Readers--Hey everyone, here's the next installment of Wanderers for you. Hey, I have officially found Akio's theme song! For all you die hard fans, it's called Evolution, by Ayumi Hamasaki. Check it out and let me know what you think! I love the song and I think it's just enough spunk to fit Akio's personality--not to mention when she lays a throw down, muhahah! Thanks for all the readers who still put up with me, love you guys! *sniffle* Enjoy!

Chapter 8: A Empty Place

Days passed slowly for Akio. She worked harder than anyone had anticipated her to do so, even rivaling Kenshin when it came to domestic activities. He was surprised that she could not only do everything that he did, but she could do it better. Upon questioning, Akio only smiled and replied that for a long time, she had lived alone. Survival, is what she called it. That was when she had won Kenshin's respect.

Kaoru's had been given freely, but the added effects of work and the delightful way Akio had with baby Kenji only added to her growing fondness for the young woman. The greatest of the feats that the green-eyed girl performed was winning over Yahiko, an excellent meal and an agreement for a sparring match quickly remedied that situation. As for Sanosuke, he was caught between a rock and a hard place. At one side, he was mistrustful of this girl who was supposedly the wife of a boy that nearly killed Kenshin a few years ago. At the same time, he just couldn't understand how anyone related to his beloved Captain Sagara, much less his own daughter, could be anything but good at heart.

And so the afternoon came when Akio had to hold up her promise and finally have her match with Yahiko. He had been impatiently waiting for the match since she had promised him nearly three days before. Akio was a woman of her word, but she felt a little silly to be fighting with the boy. She had seen him practice, and he held extreme promise, but Akio had to admit without too much pride, that she was superior to him. Not only had she been training herself for a much longer period of time, Soujiro had also been training her the past year and her skill had improved greatly.

Yahiko was doing his ritualistic bragging, saying that he would win this match hands down. Sanosuke, who had come to watch, was laughing at him. The two broke into a fight two moments later. Akio watched, amused, as she readied herself. As always, her outfit was the same, but her hair was getting a bit longer that normal so he was forced to bind it back. She also abandoned her grandfather's sword to use only her wooden weapon. Thus, she and Yahiko remained on even fields.

Kaoru and Kenji sat on the step of the dojo, cheering Akio on. Kaoru had great confidence in her apprentice, and it was obvious to Akio that no one thought she held a candle to the boy. She smiled a little, but said nothing. Even Kenshin had abandoned his domestic duties to watch the long-awaited match.

Yahiko practiced a few brief warm-up moves, then pulled a few that Akio asumed were meant to impress or intimidate her. She only smiled sweetly at him. Obviously the boy had never seen Soujiro in action, or else he would know little could impress quite like that boy. Akio took a deep breath, banishing all thoughts of her lover from her mind, or risk distraction, before moving slowly into a well-worn warm-up routine of movements.

"Hey Akio, are we going to get this done any time soon?" Yahiko heckled her. Akio smiled, but her eyes were closed.

"I had to wait for you to finish showing off," she said laughingly. "You can wait until I warm up."

"Is that what you're trying to do?" he accused. "Looks more like a bad dance to me."

"Ah, but you have not been trained in my village, therefore you do not know all styles of fighting, young man."

Yahiko huffed and took a waiting stance. Akio copied his position, her sword at a forty-five degree angle from her body, lower than Yahiko's own sword. There were skeptical eyes on her as she took this position. For a few long moments, neither moved, than Yahiko charged forward.

"You'll have to do better than that," Akio laughed, side-stepping him quickly and easily, then flicking him on the back of the head with her sword. Yahiko lost his balance from the mediocre blow and had to recover quickly. He turned back at her, steaming and looking more determined. Akio saw he was trying to focus more and she smiled, crouching lower to the ground.

Yahiko moved in closer, circling his prey like a cat about to pounce on a rabbit. But Akio was no rabbit, she was more the wolf in sheep's clothing. As soon as Yahiko was in her reach, Akio pounce forward, her sword deftly knocking his back and leaving her enough room to cuff him on the side of the head before throwing herself to the side and quickly regaining herself. Yahiko growled.

"What are you playing at?"

"Playing at?" Akio said, blinking her green eyes innocently at him. "What ever do you mean?"

"Fight for real!" he yelled at her.

"Are you sure you want my best?" Akio asked with a teasing smile. "I may be a girl, but I'm better than you give me credit for."

