Oh my GOD this one took me way too freakin long to put together. It's actually been completed for a while but I wanted to get further in part 3 before posting it.

Don't own the thing

Fuu tucked the box closer to her chest and angled the umbrella so the rain wasn't hitting her as much, walking quickly along the muddy road back towards the inn. She'd almost forgotten that today was the day since she hadn't kept a diary since Mugen had learned how to read. She had no doubt that he would sift through it, and she couldn't pull the 'everything was a lie' trick again. Mugen was an idiot, but he wasn't stupid.

A tall figure moved out of the shadows of an alley ahead of her and began walking in the opposite direction she was headed. Fuu's eyes flitted to him as he advanced. The rain made him look blurry around the edges, but she could still see how he walked with an exaggerated nonchalance. She tucked her head down and tried to remain inconspicuous.

Since they had reunited and been traveling together, there had been a significant lack of Fuu being kidnapped. They managed to make their way across Japan without disturbance, though Fuu had noticed the rather vicious looks Mugen had been giving to any man who tried to chat her up. She suspected his ferocity, increased now that Jin wasn't there to balance it out, was keeping away those who wanted to get her.

The man passed her without acknowledging her, and Fuu's shoulders sagged in relief. Suddenly, a hand gripped her arm that wasn't holding the umbrella, and she stopped dead.

"Make any noise," a shaky voice said in her ear, "and you'll be wishing I'd only just mugged ya." She turned and saw the leer on the man's face, which was younger than she'd expected. The hand holding her arm was also slightly sweaty. Fuu quickly deduced that he was inexperienced in this line of work, which would be to her advantage. She would get out of this, hopefully unscathed.

He started pulling her towards the alley from which he'd come.

Two years of Mugen teaching her how to handle a weapon surged through her mind, and her hand automatically swung the only weapon it had. Fuu grunted with the force of the impact of the umbrella with the would-be mugger's head. He cried out in pain and staggered a couple steps back, clutching his nose. Before he could react Fuu swung the umbrella again, the hit sending him tumbling down into the mud. She looked at the broken bits of her umbrella and scowled.

"You broke my umbrella, asshole," she said. Years of being in Mugen's company had not improved her language. She gave him a swift kick in the stomach before turning to hurry towards the inn, trying to tuck the box in her kimono as much as it would go to stay out of the rain.

She stood outside their room for a moment, trying to shake off the excess water. She slipped off her zori before stepping into the room, box and broken umbrella in hand.

Mugen was laying on the floor on his side facing the open window, head propped up on one hand. He turned to look at her as she slid the door closed behind her.

"You look like a drowned rat," he said, sitting up and yawning. He scratched his side. "What's with the umbrella?" Fuu tossed it aside before sitting down in front of him, excited to show him what she brought.

"I'll tell you in a second, but first," she said, grinning at him. "Ta-da!" She opened the box with a flourish and held it out to him. He leaned over and peered at its contents.

"Is that food or roadkill?" he asked, looking up at her and smirking. Fuu frowned and looked inside.

"Dammit!" she said. "That bastard made me mess up the dumplings! And they were so nicely arranged, too." She set the box on the floor and crossed her arms, shoulders sagging with disappointment. Mugen frowned.

"You went out in this rain just to get dumplings?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Today's the day you get your yearly payment of five dumplings." His scarred eyebrow raised in mild surprise.

"Didn't know you had a specific day for buying them for me," he said, laying down again on his side with his head propped up in one hand. He pulled the box towards him and picked out half a smushed dumpling, tossing it in his mouth and chewing. Fuu's mouth turned down at the corners.

"Have you really not noticed that I've bought you dumplings on the same day every year for the past three years?" she asked, a little hurt. He shrugged.

"Nope," he said, picking another bit of dumpling out of the box and eating it. "Can't say I have, girlie."

"Ugh!" She fisted her hands on her hips and glared at him with frustration. "I try to do something to make this day important to you, and you don't even care! Geez, you are a pain in the ass." He looked up at her and glared, but she cut him off as he opened his mouth to reply. "I even saved up extra money to buy a nice box and have them arranged all fancy, and now it's ruined because I had to fight off a mugger–" She was cut off by the sound of Mugen choking. He managed to swallow the dumpling, then gave her a piercing look.

