Ah chapter 3! I could cry. I'm so excited I've gotten this far in such a short time. I hope you like it this far. :)

Still no own RK. Boo.


The next day came quickly. After waking up and putting on the same clothes that she had worn yesterday, Kenshin and Yahiko met her downstairs for breakfast and much like dinner the night before, it was silent. They would all try to start conversations, but it wouldn't go very far and soon they all just gave up. As Kenshin and Kaoru were cleaning up the dishes, he paused and turned to her. "I found someone to take you shopping." He smiled.

"Oh, you remembered that, huh?" She sighed.

"You thought I'd forget?" He looked amused.

"I was hoping." She muttered and he laughed.

"No, I didn't forget. I called a friend of mine last night and he and his girlfriend agreed to take you shopping today. They should be here at any time. We'll make sure to see you off before we leave." He resumed cleaning the dishes.

"Oh. Okay..." What was she supposed to say to that?

"I have to warn you, he's very protective about his girlfriend. She's sick a lot, and doesn't get out much, so he wanted me to emphasize that you aren't to put a strain on her. Though I think you'll be good for her. Between her brother and her boyfriend Sayo never has a moment of peace."

She paused as she tried to remember where she'd heard that name before. 'Sayo... Sayo...' "That name sounds so familiar." She thought out loud.

"Hey, Kenshin, where are you?" They heard a voice boom from the living room.

Kaoru whipped around as she recognized the voice. "Sanosuke?" She was astonished as she saw him walk into the kitchen.

When he saw her, he gave her a big goofy grin. "Well if it isn't the little missy." He walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, not caring that her hands were wet from dish washing. "How've you been?"

She pulled back. "I've been better. How are you? I didn't know you were friends with Kenshin." Her voice was slightly accusing.

He laughed good-naturedly. "What can I say? I meet people in the strangest way."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "I can't wait to hear about that."

Kenshin cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt you two, but how exactly do you know each other?"

Sano pulled her into his side again. "She's my baby cousin." He answered. "You should've told me her name last night."

"Yeah, because I really knew that was going to make a difference."

Ignoring him, Sanosuke turned around and beckoned someone to join them. A beautiful young woman entered the room. Kenshin had told Kaoru that she had been sick, but she looked completely healthy.

"Missy, this is Magdalia." She gave him a slight glare and he chuckled. "Sorry, this is Sayo."

She smiled as she held out her hand; the two girls gave a quick handshake and dropped their hands back to their sides. She'd known Sano was dating someone named Sayo, but she'd never met her. She was pleasantly surprised.

Kaoru leaned close to Kenshin. "Magdalia?" She whispered.

"It's a long story." He whispered back.

"Tsk, tsk. Secrets don't make friends." Sano shook his head.

"Seriously..?"

"Got a problem with it?" She grinned.

"You won't keep friends if you start acting like you're five." She replied.

"You don't count, Kaoru; you're family." He commented without thinking.

"Sano." Kenshin shook his head.

"Hey missy, you know I didn't mean anything by it, right?" Her cousin asked.

"Yeah, I know." But it still hurt to hear that she didn't count, even if he didn't mean it. She didn't count for a lot of things apparently.

Sayo stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sano tells me you have a daughter."

Kaoru smiled. That hurt even worse. It was like everything that hurt her was being thrown in her face right now. "Yeah." She whispered. "Um, I can't provide for her by myself right now, so my friend is keeping her for me until I figure something more permanent out."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Sayo said, taking a step back.

"No, don't be. You didn't know."

Sano got her attention. "Is Misao keeping her?" Kaoru nodded. "If she's gonna be in a safe environment, might as well be there, right?" Kaoru nodded again.

"Well, why don't we get going?" Sayo hooked arms with Kaoru and gently ushered her out of the room. Sano began to follow but Kenshin subtly got his attention. Kaoru looked over her shoulder until she couldn't see the two anymore.


At the mall, Kaoru was dragged into store after store, thrown in dressing rooms, clothes piled in behind her. She'd already bought what felt like hundreds of outfits. She looked at the huge amount of bags that her cousin was carrying. "You know I probably won't ever get to wear half of these outfits." She said to her cousin as they searched for another store to go into.

Sano smiled. "Yeah, but she doesn't get out much, so humor her. This is a present to you, and also a treat for her. She's really enjoying this." They looked at the woman as she happily strolled down through mall. She was practically glowing.

"Kenshin says she's sick, but she looks totally healthy."

"I... yeah, she's been really sick for the past few years, but we don't know what it is." He sighed.

"I'm sorry." She said, patting his arm.

"I'm sorry about your daughter too."

"Thanks." She smiled sadly.

"Do you ever know what happened to him?" He asked.

Trotting down memory lane wasn't something she wanted to do, but this was Sanosuke. She could talk to him about anything. "No... and honestly, as long as I never see him again, I don't care what happened to him."

He didn't say anything. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Sayo came up to her and dragged her into another store.

