"Cosmic chance. All encounters happen but once in a lifetime; however, I know someday, somewhere…you will find me again."

I fastened the inscribed piece of cheese cloth to a glossed rock with a ribbon of rose satin hoping, one day, it will fall into the right hands.

Rain began to bulge out from the heavens as the pregnant clouds unleashed an unforgiving storm. Colorless and greater in magnitude than anything experienced in previous years. Speckled water swept across my face with brute force and left me in company with only my memories as I trudged from the blanketed forest back into the warmth of the inn. The small shelter laid on the outskirts of Nagasaki, in a rural town known for the production of sweet cakes that were known by many to be the best in all the nation. Moist, decadent, and inviting.

Sighing, I realized everything I have ever wanted has fled from me. Six years prior, I was just a girl. A naïve, impulsive, impressionable child wanting to be wanted. In the journey of seeking my father, the samurai who smelled of sunflowers, my pubescent mind latched on to the man I hope to one day make my own.

Now, being 21 years of age, I torment myself over the person I use to be. As volatile as Mugen and Jin were when first meeting one another, they set aside their personal prerogatives and helped a 15 year old me find a shard of my past I was ambivalent of confronting. I was a hassle to be around. Constantly giving these grown men Hell, yet, they still held true to their word. Those men were my everything. Debatably the loves of my life - each in their own regard - and now, I was alone.

In some respect, I believed going on this journey would have given me a sense of purpose or a glimpse of the woman I wanted to be. However, looking back in hindsight, I realize how foolish that all sounded so long ago.

I crept back into the building as to not wake Mr. Wantanabe, the inn keeper, whose room was down the hall from my own. When I first arrived on the doorsteps of the Inn on Sakura Hill five years ago, a married couple was more than willing to take me in as a "permanent tenant" as long as I helped contribute to the upkeep of their prized gem. A kind, gentle soul, whose wife died just months ago, Mr. Wantanabe is an older man who oddly has a full head of peppered black hair. Spending most of his life being a recluse, the elder has documented many stories he has heard from vagabonds, locals, and casual acquaintances alike. He especially took a liking to the tales of bravery, buffoonery, and near death encounters I had with the boys by my side.

It wasn't until all of my stories became candid, where the old man grabbed my hand firmly and spoke those gentle words I was desperately yearning to hear, "They will return, Fuu. All connections in this life are too significant, no matter how short lived, to ever be forgotten. When one sunflower dies, it returns its wilted body back into the soil, and blossoms yet again, at a later date, with vibrant force and color. Stronger and healthier than ever."

I've held onto hope for so long...how much longer must my heart endure this emptiness? Being that the inn resides so close to Nagasaki, I saw this location to be the perfect residence for me to settle down. Knowing someday Jin or Mugen are bound to pass through at any given moment. Maybe their run in with the shogun or various yakuza members in Edo would drive them back in this direction...or, maybe, I just need to leave my childhood fantasies where they belong: amongst the sunflowers.

Regardless of where they are now, selfishly, I can only hope they dream of me as well.