Pride Vs. Desire
By:: Melissa

Italics- Flashback

Disclaimer:: I do not own anything from this story except for the storyline and made up characters. Everything belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki, creator of Rurouni Kenshin. Constructive criticism is welcome. No flames please.

Epilogue

One Year Later….

Kento laughed and thrust his sword into Megumi's heart. Her eyes opened wide with shock. Kento quickly pulled the sword back out of her, blood splattering all over his clothes. Megumi fell to the ground, her body going limp.

"I guess this is goodbye," Kento said cheerfully, walking away from the bloody scene, never to be heard from again.

Kenshin quickly moved to Megumi's side, taking her hand in his.

"Megumi-dono, please say something!" Kenshin said frantically, searching on Megumi's wrist for a pulse.

"I'm sorry….Kenshin….that I couldn't….avenge Sanosuke…." Megumi stuttered, her voice weak.

"Don't be sorry about that….save your voice, we need to get you help," Kenshin said quickly, moving to pick her up. Megumi put a hand on his arm, making him stop.

"Kenshin, I don't want to live if Sanosuke is gone. There would be no point. I would much rather die here in Sanosuke's presence than to die without him next to me. Please, allow me this one last thing." Megumi tried to move herself next to Sanosuke's side. Kenshin picked her up and set her next to Sanosuke.

He was speechless. He didn't know what to do. It was exactly what he didn't want to happen. He didn't want it to end up like the battle with Tomoe. He refused to believe that this was happening.

"Sanosuke, I'm sorry….I couldn't save you…..I'm sorry I never told you…..how much…I love you….I wish I had….now….so that….we could have….been together….Sanosuke….I'm coming home now…." Megumi's voice shook as she took one last shuddering breath and breathed no more.

Kenshin shook his head wearily, trying to get the memory out of his mind. He didn't need to be thinking about those types of things. He didn't need that horrible scene replayed in his head. Not today. Any day but today.

It was April 16th. It was only one year ago that Sanosuke and Megumi were brutally killed. Kenshin looked up at the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly. He had searched for Kento for three months but couldn't find any trace of him. He couldn't find any information about him, his whereabouts. Nothing. He sighed and kept walking, trying not to look at the floating cherry blossoms around him.

He couldn't believe that it was only a year ago that they were killed. Since they've been gone. As he thought about it, memories about the past year came back into his mind. Cradling Kaoru through the night, calming her sobs. Holding Yahiko back from running to Sanosuke's side during the burial. Having his own nightmares from that night, waking up to the sight of Kento's icy eyes staring at him. Listening to Kaoru's moans when she herself was having nightmares.

He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand the pain, the tears, the hurt. He didn't want any of it. However much he tried to hide it, he couldn't. He was in pain. He was hurting. However much he tried to be numb, to keep the smile on his face, to keep the mask on, he couldn't fool anyone. Not even himself. He looked around and took a detour and walked into the lonely cemetery. Walking for a little while longer, he found it. Their graves.

He stood in front of the two adjacent graves, looking at them solemnly.

Sagara Sanosuke. Fighting Enthusiast, Noble Fighter, and Beloved Friend.

Takani Megumi. Skilled Doctor, Dear Friend, and Caring Healer.

Kenshin bowed his head, wiping away the forming tears. He wouldn't cry like this. Not in front of them. He couldn't. Lifting his head, he looked at the sun, starting to lower in the sky. He looked once more at the graves before leaving for the dojo.

Walking the same path he had left earlier, the sun was sinking on the horizon, the orange, yellow, and blues mixing with each other. He looked, his eyes blazing in the dying sunlight. Sighing, he hurried his walk, wanting to get home before the sun died.

"Let go of me!"

"No! You're coming home with me!"

"What if I don't wanna?"

"Who cares? You're still coming!"

"No I'm not!"

Kenshin looked down the road and saw a lanky but muscular boy and a petite girl walking together. The boy had his hand on the girl's arm and the girl had a sharp look in her eye.

"I'm not going! You're parents don't like me. Why should I go home with you?" The girl huffed, puffing out her cheeks.

"My parents haven't even met you! Come on, they would adore you, please?" the boy took his hand off of the girl's arm and stopped walking. She stopped as well, turning her head to look at him.

"Fine! I'll go, but you owe me," She said, laughing at him. He smiled and took her hand.

Kenshin looked at them from a distance and surveyed their appearance. Something about it seemed oddly familiar.

The boy was tall and had longer brown hair. His eyes were green and always had a twinkle in them, making him look very mischievous. As if he was always getting into trouble. The girl was shorter but still tall and she had long black hair, very glossy and shiny. Her eyes were strikingly blue, an ice blue that could pierce the soul. But behind that cold appearance lay a softer more gentle aura that few could see.

Kenshin stared perplexedly at the two of them walking together, holding hands. He couldn't put his finger on it. Who did they remind him of? But he finally figured it out.

