Under the Scarlet Moon

by Aki-Shinko

Anju Akira was told that the day she was to meet her future husband would be one she'd never forget. After her chores she would never be the same. Who knew, that her mother would be right and she would lose everyone she loved, and try to love a stranger a

7. Singing the Sorrow

Disclaimer: I do not own any Rurouni Kenshin characters. Here I am trying to wrap another fanfiction, input is greatly appreciated!

Introduction

Some dead president said, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. He's right, but tell me, what happens when what you do fear, is yourself?

Chapter 8 Singing the Sorrow

Everything was so hot, it felt like I was sleeping on a bed of flames, everything around me boiling with such immense heat that even my sweat evaporated from my forehead. The smell of burning wood and debris filled my nostrils. I sat up and looked around, and only for miles and miles could I see, just flames. I called out for Aoshi, Hikaru, Tai, Sano, anyone who could hear me, but still I was all alone. I turned back over in the bed and tried to go back to sleep, they didn't care about me, they're all gone.

In the real world Anju was tossing in turning in immense pain. Aoshi was frantic, he had no idea what to do, he could only slip more of Megumi's medicine down her throat and change the cloth on her head constantly. Her screams of pain woke up everyone in the house and they all knelt by her bedside

"I've never seen anyone in so much pain, what is this illness?" Sano asked no one in particular.

"This is why its so critical in the medical world, she's unconscious, and in such pain, and no one can know why, she's world's away" Hikaru said quietly stroking Anju's hand "Dearie, please pull through"

I could hear the fainter sounds of voices, but the flames seemed to block my way. I covered my ears, "They're dead, they're all dead" I repeated again and again, grandmother, mother, father, they were dead, and it was all my fault. We had to go meet my husband, and I was naive of the war all around us, I was careless, and I didn't wish them their safety, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Anju screamed again in pain and gripped onto the bedspread and Aoshi only took her hand again.

"Her fever is rising, what should we do?" Aoshi screamed desperately looking at everyone "Isn't there anything we can do, is there nothing, are we really all so helpless!" Aoshi's bangs covered the tears that were in his eyes, a proud man would never let anyone see his emotion.

"Its like Megumi said, if she survives this night, then there's hope...." Sano answered Aoshi quietly looking out at the stars and the moon

"What time is it then?" Aoshi asked quietly

"Ten thirty...." Tai answered them, rising from his spot and taking Kip with him "I'm sorry, I just need to think..." Tai took one last look and walked off "Please god don't take away the last bit of my family, I'm begging you"

Tai sat outside of the room, he couldn't really wander that far without feeling guilty and turning back. He looked up at the moon and stroked at Kip's fur. Anju was always the brave one, she pulled through for everyone, so they could all be happy, now, she was sitting on her death bed, and Tai felt so alone. Tai had been in that forest for days, just him and Kip, always running, afraid the imperialists would show up any minute and kill him like they had his parents.Tai had been so lost in his world he hadn't heard Sano come outside to sit down next to him.

"You alright kid?" Sano asked quietly smoking a cigarette.

"What do you think?" Tai shot back at him weakly

"Look little man, I know that's your sis in there, we're all just as worried. Keep that chin of yours up, that's what she would've wanted right?" Sano scratched Kip's head "Stupid mutt..."

"I've always depended on her..." Tai said quietly "I guess...I was just always scared...." Tai hugged at his knees looking at the sky

"Nah, I doubt it was because you were scared, your sister, has a way of making everything seem okay. She'd carry the world on her shoulders and still smile just so you wouldn't have to worry. That was part of who she is, simple, gentle, understanding..." Sano looked up at the moon "You're lucky to have her.."

"I won't have her for much longer" Tai coughed miserably

"Don't say things like that, she'll pull through, she's a stubborn girl, I'd know, we go way back"

"She went away, when I was little, for a long time, to train I think, was it here that she was training, in this area?" Tai asked turning his head to Sano

"Yup, how old was I when she first showed up, well she was twelve, I think I was fifteen, god it seems like such a long time ago. We were young, that's for sure, little bratty teenagers, daring each other to eat snails and worms, it was a blast"

"But why was Anju even here to begin with?"

"I'm not exactly sure, she just told me "I"m here to train, so I can be strong and live up to the Akira name" I didn't ask much about it, I figured it was her own business. But she stayed here for a few years, and over the years she did become stronger, it was obvious. She'd win the local competitions easily, but the money was always sent home to you squirt, you and your family" He rubbed Tai's head with his fist "I know you probably think she had forgotten about you all, but she talked about you every chance she had, and she missed you more than anything."

