RuroKen Star Wars, a Rurouni Kenshin / Star Wars crossover fanfic by Raberba girl
Episode XIV - Bye Bye, Death Star (Take 2)
(ROUGH DRAFT)
When Kenshin had finished speaking, there was a very long silence. He and Kaoru stood side by side, not touching, afraid to look at each other. The first to speak was not either of them, and they glanced up, startled.
"Wow. That's some story."
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru burst out, her face heating. "Megumi-san, Yahiko, Tsubame-chan...what are you doing here?"
"You can't expect to sneak off and spin some long angsty story without us looking for you two," Yahiko pointed out. "Geez, Kenshin...killing people, working for the emperor..." It was hard to tell whether or not the hollowness of its laugh came simply from its mechanical nature. "We are on the same side, right?"
"I'll take you apart!" Kaoru shouted with sudden surprising vehemence, rushing at the droid. She was brought up short by Kenshin's hand on her arm, and both of them froze.
"I...I'm sorry," Yahiko muttered, eyes growing dim. "It was just a joke."
"You're ours now, Kenshin," Sanosuke said forcefully. "We don't care who you used to be or what you did in the past. You're fighting with us now."
"Thank you, Sano," Kenshin whispered.
"Ken-san," Megumi said uncomfortably. "You're leaving to fight on your own, aren't you." At his nod, she stepped forward and reached into her sleeve for something, drawing it out to offer to him. "Please take this," she murmured.
Kenshin stared at the compact case she handed him, with a compartment on one side containing a healing salve, and the other hiding micro-instruments for mechanical repair work.
"In case something happens to your prosthetic again," she said awkwardly.
"Thank you, Megumi-dono."
She nodded and stepped back. Sanosuke rubbed at the back of his head. "Well...good luck, Kenshin. May the Force be with you, or whatever it is you need to hear."
Kenshin nodded. "You too, Sano." The others finished their farewells and quietly filed back inside, leaving Kenshin and Kaoru alone. Realizing belatedly that he was still holding onto her, he tried to withdraw his hand, but she grabbed it and pressed it to her lips, leaning back against him. He felt her tears leaking down into his palm. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.
At last she turned around and kissed him, and they held each other for a long time.
"I don't know what to think," she finally whispered. "It's all so fast, and now you're leaving..." Her fingers suddenly dug into him. "Take me with you," she whispered.
"This one...can't."
At last their eyes met, filled with love and pain. There was nothing more to say. They had said everything they could with their words; it was only their hearts that could still speak, would speak together forever. At last he raised her palm to his lips and kissed it gently. Then, reluctantly, inevitably, he turned and walked away. She reached after him, but her hands closed on nothing but air. When he was gone, she slipped to her knees, buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "Kenshin...Kenshin..."
0-0-0-0-0
Darth Enishi burst through a doorway and halted in delight, pointing a finger at the red-haired prisoner standing calmly between two stormtroopers. "You came! You actually came! You're as stupid as Shishio said you would be! By the way, you look really good in handcuffs."
"Thanks," Kenshin said coldly. "Now, will you let this one sic Tomoe's holo-diary on you, or do you insist on fighting first?"
"Neither," Enishi said, gleefully brandishing the sakabatou when it was handed to him by a nervous stormtrooper. "You think I'm gonna let you out of those cuffs now that you're in them? I'm gonna torture you to death, you *insert R-rated swear words*! I'm gonna pull out every strand of your hair one by one! I'm gonna poke out your pretty eyes and slash up the other side of your face! I'm gonna-!"
"Can't you at least come up with something that doesn't sound so obsessed this one's looks?" Kenshin said in exasperation. "You sound like a fangirl, that you do."
Enishi blinked. "Fine. Then I'll *insert R-rated scenarios of intense gruesome violence*. Neesan will be happy then!"
"No, she won't," Kenshin said shortly. "Your sister never desired this one's death." His voice trailed into a whisper. "Never, not even when he had become a monster."
