A/N: Continuing the Saga... Kenji follows the bonding string to the Imperial Palace and finds his brother... Will he be able to get back home as easily as he came?
There is more mind speech in this chapter than I have ever used before because my beloved beta, Haruko, has a new program on her computer that allows her to down load italics, and bold italics. Now, I can write my fictions the way I want too, and they can look the way I used to write them originally before FF.net's formatting irregularities forced me to change. I'm excited... Thank you, Haruko! For everything. Tsuki-san.
Haruko: Oh man.... -blushes- this is just too sweet. It's truly my honour to do this for Tsuki-san. 'Sides, what other job would get me a sneak preview of her stories? -grinz- Alrighty, everybody reading, I implore you to read and review. We all know we like it, that's why we're reading it, and not to review, that's not fair! R & R is greatly appreciated!
Glossary: Tenshi=Angel, de gozaro=is/are, Niisan=brother, Ne=No, Hai=Yes, Otousan=Father, Yousha=Pardon/Forgiveness, Koishii=Dear/Darling, Onegai=Please, Arigatou=Thank-you, Gomen nasi=I'm sorry/sorry/Excuse me, Saiai=beloved, Kodora=Small Tiger, Mesu Tora= Female Tiger, Sofu=Grandfather (affectionate), Aisoku=Beloved Son, Fusuma=Inside door
Spanish Glossary: Angel Bonito=Beautiful Angel (male), Hermano=brother,
Chapter Seventeen
The Tenshi's Child
"Angel Bonito..." (Beautiful Angel) Christian de'Angeles opened his bruised and fragile eyelids and beheld the heavenly glowing visage of his younger brother, Kenji, as he stood before him bathed in the purest white light Christian had ever seen. I am dead... He thought for a moment as he looked in loving wonderment upon the face that was so much like his very own. Oddly enough, the brightness of the light did not hurt the emaciated and feverish man's wounded eyes as he gazed at the glorious miracle before him. Kenji... His mind spoke in elation. You came for me, Hermano... you came for me. Desperately he tried to speak the elated words that formed in his thoughts, but the voice that rasped from his long dried throat sounded nothing like the rich baritone that had belonged to the young Spaniard for so many years, instead, it resembled more the noises made when rats scurried through dried leaves and crushed them beneath their feet.
"Chri-stan... do you see me, Niisan?" The Heavenly apparition bent at the waist and leaned down to him anxiously searching his cadaverous face with golden-blue eyes that glowed unlike anything Christian could recall, and they were filled with concern and... love?
"Ken..." Rasping again, he tried to lift a frail and weakened hand toward the Angel that looked so much like his brother, but after raising it only a few inches off the floor, it dropped feebly back to its original place across his thin chest. Upon observing his severely degraded state, the Kenji-Apparition knelt down beside Christian and placed one of its own shimmering translucent hands across the one that had fallen over his weakly beating heart.
"I am coming for you soon," Kenjin said with a firmness to his voice that somehow started to penetrate into Christian's rational mind as his dark blue eyes narrowed with confusion and doubt. It began to occur to him that perhaps he was not dead and this was not the dream he had initially believed it to be... but, what else could it be? A vision? A premonition? He had never heard of talking interacting visions or premonitions, so... this must be something else. The pain in his body, and the cold of the marble floor beneath him assured him he was awake and this was not a dream, but if this was not a dream, then...
"Ken-ji, you r-real?" He asked in his broken Japanese and then waited with a deep feeling of apprehension and a lingering hope for the apparition to answer. And answer him it did.
"Hai... Chri-stan. I am real. But I am not actually here with you... this is my soul come to find you so I can tell you I will be here soon to get you, My Niisan... We will be together soon, and then everything will be as it should be."
"H-how... you s-soul?" Christian's confusion increased tenfold as his long dormant mind struggled to understand how his brother's soul could be kneeling next to him while his body was not. This was the evidence of a powerful magic he did not understand, and he felt a wave of fear and alarm wash over him for the briefest moment. But then he remembered something Old Maggie had told him once... Not all magic is dark or evil, Master Christian. It all depends upon the what lies within the heart and soul of the wielder. If the wielder is evil, so will be the power of his magic power, but if the wielder is pure... His magic will be of the white light and more powerful than any darkness could ever penetrate or overcome. "White l-light...?" The power of the white light is stronger than any force in Heaven, on Earth, or in Hell... remember that, and when despair and discouragement drain the will from your soul, reach for the white light and it will save you. Staring at his brother with amazement, Christian could see every detail of Kenji's face, clothing, and body outlined in perfect white light. It emanated from him as if he were made of it... as if HE were the very source. Reach for the white light...
