Enjoying it so far? I hope so. I put a lot of work into this when I first made it.

Chapter 2

"It's warm! Wasn't I cold not long ago? Why does it feel like I stopped moving? I know I was going down a river and now everything around me feels soft…Did I…die? No, if I was dead, then my chest wouldn't hurt this much!" He let out a gasp of pain and heard a scrambling beside him. He kept his eyes closed tightly, but relaxed a little when he felt a cold cloth being brought across his damp brow. Another spasm of pain went through him. He let his eyes flutter open a bit. Though they were unfocused he could make out an image of a person with long, strange colored, hair leaning over him. Sunshine hair and sky blue eyes were the only things he saw before he pasted out again.

"Well he is alive." Kumiko said when she saw the man's eyes close.

She looked out the window to see Lady Sun peeking out from behind the horizon.

"You are far to happy looking, Sun-san at this time of crisis." She said as she stared out the window.

"Ugh, I really need to get a life! I'm talking to the sun!" she thought to herself.

She looked at the man again and let a breath out slowly. At that she got up and prepared Sonne's morning meal. This time she snatched an apple from a bowl on the table to put on top of the grain. She went to the back of the house again to find him not there. She pursed her lips and let out a pleasant sounding tune. From the forest she heard a soft neigh and the sound of hooves. Sonne came cantering slowly out of the trees to greet her.

"You always come back to me every time you leave." She said as she put the bucket down and stroked her beloved stallion's chestnut coat.

He crunched on the apple and then lifted his head to nudge her shoulder as if saying, 'thank you'.

Kumiko smiled and said, "Your welcome."

At that Sonne bent his head down again to the bucket. With a grin she went back into her house and started her own breakfast. She made a small plate of assorted fruits and berries and made her way back into the bedroom where the man was.

She watched him intently, capturing every slight movement he made. She started nibbling on a cherry when he made a sound. She stared, dropped it back on the plate, and got onto her hands and knees so she can stare down at him. He made another sound and his eyes started to squeeze tightly again. Kumiko bent down closer and stared harder.

"Is he going to wake up?" she accidentally said aloud.

He stirred and his eyes fluttered open as they did before. He shut them and shook his head slightly and opened them again. He stared up at Kumiko and his mouth opened as if he was trying to talk.

"Don't talk. I don't want you getting any tired than you already are. Do you think you could drink some water?" Kumiko said to him.

The man nodded his head slightly and continued to stare at her with half opened eyes.

"Ok, don't move. I'll be right back." And at that she ran to the kitchen.

"Did this girl save me?" the man thought, "Of course she did. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

He watched the entrance to the room as he waited patiently for her to return.

"Was her hair really that color or did I imagine that?"

As soon as he thought that, she returned with a cup of water.

"Alright, I don't want you to sit up just yet, so I'm going to hold your head."

She put her hand behind his head and lifted gently. She brought his lips to the rim of the cup and slowly tilted it, so that the water wouldn't spill and choke him. His eyes did not leave her face as he drank.

"She looks Japanese, but her hair and eyes and facial structure seem so different." He thought with wonder, "What is she?"

She smiled down at him as she drew the cup away from his lips and said, "I'm Kawazoe Kumiko. I found you floating down the river. I have a lot of questions for you and I'm sure you have a lot for me, but I think we should wait until you are in less pain and are more rested for answers."

'I am hurting. I didn't even notice for a while.' The man thought with a cringe.

He watched as she slowly undid her wrappings that he suspected she put on him and revealed a cut.

"I remember." He thought, "I was fighting a group of samurais and I was cut. I fell backwards into the river and they left me for dead."

Anger surged through him and he clutched his fist, but stopped once he felt a throb of pain.

"Whatever you are thinking stop it!" the girl called Kumiko said to him in a firm tone. "You are hurt and I don't need you to get worked up over something."

The man took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He let himself relax as much as he could. To take his mind off of the samurais he watched her work her hands over his wounds. She was trying very hard not to cause him a lot of pain. Once done cleaning the wounds she started to bind them again. He tried to arch his back to help her fit her hands under him to make it easier for her, but was brought down again when the pain lifted.

"You knew better than to do that!" scolded the girl. "I don't want to fix these things up again you know! But if I have to, I guess it won't matter." She added quickly.

He gave her the slightest of smiles. He is sure that she doesn't even notice it.

"Jin." He whispered in the smallest of voices.

"Jin? Is that your name?"

He nodded slowly and fell asleep.

Kumiko smiled and said, "Well Jin, I will have you up and going soon enough!"

She finished the wrapping and went into the kitchen to make some soup for 'Jin' to eat.

"I think he will be fine with just some Miso soup." She thought as she searched through her different foods.

She made a fire and put a pot over it. She added all the firm ingredients into the pot first like the diced potatoes. Kumiko would've added some steamer clams, but she didn't keep those around, because she hated fish or anything from the ocean.

'I hope he doesn't have an immense liking for meat. I don't keep it around that often.' She thought as she cooked.

