She awoke again to a wet cloth on her face.  Suzume's touch was as gentle as her voice.  "Ayame, go tell Grandfather that Megumisan's awake again.  Oh, and ask Kenshin if he's finished making dinner, would you?"
    "All right," said a voice outside of their patient's line of sight.  Footsteps, padding away, were a prelude to the announcement at the door, which in turn was followed by the question, "Ken-nii, is dinner ready yet?  Megumisan should eat something before she goes back to sleep again."
    "Hai, I'm coming," and the sounds that followed of food being served in the kitchen, of people coming inside, filled the recuperating woman with a pang.
    "Sano, could you get something for Megumisan to sit on?  I'm sure she'd like to eat with us properly.  If she's up to it, that is.."  Kaoru's voice trailed off.
    "I'd say that's up to her now.  Megumi?  Would you care to join us?"  The doctor's voice was cheerful.
    She struggled to sit up, almost stiff from the rest she'd had, and felt strong hands at her shoulder and waist.
    "Let me help you up," Sano offered, smiling kindly at her.  She  leaned on him and stood, though it seemed to her he was holding her up more than she herself.
    "I'm afraid Yahiko won't be joining us tonight.  He'll be eating with Tsubamedono again and told us not to wait for him."  Kenshin served up a simple fare.  Though there was plenty to go around and money was no longer the problem it had been, he knew that simplicity was important for Megumi.  After what she'd no doubt been living on, something rich would make her ill.  Besides, bland food was good for everyone from time to time.
    "I wish he'd stay home more often."  Suzume's eyes were fastened on her plate.
    "Oh, please, if he was here you'd be complaining that he eats too much and doesn't do his fair share around the house!"   Ayame's laugh rang out, causing her sister to blush even deeper.
    "I think it's nice that he and Tsubame get along so well."  Kaoru's amusement was obvious as her hand absentmindedly stroked her abdomen.  "Though I wish they would just admit their feelings already.  He's even slower than you were, Sano!"
    Megumi smiled as the others laughed.  Such a beautiful family.  She regretted she had ever left them now, but it was too late to change that, and regrets were so useless.  It was enough to be here now.
    When the laughter had faded somewhat, Kenshin added philosophically, "It's better that they take it slow and be happy then rush into something and end up miserable."
    "Or end up a spinster like you, eh Kenshin?"  Sano's smirk had its old arrogance, and the glimmer in his eyes was contagious.
    "Better an old spinster than a whipping-boy!"  Kaoru's eyes sparkled with amusement as her husband's jaw dropped.
    "Megumi, you've barely touched your food.  Are you all right, or would you rather not eat?"  Genzaisensei's eyes were fixed on her shrewdly as he ate with undiminished gusto.
    "Hai, I'm all right.  It's just, this is going to take some getting used to.  It's so lovely here, I...  I'm afraid of it ending."
    "You have a long time before we let that happen, Megumidono.  This time you're not getting away as easily."  There was humor in Kenshin's tone but something in his eyes told her he was deadly serious.
    There was silence then, broken only by the comforting sounds of eating, until before long even the scraps were gone.  As the group rose from the table, the doctor mentioned he should be headed home.
    "Girls, I think we can leave our patient to these misfits for a night, don't you?  We can always punish them if they don't take proper care of her."  He grinned and turned to Megumi.  "What do you say, do you feel safe with these characters?"
    She smiled and nodded and he continued, "Good.  I've left some of the painkiller here, if you'll take some before you go to bed.  Ask one of them to help you prepare it, or if you need anything else."
    She nodded again and tried to rise, shakily.  Again, there was an arm at her elbow and one around her waist.  She looked at Kenshin and smiled gratefully.
"The table can wait.  You need me more than it does."
    "I've got the table, Kenshin.  You entertain our guest."
    "Sano?  You?  Clear a table?"  Kaoru slapped a hand to her chest in feigned shock, laughing again.
    "I'll have you know, I've gotten as good at this as you have at cooking, thank you!  Watch me carry this plate back to the kitchen without breaking it!"  He sounded indignant but his eyes belied his ire.
