He barged into the room with a tray of food in his hands. It was all of Fuu's favorites. Considering Fuu didn't really dislike anything, the tray was very heavy. He placed it on the floor.

Fuu didn't move from the bed.

"Come eat." He commanded roughly.

She slowly stood up then came to sit in front of the tray. He handed her a bowl of soup and dumplings and a pair of chopsticks. Mugen felt something inside him break when he watched her eat.

She delicately ate her dumplings, slowly sipping the soup and being very un-Fuu-ish. He remembered how she used to stuff food into her face as if there was no tomorrow. Now she ate as if the food was tasteless and she only needed it to keep from dying. She took no joy in it.

She finished and set her bowl down, waiting with folded hands and her head down. 'What, does she want me to dismiss her or something?' "You waiting for somethin?"

"May I be excused, Mugen-san?"

This was the final straw. Mugen roared and shoved the tray of food across the room. Leaping to his feet, he tossed his bowl into the wall, causing it to shatter. To his satisfaction, Fuu looked up at him in confusion.

"Don't you EVER call me that shit!" He felt the anger leave his body and he slumped back down to his knees and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her small body to his own.

"It's just Mugen. And you're Fuu. Like it's always been."

He heard her gasping and realized he was holding her too tightly. Relaxing his grip only slightly, she panted as air rushed into her lungs again.

He just held her for a while, then crossing his legs beneath him, he settled her onto his lap, never letting go of her. Mugen sighed contentedly as her hand came up to rest on his chest. He dipped his head into the crook of her neck and placed his lips against her skin. When she didn't protest, he ran his tongue gently against her neck. He stopped at her jaw, and nibbled at the tender flesh.

She started to tremble.

He felt his heart pound painfully fast and bent her head to capture her lips with his own. He didn't push the kiss, just let his mouth carefully mold against hers. Fuu seemed to relax against him, and he ran his tongue across her closed lips.

She jerked her head away then. "No."

Mugen stared at her blankly for a minute.

"No!" She wailed again and started to struggle against his arms. "Please!"

He refused to release her, but then she turned her face back to him and her eyes...

'Oh gods, her eyes!' She had a tortured look in her eyes and she started to cry. "Mugen! Please."

When she said his name like that, so full of pain and pleading, he let her go.

She scrambled to the other end of the room, gasping for breath and sobbing pitifully. "Oh gods! WHY!" she whirled to him, and he saw she was furious.

He had achieved his goal of dragging her out of the darkness, but he wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"Goddammit Mugen! I was fine before you had to show up! Why couldn't you just let me be?" She fell to her knees and began to rip out her hair, wailing like a wounded animal.

"Hey! Stop that!" he scurried over to her and grabbed her wrists, stilling her hands. "Stop that." He squeezed her wrists brutally, causing her to cry out and release her hair. Taking hold of her arms in one of his hands, her used the other to pull her back against him. She sobbed into his chest, trying frantically to release her wrists. He let her go and she started to pound on his chest. He let her take out her anger on him. It was better than the nothingness she had before. "I'm going to make you tell me whats wrong eventually, so you might as well do it now."

"No."

He grinned. The fight was finally coming back. His Fuu was finally coming back. "My Fuu..." He stroked her back. "Just tell me. I'll make it better."

She stilled at his words, confused by his concern but too tired to question it. He felt her give up, and waited as patiently as he could for her to start.

Which wasn't long.

"Well, come on! Spit it out already!" She chuckled lightly, surprising him.

"Mugen, you haven't changed."

"But you have. Don't avoid my question. Tell me why you're so..." he wiggled his hand out in front of him to indicate what she was being.

She sighed deeply. Resignedly. "Umanosuke raped me."

His arms wrapped tightly around her."Who's that?" he growled.

"The day I left you to find the Sunflower Samurai on my own. He was guy with the eye patch and that scythe-thing."

He didn't say anything. Just hissed through his teeth as he remembered who she was talking about.

"He found me in the sunflower field and raped me in the abandoned church."

"That...bastard." Mugen growled between bared teeth. "That...FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL KILL HIM!" He quickly got to his feet, dragging Fuu with him as he paced around the room, looking for something, anything, to kill.

"Mugen."

He stopped and looked down at her face. She met his eyes sadly. "You already killed him."

"That's right." He suddenly remembered with vicious glee. "I tore his fucking head off!"

She shushed him and he carried her over to the bed, where he sat back down and settled her once again in his lap. "I wasn't conscious during 'it' anyway. He knocked me out."

He whipped his head up. "Maybe he didn't actually..."

Fuu shook her head slowly. "No, he did. When I woke up I hurt 'down there'...and...there was blood too." She shuddered. "Besides...he hinted about it." She paused. "He told me I was a good fit...for him." She stopped and lapsed into silence.

Mugen was shaking so violently that his teeth were chattering. He saw red and was so close to losing control, that he had to push Fuu off his lap, lest he accidentally hurt her. She flopped onto the bed and he saw the quick look of rejection in her eyes before she turned away. He swore, realizing his mistake.

"No, no, Fuu. I not upset at you. I'm just so pissed off at-" he stopped. "At myself."

Fuu flinched when he said this. "You didn't rape me. Umanosuke-"

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!" Mugen picked up his sword from the floor and slashed down into the small table that stood near the door. It split in two. "I coulda stopped him! If I had gotten there quicker-!"

"Mugen!"

He glanced over to her.

She was standing now, hands fisted at her side. She looked like the old Fuu right after he would tell her she was flat-chested. She took a small step towards him. "Don't you dare-" Another step. "blame yourself for him." She spat on the ground. "If you do, then I am equally at fault." He started to protest, but Fuu held up her hand, shushing him. "I am the one who started that journey. I am the one who chose you and Jin as my traveling companions. I chose to leave you and go to the island by myself." She seemed to lose her nerve, and slumped back onto the bed, that vacant look creeping back into her eyes. "Besides...that's not the worst part."

Mugen froze, facing the bed, afraid to go closer to her.

"When we split up after that...I was pregnant."

Mugen groaned unhappily. "You have a kid somewhere?"

She laughed coldly. "Mugen we've only been apart for nine months-"

"Eight and a half." he interrupted.

"Yes, so don't you think I'd still be pregnant if...if I had kept it...?"

Mugen scratched his head. "Whaddya mean? How did you you lose it?"

Fuu looked up at him and reached out her hand, beckoning him to come closer. He quickly complied and crossed to her. He crouched by the bed and she gently took his hand, pulling it to her stomach.

"I'll show you." She undid the sash around her waist and slowly opened her kimono, not ashamed after he had seen her the night before.

He couldn't help the excited feeling that formed in the pit of his stomach at the sight of her smooth skin. She took his hand and guided it to her flat stomach and he instinctively caressed her.

"No." She moved his hand to right below her belly button. "Here. Feel."

He held her gaze as his fingers slowly grazed across her skin. Then he felt it. A jagged vertical scar about two inches long. He glanced down and saw the harsh pink line on her otherwise perfect skin. He met her eyes and furrowed his brow, his expression questioning.

She smiled eerily and then leaned down close to his ear to whisper, "When I found out I was pregnant with his spawn, I took a dagger and I sliced that abomination out of me."

Then she began to laugh. And she couldn't stop.