AUTHOR'S NOTE: WOOT WOOT! I finished this story… although it feels kind of incomplete… I dunno… I needed to finish this so I could write another one. Oh wells… hope you guys LIKE it! It's complete… I thought I was going to develop it more but I guess Aoshi just needs Misao at this moment. I hope this Chapter moved pretty quick. READ AND REVIEW so I knowwwwwwwwww what to write next time about, besides school is out so I can be completely dedicated! A-kon is in like a WEEK! WOOT WOOT! O by the way – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin- I REALLY wish I did though – wow I'd be like the coolest person alive! Oh well on w/ the story!

CHAPTER 6

She ran with all her strength down the muddy path as the mud sloshed at her feet and the rain made her yukata cling to her skin. She remembered. She had remembered that Aoshi had said he would be visiting a different temple today.

Flashback-----------------------------------------

Aoshi walked slowly up to a pacing Okina. Okina on the other hand wrung his hand in worry and stroked his beard. Aoshi cleared his throat wanting the attention of the old man and slowly Okina looked up to acknowledge him.

"Okina… I will not be at the usually temple today. I believe I must find my peace at another temple today. Too much has happened around here. I need to go … away. Do not worry I will return"

Maybe the last words were not needed, but so much had happened. Okina feared the worst. He was afraid that when Misao awoke from her slumber- he would not be there. Everyone at the Aoiya knew she was still madly in love with Aoshi.

End of Flashback-----------------------------------------------

The dark woods loomed over the path as Misao ran through the tiny trail. The water was getting higher each moment. She could barely trudge through the swift mixture of mud and rocks and water. Her sides started to ache, she clutched at them. She hadn't done this much running in a long time. Why did he have to choose a temple that was at least 5 miles away? Of all days, why today? Why choose the rainiest day and go?

She pushed her accusing thoughts out of her mind as the sound of labored breathing reached her ears. She momentarily stopped breathing – she wanted to know if that sound was coming from her. She stopped her movements and the sound of labored breathing continued. Then she noticed from the corner of her eyes that a shadow loomed to her right.

It was him. From the way he sat there hunched over the tea tray, to the way the moonlight had given him a ghostlike appearance. She shuffled closer to him; the water now reached midway to her calves. She struggled towards him and then the sound of labor breathing stopped.

He stared at her. She stopped in mid-step. She was like a startled deer. He continued to stare at her and neither of them spoke. Not a whisper was exchanged between them. He looked at her deploringly, her yukata was now soaked and it showed her curves and her hair plastered to her skin and it made him want to groan out loud. It made him want to run over and embrace her. She was too beautiful for him, too beautiful for his sinful self.

Her movements in the water stopped his thoughts. She crept closer and closer to him. She stopped when she was but a couple of inches away from. She bent down so that she could be eye to eye with him. She inched closer; she felt his ragged breathing increase. The feeling of being this close to him made her insides twist. She felt faint. It seemed like hours before anyone did anything and it nearly startled Misao to death when Aoshi lifted his hand. He took his rough callused hands and with his thumb lightly traced the line of her jaw. He tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear.

Nothing was heard except the sound of their breathing – heavy, ragged, and expectant. She wanted to make the first move; she wanted to kiss him, to taste him on her lips. She wanted to consume him, his smell of incense and fresh rain. But she did nothing. She was content with being this close to him. His thumb still rested on her face, he inched closer, and his thumb caressed her lips. She smelled like the coming summer- of young pure things and of beautiful moments. He knew that didn't make sense but what did he care- he was barely an inch away from her.

Her eyelashes fluttered and she let out a deep breath that she had been holding. She opened her eyes to see Aoshi was staring at her intently, his thumb still lightly touching her lips. She smiled. He was here and he was all right. She whispered to him, her voice barely audible above the pittering and pattering of the rain:

"Tell me you love, tell me that I am your redemption, tell me…"

He stared at her and he said nothing. He closed his eyes; he took a deep breath and smelled her again. She smelt so good and so delicious; he wanted to stay there forever. Forever this close to her, forever basking in this moment with her by his side. He didn't want to ruin this moment with useless chatter. She would never belong to him. She would never be his he could never claim her.

His thumb felt something different, instead of the wet cold feel of the rain, he felt something hot and wet against it. He opened his eyes to see that Misao's eyes were brimming with tears. The tears had slid down and touched his thumb. He looked at her and still remained quiet.

" You know I don't deserve you Misao"

Thunder broke in the background. Lightening illuminated the sky as Aoshi spoke those words. The precious moment had been broken by those 6 simple words. He knew the instant that he had said them, that those words would ruin everything. He dropped his hand from her face and bowed his head. He felt like a monster. Here she was, running after him when she should have been in bed and yet he still did not feel that their love was something to fight for. Aoshi shook the rain from his hair and slouched further into the makeshift bench.

The feel of soft hairs caressing his face, brought his attention. She was close. So close now. Closer than they have ever been before since he left. She looked at him and smiled a sad smile.

" I always thought you were smart Aoshi. And here you had to go and prove me wrong."

She embraced him.

He held her close to him, clutching to her like a lifesaver. She was his everything. He pulled away to look at her. This time he would do what was right. This time he would finish what he had started. He would write his own destiny. She would not wait… he could not wait any further. He gripped her hands and felt the radiating warmth. She loved him so much and he knew … he knew she was his redemption, his way back to life. He drew her face close to his, their noses touching.

"You've been my redemption since the moment you walked into my life. You were the only thing I lived for. "

His lips caressed hers. Their kiss was hesitant, slow, but it was sweet – it foretold of the coming summer, it foretold of their overwhelming love.

He tasted her and she drank from him. Both had never known such completeness – being hollow and wanting most of their lives. The kiss bewildered their senses. Beneath the kiss, she could feel his curving smile. She could feel the happiness radiating from them. How long they kissed, neither of them knew. They stopped when both of them had to get a breath of air. She looked up at him and smiled and continued to embrace him. But then a frown began to etch itself into her face.

"Aoshi… what will we do of the Maruyama business? I will have to marry him." She let go of him instantly- there was so much drama in her life, why couldn't things ever be simple?

"Aoshi? What will we do? This is serious – if he demands a marriage we will have to do what he wishes- it was a contract"

Aoshi looked at her and smiled and simply said in his low voice, " Then I guess, I'll just have to marry you."

"What? How is that going to hel- "

He muffled her question with a kiss, and she forgot. She forgot everything but the feel of his lips against hers and she prayed that she would never forget this feeling. The feel of his arms wrapped around her, his smell, the way his hands felt against the small of her back. She felt safe and she believed that everything would be all right.

He held her close to him and they sat like that for a long time, Misao in his lap and him covering her from the rain. He was just content to sit there. He knew what he had to do. He would ask her to marry him, he would have a family with her and nothing would delight him more than seeing Misao pregnant with his kids. He looked at her and smiled once again when he had seen that she had fallen asleep.

The rain slowed, and now it was a light sprinkle. The thunder stopped and the lightening ceased. The earth had calmed itself. The moonlight showed two people sitting, – so close, so beautifully enwrapped in each other's presence. One wrapped inthe other's arms. The man had found his redemption within the woman and the woman had found hersalvation in the man. They were apart of each other – each one completing the other. They shivered whether from the soft rain or from something else it was unknown.

Oh well... I did my best to finish it... hope y'all liked it!