Disclaimer: Nobuhiro Watsuki is the owner of Rurouni Kenshin and all of its characters.
A/N: Hello everyone!! I'm really overjoyed about how many people are cheering me on with this fic, and I'm honestly surprised it got this far! ^-^' To tell you the truth, I think I made it a tad too cheesy and sappy, and I've gotten a few flames for that, but I completely agree with you!! So please give me some opinions and suggestions if you happen to have any so that my next RK fic will again, be a success thanks to your help!! Happy reading!!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*RING* *RING*
Misao opened her ocean-blue eyes as her ears rung at the sound of the phone. She buried her face into her tear-stained pillow, trying to shun out all sounds just for the moment. But the ringing tormented her. Can't a girl get some solo time in a time of distress? She lumbered out moodily and snatched up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Misao-dono..."
Aoshi padded along the wooden hallway, his wool socks sliding across the polished surface. Behind the shoji doors of Misao's room, he heard murmuring, and from there a low whimper. Surprised, he stopped outside the entrance to listen. But there was a small 'click' as doors burst open, with Misao staring up at him with waterfalls down her face, holding in sobs for who knew what.
"Misao...?"
Without another comment she thrust herself into him, releasing the dammed up echoes of cries from her throat as her arms wrapped themselves around the man before her. And though shocked, he took her in gently, letting his hands fall through her hair that'd been unraveled from her braid. Curly masses of it embraced his fingers.
* * *
"Kenshin, you don't look too good..."
Sano gave his friend a worried look as he stared back at him, dazed.
"Oro?"
"Did you hear me?"
"No...sorry..."
Sano reached over and put a hand to his friend's forehead.
"You're not hot. I wonder what's wrong..."
The red haired man smiled back at him.
"I bet it's nothing big, Sano. I'll be fine."
Megumi came over with their coffee, kneeling down and placing the mugs on the coffee table.
"I'm afraid it's your blood donation Ken-san...evidently Kaoru didn't need so much blood."
He looked down at her with a confused expression as she chuckled.
"Her sweater's made up of a material that absorbs liquids rapidly. It may have seemed like she was losing quite a bit...but in truth she didn't need much. Of course, it was a lot to take out of one person...normally I'd withdraw that amount from two people..."
Of course, Kenshin wasn't listening. He found himself feeling like a complete airhead, and he felt his friends lay him down across the couch for some sleep. He heard one last comment from Sano before dozing off.
"You called the Aoiya, Kenshin?"
"Aa...I did..."
"Weasel was worried, eh?"
"More than you think..."
* * *
Kaoru sighed as she opened her eyes from her nap. She was feeling much better, despite the slight pain from her two major wounds. Her body felt lazy, her back stuck to the bed sheets and her arms not willing to even reach up to touch her face. After some difficulty, she forced herself to sit up, wincing. She slowly let down a foot to the floor, then the next, and stumbled up on her two feet. Hanging onto the walls for support, she crept out of her room.
The apartment seemed awfully quiet. All she could hear was the low murmur of the coffee maker, and the faint noise of the cars on the streets outside. She stepped into the living room, where it was dark, and smelled entirely of coffee. She craned her head to see someone stretched out on the couch, sleeping soundly. For a second, she expected to see Megumi with her eyes shut, bags showing from beneath her eyes. But with another few painful steps forward, she saw her sweet Kenshin peacefully asleep. She found his mug of coffee emptied, along with a note slipped under it. She knelt beside the coffee table and removed the piece of paper from its weight.
Ken-san,
I'll be taking Sano out for some fun. Be sure tanuki behaves herself.
~Megumi
Kaoru frowned down at the paper.
"Megumi, you little...she-devil..."
She set the note down and crawled a little closer to Kenshin. People were entirely different when they were encased in sleep. Even the most serious, harsh looking people can have soft and gentle features lighten their faces when they're in dreamland. There was no exception for Kenshin. He was like a little kid run out of energy after playing ball with his friends outside. With her milky fingertips, she parted his bangs across his face, his strands of red shining a bright shade of amber from the light entering the room through the window. She didn't realize his face suddenly closing the space between them, and from a point of utter stillness, his arms came into action as they wrapped themselves around her waist. Startled, she stared down at him as his eyes began to open, and his lips curved upwards in a sly smile with her rosy ones pressed lightly against his. She turned her head slightly, giving her the advantage of nudging her lips closer into his flesh. His hand stroked her back soothingly as Kaoru pressed down into the kiss, with Kenshin's head slowly being forced deeper into the pillow. She sighed as they pulled away slightly, their noses touching at their tips affectionately.
