RAIN- Chapter 2

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

CD: I hope you people like my first story, I know it's not too good but I worked really hard on it. So please read and review if you like it!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When they got to the dojo Nozomi immediately went into one of the old bedrooms. She picked up some old boys clothes from the floor she had found not to long ago. She didn't know who they belonged to but she had kept them there anyway. She handed them to Kenshin and she went to find some of her own clothes. She left the room and went into her own. She picked out one of her few kimonos and changed also. When Kenshin reappeared he was wearing a navy shirt and white pants. Nozomi was wearing a green kimono with a leave pattern on it.

It was still rainy when they got home and it was far from night. Kenshin who wasn't one to talk much went onto the porch and watched the rain fall. Quietly Nozomi slid open one of the doors and peered out at Kenshin. He didn't notice her. She couldn't help but let out a faint smile upon her face. She felt happy that some one was now with her here in the dojo, and not just Taka.

She closed the door and went to get her sketch book. For once in a long time she felt like drawing. She went into yet another room and slid open the door but only a little bit. She looked out onto the porch where Kenshin still sat. She began drawing the side profile of a face. Then hair and finally a face. Nozomi was drawing Kenshin.

It was one of the best pictures she had ever drawn yet it still displeased her. She felt her mouth turn into a slight frown. She had continually looked up now and then to study Kenshin's face. But this time when she looked up no one was there. She got up and looked outside. She went and peered into the next room. Until she herd something.

It was her pencil dropping from its spot on top of the sketch book. She looked over to the spot where a few minutes ago she was seated. There was Kenshin, in his hands he held Nozomi's sketch book studying the picture of himself. Soon a small smile appeared on his face.

Nozomi began to blush. She walked over and sat down in front of Kenshin. He didn't look up.

"Sumanu, for drawing you without asking first." She shyly said.

"Daijoubu...it's quite good actually." Kenshin replied.

"Thank you…" Nozomi answered. Kenshin finally looked up at Nozomi who was still blushing and looking down. He smiled.

~***~

Later as Kenshin and Nozomi walked along the cherry blossom trees and river they talked about there recent life neither one dared to mention their life as younger children. Nozomi told how she was living by herself. How she meet Taka and just basically how she wished she could draw better. Kenshin sympathized her by reminding her how good her sketch of him was.

She denied.

Kenshin explained how he was working for the revolutionaries and why he had a sword. But he dared not to reveal his true identity to Nozomi, as he wanted her not to have to become part of his problem. They later returned to the dojo. It had stayed cloudy all day except for when Kenshin and Nozomi where walking along the bank. At that one time the sunset painted the sky a bright orange red. But as night fell it became cloudy again.

Kenshin remained in the clothes Nozomi had lent him. Nozomi differently changed into a pair of pants and red shirt. She set up an extra bed in one of the empty rooms that was close to hers and informed Kenshin that he could sleep there. He thanked her and went outside to the porch once again. Kenshin closed his eyes and soon heard a rustling noise. He opened his eyes and looked around, but only saw a few sakura fall from a close by sakura tree.

Kenshin soon lost interest in the blossoms and closed his eyes once again and slowly fell into a light sleep. He awoke not much later only to see Nozomi jump down from the sakura tree that had recently lost a few blossoms. Eyes wide open they both looked at each other with surprise. Kenshin wondering what Nozomi had been doing in the sakura tree and Nozomi surprised to see Kenshin awake, as she thought he was asleep.

"Sorry if I awoke you…" Nozomi began after a stream of silence.

"Huh…oh no daijoubu." he politely replied.

They returned to inside the dojo and went into their own rooms. Nozomi sat down on her futon. She looked down at the floor and to her left, there lay her sketch book. She picked it up and it opened to her sketch of Kenshin.

"Kenshin…" she whispered to herself. She remembered what he had said earlier. 'Daijoubu…it's quite good actually.'

She couldn't bring herself to smile yet she was some what happy.

"Oyasumi-nasai Nozomi." she heard a voice say. She looked up and saw Kenshin at the door.

"Aa oyasumi-nasai to you too." she quietly replied.

"Nozomi…" Kenshin began.

"Aa?…" she quietly answered as she looked at Kenshin. She looked back down at her sketch book. The sound of foot steps told her he was coming toward her. Out of the corner of her eye to her left she could see Kenshin.

"You're quite the artist Nozomi…" he began.

"No...I hate my drawings they're terrible..." she depressingly confessed.

