Ladies and Gentlemen: this is where it ends. As usual, S7 ain't mine, Yukino owns Roji-san, I'd like to give Hei-san a big hug, I'd like to give Kyuzo-dono a girlfriend, I'd like Kirara to admit she really likes Katsu-noji after all. Once again, thanks a lot for indulging an incurable fan in her insanity. Katsushiro I liked but lost patience with, Heihachi I got shocked into liking so much, but from the beginning I've liked Shichiroji for just being there. Thanks a lot for reading, and I hope you liked it.

Here we go.

……………………………

"First lieutenant Shichiroji! I have found you!"

As if poor Yukino had not had enough excitement in one night to last her a week, a man suddenly appeared who actually knew her ward. Her head was whirling too much already to even consider the consequences of that arrival.

But the yellow-haired man beside her was smiling at the newcomer. "Kusano. I'm glad the war didn't get you." Then, without a useable arm to lean on, he allowed himself to fall sideways onto the tatami floor. He still held the side of his chest with the right hand.

The more practical side of the geisha took over, even as her emotions kept whirling and her head kept spinning. She pointed at the man. "You can talk to him later. The inn has vacant rooms, you can stay the night at my expense if necessary." She looked the others behind him. "The rest of you, hand that man over there to the authorities, tell Mayo to come here with hot water and bandages, and find the surgeon Kintaro at the north district. NOW, please!"

The men did not even dare question why a woman and a geisha was ordering them around. They just obeyed.

Yukino, meanwhile, tried to patch up the wound at the torso as best she could. "I suppose this is how you got so injured when I met you? You couldn't stop yourself from fighting for your friends, but found the enemy more than you could handle."

"Sorta like that," he grinned weakly.

"Idiot."

"Yeah." He took a few deep breaths, and closed his eyes. "See you after a while, Yukino."

"OH, NO you……" Not again!

He faded out on her.

Her head spun completely out of her control. As Mayo arrived with the hot water, Yukino's brain shut down.

………………………………

Too many things had happened in so short a time, more than she could sufficiently handle. Her eyes stayed open, but she never noticed Mayo's comings and goings. She never felt the surgeon arrive. She never heard what he said. She was not completely there when Mayo helped her up to her room to undress into her nightgown. She went to sleep without knowing it, woke up without knowing it either.

She did not want to relive those moments. Just letting the man she had placed her dreams on, just letting him undress her without resisting. Screaming for a man she did not know what she felt for. Seeing the man get hurt on her account. Seeing him again, the same way she had first seen him. Finding some person she did not know, who threatened to take him away from her. She wanted to forget, keep the thoughts locked away.

She was given breakfast, lunch, dinner. She was helped to bathe, helped to dress. She sat up, stood up, opened her mouth as they wanted her. She woke up when she was told, slept when she was told. But she saw nothing, remembered nothing. She was lost in a long, blank dream.

But one voice broke through the deep haze.

"Hey."

Her response was spontaneous. "Hey, yourself."

"Come back to us, Yukino. You're no fun like this."

She leaned on his shoulder. "I just want to keep dreaming……"

He patted her head. "Dreaming of what?"

She searched her blank darkness, and found... "Nothing."

"Kinda boring, don't you think? Come on, Yukino. I'm fine now, and so are you. Let's have tea together. It's a nice afternoon for some tea." With her head still on his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around her waist. "It will not happen again, I promise. Stop going back to that night, because it will never happen again. I'll get stronger, so you won't have to keep worrying about me. Alright, Yukino?"

Something about what he said made sense to her. She actually felt safe with that hand around her waist. Safe enough, to finally and truly, wake up from the blank dream. She looked at him, really looked at him, and smiled faintly.

"Shichiroji." She looked out the window, and found a clear sky and chirping birds. "What time is it?" she asked.

"It's 1 pm of Wednesday," he replied. He did not bother to explain what happened to Monday and Tuesday. He just showed her the arm, now completely fixed, and demonstrated how his hand opened and closed.

While the bullet did pass through the width of the mechanical arm to hit the torso, overall the internal damage to the arm was minimal. Wires were disconnected, but quickly replaced. It was harder to stop the bleeding, remove the bullet, and fix the damage to the chest. Yet even that was easily corrected, that same night. No extra parts needed to be added to him. By that Wednesday he was allowed to move around, if rather slowly.

She needed no explanations. She was just glad he was fine. She embraced him, and cried and cried. More than she had ever cried in her hard life. He hugged her back, nice and snug around her frame.

"I'm sorry for what I said, for what I did….." she said as she sniffed.

"It was quite understandable, really," he replied. "Don't worry about it."

No other words were said, and they just held each other quietly, with a silent understanding between them.

She could not believe it. This was what she was looking for, all those years. She had found it from a man she met in the most unusual of circumstances. "This sounds incredibly sentimental," she began, "but where have you been all my life?"

"The other half of the planet, where else?" he answered and chuckled.

"Your timing is awful," she laughed in return.

Mayo eventually came with tea and a happy hug for Yukino, then left the teapot and cups with them.

However, she returned after fifteen minutes. "Kusano-san is back to see you, Roji-sama," Mayo peeked through the door and said, using a nickname she began to use since that day she was attacked.

The man was back…..to take him away…the man was back. Yukino felt the room darken, disappear, again……

Shichiroji gave her a good shake. "No, no, Yukino. Stay with me. I need someone to serve tea."

The room settled back into place, and she nodded.

Shichiroji told Mayo to send the man in, but he was already standing behind the maiko. "Aiya, lieutenant, you were never good at handling physical injuries," Kusano tsked good-naturedly.

"Why do you think I chose to fly cruisers?" Shichiroji answered with a grin, and offered a seat at the tea table. "Slashing is Kanbei-sama's forte, not mine. Speaking of which…any news of Kanbei-sama?"

