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Summer, 20th year of the Meiji Era

By Meii-chan

I know sadness.

It lingers in the emptiness of the snow—

I know anger.

It flashes like lightning,

Fierce, flaming, unforgiving—

I know regret.

It stalks from the shadows,

Seizes the heart and shreds it,

Stealing all—

I know love.

It waits patiently under the parasol,

Warm and cool and light and heavy—

It is the essence of the heavens:

God's true gift to nature.

I still don't understand who I am,

Even though I know these things.

Yet knowing is not enough…

Sadness tells me I'm a hopeless being,

Anger tells me I'm what others have made me.

Regret tells me I'm my own undoing,

And love tells me I'm whatever I choose to be.

Because I have gazed into these invisible mirrors,

I have truly seen myself.

And for that reason,

I am home.

To be continued…

Author's rambling: Okay…I really didn't know how to write this poem (maybe I should become a rurouni myself…). Anyway, because I didn't know what was going to some out of this poem, I saved it till the end, trying to come up with something out of the ordinary. And I totally failed. Sorry, I had good intentions. You think that an odd format for a story would rule out the lovey-dovey-ness of fandom, but no… Well, at least the first girl Soujiro came across made him evil. That would show that everything's not that perfect, right?

Well, thus the journey approaches its end. And I am shown to be just another sappy writer… Although my point wasn't that romantic love is the solution to all the problems in the world. I think for Soujiro, different emotions would bring out different facets of him. For example, an opponent who hates Soujiro would still only see him as an enemy, while the umbrella girl would see him as a (hopefully) harmless rurouni. Yet they are one and the same, even if they're on opposite poles.

…

Ah yes, the reviewers!

(person with the question marks): Ah, well, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

"Oro" Object: Thank you!

Another Baka: (Yet another big grin to you as well!)

Anonymous Freak: Thanks!

Philia-chan: I hope you like this one too!