Author's Note: I have returned. I think this fic is going very well – a little long however. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you. ^_^

Disclaimers: *Takes out her Chinese pendant necklace and starts swinging it back and forth* I own Rurouni Kenshin. YOU believe I own Rurouni Kenshin.

Chapter 8: Rejuvenation

            It was raining extremely heavily when Captain Sagara decided to tell his troops to load up. That very night, the troops said goodbye to the people of the Aoiya and left for the "morning" train. Although the train was cancelled because of the rain, Captain Sagara decided to continue on with his plans without the train.

"A friend of mine will be helping me out this time." Captain Sagara answered Takei after he asked what they were to do. "Tell the rest of the Sekihoutai that they are to be at the docks in no more than an hour." With that said, Captain Sagara went off, leaving a very stupefied Takei behind.

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"WHAT?! What you mean? You're saying – no way!!" Sano tried to say something sensible but – he had a "bit" of trouble – just a bit. The old man nodded his head once.

Sano jumped up.

"So, is my brother still looking for me?" Sano asked hopefully. With that said, the old man's eyes dimmed a shade darker – showing remorse.

"Sano . . ." the old man began – he didn't know how to put it gently. "Your brother . . . well, thanks to your uncle really, wishes to . . ."

"To what?" Sano asked a tad bit frightened.

"He wishes to kill you."

A pin's dropping on the floor could be heard in the hut. The old man had said the words that would forever engrave themselves in Sano's soul.

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"Thank you once again Jekoi." Captain Sagara said as he quickly bowed his head once.

"Heh, no problem Captain Sagara! It's the least I could do after you saved my village from those revengeful samurai!" Jekoi, and old man, said as he cracked his back.

"Oh, I ain't what I used to be . . .back then I was young and this old back wouldn't be bothering me. Oh, well. I suppose you probably don't want to hear the grumblings of an old man anyway. Well! The ship's read and it can set sail as soon as you need it to!" Jekoi replied happily.

"Thank you very much, I'll have the men load up the ship immediately in order to leave." Captain Sagara said as he bowed his head quickly to the old man once more and went on his way.

Once he was outside, Captain Sagara started to take a walk. Had the people of Kyoto seen him they would have thought him a lunatic. Walking outside in the rain these days was death-threatening – with the new threat of pneumonia that is. Captain Sagara continued to walk around the many streets of Kyoto.

~*~Flashback~*~

A young boy grunted as he was thrown into a tree backward from the force of a sword.

"You ain't tough enough and you ain't worthy enough to be called a Cap'n of yer own squad!" A rough voice shouted as the boy slowly got up.

"You haven't defeated me yet! The battle is not over!" The boy yelled with all the strength left in him. He ignored the pain of his shattered bones in his right arm and he ignored the many torn fragments of flesh across his fair skin. He was determined – if this had been a battle of wills the boy would have already won – but it wasn't.

"Ha! Look at you! You can barely stand up! You're in no condition to fight! And either is your right arm – all the bones are shattered! You have nothing left in you to defeat me!" The proud and arrogant man said as he looked as his little opponent. "Well, I think I'll humor you just once! I'll attack you! The one who's left standing is the winner – no questions asked!" The older man said as he got in an offensive position – ready to charge.

The boy got into a weak offensive position as he got ready for the final blow. The other man snorted out of disdain.

"Ready?"

"Ready!" With that said the older man charged at the boy's weak side, his right, as the man expected to make full contact with the boy's frail body and shatter it, and his pride all in one blow. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for the charging man. He saw the boy drop to one knee. At the same time the boy  threw his sword from his right hand to his left hand. The older man saw all of this, yet he could not dodge at his speed. As the older man neared the boy, he felt a sword stuck into his chest cavity and the feel of the cool metal as it went all the way through him at a slanted line.

The older man fell with a distinct "thud" as the boy got on his unsteady feet.

"How . . .? How  did you?" The older man gasped, blood coming from his mouth as he was choking his last words out – wanting an answer.

"Simple. You underestimated me. I've been practicing the techniques you taught me with both my right and my left hand to perfection." The boy answered as he made an effort to stand just a little more upright than he was at present. The older man looked confused a little moment and then he smiled.

" . . .the last man standing . . .wins. You, boy, have beaten me at my own game. I salute you, Captain Sagara. The Sekihoutai are. . . your's . . ." With his last breath, the formal leader of the Sekihoutai died. The young seventeen-year-old new Captain stood there a minute, simply looking at the dead man's body.       

//Someday I'll stop this leader-kills-leader nonsense, but for now . . .I need to get back to my new squad and decide on our next mission. . . //

~*End Flashback~*~

Captain Sagara smiled as he watched a beautiful butterfly spread its wings and try its best to fly against the force of the rain. The butterfly was continually slammed against the ground but in the end it was able to fly toward the sky – it never gave up.

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Before anyone could react, the sounds of many bombs exploding at once was heard all the way to the hut.

"What was that?!" Katsu asked jumping up, completely disregarding the awkward moment. Both Sano and Katsu looked questioningly at the old man. The old man's eyebrows wrinkled up in thought.

"Hurry! You two must get out of here as soon as you can!" The old man said as he quickly got up form his chair and began grabbing some thing for the boys to take with them. The old man then put warm clothes on the two boys before he ushered them out of the hut. Once they were outside, the old man pointed toward a village.

