D/C: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

Hello! I'm sorry it's taken me such a long while to update, but I didn't have internet access, and I was really busy so I didn't have much time to write anything, and even when I did finish, I had to go back and edit the chapter since it was too damn short! Well, anyway, these are my excuses, and this is the chapter. Enjoy!

Oh…and thank you SO much for all of your reviews! You've made me touch 200! I'm so happy!

Chapter 10:

Dad, I've decided what I want to be when I grow up!

Really? And that would be…?

A pedia…um…pedia…

Pediatrician?

Yes! I want to be a pediatrician!

Hmm…a pediatrician? Didn't you want to be a fire-fighter last week?

Well…yeah…

So what made you change your mind?

Miss Takani said she wanted to be a pediatrician…and I want to be just like her!

-

'Yes, okay, I'll be there. Thanks for the call.'

With those words, Megumi put down the phone receiver. The University where she had studied had called her up and told her there are some papers she had to come and pick up from the office, and no; they couldn't send them to her by mail because they had to be signed…and she had to come pick them up today.

Sighing, she got up and poured herself some coffee out of the coffee machine, and went to fetch the morning paper from the doorstep. Just as she came back, Sano walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

Megumi smiled at him. 'Good morning, Sanosuke!' she said, cheerfully.

'Good morning, Miss Takani,' he said sleepily, and struggled to stifle a yawn. He plopped down on the chair before her. 'I slept late, didn't I? Why didn't you wake me up?'

'Well, you looked adorable while you were sleeping; I didn't have the heart to wake you up,' she said, and laughed when he blushed. 'No…seriously, I only woke up a little while ago, so I didn't have time to wake you up yet.'

'Oh,' he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. 'The phone woke me up, though.'

'That would be my fault, then…it was the University calling me; they want me to come by today and pick up some papers,' she told him. She paused for a moment. 'Do you want to come along? This might take a while and I don't want to leave you here by yourself.'

Sano's expression brightened. 'Really? I can?' he said happily.

'Yup!' she replied. 'Tell you what, let's go out and have breakfast, and then we'll take the subway train to the University…how does that sound?'

In a few minutes, they had both left the house. It took them a while to get dressed, because Sano had wanted to find the right outfit for going to University, saying that he didn't want to embarrass Megumi in front of her Professors. In the end he had ended up wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a v-necked, long-sleeved black t-shirt. They went to a small café around the corner, and sat outside at a table in the patio. They ordered and waited quietly to be served.

'Miss Takani…' Sano started, and Megumi looked up. '…I don't think I've ever told you this, but I'm really grateful you agreed to take care of me while I have amnesia…what I mean to say is, thank you.'
Megumi smiled. 'Aw, Sano…it's only my pleasure,' she assured him. 'I'm really happy taking care of you…I think these last few days have been the best in my life, and for that…I should be the one to say thank you.'

'Really? So I'm not troubling you or tiring you or anything?' he asked anxiously, and she shook her head. Sano sighed in relief. 'Good…I was worried I might be.'

The waiter came and placed their orders before them. Megumi pulled her coffee mug and chocolate pie towards her, while Sano started to pour syrup over his pancakes; Megumi learned in the past few days that Sano was a real fan of pancakes, so she went and got the ingredients and the recipe as she was planning to make some for him soon…when she's learned not to burn them.

'Um…Miss Takani?' Sano said, after swallowing a bite. 'After I get my memory back…is it possible that you continue to live in the same house with me?'

Megumi's fork froze halfway to her mouth. 'Uh…live with you?' she said, awkwardly. She put back her fork on the plate." 'I don't know about that, Sano…I mean, I'm not even related to you…it…it would be an inappropriate for me to live in the same house with you…um, you understand me, right?'

Sano was quiet for a moment, and Megumi watched him anxiously, then he looked up and smiled…but it was a bit of a troubled smile. 'Yes, I understand…I'm sorry for troubling you,' he said politely.

Megumi ate a bit of her pie before speaking up again. 'Sano…you do realize that when you get your memory back, you probably won't remember any of this?' she said quietly.

Sano looked appalled. 'I won't?' he said.

Megumi shook her hand. 'I mean…I'm not sure, you most probably won't, but…' she said, and let her words trail off.

'If that's so, then I don't want to remember! I'd rather have amnesia than forget all those nice times I've shared with you!' he said with a bit of an edge to his voice. 'I don't want to forget!'

It was Megumi's turn to look appalled now. 'Oh, come on, Sanosuke…you don't mean that,' she said. 'Be reasonable…you can't trade a life time of memories for just a few days' memories!'

'But they are really special memories!' Sano insisted.

'But, Sano…what about your other memories? What about memories of your father? Don't you want to remember them? Don't you want to remember Kenshin and Kaoru? Don't you want to remember the memories we shared before you got amnesia?' she asked in a rush. 'Don't you?'

Sano looked doubtfully at her. 'Are they…special memories?' he asked.

'Yes, Sano, they are special…I promise,' she assured him. 'And besides, don't you think I'll be there to tell you about the many things we did together after you get your memory back?'

Sano looked positively delighted.

-

Sano…um…a girl told me to give you her number…here you go.

Thanks.

…you can't just throw it in the bin! Why don't you call her?

I'm not interested.

Sheesh! You're ungrateful, aren't you? This is the first day in University and a girl tells me to give you her number…do you realize how special that makes me feel?

Sorry, mate. But there's only one girl for me, and she's out there…I know she is.

That's great, Sano. But when did you become a drama queen?

Ha ha ha. Very funny, Kenshin.

-

'Two tickets, please.'

