"Obi, you're hurt!" yelled Torou as she noticed her partner bloodied and broken, his ability to stand only possible due to the tree he was leaning against.

"It's... it's nothing. Don't worry... about me," Obi said through ragged breath as he turned away from Torou and started slowly hobbling further into the forest. The pain shot through him with each short step he took. Their job was supposed to be a simple item retrieval mission, but the captives they had taken decided to defend themselves and riot against them. The sword fighting had ended with Obi's group as the winner, but his opponents had made sure it wouldn't be a victory he could celebrate. The deep slash across his chest was the worst of his wounds, but the cut above his eye pained him as well. Even with his headband tied against it, the blood seeped through and ran into his left eye. His head throbbed as he continued walking, his vision blurred by blood and pain.

This... this isn't that bad. Nothing to worry Torou or the rest of them for that matter. With our line of work, it'd be foolish to put that much trust in someone else. Yes, I'll simply get to the near...by... village... No longer able to take the overwhelming pain and the toll it took on his body, he staggered and fell to the forest floor.

Unfortunately for him, his partners had indeed left him behind to turn in the item they had been hired to retrieve and receive their due compensation. None had given his current state a second thought, with the exception of Torou, who eventually had decided it better to retreat and call their job complete. On the other hand, fortune hadn't totally forsaken young Obi either. For someone else was also in the woods that day.

"Oh, looks like someone from the village has wandered into the forest!" said the young woman as she approached the motionless body in front of her. She noticed the blood that coated the leaves around the young man, and nearly cried out from the surprise. She stifled her shock and crouched down to get a closer look. "Oh sweet husband, please don't let it be you!" she whispered as she slowly turned him over. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she saw that it wasn't her dear William.

"Still, I can't just leave the poor boy here, now can I?" she said to herself as she glanced over the rest of his body to decide the best way to move him.

Four Days Later

"Ugh..." groaned Obi as he slowly regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw a mildly worn-down wooden roof above him. He blinked a few times to be sure his sight was true. The last thing he could remember was walking through the woods, there were no houses anywhere near the area he had last remembered being in. His voice was hoarse as he tried to speak out, "Where... am I? Is anyone there?" He had started to attempt to sit up, but a jolt of pain running across his chest put a stop to his movements very quickly. He heard footsteps approaching, and tried to prepare himself for whoever it was.

"Oh, you're awake now, thank goodness!" A young woman appeared over him, wiping her hands with a washrag and smiling down at him. Obi wasn't normally one to be lost for words, but nothing but silence fell between them.

"You've been asleep for four days now, I was starting to worry that you wouldn't wake up at all," she said.

"Did you say... four days?! Oh no... I've missed the rendezvous," Obi said as he once again attempted to raise himself from the bed.

"Oh, you mustn't move too much! I'm sorry but I'm not skilled with medicine, so all I was able to do for you was keep your wounds clean and dressed. If you keep moving, your wounds will open up again and will scar worse." She grabbed his hand and held it between her own to try to calm him down. The contact she made distracted him enough to stop his movements.

"Who are you?" was all he could think of to ask at that point. The pain was too much to keep attempting to leave, so he resigned himself to the fact that until he got better, he was going to have to stay with this stranger. His instincts to avoid any personal connections were strong, but in his weakened state, he had no other option than to trust the woman. If she indeed ended up killing him, it would just be a lesson learned for him. An assassin has to expect a blade to be hiding anywhere and with anyone.

"My name is Nanaki. I know that you probably don't want to linger here too long, I can tell by the look on your face. But your wounds just haven't healed enough yet. I've done my best, but you have to give your body a chance to regain its health with rest."

"I suppose you're right. I'm not in the best position to question whether to trust you or not, so I'll just have to go with the flow for now," Obi replied as he draped his left arm over his face to shield his eyes from the light inside the room. Despite his current situation, he felt calm enough to drift off to sleep. As an assassin, to leave yourself open in front of a stranger wasn't wise. But an unfamiliar feeling crept up on him as he fell asleep. Something he hadn't felt in years.

Peace.

Several Days Later

"Your wounds are looking much better, young man. Would you like to sit up for a little while? I imagine laying flat for nearly a week can't be comfortable," Nanaki said as she finished changing the last of his bandages. She stacked some blankets and pillows behind him and helped lean him against them. For the first time, Obi was able to see what the rest of the little cabin looked like. He never heard any other people outside so he had assumed she was in one of the outlying homes within the village. The view outside the nearby window showed that he was wrong. They were still well within the forest, in a small clearing surrounded by some evergreen trees.

"My name is Obi. Sorry I haven't mentioned it until now. I'm curious though, most people prefer to live in the village where it's safer. Why would you rather live here in the woods?"

