I made the mistake of reading a few of those not too long ago for SamCham. I found a whole festering clump of them tucked away on some rotten site at about 1am one night and couldn't help myself. I felt dirty afterward - violated, so I decided to work on my fic some more. Make the world a little bit better.
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WARNING: SLOW CHAPTER AHEAD. AUTHOR NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR READERS FALLING ASLEEP AT THE KEYBOARD.
Sorry guys, but I can't have Mugen and Fuu do the fun stuff until there's a reason to that fits into the plot ;)
XXXXX Chapter 5 Thoughts and Dreams XXXXX
Mugen sat on an outcropping of rock overlooking the sea and the moon's shimmering reflection in it. It was almost like home, he thought. The salty sea wind was blowing up from the harbor, tangling itself in his dark hair. The sounds of the waves gently crashing onto the shore and the sea birds calling each other as they flew home almost soothed his tired body and mind.
Fuu had exhausted him both physically and mentally, all in one night. He closed his eyes and sighed, recapping the events that had led to him still being awake and out here right now. Why was she fighting what she obviously wanted to do? When he'd had her up against the tree, and they were tangled up in both body and emotion only hours earlier, she'd wanted him. Mugen could remember her heat and smell; how every cell of his body was practically reaching out to be with hers.
Mugen had been with many women in his short life, but very very few of them had ever radiated a need to be with him like Fuu had. And, never had the outcast samurai ever felt like he had that night with her. This girl did something to him. He hadn't decided for sure if he liked it yet, but if she didn't return whatever it was soon, Mugen was pretty sure that he would go insane.
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Fuu slept fitfully on her thin mattress, her mind plagued by haunting dreams. Over and over again, she watched helplessly as she killed the poor farmer. She didn't know why or how, but it was almost like her mind had vividly recorded every painful detail of the event and played it back like she was really there. Everything, right down to the sound of her mother's wailing and the way his blood had felt warm on her hand.
She sat up, half asleep, and resituated herself in hopes that it would sort of 'resituate' her mind too. As soon as her head touched the pillow she was thrown into a much different dream to her relief, but she didn't know if it was a better one.
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She felt strong arms around her waist - her naked waist. They were pleasantly smooth and warm to the touch, making her skin tingle. Fuu felt a kiss on her neck, followed by another, and another. After a few moments of the electrifying sensation, the kisses turned into gentle sucking, almost like tasting. With much effort, she opened her eyes in the dream to find herself in a dark and cozy room. She couldn't see who was behind her, but she didn't have to.
The arms around her - one hand resting lazily near her navel and the other just beginning to explore the soft contours of a milky-white breast - both were darkly tanned and clearly tattooed with familiar blue bands.
"Mugen . . ." she murmured, touching the resting hand at her waist, and catching the more naughty one just as her back was beginning to arch with the pleasure of its touch.
The feeling of his mouth at her neck vanished, leaving a vividly real feeling of coolness where it had been. "Fuu," he whispered in her ear huskily, making her shiver from something other than the cool feeling. "I'd die for you."
She was just about to turn around to face him and indulge herself in the realness of the dream, when he was suddenly gone.
The dark room had been replaced by a bright white place that felt almost like the outdoors. At first she felt as if she was alone, then she saw Mugen's body, clothed, laying on the ground. It was strange how he looked - how she looked, she realized, looking at her hand that had reached out to touch him. They looked hazy and out of focus, and there was no color in their skin or clothing. Everything was in black and white and scarce variations of gray.
'Mugen,' she mouthed, but no worlds came out. However, she could hear her voice in her mind. He didn't hear her; he didn't move. Soon, they weren't alone. All of a sudden, there were a dozen or more figures around them, hazy and colorless as well. They wore strange clothes, and she couldn't see their faces. 'Who are you?' she asked, waiting to feel fear, but the feeling never came. She was at peace somehow, but the figures didn't hear her.
Somehow, without hands and without moving, they picked up Mugen's lifeless body and proceeded to move away from her. She wanted to scream, but it was fruitless. In a last ditch effort, Fuu attempted to grab a hold of Mugen and pull him back to her, but he didn't budge from his place as he floated along in the morbid procession.
'MUGEN!' she cried, falling to her knees, helpless as they carried him away from her.
As they got further away, she could see their reflections, like they were walking on water. Then, she could only see the reflections, making it look like they were standing upside down. Then, they were all gone, and she was left crying mutely with only a few blurry birds to watch her suffer.
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"NO!" she cried, sitting up in bed, still reaching out desperately with her arms. Startled by the change of scenery and her own voice, she shuddered, bringing her arms back to her and pulling her knees up tight against her chest.
At first, she didn't know where she was, but the sight of Jin laying not too far from her near the fireplace reminded her of everything. He slept soundly, regardless of her cries. Before he'd gone to sleep, she'd given him a little bit of the drug the healer had given her for his back. Fuu thought about taking some of it herself for the night, but then realized how horrible it might be to not be able to wake up if the nightmare came back.
She shuddered, laying back down and pulling herself into an even tighter ball under the blanket. Fuu felt like she was going to be sick, but before she let the feeling overwhelm her, she remembered Mugen. He hadn't gotten home before she and Jin had gone to bed. Quickly, the blanket was thrown back again, and she scanned the room.
If she hadn't been looking for him, she wouldn't have seen him. He'd found a dark corner of the cabin, out of the reach of the moon's light. He was lying on his stomach on the wooden floor using one arm as a pillow, and the other was stretched out, clasping his sword that lay close by.
That was funny, she thought. Fuu had never seen him sleep holding his sword. Yes, he always slept with it close at hand, but never actually holding it. As her eyes adjusted, she could see why.
