Kaoru heard a soft knock as she packed her luggage. She turned, only to see the three brothers watching her closely. "May we come in?" Aoshi asked.
She nodded, abandoning her packing and faced them. After a long tiring day at the cemetery, she just wanted to pack and leave for Taiwan, away from all the memories. He watched the three men taking two steps into the room and paused, trying to gauge her mood.
"We discussed about this and we thought that perhaps that you should take this." Aoshi said softly as he extended his arms towards her, with a crimson box in his hands.
Kaoru pursed her lips. "What are they?"
Silence lapsed between them before Yahiko answered. "They were letters that Kenshin wrote after the accident. I always teased him why he never sent them out. But Kenshin never gave me a reason."
The thought of taking something that belong to Kenshin caused Kaoru to pale. "No, they belong to you guys."
Sano snorted. "Yeah, the envelopes bear your name. We can't keep it. It is totally weird for us to open letters that was not meant for us to read."
Aoshi gave him a cutting glance, effectively shutting Sano up. "Keep them. It might help you come to term with whatever you and Kenshin had failed to trash out." Aoshi said as he placed the box on the bed next to the luggage. "You could do what you want, throw away, burn it or keep it hidden. But I hope you could just read them." He allowed the words to sink in. "We shouldn't delay your packing any longer." He ended by turning away and headed out of the door.
Sano just nodded. "Sorry that we didn't know you better." He said, with a trace of sincerity before following Aoshi, leaving Yahiko and Kaoru alone. The both of them studied each other warily, unsure what to expect from the other.
Yahiko cleared his throat. "You know, I figured that you are a pretty good lady. It is tough for Kenshin to fall in love with someone else, and only a lady worth of loving from afar could drive a man to love that deeply. Like Sano, I really wished I got to know you better." Yahiko looked at the red crimson box. "And I hope you read the letters. They might contain things that you never knew about Kenshin."
With that, he left the room, leaving Kaoru alone, with a half packed luggage and the box that screamed for her attention. She hesitated for a while, put off by the colour that reminded her of blood and death before gathering her courage and opened the box.
There were stacks and stacks of letters in the box. Unsure where to start, she picked the top one and opened the envelope. Noting the date of the letter, she sat down on the floor and started reading.
'Dear Kaoru,
I guess that giving me five days was too much to ask for. But I am still glad that I spent some time with you in the bookshop and the shopping trip. However nothing could rival the time we were together in the orphanage.
Some people said that it is impossible to fall in love at the age of 12. However when I first saw you in the orphanage, it was as though I caught a glimpse of the sun. Soon, the clouds broke, allowing your joyous personality shine in my otherwise dark and gloomy life. I love you ever since.
I am not sure whether you will understand why I choose not to explain myself even after you made it as your condition in agreeing to my plans. I won't want to ask what happened between you and Tomoe because it's between both of you. But I just hope that you do not blame Tomoe for whatever happened. If the blame was to fall on someone, it would be on me and I am sorry for the pain that I caused you.
But if you have the heart to forgive, I beg for a second chance, if not my empty soul would wander around in the human shell. Because life would never be the same if you exit from my life. So please, give me a second chance.
Until then, I will wait for you.
Kenshin.'
Kaoru reached out for another letter and another. When she read all the letters, the ache in her heart was unbearable. Despite whatever happened between the both of them, she knew deep down that Kenshin truly loved her. And she had no way of confessing her feelings for him. "Baka!" Kaoru whispered as tears rolled down her face. "Baka Kenshin." She said before she buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly.
She never heard the door opened or the soft footsteps that approached her. However she felt the warm embraces of two women- Tomoe and Misao. Crying she placed one arm on each of them and hugged them, seeking to fill the empty solitude that Kenshin left behind.
Silence That's it!
Now, for Q&A session:
Because Alwymze has been giving me long reviews, I would try my best to answer the questions that you posted in the recent one. And maybe allow the rest of the readers to see how I approached this story. smiles
Your view didn't complicate my writing process because it made me try to understand why the character behind Kenshin. Let me try to rationalize some of the points that you make.
Kaoru was cheated to some extent and I can't deny that fact. However, Kaoru was not forced. It is true that she was pressured. But she could decide not to go to Japan to see Misao. She could have ignored Aoshi's invitation and just stayed in Taiwan. She could have left Kenshin alone at the shopping trip. She could have just refused to talk to Tomoe. So to some extent, she had every chance to avoid the road people were trying to carve out for her. But she didn't.
I think Tomoe is someone that I can relate to. She loves him so much that she just wanted to see to Kenshin's happiness. Kenshin insisted with the marriage which is true. What I failed to mention that Tomoe was not actively opposing to it. She just merely avoided rejecting his suggestion.
Why? It could be because she doesn't want to make Kenshin unwanted. I would credit fate for intervening and letting Tomoe soon enough that Kaoru is the girl that Kenshin loves. If fate didn't intervene, I myself would wonder whether Tomoe would be strong enough not to marry him out of love knowing that he was marrying out of companionship. Let's just say that Kenshin saw Tomoe as someone he could depend on like family and nothing else.
It might be Tomoe's pride that prevented her from revealing the name. But hindsight is always better. If Kaoru didn't bolt on the fateful day of the accident or if Tomoe and Kenshin managed to talk to each other before Kaoru came into the restaurant, it could have ended differently and Tomoe could look back thinking that she done a good job.
