Author's Note: This chapter was a pain in the butt to write. I wrote about a half of it, went back to proof-read it and found so many errors it isn't funny. I almost deleted it and walked away. But, I didn't. I went through and corrected it all…well, hopefully I did.

I apologize if I'm a little behind. I got started later on this chapter than I planned, and I didn't have the needed motivation to finish it till this afternoon. But, I think it turned out rather well.

Reviewer Responses:

Wolfie-chan18: Thanks for reviewing again. I'm glad you found the chapter funny. (smile) I'm sorry I haven't gotten a chance to review your updated chapters and your new story…I've been so busy lately, it's not funny. Hopefully I'll get around to it soon. Thanks again. Hope you like this chapter as well!

CrypticMaidenRK: I'm very happy you liked it. Hope you like this chapter as well. Thanks so much for reviewing.

JBella: Thanks for telling me your kind thoughts. I'm happy you like the way the story is going so far. Glad you reviewed!

Sapphire Priestess: I realized in my last reviewer responses, I accidentally called you Sapphire Princess. Ugh, I'm so sorry. It was 2:30 in the morning and I obviously wasn't paying close attention. But, I'm so happy to see you've enjoyed my story so far. Thanks so much for telling me your thoughts. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Lena17: I'm glad you like the direction in which the story is going. I'm trying my best the make it a nice piece of writing. Thanks so much for reviewing.

Brittanie Love: Glad you reviewed again. It's always great to see repeat reviewers!

Bradybunch4529: I love reading what you like best about each chapter. It's so interesting to see what really pops out at the reader. Thanks so much for reviewing again. I always look forward to your reviews.

Ryoko The Goddess of War and Vamiper (Jessica Trail): I'm happy you like my story so far. Thanks so much for reviewing!

Ange Noir: This chapter is pretty long as well, so I hope you like that. (grin) Nah, I think everyone survived Kaoru's desert…well, at least we hope so, right? Lol. Hope you do (did) well on your mid-terms. Thanks for reviewing again.

inuwolf04: Thanks for reviewing again. (smile) I hope you like this chapter as well!

Megumi Readman: Sano is an unusually strange man. (grin) Silly, silly, silly. Well, I'm glad I at least got you to smile. My sisters refuse to laugh when they read something funny as well. Thanks for reviewing again!

Hanako110: Well, here's some more. (grin) I like reading stories all at once as well…keeps the flow going. I'm glad you find my writing good. And don't worry about rambling. I tend to do it as well. Lol. I'm so happy you're enjoying my story this much. Thanks so much for reviewing.

Pego: I find it really fun to play around with Kaoru and Yahiko. They have such a dynamic relationship, it's hard to avoid their interaction. I'm glad you like what I'm doing with them. Thanks so much for reviewing. Your thoughts are muchly appreciated.

animegurl23: I'm not sure if I'll make them spar with a bokken or if I'll actually make Kenshin and Kaoru spar, although to tell the truth, it's what I had originally intended for the last chapter, but it came out a little differently. I still might do that though if I find the appropriate place to put it. Thanks so much for reviewing!

person: The 'deranged Tarzan' was my sister's favorite line as well. It was a random thought I figured would go well with the context of the story. My Mom has thing for the old black and white Tarzan movies, and I got this mental image of Johnny Weismiller (sp?) (Tarzan actor) swinging through the trees when I wrote it. Lol. My sisters just smile when they read something funny. No laugh at all, so it's hard to judge whether my writing is humorous. I'm the opposite of them. I burst out laughing when I find something funny, drawing odd looks from people in the room. (sigh) It's good to know I have a loyal reviewer. (grin) And don't worry about me erasing your reviews. Thanks for reviewing again. So happy you're enjoying it!

kagomeafan: Her cooking really is horrendous, isn't it? (grin) Thanks for reviewing. Glad you're enjoying it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Tendrils of Sunset

Chapter 9

"Whispered Romance"

"I think you've misunderstood me," Kaoru said as her eyes narrowed to small slits, spearing Misao with a hard gaze, ruthlessly causing her to squirm anxiously.

