Aftermath

Epilogue: One Year Later

[AN] Warning: WAFF moments ahead. [/AN]

"Are you sure?"

"For the thousandth time, yes, I'm sure. And isn't it a little late to ask?"

"We could always go back to Aizu," he said uncertainly.

Megumi turned to look at her husband. "Takani Sanosuke, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were afraid of something."

"Course I ain't afraid!"

"You've only asked if I was sure I was able to travel every five minutes for the past month."

"I'm worried about you," he said frankly.

She rolled her eyes. "That's very sweet of you, but if you were going to worry that much, don't you think you ought to have done so sooner?" Megumi laughed at her husband's discomfiture.

The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the familiar building. It still showed signs of having endured quite a lot, but the hard times were receding and the repairs of a more refreshing nature than simple patchwork.

"I can't believe it's been three years since I came for a visit," Megumi sighed.

"We just saw everyone last fall," Sano reminded her. "When they all came at once for a surprise visit."

Megumi rolled her eyes. "It wasn't a surprise. They sent us letters. I showed you the letters. You forgot."

"Whatever," Sano argued eloquently. Leaping from the carriage, he insisted on assisting Megumi despite her protests that it was not necessary.

They heard cries from the dojo as they approached the gate; Megumi could see over the fence and she waved as Kaoru and Yahiko emerged. He had grown a little more, and was now slightly taller than his sensei who looked much as she had on their visit to Aizu the previous fall.

"Tadaima," Sano said gruffly, grinning as he approached the gate.

"Okaeri nasai!" Kaoru greeted them warmly.

"What took ya so long? Did you let Sano navigate?" Yahiko teased Megumi.

"Oh my goodness you're HUGE!" Kaoru blurted, staring at her old friend in shock as Megumi entered the gate.

"Holy crap!" Yahiko yelped as he too gaped at her.

"Ahh, Sano! Megumidono! This one is glad you made it safely!" Kenshin emerged from the direction of the kitchen, a grouchy-looking Kenji in his arms. "Did you have a good trip?" He very carefully did not remark on Megumi's obvious condition.

"Kenshin! She's huge!" Kaoru was still staring at Megumi, who looked torn between amusement and a sincere desire to pound Kaoru into the ground.

"No, she's Megumi," he said mildly.

Sano burst into guffaws at that. "Damn, Kenshin, you never do change, do ya? But yeah. I'm gonna be a dad!"

"Probably of twins," Megumi added. "I'm only about seven months along."

"Wow," Yahiko said. "Sagara Sanosuke, father of twins. THAT is a scary thought."

"It is, isn't it," Kenshin agreed.

Kaoru hugged Megumi – carefully but enthusiastically – from the side. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"We thought you might be able to figure it out on your own," Megumi teased. "But I wanted to come visit before it got too uncomfortable to travel. We're only going to stay for a week or so."

"I'm surprised you were able to get away," Kaoru said as she took her son from her husband's arms, much to the relief of both. "Kenji, you remember your aunt Megumi and uncle Sanosuke, don't you?" At the little redhead's smile, she turned to her friends. "How can you resist a face like that? You can't stay such a short time!"

"If we wait much longer, it'll be too difficult to travel, and I could have the babies at any time. Then it will be too late; I won't travel with newborns. It's too dangerous for them."

"You could stay here," Kaoru cajoled.

"Nah, my Fox would rather be safe in her own den," Sano grinned.

"And the tori-atama would rather be head chicken in his own roost," Megumi added, "than even an exalted guest anywhere else. He knows I won't let him get away with leeching off of anyone here, and he feels that if he has to work for it, it may as well be his own."

"Commendable," Kenshin said with a gentle smile. "You really have grown, Sano."

"Nah, it's all muscle," the tall man grinned back.

"Certainly that's all he has in his head," Megumi said to Kaoru. The young mother tittered.

Yahiko shook his head. "Nah, you two haven't changed at all. Still bickering all the time, too, I'll bet."

