**Additional Information:
The flames were everywhere... Her breath came in quick gasps. The smoke burned her throat, making breathing and not breathing impossible at the same time. Fear clouded her mind just as the smoke blinded her eyes. Her only lifeline was her mother's hand, which she clung on to desperately. Her father was somewhere ahead of them, an ambiguous figure in the billowing flames.
The fire glinted off of shining metals. The swords flashed, and with each stroke...a life. Her lifeline came loose, she was now lost in the churning sea of fire. However, even the screen of smoke wasn?t enough to shield her eyes from the massacre of everyone she had ever known.
Momiji tore out of the nightmare, gasping for air. She had to remind herself that she was in Tokyo, in her bed, safe, and sixteen. The moonlight bathed her in its serenity and her breathing slowly returned to normal.
Those dreams were less frequent now. The first years after the war had left her a ghost in the night, not being able to rest. A bead of perspiration ran down her cheek to be joined next by a drop of tear. She wept silently. Even if those left living were more painful than those who were dead; the living had to keep on living. With the rising of the sun, she laid to rest the demons of her past. It would never do to have Kaoru-san worried about her.
"Ohayou," she greeted everyone with a smile when she joined them for breakfast.
"Ohayou-degozaru," Kenshin smiled.
Sano and Yahiko, as usual, were busy competing for food. The rest of the strays who had wandered into Kamiya Dojo settled in after her. Momiji couldn?t help but feel at ease. This was a new life, a new era, new friends, and a new family.
Momiji looked at the faces around her. Everyone had their own demons to battle, and some were still battling them. She wasn?t alone...
For now though, there was peace. Whatever life they led before, for the moment they all lived in harmony. For this quiet life Momiji will give all she had.
"Ara, Momi-chan?s off in her own little world again," Mizumo teased.
Momiji didn't seem to hear for she was off in her own little world.
"Your food is getting cold," Kenshin snapped her out of her trance.
"Hai," Momiji smiled in return.
For these people, she would give all she had...

Back