First I'd like to establish that this chapter is not really that important. Just Author's Notes stuff. So you can feel free to skip it and just read the actual story.

Soooooooooooo… yes. This story was inspired by the song "Travelin' Soldier" by the Dixie Chicks. I was going to write it as a songfic… and then I thought about the fact that a lot of people won't click on a story if it's a songfic. And I feel like the story is something I'd like to share with more than the select few who are willing to click on a songfic (if you aren't one of those people… don't feel bad. I am very rarely willing to read songfics). Anyway, another advantage of not using the song as anything more than inspiration means I get more wiggle room with the storyline. So now on to the disclaimers.

I do not own all the characters. I think you all are smart enough to figure out who I own and who I do not own. Neither do I own the song "Travelin' Soldier."

The lyrics to "Travelin' Soldier" are as follows:

Two days past eighteen
He was waitin' for the bus in his army green
Sat down in a booth in a café there
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair
He's a little shy so she give him a smile
And he say, "Would you mind sittin' down for a while
And talkin' to me? I'm feelin' a little low."
She says, "I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go."
So they went down and they sat on the pier
He said, "I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care
I got no one to send a letter to.
Would you mind if I send one back here to you?"

I cry, never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her, waiting for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end, waiting for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone, when the letter says, a soldier's comin' home

So the letters came from an army camp
In California then Vietnam
And he told her how his heart might be loving all of the things he was so scared of
He said, "When it's getting kinda rough over here
I think of that day sitting down at the pier
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while."

I cry, never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her, waiting for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end, waiting for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone, when the letter says, a soldier's comin' home

One Friday night at a football game
The Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang
A man said, "Folks, would you bow your heads
For a listing of local Vietnam dead."
Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read and nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair

I cry, never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her, waiting for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end, waiting for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone, when the letter says, a soldier's comin' home

I cry, never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her, waiting for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end, waiting for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone, when the letter says, a soldier's comin' home

A soldier's comin' home…

Yeah… so that's the song I was inspired by. Good for you if you actually read the lyrics. If you didn't… oh well.

Oh yes. I have not been able to find a definitive age in the series for Kurama (perhaps one is given in the anime; in the manga, there isn't one. All I know is that he split ways with Yomi a thousand years ago). Therefore, based on the minimal amount of information I have, I have placed Kurama's age at around one thousand four hundred eighty. I'm not sure it will really establish that anywhere in the story, but that's what I'm using, for future reference.

So… you all know the characters I don't own, you all know what song inspired me, I suppose now is time to introduce the person really writing the story.

Kiyoshi Tanaka: Seventeen, born April 17, 1994, black hair, green eyes, Japanese (sort of…), five foot eight, left handed, poisonous purple plant with healing properties growing out of his left forearm, unbelievably sarcastic, but I love him in spite of all that.

So, I suppose you may now proceed and read the actual story.

Kiyoshi'sGirl64 and Kiyoshi