Kenshin's ears picked up the sound of shuffling footsteps coming towards him. They were different from Sano's, Sano had big striding steps. Yahiko shuffled, but he always sounded like he was going to fall down so it wasn't him, and Megumi's steps were more timid. None of his friends were approaching him. Kenshin perked a bit, just out of caution, leaning forward to look at his surroundings. It was an old crippled man. His arms and legs were gnarled horribly and he leaned heavily on his cane for walking. A cloak covered most of his body, hiding his face in a shadow. Slowly, he made his way towards Kenshin, stopping before him.
"You are the Battousai, are you not?" The man's cloak fell from his face, he was badly disfigured. If Tomoe had been nearby, she would have recognized him as the man who sold her the poison. Kenshin didn't answer; he leaned back against the pole and closed his eyes.
"I have a proposition for you," the man continued. "I have heard that you're wife died in child birth."
"Thank you," Kenshin said stiffly, keeping his eyes closed. "For bringing up such a painful topic, why don't you just give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice on it while you're at it."
"I can bring her back Battousai," the man sniffed through his nose, a large piece of swollen flesh on his face. "I have the ability to bring you're wife back."
"Liar," Kenshin whispered, still not opening his eyes. "No one has the power to do that, to turn back time and change an event."
"But there is none other like me," the man grinned horribly, his mouth was a twisted opening on his face. He shook his staff, causing a slight powder to rise into the air that had been lying dormant on it. Kenshin could have sworn he felt a warm hand run up his back, a familiar hand. It tugged on his hair; he felt a warm breath in his ear.
"Kenshin," it was Kaoru's voice.
"Kaoru!" Kenshin whipped around, spinning so fast the world fell dangerously around him. But no one was there, and the feeling was gone.
"Did you drug me?" Kenshin demanded angrily as rose to his feet. "With that accursed dust of yours?" Kenshin stood menacingly over the old feeble man.
"No," the man shook his head, unafraid of Kenshin. "I merely used it to tap into your memory. I can also do so to tap into your hope and heart's desire. I can take you back in time and the birth of your child can go exactly how you wanted it to go."
"Silence!" Kenshin hissed, he felt his eyes flash amber. "I can kill you if I wish!"
"But that would be foolish," the man shook his staff again, causing more powder to rise into the air. This time Kenshin felt a warm body press up against him, and he could almost see the outline of Kaoru's body in front of him. A soft invisible hand pressed against his cheek, and a pair of lips came painfully close to his. Without think Kenshin went to wrap his arms around her, around his wife. Only to find that she wasn't there. This was too much for him, he couldn't handle it, the pain was too fresh. Kenshin felt a wave of grief wash and Kenshin fell to the ground, weeping openly.
"You can have her back Battousai," the man said in a sing-song voice, a gently lullaby. "I can give her back to you; you're beloved and beautiful wife. All you have to do is a small favor for me."
"Name it," Kenshin found himself choking out. His mind argued against him: 'How do you know this man can do what he claims he can, that dust is probably a drug.' But Kenshin didn't care; it was a small, small hope that he wasn't going to extinguish.
"The politician Nigrado Rubedo," the man lost all sweetness to his voice as he broke into business. "He is to blame for my condition; he caused me to wilt like a flower!" The man started to sound crazier and crazier by the minute. "I need you to eliminate him Battousai."
"What?" Kenshin forced himself back up to his knees to stare at the man intently in the eyes. "I don't kill anymore; I vowed I would never kill again."
"I know all about your silly vow," the man spat. "That is why I never approached you earlier. But unless you want to continue your perfect life with your perfect wife, I suggest you do as I say and kill him."
"How do I know that you can or will do what you claim?" Kenshin was suddenly somber. "How do I know if I kill this man you will do what you say?"
"What else do you have?" The man shook his head. "Keep your vow and never kill, or do this one small task and get your wife back. The choice is yours but I urge you to decide soon. My power is limited and I can only do this for so long. It's hard to pull the whole world back in time by three days."
"This task, brining your wife back, will most likely kill me," the man continued on. "But it will be worth it, to see Nigrado dead. It also looks like you could live another good twenty years, and your wife was so young she could live even longer."
"Battousai," the man became much more serious. "You must do this task by nightfall if you want your wife back, I cannot wait any longer!"
"I'll do it!" Kenshin was shocked to hear himself speak. "Just tell me where this man is, and I'll do it if you promise to bring Kaoru back to me!"
"Good," the man smiled a crooked smile. "You will find him at the government building; in a meeting, he receives a break at about 8:00 tonight and that is when you'll strike."
"This is perfect," the man crooned gently. "For if you are seen, it won't matter. You will have the perfect alibi, several people will claim that you were to busy to kill anyone because you were with your wife when she was giving birth."
"Do you promise," Kenshin was choking on his own tongue. "Do you promise to bring her back to me?"
"Yes," the man nodded with a solemn face. "On the grave of my mother and my hatred for Nigrado Rubedo, I will bring your wife back to you if you should succeed."
"I will succeed," Kenshin's voice was harsher, for he was no longer Kenshin. He had completely given himself over to the Battousai raging deep within him. His eyes blazed with a fire that had started deep inside his soul. Though the thought of killing someone was enough to make Kenshin's insides heave, the thought of having his beloved Kaoru back was more than enough to make him forget his vow, enough to make him kill.
