A/N: Hola! Well, I have to admit it's been while since I was actually able to write something decent, and I see this as good practice. I have no idea where this idea came from. All I know is that the other night it wouldn't let me sleep until I wrote it down. It turned out different on paper than it was in my head, and it turned out even more differently when I took it to the computer to type and edit over. But I think I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. Anywho, I hope you guys find it enjoyable, and any tips to improve my writing will be appreciated with open arms. I think I wrote it kind of funny,but I'm not sure what it is.

Disclaimer: Sadly, no, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters, but if I did, Soujiro would be mine and he would have had more appearances. But he isn't, and he didn't.

Soujiro stood in the clearing, sword drawn and hatred etched into his features as he stared at the man hidden in the shadows across from him.

He and Misao had been travelling from the Aoiya to Tokyo to visit Kaoru and Kenshin before their wedding and they had decided to stop for the night in the forest clearing. But they hadn't been the only ones to cross through the clearing that night. A band of thieves had passed by them when they were asleep. But they didn't stop at the money, no.

They decided they wanted Misao as well.

The six men scattered around the ground had been a cinch to take out with his Shukuchi. The leader, however, was a different matter, and Soujiro watched as he stepped forward into a moonlit patch between the trees. The boy's glare intensified as he saw the ruffian's left arm gripped around Misao's neck, lifting her off the ground because of his greater height. Misao's face was frightened as she struggled to rid her neck from the man's suffocating grip, and Soujiro felt even greater waves of hatred wash through him at the sight.

"Let her go!" he spat viciously, but the man holding Misao only laughed in reply, raising his blade into the air as if waiting for an attack. So Soujiro did what was expected of him. He rushed forward with his Shukuchi, gripping his blade ever more tightly as he neared the thug, and swinging upward at the man's outstretched katana, Soujiro managed to free the sword from it's owner's hand, leaving the thief defenseless. "Let go of her," Soujiro ordered, his voice shaking with anger, as he raised his blade up to the defenseless man's throat, "and I will let you live."

For the first time, the larger man seemed to be afraid, but it only lasted for a moment before it was replaced by a smirk

"If you want her back so badly," he taunted Soujiro as he flew off into the woods behind him, "come and get her from me!"

This took Soujiro slightly off guard. But only shortly. The feeling of hate and anger he had felt mere moments ago were back and he rushed off after Misao's kidnapper, cursing himself for letting the man get his head start. His emotions were getting the better of him and he was losing control. It was odd, actually. He had been able to control his newfound emotions until now. It had taken some time to do, but he had managed it in the end. There was no reason he should be losing control like this.

Unless...

But no, that couldn't be. He didn't feel any different than he had any other time he got angry. Only this time he couldn't force it back. Surly he hadn't regained yet another emotion without realizing it.

The forest was thick with trees, and with barely any of the moonlight shining down to light a way, it was difficult to navigate quickly without tripping. For this reason, he wasn't using Shukuchi just yet. He wanted to wait until he was closer and sure to hit his mark. If he hurt himself too badly by tripping at the extreme speed, who knew what would happen to Misao? His eyes narrowed as he followed the sounds of the thief running in the forest ahead of him.

Soon the trees disappeared to cut a path for a road. He stopped and skidded on the gravel, making far more noise than he should have done, and looked to his right to see the man he was looking for sprinting down the road. He looked back at Soujiro, and the young man took off at full speed. He was almost caught up when he took a swing at the man's head. But just as Soujiro swung his blade, the man caught him by surprise again. Eyes widened in fear, he watched the man's dirty gamble for escape as Misao was tossed behind him and into the path of his sword.

Shock overwhelmed him as he realized what the man had done. He had watched Soujiro take out the other men as well as his own sword and knew what the Shukuchi could do, so he ran off until he could guess when it would be used again to give him time to use Misao as a shield and escape with his own life intact.

It was only an instant, but he could see the terrified look on Misao's face. Due to his speed she couldn't see or hear him, but she knew he was there; that he could tell.

