During a quick stopover in Shikimori Land, the samurai left Yukino's boat for a war surplus land cruiser loaned to them by the Shikimori people. Shichiroji piloted the military vehicle while Heihachi kept herself unobtrusively out of sight at the back of the vessel.
On the route to Kanna, the 5 samurai and 4 peasants came across a patch of strange fruit-bearing plants in the desert. They stopped the land cruiser and got out to see if there was any sustenance to be found in this strange oasis. But the large round fruit they saw had thorny shells and did not look edible. Yet Kikuchiyo insisted that this could be an important source of nutrition. "We used to grow it in my village," the mecha said. "They're called 'stink buns'."
He took one of the fruit, broke its shell open and began feasting on its yellow flesh. Heihachi followed suit. The young woman cracked the thorny shell open and got a whiff of the fruit's pungent aroma. There was something strangely bitter and almost alcoholic in the scent but she boldly took a bite of the fruit's soft flesh. It was almost creamy and melted in her mouth. Shichiroji made a face at the smell, but Heihachi said to him, "Try it, it isn't bad!"
"It stinks!" Kyuuzou complained as she turned her face away from the 'stink buns'. Then all of a sudden, she ran from the scene. In a flash, Kanbei was running after her, Shichiroji was running after Kanbei and Heihachi was running after Shichiroji.
They soon came upon the sight that had gotten Kyuuzou's attention. In a nearby sandpit lay the wreckage of two giant Nobuseri. Where had they come from? Heihachi approached a piece of mecha debris and started examining it cautiously. "It seems like they had been hit by main artillery," she concluded after a moment of contemplation. The dead robots were apparently victims of the Capital's awesome firepower.
"Is there anything we could salvage?" Kanbei asked, surveying the pieces of broken mecha lying around them in the desert. In response to the commander's question, Kikuchiyo dug something out of the sand - a giant mechanized sword used by the Nobuseri. But, when detached from the robot, it could also be piloted by a human driver.
The blade did not seem to be running too well but Kanbei had the idea of using the sword to fly them to the Capital. It would run faster than the land cruiser.
After a cursory examination, Heihachi said she could get the giant sword to fly again. She started work on repairing the cutter, but before long, the sound of Komachi crying interrupted her concentration.
"Kikuchiyo is going to die!" the child sobbed.
In response, the robot promise that the girl he would never leave her. At that, Komachi declared that she would marry him when she grew up. The amused robot laughed and warned the child, "My appetite is very good."
"I like you very much. I'll feed you."
"I'm so touched." Kikuchiyo wept his robot tears, "Am I such a good person?"
"Yes you are." The little girl declared without hesitation.
"I'm the happiest person in the world!" The new fiancé declared as he put Komachi on his shoulders and spun around with joy.
Heihachi peered down at the mismatched couple from her perch on the giant sword. She smiled a small, sad smile. "At least someone else might get to live happily ever after with someone they love," she thought. The female samurai silently wished them well. Then she turned back to her work.
--
The desert night was cold. The samurai and peasants lit two fires. One for the men and one for the women. Shichiroji and Kanbei were sitting around one fire, poring over the blueprint of the Capital. Kirara and Komachi were gathered around the other fire. Heihachi was still sitting above in the cockpit of the Nobuseri's pilotable sword, tinkering away in the light of the flickering fires.
Kanbei raised his eyes towards Kyuuzou. The warrior woman was sitting alone on a rock some distance away from the group. "Have you been to the Capital?" he asked the lady dressed in scarlet.
"Yes, once, with Lord Ayamaro," the red samurai replied.
"Are its offensive capabilities the same as they were during the Great War?" Kanbei asked.
"Yes," the slim blonde replied without turning to look at him.
Kanbei wondered out loud as he looked down at the plans for the Capital. "How should we handle the main engine?"
Heihachi piped up from above, "We have to shut it off. If we simply blow it up and let it fall to the ground, then the surrounding earth will die from the pollution."
Shichiroji looked up at the mechanic. He said, "That is to say, there would be no earth on which to grow the rice that you love so well."
