Here is Chapter Two. I need to make some clarifications that I noticed were lacking in Chapter Once. I have changed from HTML to a .txt so that the reading format looks better (whew), and I have also found another way to separate thoughts from speech. ("") is for speech, and ('') is for thoughts. Italics do not show up in this format, but I hate the way the HTML makes the story look. Don't you? Also, some translations I was lax in verifying.
Sakobatou-reverse blade Katana-long blade sword
Bakumatsu-Revolution Daimyos-Lord or Magistrate. Land Lord
Shinai-batoun or wooden fencing stick Acuma-Devil
'Demon's Finger'-Lightning (my own creation) Kata-training practice sequence
Ki-spirit or soul. Fighting spirit Gonzai-fictional village (my own)
Taki Mountains-fictional name (my own) Dono/San-Honorifics. Mr. Miss. Sir
Sensei-Teacher
There, I hope that is helpful. I have tried to use the characters and make them as close to their true selves as possible, but I have had to tweak them a little bit to fit the story line. I hope nobody minds. Kenshin isn't the total push-over he usually is, but he has his moments, and Karou is a little less moody, but she has her moments too. There is a lot of Angst coming later on, and some good old fashioned romance and blood and guts, but that is later like I said.
Standard disclaimers apply. I love Ruroni Kenshin, so we went for a little stroll down imagination lane. Please don't sue me. This is just for fun.
Chapter Two
The Trip Back to Kyoto
Hiko noticed blandly that he was consuming more and more Sake' these days. These days since his stupid apprentice had decided to come waltzing back into his life and turn everything upside down. His thoughts were so confused of late. Deep green eyes narrowed into angry slits at he took another long drink for the clay jug he was holding. It had recently come to his attention that his apprentice had gotten himself mixed up with that Shinsengumi wolf, Hajime Saitoh as some sort of a spy or something working for the Meiji Government.
"No good will come of this relationship." He snorted and coughed as some of the Sake' ran down his chin. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, Hiko wondered what new brand of stupidity Kenshin had gotten involved in this time.
"Kenshin…" He shook his head in resignation. "He will never learn anything, because he never learns from his mistakes." Another long swig. "Why is he so stupid? Why didn't he ever listen? Why is he so determined to put himself in needless danger all of the time?" A deep growl of fury rose from Hiko's broad muscular chest and he angrily threw the Sake' jug across the small room causing it to break against the wall. "Why can he not just settle down with that Kamiya girl and start a family and stop all the bloody fighting and hero crap before he gets himself killed?! What the hell is wrong with him?!" He shouted to the painted pots lining the shelves around him.
Closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself and rose to his feet and walked outside. The air was crisp and clean and filled memories. Memories of a small red haired boy with large amethyst eyes and the fighting spirit of a Tiger stumbled one after another through his fragmented mind. He had refused to be dominated. He had fought Hiko every step on the way through his training, through their life together, through everything. Hiko's heart had broken in such a way that he thought it may never heal when Kenshin abandoned his training to join the Bakumastu. His rebellion had been complete. He had left despite the facts that his training was incomplete and he was only fourteen years old. Hiko had felt like a failure as a Master and as a Father. Somehow he had been unable to instill in the boy the sense of responsibility and commitment to complete what he had started as well as respect the words of his Sensei.
The drinking had really started then a Hiko had turned to his companion of Sake' for comfort and solace in the absence of his apprentice. However, it had gotten much worse during the years Kenshin had stalked the streets and countryside of Kyoto as Hitokiri Battousai. His beautiful shining boy had become the most proficient and feared hitokiri the Revolution had ever seen, and Hiko wanted to die with each murder Kenshin committed in the name of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Nearly 400 men had fallen beneath the Battousai's blade in the short time he was Hitokiri. Two and a half years of bloody assassinations the Battousai gave the Meiji Government. Two and a half year of walking the shadows and murdering whom ever he was told to without moral obligation or guilt. He was not protecting his family, or his land, or even fighting a bloody ground battle for his Daimyos. He was murdering in cold blood specific men he was ordered to. They were men who stood in the way of the new Government and its progression towards and established peace.
The Battousai and his deadly katana were key factors in the ushering in of the Meiji's Era of peace and freedom, but at what cost to himself. There had been so much damage to his inner self. To his soul. To his heart. To his spirit. Hiko had seen it when Kenshin came to him a year ago to beg him to complete his training in order form him to defeat the Demon that had been Shishio Makato.
Hiko was still unable to reconcile himself with the man what had stood before him that spring day. So different from his boy, yet still the same. His heart has wanted to weep, but his pride had demanded he be cold and aloof as always, perhaps more so. He would never let this man close to him. He would never let him see the pain in his heart.
He would teach him and then push him out of his sight in hopes he would never see him again, but it was not meant to be. Somehow their paths continued to cross on occasion. Perhaps he was not meant to be free of Himura Kenshin.
His long legs carried him to the old wooden shed that stood to one side of his small home where he kept the clay for his pottery and his stash of Sake'. Once he had a fresh jug, he headed up the well-worn path to the cliffs. He could always block his thoughts of his adopted son with the Mitsurugi Kata, and he felt the need to do that even though the Sun was easing itself down to the horizon. The cliffs and the waterfall were his only haven from his personal grief. His only refuge. He continued to climb.
A short time later Hiko was in the middle of the strenuous but graceful dance-like movements of the Mitsurugi Kata. His three-foot long katana became an extension of his arm as he swung it through intricate and elegant attack patterns. He leapt into the air changing positions with lightening speed landing light as a feather only to leap again all the while swinging the long blade. Sweat poured down his heavily muscled body as he pushed it to and beyond its physical limitations. At 45 years of age he was still in perfect physical condition and his strength was undisputed.
As he leapt into the air, katana out stretched in the Ryu Tsui Sho San he felt himself suddenly seized by a force so powerful it brought him crashing to the ground. "Nnngghhh…!" He tried to rise to his knees but found he could not because of a terrible pressure-pain exploding in his chest and head. His large hands grabbed the sides of his pounding head, and he groaned loudly laying back down on the ground. "What the hell…" He moaned in agony.
It pained him to even breath as the incredible pressure crushed against his heart and lungs. He rolled onto his side curling into a fetal position trying to ease the pressure, but was unsuccessful. It seemed all he could do was moan and endure it and wait.
"Dear God…" He gritted between his clenched teeth. "What is happening to me?" His eyes were starting to blur and he could feel the darkness of a faint coming upon him. "NO!" Hiko refused to give in to the void of unconsciousness. As long as he was awake, he was still alive.
After what seemed like and eternity, the pain gradually began to ebb away from him, and as it did, Hiko felt something else pressing on him. It was something achingly familiar, yet foreign in someway. He stared up into the dark of the night sky and watched the stars wink and glitter like so many diamonds as he concentrated on the anomalous sensation instead of the pain. His brow furrowed in deep confusion, and then changed to an even deeper knot of concern.
