Authoress's Note:

Kon'nichiwa all! I've always wanted to do this, have a little Author's Corner to share stuff with the readers like what Watsuki does…the power, the fun! ::salivates:: But for now, I'll have to be content with this.

Welcome to Sakabatô Crossing: The Blossom and the Blade! First, some things you should know:

Though it may appear complete…it's not. I still have a whole lot of scenes to add in into their places, and once I write them (I have the ideas, just not the time!) ::sobs:: So there are lots of non-sequitour thoughts, but that's most mangas for you. Pick up your nearest on and take a peek in it. It doesn't 'flow' scene-to-scene. It's all chopped up in little snippets. So that's what form I took with this.

I don't mean to insult anyone out there, so for hard-core Kaoru/Kenshin shippers, unless you can handle the idea of Kenshin with someone else, don't read it. The rest of you, enjoy! ::sparklesparkle::

Let's give a ::whoot:: for crazy assassins, without which this story wouldn't have a plot! S of which, I just discovered two days ago. So all's good, all's good… WHOOT!

I'll be updating this whenever I add scenes into Acts, so be watching for those. I'll drop a line onto my comments page to let you know when you should be looking for a new scene, and where.

If anyone would like to point out a mistake, misspelling, typo, or advice, fell free to drop a line, please! As for flames, they will be sprayed out with my Super-soaker. ::holds it at the ready::

For those of you that need/want/have no idea what I'm talking about, you'll find a Japanese Phrases Glossary in the last chapter. Titled, informatively, Japanese Glossary. I hope it helps you with any of your questions!

I do not own any of the original Rurouni Kenshin characters, (though I wish I did. In that case, Kenshin would really be kept on a leash like in volume 3 of the mangas…that was a brilliant thought! ::thinks for a moment. Sees Kenshin on leash, arrow pointing to sakabatô. Sees point that if Kenshin didn't like leash, leash would come off, maybe as well as my head. Maybe not so much a good idea, then.::)

Without any further chattering from me, I present you with Sakabatô Crossing. May you enjoy it. Domo arigatô for your time!

-Teh Authoress

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Act One: The Blossom and the Blade

Hitokiri Battôsai stood in the doorway of the inn and tavern, taking in the smoky interior, the rotting wood, and the dim lanterns. He shrugged, and moved himself over to the landlord. "This one would like a room, please," he requested quietly.

"A room? Very good. Also maybe a warm bath made ready for you and refreshment?" The landlord took in the stocky red-head from head to foot, with a measuring look. "And possibly, a companion?"

Battôsai's face froze. "Bath, food and drink, yes. A slave, no, thank you."

"Very well," the greasy landlord consented, folding his hands on his thighs and bowing. Battôsai slightly returned the gesture, and turned toward the counter as the landlord swished away in the gaudy kimono. The Hitokiri picked his way through the rubble of humans, stinking of unwashed body and sake. Opium floated through the air, and a few men were slumped against the backs of booths. Slave girls accompanied a few of them, passed out from the sweet drug as well.

The tender passed him a small cup of sake, and he drank it meditatively. Nodding, and murmuring "Domo arigatõ," to the man, who nodded back, he went back to the door and looked out. A distant thump from overheard him caused him to look up sharply, and then a moment later, the sound of a shriek and feet pounding down the back staircase caused even some of the rabble in stupor's to blink and look up in mixtures of annoyance and interest.

A slight girl came flying around the corner, shouting something behind her as she ran about 'assuming men'. A second thundering of feet in the stairwell, and she shot forward again, straight at Battôsai. Her eyes locked on the sword at his side, and then her pale green eyes flicked up to his face. They locked eyes, and he realized a second before what would happen. He clenched his muscles, and she slammed into him, running her hand down his side to his sword, and drawing it swiftly from its' sheath with a shing.

As she whirled, he watched as her gaze fell to the blade. She turned it over so that the blade turned out with a flick of her wrist, and planted her feet with it pointed in front of her, impaling the man after her on the blue steel as he ran forward toward her. His jaw fell open in slack, and he stared down to his stomach. She twisted the blade, and he dropped off the end of the katana.

