A/n I got quite a few people saying they really love the Earth people so far. and I admit they are my favorite of the four kingdoms to write. I gave them a bit of a light Scottish accent because they just felt like that would be how they spoke. Please forgive me, any Scottish people reading this poor excuse for your beautiful accent. We are reaching the midpoint of the story, just not quite yet. A few more chapters and we'll be there. This will be, by far, the longest thing I've ever written and I'm happy everyone here gets great enjoyment from reading it.
On to the story!

P.S. Did you see that they already have a few episodes of the new Rurouni Kenshin already out? I'm ready to revisit my favorite anime. ^.^x

Misao stood up on her toes leaning out the window. Aoshi reached out and grabbed at the back of her tunic before she dared lean any further and topple right over to fall to her death. The Lady of the Keep had received word that the watchmen had spotted a lone wagon on the road headed this way.

"I see it!" Misao gasped as the covered wagon crested the hill. Three Water soldiers rode tall and proud beside it "That's Miss Megumi, I know it is." Misao dropped from the window ledge. "I gotta get her rooms ready!" The girl gasped, and Aoshi let her go and watched her dart down the halls. The Metal fae sighed. The girl appeared to have forgotten that she readied the Master Healer's rooms last week.

He turned and headed further down the hall to the stairway that connected the private side of the Keep to the healing side. He alerted the main healers of the pending arrival of the newly appointed Master Healer. The group of them murmured in excited voices that they could only just contain to whispers.

Returning to the private side of the Keep, Aoshi was almost run down by Misao who was now sprinting at her full speed down the hall to dive into her room. Four maids rushed in after her. The water guards in the hall looked bewildered, their spears tipping at all angels as they craned their necks to witness the commotion.

Azure jumped back from his post at Misao's door when she popped out half dressed, clutching her tunic to her body. Her bare, creamy white shoulders looked out of place in the hall. Aoshi wanted to shout at her for being outside in such a state of undress, but found his tongue glued to the top of his mouth.

"Aoshi! Can you run down to the front steps? I haveta get dressed!" She shouted down the hall at him before she vanished back into the hands of her maids. Aoshi heaved a sigh. He didn't know anything about greeting people into a house that wasn't his own and he sure as Hell didn't know much about Master Healers. But with his head high and his back straight, he went to do what he was sent to.

Although he was glad to see that at least for the moment, Misao seemed to be back to her old self. The Water female appeared to have slipped into a sort of melancholy. Aoshi wouldn't go so far as to say she was depressed, but she missed her cousin so and the responsibility of the Keep weighed down on such small shoulders not trained to take on the task. He found himself awake at night, curled up in her small bed, brows knitted together as he focused on his hand palming her ever-taught belly. No life force stirred so it was not pregnancy that was causing her somber mood. The Fire in him was relieved that he hadn't given the girl a child out of wedlock the Earth in him was always disappointed.

His step paused. New feelings rushed up at him. He didn't realize until that moment how much he wanted to put a baby in her belly so that he might hold it in his arms. A strange pressure grew in the center of his chest and the great Metal man had to take a few breaths before he could continue. He would put those feelings away for him to think about another time. With all the stress and pressure Misao was under, the last thing he needed to do was get her with child. The Fires in the Keep would surely raise a stink about Misao being unmarried. It was a wonder she wasn't pregnant now. He sure wasn't doing anything to prevent it.

He took a breath of the fresh warm summer air as he stepped through the great doors and down the stone steps until he reached the last and widest step. There he stood, with his hands behind his back. Aoshi had to admit to himself that he was curious about this Water woman who was raised in the Fire lands. To rise up through the ranks to become a Master Healer. The one that Lady Kaoru corresponded with quite often when her father passed.

The guards around him stood like stone statues. A mix of Fire and Water men in their gleaming armor and weapons of choice. There was one on each side of every other step. He wondered how the Fire men were doing being out in the humid air. Perhaps they were glad to be in the heat of the summer sun, out from under the rocky Keep. The great front doors were thrown open and then braced open as those wanting to welcome the new healer gathered on the sides of the steps. There were a great many nurses in their white and soft blue robes who were able to step away from their work, unlike the actual healers. Melinda was there with a few of the kitchen girls and boys, maids, off duty guards as well.

The rattling of chains brought his attention back to the road where the wagon finally came through the trees. There was a shriek as Misao, with her Kimono hiked almost up to her knees, rushed through the doors and down the steps. How she didn't trip herself and fall head over backside down the stone steps was a mystery to Aoshi. She came to a halt beside him as the kitchen workers giggled at her antics. The Lady of the Keep smoothed her Kimono down and patted her hastily braided hair.

