Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony Productions. I am simply borrowing the characters for use in this work of fanfiction.

Author's Notes: Hi! I finally have come out with another chapter of this story. Sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Thanks and please leave a review!

A Memory Forgotten

Chapter 31

Under the Light of the Moon

That night Kaoru tossed and turned on her futon, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep. She sighed. There were just too many thoughts going through her head and too many things that were a blur to her. She looked out the window and saw that day was about to break.

She sat up and 'hmphed'. There was no point to trying to go to sleep now when she would have to get up in an hour anyway. Kaoru stood up and fixed her yukata as she put on some slippers. Maybe I can talk to Sou-chan and he'll tell me more about them. Maybe I'll remember something new. She slid open the shoji door and softly padded her way through the hall towards Soujiro's room.

"Sou-chan?" she called out when she was at the front of his room. Kaoru quietly slid open the shoji door and tiptoed inside the area.

"Sou-chan?" she called out again in a louder voice as she made her way over to toward the center of the room.

The room was dark and quiet as she tread slowly over to Soujiro's futon. When she got there, she gasped in surprise.

It was empty.

Soujiro paced back and forth around the tree near the house with his head tilted towards the moonlit sky. The night breeze tickled the hairs in the back of his neck as he took a deep breath in contemplation of the last few days' events. He had learned that he had a father. A real father. Soujiro clenched his hands weakly as he shut his eyes for a brief moment.

The only memory of ever having a father was the man who had raised him in that house when he was still young. The man had never paid him much attention and Soujiro could only remember that when he learned that his father had died, the boy could feel no remorse. He thought back to those days with dullness in his eyes.

And now that he's found out that Higurashi Miroku was his true biological father, the boy didn't know what to do or what to think. He had grown up practically by himself and went through struggles with no one by his side. Soujiro had only known loneliness in his life until he met Kaoru. She was the one who showed him how to open up his feelings and she was the one that accepted him for who he was and believed that he was a good person. She gave him determination, will, and most important of all, hope.

"Kaoru," he whispered brokenly into the night.

What should I do?, he questioned himself. He knew how badly she wanted to know about her past and yet he knew at the same time that once she found out everything, she would go back to Tokyo.

And leave him.

Soujiro's heart ached as he thought of that prospect and crossed his arms in front of his chest. I can't be so selfish. This is for her. He looked up towards the window in which Kaoru's room was and sighed. His blue eyes twinkled underneath the shimmering moonlight as he thought back to the memories he had shared with her the past couple of months.

It was time to let her go.

Soujiro had seen the happiness and relief in Himura's eyes when he walked outside to meet them. But foremost, he could see that the red-haired man had truly loved his Kao-chan. He curled his fingers into a tight fist. There was no other way. He had to find Himura and bring him back and. . and .. he had to tell Kao-chan about the people that she had met today. Maybe if he could find them, they would be able to tell her about her past and she would be able to remember everything once more.

He looked back once more at the old house and turned around, his footsteps slowly making their way towards the gate.

Thump.

Thump.

Soujiro could feel his heartbeat become louder and louder as he walked outside of the gate. The drumming seemed deafening to him against the quiet night sky.

"HELP!"

The young man jerked his head up quickly as his ears picked up the shrill female voice. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the sound of footsteps pounding on the ground was coming nearer towards his direction. His hand automatically reached for the hilt of his katana, ready for any attack.

Pant, Pant, Pant

Soujiro widened his eyes. It was a young woman who looked out of breath. He noticed that she was wearing a white qipao and her hair was in a mess. Her brown eyes were wide with fear and her pink lips were trembling as she ran over and grabbed a hold of the boy.

"Please help! There's someone," she said as she pointed in the direction in which she came from. She stopped to take a few breaths before continuing. "He's coming! Please help me!"

The young man nodded as he motioned for the woman to stand behind him. "Don't worry, miss. I'll handle this." The woman graciously obeyed as she made her way behind him. The boy's senses were all on alert, waiting for any motion of any sort. All he saw ahead of him was darkness. Something was wrong. It was an unlikely coincidence that he would run into another Japanese woman in Shanghai.

Then, he felt a sharp searing pain in the side of his body.

Soujiro widened his eyes as he turned around.

The woman that he had met was holding a small dagger within her hands. The faint traces of moonlight reflected the fresh dark blood stains on the blade.

"W-who are you? Wh-what do you want?" Soujiro gasped in pain as he clutched his side that was now beginning to bleed profusely.

