Why?

Summary: Mugen comes across a saddened Fuu late one night after the incident with Sara. He tries to comfort her in the best way that an ex-prisoner can. Rated for language, hints of Fuugen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Champloo.

Mugen blinked awake. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, thinking about the dream that had just been playing behind his eyelids. It was a recap of the battle between himself and Sara, and no matter how often he went over it he still couldn't quite understand why she would have just let him strike her down in such a way. I know she said her kid was dead, but damn... to just give up. Tho' if she hadn't, I'd be six feet under myself...

He growled to himself, realizing that he wasn't going to get back to sleep tonight. The pirate shifted in his bedroll and sat up, looking around the little room he and Jin were sharing. The inn they had come to had reasonable prices and a natural hot spring in the back, so Fuu had cheerfully declared that they would be staying for the night. Both men had been relieved that they wouldn't have to spend another restless evening in the woods – they were tired of having rocks poke them in the back, though neither would admit it out of pride.

Jin was asleep on a bedroll on the opposite side of the room. The samurai had been sleeping pretty deeply due to the injuries that Sara had inflicted on him, but Mugen knew that sliding the rice-paper door open would still wake him. Oh well, I gotta go for a walk.

Rising from the mess of blankets he had spread around in his sleep, the wild-haired man stepped quickly and silently to the door, glancing over his shoulder and mouthing the words "Gotta piss" to Jin's inquiring and tired gaze. The ronin merely closed his eyes and was back asleep before Mugen finished shutting the door. He snorted to himself, slightly jealous of Jin's ability to just fall into the realm of slumber so easily. Prick.

Mugen slouched off towards the hot spring area at the back, thinking that he might be able to spy on a naked woman taking a bath, but he veered towards the woods at the last second. It's pretty friggin' late, no one's gonna be in the hot spring. Damn. He sighed, thinking that he would just go take a leak in the woods and then try to get some sleep. Not that it'll work.

No sooner had he walked a little ways into the woods, though, that he stumbled upon a clearing – and a clearly distressed Fuu, sitting on the ground and hastily wiping her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, eyes downcast. She made no move to suggest that she would be standing, so he paused to look at her, eyebrows raised.

"Coulda asked you the same thing, girly."

"It- it's none of your business," she retorted, frowning up at him.

He shrugged, walking around her. "'Kay. Don't trip on your way back to your room."

"...Wait, Mugen."

He almost didn't hear her, but thanks to his excellent ears Mugen picked up the small plea.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just..." The pirate heard her exhale softly. He turned slightly to look back at her, stopping at the edge of the small clearing. "It's just that, everything... and everyone... well, everyone keeps dying around me! I don't get it. Am I some sort of bad luck charm?" With that (and to Mugen's horror) she burst into tears.

Luckily for him, Fuu got herself under control rapidly, sniffling and rubbing at her tears. Finally, all that remained of her crying was the ring of red around her eyes. "Sorry, again. But, I know that everyone dies eventually-"

"Figured that out all by yourself, didja?"

"Mugen!" She glared at him, and he could make out the tears that were threatening again. He felt somewhat guilty about that one. It seemed kind of a low blow. "Yes, I figured that out a long time ago, thank you very much. But what I meant was that everyone seems to die around me! Think about it... first was my mother" - a small sniffle accompanied that, and Mugen felt his legs move his body closer to the girl - "then Oniwakamaru" - Mugen snorted at that - "the gang boss guy... Shin-" - she hiccuped slightly, and Mugen found that he was suddenly next to her - "Shinsuke, Yukimaru – you didn't know him – Okuru, and now Sara. There was a time that I thought Jin was dead. And for a while, after that boat blew up, I thought that you had died, too." Fuu let out a shuddering sob, bringing her knees up to her head and tucking it down into her lap to hide her red, puffy face from Mugen.

"Hey..."

"Sorry Mugen, you didn't need to hear me whine even more," her voice was muffled, but the scruffy man could still make it out. "I know that life isn't fair, but that's just so much death... and all because of me."

"Oi."

"I just wish sometimes that I could go back. Maybe I could prevent all those people from dying. Maybe I could have gotten the right kind of medicine for my mom, or at least for Shinsuke's mom. In fact, I wish I could go back and keep him from leaving in the first place, and then none of this would have happened -"

"Dammit bitch I'm trying to say something!" Fuu's head whipped around and her eyes found his. Mugen's slight anger dissipated at how tired and depressed she appeared, so he closed his eyes and took a quick breath. "Everyone dies. You're right. And wishing that you could change the past is fucking stupid. Doesn't mean that things'd turn out any differently." Fuu blinked and absorbed that nugget of knowledge. Mugen flopped onto the ground next to her, staring up at the sky. "Those people. They would have died anyway, I bet." He felt the girl flinch, and realized that she had included her mother in the group of people. "Even if you coulda bought better medicine for your mom doesn't mean it would have worked. S'just how life goes, girly. That Onawaki guy would have been murdered. And the Yakuza guy knew that his time was near. So did Okuru. I dunno about the Yuki dude, but Shinkuse-"

"Shinsuke," muttered Fuu.

