Hello there! I managed to update although my PC just dropped dead!

Kenshin paced round and round, his mind throbbing with memories, making it even hard to breathe. Sano, too sick with worry for his knees to carry him, sat on the ground with his arms crossed and his face blank. Yahiko couldn't stand the tension, they could hear him running angrily around the Dojo. Megumi has been in Kaoru's room for hours. Sano ran and brought her along with all her medical equipment, a few seconds after Kenshin came in with Kaoru bleeding in his arms. He couldn't think clear enough back then to get her to the clinic. Instead, they brought Megumi to her.

It's been a while since Megumi rushed out screaming for something immediately, the guys were as if they're being burned alive. None of them escaped the guilt, especially Kenshin, who was slowly going crazy. I vowed to protect her and I failed. It's my entire fault she's in there. It should've been me. Why did she have to do this to me? It would've been much more merciful if I died instead of her getting injured. I thought I was strong enough, smart enough and fast enough, but I was wrong...she proved me wrong...

He felt too dizzy to stand anymore, so he fell onto his knees and just burst into tears aloud. Sano's blankness turned into confusion and Yahiko came rushing through the door.

"W-w-what's wrong?" he asked, his face pale with fear.

Sano didn't seem to even notice him, he just continued to stare at Kenshin.

"Kenshin?" Yahiko asked, his voice now barely coming out. Kenshin too didn't reply.

"KENSHIN?" Yahiko asked again, this time nearly shaking.

"I can't take it any more" Kenshin answered in between sobs.

The sight of the strongest man in Japan crying his eyes out was a very strong one. It melted Sano bizarre expression and froze Yahiko with surprise.

"I-I-I l-l-love her too much" Kenshin confessed.

"Kenshin" Sano said gently, finally speaking.

"It's o.k" Yahiko joined in, now feeling bad for Kenshin as well as for Kaoru.

Kenshin felt something odd inside his clothes. He stopped crying and took it out.

"Kaoru-dono's hair tie" he said, mainly to himself, " It's blue. She loves the color blue. It matches her hair color as well as her eyes".

Sano and Yahiko exchanged worried looks.

"Kenshin, are you o.k?" Sano asked with concern. It was truly a bad time for Kenshin to lose his marbles.

"That should've been me inside you know" Kenshin told them for the first time and they both gasped in reaction.

He nodded. "She meant it" he continued, "She said she'd have gladly died for me and she proved it".

"Kenshin.." Yahiko started, but realized that he had nothing to say.

"She looked beautiful" Kenshin really seemed to be going crazy, his eyes went blank," Her hair just fell down and she was as beautiful as she's ever been. Had you ever noticed the way her ears blush when she looks at me, or how the room seems to glow when she enters? If could do one thing one more time, I'd choose to hold her the way I did when I left to fight Shishio. I never realized how tiny her waist is until then. I left her crying her heart out and refused to look back. I always hurt her no matter what I do".

SLAP.

Gasp.

"Sano" Kenshin mumbled, his hand on his scarred cheek, shocked but not strong enough to snap out of it.

"Listen to me" Sano said through gritted teeth, as he repositioned himself right in front of Kenshin and shook him hard by the shoulders, " This isn't the right time to lose your mind. We can't handle any more disasters. She"-he pointed towards Kaoru's room-"needs us now more than ever. You have to pull yourself together man, for her sake. She loves you, you owe her that".

Kenshin stared blankly into Sano's pleading eyes. Slowly, they returned back to their warm consciousness. Yahiko's eyes watered.

"Yeah, we should stop acting like fools and be strong for Kaoru's sake" Yahiko said excitedly.

Kenshin looked from Sano to Yahiko and vice versa. "Yeah" he said trying to sound as excited as possible, "Anything for Kaoru-dono".

"Absolutely" Sano agreed excitedly.

"Megumi is one damn good doctor" Yahiko added, "I really don't know what are we worried about!".

Sano and Kenshin stared at Yahiko uneasily. "Sorry" he apologized.

Kenshin wiped away his tears. "The minute I get the chance, I'm going to tell her the truth, I'm telling her that I'm crazy about her and ask her to marry me".

A wave of true excitement and hope flashed in the guys' eyes.

Footsteps echoed from Kaoru's room. Soon, the door opened and Megumi came out. All three guys stood up immediately. Megumi's eyes were hidden behind her hair, but tears could be seen racing down her cheeks. She looked up and they could see that she was crying heavily.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

Kenshin's lavender eyes switched to a shocked bright yellow, Battousai's eye.

Sano clutched his spiky hair with both hands, turned and bumped his forehead against the wall.

Yahiko's bokken smashed in his hands, then his knees betrayed him and he fell down, sobbing heavily.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Kenshin screamed his lungs out and ran into Kaoru's room. She was lying on her bed, as pale as death, yet so peaceful. He leaned over her and gazed at her pretty face, tears racing downs his cheeks and dropping like rain drops onto hers' and raced onto the floor, making it look as if she was crying.

"Kaoru, please don't leave me here" he begged her in whispers, rocking backwards and forwards with her in his arms, "I can't exist without you, I need you. You're the one who saved my soul and let me know that it's all right to be human and screw up. You became the reason I hold on to life with my teeth and nails. I don't want to be here without you, please take me with you".

He held her tightly in his arms willing to stay like that forever.

Blink. Blink. Where am I? What happened? What's that noise? Who's crying? WHAT AM I DOING IN KENSHIN'S ARMS?

What do you think? Let me know. The last chapter is coming up as soon as I can. I had to beg my young brother to let me use his 'top of the line' laptop to update, I hope he will let me do it more often!! Anyway, there isn't much left to write but I'm really excited, the last chapter is coming closer, just like Christmas ;p