"It's empty in the house without her, I figured I wouldn't miss her, since we fought all the time like brothers and sisters do. Its eery, and then, because she is gone the pressure is put on me. I'm sent to school to learn business, I am to live up with my father's traditions."

"Her presence is hard not to notice, she always to try and smile for us," Sano leaned against one of the support beams letting out another puff of smoke. "That's how Anju is, she's like the sunshine"

"Or the moonlight..." Tai added looking up at the moon

"Is there something special about the moon with you two?" Sano asked lazily

"She was born under the moonlight, Anju. Father used to call her a fairy from the moon, dancing under it, with a beautiful grace. The scarlet moon, it was a beautiful red the moon that night, that's what my parents told me. It was red like the flush on her cheeks. Amazing things happen under the Scarlet moon, things that don't usually happen. Our parents died under the scarlet moon, she was born under it, what can I say, its just always been a part of our lives"

"Under the Scarlet moon....so mysterious sounding, you think it was a sign" Sano yawned letting out another ring of smoke

"Maybe she's our special gift," Tai whispered softly "Angel from the sky...."

"We'll never know until tomorrow, angel's don't die so easily" Sano laughed lightly and rubbed Tai's head again. "Even if she isn't here for the rest of your life, know that you meant a lot to her, and don't ever forget it,"Sano eased himself up from his spot and went off to continue his walk around the grounds.

Tai slammed his fist against the pillar in such a frustration and then looked back to the sky "Angels don't die...but people do..."

Anju stirred in the bed again letting out another wail of pain.

"Batosi...." She stood in the path of the angry eyed Batosi, his sword drawn, it already drenched in blood. One step after another he walked closer and closer to her, his gate clinking with the sound of his sword's hilt. He held it up high, and it refracted the light of the scarlet colored moon somehow Anju released her own sword "Murderer...." she told him and he looked at her. Something was weird about him, he wasn't, completely angry, just, almost sad. "What...do you want?" "REPENT" he told her sadly, holding out a hand to her, and that's when she saw it, his scar was freshly bleeding. Anju reached out gently, her hand rattling, as it rested on his cheek, the blood sticking to her hand. He let out a scream of pain, and he thrust his sword into her abdomen. She let out a horrible cry of pain and fell to her knees.

"Anju HANG ON!" Aoshi grabbed onto her hand and held it tight "Please Anju hang on!"

"Repinement..." He told her again pulling the sword from her as she coughed out blood. Anju looked up to him, the blood splattered all over his face, and she looked at his blood on her hand and she held it up to him "This is your pain, this is the pain your heart feels, even if a sword cannot kill you, the loss of your love will!" She shoved the hand closer to his face and he smacked it aside, but there was pain in his eyes "Kill....kill....kill..." He took another swing at her and she fell back screaming again. She staggered to her feet and the Batosi pointed to the sword beside her "Fight....fight....." "Fighting won't make that pain go away, that wound's never going to heal until you accept it, the more people you kill, the more it bleeds, it screams the pain and sings the sorrow!" "FIGHT!" He told her holding his sword to her neck. "Make me..." She spat at him and he hit her across the face.

"Her pulse is accelerating!" Hikaru cried "SANO! SANO! GO GET MEGUMI NOW!" Hikaru screamed as Tai threw another cold towel onto Anju's head

"I will not fight...I am not a manslayer..." she staggered back to her feet.

"Fight...fight...pain..." The Batosi ran his hand over the scar

"It hurts, it always will hurt, no matter how much you deny it, you're still living, you still have human emotions locked away in that mass murdering body! Open your eyes!"

"PAIN!" HE screamed and thrust his sword towards her again, but at the last moment she rose her sword up in the defense

"You will hurt no one else!" she brought her sword back and started her own forward offense attack. "You can't run from the pain forever, your soul will die unhappy, you will be unhappy" their blades screeched on contact and slipped about, Anju already panting from the blood that was spilling onto the floor. Their swords went back and forth, block after block, attack after attack. "Pain...pain....pain...." Batosi swung his word again and again relentlessly "PAIN!" He swiped the sword in a complete circle throwing Anju off her feet, and a small dagger just scraping the side of her face leaving a scar. She wiped the blood and spat at him again "You'll pay"

"Megumi thank goodness you arrived, her pulse is catastrophically fast!" Hikaru moved aside as Megumi fell to her knees putting the stethoscope on Anju's chest

"How has she been surviving this long, its nearly three times as fast as a normal heart"

"Why must you always kill?" Anju staggered up again, panting harshly from the pain

"Repent...repent..." He told her again and again twirling his sword

"YOU SHOULD REPENT! YOU KILLED HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE!"

