Disclaimer: I don't own it… just the plot… I guess… Oh well, let the torture begin…

Summary: Kaoru, once a princess, grows up to become a skilled thief. Her world is once again turned upside down when she meets the prince of a neighboring kingdom… and get this; he's forced to court her sister! Will this chaos ever be solved?

A Thief's Dream

Chapter Fourteen: Discovery

Kaoru stared blankly into his face as his lips attacked hers in a fiery kiss. She felt like her whole life collapsed around her, and all that mattered were his lips against hers.

"I love you…" His voice echoed in her mind, repeating the words that she always craved to hear. Kaoru weakly returned his kiss, not wanting him to pull back if she were to make any sudden movement. Soon the kiss deepened.

When he pulled back, he stared into Kaoru's face. Her eyes were still shut as if to preserve the memory of their kiss, and when she opened her eyes he stared into them. Her beautiful blue orbs held him captivated as he started noticing small things about her which made him smile. Kaoru's hand absently played with Kenshin's long hair and he found pleasure in the feather light touches she gave him.

"Kaoru, I love you."

He seemed to have calmed down a bit from the earlier events. He smiled down at her and pulled her into a tight embrace, tucking her head under his chin.

"Kaoru?" His only answer was silence. Kenshin pulled away and looked down at her with his sparkling lavender eyes. Kaoru found herself speechless at the emotions she saw within them. Kaoru saw tenderness and compassion in his eyes, and then something suddenly clicked. Love, her mother used that words so many times and now she knew it wasn't true.

How can someone love another and yet abandon them? How can Kenshin love her? They've only known each other for a few days and yet here he was claiming that he loved her. Raw emotions flooded through Kaoru's body. Love, anger, sadness… The world right now seemed so cruel and unfair.

"No… Kenshin…" She started pushing him away, but Kenshin wouldn't allow it. He held onto the most precious thing in the world to him, not letting it go no matter how much she pushed. He loved her and he wouldn't let her get away.

"Kenshin… you don't love me… don't fool yourself." Those words stung Kenshin in more ways than Kaoru could ever imagine. "Kenshin, look around you. There are so many beautiful women and yet you're here claiming that you love me. How can you love someone that you barely know?"

"That's the great thing about it. We can learn more about each other and still be in love."

"How are you so sure I love you? What if many years from now you regret your decision? What if I'm not what you expected?"

Kenshin held her shoulders as he looked down at her, pain evident in his eyes. How could she think so lowly of him? He looked deep into her eyes and saw that she too was in pain. Suddenly, her shaky voice broke the temporary silence.

"How can you love a thief?"

"Easy," he replied, "I just look at her and I feel happy. I just touch her and I feel like I'm in heaven. She just leaves and I feel empty. Kaoru, I don't know what will happen years from now. I don't know if I'll even be alive or rule my kingdom. I just know that I'll never regret this decision because I know I love you."

Kaoru was speechless. The sincerity in his voice, the tenderness, everything was just too much. Kaoru felt Kenshin's hands move from her shoulders to her face. He gently dragged his hand across her cheek and let it stay there. Tears stared to form and slowly slid down her face only to be wiped away by Kenshin.

"Kaoru, please don't cry…" Kenshin continued to wipe away her tears even though he was unsure of what caused them. "K-Kaoru, I'm sorry. Just please don't cry." He stood there in confusion, doing nothing besides brushing the tears from her eyes. Kenshin couldn't stand her tears, whether they are good or bad. His uncertainty bit at him and he found himself embarrassed to be standing there before the object of his affections.

"Kenshin… I love you…" Tears continued flowing and now Kenshin knew they were tears of joy. He pulled Kaoru against him in a fierce hug and refused to let her go. She smiled against his chest, the world seeming happier to the both of them because of their confessions.

"Aoshi, why are you here?" Sano threw a careless smile at the cold, expressionless man behind him. They were walking outside and stopped on a hill, which coincidentally was the hill Misao and Kaoru had been sitting on earlier that day. Sano knelt down in the grass. He plucked out a long blade and began to gently chew on the end. "So, Aoshi, going to answer my question?"

"Sagara."

"Hey, were amongst friends! Call me Sano."

"Sanosuke," was his cold reply. "We're hardly friends."

"That stung, Aoshi. It really did." Sano chuckled to himself and started speaking once more, "It's been awhile since I've, or anyone else, seen you and you just suddenly pop up? You know people are going to wonder."

"I don't care what they think."

It was clear that Aoshi Shinomori was a man of few words, a fact that Sanosuke chose to overlook. "Yeah, but how can you stand all those eyes following you?"

"Simple, I just ignore them."

"That's easy for you, Icicle Man. You put up this cold exterior while inside I know that you're a big softie."

"You are mistaken."

"C'mon, I've seen the way you act around that little weasel." Sano gave Aoshi a small nudge.

"She's been kidnapped."

Sano glanced at the man behind him, "You must be blind."

"…"

"She was in the stadium, the loudest one there. Didn't you see her?! I mean, she's not really that hard to miss. She may be short, but man can she jump and scream, for that matter."

"She was there?"

Sano nodded his head, "Why wouldn't she be?"

Aoshi looked at Sano. He seemed to be about to answer, but then shut his mouth. Thoughts flickered through both their minds as they asked silent questions to themselves.

TBC

I'm trying to update all my fics at a reasonable rate, but it may be difficult to update this one since I'm still trying to figure out the end. This might be longer than I expected because of this short chapter and lack of ideas, but I promise you that it will be finished by winter… I guess. That may seem like a long time, but to me it seems very, very short. Well, I've started yet another fic called 'Bottle Up True Love,' I hope y'all can read it and I look forwards to a flood of reviews. Just kidding, you don't have to read it if you don't want to. Well, I think the next update for this fic will be in around two weeks. Sorry to updating so slowly, I have summer reading to finish as well. Question, does anyone know if there's a movie for the book 'Pride and Prejudice?'

Also, please forgive the short chapter. I really am having problems thinking up what to write next.

Review puh-lease!