More hugs and kisses to the reviewers! I love you guys! Anyway, sorry about the loooong delay, but work has been keeping me busy, busy, busy! I hate being a manager! Enough about that. Hope you like Chapter 6! ^__^

Disclaimer : Sick of writing these. I always seem to forget. This goes for the rest of this fic. I don't own anything except the story line. DBZ, RK, and Nakago belong to other people.

Kaoru…the Saiyan??

Chapter 6: Emotions and a Scheme

Kaoru wrapped her arms around her updrawn legs as she stared at the sky. She had tried numerous times to get to sleep. It should have been easy after all the excitement and the battle with Piccolo, but her worries over having to kill were getting to her. She bit her lip as she thought about what her father would do and knew the answer.

He didn't believe in killing, but he had to during the war. It was for a better future for the country. If Kaoru didn't kill Nakago, there wouldn't be a Japan or world left and her father's and so many others' sacrifice would be for nothing. Still, she needed to talk to Saitou so she would be mentally prepared.

Kenshin had been watching her for some time from the door to his room. He watched as a hundred different emotions played across her face. Peace, love, confusion, sorrow, resolve, so many things she was feeling. For some reason, she wouldn't tell him, wouldn't let him know what was going on. She always avoided the subject of her training with him. He stepped out of his doorway and walked over to her.

"Can't sleep, Kaoru-dono?"

"No. It should have been easy with all that's happened today, but every time I lay down I just end up staring at my ceiling." She shrugged and smiled at him. He smiled back at her and then frowned.

"Kenshin? Is something wrong?"

"Kaoru-dono, if something is bothering you, you can talk to me. I may not be able to help you, but at least I'll listen."

She regarded him for a moment, wanting to tell him but determined not to hurt him by making him remember his past.

"It's nothing really. Just wondering about what life would have been like if our planet wasn't destroyed." It wasn't a total lie. She had pondered the thought before, it just wasn't what she was thinking now.

Kenshin frowned again, knowing it wasn't the whole truth. "When you're ready to tell me, Kaoru-dono, I'll be ready to listen." He stood up swiftly and walked toward his room. Kaoru could tell from his expression that she was hurting his feelings by shutting him out like that, but she couldn't tell him. There was no way she could throw that at him.

What do I do? I want to let him in on everything, but if I do and he starts to remember things, would he forgive me for bringing it up? She set her chin down into the crevice created by her knees and stared out at the yard, debating. She finally yawned and decided to try to sleep again.

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The tension was palpable the next morning. Kenshin and Kaoru had barely said two words to each other. The usually cheerful 'good mornings' were replaced with nods and strained smiles and they refused to look at each other. Vegeta caught on quickly and made his decision to intervene.

"Woman, are you fighting with your mate?"

A mouthful of tea was sprayed out. "WHAAAAAAAT?!"

"Look, Princess. If you and your mate are having trouble, you need to perform the bonding ceremony again and all will be right."

Kaoru was still trying to get over the 'mate' remark, but she tried to remain calm. Yelling at Vegeta never seemed to do any good as he was remarkably skilled at tuning people out. "Vegeta, Kenshin is NOT my 'mate.' And for Earthlings, it's called a spouse."

Kenshin simply lowered his head to hide his blush and kept silent throughout the whole ordeal. If he stayed silent, then he wouldn't catch any of Kaoru's wrath.

Suddenly a loud snicker and a familiar, "OHOHOHO!" was heard. Bulma turned and greeted Megumi and Sanosuke and offered them some breakfast, which Sano readily accepted.

"So, Tanuki. Ken-san is your 'mate.' OHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

"MEGUMI! I'm trying to explain to my dear brother that he is not and you aren't helping matters."

Vegeta ignored Kaoru's sarcasm with the word brother and continued unfazed. "As I was saying, perform the bonding ceremony again and all will be well."

Kaoru was a little interested in what he said and shot a questioning look to Chichi. "I don't think you're ready for that yet, dear. When you are ready for marriage, then we'll tell you what it is. It's basically the Saiyan wedding ceremony, but that's all I will say for now."

