Disclaimer: Watsuki-sensei is the king. Sony, Shueisha, Media Blasters, ADV, Fuji TV and Viz are the nobles. I'm just a little peon. I thank Watsuki-sensei for this opportunity. I write for the love, not for the money.

August, 1878
Kamiya Dojo

A figure appeared in the thick, undulating grayness.

"I bear you no personal grudge, but for the sake of my revenge, I'll sacrifice you here," said Enishi as he loomed over Kaoru.

Kaoru grasped her bokken in fighting stance. Looking at the tall, muscular man looming over her with his sharp watou, she knew she couldn't beat this guy, but she couldn't just give up.

"No matter what you do, Battousai won't come. If we fight, the result is obvious," said Enishi as he pointed disdainfully at Kaoru's bokken. "If you cooperate, I'll finish this quickly."

"I know I can't win, but I can't just give up either! Kenshin said, 'No matter how hard it is, this worthless one will fight to the end to protect everyone'. So he'll come just like he always does. As long as Kenshin doesn't give up, neither will I," said Kaoru, glaring with determination.

Enishi's eyes narrowed in annoyance at this girl's defiance.

"That so?" he said.

Before Kaoru could blink, Enishi had disappeared from in front of her.

"Then it can't be helped," he said as he grabbed Kaoru from behind, putting his hand over her mouth.

'Ken...'

A sweet, stifling aroma.

"Give up!"

'...shin...'

Blackness.

Kaoru's bokken clattered uselessly to the floor as she went limp in Enishi's grasp.

"ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGH!" Kenshin cried as he struggled against Kujiranami's powerful grasp.

"BATTOUSAI!"

Kenshin was finally able to move his arms and grasp Whale Mouth's giant fingers. Adrenaline borne of fear and rage coursing through his veins, he started pushing against Kujiranami's grasp.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

"BATTOUSAI!" roared Whale Mouth, pulling back his right arm to smash into Kenshin.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" called Sano as he came charging in.

Sano landed a punch on Whale Mouth's right pectoral, followed immediately by Saitou, who struck him in the left pectoral with a Gatotsu.

Whale Mouth's giant body shuddered under the combined effects of the attacks. Blood spurted from his mouth, his legs buckled and he collapsed, losing his grip on Kenshin.

"Hmph," was Saitou's friendly response.

"Kenshin, the white haired bastard's..." said Sano.

Kenshin had already picked up the Sakabatou and was now dashing toward the dojo, without a word to either of them.

Nothing mattered but one thing: reaching Kaoru-dono before Enishi was able to do whatever horrible thing he wanted to do to her to get his revenge. Despite the blood loss, despite the pain, Kenshin ran as fast as he could, Kaoru's smiling face spurring him on. He had to get there, had to save her.

'Kaoru-dono!'

As he ran into the swirling gray smoke, he faintly registered Megumi-dono's voice calling after him, but didn't slow down in the least. Nothing would deter him from reaching her.

'Kaoru-dono!'

Intermingling with the thick smoke, the smell of white plum blossoms suddenly assaulted Kenshin's senses, triggering a visceral nausea. He skidded to a dead stop.

'This scent, it's...'

A shadowed figure emerged from the smoke.

"White plum. To me, it's my sister's scent. To you, it's probably..."

The feeling of his katana slicing Tomoe's body in half played back in Kenshin's mind as if it had just happened moments ago.

"ENISHI! WHAT DID YOU DO TO KAORU-DONO?!" Kenshin cried in desperation.

Enishi grinned maliciously.

"This scent is a trail. Follow it carefully," he instructed. "The 'answer' you've been searching for is there."

Kenshin began running again, adrenaline born of desperation coursing through his veins, speeding him along.

'Kaoru-dono!'

"Take a good look..."

'Kaoru-dono!'

"Mourn, scream, regret, then cry yourself to death."

'KAORU-DONO!'

At that moment, Kenshin had a revelation. In the sudden stab of grief that pierced his heart to the quick, he realized what Kaoru had come to mean to him. He would have admitted that he liked Kaoru - even that he was very fond of Kaoru. But now he knew as he dropped the Sakabatou and crumpled to his knees... that Kaoru had been dearer to him than anything in the world.

"Hiten Mitsurugi is worthless. Himura Kenshin is worthless. Once again I couldn't protect the woman I loved. Kaoru-dono. Kaoru..." Kenshin sobbed brokenly, his mind and senses shutting down.

Megumi and Sano came running up behind Kenshin, but skidded to a halt behind the tear-blinded little rurouni. Their jaws dropped and their eyes filled with horror at the grisly tableau laid out before them.

Kaoru's blue eyes gazed lifelessly forward as blood ran in rivulets down her face from her mouth and a horrid a cruciform scar etched into her left cheek, Enishi's Watou staked through her heart, pinning her body securely to the dojo wall.

There would be no comfort for any of them.

~Owari~