AUTHORESS NOTES: Okay, now for some A&M interaction! ...Sort of ^_^.

~Changes~

<Aoiya ~ morning>

Okina sipped his morning does of tea. These past few days have been hectic...

"Hmm..." he hummed thoughtfully.

Ryuuen sat across from him, staring back at his reflection in the cup he held before looking back up at Okina. "Okina-dono...you know about the Azma clan?"

Okina chuckled. "Well, you know that I am an old soldier, Yoshikiro-kun. Of course I know about the Azma clan. They are a mix of highly skilled, respected ninja. Not to mention arrogant, too."

"Then you know about their current Okashira."

"I know much about the Masabi Rokou of the past and the present," Okina replied as he set down his cup of tea. "His grudge against Aoshi is great for its been tradition for the Shinomori and Masabi households to be joined, but Aoshi and Ikumi's great grandfather broke that tie by marrying someone out of the Masabi family line. I agree with you. It would be safer for them to come with you and Ikumi. But let me as you one question, Yoshikiro-kun. How do you know all this?"

Ryuuen smiled. "I suppose you can say that an old friend of yours told me."

<Misao's room>

"And you should see the sunset there, Misao-chan!" Jun chirped happily as they packed. "It's so beautiful!"

Misao shared a laugh with her. "You miss your husband, don't you, Jun?"

Jun smiled absentmindedly as she packed. Her eyes were faraway.

"Maa...I guess you can say that. Although Isamu can be an idiot sometimes, I still love him," Jun said. She looked at Misao. "That's what love does to you, you know? Although your partner may have his or her faults, that's what makes them them."

Misao nodded. "I know what you mean."

Although Aoshi-sama's cold, he's still Aoshi-sama no matter what.

<Ikumi's room>

Ikumi heaved a great sigh. Setsuko imitated her as she hugged her doll tightly.

"'Kaachan, do we have to go?" Setsuko asked sullenly.

"Uh-huh," Ikumi replied just as sullen.

"Doushite? We haven't stayed here long," Setsuko tried to make her point.

Ikumi ruffled her daughter's hair, smiling. "Set-chan, okaachan and otouchan have no choice. Besides, Aoshi-niichan and Misao-neechan are coming along as well as Jun-neechan. You get to see obaachan again, ne? You keep on telling me that you miss obaachan."

"I do..." Setsuko said in defeat as she began to fiddle with her doll's hair. "Demo, can't I stay here with Ojiya-chan?"

"Ojiya-chan" was a term for Okina. She had heard her mother say "Jiya" often enough to adopt a name for her adopted great grandfather.

"But you're going to miss otouchan and okaachan, then," Ikumi tried to reason with her.

"And then you're going to want to find otouchan and okaachan," Ryuuen added as he entered the room.

Setsuko jumped up from her feet, running to her father. "Otouchan!"

"Ohayou, Set-chan," Ryuuen greeted as he lifted her.

Ikumi found it a miracle that Setsuko accepted her father so easily, but Setsuko was a very easy little girl to please. Both father and daughter grinned at her.

"Okaachan, are we ready?" Ryuuen asked.

Ikumi giggled, carrying their packs. "Hai, hai."

<Aoshi's room>

Misao stood in front of Aoshi's door, hesitating to knock. For the past few days, they haven't spoken to each other, so she was worried that he would...

Would what? Misao, what are you afraid of? she asked herself.

"Nani, Misao?" his voice asked, snapping her out of thought.

"A-anno, Aoshi-sama," Misao started to say as she slid open his door, "everyone's ready and I was wondering if you were---"

She had stopped in mid sentence because of what she saw. Aoshi was trying to rebandage his wounds. His belongings were already packed, however, he wasn't. Aoshi was only half dressed with no shirt on and that revealed his well-developed muscles and faded battle wounds. His hair was in disarray and in his mouth was a strip of bandage with a wrap of bandages in one hand. The old, dirty bandage wraps were strewn all over the room, and he was barefoot. Misao, in order to not drool or laugh or whichever would come first, bit her bottom lip for a second.

"Aoshi-sama, what are you doing?" she finally managed to ask, although the question came out in a smaller voice than what she had intended.

"Re-bandaging my wounds," he simply replied. "Tell everyone that I'll be down in a few minutes."

The wraps in his hand was immediately stripped from him by Misao who looked at him harshly.

"You can't bandage your wounds very well, Aoshi-sama," she stated and began unwrapping and rewrapping the bandages properly.

Aoshi didn't say anything because he knew that it would be futile to persuade her out of it. Silence filled the room soon after. Misao concentrated on her work rather than converse because she would either say something completely stupid or do something that her heart wanted to do but her body refused to. Aoshi himself tried to meditate, but his thoughts were always distracted by the light brush of her fingers against his torso and back. He inwardly sighed with relief when she said,

"Okay! All finished."

They both stood up. Aoshi took some tests with his abdomen.

"Arigatou, Misao," he said.

Misao couldn't help it anymore. She let out a hearty laugh.

"It's okay, Aoshi-sama," she said. "But remember to brush your hair and fix your room before you finish getting ready, ne?"

She skipped out of his room with a cheerfulness that he hadn't seen in her for some time. As soon as his door closed, for once....

Aoshi smiled.

AUTHORESS NOTES: Yes, he SMILES!! ^_^ I can just imagine the last scene *drool*. I know, it's un-Aoshilike, but hey, would you fangirls mind if he was disorganized for a moment?? R&R!