Hi guys. Bethca never though you'd see me again. nervous chuckle Sorry for the long looooong wait, but all of your persistent reviewing and one personal message finally paid off. I just felt so darned guilty every time I opened my email and saw people were still reading my story. Give me SOME slack though. During the entire time I haven't posted, I've graduated from college, gotten married, got a job, and bought/moved into a house. I've been busy.

XXXXX Chapter 6 Someone Special XXXXX

A young woman dressed in a pale blue kimono with a pattern of goldfish on it sat patiently waiting in a luxuriously decorated entry room. Before her was a tray with a small bottle of sake and an empty cup. Her eyes were closed as if in meditation, but she wasn't as 'off-guard' as one might have thought. Also on the tray before her, a letter of summoning had been placed.

A door at the other end of the room slid open, and her stone colored eyes opened. A servant entered, politely bowing.

"The councilor can see you now, Kotomi-sama," he said, straightening. "He is in the garden whenever you are ready.

The woman nodded and rose, walking to the door and allowing the servant to lead her to go-roujuu's garden.

The bright sunlight gleamed off of her ebony black hair as she entered the inner garden. The portly councilor looked up from the koi that had gathered at the sight of who usually fed them. He nodded his head in approval and motioned toward a nearby stone bench.

"Will you sit, Kotomi-kun?" he asked looking back at the fish briefly before walking to her.

"Thank you Councilor, but I am fine," she stated flatly. "Why did you send for me?" she asked, cutting to the chase.

With a sigh, the heavily set man sat on the bench. There was a brief moment of contemplation before he answered her. "Sera has failed," he said, watching the hawk-like beauty of her face for a reaction. But, there was none. "This is your one chance to prove yourself. Don't fail me."

"I see," Kotomi said, bowing. "I will not let you down, Councilor."

"They are nearly to the island, so time is of the essence," he said. "If you fail us as well, then we will have no choice but to ask . . ."

"You will not have to ask his help."

The man watched as the woman opened the door to the garden. "They are formidable opponents, Kotomi. Do not take them lightly."

XXXXX

Fuu slept lightly that night. A summer thunderstorm had rolled in from the mountains, and what usually made her sleep better was now keeping her from slipping into that good deep sleep.

The rain beat steadily on the roof of the small inn that they had found. There was a hot spring located here, and a small 'resort' had sprung up around its remote location. Since they'd had plenty of money after Mugen's pickpocketing raid, Fuu had rented two rooms instead of one, thinking that a little time alone would help her organize her thoughts.

But, it hadn't. After taking the first real bath she'd had in a long time and washing her kimono, she'd sat and meditated for the most part on Mugen and what to do about the situation between him and her. Fuu knew that after they reached the island, she would sneak off without them. At first it had been because she didn't know if she could say goodbye without crying. Now, it was the coward's way of getting out of confronting Mugen and how he felt about her.

The young woman rolled over, half asleep and snuggled her cheek against the soft warm body of Momo-san who was snoozing soundly on her pillow. Just as she was about to doze off again, she sensed something. Something didn't feel right. Outside, she could've swore she heard something.

To amplify her ill feeling, a flash of lightning brightened the screens of her room and thunder rolled off into the distance. Fuu sat up slowly, grabbing her tanto and letting the blanket slip off of her. Just before the last of the thunder faded she could've swore she heard it again - slow footsteps on the decking outside her door.

Without a sound she sat up and crept across the small room to the wall beside the door. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to be quiet. Beside the door she waited and watched. A moment later, she saw a silhouette on the screens. Whoever it was that was creeping around at this hour had their hair tied up and was carrying some sort of sickle.

Fuu felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She gripped the handle of the knife as she watched them approach the door. Maybe they were just late comers that were trying to be quiet as they made their way to their room.

But whoever it was wasn't that. The door to her room silently slid open a crack and Fuu could hear someone's clothes rustling over the rain. After what felt like an eternity, the door slid back again and the person moved on. Fuu stayed there and listened and watched as stray raindrops made their way in through the crack between the door and sill that the person had left.

