Till the Sun Sets

by, Smeagol's girl

(A/N: Another one-shot to get me ready for my Kenshin fic -practice makes perfect-. I got this idea yesterday while writing 'Not All Those Who Wander', so I'm glad to get it out of my system. Rated K+. I own nothing. Summary: She cried her little eyes out the last night she saw him. Now she's 25 and bumps into an old friend while buying rice and is joyed to see his smile once more. Not a romance fic, just a good feelin' one I guess.)

Kimi reached into her pocket and handed her money over to the rice vendor who quickly counted it to make certain she'd given him the right amount. Sighing when she realized it would take him a moment, she looked around at the others who were walking by and talking, oblivious to her presence. It used to strike her as funny how people seemed to have a hard time striking up conversations with people they didn't know, and even standing there for the few moments it took for the man to count her money made her feel a little lonely. Her husband would be there soon, no doubt with their daughter bouncing behind. She was always a ball of energy.

"There you are, ma'am," said the vendor, and she took up the large basket of rice, slightly surprised by its weight.

"Thank you," she said and headed for a nearby bench to set it down. Now she understood why her husband was alway the one to carry the rice. As she made her way, struggling with the weight, she didn't watch where she was going and accidentally stepped on someone's foot. The person gave a cry of surprise mixed with pain and she dropped the basket. Her eyes darted to the basket of rice, which had miraculously not spilled, to the foot she'd carelessly trampled on. "I am so sorry!" she cried. "I need to be more careful!"

"It's all right," said the man with a smile, massaging his sore foot a little. "It was only an accident."

"Even so," she sighed, blushing a little. "I'm really embarassed." His smile remained and she was thankful that she'd stepped on a friendly person rather than a grouch.

"It's all right," he repeated. "Let me help you with that," he added, picking up the rice. She opened her mouth to tell him it wasn't necessary but he shook his head and said, "It's no trouble at all!" Smiling for the first time back at him she walked with him over to the bench and he sat it down. There was something very familiar about his smile, she mused. "A woman like you shouldn't have to carry something so heavy around in such a busy place, that you shouldn't."

"My husband should be back soon actually, and he's usually the one to carry the rice for me... for obvious reasons," she added with a laugh. The man nodded, his red hair bouncing slightly, uncovering a scar on his left cheek. Kim's breath hitched in her throat. Could it be...?

"Well, I'll be off I suppose then," he said with a smile and a wave.

"Himura?" Kim asked hesitantly. He stopped, violet eyes widening a little in surprise from hearing his name.

"Oro?"

Kimi smiled. It was him. After fifteen years she was finally looking at him, and though he'd aged, his smile hadn't changed a bit. "You don't remember me, do you?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow, still confused. "Kyoto... fifteen years ago? I was ten?"

Kenshin's eyes widened. He vaguely remembered a little girl staring up at him nervously as he faced her with a stick in his hands, pretending to be the dreaded troll that haunted those hills. "Kimi?" he asked and she nodded. His confused look turned to one of joy. "Kimi! I'm sorry for not recognizing... Look at you! You've really grown!" She laughed and nodded.

"Fifteen years will do that," she said softly.

"And you're married now!"

"And a mom," she added.

"You can't possibly be that shy girl who used to come over to play every day in Kyoto!" She laughed again and took a seat on the bench, gesturing for him to join her. "So what brought you to Tokyo?" he asked.

"My mother died shortly after your departure," she answered. "And my father was having no luck anymore in Kyoto, so we moved to Tokyo. He claims it was because there were better business opportunities, but I think it was really because it was hard for him to be in a place that reminded him so much of my mother." Kenshin nodded, somehow able to sympathize. "Five years later I met Hideki Akihiko, married him three years later and now... here I am."

"Here you are," he repeated. "And it's great to see you."

"What about you, Himura? What brought you here?"

"After I left Kyoto, I became a rurouni, and wandered for years. Eventually my wanderings brought me here and now... we I've lost all reason to wander at all. I've made some great friends and a home here."

"I'm glad," said Kimi with a smile. "I missed you so much when you left. I think I cried for nearly a month. You were the only friend I had then. I was just too shy I guess."

