He could not remember ever seeing her work on a patient. Certainly he had never seen her attending to someone as badly injured as Himura Kenshin was. He had seen the look in her eyes when she first saw him. They were not the eyes of a physician.

~She loves him.~ A slow trickle of resigned amusement passed through him briefly. ~Almost, I could begin to understand why.~

And then Sanosuke had spoken to her, had brought her back to the physical plane, and her eyes had changed; she was a competent and disengaged physician throughout. He could see the moment afterwards when she had closed off her woman's heart and was relying solely on her impressive medical training.

The wounds were severe. Even with her dispassionate remove, she gasped in sympathetic outrage when she saw the chunk that Shishio had taken out of Kenshin's shoulder.

"So many scars... And now he will have so many more," she murmured at one point as her needle flashed red in the lamplight.

He wondered at how much they both had changed in the weeks since their paths had first crossed. There was a darkness in his heart that he feared would never truly lift. He remembered when he and the others had arrived at Kanryuu's mansion with a pang; though it had been more than a week after their arrival before he actually encountered the woman, he already knew her role. Still, he had been surprised by her strength; already she had been held there for almost two years but she had never given up hope.

There had been one instance when she had tried to seduce him into "breaking her out of there". He had been a little intrigued though he'd given no evidence of it, turning her down cold. But she hadn't persisted, and he had wondered whether the attempt was for form's sake, or if she had been genuinely disappointed.

Watching her now, he saw her tenacity had flourished with freedom; he could ascertain no more about the meaning behind that long-ago attempt, although seeing the difference in her refreshed his sense of just how nasty a character Kanryuu had really been. ~To keep such a creature as she is caged for so long… He kept his doom close to him, and reveled in it. Sooner or later she would have found a way to kill him, if she couldn't escape.~

She seemed tireless, focused so completely on tending to the patient's wounds. Meticulously she cleaned them all, wincing slightly each time Kenshin's unconscious body flinched away from the renewed pain. Carefully, with tiny and precise stitches, she swiftly closed the gaping slashes in his chest and back. Not until every last injury had been tended did she even sit back to take a deep breath.

"Why don't you rest a little, Megumisan?" Misao noted that it was well after midnight and she was sure Megumi hadn't eaten dinner; she had gone directly to Kenshin's side after her arrival in the early evening.

"No. Yahikokun also needs tending." As she stood up, they could see she was tired. She ignored their concerned looks, only stretched and moved to stand by the boy's bedside.

Before she could react, someone was placing a cup of hot tea in her hand. "Drink this first." Startled, she looked up at Aoshi. His expression was unchanged; tired and calm, tinged very slightly with his own pain, he pressed the cup into her palm before turning to pick up the soiled bandages. "I will bring more supplies in a moment."

Bemused, she drank. The tea was rather strong; the bitter heat of it flooded her chest and helped to ease the knot while perking her up a bit.

She washed her hands again before kneeling by Yahiko. "There are fewer open wounds; a lot of the damage he took is from shock. Still, I will do what I can…" Just as she had for Kenshin, she cleaned and stitched the larger lacerations on Yahiko's body. The eastern horizon was beginning to lighten when she leaned back at last.

"And the rest of you," she said, shaking her head slightly. "All of you need to…" she cut herself off with a yawn. "Need to –"

"No way. You're not touchin' anyone else tonight, Kitsune," Sano raised his head from where he'd been dozing nearby. "It's almost dawn. You've been at this all night and you can barely stand."

"Fine. I'll take five minutes, and then I'll look at your wounds," she said, sitting back against the wall and closing her eyes.

He studied her for a long moment. "Yeah. Take five minutes," Sano said, not bothering to hide his skepticism. "You just sit back and relax for five minutes."

Kuro, who had just awoken in order to begin his morning routine, stepped inside in time for Sano's comment and looked at the visitor askance. "You really shouldn't talk that way to the doctor who's going to treat your injuries."

Sano shook his head with a tired smile of his own. "Look at her. She's not hearin' anything."

They did. Kaoru and Misao had returned to bed some time ago, but Kuro and Aoshi looked across at Megumi, who was slumped over in a pose of complete exhaustion, already sound asleep.

