This is my first Rurouni Kenshin fanfic ^.^ It is based more on the anime, since I have not read the part in the magna about Enishi yet. However, I have watched Trust and Betrayal, so I am familiar with Tomoe.

Thick mist crept along the streets of Tokyo, gathering underneath the doorways and entrances of homes and shops. It was not yet light, but the moon had disappeared all but a wisp and the sky was a soft shade of gray. The city was in a state of slumber; even the pigeons were still resting in the gingko trees and the crickets just wakening for song. The Meiji Era had finally begun to sink its roots deep into Japanese soil and peaceful mornings like this one were no oddity to the townspeople. Even the ever-lively Dojo at the end of the street was silent. All the inhabitants were sleeping off a long day of work, fun work, but no less tiring work. Well, not all…

Himura Kenshin pulled himself up into sitting position, staring at the shadowy blankets. He blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. He alone was awake, not that he minded. He was used to it by now. After years of near-insomnia, Kenshin naturally was an early riser. But as he turned his head around to take in the dark surroundings of the room, he almost wished he could be like the others and enjoy this moment of serenity.

Almost.

Sometimes, the red-haired swordsman felt strange living in a world without the agony and pain he had known during the revolution as a hitiroki. Nobody at the Dojo knew how he used to sleep against a windowsill, upright with his katana at hand's reach in fears letting down his guard. They knew his past in summary, but the former Battousai had decided to omit the details.

He was a happy man, a lucky man. Happy to have asked Kaoru-dono's hand in marriage, lucky to have her accept, because after all, with a man came his past. Two years ago when he had met Kaoru-dono for the first time, she told him that she didn't care about his past.

Kenshin knew the truth. The past was a body he could bury, yet the bones would always be there. It haunted him, that it did, all the way down to his early rising habits.

Soundlessly, he changed into his old kimono, folded the blankets, and rolled up the futon. From the feel of the air and the dim blue light filtering through the shogi doors, Kenshin predicted a clear day. Carefully, he pushed the doors apart, inhaling the cool breeze. It was definitely a good morning, and the best way to start a good morning was by taking down the laundry.

Kamiya Kaoru woke to the notes of bird song in her ears. The outline of the sun glared in the cloudless sky. She yawned and stretched her arms, wincing from the movement. Carrying seventy pounds of rice from the market and back had its side effects. Yahiko had insisted on helping, but she couldn't let her reputation go foul. What would people say if she, the twenty year-old, let a little kid like him do the work for her? Instead, she had given him the task of holding the tofu. Now, as she changed out of her sleeping clothes, she wondered if her pride was worth sore muscles.

"Kaoru! Kaoru, you lazy pig, get up already!" She dropped her scarf in surprise from the ruckus that was going on outside her door.

"Yahiko, you should know better than to annoy somebody when they have just gotten up, especially a lady! Now if you give me a second, maybe I'll come out." The young Dojo master grumbled as she yanked a comb through her hair, pulling out a few strands of black.

"But you promised that we could train early today. Ladies don't go back on their words, but then again, I wouldn't put it past you, you big, fat, ugly liar!"

"I dare you to repeat that," Kaoru grumbled underneath her breath, then shrugged and smiled to herself. Well, at least he's willing to work hard, and he's got spirit. She tied her hair in its customary ponytail and slipped on a loose-fitting kimono.

The boy leaned against the rice-paper doors and blew his bangs away from his eyes. He was probably going to have to wait for a long time for the tanuki to get dressed, and then he'd have to hear the usual repercussions for being so loud in the morning. So when the sliding doors opened with a bang, he almost fell backwards.

"Good morning, Yahiko." He gave her cheerful face a long look. Kaoru ruffled his hair all in good nature. "Let's go."

"You certainly were fast this morning," he observed as they walked through the courtyard. "And I thought you said you weren't a morning person."

She put a finger to her chin. "It's too pretty of a day to be grouchy." They waved to the doctor.

"You mean," Yahiko corrected impishly, "you are so happy because Kenshin asked you to marry him last night."

