Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7 or any characters affiliated therewith. I only own Aya and her family. Neither do I own "When You Believe", "The Prince of Egypt", or any Disney material in any way or form.


Chapter dedicated to Kathleen, who I admire even though I am younger than she.
Two days later, Aya and the samurai arrived at the Firefly House. Ran had left the group just before Masamune helped the samurai and farmers escape via the elevator train nearby, saying that she would rather find the two cold-blooded men who had destroyed her home and people. Heihachi had looked downhearted as she said her goodbyes, but he let her go. Upon arriving at the brightly lit establishment, the judgmental tomboy was ready for something that wasn't to her liking. Quite the contrary occurred. A beautiful young woman with a delicate face led the group to a large party room with a blond man whose hair went in three directions. Aya looked skeptically at him, but her gaze was broken when Kambei spoke.

"I'd like you to meet my old mate, Shichiroji." He gestured to his left. Aya directed her gaze to him and he nodded in her direction. She returned the nod. Katsushiro, however, accidentally mistook the young lady beside Shichiroji as the one Kambei spoke of.

"Lady Shichiroji?" he questioned shyly, blushing as he gazed at her. Kambei cleared his throat loudly.

"Katsushiro, this guy." Katsushiro looked at Shichiroji and mumbled an apology, his eyes downcast. More polite conversation was made, but when the disturbing topic of the Shikimoribito was touched upon, the young courtesan named Yukino interrupted.

"That's enough scary talk for now." She clapped her hands and a shoji slid open, revealing a long line of employees bearing trays of food.

"I want you all to have a taste of the Firefly House experience!" Yukino said smiling. Aya raised her eyebrows as the women bowed and stepped into the room. Heihachi, who sat next to her, noticed the slight gesture.

"You're not used to this, are you?" he asked, looking at Aya and eyeing the food at the same time.

"No, I'm not. But then again, neither are you," she replied. Heihachi shook his head and thanked the woman who brought food for him. Aya looked at Akio, who was sitting on the other side of Kirara. He was eating slowly, and Aya caught him stealing sidelong glances at Kirara.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Aya thought as Kirara passed a bowl of food to a slightly blushing Akio. Kai, on the other hand, had talked up a storm with both Komachi and Rikichi, telling them bits and details about the child's home. Although the dinner was a lively affair, Aya couldn't help but feel very melancholy. She supposed it was just homesickness, but, then again, maybe that wasn't the reason. Suddenly, she stood up and bowed inYukino's direction as everyone looked at her.

"Lady Yukino… Would you permit my brothers and I to give you all some entertainment for a while?" she asked politely. Yukino looked slightly surprised, but she nodded.

"Will you be needing anything? An instrument perhaps?"

"Do you have two flutes that my brothers could borrow?" Aya asked.

"Yes. Ayame!" Yukino clapped her hands and a young woman with a pretty round face slid open the shoji screen.

"Ayame, could you bring Lady Aya two flutes please?" The girl nodded and soon returned with two bamboo flutes. Ayame offered them to Aya and she took them, carefully cradling each in her hands. Then she looked at Akio and Kai, jerked her head slightly, and they stood up. The kyoudai stood in front of the whole group, Kai and Akio on either side of Aya, sitting down. Aya looked at Yukino, who nodded. She turned to her brothers and whispered. They nodded back to her and then Kai began to play a legato and sad melody. Yet, there was also a ribbon of hope drifting through the music when Akio joined in. Aya began to sing, accompanied by alternations between music and the lower singing voices of her brothers:

"Many nights we prayed,

With no proof anyone could hear.

In our hearts a hopeful song

We barely understood.

Now we are not afraid,

Although we know there's much to fear.

We were moving mountains

Long before we knew we could…

There can be miracles

When you believe.

Though hope is frail,

It's hard to kill.

Who knows what miracles

You can achieve?

When you believe,

Somehow you will.

You will when you believe…

In this time of fear,

When prayer so often proves in vain,

Hope seemed like the summer birds:

Too swiftly flown away.

