After the ferry came to a stop Megumi picked up her travel bag and medicine box to meet Kaoru at the end of the dock. She didn't look at all worried; apparently the urgent message Megumi received wasn't so serious anymore.

"Why are you wearing that strange western dress?"

"It's the waitress uniform at the Shirobeko. We're all staying at Sae's restaurant for now so you will be sharing a room with Misao and me."

Kaoru filled her in on Sano's shattered hand then Yahiko's broken ankle and gunpowder burns, but barely started on Kenshin's bite, burns from hot oil, and multiple cuts before they got to the Shirobeko.

Okina wanted to hear about the battle in Shishio's lair again and brought out a jug of sake, not that Sano needed that much encouragement to talk. Omime, Masugami and Kaoru spent hours sewing Kenshin back together so they weren't as interested in the blow-by-blow details, unlike Misao who still hung on every word about Aoshi's fight. She wasn't so sure that Aoshi should still be considered a traitor since he sided with Kenshin and Saito against Shishio Mokoto.

The doctor noticed that Kaoru wasn't paying much attention to what Kenshin had gone through; she seemed more focused on serving beef bowls and tea. Did she think Ken was invincible? That he'd never get hurt no matter who attacked him? That weak little girl needed to grow up and support Ken or she'd lose him for sure. Megumi told Sano to take her to him as soon as she thought he was finished with his monologue.

He led her upstairs and leaned against the wall by the door while she set her medicine box next to Kenshin's futon and began unwrapping his arms. The careful stitching reassured her that someone had taken the time to reduce his scarring. She was puzzled that so much of her ointment covered the stitches. "It would've been much more helpful to use it right after he was injured than to wait until after the wounds were closed."

"We used up both jars by the time he faced Shishio. That's something Dr. Takani did after the women finished sewing on him."

"Who?" Megumi whirled around to face him.

"I figured he was the same Takani Shitago that gave a jar of salve to the little Miss since he looked sort of like you." Sano watched the shock settle on her for a full minute before the doctor shook it off and returned her patient. He frowned at the back of her head when she didn't ask any questions even though he didn't have any other information on the man to tell her anyway.

"Ken-san has a fever and his pulse is weak. Please bring me hot water and soap." She couldn't think about her brother now with Ken-san barely hanging on to life. Sano rolled his shoulders off the wall and headed to the kitchen

"I wish I could've watched you fight those guys." Yahiko grabbed a chunk of soap and some clean rags when Sano came into the kitchen and poured the last of the hot water into a bucket.

"No, it was good that you stayed with Missy to help Okina and Misao."

Yahiko followed Sano up the stairs; he was getting pretty good at hobbling around on a crutch. "Before I came here I thought I was doing good beating up some petty criminals who were harassing Tsubame. It's a whole nother story when you're fighting for your life. Henya murdered people by dropping dynamite on them – killing them with no more feeling than if you kill a bug. I had to use my copy of Kenshin's Ryutsuisen to take him down."

"Didn't Missy fight? She's the only one not injured." Sano set the bucket down to open the door.

"Kaoru and Misao went against Kamatari, a guy dressed in a kimono using a heavy blade with a cannonball attached by a chain as a counterweight. I only saw the end when his weapon was missing the heavy blade. Kaoru still had her handle which made them about even, but she broke it over his knee while he was trying to swing the chain around her neck. And if you think she isn't injured then you aren't paying attention to her." Yahiko let the soap drop to the floor after Sano set the bucket down by Kenshin's futon.

"You two better be quiet and show some respect. Ken-san is severely injured and he needs quiet to recover." Megumi came in followed by Kaoru carrying a tea tray.

"What are you two talking about?" Kaoru set the tray on the stool by the window.

"I was telling Sano why you don't have your father's bokken anymore."

"Kenshin's going to make it isn't he?" Kaoru didn't want to think about the loss of father's favorite bokken right now even if he would have been very proud of her.

