Konan - Mount Reikaku

[Aleyn of Farronbrook]

"No, I'll be fine." She sighed, and continued fiddling with the covers for a few minutes, then said quietly, "I used to live in the capital. Perhaps you have heard of the Cho family?"  

[RikuHeartless]

"Cho? A merchant family right, I remember hearing something about that because the patron of the family traded at the palace once a year. That's a very special thing, to come to the palace itself for the Royal family to buy things. I remember going to visit him when I was younger, I think I bought a ball, or hairpin for my mother or something, I'm not sure. Then the next year, he didn't come. He used to bring his family sometimes, a girl and a boy if I remember correctly. Did you have bad relations with him? That's why you don't want to go back?"  

[Aleyn of Farronbrook]

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Riku . . . that man . . . was my father. I was the little girl."  

[RikuHeartless]

Riku looked a bit shocked, "Was? You mean he died and that's why he stopped coming to the Palace?" Now I understand why I felt drawn to her, I used to play and make faces at her, and she would answer right back at me, she wasn't afraid because I was a Prince... she might not have even known. "I'm so sorry," he reached over and took her hand, "No one ever told me he died."  

[Aleyn of Farronbrook]

She shook her head.

"Many believe that royalty would care less about who dies in their country," she said softly. "No one would have bothered to tell you." Though tears were steraming down her face, her voice didn't shake. "Father . . . a speeding horsecart ran him over. The driver told us something had spooked the horse . . ." Her hands gripped the covers. "Liang went on a business trip to another town . . . last year . . . he . . . he didn't come back . . ." Her voice finally cracked. "He was supposed to come back in three months . . . !"

The pressure that had been building up inside her chest was too much. Unable to bear it any longer she broke down and wept.  

[RikuHeartless]

Riku sat next to her on the bed and kept a hold of her hand. "You were my only friend when I was a child, you know. I looked forward to everytime your father would come to the palace. Here, you can cry on my shoulder as long as you need to." Others may not think that royality cares, but I do care. I care what happens to every single person in my country, and it seems I am doing a bad job at it.  

[Aleyn of Farronbrook]

She leaned against him, burying her face into his clothes as she cried. Memories came rushing back; Father's face as he announced they were going to their grandparents', the stone still sadness on their grandparents' faces when they told them that Father had just died, Liang's infectious smile as he hugged her good-bye and mounted his horse.

Then a smaller one, one when she and Liang were younger. Her first time in the palace, staring in awe at the elegance of it all. A young boy, teasing but friendly, always delighted to see the things that Father had to sell.

~~~~~~~

When she had calmed down, she apologized for getting his clothes wet, then looked down at the covers again.

"You really were there . . ." she said softly between hiccups. "I remember . . ."  

[RikuHeartless]

"Oh, don't worry about that," he said softly, brushing her hair back out of her tear stained face. He smiled softly when she said he remembered, "I know it seems silly, but I was very lonely as a child, and it meant alot to me to have someone smile and laugh with me. It was like for a few shining moments I got to be a child. I am so sorry for your loss Lian, and I'll do everything in my power to find your brother."  

[Aleyn of Farronbrook]

She nodded and wiped her eyes, smiling a little.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "It means a lot to me, coming from the Crown Prince." Suddenly she remembered something. "Oh, where's Chiriko? I need to thank him for helping us."  

[RikuHeartless]

"It's getting late, so probably asleep, but his room is right there," he pointed to the right wall, "Right next door, my room is there," he pointed to the left. "I'm sure he's worried about you too, so I'll go to my room now." He smiled softly and got up to leave.  

[Aleyn of Farronbrook]

She nodded, and smiled.

"Good night," she said as he left.

She watched the door close behind him and waited for a few minutes, then got up and slipped out. She went to the room Riku had told her, and sure enough, there was Chiriko, sound asleep. Checking to make sure no one saw her, she went in and closed the door.

She walked over to his bed and sat on the edge of it, watching his sleeping face. There were tears in the corners of his eyes; she reached out tentatively, then wiped them away.

"Chiriko," she said softly. "I'm not sure if you can hear me, but . . . I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so cold to you. I can understand completely if you aren't going to ever talk to me again, but I want you to know. The time I've spent travelling with you . . . well, it was really nice. I'm glad to have known and met you . . . and even though you might not think of me as one anymore . . . I still want to be your friend."

She sat on the edge of his bed a little longer, then patted his shoulder and got up, slipping silently out of his room.  

[RikuHeartless]

Chiriko sat up and looked around, he had felt like someone was there. He blinked and laid back down, wrapping his arms around himself. "I hope Nuriko is alright."

Riku went and laid down, though he was unable to sleep. Thoughts came to him about his childhood, and how lonely he always was. He'd never been happy, even though he didn't have to worry about how he was going to eat, and he always had fine clothes to wear, he would give it all up if it wasn't for his deep commitment to Konan. He sighed and tried to sleep, and finally drifted off after a few minutes.  

[Assassin_of_demise]

Kyo awoke to a searing pain in his ribs. He looked down and saw the bandages. Thats right....that woman bandaged my ribs. I belive that was the prince with her though....what would he be doing in the mountains without at least one gaurd. I guess it's a good thing I showed up here then. Kyo sat up and placed his feet on the floor. He got out of the bed he was in and headed outside. He sat on the floor and looked up at the sky. His back was against the wall of the house.  

[TionneDawnstar]

Tamahome came out of house, and saw the injured man standing there. He'd just made sure the Priestess was safe, and that Mika's arm was alright, he was going to get some water then go to bed himself. He stopped though and looked to him. He recognized the man that had fought him several days ago, before he'd come to Mount Reikaku. "Hey! Your that guy from the River, aren't you?"  

[Aleyn of Farronbrook]

She tried to sleep, but couldn't. Her mind was too troubled. She simply lay there, staring up at the ceiling. So many questions whirled in her head.

"Stop it. This is getting idiotic," Sensible-Doctor scolded her softly.

"Ohh, let her think," retorted Secret Romantic. "She's got a lot on her plate."

"Damn right you are," snapped Must-Remain-Single. "How are we going to get those guys off our backs now?"

"We aren't," she said softly, aloud. "They aren't doing anything. They're friends. Let's go with the 'stay single until everything's over' plan. It sounds fine."

Must-Remain-Single grumbled and said, "Yeah, remain single. As if you could."