Kaoru scurried down the dark path, in pursuit of the woman in front of her. "Ma-Matte kudesai, Miki-san!!" she cried, as a branch flew in her face. "Onegaishimasu! I know you mean well, but isn't this a bit going too far?!"

"Datte!" Miki's voice called from ahead, "Kono hito wa... she's the most sneakiest woman I know! Sono 'snow lady' yo!!"

"Yuki no onna...?" Kaoru stammered, a bit confused, "Jaa... are we talking about the same woman, Hanako-san, desu ne?"

"Eeh, that's the person." Miki said, finally slowing down. Gazing at the ground, she clutched her arm and sighed, "She's like a phantom, always coming back to haunt us... and no matter what I do I just can't..."

"Miki-san..." Kaoru uttered, looking at the back of her head and feeling a bit concerned. She really didn't know what to say since she didn't understand the situation. Standing in the dark forest, with the trees shadowing over them, they remained in silence with the exception of the crickets in the night.

Suddenly, Miki's footsteps started up again. "If I catch the prowler myself, Hanako-san would surely leave Takeru alone!" With that, she broke into a run and disappeared from sight.

"Jotto matte yo!!" Kaoru cried, going after her. Running through the bushes, she too lost herself in this forest of past trials. 'Sou ne...' she thought, 'This is where it begun... three years ago...'

* * *
"Heheheh! You bastards are really f--king losers!!" Sanosuke chuckled, holding up his jug. His opponents laid on the floor, passed out drunk. Standing, he kicked at one of them. "Teme, did you actually think you could stand a chance against Sagara Sanosuke, the strongest man in Tokyo!"

"Baka yarou." Yahiko grumbled, "Kenshin is the strongest..."

"Cheh, kono yatsu isn't in Tokyo right now, so I am the strongest! Nee, Megumi??"

Megumi let out a yawn. "Fuaaa! All this flirting has gotten me tired. I think I'll go to bed now so I can get up in time to go to the clinic." she said, turning for the door, "Please remove the drunkards and lock up the place, Anata."

"Oi oi, jotto!!" Sanosuke called after her, "Aren't you going to celebrate with us??!" But it was no use; Megumi was long gone. "Oh well. We're all finished anyways."

"Yatta wa!" Tsubame said, taking the deed from the drunkard's hand, "Mission accomplished!"

"... we were... (hic) tricked..." uttered one of them, "... if da... (hic) boss hears of this..." The trio just started dragging them out the door and out the gate, "... don't think it's over... (hic) (hic) we'll... we'll be back..."

"Go ahead if you want!" Yahiko chuckled, holding up his sword, "I can take on all of you damn yakuza anytime! Bring it on!"

"Ya-Yahiko-kun!" Tsubame stammered, "P-Please don't encourage them! We got what we wanted." She then turned to the drunk men. "Get some rest and sleep it off. Just be lucky we went easy on you."

"Looks like the bastards are already asleep." Sanosuke said, scratching his head, "Better have the cops pick them up. Wouldn't want this darm garbage out here, besides my property."

"Oh! We'll go them!" Yahiko replied, taking Tsubame's hand and dragging her down the road, "We're regulars there, so they'll be coming soon! Just wait a bit, saa!"

Sanosuke watched those two, then slid his hands in his pockets. Closing his head for a moment, he pictured a similiar scene.

"Sanosuke! Hayaku!!" Kaoru chimed, taking his hand and dragging him down the road, "Nee, doko doko?"

"Aa, over here." he replied, pulling her through the bushes. They gazed at the sparkling stream in front of them. "Heeeh, we really lucked out."

"YATTA!!" she cried, kneeling down at the edge and splashing some water in her face. Slowly she turned around and smiled at him. It was the brightest smile he had ever seen.

'That's how it should be.......'

Sanosuke walked back inside his house after locking the gate. He stopped at his door and stared at the sleeping face of his wife. She had a mischievious look on her face and he knew she was dreaming something a fox would dream. Turning away from the door, he picked up a jug of sake and sat on the walkway, gazing up at the moon, so far up in the sky.

* * *
"Kaoru, where did you go?" Kenshin sighed, he and Takeru walking through the town. It was already late and the streets were deserted. But both their wives were missing. "Ja... do you think they were this mad de gozaru??"