"Shut up!" Enishi screamed, and hit him so that the scars on his face started bleeding. "You stole Neesan's love, and then you betrayed her and everything she believed in, and then you killed her! Death is too good for you!"
"I agree."
Surprised, both men turned to find the emperor and his lover approaching. "Look," Yumi announced smugly, indicating her chest, which was difficult to see through the hovering smudge of large pixels. "My bosom is not showing this time."
"Um...it kind of is...you're just cheating," Kenshin said dubiously, but was overridden by Enishi's whine. "Aw, man. I wanted to gawk at them again."
"The next time you do, I'll run you through," Shishio said casually. "Now, Battousai. As you might have noticed, I have you in my clutches."
"What? He's in my clutches, jerk!" Enishi yelled. "You keep your hands off my victim! I'm going to beat him senseless with his own backwards sword, then I'm going to drag him off to a waking nightmare, and you're not allowed to butt in!"
Shishio held up a finger in a 'wait' gesture so he could order the stormtroopers to go out and slaughter the Meiji strike team.
"No!" Kenshin burst out. "That will not be allowed!" He took a furious step, and was suddenly swept into the wall by an invisible force. Stunned, he fought to regain his wits and get back to his feet, as Shishio and Enishi continued to argue about him.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I have my own plans for him?"
"Your plans can *insert R-rated swear words of intense gruesome violence*. Battousai is mine."
"Who's the emperor here, me or you?"
"Emperor, shmemperor. Go hide in your stinky bath, you walking piece of barbeque!"
"Are you aware that I'm planning to kill you in a few hours, whether I am able to take Battousai on as my apprentice or not?"
"You? Kill me? Don't make me laugh!"
"Laugh if you wish, you'll still be dead by morning."
"When I finish wreaking my revenge on Battousai, you'll be next, you bossy mummy wannabe!"
"Where did you learn your taunts, on an elementary school playground?"
"Shut up! Didn't you hear my R-rated-"
Both men paused, then turned to look at Kenshin, who was posed with a look of great concentration. "And just what are you doing?" Shishio inquired conversationally.
"Uh...attempting to levitate something to hit you on the head," Kenshin admitted.
"It's not working," Enishi pointed out.
"...Yes, thank you, I can see that."
"Want me to go torture your girlfriend again?" Enishi offered sweetly.
"No," Kenshin said coldly, his eyes blazing gold.
"By the way, where'd you get a new backwards sword from?" Enishi suddenly wondered. "Your old one got dumped out of Cloud City, and you can't find a weapon this stupid even on eBay."
"Is that really important right now?" Kenshin said in exasperation.
"No," Shishio put in. "What's important is your fate, Battousai. You seem very convinced that you will never again fall under the influence of the Dark Side."
Kenshin gazed at him steadily. "Promises were made. The past will not be repeated."
"Hey," Enishi suddenly said, "aren't we supposed to be having this conversation on the Death Star?"
Shishio rolled his eyes. "Does it matter?"
"The Death Star is cool," Enishi declared firmly. "This place is not. It doesn't even have any windows. How are we supposed to watch Meiji get blown up?"
"The Alliance will not be defeated," Kenshin said with equal firmness, but was neither surprised nor offended when they ignored him. Their supreme self-confidence could very well prove to be a useful weakness.
0-0-0-0-0
In outer space, Aoshi deftly worked the controls of the Sagara Falcon and tried to pretend that Misao was not occupying the seat next to him. It was quite difficult, if not impossible, since she was laughing and chattering like a child.
"I love going into hyperspace, all the stars look amazing and the speed is like magic! Aoshi-sama, I made a bet with Beshimi that we'll take out more Star Destroyers than he can. We'll win, right?"
"Buckle your seat belt," he snapped, and launched them into hyperspace, with the rest of the Oniwabanshuu and Meiji spacecraft keeping pace. 'Sagara, Takani, Kamiya...you will have the shield down in time. If I lose any of my men to your incompetence, I will not forgive you.'
