Okay, so things were a little weird around here…But they're okay now.

I guess.

…I hope. u_u

@--,---'---

"I cannot believe that happened."

It was later that afternoon. Kietsu was playing with Sonomi, so Gesshoku and Kamatari were once again alone. They were in the study, snuggled together in the large, leather chair beside the desk. Gessho was clearly still embarrassed; she had her head on his shoulder, clutching the front of his gi with one hand. Her voice was low; she nestled closer to his neck, trying to hide her lingering embarrassment. "How am I supposed to face Harusame now?"

"Koishii, don't be so upset." Kamatari's hand brushed against her cheek. He hated to see her so flustered, so humiliated. And how would her being worked up affect the baby? Besides, it was all his fault anyway. "Harusame is old enough to understand and handle this in a mature way." He stroked her still-damp hair, enticing her away from his shoulder so that she was looking at him. Her brown eyes were wet with tears behind the lenses of her glasses and she was frowning lightly. "That wasn't your fault, Gessh."

"I shouldn't have let you. I should've told you to knock it off. But I wanted to be close to you so badly." Her hand rose, fingers brushing back his hair, her face coming close to his, kissing his cheek. "I'm shameless when it comes to loving you." She said softly.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." He smiled, hugging her close, "You made a man out of me, Darling."

"I don't want you as a man." She said slowly, drawing back to look at him fully, studying his pretty face. She and she alone saw him as the beautiful person he truly was; no one else understood his free spirit. "I don't want you as a woman. I want you only as you."

He felt his heart swell with love for her. She was so good to him. He'd seen her merciless in her anger, her jealousy and her wrath. She held grudges and she held them for a long time. But she had loved him unceasingly, forgiving his every fault. That only made her all the more appealing to him.

His mouth found hers. "Never leave me." He whispered as he kissed her.

"I won't." Her gaze swept across his face, taking in those delicate features. He was being very serious and she knew it. There was a certain depth to the untamed beauty of Honjô Kamatari that no one else was aware of. This was the part of him she had first fallen in love with all those years ago. "I love your imperfections; I love your weaknesses." She took his face in her hands, their foreheads together, "Nothing you could do could ever cause me to leave you."

"I've left you twice already and I broke your heart both times." His velvety eyes met hers, "And I swear on my life, I will never do it again." Her eyes, that watery brown, held nothing but pure trust and true love. She was a bundle of raw emotion; nothing but feelings twined together in the form of a person. This was the beauty of his wife; the pure, unblemished view of sentiment that could be seen just by looking in her eyes.

A smile graced her lips, curving them upwards and brightening her features. She was well aware that he would be with her always. He wouldn't leave when she was carrying his child. He would never leave her period. He loved her; she loved him. Their bond just ran too deep for one to simply abandon the other. She felt, deep in her heart, that even death would not separate them. He would never dream of leaving.

…Would he?

Now she was worried.

"How are you feeling?" After a brief silence, he spoke again, "You doing all right?" He would be lost if anything happened to her. His mother-in-law, his uncle, even his own mother…they didn't understand him at all.

"I'm fine, Kamatari." She looked at him pointedly, wondering when he would realize that her being pregnant didn't make her breakable. She sighed, resting a hand over her flat stomach. "The baby is also fine."

"Don't give me that annoyed look." He frowned slightly, "I just want both of you healthy."

She ignored him. "Do you think this baby will be a boy? Or another girl?" She asked as she patted her belly, "Which do you want?"

Kamatari regarded her for a moment, watching her preoccupation with the child growing inside of her. "It doesn't matter, as long as you're both healthy." His hand rested on hers, fingers twining together. She smiled at him, her eyes bright and sparkling. She had matured over the years, calming down just a little, and she wasn't as loud in her excitement.

"You must want one more than the other." She prodded him.

He thought for a moment. "I suppose I would like another girl. I wouldn't be a very good role model for a boy, would I?" He answered honestly.

She smiled affectionately, squeezing his hand. "I suppose not. But you have a while to worry about it still. I don't even have a belly yet."

A soft smile crossed his face and he closed his eyes, thinking. He knew she was sensitive about her weight and wasn't thrilled with the idea of "getting fat." That had been her least favorite part about having Kietsu. Now she had just started getting back into shape and she was pregnant again. He would have to make sure and treat her special when she started to expand, letting him know that she was just as beautiful to him. Not that I don't treat her special already…

He held her to him, drawing her into his arms, enveloping her in his warmth. She snuggled up to him, her head under his chin. She sighed happily, her fingers playing across his skin where it was exposed in the V of the collar on his gi. He shivered with pleasure, kissing her hair, tightening his grip around her. "I love you, Gessh."

A grin crossed her face. Like she didn't know.

@--,---'---

Harusame looked at Sojiro.

They were sitting in the dining room, face to face across the chabudai. Sojiro was pouring tea into the delicate china, not noticing the look on Harusame's face. He was smiling; blissfully unaware that Harusame had overheard all of his muttering and rehearsing. She knew he would chicken out if he knew she had heard everything, but she was twitchy and nervous over the situation.

Would he try to propose now??

She twisted her sleeve around. Her hands were in her lap and she was fidgeting. What would she say? What would he say? Would he get nervous and just blurt something out? What if it came out all wrong? She could feel her face getting red just thinking about it.

"Would you like some tea, Harusame?"

She snapped back to attention at his question. "Oh, yes, please. Thank you, Sou." She mumbled, blushing deeper.

