Author's Note: I'm posting all my "moonlight" drabbles as a collection. They (currently) all form a series and give glimpses into a storyline. This will not be a full story, as I don't really have a plot or storyline in mind. Many of these are inspired by drabble challenge prompts. This one is from is #3 Moonlight Walks, from The Romance Themes List Drabble Challenge by Sailor Draco.

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, I make no money off this work, etc. Characters of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

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Kaoru turned off the car and cursed. She was well and truly stuck in the ditch. The unfamiliar winding road plus the sudden appearance of a deer in her headlights had sent her swerving off the gravel and into the mud. The thick mud, no doubt from the heavy spring rains, combined with the sloped embankment made it impossible for her to drive her car back onto the road. And she wasn't about to try pushing it out alone, at night, in who knew how deep of mud.

During the day this would not have been to difficult of problem. Though the road through the nature preserve was not heavily travel, she figured she was only a mile or so from her destination, if Sano's directions were correct. She should have no trouble walking to his friend Kenshin's cabin where everyone was staying. The was even a nature trail along the other side of the road that apparently went right by the house.

Except it was night. Walking alone through a nature preserve at night was not something Kaoru was looking forward to. Granted, there was a full moon tonight so at least she would have some light. But still the idea gave her the creeps.

Had she been in the city, she would have been more comfortable. She knew how to defend herself, assess potential muggers, and had a highly developed street sense. But this was the wilderness as far as she was concerned. Muggers she could handle. Wolves? Bears? She wasn't so sure. Plus in the city her cell phone would have worked and she would just have waited for AAA. But here her coverage was spotty.

She sighed, zipped up her coat, grabbed her duffle bag and exited the car. She wasn't getting indoors any faster sitting there. Walking briskly down the path she tried to force herself to relax. She normally liked to appreciate nature, but the possibility of indigenous wildlife had her a bit freaked out. The paper had said something about wolves returning to this area, hadn't it….

Shaking her head she tried to repress the memory of the howl she had heard earlier that evening. 'Focus' she told herself. 'Kenshin lives around here, and wolves don't like to come that close to human habitats, right? Just enjoy the moonlight on the trees, the breeze rustling the branches…'

Kaoru stopped. There wasn't that much of a breeze tonight to make loud of noise. It sounded like an animal in the underbrush. Kaoru started walking again, at a pace just short of a run. 'Don't run. Don't run. Running attracts predators. Don't run.' She tried to calm herself. The rustling noise seem to have run ahead of her and faded into the night.

'It was probably just a rabbit. Not something large, like what ever that deer was running from. Not a wolf. Definitely not a werewolf. Even if there is a full moon tonight.'

Kaoru reigned in her imagination. Wolves were fine. Werewolves belonged strictly between the covers of her paranormal romance novels. One of which was currently tucked in her duffle bag, waiting to be finished. While Sano's get-together this week should be fun, she was definitely planning on spending some of her vacation curled up by a fire reading a book. A rather racy book by preference, given her lack of boyfriend to satisfy that aspect of her life.

Kaoru slowed her pace as her heart rate returned to almost normal. The nature sounds seemed… natural, as far as she could tell. Brushing aside her earlier scare as an over active imagination combined with stress from a long week of work, Kaoru began to relax and enjoy the way the moonlight played over the path.

When she briefly saw golden eyes reflected in the moonlight, however, she screamed. A few quick footsteps brought a redhead young man into her sight.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked looking at her with concerned violet eyes.

Kaoru yelped and placed a hand on her heart. A faint blush spread over her cheeks. "You just scared me. I thought for a second that…." She shook her head brushing away the stray thought.

He smiled and approached. She eyed him warily, as he held out his hand. Who would be out here at this time of night?

"I'm Kenshin," he said, causing her to relax. "And you are?.."

"Kaoru, Sano's friend." She shook his hand.

"Ah. Great to see you. We were expecting you earlier tonight. And by road."

"Sorry. Work ran late. And my car is in the ditch a ways back. I swerved to avoid a deer and it landed me in the mud."

"Well let's get you settled in. I'll walk you back to the house." He reached over and took her bag. "The preserve is relatively safe, but I'm happy to exchange my nightly run for a moonlit walk with a lovely girl. Wouldn't want the wildlife to scare you." His eyes twinkled.

Kaoru nodded, grateful for his offer but irritated all the same. True, she had been frightened earlier, but she was perfectly capable of carrying her own bag. And it hadn't been that scary, now that she knew it wasn't wolves. It hadn't been wolves, right?

"Are there any wolves around here? I thought I heard one earlier tonight," she asked.

Kenshin cocked his head at her, with an amused smile tugging at his lips. "There's one wolf that lives around here. But I'd say you aren't in any danger from him. He seems to like you. Perhaps you'll get to see him if you're really good." He smiled wide. Moonlight shone off his incisors and gave his eyes a golden hue.

Before Kaoru could respond, he took her elbow. "Here's the cabin turn off. I look forward to spending the week with you. We shall have to take another moonlit walk together."

Sano swarming out the house to scope her up in a hug ended that conversation. But as she lay in bed that night she wondered what exactly Kenshin meant by those comments.