Okay, Emi-chan--as promised, HERE it IS--teh next part of teh Hotohori wuv Story!
***SPOILER WARNING!!!***
There are some things I HAD to mention in this Story that give away a few plot details of teh FY storyline--Sorry!
It was a gloomy day, cold and cloudy and *Bleh!* like it often is in Winter, and it was a rather gloomy Hotohori who was sitting on a small bench under a tree in Emi-chan's back yard, staring off into teh hazy distance at nothing, lost deep in his equally gloomy thoughts that reflected teh day perfectly.......
Occasionally, he had been able to lift himself outta this increasing "funk", distracted for a time by teh efforts of teh others around him to get his mind off of his loneliness, but all it would take was noticing that Tasuki wasn't there, or remembering that Chichiri was wearing his mask again [Hotohori had actually gotten USED to seeing teh scar.....and he felt somewhat guilty for being at least teh partial cause of what was happening between teh Monk and Emi-chan.....], and teh loneliness would RETURN in full force, hitting him like a runaway truck.......
"Even IF I'm NOT an Emperor anymore, and can think about my OWN needs, I STILL don't want that to be an "excuse" for making others miserable, too!" Hotohori thought to himself, a certain amount of self-disgust coloring his thoughts in an even GLOOMIER shade of "blue"....But, no matter HOW hard he fought teh feelings, teh handsome former Emperor just couldn't seem to SHAKE OFF teh loss he felt so keenly, OR teh fact that it just seemed to be getting worse with time---
"Maybe I should just go away somewhere by myself, where I won't be such a burden to those who care about me.........."
Hotohori was debating with himself as to whether this idea had any merit, when a voice he didn't immediately recognize spoke from behind him--
"If you keep FROWNING like that, you'll put WRINKLES in that lovely handsome face of yours, Seishuku*, wuv......and THAT would TRULY be a Tragedy....!"
He DID recognize her musical laugh, tho', as he looked up into teh face of HOUKI, his WIFE!
......whom he had not seen since that Fateful Day he had gone off to fight in a war neither he OR his country had wanted........SHE had been one of his last thoughts when......
"Hou-ki......you CAME!" Hotohori cried, leaping to his feet and gathering her into a near crushing hug, wanting to keep her in his arms FOREVER!
"Yes, I DID, my Husband--" she replied, tears in her pretty eyes, "And I OWE you an Apology, for making you wait so LONG.......!"
He pulled back enough to look into her eyes, his own now brimming with unshed tears, a quizzical look on his face--"An APOLOGY......?"
"Yes," she answered with a smile--"You may have blamed Suzaku for teh delay, or thought you were being "punished", and I DON'T want you thinking such things when teh Truth was that it was ME who chose to stay away so long........for teh sake of our Son.....so he WOULDN'T suffer so much from teh Loneliness you knew so MUCH of in YOUR Life, Hotohori......."
He remembered how even when his mother was still alive, he had felt so LONELY at times, an Emperor at seven.........it had been a LONG, hard "journey" to finally find Houki, teh woman who loved him for HIMSELF, NOT just because he was Emperor--and even THEN, it had not been an easy thing to achieve, his feelings for Miaka and Houki's feelings for his Elder Brother still confusing things [Oh, WHY had it taken his Brother's sad Death to make teh two of them realize just how MUCH they had TRULY come to wuv each other.....!?] And then, just when it had seemed that all would be well, an Heir to teh Throne on teh way [FINALLY quieting those PESKY Court Advisors, noda!] and REAL Family Happiness within in their grasp........it had ended, abruptly, in Hotohori's death.........and he hadn't even had teh chance to KNOW his Son.........
Houki was still explaining--
"I DIDN'T want Boushin to suffer teh way that you had, my wuv, so I stayed, even when Suzaku KNEW I wanted to be with YOU so desperately! Since I was teh only Family left to him, and he was teh ONLY Heir, it was important that he grow up STRONG and truly READY to be teh Emperor that YOU once were, Hotohori--you were ALWAYS his shining example, and he grew to wuv you, even if he never......" She stopped a moment, choked on teh emotion of past memories......
"I stayed until I was an old woman--" [tho' she looked JUST as he remembered her, that last day--Suzaku HAD been Kind!] "--and no longer Empress, as your Son now not only has an Empress of his OWN, but an HEIR as well--THREE, to be exact, and ALL named for you-- Seishuku, Saihitei AND Hotohori*!"
"
THREE!!!??"asked a bemused Hotohori, "I have THREE GRANDSONS!?"
"Yes, Dear--Boushin and his Empress are VERY MUCH in wuv with each other--AND, like you with me, SHE is his ONLY Wife--he has refused teh efforts of teh Court Advisors to bring others into teh Palace as Courtesans, citing both MY experiences and teh fact that his OWN Father did "just fine" WITHOUT having to tear young women away from their homes and families!"
Hotohori laughed a bit at THIS! It had been such a CONSTANT "battle" for him, trying to convince those SAME Advisors that he WOULD chose a Wife, but on his OWN terms, Thank You! And wuv had had EVERYTHING to do with it, too, as far as Hotohori had been concerned--he KNEW his Mother had NOT loved his Father, and THAT had always hurt him in a way, increasing his loneliness......
But, NOW, he realized, he was lonely NO LONGER!
"Oh, Houki! Please DON'T apologize for doing what we BOTH know was teh RIGHT thing to do! And it no longer MATTERS how LONG I had to wait--you're HERE, now, and as LONG as I can be with YOU, it will have been WORTH a little loneliness!"
"I MISSED you, you know....!" she answered, her wuv for him shining in her bright eyes, "Every day and every night, my wonderful Husband, Seishuku......"
It had been so LONG since he had heard her call him that, SO DAMN LONG.....!
Their lips met in an intense kiss, each wanting to hold each other CLOSE FOREVER, both a bit afraid to let go, for fear they might be taken from one another again........
They stood that way under teh tree for a VERY long time....noda.......!
A bit More to Come, YET----
*Seishuku is his given name, Saihitei is his "official" name as Emperor, and Hotohori, of course, is his Seichi name, and teh most IMPORTANT one of them all!