~Chapter Ten-Our Family~
Kaoru's bare feet walked down the empty streets of Tokyo near the dojo gates.
She was lost in a trance….as if she was in some sort of death period which she couldn't make herself awaken from.
But why would she want to?
Not even the greatest of possibilities could put a smile on her face now.
She stared at her muddy toes, and watched them move forward in a slow motion…one after the other….down the dirt road farther into town.
The rain around had been coming down rather well….but all of a sudden….she noticed a change in the atmosphere.
For some reason…..
She stopped walking.
The rain stopped with her.
The breeze brushed away the dark bangs from her eyes….and the blue tint from what must have been the sun, shinned up onto her cheeks, reflecting from the ground!
She heard someone whispering to her!!
*…This voice……..* She thought to herself.
She slowly lifted her head towards the sky.
Her eyes widened when she saw what she did.
The blue sky.
Something she thought she'd never see again!
She hummed a bit through the wind as her lips parted in complete wonder.
"…the…….sun…." She whispered, and closed her eyes to let the soothing rays warm her cold skin…and dry away her tears.
She heard the wind singing.
She couldn't understand….but it was saying something of reassurance.
She heard fast footsteps from behind her suddenly.
"Kaoru!!!" Cried out Magumi.
Kaoru turned around quickly to face the doctor.
Magumi was breathing heavily. "COME QUICK!!!! IT'S SIR KEN!!!!"
Kaoru's heart felt a sensation of some sort over her, and she knew to chase after his name and run back to the dojo as fast as she could carry herself!!
She flew past Magumi, whom followed her in a speedy way as well.
But not nearly as speedy as Kaoru's feet were taking her.
Her loose hair flew about in the wind she created as she turned the corner into the backyard of the dojo, and into the courtyard.
Heaving herself onto the porch, she threw open the back screen doors, and stopped dead in her tracks in the hallways leading to Kenshin's room.
Everyone…was there.
Yahiko, Sano, Tae, Tsubome, Ayame, and Sazume.
Magumi came in through the backdoors from behind Kaoru, and when she passed Kaoru, she smiled.
They all smiled!!!
What was going on??!!
The sunshine flooded the dojo now.
It was so beautiful.
Too beautiful for the situation…..but maybe it had changed!
She didn't know what to do.
She just stood there in confusion.
Just then, Dr. Genzai opened Kenshin's screens, and stepped out into the hallway.
His smile was so broad.
So very broad.
He nodded to everyone, and then looked to Kaoru, still standing in the doorway.
"Kaoru…go on in." He said with his grin.
Kaoru nodded ever so slightly…and lifted one foot in front of her, and then the other, which was now swollen up again because of her frantic running she had done.
She partly limped as she came closer to the screens.
Dr. Genzai turned the everyone, and then led them into the other room. "We'll come back in a minute, okay?"
Kaoru nodded to the old man, and then turned back to the screens.
She put her hand on the wood.
She was so nervous!
What would she find behind the doors now?
With one steady heartbeat, she slid the screens open with care.
First she saw the futon still being occupied by the rurouni.
But when she stepped in……that very rurouni had his violet eyes open…..staring at the sunlight pouring into the room.
She closed the screens gently so that they wouldn't make a sound….but she was in complete disbelief.
Her eyes were stinging with new tears now….but they weren't tears of sorrow.
Tears of joy!
Her voice was shaky when she finally spoke. "…K….K…Kenshin…" She said this in a whisper.
He heard her, and turned his head slowly to find her.
When his eyes met her form, he smiled. "Kaoru…"
She shut her eyes tight and ran to the futon. "KENSHIN!!!!"
She fell into the futon with him, and wrapped her arms around Kenshin's body, sobbing with happiness.
Never in all her life had she felt such glorious contentment within her.
She cried into him and just held him.
For so long….
Kenshin, still weak, didn't move, but after about 15 minutes or so, he managed to lift his arms and wrap them around Kaoru to return her joyful embrace.
It was a good half an hour before Kaoru collected herself, and sat back on the side of the futon, smiling with all her glory at the awake and looking much better Kenshin.
"…But….how? I don't understand." She started to say, wanting to know how this had all happened.
Kenshin smiled up at her. "Well….Dr. Genzai explained to me what he was about to do before I woke up. Not my idea of a good ending, that it most certainly is not!" He paused a bit while Kaoru laughed at Kenshin odd sense of humor.