Megumi paid for their tickets, and the clerk handed them to her, then she and Sano headed towards the platform to wait for their train. It came moments later, and they both boarded it. They looked around for empty seats, but when they found none, they stood by the door, and held on to a metal bar. As the train started to move, memories flashed through her memory, and a small smile touched her lips.

'You know, Sanosuke…the train is where we met again,' she told him.

'Again?' he asked, confused.

'Well…yes,' she replied. 'We weren't in contact all these past years, but when we met again, it was on a train such as this…I was heading to my graduation ceremony then, and you came along with me…and when the ceremony was over, you treated me to dinner…it was all really sweet.'

'Really? I did that?' he asked, and she nodded. 'So I'm not a bad grown-up after all!'

Megumi laughed. 'No! Of course you aren't! Did I ever say you are?' she said.

Sano shook his head. 'But…if we met on your graduation day, then that must mean that we only met…' he murmured, and paused to do some calculations. '…a month ago or so.'

Megumi hesitated. 'Um…yes,' she said, laughing nervously. 'Didn't I tell you that before?'

'No…you didn't,' he said quietly. 'We met only a month ago…and yet, you so willingly decided to take care of me while I have amnesia…why'd you do that? Why do you…care so much about me? I'm not special…I'm just a pathetic guy called Sano who thinks he's a nine year old…so why do you care about me, Miss Takani?'

Megumi felt overwhelmed. 'No, Sano! Don't say that about yourself!' she said, rather heatedly. 'You are special! You are amazing! I don't want you to ever think otherwise, you understand? I know you're special because…'

Suddenly, the train screeched to a halt, and everybody screamed as they lurched forward. Megumi managed to maintain a firm grip on the metal bar she had been holding on to, and didn't fall. But Sano was taken unaware, and he fell forward, slamming into the metal bar. Megumi cried out in fright when Sano slumped to the ground. She let go of the bar and dropped down to her knees next to him. She turned him over and rested his head in her lap. She could already see the ugly bruise forming on his forehead from where he hit his head.

'Sano…Sano…Oh, God, Sano, please be okay! Please be okay!' she cried frantically. She pushed the hair away from his forehead and looked up angrily at all the people who were starting to group around them. 'Move away! Give him space! He needs to breath!'

The group obediently moved back. Megumi looked down worriedly at Sano, at loss at what to do next. She mentally cursed herself for her inability to do something to help him…and after all these years of medical training too. Stupid, stupid, stupid! She looked around helplessly. What should she do? What should she do?

Around her, people were already hauling themselves back onto their seats, and a voice was already speaking to them through the speakers in the train, "…we're really sorry for the inconvenience, but a technical error was discovered and the train had to stop immediately. Fixing the error will only take a little while, we promise. So, if you would please be patient and bear with the delay, we'd be thankful. And again, I apologize for the inconvenience."

Chewing her bottom lip nervously, she wiped the sweat off his brow. 'C'mon, Sanosuke, please wake up…please wake up, don't do this to me,' she pleaded, tears welling in her eyes. 'Wake up…please.'

She didn't know why she was being so emotional over this; it was just a case of unconsciousness, after all. But yet, she couldn't relax. She felt responsible for him, and she couldn't bear having anything hurt him or harm him. It made her feel really upset. Why did he have to make her worry so much about him? Of course, she knew it wasn't his fault, but still…she wanted him to wake up…

'Does anyone have a bottle of water?' she suddenly asked out aloud, and was quickly handed a bottle. Megumi unscrewed the lid and poured some in her hand. She splashed it on Sano's face. 'Come on, Sano! Wake up! We don't need a coma as well as amnesia! I can't deal with that! It's too much for me…please…'

As if on queue, Sano's eyelids suddenly fluttered open. His eyes were a bit glazed all over and unfocused, but Megumi didn't care; he was awake! Giddy with joy, she cried out happily and pulled him into her arms in a hug, holding him tightly.

'Oh, God! You're okay!' she choked. 'I was so worried! Thank God you're okay!'

'Me-Megumi…?' he murmured.

'Yes, Sanosuke, it's…' she said, and froze suddenly. She let go of him and Sano awkwardly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He looked around dazedly for a moment, before letting his eyes fall on her again. Megumi breathed in sharply. 'What…what did you just call me?'

Sano frowned. 'Megumi,' he said promptly. 'Er…what's going on? Why are we on the floor? In a train?'

Megumi was numb with shock. 'Sano…how old are you?' she finally managed to ask.

'Er…twenty one…I think?' he said, rubbing the back of his head. He looked at her in an odd way. 'Megumi, is there something wrong? Are you okay?'

'You mean…you don't remember?' she said, and paused when she felt there was something wrong about her question. 'I mean…you actually remember? Kenshin and Kaoru and everything else?'

'Um…yeah,' Sano said, confused. 'Kenshin's my best friend…and Kaoru's his fiancée, right? Why are you asking me all those questions? It's not like I've forgotten everything!'

Then, out of the blue, and under everybody's confused stares, Megumi threw her arms around Sano's neck and started to sob into his shoulder, all the while saying, "You're back! You're finally back!". She held him tightly, not wanting to let go. She feared that if she let go, he might drift back into a case of amnesia, and she wouldn't be able to bring him back. Sano, on the other hand, was feeling absolutely bewildered. Yet, he gently put his arms around her and held her to him.

'I love you, Sanosuke,' she whispered.

-

Dad! You know what?

No. What?

I really love Miss Takani!

-

A/N: There you go! He finally gets his memory back! Yay! Oh, God! This felt really good! I seriously adore this story! But sadly, the next chapter is going to be the last one and I'm going to have to finally let go! Waaaaaah! Ah, well, I suppose nothing lasts forever, eh? Well, please review, okay? And wait for the last chapter!

Oh, and sorry this was shorter than usual!

- S. N. B.