Hello everyone! Thank you for all of the reviews! I love all the comments.

I was originally going to have this be the last chapter but decided that it was going to be waay uber long if I had this part connected with it so I just decided to split them into two different ones. I would also like to apologize for my lack of medical knowledge (although, in my defense, there is actually a disease called Farmer's Lung). I just kind of said what made sense in my mind.

I've had some questions to why Megumi was so emotional about Miyaji-san's death when she was a doctor and should be used to it. They were very good questions and I decided in this chapter I was going to explain what I was thinking a little bit. I hope you are pleased with my interpretation.

With all that said, please enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: *sigh* it's unfortunate, but true. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin...*weeping*

Megumi felt a breeze caress her face and shivered slightly. As she noticed the breeze, she became aware of the sun shining behind her eyelids. She pulled the covers up so they were covering her face and curled up into a ball. It was time to get up; no matter how comfortable her futon seemed at the moment.

Megumi opened her eyes to see sunlight streaming into her room. Squinting, she looked around and saw the open window and a tray lay beside her bed. She slowly sat up and looked at the tray. On it was a complete, steaming breakfast and a note. Eyebrows pinching together, she reached over and grabbed it. Rubbing her eyes, she read:

Megumi,

I thought you deserved to have breakfast in bed. Enjoy.

Tomatsu

He's a man of many words, she thought smiling. She peeked over the top of the note and looked at the breakfast. With steam rising from the surface, it looked like he had brought it in just moments ago.

Smiling, she looked up and out the window. The sun was shining and there was a lovely layer of dew coating the grass. It was a little chilly, a warning for the winter that should be showing up in a matter of days.

Megumi yawned widely and stretched feeling her back pop in the process. She dropped her arms lazily and rubbed her eyes once more.

A strange feeling began to creep into Megumi, ruining the pleasant morning. Something was missing. She felt like she was forgetting something important. She glanced out the window once more to judge the time.

Nine o' clock.

Nine o' clock!

Megumi scrambled out of bed in a panic. She rushed toward her closet and grabbed a robe and pulled it on as she—in an extremely un-ladylike fashion—leaped over the tray and rushed toward the door leading away from her personal quarters.

As she practically ran down the hall she admonished herself. In the five years she had been here, she had never overslept. What in the world caused her to today? What would the people start to think? This would be the perfect time for those radicals to start rumors of how she was slacking off or how she wasn't fit to be a doctor because she was a woman and couldn't work full time.

She reached to door and flung it open and marched out into the kitchen. She just needed to grab herself a quick cup of water before she began the day. Instead of finding an empty kitchen she discovered Tomatsu sitting at the table with a cup of tea. He was in the middle of sipping the liquid when she burst in.

They froze for a moment, both startled by the sudden appearance of the other. Tomatsu slowly lowered his cup and smiled at Megumi.

"Good morning, Takani-sensai," he said politely. "How are you feeling?"

With that question, the memory of the previous day shoved its way to the forefront of her mind. Sadness and shame crept through her as heat rose to her cheeks. She was embarrassed for having shown so much emotion in front of him.

"I'm fine," she stated. "Why in the world did you not wake me up? Did you not see what time it is? We are incredibly late!" She realized with chagrin she was in a robe. She crossed her arms. "Quickly, you go clean the rooms and get my supplies set out. I'll go get changed. If we move swiftly we'll be able to open without—," she trailed off as Tomatsu rose from his seat and walked to the counter. He pulled a cup from the cupboard and poured another cup of hot tea. Returning to his seat, he placed the new cup on the table across from him and returned to sipping his own cup.

Megumi's anger rose. "Did you not hear what I just said?" she exclaimed. "We have to—,"

Tomatsu interrupted her. "Sit," he said quietly.

Shocked at his interruption, Megumi said, "I don't think I will. I have things to do, and so do you. I hired you to work for me and if you refuse to I'll—,"

Tomatsu slammed his hand down on the table. Megumi fell silent in alarm. "Megumi. Sit. Down."

Stunned by his vehemence, Megumi did as he ordered. They sipped their tea in an awkward silence, trying not to make eye-contact. Tomatsu drained his cup and said, "I decided that you're going to take a day off today."

Megumi nearly spewed her tea. "Excuse me? Who are you to decide anything?" she demanded after painfully swallowing. "This is my clinic and I'll decide the schedule. You're simply hired help. You do as I say."

He placed his cup forcefully onto the table. "That's part of the problem here; you're in charge."

Shocked once again, she felt her mouth drop fractionally. Tomatsu raised a hand and pressed on his eyes. "I apologize, that came out wrong.

Sensing the opportunity to gain the upper hand, she crossed her arms and glared at him. "Oh no. Please, go on. I would love to hear your take on how I run things. You opinion matters so much to me," she said sarcastically.

She sensed his anger rising and felt grim satisfaction. "I'm sorry. That's not what I meant—," he said in a strained voice.

"Then what did you mean?" she demanded.

"If you'd shut your mouth, I'd explain!" he yelled, slamming his hands on the table again. Megumi scowled at him, stood up, and walked out of the room, half-hoping he would follow her. He did.

She heard him stand up loudly and follow her out of the room. She sped up to get to her office but he caught up and grabbed her wrist. He stopped walking and no matter how hard she pulled, she couldn't break his grip. She looked up and glared at him. "Let me go," she demanded loudly.

