I'd like to thank all the readers who reviewed, they were greatly appreciated. Nothing better than a day of work ending and coming home to LOVE.

Chapter Two: Parisian Dream

This Chinese junk we're on
With strapping strong
You cast free the lines
Let's float here
Together clearly we better
Slip out to the brine!

Fuu, fortunately, was not in a brothel, or any variation of. Unlike the other two, though she didn't know it yet, she was doing well. After working in the same restaurant for a year and a half, the owner, fed up with all the duels and fighting he hadn't anticipated when he left his prime political position for the "quiet" life of cook, barkeep, and café owner, had sold the damned place to Fuu for a reasonable (read cheap) price. Fuu had then used her wits, her courage, and her ability to inflict the most pain with the least force to brutalize her clientele into acting right and actually paying for their food. Suffice to say, they either complied or didn't come back.

Given her small stature, and her circumstances, many of the customers were either a) slightly protective of the woman, b) overly lustful of her, or c) not really caring of her except that every Sunday she wouldn't serve any meat but fish on Fridays. Most of them thought it was cause that was when she went and bought it from the boats. Others had other suspicions, but they wisely kept them to themselves.

Three days before Jin and Mugen would walk into her establishment, and she was happy. She was a bit tired from all the work, but she enjoyed this sort of tired. She was doing something she'd always wanted to do. She and those she loved wouldn't ever go cold or hungry again.

Speaking of those she loved, Fuu looked up from the rice she was cooking and watched as an older gentleman named Lee entered the kitchen through a side door. He'd first been a steady customer and good tipper. That'd eventually parlayed into friendship. Lee was also one of the reasons why there were so few fights here anymore. Anyone who fought in Fuu's House paid for it in blood. The last person to fight here lost a finger, thanks to Lee. Fuu often wondered what it was about samurais that attracted her so. Even Lee, despite being over twenty years older, was attractive. And attracted. He'd made it subtly clear that he wouldn't mind taking care of her and her's. Fuu has declined, as subtle as she could. She didn't think she'd ever be able to have that kind of relationship, and to try and fail wouldn't be fair to Lee.

Fairness had become important in Fuu's life. One might say it was a governing principle. She must do what's fair. She didn't know what was coming in her life, but she was prepared.

"Fuu, there are men looking for you in the Nagasaki."

Fuu looked up from the rice. She'd left Nagasaki but hadn't gone far. She also wasn't a complete idiot, and had measures in place in case the Shogun decided she was a threat. "What kind of men?"

"Warriors. Samurai."

"Do you think they'll find me here?"

Lee thought for a minute. "I doubt it. Anyone who knows you're here, is either dead or unable to talk."

"Or unwilling to talk, right?" She asked with a smile, knowing that Lee had done many things for her.

He didn't nod, but his eyes were amused. Outside the inside door the sound of chatter and a sudden clang of breaking dishes filtered through. Fuu winced, but didn't go to check. She already knew what it was. Apparently, so did Lee. "My nephew is all thumbs, Fuu. I am thinking I should apologize for asking you to hire him."

Fuu smiled. "No need. With practice, we all get better."

Get better at all sorts of things, Fuu's dark side whispered to herself.

Fuu loved the small town she lived in. It was so close to Nagasaki, that it didn't really have a name, but it was far enough to be separate and more private. Very few sailors or troublemakers came to the hole in the wall. Her father, Seivo, had been a sailor. On his travels is when he'd discovered Christianity. Fuu often thought that if her father hadn't been called by the sea, he'd be alive today and her life would be very different. She couldn't completely begrudge him the sea, though. It often called to her, as well. If she didn't have the responsibilities and the ties to this land, she'd have long ago packed her things and left.

Fuu sighed, and relished the feel of the salty wind on her face. She'd just left her restaurant, in the hands of the night cook, and knew she had other things to do today before night came, but she couldn't really drag herself from the magnificent view of the sea from her cliffside home. She loved her home. With profits and much help, she'd had it built, and built sturdy. Instead of the usual weak paper walls and slightly harder paper shell, it'd been made with wood from the nearby forest. It could stand up to most storms that came this way. It looked odd when compared to the usual Japanese architecture, but to Fuu it was home.