"Thought I was asleep, my deity?"
His tongue brushed across her lower lip, making her press their lips together a second time. She let his tongue dance around the curves of her pink mouth.
She smiled as she pulled away from him, allowing him to sit up.
"You fooled me entirely."
He took her hand gently and planted another kiss on the peak of her wrist.
"Yet again, another miracle to have my blessed angel watching me in my sleep."
She stroked his cheek once before returning it to her lap.
"You lose your dialect when you're so poetic..."
He stood from his position and offered her a hand.
"Only for your better comprehension, my dear."
She was suddenly pulled up to her feet, and she found herself fit snugly in his embrace a second time. She felt like a foot, fitting perfectly into a snug shoe of the correct size. He looked down at her, relaxed and peaceful expressions embellishing each others' faces lovingly. Their foreheads met as they remained close, a source of heat inside the chilly apartment. She felt his hand clutch hers tightly as he pulled away, and with a gentle tug he cocked his chin towards the door.
"Kaoru-dono, would you like to go outside, with me?"
She smiled.
"What for?"
He walked over to the closet to pull out a jacket for her and draped it over her shoulders.
"We need to pay our respects to Tae-dono."
* * *
Megumi sat patiently on the bench in the empty park, wrapped neatly in a lavender wool coat and a long, black wool skirt with tights beneath. Her body felt rigid from the cold as the wind tousled her loose hair about. She heard footsteps coming near, and she reached out a gloved hand gratefully as Sano handed her a cup of steaming tea. He himself sat down beside her, sipping politely as possible from a foam cup of coffee. She smiled at his attempt as he released small, unintentional tiny slurps. She couldn't help giggling as she watched him try harder, his eyebrows furrowing as his expression changed from placid to frustrated as he drank. She wiped away a trickle of coffee beginning to make its way down his chin. He blushed brightly as the fuzzy material of her glove came in contact. He stopped his sipping abruptly and wiped his chin with his sleeve. Laughing, Megumi patted Sano's broad shoulder.
"It's alright. No need to feel so tense, stupid."
He pouted, and then smiled as he found it hard to resist the happy atmosphere this woman was rubbing off on him. He began to laugh along with her as the two of them sat, looking joyous than ever in each other's presence.
* * *
"Aoshi-sama..."
"Mmm?"
Misao clung to Aoshi as they sat leaning against the wall on Misao's bed. She had finally dried her tears after much babbling and explanations about Kaoru being safe, with Himura, leaving her speechless after she finished. He stroked her hair tenderly as she spoke.
"I haven't told you what I think..."
"...about what?" He asked.
She looked up at him.
"...who I care about. Don't you remember?"
He turned away and blushed as she began to laugh at his reaction.
"There was a while ago when I told Himura...about my feelings."
In her head, she saw herself beside the lake, with Himura sitting slouched over a meter or two away from her. She repeated her past words as she spoke.
"He told me that day...how much he loved this woman, and as I watched him I began to realize that...he was only a human. He may have talents with his sword like no other, but inside he was pure human. I'd never seen Himura look so small in my life...and I told him..."
Aoshi leaned down closer to her face.
"Told him what?"
She rubbed away an approaching tear.
"I told him about you...and me."
Shocked, he wrapped another arm around the girl beside him. She spoke through more tears.
"I told him that I wanted to be closer to you...but...at that time it was as if you were more like my brother...that our relationship was more like family...but, that wasn't what I wanted..."
She choked in a sob as she covered her face with her hands. Aoshi whispered soothing words as she continued.
"I told him he had hope...and that I still had some too. I encouraged him to strive for his joy...just like I would..."
And right then, Misao rubbed away the rest of her tears and looked up with their glistening pathways on her cheeks, but with the brightest, most joyous look of happiness Aoshi had ever seen. She laughed.
"And look what the last hint of hope got us..."
She hugged him, closing her eyes.
"I owe Himura so much...and now he's happy."
She began to doze off as she fought to say her last words. He looked down at her lovingly, though she didn't notice.
"Aoshi-sama, I care about you."
