Newton's Third Law of Motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton's Third Law of Motion
It is as dark and disturbing as a bloodstain on a bathhouse wall, and just as beautiful. The clean and smooth slash through the body, and though the wielder struggles ever so slightly, the sword sings in all its glory. Such a sight would have captivated the witness at once, but she remains unfazed. She feels a regret as unreachable as the bed of the ocean, while her heart is impenetrable as the waters.
She shows little, but ever since her fiancé's death, the shock of emotions has increased ten-fold. But so has her sense of duty. She knows what she needs to do, and weeping has no place her scheme.
Maybe it is because of the alcohol, or the bright moon overhead, but for sixty seconds, her resolve is shaken.
She sees the boy regain his breath while standing over the body, his thoughts hidden from her. And yet, they are not. She can see his heart. He is young. He has killed many. He has his sense of duty as well, clear in his mind as hers is. But his resolve is weakening as well. She wonders if he thinks about his victims. She wonders if he regrets.
But she knows that his victims were fiancés. They were husbands, brothers, and sons. She knows that there are others like her, mourning over a loss. For sixty seconds, she wonders if what she is doing is what should be done.
He is turning toward her, and suddenly, sixty seconds feel like an hour.
Did he take her happiness away from her? No. Her foolishness did. But she couldn't find it in her tortuous heart to blame herself for her fiancé's death. What kind of woman causes her own fiancé's death? She loved him, loves him still.
But it is all her fault. He left Edo for the suffocating city of Kyoto, he picked up a sword, he died, and all while thinking his love went unrequited. This boy, this stupid, foolish boy, was only doing his job.
These sad days can belong only to War.
For sixty seconds turned into one excruciatingly long hour, she wants it all to end. She wants War gone, Hitokiri Battousai gone, the Ishinshishi gone, and the damned city of Kyoto gone. She wants it all gone, disappeared into the breath of yesterday.
She wants it to end, cease, desist, stop. She wants to stop this boy so War's days will end, so no other sorry soul will have to feel what she's feeling. She wants to stop this boy so she can leave Kyoto and never look back.
But she feels her fiancé's eyes on her. Those dead eyes that stare at her, reminding her of how alone she is. And she wants to disappear too.
Then the long hour is over, the sixty seconds turned into sixty-one seconds. Maybe it was the alcohol, or the bright moon overhead, but she has forgotten her regret, her hesitation, and feels only her resolve.
She wants revenge and death, nothing else.
Author's Note: I know I should be working on "Perception", but chaptered fics are a lot more difficult than I planned for. This little piece just popped into my head, and so many of the lines came so naturally, I had to write it. I hope the line breaks are working, but I won't count on them.
As always, please review. Constructive criticism is welcome!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.