"I love you so much Koishii," Kenshin had once whispered tenderly into Kaoru's ear. "I would die for you, I would kill for you."
"You'll never have to," Kaoru told him with a smile on her face. She had lied; his Koishii had lied to him.
Kenshin awaited inside a small room inside the government building. It was deserted, but Kenshin's sources told him that Nigrado always stayed in this room for his break. Kenshin hunched over hidden in the shadows, his sword drawn, he was ready to kill. He had entered the building undetected, and he had already planned for his escape. All he had to do was slay the man and according to his internal clock, Nigrado would arrive within five minutes.
'Am I really going to do this?' Kenshin asked himself. 'Go back on my vow and kill a man who I know not if he did anything wrong?'
'You will for your wife!' Battousai answered back. 'She is the only reason for your existence and now you have a chance at getting her back!" Kenshin fell silent.
'What if the man is not telling the truth, what if he really can't turn back time, which I don't see how he can," Kenshin asked.
'This is a chance I am willing to take,' Battousai answered grimly. 'A chance 'we' are willing to take.' They both fell silent as footsteps approached. A man entered the room, he wasn't Japanese at all, he was a German.
'It doesn't matter,' Kenshin told himself bitterly. Kenshin waited patiently for the man to go deeper into the room. He did, seating himself at a chair in the corner, sighing out loud. Kenshin decided to strike. Rising swiftly from the shadows Kenshin approached the man with his sword drawn.
'Tell him,' the old man had told Kenshin. 'That I, Wolfgang, bid him welcome to Hades.'
"Wolfgang bids you welcome to Hades," Kenshin coldly said as he raised his sword.
"Help!" Rubedo managed to scream once, and only once. Kenshin had already flipped his blade and brought it into contact with the man's flesh. Blood spattered over Kenshin, dots of it covering his face and clothes. Kenshin looked at the dead corpse, then at his sword. The sword he had vowed would never have blood on it again; was covered in it.
'To prove you killed him,' Wolfgang had said. "Bring me his ring; he wears a German crafted ring on his ring finger on the right hand.' Kenshin saw the ring, and he pried it off the dead man's fingers.
"Stop!" Kenshin turned to see a police man standing in the doorway, his revolver drawn and pointed at him. Kenshin merely glanced at him, before he knocked the thin walls through with his sword. He hadn't planned on destroying the walls to get out, but he also hadn't planned on getting caught. He heard a shot fire somewhere behind him, but Kenshin kept running, finding his way to his original escape route. People screamed as he ran by but Kenshin ignored them. He found his way out of the building and raced down the street towards Wolfgang's hideout.
"Did you do it?" The old man jumped up and down like a child waiting for candy. Kenshin carelessly tossed him the ring, watching with cold amber eyes as the man laughed delightfully, like a madman.
"Now you old whelp," Kenshin coolly spoke. "You will bring my wife back or you will die in a much worse way than your friend."
"Of course," the man gleefully nodded. "A deal's a deal isn't it? Now, I can bring you back three days ago at this time and your wife will go through labor as you wish her to."
"How is it that you can do this?" Kenshin asked, curiosity got the better of him.
"You can thank the man you killed," the old man's face darkened. "He runs a business that involves science. They needed a lab rat so they kidnapped me off the street and used me to test their sick experiments. It resulted in my horribly disfigured body, but I always can make several poisons without any materials what so ever, and I can also bend the very wave links of time. But I don't have a lot of time to bring your wife back so that will end my explanation now."
"I was seen," Kenshin told him, his facer completely somber and his golden eyes were as cold and hard as his blade.
"It doesn't matter," the old man said swiftly. "They will remember the death, because I will it into my spell, but they won't be able to bring you in because you were with your wife that night as well. Now drink this." The old man had produced a bottle from no where. Throwing all his caution away, Kenshin drank the foul liquid quickly. The world began to fade fast, spinning around him violently,
"Kenshin," Megumi opened the door of the clinic, walking towards him slowly with something wrapped in her arms.
"Megumi?" Kenshin asked as he looked around. He was in the clinic; Sano and Yahiko were sitting beside him.
"Kaoru has bore a child a boy. Kenshin, you're a father!" Megumi held out the small bundle in her arms. Wrapped inside the cloth was the small child, his child.
"Megumi," Kenshin remained somber as he took the child from Megumi. "Is Kaoru all right?"
"Yes," a smile broke out on her face and Megumi nodded enthusiastically. "She is healing faster than most women, but there is one down side."
"What?" Kenshin asked, worried again. Had the old man gone back on his promise?
"She won't be able to have children ever again," Megumi said sadly. "Her fallopian tubes are nearly crushed, so no more,"
'Yuck!" Yahiko made a face. "Megumi, do you have to explain this? She can't have any more kids, all right?"
"Yahiko," Megumi said sternly. "This is a very sad fact. I'm sure Kaoru and Kenshin wanted more children."
"No," Kenshin said slowly as he handed his child back to Megumi. "I don't think we want any more children. Our son is enough." Kenshin passed Megumi. The one person he wanted to see most in the world waited for him just in the other him. His Kaoru.
I really want to say thank you to crystyl124. I am really sorry that I made such an obvoius mistake and I promise I will go back and change them. Thanks again for telling how to spell it!