The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru
A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl
Summary: Fairy tale / fantasy series. A Beast is transformed by the love of a Beauty, but their happy ending is interrupted by a terrible enchantment laid on their son. While seeking to rescue him, Kenshin & Kaoru are nearly torn apart, and even after being reconciled in the end, Kenshin must face the fact that he will not get to keep Kaoru forever. How can they stay together when time itself is against them?
[Fantasy series. A Beast is transformed by the love of a Beauty, but their happy ending is interrupted by a terrible enchantment laid on their son. Kenshin & Kaoru are nearly torn apart; how can they stay together when time itself is against them?]
Part 1: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose
Summary: Based on "Beauty and the Beast." Kaoru meets the frightening warrior Battousai on the night of a snowstorm. They soon part ways, neither of them realizing that the other is hiding secrets which will bring them together again.
Prologue
'What a miserable night,' Kaoru thought. She huddled deeper into the blankets she had wrapped herself in.
Inside the little house, where she sat in front of a merrily crackling fire, it seemed cozy despite the inadequate warmth. Outside, however, a snowstorm raged and howled, whistling at the cracks in the walls. Kaoru did not envy anyone, man or beast, who had not found shelter before the clouds descended.
Thump.
Kaoru jumped at a sound she had never expected to hear in weather like this. Was someone knocking to get in? How could that be? Before Kaoru could even move to get up, the door suddenly crashed open, its wooden latch broken. Kaoru scrambled to her feet, mouth gaping.
A fearsome figure stood framed in the doorway, clutching a sword in one hand. A mane of red hair blew about in the wind, tattered clothes flapped wildly, a huge scar blazed luridly on one cheek, and a pair of the fiercest eyes Kaoru had ever seen glittered menacingly at her.
For one long moment, they stared at one another. Then, just when Kaoru noticed blood dripping to the ground, his eyes closed; his legs buckled, and he collapsed full-length on the floor.
Chapter 1 - Maiden & Warrior
Even unconscious, he would not let go of the sword. The last thing Kaoru wanted to do was let a dangerous stranger into her home, much less take half his clothes off to get to the source of the blood, yet she very well couldn't kick him back out into the snow.
So she closed the door again and tied it shut, then dragged her visitor over to the fire. It was difficult to move him, of course, but much less than she expected; for a warrior, he was surprisingly light and slender. Once she had situated him as comfortably as she could, she set about cleaning and bandaging the wound slashed across his back. She also had to treat numerous smaller injuries over the rest of his body, most looking as if they had been inflicted by a blade.
When this task was done, she covered him with the spare blanket and then huddled back down on the other side of the fire, certain she would not be able to sleep for fear of waking up to find that her throat was being slit, or that she had been robbed, or...
The next morning, she was startled awake by a thudding sound, such as a small log would make when dumped onto a fire. Kaoru shot upright, staring frantically for a minute before she realized that there was no danger - at least, for the moment. "Um...I don't think you should be up," she told him. "That wound looked pretty bad."
He eyed her warily from where he stood by the fire, both his weapons now sheathed at his waist. He reached hesitantly over his shoulder, towards the bandaging, then dropped his hand. "You did this?" he asked. His voice was gruff, but surprisingly soft as well, as if it was deepened by something other than natural tenor.
Kaoru swallowed and nodded, wondering if he would be angry with her - for touching him, or seeing him in a moment of weakness, or any number of reasons.
To her relief, he only looked away and said quietly, "Thank you." After an awkward moment, he gestured at the door. "I'm...sorry for breaking the latch. I needed to get inside."
"Oh! It's all right, really, please don't worry about it," Kaoru said quickly, wondering why he sounded so apologetic. "I'd much rather deal with a broken latch than find out that a man froze to death on my doorstep. I-I mean..." She had not meant to bring attention to his weakness again. She knew the lengths a warrior might go to preserve an image of ultimate strength.
Again, however, he took no offense, simply nodding in acknowledgement of her statement.
Kaoru cleared her throat nervously. "Um...what's your name?" she asked. Then she added quickly, "I'm Kaoru, by the way." No need to add her family name. "But you don't have to tell me yours if you don't want to, I just thought-"
"Battousai."
She blinked. "Eh?"
He looked away. "I know it is a strange name." Then his expression hardened, and he looked back at her squarely. "But that is who I am now."
Kaoru shivered; she couldn't help it. He had so far made no move to hurt or threaten her, but all the same, he was frightening. Something about those eyes...so cold and pitiless, she could easily imagine him plunging a sword into living flesh with no hesitation or remorse.
"Do you have a hair-tie, Kaoru-dono?"
The question took her completely by surprise. "P-Pardon me?"
He smiled a little, which softened his cold eyes. "It's a bit inconvenient like this." He reached up to indicate the tangled, fiery-red hanks of hair spilling over his back and shoulders.
"Oh! Of course." Then she hesitated. "Why did you call me that?" Did he know? Should she have given him a false name altogether?
"Ah. It is a habit of mine. Forgive me if it bothers you...Kaoru-dono." Clearly he was not going to stop, whether the honorific bothered her or not.
Kaoru smiled nervously and hurried to her keepsake box, grabbing the first tie she found. It was only as she held it out to him that she realized, to her mortification, that her rushed choice turned out to be a fluffy pink ribbon.
Just as she was opening her mouth to stammer out an apology, he turned his back to her, gathered up his masses of hair, and waited. Hesitantly, Kaoru moved forward and reached to wrap the ribbon around his makeshift ponytail. His hair smelled of old sweat and melted snow, an odor that made her think of fierce battles under the open sky.
"Do you fight a lot?" she asked softly.
He did not reply for a moment, then said, "Too much." He turned to face her, and Kaoru had to clap her hands to her mouth to stifle a burst of laughter. He looked ridiculous - a hardened, battle-scarred warrior wearing a girly hair ribbon.
"Is something wrong?" He frowned, a sight which frightened all the laughter out of her.
"N-Nothing," she stammered. That face was terrifying. She wondered how whoever had wounded him had had the nerve to cut such a monster.
Then his expression changed. "Kaoru-dono," he whispered. "Please don't look at me that way. I mean you no harm. I know how I must appear to someone like you, but please, you need fear nothing from me."
This time she was the one to frown. "What do you mean, someone like me?" she demanded.
He smiled a little, to her relief. "Well...it cannot be pleasant for someone as naturally beautiful as you to have to look at a face like mine."
Her cheeks went hot. "I- You- You look fine. Especially when you smile, so you should smile more." Embarrassed, she pushed past him and grabbed the bucket by the door. "I'm going out to milk the cow," she muttered. "Don't wreck anything while I'm gone."
He didn't. In fact, when she came back, he was setting out bowls for both of them, having taken it upon himself to make breakfast while she was out. Staring at his almost housewifely handiwork, Kaoru wondered what kind of a man this was, who could wield a sword and glare with such ferocity, yet prepare a meal more delicious than anything she could have managed. All the while sporting a pink ribbon in his hair, too.
It was a shame, she thought, that she would not have a chance to get to know him better. Now that the storm was over, he was likely to be on his way soon, and undoubtedly she would never see him again.
To be continued...
Author's Note: The idea of Kaoru tying a pink ribbon in Kenshin's hair (Kenshin being oblivious to the oddity) is a reference to Watsuki-sensei's RuroKen side-story "Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story" (the one included in volume 1). I thought it was a cute image, and stuck it in when I saw the chance.