0-0-0-0-0
So far, the Sagara group was doing well, thanks to their Ewok allies. They broke into the bunker easily and moved to set up explosives, completely unaware that they had just walked into a trap.
0-0-0-0-0
"There. Are you happy now?" Shishio snapped. He spread his arm sarcastically as if encompassing the battle station. "We're here on the Death Star."
"Come look out the windows!" Enishi dragged Kenshin with him over to the excellent view of space. "Isn't it beautiful?" Enishi sighed happily.
"Yes," Kenshin agreed warily, and glanced down at the hand Enishi was using to grip his arm with excessive force.
"It will be even more beautiful," Enishi continued dreamily, "when I toss your corpse out there and watch all the moisture get sucked out of it."
"...You're kind of sick, that you are."
"Well," Enishi said in a very reasonable tone of voice, "if I am, it is your fault," and with that he smashed Kenshin's head against the window.
Kenshin reeled back, blood trickling from his forehead, cursing silently. "Take these off," he demanded, holding up his still bound wrists. "And give this one his sword back so we can fight."
"You haven't - been - LISTENING TO ME!" Enishi screamed, and dove at him. Kenshin whirled aside as Shishio watched impassively, Yumi anxiously. "I want you to die a HORRIBLE DEATH! I don't care about fighting you! I want you to SUFFER!"
"It hasn't been enough?" Kenshin said quietly, keeping a wary eye on his enemies. "All these years of suffering haven't been enough? These hands are still stained with blood. The lives taken still cry out for vengeance. Their screams echo in these ears every hour of every day...is it truly not enough?"
Enishi stabbed his finger viciously at the window, at Endor glowing low in one corner. "Your friends are going to die," he said in a voice hot with hatred. "All of them will die. We set a trap for them, and they fell for it like the idiots they are." He laughed wildly. "Don't you get it? This battle station isn't still under construction - it's fully armed and operational. The second we give the word, the crater cannon heats up and boom! There go your cute little Alliance ships, and Endor, and all your stupid little friends with them!"
The blood had drained from Kenshin's face. "No...no."
"Enishi," Shishio said, "will you stop stealing my lines? And you're going out of order, you haven't even uncuffed him yet."
"NO!" Kenshin shouted, and smashed the bindings to shards. "It won't be allowed! It will not!"
"Shut up, no one wants to listen to you. Geez, I keep talking about hurting you, and I still haven't done a thing. Here, Shishio, give him his backwards sword. Maybe if we fight I can finally get some blood out of him."
"Not all of it, Enishi. I need my new apprentice to still be functional," Shishio said, tossing the sakabatou at the enraged Kenshin.
"You're not listening to me either!" Enishi said furiously. "After I've gotten Battousai quiet, I'll skewer you and shut you up so I can get on with my revenge!"
"Yumi," Shishio sighed, "how did I manage to put up with this for so long?"
0-0-0-0-0
On Endor, Sanosuke, Kaoru, and the rest discovered that the emperor and the dark lord had not been lying. Things had gone well for about ten seconds, until imperial backup troops had come pouring in and forced them to surrender.
Sanosuke swore as he stepped protectively in front of Megumi. "Makes my skin crawl..."
"What does?" Megumi said tightly, her eyes on the enemy weapons.
"The look on Shinomori's face when he finds out he's gotta take on a fully-shielded Death Star after all, with that weasel chick in tow."
"Why are you talking about weasels?" Kaoru hissed out of the corner of her mouth. "We're kind of in trouble here!"
"Maybe the creepy little teddy bears can help us," Sanosuke said snidely. A few minutes later, his mouth dropped open when he realized the despairingly sarcastically statement had, incredibly, turned out to be prophetic.
0-0-0-0-0
"...Curse you, Sagara," Aoshi murmured. He had just come out of lightspeed.
"Uh...Aoshi-sama, I think they're...jamming us," Misao said in disbelief. "I can't get a reading on the shield. They can't have known we were coming, could they?"
