Sentiments of gip-k: -Wow O_O twentieth chapter already. It seems hard to believe I've been writing this since like last November 2003. I remember I was updating right round Christmas time once, as a Christmas treat for my readers! ^_^

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Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Rurouni Kenshin- it was created by Watsuki Nobuhiro.

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---Warmth for the Winter---

Within around a month, Kenshin was on his feet, held up by two crutches. The bandage was still covering his left eye, but his sprained right arm had long since recovered. The gashes in his middle were still in the healing stage, so Megumi- Dr. Megumi- had given him a strict warning not to overextend himself lest he reopen the wounds.

The weather had cooled down a great deal, and the last I heard of Kazuma he was halting his work until winters' end. I continued to write him, though our communication was slowed by the weather, and did not even take the medallion he had given me off in the bath. The leaves on many of the trees had fallen off, and strong blasts of wind made the naked branches dance. Kenshin walked among them, that thoughtful look always in his eyes. I tended to leave him be when he was like that, even though he always had a warm smile for me when I joined him.

* * *

"Megumi-" I protested. "You've been in and out of this place for a month," I was saying. "You do have other patients to attend to, and of course, you need a rest."

Megumi's eyes were filled with gravity as she grudgingly went in with my plans.

"All right, I'll leave all the rest of the care-taking to you," Megumi said. "But I'm coming back here every week to make sure he's all right, do you hear? Every week."

"You do trust me to take care of Kenshin don't you?" I asked, slightly exasperated.

"I suppose I do, raccoon girl," Megumi said tiredly. "But please-" she said before turning away to leave. "Call me if anything goes wrong, hear?"

"I will Megumi!" I said irritably. "Now get your butt out of my dojo now before I have to kick you out!"

Megumi smiled haughtily.

"Okay, raccoon girl," she said saucily. "But I'll be back."

Then with quite purposeful slowness, she walked out of the dojo gate.

I closed it behind her with a sigh. Now all of the taking care of Kenshin would be by me. I let out another sigh. For some reason, however odd, I did kind of miss Megumi. Well, she would be back the next week, or maybe earlier than that.

I walked back into the house, where Sanosuke was sitting down cross-legged at the small table, a fishbone between his teeth. He looked up at me upon my entrance.

"So you finally got the fox out?" Sanosuke said.

I nodded.

"Yep," I said with a contented sigh.

"It seems kinda weird," Sanosuke said. "I could've sworn that you two were enemies a while back. Strange…"

I nodded in agreement. We had been enemies. Then why all of the sudden were we the best of friends?

"Where's Kenshin?" I asked as I dished up a small bowl of rice for myself.

"He's walking around somewhere outside," Sanosuke said. "You know he doesn't like to sit down much."

That was exactly the answer that I had expected.

"It's cold out there," I said. "He should probably come back, soon."

"Or maybe you should go bring him back," Sanosuke replied.

It was little hints like this that gave Megumi and Sanosuke away- they were obviously trying to somehow push Kenshin and I together.

"Good idea," I said smoothly. It really was not too bad of an idea. Kenshin always returned home by dark, but I still was not too comfortable with him walking about the dojo all by himself. He was still recovering, and if he were to fall down-

I forced myself not to worry so much. Kenshin would be just fine.

Before departing from the kitchen, I asked Sanosuke to keep and eye on things, and eat as many leftovers as he so desired. He promised to do both.

I grabbed a blanket from inside of my room, and scoured the dojo for any sign of the former Hitokiri Battousai. I soon found him, walking along the training area, seemingly studying everything.

"Kenshin," I said cheerfully, hurrying up to him.

He turned around to me slowly, and shifted around using his crutches. He gave me a small, warm smile.

"Hello, Miss Kaoru," he said. He continued to study the dojo. "It has been such a long time, I say. Seeing your dojo once again has been a great joy, that it has."

"Well, you're always welcome here, Kenshin," I said with great purpose. "And I always wanted you to be here, so there's no reason for you to ever think you are unworthy."

Kenshin nodded slightly, and looked to the graying sky.

"I did not think you would allow me back, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said quietly. "Your kindness is to great for words, I say."

"Why would I not let you back?" I asked, approaching him more closely. I wanted to say it right then and there… but I didn't want to startle him, and out in the cold like this with him struggling to stand on two crutches just did not seem like the perfect environment. So I just remained silent, feeling that I had only half-finished my speech.

Kenshin looked at me.

"I caused you so much pain, Miss Kaoru," he said. "I should not have left you, that I should not. It would have been better for you if you had never met me."

Suddenly the chill of the air seemed to be especially biting. The blanket that I had brought for Kenshin, I now wanted to drape around myself. I stared at him intently.

"Please don't say things like that, Kenshin," I said quietly.

