Warning: This is a fusion of Rurouni Kenshin, Vivian Vande Velde's Dragon's Bait and several other dragon and maiden books and movies. If you don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I also do not own Vivian Vande Velde's Dragon's Bait, Patricia C Wrede's Dealing with Dragon's and it's many sequels, Dragonheart, Dragonslayer, any fairy tales that may pop up or the dragon and princess book that I read in grade four that I no longer remember the name of (Although it may or may not have been called 'The Dragon's Princess'). In other words if you recognize it (and possibly even if you don't) then I don't own it. So live with it, because I do. RK and the other stories are the property of their respective owners. I'm just writing this for fun (it's fanfiction, it's supposed to be fun) and will make no money from it. Please do not sue me. You really wouldn't get anything anyway.

Summery: Kaoru's the Maiden, guess who the Dragon is.

Rating: PG-13

Original Post's Author's Notes.

Author's note: I'm so sorry for the delay, I can only plead laziness, writers block, a strike, Christmas and winter, finishing chapters in two other stories and then a new story idea that wouldn't let me go for about ten pages (of course now that one is stuck and un posted) and the rewrite from hell (I've never had so much problem editing a chapter before).

Thank you: Thank you for your reviews and suggestions and demands that I get the next chapter out, they were extremely helpful.

Please excuse any errors I may have made concerning things, especially miso soup.

I really hope it's all right, especially as the finished product doesn't look much like the first draft at all and I probably should have let it go several weeks ago.

The Dragon and the Maiden

By Colleen

Part Six

A Knight?

Sano had to admit that he'd met a lot of interesting and kind people during his travels. There were people who had given him jobs, people who had taken him in without question, people who had taught him new skills and people who had become good and true friends.

Unfortunately the two assholes with him were none of the above.

Dragon hunters had to be the biggest pains in the butt if Kanbe and Tokuma were anything to go by. The entire trip all they'd done was moan and bitch about the giant lizard that had dropped them in a lake a few days back. Sano wished that they would just stuff the complaining someplace small and dark and instead be grateful to be alive. He'd certainly choose a swim and walk over being roasted and served for dinner any day.

Sanosuke would have broken away from the two whiners long ago if they hadn't been going were he needed to get. Unfortunately he did need them because, even though he would never admit it to anyone, his sense of direction was not always the best. And while that hadn't really mattered when he was wandering with no set destination in mind trying for a specific location, even when that place was his childhood home, was a little different. So if having to listen to these two was the price of not getting lost then he would just have to put up with them.

Maybe he could hurt them a little after they got there?

He mulled the thought over for a few happy moments before dismissing it. He'd soon be rid of them and besides he had better things to do. Returning home and being with the two remaining members of his family was far more important than a little gratuitous violence. Especially since he had already been gone for about four years, which was two more than he had planned on. Having been gone so long he didn't want to waste even the few seconds that it would take to flatten the two complainers.

He smiled at the thought of his family and hoped they'd be as happy to see him as he knew he'd be to see them. At the very least he figured he'd be able to keep them entertained as he had plenty of stories to tell. A lot could happen when you set out to see the world and actually did, even if you did spend weeks at a time getting lost in mainland China and the further reaches of Outer Mongolia.

Of course getting lost and loving every minute of it was pretty much the theme for the entire time he'd been away.

If fact he'd loved it so much that he hadn't really planned on coming back. However, home had been calling to him for some time, in fact it'd been just about screaming at him. A couple of months ago he'd finally gave in and packed up the few things he owned before starting the long trip back to Japan.

Sano's stomach gurgled at him threateningly, reminding him that he was once again out of food. He ignored it. It wouldn't be long now and he'd rather wait until he reached his uncle's place and free food then to try and cage anything from the other two. The thought of eating with his family gave him both a delighted and worried feeling and his stomach groaned again, this time in sympathy.

'Please Kami,' he thought, 'please have taught my cousin Kaoru how to cook.'

The Maiden

In the days since the sword incident Kaoru remained abed, recovering from her injuries. Kenshin hadn't allowed her to move any further than the grotto and then only with help. He'd coddled her, cleaned her clothes and bedding, fed her and of course medicated her.