Misao tried to manage an upbeat smile to wipe the increasingly livid haze that clouded Kaoru's face, but failed miserably. Wiping her sweaty palms against the dark navy fabric of her knee-length suit skirt, she swallowed reflexively and tapped the tip of her blue dress shoe against the floor. Misao cleared her throat nervously and blinked rapidly, turning her eyes to floor, unable to take the full force of Kaoru's glare.

"No, no," Misao muttered underneath her breath. Hesitantly she looked back at the glowering Kaoru with a sheepish smile, shrugging her shoulders minutely. "I, uh, completely understood what you said when you accepted the job."

Kaoru's eyebrows drew together in annoyed bemusement as she crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her rigid stance slightly.

In an agitated manner, Kaoru replied, "And, so what? Why am I all of a sudden signed up to work next semester?" Kaoru's head went up a notch and her nostrils flared with impatience. "I remember stating very clearly that I could only work this semester. This semester!" she repeated, tapping her fingers against her side jerkily.

Clenching her fists and shaking her head, Misao bit her bottom lip and drew her eyebrows together in a line of perturbed vexation. Her eyes shifted to the area right over Kaoru's shoulder as if looking for someone, and then turned back to the fidgeting woman in front of her.

"You've become somewhat of an anomaly, Kaoru," Misao started with a weary sigh. "Everyone expected you to be a run of the mill photographer who knew next to nothing about teaching a group of rowdy teenagers. I had to beg to get our superiors to even give you a chance." Misao stopped for a small second and her usually laughing gaze altered to unveil a pleading look of dark desperation. "They've been hounding me for weeks to get you to agree to a second semester."

With a wry upraise of her eyebrow, Kaoru frowned. "And you told them I agreed?"

Misao twiddled with the sleeve of her navy coat and she nodded hesitantly. "Please say yes. I can…still say you rejected. I told them it was a tentative yes. Not concrete."

The two women stared at each for a long, silent minute. Misao's hope dwindled with the ticking of each second. Kaoru rolled her eyes upward and shook her head with finality, a look of calm acceptance sweeping over her features.

"I've said this before, and I'll probably say this again, but you owe me, Misao," Kaoru said with a heavy sigh.

An ecstatic grin split the doomed expression on Misao's face. The formerly gloomy young woman sprang to immediate life, clapping her hands together in happy relief.

Before Kaoru could utter anything else, Misao grabbed her forearm and literally dragged her into the small closet-sized office. Pushing Kaoru forcefully into a small mauve chair filled with miscellaneous papers, Misao stepped over the countless objects littering the blue carpet, hurriedly making her way over to her desk. Her forehead crinkling with frown lines, she started to shuffle through the mountain papers that had accumulated on it from messy filing techniques. Mumbling to herself when she came up empty handed, Misao frowned, huffing with puzzlement as she looked over at the looming black file-cabinet in the corner, then back to the desk, and finally to her chair which rested behind the small, cluttered desk against the brown wall in an unfortunate state of dejection.

A knowing smile slowly crept over Misao's colored lips as she licked the fingertip of her pointer finger for traction, flipped through some yellow papers on the seat of the chair, then let out a jubilant exclamation of pride when she pulled out a thin green slip of paper with messy writing on it. Strutting over to Kaoru, she handed the paper to her and crossed her arms over her chest with smug smile.

"That's the tentative schedule for your semester after the Christmas holidays. The classes are at the same time, just on different days to accommodate for the students who wanted to join your class, but also wished to continue their involvement with the school's award winning choir."

Squinting to try and decipher the scrawled writing, Kaoru gave Misao a passive smile and stood up from her chair slowly.

"This is written in English, right?" Kaoru asked, turning the paper sideways for some enlightenment.

