EDITED!

Rurouni Kenshin is still not mine :(

Kaoru sat there with Yahiko for awhile longer. She wanted to make sure he was having a deep, dreamless sleep before she attempted to place him in his room. After his breathing steadied, she tried to stand without moving him much. It wasn't an easy thing to do. He was heavy for a ten-year-old and she was starting in an awkward position. After managing to rise with Yahiko cradled like a babe in her arms, Kaoru slowly made her way out of the training hall.

She exited and slowly started to walk across the grounds. She was staring at the ground, trying to see with the clouds now covering the moon while not tripping. All of a sudden, a tingle on the back of her neck made her look behind her. She made eye-contact with Kenshin. Or at least, she looked at his shadow. She could only see his outline in the dim light but she knew he was looking at her. He was sitting on the porch on the other side of the well. They stared at each other as the wind blew, tickling their faces and moving their hair.

Kaoru's cheeks flushed with anger. This man left Yahiko alone. He left a child by himself without anyone to take care of him. It was not an easily forgivable act.

Kenshin looked away first, his thick ponytail showing the movement of his head, and Kaoru continued on toward Yahiko's room. His discomfort pleased her.

She walked through the creaking dojo and approached his room. It was difficult, but she managed to get the door open without falling. She approached his futon and slowly laid him in it, pulling the covers over him. He immediately flipped over to his stomach, arms over his head, and began to snore. Kaoru grinned, her cheeks feeling stiff with all the dried tears. He'd always been a snorer.

Suddenly exhausted, she sat down next to Yahiko and looked at him. He was cute when he slept. His face relaxed from his constant frown, his mouth opened to release his snores. His hair was messy already and Kaoru reached out to fiddle with it in her fingers.

How could he leave a child as small as this to fend for himself?

Kaoru had a flashback to when she was a child. Her parents were dead. No one would take her. She was left alone in the dojo. She cleaned it, cooked in it, and protected it. Just because she was a child didn't mean people were always nice to her. She couldn't count how many times she'd had to defend her home and her honor from dirty low-lives. She had been so lonely. She had been all by herself. She would die before she allowed that to happen to Yahiko.

She turned away from him and looked at the entrance to his room.

What would possess Kenshin to leave? What could have happened that had been so bad that a young boy was left behind? Nothing she thought darkly. There is no excuse that could justify that.

Feeling awake again, she carefully tiptoed out of Yahiko's room. She slid the door shut, and began to march out to where Kenshin was. She exited onto the grounds and saw he hadn't left his spot. She couldn't tell what he was doing but could sense his tension. Good.

She strode over to him, her face beginning to form a scowl. Within seconds she was in front of him and could see him clearly.

He sat cross-legged on the porch, leaning against a post. His hands were squeezing his knees, elbows locked. His shoulders were tense and he didn't move at all. His bangs hid his face.

Kaoru's eyes started to form tears. Kaoru didn't want to pity him. She didn't want to be sad by how dejected he looked. She tried to stop the tears from coming. "I deserve an explanation," she said, her voice sounding raw from restraining her tears.

Kenshin didn't move.

"Kenshin," she said forcefully.

He slowly raised his head and met her eyes. She almost drowned in the sorrow there and the tears escaped. "Please Kenshin," she pleaded. "Tell me what happened."

He slowly looked down again. "This one doesn't want you feeling guilty, Kaoru-dono," he whispered. "It wasn't your fault."

"How about you let me decide how I should feel," she said, voice thick. "Just tell me what happened."

There was silence for a moment. Then Kenshin's shoulders started to shake. Kaoru's eyes widened and immediately reached out to touch him. "Kenshin?" He jerked away from her and stood up. Kaoru pulled her arm back slowly toward her chest. "What's wrong?"

His fists were tight at his side. "I can't talk about it Kaoru." He got up and slowly walked away, his wounds evident in his limp. Kaoru froze with shock. Not only did he stop with calling himself 'this one' he'd called her Kaoru. She wasn't as happy as she'd thought she'd be.

