They Weren't The Only Ones ~ Chapter 2 ~ "Reconnecting"

It had truly seemed like hours since they had both found each other again, but it had merely been a few minutes. The elderly couple had taken their sweet time in returning to the village she called home because they wanted to spend as much sweet time together as humanly possible.

Just as they broke through the trees that surrounded the village, the children playing at its edge immediately ran towards Kaede, eager to tell her of their day.

"Lady Kaede, Lady Kaede! Guess what!" The five children yelled in unison.

"What is it that has ye so excited?" She responded.

Grinning from ear to ear, the youngsters brought a huge basket out from behind their backs and presented it to Kaede.

"We noticed you were low on herbs so we picked some to restock your supply!" One of the girls declared proudly as she handed the overflowing basket to the priestess.

Unclasping her hand from Yasuhiro to look through the basket, Kaede had to suppress a chuckle while attempting to keep an approving look upon her face. Only about a fourth of the plants were actually herbs, the rest being weeds and grass, but at least the little darlings had tried.

"Thank ye for doing this children. I am sure they will help me immesley with all of my healing." She patted each of their heads before sliding the basket onto her arm, only to have it taken away from her. Kaede looked over to see Yasuhiro slide it upon his arm before once again grasping her hand and giving her a beaming smile that made her blush.

"I believe I have a lot of husbandly duties to catch up on." He answered her unspoken question cheekily.

Both stared at the other lovingly before beginning to move in for a kiss; that is until the kids began making gagging noises because they almost witnessed an "icky adult moment."

"Why don't you children head on home? I am sure your mothers have a nice hot dinner ready for you." Yasuhiro spoke as the small group began to head towards the village once again.

It was in that moment that the young girls and boys did hear their mothers calling out that supper was ready. All of them began to eagerly run home, but not before giving Kaede and surprisingly Yasuhiro a hug. The eldest of the five even reached up on her tip toes and whispered to him her praise.

"Thank you for making her happy Priest. She is always so sad on this day and it is good to see her smiling." A brief kiss was placed upon his cheek before the young girl turned and led the others home.

Yasuhiro began to chuckle at the sudden giddiness his wife seemed to have. Her curious eye turned to gaze at his joyful filled ones. Even he could see the unspoken question in her eye.

"I find it pleasing to see you surrounded by so many children. I've often dreamed of the children we would have had playing about you. Even scenes containing our grandchildren have crossed my mind once or twice."

Visions along that same line began to take over her mind as well as she led him into her hut and over to the fire before lighting the kindling to begin making the stew for supper. Both sat in comfortable silence, merely enjoying each other's presence while the hut began to fill with the enticing aroma of stew.

Kaede looked up from stirring the stew when Yasuhiro cleared his throat; she waited silently for him to continue but she could tell he was nervous. She had even opened her mouth to say something but she guessed being reunited after so many years had made them both a bit skittish, but there was one thing in the back of her mind that she just couldn't stop thinking about.

"Hiro, how is… how is Satoru doing?"

He knew that question was going to come up sometime, but he didn't expect her to ask it this early. Just how was he supposed to tell her what had happened to their son? What was the best way to break it to her gently?

"Something happened to him, didn't it?" Her quiet voice questioned as she kept her focus on the boiling stew.

A sorrowful smile appeared upon Yasuhiro's face. "You always did have a way of knowing that something has happened haven't you Kaede?"

Kaede could tell just from that small statement that something horrible must have happened to her baby boy. She could tell just from the look upon her husband's face that Satoru had died. With just that thought, she could feel the emotions inside her take hold, threatening to break the barrier that held them within the elderly miko. Never in her life did she think that her only child would die before she herself did, and that thought was something she could barely, no scarcely stand to think about.

Yasuhiro wrapped his arms around his wife comfortingly as she tried to hold in her tears, but the battle was fought fruitlessly when her inner barriers broke down and she collapsed into the arms of her husband. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and grabbed fistfuls of his kimono, using him as her pillar of strength in her time of grief. In her mind she had always imagined Satoru having a beautiful wife and lots of children, but she never thought that something would happen to her baby.

Yasuhiro just stroked her hair and rocked her as she let it all out. He figured he should tell her exactly what happened to their beloved son, so he tightened his grip on her and pulled the stew away from the fire so as not to have it burn, before weaving the tale of Satoru's death.

