Ciao!!!

Good news! I have by now settled into the old rhythm of school… there is one thing that never changes: School. Is. Boring. I am bored out of mind… and the teachers have caught onto me writing my stories… now they want to see my notes… I never write notes, where's the fun in it? When you write notes it's no challenge to repeat a lesson in your mind three days later. I don't want to be any more bored than I have to be… so I may not write anything during lessons… teachers are evil, evil creatures! *grins* At least I've become faster with my homework, almost back to my old tempo, even though I have almost 1/3 more subjects… so now I can write in the evenings or on weekends unless a piano concert/competition is due (it's the season), or there's something else, like movies or theater… I think I'll be able to manage my two stories and weekly updates on SL after all! And to top it off, the heavy cast around my ankle's come off and a lighter one has been applied. This one's a little more flexible and allows me to wriggle my toes, besides, I finally don't feel like I am lugging around twenty extra pounds anymore! *sighs in relief* Now, I'm letting you off the hook. Enjoy the story!!!

"…." Denotes talking

….. denotes thinking

*~* means a change of scenery (either temporal or local, I think which one of those will be clear) has taken place

Disclaimer: I do in no way own any rights, moral or others, to Rurouni Kenshin, its characters or plot. Characters other than the characters from Rurouni Kenshin bearing any resemblance to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. I do not intend to make any profits out of this story, it's written for entertainment purposes only and any attempt by persons natural or legal to make money from it in any way is not in accordance with this author's express wishes.

Chapter 12

Con te partirò?

Days and nights- the difference became unknown to those cooped up underground. Kenshin would always announce when the soldiers had left, and soon after a dejected and tired-looking Misao came to bring them food and water. Gruesome peacefulness, forced silence, tense watchfulness and waiting, waiting for the time they would finally be able to leave their hideout again blurred the hours together into one boring uniform nothingness. To just sit around, not to be able to do anything due to the cramped conditions, no certainty about what went on in the world- the fugitives' nerves lay blank, and after the first big fallout they'd had everyone was just careful to keep quiet since Kenshin had reminded them icily, eyes blaring in molten gold, that the soldiers would certainly investigate ghostly voices from the underground.

Kaoru and Yahiko probably were the least affected by their situation. After having accepted that she would be stuck in that hellhole of a room- as much as it had seemed a paradise at first, now there was hardly anything paradisiacal about being shut off from sunlight and fresh air- Kaoru's quick mind had devised a way of training with the insolent little brat of a boy, as she called him in her mind. Mostly, it consisted of the two sitting opposite each other spouting insults while she demonstrated with her smoothed and shaped wooden stick- she had asked Misao for a knife so she could make it into something resembling a bokken- how to hit someone over the head… well, actually she demonstrated how to hold it correctly, how to make the wrist function in just the right mixture of rigidity and flexibility, of strength and suppleness. Yahiko had had some problems with that, his grip always a little too tight, his hands always a little too focused on strength alone. She had to explain- and demonstrate on the rather appreciative demonstration object of the student'd head- a million times how flexibility and the quick reactions that came with it were as decisive to a battle as raw strength.

Still, the boy had been stubborn and had insisted on using too much strength- until Kenshin had surprisingly intervened, giving up his silent watch at the entrance and coming over to them. His eyes, rimmed by dark circles showing he didn't sleep as much as he should, had wordlessly asked Kaoru for permission, and after her nodded consent he had gripped the makeshift bokken tightly in a two-handed grip similar to Kaoru's, the sinews on the back of his hands standing out in stark whiteness against his lightly tanned skin. Kaoru found herself fascinated with these hands, long and slender fingers seemingly too fragile to exert the strength that lay within them, the play of muscles and sinews under smooth skin on the upper side, slightly chipped, short fingernails at the top of the fingers a little broadened by the calluses on their underside. His joints were prominent, the skin covering them rougher than the rest, a little redder, a little thicker. Not like Sanosuke's- the tall man had the hands of a fist-fighter, with very rough and thick knuckles and skin that had been ruptured more than once, not like those of a farmer, completely rough troughs and stark gnarly appearance, with prominent veins and crooked joints, but not like the manicured fingers of a noble either. Kenshin's hands were remarkably similar to her father's…

"Break my grip," he asked Yahiko. The boy looked up at the red-haired sword master questioningly.

"How?" he asked, his dark, black-brown eyes betraying his insecurity while he clambered to his feet.