* * *
The two of them heard footsteps come charging down the narrow corridor on the other side of the wooden door as the person's slippers flip-flopped in a rhythmic pattern as she ran. The door burst open with Tsubame facing them, her eyes wide open in recognition. Little Tsubame seemed to have grown even more, with her tidy apron tied around her skinny waist and a warm wine-colored sweater adorning her top. Her surprised, rigid breath came out in a puff of mist in the cold atmosphere.
"Himura-san. Kaoru...san..."
She lunged at Kaoru in a tight embrace, crying out with what clearly showed relief after so many hours upon hours of worry. Tae came running up behind her, and she immediately took both of Kenshin's hands and shook them vigorously.
"Oh, I can't believe it, you're both safe!!! Oh....Oh, Kaoru-chan!"
As soon as Kaoru was relieved from Tsubame's tight hug, she found herself in Tae-san's arms, with the woman wiping her tears away on her apron as she breathed words of release. She finally pulled away and began pulling the two of them inside
"Oh come now, I can't keep you out in the cold like this. Come in, come in!"
With that they were seated at the table in the cozy house, and the two ladies pampered them with tarts, cakes, and refill upon refill of tea. They begged for details about what happened, and Kaoru was obliged to offer all she could. Kenshin added in several comments here and there, careful not to interrupt. And as they ended, Tae sat back in her chair, sighing as she picked up her cup.
"Well, I suppose Enishi-san is out happily living on his own... He left with all his bags as soon as he returned yesterday."
Kaoru gazed off into the distance, thinking about the day when he came, wearing his trench coat with a cold look as he'd entered that doorway...
She excused herself momentarily to go upstairs. Slowly, she made her way through the narrow corridor and entered the room where he'd stayed. He didn't leave a single trace of himself behind. Not even a strand of platinum hair lay alone on the wooden floor. Sighing, she turned around and entered her own room, where she stood in the doorway gazing into it, trying to picture herself standing with Enishi, arguing several nights before. Suddenly, her blue eyes fixed themselves on an object on her desk, spotless, as it had always been. She walked towards it, and with her fingertips she picked up the tiger lily, bright orange and in full blossom as it breathed its wonderful fragrance in her face. Looking down, she saw a single piece of paper, neatly folded into a tiny square. She opened it tenderly, and she smiled as she read its contents.
A lily so bright, orange and fierce with joy and beauty to the woman who forever gave me happiness in this lonely world.
In her mind, Kaoru already knew who it was. She felt sorry for rejecting him, but she knew there would someday be a wonderful person who would love him as much as he'd loved herself previously. She sat back down on her bed and gazed out the window, wondering where this man was... Two arms snaked around her waist and pulled her back, and her cheek met another one so warm, but scarred. Kenshin smiled at her with his eyes glancing violet in the sunlight.
"Shall we go, Kaoru-dono?"
She grinned and nodded, and Tae and Tsubame met them at the foot of the stairs. Kaoru smiled at the two of them warmly.
"I'll see you next time, you two...but wait, how will I move out all my stuff? Shoot, I leave in a few days...I've completely forgotten!"
Tae shook her head and gave her a reassuring look.
"I'll send all your things to your house, don't you worry."
Kaoru reached to her back pocket look for a piece of paper.
"Do you know my address?"
The woman shook her head again.
"Of course I do. Just be sure to send me the new address of where you and Himura-san plan to make a living."
The couple blushed hotly as she laughed, with Tsubame-chan laughing along with her. Kaoru looked at Tae directly in the eye.
"Tae-san, I don't know how to thank you for everything..."
She smiled back as she shook her hand.
"It was a pleasure having you with us, Kaoru-chan. Come again, will you?"
And hand in hand they left the house, with Tae and Tsubame waving good-bye from the doorway. Kaoru looked back for the final time, at the house full of memories. But with a gentle tug from her lover's hand, she looked away, happy and content as to where she was now going.
As they walked, the shops were beginning to illuminate their lights in the showcases around them. Kaoru clung to Kenshin's arm, trying to muster out the most heat she could get in the cold weather. Yet her feet suddenly stopped, leaving him surprised at the abrupt action.
"Is something wrong Kaoru-dono?"
She gasped inwardly as she looked up at him.
"Oh no, today's my day to take care of the shop! What time is it?"
