1885
Obon

The train pulled into the Kyoto station, slowly coming to a stop. After the iron horse was stationary, it blew the steam from its engine and the doors were thrown open so the passengers could disembark. The very first passenger off one car was a tiny boy with sky blue eyes and copper hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He flew down the steps so fast, a gust of wind was all the porters even noticed.

"Himura Kenji, you wait for us!" called a sharp voice immediately after.

The small boy stopped and turned around, glaring impatiently at his raven haired mother and crimson haired father, who were just now walking down the steps.

"Hurry up, already! I wanna see Aunt Misao and Grandpa!" Kenji hollered.

"Yes, yes. We're coming, Kenji," Kenshin said soothingly. "You mustn't run ahead of your mother and this one in this crowded train station. You could get lost."

'Or worse...'

Kenji was about to protest that he wouldn't get lost when...

"HIIIIMUUUUURRRAAAAAAAAA!"

Kenshin and Kaoru looked up, expecting by instinct to be bowled over by a petite kunoichi, as they were every year. This year however, the kunoichi was anything but petite, with her stomach sticking out as though she had stuck a balloon under her kimono.

"Misao-chan! It's so good to see you again!" greeted Kaoru, eyes traveling down to Misao's swollen belly. "How are you doing?"

"It's going fine. This little one is a kicker," answered Misao.

"Just like mine was," returned Kaoru.

Kenshin and Aoshi nodded in greeting.

Kenji looked Aunt Misao over sharply. In his memory from prior visits, she had always been small and slender. Suddenly, this year, her tummy was bulging!

"Aunt Misao, what happened to your tummy?" he blurted out.

"Kenji!" reprimanded Kaoru.

"That's alright, Kaoru," said Misao. "I'm carrying Aoshi's and my baby inside my tummy until he or she is big enough to come out and join the world."

"Oro? Baby?" asked Kenji, looking up to his parents for help.

"We'll tell you about it once we're back at the Aoiya," said Kaoru. "Right now we should get a move on."

Aoshi picked up the Himura family's bags and the two Oniwabanshuu led their guests back to the inn.

Aoiya

"Himura-kun, welcome!" greeted a jubilant Okina.

"Thank you for having us as always, Okina-dono," smiled Kenshin. "How is everyone?"

"Oh, we're all fine. Aoshi and Misao have been preparing for their new addition and Okon makes her weekly trips up the mountain," grinned Okina with a wink.

"Ororo?"

"Oh. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. Just forget I said anything," said Okina, holding up his hands.

"Oro..."

"Mom, why is a baby in Aunt Misao's tummy and how'd it get there?" Kenji asked, annoyed at having been put off before.

"In a minute, Kenji," said Kaoru firmly.

Kenji scowled, face pinching like a nutcracker at having been denied yet again.

"Follow me," said Aoshi as he started up the staircase, still carrying everyone's bags.

Aoshi put Kenshin and Kaoru in their usual room and Kenji in the one adjoining it.

Kenji unpacked his little bag, a frown on his face the whole time. Why was a baby inside Aunt Misao's tummy? How had it gotten there?

'Was I inside Mom's tummy like that when I was a baby?' the thought suddenly occurred to him.

After setting everything the way he wanted it, Kenji stood up and marched to the door to ask again.

Kenshin looked up at the sound of the door sliding open to see Kenji standing there, looking unhappy, yet determined.

"Something on your mind, son?" he asked.

"Was I inside Mom's tummy when I was a baby?" Kenji asked.

Kenshin smiled.

"Yes, you were," he answered truthfully.

"How'd I get there?"

"Oro? Well, it's a b-bit complicated," Kenshin stammered.

Kenji rolled his eyes. Why, oh why, did adults have to be so obtuse over answering a little boy's simple question?

"Would you like to walk up the mountain with this one to see Grandpa Hiko in an hour or so?" Kenshin asked by way of distracting Kenji.

A smile stretched across Kenji's features at the mention of his adopted grandfather.

"Yeah!" he answered happily.

'Grandpa Hiko will tell me about babies!' Kenji thought to himself.