"Imagine you have just caught the blade in your hands and are now aiming to twist it out of my grasp, please," Kenshin answered smilingly.

Hesitantly, Yahiko grabbed the bokken's blade with both hands, confusion on his face until it lit up in sudden understanding and he gave a sharp twist of the wrists. To his utter amazement, the bokken flew out of Kenshin's grasp and, sine he had not expected it to be so easy to rob the agent of the weapon, flew across the room into Sano's snoring face.

"Oi!" the rooster-head grumbled indignantly, "what is it this time, Missy?" Yahiko couldn't help but laugh.

"So this is how Kaoru manages to wake you up!" Megumi exclaimed before she suddenly became conscious of the fact she was leaning against Sano for comfort, and quickly sat upright. "I should learn that, too!"

"Don't you dare teach Foxy how to wield that stick! She would be unbearable!" It was something akin to panic that tinged Sano's voice, but the amused sparkle in his eyes told the group he didn't mean it. He playfully grinned at Megumi, who scowled in mock anger.

"Oh, I do know some uses for a stick already," Megumi stated haughtily before retrieving the bokken and giving it to the still laughing Yahiko. "I believe this is yours, Yahiko."

"So it was the brat!" Sano grumbled under his breath, settling back into a more comfortable position (and incidentally getting closer to Megumi again… not that he intended to associate with a Fox, of course…). Yahiko grinned at him, taunting him, but the tall ex-Sekihoutai simply closed his eyes again. He wasn't about to let a brat annoy him when his arm was around the shoulders of a beautiful physician-agent… and for once Megumi let Yahiko's behavior slip as well, her mind occupied with the pleasant warm feeling radiating from a thinly clad, muscular arm and hand hanging across her nape and down her arm.

"That was good, that it was," Kenshin said as Yahiko returned with a triumphant expression on his face, "it was rather easy for you to take my weapon, wasn't it?" He took the bokken from Yahiko's hands again, holding it in the same position as before, only this time his hands seemed relaxed, his grip almost too lose around the handle to even hold the weapon steady. "Now try again," he said, an encouraging smile on his lips. Yahiko grinned arrogantly. "Sure thing!"

Twenty seconds and five failed attempts later a lightning-quick turn of the bokken whipped the boy, who was clinging to it with all his might, off his feet and onto the floor.

"You see now, Yahiko?" Kaoru asked gleefully. The boy rubbed his smarting posterior. "Shut up, Bu-"

Their banter wasn't even given a chance to start as Kenshin suddenly gripped the hilt of his own, steel sword hanging on his hip tightly, his eyes narrowing and acquiring a dangerous glint just a second before Okina charged into the underground room. The sakabatou was out of its sheath and at the intruder's neck in a flash, and only the supernatural reflexes of its wielder saved Okina from serious injury. Apologetically, Kenshin looked to the floor while resheathing his weapon, then leading the startled farmer into the room.

"I'm sorry, Okina-dono, that I am," he said, searching the older man's eyes and meeting understanding.

"I'm sorry, Himura-dono, I should have announced my presence. But you sure are on guard, that's good." Panting, the old man sat down in one of the chairs vacated by Kaoru and Yahiko. "However, that's not why I came."

"I figured as much," Megumi said dryly. Sano snickered, quickly falling silent when Okina's expression changed into a serious mask.

"The Agency sent news, for Himura-dono's eyes only," the old man announced, "could you please read this, Himura-dono?" he pulled a small, white sheet of translucent rice paper entirely covered by neat and narrow writing. Kenshin's eyes never lost their sharp focus as he studied the message, eyes occasionally narrowing as though he had received some unpleasant news. Finally, the hand holding the thin sheet into the light dropped to his side, a tired look stealing onto the agent's face.

"Thank you, Okina-dono," he said, crumbling the paper in his hands and, under the watchful eyes of the rest of the fugitives, walking over to one of the candles they had lit in the room in addition to the provided lighting. Before anyone could protest, the slip of paper had turned into a brightly burning flame and then into a few flakes of ash falling onto the linoleum-covered floor. "I will treat the information as confidentially as Katsura wants me to."

Okina nodded, getting up from his chair. "I have to go upstairs again, but if you need anything besides the usual things which I will prepare simply ask for it when Misao brings your food later." Kenshin nodded his thanks, his face darker than ever, the light smile he had worn while showing Yahiko that Kaoru's teachings were useful and good gone, his eyes troubled and shadowed by more than just his unruly red bangs.