"By the Gods, that was close." The girl huffed as she turned to the wagon as it finally came to a halt at the steps. A Water guard on the bottom step reached out and pulled away at the canvas and offered a hand to the woman inside. Aoshi could feel Misao wanting to lean out as if that would give her the power to see through the cloth.

Finally, the woman emerged. Tall, mature, and shockingly beautiful despite being so obviously worn and tired from the trip.

... . . ...

Megumi didn't think her arrival would attract so much attention. But the first sight that greeted her as she blinked in the sunlight was the large group of people standing on the sides of large rocky steps that lead up to great open doors of the towering, Keep. She looked up and up at the great sentinel of rock and marveled at how such a place housed the wondrous healing water that she had made her life's work from.

"Miss Megumi!" A spry young girl called out as she vaulted from the stone steps to embrace her. Megumi smiled as she wrapped her arms around her.

"Miss Misao. Kaoru has told me so much about you, I feel as though I know you already." She said down at bright blue eyes blinking up at her. Megumi marveled at how easily the Water-folk showed their emotions. She had wondered how people seem to know just what she was feeling, but upon arrival in the water lands and seeing so many of her own kind in her own lands for the first time; it was obvious how much they let show in their eyes.

"Welcome to Aiga Keep. I'm so glad you decided to come here." The girl went on, finally dropping her arms and taking her by the hand to pull her up the steps. "Betcha tired from the trip. I'll take you right to your rooms so you can wash and rest." She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "And then I can show you around the hospital."

"Actually," Megumi started as she saw the eager faces of a group of women and men in blue healing robes. "I was hoping to take a look around as soon as I could."

"I expected as much from a Master Healer." Rumbled a giant of a man that hovered beside them. Megumi glanced at him from the sides of her eyes. He had the arrogance of a Fire, she could nearly smell it on him. But he towered over her, and she was quite tall for a Water female.

"Oh! This is Sir Aoshi Shinomori. He's a Metal Fae and attached to me." Misao bounced her eyebrows. "In alota ways."

Megumi covered her grin with her hand and glanced up at the towering man. "A Hybrid., forgive me Sir Aoshi but I would like to talk to you sometime. Mixed breeds are not very common so deep in the fire lands and I've never had the chance to look one over. I hope you won't mind." She tried to school her face into a more sympathetic look rather than the curiosity she felt. "I apologize if it is a tender subject for you."

The great man arched an eyebrow at her words and bowed his head. "Not at all Master Healer. I understand we must be of a rarity for you." He glanced over at Misao who was still beaming and bouncing at the balls of her feet. "As there are quite a large number of us in the forges I would suspect it would be prudent for you to learn of our unique properties." She felt her eyes could not grow larger than they already were.

"How many, do you think?" her voice lifted slightly.

"A hundred and fifty-six, myself included."

"Ah." Megumi squeaked. So many Metal fae hybrids to learn from. "Yes, you are right, it would be a good idea. I must take notes." She muttered to herself. Wondering if she could unpack her notebooks and write to Sparc about anything he knew about mixed blood as soon as she could.

"Yes, yes." Misao waved the beast of a man away as she pulled Megumi closer to her. "You can get her things into her room?"

"I'm not entirely useless." He muttered over his shoulder as he called some of the guards from the side to unload her trunks.

"He seems rough but he's as soft as warm butter." Miao waggled her brows at her again as she tucked her hands into her elbow and pulled her along. Megumi was instantly in love with the spirited slip of a young woman. She was so much like what she felt Kaoru would be if she had not been schooled into becoming the wife of a Fire man. The healer had seen hints of it in Miss Kaoru's writing. It was difficult to understand how Miss Misao, and the rest of the keep it seemed, were eager to welcome her into the clan. She never thought she would belong anywhere. She would care for this family as if they were her blood. She swore it as she swallowed back emotion that wanted to choke her.

"This is Milinda and some of the kitchen staff." Misao introduced. Megumi turned as the plump older woman bowed low, along with her staff of boys and girls. "If you need anything, this lady will bend over backward to get it for you."

"Enough of that" the lady scolded Misao like a nanny would. "Tellin' people I go out of my way for their special requests." She added firmly. Kind, sparkling eyes winked at Megumi regardless and Megumi pressed her lips together to keep from smiling too much and giving the kitchen matriarch away.

