I could use this space to say how sorry I am that it took me this long to update, but life is hectic and I can only do so much. So I'm trying to get my stories caught up while I have this downtime from school and hopefully finish some! Standard disclaimers – I do not own Rurouni Kenshin!

Chapter 10: Mysteries Unraveling

"Sir Ken! Sir Ken! Wake up!" Kenshin faintly heard Megumi's voice ringing in his head and wearily pried his eyes open. Disoriented he noticed he was on the floor and faces obstructed his view of the ceiling. It seemed like everyone was bending over him, trying to look at him.

Confused, he tried remembering how he ended up in this predicament when the cry of a baby quickly jolted his memory. The baby had red hair! Slowly, he tried to piece the puzzle together. Kaoru and Fumiya both had black hair, but he had red hair. His thoughts slowly drifted to a rainy night, a night he lost control and the Battousi took control.

"Move back! Let him get up!" Megumi ordered to the gawkers and knelt down to help Kenshin up. He had this stupid grin on his face and Megumi could only conclude he realized the baby was his. Sano was the first to congratulate him.

"Why, Kenshin! You dirty rascal! You have been keeping secrets from me." Sano's all-knowing smile made Kenshin bow his head. Soon laughter erupted and everyone was patting his back and congratulating him on siring a healthy baby boy.

Everyone except for Yahiko who had a puzzled expression on his face. Sano noticed the expression and an evil grin settled on his face. Bending down to whisper in the boy's ears, one could only conclude what Sano told him because right after he was through, Yahiko's face turned beet red and he looked everyone but at Kenshin's face.

Megumi noticed Sano's grin and shot him a reprimanding look. "He's too young to know about all that, Rooster-head!"

Sitting down, Kenshin still felt something akin to shock. He vividly remembered the night he lost control. That night had haunted him for the last nine months forcing him from being able to look at Kaoru for fear of the hate he would see in her eyes or worse that he would lose control again and jump on her like a horny dog. Luckily for him, it hadn't seemed like Kaoru had remembered it or if she did, she never mentioned it.

Unfortunately, that night had stayed with him every moment of his day. He could still feel the softness of her body and hear her crying out his name. He had claimed her over and over again that night until both of them were too exhausted to continue. Then when reality started to settle in he had snuck away and hoped Kaoru wouldn't hate him.

Who knew that today would come and a baby would have been formed in that night? When Kaoru had announced she was pregnant with a grim face, he concluded what everyone else had that the baby's was Fumiya's. At that moment, he had wanted to kill something so bad that he almost lost control of the Battousi and had to leave before he did.

But now he found out the baby was his which meant….he was a father now. He was going to have someone looking up to him and depending on him. He just wished it was different and they could have started off as a real family. Well, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure his son grew up in a loving environment and away from the scars of his parents' pasts!

Opening his eyes and blinking away his sorrowful thoughts, Kenshin looked up to see Megumi had somehow gotten in front of him.

Smiling gently at him, Megumi handed him the small bundle. Looking down, Kenshin felt a love he had never felt before for anyone. Small, red fuzz decorated the top of the baby's head and blue eyes peered curiously at him. Little fists moved furiously in the air and clung tightly to the finger Kenshin presented to him.

No one made a sound and everyone had adoring smiles on their faces as they watched the first interaction between father and son.

"Does he have a name?" Kenshin softly asked, almost afraid to break the peaceful moment.

"Kaoru named him Kenji." Megumi answered and then almost regretfully took the baby back so Kaoru could feed him and finish cleaning him. Megumi felt eyes upon her and her breath caught as she saw Sano's tender gaze on the baby.

'Maybe that rooster head would make a good father after all…not that he has that much of a choice now.' Megumi thought to herself as her attention was once again captured by Kenshin.

"Can I see her?" Kenshin asked hesitantly. He had no clue how Kaoru was going to react to him now that she knew.

Pausing Megumi seemed to be thinking the same thing, but with a small nod she allowed him to follow her. With one last sneak peak at Sano, Megumi let a small squeak escape when she was met with the intense, smoldering gaze of Sano. After that, she practically ran to Kaoru's room.

Kenshin stood by the door to Kaoru's room and watched as Megumi gave her back her son. The most beautiful smile graced Kaoru's tired face as she held her son. A feeling of contentment raged with protectiveness as Kenshin stared at his small family. For once his life felt complete and the constant feeling of remorse that he felt since his days as Battousi finally disappeared from his life. The weight had been lifted from his shoulders by the miracle of his baby boy.

Megumi gave him another small smile and quietly left the room, leaving the small family alone for the first time. Walking to Kaoru's side, Kenshin knelt down beside her. The only sound in the room was the quiet sucking sound of Kenji enjoying his first meal.

"Thank you, Miss Kaoru." Kenshin said gazing into Kaoru's eyes.

"For what, Kenshin?" Kaoru inquired confusedly.

Giving her a bright smile, Kenshin gestured towards Kenji. An understanding look passed over Kaoru and she gave a hesitant smile back.

"I wasn't for sure if you were going to be happy or not. You know now that you have Tomoe…" Kaoru looked down as she said this missing the depressed look that crossed over Kenshin's face.

"Kaoru, look at me." Surprised by him leaving out the miss part, Kaoru turned a stunned expression towards Kenshin. Gasping, she was met with violet eyes tinged with gold.

"You mean everything to me. Without you, I am incomplete. I am finally free of my obligation to my past and with Kenji and you by my side, I can start anew." Kenshin allowed her to digest his words before continuing in a contrite voice.

