Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Sony Entertainment Enterprises, Shueisha Jump! Comics. All original characters and ideas are mine to claim.

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Note: This chapter is good; doesn't have any mature themes/ideas. Told from Kenshin and Kaoru's POVs. Enjoy!

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-Save Me From the Darkness-

-Chapter Ten -- Heart and Soul-

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-Kenshin-

Over the next few months, things between Kaoru and I progressed at a comfortable pace. We had our little romantic quirks like Kaoru occasionally falling asleep in my lap on the couch; I would just tuck her in when I myself went to bed.

I was happy that I was able to save the girl I'd loved for the majority of my existence. I figured maybe it was time to start thinking about a future with Kaoru.

We talked about marriage a few times, and we were both content with the thought that if we ended up marrying each other it would make us the happiest people on earth.

So, I decided that I would ask her to marry me.

And then, Kaoru introduced another topic for the both of us to chew on.

We were cuddling on the couch after dinner one night, and Kamatari was off in his room, working on some dress designs for his new "Birthstone" line. I was reading some paperwork while Kaoru channel-surfed. She ended up settling on an episode of Gakkou no Kaidan.

"I love this one," she said. "Satsuki's my favorite."

I chuckled.

"Such simple pleasures," I said, looking at her.

"Sshh! It's the episode with Yamime!"

"'Yamime'?"

"Just watch!"

"Hai, hai…"

So we watched. And then we watched Ultra Maniac after that, and then Ai Yori Aoshi after that.

Finally, after watching the three shows, she turned the television off, and looked down at her lap as if in deep thought, and I got back to my paperwork.

"Kenshin?"

"Hmm?"

"I've been thinking…"

"About?" I prompted, giving her my undivided attention.

"Well…" She trailed off, gathering her thoughts while I waited for her to continue.

"I think…maybe…it's time to move back into the dojo…but it's just so empty there, y'know? With otou-san's death, it felt so gloomy, and there are so many sad memories waiting there for me. Even when I train my students, it still feels so empty.

"But, strangely, it also feels like his spirit is still lingering there, as if he's waiting for something to happen before he can move on. I don't know what to do; should I move back in, or should I just stay here?"

I pondered over what she said, and wondered what to say.

What does a guy say to his girlfriend to help her figure out whether or not she should move back into the house she grew up in?

Knowing I probably wasn't going to be able to help her with this one, I said the only thing I could think of.

"As much as I would like to help you decide, only you can make such a decision. It doesn't affect anyone else but you."

She nodded sadly. "I guess you're right. But then, you're always right."

I chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Shimpairanai. Everything will turn out just fine in the end."

"Y'know, when I was meditating with my students today, I was remembering the time when Otou-san taught me the ougi. He was so weak from the cancer, and he knew he was going to die. I even told him so; but he said he had saved his strength for those last few lessons. Even though he was so ill, when we sparred he held himself like someone who was in perfect health; his last act swordsmanship was teaching me the ougi. He left me shortly after, but he left with a smile on his face… His last words to me were that he loved me and that I had made him the proudest father that there ever was…"

She smiled sadly, lost in her memories. I smiled at her, put my arm around her, and pulled her closer to me. Bending my head down slightly I gave her a kiss. She smiled up at me happily, her sadness gone, and cuddled closer to me; she eventually fell asleep.

-/-/-/-/-

-Kaoru-

I walked around the café, talking to my customers, asking if everything was to their liking. Kenshin and the rest of my friends sat at a corner table with a good view of the stage; I looked over at them, and he waved.

I checked my watch, saw the time, and headed to the stage. I had some announcing to do.

"Konbanwa, minna-san!" I greeted into the mic, watching my customers. "Is everyone enjoying themselves?"

I got a chorus of slight cheers from my audience, and I continued.

"That's great. Okay, many of you are regular customers here, and some of you aren't, but that's okay too. Anyone and everyone is welcome here. But today…well, today is special because today is the 1st anniversary of Music Planet's opening! And so, I would like to ask all of you a favor. I'm going to call up the staff, and present them with a small token of my gratitude; would you guys please give them a round of applause when they come up?"

The customers cheered in agreement.

