Author's note: We did it! We made it! It is done! The long saga of the Eyes Of Truth, is finally over! I had a lot of fun working on this project, and although there's been some bumps and pit stops (lasting for many a months!), you all continued to show support and have faith that this story will see its ending someday. And now that it's here, I can't help but wanna celebrate in some way. Maybe I'll drink fine wine this weekend in celebration, LOL!

I just want to say thank for the past two reviews from Cannibal Corncob and Daemon Spawn, who has been here since the very beginning. This last update goes out to you two as well as all the other supporters who continue to show amazing companionship, even if it's just through the form of hilariously written reviews. I seriously wish we can all be real friends because you're all just so smart, and funny, and loving people, and I can't believe you people are even real. I mean that in a good way, my dudes!

So, without further ado, here's the very last update for this story. I do understand that the last part of this story is STILL not legal in Japan, but it's the sentiment that should be cherished instead. Stay tuned for more work from me, because in 7 days from now, I will be posting the first chapter to my alternate universe KenJiro fic, The Outsider. It's going to be one fuckin' intense fanfic, so prepare yourselves for epic pain, and heartbreak, and drama, and wild sex, and and and.. yeah. Just be prepared!

Enjoy! And thank you, once again, for sticking with this fic till the end! This one's dedicated to all of my fans from the bottom of my heart.

Epilogue

The night when everybody saw me holding Kenshin's hand, changed everything.

We all seemed to have metamorphosed and become at one with ourselves, on a level that we didn't think was possible. Like Sanosuke and Megumi having to see that love really does transcend traditions, and now they want to formally leave the dojo to go explore what else could be out there. It wasn't even a month until they officially moved out of the dojo and started traveling, expanding their worldviews and their horizons. I was so sad to see them go.. But you should have seen the way I smiled when I finally received a postcard from South Korea, where Sanosuke had written a short yet concise message that will always take me far from here when I need it: Soujiro, thank you. You really opened up our eyes. If you're ever on the road with Kenshin.. Let's hit some spots. Together. Rumor has it that they're trying out for a baby, though they're in no rush. Gensai had to slip it in one morning and I could hardly keep it together. I'm just so happy for them!

I've taken up fishing. As a hobby. I wish Sanosuke was here to teach me. Apparently he had the eye and the hand to do that sort of thing. But I'm happy he's gone. They both needed to get out there and experience life for themselves.

As for Gensai himself, he decided that I really should become a doctor, and so he helped me gather some reading materials and studied along with me. Day after day, and night after night, I'd read a short paragraph from the book and take some notes down, as Gensai explained to me each definition and examples for the hard to pronounce words etched in there. I never knew it myself, if I hadn't met Kenshin or came back here after five years. But it turns out, I really do have the brain for this kind of stuff. I'm absolutely floored by the amount of blood we have inside our bodies, or the types of tea that can aid us when medicine is out of reach, or even how to perform a simple stitch for an open wound. Kenshin always encouraged me and would always let me talk up a storm about the world of medicine. Maybe he doesn't really care for it much, but just the way he looks at me and smiles as I rant like a madman over the endless diseases that should be either prevented or cured by now.. Really means the world to me.

Speaking of world.. I still haven't left the dojo, even for my traveling dreams. I figured.. Why should I? I have time on my side.

Do I regret not traveling the world like I planned? Absolutely not. Because I found another world to focus on instead. And it comes in the form of a wiggly, giggling toddler with a head full of auburn hair. Although Kenji still gets hit with pangs of grief over Kaoru, Kenshin and I always paid attention to him and always fed him, clothed him appropriately, took care of him when he would fall ill, and played games with him to keep him entertained for hours on end. I've come to find how much I love being a parent, after all. Like I said before, if you had told me when I was seventeen, that I would be married to someone or have children, I would have laughed right in your face. Turns out, I was dead wrong. I really love the stability of belonging to someone, and being a part of a happy family. It was everything I've always wanted and needed, but never had to experience a loving one.. Until recently. Kenji proves it so, every single day with the way he looks up to me.

Yahiko stayed at the dojo since he's still a minor, so he's become somewhat of another son to Kenshin and I. He's a really big help with the house chores and babysitting Kenji while Kenshin and I go out to our little "dates", whether it's going on a weekend camping trip far from eyes that are suspicious over us.. Or just to a restaurant pretending to be pals while we play footsies under the table. We're both pretty good at keeping Yahiko straight and narrow. We make sure he does his homework from school, and that he stays out of the streets and out of trouble with the cops. It's not easy sometimes. Teenagers will always find a way to sneak out at night and go do things that we could never approve for their safety, but they do it anyway. I can't tell you how many times I've reprimanded him, and yet, I also can't tell you how many times I quickly forgave him when I see him pouting later on. I hate disappointing him, so Yahiko and I spend plenty of time together, getting to know one another through a new type of relationship. Instead of him seeing me as just another friend, he's seeing me as Kenshin's romantic partner, so it's a lot to take in for him. It really does make sense that he likes to get into rowdy groups or getting in trouble at school; he's just trying to make sense of it all, and at such a tender age too on top of that.

