In Our Garden of Snow and Roses

"Between the conception,

And the creation,

Between the emotion,

And the response,

Falls the Shadow."

- T. S. Eliot

(The Hollow Men)

Into the Palace of Dreams and Healing

Whoso regardeth dreams is like him that catcheth

at a shadow, and followeth after the wind.

Apocrypha

(Ecclesiasticus 34:2)

Kaoru was startled into wakefulness to find that a raven had landed on her lap and was currently cawing at her. It looked at her and she looked at it. "Hello?" she greeted it hesitantly.

"Hey, Hag," the raven replied. "You're finally awake, I see. It sure took you awhile to wake up too. Are you deaf when it comes to sleeping, because I think that log you're sitting on woke up before you did! I've been watching you careen around like a headless chicken too. Do you need help or what? Humans," the raven sighed deeply, "so very helpless in the woods on your own, it seems. No survival instincts whatsoever!"

Kaoru fumed as she glared down at the sarcastic raven. "And what do you want with a headless chicken with no survival instincts like myself?" Kaoru demanded with equal sarcasm.

The raven hopped out of Kaoru's reach, perhaps sensing the fact that she was considering on cooking the bird for dinner. Kaoru wasn't one who liked to eat animals very much, not when she spent most of her time healing them, but for this raven she just might make an exception. "Well, don't you humans ever listen? I asked you if you needed my help, Hag!"

"I have a name you know, Curmudgeon?" Kaoru demanded. "And it is not Hag."

"If you didn't want to be called that, Stupid, then you should have told me right away." The raven replied nonchalantly. Not really understanding what a curmudgeon was but having a feeling that it wasn't very nice. The raven decided to ignore the whole thing instead, so he wouldn't appear too ignorant.

A nice, hot fire to roast this bird over would be nice, Kaoru mused. "It's not Stupid, either. It's Ka-o-ru, Raven, and you're one very rude bird!"

"I have a name too, Stupid," the Raven answered with a harsh "Caw!" as he hoped impatiently in front of Kaoru. "It's Yahiko, so get it right."

"That's a big name for a small bird," Kaoru teased as she looked down her nose at the raven. At that very moment, Kaoru was going over a list of recipes that Enishi had taught her and wondered which one best went with raven. The chicken wing recipe was very delicious when she made it with Enishi...

"I'm not small, Stupid!" The raven became riled and flapped its wings. "So want my help or what?" the raven's voice became gruff, almost as if he was embarrassed. "Because if you don't, then I don't want to stick around here any longer!"

Kaoru went over her options and finally she came to a helpless conclusion: She needed the help of this sarcastic raven that called himself Yahiko. So she reluctantly agreed, "I'm looking for someone very important to me," Kaoru began hesitantly. "He's very clever and was going to university when he disappeared." And from there, Kaoru told her story to Yahiko who was strangely quiet and respectful as he listened to her tale.

"I might know the one you speak of," Yahiko said thoughtfully when Kaoru was finished.

Surprised beyond belief, Kaoru clasped her hands together hopefully, her breath caught in her throat. "Do you mean it? Do you really mean it."

"I do," Yahiko began but Kaoru caught him in her arms and nearly hugged the poor raven to death, though Kaoru did cross him off her dinner list. "Stop it, Stupid! Do you want to kill the messenger?" Yahiko protested, though the derogatory comment didn't work out so well when he couldn't get two breaths into his crushed lungs. But at his words, Kaoru dropped him like a sac of potatoes.

"I'm sorry," Kaoru apologized profusely. Kaoru didn't want to kill the raven after all, though a slow ire that she had felt earlier towards the bird began to rise again, inside of her. "But still, you could use some manners," Kaoru commented innocently enough.

"Humans," Yahiko groused quite grumpily, totally ignoring Kaoru's earlier comment about his manners. Kaoru grinned, slowly realizing that Yahiko may not be as sarcastic and uncaring as he seemed. The raven really was the first to offer her help on her search for Kenshin in the wide-world. He was rough around the edges, but that was okay with Kaoru since she wasn't so fussy about things like that.

"Where have you seen my Kenshin?" Kaoru asked timidly after Yahiko smoothed his ruffled feathers.

