Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Summary: Loved ones never truly leave us, as long as they're not forgotten.

A/N: Some waffiness for Christmas.

Two Bumps on a Log
By: gure

Enishi sat, knees drawn up to his chin, leaning against a very rough fencepost. With each breath, he could feel his jacket catch on the splinters. Tilting his head slightly, he cast a surreptitious glance at the man squatting next to him. The odor hit him first. That unmistakable scent of an unwashed body. The man sported a pair of much-repaired spectacles, held precariously together with tape. On his head was a raggedy, holey hat. The hat shaded his bespectacled eyes, and hid most of his long, snarled silvery hair. He was clothed in a motley assortment of mismatched, tattered clothes, no doubt garnered from various and sundry charity drives. Two dirty, bare feet poked out from under the shadow of creaky knees covered in patched cloth. It had been many, many years, but he knew this man to be his father.

His face betrayed nothing as he reached a hand into his jacket, withdrawing an old notebook. Staring straight ahead, watching a few bent men roast fish on sticks over a fire, he handed the book to the man he knew to be his father. Dry, wrinkled fingers brushed his as the diary was carefully taken from his grasp. A surprised puff of air met his ears as the man recognized his daughter's handwriting.

A gentle pat on his shoulder coaxed him to look at the man. He was met with a smile as he caught his father's happy gaze. "Well, it looks like we're all here together this day!"

Enishi blinked at his father's cheerful statement. His father continued to smile. "Yup, I have my family with me again. What more could a father ask?"

Enishi looked away, but couldn't quite stifle a tiny flame of hope. He'd never have his sister back, but his father would help keep her memory alive. He couldn't hope for anything more.

Turning back to his father, he answered quietly, "Yes, we are all together."

His father beamed, and Enishi returned his gaze to the bent men roasting their fish.