A/N: Holy crap… is Violet Eyed Angel really being updated? Wow, miracles really do happen. Well Amber Eyed Angel is FINALLY reposted for the third time. I really ran into a lot of snags getting it back up. But it's back up and life can move on. I've found this story to be a lot harder to write than Amber Eyed Angel was… I shall do my best to bring all of you who have been waiting a good story. That is… if you're still around.

REVIEWERS! Rejoice! And update!

aznpuffyhair - Saito let Kenshin go that time behind the desk to kind of repay him for what Hiroko did. Hiroko broke a lot of rules to get Kenshin so it was a repayment of sorts.

anime-luney - Sorry for making you wait!

Hitokiri Musei - Yay for updates!

jhjhj - Well, if you're still around, both stories have now been updated!

Me, Random Person of Doom - Sorry, no two chapters posted together. Been too busy.

Chibi Binasu-chan - My goal is to make Neko anything BUT a brat

Shadow Wolf of the Blue Moon - Hope you enjoy the update!

Melimsah - Misao attacked Kenshin when they first met, but she never really wanted to kill him.

lolo popoki - Yay for getting my act together and updating!

psychogurl - Now that the sequel is up I hope you come back to read it!

Kenshin'sorrow - Hope you're still out there! I've missed your reviews!

animeinsomniac - Glad you liked the one shot!

tsumesgirl05 - I'm baaaaaack!

Streetwise Girl - Hope you like this fic!

Chapter 2 - Meetings

Sanosuke was on his way to the dojo, looking for lunch. He arrived at the gates just as the trio was walking up. "Oi, Kenshin! Jo-chan!" he called out in greeting. "Who's the girl?" he asked when his eyes fell on the green eyed woman dressed in a strange western outfit walking with them.

"Sano!" Kaoru half growled. "Don't you have any manners?" She turned towards Neko. "Neko, this is Sagara Sanosuke."

Neko took a step forward and bowed towards Sano. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sagara-san. I'm Neko."

"Call me Sano. When you say it like that, you make me feel old."

Neko stood up again, a bright smile on her face. "Alright, then, Sano."

"Neko is a friend of Kenshin's," Kaoru continued to explain to the ex-gangster.

"One of Kenshin's friends?" A wide, goofy smile spread across Sano's face. "So that means you're here to kill him. Or, you were once in love with him!"

As Kaoru fumed over that last comment, Neko turned a bright red. "Kill him?" She turned an even darker shade of red as she looked over at Kenshin with an innocent smile.

"Iya!" Kenshin said, a bit louder than he meant to. "Neko is just a friend of sessha's."

"Just a friend, eh?"

Neko blushed even more as Kaoru gave Sano a rather large bruise on his head with the bag she had in her hand.

"Oh, my!" Neko exclaimed, a hand rising to her mouth. "So violent!" She could hear Kenshin chuckling behind her, finding Neko's reaction to the common occurrence humorous. She turned, staring at him awkwardly. "Is this…" She motioned with her hand towards Sano, who was now rubbing his head, and Kaoru who was busy lecturing him. "…Normal?"

"Well…" Kenshin trailed off, opting to give a slight shrug of his shoulders and a meek laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean, Kenshin!" Kaoru yelled, spinning around, turning her anger onto the innocent redhead.

Kenshin attempted to raise his hands in defense, but his arms were too full. "Maa… maa…" he stammered. Neko looked at Kenshin, studying him as Kaoru continued to yell.

All the ruckus coming from outside the gate gained Yahiko's attention as he walked out to the sight of Kaoru advancing on Kenshin, Sano rubbing his head grumpily, and a strange, confused woman watching everything. His eyes widened as they took everything in.

"What's going on out here?" he called, ending the noise of Kenshin's pathetic excuses, Kaoru's yelling, and Sano's grumbling.

"Oh! Yahiko!" Kaoru completely forgot what she had been so angry about at the entrance of her student. She motioned to Neko. "This is Neko, she's a friend of Kenshin's." She turned to Neko and motioned to Yahiko. "Neko, this is Myojin Yahiko. My student."

"How… how do you do?" Neko bowed, stunned by how easily everything had just been diffused. "Nic-nice to meet you!"

Yahiko blinked at her for a few moments, and then returned the bow. "You too."

"Nice to see someone has manners," Kaoru mentioned, with a glare to Sano.

"What's that supposed to-"

Kaoru interrupted him. "I invited her to have lunch with us! Are Misao and Aoshi around? I want them to meet Neko too."