The minutes ticked by, but Fuu refused to move. She couldn't be sure that they were gone. The rain drowned out any sort of noise that she could've used to tell. All she could think about now was what would they have done if she'd been in her bed sleeping when they'd opened the door. And, what if they weren't gone yet, and they heard her move?

It had to have been at least ten minutes before she dared to move out of the corner of the room and back to her bed. Instead of slipping back under the blanket though, she put her kimono on over the thin one she wore now and crept back toward the door. A peek outside would be a risk, but she just had to be sure they were gone.

Before she got halfway from her bed back to the door, she heard different footsteps coming from the way the other person had gone. Her heart was thundering as loud as the rain by now. The footfalls were quiet as well, but it sounded like a different person. The wooden boards sounded like they were carrying a different weight. Whoever this was was moving faster too. Quickly, she made her way back to her position beside the door.

She watched in horror as the door slid open again and a hand came in to push the door the rest of the way. Before she could think, the tanto was drawn and coming down on the hand. A second too late, she realized that the hand had blue bands tattooed around the wrist. The knife sliced the meaty part of the thumb fairly deep before she pulled it back.

The knife was on the floor and Fuu had flung the door the rest of the way open before Mugen could finish saying "Oww, FUCK!"

"Oh, Mugen!" she said, grabbing his bleeding hand and pulling him in, shutting the door behind him. "I'm so sorry."

"What the hell was that for!" he seethed.

Fuu had sat down and was tearing up some bandages. "I thought you were someone else," she said, grabbing his good hand and pulling him down into a sitting position that was knee to knee with her. He pulled his sword off and lay it beside him with his good hand so he could sit.

"You saw him too?" Mugen asked, suddenly the injury meant nothing.

Fuu looked up from the scrap material, and nodded. "He opened my door like you did," she said. "That's why you got stabbed." Fuu pulled his hand into her lap and began to wrap the bandage around his palm and thumb. "Why in the hell didn't you knock?"

"I thought you'd be asleep," he said irritably, "Not waiting to attack me!"

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes, "I said I was sorry. Besides, you've almost bled to death at least once since I've known you. I don't think this is going to kill you."

She looked up at him, and actually noticed how different he looked. The rain had soaked him to the bone and his hair was hanging limp. With his hair a little more tamed, Mugen almost looked like a whole other person. Except for that scowl. That was a genuine Mugen original. Fuu couldn't help but smile at the change.

"What?" he asked, noticing her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she snickered, "You just look so pitiful."

Her eyes wandered a little further south of his head, and she realized he wasn't wearing his shirt. The stranger must've woke him up, she reasoned. Mugen HAD to know how amazing he looked, she thought to herself. His lean torso was traced by very appealing lines formed by his taunt muscles. Just below his faintly rippled abdomen, Fuu traced the smooth V-shape to where it disappeared beneath the waist of his shorts that were hanging a little lower than usual with the weight of the rainwater. Those same pants were sticking to his legs, and an interesting part of his inner thigh was dangerously highlighted by it.

Fuu blushed deeply, and was suddenly glad that it was dark.

Mugen smirked, seeing her look away, but chose not to say anything about it. He didn't want to get thrown back out into the rainy night just yet. Instead, he chose to watch her finish binding up his hand.

Fuu's hands were so small compared to his, he noticed. The strange sense of protectiveness warmed him a little, but he quickly shook the thought and continued to watch her. She was done bandaging it and was just holding it in her hands, staring at it with tired eyes. Maybe she was thinking the same thing, he thought.

Fuu couldn't help but explore this part of him. Since most of her night had been spent thinking about him, her mind was sort of fascinated with seeing him. His gaunt hands were rough and hard, and she could feel the stringy muscles beneath the skin.

"Thank you," he said, not pulling it away. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes," she said, letting him go. "I'm just a little tired and feel like starring, I guess." She thought he'd been talking about her sudden fascination with hands.