"You were mugged?" he asked, a dangerous undertone to his voice. Fuu nodded and reached over to grab the broken umbrella and held it out to show him.

"Yeah, I broke my umbrella trying to beat him off," she said, smiling at how ridiculous it sounded. The comic element was lost on Mugen, though. The look on his face meant that someone was about to lose a limb, or possibly their life. Fuu's smile faded rapidly as he stood and grabbed his sword from where it was leaning against the wall. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed his arm as he made toward the door.

"Hold on a second!" She planted her feet, frowning at him when he looked at her over his shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"To teach that bastard a lesson," he ground out. Fuu's grip tightened on his arm.

"No, you're not," she said, the determined edge in her voice making Mugen scowl at her. He turned around and leaned towards her, using his height to his advantage.

"Yeah, I am, girlie," he said, his voice lower and more intense. "It's been years since the last time you were kidnapped, and the one time I'm not with you some asshole tries to do away with you!"

Fuu gave a weary sigh. "Mugen, you can't always be there to protect me! I thought that's why you started teaching me how to defend myself in the first place!" She let go of him and crossed her arms. "I thought you'd be proud of me."

Mugen's fists clenched, his knuckles almost turning white. Of course he wanted her to know how to defend herself! And he was proud of her for beating up a mugger, though now that he thought about it the asswipe probably wasn't much of a thug if he was taken down by a young woman with an umbrella…

Still, he knew he wouldn't always be there to protect her, but that didn't mean he couldn't damn well try.

"You got yourself away from him," he admitted. "But I'm still gonna beat the hell outta the bastard." Fuu moved quickly around him to block the door, flinging out her arms and raising her chin in defiance.

"No, you're not," she repeated.

"Why the hell not?" he demanded.

"Because you're making a huge deal out of nothing!" He stepped closer, fury etched on his angular face.

"It's not nothing if he fucked up something important to you!"

Fuu froze, staring at him like he'd grown a second head. Mugen shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, and realized the implications of what he had just said, what they'd been skirting around for so long.

"Important to me?" Fuu's voice was almost a whisper. Mugen looked away from her gaze and scratched his bushy head.

"Yeah," he mumbled. Fuu took a step forward, still staring at him, and Mugen's arm flew back down to his side as he stiffened. Her eyes took on a glassy shine for a moment before she shook her head and gave him a small smile.

"Oh, Mugen." The way she said his name, a sort of fond sigh, sent a small shiver down his spine. His throat was suddenly dry, and he swallowed. Her eyes reflected the light from the lamp hanging on the wall, and there was a light blush on her cheeks. She blinked, and Mugen realized he had started leaning closer to her. He quickly straightened and awkwardly looked away. She put up a sleeve to cover her mouth.

"I've never seen you so flustered before," she said, the laughter in her voice evident. He threw her a dirty look, which only made her laugh harder.

"Quit laughin'!" The annoyed expression on his face was too funny for Fuu, but she only let a few more giggles escape before calming down.

"You're always looking for a fight, aren't you?" she said, more amused than angry now. Mugen shrugged, and the problem of the would-be mugger was forgotten as swiftly as it had arisen.

"If I'm not fighting someone on the street," he said, "I always have you to fight with."

"We do fight a lot, don't we," Fuu said reflectively. "Only over dumb stuff, though, which is good I guess. If we ever had a real fight you couldn't use your sword, just to make it fairer for me." She laughed at the idea of her hypothetically fighting Mugen, who was just as dangerous with only his bare hands. Mugen smirked and poked her in the chest with the pommel of his sword.

"Ain't no way I'm givin' up my sword in a fight," he said. "You'd just have to take your chances with that dinky little knife of yours, girlie." Fuu rolled her eyes, but what he'd said gave her pause for thought. She looked at a spot above his left shoulder as the memory surfaced, long buried because of the pain it held.

"You gave up your sword for me," she said softly. She shifted her gaze to his stony expression, the corners of his mouth turned down.

"That was different." His voice was low and cold. Fuu shivered and brought her hands up to cradle her elbows.

"I still have nightmares about what he could've done to you when you didn't have your sword." Mugen went rigid at this, but she didn't notice. Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Why did you do it?"

