Chapter 15: Return

Hotsuma's eyes slowly opened as he looked over at Asaki and Jin kissing. He smiled a bit, not moving from his spot, "Hey you two…break it up…"

Asaki and Jin blinked and looked at him. Asaki ran over to him, "Hotsuma are you alright? What happened?"

"Nothing. That guy just knocked me unconscious that's all. Where is he anyway?"

Jin looked at him, "You're too late. I took care of him myself."

Hotsuma laughed lightly, "That's just like you to beat me to everything. You beat me to Asaki and now you beat me to killing him. Ah well, life goes on."

Asaki frowned a little, helping him up, "Hotsuma don't say that. We never could have been able to do a lot of this without you."

Hotsuma pat the top of her head and smiled, "Asaki. I'm just teasing you. And I already told you that as long as you're happy that's all that matters to me."

Asaki and Jin helped Hotsuma back to his home to rest. After dropping off Hotsuma, they found somewhere quiet where they could eat alone in peace.

"Asaki…"

"Yes Jin?"

"We…we have to go back…"

"Back where?"

"Into the past."

Asaki blinked, "But Jin why?"

"We don't belong in this time period Asaki. You and I both know that."

"But Jin…we've come so far. We've done so much in this time period. We've made promises to people we can't just…"

"Asaki. I know and I understand what you're saying but we have to return to our own time."

"No. Jin please…" she hugged him tightly, "I don't want to go back. I want to stay here in this time period with you and my students and Hotsuma too…"

"I know Asaki but we…"

"Why can't we stay here? Why can't we keep the promises that we keep to others Jin? And more importantly why can't we keep the promises that we keep to each other?"

"Promises we keep to each other?"

"Jin…we got married. That means that both of us should decide on things, not just one leading and the other following. We need to decide together what's best for us. Jin…we can stay here in this time period. It won't affect us right?"

"Asaki it has already affected us so much. I can't risk another incident happening like the one with Quinton."

"And so you think returning to the past will change all of that? It won't. There will be people just like him in the past. It doesn't matter where we go, there will always be a man like that. We've already…Jin…we've already made our promises here. We can't just break them now, not when they're counting on us."

Jin went to speak again but stopped himself. He knew fighting with Asaki wouldn't get them anywhere. He finally conceded, nodding to her with a slight smile, "I suppose you're right Asaki…as always."

Asaki smiled and nodded, then looked at him with concern after a few moments, "We've been brought back to a problem again."

"What problem is that?"

"Who are we going to help first?"

"Help first?"

"You know…my students or Fuu and Mugen. They all need our help but how do we decide which ones to stay with?"

"Asaki…I know this might be asking a lot of you but…"

"Jin…you can ask anything of me."

"Asaki…with the promises we made, while possible to do them together, they would be done much better and easier if done simultaneously."

"Jin what are you saying?"

Jin walked over to Asaki, holding her hands in his, looking deeply into her eyes, "Asaki I love you. I always have and I always will. We're married now and I've proven my love for you. A few years won't change our feelings toward each other. It will only postpone our time together for a little while if we each kept to our own promises."

"Jin no…we…we've come so far."

"I know Asaki, I know. But the sooner we get both of these promises we made done the sooner you and I can be together again."

"But what if we take longer with our promises? What if you never find the sunflower samurai?"

"It's only a few more years longer that you have to train your students. After that, if I haven't returned to you, then you can come find me. We'll be together Asaki I promise."

"How am I supposed to find you? How will I even know where to look?"

"I'll keep you updated with my location so you'll know generally where I am. If you have any trouble, just ask around. I'm sure the people would be more than happy to help you."

"Jin…I don't want to be without you anymore…"

"Don't worry. It will only be a few short years and they will pass by before you know it." He embraced her tightly in his arms, closing his eyes. Asaki frowned as a few tears rolled down her cheeks, returning the warm embrace, not wanting to ever let go of him.

"Promise me you won't die Jin."

"I promise. Promise me that you won't die?"

"I promise Jin. We'll come back to each other once again. Just a few, short years."

