Author's Note: My second RuroKen fic, the idea appeared in my mind at the same time as my "Love and Scars". This was going to be longer, but I decided to cut it shorter.

I find it was a great, and actually beautiful decision on Watsuki Nobuhiro-san's part to let Soujirou live and have a chance to redeem and find his own way in life.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin / Samurai X nor its characters

"Boy! Are you daydreaming? There's still a lot of work to do!"

Everytime the old lady called him out, Soujirou couldn't help but remember Yumi-san, and that would immediately send a smile to his lips. Imagining her offense at being compared to a toothless rough-skinned elderly woman was so funny.

He missed Yumi-san. She was kind. Kinder than anyone else he had met.

Still smiling, Soujirou looked up at the sky that had made him mind wander. The previous heavy cloak of clouds that threatned a long rainstorm had shattered, and now it reminded him of a thick ice cover that someone had smashed a hammer on until it cracked and the shattered pieces now driffted away in a calm pattern, shards of light peeking and gleaming underneath. The sky was turning pinkish on the furthest end of vanishing cracked clouds. It was so beautiful.

"Oi boy!"

"Sorry, obachan!"

"Eh?! Don't call me 'obachan'!" The old lady was born and raised working the fields and was as tough as they came, yet Soujirou thought she had a soft side to her and it made him smile.

On his way north, he found this small village and the small family by the side of the road immersed in hard work. The tough but extremely old lady, a young healthy but thin man and a woman with heavily bloated belly all carrying heavy rice bags. The old lady carried one that almost equalled her height. Soujirou didn't even hesitate for a moment to stop by them, and the elder was the first to appreciate it, even if it was with a "Well good, you have a young back boy! We'll give you supper and a place to spend the night, what do you say? Go pick one bag for yourself, just go to that direction for five minutes with your good legs and get back here, straight ahead, you'll catch us soon enough."

Now over four hours later and countless rice bags after, they were closer to their goal. Soujirou supposed the man would be the old lady's grandson, and the young woman was clearly his wife. Soujirou glanced at her belly when she dropped the rice bag with a soundly tired sigh. It was hard to carry that much weight in such a small body, as he knew all too well, but at least he didn't have to carry a baby too when he was younger.

The woman smiled as if she had known exactly what he was thinking.

"We all work together here." A real family, no one took advantage of another weaker one just because they were stronger.

The strong live, and the weak die.

"It must be tough for you."

"Bah, it's tough for all of us! Tough is what we need to be to live," the old lady said, the lack of several teeth making the words sound slightly odd. "You should see me when I was your age! I could carry three times this weight!"

"Don't mind my grandmother," the young man whispered as he approached Soujirou. "She's always like that."

"I don't mind at all. I'm happy to help."

"You're traveling north?"

"Yes, for now I am. I have a long way ahead, so it's nice to have a good place to sleep and a good meal tonight with you. It's been many years since I've carried rice bags," he said smiling.

"You worked for one of those fancy business men?"

"No, not really. It was a little different."

Soujirou enjoyed the dinner with the family, savouring the broth he was given like it was the best thing he had ever eaten. It was very different from any memory he had. He never shared a dinner with his family when a child, eating the left overs alone when he was even allowed to eat in the house; and Shishio-san, Yumi-san and the few meals he had had together with the Juppongatana were so different from the evening he spent with the old toothless lady and the small family that it was almost ridiculous to try and compare. Though seeing Cho and the old lady together shouting over some random talk would certainly be entertaining.

There was definately a lot to live in his life yet. Soujirou felt happy with the idea and the possibilities there were still to be found and that would teach him a little more each time.

That thought made his eyes stop at the empty bowl, staring past it to the nothingess that was no longer there. He felt happy. He was feeling happiness.

No wonder he had screamed, no wonder he had lost his mind and just screamed until some balance could manage to return to him, some grounding he could hold on to so he wouldn't colapse and be destroyed. It was so scary and so confusing, he felt so lost at that moment fighting Himura-san. Nothing made sense anymore, and there was no right notion on anything. No wonder he screamed.

Now it happened softly, small simple reactions that had emotions hidden in them, creeping slowly into his mind without any real notice. But it was in no means easier. It was still strange to actually feel, it was surprising to see how the emotions appeared apparently out of nowhere, it was a strange notion and he was lost.

He needed to wander for many years to find some form of himself.

"You daydreaming again, boy?"

"Hm? Sorry, obachan."

"Eh?! Don't call me that boy!"

~おわり~

Author's Note: It's been a pleasure writing these two Soujirou fanfics, and they actually provided an unexpected but needed help for myself. I don't know when I'll write more, hopefully soon.

Meanwhile, please enjoy watching The Legend Ends/Densentsu no Saigohen in Japan and all the other countries who will get the premiere! Give a high pitched mental scream for me when you see Soujirou's breakdown moment :)

Thanks for reading. Hope you can drop a review.