Hi! I hope there is still someone out there reading FoR fanfic even after so many years since the series finished. I read FoR when I was in elementary or middle school and I like it. But when I re-read it recently when I was considerably an adult, I felt so many emotions and insight I did not understand as a kid. There is so much more in the manga than I expect, and I still consider FoR as one of the best manga I've read even after so many other good series appear since the time FoR end. I want to "kyaa~ kyaa~" fangirling or just discuss random things but I can't find people who still in hype at this series, so fanfiction is my way to vent it. I'm still amateur and my ways with words is not that pretty, just write what crossed in my thought. please be easy on me. Sorry for my rants, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Flame of Recca, it called fanfiction for a reason.

The Last Rescue

"HOLD IT!" Fuuko run after the girl who deceived her and took the key disc. The thief girl run across a suspension bridge in panic. As soon as the girl get to the other side of the bridge, she press something suspicious on the base of the bridge. "I'll remember this, bitch! Next time I'll..." Fuuko readied her throwing knives when suddenly the base of the bridge explode and the bridge quickly collapsed. "uh oh..." with a comical shocked face, Fuuko falls down with the debris that was a suspension bridge. As a somewhat desperate move, she manage to throw one of her knife, but missed her target.

With a big splash, Fuuko fall down to the stream below the bridge. It's not like she can't swim, she even better than most of her peers. But the water current is just too violent. As soon as she touched the water, the waves stikes her continously that she can't get a proper chance to breath. Her body, washed by the stream, slammed to nearby rocks here and there. The wave rolled around her making the poor girl can't even pop her head to the surface anymore. "I'm really drowning... What an uncool way to die... At least let me have a proper, awesome fight" she had that strange tought as her conciousness slowly fading. In her faint remaining awareness, she feel a familar hand grabbing her arm. She don't remember anything beyond that.

A castle in the forest. Fuuko, the only daughter of Wind kingdom's ruler ride her horse gallantly as she go hunting with her trusted fluffy white cat. In the depth of the forrest, she encountered a worn-out house with an old lady inside. Unknowingly to Fuuko, the old lady is actually a witch sent by the neighbor kingdom as a spy since their kingdoms is at a warring state. Fuuko get caught in the witch's trap and fell to a dark valley. Failed to kill the princess, the witch send her demon underlings to search and finish off the poor little lady.

The demons fly and shot lasers from their eyes. Fuuko run, and run, and run but the demons has an incredible ways to track down their prey and no matter where she hide, she always found out in mere seconds. She tried to fight back but her arrow get deflected by the demon's hard shell. In her panic, she tripped over a rock. As she was getting frustrated, a demon readied its laser at her. Just some more miliseconds before her doom. She closed her eyes, her hands crossed in front of her face in a futile attempt to reduce the laser's damage on her head. But the expected laser wave never come. As she opened her eyes, a man's back figure, wearing prince-like clothes, comes to her sight. His long dark hair blown by the wind. He slashed the numerous demons with swift flowing sword movement, so beautiful and refined that make her mouth agape, while defending her. But no matter how skilled the man is, he is having trouble with how much the demons swarmed endlessly. He then unleash something that like [overlimit] in video games, then a spark, no, a giant thunder, strikes the hordes of demons in one blow until there's nothing left.

The man kneeled in front of her, offering a hand to help her stand. "Are you alright?" the prince ask with a gentle smile, making the girl blush. 'This should lead to happily ever after' thought the princess, as she draw her face closer to her saviour, close her eyes, expecting a kiss to come, but... "I'm sorry, I guess this is where we should part ways. Our kingdoms is at war. As much as I want you, it can only happen when the peace has come." the prince said with a sad look. He ride his horse and walk away "The next time we met... Definitely..." Fuuko can only look as his silhouette getting smaller and smaller. "Wait! What do you mean by that? Definitely what?" she shout, but no answer comes. "Don't go... Please don't go..." she can only see his shadow fade in a blinding light.

As Fuuko open her eyes, she noticed that the scenery around her changed. There's no valleys, no huge rock walls and cliffs, but a stream and sands and rocky cave. "Oyoyo? Where'm I? I was in the bridge and then..." She feel traces of dried tears in her cheek. "A dream... It's been a while since the last time I have one." As Fuuko look around, she found some metallic, kinda out-of-place in a stony cave, lying on the ground. "Ah! What the hell's with the broken robots!? ...someone... defeated them? Who could have..." her last word isn't meant to be a question as she already has a hunch of the person who made that pile of broken machines. The neat sword cut, burnt smell but no trace of fire, and slight remains of raw electricity is more than clues. Even she haven't see his madougu's power yet, she already know from its name, the counterpart of her fuujin. "So you really come here. Aaahh how depressing, to make you save me again when I haven't repay you." She paused a while, feeling a warmth she can't describe in her chest, and her lips forming a smile. "Thank you...Raiha"

That's it. Chapter 268 is one of my favorite chapter. It was the chapter when I cried for the first time while reading FoR. Not much, just a short rescue scene, but Raiha's feelings is overflowing. That time, they are full fledged enemy, as Kurei said "three-way-battle", not just in different group. He showed his sincerity by leaving her before she wake up. Fuuko don't need to know who saved her, as long as she is safe. Revealing his identity only weight her more when the time come that they have to fight each other. He even used his raijin (maybe for the first time since the seal undone) which cost him his life-force, not for Kurei, but for Fuuko, even againts Kurei's order.

He has the chance to fight her there, he should have, as an uruha, but he choose not to. Maybe he hoped for a slim chance that Fuuko doesn't cross path with him again so they don't have to kill each other. His last line, "The next time we meet... Definitely..." I feel that it can have several meanings, but it really touched me, I choose not to think of its continuation, it is perfect the way it is.

Sorry again for my rants, as I said before, I want someone to "kyaa~ kyaa~" with, to vent out my manga-hangover (someone invent that term, not me, but I forget the name, sorry). The dream was rather absurd but a dream is often doesn't make sense.

Thanks for reading, please review :D