Disclaimer: Everything that does not belong to me, belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and associates (Jump Comics, Shueisha Inc. etc.) Everything that does belong to me, does not belong to you. (But unlike Watsuki, you can ask me for permission to use it!)

A/N: This is, oh, I don't know, a week late? Two? I make a mockery of myself, I really do.

It is my fault for spending so much time on the forums, which I swore I wasn't even going to get into. Which just goes to show that even the best of us must sometimes eat our own words.

Yay and a special thank-you to "Noname" to being reviewer number 50! Whoohoo!

Tanoshimu!

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-PART ONE-

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -Carl Sagan

Chapter Six

Embrace

Kenshin and Naruku had planned to return to the dojo right away, but Tokio insisted they could not go out in the rain (it was barely drizzling at that point) and invited them to stay for tea, which they enjoyed immensely.

Both Kenshin and Naruku were very surprised at how relaxed the environment was at the Fujita Manor. Tokio was very friendly and very cordial, and Saitou, well, he had disappeared when he found out tea was involved.

Eventually the sun came out and Tokio was forced to let Kenshin and Naruku go, but not without wrapping up some sweets to take back to the dojo. They thanked her profusely and departed.

On their way into town, Naruku and Kenshin were surprised by Outa, who bumped into them near a perfume vendor.

"Good afternoon Himura-san!" Outa cried rather loudly, staring up at the swordsman.

"Hello Outa," Naruku returned, though he had been addressing Kenshin. She knelt down so she was at eye-level with him. "What are you doing here by yourself?"

Outa looked around and shuffled his feet. "I'm picking up something for Sanosuke, miss!" he answered, waving a white slip of paper.

"And what might that be?" Kenshin questioned kindly, exchanging glances with Naruku.

"It's an obi for Megumi-san…he already picked it out and everything, I just need to get it!"

Outa seemed rather excited about his task so Kenshin and Naruku let him run off without another word.

Naruku stood up again and looked at Kenshin questioningly. "Why do you think Sanosuke is getting Megumi an obi?" she asked slowly.

Kenshin shook his head. "We'd better get back to the dojo or Kaoru-dono will worry."

He started to move away, but Naruku caught his sleeve and held fast. He stopped and turned his head to face her.

She looked slightly troubled as she dropped his sleeve and took a deep breath before speaking. "Kenshin, I've been meaning to ask you all afternoon…why were you at Saitou's office anyway?"

Kenshin pursed his lips and turned all the way around. "We were discussing…the event at Castle Edo."

Kenshin was afraid of Naruku's reaction, but she barely looked affected at all.

"The police needed to file reports about Enizu's death," Kenshin explained hesitantly.

"Oh," was all Naruku said. "Then…are they going to have to…" she swallowed. "deal with me?"

Kenshin looked confused for a moment and then he realized what she was saying. He shook his head. "There were absolutely no repercussions for killing him. Enizu had been a wanted weapons dealer and part of a large crime ring for quite a while. The police have wanted him dead for quite a while."

"Oh," Naruku repeated.

Kenshin looked very unsure about whether to continue, but he had vowed to himself to be totally honest with Naruku. She deserved it. "There was a reward."

"A…reward?" she repeated, shaking her head and brushing hair out of her face.

Kenshin nodded. "A reward of ten thousand yen for the capture of Enizu."

"Don't they…I mean, don't they care that I killed him? Didn't they need to," she gulped again, "interrogate him?"

Kenshin nodded. "The original reward was fifty thousand yen. Despite the fact that you killed him, the police are relieved that they don't have to deal with him and offered a fraction of that reward."

Naruku exhaled slowly and started walking again, but she felt stiff and awkward. Kenshin walked with her, not saying a word.

"Naruku, are you—"

"It's just—it's just so wrong!" Naruku burst, crossing her arms and speeding up. "It's blood money, that's what it is. Ten thousand yen! They're paying me for a crime I committed."

Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. "Will you take it?" he asked in a low, level voice.

Naruku looked away, half shaking her head. "No…I don't know! Kenshin…let's—let's go somewhere. Let's leave."

Kenshin looked troubled. "Naruku, you can't run away."

"I'm not running away!" Naruku protested immediately. She realized how loudly she'd said it and then lowered her voice. "I'm not…running. I just need some time to think about all of this…away. But I want you to come with me, Kenshin. I think you need it too."

Kenshin gazed at her conflicted face, his hand still resting on her shoulder. He ran his hand along her upper arm and then slowly he nodded.

Their return to the dojo was greeted with the sounds of clapping shinai and yelling students.

Kenshin and Naruku exchanged glances before running up to the front of the dojo. They could hear Kaoru's voice from inside, instructing.