"Oh, and these are some of your new fellow healers." Misao dragged her over to the healers. The group of them surrounded Megumi and expressed their excitement at her joining them. It was all Megumi could do to tell them she was just as happy to be allowed to be there. She didn't feel like she deserved the top spot in the Keep. She only just arrived. And though she outranked everyone, she was not stupid enough to believe she knew everything. She would bow and scrape her way under the elder healers for years before allowing herself to feel like she belonged among them.

Finally, the group of healers and Misao led her inside. She had little time to allow her eyes to adjust when they pulled her to the right and into what must have been the hospital side of the Keep. Great windows let in lots of light, but not much heat penetrated through the thick clouds, much to Megumi's delight. She let the healers lead her from one great hallway to the next. Each filled with private rooms for patients. There was a constant sound of trickling water and Megumi could feel the power of the water constantly buzzing softly against her skin. It was comforting, massaging away the aches of the hard trip. And her mind was already churning from the sick and hurt people she caught a glance of. She would have to adjust her healing practices to suit the Water people.

Operating rooms, recovery rooms, nurseries filled with squalling new babies, a children's ward, a wing for the elderly, even a small ground floor room for worried fae to bring their beloved pets. Megumi's head was swimming from all the compassion and love and care that filled the rooms. She felt personally responsible for every sick or hurt person she saw. She loved them all and wanted to help them as best she knew how. She had never felt this way back at the school. She had to pause in the shadows of a large pillar. She placed a hand over her chest to keep her heart from swelling past her ribs.

"Megumi?" Misao asked softly, her small brows knitted in concern. "Perhaps you should rest, this is a lot to take in."

"No," Megumi assured in a breathless whisper. "No, no it's fine. It's just more than I ever expected and all I wanted it to be," she said through the tears in her voice and eyes. "It's just exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

Misao gave her a knowing look that went beyond her sixteen years and gave Megumi a hug. She said nothing, but the embrace told the lady doctor all she needed to know. She was part of a big family now.

... . . ...

After staring in awe and the large glacial ice that gave its powers to the water of the Keep, Misao swept Megumi away to her quarters. They were perfectly situated between the two halves of the Keep, along with the rest of the elder healers. She could reach both the hospital and the residence of the Keep with ease. She was led down a small and private corridor that opened into the hall where Misao as well as the Lord and Lady of the Keep slept. She made note of which door belonged to who and noted, with worry, at the set of double doors that lead to what was the nursery.

Megumi wondered if Kaoru told Misao that she was with child. Misao gave no hint in knowing that a child was on the way and Megumi didn't know if the secret was important. She decided to err on the side of caution and loyalty to her Lady Kaoru and keep silent about it for now. Finally, with strict orders to come to her or Aoshi for anything, Misao left her alone in her new rooms.

Yes, rooms. After so many years in the single room of the school dormitory, Megumi was speechless at the quarters given to her. The first room, with its bookshelves, desk, stone tabletops and racks of shelves would provide her with ample workspace. There was a large table, that Megumi immediately decided that she would use for exams. The dark stone walls of the Keep would have made it gloomy except for the large bay windows that cast warm light on a set of shelves on the far wall. This would be a nice spot for her to set up new potted plants for her medicines.

Past this room was her personal spaces. On one side, a drawing room of sorts, with a small round table and chairs. Wooden cabinets and a writing desk sat in the corner. A fireplace sat, to be shared between this room and the room on the other side. A bedroom. A large tapestry hung on the wall beside her overly large bed. It depicted a pod of dolphins in a bright blue sea. Her trunks had been brought in already and stacked beside the heavy wooden wardrobe and chest of drawers. There was a small window that overlooked the sheer rock face of the Keep and it shocked Megumi at how high up she really was. She even had her own bathing room. It was just large enough for the metal tub but it was covered in tiny aqua and sea-foam colored tiles.

Megumi set her fingertips on the smooth cool ceramic tiles and breathed in the humid air of the Wet land. She could almost hear the soft call of the Sea, could feel it in her blood.
She was home.

... . . ...

Aoshi made good on his promise and Megumi had the giant man perched ridiculously on her exam table a couple of days after she had settled into her new home. She had spent the time learning the ins and outs of the Keep. Every turn and set of stone steps. Every hallway and alcove. It really wasn't as confusing as it had seemed at first. The place had been laid out rather well. It was just slightly disorienting as it was under the mass of rock and earth.

