Part 4

Kaoru stood silently in the yard of the dojo, watching as the wind blew sakura petals around her. She didn't really know why she was there, but it was enjoyable to just stand there. She closed her eyes and raised her face to the sun, letting it's warm rays wash over her. The spell was broken as she heard a cawing of fear, Kenji.

Opening her eyes she saw Kenji in front of her, in phoenix form. His eyes were wide in fear, and shadows were behind him, pulling at his wings and tail. He cawed in fear again, trying to fight the shadows off by beating his wings at them and pecking, but it did no good. The shadows dragged him down, even as he fought as hard as he could.

Kaoru stepped forward, putting out a hand to help him. "Kenji!"

Kenji's beak was suddenly sealed shut by another shadow, and his cries became muffled as he continued to struggle against the black gripping his wings. She saw Kenshin rush into the fray, and she gave an inner cheer. She knew Kenshin could fix this. The swordsman shifted quickly into the form of the crimson stallion, for what reason Kaoru didn't know. The unicorn jabbed at the shadows with its ruby horn, beating the shadows off of Kenji's flailing body.

There was a crack. Kenshin continued to fight, when suddenly he let out a whinny of pain and distress and fell to his side heavily in the dirt. Kaoru cried out, but no one seemed to notice her. Kenshin struggled to rise to his hooves, but fell again. Laughter, low and evil echoed around Kaoru and she watched horrified as Kenshin shifted back to human form. There was a seeping hole in his chest.

Kenshin gasped for breath, raising a hand weakly to where Kenji was being dragged away from him. But the hand fell to the dust, and Kenshin's eyes closed as he lost consciousness. Kenji was dragged from Kaoru's sight, still fighting the shadows as best he could.

Kaoru ran forward to Kenshin's side, dropping to her knees in the dirt beside him. "Kenshin!" She reached a hand for him, but she let loose a scream as her fingers passed through his arm. "I'm, I'm dreaming….." she realized. "This isn't real." She looked up. "But why am I seeing this?"

Kenshin's body suddenly faded from her sight, and she stood and backed up. Kenshin appeared before her, whole and his face full of something Kaoru rarely saw on his features, fear. She moved closer to him, and then raised her hands to her mouth in shock as Kenshin's hands suddenly flew to his throat, grasping at something she couldn't see. He was raised up until his toes dangled above the ground, while he fought the invisible thing that was obviously curled around his throat. Kaoru covered her ears as the sounds of his choking and gasping for air came to her, yet still she heard them.

She found she couldn't look away from Kenshin's body as his eyes glazed over, as his lips turned blue from lack of air. There was suddenly a sickening crack and Kenshin's arms instantly went limp, his struggling ceasing. His face remained frozen in its last look, eyes wide and glazed with white, blue lips slightly open. He fell to his side in the dirt, still.

Kaoru screamed again and moved to his side in an instant, but this time found she could touch the limp body before her. She lifted his shoulders, and watched horrified as his head lolled on a boneless neck. Whatever had been choking him had broken his neck, killing him instantly. She backed away from the lifeless form of her husband, eyes wide in horror. "No!" she cried, shaking her head frantically. Kenshin's dead eyes watched her hauntingly as she backed away, never leaving her face. "NO!"

Kaoru shot up on the futon, breathing heavily and trying to wipe the image from her mind. She covered her eyes with her hands, tears escaping to flow down her cheeks. She heaved in another breath, and then lowered her hands. Kenshin's bare back was the first thing she saw, slanting away from her in the darkness. His shoulder moved with his breathing, peaceful and slow in sleep.

Kaoru sighed in relief and lay back down on the futon, snuggling against Kenshin's warm skin in an attempt to calm herself. 'Just a dream,' she thought, breathing in Kenshin's scent. 'Only a dream…..'

She opened her eyes again, burying her nose in the short strands of crimson at the nape of Kenshin's neck. 'He's safe. Kenji's safe. It was only a dream…..'

Kenshin suddenly shifted in his sleep, turning over to lie on his back. Though Kaoru was not used to him sleeping while she was awake, she didn't mind at all. She loved to watch his youthful face as he slept; free of the normal lines of stress it usually wore. 'He's had a long day,' she thought affectionately, gently pushing his crimson bangs away from his closed eyes.

He and Kenji had been working on the boy's training all day. Kenji could now fly quite well, and Kenshin would observe him as he darted through the air, practicing moves that could get him in and out of tight situations. In the past 11 months the two had also discovered that Kenji could use fire as a weapon, whether it be from nearby fire or stuff that he could create by running his beak over his claws. When it was created by him he could blow the flames almost as a dragon could, and he was quite skilled at it already. Both were exhausted, and Kaoru had put them both to bed as soon as possible.

Kenji was now a strong boy of 10, and even though he was young he seemed to have an internal wisdom, just as Kenshin did. Kaoru was very proud of her red-haired son, and she was enjoying watching him grow into this new ability. It was no longer unusual to see Kenji hopping around the yard in his phoenix form, chasing Kenshin as the crimson unicorn practiced fighting with his ruby horn. Kenshin wanted to be ready for anything, as Kaoru had said those years ago the first night she had seen this miracle.

So far the small family had been able to hide this from Yahiko, Sano, and Megumi. Kaoru wanted to tell them soon, but Kenshin wanted Kenji to have a bit more control over his phoenix body. "Then we will tell the others," he had said.

Kenji was growing rapidly; already he came up to about Kenshin's waist, which was actually really short for a boy his age, but he was Kenshin's son. However, in his phoenix form the boy grew faster than any expected. Already he was up to Kenshin's shoulder, when he stood tall and straight. Kenshin didn't expect him to get much larger, but Kaoru had to wonder.

The woman was pulled from her thoughts as Kenshin's eyes fluttered open and he looked at her questioningly. "Kaoru? Is something wrong koishii?"

Kaoru shook her head and set her head on his chest, settling herself into his arm. "Nothing's wrong Kenshin. I was only thinking."

Kenshin stroked her hair lightly and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Alright then." He yawned, eyes already growing heavy again.

Kaoru giggled. "Go back to sleep anata." Kenshin complied almost instantly, his violet eyes shutting and his breathing growing peaceful in sleep. Kaoru closed her eyes as well, trying to prepare herself for sleep as well. The image of Kenshin as his neck was broken flashed before her eyes and she shivered. 'Just a dream,' she thought firmly. 'It was only a dream.'

HM: Bit of a boring chappy, but I wanted to bring all of you up to date on what they were doing. And Kaoru's dream, I wanted to introduce that. Please review, and I'll work on getting the next chapter up soon!