CHAPTER 13: The beginning of a new age

"Tokio?" Saito asked. He was lying next to her in bed. She had just bandaged his wound. "I think that the war is over. We'll have to leave Kyoto tomorrow and begin a new life." Tokio nodded.

"I understand," Tokio whispered. "I'm not afraid, Hajime. Take me wherever you go, and I won't be afraid. A new life as the mate of the Wolf of Mibu; it doesn't sound bad at all."

"Good," Saito said, kissing her forehead. "Because it's what you're going to have after tonight."

Very early the next morning, Saito woke up Tokio to leave for Tokyo (Edo). The carriage was waiting outside.

"What about Okita?" Tokio asked as she stuffed all of her things into a bag. "He can't live on his own!"

"He told me that he's going to go into a tuberculosis hospital. He knows what his fate is, and he knows that he can't change it," Saito replied, kneeling to help her. "But now that the new age is coming, there is no real use for him anyway. As a young boy, he had already decided to dedicate himself to Shinsengumi and the new government will, without a doubt, track him down. He wouldn't be able to survive as he is, so it is better if he dies now." Saito picked up the bag and guided her through the dark inn toward the street.

"Get in," Saito commanded as he tossed her things on top of his own. Tokio obeyed.

"What will you do?" Tokio asked, but was answered with silence. She understood his thoughts. She knew exactly what was going on in his mind, and she understood it with all of her heart. He was determining whether or not to commit seppuku, join the new government under a new name, turn himself in, or flee the country all together. The option that Tokio was most afraid of was if he killed himself. That would be the most painful one of all of them. The carriage began to move.

"No, I'm not going to kill myself, Tokio," Saito said, looking into her gold eyes. It was as if he read her mind.

"Good," Tokio said. "But what are you going to decide?" Saito frowned.

"I'm not sure, but... I know that whatever choice I make will affect both of us, so it'd better be the right one," he sighed and turned his head to look out the window.

The ride took about a day. (Not really sure how long it would take...) Once there, Saito took Tokio to their new house and then left to find a store so that he could buy some food and a futon to sleep on. While at the market, he saw what appeared to be an ex-samurai attacking a woman and her three children. Quickly unsheathing his sword, he attacked the swordsman. The woman and children ran away, unharmed.

"What do you think you're doing, attacking a defenseless woman and her three children?" Saito questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"She is the wife of one of the members of the Shinsengumi who got away! Who would I be if I didn't kill her? I was planning to question her to find her husband, but---" the samurai started, but Saito interrupted.

"Enough! What's past is past! You will not kill any innocent people just because of who they are associated with!" Saito decided it was better not to attack with a Gatotsu for fear (a/n: Saito's afraid! GASP!) of being found by the new Meiji government, so he charged, slashing through the ex- samurai's arm.

"Who are you?!" the ex-samurai cried. Saito smirked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, but I want to know something. Were you a member of the Ishin Shishi?" Saito asked, watching the blood drip from the man's arm.

"Yes, I was! You have no right to be fighting me! I helped save this country from doom!" he retorted.

"Ahou. People like you will bring the country to its doom, which is why I must destroy those people. If you don't know what that means, I'll make it simple: you're going to die," Saito said.

"Huh?" the man asked. Saito sighed. This guy was a lot stupider than he thought.

"Let me make it even simpler for you. Aku. Soku. Zan," Saito blurted. Then he realized what he had said in the face of the new government. Quickly he killed the man before the man could warn anyone. Saito pulled his body into an alleyway and left it there for someone else to find. He thought that people might think it was strange if he was seen dragging a body around in broad daylight. Then, he hurried off to get the items he was originally looking for.

"A lone wolf," a woman said to a teenage boy. Warm tears ran down her face. The boy began to cry also.

"Mother," he said. "Why did that man drag Father over there? Why is Father not getting up? Why is he not moving Mother? Did that man kill father? Mother, I'm scared," the boy sobbed into his mother's pink kimono. She hugged his head to her body. "That man killed Father," the woman explained to him. "You have to grow up and kill murderers like that, Shiki."

Saito arrived at home just before dark. Wandering around Tokyo was not easy to do if you were carrying a big futon on your back. He dumped the futon on the floor and brought the bag of groceries into the kitchen where Tokio was exploring inside the cabinets. He stood in the doorway for some time, waiting for her to turn around.

"Hajime, I already know you're there," Tokio sighed, opening a cabinet and looking inside. It was empty, so she slid it shut and moved onto the next one.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" Saito asked with a smirk. He walked over to her and gave her a kiss. She grinned and pulled away, kneeling down again and opening another cabinet.

"Here," Saito said, giving her the bag that he was holding. She took it.

"Thanks," she said. "Hajime? Have you decided what you are planning to do?" Tokio placed the bag on the counter.

"No," Saito said. "But you can still back out now." She looked at him with a question mark in her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Tokio asked.

"You can still go back to your family. You don't have to stay with me. If you stay, your life will always be endangered. I will not be here for you often. You will have to fend for yourself many times if you marry me," Saito said.

"I won't leave you, Hajime!" Tokio insisted. "I'm staying here. I'm becoming the mate of the wolf of Mibu and that's final!" Saito smirked.

"Mate of Mibu's Wolf, huh? It sounds good to me," he grinned. "Come. Let's get the house together. We will be living here for a while."

"Whatever you want to do, anata," Tokio said. She watched him walk out the door and into their room where he sat on the floor and stared out the window. She could tell he was in deep thought. Tokio walked over to him and sat in his lap. She felt his warm body against hers.

The Mate of Mibu's wolf, Saito Tokio, Tokio thought. I never dreamed that my dreams would come true.

END

A/N: Whew... it's finally over! Sigh... sequel time? Let me know, because I have to decide... oh, and I'm wondering how I am typing anyway because Koneko hasn't given me back my keyboard. O_o Oh well.........