Welcome to the world of Lady Elsbeth Katsura. May her soul roast in every lasting Hell. (Don't you just hate her??). She is the nastiest, rottenest, meanest, and most cruel bitch I could think of... and I had a blast with her. ^_^ The badies are always lots and lots of fun.
Sorry, I guess my sadistic side is showing. Goes with the territory of having 3 teenage son's and being a registered nurse for waaaaay toooo many years, and seeing waaaay toooo much shit. LOL
By the way... this is a bit of a transition chapter. It ended up being something I had to go back and write one night after I had set editing for a few hours and realized there were a whole bunch of loose ends that needed tying up. So, like a good girl, I went back and tied away.
It did help a great deal... Enjoy.
Glossary: Sotsu=son, Koishii=dear or darling, Otan=father, Aishiteru=I love you, Jou-chan=young lady, Retsujou=carnal desire, Shikijou=lust, Meito=mate, Omeka=sex, Aisai=beloved wife, Anata=endearment from a wife to her husband
Chapter Nine
The Grey Mists of Morning
Her small feet barely made a wisp of a sound as she ran across the fine Persian carpets strewn about the smooth wood floors. Hardly a disturbance in the air signaled her passing. She seemed barely more that a shadow among the hundreds of other shadows occupying the darkened
room. A flash of brilliant sea green captured by a shaft of moonlight coming through one of the large windows was the only tangible evidence that anyone was in the room at all as a shimmering fold of her nightdress was illuminated for the briefest of moments in the eerie white light.
It was close to two o'clock in the morning and very soon the large clock in the main hall would chime the hour. The thought added a rush of speed to her tiny steps, and she reached the old wrought iron spiral staircase in the center of the room quickly. Carefully, so as not to make the cables suspending the stairway from the ceiling moan or creak, she climbed each stair with slow gently placed feet letting the metal get used to her light weight gradually until she stood fully on each step. It was slow going, and it took her the better part of an hour to climb to the next floor, but she reached it successfully without making a single sound to give herself away.
There was more light on the second floor, and it was much easier to navigate around chairs and tables. The small framed woman deftly wove her way across the length of the room until she reached a large oaken desk covered with many papers and a fine leather valise. A huge crudely
carved wooden statue of Buddha graced the left hand corner of the desk, and her tiny hand grabbed it and pulled backwards with a hard jerk. A faint whirring noise could be heard in the wall off to the left of the desk, and suddenly the bookcases that lined it split in half as one pushed itself forward from the other. A small opening in the wall appeared. There was no door, just a crudely fashioned hole that disappeared into the darkness beyond.
The woman skittered towards the opening behind the bookcases, and pulled herself inside though the small space. The odor of sulphur rose in the air as she struck a match. Then the surroundings were lit with the dim golden light of an oil lamp. A corridor had been hewn into the
stone of the mountainside the house itself had been built against. She picked up the lamp and entered the cave-like corridor. A large iron lever stood up from the floor next to the opening, and she pulled it backwards towards the inside of the tunnel. The whirring noise was heard again, and the bookcases slid closed shutting her inside. Quickly she was skittering down the length of the tunnel on her silent feet, the dim light of the oil lamp casting a golden ball of wavering reality about
her as she went. Within a very short time, she had disappeared.
It only took her a few minutes to reach her destination. The tunnel took a sharp turn to the left then abruptly opened up into a room that had been blasted out of the rock. The space was approximately 3meters long by 2.5 meters wide. In the North-west corner sat a single wide bed
made of rough hewn boards held together with hemp and nails. The sagging mattress was filled with old straw, and gave off an old musty odor indicating it had been there for some time. Faded yellow cotton sheets were smoothed neatly over the lumpy surface, and a thread bare patchwork comforter lay folded across the foot. In the opposite corner stood a sight beyond terrible.
A young woman not more than 15years of age was hanging suspended from the ceiling by a long chain and iron manacles clamped tightly around wrists oozing with pus and blood. The chain itself was attached to a large hook that had been pounded deep into the stone over her head. Her toes barely touched the floor to give her any support or offer any relief to her aching arms.
She was naked except for a soiled shift that hung limply from her tortured shoulders. The front had been torn open and revealed her youthful body which had been horribly abused. Huge bruises covered her small breasts and stomach. Little cuts coated with dried blood peppered her thighs and could be seen tracing around her nipples. Her face was bruised and swollen. Once soft full lips were now split and bloodied from hours of being struck with fist and hand. Deep gouges were seen as well where she had bitten herself trying not to cry out in pain as unspeakable things were done to her body. Dark bruising beneath her dark green eyes only emphasized the pitiful look of defeat and despair reflected withing their dimming depths.
She had struggled for a long time to retain her strength and will in the face of this torturous nightmare. A hope had remained within her that someone would find her and set her free, but now she had only one wish. She wished for release. She wished for death. It was the only means of escape and freedom left to her. Tears filled her eyes and spilled unchecked down her face as she watched the elegant lithe form of her mistress slither towards her. Those eyes, that smile, the perfect
beauty.
"Hello, my precious pet." She crooned and ran a gentle pale finger down the girls wet cheek. "Have you missed me?" A soft kiss on the swollen trembling lips. "I have missed you."
"Kill me..." Was the whispered plea. "Please, kill me."
"Oh no, dearest. Not yet. I have so much more planned for us. I promise you will like it." Another kiss, and the merest touch of a velvety tongue. "I promise." The sharp tip of a dagger pressed intimately against the girls quivering sex, and then slid slowly upward until it came to rest just over her frightened fluttering heart.
The girls tear filled eyes suddenly took on a gleam of insanity and she spat in her mistresses beautiful face. "I do not think so!" She planted her toes firmly on the floor and lunged forward with all the strength she had left, impaling herself on the razor sharp blade.
A high thin gasp of air was sucked into her lungs as the thin blade penetrated her chest and punctured her frantically beating heart with a wet pop. The world spun dizzily and began to fade as the gout of hot blood poured from the wound covering both women.
"Thank-you, Kami...." She whispered as her clouded green eyes closed in peace.
"NOOO! You fucking bitch!" Elsbeth ripped the blade from the girls chest cursing. She watched in impotent fury as the lifes blood ran free and formed a large puddle on the floor around the girls toes. "You bitch." Her breath hissed through clenched teeth, and she furiously stabbed the dagger into the corpses soft belly. "How dare you do this to me. How dare YOU!" Grabbing the hilt of the dagger in both of her small hands, Elsbeth proceeded the hack and slash the the girls lifeless body until it resembled no more than a mutilated bloody mess. However, she purposely left the face untouched.
Hours passed before Elsbeth's anger was finally spent, and she sat panting on the edge of the bed. "I hope you burn in Hell, Honia Cleo, and may your Father go with you." She spat venomously. A smile of such malevolence crossed her face at that moment that the air in the room turned ice cold, and her breath became a steamy puff as she spoke. "Won't he be surprised to find you in your bed tomorrow morning." Horrible laughter echoed against the frost coated stone walls, and the puddle of blood coagulated and turned hard.
"You seem unusually tired this morning, My Dear." Anaki Katsura touched his wife's hand in concern. "Didn't you sleep well?" He had noticed almost immediately that Elsbeth's usual bright countenance was greatly subdued and she had dark circles beneath her beautiful grey-green
eyes. "Are you unwell, My Love?" His hand touched her forehead and cheek as he checked her for a fever, but found nothing.
Elsbeth caught his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I am fine, Anata. It is just a headache. I will drink some tea. I am sure that will help." She smiled and watched the worry leave his strong face. He was so easy to manipulate. "I did not mean to worry you."
"I always worry about you, Elsbeth. You know that." Anaki returned to his breakfast satisfied with his wife's explanation. "I have been meaning to ask you something."
"Hmmm..." Her eyes measured him warily. She was not sure she liked his tone.
"Yes. It has been several years since we attending the Autumn Moon Festival in Kyoto, and I was thinking perhaps you may like to go this year." Brown eyes met her green ones questioningly. "Reports from the planning committee this year claim it will be the most spectacular Festival Kyoto has seen since the early days of the Empire." A mouthful of crepe's was stuffed into his mouth. "Unless you have something else planned."
Elsbeth sat stunned. The Moon Festival? She had forgotten about it completely. Had her mind been so consumed by her obsession that she had forgotten one of the most important and magically powerful nights of the year? KUSO!! She screamed at herself in rage. 'You stupid bitch!! You could have ruined everything with your bloody personal vengeance.' Then she turned to her husband and purred in a loving tone, "I think that would be a wonderful idea, Darling. It has been far too long since we attended any of the Festivals. I would love to go." She gave him one of her most glittering smiles and basked in the satisfaction of watching him puff up with pleasure. "You are so wonderful to have thought of
it." Leaning towards him, she coyly placed a tantalizing kiss on his firm lips. "You always think of everything, Anaki. That's why I love you so much." As his mouth opened to capture hers, Elsbeth's mind was already in full motion beginning to plan.
Autumn Moon Festival in Kyoto. What a wonderful idea. After all, had not all good things come to pass in Kyoto? The Bakumatsu. The birth of the Hitokiri and the Battousai. The Shinsengumi and the Ishin Shishi battles. The assassinations of the Government Leaders. Lord Shishio's rise and fall in power, and so many other yummy things that made her heart beat wildly with unchecked glee. Yes, Kyoto was the perfect place for her Moon Ritual. The perfect place.
"When will we leave, Anaki? How soon can we go?" Her voice was almost breathless with her anticipation.
"As soon as you want, My Dear." He loved to make her happy.
"Then let's leave tomorrow. I want to leave tomorrow."
"Then we shall."
Her eyes were shining like the sun glittering on the rolling sea. Her beauty was unmatched by any woman Anaki had ever known, and he would do anything for her. But this time he had no idea what he was doing, or what he had agreed to. And, although she was smiling like an angel, he
had the heaviest feeling in his heart he could not explain. Shaking it off, he hugged her to him and kissed her flushed cheek. She was happy and that was all that mattered to him. That was all that had ever mattered.
***************
Kenshin had been spending time alone with Soujirou talking with him about his new surfacing emotions, and listening to the younger swordsmans issues of insecurity and self doubt about his future.
"You can't rush your own evolution, Soujirou. You will become what you will when all things have finished working their way free and your soul is aligned with the man you are meant to be. Search out those things that you must, but the rest can come to you only through the progression of time and experience. You must learn your way to a higher plane. It is not simply a state of mind that is given to you because you wish it to be so."
"It is all so difficult to understand, Himura-otan, and I fear at times that my mind is too stunted by the past to ever grow more than it already has." His eyes turned a deep blue-grey as they filled with anxious uncertainty. "What if I am never more than I am at this moment?"
