So I couldn't concentrate on studying for my biomaterials exam tomorrow and wrote this instead. But I guess it's okay since I'm planning on changing majors anyway.

This is an alternate universe story and the characters really aren't themselves. This chapter moves very quickly and is a little to conveint, but I just wanted to write this. It sucks, but thank you for reading it anyway.

Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter

"Oomph!" The sound rushed past Kenshin's teeth and lips as something collided with his lower half. He looked down with wide violet eyes to see the frightened face of child with a tear stained face. He noticed the vibrant red hair on the boy's head and his bright blue eyes, but didn't have time to dwell on those thoughts as said child was shaking against his frame from crying as he clung to Kenshin's legs in his fear.

Kenshin sighed and managed to loosen the boy's arms so he could squat down to his level. The boy took half a step backwards and looked at Kenshin uncertainly as his sobbing increased. "I won't hurt you." Kenshin reached his left hand out to the boy. "Okay?" The child nodded and took his hand, allowing Kenshin to pull his small frame against his larger one. Kenshin ran his hand up and down the boy's back in an attempt to calm him.

Once the boy's sobbing had stopped Kenshin took a tissue from his pocket and dried his tear and mucous covered face. Kenshin couldn't help but smile at the blue eyes that were wide with apprehension. "Are you lost?"

"Uh-huh," he said as he shook his head.

"Are your parents here?"

"Momma."

"Okay. I'm Mr. Kenshin. Can you tell me your name?"

"Un-uh."

"Your mom told you not to tell your name to strangers?" The boy nodded his head. "That's fine." There was a pause as he moved the tissue over the boy's face some more. "Do you want me to help you find her?" Another nod. "Did you get lost in this store?"

"Uh-huh."

Kenshin tucked the tissue into his pocket and stood. He reached down and took the small boy's hand in his own. "Alright, let's go find her. Which way did you come from?" The boy pointed to the left and they started to walk along the aisle.

Before Kenshin could take his third step a loud cry of 'KENJI' made him face the direction they had just come from. He looked down to the boy holding tightly to his hand. "Is your name Kenji?" The boy nodded as he looked in the direction the shout had come from. Kenshin began walking in that same direction. "I think we'll find your mom soon." Kenji just nodded again.

Kenshin and Kenji turned the corner as another shout of the boy's name broke the low hum of the department store's noise. Kenshin saw a slender, raven-haired woman rushing through the aisle and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes were wide and sweat started accumulating on his brow. So focused on only her was he that he didn't notice Kenji had released his hand until he saw the boy jump into the woman's arms. "Kaoru . . ." he whispered.

"Oh, Kenji, I'm so glad I found you! Don't ever run off like that again! You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, Momma!" Kenji said as his tears began anew.

"It's okay, baby. You're safe now."

Kenji turned in his mother's arms to look at the man he had run into. "Thank you, Mr. Kenshin."

Kaoru's head snapped up at her son's statement. Her gaze moved to the man she hadn't seen in five years. Her body went rigid as her mind registered who was standing before her.

"Kaoru."

She felt as if her body would melt from hearing his voice again after so long. He said her name again and she forgot how to breathe. Kaoru's fear began to overcome the shock as the one man she had vowed to never see again began walking towards her. Her eyes were locked on his and she noticed the color change. Her arms wrapped tightly around her son and hoisted him to her hip as she stood to face the angry man stalking towards her.

Kenshin breathed heavily through his nose as he suppressed a growl. He stopped less than a foot from her and looked down into her fearful blue eyes. The same eyes he had fallen in love with all those years ago. The same eyes of the scared little boy who he had just helped. The same eyes he had searched for relentlessly and was beginning to think he would never see again. He blinked slowly to clear his thoughts. When his eyes opened, they were still amber but now focused on the child in Kaoru's arms instead of her. They flashed back up to hers and this time he couldn't stop the growl in his words. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She raised her chin defiantly. "Tell you what?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"I'm afraid I don't."