"Tonight we have to leave," he abruptly stated once the secret door had closed behind Okina's back, "so we should all rest now, that we should." Dropping down onto the floor in his customary place and position he slipped out of his shirt and, without any sign of discomfort, unraveled the bandages from around his torso and shoulder. The wounds were nothing but healing scars by now, scabbed and red but no longer open. Discarding the white wrappings the agent shrugged his shirt back on, very much aware of the scrutinizing two blue eyes were doing but trying to ignore it and the reactions it evocated from him.

"Won't it be risky to leave with all the soldiers still crawling around?" Sae asked, her eyes wide, recognizing the tension in the air for what it was yet unable to contain her own anxiety, thus breaking the electric stare fixated on Kenshin and freeing the agent from its confines, leaving him able to look at the rest of their ragtag group with barely held back anger at himself and his superiors and fear for their safety. He tried to smile at the little girl sitting at the back of the room, but it ended up a rather pathetic attempt of a smile so he quickly dropped is gaze to his feet, sullen and quiet for the moment. Tsubame, who had regained a bit of color and a little of what her personality might have been before the Camp, hid behind the two women who were her caretakers and looked at the young red-haired man who suddenly was all gloomy and spooky and not as easygoing anymore. Distinctly, the girl recalled how that man had fought against the creepy officer with the yellow eyes, and how his eyes had glowed golden all of a sudden as well.

"Aw man. That's bad news!" Sano complained, "I was countin' on a few more days here. At least I might get to fight some…"

"Your hand is not healed yet. Idiot roosters who drop parts of barracks on their hands should not fight at all," Megumi hissed, more annoyed than angry, "and Ken-san, you know it takes weeks to properly heal bruised and broken ribs. And Tsubame is not out of danger yet. She will die if we have to run for more than two nights in a row. I think you should reconsider this, Ken-san."

"I fear I can't do that, that I can't. Our spies within the Regime told us the Pharaoh himself is coming to these parts, and that means even more soldiers, that it does. We have only three days. But the good news is that we also have only two more nights until we reach the border, that we have. Apparently I took a longer road to Camp Freedom than necessary, that I did. Once we have reached the border, you know that there will be agents waiting for us and helping us along, that you do." The agent's voice never wavered, but an apologetic undertone had stolen its way into the soft-spoken words. Letting his gaze wander around the drab, shabby little room and the seven refreshed-looking people with the courageous smile on their faces a little smile curved his lips in an upward arc. They were special, more so than he had ever thought people could be.

"The Pharaoh himself?" Megumi whispered, a mixture of disbelief and fear in her bewildered cinnamon eyes. "I didn't think he even existed… or that he was real. The stories about him are even wilder than those about Battousai… and to think that he…"

"Who's that 'Pharaoh'? A living mummy out to frighten little children?" Sano asked, shifting his straw from the right corner of his mouth to the left.

"Yes, who is he, Kenshin?" Sae, Tae, and even Tsubame, asked.

"He's the leader of the Regime military and secret service. He's a cruel man, and he's very dangerous." Kenshin answered truthfully, telling them only what they needed to know.

"And what are those stories?" Yahiko asked eagerly. A myth like that of Battousai- imagine seeing it come true! The boy's eyes shone brightly, his whole life one big adventure, and even that hole of a room suddenly not so bad anymore.

"Some say he is an oni, others think he was once an Agency member who turned his back on his comrades and fled, he is supposedly ten feet tall, breathes fire and has a weapon that spouts a flame ten feet long. He is said to eat his opponents alive and torture his subordinates with burn torture. To me it seems like he has some serious pyromaniac issues…" Megumi recounted what she had heard. Kenshin smiled and nodded.

"Those are the stories, that they are. And this fire-breathing oni is what I want to avoid meeting, that I do. So, we have to leave tonight if we don't want to run into him. Saito, Shinomori Aoshi and all of their men are out there, but I think we will get away, that I do. Sano, I'm counting on you to look after the women, that I do. Miss Kaoru, you'll protect Yahiko and Tsubame. Now, I think we should try not to get too excited, that I do. Act like you always do, please. Miss Misao might get strange ides if we were different so suddenly. And then she might try to come along with us to-" he trailed off as the faces of his companions showed fear and mortification.

"Follow you where, Himura?" The cavalry had arrived- or better, Miss Makimachi Misao carrying food had come down into the underground shelter.