The woman looked up at him with vivid fear displaying on her face. "Gomen. Gomen," she said in a shaky voice as she dropped the dagger and ran away. The boy watched as her figure became smaller and smaller. His eyelids began to droop as he forced himself to keep his eyes open.

I've got to get back to Kaoru.

He staggered over towards the wall for support. With one hand pressed against his wound and one hand grasping the wall, Soujiro began to drag himself back home, a trail of blood following right behind him.

Kaoru.

Please don't let it be too late.

Kaoru came out of Soujiro's room with a frantic look on her face. Just where did Sou-chan go at this hour? Mou!, she thought as she crossed her arms in front of her chest as she pouted her lips. She looked from side to side before deciding to check to see if the boy was outside in the yard. How can he just go off at the night like this? It isn't like him!

She slid opened the front door and a cool breeze came inside the room. She noticed that it was still a bit dark outside. Kaoru shivered and slipped on a pair of slippers as she took a step outside. The smell of fresh morning dew entered her nostrils as she breathed in the air around her. She smiled slightly at the feeling.

"Sou-chan!" she called out while cupping her hands around her mouth in an 'o' shape.

"Sou-chan!"

There was no response. Kaoru puckered her face into a frown. "Mou! Where are you, Sou-chan?!" she grumbled under her breath as she continued to tread through the grass towards the front gate. Her hair was still in a loose braid and she was still wearing a thin yukata, but that didn't bother her. The woman was worried. She had a bad feeling at the pit of her stomach when she saw that Soujiro wasn't in the room that early in the morning, the moon was still out.

At that moment, she saw something flash by in front of her eyes. The girl blinked and rubbed her eyes. Maybe I'm seeing things since I didn't get much sleep last night, she thought as she continued along the path.

All of a sudden one large hand was wrapped around her mouth and another arm was entwined around her waist. Kaoru tried to scream, but all that came out was a hardly audible muffled sound. The muscular person dragged her over towards the shadows underneath the large maple tree.

"Be quiet!" the voice harshly whispered.

Kaoru's eyes widened as she struggled within his grasp, kicking and punching as hard as she could.

Her offender only made his grip tighter, making it harder for the girl to breathe.

"Let her go," a stern voice said as it broke through the night sky.

Kaoru quickly twisted her head over towards the direction of the sound. The shadowy figure, she saw, had long hair tied in a loose ponytail and a petite, masculine body. His eyes glowed gold underneath the moon. She swallowed hard. Who is he?, she thought in alarm. She then noticed that the man who was holding her had loosened his grip after seeing the other man's sudden appearance. She thought quickly and jabbed him in the stomach with her right elbow with all her might.

"Oof!" the man cried out as he let her go for an instant. In that moment, Kaoru quickly started running as far away as she could from the man. But apparently it wasn't fast enough. She felt the man's hand grab onto her shoulder tightly. She screeched in pain and shock. Kaoru turned around and her eyes widened. The man had a sharp dagger clenched tightly within his other hand aimed and ready to kill her.

Swish

Kaoru shut her eyes in that instant.

Thump

The man's grip loosened and the girl opened her eyes little by little. Her blue eyes widened in shock at the sight that she saw. The man who had attacked her was now down on the ground. Dead. She looked up and saw that it was the same shadowy figure that she had seen earlier. Her breath caught in her throat. His golden eyes seemed to pierce her very soul. She took a step backwards unconsciously as she tried to steady her breathing.

The man who watched her suddenly shook his head fiercely and tightly shut his eyes. He then opened them back again. To her amazement and disbelief, the man didn't have golden eyes anymore. She gasped.

"Daijoubu, Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru stood there in shock as she recognized the voice. "Kenshin?"

"Hai," he said as he took a step closer towards her. His features were now highlighted by the light of the moon. She noticed how worried his lavender eyes looked as they scanned her body making sure that she was okay. His flame red hair was a mess and she noticed that his katana was re-sheathed and slid back into its place on his belt.

"Arigato, Kenshin," she said as she bowed. "Daijoubu." As she looked up, she noticed that the man's features were flushed with relief and he was smiling. She smiled. She hoped that she could see more of his smiles. Kaoru then looked over at the man who was on the ground.

"Is – is he?" she asked in a timid voice as she pointed over towards the limp body.

Kenshin chuckled. "Iie, you forget that I have a sakabatou, Kaoru-dono." Kaoru looked up and felt a wave of relief pass through her body. She remembered that the man had a non-killing oath and she didn't want to see him break it. She laughed heartily out of relief and happiness as she walked a couple of steps closer towards the man that had just saved her.