"Yeah, him. He was getting into way deeper shit than he could have handled. It's prob'ly better he's dead, means he wouldn'ta gotten hooked on opium or some shit. And as for that Sara bitch." Mugen was silent for a moment. "Eh, she got what she wanted."

Fuu rested her chin on her knees, contemplating what he said. "I – I guess you're right."

"'Course I am," he grinned cockily. "I ain't dumb."

"Mmhm." Fuu made a noncommittal noise, turning her head to smile gently at him. "Thanks Mugen. Just promise me something, okay?"

He grunted. "Another promise? No way."

"I want you to promise," Fuu went on obstinately, "That you will try as hard as possible to not die around me. I don't think I could handle that, seeing you die for a second time. I barely handled it the first time, and you weren't actually dead then."

Mugen looked at her in slight surprise. "You gonna ask fish-face the same thing?"

"No," she shook her head. "But he already knows that I don't want him to die. You, Mugen... I wasn't sure if you knew that I cared. I do. I mean..." There was the most lovely pink flush spreading across her cheeks, and Mugen grinned, noticing how flustered she was becoming. "Uhm, that is, I care if you live because otherwise you'd never be able to keep your original promise to me! Yeah, we have to find the samurai who smells of sunflowers. Don't forget!"

"How could I forget with you reminding me every day!" Mugen huffed and sat up, looming over the girl next to him. The pirate scratched his head, and just like that what could have been something special turned into a rather normal conversation between the two. "We'll find your damn samurai. Geez girly, ain't you worried he'll die too?"

He immediately knew that it was the wrong thing to say, as Fuu stood up quickly and brushed her night clothes off before heading towards the inn. "It would be nothing more than he deserved," she said with a hint of venom in her voice. Mugen was startled at how angry she actually sounded, and jumped to his feet.

"Hit a sore spot did I? Didn't mean to..." he trailed off as the brown-haired girl marched in the direction of their lodgings, refusing to look back at him. "Oi, Fuu!"

That stopped her in her tracks. She slowly turned to face him. "Did you just use my name? No rude nicknames? No references to my chest size?" Fuu glared at him, eyes suspiciously bright. "If you must know, yes, I am terrified that the sunflower samurai is going to die once I meet him. I would like to know why he felt that he had to leave my mother and I, and I want to be able to slug him for the pain that he caused my mother!" Her voice rose in volume until she was shouting at Mugen, face red and eyes burning with a fierce fire behind them. She had made her way back towards him, until he was directly in front of her and getting the full force of her rage head-on. "That bastard caused me a lot of heartache and agony. My mother and I were outcasts because he left, and no one was willing to help us when she got sick. She died of a disease that would have been easily cured if she had the right medicine! But because he left, because he abandoned us, she died."

Damn, she was crying again. Mugen did not deal well with weeping women. He grabbed her upper arms and shook her lightly. "Alright listen, you. God, you're such a pain in my ass! Which is exactly why you're gonna find this samurai dude. You're too fucking stubborn to not find him. And then you'll give him a piece of yer mind and kick him around a little." He sighed heavily, looking down at her. He noticed then just how small she was compared to him – she appeared to be so fragile, but he knew that Fuu could be tough when she wanted. "After that, who knows. Maybe you'll wanna stick around him for a bit, or maybe you'll have gotten everything out an' leave him the same way he left you and yer mom. I know that I'm gonna get me the best booze I can find once this is over and stay drunk for about a week."

Fuu continued to give him the evil eye, but he ignored her. He also conveniently forgot that his hands were holding onto her shoulders, instead concentrating on the stars in the sky. Once she realized her stare wasn't affecting Mugen at all, Fuu sniffled and released a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Guess you're right, again," she mumbled. He chuckled a little at her grudging admittance, and reluctantly let go of her shoulders... only to snatch her wrists as she turned to go back to the inn.

"Just remember that the next time I tell you to get out of the way when there's some asshole trying to cut us up." He winked at her – Fuu felt her heart flutter just a bit – and freed her wrists from his grip. "Go on, go back to sleep. I still gotta piss."

She made a face at him, but then smiled beautifully. Mugen was awed at how mature she suddenly seemed to be. "Thanks again, Mugen. Really. I feel better now. I know that I'm going to find the samurai who smells of sunflowers and make him sorry for what he did." Then, before she could lose her nerve (and before Mugen knew what was going on) she planted a small kiss on his stubbly cheek. "Goodnight!" Fuu darted off to her room, blushing bright red at what she had just done.

The pirate stood in the clearing for a moment, feeling his face growing warm. A hand reached up to touch his cheek before he could stop it. He grumbled to himself for a second or two, finally spinning around and kicking at some leaves before making his way further into the woods. Rest of this journey is gonna be interesting, he thought to himself, before smirking. Maybe I can get s'more smooches... wonder how mad four-eyes is gonna be.

-Fin-

A/N: I always wondered how Fuu managed to handle all of the death around her. Especially her mother and Shinsuke – she really seemed to like him. I like to imagine that Fuu and Mugen had a lovely heart-to-heart. Or else Fuu had one hell of a therapist in the Edo period.