Chapter 4:

"If You Had It Your Way"

He needed to get out. He needed to get some fresh air. But most of all, he needed to blow off some steam. And what better way to do that than to feel the adrenaline rush of a fist fight. Sanosuke hadn't been in need of one of those for a long time, but even if he had been gone for six years, he still knew where to go to find one.

The gambling house wasn't too far away from the dojo, maybe only about a few blocks and dark alleyways down. If he walked, he'd be able to clear up his thoughts and maybe kick around a miscellaneous object or two on the way there, imagining that jerk, Tetsu's, face was on it. But thinking about Tetsu led him to thinking about Megumi, his Megumi. Sanosuke shook his head as he realized he had no right to call her that anymore and he dejectedly kicked at a pebble in the road.

Watching as it sailed into a nearby puddle, his thoughts drifted back to a night almost seven years ago, when he had been heading from his apartment to the gambling house when he caught sight of Megumi strolling toward the forest. Curiously, he had followed her.

~

Megumi had been walking at a steady pace, so Sanosuke didn't have any amount of trouble catching up with her. He smoothly walked into step beside her, his hands thrust into his pockets yet again, with the usual fishbone dangling from his lips. She didn't seem to mind his company and they walked together in silence through the woods until Megumi took a turn down a path Sanosuke didn't know.

"Where are you going?" he asked her confusedly, watching as she turned off the usual walking path travelers went down and headed into a darker area of the forest. When she didn't answer, he, followed right behind without hesitation, not wanting her to go alone at night in such a dangerous-looking place. Again, he caught up with her easily.

Megumi took another turn Sanosuke wasn't familiar with and he followed her still, watching as she took out her red lipstick and dotted the soft wax against the tree trunks that she passed. He didn't ask questions, he didn't say a thing, only followed her like a lovesick puppy would to its master.

After a few more markings, twists, and turns, Megumi finally stopped as she reached a clearing in the trees and she slowly turned around to face him. She smiled at him then, the moon's iridescent light cascading down her face, making it appear even brighter and adding to the natural glow of her eyes.

"Look over there," she said, pointing out past a few trees to a tiny body of water beyond a series of shrubs.

Sanosuke had never seen it before in all his years of living in Tokyo and he was surprised to find such a secluded body of water that he had never before laid his eyes on throughout all the time he had walked through this forest.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Megumi asked as she pushed past the tiny shrubs in her way to get closer to the pond, "I found it not too long ago when I got lost heading back from a patient's house on a late errand. It was so dark that night that I couldn't really see where I was going. So I followed the only light source I saw and that happened to be the moon reflecting off this pond. I stayed right over there by that tree and fell asleep against it." Sanosuke glanced at the tall oak she had just indicated in wonder. "When I awoke in the morning, it was bright enough for me to recognize things and I made it back to the clinic safe and sound."

"Seems like a nice place to go to. Are you the only person that knows about this place?" he asked her, still gawking at the gorgeous scenery in front of him. Megumi silently shook her head at him, looking up at the moon as if it had just called to her.

"No, I'm not the only person that knows about it," Megumi replied and she turned to him with sparkling eyes, "you know about it too."

~

Sanosuke stopped in his tracks, remembering that later that night they had their first kiss and after having some conversation with her, he had walked her back to the clinic. That was before they started their relationship, before he admitted his feelings for her and hers for him, and now, Sanosuke had the sudden urge to go there. He didn't know exactly why, but he wanted to trust that feeling he had deep inside him that exhorted him to turn around.

And on impulse, he turned, heading in the opposite direction of the gambling house as he changed his destination to one of more importance. He forgot all about his need for a fight as he walked down the dirt path of the forest, the dry leaves beneath his feet creating a soft crunching sound with his steps. He found all the right places to turn by with the remaining traces of red wax along the tree trunks that had somehow stayed in place after all this time.

Pushing at a few stray branches, Sanosuke found his destination and stood still at the clearing, looking over the small pond and the glittering moonlight shining in its reflection in the water. He smiled to himself, admiring the way the moon could look just as beautiful even in the rippling water. But something else in the water's reflection caught his eye, a small figure to his left, and he leaned forward, turning his head around the tree's thick trunk to get a better look.

There Megumi sat, leaning against the same tree he stood by, completely unaware of his presence only mere meters away from her.

