What's Best for Fuu

An Unexpected Proposal

It was a warm day in Edo, a haze seemed to hang in the air outside of the tea house where the waitress was working. She wasn't good at predicting the weather, not in the slightest, but even she could tell it was going to rain. Large brown eyes seemed to gaze beyond the curtain that hung over the entrance, past the crowds that bustled along street, into some distant memory. It was if the world around her vanished and she was left with a vision of the past. But anymore, she wasn't sure how much of her memory was real, and how much was fantasy.

The journey had happened, she knew that much. The samurai, the pirate, they were real. But those steely cold eyes, the confident smirk, the way the wind ruffled through wild, dark hair...was that what he had really looked like? Or was she simply romanticizing him? Had her heart ever pounding in her chest at the thought of him when they traveled together? Or was it merely the after effect of being so long without him? Her eyes drifted shut, and she sighed.

It had been four years, hadn't it? Since they parted ways on that path, since they'd last seen each other. The skinny girl, who had been fifteen when their journey began, and sixteen when it ended; had blossomed into womanhood. At least she liked to think so. True, her form wasn't as voluptuous as the women he'd preferred during their trip. But she couldn't be called a flat plank any more, either. She had the curves that came with maturity. And she carried herself with a touch more grace than she had as a teenager. She was twenty now, the same age he had been when they had parted, and she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing. How much might the rogue have changed? Where was he? Was he safe, at least?

At least the samurai who had served as her other bodyguard had been in contact with her. True, they hadn't seen each other since parting ways. But she'd had a hunch of where he might end up, and it had turned out to be true! So, she had been able to find him, at least. But where did one find the wandering soul that she longed so to see again?

"-chan?" Something was cutting into her thoughts. A voice. It was familiar, strong yet soft, masculine, but tender, "Fuu-chan? Hey, are you alright? Earth to Fuu-chan!"

That was right. There was someone here, in the tea house, a customer that she was meant to be tending to. A regular who had apparently started frequenting the establishment only after her employment had begun. Someone who was sweet, kind and gentle. Nothing like that jerk that she had been wondering about. What was that idiot swordsman doing in her mind anyway? Opening her eyes, the waitress smiled at the young man who sat before her, "Sorry, Gijouhei-san. I guess I was day dreaming again. What can I get you?"

The young man smiled gently at her, shaking his head in amusement, a dark black ponytail shifting against his shoulders as he moved. "It's Hiroshi, or Hiroshi-kun, if you wish to be more formal. We've known each other for a few years now, we've even been out together a couple times. You should know you can be more relaxed with me, by now."

"Sorry, Hiroshi-kun..." She blushed slightly as he mentioned the few dates they'd been on. Hiroshi was about two years older than Fuu, and he somehow reminded her a bit of Jin. He wasn't as quiet, or as formal as the samurai who had served as her bodyguard. But he had that same honorable quality.

"It's alright, I just don't like it when you act so distant." His deep brown eyes skimmed over her as she clutched her serving tray to her chest, that blush still on her features, "You were thinking about that trip again, weren't you?"

Fuu blinked wide eyed at his accurate guess. He knew her so well, and sometimes it scared her. Sometimes, the waitress wondered why she had ever bothered to mention Mugen and Jin to him, or anyone else. That was in her past. This was her present. Jin had moved on and started a life of his own; and Mugen was somewhere, probably getting drunk or in a brothel. The woman couldn't help but sense a tinge of disappointment coming from her friend as her reaction seemed to confirm his suspicions.

"If he wanted to find you, he would have." Hiroshi remarked, turning his face to the side to try and disguise his disgust as he spoke of the rogue she often told him about, "You gave him plenty of time to find you in that little village near where you separated..."

"What?" Fuu blushed brighter, turning her own face away to hide the change in color, "I don't care if he finds me or not! It's been four years, why should I care about that jerk! I just stayed there for awhile because I wasn't sure where else to go, I told you that!"

Her protests earned a small smile and a laugh from the young man at the table, and she snapped around to face him with a pout that didn't really fit her more mature features as she spoke to him, "What's so funny?"

"Sorry! Sorry, Fuu-chan." He smiled brightly at the waitress, "I just...the way you talk about him sometimes, I always thought...I guess I shouldn't be jealous of a memory, though, hmm?"

Again, Fuu blushed at his words. Jealous? He was jealous of Mugen? "Why on earth would you be jealous anyway?"

It was Hiroshi's turn to blink in surprise. Did she not realize how he felt about her? He'd asked her out any chance he got when she first got to Edo. And when she finally gave in after over a year of his pestering, he thought she at least understood that he liked her. Since then their dates had been few and far between because of their varying schedules, but he made sure to stop in the tea house any chance he got in order to visit with her, "Fuu-chan..."

He sounded hurt, she thought. Why did he sound like that? And why was he looking at her with such confusion, as though she had missed something entirely? Her low, loose bun flopped against the nape of her neck as she tilted her head to the side, "What?"

The young man lifted a hand to his forehead and sighed, "You really don't know? You...you really can't see how much I like you, can you?"

Fuu's eyes flew wide at this statement. Her mind flashed to all the times in the past that Mugen had told her no man would ever find her appealing. It must have given her some kind of complex, because never in a million years would she have thought that Hiroshi actually, "Wait...you mean...like-like?"

Again Hiroshi nodded, looking away. She was going to reject him, wasn't she? What did she think he'd been asking her out for? Did she really think they were just friendly outings? His cheeks burned brightly as he waited for her to process the information, mumbling one more thing under his breath, unsure of if she'd hear or not, "I...think it might even be love..."

A small squeak escaped from the waitress as she dropped her tray with a clatter. Fortunately the wooden platter was empty at the moment. Her hands lifted to her mouth, and from the look of utter shock, Hiroshi could tell she'd heard him. He looked at her from the corner of his gaze as her cheeks went pink. From behind her hands Fuu let out a disbelieving response, "R-really? Did you really...you did say...l-love?"

That wasn't the reaction that the handsome young man had been expecting. He had thought she'd either reject or accept him, but she seemed to be in utter shock over the fact that someone was attracted to her. Turning to look at her, he smiled and nodded, "That's what I said. Fuu-chan...you don't know how amazing you are, do you? Those men you traveled with...they didn't realize how lucky they had it, or they would never have let you get away."

The waitress dropped her hands, leaning down to pick up her tray as she tried to think up a response that didn't make her sound completely pathetic and lacking in confidence. Hiroshi reached down at the same time, perhaps to pick up the tray, or perhaps just using it as an excuse for their hands to brush against one another. When their fingers gently touched, Fuu went to pull away, and Hiroshi took hold of her hand before she had the chance. When the brunette looked up at him, she found that their eyes met. The way the young man was looking at her made her blush brightly, her heart seemed to skip a beat, "H-hiroshi...kun..."

He shifted his hand against hers, twining their fingers together as he tried to pull the server closer, "What?"

She moved to drop her face aside, and as she did, she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, something familiar. But no, it couldn't have been. Fuu didn't have much time to contemplate it as Hiroshi's free hand, strong but gentle, guided her to look at him once more. With a blink she realized his face was closer than it had been before. Her face grew brighter.

Hiroshi enjoyed that blush, it was cute, just one of many things that made the woman desirable. He locked eyes with her a moment longer, waiting to see if she would build on her mention of his name earlier. When she said nothing, he closed the last of the space between them, pressing his lips to Fuu's for what seemed like several long moments before pulling away, "I won't make the same mistake they did...marry me."