Because the issue of the dumplings was never resolved, and I'm terrible shipper trash.

This ended up being so long that I had to split it into three parts because I can't resist making things complicated, apparently.

Also I wasn't lazy and actually did research on regional foods of the Kyushu region where Ikitsuki island is, since I'm assuming they parted ways at the end of the anime somewhere around there. Tsuke-age are basically fish cakes.Writing this made me hungry.

Also, I'm assuming Fuu is 16 when they end their journey in the show, otherwise my math concerning the number of dumplings consumed wouldn't work if she was still 15.

Shout-out to roolph on for being my beta for these! She's a fantastic artist, go check out her stuff!

As always, I don't own the thing

Dumplings

"Yo."

The innocuous greeting burst through the bubble of calm in Fuu's mind, making her almost spit out her tea. She wiped her mouth as she turned to the door, a familiar silhouette outlined by the dying rays of the sun. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Mugen?"

She watched her ex-bodyguard, clad in a new red haori with a European sword across his back, stride across the teahouse to sit across from her. She was too busy being surprised to stop him from taking some of her tsuke-age and popping them into his mouth, like it was old times.

Well, the old times weren't really old yet, but in the three days she'd been traveling by herself after they went their separate ways, the memories of the past year were already solidifying in Fuu's mind as 'the good ol' days'.

If by 'good' you meant 'terrifying, exciting, awful, wonderful', and by 'old' you meant 'I would do it all over again if it meant more time with those idiots', then yes, they were the good ol' days.

Except one of those idiots was in front of her, eating her food and demanding sake from a passing waitress, when he should have been a good long way away by now, following his own path. Not one that she had haphazardly cut across half of Japan based on nothing but hope and luck.

That didn't change the fact that she was still glad to see him. She pulled her plate closer to her to stop him from taking the rest of her food, slapping his hand away.

"Mugen, what are you doing here?" she asked. The ex-pirate smirked.

"Got nothin' better to do," he said, one shoulder shrugging. "Thought I'd see how long it took to track you down. You know, you move pretty slow when you're by yourself." Fuu rolled her eyes.

"Well, now that I don't really have anywhere to go I'm not in such a hurry," she said, then polished off the rest of her fish cakes. Mugen's smirk grew wider, and he took a gulp of sake.

"But seriously, how did you find me?" she asked, genuinely curious. Mugen's grey eyes met her deep brown ones, and he shrugged with both shoulders this time.

"Took a shortcut to get on the road you were taking, then asked if any flat-chested girls wearing pink had wandered by," he said, gulping down another cup of sake. Fuu knew he was just trying to get a rise out of her – the smirking asshole – but she had to restrain herself from reaching over and smacking him upside the head. She rolled her eyes again instead.

"Haha, yes, very funny, we all know I'm flat as a board," she said, voice dripping sarcasm before sipping her tea. Mugen waggled an eyebrow before setting down his cup and sat back, putting his hands on the floor and turning his head to look at a group of rather buxom young woman a few tables away. His smirk morphed into a full on leer. Fuu sighed and thought, I guess some things will never change.

She looked down at her reflection in her cup of tea, and her eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Mugen."

"What?" She looked up at his sharp profile.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

Fuu threw her hands in the air in the universal gesture of exasperation.

"Dammit, Mugen, you know 'why what'!" she said. The leer left his face suddenly, leaving behind a carefully blank expression. He turned his head to face her, but his eyes fell on his sake cup.

"Like I said." He paused, filling up the cup with his preferred drink. His eyes met hers again, and something she saw made her throat tighten. "Got nothin' better to do," he finished, his tone soft and – maybe she was mistaken – a little sad?

Oh. So. He had missed her.

Fuu blinked, and the moment passed. She noticed a light flush in his cheeks, probably from the sake. When had he eaten last? Fuu's lips drew together in a line, and she made a decision.

Fuu flagged down a passing waitress.

"Three more orders of tsuke-age, please," she said, smiling at the girl. She looked over at Mugen when he snickered.

"Damn, girlie, I don't think I'll ever be able to forget your stomach is a bottomless pit," he said. She pointed her chopsticks at him and scowled.