And she was really sick of it.

On the third morning she'd had enough of being treated like and invalid and prisoner. Having miraculously awakened before the dragon she decided to rebel, even if it was only in a small matter. Unaided she lurched to her feet and tottered off to the grotto on legs grown weak more from the bed rest then from any lingering illness. Once she had taken care of her most pressing needs she carefully looked over the pool area, mostly to make sure that the dragon hadn't sneaked in while she was busy. Satisfied that she was alone she quickly stripped, soaped up, rinsed off and stepped into the natural hot spring that the cave provided.

"Ahhh." Muscles relaxed as she felt the hot water from her first full bath in days embrace her and for a few moments she allowed herself the luxury of forgetting her worries. Unfortunately a few moments were all she got before the dream that had woken her up early crept back into her mind.

Kaoru sighed, wishing that she could just forget about it but she'd been having more or less the same dream every night since the first very silly one she'd had after learning Kenshin's name. Its shear repetitiveness would have bothered her even if the dream's content didn't disturb her as well.

The dream was very simple in content. She would be sitting in her home, in the village, and there would be a pile of tiles on the table in front of her (except during the first dream when it had been a pile of rice). Each tile had a Kanji written on it and she would move them around until she had spelled out the dragon's human name. Then the Kanji would change and she would move them around again until she'd discovered Kenshin's dragon name. The first time she had found the name using the rice she'd been amused by what the letters had revealed and then had become angry when she'd woken up and found she couldn't remember it.

The next two nights were different.

As before she would still spell out both his human and dragon name but after she was done the tiles would bleed away the black ink that the symbols were written in and new ones, this time in red would bubble up from the centre of each of them. Once the letters were rewritten the tiles would change shape and colour until they became like the scales that covered his body when he was a dragon. She would reach for the one closest to her but it would slither away from her hand and join the rest of the pile. Then they would all start moving. She would sit, waiting breathlessly until they finally slid to a stop and spelled out a name, one that she knew was also his and that had the power to frighten her so badly she would be yanked out of the dream between one breath and the next.

Then she would get angry all over again.

And not just because she could never remember the names but because she was afraid of a bunch of letters that probably didn't say anything at all.

She sighed and moved her hands through the water and focused on watching the small waves she created lap against the sides of the pool. It was silly to get so worked up over a dream when she had a very real and solid thing to be angry and afraid of.

That of course being the dragon.

While he took very good care of her the constant fussing was starting to get on her nerves. Even worse was the fact that day by day he became more and more polite. He hid his thoughts behind a respectful demeanour leaving her without any knowledge of what he was planning to do with her.

And that was where the fear came in.

The Dragon

Kenshin awoke in his dragon form in the larger caves and after a few large yawns and a good stretch he reached out with his mind to assure himself that Kaoru was still asleep. Instead he found her chi in the hot spring grotto. Swearing he shifted into his smaller human form and picked up the yukata he now always wore to and from his 'bedroom'. He gave it a shake to remove any sand that might be clinging to it and put it on, tying it shut as he headed into the tunnel that would take him directly to the bathing area and Kaoru.

He picked his way carefully through the tunnel as this back approach to the pool was a tight fit even for his somewhat petite human form. The zigzag course could also have a dizzying effect on anyone who tried to take it's twists and turns too quickly and the rocks and boulders that surrounded the tunnel's entry into the grotto made it difficult to get into the cave uninjured. It did however have the useful side affect of camouflaging the opening from a casual and sometimes even a searching gaze.

Kaoru wasn't going to like him showing up out of nowhere to send her back to bed.

Kenshin smiled at the thought before carefully blanking his face and emotions. He knew he was driving her crazy but in a few more days she would be healthy enough that he could leave her for short periods of time while he searched out a new home for her and after that....

After that, she would be gone.

