When the seas grew calm and the storms that had caused the poor steam ship to be tossed here and there had ceased, Aoshi did something most unexpected.

He asked to accompany Megumi to the lounge.

He had chosen to make that request after they had spent a quiet dinner in the dining room. Normally from there they would have walked back to their cabins quietly and part ways. But she was no longer sickly enough that she would have to rest right away, and he was no longer blinded to the fact that she was lonely, lonely enough for poor company like himself.

His question hung out there for a moment, before Megumi finally shook her head. "I think I'd like to walk up on the deck, if that's alright with you. I'm tired of sitting inside."

As they changed their heading, he observed that she was still a little shaky on her legs. It was as if she had gotten so used to the constant turning of the boat, that once they had hit smoother waters she couldn't quite grasp how to move about smoothly. So she did something that surprised him as well.

She took his arm.

It would have been a casual gesture--at least for someone accustomed to more Western ways, but for the two Japanese, it reflected an odd sort of familiarity that had developed between the two.

The significance of such an act meant more if one considered the history between the two of them. Something like this would have been impossible nearly ten years ago, when he first met her on the grounds of the Takeda estate.

But tonight, as they simply chose to look at the stars and ignore the loud revelry that took place on the decks below, he could pretend that they were simply two people with a past that was irrelevant to their own futures.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" she said as she lifted her head to the clear night sky and admired the stars.



"It is," he answered automatically as looked at her and the way the soft light of the moon made her hair shine. The truth was he hadn't even really paid any attention to the stars, as bright as they were. He was admiring something else entirely.

"Aoshi?" She turned her eyes towards him and noticing the intense expression on his face, gave him a puzzled look.

He closed his eyes, aware that he had been lost in a memory of his first encounter with her -- the pure, beautiful creature in the garden. He chastised himself for the lapse in his thinking. To be caught admiring something that wasn't his to do so was foolishness. Likely when they returned to Tokyo, Sanosuke Sagara would be waiting for her. He had seen them kiss and embrace on more than one occasion and knew of the man's jealousy; he did not care to create further problems.

Then there was the other thought - that this woman who stood next to him now wasn't the same woman he had seen then. Just as he no longer was the same youth who had stood across from her that one evening.

He felt the touch of her hand against his forehead. "Are you alright?" she said quietly.

Aoshi opened his eyes then and stared into her large brown ones. She looked so funny, standing there with her heels slightly off the ground. Megumi was a tall woman, but not tall enough to reach him without help.

Her cheeks turned a rather flattering shade of pink as he continued simply to look at her. She dropped her arm that had been checking his head and instead clutched it to her chest.

"We land in Yokohama tomorrow," he said, attempting to fill the silence. "From there we will be in Tokyo by evening."

"By evening-"she repeated. "And then you'll be off to Kyoto the morning after?"

He nodded. With her safely back in Tokyo and amongst her friends and with her niece, there was no reason for him to linger. However, there was every reason to hurry back to Kyoto. "Okina has been left in charge of the Aoiya alone for several months now."

She smiled ruefully. She was all too aware that while Okina's intentions were usually good, his business practices and methods were all too questionable. "Tomorrow shall be busy then. I suppose then while there is still time, I should thank you now for bringing or rather dragging me back here to Japan. ."

"There is no need for thanks. I have simply kept a promise."

"But there is!!!" The vehemence in her voice surprised him. "When I think how long ago this whole thing started, and that you won't allow me to give you the credit that should be given . . . I'm not one to let you simply get away with that. You speak as if you've done nothing, but you've single-handedly restored me to my family, gave me back my dignity, and by doing so," she gave him a crooked smile, "I can move forward again."

Forward. It was as Kenshin always told him. To live for the future.

And she raised that specter now. "What will you do now?"

"I don't know exactly," she mused, looking a bit forlorn. "I have a child that I have to get to know first and that I have to care for. I suppose I shall return home to Aizu and acquaint her with our ancestral home."

"You will not . . . stay in Tokyo?"

"I suppose for a little while," she answered, oblivious to the puzzled look on Aoshi's face. To him, that would be the obvious place to stay, particularly if Sanosuke Sagara was to be part of the doctor's future plans. "But there is not much to keep me there. And I don't want to keep imposing on Kenshin and Kaoru. I'm sure that by now they'd want some peace and quiet. Having another child underfoot must be a bit much for them to handle."

