Sorry this took weeks longer than I wanted. I knew what I wanted out of the chapter, but found it hard to put into words. That, and work was busy, and we took a family trip.
Quotes in italics are inner thoughts; the indented paragraphs are part of a dream/memory.
Thank you so much for your reviews, follows, and favoriting. It means a lot to me that others care for this story as well.
As always, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or its characters.
Chapter 14
The bright morning light delicately streamed through the thinning trees; the bright rays danced and glistened through the trees like diamonds, or one could even say like the fluttering eyelashes of God. A couple of morning birds were dancing in the air, chirping happy tunes. In the near distance, the thinning trees stopped and gave way to a small clearing. Soft crunching could be heard as a lone figure slowly made his way towards the edge of the clearing. They perky morning atmosphere did not match his pessimistic attitude at all. As the figure approached the edge of the woods, a hand reached into the air and ran down the long red locks of its owner.
A deep sigh escaped his lips.
"It is amazing how one small building can appear so large and imposing," mused Kenshin. His lanky frame stood glued to the entrance of the clearance; the border of trees along the rim was his last refuge. In the center of the clearing sat a small, poor, inconsequential hut with smoke billowing out of the fireplace. Well, inconsequential to anyone that didn't know the annoyingly, overbearing giant that lived inside it. "Why did I decide to put myself through this again?" "The Wife," thought Kenshin to himself. "I need to save the wife." Kenshin shook his head in a vain effort to clear it. "Great, I'm arguing with myself. I'm not even there yet, and there mere thought of that man has driven me to insanity. Maybe I should have just trained myself." With that thought on his mind, Kenshin let out a quick huff of exasperation. "Let's get this over with."
The sullen warrior begrudgingly made his way towards the small home. The two minute walk seemed to take 2 hours and 2 seconds all at the same time. It was more like he was marching to his death rather than to his childhood home. He hesitated in the doorway, trying to collect his thoughts and the last remnants of his pride. He figured the latter was hopeless. No one could hope to retain any pride around Hiko Seijuro, especially when begging him for a favor. Oh well, he would readily discard all of it in order to save Kaoru.
"Are you going to come inside, or continue to stand out there like a Baka?" chided the disembodied voice from inside the house.
I spent so much time thinking that I walked straight into that one…
"Well?"
Kenshin pushed the door open and walked through the threshold. "Good morning Shisho." He bowed as he greeted his master; figuring he might as well appear as humble as possible.
Hiko frowned at the lump of flesh in front of him. "Things must be just great at home for you to act that formal here," he muttered in a sarcastic tone. "Where's the woman and the brat?"
Kenshin lifted himself up into a standing position, but kept his head angled towards the floor as he answered. "Kenji is safe at home. Kaoru is gone."
A quick snort echoed across the room, "Finally got tired of you did she?"
Kenshin couldn't help the growl that escaped his lips. "She was taken," he all but barked out.
Hiko quirked an eyebrow at him, "What? Speak up Baka."
Kenshin's head shot up as he glared at the behemoth. "SHE WAS TAKEN!"
Hiko noticed the amber glint in Kenshin's eyes, the huffs escaping from him as though he had just run miles, and his hands were in fists and shaking at his sides. "No need to shout. Sit down and explain you idiot. Even someone as simple as you should be able to manage that task."
As Kenshin finished telling the tale, a story filled with his failures, he felt very open and vulnerable. He sat there, in the thick atmosphere that he had created, unsure what else to say. There was nothing more that he could say.
"So you're telling me that because you became lazy, you lost your woman, again, and are now expecting me to clean up your mess, again. I am noticing a pattern here."
"No. While I admit my mistakes led to this, I do not expect you to "fix" anything. I simply want you to train my body to handle the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu again."
Hiko Seijuro waved his hand at his apprentice nonchalantly. "You wouldn't need me to re-train you if you weren't suck a lazy baka."
"I am not Lazy! This is a time of peace; I too wanted to live in these peaceful times. Besides, my body was too small to handle the style, and I have since lost the capability to use it properly."
Hiko shot up like a rocket, glaring down at his idiot apprentice. "You FOOL! We are swordsmen with the weight of human blood our souls. There is no such thing as peaceful times for us! If you knew that you were too small to continue using your true strength, than you should have trained yourself then! Now, years later, you come to me begging me to help you do something that should have been done long ago. If you truly wanted to retain your abilities, you would have come to me for this training years ago. Peace made you lazy."