"Brace yourself, Misao. Looks like we'll be fighting full-throttle for a while after all."
"Yay!" Misao cheered enthusiastically, "Bring 'em on!"
She did not hear Aoshi adding under his breath, as they prepared to deal with the enemy fighters that came swarming out at them, "If I get out of this alive, I'll have your head, Sagara."
0-0-0-0-0
Kenshin was fighting like a madman, spurred on by the occasional glimpses he caught out of the corner of his eye - of the space battle between the Meiji fleet and the imperial warships that had seemed to come out of nowhere. Unfortunately for him, fighting like a madman was exactly what Shishio wanted.
"Excellent," he said approvingly as Kenshin got in a vicious hit that sent Enishi crashing clear across the room. "You're actually back up to your previous standards. With a bit more training, I think I can make you quite useful."
Kenshin, breathing hard, was not looking at Shishio, but the emperor's words were ringing in his ears. Something was...wrong...
He shivered when he seemed to feel a tremor in his soul. He had forgotten for a moment that Shishio was not just a cruel dictator and a deadly warrior, but a master of the Dark Side of the Force. The black power was all too familiar to Kenshin, and it sang silently to him now, beckoning, slowly re-awakening after all this time. 'Why?' he thought wildly. 'This one cannot fight under the influence of the Dark Side...Enishi would be vanquished, but only at the cost of this one falling into Shishio's power. What-' Anger. Fear. Hate. Suffering.
Guilt.
Kenshin nearly retched when he realized that he had been playing right into Shishio's hands. To so carelessly let negative emotion flow through him in the presence of a Sith master, especially one who knew him well, had once commanded him, and sought to bind him into service again - that was just stupid.
'You must keep your focus,' Kenshin told himself firmly. 'You are not here to avenge, or to kill. You are here to stop evil, not fall under its sway.' He had to concentrate on life, on light...so he thought of Kaoru.
At once, as her face came into his mind, smiling shyly, laughing passionately, gazing encouragingly at him, the darkness was swept away and Kenshin felt calm again. It was only as the burning sensation faded from his eyes that he realized they must have turned gold, and were returning to blue. 'Do not make such a mistake again,' he told himself, and nodded. 'You are a swordsman now. Not a Jedi, not a killer. You fight to protect, and their love and trust will give you strength.'
"Enough with the 3v1l shoujo bubbles!" Enishi growled, hacking through them furiously.
Kenshin blinked, startled. He spared the corner of an eye to glance at Shishio, who looked angry. 'Good,' Kenshin thought in satisfaction.
0-0-0-0-0
The Meiji rebels were marched out of the Endor bunker in a sullen mass, eyeing the legions of stormtroopers that had sprung up in their brief absence. Before there was time to get too discouraged, however, Yahiko's golden form emerged from the foliage on a nearby hill. "Look at me, you stupid losers!" it called. "I'm doing something useful for once!"
As startled stormtroopers moved to grab him, chaos erupted. Ewoks came popping out of the ferns, swinging in from the trees, shouting war cries in their squeaky voices and clobbering the stormtroopers for all they were worth. Sanosuke was the first rebel to snap out of his amazement and swing a fist at the nearest guard; Megumi and Kaoru were right behind him. As the battle spread out into the trees, the three of them raced for the bunker, too late to get inside before the doors closed but desperate to find a way in.
"Okay, I've got an idea," Kaoru said hurriedly. "We'll call Yahiko or Tsubame-chan, get them down here to break the code on the lock-"
"Or I could use the Futae no Kiwami and bust my way in," Sanosuke suggested with a grin.
"Oh." Kaoru paused, then kicked him good-naturedly. "Go for it, show off."
"Don't mind if I do, Your Highnessness." Sanosuke bowed playfully, then turned to the door and let loose with a deadly fist.
The women dodged flying bits of metal, then grinned when Sanosuke indicated the smashed opening with a flourish. "That's my boy," Megumi murmured, and slipped him a quick kiss as they hurried inside.