Kenshin sighed and placed a comforting hand on his adopted sons bent head. They were setting across from one another in a secluded shady area of the Aoiya's courtyard. "Then you must learn to accept yourself as you are, Soujirou-sotsu. You must be prepared to live with the man you
are now despite your goals and aspirations of becoming whatever it is you expect yourself to be."
"I want to be like you. I want to be wise and honorable. I want to be worthy of your respect, Himura-otan. I want to be a normal human being who feels emotions and sees the world through the eyes of a living soul, not the cold dead hearted assassin Lord Shishio taught me to be."
"But, my sotsu, you are already all of those things to me whether you are to yourself or not. I no longer see the Tenken when I look at you." Soujirou shyly met the gentle violet eyes of his adopted father. "I see a man of endless patience and kindness. You are developing the emotions of a man who is finding contentment and peace in his life. Don't you see, Soujirou-sotsu? Your feet are already on the path of human evolution, and you are becoming exactly what you wish to be. You only have to give yourself the time necessary to achieve that goal."
"Are you telling me I have already changed?"
"Yes." Kenshin smiled into the surprised boyish face of the other man. "The days of heartless murder are long behind you now, and there is a new truth within your heart that you have begun to live by. No longer do you see the world one dimensionally from the point of view that Shishio taught you."
"You are referring to 'If you are strong you live. If you are weak you die." aren't you."
"Yes, I am. You do not seem to view the world through those twisted eyes anymore."
"No, I do not think I do." Soujirou's voice was a low childish tone. "I have started to realize that everything has a place and a purpose in this world."
"What made you see that? I am curious to know."
"When I became ill and Okina-san found me and brought me back to the Aoiya." Grey-blue eyes filled with wonder and some confusion looked upward into the azure sky. "I was so weak I could not even hold up my own head or raise my hand. He fed me miso and gave me water from his
own hands until I was strong enough to hold a cup and bowl myself. Were I still living by Lord Shishio's law, I should have been left to die by the side of the road irregardless of my situation, but I was not." A smile of genuine sincerity curved his handsome lips. "Okina-san took pity on his fallen enemy and cared for him until his strength was fully restored."
"And what does that tell you?" Kenshin was watching the play of expressions dance across Soujirou's face as he talked.
"I was not strong enough to survive alone." Earnest eyes met those understanding violet ones of his adopted father and friend. "No one is. People cannot survive without other people. We are all ultimately frail, fragile, and susceptible to death from more than just an enemies sword. The elements, grief, accidents, and the slow decay of age will and can claim our lives just the same as a swift warriors death. In the end, we are still just as dead, and death is equal among all beings without prejudice."
Kenshin was nodding his head in agreement and pride as he listened to Soujirou's explanation of why Shishio's single truth was totally wrong. "You are understanding very well. All life is precious without exception, and as men we are the ones held responsible to protect it. It is not our place to judge who is worthy of life and who is not for we are as mortal as those we would judge, therefore; we are equal. Only God may judge who is worthy of life and who is not."
"And we are not Gods, are we, Himura-otan. Niether was Lord Shishio." Soujirou's voice was sad and distant.
"No. Shishio was NOT a God. Although he believed he had the right to decide who could live and who could die."
"He never had that right, did he? There was a time I believed he did. I was so very wrong."
"We all make mistakes, Soujirou-sotsu. We all have things in our past that we are far from proud of. Many of the leaders in the Meiji Government hold me in a level of great esteem and claim I was one of the key factors that helped bring peace to this country because of my role as the Hitokiri Battousai, but I am not proud of the things I did during that time. I am not proud of the man I was. There is so much of my soul that is stained with the blood of the men I killed in the name of peace, and there are times I wonder if I will ever be clean again."
"I believe you are clean, Himura-otan. For you to have survived so many battles and gained such wisdom. I believe God has forgiven you your sins and made you clean again. You are not the same man who fought in the Bakumatsu."
"I thank you for those kind words, my shin-yuu." Kenshin bowed low over his lap in humble acceptance of Soujirou's heart felt observation. "It would appear then that we have both evolved beyond the murder machines we once were. Let us be grateful."
"Indeed, my Father. I am grateful. But I am more grateful for your wisdom than I am for anything else. For your eyes have seen what mine can only guess at, and your heart has felt the pain that I have yet to fully face. I am grateful you are with me on this journey." Soujirou's small almost feminine yet calloused hand reached out toward Kenshin who grasped it in one of his own.
"I am glad I am with you as well, Soujirou. It is an honor for me to travel this path with you. Perhaps, there is more yet for me to learn, and you are meant to be my teacher." His smile was kind, and his eyes full of caring emotions.
"Perhaps." Soujirou chuckled. "Though I can think of nothing I could possibly teach you, Himura-otan. Except possibly the ways of the wind."
"The wind?"
"If the moment presents itself, I will teach you, but until then you are well armed as you are." The smile on the boyish face was radiant, and with a final squeeze of Kenshin's hand, Soujirou rose to his feet and bid his adopted father good-day. Kenshin watched the younger man walk away feeling a warmth and trust settle in his heart.
"You will succeed, Soujirou. You will be a fine, strong man one day, and you will find the answers to all the questions that are plaguing your heart. Just be patient, my sotsu. Be patient and let time and the progression of knowledge take care of you." His voice was a whisper on the soft Autumn breeze that wafted past him.
Strength was returning to him swiftly. He could feel it surging through his blood and spirit as he sat within the security of his friends and family. The joining with Aoshi had rejuvenated him in a way that was difficult to describe. He could still feel the powerful essence of the ninja flowing through him like a great roaring ocean. Fire and Water. Perfect opposites. Yet they were the two most powerful elements in the universe. Combined together they were rebuilding Kenshin's ki with
alarming swiftness and precision, and the power and strength he felt was already greater than that he had known on his own before. Aoshi had made him a stronger fighter. He had given him the ability to form a stronger more impenetrable shield to protect himself, and the core of his resolve was becoming more and more stable with each passing moment.
The gifts of Hiko's ki and Aoshi's ki were healing Kenshin, but not only that, they were making him more than he had been before. He was becoming a warrior of the elements. A warrior for the earth, and a protector of her children. He was being prepared.
"Here you are." The soft feminine voice brought a quick smile to his face. "I have been looking for you everywhere." Kaoru knelt down close next to Kenshin. The bright green of the grass was a beautiful contrast for the deep red of her kimono. She was wearing a soft pink obi and a matching ribbon in her shiny black hair. He reached out and took one of her hands in his and pulled it into his lap.
"You could not have been looking for very long, koishii, I have been right here for quite sometime." He chuckled gently and bent to place a soft kiss on the back of her hand.
"I did not want to interrupt you and Soujirou. It seemed the two of you were very deep into whatever it was you were discussing, and I did not want to intrude." Deep blue eyes gazed into his face lovingly. "I am so glad you did what you did for him today. It was a grand thing, Kenshin. Truly it was."
Kenshin blushed and pulled her close to him so he could wrap his arms around her. "You are not upset I did it then?" His voice was slightly muffled as he buried his face against the curve of her neck. "I have worried about that a little bit, that I have." He purposefully nuzzled into her hair until his lips touched her skin.
Kaoru's sharp intake of air told him that he had found a sensitive spot, and he pushed the tip of his tongue against it drawing tiny little circles of fire that he moved up the side of her throat until he
reached her ear. "I have missed you, koishii." He breathed in a husky whisper that sent shivers through her. He pulled away to look thoughtfully into the deep blue pools of her passion filled eyes and lost himself inside of their warmth. A tender hand lifted to stroke the smooth creamy flesh of her cheek, and a soft smile of love curved his mouth as he watched her close those lovely eyes to nuzzle her face closer to his caressing hand.
"Aishiteru Kenshin." She whispered and looked into his dark purple eyes. "I have missed you too." The hand touching her cheek gently slid around to cup the back of her head, and he pulled her face to his so the warmth of his searching mouth could find the waiting eagerness of hers.
It was a soft moist kiss. A kiss filled with love, tenderness, and the joy of knowing that they were together at last. Kaoru's hands caressed Kenshin's bare chest inside of the open 'V' of his gi
making him groan with male pleasure as he lifted her up and pulled her farther into his lap. His fingers nimbly untied her obi but only to the point that he could splay both hands along her back and crush her against him without the knot getting in the way. The kiss deepened and his tongue slid past her lips to dance and play with hers. Passion mounted between them as it always did, and Kenshin broke off the kiss burying his face against her kimono covered breasts his breathing harsh and ragged. Kaoru's hands were lost deep within his long red hair, and they pulled him closer to her as she bent over kissing the top of his head then rested her cheek against its softness. Her breathing matched his.
Thus they sat until their hearts returned to a normal beat, and they could breath easy again. A wicked chuckle rose from Kenshin's chest as he nibbled provocatively at her partially exposed chest. Kaoru giggled and tried to wriggle away from him, but he held her fast.
"I do not think you are going anywhere, jou-chan." His voice was mischievous.
"Kenshin, let me go before someone sees us." A cascade of delighted giggles vibrated against his temple bringing yet another chuckle from him as well as a few more well placed nips.
"And what are they going to see, my little jou-chan? Something terrible? Or perhaps something that will make them wish they had a pretty girl setting in their lap with her kimono half askew?" He was laughing, and she was giggling with delighted embarrassment, but she could feel his hands retying her obi and straightening her kimono at the same time.
"You are evil, Kenshin. I swear it." Kaoru's eyes were dancing with laughter when heraised his head and looked into her face. He smiled and pulled her head down so he could kiss her again.
"Mmmmm, you are right, my beautiful angel. I am evil, and wicked, and beyond all hope of reformation." He was trying to talk and kiss her at the same time. "I freely admit... kiss kiss..... that I am.... kiss.... hopelessly.... kiss kiss... unequivocally... kiss kiss kiss... deeply in love with you, and when... kiss kiss... you are in my arms... kiss... I can think of nothing... kiss kiss... but making love to
you... kiss kiss... and it does not seem to matter... kiss kiss kiss... where we are at the time. You simply go to my head, koishii." And he seized her lips in a short, deep passionate kiss that left her
breathless and wishing they were back at his room, but all she could do was hide her flushed face against his shoulder and wrap her arms tightly around him.
"You don't go to my head, Kenshin." She nuzzled his throat tenderly. "When you hold me and kiss me like that, my brain just quits working all together." At that honest statement, they were both suffused with laughter. "I love you," she whispered and kissed his cheek.
"I love you, my angel." He pressed his nose against hers and smiled. "Is it time we went home?" She giggled and kissed his lips when she heard the coaxing quality he had added to his question.
"I suppose so. We have done about everything you wanted to do, haven't we?"
"Umm-hum. All we need to do now is say our farewells, and we can be on our way. That we can."
"What about Yahiko?" Kaoru sat up with a concerned look. "I... I do not really want to take him back with us just yet." She was biting her lip as her mind went to work trying to figure out a way around that little problem.
