Okita laid on the grass, his face shaded by cherry tree. Blossom was long gone, by it didn't change a fact, that a tree provided a shade from hot summer sun. Yes, the sun. Even if it was late afternoon, orange sun beams lighted the yard. One year ago he and _____ reached this place. Surrounded by green forest, ponds and small river, they were able to heal their condition. They no longer felt bloodlust and sun didn't hurt them. Though, Okita noticed, they were rather sleepy.

Life was quiet, time flew lazily without haste, and Okita couldn't be happier. Small hut they lived in provided home and shelter. They lived without fear or haste, surrounded by nature, within peace and quiet.

Lured by sudden sound Okita opened his eyes. He smirked to himself, watching small figure creeping out of the house. A small cat followed. Throwing glances around, a girl run through the yard, it seemed she didn't notice him, hidden beside tree. Not that he was trying to hide anyway. He smirked.

"Yuri-chan~," he called the girl. She swirled around, like a deer caught in hunters' trap. "Where are you going?"

The little girl fidgeted with a package in her hand, looking at her feet.

"I-..." she started. "To Haru-chan! Yes!" Okita sighed, so much for a peaceful afternoon, he thought. It was evidednt she lied.

"Come here and tell me what's going on," He patted the grass beside him. The girl looked at him, hesitation clear in her brown eyes. Reluctantly, she sat down; the small cat nested itself between them. "So?"

Yuri kept quiet, he had to admit girl was stubborn one. _____ liked to say, that even if they were not related, Yuri and Okita were similar with keeping things to themselves. With some poking on her cheek and a little bit of encouragement, she finally opted to speak.

"I don't belong here," she said, still not meeting his eyes.

"Meaning?" he urged. He wandered how _____ was so patient with extracting information from both Yuri and him. Very patient, he decided.

"I mean... It will be all the same with you as my parents," she admitted, her lip quivering. "You will leave me alone."

Ah, so this is all what it is about, he thought.

Almost year ago, Okita arrived to this village with _____, he recalled.

"Ah! Souji-san, look!" _____ said back then. Okita gazed at a woman, walking a few steps before him. He cocked his head to the side, observing as smile lighted her face. "The cherry blossom!"

She stood under old, branched cherry tree, with pink petals fluttering around her spread hands. Wind brushed her hair aside, showing delighted gaze. Okita smiled at that sight. She matched the scenery, though he never thought he'd be able to see something like this ever in his life. He smiled and looked around.

"More importantly, here we are," he pointed ahead. In front of them stood a village, a few small houses here and there, with a forest, ponds and lots of green. "Come on."

He took her hand and walked down the slope. They reached the hut they were to stay in. It was small, a bit dusty, but cozy.

"It looks great!"

"Oh yeah," he said. "If you omit the dust, the smell and that broken window over there, then sure. It does look great."

She rolled eyes at him and smiled cheekily.

"I wonder, who is going to fix this broken window over there."

"Surely not the wounded solider," he gladly answered the provocation.

"The wounded solider has no voice in that matter," she smiled and his heart leaped. She looked so happy and bright, he couldn't help himself but smile back.

"So cruel."

He laughed and watched as she excitedly rummaged through the house. He looked around on his own. Besides the window, the tatami mats needed to be replaced. He opened the shoji doors, they led him the porch. He saw small yard, with a cherry tree in its full blossom. Smiling to himself, he watched night scenery.

He heard a noise along with loud yelp. Ready to kill the enemy, he ran into the house, only to find _____ kneeling on the floor, a cat and a scared girl in the corner.

"What the...?" he asked sheathing his katana.

"Easy there," _____ spoke in soft and quiet voice. "We're not going to hurt you, right Souji-san?"

"Depending on-"

"Souji-san!" she hushed him. Girl in the corner trembled. "What's your name?"

The cat meowed and brushed his head on Okita's shoes. He raised a brow at the animal.

"Y-Yuri..." girl said after a little more encouragement. "I-I didn't know it was your house! I just...!"

