Disclaimer: (see first part)

Last part!  ::and the peasants rejoiced::

This is the end, my friends.  Though I'd just like to say that part five is my favorite since it contains the supreme irony of the bad guy playing the part of the "hero breaching the castle" so that he could kill the heroine!  Have I mentioned how I love that concept. . .

Anyway.  All you who reviewed, I appreciate any time and effort you spend to click that horrid little button and completely brighten up my day.  I may not write for others, but I sure like making other people happy as I make myself happy.  It's a nicer world that way, right?  Enjoy the end.  It was close to being tragic, but I just don't do angst.  Honestly, I don't like being sad.  

READ ME: Oh!  And by the way, if anyone would like to try their hands at rewriting some fairy tales to fit Enishi and Kaoru then I would most certainly read them.  I can't plug that concept enough really. . .

AngelOfDeath

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Part VI

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It was a world of black.  The fall to the floor had been swift, and Kaoru had heard Aoshi cry out.

Then nothing.

Then her blank world instead became one of supreme pain.  Every muscle in her body felt like it was asleep and the pins and needles made everything fuzzy.  She didn't want to open her eyes and greet the inevitable discomfort.  Eventually, the crash of something assaulted her ears and she was forced to face whatever reality was waiting for her.

Out of the three of them, Kaoru felt she had the most reason to seem shocked but her mind just sort of accepted what her eyes were telling her:  Aoshi, standing by a broken door, was bleeding through some fancy clothes she had never seen him wear before.  Enishi, standing above her, singed hair, torn clothes, bleeding body (it rather reminded her of how he looked the first time they met) with a dagger poised above her chest and looking poised to strike.

Kaoru closed her eyes again.

Then opened them.

Yep, this was the real world.  Damn.  That meant that she had to actually deal with this.

The men seemed to both be waiting for Kaoru to do something.  She sat up slowly, her breathing labored as she tried hold back a groan for the way her still tingling muscles caused her more discomfort that she wanted to admit to.  Kaoru's sharp eyes saw the sheen of metal in Aoshi's hands.  That explained some of this.  She wanted to ask how long she had been out, or what had happened, but none of that mattered yet.  Those things would only have relevance if she lived through the day, and from Enishi's expression, she wasn't sure that she would.

Kaoru took two deep breaths.  The air was stale, but she savored it.  Even if she was going to die, at least she would see it coming and had time to prepare mentally.  No questions, no uncertainty, just Enishi and a dagger.

"Aoshi, no matter what you think I may think of you and Sano and Jiro, know that I love you and that you are my family.  I couldn't have asked for a better one.  You can tell them that for me."

"Tell them yoursel—"  Kaoru held up a hand to silence her guardian.

"Let me finish."  She looked up at Enishi, who was sweating from strain for maybe the first time in his life, and locked his eyes with her glare.  "Enishi.  I said I love you, and I do.  My family told me about your sister.  I'm sorry for what happened to her, and I can't do much about the curse.  That is over so far as I'm concerned.  The moment I woke up, any connection I felt I shared with her was severed."

Enishi had lowered the knife but had not sheathed it.

"If you still feel that you need to kill me to feel whole, then do it.  I will lie here and accept your decision, because to live my life at the cost of your death is not something I could abide by.  You woke me.  There is no one else.  If I am going to be killed by anyone, then it should be you."  His eyes couldn't waver from hers, and they didn't blink.  "But you know your own heart better than I.  If your bond to your dead sister means more to you than I do, kill me.  But if you are just doing this out of obligation to the promise you made her and not because you believe in it, then I swear I will come back and haunt you.  I can do that, I'm stubborn enough."

His hand clenched the dagger, knuckles white.  Enishi didn't say anything, he just looked at Kaoru with eyes that threatened to sear her soul.

"No interfering Aoshi.  I know what I'm doing.  I've already been dead once today.  It's not so bad right?"  She laid back down and soaked the vision of Aoshi and Enishi standing there into her cornea before she settled down completely to wait.

Kaoru, who looked so brave, was glad that she was already pale from low blood pressure because she was nervous she was about to throw up.  Noble gestures were well and good, and she had meant what she had said, but that didn't mean that even brave people couldn't be exceptionally scared.  The difference between the brave and the cowardly, so far as Kaoru was concerned, was that the brave people didn't let the fear get to them.  Oh gods, Enishi, her brain cried, please don't let me down.

The object of her prayer was at that moment suck motionless at a complete impasse.  He looked inside for Tomoe and came up with nothing.  All he could remember was that sad expression of her as he swore vengeance.  What if he had been wrong all this time?  What if this wasn't what she wanted?  In that case, how could he ever justify the chaos and evil he had caused?  Years of sin weighed down on him for the first time and he felt like he couldn't breathe.

Now that she was there. . . he knew he couldn't thrust the dagger into her.  She had been right, Tomoe was barely a memory anymore and more a feeling long faded.  Everything Kaoru had offered he had abused as he lied to her and taken advantage of every opportunity to try to chip away at her good opinion of others or the trust she had for her family.  She had resisted it all and instead tried to change him in the same instant.  Kaoru was all that he wanted, everything good that his life was missing, but he was more aware than ever of how he didn't deserve her.  Did anyone deserve her?  His mood turned vicious and reproachful.