The two sat in awkward silence for several minutes, Mugen watching Fuu, and Fuu trying to watch anything but Mugen. The rain was the only sound, and lightning would occasionally light up the room.

"Did you see the person outside?" Fuu asked at last.

Mugen shook his head. "No. He was gone by the time we'd gotten out of bed and out the door."

"Jin's not still out in this is he?"

"He went back to bed after we'd looked around."

Fuu moved back over to her bed and pulled the blanket back. "Why didn't you?" she asked, looking back at him and seeing him watching the windows as another flash lit up the screens.

"I couldn't sleep anyways," he explained, standing up and looking back at her. "Too much on my mind."

Fuu probably knew exactly what he was talking about. She'd been up half the night thinking about the same thing, no doubt.

"I hadn't been sleeping well either," she told him. Then, hesitating she asked, "Are you in hurry to get somewhere?"

"Nah," he shook his head, opening the door to her room and peering out into the wild night. "I was just going to go down to the restaurant and get a drink."

Fuu watched him step out onto the decking. "You could stay here for a little while," she said out of nowhere. "I wouldn't mind a little company, if you'd want to talk," she added before he could get the wrong idea.

Mugen stopped and looked back at her. She looked older with her hair down, he noted. Also, without her breasts being bound up, there was a whole lot more maturity there than he'd noticed before. He smiled. More to himself than to her. Talk was all that they'd do, he was sure of it. But, talk was better than nothing.

"Sure," he said, coming back in and closing the door again. "Why not?"

Mugen wasn't much of a talker, and Fuu knew it. But they needed to talk, and he knew that they did. Where did she begin though? How could she straighten things out with him, if she hadn't even straightened them out with herself yet?

"Mugen," Fuu said, watching him sit down again. She thought about lighting a lamp, but if whoever it was was still out there, it might not be such a good idea. "What did you use to do before you started to . . . you know?"

Mugen closed his eyes and wished he'd have went out for a drink instead. "I've always done this," he stated simply, hoping that it would move this conversation to another topic quickly.

Fuu blinked. "I see." She folded her hands in her lap thoughtfully. "Where did you learn how to fight?"

Mugen smiled a little at the memories. "On Ryukyu, how I fight isn't so uncommon, you could say. I learned a lot of it just playing when I was younger. As boys got older, playing sort of evolved into fighting, and I guess I learned how to use what I knew a little faster than everyone else."

"What about your sword? Did you learn how to use it from who gave it to you?" she asked, fingering her tanto.

"Nah," he grinned. "I stole it not too soon after I left home."

"So it is true," Fuu grinned, "If you give a monkey a pen, he'll eventually write a sentence."

The samurai frowned at the comment. "Actually, its more like if others beat on you and fight with you long enough, you'll eventually get better than them."

Fuu's smile faded. "I'm sorry."

Mugen waved it off. "Don't be," he said, leaning back on his hands and wincing when he remembered his bandaged left thumb.

Mugen had a skill for learning things fast, Fuu knew. She knew from seeing how he'd learned to read in one night. Granted, he wasn't a great reader, but he'd still learned it in only a few hours. She could definitely see how such a trait would make him the way he was. Where he came from, it was learn fast or die young, and he wasn't dead yet. Plus, it also explained why she'd never seen any fighting style like it. How Mugen fought was a cut-and-paste version of every skill he'd seen others use. "So, is that why you want to fight Jin?" she asked. "You think he's better than you, and you feel threatened by him."

"I never said I thought he was better than me!"

"You didn't have to," Fuu smiled. She was starting to see things a little clearer now. He'd gotten this good on his own in such a short time because every man on Ryukyu probably thought the same way as he did. Kill the guy that's better than you, and you'll always be on top.' Fuu hoped she never had to see such a place.

"Let's change the subject," Mugen sighed, a little aggravated. "How did you learn how to fight?" Surely she'd answer that, especially after he'd told her that much about him.

