Disclaimer: Not mine. Just for the record.

Notes: The last chapter. This has actually been a fun ride. Thanks so much for your kind words. I appreciate all of them, and wish I had more time to tell you all how much. After this, I might post an Escaflowne story, then right after that, another Kenshin one. A funny one. Check out my bio page and you'll know. Ah, I'll quite talkin'. Enjoy!

Oh, and Mip, don't send your legions of Plushies on me until I know whom your sending. You might end up not getting one back. :D

This is a short one, too. Intentionally. Epilogues are supposed to be short... right? ;)



Contemplation



By Sean Montgomery





For the first time in a long while, Kenshin was jittery. When it last happened he was a young boy, hardly a swordsman at all challenging a group of men with a sword he could barely hold up. At that time, his master had come along and taken care of the job, eventually taking Kenshin to his mountaintop home where he learned how to fight.

More than sixteen years ago.

His master wouldn't be here to help him this time. A good thing. It would be very awkward for Hiko to show up just as he was asking Kaoru to be his wife.

The thought was comforting and unnerving at the same time, a warm feeling mixed with the cold nervousness he felt at the moment. He was standing a few feet away from the dojo door, needing some space to think and to not be distracted by the sounds of Kaoru's moving feet. The sounds of the small stream were comforting, and the distant sounds of twilight calmed him down. The fireflies would be coming out soon.

He took a deep breath and looked at the red and orange streaked sky. During the last eight months of their courtship, he had convinced himself last night that he would be perfectly fine when asking Kaoru the question that had been inside of him for so long. It was long enough. They had known each other for longer than that.

Perhaps that was what made him nervous. He knew very well that Kaoru would openly say 'no' to anything she didn't want to do - past incidents in their courting made that clear - but she wouldn't have said 'yes' to courting him if she really hadn't meant it. That gave him a burst of confidence and sent a smile on his face. Then as quickly as it came, it was gone. That meant nothing. He was going to ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. What if she said it only because he was a great worker?

"Oh, yes, Kenshin! I'll marry you! You'll keep the dojo so nice and clean! And the laundry will never look better!"

The thought made his shoulders slump. Just the thought of her saying something like that drove him crazy with anxiety.

"{You helped her cook.}" he thought. "{You showed her how to do many things she didn't know how to do very well. And she always said 'yes' when you asked if she needed help.}" But what if she had only said it out of obligation? Would she really lie to him because she couldn't bare to see the hurt on the Rurouni's face?

"{Of course not. You *know* her!}"

And that lead him back to square one.

Sighing irritably as his mind continued to wage war for Kaoru's decision, Kenshin plopped down on the grass below him and rubbed his face in his hands. How on Earth would he know unless he asked! He couldn't be so afraid of her answer that he couldn't ask, could he? He was able to face the Shinsengumi single-handedly, take down some of the best fighters in Japan, and survived those hellish years before the Meji era dawned in Tokyo! Was he really afraid of asking a simple question?

Yes.

Of course he was. Kaoru meant the world to him. It was small times when they would sit and talk to each other that would make him wonder what it would have been like had he not gone through everything he had, and they had met accidently on the street. It was when she smiled that he felt he could take on a whole army by himself, only to see that smile again. When she laughed, it was the sweetest sound to him, one that he would live his life for only to hear once again. Her spirit was strong and feisty, sometimes unshakeable, but he loved the fire he saw when she was fighting for a righteous cause. Her gentleness was a wonder to him, a wonder that she would take in a Rurouni she didn't even know. Even her insults were spoken out of love. Even when she called him an idiot, he knew, somewhere inside of himself, that she was calling him that because she loved him.

His heart skipped a beat. A smile formed on his face. She loved him. Of course she did. Would she really have gone through everything she did just because she felt like she had to? Of course not. She loved him. He loved her. It made perfect sense.

Standing up and brushing the grass off of himself, he failed to realize there were fireflies and a moon breaking the horizon, all other senses dimmed in the light of determination. He could do it. She would say 'yes'. All because she loved him.

"Kenshin?"

Funny how she always knew the best moments to startle him out of his resolve.

He brought his now healed left hand to the back of his head, laughing nervously. "Kaoru? What are you doing out here?"

"Coming to find you. It's gotten late and I hadn't seen you in a while. I wondered where you had gone off to."

His hand began to tremble behind his head. His mind could only wonder where his determination had run off to. "{Baka, baka, baka, baka....}"

"I'm sorry to worry you. I had to think for a while."

"So late at night?"

He glanced at the sky. It was much darker than he thought it was. He must have been out here for over an hour. His mind quickly scrambled to gather an explanation.

"Forget it." she said suddenly, coming next to him and putting a hand on his arm. "Come back to the dojo, Kenshin. It's getting late."

He stared at her outstretched hand for a while, realizing how cold it was, how that must have meant that she was out here for a while too. For what reasons he couldn't really think of, but all the same, he followed her back to the dojo, closing and locking the doors now that he had both of his arms to do it. When he turned, she was still there beside him. She hadn't changed out of her kimono yet, he noticed, meaning she hadn't taken a bath. Thinking she was giving a silent plea, he asked the question himself, slightly raising his eyebrows when she refused.

"I'm tired now." she said, suddenly upset that she refused his kind offer. "I think I might go to bed early. Classes wore me out today."

Her steps echoed into the still night air. Kenshin turned to check on the lock and froze. If she went into her room, he would loose all chances of asking her. Turning around quickly, he nearly sighed when he saw she had just reached the porch. "Kaoru, wait!"

She froze, watching him as he rushed over to her, the moonlight shining in his eyes and on his hair, amplifying it as he ran, then stopped. He looked at her for a moment, amazed that fear had rooted him to the spot when all he wanted to do was casually stand beside her and pretend nothing was wrong. "What is it, Kenshin?"

He stood straight and took a deep breath, hoping he didn't appear to be too nervous. "I have something important I have to ask you."

Something flashed in her eyes then. Nothing negative, but he couldn't mistake the look of hope that suddenly filled her gaze. He slowly walked over to her, hoping that she would accept, that he wouldn't stumble over his words...

And when he got next to her, he suddenly felt the most confident he had ever been. It truly was hope in her eyes, hope for a question she had been longing to hear, hope that this would be the moment. The only thing he felt was his will to ask the question and the love he knew she could see. Taking in her features, a smile bloomed on his face, making a small flush form on hers. Only for him, that face. Deep in her eyes, he knew she wanted him to ask her. It was all the encouragement he needed.

For deep down, in his own soul, he knew she would say yes.



The End.



Is this the end? Not too sure. I know this chapter was horribly short and I apologize for that. For those of you who wanted to see a proposal... I'm not sorry. I don't think I could capture Kenshin's character well enough to try and write some kind of proposal, so I didn't try because, like courting, it would be more wonderful than we could imagine because it happened to the two of them. That said...

Thank you once again for your wonderful reviews. I'll admit I was scared for a moment - I wondered if some of you had hated the cooking chapter and had given up on me. Literally terrified. So thanks for those words. I knew I could finish the story sane after that. :D

This one MIGHT tie into the new Kenshin one I'm doing, titled, 'Reflections'. It'll have nothing to do with that dreaded movie that made me bawl for a week after seeing it. I know that one might have longer chapters, but that'll depend on how much my muse loves me and wants me see me as a seasoned writer. Until then, I hope you enjoyed 'Contemplation' and I hope you review because I really need it. I began to wonder if I went to far when all I meant to do with this story was make it a short story instead of a multi-chapter one. So comments are appreciated. Thank you once again for all your reviews - you guys (as I always say) never fail to make my day. Later!