"Repent...."

'THEN REPENT ALREADY!!!" She swung the sword at him, chopping off a few strands of his cherry hair.

"Can't..." He said quietly, putting his sword away

"What?" She asked him gasping for air

"Can't....not....yet..." He told her again taking a step away

"You aren't going to just walk away from this are you?" She screamed at him tears in her eyes "You kill my family you bastard, I have to have my revenge!" She pointed her sword at him

"Revenge only continues the cycle of killing little Anju" A voice told her

Anju turned around, she thought it to be the Batosi, but it wasn't, it was, grandmother

"Grandmother?"

"Indeed child," the old woman bowed to her "Holding onto the past only continues the cycle of death. This time of war is not the time to hold even more grudge, it will only cause more people to die"

"But...he killed you....he killed mother and father....he took away my life....he took away you! How are you so forgiving to your murderer!" She screamed to her

"Calm down dear, you should rest!" She opened her arms, at they were no longer in the darkness, but resting on a bench beneath a cherry tree, Anju's wounds already bandaged up, and the sword gone

"Grandmother..." Anju looked to her

"Child...wasn't it you who preached to me, the longer we live in the past, the more we waste away with our lives?"

"I guess...that was me..." Anju looked out at the water

"Dear. I know it hurts, believe me, I know it hurts, I felt this way when your grandfather died. But dear, I know it won't ever go away, but it gets easier"

"How can it ever get better, you're gone, they're all gone" Anju cried softly

"Dear, why do you keep telling yourself words if you don't believe them?"

"Huh?" Anju looked at her confused

"You tell everyone, that you still have Kip, you still have Tai, you have Aoshi, Sano, Hikaru, Megumi, why don't you ever believe it child?"

"Because they can't take your place, I can't just get up and pretend all is right and dandy when you were MURDERED!"

"I know dear, but that's different from believing. You have to believe dear..." She told her

"I....I...." Anju cried into her hands, and she could, almost...feel the presence of her grandmother's hand brushing against her back "You are beautiful even if I said otherwise, you've grown into a lovely young lady, I am proud granddaughter. "Grandmother I?!" But as Anju turned around, she was alone again "Why is the world this way..."

"How is she?" Sano asked quietly as Megumi pulled away from Anju

"Her heart is back to normal, now the fever just has to break"

All this world we focus on the pain, we focus on the loss, the imperfection, the cripple, the weak, segregating the people by characteristics of difference, instead of those similar. Someone open the eyes of the blinded, no, not the one's who cannot see the people through the eyes, open the one's who are blinded through the soul. There is happiness, and there is the pain, counterparts of each other. We cannot survive with only pain, nor can we survive with no pain. Without the balance the struggle and purpose of living is lost. Let us instead look at what we do have in common, what we do share, before we lose it all, before the world truly is the world of despair.

Hours later of the early morning Anju opened her eyes instantly and sat up still lost in her dream and she gasped. Everyone woke up instantly and looked at her "ANJU!" everyone cried in innocence. Megumi was the first to get to her, and gently pushed her back onto the bed.

"It seems your fever has broken, thank god, maybe now I can sleep," Megumi ran her hand through her hair tiredly

"I'm sorry...but who are you?" Anju asked half consciously

"I'm a doctor, Megumi, you've been nearing death for quite a while now...." She closed up one of the bottles of medicine.

"Nearing death? What happened to me?" Anju asked confused, her eyebrows ruffling in the process.

"Lets see, at around noon this morning is when I came to see you. You were unconscious, you have a very rare illness, or did in this sense. It's like living the dream, feeling every ounce of pain in you, but because you're unconscious, no real doctor knows how to help you. You've had a fever for a very long time, your heart nearly tripled in speed, I'm surprised you lived, the probability of living was less than two percent. You're very lucky"

"How long....what time is it?" Anju asked Megumi

"Dear, its early morning. You've been out cold for nearly the entire day and night. But your fever is broken, you should be just fine now," Megumi told her gently "You have some very dedicated loved one's here, I think they deserve more credit than I do. As for payment, uhhh "she ran her hand through her hair "You're lucky to have lived, I'll let you off the hook with this one, I'm too much of a softie" She turned in the doorway and waved "See ya"

"Thank you Megumi!" She called quietly before looking around at everyone else. "Hey..."

"Hello dearie, let me go fix you some tea, I'm sure Miss Tae is already on it" Hikaru's old hand caressed Anju's, but then wandered off to the other room, the sound of shuffling feet and china cups. Anju coughed for a little bit, and then closed her eyes taking a deep breath

"An?"