"Your niece is well-behaved. If I thought otherwise, I would have sent her to the Aoiya to be watched over."

He had meant it as a statement of reassurance, but something about his comment had put her off.

Megumi's expression had darkened slightly. "Moving a child from the dwelling of swordsmen to the dwelling of ninjas . . . somehow that does not reassure me whatsoever."

"You do not approve."

She tensed, aware that now she tread in more dangerous waters. "I do not mean to offend any of you. It is just that I decided that my niece is to stay as far away from any thing that represents the fighting way of life. I don't want her to have the life I had."

"You intend for her to live isolated as you do from those who would call you friend?"

She clenched her fists, aware of how ridiculous his question and tone of voice had made her logic sound. But she looked up at him, asking for his understanding. "You left Misao behind once when you came to Tokyo with your men. You did it to protect her."

"So I did. I did it to protect her honor and innocence for as long as I could. But she ended up choosing to fight anyways and being hurt by my own mistakes. Neither I nor Okina could thwart her own sense of personal will and destiny and sense of family. You should not do that either with your niece. You may harm her more than the outside world itself by hiding her from the world."

She cast her eyes downward. "So you think I should not return to Aizu."

"I think you should give the matter more thought. And do not use your niece as a pretext for running away from dealing with your own future."

"My own future!" She frowned at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Aoshi gave her a cool evaluating look. "Tell me, why did you leave for Aizu so suddenly all those years ago? And why did you run off to America when your brother rejected you? You always run, Megumi Takani, and you always run away from those who you are closest to."

"Dammit Aoshi," she flushed in anger, "You're the last person to be talking to me about running away. I'm not the person who shuts people and feelings out of his own heart meditating all the time. "

"There are people who care for you, Megumi Takani." He continued on patiently, "When you disappeared, there were many letters from the dojo. Kaoru worried for you, asking constantly if we knew how to get in touch with you. Kenshin went to look for you. Sagara left abruptly to wander the countryside. "

"And what about Misao? And Okina? And the people at the Aoiya who you see everyday but have no real interaction with? How is that different from my leaving people behind?"

"I do not defend my own behavior. I am not casting judgement on you. I am simply making an observation."

She had worked herself up into a state. "What qualifies you to make these statements to me!?"

He silenced her by grabbing a firm hold of her shoulder and forcing her to look him in the eye. "I say these things because we are alike in that way and in others. You and I have always been quick to understand one another from the first day we met, to the day you wished to die by your own hand, to the day we met at the dojo, and the day I came to you to unearth Kaoru's doll. Can you deny that is in fact how things are?"

She saw from his face that he meant what he said in earnest. Wordlessly she shook her head in reluctant agreement.

"Then don't fly off to Aizu when you return. Don't be impetuous. Don't isolate yourself and your niece from the world."

"Aoshi." Her head fell weakly against his shoulder. They both knew that he was right. "I don't know that I can really do what you say. I'm not strong enough to constantly face daily reminders of the past."

He was well aware of that. It was part of the reason why he had known he had to go find her in America himself and not leave her to decide on whether to come all on her own. "That is exactly why you should be amongst your friends. They will lend you the strength and faith that you lack."

With that, he raised her head with his hand. He would not allow her to be weak.

For a few minutes she said nothing and continued to stand upright, with her eyes closed.

"Alright," she finally murmured. "Continue to lend me your strength and your sense a little bit longer. And I promise no more crazy decisions. No more running."

= = = = = = =

a/n: This was supposed to just be a mush scene, but the more I wrestled with it, I think I felt that Megumi had to realize something about herself which Aoshi and we the readers had found troubling all along. As for Aoshi, I think he's already addressing the "isolation" issue pretty well. As for why he never made a move on Megumi. I hope it's understood now what he thinks.

I had meant to give you a dojo part in addition to this, but this was a mentally and emotionally challenging part. I can't quite work myself back into lighthearted silly comedy, which is what the next parts should be. So next up: Kamiya dojo and likely Aoiya craziness, including an explanation for where Sano was all this time.

Also last note, Aoshi/Meg fans or people who just like anime loot, please check out the shrine's contest. It opens end of this week. www dot mindspring dot com / ~shrineoficeandfire