Standard disclaimers apply.

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"Where's the Holy Place?" Kaoru demanded instantly as she plunged through the doors of the Akebeko. She was dressed in a worn pair of hakama with a blue gi top. In one hand she clenched her shinai in a slightly aggressive manner. "Tell me!" she shouted.

Tae looked up from the back of the room and hurried foreword. "Kaoru-chan, you're all right," she said in relief. Then she cast her eyes toward the ground. "Gomen nasai. I didn't know. Rizzu seemed like he was -"

"Tae!" Kaoru said raggedly. "Do you know where the Holy Place is or not? Kenshin's in danger. We have to help him. I have to help him."

"Make that 'we'!" Misao piped up from behind her. She was looking around the restaurant, taking in the splattered remains of Enishi's blood. "I'm coming with you," she said firmly.

Kaoru felt a surge of gratitude. "At least Misao-chan is still my friend," she said to Tae. The words didn't feel right coming out of her mouth though. No matter what happened, she couldn't reject her friends. Even if they did poison her fiancee. Besides that, Tae seemed to regret the choice she had made.

"I thought it would put him to sleep...." Tae murmured. She looked stricken. Black bags were heavy under her eyes and Kaoru got the feeling that she had not slept the night before.

Still, sharp, hateful words slipped past her mouth, "And when he started bleeding profusely?" she demanded.

Tae shook her head. "I don't know where Rizzu took Kenshin. I - I didn't know what to do when he started to...... bleed ...."

Kaoru sighed. "It's okay," she said. "We're all just a little bit too tight these days. Once we find Kenshin, everything should get better." She put her hand on Tae's shoulder. "I accept your apology and for what it's worth, I'm sorry too."

Tae gave her a tight hug. "I just hope that we can find Kenshin," she said.

"WHAT ABOUT ME!" Misao suddenly raged from behind them. "I can help too! But I need to know what's going on!" She was pacing rapidly. "I mean, someone kidnapped Kenshin, right? And you and Enishi ......" she shrugged helplessly as her mind refused to come up with an explanation.

"We're getting married."

"They're getting married. It's their choice. We have no right to interfere," Tae said simply. She gave Kaoru's shoulders a tight squeeze and turned to Misao. "Can you track a man for me?"

Misao was goggling in confusion at everyone. "Na-na-nani!" she stammered her question. "But I thought that, Kaoru-san was in love with Himura......."

Kaoru let the assumption roll past her. Now wasn't the time to be considering her mingled feelings for Kenshin and Enishi. In any event, she was confident that she was making the correct choice in deciding to marry Enishi and leave Kenshin a baby. The matter didn't really deserve any more of her time.

"Oh well," Misao said bleakly. "I suppose explanations will have to wait until we find this Rizzu idiot. Himura probably already made mince meat out of him though." She started examining everything closer. "What did he look like?" she asked Tae.

Within several moments, Misao was on her way out the door with Kaoru following close behind her. "I can't believe an aging gnome could snag Kenshin away from you guys," she admitted. "But I think it's time we got our Himura back."

The trail - Kaoru couldn't really see it - twisted through Tokyo and out into the surrounding countryside. Misao had an unusually serious look on her face, seemingly lost in focus and concentration. Once or twice, Kaoru asked her a couple of questions; however the young ninja didn't give any sign of hearing or answering.

Kaoru found her mind begin to wander. Her thoughts kept drifting from Kenshin and his plight to Enishi, lying unconscious at Dr. Gensai's clinic. She began to wonder what Sano, Megumi, and Yahiko were doing. If they were having any success in finding the antidote.

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Covered in small scratches, Sano entered Dr. Gensai's clinic with a bundle of small blue flowers. "I got the medicine," he said stiffly. "This is it, isn't it?" He dropped the herbs onto a table and glanced around the room.

They had decided to split up and search the area carefully for the herb to increase their chances of finding it before Kaoru woke up. Whoever found it was to gather a handful and return right away. It looked like he was the first person back.

"Ah, this will do nicely, Sanosuke," Dr. Gensai announced. He pulled a small bowl down and began grinding the flowers into a pulp with a mortar stick. "I'll just grind it up and -"

"Is Jou-chan still here?" Sano asked.

The aging doctor shook his head slightly. "I'm afraid that she went after Rizzu. At least that's where I presume she's going. Can't blame her either, now can we?"

Sano glanced down at his bandaged hands. "I guess not," he said softly. HE sighed and leaned back against the wall. Kaoru was sure to beat an old priest up. Then they would have Kenshin back - as a baby. But was that really worth it?

Obviously Rizzu was a horrible man. Leaving Kenshin with him wasn't a good idea. However, was leaving Kenshin as a baby a good idea? He turned the problem over in his mind several times already and it kept coming back to - "I don't want to lose a friend."

He heard the door open and glanced up, his eyes falling onto a similar plant scratched Yahiko and Tsubamme, each of them holding handfuls of the same flowers he had already brought. "Are we too late!" Yahiko blurted out.