"Kaede, do you remember what a car and a stoplight is?"

A slow nod being felt against his chest was his answer.

"There was a day when he was heading home from work… Do you know what he decided to become Kaede?" His mind began to wander off, feeling the need to tell his wife about the man their son had become before breaking her heart with the retelling of his death.

"He became a doctor, specializing in natural and herbal healing just like you. He wanted so badly to make you proud of him. He was so honest and trustworthy; he had so many friends that he was never alone, but there were nights when I could hear him crying in his room when something eventful happened, wishing that you were there to share in his happiness.

"He didn't quite understand at first why we had to leave you, but he slowly began to comprehend what had happened under the circumstances. Satoru knew about how I had sealed the well and how you could not come to see him no matter how hard he wished, but that didn't damper his spirits; it only made him more determined to make you proud of him. In his mind you hadn't really gone anywhere; he said he could feel your aura surrounding him and that he wanted to everything he could to make himself your perfect son."

The old priest could still hear his wife sniffling a bit and the smell of sadness permeated the air, but he could also feel her smiling into the side of his neck. He figured it was time to stop avoiding the focus of his stories, but there were a couple more things he needed to tell his wife before breaking her heart again.

"I believe that the toughest part of Satoru's life was the sadness he felt on his wedding day. Mind you he wasn't upset about getting married of course, he was thrilled about that, but it was the fact that you weren't there to share it with him. He had stayed up the entire night before praying to God that he had made the right choice for a wife and that you approved of her. I told him that you would have but he still had his doubts."

His arms tightened around his wife, "You would love her Kaede. Her name is Aritsu and she is absolutely wonderful. She loved Satoru so much and when he blessed her with two beautiful children she loved him even more. You won't believe this, but when his first child was born he snuck the baby out of the house and brought her to the well to introduce her to you."

Kaede laughed at that, even as a child Satoru had done some crazy things, but she was so ecstatic that he son hadn't forgotten about her as he grew up.

But she could tell that her husband was avoiding the subject she wished to know about most.

"Hiro, you're avoiding things again."

She looked up to his face and saw his glossy eyes filled with tears ready to be spilt. She could tell how hard it was for him to recount the tale that he hadn't even begun to weave. As she laid her head back upon his shoulder, she felt the wetness seep through the sleeve of her kimono before she heard his choked voice speak.

"It was a Friday. He was on his way home from work with his daughter when they came to a red light. After a few moments the light turned green and he proceeded to head back to the shrine but he didn't even make it out of the intersection."

There was silence in the hut for a few minutes while Yasuhiro got his emotions under enough control to speak.

"The man in the other car was drunk and didn't realize he was supposed to stop; he just kept right on going, directly into the driver's side of Satoru's car. He… he was killed instantly."

Kaede squeezed her husband even tighter as she fought to keep control. She'd seen so many other people die before, so why was this any different?

"Of course I know why it hurts so badly. He was my son. The boy I gave birth to and raised, why wouldn't I be stricken with grief?" Kaede thought to herself.

"At least Kagome survived the crash."

Her eye had widened with what her husband had just barely whispered. Did she just hear what she thought she heard?

"No, it can't be. It's only a coincidence that they have the same name. But with the things that happen around here…" She decided right then and there to find out if her suspicions were true or not.

"Hiro?"

"Hmmm?"

"Uh," A sudden nervousness overcame her, but she just had to know. "Does Kagome have a younger brother named Souta?"

He pulled away from her then.

"How did you know about him? Wait, you mean YOU'RE the Lady Kaede she talks about all the time?" He asked disbelievingly.

Kaede was shocked speechless. The elderly priestess couldn't believe it, she had grandchildren! Miko's weren't even supposed to have husbands, let alone grandchildren, so finding out that she had such a wonderful grandchild as Kagome sent a happy, bubbly feeling throughout her.

She hadn't even noticed when Yasuhiro had pulled away from her and cupped her cheek in his withered hand, asking over and over if she was alright because of the tears that spilled from her eye. If only he knew that they weren't tears of sadness. No, they were happy tears. Tears from all the hardships she had to go through to gain what the man before her had finally given her….

A family.