Kenshin refused to bow his head in shame, he had done that enough recently and it had accomplished nothing. He too rose and glared right back at his master, his hand rested on his sword from instinct. "That may be true, but I can't bring myself to think it was entirely wrong to relish in those peaceful days; though, I have admitted that it was folly. I was happy to simply live and share in my family's happiness; in the never-ending kindness that Kaoru-dono showed me. I finally, truly understood what I was trying to help others protect for all of those years. My enemies are now behind me. I should no longer need the Hiten Mitsurugi; my current strength should have been enough."
Hiko's expression shifted very clearly to one of disappointment, and possibly slight annoyance at his student's depth of stupidity. "Kenshin," he spoke in a tiresome tone, almost like he was talking to a petulant child, "Wasn't your dream to protect the small happiness of those around you? How will you accomplish that without strength? You stupidly underestimated your opponents or overestimated your own capabilities; either way you were dim. Anyone who picks up a sword must be prepared to defend himself and his principals until the end; it is our sacrifice for the power we seek. Once you pick up the sword, your enemies never vanish; even Kaoru understood this."
The lingering silence continued to hang in the air; nothing that Kenshin could say was sufficient to fill the void. He knew that his master was correct; he realized his own mistakes back in Tokyo. That self-enlightenment only meant that he wouldn't repeat the same mistakes in the future; however, he still needed to correct this one now.
Hiko was the first one to break the silence as he glanced at his student sympathetically, a rare emotion for the pompous man, "For what it is worth, I did like the girl. She has fire. I always suspected that the visit shortly after Kenji was born was her idea."
A small smile graced Kenshin's face as he nodded his head in agreement. "Hai, that it was; though, I did easily agree."
"I wouldn't worry too much. That girl can take care of herself; you found a strong one Kenshin."
"Hai, but just the same, I want to rescue Kaoru-dono, Shisho."
As Hiko moved towards the small doorway of his house, he began to remove the Master's Cloak from his broad shoulders. Without even turning around, he flung the heavy cloak over his shoulder where it landed squarely on top of his apprentice's head. "Well than, you best put this on Baka."
When the unexpected weight of the cloak descended upon Kenshin's head and left him blind, he quickly toppled to the ground in an ungraceful heap. After struggling to remove the annoying object for a few moments, he let out a frustrated growl as the last of the fabric was removed from his eyes. He could see his master had paused in the doorway; he appeared to be waiting on something, or someone. Kenshin held the cloak in his hands as he stood up, glancing at it and his master in turn a few times. "Oro?"
"If your aim is to re-master the Hiten Mitsurugi, then you will need that. Its weight, and the weight of the responsibility that it represents as a Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi, will get you back into shape in no time." And then with an air of arrogant authority that only he could pull off, Hiko Seijuro stepped out into the blinding morning light with his baka-deshi comically running close behind; an insanely ostentatious cloak in his hands and a look of sudden apprehension adorning his face.
Late into that evening, or should we say early the next morning, a prone figure rested underneath the comforting canopy of a large, old cherry blossom tree on the boarder of the clearing. His long red locks obscured his face; the slight wind providing the illusion that the crimson strands were dancing. It was quite an eerie sight to behold, the shadows ghosting across the lone figure's weary face. His eyes were closed as though he was resting; however if you listened close enough, you would hear the harsh huffs of air escaping as he struggled to regain his breath. If you looked close enough, you would see the beads of sweat slowly dripping down his body.
"I can't tell if Shisho is training me, or killing me; probably a bit of both. I forgot how much Shisho loves to torture me…"
Kenshin let that thought linger in the air as he turned his face up towards the heavens. The night was clear and the moon full. The stars shone and twinkled like miniature lanterns in the sky; the image was like many nights of his past. He let the memories wash over him as he let his body cool down from that day's harsh training. Recollections of sleepless nights during the war, lonely nights during his wandering, the first night he met Kaoru, the night they parted in Tokyo, their shared moment on the rooftop in Kyoto, the night his son was born, and even the night he asked Kaoru to be his forever all drifted through his mind as he gazed at the night sky. Kenshin's exhausted mind latched onto the last memory like a lifeline; after re-living so many darker memories over the last couple of weeks, it hungrily welcomed the uplifting memory like a dying man in the desert grasps for water. That night really was one of the greatest nights of his life. As his eyes drifted closed, and his breathing evened out, his subconscious got lost in the memories of that night.
Two distinct figures walking along the deserted Tokyo street could be made out in the darkness of the night. The bright full moon combined with the million twinkling stars illuminated the pathway and the shadowed figures on it. One was just slightly taller than the other; however, both were rather small in stature. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the obviously masculine attire on the first, both could almost be mistaken for females.
