Hi guys! For those of you who know me/my stories, you probably weren't expecting me to jump back in the game with a Samurai Champloo story, of all things. But what can I say? I fucking love this show..

Fair warning, this story is told entirely from Mugen's perspective. It's not pointless fluff, it's my attempt at good writing. I wanted to tell the story I think really could have happened after the end of the series, in line with the character's personalities and their histories together. Note, if you haven't seen the Elegy of Entrapment episodes (21 & 22) then you might have a bit of trouble understanding what's going on in their heads.

That said, please enjoy! Obligatory: Please review, yo. I don't know if anyone even remembers this show anymore...

There was only one bar in this sorry town. He found his way there easily, back-tracing the paths of half-asleep drunks wandering home to their families. Midnight had gone by some time ago judging by the hazy glow of the moon behind the clouds, low down near the black mountain silhouette that looked flat like paper pasted under the half formed clouds.

From up on the northern mountain path, Mugen had seen the town lights and felt a rush of excitement. He hadn't seen a city in weeks, not on that lonely winding road through the valley, down and up and down and up again as he passed through the mountain range. From there the town had looked a lot bigger. He should've known better. Probably no more than three hundred people lived here. Only one bar… What twats. What a waste of energy racing down here. The worst part was in a town like this there was no way there'd be a brothel anywhere. All the broads were stuck up in backwater small towns. All his hopes of having some hot thing warming the sheets for the first time in weeks evaporated.

The prospect of tonight seemed achingly boring, especially when he saw the sad excuse for a bar. It was dimly lit and small. He could touch the short roof if he tried. But it seemed to still be packed for such a late hour. S'pose it makes sense, he thought, seeing as these sad sacks had nowhere else to go for entertainment on a Saturday night.

Usually Mugen's entrance into a room wouldn't fail to turn a few heads. But nobody batted an eye at him as he plopped himself on a stool at the bar, the sheath of his sword clattering noisily against the wooden chair. Maybe these people were used to travelers and samurai passing through, since the mountain pass led this way. The bartender was an older one, not flat out ugly but not too pleasing on the eyes. The men at the bar cat called at her anyway, the pigs. It didn't seem like any of the girls at the various tables were much to look at at all, he decided as he glanced lazily about the room. He waved as the bartender walked past him. "Bring me whatever," he shrugged.

Her eyes glinted at him as she came back with a glass of dark golden beer. "You the solemn quiet type?" she remarked coyly. She was about to start on that flirty shit waitresses like to whip out to get better tips. You're barkin' up the wrong tree babe. He smirked at her and downed the entire glass without breaking eye contact. He set it down before her, silently requesting another.

"What, a samurai cut out your tongue?" she laughed, refilling his glass.

"Ha, most people wish," he replied, taking his drink back.

"Of course. You samurai-type always have the biggest traps. Someone oughta pass a law against samurai speaking to one another. It always ends up with someone dead after one makes a quip about the other's mother. I've had to kick all kinds oughta here, some half-dead."

"Ah, don't get your panties in a twist lady, I ain't here to make trouble." He slammed his empty glass in front of her once more.

"That's what they all say, son," she said with a wink as she left him a third glass and went away to help some other customer.

He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his legs. His muscles ached a bit seeing as he'd been walking since sunup, but he never really gave a rat's ass about being sore. You weren't really a man if you weren't dirt tired at the end of the day. He slyly checked out all the other bar patrons down the line from behind. Most were aged men, in varying states of decay. Clearly farmers, shop-owners, your run-of-the-mill small town folk. A few fairly decent looking women sat there too, but they were all talking to some guy, clearly none had come alone. Ah, hell. There goes the rest of my hopes. One slim girl down near the end laughed at something the older woman next to her was whispering in her ear. Her body was pretty enticing, wrapped like a present in decorated blue silk, but he couldn't see her face through that damn old lady talking to her. For all he knew she had an ogre face attached. The man on the other side of blue-silk chick leaned over her, planting a drunken kiss on the old lady's cheek. Mugen wondered if that girl was their daughter or friend or something, at any rate she seemed to be the only girl here who wasn't hanging off some other guy's arm. Well, there was nothing else for it then. He didn't wanna strike out on his only chance at action in town so he decided to play it gentleman-like this time, instead of coming on as bluntly as he normally chose to. Waving over the bartender, he told her with a smirk to drop a glass of wine by the chick in the blue silk kimono, and he dropped some coins on the counter for the drinks he'd bought so far. She winked at him and followed orders.

He could hear her reaction from the other end of the bar. He pretended not to listen and instead gulped a bit of his own drink. There were only a few other conversations going on between the people seated at the bar. "What do you mean someone ordered me a drink?" she asked the bartender, her words a little slurred. Clearly a bit drunk already. That couldn't hurt his chances. "Which one of you asshats is trying to hit on me?" she said, though she didn't seem to realize no one else at the bar top was listening.