Waving her hand dismissively, Misao let out a tinkle of laughter and returned to her desk with a happy jaunt in her step. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Her eyes widened with exaggerated antagonism while she pursed her lips. "My writing gets worse the more I try to neaten it, so I've decided to go with the flow," Misao explained, flipping her long braid of dark hair over her shoulder distractively.

Peering at the messy mass of multicolored pen-strokes, Kaoru sent her friend an amazed smile and lifted her hand in a small wave as she exited the cracker-box office, stuffing the slip of paper into her pocket. Glancing at the small silver watch on her wrist, Kaoru calculated the remaining time of the scheduled lunch period and deduced there was still time to indulge in some much needed midday nourishment.

Her pumps clicked on the polished floor of the deserted hallway as she quickly walked to the marked lunchroom. Pushing back a slip of her hair that had come free from the loose bun at the nape of her neck, Kaoru turned a corner and headed straight for the lunchroom. Arriving a few short moments later, she pushed open the large aqua door and stepped into the oversized room buzzing with excited laughter and playful banter. Heat from the warmers on the small bar with the day's lunch food sent out a wave of humid air, clouding the room with hazy warmth.

Kaoru weaved through the many students who stood or sat happily at their tables, conversing with their friends and table-mates. A smile creased her lips when she saw her cousin sitting with Kenshin at a table in the corner, their heads bent together as if formulating some secret conspiracy. Tsubame, the young girl who seemed attached to Yahiko these days, stood to the side, her gaze glued the swaying trees outside the school lunchroom's window. As Kaoru neared the whispering pair, she caught hints of something pertaining to tangents, cosines and complicated graphs.

Ah, calculus. Currently Yahiko's worst subject. He still refused to get a tutor to assist him in his studies. Apparently, though, he'd found a willing "tutor" in their kind neighbor.

Quietly, Kaoru pulled out a red plastic chair from the table and sat down, resting her elbows on the cool surface and peering at the two curiously. Yahiko slid his gaze to hers slowly, a look of irritation flickering in the brown depths of his eyes. Kaoru smiled knowingly at him and tilted her head to the side. With a sigh, the boy turned back to the man he sat beside and set his pencil flat on the table.

Interrupting Kenshin's informative narrative, Yahiko said in a dry tone, "Why don't I just come to your room after school? It's really noisy in here."

Kenshin trailed off and looked up from the paper he was writing a mathematical equation on, his eyes clouding with slight confusion. He blinked at the boy, then noticed Kaoru sitting silently beside Yahiko.

"Ah," Kenshin started with a small nod of comprehension. "That's fine. We should be able to finish this then."

Yahiko gathered his stray pencils and closed his green spiral notebook with a slap. He grabbed his backpack from the floor and turned away from the adults. Touching Tsubame lightly on her upper arm, Yahiko motioned for her to follow him. Together, the pair walked over to a crowded table at the other end of the room and joined in with the animated laughter.

"Is he having much trouble?" Kaoru asked Kenshin with a slight frown.

"Nah. Just a little confusion on a few simple concepts." Kenshin smiled at her. "Nothing a little help can't fix."

"Thanks," Kaoru replied with a smile of understanding appreciation.

Kenshin leaned back in his chair and winked at her with mischievous mirth, his eyes glowing with a hint of trouble. "I helped you in High School. Figured I could do the same with your cousin."

The slight redhead bent over and grabbed a medium sized bag from underneath his chair. Settling it down on the table with a firm plop, he unfolded the top and reached inside to pull out a large plastic Tupperware dish. Kenshin reached back inside causing the paper bag to crinkle and pulled out two white plastic forks, keeping one for himself, while casually handing Kaoru the other one.

Wiggling excitedly in her chair, Kaoru's eyes lighted with anticipation as she leaned forward, waiting for Kenshin to take off the green lid.

"So what do we have today?" she asked slyly, grinning at him eagerly.

