AN Updates on all of my fics have been and will probably remain slow. I have to keep RL before fics sorry. Thanks for reading

Chapter 3: Goodbye

Shino picked up the breakfast dishes feeling dead inside. The untouched plate across from her proved that Jin had left her once again. That morning, she had risen just before dawn with purpose. There was so much that she needed to know. Despite Jin's reluctance the night before, she couldn't help but believe that he would say something...anything. What a fool she'd been! The sun was high in the sky, and she refused to delude herself anymore. After washing the dishes, Shino stood outside the room he had slept in. It took all of her will to open the door, and she wasn't nearly prepared for what she saw.

Jin still laid on his pallet. His forehead was beaded with sweat and his skin was deathly pale. The samurai cracked his bleary eyes open, and reached a trembling hand toward her. "Fuu."

"Shhh," Shino soothed as she knelt by his side. "Everything is alright."

He shook his head. "My fault...so sorry...couldn't do it...my fault," he murmured deliriously.

A sinking feeling hit her stomach. Fuu. She remembered the name from her brief time with him. Shaking off the memory, Shino brushed soaking strands of hair from his face. "Hush. I am going to get some water. Rest for me."

Shino's knees were weak as she stood. Last night, hadn't he looked ill even then? Kami, what had happened to him? Jin was so very sick! As soon as she steadied herself, Shino ran down the hill to the village silently praying that the doctor was in. Her heart fluttered when she saw the old man. "Please," she cried. "Come quick."

The doctor's pace was slower than she'd like, but she was thankful when they made it to the inn. He sat by Jin's side, and opened a satchel of herbs and medicines. "How long has he been like this?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I found him like this not too long ago," Shino replied nervously. "He didn't look well last night, but I never assumed..."

"Get some cool water and cloths, and then bring me a kettle of hot water," the doctor ordered.

Shino wasted no time in doing what she was told. By the time, she got back the doctor had stripped off Jin's tunic to reveal a skeletal chest scarred with angry red wounds. Unable to hold back, she let out a gasp. "Kami!"

The doctor turned to her sadly. "The water, woman!" he commanded.

"Yes," she said absently. Shino watched as the old man mixed powders into a noxious smelling brown brew. He gently lifted Jin's head and held the cup to his lips. Jin gagged and coughed as the liquid hit his throat.

"It's alright," Shino whispered. She wiped away the spittle from his chin.

The doctor shook his head gravely. "The infection is in his blood. There's nothing that I can do for him."

Shino closed her eyes and felt the world stop. Tears spilled from beneath her lashes. "Are you certain?"

"I doubt he will last the night. I am sorry. I will leave some herbs to ease his suffering, but there is nothing I can do. He must have been very strong to last this long." The doctor packed up his belongings.

"Thank you for coming. I will pay his expenses," she said emotionlessly. It still hadn't sunken in that this was reality. The man she had loved for over a decade was dying before her.

"I won't hear of it. You have been very kind to take this poor man in."

She walked the doctor to the door, and then returned to Jin's side. Holding a cool cloth to his forehead, Shino lost every ounce of her composure. Shino pressed her cheek to his shoulder, and broke down farther when she felt his hand wrap around. "Don't cry, Fuu. I can't stand it when you cry," he rasped.

"I won't cry," she promised. It didn't matter that another woman's name was on his lips. She loved him. Shino was starved for his compassion. "Do you love me?"

"I love you more than I ever knew I could." His voice resonated with a kind of devotion that she had never heard in their time together. Jin turned his fever-dimmed eyes to her. "Fuu, you are my life."

Shino broke the embrace. She began to mix another drink for him in hopes that it would grant him some relief. There was nothing more that she could do.

Some time during the night, Shino must have fallen into a dreamless sleep. His anguished cries shook her from the peace and back to reality. "FUU! AYAMI! FUU!" Shino did her best to hold him down and quiet him, but it was a wasted effort. In his sickened state, his samurai pride did not stop the tears and pain from showing as he screamed. "Ayami," he whispered. "Papa's here. Everything will be alright. Papa won't let them hurt you. Ayami, I promise I won't let them hurt you. Come back! Please, come back."

Finally, Jin laid back against his pillow and passed out. Shino's heart raced as she checked his breathing. He still lived, but she knew he would not last. This would be goodbye forever.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Papa! Papa! Papa!" Ayami cried as she ran down the hill. The flowers in her hands flew threw the air as she opened her arms to greet him.

Jin grabbed onto his baby girl, and held tight. "Ayami!" He kissed her cheek. "I've missed you."

"I missed you bunches, Papa. I know Mommy missed you, too. She says that you are just visiting, and that you have to go away soon, and that I have to give you extra kisses to make you not feel sad." Ayami chattered. She pulled a daisy from her hair and stuck it behind his ear.

"I'm not leaving," Jin told her sincerely. Didn't she realize that he had died?

Ayami giggled. "Silly Papa! You have to go back home."

"But..."

"Jin!" A voice called stilling his protests. Fuu stood near the brow of the hill with the sun caught in her hair and the wind in her pink kimono. "Geesh, it sure took you long enough to come visit!"

Jin set Ayami down, and pulled his wife into his arms. He breathed in the scent of her, and sent a pray of thanks to whatever Kami had granted this. His kiss was deep and desperate. The hole within him had been filled completely. "I love you," he whispered into her ear unwilling to let go.

"I love you , too," she told him with a smile.

The three settled on the side of the hill. With his wife tucked under his arm and his daughter snuggled into his lap, Jin knew that this had to be heaven. If this was going to be eternity, he looked forward to it.

"Jin," Fuu said seriously, "you can't stay here."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Cause you're not dead, dummy!"