Yahiko gave a slight, uncaring shrug of his shoulders. "Misao is around somewhere… Aoshi took off."

Kaoru closed her eyes a moment in thought, then opened them again. "Yahiko, I want you to help Kenshin with the groceries while I give Neko a tour of the dojo and introduce her to Misao."

"Why do I have-" Yahiko started to complain until he saw the death glare Kaoru shot him. "Fine." As he moved to help Kenshin carry some of the items he held, Kaoru took Neko's arm and led her into the dojo's yard.

Neko got a full tour of the dojo. She was quite impressed with it. She hadn't been in a dojo before and nearly everything impressed her. During the tour, they found Misao sitting out on the porch.

She jumped to her feet happily and ran up to the two of them. "Kaoru-san! Have you seen Aoshi-sama!" she asked excitedly.

"Iie. I haven't seen him all day."

"Aoshi-sama!" Misao cried, practically falling to her knees. "When will you come back?"

Kaoru cleared her throat, trying to draw Misao's attention. Neko could only stare at what was happening before her. This new girl had just been so happy, and now she was in tears. Neko didn't think she had ever seen such a drastic change in emotion before. "Misao-chan. This is Neko, she's a friend of Kenshin's."

Misao brightened. "Ah! Hello Neko!" she said with a large smile and a bow. "I'm Makimachi Misao! It's a pleasure to meet you! You're a friend of Kenshin's? For how long?"

Neko was a little overwhelmed. This girl had gone from cheerful, to a sobbing mess, to cheerful again. "Nice to meet you, Misao-san," she said, returning the bow. "Um… I haven't seen Kenshin in a long time, but I was a really little girl when we met."

Neko was saved from more questioning from Misao as Kenshin came out and announced that lunch was ready. Neko was looking forward to a nice, calm meal with Kenshin's friends. It was anything but calm.

"SANO!" Yahiko yelled, shoving more food into his mouth. "That's MY rice ball!"

Sano quickly gulped down said rice ball. "No it isn't. It's mine now!"

"Yahiko!" Kaoru snapped. "Don't speak with your mouth full!"

"Shut up busu! He took MY rice ball!"

"No I didn't!"

Neko looked on, almost too stunned once more to eat. "Oh my…" Once more, she was speechless. She looked over to Kenshin and watched as he ate his meal with a pleasant smile on his face. 'It's like the noise doesn't even affect him.' She watched him a bit. 'This is a lot different from the other meals we've shared before.' She smiled at the memory of eating with Kenshin, way back when. 'Then the only noise was the murmur of men and Reizo's occasional joke.'

Kenshin felt Neko's eyes watching him. He stopped eating and set his dish down. "Is there something wrong, Neko?" he asked with a smile.

Neko blinked, dumbfounded. 'A smile, it's sweet, but…' She shook her head free of thoughts. "Nothing, just thinking about some of the meals we once shared," she answered honestly.

Yahiko gulped down another mouthful. "You used to know Kenshin. How did you guys met anyway?"

Neko's eyes widened a bit before she quickly bowed her head and sat her bowl down. "Yahiko!" Kaoru hissed at him.

"What? What'd I say!"

Just as Kaoru was about to chastise Yahiko again, Neko spoke up. "No, that's all right." She looked up at the group with a forced smile. "It's understandable that he would want to know."

"Neko." Kenshin couldn't find the right words to say.

"It's all right. It happened over ten years ago. I can tell them." She took a deep breath and as she released the held air, she shuddered slightly. "When I was a little girl, my father supported the Ishin Shishi. While traveling through Kyoto one night…" Neko stopped a moment to quell her trembling voice. "…both my parents were murdered."

Everyone who was listening quickly moved their eyes off Neko. Sano looked to the ceiling. Misao was looking intently into her empty bowl. Yahiko and Kaoru both looked to the side. Kenshin sat, staring straight ahead, lost in thought as he had been before Neko began. She wet her lips with her tongue and continued. "I don't know why their killers didn't kill me, but I went to find help and… and…" She was having trouble finder her voice again.

"Met Kenshin?" Kaoru guessed.

Neko looked up, tears running down her face, but she was smiling. "Yes. That's when I met Kenshin. He helped me… with my parents… then took care of me afterwards." Neko took a calming breath. "That's just about everything." Kenshin watched Neko carefully; that certainly wasn't everything, it didn't even come close, but he wasn't about to say anything. What they had been through together didn't need to be spoken of to others.