"Weren't any of the regulars," the bartender responded as she rinsed some glasses at the sink in front of that girl.

"Oh?" answered the girl sarcastically, with the characteristic drawl of any girl who's had a few. "Then who?"

My cue. He pushed his stool back and ambled over there. He came up as the bartender was answering her. "Some samurai passing through town. Not worth your time if you ask me," she finished, grinning directly at Mugen as he came up behind the girl. Her sexy attire made it look like she was all put-together, but now that he was up close he could see her brown hair wasn't done up fancy like he'd thought, but was knotted together messily on top of her head, and there was actually a leaf in it. He nearly laughed. So much for finding a fine lady in this town. But her body still looked sweet up close so he kept at it.

"I'll be the judge of that," the girl replied to her bartender sassily, taking a sip out of the full glass in front of her.

Mugen laid his left hand on her left shoulder and leaned in towards the right side of her face. "I just thought a fine girl like you deserved to drink the best wine in the house," he said in a low gravelly voice. It was his picking-up-girls voice he reserved for times like this. Man, bitches loved that voice.

"I can pay for my own drinks," she slurred, without turning to look at him. "I don't know what makes men think a free drink will just make a girl instantly spread her legs. Every time someone new comes down from the mountains it's the same thing."

"It's just a free drink, girl. Lighten up. Jeez, you'd think I'd tried to grab at you or something." She made a scoffing noise and took another swig. He took that as a good sign. She hadn't shoved his arm off her shoulder at least. "Hey, your voice sounds real familiar to me, girl." Even through your slight slurs, he thought. "We ever met before?"

"It's not impossible," she admitted, both hands resting around her glass. "I've travelled an awful lot. Met more samurai than you'd believe." Damn, this bitch still wouldn't turn around and look at him. She was one stubborn woman.

"Probably never met one half as awesome as me," he said cockily. He was still leaned in by her ear. He was itching for her to turn toward him. This hard-to-get game was wearing on his nerves. He wanted to see her damn face already.

To his surprise, she laughed at his remark. "Honey, don't even try that with me. I've seen some of the best swordsmen in the world so I doubt there's anything you could do to impress me."

"Try me."

She laughed again, this time with evident mirth instead of in a mocking way. Now he heard in her bubbly voice an unmistakable familiarity, which hadn't been in immediate evidence before. "You know, you sound-" she began to say as she turned toward him, but then she stopped short. Her eyes widened as Mugen's arm slipped off her shoulder in disbelief. "Mugen?" she cried in disbelief.

"Holy shit," Mugen said out loud. It was the only thing he could think to say. He felt like he had been slapped in the face.

"Mugen what are you doing here?" Fuu said, standing up abruptly. "And what are you doing trying to hit on me!"

Mugen scratched his head thoughtfully, and helped himself to a taste of her wine. He felt he needed it. To think how much I paid for this stupid house wine. "I had no clue it was you, girly. Maybe you shouldn't wear such provocative clothing."

Her face reddened. "Oh shut it. My clothing isn't provocative you dickwad. You really didn't even recognize me?"

"I did once you finally turned around. What, are you serious? You didn't have this rockin' body last time we saw each other. How could I have possibly known it was you? You uh.. you grew a bit since I last saw ya." Her facial expression got angrier somehow, even though he'd thought that body compliment would pacify her. He'd forgotten of course that Fuu was impossible to pacify.

She folded her arms. "Did you come here just to taunt me like old times?" she said scathingly. "I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Why don't you leave me alone now?"

"Don't flatter yourself." He drained the rest of her drink for her and slammed it back down. The two people from either side of Fuu were staring openly at them, he saw, but apparently they were going to let Fuu handle it herself. Some friends. "I was just passing through. I never would have guessed you were here."

Her expression passed from angry to something else. "Oh," she said quietly. It was plain that she was starting to regret lashing out at him, but he was already irritated. Two seconds in her presence and he was already remembering why he used to tear his hair out over her.

"Anyway," he sneered, "I'll leave you with your friends." He shot a dagger look at the old man on her other side, who paled instantly. He then smiled sneeringly at Fuu, pinching her cheek condescendingly for the best effect. "Don't get too crazy drunk, you're already oozing booze out every pore. Might wake up next to any stinking brute if you're not careful, chick." He slapped a few more coins on the counter in front of the shocked bartender and left the bar haughtily.

It didn't take long. Fuu came stumbling out of the bar's door when he was only a few steps away. "Mugen," she was saying, "Mugen stop."