"Look! See that! That's a village where a good friend of mine lives! Just ask to see Seki and they will tell you where he is. Tell him I sent you and he will take good care of you! Now go!" The old man's instructions were quick and to the point. Another bomb exploded – this time much closer. Katsu and Sano got the picture and ran off as fast as they could possibly go toward the village.

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            The sea breeze blew toward Takei's face, causing his long beautiful, shiny hair to whip around in many directions. (A/N: Think of Takei as one of those really hot bishies with long hair! ^_^) The ocean's tranquility, as well as its beauty, could overwhelm anyone. Takei scowled. He hated the ocean. There were so many memories that the ocean held for him – most where ones that he wished would drown . . . sort of like . . .

~*~ Flashback~*~

"Big brother!" a little boy laughed as he ran on deck. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten his "sea-legs" yet, so he lost his balance and fell. The older brother laughed.

"Come here, Kiro!" The older brother came to the little boy just as the kid was about to burst into tears. The older boy picked up his little brother and started to swing him around. The little boy forgot his hurt posterior and started laughing as the wind whipped his hair around.

"Big Brother! Big Brother!!" Kiro laughed as the elder boy swung him around.

"Takei! Put your brother down before he gets too dizzy!" said an older man  as he looked at Takei and the laughing little boy. Takei stopped swinging his little brother around.

"Yes father," he said as he put the little boy back on the deck. The little boy fell over again. Takei's father shook his head and laughed before he went below deck. Takei looked at the ocean.

//So calm . . .so peaceful, who would believe that the ocean can take human lives?// Takei thought to himself as he looked out onto the sea, trying to see if he could spot a sea creature of some kind.

"I wanna see! I wanna see!!" Kiro shouted, knocking Takei out of his thoughts. Takei turned around and looked down at his little brother and smiled.

"Alright, up you go!" Takei said as he grabbed his brother under the arms and hauled him up to the ship's side. He sat his on the edge of the ship but still held onto him, making sure Kiro did not fall off the edge. As he held his baby brother, Takei stared into the distance . . .

~*~

"Kiro!! Where are you?! KIRO!!" Takei frantically shouted as he ran onto the deck. Truth to be, Takei wasn't really running, he was more slipping on the water that was on the deck and then getting rammed to the side of the boat more than he was running. Takei looked around and spotted his father – also not having any more luck than he was.

"Takei!! Takei!!" his father shouted out as he neared his eldest son. "Be carefull, Takei! This storm is worse than any I have seen so far!! The ocean may appear calm but it also may rise against you!! Just be careful and for all that is good, find your brother! And please . . .don't do anything that you will regret. . . " Takei's father then went stumbling around the deck to look for his youngest son.

 In a last moment of dread, Takei got to the higher side of the ship somehow. And then he saw it. A tiny red bulge in the ocean.

//Wait . . .Kiro's clothes' color was red . . .KIRO!!// Takei thought. Using his emotions more than his brain, Takei dived off the side of the ship and into the plunged waves beneath. Once he was in the ocean, he tried to swim as fast as he could in order to reach his brother before it was too late.

"Got you!" Takei said as he grabbed Kiro and attempted to drag him back to the ship. But things didn't go according to plan . . .just as Takei was dragging Kiro back to the ship, he was hit with something. That something was large and heavy and Takei later found out that it was an enormous chunk of the mast of the ship that was chopped off by the force of the waves.

            The force of the mast caused Takei to loose a bit of his conscious actions, and in turn, his grip on his little brother. The next thing that Takei thought before he was quickly drowning was

// . . .Father, you said I shouldn't do anything I would regret . . .I do not regret trying to save my little brother. I'm sorry . . .I have failed . . .you . . .//

~*~

"Kid! Hey Kid!! Wake up!!" the sound was unfamiliar and extremely loud to ears that were much clogged by seawater. The next thing Takei knew is that he quickly sat up and hunched over and coughed up all the water that was clogging his lungs.

"Well, I'm glad that you're alive . . .at least one of you are . . ." said a very remorseful sailor. By the looks of him, you could easily tell that the storm had taken it's toll on him as well. Takei regarded the sailor for a long time.

"What . . . what do you mean one of us. . .?" Takei asked as he narrowed his eyes, his heart beating to a fast, unheard rhythm. The sailor took his hat off and held it to his chest.

"The news . . .I'm about to tell you . . .is not very . . . pleasant." Takei nodded his head once, signaling the sailor that he was ready to hear whatever news that he could give.

"Your brother . . his body . . .was never recovered. We reckoned he drowned during the storm. As for your father –"

"My father!" Takie interjected. Surely his father is alive! Isn't he?

"Your father jumped in after you after he saw you dive off the boat. We made an attempt to rescue him but he drowned as well. When we hauled him onboard he was already dead. We're sorry to say that we gave him a funeral and threw him back to the ocean. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but the ship cannot afford to be any heavier." The sailor said with apathy for Takei as he looked to the ground. Suddenly a shout was heard.

"If you will excuse me, I see the wounded need tending to." The sailor said as he got up, put his hat back on and went below deck. Takei remained where he was . . .not moving.

For the next few days Takei didn't eat nor did he sleep. He didn't even move from the spot that he had received the news from . . .

~*~ End Flashback~*~

            Takei continued to stare off into the distance. He watched the waves bob up and down as many seagulls continued to get their food from the plentiful sea. Takei narrowed his eyes.

//I will not let Sanosuke and Katsuhiro die!!//

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