Kenshin came out of the house and smiled at the kids. "I'll be back soon that I will, but now I must go talk to Miss Kaoru, that I must" he told him.
Sachi looked at him. "What do we call you? Do we call you Kenshin? Mr. Himura? Or do we call you dad?" she asked.
"Anyone of those is fine…Sachi if your mother takes a turn for the worst please come get me" he told her. "Ichiro, you'll always take after your mother and Sachi will take after me with her warrior's spirit, be nice to her"
Kenshin arrived at the dojo well after dinner and was able to warm up left overs.
"Where have you been Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.
"With Sachi, turns out not only is she my daughter, but I have a son a well, that I do" he said.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a family Kenshin?"
"Because until today Miss Kaoru I did not know I had one. And if I had known I had one, I wouldn't be sitting here with you, that I am sure of"
"How is their mother?" she asked.
"Natsuko may have a week left to live, I need to find a place for the twins to live…Sachi has the warrior's spirit and Ichiro has a domestic side to him, that he does" he said softly, his voice full of concern for the twins.
"Kenshin, are you suggesting that they stay here? We're almost full here as it is…with you and Yahiko…but I guess I can shuffle people around…" she said
He sighed. "Miss Kaoru, Sachi is a warrior at heart will you teach her the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu style?" he asked. "I know Natsuko won't make it much longer"
"I need the night to think it over"
He nodded and got up to sit outside for a bit to think about things.
The next morning Kenshin was making breakfast when Sachi came back to the dojo. Yahiko was coming back from the store for Kaoru.
"Can I help you?" he asked her.
"Yes, I need to see Kenshin right away, it's about my mother" she told him.
Yahiko led her in and took her to him.
"Kenshin, this girl needs to talk to you about her mother" he told him.
Kenshin turned around. "Sachi…let's go" he said softly.
"Wait for me Kenshin" Kaoru told him. "I have decided that Sachi and her brother may stay here"
Sachi looked at her. "What do you mean you've decided?" she questioned.
"Well this is MY dojo and Kenshin is staying here free of charge…he told me about your situation and I told him I would think about it, but I guess he hadn't talked to you yet"
"No…he hasn't"
"I was going to talk to you and Ichiro about it today when I came to visit but, you met me here, so I will talk to both of you there" he told her.
"Shall I fetch Dr. Gensai?" Kaoru asked.
"It won't do you any good Miss Kaoru, mother sent me here and we have to hurry" she said taking off in a run with Kenshin and Kaoru behind her.
When they arrived Ichiro was packing his stuff into a bag. Kenshin went to Natsuko.
She looked up at him. "I'm sorry Kenshin…." She strained. "I'm sorry I didn't let you know…"
He shook his head. "Don't apologize, I know you had your reasons. I'm sorry to for not coming to see you more" he said to her. "I will take the twins with me. Miss Kaoru has agreed to let them stay at the dojo with me and she'll teach Sachi the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu style of sword fighting. And I'll show Ichiro how to be an honorable man, that I will"
She smiled and took his hand. "You are an honorable man as it is Kenshin. Like Kaoru I don't care about your past, I care about the twins' future and it looks like they'll be okay…" she said softly.
"They will be fine that they will" he said laying her hand on her.
Her breathing became more and more labored. The twins came in and said a prayer for her and told her she could go. She couldn't leave yet, there was one more person who needed to let her go and she looked to him.
"Go Natsuko…your children are going to be taken care of that they will. I vow to take care of them always" he told her.
She took her last breath and slipped into the forever sleep. Kenshin stood up and took the kids to Kaoru. "Take them back to the dojo, I will be along later" he told her.
Kaoru nodded and left with the twins. He then went out back and dug a hole, big enough for her body. He then went in and picked her up and gently placed her in the hole and covered her up and put a stake there. He knelt down and said a prayer for her, stood up and dusted himself off before going back to the dojo.
The twins were sitting out on the lawn when he got back and he went to them. He sat down and pulled them to him. They both clung to him. Neither of them would admit this was really scaring them.
A complete and total stranger just came into their lives after ten years of not knowing anything about him. They are now being raised by him at a dojo they know nothing about.
Kaoru came out with some tea for them. "Here drink something…I do know how you feel" she told them.
"You don't know how we feel; you know nothing about us" Ichiro growled at her.
"Actually I do…my mother died and my father died…I don't have siblings so…yes I do know how you feel, at least you have your father here now, I will help him raise you" she told them softly.
Sachi looked at her like Kenshin looks at an enemy. "We don't want you to raise us…we didn't ask for this!" she snarled at Kaoru. "Why don't you just leave Ichiro and I alone?!"
She got up and ran off and Ichiro followed her. Kenshin stood up and went after the twins.
"Kenshin…?" she called to him softly.
He stopped but did not turn around. "I understand your pain Miss Kaoru and I understand theirs, that I do…but I did not ask you to say anything to them about raising them…let me deal with their pain of losing their mother, because I know how it feels to lose a parent as well" he told her leaving the dojo.
The twins found their way to the Akabeko where Tae found them. "Where are your parents?" she asked them.
Tsuambe came over. "I'll sit with them Miss Tae" she offered.
"Thank you Tsuambe" she said going back to her duty.
Not to long after that Kenshin came in. "Tsuambe, thank you for watching after Sachi and Ichiro for me while I came to get them" he told her. "Come now you two, let's go back to the dojo"
"We don't want to go back to that crazy woman's house…we want to go home" whined Sachi.
Ichiro nodded in agreement.
"I know you don't like Miss Kaoru right now, but she lost both of her parents, I have lost my parents as well when I was young, but I do understand about not having a mother…and I know it's hard not having Natsuko anymore, that I do…but please give Miss Kaoru a chance to be a friend" he told them.
Tae came over to them. "What's going on over here?" she asked.
"Miss Tae, Tsuambe; these are my children Sachi and Ichiro…their mother passed away today and I'm caring for them now, that I am" he told them.
Tae gave them a hug. "I'm sorry you lost your mother, that is hard. Listen to your father and you will do well in life" she told them before going back to work.
Tsuambe bowed and followed Tae as the twins followed Kenshin back to the dojo.
