8 ½ months earlier

They are standing at the crossroads, facing in three different directions.

"Well, then." says Mugen.

"Let us meet again." says Jin.

They're dressed in similar but new clothing: Jin in a plain blue-grey gi with no heraldic mon design, Mugen in a red jacket tied across the chest, carrying a European-looking straight sword with a leather shoulder belt and scabbard.

Fuu smiles at them and makes a confession. "Hey guys, you remember that coin toss that began this journey, which was supposed to be heads-you-fight and tails-you-come-with-me?"

Mugen snorted. "Yeah, what about it?"

"It actually came up heads."

"What?" they blurt.

"That's all." says Fuu walking off. "Well, see you around."

"We were tricked." says Jin.

"What was this journey all about?" asks Mugen.

But they're both smiling.

They look after her a moment, then turn and walk their separate ways.

Mugen puts his hands behind his head and stares up at the sky as he lopes down the dirt road. 'Well...What now?' He couldn't help himself and he angled his head back to the road to see if Jin was still visible. He was not in sight. 'Well, that's no surprise. He doesn't have that brat slowing him down.'

He slowed to a stop and turned fully around. He shifted his gaze to the road that Fuu had taken. The sun was in his eyes and he squinted as he searched for her.

Bringing his hand up to his forehead to block the light, he finally saw her. She didn't seem to be walking anymore. He squinted more. 'What is she doing? It looks like she's...'

She was staring at him. He jolted as he met her stare. Well, because of the sun, it was hard to tell, but Mugen could feel her eyes on him. Neither of them moved for several minutes.

Then Mugen felt himself wanting to go back to her. He took a step towards her.

Fuu immediately turned away from him and started to run away on the road.

Mugen's instincts told him to chase her. But he stayed where he was.

'Fine, see if I care. I don't need ya anyway!' But he knew that was a lie as he slowly turned to continue down the road. Away from his companions. Away from Jin. Away...from her.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Mugen woke with a start. He would have the dream, well, the memory, every so often and it always hurt him when Fuu ran from him. He wouldn't admit to himself why.

Yawning loudly, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced over to the bed. Fuu wasn't there.

He jumped to his feet and was reaching for his sword, when the door quietly opened and in walked Fuu, still flushed from a bath. He tried to calm his racing heart.

"Where the hell were ya!" He demanded, not daring to go near her due to last night's outburst.

Last night...

'Oh gods. Last night..." It had been horrifying.

Fuu had told him that she had stabbed the child within her and killed it. Mugen cringed as he remembered.

Truthfully, he wasn't bothered by the killing. He had killed enough innocent lives in his life to not judge when anyone else did it, but the thought of Fuu doing something like that...to herselfmade him want to vomit.

He had been shocked when she started to laugh. She very nearly cackled and it had freaked Mugen out. He'd slapped her, thinking that she was having a psychotic fit and she'd gone silent.

But then she'd started to cry and Mugen thought that was much worse. She'd sobbed into the futon, her limbs splayed out and her cries so strong that it shook her body. He didn't know how to stop her and didn't want to hit her again.

So he just sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her back awkwardly. Comforting somebody wasn't exactly his specialty, but he wanted to try for Fuu. He whispered soft things near her ear and stroked her as gently as he could. Eventually she fell asleep. When he felt her relax, he left the bed and paced over to the wall. He had sat down with his legs crossed and watched her sleep for the second night in a row. Fuu had tossed and turned all night.

Now, here she was standing in front of him, cheeks pinkened by the bath, hair still damp, and a soft smile on her face. Like last night she hadn'thad a complete break-down. He couldn't understand her.

The smile faltered as she answered his demand.

"Duh, I was at the bath house! Idiot." She shook her head and walked over to the forgotten pile of clothes that Mugen had bought the previous morning. Silently, she riffled though the clothing, and Mugen held his breath as he waited to see if she liked any of it.

She picked up the pink kimono and let her fingers caress the fabric. His breath hitched when she smiled. "Thank you, Mugen." She stood and undid her bathing robe. Mugen watched as the cloth slowly fell to the floor, then he forced himself to look away.

She chuckled softly. "You've already seen everything. Why turn away now? It's not like my flesh is innocent anymore."

He didn't answer.

Another small laugh. "Stubborn."

He heard various sounds of clothing being adjusted. "There. All done. You can turn around now."

Mugen faced her once again and felt his chest tighten at the sight of her. She looked so much more...Fuu-like.

