The usual disclaimer still applies.

A/N 1: I have finally decided about when I want to time period to be for this story. It is set at the end of the Bakumatsu War (Edo Period). It is December of the year 1867. The Meiji Period began in September of 1868.

Saito's POV

I stepped behind the nearest boulder, slowly peeling off my bloody clothes and bandages. The bandage pulled at the stitches, but it came off easily. I probed the stitches on my side gently and ran a hand over the dark, blue-black bruises that stained my chest like an ink spill. I picked up my clothes and put them in a pile near the hot spring so I could wash the blood out of them. I untied the leather thong holding my hair back and ran my fingers through my hair.

The steam from the hot spring curled around me as I slid into the water and found a ledge to sit on near my clothes. I slipped deeper into the water to wet my hair and when I came up for air, the Battousai stood above me.

"Trying to drown yourself Wolf?" He asked holding his clothes in front of himself in an attempt for modesty. I settled back onto the ledge and stared up at him; smirking as he blushed. I wiped the stray hairs out of my face and gestured to the ledge I was sitting on.

"Just getting comfortable, Battousai. Are you going to stand there and stare or are you going to join me?" I asked shifting to the right to give the Battousai space to sit down. He set his clothes down and stepped down onto the ledge before sitting down next to me. The Battousai tried to get comfortable keeping his arm out of the water, but I could see the tension rising in his shoulders. "We can dry the sling out later, Battousai. Soak your arm in the water."

"I'm fine." The Battousai muttered, stubbornly tensing his shoulders even more to make sure his arm stayed out of the water. I rolled my eyes and put my left hand on the back of his neck; pushing slightly on the tense muscles. The Battousai flinched slightly. "I said I'm fine Wolf."

Kenshin's POV

"Obviously you're not Battousai." Saito said rubbing the back of my neck with a little more pressure. I felt the muscles slowly relaxing under Saito's hand and I allowed my arm to sink into the water. The heat felt wonderful but Saito's hand felt strange against my skin. His hand was large and rough from calluses. His thumb brushed over the edge of the bruise he had left on my neck and I shuddered at the sensation. Saito's hand stilled on the back of my neck for a moment before continuing to rub the tension out of my muscles. I felt Saito's hand move upwards and he tugged on my hair a few times.

"What are you doing Wolf?" I asked opening my eyes, not realizing I had closed them. It was strange how relaxed we were becoming around each other, when only a few days ago, we were trying to kill each other.

"Nothing." Saito answered before my hair tumbled down around my shoulders. I watched Saito toss the leather thong, which had been holding my hair back, onto my pile of clothes. I turned to stare at him, looking over all of his visible injuries. Saito noticed. "I'm fine Battousai."

I arched an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes. Saito let go of my neck and leaned back against the edge of the hot spring. He closed his eyes and slid back underwater. I shook my head and tugged on some of his hair as it floated close to me. I was just getting comfortable when I felt him wrap one hand around my ankle and one on around my right wrist. Before I could do anything, he pulled me underwater; somehow making sure my left arm wasn't jostled. Saito let me go and I surfaced, coughing up water. Saito stayed underwater a minute longer before coming up beside me.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?!" I snarled pushing hair out of my face, effectively tangling it in a knot.

"You had blood in your hair." Saito said with a slight smirk. He leaned back against the edge again and rubbed a long scar that ran from his right shoulder to the center of his chest; it was beginning to whiten along the edges. I hadn't realized just how many scars that Saito had until then. He hissed when his fingers brushed over the bruised skin of his broken ribs.

I glanced down at the stitching that Saito had done for the arrow wound and then over my other injuries. I glanced back at Saito, taking in all of his injuries. We had done all of this damage to each other in such a short period of time and the war wasn't going to end anytime soon from what I could tell. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"What is on your mind now, Battousai?" Saito asked quietly. I opened my eyes and stared at the wall on the far side of the hot spring.

"I was just thinking about…." I started, not knowing how to voice all of the feelings welling up inside of me. Saito didn't push; he just sat there waiting for me to keep talking. "I was just thinking about the odds of us both surviving this war. I mean, look at how much damage we've done to each other in just a few days. What are the odds that we'll survive to see the changes that will have occurred because of this war?"

Saito's POV

I watched the Battousai as he told me what was bothering him and I felt a shiver run down my spine. I had thought about this the last few months, ever since Okita's cough had become much worse. I knew that Okita would not make it much longer, but I never thought that he would die from anything but the sword. I never thought about surviving the war because I knew there were stronger swordsmen out there and I didn't worry because there was no one waiting for me at home.