His head was turned so he was facing her, and eyes heavy with sleep were looking across the floor at her. She let a breath out that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. He was okay, she mentally reassured herself. Fuu had just startled him awake.
She smiled weakly at him in the dark, not knowing if he could see her or not. "I'm okay," she whispered, on the verge of crying. "Sorry I woke you."
With that, he let go of his sword and curled his arm back under his head where the other one was, but he didn't close his eyes. Fuu nestled her head back into the pillow and watched him for a while. The steady rise and fall of his chest and the soft noises of his and Jin's breathing soothed her. And, it wasn't until her eyes began to close with sleep that she realized he was waiting to make sure she went back to sleep.
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The next morning the trio was on the road again. Instead of following the shoreline to the island, they had decided to take a shortcut across the northern peninsula. The morning was hazy, and the air felt heavy with the promise of future rain.
All three travelers walked without saying much, each lost in his or her own thoughts. Jin had woke before the sun had risen, refreshed and feeling much better. Now, at the head of their procession, he recalled the previous nights events in quiet thought.
Fuu had came in just after the sun had gone down. Something had happened to upset her. Her brown eyes, which were usually sparkling with youth and intelligence had been puffy and red from crying. Instead of being lively, they looked distant and Fuu appeared to be deep in thought about something. He hadn't asked. First of all, Jin really wasn't much for trying to understand women's problems. The dark-haired samurai had mastered bujitsu, but he knew when something was beyond his capabilities. Plus, even if he had asked, Fuu probably wouldn't have wanted to talk about it.
There was really no suspecting to do. Whatever had upset her, it probably had something to do with who'd shown up hours later after they'd eaten their small supper of rice and gone to bed. Jin, who'd been beginning to feel the effects of the special tea Fuu had given him, had listened with half an ear as Mugen had wolfed down what remained in the wooden rice bowl then lay down without even looking for a pillow or blanket and went to sleep.
Later in the night, he'd heard Fuu cry out in her sleep. He'd opened his eyes, with much effort, long enough to confirm that she was okay, then fell almost instantly back into his deep sleep. He definitely wouldn't be drinking anymore of whatever she'd given him. True, it had helped relax and heal him, but if something would've happened to them in the night, he wasn't so sure that he would've been able to hold his own well enough to be any good in a fight.
Fuu followed behind Jin. After the nightmare about Mugen being taken away by the strange ghosts, she'd slept soundly and deeply. But, now all she could think about was how she'd felt without him and about what he'd said to her before he'd been taken away. 'I'd die for you.'
She didn't doubt that he'd meant what he'd said in her dream. On their journey, he'd almost gotten himself killed several times. It had never been directly because he'd been doing it for her, but she'd always felt responsible for it afterward. Fuu knew that if the chance to prove himself to her ever arose, especially after the more recent events and discoveries, he'd be sure to not let her down. Fuu hoped that that would never happen.
There was only a couple days left for them to be together, at most, she reasoned with a heavy heart. Surely, nothing would happen in those few days. Fuu wanted more than anything for Mugen to go on being good old Mugen after she left them. What he was feeling for her now couldn't be too serious, and he'd be over it before he'd gotten out of sight of the island. Of course that's how it would happen, she smiled weakly, with her head hung.
Wouldn't it?
Tomorrow or the next day would be the last time that she'd be able to spend with Mugen, Fuu thought. It wasn't fair to him to be denying him what he wanted, but what he wanted was all that Fuu had now. But what if he really did feel something for her and he wasn't just trying to get her on her back? This was so hard and confusing.
Mugen watched Jin and Fuu's backs. This situation frustrated the piss out of him. damnit, if women thought more like men, the world would be a whole lot better place. Shit. He wanted to say something to her to try and smooth things over, but what could he say that wouldn't make her cry, make her pissed, or worst of all, make her never let him see her fight like that again.
Mugen felt something for Fuu that was different and stood apart from the primal urge he felt toward other women. It wasn't just because of what had happened of the course of the past few days either. There had always been something there that was different. The only way he could begin to describe it was by thinking back to the beginning of this crazy journey. He'd protected her up until now.
Fuu was something worth protecting - something worth saving in his fucked up life. He never would have done even half the shit that he did for this whining, screaming, breastless, bottomless pit of a woman for even the most alluring whore. And, yes - that was even counting that one time . . . with that one woman . . . underground . . .
All of that and more unexplainable things that he couldn't begin to understand made this woman beautiful. One of the most important though was her ability to take care of herself. Mugen loved busting in and saving the day for big bosomed virgins as much as the next guy that lived and breathed, but there was just something about this one that wasn't like all of the helpless and (after the morning came and he was already out of town) useless women he'd been with before. What the hell was a guy like him going to do with a delicate and dainty woman after he slept with her? Take her on the road with him? That made Fuu beautiful to him most of all - that there was a possibility he could be with her after the morning came.
More than anything, Mugen wanted to watch her spar with him again. He liked fighting better than fucking any day, but what he'd done with her the previous night had been neither. If she'd only let him go a little farther. If Fuu had only let him take her to a secluded place, somewhere that they could listen to the sea, and lay her down and finish what he'd started. If she'd only let him, Mugen felt that he would've actually made love for the first time.
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As sunset drew closer, the skies darkened with clouds and thunder rolled gently in the distance. The trees' tops all swayed in a lulling wind, the light undersides of their leaves showing.
As the first raindrops began to fall, three men, one in a wooden wheelchair made their way past the crossroads where only hours earlier, Mugen, Fuu, and Jin had passed on their way across the peninsula.
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Sorry for such the huge breaks between chapters and for such a short chapter to boot, but it just wouldn't have fit in with the next one, and it wasn't the same kind of mood as the last one. Anyways, thanks for reading, and keep reviewing!
IB