"She's done this before," Sano said softly, "worked herself past exhaustion trying to save a patient's life. Only… It's never been Kenshin before." The other two men didn't miss the flash of emotion that crossed Sanosuke's features.

~Guilt?~ Aoshi wondered. "Kuro," he said after a moment. "Take her to a private room. She is not to be disturbed by anyone until she awakens on her own."

Nodding, the large man carefully picked up the sleeping woman and carried her carefully out of the room.

"She's really somethin'," Sano said softly. "Just don't tell her I said so." Abruptly, with a last quick glance at Kenshin and Yahiko, he left the room.

Aoshi, not having slept, had no intention of doing so. Daylight was rapidly approaching, and there was the Aoiya to run, after all. And if it was in rather sad shape at the moment, there were repairs to be made.

~Although,~ he reflected, ~if I am to be honest with myself, I am not ready to do all that must be done.~ Lightly he pressed a hand to his ribs, which still felt the aftereffects of Kenshin's strike. ~Perhaps it is not a bad thing that he did not take my life, but it will be some time before I feel as though I no longer might wish he had. Even taking a deep breath remains difficult.~

"I won't say a word about your condition, on one condition," Okina said softly behind him. Other than the sleeping patients and doctor, Aoshi had been alone in the room. The old man had apparently come in time to see Aoshi wincing slightly.

"And what condition would that be?"

"Rest. I won't force you to stay in bed, Aoshi, but you're in no better shape than I am right now. Not in terms of the physical labor required to make the repairs to this place. Sleep, meditate, do what you must, but allow yourself to heal. Let that nice doctor take care of you," he added with a teasing leer.

Aoshi's mouth tightened slightly.

"Wait…" Understanding dawned in the old onmitsu's eyes. "She's the one that man kept, isn't she."

Aoshi nodded slightly.

To his surprise, the old man smiled in brief amusement. "She certainly didn't seem to hesitate to order you around," he pointed out.

"She is no more comfortable around me than I am around her. She loves him, for one." Aoshi indicated the unconscious figure on the bed. "For another, I… was part of the problem."

"That's true, but you shouldn't let your injuries go untreated because of the problems of the past. She is a doctor, and a Takani at that, and as such she would never allow her personal feelings to affect her treatment of any patient."

"Perhaps when she awakens," Aoshi conceded. "But only the most necessary treatment."

Okina studied his young friend for a long time. "The only reason you didn't die from that blow – the ONLY reason – is Himurakun's oath. I've seen Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu; its weakest attack is a killing blow. The succession technique, performed without holding back, would split a man in half completely. Even a man such as you couldn't survive that."

"But I did survive. And my injuries… are fully deserved."

"You weren't yourself, Aoshi. You don't have to shoulder the blame for –"

Aoshi did not raise his voice at all, saying very simply, "I do." There was no arguing with the finality in his tone. He sounded almost casual, even as he turned back to watch the sleeping figures in their beds.

Once again, Okina nodded his understanding. ~It's not just those four he holds himself responsible to. He also blames himself for having fallen prey to his own guilt. That, I can't prevent… But he did come back to us. I am very glad that Himurakun was able to keep the promise to Misao… and not to me.~ He sighed heavily. "Go and rest, Aoshi. The rest of us will see to the repairs. I'll send Shiro for you when Takanisensei awakens."

"Aa."

Okina watched Aoshi for another moment before turning away, leaving the tall, silent figure standing over the slight, silent sleepers.

But Aoshi did not stay much longer than Okina had; instead he turned. ~Making breakfast is no great strain.~ He decided to retreat to the shrine for the recommended meditation after he'd attended to the morning meal. Kuro was already in the kitchen when he arrived.

"Okashira! Ah, Aoshisama…" Kuro looked flustered, startled as he was by Aoshi's appearance behind him. "You should try to get some rest." His gaze was full of genuine concern.

Aoshi took the mixing bowl from Kuro's unresisting grip. "I will be fine. There is more demanding work to be done; I will make breakfast."

"If you're sure."

"Go," Aoshi said gently. "I will rest after breakfast has been prepared."