Blood pooled around him where he lay on the floor, hemorrhaging and jerking in spasms. The fair-haired girl planted a foot on the dying man's back and leaned down to him. "A prostitute I may be, but forced intercourse is still rape in my book," she hissed at him, and drew the flat edges of the blade over his kimono, cleaning it. She stood still over him for another minute, watching as his breathing gasped to a stop, making sure he was dead.

She turned when she was satisfied with the man's demise, and placed a hand on Battôsai's shoulder gently, sheathing the sakabatõ once again, replacing it with a slight thunk as the hilt hit the rim. "Domo," she said quietly, looking up at him and then turning away to the landlord who had come down to the tavern once again. "Sachi-san, that's the fourth man you've killed since I took you in here ten months ago! What must I tell you over and over again? The customer is the one who gets what he wants!"

Sachi stopped before the landlord and jabbed a finger into his slumping chest. "And we wouldn't be having this problem, Tengai-san, if you stopped giving me perverts and rapists. I don't mind my job as long as I'm the one in charge." She turned and walked back up the stairs as the mess of tavern men turned away, sure there was no more amusement to watch.

Battôsai gestured over to the landlord, who came, bowing and wiping his hands across his lap nervously as he came. He drew even to the hitokiri's side, and Battôsai lowered his mouth to the landlord's ear. "Though I do not have any qualms with your manner of business, Landlord, I do have qualms with forcing ungentle men onto young women to earn money for you. See to it that each man is read his authority before he takes a companion here."

"I will do that, Hitokiri-dono."

"See that you do, or I will be speaking to you again. And the next time we have this conversation, you won't be as comfortable as you are now."

The Battôsai turned away from the man. "I'd like my room, bath, and meal, if you would, please."

"Certainly. Right away."

"Himura! Look what we have for you!" The other Hitokiri cried gleefully to their comrade, and he turned from the bar to see where I stood between them. His eyes widened, and he turned to his friends. "Sugi-kun, Tagame-kun, what is this?"

They grinned at him, pleased at themselves. I rolled my eyes, bored with the affair already. "She's a gift from us to you, Himura-kun. She's the best they have."

" 'She' has a name," I protested dryly. "And unlike aged sake, I am the best prostitute slave they have. A person, not a thing."

"True," Hitokiri Battôsai agreed. "And what is your name?"

"Shinrin Sachi."

"Kon'nichiwa, Sachi-dono. I am Himura Battôsai."

"So I have heard. Kon'nichiwa."

"You were the one who drew my sakabatõ and knew it for what it was." A statement.

"Hai." A statement of my own.

"But how would one know so much?"

"An…acquaintance who spent a bit of time here traded me lessons for…services."

"I see. So one would know how to use such a sakabatõ."

"As I know how to use much of other katana."

"Really? You must show me some time." His interest was piqued.

"I will. And possibly, in return, you would be willing to be my sensei for a time, no?"

"We shall see."

Battôsai was sitting in one of the back booth areas of the tavern, nursing a cup of sake by himself. The dim lantern light flickered over his face and his red flame hair in its high ponytail of a Hitokiri, making his eyes appear darker and deeper then what they were.

I made my way across the room to him, dodging the reaching and grasping hands of other patrons as they reached out to grab me or pinch me. Years of practice made the habit second-nature, and I could now dodge someone's hand while simultaneously smiling at them, as if apologizing for being a bit out of their reach. A few frowned in dismay and rejection, but they let me pass by.

Sliding into the booth across from him, I planted my elbows on the small table and rested my chin in my hands, smiling at the Hitokiri, who looked up. "Care for company?" I asked, leaving the question open for refusal if he wanted to be alone. He smiled at me, nodding. "Company is always welcome here."

I gestured to his sake, half-drunk. "Not to your liking?" Battôsai shook his head. "No. I'm not much of a sake drinker," he said softly. "I prefer green tea to anything."

I looked up from the booth and gestured to one of the serving girls. She came over to the booth, averting her eyes from me, as most of the shy girls did around me. To them, my trade was one of unspoken things, and I was little better off then a street harlot.