Fuu was silent for a long time. She hadn't thought about her sensei in so long. "After my mother gave me Father's tanto, she sent me to a woman who'd been some sort of spy or assassin when she'd been younger. I learned a lot from her, but I'm sure it was like no other training anywhere else."

Fuu looked at Mugen and was satisfied to see that he was listening.

"She was caught on one of her assignments and was tortured," Fuu said, picking up the knife and absently examining it. "They burned out her eyes and turned her away. Instead of giving up completely, she chose to relearn tantojutsu."

Mugen held out his hand, and after some thought, Fuu gave him the tanto. He pulled it out and examined it.

"She was very old by the time I came to her, and she taught me how to fight how she had been taught, and she taught me how she had taught herself."

So that was why she'd listened that day at the creek, Mugen thought. She'd been taught by a blind woman. It had probably been the reason she'd warmed up to Sera so quick too.

"I'm nowhere near as good as she was," Fuu said, "but with both skills combined, I think I do okay."

"You do very well," Mugen said. He hated to give compliments, but he meant it. "For a girl anyways," he added with a smile. Even in the poor light, he could see Fuu's cheeks darken and her eyebrows knit.

"Are you saying I can't be as good as a man!"

"Of course I am," he said, his smiled broadening. "Fighting with a tanto takes a lot of strength if you want to do any damage," he added. "That's one of the reasons why you couldn't do a damn thing to me last night."

Fuu shrunk back a little from the challenge at the mention of the previous night. He was right about her being too weak to do anything back. She'd been too busy focusing all the strength she had on keeping him from slicing her in two.

"But skill and speed are important too," she said, grabbing her tanto back from the jerk's hands. Fuu hated it when guys reveled in their 'manliness.' And, that was just what Mugen was doing.

"Yeah, you're right. You were too slow too," he said, dodging a slap to prove his point.

"Well, I don't think Sensei trained me with YOU in mind," Fuu said after a brief pause for thought. "I think my skills have helped me through some pretty sticky situations, though."

"You're skill is good," he said quietly, his smiled sobering a little. "I can't argue with that. But, let me show you what I mean," he said drawing his sword.

"No, no!" Fuu said, scooting away from him. "I am NOT doing that again!" Never bring a knife to a sword fight, her teacher had told her, and it was sound advice.

"Alright," Mugen said putting it back in its sheathe. "How about like this?" he asked, pulling at the bottom of the sheathe to reveal a hidden tanto. Fuu's eyes widened. She would've never guessed that was there.

"Hmph," she smiled. This would probably only make things worse, and it was going against everything she was trying not to do. But, her pride was at stake now. "Alright."

Mugen's eye's brightened. What a night this was turning out to be. He walked back to the door and went to open it."

"Huh uh," Fuu said shaking her head with a smile. "I don't want to get wet. Let's just stay in here." She'd been watching Mugen fight for the past month or so and thought she might be onto something. When the lean samurai fought, he did it in a LOT of space. Maybe in a smaller space, he was at a disadvantage.

Mugen looked back at her and smiled. "Okay, but what about the neighbors?" He motioned to either side of her room. "I'm a screamer," he teased with a wink.

"I don't have any here," Fuu said with a smirk as she took her stance. "Scream all you want."

Mugen took a much different looking position than Fuu had ever seen. "Okay, let's do this," he smiled. "First to draw blood wins."

Fuu nodded. At that, he came at her. This time she was ready for him, and it helped a lot. His black knife slashed out at her, but she rolled out of the way, just barely missing it. Fuu countered his strike with an attempt to cut him across the shoulder. Mugen shifted out of the way awkwardly. 'Right about now, he'd be jumping and flopping all over the place,' Fuu thought, satisfied. But, if Mugen was uncomfortable with the situation, he wasn't showing it very much. He had one of those damned sexy smiles on his face the whole time.

Did she even realize how hot she was right now? Mugen doubted it. With her hair down now, she looked even more like a goddess to him. Plus, she was fighting a lot better now that she'd known he was coming. Her skill was quite impressive. He hadn't been flattering her about that. She was fast too, just not as fast as him. But, against any normal, run-of-the-mill yakuza, Fuu would've been a challenging adversary.