"Really? That's it?" Misao asked, skeptical. "And here I thought we would get to hear a story with some action."

Neko laughed softly. "I'm sorry, Misao-san. Although sometimes a story about real life is a better one when it lacks action."

Misao blushed; she understood what Neko meant. If there was action, that would have meant trouble for Neko and Kenshin. "Gomen, Neko-san! I didn't mean it like that!"

"But-" Kaoru said softy, still not meeting Neko's eyes. "You told me that for a little while you lived with someone else besides Kenshin."

Neko went very still. It didn't even look like she was breathing. "Aa, I said that. For a while, I lived with a rude man who drank a lot." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I didn't care for the time I spent in his presence so I don't like talking about it. I hope you don't find that rude," she apologized, without really feeling apologetic.

"Iie. That's all right. I understand," Kaoru uttered softly, taking another bite of the fish Kenshin had prepared.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the once noisy room. Everyone felt it and no one knew how to break it. Neko felt it more than the others, feeling as though she had caused it. She smiled. "One time, when Kenshin was taking care of me, it started to rain." Neko smiled in advance to the story she was about to tell.

Kenshin's eyes widened and his mouth hung open, the food he was just about to eat fell from his chopstick, back into his bowl.

"What's so special about rain?" Sano commented, leaning back and nibbling slightly on a large toothpick.

"Nothing really, except it makes lovely mud," Neko said slyly, giving Kenshin a torturous grin. His eyes pleaded with her not to go on, but she ignored him. "Yes, it was raining so hard you couldn't go outside without stepping in mud. I've always loved the rain, so I was outside when Kenshin found me. He went outside to bring me back in when he slipped."

Misao began to giggle. "He fell in the mud?"

Neko's smile widened as she watched Kenshin turn red. "Oh yes, he fell with a nice squish! We ended up getting COVERED in mud!" She began to laugh. "He was dripping in mud when we finally got back inside."

Soon everyone was laughing as Neko continued. Even Kenshin lost some of his blush and began laughing at the happy memory. The meal continued in an otherwise comfortable mood. Neko found herself taking a liking to Kenshin's friends and they felt the same about her. She was sweet and very polite.

After the food had been long devoured, Kenshin cleared the table. Neko sat with Kaoru and Misao and had a bit of girl talk.

"So Neko, how old are you?" Misao asked, looking her up and down trying to get take a guess.

Neko smiled sweetly. "I just turned seventeen a few weeks ago."

"That means you're only a year older than me!" She couldn't help it; Misao found herself growing envious of Neko's chest.

Neko blushed brightly when she caught Misao staring, but was saved from responding when Kenshin came out wiping soap off his hand with a rag. "The dishes have been cleaned and put away, Kaoru-dono," he announced with a smile.

Neko bounced to her feet. "So you're free for a bit? Do you… I mean, could you and I talk for a bit. It's just, it's been so long." She was a bit nervous, she had wanted to get Kenshin alone but now she felt like she was getting in the way.

Kenshin simply smiled and nodded his head, waiting for her to speak. She bit her lip, she didn't want to talk in front of Kaoru and Misao, not that she was uncomfortable around them. She just wanted a little time alone with her angel. "I saw a river earlier today, do you think we could talk over there?" she suggested, hinting at the fact she wanted to talk alone.

Kenshin understood Neko's nervousness right away. "Of course we can, it's this way." He stepped down off the porch. "We'll be back in a bit, that we will," he said, still smiling, to Kaoru and Misao as he lead the way to the river.

Kaoru watched the two of them leave, her heart feeling a little heavy watching Kenshin walk off alone with Neko, but she knew Kenshin to be loyal to her. They were just going to talk. She turned back to Misao and picked up the conversation.

The trip to the river was quiet. Neko fiddled with the sleeves of her dress as they made their way there. She didn't know why she felt so nervous; in all the scenarios she had played out in her mind of when she would find her angel, she had never guessed she would be nervous. Something just wasn't right with him. With a deep breath she finally spoke when the river was in sight. "Kenshin, you're different. You've changed." She decided to be blunt.

Kenshin stopped and blinked with wide eyes at her. "Oro?"

"See! That's what I mean!" She lowered her voice. "You never used to act like that." Her eyes met the ground. "You smile a lot more."

"Is there something wrong with smiling?" He seemed confused. Neko didn't like it. The angel she pictured would have never looked confused.

"Iya, there's nothing wrong with smiling. It's just different."

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's been a long time. I've changed Neko."