Fury. Rage. Anger. They all ripped through her in a moment and she fought to keep her body still. "Kenshin," she said quietly—coldly—viciously.

He continued to walk away.

"Himura," she said louder, glaring at the back of his head.

He stopped twenty feet away from her. He didn't turn.

She walked toward him slowly. She watched the muscles in his shoulders tighten as she came around and faced him. Kenshin was slightly taller than Kaoru so she had to look up slightly to meet his gaze.

She wanted to say so much to him. She wanted to yell and scream and hit and cry. So many emotions were roiled up in her. They were all scrambling up her throat, trying to get their say in. They chocked her. All she could do was stand there. Her fists were shaking. Her eyes were leaking. Her gaze was scorching.

Kenshin just looked at her. His face was a complete blank.

Her throat finally opened. "A week ago, Megumi came over and nearly cried because I had a couple of scratches from Enishi."

Kenshin blinked.

"Today, Sanosuke almost killed a petty thief when he threatened me," she continued.

Kenshin face twitched.

"A few moments ago, Yahiko had a screaming nightmare that I was dead and he was alone," she whispered.

Kenshin's face crumpled.

All of Kaoru's anger left her and was replaced by an aching sadness. "My family is not the same as when I was captured," she said, looking down. "They are broken and they are scared and I don't know why." She looked back up at him. His bangs hid his eyes from her. She reached up and lifted his chin. She gazed deep into his beautiful, sorrow-filled, violet eyes. "How am I supposed to help you, if I don't know what is wrong?"

Kenshin stared. He stared and he stared until he slowly looked up at the moon. So many emotions crossed his eyes Kaoru couldn't name all of them.

"I was about to defeat Enishi when one of his men burst through the side of the dojo," he began. His voice was quiet and shaking. "He grabbed hold of me and pinned me to the wall. I couldn't move. I couldn't break free. Enishi was walking into the smoke, toward you." He stopped and gazed at Kaoru, a lone tear running down his cheek. "I knew what he was going to do. I knew but I couldn't move. I'm considered the strongest samurai in all of Japan and I couldn't break his grip." He took a shuddering breath. "Sano and Saitou came and stopped him. They got him to let go of me and the moment my feet touched the ground I was racing toward you."

Kaoru was frozen in place, entranced by the remembered violence.

Within the dojo, Kaoru saw an outline in the smoke.

"I ran through the smoke."

Thinking it was Kenshin, Kaoru's heart lifted. Kenshin had defeated Enishi! He was coming to get her.

"It was the fastest I think I've run in my life, but it was far too slow."

Enishi walked through the gloom, a sadistic smile on his face. Kaoru's heart sank.

Kaoru jerked back to the present when Kenshin's head dropped into one hand and he began to cry. Tears rolled off his hand and onto the ground. His body shook and quaked with the force of his sobs. He gasped for air only to lose it again. Kaoru's heart splintered for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Tears ran hot down her face and she stepped forward to hug him. He drew back from her and what remained of her heart was stung.

Kenshin spoke into his hand, "When I got there," he paused to take a deep, shuddering, painful breath, "you're body was pinned to the wall inside the dojo. You had an x-shaped scar on your left cheek." He shuddered and finally looked into Kaoru's eyes. There were no words to describe his pain.

Kaoru's mouth dropped. Without thinking, she raised a hand to touch her cheek. Her eyes moved so they were staring at the scar on Kenshin's face. Kenshin, seeing where her gaze was, flipped his hair over his face, covering his shame-covered scar. They were silent for a long time. The nighttime sounds seemed to turn off with the tension of the moment.

"The spot on the wall that Yahiko was rubbing was where the sword was pinned, through you, into the wall."

Kaoru turned and faced that building. She'd died in there. Everyone thought she'd died in there.

"At that moment, my life was over. Everything stopped. I failed to protect the most important person to me again."

Kaoru snapped back and looked him.