"I'm sorry for that," he said softly, a look of guilt in his eyes. "But I couldn't stay."

"I know," she said softly. "After that woman left... I can't remember her name... I figured you went to look for her. Did you ever find her?" Kaoru flashed through Kenshins mind and he smiled a little, warmth filling his smile.

"In a way... I did," he answered.

"Momma! Momma!" Kim looked down as a little girl came darting to her and hugged her legs.

"Mika!" she said with a smile, and glanced up as her husband approached as well. "Himura," she said, standing beside her husband. "I'd like you to meet my husband, Hideki Akihiko." Kenshin stood up and took his hand, shaking it.

"It's an honor to meet you!" he said and the husband smiled back.

"Is this the Himura you spoke of from your childhood?" Akihiko asked Kim and she nodded. "It's an honor to meet you too then," he said, releasing Kenshin's hand. "Kimi has told me all about the fun you two used to have."

"Those were good times," Kenshin agreed. There was a brief pause and Kenshin glanced over his shoulder. "Well, I have to go back to what I came here for, I'm afraid," he said softly. "But I hope to see you again someday," he added.

"As do I," agreed Kimi. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" he said, waving over his shoulder.

Looking only ahead he smiled inwardly, greatful that this time their farewells were not so painful.
----

"After today, I will be leaving," he said, and the children all looked up to him with surprised, sad eyes. "And I won't be returning."

"No!" some of them cried, but he gave them a sad smile.

"I'm sorry, that I am," he said softly. "So today, let's all play together till the sun sets." And they did. They played and played, and the sounds of their laughter made him forget for a moment of Tomoe and all the pain that came with her name. But along with the fun came a new sadness. He knew he would miss them. Perhaps he really had gone soft, but he would miss them all the same. When the sun finally set many of them left, saying their final goodbyes. They were all sad, but not nearly as much as he was. Soon they were all gone... all but one.

"Kimi," he said softly, looking down at the little girl who stared up at him with sad eyes. "Your parents will be missing you."

"I don't want you to go, Himura," she said softly, her voice breaking. "If I stay here, you can't go!" He smiled at her sadly and shook his head.

"I must go," he said to her.

"No!" she cried suddenly, throwing herself at him and grabbing on to his legs. "You can't go! You can't! You're my only friend!" She lost her grip and fell on her backside, sitting there and crying her eyes out, unable to look at him. Kenshin lowered himself down and pulled her into his lap, comforting her silently as he stroked her back. "I don't want you to leave!" she sobbed. "I don't want you to leave!"

He closed his eyes, the pain he'd be surpressing all day seeping through and he rested his chin on her head as if to tell her he understood. He held her till her sobs died down, and when she looked up at him with tear stained eyes she gasped. A tear was sliding down his own cheek. "Himura..." she whispered. He stood up, placing her on his shoulders and he carried her to her home. When he set her down, he knelt to her level and looked her in the eye, placing both hands on her shoulders.

"Thank you for all the fun, Kimi," he said softly, smiling again. "And I hope our paths will cross again someday... under better circumstances."

The door to her house opened and her worried parents looked out. "Kimi! We were so worried for you!" they cried and she turned to them.

"Sorry to have worried you," said Kenshin as he stood up. He looked down at her and she gave him a final embrace and he hugged her back. "Goodbye, Kimi," he said softly to her.

"Goodbye, Himura," she said tearfully, and with that, he released her and headed down the path, disappearing into the night.
----

"Kenshin!" cried Kaoru when he finally showed up. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry!" he said, setting his rice basket down along with the tofu he'd bought. "I ran into an old friend and we got to talking, and I lost track of the time, that I did." Kaoru smiled at him and helped him take the food in.

Looking around, he realized his hopes he'd made that night when he said goodbye to Kim had come true. When he'd left, he'd been broken and lost, a true wanderer. Now, fifteen years later, now that they had met again, he was home, and he had found a new love. He smiled at Kaoru and she raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What is it, Kenshin?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said softly. "I'm... I'm home"
----

(A/N: R&R! Tell me how I did! I need to get good in the Kenshin department so please, be honest!)