Waiting for a lost hope
It had been a late night. Kauro stayed awake in her bed. She had been waiting for him again, waiting for him day and night. Megumi had given her pills to settle her nerves, but they didn't seem to be helping. She would just sit up in her bed and look up at the night sky. The door to her dojo that led to the outside would always be left open for him.
It had been years since he had left. Left her here, alone again, just like before. She knew he would come back, because he promised this time. It didn't matter to her that 6 years had already passed. All she wanted was to do was wait.
People said that he was dead. That he died in the war, but she shielded her ears to such talk. No matter how hard she tried to cover her ears she would always hear someone say how the "great man slayer" was dead. It was even put in the newspaper. When she had seen it she threw it into the fire in the kitchen. Yahiko only stared at her with a strange look and then continued with his business.
Not only that, but the others had tried to convince her to move on! Megumi, on a couple of occasions had tried to force her out of her own bed! It ended up with the police being called, only leaving when Yahiko explained that there had been a mistake.
Sanosuke had even tried to talk to her about Kenshin being gone. This effort was pointless since it ended up with her throwing random objects at him. Eventually they all gave up trying to convince her to give up on Kenshin. The one man she could never give up, never.
"He promised he'd be back...and he will..." she mumbled under her breath occasionally.
Days passed and so did the seasons. Spring bloomed and summer blazed, then the leaves fell and the snow came. The world seemed to be passing by, leaving her in its wake. Had Kenshin really left her?
She started to beat her hands against her skull for the thought. Never would she stop believing he was alive...ever. All those times together...the warmth she would feel when around him...the feeling of him inside her. He can't be gone.
That day she decided to walk to the docks. Dressing in her kimono, she made her way out of the house. It was a spring and the flowers were starting to bloom. She stopped keeping track of days years ago, so she couldn't say what the date was at all.
Her worn out sandals stepped into the mud road as she made her way to the docks; just like every other day before. Today she hoped to see him this time...She didn't want to go home broken hearted again...
She stood at the end of the wooden dock and waited. Her long hair waved into the wind. She had put her hair up into a pony tail, just how she used to wear it when she was younger.
Standing tall she took the blow of the strong ocean wind. Never once did she flinch. She stood tall and looked ahead with a strong stare with the look of determination in her eyes.
Once has she faltered. She looked down into the water in front of her. She could see her reflection in the water; smiling at herself, she waved. After awhile of waving to her reflection, she noticed something... It was no longer her reflection in the water; but Kenshin... He held out his hand to her...
All the memories for the past year flooded her mind...
"I heard he was stabbed to death and put on display!"
"That's terrible"
"That isn't the half of it, I also heard that he was tortured..."
Kauro's eyes began to flood with tears as she remembered all those cruel words spoken. How she would reject them every time; and then never speak of it again. Then at night she would cry herself to sleep. She couldn't take it anymore... The agony... The pain...
The ocean water never felt so pleasant...