"Kenshin, my boy… my son… why are you so afraid?" What had frightened you to the point of reaching out to me in the midst of your nightmares? And why WOULD you reach for ME at all?" Hiko sat up as the pain finally disappeared altogether leaving behind only the disturbing residue of Kenshin's terrified ki clinging to him like a sobbing child. "Where are you, Kenshin? What has happened to you? What IS happening to you?" Even when he was small and he had nightmares about his dead family and the dead slavers, Kenshin have never been this afraid. Hiko felt the icy finger of a Fatherly anxiety he had not allowed himself to feel for many years lace itself up his spine. Something terrible had happened. Something beyond even anything the Battousai had ever done or seen. He had never felt a terror like this before from anyone's soul. How could he find out what was going on? He thought. Then it came to him in a rush.
"Kamiya!"
Hiko threw himself off the ground grabbing his katana on the way up and ran down the path completely forgetting about the jug of Sake'.
*************
Morning dawned brightly in Kyoto. The sky shone a brilliant blue, but the breeze that wafted across the City was cold and biting causing Her inhabitants to clutch their clothes a bit tighter to their flesh. Fall must be coming sooner than expected this year, or perhaps… there was another reason. After all it was only the beginning of August. It should not be getting this cold yet.
Four or five days had passed since Kenshin had walked through Gonzai, and he now found himself on the outskirts of Kyoto. Breathing a great sigh of relief, he trudged into the City with the knowledge he would soon be in Saitoh's office in a few short hours, and then he could unburden his mind and share what he knew.
Amethyst eyes narrowed with worry. Would Saitoh believe the tale he had to tell him? Or would he look at Kenshin like he was insane? Kenshin was beginning to wonder if he were insane after the night of terror of three nights ago. Or was it four? He shrugged mentally and closed his eyes against that memory. He did not want to think about it yet. Talking to Saitoh about it was soon enough to remember. Just getting to Kyoto safely felt like a major accomplishment to Kenshin right now, and that was enough.
Sargent Izukia was setting calmly at his desk filling out a burglary report when Kenshin walked into the Police Station.
"Hello, Sargent Izukia." He spoke in his usual polite quiet tone. "Is your Captain available?"
Izukia stated in his seat not having heard the man enter the room. "H-hh-himura-san!" He exclaimed in surprise and pleasure. "It is so good to see you, Sir." He ran around his desk to grasp the swordsman's hand warmly. "Captain Fujita was beginning to worry something may have happened to you when you had not returned for so many weeks."
"Hmmmm…" Kenshin allowed a tired smile to cross his face as he nodded
"But I knew you would come back. You always do." Izukia beamed continuing to shake Kenshin's hand.
"Sergeant…" Kenshin spoke again. "Is your Captain here? I do have important information to report to him, and I really do not want to wait if I do not have to."
"Oh, oh yes, of course. Of course he is here. Come. Come this way. I will take you back to his office. I am sure he would want to see you right away as well. He has been very anxious about any news from you concerning what you might have found out." Kenshin heard the rise in the younger man's voice and cast him a sideways look. 'Hmmm, I wonder what Saitoh told him?'
"Captain Fujita, Himura-san has returned at last." Izukia's voice held a note of triumph and just a tinge of 'I-told-you-so'.
Saitoh's thin silver-gray brows rose in irritation at his young Sergeant's audacity as he observed in a cold voice. "I can see that for myself, Izukia. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Now get the hell out of my office and go back to your reports." He absently lit a cigarette as the man scampered for the door. "Shut the door as well Izukia. I am sure THIS particular conversation will not sit well with YOUR pathetic stomach." The door banged shut sharply. "Idiot." Saitoh sneered as he blew out a gray puff of smoke.
"Well, I see you are not too much the worse for wear, Battousai." He indicated for Kenshin to set down. "You do appear pale and thin. Are you ill?" He asked as he smoked and looked out the window behind him.
"No, just very tired, but thank you for asking." Saitoh noticed Kenshin's voice was much quieter than his usual, and there was a different quality to it as well. He cast a piercing glance on the red headed swordsman examining him carefully. There was definitely a serious change in the man setting in front of him. He looked…. Haunted was perhaps the best word. Saitoh stubbed out his cigarette and leaned back in his chair.
"Tell me… tell me everything."
"Are you certain you are ready to hear EVERYTHING, Saitoh?"
Confusion flickered across the Wolf's face, but he nodded his head. "Yes, I want to know everything. Everything you saw. Everything you heard. Everything."
"All right," Kenshin straightened up in his chair and took a deep breath. Dark purple eyes met pale yellow. "But remember, you asked for EVERYTHING."
*************
Himura-san had been in Captain Fujita's office for hours. Sergeant Izukia could not imagine anything that could take that long to tell. What had Himura-san seen in his two and a half months on the mountain? A shiver ran up the Sergeant's spine as he remembered the Captain's reference to witches and demons possibly having something to do with the rumors of these bizarre murders. He still refused to accept that notion, but he could not deny something strange was going on up there.
Inside Saitoh's office he was setting stone still behind his desk. His chin was dropped toward his chest, his hands folded in his lap. His usually stern, sardonic face was completely impassive and reflected nothing of what he was thinking or feeling. He looked like a statue of himself. He had listened intently to Kenshin's report about the activities he had witnessed while investigating the rumors of murders in the Taki Mountains.
Kenshin had named five villages that seemed to be involved the last one being Gonzai whose inhabitants had all been slaughtered with the last 3 weeks by beings unknown. He also reported something that Saitoh had not expected and that was the news of foreign involvement.
"Europeans? Are you certain?"
"Yes. There was no mistaking them."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because I knew the woman." Saitoh had been shocked into several long moments of silence.
"You knew Her?! HOW?"
"She was once my lover." Kenshin replied softly. "Long ago in a faraway place far to the North."
"Who is she?" Saitoh had demanded vehemently.
"She was the daughter of a wealth European trader then. But I heard later she married a high ranking Japanese Military Officer within the Shogunate."
"You know who, don't you."
"Yes."
"Tell me."
"It will ruin both of them, Saitoh. That it will."
"I do not give a shit. Tell me."
"She is the wife of General Katsura Anaki. She is the Lady Elsbeth Katsura of the Spanish Attaché to the Japanese Government."
"Oh my God." Saitoh had gasped in horrified disbelief. "It cannot be. Battousai, it cannot be." His hands had covered his face as he muttered. "This could destroy the new alliance, the trade agreement. It could start another war. Dammit… dammit… dammit…" Then he had lapsed into silence.
Kenshin sat in his own silence pondering the information he had relayed. Saitoh had accepted the witchcraft tale fairly easily much to his shock. He had even shown a level of understanding when Kenshin had explained the terrible senses of fear and evil he had felt in Gonzai. At one point the had even reassured Kenshin by telling him, "I may not like you, Battousai, but you are no fool, and you certainly cannot be accused of insanity. At least I do not feel you are behaving insane. So, please continue, and leave nothing out."
Now the two men sat in total silence contemplating the words that had passed between them. Kenshin felt as if a great weight had been lifted from him. He did not have to bare this burden alone anymore; however, the fear was still his to battle as well as the memories and the visions. Those he could not share with anyone.
"You realize we cannot let this continue, don't you?" Saitoh's voice was not more than a raspy whisper in the stillness of the office.
"Yes."
"We must find a way to stop them, to stop Her."
"Yes, that we must."
"We must find a way that will not bring shame to the General, or damage the alliance and trade agreements as well."
"I understand. We must not let this touch the honor of Japan."
"Exactly."