Fire's liked sunlight. So their buildings were covered in windows, and the floor plans were wide open to allow the sunlight to filter into every corner of the building. So being underground, where the only source of light was lanterns, sconces and torches gave Megumi a strange sensation the first two days. As if she couldn't tell up from down. She felt dizzy at times. As if gravity was no longer a force that held her. But all that faded rather quickly and she understood now why the Fire's never really ventured anywhere other than their foundries and the Great Hall. Both places were bathed in sunlight

Megumi took the usual measurements of a new patient. Writing everything down twice. Once for the official documents and again for her own personal notes. Aoshi was a staggering height and weight. Most of which came from copious amounts of solid muscle. That was the Earth blood that made him so tall and strong. His features were classic for Fire's, Sharp, angular with eyes that couldn't help but look as though they were disapproving or judging. Though his eyes were a startling shade, he confirmed that they did shift colors. He had both raging red, oranges and yellow and also comforting browns and green. Depending on the situation. Though it seemed that his default eye color settled on the Fire side.

He couldn't rape, he revealed. That the very idea of it made him ill. Fire didn't burn him unless he wasn't focused on it. And he could shift great weights of rock and other things if he needed to. He generated Earth healing energy through sex and could absorb energy from Fire, but not from trees. Water didn't bother him much, but he never tested himself against rapidly moving rivers or the sea. He did feel foggy in the head during wet weather though. It was so interesting, the amalgamation of the two elements, and Aoshi informed her that no two metal fae had the same abilities. Each one was slightly different than the next, especially when it came to the level of tolerances.

"If you don't mind my asking; which parent was the Earth?" Megumi was quite taken with how the man held himself as still as the stone wall of her rooms. If it wasn't for his blinking she would have thought he was a statue. His Fire Ki was pulled in so tightly, she could hardly feel it. And even his breathing was hardly detectable unless she paid attention. This was discipline in its highest form.

"My Father was the Earth." His voice rumbled like large boulders rolling down a mountainside.

Megumi nodded scribbling away in her notes. "Do you know if you were a large baby? How long your mother was pregnant for?"

"My Mother told me I was a giant of a babe, but my Father used to tease me that I was the smallest baby he had ever seen." There was a whisper of a smile as he spoke.
"Earth babies are the largest of all the elementals. Especially since their gestational time is longer. Did your mother struggle to deliver you?"

"No, I was not her first. My sister was a Fire from another marriage. Then I came along. I'm sure she would have struggled if I were the firstborn, or if I ended up being an Earth and even larger."

Megumi scribbled furiously in her notes. She was slightly taken aback that the man admitted so easily that his mother had been married before. For Fire's that wasn't the sort of information given out so casually. Unless of course, her first husband died honorably in battle. Rather than the shame of a divorce.

The man was looking slightly uncomfortable and Megumi figured she should change the subject.

"Would it have been very difficult for my mother if I had been firstborn? And an Earth?" He suddenly asked.

"Well. First babies are usually the hardest and longest labor. And depending on your mother, your size could have made it a bit more difficult than usual."

"My mother was average for Fire women." He stated, looking away from her. It was the first bit of real movement she had seen from him after he had perched himself on her table.

"I assume then that someone of a smaller frame would struggle to birth the larger elementals."

It clicked then. This great beast of a man belonged to the tiny, impish Water fae. Megumi set her notes down. "Yes." She said carefully. Was Misao pregnant? She didn't want to worry the man, but as a doctor, she couldn't lie to him. "Since the baby has to pass through our rigid hip bones to be born, someone with smaller hips will struggle to deliver a larger baby." She watched a dark look flash across his eyes. "But I've seen small women deliver giant babies with very little problems. Nature is quite fickle that way. There is no one set of rules." She rushed to say.

Those eyes remained dark and they slid over to her. "There isn't much study done on hybrids?"

"Not too much, especially Air. Since they don't breed much to begin with and Fire, since they only stopped killing their hybrids babies these past few decades." Megumi admitted.

"Which is why I was so shocked to see so many Metal fae here." She watched as Aoshi nodded, his jaw flexed once and then he went still again.

"Is…is there anything you want to ask me?"

The great man shook his head and looked down at the floor. "No Ma'am."

... . . ...

Benfore was far larger than the villages they had passed the last few days and Kaoru marveled at the hustle and bustle of the Earth town. Carts and carriages, wagons and rickshaws rolled and rattled here and there. All manner of horses, ponies, mules and donkeys were pulling and carrying and packing around all sorts of things up and down the cobblestone streets. Houses were waddle and daub, washed with all sorts of colors. Some roofs were thatched, some had clay tiles. They were a far cry from the rounded wood and earth huts in the villages.