"Hello, Miss Misao…" Kenshin said lamely, trying to ignore the blazing green fire that singed him whenever she laid eyes on him. Wincing, he tried to amend something nice by telling Misao he, of course, hadn't really meant to keep their departure a secret from the Oniwabanshu Okashira.

"Where are you going, Kaoru?" the girl simply asked, the fire in her aqua green eyes dying out too soon for a girl normally so spirited.

"We want to cross the border three days from now, if I got him over there right," Kaoru said, jerking her head into Kenshin's direction, making the agent resting peacefully against the wall jump. Misao sighed.

"Okina told you already?" she asked, her voice low and broken. Kenshin met her reddened eyes, for the first time seeing how puffy her eyelids were and how white the girl looked.

"He wrote it under the message, that he did," he admitted. A dark cloud settled on Misao.

"I… will you do it? I mean, Jiya told me what… he had done, and I… I…" she couldn't force herself to go on. Kenshin's face became soft as he got up and walked over to Misao, gently putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't want to kill him, that I don't. I promise I'll make him think again, and I'll turn him back to what he was before, that I will. You shouldn't cry, Miss Misao, that you shouldn't."

"I'm not crying!" the girl sniffled, sounding very convincing. "And I'm going to show you the way to the border. Jiya already said yes… after all, it's a new way for Himura, and if he hasn't seen it even he can't know it, right, Himura? So, you have no choice but to take me with you!" She smiled through the tears, a beautiful rainbow among the fleeing clouds.

"And then there were nine…" Sano said, shaking his head. His knuckles cracked as he flexed his fingers. "Now that's just more fun!"

*~*

The fresh night air, though biting into their skins with an unmerciful chill, was a blessing for the fugitives. The soldiers that always stayed behind were fast asleep, thanks to Okina, Okon and Omasu and a few well-spiced jugs of fine, if a little stronger than normal, alcoholic beverages. It had been a really lively party, and judging from the off-tune singing that reached as far as the underground shelter Okina had had a lot of fun before passing out on the floor. Carefully stepping over the snoring men- and women- on the floor of the barn the nine shadowy figures clad in heavy, dark woolen cloaks the farm people had provided for them made their way out into the starless night. A light drizzle had once again decided to grant the tundra some more moisture that wasn't really appreciated but received nonetheless, even the north star hidden behind the low clouds obscuring the horizon and distorting the shape of faraway hills into monstrous waves rolling towards the shore.

They hurried across the courtyard and out into the fields, too aware of the blinking lights that signified soldiers scouring the countryside in their search for them. Hastily, they ran along shallow trenches separating one field from the other, crouching low and running in silence, their harsh breathing announced by puffy clouds of white as the cold caught up to their warmth. Never once did they halt for more than ten seconds, darting behind the bushes that grew along the edges of the fields, meant to hold the soil in place lest it fall prey to erosion, meeting the ground intimately on more than one occasion if a light flickered too close to them for comfort, all the while stared at from the two candles lit in two windows of the farm, like eyes out of the night, watchful and distracting.

Only after the last trace of these lights had disappeared they halted briefly, drawing from their inner reserves to still their breathing, drinking from flasks of crystal clear, heavenly cool water hanging from each of their hips, wiping sweat from their brows that had accumulated due to running with the cloaks on, tilting faces up into the drizzle to cool off, but smiling elatedly as the thrill of the nightly flight raced through their veins like molten fire, warming them from the inside and lending them strength that normally would have been unreachable. Even Megumi simply accepted it, her mind too flooded by happiness to think about adrenaline, endorphins and serotonin.

"Wow! You're good, Himura! Even I didn't know there were so many possibilities to hide this large a group between here and the house!" Misao whispered, her eyes reflecting what little light of the rising moon the clouds let through. She set her backpack down, sighing with relief as she straightened her back. Kaoru did the same, scowling at Yahiko who had his open and was munching on some of the bread he carried as part of their provisions. Tsubame's cheeks were flushed, but a smile graced the little girl's lips as Megumi bent over her to check her temperature. "I'm fine. This is more fun than last time," she whispered.

Sano grinned at her. "Life's too short to be bored for even an hour of it," he quipped. Megumi shot him a dark look that shut him up effectively. "I personally have come to appreciate a little boredom. It means not to be hunted, shot, or being interned." Her argument was too strong to be opposed.