But, he's trying his best, and that's all that matters.

Tae and Tsubame are still best friends with all of us, which is a blessing. They sometimes come around with extra food or to help out here and there, and we sometimes go over to their house for dinners and to play games for grown ups. No, nothing perverted of the sort, mind you! We don't let young Tsubame drink, of course, but she does like to dance with Yahiko and laugh at his clumsy moves. We always have fun together no matter what. Not that soon later, that it has come to light that they've both started a serious relationship with each other, and go out on dates to spend private time together. Nothing sure beats young love. I should know. Meanwhile, Tae has acquired herself someone who also started a serious relationship with her. Later on, a ring soon glints on her right hand, and that was the end of her single girl days as we all know it.

And who could forget the girls? I love being a quasi-father to Ayame and Suzume. With both of them, as well as Yahiko, I know Kenji won't ever feel the pain of loneliness. The girls are never too tuckered out to play with him, and Yahiko balances things out with teaching Kenji the art of swordsmanship with wooden sticks. It doesn't even feel all that stressful, taking care of four unruly children. The dojo is massive in size and can handle all of their running around and their childlike antics perfectly. The girls also help out with the dishes and that's always nice for when I have nights of intense studying with Dr Gensai. Kenji is still too young for school, but Ayame and Suzume, both aged eleven and eight, respectively, obviously go to school and would teach him simple things like the alphabets or using tree nuts for math. So I know Kenji will be ahead of his class by the time he can go to school next year at age five.

And because the girls go to school for seven hours a day, five days a week, and Gensai takes Kenji with him to his office outside the dojo for those periods.. Kenshin and I always have time for sex. Hey, you probably had to wonder, right?

We're a happy family, all seven of us together. We do everything together, from waking up and having breakfast on the same table, to going to the market street once a week to grab groceries and even the unnecessary stuff sometimes. We celebrate things together, like my twenty second birthday in the middle of September. The skies were gray and the leaves were falling from all the trees.. Summer has ended and all that came with it, but I'm welcoming these changes now. The girls baked a cake along with Gensai's help, and Kenshin took it upon himself to decorate the dining room for a small birthday party in my honor. Yahiko, of course, wrapped all of their presents and presented them to me proudly as they watch me uncover their gifts and me crying happy tears over all of this. This year, Yahiko got me a small compass, to symbolize that life is an adventure to be had. Ayame and Suzume got me a stuffed doll of a sea nymph, which they rationalized that if they can get me something that they could play with too, it's a gift well chosen. I had to laugh at that. Gensai actually brought me a small bag of my very first, well, first aid kit. Upon opening it, however, he also had placed a book of stories about traveling doctors and all the horrors they've seen on the road. That was really thoughtful of him and I had to refrain from hugging him and embarrassing the both of us.

And of course.. Kenshin brought me a small pocket knife, to help me gut rabbits and fishes during our 'camping trips'. Oh, Kenshin!

It's not always rainbows and butterflies, though. Because Kaoru is gone with the wind, and Yahiko obviously needs to focus on his schooling, the Kamiya Dojo has to close its doors to prospective students who are aching to learn the philosophies of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū. And because Kenshin oh so lovingly admitted that he never taught me the Hiten Misorugi and was only pretending the past few months because he just enjoyed having me over.. It's not like I could teach these students anything. Kenshin explained to me that if he were to taught me it, I would have to fight him and risk even killing him, because that's just how the traditions were surrounding the fighting technique. In the end, I'm glad he never taught me it. I can just be Soujiro Seta of the Tenken. Nothing wrong with that. I'll just use it for good instead of using it to kill people. I've thought about maybe opening the dojo back up for that, to teach people the Tenken, but I don't think it could ever be recreated so well like Makoto Shishio. Oh well. Better to keep them in the dark over a fighting technique with a past so bloody and terribly evil. I just focused on my own studying, meanwhile. Kenshin then popped up the idea with me, one weekend evening, with everyone else gone out to have some fun, and after he and I had some wild sex on his bed.

"Maybe I should become a teacher. To teach Hiko's philosophy of not killing, that I should." Kenshin stares at the ceiling above him, contemplating, his hands behind his head while I cuddle next to him, "What do you think, Soujiro?"

