Author's Note:

I wrote this short thing at 3 am, while having a break from my writing assignment. This has brought me to the conclusion that I can never really write anything humorous. Apparently, angst and the occasional waff are what I'm okay at. I find that rather sad though, because I'm actually a happy little girl.

By the way, I would like to thank those who commented on "Unfinished Business". I'mgonna be fixing it upwhenI get the time, but for now it's indefinitely on hold; myRanma fanfic "Without Her" is currently a majorpriority, since I am already starting to get threats in my inbox ;; For now, fics for other series will all be oneshots.

Again, please pardon the typos and whatever grammatical errors I might've missed. Comments will be graciously accepted but please don't flame and/or kill me!

And yes, this is still done in the effort of renewing my connection with my inner rurouni.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki, owned by him and some other related parties. Kenshin is not mine, was never mine and will never be mine and no matter how hard I try I can't ever, ever take him home with me.

Lunar Ember Presents

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction

ENDLESS CROSSROADS

"I will remember you.

Will you remember me?

Don't let your life pass you by,

Weep not for the memories"

-- Sarah Mclachlan

I am a vagabond.

I am left with no choice but to leave you for a road that I have never traveled. The time has arrived, and there is no turning back from all that has finally come to pass. Believe me when I say that I wish it were different -- but now I know that the past is something can never be undone or redone, no matter how much I will it so.

And so I move on.

And so I move away.

If you fear that I will forget you, know that I won't. How can this unworthy one forget his own savior? You are the rarest of smiles that dance upon my lips. Your scent is the morning air that envelopes me with the gentleness of your embrace. You are my home, and it is with you and in you that I have found my sanctuary in times of despair.

There are tears in your eyes, love. Ah, even now I am too weak tospare you from this suffering -- yet how can I spare you from something that I myself have caused? Forgive me for I am tainted, and being such nothing that I touch remains pure. I have taken your hapiness, and for that I am truly sorry.

Once upon a timeI believed that I could change things. Maybe somehow I did, but as men continue to perish at the wake of unending wars and catastrophes, I have come to understand that I am neither a god nor a hero -- I am but one man amidst all the chaos. I can only do so much. And in the end, it wasn't enough.

I have failed to protect you.

Holding fast to the beliefs that had kept me alive, I have failed to see that neither blades nor words could have rescued you from this moment of pain. It is only now that I understand that the only thing that could have changed everything was the realization that before even considering the happiness of the world, I should have first considered your happiness.

But it is too late for that now, even for regrets.

And so I leave the warmth of your arms praying for your forgiveness. It amazes me to no end to realize that even now, after all the hurt that I have caused you, you still have the heart to love me -- in this last moment, you forego your own pain and heal me with your smile.

It is with your touch that the cross-scar has finally faded, and now I willingly accept the burning of your tears that fall on my cheek.

Their traces are the new wounds that I will carry with me on my journey -- I know that you will protest if ever you learn of this, but for once, let me carry this burden for you. This is the least that I can do.

You are my light, my life, my love. And now after finding my way back home to you, I prepare for another journey from which I can never return.

After all, I am a vagabond. I will wander again.

But this time, I will wait for you.

Ima made arigatou.

Sayonara, Kaoru.

.owari.