    Kenshin steered Megumi in the direction of her bed.  "No, wait."
    "Oro?"
    "I'd like to sit outside, just for a few minutes.  If you don't mind, that is.  I want to watch the sunset."
    "Of course!"  Kenshin smiled and turned around but she stayed his hand when he made as though to carry her.  "Please.  You shouldn't push yourself. "
    "Let me, please?  I'm such a burden on you.  You don't have to blame yourself."  She gasped as she realized what she'd said, what she'd let slip.
   Kenshin looked at her sharply and sighed.  "You're not a burden, Megumidono."  He paused a moment, studying her.  "I guess Kaorudono told you.  I shouldn't be surprised, and I'm not angry.  I never did stop thinking there was something I should have done.  I wanted to go after you, but I didn't know where to look.  Though I guess I should have tried anyway.  Now  I feel I should have looked -- maybe I could have stopped him before it was too late."
    "Kenshinsan, please.  Listen to me a moment."  She sank down on the porch, feeling far more than her thirty years.  Looking up at the sky, she took a deep breath.  "When I first met you, you were trying to atone for a past where you were a killer."  Speaking was so tiring...  "And you blamed yourself for doing what had to be done.  You made a difference, Kenshinsan."  Breathe.  She looked at him.  "You can no more blame yourself for this, for me, then you can for the sun's setting every day.
    She looked out on that very phenomenon as she fell silent.  He sat down next to her, so she might lean on his shoulder if she chose.  They sat there for several moments, watching the sun sink towards the horizon.
    "You're right.  I can't help everyone all the time.  But those times that I can, and I don't, those are not so easy to forgive myself."
    "Kenshin...  Watch the sunset with me?"
    It was a miracle that no one interrupted.
    When the last glory was fading from the clouds, Megumi sighed.  "It was beautiful, wasn't it."  Kenshin nodded.  "I was, too.  But beauty fades.  Nothing stays beautiful, Kenshin.  It can change, but it won't stay the same, and it never lasts long."
    "You still are."
    She smiled sadly.  "Kenshin, it's a wonderful thing for you to say, but I want you to look at me.  Look at me as I am, and not as I was."
    The man sighed and looked at the woman.
    She's six years younger, but she looks older than me, he thought.  Grey hair, dry skin drawn tight that had lost its vibrancy and color, exchanging them for hollowed eyes, scars, and wrinkles did nothing to hide the suffering.  Sagging breasts under a shapeless dress, hands calloused and shaking, and the misshapen legs did not boost her faded looks.
    "No, you are not what you were, but you have beauty."  Kenshin reached forward and brushed her hair from her face.   "You survived all that, and stayed whole.  That alone makes you beautiful."
    "Kenshin."  She rested her hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes.  "I think I should let you feel guilty if it makes you say such beautiful things."  She tried to laugh, yawned, tried to stifle it and failed.  Kenshin laughed softly.
    "And I think you should get your rest."  This time, she did not protest when he carried her.  In spite of Genzaisensei's medicine, the pain was not getting better.  She knew the chance that it would was very slim.  Kanryu's tortures were not the only reason she had expected, even hoped, for death to claim her at last.
    He set her down gently on the futon, arranging the blankets carefully around her.  She smiled at him as her eyes drifted shut.
    Although she'd slept most of the day, sleep came easily to her.  She knew why she felt so tired and sick, but was not ready to share the truth with her friends.  Only the doctor knew, and he hadn't broached the subject with her.  Soon it would have to be discussed, because she didn't want to die here with these people she was learning to love.
    She woke again to the sounds of morning activity.  Kaoru was puttering around the kitchen while Kenshin and Yahiko were practicing outside.  Sano was out -- Megumi was to tease him over lunch that he'd been out shopping.
    It had only been a few days since she had been borne away from the nightmare life of being Kanryu Takeda's opium slave.  Eight years of agony seemed distant after only a few days of friendship and caring.  It may not be a cure, but love had always been a great painkiller, especially the gentle, undemanding love of friendship.