Forgive and forget? Impossible. I will never forget you. And for that, I could never forgive you.

"Did you enjoy your day, my love?"

The stunning woman turned slowly towards the man and smiled softly as she had been taught. "It was eventful, Hitomouri- san."

Hiromouri Shinji's handsome face softened and he ran a rare gentle hand down his fiancee's long tresses. Without warning his grip tightened almost painfully. If she felt any discomfort, none showed in the serene gaze she turned to him with.

"You told me that you would get rid of this thing," he murmured, holding up the end of her braid. Her eyes flashed, a light quickly banked.

"I'm sorry, Shinji- san. It must have slipped my mind."

He lifted his shoulders, dismissing it. "No matter. As long as you get rid of it soon. It displeases me."

She turned back to her knitting. "As you wish."

"I have been told that you went to a tea house in town. Is this true?"

Her hands stilled, paused before resuming her knitting. "Hai."

"You won't do so again." There was no room for argument in his voice. She merely nodded.

He rose from the floor, made to leave. Turned back to see her staring at her hands.

"Kagura."

The girl who used to be Mackimachi Misao looked up, her smile at once lost and quizzical. "Hai?"

He shook his head and leaned down to kiss her, a secret smile in his dark eyes. "Never mind."

0000000000

Okon could feel his hate from across the room and despaired.

I never wanted to make you hate me, Aoshi. You must believe me. I never wanted to hurt you.

But she knew that it would be a waste of breath to say such things. The only thing she could do was come clean.

She took a breath. "I saw her about a month or so ago," she began, ignoring the gasps of her audience. "At the marketplace in Osaka, when I went for my vacation, remember? We had touched hands accidently, reaching for the same thing..."

The white hand brushed her own, and she looked up. The world stopped.

"Misao?" she breathed, afraid to hope. "Misao-chan, is that you?"

The girl turned to face her, a small frown marring her pretty features as she placed an apple in her bag. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

Okon had to steady herself. The woman who stood in front of her was taller than the petit girl that she remembered. Gone were the grubby knees and the ever present smear of dirt on porcelain skin. What stood in front of her was a vision draped in red silk, eyes quiet and sad. The braid hung, limp silk, down her back.

Okon blinked back tears. This is what Misao would have looked like in five years.

She cleared her throat quickly, afraid that she would disappear. "Misao. You're Misao."

The vision smiled, one that failed to reach blank eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid that you've found the wrong person. My name is not Misao."

Okon could not believe it. She shook her head. "Misao." She reached out, only to snatch her hand back as an attractive man appeared at the woman's side. The other woman stiffened as well, and straightened. It was as if a shield had slipped down in his presence.

"Kagura, is there something wrong?"

No, she's not Kagura, Okon wanted to scream, her name is Misao, and she belongs with me.

"No, Shinji- san. This woman just mistook me for someone else."

The man turned dark eyes to the thunderstruck ninja girl, a sneer curling his lip before settling into a gracious smile. Okon wondered briefly if she had imagined it.

"As you can see, this woman is my fiancee," he said. He took his fiancee's hand in a death grip. She winced only for a second. He started tugging her after him, barely sparing Okon a second glance. "And we must be leaving."

Okon opened her mouth, reluctant to see the woman leave. "But..."

The woman turned back, her eyes clear for an instant. Okon's heart leaped as she finally saw a trace of the weasel girl that she had been. "Okon?" she mouthed. Then he hauled her away.

"Misao!" Okon broke out of her stupor and started to follow the couple, shoving away the people who moved to separate them. "Misao!"

But she was gone.

"I tried to follow her, but I couldn't get past the crowd that had suddenly appeared." Okon closed her eyes and leaned back, incredibly weary. "And by the time I had, I could not find a trace of either of them."

"In Osaka?" Okina asked. "What was she doing in Osaka?"

"Why did the man call her Kagura?" Omasu wanted to know.

Shiro spoke up, his voice thoughtful. "Are you positive that this Kagura is actually Misao?"

Okon whirled to face the boy, her eyes fiery. "I know Misao. That woman was her. She knew me, Shiro. It was Misao. She's alive. And I know where she is."

"Then let us go to Osaka!" This from Okina.

"We cannot."

Heads turned sharply to view the quiet Okon. "Why not!" Okina demanded impatiently.

"She is not there."

"Then where is she, Okon?" This came from Aoshi, and everyone turned to him with baited breaths. His face was kept carefully blank, but everyone could see what turmoil lurked in his eyes.

Oh, I never wanted to hurt you, Aoshi. But I had thought...

Thought what? That she would be able to leave her friend the way she was, confused and alone? What had she thought?

She sighed, kept her gaze on the floor, hating herself. "She's here. Misao is in Kyoto."

000000

"Kagura."

She looked up from her plate, her practiced smile in place. "Hai, Shinji-san?"

"Kagura, I am going to be absent tonight."

She nodded, "All right."

"You are not to leave the house, Kagura."

The woman she would have been would have protested at the order. The woman who sat at the oak table simply nodded her consent and pushed her food across the china. She did not look up as he rose, merely turned her face upward as he came across the table to kiss her.

"Do not leave this house, Kagura."

She smiled and assured him that she would not. Satisfied, he kissed her pale cheek once more before departing. The door clicked behind him.

Still smiling, the woman turned back to her food. The moonlight slanted through the window, bathing the long figure like a spotlight. Shaking back her newly shoulder length hair, she brought her chopsticks to her mouth.

A single tear slid, unnoticed, down her skin.

What good is an angel with chained wings and a heavy heart?

Coming up next: Aoshi and Misao meet for the first time in five years! Don't miss it ☺