"I'm sorry for the way I have been treating you. I was ashamed of myself for taking advantage of you in your time of need and couldn't bear to see any hate in your eyes towards me." Kaoru felt her heart softening as a weight was lifted from her shoulders. For so long she lived with the words of Fumiya telling her she was worthless and no one would love her that she started to believe them. Especially when Kenshin spent more time with Tomoe than he did with her.

But now, hope began to find its way up from the bottom of her soul and make her believe that maybe she would find true happiness after all.

"Kenshin, I forgive you, but…but what about Tomoe?" Kaoru looked down at the now slumbering Kenji and smiled uncertainly.

"There was never anything between Tomoe and I. Kaoru," Gently grasping her chin, Kenshin made her look at him once again. "I love you." With that said, he kissed her with all the pent up passion he held for her.

Kaoru closed her eyes as a wave of emotions washed over her as she felt Kenshin's lips on hers. He was everywhere all at once, nibbling at her bottom lip, his tongue caressing hers, claiming her with every second. She knew she had to stop it before everything she worked for in the last year went crashing down around her. She was NOT going to cave in that easily!

Feeling wetness on his hand, Kenshin broke the kiss and looked confusedly at Kaoru who had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Kaoru?"

Agonized blue eyes peered at him as if looking into his soul and trying to judge his intentions. "Kenshin, I waited so long to hear you say those words but…I don't know if I can believe them." When he started to protest, Kaoru put her fingers to his lips.

"Hear me out first, please." When he nodded, Kaoru continued.

"Before I was captured, I saw you and Tomoe." A depression settled over her at the remembrance and the look of shock in Kenshin's eyes. "I saw you kiss her and I knew all my dreams were over. Then Fumiya took me and told me over and over again how better Tomoe was for you and how no one would love me. Kenshin, he stole everything from me!" Kaoru took a deep breath. It was very hard for her to bare these feelings to Kenshin but she knew they needed to be said.

"He took my first kiss…he took my first everything, except for the love I felt for you." Kaoru had tears streaming down her cheeks at the loss of those special moments. Kenshin's head was bowed as he listened and tears welled up in his eyes. For the first time in years, Kenshin was crying.

"Then after you rescued me, it seemed like you couldn't leave fast enough to see her or be with her. And now, Kenji is born and you say you love me. I just don't know if I can believe that. I don't want to be another obligation for you now that we have a child together." Lifting her gaze to his, a determined look filled her eyes and she scrubbed the tears away.

"I am no longer a child who needs someone to protect her. From all of this, I have promised myself to become stronger and right now I intend to prove that I am. Kenji and I will be just fine on our own and we do not need you to be with us out of duty!" Kenshin stared at her in shock with a confused look on his face, but then realization set in. Kaoru had grown up and he had missed his chance.

Kenji sensing the tension in the room, cried out in protest. Kaoru quickly comforted him and soon he fell into a peaceful sleep. Sensing Kenshin's eyes upon her, Kaoru sighed.

"I'm tired, Kenshin, and need some rest. We can continue this another time." Kenshin nodded and silently left the room. As soon as he left Megumi came back in and quietly took Kenji away so Kaoru could rest easy.

Kenshin sat dejectedly on his spot on the porch of Kaoru's dojo. He had imagined this a million times in his head with each time ending with Kaoru loving him back. He had never expected for it to go this way. But then again, who could blame her?

He had done exactly what she said and avoided her ever since she returned. Although he hadn't spent all of his time with Tomoe like she thought. In fact he had spent most of his time watching Kaoru which made him feel like a stalker but he just couldn't bear it if Kaoru got hurt again. Though it didn't help much since the both times Kaoru had gotten attacked recently, he wasn't there. It was just there was this ever present sense of panic in him that only calmed when Kaoru was within his eyesight.

He had never truly thought of what Kaoru went through with Fumiya either or how scarred she actually was. He could only speculate after seeing her broken body and mind, but he had never thought about how emotionally scarred she was too. Like Kenshin's own child hood, Kaoru now had to live with the regrets of what she missed out on and what could have been if only things had went differently.

Sighing, Kenshin looked up at Misao who silently sat down beside him. Kenshin sensed something was amiss since Misao never stayed quiet for this long.

"Miss Misao?" Kenshin asked when she remained silent, hoping that he didn't have to add another woman to his list of women he had made mad at him.

Not even looking at him, Misao began to speak. "Kenshin, I know that you are a good man but you can really be dense sometimes!" "Huh?" Kenshin asked not understanding where all this pent up anger was coming from.

Misao jumped to her feet and clenched her fist. "I never said anything when you first sided with Tomoe but I can't hold my tongue any longer! Not with Kenji here now and its obvious you are his father!"

Before he could protest, Misao continued. "Kenshin, I will NOT allow you to play around with Kaoru any longer! She's like a sister to me and she deserves better!"

Bowing his head in shame, Kenshin softly muttered. "I know, Misao."

Shocked that he was actually agreeing with her, Misao smiled sheepishly and rubbed her head. "Yeah, well, you need to get your priorities straight and open your eyes, mister."

Continuing in a softer tone, Misao said, "Tomoe has been playing you this entire time and I have enough evidence to prove her guilty."

Surprised, Kenshin snapped his head up. "What do you mean evidence?"

Misao leaned back against the wall and smiled mischievously. "I have a source that says Tomoe hired him to kill Kaoru and who says she was in on it with Fumiya."

Narrowing his eyes at the mention of Kaoru's attack, Kenshin quietly got to his feet. Misao bit back a gasp at the golden edge around Kenshin's violet eyes. "Take me to him please, Miss Misao."

Nodding her head, Misao glanced back hesitantly at the dojo where her new second cousin and Kaoru slept, then with a new determination looked at Kenshin. Nodding one more time, Misao took off with Kenshin right on her heels.