Silence followed again. A cold deafening silence that hung in the air like a heavy curtain of despair. Still the two men remained unmoving.
"We must kill her." Kenshin spoke the dreaded sentence on the woman neither of them wanted to face.
"Yes. She must die for her deeds. We cannot allow her to live after all she had done."
"How?"
"I do not know. It must not look like she has been killed. Do you understand?"
"Yes. It would cause an investigation of massive proportions."
"It would. Word of her activities cannot be allowed outside of this room. For the sake of the Country, and the honor of the Military."
"Agreed. It must be an accident. That it must. We must be prepared."
"We must plan carefully."
"Yes. Every detail must be covered so there are no mistakes; no clues."
Saitoh's breath escaped in a rush as if he had been holding it. "No mistakes, no clues." His eyes met Kenshin's directly and their gazes locked. "It will be for you and I alone to do this thing, Battousai. Do you agree?"
Kenshin felt a shiver of fear curl around his spine, but he knew Saitoh was right. They could not trust anyone else with this delicate of a matter. This was not just assassination; this was Justice in its holiest form. They were going to be the Hands of God, and Lady Katsura was going to pay for her evil, murderous ways with her life just as it should be.
"Yes, I agree, that I do." Though his voice trembled slightly, it was clear and determined.
"All right. Then we have to go back."
"I know." 'Kami-sama, be with us and protect our mortal souls from the Evil that breaths Fire and Ice upon the Mountains of Take.'
*************
Kaoru was trying to cook again, but the smell of burning fish was the only odor that greeted her. "Rats!" She grumbled a she scraped the charred remains of the ruined fish into the refuge pile. "I wish Kenshin were home so he could cook. I think I am going to starve myself if he does not come back soon." She heaved a frustrated sigh and walked into the cooking area to check on the vegetables. "Well, at least these are still eatable." A meal of steamed rice and vegetable would have to do, and Kaoru dished her a hearty helping and walked outside to eat on the steps.
She had started sitting here every evening to eat for the three weeks, so she could watch the entry gate. It was an active choice she made, and she knew this. She was waiting for Kenshin to walk through the gate. She was waiting for him to come home.
Tonight was no different from any of the others. Except tonight she heard the unmistakable sounds of footfalls approaching the gate from the other side.
"Kenshin?" Could it be? Kaoru put her bowl and chopsticks down and leaned forward in anticipation. She watched breathlessly as the gate started to open. "Please, Kami-sama let be him."
But as the gate swung open it revealed a large shadow of a tall broad man wearing a long white cloak.
"Hiko-san??" Kaoru jumped off the steps and ran to the big man. "What are you doing here? What is wrong?" Deep blue eyes searched his handsome craggy face earnestly. "Had something happened in Kyoto?" Then her face took on a look of extreme anxiety as a thought occurred to her. "Has something happened to Kenshin? Hiko-san, what has happened to Kenshin??" Her voice rose with fear and concern and her small strong hands snaked out to grab at the front of his cloak. "Hiko-san??"
Hiko looked down into her petite anxiety stricken face solemnly. 'I had forgotten how beautiful she was.' He thought gently. 'And young. She is still so very young.'
"Kamiya-dono," He carefully reached out and took her small cold hands into his much larger warm ones trying to calm her down before her emotions escalated too much farther. He managed to capture her fearful blue gaze with his dark green one. "We must talk, jou-chan. Please, where can we sit?" His deep voice seemed to bring the young girl back to a sense of rationalism, and she turned to look mutely at the dojo steps. "Ahhh, that is a fine place." Hiko agreed and he pulled her gently behind him as he moved to sit down. "I have walked just about as far as I wish to for today." And he sat down with a "Hummph".
After putting his pack on the ground, he turned to look at the young girl setting next to him. Her face had turned quite pale and her lips were pressed into a thin line of worry. This was going to be more difficult than he had originally thought.
"Kamiya-dono," He began gently. "Do you know where Kenshin is right now?"
"Nani?" She looked at him in complete confusion. "I thought you were here to tell ME."
"No." The dark head shook from side to side. "I came to ask you if you know what he is doing right now, and if you know where his is. Can you tell me anything?" His face was creased with a concern Kaoru was finding difficult to digest. After all, as far as she knew, Hiko held nothing but contempt and disdain for Kenshin.
"Well, he has been working for Hajime Saitoh and the Meiji Police off and on over the past year or so. Did you know that?" When he nodded, she continued. "A little over two months or so ago Saitoh sent Kenshin into the Taki Mountains to investigate some strange reports he had been getting about the remote villages up there."
Hiko's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. The Taki Mountains? "What kind of reports?"
"I do not know. He would not tell me before he left, but he was very disturbed after he read Saitoh's last letter."
"What did he say after he read the letter, Kamiya-dono? What did the letter say?"
"He did not say anything to me. I heard him curse after he read it. I remember because it shocked me so much." At the look on Hiko's face she rushed on. "Kenshin never curses or even so much as raises his voice. Whatever it was in that letter was disturbing enough to push him past his usual level of self control."
Hiko looked pointedly at the ground as his feeling of worry mounted. This vague information only increased the need he felt to find his adopted son and discover what was going on in his life. "Have you had any word fro him since he left?"
"No. Nothing, and that is not like him either. He always writes at least every week or two just so I know he is all right. He knows that I worry when he is on these missions for Saitoh so he is always certain to check in to reassure me he is Ok."
"He does?" Hiko could not help but smile a little.
"Yes. He knows how much I hate him working with Saitoh at all because I just do not trust him. That rotten Wolf is just trying to get him killed anyway." Her voice had turned angry and a touch protective making Hiko's smile grow even more. 'Look out Hajime, Kamiya-dono may want your head on a block if anything's happened to Kenshin.'
"All right. If he knows this, then why does he continue to help Saitoh?"
A heavy sigh greeted that question. "Because Kenshin will always be Kenshin. He will always want to make a difference. He will always want to try and make things better any way he can, and as long as he feels that way, there is nothing anyone can say or do that can force him to stop doing what he does." Hiko had not been prepared for an answer like that. The simplicity of Kaoru's logic shocked and stunned him. He had never considered Kenshin's actions from that point of view before, and it had shown him in a whole new light to his Master. Hiko felt the beginning of something strange tickle and take root in his heart.
"Do you think something has happened to him, Hiko-san?" Kaoru's soft voice intruded on his self-introspection. "Is that why you are here, or is it something else?"
He knew he could not lie to the girl. She was far too intelligent for that, and besides that, she deserved to know the truth. "Yes, I am afraid something terrible has happened to him, but I cannot say what. I only know he has seen the face of Terror and lived, but I do not know his state of mind."
"The face of Terror? His state of mind? What do you mean?"
"I cannot even say that. All I can say is that four nights past his spirit-ki came screaming to me and clung to me in such a state of fear and terror that I myself thought I might succumb to the pain and die. Never in my life have I felt such a primitive fear." He looked into Kaoru's pale stricken face. "It was such a tremendously horrible fear that it the boy within him to seek out the only Father he had ever really known for comfort and protection… me. My boy came looking for me in the dark of his deepest most dreadful nightmares so I could chase away his fears." Hiko pressed his hands to his face to cover his emotions from the searching eyes of the young woman beside him.