Kaoru let it drop and turned back to her breakfast which suddenly didn't seem so nice. "I think I'll go train Yahiko. He hasn't had a proper lesson in Kamiya Kasshin for a while."

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"Alright, Yahiko. You have the stance right, but your grip is too tight. Loosen it up a bit and then you'll have a larger range of motion."

She was about to show him the right way once more when the dojo gate was flung open.

"WE'RE BACK AGAIN!"

"Misao-dono?"

"Hey, Himura! Hi, Kaoru! We couldn't go back to Kyoto and pretend nothing was happening here, so we came back to help as much as we could."

"I appreciate it, Misao! Is Aoshi with you?"

Misao looked at Kaoru happily. "He's in town booking us some rooms at an inn."

"Misao! Won't that be expensive? You could stay with us!"

"I know. We probably will take you up on that at some point, but we don't want to stay here for the entire year and be a nuisance."

Kaoru smiled at Misao and noticed that Goku was performing some stretching exercises. "Are we training now, Goku?"

"Yep. But my lesson will take place right here, so go put your training outfit on and I'll wait."

Kaoru nodded and ran for her room.

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Nakago sat in his chair on his ship and drummed his fingers against the armrest in boredom. A thought came to him and he called in a squad of his soldiers.

"Yes, sir?"

"I want all of you to go to Earth and terrorize that Saiyan girl. I'm bored with doing nothing, but I made an agreement and I'm a man of my word. However, I never said my soldiers would keep their distance." An evil grin slowly spread across his lips and he began to chuckle.

"Now, go to the transport room and you'll be sent directly to her yard. Go now!"

The troop of ten jogged along the corridors to the transport room and stood ready.

The transport operator got confirmation that they were ready and flipped the lever to send them on their way.

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Kaoru had changed and was talking peacefully with Goku while Vegeta stood beside her silently listening. Kenshin was standing on the porch with everyone else waiting for the training to start. This was a common occurrence now a days. Kaoru wouldn't talk about her training with him so he decided he would watch every chance he had. That and the fact that this type of fighting was different from what they were used to.

Vegeta started to walk to the porch so Goku's lesson could begin when ten small, blue creatures surrounded him. They weren't big, but when they attacked together they were quite powerful. Kaoru suddenly felt the need to help her brother and flew up and down into the center of the circle with her back to Vegeta's back. "Need a little help?"

A small grunt was her answer and at the same time they took off for opposite sides of the circle. The creatures weren't too difficult one by one. Kaoru punched and kicked her way through her half and Vegeta blasted all of his. He noticed that the five Kaoru had fought were still alive and blasted all but one. He grabbed its neck and squeezed slightly.

"Who sent you?"

"I…won't say."

He squeezed harder. "Who?"

"N-N-Nakago."

Kaoru's eyes narrowed and she turned to look at Vegeta. He looked at her with a question running through his eyes. "Well?"

She knew what he was asking. "He's just one of Nakago's dogs. Let him go."

"A dog will run back and tell his master everything. Nakago will kill him, but get all of the information from him first."

"Let him."

Kenshin was listening intently. What is Vegeta getting at?

Vegeta's patience was gone. "STUPID IDIOT!" He blasted the small creature and turned an angry gaze to Kaoru. "You can't even give me permission to kill one stupid soldier! How will you handle the killing of Nakago by yourself?!"

Kenshin's eyes went wide and suddenly everything became clear. The rest of the Kenshin-gumi was similarly affected. Kenshin looked at Kaoru who was trying to stare Vegeta down and realized why she never spoke of her training and why he always seemed shut off from her. Oh, Kaoru. You could have come to me. I would have listened and helped you get through this.

Kaoru tore her gaze from her sibling when the dojo gate opened and Saitou waltzed through. "Saitou. I need a word with you. Goku, I'll be back for my lesson this afternoon. There's something I need to talk to Saitou about first."