He couldn't stop his blade mid-swing, so he did the next best thing, risky though it was on the gravel road. He pushed his foot against the ground with all his might and pushed himself to his left, sending him tripping and skidding face first into the uncomfortable embrace of tree roots growing at the side of the road, not to mention a snap from his ankle at the force of the last moment's change of direction. But that was the last of his worries at the moment. Panicked, his breath shallow and quick, he pushed himself from the ground and reached out for his sword which had dropped from his hand upon impact, desperately scanning the blade for confirmation that he had missed. It looked clean to him, but he couldn't help but notice a small sliver of dust clumped up at the edge of the blade. If he wasn't still so shocked, he'd have been relieved, but he was still reliving that moment in his mind.

"Soujiro." He heard his name spoken silently and he looked around. Misao was in the middle of the road behind him, looking at him wide-eyed. But there was something else. She was holding a hand over the side of her neck and in the moonlight he was sure that he saw a dark trail coming from it. The sight frightened him even more and he dropped his sword onto the ground, letting it clatter on the gravel below, only able to stare at what he had done to her in abject horror. "Misao..." he whispered.

She was now looking at him with worry and brought herself up to her knees. She moved towards him slightly, a movement which caused his eyes to open wider before he moved further away from her. Away from what he had almost done. He had almost killed her. The one thing he held dear to him, the person who had helped him keep himself together in his darkest moments, had almost died...by his hand. He tried to get to his feet, but his ankle wouldn't allow it and he collapsed back onto the ground with a small cry of pain.

"You're hurt!" Misao noted in a concerned voice, immediately hopping to her feet. As she neared him, Soujiro scrambled away, still looking at her in complete terror, his breathing still ragged and shallow. But he didn't get far before the stress took it's toll on him and he felt himself getting weak, his eyesight blurring until all was black.

When he awokeit was still dark out. He shot up into an upright position as memories flooded back to him and panicked.

"Misao?"

"Shhh," a voice behind him said before pushing him back down to the ground. "You need to sleep." He looked up and saw Misao's face smiling calmly down at him and he realized that his head was resting in her lap. He let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes as she ran a hand through his hair, only faintly aware of a sharp pain from his ankle. Then remembering something, he opened his eyes again and looked up at her, reaching out a hand to trace the scabbed cut on her neck and grimacing as he did so. "It's nothing," she said, taking his hand in hers and setting it on his chest. "You're the one we need to worry about. I think you may have broken your ankle."

He just continued to stare up at Misao, thinking about how close it had been. What would he do if he hadn't been able to pull back in time? Soujiro found soon enough that he didn't like this thought as a new feeling swelled in his chest, and before Misao had a chance to stop him, he had risen himself into a sitting position beside her. The soft moonlight showed the surprise on her pretty face when he reached out and gently pushed her bangs away from her eyes..

"I'm sorry, Misao," he said softly, covering her cut with his hand. "I don't know what came over me." He shook his head lightly and continued. "I lost control of myself and almost...lost you." he trailed off at the thought of what he had almost done and blinked. The tight feeling in his chest returned, and before he knew it, he had leaned down and placed his lips on hers. He wasn't sure why he did it, but somehow it seemed to be the only way to express how he felt at the moment, even though he wasn't sure himself.

When he pulled away and looked at her again, she seemed to understand. That wasn't to say that she didn't look surprised, but she wasn't attacking him or yelling, so that had to mean something. He leaned back against the tree with her and they sat in silence for a minute.

"Soujiro, back at the road...do you always act like that when an emotion returns?"

"Huh?" Soujiro looked over at her, taken aback by her odd choice of question. Did he? He scratched his head and thought about it. "Yeah," he said after recounting the times where a new emotion resurfaced, "something like that."

"Good," she said, smiling slightly and taking his hand in hers.

He just stared, confusion taking over his face, and was surprised when she leaned up to kiss him. She smiled at him sheepishly as his look of confusion deepened and said, "I love you too."

He blinked. Then, thinking about what she said for a second, he smiled and wrapped his arm around her.

So she had known what he was trying to tell her after all.

So...did it work? Oh yeah, and if any of you have any ideas please share them. I could use the practice as ideas rarely take hold of me as fiercely as this one did.