Kaoru was deeply moved by the big stern man's reactions to his own revelations. 'He loves Kenshin.' She thought to herself in amazed disbelief. 'He truly does. What a fool to hide it all these years.' She reached out and put a comforting hand on his broad shoulder. "We need to find him, don't we?" Her voice was matter-of-fact and plain.
"We??" Hiko's voice was muffled behind his hands.
"Yes." We. You do not think for a moment that I am going to let you go look for him without me do you?"
"No," He sighed in resignation as he gazed into her determined clear blue eyes. "I do not suppose I do."
"All right then. We both need to get some rest, especially you. You look terrible." She stood up and indicated for him to follow her. She led him to one of the spare rooms. "It is clean and the bedding should still be fairly fresh so make yourself at home. There is also still rice and vegetables in the cooking pots. Help yourself if you are hungry." She smiled blandly. "I am not a very good Hostess there days. I guess I have gotten used to it being just Kenshin and me living here, or just me. Sorry." She shrugged in apology.
Hiko chuckled. "Do not worry about it Kamiya-dono. I can take care of myself. Thank you for the bed and the food. I will see you in the morning. We can talk more then. Hopefully a bit more rationally."
"Indeed," She replied. "So do I. I have to think of something to tell Yahiko so he does not get worried or frightened."
"The boy? What about the boy?"
"He loves Kenshin. Though neither of them has ever said anything, Yahiko looks at Kenshin as his Father, and it would really shatter his life if anything happened to him. So I have to come up with a reason as to why you are here and why I am leaving with you."
"Hmmmm. I see. Well, be careful what you say. That little brat is pretty smart. He may not buy just anything."
"True." She agreed then walked away and disappeared into her room.
'She is a very strong willed and spirited young woman.' Hiko thought to himself as he procured himself some food from the cold pots. 'She is exactly what Kenshin needs to stabilize his life and find the peace he should have had long ago. I hope he can see that and make it happen before it is too late.' Looking high into the night sky, Hiko called silently to his adopted son with his heart. 'Open your eyes, my son. See the beauty and love that sits in front of you. Reach out and pluck what is offered to you before it dies in the cold snows of winter.' Then he allowed his ki to join his heart and he reached for his son's tortured spirit and offered a piece of himself to help heal his wounds and bolster his lacking strength. "Accept this My Sotsu." He spoke clearly to the starlit sky. "Take this piece of my spirit-ki that I offer to you with all of the Father's love I have buried within my Heart. That same love that I have never been able to show you, but still lives on within me as strong as the day it was borne. Let me help you this night in the only way I can. Let me help you begin to grow strong again. Take my hand, and let me lift you up out of the sea of weakness." Then he closed his eyes and let his heart and soul soar through the heavens in search of the man who was the son of his true heart, and felt himself being drawn across the starlit sky.
Far to the East in Kyoto Himura Kenshin was finally lying down on a real bed for the first time in too many weeks. The soft futon conformed to his aching tired body, and he felt like he was floating on feather down. A smile of pure contentment and pleasure curved his soft handsome mouth. He was in heaven at last after being in hell for so long. Letting loose a long purifying sigh, he allowed all of his muscles to relax and his mind to go blank.
He was floating through the golden void. He mind was blessedly absent of all thought and form. Freedom from his emotional burdens and responsibilities has left him in a state of pure joy, and could feel the first beginnings of the strength in his ki restoring itself.
As he takes himself though this necessary process, he becomes aware of another presence inside of his private haven. He realizes at once that he does not feel alarmed or angry by this intrusion, but his is very confused by it. It has been a lifetime since he has felt this particular ki mingle with his own, but it is undeniably familiar. The immense strength, the power, the pure elemental energy of the Aura leaves him in awe just as it always had. He opened his souls eyes and beheld this beautiful phenomenon, and witnessed it to be a huge ball of blue green light that pulsated and glowed with life and power. This incredible power and energy was being fed to his damaged ki like a mother's breast milk to a newborn baby, and he could feel its strength seeping into him and beginning to heal the deep wounds in his soul. It was making him stronger, and giving him a greater power and ability to shield and protect himself.
It felt warm, safe, and secure inside his golden haven with the blue-green spirit-ki. He felt his own spirit and his soul snuggle down deep into that warmth as if it were a familiar and beloved quilt or… the arms of his… Father??!
Kenshin's dark blue-purple eyes flew open in startled shock and he sat up quickly. What had he been doing just now? He brow crinkled in thought as he tried to remember. Oh yes, he was meditating. Well, sort of, he shrugged and allowed a half smile to touch his lips. He had been doing some deep relaxation, but something had happened while he was under the influence of the golden void. What had happened? He remembered floating in the void where he often went to restore himself, but then he had seen the blue-green ball of…
"Master?" His eyes grew wide. "Was that really you? Were you REALLY here with me trying to help me?" Kenshin grew even more confused as he recalled the last sensation he had experienced. "Were you trying to comfort me? Master? Master??" His voice was but a whispered thought in the small room. Wide lavender eyes searched the room around him frantically as if he thought there might actually be someone in there with him. "Are you still here? Why did you come to me after all this time?" His voice faded on a chocked whisper as the threat of tears restricted his throat.
"Are you still here? Father?!"
Of course there was no verbal answer to his spoken pleas, but Kenshin could still feel the residual aura that belonged to his Master alone. It had been years on top of years since he had felt the ki of his Master, but there was no mistaking the power signature of Seijurou Hiko the 13th.
A single tear slid down Kenshin's pale cheek as the understanding dawned on him. His Master HAD been here, and he had given his apprentice a very rare and valuable gift. He had given him a piece of his own living spirit-ki to help mend Kenshin's terribly damaged one.
"But how did he know I needed help?" Kenshin could not understand. How would Master know what had been happening to him, and how badly damaged his ki was from the trauma he had witnessed on the mountain? Then he remember that horrible night out on the open plains when the visions had come to him and he had nearly lost his mind a second time because of the things he had seen. He remembered well the terror and hysteria that had gripped him within the nightmare and how he had curled up into a ball of screaming flesh both within and without the horrifying visions. What was it he had screamed so frantically before the bliss of oblivion had taken him away from all of that horror? What was it he had said over and over again? Kenshin's head bowed low and his brow knit together as he fought hard to remember what had happened to him in the last terrifying moment on the mountain, which were also the last moments of his nightmare.
He could see himself in his minds eye laying on the black earth drenched with the sweat and tears of his own uncontrolled fear. He could see how he had curled up like a fetus in it's mothers womb as he tried to block out everything that had happened, and all the while he was screaming something over and over again. What was it? What was he saying? He concentrated hard, and then his whole body shook violently as the memory came back to him with the rush of a raging river.
"I was screaming for HIM." Kenshin was screaming for his Master, for Hiko-san, and for… his Father. "I was crying out to my Father in terror like a lost child caught in a nightmare." Amber eyes filled with tears and his bowed again as his soul was seized by violent emotions. "I was a lost child caught in a nightmare, and I was reaching out to the only Father I knew begging him to hold me and protect me and keep me safe." His thin shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. 'Blessed Kami, did he hear me? Did he actually hear me cry and scream for him that night? Is this his answer to my pleading cries for help? This incredible gift of his ki?' Trembling hands covered a face wet with tears. "M-master," He cried softly into his hands. "Thank-you."
