IN PREVIOUS CHAPTER "ALLIANCE": For two years Aoshi Shinomori has been searching all over Japan for Misao Makimachi who has been kidnapped. When he reached Tokyo, an alliance was formed between himself, Kenshin Himura, Hajime Saito, and Sanosuke Sagara in nodded to find Misao. They went back to Kyoto for more clues. They all are now headed to the location based on the information they gathered from Japanese police force.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A WARRIOR'S DESTINY…

A LONG JOURNEY OF LOVE…

Chapter TWO…

BEHIND THE WALLS…

As Kenshin, Aoshi & Sanosuke followed Saito they reached in front of a very huge castle in the far mountains of Kyoto. The castle was dark and gloomy in its atmosphere and there were four guards, guarding the huge gate with larger walls. Sanosuke alone brought all the four of them down clearing the way for the others. He looked up to the gate and the walls which seemed to meet the sky and said, "You mean she was always so close by to her home" Aoshi reacted to the presence they all sensed, it's the same as the one that kidnapped Misao. Now they were sure that Misao was in there or at least the one that kidnapped her.

"They moved here about a month ago. So they must not be quite prepared." Saito said as he read the report in his hand. "You better not mess up this one for us you moron" he said particularly to Sanosuke.

"Hey!!!!!!! What did I ever do to you?" Sanosuke hissed. They once again looked up to the gate and the walls. "Well… what are we waiting for LET'S GO" Sanosuke exclaimed to which he received no response from anyone. 'I feel left out here' Sanosuke thought.

They entered the castle ready to take out any guards on duty but what they found there was totally different form the out side. It was lively and beautifully colorful form the inside. But apart form a castle it looked more like a small peaceful, crowded yes, but peaceful kind of village. They entered the castle with no trouble at all since there wasn't even a single guard "This is odd" Saito said and Sanosuke sighed, "Ya………"

They decided to take a look around on 'What's going on in here' when they saw another castle inside they all realized that the gate they just entered where nothing but plain walls. "No wonder the guards went down so easily" Sanosuke whined.

They began to walk towards the castle, on their way through the woods they came across an old man who was about to die from illness. The old man asked the four men to accompany him on his last days because he feared death all alone, to which Kenshin immediately agreed.

The other three stayed behind but not with full heart like Kenshin Well he wants to help those within his reach in nodded to forgive or repay for being a man slayer.

As for Aoshi all he wanted to do was get inside that castle and rescue Misao. Saito on the other hand wanted to get inside the castle and slay the evil As for his code or reason to continue living is after all "Aku… Soku… Zan…" "Slay… Evil… Immediately…" he exists to serve justice. Hmmmmmmmmm…………

And Sanosuke, he just wanted to use his "Futae No Kiwani" on the big bad master of the castle Well, technically that's his only attack worth something after Kenshin broke his "Zanbattu" Sanosuke fans: I am just being honest here so no need to get upset.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was falling asleep and the moon was beginning to wake up when the old man asked them about their journey. Being as kind as he is Kenshin told him the whole story; the other three disagreed to this act of his though. That's when the old man began to tell a very old story to them. A love story actually.

The old man began to say, "In the third year of the Shoganate, there was a warrior named Okita Shoujiro Shoushi" hearing this Kenshin and Saito was somewhat uneasy. Aoshi knew why but did not react. Sanosuke didn't even notice something happened as the old man continued, "Okita Shoujiro Shoushi was raised to become the best warrior there is. His parents were killed by the Emperor himself to get the boy all for himself. The Emperor could sense the presence of the warrior within the boy even when he was only a baby.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okita was the best warrior there was even though he was only 18. He soon gathered one after other strong warriors to form a strong group to protect the castle and the Empire.

At the same time there was another warrior named Koshisho Shinomori" now the other three turned to look at Aoshi, who was not at all bothered by their looks but the words the man spoke, bothered him.

All this while the old man continued, "Koshisho Shinomori was second only to Okita but he was not included in the warriors group that Okita gathered, instead he gathered fighters exciding in spying and formed a group of his own on behalf of the Emperor's request.

Okita and Koshisho were always on good terms in fact they were best of friends. Koshisho's group gathered the information necessary while Okita's group protected the Emperor and the Empire. Everything was as it was supposed to be.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a night of the festivals when the Emperor decided to go into the village, to watch a dueling match between two warriors. But in between the match the Emperor stood and walked to leave when the village chief asked, "Did we offend you in anyway Your Highness?" to which the Emperor replied, "I wanted to see a good duel tonight, one that is fit for me to watch. Not some children learning to use swords" as soon as he finished speaking, the sounds of swords crossing caught his attention.

It was Okita and Koshisho crossing swords in a duel to entertain the Emperor. The Emperor took back his seat and watched the duel as it continued. All villagers couldn't believe what they were witnessing; more than two warriors fighting it looked more like the Gods crossing swords. The duel continued even when it was dawn already until Okita threw Koshisho to the ground and brought his sword dangerously close to his neck. Okita won the duel. The Emperor was quite pleased with the match and so were all the villagers. It was a duel fit for an emperor.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week has passed since the duel and Okita was on his way to a mission when an arrow flew towards his direction aiming for his heart. Okita moved to his right and caught the arrow from his left with his right hand. It all happened so quickly that his horse did not realize anything.

Okita turned his horse back to see the one responsible for this. A man in mask stood in front of him.

-Okita: "What do you want?"

-The man voiced "Duel with me?" as in an order.

-Okita: "And why exactly do you want to duel me?"

-The man: "I saw you duel on the night of the festival with our Leader. How dare you walk away as if nothing happened after defeating him like that!! I shall duel with you and defeat you and take your sword as prove"

-Okita: "Leader huh! I never knew that Koshisho had someone like you as his follower"

-The man: "What do you mean by that?" Quite pissed now

Okita got down from his horse and explained: "You think you can defeat me when your leader couldn't once in his life that tells me you think highly of your self. You never introduced your self and that tells me you lack of manners"

Interrupting Okita the man said, "I am Misao Makimachi."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

End Of Chapter…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Thank you for reading and the next chapter will be posted soon. Please Review