The dagger descended swiftly, with an intent to kill.

But it never hit its target.

"No!"  Aoshi gripped the blade of the dagger, preventing the dagger from going any further than the tip that had broken the skin.  Blood was beginning to ooze through his fingers, but Aoshi looked determined and totally unaware of this fact.

Kaoru, whose face had screwed up at Aoshi's outburst, had readied herself for the immediate piercing pain that she expected to feel before she died.  But when nothing happened, she sat up with the idea to scold Aoshi for doing exactly what she told him not to, but the words died in her throat.

Expressions identical, Enishi and Aoshi were locked together with Aoshi holding the dagger from its path into Enishi's own chest.  Kaoru's eyes filled with tears at the sight.  She couldn't cry for herself, but this was different.  This was something she hadn't counted on. 

"Don't."  Aoshi's voice was soft, but not unkind.  "Even if you don't want your life, this action is just as selfish as Tomoe's.  Think of who you would be hurting.  Suicide is an escape, not a solution.  I may not like you, but I won't watch you do this."  Enishi's jaw tightened and after a tense moment he let go of the handle.  Aoshi tossed the dagger across the room and inspected his hand with a grimace.

The bedposts were a blessing, so far as Kaoru was concerned, for as her muscles began to feel the blood circulation again she could barely pull herself up otherwise.  Enishi stared at the ground, like a statue of defeat, limp and blank, but he moved with surprise as Kaoru wrapped her arms gently around him.  She was mindful of his injuries, but couldn't help but squeeze him a little tighter than would probably comfortable.  He tried to shrug her away feebly, but she wouldn't be extracted.

She caught his eye and then smiled with a rare radiance.  Her cascading hair, her blushing cheeks, and the look of love on her face actually prompted a small quirk of a smile on one side of Enishi's mouth.  Kaoru leaned forward and kissed the smirking corner.

"That's because I love you."  Then her eyes began to burn and the slap she gave him resounded in the small room.  Enishi held the slapped cheek and angrily bore down on Kaoru, who matched him glare for glare.  "And that's for giving me a scare.  Don't you ever, ever, do that again or else I kill you myself!"  It didn't make sense, but Kaoru's ire, once released, was rarely logical.

"That hurt!"

"This coming from the man who tried to stab himself!  That would have hurt to you know. . .!"

"It's not the same thing.  I was being noble. . ."

"You were being stupid!"

"I was not!"

"QUIET!"  Aoshi had never raised his voice that loud in his life, and it startled him too to some extent.  "I'd love to continue to watch you both bicker but so long as neither of you plans to die then could someone help me find something to bind this cut with?"

Kaoru looked down at the fancy royal purple dress, shrugged, then ripped out a large strip and began to wrap it around Aoshi's hand.  It would have to do for now.  Enishi, now that he was denied the benefit of adrenaline, was also beginning to ache all over and actually feel those various cuts.  The ones from the brambles were stinging especially for some reason.  It was like having paper cuts all over his arms.

"There.  I think you didn't cut anything major, you just sliced the heck out of your fingers and palm.  Probably need some stitches."  She looked at Enishi who was picking at his hair and finding it feeling strangely crunchy at the burnt black tips.  "I suppose you need to be looked at too."

He thought back to his earlier adventures.  Oh crap.  He pushed up his glasses to obscure his face a little bit, as if that would change the past somehow.

"I don't think I'm the one who needs to be looked at first. . ."

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"Ow."

"Stop complaining."

"Ow."

". . ."

"Ow!"

"Look, if you do that for every stair you go up then I'll push you down when we get to the top."  Aoshi had had enough of this.  Sanosuke was being a big baby.  He was lucky to have only walked away from that accident with a few broken bones and some bruised ribs.  They had done what they could for him magically, but there were some things the body just had to take care of itself.  The neck brace and the crutches were a testament to how hard he fought, but they also seemed to be a license to irritate everyone else.  At least Soujiro had been fine, if fatigued, but he didn't even mention his part in all this.  Aoshi was glad because there was a lot there he didn't want to remember.

Like saving Enishi's life.  That had been a big mistake.  Now he had to watch that menace put his hands all over their little Kaoru.  At least they didn't kiss in public, but the idea that they did in private (as he was sure they did) made Aoshi's stomach flop and his fingers itch to take up his swords again.  He only had to carve out a few vital bits and then he'd be perfectly fine with Kaoru being with him anytime. . .

"Aoshi, you're scaring me here.  Stop smiling like that."  Sanosuke struggled up another few steps.  Soujiro followed a few steps behind to make sure Sanosuke didn't fall back and break anything new.

"Did Enishi really have to be moved so high up?"  Soujiro was feeling a little winded.