"Okay. I'd like to ask my boyfriend," I blushed slightly while saying this, "Himura Kenshin, and my other friends who managed to make it tonight to join me onstage to help with the honors."

Kenshin, Sanosuke, Megumi, Soujiro, Aoshi, and Misao came onstage. Kenshin stood by me on my right, and Megumi stood on my left. Sanosuke pulled a large decorated box out from the corner and set it on the stool that stood near where Kenshin, Megumi, and I were standing. Soujiro, Aoshi, and Misao lined up next to the box, and Misao gave me the cue that they were ready. I pulled out a list from my pocket with the names of all the employees in the order they were to come on stage.

"Okay, first up, our wonderful chef, Yamamoto Shura!"

The amber-eyed, emerald-haired woman came walked up on stage, shook my hand, and accepted the small showpiece that I had had specially made for each employee with their names engraved on them from the small assembly line by the box.

I passed the list to Kenshin. "Would Hirataka Yukako please come up?"

Yukako came up on stage, and went through the same process as Shura. It continued until all of my employees had received their gift. I then called up the entire staff to the front, and had them take a bow while the audience clapped.

Shura then took the mic, under the pretense of "saying a few words".

"Minna-san, while it's all right for you to applaud for us, would you please give a big round of applause for Kaoru-san here? After all, this place is her baby, and without her, none of us would be here to serve you!"

I blushed and took a slight bow as everyone clapped for me.

"Kaoru-san, the rest of the staff and I have decided that we would like to ask you for one more gift, if we may be so bold," Shura continued, after the noise had died down.

I looked at her, then at Kenshin and everyone else. Coming to a conclusion, I nodded and gave her approval for one last gift.

"Would you please sing for us?"

"Oh my…" I trailed off.

"PLEASE???" my staff pleaded, all of them giving me puppy-dog looks.

"Aww…now how can I say 'no' to all of you when you look like that? Okay, I'll sing. But I'll do you one better; I'll sing one of our karaoke choices, and a special song that I wrote. How's that?"

"YEAH!!!"

My staff filed off, and Kenshin and the others returned to their seats.

"Hmm…" I thought about what song to sing, well aware that my audience was watching me in anticipation.

I walked to the choices that we had in our karaoke selection, and started flipping through them, finally coming across the one I wanted.

I entered my selection into the karaoke machine, and turned to the audience as the intro played overhead.

"I've chosen Ishida Yoko's Towa no Hana. I hope you like it."

I paused then, waiting for the music's cue to begin singing. When it came, I was ready.

"Awaku saita hana no kao
Nokoshi kisetsu wa sugimasu
Ame mo agari sora ni kumo
Aoi kaze ga soyoideru

Kyou ashita to futari ga
Aruku toki no katawara de
Kawarazu ni yureteiru
Omoide ga arimasu

Eien wo eien wo
Saitemo karenai
Kono mune no tokimeki wa tsukinai
Dare yori mo dare yori mo
Anata wo mitsumete
Hateshinaku kono kimochi zutto

Ano hi futari de ata no wa
Sekai jyuu de ikudomeni
Okita kiseki nano desho wo
Dare ni kansha tsureba ii

Aa anata no mirai ga
Kitto watashi ni wa ni aito
Sou ienai yoru mo aru
Nakisou ni naru kedo

Eien wo eien wo
Subite mo asenai
Kaze no naka sora no shita natsu no
Shinjitara shinjitara
Anata no e ga ora
Watashi no hanani naru kara kitto

Eien wo eien wo
Saitemo karenai
Kono mune no tokimeki wa tsukinai
Dare yori mo dare yori mo
Anata wo mitsumete
Hateshinaku kono kimochi zutto."

I smiled to myself when I finished, and attempted to keep the blush off of my face as I reveled in the fact that I could still hit the high notes; I was a first soprano in my high school choir, and I remained a first soprano through the years.

I felt like I was on fire. This is what I loved; my customers were happy, and enjoying themselves.

Finally, I decided it was time to bring out what Soujiro had helped me put together. I looked out into the audience, and was surprised to see a TV cameraman.

Soujiro came up on stage, dressed in his snappy black business suit, a mic in his and. "Kaoru, we wanted to do a story on the restaurant's 1st anniversary. Would you mind if we interviewed you?"

