The Engagement…

OOC Disclaimer:  I don't know anything about Japanese Wedding, or Engagement so I'm using my American Modern but romanticized version of things.  Well actually Icka-chan who hates to see things done wrong, sent me a few links to information on Japanese Weddings so I'm throwing that stuff in as well.  Other note.  Okay Sano is suppose to be traveling the world right now, but it wouldn't be Kenshin without him in the middle of everything.  Figure he left for a short time and will start his serious tour of the world after the wedding.

                The weather in the morning had a light mist to it, and dew hung on the nearby leaves as the three continued on their journey back to Tokyo.  Kenshin was walking along holding Kaoru's hand, both as happy as can be, content in the quiet morning, with the sound of birds in the distance.  Yahiko followed along behind them.  "Okay, okay, time's up, that's enough.  You two separate!" Yahiko stated, walking between the two, causing them to stop holding hands.

                Kaoru grumbled, "Yahiko."  Kenshin only smiled.

                "Hay, I'm being the chaperon here, and I said times up.  I said you could hold hands for a bit, I didn't say all morning."

                "Yahiko!" complained Kaoru as she started to chase him down the road.

                Kenshin simply shook his head.

                The sun burned away the morning mist and the after noon sky was a perfect bright blue.  Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko sat at the edge of a river eating their lunch.  "Now Yahiko," Kaoru started.  "I'm thinking of colors of purple and blue for the decorations.  Think you can work with that?"

                "I'm not the decorator!" complained Yahiko.

                "Yes I know you're the wedding coordinator.  So I want purple and blue."  She then turned to Kenshin.  "What do you think Kenshin?"

                "It sounds like it will be lovely.  Weddings are not my thing." Kenshin explained, as he poured some more juice for Yahiko, who was at the time stuffing his face.

                "Well you have been through this before," stated Kaoru, "It should be easier for you."

                Kenshin simply sweat dropped.  "Well it wasn't like this before."
                Yahiko leaned forward, always happy to hear a good story, especially if it was about Kenshin's past.  "Do tell."
                Kenshin sighed, as he knew there was no way around it.  "Well after the Kimon Incident it was arranged that I would live on the outskirts of town in a small farm house.  Tomoe was sent with me so that we could act like a young married couple and attract less attention."

                "We already know that."  Stated Yahiko, wanting him to tell about his first wedding.  Yahiko was after all the wedding coordinator now and all the details he could get would help greatly.

                "I was starting to have feelings for her, and here we were staying in a house together as husband and wife.  It was all for appearance sake, I was still the Battousai.  So I really haven't gone through the whole wedding thing before," explained Kenshin.

                "So you were never really married," blurted at Kaoru.  For a brief moment that made Kaoru feel much better about things. If Kenshin and Tomoe were never married then Kaoru was his first wife, and Tomoe was just a mistress or something, and Kaoru didn't have to compare herself to her.  However Kaoru thought this only for a second, because in the next one, Kenshin had stood up and started to walk away.  'Now I've done it.  Why did I have to say such a stupid stupid thing.'  Kaoru got up and gave chase to Kenshin.  Yahiko sat dumbfounded for a moment, not understanding what was going on.

                Sano had dropped off the foxy lady in her village, and was returning to find Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko.  He figured Kenshin and Kaoru would want some together alone for some test runs before they actually got married and with Yahiko around that wasn't going to be easy, so here was Sano to the rescue.  He had offered Yahiko to stay at his place, but did he take Sano up on the offer?  No.  What an ungrateful brat.

                Sano had not been able to stay as long as he would have liked with the Fox lady, but there where cops still looking for him, and Sano wouldn't leave it up to the Fox to rat him out to them.  Of course Megumi didn't have much love for the cops either, since her days of making opium.  Of course she could have turned him in to get her own charges forgotten.  Nah, the Fox lady wasn't smart enough for that.

                Sano was munching on the end of a fishbone walking down the road when Kenshin walked right by him, going in the opposite direction.  Kenshin seemed rather troubled and with Jo-chan chasing after him, it appeared that it would be best to leave the two alone.  So he continued up the road to where he found Yahiko.  "Yo!" he called to the boy.  Yahiko seemed to have a look of relief on his face.

