Disclaimer: I do not own RK or PMK.

Saitouu: Read on. Just don't hurt this poor ficcie writer... An update

Chapter 15: Resolution

Okita-niichan, did I do right? Can you tell me? Rei was crying. He can feel her tears wet on his face. That second charge was his everything. He had used up his all. Demon Sword. It was a dangerous sword style that drained the user's ki. That was the life force of all living things.

He can't move. He was hovering somewhere. Rei's crying. I'm sorry, he wanted to hold her but could not. The redhead Tetsu felt his wrist for a pulse. He liked Tetsu, even when they were both competing for his niichan's attention back then.

Ichiro, come. A friendly hand reached out to him, as it had many years ago when he was a scared child. A smiling face, now sad and misty. It was his niichan. He shrank back, afraid. Demon Ran fell away, leaving only the scared twelve-year-old.

The goal was burning. Miyagi's men had locked him in a cell for later use as sport. Miyagi enjoyed cutting off limbs and ears, they said. Now he was going to die either from flames or smoke. He fell to the ground, choking… then he saw a hole had miraculously appeared in the wall of the goal. He crawled out to safety and freedom.

Niichan, the hole then was your doing wasn't it? Okita only smiled. The choice is yours. You always were a stubborn boy…

A few days later at Megumi's clinic, her assistant Soujirou was very perturbed by their newest addition. "Megumi-san, about Yukiko-san…" The boy was wearing a very exasperated look on his face.

"She keeps the house and is really harmless although she's a little soft-headed," Megumi bandaged a sprained ankle. After finding Mitsu dead, she had taken in Yukiko. The woman had no family left to care for her. "She thinks I'm her son!" Soujirou retorted. Somehow, Yukiko had abandoned her straw baby in favor of Soujirou.

"So, you do need a little motherly care," Megumi laughed and went into kitsune mode.

"She just made me a shirt!" The boy held out a very small shirt in his hand. Not even the new Himura baby can wear that! Megumi sweatdropped. Okay, maybe they need to keep an eye on the new housekeeper.

Aoiya. "Kenji-chan…" Both parents cooed as they played with their new son. Kaoru's eyes were shining with joy. Kenshin laughed as the baby grasped his finger. Aoshi watched the new parents with their baby. He and the Oniwabanshu will be holding Okina's cremation today at the temple.

Birth, life, death… An endless cycle of change. A monk at the temple had told him that once. Aoshi smiled at the irony of it. On that Obon night, lives were ended and new life was born. Maybe more than one. Ran's woman and Katsu had both vanished after Saitou's duel. Katsu did make a trip back to Aoiya to pick up his few belongings…

One life still hung in the balance, one undecided soul, one who had gone in with the intention of dying. Aoshi stopped by the door and peered inside. "Misao-chan, how's he?"

Misao shook her head. "No change." Tetsu was at the man's bedside. "Tetsu, a letter for you." The redhead took the letter from Aoshi. He read it, groaned and glanced at the man lying on the futon…

This was where the Seikihou troop made their last stand. Katsu wasn't there then. He was been down with a fever. He had found the location only through later accounts by Sano. This was a pilgrimage of sorts for him and her. He hadn't the courage to come here alone.

Rei had not spoken about her lover, Ran, since leaving Kyoto. She now played the familiar melody on her grass whistle. The strains sounded crisp and calming in the morning air. Finally, she let the wind snatch the grass blade from her fingers and whisk it skywards.

"Arigato for bringing me here, Katsu-san," she turned and smiled at him. Katsu was reminded of his taicho. They were amazingly alike when they smiled. "What will you do now?"

She turned to walk away. "I've decided. I've killed so many people… I'm turning myself in…" She answered quietly. Katsu opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw the determined look on her face. He nodded. This was a closure for her as it was for him. Their paths part here.

"Sayonara." The girl melted into the forest. Katsu turned towards Tokyo.

"Saitou-san." Saitou found himself in the old soba restaurant as it was ten years ago. Sitting across the table from him was Okita the way he was before his illness. His young friend was smiling. He wore a white yutaka. "How long do you intend to wait about here?"

"Is this the afterlife?" Okita shook his head. "This is neither here nor there. The choice is yours." Saitou saw that the restaurant had two main doors rather than one. How unusual.

"Tokio?" Okita held out a hand to forestall his question. "Everyone's well. Eiji's with his family now. Tokio, Hijitaka and the others are well too. Listen, what happened to me was not your fault!"

"Those nightmares…"

"A product of your own misplaced guilt. A nurse at the hospital told Miyagi about me…" Okita pulled a face. "She had a crush on him and I can't figure out why."

"You stayed here… was it for Yukiko? Or Ichiro?"

Okita nodded. "Yes, not anymore. Yukiko's in good hands and Ichiro's at rest. All that remains is you." A pair of round eyes stared at Saitou. "I know where you want to go, but is it really where you should go?" Okita toyed with a strand of his long hair. "There's a little one waiting for you there…"

"Midori has the Ichimuras. You'll be proud of Tetsu now… They'll care for her better than I ever can."

"Are you certain? Saitou-san, you have a very special daughter in Midori." Saitou shook his head. He was a poor father. Okita took Saitou's hand firmly and pulled him towards one of the exits…

Author's notes:

Which door will it be? I know my idea of limbo stinks. Hey, at least it beats the Zero level gameshow on the tube.
There's only the spirit world, no Heaven or Hell as in Christian belief. Just to simplify things a bit. (With the amount of blood shed by the Shinsengumi, it's just as well...) It's not the Buddhist wheel of reincarnation either... Juz another world where the dead wind up...