Okita crouched beside _____ and looked at the girl. She was thin, probably hungry no less. Her kimono was tattered and dirty. She looked no older than seven, her brown eyes wide with fear, black hair messy.

"That's complicated," Okita said. It wasn't technically their house. "So Yuri-chan, why are you here all alone?"

The girl gulped and with tears almost falling from her eyes she narrated her story. Her parents left her alone after her step-mother gave birth to a baby son. She didn't treat her well before either, and now they left for step-mother's family in Edo, wishing for better life. They left her in forest on their way, lost and scared, somehow she ended in this village. She found the empty house and stayed there for a while with the stray cat.

"Of course we'll let you stay!" _____ was quick to keep the girl. She looked with hopeful eyes towards Okita and he found himself nodding. He couldn't ever refuse to her and with that matter he doubted he would.

Now, year later he looked at Yuri. With _____'s diet she looked like a healthy eight-year-old. She wasn't scared of every shadow and her nightmares decreased. A first few months were quite rough.

"What have gotten into your head lately?" he asked raising his brow. "It's still a little bit time before the rebellious age."

Yuri glared at him but soon looked away.

"You will want to have your own child and I will be alone again," she said hiding her head between her arms.

"Oh believe me, we won't," he said. It was the truth though, they couldn't have a child biologically speaking. Their condition as a Fury didn't let them. "We can't have children."

Yuri blinked at him. Besides, Okita treated the small girl like his own daughter by now, he wouldn't even think about abandoning her. He flickered her head.

"Ow!"

"Don't be stupid, Yuri-chan," he said pinching her cheeks. "We're not giving up about each other."

"Are you just pitying me?" she asked.

"We're not pitying you, kid. You can stay here for as long as you want."

"But that's not... I just don't want to be an obstacle.... I don't belong with you two. It's not my home, it's yours."

"It's not really ours too, you know that. But one thing I learnt is that, you don't need a place to feel at home."

"I don't understand..."

Okita looked at the girl. He didn't want her to go anywhere, he just wanted her to understand. In some aspects she was similar to him, he was also abandoned by his family, by his own sister. From then he was alone, lonely and in the end, sad. Up until Kondou appeared and became his family, and then he met _____. She barged into his life and finally to his heart. She melted ice surrounding his heart, broke every wall with a dazzling smile and challenging wits.

Whether it was that red string of fate he heard about or just pure coincidence, they belonged to each other. She healed his wounds and put his mind to rest. It was no longer temporary quietness like in Kyoto, it was warmth and love she bestowed upon him. Okita refused to let _____ go. She belonged to him, as much as he belonged to her.

She was his home, his place to return, where he felt at peace. She spread her hands and accepted him despite his many flaws. She always had her time for him, through his many nightmares about ghosts of the past. She hugged him and without words showed that she was there for him. And he was there for her, to fill her loneliness, to be her much wanted family. He was there to wipe her tears when she woke up in the middle of the night. They healed each other scars, those seemingly unnoticeable.

Though to say it was a peaceful relationship would be a lie. With their temperaments and stubborness it was indeed a rocky road. But who said everything had to be easy? Once she threatened to kick him out of the house, and she was serious. He had a lot of apologizing to do. But in the end, despite their differences they somehow made it work.

In the end they were like two seemingly unmaching puzzle pieces, but with a faith, understanding and love, they worked through every obstacle on their road. Since their first meeting in the alley in Kyoto, till now. They've gone through life-threatening situation, teary separations and heart breaks. For both of them life turned upside down, and came out as stronger people.

Ultimately, he refused to be separated from her. He was as well selfish, clinging to the last anchor left for him. To that bright and brave woman, who became everything he needed and wanted from life.

Okita's gaze softened and he looked at brown-eyed girl.

"______ is my home. Do the same, and you don't have to worry about feeling out of place," he finally said. The girl looked at him. She frowned contemplating his words. Unconsciously she patted cat's head, it purred in content.

