(a/n: This one is a shorty, but a goody. Thanks to those reading and sending in reviews!!!)

Vol. 16 Deliverance from Darkness

-Tsukiko-

I woke slowly, as if I was coming out of a fog. I tried to sit up straight, wincing at the aching and stiffness. They had done more than a number on me yesterday. Jin slumped further onto me. I caught him and, with some effort, lowered him onto my lap gently. He had let me sleep on him, I could return the favor. He looked different with his hair down and his glasses off. It was more natural…no, that wasn't it. Candid was the word I was looking for. I didn't think he ever really looked like this, except on rare occasions. I smiled as I brushed a few black strands out of his eyes. I was still at a loss as to how he could have ever thought I was mad at him. How was I supposed to be angry at someone who had done nothing but be nice to me? Well, he did knock me out that first day, but I didn't count that one.

I looked around this room and decided that we had to get out today. I wasn't going to wait for them to fulfill their disturbing promise, I was going to take action. How could I get out of a sealed room though? I rubbed the back of my neck and began drumming my fingers along my spine. This was going to be tricky. The only answer was going to be attacking the guards when they came in next…in a weakened state…with no weapons…and an unknown amount of people out there. We were so screwed.

I looked back to the handsome and pale-skinned ronin sleeping in my lap. My thoughts began to change direction. I was starting to figure him out now, I think. He was a very self-afflicting person, very sad, and very reserved. Some things we had in common. I was getting attached to him, much like I had Fuu, and in some way Mugen. Stupidly, I found myself sort of glad that I had this time alone with Jin, despite what we had to go through. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to him when we were all together. Not since the night when I had awoken to find him missing.

"If you plan on staring at me so intently, you can at least tell me why you are doing it," he said quietly, opening his eyes only a crack. I smiled, happy that he couldn't tell that I was blushing in this darkness. I didn't know that he had been awake. I was willing to bet it had been when he nearly fell off my shoulder. I was embarrassed by the fact that I had been a little too informal with him when I thought he was asleep.

"I was just thinking," I told him. It was the truth, I was just omitting some details.

"About what?"

"How to get out of here…I don't know if I can wait for Mugen and Fuu to save us. I can't stay here and let them do those things they said to me." I was worried about that, more than I let on to him. It was every girl's worst nightmare. I could live with pain, those wounds would heal. The others, the ones born from violation, would not.

Jin sat up. He gave me a determined look, so fierce that it threw me off. "Don't worry, we'll get out without any more harm."

"How?" I questioned. Had he thought of something that I hadn't?

"I don't know." Apparently not…

Just as I was about to reassure him, the door opened. Four men came in, probably to bring us back to the torture chambers. Jin and I started to get to our feet. We were both using the wall for support, it was the only solid thing we could find.

"Oh no, just the girl today," one of the men said. A shiver worked its way down my spine. I was officially terrified. I looked at Jin, helpless. He looked like he already had a plan. As they came to grab me, Jin did a move on one of them that I recognized as jujutsu. The man fell to the floor. Now that I knew the plan, I could go along. I twisted my arm out of one man's grip and punched the other in the throat. I did it hard enough to crush his windpipe. I didn't give a shit about him. As the other man came at me I ducked his arms and kicked him in the side of the knee. It buckled under his body. He started to scream so I did the only thing that I could think of. I took his own sword from his belt and plunged it through his heart. He silenced immediately. I hoped that no one had heard him.

Jin looked at me. Both of his opponents were lying motionless on the floor. "At least we have a weapon now."

"Damn, it looks like we missed some of the action," said a familiar voice from by the door. Mugen walked in and looked at the man at my feet. His double-edged katana dripped blood into the dirt floor. He had killed a few people…good. "We cleared this place out. Turns out that while they change shifts, they don't have many people here." Fuu came in and observed our bruises and other various injuries.

"Oh man, what did they do to you guys?" she asked. She was carrying our weapons and clothes. I grabbed my sword and sai. I felt better with their familiar weight in my hands.

"You don't wanna know," I told her. "Let's get the fuck out of here before anyone else comes."

"All I know is that you two better have a really good excuse for gettin' caught and wasting my time." I shook my head. Good thing to know that even his friend's torture could shake Mugen.

"Here," Fuu said as she reached into her clothes and pulled out my necklace. "I think that you need it more than me right now. I thought you should know though, it works."

"Told you so."

(Muah ha ha, they escaped. Sorry, I just had to get that out. Anywho, you know the drill, please, please, PLEASE R&R!)