Fading Away
Anime: Rurouni Kenshin
Rating: G
Background:In this dream, I'm looking out of Kaoru's eyes; I was her and was seeing this from her point of view but I couldn't control what she would do or say.
--*--
Kaoru hasn't seen Kenshin in ten years...
Miss Kaoru walked briskly across the dew covered grass. She was looking around, as if she was trying to find someone. Then she spotted a black-haired woman sitting against a tree, and a look of relief crossed her face.
"Megumi!" Kaoru shouted, running over to her friend.
Megumi looked up and smiled brightly. "Kaoru! It's been so long!" She tired to get up, but Kaoru quickly told her to sit back down. Kaoru observed her friends swollen torso. She looked like she had swallowed a beach ball. Kaoru looked Megumi in the eye inquisitively.
"How long have you been pregnant?"Kaoru asked. She hadn't seen Megumi in three years, and she wasn't given any details in the letter she received from her.
Megumi beamed. "Seven months, to the day."
Kaoru smiled. "Congratulations! How's your husband taking this?"
"Oh, Sanosuke?" Megumi laughed. "He's a nervous wreck!" She laughed again. "I'm handling it much better than him."
Kaoru chuckled then asked, "Where's Kenshin? He was supposed to have arrived here before me."
Megumi looked upset. "Well...he did...he's up on that hill over there." She pointed to the top of a green grassy hill. "But..." she averted her eyes from Kaoru, "I'm afraid he's gone blind."
Kaoru stared at her friend in shock. "Blind! How?"
Megumi shook her sadly. "None of us know...he wouldn't say. But, he's waiting for you Kaoru, so hurry." she smiled.
Kaoru didn't stay to hear another word, and ran towards the steep hill. Halfway up, she spotted a familiar reddish-purple kimono and bright orange hair.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru called out.
Kenshin turned around. When his eyes met Kaoru's, Kaoru could clearly see that he was...not blind. Kaoru was confused. Why would Megumi lie to me? He's not blind! I don't understand...
Kenshin smiled, still looking at Kaoru. "I'm glad to see you Miss Kaoru, that I am."
The sound of Kenshin's voice snapped Kaoru out of her troubled thoughts. She smiled broadly.
"Kenshin!" she shouted as she ran the rest of the way up the hill. She gave Kenshin a quick friendly hug Kenshin gripped her by the shoulders and held her back so he could look at her face to face.
Kaoru looked up at him adoringly. "You look just the same!"
"And you still look beautiful Miss Kaoru, that you do." Kenshin smiled, but not his usual goofy smile. No, this one was warm and full of emotion. The likes of which he'd had to wait 10 years to show, for, unlike Megumi, the wanderer could not keep in touch with Kaoru. He slowly pulled Kaoru into a tender hug, holding her close to him, savoring the warmth of her body and the feel of her long, ebony hair between his fingers.
He closed his eyes and whispered, "It's been a long time since I held you this close Kaoru. It's been long...too long..."
Kaoru, at first surprised at the swordsman's sudden display of emotion, buried her face into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Kenshin, I...I've missed you so much." Her eyes began to tingle. "I thought about you every day." Her warm, salty tears trickled slowly down her face and fell softly onto his shoulder. "Because Kenshin, I...I love you." She gripped the back of his kimono, anticipating his answer.
Kenshin smiled and gazed down at her warmly. He pulled her away from him to look her in the eyes again. "I know you do Kaoru," he said softly, wiping a tear away with his thumb. "And, well, I lo..." Kenshin's sentence was interrupted by a tug on his pant's leg. "Hm?" Kenshin looked down and noticed a little kid tugging impatiently on his outfit. Kenshin smiled apologetically at Kaoru and crouched down to be at eye level with the little girl. "Yes?"
The girl looked up at him with pitiful little puppy dog eyes. "Uncle Kenny! Uncle Kenny! Can you play with me?"
Kenshin sighed and looked up at Kaoru with eyes that clearly said, 'I'm sorry she interrupted, but how can I say no to that face?' Kaoru laughed.
"Go on 'Uncle Kenny'!" She said teasingly. "Play with her!"
Kenshin turned back tot he child. "Okay."
The little girl smiled from ear to ear. "Yay! Let's sing a song!"
Kenshin chuckled softly, "All right...hm...how about..." He started singing some little kids song in Japanese.
"Yeah!" The child shouted eagerly and began to sing along with him.
Kaoru watched amused and sat down, enjoying the feeling of dew sprayed grass between her bare toes. She looked up at Kenshin and the little one, now hand in hand singing and skipping around the top of the hill. Then, she noticed a strange grey fog begin to shroud the grassy hill-top. The other two, still singing, didn't seem to notice. Kaoru began to stand up. "Kenshin!" she called. She was worried. It had suddenly gotten much colder, and she had a very bad feeling about the fog.
"Kenshin!" she called again, this time more urgently. But, Kenshin didn't seem to hear her, and continued the little song.
Now Kaoru was panicking. "Kenshin!" she yelled as she stood up completely. Kenshin didn't even turn around. He and the little girl began skipping deeper and deeper into the thick ominous fog.
"KENSHIN!" Kaoru screamed desperately as her beloved disappeared into the darkness. "KENSHIN!" She ran after them, but just as she did, the fog dissolved and Kenshin and the child were no where in sight. Frightened, Kaoru ran down the hill to Megumi.
"Megumi!" Kaoru was breathless as she reached her.
Megumi put down what she was knitting and looking at Kaoru worriedly. "What's wrong?"
Kaoru caught her breath and said, "Kenshin! Where did he go?"
Megumi furrowed her brow, confused. "Kaoru, what do you mean?"
Kaoru scowled at her friend, annoyed. "Kenshin! He was up on that hill!" She pointed up to the aforementioned hill. "But then I lost sight of him in this creepy fog, and now he's gone! Did you see him come down the hill? Where'd he go?"
Megumi gazed up at her friend, a look of pity in her eyes. "Kaoru, Kenshin was never there. He's been missing for ten years. Don't you remember?"
Kaoru was bewildered. "But...but you said...you were the one who told me he was there!"
Megumi shook her head sadly. "Kaoru," she spoke softly. "I never said anything. This is the first time you've talked to me today."
Kaoru was distraught. "But he was there! You're lying!" By now, she was almost in tears. "I saw him! He was there! I'm going to find him!" With that, she ran off, leaving Megumi looking on, clearly pained by her friends turmoil.
Kaoru searched all day. She asked everyone she knew if they had seen Kenshin, but they all said the same thing, "Kenshin's been missing for ten years. Don't you remember?"
Kaoru was sitting on a log at the edge of a cliff, looking at the sunset. She drew her knees up to her chest; even though it was still warm out, she felt strangely cold. An echo of Kenshin and the child singing and laughing played in her mind, but it was no more than a whisper; like a fleeting breath of wind. She buried her face in her knees. Her pained tears flowed freely now, and her body shuddered as she sobbed. Slowly, sadly, she cried herself to sleep. As she slept a dark, dreamless sleep, she only whispered one word:
"...Kenshin..."
--*--
1: I think the song was called, "Kagome Kagome", though I'm not sure since I'm not fluent in Japanese.
This dream actually frightened me. Not only could I see what Kaoru was seeing, I also heard, smelled, and felt what she heard smelled and felt. It was creepy how realistic it was...
Please review!
-Ellie