rurouni kenshin drabble
kenshin/kaoru
it is summer for kaoru, once again

note : based on the OVA that broke my heart, and seriously, i don't own rurouni kenshin (333 words)

Waiting

It was just another ordinary summer evening. The sun was slowly slipping past the horizon and the night was slowly coming to life. Even as darkness crept over the landscape, the fireflies provided enough light to illuminate the path leading to home.

Koaru shifted her equipment more comfortably against her back and continued on her way to the dojo that she had called her own almost all her life. Even after her husband had left to seek redemption and their son had gone off to seek power, the dojo was still hers.

And almost all that she had left of the bright dreams that she once wished for as a youth.

But she was no longer young and those dreams were long lost. But in that integral part of her soul that had never let go of them, hope still stings her heart, that one day they might find their way back to her. That they might one day, be a family once again, free of the shadows of the past that clouds all of their hearts.

Stopping just before reaching the gates to her home, Koaru turned to look out over the river and found her feet straying from the path. She held out her hand to a firefly that meandered on a complicated pattern in front of her before finally, finally, settling delicately onto her offered fingers.

She smiled sadly, as her eyes seemed to focus, not on the firefly in her grasp, but on something far away that only she can see in her mind's eye. Unbidden, a tear slowly trailed down her cheek and she gave a small, weary sigh.

It was summer and she realised that she had found herself walking on the same path by the river once again. And as always, she had been waiting for them to walk up that path. Only they had not come home today, and probably not any time soon.

But then, if she must, Kaoru knew she would wait forever.

end

i admit i cried when i watched the reflection OVA, but hey, it was just so bloody sad! you'ld cry too, seriously. if not, then you really have no heart.