Days passed in the little house. Mugen slept a lot, waking to complain that he didn't want anything when Fuu tried to coax him to eat. He usually managed a little food, but his appetite didn't pick up even with the doctor's teas and he was slowly losing weight. He had always been thin, but now all his bones were beginning to stick out.

He had never been so scared in his life. It wasn't death he was afraid of-he had faced it and nearly fallen to it so many times it had ceased to have any real meaning to him. It was being unable to fight against what was killing him that was so frightening. He would have liked to disbelieve Fuu about what the doctor said, but he could feel the truth in his body. It was in the fatigue that never went away no matter how much he slept, the taste in his mouth that tainted even the water he drank, the constant ache all through him. Always before when he felt this bad, he had planned what he was going to do to the person who had put him on his back or reveled in the thought that he had finished them off. Now there was nothing to do but wait.

Mugen hated feeling so helpless and he took it out on Fuu. She was unfailingly patient with his outbursts and that aggravated him too. She was always so nice, although to be fair, a new concept, he had to admit she had always been that way. It gave him a strange feeling to think of how sad she looked when she told him what was wrong with him-almost as if she couldn't bear the thought of him dying. Maybe she couldn't. Mugen had never forgotten that night by the river when Sara was about to kill him and Fuu threw herself across him, begging for his life. He had always wondered how she knew Sara wouldn't kill her too. And now she was working herself to death taking care of him and he was probably going to die no matter what she did and for some reason he was finding it upsetting to see her so tired and worried over him.

He heard her come in and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, and she came over and knelt by the futon, stroking his hair back from his forehead. "Mugen?"

He sighed. Why couldn't she just leave him to die in peace? Opening his eyes, he growled, "I ain't hungry."

Fuu smiled. "I know, but I want you to try anyway." She had made some of those tiny dumplings he liked so much and he sat up slowly and reached for one. He chewed it and swallowed it, nauseated by the bad taste in his mouth, and shook his head.

"I can't, girl."

"Then have some tea."

"No!"

She looked at him sternly and he backed down, took the cup she offered and swallowed the contents, then ate another dumpling. He shook his head at more, and Fuu remembered the day they met and he demanded fifty dumplings to get rid of some rough customers in the teahouse she was working at. The thought of how strong and healthy he had been overwhelmed her and she closed her eyes for a moment, then said with forced brightness, "It's been five days since Jin left-I bet he'll be back any minute. Once you get the right medicine, you'll feel a lot better."

Mugen shrugged. "Or he won't get back in time and I won't last much longer." He saw the pain in Fuu's eyes and cursed himself. He just didn't want her to get her hopes up-he didn't like to think of her crying over him any more than she already had. He cast about for something nice to say-not his forte, but he had to try. That grinding pain was back in his head and he didn't think it would be much longer before he had another attack. This could be the last time he was with Fuu and he was tired of laying around while she slaved over him. Then inspiration struck. "Isn't tonight a full moon?"

Her eyes widened with surprise, then she smiled, remembering how tuned he was to nature. "Yes, it is."

"Let's go outside and look at it."

"You're in no shape to go anywhere." Fuu started to stand up and Mugen reached over and caught her arm.

"Come on, girl. It ain't gonna matter one way or the other if I go out for a little while."

Fuu bit her lip. What he said was true and maybe it would do him good to get some fresh air. "You're not walking around outside and that's final. What you can do is sit on the porch. We can still see the moon from there." She gave him a take-it-or-leave-it look and Mugen grinned, knowing when he was outmatched.