The new kimono was a darker pink than the old one and it didn't have flowers on it but it suited her more. Her dark hair was pulled back and pinned with chopsticks, with her bangs now falling freely to frame her face, like before.

All-in-all, she looked like herself. Only...more grown-up. Mugen let out a relieved sigh. He had worried that she was forever changed, but now he was happy to see that she wasn't so far gone.

Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could bring her back completely.

He cleared his throat as she stood calmly in front of him. He wasn't sure how to phrase his question, and he rubbed the back of his neck absently.

"So, uh...Do you want to...uh, you know...Tell me what happened, uh, after." He didn't elaborate, knowing she understood what he meant.

Fuu turned her head towards the window.

"It's such a lovely day Mugen. It's been so long since I've spent a day in the sun."

Mugen sighed and knew she wouldn't tell him anything more. At least not right now anyway.

He scowled at her. "Fine. Wanna go walk around or somethin?"

She beamed at him and he almost stumbled at her bright smile. He found himself grinning back.

"I'd like that very much." She linked her arm through his and fell into step beside him as he headed to the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Mugen was surprised. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was actually kinda having fun. He didn't really understand it. He and Fuu had just walked around the town, checking out shops and grabbing some food, all the while chatting about Jin, their travels, and other random things.

Now they walked side-by-side down the main road as the sun began to set, staining the buildings in a warm red glow.

Mugen even found himself letting her in on what he'd been up to since they parted.

"You mean, you really did earn that money in your bag?" She eyed him skeptically.

Normally he would have barked at her to shut up, but he found himself at a level of ease of which he's never felt before, and he just chuckled at her. "Samurai's honor, I swear."

"Your not a samurai, so that doesn't mean much."

"Pirates honor?"

She snorted loudly. "That's not much better, you know."

"Alright, how about just on my honor?"

She sighed and shook her head slightly. "Okay. I will believe your word of honor." She looked over at him. "Jeez, you didn't have to guilt-trip me."

"What can I say? I know you too well." He grinned at her, but it quickly faded when he saw her eyes

go blank.

"Fuu...?"

"People change, Mugen." She picked up her pace and started to walk away from him. "I'm tired. You go have some fun by yourself, I'm going to head back to the roo-" she was cut off when Mugen snatched her hand and jerked her to a stop.

"I'm not lettin you get away that easily." He squeezed her wrist, and she flinched, but she didn't fight back.

He looked around and spotted a hilltop on the outside edge of town that was facing the sunset. 'Perfect.' He started walking towards it and dragged her along with him. Fuu didn't object and tried her best to keep up.

After a few silent moments he managed to force her up the hillside and the he pushed her down to the ground. She collapsed none-too-gracefully and let out a soft "Oof." When he was sure she wouldn't try to get up, he plopped down next to her and crossed his legs.

"Alright now. I've given you your 'day in the sun' or whatever the hell you wanna call it, now you owe me something." He lay back on the grass and propped his head up on his hands, silently watching the sunset.

Fuu was silent for a moment. "Alright. What exactly do you want...?"

Mugen swore softly. He hated how she said that. Like she expected him to screw her or something. She should know he'd never do that. It pissed him off and he snapped at her. "Quit playing the damn victim, alright!" he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "A lot of people have had a lot worse things happen to em!"

She blinked at him, eyes wide with shock.

"So just quit yer bitchin and complainin and tell me what happened next!" He wouldn't meet her eyes, so she just sat back and watched the sun go down.

After a few tense minutes of silence, she took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay." She looked at him again. "I'm sorry, Mugen."

He was surprised that she was apologizing to him. He hadn't really meant what he said to her. Truthfully, he was sure that if he hadn't had the kind of upbringing that he had, and if he were an "innocent" like Fuu, he probably wouldn't have been able to handle what she had gone through.

"Well...I almost died that night. I was pretty stupid because I did it out in the middle of a forest. Although, at the time, I was intending to die, so I guess it wasn't that dumb." Mugen just stared at her, a scowl on his face. She sighed at his silence. "How is it that you can make me feel guilty for attempting to take my own life without even saying anything?"

He was actually about to answer her, when she held up her hand and quirked an eyebrow at him. "That was a hypothetical question." He blinked. "That means I wasn't actually expecting an answer from you. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I was bleeding pretty heavily after I stabbed myself and the pain in my abdomen was incredible."