"Well, I'll admit I'm a little surprised, but sure, I'd be glad to."

"Great! Hey Kira, we ready to roll?"

"Yup," his cameraman said. He gave the cue, and Soujiro started speaking.

"Konbanwa, minna-san! I'm coming to you live from Music Planet's 1st anniversary bash. I stand here with Kamiya Kaoru, the owner and manager of this wonderful establishment. So Kaoru, can you believe that it's been a year since this place opened?"

"Truthfully, Seta-san, I'm still trying to get over the fact that I've managed to open and run this place so well. It took a lot of work to put this place together. But it was great, because my friends backed me up 100 percent, and they even pitched in to help clean this place up. If you'll look at that back wall over there, 'The Wall of Tidbits' as it's called here, all of us put it together; we put in several hours painting the artwork, signing it, finding meaningful quotes to put up, etcetera. We do, however, have some open spaces, because our friend Kenshin was still living in the U.S. at the time. I'm sure, though, that the spots will be filled soon."

"Okay. Well, you just came off stage after singing a song for your employees, am I correct?"

"Mm-hmm," I hummed, nodding my head.

"Which song did you sing?"

"Oh, I sang Ishida Yoko's 'Towa no Hana', since my employees asked for me to sing. And now I just have one more song to sing."

"Really? Which one?"

"Ano…" I blushed, "it's something I wrote, that a friend of mine helped me mix, so that there are both a recorded version, and a karaoke version of the song."

"Well, good luck on your performance."

"Arigato."

"This is Seta Soujiro, signing off of the Six O'Clock Flash. Back to you in the studio, Harumi."

"And CUT! That was great Soujiro!"

"Arigato gozaimasu, Kira." Soujiro then turned back to me. "Are you going to sing what I think you're going to sing?"

I grinned and nodded; checking my watch, I realized that a good 20 minutes had passed and that I was well overdue with my song to everyone. Running into my office, I retrieved the disc with the karaoke version of the song, and rushed back out onto the stage.

"Okay, everyone. I have one more song for you. This one is an original that I wrote, and my good friend Soujiro helped me mix it. So first, a round of applause for Sou-kun!"

Everyone clapped and cheered.

"Okay then. I hope you enjoy this song. It's called 'Kimi ga Ita Monogatari'."

I slipped the CD into the player, and felt like I was immersing into the intro. Soujiro did a wonderful job mixing it. When I heard the cue, I let myself go with the music.

"Shizukesa to yasuragi ga tooku de maneku kara
Mou sukoshi saki ni made yuke souna ki ga suru
Tada te wo tori atte kogori tsuku yoru wo koete

Kizutsuite utsubuita toki ni deatta kara
Setsunasa ga akunareba hanarete yuku you de
Yogoreta mizu no ue dakara tsuki no kage ga kirei de

Sore ha kanashimi no kataru monogatari
Koi to yobu koto ni mada tameratteiru
Itetsuita yoru ni chikaku naru hoshi ha
Kimi ga iru yume wo itsumade misetekureru darou

Omoide wo nomi konde sora no ao ha fukaku
Nukumori no kureru mono te ni hairanai mono
Nani wo wakeatte nani wo sutete yuku koko ni

Kono mama futari de itetsuita sora no
Kanata he yukeru to douka shinjiteite
Dareyori mo chikaku dokomade mo tooku
Kimi ga iru yume ha mou kesenai kioku dakara

Sore ha kanashimi no kataru monogatari
Koi to yobu koto ni mada tameratteiru
Itetsuita yoru ni chikaku naru hoshi ni
Kimi ga iru yume wo mada mitsumeteitai dake de."

As the music died away, I felt for the first time how much my heart was racing from the excitement.

It was amazing to perform one of my own pieces up there. Truly amazing…

-/-/-/-/-

-Kenshin-

I was blown away with her performance; my mouth was hanging open slightly as I came back to reality after Kaoru finished her last song.

Wow…

I wondered if I should wait any longer to ask what I'd been waiting to ask for several weeks now. Sticking a hand into the pocket of my pants, I felt for the small, dark blue, velveteen box that I brought with me. It was there.