She smiled as she put away the medical supplies she kept on the tray next to Obi's bed. "This forest is actually where I met my husband if you can believe that. We've always found these woods to be where we both felt the most comfortable and free, so once we were married, we decided this was where home should be."

Obi nodded, "If you don't mind me asking Nanaki, where is your husband? I've been here for a while now and I don't believe I've seen him coming or going at all."

"He's off on another one of his adventures. It's funny, the same wanderlust that led to us meeting and falling in love is the same one that keeps pulling him away from here time and again." She laughed to herself, although Obi could detect a note of sadness within her voice. He didn't know her husband, but he felt some anger towards him for leaving such a good woman alone like this.

Nanaki must have noticed his expression change, and she held up her hands defensively, "Now, don't get me wrong, I have no doubts at all of my William's love for me. But his desire for adventure is just a part of who he is, and I wouldn't dream of making him choose between the two loves of his life. Although... there are times when I wished that his other love would fade. We've talked so many times of starting a family, but each time he would only hug me tightly and tell me 'when I come home, my dear.' And so I just spend my time here, ready for when he comes home for good. He's been gone a little longer than usual this time, but I'm sure it won't be long until I hear him calling for me from the yard once again."

Obi shook his head. The situation was just so unfair to her, but she was too blind to see it. "Why should he get to continue on with what makes him happy while you're left waiting and putting your own wants and desires on hold? He just seems selfish to me."

Surprised by his bluntness, Nanaki blushed and stood up from where she had been sitting next to Obi. "Well, it's not as bad as all that. I still have my own hobbies and interests to keep me occupied. Love can be so strange to those outside of its embrace. Perhaps one day you'll understand, Obi."

"I doubt it," Obi said with a sigh.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I have some things I need to pick up in town. If there's anything you need, I'd be happy to get them for you," she offered as she walked towards the front door.

"Nothing I can think of. Just be careful out there."

"I appreciate the concern, I'll be back in a few hours," Nanaki said as she closed the door behind her.

Obi shook his head, "It's not concern... It'd just be a shame if something happened to her before I could thank her properly for tending to my injuries, that's all." He felt like testing out his strength, and now that she had stepped out he felt he could do so and avoid being scolded. He flung the blankets covering him to the side and brought his legs over the edge of the bed. Carefully he raised himself off of the mattress and held the edge of the table as he balanced himself on his feet. Soreness and aches replied to his movements, but he no longer felt as weary as he had the first time he had tried to attempt moving when he first arrived here. He shuffled across the floorboards and kept his arms close to any other furniture he could use to brace himself with.

The layout of the cabin was open, with the bed residing in the back right corner of the room. To the right of the bed were two lounging chairs set in front of their small hearth. Obi wondered how many nights Nanaki had spent sitting in one of those chairs watching the fire alone. He continued walking into the kitchen area that was to the right of the front door. Fresh bread was sitting atop the stove, cooling off from where she had made it with their breakfast hours earlier. She planned on making a stew for their supper, and the bread was intended to be a part of that meal.

He approached the front door, peeking out of the window to get a better view of the area he was in. To the left of the door was a small room, this was where Nanaki slept apparently, from the small cot and blankets on the floor. Ridiculous that she would give up her own bed for this...

He saw a small desk in the room, littered with papers and writing utensils. Above it was a painting. He recognized Nanaki immediately, although this portrait had to have been painted quite a few years ago. Her smile was just as genuine at that moment in time as it was when she last spoke to him. The man he had to assume was her husband held his arms against her waist as he stood behind her. His thick mustache partially hid the smile on his face.

Obi's eyes widened as he got a closer look at Nanaki's dear William. His mind flashed back to the fight that had started during his last job, he had noticed someone there with a thick mustache like the man in the picture. As the image in his mind grew clearer, he realized that it was the same person. William had been one of the people his group had captured, and a shock of pain struck his heart as he was fairly sure that no one that fought against them had survived. He didn't die by his hand, but that didn't do much to alleviate the sense of sadness he now felt for Nanaki.

Looks like he won't be coming home this time. Poor Nanaki... Should I tell her now and get it over with? Would that actually be a kindness in her eyes? Perhaps it would be better to just feign ignorance and delay her suffering.

He looked around the cabin a while longer before returning to the bed. He began to feel guilty for laying there, so he carefully stood and set himself down in one of the chairs facing the fireplace. That was where Nanaki found Obi when she returned from town.

"Oh, I'm surprised to see you up and about Obi! You didn't have to leave the bed though, you'll get better rest there," she said as she walked in and set what she had bought down on the table.

"It was getting to be too... sore of a place to stay. I'm fine though, don't worry about me. How are you? Did you have any trouble while in the village?" asked Obi.

"Everything went fine, I even managed to get a better deal on the stew ingredients from the farmer's market. I could stoke the fire if you'd like to sit in front of it while I make supper."