Before she'd drawn her tanto, Fuu'd taken off her regular kimono. In her sleeping one she was less weighted down and felt like she could maneuver better. Fuu didn't know it, and he wasn't about to tell her, but Mugen could definitely tell she was excited by one glance at her chest. Ugh, it was almost painful knowing that he couldn't do anything to her.

Fuu lashed out at his exposed shoulder again, but he barely managed to avoid it and countered the attack with an upward sweeping one of his own. Her fast reflexes were starting to come back to the surface after more than a year without training or morning exercises. Fuu didn't make a move to dodge his attack. Much to his surprise, she grabbed his arm at the wrist, using its momentum before he could think to stop it and twisted it behind him so that his face and torso were exposed to her for a brief second. Mugen smiled wickedly at her successful trick. And, before she could bring her knife up to make the winning cut, he surprised her, in turn, by flipping his entire body over her so that he was facing her again. Only now, he was back in his arm's natural position.

Still holding her hand, he leaned back to avoid a futile swipe, then in the split second that she was recomposing herself, he pulled her to him in almost the same position they'd been in at the creek. Thinking that she was finally his and victory was his for the taking, he brought his tanto up to her waist. Fuu again surprised him by snapping her head back and popping him smartly in the nose. He felt his eyes sting with tears at the sudden pain, but he didn't falter until she countered her attack by stamping his bare foot with her heal. That made him let her go, more out of feeling of fairness since she'd caught him off guard so well than because he couldn't take the pain.

Fuu knew Mugen was holding back since he didn't want to hurt her, but it sort of pissed her off a little. She felt like it was his way of rubbing his 'manliness' in again by dumbing down his fighting for her. Of course, she didn't want to seriously hurt him either, and she was holding back quite a few painful tricks too. But, it would definitely make her feel a whole lot more satisfied if she could win.

The fight continued the same way for several minutes. Strike, dodge, counter. Strike, dodge, counter. Finally, Fuu went to nick Mugen on the thigh, when he saw an opening and took it. It surprised her when he blocked the strike with his tanto instead of simply avoiding it. They clanged sharply and sang as they ran along each other's edges when he pushed her arm up and out of the way so he could move fast and make the winning cut.

It wasn't the 'winning cut' Fuu was expecting either. He'd managed to sever the silk sash holding her sleeping kimono on without cutting her skin. She fumed at how easily she'd been 'beaten.'

Mugen smiled with triumph and watched with satisfaction as she scrambled to gather the loose garment back around her. Fuu blushed angrily.

"I didn't bleed, so you didn't win," she pouted, trying to readjust so she didn't look so vulnerable.

"I guess I just didn't have the heart to hurt you," he smiled, but it faded a little as he rubbed his sore nose.

Fuu's scowl softened when he said this. He might not have known it, but he'd almost sounded like he'd cared there for a second. "Well, thanks," she huffed, trying to cover up her softening temper.

Once again, her heart was thundering in her ears, and Mugen looked like he hadn't even gotten a good warm up out of it. Damn him, making her defeat look like a cake walk. She hadn't always been this out of shape. If she'd gone up against Mugen when she'd still been fresh out of training . . . she wanted to think she could've kicked his ass all the way back to Ryukyu, but she doubted it.

"So," he said, picking up his katana and putting the tanto back into its secret home. "What do I get?" he asked, stepping back over to where Fuu was sitting down and wrapping her blanket around herself.

"What do you mean 'what do you get?" she asked, watching him sit down in front of her. "You were the one that wanted to show me something! You got what you wanted."

"Did I?" he asked, crawling closer to her. Fuu's breath caught in her throat as he crept onto the mattress with her and grabbed the blanket's edges that were just below her chin.

Here he goes again, she thought with dread and a heavy heart. This was what she'd really needed to talk to him about.

