Could it be him? Please please please!

Her chest and hopes quickly deflated.

Oh. No. That one can't be him, the silouhette is all wrong. It doesn't have the outline of his crazy hair around its head, and even he isn't that tall.

Crestfallen once again, she went back to her work.

I'm in denial aren't I? It's been a year. Jin is right.

She couldn't help thinking of the conversation they had a few months ago over tea.

There was a pause in the chitchat, Jin lowered his cup.

"You must remember that if he does not come, it is not because of you."

"You don't think he's coming do you?"

He was silent for a moment. "I just believe that it is not in his nature to do what you ask of him. He is a wanderer in every sense of the word, and you have asked him to stay in one place." Jin daintily put his cup to his lips.

"But you did, and you and Mugen were exactly the same."

Hearing this caused Jin to involentarily spit his tea back into his cup. He coughed for a moment and then just glared off into space.

"What I mean is, you both were wanderers with no friends and no responsibilities, and now that I think about it, you spent a good bit of time drinking, getting in fights and chasing after whores too. But you have changed, Jin."

"I did sacrifice some freedoms in order to provide a suitable home for my wife. I settled down because the time had come to raise a family."

"You don't think Mugen could ever do that?"

Jin took a sip of his tea and said nothing, his opinion on the matter was clear.

Her mind returned to the present, and she began to wrestle with her own common sense, as she often did when thinking about her relationship with Mugen.

I need to just let him go. Yes, Fuu, let him go. Mugen is a scumbag and you've known that since the first time you laid eyes on him. He may be a lovable scumbag, but a scumbag none the less. Scumbags don't just drop everything and marry some girl they screwed. Mugen probably doesn't even know what marriage really means. I can just imagine what he would say - "Oh yeah, marriage is when your woman doesn't just have to put out, but she has to cook and clean for ya' too and you don't have to feel bad when she gets knocked up. Sounds almost bearable, but the thing is, it's really not my style. Not gonna happen. Just get over it, girlie." Realistically, even if he did want to, it probably wouldn't be long before I got fed up with him, and it definitely wouldn't be long before he got bored with me.

I don't care though. That's the worst part.

Fuu, what is wrong with you?

He is an asshole and you love him for it.

You love him.

You still love him.

Her eyes watered as she looked up at the silouette again. The sun sank further down into the horizon, but the glare still prevented her from seeing any of their features.

They're not on the road anymore, their coming towards me across the field.

She squinted.

Wow, they're really freakishly tall, it definitely can't be Jin or Shino and I already know it's not Mugen. Who the hell is that?

She slipped her hand into her kimono and grasped her tanto.

Alright mister giant, if you're a kidnapper or rapist, then you're not gonna get me with out loosing an eye or two.
Perhaps sensing her mother's distress, the baby began to cry. Without thinking, Fuu opened her kimono slightly and suckled the infant as she continued trying to decipher the shadow.

She blinked several times and squinted again, desparate to make out the shadow's features as it neared her. Their face and clothes were still a mystery, but she could now see their silouette in more detail. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that it was not an extremely tall man, but in fact, a tall man with a small boy riding on his shoulders.

An excited gasp escaped her lips as she shot to her feet, carelessly allowing her sewing to tumble on to the ground. She stood smiling, still holding the child to one of her breasts.

"Hey girlie, can I suck the other tit?" the shadow called out to her.

I guess now I can say he's not a complete scumbag, but still a complete pervert.

"How can you say something like that in front of your son?" she nagged.

"Squirt, you're gonna have ta' learn how ta' live with her bitchin, 'cause she's gonna be your new mama." he said to the boy on his shoulders, making sure to speak loud enough for Fuu to hear as well.

"Well you sure took your sweet time getting here!" she shouted back.

"Yep," he replied.

"You're such an asshole!"

"Yep."

End

If you have read this story, which you obviously have since you are now reading this messege, then I urge you to write a review, and please tell me what you liked or did not like about it. What did you think was more important in this story? Humor, drama, romance, plot twists, anything else? I would also like to know if you liked the ending. This criticism is very valuable to me as a developing writer. Even two word reviews are nice too!

Anonymous reviews are welcome too!

Thank you so much to all of you who provided encouragement and I want to add an extra special thank you to those who encouraged me at the very beginning, if it wasn't for you, this would have been a 900 word one-shot.

Bizarrely enough, even though this is a Fugen story, I am actually more of a Jin fan in general, but Fuu and Mugen just seemed to have better chemistry. Mugen is also more fun to write about, sleazy, morally ambiguous characters are always fun to write about, for me anyway.

Thank you again, to all the readers and fans of this story. You have provided me with untold amounts of delight, amusment and let's face it, self esteem.

Thank you so much,

Anonymousness

Ps. A sequel is a possibility.