Ok, as you know by now, this story lacks in plot but makes up for in sadness and fluff. So here is another 'plot less' chapter filled with pain and fluff! If anyone has any new ideas, please email me because I'm fresh out!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Chapter 20

'Just another five minutes… If I wake up now, my dream will end!' Kat refused to open her eyes for the sake of saving the dream she was having. Something kept tickling her face and leg though so it was hard for her to fall back to sleep. 'Oh man! Just when my dream was getting good!'

Kat grumbled as she opened her eyes. The first sight of the morning would be imprinted on her mind forever. 'How cute!' Dark was sleeping next to her and she noticed that it had been his hair that had woken her. It was wild and unbrushed and a few strands had been tickling her face. She blew on him to get the strands off her face and she smiled as his nose wrinkled. 'He's going to be ok…'

Kat looked down at her leg to see what had been bugging it and noticed that it was Kurama's tail. She rolled over and sure enough, Kurama was snoozing soundly next to her. 'Getting a little crowded here.' Kat saw his ear twitch and her hand reached up to tweak it. His eyes slid open before she could grasp his ear and he flattened them against his head to keep her off them. Kat pulled a face and leaned forward to hook onto one of his ears.

They flicked wildly between her fingers but as soon as Kat began rubbing, they stopped their struggling and Kurama watched her as she rubbed away. After a few seconds Kat picked up the faint sound of purring. Kurama noticed that she had heard him and he rolled over to make her let go of his ear, too embarrassed to let his purring get too loud.

Kurama almost rolled right into Kenshin who was on the side opposite of him. His eyes narrowed, unhappy that he had shared the bed with a former dead guy. He smiled with satisfaction as he heard Kenshin roll off the bed onto the floor.

Kat muttered to herself as she shoved Kurama off the bed. She heard him land on Kenshin, who had finally woken up and wasn't happy about being disturbed. Kat rolled out of bed and stepped on the pile of boys as she made her way out the door. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Inuyasha sleeping soundly on the couch with Rei. Kat guessed that Vash had been on the other side of Dark.

She made her way to the kitchen and was surprised to see the blonde sitting at the counter, looking completely stiff and tired. "Vash?!" Kat said in complete shock.

He turned around just as Kat embraced him in a bone crushing hug. She stood there a moment longer than needed, not believing her eyes. He smiled down at her, eyes happy and loving but with a guarded expression.

Kat frowned, "What's wrong?" A feeling of dread swept over her and she was shocked when the kitchen turned into a sakura forest. A wind kicked up and blew sakura petals around them. Kat could smell the flowers. "What's going on!?" 'Am I loosing him?' 

Vash continued to smile but it was a sad smile, "Knives couldn't make it in time."

"What? I saw you before I fell asleep, you're nowhere dead, and you're recovering!" Kat said completely confused. 'He was just sitting at the counter…He can't be dead.'

Vash sighed and motioned to the forest they were standing in, "You feel it don't you? Somewhere deep inside you can tell this place isn't real." He picked a sakura petal out of his hair and watched as it withered in his hand.

"But…" Kat looked around. Everything there appeared real, she could smell the flowers and dirt and feel the wind across her face but she could also feel something else. It felt as if this place was hollow and as it ended just beyond her line of vision. "I don't understand…"

Vash stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. Kat could smell the dirt and sand as well as the faint smell of alcohol that he always carried with him even when sober. "This place isn't real. It's a meeting place between reality and where we go when we die. This is the last time you'll see me," he whispered into her ear.

Kat's heart fell but and her grip tightened around him, unwilling to let go. "You're not dead," she said more to herself than to him. "Knives made it, he saved the plants…" She choked and the ever-present tears returned to her eyes.

"Knives was killed before he could save them. You're the last plant left Kat," he broke the truth to her, voice hollow.

"You're not dead!" she yelled to him. "I won't let you die! It's not fair!"

"No it's not is it?" he asked. Vash knew that he didn't have to say anything else. There was no speech needed and frankly, he didn't want to give another one. He also knew what had happened the night before and he linked the connection between them, speaking in angel.