Takuru could only shrug. All of a sudden, they heard the sound of whistles. "Kora!! Futari tomo!" hollered some cops, "What the hell are you doing out here way past curfew!!"

"Dakara...!" Kenshin stammered as they came over to them, "We're looking for our wives... they seemed to have ran away from us..."

The cops exchanged looks. Takeru sighed, "It's sad, but true. Will you let us look just a bit longer for them?"

"Daga!" one snapped, "You're carrying a sword! That's illegal according to Meiji law! Are you a conspirer?!?"

"ORO?!" Kenshin went bugged eyed, and broke into a run at the sight of handcuffs. "ORORORORORO!!!" The cops went after him of course, not giving up a moment. "ORORORORORO!!!"

"Himura..." Takura again sighed, "You couldn't just explain it to them?" Rubbing his head, he decided to do something before it got out of hand. "Yoshi, that leaves only this..."

"ORO!!!" Kenshin cried, running on the docks, "Sessha... Sessha no sakabatou... don't take it de gozaru!! Sessha doesn't want to go to jail!!"

"HIMURA!" called Takeru. He was in his boat, already moving on the currents and picking up speed. "Jump aboard! Hayaku!"

"Hai de gozaru!!" Kenshin dodged one of the cops and leapt off the dock. He landed on deck, his face slamming into the floor. "Oro..." He then pulled himself up and saw that the boat was already off to sea and that the cops were still at the pier, waving their fists. "Arigatou de gozaru, Takeru-dono. Daga, how are we going to look for the women?"

"I have a hunch..." Takeru uttered, steering the ship, "That Miki wanted to look for the prowler. If I know my wife, that's what she'd be doing after what happened today..."

"Oro?" Kenshin was totally confused, "Why would Miki-dono do such a thing? Could you fill me in on the information?"

"It happened years ago..." Takeru started, his gaze focused on the distant past, "Do you really want to hear the story?"

"Aa, if it means that it'll make sense of everything. Soushite, if it will help us understand why Miki-dono has taken off with my wife... please tell it."

"Before I came to Wakana, I lived up North and developing my sword skills so I could avenge my father's death... I didn't know who killed him, all I knew that it was by an Inshin Shishi's hand. To get by, I worked as a guard for a wealthy family. It was there that I met her..."

"Hanako-dono?" Kenshin asked.

"Aa," Takeru replied, the two of them sitting down on deck, "She was a maid and her brother, Shinnosuke was a gardner. I befriended them rather quickly, for their father had also died in the Bakumatsu, fighting the Inshin Shishi. It was then that I started to get the idea of forming a group to try to take down the government, only I didn't have the power or the know-how... I was only sixteen at the time.

"One day, the three of us were talking about the government's injustices and the master of the house overheard. He was a loyal supporter to the Meiji government and instantly became very angry. He then had his men come after us to have us killed before the authorities found out that he had conspiriers in his staff. These hitman I defeated, but my wounds were too great and I couldn't escape... the authorities came in time to catch."

"Only you?" Kenshin cut in, looking into his shadowed face, "Hanako-tachi didn't help you?"

"Iya, they ran as soon as they had a chance. Fortunately, I escaped... and wandered around a bit. I didn't have money or anything but my father's sword... I didn't sleep or eat for days... then, one day, I ended up in this seaport town... and I saw some bandits picking on an old man. I couldn't help but butt in. But I was so weak, that I barely won the battle... and at the end, I collasped. Shikashi... when I woke, there she was..."

"Daijoubu ka?" asked the girl, peering down at him, sunlight surrounding her freckled face, "Nee, you've been asleep for a whole day. It's probably from the medicine I gave you... nee, Arigatou for saving Otou-chan's life. I'm indebted to you."

"Miki cared for me until my wounds had healed. When my strength was back, I tried to leave this place, but again disaster struck. The bandits robbed her father's tailor shop and then set it on fire, along with the other shops on the block. I was there in time to defeat them all, and helped put out the blazes. The entire town worked together to put it out. At the end, they all celebrated their efforts... still I... with my wounds, I stumbled away from the crowds and went off alone, trying to leave... only to collapse once again. Shikashi..."

Miki knelt at his side, taking his hand and checking his pulse. "Takeru-san..."