Megumi felt his forehead and neck "Right now that will depend on his will to live." She sent them all out of the room before unwrapping the rest of Kenshin's wounds because he might not want them to see him like this and she had to find the source of his infection.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything else." Kaoru glanced at Kenshin's pale face as she closed the door. Kaoru heated water and washed dishes with her left hand to keep herself occupied with something that didn't require much use of her right arm. Kenshin might not make it so it didn't matter if it took five minutes to clean a plate. His survival depended on his will to live and while it was easy for her to assume Battosai's sense of duty that sent him to Kyoto to stop Shishio, Kaoru didn't want to assume he found a reason to live after waking up on her roof last May. She rinsed the plate and put it in the rack to dry before grabbing another from the stack. What if his memories returned while he was in Shishio's lair and it was truly Kenshin sleeping upstairs? Did he have a reason to remain in this world other than atoning for the lives he took? Several times during the months they were together he seemed to completely forget about atonement so maybe that was no longer a strong enough reason for him to want to live.

Megumi told Yahiko to remove his gi to take a look at his burns; they had been cleaned very carefully so there was really nothing for her to do but reapply ointment and change the bandage. Sano's hand however was a project. Megumi unwrapped the splints around his thumb to make sure the bones were aligned as well as possible before securing the two pieces of wood again and moving on to his index finger. After finishing with his pinky she ran a finger over the bones across the back of his hand although there was nothing else she could do since it wasn't swollen and the large yellowish green bruise seemed to be healing normally. "You are absolutely forbidden to do anything with your right hand. Is that clear, you idiot?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Sano grinned at her "So do you want both jars back or not?" He watched her drop one in her pocket still clutching the other as she walked away "You're welcome."

After breakfast the next morning Okina and Misao headed over to the Aoi-Ya with Shijoro and Kurojo. Shirojo hired a cart and horse to haul away everything that wasn't salvageable while Kurojo and his friends were going to finish tearing down what was left of the inn. Okina and Misao left the two men behind when they saw Police Lieutenant Fujita lighting a cigarette across the street. He turned down a side street and the two of them hurried to catch up with him to find out if he knew what happened to Aoshi.

Misao saw him enter the temple and looked at Okina puzzled. He shrugged and they followed the stern policeman to a mediation alcove.

"Hoji set fire to the armory and the resulting explosions left the lair in ruble." Aoshi didn't move from his Zen position.

"He turned himself in, but won't say a word other than ranting about Shishio."

"Then we only have what we took from Iwanbo's room."

"From what Cho told me about the rest of Shishio's Ten Swords he's the only link to the Chinese arms dealer, but there hasn't been another sighting of Iwanbo in the whole prefecture." Saito rolled an unlit cigarette in his fingers.

"What do you two want to know about Iwanbo?" Okina and Misao stepped into sight. "I'd like to know why his skin can't be cut."

"What do you mean?"

"Not one of our shuriken so much as bruised him and my tonfa didn't cut him. He stepped back after injuring us instead of continuing the fight, which was also puzzling."

"He wasn't there to fight?"

"He wore metal blades on his fingers, two swings and four of us were seriously injured. But instead of pressing the attack, he stepped back to watch Miss Kaoru and Misao fight Kamatari."

"His skin can't be cut, he swings his arms faster than a ninja moves, and he doesn't follow Shishio's orders." Saito turned toward Misao, "Why would he watch your fight?"

"After I used the last of my daggers I had to step back and that's when I noticed that Iwanbo was only watching Kaoru-san."

"But he didn't attack her?"

"No. He headed north across the rooftops as soon as Kamatari was defeated."

"Why was he interested in the raccoon-girl? She's barely a threat to pickpockets and has no connections to anyone except Himura. And he isn't even a threat to a Chinese arms dealer that has Gatling guns, Armstrong cannons and ironclads at their disposal."

"If an attack has no strategic value it isn't logical, it's personal." Everyone turned to stare at Misao.

Saito snorted "They haven't done their homework. Our business is done." He nodded at Aoshi and went back to the police station.

"It's good to see you well Aoshi-sama. We're staying at the Shirobeko until we rebuild the Aoi-Ya. It's been pretty much destroyed and now we need to get back and help Shirojo and Kurojo clear out the debris so we can get busy re-building. I'll see you later."

Misao wondered about Saito and Aoshi for some time before asking Okina's opinion about the possibility that the former Okashira may have been secretly working with Saito, perhaps not being a traitor at all.