"A long time," she repeated softly. She stood there a moment. Kenshin could feel her shoulder start to shake under his hand. "Why? Why Kenshin? Why did you leave me like that?"

His throat tightened, he knew that question had been coming. He took a moment to collect himself before answering. "It was the best thing for me to do at the time. If I hadn't disappeared like I had you would have never let me go."

She was quiet, trying to hold back the tears that were silently running down her face. She knew he was right; she would have never let him go. Wiping away a tear and reaching into her purse she took out a piece of paper that looked like it had been folded and unfolded many times before. It was old and frail. She opened it carefully, like it was a dear and important document. When it was opened she held it out for Kenshin to read.

His eyes darted over the faded ink, his eyes growing wider with each word read. "Neko, this is-"

"The letter you left me."

"You kept it after all this time?" She nodded and they were both quiet. "I'm sorry Neko. I was doing what was best for you. It was too dangero-"

"What was best for me was not to be abandoned!" she shouted. Kenshin could tell easily by the sound of her voice that she wasn't angry. Just hurt and betrayed.

"I'm sorry. You didn't like staying with the Shimooki's?"

"Iya! They were nice. They were good to me, it's just…" She trailed off, staring into the river. "What I wanted was to be with you."

"But what you wanted wasn't safe. I'm sorry for-"

"Stop saying you're sorry!" She hadn't meant to snap at him. "You don't have to be sorry! You did what was right. Why are you- What I mean is-" She didn't know what she meant. Kenshin stared at her, waiting for her to finish. "Oh Kenshin," she finally cried. "I've missed you!" She fell against him, sobbing into his shoulder.

Kenshin was stunned a moment, and then put his arms around her. "It's all right Neko, I've missed you too." It was the truth. He had missed the little child who had looked up to him, who had loved him. He rubbed her back like he would have done to comfort her when she was little, only she wasn't little anymore. She had grown up and it was no longer all right to hold her so.

He didn't hold her so tightly; it was hard to remember she wasn't little anymore. She couldn't sit in his lap anymore and he couldn't rock her. There were many things they couldn't do anymore, but he could still comfort her.

Neko's knees gave out as she began to cry harder. Carefully he helped her to the grassy bank so she could sit down. She clung to him, never letting him go as they sat together. She inhaled deeply, remembering his scent. It felt so good to be back in his arms. Without thinking she tried to move into his lap like she would have when she was seven.

"Iya," Kenshin's voice stopped her. "You're too big for sessha's lap now, that you are."

"Don't talk like that," was her stubborn replay.

"Oro?"

"You are a proud man and better than most. I don't want to hear you call yourself unworthy." She leaned quietly against his shoulders.

They sat quietly together with Neko's head on Kenshin's shoulder. Neither thought much about how intimate the position looked. It was too natural for them, and as Neko closed her eyes she could see the inn they had stayed at behind her eyelids, she could almost feel the porch beneath them, and she felt as if she was back in time. Back when Kenshin was her angel.

Kenshin walked Neko most of the way to the inn she was staying at. Before parting she wrapped her arms around his chest. "You don't know how much seeing you again means to me," she said quietly, holding him tightly in a hug. "Would it be all right if I visited again tomorrow?"

Kenshin replied with a simple 'aa' and Neko looked up and smiled at him. She tightened her hug for a moment, then let go. She waved goodbye and headed home.

Kaoru was waiting for Kenshin at the gate when he returned just after dark. "Kaoru-dono, you didn't have to wait for sessha." Although he said this, he was glad she did.

She returned his smile. "That's all right. Did everything go well with Neko?" She entered the gate first, holding it open for Kenshin.

"Aa, everything went just fine. It was a surprise to see her, that it was." Kenshin was quiet as they made their way to the house. He laughed sheepishly, remembering he had invited Neko over tomorrow and had never gotten Kaoru's permission first. "Ah, Kaoru-dono?" He laughed again. "I invited Neko over again tomorrow. I hope that's not a problem."

Kaoru smiled, it was so like Kenshin. Of course she wouldn't have a problem with him having an old friend over, yet he was worried she would. Still, she gave a playful frown. "Now who do you think pays to keep this place running? I should have a say who comes to my property for a visit. But, seeing how she's your friend I guess I won't mind too much."

The small laugh she was greeted with was, to her, one of the most beautiful sounds on earth. She felt a small blush creep across her cheeks as Kenshin took her hand in his. "Arigato, Kaoru."

A/N: Oh! And for anyone wondering the one shot that use to be here will be reposted as it's own story A.S.A.P.