Always….
Chapter One
Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi or any of its characters. Those belong to the wonderful Ms. Yuu Watase and all those other companies that hold rights to them. ^_^
A/N: Always is a working title. I couldn't really come up with a good one but I wanted to go ahead and start posting chapters so here you go. Here are a few warnings about the story before you get started. ^_^
OVA's never happened and probably never will. This story takes place ten years after the last episode. If you are a firm believer that Nuriko is gay…don't read this story. You most likely won't like it. If you don't like the idea of Miaka and Nuriko as a couple this story isn't for you.Also, I changed some of the death scene around to suit my story, I hope this doesn't offend anyone. ^_^
I would also like to say thank you to KittyLynne for letting me bounce ideas off of her and for coming up with a truly fabulous description of Nuriko's body. ~_^
With that said onto the story and I hope you enjoy it!
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Snow; it was still snowing. The snowflakes that fell onto his face were mixed with warm tears. A weak smile grazed the young man's lips as he looked up into the grief-stricken face of his beloved.
"Why….why are you….crying?" He rasped. He tried to lift a hand to wipe away the tears, but it felt as if someone were holding his arms in place. Eventually he gave up the effort, closing his eyes in defeat. "Silly girl." He whispered, feeling her teardrops continue to fall from her cheeks onto his own. "It doesn't matter if I….well, it doesn't matter. I'll always….be with you. And no matter how long it takes….I'll find you…again."
He could feel their eyes on him- the only woman he had ever loved and the other one. The one who had stolen her heart so easily. He didn't mind that she loved another because he knew, deep inside that she was his. Even if she did not realize it now, there would come a time when the two of them would be together, and once that day came, their love would be one that would surpass any other.
"I'll always…love you."
"Nuriko!" The girl cried, pulling him into her arms and rocking gently. He could feel her body shaking with the force of her sobs and finally found the strength to lift one hand to her hair. As his fingers slipped through the silky strands, he smiled one last time.
"Always…"
Nick opened his eyes and sat up, looking around him as if searching for something. As his eyes adjusted and he took in the familiar surroundings, his dream and the sound of tears quickly receded from memory. He cast a quick glance at the alarm clock and at seeing the time, he swore softly. Three in the morning, and he was wide-awake once again.
Just as he had been doing every day for the past year, he rose from the bed and padded to the bathroom, splashing cold water onto his face. After doing so, he stared at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, transfixed by the droplets of water running down his face. They reminded him of….something. Something unspeakably sad… and bittersweet...
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He said to his reflection, grabbing a towel from the nearby rack. He made his way back into his bedroom, vigorously rubbing his face dry. As he lowered the towel, he spied the silent computer nearby, hesitated, and then pulled out his chair and flopped down, reaching for the power button. Since he was up he might as well write. He laughed to himself as he opened his word processing program. Wouldn't people be surprised to find out the famous romance novelist, Nicole Stacey, was actually a man named Nicholas Casey?
He had begun his romance writing career three years ago and could not explain what had motivated him, other than the fact that there were stories burning deep inside him that he could only purge himself of by putting them on paper. Every tale took place in ancient China and always involved the same couple, but the relationship between these two people was so complex that he had been able to pen six novels already. His publisher could not believe how quickly he was turning in manuscripts but was appreciative of the fact that Nick never seemed to run out of ideas. However, despite the literary reputation he was making for himself, not even his closest friends actually knew what he did for a living. It was as if he shared this personal bit of his life he would lose something precious. Only his immediate family knew and they were sworn to secrecy.
Shaking his head to clear it of distractions, Nick began to type. The ideas flowing from his brain to the computer screen in lightening speed. Eventually he slowed down and took a deep breath, reading over the ten pages he had written. When he finished he glanced at the clock, grinned, and reached for the phone. After dialing a number, he leaned back in his chair, pulled up his solitaire program and began to play as he waited for an answer.
"What's a another good word for breast?" He asked as the phone was answered, not even allowing the other party to say hello.
"Excuse me?" A feminine voice asked irritably. "Good god, Nicky, it's three in the morning and you call me to ask what a good word for breast is? Haven't you written like a hundred novels by now?"
Nicholas chuckled softly at his sister's irate tone. "It's only six so far."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can I go back to sleep now?" Yawning loudly, she flopped back onto the bed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.
"I…had another one of those dreams, Kat." He said softly, abandoning his game to lean his head back, his gaze going to the ceiling above.