Aoshi paused to let the other two catch up.  "Well, when Kaoru requested that he be moved out of the basement dungeons into someplace higher Goro probably thought it was the best thing to do.  He doesn't want to be any closer to the man than anyone else. . . besides Kaoru."

"I think it's very good of Enishi to agree to a trial, though I don't know if he'll let himself be sentenced. . ."  Soujiro pulled his body up another flight of stairs.

"Bah.  Himura's a convenient scapegoat.  As soon as Enishi dropped his support it was only a few hours before Goro had won back all the territory he had lost.  With Himura still alive, he'll probably carry the brunt of the punishment since the king had decided not to try Enishi for all his past crimes.  Methinks a pardon will be in the works as a wedding present to Kaoru."  Sanosuke didn't sound terribly happy about the last bit.

"Has she said who she wants to give her away yet?"  Soujiro asked innocently, but all three of them eyed one another.  It wasn't a privilege that any of them would turn down, even if they had to give her away to that damned sorcerer.

They stopped in front of a door, bolted multiple times on the outside with bars on the small window.  Aoshi looked in and saw Enishi working at a desk, pushing his glasses up his nose and then turning back to whatever he was writing.  Aoshi didn't knock; he simply began to unbolt the locks.  The guards on either side of the door didn't protest since everyone knew these three gentlemen on sight after they had returned from Briar Rose and Kaoru had been presented to the court and kingdom.  Soujiro stepped in to help when Aoshi struggled with a difficult lock due to his still healing hand.

Enishi had heard the locks and was standing and ready to receive them when the door opened.  As usual, he had that sinister smirk on his face, but he was trying to change it into something almost friendly and the fairies noted the effort with some suspicion.

"I suppose you're all wondering why I requested you to visit me."

"Kaoru was very vague."  Soujiro was the only one who could still talk civilly to the magician so he would act as the voice of the group.

"My darling fiancĂ© insisted that I speak to you all about something important to her.  Personally I think such traditionalism is irrelevant, but she seems to desire it. . ."  He was circling the issue warily.  "May I have your permission to marry Kaoru?"

Soujiro bit his lip and looked to the other two fairies who also seemed unsure.  "Would it make any difference if we said 'no'?"

"To me, no."  His honesty was galling, especially the acidic way he said it.  "I'd still find a way to marry her.  But I think she would feel much better if she knew that you all accepted this, at least on a superficial level.  You can tell me anything you want, but so long as what we all say to her corroborates then she'll be happy."

"Then, I think I speak for all of us, when we say that we give you our permission.  Maybe not full or whole-hearted, but it is permission we won't begrudge you."  Soujiro's words prompted nods from Sanosuke (more of a dipping forward considering the neck brace) and Aoshi.

Clearly, Enishi was shocked, and it took him a moment to find the words.  "But why?  Don't you hate me?  I've just stepped up and stolen your princess out from under you."  He was just trying to get them to react now, and indeed Sanosuke seemed to bristle and twitch.

"Oh, well, we all do hate you intensely."  Soujiro spoke cheerfully.  "But we love Kaoru and we trust her to know what she wants.  Besides, we can't argue with the fact that you did wake her up after all.  Who are we to say that Kaoru shouldn't marry her fated match?"

For a moment, Enishi examined the honest faces of these men.  "She must be the luckiest girl alive.  I don't think she's ever had to deal with any truly evil people in her life, possibly myself, but even then she walks away with a proposal and a new family."  He walked over to the window and placed his glasses aside.  Enishi was trying honestly to adjust to regular light for Kaoru's sake.  It was one of many gifts he was ready to offer her for this second chance at life she had given him.

Content with the audience and ready to leave, Soujiro stood and grasped Enishi's hand in a firm shake.  Maybe all of them would come to an understanding, a peace, maybe even mutual respect, once more time had passed and Enishi had proven himself reformed.  But that was years away, and for now they would have to be content with an unsteady truce.

"You're wrong about Kaoru.  She's seen just as much evil as any of us, maybe more since she knows as well as anyone about what lies in our hearts thanks to my gift, but the difference is that Kaoru honestly thinks people can be better than what the surface shows. . . and darn it all if people don't want to disappoint her.  Who knows if it was the gift she received from Aoshi, or if it's just the way she is."  Soujiro shrugged.

Soujiro helped a mumbling Sanosuke out of the room but Aoshi lingered behind.  Aoshi examined his hand, then looked up at Enishi once more.  His lips tightened.

"You hurt her, and I'll find you.  And trust me, you won't want me to find you."

Enishi laughed shortly with honest admiration in his eyes.  "I'll keep that in mind."  With almost an afterthought, he added "What she and I have is real.  It isn't the product of any gifts or curses.  I know that those are just suggestions.  They have limited binding power if the person is not predisposed to them in some manner."

"Then you know how lucky you are."

Enishi nodded and Aoshi gave the barest of smiles as he withdrew from the room.  Left alone, Enishi continued work on the letter he had been drafting to Kaoru.  He wasn't allowed to see her until after the trial, but now he had some great news to give her and the sooner he finished this the better.