I look up at him dazedly, still a little out of breath from the hard fucking, "I fully support you, Mr Himura."

"Please," Kenshin rubs his cheek on the top of my head, "Call me Kenshin. Or else, see me after class."

I roll my eyes with a scoff, "Oh, please."

We laugh together before going to sleep afterwards. So that's what Kenshin did the next day. It did not take long for the word to get around Tokyo, that the ex-Battousai the manslayer had opened up his home to all young and old, men and women, fighters or not, to Hiko's life mantra of using their own strength to heal humanity instead of killing. Kenshin is an exceptional teacher, always so patient and taking people's questions carefully to give them the best answers he can come up with. He did this for free, but then people started donating, and we figured, sure, why not put a small price tag over it. The business blossomed within the next several months, with more and more people signing up and leaving us letters to enroll their children into Kenshin's classes. We all started organizing Kenshin's schedule so that it won't conflict too much with family time. Classes can certainly open up for the weekend, but never at night time, because that's when we all spend time together, and that's always the most important thing. Balance.

Seasons came and went. Changes have occurred. Lots of them, actually. Every once in a while, Sanosuke and Megumi would surprise us and come visit us for a while, and we'd live together again for some time until they had to leave again. They have so much of the world to explore, they said. I'm really happy for them. Sanosuke would always sit me down to talk about the things he's seen, the places he's wandered into, the people that are so different than those here in Japan. How wonderful it feels to just be free like this, he said, and I always fall in love with the way he tells me the details of their trips. Like I said before.. I don't regret not leaving. I have all the time in the world to do that. I'm sure of it. Megumi finally fell pregnant with her first child during their trip out to Taiwan, and she's about ready to pop. She says they will stay here for a bit for the child to be born and then it's off on the road again. That child is so lucky to have them as their parents.

Time rolls on and on. Kenji continues to grow and he's gained the sense that something is different about his own life in comparison to the other neighborhood children of his age. They all had a mother and a father, save for some who were maybe raised by grandparents or single uncles. Then Kenji will turn to look at us and seem to intuitely know that Kenshin and I are more than just friends. Although we would visit Kaoru's grave once a month to pay our deepest respects, and although we always told Kenji all about her and what she has done for all of us.. He grew bitter and resentful against us. Some days are worse than others. He would even have the gall to blame Kenshin for Kaoru's death, and would yell at me at how much I've ruined his life for arriving in Japan in search of Kenshin. I always want nothing more than to hold him as he goes into these mood swings, but the more Kenji grew older, the more distant he grew away from me. It's like he died somewhere along the way to join Kaoru, and all I am left with is the shell of an angry child who will never forgive me for this. I cry a lot some nights, and then I would brace for what tomorrow will bring.

Before I knew it.. Six years have passed us by. I'm twenty-seven years old now. My hair has grown long enough to be put into a short ponytail, and Kenshin remarked on the first time attempting it that I look exactly like Okita Soji. Although I'm a complete adult now in all sense of the word, I still feel young and restless. Kenji Himura is now ten years old but acts like a pissed off adolescent. Although he dislikes his father for everything that's happened, he couldn't help but sneak around the corner while Kenshin gives his philosophy classes out of curiousity. That's how Kenji learned about the Hiten Misurugi techniques, and sprung on our faces one night during dinner that he wants to learn this fighting style. Kenshin, now thirty-nine years old and has earned his silver wings throughout his long red hair, could only tell Kenji that he will bring him to Hiko to see what he has to say.

"But why not you, daddy?!" Kenji erupts in a fit of rage, shaking the dinner table by his slamming of his hands on top of it, "Why does it have to be him?!"

"Kenji, enough!" I chide him, trying to grab a hold of Kenji's arm, who only shook off my grasp violently.

"No, don't touch me! You're not even my real dad!" Kenji very nearly spits in my face with his yelling, which makes me gape at him in shock. I can't believe he is like this already at only ten years of age. We all look at each other in deep silence, unsure of how to continue this when so much has been said in the heat of the moment. At last, Kenshin clears his throat and we both turn towards him to hear him speak his piece.

"If I were to teach you the Hiten Misorugi, you will have to fight me to the death in accordance to the tradition. If that is really what you want to happen, Kenji, then I will teach you. Perhaps it will help you move on from the death of your mother, that it may. Since you are so young still, this will take us years of practice until you can have complete grasp of its philosophy. You are still growing, after all. I'd rather see you grab a book than a sword. But if this is what you want.."

