Taiitsukun let her gaze wander over the reflective surface of the mirror, watching the image alter into mist. Slowly it seemed to reform before her, and one hand found its way to her lips as she stifled a wry chuckle.

"Ah, you two are getting along much as you did before at first..." Her eyes followed Sean and Tyler as they fought their way through Tokyo, trying anything they could think of to try and find Miaka or her brother. "Only this time, you aren't hidebound by your station, Hotohori. I think Tamahome is in for a surprise or two."

The bustling city disappeared from view, being replaced by one of a small apartment that seemed to be filled with people. At least, the living room was small enough that the four within were hard pressed to find individual places to sit. They were conversing in civil tones... for now. The elder knew better, though. Tasuki never could stay civil for long. She was surprised with how well he'd handled this. If she'd expected anyone to deny their fate, it was him. That led her to another thought, but it was quelled almost immediately. "Another time..." She whispered, bringing her finger to the glass and altering the view slightly so that it was focused on the auburn-haired woman that sat beside Chichiri.

"Ah, little one, so you are the one who has brought a smile back to my student's face once more. Your loyalty is commended... and perhaps you will make their task a bit easier." She reached to her side, pulling up a small handful of sand. Holding it before the mirror, she let a swift breath free, sending the tiny granules into the image. None would notice them... but their effect would be a welcome one, she was certain.

With a parting smile, she let the scene shift once more to the two who were drawing ever closer to the others. "You two have done well... Chiriko, guide them. You will be their eyes in this, for now you are the only one who remembers all. Use your skills wisely, little one... Mitsukake will be your strength."

She almost stopped there, but something told her to try the seventh seishi once more. The image was in motion, showing the violet-haired boy driving down the oceanside, long braid trailing behind him. A smile was on his face... as it had been so often in the past. It went no deeper this time than it had before, however... it didn't take a god to see that. "Nuriko... you will find happiness, I swear it. You sacrificed so much in the past, and never asked for anything in return. This time... you will be repaid." Taiitsukun let her memory drift to the other that she had seen in the seishi's company and her eyes narrowed.

She wasn't certain exactly what THAT one was up to or if he retained his own memories. The ability to block her scrying was evidence that his powers had survived, however... and she could tell that it wasn't going to be easy to pry Nuriko away from the kojin this time around. How in Suzaku's name THOSE two had found each other was a mystery she'd like to have solved sometime. Now, however, was not that time. For now, she kept to her thoughts, kept to her scrying... and kept watch over the seishi as she had so long ago.

"So now that you're awake, maybe you can tell us what's been happening here, no da?" Chris was sitting on the floor, long legs stretched out before him as his arms leaned back against the seat of the chair that Cheree sat in. Jason was in a similar position not far away and Ren was laying across the other chair, as he normally did. It had taken them nearly ten minutes to bring the redhead back to consciousness, and both Chris and Jason were rewarded for their efforts by being batted away indignantly. Chris wasn't sure which was more amusing... the tarnished pride of Tasuki, or Cheree's tirade against him that quite quickly forced him to apologize to the two who had tried to help.

"What do you want to know?" Ren shrugged, letting one arm dangle over the side of the chair. "I'm currently very confused, very much a wanted man, and very much annoyed that nothing of this was mentioned *before* I fucking lost it." He was defensive still.. but they'd managed to crack through the shell somewhat in the time they'd been there. "All I know is that I nearly roasted some guy in Central Park because I thought he was someone he wasn't. I saw Nuriko... I don't know how... I wasn't there when he died the first time." He glared down at the floor then, still uncomfortable with his entire reaction.

"Maybe it was part of you trying to reconcile that, no da? I don't remember much, but from what Cheree told me, none of us were there when it happened." Chris tilted his head back, looking up at Cheree, who simply nodded, still watching Tasuki's actions.