Anju opened her eyes to see her brother at her side, and she ruffled his hair "Hey Tai, I'm sorry, for worrying you my dear brother, I'll never leave you again" she smiled "Sorry."

Tai only shook his head and wiped away his tears with his sleeve and only smiled gently as he smoothed the side of her cheek "Angels don't die sister dear...and neither did you," He bent over and kissed her cheek and then after yawning.

"Silly brother have you been awake all this time?" She asked him stroking his very messy hair

"Of course, I was afraid if I fell asleep, I'd wake up and you wouldn't" he whispered gently

Anju smiled and hugged her brother and then ran her hand through his hair again "Go to sleep now, I promise, I won't go anywhere, I'll be right here when you wake up"

Tai smiled and walked out of the room towards his loft in the barn whistling for Kip to follow. Now it was just the Aoshi and Sano, minus Megumi. Anju stared up at the ceiling for a while, pondering about her dream. Sano sat leaning against the wall adjacent to the doorway, and Aoshi knelt by Anju.

"Repent...." she whispered softly before closing her eyes

"What?" Aoshi asked her confused. Her eyes opened back up

"Repent...and the pain will lessen...kill...and the pain will grow..." She worded quietly. "Something in my dream"

"Your dream, was that why you kept screaming?" Aoshi asked her softly

"I don't know, the bridge between reality and dreams is far stretched, to me, it felt like I was awake, and I was living out the dream, the blood, the tears, it felt real, even if I was unconscious in this world."

"You make it sound like there's more than one world," Sano pointed out quietly

"Maybe there is...maybe our dreams are our own worlds...." Anju answered him before coughing

"Easy Anju, don't strain yourself!" Aoshi told her worriedly

"I'm sorry, I"m sorry" She told him gently, her eyes were soft, almost foggy with tears, "One cannot repent until one realizes what they have done...." She whispered aloud

"I think the medication is making her crazy" Sano laughed softly as he stood up and wandered over to her. "She's one stubborn girl I'll tell ya that, she wouldn't let herself die from such a silly illness" He brushed aside a strand of her hair "She'd rather die at the end of a sword than anything else, somehow, that's the only way I can imagine it. Even if she is a woman, sword not really being offered to her, she'd rather battle, fighting for something she firmly believed in, than dying of some deadly disease...strange girl" He laughed again

"Is she really the only other person to learn Hiten Mitserugi?" Aoshi asked quietly

"Apparently, the unknown other, that's how the legend started. Hiko, the teacher, he said he only had three students, Kenshin Himura and the unknown other. The batosi may have taught others, but none know the style exactly as those two do."

"Do you think that's why the Batosi wants to kill her, because she does know the techniques, she'd be the only one to take him down?" Aoshi asked

"Probably, its intimidating. Someone else knows your moves before you can make them, how do you expect them to win? If the Batosi has someone who knows his style, he also might lose his glory, if a girl can learn his techniques, why can't normal men?You see where this leads, it leads to questions and doubt, that's something the Batosi wouldn't want" Sano told Aoshi firmly

"So he really will come for her, eventually. I wanted to believe it was all a bluff, like he just wanted to frighten us after he killed our families, but Anju said she found him again in the forest, which means he's nearby...." Aoshi was distraught by this, he could come and attack her now, while she was completely vulnerable.

"He does give a warning, for some odd reason, he'll give her time to prepare, maybe so she's at the peak of her condition, and she can actually put up a decent fight. He likes a good fight every now and then I figure, since most people he kill have little or no skill at all"

"What do we do when he does come?" Aoshi asked looking down at Anju

"We protect her, she's the only one who can stop him, or at least, try to I mean" Sano whispered

"His scar screams the pain of lost love and death...." Aoshi repeated something Anju had said

"What the heck are you talking about?" Sano asked him totally baffled

"It's something Anju had told the Batosi the very first time we met...."

"Sounds like something weird..." Sano said scratching his head "Its almost like she pries into his very soul and finds out what makes him tick, I'm not sure if I should call that an admirable trick"

"I don't think it's a trick the way you say it is. I don't think anyone taught her it either"

"Really?" Sano perked up his head, this was rather interesting

Aoshi nodded "Looking into someone's soul, she seems to do that quite a lot. She could look into someone's eyes, and know what they were feeling, naturally I mean, without any strings attached, it might just be a natural observation that she has"

"Do you think it helps her at all?" Sano asked

"I think it might be more of a weakness, if she can see the pain an opponent goes through, she might be more likely to ease up on them, or try and help them rather than kill them"

"Well than, that might not work out for her."