"A cup of green tea, please, and quickly," I ordered politely, watching her eyes as they flicked over me in curiosity as it got the best of her.

"Yes, miss."

"Make that two cups," Battôsai put in, looking at me quickly to see if I would comply. I nodded to him.

"Two."

"Yes, sir. Two cups."

"Domo arigatô."

She hurried away to go get the tea, and the Hitokiri looked over at me, letting his indigo eyes wander over my face as he watched me. It wasn't a rude gesture, coming from him, but more one of awareness. As an assassin, much called for close scrutiny, so he was already in the habit of never hiding the power of his full-force stare.

The tea came over, and I took a delicate sip. I looked over the rim to Battôsai, who sipped his own, and then nodded in approval. "Good tea."

Our conversation lulled for a moment, when we both transferred our attention to the room around us, rather then each other.

My attention was abruptly brought back when I realized he had said something to me that I hadn't heard. "I'm sorry. What was that?"

He tapped the tabletop with a long finger, and I placed my hand down on the table next to his finger. Taking my hand in his, he turned it over, so that my palm was up. Resting the tips of two fingers in the center of my palm, he repeated his question.

"How did you come here?"

I grimaced. "By chance. And you?"

"By duty."

"That's right. You're a…loyalist?"

"Hai."

"I thought so. You are a Hitokiri."

"By Fate rather then choice. I never dreamed that my sense of justice would lead me to kill."

"But you must have trained in kenjutsu before that, surely," I argued back.

"Yes. But I bet that you never guessed that growing up in an okiya would leave you as a slave prostitute."

My eyes widened at his statement. "How did you knew I grew up in a geisha house?" I asked in a sharp voice. The Hitokiri smiled and placed his palm on mine.

"No worries. I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I just knew from the way that you pour tea, and your demeanor and the way you use your eyes."

"So then you must have been to a geisha house before."

"No. I haven't. But I've known many geisha through other circumstances."

"You're a very interesting man, Himura Battôsai," I said, smiling wryly at him, tilting the corners of my mouth up. A hand suddenly descended onto my shoulder, and we both looked up. I smiled at a darkly handsome man who belonged to the hand. Clean-shaven with wide dark eyes and shoulder-length black hair, his full mouth curved into a smile. "Kei."

One of my favorite customers stood next to me, smiling down at me. "May I steal you away for an evening, Sachi-chan?"

"As always."

"I hoped you'd say that."

Remembering the other man, I gestured to Battôsai. "Kei, this is Himura Battôsai."

"Hajimemashite," Battôsai said, looking up at Kei and smiling. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

Kei smiled back confidently. "Kochirakoso yoroshiku onegaishimasu. I've heard much of you, Battôsai. Welcome to the Green Dragon. And it seems as if you've already met Sachi-chan, the most beautiful girl to ever set foot here."

I laughed at the samurai. "Kei, îe, heta desu, really." The man grinned back at my booth companion.

"See? She's even modest. Perfection." He leaned down to kiss the side of my neck, and I pushed him away gently.

"Kei, you know I don't like compliments that I don't deserve."

"The moon doesn't even deserve you. Now come, the night grows older and soon she'll pass." He grabbed my hand, pulling me up and making the hand that Battôsai held slip out from under his. I laughed at Kei's eagerness and then turned back to look at the Hitokiri. My smile slowly faded at his look as he watched me go. Kei said something, and I held Battôsai's dark eyes for a moment more, then turned to listen to Kei.

"Who was he to you?" Kei was asking me quietly.

"I belong to him for awhile," I replied, and sought out the red haired man through the crowd as we passed through the door. His gaze still followed me, weighted down with some unknown emotion that lay far under the surface of his deep eyes.

Kei didn't believe in women using weapons, and sat frowning with a dark expression on his face as he watched as Battôsai and I stood in the garden behind the inn. We both were holding katana that had been borrowed from a few of the Hitokiri friends of Battôsai and were wrapped in cotton to pad them and protect us from the sharp blades. Battôsai pointed to my grip on the katana from where he stood, pointing and telling me to slide my upper hand down a bit. I looked down, not seeing what was wrong. My grip felt fine to me.

