Hello, and thanks for waiting. I'm sorry it took such a long time. Exams, GetBackers fic, Samurai 7, feeling extremely drowsy the past few days. You have Shinbo and Shimizu of Chobits to thank for this chapter. Nice couple, beating a lot of odds. And they stayed at an onsen.

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The getting to the hot spring resort was uneventful. It was the coming there that started it all.

The group went up a short flight of stairs to get to a large building, where they had lunch. After lunch, Kaoru gave Yahiko and Tsubame their passes to give at the owner. Yahiko said they would stay for a while at the building and stroll around with her. The family said they would go on ahead to the hot springs itself.

But when Yahiko and Tsubame got to the hot spring resort, the Himuras were not there. And the resort administration had not seen anyone pass with their description.

"Maybe they got lost?" he asked.

"That is a possibility," the man at the front desk said. "There are several paths here."

"I'll go look for them," he said.

"I'll go with you," Tsubame told him.

"Why don't you stay here?"

"Two pairs of eyes are better," she said.

"Very well……but stay close to me!"

First they took the high road, which led back to the main road, and found no one there. That took about an hour, to no avail. They went back, and took the low road. It was starting to get dark.

The lower path was narrow, and Yahiko found it hard to keep holding her hand. She eventually told him not to worry about her, and let go herself.

They stopped at a stream on the path. "Why is this path so incredibly long? We haven't met anyone yet!" he finally complained.

"Don't worry," she said. "This is the only other path, so they should have taken this. We just have to keep at it."

It was just then that Yahiko thought he saw a bright patch of reddish material at a higher part of the path, just beyond the stream. It was followed by a bright cloth. "Kenshin! There they are!" He tugged at Tsubame. "Come on! We found them!"

He ran up the path, following it closely. There were no other routes but that one. The family had taken it. He had to hurry. It was getting dark, and it would soon be too hard to get back to the resort without a light.

But as he reached the end of the path, he found………another resort.

It was much like the one they had left that afternoon. He scratched his head, as he asked the front desk if they had seen Kenshin. Indeed, a couple and a young redhaired boy had just checked in with courtesy passes.

Argh! So that meant they had the wrong resort to begin with?

He eventually found the family just recently dipped into a medium-sized pool, filled with steaming water.

"Yahiko!" the parents exclaimed.

The young man was furious. "Kenshin! How DARE you suddenly disappear without telling us!"

"I thought you checked the passes; they are for different resorts, but both owned by that family," the redhead explained.

"You should have told me back home! Or at least, earlier this afternoon!"

"You did not, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked.

"And ruin things prematurely?" Kaoru grinned.

"EYAARRRGH, I'll clobber you two!" Yahiko waved a fist in the air. "I thought you were better than that! Do you know how much you scared Tsubame----" he suddenly looked around behind him. "Wait, where IS Tsubame?"

"Huh? Is she supposed to be with you?" Kaoru looked at him oddly.

"She was just behind me a while ago……..not again!" the young man slapped his forehead. "NOW look what you've done! I have to go look for her now!"

Kenshin was up and out of the pool faster than anyone can protest.

"Oh, NO, you don't, Kenshin! You two have created enough problems for me already!" Yahiko shouted at him and headed out the way he came.

"But you do not know these woods, and it is already dark!" the older man shouted out.

"I know Tsubame!" the younger shouted back.

He retraced his steps as much as he could, ignoring all the leaves and branches that grazed his face and legs. Many crazy thoughts ran through his head. She was not used to the woods. She could have fallen into a deep hole. She could have fallen into the river. He would never see her again alive.

But if he knew Sanjou Tsubame, he would trust the young lady to stay where she lost him. He just had to keep retracing his steps, and he would find her.

It took longer than even he expected. It was very dark, and he too was not used to being in the woods, being a city boy. He started to lose the tracks he was retracing. He started shouting her name, hoping she would answer.

She liked the rivers and streams, always stopping at bridges on their way to anywhere. He knew that. He shut his eyes, and listened for water. He recalled hearing it a while back while going to where the Himuras were. Sure enough, he heard it again. He opened his eyes again, and walked in the direction of the water.

He was right. A nearby stream. And he had indeed seen it before on the route, when the sun was still out. He had been so eager to follow that patch of red he saw that he had forgotten to check if Tsubame had followed him. He whacked his head for that. He called out again for her.

She answered, a few feet away. He ran to her quickly.

She seemed fine. Her clothes were a bit damp but not torn. She had one leg outstretched. "I'm so glad………you found me," she said. "I tried……….looking for you, but you had gone so…….. far away, so I walked back here, and I fell….."

"Anything broken?" He asked. She shook her head. "Can you walk?"

"Not for long," she said, her eyes drooping, "I think I…….twisted my ankle. And I…..feel cold……"

"Oh, no………"

Time to take action. He kneeled beside her, and placed her hands on his shoulders. She understood that much, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and allowed him to carry her on his back. She leaned her head over one of his shoulders.

"Do you feel warmer now?" he asked, still feeling her shivering.

"Much…..warmer……..Yahiko……" her head drooped over his shoulder, and she fell asleep.

He was glad she had fallen asleep, pretty sure she would be sufficiently kept warm by his body heat, until they got back. However, it did not make things easier for him, since he now carried her dead weight over his back. She was not large, but she was still a grown woman, and that amounted to a considerable burden. It was a good thing that he found a clear path soon after that. He did not hurry too much, for fear of hurting the burden on his back, but he kept a steady pace, feeling the fever creeping on her.

It was another hour before he managed to get back to the resort entrance. He immediately brought her to her room, and laid her on the futon. Her clothes were damp, and needed to be changed, but he did not want to do that himself – not without her permission. He rushed around the quarters and finally found a servant willing to help him.