Obi shook his head, "No, it's not necessary." How could I possibly tell her what I know about her husband now? After all she's done for me, telling her he's dead would kill her too. He decided to keep it to himself for the time being. As she cooked, he stared into the dwindling embers of the fire in front of him. Deep in thought over his current situation, questioning whether he should just run like he usually did when people suddenly got too close to him. He turned and glanced back towards Nanaki, watching her as she chopped the vegetables and slid them into the pot on the stove.

Nanaki... I wish I could tell you that your waiting was over but I'm just not strong enough to break your heart as I do so. I'm sorry for my weakness.

...

"The stew turned out exceptionally well this time, I think the money I saved must have affected the taste, don't you think Obi?" Nanaki said with a laugh. Obi only stared at the spoonful he had gathered up, his gaze looking past the food and towards nothing in particular. "Obi? Are you not feeling well? Maybe I should have made something a little lighter for your stomach..."

This brought Obi out of his daze, and he shook his head to clear his mind. "Wha? Oh, no this is really great, seriously. It's just... I can't help but wonder about something. Maybe this isn't the place for it, but I want to know. That day you found me wounded, you had every opportunity to just keep on walking and forget me. You had no obligation to help me, yet you took me in and nursed me back to health. I just want to know, well, why you did that for me? You didn't know me at all, I could have been someone... dangerous."

Nanaki's eyes widened, she was honestly surprised that it had taken him this long to ask what should have been the first question on his mind when he woke up. "Well, when I first came across you, I feared that it was my husband laying there on the ground. But when I got a closer look and saw that it wasn't William but another young man that looked as though he was one who sought adventure, I couldn't just let you die. You reminded me of him back when we first met, and I thought to myself as I carried you back to my home that it would have been a tragedy if the world lost a free spirit like you."

Obi felt like he had just been kicked in his chest, his healing wound having nothing to do with the pain he now felt. His earlier decision came back to the forefront of his mind once more. To tell her or not to tell her of William's fate? Surely by now someone would have come across the scene and discovered him among the deceased. Why couldn't someone else show up and break this news to her? Someone that didn't know the kindness in her heart. How he had wished to have been ignorant to all of this last week with her and kept himself distant. But now it was too late. He had let her get too close, and now he was unsure of himself.

"I... I don't know what to say, Nanaki. I'm grateful for all you've done for me. But, someone like me just doesn't deserve such kindness, so I'm afraid that I'm just... at a loss." He finished his stew and excused himself from the table, hobbling back over to the bed.

"Perhaps it's because 'someone like you' needs to feel kindness," she said as she stood up from the table and followed him to the bed. "You said that you could have been someone dangerous when I found you. That's true, you could have been. But in that moment, even a dangerous person's life is still a life. It's still precious, and how could I be the one to decide if that life should be extinguished or not? I saw the weapons you had, I took them off of you as I prepared to dress your wounds. Those weapons have stayed next to you this whole time, giving you every opportunity to show how dangerous you could be. But it never came to be, because that is not who you are. Don't say you don't deserve kindness just because you're not used to it, Obi. You'll never be able to trust anyone if you keep them at arm's length. And that's a real tragedy, because they won't get to know how special you are either." she said as she touched his shoulder.

Obi blushed as he watched her hand make contact with his body. "Uhm... Thank you, Nanaki. It's been a long day, perhaps we should continue our talk in the morning. I... may have more to say then."

"Yes, of course. Good night, Obi. Pleasant dreams," she said with a smile as she gripped his shoulder encouragingly and went back into the kitchen area to clean up their dishes. She was happy that he failed to notice the tears gathering in her eyes as she turned away from him. He had been making so much progress opening up to her, she hoped that their conversation at supper wouldn't cause him to rebuild the walls that he kept up around himself. She was starting to see the true Obi shine through. It would be a shame to see that light flicker out.

It's decided, I'll tell her everything tomorrow. She deserves to know the truth and have the chance to move forward from it. Tomorrow... He drifted off to sleep, with tomorrow's difficult conversation on his mind.

...

A strange noise outside of the cabin woke Obi up suddenly. He sat up in the bed and silently looked around the darkened room to see where the sound was coming from. Just as he put his feet to the floor to stand up, the front door flung open wide, revealing the source of the noise.

A large man stood in the doorway, several bloodied bandages wound messily around his right arm and both legs. Obi recognized him as the man that had given him the scars across his chest and forehead. He had been so sure that he had defeated him, yet...

"Ahh, I've finally tracked you down, thief! You think I would let you get away after what you and your band of devils stole from us! Tonight I'll finish slicing you apart!" said the man as he began to charge towards Obi, his sword raised and ready to cut him down.

