Sorry about the delay. I had a few problems writing this one.

After the briefing in the morning, Shin had five hours to be in town. And he knew what he had to do in five hours. First, he called Seiji to inform him of what was going on. Frustrated, Seiji kept his cool.

"Can they really send you to Somalia?"

"They are, whether they can or not."

"So you'll miss the wedding?"

"Most likely. I have some time today to at least get you and Nasuti a present."

"Between you and Touma, I will break a vein in my head from all this change of plans."

"Sorry."

Seiji sighed, "It's not completely your fault."

After his call with Seiji, Shin had an angry woman to apologize to. Dragging his escort with him, he headed to the hospital he knew well. He knew between his bald head and the tan uniform he was wearing that Yayoi may not recognize him at first. One of the nurses did recognize him.

"Dr. Date is in the break room, if you're interested Mr. Mori." She said.

Moving the flowers to his other hand, Shin thanked her. It didn't take long before he found the room.

"Do you have to follow me in?" Shin asked his escort.

"Not unless there's more than one exit out." The escort said. The man had a bored look on his face.

Opening the door, Shin knocked on the door frame to let her know someone was coming in. The blonde doctor gave him an odd look before she realized who it was.

"And of course he brings flowers." Yayoi said, as Shin walked in.

"Can we talk?"

"Are you going to disappear again, because the man I'm currently with now won't head further away than Tokyo." she was red in the face.

"Not without telling you." Shin was nervous, "I'm sorry about not calling you."

"You didn't even ask for me when you did call a couple nights ago."

Rubbing his head, Shin sighed, "And that was my fault. I should have…"

"But you didn't." she stared him down, "You're leaving again, aren't you?"

"Somalia. It's my punishment for not telling the Agency where I went."

Yayoi's face softened, "Somalia? That's harsh."

"It was that or jail." Shin defended himself.

Taking a breath, Yayoi settled down, "You're not doing your regular job either, are you?"

"No."

Shin was surprised then Yayoi hugged him, "You had me worried and now you have to go again. That's why I can't stay with you. Ikuko has a safe job and Grandfather loves his clan's history. I don't have to worry about him getting shot or drowning at sea."

Gently grabbing her face with both hands, Shin planted a soft kiss on her lips. His calm eyes looked the woman. He was thinking about what he was going to say next.

"Then don't worry about me." He looked down at the floor, "If the doctor is the better man for you and provides a better heritage then mine, then I'll let it be. Here; I was told you like lilies."

Opening the door, Shin walked out, and signaled to the escort he was done.

"Girl problems, eh?" the escort said.

"Yeah."

He thought he was crazy thinking that their teasing work fling would actually work. Of course a man with a degree would come to take her away after he finally decided to act on her teasing. But then again, it was all a joke until he finally asked her out.

He was about to leave the hospital until he heard his name called.

"Shin!" he heard again, before turning.

Yayoi ran around people to catch up to them.

"You're not going to tell me why I should leave Ikuko?" she asked, sounding disappointed.

"No. If you don't know who you want for yourself instead of what your Grandfather wants for you, then I'm wasting my time and your time." Shin tried to not sound angry.

"And mine." The escort added.

"I apologized. I beat myself mentally two nights ago after reading your letter. I let you have your date with the man last night instead of interrupting it. I'm not going to beg like your brother suggested. I can't take you out for lunch at a sushi place, because I have an escort who is making sure I don't run away to some other country. Either you still have an interest in me or you don't." without raising his voice once, he turned and walked out.

Yayoi stood in the lobby of the hospital, ignoring the stares and whispering that was going on. The same nurse that helped Shin earlier shook her head.

"You just let Mr. Mori go. What woman lets a sweetheart like that walk away? Kids and their love fights."

Yayoi glared at the nurse and walked away. For once in her twenty-four years, she was found speechless by a man.

Returning to the army base early, Shin headed to his bunk. After keeping a tranquil outside, he had to let the inside out. After having the drive back to settle himself down, he really felt dumb for letting her go. The countless flirting to take his mind off of the people he had brought in from the sea or flooded towns gave him a break from stress.

He called his mother about sending Seiji and Nasuti some matching pottery for their wedding gift. She told him that she knew just what would be perfect for them and that she'd pass her thoughts along to Sayoko to get started on it.

The next morning, Shin found himself with a doctor. His right shoulder was being examined for movement ability. He was still having problems raising his right arm above his shoulder, and having it taken out of socket set it back. The doctor told him he wasn't going until he could lift his arm over his head.

The next few days, he went to physical therapy for his arm. He was lectured for not going since his injury. He soon found that the therapist didn't like deserters as his arm and shoulder were twisted and pulled in every direction possible. There were also weights he had to do. By the end of each day, his shoulder was beat. The upside was that he could go to Seiji's wedding.

After coming back from therapy one day, many of the soldiers were crowded by a television. When they saw Shin enter, they all became quiet.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Twenty-four Pakistani soldiers were killing in Somalia yesterday." One spoke.

"The rebels ambushed them." Another said.

Shin frowned, "Oh."

"You probably shouldn't watch it Shin." Someone in the back said, "You might want to run away again."

"Yeah, but this time you should just stay away." Another spoke.

"Dead man walking."

Shin sighed, and walked out. It wasn't so much the thought of dying scaring him; he'd already done that once. It was dying in pain again and what everyone else's reaction would be. Hoping to take his mind off of it, he grabbed a small dinner.

It was a week before the wedding when all five of the troopers, Nasuti and Jun had set aside time for lunch away from family. Touma had flown in the day before, leaving Carla and Hector back in California. Ryo and Shu drove to Sendai for the week. Shin convinced the training base that he wasn't taking the next plane to Korea. The fourteen year old Kendo champion gladly skipped school to spend the rare time with his 'older brothers.'

Shin sat quietly picking at his food as everyone talked. They were all avoiding the conversation about the warrior of water leaving.

"So the thief walked in thinking he was all clear to steal the money, then suddenly my mom jumped out of nowhere to scare the guy." Shu spoke of the almost recent robbery of the restaurant, "The man ran so fast, I thought he was going to take off."

"Did you see the man's face?" Jun asked.

"Nah, but he didn't get anything from our safe." Shu answered.

Seeing how Shin and Seiji were being quiet, Touma pulled out an old photo album. He had an evil grin on his face.

"Hey Shin, what were you looking at in this picture?" he nonchalantly asked.

"What picture is it?"

"The one of us at the beach. You and Seiji were both hold up Nasuti."

Shin thought about it for a moment before going red, "Where'd you get it?"

Naturally, Seiji saw the water warrior's blush, and grabbed the book.

"You're staring at Nasuti in her swim suit!" Seiji yelled.

"Oops." Shin gave him an embarrassed grin.

"When was this?" Nasuti asked.

"Summer after we beat Arago." Touma answered.

Nasuti let out a laugh, "Boys will be boys, Seiji."

"I want to know how he got the picture." Shu thought out loud.

Seiji snorted as he sat down in his chair, "Staring. Shin, just as I think I have figured you out as a nice polite guy who was going to work with animals, we find out you joined the Armed Forces and that you are actually a pervert."

"No, I think it was more of a healthy fourteen year old boy holding a pretty girl up out of the water." Shin laughed.

"I wondered why you stayed in the water a bit longer after that quick game. Now I think I know why." Jun added, making Shin blush even more.

"At least you didn't have to hold up Ryo." Touma teased.

"Hey." Ryo put his finger into Touma's chest, "Don't get me started on some of the things we've had to do for you Mr. I'm-hyper-after-sugar."

The next few hours then became a trip down memory lane. All the seriousness of life was forgotten.