"Not until you hear me out," he demanded back.

Pride wanted her to stand there silently, glaring at him. The doctor in her was evaluating different ways to break his wrist. She glared at his hand, hoping that her gaze would sear his hand off. Unfortunately, it didn't. She looked up, directing her gaze at his face and waited expectantly, raising an eyebrow.

"You were upset last night," he said quickly. "The death of that man hit you hard so I thought you should rest. I put some of that sleeping stuff you give to overnight patients in your tea."

Megumi flashed back to the night before.

Megumi closed the door as Miyaji-san left. She slowly placed her forehead on it and took a deep shuddering breath. Miyaji-san had sat quietly while Megumi tried to explain what she thought had happened. After questioning her, she discovered her husband had indeed smoked.

"I believe that a combination of smoking and Farmers Lung weakened your husband's lungs," she began. "With the weak lungs the oxygen wasn't flowing easily which caused him to have a weak heart. His heart got to the point where it was so weak that it was extremely susceptible to heart failure."

Miyaji-san had accepted what she said without crying and had thanked her for her help on the way out. She told Megumi she'd have men come to pick him up in the morning. She'd even patted Megumi on the cheek and had given her a small, sad smile.

Megumi raised her head and turned to begin the processes of closing the clinic. She walked past the room with the body without looking at it. She entered a different room and started to fold up the futon when it was taken away from her. She looked up and saw Tomatsu with a cup of tea in one hand and the futon in the other.

"Why don't you let me clean up?" he asked, softly. "You just drink some tea and go to bed."

She accepted the drink but refused to go to bed. Five minutes later though, she felt like a fog had settled on her brain. She kept bumping into things and nearly fell over when she turned a corner to sharply. She finally conceded and told Tomatsu she was going to bed.

Rage filled Megumi, causing her to shake. "You drugged me?" she asked, fury making her voice quiet.

Tamotsu grabbed her other hand and leaned over so they were eye-to-eye. "That man's death hurt you, Megumi. You needed a break," he said, trying to make her understand.

"I was fine," she said quietly. "I am fine." She looked down at his chest. "It was nothing.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a break," he said softly. "Everybody needs rest."

"Well I'm not everybody," she said intensely, causing Tamotsu to blink. "I was upset for a little bit. Death is a part of being a doctor. I'm used to it."

She continued to stare at his chest. He released her hands causing her to look up at him. He looked at her strangely as he asked, "Then why are you so bothered by it?"

Unbidden memories of her past came to mind, causing her to look away. She didn't want to go into it. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't even want to think of it.

Startling her, Tomatsu's hand gently touched her cheek, the calluses rubbing soothingly on her face. She looked up, surprised, and felt like he was looking past her eyes into her soul. "You can talk to me, Megumi. I don't want you hurting," he said, his gaze scorching.

His hand wouldn't allow her to move her head, but she lowered her eyes and bit her lip. Why must he pressure her? She didn't want to talk about it.

He moved his hand under her chin and tilted her head up slightly. Unwillingly, she met his gaze once more. "Please talk to me, Megumi," his asked, his eyes begging.

She hesitated. "My past is...filled with death," she said, unsure. "I was the cause of a lot of it." Tears came to her eyes and she wrenched her head out of his grip and looked down at the ground. She blinked away the tears and took a steadying breath. "Being a doctor is my way of redeeming myself. When someone in my clinic dies—," she cut off, thinking of Miyaji-san's husband, "then I blame myself."

All was quiet for a moment. A bird chirped a happy song outside and the racket of children playing floated through the windows.

"Megumi—," began Tomatsu.

"I'm always fine by the next day though," she interrupted, looking up at him. "There's no reason to be so concerned and it's definitely not grounds to close the clinic for a day."

There was a beat of silence before Tamotsu took a step forward and gathered Megumi into his arms. His long, thick arms easily wrapped around her and crushed her to his chest. Despite her objections, he continued holding her.

"You're very good at keeping a tough face," he whispered behind her ear, making her shiver. "Your very aura shows off your confidence and strength. However, even strong people have weak moments. Your weak moments are when you are reminded of your past." Keeping her in his clutches, he leaned back to look at her. "Don't let your past with opium affect you now. It no longer has a hold on you. You're not a killer, you're a healer. You're redeeming yourself with the lives you are now saving."

Tears came once again to her eyes and she pressed her face into his chest. He began slowly rubbing her back as she focused on taking deep breaths to stop herself from crying.

Suddenly, realization punched her in the gut. She leaned back again and looked into his eyes. "How did you know about the opium?" she asked quietly. She hadn't told anybody in this city about it. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped. He started stuttering out replies when all of a sudden someone knocked on the door.

Tomatsu looked at the door and Megumi saw the relief on his face. "Don't think we're done with this," she hissed. She shoved him away and he released her. She marched over to the door and swung it open angrily.

It was the Himuras.

A/N: Yayy! Don't we love cliff-hangers? I really enjoyed writing Megumi and Tomatsu's argument and I hope you liked reading it as much as I did writing it. Please come back for my final chapter! Oh, and something for you all to chew on, I'm seriously considering writing this story all from Tomatsu's point of view. Tell me what you think.

Review please! I accept flames!