Secret Visitor
by
Chibijem
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters herein, with one exception. I am making no financial gain from this piece of fiction. I hope you enjoy it.
A/N: This is in answer to the SLML May Challenge: Golden Week.
"Why don't you take a nap and I'll take the terror out for a walk." Aoshi told Misao as he picked up his rambunctious son, Yukiharu. "You should be able to rest with the others away." They had just returned from the train station, seeing Okina and the others off for their week long holiday. He followed Misao up the stairs and into their rooms. He put his son down and watched as Yukiharu plopped himself down in the middle of the room and watched his parents.
Misao crouched down and ran her hand through her son's hair. So much like Aoshi's, she thought. "Would you like to go out with Otosan, Yuki-chan?"
"Okasan," Came the long, drawn out whine. "I'm not little anymore." Rebellious green eyes peered at her through long bangs.
Misao smiled at him and turned her head up to look at Aoshi, standing over them. She turned back to the miniature of her husband. "You will always be my little Yuki, even when you're as tall as your otosan. Now how about you go get changed and I'll make you two a snack for your outing." Both of them watched as he scampered off to change. "He's so full of energy," Misao sighed as she stood and rubbed the small of her back.
Aoshi noticed and wrapping his arms around her, began a gentle massage. "Daijobu desu ka?" He pressed his lips to the shell of her ear, making her shiver.
"Genki des. Just tired. He wears me out."
"Gomen nasai, koiishi. Oniwabashu business has kept me from helping with Yukiharu."
Oniwabanshu? Don't you mean the Wolf's? I know you've been assisting him and the government with things, anata." Misao lifted a finger and pressed it to his lips before he could speak. "Kaoru wrote me."
Aoshi closed his eyes, "I didn't want to worry you." He confessed.
"You know I will worry either way. Better for you to keep me informed so my imagination does not run away with me." She smiled at him.
Aoshi tried to supress a shudder, knowing how her imagination could work, "Hai." He croaked.
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Aoshi approached the large oak, Yukiharu riding atop his shoulders. As he neared, Yukiharu noticed some carving on one of the lower limbs of the great oak. "Otosan, what are those?"
"Hmmm?" Aoshi absent mindedly asked as he turned. He could see the Aoiya just down the hill.
"Otosan?" Yukiharu demanded and pulled on his father's hair.
Aoshi grimaced at his son's tight grip in his hair. The memory took him back to when Misao was a child, not too much older than their son was now. With a smile, he looked up to where Yukiharu was pointing. "I carved those." He answered and walking over, he reached up and rubbed his fingers over the old carvings.
"Honto ne? Doishite?" Yukiharu's curiosity was peeked.
"I kept watch over your okasan throughout the years."
"When you left her with Jiya?"
"Hai." Aoshi replied softly. He set Yuki down and shook out the blanket and sat, placing the bento next to him. He smiled as Yuki knelt in front of him, ready for a story. "That was the hardest decision I had ever made. It tore me apart to leave your okasan behind, but the path I was going to travel was not the place for her."
"She was mad at you." Yuki stated. "Okasan told me."
"Hai," Both he and Misao had decided to teach Yuki about the Oniwaban and who they were and what they stood for. And in that, they told him of Takeda Kanryu and what the man had taken from them both. Even though young in years, Yuki was so far ahead in intellect and reasoning. "I tried to come at least once a year to see how she was faring, how she was changing. After a few years I realized I made the correct decision to leave her with Okina."
"She never caught you!"
Aoshi shook his head, "Her ki training had not started then. Only after I came back, did she start that."
"Why didn't you just see her?"
That one question held so much for Aoshi, "I didn't want to taint her. Iie, I didn't want her to see what I had become."
"Otosan?" Yuki had now moved to sit directly in front of his father. He laid a small hand on his father's knee.
Aoshi smiled weakly, "The first time I came, it was raining..." Aoshi made his way quietly through the undergrowth and climbed the tree. No easy task in the rain with the sunlight dwindling. He sat carefully and turned his attention to the Aoiya, brushing his dripping hair back from his face. He could hear the talk coming from the inn and then he heard it. The one small voice that haunted him day and night.
"But Jiya, I want to go." Misao's voice came clearly through the rain.
"You're not old enough, you're only seven years old. Much too young to be tracking him."
"When then?"