She pulled her sleeve out of the way and looked down at the clicking hands.
"3:45...I have 15 minutes. Kenshin, let's go!"
She held him by the hand and together, they sped down la rue a second time, rushing through the crowd, but with no burden on their hearts. And inside, Kenshin felt light with no one to protect...because everyone was safe. No one needed his help, for the moment. And as he watched their surrounds as they ran, a thought suddenly struck him.
An ultimate decision.
They finally reached the shop and Kaoru fumbled with the key, creaking the door open and turning on a light. She hurriedly went over to the fridge, checking the flowers inside and putting things out of their way. She pulled off her jacket and hung it on a rack, reaching for the apron nearby and tying it the strings neatly behind her. She sighed as she stood behind the counter, setting her hands down on the table as she smiled at Kenshin, watching him standing motionless at the doorway.
"My my, this scene looks quite familiar."
He smiled at the recalled thought. The time when he had bought the bouquet for Misao...and the hope that allowed him to see the girl whom he loved greatly. He snapped out of his trance, and his hand reached for the doorknob behind him. Kaoru looked at him curiously.
"Kenshin, where are you going?"
He threw her a mischievous grin as he stepped outside.
"I'll be back."
He left her behind at the shop, and he walked placidly along the sidewalk close to the showcases. He was getting used to the sights of Paris by now, compared to the first day he'd come. He remembered the old man who challenged him to checkers, and all the beauty and relaxed aura of the city. The chocolates, the dresses, the suits, the gifts, they all remained behind the glasses. Kenshin finally stopped in front of on particular one, leaning his face closer to get a closer peek. And after a few minutes of consideration, he stepped inside the tiny shop.
A little old man looked up from behind the counter, his round glasses sliding down his nose as he peered at him. And with a crooked grin, he got up to his feet as Kenshin came near the glistening gems in the glass case.
"Vous desirez monsieur?" (May I help you?)
Kenshin breathed at the sights and variations of styles in front of him. And with a smile, he replied the rosy-cheeked man with his somewhat learned French.
"Pouvez-vous m'exposer quelques bagues speciale?"
(Could you show me a few special rings?)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
TO BE CONTINUED...
Sappy chapter, I know! But...hope you enjoyed it!! ^^;;
A/N: Hello everyone!! I'm really overjoyed about how many people are cheering me on with this fic, and I'm honestly surprised it got this far! ^-^' To tell you the truth, I think I made it a tad too cheesy and sappy, and I've gotten a few flames for that, but I completely agree with you!! So please give me some opinions and suggestions if you happen to have any so that my next RK fic will again, be a success thanks to your help!! Happy reading!!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*RING* *RING*
Misao opened her ocean-blue eyes as her ears rung at the sound of the phone. She buried her face into her tear-stained pillow, trying to shun out all sounds just for the moment. But the ringing tormented her. Can't a girl get some solo time in a time of distress? She lumbered out moodily and snatched up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Misao-dono..."
Aoshi padded along the wooden hallway, his wool socks sliding across the polished surface. Behind the shoji doors of Misao's room, he heard murmuring, and from there a low whimper. Surprised, he stopped outside the entrance to listen. But there was a small 'click' as doors burst open, with Misao staring up at him with waterfalls down her face, holding in sobs for who knew what.
"Misao...?"
Without another comment she thrust herself into him, releasing the dammed up echoes of cries from her throat as her arms wrapped themselves around the man before her. And though shocked, he took her in gently, letting his hands fall through her hair that'd been unraveled from her braid. Curly masses of it embraced his fingers.
* * *
"Kenshin, you don't look too good..."
Sano gave his friend a worried look as he stared back at him, dazed.
"Oro?"
"Did you hear me?"
"No...sorry..."
Sano reached over and put a hand to his friend's forehead.
"You're not hot. I wonder what's wrong..."
The red haired man smiled back at him.
"I bet it's nothing big, Sano. I'll be fine."
Megumi came over with their coffee, kneeling down and placing the mugs on the coffee table.
"I'm afraid it's your blood donation Ken-san...evidently Kaoru didn't need so much blood."
He looked down at her with a confused expression as she chuckled.
"Her sweater's made up of a material that absorbs liquids rapidly. It may have seemed like she was losing quite a bit...but in truth she didn't need much. Of course, it was a lot to take out of one person...normally I'd withdraw that amount from two people..."
