~Chapter Eight-And everything was once perfect…~

"Come on Missy." Kaoru heard Sano's voice speak softly like a brother would a younger sister.

Then she felt his strong arms pick her up and carry her away to another room.

She didn't want to open her eyes, but she did.

She saw her futon she had slept in the night before all ready to be slumbered upon once again below her.

Sanoske set her down on it, and pulled the covers to her chest. "Are you warm enough?"

Kaoru was so confused.

She felt completely drained of energy to ask what was happening, or why Sano had put her here instead of leaving her be in the corner of Kenshin's room, so she nodded very weakly to him and did nothing more.

Sano stood and smiled at Kaoru.

She could see through the dark.

"Get some rest now. It's 11:45 p.m. I'll see yah in the morning….okay?" He spoke again in that gentle tone.

Kaoru hummed and rolled over on her side.

She heard Sano's footsteps as he exited the room.

She began to listen for things around her.

She started to hear Yahiko's soft breathing across the room from her, and the rain still falling on the dojo roof outside continuously.

Things seemed rather peaceful, but then she began to hear something that wasn't so peaceful.

It was coming from across the hallway in Kenshin's room.

She stopped breathing to hear what she could of Magumi and Dr. Genzai inside the screens.

"How much longer do you think he'll be able to hold onto what little life he has left?" She heard Magumi's tattered up voice ask.

"I…..it all depends on how much he wants to stay alive now. He's not conscious though….so he may…….just leave us." Dr. Genzai's voice sat, even more tattered up.

Kaoru had barley made out those words….and she wanted to badly to cry out in pain for her heart was shattering……but she couldn't.

She…..felt so paralyzed.

Her body wouldn't make a sound or a movement, and her thoughts were clouded by what might have been sleep or dread.

She managed to part her lips and whisper into the air the name that had belonged to the one person that had made everything so perfect.

"….Kenshin………"

~Clouded Dreams~

Kaoru opened her eyes and heard echoes of something or someone all around her.

She narrowed her eyes to try and see into the atmosphere in front of her, but all she saw was black.

Nothing but black.

But then….one by one….stars began to dot the blackness, and it brightened just a tad.

She wrapped her arms around chest, and began to walk.

"H…Hello?…..Is anyone out there?" She questioned.

All of a sudden, a huge echoed bang sounded around her, and she fell to her knees in fear.

She felt so dizzy.

She didn't touch the ground under her legs.

She was just…there.

There in the dark place filled with stars.

Only one thing traced through her confused mind though…..

Where was Kenshin? What was happening to him? Was he okay? Would she ever see him again alive and well?

Tears stung her eyes.

"Kenshin…" She murmured in a grieving sort of way.

"Miss Kaoru?" A voice she heard from a distance say.

She jolted her head up from the ground and looked this way and that.

Far in the distance….she saw a form coming closer to her.

Closer…..

And closer….

Until finally, it took the shape of the person she had only thought would come back to her in dreams.

But was this a dream?

She didn't care.

She stood up without even thinking, and ran to him, but when she reached for him to wrap her arms around and sob the happy sobs that he was okay…..she found that she fell right through the form…….and didn't feel anything but air!!!

She whipped around and stared in confusion at the form as it turned around to face her.

"Miss Kaoru…..I'm sorry." The form said.

Kaoru shook her head wildly. "No!! Don't be sorry!!! Why are you sorry!?!!"

The form of this Kenshin frowned. "Because you can not touch me….like you could in real life."

Kaoru lowered her head. "So this is a dream then…"

The form shook his head. "Not really, Miss Kaoru….not really. They let me come back….to say…..goodb---"

"NO!!! DON'T SAY THAT WORD!!!" Kaoru threw herself at the form, but stopped inches away from him. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT WORD!!!! DON'T YOU DARE!!!!! YOU SAID IT TOO MANY TIMES BEFORE!!! IN REALITY, AND IN DREAMS!!!! I DON'T THINK I'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE IN ONE MORE BREATH OF AIR IF YOU SAY THAT WORD AGAIN!! THAT'S THE ONLY WORD THAT HURTS ME MORE THEN ANY INSULT….OR ANY PUT DOWN!!!"

The form wore an expression she couldn't describe.

"…..Are you really Kenshin?" Her voice was shaking.