"Not to worry, my love. I think Yahiko would be better off here with Misao and Aoshi than with us in my room. Here at the Aoiya he can have his own room instead of sharing one with us."
"Oh Kenshin! That is a wonderful idea!" Kaoru threw her arms around his neck and hugged him again. "You think of everything." He smiled indulgently. Most of the time she was very good for his ego. It was just the rest of the time when she was thumping the hell out of him that he had to worry about.
Shortly after that they were on their way back to Kenshin's room with Yahiko safely tucked away at the Aoiya under the watchful eyes of his new adopted brother, Seta Soujirou, and Shinomori Aoshi.
They had been walking and talking for some time when Kaoru suddenly perked up and blurted out, "You think he will really be alright there? I mean, we aren't being too terribly selfish are we, Kenshin?" Kaoru was fretting over pawning Yahiko off on their friends instead of resuming
her responsibility of his care. "Are you sure we did the right thing leaving Yahiko at the Aoiya?"
"Kaoru," Kenshin's voice took on a reasonable tone. "I have a feeling that Yahiko would much rather be at the Aoiya with Soujirou and Misao that with US anyway. Considering our new relationship I am not sure he would want to share a room with us."
"OH." All Kaoru could manage was a high pitched squeak as the meaning of what Kenshin was referring to finally sank in. "Goodness, I wonder what he must be thinking. OH DEAR. I had not thought of that."
"I did not think you had, but I am sure he has." A rich barrage of laughter enveloped her as a deep blush stained her pale cheeks. "Not to worry, koishii. Yahiko is old enough to understand that kind of a relationship between a man and a woman, so do not go getting all bent out of shape over his knowing about us."
"I do not care about him knowing about what men and women do," she was squeaking again. "It is that he knows that we are doing IT that bothers me." Kenshin could not help it. He burst into laughter, but then found himself dodging Kaoru's flying fists as her temper rose past the boiling point in less than a second. Not being fully up to par, he could not dodge her indefinitely, and she finally connected.
TTHHWACK! Kaoru's right cross caught Kenshin square on the left side of his jaw and he went flying into the dusty street.
"That ought to teach you, you rotten ruroni. Don't you ever laugh at me again, or I swear I'll beat you senseless." Kenshin opened his eyes just a crack and looked into the furious face of his beloved.
"Ororo...."he moaned and struggled to a sitting position. "I was not laughing AT you, Kaoru. I was laughing at what you said." Getting to his feet was a little shaky, but she was there to help him. "We really need to work on your temper control." He offered her a wan smile.
"Kenshin... I am sorry. I did not mean to hit you that hard." She was biting her lip again.
"Not that hard?" He rubbed his sore jaw and chuckled. "I guess I would hate to see you when you seriously wanted to hit me." A dark blush stained her cheeks.
"I said I was sorry." she muttered and walked away from him with her head bowed contritely. Kuso. She began to chastise herself harshly inside her own mind. 'Why do I always have to hit him when I get mad? Why cannot I just yell or throw things? He is probably really mad
at me now.' She absently kicked a small stone and watched it tumble a few feet ahead of her.
They were close to the boarding house, and Kenshin had worked up an appetite for Kaoru while they were kissing at the Aoiya. He looked at the dejected picture she made walking up the street with her head bent over and her feet shuffling aimlessly, and he could not help the smile that crossed his face. God, but he loved this woman. A wicked gleam filled his violet eyes, and they deepened to a dark blue-purple as his mind made the final decision. With a stride full of purpose and his new found strength Kenshin ducked his chin and determinedly walked straight for Kaoru.
Kaoru looked up and noticed that they were almost back at Kenshin's room. 'Well, I sure blew it this time.' She thought angrily. 'Why can't I do anything right?' Baka Kaoru.
Then all at once she found herself scooped up into a pair of strong and quite capable arms. "N-nn-nani?" she stuttered and then found herself looking into a pair of passionate hunger filled deep blue-purple eyes. "K-kenshin?" He did not say a single word to her, but just carried her the rest of the way to the house until he could slowly drop her feet to the floor in his room. As soon as her toes were on solid ground, his hands were untying her pink obi and tossing it carelessly aside.
Kaoru's breathing quickened on a sharp gasp as he pealed her red kimono open and slipped it off her shoulders letting it fall to the floor in a heap around her ankles. A deep moan of hungry desire escaped his throat as his warm calloused hands rose to cup her soft white breasts and gently mold them into his palms.
Kaoru's head was spinning, and she wrapped her arms around her lovers neck to keep from losing her balance. She could feel his hands on her flesh and his mouth was burning a heated pathway of fire along the curve of her throat and shoulder. As the thrill of his touch filled her senses and swept her away to that golden world of pleasure that only he knew of, Kaoru's head dropped backwards and dangled on her fragile neck. In response, one of Kenshin's hands lifted and cupped the back of her head supporting the weight easily as his mouth traveled down her throat and across her collarbones. His free hand moved behind her and fitted itself into the swaying curve in the small of her back, and he pressed her closer against the hard maleness of him. A hoarse high pitched moan
was torn from her as she made contact with the rigidness of him, and her hands convulsively dug themselves deep into his hair loosening the tie that kept it bound. It tumbled loose and cascaded free into a rich glorious curtain of red-gold flame that further enveloped her in his world of fiery passion.
"You belong to me." His voice was coarse and raspy. "You are my retsujou, my shikijou, my aikouka." The moist heat of his breath was at her cheek. " Desire, lust, love... you are all of these things to me and more." His hand lifted her limp head up, and deep blue out of focus passion filled eyes gazed at him. "You are my Mate, my meito. In the arms of omeka, there can be no one else for me but you, Kaoru. My arms can never hold another woman in this embrace of sexual fulfillment now that they have held you, My Beloved." His mouth fell to claim hers in a blistering kiss of love and passionate need. "In my heart, you are already my Wife." A soft sob shook her small frame as she rose to meet his mouth. "You are my Aisai. My beloved wife." And the golden
world that had waited patiently for them opened its doors and ushered them inside.
In the aftermath of their most passionate joining, Kenshin lay tilted on his side with his face nuzzled up in the hollowed curve of Kaoru's neck. His free arm was laying across her chest with his hand gently cupping the opposite side of her face. His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and regular. Kaoru was certain he was asleep.
She was laying on her back, one of her arms beneath his neck and around his shoulders lovingly holding him against her while her other arm was draped across the top of his where it lay on her chest. Her fingers were idly tracing tiny nonsensical patterns on his arm where his elbow bent between her breasts. One of his legs was riding comfortably between hers, and her foot was absently rubbing against his shin. He felt so good to her just laying with her like this. A part of her did not want him to ever move.
The room was quiet and the fading light indicated that the Sun was starting to go down. Evening was setting in. She smiled a satisfied feline-type smile as she remember how they had spent a good part of the afternoon. There were more than a few sore muscles boo-hooing to her about the abuse they felt they had received during her and Kenshin's drawn out love making session. Mentally she told them all to shut-up. She did not regret a single moment, and a few sore muscles was a petty price to pay for the ecstasy she had felt in his arms.
"You seem very relaxed, koishii." Kenshin's voice was a soft purr against Kaoru's neck. "Have I pleased you, my angel?" Another satisfied smile curved her beautiful lips, and she wrapped both arms around him. "I assume that means yes..?" There was a touch of humor in his voice at her unspoken response, but then it changed to uncertainty and concern. "Did I hurt you, Kaoru?" She felt surprised by the carefully spoken question.
"Hurt me?"
"I think I may have lost a bit more of my control that usual. I-I do not want to have my carelessness cause you harm." His lips pressed a tender kiss against her throat.
"No Kenshin. You did not hurt me. No more than I hurt you I am sure." She could feel him smile against the skin of her shoulder. "I think we both lost most of our control, but..." She paused.
"But..." he prodded. "But what?"
"But there are some things I want to ask you. Can I?" She was being cautious. He did not like that and his eyes narrowed just a bit.
"Of course you can." He raised up on his elbow and looked into her face intently. "You can ask me anything you wish."
"All right." She bit her lip in trepidation. "You said something to me when we were... well, when you... " he smiled and one elegant brown eyebrow raised in tolerant humor. "Oh kuso. You know what I mean." A gentle laugh escaped him.
"All right, yes I understand what you mean. But Kaoru...."
"What?"
"Your cursing again."
"No I did not."
"Yes, koishii you did."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"Dammit."
"Kaoru!" He burst into laughter and kissed her chin. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" She shrugged and screwed her face up into a look of 'Gee, I do not know', and he just laughed more. "All right, back to your question. You said I said something to you when we were..." He
looked at her to see if he had the gist of her thought. She nodded. "What did I say?"
"Well, you said... ummm... well... oh I can't do this. Never mind." She covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. "I can't ask you this. Baka Kaoru." She whailed.
Kenshin chuckled and nuzzled around her chin and her nose. "Yes you can, Kaoru. You can do anything you want. After all, you are 'Kaoru'." That drew several giggles from her and she peeked at him from beneath her hand.
"You promise me you will not go all weird on me or anything?"
"I promise."
"You swear."
"I swear."
"I mean it Kenshin."
"Good Lord Kaoru, what do you want me to do? I have already promised... twice." She eyed him intently and finally nodded her head.
"OK, but if you make me feel stupid, I am beating the shit out of you."
"Deal." Kenshin was not sure what he had gotten himself into, but it seemed very important to her, so he would do his best not to upset her. Besides, he was wracking his brain trying to remember what he had said to her that would get her going like this, and he could not think of a single thing. Women.
"Here goes..." she took a deep breath and looked into his clear amethyst eyes. "You said that now you had held me you would not be able to have sex with another woman because there was no one else for you but me. You called me your Meito."
"My Mate?" His voice was soft but held no traces of mockery or denial.
"Yes."
"What else did I tell you?" He lowered his eyes and his fingers started playing with a strand of her silken ebony hair.
"Well, y-you said that I belonged to you." She was stammering slightly.
"Did I? " he continued to play with her hair.
"Yes." Kaoru was beginning to regret this conversation.
"And did I tell you that you are the very core of desire in my soul?"
"Sort of. You said something about desire and love." She was rapidly losing her nerve.
"Umm-hum. And did I tell you that with in my heart, Kaoru, you are my Aisai? Did I tell you my heart believes you are my Beloved Wife?"
"Yes." Her voice was barely audible, and it was getting hard to breath.
"So, what are your questions, my little jou-chan?" Beautiful pale amber eyes rose to capture her half frightened half hopeful deep blue gaze. "What do you wish to know? Ask me what you will, and I will tell you whatever you wish to know. That I will." His voice was even and calm.
The look in those pale golden eyes was making her mouth go dry, and making logical brain function almost impossible. She felt like a mouse being mesmerized by a cobra.
