~Chapter Four- It was worth it to find you~
Kenshin ran through the dark streets in panic.
The rain had filled puddles already, and he ran through them without care.
He was beginning to get soaked, but he could think it mattered less.
All he was thinking about was Kaoru.
All he could wish for was Kaoru.
Even the police weren't out now…and all the streetlamps had gone out.
*The forest* He reminded himself, and dodged into the trees.
Next thing he knew, he was even more surrounded by darkness, and it was hard to see.
His kimono shirt was drenched, but he pushed back the limbs and bushes in front of him and hurried to find Kaoru.
*Please be safe. Please be okay. Please…..Please…..hold on. I'm coming!* He cried in his mind.
After about 15 minutes of non-stop searching, he paused to catch his breath, then he spun around looking in every which way.
He felt lost.
He felt alone.
He felt un-able.
Un-able…..to find her.
His eyes were burning now with hot tears. "KAORU!!!!!???! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!!!??????? PLEASE ANSWER ME IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~With Kaoru~
"K….Kenshin….." She whispered as she began to open her eyes.
She found herself staring up into the rain from the ground.
Again, Kenshin cried out, and she heard, but her voice was so hors she couldn't call back.
She tried to get up, but a sharp pain went through her when she tried to move her left leg.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" She screamed out in sting.
Kenshin heard.
"KAORU!!!!" He cried out, and rushed towards her scream.
He literally threw himself past the wind and rain as lightening lit everything up just long enough for him to see the branch Kaoru was trapped under.
He ran with all his might to it, and found her still laying on the ground.
She was awake though now, and when she saw him, she found her voice, and cried out.
"K….Ken….shin…." She managed to get out, and reached up to him.
The first thing he did was fall to his knees and hold her close to him.
This shocked her.
"Kaoru!!!!!!! Oh god!!! I'm so glad I found you!!!! I'm so glad!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He almost began crying right in front of her!
She couldn't help but start to herself.
"L….Look at you. You're soaked! You're gonna get sick, Kenshin!"
"I COULDN'T LET YOU DIE OUT HERE!!!!! NOT EVER!!!" He cried, and pulled her as close to him and possible.
She could feel his heartbeat up against her chest.
It was fast.
He had been terrified…she realized….that he might not find her!
Was she really that important to him?
She prayed that she was more….and then some.
Oh how she prayed.
After a moment or so, he pulled back and looked her in the eyes.
"Can you move?"
Kaoru looked down at her left leg crushed under the branch. "Everything but my left leg. I don't know if it'll hurt if I try to move it though again. Let me see…."
Kenshin held onto her and she tried to pull it out again.
The sharp pain came back though.
"NO!! IT HURTS!!!!! AHHH!!!!!!" She cried out, and Kenshin put his hand on her leg to try and stop the pain.
He felt tears in his eyes again. "How can I…..get you out without hurting you??!!"
Kaoru began to sob through the pain and the feeling of being trapped.
"Kenshin…don't go anywhere. Please don't leave me alone. I was so scared."
Kenshin shook his head. "I would never leave you alone, Kaoru. Don't worry about a thing. I'll get you out. I promise."
Kaoru nodded and rested her head in Kenshin's lap.
Despite the freezing wind blowing around Kenshin, his kimono getting saturated now, Kenshin began to dig out some of the mud around Kaoru's leg.
His nose began to run and he felt dizzy, but he didn't care.
Kaoru watched his face as he worked.
It was so determined.
She felt so valuable for the first time.
Like someone cared for her so much that they would risk their own life to try and save hers.
Finally, Kenshin dug out enough dirt, and now began to push with all his might on the branch.
Calling it a branch was an understatement though! It was more like a whole tree!
Nevertheless, he tried with all the strength he had in him to free Kaoru so he could take her home.
Time was forgotten.
He was sure it had been over an hour since he had left the dojo.
Thunder rolled overhead, and rain began to turn to tiny bits of hail, but it wouldn't stop the rurouni.
"Alright….I'm gonna try again, okay? Hold tight." He said.
She nodded.
He then started pushing the tree back one way, and pulling her leg out the other way.
Finally, it slipped out slowly, and was at liberty.
Kaoru took deep breaths now.
"Try to move it." He said, holding it gently in his mudding hands.
She nodded, and tried, but once the movement occurred, she screamed out in pain, and shook her head wildly. "It hurts too much. I can't…."
She clinched her teeth, and then felt warm arms around her.
He was holding her again, but this time, his heart was beating at a normal pace.
