Hi everybody. I'm posing another chapter, thanks to the reviews I've gotten from you guys. I'm going to keep posting as long as I have edited chapters. I hope you guys keep Reading, Reviewing, and enjoying my work.

They swam for an hour, Hiraru eventually climbing halfway up the cliff side then diving into the pond. Once finished Hiraru led the way all the way to the top of the cliff and they both lay out in the sun, on a pure white and flat stone.

Hiraru was dozing when Sano sat up and looked at her. "You never answered me," He said, leaning against another rock nearby.

Hiraru peaked at him with one half-lidded eye, and asked lazily, "I didn't answer what?"

"Why are you this upset?" He asked.

Hiraru opened both eyes and after a second sat up. She looked out over the cliff, it was an amazing view. Sano couldn't make out anything but trees, and glimpses of a dirt road weaving back and forth. Finally Hiraru sighed, "Grandpa is dying. He told Shiro last night. This morning, when Shiro finally came down, he spoke to Taki. They planned my priestess ceremony. It's tomorrow."

Sano blinked at her, "What?"

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She looked at him, "As of tomorrow evening, I'll be the Hiraru."

"Do you want to be?" He asked.

Hiraru tilted her head to one side, "I… I don't know." She looked away, "I've promised I'd become the next one, I promised both Mom and Grandma, but in the past six months… The past six months I've been with you guys; You and Kenshin, and Kaoru, Yahiko, and Megumi. I was so happy. I've never been that happy here."

"So you don't want to be the Hiraru?" Sano pressed the issue.

"I…" Hiraru seemed to have difficulty finding her words, "I've never pictured myself as anything but the Hiraru. But then again I never thought I'd have to do this until I turned twenty-one. I thought I'd feel ready, but I don't. I also thought I'd be doing this with someone I trusted. I thought I'd have found a Guardian."

"Didn't you ask me to be your Guardian?" Sano asked.

"I asked you when I was eight," She laughed slightly, "I don't expect you to keep it. Besides you never had a chance to answer me."

Sano opened his mouth to say he would protect her, but she spoke before he could, "It doesn't matter anyway. I couldn't ask you to give up your life and be my Guardian." She looked at him her eyes veiled against him, "You have a life, freedom, and a place where you belong, and so do I. I think I was just fooling myself to let myself believe I could avoid my duties."

"Haru…" Sano said slowly, "If you want, we can take you away. Tomorrow before anyone else wakes up, Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, and I can take you and Katsu away. We'll take you both back to the Dojo. You can be free." He insisted.

Hiraru blinked at him her face unguarded for a moment, then just as quickly as that flash of hope pasted over her face she guarded against it, veiling her emotions. She chuckled, it was a hollow sound, "Thanks for trying to make me feel better Sanosuke, but tomorrow I'll be going through the ceremony, not running away. I've done enough running, it's time I started standing." She stood, dusting off her half dry under clothes, "Come on, there's something I want to show you."

She stepped to the edge of the cliff, then with a smile over her shoulder she jumped. Sano was on his feet and at the edge f the cliff in time to see her disappear in a splash. He waited a minute expecting her to come back up but she never did. Finally worry over came him, he stepped to the edge and jumped after her. He hit the water like a ton of bricks. It drove the air out of him. He tried to swim back up, but something was sucking him down. It took several far too long seconds for whatever it was to let him go but finally he was able to swim back towards the surface. He found himself gasping for air at the bank of an underground pool. It started with a four foot tall three foot wide entrance that showed nothing but the back side of the waterfall, and gave off a light from the other side. The pool tapered off following a path deeper into the large cave he now stood in. there was only one ten foot by ten foot area that was just higher than the water.

"This is my hiding place," Hiraru's voice echoed from somewhere in front of him. He looked to find her standing in ankle deep water near the walls of the cave. Her hand was resting on the rock, as she looked up. There were words carved into the walls. They didn't seem to make any sense, completely random; Bird, Flower, Spirit, Love, Hope, Heart were scattered on them.

"What is this?" Sano asked wading out of the deeper water to where she stood.

"When I was little, Mom told me stories about a great bowl that seemed to be unable to hold water that was held by a plate. She said that every Hiraru ever born was told the same story. She said the bowl was somewhere on the Hiraru's mountain. I think she was always trying to encourage me to find this place. I found it right before she died. I told her I found it, and she smiled. I remember because it was the first time she'd really smiled since… Since Dad died. She told me then this was the true place. This is a place were people can't tell lies. Hirarus would come here to meditate, so they could see the truth. They'd also come so they could realized the truth about themselves."

She paused again, reaching up to finger the nearest symbol, "Before a Hiraru could become a true Hiraru, they'd come here, along with the last Hiraru and chisel a symbol into the wall. It was always something that held meaning for the incoming Hiraru. The past Hiraru would go and sit on that stone, while the new Hiraru worked, sometimes it would take hours. Neither Hiraru would ever know what the other Hiraru's symbol was, because there was this unwritten oath. Once the new Hiraru became a true Hiraru, the past Hiraru could never come back here. The true Hiraru's child, the next Hiraru would have to find this place by themselves, then when the time came, parent would come here with child to pass on the place of truth, the meaning of the true Hiraru, then the parent would leave this place in their child's care."

"Is that why you wanted to show it to me?" Sano asked crossing his arms, it was cool in here out of the sun. He could feel the press of things he didn't like. He wanted to leave, soon.

"No…" She turned and looked at him, surprised, "Don't worry you're safe here." Some how the words made him feel better, like the pressure that had been on him was suddenly gone. She turned away as she saw his face relax, "I wanted to take you to this place to ask you to help me. A Hiraru hasn't written on these walls since my Great-grandfather's time. My grandmother did not find this place on her own, because it was her brother who was suppose to be the Hiraru. My great-grandfather brought her here and told her the story and told her to pass it on. He would not allow her to put up a symbol, because it would not be the truth of a Hiraru. It would have been 'war' or 'death', or 'loss'. Those were what my grandmother would have thought, but that's not this truth. My mother found this place but she gave up her title so she never put her own symbol, but she knew the truth."

"What is your truth?" Sano asked leaning against the wall, "What is this help you want?"

Hiraru finally looked at him, Sano could only make out her features in this light, he couldn't see how her eyes searched his face in hopes of finding something specific. "I want you to help me put up my own truth up. But I also want you to promise you won't read the symbol. It will be just another word of truth on these walls just like all these others."

Sano leaned closer to her, "What is your truth?"

Hiraru continued to watch him, "If you help me, and you promise not to read it, I'll tell you before we leave."

Sano nodded, "What do you need me to do?"

"Let me stand on your shoulders."

What is Hiraru's Truth? What is she going to tell Sano… You'll just have to review to find out.