He walked over to me, and covered my hand with his, sliding it down to where he wanted it. Standing behind me and using his hands to guide mine, he showed me how the new lower grip gave more stability and force when used in a downward attack.

I nodded, concentrating more on the sword in my hands and the lesson then on the man standing so close behind me that when he guided my hands in an outward swing, our bodies brushed and silk whispered against cotton. Neither was I paying any attention to the man on the stairs whose chi was growing more and more increasingly moody. I was under the spell of the sword in my hands, and the song it made when cutting through the air, steel still singing even under wraps of cotton.

Battôsai backed away to watch me try the different swings on my own, and nodded, satisfied for now. He walked to the other side of the temporary 'fighting circle', standing on guard and calling the start of the duel. We moved in at the same time, katana meeting, cotton blade against cotton blade, and then unwinding from the brace, stepping back to circle and curve in gracefully, slowly, almost like a dance of swords. The two dancers were caught up in the dance, moving as one to block or parry, the intricate movements of the dance of swords guiding out feet without thought, gently seducing us into the whispers of steel song and the careful movements of the body, a small dip back, or a lean forward.

We came together at the same moment, both fighting for dominance, forehead to forehead as we both leaned in over the locked swords, trying to make the other give in to the pressure. My head raised almost as if in the spell of the moment of battle, and I met the almost purple eyes of the Battôsai as they regarded me carefully. Stuck to my spot, I kept leaning in, our legs entwined below, stepping in between the other's stance, and hip resting against the other's hip. Our eyes met, almost daring the other to submit, but at the time time, speaking through the swords as they gently pressed against each other, a whisper of the strong leaning on the other in mutual trust.

Stuck in each other's eyes and minds, we didn't move for a moment, afraid to shift of unlock the tie between us. From the steps, I heard a rustle of cloth, and a sigh of annoyance. I turned to the sounds, eyebrows furrowing in question, breaking the dance. Battôsai and I took a step back from each other, lowering our katana.

Kei had risen, and was starting to walk back up the stairs to the garden gate and the inn. I flipped my katana over, and thrust the hilt end at Battôsai, who took it, a bewildered expression on his face as I backed up, and then turned, hurrying after the departing samurai. "Kei, wait! Where are you going?" I called as I ran up to his side, stopping beside him and resting a gentle hand on his tall shoulder to stop him. He turned to me, looking down and sighing.

"Back to my lord, where I am needed. I see that my time here has come to an end. I wish the two of you all the happiness in the world together."

"What? Kei, I don't understand…it's not…"

"I know what I see."

He turned, shrugging my hand off of his shoulder, and catching it as it fell, squeezing it for the last time.

Taking a few steps backward, he bowed lightly to me, and then looked past my shoulder and made the same gesture to Battôsai, where he still stood, holding both swords by his sides. His back to me, he walked away, letting himself through the garden gate and up the other set of stairs that led to the back porch. I stared at him as he walked away, his proud back to me, shoulders strong and back, head held high. "Kei…" I called, and when he didn't turn back to me, I trailed off into a whisper. "Kei."

I looked back in confusion at Battôsai, who was watching Kei walk away as I was. His gaze shifted back to me, and took in my expression. The door to the inn shut in it's frame, and I turned back to the waiting man in the garden, walking down the steps to him.

"I have no idea what just happened," I told him, stopping on the last step, reaching up to rub my forehead in bewilderment. He reached up for my hand, and took it in his, pulling it down from it's nervous rubbing and squeezing it gently.

He gave me a sympathetic small smile, and gently let my hand slip from his. "We all have to say our good-byes at some point. I'm sure Kei had his reasons."

Reaching down, he picked up the katana and silently unwrapped them, and then rested them on his shoulders as he walked up the stone steps, carrying them back inside the inn in silence.

I sat down on the ground abruptly, digging my fingers through my hair as I rested my forehead on my knees and closed my eyes. Thoughts whirled in my head, amid the confusion. Did Kei leave because of Battôsai? If so, why? What reason did he have to feel threatened by the other man? What could he see that I could not?