Later that night as he drifted off to sleep, Kenshin spoke softly into the night. "Thank-you, My Beloved Father. Thank-you for coming. Even if you never acknowledge you have done this for me, you will forever be in my heart."
Sakobatou-reverse blade Katana-long blade sword
Bakumatsu-Revolution Daimyos-Lord or Magistrate. Land Lord
Shinai-batoun or wooden fencing stick Acuma-Devil
'Demon's Finger'-Lightning (my own creation) Kata-training practice sequence
Ki-spirit or soul. Fighting spirit Gonzai-fictional village (my own)
Taki Mountains-fictional name (my own) Dono/San-Honorifics. Mr. Miss. Sir
Sensei-Teacher
There, I hope that is helpful. I have tried to use the characters and make them as close to their true selves as possible, but I have had to tweak them a little bit to fit the story line. I hope nobody minds. Kenshin isn't the total push-over he usually is, but he has his moments, and Karou is a little less moody, but she has her moments too. There is a lot of Angst coming later on, and some good old fashioned romance and blood and guts, but that is later like I said.
Standard disclaimers apply. I love Ruroni Kenshin, so we went for a little stroll down imagination lane. Please don't sue me. This is just for fun.
Chapter Two
The Trip Back to Kyoto
Hiko noticed blandly that he was consuming more and more Sake' these days. These days since his stupid apprentice had decided to come waltzing back into his life and turn everything upside down. His thoughts were so confused of late. Deep green eyes narrowed into angry slits at he took another long drink for the clay jug he was holding. It had recently come to his attention that his apprentice had gotten himself mixed up with that Shinsengumi wolf, Hajime Saitoh as some sort of a spy or something working for the Meiji Government.
"No good will come of this relationship." He snorted and coughed as some of the Sake' ran down his chin. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, Hiko wondered what new brand of stupidity Kenshin had gotten involved in this time.
"Kenshin…" He shook his head in resignation. "He will never learn anything, because he never learns from his mistakes." Another long swig. "Why is he so stupid? Why didn't he ever listen? Why is he so determined to put himself in needless danger all of the time?" A deep growl of fury rose from Hiko's broad muscular chest and he angrily threw the Sake' jug across the small room causing it to break against the wall. "Why can he not just settle down with that Kamiya girl and start a family and stop all the bloody fighting and hero crap before he gets himself killed?! What the hell is wrong with him?!" He shouted to the painted pots lining the shelves around him.
Closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself and rose to his feet and walked outside. The air was crisp and clean and filled memories. Memories of a small red haired boy with large amethyst eyes and the fighting spirit of a Tiger stumbled one after another through his fragmented mind. He had refused to be dominated. He had fought Hiko every step on the way through his training, through their life together, through everything. Hiko's heart had broken in such a way that he thought it may never heal when Kenshin abandoned his training to join the Bakumastu. His rebellion had been complete. He had left despite the facts that his training was incomplete and he was only fourteen years old. Hiko had felt like a failure as a Master and as a Father. Somehow he had been unable to instill in the boy the sense of responsibility and commitment to complete what he had started as well as respect the words of his Sensei.
The drinking had really started then a Hiko had turned to his companion of Sake' for comfort and solace in the absence of his apprentice. However, it had gotten much worse during the years Kenshin had stalked the streets and countryside of Kyoto as Hitokiri Battousai. His beautiful shining boy had become the most proficient and feared hitokiri the Revolution had ever seen, and Hiko wanted to die with each murder Kenshin committed in the name of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Nearly 400 men had fallen beneath the Battousai's blade in the short time he was Hitokiri. Two and a half years of bloody assassinations the Battousai gave the Meiji Government. Two and a half year of walking the shadows and murdering whom ever he was told to without moral obligation or guilt. He was not protecting his family, or his land, or even fighting a bloody ground battle for his Daimyos. He was murdering in cold blood specific men he was ordered to. They were men who stood in the way of the new Government and its progression towards and established peace.
The Battousai and his deadly katana were key factors in the ushering in of the Meiji's Era of peace and freedom, but at what cost to himself. There had been so much damage to his inner self. To his soul. To his heart. To his spirit. Hiko had seen it when Kenshin came to him a year ago to beg him to complete his training in order form him to defeat the Demon that had been Shishio Makato.
Hiko was still unable to reconcile himself with the man what had stood before him that spring day. So different from his boy, yet still the same. His heart has wanted to weep, but his pride had demanded he be cold and aloof as always, perhaps more so. He would never let this man close to him. He would never let him see the pain in his heart.
He would teach him and then push him out of his sight in hopes he would never see him again, but it was not meant to be. Somehow their paths continued to cross on occasion. Perhaps he was not meant to be free of Himura Kenshin.
His long legs carried him to the old wooden shed that stood to one side of his small home where he kept the clay for his pottery and his stash of Sake'. Once he had a fresh jug, he headed up the well-worn path to the cliffs. He could always block his thoughts of his adopted son with the Mitsurugi Kata, and he felt the need to do that even though the Sun was easing itself down to the horizon. The cliffs and the waterfall were his only haven from his personal grief. His only refuge. He continued to climb.
A short time later Hiko was in the middle of the strenuous but graceful dance-like movements of the Mitsurugi Kata. His three-foot long katana became an extension of his arm as he swung it through intricate and elegant attack patterns. He leapt into the air changing positions with lightening speed landing light as a feather only to leap again all the while swinging the long blade. Sweat poured down his heavily muscled body as he pushed it to and beyond its physical limitations. At 45 years of age he was still in perfect physical condition and his strength was undisputed.
As he leapt into the air, katana out stretched in the Ryu Tsui Sho San he felt himself suddenly seized by a force so powerful it brought him crashing to the ground. "Nnngghhh…!" He tried to rise to his knees but found he could not because of a terrible pressure-pain exploding in his chest and head. His large hands grabbed the sides of his pounding head, and he groaned loudly laying back down on the ground. "What the hell…" He moaned in agony.
It pained him to even breath as the incredible pressure crushed against his heart and lungs. He rolled onto his side curling into a fetal position trying to ease the pressure, but was unsuccessful. It seemed all he could do was moan and endure it and wait.
"Dear God…" He gritted between his clenched teeth. "What is happening to me?" His eyes were starting to blur and he could feel the darkness of a faint coming upon him. "NO!" Hiko refused to give in to the void of unconsciousness. As long as he was awake, he was still alive.
After what seemed like and eternity, the pain gradually began to ebb away from him, and as it did, Hiko felt something else pressing on him. It was something achingly familiar, yet foreign in someway. He stared up into the dark of the night sky and watched the stars wink and glitter like so many diamonds as he concentrated on the anomalous sensation instead of the pain. His brow furrowed in deep confusion, and then changed to an even deeper knot of concern.
"Kenshin, my boy… my son… why are you so afraid?" What had frightened you to the point of reaching out to me in the midst of your nightmares? And why WOULD you reach for ME at all?" Hiko sat up as the pain finally disappeared altogether leaving behind only the disturbing residue of Kenshin's terrified ki clinging to him like a sobbing child. "Where are you, Kenshin? What has happened to you? What IS happening to you?" Even when he was small and he had nightmares about his dead family and the dead slavers, Kenshin have never been this afraid. Hiko felt the icy finger of a Fatherly anxiety he had not allowed himself to feel for many years lace itself up his spine. Something terrible had happened. Something beyond even anything the Battousai had ever done or seen. He had never felt a terror like this before from anyone's soul. How could he find out what was going on? He thought. Then it came to him in a rush.