Fuu turned, and became aware of shadows near the forest, where the path cleared it's way to her house. Immediately her hand slipped to the small dagger in her obi. When the shadows didn't move, Fuu blamed her paranoia on the news Lee had brought her yesterday. Men, looking for her? Surely the shogun would have found and tried to kill her before now. It'd been so long since that mess.

Fuu entered her dwelling, immediately stooping over to pick up the pile of shoes near the door. Kiyoko never picked up her things. Fuu didn't mind picking them up though.

After an hour of straightening up the house, and starting dinner (fried fish rice, Kiyoko's favorite), Fuu started at a knock on the front door. Wiping her hands on the small apron she'd pulled over her dress, she hurried to it, hoping that Kiyoko hadn't been causing trouble again.

When she opened the door, she froze. Memories assaulted her from all sides, and with them long forgotten (repressed) emotions surfaced. Fuu let out a scream of joy (though to the two men it was more like just a scream/screech), and threw herself into the arms of the two samurai on her porch. They, like usual, just stood there and let her hug them.

"I haven't seen y'all in ages!"

"Hello, Fuu."

"What's up."

"Oh! What are you doing here? Oh my, I guess it was you two in Nagasaki asking around? Thank god, Lee was gonna go and try to kill you for asking, but if I'd known, and I'm glad I stopped him, oh, wait until he sees you two, I've told him all about you!"

Jin took the brief pause Fuu took to breathe to interrupt. "We decided to come find you, and see how you've been doing."

"Not that we care," Mugen interjected glibly.

Fuu smiled fondly at the two. "Are you hungry? I've got plenty cooking."

The two men immediately pushed past her and followed their noses to the kitchen. Fuu was happy to see them. As the years passed she'd thought of them less often, but that didn't mean she didn't think of them.

Just as Fuu entered the kitchen to find the two men standing over the skillet waiting for it to be done, a little rocket of energy and light ran through the kitchen door and threw itself at Fuu. The men, trained samurai, immediately had hands on the hilts of their swords, but when Fuu laughed and recognized the sudden intrusion, they eased.

The rocket/energy/intrusion turned out to be a small girl. Neither Jin nor Mugen was good with ages, especially not with children, but she looked young. She also looked exactly like Fuu, down to the small rodent like creature on her shoulder. Said rodent took a flying leap and landed on Mugen's head, correctly revealing itself to be Momo (Mugen figured the thing should've died the first time it dared to land on him, but if the damn thing lasted this long who was he to kill it?) (Oh, yeah...hungry). Mugen slapped at Momo, but Momo merely grinned and scrambled around in his hair.

Fuu lifted the small girl onto her hips, and it immediately became clear that the girl would far outsize Fuu in height when she got older. She was already almost half Fuu's height. The question in both men's mind, being curious as they were, was who the girl was.

Fuu listened to Kiyoko chatter on about where Uncle Lee had taken her today (fishing, shopping, lunch, more fishing, then gasp shopping, again). Lee sure spoiled her baby, but Fuu was just glad that there was a man around who would. Fuu nodded her head and laughed when it was expected as Kiyoko chattered on for about ten minutes. To Jin and Mugen it sounded no different than Momo talking. It obviously was trying to say something, but they didn't know what.

Finally, Kiyoko turned her big brown eyes to the two strangers and with one pudgy hand pointed. "Who they?"

Fuu stiffened, having forgotten completely about them. She set Kiyoko down, and smiled at Jin and Mugen. "Kiki, baby, I'd like you to meet...Uncle Jin and Uncle Mugen. Jin, Mugen, this is my daughter Kiyoko."

Silence. Crickets. Boat passing in the water.

Mugen laughed. Inside he was seething. Jin didn't laugh but inside felt the same. They turned to each other in mutual dislike and thought the exact same thought for the first time in their lives. That sonofabitch got her pregnant.

Okay, I figure I'll clue y'all into the babe's name...

After searching for a long time...I chose Kiyoko...it was tempting to choose Akiko, which means "love child", but that's not really true, so I went with Kiyoko which means "clean child" in Japanese. You'll get it later.