Rurouni and Battousai

Chapter 9: One and the same

Kenshin sat quietly before the eerie form of the woman before him. Kaoru's mother looked at him closely before she smiled, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

"You remember who I am, Battousai?"

Kenshin smiled along with her this time as he nodded his assent. "It's been quite a while, Tomoko-san. I had no idea that you were married…" he answered her

Tomoko laughed at him in obvious delight. "Yes, I was…" her eyes turned softy at him. "Tomoe-chan wishes you happiness, you know. She's wasn't happy at how much you've let yourself suffer after all these years…"

Kenshin's head lowered until his bangs hid his face. "Tomoe…?" he whispered

Tomoko looked at the young man sadly before her. "She doesn't blame you for what happened…" she sighed when she received no reaction from him. "To tell you the truth… I was quite surprised when I saw you in my visions all those years ago…"

Now, that caused a reaction form the red head. He looked at her in surprise, "When you came to the Ishinshishi… did you already know…" she cut him off with a slow shake of her head.

"Iie. I only knew after I came back home. I was worried for my little hime-chan… but then, I realized that the two of you would need each other just as much. One part of another. Still, you can't blame me if I got worried, ne? After all, you are an assassin…"

Kenshin looked at her and winced. Tomoko chuckled lightly and tilted her head a bit, still regarding him with deep sapphire orbs so much like Kaoru's. "Demo… I was quite taken with you when I first saw you… such a dark troubled soul for such a young child such as you." She shook her head again in resignation, "I saw my Kaoru-chan in you… don't ask me how, but somehow, when I looked at you, I felt that I was looking at my own hime-chan." She then stood and floated slowly towards him, she held his scarred cheek in her hand and smiled sadly. "Please take care of my little princess… she's all that we have left in this world…"

Kenshin straightened himself and nodded determinedly. "I promise I'll take care of her and I'll make her happy, Tomoko-san…" He then bowed down low to the floor before her. "Arigatou, Tomoko-san… for giving me this chance…" he whispered.

The priestess smiled sadly at him before she straightened. Looking at the door, she waved her hand gently causing it to open at her will. She stood there for a while before Kenshin heard the gentle light footfall on the floorboards and knew who was on her way to the door.

Kaoru stood before the open shoji and looked at her mother worriedly, her hands clasped at her chest.

Tomoko smiled gently at her daughter and urged her to come forward. As Kaoru stood before her, she grasped her daughter's hand and embraced her. "We will always be proud of you hime-chan. No matter what happens, remember that…"

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she felt her mother place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Kaoru turned to look at her mother as she moved behind her and gently pushed her forward to Kenshin. A soft whisper in her ear before she disappeared with the soft winds.

"Take care of him hime-chan… he's been through too much... bring him the happiness that he rightfully deserves…"

Kaoru looked down at Kenshin and smiled happily at him. Giving him her hand, Kenshin smiled up at her as he took her offered hand as he stood up. Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face on the crook of her neck and breathed in deeply her sweet jasmine scent.

"Aishiteru… Kaoru-koishii…"

Kaoru tilted her head back and held his face in her hands, "Aishiteru… Kenshin… anata…"

With a gentle smile, Kenshin leaned forward and claimed her lips in a deep kiss.

Megumi, Sano and Yahiko all leaned at the shoji and smiled as the two lovers kissed. Both Sano and Yahiko were grinning widely while Megumi slowly wiped the tears from her eyes. Looking back to the clear blue sky, she smiled and leaned at the wall behind her. At her sigh the two beside her straightened and looked at her, "Oi, what's wrong Megumi?" Yahiko asked her.

Megumi looked down at Yahiko and back to the clear sky. "Nan demo nai…" she whispered, "I'm just happy. Those two have been through too much… I'm just happy that they finally have the chance to be happy."

Yahiko grinned up at her and sat down beside her and nodded. "It's about time, if you ask me."

Sano chuckled and chewed on his ever present fishbone, moved beside Megumi and draped his arm over her, ignoring her startled gasp, and leaned casually on the dojo wall behind them. "Yep… it's about time. If it wasn't for Kaoru's mother leaving that spell, I don't know for how long Kenshin and Kaoru could go on sneaking lovey-dovey eyes on each other."

Megumi chuckled and relaxed beside the rooster head, leaning her head on his shoulder, she smiled and closed her eyes. Everything was now as it should be…

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Three months later---

Kaoru yawned and stretched her arms above her head and brushed her hair down her back. She purred in delight as warm calloused hands gently massaged her nape. Tilting her head back, she let it drop until it rested on the crook of his shoulders, Kaoru moved her head a bit until she nuzzled his neck.

Kenshin chuckled at his wife's reaction. They had just been married for two days and Kenshin had never been happier.

"Hnnn… anata…"

Looking down at his wife's prone form, he continued his gentle massage. "Hnnn?"

"You never really told me what you and okaasan talked about when she visited us that day when I reversed the spell she left for us…"

He looked down at twinkling sapphire orbs, he couldn't help but chuckle himself. Wrapping his arms around his wife, he pulled her gently towards him right after he turned her around so that she could face him, her legs wrapped around him, straddling him in the process. Freefalling back to the futon, he held on to her so that she lay directly on top of him.

"I first met Tomoko-san when I was with the Ishinshishi. She did a reading for Katsura-san… I was assigned to be her bodyguard at that time. She with us for a few days, but I really never knew anything about her. All I knew was that she was a priestess, but I also remembered the way she would look at me. It was as if she could look directly into my soul despite all the barriers I've put up around me. She would also look after me like a little child… it was those times with her that I had felt a mother's love since my own."

Kaoru played with his hair for a few more minutes and smiled sadly. "So… you we're the one okaasan was talking about when she came back home."

He looked directly into her eyes, a silent question in them.

"She told me of a young man she had met. A beautiful young man with such a courageous heart yet was burdened with a troubled soul. She told me that in some ways, she saw me in that man she had met… she never told me his name…not even what he looked like." She tilted her head and grinned down at him, "So, how on earth was I to know that you would turn out to be that young man she had told me about…"

Kenshin chuckled and wrapped his hand around her raven hair. "She both gave us a gift, didn't she, koishii?"

"Mmmm…"

And with that Kaoru leaned forward and let her husband take her lips in a sensual kiss. Releasing his lips after a while, she traced his mouth with a fingertip as she whispered something to him that made his eyes glow with both amber and amethyst and roughly flipped them over that her was on top of her. He grinned dangerously before he took her lips in another ravenous kiss…

Aishiteru, Kenshin… both Rurouni and Battousai… both of you… one and the same.

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AN: Hello minna! Sorry to have kept you waiting and I'm sorry to say that this is indeed the final part of the story… but, I'll be making more stories… just need time to make it… ehehehe. Anyweis, I've been busy for the past month thanks to our duties… oh well… as of now, I'm an official Escaflowne addict, but of course that won't stop me from being ever loyal to my Kenshin-sama! Ehehe… see you in the next story! Ja ne! and thank you to everyone who reviewed my story! Thank you thank you thank you! Muah muah!

Aoi-chan