He continued. "But…I guess…..no one really knows what happened. I can recall something though. All I can remember…..is….someone crying and telling me to never say good-bye. I don't know who it was. I remember though. I think….I know who the sobs belonged to now. I can also remember, well, partly, that I'm supposed to tell something to someone. Some time before I awoke, I think I made contact with someone's dreams. I was at the very end of my rope…and that dream somehow made me stronger."
Kaoru listened to his weak words, and nodded.
She hadn't expected him to lift his hand from his side and lay it over hers gently.
She looked down at it.
She took her other hand and closed it over his.
The rurouni smiled again. "Thank you."
Kaoru held his hand tighter. "For…what?" She was blushing.
He was glad to explain. "Because….you are the one who kept me alive so many times. I could be dead right now…..and you would be all alone. I remember hat you told me. To not give up. I remember the women that took care of me when I was a child tell me that as well…to never give up…and to stay alive for the people I care most about. You see….I didn't….I didn't think I had anyone like that. I lost my blood family when I was only 5 years old…and from that day onward….I never referred to anyone as my family…or any place as my home. When I was the Battousai, I had no reason to want to care for others. I was the blood-thirsty beast that no one could love. When…I became a rurouni…11 years ago…I never expected to get back what I had lost so many times before. People who actually wanted me to stay alive and actually live."
Kaoru could see tears in his violet eyes as he went on. "But now….you showed me that I DO have a family. I DO have a home. I DO have people who want me to live. I have you to thank for everything….Kaoru."
Kaoru felt so important all of a sudden.
She closed her eyes. "And I……have you to thank…..Kenshin Himura…….for…….." She paused, and opened her eyes to see if he was listening.
He watched in full attention, so she continued, staring into his eyes. "….for…..being the….one who is my family."
Kenshin's eyes widened.
So that was that then.
They were one another's family….
And they had been the ones who build the family they had now around them.
Yahiko, Sanoske, Magumi, Ayame, Sazume, Tae, Tsubome, Dr. Genzai, Misao, the Oniwobon, and Yutaro.
All of them.
Their gratitude towards themselves though changed deeply that moment.
For the rest of that day, Kaoru sat at Kenshin's futon.
At about 4 in the evening, everyone joined them.
Magumi had also taken the time that afternoon to write a letter of what all had been going on to Misao and the Oniwobon in Kyoto, and also one for Yutaro in Germany.
Everyone knew that Yutaro would only write back, but Misao may come to visit! She was always a very unexpected girl.
Everyone sat around Kenshin's futon and talked.
Ayame and Sazume were nestled under the covers with the rurouni, hugging and squeezing him, and showing him their pictures they had painted the day before for him.
Magumi and Tae talked with one another, and Tsubome and Yahiko did as well.
Dr. Genzai was making up some pain relievers for Kenshin so that what was left of the sickness wouldn't cause aches.
Kaoru sat beside Kenshin with Ayame and Sazume.
She didn't dare leave his side, even if it meant moving a few inches.
"Do you really like it, Uncle Ken?" Ayame questioned as she pointed to her painting.
Kenshin nodded and pattered the child's head. "It's a masterpiece! I'll keep it always!"
Sazume put on a sour look. "Hey!!! What about mine! Don't like it you??!!"
Kenshin and Kaoru laughed together. "You mean, "Don't you like it?", Sazume. Of course I do! They're both very lovely."
"YAY!!!" The tow girls shouted, and proceeded to hug Kenshin more.
Kenshin laughed so freely.
Kaoru had never seen him so happy before!
Even now…when he was still pretty ill….he was the happiest he had ever been at her dojo.
No…..she decided……their dojo.
She looked up and around the room.
All these people sitting around and talked, laughing.
Having fun together.
This was a family.
She was in her heaven again…and the nightmare she thought she lived turned out to only be what she thought all along…..a bad dream.
"Kaoru? What are you looking at?" Kenshin questioned all of a sudden.
Kaoru turned to him and grinned. "I am so proud." She said simply.
Kenshin blinked. "Of what?"
Kaoru's cheeks flushed a bit. "Of our family."
Kenshin immediately noticed the "our" part of her statement, and his cheeks flushed as well.
"Our Family."
~AWWWW!!!! Now see? I told you it was gonna be happy again!!! ^_^ One more chapter to go!!! You can do it, that you can!!~
~Smile B~