LIFE AFTER THE LEGEND
Saito Hajimi inhaled deeply from his cigarette and looked up the crimson- black sky. In combination with the falling cherry blossoms, the twilight looked particularly beautiful tonight. Saito gave himself a mental shake, it's not like him to notice, but for some reason, he seem a bit sentimental tonight. He blew smoke through clenched teeth and walked towards Aritomo Yamagata, now Home Minister of Japan.
Together, they watched as the legendary hitokiri's body was covered inch by inch with dirt and the gently falling cherry blossoms. "I guess this in the end of your rivalry with Battousai isn't is Saito?" Silence........ "Saito?!?" Yamagata asked more forcefully. "Yes, it is" Saito uttered, disappointed in his admittance.
"Such a pity," Yamagata thought, "that a man undefeated by any other would succumb to illness. But then again, perhaps this is the best way for his legend to end."
"Well then, I know you didn't think it necessary, but let us pay our respects to his wife at least. The man has done more for this country than I would ever hope to do" Yamagata said walking towards the mourning crowd.
That day marked the end of the most skilled, and most feared assassin that ever walked the face of the earth. Still Mother nature seem to mourn his death as well, everyone who was present that day would swear they heard the winds whispering softly "Sayonara, Battousai......Sayonara......"
*************************************************************
Several years later.
"Oh Kenji!" Kaoru Himura cried with tears in her eyes, "A Daughter!!! You have a beautiful, and healthy baby daughter!!!" Kenji Himura had tears in his eyes too as he hugged his mother hard before rushing into the room to see with his own eyes his child, his 'beautiful daughter'.
"I can't believe you're a grandmother now Kaoru!" Dr. Megumi Takani said, exiting the room to give Kenji and his family some privacy. "Well, it only means that Dogface here is getting old." "Yahiko, you haven't called me that in years, and if today wasn't such a joyous day, I'd give you a good whacking, or two! Don't you forget, I was master of this dojo before you!"
"Ok, Ok, ease up Dog-face..........I mean Kaoru, I just missed you that's all! I haven't seen much of you ever since you gave me this dojo and moved to that small village in Aizu. If you weren't so happy there, I'd have gone and took you back here!"
Yahiko, a full-grown man now and a father of two, well almost two anyway, smiled at his sensei. It's a lot easier to tell her things now, things he would never have told her when he was younger. Kaoru was not only his teacher, but she was more of his mother, as well as his friend, and for that he will always be grateful. He could admit this easily nowadays.
"Kaoru smiled back. "Why didn't you say so in the first place Yahiko! Anyway, I love your improvements on the dojo, and I also saw lots of new student names. You must be a really good sensei!" Yahiko's smile widened, a compliment from Kaoru was always heartfelt. "Well..........Kenji's an amazing sensei as well. We're a good team you know!" Yahiko's face sobered suddenly, "He still talks about Hiten Mitsurugi though. And sometimes, even I............"
"Battousai Himura is dead, and so is the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. You and Kenji should stop this!" Kaoru looked at the beautiful woman who spoke these words and smiled. "My, my, I must really be old" Kaoru thought. "It seem like only yesterday, I saw her as a young girl. Now she holds a two year old babe in her arms and another one on the way. "Tsubame is absolutely right! We buried him that day remember?" Kaoru said looking directly at Yahiko.
"Exactly!" a perky, female voice said startling everyone in the room. "So, what did we get?" "Misao, Aoshi!!! It sure is nice to see you two again! But who's taking care of the twins?" "Not to worry Kaoru" Aoshi said smiling, "Their big brother Shuji as well as Okina and everyone in Aioya will watch them for a while."
"That's good" Kaoru answered. "Anyway, we have a new baby girl!" Kaoru announced beaming. "Rats! I lost the bet!!" Misao said smiling up at Aoshi. "I guess I have to rub your back every night for a month!" "Sounds good" Aoshi said putting his arms around his wife.
"They're such a beautiful couple," Kaoru thought. "Misao has grown into a beautiful woman and wears kimono now. She has developed the curves and bulges she's been hoping for. Aoshi on the other hand didn't seem to have changed much. He still has his ruggedly handsome good looks and his lean well-built body, only now he has a few gray streaks in his hair."
Kaoru started to smile, then stopped. "What's wrong?" Misao asked. "Nothing, I just remembered, we were together like this that day too." "You're right, we're almost complete, except for........." Misao looked over at Megumi and asked, "Where's that glutton husband of yours anyway?"