The roads were a maze around the blocks of homes, businesses, shops and trees. Great leafy trees sprouted up from gardens, the middle of homes and even the middle of streets. Roads curved and split around the thick trunks. Earths would never cut down a tree. Instead, they transplanted most of them or built around it until the tree lived its life and died on its own.

Kenshin pushed their small troop further into the town. It grew quieter as they moved away from the busy market streets and into more home-like dwellings. Kaoru glanced up and the two-story buildings that lined the roads. Banners and flags in all sorts of vibrant colors snapped from balconies and from ropes the strung from one house to another across the road. There were various reoccurring symbols painted on every banner, flag, plaque and sometimes she would see it on the walls and doors of the houses.

A peace settled over Kaoru as Kenshin turned his stallion down a road that led straight to a massive oak tree. Its branches spread out in a rustling ceiling. Kaoru recognized the peculiar gathering of trees and rock around the Oak.

"Church?" Kaoru asked softly, looking up at Kenshin. "Are we to pray first?" She was anxious to see Sano now that she was surrounded by so many that reminded her of him.

"No, Sano is at the church. His wounds were such that they placed him with the Great Oak for healing, that they did." His melodic Air accent had already started to fade.

Kaoru winced and looked down at the stones of the street as they passed by. Sano had been mortally wounded. Critical enough that only his Goddess could save him. Her arm around Kenshin tightened and he gave her arm a reassuring pat. Kaoru felt his thighs flex and his stallion responded by picking up to a trot as Kenshin took her around and away from the busy front entrance to the back of the church where a second building had been built up against the tree. Kaoru assumed this must be some type of ward for the very desperate. She felt her heart start to pound as Kenshin slipped off his horse and helped her down. He gave the reins over to one of the Fire guards and with his hand wrapped around hers, pulled her into the hospital.

Inside it was dim, the trees and rock were so tightly wedged that no light could penetrate around the trunks. The ceiling made of leaves was so thick, that only flashes of golden light broke through occasionally. Kaoru tried to prepare herself for whatever state they would find Sano as a young lady led them down the hall to his room. She jingled as she stepped, her neck, arms and ankles loaded with beads and bells and all sorts of shiny things.

"Thank you." Kenshin nodded to the young Earth woman as she gave them a smile and bounced away. The husband and wife stared at the door for a long moment before turning to look at each other. "Are you going to be alright?" Kenshin wondered.

"I'm sure he can't be any worse off than when he left us." She was sure of that.

"Perhaps I should go in first just to make sure."

Kaoru wanted to let him, but her back went straight and her head tipped upward. "Sano is my friend too. Whatever state he is in, I will handle it the way the Lady of Aiga Keep should."

Kenshin's eyes went warm as he nodded in silence and reached out and turned the door knob.

Inside it was far dimmer than out in the hall, there was an actual wooden roof over the sick rooms it seemed, and only a branch of candles glowed in a small altar in the side of the room. The room was heady with the scent of healing herbs and incense. Kaoru swung her eyes away from the light to see a large bed made from the exposed roots of the giant Oak. Sano rested right in the center, a patchwork quilt covered him from the waist down. The bed was rather low, Kaoru suspected there was no mattress at all and she stepped closer to find Sano sleeping peacefully on a bed of leaves and he was leaning up against the trunk of the tree. In the darkness of the room, an ethereal green light would pulse down from the trunk and enter Sano. It was as if the great Oak had a heartbeat.

Kaoru swallowed and found her throat wouldn't cooperate as she forced herself to focus on Sano for the first time. His color was good, but his eyes were rimmed in dark shadows, like great black eyes. The worst of his wounds were hidden under bright white ribbons of fabric that had been torn into bandages. Symbols were drawn on the bandages, row after row of them.

"He looks good." Kenshin breathed a soft laugh. "Thank you, Gods," he added, moving to the other side of the bed and set a hand on the mop of brown hair. His headband was gone and so the long locks were left to tumble about his face and shoulders, softening his striking features. His face was rough with the start of a scruffy beard.

Kaoru found a small chair beside the altar of herbs, candles, crystals and statues of various deities. She took it and set it beside the roots of the bed and set her hand on Sano's arm. He was warm and felt hard as a rock, even unconscious as he was.

"Will you be alright here with him while I take our men to try and find where the rest of our men and your maids went?"

Kaoru jerked her face up at Kenshin. That was right. Her maids and healer went with Sano along with half their men. "Why yes." She breathed. She could be nothing but safe in an Earth town.