"It is not for you to worry about right now... Chri-stan. Explanations can wait for later, you are very ill and you must save your strength, Niisan. Save your strength for when I come, and we will leave together."
"To-geth-er..." The word sounded like a prayer as it fell from Christian's dried cracked lips, and a tear slid down his sunken cheek as he gazed deeply into the face of his only brother. "You will come... for me?" You would save me?
"Hai..."
"Whyyyyyy?" More tears slipped free and ran in twin rivers down a face filled with the sorrow of a lifetime of loneliness and the bitterness of betrayal. "Why you c-come for me? We know not-thing of each other..." We are strangers... enemies... you said so yourself, remember?
"Hai. You are right, Chri-stan, but you are still my Niisan... My Hermano..." Kenji remembered the Spanish word he had heard Soujiro use and repeated it so that Christian might understand him better. "And in my heart there is a love that belongs to only you because you are my hermano. This is something that will always be so because we are connected by the blood of our Otousan, and because we are connected through a spirit bond in our ki's." And because you are not responsible for everything you were compelled to do... you are still innocent, my brother... you are still innocent.
"Spirit bond?" Christian was very confused as he looked into the face of his brother's projected soul. "I no hear."
"I know you don't... it is not for you to understand just yet, hermano, only for you to trust me... will you trust me? Chri-stan? Will you trust me and believe me that I am coming for you, and that we are irrevocably connected to one another, forever?" We are perfect halves of the same soul... I can see that now... we belong by each others sides... we belong together. Together.
"I... I..." I do not understand... I am afraid to trust... will you betray me as everyone else I love has done? Will you betray me, my beautiful brother? Will you?
"It is how I come to be here with you now... How I found you... My body sets outside of Kuumi's family's home... I am in deep meditation with my Uncle... but my soul is here with you because I followed the spirit connection that is between us... we ARE connected by our blood AND our souls, my hermano... do you believe me now?" I know it is difficult... but try to believe.
"I... I m-must hear... Kenji..?"
"Nani, Chri-stan?"
"You really have... have l-love for... m-me?" I am afraid to believe. Luminous blue eyes filled with tears looked anxiously into the shining golden-blue lanterns gazing out of the Angelic face that was so like his own, and the battle of hope and fear could easily be seen being fought within those bottomless pools of pain. The gleaming intensity of the white light that surrounded the Kenji-Apparition began to glow even brighter and suddenly Christian found himself engulfed within it's embrace as well as that of his brother. Arms that suddenly had mass and form lifted him up from his painful position on the cold marble floor and cradled him against a firmly muscled chest where he could both feel and hear the distant but distinct sound of a steady heart beat as it thudded beneath his damp cheek.
"Hai. Chri-stan... I truly have love for you... and so does Otousan. He has been so worried for you since you disappeared." His heart is breaking more everyday... he is in pain for you. He loves you, and so do I.
"I tried kill him..." Christian began to sob like a child as he fisted his hands into the material of Kenji's glowing white gi and then buried his face against the soft fabric. "He hate me..." He will never accept me now... He will never love me again... He will push me from his heart... I will be alone again!
"Ne! Ne!" A gentle hand began stroking the long dark chestnut hair in a comforting motion as the younger brother held the older in a loving nurturing embrace trying to soothe his damaged heart and calm his terrified soul. "Otousan loves you... he will always love you... nothing you have done will change that. Nothing. His heart breaks for you... he needs you."
"But... I Evil... SHE in my blood... I EVIL." Again he shuddered as another chocking sob wracked his weakened body. "How he love evil?"
"YOU are not EVIL!!"
"DE GOZARO!"
"NE! NE!"
"HAI!!"
"NE CHRI-STAN! I DO NOT BELIEVE IT, AND NEITHER DOES OTOU..." Silence filled the small world of pure white light, and the two brothers became still as stone. Kenji continued to rock Christian as if he were a small child in need of a great deal of comfort and reassurance, and Christian remained where he was burrowed against his brother's chest.
Not more than 50 feet away the Bane was restlessly pacing back and forth as she did every night at about this same hour. It was nearing time for her to leave and begin her nightly ritual of prowling of the streets of the city for prey.
Hunger... it was like a living thing that raged inside of her brain screaming at her to hunt... hunt... stalk... search... prowl... Kill. FEED.
