The Tennyo and the Mercenary: A romance

(By the way, I know nothing about the stories concerning tennyo, aside from what I've seen in Ayashi no Ceres. So I'm making up the rules as I go along.)

Shortly after the defeat of Makoto Shishio, the former members of the Kamiya Kasshin dojo returned home. Sanosuke Sagara glanced down at the small woman who walked beside him. The former tennyo came up only a little bit above his elbow, but seemed taller at times, partially because of her strong attitude. Sano wondered for a moment why she continued to travel with him. Part of his mind desperately hoped it was because she cared about him, but a nagging voice reminded him that she was only waiting for him to sew her a new robe so she could return home. Was that all he was to her? He knew full well the extension of his feelings, but what was in her heart?

Mikamase glanced up for a moment, gazing at Sano. Something had been troubling her for some time now. She remembered why she had originally started to travel with him, but now found the desire to return home lessening. She pondered on this feeling for many days, and had finally come to the conclusion that she cared greatly for Sano. Was this what humans called love?

For a moment, their eyes met, and they both turned their heads away quickly. The others were busy with their own affairs, and did not notice the blush that stung across the faces of Mika and Sano. Kenshin and Kaoru chatted happily, holding hands as they walked. Their steps were light as though they might float up in to the sky with their love. Mika felt her heart twinge with envy for a moment. She was jealous of Kaoru for being able to express her feelings so freely. And she knew that Kenshin accepted and returned her feelings. Tears started to well up in her eyes and start to slide down her cheeks. She didn't bother reaching up to wipe them away, knowing that that action would draw more attention, rather then turn it away.

Sanosuke glanced down again, and noticed the tears that stained Mika's face. His heart froze in his chest. Was he the cause of those tears? A moment later, his heart resumed its steady beat. Yes, he was sure of it. Mika despised his company and wanted to go home so badly that she was crying.

As they continued their journey, Yahiko walked between the two couples. He felt slightly disturbed and disgusted that he was the only one without a companion. He turned his head back, intending to ask Sano a question, but stopped when he saw the expression on his face. And the fact that Mika was crying. He wondered for a moment if they had had a disagreement. He pondered on this for a long moment as they walked and concluded that it was up to him to help them get past it, as Kenshin was too busy being distracted by his romance with Kaoru.

***********************Several days later...***************************

Mika hadn't spoken to Sano during the entire trip back to Tokyo. Very little had been said by anyone, and Mika considered it to have been the most awkward traveling that she had ever done. She currently sat on the steps of the dojo, staring out at the sky. Kenshin walked past her, carrying a load of laundry.

"Oh. Hello, Mika-san." Kenshin smiled as he picked up an article of laundry he has dropped.

"Hello, Kenshin-sama." Her voice sounded dull, even to her own ears.

"Beautiful weather, isn't it?" Kenshin made idle conversation, while Mika replied in as few words as possible.

"I'm sorry Kenshin-sama, but I'm going to leave now." Mika said politely as she stood up.

"Oro? Where are you going, gozaru?" He looked up at her in surprise.

"I want to be alone." She answered, and walked away.

Kenshin watched as the girl walked away. Earlier in the day, Yahiko had told him about a dilemma between Sano and Mika. Supposedly, they had had a disagreement. Kenshin thought for a moment about Mika's brooding behavior. It certainly seemed as though something was wrong. Kenshin didn't want to get involved with a battle, even in the name of love, and would have preferred to let them handle it, but Yahiko had convinced Kaoru to help him make things better. Kenshin sighed, and turned his mind back to the laundry. He would stay out of it as best he could, gozaru.

Sanosuke sat pensively in the forest, resting his tall form upon a tree stump. He had been there the better part of the morning, and did not feel like going anywhere anytime soon.

"You're guard is down." Kaoru tapped him on the head with a piece of wood she was carrying. She had gone out to gather wood when she came across Sano. She couldn't leave him here all alone, especially after Yahiko had explained the situation.

Sano mumbled something in return, though Kaoru simply couldn't make out what it was.

"Did you have a fight with Mikamase?" Kaoru asked, continuing to gather small pieces of wood.

"What?!" Sano demanded, looking wildly at Kaoru.

"It's so obvious that you two have had a disagreement." She ignored his wild look and continued to gather wood nonchalantly "You know, Sanosuke, if you really pride yourself on being a strong man, you should apologize to her. I don't know what happened, but I'm sure she'll forgive you if you hurry up and apologize properly."

Sano grunted as he stood up. "Maybe you're right, Missy." He shuffled off, mumbling to himself.

"Wow, he's really affected by arguing with his girlfriend." Kaoru sighed. "How romantic..."

Mikamase found solitude in the training hall. It was getting to be late afternoon, and all the normal residents of the dojo were busy doing other things. Even Yahiko, who rarely left the training hall, was out with Kenshin and Kaoru with the task of dinner. She was sulking and she knew it, but she didn't feel like doing anything else. She heard a door slide open, and tilted her head slightly to gaze at the doorway. Sanosuke was standing there, as though he had been looking for something. When he saw Mikamase, his face became sober, and he stepped in to the room, closing the door behind him.

"Mika, I've been looking for you." He commented, walking quietly over to her.

She didn't respond; instead, she turned away from him. He knelt beside her, trying to make eye contact. She turned farther from him, determined not to look at him. All of a sudden, he swept her up in his arms, gently holding her close to him.

"I am so sorry." He said in a grim voice. "I didn't know that I had hurt you this much."

