Title: Trading Places [3/?]

Disclaimer: I don't own them and the idea for the role reversal came from the debate on the fyfanfictionML. Idea for Miboshi was stolen in part from WingSong2003, who graciously betaed this for me. Fuuka and Yuuma are from the Tamahome Novel.

Notes: AU; role reversal of the Suzaku and Seiryuu no Seishi.

Warnings: Language; bastard Hotohori; Yaoi hints

/ ... / = thoughts

~~~~~~~~~~ = scene change

//...// = flashback

*...* = emphasis

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Tomo glanced from the Emperor to the priestess and back again. Both had been staring at each other for nearly a minute. /Why doesn't his Highness look at me like that?/ He sighed in envy, then grinned wryly at himself. /Well, duh. It's because you're not a cute little blonde girl from another world./ He snorted softly. /Cute? Where did that come from?/ "Heika? Lady Yui?"

Yui dropped her gaze from the gentle blue eyes. /His eyes are too warm. He can't be the man from my dreams./ "Forgive me, Heika."

Emperor Haotian smiled slightly. "Do not worry, my lady," he replied, dropping his own gaze. /It is definitely her. But why does she seem so nervous?/ He looked at Tomo, feeling a slight blush cross his face, knowing that the younger man would never let him live this down. "Have rooms prepared for our guests. I want Lady Yui to rest before we discuss our plans to find the rest of the Seishi." He turned toward his throne, smirking over his shoulder. "And Tomo? Do something about that hair of yours."

Tomo nodded, knowing his face was bright red. He glared at Soi when he heard a snicker escape her lips. /I know this is her fault, no matter what she says./ "Yes, Heika." He turned on his heel, leaving the Throne Room, the twins falling into step behind him.

Soi stifled her mirth, turning to Yui. "Come. Once you have seen your room, I'll show you around the palace."

"Have you been here before, Soi?" Yui asked once they had left the ornate room. She spared another glance back to the lone figure on the throne before falling into step beside the older woman. "You seem to know your way around quite easily."

"I lived here for a while, before I married my Kyoshi. The Emperor's men found Tomo and myself when we were just children. We basically grew up within these walls. Some even insisted that I marry the Emperor, but others insisted against it," Soi replied, somewhat sadly. "They said it was too dangerous to have an Empress that was a Seishi."

Yui nodded. "That's understandable. But what did you think?"

Soi stopped outside of the room she had seen the others enter moments before and looked at the blonde, her face unreadable. "It does not matter what I think. It was best for Kutou." She walked into the room, leaving the blonde alone.

Yui sighed, staring at the door. /Oh Kami, please let this be a dream. It feels too real. And I don't know why, but that terrifies me./ She walked into the room, half expecting it to be her bedroom at home. Her heart sank when she walked into the modestly decorated room and saw four faces smiling at her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tetsuya sighed, staring into his coffee. "No mention of Miaka at all."

Keisuke nodded. "Same way it was, last time. We didn't even know Yui was in the book until Miaka went to Kutou."

Kyoshi glanced over the pages again and sighed. "It goes straight from there to the Palace again. Almost as if it doesn't want us to know what's going on in Konan. Though, it seems Yui is getting along well with her new friends. Especially this Soi," he replied. He placed the book on the table and closed his eyes. "But still nothing about Miaka."

"That can only mean that nothing bad has happened to her yet, right? Aside from being thrown in jail and everything," Tetsuya replied. He glanced to his friend hopefully. "Right?"

Keisuke picked up the book and started reading where Kyoshi had left off.

"The young widow waited patiently for the priestess to cross the threshold. This was the real test. If she could enter the Shrine of Seiryuu unharmed, no one could doubt her ...."

~~~~~~~~~~

Soi looked up in wonder at the large statue of the Beast God, then dropped her head in respect.

"What is this place?" Yui was sure she had been here before. It was all too familiar, yet much ... lighter than she seemed to remember it being. She placed one hand reverently on the door, stepping inside the dark blue room.

"This is the Shrine to Seiryuuseikun, protector of Kutou," Soi replied. She smiled when she noticed that Yui was moving freely around the room. "Only Seiryuu's chosen can enter here. The Emperor, his Seishi, his Priests and his Miko. All others are banned from crossing the threshold."

Yui stopped, glancing back to the doorway in which she had entered. She smiled slightly as she walked up to the statue. "Then I guess that means I really am the Miko." She glanced at Soi. "That man, the Emperor, is he ... is he one of you? A Seishi?"

"Yes, my lady. He is the Seiryuu Seishi-"

"Nakago."

Soi looked at the younger woman in shock for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. How did you ... My lady, forgive me for questioning you, but you seem to know far more than you let on."

Yui shook her head. "No, I don't. This," she replied, motioning to the statue, "all of it, seems like a dream. A strange dream that I've been having for years. Only ... different."

"Different, my lady? Different how?" Soi watched as Yui hesitantly reached toward the statue. /Is the statue ... glowing?/ She blinked and the room returned to normal. However, she could swear that she saw *something* in the golden dragon's eyes that hadn't been there before.

"I can't explain it," Yui continued, unaware that anything was happening. "It just seems ... wrong and yet right at the same time. Do you believe in past lives?"

"Can't say that I do, personally. But for something like that, Lord Tomo might be a better person to talk to. He's always saying that in his last life he was an Opera singer, even though he can't sing to save his life."