"Not today!" exclaimed Obi as he dove away from the bed just as his attacker's sword landed on it, slicing the blankets and sheets. "Weapons, weapons! She said they were over here!" Obi said as he frantically looked around the side of the bed for where his weapons were stored. He was leaving himself open for attack, he was aware, but he had no other choice than to find his sword so he could defend himself. And Nanaki. Don't come out of that room, please Nanaki... Let me handle this, let me protect you this time!

He saw his sword and pouch of daggers laying behind the bed table and turned to reach for them. He heard the man's footsteps approach, but then heard a very feminine yell pierce through the air. He turned to look and saw Nanaki charge towards his assailant and crash her right shoulder into him, knocking him off balance and onto the bed.

"Nanaki! Get away from here now!" yelled Obi as he turned his attention back to his weapons, tossing aside the table that blocked him from retrieving them.

"How pathetic, a man like you defended by a frail woman! Killing you won't be quite as satisfying now, but I swore an oath to repay you for the death and destruction your kind has caused us! Now die, bastard!" The man rushed at Obi once more, his sword held high.

Obi had just grabbed the hilt of his sword when he felt a rush of air flow past him. As he turned to face his enemy, he was surprised to see Nanaki standing between the two of them.

"No!" screamed Obi as the man brought his sword down, ripping across Nanaki's chest and stomach as she held her arms out in front of Obi, guarding him with her life. She cried out once in pain but held her stance against their adversary.

"Argh, damned woman, stop getting in my way!" yelled the man as he swung the hilt of his sword towards her, smashing it across the right side of her face and dropping her down to the floor.

Thin blades cut through the air, making a wet slapping noise as they sunk deep into the chest and neck of the man that had cut Nanaki down. Blood trickled out of the wound at his neck as he tried to speak. Watery choking noises were all he was able to produce though as Obi charged towards him. "Nanaki!" he yelled as he jumped into the air and kicked the dagger further into his neck, widening the gash and giving his blood more room to spill. The man fell back, his limbs shuddering for a moment, then coming to a fatal halt.

"Oh no, Nanaki!" Obi said as he went to where she lay sprawled across the floor. He picked her up carefully and laid her out on the bed. The blood had no intention of slowing, but he did all he could, gathering the blankets and pushing them against the wounds, hoping to stop the flow.

Nanaki blinked a few times, her right eye swollen shut and bloody from where she was hit, as she looked at Obi.

"Nanaki! Nanaki! I don't know what to do! Please, please stay with me! Why... why did you..." his voice seized within his throat, tears now freely flowing from his eyes. "You didn't have to protect me! I should have been the one protecting you, damn it! After all you've done, it...it should have been me!"

She groaned slightly as she lifted a bloodied hand up, making a fist and lifting her pointer finger up from it. She brought her finger up to his lips. "Shh... don't worry. I... I don't regret my actions here. Please. For me. Live on, live freely, and love when you can, Obi. Don't... don't hide yourself away anymore." She paused as her own tears began to fall. "Now... it seems like it'll be my William that will be waiting for a reunion this time." She flashed a brief smile and closed her eyes for the last time.

"Please... no!" Obi cried out, holding her close and sobbing well into the night.

...

Obi gathered his things from the cabin. He had cleaned up the mess caused by the fighting, although it took several days in his condition. Taking just as long was him burying Nanaki. He had left the cabin to find the right place to lay her to rest. He found an overlook that had a beautiful view of her cabin nearby. It took him some time and a bit of pain, but he managed to prepare her final resting place. As he stood at her grave, he wept silently one more time for the person who had shown him so much of what compassion and kindness could do, even to someone as hopeless as him. He looked around at the beautiful scenery and smiled.

"You were wrong, Nanaki. Neither of you will have to wait for the other anymore. I hope your soul finds peace now that the two of you are together once again. And thank you, for all I've received from you. I'll never forget you, friend."

...

"Obi... hey Obi!" said Shirayuki. "Is everything alright? You look like you're off in the distance rather than right here." She had been bandaging the wound on his arm that he had received while saving his old partner Torou from a nasty fall.

"Oh, uhm... I'm fine, Miss."

"I'm glad, I just... I hope I didn't offend you by asking about that scar on your chest just now."

Obi shook his head, bringing himself back from his past memories and back into the present. "Not at all, Miss. Just needed a chance to look back and reflect on some things, that's all. Scars are good for that, you know. Especially the deepest ones. Sorry for spacing out on you for a moment there."

Shirayuki smiled back at him, "You're a very interesting person Obi, I'm happy that we've had the chance to become friends. Just try to stay out of trouble, it worries me to see you hurt like this." She looked once again at the large scar across his chest.

"Don't worry Miss, I'll be more careful in the future," he said as he looked away from Shirayuki, hiding the tears that had appeared. He smiled as he realized that he had managed to live up to her final wishes after all.