Act 4

A bitterly cold week had passed since that night in Tomoe's room. Kaoru had not said anything to any one about what she had heard, no matter what her conscience was telling her to do, and it was slowly driving her insane.

She watched as Kenshin fussed over Tomoe, and Tomoe let herself be fussed over by Kenshin, but it was at times when Kaoru knew that no one was looking at her, that a painful shadow would cloud the other woman's eyes, and the skin around her lips would strain and bleed of colour.

All in all, it was a very delicate situation that they were all in.

So it was one night, similar to when Kaoru had been tending to a sleeping Tomoe, that she had had enough. After seeing Tomoe and Kenshin fed a hearty dinner (as it was really only the two of them that has any need for sustenance) Kaoru retreated to the kitchens, her heart heavy with the secret that she had heard from Tomoe's lips.

As she entered into the warmth of the kitchen, Kaoru found herself facing Tae and Megumi, both chattering animatedly over how well both Kenshin and Tomoe were acting.

"Any day now!" Tae chattered excitedly, clapping her hands together. In life before the curse, she had been employed as the leading chef of the Royal kitchens, a job that she was immensely proud of. After the curse, she was one of the unlucky ones, frozen in place for years and years as the large fireplace and hearth located at the back of the kitchen. Kaoru had once said that she would sooner die than be frozen in one place like she was, but Tae had simply laughed, pointing out that in life before the curse, she was almost never away from the stove and fire-place anyway so it wasn't that much of a change.

Curled up on one of the stone benches opposite the fire-place, was Megumi, a stuffed toy fox with black eyes glinting in the light from the fire in Tae's belly. The toy fox lifted her head as Kaoru moved into the room, tail flicking out in welcome. "I have to agree with Tae on this one, Kaoru. Kenshin is going to ask her any day now to marry him." She laughed in delight as she said this, but it seemed to be the final straw for Kaoru.

"She doesn't love him!" Kaoru hissed, her blue button eyes glinting rebelliously. "She's in love with someone else!"

The silence that descended on them was thick and heavy, the two original occupants of the room staring at Kaoru incredulously.

"What?" Megumi was the first to answer, sitting up from her position on the counter and staring at her long-time friend. "Where did you hear this?"

Kaoru shuffled over, cursing darkly when her wheels kept squeaking. "The other night." She sighed darkly, plopping herself down on one of the padded chairs near Tae's roaring fire. "I was tending to her like I'm supposed to, and she was talking in her sleep." She stopped there, her heart aching for Kenshin. "She was calling for another man, someone called Akira."

Tae threw a look to Megumi who frowned. "I could be just a dream, Kaoru. Did you ever think of that?" Tae said finally.

"Not with the way she was calling for him. She loved him, or better yet, still does."

Kaoru was met with silence, a stifling thing that clogged her throat, and if she were human again, she would have started to cry. She stared deep in to the fire, ignoring Megumi as the toy fox padded over and jumped into her lap, her tiny paws placing themselves gently on her hands.

"But things could be different now. She could still marry Kenshin, Kaoru, and we'll be back to our normal selves! Ayumi never said anything about being in love to get married." Megumi said gently, glancing to Tae out of the corner of her eyes and seeing her nodding her head gently.

Kaoru sighed and leaned back in her chair, the hand that Megumi wasn't leaning against coming up to rub at the space between her eyes. "I honestly don't think that Tomoe is the type of girl to marry someone if she didn't love them." She murmured, looking away from her two friends and sighing in defeat, knowing that anything could happen.

The only thing that mattered was her best friend finding the happiness that he so deserved. But a small part of herself couldn't help but wish the same thing for herself.