Kenshin stared at me which eyes shining with the most brilliant purple I had ever seen, tinged at the edges with a lovely baby blue.

"My pardons, Kaoru, but you are crying -?"

I gasped and felt at my face. It was wet. I had not even known I was crying until he had mentioned it. I hastily rubbed the tears away with the edge of my kimono. I sniffled.

"I'm sorry Kenshin-"

Kenshin's soft, sympathetic smile hushed me immediately. I stayed staring into his eyes for a long while.

"Don't apologize to sessha," Kenshin replied. "It is sessha's fault, that it is."

I was filled with rage.

"Kenshin, how many times do I have to tell you not to call yourself sessha!" I screamed.

Kenshin looked abashed.

"I'm sorry, Miss Kaoru."

I quickly draped the blanket around Kenshin's shoulders. He blinked in surprise at this simple act of kindness, but said nothing.

"Come on, Kenshin, we need to get back to the dojo," I said, calming down. "The cold is not going to help you at all in your recovery."

I walked beside Kenshin and we slowly made our way back towards the dojo, and when we reached the house I had intended to cut wood for a fire, but was surprised to see the wood was all there. I turned around, looking for the doer of the action, and saw none other than Sanosuke himself.

"I figured you two lovebirds would want a fire to sit by," he said a matter-of-factly. "So I just decided to chop up a couple pieces of wood. I also got some water while I was at it, so I guess you can make some tea."

I blinked at Sanosuke in surprise, and stammered around as I was caught between thanking him and throwing something at him for mentioning the word "lovebirds" as ascribed to Kenshin and I.

"Thank you very much, Sano," Kenshin replied for me. "I am sure Miss Kaoru and I would enjoy some tea very much, correct, Miss Kaoru?" I blinked. Then I smiled a bit.

"Sure, I guess," I replied. "I'll make some."

I was fair enough at making tea, and so even Sanosuke had to admit that my tea was fairly good. I failed to state that I had had countless lessons at making it from Megumi, who had once said that I could not make tea correctly to save my life. I had achieved it, though, for which thing I was very proud.

I also made Kenshin a lavish feast of food, following Megumi's directions to "plump him up" and help make him stronger. Kenshin's eyes had widened at the meal, and Sanosuke had immediately begun a quick round of "hey are you gonna finish that?"

"All right," I said by the evening time after cleaning up in the kitchen. I said the words just as I entered the lounge room. "It's time for Kenshin to go to bed, now."

"Hey, Missy, ease up on the poor man," Sanosuke said. "You just plan to stuff him like a small child and send him to bed when the sun has barely set?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I intend to do," I said. "And I'm quite tired myself, so I will also be going to bed soon."

"Not that soon," Sanosuke replied as Kenshin looked on helplessly. "Besides, Kenshin and I were just starting to have a good conversation."

"Your good conversations probably include things that Kenshin shouldn't be hearing in the first place," I scolded. "Now come on, Kenshin, it's time for you to go to bed."

Kenshin sulked a bit as Sanosuke and I helped him stand, and then he took his crutches and sullenly followed me.

I sent Kenshin straight to bed, and made sure to give him some of the special medicine Megumi had prepared. It smelled and tasted foul, but it was good for him.

I retired to bed as well, all yawning and in half a doze. Taking care of someone was not as easy as I had expected, and I was tired.

* * *

After three more days, I removed the bandages from Kenshin's eye as Megumi had commanded. I bit my lip, preparing myself for the worst.

When I looked, though, I let out an audible sigh of relief. There was naught but a few scabs along his hairline, and those were hidden by his bangs. Over the left eye the skin was soft and fresh, with only a few lines from the previous burns remaining. Then Kenshin's eyes opened, and he blinked, for once being able to look at everything with both of his eyes.

"Oh, Kenshin you look adorable!" The words slipped from my lips without me even able to stop them.

Kenshin looked at me, now with both of his brilliant purple eyes able to regard me warmly. He gave me a small smile, obviously of delight.

"Thank you, Miss Kaoru," he said, sounding quite relieved himself.

I hurried and brought Kenshin a mirror to look in, and that relief deepened.

"Megumi must have done a wonderful job with all of her oils and such," I said, finally able to contain my excitement just a little. "It almost looks as though it were just a scratch."

"Hmm," Kenshin mused in agreement. "I will have to thank her, I say."

That was only one of the glorious events that would procure to occur in the next few days.

When Megumi returned, she was quite proud about her work with Kenshin's face, and Kenshin thanked her for it. She stayed with us for a long while until she finally had to leave and go make some house calls later. The next few days afterward, she said with great eagerness that Kenshin's legs should have regained they're strength, and put him on a simple walking stick.

The temperatures dropped steadily, and we spent a great amount of our time indoors. Sanosuke seemed to drop by every single day no matter the weather, and sometimes I would hear him and Kenshin having long talks, about which topics I was still unsure of.