Kenshin could see their final destination on the horizon and wondered if this particular location was really the right choice. It seemed perfect when the thought first came to him; but now as the apprehension grew within him, he doubted his call. "I wonder what Kaoru-dono will think when she realizes where it is that we are heading. Will the memories there shadow what I need to tell her tonight?" Kenshin quickly dispelled the meddling thoughts from his mind. "Look at me, I have faced countless battles, killed hundreds of men, and I am afraid of one woman's thoughts." He was briefly content in the small measure of self assurance he allotted himself; however, his subconscious would not let that fallacy hang, "Yes, scared because her thoughts and answers matter above all others. She above everyone else holds the key to your eternal happiness." Kenshin almost let out an audible growl of frustration, but stopped himself before he could worry Kaoru. "She has already made her intentions quite known. I do not believe that I have anything to fear from her, that I do not."
Kenshin was so trapped in his internal musings that he didn't realize that they had finally arrived at their destination until the audible gasp escaped from Kaoru's lips. One look at her face and he could see the panic setting in; her breaths were coming in short, shallow huffs. Her hands instinctually went up to cover her quivering mouth. Guilt gripped Kenshin's heart because he knew that he was the direct cause of her current misery. He reached forward and took her hands gently in his, slowly prying them away from her face. He ran soothing circles on the back of her hands with his thumbs.
"You remember this place Kaoru-dono?"
Tears started to form in her eyes, and she blinked furiously trying to hold them back. "How could I ever forget," she whispered into the night.
"Hai," was Kenshin's simple reply.
It was one year ago in this very spot that she thought she had lost Kenshin forever. He had led her to the very same riverbank. Even the fireflies were out tonight, dancing around them much like that fateful night. It was the one evening that she would never forget, no matter how much she may have wished. To this day, her heart would still race when Kenshin would disappear for prolonged periods of time.
"Is this what he meant the other night when he said that he would "fix this" after those men attacked me? Is he going to protect me and my reputation by leaving again? I can't say goodbye a second time, not here at least..."
As her desperation ate at her, Kaoru fought to gain control of herself. She was a sword master, independent, and a woman not to be trifled with. An inner fire started to burn within her; it started to spread and consume her. Her eyes dried, her panic died, and her face hardened. If Kenshin wanted to leave again, so be it. This time she would not turn into a blubbering idiot; she would follow him into the pits of hell if she needed to. However, as she stood there with Kenshin holding her hands and his eyes boring into the depths of her very soul, nothing could prepare her for what actually came out of his mouth.
"Kaoru-dono, I am very sorry for the memories that this place must remind you of. Considering that I was the one that created them, I was hoping that taking you here tonight would help remold them. I know that I will never deserve you. I know that your beautiful, innocent soul should forever be out of the reach of my tainted hands, but I would be very honored, even knowing this, if you would become my wife Kaoru."
Kenshin was starting to become worried that Kaoru had gone into shock. Moments had passed and she remained frozen in her place. While he could never be sure how she would react to anything, because she always managed to surprise him, he definitely didn't expect this. He became increasingly worried as he watched the grim, thin line form on her lips and her eyes strain with deep thought.
"Why? Why now Kenshin? Is this because of those men the other day? I'm sorry Kenshin, but that isn't the sort of union I want. I can't be married for no other reason than your desire to protect my reputation from myself."
Kenshin shook his head slightly as he released her left hand and brushed his hands across her cheek. "No Kaoru-dono. While that event did give me the courage to finally voice my desires, it is not the cause of my question. I think I have loved you ever since that first day when your strangely pure soul trapped me in that dojo; I was just to damaged to notice it. I thought I almost lost you once; it is not something that I can live through again. Please Kaoru, I want to remain by your side forever."
That had done it, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing now. She placed her free hand over her mouth and she shook her head in agreement, gently, almost hesitantly. It was as though if she agreed too quickly, she would wake up and realize this was only a dream. "Yes. Of course. Yes."
A genuine smile swept across Kenshin's face as he swept Kaoru up in his arms. For the first time in so long, his heart finally felt complete again.
As the dream faded away with the darkness, the new morning dawned. Hues of purples, reds, oranges, and yellows painted the early sky as the sun made its slow assent. Then, as the sun rose over the horizon, so did Kenshin from underneath the comforting canopy of the tree. He knew it was only a matter of minutes before Hiko came out from the hut to begin the next day's torture. He gazed into the open sky and tried to picture her in the distant unknown. As he closed his eyes, he could see her smiling face, and welcoming arms as though she were right in front of him. "Kaoru, I'll find you, no matter what the cost. I will remain by your side forever."