Naruku started to slide the door open and stepped inside, Kenshin behind her. They spotted Kaoru and made their way purposefully over to her.

"That's great Gichii! Just a little straighter Yuki-kun—oh, Naruku!" Kaoru whirled around and came face to face with the shorter woman. She then saw Kenshin standing behind Naruku and her mouth fell open in shock. "Kenshin?"

Her expression changed and a very pleased smile lit her features. "You made up!" she squealed. "I'm so happy for you two!"

She hugged each of them tight and then turned back to her students. They were all standing around patiently.

"Class is dismissed for today…come back tomorrow, thanks!"

The students, there were about ten now, all filed out of the dojo, leaving Kaoru, Kenshin and Naruku together.

"You started teaching again!" Naruku exclaimed as the last student left.

"I sure did—today was the first day. It's going great. There are less students, but they're all so hard-working!" Kaoru said.

"That's really great Kaoru," Naruku replied easily, smiling at Yahiko as he joined them.

"Naruku, Kenshin!" he said enthusiastically.

"You guys made up, then," Kaoru said hesitantly.

"Well, duh! You finally put the moves on her, Kenshin?" Yahiko said devilishly, jabbing Kenshin in the side.

"Oof…oro," Kenshin replied good-naturedly.

Kaoru promptly slammed her bokken into Yahiko's head and went on smoothly, "How are you? You seem a lot better."

"Well," Naruku answered slowly. "I feel a lot better."

"Why don't we all go inside?" Kenshin suggested gently and led the two girls into the house, checking back to make sure the impaired Yahiko was behind them.

They arrived in the kitchen to find a pensive Megumi sitting quietly with Aoshi.

"Ken-san," Megumi exclaimed as he entered the room. She stood up and surveyed him and Naruku quickly, her deft eyes not missing the way Naruku's stance tilted her toward Kenshin and the way he in turn was standing a fraction of an inch closer than he would usually.

A thin smirk appeared on Megumi's face as she welcomed them back.

Two sets of laughter came from the kitchen and Naruku looked around quizzically.

"Misao and Soujiro are making lunch," Kaoru said evenly to Naruku. "I'm a little worried about the poor kitchen, but they can't do much more damage to it than you, can they?"

Naruku's eyebrows dropped and she glared at Kaoru. "Thanks," she said in a deadpan voice.

"Ah…Kaoru-dono doesn't mean anything by it, I'm sure," Kenshin said hastily. "After all, no one could inflict more destruction on the kitchen than her."

"Thank you Kenshin, that's enough," Kaoru growled.

Misao appeared from the kitchen and waved them all over to the table. "Sit down, sit down! Chef Makimachi and Chef Seta present to you…sushi á la Soujiro!"

"Ano, Misao, am I supposed to come out now?" they heard the chuckling voice of Soujiro ask uncertainly.

"Yes," Misao hissed.

Soujiro came out of the kitchen smiling, with a big tray of sushi in his hands.

The occupants of the table all stared at it with glittering eyes. All types of colorful sushi met their eyes.

Salmon, egg, crab, eel and cucumber, different types of sushi—tempura, sashimi, inari and hand rolls--it was enough to make anyone's mouth water.

"Who made that?" Kaoru cried in disbelief, as if no one but the gods could have made something so beautiful.

"Soujiro did!" Misao answered at once, beaming.

Before Soujiro could feed the lovely display to the wolves, a sharp tap came from the doorway.

"Oi, I heard 'sushi.'"

Eyes that were glued to the sushi quickly darted up toward the newcomer.

"Good afternoon Sanosuke," Kaoru said pleasantly, still staring at the food from the corner of her eye.

"Hey Jou-chan, Kenshin, koneko," Sano sat down next to Yahiko, who he glanced at and uttered in greeting, "brat."

Yahiko had begun filling his mouth and had no retort.

"Yahiko! Stop that," Kaoru demanded at once. Yahiko tried to reply, but ended up splattering rice everywhere.

Naruku rolled her eyes and clasped her hands together. "Itadakimasu!"

The others followed suit, even Yahiko, and they all dug in to the delicious treat.

"Ara…I didn't think they'd like it so much," Soujiro exclaimed.

"Are you kidding? You're never allowed to leave the dojo!" Kaoru proclaimed between bites.

When all was well and over and Yahiko had lunged for the very last eel and cucumber roll, Sano stood up unexpectedly, and, without a word, began clearing off the table.

"I wasn't done with that!" Megumi protested, snatching back her empty bowl of rice. She'd eaten every grain, signifying that she wanted seconds.

"Well there's no more rice," Sano replied irritably, taking it back and putting it with the rest of the dishes in the kitchen.

"Besides, I can't have you all distracted while I'm trying to ask you to marry me," he added nonchalantly when he returned.

All heads whipped around.