'I didn't want the last time I saw you to be sad…'

'What were you expecting? How am I supposed to react? Where do I go from here?' Kat asked as she sat down on a rock.

Vash sat down next to her and Kat noted how he seemed to float more than sit. 'The sakura is beautiful isn't it? It always reminds me of life and beauty, I guess that's why I named out daughter after this beautiful flower. I suppose I'll be seeing her again soon…'

'Tell her I miss her…'

'I'll tell her more than that. We'll be waiting for you but don't be in a rush to see us again. In fact, I don't want to se hide or hair of you for the next eighty years!'

'Always the joker…'

'What better way to love life?'

Kat smiled and looked over the blonde, knowing that it could be even longer than eighty years until she saw him again. 'I'm demon… So I won't be seeing you again for a while.'

'You're human, so don't make too many promises…' Vash looked to the sky and sighed. 'Time's almost up.'

'I don't want to say goodbye…'

'Then don't,' Vash stood and pulled Kat up with him.

'Who will I practice plant speech with? You're the only one besides Knives who could ever do it,' Kat said.

'We'll see each other again. I wouldn't worry too much about it.'

'I always wanted a guardian angel but I had to give up so much to get one…'

'You've given all you had and more,' Vash agreed. 'But you've also played with death one too many times. I cannot be a guardian angel. But you don't need me; you have Kurama, Kenshin, Dark, Rei and Inuyasha to look after you. I'm sure they'll do a great job.'  

'It won't be the same.'

'Of course it won't. There's no one else who goofs off as much as I do! Keep up the scowls and you'll be joining me sooner than you think! Besides, I've always needed you more than you needed me…'

Kat smiled and stepped forward to give him one last kiss. Vash pulled her closer and Kat could feel his presence leave along with the small world around her.

'I'll miss you…'

Her cheek was wet. The pillow was beginning to pick up her tears and Kat refused to open her eyes, the image of Vash still burned brightly in her mind. She could feel her throat constrict as she tried to stop crying. Her head hurt and her cheeks began to burn. She let out a small whimper and curled into a ball. Someone wrapped their arms around her and hair tickled her face, without opening her eyes she guessed it was Dark. He didn't say anything but he didn't need to; just knowing that someone else cared was enough.

The tears eventually stopped and Kat's pillow was as soaked as the person holding her. She opened her swollen eyes and saw that sure enough, it was Dark who had been comforting her. He had his eyes closed and Kat wondered if he had fallen asleep. She let out a sigh and her breath blew across Dark's face. He wrinkled his nose, to show he was still awake but he didn't move anymore.

Kat slid over, further into his embrace, and leaned her head against his chest. He wheezed and Kat wondered if she was hurting him lying like that. She made to move but Dark locked his arms around her middle. Kat shifted so her head lay against his shoulder and he seemed to relax a bit.

Kurama was staring at Kat with a sleepy expression, having been woken up by her distress and the smell of tears. Kat grabbed hold of one of his ears and dragged him over. Kurama tiredly scooted over and closed the space between Kat and the extra room she had. At any other time, she would not have liked the confined space, but at the moment she just wanted company. Kat felt Dark's breathing even out and she knew that he had fallen asleep again. Kurama remained awake and although he didn't say anything, Kat could feel the unasked questions swirling through his mind.

Finally, Kat just sent an image telepathically. Kurama shifted beside her and Kat began to rub his ears, not wanting him to see that she was crying again. His deep throated purr began to start after a few minutes and she felt him drift slowly to sleep, keeping his mind locked on her. Eventually, her own eyes slid closed to once again drift off to another world full of memories.

Love dissolves as time transcends and passes us by…

A bloody battlefield. A man stands over his lost love, listening to her murmur the last words she will ever say. I watch in sadness as the other woman reaches up to complete the scar on his cheek. I want to help but even if this were an event that took place in the present, I know that there would be nothing anyone could do for her. His scream echoes through the snowy evening, piercing the serene calmness of this horrid day. It cuts through my heart and even from where I'm standing I can hear his sobs. Do I dare interrupt him? It wouldn't be right to intrude but I can't help it, my heart goes out to him in his time of need; both of us have just experienced the loss of a loved one.

