If you had asked Fuu about women fainting, she would have told you that it was just an act to get sympathy. It was simply impossible for women to faint so gracefully to the ground as she had seen in the past. If you had ever accused Fuu of fainting in her lifetime, she would have been highly insulted and denied the possibility.

When Fuu hit the ground, it was far from graceful. Her body collapsed in on itself like a marionette whose owner dropped the controls. She didn't fall backwards or forwards, she just folded down on top of her legs in a heap. When she landed, her head hit the ground with a sickening thud. Neither Kato nor Monichi-san had been close enough to catch her.

Kato was shocked to see her collapse. He never thought that she would have such a violent reaction to viewing the graves. Was it the fact that they were marked for her and her friends or was it the occupants and the memories they invoked? He had no way of knowing at this moment, and it truly wasn't important. He ordered the boy to rush back to the shed and retrieve his father. For, as much as Kato wished he could, he knew his physical limitations. There was no way he could properly carry his new mistress back to the shed without unceremoniously dragging her.

The trusted villager sprinted down the path, followed closely by his frightened son. The large man gently scooped the pile of Fuu off the ground and turned to speak to the retainer. "What happened? She seemed fine with the idea of the graves?" As they proceeded back to the shed, Kato pondered the situation. "I don't think it was the graves as much as who was in the graves. She actually witnessed the assassination of her father. Then there was the bounty hunter that she killed to protect her friends. I'm not sure about the other dead, except that one of her friends was nearly killed by them. I think all this has just been too much for her to take in. She's acted strangely ever since the incident with the bounty hunter."

Minochi-sama looked into the frighteningly white face of the girl he was carrying and worried. She was not much older than his oldest daughter. It tugged at his paternal heart strings to see her in such distress. Poor thing was now all alone in the world as far as family was concerned. How would she survive the future? And what had happened in her past?

In no time, Fuu was gently placed on her sleeping mat at the rear of the little shed, and the men and boy retired outside to sit on a bench adjacent to the door. Being men, they had little experience with the care and tending of a fainted woman and decided to allow her to wake naturally to prevent any possible embarrassment.

In the stillness of the midmorning air, Jin shifted a bit on the floor. The hardness of the wood under his body was not unexpected, but the fact that he woke at all surprised him. The last he could remember was the darkness swallowing him after he and Mugen had faced off in their beach battle. He had known his injuries were extensive and probably life threatening. He had suffered grave wounds, more so than what Sara had inflicted on him; and that had been the worst he had ever been hurt in his samurai lifetime.

As Jin opened his eyes, the surrounding wood structure slowly came into focus. Unlike the times he had stirred from unconsciousness before, his mind was actually processing this experience, and he would remember it later.

His first thought was to search for Fuu. He dimly remembered seeing her tortured face as he squared off with Mugen on the beach. His heart had lurched in his chest as he realized the pain he was inflicting on the battered girl as she closed her eyes to the possible last act of one of her friends. It reminded him of the distraught look on her face that night at the river when they had talked cryptically about the future when the quest was over. She had not even thought that far; all her thought centered on a way to get her two companions not to fight that last battle.

With as little movement as possible, he craned his neck around to search of the petite girl. He registered Mugen's sprawled form a few feet away, and then a flash of pink caught his eye. He twisted his head even farther and felt hairs snag on the rough planks of the floor and pull from his scalp. But that was of no consequence. Having lived the life he led, such minor pain was beneath his awareness.

A frown deepened on his brow as he found Fuu lying on her back with her arms folded across her chest. She was terribly pale and still. He had seen many a corpse laid out in such a manner, and his heart trembled in his chest. There was no way lively little Fuu was dead! She was the embodiment of joy and perseverance in the face of hardship. She had reminded him that life was meant to be lived, not just endured.

He reached a trembling arm towards her calm face; afraid to touch her and confirm his fears. Still, he needed to know. If she were gone, it changed his whole world and future. The rough flooring scraped at the exposed skin on his long pale arm as he slid his hand closer. It was good that her head was towards him, and she was only about two feet away. She was actually laying on some of his long hair that had pooled about his head.

He hesitated that last two inches and finally held his breath as he moved to touch her cheek. It took a moment for him to realize that his hand did not meet with the cold, hard surface of a corpse, but with the warm, soft cheek of his young friend. His breath sighed out in relief as he gently stroked her lovely skin. He carefully reached further to turn her head so she faced him slightly. The ugly bruise he remembered on her other cheek had quickly faded to a shadow of what he remembered in his hazy dream. The little cuts and scrapes that had littered her face were mostly healed. He would have pulled her to him, if he could; so great was his relief at finding her well.

