~Chapter Fifteen-the song that dances with us in our hearts~

Kenshin fell to his knees and took Karou into his arms.

The rain fell over them, and Karou wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You were so scared……..why? I just didn't know….why you were crying and pleading for me so badly…….as if you just had to have me……somehow." Kenshin explained under his breath.

Karou rested her head on Kenshin's shoulder.

"Because…..what if I never saw you again? What if I-"

Kenshin placed a finger over her lips to stop her talking.

She stared up at him, and he stared back down at her.

"If I hadn't have been there then……I would have heard your cries all the same…….and I would have come for you………I would have saved you……..because…………" Kenshin paused his talking.

Karou closed her eyes, and leaned forward slowly, Kenshin doing the same.

Their lips were less then an inch away from one another.

So close……

Suddenly a huge explosion off in the distance made them pull away before they could even feel one another's lips, and look towards the huge sound.

They watched as the fire rose up into the air, and Kenshin realized it had been the mansion….and the bomb that Mr. Orasumi had set to go off……….

the bomb that was intended to kill members of Kenshin and Karou's family…..still inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"……Sanoske…….Misao……..Yahiko………..no……this can't be……." Karou stated in shock, then buried her face into Kenshin's chest, beginning to weep.

"No……." She cried over and over.

Kenshin could only hold her, tears walling up in his eyes as well.

"I completely forgot…….." He whispered sadly.

He closed his eyes as the rain fell down his cheeks along with his tears.

He rested his chin on Karou's head, and cried.

Smoke started to surround them as the wind picked up.

It seemed like after everything was going back to being okay again….it got worse……and now Sanoske, Kenshin and Karou's best friend, who had always been by their sides when they needed him most……Misao, who had been like a little sister to both Kenshin and Karou, who loved them dearly, and only wanted them to be happy……and Yahiko, who had been like a little brother to both of them….especially to Karou, who loved them, because he knew that they were his only family….and that they would never give up on him…..that he would one day be wonderful……all 3 of them……….were gone forever.

Karou and Kenshin thought about this, and it hurt their hearts more and more as the minutes rolled on.

"It's happening all over again….." Karou said, her eyes closed, still partly embedded into Kenshin's kimono top.

Kenshin stared down at her.

"My family….when I was little……my mother…..my father…….even my far off relatives…somehow ended up either missing or dead. It was always like that. And I was so glad…..when Dr. Genzai found me, and took me in….and raised me, along with Ayame and Sazume……and I thought that at least I had a small family, who loved me for me………and then…….and then………you came, and then…." She looked up at him, "you…..gave me my family back. My family……..you and Yahiko and Sanoske and Magumi and Misao and everyone else. You gave me it back…and I prayed every night that every single day would never change….that my family would always be…….together. Never perish and go up in flames like my first family did. And now….it's happening again." Karou explained, as more tears came.

"Karou……listen to me. No matter how many family members you lose or keep…..I will always…….always…….be right here…….your family……..I promise you." Kenshin whispered down to her.

Karou brought her legs closer to Kenshin, and eventually curled up into his arms like a child.

It was almost 15 minutes later, and the rain still fell.

Kenshin opened his eyes and looked off towards the smoke, still raising into the clouded sky, mixing with the storm.

3 shadows were coming from the forest.

His eyes widened, and a smile crept upon his face.

Out of the darkness came first Sanoske, then Misao, and then Yahiko close behind, running towards Kenshin and Karou!!!

Kenshin waved to them, and they all crowded around the two drowned out looking people known as Kenshin and Karou.

So many smiles appeared, as Karou lay sound asleep in Kenshin's lap, unaware of the miracle that had just been granted.

~A day and a half later~

A song of humming……..

Karou could hear it….somewhere in the distance of the dark.

It was a song she recognized from somewhere….but she couldn't remember exactly where she had once sat and listened to it!

*That voice…..* Karou thought in her mind.

She began to see light surround her, as her blue eyes opened slowly.

She found outside her eyelids a wooden ceiling above her, shaking a bit with movement.

Then her body felt the rushing sensation of being on a train.

The humming was still going on, and slowly she realized it was Kenshin.

"K….K…….Ken…..shin……" She whispered.

Her eyes didn't move from the ceiling, and soon she found Kenshin looking down at her, and smiling.

"So….you're awake, are you, Miss Karou?" He questioned.

Karou blinked in confusion.

"W…where am I?" She questioned softly, enjoying Kenshin's sweet and wonderful expression.

"We're on a train heading home, that we are" Kenshin smiled, and placed a hand over Karou's cheek.

Karou blushed a deep red, and suddenly remembered everything from the night before!!

Her eyes widened.

"Kenshin…..what about…….what about Mr. Orasumi…and the false guards….and…….everyone else who…….are not with us anymore?" She asked quickly, trying to sit up, but Kenshin pushed her back down.

"What are you talking about?? I'm still here, aren't I?" A voice came from across the room.

Karou turned her head, and found Sanoske standing in the doorway to the guest room, looking a bit frightened.

"Man….you gave all of us a scare you know, missy! Going with those false guards and trying to do something your emotions couldn't handle! And boy…I'm sure freaked about being on this train…….EEEEK!!!!" Sano rushed to sit down in one of the seats.

Karou blinked in utter confusion.

Misao and Yahiko suddenly burst into the room then.

"Hey, Kenshin!!!! Look what I found!!!!!! They actually sell REAL food of this train!!! I had just enough money to buy it….but……" Yahiko was pushed out of the way by Misao.

