"What can we do, Tae-san? Isn't it up to them? Himura-san and Kaoru-chan will figure it out on their own, won't they?"

Tsubame was very worried, but she also knew that meddling would likely come to no good end. Akio-san had recommended a western book to her and after buying it from him at a special discount she'd read it cover to cover in the span of two days, staying up just a tad late into the night to finish it. The protagonist had meddled into the relationships of her friends and gotten herself into several awkward social situations. Of course she had ended up with Knightley-san and all was well for her friends in the end, so maybe...

"Of course it's up to them Tsubame-chan, but maybe we can help them along. A little push is all they need and they'll do the rest. We can do that much for our friends, right?"

Tsubame couldn't fault that logic, so she agreed.

Tae-san set to work immediately, sitting down to write a letter to Dr. Megumi. She shooed Tsubame off to the telegraph office.

Tsubame, shaking with nerves and feeling more than a little exhilarated by her covert operation, sent a coded telegram off to Misao of the Oniwabanshuu.

Rooster flew coop stop help red hen stop Find the bird stop

With her mission accomplished and fully expecting the police to descend upon her and arrest her immediately for aiding and abetting a fugitive of justice, she stumbled down the steps and nearly fell on her face. Abandoning etiquette she removed her cumbersome geta, clutched them to her chest, and set back to the Akebeko at a run in only her tabi (she'd at least had the presence of mind to use the side streets so she wouldn't be seen by too many people). By the time she'd reached the safety of the Akebeko she was sweating and wheezing. Fortunately Yahiko had the day off.

The only disagreement she'd had with Tae-san was whether or not to let him in on their plans. Tsubame thought that he would be a great help, he was strong and smart and he cared just as much as they did about his sensei and Himura-san, probably more. Tae-san disagreed, stating that Yahiko would probably accidentally spill the beans and they couldn't risk even one small error. Kenshin's and Kaoru's future happiness depended on their discretion.

Tae-san was like a mother to Tsubame so she could not and would not ever defy her, disappointing the woman who had treated her with so much love and care was out of the question. Tae-san had even taken the time to teach Tsubame how to read and write. Exhausted at the end of the work day, though her eyelids and her shoulders drooped low, Tae-san had sat up many evenings as Tsubame recited The Tale of Genji to her.

They received Dr. Megumi's reply a week later:

Dear Tae-san and Tsubame-chan,

I'm so pleased to hear from you again. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the jam I sent you in June. It's a special Takani recipe handed down for generations (you didn't think we only ever concocted medicine, did you? Even doctors have to eat!).

To be honest I could use a break. I feel like all I do these days is tend my patients, eat, sleep, and start over again the next day. My social life is non-existent. I love my work but there has to be more to life than this.

You say that you hate to impose and that you wouldn't ask this favor of me unless you absolutely had to, but really I feel like it's you doing me the favor! So I've decided to entrust my clinic to my assistant temporarily, I think he can handle things for at least a little while. I've employed a very experienced nurse who I would trust with my very life. She'll hold down the fort.

Anything I can do to help Ken-san and Kaoru, I will.

Kaoru wrote to me two weeks ago and couldn't stop going on about how well she and Ken-san are and how great Yahiko has gotten at his parrying. Seriously, she filled up two pages just about that. That little liar! When this is all over and done with I'll give her a piece of my mind. I knew something was off. I expected a wedding invitation months ago.

Give me a month to tie things up here, Dr. Ryuki is still a bit too heavy-handed with his stitching. I will arrive sometime in late August. I've already written Dr. Gensai and he's agreed that I can stay with him as long as I like.

I'm looking forward to seeing you soon,

Dr. Takani Megumi

Misao's letter arrived less than twenty-four hours later, much to their astonishment. They had expected that, of all people, Misao would understand the risk of their messages being intercepted by the authorities. They had assumed she would have either arrived in person, or at least sent a carrier pigeon.

Hi ladies!

I read your message loud and clear. Don't fret, we've had tabs on that rooster head since he first left port. He's in Amsterdam now, probably hanging out in the you-know-what District. I've already sent a friend to that nasty, run-down inn he's been staying at. He should be setting sail in less than a week, and if the ocean cooperates he should be in Japan around thirty days after that. I wish you'd said something earlier, we could have had him on his way a lot sooner!

Don't worry, nobody is looking for that troublemaker. There were only two guys really invested in capturing him. One retired early, and the other figured out all on his own that he had the wrong guy. Also the file got lost, not sure what happened there. That's government bureaucracy for you!

I wish I could come to Tokyo right now, but Aoshi-sama and I are heading out to Nageiredo Temple in a few days. Aoshi-sama has always wanted to go, and he asked me to tag along.

I'll be in touch!

-Misao

"Tae-san, what's a you-know-what District?"

