A/N: This is my first Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction so pardon the rambling. I was inspired by all the wonderful RuroKen fanfics I'd been reading the past year, hence the fic. And yeah, I do not own RK, but you already knew that.

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Kenshin looked up at the moon. It was full and bright but there was a hazy ring around it. It will be raining soon, he thought. Beside him Kaoru sat humming softly to herself with one palm on her lap, her other hand resting on the planked flooring.

It was a warm night in summer during one of those idle moments right after dinner. Their teacups sat forgotten between them as their minds swam lost in their own thoughts which, more often than not, meandered toward the other.

Kenshin thought about the little patch of earth in the yard which he'd turned into quite the vegetable garden. It was good, honest work and his hands ached with the effort. He developed new calluses apart from the ones he'd borne since the time he first learned the sword. Eyeing the small green shoots peeking from the bed of earth, he smiled. Soon he could use a few logs to cultivate kinoko, maybe he could also learn to grow chilies since Kaoru-dono seems to be fond of a bit of spice every now and then-

"Kenshin," Kaoru's voice broke through the delightful haze of his thoughts, but he found conversation with her all the more delightful, however, and turned his attentions to her.

"Yes, Kaoru-dono."

She was twining her fingers around each other, and she was a bit flustered. He wondered if it was because of the heat.

She'd been strangely contemplative the past two days, but never seemed ready to talk about it when he asked. He was a touch afraid, to say the least, but he gave her space, ever faithful that she trusted him, and would trust him with her thoughts when the time comes.

"Well, you see, I was thinking…" She paused and cleared her throat. They'd gotten married only a week ago, and he found himself quite amused and a bit mortified that she still tiptoed around him sometimes when she wanted to ask something of him. His brow furrowed. The woman should know by now that he would never deny her anything. He smiled at her, willing his ease to roll off of him in waves to soothe her nerves.

Finally, after a long moment, she took a deep breath, looked straight into his eyes and smiled in return. He saw a flash of determination and knew that his stubborn, headstrong Kaoru was back.

"I was thinking that we should try—I mean, I really really really would like to have a baby and…"

She must have seen something odd in his expression because she stopped so suddenly and with bated breath.

"Kenshin?"

Here he was thinking that this wonderful woman—his wife—was loath to ask him favors, when it was he who would not acknowledge a gift for what it was. She had given him a life, her life, a life he did not have to take for once, and had given him a new life, one nestled in peace and in the pulsating vein of love.

"Well, what do you think?" There was a tremor in her voice.

"Say something!" And then there was exasperation.

And he was kissing her, just a light press of his lips on hers, his hand was just hovering above the skin of her cheek, not quite touching, but his warmth shot through her bones. It was strange to him how a man who has learned never to wish for anything would be granted infinitely precious things. Kenshin felt a bubble of laughter rise inside him.

"This one was thinking that we should start trying right now, that we should."

And then she smiled, and it reached her eyes as her smiles always did. It warmed his heart and, at that moment, all became clear to him. He gazed at his reflection held in Kaoru's eyes and it was as if he was only now being privy to the secret purity of his own soul. She took his hand and pulled him up with her.

He led his wife inside, a soft breeze stirred their hair, mingling russet strands with jet black ones as the first drops of rain fell on the first green shoots on his little bed of earth.