Yet, now I'm standing here,

My heart so full,

I can't explain.

Seeking faith, and speaking words

I never thought I'd say…"

As she sung, the group of samurai, farmers, and Firefly House members looked on, amazed at the ability of the three children. Not only could Kai and Akio play an exquisite piece of music, but all three could sing like Heavenly Beings. The siblings finished the song, stood up, and bowed. The responding applause was almost more than they could take. As the three resumed their places, they were highly praised. Komachi threw her hands around Kai's neck and hugged him tightly.

"That was a great song, Kai! But maybe you could make it less sad at the beginning…" she said. Rikichi looked at Aya, his eyes beseeching her.

"Lady Aya, where did you learn to sing like that? Where did you learn that song?" he asked. Aya smiled a sweet smile at him.

"I'm in a singing group back home. The song came from a movie I watched when I was much younger."

"I was just asking… because it gave me so much hope that our village will be saved by the samurai…" he trailed off.

"The song gave me hope too," Kirara said from Aya's right. Akio's face was tinged slightly more than pastel pink.

"It's supposed to make you feel that way," Aya said, pushing a lock of hair out of her eyes, "I… I sing that whenever I need to be reminded that there's always hope for the future. Don't look at me like that. We all feel hopeless at some time or another!" she said, blushing under everyone's gaze.

"That was, indeed, a wonderful song. Lady Aya, Kai, Akio. Thank you for the entertainment," Kambei said.

"All right. I think the young ones should go to sleep now. We all have a big day tomorrow," Shichiroji suggested. Kambei nodded, smiling as he ignored the childish protests from Kai, Akio, and Komachi. Aya stifled a yawn as she stood up again.

"I'm game." Kambei looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"It's an expression," she said, already heading toward Akio and Kai. Once the remnants of dinner had been cleared and futons dragged out, everyone but Yukino, Kirara, Kambei, and Shichiroji bedded down for the night. Aya dragged her futon to the corner of the room and Heihachi followed her.

"Why are you following me now? Just asking," she added hastily. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Heihachi stiffen ever so slightly.

"I-I just wanted to say that I really liked your singing," he said quickly. Aya stopped what she was doing and turned around, smiling.

"I'm glad you liked it-" her voice broke off when she realized how close Heihachi was to her. Her eyes went wide and she stepped back as Heihachi leaned toward her slightly. His brown eyes were locked on hers and in the moonlight that flooded through an open screen his eyes sparkled.

"Whoa…" a voice squeaked in Aya's head.

"Hey, Heihachi!" a young voice broke the tension between the two, causing them both to step away from each other and blush as they looked at the one who'd spoken.

"Do you like Aya?" Komachi asked bluntly. The both of them started, looked at each other, and then looked away.

" You shouldn't be meddling in the affairs of your elders, little one," Gorobei said, tapping Komachi's head. "Although, you have sparked my curiosity…"

"Ai! No! Nothing's going on between us, okay?" Aya said looking at the floor, her face really hot now. Everyone in the room, Rikichi, Katsushiro, Komachi, and Gorobei were looking at Heihachi and Aya.

"Let's just go to bed. Sheesh…" Aya said, lying down and throwing the covers over her head.

" 'Night," she muttered. Katsushiro stared at her still form and caught himself blushing. He rolled over, so he faced away from her and closed his eyes. Soon he heard the others go to bed.

"I wonder what they're thinking right now," he thought. Heihachi was thinking the same thing about Aya. He was lying in a bed right next to her, his heart pounding.

"That was so… weird… what the hell happened to me? It's like I lost control of my body even though my mind told me to stop. I don't even know her that well…" he yawned and turned to face her back.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. If she heard him, Aya didn't show it, so Heihachi merely closed his eyes and fell asleep.


A/N: I apologize for the long delay between chapters. My computer has been down for two weeks but it's up and running again. This is also the first hint at a pairing, but what I have in mind is rather drastic. Kudos to those who could figure out how the song goes.