Megumi sighed, "We sent Sanosuke and a friend to meet you at the docks. You must have crossed path somehow." "I'm sorry" Aoshi said. "Not to worry" Megumi answered smiling. They'll probably be back here in a few minutes. I have a feeling they went over at Dr. Gensai's to check on the kids. Suzume and Ayame will take good care of them I know, but Sano is such a worry-wart dad sometimes."
"Not true!!!" Sano said announcing their arrival. "Really?" Megumi asked, "Then you didn't happen go to Dr. Gensai's place, did you?" "Well, just for a few minutes! I swear!" Sano said defensively and everyone in the room laughed. "Well," Sano said with a mock expression of hurt, "if you're going to laugh at me, then you should at least feed me first!" "Ok!" Kaoru said still laughing, "but let's go welcome the baby first before we have the feast." Everyone agreed and piled up to enter the baby's room.
Except Kaoru who walked the other way.........towards the man who accompanied Sanosuke to the docks. He is a handsome man, although not very tall. There are also some streaks of gray in his otherwise red hair. Kaoru reached out and touched his smooth left cheek. The scar is totally gone now, not only from his face, but from his soul as well. "I'm so happy" Kaoru said, tears falling on her cheeks. "Kaoru" the man whispered hoarsely, then gently gathered her in his arms, wiped her tears and kissed her, long and tenderly.
He thought of that time when he thought she was dead, and he shuddered inwardly. He couldn't bear the thought of losing this woman........his woman, his wife. But strangely enough, that incident of exchanging bodies gave them a way to end one person's existence.........forever.
He kissed her again, more passionately this time, and when he lifted his lips from her, Kaoru smiled and said, "Let us go and greet our new granddaughter, my dear husband, my dear.Shinta."
(END)
Author's notes: In the RK manga - Enishi, Kenshin's brother-in law used some sort of body-switching technique that made Kenshin think Kaoru was dead(which she was not). In this story, the same trick was used by Kenshin and the rest of the gang to fool the rest of the world into thinking that Battousai Himura was already dead..thus in the ending.he is called Shinta (c",) [pic]
Saito Hajimi inhaled deeply from his cigarette and looked up the crimson- black sky. In combination with the falling cherry blossoms, the twilight looked particularly beautiful tonight. Saito gave himself a mental shake, it's not like him to notice, but for some reason, he seem a bit sentimental tonight. He blew smoke through clenched teeth and walked towards Aritomo Yamagata, now Home Minister of Japan.
Together, they watched as the legendary hitokiri's body was covered inch by inch with dirt and the gently falling cherry blossoms. "I guess this in the end of your rivalry with Battousai isn't is Saito?" Silence........ "Saito?!?" Yamagata asked more forcefully. "Yes, it is" Saito uttered, disappointed in his admittance.
"Such a pity," Yamagata thought, "that a man undefeated by any other would succumb to illness. But then again, perhaps this is the best way for his legend to end."
"Well then, I know you didn't think it necessary, but let us pay our respects to his wife at least. The man has done more for this country than I would ever hope to do" Yamagata said walking towards the mourning crowd.
That day marked the end of the most skilled, and most feared assassin that ever walked the face of the earth. Still Mother nature seem to mourn his death as well, everyone who was present that day would swear they heard the winds whispering softly "Sayonara, Battousai......Sayonara......"
*************************************************************
Several years later.
"Oh Kenji!" Kaoru Himura cried with tears in her eyes, "A Daughter!!! You have a beautiful, and healthy baby daughter!!!" Kenji Himura had tears in his eyes too as he hugged his mother hard before rushing into the room to see with his own eyes his child, his 'beautiful daughter'.
"I can't believe you're a grandmother now Kaoru!" Dr. Megumi Takani said, exiting the room to give Kenji and his family some privacy. "Well, it only means that Dogface here is getting old." "Yahiko, you haven't called me that in years, and if today wasn't such a joyous day, I'd give you a good whacking, or two! Don't you forget, I was master of this dojo before you!"
"Ok, Ok, ease up Dog-face..........I mean Kaoru, I just missed you that's all! I haven't seen much of you ever since you gave me this dojo and moved to that small village in Aizu. If you weren't so happy there, I'd have gone and took you back here!"