"Please, let's continue. If we don't hurry we will be caught in the open when dawn comes. I know a cave where we can hide, but it's quite a distance from here." Misao capped her flask and checked if her little kunai, knives she could throw with deadly accuracy, were in their place and easily accessible.

"Alright." Kaoru and Yahiko were the first to be ready, but within seconds, all nine shadows rushed through the night again. The planned route was not really strenuous, but distances were vast in the tundra- and there was only one certainty with plans: what people planned and thought never came that way.

*~*

Saito had the feeling that something was awry. He couldn't help himself as he lighted the second cigarette in ten minutes. Something definitely wasn't right, and the Wolf would be damned before he ignored a gut feeling this strong. Shinomori, who was riding next to him, looked at his companion. He had read his ki, presumably, or he had the same feeling, or both. Blue eyes shot through the night like lightning when Saito lit the searchlight on his saddle.

"Battousai isn't here anymore. I think he's on his way again," Aoshi declared in an even voice. Saito couldn't hide his satisfaction that someone else knew what he had felt. He reined his horse, stopping on the spot.

"We're going to catch him, no matter what, Shinomori. Call the soldiers, and we'll head for the border."

"He won't be there until the day after tomorrow. There's now way he could have acquired enough steeds for all of his friends. Let's have the men rest, and then we'll ride full force tomorrow and catch him unaware."

"Alright. We'll do as you say," Saito agreed.

Twenty-five horses thundered back to the farm.

*~*

The day was spent sleeping in a dry, deep cave hidden in the hills that had been visible in the distance the day before. Huddled together for warmth, the dark cloaks serving as blankets the fugitives slept with one eye open and trained towards the cave entrance, Sano and Kenshin refusing to let their guard down altogether and denying themselves the rest. Megumi scowled at the two men, but met the iron resistance both hid so well most of the time. Finally, the doctor succumbed to sleep, slumped over and curled up like a small child. Sano straightened her uncomfortable-looking posture, resting her head on his backpack and stroking her long, beautiful black hair.

"How'd you meet her?" he asked. Kenshin looked into the bright sunlight not quite reaching their hiding place.

"She was a medical student at the university working part-time in the hospital the Agency used when any of its agents were injured, that she was. I had been shot on an easy mission. My superiors, of course, reprimanded me for allowing myself to be injured on such a simple task as an assassination within our own territory, that they did- but they had had a group of formidable bodyguards, and I was caught off guard by one of them carrying a gun, that I was. Miss Megumi was the one who dressed my wound after the bullet had been cut out. She asked me what I had done… and I just told her to forget, that I did. Apparently, she did. It's been two years since, that it has…

"Later, I heard she was involved into a major rip-off and scandal. The local mafia had been blackmailing her into giving them morphine from the hospital, that they did. I helped her out of there, but she doesn't know, that she doesn't. From then on, she has been working for the Agency, and they decided to send her here- as a spy. She was caught, and I went to retrieve her, that I did."

"She hasn't had it easy, has she?" Sano blinked at the dancing lights the sun played across the entrance of the cave, "I always took her for the girl who learned ballet and playing the piano as a child and grew up protected and stumbling into your Agency by chance."

"She did learn ballet, that she did. But her parents died when she was still a child, and her relatives didn't want anything to do with the daughter of the heretic Dr. Takani who had broken with too many traditions practicing medicine in the West, that they didn't. Miss Megumi has raised herself. She had a full stipend for medical school, and she's about two years younger than the others there, that she is."

"She's done a fine job of it. She's a real foxy lady," the tall fighter acquiesced, "I don't know why I even think I might… I mean, I was a gangster, I don't have any education, I even have a hard time reading… and then there's you and she…"

"Miss Megumi is special, that she is." Kenshin said, motionless, watching, unlike the fidgeting street fighter next to him, "please, watch out for her, Sanosuke."

The night came faster than any of them would have expected. A quick meal of dried fruit, fish, cold rice and stale bread later the nine travelers set out again. The pace was slower this night, but the air even colder and the weather even nastier. Fog obscured the sight, light pounding and creaking sounds from trees and hills protesting the cold wetness impairing the hearing. The group hastened across open planes and along deep ravines, a grueling, breathless traveling. Nobody asked for a break, even Tsubame bravely trotted alongside Tae and Sae. Kenshin seemed tenser than the night before, stopping more often, his brows drawn together in a frown more often than not, his eyes hard and the quiet breathing even more controlled. Bewildered, Kaoru studied his crouching posture. He was a spring coiled up for action, and the girl started wondering if there had been something else in that letter of Okina's, something the agent hadn't told them.