Yahiko flapped a bit startled but then he began his tale. "Down this pathway and over the hills, there's a large, modern clinic between the edge of a small town and the forest. There, a Fox Doctor resides within her pristine, white building as the head of the faculty. The Fox Doctor is very shrewd and very smart. She knows everything about everything, and she has read all the literary articles and books in the world. She discusses politics with her patience, even, and tells stories to the sick children that stay overnight. Even the animals go to her for help, the deer with the broken leg, the squirrel with the trampled tail, or even the wild cat with the splinter in its paw. They all go trustingly to her doorsteps to ask for help when needed. The people love her and give her tribute and the clinic grows more lavishing each years, for she says that any who seeks her help will receive it and so her abode must accommodate the sick no matter who they are."

Yahiko directed Kaoru as he told her of the clinic by the edge of the woods with him on her shoulder as the guide. "You see, the Fox Doctor is part of a lineage of renowned doctors, but all the people in the village boast that she truly has the touch of a Saint. Yet, in a nearby city, a Lord heard of our Fox Doctor, as all words pass around. And he came in the disguise of business, asking all sorts of strange questions and demanding to know if our Fox Doctor knew chemistry and if she produced all her medicine with her own hands. This greatly puzzled the Fox Doctor, but she was learned in all ways as the rumors claimed and answered each question with such astounding ease that it was not long that she noticed the sly and devious nature of her questioner and him, her brilliance. It had turned out that the Lord was a dealer of illegal substances in the city and wanting to build and enlarge his criminal underworld, he had embarked to replace the drug-maker he had previously hired and then fired, literally. The Fox Doctor, unwilling to do such horrid things ran into her clinic and hid, for the clinic is enchanted, you see. All who steps into the place will be rendered speechless by the grandeur and weakened in action. Only the truly strong of heart and spirit may walk through the halls without being affected. Knowing this the Lord waited seven days and seven nights outside the clinic and when the Fox Doctor found no hope of getting rid of him, she despaired." Kaoru gasped and felt a deep sympathy for the woman and anger as well, for she herself would be outraged if her beloved Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu was practiced ill as the poor Fox Doctor's practice was threatened with in this tale.

"Suddenly, on the first day of Spring and the morning that marked the eighth day of the Lord's blockade of the Fox Doctor, a young man came rumbling down the road." The raven perked up in the dreary tale then, "A smart aleck of a man, all broad shoulders and bronze skinned. His fists were ready and his swagger did not show his lack of confidence, for this ruffian had heard of the Lord's wicked ways and came for a good fight. He had no care for whether or not the proud Fox Doctor would be gratefully accept his help, he just despised seeing injustice in the world and despised the weaknesses of bullies the more. He was very strong and took down the guards that watched over the clinic one by one as if he was knocking down twigs in the forest. He bravely went straight for that Lord and fought him one on one. It was not much of a contest of strength, and this ruffian easily won against the Lord right after taking out all of the Lord's body-guards.

"The Lord begged him to join him, promising the ruffian money, women, and whatever else the ruffian may desire. The ruffian paused at this, but laughed off the offers when he declared that "Men like you really make me sick!" and promptly disposed of the Lord in his violent ways.

"The ruffian, who didn't look like much in the beginning, turned out to be surprisingly strong where others that the Fox Doctor had helped had quivered in fear and abandoned her to her fate. He wasn't intimidated by anything at all, it seemed, and took whatever injuries he received without a care. After the fight, he went strolling into the clinic without a quiver or even an expression of awe on his face at the grandeur all around him. And so, the Fox Doctor healed him back to health and he's been staying with her ever since that day."

"Kenshin disappeared the first day of Spring over a year ago as well," Kaoru pondered a bit but she was too hopeful and excited to linger on it too much. "He's brave and strong and sturdier than most people would think if they first glimpsed upon him. Kenshin would never let a bully terrorize the weak and get away with it, and he sees things so clearly that nothing can enchant him if he does not wish to be enchanted!" Kaoru nodded as she found herself out of the forest and at the steps of a large, pristinely white building that was far larger than she would have imagined a clinic to be.

"It's as big as a palace!" Kaoru thought in awe as she viewed the clinic before her with her mouth slightly hung open in shock.

"I'll have to go talk with my sweetheart," Yahiko told her. "She's a tamed raven that lives with the Fox Doctor. The lady doctor saved her life last winter from the cold and a broken wing."

Surprised, Kaoru couldn't help but tease. "A girlfriend raven?" Kaoru asked with a sly and knowing smile.