Of course, Kenshin wasn't listening. He found himself feeling like a complete airhead, and he felt his friends lay him down across the couch for some sleep. He heard one last comment from Sano before dozing off.
"You called the Aoiya, Kenshin?"
"Aa...I did..."
"Weasel was worried, eh?"
"More than you think..."
* * *
Kaoru sighed as she opened her eyes from her nap. She was feeling much better, despite the slight pain from her two major wounds. Her body felt lazy, her back stuck to the bed sheets and her arms not willing to even reach up to touch her face. After some difficulty, she forced herself to sit up, wincing. She slowly let down a foot to the floor, then the next, and stumbled up on her two feet. Hanging onto the walls for support, she crept out of her room.
The apartment seemed awfully quiet. All she could hear was the low murmur of the coffee maker, and the faint noise of the cars on the streets outside. She stepped into the living room, where it was dark, and smelled entirely of coffee. She craned her head to see someone stretched out on the couch, sleeping soundly. For a second, she expected to see Megumi with her eyes shut, bags showing from beneath her eyes. But with another few painful steps forward, she saw her sweet Kenshin peacefully asleep. She found his mug of coffee emptied, along with a note slipped under it. She knelt beside the coffee table and removed the piece of paper from its weight.
Ken-san,
I'll be taking Sano out for some fun. Be sure tanuki behaves herself.
~Megumi
Kaoru frowned down at the paper.
"Megumi, you little...she-devil..."
She set the note down and crawled a little closer to Kenshin. People were entirely different when they were encased in sleep. Even the most serious, harsh looking people can have soft and gentle features lighten their faces when they're in dreamland. There was no exception for Kenshin. He was like a little kid run out of energy after playing ball with his friends outside. With her milky fingertips, she parted his bangs across his face, his strands of red shining a bright shade of amber from the light entering the room through the window. She didn't realize his face suddenly closing the space between them, and from a point of utter stillness, his arms came into action as they wrapped themselves around her waist. Startled, she stared down at him as his eyes began to open, and his lips curved upwards in a sly smile with her rosy ones pressed lightly against his. She turned her head slightly, giving her the advantage of nudging her lips closer into his flesh. His hand stroked her back soothingly as Kaoru pressed down into the kiss, with Kenshin's head slowly being forced deeper into the pillow. She sighed as they pulled away slightly, their noses touching at their tips affectionately.
"Thought I was asleep, my deity?"
His tongue brushed across her lower lip, making her press their lips together a second time. She let his tongue dance around the curves of her pink mouth.
She smiled as she pulled away from him, allowing him to sit up.
"You fooled me entirely."
He took her hand gently and planted another kiss on the peak of her wrist.
"Yet again, another miracle to have my blessed angel watching me in my sleep."
She stroked his cheek once before returning it to her lap.
"You lose your dialect when you're so poetic..."
He stood from his position and offered her a hand.
"Only for your better comprehension, my dear."
She was suddenly pulled up to her feet, and she found herself fit snugly in his embrace a second time. She felt like a foot, fitting perfectly into a snug shoe of the correct size. He looked down at her, relaxed and peaceful expressions embellishing each others' faces lovingly. Their foreheads met as they remained close, a source of heat inside the chilly apartment. She felt his hand clutch hers tightly as he pulled away, and with a gentle tug he cocked his chin towards the door.
"Kaoru-dono, would you like to go outside, with me?"
She smiled.
"What for?"
He walked over to the closet to pull out a jacket for her and draped it over her shoulders.
"We need to pay our respects to Tae-dono."
* * *
Megumi sat patiently on the bench in the empty park, wrapped neatly in a lavender wool coat and a long, black wool skirt with tights beneath. Her body felt rigid from the cold as the wind tousled her loose hair about. She heard footsteps coming near, and she reached out a gloved hand gratefully as Sano handed her a cup of steaming tea. He himself sat down beside her, sipping politely as possible from a foam cup of coffee. She smiled at his attempt as he released small, unintentional tiny slurps. She couldn't help giggling as she watched him try harder, his eyebrows furrowing as his expression changed from placid to frustrated as he drank. She wiped away a trickle of coffee beginning to make its way down his chin. He blushed brightly as the fuzzy material of her glove came in contact. He stopped his sipping abruptly and wiped his chin with his sleeve. Laughing, Megumi patted Sano's broad shoulder.
