A New Beginning - By: Chubbybunny4224

Disclaimer - I do not own Samurai Champloo or any of it's characters..... etc etc etc

Thanks to all for the reviews, this chapter is mainly filler but the next chapter will be action packed! The climax is coming!

As always please read and review!

Enjoy!

Chapter 15 - The Truth Comes Out

It's officially breakfast time and Fuu can't wait to eat. She gets dressed and is about to run down the stairs when Akira comes out of his room.

Fuu stops "Good morning Akira!" she says as she waves at him walking down the hall.

Akira smiles. He walks over to the top of the stairs where Fuu is standing. "Good morning Fuu, I see you are ready for breakfast."

"Of course, you know me I never miss a meal!" Fuu smiles "Although, I was hoping maybe we could go for our walk early today, you know after breakfast. I do have something I would like to talk with you about, if you don't mind."

Fuu knew she needed to talk to Akira about Jin working at the entertainment house, and also about Akira's behavior. It just wasn't fair to keep him in the dark about Jin and Akira needed to understand how she felt about him being so possesive.

"Of course, is everything alright?" Although Akira knew what this was about, Fuu didn't realize he knew already, 'I am just glad she is going to tell me about Jin now.'

"Oh it's nothing really" Fuu waved her hands in front of her to show everything is alright as they both walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to sit at the table. Jin, Mako and Kisho were already seated and drinking tea.

Everyone said their good mornings to each other but Fuu noticed that Jin and Akira seemed to be somewhat tense around each other.

'Oh no, what is it now?' Fuu couldn't help thinking 'I thought that everything was fine between them.....'

After their meal Fuu and Akira excused themselves and left to go on their walk.

When they finally reached the river Fuu sat down and stared out towards the riverbank.

'This is going to be hard.' Fuu knew 'But Akira cares about me so he should understand.'

Akira sat down next to Fuu and looked at her, waiting patiently for her to begin.

"I wanted to talk you know about last night, um….I…." Fuu trailed off.

"It's ok Fuu, I know already." Akira interrupted. He felt he had to get it off his chest because he almost felt bad about following Fuu and Jin last night…. almost.

"I overheard you and Jin last night, he is going to work at the entertainment house now, right?"

"Wha…..WHAT??!!" Fuu exclaimed. How did he know? "I don't understand…" Fuu looked at Akira hoping he would explain himself.

He sighed. "I overheard you talking about it last night when you were by the river….. I, uh......I followed you."

Fuu was in shock "Why? Why would you follow me?"

"I was worried about you, when I didn't hear you come upstairs I went down to check on you and you were gone and so was Jin. I had to make sure you were ok." Akira explained

"Oh" was all Fuu could say.

"I'm sorry I just care about you, and you always used to get into trouble, I guess I jumped to conclusions…."

"Well of course you did! I was perfectly fine with Jin. Why would you worry if both Jin and I were gone? He's always protected me before." Then it started to dawn on Fuu. "So what you don't trust him and me together, is that it?" Fuu felt herself starting to get angry.

"Well how can I when he so obviously enjoys touching you!" Akira retorted.

"Excuse me?!" Fuu's jaw dropped "So what, after you found us walking you just decided to stay and listen to our whole conversation?"

Everything started to fall into place for Fuu. 'That's why they were so tense around each other this morning! Jin must have known Akira was eavesdropping and Akira must have seen us embracing. How akward!'

Akira just started at her. He obviously didn't think what he did was wrong. Though he was out of line in Fuu's eyes.

"Wow, I can't believe you. What Jin and I talked about was private, you had no right!"

"How? How did I have no right? Don't we have something together Fuu? Don't you feel the same?!" His eyes were pleading, hoping she felt the same. It pulled on the strings of her heart.

"I do Akira…. or at least I thought so. But now you are just acting jealous! Even possessive! We haven't even talked about where we are at, so how can you justify acting this way?"

Akira just looks at the ground, disappointed. "So that's it huh? You would rather be with Jin? I heard you tell him you don't ever want him to leave you again." Akira shakes his head and stands up. "You have feelings for him, that's why you won't let me kiss you in front of him. It all makes sense now...."

Fuu's jaw drops again and her cheeks turn pink.

'Oh my god, he heard me say that? Well when he says it that way, it does kind of sound bad. That's not how I meant it though! I don't think…. at least I am pretty sure....no I know! Jin and I are just friends.' Fuu reassures herself. 'I can't let it end like this between me and Akira, it's not right.'

"I'm glad we had this talk Fuu, I can see your true feelings now. Don't worry I won't pressure you anymore. In fact, I will just leave you alone." Akira turns around and starts to walk away.

"Just wait a minute!" Fuu stands up and walks toward Akira. "Just because I don't want you kissing me in front of Jin doesn't mean I don't like you. I just don't think it's proper. And as for what I told Jin, I have missed him dearly, you of all people should know that. He was and still is a big part of my life, how could I want him to go? Jin and I are friends Akira, and that's all! We've been through a lot together. You just have to calm down and not let your feelings for me blind you from the truth. If you can't do that then I don't know what to do….." Fuu trails off and looks away from Akira.

Akira sighs. "It's just hard Fuu. I feel….. I feel like I will never have a connection with you like Jin or Mugen has. It just frustrates me. I want to be everything that you need, that you care for..... that you love." Akira looks at the ground, embarrassed to admit his true feelings.

Fuu can't believe it. 'Wow! I never realized how he really felt about this situation.....about me. Stupid guys, always trying to be so macho and always having to one up each other. I guess I thought that's what he was trying to do this whole time, just one up Jin. I guess that's not the case..…I've never dealt with a guy who was so honest about his feelings. Actually, I've never even dealt with a guy who has had feelings for me before!' Fuu knows she couldn't even think of a life without Akira or his family, so she reaches out, grabs Akira's hands and looks up into his eyes.

"We have a connection! We do! Ours is just different. Some things take time Akira, so be patient. Nothing needs to be rushed. I'm not going anywhere, we have plenty of time to make our connection even more special. Ok?" '

Fuu holds Akira's gaze, which a moment ago was etched with sadness and anger and watches it melt away as he begins to smile. Fuu realizes that's what he needed to hear to make him understand. Fuu blushes, suddenly embarassed at being so open about her feelings. 'Maybe I am finally understanding what love feels like....'

"You're right Fuu. I've been foolish and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let myself get so worked up."

Fuu can't help but smile back. "Let's just work together from now on, be honest from the get go."

Akira pulls Fuu into his arms, embracing her tight. With his head resting on hers he whispers "I don't ever want to lose you, my love. I will do whatever it takes to make you happy."

Fuu melts into his arms, relaxing and knowing this is where she is meant to be.

After a moment, Fuu pulls back although she doesn't really want to. "Let's go back, we have a busy day."

Akira nods, smiles and they set off walking back home, hand in hand.

'I am glad we opened up to each other, hopefully we can all be happy now.' Fuu thinks.

Little does she know her life is about to change forever……

Thanks for reading! New chapter will hopefully be up soon.

As always please R&R 3