My feet crunch in the snow and he is too lost in his feelings to sense my presence. I am stunned; could this really be the legendary battousai? But I already know the answer; I of all people should know it, for he caused me as much grief and pain as he is experiencing now.

I drop to my knees beside them and can feel the blood begin to soak through my clothing. My hand reaches for his face and gently caresses the new wound there. My fingertips can almost feel the cuts and bruises denting his heart but I also know that amidst his pain he can feel my wounds, far greater than his.

"I'm the source of your pain?" he whispers.

I'm shocked that he said something but I say nothing knowing that he already knows the answer. My eyes survey the damage and I can't help wondering what would have happened if I had only been a minute earlier. I pull him close to me.

"I cannot lie to you; you have caused me much pain. However, you cannot keep blaming yourself, for it was as much my fault as it was yours," I say. I don't know how he knows me, for he has not met me yet but I can feel the connection between us just as he can.

I stroke his blood matted hair and can feel the snow begin to clump on certain parts of my clothing. He leans against me tired, broken, and wounded. I know that his cuts will heal but wounds of the heart are forever painful. I can feel his chest heave with sobs and I try hard to hold him without hurting him more.

"You know she loved you," I finally say. I can feel him nod against my shoulder, it's a small movement but I know it's all he can muster. I summon strength and power to my hands, it is foolish to waste my powers, but desperate times call for desperate measures. He doesn't even move as my hands glide over his cuts, healing them at thousands of times faster than normal.

"Do you love me?"

I was expecting him to ask but the question proved none the less still shocking. "Hmmm…" I rest my head on his shoulder; my breath comes out in puffs and tickles his ear. 'I don't know how to answer… He is different from my Kenshin.'

"How do you know me?"

"If this was truly the past, we would have met already. Right about now, but this is not what it appears to be…" I answer with as much clarity as I can muster.

"Why are you here?" he asks, confused.

I hug him tighter, "I don't know." By now my own tears are flowing and I can feel them running down my cheeks into the show.

He lifts his head and his eyes lock with mine. It is an uncomfortable gaze but I hold it, letting him read me like a book. My gaze is ancient and mixed with the others I have shared my life with. Has it grown cold in the past few years? So cold that my own first love does not recognize me?

"Katsura…"

'How does he know?! Unn, it doesn't matter…' He hugs me tighter than ever before, as if I'll die or be lost if he doesn't get a good grip. I kiss his head lightly and just let him hold me, wondering how long I'll be trapped in this memory.

After a long while, I can no longer feel my legs, they are completely buried in the snow. Kenshin had finally let go of me and was balancing precariously between consciousness and sleep. His golden eyes kept closing for longer and longer periods of time. I summon a thick fur coat from my imagination (courtesies of my demon powers) and drape it over him. His eyes open as he looks up questioningly at me. "You can sleep; no harm will come to you. I'll protect you, I promise," I say as his eyes slide shut, no longer able to stay awake.  

'It'll take all most of my powers just to get back home. What'll happen to the Kenshin there right now if I take his past self back with me? Am I supposed to leave him here? Can I do that to him? No, I have to take him back with me.' I close my eyes in concentration and focus on getting home. The power engulfs us in a small glowing sphere and I wished that Rei was here to help me; her powers exceeded mine when it came to time travel. 

I can feel my body shutting down as Kenshin drifts slowly away from me. I reach out but my hand only swipes at air. Desperate, I try harder and my hand encloses around his wrist. I can't leave him back there. Not after I promised to protect him. But at what cost will this come?