"Kenshin.." I whisper to myself, clutching my sleeve at the mere thought of having to witness Kenji murdering his own father in cold blood. The love of my life, no less, in cold blood. From the corner of my eye, I can see Kenji looking at me and not knowing what to say.

".. Then I accept your request, son," Kenshin now smiles brightly, "If you can accept my request of finishing up your meal in peace, that you should! This food that Soujiro whipped up is quite delicious!"

Kenji grunts and hesitates, looking to the floor and back and forth between his two fathers, unsure of how to reply. Does he want this? Does Kenji want Kenshin to be his sensei and risk killing his father at the end of their lessons? Will that make everything better in his own life? Kenji tinkers these thoughts inside his head, and I look at him carefully, trying to read what his eyes are conveying. Kenshin, meanwhile, eats quietly, almost as if the entire discussion never even occurred in the first place. Is he just playing it cool for our sake? Should I follow suit?

Kenji trains his eyes on me and ponders for a bit, then he flicks his eyes over to Kenshin with a flash of guilt in his stare. With a deflated sigh, Kenji has no choice but to just sit down in his chair and resume his eating. The little white flag has been waved.

It comes as no surprise, then, that the next morning, Kenji tells Kenshin that he wants to learn under Hiko's ruling after all. But he'd like to focus on his school work for a little while longer before he does, to which we all happily agree to. This satisfies Kenji, though he still rages through the rebellion stage with us anyway. I'm just glad we could work things out as a family. And speaking of family, Yahiko has decided to marry Tsubame because, not only do they love each other something fierce.. but he actually got her pregnant accidentally. Tsubame sobbed and cried horrifically when she found out about it, since she had wanted to get married first before such a thing could happen. But Yahiko really stepped up to the plate and said he's going to marry her and take care of her forever, as long as she cooks for him. Sigh! And they say chivalry is the devil's work! We threw a shotgun wedding in our backyard, reminiscing the one that Kenshin and Kaoru did with their wedding years ago. I thought they deserved something special, after all.

I write to Sanosuke and Megumi often, and when I wrote to them about the wedding, they knew they had to come back to spend time with all of us like the good old days. They spent the entire spring with us and then they decided to find a place to live around here in Tokyo since they feel a little busted from all that world traveling. They really do inspire me, those two. Sometimes Sanosuke would ask me if I'm really happy that I gave up traveling to be with Kenshin and Kenji, and every single time, I would answer that yes, I am beyond happy that I made that choice. Megumi seem to be growing warmer and sweeter towards me the more she and Sano would visit us, so I'm glad the blood between us is no longer bad. And when she told me that she finally got gave birth to her baby? I couldn't believe it and told them that they can let me babysit the little one whenever they want, no problem at all. I love kids, remember? Guess my dream of having a big family really did come true!

I will share some sad news, though. Now that I've completed my medical studies with Gensai, it was almost like my completion has made his soul so at rest and so at peace, that he just passes away in his bed one early morning while the rest of us were still asleep. Ayame and Suzumi were crushed upon finding him and not being able to wake him, and since they're only helpless teenagers without any jobs or no other family left to go, I wanted to volunteer to parent them until they're old enough to leave. But the girls, ever so intelligent and quick to figure things out on their own, know of the relationship between Kenshin and I.. And so, they said that they will see if our other friends could take them in. I know that they're only doing this so that Kenshin and I could have some privacy, but it still kind of hurts to hear it, never the less. I've grown to love them so very much. When Sanosuke and Megumi heard the news, they knew that they had to take the girls up and have them move in with them, just until they turned eighteen at the very least. At least I could visit them whenever I want, and they could come out to see me too.

I'll miss Gensai. But, I think he's lead a very long, happy life. That provides me with a sense of relief, somehow.

Kenshin and I really outdone ourselves in Kaoru's name. With his little school business and me opening up my private practice to help heal and aid the sick and the injured, we gather enough income to keep the Kamiya dojo and survive. We save some money on the side for our future traveling, even if it'll take us some years to get there. With my hands, the hands that I used before to kill, now tenderly help the people of Tokyo in their bouts of illnesses or when they would come in with a broken bone for me to fix it. Kenshin's hands, that once grasped a sword to slice through people during the Meiji Era, now elaborate the teachings of living peacefully to help people expand their minds that there is more to life than just being alive and killing others. And Kenji's hands, when they too will soon grab a sword, I know he will use it for good and to enforce peace instead of being like his fathers. He's going to look so amazing with a reverse blade sword someday.

