Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Disney's Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty – Aoshi style!
Prologue:
Misao made her way to Mrs. Kate's room. It was the last one on her rounds to deliver the clean linens. She was currently in Tokyo visiting with the Himuras. Okon and Omasu were enjoying the afternoon off at Master Hiko's house and Gramps was at a friends house playing Go. Lord Aoshi was of course locked up in the library reading his books. So here she was doing the rest of the chores all by herself! She was ok with that! Tomorrow Mrs. Kate would return from Tokyo and she was certain the old woman would take her away and some fun and unexpected little adventure or tell her fantastic stories about far off places!
"I can't wait till she returns!" she sighed tiredly lately the old woman's visits were the only thing she had to look forward to. Mrs. Kate Janeway was an old American woman that Misao had met years ago on her very first attempt to find Aoshi. The old timer had convinced Misao to temporarily reconsider her hasty and ill-conceived attempt. Thus, the tear-filled lonely ten-year-old little Misao had made a valuable and wise friend that day. She travels all over the world collecting folk stories, learning languages and sharing her medical expertise. Her gentle voice and patient demeanor easily charms people.
Her motherly wisdom had become priceless to Misao and the other women of the Oniwaban who had all been raised without the benefit of a mother. She had endeared herself to the point where the high-collared long-sleeved white shirts, plain gray skirts and the tight, severe bun in which she wrapped her gray hair no longer looked weird. She usually spends half the year in her ranch in the USA and the other half traveling all over the world but since she likes the Aoiya so much she comes and stays at least 4 to 5 months out of the year.
It was early in the afternoon and she knew Mrs. Kate would be on the last train back tonight. She took extra care to clean up her room and prepare her bedding. She didn't mind she knew Mrs. Kate would come back with some special gift for her and it was her small way of repaying her many kindnesses. And these days she was the only one who was truly thoughtful and kind to her. Everyone else just treated her like an annoying precocious child shooing her away as quickly as they could!
'Get those dark thoughts out of your head!' she commanded her self and went back to her cleaning duties. As she went about her cleaning she noticed something she was certain hadn't been there when she made her rounds yesterday.
"Where did this come from?" she asked herself. There was a note attached to it and it read:
Hello Misao! I hope you haven't been too bored while I was gone! But here's something to entertain your self with until I return. I know you've lost your interest in your old fairytales book but this new one I guarantee will renew your love for them! Hope to see you soon! Love, Kate…
"Oh that's so sweet!" she declared cheerfully. She tore open the wrapping and "oohed and ahhed" at the beautifully crafted leather binding. The title was written in gold letters in English it read: Fairytales.
"Foreign fairytales huh? Might not be so bad actually…" she wondered aloud. She picked up all the torn wrappings and headed back downstairs with her new book under one arm. She decided she would make Lord Aoshi his tea and then go sit with him to read her new book.
'Not that he would notice me there anyway!' she thought bitterly. No matter how hard she tried he just seemed to push farther and farther away and Misao was about ready to give up…
Aoshi looked up once more from his reading. The house was very silent Misao seemed to be going about her chores with unusual quiet. In fact she'd been doing a lot of things very quietly over the past few weeks. She didn't come in to chatter his ear off anymore when she brought his tea. Strangely enough with the loss of her incessant chatter so went the quality of his tea. In fact it was becoming increasingly bitter lately.
'I wonder if something is bothering her?' he wondered idly as he leafed through a boring ancient history tome. He felt rather than heard her soft footfalls so he tried to pretend he was interested in what he was reading. He didn't look up as she walked in with his tea and snacks. She set it in front of him without a word then walked to the other side of the room and sitting with her back against the wall she opened her book. Aoshi blinked in surprise.
'She didn't even say hello this time!' he realized with a bit of shock. She was never so cold before! He opened his mouth to say something about it but reconsidered. 'Perhaps a less conspicuous approach,' he surmised. Misao usually surrendered information to the people she trusted without too much coaxing.
"What are you reading?" he inquired softly. She looked up and shrugged.
"It's just a book of fairytales! Probably not as interesting as what you're reading!" she replied with a touch of bitterness. He frowned and closed his book focusing all his attention on her now.
"How do you know? You have not asked me," he countered patiently. She just shrugged and ignored him concentrating on reading the introduction of the book. He got up and walked over to her. She sighed and to his further astonishment she rolled her eyes.
"Well if you want to look at my book go ahead but I seriously doubt you'll like it!" she declared with a shrug and pushed her book closer to him so he could read it too. He sidled up close and hoped as she opened the book to the first of the tales that he would find a way to understand what was wrong with his little princess lately.
Once upon a time…
With a flash of bright light they were sucked into the book and that's how their whirlwind journey began through one story and then another. Each world was governed by a set of unseen magical currents that forced each character to behave a certain way. Misao and Aoshi being the type of people that they were of course fought the magical rules to the ultimate demise of each world. Finally after a brutal yet truncated battle with the Sea Witch Ursula they were separated yet again and sent to one more world…
It's only the beginning...
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