She stopped when she was only a few inches away from Kenshin's face. Kaoru looked up and smiled sweetly when she saw the warmth reverberate from the man's purple orbs. Being this close to him just felt right. His eyes captured her own and they looked and searched for one another's souls for what seemed like an eternity.

Kaoru blushed and out of embarrassment looked down at her feet. She clutched her hands in front of her. There was a long period of silence between the two before Kaoru realized something.

"Kenshin," she said as she looked back up, "What are you doing here? It's so late."

The man looked at her a bit surprised at her question and felt his face become hotter. The next second, his face broke into a large smile. "Ano . . sessha . . sessha . ." he stammered as he scratched the back of his head trying to come up with a logical explanation, "Sessha was out for a night stroll de gozaru ka."

The woman narrowed her eyes as she looked at the other. Kenshin smiled with embarrassment. "Well, I'm glad that you were here even if it is because you were out on a night stroll this late at night," she said with a hint of playfulness.

"Oro?"

Kaoru laughed. The man looked at her with his soft lavender eyes. His heart warmed when he saw his Kaoru this happy. There was a period of time in China when he had lost hope of ever finding her. But here standing before him was Kaoru, the most important person to him. The person that he loved. He smiled.

Kaoru then felt a two warm hands enclose upon her own. He gently massaged her hands with his calloused thumbs.

"Kaoru-dono," he whispered as he looked into her sapphire eyes. The intensity of the look entranced her.

She felt one of his hands gently travel up her hands to her shoulders and finally landing ever so softly on her cheek. She slowly closed her eyes as she allowed herself to enjoy the delicate caress. Her senses tingled with excitement and her heart began to beat quickly as she felt the warmth of his breath draw closer toward her face.

Kaoru held her breath with anticipation as she tilted her face upwards towards his own.

"Kaoru!"

Kaoru opened her eyes and her head shot towards the gate. Her face paled instantly at the sight. There was Soujiro staggering at the front with his hand pressing tightly against his side. Something's wrong with Sou-chan, she thought in panic as she started making her way towards him unconsciously. Her footsteps picked up pace and before she knew it she was running.

"Sou-chan!" she cried out in fear. Her heart started to beat faster and faster as she came closer to him. Her eyes widened in shock when she noticed a dark stain on his gi where his hand was located.

"Sou-chan," she cried out again as tears began to blur her vision.

"Kao-chan," he murmured as his eyes began to close. "You."

Kaoru was finally beside him and before the young man fell, she caught him in her arms.

His cerulean blue eyes looked into her own watery eyes. "Kao-chan, you're all right. I'm glad," Soujiro said in a weak, tired voice. He smiled softly as his eyes fluttered to a close.

A few hours later

"Fujimoto-sama! Fujimoto-sama!" A short stubby man barged into the study with an excited look on his face.

A tall dark-haired man looked up from his desk towards the sound of voice. He furrowed his brows as he narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked with a lilt of annoyance.

"Fujimoto-sama," he panted out of breath, "we've found him. Higurashi Miroku."

From behind the short man, a petite sized woman with black hair and brown eyes stepped out and bowed. Fujimoto's eyes lit up when he noticed the crimson spots staining her white qipao.

"I've done your bidding, Fujimoto-sama."

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- To be continued

Author's Notes:

Please read and review! Thanks very much! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it took this long to come out with this installation. I've been pretty busy the last month. Anyway, thanks very much to those who have reviewed! I really enjoy reading your feedback. I'm sorry I won't be able to respond to reviews at the end of each chapter anymore because of the new regulations set forth by ff.net. Though I will try to respond by email or such if you have any questions or anything. Thanks very much!

Also, if you have time check out "Saitou's Adventures in Babysitting." Hehe. It's only three chapters long. There are only two up right now. The third one will be posted soon.

After this fic, I plan to write a Kenshin/Kaoru/Sanosuke fic. Hehe. I think it will be fun. The story has been forming in my head for quite awhile now. Actually, I think I may post the story up before finishing this particular one.

On another unrelated note, if you have the time, you should watch a series called "Princess Tutu." This series was just beautiful and the plot was very intricate. I would recommend it to everyone. If you've seen "Utena", you're sure to like this one also.

Qipao – a Chinese style dress traditionally made of silk or sometimes cotton with a slit on the side.