Authors Notes: Noa here yet again! I'm still working on Under the Cherry Tree, so don't panic I haven't forgotten about it, I'm just having a little rest (err a bit of writers block happening for that ficcie) so I decided to start this one up. Um it's yet ANOTHER A/U ficcie about Aoshi and Misao, with everyone else too! I'll give you the quick introduction of what characters play what role in the story.

Misao – Widower

Seta Soujiro – Deceased husband

Kaoru – Misao's older Sister

Saitou – Misao's older Brother

Tokio – Misao's best friend & Saitou's love interest

Okina – Misao, Kaoru, and Saitou's grandfather

Kenshin – Kaoru's husband (duh) & Saitou & Misao's brother-in-law

Megumi Takani Shinomori – Most popular GP in Kyoto (Known as Takani in honor of deceased mother) and Aoshi's sister

Aoshi Shinomori – Home renovator (Mainly kitchens and bathrooms) just moved to Kyoto to start the business there.

Shinomori Snr. – Megumi & Aoshi's father. (Lives in Tokyo) Founder of family business but handed it over to his son as he's done permanent damage to his back, unable to work again and must stay close to his GP in Tokyo. Mainly in hospital having operations on his back.

Sanosuke Sagara – Electrician and he lets Aoshi board in the spare room of his apartment. (Come one you gotta admit, the hair style, he's had too many electric shocks and so it permanently stays like that)

Ayame & Suzume – The girls Misao always look after when they don't have Kindergarten. Misao is known as Auntie Misao to them.

Dr Genzai - Ayame & Suzume's grandfather and Megumi's mentor in medicine and part time helper at her Medical Centre.

Okon & Omasu – Soujiro's sister's (Misao sister-in-law's)

Shiro & Kuro – Very little part in story, Okon & Omasu's husbands

Hannya, Beshimi, Shijuksho & Hyotokko – Children Misao look after.

Plus the occasional mention of Kaoru's children and also the mention of Misao's nieces and nephew's on Soujiro's side (also an appearance from his mother and father way later).

Um I think that's all the characters I'm using… *Phew* that's heaps! Okay on with the prologue…

The Lonely Widow, Not so Lonely Anymore

PROLOGUE

She was a friendly woman, to all those that knew her. She was popular with the kids and still was to this day. She still had her gentle nature about her even though she had been through so much heartache. For working mothers it was now easier for them to go to work without worrying about their children. The widow was a sweet and loving woman who had all the time in the word for children as this was the profession she chose in life. Someone had to do it, so she thought it might as well be her and children really felt at ease around her as well.

The widow's parents had died when she was ten years old and she grew up with the loving care of her older brother and sister and her grandfather. When she finally understood that her parents were gone and they weren't ever coming back she cried for months on end. Her family members became worried and she was sent to a therapist as she had completely stopped talking. She had not spoken for two long years but when she started grade 7 at the high school her brother and sister attended things began to change. A young girl by the name of Tokio was new in town and Misao saw how frightened and lonely she looked and so the friendship began and is still strong 10 years later. They were inseparable during and after school, even on weekends and the tension had eased in Misao's family as they realized their little sister was finally talking again and had made a friend. Her parents had left behind a large fortune in which it would set each of their children up in life and help them finish school and university. She still missed her parents and would visit their graves once a week placing new flowers on their graves and talking about her week to them.

The first year the young woman was in college she was turning 19. She met a dashing young man who had already been studying at the university for a year. After 6 months of dating they got married. Some thought it was a bit rushed but close friends and family knew that these two were meant to be together. They found a home together and their love for each other grew with time. On the eve of their second wedding anniversary the young man was involved in a car accident. Misao waited patiently for him to return home from his late night studies but she began to worry when he hadn't arrived like he said he would. Her world came crashing down when she received a call from her brother telling her about the accident, as he was the police officer called to the scene and that Seta Soujiro, her husband had died. First her parents now her loved one. She broke down once more, cutting herself off from everyone but Tokio, Kaoru, Okina and Saitou refused and were by her side through everything. She had received many gifts, letters and flowers of sympathy from neighbours, college students and Soujiro's family and friends. A month later the young woman found out she was pregnant with Soujiro's child. They had both wanted a family but now the widow, Seta Misao was at her wits end of what to do. Could she take care of a child by herself? Could she raise the baby as a constant reminder of her late husband? What good was a mother who did nothing but cry all day? There was no love for a child when the mother was still broken inside. Misao's decision was made and so Dr Megumi Takani preformed the termination. Only Misao's family knew about the pregnancy. She felt too scared to tell Soujiro's family, as they might not understand her reasons for not wanting the child. Misao just couldn't bare the thought of raising the child without her husband beside her every step of the way. She had cried many times that day, in the arms of different people. First it was her doctor, then her sister, brother and grandfather and then her best friend.

A year had passed, and Misao was still the lonely widow. The memory of her late husband and their unborn child was always on her mind, but all in time she had let go, knowing he was looking down on her, guiding her through life. She knew everytime she visited his grave that he wanted her to get on with life and to be the beautiful and happy Misao he met and knew her as. Just for him Misao would be that loving and caring woman again. She began putting her life back together again, caring for the neighbours and her sister-in-laws children once more. She felt her husband's presence wherever she went, knowing he wanted her to find love again, to have a family she so desperately and richly deserved, but Misao thought it was impossible for her to love again. Little did she know about the man who had moved to Kyoto six months ago… He was going to walk into her life and she'd never want to let him go, for Misao had found her new love.

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End of Prologue…

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