The general consensus was, "What?"

Sano sat down and cleared his throat, barely suppressing a grin of amusement. From out of nowhere, it seemed, he pulled out a wrapped package.

Naruku gasped softly. She knew what was inside almost immediately, and instinctively tugged on Kenshin's sleeve to see if he realized it too.

"Right, so, guess there's nothing more to it," Sano said after realizing how very silent the room had become.

He turned to the rest of them, "Megumi and I have decided to marry, but we wanted you to be here…for this," Sano said. "Because you've been like family to both of us."

Naruku wanted to laugh. They'd been taking part in a Yui-no marriage ceremony without realizing it. Was it coincidence that Soujiro had prepared them such a beautiful lunch, or did Sano convince him to? She shook the silly thoughts off and turned to watch Sano present Megumi with the rice-paper package.

Megumi then in turn produced her own package and Sano accepted it with two hands. Together they unwrapped the packages.

Sano unfolded a fresh hakama skirt. It had sharp, clean pleats and was a beautiful rich dark blue. Naruku remembered from some distant past that the hakama given in a Yui-no ceremony was supposed to express fidelity…something Naruku knew Sano would never betray.

Megumi gingerly unfolded a gorgeous obi in a deep pomegranate color. Embroidered into the fabric were cranes with lush, bright plumage, surrounded by delicate gold and white flower petals.

Megumi's mouth simply dropped open at the beautiful garment and she stared at Sano in disbelief. She could feel the familiar prick of tears in her eyes as her vision misted over.

"Sano…" she said softly. "How…"

But Sano was holding something else out to her, another, smaller package. "Oh yeah…forgot this," he mumbled, and then made the mistake of looking up at Megumi's face.

Megumi was completely enraptured. Not since their first kiss had she felt this impressed with Sano. It was not the cost or even the beauty of the obi that thrilled her, but the question of how had Sano picked something out that was so perfectly…

Perfect.

"Here, take it," Sano shook the second package until Megumi accepted it.

She unwrapped it and out tumbled a lovely black fan that Megumi started to slowly expand, until Sano took her hand with his rough, browned one and looked her square in the eyes.

"I love you Megumi," he stated. It was a fact. "And I want to give you everything you deserve.

"Sano—" Megumi began, but Sano silenced her.

"No. Whatever you say, Megumi, you do deserve the best," Sano went on. "And that's why…well, that's not only why, but…I didn't tell you before, but on my way back to Japan, I was offered a job."

"A job?" Megumi asked uncertainly.

Sano nodded. "It's a job in shipping…and I took it. I want to make you happy, Megumi."

Megumi looked down at their entwined hands, the different tones their skins had against the other. "You don't have to have a job to make me happy Sanosuke," she said. She had grown very quiet because she was afraid she couldn't speak much louder without her voice cracking.

Sano tipped her chin up. "I know that…but I want this. I want this for us, and for me. And so that when we start a family, our kids can grow up different than I did. I really, really want that."

Megumi's eyes flickered up to Sano's, and there she felt herself mesmerized, unable to look away.

Instead of responding, she opened the fan that he had given her. It was outlined in violet and navy with a scene of blue-green waves crashing over sapphire rocks. It was a gift that represented happiness, expanding from a narrow rod to a full and beautiful fan, a symbol of a better and bigger future they would share.

Megumi coyly lifted the fan and ducked behind it, a hand on Sano's neck pulling his with her. And behind the veil they kissed, as they had done many times before, but this time it meant one thing: everlasting.

There were many teary eyes and congratulations that greeted the two when they emerged from behind the fan.

"She's the only woman who could ever make me rationalize the prospect of marriage to her," Sano joked noisily. "But then—she's the only woman I'd ever want to rationalize it to. I love this woman!"

Hugs and big smiles were exchanged, and there Kenshin could see it.

The beginning of a new age.

Embrace--End

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A/N: Could you tell just by the title and quote that this was going to be a sappy one?

Heh, well, I hope you were expecting it, because as fanfics go, this is gonna get sappy. It's an epilogue fic, what do you expect?

All the information about Yui-No ceremonies was found at a website called "Things Japanese." I wish I could post the URL, but unfortunately fanfiction—or should I say QuickEdit?—won't let me. Still, if you have any questions or want to see the site, just PM me and I'll be glad to help out. I've actually done a little bit of research on Japanese weddings and the like so I won't be completely clueless for scenes like this one.

Also, I'm aware that there was supposed to be a scene with Aoshi and Kenshin in this chapter, but I felt that would be a little too much, don't you? Even though this is only a five-page chapter, there were certainly a lot of topics covered, so I hope you can wait until next chapter for Kenshin and Aoshi's talk!

In the meantime, thanks for all your support and please review!