Nornal 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 sat on the floor, her legs drawn up to her chin, her arms wrapped around her knees. She didn't think that she would be having those nightmares again, but, she did. The horrible flashbacks of that day started to flow through her head. She shut her eyes tight trying to think of happy thoughts, something that would get rid of those evil memories.
This has crippled me for far too long...I can't let this get to me anymore. I have to be strong for Samanosuke...for myself. She picked herself off the floor and tied her hair back into a ponytail. She walked triumphantly out of the room with the boken in her hand. She headed out to the court yard, determined not to let anything stop her from preparing herself to face her fears.
She walked by the dojo where Kaoru was giving lessons to Yahiko. Kaoru caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of her eye and then walked over to the dojo doorway to see what she was up to. Setsuna got herself into a stance, but just stood there. Yahiko joined Kaoru's side, watching Setsuna along with her.
"What is she doing?"
"She is meditating to gather her sword spirit. Haven't you learned anything," Kauro asked the young boy with a hint of fire in her eyes.
"Maybe if you weren't so ugly, I could pay attention to you more..."
"NANI?! Who are you calling ugly!! Come back here you little rat!"
Kaoru chased after Yahiko swinging the boken at him but missing. He ran out of the dojo and on to the walkway outside. He wized past Kenshin as he held a tray of tea. The tray raddled a bit but didn't fall. He sighed with relief until Kaoru came crashing by and knocked him to the floor. Everything fell from the tray breaking and spilling the tea all over.
"This hasn't been my week...," muttered Kenshin putting broken bits of cups and teapot onto the tray. He looked up and finaly noticed Setsuna standing there with a boken in her hands, meditating in the courtyard. He could feel it now. It was weak, but, her sword spirit was there. He finished picking up the broken pieces and walked back to the kitchen to dispose of them.
~~~~~
Setsuna walked across a deserted beach, the wind blowing her hair across her face blinding her momentarily. The clouds in the sky rushed over head as if late for something on the other side of the ocean. A small island was barely visible from where she stood looking out at the water. She squinted her eyes as sand blew around her.
She turned her attention to the beach as her gaze combed the edge of the water, looking for a way to get to the island without having to swim. The sky was starting to turn black and she knew that a storm was coming close. She spotted a boat farther down the shore and started to walk towards it in hope that it was still in a condition to sail. She heard a faint voice behind her, calling her name...calling to her to turn around and stop walking away.
Setsuna slowly peered over her shoulder and out of the corner of her eye she saw a person standing several yards from her. She turned her body around to face whoever was standing there. He was standing right in front of her...where he belonged, standing right there beside her. "Samanosuke...," she mouthed as tears started to build up in her eyes. She ran to him, almost crushing him with the hug that now embraced him.
The sky continued to darken around them and lighting flashed in the distance lighting up the lonely beach. She looked up into his eyes all he did was smile back at her. That beautiful smile that she has longed to see again ever since that fateful day. It suddenly rushed back to her that he was dead and that he couldn't possibly be standing there in front of her. She losened her embrace on Smanosuke and backed away from him. "I'm sorry...I have to let go of you...I have other things that I have to worry about right now." Samnosuke nodded at her, turning into a mist. The wild wind carried the lost memories away along with the distraction that he has caused her.
She then wiped her red eyes with the sleeve of her kimono and started walking towards the boat that she saw. The wind starting blowing harder, blinding her with sand. Setsuna started to run towards the direction that the boat was on the beach. The storm grew more violent as she made her way towards the boat. She reached it and smiled weakly at the small triumph. She climbed into the boat and the storm grew somewhat calmer. She found an ore and pushed the boat away from the beach. The waves tossed the boat around violently, tossing it around like a toy. She tried as best she could to row towards the island that seemed so very far away with the weather in it's current state. The wind started to die down as she rowed closer to the shore of the island.
She reached the beach and climbed out of the boat just in time, for a lightning bolt struck the small wooden boat bursting into flames moments later. The storm calmed even more as she saw the object that she was looking for. It was still there after she had locked it away on this island, hoping never again to have to look for it's use. She walked up to the glass case and wiped the sand from off of it. She peared in, seeing that it was still there unharmed. She took a small key from her kimono sleeve and unlocked a big heavy steel lock. It opened with a click and fell into the sand. She opened the top of the glass box and took out the katana that was held within it. The storm suddenly stopped, the sky cleared and birds could be hear singing on the main land.
She smiled, happy to be holding the sword again in her hands. Setsuna walked towards the waters edge, stopped and touched the blade of the sword to the water. The water glowed a bright blue and she stepped out onto it. It was no longer water, it had turned to ice. She passed safely over it, seeing that Samanosuke had returned to standing on the beach. She smiled at him, "It will soon be over my love."
Setsuna opened her eyes. They slowly adjusted to the bright sunlight that filled the courtyard of the dojo. She could hear faint screaming coming from within the house. She oriented herself and looked around. No one was standing there. She looked into the clear blue sky, holding her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. "Soujiro you were right, no one can ever turn away from the sword or ever repress it's spirit within you."
