AN: I would like to send a shout-out to Buffalocatz! They had mentioned in an awesome review wanting to know how Jin found out about Fuu's pregnancy and I just HAD to add it. I wasn't going to initially, but now it fits right in. Thank You Buffalocatz!

When they were finally safe in their room, Fuu went to change into one of the sleeping robes that Mugen had bought her, tossing that scarlet abomination aside.

She began to take down her hair, and he snatched the offending kimono off the floor and used his sword to hack it into pieces.

She turned to watch him soundlessly, arching a brow in question.

"I don't ever want to see you in this," He held up the tattered robe, "again! I got you that new stuff for a reason."

She regarded him thoughtfully.

He just tore up the remaining shreds with his bare hands, growling viciously, then threw them on the floor. He glared at her. "You better not try to fuckin sew that shit back together or somethin!" He stomped his foot to prove his point, knowing it was childish but not caring.

Fuu laughed at his serious tone. "It's not like I want to wear that. I just couldn't bear the thought of wearing something that would remind me of you if I was going to go back to that place. It'd hurt too much, you know?" She suddenly sniffled, wiping her eyes with her hand. "I'm so glad you came for me though. I haven't been happy since we split up."

Mugen wasn't sure if she meant saving her from the whorehouse or going after her in the alley, but it didn't matter.

She resumed taking down her hair, and he watched, fascinated, as it fell to her shoulders in waves and glittering strands.

Seeing his expression in the mirror, she blushed again. Once her hair was taken care of, she crawled over to the futon and pulled the covers up to her chin. Mugen watched her as he resumed his place on the floor.

She sat up to blow out the candle, sending the room into darkness. He could see her well enough by the moonlight and he watched her settle back into the bed. Then he leaned against the hard wall and closed his eyes.

"Mugen?"

He opened one eye to peer at her form. "Yeah?"

"Do you wanna sleep with me?"

"Yeah, but my nuts are too sore for that."

"Mugen!" She giggled and raised her head up to shake it at him. "I didn't mean it that way! I meant, this futon is big enough for two people, so why don't you come share it with me?" She laughed again. "Pervert."

He had never slept with anyone without actually 'sleeping with them' before. He was kinda nervous. What if he strangled her while he was sleeping? "I'm a violent sleeper. What if I attack ya or somethin in my sleep?"

Confusion filled her face. "What do you mean? I've seen you sleep before. You just sprawl on the ground and don't move till morning." She patted the space beside her. "Stop making excuses and get over her before your butt freezes off."

He hesitated for a minute then he got to his feet and loped over to the bed, trying to hide his anxiety with indifference. "Your not gonna roll over and crush me during the night, right?"

She snorted and turned on her side away from him.

He kicked off his geta and then peeled back the covers slowly. Trying not to disturb her, he crawled under the sheets and lay on his back, hands behind his head. He was trying very hard not to touch her, but it was in vain, since she suddenly turned back towards him and cuddled up into his side. She rested her head on his shoulder and draped her arm across his chest.

He felt his heart pounding and he hoped that she couldn't hear it.

"Are you tired?"

He grunted in reply.

"Wanna talk or something?"

He grunted again.

"What do you want to talk about?"

He was about to grunt again, but she poked him in the chest warningly. "If you make that noise again, then I will tell you about my time in the brothel. I'll tell you about those men."

He shuddered, and shook his head.

"Alright then. What do you want to talk about then?"

He thought for a moment, scratching his chin. "I got somethin to talk about."

"What?"

"Why doncha tell me about when you told Jin about the kid and all that." He kept his tone level, but he was very nearly dying to hear what had happened.

She didn't answer him.

"Well? You're the one who wanted to talk. So get on with it already."

Sighing, she propped her head up on her elbow and peered at him sadly.

"You really want to hear about that?"

"Why not?"

"Okay."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

8 ½ months and ONE DAY earlier

Mugen was down by the ocean, swimming around and practicing with his new sword.