"Kamiya!"
Hiko threw himself off the ground grabbing his katana on the way up and ran down the path completely forgetting about the jug of Sake'.
*************
Morning dawned brightly in Kyoto. The sky shone a brilliant blue, but the breeze that wafted across the City was cold and biting causing Her inhabitants to clutch their clothes a bit tighter to their flesh. Fall must be coming sooner than expected this year, or perhaps… there was another reason. After all it was only the beginning of August. It should not be getting this cold yet.
Four or five days had passed since Kenshin had walked through Gonzai, and he now found himself on the outskirts of Kyoto. Breathing a great sigh of relief, he trudged into the City with the knowledge he would soon be in Saitoh's office in a few short hours, and then he could unburden his mind and share what he knew.
Amethyst eyes narrowed with worry. Would Saitoh believe the tale he had to tell him? Or would he look at Kenshin like he was insane? Kenshin was beginning to wonder if he were insane after the night of terror of three nights ago. Or was it four? He shrugged mentally and closed his eyes against that memory. He did not want to think about it yet. Talking to Saitoh about it was soon enough to remember. Just getting to Kyoto safely felt like a major accomplishment to Kenshin right now, and that was enough.
Sargent Izukia was setting calmly at his desk filling out a burglary report when Kenshin walked into the Police Station.
"Hello, Sargent Izukia." He spoke in his usual polite quiet tone. "Is your Captain available?"
Izukia stated in his seat not having heard the man enter the room. "H-hh-himura-san!" He exclaimed in surprise and pleasure. "It is so good to see you, Sir." He ran around his desk to grasp the swordsman's hand warmly. "Captain Fujita was beginning to worry something may have happened to you when you had not returned for so many weeks."
"Hmmmm…" Kenshin allowed a tired smile to cross his face as he nodded
"But I knew you would come back. You always do." Izukia beamed continuing to shake Kenshin's hand.
"Sergeant…" Kenshin spoke again. "Is your Captain here? I do have important information to report to him, and I really do not want to wait if I do not have to."
"Oh, oh yes, of course. Of course he is here. Come. Come this way. I will take you back to his office. I am sure he would want to see you right away as well. He has been very anxious about any news from you concerning what you might have found out." Kenshin heard the rise in the younger man's voice and cast him a sideways look. 'Hmmm, I wonder what Saitoh told him?'
"Captain Fujita, Himura-san has returned at last." Izukia's voice held a note of triumph and just a tinge of 'I-told-you-so'.
Saitoh's thin silver-gray brows rose in irritation at his young Sergeant's audacity as he observed in a cold voice. "I can see that for myself, Izukia. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Now get the hell out of my office and go back to your reports." He absently lit a cigarette as the man scampered for the door. "Shut the door as well Izukia. I am sure THIS particular conversation will not sit well with YOUR pathetic stomach." The door banged shut sharply. "Idiot." Saitoh sneered as he blew out a gray puff of smoke.
"Well, I see you are not too much the worse for wear, Battousai." He indicated for Kenshin to set down. "You do appear pale and thin. Are you ill?" He asked as he smoked and looked out the window behind him.
"No, just very tired, but thank you for asking." Saitoh noticed Kenshin's voice was much quieter than his usual, and there was a different quality to it as well. He cast a piercing glance on the red headed swordsman examining him carefully. There was definitely a serious change in the man setting in front of him. He looked…. Haunted was perhaps the best word. Saitoh stubbed out his cigarette and leaned back in his chair.
"Tell me… tell me everything."
"Are you certain you are ready to hear EVERYTHING, Saitoh?"
Confusion flickered across the Wolf's face, but he nodded his head. "Yes, I want to know everything. Everything you saw. Everything you heard. Everything."
"All right," Kenshin straightened up in his chair and took a deep breath. Dark purple eyes met pale yellow. "But remember, you asked for EVERYTHING."
*************
Himura-san had been in Captain Fujita's office for hours. Sergeant Izukia could not imagine anything that could take that long to tell. What had Himura-san seen in his two and a half months on the mountain? A shiver ran up the Sergeant's spine as he remembered the Captain's reference to witches and demons possibly having something to do with the rumors of these bizarre murders. He still refused to accept that notion, but he could not deny something strange was going on up there.
Inside Saitoh's office he was setting stone still behind his desk. His chin was dropped toward his chest, his hands folded in his lap. His usually stern, sardonic face was completely impassive and reflected nothing of what he was thinking or feeling. He looked like a statue of himself. He had listened intently to Kenshin's report about the activities he had witnessed while investigating the rumors of murders in the Taki Mountains.
Kenshin had named five villages that seemed to be involved the last one being Gonzai whose inhabitants had all been slaughtered with the last 3 weeks by beings unknown. He also reported something that Saitoh had not expected and that was the news of foreign involvement.
"Europeans? Are you certain?"
"Yes. There was no mistaking them."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because I knew the woman." Saitoh had been shocked into several long moments of silence.
"You knew Her?! HOW?"
"She was once my lover." Kenshin replied softly. "Long ago in a faraway place far to the North."
"Who is she?" Saitoh had demanded vehemently.
"She was the daughter of a wealth European trader then. But I heard later she married a high ranking Japanese Military Officer within the Shogunate."
"You know who, don't you."
"Yes."
"Tell me."
"It will ruin both of them, Saitoh. That it will."
"I do not give a shit. Tell me."
"She is the wife of General Katsura Anaki. She is the Lady Elsbeth Katsura of the Spanish Attaché to the Japanese Government."
"Oh my God." Saitoh had gasped in horrified disbelief. "It cannot be. Battousai, it cannot be." His hands had covered his face as he muttered. "This could destroy the new alliance, the trade agreement. It could start another war. Dammit… dammit… dammit…" Then he had lapsed into silence.
Kenshin sat in his own silence pondering the information he had relayed. Saitoh had accepted the witchcraft tale fairly easily much to his shock. He had even shown a level of understanding when Kenshin had explained the terrible senses of fear and evil he had felt in Gonzai. At one point the had even reassured Kenshin by telling him, "I may not like you, Battousai, but you are no fool, and you certainly cannot be accused of insanity. At least I do not feel you are behaving insane. So, please continue, and leave nothing out."
Now the two men sat in total silence contemplating the words that had passed between them. Kenshin felt as if a great weight had been lifted from him. He did not have to bare this burden alone anymore; however, the fear was still his to battle as well as the memories and the visions. Those he could not share with anyone.
"You realize we cannot let this continue, don't you?" Saitoh's voice was not more than a raspy whisper in the stillness of the office.
"Yes."
"We must find a way to stop them, to stop Her."
"Yes, that we must."
"We must find a way that will not bring shame to the General, or damage the alliance and trade agreements as well."
"I understand. We must not let this touch the honor of Japan."
"Exactly."
Silence followed again. A cold deafening silence that hung in the air like a heavy curtain of despair. Still the two men remained unmoving.
"We must kill her." Kenshin spoke the dreaded sentence on the woman neither of them wanted to face.