Then there was the question of me. What you saw with me was what you received. I hadn't even ever been sure that Kei cared for me more then a companion. But then why wouldn't he have returned my calls to him? For someone like Kei, I thought that he knew that I didn't mix what I did for a trade with my own personal life. If he thought because he could have my heart because he had my body, he was seriously mistaken.

But then again, what is a heart but muscle and blood coursing through veins? And then why was I wondering if it was it even possible to mix a blade and a heart? A blade could hurt and kill, true, but a lonely heart was something to hurt forever.

I sighed heavily, scrubbing at my eyes with the backs of my hands. Emotions were deep and strong, and tied you to other people. They were almost too tricky to be worth it all. I had lived this long without anyone else to lean on. I could continue to do so. But how long could I last when instead of turning away, someone offered a shoulder out of kindness, and nothing more? Who had ever been kind, without wanting a piece of me in return? Who had ever wanted to know the girl before the icon? Who had wanted me before my body?

The red sun was setting behind me and to the mountains, staining everything around me the color of freshly spilled heart's blood. I reached out a hand to the dying rays, and it turned the same red color as everything else, making it appear as if blood had spilled onto my hands. Was I unconsciously dipping my hands into the rivers of blood a man spilled if I became a part of him and his life? Did I want to share the blame of lives with him?

Snatching my hand away and out of the colors, I buried it into my wide sleeves in shame, and then gradually pulled it back out again. I held it up, higher to the deepest of the reds, and looked at it carefully, turning my hand to examine it from all angles with the redness spilling onto it. Nowhere in an innocent slender hand could I find fault, even if it was joined with a callused one still wet with life-blood from the battlefield.

Closing my eyes tight, I leaned forward onto the ground until my cheek was resting across the cool grass, and I used the firm earth to ground myself from being pulled away in a tide of emotions. Breathing slowly, I sighed as I felt my body meld with the steady ground.

I knocked gently on the door of the Hitokiri's room, and heard his murmur of welcome come from within. Pushing the door open gently, I peered in at where he stood by the window, above the futon that was where I slept in my room, across the room from his own by the door.

He looked up in surprise, and I bowed lightly and then crossed the room to join him at the window, looking out over the court of the inn and the road that people traveled hurriedly on, carrying baskets on treading on worn reed sandals.

"Forgive me for my intrusion, please," I started carefully, still not meeting his gaze but instead looking toward the bustle of human life as it streamed by the window.

"Îe. Nothing you could do would offend me, Sachi-san."

I smiled a bit. "You're a good man, Battôsai, for all of the stories of killing and bloodshed. Even as a Hitokiri, you keep your gentleness," I said, turning toward him and reaching up to push some of his hair out of his face and trace his scarred skin on his cheek. I lifted my ice green eyes to meet his light purple and blue ones.

"The question is what you want."

The Hitokiri turned to me. "I'm going with the other Hitokiri today. There are a few rebels who are causing trouble in the outskirts of the town. We want to stop the noise they are causing."

I bit my bottom lip reflectively. I knew it was no use to say, 'be safe.' I nodded, and he smiled at me, turning and walking away. At the garden gate, I yelled after him. "Hitokiri!"

He stopped and looked back at me in question. I ran up to him, before my mind could convince me not to. "Good luck," I said quickly, closing my eyes and brushing his lips with mine. He stiffened momentarily, and then returned my tentative kiss.

"Domo arigatõ, Sachi-chan," he said, pulling away, and then he was gone.

I walked back into the inn, and the landlord was waiting for me in the tavern area. "It's a full day for you, Sachi-san." He pointed to men waiting in booths or by the bar. "That one, then that, then him, and this…he next." I nodded in consent, my heart hollow, and gestured to the first. He rose eagerly, hope on his face. I nodded to him, and he came forward. I took him by the hand and led him up the stairs to my chamber reluctantly, and keeping the mask of cheerfulness and willingness on my face.

I do not mind lying with those who are genuinely pleasant, or eager-to-please. I wouldn't mind boosting those men's confidence who need it, the lesser-men, picked on. If I can make them feel powerful and more fulfilled, I will do it. Honorable soldiers, samurai and hitokiri, those who serve others, I will serve. But there are some that I just will not pleasure.