"You're holding him in your arms right now, aren't you?"

"Kenji?" She stared up at him for a few seconds before continuing. "Who said he's yours? I haven't seen you in years. I could have gotten married for all you know."

"There aren't that many redheads in this country and I don't see a ring on your finger."

"Well, you don't need to worry about him. Thank you for saving him, but just forget you saw us today and go back to Tomoe. Goodbye, Kenshin." She moved to turn around but he grabbed her elbow and spun her around to face him once again.

"I won't allow you to walk away from me a second time."

Kenji had watched the exchange and had no idea what was happening between the two adults. He looked up to Kenshin with his bright eyes before speaking. "Do you know Momma, Mr. Kenshin?"

"Yes, Kenji, I know your Mom very well. Or at least I thought I did." His eyes never left Kaoru's but his next words were intended for her. "You're coming with me. Now."

"No."

"Don't make a scene, Kaoru. We need to talk."

"There's nothing to discuss. You haven't been in his life so far and he doesn't need you now." She jerked her arm out of his grip. "Goodbye, Kenshin. We really have to get home." She began walking away from him.

Kenshin's quick steps brought him alongside her in half a second. "Where are you parked?"

"We took the bus."

He grabbed her elbow once more and began steering her towards a different exit. "Then I'll drive you. We need to talk."

Kaoru huffed but gave no other argument. She knew that after all these years he was just as stubborn as he had always been. Kenji began squirming in her arms and she had to put him down. Kenshin reached around her and grabbed one of Kenji's hands in his own, pulling him between them. Kaoru quickly grabbed his other one, determined not to let Kenshin take him away from her. Kenji's head whipped back and forth between the two adults but he said nothing.

Kenshin led them through the parking lot to a shiny black sedan. He opened the two passenger side doors before helping Kenji into the back seat while his mother sat in the front. Once his son was secured in the car he quickly walked to the driver's side and got in himself. He 

locked the doors, placed the key in the ignition and cranked up the engine. He moved his hand to the volume knob on the radio and muted it before turning to the woman sitting next to him. "Where do you live?"

"On—"

"Momma!"

"Kenji, we're talking."

"But I'm hungry!"

Kaoru sighed as Kenshin pulled out of the parking lot. "Let me get him something to eat. Then I'll take you home."

Kaoru crossed her arms and sank into the seat with her gaze focused out the window. "Fine."

"Where do you want me to go?"

"Anywhere. Like you he'll eat almost anything."

"Easy enough." Kenshin said as he maneuvered the car through the heavy traffic. He pulled into the first fast food restaurant he could find. Once the car was stopped her turned around to look at his son in the backseat. "Is this okay, Kenji?"

"Uh-huh," the redheaded boy said as he nodded his head, a big smile on his face. "Momma doesn't let me eat here a lot."

Kenshin had gotten out of the car and opened the door for the boy. "It's a treat then."

Kenji had already unbuckled his seat belt and scrambled out the open door. He grabbed Kenshin's hand and looked to his mother who was still sitting in the car. "C'mon, Momma!"

Kaoru sighed and exited the car as well. She followed the two redheads to the restaurant and walked inside as Kenshin held the door open for her.

Once inside, he pulled out his wallet and handed her a credit card. "Order whatever you like for Kenji and yourself. And I haven't eaten today so get me something as well."

She held the card out to him. "I don't need your money."

"Kaoru."

"Fine, whatever!"

"My tastes haven't changed," he called after her retreating back. She made no signal that she had heard him, but he knew she did. He sighed and looked down to the confused child holding onto his hand. "Where do you want to sit, Kenji?"

"By the window!"

"Okay, which booth?" Kenshin asked as they walked across the room.

Kenji pointed to the one in the corner. "That one." The boy led them over to the table he had pointed to and slid onto one of the benches. Kenshin meant to sit across from him but Kenji spoke before he could. "I want you to sit with me!"

