Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not and will not ever belong to me.

Note: Thank you Sakura Kamitsu for reviewing my story! It helped a lot!

A Shard of Eternity

Chapter Two: The Road to Nowhere

Do you wait until the sun fades away

And the moon turns into stone?

Or do you try to find yourself in a place

No one has ever roamed?

IT had all began when she turned eighteen, and had caught the mysterious illness that all the doctors could not explain. She had been burning all over-burning alive….No medicine could heal her, and the doctors were beginning to worry. But slowly, she began to recover, though everyone noticed something different about the girl's sapphire eyes. But Kaoru had gotten stronger with each passing day, and finally, she had been able to step out of bed. She shouldn't have. She should have stayed curled in her bed, in the darkness where no one could see…Maybe then she wouldn't have found out that she was immortal….

For the first few years, no one noticed that she was not aging. But as her friends began to grow older with each passing year, they all turned to Kaoru, who was still young…and un-aging. And her parents had also begun to stare at her-with suspicious eyes that seemed to ask, "Who are you? Are you really our daughter?" And at first, Kaoru hadn't known herself what had been happening….but when she did, she left. Left her home, her career, and life behind. She hadn't been scared…after all nothing could happen to her…she was immortal….

How could I have been so stupid, so careless, Kaoru thought angrily to herself. She stared up at the night sky…so lovely and black…Kaoru sighed. It was hard being different…it would always be hard…People just couldn't accept others who weren't the same as them. After her accident in the restaurant, she had walked all the way here, down to the little brook that she had noticed when she first drove to this town, seeking a place to stay for the night…Kaoru never stayed anywhere too long…she was a roamer. She never stayed in one town twice. Kaoru didn't need much. Her grandfather had been a billionaire, and had left much of the money to her in her bank account. Kaoru didn't really need to eat, but when she felt the urge to, she took the money from her account.

She headed back to her car, a beaten up Lexus. She fitted the key in, and started the engine. She would have to find another place to sleep at tonight…Kaoru sighed again…It was a lonely life she led….but one she was forced to lead.