Disclaimer: I do not own Ruruoni Kenshin

Epilogue: A Spring Day

"Seta Soujiro, we have been given orders by the Emperor to release you," declared the prison guard as he unlocked the heavy splintered wooden doors. "Follow me. Sir Fujita is waiting."

Soujiro followed the guard through the hallway. Shouts of unfairness, and "release me" could be heard from the other inhabitants of the prison. Apparently unaffected by the typical prison day, the guard continued his task. Soujiro however, remained perturbed by their comments.

After all, he had murdered the head of the police force Okubo Toshimichi; that in itself should lead to the death sentence. But why on earth is he being released? Yet, he has only been in prison for three days tops.

"Ah…you are here." Saito stretched his arms to put out his cigarette.

"Konichiwa, Saito-san."

Saito leaned back in his chair and examined Soujiro from head to foot. An amused smile soon appeared, "Seta Soujiro, by orders of the royal emperor, you have been pardoned."

"Pardoned…?" mumbled Soujiro contemplatively.

"Emperor's orders."

"Arigato, Saito-san." Soujiro prepared to leave, but turned back to ask one final question, "May I ask if you know the whereabouts of Ayasaki-keibu?"

"I've been told to not tell you, but I am sure your foolish head should be able to figure it out on your own, as foolish minds tend to think alike."

"Hai. Wakarimashita."

"Hmph…the fool is bidding farewell to his life support." Saito mumbled as he pulled out another cigarette.

[Earlier that morning]

The gate of the royal court swung open releasing the officials from the politically saturated room. The decision had been made on the fate of the notorious right hand man of Shishio Makoto, Seta Soujiro. Malevolent leers were being directed at one particular individual exiting the court.

"A productive day, ne, Saito-san? Expending my favor from the emperor, losing my favor with the emperor, and now, heading out to bid farewell to Dr. Crane…and perhaps my freedom as well."

"You have made a handful of enemies in there."

"Hai, they are not going spare me any kindness either." Katsuya sighed, "I had expected to retire in the near future, but it looks like that path has been sealed away."

"A decision you have to live with." Saito turned and head in the different direction leaving his companion. "Well, I have my orders."

"And I have my farewells." Katsuya stopped short in her steps, and called with a hint of hesitance. "Saito-san…"

Saito briefly paused in his stride waiting for his companion to finish, but quickly continued on his way. "Tell me what you want over dinner tonight. Tokio has asked about you, and rather than me having to spend the time to explain, I rather that you come and explain for yourself."

"Hai."

At the Tokyo train station, the trotting horses and squeaking carriage wheels were drowned by people clamoring about readying to depart on their journey under tranquil blue skies. It was truly a beautiful lively afternoon but all this was lost to Dr. Niles Crane; this day was a melancholic day of separation, a day of final good-byes. For Dr. Crane, the absence of his close companion at his departure was causing him extreme anxiety.

Seeing Niles gripping his luggage nervously, Narugami attempted to ease his worries, "No worries, Crane-sensei. I'm sure Ayasaki-kun will be here any minute now. He probably just got caught up in a case."

Unfortunately Narugami's attempt was futile. The mere mention of Katsuya being caught up in a case caused Dr. Crane even more anxiety.

Narugami placed his hand on Nile's shoulder to call him, "Crane-sensei." No response. This time Narugami gives Niles's shoulder an additional little shake, "Crane-sensei. The last of the passengers are starting to board the train."

Niles turned and looked straight at him. Placing both hands Narugami's shoulders and with a determined on look on his face, Niles stated in a clear voice, "I'm not leaving yet. I must…" Niles stopped short in his sentence as a voice whispered in his ears.

"Yes, you are."

Niles immediately turned toward the direction of the familiar voice, which belonged to none other than Fuyue, who stood beside him in a simple furisode. "You have deferred quite enough train rides, Dr. Crane. This is the last locomotive that will get you to Yokohama in time. There will not be another Europe bound ship for the next few months. It is advisable not to miss this one, else I shall be the scorn of your fiancé."

"Ahh…" shouted Niles in utter shock.

"Crane-Sensei!" Narugami instinctively swerved Niles behind him alarmingly and came face to face with Fuyue.

Taking a deep breath and calming down a bit, Niles steps forward and attempts to clear up the misunderstanding. "Narugami-kun, it is alright. I know this young lady. Fuyue-san, please allow me to introduce you to Narugami-kun."

He quickly steps back realizing the error in his manners and close proximity. After all, she did make Niles cry in terror, or so he had initially thought, but now it seemed like more of a cry of surprise. "Sumimasen." Narugami tinged in awkwardness, His eyes dilated yet his brows furrowed at her familiarity, for he could not pinpoint as to why she looked so familiar. "Sumimasen."

"It is a pleasure to have your acquaintance." Fuyue bowed politely.

Narugami returned her bow, "Pleased to meet you."

"It is good to see you well, Ka…er Fuyue-san."

"Katsuya-han bids me to come say his farewells for him. He wants to let you know that he will certainly miss you very much, and that he will always be grateful to you and your kind heart."

"I will most definitely miss Katsuya-kun as well. I will never forget our times together. Please let him know that he will always be welcomed to visit me in England." Niles scribbled his place of residence on a sheet of note paper and handed it over to Fuyue.

