Everything was gone.
Everything had vanished into the smoke and flames... Everything but the screams.
She knew they would haunt her for years to come.
The young girl looked around, desperate to find someone she knew, a familiar face, a familiar place, but in every direction she could see nothing. There was no way out.
She chose a direction and started walking, not daring to look down when she stumbled.
.oOo.
Megumi opened her eyes, her breath coming raggedly. It took a moment for her to recognize her surroundings.
~I'm in Aizu. I'm home.~ She looked around the clinic, now familiar to her as "home" should be. It was almost a year since she'd come back. Always, around this time of year, the memories came...
A glance outside showed her the flame hues of the leaves. Autumn. Eleven years since the battle at Aizu Wakamatsu. The battle where, she'd since learned, the younger of her brothers had lost his life. She rose and went about her morning ablutions.
Today was the day, she remembered. Eleven years today since she had struggled her way out of the flames, away from the death-cries and the dust and the stench.
Life must go on. There were too many now who needed healing, and she would not let them down. ~I cannot ever make up for those who are lost to us, but I will always remember them, and I will honor their memory by living, and by healing. I promised Kensan. More importantly, as he would tell me, I promised myself.
~I will never forget you, my brother.~
The day was bright and clear, the sky a crisp blue. No clouds marred it, no shadows hung over the land on this brisk autumn day of 1879. A breeze ruffled her hair as it danced through the trees.
They still bore scars, some of them; nothing was safe in a war zone.
Surprisingly, no one waited for her on the benches along the clinic wall; she remembered that she had made no appointments for the day but there were always some minor complaints. Someone always had a cold, or a stomachache.
There was always something that needed doing. She turned to go back inside.
"Megumidono?"
"Kensan?" She turned, so quickly she felt briefly dizzy. Indeed, the redhead was there, supporting someone who looked to be in great pain. The reason was obvious; he was injured badly, his shoulder bleeding profusely.
The young man looked up.
"Hideniisama...!"
"Neechan." The wounded man struggled to smile.
"But... But you're..."
"Yes. I came to say goodbye," the youth replied. "I'm sorry it took so long, Neechan."
"Hideniisama... I... Let me tend your wounds."
The child shook his head; he was barely fifteen years old. "No. It's eleven years too late. I couldn't come to you where you were, baby sis. But you're home now. Now I can go to be with our parents."
She dreaded the answer, but she had to know. "And Toshi?"
"Oh, he's around somewhere. You'll see him long before I do," Hide said enigmatically.
Megumi shook her head. It was all too much! "But Kensan, what are you doing here?"
"This one doesn't really know."
"Don't lie," the youth said sharply. "My sister likes you too much for you to lie to her."
Kenshin bowed his head. "Forgive this one. Your brother brought me along to help make a point."
"I don't understand."
"Yes, Neechan, I'm dead. But you mustn't forget about the living. You must remember those who work to make the world a better place and who have lived. Remember the soldiers and the policemen, the firefighters and the doctors, the teachers too. We're Takani. You should know better. Honor the memory of those who have fallen, and honor the lives of those who fight on."
Kenshin, unsurprisingly, looked rather embarrassed at that. "This one does not understand why he, of all people, was chosen to accompany Takanidono on this visit. There are plenty of others who fought in the Bakumatsu on the same side as you."
Hide winced. "But that is the point. It's not a matter of who's fighting on what side. It's what you're fighting for."
Megumi shook her head again. "I know that Kensan fought to protect those who couldn't fight alone, or for themselves. I know that he wanted nothing more than a world where people can find happiness and be secure in it."
Now Hide nodded. "We fought for the same thing. It just happens that the leaders we followed believed it would work in different ways. But I'm glad you understand."
"I wish you were still alive, Oniisama."
At that, Hide grinned, the cocky, overconfident grin of youth. "Nah, you know what? I don't. I'd've made a horrible doctor, especially for the Takani line. I'm gonna go get reborn as a cop or something. I miss you, sis..."
.oOo.
Megumi opened her eyes and smiled sadly. "I miss you too."
She rose and opened the door to the clinic.
[AN] In loving memory of those who were lost in the attacks eleven years ago today. May their memories always burn brightly in our hearts and their sacrifice not be for nothing.
The battle at Aizu did take place in Autumn, though it was in October and November. [/AN]