"So's yours, you jerk," she said. "But I'm not eating all of it." The three plates were set down on the table just then, and Fuu pulled one towards herself, pushed one towards Mugen, and left the third in the middle.

"See? I get this one, you get that one, and we'll share the third one." She smiled brightly.

She'd only ever seen Mugen surprised when an enemy unexpectedly attacked them, and that was usually an enraged sort of surprise that led to loss of limbs. Knowing that there was no imminent threat to their lives made the expression on his normally fierce face hilarious to Fuu. She stifled a giggle behind her sleeve. Mugen blinked.

"Since when do you share food?" he asked, incredulous. He reached over and grabbed her cheeks, squishing them around and making her lips pout like a fish. "What have you done with the real Fuu?"

Fuu growled and shoved his hands away. Mugen fell back on to his cushion with a thump.

"A girl can't do something nice for her ex-bodyguard?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest and frowning. He dug in his ear with his pinky.

"Maybe normal girls do, but you're kind of a freak," he said, flicking away the earwax. Fuu's nose crinkled in disgust.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she said before digging into her food. Mugen picked up his chopsticks and followed her lead, shoving so much food in his mouth that he could hardly swallow.

They ate in silence – an unusual occurrence considering Jin wasn't there to keep the peace like he normally would. Soon all that was left was the plate between them, piled high with the fish cakes.

Fuu divided the remaining cakes between them, but, unfortunately, they'd been given an odd number of cakes. The solitary tsuke-age sat on the plate between them.

They looked at each other, smirked in unison, and chopsticks clashed. The struggle lasted only a few seconds before Fuu's free hand snatched the cake and popped it in her mouth. She chewed with satisfaction as Mugen scowled fiercely.

"You bitch! You fucking cheated!" His fist thumped the table, knocking over her empty tea cup. Fuu swallowed and grinned at him.

"Since when do you ever play fair?" she asked, one eyebrow raised in defiance. Mugen glared, then began to angrily eat his own tsuke-age.

Fuu was still smiling when she was done eating. She stretched her arms out in front of her, then leaned on the table on her elbows, hand cupping her chin. Mugen threw down his chopsticks and belched loudly, causing several heads to turn.

"I'm still hungry," he said. Fuu rolled her eyes. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"I'm not buying you anymore food," she said. Mugen's eyes narrowed. He leaned forward, rubbing his scruffy chin with a tan hand.

"You just reminded me of something, girlie," he said, grin forming on his lips. He pointed a finger at her chest. "Don't you owe me some dumplings? Now how many was it…" His lips pursed as he pretended to think. "Oh yeah! One hundred dumplings is what you owe me, sweet cheeks."

Fuu stiffened in annoyance at the smug look on his face and frowned. She had completely forgotten about her deal with him, made so long ago in the heat of the moment. She'd honestly thought he'd forgotten about it, too.

"What makes you think I owe you anything?" she asked without thinking. "After all the trouble you've caused me over the past year, and you were the one who was always spending all our money…"

Her voice faded when she saw Mugen's face cloud over, smirk replaced with a suddenly darker look. The change surprised Fuu. He looked…hurt.

Fuu swallowed thickly, realizing she'd just blurted out something incredibly stupid. Of course she owed him. She owed him a lot. Her life, in fact, several times over, and it was wrong of her to dismiss what he'd done for her like it didn't matter. She looked down, ashamed.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled quickly. "I didn't mean it like that." She looked up at his face, which was once again carefully blank. His fist was clenched tightly on the table, though.

"If that's what you really think then I don't know why I fucking bothered to try and find you again." The hint of controlled anger in his voice worried Fuu more than any of his past angry outburts. He rose to his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets and trying to quell the hurt he felt deep in his chest.

Fuu's stomach sank with disappointment, and just a little bit of panic. He couldn't leave now! Not after such a short reunion, which wasn't really a reunion anyway since they hadn't been apart that long. If she let him go now…

The future stretched out in Fuu's mind like a tunnel, a succession of nights spent alone and lonely that she didn't how long would last, or if they would ever end.

