Hi again! Kyaa-Kyaff here!

Disclaimer: I do not own rurouni kenshin & co. unfortunately!

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'….' Kaoru thoughts

"…." dialogue

An Alternate Place and Time

Chapter 2: A memory, Who's there?

Kaoru had meant to go to Tae's house, leave the letter, and then leave herself unnoticed. But things never go as planned and she ended up bumping right into Tae. Kaoru had to explain to Tae why she was leaving, and with a lot of convincing, Tae finally relented telling Kaoru to be careful. Tae did not let her leave without some food and money though. Just as Kaoru was about to leave a knock was heard at Tae's door.

"Tae-dono?" said the soft distinctive voice of Shinta.

Kaoru quickly backed up and dragged Tae with her.

"Please, don't tell him I am here. Please!" Kaoru pleaded quietly.

"Kaoru…" Tae started.

"Please Tae."

Tae nodded and directed Kaoru to her room in the back. Kaoru left Tae's bedroom door slightly open, so she could see the front door. Tae made her way to the door after a second knock.

"Shinta-san, How are you?" Tae asked.

"Tae-dono, have you seen Kaoru-dono? I am very worried about her and I must speak with her."

Shinta did look worn out. But to Kaoru he looked beautiful. She watched his every move, so that she could remember him. She seriously doubted that they would see each other again.

"I'm sorry Shinta-san, I have not seen her today."

Shinta sighed, "Well, if you see her I must speak with her. I went to visit her, but it seems Hajime," the name came out with a note of disgust, "has thrown Kaoru-dono out for disobeying him."

Tae looked quite upset. Kaoru could see that Tae wanted to tell Shinta where she was. Kaoru was finding it hard not to make herself known.

"Thank you Tae-dono. If you see her, please tell her I am looking for her."

"Of course, Shinta-san." Tae closed the door behind him and turned to go to her bedroom. She found it empty with the money she had given Kaoru sitting on her floor.

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That had been very close. Seeing Shinta again had tested her resolve and sent her emotions into turmoil. Now she was making her way on a forest trail. She had no idea where it led, and that's why she decided to follow it. It was early morning and the forest was alive with the sounds of the birds and other animals inhabiting it.

'You have to find a new dream now, Kaoru.'

She hoped Tomoe would take the chance Kaoru had given and act on hers. She still remembered when she first met Tomoe and Shinta. She was seven years old. Kaoru had been living with "uncle" Hajime for a week and decided to go explore the surrounding area, without permission of course. She had been plowed over by a boy a year or two older than herself.

__________________Flashback___________________________________________

"Oi! Watch we're you're going Jou-chan." The boy with the funnily spiked hair had yelled, as he stood up and brushed dirt off his clothes.

"You ran into to me you…, Baka! You should have been watching where you were going." Kaoru exclaimed also standing up.

"Well, Jou-chan, I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta go." With that he took of running.

Kaoru was really mad and contemplated following the boy to get him back for being rude. At that moment she heard a shout coming from behind her.

"Sano, Get back here! You give Tomoe-dono her ribbon back!"

Kaoru turned only to come face to face with another boy. A loud oro was heard as she crashed to the ground with this boy. Recovering, she shoved him off and stood up.

"What is with boys?! They are all BAKAS!" Kaoru yelled to no one in particular.

She looked down at the swirly-eyed boy who kept muttering something like "orororororororo"

"Shinta-san are you alright?"

Kaoru looked up to see the most beautiful girl she had ever seen make her way up to Kaoru and the slowly recovering boy. The girl caught sight of Kaoru and bowed slightly seeing her disheveled clothes.

"Gomen nasai, are you alright?" The beautiful girl had asked a stunned Kaoru.

"H…Hai, what is your name?" Kaoru breathed absolutely fascinated by this girl.

"Yukishiro Tomoe, and you?"

"Ka… Saitoh Kaoru!" Kaoru said.

"Gomen nasai, Kaoru-dono. My name is Himura Shinta," stated the boy who was now standing.

Kaoru turned to look at him!

"Sugoi!!!!!!!!!!" Kaoru cried approaching the boy.

Before he knew what had happened he felt a sharp tug on his hair. He blinked in confusion and right there in his face were a pair of pretty blue eyes.

"N...Nani?" he said backing away from the girl.

"Your hair, it's red. And your eyes, they are purple. I have never seen anyone who looked like that. What are you?" Kaoru said still circling Shinta.

"Oro?" he said at her last question.

Tomoe giggled at the flustered Shinta. "His father was foreign."

"Oh, that explains it," switching the topic, she asked, "Do you think I could come play with you?"

Kaoru furrowed her brow as if expecting them to reject her.

"Of course you can," replied Tomoe.

"Yeah!!!!!! Oh no, your ribbon. That boy had it didn't he!" Kaoru exclaimed.

_______________________End Flashback________________________________________

Kaoru had then proceeded to hunt the boy called Sano down. She found him and had a little "encounter" with him. She then returned Tomoe's ribbon the next day. Tomoe and Shinta always treated her kindly. They did not seem to mind that she was four years younger. Her childhood had been very happy.

'I better stop reminiscing or I am going to go all teary eyed. Again.'

It was around mid-afternoon, and she decided to take a break. Finding somewhere to sit, she pulled some food out of her pack. Kaoru had the uneasy feeling that someone was following her. Now that she had stopped the feeling continued. At first she tried to pass it off as nerves but then realized it was not just her imagination.

'Should I just tell the person to show themselves?'

Deciding that that was the best course of action she finished eating and packed her things back up. She stood up and declared:

"I know there is someone out there. So stop following me and come out and show yourself."

Several minutes passed as Kaoru surveyed her surroundings. She started feeling a little silly, when she heard a twig snap behind her. She quickly whirled around to see a figure approaching.

"Who… who's there?" Kaoru asked shakily putting her hand to her bokken.

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HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that seemed a good place to end it! So who is it? Have any guesses?! Well, you'll have to find out in the next chapter! I hope you like it so far. I haven't even gotten to the part of the story I want to. But I need to get all this background stuff done. And yeah there is a reason Kenshin's name is Shinta. I think Kenshin sounds better too. But you'll see the reason he is Shinta now, later on! So stick around kay! And reviews are always welcome cause they definitely motivate me to write more! See I told you I would try and update fast. *Omochi, thanks lots for the info. I wasn't sure about his name so I had it as Hajime Saitoh. Oh well, I'm going to leave it as it is anyways, but thank you again!!!!!!!

Thank you to all the people who reviewed my story. You guys are great and you are making me happy and motivated! Please keep the reviews coming.

Kyaa Kyaff thanks you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!