"The odds are probably not in our favor." I answered running my fingers down a scar on my right arm. "I always assumed that I would die on the battle field, either alone or beside my brothers."

I turned to look at the Battousai and saw him staring down at the water, his eyes distant. I flicked some water at him to bring him back to the present, earning a glare when he flinched. I slowly rotated my shoulders back and forth to stretch my muscles and let out a small sigh the muscles relaxed themselves even further. The Battousai leaned back against the edge of the hot spring and closed his eyes. He was silent for a few minutes before opening his eyes to stare at me again.

"Have you ever thought about having a family if you survive the war?" The Battousai asked tilting his head slightly to the right. "Or what they would think of everything that you've done in this war?"

"Why the sudden interest in my life, Battousai?" I answered dragging my clothes down from the ledge and into the water. The water turned pink as the dried blood began to dissolve and I rubbed at a particularly thick patch of blood. Instead of answering, the Battousai just stared at me. I let out another sigh and let my clothes float in front of me. "The answer to both questions is no. I haven't thought about having a family and I don't care what they would think of what I have done in this war because they would never understand what it has been like to live through a war. What it is like to see men you have fought with fall in battle or understand what it means to take a life. Does that answer your question, Battousai?"

The Battousai nodded and carefully reached back to grab his own clothes. We sat in silence for almost thirty minutes before I decided to bring the Battousai back to the present again. I reached over and tugged on some of his hair. When he didn't respond, I tugged harder, making him glare at me.

"Stop that! I swear you are three years old!" The Battousai snapped at me, pulling on the hair I had in my grasp. I refused to let it go and got a face full of water. I let go of his hair and splashed him right back, effectively starting a splashing war. We went at it for a few minutes before we were both laughing like maniacs. The laughter hurt my ribs, but I could feel my whole body relaxing a little more. The Battousai wiped a few tears away from his eyes and leaned his head back. "We should probably get out of the water and dry off soon."

"I think I saw some firewood by the pathway." I said standing up slowly, quite aware that the Battousai was staring at me. I draped my clothes over the nearest rocks to dry out and walked to the edge of the torchlight. There was a small pile of firewood and when I picked it up, I found another supply box. It had a few more bandages in it, but that was it. I brought the firewood and box back to the driest spot near the hot spring. I sat facing him. "Are you going to join me or stay in the water?"

The Battousai turned bright red again as he got out of the hot spring and hung up his wet clothes as well. He grabbed the torch and brought it over so I cold light the fire with it. He stayed standing until the fire was lit and returned the torch to where he had taken it from. He sat across from me and when he glanced at me again, his blush returned.

"I didn't think you were this shy Battousai." I said with a smirk. His blush deepened and he flicked a small pebble he had found at me. It hit my right shin and bounced into the fire. I took the bandages out of the box I found and tossed the Battousai some of them. "I found some more bandages. We might as well use them."

The Battousai set the bandages off to the side and tried to get his arm out of the sling. He winced as he shifted his arm wrong and I sighed; I knew he wouldn't ask for help. I stood up and walked over to him. He glared at me.

"I can manage on my own." The Battousai said through clenched teeth. The blush had vanished, leaving his skin pale with pain. I rolled my eyes at him and leaned over to untie the knot that held the sling together.

"I'm sure you can." I said in the same tone I'd been using with Okita lately. I hung the sling up next to his clothes and, just to bother him, sat right beside the Battousai. The blush started to creep back up the Battousai's neck and as I went to tease him about it, I yawned. The Battousai snorted and shook his head.

"Let's get some rest before we re-bandage our wounds and continue to the next cave." The Battousai said lying down as close to the fire as he could without being burned. I nodded and lay down as well. It wasn't long before sleep claimed both of us.

TBC…..

Reviews are welcome.

A/N 2: A historical note about Okita Sōji – Okita was diagnosed with Tuberculosis after the Ikedaya Affair in 1864. Back then, people diagnosed with Tuberculosis usually died within days or weeks. After the Battle of Toba Fushimi (January 27, 1868), Okita moved to the Matsumoto Ryōjun hospital and stayed in a guest house. He did not live to see the Meiji Era. He passed away on July 19, 1868. He was buried at the Sensō-ji Temple in Tokyo, where his tomb is only opened for the public one day a year. He died at the age of either 22 or 24. (The year of his birth is not clear.)