"W…When you left the dojo with the girls earlier…..I….had this feeling I'd never see you again." He explained, a tear running from his violet eyes. "I'm so grateful that I found you. Let's…go home now, okay? Everything will be all right now. Miss Magumi and Dr. Genzai are both at the dojo right now and they'll fix your leg up and I'll take care of you until it heals. I promise."
Kaoru felt her eyes widen as she stared up into the rain.
She felt Kenshin's body shivering. "Okay, Kenshin. I will take care of you too…if you get sick. You're shivering, you know."
Kenshin nodded. "Yes…but I have to get you home first. You can't walk, so I'll carry you."
After this was said, he picked her up and held her tight.
The rain and hail were so cold to him….but he wanted to get her home.
He began to walk, making sure that the wind and rain were kept away from Kaoru as he cradled her in his arms like a child.
Kaoru stared up into his face.
His expression was still determined.
His breath was shaky though.
He was cold.
She tried to warm him by pushing herself up into his chest more and pressing herself there….but it didn't seem to work.
She watched his face again as she tried once more.
His frown turned into a smile when he realized what she was trying to do.
"D…Don't worry about me, Kaoru. Just worry about yourself right now." He said softly.
Kaoru didn't listen. It only made her try harder to keep him warm.
As he trudged onward, carrying the limp Kaoru in his tired and weak arms, he tried to imagine what everything would be like from then on.
He and Kaoru would be so much closer.
He would spend more time with her….and make the dojo feel more of his home like Kaoru wanted him to.
He wanted to be home finally.
With his own family.
He realized he had had it all along…he just didn't pay attention until now.
Ayame.
Sazume.
Dr. Genzai.
Miss Magumi.
Yahiko.
Sanoske.
Misao back in Kyoto and the rest of the Oniwobon group.
Yutaro Tsukayama.
Tae.
Tsubome.
And of course…..
Kaoru.
Yes, these people were his family!!! How could he not see it until now?!
It made his heart sing though to know that these people were a family to him.
His family.
*When we get back home, Kaoru, I'm going to live every day the happiest I can. I'll appreciate everything you do for me, and everyone else….because I just realized I received the one gift I wanted most in my life. Even if it took 28 years to get…..I'm so appreciative. Thank you…..Kaoru.* He said to himself in thought.
As if Kaoru had read his thoughts, she spoke. "Kenshin…you've always appreciated everything me and the others do for you…and you've always lived with happiness on the tip of your shoulder. And you've always been…..apart of this family. Because you are the one who gave it to me too."
Kenshin stopped walking and stared down at her.
She was smiling.
It finally hit him that he wasn't thinking to himself whenever he said all those things before.
He was starting to lose himself in that rainy night, but he thought he was okay.
He smiled back down at her. "Thank you, Kaoru."
She nodded.
Lights started to come into view as Kenshin walked through some bushes.
It was the main street! And the streetlamps had returned back on!
He tried with all his might to quicken his pace.
To get home.
As he stepped onto the road, he turned for the dojo.
It was one block ahead.
With each step, he felt weaker, but he wasn't about to give up now.
Not when he was so close!
When he finally made it to the gate wall, and followed it with his hand to the gates themselves, Yahiko was sitting on the porch wrapping in a blanket, waiting for them to return.
When he saw the drenched Kenshin, looking pale and weak, and the limp but awake Kaoru in his arms, he stood up immediately and cried out.
"HEY YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!! KENSHIN'S BACK!!!!! AND HE'S GOT KAORU WITH HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HURRY!!! GET THEM A TOWEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Kaoru stared up at his face. "Kenshin….you saved me…..but you look pale now that I see your face in the light. Are you going to be okay?"
Kenshin wore a smile of triumph on his face. "O…Of c..course." He was shivered at he talked.
The next moment, Yahiko, Magumi, and Dr. Genzai were surrounding the two.
"Kaoru!!!?? Your leg!!! Is it broken?!" Yahiko cried out as Dr. Genzai took Kaoru from Kenshin's arms and wrapped her with a towel.
She shook it away. "Don't worry about me right now! Get Kenshin inside and warm!!!!"
Kenshin stood there for a moment.
The people in front of him began to blur in his eye-sight.
He looked down at Kaoru. "…It was worth it to find you….." He spoke in a tattered up voice, and then lost himself, and fell into Kaoru's arms in front of him as she knelt on the ground.
Kaoru stared down at his motionless body in shock and terror. "K…..K…..Kenshin? Kenshin??!!!! KENSHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~OH GOD!!!! MUST GO ON AND READ TO FIND OUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO KENSHIN!!!! ORO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~
~Smile B~