The man shook his head. "Maybe he's still in hiding. Don't worry. We all know he can take care of himself."

By this Yukino understood that Kusano was a comrade from the war, someone she did not have to worry about. True to her training, she sat quietly and served tea while the men talked about narrow escapes and staying alive. She still felt a bit weak, and not up to conversation, anyway. They laughed about the old days of the war, and grew sad talking about comrades who had died.

After about an hour of conversation, Kusano put the down his teacup and faced Shichiroji. "I do have a proposal, sir. I can ask the people who hired me, to hire you as well. It pays wages enough for an occasional night on the town, I promise you that."

"Hm." He rubbed his chin. "What would I have to do?"

"The current government needs more manpower to help control the populace," Kusano explained. "Settle petty disputes, stop minor violence, that kind of thing. In general, just keep the new peace at ground level. They're offering it even to the enemy, as long as they come peaceably and ask for amnesty."

"But, I'm a pilot……"

"They need your kind, too, sir. Air patrol, general checking of the holdings, seeing that nothing gets harmed. It's especially true now, with all the talk of rogue mecha samurai becoming bandits in the surrounding regions."

"Flying a cruiser?"

"Yes, sir, cruisers or kettles – although I am sure you will be placed in flying cruisers."

Yukino saw him starting to smile, probably at the prospect of flying again. She sighed. Who was she to stop him if he wanted to leave for a more exciting life?

But as he suddenly met her gaze, he stopped, and frowned.

He remained silent for a long while, as he shifted his eyes between Yukino and Kusano. He was weighing his options, it was clear in his face. He looked at Yukino for a long time. She bowed and tried not to meet his gaze. She was sure he had seen what she felt about it.

Shichiroji finally looked up, and faced his comrade. "Thank you kindly for the offer, Kusano, I really appreciate it," he said. "But as you said, I'm bad at getting injured. And I think, I've found my place in the world now."

"But, sir…."

"Fighting gives quite an adrenalin rush, I'll admit that, but I never liked war at all. Peace and quiet is a nice thing to finally have. And I have it here."

Yukino had to chuckle. His idea of peace and quiet was weird. An inn was anything but peaceful and quiet. All day long there were people shouting at other people for this thing and that thing, this order and that. It was even worse at night. But she guessed it was better than hearing gunfire and explosions overhead.

Wait a minute….Shichiroji rejected the offer? She must still be dizzy, and she had heard wrong.

He patted his comrade on the back. "Don't you worry about me, alright, Kusano? It's a respectable living, even if it is in the pleasure quarter. Come visit once in a while."

"Yes, I will," the man smiled as he stood to leave. "I never thought you could play a shamisen so well, sir. I want to hear it again. Have a good life here, lieutenant." He bowed to the couple and left them in the room.

Yukino looked at him, he looked at her. "You're staying here? You're really staying?" she asked, not sure of what she heard.

"You don't want me to?" he asked.

"I want you to stay, idiot!" She gave him another hug. "I'm glad you're staying!"

"That makes two of us," he said.

"But you do have to promise me…" she added. "Stop breaking the plates!"

He scratched his head and grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

………………………………..

Thus, days turned to weeks, and weeks to months.

"Yukino-san!" a piercing shriek was heard from downstairs.

"What is it now?" the geisha groaned from under her blanket, that cold early morning.

"Momotaro-san broke the plates again!"

As soon as the reply came, someone opened the door to her bedroom and slunk with a back to the wall. "Ohayo, it's a beautiful day…."

"Shichiroji, how many times have I told you to stay away from the kitchen?" she muttered, still under the blanket.

"But the soup smelled so good…."

"Get out. I want to sleep."

"But, Yukino…"

"Don't make me shout at you."

"Alright." He went to the door, closed it, then opened it again slightly. "Anyone told you how pretty you look, half-angry in the morning?"

"MOMOTARO!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" The bedroom door slid shut finally.

There were still many days when Yukino wondered why she agreed to living with such an annoying, irritating man. She kept wondering why she tolerated his teasing ways and his recklessness in the kitchen. She still wondered why she always took his side when broken dishes or ruined windows were discussed.

Maybe it was for those times he was not annoying. When he went out of his way to master a new piece or a new dance routine. When he tried to make them smile when a customer cheated on his payment. When he risked metal arm and normal arm, swinging his staff against a rowdy intruder.

But then, maybe it was a combination of both those times. He was exasperating, but he was special.

Only five minutes had elapsed since Shichiroji left, when the bedroom door opened again.

"Sorry, I forgot to do this," he said. He suddenly knelt down, brought his face to her level, and gave her a heart-stopping kiss to the lips.

She felt time stand still, while his lips locked with hers. She blinked after he released her. "What in the world was that for?"

"For looking so pretty when you're mad at me." He landed another peck on the cheek. "See you at practice later." He grinned and closed the door behind him.

She did not know if she was supposed to be glad or annoyed. "SHICHIROJI, BAKA YAROU! AIIIIIYA!"

She could not live with him, but she could no longer live without him, either.

He was part of her life now. She would have it no other way.

………………………………

My thanks to calreflector, Samuraiko, junyortrakr, and Fauna-chan for all the nice reviews. Thanks for making my day. I'm sorry for not being able to give individual replies, but for now I suck at them. You all have my gratitude for all the comments. Once again thanks to all the people at the Samurai 7 LJ community for the initial brainstorming.

My reference material comes from the Immortal Geisha site, plain old Googling, Wikipedia inquiries into geisha, shamisen, and taikomochi (then I followed the external links), what I could more or less remember from reading Memoirs of a Geisha.

Thank you for liking this little piece. I liked writing it. EK out.