Fuu was sitting on the cliff watching him below her. She sighed sadly and rubbed her abdomen. They had all been recuperating at her father's hut for about two weeks and tomorrow they were going to leave. She would be leaving them behind. Unless...

"Fuu."

She jumped at the smooth voice. She turned to see Jin standing behind her and she smiled at him. "Hi Jin! What's up?" She winced at the forced cheerfulness in her voice. He stared evenly at her.

"May I join you?"

"Oh! Of course!" She patted the ground beside her and smiled up at him again. He sat down gracefully next to her and she was relieved to see that he showed no pain in his movements.

For several minutes he said nothing and she began to get fidgety. She turned her eyes back down towards the beach and her gaze landed on Mugen, who was currently doing acrobatics along the water's edge. She felt a her heart clench painfully when he tripped and landed on his ass. He jumped up and kicked at the sand, as if it was it's fault for him falling down.

"I'm sorry that neither me nor Mugen were able to reach you in time Fuu."

She tore her gaze from the dark-skinned pirate below her and turned to look at Jin in confusion. "What do you mean?" She smiled uncertainly.

"To stop Umanosuke from raping you."

Her smile faltered. "W-What?" She shifted away from him uncomfortably. She was going to deny it, but she met his gaze and saw the unshakable wisdom in his sad eyes. She was struck by the unnatural beauty of him without his glasses. His hair was still unbound. She had to look away. "How did you know?" She asked quietly.

"You have been walking different. Also, I touched your arm a week ago and you jumped like I had burned you." He faced the sea as he spoke. "Since I know that you think no ill thoughts of me, it can only be assumed that some trauma occurred beyond just physical punishment."

He paused then closed his eyes. "I regret everyday that we were not there to prevent such a thing from happening."

"It's okay Jin." She placed her hand on top of his. "I wasn't even aware of it at the time. He had knocked me out. I only realized after it happened. Don't worry about me."

"I only worry about your unborn child."

Fuu gasped audibly. She felt her cheeks burn with shame as she forced herself to face the sea. She couldn't look at him even though she felt his piercing gaze.

"I'm not pregnant." She laughed forcibly trying to sound casual.

"Your monthly flow has not come yet, and you keep holding your stomach. This indicates that you know you are with child." She burned with embarrassment, not even questioning how he knew when she bled. He was very perceptive and they had been traveling together for a long time.

Fuu was shaking, trying to hold back the tears. It was all true and she felt so ashamed. Had she really been so obvious? Did Mugen know? She glanced down to the beach again but Mugen was nowhere to be seen.

"Fuu." Jin shifted so he was right next to her and he pulled her to him. He fit her head against his neck and gently stroked her back. His kind movements broke down her last defenses and she let out the tears she'd been holding in. He soothed her and rocked her as she sobbed against him, the cries shaking her whole body.

When the tears finally slowed, he continued to hold her. It felt so natural to her, having his arms around her. Like...Family.

"If you want Fuu, I will stay with you. I will help you raise the child."

She pushed herself back from him enough to peer at his face. He was completely serious. "Are...Are you saying you'll marry me? What about Shino?"

"I love Shino still. I would have waited for her. But you are my friend. My best friend. I love you too and I cannot bear the thought of you undertaking this task by yourself. I also do not want you to endure the shame of having a child out of marriage. So, if you request it of me, I will stay by your side." He said all this as if he was conversing about the weather, yet Fuu knew he meant all of it.

She felt confused, and unsure, and...and...comfortable. She relaxed against him too, wrapping her arms around his thin frame. "Thank you Jin."

"So you accept." He said this without infliction. Neither happy nor sad.

"What? No!" Drawing back to look at him, she smiled and shook her head. "Oh Jin, no. I'm just thanking you for being such a wonderful friend. I love you too. But I can't marry you knowing you are in love with another person." She sighed and sat back on her legs, unwrapping her arms from around his torso. Turning back towards the sea, she jumped when Jin spoke again.

"I suppose I could not be with someone who loved another either."

Fuu blinked at him with wide eyes. "Wha..What do you mean?"

"You're in love with Mugen. Do not deny it."