"Go practice your kata in the meanwhile. You want to show your best skills to Grandpa, right?" smiled Kenshin.

"OK, Dad," said Kenji, dutifully trotting into the inner yard to work his kata.

Kenshin felt Aoshi's ki as the shinobi entered the room and stood with him, watching Kenji.

"Himura, may I ask your advice on something?" Aoshi began uneasily.

"Oro?"

"Through my life, I have trained to fight, infiltrate, spy, all of which required extensive planning and preparation. I have no training in fatherhood and find myself baffled by the very concept," the ninja admitted awkwardly as he sat down next to the rurouni.

"It's not something you can train and plan for. You have to simply deal with things as they happen," was Kenshin's answer as they both watched Kenji.

"I see," responded Aoshi.

"Don't worry about the future. Just enjoy your child, one day at a time. As they grow, they will explore and discover the world around them and surprise you in so many different ways," continued Kenshin, eyes lighting with pride as Kenji executed a rather difficult Kasshin maneuver.

"Spontaneity has never been my forte," admitted Aoshi.

"You'll adapt," said Kenshin, shifting his gaze to the ninja. "And don't forget: You're not alone. You have Misao-dono, Okina-dono and all the others to help you."

"Yes," agreed Aoshi.

"Children have a healing effect on the heart," said Kenshin, voice thickening. "Open your heart to that baby. Love them and let them love you back!"

Aoshi's gaze turned to Kenshin's and he saw in the violet eyes that stared back at him love, joy, peace.

"I will," he responded, a strain of unaccustomed emotion in his usually monotone voice.

"Good," said Kenshin, smile widening even more.

The two men lapsed into silence and continued to watch Kenji.

Kenshin and Kenji set out on their journey to see Hiko. Kaoru ordinarily would have accompanied them, but wanted to stay and compare pregnancy notes with Misao. As they made their way up the hill, Kenshin cast out his senses and picked up the familiar, yet always overwhelming, ki of his master. Looking up, he saw Hiko standing at the top of the hill, waiting for them.

"I believe I see a Little Lion," Hiko called down to the charging boy.

"RAWR!" cried Kenji, unshouldering his shinai and leaping into the air.

Hiko drew his nihontou in battoujutsu and repulsed Kenji's attack. Kenji flipped, landed and charged again, swinging up. Hiko swung down and again blocked the boy's attack. The two pushed against each other for a moment, then broke apart.

"You've gotten better," smiled Hiko.

"I practice every day!" declared Kenji.

"Of course you do. A swordsman always keeps his skills as honed as his blade," said Hiko.

"Yup!" agreed Kenji.

"Where's the old ball and chain?"

This to Kenshin, who had just caught up with Kenji.

"The old... oro... Kaoru decided to stay at the Aoiya. She sends her regards," answered Kenshin.

"Ah, visiting with that knocked up Weasel, eh?" smirked Hiko.

"Knocked up?" parroted Kenji.

"Master..." groaned Kenshin, burying his face in his hands.

"Slang talk for a pregnant woman," explained Hiko.

This returned Kenji's mind to his previous question that no one had wanted to answer.

"How'd she get... knocked up?" asked Kenji.

"Oro..." groaned Kenshin.

Kaoru was going to kill him!

"It happens when a man and woman share a bed together," Hiko answered solemnly.

"Master!" cried Kenshin, cheeks turning red.

"Like Mom and Dad?" asked Kenji.

"Kenji!"

This was not happening!

"Mmmhmmm," answered Hiko.

"Oh, OK!" said Kenji happily.

That was so simple! Why had Mom and Dad been so unhappy when he had asked a question with such a simple answer. Now that that was settled in his young mind, Kenji's thoughts returned to his first love: swordsmanship.

"Lemme show you my kata!"

"You do that," said Hiko.

Kenji trotted a few feet away, unshouldered his shinai and started working.

"Heh. He took my reproductive explanation with far more aplomb at age six than you did at age 12. Why does that not surprise me?" smirked Hiko.

Poor Kenshin's cheeks were flushed as he remembered how embarrassed he had felt when the Master had explained to him about the deer he had seen in the forest.