Kaoru waited for Megumi to fall asleep before taking buckets of hot water, soap and rags to Kenshin's room. It was easier to do this when the sun was up, but as long as the doctor kept everyone away she'd continue to sneak around every night giving him a sponge bath and occasionally washing his hair.

She had enough practice by now to easily rinse his long auburn hair and wrap it in a towel without getting his bandages wet. Kaoru gently washed his face which wasn't feverish anymore then rolled him onto his right side to change the blanket under him.

Kaoru untangle his hair with her own comb. She had looked through his travel kit the first time she washed his hair and had found her old blue ribbon wrapped around a worn toy top next to his sword repair kit. The only comb she found was obviously a woman's which she spitefully tucked behind her hair ribbon.

Her dirty wet kimono was replaced by a clean dry yukata before she made yet another trip downstairs with all the dirty laundry and buckets. She poured some of the hot water from the pot on the back of the stove into a kettle then poured more water into the pot and grabbed Megumi's tea leaves before heading back upstairs. Continuously heating water was beginning to seem normal.

Pain. Itching, burning pain. It was dark, but he didn't care about that. He was perfectly capable of surviving without light. But every single one of his injuries screamed in agony. A warm soft cloth rubbing his face had given him a little respite. Even having his hair pulled slightly as something hard stroking his scalp gave his mind something else to think about, but now he was immersed in aching, stinging torment.

A callused hand cupped his cheek trying to get his

mouth open. Kenshin gritted his teeth until something warm and moist brushed across his lips. The hand returned to his chin and warm liquid trickled into his mouth. He swallowed involuntarily and the hand disappeared only to return again as more warmth trickled into his mouth, but the pain subsided which was all he cared about before losing consciousness.

The only thought that kept running through her head was that Kenshin gritted his teeth so he was going to heal just fine. The words 'he's going to make it' were running, skipping and bouncing around her mind like a happy Misao. So what if her right arm was sore, Kenshin was going to be alright!

Megumi and Misao woke before Kaoru as usual. The doctor checked on Kenshin, propping him on his side with his left hand in a bowl of warm water and another bowl against his hip, then went downstairs to breakfast.

Sae was passing around bowls of rice when Sano turned to reach for his and saw Kaoru entering the dining room "You're up already?"

She joined them thanking Sae for breakfast "Kenshin is going to be just fine so I'm going to the clinic after breakfast. Does anyone want to come with me?"

The doctor nodded "Yes, but I will check on Ken-san first though."

Kaoru and Sano weren't surprised by her response; they expected her to mention visiting her brother yesterday.

Megumi went upstairs to settle Kenshin on his back and take the two bowls. Her best kimono was left behind in Tokyo along with several other things she could have used to make a better first impression, but since they weren't going to Shitago's house for tea it didn't matter. He might not even know she was here since Sano and Kaoru never mentioned telling him about her. A block from the Aoi-Ya Megumi finally calmed her nerves enough to pay attention to what the younger girl was saying.

"…and then everything happened so fast that they left to attack Shishio Mokoto before I had a chance to speak to Sano about it. It was almost mid-morning by the time those two showed up and Kenshin was…they used almost two full jars of salve on him and he was still…and it took so long to clean out every single cut while Omime and Masugami stitched. I'm sorry I completely forgot about your brother when I wrote to you."

"Knowing that my brother is well and practicing medicine here was enough."

Megumi stood there staring at a man who looked so much like father with mother's eyes. The fringe covering his forehead wasn't as thick as she remembered, yet it looked good on him. "Shitago?"

He crossed the floor in long strides "Little Megumi, it's really you." Shitago wrapped his arms around her squeezing hard. "When I went back after the Boshin war ended I learned we didn't leave you in a safe place after all."

"What happened to mother and older brother?" She stepped back as he dropped his arms.

"I don't know. We were separated on the battlefield toward the end and their bodies weren't found so they must have survived, but I didn't find either of them."

"So how did you end up here in Kyoto?"

