Author's Note: My first Rurouni Kenshin story. I have just fallen in love with Rurouni Kenshin for the exquisite art, character development and storyline and was inspired by the last scene of episode 63—an episode that brought me to tears. And then I saw episode 31 and cried again so this idea came to me. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, it is the property of Fuji Television Inc., Jump Comics and the creation of Nobuhiro Watsuki

OF IRISES AND FIREFLIES

Kamiya Kaoru stepped out the rear door of her dojo and breathed in the cool of the late evening after the heat of the late summer day. The night was exactly like that night, the night two months ago that was the crossroad of her life. They had returned from Kyoto yesterday she and the people she knew as her family and all of them appeared glad to be back at the Kamiya Dojo. It felt truly good to be home again and the day's work gave her a feeling of satisfaction that only comes from getting a lot accomplished. The dojo had been empty for two months as she, Yahiko, and Sanosuke had followed Kenshin to Kyoto to help in his fight with Shishio, following their hearts as they sought to assist the man once known as Battousai. They were determined to bring their rurouni home, to the home that he now had after ten years of wandering in a self induced penance for his many sins. In achieving the fait accompli of Shishio's defeat, they returned from Kyoto to Tokyo, returned to the place they called home, hopeful to relegate the past to where it belonged and to go forward into a hopeful future.

Kaoru gazed upward in the dark, star studded skies as she sighed breaking the quiet. The air was hushed and heavy with the final heat of summer still leaving a baked feeling to the cooler night air. Dr. Genzai and his two precocious granddaughters Ayame and Suzume had long since departed after welcoming Kenshin, Yahiko, Sano, and herself home with some food. It was a fortunate turn for they had not been home long enough to replenish the larder and having been gone from the dojo for two months money was scarce. She had even sent Kenshin to go to the river to fish and catch some food but he had come home empty-handed and in a strangely pensive mood. He had returned and after admitting his failure at catching any fish he was watching her with a funny half-smile and glow in his amethyst eyes, a look that had remained with him all through dinner. While they ate, Kenshin had remained mostly silent, politely answering when someone asked a question of him but keeping his eyes trained on her constantly as if he were studying her. It made her a bit self-conscious even with them being close friends.

Kaoru walked out and sat on the top step as she noted the dark moonless night, the only light besides the countless stars being the occasional soft pinpoint glow of fireflies that were scattered about in the darkness like a flurry of snowflakes made of bio-luminescent light. The humidity of the day had drawn the insects from the nearby riverbank into the back courtyard of the dojo. Kaoru enjoyed the picture the tiny luminous bugs presented as they glided back and forth through the rushes and brush surrounding the bathhouse and other buildings that made up the Kamiya Dojo. Then something caught her eye as she noticed the bucket Kenshin had taken with him fishing sitting on the step. She became mildly irritated, as she wondered why he did not put the bucket away in its proper place.

With an annoyed sigh, Kaoru reached for the bucket and was about to stand and put it in the shed when she spotted what was in it. She gasped as she saw one of the loveliest irises she had ever seen, perfect and daintily ruffled, in a deep hue of blue violet, visible even in the faint light shining from the open rear door. Kaoru ran her fingers on the soft petals as she saw the tiny blink of green light on the leaf. A firefly had landed on the flower and had made itself at home so she withdrew her fingers, afraid to disturb it. Kaoru was so intent in her admiration of the delicate bloom that she did not notice the shadow that blocked the light from the dojo hall.

"I hope you like the iris, that I do." a deep yet soft voice sounded from the doorway. The slim but sturdy figure with hair the color of an autumn sunset came soundlessly to take a seat beside her.

"Kenshin, it's beautiful. Thank you."

Himura Kenshin smiled warmly, pleased by her acceptance of his gift. "I did not want to come back completely empty-handed. And it reminded me of you, that it did."

Kaoru smiled and lowered her head demurely. "I'm surprised to see that you found an iris. With the heat that has plagued the area, and no rain, I haven't seen any flowers about that aren't dying or already dead." She changed the subject and said in a quiet voice, "Kenshin, I thought you had gone to bed."