Suddenly wide-awake, Kathleen Casey sat upright, her expression worried. "Have you been taking those pills the doctor gave you?"
"You've got to be kidding! Those things totally knock me out for at least twelve hours. I don't even dream, but in my opinion, it's not natural or even healthy to not dream at all. I haven't been taking them and I don't plan to."
"But Nicky…"
"No buts, little sister, I just called to hear a friendly voice. Not to get a lecture."
Kathleen sighed deeply but dropped the subject, knowing it would do no good to argue the point. "Rick called me today." She said off-handedly.
"Oh really? And what did our wonderful big brother want this time?"
"He just called to see how we were doing. He said we never call him so he has no idea what's going on in our lives."
"Did you tell him the reason we don't call him is because all he does is whine the whole time?"
"Be nice, Nicky. He is still our brother you know!"
Nicholas sighed deeply. "Yeah, I know. So how's Charles?"
"Ugh, I don't even want to talk about him."
"You guys have another fight?"
"Didn't I just say I didn't want to talk about it? What about you? Are you still seeing that girl…um… Marie isn't it?"
"She found out what I did for a living. Add that to my somewhat feminine looks and she was convinced I was gay. I haven't heard from her in a month."
"Oh, Nicky, I'm sorry."
Her brother chuckled. "Don't be, Kat. She wasn't the one for me anyway."
Kathleen bit her lip as silence fell between them. His whole life Nicholas had been talking about "the one". At first his parents had ignored it, figuring that it was his imaginary friend. But as the years progressed and Nick entered his teenage years, and he continued to speak of the one, they became worried. That was when the dreams had begun. He would wake in the middle of the night, tears streaming from his eyes and the same name on his lips. No one could ever make out the name he screamed in the middle of the night, but they suspected it had to be the name of 'the one' he always spoke of.
Eventually his parents resigned themselves to the fact that their youngest son was anything but normal and encouraged his siblings to never speak of his 'condition' as they always referred to it. To others it would seem they did not love their son, but it was love and concern for him that was the very reason his parents never talked about those dreams, for any mention of them caused a deep sadness to appear in Nick's eyes, and he would walk around for days as if in a trance.
"Don't worry." Nick's smile and voice were tinged with bitterness. "I'm not going to start again."
"That's not…"
"That is what you were trying to figure out how to say gently. That I should stop talking about the one and find a nice girl to settle down with. And I know you're right. I'm twenty-eight now, it's about time I stopped indulging in childhood fantasies. I only meant that Marie is not the kind of girl you settle down with if you know what I mean."
"What about the dreams?" She replied quietly, afraid to even broach the subject.
"They'll go away." He said sadly, tears coming to his eyes unexpectedly. He wiped them away roughly and sighed. "They always go away so no worrying about me! I mean it, Kat- you have your own problems and I'm sorry I called and woke you up. Go back to sleep now."
"It's okay, if you need to talk…"
"No, I'm fine now. Just needed a little human contact you know."
"Yeah, I know." She could hear the sadness in his voice and shook her head. Would her brother ever be truly happy? "Love you, Nicky."
"Me too, Kit Kat. Now go get some sleep." He knew she would be smiling over his childhood nickname for her as she hung up the phone and a smile graced his own lips as he hit the disconnect button at his end.
He knew he shouldn't have called Kat so early since she taught third grade at the elementary school but just as he told her, he needed a little human contact. He lived in a small one-bedroom apartment in a duplex where neighbors did not greet one another outside. Everyone kept to themselves and expected others to do the same. The only other person he ever talked to was his editor and that was very rarely. His parents had died three years ago leaving nothing but debts and an old car that broke down more than it ran. He had inherited the car where it now sat in the parking lot below him, only driven once since he had acquired it .
Yawning and rubbing his eyes, he rose from his seat and made his way to the kitchen for a much-needed cup of coffee, but halfway there he paused as a sliver of memory darted into his brain. A vision of a young girl around the age of fifteen, with auburn hair and green eyes that danced with merriment filled his mind for a brief moment, and when it disappeared, Nick felt an aching emptiness that he could not explain.
"I really gotta get some sleep." He muttered, before continuing on his way.
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An attractive elderly woman greeted him as he entered the office with a warm smile on her face. "Nicholas my boy, you're right on time."
"Mrs. Rosenthal, it's good to see you again." Nick replied. He accepted the small peck she placed on his cheek, and then settled into a seat in front of her desk
"You've been up all night writing again." She scolded, clucking her tongue as she reseated herself behind the desk. "You need to take better care of yourself!"