He shook her gently awake. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"A little better," she drowsily said. "Thank you for all the trouble."

He pointed to the lady servant. "She's here to help you with your clothes," he said with a blush. "Get out of those damp things. I'll be back in 10 minutes with some soup."

He eventually returned to her, armed with a tray with soup. She was already dressed in a nightgown, slightly revealing some cleavage. But it missed him completely. He made her sit up, and slowly offered up the bowl to sip. When she was done, he helped her down onto the futon again, and tucked her in.

"Thank you, Yahiko," she said, as she closed her eyes.

"Don't mention it," he muttered.

He slept there beside her in another futon, looking at her every so often, worried about her…and wondering why he was so worried about her. It was not like she was going to die or anything. But if this happened again, who else would worry about her enough to go through all that trouble? Only he did. He knew that. Only he, Myoujin Yahiko, loved Tsubame enough to keep protecting her, through all those years, and all those scrapes. And…….for some strange reason……..he wanted to keep doing that. For the rest of his life. He wanted to keep protecting her.

He knew that now.

In a few hours, the sun was up, and the birds were singing through the windows. He felt her move about in her futon. Soon, he was up and over her, checking on her. "Feel better?" he quickly asked.

She nodded.

He sighed with relief, then asked with mock exasperation, "How many times have I told you not to let me lose you?"

"Too many times," she admitted, and sat up.

"You'll always need someone to get you out of these scrapes, won't you?"

She smiled at him, and blushed.

"Well, if someone has to keep saving you, I'd rather it be me, alright? For always!"

She nodded.

He took up her hands in his, and squeezed them. Drops of cold sweat began to form over his forehead. In the hands that held her own, she felt his pulse racing.

"Tsubame, I'm not letting this chance pass me again. I've waited too long!" he panted. "I don't want to live the rest of my life without you! I sincerely hope you feel the same way."

This was it. This was a crazy situation to have it, but this was it. Her heart began to pound, pound, pound.

"Sanjou Tsubame, please do me a great honor. Please be my wife." He was still panting, but eagerly, desperately looking at her eyes. "I will not ask again. If you want to say no, say it now. I will not ask again."

Her heart continued to pound heavily on her chest, even if she did know what she would say. This was the moment she had been waiting for, for the last few years. It was finally here. Her best friend was now ready. Her answer was ready.

"How can I say no, Yahiko?" She smiled. "Yes, I will marry you."

He kept searching her eyes for any sign of faltering. "No regrets?"

"No regrets." Her eyes were fixed fully on him, her thoughts completely on him.

It was if a huge weight suddenly fell off his shoulders, and he dropped to the ground, relieved after having to carry it for so long. Then, he slowly rose, wrapped his arms around her, and just held her, quietly, gently. She let him keep holding her, leaning her shoulder onto his chest.

It felt so perfectly right, being held by this young man. Being protected by him. Being loved by him. Nothing felt wrong, in the least bit. Neither of them were perfect, but their being together…….it was perfect.

This was how it was supposed to be.

……………………………

The newly engaged couple spent the rest of their time at the hot springs – pretty much acting like typical newly engaged couples. Knowing full well that they were both being silly. They helped each other with the beddings, walked hand in hand around the resort, talked about little useless things, planned about the future. The Himuras stayed where Yahiko found them, at the adjacent resort, and left the couple to themselves.

Kenshin did not even ask, what Sanosuke probably would have goaded the young man about. When they met again at the foot of the hill, waiting for the ride to the train station, Kenshin felt it. They were now officially a couple. Nonetheless, Yahiko had not touched her yet, that way.

"When you are truly and finally mine," he told her that final night together, "that is when I'll show just how much I really love you." He left her with just a small token of the immensity of that love, a long and passionate kiss.

More conversations between the two occurred, as the train brought them back to Tokyo. The polite barrier between them, that lack of a formal relationship, had been taken down. They were now free to be friends, and more than friends. It was liberating, on both sides. They felt better about each other this way. Both hoped, in themselves, that nothing would change this new feeling.

The group got off the train after night had fallen. The streets were still busy, but the people were starting to dwindle. Yahiko almost unconsciously looked around walls and trees, for his rival. There was no sign, not an aura, of him. Even when they separated from the Himuras, and entered the Akabeko, it was still that way. He was not complaining. But after several weeks of wondering about his rival and his whereabouts, Yahiko found it odd. Unconditional surrender was not part of his rival's vocabulary, and yet he did not even take time now to take a peek at Tsubame. No matter. He had won! Tsubame was his, at last!

"I'm just so glad you made it back safely!" Tae embraced her warmly, then smiled at Yahiko. "I thought the midnight murderer had gotten to your group, too!"

"Who?" Yahiko asked.

"The night when you left, and last night, there were talks of a murderer on the loose," Tae nervously said. "One man has died each night! The bodies were both found just past midnight! Everyone is scared to leave their houses at night now!"

"Do you want me to stay here tonight, Tae?" he asked again. "I do have to take care of my wife, don't I?"

"Your WIFE?" The restaurant manager looked from Tsubame to Yahiko and back again, her face changing from surprised to confused to ecstatic.

"Well, not yet, but she will soon be," he scratched his head and grinned shyly. Tsubame nodded with a blush.

Tae gave her assistant another warm embrace, and then gave one to Yahiko as well. "Some tea! Some tea! And cakes! This calls for a celebration!"

All her fears had been forgotten in her joy.

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Replies next time, or at my LJ blog. This was done on the quick. Sorry if not a lot happened here, and sorry if this didn't turn out well. This is another bridging chapter, just to get me going again. Hopefully in the next chapter I'll start a decent plot, like zantaz has been asking. Thank you for all the comments, they were really very helpful.

Thanks again, now I really have to………….go to bed……….