The form just replied, "I am, but I'm not. I am sort of part of him. He wanted me to….to tell you "that word" though….so that he could feel like he didn't leave you hanging on empty words when he leaves."

"When…he leaves?" Kaoru's voice cracked and her eyes widened.

She then closed her eyes, and looked away from the form.

"Like I said…..I'm sorry Miss Kaoru. That was what I came here to tell you. If you do not let me finish…..I don't think that…"

"Please….just don't." Kaoru stated, and looked back at the form, tearing rimming her eyes. "Tell Kenshin….that……I will never say…..good-bye. Never. No matter how much he wants it, I won't do so! Because he's never supposed to say good-bye!!! Not ever!!!!"

The form blinked and stepped back from Kaoru, but she stepped forward after him. "He….HE CAN'T JUST SAY GOOD-BYE AND LEAVE HIS FAMILY BEHIND!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!! HE JUST CAN'T!!!!!!"

Suddenly, the form disappeared, and she felt another presence come from behind her.

She slowly looked over her shoulder and found not a form….but a real Kenshin.

Real.

He didn't say anything, but his expression said enough.

She could read it.

It said…..that he didn't want to leave his family behind…..because he never thought he had an actual family……until now. He had never realized how important his family was to him….until now. And he never knew how much Kaoru cared…..until now.

Until now…..

Of all times!

Now……………………..

She saw tears in his eyes.

Those violet eyes.

She had to say something…so she reached into her heart for words.

"…….Don't give up. Please. I know…..it's hard……but……." She lifted her hand and touched his face with her fingertips. He, like the form before him, couldn't be touched….but somehow at that moment…..she and Kenshin felt that contact. "….but…..if you say good-bye now…………or ever……..I don't think I could take losing…..the one person that made me happy again. Like I mattered. Like I was someone worth protecting or standing up for. Like I…….." a tear ran down her face, "….had a family."

These words made Kenshin wish….wish with all his might for something he couldn't bring himself to understand.

It was a desire deep inside him. A will to live.

Even though he was at the edge of the cliff that would send him into death…..he wanted…….to live.

So badly.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out!!

Kaoru watched this, and tried to read his expression again with a bit of panic.

He, himself, looked frantic to say whatever it was he was trying to.

"Kenshin?" She questioned the air in a whisper.

It was then…that his hand lifted….and reached for her cheek this time.

Kaoru felt her tears falling harder. "What are you trying to tell me?" She wanted to know desperately.

Suddenly, he began to be pulled away by something!!!

"K…Kenshin??!!!" Kaoru exclaimed, and began chasing after him.

Slowly, the forms of glowing hands were visible….seeming to be the cause of Kenshin's pull-back.

They held onto his arms, and legs, and neck, and pulled him away bit by bit.

Kaoru ran with all the strength she had in her. "KENSHIN!!!!! FIGHT THEM!!!!! YOU CAN'T GO!!!! PLEASE!!!! YOU MUSTN'T!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!! I BEG OF YOU!!!!! YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER MADE ME FEEL LIKE I BELONGED IN THIS WORLD!!!! THAT I COULD STAND UP TALL!!!! THAT I COULD BE PROUD THAT I HAVE SOMEONE AT HOME WHO BELIEVES IN ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KENSHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She suddenly tripped over something, and fell to the ground.

She looked up and watched as Kenshin was pulled down through the dark floor that couldn't be felt.

She felt herself dying.

She screamed out and held herself in a ball, grieving the loss of the person that she cared for so much.

She couldn't tell where she was anymore again.

The stars around her faded.

Everything got blurry and shadowed.

She closed her eyes so that she could somehow wake up from this nightmare…..and find herself in her own room, the sun shining outside through the screens as if nothing had happened……and Kenshin was out washing laundry with Ayame and Sazume….and Yahiko practicing with his boken…and Sano at the accebeko laughing with the guys, and Tae and Tsubome visiting with friends, and Magumi and Dr. Genzai helping patients with simple problems. And Misao and the rest of the Oniwobon group were happily enjoying their times in Kyoto………and things were perfect.

Perfect………………………………....................................

~*sniff* I think I'm gonna cry now!!! Uhhh, maybe not. Well, the story is ALMOST over!!! Don't give up on it yet just cuz it's one of the saddest parts right now!! You can make it, that you can!~

~Smile B~