A/N: I'm not sure where this came from. Review? Please? I'm begging you here. (No, I really am begging you.) Review :)
"Kenshin."
It hurts, hearing his name spoken. The fact that he can still hear hurts, reminding him that he survived and she didn't.
"Yes," he says.
He speaks as if he has just learned how, or more accurately, relearned.
"Kenshin, we need you."
Need is a funny little thing, really. You think have everything you need, and suddenly with one strike of a sword, it's all gone.
"Yes," he repeats.
He isn't capable of speaking more than a few words at a time. She is still there, in his mind.
Anata…
The voice is distant, but Kenshin jumps.
The other men tense, knowing that he could kill them all without batting an eyelash.
"I will be back," he informs them, getting up.
A grim flash of his eyes warns them. They don't try to stop him, not because they know they can't, but rather because they know they shouldn't.
"Why, Tomoe?" he sighs.
As he finally speaks her name, some distorted mixture of relief and regret washes over him. He's finally taken a step forward, but his heart screams that he's going backwards.
"Why are you making me suffer like this?" he asks.
Deep down, he knows she cannot answer. Even if she could, he already knows the answer.
To suffer is to be alive.