If ravens could blush, Yahiko would have been doing it. "Sh-shut up, Hag!" he spluttered.

Kaoru only giggled, waving Yahiko off as he leapt off high into the air. Kaoru sighed a bit enviously as she watched Yahiko fly higher and higher into the sky. If Kaoru possessed such a power, she would have long flown all over the world to look for Kenshin. Still, Kaoru only had arms and legs but not wings. Smiling ruefully to herself, Kaoru sat down on the steps, finding herself weary and hungry beyond belief. Yawning, she glanced up at the dark grey skies overhead and pondered how Kenshin was doing, where he was at, and if he was taking care of himself. Whenever she thought about Kenshin, she could not help but be slightly worried. A very bad feeling always seemed to settle at the bottom of her stomach for one reason or another. Kaoru had trouble remembering her own dreams in detail, but she knew it couldn't have been good if she was feeling the after affects like this still.

No, it couldn't have been good at all. But if this "ruffian" was Kenshin, then perhaps, she didn't have too much to worry about. Maybe Kenshin had just forgotten where he had come from and all she had to do was help him remember...

Maybe…

The clouds passed overhead and so did the grayness of the sky until the meager light of the sun showed the closing of another day. Kaoru didn't know how long she had sat on the steps of the clinic that loomed behind her like a giant cathedral that Kaoru had only read of in books or from Kenshin's story-telling. Kaoru sighed wastefully, falling into a trance between sleep and waking. Time passed and her stomach grumbled in protest as she fell in and out of a doze on the white steps that gleamed even in the darkness, until a soft but firm touch on her shoulder startled her awake. With an exclamation in surprise on her lips and dazed confusion in her eyes, Kaoru leapt from her spot and twisted around so quickly she nearly fell down the few steps she had climbed to settle where she had sat.

"Oh," the voice started and there was a breeze on Kaoru's face as Kaoru's startled blue eyes settled on the fluttering raven that landed gracefully onto the steps before her. "I- I'm so sorry to startle you!" The shy, feminine voice came from the raven as Yahiko landed next to the other.

"Watch it, Hag," Yahiko commanded. "You could have harmed Tsubame Chan for being so clumsy!"

Kaoru shook her dazed head a bit before apologizing to the shy raven who hopped behind Yahiko to peer at Kaoru curiously from a safer distance. After quite a few reassurances from Yahiko and Kaoru, Tsubame finally flew and tentatively landed on Kaoru's shoulder again. Finally, when Tsubame settled with a nod, she began to explain herself. "Yahiko told me of your story, and it's very moving that you went this far to search for your dearest friend." Tsubame's every emotion was in her voice, and her admiration of Kaoru's actions made the latter blush in embarrassment. "It's very brave what you're doing, venturing out into the unknown for your precious someone like that. I don't know if I'll ever find the courage for that, but if I lost Yahiko then I would wish with all my might to be able to do what you have done." Tsubame ruffled her feather a bit and lowered her voice as if she had no desire to confess such feelings. Such was the tamed raven's shyness.

Kaoru found the contrast between bold and brash Yahiko and his shy and timid Tsubame to be a truly amusing sight. Kaoru hid her smile and only nodded at the tamed raven, Tsubame. "It's very nice to meet you, Tsubame." Kaoru greeted with a welcoming smile, "I've heard a lot about you from Yahiko," Kaoru teased and Tsubame fluttered in a panic of stuttered quandary while Yahiko squawked in surprise, seemingly furiously switching between reassuring Tsubame of his feelings for her and berating Kaoru for her statement. Kaoru giggled at this, feeling truly light hearted by the young couple before her. "I'm just teasing," Kaoru reassured both of them. "But thank you both," Kaoru said with honesty and gratitude in her voice, "for understanding."

Tsubame fluttered on more to land next to Yahiko. "You were right to trust her, Yahiko," Tsubame seemed to smile at the suddenly flustered Yahiko. "If this is the girl who wishes to see if her dearest is the man who came that first spring day, but a year ago, I will gladly lend her aid."

Kaoru gasped with a grateful smile pulling her lips into a wide grin as her eyes misted with bliss. "Thank you for this," Kaoru said through a constricted throat and passed her trembling hands. "Thank you very much!" The human girl tempered her excitement so to hug both ravens with gentle care, and the Tsubame turned and directed her to a secret door on the side of the clinic.