Nick merely nodded, attempting to hide his amusement at the maternal scolding. The woman sitting before him had taken him under her wing as soon as his first manuscript was submitted and was one of the only agents at the company who actually knew he was a man. Having reached retirement age a few years ago, she had only recently began to seriously cut back on her workload. As far as he knew, he was now the only client she personally handled now, having turned all the others over to her young staff. She acted as a surrogate grandmother and he allowed her mothering ways, enjoying having someone fuss over him every once in a while.
"So what brought on this sudden meeting? I still have three weeks until my deadline." He asked, leaning back and crossing a leg. "Is there a problem of some sort?"
"No, no, nothing like that." Agnes Rosenthal studied the young man seated before her and a bemused smile curved her lips. She had loved Nick like a grandson and hated to leave him, but it was time. "I called you here to inform you that I am retiring." She stated, and then quickly started to shuffle through some papers lying on the desk to hide her flushed face and over-bright eyes.
"What?" Nick's foot dropped to the floor as his jaw dropped almost to his chin.
"Surely this is not a surprise to you." She snapped. "Look at me, I'm old! I'm tired of working, Nicholas."
"But you gave no inkling…no kind of warning it was coming so soon!" Narrowing his eyes, Nick glared at the small woman. "You've had this planned for a while, haven't you?"
She snorted and glanced back down at her papers. "Can't put anything past you, can I? Yes, I've known about this for a while. I waited until today to tell you because I didn't want you talking me out of it." Holding up a hand she smiled. "And don't deny that you would have tried…and that I would have let you. As it is, I've saved us both a lot of arguments and tears. Today is my last day, but don't worry about your contract, it still stands, even though I'm turning you over to a new girl. Her name is Miaka Yuki, just transferred here from our Japan office. She a lovely young girl and very bright."
"I'm sure she's great." Nick replied briefly, while shrugging off Agnes' praises of the girl in question. She had been trying for years to fix him up with one girl or another and he wasn't about to give in to her now. "But I'll miss you, I don't know how I'll trust a new person."
"Bah, get on with you. She'll keep your little secret although I haven't told her yet; I figured you could do that yourself. You have such a way with words, you know." Winking the old woman stood and held out her hands.
Nick also got to his feet and took the offered hands, and then pulled the woman into a warm embrace. "Things just won't be the same without you bitching at me." He said with a grin after she had released him.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll still be doing my fair amount of bitching. There are these things called phones. And if you give that young woman any problems you'll hear plenty of it." Cackling she swatted his arm. "Now get out of here- Miaka is expecting you. Her office is two doors down on the right."
One last hug and he was out the door, holding back the tears that he knew she would scold him for. As he arrived at the correct office door, Nick paused. Taking a deep breath, he knocked once and entered, shutting the door quickly behind him. Once inside, he glanced around the office that was so different from Agnes'. Compared to the old lady's inner sanctum, which had been warm and homey with plants and cushions everywhere, this office looked bare and impersonal with only a few paintings on the wall, a couple of chairs in front of a small desk, and a rather plan looking couch pushed against one wall. His eyes finally settled on the woman behind the desk, busily sifting through papers. She glanced up quickly, and then back down at her paperwork as she shook her head.
"I'm sorry but if you're here about a manuscript you want read, leave it with the receptionist please." She immediately forgot him, assuming that he would leave on his own.
Nick cleared his throat, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Excuse me, are you Ms. Yuki?"
"Yes." She replied, not looking up.
"I believe you're expecting me."
"I highly doubt that sir, I'm expecting a woman by the name of…"
"Nicole Stacey, at your service." He replied.
"What in the world are you talking…" The woman finally looked up, her eyes widening upon seeing her visitor.
He grinned at her stunned expression. "Mrs. R really should have told you I was a man, but she loves playing jokes on her people so…"
Miaka got to her feet and walked around the desk, her unsteady hands dropping the papers she was holding on the floor. It couldn't be him. It was impossible…wasn't it? But then again Tamahome had come from the book. She walked towards of Nick, her disbelieving eyes never leaving his face. Stopping directly in front of him, she lifted a hand that seemed to freeze midway on its route to his face.
"N-Nuriko?" She whispered, before everything went black.
Nick lunged forward as she crumpled, catching her before she could hit the plush carpeting beneath them.