Title: The Blue Yonder- My Home Is Here and With You

Summary: While alone, she takes time to grow into herself, but it seems inevitable that they would meet again.


She starts walking, and she doesn't stop until it occurs to her that she has no reason to keep going. It is nearly three months after their final parting and late into the evening when this occurrence comes, so she ducks under the curtain of a roadside food stall, orders some dumplings, and attempts to take inventory of the situation.

She has not been sitting long, though her dumplings have long been devoured, when a desperate man shatters the peace that has settled around her. He is terrified looking as he pleads for a midwife.

The late hour means it is only Fuu, the dumpling vendor, and the crazed newcomer in the stall. The lunatic looks at her expectantly, and she can only stare, dumbfounded, in return. Luckily the cook, a well-established local with several children of his own, knows the precise way to the midwife. Unluckily, he cannot leave his stall and the unfortunate husband refuses to stray farther from his laboring wife. Not for the first time in her short life, Fuu sighs at the incompetence of men. Frantic directions given to both the midwife's residence (on the outskirts of town, of course) and the couple's room at an inn (what idiot travels with a wife so heavily pregnant?), she sets out to locate the much desired woman.

0.0

Though the houses have become increasingly distant as she travels from the town's center, the midwife does not live in isolation, and Fuu has no difficulty locating the house. It is insignificant looking, but the thatch roof is neat and the small vegetable garden is in good order. She knocks on the door without hesitation.

Hardly any time passes before the door cracks open and allows light to filter into the dark towards Fuu. Standing in the cozy doorway is a little, stooped woman with wispy, white hair and sharp eyes. It does not take long for Fuu to relay the events that have brought her to this place, and she considers her task complete with the delivery of the news.

The old woman thinks otherwise.

"Tsk! Called out in the night to deliver the child of a woman I've never seen!"

The skin of her hand is soft and warm and her grip strong when she reaches forward to grab Fuu and tug her inside. Fuu is alarmed, but she does not protest the old woman's actions. She stands immobile in the well-kept hut as the old woman scurries around gathering items. Seemingly discontent with Fuu's lack of contribution, the old woman huffs a brisk command over her shoulder.

"Girl, I'll get the supplies. You get the baby."

The words cause Fuu to blink in confusion until the old woman huffs and points at a small basket beside the granny's recently vacated futon. Fuu feels her mouth drop open in disbelief, but, sensing that her inaction will not be tolerated, she moves to pick up the softly dosing baby.

"Kneel down."

Another stern order from the granny that, outwardly, she follows without question, (but, inwardly, makes her wonder what the hell is going on) has her bending towards the floor. Fuu hands the still sleeping baby to the old woman who proceeds to secure the child to Fuu's back with deft movements and a sturdy length of fabric. Without a word of protest, Fuu follows the frightful little granny out of the warm shack and into the cold night. She keeps one hand under the baby's bottom while the other carries the woman's hastily gathered supplies.

0.0

Fuu has dealt with her fair share of battle wounds and experienced various deformities of the body while caring for her mother, but nothing she has seen before comes close to the gore of childbirth. She swears she can go the entire rest of her life without ever experiencing this nightmare again. There are tears, sweat, and bloodshed in alarming amounts. It is confirmed for Fuu that men are the weaker sex when the husband faints leaving his rapidly paling wife without any familiar support.

Fuu does her best to follow Granny's instructions, and she must do alright because she isn't thrown out or reprimanded. The baby comes and, even in her ignorance, she knows something is wrong.

"Take her quickly."

The old woman is all cold focus and purposeful movements, so Fuu feels she must answer in kind. Without hesitation she holds the slimy little thing as Granny expertly uncurls the cord wrapped tightly around the small girl's throat.

"Turn her."

Fuu obeys and rotates the girl so a curved little back faces towards the roof. Fuu is aware of tears forming in her eyes as Granny smacks and smacks the little babe. Fuu startles when a cry pierces the air, but is perplexed when she notes that the small lump in her hands still appears lifeless. She is confused until she recalls there is a child on her back, and then she is ashamed for having forgotten it in the excitement of the night. With her hands occupied, she tries her best to soothe him with a slight rocking motion. The swaying does nothing to appease his crying.

Whether it is merely a strike that falls true or the desperation of the nearby wails, the infant in her hands gives a small squirm and releases to the world a pathetic cry of her own. As Granny takes the child to give to the young mother, Fuu feels relieved. Luxuriating in a sudden emotional release and watching the new mother look upon the face of her daughter, Fuu understands a little better how and why women endure childbirth.

0.0

The strangeness of her night does not occur to Fuu until she re-crosses the threshold of the midwife's house. The still dark and the chirp of the cicadas give her enough pause to realize she does not belong in this place, this home. Before she can coordinate an appropriate exit, the woman speaks.

"Put the little beast in his bed, and have a drink. You earned it."

With unsure hands, Fuu does her best to release the child and return him to his bed. She notes his round cheeks and soft black hair. He releases a deep sigh upon being placed back in his bed and Fuu cannot help but smile at the sleeping boy. Her night has taken an absurd course, but, looking upon the sleeping baby, she cannot help but feel contentment.

She moves to kneel across from the old woman and take up the cup of sake that has already been poured for her. Fuu has never been much of a drinker and gazing from the dried plants in the rafters to the dozing baby, she feels it would be prudent to ask a few questions.

"I'm Fuu, by the way."

She waits for the stern granny to provide her name, but gets nothing but a little nod of acknowledgement so she decides to press forward.

"You aren't a witch, are you?"

The only response Fuu receives is a series of harsh little cackles (which seem very witch-like). She attempts to drink the sake out of politeness and to hide her embarrassment, but coughs at the burn and cannot stop the blush that spreads across her face. This clearly amuses Granny, but she manages to control her laughter.

With her sake gone, the old midwife rises and shuffles towards her futon. All the earlier bluster and strength have seemingly been sapped from her crooked frame. She climbs onto her futon and slides herself to the far edge, leaving the cover turned down on the unoccupied side. Once settled Granny motions absently as she speaks in what has become a thin, whispery voice.

"You can sleep here tonight. We can air out the spare tomorrow."

Fuu quirks her eyebrow at the statement, but is too tired to protest anything tonight. The strangeness of her night is indisputable, but she has to admit to having experienced stranger things already in this lifetime. As she settles beside Granny and marvels at how exhausted she feels, she cannot help but feel a little proud at Granny's final words before sleep.

"You did well tonight, Fuu-chan."


A/N: Feel free to not read this. As much as I believe the show is perfect, I always felt like Fuu got cheated. She gave the boys purpose and got denied her vengeance because her father was too weak to bear it. Lessons of forgiveness are good, but she really got called to be the bigger person and then just cope with that disappointment, her almost murder, and the near death of her beloved bodyguards. She seems at peace at the show's conclusion, but, like, damn…

In this story I'm going to try to give Fuu some of what I think she deserves. It won't all be happy and easy because life isn't, but I want her to find some meaningful purpose beyond her dead parents. Mugen will come later because I think he is an integral part of her contentment. I also think that Fuu is Mugen's redemption song and there is just no way in hell that whatever cosmic force initially united them would not bring them back together.

I am going to try to keep everyone in character, but that also means my interpretation of 'in character'. This story is after the series finale , so I'm working with the idea that there has been growth and change for both Mugen and Fuu. I have always thought of all three of the original main characters as emotionally complex. Just because they weren't articulating every feeling doesn't mean they weren't feeling them, ya know.