He heard shuffling of opening shoji doors and _____ appeared on the porch. She smiled brightly at them. It was one of her dazzling smiles that always spread warmth through Okita's body.

"Dinner's ready!" she called. She was always so happy and excited about cooking. Years back, she put on that little unsure smile when he tried her cooking. Through the time her skills much improved and it was no wonder her sweet shop was prospering. Even now, the villagers enjoyed her sweets so much that they were keen on exchanging it for rice or anything else, really. This is how they made living, by _____ cooking and his manual work.

"Uhm...'" Yuri stood before the older woman. It seemed she was thinking about Okita's words hard. "C-can I stay with you for longer?"

_____ looked briefly at him then crouched down. He shrugged.

"What kind of question is it? Of course you can, we're a family!"

"A f-family?"

"Yes!"

Yuri burst out in the tears and hugged the woman. Okita simply smiled at the scene. He walked to them and hugged _____ from behind. She laughed at them, patting Yuri's hair. She liked to play with little's girl hair. He noticed a scar on a woman's hand and traced his fingers along it and then kissed it. She glanced at him and smiled.

Okita remembered his last fight with Nagumo Kaoru. The boy jumped out of nowhere, just when he started to wonder about him. Okita was quite sure _____ wouldn't want to kill him off just like this. She had too many questions. Though he doubted she would forgive him, she was not up to mindless slaughter. But then he showed up, attacked just when she collapsed. He hated himself for not being able to help her. But he had to fight and protect her.

Once again he was slowly losing, but he didn't intend to let that boy live. No matter what, he would make him pay, for everything he did. Then Kaoru attacked _____, and that was it. Final blow, and Okita pierced his sword through his heart.

He couldn't believe it was over. Their struggle against the demon boy was over. Now the memory was clear in his head as if it happened just yesterday. Nonetheless, he was glad it ended, so they could live happily.

"Hey, kid," he started. He wanted to tease Yuri a little bit more. She always got a reply for him. "It's not a fifty-fifty share. I'm getting ninety percent of _____ love."

"No waaay!" the girl glared. "I'm a child, I need most of the love! You got enough already."

He felt his wife's trembling shoulders. She was giggling into her sleeve.

"You two are impossible!" she leaned on him. Okita rested his head on hers as they sat in content silence. "You know, I'd love to show Yuri Kyoto."

She had a nostalgic look on her face. Okita guessed she wondered about her bakery.

"What are you talking about, ______? We don't need the bakery or Kyoto," he smiled softly at her. He looked into your eyes. "You are my home. Whether it's little house in Edo or wilderness, I can feel home, because you are there."

Tears welled in her eyes at his words. You hugged him tightly and sniffed into his arms. He blinked surprised.

"Oh? What is this?"

"You made mama cry! You're terrible!" Yuri made a protest that ended with _____ sobbing even more.

"It's just... you two made me very happy."

.
.
.
You smiled between the tears.

You were a homeless woman that for a longest time searched for home. The same woman became somebody's home, a place to belong, a family.

And that was better than any love confession.


~~***~~

Aaaah! And it's over! I'm so glad I was able to finish this story, I've never thought I actually would. It was some far-fetched goal. Haha! I want to thank you all, readers, who took time and read my story.

I want to thank those who commented and kept me motivated.
I want to thank you silent readers who favourited or just followed my story, it means a lot!
I hope you had good time reading it, and that you would forgive my grammar mistakes, or really anything I did wrong :)  

I guess one of my major inspiration was songs: Florence and The Machine - "Heavy on your arms", "Cosmic Love" (the same artist) and "Repurika no Koi/Replicated Love" by Yuuhei Satellite. Chceck them out ;)

  Oh, EDIT AS OF 05/04/16 - I've been playing with digital art, and decided to make an illustration to the story. Kinda inspired by the official wallpapers form Hakuoki. Anywya, this is how 'my' reader-chan looks like! (link from my tumblr)
http://chione-chama.tumblr.com/post/142310183083/attempts-at-digital-art