"I thought I'd never see dry land again!"

Amused, Sanosuke Sagara watched the girl immediately sink to her knees once they'd exited the ship, threading her fingers through the grass almost irreverently.

"Sweet, wondrous land," She cried, burying her nose into the earth, breathing in deeply. "I'll never leave you again, I promise."

Sano let her have a few minutes, taking the time to reacquaint himself with the place he'd once called home. In some ways, nothing had changed. The street was busy and crowded, filled with people rushing to and fro on their daily errands, stalls had been lined up along the road for vendors to sell their wares. Some new additions were noticeable among them, foreigners selling Western trinkets, wearing Western clothing and speaking broken Japanese. The Meiji era had brought many curious folk to Japan as she'd opened her borders, seeking trade or adventure or excotism. Sano supposed it was all for the best-after all, he'd never been one to stick with the status quo. He was anxious, however, to see how well his old friends had adapted to all this change.

"Okay, kiddo. Time to get moving." Sano finally spoke, and retrieved their meager set of luggage, slinging the bags over his shoulder. "There's only so many hours left in the day and we're gonna burn a few of em gettin to where we're goin."

She stood up reluctantly and dusted off her dress, following him away from the docks and onto the crowded street. Her eyes widened as she surveyed her surroundings for the first time. "Wow, Dad," she said, "I can't believe this is where you used to live!"

Her gaze fixated on the blooming cherry blossom trees, their pink petals reflecting in her eyes, "It's so beautiful here."

"It's something, alright." Sano found himself smiling. For the first time he could actually appreciate his homeland's beauty. He'd taken it for granted in the past, too full on fighting and ambition to notice it.

They made it onto a little dirt road leading out of town, flanked on one side by a gentle river, linked to a parallel street by a wooden bridge that Sano had to physically restrain the girl from going to.

She protested, "I just wanted to see the view!"

"Plenty of time for that, later," Sano grinned, patting her on the shoulder. "People are waitin' for us."

She crossed her arms and frowned up at him. "They waited this long. I'm sure a few extra minutes wouldn't bother 'em."

Sano wasn't so sure about that. It had been nearly fifteen years since the last time he'd seen them, and if he remembered Missy and the Squirt correctly, there was a whole lotta pain coming his way very soon.

They finally passed under the canopy of cherry blossoms, and Ari was immediately distracted by the falling petals, holding her hands out to catch as many as possible. "I'm so glad we came in Spring."

Sano smiled as she spun in circles, giggling in delight. "Me too," he said. "Me too."

*********

Chaos enveloped the Kamiya dojo as last minute changes were made to the placement of various decorations. A rather grand welcome was waiting on the arrival of a dear, old friend.

Kenshin had settled himself down on the deck, molding sticky rice into assorted animal shapes while Hotaru adorned them with edible facial features.

Kaoru assisted Kenji and Shinta with living arrangements, transporting extra furniture and other basic amenities into the empty guest room.

The entire crew had traveled to assemble for the party. Misao had arrived, Aoshi and their young daughter in tow. Megumi had been the last to show, dressed impeccably as always.

Tsubame sat with Shinya, combing the squirming boy's hair while Yahiko grumbled on the sidelines.

"I don't see why all this is necessary," he huffed. "Bastard hasn't sent word in ages and when he does we throw a party. Maybe I should disappear for a while, ey? Seems to garner underserved special treatment."

"You're excited and you know it." Misao teased. She stopped braiding her daughter's hair to waggle a finger at him. "Quit being bitter just because you missed him. We all did."

Megumi glared at the platter of sweets she had laid out. "Some more than others."

Yahiko closed his mouth, letting the protest he'd been about to utter die in his throat.

"I'm sure Sano has missed us as well,"

Kenshin said gently, his statement more for Megumi's calming than anyone else.

"It's hard to send word or visit often when you're half way across the world, that it is."

"Don't let that touch the ground!" Kaoru's shout interrupted the silence. She was directing Shinta with a futon mat. "You want them to sleep on dirty bedding?"

"No ma'am."

"She's certainly into this," noted Misao with some amusement, watching Shinta struggle to hold the futon aloft as he trailed after his mother.

Kenshin shrugged and smiled. "It's been a while since she's had something exciting to look forward to, that it has. Kaoru-dono has missed being a host."

"Give it a few days," Megumi snorted, "The roosterhead will have her chasing him out with a broom by then."

"Ya got that right," Yahiko added.

"Finished!" announced Hotaru, who had been concentrating on her task. She held her sticky hands out to display the neat rows of bunny rabbits and panda bears on the yeah before her. "How do they look?"

"Yummy," said Shinya, and looked up at Tsubame. "Can I have one, momma?"

He reached for one without waiting for an answer and Hotaru slapped his hand away.

"Not yet! These have to stay perfect until Uncle Sano and his guest arrive."

"Speaking of Sano's guest," Misao began, "I wonder-hold still, Miyu I'm almost done- who it is?"

"My money's on a girl." Yahiko said.

Kenshin noticed Megumi's shoulders tense imperceptibly. "We shouldn't place bets, Yahiko."

"I don't know," doubted Misao, "I can't picture Sano ever settling down."

"Did he say anything about them in his letter, Kenshin?" Yahiko asked.

"Not specifically, no he didn't."

"Bummer."

Aoshi suddenly pushed himself off the wall he'd been propped against. "Someone's at the gate."

"They're here!" Misao gasped. "Kaoru!" she hollered over her shoulder excitedly, causing little Miyu to jump in fright. Misao gave her a hug, "Sorry, baby."

Yahiko followed Kenshin and Aoshi to the front gate, behind him trailed everyone else as they exited from various corners of the house.

Megumi stayed behind. For all her independence and strength, she still found herself boiling with emotion; not exactly anger or sadness, but a mixture of the two with trepidation. She almost didn't want to find out who was on the other side of that gate. It might shatter the shred of hope in her heart of something more than friendship.