This chapter is any more disturbing than the others in this story, but it is very dark.
Chapter 16:
Fate
Two Years Later
The autumn sun beamed its weakened rays down to the earth as a cool wind stirred the dying leaves on the trees. Some lost their grip on their branches and began to dance in the air, high and low until ultimately reaching the ground where they then skirted through the grass and gathered into piles which children eagerly played in. Their smiles and laugher echoed through the air like sweet music akin to birds singing in the morning.
"Kenshin, will you please get Kiri out of those damn leaves before she gets ill," Kaoru boomed from the kitchen window, watching her child play with the other children in the village. Kenshin shrugged and rose from the steps of his inn and picked up the tiny girl with dark red hair and huge, violet eyes. The child squealed in protest, extending her little arms back to the pile of leaves.
"No, honey. You're mother will kill me if I let you play in that...literally," Kenshin said, bringing her inside and sitting her at the table. Her attention was quickly caught by the big bowl full of greens sitting right next to her.
"Kenshin, how are the melons looking? Do you think they will be ripe before the first frost," she questioned, cooking two fish over an open hearth in the middle of the kitchen. They were almost done and smelled incredibly good. Kenshin walked over to his wife and placed a kiss on her cheek. She smiled and pushed him away jokingly.
"We should be able to harvest them before then. They are very hard to grow, that they are. I'm surprised they took...those foreign things," he said, shaking his head. Kaoru had insisted on growing those things ever since she tasted them at in market in China on their travels after their wedding. Of course, all she wanted to do was eat since she was pregnant the whole time. Kenshin cherished every moment he spent with her while she was expecting. He knew for the first time what he had missed six years ago. He would never miss it again. He kissed her belly often and talked to their child, which made Kaoru smiled. She never smiled as the Hitokiri, but as a pregnant wife...she was never seen without one. Unless she was chewing him out, of course.
"Well, those foreign things will bring a lot of money at the market. Now, just watch this fish while I practice my form," she said, walking into the other room, grabbing her katana. Kenshin sighed deeply and walked after her.
That damn sword. She couldn't put down that damn sword. She had stopping killing for him, that was Kaoru's wedding gift to her new husband. She made the vow to change herself for him. But if her family was ever threatened, she would use her sword and kill again. It was an agreement that made him uneasy, but he accepted it just the same. Perhaps it was his own fault he assumed Kaoru would never actually pick up a katana again, but when she started training right after their daughter's birth, he became wary. All in all, she was no different from him. Though she had made the vow not to kill, she couldn't bring herself to be without a sword. It was so much a part of who she was, she couldn't let go of it..
"Kaoru, must you still mess with the sword? It has been two years and not a word or sign of Yahiko, Saitou or that girl. You are no longer a hitokiri. You don't need a sword," he pleaded with her, trying to get her to change her mind. Kaoru screwed her face and pointed to another katana lying on a rack.
"Well then, get rid of yours, too. You want to be a farmer. You don't want to be a swordsman, but you keep yours in arms' reach for the same reason I do, Kenshin. Let's not play dumb," she said, fastening a holster around her waist, making it looser than normal. Her waist was not as slim as usual and she needed to give a little more room.
"But, Kaoru, you are five months pregnant. You have to stop sometime. We have an inn and a small farm. We are making a good living. I still have my sword, yes, but I have not touched it since Kiri was born. If it will make a difference, I will get rid of mine if you get rid of yours," he said. Kaoru finished fixing herself and walked pasted her husband in a huff.
"The day I die is the day your can pry this katana from my hand," she replied in an unusually cold tone. It was a tone he had not heard since the first days they reunited. He could imaging her eyes, as sharp as tiger's claws. It sent a chill down his spine as if it was the wind of fate. Kenshin moved his lips to protest further when a large crash was heard coming from the kitchen. Kaoru spun around and looked at Kenshin.
"Kiri," Kaoru screamed as she ran to her child, her husband right behind her. It was is if they were moving in slow motion. Kenshin's instincts were telling him something was wrong. His child was in danger. He had to save his baby.
He was right.
Kiri jumped up and down in the arms of a thin, tall man. She smiled and clapped, amused to no end. Kenshin and Kaoru froze, trying to anticipate what he would do. He was armed and would probably kill Kiri if provoked. The man's dark hair covered his eyes, all that could be seen was his smile as he tickled the little girl making her smile even wider.
"You should never leave you child unattended. I would figure a good mother know that, but you aren't a good mother, eh, Kaoru," the voice of Yahiko proclaimed.
For the first time, Kaoru couldn't move. She couldn't breath. She couldn't think clearly. The more she tried, the more her thoughts were jumbled. Her child. She was about to lose her child again. Her hands shook violently, her sword scratching against the wooden floor.
