Ice

By: Reverie-sama, the Dream Angel

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Rurouni Kenshin nor do I own the lyrics to the song "Ice" by Sara McLachlan as much as I wish I did.

From last time:

But his stunning eyes did not move away from hers. And was it her imagination or was he coming closer? That stunning look flashed earlier blazed constant in his eyes now. Every part of him was drawing into her face.

No! It couldn't be her imagination! He was leaning towards her. His hand lay itself sweetly against her cheek.

This can't be happening! I must be dreaming! Kenshin is going to…he is going to kiss me…

Her eyes began to droop, slowly closing. She could feel his breath begin to caress her face.

This has to be a dream…

His hand rolled behind her ear, cupping her face. He was pulling her closer to him.

A beautiful dream…

Her eyes closed. Lips parted. Trembling.

God, don't let me wake up…

Ice:

Part II

Snickering and lewd catcalls quickly dissolved the moment that had seemed so promising and drove them apart abruptly. The couple had been too preoccupied with the flood of emotions to sense the danger that approached. Kenshin gritted his teeth in both disappointment and frustration as Kaoru blushed and curled away from the prying eyes.

"Well what do we have here? A couple of lovebirds stealing a moment alone on a winter's morn? How sweet," one man cooed menacingly as he swaggered into the clearing. He carried a katana over his shoulder. Presently he drew it, the blade scraping slowly against the sheath. His intent was painfully obvious.

More men appeared from their forest hiding places, and soon Kenshin and Kaoru found themselves surrounded.

"Give us your valuables," one spat confidently as he slashed his sword around, attempting to look intimidating.

"If you do, perhaps we will let you live," another called, leaning against a tree.

Battousai threatened to surface at the interruption. How fortunate for the thugs that the rurouni held him in check.

He pushed Kaoru behind him before he put his hand on the hilt of his sakabattou.

He turned his gaze to the man who had first appeared and seemed to be the leader, a tall man with spiky black hair and daring green eyes. "We have no valuables, that we do not. We are but simple students of the sword out to practice, that we are, and do not wish to fight you."

The leader looked at him quizzically for a moment. "Nothing valuable you say? Well that is a shame." Then he seemed to pause for a moment considering his surroundings, but Kenshin could sense that he did not intend to back down.

His eyes alighted on something and a smile spread languorously across his face and his eyes became hungry. "I beg to differ," he dropped. The band of thieves sniggered knowingly in response.

Kaoru tightened her grip on Kenshin's gi as a startled gasp fell from her lips and whispered past his ear.

Kenshin's eyes hardened, enveloped in amber with the implications of the passing phrases. Reflexively his hand drew forth his sword with the agility of vast skill.

Without turning he ordered, "Kaoru-dono, stay here. I will protect you."

He could feel her tense. "Demo…" But he didn't let her finish before he stepped into his first attack.

His sword followed the path of years of training and flowed ceaseless and fluid through the attacks. They would pay for their impure thoughts of his Kaoru.

The thugs were surprised by his aggressive move and many fell soon to lay unconscious on the snow. Others put up more of a fight than he expected but still could not come near enough to touch blades with his skill for long. They soon joined their companions on the ground a little more battered for their efforts.

Within minutes the three speakers were all that remained of the large group of potential thieves.

"Pretty impressive," the leader stated matter-of-factly as his slow applause echoed steeped deep in sarcasm. The other two also appeared unfazed by their depleted numbers.

Kaoru bit her lip, her nerves getting the better of her. She had witnessed many of Kenshin's battles and knew of the difficulty of others, but the way these men behaved unnerved her. They were curiously confident. "They are either bluffing or they are more than they appear to be," she thought anxiously. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that Kenshin would be careful.

One of the remaining men, a drab shorter man with a morose expression, stared coolly through Kenshin to Kaoru from his position against the tree. His gaze lingered on her longer than it should have. Kenshin gripped his sakabattou harder. His black eyes returned to Kenshin, passively amused at the emotions that he should have fought to display. A small smile formed on his lips.  Kenshin frowned confused. He couldn't read any of their emotions at all.

The black gaze penetrated him. "Say goodbye," he said plain and simple.

"Nani?" Kenshin puzzled out loud. He couldn't see what he meant. Kaoru also stared confused and wide-eyed. She raised her shinai to be prepared just in case.

The men disappeared.

Kenshin blinked, caught off guard by their speed. He quickly sought the men but sensed that their ki had disappeared from his vicinity.

To his horror a woman screamed somewhere in the distance. The scream resonated through him sickeningly familiar. Suddenly he could feel the cold around him much too keenly, a warmth was missing.

In disbelief and partly in denial he slowly turned and found what his other senses had already confirmed. Her shinai lay forgotten in her vacant footprints.

Panic surged as another scream cut through him and he was following it deep into the woods before another breath could be expelled through his teeth.

The snow began to cascade down heavily as the wind picked a harsher tempo to match the chase. Kenshin rushed haphazard and fast praying he was in time to save Kaoru from the fate the men had promised with their eyes. He promised them that if he didn't he would break a vow he made over a decade ago.

Author's Note:

Arigato gozaimasu to all of you who have read my fic thus far. I'm sorry that this chapter is so short. I felt bad not updating recently so I just kind of spit this chapter out. I am sorry to have interrupted my favorite couple. I'm also not very good at fight scenes (a skill which I am working to improve) so I would appreciate your suggests and comments if you have any. But I felt it did justice to the speed of most of Kenshin's easy battles, but certainly not to the majesty of his skill. I shall work on that in the next chapter.

Special thanks go out to Starhopper, Koishii-glory, and my dear friend Cy-kun/ Cyrex for your reviews. I am indebted to you and your wonderful reviews. It is for you that I continue to write this story. I hope it meets your expectations. Forgive any grammatical errors that may exist. I am a perfectionist but even I am human and can miss a few errors.

One point of clarification just in case anyone didn't understand, it is my understanding that Kenshin predicts attacks by reading his opponent's emotions as is evidenced in his battles with Soujiro the Tenken. (sp?) So imagine the remaining thieves as having no emotions that Kenshin can read just like Soujiro, ne?

It is my goal to have the next section soon. Hopefully it will be longer too. Still figuring out some of the details in this story like how I can get to the cool scenes I want to write and how I want to end it.  Until next time please keeping reading and reviewing. * bows*