Sano raised his hand slightly. "I'm already here," he pointed out. "Dr. Gensai's already making the medicine." His eye roamed over them. "Any sign of the fox-lady?"

He kept his tones light, but was still lost in thought.

Dr. Gensai finished whatever he was doing and hurried into the other room. "I'll be busy for a while, keep quite," he advised.

"Jou-chan is going to marry Yukishio," Sano said bleakly. "She's going to crack up Rizzu, bring Kenshin back and raise a happy little family."

Yahiko nodded blankly. "I know. I keep thinking the same thing." He paused. "I also keep thinking that if Kenshin dies it'll be our fault. If Enishi dies...... that will be our fault too....."

Sano nodded. "But can we really let Kaoru marry him?" He glanced back down at his hands, not expecting a reply from anyone.

"I-I-I t-think that w-we s-should," Tsubamme stuttered. "It makes them both happy and ......I know what Kaoru thinks when she sees Kenshin content. He's already done so much for all of us, but some facts will always remain the same."

"What do you mean?" Yahiko asked, tilting his head to look at her. "Are you saying that Kenshin deserves to be a baby?"

"So what if I am!" Tsubamme exclaimed. "I've been thinking about this a lot since yesterday, you know."

"So have we," Sano pointed out.

"But you haven't gotten anywhere," Tsubamme pointed out softly.

"Have you?" Megumi's smooth voice came from the doorway. She set hr bundle of herbs on the table with the others and strolled foreword, taking a seat beside Sano. Following her part way into the room and closing the door was Shinamori Aoshi. He leaned against the wall and didn't say anything.

Tsubamme felt like hiding and knew that her face was turning red. "Yes, I have!" she said hesitantly. Then she got bolder. "Kenshin can't forget about his past. It haunts him and he gains nothing by regretting past actions. He was a hitokiri - a manslayer - and he committed the worst crime of all. He killed his wife. After he got back from fighting Enishi, we all thought that he was better and he was. But he was just better at concealing his sorrow and shame. He's only at the middle of his life, but he feels old. Doing and seeing too much in life does that to a person. He...." she stumbled on her words and made the motions to duck behind a tray that she didn't have.

"That's true," Megumi said. "But all people can heal with time. And some scars aren't meant to fade."

"But they have." The conviction in Tsubame's voice left no doubt about her feelings. "He no longer carries the sign of the battousai. That scar is gone." Her eyes fell to the floor. "Would we give him back his brand of sorrow by turning him back to his proper age?"

"His brand of sorrow?" Yahiko repeated softly.

"His past is his sorrow and the cross shaped scar on his cheek is the remained of the worst of his crimes," Tsubamme explained.

"People must live through -"

"And even if you think giving him his mental burdens back is a good idea, then think about his body!" Tsubamme shouted, overriding every voice in the room. "You all heard what Megumi said about him practicing the Hiten Mitsurgi Ryuu, didn't you?" She gazed at them imploringly.

"His body can't take the strain. If he keeps practicing it, it will kill him," Megumi repeated solemnly.

"Right! But do you think that will stop bad things from coming into our lives? Kenshin will always protect us - no matter what the cost to himself. He'll be drawn into engagement after engagement until there is nothing left to him....... He doesn't need to be the hitiokiri anymore. We need to let him..... die." She tilted her head down. "Does anyone understand?"

Aoshi inclined his head slightly. He had already been briefed on what was going on. Megumi had informed him on the way to the clinic. "The battousai isn't needed any longer," he acknowledged.

"But he's just Kenshin -" Yahiko stated softly.



"And who is Kenshin? He's a mixed result of his past, as are we all," Aoshi responded. "The battousai will always live in him. However, by letting his past go and giving him nothing but a future, he stands a good chance of finding true contentment without a crimson haze overlaying his vision."

"Crimson haze?" Yahiko murmured.

"The lives he has taken..... they taint the sight of those who kill and regret," Aoshi said softly. He stepped away from the wall. "May I see him?"

"Enishi?" Megumi asked. "I think that Dr. Gensai is with him at the moment."

Aoshi looked at her coldly. "Himura," he corrected her stiffly.

"He was taken by Rizzu, a Shinto priest. Kaoru-san went after her with Misao-chan," Tsubamme announced.

"She'll bang him up and be back in no time!" Sano added. He stood up, stretching out his long legs. "I'm heading back to my place to mull things over."

"You don't mind if I come with you, do you?" Yahiko asked. "I kind of have a lot of things I need to review."

"Sure, come along," Sano said generously.

"The girls are in grave danger." Aoshi's voice drew everyone to a stop. "Rizzu is rumored to be hundreds of years old. He is a worthy opponent."

"If he's hundred's of years old, his joints probably don't work anymore!" Yahiko exclaimed.

"He steals the vitality and skill of his enemies. He steals their skill by stealing their knowledge. An after effect is that they become children. However, he must then kill the child to regain his peak of abilities. If he has stolen Himura's skill, the girls won't stand a chance."



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Author's notes; Yeah! I got my flow back. Heh, heh, this is starting to shape up pretty good.

Thanks for reading,

Kissa-chan