AN: Another in my series for the 30 Kisses Community on LiveJournal. Another peice of Jin & Fu fluff. This is set sometime during their journey. As always - I do not own Samurai Champloo or its characters.
Fuu woke up with a smile on her face. They had gotten to sleep at an inn last night. Mugen had won some money playing Go and it was more then enough to pay for two rooms as well as dinner last night and breakfast this morning. The beef ramen had been so delicious last night. And this morning there was still breakfast to look forward to. Just thinking of the food made her mouth water. There was a knock on her door as she finished getting dressed.
"Fuu – c'mon. We're going to miss breakfast because of you." Mugen hollered through the door while he pounded on it.
"Just a second, Mugen! I'm getting dressed."
"If you don't get out of here, by the time I count to ten, I'm going to break this door down – right now."
"Don't you dare, Mugen! I'm not even decent!" Fuu screamed back while she tried to put on her kimono even faster.
"Aww – you don't have anything for us to see, Fuu." Mugen taunted her.
"Mugen! Shut up. Just go down and eat. I'll be right there! Jin, are you out there?"
"Yes, Fu." Jin replied quietly.
"Please take Mugen to breakfast - I don't want him breaking my door."
Fu heard what sounded like Jin and Mugen arguing. Finally the sound of their voice got farther away until she couldn't hear them at all. She laughed at the two men. Thank God for Jin. He would never threaten to break my door down or make crude comments about my body. I am going to get Mugen back. She finished brushing her hair and practically ran down the stairs to the dining room. Fuu's stomach growled, reminding her just how hungry she was.
She entered the dining room and something just wasn't right. It was that smell. What was it?
Not food. No, the smell of food was always a good thing. This scent brought back bad, horrible memories. She glanced at the table. Flowers – that was it. As Fuu stood in the middle of the room, tears started to flow from her eyes as the memory flooded her vision. She tried to hold back. Still, they came. Fuu felt like a total idiot. There were a few other people in the room besides Jin and Mugen. They were whispering and pointing at her.
Mugen got up first. "Fuu – c'mon, they want to serve breakfast. What are you doing?" Of course he acted like an insensitive jerk – true to his form.
Fuu struggled to get the words out. "I-I-I can't, Mugen." Her feet were frozen in place. She wanted to run out of there but her body would not move an inch.
"Fuu, Fuu, Fuu! You need to get a hold of yourself. Just forget whatever you're thinking about and come and eat. Nothing's worth getting this upset over."
"Don't ever say that, Mugen!" Fuu hollered without meaning to. "Just go and eat if you have to!"
Fuu felt her face get warm as she blushed. Everyone in the room was looking at her. She tried her legs again – they finally moved. Fuu ran outside as fast as her legs would move. She didn't want to be around anyone at that moment.
Fuu ran out the door and tried to catch her breath. The flowers. They smelled like her. Fuu's mom had always smelled liked gardenia – as long as she could remember. When her mom was alive it was a good smell. Fuu suddenly remembered a time from when she was a young girl. After her mother read her a story, she would kiss her good night. It was then that she would smell the gardenias as she pulled her mother close to her in a hug. It wasn't those memories that made her cry. It was the other ones - those memories that reminded her of death. Many of her mother's friends had given her gardenias when she did. Their whole damn house had smell like a gardenia shop. Now every time she saw or smelled those damn flowers they reminded her of that terrible time. She let the tears flow out of her eyes. Then she sensed someone was watching her. Why can't Mugen just leave me the hell alone?
"What do you want!" She screamed and turned but it wasn't him. "Jin?"
Jin didn't say a word – true to his form. Before she realized what she was doing, Fuu threw herself into him and sobbed on his chest. Although Fuu thought she wanted solitude, she had really wanted someone to hold her. And as quiet as the samurai was, Jinn held a special place in her heart. She felt better as Jinn put his arms around her shoulders and stroked her back. The hurt went away as Jinn held her. She realized at that moment that she had felt somethingfor him. She wasn't sure what it wasbut Fuu knew that what she felt was more then freindship. Fuu didn't say a word and just enjoyed the moment. For the first time in her life, Fuu realized that silence was golden.