"We're almost at the border," Misao whispered shortly before dawn. Rose tinged the horizon as the sun rose itself from slumber, as lazily as a cat lounging on the hot tin roof of a shed. The fugitives' steps quickened, their pace picking up speed as they flew towards the invisible line that separated them from freedom and safety.

"Sano, go ahead, take Tsubame, Sae, Tae and Megumi, please," Kenshin whispered, his back pressed into the walls of the deep trench they used for cover. The border hills were crawling with soldiers, their ki screaming out at Kenshin, his nervousness hidden behind a mask of steely resolve. The last stretch of open land between them and the thing they didn't dare hope for loomed ominously ahead, covered in blood under the light of the rising sun. Sano nodded, scooting closer to the point of no return, finally breaking into a dead run, rugged breathing pounding in his ears, blood singing the song of freedom, the child and women next to him, his strides limited to keep them by his side. They crossed the small creek, no more than a frozen sliver of white on the stark brown earth that marked the border.

"They made it!" Misao cheered, barely keeping herself from jumping up and down. "Now we go!"

"Now we go, that we do. I hope everything will be alright, that I do," he fixated his gaze on Kaoru's sparkling midnight eyes. Kenshin nodded his consent, and the last four darted across the open expanse, Misao up front, Kenshin bringing up the rear, their shadows dancing around in the red morning. The border was directly before them, now under their feet… Misao crossed it, then Kaoru and Yahiko. Kenshin sighed in relief and hesitated for a second, staring at the line of white, a murmuring little vein of life in the summer, now hidden behind its frozen mask…

His right hand rested on the hilt of his weapon, blue-violet eyes showing the happiness of a flawlessly carried out plan. Remembering, he started again, his right foot carefully preparing itself to set down on the opposite side of the border. He smiled at the eight people awaiting him, smiled at the prospects of a peaceful life he had glimpsed in this short moment on a glowing morning.

A single shot shattered his dreams and broke his promises. The shadow fell, the morning losing its glory in the course of a deafening, roaring sound. "If you move, Battousai, we'll shoot them." The voice left no doubt that the wielder of the gun would indeed do so, and the bullet barely missing the agent's ear left no doubt he was capable of doing so.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru lunged forward, reaching towards the border, held back by Sano and Megumi. "Kaoru, no!"

"So we meet again, Saito, Aoshi." His voice was cold, his eyes even colder, dark, smoldering gold colored in blood by the light of the sun. "What brings you here?"

"Don't ask what they want, Battousai. I have put off our meeting far too long." A third rider joined the two flanking Kenshin on either side. This one carried the gun, smoke rising from the barrel, the hat he wore concealing his face but giving his identity away nonetheless.

"The Pharaoh," Kenshin spat, his eyes narrowing in contempt, "only you would dare to threaten people already on neutral ground."

"Why, you remember me! I'm flattered the one who took my position knows of me!" He goaded Kenshin into rash reactions, but his taunts only resulted in molten amber staring him down in his most intimidating death glare. "Why, I think I know why they call you a demon," the Pharaoh snickered.

"Oi, you freak, Pharaoh, or who you are, why don't you pick a fight with someone your size?" Sano had let Kaoru go, Yahiko and Megumi now clinging to the enraged girl for all they were worth, and had jumped across the frozen creek to stand next to the silent figure of the red-haired agent, his figure bathed in reddish gold.

"Oh, it's the idiot," a bored voice drawled. One of the riders dismounted, yellow eyes lit by the light of his cigarette. "Amazing he's made it this far without a brain…"

"You!" Sano snarled, the memory of the wolfish looking officer strolling through Camp Freedom readily coming back to the surface of his mind.

"AOSHI-SAMA!" As the second rider dismounted a desperate cry tore itself from the mouth of Misao, her pleading eyes turning to azure as the sun decided to make her definite appearance.

"Misao?" Despite himself, Aoshi turned around to stare at the girl, her cloak dirty and torn, her braid disheveled and becoming undone, but her eyes as bright as ever as she looked upon him. "Aoshi-sama," she mouthed across the border.

"Shinomori Aoshi, don't you see what you've caused and lost? Don't you think you should wake up and get back to what has been waiting for you forever?" Kenshin said, his eyes alert and trained on the motionless figure of the Pharaoh.