"THEY GAVE US FOOD FOR FREE AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH!!!!!!!!!! ISN'T LIFE JUST GREAT, HIMURA??!!!!" Misao exclaimed with glee, as she threw Kenshin a bag of who knows what.

Misao and Yahiko looked to Karou then.

She was just staring in complete shock, but then her expression turned to utter happiness!

Tears rimmed the corners of her eyes.

"My…………friends…………..YOU'RE ALL OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She cried out as she jumped up from her bed, and hugged Sano, Yahiko, and Misao all at the same time.

Misao and Sano sat back down, but Yahiko still stood in front of Karou, just staring at her.

"Karou…….Kenshin told us how upset you had been about us….you thought we were dead……..I didn't know that you……." Yahiko paused.

Karou just smiled, and wrapped her arms around the boy.

"Thank you, Yahiko. You believed in me and Kenshin, didn't you?" She said in a quiet voice.

Yahiko smiled and pushed his way carefully out of her arms.

"Sure did! Why wouldn't I??!! You guys are all I got! If I didn't believe in you, then you guys might have just perished last night!!!"

Karou blinked again.

"Bu I don't understand…..how did you guys escape the bomb in the mansion that Mr. Orasumi set?"

Sano smiled, although he looked a little uncomfortable.

"Well, one of the real guards that were there with us went to go back up their things, and I decided to go with them. While we were up in the rooms, one of the guards noticed a small light coming from one corner of the dining room! We went to go check it out, and found it was a bomb! We rushed and got Misao and Yahiko and everyone else, and we had barley escaped getting out! We were about 15 yards away from the mansion when it exploded!!! We were lucky, if you ask me……but somehow, I think we needed to live for some reason." Sano smiled at Karou, then looked at Kenshin.

Kenshin was watching the scenery going by outside.

He slowly looked over his shoulder, and smiled.

"The will to live is absolutely accentual, that's what Master Hiku told me once. As long as you have a will to live….you can always know you'll make it. Sano, Misao, and Yahiko…..they knew you needed them….and so they lived. And I knew you needed me….just as well…….as I needed you….and so we both lived. We all lived. We are a family….and god save us if that wasn't already true the whole time."

Karou stared at him.

He had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen on a person.

He was so happy, she could tell in his face.

But why?

Was it because they had all lived….or that they were a family? She didn't know.

"Well, let's get back to the food place!!! I'm starving!!!" Sanoske smiled, and wobbled out the door.

Yahiko and Misao immediately began to run after Sano happily.

Karou turned to Kenshin.

He was looking out the window again at the passing fields and mountains.

"It's beautiful….." he said as he smiled at the horses and farm men in their crop fields.

Karou watched him……he was so peaceful.

"Kenshin?" Karou questioned.

He turned to her and blinked.

Karou wanted to ask more questions. She wanted to know what had happened to Mr. Orasumi, or his false guards. Had they been captured?? She had no idea.

But she decided to drop that subject. She figured she would learn of all their fates later on anyway.

Instead, she smiled at him, and got closer.

"Why are you so happy…..Mr. Himura?" She questioned, using his "professional" name instead of his first name.

Kenshin laughed.

She loved it when he laughed.

"I am happy……because……..I have a real family….and a girl who would die to protect me…….who thinks the world of me…….and…..I……..think I've never really had anything like that before….ever. I must be pretty lucky, huh?" He nudged Karou gently in the side.

Karou smiled up at him.

"Then you remember everything I said last night…….?"

Kenshin nodded, and looked back at the scenery flashing by.

"I will always be there, and I never want to be away from you again…..because that is what you said to me. You told me that you never wanted to be away from me ever again. That you were right there….by my side…..always." She said, and he remembered the tragic part of the night before.

When they had held onto one another, crying…sobbing in each other's arms, not ever wanting to be apart again.

Then, when they pulled them apart, their hands still grasped one another's….and wouldn't let go. All the tears they had shed, because they were so afraid that they would never see each other ever again.

That was the thing that would destroy them both.

Kenshin's eyes widened, as he realized so many things just then.

Karou's hand slowly slid into his, and their fingers laced together.

He blushed, and looked down at their hands.

"My hand fits yours…" He whispered.

Karou could only let her silence talk.

She cuddled into Kenshin's warm arms, and laid her head on his right shoulder.

She sighed deeply, and closed her eyes, taking in his smell.

He smiled his beautiful smile, and rested his head onto hers, closing his eyes as well.

He began to hum again…the song Karou knew from somewhere.

She finally remembered what that song was.

It was called, "Marble Walls".

She remembered the words….from somewhere in her dreams, and she began to sing…….

"I dreamt I dwelt in marble walls with vassels and serfs at my side,

And of all who assembled within those walls…that I was the hope and the pride,

I had riches all too great to count and a high ancestral name.

But…I also dreamt which pleased me most, that you loved me still that same,

That you loved me,

You loved me still the same,

That you loved me,

You loved me, still…….the same."

Kenshin smiled as she sang this, and continued to hum the tune.

It was a song that they had learned in their dreams…..and it was a song……that continued to dance with them, and keep them alive…….keeping them together…..because that was how it was supposed to be. They were their family.

No matter how dark everything could become…..it could never dim their hearts from seeing one another through the shadows.

~OMG!!!! Can you believe this!!!??? I'M FINALLY DONE!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! Please e-mail me and tell me what you think about it! Kk? Lol! C u around!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!! Bye!!!! Hehehehehehe~

~Smile B~