"Kaoru?" His voice was low and filled with an emotion she could not identify. "I am waiting, my dear."
"I-I- I guess I want to kn-know if you meant any of it, or..." she stumbled to a pause biting her lip in anxiety.
"Or...." He coaxed her with his voice and his eyes.
"Or... or if it was just the passion talking in the heat of the moment." The words were forced out in a rush before she lost her nerve to say them at all. She hung onto the core of her resolve and forced herself to maintain eye contact with him despite the thundering anxiety in her heart.
"Did I mean any of it?" The words were almost more thought than voice they were spoken so quietly. "Or did I speak them in the heat of passion?" His free hand stole softly and tenderly to her pale face where he slowly traced the delicate lines of her eyelids and eyebrows. The expression on his face began to change though only slightly. The line of his mouth softened as did the plane of his forehead. Kaoru watched him unable to tear her eyes away from the subtle shifting of his handsome features.
"Look at me, Kaoru. Look at me with the eyes of your heart not the eyes of your mind, and tell me what you see."
"Kenshin, I... "
"LOOK. AT. ME." He punctuated each word and looked deep into her eyes as if he were trying to see to her very soul, or... Or maybe he was trying to let her see to the core of his soul. "Tell me what you see."
She was not sure she understood what he was getting at or what he wanted her to do. When she looked at him, she saw a kind, generous, wonderful man who had been through a great deal of pain in his life. She saw a man with scars on his heart and his soul. Scars that ran deep to the very center of his being and colored every thought and choice he made. She saw a man who had lived his life alone and in a near constant state of grief and loss because it seemed everyone he allowed himself to care about had died or cared nothing for him. Tears filled her eyes as she realized what she really saw when she looked at him.
She saw a lonely man. She a man who was so afraid to share his heart that he had learned to keep everyone he met at distance so he would not learn to care for them. He had become a ruroni so he would never be in one place long enough to call it home or establish emotional ties. She saw a man who was terrified to love, to stop, or to allow himself to be loved because all those things had ever brought to him was pain and grief. The tears spilled over her lower lids and raced down her
pale cheeks.
When she finally spoke to him, her voice was strained but filled with entreaty. "I do not want you to be lonely anymore, Kenshin. I do not want you to be afraid of loving or being loved ever again. I want to make you happy and make all the worry and sadness in your heart disappear. I want to hear you laugh and watch you play with your children. I want you to know there is always a home and a warm bed for you to come back to wherever you go, and I want you to know I will
always be waiting for you too." She watched his eyes close and saw him take a deep shuddering breath. "I want you to never doubt that I love you, and I will always and forever belong to you... if you want me too." A single tear slid town his face and dropped onto her bare shoulder. "My arms are always open to you, and I will be your sanctuary from the world. I will be your peace. All you have to do is trust me to love you that much. Do you? Kenshin? Do you trust me that much?"
"Do you love me that much, Kaoru?" His voice was the tiniest whisper.
"Yes, I love you that much. I always have. Didn't you know that? Can't you tell?" Teary amber eyes opened to lock gazes with her searching sapphires. "I always have... my Anata. My dearest Husband."
A broken sound escaped him, and his arms were beneath and around her in an instant. A mouth hungry for her love and unconditional acceptance closed over hers, and they tasted the mingling of their tears on each others lips..
"Will you, Kaoru?" He whispered against her mouth. "Will you be my Aisai? Will you marry me and grow old with me? Will you be my lover and have my children?" He rose up to look at her face. "Will you be my Wife, my beloved koishii?"
More and more tears flowed and covered Kaoru's pale cheeks, but the most brilliant smile Kenshin had ever seen lit up her face. "Yes Kenshin. Yes, yes, yes." His mouth moved and captured hers again as a feeling of such happiness the likes of which he had never known burst open in his heart. There was also a notable sensation of something dark and heavy being lifted away from him, and he experienced a feeling of lightness such that he thought he could fly away.
For the first time in his near 30 years of life, Himura Kenshin felt free, content, safe, and... he felt loved. He had finally found a place to truly call him home. Within the arms of a beautiful 19 year old girl with brilliant blue eyes and raven black hair he had found a place to belong and a person to lavish all of the love on that he had previously locked away in his heart. It would never again matter where he was or where he went, as long as she was beside him he would be home.
Kamiya Kaoru was his home. Her strong loving arms were the only home he would ever need.
At long last, the ruroni found a reason to never go wandering again. He felt roots growing out of the soles of his feet, and he was glad.
*****************
The next morning dawned blustery and cold in Tomo. A bitter wind blew in harshly from the north countries turning what dew there was to an icy frost. Everyone admitted they had never seen an August past that had come on this cold before. Not in the last 100 years was there even one
recorded. Farmers were rushing to gather what they could of their crop ends that had not frozen so it could be laid in storage for the coming winter months. A great fear was building in the city and the
surrounding towns and villages. If the beginning of Autumn was already growing this cold, how cold was this years Winter going to be? More and more prayers were being said every day.
Minister Honia and his wife continued to sit their sad vigil within the Temple near their home. For nearly ten days they had sat on the smoothly polished wooden floors praying to Buddha for the safe return of their only daughter, Cleo who had disappeared from the sheltered gardens
outside the family home. She was a bright but quiet child of 15 who excelled in reading, writing, and history. Her mother had asked her to go out into the rose garden and cut the few remaining flowers for her. When Cleo did not return after more than an hour, the servants were sent looking for her, but no trace of her had been found except a few droplets of blood on the stone steps leading out to the beach.
Minister Honia had been beside himself with grief for this was his only daughter after having been blessed with five sons. He adored Cleo and had lavished ever drop of love on her he possessed. Their relationship was viewed as unusual and few of the Minister's associates understood his impassioned feelings for his daughter. Sons were what men wanted. A girl child was acceptable, but not to be fawned over or spoiled as he had done with his. But he was an old man so his behavior
was overlooked.
The Tama police had been searching for clues in Cleo's disappearance, but had yet to find a single one except the blood. The Minister and his wife were beginning to fear the worst as the days
dragged by.
So, on this cold blustery morning with the grey misty fogs slithering close to the ground, it should have come as no real surprise when one of the house maid ran into the Temple weeping and screaming hysterically.
"Master! Oh Master!" She threw herself on the floor in front of the grieving parents her face a mask of terror and deep sorrow. "Oh dearest God in heaven.... Master, Master, Master...." and she broke off burying her face in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.
"What? What is it Lou-chan? What has happened?" Minister Honia placed a comforting hand on the sobbing girls head. "Tell me, child. What has happened."
"Th-the jou-chan, Master." Her voice began breaking. "The jou-chan..."
"Cleo...?" both parents gasped. "Something has happened to do with Cleo?"
"Yessss." Her agony was clear. "We have found her."
"Where? Where Lou-chan? Where is my daughter?" Minister Honia grabbed the sobbing girl by the shoulders and shook her until she met his gaze. "Where is Cleo?"
"Oh Kami... She is in her bed." The girl collapsed as the Minister leapt to his feet and sprinted out of the Temple. His wife was directly behind him holding the hem of her kimono high so she would not trip.
The burst into the house and flew up the stairway to the second floor. The fusuma to their daughters room was standing halfway open, and they rushed to it. Minister Honia threw it the rest of the way open nearly tearing the fragile fusuma from its place. Both parents stopped and stood frozen as they stared at the horror of what used to be their daughter.
As tears filled his eyes and blinded him to the bloody mess that wore his daughters face, Minister Honia frantically grabbed his wife and pulled her face hard against his chest. He tried vainly to stop her from looking even though he knew it was already too late as her screams filled the air and ricocheted off every surface and bounced back to them.
Their beautiful, sweet, timid Cleo was a butchers nightmare. Her young body had been hacked and slashed with such rage and savagery that there were layers of flesh pealed away revealing the muscle and bone beneath. The only part of her that had not been defiled in this
horrible manner was her face. Thought it was badly bruised and swollen from many beatings, it was still possible for her parents to distinguish that is was indeed their daughter.
There would be no comfort for this tragedy. No end to this grief. Their sweet innocent child had died within the agonies of Hell, and no one had saved her. All they could do was pray for her soul and their own.
When news of the hideous murder reached the Police Force in Aziu, Thian and Ishida Miko looked at each other in horror. This was the daughter of the Minister who had opposed General Katsura's plan. It was too much of a coincidence for both of them.
Ishida warily cast an anxious look over his shoulder. As long as he was with Thian, the Horde stayed at bay. As long as his brother was by his side, he was safe. But how long could Thian stay with him every minute of everyday? Ishida could feel his time running thin. Something had to happen to change this steady pace towards doom, but what?
"Look, we have a message from one of our informers in Enshi. Looks like the General and Lady Katsura are taking a trip to Kyoto."
"Kyoto?" Ishida was puzzled. "What is in Kyoto?"
"Well," Thian pursed his lips in thought. "Let's see. It's almost the middle of August. What happens in August? Anything important. I mean, I do not know, do you?"
Ishida started to think. Something was tickling the back of his mind. August... what was it about August? He stood up and started to pace. "August..." he said softly to himself. Then... "Dammit!! The Festival. It is that damn Festival. She is going to do something with the Festival."
"Ok, you lost me. What Festival?"
"Baka!" He smacked Thian in the back of the head. "The Autumn Moon Festival you idiot. It is the full moon equinox thing, but according to witch lore, it is also one of the most powerful magical nights of the year."
"Oh. Let me guess. A great time for casting spells and performing rituals and stuff."
"Yes."
"Ok. Now I am with you, but what would make it so special to her even if it is such a great night for doing stuff?"
"Well, say you wanted to bring your best friend over from Okinawa, but it was in the middle of typhoon season."
"Ok."
"Say there was one day during the whole season that it did not rain and his boat could get through so you go get him."
"Uh-huh."
"All right, now let's say that you found a magic boat that let the two of you go back and forth anytime you wanted because it had the ability to make a permanent safe path through the typhoons, and you never had to wait for a safe day again."
"Holy shit!"
"Exactly."
"But how in the hell is she going to make a permanent door open between Hell and here?"
"Well, the only way she can make a door open at all is through some sort of ritual, but the door only stays open for a little while. She must have found a way to make it stay open, and doing the ritual on the night of the Autumn Moon is the perfect time to do it because of all the natural magic power there is then."
"We gotta stop this." Thian's face was serious and pale. "But whose going to believe us?"
"I do not know, but we will find a way to make them believe us." His voice was thin and shaky. "Somehow, Thian. We have to find a way to make them believe us. We have to."
"So, we are going to Kyoto?"
"I guess we better don't you think?"
"Yes. When should we leave?"
"Now is as good of a time as any."
"Ok. You are the boss after all."
"Right, and cat shit omelets are my favorite breakfast food. Come on and lets get moving."
"Cat shit omelets, huh. Hummm, never had one."