Feeling a bit guilty for sneaking in at such an hour, Kaoru could not help but murmur questions at her guides. But they quieted her fears with reassurances every time she asked, even Yahiko tried his best to calm Kaoru out of whatever notion she had about trespassing and such. The deeper they went the more awed Kaoru felt. The walls stretched high overhead, as if the place was made for giants. And though the plush carpeting dulled the sound of her footsteps, the walls still gleamed with a light of their own in the dark. Speechless as they ventured deeper into the clinic, they finally reached a hall where the shadows danced and sung and the sound of forest trees rattling, rustled through the hall. Everywhere Kaoru turned, she would think she saw the shadow of a fox's tail or ear or slender shape disappear, as if playing hide and seek. Still they venture further in, until finally, with a pounding heart, they reached a chamber where two large beds were suspended so, that they seemed to float in midair.

The floor was frosted glass where fishes swam and water ran like a world under ice beneath Kaoru's feet. Crystals adorned the walls that seemed to shift alive all around them from color to color and the ceiling seemed opened to the skies above, reaching forever into the heavens. Kaoru blinked her rounded eyes at everything. Her hands were over her mouth that would not shut as her gaze fell from one wonder to the next and back again. "He sleeps," Tsubame hopped onto her shoulder and nudged her cheek with a soft, feathered head. "There, in the bed of red fur, he sleeps."

And Kaoru turned to the two beds, one feathered and white as snow, while the other was furred and red. Creeping over the glass floor, Kaoru felt like grimacing as her dirtied feet left a trail over the clear glass until she reached the suspended beds. Kaoru stood on tiptoes as she gently pulled back the crimson pelts of fur. The first sight she saw was the bronze neck that she remembered so well, swelling under the covers as the owner's head was buried in a pillow. Kaoru cried out in joy and recognition of the slope of that neck she was all too familiar with. "Kenshin! Kenshin! You're here and well!"

The man in the bed of fur stirred immediately and rose in alarm at Kaoru's cries of joy. Kaoru stumbled back as the bed rocked at the motions and she fell to see the dashing man who saved the clinic jump out of bed and tower over her. "What's going on?" The devilish looking man demanded sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he tried to clear his vision.

"Y-you're not Kenshin," Kaoru finally murmured as the reality of it came crashing down, along with her hopes. Tears pooled at the ends of Kaoru's eyes as another stirred from within the white, feathered bed. A beautiful woman emerged from the long white feathers and Tsubame went to her mistress, explaining everything while Kaoru sat helplessly on the frosted floor, surrounded by beauty but unable to enjoy it through her tears. The woman assured the ravens that neither she nor the devilish young man were mad at them for what they did and praised them for their kindness before sending both to bed.

"That's right sad," the man commented with his hands on his hips after the departure of the reluctant ravens. "But Little Missy, your tears won't bring him back." Kaoru blinked and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands, sniffling. The beautiful woman was helped down by the dashing young man from her bed feathers. "My name is Sanosuke, though you may call me Sano. This here's my foxy lady, Megumi."

Megumi rolled her eyes at the introduction, "Yes, here's my rooster of a fiancé," the older woman agreed with a flip her long, silken hair over one shoulder. The woman then approached Kaoru, helping her to her feet. "You poor dear," Megumi sighed. "But Sano's right, you know?" The woman smiled, "Crying never helped anyone retrieve anything. And if you wish to find your friend, you must be strong and believe in him, that he'll be waiting for you wherever he is and that he'll be glad to see you when your journey is through." Megumi produced a handkerchief and dabbed away the tears that still fell from Kaoru's wide-eyed stare. "Oh, don't look so surprised," the lady doctor smiled kindly at their unexpected guest, "it's true you know? Faith takes a lot of strength to hold on to, but if you do hold onto it tightly, it'll see you through the toughest days of your life."