I looked around the restaurant, the lights brightly lighting up the place. There was still a huge rush of people, but that was fine. I wasn't really concerned about it; in fact, I figured that the large amount of people would be able to help me remember that this was not a dream.

I sighed, my mind made up. Excusing myself from the table, I made my way toward the stage, climbing the small steps quickly and taking my place at the mic. Sticking my hand into my pocket for easy access to the box, I cleared my throat.

"Excuse me, minna-san. There's something that I would like to say. Ano…Kaoru-dono, would you please join me onstage?"

She looked over at me from where she was talking to some customers, confusion and curiosity pooling in her eyes. Nodding, she came up on stage and stood next to me.

I gave her a smile, and turned back to the audience to continue speaking.

"First off, I would like to congratulate my girlfriend on a job well done, both with running tonight's events, and with running this place everyday. So would all of you please give her a round of applause?"

Claps, cheers, whistles, and shouts echoed around the room.

Once it had all died down, I turned to Kaoru with the mic still in my left hand, and my right hand still holding the box in my pocket.

"Finally, you've given everyone a gift, but you've received no gift yourself. So, our friends and I put a little something together for you. Hey guys, it's time!" I turned my head to our group, and motioned with my head to come up on stage with the 'gift' that we had gotten Kaoru. By this time, even Kamatari was present; he came late after closing the boutique.

Sano walked up onstage with everyone around him, carrying a gift wrapped box in his hands. They made a horseshoe around us, and Sano handed the box to Kaoru.

"Congratulations Kaoru!" they chorused. I watched as Kaoru opened the box right then and there, paying no heed to the wrapping paper; her eyes sparkled when she saw the give inside. It was a gold showpiece shaped like a jasmine flower. On each petal was engraved the kanji of one or two names of our friends; engraved in the center were the phrases "Friends Forever" and "We love you".

"Arigato gozaimasu, minna. This is truly something," she said, her eyes shimmering with happy tears.

They smiled; one by one, they gave her a hug and then filed off stage.

I then returned my attention to the mic, and turned to fully face her, so that I was speaking to her.

"Well, that was our gift. I, however, have one more gift that I'd like to give you; it depends on whether you will accept it or not."

She looked at me confused. Getting straight to the point, I dropped down to one knee, grabbed the box in my pocket, and flipped it open.

Looking her straight in the eye, I turned the box to face her, held it on my open palm, and returned to speaking.

"I don't really know how long I've loved you; it's always felt like forever to me. Last summer when we confessed to each other, I told you that I would give you all of me. So now I'm saying it one last time, because I love you more than anything in the world: I will give you all of me. And more," I said.

I took a deep breath, and popped the question. "Kamiya Kaoru, will you marry me?"

She looked at me, straight in the eye; I could see the emotions swirling her tear-brimmed eyes, and she smiled wide as they started to fall.

"Himura Kenshin, yes, I will gladly marry you."

Quickly standing, I slipped the ring out of the box and onto her ring finger, then gathered her into a hug and passionate kiss. All around me, I heard cheers and clapping, and the distinct sound of Misao, Soujiro, Kamatari and Sanosuke yelling "Finally!" at the top of their lungs.

Holding Kaoru close, I whispered into her ear, "I love you."

She smiled back, and whispered back, "I love you too."

As we got ready to leave when everything was over, I caught Kaoru looking at me and then at "The Wall of Tidbits", then back at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Nan desu ka?"

She grinned. "You need to fill the empty spots with stuff."

I chuckled and told her I would get right on it when I came back the next day.

That night, I think we were the happiest couple alive.

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A/N:

I LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, because I absolutely enjoyed writing it. The song that Kaoru sings that she says she wrote is not my original work; "Kimi ga Ita Monogatari" is by Kajiura Yuki, and is part of the .hack soundtracks (dunno which one).

"Towa no Hana" is the opening for Ai Yori Aoshi, and is by Ishida Yoko.

Let me know what you guys thought, onegai! The epilogue will be up soon! (Sooner than however long this one took, anyway!)

That's all I have to say.

Oyasuminasai!

--IceAngelKaoru (Signing out--9:44 PM PST, November 2, 2004)