"No one was there when it happened. He was attacked while trying to clear the path for Suzaku no Miko to get the shinzaho of Genbu. Tamahome and Miaka were closest and were the only ones to get there before he died. There was nothing either of them could do." She spoke softly, trying to make this a bit easier for Tasuki to hear. He had more of his memories than Chichiri did, that much was certain. Her gaze shifted, looking around as she tried to find a way to explain everything. Settling on the TV and a dark box atop it, she narrowed her eyes, pointing to it for a moment. "Ren? Is that a VCR?"

He looked up, following her gesture and nodding. "Yeah.. and the DVD is over on the shelf behind it, why?"

She blinked then, letting her head fall back against the back of the chair as she groaned loudly. "Oh God, I don't *believe* I didn't think of that before!"

The three men looked at each other for a moment, then turned to Cheree, half wondering if she was feeling alright. She faced them again, grinning and jumping up, catching Jason by the arm. "Come on! You've got to come with me, I'm going NO WHERE at night by myself in this town, and these two need to get to know each other again."

"Y-yeah sure.." Jason stammered, being yanked to his feet rather unceremoniously. "Umm.. where the hell are we going?"

"The video store, no da!" She grinned up at him and Jason just rolled his eyes.

"Oh gods, she talks like he does." That was about all he got out before he found himself being dragged out the door. As it slammed behind them, Chris looked to Ren, who mirrored his expression perfectly. Both men simply shrugged and went back to their conversation.

The two returned about an hour later, each lugging a bag of tapes. Cheree's voice lifted as she pushed the door open, the smile on her face one of relief and cheerfulness. "DAAAAA! We're back!" She held up the bag she carried triumphantly, grinning at Chris and Ren, who were simply wondering what she had been up to. "The Fushigi tapes! It took three video stores, but we actually managed to find all of the original series!"

Ren jumped up, grabbing the bag that Jason held and digging through it, looking at all the covers. "Holy shit.. you mean these will tell us what we used to be?"

She nodded enthusiastically, reaching into her bag and pulling up a tape, making her way to the television as she did. "This'll let you know *everything* that happened." Her eyes darkened for a moment then, and she turned to Chris and Ren. "I do mean everything... some of it, you may not care to see, but if you want to know what happened, these will tell you. Fair warning though... we're looking at about a ten hour run of video watching to see all of them."

The other three glanced at each other, shrugging faintly. Ren was the first to pipe up. "No big deal to me... not like I've got anywhere to be."

"Same here." Jason set his bag down next to the TV, then moved to get comfortable on the floor.

Chris was looking over the tapes, reading the back of each as he nodded, not even looking up. "Not everything is good all the time. But I want to know who I was."

Cheree turned then, slipping the tape into the VCR and turning on the TV. It started up on its own as she moved back to her chair, curling up into it to watch the show... and the three who had no idea what they were in for.

Night had long since turned to day... Jason had gone to bed after turning pale as a ghost during one of the episodes. Cheree and Chris weren't sure why he'd reacted that way... all they saw was Ren and Jason staring at each other strangely during Episode 14 when Miaka, Nuriko and Hotohori had been captured by the mountain bandits. They attributed it to seeing his friend on the screen in anime form and shrugged it off for the moment. By the end of the series, Chris was sitting in silence, lost in his own thoughts. Cheree wasn't certain she'd ever seen him so quiet before in his life. Ren was in the same condition... and had been reduced to tears several times during the watching. She'd been expecting his reaction to seeing Nuriko die... especially since that seemed to be what triggered his memories to begin with. She was more worried about Chris at the moment, though... he'd gone into this knowing nothing about it and now had his past shown to him all at once.

His back was against Cheree's chair, his head bowed as his arms rested on bent knees. His hands were idly toying with the hem of his t-shirt as he fought to reconcile all he'd just seen. He and Tasuki had been the only ones that survived... if the others remembered the past, would they even *want* to put themselves at risk like that again? Back then, there was a duty... did they have that same duty now? There was no Konan now... no warring country set on taking control... what was their call this time?