"Hey, I'll race you." The boy smiled at the girl, letting go of her hand.

"No! You always win!" she exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'll let you win if you want." The boy smirked at her.

"No way, you rooster, I'll beat you fair and square." She stuck her nose in the air and puffed out her chest.

"Oh really? Let's see you try, you vixen." With that the boy started running away. The girl chased after him and got right up next to him before she tripped on a fallen branch. The boy immediately stopped and went back to help her up.

"Ow…" The girl held her leg, a red spot appearing on her kimono.

"Oh, you're bleeding…we need to get you home." The boy looked nervously at the cut on her leg.

"It's fine, I'll be fine. Why didn't you finish the race? You would've won." She got up gingerly.

"Well, I wanted to make sure you were okay. I don't want you getting hurt," he said, blushing profusely. She blushed too.

"Hey, Aiko?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"I want to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Well….."

"Suzaku-kun, please tell me."

"Well….I just wanted to tell you that…. I…..I love you." The boy looked down, his ears turning red. The girl looked at him for a minute and pulled him into a hug.

"Do you really? You know…I've been meaning to tell you the same thing." She blushed, turning her face away from his. He touched her face and gently pushed it back to face his.

"Hey, look at me." She did, looking at him shyly.

"I love you and no matter what our parents say a bout it, we'll always be together. Whether together as husband and wife or together through the heart, no matter what happens, we'll always have each other." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and held her close in his arms.

"I love you too, Suzaku-kun….you promise to always be here with me?"

"I promise." She pulled out of his embrace and quickly grabbed his hand as they started walking again back home.

Kenshin knew that his mouth was agape but he did nothing to hide it. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. Suddenly, a memory from that fateful day one year ago resurfaced into his mind.

"Well well well, little miss fox is wanting to die too. How romantic. She and her lover want to die together. I'll be pleased to oblige." Kento ran at Megumi, raising his sword to kill her.

"No!" Kenshin yelled, his eyes growing wide.

Megumi closed her eyes, waiting for the pain, the stab, the blood.

But none of that came. She didn't feel pain. She didn't feel the blood on her skin. She didn't feel the stab into her flesh. She opened her eyes and saw Sanosuke standing before her, the sword in his stomach, his arms outstretched, protecting Megumi. She fell to her knees, shaking violently.

"You…will not touch….her…" Sanosuke stuttered, blood coming down from his mouth.

"And what if I do?" Kento asked, his voice sneering.

"I swear….I'll come back…and kill you…." Sanosuke grabbed the hilt of Kento's sword and pulled it out of his stomach. He coughed, more blood coming out. He stood up slowly, his legs wobbling. He held onto Kento's sword, facing him.

"I'll be sure that you will never come back," Kento screamed, punching Sanosuke in the head. Sanosuke fell over, his hands going limp on the sword. Megumi ran over to Sanosuke's side and held him in her arms.

"Sanosuke, you can't die, we'll get you help, you'll survive this, I promise," Megumi was talking through the tears, her hands trying to cover up Sanosuke's stab wound.

"Megumi, I can't be saved. But I promise that I will protect you forever. Through life and through death. You mean the world to me and I was just too prideful to admit it to you until it was too late. We could have had something wonderful, something amazing. But we didn't and that's just a sad fact. I will never leave you, you little fox. I'm always with you, in your heart. I love you, Megumi and I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you," Sanosuke whispered, his voice faltering. He closed his eyes slightly, a smile across his face.

Kenshin walked home in a daze, the memory replaying in his mind over and over again.

"Kenshin, dinner is waiting for you if you want it." Kaoru served him his food and set it in front of his place on the floor and proceeded to leave, as she always did since Sanosuke and Megumi's death. But Kenshin grabbed his wife and held her tightly in his embrace. She tensed, surprised by Kenshin's unusual gesture.

"Kaoru, I think things are getting better for us. I think, I'm finally able to move on." Kenshin kept a hold onto his wife, a smile finally spreading across his face for the first time in a year.

"Why do you say that, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked, her face perplexed.

"I saw something today that….that brought back a little piece of Sanosuke and Megumi that I've been searching for since their death. I found it, Kaoru, I finally found it." Kenshin slumped into Kaoru's arms, tears and sobs wracking his body. He finally let out the tears he had been holding in all this time. Kaoru held onto her husband, comforting him.

He had finally seen it. That little bit of hope that everything was going to be alright. That Sanosuke and Megumi were finally together. That they nothing, not even death, would ever separate them again. He had seen those two children. He finally knew who they reminded him of. They reminded him of Sanosuke and Megumi, with a love and happiness they were not able to experience till the end of their days. But now, now they were finally able to be together.

"Sanosuke, Megumi," Kenshin said through the tears, "Welcome home."

The End

Yes. The story is officially completed. Hopefully for all of you that were a little (more than a little probably xD) sad by the ending, this has made it more bittersweet than just plain sad. So please review and i hope you enjoyed the story! Thanks! 3