Note/ Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me. Also, story may include spoilers for the Samurai X Reflections.
Tadaima-Reunited
He sits on the deck of the boat, the wind blowing the scent of the ocean into his face. He does not know-or remember-who he is but he feels his life draining away.
In the emptiness of his mind, scenes flash back-with the faces of people he used to know…people he used to remember. He catches the smell of white plums and a face appears in his mind. He tries to recall the memory, but it too-like all his others-disappears.
He remembers the face of another woman-one whom he left behind many years ago to seek atonement for his past. His heart reaches out to her-to the woman whom he no longer recognizes-and suddenly he knows that he must go back to her…back the place he once called home.
A flash of pink falls before him…a sakura petal. Suddenly he knows her name….Kaoru. The boat has stopped, and with his slowly dying strength, he pulls himself up. He walks along a road he thought only existed in his mind-a road that is so familiar now. The sakura petals fall over him and he repeats her name over and over-Kaoru.
He slowly recalls how she looked-her black hair, and soulful eyes-and his steps quicken. But the road ahead of him is long, and he feels his energy dying. He feels pain..all over…the pain that has never really gone away. He rounds another corner, and then he sees her….
She is running to him, her ebony hair flying loose behind her. She is still the strong woman that he left behind, but somehow, she seems more vulnerable. He tries to run to her, but his weakened body does not allow him to. With the last of his strength, he propels himself into her waiting arms, back to the one he loves. Tadaima, he whispers to her…he is home. Okaeri nasai, she replies back to him….welcome back…And in that single moment, both of them are content just to be in each other's arms.
She leads him to the sakura fields, where the blossoms have bloomed and are falling, one by one, onto the sweet smelling grass. He lays his head upon her lap, and suddenly, he doesn't feel quite so weary…quite so tired as before. For he is home…home with his beloved…Lying under the sakura blossoms, listening to the voice of his lover, he closes his eyes, and sleeps…eternally…..Tadaima…..