"I will go then. Stay here or go into the Church if you must."

Kaoru smiled. "I'm fine in Earth lands."

"There are more than just Earth men here." He warned with a sigh before walking around the bed to place a kiss on her forehead and setting his hand on her belly before turning and leaving her in the silence of the healing room.

Kaoru would stay as long as she was allowed and she would do as her Lord Husband commanded and go into the Church if she had to. After all this adventure, she was content to just be. The Water Female turned her face back to Sano's and smiled at him. Her grip on his arm moved down to his hand and she held him tightly.

"I'm glad you seem fine," Kaoru said, knowing he would do nothing but breathe softly. "What an interesting time I've had while you were away from us." Kaoru went on to tell Sano about the city in the trees and Kenshin's apartment and staying with Saitou and accusing Sano of getting wounded so he didn't have to deal with the Air man. She somewhat understood Sano's distaste for him now. She told him of the Earth village they stayed the night at and the small party they threw for them.

"I wish you had been there to explain everything to me, there is much much I still don't understand and I feel like a pestering child to keep asking Kenshin all the time."

"He'll need tae practice if he's tae have his own child soon."

Kaoru's head snapped up and she shot up out of her chair as she found Sano's warm mahogany eyes wide open and his ever knowing grin on his face.

"Sano! You're awake!" she lifted the hand she was holding to her chest.

"Been awake for some time, Missy, hard tae sleep wi' someone tellin' me their life story."

"Sanosuke!" Kaoru gasped, her grip on his hand tightened. "You were just napping? I thought you were unconscious!" She hissed, not wanting to be loud in a hospital.

"Hell no, I wasn't unconscious, ya think I've been 'ere this long an' no' healed?"

He didn't give her time to answer, he tugged hard on his hand and caught Kaoru as she tumbled forward and he wrapped both arms around her. Kaoru had a retort ready but she was so caught off guard that the words died in her throat and as the moment of silence stretched between them, Kaoru wrapped her arms around Sano's shoulders and held him as tightly as she could. She was thankful she was able to do so while he was warm and alive instead of the alternative.

There was a sniff and Sano leaned back and his arms dropped away as he rested back against the tree. His other hand, wrapped in bandages dashed across his face and Kaoru blinked away her own tears as she perched on the roots along the bed. The was another long moment of silence, the only sound was the faint rhythmic jingling of bells from the caretakers as they moved up and down the hall.

"...How much do you remember?" Kaoru asked softly, still squeezing his hand.

The Earth man pushed his mop of brown hair from his face, all it did was spring back into his eyes. He gave his new beard a scratch."No' much after I was loaded inta th'wagon." He confessed with a humorless smile.

Kaoru hurt. The sudden hope that he wouldn't remember being strung up a tree and left to die was dashed. She didn't want him to remember that.

"And ye, Missy? Those fuckers didnae hurt ye?" His eyes roamed her body.

"I broke a rib, and cracked my head." She admitted. "I woke in an Air hospital. I had been asleep for three days. The healers feared I had slipped into a coma."

A dark look passed over his angular features. Sano must have still been asleep when she was telling him that part of the story. "An' th'babe?" his eyes flickered down to her middle.

Kaoru gave him a reassuring smile. "Is well."

But the dark look wouldn't leave his face. "I failed ye tha' day."

"No!" Kaoru snapped.

"Yes, Missy, I did. I'm yer personal guard, Kenshin trusted ya wit' me."

"Sano, no one man would have been able to defeat so many. Kenshin was just as worried for you as he was for me." She wanted to tell him how it took their whole troop and the help of Air warriors to defeat the Drow and how Kenshin had bent over Sano's prone body in grief. But the words and the memory were still too painful

"Horseshit, ya carry his babe."

"You're his best friend." Kaoru countered, eyes flashing and she squared her shoulders. "You're my best friend too!"

Sano opened his mouth to retort but instead of words only a great sigh escaped and Kaoru watched as he seemed to sink further against the tree as a flash of green energy pulsed down the trunk. He was still too weak to argue with her.

There was a click at the door and Kaoru turned expecting to see Kenshin but instead was greeted by the sight of a very tall, very muscular, very naked man.

I'm glad Megumi took to the Keep like a fish to water, pun intended. And Aoshi, he's got something on his mind that seems to be giving him something distracting to think about.
Finally! Sano is back and well. He seems his usual self, if a bit tender and sore. His accent is quite thick, now that he's back around his people. I hope it isn't too difficult to read.
Until next time! Thank you for reading, reviews are loved.