                "Finally you're here!" exclaimed Yahiko, "Now you can help me with those two."

                Sano had a big question mark on his head, Yahiko just grabbed his hand and they went off after Kenshin and Kaoru.

                "Kenshin, stop, please, I'm sorry!" called Kaoru as she then caught up with Kenshin.  He wasn't walking very fast but he still had a faster pace then her or Yahiko.  "I didn't mean to…"  she trailed off, lowering her eyes to the ground.  Kenshin stopped walking, turning to her.

                "I did love her, and we were married.  I didn't have her father's permission, I had no right at the time to call her my wife, but over time we were bound together beyond just words in a ceremony."  Kenshin touched Kaoru's face, turning her to look up at him.  "Just as we have been bound together for sometime now with out having to say any words to each other Kaoru-dono."

"Hay, separate!" demanded Yahiko.  Kenshin and Kaoru turned to see Yahiko running down the road with Sano right behind.  Kenshin dropped his hand from Kaoru's cheek with a sigh. "Sano, I need your help to keep them from misbehaving, they are not married yet."

                "But…" Sano stammered, it didn't make sense to him.  Then he also had frequented the pleasure district often enough and found nothing wrong with a good roll in the hay.

                Kenshin just shook his head again.  "It's okay, we should get going again."  Since they were already on the road it was easy to start walking again.

                "You left nothing for me to eat?" complained Sano with sad eyes.  "I am sooooo hungry."

                "Sure you are." stated Kaoru, but found an extra meat roll, tossing it to him.

                "So you two are really going to get married then?" asked Sano around a mouthful of meatbun as they headed down the road.  Kenshin nodded, Kaoru was fighting with Yahiko, trying to at least walk next to Kenshin.  "Well you'll of course need a best man then."  At this, Yahiko and Kaoru stopped their fighting.  "I'm offering my serv-"

                Yahiko cut him off.  "He already has one."

                Sano gave Yahiko a look of disbelief and then looked around the area teasingly.  "Where, I don't see one."

                "Right here, I am Kenshin's best man."

                "Yeah, right.  Your just a shrimp."

                Yahiko let out a complaint and launched himself at Sano, finding himself perched on Sano's head biting away.  "So what do you say Kenshin?  Want me to guard your back as best man.  Besides, I heard the best man gets all the chicks."

                Kenshin watched this all with a sweat drop on his forehead.  "I'll have to think about it."  Kenshin never had to choose a best man before, and here he would have to choose between Yahiko and Sano.  True Yahiko was not technically a man but if he wasn't picked it would hurt his pride, and Sano was Kenshin's friend.  He would worry about the decision later.

                "Oh no!" exclaimed Kaoru.  Everyone turned to look at her, Yahiko even climbed down from Sano's head but still glaring at him.  It sound as if Kaoru had maybe forgot something back at the river during lunch.  "Sano, you will have to get Megumi to come, I'll need her as a bride's maid."

                Everyone relaxed; it wasn't the end of the world.  Sano laughed.  "Why would you want that Fox around you on your special day, she'll try to steal Kenshin right away from you even."

                "I don't think she would do that, we had out differences, but we are beyond that."  Kaoru explained, she also thought 'and Megumi has other interests now'. 

                "Ah, I wouldn't worry about it, we have plenty of time till the wedding."  Dismissed Sano.

                "Three months." grumbled Yahiko.

                "What?" asked Sano?

                "Three months." stated Yahiko.  "The wedding is in three months, it's all Ugly's doing."

                "Is not, you're the one who said you could do it." stated Kaoru.

                Sano only nodded then turned to Kenshin.  "Well I may as well go and get the Fox Lady and meet you at the dojo in two months."

                "But what are you going to do for two months at the Fox Lady's village…."  Kenshin then understood.  Just nodding his head.  "See you in two months."

                Sano headed the other direction on the path, back to see the Fox once again.  The thought didn't bother him that much.  She would insist of course that she have a look at his hands again, and… Sano pushed that line of thought from his mind.  (We'll just let the readers think what they want to instead).

