Two years in the making

Mugen leaned against the wall of the tea house watching the ceremony take place. After that little unwanted sake bath Jin had forced him into a real bath. Mugen didn’t get exactly why he had obeyed him, but he had. And of course he hated it. As always. Mugen supposed somewhere deep down he was happy for Jin. Jin had been the only person that he could actually call a friend, but he would never willingly admit it. You would have to have a knife up to his manhood before he would admit that, and even then it was still under discussion because Mugen could get himself out of just about anything. Hell, he had been shot and blown up within a five minute period. If he could survive that nothin’ could stand in his way.



Mugen’s eyes had been watching Fuu now for quite a while, though he wouldn’t have admitted to that either. She was sitting apart from all the others, on a bench outside the restaurant. She hadn’t been an actual guest so there wasn’t room for her on the benches they had set up for the wedding. Of course Fuu had just smiled and been alright with it. As long as she got to see it happen. She was smiling softly, and she was crying. Mugen didn’t get it. Why the hell would she cry over something like this? He yawned and rolled his eyes. She was probably thinkin’ about how happy she would be when she married that stupid fiancé of hers.



Yeah, Mugen was still thinking about that. He couldn’t get it out of his head. It bothered him. The idea of her getting married. The idea of her actually belonging to some guy. He rubbed his temples absently as the crowd cheered and the happy couple was embraced by the town’s people. Ok he was seriously irritated by now. It looked like everyone here was happier than he was right now. Which really wasn’t anything new, but it usually wasn’t everyone. Or at least they weren’t in one space at the same time where there was no possible escape from the fate of being utterly alone in miserable feelings.



He knew he shouldn’t have said that stuff to her. He hadn’t meant a word of it. He was just trying to shake off all of those feelings. Those utterly annoying feelings. The ones that said that if he were ever to get married it would be Fuu he would want to marry. But of course Mugen wasn’t the marrying type so the chances of that happening would be a million to one. She would be an excellent mother. She had a child like personality that would fit quite well with other children. She was beautiful, though he hated to admit it. She was everything he could ask for really. That was only if he was going to get married though. And that was out of the question. Him, settle down? Yeah right. Not in a million years. Or at least until fifty years from now and he was really old. And the chances of him living that long were even slimmer than the chances of him getting married.



He shoved the thought of marriage out of his head. All of these happy couples and wedding vows were starting to get to his mental stability. He really wanted to smack that happy face off of one of those overly happy people’s faces. Mugen slowly made his way over to the bench Fuu was sitting on, and plopped down next to her. He didn’t miss the fact that she had stiffened as soon as he sat. On the inside he was growling at the fact that she would react to his presence in such a way but he forced it down. He had said a lot of crap to her already, and he wasn’t willing to have to get another bath today. One was enough for him. He closed his eyes and took a slow breath, the frown that his face always carried slackened slightly but then abruptly grew sharper as he opened his mouth.



“Do you love the guy?”



It seemed to take Fuu a moment to realize what he was meaning but, when she did she only looked at him slowly, before her face contorted into a glare.



“What does it matter to you?”



“You gonna answer the question?” Mugen shot back, though not with the same sharpness his voice usually would have carried. Fuu didn’t even notice the change.



“He will be a good husband.” Was all she said in response, but that’s all it took to answer Mugen’s question.



“Then why are you marryin’ him?” Mugen turned to face her at this point. Her face looked distracted, even pained. He hated it when she did that. He never knew what the hell to do in these sorts of situations.



“Everyone knows about how I traveled with you two. Everyone thinks that I’m dirty” her eyes seemed to wince slightly at the word. “He was the only man who would. He loves me, even with all of that. He believes me when no one else does. And the only person I’ve ever loved was and still is incapable of loving me, so I will take what I can get.”



At this moment Jin and Shino appeared in front of them as they sat at the bench.



“Fuu?” Jin’s voice yanked Fuu’s attention away from Mugen, who was still trying to think up a response to her last statement. She only looked up at Jin with that face that said he had her full attention.



“I was hoping you would stay in the city a few more days, Shino and I can only be gone for three days for our honey moon but we were hoping you would stay until we got back and perhaps a day longer, Shino would like to get to know you.” Both Mugen and Fuu looked at him with surprised expressions. Not because of the offer, but that was a surprisingly long statement from Jin. Shino broke the silence though.