Kenshin chuckled and moved to the other side of the booth. "Alright, Kenji."

A few moments later Kaoru appeared with a tray that contained a child's meal, an adult's meal, and three drinks. She placed the tray on the table and sat down opposite the two redheads. She removed Kenji's food and two of the drinks and pushed the tray towards Kenshin and returned his credit card before handing Kenji his food.

The small boy attacked the meal placed before him eagerly and looked up to the two adults with a contented smile on his face that quickly faded when he saw the hard looks they were giving each other. "Momma?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Kenji."

The boy gulped down his food and took a quick sip from his drink. "Momma, why are you so mad at Mr. Kenshin?"

Kaoru sighed. "Do you remember all those times you asked me why where your daddy was?"

Kenji nodded and recited: "Daddy is a very busy man and doesn't have time to come play with me but he loves me very much."

Kenshin was appalled at how rehearsed the words sounded and glared at the woman across from him who was purposefully turned away from him. She had closed her eyes and sighed again before speaking, deciding to be blunt with her son. "Kenji, Mr. Kenshin is your daddy."

Kenji turned his wide gaze from his mother to the man he had just been told was his father. "You're my daddy?"

"It would seem so."

"Why are you always so busy, Daddy? Why don't you come play with me?"

Kenshin wanted to smile after hearing Kenji call him that, but under the circumstances he just couldn't manage it. He allowed his eyes to flash in Kaoru's direction before giving his full attention to Kenji. Kenshin had never been of the belief that one should talk down to children just because they happened to be younger than you and spoke to his son as if he were an adult as well. "It's true that I am a busy man, Kenji, but that's not the reason I've never come to see you. Your mother did not tell me about you and so I did not know. If I did I would have played with you every day."

"Will you play with me today?"

Kenshin glanced back to Kaoru and managed to smile down at his son. "Of course."

Kenji's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yes, now eat."

"Okay!" Kenji's attention returned to his food and he quickly began devouring it.

Kenshin looked away from Kenji to Kaoru. "Aren't you eating?"

"I don't have much of an appetite today."

Kenshin shrugged his shoulders and began eating his own food. About halfway through his meal he noticed that Kenji had finished and now full was getting sleepy. He yawned and laid down on the bench, using his father's lap as a pillow. Kaoru's eyes narrowed but Kenshin kept eating as if nothing had happened but inwardly he was beaming, so excited that his son had accepted him so quickly.

"It's his naptime," Kaoru said in an attempt to break the oppressing silence.

"I noticed."

"What do you want from me, Kenshin?"

"For starters, I want to know why you neglected to tell me I had a son."

"I never intended for you to ever find out. I didn't want to see you again."

"Selfish."

"No more than you," she snapped.

"What are you talking about? I gave you everything!"

"Everything except your heart! That always belonged to someone else!" Kaoru's voice had gotten louder as she spoke.

"Quiet, you'll wake him."

"Agh!"

"How could you have ever doubted my love for you? You're the one who left me high and dry on the night before our wedding."

"It's not as if you spent the night pining for company."

"What are you talking about? You were supposed to come over and never did."

"Oh, I came over alright! I came over only to find you in Tomoe's arms the night before we were supposed to get married!"

"Tomoe came over to try one last time to stop the wedding and I got rid of her! She threw herself at me as I was pushing her out the door!"

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?"

"Considering you've lied to me for the last five years and I have been only truthful with you, yes."

"Can we just go?"

"Fine. You throw the trash away; I'll carry him to the car."

Kaoru got up silently and walked across the room to the trash cans. Kenshin scooped Kenji into his arms, careful not to wake him. Kaoru was waiting at the door and held it open for him and followed him into the parking lot where she opened the car door for him. That done, she got into her seat and waited for Kenshin.

Kenshin laid his son across the seat and covered him with a blanket he kept in the backseat. Once he was sure Kenji was comfortable he quietly closed the door and got into the driver's seat. He placed the key in the ignition but didn't start it. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white and his breathing way heavy.

