Kaoru disengaged her fingers gently from Kenshin's grasp. She caught his eye, and smiled kindly.

It was a little strange, seeing him as he now was. He looked radically different, as Tomoe had warned her he would. His hair was now a vibrant scarlet, and his eyes were the same shape and character, but a strange color. The scar seemed to burn in his cheek, like an emblem.

The past two years had been hard on him. She could see it in his eyes and the lines on his face. But now that it was all over, she hoped he'd be able to heal.

"Tomoe-sama and I found a way to protect you from the damage of using Hiten Mitsurugi after her alterations to your appearance," she began, going to a large chest in the room. She removed a long package and turned to face him.

The expression on his face almost had her laughing out loud. It reminded her of the dark-haired, dark-eyed man she'd met two years ago. Even though his outward appearance had been changed, in some ways he was still the same man as before.

That made her heart overwhelmingly glad.

"This is a sakabato," she said, holding out the box. "It can seal away the power of your style, allowing you to use it without fear of recognition. It's yours, if you want it."

Kenshin reached for the hilt of his blade, but his hands met only air. Then he remembered that he had thrown it down in Tomoe's palace, and had not retrieved it. He opened the box Kaoru offered him, and removed the sheathed blade. She smiled, which did odd things to his sensibilities.

Kenshin pulled the blade out a few inches to inspect it. The craftsmanship was excellent. He re-sheathed it, removed his old scabbard, and slid the new blade into its place.

It felt different than his previous sword. Its weight seemed slightly heavier. But he welcomed the additional weight, knowing that it stood for another new chance to be with Kaoru.

This time, it wasn't just a dream.

Only a moment after he accepted the new blade, Kenshin was assaulted with the scent of jasmine. Kaoru had latched herself onto him, and planted her lips over his own, kissing him thoroughly. Shocked, but pleasantly so, Kenshin slid one arm firmly around her hips, and brought the other up across her back, so that his fingers could deftly released her ponytail and entangle themselves in her hair.

He found himself kissing her back desperately. He shivered at her the touch of her hands, as they traveled along the length of his sides and over his shoulders and arms. At one point, he opened his eyes, and found her eyes open as well, in the middle of their kiss. By some unspoken agreement, they both pulled back.

"I missed you," she said, voicing what they were both thinking. Kenshin sighed quietly.

"You have no idea," he said in return, closing the distance between them again to kiss her deeply, and sweetly. Kaoru allowed herself to be molded to him, pressing as closely as she could while being kissed down to her soul. When they parted a second time, both were smiling widely.

"You know, Kenshin," she said, standing straight again, "I could get used to this."

Kenshin smiled, his second real smile in two years.

"It's my every intention to make sure you do, Kaoru."


xxx

Epilogue

xxx

The nefarious plot that had sent Kenshin spiraling into despair was discovered to be the work of Yukishiro Enishi, Tomoe's younger brother. He had been enraged with Kenshin's betrayal of his sister, and had not seen eye to eye with her for letting him go free. Even though he'd known that Tomoe had protected Kaoru from him upon finding her gone, he'd created a cadaver to fool the swordsman. Sadly, his plan had worked.

Tomoe did not know what to say to him. She had eventually decided to exile him for two years, the same length of time he'd caused Kenshin to suffer unspeakable agony. Enishi had gone willingly, because his sister had demanded it. But it would be many years before he forgave Kenshin for disobeying her. Kenshin found that he was just fine with Enishi's hatred.

They had never really been on good terms in the first place.

And he had the real Kaoru now, who was happy with him.

Sanosuke, Megumi, Tae, Katsu, Misao, and Aoshi were all shocked by the return of the other two. It had taken a very long night of explanations, but once they understood what had really happened, and that the red-haired man was indeed Himura Battosai, now Kenshin, and Kaoru had never truly been dead, they were over-joyed. Sanosuke had promptly put Kenshin into a jovial headlock, which the other man tolerated with weak laughter, and Misao had assaulted Kaoru in a similar fashion, catapulting her small frame into the older girl and knocking her over. Aoshi had had to come to the rescue to extract her.

After they were married, Kenshin and Kaoru had also adopted another child into their life, who had turned up when she was six months pregnant. Myojin Yahiko was an orphan from the streets, who'd Kenshin had caught red-handed as he tried to steal Kaoru's change purse. Rather than chastising him, Kaoru had offered him all of the money she had on hand, which had shocked and amazed the boy. When he refused her generosity, and even gotten a little angry with her, she and Kenshin exchanged a look. Then she offered to teach him her style, and take him in as a live-in student. With Kenshin's encouragement, Yahiko accepted.


Their life together was nothing short of perfect, in Kenshin's opinion. The days were mostly peaceful, save for Kaoru and Yahiko's squabbles, and Kenji's interjections from time to time.

To his parents' amazement, Kenji was born with the same red hair as his father's. Since Kenshin's mane was a result of magical enchantment, Kaoru worried that Kenshin might suspect her of being unfaithful to him. When she'd voiced that concern, he seemed scandalized and remarked that such a thing would have never even occurred to him, but should it have. She laughed weakly and told him no, because Kenji was absolutely his.

To settle the issue, the Himura family visited Tomoe at her earliest convenience. Upon being presented with the child, Tomoe smiled seeing his vibrant red hair. When Kenshin questioned her, she raised her eyes slyly to respond.

"The spell I used wasn't glamour, as you thought." She swept gentle fingers through the little baby's bangs, and he gurgled happily. "It's an old spell called the Crown of Flames. It cannot be undone by anyone once it is cast, and its protective qualities are passed down, as you can see." She smiled more openly as she passed the boy back to his mother, and his parents gawked.

"Is that really all, Yukishiro-sama?" Kenshin asked in dubious awe. "Because you seem to have a habit of leaving certain things out." Tomoe laughed.

"Yes, I assure you that is all, Kenshin. The Crown of Flames is a protective spell and no more. It is meant to seem like glamour, so as to be inconspicuous—" She eyed Kenshin coyly when speaking that particular word, "but in reality is a much more absolute kind of disguise. If I had only granted you the protection of glamour, someone would have been able to uncover it."

"I see," Kenshin commented dryly. Tomoe laughed, truly enjoying his understandable exasperation. She would continue laughing for many days afterward, delighted with the way the serious man responded to her fey habits.

But however he felt about the color scheme, she knew that Kenshin was truly grateful. And she was glad that she had the ability to afford such a faithful man the long-lasting protection of the Crown of Flames.


A/N: Haha about the infidelity remark. I dunno if that even makes sense for them, but it struck me as a potentially amusing interaction between them. So, this wraps it all up! I realize that Enishi's reaction was just awful. That's why I mentioned how seriously defections from the Fey Authority were in my author notes in the first chapter. And my little secret: the only reason I designed the plot this way was so that I could have Kenshin's eyes change to both gold and iris in this story, and for that particular moment where Tomoe saw them flicker to iris briefly when he saw Kaoru again. I totally fell back on good old canon character plot to do it!

Hope it didn't turn out too hokey. Thanks for reading! _ce