A small nervous laugh escaped her and she sighed yet again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "So what if I am? It doesn't matter anyway. He doesn't love me back."

Jin lifted a pale hand and let it rest on her shoulder comfortingly. "I will not pretend to understand Mugen. It would make my head hurt. But he obviously cares about you. Why else would he have stayed with us all this time?"

Tears started to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "I know he cares about me. But he cares about you too. We're all friends. He never shows me anything but half-hearted affection. And even that's stretching it for him."

She stood and peered down to the pale ronin besides her, a weary expression on her face. "He probably sees me as a sister or something. Besides, I don't think Mugen would accept my love if I gave it to him anyways. He's too much of a rogue. I'd be holding him down. He doesn't want that."

She took a step back from him and started for the hut, when Jin's soft words stopped her. "How will you know unless you tell him?" She glanced back at him and he was still facing the sea.

"Truthfully Fuu, Mugen isn't the wisest when it comes to matters of the heart. I think he just assumes that he doesn't deserve love." He gracefully curved towards her, not meeting her eyes. "The offer still stands. I can stay with you until I go to get Shino. Then you are welcome to stay with us."

Fuu gave him a little smile as she walked over to him. "I need to deal with this on my own Jin. I just want you to know that everything you've said to me has been so wonderful and I will miss you...so so much!" She let out a small sob then leaned down and pressed her lips to his before he could respond.

The kiss was gentle and soft. Just like him. It wasn't a kiss of passion, or of lovers. It was just an affectionate meeting of the lips. A chaste goodbye.

Fuu rose up and walked away to the hut without another word. Jin watched her go.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Well...that's it." She finished hesitantly. "The next day we split up."

Mugen didn't say anything for a long time. Eventually she must have thought he had fallen asleep and she snuggled closer to him in an attempt to do the same. His voice startled her when he finally spoke.

"I saw you together that day. I thought you two were screwing around behind my back or somethin." He tightened his hold on her and pulled her atop his chest. She sprawled on top of him, and she let her head rest over his heartbeat. It was strong and loud, just like him and he felt his pulse beat a little faster when she curled her fingers around his neck.

"I left the beach and saw you two on the cliff. I snuck over to the rocks and watched you. I couldn't hear you or anything, but I saw him hold you. Then I saw you kiss him." He clenched his jaw at the memory. "I thought you were talking about staying together and then the next day, you two split up anyway."

He rolled onto his side and nestled her against him as he buried his face in her hair. "Jin was right, the damn bastard. I wouldn't have wanted you then." He knew it was mean, and he felt her try to push him away from him as he said it.

"Wait. I wouldn't have wanted you then, because I didn't know what I wanted." He crushed her in his grip. "I didn't know I wanted you till I had to walk away from you. But dammit! I tried to go to you and you fucking ran away!"

Fuu seemed to go limp. "That was real? I thought I imagined it! I saw you standing there looking at Jin, then you looked at me and I just watched you watch me. I was so hopeful that you'd come after me, that when I saw you step towards me, I thought I imagined it!" She shook as fresh tears filled her eyes. "I got so scared that I started to run away before quite knowing what I was doing." Mugen wiped away the tears that had spilled down her cheeks. "For so long, I thought about that day. I convinced myself that I made up that part because I wanted it so bad."

They held each other in the dark for a long time, listening to the sounds of their hearts beating.

Just as he felt Fuu drifting off to sleep, he chuckled softly. "So Fuu, are you still in love with me?"

She groaned and smacked his chest playfully. "Go to sleep Mugen."

Even though he was teasing, that wasn't what he wanted to hear. Suddenly, desperately, he had to know. He tightened his arms around her and felt his heart pound. "No. Tell me. Are you?"

Fuu nuzzled against his chest and smiled drowsily. "Always." She didn't wait for a reply before finally drifting off to sleep.

Mugen lay awake for a long time after, not sure what he felt. Then he knew. "I guess I'm in love with you too." Then he let himself fall deeply asleep. It was the first time he's ever slept so peacefully.