Her Eyes

So, I've had some trouble with the next chapter of "The Neighbors Will Talk", but I came up with this really randomly. I apologize for the delay, in case you're reading that story! And this is based on the song "Her Eyes" by Pat Monahan. I can't help but think of Kenshin and Kaoru when I hear that song!

Kenshin made a daringly quick grab for the thick-rimmed lenses she wore, startling her when they were abruptly swiped from her face. The world went extremely blurry, but she didn't need to see to know who'd done it.

"Kenshin!" she exclaimed, half-angry and half-amused.

"Go put your contacts on, Kamiya! Right now!"

Kaoru huffed and rubbed her tired eyes.

"I don't want to! You are obsessed with the fact that I have contacts. Will you just get over it, please? I prefer my glasses!"

She turned to find the bright halo of red hair—thankfully an easy focal point for her terrible vision—and came to stand toe to toe with him. From this close a distance, his face was clear again, and he was smirking as he looked down on her. He was only slightly taller—a mere 1 and ¾ inches!—but it made a difference somehow. Then again, perhaps it was all in her head.

"My glasses?" she said loftily, putting out an expectant palm. He didn't comply.

"What glasses? I don't see any glasses," Kenshin responded archly, his grin turning a little wicked, "And you can't say that you see any either, because we both know you don't!"

"Ugh, Kenshin!"

She smacked his wiry arm and he chuckled more loudly, protesting weakly that she was trying to beat him up. Kaoru rolled her deep blue eyes and muttered that he was lucky she was only smacking him and not retrieving her bokken.

"And I'll put in the goddamn contacts, I guess, since we both know you won't give me back my specs. Jerk."

"Alright! And I know."

She smothered her chuckles as she went to the bathroom.

When she came out, she newly appreciated the gift of sight, as she clearly saw where Kenshin was keeping her black frames—tucked snugly into his breast pocket now, right next to his heart. How he did love to hide those glasses from her…

He looked up from her desk where he'd taken a seat, and smiled warmly seeing her eyes unguarded…and glaring at him despite the smirk. It was short-lived, however.

"Are you happy now?" she asked him.

"Oh, very much. Thank you, Kaoru-dono. Your eyes look lovely, like always. Positively radiant."

Said praised feature rolled sarcastically again, and Kaoru laughed.

"You know, if you love my eyes so much, why don't you marry them?"

She knew it was kind of a lame joke, and several years old by now, the stuff of childhood legend. But, she really didn't care. Kenshin was the kind of guy she could act really cheesy around and not worry about it. He was her best friend.

His eyes seemed to capture hers after that statement, which was not the response she'd been expecting, so she paused. Uh-oh; had she gone overboard?

"Interesting you should say that, Kaoru-dono," he started to say, standing up from her desk chair and walking towards her. "If I marry your eyes—can I marry the rest of you, too?"

He leveled a very solemn look at her now, though a slight smile still curved the edges of his lips. Kaoru's pulse ran cold as she tried to process what he'd just said, but her face and neck heated up.

"Eh!?"

Kenshin chuckled and massaged his neck a little in embarrassment.

"I guess I'll do this properly then…ah," he knelt down on one knee, and from the same breast pocket holding her glasses, he took out a small, glittering object that caught the light from the open window. He held it up for her to see, and she looked at it mesmerized for a moment before looking back into his eyes.

"I wanted to be able to see your expression when I asked you this, Kaoru," he told her gently, that tempting smile still curling around his mouth. "So, will you marry me?"

"…Hai! Hai, Kenshin, hai!"

Everything about her lit up in that moment, and she threw her arms around him, sending them both crashing onto the floor as she placed a full-lipped kiss upon his teasing smile. Kenshin's arms wrapped around her as he kissed her back, and there was silence for a moment as fates were sealed.

"You are quite possibly the sweetest man to ever live, Himura Kenshin," Kaoru said to him when they broke apart, her eyes and her lips smiling happily. Kenshin's answering smile stole her breath, and he wordlessly offered her the ring again. They sat up so that he could put it on her ring finger, and then he took her hands in his own.

"If I'm the sweetest man to ever live, it's only because I have you—and your perfect blue eyes, Kaoru-dono. Aishiteru yo, Kaoru."

"Aishiteru wa, Kenshin," Kaoru answered, a light sheen of happy tears in her eyes as she kissed him again, more gently.