"I didn't feel tired as yet. But if you would prefer that I leave, I will," he said as he made to rise but her gentle touch detained him as she grasped his arm.

"Please stay with me, Kenshin. Yahiko went to bed early and I would really enjoy sitting here with you. It's such a pretty night and the courtyard is filled with fireflies."

"Aa. I see. There were a lot of them at the riverbank as the sun was setting. I imagine the humid weather is what is encouraging them to be around."

Kaoru nodded as she became thoughtful. "It's just like that night two months ago. After another hot day, remember? A fateful day for all of us."

Kenshin nodded as well. "I remember, Kaoru-dono. When I said good-bye." His face became bemused and a bit sad. "That was one of the hardest things I ever did, saying good-bye to you." His hand stole over and linked fingers with hers. "As I made my way to Kyoto, I thought a lot about my life here."

Kaoru gazed into his eyes. "Did you, Kenshin?"

"Aa. I would think about the life I was leaving and I often thought of the night of the fireflies by the river. I had thought that night as I said good-bye, I would not see you again soon." His eyes became haunted as he continued. "I had accepted that Battousai was a part of me that I could not get rid of so easily so I felt that to return to being a wanderer was best for everyone. But then you came after me to bring me back home."

Kaoru gazed at the titian haired rurouni who had made a home not only in her dojo but also deep in her heart. "That's because this is your home, Kenshin. When you left, there was a void here like a vast canyon, and I felt like someone had torn a hole in my heart. I cried bitter tears as you walked away from me into the night, but I knew you had to go. So I let you."

Kenshin gazed at her with the same warm glow he had since returning from the river. "When you approached me in Kyoto and asked if I was angry with you for coming, I had answered half and half relieved. I was half relieved because I realized that my time here with you was as much a part of me as the time I was the Battousai and as such I could no longer run away from that either."

Kaoru studied him with widened eyes. "Why were you running away, Kenshin?"

Kenshin returned her regard as he replied, "I was afraid my past and the darker side that accompanies it would consume the hope and wishes of my future. I told you the night I left that I could not allow any of you to be hurt by the re-emergence of my past. That was partially true but the real truth was that Saito's words rang in my ears and took hold of my thoughts. A manslayer will always be a manslayer."

Their hands then linked and encompassed each other as if they had been created to be joined. "My past is filled with ghosts, Kaoru. Ghosts of those who were slain by my hand, both stranger and loved one. These are things that had haunted me for the ten years I wandered. And still, a day doesn't pass that I don't regret the blood soaked path I chose in my youth."

"You cannot live in the shadow of the past forever, Kenshin," Kaoru murmured sagely. "It tries to blot out the light that we know is shining in you. It's that light that all of us are drawn to." She looked earnestly into his amethyst eyes. "And I told you that night that your true nature was of a rurouni that doesn't kill."

Kenshin reached with his other hand and ran the back of it down the softness of her cheek. The earlier words of Ryunoske, the former samurai turned old fisherman echoed in his head. A man only finds one woman in his life that he never forgets. Until what took place in Kyoto, he had thought that Tomoe was that woman—the wife of his youth who had lost her life by his hands but not before leaving a permanent mark on him, the scar that completed the cross on his left cheek, his crucifixion. He had carried the guilt of her death for ten years as he vowed never again to take a human life. Then, his travels brought him into Tokyo and he met Kaoru. Raven hair and eyes as dark and fathomless as the deep blue sea, with a heart of compassion for those in need. She never hesitated to help others and he considered himself heaven blessed to have been included in the circle of people who loved her. And he was just beginning to realize that he did indeed love her with all his heart.

The fireflies danced about the moist evening air, numerous and softly blinking, adding to the celestial climes a gentle luminescence that gave the atmosphere a magical feeling. Kaoru gazed deeply into Kenshin's eyes as he continued caressing her cheek with reverence and she felt her heart pound with the emotion of the moment. She saw in his eyes a depth of feeling that she found perplexing and exciting at the same time. Something in him was different something she couldn't put her finger on.