"How—"

"Hey, you're not the only one who lives in this Dojo!" The young lady flushed red. "But I'm sure that no else knows except for maybe Sano…and Megumi."

"No one else knows? That's basically everybody!" Having somewhat leveled her plum complexion, Kaoru smacked the boy's dark head. I guess it's not a bad thing, but I was hoping for some time to dwell on this concept of marriage just by myself.

The training room was light enough for a proper fight. Each picked up a wooden sword and readied their stances. Yahiko lunged first.

"Boy, I was beginning to think that you were as bad as Sano when it came to getting out of bed." He grunted as he swept a blow at her knees. She sidestepped. "It's good that you're finally rising earlier. Soon, with Kenshin being your husband, you'll have to get up even earlier. He's a maniac, in a good way of course. When I went to the well for a drink at six today, guess what I saw?"

"What?" The Dojo master twisted her torso around and the swords connected with a loud crack.

"All the laundry taken down, and more laundry pinned up! You would think he doesn't sleep."

"Don't be silly, of course Kenshin sleeps. Even a swordsman as great as him needs rest" But as Kaoru prepared to fend off a blow, a heavy weight plummeted from her throat to her stomach.

Boy, I was beginning to think that you were as bad as Sano when it came to getting out of bed…all the laundry taken down, and more laundry pinned up!

"Concentrate, Kaoru, concentrate…" She muttered to herself, but her words did not fend off her growing worries.

I know that a normal wife's duty is to cook and clean, but Kenshin's always had no trouble getting it done by himself, in fact I think he enjoys it. Then again, I can't cook anything decent and I'm bad at washing clothes and doing all that household wife work, so maybe I'm just saying that so I can avoid those jobs. Maybe Yahiko's right, maybe I am as bad as Sanosuke. A good wife should be able to do all of that, but I…I can't.

"Kaoru! Pick up your guard!"

The next thing she knew, she fell onto her knees. It took a second for the impact to catch up to her.

"Geez, what's wrong with you?" She declined the hand the boy offered and dusted off her legs as she stood. "You are kinda out of it today, aren't you?"

Sunlight spilled through the opening in the door, blinding her vision of the outside. "Yeah, I guess I am." She brushed her bangs away from her eyes.

"Nice and clean." He closed his eyes and smiled, snapping out the dripping shirt in testament of his statement.

"Nice and clean!" The two sisters repeated, clapping their hands.

She watched from the doorway, saw how the autumn fire glanced off his red hair, washing certain areas in gold. The thirty-year old certainly didn't look his age, but years were years nonetheless.

People met people in years.

What was her name again?

"Kaoru-dono." He smiled softly, his round violet eyes slimming with the expression. A few droplets of water broke from the surface of the full bucket and fell to the ground. Kenshin set the bucket down and wiped his hands on his kimono while watching her normally defined features blur with…doubt?

Surely it wasn't doubt, but he knew that feeling all too well that he could pick it up anywhere. Running the finances of a Dojo all by herself didn't allow the Kaoru-dono to show much weakness, but Kenshin knew doubt like the back of his hand.

He had doubted himself, his right to exist, his path of redemption before. But then, he found people around him to protect, people whom he cared for and who cared for him. Sanosuke, Yahiko, Megumi-dono, Doctor Genzai and his children, and…Kaoru-dono. There was no reason for him to feel doubt now.

"Are you okay, Kaoru-dono? You've been awfully quiet, it's not like you." He put a hand over hers. In response, she lowered her eyes.

"Kenshin…"

As a master of the Hiten Misurugi style, Kenshin had learned to read the emotions and thoughts of other people during battle. However, he found at times that reading Kaoru-dono could be as difficult as reading a rock.

"Kaoru-dono," he ventured, "I know you said 'yes', but please understand that it wouldn't hurt my feelings if you needed more time to this it over. It's a big decision, for both of us—it should not be taken lightly, that it shouldn't."