All these years and she'd never asked him why he'd come back for her that day. He'd wondered if she ever would ask.

Mugen looked away, then moved away from her to lean against the windowsill, propping his sword against the wall underneath it and looking out at the rain that was still pouring down. The light was steadily fading, and a wet gloom settled over the street down below.

"Those bastards were taking out their revenge for me on you," he said, his voice still low, but there was a darker emotion behind it. "I couldn't let them make you pay for something stupid I did before I even knew you." He glanced at her. She was staring at him with wide eyes. There was silence for a brief moment.

"The one – Umanosuke – might've made me pay for it before you even got there," she said slowly.

Mugen whipped around to face her full-on. "What?" he asked harshly.

Fuu had promised herself a long time ago that she would never let Mugen know the circumstances of her kidnapping that day, but now there was no point in keeping it secret anymore. She grimaced and her stomach roiled with revulsion at the memory.

"When he first found me he…he started…groping me and I was so scared and you and Jin were gone and…then he knocked me out and I don't know if he did anything to me before I woke up." She was startled when Mugen strode across the room and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Why the fuck didn't you say anything back then?!" he almost shouted at her. She looked up at his furious face, imploring.

"Because I wasn't completely sure!" she said, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "And you were…Mugen, you and Jin were hurt so badly when it was all over so it didn't matter by then!" The tears began to spill down her cheeks. "You were hurt…I couldn't–" Her voice caught in her throat.

Mugen's grip on her shoulders was tight, but when she leaned forward to rest her head on his chest as the sobs overcame her he let go. She gripped the fabric of his shirt tightly. Mugen's hands hovered in the air behind her, not sure where to put them. After a moment he wrapped his arms around her and held her to him, not tightly, but firmly, steadying her.

They stood there for a long time while Fuu cried. She shed all the tears she couldn't have while she had been taking care of Mugen and Jin all that time ago, when they lay battered and bleeding and only just clinging to life. She hadn't cried then, she'd had to be alert constantly in case either of them took a turn for the worse. When they had recovered, and she had decided it was time to part ways for good, she hadn't shed a single tear, though it felt like her heart had been breaking into three pieces, and two of them had chosen paths different from hers and had gone on their way.

Except one piece of her broken heart had made its way back to her, the piece that was just a bit bigger than the one Jin carried, she had to admit. They'd traveled more, just the two of them, bickering and laughing and getting on each other's nerves like old times, and she'd pushed down the memory of those last few weeks because it was easier to forget.

By the time her tears had reduced to sniffles Mugen had put his chin on her head, his thumbs rubbing circles on her upper arms. A shaky sigh left her and she pulled away, rubbing her face with her sleeves, her eyes red and puffy. Mugen let her leave his hold, but kept his hands on her hips.

"Sorry," she mumbled, sniffing. Mugen stared at her, his face unreadable, and Fuu fidgeted under his gaze. He lifted a hand to hold her chin.

"Why do you gotta get all weepy on me, girlie?" he asked, one corner of his mouth quirking up. Fuu laughed a breathy laugh.

"I dunno," she said. "Why do you have to make me cry?" Mugen scowled.

"I didn't–" Fuu cut off his protest by placing her hand over his mouth and smiling at him.

"I'm just kidding, Mugen," she said. She moved her hand to his chest, feeling his strong heartbeat underneath her fingertips. She spread her fingers across the red fabric, and Mugen's pulse raced a little faster.

She didn't meet his eyes, staring at her hand on his chest. Fuu sucked in a breath before saying, "I know I have no right to ask you for this, but if you have to leave me –" she paused, her eyebrows pinching in concern, "– don't put yourself in a situation where you come to that brink again and I'm not there to help you." She raised her eyes to his, and he looked surprised at her request.

"Why are you assumin' that I'm gonna leave you?" he asked, slightly offended and confused. Fuu bit her lip.

"I'm not assuming anything, Mugen," she said carefully, "but if something happened and we had to split up…please just promise me that you'll take care of yourself."

Mugen looked at the girl in his arms while he considered what she was asking. To be honest, he thought it was a pretty stupid promise to make, since he had no intention of leaving her anytime soon. And he'd been taking care of himself on his own long before he ever met her and he'd been alright, more or less.