Blood. Fresh meat. Young Meat. Sweet Meat. She raised her elongated snout toward the ceiling and let go a long mournful howl that shook the hanging ice cycles that surrounded the massive skylight, and caused several to crack and break free falling with horrible crunching and shattering noises as they stuck the floor far below.
Eyes red as hot coals darted around the enormous room until they came to rest ever so briefly on the immobile form of her son who lay in one of the dirty dark corners. He had not moved for several days, at least not enough to mention. He was growing weaker by the day, by the moment, and her frustration and anger were growing as well. Things were not going according to plan as she had hoped they would.
"Where is Himura?" he rasped in her husky, foreign sounding feminine voice as she padded over to her son's supine body and sniffed at him. The odors of fever and sweat assailed her sensitive nostrils and she snorted loudly in response. "He should have been here long ago... surely he can feel how weak and pathetic his son is becoming... why hasn't he come to try and rescue him? Why hasn't the Unborn come for him as well?" A throaty growl scraped along her throat as she nudged the unconscious man with her nose, but when she got no reaction, she lost interest, and turning away moved off to another part of the room again. "He will come... they will both come... and I will be ready... I will be waiting..." And as her hunger became unbearable, the Bane charged out of the double doors and disappeared into the darkness of the night in search of fresh prey.
There would be fresh blood on the ground when the Sun rose the next morning and another family would kneel and spill tears of grief and sorrow as they prayed for the lost soul of their loved one who had fallen prey to the Devil's Whore.
And unseen by Her, the two shimmering souls of white light remain locked within their bonding embrace of brotherly love and healing comfort, for her unclean demon's eyes could not penetrate the Holy Shield of Light that protected The Sword and his brother from her warped gaze. All she had seen was the unconscious and weakened body of her own son where he lay on the floor the same as he had been for many hours. The presence of the Warrior of Truth and Honor, the Wielder of The Sword of Lightning and Fire, The Unborn Himself... the one she sought above all others had knelt on the floor before her very eyes and remained unseen for his was a soul too pure for the likes of the Bane to perceive, and he had held within the divine protection of his holy embrace the beloved soul of her very own son... his brother.
Silently Kenji had watched with interested eyes as the Bane sniffed and nudged at Christian's body, he listened with sharply attuned hearing as she spoke her insanities to herself, and then he watched her pad back into the room leaving himself and Christian undisturbed. Then, to his pleased surprise, he watched as she bounded from the room disappearing into the darkness to begin her nightly hunt. She had never known he was even there.
Gone looking for dinner, have you? He thought absently as he considered what he had just learned about the Bane. She could not see US in this form... hmmm. That means she cannot see the essence of my ki... she cannot see OUR souls... She cannot see the energy of power aura's either because they are made of the same substance. I wonder if this is something WE can use against her? Chri-stan's energy and mine are perfect opposites which means if we fight against each other, it would be like fighting ourselves, but I also know when I wasn't prepared for him, his power threw me across the room when he hit me with it... but it didn't hurt me... mmmmm... does that mean if we fought against each other prepared that we would cancel each other out...? our energies would not work against earch other... nothing would happen? Maybe... Makes sense. But... what if we combined them together... wrapped them around each other like a rope? I wonder what would happen then?? I need to talk to Uncle Aoshi and Otousan about this... Maybe this is how we can beat Her. Maybe THIS is the answer.
"I am leaving now, Chri-stan... I have stayed much too long as it is..."
"Too long?" Christian turned a worried gaze up into his brother's face. "How too long?"
"I have to try and find my way back now... it was easy getting here... I don't know about getting back..." The worry turned to alarm as the older man pulled away and gripped his brothers shoulders in strong hands... the hands of a healing soul.
"You must find way, Kenji... how you get here?"
"The bonding string..."
"Nani?" I have much to learn...
"Too hard to explain." He smiled and shook his head in the face of his brother's widened bewildered gaze. "I just have to try and find it again." Please Uncle Aoshi... don't let me get lost.
"How you find me?"
"Ummmm... let me see... what did Uncle Aoshi say?" Absently Kenji began to scratch the back of his head as he tried to remember what the powerful ninja had told him. "Oh... I remember." He grinned widely and nodded in relief. "I had to picture your face in my mind, and concentrate on listening for your heart beat... that was how I got here."
"Ahhh... what else string tied to?"
"Huh?... Oh, its tied to you, me, and Otou." He catches on fast... smart man.
