Disclaimer: *ironic* Yeah, right! RK is mine! Come on, people! This is fanfiction. Does the name ring a bell?
Kenshin: There she goes again.
Kaoru: Is it so hard to say: I don't own?
Kenshin: Three simple words.
Kaoru: But no... She had to explain the origins of fanfiction... Remind me again, why do we work with her?
Kenshin: Hana-dono tricked us into signing that lifetime contract. She said she would write us a lot of lemons.
Kaoru: KENSHIN NO HENTAI!
Kenshin: Hana-dono doesn't own Rurouni Kenshin. She just enjoys torturing poor sessha.

To Guadalupe (Jo-chan)

~~ Kaoru's Fairy Tale ~~

3. Some fortune teller!

"I have a question..." Kaoru said, after they were riding for almost two hours. She was getting pretty tired and she was beginning to think that Kenshin didn't have a clue where they were going.

"Yes?" Kenshin asked, looking at her. She presented him the perfect excuse to look at her. He had to admit she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. 'I wished I could remember from where I know her... She is so upset about that and doesn't tell me. I think she wants me to remember by myself. How could I forget meeting such a beauty?'

'There he goes again...' Kaoru thought, distressed. 'He keeps staring at me as if there was something on my face.'

"Why aren't we taking Yahiko with us?" Kaoru asked, before the situation got too awkward. "He was the one that slept on duty! He should at least help!"

"Oro... Kaoru-dono, don't you wonder how people would react if they saw a dragon? It's not like you can find one in every corner. Besides, dragons are famous as bringers of death and destruction."

"So, what you are saying is that we have higher chances to find this treasure if we don't take him with us... By the way, how do you know where to search for these thieves?"

Kenshin sweat-dropped.

"You have thought of that, haven't you?" Kaoru scowled.

"I do know where to start searching..."

"Where?"

"It's around here somewhere... I just can't remember the exact place."

"Kenshin no baka!" Kaoru yelled.

"It's there!" Kenshin pointed, before Kaoru could yell at him some more.

Near the woods, there was a stone house. There was a sign next to it. It read: "Okina, the great. Love potions and charms. Fortune teller in his free time."

"You brought me all the way here to get a love potion?" Kaoru frowned.

"Oro... It's not the love potion part. He's also a fortune teller." Kenshin pointed out.

"Okina?? That hentai geezer is also here?" Kaoru muttered, as they stopped in front of the house. "I think I'll wait outside."

"Kaoru-dono, you promised you'd never leave sessha's side."

"It's not like I'm going somewhere!"

"But what if something happens? You must come in with me." Kenshin insisted.

"Geez, fine! Control freak..." Kaoru muttered.

They knocked on the door and waited until a woman answered it.

"Welcome." The woman said.

Kaoru recognized her instantly.

"Okon-san?"

"Have we met?" Okon stared at her, but couldn't exactly remember from where she knew Kaoru.

'I have to stop doing this! Obviously none of them remember me. I'll just get myself into trouble if I keep letting them know I know them.' Kaoru sighed.

"I think I might have mistaken you for someone else." Kaoru said.

Okon thought that was a lame excuse, because the girl had called her by her name. But if the girl didn't wish to talk about it, she might as well do business.

"Are you here to see Okina, the great?" Okon asked them.

"Yes." Kenshin replied. "We would like that very much."

"Please, take a seat. I'll call him." Okon said, leaving the room.

There were cushions in front of a low table. Kenshin and Kaoru sat on them and waited for Okina to show up. 'This is stupid... How is a fortune teller going to help finding something that was stolen?' Kaoru sighed. It seemed like nothing made sense anymore. For a moment, she just wished she was home. Even if nothing ever changed between Kenshin and her.

***

So very bored. Actually, bored beyond words. No pretty chicks to hit on. The old man sighed. Why, on heaven's name did he have to chose to set his business in the middle of nowhere?! No... He could be at a city, surrounded by beautiful women. But that wouldn't be mysterious enough.

And it was the mystery that kept him in business. Mystery and his famous love potion, of course. Young women came from everywhere to buy it. None stayed for long, though... He couldn't persuade them to drink the potion while there. But something could be done about it. Next time a beautiful woman arrived, he'd slip some of the potion into the tea and give it to her. It was the perfect plan. The old man laughed to himself.

"Okina! You have customers." Okon showed up in the door.

"A pretty young lady?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact."

"Perfect timing!" Okina rubbed his hands together. He picked up the tea pot and slipped some of a love potion inside it. "Give me a couple of minutes with her, then you bring us tea?"

"What are you up to, old man?"

"It's just a little spice to make life interesting."

Okon sighed. There was no way she would get the truth out of the old geezer. But if he had some sort of a plan, it would be funny to watch. His plans never turned out fine.

"Don't let them waiting." Okon said.

Okina left for his "office". 'Them? Is there more than one beauty? Oh, my! This is my lucky day! I hope I have enough tea.'

Okina walked in the room where his customers were waiting. The first one was a charming young woman with raven hair and beautiful eyes. The second was a beautiful redhead...

"Man?"

'Oh, shoot! Just my luck! The beauty is already taken. Better cancel that tea.' Okina sat in front of them.

