Title:    A New Beginning

Rated: PG-13 (Violence & Language)

Author: charismatic angel

Email: charismatic_angel@msn.com

Chapter Date: June 30, 2003

All the stuff you do not want to read but I have to say:

* sighs * I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Someone else owns the rights and characters to this series. You know the rest…(Please don't sue me)

Chapter 13:

A flash of worry surround Kaoru as she observed Kenshin. His white t-shirt clung to his skin as the beads of sweat rolled down his chest. She noticed he was now wearing boxers instead of the flannel pants he wore earlier. This made Kaoru blush.

She listened to his erratic breathing as she put her ear against his chest. His face was almost the same hue of his crimson colored hair. Kenshin's eyes were closed which meant he had went back to sleep.

Gently, Kaoru tucked the long red wisps of hair that stuck to his face and tucked them behind his ears. She ran her cool hand across his forehead with loving grace and then cupped the side of his face.

"Kenshin…Kenshin, please wake up." Kaoru softly called. "I am going to help you to your bed…please Kenshin…you need to wake up."

Kenshin's eyes flittered open. At first he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not? The sound of Kaoru's voice woke him out of the deep sleep.

"Ah…" Kenshin tried speak.

"Shhh…" Kaoru whispered, "Do not talk. You need to get to bed but I can't carry you by myself. If you can lean against me I will help you there."

He gave her a look of approval and tried to get up but found it to be a difficult task. His body ached and he felt as if he'd been hit by a ton of bricks. Seeing his struggle, Kaoru helped him sit up and put his arm around her shoulder for support.

"Okay, on the count of three I am going to lift you up." She said, making sure he understood.

He weakly looked into her sapphire eyes, which were clearly full of worry and concern.

"One….Two….Three!" she said pulling him upwards.

It felt like she was picking up dead weight. She didn't realize it'd be so difficult but she was determined to help him to his bed. Kaoru practically dragged him to the bedroom using all the strength she could muster. Even though Kenshin was only a littler taller than herself, he was difficult to manage.

Kaoru propped Kenshin's body against hers and opened the door to his room. She put his arm around her neck and continued to haul him towards the bed. She settled his body onto the bed and laid him on top of the blankets. Grabbing some pillows, she propped them behind his head for extra support.

The room was too dark to see if he was still doing all right. She found a lampclose to his bed and turned it on.

His eyes were half open and his breathing was slow. The gentle rise of his chest could barely be seen. Kaoru knew this wasn't good.

'I'm sorry Kenshin. This is my entire fault! Please get through this okay? I am so worried about you.'

She decided to get a cold rag for his forehead and find some fever reducing medicine if he had any. Kaoru located the washcloths and found some cough syrup in his medicine cabinet.

Kaoru brought the items back to the bed and set the cough syrup on the nightstand. She pressed the cold washcloth against his forehead, hoping it would make him a little more comfortable. Next, she took the medicine and poured the measured amount into the small plastic cup.

Placing a hand behind Kenshin's back, she elevated him a little higher so he'd be able to swallow the medicine.

"Here Kenshin, you need to take this."

She brought the cup to his lips and tilted it so he could swallow the medicine. Kenshin coughed spitting some of it out. Kaoru took her fingers and wiped them across his chin, to clean off the medicine he spit out.

His eyes were closed and he looked a bit more relaxed, indicating the medicine was doing its job. Kaoru sat on the bed next to him and tenderly ran her fingers through his hair.

'It's so soft.' She said to herself.

Throughout the night, Kaoru carefully watched over him, making sure his condition didn't change for the worse. It was sometime between the early morning hours of light when sleep overtook her.

****************************

Kenshin awoke with a fuzzy feeling in his head. It felt as if his head were stuffed with cotton. He was a bit disoriented at first, wondering how he got to bed? He made movements to get up but was unable to because something stopped him.

Kenshin turned his head to see a tousled mass of raven hair settling over his arm and chest. His heart sped up becoming confused with the whole situation. He slowly turned over onto his side trying to take a peek at whom it was.

Upon his movements the girl snuggled her face against his chest making it hard to see who it was. A huge lump formed in Kenshin's throat. He had a feeling that he knew who this raven-haired girl was. He just wasn't sure what she was doing there…. and in his bed!

Hesitantly, he moved his hand towards her and began to brush the loose tendrils of hair away from her face. Kaoru softly cooed into his chest, feeling his touch within her sleep.  The smell of jasmine emanated from her hair. He breathed deeply enjoying the sweet smell.  Kenshin smiled, looking down at the beautiful girl beside him.

' Her hair is like silk against my fingers. She is absolutely breathtaking…even when she's asleep'

Feeling guilty for taking the simple liberty of touching her hair, he removed his hands from the soft tendrils. Kenshin decided it would be best to wake her up before she caught him gawking at her.

He put his hand on her shoulder and softly shook it.