Aoshi was amazed, she wanted to see him, to be with him. He pulled back as Misao came out onto the porch, arms folded, a look of consternation on her sweet face. She had not changed much, tiny as ever but she held herself with a maturity he had not seen before. "I will find you, Aoshi. One day." He heard her say into the night.
"She wanted to leave Jiya to find you?"
Aoshi nodded his head, "Each time I came to check, it was the same. A few years later, she had just returned and was upset that she had missed all of us by just a week or so. She was very frustrated." Aoshi smiled at the memory. He ruffled his son's hair when he, too, laughed, knowing how his okasan could get.
"How long did you come?"
A look of pain crossed Aoshi's strong face, "The last time was right after Kanryu...it was raining then too." Aoshi's voice was soft as he was pulled back into his memories.
Aoshi, painfully, made his way to the tree. He would not be climbing it this night. His legs were too painful; after burying his friends, he had dug the bullets out of his legs and had cauterized the wounds himself. He knew what had to be done, he needed to defeat the Battousai, to obtain the title of the strongest. But first, one last visit to see Misao. He leaned against the tree, catching his breath.
'Raining again,' he thought. 'It always seems to rain when I come.' Then he heard what he was waiting for.
"I'm going and you can't stop me. Jiya, I am old enough and I've gone before. I can't let this information go unchecked. I'm going to Tokyo and that's final."
He could hear her voice clear with conviction; he marveled at her maturity. When she stepped out into the light given off by the porch lanterns, his breath caught in his throat. 'She's turning into such a young lady. I can see it even though she's dressed for battle.' He slipped behind the tree to watch her. He so wanted the comfort of her, but knew he could not give in. To do so would shatter her life, taint her. He knew she would learn soon enough of the demise of her beloved friends. He ran his hand over his face, brushing the rain away; he pressed a hand to his aching legs . 'This is the last time, Misao-chan. The last time I come here to see you. Be happy.' He turned and walked away into the rainy night.
"Why did you think she would not want to see you?" Yuki asked.
"I think she would have loved to see me. I was the one who did not want to see her. Or rather, I did not want her to see me as I was." Aoshi tried explaining. "What I had become, what I would have told her..."
"Okasan, says she's always loved you. And will love you no matter what happens." Yuki replied, coming to his knees and looking into eyes identical to his own. "We all love you, Otosan." Small arms wrapped around his neck and Aoshi returned the embrace.
"I love all of you, too." Aoshi said gazing at the Aoiya.
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Later that night, after tucking in their son, Aoshi was reading reports as Misao read letters from Megumi and Kaoru. "So that was you all those years ago." Misao stated, not even looking up from her reading.
Aoshi froze, "Nani?" he asked in his usual calm voice, not betraying his unease.
Misao looked up then and met his wonderous emerald gaze. "Once a year around the same time, I could feel you so stongly. And the feeling always came from the large oak."
Aoshi sighed, "You heard Yukiharu and I."
"Hai, you forgot your tea and I was bringing it to you and overheard you telling him." Misao came around to him and sat in his lap. "I would have welcomed you each and every time, Aoshi. Every time." She finished, emphasizing the last.
"I frightened you when you came to stop Okina and I from fighting," He reminded her, sadly.
"Only because I thought I had lost you, had lost the chance to save you." She played with the ties to his haori.
"I think, then, you had. I was so lost in my quest. I could see nothing, I was blinded."
"Hai, you were. Blinded by grief." Misao told him, resting her forehead against his. "I thank Kami everyday for Himura. He brought you back to me."
"Iie, it was his words that did that." At Misao's confused look, he went on. "He told me, I was the only one who could dry your tears and answer your questions. The thought of you, koi, brought me back." He finished, pressing a kiss to her soft, trembling lips.
They shared more kisses, relishing the time alone. Then they heard a small voice at the half closed shoji, "Otosan, Okasan?" They shared a smile and rose to see what Yukiharu needed.
FIN
A/N: This is the first fiction I've written where I've made Aoshi and Misao parents. I sincerely apologize if they seem out of character but I think parenthood would have mellowed them both. I send my thanks to my Imoto-chan for suggesting their son's name. Yuki means snow and haru means Spring. Yuki is also the name of one of my favorite anime characters and my current obsession. I hope you enjoyed the story. Thank you for reading.