The day had passed by almost painfully slowly for Sam. It wasn't that it was difficult to talk to the other guests, as a matter of fact only Fukuhara remain hostile and standoffish to him. Truth be told, he just missed San-Li. That and not having to limit his knowledge to just before the 1940s.

Eventually night had fallen and Sam went back to the room to change clothes for dinner. There was a light tapping on the window and he shrieked in surprise. A wide grin spread across his face when he spun around and saw San-Li crouched on the ledge right outside the window. Sam hurriedly went to let her in and she landed on the floor almost soundly.

"Go ahead and make sure that your stuff is packed up." She said shortly. "We'll be leaving tonight."

"Um, sure," Sam blinked and moved to gather his things. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No, but we're picking it up tonight after dinner." San-Li picked up a fresh kimono. "We just have to let the others know that we're leaving on a private plan so they don't freak out when we don't show up tomorrow."

"Okay."

Sam finished packing his things and watched as she did the same. She turned around and he saw a large, shallow cut on the back of her neck.

"Hey, you're hurt!" Sam eyed her in concern. "What happened?"

"Wha?" San-Li blinked and touched the back of her neck. "Oh. It's nothing. I ran into an old booby trap that's all. It isn't even bleeding that much anymore."

"Well we should still take care of it." Sam laid a hand on her arm. "If you leave it open like that, it could get infected. Not to mention that people might ask questions."

"I said it's fine alright!" San-Li snapped and impatiently shook him off.

Sam's face fell and he looked at her in confusion. "Why are you mad at me? What did I do?"

San-Li looked up at him and looked down again. She sighed and rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand.

"I'm not mad at you." She shrugged her shoulders weakly. "I'm just a little on edge. There are a lot of guards protecting the fan and I'm a little nervous bringing you with me. But it'd be even more dangerous to try and come back for you after I steal it."

"We'll figure something out." Sam tried to reassure her even though he could feel himself starting to sweat nervously.

San-Li chuckled and smirked up at him. "Stop trying to act brave. I can tell that you're terrified."

"When am I not?" Sam laughed and gently caressed her cheek. "Now will you please let me take care of that cut?"

"Oh, alright." San-Li gestured to her bag. "Front pocket. Get out some antiseptic wipes, some cut sealant, and some cover up."

Sam pulled out the supplies from her bag and hurried back over to her. San-Li turned around and loosened her robe so that it fell around her shoulders, giving him better access to her neck. He caught his breath at her beautiful pale skin criss-crossed with pale pink scars.

San-Li turned her head to look at him and smirked. "You alright back there?"

"Yeah," Sam blinked and licked his dry lips. "Yeah I'm fine."

San-Li giggled and turned back around. Sam's hands trembled a little as he tore open the first antiseptic wipe and gently wiped the cut on her neck. She hissed a little in pain so he gently blew on the cut to try to soothe the sting of the alcohol. He then applied the cut sealant and the cover up to her cut and let his fingers gently drift downward to rest on her bare shoulder. His placed his other hand on the remaining shoulder and gently began to massage them. San-Li sighed happily making him smile.

"Did you want to just skip dinner and stay here?" She whispered.

"We can't," Sam whispered and kissed her ear. "We have to keep up appearances remember?"

San-Li chuckled seductively. "Well I am your mistress, remember? If my dana-sama wants me to himself for a few hours, who am I to say no?"

He felt his neck grow hot and his grip tightened on her shoulders. She laughed and started to turn towards him when there was a rapid, impatient knocking on the door. Sam sighed and dropped his hands from her shoulders. San-Li sighed too in disappointed and went to slide the door open. Fukuhara smiled down at her but when he saw Sam he scowled.

"Yes Fukuhara-san?" San-Li asked.

"You are late for dinner." He said gruffly. "So I have come to fetch you myself."

"Maybe she was planning on skipping dinner." Sam mumbled.