Men who are arrogant; who use women like they are meant to be used for one purpose and no other. Men who think they own me. Or men who treat me as a lesser being. Powerful men who misuse their power. Men who misuse me.

I have taken all types. I have been used, abused, mistreated. And in return, I have been treated as a princess, as a counter-part, as a woman. You must take to give, and take both good and bad.

I came down to the first level for the last time, weary and ready for nothing more then a warm meal and then a soft bed. But Tengai obviously had other plans for me.

"Sachi. One more customer. Take him upstairs, please."

I regarded the man. Squat and fat, he leered at me, and offered a bejeweled hand. I raised an eyebrow at it, and looked back up at Tengai. "No."

Tengai grabbed me by my shoulders and slammed me into the counter. "Sachi. You live here, eat here, and sleep here based on what you earn me. The clothes you wear and anything you receive are all from what you earn plying your trade. And if you don't earn, you don't stay. You understand?"

Shaking him off, I glared up at him and straightened my yukata out. "Perfectly," I retorted. "And I still refuse. I have earned more then my share for the day."

"He is willing to pay great amounts. He has heard of you."

"Aren't I lucky?" I said sarcastically. "I bet I'm the only girl around here who is known for her ability to bed a man."

"It's great amounts of money." Tengai's tone dropped and he pulled me to his side and whispered into my ear. "It's enough to buy your freedom."

My eyes widened as I heard the sacred word. Freedom. I would never have to bed another man in my life that I didn't want to. There would never be orders for me again. I could get out of this hellhole, and go out on my own, to Kyoto, or Edo. I could even go to Europe, where my parents had been from. No more of this life.

I nodded, as if in a trance. "Yes," I whispered, "Yes." The landlord pushed me after the fat lord, and I followed in a daze. Up to my chamber, and I stood in the middle of the floor, eyes staring straight ahead, but not seeing.

The man sat on the futon, toothily smiling at me. "Your reputation exceeds you, Sachi-yabi. I heard of your sweet blossom from a successful young friend who traveled to see me and stopped here. I decided I must try you for myself."

My hands stopped at my collarbone, and my heart began to race. He was one of those. One of those men who thought because they had the money, they could buy you, like some rare jewel or flower, to look pretty and obey what they said. I was not a flower. I was not a jewel. And I wasn't, no, couldn't do this. Even in the face of my freedom for the rest of my life, my measure of self kept me from it. I would never lower myself to this man. Years ago, when I was wretched and wished only to die, I would have, but now that I had come so far, I could not.

His expression turned dark. "Take off your clothes!" he demanded, and when I did not acquiesce, he glowered at me. "Do you dare not obey me? I shall teach you, whore. On your knees!" he commanded, rising up and pointing to the floor. "Kneel before me." I shook my head, incapable of words.

"KNEEL! Or you get nothing of my money!"

Money be damned. "I don't want your money," I spat at him, and he raised a hand as if to hit me. I stood my ground, jaw jutted out, and saw the hand start to fall. I shut my eyes and awaited the blow. Once he struck me, I had reason to strike him back. This puffed-up egotistic would not ever make this same mistake again.

I never felt the blow. Instead, the screen door flew open, and Battôsai appeared, face full of wrath. He grabbed the lord's hand as it fell, and the man cried out in pain. Battôsai released him, and pressed a pouch of coins into his hand. "Here is your money returned. Go now, and never come back."

The fat man nodded in fear, and turned from the mighty Hitokiri, shuffling as fast out of the door as he could as I flung myself into Battôsai's arms, burying my head in his chest. "I couldn't do it. All that money, and my only chance, but I couldn't bring myself to serve him. Tengai is going to murder me."

The Hitokiri shook his head. "Îe. No worries. Tengai won't worry you. He has his money, and that lord has his money, and you're safe."

I pulled back from him and looked up at him in confusion. "What? I don't understand…"

Battôsai smiled at me gently. "Tengai has his money. And I gave the lord money of mine that matched the amount he paid. And now you are free. You are free, bijin. Now what will you do with your life?"