Kaoru followed Cho-san into the shop with some trepidation. She wondered how exactly she was meant to help Cho-san. Kenshin had seemed a bit perturbed but if it were really dangerous or unpleasant she was sure he would have stepped in. However she wasn't well schooled in the finer things and feared that she might embarrass herself somehow. She wished she'd had the opportunity to learn some of these things from her mother. Her memories of her were hazy at best but she did remember that her long dark hair had felt very soft in her tiny hand and that she'd had a pretty singing voice.

There were shelves and shelves covered with various bottles, jars, and tins. A large mirror at the center of the room reflected the light back onto the glass containers, throwing prisms around the room. Kaoru discerned the smell of honey, wax, lavender, charcoal, and sulfur.

"Right this way, dear. I have bean cakes and sake. The good stuff, too."

Well this was okay after all.

Kaoru sat across from Cho-san and ate the bean cake first. She didn't handle her sake well, and especially not on an empty stomach. She'd learned that the hard way, thanks to Sano.

"Thank you, Cho-san. This is good sake."

"Bah! Don't thank me! Do you know how long it's been since I sat with another lady just to chat, one who wasn't buying something? Ages. So thank you, really.

"We don't have all day, as much as I wish we did. I've got a store to run and I don't want your red stallion coming in here and hearing what we're talking about. Not that he won't find out soon enough!" Cho-san laughed mischievously.

"As I was saying before, I've pretty much seen it all and I think I have a good read on you and that cute redhead. People gossip too so that helps. I know that you're the Kamiya girl and you own an entire dojo all by yourself! But like I said, I'm too busy to sit around and gossip. All I need to know is up here." She tapped her temple.

"I knew a young woman like you. Strong, capable. Very smart, even though back then most of us didn't know how to read and write. But she had all these busybodies squawking at her that she needed to be quiet, sit back, let the men do the talking. After a while she let it get to her, and I saw her change. She went from a woman who could do just about anything to a little girl who was afraid to pick up her own chopsticks. But that's not so unusual is it? You know as well as I do that us women get a raw deal."

Kaoru sipped at her sake and nodded. She did know.

"In Japan, and most other places too, a woman belongs to her father, then to her husband, and then to her son. She never belongs to herself. But one day, this woman sees something she wants. She's in love with someone. Shortly after that her father beckons her to him and he announces that she'll marry a man she's never met.

"Her lover hears of this, and begs her to run away. Her lover says to her 'we could go somewhere far away together and start over. No one would know our names or who our families once were. It would be only the two of us forever'. She wanted to very badly, she had never wanted anything more in her whole life.

"But after so many years of being told 'no' and 'you can't' she believed it. The possible had become impossible. She married that man, the one that had been picked out for her. He wasn't overly cruel. He never beat her or starved her. Still, she died a little bit every day. She gave birth to his sons and she had so many that her body was lamed. By the time she was thirty-eight she couldn't even walk anymore, and she lived in her bed for the rest of her life, which wasn't very long.

"I met another like this woman decades later, someone who was just as strong, just as smart. Again, she'd been told that she could never want. I couldn't let what happened to my dearest friend happen to this woman. So I told her the same story I've told you." Cho-san seemed very far away as she sipped her sake. She set it down with a delicate "clink".

"You see Kamiya, if you want anything in this life, no one will just give it to you. You have to reach out and take it. You can't let people talk you out of what you want. You want your young man, but you're afraid to take him. I'm not sure why that is."

Kaoru swallowed. She thought of Tomoe, and she thought about all of the times that Kenshin had had to come and rescue her. She thought about all of the times that she had wished she could rescue him.

"Maybe you think you're not good enough? Puh! Doesn't matter. You reach out for what you want dear, because nobody will do it for you. Happiness takes work, love takes work. Sometimes you have to be brave and do the thing that scares you, even when people tell you you can't. Don't ever let them do that to you.

"So here. Take these." Before Kaoru could even open her mouth to protest Cho-san reached out to grasp the collar of Kaoru's kimono and stuffed two oval shaped tins down the front. Kaoru couldn't help the little squeak that escaped her throat.

"Arigatou but I ca-"

"Don't worry! It's on the house. Oh, this too!" Cho-san shoved a small amber colored glass vial into Kaoru's hand. "That's a very special recipe. A little dab on each wrist and one between the breasts is all you need. Drives them crazy." Cho-san winked. Kaoru lifted the small rubber stopper and sniffed. She wrinkled her nose.

"It stinks!"

Cho-san laughed, unconcerned with Kaoru's rude outburst.

"Trust me. You'd best be off now, dear. I've got customers coming. But come and see this old bat again sometime, yes? I've always got good sake. Next time you can bring your man with you."

Cho-san walked the girl to the door. After she had bowed deeply to Cho-san and reunited with her young man, Cho-san watched them go. She closed the shop early. She sat upon her old, threadbare pillow and sipped the last of her sake. Tears fell in jagged paths down the crags in her cheeks. She thought about the woman who had died all alone in her bed more than forty years ago, the woman she had loved.

Author's note: coming up, our third and final (hopefully!) part of How We Got to Now and then we rejoin Kenshin in the present timeline.