0-0-0-0-0
Out in space, Aoshi noticed that despite the fury of the battle, one area was ominously quiet.
"Why are the Star Destroyer slugs just sitting there?" Misao wanted to know.
"Think about it."
"That's what I was afraid of," she said with a little shiver, her suspicions confirmed. She was just reaching for the commlink switch when a blast came from the Death Star's main cannon, causing one of the rebel cruisers to explode.
As she was still staring at the window, Aoshi's large, warm hand came over her own frozen fingers and opened the line. "Admiral," he said calmly, "the idiots have failed. I suggest a retreat."
"We won't get another chance at this," the admiral's frustrated voice came over the commlink. "The odds are slim, but any future plan will be even more risky-"
"I didn't say we should abandon the mission," Aoshi said clearly. "I suggested a retreat - of the Meiji ships. The Oniwabanshuu will take care of the rest."
"What?" came the sharp voice over the commlink.
Aoshi's eyes had flicked to Misao, who was staring at him. "Aoshi-sama?"
"You're getting off first, Misao," he said quietly. "Get to an escape pod, now."
"No!" She launched herself at him and dug her nails angrily into his shirt. "I'm not leaving you, Aoshi-sama."
"You will if I knock you over the head and shove your mule-headed, unconscious body into the escape pod."
"Then I'll come back and follow you again!" she screamed. "Wherever you plan to go, one way or another, I'll follow you!"
Aoshi felt cold as he looked into her furious, swimming eyes, and knew that she would do as she said. His arms were tightly around her before he realized he had moved. "Please," he whispered, wondering why the scent of her hair was taking up so much of his attention when they were in the thick of battle.
"Aoshi-sama," she mumbled into his neck, unable to move because of his embrace, not wanting to. "I'd do...almost anything for you. But I won't leave you." She blinked when she heard him curse her, but in the next instant he was kissing her. When they broke apart she stared at him, her breath gone. "A...Aoshi-sama?"
"We're both going to die," he said calmly, his gaze intense. It was his last warning, and they both knew it.
After a moment, Misao smiled, reaching up to touch her pulsing lips. "Then we'll take the emperor with us, ne?"
"You're infuriating," he told her lovingly, then pushed her back into her seat. Now that that was settled, they both had work to do.
0-0-0-0-0
"W00t!" Sanosuke cheered along with the rebels and the Ewoks as they watched the Death Star's shield generator explode. "Take that, Shinomori!"
0-0-0-0-0
Up in space, Aoshi glanced away from the sight of a slowly-exploding star destroyer and then stared in astonishment at the sudden information that flashed across his readout. "The shield is down? How can that be? That rooster-head can't have..."
"Hey, hey, never mind!" Misao was yelling excitedly into the commlinks at the retreating Alliance ships. "I take it back, we're not changing the plans after all! Let's go, prepare for mega Death Star detonation!"
"Unbelievable," Aoshi was muttering in disappointment. "First Battousai proves himself stronger than my men, then the rooster-head steals our glory..."
"At least I'll be safe now, right?" Misao said with a wink.
"Well," he acknowledged with a small smile, "there is that."
0-0-0-0-0
"What's wrong, Battousai?" Enishi taunted. "Your eyes are the wrong color again."
Kenshin calmly went on countering his opponent's strikes, saw an opening, and smashed the sakabatou into Enishi's flesh again. The dark lord was looking quite worse for wear by this time, but it seemed to have no effect on his morale. If anything, Enishi looked more furious and more impervious to pain than ever. His recovery time was almost non-existent, which meant no rest for Kenshin.
"Hm," Shishio murmured. "They've gotten too evenly matched. Battousai's somehow managed to achieve top-notch form and yet still maintain perfect control over his emotions; yet the brat has so transcended his body that unless this drags on too long, he'll be unbeatable-"
Kenshin, in a flurry of strikes, unexpectedly flipped his blade and chopped off Enishi's hand. He stood glaring, poised to counter any retaliation, but Enishi was just standing there, staring at the bleeding stump of his arm, seeming unaware that his weapon had gone bouncing down into the enormous shaft beside them, lost forever.