Saitou let Kaoru lead him to a room in the house and she shut the shoji. "Saitou. I need a favor from you. According to Piccolo and everyone else from the other world, I will need to kill Nakago. They say no jail can hold him and that death is the only way to stop him. How do you kill someone without letting the guilt overpower you?"

Saitou's eyebrow went up and he let out a puff of smoke. "Straight to the point, I see. Well, Kamiya-san, first of all. You have to understand that what you're doing, is what is right for you. In your case, you want to protect your friends and your new family. If you know that this Nakago can not be contained, then you will need to eliminate him. That thought must always be first in your mind. As long as you remember that, the guilt will not get to you. I had to kill many in the Bakumatsu. I still do so, but only evil men who want to rule the country for unjust reasons. I will never kill an innocent person. Never."

Kaoru had her head bent, soaking up all the information. Another thought crossed Saitou's mind. "Why didn't you ask Battousai?"

Kaoru looked up startled. "I could never ask Kenshin. He tries to leave his past behind him. I don't want him to remember painful memories."

Saitou nodded curtly and stood up. "I will be leaving now. I have business to attend to in Kyoto. I won't be back for about two years. Good luck in your battle, Kamiya-san. Don't let us down." He gave her his lop-sided wolf smirk and blew a stream of smoke out through his lips before turning and walking away.

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Kaoru rejoined her friends in the yard and tried to avoid eye contact with Kenshin. She knew he had heard Vegeta and she didn't know what Kenshin's reaction would be.

She knew she needed to protect them, just as Saitou had said. She wanted them all to leave Tokyo, but she would never be able to get them to go. She had no right to ask, either. The only one she could and would send away, was Yahiko. She couldn't train him right now anyway.

"Yahiko, I will be sending you to stay with my uncle in Yokohama."

"What? Why, busu? I want to stay where all the action is!"

"YAHIKO! No arguments. I can't train you for the next ten months. My uncle is a master of Kamiya Kasshin Style. He will train you until this is settled."

Yahiko looked disappointed, but knew there was no sense arguing the point. The old hag is right. She has to do her own training. I guess it would be best. He perked up since the idea made sense to him and they made plans for him to leave within the week.

"Sorry, Goku. I think we missed our training session." Kaoru laughed nervously and Goku gave her a smile.

"Don't worry. You had some important thinking to do and now that your mind is clear, you can concentrate more thoroughly."

She nodded and went inside to go to bed.

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Again, no sleep. She was wondering if she'd be like Kenshin. Up all hours of the night, patrolling her dojo, making sure everyone was safe, living on two hours of sleep a night.

She sighed and noticed a familiar figure walking towards her. Kenshin sat down next to her and gave her a sad expression.

"Why didn't you tell me, Kaoru-dono?"

She sighed again. She couldn't avoid it any longer. "I didn't want to bring up any bad memories for you."

He felt his heart constrict. Such an agonizing thought running through her mind and her concern was for him. "Kaoru-dono, you don't need to worry about me. If you have a question, I'll answer. Yes, the memories are painful, but if my remembering can help someone else, then it lessens the guilt I feel."

Kaoru smiled at him and stood, extending her hand to him. "I want to show you something."

Kenshin stood and looked at her with a confused expression. She turned her back to him. "Kenshin, put your hands around my waist and hang on tight."

He paused, but found himself obeying her instructions. She shivered lightly at his touch and he allowed Battousai a small smirk. "Okay, make sure you hold on tight."

She lifted them slightly off the ground and angled her body so Kenshin's weight was supported on top of her. He gave a startled gasp and tightened his hold. She smiled a

little and slowly lifted higher until they could see all of Tokyo stretched out around

them. "It's lovely, isn't it Kenshin?"

He nodded, not trusting his voice. His thoughts were centered on Kaoru and how soft she felt and how wonderful she smelled. "Very lovely." He wasn't talking about the view, but let Kaoru believe as she wished.

They flew from one end of the city to the other. Kaoru decided to take a chance and flew to the cliff Misao had told her about. She had heard all about 'The Plan' as Misao called it and she was sure that in her excitement the young ninja had told everyone except Aoshi. But, right now her only thought was that Kenshin was clinging tightly to her and she was loving every second of it.

