Part Time

Author's Notes: The occasional sleepless night or rainy afternoon still takes me here. This one poured out in smaller bits, over a longer time. Hope you find it enjoyable.

Takes place two years after the series.

Prologue:

I had had plotted out this moment so many times in my head. Perhaps I would be walking through the market, considering the catch of the day. I would look up and our eyes would meet. We would stare at each other disbelieving. "Is it really you?" I would say.

He would say something stupid.

Or nothing.

Depending on which one it was. And then I would run through the market, all twinkly and in slow motion. I would throw my arms around him and we would collapse in a joyous heap. "Mugen!" I would cry, if I were in a Mugen mood that day.

Or "Jin!"

Then we would laugh and laugh and music would swell from somewhere. And there would be butterflies and rainbows and everything would be very dramatic and grand, and then a customer would want something, damn it all, so I never got much further in my planning than that.

But it didn't go that way. When I saw him, it wasn't dramatic. The music didn't swell and the birds didn't sing. I looked up from busing a table and there he was. We noticed each other at the exact same time. It wasn't at all remarkable. It was just something I knew would happen, sooner or later. And now that the moment was here, it seemed as natural as any other day. "Well, I'll be damned."

"Hi, Mugen."