Jin nodded, knowing it must've been harder for Asaki than for him, even though he hated to do this just as much as she did.

"Asaki. We'll meet again soon."

"Jin…"

"We'll have just one last night together, just you and I, before we part ways once again."

Asaki nodded, using every bit of her strength to hold back her tears that had wanted to escape her eyes so desperately.

Jin took Asaki by the hand. They were headed to an inn together so that they could rest. Asaki smiled. It seemed to be the first time that the two of them walked hand in hand together in public. She enjoyed her time with Jin, never wanting their time together to end. There were complications at the inn and instead of getting a single bed, they got double beds. Not yet ready to sleep and hungry from everything that has gone on, they sat at the table and started to eat.

"Asaki?"

"Yes Jin?"

"I never got to tell you how beautiful you looked in that gown."

Asaki smiled, "Thank you Jin. You looked good yourself."

"Maybe so but nothing could surpass your beauty."

"Jin you're just saying that…"

Jin placed a hand tenderly on her cheek, "I'm not. Asaki I love you. I think everything about you is wonderful. I see the beauty within you while others may just see your external beauty."

"Jin…did you always feel this way toward me?"

"Not always. At first you seemed kind of quiet and to yourself. Even when people tried to talk to you, you wouldn't talk to them. You seemed kind of…sad."

"I was. I was young then and I didn't see anyone fighting. But then that day when I saw you and the sensei fighting together against those goons that entered the dojo…I was just amazed. It was after that moment that I started to take things seriously and train hard."

"Train hard? It was more like you were in a race; like you had to beat everyone. You were up before everyone else and trained later than anyone else."

"That's because the training I got wasn't good enough at the lower levels. I knew that if I wanted to see you again, I'd have to work hard so that I could sign up to join into your level."

"And you proved yourself."

"Yes. I remember that fight. That was really the first time that you and I fought."

"You certainly surprised everyone, including me. Everyone thought you were down for the count and started laughing at you, telling you it was foolish for anyone to challenge me, let alone a woman. But when you stood up and launched that counter attack…everyone's heads turned. They all didn't want you to join saying it was because you were a 'danger' to everyone else. I think they were just afraid to have a woman just as strong if not stronger than they were. That's when they asked my opinion. I told them to let you in."

Asaki smiled, "Then I have you to thank for my training, all of it."

Jin shook his head, "I just got you into the building, nothing more."

"That's not true Jin. When I saw you fight your enemies…you showed me what it was to be a samurai. Even after I became the Black Raven you still influenced me and caused me to see that what I was doing wasn't right."

"Asaki, you give me too much credit."

Asaki smiled, "That's not true and we both know it. You deserve more credit than that. Even when nobody else would stand against sensei when he…"

"Asaki, let's not talk about that."

Asaki blinked, "But Jin you were the only one that had enough courage to kill him. Everyone else didn't have the…"

"Asaki. Please. That's enough. Don't praise me for killing someone."

Asaki nodded, "But Jin…"

"Asaki. Let's get some rest now."

Jin made his way over to his bed and got inside, Asaki soon following into her own. The two lay there, almost identically. They were still awake, neither one wanting to fall asleep before the other. Jin slowly reached over, taking Asaki's hand into his own. Asaki smiled, gripping onto his hand tightly.

"Asaki…?"

"Yes Jin?"

"Still awake?"

"Yes I am."

"Asaki. When we meet again…promise me that we'll have more days like this."

"I promise Jin. The day we meet again, we'll have another night like this."

"Asaki there's something I want to ask you…"

Asaki yawned, tired by this point as she allowed her eyes to drift shut. She was barely able to mutter, "Then ask."

Jin was silent for a moment, trying to find the words and how he wanted to say it. He then took a deep breath and released it before asking, "When I come back…you and I…can finally be able to work on having a family."

"Mhmm." Was all that Asaki could muster. It took a few moments for it to sink in as her eyes widened as she looked over at him, "A…family. Our…family?"

Jin nodded and smiled, "Our family Asaki."

Asaki hugged him tightly and the two slept in each other's warm embrace not long after.