"Then you think Otou... hear Otou heart... go back then." Kenji's eyes grew round with astonished wonder as he realized Christian was completely right. If he wanted to get back home, he was going to have to do it with the bonding string between him and his Father.
"Your absolutely right, Chri-stan... Arigatou, My Hermano... you have most likely saved me from getting lost in the 'Plane of Stars'."
"Nani?"
"Too hard to explain..."
"Lot of that tonight, Kenji..." Christian looked at his brother with a marginally irritated look as his question was once more brushed aside.
"Hai. But do you think your ready for the full explanation of how I got here and what all this white light means... and everything else that has been going on since you disappeared?"
"Hmmmm... too much to hear." I may never be ready... you keep the magic, little brother... I just want to go home... I just want to have a real family for once in my life.
"Like I said... too hard to explain right now."
"Hai... de gazaro."
"Hai." Kenji hugged his brother fiercely and was over joyed to feel a pair of strong arms wrap around him and hug him back. "You are stronger already... do you feel it?" Thank Kami.
"Hai... I feel it. But my body is very sick, ne?" I look dead already... hmmm.
"You finally realized you aren't in your body, ne?"
"Hai."
"How did you do that?"
"Look down and see it. Was fear for moment... but knew I not dead... had to be souls." I guess I understand this a little bit... he is right, I do feel stronger. How did he do that? We are touching souls!! He pulled my soul out of my body... we are holding each others souls, Mon Deiu!
"Intelligent man." They shared a smile that was nearly identical to each other and to their Father, and then Kenji turned a saddened gaze to Christian's emaciated body where it lay so still and frail upon the white marble floor next to them. "Hai. Your body is very sick... that is why you must save all of your energy from tonight for when I come so I can get you out of here."
"I confused... how my energy help you free me?"
"You have to have a clear mind so you don't fight me... if your still ill like you were a little while ago, you might not believe it's me, and something could go wrong... besides, your ki energy will help your body strength so that I won't have to totally carry you out and we will be able to move faster."
"Hai.. I hear." That makes logical sense. He is very intelligent... for being so much younger than I.
"Good."
"When you come?"
"At night... after she leaves to hunt... when you are alone."
"When... how long?"
"Tomorrow, My hermano... tomorrow."
************************************************************************
When Kenji had finally returned to his body, he found Quii setting quietly beside him waiting her face pale and worried. He had taken her gently into his arms and held her close reassuring her that he was all right and that all was well, and then he had turned to meet the glittering jade gaze of his Ninja Uncle who had remained with his meditating body throughout the entire time he had been gone.
Aoshi would never tell Kenji how worried he had become when the young man's breathing had slowed so much it was difficult to tell if he were breathing at all, nor would he tell him how afraid he was when Kenji's body became cold and flaccid after nearly an hour of intense meditation. Both he and Quii had tried to reach Kenji and bring him back, but he was too far away and too deep into his concentration for either of them to find him. Aoshi feared the boy was lost within the 'Plane of Stars', and had begun to grieve over his loss as well as fear how he would ever tell Kenshin that both of his son's were now gone. So when Kenji came sputtering and coughing back into his body Aoshi had nearly broken down into tears of joy and relief. He is safe... he has returned, and he is still himself. Arigatou Kami-sama... Arigatou.
"You were... worried?"
"Hai. You were gone a very long time, Young Sword. A very long time."
"How long?"
"Longer than anyone else has ever been."
"Oh..." Kenji turned and looked deeply into the troubled yet relieved eyes of his life-mate and whispered a tender apology for causing her so much worry, and then he gaze returned to that of his Uncle. "It was the most incredible experience I have ever had, Uncle Aoshi."
"I can well imagine. One day we will talk about it, but for now, we much talk about your brother. Did you find him?"
"Hai." An angry frown grew over Kenji's fine features and his eyes shifted to a sharp aqua-gold. "SHE has him in the Old Palace."
"Ahhh, of course... that would make perfect sense. I should have thought of that."
"Why?"
"The Old Palace was the focal point of Elsbeth's goals in her mortal life, and it is where she died, so it would make sense that she would find it the most comfortable place to be now... it is familiar to her."
"Hai. I understand, and you are right. It does make perfect sense."
"How is your brother..." Aoshi's voice trailed off into silence as the look on Kenji's face turned from angry into a burning fury.
"He is very ill. In fact, his body looks like it is dead already."
"Nani?" Quii gripped her mates hands and pulled his attention back to her. "What do you mean his body looks dead already? What has she done to him?"