Yui's hand froze, brushing against the golden statue. "Opera?" She felt her entire body shudder and recoiled from the gold dragon. "I ... think I need some air." Without waiting for a reaction from the other woman, she ran from the Shrine.

~~~~~~~~~~

"... the Priestess continued to run until she realized that she was completely lost inside a part of the palace that was never in her dreams.

In Konan, the Priestess of Suzaku had been thrown into a cell with the two peasants, a young man named Houjun and the old woman. Since their arrival, they guards had delighted in torturing the young man daily ..."

"Man, these guys are horrid. I thought you said that Konan was the 'nice' country," Tetsuya replied. He placed the book on the coffee table for a moment and glanced at the clock. "Almost midnight. Guess I should call Yui's mom and tell her she won't be home tonight."

Keisuke nodded. "I called dad about an hour ago, told him that Miaka was going to be staying with Yui tonight. He wasn't even surprised that she wasn't home yet."

"Your father is a strange man, Keisuke," Kyoshi replied. He stood, stretching, then walked over to the window. "That's why I asked Miaka to move in with me now, before the wedding."

"You ... what?" Keisuke looked at his friend in shock.

Kyoshi shrugged. "It's a two bedroom apartment and I'm used to having a roommate. Besides, we're going to be getting married eventually, anyway, so ..."

"So? Just because you're going to do be married, doesn't mean she has to start acting like a wife. She's just a kid, Kyoshi!"

The brunette looked at him curiously. "What? I wasn't saying that. All I meant was that maybe she might like being away from your father for a while. I'm not suggesting we sleep in the same room, she's already made it perfectly clear that she's not interested in that."

Tetsuya smacked his friend lightly on the shoulder. "Calm down, Keisuke. It doesn't sound like he's planning on seducing her the first night. Just listen to him, okay?"

Keisuke glared at his best friend, then sank deeper into the couch. "I ... I'm sorry, Kyoshi. There was a part of the story I didn't tell you guys. One that may help to explain why Miaka does some of the things she does." He picked up the book, glancing at the symbols on the cover. "When this happened before, Konan was different, Miaka was different. She was studying for the High School Entrance Exams, so she didn't have much time on her hands for other things, like boyfriends.

"But inside the book, all of those worries were gone. For the first time in a long time, she got to be the little kid who never worried about anything. But she also grew up a lot, too. This is going to sound strange, I know, but she ... met someone ... inside the book. He was one of the Seishi of Suzaku. A man named Tamahome. I don't know everything that happened. The book has this little annoying habit of leaving out details about certain things, but it became abundantly clear that she fell in love with him." He glanced over to Kyoshi, only to see the other man staring out the window. "They were married in the end, but since he only existed there, they were separated. I think that's why she tried what she did. Suzuno and--"

"Tatara ..." Tetsuya looked at his best friend, the color draining from his face. "Oh, man. I can't believe I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Kyoshi looked at the others, his face unreadable.

"Suzuno Oosugi, Byakko no Miko, the second girl to get sucked into that thing, fell in love with her Seishi, Tatara. But after everything that happened, they were not reunited until after death. And the strange thing was ... they died at the same time. She, in this world, he, in that one." Tetsuya walked into the small kitchen, returning moments later with a drink for each of them. "I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm gonna need a few of these to finish this story."

Keisuke took the offered drink, placing it one the table as he turned back to the page where Tetsuya had left off.

"And so, the Priestess and the old woman waited for the guards to return with the young man, their fears for his life growing as each second passed ..."

~~~~~~~~~~

Miaka picked at the dust balls on her jacket for what seemed like the billionth time. "He's been gone too long."

The old woman nodded, folding her hands in her lap. "He does seem to have been gone longer today than yesterday," she replied. She smiled at the younger woman. "But I would not worry. Young Houjun is stronger than you think, my dear. He will be alright."

Just then, the doors opened and the guards dragged the unconscious form of Houjun into the dungeon. They barely opened the cell doors before throwing him onto the cold stone floor. Miaka gasped when she saw the amount of bruises and blood that he was covered in. "Why do you always do this to him? He never did a thing to you!"

"Would you rather we do it to you, girlie? I'm sure we could have a lot more fun out of you than we get from him."

"You will not touch her!" The guards turned to see the Emperor standing behind them, glaring. Beside him, Saihitei looked ready to kill them at one word from his brother.

"Heika!" The guards bowed, fearing for their lives.

Tendoh turned to his brother, glaring angrily. "You will take these men and teach them some manners. I will not have *anyone* treated this way, be they Lord, Lady, or prisoner. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Heika."

Miaka froze at the newest voice and turned toward the doorway. /That voice ... I know that voice./ She watched as the young man she faintly recognized as the Shogun left the room with the two guards. Realizing that the Emperor was staring at her, she dropped her gaze back to the injured man she had pulled into her lap. "A..arigatou, Heika-sama."

Tendoh smiled faintly, his anger seeming to fade as quickly as it had surfaced. "It was the least I could do. I do not know my brother's reasons for putting the three of you here, but no one deserves to be treated like that. I'll send for the healers to take a look at your friend."
"No need, Heika." The old woman placed her hands on the young man's body and started chanting softly. Moments later, a greenish-red light flooded the room and the wounds on the young man's body seemed to melt away.

Tendoh looked at the old woman in shock. "You ... you're..."

"I am Suzaku no Seishi, Mitsukake," the old woman replied, bowing. When she stood, her body had changed into that of a man in his late teens to early twenties, with short dark green hair. "Forgive the deception, Heika. But it was necessary for the protection of the Miko."

"You're a man!?" Miaka felt the urge to demand physical proof, but realized that that may not be the smartest thing to do with the Emperor standing five feet away from her.

"The Miko? Are you saying that you know where the Miko is?" Tendoh watched the other man as he turned to Miaka, nodding. The Emperor smiled and immediately motioned to someone in the shadows. "Brother, come. I want you to meet the woman that will save Konan."

A young man stepped from the shadows, dressed in the simple robes of a priest. As soon as she saw him, Miaka felt her heart jump. /It ... can't be! Kyoshi!/



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