Without giving the elderly man any warning, Kaede thrust herself at Yasuhiro, kissing his eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, chin, anywhere she could reach before she finally landed on his lips. They shared in such a passionate kiss that could only be described as heavenly bliss.

When they couldn't make their kiss last any longer, they laid there, Kaede above Yasuhiro, foreheads touching, while they caught their breath.

"Kaede, why….?"

A watery smile preceded the answer to his unspoken question.

"Ye gave me a family Hiro. The one thing I have yearned for ever since we had to separate all those years ago. Thank you…" She kissed him chastely. "Thank you so much for my family."

Yasuhiro understood what had sprouted these feelings in his wife. Before they had separated she had often expressed her fear of one day waking up to find that the life they had made together to be a dream. He had made sure to fill their days with love and happiness to show her how real it was, but he could see why she was so emotional right now.

How hard had it been for her these past thirty-five years? He had had his family, the shrine, and Satoru to keep him on his toes and his day full, but he couldn't imagine how it had been for her. His wife had been alone for a long time. Of course she had her fellow villagers to keep her company, but none of them would keep her bed warm at night, nor wake early to attend to some of her duties to let her a few more moments of sleep. She couldn't even express the yearning to see her family since their marriage and son had been a secret from the village people in the first place.

It was then that he decided that he would show her just how much he had loved and missed her.

Ever so slowly he edged his way into a sitting position and moved his hands to rest on her hips, all the while keeping her oblivious to his intentions by nuzzling her cheek and whispering words of love and endearment into her ears.

With an unknown strength that he had no idea he possessed at such an old age, Yasuhiro wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her knees and gradually stood up to make his way to the corner of the hut where her futon lay. As gently as he was able, so as not to give away his intentions, he set her down upon her futon and began to leave feather light kisses along his beloved wife's neck.

It went on this way for what seemed like hours. Butterfly kisses upon her neck led him to her sensitive ear, a place where he knew he could really get her excited. A simple nip had her squirming beneath him – he was sure she hadn't felt this hot and bothered in years. This led him to open mouth kisses along her aged jaw, and he was definitely pleased with what he discovered.

"She still tastes like freshly baked sugar cookies. God I will never get tired of that delicious taste!"

Not even realizing it until now, he could feel Kaede's hands glide across what used to be his hardened, muscular chest. He was happy that she apparently didn't care how old he had gotten, the proof was right there in her eye.

Her eye…

Yasuhiro lovingly gazed at the eye patch that covered what had been lost so long ago. He remembered their first night together in that moment. She had been so afraid that he would turn her away if she took off her infamous patch that she'd been as nervous as a cat. But with a lot of coaxing and worshipping of her body he'd finally gotten her to remove it and what was hidden underneath made him smile.

He wished so badly to see the hidden symbol underneath the thick black leather and he had an idea of just how to get it off of her.

Kisses were starting to be placed all around the circular patch while one withered hand left his wife's hip and made it's was to the back of her head. After a few soft tugs, the knot that held it in loosened and ever so gently, Yasuhiro grabbed the piece of leather by his teeth, pulled it off, and flung it off to the side, revealing the hidden treasure underneath.

The one thing he believed was a symbol of how they were meant for each other glowed ethereally in the fire light…

It was a heart.

The scar left behind by the horrible accident as a child was a perfectly shaped heart.

Unfortunately he couldn't gaze at it for long, for it was in that moment that Kaede decided to break out of her love induced reverie.

She knew what this was leading up to. Hiro had always removed her eye patch during their foreplay to show that he accepted everything about her, even her flaws. This was one of the many things that made her fall in love with him, but did he really want to do what she thought? Was it even possible to do such a thing being how old they were?

Was it even proper?

"Hiro," She caressed his cheek. "We couldn't possibly do this could we? I love you, I truly do but…" A finger to her lips silenced her completely.

"Kaede, it doesn't matter how old we are; we can still have a magical time just as we did in our youth."

He moved his hand to carefully open up the front of her kimono to reveal the binding the covered her breasts. Keeping his eyes pinned to hers the entire time, Yasuhiro moved his hand down to encompass one of her globes through the white cloth, making her gasp out in pleasure.

"Please Kaede, my wife, my lover, my soul mate; let me show you my love and how much I've missed you."

And together, guided only by each other and the lighted flames of the fire, they danced the ancient dance of the lovers throughout time.