"Little Missy, you must also believe in yourself." Sanosuke added as he petted the top of her ruffled hair. "You must believe that you'll find him, no matter where he is. You've gotten this far, haven't you?" Kaoru nodded reluctantly, "So you know by now that you have what it takes to go the distance to finding this Kenshin." Sanosuke smiled and guided Kaoru closer to his red fur bed. "You must be very tired now, so you can sleep in my bed tonight." Megumi snorted from behind him, sounding a bit indigent. "Without me in it of course," Sanosuke quickly added with a boyish grin. "Though, I know you'll miss the company." That last comment earned Sanosuke a good slap on the back of his head, but he just grinned at his attacker and lifted Kaoru up into the bed of pelts. "We'll talk more on the business of finding your friend tomorrow when you're well rested." He advised when Kaoru began to protest. "But, your friend is very lucky to have someone like you looking for him. In this world, to find that someone who believes in you the most, that is a difficult task. Your friend is very lucky to have you because of that."

Reluctant but smiling and blushing at the compliment, Kaoru gave in to rest. Still, before she went to sleep, Kaoru noticed the absence of the dancing shadows that had guided her to this room. "Where did the shadows go?" Kaoru inquired. "They were so very pretty when I was coming here. They guided me, the fox in the shadows of the forest."

Megumi blinked surprised at this and she and Sanosuke shared a look that only they understood. "They're the silhouettes of our dreams," Megumi finally answered Kaoru's question. "When you dream here, they are projected over the clinic. People with warm hearts have the most beautiful dreams and the most beautiful shadow plays." The older woman sighed with a rueful smile. "Such displays bring peace and joys to those who have suffered and give those who have lost hope a glance of the beauty they had forgotten," Megumi explained. The couple though, soon ushered the tired Kaoru to bed so that she may rest.

Kaoru thanked the two once more before she tucked herself deep into the red furs, thinking just as she was about to fall asleep that it was just a shade bright of Kenshin's hair. She silently wished that he was there to meet the wonderful people in this clinic so he too may be reminded of the magic and the beauty of dreams and hopes. And then, the shadows of her dreams came like reflections of sunlight shining from the walls of the room. The light illuminated the glass floors and the waters below it with all the love and longing that Kaoru held in her heart for Kenshin. Both Sanosuke and Megumi held each other, in awe at the sight, and listened in quiet at the whispered laughter shared between the shadowed forms of one small girl-child and one protective young-man. "I've never seen this place light up with so many emotions of joy and love and memories." Megumi commented with a skeptical eye, but unable to keep the wonder out of her own voice.

Sanosuke held her close with a large grin on his face. "I knew that the Little Missy was special," he told his betrothed.

"Let's help her," Megumi agreed with firm belief. "For such a love to exist in the world, this is the seed from which the most beautiful of stories grows from." With this in mind, the couple went back to bed in preparation for the long day to come.

The morning passed and Kaoru slept on. She dreamt of her childhood with Kenshin, their springs together in the forest, their summers together by the river, their autumns together in the mountains, and their winters together by the fire place. Kaoru dreamt of Enishi, smiling beside his sister Tomoe, reuniting with her after all these long years. Kaoru dreamt of reuniting Kenshin's wakazashi with his missing sheath that she still carried with her. It was at the click of the weapon's completion that Kaoru woke to the bright, sunlit afternoon. Yawning and stretching beneath the blue skies, Kaoru rose out of the red, fur bed and tumbled onto the frosted floor when she tried to get out of the suspended bed on her own. She swayed to her unsteady feet and her stomach grumbled at her menacingly.

"Oh, you're awake," an attendant appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared again. Kaoru was left blinking with surprise and uncertainty after the little man. Soon, attendants piled in bringing trays of food, which Kaoru ate vigorously whatever was placed before her. She was too hungry to be shy having not eaten at all since the day she left Enishi's house by the river. After she was done, an entourage of attendants came to retrieve the plates while others came for Kaoru's measurements and more attendants came to lead her to the bathing section of the clinic once her measurements were taken. Kaoru followed with dazed surprise, allowing herself to be stripped and scrubbed by two cheerful women that nearly drowned Kaoru twice in the bath-tub when they dunked her to rinse her long, long hair.

Refreshed and out of the bath, Kaoru was dressed in the finest clothes she had ever set eyes on. The clothes seemed outdated, but Kaoru felt like a pampered princess, especially after having soft and silky slippers put onto her bandaged feet, sore and scrapped up from the track through the woods. Unused to this type of living, Kaoru twirled this way and that, surprised by the image of herself in the mirror. In all her years, Kaoru never saw herself look as much like a lady until that moment, and she wondered what Kenshin would have said if he saw her like this.