"Never mind." Shishio shrugged.
"Enishi," Kenshin said coldly. "Tomoe put herself in danger for this one's sake, but in the end, it was not these hands that killed your sister. That was the work of your master."
Enishi turned his dazed stare onto Kenshin. His lips moved, but made no sound.
"More talking?" Shishio came striding impatiently toward them. "This is really getting on my nerves. I was waiting for one of you to get rid of the other for me, but it looks like I'll have to take care of both of you myself. As usual." Without any further warning, he did not draw his lightsaber. Instead, he raised his hands and shot a blast of dark lightning at Kenshin.
Kenshin, caught off-guard, was thrown to the ground and lost hold of his sword; he didn't even notice, because he was too busy screaming. When the torture was over, he lay limp and sobbing dryly, still in shock at the unexpectedness of it.
"I had been hoping to replace this obsessed whiner with you again, Battousai - but that upstart dragon has taught you too well. No matter how great your skill, you've become useless to me now. Pity." Without a trace of regret on his face, he raised his hands again and unleashed another wave of blinding power at his fallen nemesis.
Kenshin, trying feebly and unsuccessfully to reach his weapon, was caught in agony once again. As he writhed on the floor, almost too breathless from pain to scream, Enishi was blinking. "What...What did you say...Battousai...?"
He noticed for the first time that Kenshin was a bit preoccupied. "...Hey. Hey. You said- No, it can't be true. It was you, you killed her. You killed her!" There was no response. "Pay attention to me!" He glared at Shishio, whose face was twisted with some strong emotion, eyes gleaming, totally absorbed. "Oi, cut it out, I'm trying to talk to him!" He strode over, seized the emperor in his arms, and hauled him struggling over to the shaft, tossing him in. Yumi screamed and dashed to follow her master.
Wrinkling his nose in annoyance, Enishi absently cradled his injured arm and knelt down next to Kenshin, who was gasping on the floor. "Oi. What you said about my sister. It's a lie!"
Kenshin groaned, seriously not feeling up to this conversation at the moment. "En...Eni-shi...your sis-" He gasped and curled up, moaning, tears of pain standing in the corners of his eyes. It hurt so bad. The pain was fading, but slowly. "You can listen to her diary," he finally managed, "later. When we...get off the station." He drew in a deep, shaky breath and tried to sit up. He was surprised when Enishi helped him, though not very gently.
The other man's eyes were burning, fixed intently on his face. Kenshin took a deep breath to steady himself enough to finish. "This one fought with Shishio, and was wounded. Tomoe...tried to help, but he..." He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed hard. "It was he who stabbed her. Not this one. It was this one's fault she came, this one's fault she suffered...but I would never have slain her. Never."
"I don't believe you," Enishi snapped. Then he burst into tears.
Kenshin patted him awkwardly on the back, glancing out at the space battle again. "Enishi, it is probably a good idea to get off this station, that it is."
"You're a liar!" Enishi sobbed, clinging to him as if for comfort. "Neesan...Neesan...!"
Kenshin sighed and pulled himself laboriously to his feet, somehow managing to help Enishi up too. Neither of them could quite stand without the aid of the other. As they trudged wearily out of the throne room together, trailing blood in their wake, Kenshin paused to pull the evacuation alert system on a control panel they passed. Then he pressed grimly on, knowing that they had to get of this station before it disappeared not just out of time, but out of space as well.
0-0-0-0-0
"Ooh, pretty! Look, Aoshi-sama, that must be it!" Misao burbled, pointing at the Death Star's impressive power generator as they soared into the heart of the battle station.
"Yes. Thank you for that much-needed identification," Aoshi said with a straight face. It was ridiculously easy to take out; just a couple of shots from the Falcon's powerful cannons sent it toppling heavily from its support.