"Oh, shaken, I see," Yahiko taunted, Kaoru's child still under his arm. Kiri finally realized something wasn't right when she looked at her parents. Her smile faded away as she reached out her arms to them.
"Kaa-san," little Kiri said, her eyes welling with innocent tears. Yahiko looked down and patted the child's head.
"Oh, you want your Kaa-san? Well, she is scared for you, because she knows I will kill you. She just doesn't know when," he whispered in the child's ear, looking dead at Kaoru and Kenshin.
"Why after all this time? Why come after us? Why bring my child into this," Kaoru yelled, tears pouring from her eyes. Her face red and wrinkled, her veins erect.
"It took a lot of digging to find out what happened to your first child. Died as a baby. Megumi. Sanosuke. Their deaths are on your hands, as well as his," Yahiko boomed, his tone loud and frightening, causing Kiri to wail.
"And then, you choose to marry him. Marry him? The cause of your pain, your tomrent. You do not deserve to know the joys of motherhood. Your instincts leave much to be desired."
"KAA-SAN," Kiri screamed at the top of her lungs, beating her small fists against Yahiko, who tightened his grip on the toddler. A wry smile crossed his face as he began to walk out the door of the inn.
"KIRI," Kaoru yelled as she ran after her child, her maternal instincts taking over her better judgement. Just as she reached Yahiko, he spun around to reveal a small dagger pressed against the neck of the small child. Kiri stopped wailing, sensing the danger she was in, but the tears continued to fall down her chubby, red cheeks.
Time had all but stopped for Kenshin. It was as if he were in a dream. He was there, but he wasn't, watching the events unfold. Watching his wife cry like he'd never seen. Watching his child's life being threatened right before his eyes. The laughs of Yahiko. The sound of his little daughter sobbing.
His innocent baby girl.
Her flowing burgundy hair.
Her vibrant blue eyes.
Her milky white skin.
Her life.
Her being.
Her very existence lay in the balance, in the hands of a mad-man. In the hands of a mad-man he helped create. His daughter may die for his sins.
The blood he shed.
The choices he made.
The mistakes he made.
The lives he took.
The sins of the father bequeath onto the child. Not only this child, but his first born. A child that he was never able to see. A child that was born without knowing him and died without knowing him. A child that died before he lived. A child that he might was well damned face to face. Now this little one. Not to mention the one still in his wife's womb. Where would it end? When would it stop? How could he stop it...without releasing him? Without releasing the root of this evil? Without the...
"Battousai," Saitou proclaimed, standing behind Yahiko. His narrow eyes moved over to Kaoru, then down to her belly, which had only begun to round.
"Hitokiri, it seems you are in no condition to fight, unless you risk the life inside of you," he said matter-of-factly. Kaoru tightened her grip around the hilt of her sward as she took his words, her baby still with a dagger to her throat. No matter how cold, Saitou was correct. If she fought at her full potential, she could have the baby too soon and it would die. And there would be no guarantee she would save Kiri, either.
"Since when did you become the murderer of children, Saitou," the Battousai said, his golden eyes narrowed, his ruby hair flowing down his back. Saitou smirked and brought his cigarette to his lips.
"When the child became a weakness. How careless of the both of you! Surely you knew we would return for your heads. Instead, we find you two have married with a beautiful daughter. What torture it would be if something happened to this little one," he replied, dropping the burning stick and stomping it out as it reached the ground. He placed his hand on Yahiko's shoulder and walked out of the kitchen. His apprentice followed, Kiri still in his arms, screaming.
"Hajime Saitou, I will have you head on a platter if any harm comes to my child," Kaoru promised as the two men were exiting.
"Follow me out this house and I'll slit her throat and leave her on your steps," was his response. Kaoru could do nothing but collapse as the men left with her child. Kenshin ran to her and held her in her arms. She was pale, all color gone from her tone. Her eyes were glossed over, as if she had already died, her breathing slow, but her heart beating extremely fast.
The past was occurring again. History was repeating itself. She was losing her child again. She lost her baby. She would never see her again. She couldn't go after her. But, she had to. She had to try. She had to take the chance. She had to save her baby.
Their baby.
Kaoru snapped out of her trance and sat straight up, startling the Battousai next to her. She scanned him from head to toe. So, after all this time, he was finally released. There was no fighting it now. There was no turning back. All bets were off. All promises forgotten. All that mattered was bringing Kiri back and killing the sons of bitches that took her.
No more pity.
No more feeling sorry.
No more dwelling on the past.
Their fates were sealed.