As Fuu gazed up at him waiting for him to reply her other hand settled on his chest, the warmth seeping through the fabric to his skin. He thought about all the times those hands had tied his bandages and hovered over his wounds, and the one or two occasions he had felt them running through his hair after waking from a nightmare. Another reason why he wasn't about to leave. Mugen gave a half-hearted sigh.

"If I say yes will ya quit starin' at me like that?" Fuu rolled her eyes and smiled, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she said, sincerity in her voice. Mugen gave a non-commital shrug.

"Whatever gives you peace of mind, girlie," he said. Fuu chuckled.

"I don't think I'll ever have peace of mind, not after all those times you've run off chasing some woman or joining a yakuza gang," said Fuu, more joking than serious. Mugen bristled at that, his lower lip jutting out in a pout.

"Hey," he grumbled, "at least I always came back."

Fuu thought about that statement, realizing he was right. Whenever she was in trouble, it had always been Mugen who'd come for her, not Jin. Sure, Jin had known how to comfort her when she was upset, and she considered him a dear friend. But she couldn't recall him ever fighting tooth and nail to get to her like Mugen had, and Mugen had almost died on several occasions because of her. The thought made her chest ache painfully. She looked at Mugen, really looked at him, his tan face and scruffy chin and jagged eyebrows, at his stormy eyes and wild hair and blue earrings that she'd always wondered about but never asked. There were a lot of things she'd never asked him.

"Yes," she said, her voice soft. "You did."

Mugen felt his heart speed up at the way Fuu was looking at him. He stood rigid as she rose on her toes to place a soft kiss on his cheek, her hair brushing his face briefly. His hands gripped her hips just a little bit tighter and pulled her closer.

"If I'd known we were gonna do that I would've reminded you about the dumplings sooner," said Mugen, in the quiet of the early morning.

Fuu rolled over to look at the shit-eating grin on Mugen's face, which wasn't terrible to see first thing in the morning. Even though he could stand to brush them more often, he had surprisingly straight white teeth. Fuu rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows, chin in hand, and took in the rest of him in the clear morning light. The rain had stopped sometime in the night, but neither had noticed because things were more interesting inside.

Mugen's eyes raked over the exposed skin of Fuu's back, the intensity of his gaze making her blush.

"Got some serious bed-head there," he said, pointing to her hair. Fuu folded her arms and laid her head on them.

"Whose fault is that?" she asked, one eyebrow raising. Mugen chuckled, rolling over and mirroring her position.

"I'm taking all the credit for that," he said, the pride in his voice very obvious. Fuu raised an eyebrow at the mass of hair on his head, which was even wilder than her own.

"If you think I have bad bed-head, you should see yours," she said, giggling. Mugen ran a hand through his hair and smirked.

"And whose fault is that?" he repeated her question. Fuu scooted closer, staring at his lips with hooded eyes.

"Mmm," she hummed, "that would be me." She brushed her lips over his and moved the rest of her body closer. They both shifted so they were on their sides, Mugen's hands coming to rest on her backside and Fuu's hands cradling his face. Fuu pulled away before the heat surging through her became too intense. Mugen's grey eyes were hazy with lust. Fuu tapped his chin with a pale finger.

"Later," she said. "let's just…lay here for a while. Okay?" Mugen pouted, but after a moment nodded and tucked her head against his bare chest. Fuu let out a soft sigh.

"You know," she said, "I'm still mad that bastard mugger messed up your dumplings."

"I ate them, didn't I?" One corner of his mouth tilted up, though Fuu couldn't see it. "Let's cut out the fancy shit and go to a cheap stand by the roadside every year instead, huh?"

Fuu smiled even as she felt butterflies in her stomach. Without realizing – or maybe he did realize – Mugen had just promised her quite a few more years of his life, if she'd gotten the numbers right. And he seemed, if not happy, then content with what that implied.

"Hey," she said. "I just thought of something."

"What?"

"Remember last night you said you always came back after running off? What about that time at the Hakone check point?"

"Hey that wasn't my fault, it was the warrior priests' plant or whatever that caught on fire and it fucked with my brain or somethin'."

"I know that. Jin and I found you sitting in the middle of the forest giggling your ass off with a bunch of priests."

"Whatever that shit was, it made me think I could fly…"

15/100