Princess Becomes Queen

Fushigi Yuugi is copyright Watase Yuu, Flower Comics, Studio Perriot, Viz and Pioneer Animation. All rights remain theirs and I'm not making a penny off this story (Tamahome would undoubtedly snaffel it all if I did).

The messenger bowed and left the room.

"So - the Priestess of Suzaku has returned to Konan," Soi said thoughtfully.

The Priestess of Seiryuu stood up hurriedly. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "Please - please delay the messenger for a while. I wish - I wish to send a message to  the Priestess of Suzaku." She all but fled out of the room.

Amiboshi watched her go thoughtfully. "Suboshi, attend Lady Yui. Make sure she has everything she needs for her message."

"Yes, Brother," Suboshi replied, following her.

Yui sat on her bed, blinking desperately in a fruitless attempt to hold back the tears. Miaka was back in this world, and she had begun straightaway to search for her Seishi. Not for her. For them.

She fell back across the bed, staring at the ceiling. Its fresco, usually soothing with its beautiful abstract swirls, now seemed chaotic and confusing.

I knew, she thought bleakly. I could feel it. She ended the link, somehow, less than an hour after I got here. Before anything happened. Before it happened.

She turned on her side, away from the fresco, suddenly angry. I kept the link! While she was here, I was there for her, and she knew it! But when I fell into the Book, she abandoned me!

Anger suddenly transmuted into desolate pain. She abandoned me ...

Suboshi sat in the doorway, his back braced against one doorjamb while his feet rested against the other, an unnoticed barrier between the world and his weeping Priestess.

Yui wept, a tangled mixture of emotions pouring into her tears. Betrayal, grief and self-pity twisted through her, all centring around Miaka. Miaka was supposed to be her friend! How could Miaka have done this! When they had been bound closely enough that her uniform had been enough to bring Miaka home ...

Miaka is not my friend anymore. I was wrong. I thought she cared about me, but I was wrong. Nobody cares. Nobody cares at all!

Lifting her head from her fresh burst of tears, she spotted Suboshi sitting in her doorway. He looks worried, she thought suddenly, I wonder why?

"Are you all right, Lady Yui?" Suboshi asked quietly, before she could say anything.

"Why do you ask, Suboshi?" Yui asked. If something's happened, I have to be all right.

"You were - upset," Suboshi replied, uncomfortably. Can't tell her I was sent here, she'd be furious. "If I can help - well," he cleared his throat, "tell me."

Yui blinked. -He cares. Some, anyway.- "Suboshi, tell me. What is the purpose of the Priestess of Seiryuu?"

Now it was Suboshi's turn to blink. "Well, to save Koutou."

"What am I supposed to save it from?"

Suboshi frowned. "Uh, war, I think. War killed everybody I knew, except my brother and me. We're going to end it, Brother says."

"Even your parents died?"

"I guess. I can't remember them." Suboshi blinked. This was stupid. He'd always known his parents were dead. Why did he suddenly feel bad about it? "But I've always had Brother to lean on. He's always been there for me."

Like Miaka was always there for me. "And - and if he's gone?"

Suboshi swallowed. He didn't want to talk about that. It was bad enough when the idea turned up in his dreams, turning them to nightmares. No Brother, and he was all alone ...

"I - I don't think about that. I - I don't know what I'd do." He looked down, and then back at Yui. "But, now you're here, Lady Yui, I'd lean on you."

"On me?"

"Yeah. I know you'll be here for me. Like I'll be here for you."

"Suboshi, you will be here for me?"

"Always."

Always. The word echoed through Yui's thoughts and she made a decision. "Suboshi, would you mind going and fetching me a box? It doesn't have to be very big. I know what message to give the Priestess of Suzaku, now."

Yui folded up the jacket neatly and laid it in the box, the last item of her uniform. Shoes, socks, skirt, blouse, tie and waistcoat were all in there already.

She wasn't used to the layered dresses that ladies in Koutou wore, but she was quite sure she'd get the knack of all the long layers soon.

This decision - whether or not it's right, it's the only one I can make.

"Is that it?" asked Suboshi, holding the lid.

"That's it," Yui replied, gesturing for him to place it on and so seal the box.

"I don't get it," Suboshi complained, as he followed her orders. "You were upset by her, and now you're sending her a present?"

"It's not a present." Yui blinked and looked out the window. "It's an ending."

"The use of princes and princesses as characters in fairytales and folktales, stories told to ordinary people by ordinary people, seems at first to be anachronistic. However, when viewing the characters as archetypes, the use becomes highly symbolic.

"Princes and princesses as symbols are talented, attractive, youthful, pure of heart and innocent; their adventures are reflections of this. It is through their innocence that they escape misadventure, obtain their rewards and break the spells cast upon them, and it is at points where they do not behave in accordance with their innocence and purity of heart that they encounter disaster.

"Kings and queens, in contrast, are rarely seen unless they are "evil" and thus antagonistic to the young hero/heroine. In accepting their role, the king or queen abandons innocence for power, and is shown, no matter whether he/she is "good" or "evil" now, that he/she has at least made an "evil" decision in the past.

"Thus it may be said that a fairytale king or queen has accepted the darkness within themselves, opening the path to maturity and power, while a prince or princess is innocent and thus immature and lesser in power."