AN- Thanks readers for all your support. I don't know how recently I can update after next week, because of school and all, but I promise to update as soon as I can. I have a big test coming soon and I can use with all your luck! Anyways here's a new chapter I promise you all, and it's so much better then the last chapter. I'm getting up to the interesting part in my story! I hope you enjoy! Plus this story is almost done, just a few more chapters, and then it's over. : ( But I always have my other stories. Please don't be harsh in your review. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, please leave them in your review. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin series. I wish I did but I don't. : (

Breaking Through Walls

Chapter Eight

It was a tiresome night. Kaoru walked down the streets of Tokyo. She missed her home and the people occupying it. Ever since their arrival, the dojo became a vivid place. Kaoru was now glad to call that place her home. But now she had to work harder then ever to support three people. She continued her jobs at the restaurant, working for Tae, and worked at the bar for her boss Yami. Yes it was hard to maintain two jobs and to maintain the dojo at the same time, but she found some way to do it.

As Kaoru headed on her way home she decided to visit her favorite place whenever she wanted to be alone or wanted some peace. That favorite place of hers was by the river. As young girl she used to take refuge there, because it was her only sanctuary. There no one bugged her. The only person who could find her so easily was her mother.

As she headed towards the river, she remembered all the good times she had in the past with her mother and father. She remembered when her mother and father went to the river to have their picnic. She remembered when both her mother and father would go near there to watch the cherry blossoms fall every autumn. The river was where they both met. That was when their love story began. They went against everyone, even their families, and got married. But this was the place where the love story also ended. Kaoru could remember that day so easily.

Flashback

"Mommy? Mommy, where's daddy going? Why does he look upset? Did something bad happen?" asked a five-year-old Kaoru as she looked up into her mother's eyes with concern.

Kaoru's mother looked at her daughter with sad eyes. She didn't know what to tell her daughter. The Revolution had started, and the only one who could probably bring peace in this war was her husband. How can she explain this situation to her daughter? Her daughter was so young and innocent. She was the proof of their love. "Your father has a mission to go on. I don't know when we'll see him again," Kaoru's mother answered truthfully.

"Mommy, how can you let him go? He promised not to leave us! He promised to stay here for good! Why is he leaving to go on this stupid mission he always has to go to! Doesn't he care about us! Doesn't he care about my feelings!" yelled little Kaoru, as she looked at her mother with defiant blue eyes. Her father always did the same thing to her and her mother. When he came home, he made promises to never leave, to never walk out on them again, but he kept breaking the promises. And her mother kept on forgiving him. Why did she always give into him? Why did she always love him, after all the heartbreak he put her through?

Little Kaoru couldn't take it anymore. There were so many questions that were left unanswered. There were so many things she couldn't comprehend. Life itself was a mystery for her. She just could not comprehend her mother's ways. She couldn't understand why her father always left without telling her he was leaving. Why? Why did he put them through all this torment? And then her mother would take the pain silently. She was always there to support her husband. A normal role a wife would play, but it was not right. Her mother would cry like a ghost, hoping no one would hear, but Kaoru heard. Then there were the stupid thugs who would harass her mother endlessly. No one would save her. They all said, because she was gypsy, she deserved to endure all the pain she can get.

This time everything was different. Kaoru made sure to always be there for her mother, when her father wasn't there. And even though it was hard to comprehend how life was like, Kaoru knew one day she would grow to understand how nature works, and learn not to make the same mistake again.

She ran to the only place, which could calm her down. She ran until she could run no more. She heard footsteps following behind her. The instance she reached the river, she saw, what she never wanted to see. In the place she called her sanctuary, her father sat on the log by the river, watching the beautiful cherry blossoms fall from the trees. What she saw, she thought she would never see in her life again. Her father cried, his large hands covered his face as he crouched himself to the ground. The fireflies shimmered all around him, as though they were sharing his pain, his grief. Little Kaoru for the first time saw a side of her father she never saw before. Usually he acted aggressive, always training to make himself a strong man. He talked about becoming the greatest. He held so much pride in his light brown eyes. He always lifted his head, walked with his back upright. But never did she see him fall; never did she see him cry.

All little Kaoru could do was watch the scene with shock in her eyes. Her mother gently put a hand on her shoulder, and pushed her back into the shadows, so her father wouldn't know she was there. After, Kaoru's mother walked up to the man crouched on the floor, as he cried his heart out. With the same action she used on Kaoru, she did it to him. She gently lay on a hand on his shoulder, to let him be aware of her presence. Then all of a sudden before she could make a blink he threw himself into her arms, taking in her warm embrace.

"I'm sorry for putting you through all this pain. I'm so sorry that I can't be there for you and little Kaoru. Yet why? Why do you still accept me?" he asked as his eyes full of sorrow looked up at the woman before him, the woman he loved so dearly.

"I understand the things you have to go through. Because I love you so much, that words can't express how much I feel for you. No matter what path you choose, I'll always be here to support you," she said softly. Her eyes showed some much concern, and something else Kaoru couldn't place.

"What did I do to deserve such a kind hearted soul like you?"

"You didn't do anything. I fell in love with you in the first place, because you were you. You were different, while everyone else acted the same. The question is how did I capture your heart?"

"You captured my heart, because I fell for how pure your heart was. I fell in love with you, for your kindness, your beauty, your intelligence, and so much more that I can't say in words."

"Well then go, go on your mission and be very careful. But always make sure that you know my heart will always belong to you. No matter where you are I'll support you and always wait for you to return home." Kaoru's mother gently hugged her husband. Tears fell from her eyes. She knew no matter what happened; from this night she'll always carry this memory in heart.