Once the potatoes began to soften she took the pot from over the fire and added the rest of the ingredients, which included, thinly sliced onions, small bits of green beans, and sliced mushrooms. She mixed it all well and then added different types of spices for some more flavor.

"Hmmm, I might just join him with eating this, since it is almost lunch time anyway." She thought to herself as the smell of the soup finally got to her.

She scooped up some of the soup and put it in a bowl. She stood up and ventured to the room again. She was very surprised to find him awake on the bed, So surprised that she burned herself a little when a couple of drops of the steaming soup hit her.

"Ah! Ok. Well, I wasn't expecting to see you awake." She said as she knelt down to the bed and wiped away the burning soup on her hand. "Are you hungry? Do you think you can down this with out vomiting it back up?"

Jin couldn't help, but give a very, very small laugh, even though it pained him.

"She is such a strange girl." He thought. "The only other girl I know who would say that to me is Fuu!"

"Hey! Don't laugh! You know it's going to hurt!" She scolded as before. "Why are you laughing anyway? It's true! Now answer the question. Can you eat this?"

He gave another small smile and nodded. Jin started to get up slowly.

"Easy now, don't hurt yourself." She said as she helped him.

Now with his back to the wall, he found himself exhausted.

"I barely did anything and I'm tired! This is so embarrassing!" he thought angrily.

"Wow, I didn't think you could even sit up!" she said amazed.

He opened his eyes and stared at her. All shame from being tired leaving.

"Here you go. I'll feed it to you if you can't yourself." She said to him.

Determined to not be so dependable to anyone, Jin rose the bowl to his lips and drank some of the hot soup.

'I haven't had something this good in a very long time.' He thought.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

Jin nodded and gave her a smile this time that she could actually see.

She smiled back and said, "Well, I'm going to get myself some then and I'll top yours off when you are finished. You will probably still be hungry even after this."

Kumiko got up and left to the kitchen with Jin's eyes watching her every movement.

He lifted the bowl again to have some more. He chewed a little on the soft potatoes and green beans. Jin looked around the room that he was in. He failed to notice much of his surroundings because of his fascination with this Kumiko girl. He was surprised to see samurai swords decorating a section of the wall. They were marvelously crafted and were practically in perfect condition.

"Are those her…husband's?" Jin thought.

Kumiko entered the room again with her own bowl of Miso soup and three cups of what was probably tea.

"I didn't know whether or not you wanted tea or water, so I just brought a cup of each." She told him as if reading his mind. "Oh! And have medicine in them."

One of Jin's eyebrows rose as he stared at the two cups near him on the ground.

"Both of them have medicine in them, so there is no way you can escape it." She said as she rose her bowl to her lips.

"Mph." was the only sound he made and he looked away from the cups and drank some more soup.

"You are going to drink one of those cups, you do know that right?" she said to him blandly.

He stared back and finally sighed and nodded.

"Good." She replied to his silent answer.

He made eye contact with her and then shifted his eyes twice to behind her. After the second shift of eyes she turned around to see what he was looking at. Kumiko looked at him again when she heard him give a small grunt. He thrust his chin out towards the swords again.

"You want to know about the swords?" she asked.

Jin nodded.

"Well, they were my father's but he passed away a few years ago."

He regretted bringing it up and gave her a sorry look.

She smiled and said, "It doesn't matter."

Then it hit him!

"Where are my swords?" he thought and he turned his head to look around the room.

"What now?" she said following his gazes.

In a hoarse, but louder whisper than a few hours ago, he asked, "Where are my swords?"

"Your swords?" she repeated, "I didn't bring any back."

A sad look crept over Jin's face when he heard the news.

"I'm not saying that they might not be back where I found you." She said hoping that would cheer him up a little and it did.

His eyes had a bit of hope in them.

"I'll go look for them." Kumiko said with a smile.

She left the room.

"Is she leaving now? She doesn't have to go now! I don't really want her to leave just yet…" Jin thought.

She came back into the room with the pot of soup in one hand and two jars of tea and water. She set them next to his bed (or her bed if you want to get technical).

"I'll be right back. I won't be gone to long I don't think. I'm taking my horse." She said brightly.

"You…don't have to…now…" Jin said. When she left the room he drank one of the cups of tea, forgetting that they had medicine in them and it was starting to make him drowsy.

"I know I don't have to. I want to though." She replied, "I see the medicine is kicking in."

Jin nodded, but didn't want to go to sleep just yet.

"Well, like I said before, I won't be gone to long I don't think. Don't even try and move from that bed, Jin."

He looked up at her. That was the first time heard her use his name. He liked it.

"I'll be back." She repeated. And she left.

Jin heard a whistle come from somewhere and a horse's neigh. He looked out the window to see her and a chestnut colored horse. She mounted him without a saddle or a bridal.

'Is she insane?!' he thought with his eyes wide.

Apparently, she was, because she took off in a full gallop down a small path that ran along side a river.

'Who the hell was this girl?'