A dark laugh escaped her and she reclined back on the grass like Mugen, hands behind her head. "I finally understood what you and Jin had to go through pretty much everyday. I don't know how you always seemed like it was nothing. Neither of you would even flinch. But at least Jin let me tend to his wounds." She shot him a dirty glare. "You had to fight me tooth-and-nail the whole time."

"I just didn't want you to touch me." He didn't elaborate why he didn't want her to touch him. Sometimes her feather-light fingers caused him to become unpleasantly...excited. And screw that if he let four-eyes see him get a hard-on from just touching. Like some virgin who's never been with a girl before.

Fuu looked to him with outrage and hurt plain upon her face. "Don't be vague or anything. Just tell me how you really feel." She spat sarcastically.

He didn't respond.

She lay back on the grass. "Whatever. Anyway, I guess it wasn't my time to die because a priest who just so happened to be out traveling heard me crying from the road and came to see what had happened. The last thing I remember was his face above mine and then he picked me up and I blacked out. When I woke, I was in a temple and my stomach had been bandaged."

Mugen heard her voice grow steadily more shaky and he wondered how much longer she'd be able to talk. She seemed to realize the same thing and took several minutes to watch the last sliver of sunlight disappear over the horizon, taking several deep breaths.

As the stars began to come out, she started to talk again. "The priest who had found me was sitting by my bed and when he noticed that I was awake, he asked me if I remembered what had happened. I can say that I am quite proud because I was able to quickly think up a suitable story. I told him that I had been searching for my husband who had gone missing and I was mugged and beaten by a strange man."

Fuu paused and glanced over to Mugen with a sheepish look on her face. She bit her lip. "Uh..speaking of which...You might not want to go near Kitakyushu anytime soon. When he asked me to describe my attackers, I drew a blank and uh...kinda ended up describing you." She laughed nervously.

"What? Why? You think I need another bounty on my head?" His scowl deepened. "Dumb broad."

"Well I'm sorry! But I was nervous and your face was the only one I could think of at the time!"

"Oh, I'm flattered that you think about me when asked to described bandits and rapists! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!"

At this point they were both shouting at each other and neither of them realized that they had both risen up on their elbows and their faces were inches from each other. But Fuu suddenly saw how close his face was and blushed brightly.

Mugen noticed this and was surprised enough to calm down and move back onto his back, eyes staring intently at the stars. He had to fight to hide the grin from creeping onto his face. 'So Fuu can still blush. Hmmm...I guess she's not as dead inside as I thought.'

Fuu blinked as she tried to grasp that Mugen had just backed down from a fight with her. He saw her surprise and laughed sharply. "Come on girly. I'm waitin."

She seemed dazed. "What? Oh...OH! Um...well, uh, the priest had just asked me what the attacker looked like, and uh...I told him, and then...He told me that I had lost my child." She snorted and grabbed fistfuls of grass, tearing them up and tossing them into a little pile. "I cried then. But not because of what he said. The way he was looking at me was so sad, like he cared and was concerned for me. I felt like dirt because his kindness was undeserved. I was unworthy of such kindness...I was unclean. I'm going to Hell for what happened."

Fuu actually started to sob at this point, the memory too painful. It wasn't as powerful as the night before but Mugen once again felt himself drawing her nearer and stroking her back. She leaned into his side and rested her face into the crook of his neck, tears swiftly running down her face.

"Well, hey then. I'm going to Hell too, so I guess we'll see each other there." He kept his tone light, and was rewarded by a soft sighing laugh.

"Besides, Fuu. Are you trying to tell me you blame yourself for Uman-for what that creep did to you?"

She had shuddered when he started to say his name, and he was glad he had caught himself. She sniffled and shook her head sadly. "No Mugen. I blame him. But Iwas the one who took the life of his child. I realize now that regardless of the father, I should have kept it, because it was also part of me. I'm sure I could have eventually learned to accept it." But she didn't sound so certain.

He made a dismissive noise and draped his arm over her thin shoulders, allowing her to rest against him more comfortably. "Come on Fuu. I'm not saying what you did was right or wrong, but I have a hard time believing that you would have been able to live your life when everyday you'd have to look

at that thing and remember where it came from. Plus, you'd been raising it by yourself."

She stilled at his words. "Actually..."

He suddenly felt very tense, like he had just seen lightning and was waiting for the thunder. "What do you mean 'actually'?"

