Prologue

He stood in the dark, his arms were crossed and his form straight and stiff. His fingers wrapped around his elbows as thoughts raced through his mind. It was a warm summer's night with only the flicker of light from a couple of lanterns lighting the lonely courtyard. Normally, he would find the weather to be quite comfortable yet he felt as if he was made out of ice. His brown hair covered his eyes as his face remained emotionless, hiding the shock and loss he felt.

As a sword he had lost many masters, this shouldn't be much different from that. However, this master was the one that gave him a body, gave him new purpose, a cause to be loyal to and allowed him to find and feel love. He felt cold, empty, angery, surprised and numb. His thoughts continued to race as he tried to make sense of what had happened. It was so sudden, so unexpected that a side of him almost didn't believe it had happened. It had been a half hour at most since he heard the news. He had been the one that had received the message. The next morning he would be the one that would have to tell the rest of the citadel that their beloved Saniwa and his wife had been killed. His eyes lowered to the ground and closed tightly.

His thoughts then turned to the child that slept peacefully inside the building next to him. She was so young, too young to be without her parents. Too young to understand what death was and how it would impact the rest of her life. He had no way of knowing what would happen to her or to the rest of the swords that slept unaware of this great loss. How could he tell them...in what way could he tell them that would lessen the ache and pain? How could he ease their uncertainty when he, himself felt uneasy?

His lavender eyes opened as he continued to rapidly think through possible solutions. His eyes raised and caught sight of the time traveling device. He looked away still trying to think through this current dilemma. Abruptly his eyes turned back to the device he had used and seen used many times. The metal seemed to shine in the darkness somewhat beckoning him to use it's power. Quickly he shook his head. He couldn't resort to that...could he?

'No one would know...everyone is still sleeping...no one would ever have to know. Surely going back in time only a few hours and saving them wouldn't be so bad.' He tried to justify. 'Their child...she needs her parents. We, swords, we need our kind and thoughtful master. I can save them. I...'

Hesitantly he took took a step towards the machine. His eyes sharply focused on it, he took another step, then another and another. Soon he reached his destination. He inhaled deeply while his heart pounded fiercely in his chest. His hand began to lift though it shook slightly. 'No one need know...no one...' His hand reached out and nearly touched the cold, metal contraption when he felt the warmth of another's hand stop his.

"Hasebe." He heard a familiar deep voice say. He turned to find Shokudaikiri by his side. "I understand what you're feeling but you know we can't bring them back. Protecting history, that is what our master would have us do. Even if that means we lose him." Hasebe paused before he nodded and lowered his hand. His comrade and lover was right, he shouldn't save them.

"Who told you?" Hasebe asked somewhat relieved someone dear to him knew this greivious news.

"I over heard you talking with the messenger. When you didn't come back to bed, I decided to come looking for you. Do we know the details on what happened? Or who...?" Shokudaikiri began to questioned, his hand fluttered down and gently touched the other man's as the two made their way towards the house.

"Not yet." Hasebe shook his head slightly as their fingers interlaced. He hadn't been given any real information. He had only been told the news. There was little to tell the others at this point. "I suspect we'll get more information within the next couple of days."

"What will happen to the little miss? And to us?" Shokudaikiri asked, though he knew his comrade likely wouldn't have the answers.

"I imagine we'll be given to another Saniwa." Hasebe answered, though he chose not to think about it too much. He would, of course, be loyal to a new master, however he wished to mourn the one he had just lost before thinking of a new one. "I'm not sure what will happen to Ami."

Shokudaikiri nodded as the two became silent. Soon they reached the room they shared. They lay on the shikibuton matress and soon they were engulfed in the other's arms. They remained awake through the night though they didn't speak much more. Each hoping to find a way to ease the other's pain. So much had changed and neither was sure how those to slept peacefully would react.

-Author's Note-

Hi everyone! Thank you for checking out my Touken Ranbu story. I hope you have enjoyed the prologue and will join me for the first chapter. There's just a couple of things to go over before the story continues.

First, I am an amateur writer, I will do my best to have the chapters errror free but I do make mistakes in my writing and may not catch them until after the chapter has been published. If you happen to notice any mistakes before I do, feel free to point them out and I will fix them. Constructive criticism is always welcome as it helps me become a better writer. I am also new to the fandom and am not a Touken Ranbu expert but will do my best to keep everyone in character. I will try to update every other week but may not always be able to.

Thanks again for checking out my story! I hope to see you for chapter 1. If you have a minute and are so inclined feel free to leave a review. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks again!-Lin

Disclaimer: I do not own Hasebe, Shokudaikiri, Mikazuki or any other Touken Ranbu characters that will show up in this story. I only own my OC. Nor am I making any money off this story. It is simply for fun and entertainment.