Seeing the slow changes in her growing body, Kaoru wondered how Kenshin must have changed as well. Her face lit up, sure that her childhood friend had only grown more beautiful and more handsome than the last time she's seen him. Kenshin must look like a real-life prince, or princess! Kaoru thought teasingly of all the times in their childhood together, when the adults had mistaken Kenshin for her sister and Kaoru for his brother. Grinning at what once had infuriated her, Kaoru put her hands on her hips and really looked at herself in the mirror before shaking her head at her image. "It's not me at all," she conceded, but knew it would be rude to remark such a thing on her generous hosts.

Led out of the dressing place, she arrived at the head office where the name Takani Megumi was in nice gold letters on the frosted glass of the wooden door. The attendants led her in and she blinked at the well furnished office that was large and spacious. Each wall held books that Kaoru could not help but step towards in utter curiosity and excitement. "You like books?" Megumi asked from her place behind the oak desk, seated in her black, leather chair.

Kaoru glanced at her host with a sparkle in her eyes and nodded eagerly. "Kenshin read to me before I knew what books and words were, and I guess, I have loved it ever since." Kaoru answered with a sheepish grin.

"So, your friend's name is Kenshin?" Megumi asked as she rose out of her chair and walked to stand next to the bookshelf. "I have many books here, from all over the world. My favorites are in this room. There is a library in this clinic that I have held for any who wish to read and educate themselves on the events of the world. The latest newspapers and magazines, the newest published books, I collect them all to keep up with the times." Megumi explained.

Kaoru glanced this way and that around the office, trying to understand where Megumi was going with the conversation. "I don't see any modern things here."

Megumi smiled at Kaoru's observation. "I have been taught since childhood to love old things," Megumi explained. "But I discovered, early on in life, how important it is to keep up with the present. But here, I store the things I love, and I am one who loves old fashioned stories of chivalry."

"Is that what drew you to Mister Sano?" Kaoru asked with wide-eyed innocence.

Megumi laughed, surprised by this. "That Rooster of mine?" The older woman smiled ruefully as she ran one finger down the spine of a well kept book. "I guess you heard of my story already," Megumi grinned. "Maybe it is," Megumi speculated.

"That's very brave, what you did!" Kaoru suddenly exclaimed, with conviction in her eyes. "Not giving into the intimidations of that evil Lord was very brave of you," Kaoru added when she saw the inquiry in Megumi's expression.

Megumi shook her head. "I hid in this palace of a clinic of mine. That wasn't brave at all. Sano was the one who saved me from the Lord. He was the brave one of the two of us." Megumi sighed in resignation to herself as the older woman walked to the window. "I thought I was so independent too, and then the first adversity I meet I found myself forced to lock my doors to the world. No, little Kaoru, I was not brave at all."

"Oh no, Miss Megumi," Kaoru interjected, surprising her hostess. "You held out and knew you hadn't the strength to face that Lord on your own, but instead of giving in because of fear like everyone else did, you held your ground!" Kaoru grinned at the surprised expression on Megumi's face. "Kenshin once told me that there was a very brave king who ruled a beautiful kingdom, but when his enemies came to attack him, he closed off the doors of the town. His enemies taunted him from outside the walls, calling him a coward, and the people inside urged him to fight, pledging their lives to die if they must to stop the king's enemies. For his people loved him so very much you see? That they did." Kaoru had a far off look on her face as she remembered the story and Kenshin's voice echoing throughout her.

Megumi turned her eyes then and found that she could not help but be captivated by the girl who seemed to glow with a love for the boy of her childhood years. "But the king also loved his men, and he knew his strength and his weaknesses. And his enemies besieged him from outside and his people urged him from within, yet still he would not budge. He said to his people, so long as these walls will hold and I can stand, I will protect what is inside, because my people are more important to me than my pride, and no amount of taunting from the enemy would make me even allow one man to die in my name. Thus the king understood that his name was not worth killing or dying for, not even one life of the people he loved so dearly as well. Instead, he waited until his armies returned from the distractions sent to break the king's defenses, and they defeated his enemies. Not one man or woman or child inside the walls of the king's keep died in that battle."

"I am no king," Megumi smiled ruefully. "I was protecting no one but myself."