"All along Miki has been taking care of me. No one in my life has ever..." Takeru uttered, leaning against the railing, "And when I finally had the nerve to ask her hand in marriage, the people from my past arrived in town, and quickly told everyone about my conspiring days. Afraid that it would bring harm to Miki and her father, I tried to leave, but the rumor had a backwards effect. Everyone became excited by the idea of taking down the Meiji government, and voted me as their leader. It's been like this ever since..."

"Sou de gozaru yo..." Kenshin uttered, "It seems that even if your feelings have changed, the town hasn't. They truly believe that you will be the one to lead them... keredemo, sono Hanako-dono is the one strengthening this idea, even though she abandoned you years ago. I wonder why..."

"Miki always believed that Hanako was trying to steal me away. She becomes petty and childish whenever Hanako is mentioned." Takeru sighed, "But I cannot blame her. Hanako does seem to be persistent, even after I had gotten married. She still holds tightly onto the past, and all that we talked about and dreamed of."

"Takeru-dono," Kenshin replied, turning towards him, "The past will always be there. There's nothing you can do about it, but move on. You must make Hanako-dono and the town of Wakana understand." Takeru nodded his head, the two of them now focusing on the sea. "Kaoru... where are you...?"

* * *
"Miki-san! Miki-saan!!" Kaoru called. But it was no luck. The woman had gone too far ahead and now she felt she was lost. Panting, she paused to catch her breath. 'And Genzai-sensei said I should take it easy. After all, I did collapse from overwork just a couple days ago... and this is supposed to be my vacation...'

"Kaoru-san!" a voice finally answered. Kaoru pushed her way through the bushes and saw Miki. "Nee, Kaoru-san, I think he would be over there!" she said, pointing across a long wooden bridge. "Let's go!"

"Ma-Matte yo!" Kaoru gasped, as Miki took off running across the bridge. 'It's that very same bridge... three years ago...'

"Kenshin!!" Kaoru cried, standing at the edge, looking across to her friends. She couldn't help but shake at the very thought of crossing it. Kenshin just stared at her for her moment, then slowly turned away.

'Honto ni... I was very angry with him at that time... he was always pushing me away. To abandon me like that... what kind of man...?? Demo, that's in the past. we're together now... and I believe in Kenshin... but still... this bridge...'

Kaoru took one step onto the plank and heard a creak. Gulping, she took a few more. "You can do this, Kaoru. Use all of that courage you have... you've faced how many scarier situations than this... Saa! You can do it! Just don't look down!" she told herself. She was already halfway across, "Yoshi! Almost there!"

All of a sudden, without warning the rope broke. Screaming, Kaoru held onto dear life as the bridge collapsed and swung down into the ravine. "KYAAAAAA!!" she exclaimed, slamming into the dirt wall. The bridge was still attached on the exit side. Still hanging, she tearfully looked down. "K...Kenshin... KENSHIIIIN!!!"

* * *
Sanosuke's eyes flickered open. He was lying outside, curled up into a ball, a bottle of sake not far from his hand. Sitting up, he saw that Megumi was hovering over him, already dressed. "Ohayou..." he uttered, rubbing his eyes from the sunlight.

"Ohayou, Anata." she replied, crossing her arms, "Having the usual hangover??"

"Aa, it's cold too. Guess it's not a good idea to sleep outside on a winter night." he grumbled, standing and facing her, "Is there breakfast?"

"Uhn, it's all set for you. I'll be heading for work now. See you later today." she said, patting his arm and then turning for the gate, "Take care, Sanosuke."

"Aa, sure will, Kaoru."

Within a second, Megumi was back in his face, now grabbing him by the collar, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!?" she snapped, shaking him and smacking him about, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"OI OI!!" Sanosuke frantically cried, "Calm down!! I was only joking!! Jodan yo!!!"

In the middle of her rage attack, Yahiko and Tsubame came running through the gate. They looked weary as though they hadn't any sleep. "OI MINNA!" Yahiko called. "TAIHEN DA!!"

Megumi threw Sanosuke aside and turned towards them. "Nani kore? What's going on now, Yahiko-kun?"

Tsubame stepped forward and explained. "When the cops came to pick up those drunkards last night, they were already gone... we went down to the station and had to give descriptions of them, but then it didn't do any good."

"Anyways," Yahiko cut in, "When I finally got home, I stopped at the gate to see yakuza swarming all over the place!!"

"NANI?!" Sanosuke exclaimed, getting up. Without another thought, he broke into a run, rushing down the road, "Kono bastards... they can't have Kaoru's dojo!!!"