"Oh, Battousai, you still haven't gotten over that blabbing habit of yours… well, that can be changed. Take him away, Shinomori, Saito… oh, and don't even think of resisting. I'll shoot the girl if you do." The gun swiveled until it was trained onto Kaoru's head, the blue-eyed fugitive ceasing her struggles against Megumi and Yahiko's grasp.

"You won't take Kenshin without a fight!" Sano roared, charging towards the horseman threatening Kaoru. His steps covered the ground with impressive speed, faster than most fighters could even think of running.

"Idiot," muttered a certain officer, simply extending his sword to the path of the fighter, ramming into his chest and sending him to the ground where he lay breathlessly in a sprawled heap. "Seems like he wants to join Battousai." Sano blinked up at the cigarette- smoking face, scowling, a look of ultimate hatred in his eyes as dark as molasses. His world went dark with an arrogant chuckle and the hilt of a sword striking his temple.

Kenshin clenched his fists as he saw Sano go limp when Saito struck the downed fighter. "Coward," he hissed, amber eyes burning with angry fire. Aoshi seized his arms, but he dared not resist and let the taller man twist his arms on his back, painfully high so he could not even dream of using him- all since the Pharaoh's gun was still trained on Kaoru on the other side of the creek.

"And this is how to catch a Battousai," the man on his horse quipped, the gun's barrel now pointing to Kenshin himself. "How easy it would be to shoot you now, the famous assassin killed by a single bullet, and by his predecessor, too… what a pathetic thought!"

"You are nothing but a traitor, Pharaoh- or should I say Shishio Makoto? You are the one who is pathetic!" Despite his knowledge that it was futile he struggled against Aoshi's grip now, grimacing as pain shot through his barely healed shoulder. Aoshi tightened his hold on the lithe agent, twisting his hands around so that every attempt at moving would dislocate or break his wrists. Kenshin fell silent, hate glaring from liquid fire eyes.

"Take him away," Shishio waved nonchalantly, "he blabs too much! Oh, and you over there, don't follow, or I'll shoot him, and then the other one."

Kenshin stared back across the creek, at two pools of midnight blue overflowing with tears. His heart clenched, but he knew he was helpless. I will come back, he vowed, his gaze turning soft and violet as his hair turned as golden as his eyes had been under the rays of the first sunny morning in weeks while he watched the blue-eyed girl clutch the fabric of her cloak in a death grip, her smile hidden behind the rainclouds her tears conjured.

"Goodbye, Miss Kaoru," he called softly, and she buried her face in her cloak, her black her shining in blues and violets as the morning sun broke through the clouds and shone, a brilliant light upon the seven people on the other side of the creek. "Goodbye."

… to be continued …

*crickets chirping* So I chickened out on the action again this chapter… but the next one will consist almost completely of fights and action, so I didn't want this one to end with one, too… anyways, I have some more explanations for you... and, of course, review responses!

Oni: Demon- I think. I got it from my cousin, so blame her if it's wrong ^.^

Serotonin: a hormone/protein found in chocolate and bananas among others. It makes us happy and, in combination with adrenaline, fuels the body and drives it to greater endurance and strength.

Con te partirò: I will part with you/It's time to say goodbye in Italian

Reviewer's corner:

Natsuko: Well... school doesn't bother me much, it's just the boredom that gets me and wants to stop the flow of creative juices... that's why I love to hear from you so much! Makes me feel excited, and excited Chibi=writing Chibi

Queen of Shadows: Wow, thanks! And I think I will be able to keep my pace- so don't worry, next week the show will go on ^___^!

lebleuphenix: Will have action after this chapter... and I like the Egyptian fetish- idea a LOT! I think there might be something along these lines...

Darkening: Uh, you know, about Hiko and katsura... I just don't take Hiko as the type of guy who'll call ANYONE except Kenshin by their given name... and Katsura exudes enough authority to stand up to Hiko and call him Seijurou despite his friend's teasings...

Asuka-chan2: Whee, thank you for all the reviews! I almost couldn't believe it! Hope you liked this chapter, too.

Brenna: As always, thank you for betaing and all your wonderful ideas!

all: Hope you enjoyed reading, and please leave me a review to tell me about any stupid mistakes I made (I'm sure there are many), what you think and... who you think will be the new character in the next chapter *grins*!

Cya!!!

Chibi-chan