I looked up at the Hitokiri and said the first thing that came to my mind. It spilled out my mouth, and as soon as it hung in the air, it sounded beautiful. "I'll stay with you, Hitokiri."

He frowned, looking troubled. "The life of a Hitokiri is no place for those who linger with him for either love of loyalty," he said. "I do not wish to place you in harm's way, even for one was skillful as you are. If you were harmed because of me, that would be a terrible thing."

"Then where would I go? I have this life, and you. I have nothing else."

"Then I would wish you would stay with me."

"As I wish."

"As I."

Battôsai stood next to one of his fellow Hitokiri friends, a tall man who far overshadowed the smaller man, but at the same time was listening to the smaller and younger man speak with a look of reverence and concentration. The tall man nodded once, and then twice, and Battôsai flashed him a quick smile before the man gestured in response.

I sidled up beside Himura quietly, my head down as if not to catch the other man's gaze and distract him. Instead, I reached up and gently caught Battôsai's strong chin and jaw-line in my hand and drew it down so that I could whisper in his ear without breaking into their conversation.

Himura frowned, and held up a long finger to his friend. "Excuse me a moment, Hanzo-kun," he asked, and then bent his head back down to listen to me. My lips brushed against his ear as I whispered hurriedly.

"There's a man out in the tavern you might be interested in seeing. He says his name is Shishio Makoto. And he asked for you by name."

The calm purple eyes flashed a deep gold, and Battôsai spun around me, grasping my shoulders in his hands and shooting a look over his shoulder. "You. Outside into the garden. Now."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he covered it with a hand. "No. No back-talk now. I'll be out quickly."

"But I don't-"

"Shh. I know you don't. But we're not safe right now. I'll follow you out after I make sure he's who he says he is." Thrusting me away and in the direction of the back door, he turned to his friend. "It appears we have a guest."

"Who?"

"Shishio."

"WHA-AT?!"

"Yes. I know. If he's found us here…he really is determined to face us again and end it now…" he trailed off and glanced over to where I was standing in the doorway, transfixed at the interchange going between these two men that the single name had wrought.

"Sachi! Out! Now!"

I turned, fleeing out the door at Battôsai's sharp tone and hard eyes. His high ponytail flashed around a corner as he ran toward the tavern room, and then he was lost from sight as the door shut behind me.

Battôsai twisted in his sleep. I sat up on my futon and looked over at him. He writhed on his own futon, flailing out with his arms, thrashing them to fend off his nightmares. His face contorted in agony, and he bolted upright, grasping for his sakabatõ and yelling. "AGGGHHH!"

His eyes flew open, and he breathed shallowly. I waited a second, and then slid off the edge of my small mattress, crawling across the floor to him. I placed the back of my hand on his forehead, and commented on what I felt. "You're warm."

I got up and went to the water basin, dipping one of the cloths into it and going back over to my master, carrying the basin with me. I settled cross-legged next to him, and wiped his brow with the wet cloth over his damp skin. "Dreams of battle?"

"Yes. I cannot avoid them."

"They're coming more frequently, aren't they?"

"Hai."

"Can you ever forget them?"

"Never. When does the Battôsai not have to be the Battôsai anymore? That is when I'll lose the night-terrors."

My hand stilled where it had been moving the washcloth against his face, neck and shoulders. "I could help you forget it, if just for awhile," I pressed. "A night, if only that."

"A night…away from the dreams."

"Away from the dreams," I agreed, "Just me. I'm here for you."

"Keep the dreams away," Battôsai whispered, and then drew me toward him, saying it more softly, like how a dying man gasps for his last taste of precious air. "Keep the dreams away."

A silent plea, voiced even so childishly, so innocently, and so hopelessly for the first time. How could I have resisted this outreach?

The basin lay discarded on the floor, and the wet cloth soon joined it. "You'll keep the dreams away?" he asked.

"I promise. With all my heart and soul." It's so easy to give to one such as he who is fearless in the day and as frightened as a child at night by his own personal demons.

"Your body is my temple." His lips pressed against my skin. "And I am your reverent pupil."