"Will you shut the hell up and get moving."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Geez, you got no sense of humor any more." The two men walked out of the small office and closed the door.
Sorry, I guess my sadistic side is showing. Goes with the territory of having 3 teenage son's and being a registered nurse for waaaaay toooo many years, and seeing waaaay toooo much shit. LOL
By the way... this is a bit of a transition chapter. It ended up being something I had to go back and write one night after I had set editing for a few hours and realized there were a whole bunch of loose ends that needed tying up. So, like a good girl, I went back and tied away.
It did help a great deal... Enjoy.
Glossary: Sotsu=son, Koishii=dear or darling, Otan=father, Aishiteru=I love you, Jou-chan=young lady, Retsujou=carnal desire, Shikijou=lust, Meito=mate, Omeka=sex, Aisai=beloved wife, Anata=endearment from a wife to her husband
Chapter Nine
The Grey Mists of Morning
Her small feet barely made a wisp of a sound as she ran across the fine Persian carpets strewn about the smooth wood floors. Hardly a disturbance in the air signaled her passing. She seemed barely more that a shadow among the hundreds of other shadows occupying the darkened
room. A flash of brilliant sea green captured by a shaft of moonlight coming through one of the large windows was the only tangible evidence that anyone was in the room at all as a shimmering fold of her nightdress was illuminated for the briefest of moments in the eerie white light.
It was close to two o'clock in the morning and very soon the large clock in the main hall would chime the hour. The thought added a rush of speed to her tiny steps, and she reached the old wrought iron spiral staircase in the center of the room quickly. Carefully, so as not to make the cables suspending the stairway from the ceiling moan or creak, she climbed each stair with slow gently placed feet letting the metal get used to her light weight gradually until she stood fully on each step. It was slow going, and it took her the better part of an hour to climb to the next floor, but she reached it successfully without making a single sound to give herself away.
There was more light on the second floor, and it was much easier to navigate around chairs and tables. The small framed woman deftly wove her way across the length of the room until she reached a large oaken desk covered with many papers and a fine leather valise. A huge crudely
carved wooden statue of Buddha graced the left hand corner of the desk, and her tiny hand grabbed it and pulled backwards with a hard jerk. A faint whirring noise could be heard in the wall off to the left of the desk, and suddenly the bookcases that lined it split in half as one pushed itself forward from the other. A small opening in the wall appeared. There was no door, just a crudely fashioned hole that disappeared into the darkness beyond.
The woman skittered towards the opening behind the bookcases, and pulled herself inside though the small space. The odor of sulphur rose in the air as she struck a match. Then the surroundings were lit with the dim golden light of an oil lamp. A corridor had been hewn into the
stone of the mountainside the house itself had been built against. She picked up the lamp and entered the cave-like corridor. A large iron lever stood up from the floor next to the opening, and she pulled it backwards towards the inside of the tunnel. The whirring noise was heard again, and the bookcases slid closed shutting her inside. Quickly she was skittering down the length of the tunnel on her silent feet, the dim light of the oil lamp casting a golden ball of wavering reality about
her as she went. Within a very short time, she had disappeared.
It only took her a few minutes to reach her destination. The tunnel took a sharp turn to the left then abruptly opened up into a room that had been blasted out of the rock. The space was approximately 3meters long by 2.5 meters wide. In the North-west corner sat a single wide bed
made of rough hewn boards held together with hemp and nails. The sagging mattress was filled with old straw, and gave off an old musty odor indicating it had been there for some time. Faded yellow cotton sheets were smoothed neatly over the lumpy surface, and a thread bare patchwork comforter lay folded across the foot. In the opposite corner stood a sight beyond terrible.
A young woman not more than 15years of age was hanging suspended from the ceiling by a long chain and iron manacles clamped tightly around wrists oozing with pus and blood. The chain itself was attached to a large hook that had been pounded deep into the stone over her head. Her toes barely touched the floor to give her any support or offer any relief to her aching arms.
She was naked except for a soiled shift that hung limply from her tortured shoulders. The front had been torn open and revealed her youthful body which had been horribly abused. Huge bruises covered her small breasts and stomach. Little cuts coated with dried blood peppered her thighs and could be seen tracing around her nipples. Her face was bruised and swollen. Once soft full lips were now split and bloodied from hours of being struck with fist and hand. Deep gouges were seen as well where she had bitten herself trying not to cry out in pain as unspeakable things were done to her body. Dark bruising beneath her dark green eyes only emphasized the pitiful look of defeat and despair reflected withing their dimming depths.
She had struggled for a long time to retain her strength and will in the face of this torturous nightmare. A hope had remained within her that someone would find her and set her free, but now she had only one wish. She wished for release. She wished for death. It was the only means of escape and freedom left to her. Tears filled her eyes and spilled unchecked down her face as she watched the elegant lithe form of her mistress slither towards her. Those eyes, that smile, the perfect
beauty.
"Hello, my precious pet." She crooned and ran a gentle pale finger down the girls wet cheek. "Have you missed me?" A soft kiss on the swollen trembling lips. "I have missed you."
"Kill me..." Was the whispered plea. "Please, kill me."
"Oh no, dearest. Not yet. I have so much more planned for us. I promise you will like it." Another kiss, and the merest touch of a velvety tongue. "I promise." The sharp tip of a dagger pressed intimately against the girls quivering sex, and then slid slowly upward until it came to rest just over her frightened fluttering heart.
The girls tear filled eyes suddenly took on a gleam of insanity and she spat in her mistresses beautiful face. "I do not think so!" She planted her toes firmly on the floor and lunged forward with all the strength she had left, impaling herself on the razor sharp blade.
A high thin gasp of air was sucked into her lungs as the thin blade penetrated her chest and punctured her frantically beating heart with a wet pop. The world spun dizzily and began to fade as the gout of hot blood poured from the wound covering both women.
"Thank-you, Kami...." She whispered as her clouded green eyes closed in peace.
"NOOO! You fucking bitch!" Elsbeth ripped the blade from the girls chest cursing. She watched in impotent fury as the lifes blood ran free and formed a large puddle on the floor around the girls toes. "You bitch." Her breath hissed through clenched teeth, and she furiously stabbed the dagger into the corpses soft belly. "How dare you do this to me. How dare YOU!" Grabbing the hilt of the dagger in both of her small hands, Elsbeth proceeded the hack and slash the the girls lifeless body until it resembled no more than a mutilated bloody mess. However, she purposely left the face untouched.
Hours passed before Elsbeth's anger was finally spent, and she sat panting on the edge of the bed. "I hope you burn in Hell, Honia Cleo, and may your Father go with you." She spat venomously. A smile of such malevolence crossed her face at that moment that the air in the room turned ice cold, and her breath became a steamy puff as she spoke. "Won't he be surprised to find you in your bed tomorrow morning." Horrible laughter echoed against the frost coated stone walls, and the puddle of blood coagulated and turned hard.
"You seem unusually tired this morning, My Dear." Anaki Katsura touched his wife's hand in concern. "Didn't you sleep well?" He had noticed almost immediately that Elsbeth's usual bright countenance was greatly subdued and she had dark circles beneath her beautiful grey-green
eyes. "Are you unwell, My Love?" His hand touched her forehead and cheek as he checked her for a fever, but found nothing.
Elsbeth caught his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I am fine, Anata. It is just a headache. I will drink some tea. I am sure that will help." She smiled and watched the worry leave his strong face. He was so easy to manipulate. "I did not mean to worry you."
"I always worry about you, Elsbeth. You know that." Anaki returned to his breakfast satisfied with his wife's explanation. "I have been meaning to ask you something."
"Hmmm..." Her eyes measured him warily. She was not sure she liked his tone.
"Yes. It has been several years since we attending the Autumn Moon Festival in Kyoto, and I was thinking perhaps you may like to go this year." Brown eyes met her green ones questioningly. "Reports from the planning committee this year claim it will be the most spectacular Festival Kyoto has seen since the early days of the Empire." A mouthful of crepe's was stuffed into his mouth. "Unless you have something else planned."
Elsbeth sat stunned. The Moon Festival? She had forgotten about it completely. Had her mind been so consumed by her obsession that she had forgotten one of the most important and magically powerful nights of the year? KUSO!! She screamed at herself in rage. 'You stupid bitch!! You could have ruined everything with your bloody personal vengeance.' Then she turned to her husband and purred in a loving tone, "I think that would be a wonderful idea, Darling. It has been far too long since we attended any of the Festivals. I would love to go." She gave him one of her most glittering smiles and basked in the satisfaction of watching him puff up with pleasure. "You are so wonderful to have thought of
it." Leaning towards him, she coyly placed a tantalizing kiss on his firm lips. "You always think of everything, Anaki. That's why I love you so much." As his mouth opened to capture hers, Elsbeth's mind was already in full motion beginning to plan.
Autumn Moon Festival in Kyoto. What a wonderful idea. After all, had not all good things come to pass in Kyoto? The Bakumatsu. The birth of the Hitokiri and the Battousai. The Shinsengumi and the Ishin Shishi battles. The assassinations of the Government Leaders. Lord Shishio's rise and fall in power, and so many other yummy things that made her heart beat wildly with unchecked glee. Yes, Kyoto was the perfect place for her Moon Ritual. The perfect place.
"When will we leave, Anaki? How soon can we go?" Her voice was almost breathless with her anticipation.
"As soon as you want, My Dear." He loved to make her happy.
"Then let's leave tomorrow. I want to leave tomorrow."
"Then we shall."
Her eyes were shining like the sun glittering on the rolling sea. Her beauty was unmatched by any woman Anaki had ever known, and he would do anything for her. But this time he had no idea what he was doing, or what he had agreed to. And, although she was smiling like an angel, he
had the heaviest feeling in his heart he could not explain. Shaking it off, he hugged her to him and kissed her flushed cheek. She was happy and that was all that mattered to him. That was all that had ever mattered.
***************
Kenshin had been spending time alone with Soujirou talking with him about his new surfacing emotions, and listening to the younger swordsmans issues of insecurity and self doubt about his future.
"You can't rush your own evolution, Soujirou. You will become what you will when all things have finished working their way free and your soul is aligned with the man you are meant to be. Search out those things that you must, but the rest can come to you only through the progression of time and experience. You must learn your way to a higher plane. It is not simply a state of mind that is given to you because you wish it to be so."
"It is all so difficult to understand, Himura-otan, and I fear at times that my mind is too stunted by the past to ever grow more than it already has." His eyes turned a deep blue-grey as they filled with anxious uncertainty. "What if I am never more than I am at this moment?"
Kenshin sighed and placed a comforting hand on his adopted sons bent head. They were setting across from one another in a secluded shady area of the Aoiya's courtyard. "Then you must learn to accept yourself as you are, Soujirou-sotsu. You must be prepared to live with the man you
are now despite your goals and aspirations of becoming whatever it is you expect yourself to be."
