AN- This is the next chapter and I hope the wait for this chapter was really worth it. I'm sorry I couldn't post it before. I couldn't because I was so busy, but I do hope you enjoy. Thanks and please do leave a review, but not any flames.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I wish I did but I don't. : (

Mistakes

Chapter Three

Flamer made a great distance within a month. The waters and the air grew much warmer, and the water looked like grew a light blue color. It meant only one thing to Kaoru; the vessel was almost to the Caribbean shores. The excitement of knowing such a thing brought out so much in Kaoru. She could not wait any longer before meeting her new fiancé, a man of mystery and considerably amount of wealth. Though there were times Kaoru wondered why her father chose based on status and not the reason if she would love the man or not. No matter what she was told by her mother, she hadto marry the man. If it was the last thing she could do to please her father, then she was willing to do so

Today Kaoru walked freely on deck with no worries. After the horrible incident she and the crewmen witnessed, everything changed. The men did not dare look her direction whenever she passed. They only walked away when she headed their direction. Personally she wondered if what Tae said was true. Were men willing to die so easily just to make love? What was so good about making love? That was not an answer for her to find until she finally married.

"You know it was not a good idea to ask the Captain come out here during the day," Tae said making it more like it statement then a question. Kaoru understood where she was going at.

"Oh please Tae, everything will be alright. This is such a beautiful day. I am not prisoner on this boat where I must be locked up during the day to wander at night. I need the fresh sunlight as well as to see the moon," said Kaoru quietly. Her sapphire eyes never wavered from watching the beautiful sea rippled beneath the vessel.

"I preferred if you see the moonlight then the sun. I think you should have heed the Captain's warning before doing this terrible action. Kaoru does safety not matter?"

"Of course my safety matters, but it matters as much as my freedom."

"Then sometimes you have to sacrifice your freedom for other things. In this case for instance you are sacrificing your freedom for safety." But before Kaoru could say anything in her defense because she saw an object far away. Far above the surface of the tiny vessel far away, Kaoru saw something waving in the air. At first she paid no attention to it and then she heard one of the men aboard the ship cry out something about the other ship.

"What has happened?" asked Kaoru with a concern voice. Her sapphire eyes flashed with fear. Maybe she should have heed the Captain's warning. Maybe she must have stayed inside. All she had to do was wait until she got to the Caribbean Island, but because of her stubbornness, she had to pay the consequence of her actions.

"Ladies, please get back to the cabins quickly," called the Captain from the distance.

The men rushed to their positions, getting their weapons ready to take action, while below, the cannons were being prepared to shoot at the incoming ship.

"Tae, please tell me what's going on," whimpered Kaoru as she felt the guards who normally guarded her and Tae dragged her to the cabin below. They took her to the safety of the Captain's room and told her to lock the door. No matter what she should not open the door unless the noise stopped and everything was quiet.

"Everything is going to be okay Kaoru, everything is going to be okay," whispered Tae.

Through it all Kaoru heard the gun firing, the cannon balls hitting one another. The vessel trembled from the big impacts of the cannon balls. The men shouts, the loud orders from the captain surrounded the Captain's room in which Tae and Kaoru were occupying.

Then the final blast came from the last shoot of the cannons. Men shouted at the invading enemies. Just right before the door, Kaoru heard shuffles of feet moving towards her and Tae. She panicked, scurrying to the corner of the room, moving closer to Tae for both comfort and protection. For a moment Kaoru heard Tae praying for a way out of a moment like this. Her words filled the whole room, making Kaoru feel a little bit at ease.

Finally after sometime the noise stopped. Flamer became very still. Not a sound came from the other end of the room. Tae stopped praying and hugged Kaoru, trying her best to comfort her. "Do not worry. It is all over my dear, it is all over."

However Tae words were impossible to believe, because out of nowhere, the door that once stood, fell down to the floor and standing at the door were not the same men that Kaoru and Tae recognized, but Pirates who were armed and dangerous, ready to take their lives.

"Hey Captain, the wench is here!" shouted one of the men standing before Kaoru. She could hear her heart thundering throughout the room as she was forced slowly to her feet by a couple of other men. Looking at them, Kaoru saw something hidden in their eyes, something she preferred not to acknowledge.

"Ain't she a pretty lookin' wench," said one the men looking at her lustfully. He licked lips while he put his hands together wickedly and he stepped forward to her. His eyes traveled up and down her body as if undressing her with his eyes. She stood there shocked at this man's rudeness gesture. Even if this man was considered a pirate, he was not allowed to address himself like that toward a lady!

"Yeah and she got spirit too," said the another man. He looked at her lustfully like the other man before did.

"Shit! Reckon the Captain won't share her. We ain't nothin' to do with the wench," said another man.