"It's alright. No need to feel so tense, stupid."
He pouted, and then smiled as he found it hard to resist the happy atmosphere this woman was rubbing off on him. He began to laugh along with her as the two of them sat, looking joyous than ever in each other's presence.
* * *
"Aoshi-sama..."
"Mmm?"
Misao clung to Aoshi as they sat leaning against the wall on Misao's bed. She had finally dried her tears after much babbling and explanations about Kaoru being safe, with Himura, leaving her speechless after she finished. He stroked her hair tenderly as she spoke.
"I haven't told you what I think..."
"...about what?" He asked.
She looked up at him.
"...who I care about. Don't you remember?"
He turned away and blushed as she began to laugh at his reaction.
"There was a while ago when I told Himura...about my feelings."
In her head, she saw herself beside the lake, with Himura sitting slouched over a meter or two away from her. She repeated her past words as she spoke.
"He told me that day...how much he loved this woman, and as I watched him I began to realize that...he was only a human. He may have talents with his sword like no other, but inside he was pure human. I'd never seen Himura look so small in my life...and I told him..."
Aoshi leaned down closer to her face.
"Told him what?"
She rubbed away an approaching tear.
"I told him about you...and me."
Shocked, he wrapped another arm around the girl beside him. She spoke through more tears.
"I told him that I wanted to be closer to you...but...at that time it was as if you were more like my brother...that our relationship was more like family...but, that wasn't what I wanted..."
She choked in a sob as she covered her face with her hands. Aoshi whispered soothing words as she continued.
"I told him he had hope...and that I still had some too. I encouraged him to strive for his joy...just like I would..."
And right then, Misao rubbed away the rest of her tears and looked up with their glistening pathways on her cheeks, but with the brightest, most joyous look of happiness Aoshi had ever seen. She laughed.
"And look what the last hint of hope got us..."
She hugged him, closing her eyes.
"I owe Himura so much...and now he's happy."
She began to doze off as she fought to say her last words. He looked down at her lovingly, though she didn't notice.
"Aoshi-sama, I care about you."
* * *
The two of them heard footsteps come charging down the narrow corridor on the other side of the wooden door as the person's slippers flip-flopped in a rhythmic pattern as she ran. The door burst open with Tsubame facing them, her eyes wide open in recognition. Little Tsubame seemed to have grown even more, with her tidy apron tied around her skinny waist and a warm wine-colored sweater adorning her top. Her surprised, rigid breath came out in a puff of mist in the cold atmosphere.
"Himura-san. Kaoru...san..."
She lunged at Kaoru in a tight embrace, crying out with what clearly showed relief after so many hours upon hours of worry. Tae came running up behind her, and she immediately took both of Kenshin's hands and shook them vigorously.
"Oh, I can't believe it, you're both safe!!! Oh....Oh, Kaoru-chan!"
As soon as Kaoru was relieved from Tsubame's tight hug, she found herself in Tae-san's arms, with the woman wiping her tears away on her apron as she breathed words of release. She finally pulled away and began pulling the two of them inside
"Oh come now, I can't keep you out in the cold like this. Come in, come in!"
With that they were seated at the table in the cozy house, and the two ladies pampered them with tarts, cakes, and refill upon refill of tea. They begged for details about what happened, and Kaoru was obliged to offer all she could. Kenshin added in several comments here and there, careful not to interrupt. And as they ended, Tae sat back in her chair, sighing as she picked up her cup.
"Well, I suppose Enishi-san is out happily living on his own... He left with all his bags as soon as he returned yesterday."
Kaoru gazed off into the distance, thinking about the day when he came, wearing his trench coat with a cold look as he'd entered that doorway...
She excused herself momentarily to go upstairs. Slowly, she made her way through the narrow corridor and entered the room where he'd stayed. He didn't leave a single trace of himself behind. Not even a strand of platinum hair lay alone on the wooden floor. Sighing, she turned around and entered her own room, where she stood in the doorway gazing into it, trying to picture herself standing with Enishi, arguing several nights before. Suddenly, her blue eyes fixed themselves on an object on her desk, spotless, as it had always been. She walked towards it, and with her fingertips she picked up the tiger lily, bright orange and in full blossom as it breathed its wonderful fragrance in her face. Looking down, she saw a single piece of paper, neatly folded into a tiny square. She opened it tenderly, and she smiled as she read its contents.