"I want you to fight me fair, and not all this playing around!" Yahiko dug in his heel and prepared for another launching attack. Akio braced herself as well, ready to intercept his attack. Soujiro's lessons flashed in her mind.

Step 1: Always watch your opponents chest, it will give away the side from which he will strike.

Akio watched as Yahiko readied himself, favoring the right arm over the left. Akio knew that would be the side from which he would try and attack her. She switched her stance, her left arm becoming the more dominant and her weight resting on her right side. She's cushion the blow, then turn it back on him.

Step 2: Hold the sword as if it were an extension of your arm rather than a weapon. Guide it with your shoulders, elbows, and wrists, but do not put all your strength into one area. Keep it equally balanced.

Akio bent her elbows slightly and held the sword out to her side, like a batter about to swing across the plate. The strength of her limbs pooled at the three key joints in her arms, ready for action. Her legs were bent and tense, ready to rush or throw back at a moment's notice. If Yahiko wanted serious, then she'd give him serious.

Akio kicked a bit of dirt with her left foot, then sprang into action. It was a trick Soujiro had taught her. Speed up while staying low to the ground, then spring up right before your opponent can change his balance for a frontal, rather that lower, assault. Before most people watching could blink, Akio had moved across the yard and was attacking Yahiko full on. She swept his sword from his hands with a well-placed hit to his wrists, then she knocked him to his feet with a thrust to the back of his knees. Finally she stood over him, victorious, but not smiling.

"Happy now?" she asked as she looked down at him. He only blinked back up at her. Akio dropped her sword to the ground next to him.

"How did you do that?" Yahiko asked when Akio reached down and grabbed his arm, pulling him up to his feet.

"My husband taught me a few tricks," she said with a half smile. "Plus, my village was populated by master swords crafters. Swordsmen from all over Japan came to us for weapons of all kinds. I used to watch them when I was growing up. Sometimes, if they were kind, they'd even teach us neighborhood kids a few moves here or there."

"Sounds like a great place to group up a swordsman," Kenshin remarked from his watchful position.

"Or a swordswoman," Akio said regally, taking her hair from the tie and smiling. "And it was a nice place to be a child. The mountains are beautiful and tranquil."

"Why didn't you stay there?" Yahiko asked, retrieving his sword from it's fallen position.

Akio was silent a moment, then shook her head. "I had no reason to stay any longer." She was quiet a moment, hands clasped before her. "Have you ever seen a wild bird kept in a cage?" she mused. "You can always tell the wild one from the ones born behind bars. They always sing the sweetest because they long for open skies and tall trees."

"Poetic," Kaoru commented with a smile, shifting Kenji from one knee to the other.

"Well, that's what I first thought about Soujiro when I found him. He had been wounded and left for dead when I brought him back to my home and cared for him. I saw, over the days that he stayed with me, that he had this look to his eyes that made me think of open fields and clear skies. When the time came for him to leave, there was nothing I wanted more than to go with him, to stay at his side."

"But that was not the only reason, was it?" Kenshin said, watching her intently. He, a perceptive man as always, had read small signs in her face. "Something else made you leave."

Akio was quiet for a long time, having an almost staring contest with the violet-eyed man. When she finally sided in admission, she shifted her wait and squatted to the ground. In the dirt, her finger trailed about, forming loose shapes and making the image of a house with a large garden. "I already told Sanosuke basically all there was about me. My father left before I was born, and I never had the chance to meet him. My mother died when I was still a child. I was raised by my grandmother until she passed herself when I was about eleven. After that I was on my own.

"People in my village were never very kind. They had their reasons for disliking me, but it was still painful to be loathed and whispered about for so long. I hated the solitude, and the silence. The only thing that gave me joy was tending to animals. They'd always manage to find me, sickly or wounded creatures from all over the mountain. The only human friend I ever had was a boy named Ryu. He was bossy and controlling, and was always determined to marry me and tame me into the perfect wife. There might have been a time where I would have considered that offer."

"But?" Kaoru prompted. There was always a but in this kind of story. Akio looked up at her and smiled.

"Then I met Soujiro, and my heart wouldn't let my life be easy." Akio chuckled a little. "It's funny. All it took was a wounded boy to turn everything I knew upside down. Ryu was never the person I thought he was, and tried to hurt Soujiro. My home was destroyed, my village nearly so, and still I was the one they feared. Once my home was gone, if felt that there was really no reason to stay in that place. So when Soujiro wandered again, I went with him. We'd been going about it quite well until recently."

