriot,
Viz and Pioneer
Animation. All rights remain theirs and I'm not making a penny off
this story (Tamahome
would undoubtedly snaffel it all if I did).
The messenger bowed and left the room.
"So - Suzaku No Miko has returned to Konan," Soi said thoughtfully.
Seiryuu No Miko stood up hurriedly. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "Please
- please
delay the messenger for a while. I wish - I wish to send a message
to Suzaku No Miko." She
all but fled out of the room.
Amiboshi watched her go thoughtfully. "Suboshi, attend Lady Yui. Make
sure she has
everything she needs for her message."
"Yes, Brother," Suboshi replied, following her.
*****
Yui sat on her bed, blinking desperately in a fruitless attempt to hold
back the tears.
Miaka was back in this world, and she had begun straightaway to search
for her Seishi.
Not for her. For them.
She fell back across the bed, staring at the ceiling. Its fresco, usually
soothing with its
beautiful abstract swirls, now seemed chaotic and confusing.
I knew, she thought bleakly. I could feel it. She ended the
link, somehow, less than
an hour after I got here. Before anything happened. Before it
happened.
She turned on her side, away from the fresco, suddenly angry. I
kept the link! While
she was here, I was there for her, and she knew it! But when I
fell into the Book, she
abandoned me!
Anger suddenly transmuted into desolate pain. -She *abandoned* me ...-
Suboshi sat in the doorway, his back braced against one doorjamb while
his feet rested
against the other, an unnoticed barrier between the world and his weeping
Miko.
*****
Yui wept, a tangled mixture of emotions pouring into her tears. Betrayal,
grief and self-pity
twisted through her, all centring around Miaka. Miaka was supposed
to be her friend! How
could Miaka have done this! When they had been bound closely enough
that her uniform had
been enough to bring Miaka home ...
Miaka is not my friend anymore. I was wrong. I thought she cared
about me, but I
was wrong. Nobody cares. Nobody cares at all!
Lifting her head from her fresh burst of tears, she spotted Suboshi
sitting in her
doorway. He looks worried, she thought suddenly, I wonder
why?
"Are you all right, Lady Yui?" Suboshi asked quietly, before she could say anything.
"Why do you ask, Suboshi?" Yui asked. If something's happened, I
have to be all
right.
"You were - upset," Suboshi replied, uncomfortably. Can't tell her
I was sent here,
she'd be furious. "If I can help - well," he cleared his throat,
"tell me."
Yui blinked. -He cares. Some, anyway.- "Suboshi, tell me. What is the
purpose of
Seiryuu No Miko?"
Now it was Suboshi's turn to blink. "Well, to save Koutou."
"What am I supposed to save it from?"
Suboshi frowned. "Uh, war, I think. War killed everybody I knew, except
my brother
and me. We're going to end it, Brother says."
"Even your parents died?"
"I guess. I can't remember them." Suboshi blinked. This was stupid.
He'd always
known his parents were dead. Why did he suddenly feel bad about it?
"But I've always had
Brother to lean on. He's always been there for me."
Like Miaka was always there for me. "And - and if he's gone?"
Suboshi swallowed. He didn't want to talk about that. It was bad enough
when the
idea turned up in his dreams, turning them to nightmares. No Brother,
and he was all alone ...
"I - I don't think about that. I - I don't know what I'd do." He looked
down, and then back at
Yui. "But, now you're here, Lady Yui, I'd lean on you."
"On me?"
"Yeah. I know you'll be here for me. Like I'll be here for you."
"Suboshi, you will be here for me?"
"Always."
Always. The word echoed through Yui's thoughts and she made a
decision.
"Suboshi, would you mind going and fetching me a box? It doesn't have
to be very
big. I know what message to give Suzaku No Miko, now."
*****
Yui folded up the jacket neatly and laid it in the box, the last item
of her uniform.
Shoes, socks, skirt, blouse, tie and waistcoat were all in there already.
She wasn't used to the layered dresses that ladies in Koutou wore, but
she was quite
sure she'd get the knack of all the long layers soon.
This decision - whether or not it's right, it's the only one I can make.
"Is that it?" asked Suboshi, holding the lid.
"That's it," Yui replied, gesturing for him to place it on and so seal the box.
"I don't get it," Suboshi complained, as he followed her orders. "You
were upset by
her, and now you're sending her a present?"
"It's not a present." Yui blinked and looked out the window. "It's an ending."
************
"The use of princes and princesses as characters in fairytales and folktales,
stories told to
ordinary people by ordinary people, seems at first to be anachronistic.
However, when viewing
the characters as archetypes, the use becomes highly symbolic.
"Princes and princesses as symbols are talented, attractive, youthful,
pure of heart and
innocent; their adventures are reflections of this. It is through their
innocence that they escape
misadventure, obtain their rewards and break the spells cast upon them,
and it is at points
where they do not behave in accordance with their innocence and purity
of heart that they
encounter disaster.
"Kings and queens, in contrast, are rarely seen unless they are "evil"
and thus
antagonistic to the young hero/heroine. In accepting their role, the
king or queen abandons
innocence for power, and is shown, no matter whether he/she is "good"
or "evil" now, that
he/she has at least made an "evil" decision in the past.
"Thus it may be said that a fairytale king or queen has accepted the
darkness within
themselves, opening the path to maturity and power, while a prince
or princess is innocent and
thus immature and lesser in power."