She lowered her voice to the softest whisper and he tilted his head to hear her. "...Jin offered to stay with me and help me raise it..."

For a full minute, nothing moved, then...

"WHAT!" He viciously shoved her away from him jumped up to his feet. He stared down at her like she had four heads. He screamed at her. "ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT NOT ONLY DID FUCKING FOUR-EYES KNOW ABOUT THIS BEFORE ME, BUT HE OFFERED TO MARRY YOU!"

Mugen had never been this angry before in his life. Not only had she insulted his pride by not telling him, but she once again went to Jinfor comfort. He was also deeply confused because he wasn't sure why he was reacting so strongly and that only angered him further.

He stormed away from her and stomped around the hill looking for something to hack at with his sword. There was nothing on the hill except for her, so he marched back up to her and she flinched when he crouched down in front of her, hand fisted in the grass. He had to fight not to strangle her.

Mugen punched the dirt and spoke to her through clenched teeth. "Why. Didn't. You. Tell. Me?" He attacked the grounds again and was satisfied to see her flinch again as she saw the blood on his knuckles.

"Am I not good enough? Huh? You get knocked up and the dirty pirate can't even know? But oh, dangle a fucking samurai in front of you and you'll just about wet yourself to get him. If I hadn't been fighting Jin that day we met, you would have never have asked me to go with you. But I bet you on my miserable life that one look at Jin and you'd have asked him. Probably wouldn't even wait to see if he could actually fight."

He brought his bloody hand up to her face and smeared some of it on her cheek, she cringed and he smiled cruelly. He brought his voice up a couple octaves and mimicked her. "Oh don't let the convict touch me! Please someone help! I can't stand to have his dirty blood on me! It might stain my pristine skin!"

He resumed his normal voice. "Your such a worthless bitch. I shoulda left you to rot in that whorehouse, which by the way, you still don't seem to care that I saved you from. So I gotta wonder." He grabbed her chin and jerked her face up to meet his eyes. "Maybe I shoulda just screwed ya, since you had so kindly offered. Maybe I would have gotten a 'Thank You' then if I had thrown your little ankles over my shoulders and showed you what you'd been missing."

He sat back on his heels, watching her face crumble and tears form fresh in her eyes. He didn't feel the satisfaction that he thought he would at seeing her pain at his words, though. He actually felt quite bad.

Everything he'd said had been to purposefully hurt her. He wanted to make her feel as horrible as he did when he found out that after all he'd done for her, all the times he's fought for her, rescued her, made her laugh, he still had not been good enough for her to tell him her secret.

But Jin had been good enough. It had made his blood boil and every proud male part of him feel

inferior, which he did not like. Not one bit.

Now though, as he slowly realized what he actually said, he felt guilty and unnaturally ashamed.

His scowl faded to be replaced by genuine regret and he opened his mouth to apologize to her when-

WHACK!

She slapped him so hard that his head whipped around and he felt the bones in his neck crack. Turning back to her he stared, eyes wide and mouth agape as he rubbed the now tender flesh of his cheek. Fuu still sat before him and her face was no longer sad, it was furious.

"How dare you!" She made a whisper sound deadly. "You-you scumbag!" She raised

her hand again and Mugen didn't try to stop her, knowing he deserved to be slapped. But she made a fist and before he could react, she punched him square in the nose. He actually fell backwards onto his rear and felt something warm and wet running down his chin.

Wiping his hand under his nose, he raised it up and was shocked to see fresh blood. 'She actually broke my nose!'

He was so stunned that he didn't see her get up and tower over him. "You DICK!" Then she kicked him in the groin and he yelped sharply as her heavy shoe connected with his soft flesh. As he rolled himself into the fetal position and whimpered softly, she glared down at him and shouted at him.

"You are the worst of the worst, Mugen! After I tell you that I didn't want to be saved, you take me anyway! And then I tell you I'll go back and you threaten me! You take me out for a nice day and make me remember how much fun we had in the old days then you pull the rug out from under me by saying all those cruel things!"

She kicked some dirt onto his shaking form. "And the worst thing of all is-" She brokenly sobbed. "You made me feel again! You make me want-" Another harsh cry tore through her. "You make me want YOU again!" She whirled from him and started to quickly stumble away, her vision clouded with tears.

She turned her head as she ran and shouted one last thing. "I never want to see you again! I'll kill myself if you come after me!" Mugen managed to open one eye and peer down the hill at her shrinking form as it disappeared from his sight.