"Kenshin?"

"Aa?"

"Is everything all right?" Kaoru asked hesitantly, with a bit of trepidation. His behavior was of one distracted although it was not that dark side was strangely reminiscent of when he turned into the Battousai.

Kenshin smiled a sweet smile. "Everything's fine, Kaoru. Why wouldn't it be?"

She noted the absence of the customary honorific he always made sure to attach to her name. She shrugged her shoulders and said casually, "Oh no reason. I just noticed you seem a bit preoccupied since returning from your fishing trip. Did something happen?"

Kenshin turned his head away and brought back his hand. Kaoru found the removal of his caress disconcerting but she felt that this was not the time to press him. He seemed in a mind of sharing and confiding so she just sat there waiting patiently.

Kenshin took a deep breath and began, "I met an unusual man at the river today, that I did. He was a wise old fisherman who had befriended Ayame and Suzume previously and when we approached him to assist him after he had been attacked by some ruffians, he took us to a favorite spot of his. He sensed in me a kindred spirit, that he did."

"Was he a rurouni who was a hitokiri as well?"

Kenshin shook his head. "No, but he was a swordsman who was chasing the ultimate attack and it was his undoing. He ended up wandering for twenty years."

Kaoru sat there and listened intently as he continued. "He began to tell a story of wishing fireflies. In his story he told of a young swordsman made proud by his skill and how that pride had consumed him so that all he wanted was to make himself the best swordsman. He ignored the love of a girl who was devoted to him as he left on his quest. However, the girl would continue waiting for him by the wishing fireflies."

Kenshin's eyes clouded as he recalled the story, still fresh in his mind. "In his travels he had witnessed a crime committed by a swordsman whose style represented for him the ultimate attack. And so he spent the next twenty years, slaying people and hoping to achieve that style that so enthralled him. Until one day his path and the path of the revered swordsman met. They fought and when he saw that the man's technique was in fact his own he realized that his quest was futile, a waste of twenty years."

Kaoru was spellbound as she asked, "What finally happened to him?"

Kenshin smiled sadly as he went on. "He continued walking haunted by images of all those who fell by his sword until he came to the place of the wishing fireflies where he had last seen the girl who loved him. He was met there by his former best friend, her brother who not recognizing him informed him of her passing a year before. The brother had also informed him how the girl waited there for her love to return until she died." He paused as he gazed out thoughtfully.

Kaoru felt the sting of tears as her heart caught at Kenshin's tale. "Is that all to the story?"

Kenshin turned to her shaking his head. "I asked him if the man in the story regretted any of the past transgressions of his life. He answered that even if he did he can't go back and change it. But he wanted the woman's spirit to live on the heart of another." He reached for Kaoru's hand and held it in both of his. "I believe that he had a reason for telling me that story, that I do." Smiling, he glanced past her at the bucket he left on the porch step with the beautiful iris sitting nestled within. "That iris reminded me of your eyes when I picked it, that it did."

He released Kaoru's hand and rose to his feet, watching the softly glowing ballet of the fireflies as they fluttered to and fro in the courtyard. ""The fireflies are indeed beautiful tonight. As they were that night two months ago," he commented. He turned and smiled at her as he said, "I must rise early tomorrow to fix breakfast so I bid you good night, Kaoru-dono." He turned and silently took his leave.

Kaoru sighed and gazed out at the tiny blinking insects as she pondered the story Kenshin relayed and the other things he said. She turned and looked down at the iris in the bucket and noticed that the firefly was still there, casting a pale green glow on the flower. She gingerly touched the petals of the iris and as if in response the glow of the firefly pulsated gently. She mused that the glow of the firefly was like Kenshin's light, soft yet penetrating as it reached out and spread to surround those around him.

"Thank you, Kenshin," Kaoru said softly as she too rose and went inside.