"Oh, Mugen," she sighed, grabbing his hands and pulling them away. "Please stop doing this to me."

"Why?" he asked softly, leaning back away from her. "Can you at least tell me why you're doing this to ME?" He looked up at her with a serious expression. "I want you, and you can't deny what you're feeling."

"Mugen . . ." she whispered, almost like in her dream. He was very right about that at the moment. He'd gotten her heart racing and even now that the fight was over, she couldn't get it to calm down. Just the thought of his arms around her like in her dream, made her wet and her body quiver. "I do want you. You're right," she admitted, "but I just can't do anything . . . like . . . like that."

"Like sex, you mean?" he said bluntly.

"Yes," she said awkwardly. "That's for someone special."

Mugen rolled his eyes in the dark, knowing that Fuu couldn't see him. Women and that 'someone special' they were always mentioning. Mugen wanted to meet this guy they were always talking about and punch him square in the nose. Damnit, he was special. And that had usually been what he'd convinced all of the other women he'd been with of. He couldn't do that to this woman though. Fuu had earned enough of his respect to get that at least.

"So, how about everything but?" he asked.

"Eh?" she chirped. What else was there, she wondered, besides all of the nasty things she'd done in the short times she'd been stuck at a brothel on their journey. If he was talking about that sort of thing, he could forget it. "You're telling me that you'd be satisfied doing something else besides getting me in bed?" she asked, suspiciously. If there was a tolerable way to satisfy him, maybe she wouldn't have to feel so guilty.

Mugen smiled thinly. She was showing how innocent she really was and didn't even realize it. "Sure," he said, leaning back on his hands again.

Fuu arched an eyebrow at him. He was sounding way too easygoing about this. That tone with Mugen usually meant he thought everything was going his way. "Like what?" she asked at last, pulling the blanket more tightly around her as if it could keep him out.

"Hmmm." He glanced around the room casually, playing this off as cool as possible. "It's not something that can really be explained . . ." he said innocently, meeting her gaze again. "Showing you would be better, I think," he said, sitting up again and crawling back to her.

"Mugen, I won't lie. I could probably put you to sleep with how much I don't know about this sort of thing," Fuu said shying away from his advances, still a little leery of his idea. But, when he reached out and touched her cheek so gently, her defenses all but melted.

"You'd be surprised at how much comes naturally," he whispered huskily. "Besides, I'm a very patient teacher."

Mugen smiled seriously, moving closer to her so that he was on the mattress as well. He moved his other hand up to the opposite side of the first one and pulled her toward him so that they were almost nose to nose. Mugen waited for her to finish it, the same as the night before.

Fuu was hesitant at first, but the feeling of him being so close to her like this was driving her insane. Would he really not go that far if she let him do this, she wondered. Her heart was racing by now, and she couldn't take the abuse anymore. Fuu guessed she'd find out.

Mugen closed his eyes when she finished the kiss and let his fingertips slip into her hair. Trying to cater to her was putting his body in an awkward position, and his back was starting to remind him of that. Making a bold move, he lowered his hands to her surprisingly shapely hips and pulled her out of her blanket and into his lap. She'd barely had time to start protesting, when he captured her lips again, silencing her.

Fuu felt his arms wrap around her waist and let herself be pulled to his chest as the kiss deepened. She closed her already hooded eyes and let herself relax. Oh, yes. This was what she wanted. Again, their tounges explored each other. Fuu smiled a little, faintly tasting sake.

Mugen pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. "What's too far?" he breathed.

Fuu blinked, bringing her hands up to his face and tangling her fingers in his still damp hair. It barely registered that it was raining now in her mind. "Sex is too far," she whispered, organizing her thoughts.

Mugen smiled at the blissful expression on her face. "There's a long way between here and sex," he said, letting her pull his face back to her. He reveled in the feel of her lips touching his again.

Fuu pulled away from him only briefly. "I know."

XXXXX

Oooo, steamy! I know its cruel, but there's still some tweaking to be done on the next chapter. I promise it won't take me two years to post it though.