"It is as you say," she replied in a near-comic tone, "So, for the sake of rice, we'll have to do our very best!"
As always, the maiden cared for others. She was a warrior with a heart. "If only all samurai during the Great War were that way," the blond samurai sighed to himself. He regretted they had not met earlier.
"We'll leave the main engine room to Heihachi then," Shichiroji said to Kanbei. At that moment, Kirara approached the two men bearing a tray with two teacups. She knelt down silently beside them. Shichiroji took a cup of tea from the peasant and turned once more to Kanbei. "Do you have any plans?"
"No," his friend said abruptly. Shichiroji and Heihachi gasped simultaneously. But a moment later, the redhead realized the veiled meaning behind Kanbei's "no" – it was a refusal of Kirara's love. The samurai woman noticed that Kanbei made no move to take the teacup from Kirara's hand. Faced with his inertia, the peasant girl had to set the teacup on the flat rock before Kanbei.
The man Shichiroji did not have the same intuitive sense as Heihachi. He took his friend's word at face value. The aide addressed Kanbei, "No???"
Kanbei replied, "This time, we may be going to our deaths."
Shichiroji and Heihachi almost instinctively looked towards each other. For a long moment, Shichiroji held the maiden's gaze. Then the mechanic turned her face from him and went back to her work.
She heard Kanbei's voice again. The dark man was speaking to Kirara, "It is late, go take a rest."
"So he is dismissing her as gently as he can," Heihachi surmised.
The young farm girl replied, "Do not worry. I am at your service."
"So she is unfazed by his refusal and is still trying to reach him." Heihachi guessed. "Well, she is brave and persistent."
"She is a good child," Shichiroji commented as he watched Kirara's departing figure.
"Indeed she is a good child. I guess Ukyo did have good taste to take a fancy to her," Heihachi sighed. Being a good girl did not guarantee luck in love, that was clear by now. Kanbei looked down at the cup of tea made by Kirara, then he cast his eyes on Kyuuzou, sitting silently with her back towards him.
No more words were exchanged on the matter. All three samurai turned their attention back to their work. At long last, the mechanic called down to the commander, "I'm finished."
"Thank you. You've worked hard," Kanbei replied kindly. "But before you rest, can you briefly familiarize Shichiroji with the controls? He will be flying us to the Capital tomorrow."
Shichiroji climbed into the cockpit of the giant sword and sat down beside Heihachi. She shifted slightly to make more room for him. Then the mechanic gestured at the controls and said in a businesslike tone, "I guess these are not unfamiliar to you. You used to fly a similar model during the Great War, right?
She went over the different controls in the cockpit in fair detail. Finally she asked, "Any questions?"
"No," Shichiroji replied, "It's 90 percent similar to the flying cannon I piloted during the war."
The mechanic said, "Then I'm going down to get some sleep. Feel free to stay up here for as long as you want and familiarize yourself with the control panel."
The redhead rose from her seat. That was when Shichiroji seized her by the hand. The female warrior looked down at him, almost surprised. But she did not pull away.
"In case I die tomorrow, there is something I need to tell you," the blond samurai spoke urgently.
The samurai maiden gazed at him with large sad eyes.
"I wish, I really wish … that I had met you a long, long time ago." Shichiroji said as he looked into her dark, liquid eyes. "I want you to know that even if we can never be together, I will always love you."
Heihachi bit her lip. "So, this is his 'goodbye' before he goes back to the woman waiting for him," she thought. But she would not have things any other way.
The blond samurai continued speaking earnestly. "You are kind, beautiful and special. You deserve all the happiness in the world. I hope you find it."
"It would be better if he had not spoken at all!" Heihachi thought as her tears fell inside. But the tomboy smiled her usual broad, cheery smile at the young man. "I wish you all the happiness that this life has to offer," she answered.
The samurai woman took both Shichiroji's hands in her own and held them for a long moment. Finally, she let go of the other warrior and said, "Tomorrow will come and go. Everything will work itself out, ne."
The petite mechanic climbed out of the cockpit and jumped to the ground. Without a backward glance at the giant sword, she headed over to the fire around which the other women were huddled in sleep.