Yahiko, a full-grown man now and a father of two, well almost two anyway, smiled at his sensei. It's a lot easier to tell her things now, things he would never have told her when he was younger. Kaoru was not only his teacher, but she was more of his mother, as well as his friend, and for that he will always be grateful. He could admit this easily nowadays.
"Kaoru smiled back. "Why didn't you say so in the first place Yahiko! Anyway, I love your improvements on the dojo, and I also saw lots of new student names. You must be a really good sensei!" Yahiko's smile widened, a compliment from Kaoru was always heartfelt. "Well..........Kenji's an amazing sensei as well. We're a good team you know!" Yahiko's face sobered suddenly, "He still talks about Hiten Mitsurugi though. And sometimes, even I............"
"Battousai Himura is dead, and so is the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. You and Kenji should stop this!" Kaoru looked at the beautiful woman who spoke these words and smiled. "My, my, I must really be old" Kaoru thought. "It seem like only yesterday, I saw her as a young girl. Now she holds a two year old babe in her arms and another one on the way. "Tsubame is absolutely right! We buried him that day remember?" Kaoru said looking directly at Yahiko.
"Exactly!" a perky, female voice said startling everyone in the room. "So, what did we get?" "Misao, Aoshi!!! It sure is nice to see you two again! But who's taking care of the twins?" "Not to worry Kaoru" Aoshi said smiling, "Their big brother Shuji as well as Okina and everyone in Aioya will watch them for a while."
"That's good" Kaoru answered. "Anyway, we have a new baby girl!" Kaoru announced beaming. "Rats! I lost the bet!!" Misao said smiling up at Aoshi. "I guess I have to rub your back every night for a month!" "Sounds good" Aoshi said putting his arms around his wife.
"They're such a beautiful couple," Kaoru thought. "Misao has grown into a beautiful woman and wears kimono now. She has developed the curves and bulges she's been hoping for. Aoshi on the other hand didn't seem to have changed much. He still has his ruggedly handsome good looks and his lean well-built body, only now he has a few gray streaks in his hair."
Kaoru started to smile, then stopped. "What's wrong?" Misao asked. "Nothing, I just remembered, we were together like this that day too." "You're right, we're almost complete, except for........." Misao looked over at Megumi and asked, "Where's that glutton husband of yours anyway?"
Megumi sighed, "We sent Sanosuke and a friend to meet you at the docks. You must have crossed path somehow." "I'm sorry" Aoshi said. "Not to worry" Megumi answered smiling. They'll probably be back here in a few minutes. I have a feeling they went over at Dr. Gensai's to check on the kids. Suzume and Ayame will take good care of them I know, but Sano is such a worry-wart dad sometimes."
"Not true!!!" Sano said announcing their arrival. "Really?" Megumi asked, "Then you didn't happen go to Dr. Gensai's place, did you?" "Well, just for a few minutes! I swear!" Sano said defensively and everyone in the room laughed. "Well," Sano said with a mock expression of hurt, "if you're going to laugh at me, then you should at least feed me first!" "Ok!" Kaoru said still laughing, "but let's go welcome the baby first before we have the feast." Everyone agreed and piled up to enter the baby's room.
Except Kaoru who walked the other way.........towards the man who accompanied Sanosuke to the docks. He is a handsome man, although not very tall. There are also some streaks of gray in his otherwise red hair. Kaoru reached out and touched his smooth left cheek. The scar is totally gone now, not only from his face, but from his soul as well. "I'm so happy" Kaoru said, tears falling on her cheeks. "Kaoru" the man whispered hoarsely, then gently gathered her in his arms, wiped her tears and kissed her, long and tenderly.
He thought of that time when he thought she was dead, and he shuddered inwardly. He couldn't bear the thought of losing this woman........his woman, his wife. But strangely enough, that incident of exchanging bodies gave them a way to end one person's existence.........forever.
He kissed her again, more passionately this time, and when he lifted his lips from her, Kaoru smiled and said, "Let us go and greet our new granddaughter, my dear husband, my dear.Shinta."
(END)
Author's notes: In the RK manga - Enishi, Kenshin's brother-in law used some sort of body-switching technique that made Kenshin think Kaoru was dead(which she was not). In this story, the same trick was used by Kenshin and the rest of the gang to fool the rest of the world into thinking that Battousai Himura was already dead..thus in the ending.he is called Shinta (c",) [pic]