He ignored her and looked across the grounds, tears falling freely. "I couldn't handle it. I was broke. I couldn't stand the thought of being around other people. I was tired of life; tired of trying to live. I went to Rakuninmura."

Kaoru gasped—her hand closed over her mouth. She tried to say something but Kenshin talked over her. It seemed he had forgotten she was there. "I was in my own personal hell, just like Enishi promised. Every breath I took made me ache. It felt like I had no heart. I was numb to everything, even when Megumi, Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Tsubame came to get me." He looked down with mortification.

"I told them to let me rest. Sanosuke came back later and punched me in the face to tell me good-bye," he absently raised a hand to rub his cheek. "Tsubame was the one who finally made me wake up," he finally looked back at Kaoru, the fog lifting from his eyes. "It was her cry for help that awoke me. A man in Rakuninmura, named Oibore, helped me discover why it was that Tsubame was the one to make me move."

"Why was it?" she asked.

For the first time that night—and she now realized, the first time since she returned—he smiled. He smiled a real smile. "I will always answer a call for help."

The smile, blessed though it was, fell from his face. He raised his hand and cupped Kaoru's cheek. His eyebrows furrowed as he gazed at her. "This one cannot express how sorry he is. This one realizes he should have told you sooner," his eyes filled with tears again. "This one told the others we shouldn't mention it to you. I just couldn't bear to see you guilty when I am the one at fault."

Kaoru leaned into his hand and covered it with her own. "I don't want you to feel guilty either, Kenshin," she said, giving him a small smile through her tears.

"This one is sorry he upset you so much tonight," he said, drawing his hand away and lowering his gaze.

Kaoru glared at him. "Will you stop that?"

Kenshin looked up at her in confusion.

"Quit pulling away from me! I know you think you're not worthy of comfort, but I do!" she cried.

Kenshin looked bewildered. "Kaoru-dono, I—,"

Kaoru interrupted. "And quit with the 'Kaoru-dono' stuff." He shut his mouth. "I won't lie to you Kenshin, I was mad. I was mad that you left Yahiko, but most of all I was mad that you didn't seem to think I could handle knowing."

Kaoru pointed to herself and leaned forward. "I am not a weak little girl. I am a woman who has a right to know when the people in her family are hurting. I have the right to know," she yelled the last part.

She closed the last few feet between her and Kenshin and hugged him fiercely. "I forgive you, Kenshin," she whispered, "as long as you promise never to lie to me again."

His arms—hesitantly at first—closed around her. All of a sudden he was squeezing her so hard she could barely breathe. "You are too good for an unworthy one like me," he whispered back.

Kaoru leaned back and looked at him with all the love in her now healed heart. "I've met a lot of unworthy men in my life, Kenshin Himura," she pointed to his heart. "You are not one of them. That's why I love you."

Kenshin's eyes went as wide as saucers and his mouth hung open. "You—you love me?"

Kaoru's eyes widened as much as Kenshin's and her cheeks went red. She hadn't meant to say that either. She looked down at the ground, unable to look at him for fear of rejection. In her emotional state, she didn't know how she'd handle it.

Kenshin lifted his hand from her back and raised her chin to look at him. He was frowning, and Kaoru's heart started to sink. "I don't understand you," he said. "I don't understand how someone could take a hitokiri into their home. I don't understand how somebody could allow Battousai to sleep in the room next to theirs." He wiped away a stray tear that fell down her face. "And I definitely don't understand how you can come to love a man who has caused nothing but life-threatening danger to you and your loved ones."

His gaze turned into liquid warmth and his violet eyes seemed to be swimming in love. "However, for what it's worth, this one loves you too."

They kissed just as the sun broke over the horizon.

A/N: Okay, so the ending was ridiculously cheezy, but I couldn't think of a way to end it. I liked the rest of it though and I hope you do too! Please review!

P.S. I am totally stumped for my next story. My inspiration level is at an all-time low. Does anyone have any ideas for me? I'm desperate!