Then the men stopped talking all together. The room became too silent for Kaoru to bare. She wanted to know why they stopped speaking; she wanted to know what was going to happen next. Most likely she might die like the stories she heard from going to convent school. They might chop her up, rape her, or just throw her over board to be eaten by the sharks. Oh no, please don't let them throw her over the ship to die! She already didn't know how to swim properly. Her father thought it was unsuitable for his daughter to learn how to swim. He believed a lady didn't need to know how to swim.

Silently the men shifted away when a noise came toward her and Tae. Tae shoved her right arm beforeKaoru and pushed her back a little until a tall figure appeared among the men. The stranger moved closer towardTae and her, but never stopped until he was few inches away from them. There from where he stood, Kaoru got a good look at his physical appearance. The very tall man looked to be about a six feet tall or maybe even taller then that. His dark spiked hair, gave him a sinister look, but also made him strikingly handsome. Though what really got to her was his size. His arms and chest were powerful. From the way his muscles rippled through his open shirt, Kaoru could tell how powerful he was. He could crush her small frail frame within an instant. Leaning against the back wall for support, Kaoru gulped as she awaited her faith. She hoped with all her heart that they would have mercy upon her soul and Tae's soul.

"Can you speak English?" asked the tall stranger, looking at her intently. He then moved his eyes away from her to the woman next to her. "Can you speak English too?"

There wasawkward silence for a moment. Kaoru didn't know whether she should respond or keep her mouth shut. It was Tae who broke the silence. "Yes we can speak English."

The tall stranger smiled with a triumph expression in his eyes. Kaoru looked around the room, keeping her eyes away from his. She saw the other men smiled. Now they knew they spoke English. Kaoru wondered what they were planning to do with the next. "Why do you sail to the Caribbean seas?"

"We sail because we are expected to be there to meet someone," answered Tae with confidence. She had an idea, one that may save Kaoru's life and hers as well, but it would only work if it were played out a certain way. She only hoped that they would be merciful and that they were mercenaries as they were cold-blooded killers.

"To meet whom?" asked another voice. All the men looked at the direction where the voice came from. Kaorudidn't noticed all the other menbut the tall stranger who now had his dark eyes on her. Just by him looking at her alone, she knew she could not stay silent for long,

"To meet…" but Tae never had a chance to finish her sentence for the man who spoke shortly before interrupted her.

"Not you, I want to hear the other woman."

Kaoru felt her body stiffened from when she realized that the mysterious man wanted to hear her speak. Looking away from the tall stranger, Kaoru searched the crowd of men looking for theowner of such a deadly harsh voice.

"I said I want to hear you speak woman." The owner of the voice moved away from the crowd of men to stand next to the tall stranger. Something about the way he moved scared Kaoru, forcing her to lay her body flat against the wall. Her small hands clenched in frustration, while her mind wanted her to scream from the pressure she was feeling inside her. But what really got her to stop her crazy reaction was when her sapphire eyes clashed with boiling amber eyes. It caused her to stop breathing for a moment, while her heart thundered with extreme rhythm. There was something haunting about those eyes. She felt like she could fall forever into the depths of them.

He was about to say something. Kaoru could see he was growing impatient by the second. His cold eyes were strong enough to make her say something. "I am suppose to meet my fiancé in the Caribbean. He awaits my arrival."

"I guess he would have to wait longer then usual," said the tall stranger. Kaoru didn't have time to notice the mockery in which the tall stranger held in his voice. Instead she kept her eyes focused on the man with amber eyes and fiery red hair. His long redhair was tied into a high ponytail. What captivated her the about him was the single slash he had across the left side of his cheek. It looked like he got the cut very recently, for the cut was still fresh. Just a trickle of blood was something Kaoru could make out.

"What shall we do them Captain?" asked the taller stranger, looking down at the man beside him.

The what? The shorter man with amber eyes and fiery red hair was the captain? Why did they attack the vessel in the first place? Kaoru was stunned when the men started pushing them away from the room in which she stayed in to the deck. They dragged her to theedge of the ship by the railing, where the men stopped and waited for the Captain's order on what they should do to her next.

"Throw her overboard and let the sharks eat her alive," said the Captain softly, yet the power of his words came from not the softness of his voice, but the intensity of it.

"No please don't kill us!" yelled Tae. "I'm begging you! You can get so much money if you turn us in to Soujiro Seta! He will be willing to pay you any amount of money you want. Just name the price, but please do not kill us!"

Kaoru closed her eyes and awaited her doom. She knew either way the outcome of her life would be slim to none. She would be at his mercy and that he didn't give a damn about them or not. Tae was right about everything. Ready to give her life, Kaoru edged toward the railing, pushing most of her wait to the other side. Waiting for her death, she never heard the call to stop everything, or never felt the strong hands that clasped firmly on her waist and pulled her away. All she knew was that she should have listened to what Tae had said before. She should have given up her freedom to be safe. They were not far away from the Caribbean. If only she had listened to Tae, they would have never been in this situation to begin with.

(To be Continued)