A lily so bright, orange and fierce with joy and beauty to the woman who forever gave me happiness in this lonely world.
In her mind, Kaoru already knew who it was. She felt sorry for rejecting him, but she knew there would someday be a wonderful person who would love him as much as he'd loved herself previously. She sat back down on her bed and gazed out the window, wondering where this man was... Two arms snaked around her waist and pulled her back, and her cheek met another one so warm, but scarred. Kenshin smiled at her with his eyes glancing violet in the sunlight.
"Shall we go, Kaoru-dono?"
She grinned and nodded, and Tae and Tsubame met them at the foot of the stairs. Kaoru smiled at the two of them warmly.
"I'll see you next time, you two...but wait, how will I move out all my stuff? Shoot, I leave in a few days...I've completely forgotten!"
Tae shook her head and gave her a reassuring look.
"I'll send all your things to your house, don't you worry."
Kaoru reached to her back pocket look for a piece of paper.
"Do you know my address?"
The woman shook her head again.
"Of course I do. Just be sure to send me the new address of where you and Himura-san plan to make a living."
The couple blushed hotly as she laughed, with Tsubame-chan laughing along with her. Kaoru looked at Tae directly in the eye.
"Tae-san, I don't know how to thank you for everything..."
She smiled back as she shook her hand.
"It was a pleasure having you with us, Kaoru-chan. Come again, will you?"
And hand in hand they left the house, with Tae and Tsubame waving good-bye from the doorway. Kaoru looked back for the final time, at the house full of memories. But with a gentle tug from her lover's hand, she looked away, happy and content as to where she was now going.
As they walked, the shops were beginning to illuminate their lights in the showcases around them. Kaoru clung to Kenshin's arm, trying to muster out the most heat she could get in the cold weather. Yet her feet suddenly stopped, leaving him surprised at the abrupt action.
"Is something wrong Kaoru-dono?"
She gasped inwardly as she looked up at him.
"Oh no, today's my day to take care of the shop! What time is it?"
She pulled her sleeve out of the way and looked down at the clicking hands.
"3:45...I have 15 minutes. Kenshin, let's go!"
She held him by the hand and together, they sped down la rue a second time, rushing through the crowd, but with no burden on their hearts. And inside, Kenshin felt light with no one to protect...because everyone was safe. No one needed his help, for the moment. And as he watched their surrounds as they ran, a thought suddenly struck him.
An ultimate decision.
They finally reached the shop and Kaoru fumbled with the key, creaking the door open and turning on a light. She hurriedly went over to the fridge, checking the flowers inside and putting things out of their way. She pulled off her jacket and hung it on a rack, reaching for the apron nearby and tying it the strings neatly behind her. She sighed as she stood behind the counter, setting her hands down on the table as she smiled at Kenshin, watching him standing motionless at the doorway.
"My my, this scene looks quite familiar."
He smiled at the recalled thought. The time when he had bought the bouquet for Misao...and the hope that allowed him to see the girl whom he loved greatly. He snapped out of his trance, and his hand reached for the doorknob behind him. Kaoru looked at him curiously.
"Kenshin, where are you going?"
He threw her a mischievous grin as he stepped outside.
"I'll be back."
He left her behind at the shop, and he walked placidly along the sidewalk close to the showcases. He was getting used to the sights of Paris by now, compared to the first day he'd come. He remembered the old man who challenged him to checkers, and all the beauty and relaxed aura of the city. The chocolates, the dresses, the suits, the gifts, they all remained behind the glasses. Kenshin finally stopped in front of on particular one, leaning his face closer to get a closer peek. And after a few minutes of consideration, he stepped inside the tiny shop.
A little old man looked up from behind the counter, his round glasses sliding down his nose as he peered at him. And with a crooked grin, he got up to his feet as Kenshin came near the glistening gems in the glass case.
"Vous desirez monsieur?" (May I help you?)
Kenshin breathed at the sights and variations of styles in front of him. And with a smile, he replied the rosy-cheeked man with his somewhat learned French.
"Pouvez-vous m'exposer quelques bagues speciale?"
(Could you show me a few special rings?)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
TO BE CONTINUED...
Sappy chapter, I know! But...hope you enjoyed it!! ^^;;