Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. If I could I would . But I do own this story, so don't even think of stealing it.

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Finding You

By: Kayla Thurston

Chapter 1: Rurouni Soujiro

The snow and the darkness of night made it impossible to see very far ahead, the only light was the moon high in the sky. The snow that covered the road coming to the middle of Soujiro's shins. Despite the blizzard Soujiro kept smiling and continued on his journey for his own truth. It was freezing out, but Soujiro took no notice of this. It had been almost seven months since he began his wandering. Almost seven months since Mr. Shishio and Ms. Yumi had died. Almost seven months since his fight with Mr. Himura. The one who had beaten him and caused him to question what Mr. Shishio had taught him. 'If you're strong you live, if you're weak you die.' That's what Mr. Shishio had taught him. 'But is being weak… really that bad?'

Soujiro continued walking. A gust of wind caused him to look at the ground to keep the wind from blowing snow in his eyes, and what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks. His eyes widened, there on the ground, standing out like a sore thumb against the white snow was blood. Soujiro looked up and saw a trail of blood leading in the direction he was traveling, the blizzard blocking him from seeing more than a few feet. Soujiro ran, following the blood. Then he came upon a woman with a long black braid trialing behind her, in a white cape and strange blue ninja outfit lying in the snow, surrounded by a pool of blood.

Soujiro ran and knelt down next to her, carefully turning her over. 'This is one of Mr. Himura's friends. She was in Shingetsu village during my first fight with Mr. Himura.' Soujiro quickly examined her, looking for the source of blood, and there on her stomach was a large tare in her clothing and the blood was the darkest. He heard her groan and looked up at her, to be met by her beautiful sea green orbs. Her eyes widened at seeing his face.

"Tenken…" she said in a weak fearful voice before losing consciousness. 'Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised she recognizes me, she was there in Shingetsu village.' He thought to himself. Soujiro picked her up bridal style, careful not to aggravate her injury, but knew he had failed when he heard her moan in pain. 'I have to find shelter and treat her wound quickly.' He walked forward and looked around, hoping to find something, anything that could serve as a shelter. His ever present smile widened slightly when he saw a cave just off the road, a few feet into the forest.

He trudged though the snow and entered the cave, walking a ways in so to be away from the cold and wind outside. He laid the beautiful young women down on the cave floor. He then pulled a blanket out of his bag and covered her with it. Using the god-like speed of his shikuchi, Soujiro quickly gathered wood for a fire, for warmth and a light to work by.

With the fire going Soujiro returned to the women's side, pulling the blanket back. He blushed realizing that to do this he'd have to remove her shirt.

"Please forgive me, Miss." He said, untying the tie of her shirt, glad that at that moment she was unconscious. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her breasts were bound. He looked at the wound on her abdomen, which was still bleeding pretty badly. He grabbed his bag that was sitting close to him and pulled out a couple of his shirts along with a small bottle of sake. He tore one of his shirts and poured some sake on it, then began to clean the wound. He heard her moan in pain as he cleaned the wound. After he cleaned the wound and wiped all the blood away, he took a better look at the wound. His eyes widened, 'This wound was made by a sword. But how? Why?' He got to work bandaging the wound the best he could, hoping he could save her life.

To think the once emotionless assassin, Tenken no Soujiro (Tenken the Heavenly Sword) was trying to save a life instead of taking it. Soujiro smiled a genuine smile for the first time in over ten years. He didn't think it would feel this good, to help someone. He leaned back and sighed, finally finished with bandaging the wound. He leaned against the cave wall and was finally able to take a good look at her. 'She's beautiful.' He thought to himself, 'Please let her pull through.'

She looked to be about his age; maybe a few years younger. About seventeen maybe, he was nineteen or twenty. He wasn't sure of exactly how old he was. Soujiro stayed up all night watching over the young women, and trying to figure out how she came to receive a wound from a sword in the first place.

To be continued...


Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Please review, I'd love to hear your comments/advice/etc. If your going to flame me, please be gentle. This is my first fanfic.