****SEISOUHEN SPOILERS****
A/N: Ah ha! Another update! Woo hoo!
This is rather short. There wasn't really much for me to say, but I wanted to get this out. It's a KxK, not too angsty. Actually, it's more of a happy angst. That was a total oxymoron, but I think you'll understand once you read the fic. I did this so as to lighten the mood a little before I continue on to what I am planning to be an extremely angsty chapter. ^_^ And reviewer responses are at the bottom!
WARNING: Reference to "wedding night" occurrence, very clean and small. So small that it's a blink and you'll miss it thing. Nothing else, really, except for the fact that Kenshin will be referred to as Shinta. I put that under the warning because some people don't like this form of reference, but it coincides with the famous media fanfiction, SeiSouHen.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters, nor do I own the song "Even in Death" by Evanescence.
Rating: PG
POV: Kaoru
Time Period: Post SeiSouHen
~*~*~*~
I love thee, I love but thee
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars grow old...
--Bayard Taylor
~*~*~
"Loving You"
I know that your earthly body is no longer living. I know that I can no longer touch you or hold you, and feel your loving response to my caress. I saw your body give out, with a smile upon pale lips as the sakura petals rained down around us. But still…
Give me a reason to believe that you're gone.
I don't think you've left me. How could I believe that you've left me?
I see your shadow so I know
That they're all wrong
Yahiko, Suzume, Ayame, Kenji…they think I'm losing my sanity. I hear them repeating, over and over, that you're gone. That I'll never see you again. That you're dead, but I don't believe it. Don't be upset, Kensh—I mean, Shinta. I don't argue with them. I don't need to prove that they're wrong. There's no reason to do so. As long as I see you, your fiery tresses and steel blue eyes (1), that disarming rurouni smile of yours, I know that you're there, always shadowing us, watching.
Moonlight on the soft brown earth
It leads me to where you lay.
They took you away from me
But now I'm taking you home
In your body, you were always fighting and protecting. You fought for the innocent and protected the
weak, and this drive led you away from me, Shinta. At times, I would selfishly
resent those who called you away from me, but when the night came and the moon
rose, my dreams took me to a place…a beautiful place, where you and I were
together, living happily with our friends.
I loved that place in my dreams.
I could even call it heaven, but now, heaven isn't good enough. Heaven can't better this, you being
here. I've brought you home, and here
you will stay, Shinta. We'll be together, you and me, even if others don't
think we are. They can't change the truth.
I will stay forever here with you, my love.
The softly spoken words you gave me
Even in death our love goes on
I am always with you, our hearts joined into one to form a
common meeting place. Our hearts are joined by those words, whispered sweetly
under the stars, softly in my ear on our wedding day, or exhaustedly after a
night's pleasure. It took me so long to break down the barriers around your
heart, but it seems that once that barrier was broken, nothing could ever block
our love for each other again. Not even the obstacle of death.
Some say I'm crazy for my love, oh my love
But no bonds can hold me
From your side, oh my love
Am I crazy, my love? Mentally deficient for knowing claiming that I am always at your side, in spirit if not in body? Is the shadow of you that I see in the dojo, beside the bathhouse, in the training yard just a figment of my imagination? They seem to think so. They, as in our friends. They think it's the disease talking. Either that or what they think is grief from being separated from you. It's neither, dear Shinta. Especially, it's not the latter, because I am not separated from you. I remember mourning your death at first, but now I've realized the truth. Nothing could keep me away from you, Shinta. Nothing.
They don't know you can't leave me
They don't hear you singing to me
I couldn't expect them to know, to know the moments we've shared—those moments which have forever bonded your soul with mine. They haven't heard your promise to always be with me, to love me. They can't hear your kind voice, softly floating on the breeze, like a love song tickling my ear.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and your body is absent, Shinta. But since your spirit, your heart, your love—since they are always with me, my heart can never grow anymore fonder of your than it is. Really, it's never been given the chance, because your love has never left me.
And I can't love you, anymore than I do
I could never love you any more than I do now.
~*~*~*~
(1) I realize that in the anime, Kenshin has purple eyes. Still, the manga, I believe, depicts him with blue eyes. As I want to stay close to Watsuki-sama's original design, I've portrayed him with blue eyes. However, in other fics, I might portray him with his popular violet hues so as to please my audience.
Review Responses:
SAKURA BUTTERFLY: Wow! My very first reviewer! Thanks so much for checking out my ficlets. Your reviews really encouraged me! I mean, if you cried, then my words have evoked an emotion in you, and that's the whole reason I want to write. I'm glad you enjoyed my ficlets, and I hope you'll continue to read and review!
YUME KUROI: My stories? Impressive? He-ey! That makes me feel better. It's reviews like yours that give us authors a desire to continue writing. Thanks so much for your kind words! Oh yeah, and I'm glad you like the dark fic with Evanescence thing. Works pretty well with Rurouni Kenshin ficlets, ne?
BARBARA SHERIDAN: You have no idea how great your reviews make me feel. To have a published author telling me she enjoys my writing style and my ficlets? That is so awesome! I know I've told you this a million times, but thanks so much for reading my ficlets! You've reviewed everything I've done so far within the RK community, and it is really an encouragement.
Hey, readers, new and old! There's a lil' review button down there. Click it and make my day! ^_^ Or even, be a bit extra sweet and send an email!
Muse
imaginationsoul@yahoo.com