"I want to be like you. I want to be wise and honorable. I want to be worthy of your respect, Himura-otan. I want to be a normal human being who feels emotions and sees the world through the eyes of a living soul, not the cold dead hearted assassin Lord Shishio taught me to be."
"But, my sotsu, you are already all of those things to me whether you are to yourself or not. I no longer see the Tenken when I look at you." Soujirou shyly met the gentle violet eyes of his adopted father. "I see a man of endless patience and kindness. You are developing the emotions of a man who is finding contentment and peace in his life. Don't you see, Soujirou-sotsu? Your feet are already on the path of human evolution, and you are becoming exactly what you wish to be. You only have to give yourself the time necessary to achieve that goal."
"Are you telling me I have already changed?"
"Yes." Kenshin smiled into the surprised boyish face of the other man. "The days of heartless murder are long behind you now, and there is a new truth within your heart that you have begun to live by. No longer do you see the world one dimensionally from the point of view that Shishio taught you."
"You are referring to 'If you are strong you live. If you are weak you die." aren't you."
"Yes, I am. You do not seem to view the world through those twisted eyes anymore."
"No, I do not think I do." Soujirou's voice was a low childish tone. "I have started to realize that everything has a place and a purpose in this world."
"What made you see that? I am curious to know."
"When I became ill and Okina-san found me and brought me back to the Aoiya." Grey-blue eyes filled with wonder and some confusion looked upward into the azure sky. "I was so weak I could not even hold up my own head or raise my hand. He fed me miso and gave me water from his
own hands until I was strong enough to hold a cup and bowl myself. Were I still living by Lord Shishio's law, I should have been left to die by the side of the road irregardless of my situation, but I was not." A smile of genuine sincerity curved his handsome lips. "Okina-san took pity on his fallen enemy and cared for him until his strength was fully restored."
"And what does that tell you?" Kenshin was watching the play of expressions dance across Soujirou's face as he talked.
"I was not strong enough to survive alone." Earnest eyes met those understanding violet ones of his adopted father and friend. "No one is. People cannot survive without other people. We are all ultimately frail, fragile, and susceptible to death from more than just an enemies sword. The elements, grief, accidents, and the slow decay of age will and can claim our lives just the same as a swift warriors death. In the end, we are still just as dead, and death is equal among all beings without prejudice."
Kenshin was nodding his head in agreement and pride as he listened to Soujirou's explanation of why Shishio's single truth was totally wrong. "You are understanding very well. All life is precious without exception, and as men we are the ones held responsible to protect it. It is not our place to judge who is worthy of life and who is not for we are as mortal as those we would judge, therefore; we are equal. Only God may judge who is worthy of life and who is not."
"And we are not Gods, are we, Himura-otan. Niether was Lord Shishio." Soujirou's voice was sad and distant.
"No. Shishio was NOT a God. Although he believed he had the right to decide who could live and who could die."
"He never had that right, did he? There was a time I believed he did. I was so very wrong."
"We all make mistakes, Soujirou-sotsu. We all have things in our past that we are far from proud of. Many of the leaders in the Meiji Government hold me in a level of great esteem and claim I was one of the key factors that helped bring peace to this country because of my role as the Hitokiri Battousai, but I am not proud of the things I did during that time. I am not proud of the man I was. There is so much of my soul that is stained with the blood of the men I killed in the name of peace, and there are times I wonder if I will ever be clean again."
"I believe you are clean, Himura-otan. For you to have survived so many battles and gained such wisdom. I believe God has forgiven you your sins and made you clean again. You are not the same man who fought in the Bakumatsu."
"I thank you for those kind words, my shin-yuu." Kenshin bowed low over his lap in humble acceptance of Soujirou's heart felt observation. "It would appear then that we have both evolved beyond the murder machines we once were. Let us be grateful."
"Indeed, my Father. I am grateful. But I am more grateful for your wisdom than I am for anything else. For your eyes have seen what mine can only guess at, and your heart has felt the pain that I have yet to fully face. I am grateful you are with me on this journey." Soujirou's small almost feminine yet calloused hand reached out toward Kenshin who grasped it in one of his own.
"I am glad I am with you as well, Soujirou. It is an honor for me to travel this path with you. Perhaps, there is more yet for me to learn, and you are meant to be my teacher." His smile was kind, and his eyes full of caring emotions.
"Perhaps." Soujirou chuckled. "Though I can think of nothing I could possibly teach you, Himura-otan. Except possibly the ways of the wind."
"The wind?"
"If the moment presents itself, I will teach you, but until then you are well armed as you are." The smile on the boyish face was radiant, and with a final squeeze of Kenshin's hand, Soujirou rose to his feet and bid his adopted father good-day. Kenshin watched the younger man walk away feeling a warmth and trust settle in his heart.
"You will succeed, Soujirou. You will be a fine, strong man one day, and you will find the answers to all the questions that are plaguing your heart. Just be patient, my sotsu. Be patient and let time and the progression of knowledge take care of you." His voice was a whisper on the soft Autumn breeze that wafted past him.
Strength was returning to him swiftly. He could feel it surging through his blood and spirit as he sat within the security of his friends and family. The joining with Aoshi had rejuvenated him in a way that was difficult to describe. He could still feel the powerful essence of the ninja flowing through him like a great roaring ocean. Fire and Water. Perfect opposites. Yet they were the two most powerful elements in the universe. Combined together they were rebuilding Kenshin's ki with
alarming swiftness and precision, and the power and strength he felt was already greater than that he had known on his own before. Aoshi had made him a stronger fighter. He had given him the ability to form a stronger more impenetrable shield to protect himself, and the core of his resolve was becoming more and more stable with each passing moment.
The gifts of Hiko's ki and Aoshi's ki were healing Kenshin, but not only that, they were making him more than he had been before. He was becoming a warrior of the elements. A warrior for the earth, and a protector of her children. He was being prepared.
"Here you are." The soft feminine voice brought a quick smile to his face. "I have been looking for you everywhere." Kaoru knelt down close next to Kenshin. The bright green of the grass was a beautiful contrast for the deep red of her kimono. She was wearing a soft pink obi and a matching ribbon in her shiny black hair. He reached out and took one of her hands in his and pulled it into his lap.
"You could not have been looking for very long, koishii, I have been right here for quite sometime." He chuckled gently and bent to place a soft kiss on the back of her hand.
"I did not want to interrupt you and Soujirou. It seemed the two of you were very deep into whatever it was you were discussing, and I did not want to intrude." Deep blue eyes gazed into his face lovingly. "I am so glad you did what you did for him today. It was a grand thing, Kenshin. Truly it was."
Kenshin blushed and pulled her close to him so he could wrap his arms around her. "You are not upset I did it then?" His voice was slightly muffled as he buried his face against the curve of her neck. "I have worried about that a little bit, that I have." He purposefully nuzzled into her hair until his lips touched her skin.
Kaoru's sharp intake of air told him that he had found a sensitive spot, and he pushed the tip of his tongue against it drawing tiny little circles of fire that he moved up the side of her throat until he
reached her ear. "I have missed you, koishii." He breathed in a husky whisper that sent shivers through her. He pulled away to look thoughtfully into the deep blue pools of her passion filled eyes and lost himself inside of their warmth. A tender hand lifted to stroke the smooth creamy flesh of her cheek, and a soft smile of love curved his mouth as he watched her close those lovely eyes to nuzzle her face closer to his caressing hand.
"Aishiteru Kenshin." She whispered and looked into his dark purple eyes. "I have missed you too." The hand touching her cheek gently slid around to cup the back of her head, and he pulled her face to his so the warmth of his searching mouth could find the waiting eagerness of hers.
It was a soft moist kiss. A kiss filled with love, tenderness, and the joy of knowing that they were together at last. Kaoru's hands caressed Kenshin's bare chest inside of the open 'V' of his gi
making him groan with male pleasure as he lifted her up and pulled her farther into his lap. His fingers nimbly untied her obi but only to the point that he could splay both hands along her back and crush her against him without the knot getting in the way. The kiss deepened and his tongue slid past her lips to dance and play with hers. Passion mounted between them as it always did, and Kenshin broke off the kiss burying his face against her kimono covered breasts his breathing harsh and ragged. Kaoru's hands were lost deep within his long red hair, and they pulled him closer to her as she bent over kissing the top of his head then rested her cheek against its softness. Her breathing matched his.
Thus they sat until their hearts returned to a normal beat, and they could breath easy again. A wicked chuckle rose from Kenshin's chest as he nibbled provocatively at her partially exposed chest. Kaoru giggled and tried to wriggle away from him, but he held her fast.
"I do not think you are going anywhere, jou-chan." His voice was mischievous.
"Kenshin, let me go before someone sees us." A cascade of delighted giggles vibrated against his temple bringing yet another chuckle from him as well as a few more well placed nips.
"And what are they going to see, my little jou-chan? Something terrible? Or perhaps something that will make them wish they had a pretty girl setting in their lap with her kimono half askew?" He was laughing, and she was giggling with delighted embarrassment, but she could feel his hands retying her obi and straightening her kimono at the same time.
"You are evil, Kenshin. I swear it." Kaoru's eyes were dancing with laughter when heraised his head and looked into her face. He smiled and pulled her head down so he could kiss her again.
"Mmmmm, you are right, my beautiful angel. I am evil, and wicked, and beyond all hope of reformation." He was trying to talk and kiss her at the same time. "I freely admit... kiss kiss..... that I am.... kiss.... hopelessly.... kiss kiss... unequivocally... kiss kiss kiss... deeply in love with you, and when... kiss kiss... you are in my arms... kiss... I can think of nothing... kiss kiss... but making love to
you... kiss kiss... and it does not seem to matter... kiss kiss kiss... where we are at the time. You simply go to my head, koishii." And he seized her lips in a short, deep passionate kiss that left her
breathless and wishing they were back at his room, but all she could do was hide her flushed face against his shoulder and wrap her arms tightly around him.
"You don't go to my head, Kenshin." She nuzzled his throat tenderly. "When you hold me and kiss me like that, my brain just quits working all together." At that honest statement, they were both suffused with laughter. "I love you," she whispered and kissed his cheek.
"I love you, my angel." He pressed his nose against hers and smiled. "Is it time we went home?" She giggled and kissed his lips when she heard the coaxing quality he had added to his question.
"I suppose so. We have done about everything you wanted to do, haven't we?"
"Umm-hum. All we need to do now is say our farewells, and we can be on our way. That we can."
"What about Yahiko?" Kaoru sat up with a concerned look. "I... I do not really want to take him back with us just yet." She was biting her lip as her mind went to work trying to figure out a way around that little problem.
"Not to worry, my love. I think Yahiko would be better off here with Misao and Aoshi than with us in my room. Here at the Aoiya he can have his own room instead of sharing one with us."
