Chapter 8

The villagers turned to look at them as they entered.

"Do they not take visitors very well?" she asked Jin.

"Not really." he answered.

He took the lead and guided them through the crowds.

'Everything is the same…' he thought and smiled.

Mugen and Jin commented on how they didn't think that this girl Jin was talking about lived in a place like this.

"What do you mean?" Jin asked.

"Well, you made her sound like a very rich person." Mugen said.

"She is." he answered.

Fuu looked around and said, "I don't see any expensive houses."

"She doesn't live in an expensive house. Did you forget that part of my tale?" he asked.

Both Fuu and Mugen started thinking hard.

"Wait, didn't you say she didn't live in the village?" Fuu asked.

"Yes, that is right."

"Oh, yeah, now I remember that. You also said that her house is covered in flowers and a stallion is always prancing around it. That is why I didn't think any of these houses were hers." Mugen said looking around.

Jin smiled and they continued there walk.

"Jin?" said a voice behind him. It was Toyo.

He turned around and looked at him. Toyo's face was filled with shock.

"I didn't think you would come back!" He said.

"I keep my promises." Jin said dryly. He still remembered there last meeting.

By the tone of Jin's voice, Toyo knew what his problem was.

"She's home." Toyo said to him with a smile.

They stared at each other and nodded; an unspoken agreement. At that Jin turned around and walked away, with Fuu and Mugen following.

"Was that that Toyo guy you said was such a jerk?" Fuu asked in a whisper.

"Well I didn't say jerk, but yes." Jin answered, 'He was a jerk.'

"How far is her house from here?" Mugen asked when they reached the end of the village.

Jin stared at the spot where he and Kumiko got on Sonne and said with a smile, "Just a mile or two."

Mugen nodded and they walked in silence, until the road got closer to the river.

"Where did she find you?" asked Fuu.

Jin looked at them both and said, "You both remember a lot of this story."

"Yeah, so?" said Mugen as he put his arms behind his head.

Jin smiled and pointed, "That is where she found me and that is where she found my swords."

"What?" asked both Fuu and Mugen.

"Did I not tell you that part of the story?"

"No you didn't." said Fuu, "Will you?"

"If you want to hear it."

Jin told the story of how Kumiko struggled to retrieve his swords from the river and ended up falling in. Both Fuu and Mugen were laughing hard by the end of it. They ended up leaning on each other and walking at the same time.

'Now I didn't think it was that amusing.' Jin thought with a smile.

Before they knew it there were at the end of the road and a house was near. The house was covered in flowers and a chestnut stallion was walking through the trees. When Sonne caught sight of Jin he neighed loudly and pranced over.

'You just can't walk can you?' he asked the horse in his mind, 'Kumiko was right; you do know that you are beautiful.'

Curious about the neigh that her horse just made, Kumiko poked her head from around the corner and thought she was dreaming.

'It just can't be him…' she thought in amazement.

She set down the bucket that she was going to feed Sonne with and took a few hesitant steps forward.

She looked closer and saw the same clothes as her Jin wore. Blue kimono, two swords, glasses; it had to be him!

Jin looked around and saw a bewildered Kawazoe Kumiko standing beside her house. He stopped stroking Sonne and walked towards her, but soon picked up a run. She too, was running towards him. Happy tears were streaking down her face as they locked into an embrace. Jin bent his head down and kissed her. It was totally different from the one when they first departed. This one is so much better. When they separated they laughed and hugged each other again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mugen and Fuu talking to each other with their backs turned and stroking Sonne, acting as if they didn't just see what happened.

Kumiko looked up at him and smiled, then said:

"You came home."

Author's Note

I lied, this is the last author's note. Yeah. Hope you liked the story. It took me awhile to read through it and split it up. haha Thanks.

HimmelsDraculina