Mika didn't know how to respond. Part of her wanted to accept and return the embrace, while the other part of her wanted to shove him away. She didn't need to make that decision now; he released her, raising to his feet.

"I will make it up to you." He said, leaving in such a serious manner that Mika was truly confounded.

"What just happened?" She asked herself as she began to cry again.

For the next several days, no one saw Sano ANYWHERE. Kaoru secretly suspected that he had simply abandoned Mika there, and was quite upset whenever the subject. Mika simply didn't care anymore; without her robe, she could not return home to the sky, and without Sano, most of what she had come to know as a human had disappeared. She was an empty shell; sure, she cooked, cleaned and things like that, but she was not truly involved in them. It was exactly two weeks after Sano disappeared that Kenshin ran in to him while he was on an errand to town.

Needless to say, Kenshin was surprised, but took this opportunity to say what he thought was best.

"Will you be returning to the dojo, Sanosuke?"

"Not yet." Sano frowned. "There's something I need to do.

"Is it something that Mikamase cannot know about?"

"It is for her." Sano answered, and left.

Kenshin watched Sano disappear in to the crowd, and wondered if he would ever come back to Mika.

It was one week after Kenshin had seen Sanosuke in town. Kenshin had had the sensitivity not to mention it to anyone. Mika was growing

more and more agitated by the day; you never knew what would make her angry, or make her cry. She didn't eat, and she no longer cared for doing chores. She simply sat there, in a dark room.

She dully heard soft footsteps approaching her room, along with the scent of food.

"Mika?" Kaoru asked, opening the door, holding a tray of food. "Kenshin asked me to bring this up to you."

"I'm not hungry."

Kaoru sighed at the expected response, and left, taking the tray with her.

"I'm not hungry, and I no longer care." She sniffled, and began to cry again.

Once again, footsteps approached, along with the scent of food. They were not the same soft footsteps that came with Kaoru, though. They were more awkward and heavy.

The door slid open again, and Sano came in to the dim room.

"Mika?" He asked tentatively. She dully moved her head to look at him. She was crying.

"You need to eat something." He stated, picking up a riceball from the tray of food. "Kaoru said you haven't eaten in over a week." She reached her hands toward the riceball, and surprisingly didn't take it from him. Instead, she held his hand there.

"Master..." She tried to fight back the sobs, but it didn't work. Not knowing what to do, Sano reached forward and lightly wrapped his arm around Mika's shoulder. Once she had quieted again, he spoke.

"I have something for you. Something I should have given you a long time ago." He stated, and pulled out a package from behind his back. It was wrapped in simple brown paper with a string holding it closed.

Gazing at Sanosuke with wonder, she took the package he offered her. Carefully, she untied the string and removed the paper. In her hands, there was a rather poorly made feather robe. She lowered her head and began to cry once more.

"You can return to the heavens now. I will not hold you against your will any longer." Sano said softly. He could almost feel his heart breaking, but he had decided that if he loved her, he must release her.

That's why the next thing she said startled him so much.

"I don't want to leave you!"

She dropped the robe and threw herself against him. Taking handfuls of his shirt, she gazed up at him pleadingly. "Master—no, Sanosuke, I do not want to return to the heavens!"

"Mikamase..." He said quietly, completely taken aback.

"If you do not wish me to continue to be at your side, then I will leave—" She choked on a sob, and several long moments passed before she raised her head to meet his gaze again. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. "I want to stay."

"Mika, I want you to be free!" Sano pushed her away, and stood up. He walked sullenly to the other side of the dark room. "They say that when you love something, you will set it free to chose its own path."

"You say that you love me, yet you are rejecting me." Mikamase trembled, taking the robe in both her hands.

"I don't want you to be with me out of an obligation!" Sanosuke avowed, turning back to Mika. Unable to face her for long, he turned away again. "I've wronged you so terribly that I can't even ask you to stay with me."

His eyes were beginning to fill with tears as well. She had stood and walked tentatively over to him. The robe was left on the floor, resembling very much what a feather pillow would look like if you removed the pillow. Mika gently took Sanosuke's hand with both of hers, very lightly as though he may push her away once more.

"I know that I am not much of a woman." She sniffled again. "I'm not beautiful, I'm short, and I don't have the strength of will to do as I please."

There was another long pause as Sano contemplated these words, and Mika thought about her next words.

"Can you accept me like that?"

"Mika, I've already said that I love you! That's why I want you to leave me!" He turned to her, then asked in a very quiet voice, "How can I face you after all I've done?"

She had taken his hand and held it to her face. "Your love is enough."

Because of those quiet words, Sanosuke Sagara could no longer control the tears that had forced their way in to his eyes. He broke out weeping, and fell to his knees.

"You know, I've never cared much for humans." She had tenderly enfolded her arms around his head, and was stroking his hair out of his face. "You're the first one, hm? The first one that I've had feelings for?" She spoke softly, as one might when comforting a child. He was unable to speak for several moments, but posed an interesting point when he did.

"Since you're a tennyo and all, aren't you immortal? I don't want you to be with me for now and yet be sad when I die!" Pulling his head from her embrace, he held her shoulders and looked deeply in to her eyes. She smiled, just a little bit.

"Even when you die, I will die also, and we shall find each other in the next life. Or, if you prefer, we shall become stars together in the heavens."

That seemed to end any other protests that Sano might have had. He changed his grip on Mika's shoulders and drew her close to him.

They were last seen that day leaving the dojo with their fingers entwined.

The feather robe was left in the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo. Mika said she didn't need it anymore.

The End