"What happened?" Yahiko inquired, intrigued despite himself.

"Ryu was not as dead as everyone assumed. He's doubled his power, even if he is wounded so that he'll never wield a sword in battle again. He proves to be a far more admirable foe then I feared. So while my husband goes to confront this, my enemy, I must wait in blindness and fear."

Akio stood then, brushing the back of her hand over her eyes and hiding the tears that had suddenly pooled there. She smiled at those giving her sanctuary, and she bowed. "I thank you all for your kindness and your patience with my staying here. I would leave if you ask of me, but I must remain in Tokyo until Soujiro returns. There is nothing else I can do."

Kaoru understood perfectly. Love can hold sway over any heart, even one such as Seta Soujiro or such a girl as Sagara Akio. But the hour was growing late, a match had been won and a tale had been told. Dinner still had to be made so Kenshin excused himself to take care of that. Yahiko went about his chores, and Sanosuke followed Kenshin in the hopes of catching a free meal. This left Kaoru, Kenji, and Akio together. Kaoru motioned for Akio to sit beside her and the girl obliged.

Kenji watched and reached out to Akio. "May I?" she asked Kaoru. The mother smiled and settled the baby into Akio's lap. Kenji snuggled against Akio contentedly and sighed, sucking on his thumb.

"It seems that babies like you, Akio," Kaoru laughed, watching this.

"Babies and animals," Akio said with a serene smile. "They've always loved me."

"You'll make a good mother than," the older woman commented.

"I love babies," Akio said in a low voice. "Their eyes are so innocent and so clear. They hold so much possibility and potential, so much to do and to learn."

"Do you have any children?" Kaoru asked suddenly, unsure of the answer.

"No," the younger woman said sadly, her eyes darkening. "I was pregnant once, maybe half a year ago or so." She sighed and looked detached. "I became very sick and the baby didn't survive it. I was in bad nearly a month, and Soujiro stayed by my side every day. I was in so much pain for a long while after that because I had wanted that baby so badly."

"But you're young yet Akio," Kaoru said compassionately. "I'm sure you could have another one."

"I know," Akio said with a smile. "But there will be no baby without a husband. If Soujiro doesn't come back...then I'll just be alone again." She wasn't looking for pity, Akio was only voicing her own doubts and concerns. "You see, Miss Kaoru, I would have at least liked to have had that baby. That way, if Soujiro himself was ever lost to me, I'd have that perfect part of him with me always."

Kaoru understood better than Akio could have realized, and she wished then, for the sake of the girl beside her, that Seta Soujiro somehow manage to find his way to Tokyo. Until he did, there would remain an empty place in this girl that no other person could ever fill.

Here we are, another teary chapter of Akio's patience and love. Muhaha! Next chapter--Soujiro goes to Kyoto to kill Gama! And who do we know that lives in Kyoto? Give you a clue--one's short with a braid and the other is tall and says little....They live at the Aoiya! Am I talking to myself here people? Geez! Okay, next chapter, guaranteed a good one, especially for all you who have been ever-so-patiently waiting for Aoshi's appearance! Shout-out time!

Ken: LOL, you want so badly for him to kill Ryu don't you? Well, I aim to please. Look out for the grand finale chapter and you won't be disappointed. By the way, have you read my idea for the third installment? Let me know if you do!

Dragons Maiden: Here is the update you were after. Enjoy! I'm supposed to get snow tomorrow and if I don't have school on Thursday, I'll see if I can get you a second chapter this week. If not, it'll be out on Monday!

pruning shears: Thanks for the reading of the bio page, here is an update in honor of it. I totally appreciate your input and opinion. I actually took a long time in considering the name for Akio's daughter and I finally settled on Katana because of events that happen later in this story. Maybe by the end of Wanderers you'll see why I want to name her that. If you still don't like it at the end of Wanderers, I'll see if we can find something a little more suitable. Yahiko will make a breif appearance in it, probably. And if you've ever seen Samurai X: Reflections, then you'd know what happens when Kenji is fifteen. I won't ruin it, because it's really sad.

Thanks to all who reviewed, you guys rock! Love you all. Until next chapter--Jesse the Wolf Demon!