"I'm not?" Jin asked puzzled.

Fuu shook her head. "Nope. You've got a lot to do first."

Suddenly, the images of the men who had done this flashed into his mind. "I have to make them pay."

Fuu placed a hand on his cheek. "This isn't about revenge. It's about the future...our son's future."

"What? Our son is in good hands. I made sure he was safe before I did anything else." Jin felt the air leave him, and fear take its place.

"Safe for how long? He's your son. Jin, they are going to find him. Do you honestly think they'd let him live? You've got to stop them!" she told him.

"But who are they? What do they want?"

Fuu shook her head. "There are some things you are going to have to find out on your own."

Jin felt himself fading. "I don't want to leave you."

"Don't worry, Papa. We'll wait for you!" Ayami assured him "I love you!" She kissed his cheek.

"I love you, too." He gave his daughter one last hug before she scampered over the brow of the hill. "I would have loved to have watched her grow up," he told Fuu.

Fuu nodded. "Sometimes things are meant to happen a certain way. I was meant to love you, and I always will. In this life and the next. Ayami wasn't lying--we are going to be waiting for you. I'm not leaving you just yet. Think of it as goodbye for now."

"Goodbye for now," Jin repeated. "I have only one thing left without you. I hate this emptiness."

"I know what you mean, but remember that we have one more journey to make together." Fuu kissed him once again. "I'll see you when the time is right."

Jin tried to follow her over the hill, but his body wouldn't obey his commands. He was frozen in place as the mist took her. Darkness settled over him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was near dawn when something miraculous happened. Shino placed her hand on Jin's brow and found that it had cooled. His breathing was deep and even. Shino pulled the blankets back from his chest to find that the marks were now a much lighter shade. Dark eyes cracked open, and locked on her.

"Jin, can you hear me?" she asked shakily, unsure she could bare to be called by that name again.

"Shino," he murmured.

A wave of relief washed over her. "How are you feeling?"

Jin made a feeble attempt to sit up. "Horrible."

"Thank God, you're alive!" she sighed. "You had me so scared! The doctor told me you were going to die."

Jin shook his head. "I'm not finished yet," he told her solemnly.

Over the next few days, Jin slowly regained his strength. He shocked the doctor by not only surviving, but by being able to walk a few steps not even a full week after his brush with death. Though he made great strides, Jin was still very weak. It was such an awful thing to see a mighty samurai fighting to remain on his feet. Although he never once complained, Shino could see the agony in his eyes, yet even that was overshadowed by a sort of burning determination. Jin would not give in to infirmity. Perhaps, he pushed too hard, but he would not back down. All the while, Shino cared for him and watched him silently. She never spoke of what she had heard that night, and he never did ask. Jin rarely spoke during his recovery. He thanked her for the meals she brought him, and offered his help with simple tasks. The questions that Shino had been so desperate to ask him not too long ago had been buried once more.

In time, Jin was well enough to begin training again. To rebuild the strength in his arm, he chopped enough wood to keep the inn warm for the entire year. Shino would often sit nearby and sew as he worked. She saw the swing of his ax slowly become more fluid and powerful. He gained weight over time as well. Jin's body was nearly healed. Now, it was time for the sword. This blade had set Shino free. She watched as it cut through the air with purpose and grace. Each stroke brought the time for his departure closer.

Almost two months had passed since Jin's arrival when the two sat in the garden one evening after dinner. Jin had taken the dishes away without being asked. Shino knew he did not take her hospitality lightly.

"I'll be going soon," he said as he sat back down.

Shino stared at her tea. "I was hoping that you'd stay, but I didn't expect it."

"There's something I must do," he told her.

She nodded. "So you keep saying. Jin, what happened to you? To Fuu and Ayami? I haven't asked, but I can't help feeling that you at least owe me some sort of explanation."

Jin was silent for a long time. "Fuu and I were married four years after our journey came to an end. Ironically, I was on my way to see you when I met her again. We had a daughter and a son. I had gone to the village for some supplies. It was almost dark, and I almost didn't see the four of them coming. I sent three of them to hell, but in the end...I wasn't strong enough to face them all. They left me there thinking I was dead. To be honest, I'm not sure why I didn't die that night. I managed to make it back to the house, but Fuu and Ayami were already dead. Their deaths weren't quick... they...I.." his voice broke.

"And your son?" Shino asked fighting the bile rising in her throat.

"He's alive. I took him somewhere safe, and now I have to make sure he stays safe. I won't fail again," he swore. Jin stood and looked away. "I am sorry for all of the trouble I've caused you."

Shino shook her head. "You saved me from a fate worse than death, and gave me back my self worth. I am repaying my debt, but that is not all. I..."

"Don't say it. Shino, I am sorry, but I can't return the feeling."

"I know," she agreed. "I understand, and I don't blame you for it. I know now why you didn't come for me."

Jin nodded. "I'll be leaving in the morning."

"I'll prepare some rations for your travels." Shino didn't dare look him in the eye for fear of crying.

Shino was once again awake by dawn. She made sure he had everything he would need tied up in a small pack. They said relatively little as he prepared to leave. The important things had been said the night before.

"So this is it," she said as she walked him to the gate.

"I'm afraid so. Thank you for you kindness," Jin told her with a slight bow. "I don't think that I'll return."

Shino looked away. "I didn't think that you would. Whatever happens, Jin, I just hope that your safe."

The samurai paused. "I will do what I must."

"Goodbye, Jin."

"Goodbye, Shino."

Shino watched him from the gate until his form disappeared over the horizon. When she was sure he was out of sight, she dropped to her knees and wept.