"Yes. She must die for her deeds. We cannot allow her to live after all she had done."
"How?"
"I do not know. It must not look like she has been killed. Do you understand?"
"Yes. It would cause an investigation of massive proportions."
"It would. Word of her activities cannot be allowed outside of this room. For the sake of the Country, and the honor of the Military."
"Agreed. It must be an accident. That it must. We must be prepared."
"We must plan carefully."
"Yes. Every detail must be covered so there are no mistakes; no clues."
Saitoh's breath escaped in a rush as if he had been holding it. "No mistakes, no clues." His eyes met Kenshin's directly and their gazes locked. "It will be for you and I alone to do this thing, Battousai. Do you agree?"
Kenshin felt a shiver of fear curl around his spine, but he knew Saitoh was right. They could not trust anyone else with this delicate of a matter. This was not just assassination; this was Justice in its holiest form. They were going to be the Hands of God, and Lady Katsura was going to pay for her evil, murderous ways with her life just as it should be.
"Yes, I agree, that I do." Though his voice trembled slightly, it was clear and determined.
"All right. Then we have to go back."
"I know." 'Kami-sama, be with us and protect our mortal souls from the Evil that breaths Fire and Ice upon the Mountains of Take.'
*************
Kaoru was trying to cook again, but the smell of burning fish was the only odor that greeted her. "Rats!" She grumbled a she scraped the charred remains of the ruined fish into the refuge pile. "I wish Kenshin were home so he could cook. I think I am going to starve myself if he does not come back soon." She heaved a frustrated sigh and walked into the cooking area to check on the vegetables. "Well, at least these are still eatable." A meal of steamed rice and vegetable would have to do, and Kaoru dished her a hearty helping and walked outside to eat on the steps.
She had started sitting here every evening to eat for the three weeks, so she could watch the entry gate. It was an active choice she made, and she knew this. She was waiting for Kenshin to walk through the gate. She was waiting for him to come home.
Tonight was no different from any of the others. Except tonight she heard the unmistakable sounds of footfalls approaching the gate from the other side.
"Kenshin?" Could it be? Kaoru put her bowl and chopsticks down and leaned forward in anticipation. She watched breathlessly as the gate started to open. "Please, Kami-sama let be him."
But as the gate swung open it revealed a large shadow of a tall broad man wearing a long white cloak.
"Hiko-san??" Kaoru jumped off the steps and ran to the big man. "What are you doing here? What is wrong?" Deep blue eyes searched his handsome craggy face earnestly. "Had something happened in Kyoto?" Then her face took on a look of extreme anxiety as a thought occurred to her. "Has something happened to Kenshin? Hiko-san, what has happened to Kenshin??" Her voice rose with fear and concern and her small strong hands snaked out to grab at the front of his cloak. "Hiko-san??"
Hiko looked down into her petite anxiety stricken face solemnly. 'I had forgotten how beautiful she was.' He thought gently. 'And young. She is still so very young.'
"Kamiya-dono," He carefully reached out and took her small cold hands into his much larger warm ones trying to calm her down before her emotions escalated too much farther. He managed to capture her fearful blue gaze with his dark green one. "We must talk, jou-chan. Please, where can we sit?" His deep voice seemed to bring the young girl back to a sense of rationalism, and she turned to look mutely at the dojo steps. "Ahhh, that is a fine place." Hiko agreed and he pulled her gently behind him as he moved to sit down. "I have walked just about as far as I wish to for today." And he sat down with a "Hummph".
After putting his pack on the ground, he turned to look at the young girl setting next to him. Her face had turned quite pale and her lips were pressed into a thin line of worry. This was going to be more difficult than he had originally thought.
"Kamiya-dono," He began gently. "Do you know where Kenshin is right now?"
"Nani?" She looked at him in complete confusion. "I thought you were here to tell ME."
"No." The dark head shook from side to side. "I came to ask you if you know what he is doing right now, and if you know where his is. Can you tell me anything?" His face was creased with a concern Kaoru was finding difficult to digest. After all, as far as she knew, Hiko held nothing but contempt and disdain for Kenshin.
"Well, he has been working for Hajime Saitoh and the Meiji Police off and on over the past year or so. Did you know that?" When he nodded, she continued. "A little over two months or so ago Saitoh sent Kenshin into the Taki Mountains to investigate some strange reports he had been getting about the remote villages up there."
Hiko's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. The Taki Mountains? "What kind of reports?"
"I do not know. He would not tell me before he left, but he was very disturbed after he read Saitoh's last letter."
"What did he say after he read the letter, Kamiya-dono? What did the letter say?"
"He did not say anything to me. I heard him curse after he read it. I remember because it shocked me so much." At the look on Hiko's face she rushed on. "Kenshin never curses or even so much as raises his voice. Whatever it was in that letter was disturbing enough to push him past his usual level of self control."
Hiko looked pointedly at the ground as his feeling of worry mounted. This vague information only increased the need he felt to find his adopted son and discover what was going on in his life. "Have you had any word fro him since he left?"
"No. Nothing, and that is not like him either. He always writes at least every week or two just so I know he is all right. He knows that I worry when he is on these missions for Saitoh so he is always certain to check in to reassure me he is Ok."
"He does?" Hiko could not help but smile a little.
"Yes. He knows how much I hate him working with Saitoh at all because I just do not trust him. That rotten Wolf is just trying to get him killed anyway." Her voice had turned angry and a touch protective making Hiko's smile grow even more. 'Look out Hajime, Kamiya-dono may want your head on a block if anything's happened to Kenshin.'
"All right. If he knows this, then why does he continue to help Saitoh?"
A heavy sigh greeted that question. "Because Kenshin will always be Kenshin. He will always want to make a difference. He will always want to try and make things better any way he can, and as long as he feels that way, there is nothing anyone can say or do that can force him to stop doing what he does." Hiko had not been prepared for an answer like that. The simplicity of Kaoru's logic shocked and stunned him. He had never considered Kenshin's actions from that point of view before, and it had shown him in a whole new light to his Master. Hiko felt the beginning of something strange tickle and take root in his heart.
"Do you think something has happened to him, Hiko-san?" Kaoru's soft voice intruded on his self-introspection. "Is that why you are here, or is it something else?"
He knew he could not lie to the girl. She was far too intelligent for that, and besides that, she deserved to know the truth. "Yes, I am afraid something terrible has happened to him, but I cannot say what. I only know he has seen the face of Terror and lived, but I do not know his state of mind."
"The face of Terror? His state of mind? What do you mean?"
"I cannot even say that. All I can say is that four nights past his spirit-ki came screaming to me and clung to me in such a state of fear and terror that I myself thought I might succumb to the pain and die. Never in my life have I felt such a primitive fear." He looked into Kaoru's pale stricken face. "It was such a tremendously horrible fear that it the boy within him to seek out the only Father he had ever really known for comfort and protection… me. My boy came looking for me in the dark of his deepest most dreadful nightmares so I could chase away his fears." Hiko pressed his hands to his face to cover his emotions from the searching eyes of the young woman beside him.
Kaoru was deeply moved by the big stern man's reactions to his own revelations. 'He loves Kenshin.' She thought to herself in amazed disbelief. 'He truly does. What a fool to hide it all these years.' She reached out and put a comforting hand on his broad shoulder. "We need to find him, don't we?" Her voice was matter-of-fact and plain.