Movement

Kat shifted in her sleep, the effects of her dream wearing off. 'Was that a dream? No, it was too real…'

She opened her eyes and sat up, not caring that she wasn't allowing her body its usual right to wake up fully before she moved around. Her eyes scanned the room before realizing that Kenshin was lying right beside her. She was shocked to see that this wasn't her Kenshin, not the angel who had just come back to life, but the broken one who didn't even know her. He was wearing the same clothes, ripped and torn, stained with blood but her clothes were the same she had worn before she had gotten into her bed.

'Is it possible that I retrieved him from his time through a dream? Who is this person?' Kat noted how familiar he looked to her Kenshin only without the ageing or almost fatal emotional scars. Kat was almost happy that she had this Kenshin next to her, even though he had just suffered one of the most powerful blows to his life by losing Tomoe, he hadn't yet experienced anything she had caused him. 'I'll never let anything happen to him again. It's a promise I intend to keep.'

"One of these days we should just time you how long it takes for you to pick up a guy," a familiar voice laughed.

"Kenshin…?"

"You sound surprised Katsura. Is it that surprising that you managed to drag him back from the past with you?"

"I can't see you," Kat said. 'I can't sense his presence either.'

"You're angry because you can't sense me. Typical, you still let the battousai within you roam free. You know why you can't see me can't you?" he asked.

"You're about to leave me," Kat stated what she felt. 'Just like Vash did.'

"Don't say it like that. You don't need me anymore. With my younger self here, you have all you can possibly hope for here."

"He doesn't even know me!" Kat hissed. "I don't think I can ever some to love him. You should be able to see how broken I am."

"No Kat, you are Unbreakable. No matter what happens, you will always move on… My time is up and I'm awakening to a new life, with a new future free from all of the past pain I've endured. Play your cards right, and I'll love you as much as I do now and if you're lucky, even more. Even now, I'm sure my past self is waking from his troubled sleep."

"But why do this?" Kat asked, thoroughly confused and distressed that Kenshin was leaving her.

"A parting gift since I myself have to return to heaven. You've bent the rules a bit too much and I've bent them once again. I love you, farewell," Kenshin's voice trailed off.

'Vash said the same thing…' "Bullshit," Kat muttered as she let herself fall backwards. Kat snatched the nearest pillow, placed it over her head and proceeded to scream as loud and long as she possibly could. Kat left the pillow over her face, feeling it get uncomfortably warm as it was heated from her breath.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" she yelled at the pillow. Her rage skyrocketed and she realized that it was only her selfishness that was causing her rage. She wasn't very sad that Kenshin had left, she was just mad. Everyone around her seemed to keep leaving and it wasn't helping her mental stability.

She could feel two eyes open and stare at her with broken hearted curiosity. "You'll get over it," Kat muttered harshly, her voice muffled by the pillow.

The pillow was lifted from her face and two golden eyes glared at her, "How can you be so callous?"

"With everything I've been through, it comes naturally kid," Kat said to him as she rolled over.

The smaller Kenshin stared at her back, "Then perhaps I can remind you what it's like to be free?"

Kat frowned.

"That's what I'm here to do isn't it?" he growled with anger.

"I never asked to bring you back. If you want, I can send you back right now, but what difference would it make?" Kat asked not really caring, she felt like a boneless blob at the moment. 'Is there nothing in my life that doesn't change?'

"Tomoe is dead," Kenshin forced out through grit teeth. "Nothing in the world can bring her back to me. It doesn't make a difference does it?"

'Two hopeless people with no meaning in life what-so-ever. How ironic that it should be he and I.' "Dark, Kurama and Inuyasha are the other men living in this house. Kurama and Inuyasha are animal demons and Dark is… well… kind of like you. Not true demon, but not human either," Kat said as she stared at the opposite wall.

"Is this what the future is? Filled with demons?"

"No, it is just my life that is filled with them…"  

(A/N: I'm working on the next chapter so no worries… Uh yea, so I'm guessing that no matter how strange this story gets you'll still like it. -- Yeah, I'm aiming for less heartbreak and more fluff (I know you like that) so the next chapter will have a little more fluff! And I'm still working on a plot line… hehe PLEASE REVIEW!!!)