The Dragon and the Maiden (in a required scene)

When the dragon in his human form appeared almost magically between the rocks at the back of the grotto Kaoru was just standing up to get out of the water. Both of them froze, although Kenshin's eyes moved freely and the blush that he could feel spreading across his face testified that he now had a deeper understanding of Kaoru's earlier embarrassment over his nudity.

Kaoru unfroze first and ducked back under the water. "You, you, you....."

"Gomen nasai Kaoru dono I did not mean to..." Kenshin started to say amazed at how calm and rational he managed to sound.

"YOU HENTAI," she yelled before looking around for something to throw at him.

Kenshin realized that calm and rational weren't going to cut it. He also decided that Kaoru certainly looked fit enough to take a bath by herself (and yes, he realized just how cowardly that decision was). Making a leaping dash for the mouth of the larger tunnel Kenshin managed to make it to safety, more due to the fact that Kaoru couldn't figure out how to throw something at him without rising up out of the water then because of his speed.

As he made it to the exit he called out a, "breakfast will be ready soon Kaoru dono," to her and was thankful that he hadn't stopped to tell her that when he heard one of the water tubs land behind him and bounce off stone.

A Knight?

Sano had thought that returning to the village were he'd lived much of his early life would be a pleasant if not exciting time. However, the townspeople were acting very strangely and he didn't even have the dragon hunters to blame for the attitude. The two men had headed off to the home of the village's elder to talk business as soon as the three of them had arrived.

Of course Sano hadn't expected the villagers to recognize him. He'd grown a lot in the last few years and had expected to be treated like a stranger. If the old lady who used to take care of him and Kaoru when they were young hadn't recognized him it might have stayed that way.

At first he'd been a bit embarrassed by the attention. Her day to day memory was obviously going but her vocal cords weren't and the past was still strong in her mind. Five minutes of talking with her and the entire village not only knew who he was but they now had knowledge of at least three really embarrassing things he had done in his youth. As soon as the old lady let him go he had expected to be swamped with snickering townspeople come to see the idiot boy who had finally come home again.

Being a stranger had definitely been better.

If he hadn't seen the people on the streets just minutes ago he would have thought the place was a ghost town. Everyone that could disappear had and everyone else was trying to pretend that they were invisible. Sano shook his head, bewildered and decided that he would just get himself to his uncle's place and maybe he or Kaoru could tell him what was going on.

Miso Soup as an Act of War

When Kaoru was certain she was alone again she quickly dried off and dressed before stalking down the tunnel to the kitchen. By the time she had arrived Kenshin had already started breakfast. The rice was cooking, the pickles were set out and the man shaped dragon was about to add some bonito to a pot of boiling water as the start of miso soup.

"Ohayou Gozaimasu Kaoru dono," he said respectfully and as if nothing had happened.

"Ohayou Kenshin," she replied through not quite gritted teeth. In direct proportion to his politeness she had taken to speaking to him in a casual manner and shunned the use of an honorific with his name.

As she stood there considering how to wreak her vengeance and watching Kenshin stirring the soup stock she fleetingly wondered just where a dragon would have learned to cook.

And that thought led to her plan of revenge.

"Eh Kenshin, I'll finish up the soup while you deal with the rice and pickles."

The dragon opened his mouth to protest, closing it quickly at the look in her eyes. With a slight bow he backed away and relinquished the soup pot to her.

Giving the stock a quick taste Kaoru decided that it needed a little more of the bonito and picking up the block of dried fish cut some slices of it into the soup. She frowned a bit when instead of the flakes she was hoping for she ended up with misshaped chunks but they had already landed in the broth and she wasn't going to try to fish them out. She happily shredded some nori into what she hoped would be interesting shapes and dropped that in as well before locating the container of miso paste. After spooning in a healthy amount of the fermented bean paste and stirring vigorously she quickly sliced some daikon and dropped that in as well since she was tired of plain soup and there wasn't any tofu available. Finished she stared at the bubbling liquid, then put in a few more globs of the bean paste into it to give it a bit more body. She filled two bowls with the cloudy solution and undercooked radish and handed them to Kenshin who, saying nothing but looking like a man who was about to be escorted to his execution, placed them on the stacking trays with the rice and pickled eggplant.