"She's killing him very slowly in hopes either Otousan or myself or both will come to rescue him... so she can kill us all. She is using her own son as bait... purposefully, and she intends to kill him in the end irregardless just to cause Otousan pain."
"Oh Kami..." Quii's hand tightened around Kenji's as she listened to what he was telling them. "What a horrible thing to do... How could she do that to her own child? And why?"
"Because she no long has the ability to care for another living being, Quii-san." Aoshi steepled his fingers over his lap and considered his next words. "When she was alive, I do not believe she would have ever even considered doing Chri-stan harm... Kaoru-san said something about that at one point that Elsbeth had mentioned to her something about sacrificing other children being simple, but not her own child. Obviously, without a living soul inside of her anymore, she no longer feels that distinction."
"Obviously." Kenji's voice was a low growl in his throat as he though of the way the Bane had sniffed and nudged at Christian's body like he was a piece of meat or garbage that she had found and not her own son. "She will pay for what she has done to him... I will make her pay."
"Be careful, Young Sword... Vengeance is the way of darkness. Do not dance on the edge of the blade. You must walk on one side or the other."
"I know." Quii's arms wound around his neck and she kissed his lips softly before pressing her face into the curve of his shoulder. A unique sensation of golden warmth passed from her inner self into the core of him and Kenji felt as his fury was gently dissolved and washed away as she soothed his emotions into a more manageable form.
Aoshi smiled within himself as he watched the manifestation of Quii's control over Kenji's extraordinary gifts, and realized that Saitou and Kenshin were completely right.
Every Kodora needs a Mesu Tora.
"I think it is time you spoke to your Father, Kenji-san. He needs to know what you know about your brother."
"Hai. There is much I need to learn from him as well... much I need to ask." He met his Uncle's gaze once more. "Are my parents still awake?"
"Hai. They are inside... Your Okaasan and Auntie Misao have been... getting reacquainted as it were." The amusement in his eyes was unmistakable and Kenji could not help but smile in anticipation.
"I can hardly wait." Rising to his feet and pulling Quii with him, he bowed deeply to his Uncle in a show of humble respect and then turned and walked back into the house. Once inside, he and his mate soon discovered his parents, his Grandfather, and his Aunt deep in conversation. He hated to interrupt but what he needed to talk to his Father about was just to important to wait.
"Gomen nasi, Otousan... but may I speak to you?"
"Kenji-san?" Kenshin turned from the conversation he was so deeply engaged in and met the urgent look reflected in his son's aqua-blue eyes. "What is wrong?" He asked as a feeling of concern rose within him in response to the look.
"I need to speak to you about my..." He cast a hesitant look around the small circle of people who all seemed to be suddenly looking at him. "About my brother."
"Your brother?" Kenshin looked confused and stood up to face his son. "Which one? What is wrong, Kenji?" Gently he laid a hand on the boys shoulder and locked gazes with him.
"Chri-stan, Otou... I need to speak to you about Chri-stan."
"Chri-stan?" The name spilt from Kenshin's lips in a tight whisper of pain as his gaze intensified. "Why? What do you know? What has happened?"
"Gomen, Otou, but do you wish to speak in front of everyone, or should we go somewhere and speak in private?" Kenji was swiftly moving his gaze from his Okaa to his Sofu and then on to his Aunt, and he was not sure he wanted to talk about his brother in front of any of them. He was not sure any of them would be willing to try and understand what he wanted to know, or what he wanted to try.
"You do not think we should speak in front of your own family? Kenji... You are confusing and worrying me."
"Yousha, Otou," Kenji bowed to his Father. "I do not mean to be disrespectful... I just do not know if they will understand what I need to ask you or what I am thinking of doing... they do not understand Chri-stan the way you and I do." Kenshin's gaze immediately dropped to the floor because he knew Kenji was absolutely right. The conversation he had been having with the three people setting on the floor beside them was proof enough of that.
"Hai. Kenji-san, we will go somewhere private to speak."
"Kenshin?!" Kaoru's voice sounded behind him and he flinched at the tone he heard in it.
"Gomen nasi, Saiai-Kaoru." He favored her with a pleading glance. "Onegai... let me listen to what our son has to say. I will tell you everything later, I promise you I will, but let me do it this way first."
"Kenshin... I... you don't trust me." Kaoru's dark blue eyes filled with a hurt that squeezed at his heart making him want to fall down on his knees and beg her forgiveness, but he could not because she was right. He did not trust her... not where Christian was concerned.