Kaoru looked over to him to see why they weren't moving and didn't like what she saw. "What's wrong?"

Kenshin kept staring straight ahead. "I never stopped thinking about you. I searched for you for five years and couldn't find anything."

"That's because I didn't want to be found."

"Where were you hiding?"

"In the one place you would never look."

"Obviously."

"The one place you vowed to never return."

Kenshin's head snapped to the side at her statement. His eyes were flashing amber as he glared at her incredulously. "Father's?"

"Where else? I couldn't support both of us on my own and my parents are dead."

"Why did you go to him for help instead of me?"

"I didn't go to him. He found me while I was job hunting during my seventh month and told me to move in with him. I knew that he wouldn't tell you unless I wanted to and I was tired of constantly changing apartments so you couldn't find me. You said you would never go back to that house and true to your word, you didn't. "

Kenshin tightened his grip on the steering wheel even more to stop himself from hitting something in his anger. He was angry at Kaoru for lying to him, for keeping his son from him. He was angry at his own father for not telling him where she was when he knew how he was searching for her. He was angry at himself for his own foolishness. "Why didn't you confront me? Most women would have."

"I'm not most women."

"That's an understatement."

"Whatever. Look, I saw you with your ex-girlfriend in what was supposed to be my home. What was I supposed to think? So I left and decided to just give it a few days to see what happened. But you never even called."

"I called you at least a hundred times that night alone! Ask Father if you don't believe me since you're so close to him! I still don't understand that."

"I won't deny him his grandchild."

"But you'll deny me my son? What kind of logic is that?"

Kaoru deliberately ignored his question. "Anyways, I figured I would give it a few days and you never called. I was going to talk to you and then I started getting sick. Megumi noticed and ran some tests and told me I was pregnant. After that I decided a clean break was best because I didn't want that woman having anything to do with my child."

"But nothing was happening between us! I even got a restraining order against her!"

"How was I supposed to know that after what I saw?"

"You could have asked."

"It wasn't worth it."

"Not worth it? We were engaged! You were pregnant with my child! How was that not worth it?"

"It just wasn't, okay? Not then, not now."

"Father obviously knows since you're living with him. And you said that Megumi is the one who told you so that means Sano knows as well. Who else knows about my son and didn't tell me?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

"Yes."

"Pretty much everyone. Misao and Aoshi, Yahiko and Tsubame, Tokio and Saito, Ta—"

"Saito knows?"

"Of course. Who do you think was been giving you false information on behalf of the police department?"

This time Kenshin couldn't control himself and slammed his fist into the dashboard. He turned his golden glare onto her so fiercely it stole her breath. "Dammit Kaoru! What in the seven layers of Hell would possess you to act this way? Now sane person would have done what you did! If you truly didn't want me to find you, you would have left town instead of moving in with my father! So why did you do it? And don't you dare say Tomoe because we both know that's a lie!"

"I WAS SCARED OKAY? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

Kenji had begun to stir from her shouts. They both went completely still until he rolled over and pulled the blanket tighter around him.

"Don't wake him," Kenshin said fiercely, breaking the silence.

"Don't you start acting like his parent now!"

"I would have acted this way for the past five years if I had known! It's not like I walked out on you two! Don't get mad at me for not being there—it's your fault!"

"Just blame me for all this!"

"Fine, I will."

"Ugh! Just take us home!"

"Not until you answer my question."

"I did answer your question!"

"You didn't tell me what you were scared of!"

"I don't feel like it. Just take us home and then you can forget about us."

"I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers."

"Then I'll call a Taxi."

"If you leave now and try to hide from me again I'll take you to court for custody rights."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me. I don't intend to miss another second of his life and I'll be damned if I let you keep him from me any longer than you already have."

"Fine, I'll answer your question." Kaoru sighed and closed her eyes to hold back her tears. "I was afraid you really were going back to her and would only marry me to do what was right. I was afraid that you didn't love me anymore. I was afraid you would take him away from me."