Kaoru smiled at the expression on the dragon's face and knew he had been watching. She had no illusions about her cooking and while she hadn't actually been trying to wreck the soup she knew that any food item she touched had a tendency to self-destruct. It may have been petty but if he was going to walk in on her bath then he was going to have to eat her cooking.

Sitting down at the table to eat Kenshin stared at his soup with concern. He'd kept an eye on Kaoru as she had finished with the miso and while he understood her need for revenge he wondered if the punishment wasn't worse then the crime.

The sight of Kaoru naked and rising up out of the heated water sprang into his mind. He swallowed, hard, and successfully fought to suppress the blush that tried to reappear on his face. That memory, he decided, was worth any amount of bad food.

Picking up his soup he proceeded, much to Kaoru's dismay, to drink down the salty, crunchy, thick mess as if it was the best thing he had ever eaten.

A Knight?

When Sano found his uncle's home he began to wonder if he'd actually woken up this morning. Either he was still asleep and trapped in an odd little nightmare or someone was playing a very bad joke on him.

Instead of the simple but well kept home he'd remembered he found a boarded up house with a dying garden. And worse than the state of the place was the fact that no one in the village would even look at it.

True there weren't many people on the streets at the moment but those that were out had the odd habit of sliding their glance over the house. It was as if they were doing their utmost to pretend that there was an empty lot where the dwelling stood.

Sano turned suddenly and headed in the direction that the dragon hunters had gone. If he wanted to find out what the hell was going on then whoever was now head of the village would probably be his best chance for getting information. Although, if everyone hadn't been acting so strangely he would have just grabbed the first person he came to and started asking.

Sano quickly reached the house that he had seen the hunters enter and he wondered briefly if the old man he'd remembered as the elder was still presiding over the village. With a shrug he dismissed the thought as unimportant and started pounding on the door, adding an, "Oi, open up," in for good measure.

The door slid slowly open to reveal a non descript middle-aged man and the two dragon hunters. The hunters, who had been ready to attack or defend (or run away), relaxed when they saw that the visitor was just the drifter that had travelled with them to this forsaken hole of a village.

Sano ignored the two hunters and stared at the person who'd opened the door. Here was a younger, blander version of the man that Sano had remembered running the town. Younger and no where near as intelligent if Sanosuke's memory of this man as a boy was anything to go by.

The village leader gulped at the sight of his belligerent guest and in a wavering voice asked him what he wanted.

"Glad you asked," Sano said as he kicked off his shoes and stepped into the house, closing the door behind him as he herded its owner back inside. "I don't know if you remember me but I used to live in this town when I was younger and I've come back to see my uncle and cousin." Sano looked hard into the man's face, willing him to remember. "The name is Sanosuke; my uncle and cousin are...."

"Koshijirou and Kaoru," the man said, almost whispering the names.

Sano felt as if he had been punched in the stomach at the look on the man's face. While he'd suspected bad news when he'd found his childhood home abandoned he'd hoped that it just meant that his kinsfolk had moved on to greener pastures.

"What happened to them?"

"Last winter was so very hard," the man, Yoichi, if Sano was remembering correctly, stuttered out. "The weather was a killing blow to several of the villagers, and not just the old and weak. Your uncle, while a strong man, experienced a weakening of the lungs and despite the best efforts of the village healer and his daughter they were unable to save him. He died just before the spring melt."

"And Kaoru?" Sanosuke asked in a dead calm voice which given the man's sudden collapsing to his knees was far more terrifying then if he had yelled at him.

Face mashed against the floor Yoichi shuddered out the answer with each shake of his body.

"The dragon took her."

"The....dragon?" Sano's head whirled at the thought of the young girl he had lived, played and fought with for so many years dieing in such a way. He wanted to grab the man at his feet and choke him until he took those words back and told him it was all a joke.

"Yes, a few days ago the dragon attacked the village and burned several of our fields. When your cousin rushed out to help put out the fires he grabbed her and flew off," Yoichi sneaked a look at Sano to gauge his reaction, which seemed to be one of shock and some guilt. "We tried to follow," he whined, "but the creature was too fast for us and we've never been able to find it's lair."