"We??" Hiko's voice was muffled behind his hands.
"Yes." We. You do not think for a moment that I am going to let you go look for him without me do you?"
"No," He sighed in resignation as he gazed into her determined clear blue eyes. "I do not suppose I do."
"All right then. We both need to get some rest, especially you. You look terrible." She stood up and indicated for him to follow her. She led him to one of the spare rooms. "It is clean and the bedding should still be fairly fresh so make yourself at home. There is also still rice and vegetables in the cooking pots. Help yourself if you are hungry." She smiled blandly. "I am not a very good Hostess there days. I guess I have gotten used to it being just Kenshin and me living here, or just me. Sorry." She shrugged in apology.
Hiko chuckled. "Do not worry about it Kamiya-dono. I can take care of myself. Thank you for the bed and the food. I will see you in the morning. We can talk more then. Hopefully a bit more rationally."
"Indeed," She replied. "So do I. I have to think of something to tell Yahiko so he does not get worried or frightened."
"The boy? What about the boy?"
"He loves Kenshin. Though neither of them has ever said anything, Yahiko looks at Kenshin as his Father, and it would really shatter his life if anything happened to him. So I have to come up with a reason as to why you are here and why I am leaving with you."
"Hmmmm. I see. Well, be careful what you say. That little brat is pretty smart. He may not buy just anything."
"True." She agreed then walked away and disappeared into her room.
'She is a very strong willed and spirited young woman.' Hiko thought to himself as he procured himself some food from the cold pots. 'She is exactly what Kenshin needs to stabilize his life and find the peace he should have had long ago. I hope he can see that and make it happen before it is too late.' Looking high into the night sky, Hiko called silently to his adopted son with his heart. 'Open your eyes, my son. See the beauty and love that sits in front of you. Reach out and pluck what is offered to you before it dies in the cold snows of winter.' Then he allowed his ki to join his heart and he reached for his son's tortured spirit and offered a piece of himself to help heal his wounds and bolster his lacking strength. "Accept this My Sotsu." He spoke clearly to the starlit sky. "Take this piece of my spirit-ki that I offer to you with all of the Father's love I have buried within my Heart. That same love that I have never been able to show you, but still lives on within me as strong as the day it was borne. Let me help you this night in the only way I can. Let me help you begin to grow strong again. Take my hand, and let me lift you up out of the sea of weakness." Then he closed his eyes and let his heart and soul soar through the heavens in search of the man who was the son of his true heart, and felt himself being drawn across the starlit sky.
Far to the East in Kyoto Himura Kenshin was finally lying down on a real bed for the first time in too many weeks. The soft futon conformed to his aching tired body, and he felt like he was floating on feather down. A smile of pure contentment and pleasure curved his soft handsome mouth. He was in heaven at last after being in hell for so long. Letting loose a long purifying sigh, he allowed all of his muscles to relax and his mind to go blank.
He was floating through the golden void. He mind was blessedly absent of all thought and form. Freedom from his emotional burdens and responsibilities has left him in a state of pure joy, and could feel the first beginnings of the strength in his ki restoring itself.
As he takes himself though this necessary process, he becomes aware of another presence inside of his private haven. He realizes at once that he does not feel alarmed or angry by this intrusion, but his is very confused by it. It has been a lifetime since he has felt this particular ki mingle with his own, but it is undeniably familiar. The immense strength, the power, the pure elemental energy of the Aura leaves him in awe just as it always had. He opened his souls eyes and beheld this beautiful phenomenon, and witnessed it to be a huge ball of blue green light that pulsated and glowed with life and power. This incredible power and energy was being fed to his damaged ki like a mother's breast milk to a newborn baby, and he could feel its strength seeping into him and beginning to heal the deep wounds in his soul. It was making him stronger, and giving him a greater power and ability to shield and protect himself.
It felt warm, safe, and secure inside his golden haven with the blue-green spirit-ki. He felt his own spirit and his soul snuggle down deep into that warmth as if it were a familiar and beloved quilt or… the arms of his… Father??!
Kenshin's dark blue-purple eyes flew open in startled shock and he sat up quickly. What had he been doing just now? He brow crinkled in thought as he tried to remember. Oh yes, he was meditating. Well, sort of, he shrugged and allowed a half smile to touch his lips. He had been doing some deep relaxation, but something had happened while he was under the influence of the golden void. What had happened? He remembered floating in the void where he often went to restore himself, but then he had seen the blue-green ball of…
"Master?" His eyes grew wide. "Was that really you? Were you REALLY here with me trying to help me?" Kenshin grew even more confused as he recalled the last sensation he had experienced. "Were you trying to comfort me? Master? Master??" His voice was but a whispered thought in the small room. Wide lavender eyes searched the room around him frantically as if he thought there might actually be someone in there with him. "Are you still here? Why did you come to me after all this time?" His voice faded on a chocked whisper as the threat of tears restricted his throat.
"Are you still here? Father?!"
Of course there was no verbal answer to his spoken pleas, but Kenshin could still feel the residual aura that belonged to his Master alone. It had been years on top of years since he had felt the ki of his Master, but there was no mistaking the power signature of Seijurou Hiko the 13th.
A single tear slid down Kenshin's pale cheek as the understanding dawned on him. His Master HAD been here, and he had given his apprentice a very rare and valuable gift. He had given him a piece of his own living spirit-ki to help mend Kenshin's terribly damaged one.
"But how did he know I needed help?" Kenshin could not understand. How would Master know what had been happening to him, and how badly damaged his ki was from the trauma he had witnessed on the mountain? Then he remember that horrible night out on the open plains when the visions had come to him and he had nearly lost his mind a second time because of the things he had seen. He remembered well the terror and hysteria that had gripped him within the nightmare and how he had curled up into a ball of screaming flesh both within and without the horrifying visions. What was it he had screamed so frantically before the bliss of oblivion had taken him away from all of that horror? What was it he had said over and over again? Kenshin's head bowed low and his brow knit together as he fought hard to remember what had happened to him in the last terrifying moment on the mountain, which were also the last moments of his nightmare.
He could see himself in his minds eye laying on the black earth drenched with the sweat and tears of his own uncontrolled fear. He could see how he had curled up like a fetus in it's mothers womb as he tried to block out everything that had happened, and all the while he was screaming something over and over again. What was it? What was he saying? He concentrated hard, and then his whole body shook violently as the memory came back to him with the rush of a raging river.
"I was screaming for HIM." Kenshin was screaming for his Master, for Hiko-san, and for… his Father. "I was crying out to my Father in terror like a lost child caught in a nightmare." Amber eyes filled with tears and his bowed again as his soul was seized by violent emotions. "I was a lost child caught in a nightmare, and I was reaching out to the only Father I knew begging him to hold me and protect me and keep me safe." His thin shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. 'Blessed Kami, did he hear me? Did he actually hear me cry and scream for him that night? Is this his answer to my pleading cries for help? This incredible gift of his ki?' Trembling hands covered a face wet with tears. "M-master," He cried softly into his hands. "Thank-you."
Later that night as he drifted off to sleep, Kenshin spoke softly into the night. "Thank-you, My Beloved Father. Thank-you for coming. Even if you never acknowledge you have done this for me, you will forever be in my heart."