Now that he had ascertained Fuu's condition, he turned his attention to Mugen. The scruffy pirate was much easier to see since he was directly across from him, but his injuries were not visible from the side where Jin lay. The man had been placed facing the opposite direction, so Mugen's ugly, hairy toes were what greeted Jin's searching gaze first. If he had not been in so much pain, Jin would have laughed at acknowledging that at least there seemed to be nothing wrong with Mugen's hairy toes or shaggy legs. Considering how much the miscreant used his legs as weapons, that was probably a good thing.

But then his serious mood returned as he remembered the damage he had witnessed on his friend's body when they found him sprawled on the beach. A slash through his side under his ribs and a bullet hole in his gut were the worst of the list in injuries. The injured arm and hand were not life threatening and could be overlooked. The slash was cause for concern, but they had both survived similar wounds inflicted by Sara. But the bullet hole caused him grave concern. Anyone who lived by the sword knew that a stomach injury was the most dangerous, and almost always fatal.

It was a good sign that Mugen had lived through the first few days since the attack. Still, he was a long way from being healthy. Many strong men had succumbed to sickness that settled into their wounds long after the time for concern had passed. He would have to keep a close eye on Mugen for any such signs.

With everyone accounted for, Jin rolled back into a resting position and tried to take inventory of his own body and their situation. He felt a little uncertain as he had not planned for this eventuality. Normally, he had thought of and planned for any possibility, like a strategist playing Go. But he had not foreseen such a high caliber assassin attacking them. After the battle up on the cliff to save Fuu, he had not foreseen surviving. There was just no way. His final move had been the ultimate sacrifice to protect the one he had found worthy of fighting for. How ironic, that of all the lords and ladies in society that were unworthy of his sword, a small, orphaned girl of little means would earn such an honor.

He again craned his neck around to look upon the sleeping Fuu with wonder and a bit of awe. What was it about her? It wasn't her looks or anything that had to do with her being female. Many women had traveled through his life without making an impression. Most women were docile, and timid. Some were predators and ambitious. Fuu was more than that.

Fuu had risked her life to save Mugen from the execution, and he had simply gone along for the ride. Of course, in the back of his mind, he acknowledged that he went along because he owed her just as much as Mugen did for being rescued. He had never had anyone else rescue him like that. It had been a strange, humbling experience. All his life, he had been self-contained; never relying on anyone other than himself. At that time, his own strength and skill had not been enough to extricate himself from the clutches of the provincial governor.

As he really thought about their journey, he came to realize that there were other times that Fuu rescued him. Strangely enough, even the incident with Shino had Fuu rescuing him. Even though she had yelled at him and not supported his decision, she had raced to his aid with his swords and dragging Mugen. He could even look back and see that she had indirectly saved him from dying at the hands of his "little brother," Yukimaru. Had it not been for her scream, he would have fought on half-heartedly until his death at the hands of his ex-friend.

Fuu was wily and crafty and quick on her feet. She was focused and determined. Somehow, she had reintroduced the concepts of purpose, meaning, duty and honor into Jin's apathetic existence. He had found someone who had not succumbed to the disillusionment of life and had not wallowed in selfish pursuits. Even in her quest to seek revenge against her father, she had been driven, not by her own need, but to seek retribution for her Mom. There was no telling how many times she had thrown herself in harm's way to protect a friend, or even just a mere acquaintance. Duty and honor burned brightly in her soul, showing him the way life ought to be. They weren't just musty, old words taught in a cold dojo. They were living, breathing concepts that governed her chaotic life.

He remembered many nights, after their incident with Okuru, where he had lain awake and her words echoed in his head. "The world would be a dark place without a sense of duty." How long had he wandered in this world in darkness? How many wise men had he asked about the dilemma between freedom and duty? How strange that a litte girl held the answer. He had never been the same after his parents were killed. He had never fit in at the dojo. He had never found a path that lead him to the light in all the years he had endured his life and training at the dojo. Enshiro Mariya had even asked him to "endure" the changes that were turning the dojo into an assassin training school. His dark world had become even blacker after that. How had evil invaded his world to turn his respected master into a late night assassin? In some part of his mind, he was glad that Master Enshiro had been such a poor assassin.