"Mission accomplished!" Misao screamed happily into the commlinks. "All fighters haul tail and make for open space! This baby's going up in flames!"
"Misao, I think we need to work on the professionalism of your combat communication," Aoshi suggested.
0-0-0-0-0
"I'm a bad person, aren't I."
Kenshin glanced distractedly over at Enishi, who was slumped in the co-pilot's chair, picking miserably at the emergency first aid device that Kenshin had clamped onto his injured arm. "What?"
"Me. I'm bad. Neesan is not proud of me at all, is she." Enishi started to cry again. "I know it, I know she's not! I can see her in my head, and she's not smiling any mooooore!"
"Enishi," Kenshin said, sounding strained, "this is not the best time." He was frantically trying to familiarize himself with the controls of this Imperial fighter as fast as possible. He had a very strong feeling that they had to get off the Death Star ASAP.
"I knew all along that something wasn't right! I've done such horrible things! I wish I could take it all back! I've wasted my life, and all for a mistake! Niisan, what am I going to do? Can I call you Niisan, by the way? 'Battousai' sounds so formal. It's depressing. Hey, can I take my mask off now? It makes it hard to breathe."
"Aha!" Kenshin had finally found the Go button, and they went rocketing out into space - just in time.
0-0-0-0-0
As the wreckage of the Death Star blossomed in the cloudless blue sky, Sanosuke glanced up from where he was bandaging Megumi's arm. Then he looked over at Kaoru, who was staring at the explosion with a distant look in her eyes. "I'm sure Kenshin wasn't on that thing when it blew," he tried to reassure her.
She looked over at him and smiled a wan smile. "He wasn't. 'Cause if he was, I'll kill him."
Sanosuke sweatdropped. "Right." Then he looked back down at Megumi, who raised an eyebrow.
"Sanosuke, I am a doctor and perfectly capable of treating myself. In addition to that, there is nothing wrong with my arm."
He smiled. "Yes there is. Lie still. I'll take care of you." As his eyes held hers, his fingers crept slowly down her arm, carefully took hold of her hand, raised it to his lips, kissed it softly.
She smiled back. Then she impatiently pulled her hand out of his, grabbed his head, and pulled it to hers for the commencement of a serious make-out session.
Kaoru noticed neither this nor the ecstatic cheering of the Ewoks. She was still searching the sky.
0-0-0-0-0
That night, a safe distance from the celebration party, an awkward set of introductions were going on. "Guys," Kenshin said nervously, "this is Enishi, but he goes by Yukishiro now. I'm sure you heard of him. He'll be working with us from now on, that he will."
"I'm a good guy now," Yukishiro announced. He waved at the line of grim-faced Alliance members.
"Kenshin," Kaoru growled. "In case you haven't noticed, this is Darth Enishi you've brought here."
"Yeah, he just said that," Yukishiro pointed out. "Hey, Niisan, can I listen to Neesan's holo-diary now? Please? I want to hear her voice again."
"'Niisan?" Kaoru choked.
Kenshin shot her a nervous smile before saying to his brother, "Yes. Here. Hey, um...why don't you go watch it off to the side there?"
"Okay," Yukishiro agreed happily, clutching the little holo-generator reverently to his chest. "Whatever you say, Niisan."
Kenshin watched him walk away, swallowed, then turned resignedly back to his friends and prepared to get beaten up again.
0-0-0-0-0
Somehow, the droids had gotten lost. Yahiko was wandering through the woods with Tsubame tagging trustingly behind him, trying to follow the sounds of music and cheering in the distance, but for some reason there was light coming from a different direction. Torn and unwilling for them to split up, Yahiko decided that it couldn't hurt to follow the blue light a few steps before turning back to what he thought was the right direction.
"Oh, Yahiko!" Tsubame exclaimed delightedly when they came upon the source of the light. "It's a fairy! They're supposed to be mythical creatures, but look, this one's real!"