It's summer now. Kenji is being babysat by the Sagaras, and I'm basking in the sun out in the backyard of the Kamiya dojo. This is the season that I came back to this place in the search of Kenshin Himura and coming to terms with my feelings towards him. Ten long years since our traumatizing, yet equally cleansing, experience we faced together that made us become such close lovers. We have lost and we have faced tough times both apart and together, but it's all well worth it in the end. Because I'm now a part of his life, and he is a part of mine. And to think, I would never see the day that he would become mine when he was married and being a father all those years ago. Life is just so strange like that. I can hear the panel door behind me sliding open and closed, and with my back turned towards it and my eyes closed, I know who it is anyway. I've grown accustomed to his unique energy, and I know where he is even if my eyes couldn't see him.

"Morning, Soujiro. Care for some tea?" Kenshin's voice is so warm and sweet, like milk and honey. I smile, not opening my eyes still.

"Sounds lovely. I'd love to."

I hear the tinkering of the fine China set and the rush of the hot tea pouring into the cups, and the footsteps of my lover coming towards me to offer me my drink. I finally open my eyes and train them towards Kenshin, and I accept the offering. He sits down next to me to join me on my sunbathing. I don't try to stay out too long, being that my pale skin wouldn't allow me to do so anyway, but for now, I'll enjoy what Mother Nature can provide. The birds are out singing, as usual, and I could even make out the silvery flashes of butterfly wings fluttering around and about, painting our world like a serene portrait. These days, Kenshin and I have been talking about wandering out there, together instead of by ourselves, once Kenji can be taken in by Hiko. We would talk excitedly about all the different places we could go, and what we may come across on our road trip and what to make of them. It really helps to break the boring routines that we subject ourselves to, for having to stay here and watching the dojo and our son. Maybe Kenji will change his mind and just have Hiko help him move to his area and send him to the school in that area, but I know we'll miss him too much to do so right now. He is only ten years old, for goodness sake.

"I wonder where the first place we would like to see when we start wandering again, that I do." Kenshin simply remarks out of nowhere, catching me by surprise. Did he just read my mind?

"I'm not sure," I frown to myself, crossing my arms to think, "Japan is great and all, but maybe we should start a place that's closest to it? Like South Korea is just a boat ride away, right?"

"Sanosuke said he enjoyed himself there, so I think it's fine."

"You think?"

"I do."

We sit there in silence, just thinking. And pondering. And thinking some more. Finally, Kenshin straightens himself up and sets his tea cup to his side in order to wrap his arm around my waist to pull me close. I hesitate and look at him with a small gasp, and with his encouraging smile, I relax inwardly. I just lay my head against the crane of his neck, the heat of his body complimenting beautifully with the sun on my face and my hair. We don't have to plan this too much.. I'm learning to just let things go and let things be. To just trust what life will pave its path for me to take. Sometimes I can be so antsy to doing things by a certain time frame, that I never stop to just enjoy what else life has to offer. I'm learning to let things go, little by little. When and if Kenji goes to Hiko, is up to him. If it doesn't happen, then we'll find another way to travel together in private. We love Kenji and it will also do him well to learn independence when Kenshin and I just want to be alone. Being a parent doesn't mean not living your own life sometimes. Like I said.. Balance.

"Soujiro," Kenshin starts again out of nowhere after I almost dozed off in his embrace, "There's something in our bedroom. Can you go in there and check the dressing table?"

I don't ask for more and just do as he tells me, plain and simple. I close the sliding door from behind me and walk on from the living room and into the corridors, before I come down to the door that leads into our master bedroom. Entering and seeing the dressing table, the first thing I see on top is something glinting from the sunlight thanks to the window. I blink with a slight frown, just wondering what it could be. I take some cautious steps towards it, and my mind immediately recognize the shiny object in question is my first gift from Kenshin, six years ago. The small, navy colored marble trinket box just sits there as if waiting for its original owner to return in a timely fashion. So that's where my box went. I lost it for a week and have been searching frantically over it. I then see, right next to it, a white envelope, and so that's what I pick up first to turn it around. It reads: Open the box first before you open this.

Oh. Okay, then. I frown deeper and go to pick up the trinket box, and what I find inside, really blew me out of the water. In the box, resting inside the rich blue silk inseams, is a ring with an impressive silver casting, simple in its design yet expensive judging by its weight. I carefully pluck it from out of the box to look at it carefully, the sun from outside catching it and the shine almost blinding me. It's so beautiful. What is this? What does this mean? Only one way to find out; I open the letter finally to let my eyes sweep it over, and over, and over, and over again until the hot prick of my tears flow out, my hands trembling at it nearly crumbles the sides of the note.

My dearest Soujiro,

Thank you so much for being there for me, and for Kenji, and for everyone here in my life.

We really do make an amazing team.

I won't ever let you go.

I love you so.

Will you marry me?

Love,
Kenshin

The End.