Yeah, so, I just moved, and I didn't have my computer for a month, that's why this chapter is late... and crappy. I just got internet back this morning, and rushed to get this chapter finished, so it's really low quality and such. Please read and review.

♥ Chapter Two ♥

"Coming!" called Takara. The soba restaurant was quite crowded today. Sounds of laughter, chatting, and beef sizzling in the kitchen filled the warm air of this very fine October day. She brought the bowl of freshly made soba to a hungry customer eagerly waiting for his meal.

"Takara, you've been working really hard, and your wound still hasn't healed yet, please don't push yourself too hard," said Hayashi Izumi, the shopkeeper, with a worried look on her face. Takara nodded and assured the short middle-aged woman that she was in perfect health and the wound made by the bullet on her arm a few days ago doesn't hurt anymore. With the shopkeeper reassured, Takara climbed the stairs up to her room. Once she closed the door, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. To tell the truth, the wound hadn't healed at all, it still bled often, and though she said it doesn't hurt, the pain is there, a scorching pain like a white hot knife digging into her flesh.

But I cannot tell Hayashi-sensei. I cannot worry her! Takara said to herself. A few minutes passed and she was still standing in the awkward silence of her room, with nothing but the company of a small cricket chirping on her windowsill. Now bored, Takara stared at the brown insect the size of her pinky, singing its heart out. She wondered how something so small could make such a racket. Before Takara could get carried away any more with her boredom, the cricket leaped off the windowsill. Wondering if it could survive jumping from this height, she looked out the window to find herself staring at the huge willow that was in between the soba restaurant and a small river. Takara had completely forgotten about her favorite tree in the whole world. And it wasn't her favorite just because of its beauty, it was a symbol of remembrance, and love.

Take good care of it, my little treasure…

The last words of her beloved father. He was a gardener and was very close to nature. Takara had spent most of her time working with her father in the garden. Together, they had made their small village on the edge of Japan full of color. Everywhere you look, beautiful trees and flowers decorated houses, roads, fields; every single space was filled with colorful plants. Ever since Takara's mother had passed away, both father and daughter had taken up the hobby of gardening, for that was the last wish of Sasaki Nami, who always wanted to make their village more bright and colorful. The two remaining members of the Sasaki family worked hard to fulfill that wish, and over the years, the dull village became one of the most beautiful places of that time. It was such a happy time, for Takara and her father, and all the villagers. But that happiness didn't last. One day, an army of men riding horses invaded their village. The government had ordered that the village must be destroyed. It was that day that the beauty of the place was wiped away, the last wish of Nami destroyed. It was that day Takara saw her own father get murdered right before her eyes, the day the village got burnt to the ground. The flames surrounded her and her father, right before he died, he put something in Takara's palm. A seed. A willow seed. It was from tree the whole Sasaki family had planted a long time ago, Takara and her father had used it as a symbol of remembrance for Nami. Tears streaming down her face, Takara ran from the village, the seed still in her hand. She ran and ran, many times there was thieves and serial murderers at night who had attempted to kill her. She had learned to be swift and take them by surprise from behind, first grabbing their sword then killing them from behind. It was then that she had learned that to live, another must die, and only the strong live. A month of hell had passed, she was on the verge of death, when she had wandered onto the streets of Kyoto. When Takara could not walk any further, she collapsed in front of the soba restaurant owned by Hayashi Izumi. The shopkeeper saw the little girl lying there, and instantly brought her into the building and nursed her back to health. When she first saw Takara, her eyes were dark with hate and pain, to Takara, it seemed like the end of the world. But once again, Takara was able to love and care, Hayashi Izumi had treated Takara like she was her daughter.

Takara looked back at the willow tree that the only one who cares for her had helped her plant 8 years ago. Back then, the little 10 year old girl had considered the soon to be tree a symbol of remembrance, and that her two parents spirits are within the tree. Even now, Takara could still feel their presence, always near her.

Every morning, Takara would train her agility, now not for being strong to survive, but to protect Izumi.

A splashing noise distracted her from her thoughts. She jumped out the window and climbed the willow to see where the sound came from. There, in the river, was the boy from a few days ago. He stood in the river, intently watching the rushing water, then with a loud splash he pounced on a fish. Takara climbed back down the tree and stared at the completely soaked Soujiro holding a squirming fish in his hand.

"What are you doing?" The question startled him so much he dropped his fish. Unaware someone was watching him, Soujiro turned around to see the girl he met a few days ago.

"Well, I've got to eat something, and I haven't got any money with me," replied Soujiro with a nervous smile.

"Geez, you could've just asked! I'll persuade the cook to make something for you, now come on!" said Takara, gesturing Soujiro to follow. Surprised by Takara's sudden burst of generosity, Soujiro wrung out his clothes a bit and followed her back to the soba restaurant.

While Soujiro wolfed down the meal the head chef had made for him, Takara sat there fidgeting with a strand of her long black hair.

"About the other day, I'm sorry I yelled at you, its just that I'm not used to being saved by others…" Takara apologized with an embarrassed look on her face.

"That's okay, I was just doing what I thought was right," said Soujiro as he finished the last of his meal and smiled. He stood up and bowed. "I'll be going now, thanks for the food!"

"Going? Going where?" asked the confused Takara as she stood up too.

"Back to wandering of course, I am on a journey to find something," said Soujiro, already headed out the front door of the restaurant.

"What! But you just got here! At least stay for a while!" exclaimed Takara, running after Soujiro.

"I'm sorry, but I really can't stay," Soujiro said without looking back and sped up his pace. Takara watched his figure disappear into the sunset, she couldn't help but feel sad.

"You're not getting away that easily…" she whispered to herself.