One night, though, Sanosuke did not come, and Megumi did not drop by. Kenshin was being allowed to stay up again, and we were sitting by the warmth of the fireplace, sipping tea and chatting about the weather and about how nicely Kenshin was recovering. Or I was doing the chatting, rather, for Kenshin remained mostly quite, gazing at me as if he were intent on every word I was saying.

When I got up to put away the teacups, I tripped and fell. Kenshin with, his Hiten Mitsirugi speed suddenly returning, sprang from his seat near the fireplace to catch me just before I hit the ground. I blushed, deciding to put the teacups down straight on the floor.

"Thank you, Kenshin," I said as Kenshin helped me return to my seat by the fireplace. "I didn't expect to trip like that." I stared into the flames. "I guess the teacups were saved more than I was!" I laughed. "Next time I'll try to be more careful. You know, Kenshin, you really shouldn't do things like that. You're still recovering and -!"

I was cut off abruptly when Kenshin leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes widened, roving over to him. He wrapped his arms around me in a gentle bit tight embrace, and kissed me more deeply. I closed my eyes, my heart pounding away and my lungs screaming for breath.

He finally brought his lips away from mine, and I let out a deep breath. I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw were eyes that had almost none of their usual violet in them- they were shining an intense blue and they were almost like Kazuma's… such a window to Kenshin's very mind. He had been so closed up before; I was in complete shock. If those eyes were saying what I thought they were…

"Kenshin I love you," I blurted out before I could stop myself. The words rolled off my lips like snow in an avalanche, and suddenly I had the most terrible sinking feeling I had ever felt… I panicked, but before I could see Kenshin pressed one of his fingers to my lips.

"Kaoru," he said- a soft rebuke. "I love you, too."

My eyes widened to their fullest capacity and the tears seemed to immediately flow from out of nowhere. I suddenly could not breathe at all- or blink for that matter. I was frozen in space and time. Kenshin hugged me to him, and I couldn't even cry, just shake and whimper. This was what I wanted for so long… I was living my dreams…

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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Kenshin has become Kaoru's "warmth for the winter" if you were wondering why I called the chapter that. ^_^ I really loved writing this. In the TV show I never got to see Kenshin and Kaoru tell each other of their feelings! (Is crying) I was SOOO perilously close! I was cut off abruptly at the end of the Shishio battle, when that IDIOT Hoji was trying to burn the whole factory down on Sano, Kenshin, Aoshi, and Saito. I just went into a torrent of hate spree at that! Alas, I did end it all off with some good episodes. I swear that I will buy the RK DVD set someday… someday! ;_;

MoonlightWolf

Why do people no like Kazuma? Why they like Kenshin so much more? _ Well, I understand your sentiments. I think that you will have enjoyed this chapter very much, then! Thank you for reading and reviewing. ^_^

Dragon Ladysupreme

So I see… yes, having a Karasu attitude is very bad. That is very bad. ^_^

Oi! You reviewed the last chapter very quickly! Good for you! (Gives Aya free decaffeinated coffee and that is totally and complete sugar free) Oh, and the coffee? I figured you might want to stay away from things too sweet for or high in caffeine for a while. ^_~ I think it that would be more… healthy, tee-he.

Brittanie Love

Well, it is funny to see that you say, "I loved it" to every single chapter I write, sad or happy! ^_^ Thank you for your extreme loyalty.

SaffDragon

So you ARE still here, I see. ^_^ I'm glad you are content with the chapter and are being nice to Kazuma. That's good.

Hotoshi-Kid

Yay, new reviewer! I am so happy about new reviewers and such! ^_^ Yippee! But hey… I did not see Rurouni Kenshin as one of your favorite animes in your profile! (Whacks her on the head with a paper fan O.O) Well- that- that was just 'cause you're a new reviewer! Thank you for reading and reviewing. -_-

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Sanosuke: Your special thanks are way too long, girly.

Me: What -? I thought I already told… YOU to keep your- your- you're not my co-host, Sano, and quit coming here!

Sanosuke: (Sticks his hand in his pockets and smiles at me with that oogley fish bone between his teeth) Hey, ease up. I'm just having a little fun. Besides… my handwriting's better than Kenshin's, anyhow.

Me: What does that have to do with anything?

Sanosuke: (Shrugs) I don't know. It's just that your handwriting seems pretty okay, so it doesn't make sense why you don't expect the same from Kenshin.

Me: Well he's one of my favorite bishonen. You're not.

Sanosuke: Ouch, that bites.

Me: Not as much as it would if I punched you with that bloody fishbone sticking half inside your mouth. (Glares) How can you stand to do that anyway? (Approaches him)

Sanosuke: Okay, okay, I'm gone already.

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