Disclaimer: The day pigs fly is the day I'm going to own Rurouni Kenshin. The odds are near to zero.

Thanks to Isabel, Midori-san and Kathie for pre-reading this. =^x^=
For Lupe.

~~Alone At Last~~

By: Hana Himura

Kenshin and Kaoru sat in front of each other, having dinner. Sano had just left the country and Yahiko had moved to his apartment. Kaoru chewed the food, like something was definitely wrong with it.

"Aren't you enjoying the meal, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked, worried. That would be the first time she didn't like his food.

"The food is fine, Kenshin."

"Is anything wrong?" Kenshin insisted.

"No..."

How could Kaoru tell him what was on her mind that instant? The food was perfectly fine, nothing was really wrong... But yet... Something was bothering her. And it had been dinner, just like it had been lunch that same day. They ate both meals in silence. Maybe that was what was wrong...

She used to see Kenshin as the glue that held that little family together, someone she couldn't or wouldn't want to live without. Sure, they were somewhat close, but now only that wasn't enough... They were alone at the house. What she worried the most was the fact that maybe they had nothing to talk about. Then Kenshin would eventually get tired of her company and leave.

Kenshin kept chewing his dinner, now worried about Kaoru's strange mood. Unexpectedly, Kaoru picked the water jar and poured some water on Kenshin's glass. He just stared at her for a long time...

"What?" Kaoru asked, feeling unease by his stare.

Kenshin smiled slightly.

"I like very much to be here with you, Kaoru-dono. What I like the most is that you know what I need even before I ask. Without words."

Maybe words were not necessary between them, but still...

"It bothers me."

"What?" Kenshin stared at her again.

"Maybe we have nothing to talk about."

"We have plenty of things to talk about, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin said, putting away his food for good.

"Like?"

"We can talk about... We can talk about..." Kenshin said, trying to think. 'Kami-sama this is hard! Why can't I just think of something that we can talk about?'

"See... You don't know it either." Kaoru said, sighing sadly. "Sano, Yahiko and Megumi are not around anymore for us to talk about them. Well, maybe we could talk about Yahiko, after all, he'll be coming here almost everyday."

"But why would we be talking about Yahiko?"

"My thoughts exactly. We simply have nothing to talk about when our friends are not around." Kaoru said.

"We can talk about laundry." Kenshin said. Kaoru looked at him like he had just said he had seen a man fly.

"No?" Kenshin asked. How could he possibly tell her that what he longed the most to talk about were their relationship? But he just couldn't let himself bring the subject up. They both had been through a lot and he still feared that the past would come back to haunt him once again.

"Excuse me." Kaoru said, getting up and leaving the room. She went to sit at the dojo's porch.

Kenshin followed her. He didn't want her to feel that way, but what was he to do? He wasn't smart enough to say beautiful things to her. Something he could talk about was kenjutsu, but that hardly was good subject for conversation.

"May sessha sit down?" He asked her.

"Hai."

Kenshin sat by her side. She was really beautiful under the moonlight.

"Kirei." Kenshin said, under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"The night sky... Is very pretty, ne?" Kenshin answered. 'Not as pretty as Kaoru, though.'

"Hai. It's pretty." Kaoru smiled briefly.

"I've been thinking for some time now, Kaoru... Maybe I should leave."

"Eh? What? You can't leave!" Kaoru blurted.

"Not really leave... Sessha was thinking of borrowing Sano's appartment and let Yahiko back into the dojo..."

"Why would you do that?"

"See... It's not proper for sessha to stay here, alone with Kaoru-dono, if we are not married and all..."

"No! You can't leave me!"

"If Kaoru-dono doesn't want sessha to leave... We should get married."

"Do you? Do you want to leave?"

"No. Sessha wants to be here forever."

"Hm... Okay."

"Okay?"

"Hai. Let's get married, then. But Kenshin... Are we getting married just because we don't have something to talk about?"

"Of course not, Kaoru-dono. We are getting married because we want to live here together forever."

"But Kenshin..."

"We don't have to be intimate if you don't want to, Kaoru-dono." His face was the reflex of innocence.

"Oh."

Kenshin was pleased. At least if they got married, he would have his entire lifetime to tell her that he loved her, without being rushed by anything.

"But I'm still worried, Kenshin." Kaoru said, after some moments.

"About what, Kaoru-dono?"

"We have nothing to talk about. What should we do for pastime?"

"We could... We could... Do laundry?"

"No."

"Clean the dojo?"

"No. We could spar!"

"No, Kaoru-dono! I can't raise a sword against you!"

"What should we do then? Kiss?" Kaoru mocked.

"Sessha doesn't have real objection about this. Kaoru-dono couldn't get hurt..."

"So, when we get bored we should kiss. When are we getting married?"

"What about two months from today?"

"That can be good. I mean... We have a marriage to arrange and I certainly want to invite our friends from Kyoto. And we should invite Hiko-san."

"Why?"

"He raised you! You must invite him!"

"Fine."

"So, we already talked about the marriage. What will we do now?"

"Is Kaoru-dono bored?"

"Yes, I am."

Kenshin leaned over and kissed her. Kaoru looked at him with her eyes wide open.

"Sessha is sorry for taking Kaoru-dono by surprise... It's just that Kaoru-dono said that whenever we were bored we should kiss... Kaoru-dono said she was bored... Sessha was feeling a bit bored too..."

"Kenshin... It's okay. I remember what I said. Actually, we have something else to talk about. 'Sessha' and 'dono'."

"Huh?"

"I hate when you use those words."

"Really?"

"Hai. They sound way too polite. I can't have a husband calling me 'dono' all the time."

"How would you like me to call you?"

"Kaoru, Kaoru-chan..." 'Koibito... Koishii. The last one is the best one.'

"I'll call you Kaoru. Can I ask you to call me something else too?"

"Hai. It's fair enough." 'How would you like me to call you? Kenshin-anata?'

"Please call me Himura-san, or Kenshin-sama."

"WHAT?"

"I was joking. I don't care what you call me... As long as you call me from time to time."

"What if I call to do things for me?"

"I don't mind. I love doing things for you, Kaoru-do--. Kaoru."

"Really? Why?"

"It makes you happy."

"Are you that concerned over my happiness?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

"Because I like you, Kaoru. I'm happy when you are happy. That's what happen when you love someone."

"You love me?"

"Of course. Do you love me too?"

Kenshin sounded like he was talking about a different kind of love.

"I love you."

"That's good. We are going to get married, after all."

Silence.

"Kenshin?"

"Nani?"

"Do you mean it? You love me?"

"Hai. Did you mean it?"

"I wouldn't lie about that."

"Good."

"Good."

"Kaoru?"

"Nani?"

"Actually, I didn't told you all the truth when I said that I loved you. I do love you, but... I'm in love with you too."

"Honto?"

"Hai. Sessha loves you, de gozaru. Sessha is in love with you, Kaoru-dono. I'm very happy that you said you'll be my wife. But still... We don't have to be intimate if you don't want to."

Kaoru rested her head on his shoulder.

"Kenshin?"

"Nani, koishii?"

"I was thinking... What if we start kissing... And we get bored of it?"

"Oro! Then I guess we'll have to be intimate, de gozaru!"

Kaoru kissed Kenshin. They kissed for a while, before Kaoru pulled away and asked, breathless:

"Are you bored yet?"

OWARI

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Let me know what you think... And please no flames. English is not my first language, so I'm expected to make a lot of mistakes. =^x^=