She tried to keep the panic from her voice as she said, "Will you stay if I buy you the stupid dumplings?"

He peered down at her for a few moments, then sat down slowly. Fuu almost sighed in relief.

"I ain't leavin' til I get full payment," he said. Fuu nodded, the beginning of an idea taking shape in her head.

"Okay then," she said. She waved over a waitress.

"Five dumplings, please." The waitress looked surprised at how specific the order was.

"Only five?" she asked. Fuu nodded.

"Yes, just five, please," she said, smiling politely. The waitress nodded and went away to fetch the food. Mugen's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why the hell didya only ask for five?" he asked. Fuu directed her smile towards him.

"Because," she said, "that's all you're getting for now." Mugen's jagged eyebrow rose.

"For now?"

Fuu nodded, laced her fingers in front of her mouth and kept smiling as the dumplings were placed on the table. Mugen gave her another suspicious look before pulling the plate towards him and shoving the food in his mouth. Fuu caught the sleeve of the waitress before she left and asked for the bill. Mugen polished off the dumplings in almost no time flat, washing it down with some more sake. The waitress brought the bill, and Mugen watched Fuu pay for their food. She stood and brushed crumbs off her kimono.

"Come on," she said, turning to the door. "There's an extra futon in my room at the inn where I'm staying, you can sleep there tonight." Mugen rose, adjusted the sword on his back, and followed Fuu out of the teahouse.

The sun had set behind the trees, and the night was cooler than the inside of the teahouse. Fuu led him past several shops, closed for the night, and towards a larger building down the road that had a few lamps lit on the inside. Mugen raised his arms and put his hands behind his head as he ambled along behind her in the moonlight.

He was still a little rankled by what she'd said earlier. The dumplings had made up for it a little, but some of the anger was still there. Adding to the fact that he'd only gotten five dumplings out of the promised one hundred, he was still pretty pissed.

"So when are you gonna give me the rest of my dumplings, bitch?" he asked.

She suddenly stopped and turned. Mugen stumbled to a halt so he didn't run into her, bringing his arms down to his sides. There was only a few inches between them, and Fuu tilted her head back to look up at him. He could almost feel the heat coming from her in the cool night air, they were standing so close. He frowned down at her upturned face.

"What the hell are you smilin' about?" he demanded. She looked away, her smile fading just a bit.

"I really am sorry," she said, "for what I said earlier." She bit her lip. "I know how much I owe you Mugen, I'm not stupid." She looked up at him when he snorted. She poked him the chest hard.

"Don't be a jerk! I'm trying to give you a sincere apology!" Mugen pulled her finger away before she could poke him again, looking down at her with mild amusement.

"You can cut the apology shit, girlie," he said, "I wasn't even that mad, anyway."

And, miraculously, he wasn't mad anymore. He was back to being mostly amused by how flustered Fuu could get after he got a rise out of her. She blinked, the annoyance that she usually had whenever she was around Mugen sliding off her like water on a duck.

"Oh," she said, "alright, then." The bright smile returned to her face, and the tense moment passed. "And you'll get the rest of your dumplings, don't worry." She patted his chest, then let her hand rest there for a second longer than was probably appropriate before pulling away.

Mugen felt the heat of her hand on his chest, and was a little disappointed when she took it away. Her actions and his own reactions were confusing him. They were skirting around unfamiliar territory, and it was thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

"Well, if I'm not gonna get them soon I'll just stick around until I get all a hundred of 'em," he declared. There was a twinkle in Fuu's eyes as he said it, but it was gone just as quickly.

"If you're gonna stick around you're gonna have to pull your weight, you know," she said matter-of-factly. "I can't pay for everything now that I've got you to worry about."

Mugen snorted. "Don't you worry your little head, we'll be rolling in cash once I train another beetle for wrestling matches." He brought a fist up, smiling triumphantly at the memory of Rodriguez. Fuu rolled her eyes.

They turned as one to head toward the inn. Fuu laced her arm through Mugen's and lightly gripped his bicep. Mugen let his arm hang limp, but didn't pull away.

5/100