Sano turned and slammed the sliding door open with such force that the wood frame shattered all along one end of it. He stuffed his feet into his shoes and then looked back at the hunters who were busy looking from the broken door to him in amazed disbelief.

"Where were you two when the dragon grabbed you?" He asked in a low growl. The hunters look at each other before Kanbe, who was the largest of the pair gave a shrug and said, "about half way up the mountain to the east."

Sano gave a curt nod of thanks before stalking away. He hadn't gone more than a few feet before he heard the two men he had followed to this village following him.

"East is that way." Tokuma, the smaller, slightly smarter member of the duo told him as he pointed in the direction opposite from where Sano was heading.

Sano snarled and continued the way he had been going.

The two dragon hunters looked at each other and gave a shrug before following after the very angry young man.

The Village

Yoichi watched, relieved, as Sanosuke left. If everyone kept his or her mouths shut then that dangerous young man would never know what had really happened to his cousin. He glanced at the ruined door and imagined it being his body, which it certainly would have been if he'd told Sano that he and the villagers had sacrificed Kaoru to the dragon.

The boy would never have understood that it had been the only thing they could do. And it had worked too. There had been no sight of the dragon for days and as long as Sanosuke or the hunters didn't stumble across it then it might not ever come back.

Yoichi grabbed the broken door and attempted to force it to move along its track. He jump back alarmed when, with a strange crackling noise, the rest of the frame exploded in a rain of splinters. He stared at what amounted to a pile of sawdust in his hand, sawdust that had just moments before been part of the frame he'd been holding onto at the time of its collapse.

Spilling the wood dust to the floor he thought it was funny how fast a person could change their minds about something.

He hoped Sanosuke would find the dragon. He might actually stand a chance of killing the thing and if he didn't.....

Then the dragon would make certain that that dangerous boy never found out the truth.

A Knight!

Sanosuke may have had a bad sense of direction but even he knew which way east was from his home village. He would head that way eventually but first he had a couple of stops to make.

The first was to see his uncle.

He'd always hated the small plot of ground where the village buried their dead. Oh it was pleasant enough in its own way but the life of a peasant can be hard and he had lost his parents and too many childhood friends to illness and accidents to feel comfortable in the place where they were hidden away from those that still lived. Still the place, like the village, was small and it didn't take him long to find his uncle's resting-place.

Reading the marker his sense of guilt swelled up and almost swept him away. Koshijirou had died just a few weeks after Sanosuke had started to feel the need to return to Japan. Oh, he knew that even if he'd raced back right then he wouldn't have been able to help his uncle but if he'd paid attention to the call when he should have he could have been here for his cousin in her grief. He might even have been able to keep her safe from the dragon. He glanced down at the base of the marker and saw a small posy of dead flowers and felt his heart squeeze in pain as he realized that Kaoru must have placed them there shortly before she had been killed. The pain crystallized into a hard, sharp anger and he clenched his fists, desperately needing to hit something. Instead he gave a short anguished yell and headed to his uncle's home for the other thing he needed.

He didn't bother with the main house and instead went to the small storage shed out back where he had left some of his belongings before leaving home. He worried briefly that Koshijirou or Kaoru might have gotten rid of the thing during the time he'd been gone but the worry proved groundless.

During his younger years he had briefly considered being a blacksmith. That had lasted just long enough for him to create the weapon that he now reclaimed from a pile of old planks and broken bamboo wash poles. Pulling the canvas wrapping away from it he was relieved to see that the oil and covering had been enough to keep the blade from deteriorating too much and he was sure that it would be sound enough for what he had to do.

The two ignored and practically forgotten dragon hunters stood in front of the shed waiting for their former travelling companion. Both of them took a step back when Sano came out carrying a sword that looked large enough to cut through a mountain top much less a dragon. Sanosuke grimaced at the two men with what was supposed to have been a smile and turning east went off to test how well a sword designed to go through a horse and rider would work on a dragon.

End of Part 6