Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi doesn't belong to me! Yu Watase has the honor of having coming up with the idea, while we (the fanfiction authors of the 'net) can only wish.

Now, this fic takes place after everything. After the series, after the OAVs, even after Eikouden, if you know what that is. Enjoy!
Started: May 13, 2002
Finished: May 15, 2002
Revised: January 8, 2005

"Paradise"

"Do you realize just how lucky you are?"

He turned at the familiar voice, a faint smile crossing his features as he recognized the speaker. The smile disappeared as he noticed the serious look upon his shorter friend's face. "After all these years, that's the first thing you can say?"

Instead of answering, the other allowed his brown gaze to drift to a beautiful young woman sitting by the water, her fingers lightly gracing the flowing surface in thought. He sighed sadly and looked back to the man with dark blue hair. "You don't have to worry about anything anymore, Hikou… Do you realize how much I would give for that option?"

Hikou frowned, leaning against a tree as he watched his friend in his angst. "Is it because you're a Suzaku seishi?"

A wan smile crossed the former monk's face as he nodded. "I won't be here very long; I just wanted to see you two before…"

"… You're reborn," finished Hikou. He looked down at his hands clasped in front of him, unable to look at his best friend. "Do you regret it though, Houjun? Do you regret everything you did?"

Houjun shifted in such a way that Hikou knew he was turning away from him. "Sometimes. Sometimes, like when Chiriko had to end his life at such a young age … when Mitsukake died in such a selfless way… I just wanted everything to disappear, to be able to run from the truth in front of me. But now … no. Never."

"Then what is so hard?" The slightly-older man tried his best to keep his voice steady. "Why do you hesitate to rejoin those people?"

There was no hesitation on Houjun's part. "Because I don't want to forget you!" he said with anguished fervor. He quickly dashed away rising tears as he glared at the ground. "You and Kouran… I don't want to forget. Who would willingly forget their best friends?"

"Someone who was hurt deeply by them," Hikou answered readily.

A sharp laugh came from Houjun. "Are you still dwelling on that?" he queried. "Hikou, there was so much more to our lives than that twisted turning point… I want to remember the good things the outweigh the bad -- the laughter, the smiles, and all the happiness we shared. When I'm reborn, I won't remember any of that. I may never remember you two again."

Silence reigned after those words, drifting through the heavens like a breeze that would not be stopped. Hikou stared at his best friend's back, a sigh eventually passing his lips. "Then we'll make sure you will always remember us."

Houjun straightened and turned back to gaze at his friend. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Everyone has the choice to be reborn, Houjun. We can be reborn with you."

He swallowed hard and blinked, then shook his head furiously. "No … no, I could never ask that of you! Not of Kouran! I could never ask you two to give up eternal happiness for my sake."

"How can we be happy when we know you're hurting so much, Houjun?" came a new voice, soft and compassionate.

Two pairs of brown eyes averted to the young woman that had come to join them, taking in her beauty appreciatively. "Kouran … how much did you hear?" Houjun's hands curled into anxious fists.

"Enough," Kouran replied tearfully. "What were you thinking, Houjun? You were really going to go without seeing me? Without even a goodbye?"

The Suzaku seishi looked away -- something he had been doing far too much as of late. "This is exactly what I didn't want; I don't want to hurt you anymore. Loving you ended up bringing on so much trouble."

Hikou struck the tree behind him with enough force to get the two's attention. "Now who's still dwelling on that last incident in our lives? If you were able to move on from the fact that I kissed Kouran, then she can move on from the fact that there was a love triangle."

"'Was?'" Kouran smiled faintly at Hikou, who flushed in embarrassment. "Houjun, this was no one person's fault. We all contributed to our own downfall; Hikou with his forwardness, myself with my ideas of purity, and yourself with your misunderstanding… But we were all friends before that, happy and loving." Unshed tears glittered brightly in her eyes. "I want that again… Even under different names, under different faces … we'll be together, right? I want all of us together."

Houjun gathered Kouran up in his arms and began to cry. "I'm sorry I can't stay here… Then you two wouldn't have to give up paradise."

Kouran laughed in her lover's arms. "Paradise is being in your arms, Houjun."

"Paradise is having known you two my entire life," Hikou murmured, being accepted into the embrace by the two.

Wrapped in the arms of his two loves, Houjun could only cry.

"Paradise… I had forgotten what it was," he laughed through his tears. "And then…" He looked from Kouran to Hikou, then shut his eyes. "And then I found you two again."