Sanosuke held his breath as he caught sight of her. He had always loved the way moonlight hit her face, added shimmer to her eyes. Slowly, his gaze drifted over her, gently flowing down her body like a caress and he ached to reach out and touch her. She seemed so far from him, so utterly unreachable, even though they were only a few inches apart.

"Hey..." he said quietly, sliding past the tree trunk that blocked him from her view and she looked up at him in surprise, "Can I sit here?"

Megumi nodded a few seconds after her initial shock had surpassed and he took a seat beside her with a gentle sigh, leaning back against the tree as well.

For a moment, time stopped, but the spell was broken when they both spoke.

"What are you doing out here?" they asked in unison and Megumi drew back and smiled as Sanosuke scratched his head.

"You go first," she suggested as she nodded towards him and Sanosuke straightened up against the tree trunk and cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very awkward.

"I needed some fresh air. This place just came to mind," he explained, deliberately dismissing the part about his whole reminiscing escapade, "What about you?"

"I was just thinking about something Suzuki asked me earlier," Megumi replied, looking up at the stars that seemed to be reaching out their tiny pointed hands to her, beckoning her to join them in the dark massive sky, "I came here because it's a great place to collect your thoughts. He was... asking me about you."

"Me?" Sanosuke asked, trying to hide the sudden puff of his chest, "Well, what did he want to know?"

"He asked me what his father is like," she answered, her legs drawn up to her side in an elegant lady-like position, "he wanted to know if you were like Sir Ken, or Yahiko, or Tetsu."

"And what did you tell him?" Sanosuke asked, sitting up from where he leaned against the tree trunk so he could look at her face. Big mistake. It used up all his strength to keep himself back from kissing her senseless.

"I told him that you and Tetsu are like complete opposites," Megumi said after a pause, looking back at him with smiling eyes, "cut from two different kinds of cloth. Like fire to ice. Suzuki didn't really understand what I said though."

Again, another silence crept up on them.

"Do you love him?" Sanosuke asked suddenly.

Megumi whipped around to face him with an astonished expression, "W... what?"

"Do you love your fiancé?" he repeated, softer this time, as if the very words pained him from the inside.

"I....! That...." Megumi stuttered, desperately struggling to find her voice, "I... I don't think this is suitable enough for us to be talking about..."

"Why are you avoiding the question?" Sanosuke prodded, his eyes turning serious and he saw her fidget in discomfort beside him, "It's really easy to answer. Do you love the guy or not?"

"I should go," Megumi said quickly, her back growing rigid, and she was on her feet in an instant, brushing the dirt off of her kimono as she turned around, "I can't be having this conversation with you, Sanosuke. Anyway, it's late and I really should start heading back. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

But by the time she turned around, Sanosuke was already on his feet and he gently pulled her back around to face him, startling her yet again. Megumi gasped in surprise as she found herself in his arms and opened her mouth to protest, but she quieted when she saw him looking at her. His gaze drifted down from hers, then lowered towards her lips, and Megumi found herself engulfed with the blazing flames dancing in his eyes.

"Just tell me when to stop," he whispered softly into her ear before planting his mouth down on hers, giving her what Megumi thought to be: the sweetest kiss in the entire world.

Stop him? Hah! She would have better luck pushing Mount Fuji all the way down to China. This was all she had wanted since the day he stopped her from plunging that knife into her heart in Kanryu's mansion, this was what she had been waiting for for almost an entire decade, this is what she had missed so much and cried an ocean for. Stopping him was impossible, but trying to resist was even harder. She had lost herself in their first kiss here that night six years ago, and she was losing herself in it again.

Helpless, her arms slowly drifted to encircle his neck as she pressed harder against his mouth, whimpering softly as she slid her hands across the broadness of his shoulders, beneath his gi to touch the hot skin of his back, and all over the hard muscles of his chest. Sanosuke's entire body stiffened at her reaction and he growled seductively against her throat.

Eager for more, his left hand moved to the nape of her neck, massaging lightly as his right traced down the small of her back, rounding over her bottom, and ran along the back of her left thigh. Reaching the crook of her knee, he lifted her leg up to him, using it as a lock to shackle them both into their own little world and he kneaded the soft white flesh with his thumb. Megumi unwillingly succumbed to his soft caresses and she let out a soft moan from the back of her throat, urging Sanosuke to do more.