"Oh Kenshin! That is a wonderful idea!" Kaoru threw her arms around his neck and hugged him again. "You think of everything." He smiled indulgently. Most of the time she was very good for his ego. It was just the rest of the time when she was thumping the hell out of him that he had to worry about.
Shortly after that they were on their way back to Kenshin's room with Yahiko safely tucked away at the Aoiya under the watchful eyes of his new adopted brother, Seta Soujirou, and Shinomori Aoshi.
They had been walking and talking for some time when Kaoru suddenly perked up and blurted out, "You think he will really be alright there? I mean, we aren't being too terribly selfish are we, Kenshin?" Kaoru was fretting over pawning Yahiko off on their friends instead of resuming
her responsibility of his care. "Are you sure we did the right thing leaving Yahiko at the Aoiya?"
"Kaoru," Kenshin's voice took on a reasonable tone. "I have a feeling that Yahiko would much rather be at the Aoiya with Soujirou and Misao that with US anyway. Considering our new relationship I am not sure he would want to share a room with us."
"OH." All Kaoru could manage was a high pitched squeak as the meaning of what Kenshin was referring to finally sank in. "Goodness, I wonder what he must be thinking. OH DEAR. I had not thought of that."
"I did not think you had, but I am sure he has." A rich barrage of laughter enveloped her as a deep blush stained her pale cheeks. "Not to worry, koishii. Yahiko is old enough to understand that kind of a relationship between a man and a woman, so do not go getting all bent out of shape over his knowing about us."
"I do not care about him knowing about what men and women do," she was squeaking again. "It is that he knows that we are doing IT that bothers me." Kenshin could not help it. He burst into laughter, but then found himself dodging Kaoru's flying fists as her temper rose past the boiling point in less than a second. Not being fully up to par, he could not dodge her indefinitely, and she finally connected.
TTHHWACK! Kaoru's right cross caught Kenshin square on the left side of his jaw and he went flying into the dusty street.
"That ought to teach you, you rotten ruroni. Don't you ever laugh at me again, or I swear I'll beat you senseless." Kenshin opened his eyes just a crack and looked into the furious face of his beloved.
"Ororo...."he moaned and struggled to a sitting position. "I was not laughing AT you, Kaoru. I was laughing at what you said." Getting to his feet was a little shaky, but she was there to help him. "We really need to work on your temper control." He offered her a wan smile.
"Kenshin... I am sorry. I did not mean to hit you that hard." She was biting her lip again.
"Not that hard?" He rubbed his sore jaw and chuckled. "I guess I would hate to see you when you seriously wanted to hit me." A dark blush stained her cheeks.
"I said I was sorry." she muttered and walked away from him with her head bowed contritely. Kuso. She began to chastise herself harshly inside her own mind. 'Why do I always have to hit him when I get mad? Why cannot I just yell or throw things? He is probably really mad
at me now.' She absently kicked a small stone and watched it tumble a few feet ahead of her.
They were close to the boarding house, and Kenshin had worked up an appetite for Kaoru while they were kissing at the Aoiya. He looked at the dejected picture she made walking up the street with her head bent over and her feet shuffling aimlessly, and he could not help the smile that crossed his face. God, but he loved this woman. A wicked gleam filled his violet eyes, and they deepened to a dark blue-purple as his mind made the final decision. With a stride full of purpose and his new found strength Kenshin ducked his chin and determinedly walked straight for Kaoru.
Kaoru looked up and noticed that they were almost back at Kenshin's room. 'Well, I sure blew it this time.' She thought angrily. 'Why can't I do anything right?' Baka Kaoru.
Then all at once she found herself scooped up into a pair of strong and quite capable arms. "N-nn-nani?" she stuttered and then found herself looking into a pair of passionate hunger filled deep blue-purple eyes. "K-kenshin?" He did not say a single word to her, but just carried her the rest of the way to the house until he could slowly drop her feet to the floor in his room. As soon as her toes were on solid ground, his hands were untying her pink obi and tossing it carelessly aside.
Kaoru's breathing quickened on a sharp gasp as he pealed her red kimono open and slipped it off her shoulders letting it fall to the floor in a heap around her ankles. A deep moan of hungry desire escaped his throat as his warm calloused hands rose to cup her soft white breasts and gently mold them into his palms.
Kaoru's head was spinning, and she wrapped her arms around her lovers neck to keep from losing her balance. She could feel his hands on her flesh and his mouth was burning a heated pathway of fire along the curve of her throat and shoulder. As the thrill of his touch filled her senses and swept her away to that golden world of pleasure that only he knew of, Kaoru's head dropped backwards and dangled on her fragile neck. In response, one of Kenshin's hands lifted and cupped the back of her head supporting the weight easily as his mouth traveled down her throat and across her collarbones. His free hand moved behind her and fitted itself into the swaying curve in the small of her back, and he pressed her closer against the hard maleness of him. A hoarse high pitched moan
was torn from her as she made contact with the rigidness of him, and her hands convulsively dug themselves deep into his hair loosening the tie that kept it bound. It tumbled loose and cascaded free into a rich glorious curtain of red-gold flame that further enveloped her in his world of fiery passion.
"You belong to me." His voice was coarse and raspy. "You are my retsujou, my shikijou, my aikouka." The moist heat of his breath was at her cheek. " Desire, lust, love... you are all of these things to me and more." His hand lifted her limp head up, and deep blue out of focus passion filled eyes gazed at him. "You are my Mate, my meito. In the arms of omeka, there can be no one else for me but you, Kaoru. My arms can never hold another woman in this embrace of sexual fulfillment now that they have held you, My Beloved." His mouth fell to claim hers in a blistering kiss of love and passionate need. "In my heart, you are already my Wife." A soft sob shook her small frame as she rose to meet his mouth. "You are my Aisai. My beloved wife." And the golden
world that had waited patiently for them opened its doors and ushered them inside.
In the aftermath of their most passionate joining, Kenshin lay tilted on his side with his face nuzzled up in the hollowed curve of Kaoru's neck. His free arm was laying across her chest with his hand gently cupping the opposite side of her face. His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and regular. Kaoru was certain he was asleep.
She was laying on her back, one of her arms beneath his neck and around his shoulders lovingly holding him against her while her other arm was draped across the top of his where it lay on her chest. Her fingers were idly tracing tiny nonsensical patterns on his arm where his elbow bent between her breasts. One of his legs was riding comfortably between hers, and her foot was absently rubbing against his shin. He felt so good to her just laying with her like this. A part of her did not want him to ever move.
The room was quiet and the fading light indicated that the Sun was starting to go down. Evening was setting in. She smiled a satisfied feline-type smile as she remember how they had spent a good part of the afternoon. There were more than a few sore muscles boo-hooing to her about the abuse they felt they had received during her and Kenshin's drawn out love making session. Mentally she told them all to shut-up. She did not regret a single moment, and a few sore muscles was a petty price to pay for the ecstasy she had felt in his arms.
"You seem very relaxed, koishii." Kenshin's voice was a soft purr against Kaoru's neck. "Have I pleased you, my angel?" Another satisfied smile curved her beautiful lips, and she wrapped both arms around him. "I assume that means yes..?" There was a touch of humor in his voice at her unspoken response, but then it changed to uncertainty and concern. "Did I hurt you, Kaoru?" She felt surprised by the carefully spoken question.
"Hurt me?"
"I think I may have lost a bit more of my control that usual. I-I do not want to have my carelessness cause you harm." His lips pressed a tender kiss against her throat.
"No Kenshin. You did not hurt me. No more than I hurt you I am sure." She could feel him smile against the skin of her shoulder. "I think we both lost most of our control, but..." She paused.
"But..." he prodded. "But what?"
"But there are some things I want to ask you. Can I?" She was being cautious. He did not like that and his eyes narrowed just a bit.
"Of course you can." He raised up on his elbow and looked into her face intently. "You can ask me anything you wish."
"All right." She bit her lip in trepidation. "You said something to me when we were... well, when you... " he smiled and one elegant brown eyebrow raised in tolerant humor. "Oh kuso. You know what I mean." A gentle laugh escaped him.
"All right, yes I understand what you mean. But Kaoru...."
"What?"
"Your cursing again."
"No I did not."
"Yes, koishii you did."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"Dammit."
"Kaoru!" He burst into laughter and kissed her chin. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" She shrugged and screwed her face up into a look of 'Gee, I do not know', and he just laughed more. "All right, back to your question. You said I said something to you when we were..." He
looked at her to see if he had the gist of her thought. She nodded. "What did I say?"
"Well, you said... ummm... well... oh I can't do this. Never mind." She covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. "I can't ask you this. Baka Kaoru." She whailed.
Kenshin chuckled and nuzzled around her chin and her nose. "Yes you can, Kaoru. You can do anything you want. After all, you are 'Kaoru'." That drew several giggles from her and she peeked at him from beneath her hand.
"You promise me you will not go all weird on me or anything?"
"I promise."
"You swear."
"I swear."
"I mean it Kenshin."
"Good Lord Kaoru, what do you want me to do? I have already promised... twice." She eyed him intently and finally nodded her head.
"OK, but if you make me feel stupid, I am beating the shit out of you."
"Deal." Kenshin was not sure what he had gotten himself into, but it seemed very important to her, so he would do his best not to upset her. Besides, he was wracking his brain trying to remember what he had said to her that would get her going like this, and he could not think of a single thing. Women.
"Here goes..." she took a deep breath and looked into his clear amethyst eyes. "You said that now you had held me you would not be able to have sex with another woman because there was no one else for you but me. You called me your Meito."
"My Mate?" His voice was soft but held no traces of mockery or denial.
"Yes."
"What else did I tell you?" He lowered his eyes and his fingers started playing with a strand of her silken ebony hair.
"Well, y-you said that I belonged to you." She was stammering slightly.
"Did I? " he continued to play with her hair.
"Yes." Kaoru was beginning to regret this conversation.
"And did I tell you that you are the very core of desire in my soul?"
"Sort of. You said something about desire and love." She was rapidly losing her nerve.
"Umm-hum. And did I tell you that with in my heart, Kaoru, you are my Aisai? Did I tell you my heart believes you are my Beloved Wife?"
"Yes." Her voice was barely audible, and it was getting hard to breath.
"So, what are your questions, my little jou-chan?" Beautiful pale amber eyes rose to capture her half frightened half hopeful deep blue gaze. "What do you wish to know? Ask me what you will, and I will tell you whatever you wish to know. That I will." His voice was even and calm.
The look in those pale golden eyes was making her mouth go dry, and making logical brain function almost impossible. She felt like a mouse being mesmerized by a cobra.
"Kaoru?" His voice was low and filled with an emotion she could not identify. "I am waiting, my dear."