"I still love you, Kaoru. I never stopped loving you. And I don't want to take Kenji away from you, but you can't expect me to stay out of his life now that I know. He needs his father."

"He's done just fine without you so far."

"That's why he took to me so quickly, is it?"

"Kenshin, please."

"Fine, we're going!" he said as he viciously turned the key, starting up the car. He backed out of the parking space and pulled out into the traffic once again.

They sat in silence for at least ten minutes before Kaoru noticed her surroundings. "This isn't the right way."

"Of course it isn't."

"This isn't the way to your house either."

"I know that."

"Then where are we going?"

"The courthouse."

"WHAT?"

"I swear I will not be happy if you wake him up!"

"Why?" she growled.

"You have two options, Kaoru: you can marry me today or we can begin a custody battle. It's your choice."

"That's blackmail!"

"You haven't played fairly so why should I?"

"This is why I didn't want you to find out! I knew you were going to take him from me! We can't all be as rich as you!"

"This has nothing to do with money. I know you've both been well cared for by Father. This is about you walking out on me without a word. This is about you hiding yourself and my child from me for five years." Kenshin parked his car for the third time that day and turned off the engine. He turned to look at the shocked woman in the seat next to him. "I already told you my feelings for you never changed. I still love you as much as I did the day you agreed to marry me. You were the only thing that saved me from destroying myself." There was a pause as his face softened and his gaze began to slowly return to violet. "Tell me you don't still love me. Tell me you don't still care for me after birthing our child. Tell me after everything that happened between us you don't still feel the same way."

Kaoru made the mistake of looking into those violet orbs that seemed to bore through her. Her breath caught in her chest again as she began wringing her hands in her lap. "I . . . I can't." The last word was barely a whisper but she knew that he heard her.

"Then marry me. Today. Right now. Just like we planned five years ago."

"But, Kenji . . ." Kaoru said, looking to her son asleep in the backseat.

"Would you prefer I asked his permission? Either way, I won't be deterred." Kaoru nodded. "Very well, we need to wake him to take him inside anyway."

Kenshin unbuckled his seat belt and exited the car. He moved to the back door and got in the backseat with his son. After shutting the door behind him he pulled Kenji into his lap and began softly calling his name to rouse the young boy.

Kenji's heavy eyes fluttered open and focused on the man holding him. "Daddy?"

"It's me, Kenji."

"You didn't leave?"

"No." There was pause as Kenji yawned and stretched. "Kenji, I have a question to ask you, okay?"

"Okay."

"Is it alright if I marry your mom?" Kenji just looked at him with a confused expression and Kenshin tried to put it in terms the boy could understand. "Your mom and I knew each other a long time ago and haven't seen each other in five years. I still love your mom as much as I did then and I want you and your mom to come live with me. Would you like that?"

Kenji smiled widely and threw his arms around his father. "So you'll play with me every day?"

Kenshin chuckled. "Every day."

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, Kenji," Kenshin said as he tightened his arms around the small boy that resembled him so much and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

Kenji looked up to his father. "You still love Momma?"

"Yes."

The boy looked to his mother in the front seat. "Do you love Daddy, Momma?"

"Yes, Kenji, I do." Kenshin saw the defeated look on her face as she answered him.

"Then let's go to Daddy's house!"

Kenshin chuckled again. "We can't go just yet."

Kenji crossed his arms and stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. He couldn't understand why the grown-ups wanted to ruin his fun. "But you said I could."

"Your mom and I are going to go into this building and get married first. Then we'll go by your grandpa's house and get your toys so we can move them to my house, okay? How does that sound?"

Kenji just smiled, oblivious to the pain his parents were experiencing as the trio walked up the steps to the large building to secure their future together.

I don't know if I'll continue this or not, at this point I could leave it as a one-shot. Depends on how many reviews I get. Flame if you must.