"What are you talking about, Kenshin? Are you lecturing me? I know how to make my own decisions, thank you very much." Her eyes flashed in the dusk.

Well, I've said the wrong thing.

"I-I didn't mean to snap, I just…I don't know." She finished, her free hand twisting the fabric of her kimono.

"Kaoru, you can ask or tell me anything,"

"Are you sure?" He found himself lost in the blueness of her irises, the highlights glimmering like moonlight on water.

"Of course." He smiled reassuringly.

"I know you don't tend to talk about your past, but." Blue searched violet. "Can you tell me her name once more?"

He wasn't the kind to ask her why or to worry over her. Instead, he merely gained a gentle look of understanding in his eyes.

"Yukishiro Tomoe."

"Yukishiro Tomoe…" She repeated in a whisper, feeling the name roll off her tongue.

It was foreign, a bone in her fish, a bitter medicine ball. It did not belong in her mouth, and Kaoru twisted her head away in confusion.

The name of a woman she had never met, but that woman had played a part in making the Kenshin before her right now. So why couldn't she feel closer to this dead person, if she was so close to him that she could reach out a hand and touch his hair if she wanted to?

"Do you…remember what she liked to do?"

He closed his eyes, reminiscing a memory. When he opened them, they looked a little sad.

"Flower arranging."

The rays of light shattered the continuous horizon before slipping underneath.

It had been a busy day at the medicine clinic in town. The streets emptied of people just as a certain woman began to make her way home. Long shadows stretched from where the street walls meet the earth to the center of the pavement. Takani Megumi reminded herself to leave earlier next time. Though the Era was relatively peaceful, crimes and scandals still occurred during the dark hours.

"Megumi-dono."

Her shrewd eyes narrowed until she registered the voice of the being and the –dono attached to her name. A burgundy colored sleeve emerged into the light, followed by the rest of his body.

"Sir Ken! I didn't expect to bump into you. What brings you here?"

He smiled sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair. "I would have to ask myself that. Kaoru-dono ordered me to take a break to get out a bit."

"Ah, I see." The fox lady's eyebrows arched slightly.

"Huh?"

"Your wife to-be is quite caring towards you and your health." Megumi tilted her head to the side and laughed as surprise flitted across his face. "I would have congratulated you sooner, Himura Kenshin, but my work schedule didn't allow it." Her grin turned into a frown. "Well, I suppose Kaoru will be cooking dinner tonight?"

"Yes." He recovered from the initial shock and matched his pace with the other. "You don't look very happy about that, Megumi-dono, that you don't."

"Pah, I can't say that love distorts one's evaluation of food since you tolerated Kaoru's cooking from day one."

He was silent as they approached the Dojo. "Thirty years is long enough time to have eaten worse."

Only when the last lantern had been blown out did she retire.

Sleep would not come.

The absence of sound and light made it possible for all sorts of inner turmoil to flood into Kaoru's head. What had started as a bright day had ended without a definite conclusion to her unease. The ground felt hard and she rolled onto her side.

His first wife, Yukishiro Tomoe, probably could do things that I cannot as second nature. Cook, clean, wash, even arrange flowers. And all the while, providing the love that Kenshin needed during his darkest years as the Battousai.

She could play the convincing role of a lover and a wife. And I myself, Kamiya Kaoru, can only be compared to who he knew first, and what a sad comparison I am.

But nobody should ever give in without a good fight. I did not inherit the family name "Kamiya" for nothing.

"Tomorrow." She curled a fist around the blankets. "Tomorrow I will put my whole heart into becoming the best wife for Kenshin."

"Tomorrow." He stared at the wooden beams that held up the roof above his head. He closed his eyes. "Tomorrow will be another nice day, that I am sure of."

Outside, the crickets cooed the autumn night to sleep.

Thank you for reading, I love all feedback and criticism ^.^ I know this first chapter came across pretty serious, but I intend for most of the story to have a humorous tone. I plan for this fic to range from about 4-5 chapters, so it will be short and sweet, but hopefully deep enough ^.^

Please review, thank you!