He paused reluctantly, unsure why he was listening to this bitch. He was mostly irritated at the fact that he had been cheated out of his one night stand because it turned out to be her, of all people. Out of everyone in the world he'd said goodbye to, she was the one he'd really never dreamed he'd be saying hello to again. And yet there she was when he turned around, standing uncertainly in the washed yellow light of the doorway.

"Mugen, I'm sorry. Just forget what I said before." She pushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face. "I'm a little drunk if you haven't noticed." She truly must be; it wasn't like her at all to apologize so quickly. Or maybe she just wasn't as freakishly immature and argumentative as she used to be, though he found that hard to imagine. For arguments sake, because he knew the fight was pretty much already over, he decided to just go with it.

"I noticed," he said, smirking. "Not so righteous and innocent as you were back in the day, huh girlie?"

"Don't start," she said, her voice rising again. "I'm trying to be nice here. Aren't you happy to see me at all?"

"Chill your jets," he replied coolly. "I just never expected to see you here, that's all... Hey, any inns in this shit town, anyway?"

She fell into step by him as he turned to peer down the street at the darkened shop windows, walking a few feet away. "I could say the same, you know," she responded. "And sadly, there are none. You'd think we'd have one, but truthfully they don't want to invite in the travelers. They don't say so but I can tell. They don't like strangers much here."

"Well that's just great." He had to stabilize Fuu for a moment by grabbing her elbow as she tripped on a rock in the street. "You're no good at walking while drunk," he laughed.

"This is coming from the man who used to stumble in at all hours, tripping over everything and making every noise humanly possible."

"That's only in the dark," Mugen defended. "If I can see, I'm an agile cat." She rolled her eyes. "You don't see me trippin over my own feet, do ya?" It was true, he never fell on his face. He was an expert at being drunk. "Hell, I could kill a guy with both hands tied behind my back while I was completely shit-faced. I've done it more than once."

"Oh, Mugen." He couldn't tell what she meant when she said that. But she didn't say anything else for a minute. Then suddenly she perked up. "You know what, why don't you stay with me?" Before he could say yes, she blathered on, "I won't take a no, I know you don't have anywhere else to stay. It'll be like old times. Don't worry, I have my own place! Bet you haven't slept in a bed in weeks. You can have mine, I'll sleep on the couch. Trust me, I know how great a bed feels after weeks of sleeping on dirt and pine needles."

He literally did not have a chance to agree before she was sweeping him away down a narrow side street, up a small grassy hill toward a larger house with a huge fenced off yard full of dark flowers, all closed to the cool night air.

"No, not the big house," she said matter-of-factly. "Yeah right. I'm their gardener, it's those two I was at the bar with. I live in this uh- little cottage just beyond their property so I can care for their plants. Housing comes free with my job. Ha, how brilliant is that?" She was beaming at the little house that came up before them, like it was the most beautiful house ever.

Mugen shrugged in response to her. Why is it that drunk girls talk so much? She just rolled her eyes more and ushered him inside. She tried to get a fire going in the fireplace, but she was apparently too drunk to do that. She kept breaking the matches in half trying to light them. Mugen couldn't help but laugh at her. "I don't see you helping," she griped.

"It's more entertaining this way," he said, putting a hit of mockery in his tone. "I've never gotten to see you this drunk before. It's a riot."

"Oh, can it," she said, throwing the matches down throwing her arms up in defeat. "If you want a fire you can.. uh, you can start it. Otherwise, I think I'm… think I'm uh.. going to bed. Ugh. My head is starting to swim a bit. We can catch up.. in .. the morning." The word 'morning' was warped by her sudden yawn.

Mugen chuckled even harder. Shoulda known she couldn't hold her booze. He was still standing in the doorway of the small one-room house, so he made his way over to the bed and sat down gingerly. He could really feel that ache now, deep in every muscle in his legs. The mattress was the softest thing he'd sat on in weeks. He felt bad taking the bed, but, he really couldn't say no to that kind of an offer. He watched Fuu teeter from the fireplace over to the padded couch which sat beneath a small window by the front door. She leaned her head back against the wall and rubbed her temples. "I never know when to stop," she joked. "I'm gonna feel it in the morning… I can al- already tell.." Her words trailed off quietly, she sounded like she was already half-asleep.

"Shoulda known you'd turn out to be more of a drunk than Jin and I put together," he jeered good-naturedly. "It's always the ones that seem the most innocent."

He looked around the small house. There were few decorations, few belongings at all really. It barely looked like anyone lived here, except for the dishes stacked in the sink. "You uh.. you been living here a while?"

"Only about ermm.. three weeks I think," she muttered sleepily. "I don't really um, sta- stay long in one town…"

"Ah. So, I guess you really haven't changed much after all, girlie."