"Arigato-gozaimasu." Tears trickled down her eyes as she bowed deeply expressing her gratefulness to Dr. Crane.

"Oh…they are doing their last calls, Crane-sensei. You must hurry."

"Yes...yes…I'm coming…Please wait for me…" shouted Niles to the train crew as he ran toward a compartment. Turning back around, he yelled, "Good bye, and take care!"

"Have a safe trip, Crane-sensei!" yelled Narugami with his hands at the side of his mouth.

"May we meet again…" murmured Fuyue.

Narugami turned to face his newly acquainted companion. "Miss, is there any place you would like to go?"

Fuyue smiled inwardly amused at Narugami's obliviousness. "I thank you for your concern, Narugami-han, but at the moment I have some business I must attend here."

"No problem, Fuyue-san. It has been a pleasure to meet you. If you see Ayasaki-kun, please tell him that he better make time for me. I will be staying in Tokyo for some time. I will be waiting for him at the local police station later, but first I will be heading to the Okonomi-yaki shop I saw this morning."

Fuyue bowed in affirmation, "Certainly, Narugami-san."

"Arigatou, Fuyue-san. Please excuse me." Narugami headed back towards the markets.

"How long have you been there?" questioned Fuyue.

"Just a few minutes." Soujiro emerged from the dispersing crowd. "I was just going to wait for you to finish your business before approaching."

"Say what you must, and leave me be. I am a rather busy person, and have not the time to humor anyone at the moment with useless conversation."

"Fuyue-san, Arigato."

"I should have thought my words were plain. I have not the time for idle..." Fuyue paused noticing the direction of Soujiro's gaze.

"The chain watch…it is no more…" Fuyue curtly replied to his unspoken question as she began to walk away. I have exchanged it for the Sword of Damocles.

Soujiro remained still, contemplating on the intonation and words of Fuyue's answer, "It is no more." He could not help but sense an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and loneliness emanating from her. "Wait…Fuyue-san!"

Fuyue ignored his call and continued on her way. Nevertheless, the resolved Tenken, refusing to let the conversation end so coldly, impulsively reached out and held her back by snatching her right arm. Fuyue's breathing momentarily ceased at the sudden move from the Tenken. Her endeavor to avoid as much public attention as possible had been thwarted by the sudden action by the Tenken, whom the crowd so presumed to be her romantic lover.

"Baka…" Fuyue mumbled.

Endeavouring to end this public scene as quickly as possible, Fuyue tried to tug her arm out his grasp, but it remained locked. Soujiro's grip was firm, yet Fuyue felt no pain.

Refusing to look at Soujiro, Fuyue stated plainly, "You are a free person now. Do what you want to do and leave me be. "

The crowd continued to gossip about the supposed couple.

Cheating lover. Cold-hearted woman. Rich man. Poor young chap.

Why am I made out to be the bad guy again?!

"You are absolutely correct, Fuyue-san. I am a free person now. Free to do what I believe. Though I do not fully comprehend your situation, I know that for certain you have helped me. And now, I understand my path…I am not letting you go, Fuyue-san, not by yourself…I want to help you like you have helped me."

The words "I am not letting you go" replayed itself on her mind and overshadowed the rest of his speech. Fuyue turned her head and looked at him, stirred by his words, her eyes welling up with mixed emotions.

"Fuyue-san…"

"Soujiro…Iikan...(This is bad)" Not allowing her emotions to get the better of her, Fuyue swiftly turned away, cutting the eye contact, and once again attempted to dislodge herself from his grasp. Her resolve would not to allow the Tenken to get involved any further in her already complicated life. However, the Tenken remained firm in his decision and maintained his grip.

"Fuyue-san, I will pro..." Before Soujiro could finish his sentence, Fuyue had sunk down to the floor displaying a vision of despair.

"Please let me go…you are hurting me…" Fuyue uttered as if in pain.

Soujiro instinctively lets go. "Fuyue-san. Gomen-nasai (I'm so sorry!). Daijoubu ka (Are you okay)?" Taking advantage of the situation, Fuyue quickly got up and pushed herself through the crowd. "Fuyue-san," Soujiro softly cried to no one in particular. At a loss for what to do, the stationary Soujiro could only hope that Fuyue would be alright. "Saa…she is cold as usual. I wonder what I should do now…"

Author's note

At long last, I uploaded an epilogue to this story ne? Saaa...it's been almost a decade since I last updated. I was reading over the reviews one day, and of course, as a result, I felt a huge pang of guilt for not loading the epilogue that I alluded. So, I endeavored revisit the epilogue, which I wrote years ago. One that I did not publish because I was not satisfied. Hence, I started to edit, and what came out was a sequel. So stay tuned for much less angst and lotsa fluff, yes, after many years, my writing style has evolved -for better or worse? Saaa...we'll see ne?

Anyhow, for the usual history tidbit, this time featuring the mentioned Sword of Damocles! Yay! Sword of Damocles is a quite a popular Greek legend. Its about a king, who offered to switch places with a man named Damocles, so that he could experience what life is like as a ruler. Of course, Damocles took the offer, but he soon learned a big lesson. It is a short and interesting story, so please read it and find out more.

Till next time, please review. See, reviews do work! I'm back to continue this story!

Kiriakis