The beautiful blue-haired woman smiled beatifically. "I am the Blue Fairy. You children are hard workers, and deserve a reward. Yahiko, would you like to be a real boy? Tsubame-chan, would you like to be a real girl?
As if they'd say no, right?
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An hour or so later, the party on Endor was in full swing, mirroring celebrations across the entire galaxy. Kenshin, battered but forgiven, watched happily as his friends were truly able to relax and enjoy themselves for the first time in so long - for the first time in perhaps ever. At last the galaxy could breathe easy, free from the Empire's yoke of oppression.
Kaoru was trying to teach the confused ex-droids how to move to the music, since it was their first time using flesh and blood limbs rather than mechanical ones. Tsubame seemed eager to learn, though Yahiko looked more like he was furiously doing kenjutsu training rather than dancing. The effect was enhanced by the old shinai Kenshin had bequeathed to him, which he seemed highly reluctant to let go of.
Megumi was laughing at the horrified look on Sanosuke's face as their slow-dancing was broken up by a flock of enthusiastic teddy bears. Yukishiro was sitting against a tree, crying as he listened to his sister's story from her own lips, his arm around one of the two Ewoks who had cuddled up to him, purring comfortingly.
At one point, Kenshin looked over to see two ghostly figures watching the festivities from the trees. He approached them slowly, looking from Tomoe to Shishio. Shishio grinned and shot him the finger; Tomoe calmly reached out and shoved him away. He toppled with a grunt, disappearing from sight. Then she smiled.
Kenshin smiled also and raised his hand to blow her kiss. He felt arms encircling his shoulders. "What are you looking at?" Kaoru asked, her eyes dancing.
Kenshin turned his head and reached up to clasp her hand, smiling. "This one is looking at someone he loves," he said to both of them.
Grinning, Kaoru planted a quick kiss on his cheek, then tugged him back to where their friends waited. He went with her willingly, though he glanced back for one last look at Himura Tomoe. She raised her hand in blessing and farewell, then turned and walked away, not into darkness, but into light.
Cast
in order of appearance
MYÔJIN YAHIKO - C-3PO* & R2-D2*
KAMIYA KAORU - Princess Leia Organa
HIMURA KENSHIN (SHINTA) - Luke & Anakin Skywalker
(YUKISHIRO) "OIBORE/GEEZER" - Owen & Cliegg Lars
HIKO SEIJÛRÔ XIII - Old Obi-Wan Kenobi & Yoda
YUKISHIRO ENISHI - Darth Vader & Jar Jar Binks
SAGARA SANOSUKE - Han Solo
TAKANI MEGUMI - Chewbacca
HIRUMA GOHEI - Greedo & Watto*
UDÔ JIN-E - Jabba the Hutt
SHISHIO MAKOTO - Emperor/Chancellor Palpatine
KOMAGATA YUMI
SAITÔ HAJIME (FUJITA GORÔ) - Boba Fett, Jango Fett, & the clone soldiers
SHINOMORI AOSHI - Lando Calrissian
YUKISHIRO TOMOE - Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghost & Padmé Amidala
SANJÔ TSUBAME - C-3PO* & R2-D2*
MAKIMACHI MISAO - The Rancor
HIRUMA KIHEI - Watto*
KATSURA KOGORÔ - Qui-Gon Jinn & young Obi-Wan Kenobi*
KASUMI, AKANE, & SAKURA - Shmi Skywalker
TAKASUGI SHINSAKU - Young Obi-Wan Kenobi*
SETA SÔJIRÔ - Darth Maul & Count Dooku*
GEIN, KUJIRANAMI HYÔGO, INUI BANJIN, OTOWA HYÔKO, & YATSUME MUMYÔI - The Gungans
ARAI AZUSA - Dormé
I'IZUKA
SEKIHARA TAE - Taun We
SEKIHARA SAE - Clone servants
KIYOSATO AKIRA - Count Dooku*
UONUMA USUI - General Grievous
OKINA - The ninja leader on Mustafar