Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7 or any character names affiliated with it. The only character I own is Miyuki.
Dedicated to my friend Katie. May you find happiness even though I have moved on.
Miyuki was sitting in front of the fire in her house waiting for Heihachi to show up.
"He said it wouldn't take long. It's been almost 3 hours now… maybe I should lie down for a bit, until he comes back." She thought as she lay down on her bed and faced the door. Miyuki kept hoping that if she closed her eyes, Heihachi would be there when she opened them. But she was so tired from chopping wood that she soon fell asleep. Little did Miyuki know that just as she fell asleep, Heihachi was almost to her house. He tapped on the screen that hung in the doorway, and when there was no answer, he poked his head inside and looked around. The fire was still going and there was nothing inside except for a compartment to hold bowls and chopsticks, and a scroll above Miyuki's sleeping form that said one thing: Honor.
"Oh… she's sleeping… maybe I shouldn't have come…" he thought. But then he heard something and looked around, wondering where it came from.
"Mom… Dad… run… the Nobuseri… help…" Miyuki mumbled in her sleep.
"She's dreaming… about her parents? What do the Nobuseri have to do with her parents?" Heihachi wondered.
Suddenly, Miyuki cried out, "NO!" and she opened her eyes. Heihachi ran inside and hovered over her with a worried look on his face.
"Heihachi?" Miyuki whispered weakly.
"Are you ok Miyuki?" he asked. Heihachi sat down next to her, gently lifted Miyuki in his arms, and held her close to him. Miyuki noticed that she was sweating and crying. She also realized that Heihachi was holding her close, but she was too scared to care. She buried her face in Heihachi's chest and cried harder.
"I saw… my parents… my mom… the Nobuseri… they kidnapped her… and my dad… they… they killed him…!" Miyuki sobbed. She wrapped her arms around Heihachi's neck and cried into his shoulder. Heihachi didn't know what to do, so he held Miyuki closer and whispered comforting words to her. Eventually, Miyuki stopped crying and slowly felt her fears drain away as Heihachi held her. She also found her voice calm enough to speak.
"Heihachi… what took you so long?" she whispered, wiping the tears away from your eyes. He let Miyuki pull away a little, but didn't let go of her.
"Kambei-sama just took a long time deciding what to do. But I couldn't wait to get out of the meeting and see you again Miyuki…" He said, smiling.
Miyuki looked up at him in surprise and saw that his face was very tender. She couldn't help but gaze into his eyes, and she saw that his eyes seemed about to overflow with kindness and caring. But what Miyuki didn't realize was that the space between their faces was slowly disappearing. Heihachi closed his eyes, held Miyuki closer, and suddenly, he kissed her on the lips. It was a soft, gentle, passionate kiss and Miyuki didn't know what to do.
"Miyuki… I felt that shock again… Now I know that I wasn't just imagining that spark… that connection when we first touched…" Heihachi thought.
Miyuki nearly panicked. "Heihachi… I… Wh- What do I do!"
Heihachi slowly opened his eyes and saw that Miyuki's eyes were open and had a surprised and confused look in them. He blinked and broke the kiss.
"I-I'm so sorry Miyuki… I… I'll leave now… I'm sorry…" he stuttered. He got up to leave and was about to walk out the door when Miyuki leaped up from where she was sitting and grabbed his hand. As Heihachi turned around, Miyuki saw he was blushing. She gently put her hand on his cheek and brought him closer to her. Miyuki's face was bright red as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to Heihachi's.
"I can't explain it Heihachi… but I know it was no accident that we met…" Miyuki thought. Heihachi wrapped his arms around her waist and Miyuki knew he was thinking the same thing. They stayed there for a long time before they slowly pulled apart.
"Miyuki… that was…. so…" Heihachi couldn't go on.
"…magical… I know…" Miyuki finished for him. He still had his arms around Miyuki's waist and she couldn't pull away. Every time she tried, Heihachi only pulled her back toward him.
Finally, Miyuki spoke up, "Heihachi… I need to sleep now. You should go back to the other samurai and get some sleep too…"
"But I don't want to. I want to stay with you Miyuki…" He protested.
"I know. I want to stay with you too… But you should go back. You don't want to make the other samurai worried about you." She replied, looking at the floor. Heihachi gave up.
"They won't miss me. But if you really think so, I'll go." He said.
Heihachi let Miyuki go and turned to the door. He looked back at her one more time and smiled.
"I really like you Miyuki." He said, blushing again.
Miyuki blushed and smiled at him, "I like you too Heihachi." He walked out the door and into the night, going back to the other samurai. Miyuki felt her heart pounding and she put her hand over her heart.
"No, Heihachi," she thought, "I think I like you more than just as a friend…"