Kaoru walked over to the older woman and clasped the other's hand in her own. "Your presence here helps the poor who cannot heal themselves. You aid the animals too! You teach those who cannot otherwise learn to read or write how to do such things so they have a chance to rise out of their stations. What you do here is like what the king does for his people, to prepare them for and to protect them from, the world outside his walls. When the hungry comes to your doorstep, you offer them food. When the tired comes to this place, you give them shelter and a place to sleep. And when the wounded comes to you, you heal them without discrimination or question." Kaoru tightened her grasp on Megumi's limp hands, "When I came, you gave me hope and faith in what I was so close to giving up. Miss Megumi, what you do is not just to protect, as the kings of old, but you mend those who are broken and that is just as important and just as noble as any king can lay claim to. And for that and all that you have done for me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Megumi smiled at the open and honest expression of her young charge and hugged the girl close. "It is I who should thank you, little one."

"Now, why won't you listen to me when I told you such things before?" Sanosuke's voice broke them apart, but Megumi laughed and wiped away a tear. "H-hey, were you crying?" Sanosuke asked in a startled panic.

"Idiot," Megumi scolded him with a good slap on the head. Kaoru smiled at the couple contentedly, wishing Kenshin and she would be able to share such a moment together, someday.

"So what are you going to do now?" Sanosuke asked Kaoru as Megumi was dragged to sit in a huff on his lap.

"If you would be so kind, I would like to set out as soon as possible to look for Kenshin." Kaoru smiled at them gratefully as she explained her plan to travel wherever the wind would lead her to find her childhood friend.

"Winter is setting in," Megumi commented. "So you'll need a nice jacket and traveling clothes as well. We'll get everything ready for you in an hour's time." Megumi nodded as she glanced at her elegant wrist-watch. "And then we'll send you on your way," Megumi's face became very professional then and she got off her betrothed lap easily as she went off to do her tasks. There was only the hint of pink on the head-doctor's face to suggest that the position Megumi was subjected to before had caused her quite a bit of embarrassment.

"That woman's like a well oiled machine," Sanosuke sighed contently and grinned at Kaoru. "So, do you have a favorite story? I'd love to hear it!"

True to Megumi's words, in an hour's time Kaoru found herself with a new backpack made for traveling and clothes to travel in as well as money and food. She tried to refuse but Megumi was determined and so was Sanosuke and it wasn't long before Kaoru caved in to their combined logic and stubbornness. Usually, Kaoru would have fought to the very end, but she suspected that Megumi cheated by bringing Kaoru to the most intimidating room in the entire clinic, the reception place. So as she left the steps, she found a car waiting for her with the friendly driver in front. "Oh?" Kaoru asked surprised.

"He'll take you wherever you need to go," Megumi reassured her with a grin. "His from the town actually, but had been wanting to see the world and seeing this as a chance to help out a stranger as well, Mister Seta Soujirou was more than willing to give aid. We have nothing to do with his decision." And Kaoru found whatever arguments she might have had with Megumi cut off at the legs.

Pouting rebelliously, she sent a glare up at the grinning couple. "Oh! You two are just so sneaky!" Kaoru threw up her hands in exasperation and stomped to the car. She let herself go into the car and came face to face with a very friendly looking young man. He rolled down the windows for her so she could say goodbye to her new friends. The ravens appeared then, the tame Tsubame fluttered to her and Kaoru thanked her profusely.

"We're sorry to be so late," gasped the winded raven. "We've overslept this day," Tsubame ducked her head shyly. "But it was very nice meeting you!" The raven shouted after her as the car got started.

Yahiko flew beside her for some ways down the road, "Good luck," he said reluctantly as they paused at a stop sign. "And take care of yourself."

Kaoru smiled at him with all the gratitude in her heart on her face. "Thank you and farewell!" she waved goodbye him. "For such a small bird, you have a big heart." she teased him one last time. That was the way Kaoru remembered seeing Yahiko last, sputtering protests about his size and too flustered to give her a final farewell. To Kaoru, she would always remember the proud young raven that way, kind and gruff and with a heart as large as any man's. And as Kaoru and her driver zoomed far into the distant horizon, Yahiko stood beneath the winter sun and watch the little white car disappear like a speck of snow flake that melted into the blue sky. His black wings gleamed under the sunlight and Yahiko thought to himself that he would always remember Kaoru with a grin on her face and a strength that refused to give out in her own compassionate heart, one that would surprise even the strongest man in the world.

That was how he remembered her.

to be continued...