                This night they found a simple inn where there was actually a small city.  The next day was to be a market fair so they decided to stay for an extra day.  Also Kaoru and Yahiko where not as use to walking so much as Kenshin was.  That's about all Kenshin did for 10 years.  He didn't even remember where he went most of the time, as if walking through an actual cloud of mist.

Kenshin also had some other reasons for staying in town the next day.  In the morning Kaoru decided to work Yahiko some, stating that he had been getting soft with the simple walking.  Kenshin was rather sure it was because of the line Yahiko had put down the center of the room last night. 

Kenshin slipped away from two practicing in the room to head into the market.  He would pick up supplies for the next part of their journey back to Tokyo a bit later.  For now he had something else to find.  Kenshin had chosen to go back to Tokyo by land because the main road passed this village.  This village had the finest metal workers in all of Japan.  If there were a perfect wedding ring to be found it would be here.   Kenshin wandered the streets till he found a store that looked a bit worn down and out of the way.  To a normal person it was not a store worth going into, but if Kenshin was to find the perfect wedding ring he would need a craftsman with years of experience, and those sort of people would not be found on the main streets.

Kenshin entered the shop, looking around in the dim glow of the room, making his way to the cabinets holding a small assortment of rings and jewelry.  The shop owner a very old man but still looking very keen in eye made his way from the back at the sound of bells above the door ringing, signaling a customer.  "Oh hello, young man, what can I do for you?"  he asked as he slowly moved onto a stool.  "Ah wait, your not that young are you?  Almost fooled me for a moment there you did."

Kenshin smiled, he had found the right place.  Now would he have the money to buy the perfect ring for Kaoru-dono.  "I'm looking for a wedding ring."  He explained, best to make it to the point, he wasn't here to haggle around, like he would in the normal market place.

The old man nodded.  "Yes, yes of course."  He pulled out a tray holding a small selection of rings.  "Waited a while before asking the girl didn't you?" he stated.  Kenshin only nodded as he looked at each ring with a careful eye.  "Well it's none of my business.  Anything special you're looking for?"

Kenshin shook his head.  "No, not really.  I will know it when I see it." he explained.  'None of these will do for Kaoru-dono', Kenshin thought to himself.  'They are all of the best craftsmanship but still not good enough for her.'

Kenshin looked about to sigh as he went through the second tray.  'Red hair, cross scar…could it be.'  The shopkeeper thought.  He's eyes told him one thing, but his mind would not believe such things.  'He does wear a sword.  But the expression on his face is not that of a killer.  Who would have ever heard of the Battousai getting married after all?  But what if…' Kenshin looked about ready to leave the store, not having founded what he wanted.  "Wait a moment.  I have something special.  It may be just what you're looking for."  Stated the owner before slipping into the back room.  He came back with a small box and passed it over to the red head.

Kenshin was about to leave the store but the owner had stopped him.  Kenshin slowly opened the box the owner had brought out for him from the back.  'This is it.' about screamed Kenshin, the perfect ring for Kaoru-dono.  But how much was it going to cost him?  "How much?" asked Kenshin.  He would pay any amount for Kaoru-dono's happiness now but his wallet may not be able to accommodate him.  The ring didn't look very expensive, but truly the best piece in the entire store.  The craftsmanship on it alone made it double the cost of any of the other rings, and it wasn't gaudy or overblown.  It was the most perfect ring he had ever seen.

 "I think it's to expensive for the likes of you."  The owner explained, watching as Kenshin closed the box and started to slide it back.  "But I can see in your eyes that it would go to a very special woman.  So take it.  My wife would have wanted it that way."  Explained the storeowner. 

Kenshin didn't know what to say but there was no arguing with the man, "Domo arigato de gazoma." Bowing his head very low to the shopkeeper.  The owner handed the box over to Kenshin and watched him leave the store.  Kenshin would never know how perfect the ring was for Kaoru-dono.  It would turn out where Kenshin had lost his family at a young age; his grandfather had been an accomplished metal smith.