Kaoru's father got up. His legs felt wobbly, almost like led. He fastened his katana to his side, straightened his gi and hakama, before he kissed his beloved with a passionate kiss. "I love you and little Kaoru. Tell her I bid her farewell," he whispered.

He crossed the bridge over the river, and disappeared into the eerie forest. Little did little Kaoru know that, that was the last time she will ever see her father again.

Present

It was from then on Kaoru began to understand what took place that night. She now understood how love felt like. She understood what her mother felt. After that night, she remembered how her mother waited patiently, night after night. She told her by next autumn he will return, because they always watched the cherry blossoms fall from the trees together. But when autumn came, there were no signs of him. Winter, then spring, and then summer came, but it all went away like nothing, and still he never came. And then her mother finally received postage saying her husband died. Slowly from there that was when life became hell.

As Kaoru reached the place she called her sanctuary for many years, the scene of her past replayed in her mind. It brought tears to her eyes. She vowed to never fall in love, because she didn't want to feel the pain. She never wanted it to bring tears into her eyes as it brought to her mother. She never wanted to feel the explosion in her heart, or the screaming from her head as it brought to her mother. Is this how a heartbreak feels like? It feels as though the heart is tearing up inside, the mind is screaming, pounding to break within the skull. The body becomes weak, and numb, until it can't support itself. Everything is forgotten, the world is no more. Is this the pain of love?

All while sitting down in her place, Kaoru never realized that someone was watching over her intently.

"Why are you crying, when there is nothing to cry about?" asked a familiar voice.

Kaoru turned from her place to see Battousai standing behind her. His amber eyes bore into her sapphire eyes.

"I have every reason to cry," she whispered, as she continued to look at him. It was finally time to admit it. Her heart fell for Battousai, she fell in love with him but it hurts to know that he doesn't love her. He only thought of her as game.

"What are your reasons then?"

"That is none of your concern."

"It is my concern."

"Who do you think you are?" Kaoru couldn't take Battousai's attitude at all. Who did he think he was? Her boss, a god whom she had to bow down too and kiss his feet? Well, if he was thinking that, then he got it all wrong. Kaoru was an independent girl who was on her own ever since she could remember. Even though she didn't get as much loving up as any other normal little girl did, she was doing things others couldn't do at her age. She was the type of girl who was forced to grow up really fast.

"Didn't I let you know that before? Don't you recall our first meeting?" Battousai said ruthlessly as he grabbed one of Kaoru's arms and held it tightly. Kaoru pulled at her arm, but every time she did so, he only held it tighter, almost crushing her fragile bone.

"Why does my crying concern you so much? I thought you didn't care about my feelings at all. What I feel shouldn't matter to you at all." Kaoru once more pulled her arm he held so tightly once more. This time she was successful of getting her arm away from his grasp. She looked at Battousai, and stood her ground. Her feet planted themselves on the floor, her fists clenched at her sides. Her blue eyes flared with anger.

Battousai didn't see her actions; instead his mind was busy trying to decipher her words. Exactly why did he care about her feelings? Why did he want to stop her from crying when he saw her cry? Because he knew exactly how she felt. Because when she cried, he knew her reasons for crying.

"I know why you were crying that's why," he whispered quietly as he turned his back to her.

Kaoru was astonished by what she heard. Was he opening up himself to her? Was he opening up his soul to her as well? She wondered how Battousai was, truly as a person. She realized, he didn't lose all of his humanity. He still had some emotions left within him. To make him open up to her more, she decided insult him, until he can take it no more. She decided to insult the pride he carried within him, to find out more about him as a person.

"How can you know what I feel right now? You lost your emotions a long time ago. You just toy around with people like me because; we don't have anything else to live for. You don't know how it's like to feel happy, sad, to be worried, or to fear something. You don't know what it's like to love most of all. What's the point of living life if you cannot feel? People like you think, if you feel some feeling towards another that makes you weak. No it doesn't. Feelings are a part of life. Without it, then we have no life," she said honestly and passionately. She talked from wisdom, from her knowledge. She talked from her heart, from knowing her mother's heart, and what she wanted to do right now most of all, was to explain it all to Battousai, at least to show him what life can be like. "To feel, is one of the greatest gifts, Kami-sama has ever gave us. If you ever cared about a person so much, protecting will become infinitely greater then destroying them."

"That's where you're wrong." Battousai turned around from his position, and within a blink of an eye, Kaoru found herself pinned against a tree and his hard, lean body. His amber eyes burned fiercely into her sapphire eyes, as if they were piercing through her soul. Right there and then she was aware of his body, his heart beating fast, his hand that held both of her wrists tightened, his jaw clenched. He frightened Kaoru now. Somehow she hit a core, where she wanted to hit so badly, but instead here she was afraid for her life.

"I know how it's like to feel emotions. I've been living life longer then you, so I know what's like to feel. So don't going talking to me about feeling! You don't know half of the things I ever went through, and there's no way you could ever understand what I went through. I've been through things a hundred times worse then you'll ever go through. Do you know how it's like to love? Once upon time I had a family, who I lost within a blink of an eye. I lived with their lost, and went on until the Revolution."

Battousai knew exactly why Kaoru was crying. She cried because she felt heartbroken, because someone broke her heart. From the way she cried, he remembered she clutched a hand over her heart. He knew how it was like to be broken hearted; after all he lost someone very dear to him. His own wife.

"I once went with your idealistic, protecting was infinitely greater then destroying, yet had to kill for the better future of Japan. Then I met her, the woman who I vowed to protect with my very life, but instead I killed her with my very sword. I killed my own wife."

Kaoru's eyes widened in astonishment. All her fears were put to rest when she heard him say his very last lines. "You had a wife," she whispered.