"Mmm, not that recipe you gave me yesterday," he answered with a sudden laugh of slight incredulity. "I tried it last night, and the end result was this conglomeration of green goo, yellow sprinkles and mushy pickles." He scrunched his nose up with disgusted humor and shook his head slowly, amazement apparent in his unhurried movements. "I didn't even have to courage to eat it."

A sheepish smile graced his lips as he hunched his shoulders down slightly, appealing to Kaoru with silent eyes. Kaoru seemed slightly confused at this unforeseen problem as she absently twirled a stray strand of hair with her pointer and middle finger. She blew out a breath of air and shrugged faintly, pursing her lips with confusion.

Perching her chin in her hand, Kaoru bit the inside of her cheek. "That was my grandmother's recipe."

Kenshin leaned forward and bopped her lightly on the nose, chuckling. "She left out some key ingredients."

"Well, she did say that it had a couple secret ingredients that she couldn't possibly write down." Kaoru tapped her fingernails against the table-top. "Now that I think about it, most of her ingredients are the same way."

Pulling the lid of the Tupperware dish off, Kenshin looked at Kaoru, comprehension dawning. "And these wouldn't be the recipes that you use to cook with, would they?"

"Of course."

Setting the lid aside, Kenshin pushed the food to the center of the table so they could both reach it easily. "Well, that explains a lot."

A delicious aroma of expertly cooked lasagna wafted into the air, causing Kaoru's mouth the water and her eyes to widen at the beautiful sight of the warm Italian food. Her stomach rumbled hungrily as she slid her plastic fork into the scrumptious pasta, snagging a fork full of the treat.

"About what?" Kaoru asked around a mouth full of lasagna, vaguely recalling Kenshin's last random comment.

"Nothing," he responded a shake of his head and a wry smile while he watched her chew his cooking happily.


On their way back to their respective classrooms thirty minutes later, Kaoru tapped Kenshin lightly on his forearm and tilted her head to the side in slight question.

"I'm funding a small after-school field trip tonight since it's Friday. The carnival's in town and there are some great photo opportunities there. About half of my class is coming with their parents and I was wondering if you wanted to come along?"

Kenshin shoved his hands into his pockets and stopped in front of the door to his classroom. Nodding his head slowly, he replied, "What time? I have to help Yahiko for a little while this afternoon."

"About five-thirty. I asked Yahiko if he wanted to go, but he claims he already has important plans," Kaoru said, clasping her hands behind her back.

Smiling slowly, he stepped backwards into his classroom. "Yeah. I'll just meet you at the entrance gates, okay? I have some other errands I want to squeeze in as well."

Smiling happily at him, Kaoru nodded emphatically, "Great. I'll see you then." Turning, she hurried down the hallway to her classroom, a slight bounce apparent in her step.


Squeezing herself underneath the low bed with muttered groan of irritation, Kaoru inadvertently inhaled a nose full of musky dust and, in turn, let out an explosively loud sneeze. She jerked her head with a grimace and bopped the top of her head against the mattress support beams with a silent crack.

"Damnit," she muttered to herself with a disgusted grimace, scrunching up her nose reflexively as she felt another sneeze building. She quickly stuffed her hand underneath her nose and instinctively tensed her shoulders. But thankfully nothing happened. Sighing absently, Kaoru resumed her perilous search for her missing shoe.

Opening her eyes and squinting, she slowly managed to make out the slight silhouette of a familiar tennis shoe. With a cry of cheerful relief, Kaoru reached her sweaty hand out and wrapped her grasping fingers around a strip of lone shoe lace, pulling the annoying shoe to her. Once she had to shoe snug within her possession, Kaoru gripped the white rubber sole and slowly pushed herself out from under the bed. She sat up with an irritated moan, brushing her ruffled bangs from her flushed face.

With an excited murmur on her lips, Kaoru pushed her sock-clad foot into the suede prison and tied the stark white laces into a neat bow. Placing her palm flat against the cool floor, Kaoru pushed herself up off the floor with a satisfied huff. She wiped her hands against the front of her blue jeans to brush the dirty wrinkles away, and stepped over to the full-length mirror against the wall to double check her appearance for the final time.

