Inamorata
by Eternal Angel

Inamorata (n) - a woman with whom one is in love or has an intimate relationship.

5.

He must have fallen asleep while drinking sake and listening to her voice lull him into a nap because the next thing he heard was the clattering of feet against wooden floors as well as loud exclamations from inside of the house.

Mugen opens his mouth to yawn wide. Strangely enough, although falling asleep against a pillar would have been something uncomfortable, he found that he was completely relaxed. He contemplated closing his eyes once more and falling back to sleep for another hour or five but the racket was incorrigible in the house.

He got up to see what the fuss was all about. He knows that the last thing he remembered before sleeping was Fuu in the kitchen chattering and singing. Even for someone that was so mouthy, the noise from the kitchen was a bit too much for Fuu to do on her own. Opening the door at the side of the house, he peered into the room, eyes still hazy from sleep. He was a bit taken back at the scene that unfolded itself before him.

Fuu was laughing; her head bent back, her voice high and loud. Her eyes were twinkling as another man held her, his strong arms tightly holding her. He lifted her up into the air and swung her around in something would have appeared to be haphazardly if it didn't look as though it had been so well rehearsed and well practiced. The man had laughed with Fuu, not tiring at her weight, child or no child.

He doesn't quite understand why the scene in front of him caused his throat to constrict slightly. Nor does he understand the strange feeling he got in the pit of his stomach as he watched the two wrapped around their own little world. However, there was one thing that he did understand.

Subaru was home.

- - - - -

The three of them sat together at the dinner table eating the assortment of food that Fuu made. Mugen didn't quite know how she managed this nor does he quite understand why any of them weren't complaining at the awkward seating arrangement that Fuu had managed to concur them into. Fuu was sitting right next to him, far enough so that they had spaced for themselves, close enough that his arms would bump into hers one or two times while he went to grab some of the food.

No one is claiming though. Not even Subaru who sat calmly across from the both of them, eating and drinking his share. He was watching her with careful eyes, not because he was nervous about Mugen, but more concerned about her as she nears her expected date. Mugen observes Subaru from the corner of his eye. Already Mugen can deduce that he wasn't a fighter. A lack of weapon and his physique was a dead give away. Mugen tried to remember what Fuu had told him about Subaru and his job but comes to realize that it wouldn't make a difference anyways. What Subaru did for a living was in no way going to affect Mugen in any manner.

She was talking to the both of them. She's managed to get them to respond as well as going off into her little tangents. She enjoys being the center of attention and was saying something to Mugen who has re-mastered the art of ignoring her. She asked him the same question four times, agitated that he won't respond until he grunted out an answer. She seemed partly satisfied and continued on drabbling onto the next topic.

Subaru managed to humor her far better than Mugen does and will. He answered her questions about his days with short stories and doesn't mind it at all when his wife interrupts him while he's talking. He's already used to her chaos and the cheerful disposition she had.

Eventually, her voice began to slur and slow. The food was gone, eaten mostly by the girl eating for two (though Mugen couldn't help but think she was eating for five), and she was having difficulties trying to stay awake. Subaru was watching her cautiously, urging her to sleep. She stands her ground.

Mugen scowled at her when she nearly hits her forehead at the center of the table when she nearly fell asleep awake.

"You're going to bang your head on the table."

She was blushing and mumbling "no I won't" under her breath.

"Go to bed, idiot girl."

She doesn't want to though, even though her body is pleading for her to do so. Subaru was looking at her knowingly, telling her in his cool tone that she really did need to go to bed soon. Hastily, she grabbed onto Mugen's sleeve, brown eyes gazing at him expectantly.

"I can't leave until my clothing dries," Mugen told her. "That probably won't be until tomorrow."

"Promise?" He grip loosened though she doesn't let go. Subaru watched them quietly. Mugen ruffled Fuu's hair.

"Still got lots of sake left – gotta drink it all and then take a good nap."

She threw herself at him and gave him a tight hug, relieved at his words. Mugen doesn't hug her back and she doesn't seem to notice. She got up, a bit out of balanced as she returned to readjusting her awkward weight. She kissed her husband good night and told both of them to enjoy their drink and left the two of them alone in the room.

There was a bit of silence that hung around the room after the departure of the talkative girl. Mugen stretched his arms and legs, twisting out all the knots from sitting down for such a long period of time. He went for another drink when the bottle gets intercepted by Subaru. Mugen raised a curious eyebrow.

"Let's go drink outside." Subaru said, breaking the silence. Mugen agreed to it and followed the man out.

- - - - -

"She waited for you."

Sometime between their second and fifth cup of sake did Subaru cut into the strange silence that hung between them with those words. Mugen, though a bit surprised, didn't allow his gaze to shift away from the sky. He calmly drank more sake. He's unsure of what to make with the sudden proclamation from Subaru, especially when Mugen knew that the man wasn't drunk.

"She settled in this town four years ago," Subaru was babbling, not minding Mugen's lack of reaction to his words. "I courted her for those four years, though she finally agreed to marry me a year and a half ago."

"She's been waiting to see you all this time." Mugen takes a long drink and Subaru refills his cup.

"When she met Jin again, two years ago, the first thing she had asked about was you."

Mugen let out a deep breath. His breath and blood go a little bit strange at the next words Subaru managed to surprise him with: "She loves you."

"And you're fine with that?"

"I accept it."

"And you'd be fine if I take her away?"

Subaru shook his head, eyes darkening and growing serious. "Never. I would fight you tooth and nail before I'd let you have her."

Mugen and Subaru stare at one another, brown eyes clashing with lighter ones. They know that Mugen's words weren't a threat – and even if it was, even Subaru couldn't stop Mugen. They both knew that in a fight between the two men that Subaru would be unable to match up against Mugen. His battle aura was just too strong for him.

Mugen didn't mean it though, he was just curious. However… if Subaru was any less of a man, if Fuu didn't smile the way she did, and if she didn't have trinkets and a house and a field of sunflowers then maybe… Just maybe…

But Subaru was someone that gave her a field of sunflowers and trinkets and a house. He was also someone that would try until the very last breath that he took to battle him even though the odds were against him if the stakes were Fuu. Mugen knows this as well, he knows that even though Subaru said that Fuu loved Mugen, Fuu was also in love with Subaru. Subaru has given her a house, given her sunflowers, given her a child.

Mugen slapped Subaru's back hard. The surprise action had pushed the other man forward in shock, jostling the sake cup in to splash onto Subaru's hand. "That's good. You'll make a good father."

Subaru couldn't help but grin.

- - - - -

The conversation must have been the hardest part of the fic so far even though some of the lines I have been thinking every since I began plotting this fic. Obviously, I just knew the line I wanted in and nothing other than that. I do hope you enjoy it.

Revised: 7/21/05