~~~~~
Sano sat in the doorway of his apartment drinking cheap sake and singing to a stray dog that lay at his feet. The morning sun beat down on his face making it apear redder then it actualy was. Mumbling to himself, he tipped the bottle back, drinking the last drops. He looked at the empty bottle, then down at the dog. "Hey dog...go fetch me another bottle."
The dog looked up at Sano with on ear cocked back with a confused look in his eyes. "You worthless flea bitten fur bag!" He threw the bottle at the poor dog, but missed horribly and hit another apartment door, breaking it. He didn't care at this point. Things were so complicated, he didn't want to make of them. He was feeling things that have never been there before. Things he was afraid of facing by himself. The only thing he was interested in was drowing his problems with sake or any other form of alcohol he could get...well, for free at this point.
Seeing that the dog was useless to him, he stood up and stumbled a few feet before giving up on walking and headed straight back to his apartment to go back to sleep. Drinking all that sake made him heavy and exhausted, or was it really the sake doing that? He stumbled into the doorway and colapsed onto his futon. His mind wandered to Setsuna again. He fumbled around under his pillow and found the comb that she had left with him. This is insane, he thought, how can one girl have me this crazy? He put the comb back under the pillow and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
~~~~~
Sano walked through the dead forest, seeing everything withered and dead all around him. The full moon shown down on the trail, showing him the way to nowhere. He didn't know where he was, he just knew he had to find Setsuna in all this darkness before it was too late for her. He started to feel panic over take him when he couldn't find her anywhere in the dark, not even the moon showing him the way to her.
He called out her name, hoping that she would be withing earshot to call back to him. All he heard was owls and his own echo answering his cries out to her. He stopped and rested on a dead log. He leaned on the log with his hands, feeling the slick wetness of water on it. He stood back up examining his hands seeing that it wasn't water that was on the log...
Sano looked abover the log to see a body of a man hanging by the neck with both of his wrists slashed, bleeding dropplets of blood onto the log below. He winced with pain at the wind blew the body around, showing the dark bruising on the side of his neck in the bright moonlight. Feeling that the same thing will happen to him if he stayed around for too long, he started walking down the never ending trail again.
"Sano...," a soft voice whispered from the dead bushed to his left. He stopped in his tracks, turning slowly towards the source of the voice. "Setsuna? Is that you?" He caustioulsy approached the dense bushes.
"Sano...," the voice whispered again, this time the wind carried it farther down the trail. He looked down the trail and saw someone run into the shadows, out of his sight. "Wait! Setsuna!"
He ran after her down the dirt trail. Twigs and plants grabbed at his clothes and tore open his flesh, making him bleed bright red blood. He came to an abrupt halt as the trail opened up to a large field. He walked out into the frield slowly, looking about in all directions. He heard a sudden noise and turned back towards the trail, seeing that it disappeared and now it was the river back home in Tokyo.
"Sano."
He turned to the voice to see Setsunas smiling face standing in front of him. She was dressed in a beautiful pale blue silk kimono with butterflies embroidered on it. Her hair was down with a big flower pinning up the left side. she held a purse in her hands. She opened it with the same smile, pulling out a katana. "I'm sorry Sano, it's for the best."
Hands burst from the ground beneath Sanos feet, grabbing his arms and legs, holding him in his place. "What the..." He struggled with all his strength to no avail. "Setsuna, please don't." Setsuna slowly walked forward to Sano and kissed his cheek. "No, don't do it!" She walked away from him to the middle of the field, unsheathed the sword, then stabbed herself through the heart. He couldn't even breathe, he couldn't even say anything. She was gone...taken away from him so fast...
He woke up from the nightmare screaming and drenched with cold sweat. He wiped his brow then sat up. He rubbed his stubbly face, then the real panic set in. What if it was real, what if she was really dead? He jumped to his feet, grabbed his shirt, then took off towards the dojo.
The streets were busy with early morning shoppers. He was aggrivated by them being there hindering his mission to find out what that dream meant. He pushed his way through small clusters of people, not stopping to apologize to anyone. He reached the dojo and pushed the main doors open, storming in like a leader of an army. Setsuna looked up, startled by the noise. She stopped sipping her tea and smiled at Sano standing there. "Good moring," she called to him, waving him over. "Come have tea with me and Kenshin!"
He ran over to her as if she had died and come back to life...like a person he hadn't seen in years...like a lost lover he once again can embrace.
"You're alive," he whispered as he grabbed her in his strong arms. "What...," Setsuna couldn't get a word out before Yahiko steped onto the porch.
"I knew you had a thing for her. Mu mu mu mu," Yahiko made kissing noises at Sano then turned and ran for his life as the life sparked back into his eyes. "What did you say you little brat?!"
"Oro?" Kenshin watched the strangest things unfold in the past week...perhaps he should stop trying to figure things out. It made his head hurt something awful...