Kenshin, without a doubt, had a flawed character. It can be extremely depressing to be unappreciated and feeling useless. If I had the chance to elaborate Kenshin's childhood, I might have related certain incidents in his life that made him who he is. At the age of 12, it would be quite difficult to think that she won't be there. He just wanted to save her. Sadly that stuck to him even when he is an adult. Of course, he takes his promises too seriously. But a major flaw to that argument is that if he takes his promises seriously, why didn't he take the promises that he made with Tomoe seriously? shrug
I think love is a powerful reason to be selfish. All of them did things that are selfish but motivated for a powerful force. That is why Tomoe and the rest did everything in their power to get Kaoru to give him a second chance. After all, Kenshin is their family, Kaoru isn't. It is a reality in life. And it is a reminder that such things do occur, even in fairytales.
The scariest thing about depression is that unless you look for the signs for depression, people can assume that they are fine. In the manga/anime, Kenshin looked happy and cheerful but no one could figure out the burden that he carried. And in the manga, the way he just isolated himself when he thought Kaoru died showed that Kenshin can be capable of such situations.
As a whole, I feel that Kenshin and Kaoru made decisions that they would regret for life. Kenshin is luckier because he isn't around anymore. But that doesn't mean he had a closure. As seen in this chapter, if he had been frank and honest with Kaoru, things might had ended differently between the both of them. Kaoru on the other hand might go around with plenty of 'what if' questions. I'm sure there are many things in life that people wished they ask, or they didn't say.
After watching the whole story unfold, I think it is ridiculous for both of them to be together because Kenshin had too many issues to settle while Kaoru has been hurt too many times and those things can't be explored and resolved with a short story. As I said, if I had more time, energy and inspiration, I might have taken up the challenge. But I kind of overestimated myself. As I have written it over a span of 2 years, there might be some inconsistency. However, I tried as far as possible to allow the whole story to flow.
But I enjoyed writing this. And I hope you all had a fun time.
Rolling credits.
Special thanks to.
ZeldaFitz- My first reviewer and has kindly pointed out that Edo and Tokyo were the same place. I hope you read the end of this story even though your review was more than two years old.
Aya45
Royal blueKitsune
Moonmage
Tiffany
Jasmine
Nilil
Ohagi-chan
Gabyhyatt- Kaoru is just a frightened lady who dare not gamble on Kenshin one more time. And it didn't result to a happy ending.
Anon- Whoever you are, I'm sorry I didn't make this story happier. But hope that it was a conclusive ending.
MysticMoonEmpress- I seen you reviewing my previous fanfics right? Thanks for reviewing this one too!!
envoiusDangelM
unsigned- thanks, whoever you are.
Alywzme- Thanks for the long reviews. It really made me sit and think why I shaped my characters in a particular manner. Thanks a lot for those constructive criticisms. And it was nice to see your reviews, especially during chapters that I gotten only one review- which was yours. cheers
Miniwoo- Yes, Sano is weird. But because he is so protective and loyal to Kenshin, he can't help but be stuck up towards those who has the potential to hurt him- like Kaoru.
Jasmine blossom625- Long LONG ago I must say. The story is two years old! Confession- I am truly glad that I managed to finish this story. If not I might have left you guys hanging for another 2 yrs. winkz I can understand why you felt there is a lack of closure. That is because both Kaoru and Kenshin had none. Hence the feeling is completely reasonable.
Anon chan- I hope the closure for Tomoe was alright for you. She knew what her position was in Kenshin's life and I would like to think that she accepted it.
K- I'm sorry for the inability to let Kenshin and Kaoru produce little Kenjis. Yes, the OVA is sad. But I am envious of the Kenshin and Kaoru in that show. At least they knew that they love each other and the fact that Kenshin died knowing that Kaoru loved him was sweet. In this story, I forced the both of them apart and the regret that both of them had would never be erased. Now THAT is sad. So, don't throw the lemons at me. I could provide a dustbin for your tissues though.
Jojobaby- Thanks for the encouragement. However, personally I am quite frustrated that I am very weak grammatically and horrendous in descriptive writings. Hence, I am not really satisfied with it. The worst part is gasp I don't brush up on it! It is a wrong attitude and perhaps one day (one fine day I hope) I would be able to improve. grinz
Sakura Kaoru-chan- I believed in happy endings. But I feel that it only exist in anime and TV. Even so, I am a sucker for happy endings too! high fives But maybe not in my stories. You could check out other fanfics of mine that campaigned for happy endings. (I know I am slyly implying to check out my other stories winkz)
Kich- Thanks for the well-wishes.
Raven-Haired Angel- Thanks for bringing out one of the reasons why I chose to write a sad ending. Call me a wet blanket, but I don't wish to write a happy ending story all the time. I think this story, to some extent, is realistic and something that can happen in real life. Not giving someone another chance to love and forgive. But hey, if I was Kaoru, I might be too hurt to forgive Kenshin too! Her decision to give him another chance before she realized he died was an extremely brave one and for that I salute to her!
Cheerful- Haha, my 'editor' who gives a green light to post the last chapter up. I made you read through the initial chapters as well. Thanks for the support and a review. You can check out her stories in fictionpress. Now, if I can only remember her pen-name. (Hmm..) Yes, she is shameless and loves reviews too! (Just like me).
My goodness, my credits and last thoughts is longer than my actual epilogue. Gasp But I wanted to reply some of the comments that people had made throughout the story. I am not usually this chatty during my credits. But since would most likely be my last chapter here sad violin playing echoes through the room, I am feeling extremely sentimental. Thanks for reading through the entire credits and for reading this story too!
Until then, take care, God Bless
Joyful-x