"I will explain later... when we are finished. Yousha, My Koishii. Yousha." The look on her face was heart breaking to him, but there was nothing else for him to do. With one last pleading glance in his Beloved's direction Kenshin turned away and led his son off down the narrow hallway and into a separate room. Quii followed behind.
As he closed the fusuma, Kenshin motioned for the two young people to set on the floor. After making certain the door was secure, he quickly joined them there, and leveling his gaze at his youngest son, the red-haired Samurai spoke to him in a calm clear voice that left no question as to his state of mine and emotion.
"Kenji-san," he began slowly. "We have created a rift between your Okaa and myself because of this, and, although I agree this conversation needs to take place away from the others as well, I am more than displeased by what has happened because of it."
"I understand, Otousan." Kenji bowed his head humbly as he became fully aware of his Father's precarious position.
"We must discuss whatever it is that you know and want to know quickly so that I can explain it to your Okaasan and try to help her understand what we understand. Hai?"
"Hai, Otousan."
"Ka, now speak to me. What has happened?"
Over the next hour Kenji very carefully explained to his Father in minute detail everything that had happened from the moment he and his Uncle had entered the 'Plane of Stars' until he had arrived back into his body just before coming back inside to speak with Kenshin, and during his explanation the older man had listened with intense patience not saying a word but rather allowing his son to tell his tale to the very end without stopping.
"Have I confused you, Otou?" Kenji asked worriedly as he eyed his Father's impassive face. "You have not said even one word."
"I have been listening, Kenji-san. One learns more at times when he listens instead of talking." Kenshin's face remained a mask, but inside his heart and soul were a seething pit of boiling rage and painful grief. Chri-stan! My son, my beautiful son... What has she done to you? How could she have done this? Oh my son, my son... "There is much to be done, Aisoku... much to plan."
"Indeed..." Kenji nodded at his Father's quietly spoken matter of fact statement. "What do you think we need to do first, Otousan?"
"We need to find a way to get your brother out of the Palace without..." Kenshin paused and swallowed against the lump that was forming in his throat. "Without her knowing we are."
"I already have that figured out, Otou."
"Oh you do?" Kenshin favored Kenji with a disbelieving look that bespoke his opinion of his son's seeming arrogance in his own abilities. "And just how are you going to do that?"
Kenji's eyes narrowed in irritation at the sound of his Father's voice, but he continued forward and tried to explain. "The Bane goes out to hunt every night... and she leaves Chri-stan alone in the Throne Room. I am planning on going back tomorrow night after dark, waiting until she leaves, and then going in to pull him out and bring him home before she gets back."
"Hmmmm... and what are you going to do about her being able to smell your scent?"
"I can bath in Jasmine petals before I go... that should cover my scent well enough."
"And what about your ki, Kenji-san? How will you hide your ki? Have you learned to mask it yet? Has your Grandfather taught you that without my knowing about it?"
"Ne, Otousan, but I won't have to worry about it."
"You won't, and why do you think that?" A heavy note of skepticism hung in the old samurai's voice as he waited for his son to reply.
"She couldn't see or sense me when I was there tonight in soul-form, and she couldn't see or sense Chri-stan either. A ki is composed of virtually the same kind of energy, isn't it?"
"Well, I suppose so, hai."
"Then she should not be able to 'sense' me at all." Kenshin's brow furrowed deeply as he considered this interesting piece of information and the over-all implications it could have on everyone involved. If the Bane could not sense spirit-ki, then...
"I am going with you."
"Ne, Otousan. It would not be safe for two of us to go."
"It would be safer than just one... what if you can't pick him up alone? What if he can't stand? As you say, he is very ill and it may take both of our combined strengths to get him out. It is not for you to do this alone, Aisoku."
"But, Otou, he is my brother."
"And he is MY son."
"Otousan..."
"Enough, Kenji!" Kenshin raised his hand and ended the conversation. "I have made my decision and that is final."
"Hai, Otousan." He exchanged a worried look with Quii as they both were thinking about the same thing. How would Kenshin be able to help considering the depth and advancement of his condition. Only time would tell as it did in all things.
Only time would tell.
A/N: Only about 3 or 4 more chapters to go and we'll be finished. Hang around for the next chapter when Kenshin and Kenji head off to the Imperial Palace to get Christian... will things go off without a hitch? Maaaaaybe...
Please Review this chapter... I wanna know what everybodies thinking... Please??? ^U^