This poem was actually created in my poetry class. The assignment was to write a poem using 20 rules including number 2: say something specific but utterly preposterous and number 18: use a phrase from a language other than English. I couldn't get Kenshin saying "Sessha wa rurouni" out of my head so this came out.

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Separation

The fireflies danced around them like lovers in the dark.

They hovered close to make her feel better.

Their light made the world look green.

Their buzzing and the sounds of the river assaulted her ears.

She could feel the tears threatening to fall.

She could taste their saltiness in her mouth.

He was so close; she could smell his earthy scent.

She vaguely wondered if he tasted the way the forest smelt,

Rich and piney.

Or maybe the way Tae's beef pots did when they were cooked just right.

The meat would melt in her mouth.

She could hear his soft footsteps coming closer.

In the mornings, when he made her breakfast, she could hear nothing.

Every time she saw him there in her kitchen

Stirring her soup, gripping the worn wooden spoon with long, thin, callused fingers,

She would gasp.

She knew he was leaving; that's why she could hear him so well.

His feline grace and delicate movements were gone.

His guilt was weighing him down.

This unworthy one is a wanderer, Kaoru-dono.

I don't know how long I will stay.

The words he'd told her so long ago soared to the front of her memory.

The reversed sword of truth and atonement swayed with him as he walked.

It was a part of him, as vital as his heart.

It protected him from the soft hands of hatred and anger,

Like his infallible smile and polite speech protected him from her love.

He was in front of her in an instant.

At least, that's how she saw it.

It was the last time she'd see him for a while.

He would walk away.

She would be left crying in the street

Desperate to call him back but unable to.

Her silent voice would be screaming out at him.

His violet eyes were the reason his name sounded foreign coming from her mouth.

Kenshin?

Gomen nasai, Kaoru-dono. Sessha wa rurouni.

It's time to wander again.

He embraced her, and the reeds by the river cried with her.

They mourned aloud because she could not.

As he walked away, she fell to the ground.

The fireflies that made the world look green

Danced around her like lovers in the dark.

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A/N: Please review my little experiment!