Cheree cleared her throat softly, standing from her chair and grabbing her backpack. "I'm... going to go steal the shower for a bit." It was a lousy excuse, she knew... but this was something that those two needed to figure out for themselves. At least for the time being, she wasn't going to help anything by talking. Once they'd had a bit of time to think things over, she could try and help them sort out what was happening. She'd try once she got out of the shower.

As she walked away, Ren lifted his gaze to watch her, turning back to Chris only after she'd gone. "So... now what...." His voice seemed almost timid, a far cry from his normal self. Chris could only clear his throat and look up to him with one good eye which was threatening to become tear-filled again.

"I don't know. We're here for a reason... same as we were. We just have to figure out what it is. This time, the Miko isn't finding us, we're finding each other. The only purpose for the seishi was to defend their Miko and to summon Suzaku. If that's what we need to do, then so be it." His eye flashed with resolve, his voice steady as he addressed the younger seishi. Someone had to be strong right now... Tasuki was ready to crumble after seeing what had happened in the past. "We have to find our Miko again. We have to find Miaka."

Ren only nodded, his gaze locked onto Chris as if he were the only stable point in his life right now. Save for Jason, that wasn't far from the truth. "Alright. If the story is as dead on as it seems to be, she's in Tokyo." His words came a bit easier now that he had something to focus on other than what he'd seen on the television. He seemed to think for a moment, then looked to Chris quizzically. "I got a question..."

Chris lifted a brow, leaning full back against the chair once more. "What, no da?"

"If we're here... and we all started showing up around the same time last time... are the Seiryuu back as well?"

Chris started at that, looking for all the world as though someone had slapped him. Dear gods, that was something they'd never considered. "It would make sense..." His words were drawn out as he thought carefully. "We'll have to take the chance that they are, no da. No sense being stupid and thinking we're the only ones."

"CHRIS!!! REN!!!"

Both men jumped to their feet, moving down the hall as they heard Cheree calling their names. She stood in Ren's bedroom, just outside the bathroom door, holding something in her hand.

"What... what is it??" Chris skidded to a stop, folding up about two feet of throw rug in the process and Ren barely managed to avoid crashing into him. Both stared at what Cheree held, their eyes widening. Rested in her palm was a small round mirror, trimmed in gold. Ren may not have caught onto it, but Chris knew that Cheree did NOT own anything like that. What caught both their attention was the two symbols flashing in the reflection.

"Sadness..." She stated simply, as one flickered into view. As it faded and was replaced by the other, she narrowed her gaze faintly. "Stretching? I think that's it..." Cheree glanced up at the two, clutching the towel around herself with one hand as the other held out the mirror so they could see. "I'm not sure if that's the exact translation... but I know what they are. Mitsukake and Chiriko are nearby!"

Ren and Chris looked at each other for a moment, the redhead being the first to speak.

"How did you find me, Chris.."

"I saw the news report about what had happened in Central Park..." Chris's words trailed off then and the light of recognition went off in his mind. "They must have seen it too, no da!" Both of them turned towards the door, ready to head out when Cheree's raised voice stopped them cold.

"HOLD IT!" They turned to see her standing there wrapped in a towel, one foot tapping impatiently. "Ren, you're wanted by the cops... do you REALLY think it's a good idea to go back there?" He stopped, about to say something, but the retort died on his lips. "I'm right, you know. Besides, Jason'll be awake soon and I'm certain he doesn't want to deal with me after I dragged him all over creation last night. Let Chris and I go."

Once it was decided that it was indeed the best course of action, Cheree quickly dressed and followed Chris to the door. Chris turned to Ren, who seemed to be about to commence pacing. "Don't worry, no da. We'll be back soon, hopefully with Mitsukake and Chiriko!"

"That's not what I'm worried about..." Ren turned to face them, arms crossed over his chest and a wry grin on his face. "Where the hell am I going to PUT everyone?"

To Chapter 8