Hitokiri of the Bloodless Moon: Hay peeps! I have an announcement....this weekend is the 4th of July in America (though I do not need to say such for all those American's out there reading this right now) anyway, my family is going camping for the weekend, so I wont be updating till Monday. I'm going to try to write chapters to 'A week of Chaos' and to this fic as well while I am gone; because I might be taking my lap top with me. Anyway happy 4th of July to everyone!! (American and other, I know that America is made up of lots of different ethnics of people, which is good, I like that, but also to anyone in any other country that can read this)

Dedicated to Bloody Akiko Nagi the Insane because she is grounded for a week and it is partly my fault. See, her Mom has a ten minute time limit on the phone, and my parents adopted it only because of her Moms rule, and also because we need to be HONORABLE (which is a good thing) so, I guess we spent to much time on the phone and she also has other friends...so it might not be ALL my FAULT but...lets just say it is to make Bloody Akiko feel better.

Besides thoughts and dedications being in italics also any dream sequence will be in italics.

Kyoto Ninja


Chapter 3: Heart Thoughts

That night, Seta Soujiro laid in bed just looking at the ceiling. The shoji doors that led to the porch area of the Inn were wide open and a soft breeze blew threw the room that Soujiro shared with Ichiro Himura. The smell of lavender and cherry blossoms wafted into the room. The stars shone brightly and the moon shone happily onto the Aoiya. Soujiro sighed as his thoughts turned to Misao, he just couldn't help it. In fact, Soujiro remembered that she was the main reason for him coming to Kyoto in the first place.

It had just been a year since they had parted ways, and that was when they first met, he hadn't met Misao till two years into his wonderings; which, he cursed himself, was really stupid of him. Soujiro remembered being utterly....shocked, when he had sent the raven haired beauty, she smelled of lavender, and her dark blue eyes shone brightly while she greeted him warmly and told Aoshi Shinamori to stop being rude.

"Aoshi-sama, give him a break already, Himura had to talk to you too!" Misao's voice rang though Soujiro's head.

He shook his head to get rid of that voice, suddenly, a pain gripped his heart and Soujiro brought a hand to his chest.

"What is this I am feeling?" he asked the darkness, "Could it be worry?" Soujiro quietly got up from bed and walked out to the porch. No matter how he tried he just could not sleep. He wondered where Misao was, what she was doing, and if her captors were treating her well or not. Soujiro clenched his hands and he closed his eyes sharply; anger rose into his chest instead of worry, and then made way for another feeling...Soujiro could not name this new feeling, but de did know that whenever he dreamt of Misao, he would always get that feeling.

Soujiro looked up into the sky, the stars twinkled and blinked at him, the moon looked closer to the world and it seemed to say that everything would be alright, alright in the end. Everything will go back to normal and life will go one...like always. Soujiro sighed, he wanted something else in his life, he wanted to hold that something close to him, and kiss that something....and....

A tear slipped down his cheek, he whipped it away, then turned back to the Inn.
"I will find you Misao....I promise" he said to the sky, as he slipped back to bed; this time, sliding into a peaceful sleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Misao sat on the floor in front of the roaring fireplace. She pulled a jade stoned brush through her hair and sighed. She wore a light blue night gown made out of rich silk. It pooled around her with raven hair making a nice contrast to it. Misao wished that she was on the veranda of the Aoiya, her home, she also wished to see a certain smiling young Tenken. She knew that Okina liked the boy, despite what he had done, but then again, Okina was such a forgiving man...well, probably not in this case, but he forgave the boy all the same.

"Soujiro, Seta....can I dare wish you to save me?" Misao asked, she dropped the brush and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around, she propped her chin on her knees and looked into the fire. She lost herself in the warm flames and soon she saw Soujiro's face in the flames, she closed her eyes and pictured the Tenken handing her a rose, it was a memory from a year ago, when they had first met. It was the day that she had finally found out that Aoshi didn't love her the way she had thought he would, and, she had also found out that she didn't love him the way she had thought since she was ten. She found out that she just loved Aoshi like a big brother and he loved her as a little sister he never had.

"Don't worry Misao-san, somebody is out there just waiting to find a beautiful woman like you, to love, and to hold, and to kiss," Soujiro said, Misao smiled at that memory. After Soujiro had said the 'and to kiss' part, he handed her a rose, then suddenly the words registered in his brain and he flushed a deep red color.

Misao smiled at that memory now. He looked so cute when embarrassed and she loved that he would smile for her. Sure, he smiled all the time, but when he flashed her a smile...it was a real one, not one that he would give Aoshi, or Himura, just her.

"I want to go home," Misao said, a tear ran down her nose, she grunted in distaste and whipped it away. She would not cry, she was the Okashira of the Onniwabanshuu Ninja group, the toughest, most honorable, and dedicated, ninja group in Kyoto. Hell, in Japan, as she preferred to say it.

Misao got up and yawned, suddenly she felt very tiered, "It must be late," Her gentle voice said to the silence of the room, except for the crackling of the fire. She turned and walked to the huge bed. She climbed in and pulled the covers over her. She stared at the surrounding darkness, remembering what the soft light of the moon would have been if she were in her own room at the Aoiya.

Kami-sama, please let me get out of this without anyone getting hurt. Please, let my family know that I am all right....Misao prayed silently, before sleep overtook her and she was swept off to dream land.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

The sun was high in the sky; a soft wind blew through the dense forest and made the water of a nearby pond ripple. Sakura trees surrounded the edges of the pond, some sakura blossoms came lose from the trees and floated upon the water. Misao sat on a boulder that sat on the shore of the pond. She wore a long dark blue skirt that pooled around her, and she wore a dark blue halter top. She lay on her back looking at the sky, her feet dipping into the cool water.

Suddenly, Soujiro was right there beside her, she sat up and smiled at him. He smiled back at her and settled down beside her. He wrapped his arms around Misao's waist and pulled her to sit on his lap. They didn't say anything, but Misao relaxed against him and just let him hold her. This was what she needed; she needed him as he needed her.....




&&&&&&&&&&&

Misao's eyes snapped open, her dream came back to her in full force, she turned into the pillow that cradled her head, and cried her tears into the softness.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Soujiro paced the little room frantically, the sun was just rising over the mountain, and the blue birds had decided to sing their mornings song. He clenched his fists, his dream coming upon him and that same feeling he had every time he thought about Misao.

"I love her," he finally admitted to himself and to the silence of the room.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Hitokiri of the Bloodless Moon: Well, how was that? Do you want something with a little more edge and a little more pain? Hah! I can do that, I have CMT on TV and they have the music video to Toby Keith's new song 'Whisky Girl' on. I love this song, it is so cool. Well, there ya go, some Misao/Soujiro...well, okay, I guess not...but what about that dream huh? Do dreams count? I really want to make their romance tasteful and sweet. Like a courtship if you will. I'm going to have some Kasha/Misao in the next chapter, but don't worry, Misao will show that man who is boss! Please review and thank you for getting this far. If you have gotten to this chapter than I hope that you will review and tell other about this fic. Shameless, I know, but what do you expect?