Her jeans, dark green blouse, and tennis shoes looked fine. But…Kaoru scrunched up her nose and brushed her hands through her mussed hair in an impatient manner. Freaking dust bunnies. They clung to random strands of her hair with annoying exactness, creating white blobs of interruption in the normally shiny mass. Reaching over to grasp a hairbrush off her vanity, she hurriedly ran it through her hair, made one last final check to make sure the dust bunnies met their untimely end, and turned away from the revealing mirror. Grabbing her purple purse from the foot of her bed, Kaoru slung it over her shoulder in a swift motion.

With even strides, she exited her bedroom and hurried down the many stairs. She'd have to cross the small expanse of water between her island and the mainland, and then drive her Ford Explorer which was parked in the petite driveway next to Kenshin's house to the carnival.


Standing beside the colorfully painted ticket booth at the entrance gate of the carnival, Kaoru slipped her hands into her jean pockets and pulled out a small wad of purple tickets she'd bought earlier in the week for her students. Thankfully, the clouds previously dominating the sky had dissipated and the slowly descending sun cast a shadow of pale, streaking colours.

A girl from one of Kaoru's classes walked over, a cheerful smile on her face. Her mother walked beside her, carrying a small blue camera bag over her shoulder while talking quietly to her daughter.

Kaoru smiled at her student and extended one of the tickets to the girl. "Hello, Emily," she said kindly. "Go on inside. I'm waiting for other students to appear."

Emily nodded in response, and took the ticket from her teacher. She grabbed her mother's arm and propelled the older woman to the guard tearing the tickets. They walked in together, talking with hushed excitement.

More students trickled in as the minutes ticked by, and by the time five-thirty rolled around, everyone except one student and Kenshin had showed up. Kaoru crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the metal fence she stood in front of. Her eyes scanned the jam-packed parking lot while she tapped the tip of her tennis shoes against the concrete, humming small melody silently.

"Hey," a soft voice uttered into Kaoru's ear, hot breath warming her neck, causing tingles of pleasure to skitter down her spine.

Kaoru smiled happily, clutching her hands together in front of her waist. She slid her eyes from the parking lot to Kenshin's still frame, a impish glint flashing in her sapphire orbs. He stood sideways, facing her, leaning his shoulder against the fence.

"Am I late?" he asked, his eyes tracing the planes of her face.

Kaoru tilted her head to the side and shrugged slightly. "Mmm, a little bit," she teased. "Maybe an hour or so. I've been waiting here forever it seems."

"Right," Kenshin replied drolly, narrowing his eyes to peer at her suspiciously. "I distinctly heard you say five-thirty, Kamiya."

Kaoru turned her gaze back to the parking lot and sighed dramatically, slumping her shoulders dismally for effect. "I guess you're right. As always," she uttered softly, her tone taking on a hint of fabricated gloom.

Kenshin chuckled at her idiocy. He started to say something more, but was interrupted by an excited call for Kaoru.

"Miss Kamiya," Deirdre shouted enthusiastically, waving her hand back and forth as she bounced cheerfully toward the pair of adults.

An easy smile creased Kaoru's lips as she watched her student come closer, a camera clutched tightly between the girl's hands. Kaoru pulled a folded ticket from her pocket and handed it to Deirdre.

"My Mom said she was coming later. She had an errand to run," Deirdre explained with a smile. "But, I've got my camera. Is everyone else here?"

Kaoru nodded and motioned for Deirdre to go on. "Yep. Go right on inside. Mr. Himura and I will be right behind you."

The young girl nodded and walked over to the man tearing the tickets, and disappeared inside.

"We better follow her. I don't want her wandering around alone," Kaoru said, nudging Kenshin in the side as she pushed off from the fence. She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her. "Let's go, Mr. Himura."

