Title: O-Kaeri Nasai
Theme: #10- The Road Back To You
Pairing: KenshinxKaoru
Rating: T (Because when the rating goes up a notch in other chapters, I'll be too lazy to change it. Best to be safe, than to be sorry.)


I might have won the battle- But I have yet to win the war against infection. I doubt I ever will, from the way my body aches; my left arm seizing up at any given opportunity, even in the midst of a gruelling fight against what I had been told was the enemy causing my grip to falter on the sakabatou.

I find myself sapped of all strength, my body rotting from the inside out from a disease that this day and age has no cure for. And what is infinitely worse, is that I know full well that Kaoru-dono is suffering from the same effects miles away. The thought causes the breath to catch painfully in my throat, and an unrelenting constriction in my chest.

Truly, the agony of regret is not something I'd wish on even my worst enemy.

I sit there with my back against the railings, the spray from the sea dousing my in bitter liquid that dries out the ends of my hair and causes my skin to prickle at the discomfort. The ship bounces unsteadily across the rolling waves, my stomach sinking with the excitement that my face barely conceals.

'Soon, we will be reunited Kaoru-dono.'

"Land! Captain, land ahoy!"

My eyes open, and I shift my weary body to glance over my shoulder at the rapidly approaching shoreline, a smile of relief curling my mouth.

Another sharp pain wrenches a gasp from my lips, and I'm almost bent double from the white-hot twinge that shoots up my left arm and across the entirety of my chest and throat- The garish purplish marks disgusting beneath the paleness of the bandages I'd applied a few hours earlier.

I clutch at the front of my gi, trying in vain to regain the breath that I'd lost; my features contorted, leaving my face to look more gaunt than usual.

"Himura-san? Daijoubu desu ka?"

"Aa, daijoubu de gozaru."

He nods, still looking frightfully concerned, even though I've managed to produce some semblance of a smile. After a few more hasty reassurances on my part, he departs, leaving me to my thoughts.

'I will not last much longer, that I won't.'


The road is long, and I feel the dirt and salt that covers me from head to toe keenly and my nose wrinkles at the unwashed stench that wafts around me.

'Kaoru-dono will be sure to scold me, that she will.'

And as if she'd just stepped out of my frazzled imagination, there she was- Crouching by the wall, trying to steady herself with a hand clasping the front of one of her more decent kimonos. My eyes widen, and I whisper her name.

"Kaoru-dono…"

She looks up, face pale and slicked with sweat, and though she looks just as ragged as I felt, a beatific smile lights up her entire countenance; love shining in those blue eyes I'd come to admire over the infrequent stop-overs during our rocky marriage.

"Ken-…shin…" she gasps out, tears collecting at the corner of her eyes.

And then, as if I'd sprinted over under my own steam, we were in each other's arms. Well, I had collapsed on top of her, and she was trying, without much success, to stay upright.

We stay like that for a moment in silence, her body shivering with the strength of her sobs, whilst mine is wracked with harsh worn out breaths of pain. I knew I hadn't much longer…

"O-kaeri nasai…Shinta."

My head shoots up, and I stare at her in surprise. She returns it with a giggle, ruffling my tangled hair.

"I made a promise with you last time, didn't I?"

Ah yes. In one of my frailer moments, when I wasn't sure how much I had left…I'd made her promise to call me by my true name the next time we met. My gaze softens. This woman had poured everything she had into me; her love, her time and energy…She'd even given me the best years of her life and I'd never given anything to her in return except pain and sorrow.

And my disease.

She senses my unease, and she holds me tight to her bosom.

"Ne, Kenshin. You've given me everything I ever asked for. You gave me Kenji, didn't you? I have never regretted one moment being with you."

I feel the sting of tears, and I hold her as tight as the pain would allow.

A little while later, the exhaustion begins to drag at my limbs, and I end up almost completely horizontal with my head resting in Kaoru's lap. Ever the insightful one, she keeps her peace and continues to stroke my hair, content in the knowledge that I was indeed home and that I wasn't going anywhere. I suppose she thought I was just tired.

I snag her hand, and give it a gentle squeeze, and she looks down at me.

"Tadaima…Kaoru-…dono…"

Even after I'd taken my last breath, I could feel the trickle of warmth over my cheeks, and could hear her last words to me.

"O-kaeri nasai Shinta. Aishiteru…Itsumo."

'Aa; aishiteru, Kaoru-dono. We will meet again soon, that we will.'

Owari


Spirit: Eh...That was a tad on the sad side, wasn't it? -cries- I sniffled when I wrote this, as I remembered the episode where that actually happened. ;; Anyway, thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. It was far more than I had actually expected . ; Far more popular than my other, longer oneshots. Read and review!


Glossary

Sakabatou- Reverse blade sword that Kenshin wields.
"Daijoubu desu ka?"- "Are you alright?"
"Aa, daijoubu de gozaru."- "Yes, I'm fine that I am."
O-kaeri nasai- Welcome home.
Tadaima- I'm home.
Aishiteru- I love you.
Itsumo- Always.