"Constantly."

"He can't do anything right."

"She's too damn nitpicky."

"He's so lazy."

"She's too demanding."

"He's always whining."

"She's always griping."

"Why did we get married again?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Megumi said, shaking her head as she looked at him.

"Heh. You two think you're so funny, doncha," Yahiko smirked.

"Actually, I really don't know why I married him," Megumi countered.

"Me neither. Seemed like the thing to do at the time," Sano added.

"At least you agree on something," Yahiko interjected.

"We do not!" they exclaimed in unison, each feigning outrage. Kenshin was chuckling openly, and Kaoru's eyes sparkled with delight.

"Come inside," Kaoru invited them. "Yahiko, go help Sano with the luggage."

"NOW who's too demanding?" Yahiko grumbled to Sano as he passed the taller man.

"I heard that!" Kaoru barked.

"It's good to have everyone together again," Kenshin said as he led the way inside.

"It's good to be back," Megumi agreed. With Kenshin and Sano flanking her, she flashed back to the first time she had entered that doorway.

How different the circumstances were! And how much brighter everything was. The place was no longer the dried-up little dojo she remembered from that long-ago day. She said so, as revenge for Kaoru's remark about her size. It was no bad thing to be heavily pregnant with twins, especially Sano's children! Considering their heritage, they would hardly be frail children! But still, there was no need to call her "huge".

As she expected, Kaoru bristled. And then they were all laughing, the comforting, familiar laughter of family.

This had been what she had been seeking for so long. Family. Acceptance. Friendship. Love. Hope for the future.

She slipped her hand briefly into Sano's, squeezed. Yes, they had their squabbles, and their disagreements, but they had something much more important underneath it all, and that made even the worst moments less horrible.

"And as much as I'd love for us to stay longer," she added with a mysterious smile, "I don't feel right leaving my brother alone at the clinic for too long."

"Wait… Your brother? You found your brother?" Kaoru grabbed Megumi's hand in excitement.

"Megumidono, that's wonderful!"

Megumi nodded, beaming. "Toshihiro-niisan was on the island of Kyuushuu for several years. He just came back about three months ago." Her smile faltered. "My other brother, Hideaki, didn't survive the conflict, and my mother died a few years later." Sano's arm slipped around her shoulders and she leaned into him. "But Toshihiro is alive and well, and I don't know if I mentioned this to you, Sano, but he's actually interested in Ogawasan!"

"Ogawa Keiko?"

"Who'd have believed that my quiet, thoughtful brother would fall for the world's biggest gossip?"

"I don't know," Sano said airily. "Seems to me opposites do have a way of attracting. A doctor and a construction worker?"

"I still can't picture you as a construction worker," Yahiko mused.

"It looks like we've all come a long way in the last few years," Megumi said warmly.

"I'm starving," Sano said. "Got anything to eat?"

The women exchanged significant glances.

"But some things never change," Kaoru sighed.

"Sadly, no," Megumi agreed. Kenshin didn't bother to hide his amusement at Sanosuke's apparent disgruntlement. "Least of all this ahou."

"Fortunately," Kaoru said with a bright smile, "I just finished making lunch!"

"Maybe I'm not hungry after all," Sano said thoughtfully.

"Why, what's wrong, Sano?" Kaoru said a little too brightly.

"Nothin, Jouchan. Nothin' at all," he grinned back.

"Plain soba," Megumi announced definitively.

"Huh?" Kaoru looked at her blankly.

"I want plain soba," Megumi said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Kenshin winced. "Sano, did you know about this?" he muttered to his friend.

"About what?"

"When you married Megumidono, did you know that getting her with child would turn her into Saitou Hajime?"

The look on the ex-outlaw's face kept Kenshin laughing for many long minutes, though neither man would tell his wife why.

[AN] Owari, as far as we're concerned. And to answer my initial question… I guess so.

And yeah, just a tiny little nod to the Saitou/Sano shippers out there... [/AN]