"What do you mean Nozomi they're great!" he shockingly replied. "Here let me show u how I draw"

He held out his hand. Nozomi handed him her sketch book. Flipping through to a clean page he picked up her pencil also.

Nozomi watched as Kenshin tried to draw a simple cherry blossom. When he was finished he showed it to Nozomi. She couldn't laugh a little. He turned the notebook back around studied it. It was pretty obvious he decided. Nothing he had ever seen was that badly drawn.

Though it was the worst picture in Nozomi's sketch book he signed it.

"So you can remember who drew this." he commented as he handed her the sketch book. She studied it for a moment after a while she smiled.

"Thank You." she said as she hugged him. He blushed a bit, but was content.

"Your welcome." he replied. Kenshin got up and went to the door. As he left he once again said "Oyasumi nasai Nozomi." closing the door Nozomi read the signature once again before going to bed. It read,

"To my dear friend Nozomi,

Kenshin."

~***~

Nozomi who had been sleeping peacefully awoke that night to the sound of rain and a door shutting. She sleepily arose and went to Kenshin's room. He wasn't there. She immediately awoke completely in horror. She ran outside and looked around the courtyard. No one in sight.

Nozomi felt her face become warm with anger and sadness. Kenshin was the only human she had ever known in her whole life. Even when she was a little girl about 5 or 6 all she could remember was roaming the empty streets of this town she now lived in, looking for someone, anyone.

As far as she knew, she never had a family. Standing in the middle of the courtyard the moon shown above her. Like earlier she fell to her knees in tears. She hadn't wanted Kenshin to leave at least not so soon. Now she once again had no one but Taka.

She wished he had stayed longer. So she'd have someone to talk to and share memories with but most of all so she'd have someone to be friends with.

Nozomi sat there for a few minutes crying until she heard foot steps. When she opened her eyes and looked up she could see a red haired boy.

She wiped off her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. Seeing a little more clearly she saw it was "K-kenshin?..."

"Nozomi what are you doing out in the rain you're soaking and in more than one way." Kenshin said as he knelt down in front of her. He wiped her wet eyes with his own shirt. With a faint smile from Kenshin, they hugged each other.

Kenshin's crimson hair was pasted to the back of his neck and his cheeks but he ignored the rain as he returned Nozomi's hug. Nozomi too, was soaking but as she and Kenshin embraced each other she felt warm and safe. They sat there for some time on silence until Nozomi said something and broke the silence.

"I-I thought you had left..." Nozomi told him as she slowly stopped crying.

They pulled apart.

"Nozomi...Sumanu...demo I do have to go....." he sadly confessed.

Nozomi looked into his sorrowful violet eyes. She started crying again.

"Nozomi...please don't cry.....I don't want you to be sad." He said as he looked at her his hands on her shoulders. She slowly stopped crying but the frown on her face showed she was still quite sad.

Kenshin got up and put his hand out. Nozomi accepted and Kenshin helped her up. He walked with her back inside and got her a towel. She dried herself off in silence.

She finally turned around and looked at kenshin and said "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too...I hope we meet again some day." he replied.

With one last hug Nozomi and Kenshin bid each other goodbye. Kenshin went over to the door and opened it. He turned around one last time and looked at her. Nozomi looked down in embarrassment. Kenshin smiled when she looked back up. She blushed a bit, Kenshin left and closed the door.

Nozomi could feel her face become warm and she was about to start crying again. Then she remembered what Kenshin said. "Nozomi…please don't cry…I don't want you to be sad."

She stopped herself, but one tear did roll down her face. It made a quiet noise as it hit against the wooden floor of the dojo.

Feeling sadder than ever, Nozomi went and sat down on her futon. She picked up her sketch book and looked at it one last time before lying back down.

"To my dear friend Nozomi, Kenshin."

~***~

7 years later, Nozomi still walked along the streets. Everything was different though. All the buildings were rebuilt and there were shops and lots of people. But just like when she was little she still felt extremely lonely and sad even with the presence of people.

Taka her old friend still sat on her head. And she carried around her sketch book. But the last drawing in it was Kenshin's.

She hadn't drawn anything in 7 years. Yet she still had a small fire burning inside that told her not to give up that she'd find something to draw soon.

She walked along looking down at the ground. Suddenly she collided with someone.

She fell backwards onto the dirt road she had recently been walking along on. When the dust cleared she looked up. She was looking into the calm violet eyes of a red haired man.

"K-kenshin?..." she stammered.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

PLEASE READ+REVIEW!!!!!!!