"Are you okay?" He looked at her curiously, the smile never leaving his face. She looked confused about something and he wondered what.

"Oh, I was just thinking…" I need a lie…I need something to tell him…I need…WAIT! I saw the most embarrassing thing in the world today. I can use that as an excuse for my present facial expression. "Before, I went down to take a soak in the spring and…"

"And?" He prompted.

"And I kinda…walked in on Kamatari and Gesshoku. In the spring. Together."

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

Harusame's blush spread from the bridge of her nose until it consumed her whole face. What would Sojiro have to say about that?

His face reddened slightly. THAT was embarrassing. Mighty embarrassing. No wonder she was so flustered looking. "Oh. Oh my." He stammered, blushing more as he imagined the scene, "What did you do?"

"I kinda froze. And mumbled I was sorry a lot. And all of us were embarrassed. Dear Buddha, I was so mortified…" She looked away, pulling up one of her tabi. Her embarrassment wasn't totally gone and she couldn't bring herself to look at him. "I was humiliated for them too. They don't seem to care what they do together. They're always so…open with one another. I kinda wish I was like that, no da?"

"I know what you mean. They're so in love… It makes me happy to see it, but makes me kind of…" Here he paused, a strange expression on his face. It was almost as if he were trying to frown, but found it physically impossible. "…Jealous as well. I wish I were so free with my feelings as they are. Kamatari used to hide away a lot of his feelings, similar to how I do. And Gessho used to just yell and cry a lot. But both of them…" Another pause, "Both of them have become so capable of just talking about it now. I wish I could do the same."

She smiled at him. "Sou, I know it's been really hard for you, but you're doing so much better now. I've actually seen you scared and angry recently."

His sapphire eyes met hers. "Yes; this is true. I have changed quite a bit. But we have all been changing, Harusame. All of us are very different now. Look at Kamatari, for example. Who would have ever thought he would be with a woman? And that they would have a child? Or that he would even get married? Life goes on; things change." He paused, sighing lightly, "But sometimes I feel like I'm still the same."

"You are the same." She looked at him earnestly, "But you're different too."

"How can I be the same and different?" He blinked, not quite understanding what she meant. She had a tendency to say some things he didn't understand at times; some things which made him wonder.

"You're the same because you're still you. But you're a different you, Sojiro. You get sad and angry and you don't always smile any more. Sometimes, I see things in you I've never seen before. I see you get nervous. I see you get upset. All you used to do was smile. Even when you were angry. Even when you wanted to cry…" She stared at her hands where they were folded in her lap, unable to look at him. Once again, a blush was rapidly spreading across her face and she wasn't even sure why. These are things every one notices about him…Why am I so embarrassed?

He smiled fondly at her. She always shied away like that when they were talking, as if she didn't want to look at him. She was so shy around him at times, so timid and bashful, and he thought it was positively adorable. He wanted to take her and hold her and tell her she didn't have to be afraid, but, well, he was afraid.

"I've been thinking a lot…" She broke the silence, still looking at her fingers as if they were the most interesting thing on the face of the earth, "I've been thinking about what we keep talking about…And…"

His eyes widened. What was she going to say? She'd been thinking about what they talked about and?! And what?? His heart began to race within his chest. What would he do if she said no? What would he say? Was she expecting him to propose right now?? His mouth went dry and his palms began to sweat. Everything he'd thought of earlier went flying out of his mind and he stared at her stupidly. "Harusame…I-"

"Haru! Haru! Sou!"

Saved by Kietsu. Both his brain and his heart seemed to start working again as the little girl came running over to them. He looked up at her, smiling. "Konnichi wa, Little One."

She beamed back. Sonomi had trailed along behind her into the room; they were looking for a snack and there were Harusame and Sojiro, having tea. "Me too?" She asked hopefully.

"You too what?" His smile widened. She was such a charming child.

" 'M hungry. I can have tea?"

"Of course you can."

"YAY!" She plopped herself unceremoniously down in his lap, still smiling at him, "Will you play with me, Sou?"

He looked at Harusame. She looked both amused and relieved and he suspected whatever she had wanted to say would not be said until later. "After we have tea I'll come play with you." He patted her on the head, "That way Sonomi can have a break."

"Goody!"

Sonomi sank down beside Harusame at the low table. She looked exhausted. Never did she want to ever have children. This kid was a royal terror and she never seemed to run out of energy. She placed her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands. I just want to go back to bed…

Harusame looked at Sojiro and Kietsu happy together in their current arrangement. It looked so natural, seeing Sojiro so content with the little girl. He would make a wonderful father someday. After his tragic childhood, she knew he would never allow any child of his to suffer. He was still a child at heart himself and always willing to play with any little one who asked. Our kids will be so cute and - What am I thinking!? Fortunately for the young woman, Sojiro was too preoccupied with Kietsu to notice the scarlet hue of her face. He was chatting with the little girl as he poured her tea, smiling all the while. I guess it's okay for my mind to wander then…

She settled her chin on one hand, watching as the two interacted. Kietsu was one for asking questions and Sojiro was patiently answering them as best he could. Some of her inquiries were causing a bemused smile to cross the face of Sonomi, but there was one which made the older of the two woman crack up.

"Sou," The little girl looked seriously up at the young rurôni, "Why don't you ever kiss Haru?"

@--,---'---

Dun dun dun! Mild cliff-hanger! This should get interesting… XD

Happy birthday me! And thankies to all the FF.net people who left me b-day messages, 'specially both my sissies! *hugs to all*