"However, when she did tell the Batosi that he was rather disturbed by it, I doubt anyone knows the origin behind his scar, its rather fresh too, it looks like it might still bleed from time to time"

"That's interesting." Sano scratched his chin thinking about it

"Do you think the Batosi ever had a lover, because that's something Anju was talking about too"

"The Batosi? I'm surprised anyone could ever last long enough in his presence to even get out their name before being killed"

"That's what I thought," Aoshi looked back to Anju "What is it that she sees that we can't?"

"She isn't a man, that's all" Hikaru told them coming in with a tray with cups of tea

"What does that have anything to do with anything?" Sano asked taking a cup

"Men are often times blinded by the arrogance and vengeful spite that comes with being a warrior. You don't see women in the field, because they view things that men usually toss aside. How many times have you ever looked at an opponent and wondered if he had a wife, or had a family waiting back home for him?" Hikaru asked them sipping at the tea

"But that's not the point in battle. The point to battle is simply kill an opponent" Sano answered

"Yes, I know Anju is aware of that, but she goes about it different way, or most women do I believe. You simply kill, swipe swipe and then you're dead. She takes a moment to pry into a person, its almost sad, knowing this person either truly deserves to die or doesn't, anyone you see that isn't on your side is someone who must die, in her eyes, its anyone with a black heart that should perish"

"But doesn't that make her, I dunno, weak?" Sano asked

"In a man's world yes it does, but she is also an angel for being one. When you enlist in an army, most are not there just to blatantly kill, you are there to protect your country or what is yours. Do those people really deserve to die for protecting something they love?"

"Not really, but not all wars are about that, its about the corrupt government and the battles over territory" Sano began

"But, who's fault is that, the soldiers, or the people higher in the government?" Aunt Hikaru questioned

"Well it's the politicians fault of course" Sano preached

"Exactly, so why must an innocent man die for some barbarian dictator's mistake?" Hikaru asked Sano "That is what Anju believes...that's what she sees in people's hearts"

"Couldn't that be her own destruction then?" Sano asked starting his second cup of tea

"It might....it might not....who knows...she could be the one to save us all..."

"Save us from what, the Batosi?" Sano asked

"You are simply one tracked mind aren't you! She can save us from the darkness, if even one person can see the light in a world of darkness, then there's hope, and with hope there will be followers, I just pray, she doesn't lose sight of it all" Hikaru finished speaking and took another sip of her tea

Aoshi sat with his tea looking at Anju baffled. How could his beloved ever be trained under the same swords style as the Batosi? How is she not cold hearted and ruthless like he is, but instead our protector. The irony that two opposites derive from the same sword style. She can save us? Save us from him? Save us from the darkness? What was going on with this world? Wasn't it simply a battle of life and death, there were so many more complications he hadn't even been aware of. It felt like his head was spinning and he needed it all to stop. Aoshi took a sip of his tea and closed his eyes letting out a sigh

"My dear nephew will you not rest now peacefully? You too Sanouske. Anju has broken her fever I do believe, now all she needs is some more sleep to regain her strength. You too can sleep easy now, I'll check up on her in a few hours, give her time to rest again" Hikaru smiled

"Are you sure she's okay?" Sano asked uncertain

"Yes dear, the worst is over now, she'll be fine."

Sano rose from his spot leaving his tea cup on the tray "I'm going to the loft, keep that little brother of hers some company, or many I'll just sleep there too" Sano chuckled and waved walking out

Hikaru began to collect her things stacking the tea cups atop each other "Sano is such a good man, I have empathy on his heart, you're a lucky boy my nephew, don't ever forget that," She rose from her spot and lingered in the doorway "Poor Anju, I hope that she does not face the same fate as her parents"

"Death? Don't we all?" Aoshi asked

"Death by the Batosi....but do not let your mind liger of those thoughts now, sleep dear, and let us leave it till tomorrow" Hikaru left the room, leaving only Aoshi and Anju.

Anju opened her eyes slowly and covered her mouth as she lost herself in a coughing fit that seemed to last for eternity. When it ended she took in a deep breath, her breathing was still so very labored and limited "Aoshi...." She managed to get out looking to him with a soft smile

Aoshi's eyes soften as he looked at her, she was so frail, limply laying there, he was afraid she'd vanish right before his very eyes again "Anju...I'm sorry....' he whispered gently. Anju only shook her had and coughed again

"Running...in the rain....the smokey air....don't worry...blame it on the environment' Anju grinned laughing softly. Something in her life told Aoshi, everything would be just fine.