'Miss Kaoru, Miss Kaoru, wake up.' He whispered

Slowly, Kaoru opened her eyes and gave a contented yawn. She wondered how long she'd been asleep? Kaoru rubbed her head against the softness of the pillow, realizing it wasn't a pillow. She immediately sat up and gasped.

'Oh my God! I fell asleep…and…and…oh no…this is so embarrassing!'

Kenshin stared at her with wide eyes. He certainly wasn't expecting her to sit up so quickly.

A heated blush spread across her cheeks, "Oh, Kenshin! I am so sorry! I-must-have-fallen-asleep-oh-my-my-my-I-didn't-mean-for-this-for-you-oh-no-I-am-so-embaressed…"she trailed off.

Kenshin gave a deep chuckle at her reaction.

The blush disappeared from her face and her hand clenched into fists.

"Just what do you think you are laughing at? How long have you been awake? Did you think it was funny or something? Cause you have one thing coming…" Kaoru ranted.

Kenshin could see what Sanosuke was saying about her having a temper. He certainly did not want to get on her bad side.

"No, No, Miss Kaoru. It isn't what you think." He said, waving his hands in front of him and a swirly look in his eyes.

"Then what did you mean?" she said, glaring daggers at him.

"Well what I was going to say is…I guess I am not sure why you are here. Not like it's a bad thing to have you here but…I am a little confused." He said, truthfully.

Kaoru calmed down, "Kenshin you idiot, don't you remember? I came by after work to check on you and when you didn't answer your door I became worried. The door was unlocked so I walked in and found you on the couch. You looked awful and I couldn't leave you laying on the couch so I helped you to bed….You mean to say you don't remember any of this?"

"Well…uhhh" he said scratching his head.

'I remember hearing her voice but I thought it was a dream. I can't believe she stayed with me all night.' He smiled, as he thought to himself.

"What are you smiling about now." Kaoru said, eyeing him.

"It was nice of you to stay and make sure I was all right. Thank you, Miss Kaoru, you are kind woman." He said.

Kaoru smiled at his compliment.

She set the back of her hand on his forehead, which surprised the hell out of Kenshin.

"Your fever is gone." She smiled

Kaoru combed back a few stray hairs away from his face. The caring action made his heart swell. He never had anyone care as much about him as she did. Before she could take her hand away, Kenshin moved his hand over hers. He gave her a heartfelt smile and looked deep into her eyes.

Kaoru thought she would become lost in his deep violet gaze. He had the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. She could almost drown in the softness they beheld.

Kenshin moved his face closer to hers. They were only inches apart. His breath softly fell against her cheek. Kaoru's lips quivered with anticipation. He looked deep into her sapphire eyes, looking for any resignation that may be them. Kenshin saw the pure beauty of her soul and the wanting ness they beheld.

Slowly, Kenshin broke the gap between them and covered her lips with his own. Kaoru responded by tilting her chin allowing him easier access to her mouth. Her lips felt like soft rose petals. They tasted like honey making him want more. Kaoru let out a deep sigh as he broke the kiss.

She felt sad he had ended it because she wanted more. Kenshin cupped the side of her cheek gingerly rubbing his thumb across her smooth skin.

They sat there letting the moment wash over them never wanting it to end.

**********************************

Meanwhile in Tokyo:

"Have you found her yet?" Enishi growled.

"No…No sir, we still have people out looking for her." A small man meekly replied.

"That is not good enough! We should have found her by now! It's been a god damn month!" he shouted, pounding his fist onto the desk.

"Do I have to Fucking do everything here myself?" he snorted.

"We are doing the best we can…it should…"

Enishi interrupted the man.

"I don't give a damn how hard you're trying! I want her found! NOW!"

"Any word on Aoshi Shinomori?" Enishi inquired.

"No…we are still looking for him as well. We have a lead in Hyogo." The small squeaked.

"If there is anyone who can find her, it is he. Her friend Misao will not tell me anything…but maybe she will tell him." He said, smiling evilly.

End of Chapter 13

I hope some of my readers are appeased to see Enishi is still in the picture. How will Aoshi help them, if he will? You will have to continue reading to find out.

So, what did you think of this chapter? It's a little mushier than the previous ones. Looks like Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship got a little jump-start ;)

If some of you are wondering how I am able to update so quickly, it's due to the fact that I have all this creative energy. I've wanted to write a fanfic for so long, but never got around to it. There are many different scenarios I have in mind for this fic….but I am not going to tell you just yet!

Hopefully, I can finish this fic before I go back to college. It will be difficult to finish knowing I will have time constraints. Next semester I am taking: Micro Economics, Accounting, Statistics, Speech, Fundamentals of Business, and Ethics. Oh yeah, loads of fun there! I just want to say…enjoy your summer it goes by fast!

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter. I'm pleased there have been so many reviews. I never thought I'd have so many people reading this story.

Thank you for being so awesome!

~*Charismatic Angel*~