Somehow, as he lay on the floor of what was a tiny shed, he realized that thinking about "enduring" made him remember Shino. She had been like Fuu in some ways, on the afternoon when she was making memories before her world was taken away from her. Yet, he had felt a kinship with her sense of impending doom as she stared into the canal and contemplated ending her life instead of suffering the horror of what was to come. He had figuratively stood on that same bridge in his own life and knew the torment she must have felt. He had meant to save her from further suffering by telling her that the fall would not have been enough to free her, but would only have crippled her.

After he had seen her for the first time in the brothel, his mind had been plagued with images of the horrors she would have to "endure." The beating he had accepted had been his only form of penance that could ease his guilt for his part in her suffering. He had to free her. There was no other choice. Even though he had made Fuu a promise, he could not leave Shino to suffer alone for the rest of her life. He would free her from what he could not free himself from. She would not have to "endure."

He had told Fuu the truth when he said it wasn't guilt that motivated him that night to abandon their quest and help Shino. It was deeper than guilt. It was self-preservation. IF he could show her that there was a path out of the darkness, then maybe he could believe there was a path that would lead him to the light too. He was no longer content to just "endure" his life. He would find his path and actually "live" his life.

Fuu had shown him the beginning of the path, but it was up to him to follow it out of the gloom. Fuu was a lantern, a beacon, a hope, a dream. She was strangely enough, the perfect balance between freedom and duty. Whereas he knew himself to be tied to duty, and Mugen to be the epitome of freedom, Fuu found she could be both.

In their travels, he could feel himself shifting further away from the chains of what he thought was a warrior's duty, and closer to Fuu's definition of duty on a personal level. It was different from the blind obedience he had been taught that encompassed a warrior's duty. He had the power to choose what was worthy of his skill. He had the power to choose what was worthy of his time and attention. He had the power to choose who he would follow and who he would protect. Was this what his master had meant when he said that Jin had used his power for himself alone? Was he talking about this type of choice of who he would use his power for?

Fuu's duty was not so much a concept, but a loyalty to those she found worthy. He was shocked to realize that she found HIM worthy of such loyalty and honor. She had proven it in many ways, the last he could remember was her attempt to keep them out of the final battle. She had worried herself almost sick before their talk at the river. He had begun to mention that if he didn't survive the battle, but she wouldn't let him talk. He wanted to reassure her that he would be with her after the quest was over, but she couldn't accept that at the time. Now he understood why. She had been trying to separate herself from them to spare them all the inevitable. In the end, they were again thrown back together. He would have laughed if he didn't feel like his insides would spill out on the floor from the movement.

"Poor Fuu." He thought. This must have been so hard on the girl. Jin's brow creased. Had Fuu ever gotten to see her father? Jin had been in such pain on the boat ride over to the island, and the walk up the cliff, that he had only thought about saving Fuu and killing Kariya. After he had slain the assassin, his only thoughts had been about checking on Mugen's condition. Everything was a blur after that, so he couldn't remember is Fuu had mentioned meeting her father. But, then he remembered the final fight with Mugen. That couldn't have happened unless the quest was over. So, she must have met him. His brow evened out as he wondered what that meeting was like and whether Fuu had gotten her revenge. His eyes closed as his body demanded more sleep to heal itself, but his mind pondered Fuu's revenge as it slipped away into sleep. He didn't truly think she wanted revenge as much as just wanted the man to know all the suffering he had left behind. She had endured much also, and now she could put an end to that chapter in her life. "Maybe we are all finished with just enduring. Each day should be special and meaningful. Each morning could be the last that we get to lie in the sun." He thought, and then slept again.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

AN: No, I didn't die. I got a job that saps most of my creative juices before 3:00 P.M. I'm posting this chapter without the extensive review and re-review for spelling/grammar/punctuation errors. Please forgive any glaring errors as I felt it more important to actually post something that was slightly defective, rather than sitting on this chapter another week to get around to editing.

In the next chapters, the guys will be waking off and on and having to deal with the shocking realization that they lived, that Fuu lived, and that they have proven that they are equal in the way of the sword. Oh, and they have to face the fact that they are both nearly defenseless without their primary weapons.

As far as Fuu, I promise, no more fainting. I personally hate fainting for effect, but she was just overcome with the rush of emotions that seeing those graves brought back. She's a smart girl. I'm sure she'll figure out what triggers the bad reactions, and start avoiding them. Or who knows, she might just use her normal routine of plowing through any obstacles? Who knows?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into Jin's thoughts as much as I did.