Theme: Burn
Setting: AU
Pairing: BK
Warning: None
Note: None.
Words: 339
39. Burn
"Why, Kaoru? Why do you stay with him? He's nothing but fire- all you can do is burn."
At the time, she had thought Misao's words, her dire warning, a foolish thing. Kenshin wasn't all fire, and he wasn't going to burn her.
Now she knows better. Now she knows that everything they told her about him is true. The frightening thing is that she has no idea what to do about it. Leaving seems impossible, and in her heart she cannot bring herself to look him in the eye and reject him. She knows he would nod and turn away. She also knows he would break.
"These violent desires have violent ends, and in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss, consume."
Was she being consumed? Was she ash, burned to dust by his desires? Looking at him, watching him, she feels cold and alone. Doubting Kenshin is doubting that the sky is blue, and the grass is green. He is fundamental now. What can she do?
Hugging her knees, she says nothing. One day, she will muster the courage to go on. Until then, she huddles by him, unwilling to let him warm her any longer.
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"Why are you still here?"
The question, from him, is entirely unexpected. She feels like she's been slapped. "Because I love you."
"Why?"
"What do you mean, why? There's no answer to that that I can give to you."
"You know perfectly well how this will end." He whispers, eyes haunted. "Didn't your parents teach you not to play with fire?"
"Perhaps." She answers him. "Perhaps I will be burned to nothingness. But I'd rather burn with you than freeze without you, Kenshin."
A touch, a smile, a look. She doesn't need to say she loves him again. She doesn't need to hear it from him. She can feel herself on fire, crumbling into him, melting into him.
And she thinks to herself that if she burns for this, it will always be worth it.
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I can't sleep, thus, I write like a loon...I like this one though. Bite is actually my favorite right now.
Review! From chickentyrant5.