Fukuhara shot him a glare and San-Li groaned in annoyance. She gently pushed Fukuhara out the room and slid the door shut behind her. Sam heard some muffled talking in Japanese; Fukuhara losing his temper and San-Li trying to placate him. After a few minutes San-Li came back and shut the door while Fukuhara waited in the hall.

San-Li flashed him a small smile and started to change into a different kimono. This one had a black under robe while the outer robe was dark red with gold dragon designs.

"So what was that about?" He asked turning his back respectfully.

"Fukuhara is... a complicated man." She sighed. "If you couldn't already tell I've spent some time here before on and off looking for this fan. Fukuhara has become a bit protective of me."

"How much does he, um, know about you?"

San-Li lightly touched his arm and then wound her arms around his waist from behind. "Not nearly as much as you know about me."

They walked out of the room together holding hands but Fukuhara quickly got between them and offered his arm to San-Li instead. Sam frowned and started to say something but she shook her head and smiled up at Fukuhara.

At dinner though San-Li was careful to pay equal attention to both him and Fukuhara. She chatted in Japanese to Fukuhara, but she also constantly leaned over to whisper in Sam's ear how cute he looked. He often flushed in mild embarrassment while Fukuhara flushed in annoyance.

The maids came in to clear the dinner plates and replaced them with plates of small pieces of colorful, shaped gelatin for dessert. Sam poked at his awkwardly and San-Li giggled.

"It's getting late." She said. "We should probably tell everyone now."

Bando looked at them quizzically. "Tell us what, Setsuko?"

San-Li nudged Sam's arm so he cleared his throat and stood. "Um, I some business to attend to in the United States and my father will be sending a boat for us in the morning."

"Very early." San-Li said standing with him. "We apologize for having to leave this trip so abruptly."

They both bowed to everyone who said how sad they were to see them leave and hoped to see them again soon. Everyone except Fukuhara that is. He just sat there staring angrily into his cup of sake. Sam and San-Li gave a final bow and left towards their room.

They were about to go inside when Fukuhara hurried after them looking more than a little agitated. Sam started to step protectively in front of San-Li but she rolled her eyes and pulled him back again.

"I don't trust him San-Li." Sam whispered.

"Just relax. It's cool." She mumbled.

Fukuhara's face was blooming with anger by the time he reached them and roughly grabbed San-Li's wrist making her yelp in pain.

"Hey! Let go of her!" Sam said angrily.

"You stay out of this!" Fukuhara angrily waved him away.

"It's cool, Sam." San-Li repeated through gritted teeth. "Fukuhara, we talked about this. I need to go home now."

"He is no good for you." Fukuhara gestured to Sam angrily. "He cannot take care of you the way that I can!"

"You're old enough to be my grandfather!" San-Li hissed. "Besides, I don't need anyone to take of me you know that."

"You are going to regret this." Fukuhara warned in a low, angry voice. "Stop this now and return home with me. This- this child is not fit for you!"

"I love him." San-Li said quietly. "And he loves me. That's all I need from him."

Fukuhara gave another angry exclamation and flung her wrist away angrily. He stalked down the hall and left out of a side door. San-Li took a shuddering breath and went into the bedroom with Sam following close behind.

"It sounds like you two have a lot of history together." Sam mumbled sliding the door shut. "Does he know that you're a time thief?"

"He knows I travel a lot." San-Li took off the outer robe and slipped into flatter shoes. "And that I sometimes do dangerous things. He's been trying to get me to quit so he can either adopt me or marry me."

"I see." Sam mumbled.

San-Li pulled out her red jewel and made all of their things disappear. She then walked over to the window and looked back at him with a half excited smile on her face.

"You're going to have to move fast okay? Try to stay close to me and try not to make a lot of noise. We're going to go in and get out quickly. " She said breathlessly. "Ready?"

Sam took one look at her excited and slightly manic expression on her face and felt his heart race with a strange mixture of nervousness, fear, and love for this insane girlfriend of his. He returned her grin with a weak smile and nodded.

"Ready."