“Yes Fuu! I have heard so much about you, I would like to get to know you on my own.” Shino was practically beaming at Fuu. Who at this point could not deny the couple, and nodded a yes.



“Oh and Mugen you are welcome to stay as well. There are plenty of rooms at our home.” Jin said, but the happy face he had given Fuu was not present, it was more of a ‘If you break anything I will hurt you’ look. Of course Mugen accepted. He could use it as a chance to irritate the hell out of the samurai, and Fuu. But he wasn’t even going to turn down an offer for a free bed. He had been traveling for a while. A bed actually sounded nice at this point.



VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV



Fuu kicked off her sandals onto the porch of the doujo as the stars twinkled in the sky. Her feet were killing her from all the running back and forth. She hadn’t ever imagined seeing that many people at Jin and Shino’s wedding. She pulled the chop sticks from her hair letting the strands fall down over her shoulders. She had already been told which room was to be hers. Their house was huge, of course it was also a doujo so it probably should be but she really hadn’t been expecting something like this.



Fuu made her way down the hall slowly, already pulling at her obi. No one was there yet and she wanted out of her clothes as soon as possible. They felt hot and sticky at this point. Moist with sweat, and smelling of fish and eel. She could see her door and slid the screen over before quickly shutting it behind her. The room was simple, tatami floors and such. Mostly black white and faded yellow in coloring. She shrugged her kimono off at this point and picked up the sleeping Yukata folded on her bed mat that lay in the corner. The simple white cotton fabric felt cool against her skin, air passing through the fibers with each breeze that was able to sneak through the window. She sighed softly.



It was irritating that Mugen had asked those questions of her earlier. What did he expect anyway? What did he care? The man knew nothing of what marriage entailed. Mugen wasn’t the type to get married. He wasn’t the type to even have a ‘lady friend.’ Mugen had one nighters. That was about it. Fuu rubbed her temples slowly in a circular pattern. Katsu would be the perfect husband, and that’s what she needed right now. Someone that would be able to take care of her when she was sick. Someone who would go pick up the food for dinner. Someone to go to the market with. Someone to live with so she wasn’t constantly jumping at the slightest sound outside her window. Love would come later, hopefully. Stability would be first. She could spend the time looking for someone to fall in love with.



Fuu flinched slightly. She had fallen in love once, and that hadn’t turned out well. He hated her, he had made that clear to her from the day she met him to the day he left. She didn’t even understand why she had fallen for him. He wasn’t anything special, unless you counted his fighting skill, which were perfect. But the attitude that came along with them canceled out any good thought that she could muster up in her head. How many times had she watched him almost die? How many times did she feel like her heart was being ripped from her chest? How many times did she have to watch him go off with some nameless whore? She shook her head and sunk down, her back against the wall.



Her thought process was broken as she heard familiar footsteps enter the house, and the door to her room was slammed open. Mugen was glaring at her. She could tell by the look on his face he was going to yell at her about getting married. She had seen it in his eyes ever since Jin had interrupted them, and she had avoided him ever since. So she decided to get in her own thoughts before he could even open his mouth.



“Mugen, I don’t give a damn about your opinion on this. I need a husband. I want someone who loves me. I want someone who can take care of me. I deserve that! I deserve to have someone who can go out and get the food for dinner after work!” at this she stood up and walked over to him. “I’ve had no one that has cared about my safety since Jin except Katsu! Two years Mugen! Let me have at least a little happiness at this point! Once I’m married I won’t ever need the protection of some JERK like YOU!” Fuu shouted the last part. Quite loudly really. But she got the reaction she wanted.



His jaw had dropped open and then had closed sharply before glaring at her and walking out the door. He was gone and she wouldn’t have to hear about how she was being stupid, or that she was a bitch. He was leaving her alone.



But in the end it didn’t really feel right.



Fuu shifted uncomfortably before sliding the screen closed and lying down on the bed. She only tossed and turned in her sleep though, unable to get Mugen’s face out of her mind. She couldn’t help but feel sick, her stomach turning. Eventually she just sat in the center of the room staring out the open window at the stars. Had it been her imagination or had Mugen actually looked hurt when she said those things to him?





A/N: Please review this story