The rest of the day Sayo and Kaoru were inseparable. They laughed and joked together, Sayo would come in to dressing rooms with her to help her get clothes on before they went out to model for Sanosuke. Finally, at the end of the day, they were headed back to drop her off. Sano reached in the backseat where Kaoru was, holding a phone out for her. "Call Kenshin and tell him we're headed back, will you?"

She gave a nod. "Yeah, sure." Finding his name, she pressed the call button. It rang twice before he picked up.

"Himura." It was obvious he didn't look at who was calling.

"Hey Kenshin, it's Kaoru. Sano wanted me to call and tell you that we're headed back."

"Oh, did you have a good time?" He sounded distracted, like it was an automatic question, but he wasn't really listening to the answer.

"It was horrible." She replied, testing her theory.

"That's good." There was a long pause. "Wait, what?"

She smiled into the phone. "I was just seeing if you were really paying attention to what I said."

"Sorry," there was a sound of something, probably a pen, dropping, "you have my undivided attention. How'd it go?"

"It went well, thanks. Sayo went a little overboard, but I guess I can't blame her."

"So it all went well." He sounded distracted again.

"Yeah. You sound distracted."

"Sorry, I'm actually in the middle of something."

"That's fine. I'll let you get back to it, I just wanted to tell you that I was headed home."

"Okay, see you when you get home." They hung up with each other and she handed the phone back to her cousin.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that she realized what they'd said. They'd both acknowledged it.

Home.

She pressed her head against the cold window the rest of the ride. When they pulled into the driveway, she noticed another car- a familiar car. Her eyes widened as she met her cousins smiling gaze. Not waiting another second, she threw open the car door and raced inside. When she made it into the living room, she fell to her knees as tears started to fall down her cheeks. There sat Kenshin and Yahiko... with her best friend, Misao, and her precious daughter, Tsubame.

Her daughter didn't waste any time. She was on her feet and in her mother's arms in a matter of seconds. "Mommy!" She yelled. "I missed you mommy." She smiled into Kaoru's hair.

"I missed you too." She smiled, her tears still falling. She rose with her daughter in her arms and she made her way over to Misao. They gave each other a hug, which was awkward with Tsubame still in her arms.

She looked at Kenshin. "How did you do this?"

He shrugged. "I can do a lot of things when I put my mind to it." He was slightly avoiding her question.

"Geez Kenshin... I didn't think you'd be able to get them here that fast." Sano whistled in the doorway with Sayo at his side.

"Like I said, I can do a lot of things when I put my mind to it." He looked at the mother and daughter in front of him and smiled.

She went to Sano. "This is Sanosuke." She introduced her daughter to her cousin.

"Hi." He beamed at the child. "I'm Uncle Sano."

Kaoru's eyebrows rose. "You're her cousin, not her uncle, dingbat."

He made a noise in the back of his throat. "Uncle sounds closer than cousin."

"Then you're going to confuse her on what you really are to her."

He sighed. "I might as well be your brother."

She opened her mouth to reply and then shut it. He was right.

He grinned and leaned of her shoulder to smile at Misao. "Mark the date, Misao. I'm right."

She smiled back. "For once."

He stuck his tongue out.

"That's mature." Kenshin replied.

Kaoru gave a slight laughed. "Tsubame, this is Sayo." Tsubame waved shyly at the woman.

"Hi Tsubame, your mom has said nothing but great things about you." She smoothed the little girl's hair against her head.

Misao got up from her spot and joined the small group at the entrance.

"Mommy, can I be with you now?" Tsubame asked.

"Tsubame..." Misao started.

Kaoru shook her head at her friend. "Not yet sweetie, but soon. I promise. You're doing a great job and Aunt Misao's house. Just a little bit longer, okay?"

"Tsubame, we've got to go now." Misao said sadly. "Sorry, Kaoru. It's almost bedtime."

Kaoru nodded. "I understand." She kissed her daughter. "Okay, you've got to go with Aunt Misao, but I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay. I love you mommy."

Tears threatened to fall, but she wouldn't allow them too. "I love you too." They kissed each other and she handed her daughter back to Misao.

Misao took the young girl and then handed Kaoru a slip of paper. "Call any time."

"Thank you." She smiled sadly as she hugged them.

"We'll walk them out." Sano said, as he escorted them through the house, Yahiko bounding after them.

When they were out of view, Kaoru turned to Kenshin. "Why?"

She didn't have to ask any more than that. "I saw the way you looked when you talked about her; how much she really means to you." He paused. "You're really trying. Why shouldn't you be able to see your daughter?" He asked.

"I don't know what to say." She said as she made her way to him.

"That's alright."

She stopped in front of him. "Thank you."

He looked into her watery eyes. "You're welcome."

She searched his eyes, trying to find the words to say, but they weren't needed. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders; they drew each other close. "Thank you." She whispered into his shoulder.

"Any time." He meant it too.


Reviews. Please. Yes, no, maybe so? It's picking up the pace here. I know how I started and I know how it's ending, I'm just not sure where I want the middle of the story to go. I hope you're enjoying this so far. :)

-K