Title: Reoccurring Nightmares
Story Rating: R due to language and some possible adult situations
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its affiliates
Chapter One
Fire… It was everywhere. It had been storming earlier that night when the lightning had struck, igniting the fire nearly half an hour before. The dojo was sill burning because the rain had stopped. The out-of-control flames licked at the thin, rice paper walls, consuming everything in its path. The fire ravaged high into the black sky, burning away the history of a family the dojo held and one woman's dreams. But what the woman's gaze was focused on wasn't her burning home and dojo; it was fixed upon the short man who stood in front of it.
Kenshin stood before her, flames surrounding him, their orange glow reflecting in his amber eyes that were staring back at her. A cold and determined look filled his gaze. "Kaoru," his unusually deep and rough voice called out, but when she focused on his mouth, she realized that his lips weren't moving at the same time the voice was speaking. They weren't matching up.
She let out a small whimper and looked away from him.
"Kaoru," he growled again, releasing his sakabatou from its sheath with a sharp click. "It's time."
"No… Kenshin, no." She shook her head wildly and slowly backed away when he began to approach her, truly afraid for the first time of the so-called wanderer that stood before her now. Moisture gathered in her eyes at the thought of beloved rurouni turning back into the manslayer of ten years past. "Please… Please, Kenshin, don't do-" her voice was abruptly cut off and replaced with a startled gasp as his hand clamped tightly around the delicate flesh of her throat.
"Yes, Kaoru. Yes… I warned you…I've tried to be gentle with you, koishii," he murmured harassingly with a tone that was like that of a parent scolding a small child. "Really, I have," he said, as if trying to convince himself more than her. The backside of the fingers holding his sakabatou gently stroked her cheek while he spoke, his voice growing angrier with each moment that passed. "But you would not listen to me," he continued, anger and confusion tingeing his voice and leaking into his amber gaze. "Why don't you ever listen to me? Why can't you just listen to me for once?" he practically shouted, the hand that had been stroking left her cheek to abruptly grab her by the shoulder and began to roughly shake her as if she were nothing more than a rag doll. "I had to kill that man, Kaoru! I had to kill him. Jin'e stole you from me. I couldn't take that, Kaoru, you understand? I couldn't take that! I had to kill him. Why didn't you just stay at the dojo with Sano when I asked you to? Why did you have to follow me? Why couldn't you just let me take care of it on my own?!" He drew in a ragged breath. His furious amber eyes searched her face wildly, his uncontrolled anger making him seethe. "I wouldn't have had to worry about protecting anyone during the fight had you stayed at the dojo. But no, you just had to follow me and get yourself abducted! I had to kill him to break the Shin no Ippou in order to protect you!"
The grip the hand upon her throat had increased, but she didn't fight him off. Instead, she fought against the tears that threatened to be released from behind her closed eyelids. One managed to escape, however, slipping through her thick eyelashes and sliding down the smooth flesh of her face, leaving behind a water streak on her black smoke-covered cheek. "I… I'm sorry," she apologized brokenly, her voice managing no more than a whisper. Her throat burned and voice was hoarse from inhaling so much smoke.
"You're 'sorry?' That's it? You think that saying you're sorry is enough to wipe away the atrocity that your foolish actions forced me to commit?!" he spat out the question angrily, bringing her face closer to his, their noses almost touching. He turned the blade and brought his sword up to press against her throat, the sharp edge of the blade digging into the tender flesh of her throat.
"I'm sorry!" Kaoru cried out, a sob escaping her throat. She clenched her eyes shut tightly. She wanted nothing more than to turn and run away from the red-haired man as fast as her feet would carry her. Oh, how she longed for the kind and understanding gaze of her violet-eyed rurouni.
It began to rain again. The droplets of water started falling slowly, but soon started falling at a faster pace, slipping down the faces of both people standing before a burning dojo, mixing with one woman's tears as they fell freely down her face.
He stared down at her now tear-and rain-stained face, but she refused to open her eyes.
"Don't you understand? I broke my promise, Kaoru," he began, his voice a little more controlled. "I was forced to break the promise I made to Tomoe more than ten years ago!" As if his own words suddenly hit home in his mind, he let out a small moan and tilted his head backwards, his face up toward the black night sky, rain beating down on it without mercy, yet he welcomed the physical pain. Anthing to get his mind off the emotional pain he was suffering. "Oh, Tomoe," he moaned out brokenly, clenching his eyes tightly shut as he whispered her name once more. "Tomoe."
At the sound of Kenshin whispering the name of his dead wife, Kaoru's heart broke completely It was like applying salt on the open wound he had ripped straight through her heart. "I… I only wanted to be with you, Kenshin," she whispered to him, finally opening her blue eyes that were rimmed with red due to her crying. "Don't you understand?" she asked, her voice trembling. "The only reason that I followed you was because…because…" she broke off, closing her eyes once more and tilting her head forward in resignation.
"Why, Kaoru?" he hissed.
Her voice dropped so low in level that his keen ears were barely able to register it above the sound of the falling rain and rumbling of thunder, "…because I love you."
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Alright, that's it for right now. If you like it, please let me know by reviewing! ^_^;; I'll start working on the next chapter soon!