She landed on the cliff and Kenshin stepped away slowly. It had been a constant struggle to keep Battousai down after allowing him the smirk and Kenshin was almost certain there would be amber in his eyes if he opened them now.

Kaoru could sense his ki going up with his internal battle and guessed what the problem was. "Kenshin, open your eyes."

He shook his head. He didn't want to speak and scare Kaoru with Battousai's voice.

"Kenshin, please. I want to see your eyes."

He was a little surprised that she sounded so calm. Didn't she understand that Battousai was on the verge of being set loose? Of course, that was why she wanted to see his eyes. He decided to test her reaction and opened his eyes. Kaoru gasped lightly.

Kenshin thought it would be fear, but she wasn't in the least bit frightened. Instead she seemed entranced by his eyes. "Such a beautiful color."

Did I just hear that right?

"Kaoru? What color are my eyes?"

He didn't really need to ask. The honorific was gone. "An amazing amber color."

He didn't know whether to blink and put the rurouni back in charge or not. He didn't want to tempt Battousai with Kaoru alone on a secluded cliff, but she seemed so interested in his eyes that he didn't want to close Battousai off.

Kaoru looked as if a realization just came to her. "You didn't call me 'dono'."

Kenshin waited for a reprimand, but none came. Kaoru smiled warmly at him and he was at a loss for a response. He didn't know what to do except stand there dumbly.

She reached out to caress his scarred cheek and it jolted him from his stupor. "Don't! I'm not worthy of your affections."

Kaoru's look of love was replaced by a slight anger. "Kenshin! How could you?"

"I'm not worthy. You must find someone else…"

The sentence was cut off by a stinging slap. "How dare you?! I can love whoever I please, Kenshin! If you don't want my affections, then that's fine, but don't ever say you're not worthy! You are one of the kindest, most sensitive people I know. And you

always worry about Battousai scaring people when he's just the more passionate side

of you." His amber eyes widened slightly.

Kaoru cares for…Battousai as well?

"But, Kaoru, I've killed so many."

"It was a time of war, Kenshin. People kill each other in a time of war. If you didn't kill some of those people, would they have killed you?"

A long silence and then a quiet, "yes."

"Then you did nothing wrong. Kenshin, please. Let me love you. Stop pushing me away. I may not be as pretty or mature as Megumi, but I will always be there for you."

He looked up and Kaoru noticed the amber gaze was still there. She moved forward slowly and embraced a shocked Battousai. He tried to back away gently a few times, but she wouldn't let go. He finally relaxed and when she pulled back, a pair of violet eyes were gazing at her with tenderness.

"Thank you, Kaoru."

"Even as the rurouni, you're leaving off the honorific."

He smiled brightly at her. "Is that all right with you?"

She gave him a playful glare. "Call me 'dono' ever again and I'll knock you out."

He chuckled at her and she motioned for him to hang on again. This time he allowed himself to bury his face in her neck as she flew. She quickly flipped so she was facing him and then grabbed his waist and turned over again so he was underneath her. She used her legs to hook his so they wouldn't dangle and took off top speed for the dojo.

She gently landed in the dojo yard and released him. He stepped back and she blushed when she realized everything she had said and the position they had just been in.

"Goodnight, Kaoru."

"Goodnight, Kenshin."

What the heck possessed me to say all of that to him? She allowed a smile to replace her embarrassment. But he didn't pull away!!!

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Author's Notes : -_-; Yeah, I know. The middle is iffy. I was going to get straight to Goku's training, but then began to pull my hair out with all the characters, so I think I'm going to weed them out. Just the ones who don't have an important role in the story. That's why the middle is so weird and bumpy. And I'm too lazy to stay up all night fixing it. I just want to post it and move on. So, hope you enjoy and hope to see ya back for good old chapter 7!

Oh yeah! First attempt at serious WAFF up there. Is it okay? Overdone? Let me know!

Love to all!