Interlude

Yamazaki was walking around the yard looking the ruins. The fire had apparently been for years and years of time. The house was, or had been huge. Also parts of the outer buildings were burned. Yamazaki was able to almost feel the heat through the years and see the firestorm around him. He glanced away for the woman who was sitting under the cherry tree reading the letter.

He could see the tears what were falling over her beautiful face and Yamazaki kept himself out of the way.

Then he saw the humble gravestone and leaned over to look at it more closely.

"Our beloved sensei Yoshida Shouyou."

Yamazaki read the text and startled when he hear the voice behind of him. She was fast to move.

"My uncle. He was this village's teacher. This was his home."

"Tsurara-san…" He didn't know actually what to say. The woman waved the later in his hand.

"Do you know anything about this letter?"

"Gintoki-sama…"

"He is explaining lot of things in this letter. Something about you too. But, do you know who Gintoki is? About, who he really is?"

Yamazaki sighed. Hard questions. "Officially. I do not. An informal basis. I am a spy. So…"

Tsurara smiled and looked the gravestone.

"But I don't think that you know much about his past before the war. Or what happened after that. Gin-san was my uncle's adopted son. My uncle found him middle of the war field. This all is his now but, I doubt that he never come back here. He left after uncle…" She hesitated a bit. "Died and came back just before the Joui war, but after that… After that when he almost lost everything again… He has lost so much. Over and over again." She looked the letter in her hand. "There is something what you have to take to him. But first. Read this."

And she offered the letter to him.

Dear Tsu-san.

I hope you are well there, because I'm pretty sure that you didn't ever leave that place.

I'm sorry that I haven't written and now I write in hurry.

First. The man who gave you this letter is part of the Shinsengumi. But you can trust him. He is a good man. Little bit fool, but I trust him. You can trust him.

It would be nice to say that all is well. For a while, all had been well. Believe me, I'm happy. Around me is a new family, the people that I want to protect. Which I have fought for and I will fight more. There is a noisy annoying little girl with a huge dog and too naive young boy with growing skills. Their life is placed on my hands by her father and his sister. And by my own will.

And there is Takasugi.

I'm sure you remember him.

He goes worse and worse every day and I'm afraid that soon, I'll meet him again and this time one of us falls.

I need my katana Tsu.

Also, there is something else too.

Even if I survive, there is no hope that I will see you again in this life.

Inside of me, in my eyes, is something what grow and destroy me. I have no time, not much.

Don't worry, there isn't pain, there would be no pain.

Say my greetings to sensei.

By my love to you cousin,

Sakata Gintoki


See, I haven't abandoned you. Sorry that this chap was short but I though that I couldn't write more to this