He followed her obediently, a goofy smile pasted on his lips. He cocked an eyebrow at her and grinned. "Mr. Himura? You know I don't think you've ever actually called me that before. Sounds so formal."

"Don't get used to it, Himura," she replied slyly. "I don't plan on calling you that name often."

Kenshin chuckled and followed his best friend inside the gate of the carnival. Together, they went off after Kaoru's enthusiastic student, chatting merrily.


Hours later, under the dark cloak of the clear night sky, Kenshin and Kaoru ambled down the wide concrete path, passing the many lighted booths with numerous stuffed animals and shouting people. Familiarly, Kenshin slung his arm over Kaoru's shoulders as she clutched a bright pink puppy in arms, won by a certain redhead. In response to his movement, Kaoru wrapped her arm snugly around his slim waist. Kenshin ruffled his hand through her loose hair playfully. They passed many rides, listening to screaming people enjoying the daring trip of adventure the may rides offered.

Suddenly, Kenshin stopped in front of ride.

An extremely large ride.

A revolving, flashing, singing ride.

A ride Kaoru had refused to go on since the first day she'd laid eyes on it.

The dire, dreaded Ferris wheel.

Kaoru stepped away from Kenshin, a frown marring her features. Tapping her fingers against the plush fur of her stuffed puppy, she raised a quizzical eyebrow, questioning Kenshin silently.

Kenshin turned away from her and placed his hands down on top of the cool metal on the short fence in front of them, watching the people currently on the ride who were laughing happily.

"Don't you think it's time you finally tried it?" he asked solemnly.

Kaoru swallowed reflexively and looked past Kenshin to the perilous ride that had always caused her heart to beat a little faster in uncomfortable trepidation. She stepped up beside Kenshin and leaned weakly against the fence, her body suddenly drained of energy.

"Most of your students have left, and the remaining ones have their parents with them. I'll be in the seat beside you. And there's no way the chair will plummet randomly to the ground," he said, correctly voicing Kaoru's worst fear.

Blinking, Kaoru turned her gaze to the person she trusted most in the world. She knew Kenshin would never force her to do it if she didn't want to do it. If she refused as she had every other time in the past, they'd walk way as if nothing happened. Kenshin always understood.

Maybe this was why a bubble of nervous exhilaration flushed Kaoru's chest with heat, her cheeks burning terribly with hot anxiety.

And maybe this was why she suddenly had the uncontrollable urge to go on her most feared ride.

Breathlessly, Kaoru turned to Kenshin and grabbed his warm hand with her now sweaty one, her eyes darting to his as she swallowed with difficulty.

In a voice so soft, Kenshin could barely hear her, Kaoru whispered in a shaken tone, "Okay."

Kenshin's eyes widened a small degree, but he quickly shuttered his astonished expression expertly. A slow grin of amazement graced his lips as he tilted his head to the side to peer at her.

"Are you sure?" he asked her.

Kaoru nodded jerkily, her hand tightening on his for comfort. With a small step, she moved closer to him. Kenshin studied her for a moment, watching as she tried to contain her intense emotions of unease. Tugging her gently, he propelled the both of them to the young teenager collecting the tickets for the ride. The girl stared at the striking couple - the short, though distinguished looking red-haired man and the pretty woman standing by his wide, trembling slightly. Popping her pink bubble gum, the girl accepted the tickets and opened the small waist-high door, allowing the two to come inside. The ride stopped to allow a pair of giggling girls to get off. They clutched their sides in hilarity as they left the vicinity of the rides and disappeared around the side of a small concession stand.

Kaoru didn't seem to notice the two girls. She stared at the swinging yellow seat with wide eyes. Kenshin placed a hand on the middle of her back and pushed her closer to the ride, reassuring her with silent and sturdy thoughtfulness. Together, they sat inside the metal chair. Kaoru watched as the heavy metal bar was pushed toward their bodies, trapping them both inside.

Kaoru tensed the moment the ride started.