He tasted so sweet, like the most delicious hint of honey. His tongue swept into her succulent mouth, teasing her, coaxing her, tempting her. It was all so much better than she remembered. Megumi's hands shifted from caressing his torso to running through the tall spikes of his hair, her fingers running along his scalp as if trying to reach into his very soul.

Six years had been so long...

God, she wanted him. She wanted to become part of him, she wanted to cling onto his body and never let go. She wanted more than to have him as hers, she wanted more than to spend every waking moment making love with him and compensating for their lost time. She wanted it all. She needed it all. She had tried so hard to forget, but she had never stopped thinking about him. And she knew, she was still so utterly and hopelessly in love with Sanosuke Sagara.

Suddenly, a loud crash in the distance caused them both to pull apart and they turned to the direction of the harsh sound. The shadows hid everything from vision, the moon's pale lighting not able to reach past the tangled branches of the trees and neither Sanosuke nor Megumi could see what had happened.

Pulling further away from him, Megumi peered over to the area the sound came from, missing the hurt look in Sanosuke's eyes when she broke the embrace.

"What was that?" she asked with bewildered eyes, suddenly aware that she could be caught doing something that others would find so wrong for her to do but that she found felt so undeniably right.

"I have no idea," Sanosuke said absentmindedly, his attention fully directed to the woman in front of him, his lips growing cold from their separation, "it was probably just an animal or something. Just ignore it."

Dismissing the sound altogether, he leaned down again to continue what they had started, his arms outstretched, but Megumi held her hand up to halt him and he stopped in mid-air, his hands barely touching her slim hips and his lips slightly parted in anticipation.

"We should be heading back now, Sanosuke. It's getting late. I don't want Suzuki to wake up and find me gone," she said, vacillating his intention to kiss her again and she shuddered at the mere thought. It took most of her energy to keep the quiver from her voice. "You should... go back to the dojo too. They're probably wondering where you are by now."

Solemn, Sanosuke nodded in agreement, hiding his disappointment that they had to stop. She was right, after all. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Kenshin had realized he was missing and the short redhead had probably already started a one man search party all over the city. Disheartened, he sighed and followed her out of the forest, his hands settled deep in his pockets.

They walked in silence all the way back to the clinic, not exactly awkward, but not exactly comfortable either. When they reached the door, Megumi turned to face him as he stood a step or two behind her on the porch.

"Thank you for walking me back," she said to him with a grateful smile. Sanosuke gave her a silent nod, a look of longing in his eyes as he watched her distance herself away from him yet again. Megumi bit her lip nervously.

"Good night, Sanosuke."

At that, Megumi turned to the open door and took a step inside, the screen door almost closing behind her when he paused her with his voice.

"Hey Fox," Sanosuke began, making Megumi hesitate in the doorway, "Sweet dreams."

She turned, and with a sincere smile and a polite nod, she turned back around, closing the door behind her softly shut and the screen door soon followed suit.

Sano continued standing on the porch, watching the door she had just entered and he turned away from it at last as soon as he heard the locks clicking shut. Satisfied of her safety, he made his way out of the front yard, shutting the small picket fence behind him as his last duty for closing up the place. And giving one last look back at the clinic, he turned around to head back to the dojo with a little more bounce in his step. To add to his joy, Sanosuke casually whistled a sweet tune from the back of his head, adding music to the numerous scenes of Megumi playing over and over in his mind.

He failed to notice the dark figure standing behind a tree nearby from all his distracting happy thoughts and the man growled under his breath at Sanosuke's disappearing form. Tetsu stepped out from behind the tree's cover and looked at the clinic with angry eyes, his second jug of sake in hand and he took another giant swig. He had wasted the other one when he threw it against the tree after seeing them together in the forest earlier that night and his lack of alcohol only made him more furious.

"We'll just see how well you can ignore me, Sagara," Tetsu muttered brusquely into the cold night air and he spat on the ground before taking his leave, walking away from the clinic to head over to his own home with wicked plans clotting up his brain.

A/N: dramatic music plays Bwahahahahaha! I think this has gotta be the best cliffhanger I've left you guys with so far! Anyway, the next chapter I'm gonna have to put this story on rating R so look for it there if you wanna find out what's gonna happen. As usual, reviews are always welcome. Sorry if I don't respond in these author notes, but if you want a response, give me your e-mail. Hope you liked it!