"I-I- I guess I want to kn-know if you meant any of it, or..." she stumbled to a pause biting her lip in anxiety.
"Or...." He coaxed her with his voice and his eyes.
"Or... or if it was just the passion talking in the heat of the moment." The words were forced out in a rush before she lost her nerve to say them at all. She hung onto the core of her resolve and forced herself to maintain eye contact with him despite the thundering anxiety in her heart.
"Did I mean any of it?" The words were almost more thought than voice they were spoken so quietly. "Or did I speak them in the heat of passion?" His free hand stole softly and tenderly to her pale face where he slowly traced the delicate lines of her eyelids and eyebrows. The expression on his face began to change though only slightly. The line of his mouth softened as did the plane of his forehead. Kaoru watched him unable to tear her eyes away from the subtle shifting of his handsome features.
"Look at me, Kaoru. Look at me with the eyes of your heart not the eyes of your mind, and tell me what you see."
"Kenshin, I... "
"LOOK. AT. ME." He punctuated each word and looked deep into her eyes as if he were trying to see to her very soul, or... Or maybe he was trying to let her see to the core of his soul. "Tell me what you see."
She was not sure she understood what he was getting at or what he wanted her to do. When she looked at him, she saw a kind, generous, wonderful man who had been through a great deal of pain in his life. She saw a man with scars on his heart and his soul. Scars that ran deep to the very center of his being and colored every thought and choice he made. She saw a man who had lived his life alone and in a near constant state of grief and loss because it seemed everyone he allowed himself to care about had died or cared nothing for him. Tears filled her eyes as she realized what she really saw when she looked at him.
She saw a lonely man. She a man who was so afraid to share his heart that he had learned to keep everyone he met at distance so he would not learn to care for them. He had become a ruroni so he would never be in one place long enough to call it home or establish emotional ties. She saw a man who was terrified to love, to stop, or to allow himself to be loved because all those things had ever brought to him was pain and grief. The tears spilled over her lower lids and raced down her
pale cheeks.
When she finally spoke to him, her voice was strained but filled with entreaty. "I do not want you to be lonely anymore, Kenshin. I do not want you to be afraid of loving or being loved ever again. I want to make you happy and make all the worry and sadness in your heart disappear. I want to hear you laugh and watch you play with your children. I want you to know there is always a home and a warm bed for you to come back to wherever you go, and I want you to know I will
always be waiting for you too." She watched his eyes close and saw him take a deep shuddering breath. "I want you to never doubt that I love you, and I will always and forever belong to you... if you want me too." A single tear slid town his face and dropped onto her bare shoulder. "My arms are always open to you, and I will be your sanctuary from the world. I will be your peace. All you have to do is trust me to love you that much. Do you? Kenshin? Do you trust me that much?"
"Do you love me that much, Kaoru?" His voice was the tiniest whisper.
"Yes, I love you that much. I always have. Didn't you know that? Can't you tell?" Teary amber eyes opened to lock gazes with her searching sapphires. "I always have... my Anata. My dearest Husband."
A broken sound escaped him, and his arms were beneath and around her in an instant. A mouth hungry for her love and unconditional acceptance closed over hers, and they tasted the mingling of their tears on each others lips..
"Will you, Kaoru?" He whispered against her mouth. "Will you be my Aisai? Will you marry me and grow old with me? Will you be my lover and have my children?" He rose up to look at her face. "Will you be my Wife, my beloved koishii?"
More and more tears flowed and covered Kaoru's pale cheeks, but the most brilliant smile Kenshin had ever seen lit up her face. "Yes Kenshin. Yes, yes, yes." His mouth moved and captured hers again as a feeling of such happiness the likes of which he had never known burst open in his heart. There was also a notable sensation of something dark and heavy being lifted away from him, and he experienced a feeling of lightness such that he thought he could fly away.
For the first time in his near 30 years of life, Himura Kenshin felt free, content, safe, and... he felt loved. He had finally found a place to truly call him home. Within the arms of a beautiful 19 year old girl with brilliant blue eyes and raven black hair he had found a place to belong and a person to lavish all of the love on that he had previously locked away in his heart. It would never again matter where he was or where he went, as long as she was beside him he would be home.
Kamiya Kaoru was his home. Her strong loving arms were the only home he would ever need.
At long last, the ruroni found a reason to never go wandering again. He felt roots growing out of the soles of his feet, and he was glad.
*****************
The next morning dawned blustery and cold in Tomo. A bitter wind blew in harshly from the north countries turning what dew there was to an icy frost. Everyone admitted they had never seen an August past that had come on this cold before. Not in the last 100 years was there even one
recorded. Farmers were rushing to gather what they could of their crop ends that had not frozen so it could be laid in storage for the coming winter months. A great fear was building in the city and the
surrounding towns and villages. If the beginning of Autumn was already growing this cold, how cold was this years Winter going to be? More and more prayers were being said every day.
Minister Honia and his wife continued to sit their sad vigil within the Temple near their home. For nearly ten days they had sat on the smoothly polished wooden floors praying to Buddha for the safe return of their only daughter, Cleo who had disappeared from the sheltered gardens
outside the family home. She was a bright but quiet child of 15 who excelled in reading, writing, and history. Her mother had asked her to go out into the rose garden and cut the few remaining flowers for her. When Cleo did not return after more than an hour, the servants were sent looking for her, but no trace of her had been found except a few droplets of blood on the stone steps leading out to the beach.
Minister Honia had been beside himself with grief for this was his only daughter after having been blessed with five sons. He adored Cleo and had lavished ever drop of love on her he possessed. Their relationship was viewed as unusual and few of the Minister's associates understood his impassioned feelings for his daughter. Sons were what men wanted. A girl child was acceptable, but not to be fawned over or spoiled as he had done with his. But he was an old man so his behavior
was overlooked.
The Tama police had been searching for clues in Cleo's disappearance, but had yet to find a single one except the blood. The Minister and his wife were beginning to fear the worst as the days
dragged by.
So, on this cold blustery morning with the grey misty fogs slithering close to the ground, it should have come as no real surprise when one of the house maid ran into the Temple weeping and screaming hysterically.
"Master! Oh Master!" She threw herself on the floor in front of the grieving parents her face a mask of terror and deep sorrow. "Oh dearest God in heaven.... Master, Master, Master...." and she broke off burying her face in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.
"What? What is it Lou-chan? What has happened?" Minister Honia placed a comforting hand on the sobbing girls head. "Tell me, child. What has happened."
"Th-the jou-chan, Master." Her voice began breaking. "The jou-chan..."
"Cleo...?" both parents gasped. "Something has happened to do with Cleo?"
"Yessss." Her agony was clear. "We have found her."
"Where? Where Lou-chan? Where is my daughter?" Minister Honia grabbed the sobbing girl by the shoulders and shook her until she met his gaze. "Where is Cleo?"
"Oh Kami... She is in her bed." The girl collapsed as the Minister leapt to his feet and sprinted out of the Temple. His wife was directly behind him holding the hem of her kimono high so she would not trip.
The burst into the house and flew up the stairway to the second floor. The fusuma to their daughters room was standing halfway open, and they rushed to it. Minister Honia threw it the rest of the way open nearly tearing the fragile fusuma from its place. Both parents stopped and stood frozen as they stared at the horror of what used to be their daughter.
As tears filled his eyes and blinded him to the bloody mess that wore his daughters face, Minister Honia frantically grabbed his wife and pulled her face hard against his chest. He tried vainly to stop her from looking even though he knew it was already too late as her screams filled the air and ricocheted off every surface and bounced back to them.
Their beautiful, sweet, timid Cleo was a butchers nightmare. Her young body had been hacked and slashed with such rage and savagery that there were layers of flesh pealed away revealing the muscle and bone beneath. The only part of her that had not been defiled in this
horrible manner was her face. Thought it was badly bruised and swollen from many beatings, it was still possible for her parents to distinguish that is was indeed their daughter.
There would be no comfort for this tragedy. No end to this grief. Their sweet innocent child had died within the agonies of Hell, and no one had saved her. All they could do was pray for her soul and their own.
When news of the hideous murder reached the Police Force in Aziu, Thian and Ishida Miko looked at each other in horror. This was the daughter of the Minister who had opposed General Katsura's plan. It was too much of a coincidence for both of them.
Ishida warily cast an anxious look over his shoulder. As long as he was with Thian, the Horde stayed at bay. As long as his brother was by his side, he was safe. But how long could Thian stay with him every minute of everyday? Ishida could feel his time running thin. Something had to happen to change this steady pace towards doom, but what?
"Look, we have a message from one of our informers in Enshi. Looks like the General and Lady Katsura are taking a trip to Kyoto."
"Kyoto?" Ishida was puzzled. "What is in Kyoto?"
"Well," Thian pursed his lips in thought. "Let's see. It's almost the middle of August. What happens in August? Anything important. I mean, I do not know, do you?"
Ishida started to think. Something was tickling the back of his mind. August... what was it about August? He stood up and started to pace. "August..." he said softly to himself. Then... "Dammit!! The Festival. It is that damn Festival. She is going to do something with the Festival."
"Ok, you lost me. What Festival?"
"Baka!" He smacked Thian in the back of the head. "The Autumn Moon Festival you idiot. It is the full moon equinox thing, but according to witch lore, it is also one of the most powerful magical nights of the year."
"Oh. Let me guess. A great time for casting spells and performing rituals and stuff."
"Yes."
"Ok. Now I am with you, but what would make it so special to her even if it is such a great night for doing stuff?"
"Well, say you wanted to bring your best friend over from Okinawa, but it was in the middle of typhoon season."
"Ok."
"Say there was one day during the whole season that it did not rain and his boat could get through so you go get him."
"Uh-huh."
"All right, now let's say that you found a magic boat that let the two of you go back and forth anytime you wanted because it had the ability to make a permanent safe path through the typhoons, and you never had to wait for a safe day again."
"Holy shit!"
"Exactly."
"But how in the hell is she going to make a permanent door open between Hell and here?"
"Well, the only way she can make a door open at all is through some sort of ritual, but the door only stays open for a little while. She must have found a way to make it stay open, and doing the ritual on the night of the Autumn Moon is the perfect time to do it because of all the natural magic power there is then."
"We gotta stop this." Thian's face was serious and pale. "But whose going to believe us?"
"I do not know, but we will find a way to make them believe us." His voice was thin and shaky. "Somehow, Thian. We have to find a way to make them believe us. We have to."
"So, we are going to Kyoto?"
"I guess we better don't you think?"
"Yes. When should we leave?"
"Now is as good of a time as any."
"Ok. You are the boss after all."
"Right, and cat shit omelets are my favorite breakfast food. Come on and lets get moving."
"Cat shit omelets, huh. Hummm, never had one."
"Will you shut the hell up and get moving."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Geez, you got no sense of humor any more." The two men walked out of the small office and closed the door.