The first time around, Kaoru's eyes were shut tightly form the astonishing view, her strong grip clutching the bar in front of her for dear life, and her body was rigid with pent-up tension. Kenshin scooted closer to his best friend, hoping the calm, relaxed set of his body would slowly diffuse over to Kaoru, lighting her load of dreadful thoughts. She bit her lip between her teeth while a slow, almost inaudible whimper passed through her lips.

"Open your eyes."

Kaoru started a little at the unexpected sound of his soothing voice.

"Kaoru. Open your eyes."

In addition to Kenshin's small plead, the slow movements of the rocking chair and gentle tinkle of melodious music lulled her gently, making Kaoru's eyes open languidly.

Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes took in the brilliance of the view. The higher they climbed and farther away they traveled from the steady ground, the more surreal the experience became. The small people below scurried around, little dots dancing amongst the small booths and miscellaneous carnival rides. The ground glowed luminously with twinkling, rainbow lights, creating an aura of excited exhilaration.

So beautiful.

The Ferris wheel slowed and came to a stop just as Kenshin and Kaoru crested the very top of the large circular machine. Some of the panic returned then, Kaoru's shoulders bunching with strain, her breath catching in her throat. Reading her body language, Kenshin grabbed Kaoru's hand and intertwined their fingers with ease. Kaoru reacted slowly, her fingers gradually curling securely around Kenshin's own hand.

Kenshin waited as Kaoru's breathing slowed and her expression relaxed somewhat. Unconsciously, he leaned closer to where he could smell the exotic jasmine scented shampoo she had washed her hair with and observe the faint touch of small worry-lines marring her usually smooth forehead. Fluidly, Kaoru turned her head to Kenshin, her eyes swimming with mixed and turbulent emotions. Though, they widened slightly when she realized her close proximity to Kenshin.

Their foreheads were almost touching, eyes locked in a limbo of hazed thoughts, lips scant inches apart to where Kaoru could feel Kenshin's shallow breath on her flushed face. Slowly, Kaoru leaned in closer, causing their breath to mingle. Stomach in nervous knots, she clenched the fabric of her jeans with her free hand. Kenshin's eyelids hooded his hazed eyes drowsily as stab of acute anticipation swelled inside of him.

So close.

So heart-achingly close.

The ride jerked suddenly, rattling the two adults inside the rocking yellow seat. Blinking, Kenshin hurriedly snapped back, his stomach leaping in his throat while Kaoru leaned to the side, her fear momentarily abated by the keen disappointment raging in her pumping bloodstream. She turned away from Kenshin's probing gaze before he noticed the shift in her expression and placed both of her faintly trembling hands on the cool metal railing in front of her.

The slow descent of the Ferris wheel brought them back to earth - or rather reality. Once they came to a stop on the elevated platform on the ground, the constraining bar was lifted up and away, allowing them to get off the ride with ease. Kaoru shuddered slightly as a sudden chilly breeze slipped slowly over the exposed skin of her arms. She wrapped her arms around her waist and followed Kenshin out of the vicinity of the looming Ferris wheel.

As they started to walk through the numerous chattering people once more, joining the fold of excitement, Kaoru felt a small smile curl the edge of lips. She gasped as an unexpected comforting warmth enveloped her, pleasantly driving her eyes to close with knee-weakening bliss. Turning to the now jacket-less Kenshin, Kaoru's expression softened as she watched a kind, calming smile slip over his beautiful face. Clutching his borrowed jacket more closely around her body, Kaoru sighed.

"Do you want some cotton candy?" he asked with a lighthearted wink.

Kaoru tilted her head to the side and slipped her left arm through his like she did when they were younger.

"Sounds good to me."

And they walked off side by side in an easy silence, both slightly dazed.

Both still just a tad confused.


Author's Note: I'm not sure how fast I'll be able to get the next chapter out. It should be relatively soon…no longer than a couple weeks. Promise.

Remember to review!