I woke up the next morning, smiling without a reason even before I opened my eyes to remind me where I was. Rolling onto my stomach, I propped my chin up with my hands, curling my fingers around the base of my chin and planting my elbows on the mattress as I smiled over at Battôsai. His clear blue eyes were open, and regarding me carefully as I yawned widely, covering my mouth with a hand.

"Mmm. Ohayõ. Consider yourself lucky, Hitokiri Battôsai. Most men wake up to find me long gone into the night before they awake."

Battôsai smiled back at me and stretched his arms above his head, and then settled back down. "Ohayõ. Then I must be very lucky indeed to see you next to me."

I flushed a bit under my cool skin, flustered by the sincere comment that fell so easily off the Hitokiri's tongue and to my ears with grace. Here lay a true man by my side, strong and gentle, with all the integrity and honor to say something such as that and have it touch me, me who had thought I had heard every line ever fed to a woman. I looked at him without saying a word, in awe to have found the real thing beside me.

Battôsai nudged me awake. "Sachi-chan, come. We must leave."

"Leave?" I asked sleepily. "Why?"

"Rebels are coming. There is no time. We must run."

I sat upright, reaching in the darkness for my yukata. Himura handed it to me, and I quickly wrapped it on and tied it with my obi. "I have nothing I need to bring," I said, standing.

"Good. We must go now."

I never thought I would be leaving the inn like this, where I had lived for the past year, in the darkness of the night, creeping like shadows hand-in-hand with a hitokiri down the stairs and out the back door, through the garden that had been my haven, and into the deep forest.

We kept pace, silent as ghosts, our dark clothing blending into the trees. If anything, what worried me most was our vibrant red and gold hair and our jewel-bright eyes, blue and green. But he was not a hitokiri for nothing, and I was not a daughter-of-the-night in vain.

Finally, after a few hours of running, Himura stopped suddenly, and listened. I pressed an ear to the ground, and heard the distant vibrations of many running feet growing steadily closer. I straightened up and looked at Battôsai, fear in my eyes.

"Run," he whispered. "That way, a five-day journey to Edo if you travel all day and night."

"No," I replied stubbornly. "I won't leave you."

"If you stay, I can't protect you and fight them at the same time. I can either protect you, and get captured and killed, which is the same as getting you captured, or I can defeat them, and come after you. It's your choice, bijin."

He saw in my eyes reflected the choice I made. Even though I was skilled, we only had one sword, and it was a sakabatõ at that. We embraced quickly, and I held onto him tightly, never wanting to let go. But through the trees the sounds of voices were starting to become clear, and he thrust me away.

"Go."

I took one last look at Hitokiri Battôsai as I walked backward, and we kept each other's gaze until I turned to run, and he turned to face the oncoming rebels who immerged from the forest.

Hitokiri Battôsai stood still as the men appeared between the trees, the distant moonlight shining off their swords at their sides. Forming a circle around him, they waited for his first move.

"Himura Battôsai, you are surrounded by our men, alone in the forest in the dark of night. You are quite alone, seeing as the young woman you were with," the man paused in his speech, and smiled slowly at his friends around them as they grinned back. "Seeing as the young woman you were with, has been…" He continued, and then paused. As if on cue, a terrified scream cut the night air, and then was abruptly cut off. The night air was silent for a moment. No where dared to move or speak. "…Has been executed."

Battôsai's eyes narrowed and seemed to glow in rage. "You lie," he spat. "All you speak are lies of trickery."

"No, I assure, I'm very much telling the truth."

The two men glared at each other for a second, the silence between them taunt with rage and hatred.

"Then, if you speak the truth, I shall kill you all to make up for what you have taken from me."

The sound of steel being drawn echoed through the trees.

Pounding through the trees, I prayed to Amaterasu and the kami to protect Himura, and I as well. The sound of battle and steel-on-steel behind me made me want to turn around and run back, but I knew there was nothing I could do to help other then follow Himura's orders and run to keep safe.

I fled those five days until I got to Edo, like I was instructed. And once there, I waited a slow and painful year for my Hitokiri to meet me. But he never came. Cherry blossoms fell, snow came, then the cherry blossoms budded and blossomed again, but still, no red-haired man appeared for me. My heart wept.