The large man left the kitchen with a befuddled expression, clearly not entirely sure what had just transpired. He went in search of the others to help with the ongoing repairs to the Aoiya, shaking his head the entire time.

Aoshi, left with his own thoughts, returned to his musings about the strength of the rurouni's hold on the people who cared for him.

From the moment he'd first discovered the man's existence, there had been something indefinably different about the slight redhead. Even before knowing his former identity as the Hitokiri Battousai, he had sensed that there was more to the deceptively delicate figure under that unruly red hair… How the woman had found him, he did not care to guess, but time had shown him that it was merely Kenshin's luck and nature to attract those in need… Including himself.

Even in his own darkest hour…

The dojo had been locked, but that was no obstacle for him. Perhaps they were all out on errands; no matter. If he waited, doubtless someone would show up, if only to check on things… and then he would have his prey in sight.

He had closed the door but not locked it when he entered, and had stood for over an hour, wandering around the pathetic little room, studying the damage that hadn't been repaired. There was a large hole in the wall, barely patched up; a slash that seemed to have come from Battousai's own blade, and another, deeper, which had not.

His patience paid off, there was a noise at the door. He stood still, waiting…

The doors half flew open, and he half turned. The woman at the door was not the owner of the dojo; although she was very familiar to him.

Takani Megumi. What they'd endured together… Memories flashed through his mind, many of them unpleasant. He had made a decision that brought him to that life. She had had no choice…

"Shinomori Aoshi." She had gone paler than normal.

And now, he knew, neither did he. He turned and started towards her, slowly and deliberately.

"Where is Battousai?" It emerged as a demand, not a question, but that was fine. She was unimportant; the only thing that mattered was finding and killing him.

She did not answer; her knees seemed to have given out beneath her and she had fallen to stare at him in horror.

"Where. Is. Battousai."

"I… I don't know."

He asked her once more, kneeling before her as though she was a small child. He reached out, pushing a lock of her hair back, cupping her cheek.

Somehow it felt right, as though her face belonged in his hand. As though there was something more meant for them than just this brief moment… Because if she did not give him the answer he sought, he had no more use for her. And usefulness was all that mattered anymore. Emotions had no place. Only strength mattered; emotions were signs of weakness.

"If you don't answer me… I'll kill you."

She had refused… And then the wolf had come.

Somewhere deep inside him, relief had flickered briefly; he quelled it instantly. Her life did not matter. The wolf only mattered because he was freely giving the information that the woman had withheld – to spare her life? But the man's motive did not matter. Only the Battousai's whereabouts.

And the Battousai was not here.

~But her reaction,~ he mused now, ~was so typical… All those who he protects seem to feel compelled to return the favor, even at the cost of their own lives. Idiots,~ he thought almost fondly. ~Don't they know that it would break him if they gave up their lives protecting him? It goes against everything that matters to him…~ But perhaps that was the attraction. It gave them more to fight for, to have something to protect beyond themselves… The way his friends had flocked around him even on his way to Kyoto, the way Megumi had dropped everything and run as soon as she'd learned of his need… Aoshi shook his head as he stirred the pot. Now, freed from his own compulsion, he too felt the little redhead's pull. It wasn't that the small man seemed to need protection; to the contrary, most of his friends believed him invincible. Those who knew better seemed limited to himself, and the doctor who had worked herself into exhaustion tending to his latest injuries.

He would be a long time expiating the guilt he felt over his actions: the obsessive drive that led to so much killing and suffering had come entirely from within. Despite what Himura Kenshin had said, despite Okina's reassurances and Misao's unquestioning faith in him, Aoshi knew the truth. What he had done – and what he had nearly done – was unforgiveable.

~But look at how he lives his life, and how she now lives hers,~ he reminded himself as he deftly sliced vegetables into the broth. ~He atones for his past by protecting those in need. She is fulfilling the promise of her lineage and dedicating herself to healing the living. The last time I saw her, she was planning to surrender her own life… And it's all because of that man.

~Can I do less?~ But even as he wondered, he knew he would never take up a non-killing blade. He might pull his attacks, but he felt in his heart that there were certain evils that could not be forgiven, evils greater than the dark deeds he had done in the grip of obsession.

Still, it would take a lot of thought on the matter.