He waited for her retort, but he realized with a shock that she was snoring. The dumb bitch had fallen asleep still sitting up, her head slumped back against the wall. He considered just going to bed, but he'd probably (scratch that, definitely) get yelled at in the morning if he left her like that. So he climbed back off her bed and went over to her, intending to lay her out flat, give her a blanket or something. He scooped her legs up onto the end of the couch, ignoring the bare warm skin of her calves, letting her wooden sandals fall to the floor. He was trying to forget about the fact that he really had wanted to fuck her badly before finding out his attractive mystery woman was Fuu, Fuu of all people. Of all the people, he thought again incredulously, peering curiously at her sleeping face. He didn't waste any gentleness pulling her torso down into a more restful position. Her drunk ass wouldn't even feel it if he broke a bottle over her head.

There was a quilt hanging over the backside of the couch, so he yanked that down and threw it over her. Can't say I never did nothin' for ya. For some reason he was itching to say something else snarky to her, maybe out of pure habit, but it was no use if she wasn't awake to snap back. No fun in a sleeping girl. But after that thought he had to expel several dark thoughts of things that could be fun with sleeping girls.

Ah, hell. He wandered back across the room- threw his sword off by his bed, pulled his shirt up over his head, relished the relieving feeling of stretching his arms, stifled a massive yawn. Fuu stirred in her sleep and rolled over, causing the blanket to fall to the floor in a heap. "Ah, come on," he said out loud to no one.

He strode back over to her, wishing he'd stayed for a few more drinks at that bar. He wasn't feeling nearly as wasted as he liked to be around this time of night. For some reason seeing her hip curve against the clingy blue fabric, extra visible since she was on her side, made him angry. She wasn't supposed to catch his attention that way. She was irritation incarnate. So he picked up the patterned quilt and covered her inert body back up.

This time, her eyes fluttered open. When they fell on his face they widened it what seemed to be legitimate surprise. "Oh hi, Mugen," she whispered sleepily. "How did you find me here?"

"Oh, just passing through," he joked, knowing she was half dreaming and wholly drunk.

"Oh," she said, blinking rapidly, "You really are here, god I'm stupid.. I think I was dreaming for a sec!" A giggle escaped her parted lips, followed by a hiccup.

Mugen didn't really know what to say.

"You know," she said lazily, rolling on her back to face Mugen above her, "thanks for walking me home. Not every guy in this town is a stand-up citizen, if you catch my meaning."

He actually threw his head back and guffawed at that one. "Ha, are you implying that I am a stand-up guy? Must be drunker than I thought."

Fuu glared at him through glassy eyes, seeming to come to her senses in her momentary anger at him. "No, you're no gentleman, Mugen," she said his name with a bite of venom that took him by surprise. "But I've met countless men worse than you. The lowest of the low. Real scumbags. Now I know you fawn after pretty girls and willing whores but you can't fool me into thinking you're a monster like some men are."

Mugen's jaw dropped. "Heavy words for someone who can't stop slurring everything they say. You can't be so sure I'm not some kind of monster. Come off it, you barely even know me, bitch." He was aware that what she'd said to him had been her sort of compliment, but for some reason it angered him that she thought of him like that. That she wasn't even a little bit scared of him. For fuck's sake, he was a scary sonofabitch!

Fuu didn't answer but her head fell off to the side, and he thought for a second that she'd passed out again. She hadn't. "I wouldn't have brought you back here if I didn't trust you, you should know that, idiot."

He scoffed. "You're too trusting if you ask me."

She just smiled in response. Her eyes were shut. In no time her breathing was steady again.

But Mugen lay awake in bed for what seemed like forever, staring up at the dark wooden ceiling. His irritation smoldered low in his mind and he couldn't quiet it well enough to fall asleep. His hand lay across his bare chest, his finger running absentmindedly over the long bumpy scar there. Sometimes he could still feel the pain of it late at night when everything else was quiet, simmering there like a haunting phantom memory. It was funny, really. Even when he truly thought he was dying he hadn't been scared, just pissed off as usual, ready to go down with his middle finger up at the world. Somebody ruined it though. He never got to stick up that finger.

His gaze roamed toward the sleeping girl, her chest rising and falling slowly in the dim moonlight leaking in from the window.

Fuck. He wasn't expecting to get blindsided like this. What was he even doing here? Maybe he should just get out of here before she woke up in the morning. Or before he did something stupid. What was it with her, anyway? If any other drunk girl was passed out in his room he couldn't say he'd be able to play the gentleman for long. He didn't know what it was about Fuu that commanded respect. Maybe it was simply because they had known each other so long. He rolled over to face the wall so he couldn't see her. Sleep was a long time coming, and eventually he fell into it slowly like he so often did, with a haze of broken memories coming on in a meaningless string. He fell asleep with the words Don't kill him ringing in his ears.