Normal text = the present (See chapter one)
Bold = written articles: letters, newspaper clippings, etc.
Italic = the stuff that happened leading up to the stuff in normal text. (flash back)
Bold/italic = Setsunas past (flash back)
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Setsuna woke with her heart racing, and hot sweat covering her chilled body. She sat up looking around the room, thinking that she was outside gazing at the stars still. She sighed with much relief. Her taking out her angst and problems on Kenshin was only a very bad dream. She would never think of doing that to someone. She had much more control then that. At least she hoped she did if it ever came down to it.
She didn't blame anything on Kenshin. He had no hand in what her father did. It had been many years later that she finally found out why he did what he did that night and the many years afterward. He was trying to protect the ones he loved the only way he could at that time. If spies ever found out that he had family, he was sure they would try and take their lives.
Setsuna remembered quite well the night that sent her fleeing for her life from the Kuragari. She had been set free by the truth about her father. He had died while she was still with the Kuragari, but somehow, she was able to get her mothers belongings back from that evil man.
~~~~~
She never thought that she would see the day that she could finally get back the hair ornaments her father had taken from her mother before he left. They where the ones she wore at their wedding and Setsuna always had admired them in the silk case they stayed in. She wanted to wear them in her hair at her own wedding, and they were the only thing they didn't sell for money when her father had left. It was three hours ago that she heard word through Soujiro that her father was dead. She found out more information and was now headed to Outsu on the four day walk it would take to get there. The hair ornaments meant so much to her that she was willing to walk for so long to get there.
Soujiro had made the offer to travel with her. After much debate, she accepted his company. It was no use anyway, if she declined she knew he would only follow her anyway. He always accused her with having a bad sense of direction. , which she ignored him whenever they did get lost. Having his company would be good enough a reason to actually accept him coming along anyway. Traveling by oneself can be very boring on long trips.
The sun was setting slowly in the western sky, causing it to change to bright red and orange. It being midsummer allowed them more daylight to travel by. After setting up camp for the night, Setsuna went straight to bed without eating anything.
Soujiro almost started to regret even going along with her. She said few words to him and seemed angry when she did talk. Was she mad at me, was it something I did? He didn't care too much, but the whole reason he wanted to go with her was to try and get closer to her, to try and get through the barriers she set up around herself. Nothing seemed to be working. After finding some peace with himself after Shishou-sama passed and the Juppungatana had broken up, he tried to open up to people more. He could start to trust regular people like he did Shishou-sama.
He watched Setsuna sleep, her back towards him. The night sky was clear, brightly lit with a full moon and plenty of stars. He smiled, knowing that this time, his smile wasn't false.
~~~~~
After walking for two days, spending most of there time silent, they made it to Outsu. They had wanted to get there earlier then planned to get it over with. Both were restless from each others silence and agreed to walk almost for 24 hours straight one day.
Setsuna arrived at the home of the man who was in charge of her fathers estate and stated who she was. The man, who introduced himself as Myon Keiichi, said that there was two specific things her father left her to have. One thing was the silk box with the hair ornaments, the other was a journal her father kept during the war. A letter was with both items and addressed to her. She almost refused to take the journal and letter but, Soujiro took the items for her as she stormed out of the office.
"I can't believe that man! After all these years he thinks a letter is going to make my view of him any different!"
She sat down on the grass near the shore of Lake Biwa, with a frown on her face. Soujiro sat next her picking up the silk box that lay to her right. He opened the box seeing the hair ornaments.
"Did these belong to your mother?"
".......yes. She wore them at her wedding. I hope that some day I can do the same. As things are right now though, I don't think that's ever going to happen. I'll probably die in battle before I can think about marriage seriously."
He closed the box and set it back on the ground. "Maybe you should really read this journal. You never know what you may find out about your father."
Setsuna looked at Soujiro with a look that said, I can't believe you of all people are saying this to me! She violently took the journal from his hands, opened it and started to read a random entry just to satisfy his request:
January 12
I would put the year down, but, then again, I'm not sure how to write it anymore during this time of war. Today my loyal assassin has cut down many evil men. I am happy that he is on the side of good rather then evil. He is still too young for this and I wish to let him go of his duties for good.
She flipped to another entry later in the journal, not seeing anything interesting in the one she was reading:
May 20 Meiji 1
I can't believe this. The new era has started for us all. If only I could spend it with my beautiful wife and child. I miss them so much. If it wasn't for the war, I would have been able to save my wife when she became ill. Now I live with that burden everyday. My daughter is nowhere to be found, I just hope that nothing of ill fate has happened to her. But I had to do what I did, if I didn't deny them back during the war, they might both be dead now. I just hope that my only child is alive and well. That all of this wasn't truly in vain in the end.
She dropped the journal to the ground, covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to cry. It was all a fabricated lie to save her and her mother. In the end it was all for them. To try and save them from whatever ill fate would have come from being related to a man like him. Soujiro tried to comfort her as best he could, drying her tears with the sleeve of his kimono.
~~~~~
Now that she was awake, it would be hard for her to go back to sleep. Judging by the slight glimmer of light on the horizon, it was time to wake up anyway. She had a lot of pent up energy from keeping quite at the clinic and she needed to let it all out in the dojo. She knew if she didn't do it before everyone woke up, she would be stopped from doing anything and put back into her room to rest. She was tired of resting!
She rummaged through a dresser that was in her room and found some hakama pants to put on and a short kimono to wear with them. After binding her breasts and dressing, she made her way over to the dojo to practice her various skills. One of which she was itching to do because she hadn't practiced it since she left the Kuragari. She wondered if she even had the talent to do it anymore. She picked up a boken from the sword stands and centered herself. She practiced simple sword moves first and gradually started doing more complicated moves. Little did she know was that Sano woke very early to check in on the Kamiya Dojo, or rather check in on her. He stood silently in the shadows watching her carry out complicated sword moves he thought only a person like Kenshin could execute.
She then suddenly put the boken into the strap of her hakama pants and started tapping her foot on the floor. Sano stood there with his jaw on the ground. He had seen Soujiro start a move like that back when he and Kenshin were in Kyoto. All he could do is watch as she started to bounce from one foot to the other then take off with speed greater then that of Kenshins God like speed. She disappeared into thin air, but unlike Soujiro, the floor didn't rip up were she ran over it. She reappeared standing right in front of Sano with a grin on her face.
"How did you know I'd be up so early Sagara-san?"
He was dumb founded, stepping back in surprise. He didn't know what to say to her. She must have seen him standing there the entire time.
"Uhm...I just had this gut feeling..."
"It's okay, just don't tell Himura-san that I was in here doing this. He'd flip out if..." Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted from the exertion she had just put on herself, and still being weak from the blood loss. Sano raced to her and caught her before she hit the ground out side the dojo doors.
"Damn you Setsuna. He would find out now anyway." He carried her back to her bedroom and laid her down on her bed roll, covering her with the blanket that was folded neatly next to it.