Walking After Midnight

Sung by: Patsy Cline

Author: Ochako107

Disclaimer: I own none of these RK characters… but if I did… Smiles

I go out walkin after midnight,
Out in the moonlight, just like we used to do,
I'm always walkin after midnight searchin for you

Misao walked leisurely through the dusky streets of Kyoto. How long it's been since Aoshi went away. Hidden under her cloak, she was frowning. Her usual genki nature stashed away until she reveled herself.

I walk for miles along the highway,
Well, that's just my way of sayin "I love you,"
I'm always walkin after midnight searchin for you
I stop to see a weepin willow cryin on his pillow
Maybe he's cryin for me

Another long year passed, and there was still no sign of her Aoshi-sama. She had wandered over most of Japan and still she couldn't fine him. She knew he was alive though. She could feel it! If only… she could find some kind of clue, anything at all.

But that didn't matter. As long as her heart trudged on, so would her body. She'd traveled such a long way from the Aoiya. She began missing everyone. Their love, their antics, right down to Okina's perverted self. But still. She put a determined face on. 'I'll keep searching for you. All day all night. I will find you; you can't run from me, Aoshi-sama! Not a chance!'

And as the skies turn gloomy, night winds whisper to me,
I'm lonesome as I can be...
I go out walkin after midnight,
Out in the starlight, just hopin you may be
Somewhere a-walkin after midnight searchin for me.

It began to get dark and Misao decided to camp out. The night wind was a bit chilly as she lay on the ground. She snuggled deeper into her blanket and stared at the stars. 'Are you looking for me too, Aoshi-sama? Please take care of the guys for me. I know they all look up to you, like me.'

She curled into a ball and inched closer to her fire. She listened to the quiet cracking of the flames like firecrackers on Tanabata. Here eyes lit up at a sudden burst of memories, her words shooting out rapidly. "If you were here Aoshi-sama, I know you'd keep me safe and warm. You'd tell me stories like you used to. You'd read to me like you used to. You'd…"

She paused and the reminiscing that seemed so blissful suddenly made the young ninja girl so lonesome. "…You'd be looking for me too. If you cared…" Even though she didn't want to, she couldn't help but keep that thought in the back of her mind. Maybe… maybe Aoshi didn't want her anymore. He'd moved on, she was just another memory in his mind. She cried herself to sleep.

I stop to see a weepin willow cryin on his pillow
Maybe he's cryin for me
And as the skies turn gloomy, night winds whisper to me,
I'm lonesome as I can be...

She dreamt that night. She was back home with everyone. Even Aoshi-sama and the guys were home. They were playing tag with her, well excluding Aoshi who always just watched. Suddenly, Hannya caught her.

"I've got you Misao-chan!"

"No fair!" She laughed. She turned around to meet not Hannya, but another man.

"Die Battousai! Die Shinomori!" A giant gattling gun began haunting her dreams.

"NO!" She screamed. She began running after the man, but his bullets came shooting before she could reach him. They aimed right for Aoshi's legs.

"NOOOOO!"

She woke up dripping with sweat. "Wha… wha… it's… just a dream." She curled back into a ball and looked up at the shadows of the trees casting small amounts of moonlight across her wide-eyed and innocent features. "Where are you all? Are you thinking of me too?" She allowed loose tears to fall. That nightmare, her heart would break into a million pieces if that were true.

Far away, in Tokyo, a man sat on the floor with his comrades laying still. He didn't cry, he didn't blink. He just stared at the parquet flooring. The red haired man and his friends had already left to save that Takani woman. But… who was there to save his men?

He finally got up and looked around at his fallen friends. "I'm sorry… Misao… I couldn't… it couldn't…. be helped." He hung his head and began carefully taking the bodies to bury them; it's the least he could do.

It pained him to see them dead, their lifeless bodies once so full of character and life. He stared to the ceiling, a deep frown creasing his lips. "What am I to do?" His deep blue eyes clouded over, lost in thought. His voice suddenly hardened, almost as if he was saying it to make himself lifeless and yet sharp as the end of his sword. "Misao can't see me like this. She loved them… but-"

"-so do I." Misao said after crying, staring at the dark starry night that blurred with her warm tears. She prepared to get on the move again though it was still midnight. She couldn't get any sleep. Before beginning her next voyage, she stared at the fire, burning with nothing but cool ambers about to die out. "I know you love them, Aoshi-sama, and so do I. I know nothing bad will happen as long as you are there. Keep them safe. And I'll keep you safe when I find you. For now…"

"I'm all alone." Aoshi said to himself after finishing praying for his comrades.

I go out walkin after midnight,
Out in the starlight, just hopin you may be
Somewhere a-walkin after midnight searchin for me.

END

Author's Note: This is an old piece I wrote a long time ago, but I was reading over it and thought it wasn't half bad. So I revised some of it and edited some of it and… well this is what you got. This takes place before Kyoto I guess in the Tokyo-arc, with Misao having a dream that was actually really happening; only she doesn't know it. Kind of like… what was Misao doing on the night that her friends died? The part where she and Aoshi finish each other's sentences I hope wasn't too confusing- it's switching scenes with them both saying the same line… so… I hope it was alright. Please R&R, and thanks for reading!