"May I say you make a lovely couple? How can I help you?" Okina said, politely.

"We aren't a couple!" Kenshin blurted out.

'So... She isn't taken... Okon, hurry and bring me my tea.' Okina smiled, but then he noticed the look on the girl's eyes. She seemed at the same time sad, hopeful, concerned, angry and ready to kick the redhead's butt.

"It's a pity... You aren't in love. So... Have you come to buy a love charm? I have love charms and love potions. They are most efficient." Okina said, staring right at the Kaoru.

'Is he trying to tell me that I can get Kenshin to fall in love with me if I buy the right charm?' Kaoru wondered.

'Oh, she is staring right at me. Maybe I don't need that potion after all.' Okina mused.

'I'm kinda hungry.' Kenshin rubbed his stomach.

"Actually, we came here because we wish to use your fortune telling skills, sir." Kenshin said.

"Oh... Let me just pick up my crystal ball. Not everybody come all this way for a fortune teller, you know?" Okina got up and left the room.

"That guy... Thinking we were in love..." Kaoru said, trying to get a response from Kenshin.

"Crazy, isn't he?"

Kaoru was heartbroken. How could Kenshin be so insensitive?

Okon got in with a tray of cookies and tea.

"Suit yourselves." She smiled, before leaving. Obviously she was interrupting something.

'Oh... I'm so hungry...' Kenshin thought, picking up a cookie.

Okina came back carrying a heavy crystal ball. He put it over the table. 'Okon already brought the tea... I have to prevent this guy from drinking it. Maybe if I give him an interesting reading, he'll forget about the tea.' Okina started concentrating on his crystal ball. 'Let's see... Something interesting...'

"I see gold." Okina said.

Kaoru gasped. Could it be that the old man could really see where the treasure was?

"It's very far away from here..."

The cookies started making Kenshin thirsty. He poured some tea in a cup. When the cup approached his lips, Okina yelled, pointing a finger at him:

"YOU! I see you finding it!"

"Where is it?" Kenshin forgot the tea for a moment.

"North? Northeast? Maybe... But you must hurry! Otherwise it won't be any of it left when you get there!"

"Let's go, Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin got up. So, they had to travel northeast. Maybe they would find another clues along the way.

"WAIT!" Okina prevented them from leaving. "Perhaps the lady would like a cup of tea before you leave?"

Kaoru shook her head. She wasn't in the mood for tea. She actually wanted to pee. Kenshin just picked the cup he was holding before and drank down it's entire content. Okina slapped his forehead.

"Let's go, Kaoru." Kenshin left, dragging the young woman along.

"Damn... Now he will fall in love with her... In a few minutes the potion will start working... Bad luck. Maybe some other time..." Okina sighed.

***

After leaving the fortune teller's house, they headed northeast. They would have to go through the woods if they intended to follow Okina's directions.

"Kenshin... I need to go to the bathroom...."

"Oro? You want to take a bath?"

"I have to pee, you silly!" Kaoru shouted.

"Oh... Go behind that those bushes." Kenshin said.

Kaoru wasn't thrilled by the idea of peeing behind some bushes, but she wouldn't be able to hold her bladder much longer. She just shoved her horse's reins to Kenshin and ran behind the bushes.

Kenshin wondered what was taking Kaoru so long. The horses were tired. Maybe they should rest for a while. Now that he looked at it... That was some pretty horse Kaoru had been mounting... And it wasn't any horse. It was a mare. Pretty would be the wrong word for it. It was beautiful.

"Kenshin? Why are you staring at my horse?"

"It's not a horse! It's a mare!" Kenshin hissed.

"Horse, mare, same thing..." Kaoru replied. "It won't mind..."

"It?" Kenshin looked upset. "You are hurting her feelings!"

"Kenshin? What's wrong with you? It's just a horse!"

"She is not a horse!"

"Mare, I know..."

"No! She might be a charmed princess... Otherwise, why would she be so beautiful?" Kenshin stroked the mare's mane. "I, your faithful knight, will find a way to break this spell!"

'Oh, oh... He has completely gone insane this time... What the hell is wrong with him? Does he really think the horse is a princess?'

"Kenshin? Do you have any idea how insane you sound?"

"Love makes us insane."

"ARE YOU SAYING YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH A HORSE?" Kaoru's words echoed through the forest.

***

MEANWHILE, IN THE CASTLE.

"Are you saying she was kidnaped?" Prince Soujirou asked, with a concerned expression.

"Unfortunately. And my bravest knight is nowhere to be found. So, I can't really send someone to find her. There is no one I can truly trust."

"I'll find her!" Soujirou said, ready to leave at any second.

'He he he... It's so easy to fool him. Where the hell is my baka deshi? I have to find Kaoru before prince Soujirou finds out she ran away. If he is really going to search her, that will give us more time. Just my luck. Not only I have a baka deshi, but I also have a baka daughter...' Hiko thought in disdain. 'And where the hell is my sake? Baka deshi will regret taking so long, once he gets here.'

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TBC...
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If you read so far, please leave a review.

I'm also updating my other story, "To Love you Again". Please check it out. =^x^=