"There was an old doctor that I met while searching for mother. He wanted me to be his assistant if I didn't find my family so after several months without a single clue where else to look for them I agreed. He had family here so we moved two years ago then he died last winter so the clinic is mine now."

A tall stoic man familiar to Megumi entered the clinic interrupting their reunion. "Shinomori Aoshi."

"Takani Megumi." He returned her terse greeting. "I have some strange pastes and packets of herbs for you to examine. Tell me what they're commonly used for."

She narrowed her eyes as she took the bucket from him, yet said nothing else recalling Sano's description of his fight with Kenshin. Perhaps this enemy was becoming an ally; Kenshin did have that habit after all.

Fifteen minutes later Kaoru said good-bye to Kamatari and found the two siblings sitting at the examination table with dried bits of various plants spread out between them. However, their conversation was about family members and childhood memories so Kaoru left quietly. Shitago would make sure Megumi found her way back to the Aoi-Ya safely.

It was a warm, sunny day so the window was cracked open to air out the room. Kaoru put soap and water within easy reach before leaving with the bowl that Megumi put by his hip. The brief moments that he was lucid enough to swallow soup weren't as disorienting, however it was still difficult to move so the water was cool by the time he finished washing then dried off with a towel. Megumi re-bandaged the slash across his chest then forced him to drink more tea causing him to pass out.

Kaoru came in later with a basket of mending and sat between Megumi's medicine box and the window where she had a good view of his peaceful sleeping face.

"Figures, Aoshi-sama's at the shrine and you're in here. Himura-san looks a lot better now, doesn't he? Are you going to start training again now that your arm is healed? You still have your shinai, don't you? Anyway, we decided to build a meditation room on the other side of the garden. If Aoshi-sama starts using it instead of staying at the shrine, how do I get him to talk to me? What's the best way to get him to notice me?"

"Wouldn't Omime and Megumi be the ones to ask about men?" Kaoru looked up from the patch she was sewing into Yahiko's hakama.

"Omime's too busy helping Sae so I can't get her to talk to me at all and there's no way I'm imitating Megumi. I can't understand half of what she says and Sano doesn't seem that impressed anyway. I don't think anything they do will get Aoshi-sama to smile at me the way he used to. So what did you do to get Himura-san to notice you?"

"Kenshin and I are only friends."

"Being friends is better than being ignored. Are you learning to sew because trying to cook didn't work? Should I learn how to cook and sew? When I first left to go find Aoshi-sama Omime told me that I might be too young for him. Do you think that's why he's not interested? Yahiko said that Himura-san is twenty-eight so you two are even further apart."

"Kamatari wasn't able to please Shishio in any way no matter how feminine he tried to look or how hard he trained, yet he stayed by his side for years grasping for crumbs of attention. He took Shishio's death very hard. First you have to decide how far you're willing to change to get his attention and then decide what you are going to do if you cannot be with him."

"How long were you talking with that weird man the other day? I just want to get Aoshi-sama to realize that I am still alive and care about him. Don't you have any advice to get him out of his shell at all?"

"You've told him about the meditation room so wait for him to make a move. If he goes to the Aoi-Ya then he's choosing to be closer to you. Watch to see when he comes and goes so you can greet him. Then maybe leave a tray of tea for him or mention some current news that might interest him."

"Thanks for the advice Kaoru!" Misao closed the door loudly.

Kaoru murmured to the pants in her hands "Hopefully she will get him to see there is more he can do with his life than hide in old painful memories." Then turned to the sleeping red-head. "Then I can ask her advice on getting you to smile."

Saito ground out the butt of his cigarette when Aoshi entered his office "I take it that those packets contained something interesting."

"I haven't been able to figure out why Iwanbo was preserving meat without drying it." The stoic former Okashira handed two well-organized and neatly written lists to the humorless Lieutenant along with the remaining paper wrapped herbs. "Neither of the doctors were familiar with the paste that only seems useful in making skin soft and kept most of it to try creating more."

"That seems more useless than interesting." Saito looked at the lists thinking that a cook or a woman had more use for the stuff than someone who was supposed to be one of Shishio's Ten Swords.

Aoshi had no further business with the curt policeman and since his time was now his own again he decided to visit the new mediation room at the Aoi-Ya.