"You are Not Alone…"

Khmer Moon Blossoms

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Author's Notes: Hope you like it!

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Chapter 17

Kenshin's POV

They say to 'expect the unexpected'…

I ran up to Kaoru. She had just tried to hide from me behind that massive dumpster. I ran into the darkness and found the dumpster, and kneeled down beside it.

What came to my eyes made me horrified.

I didn't expect this…

Kaoru was holding a dagger up in the air, straight for her heart. It came plunging all of a sudden, her eyes stricken with fear and loss.

Without thinking twice, I brought both of my hands onto the blade, pulling it away from her. There was an instant stinging on my palms when the blade came into contact with my flesh. I could feel its sides ripping through my skin, and I visibly winced.

"Kaoru! What in the world are you doing!" I screamed at her, hoping my words would knock some sense into her. She continued bringing the dagger towards her heart, crying and wailing.

"Kenshin, stop it! Let me go! I don't want to live anymore, I can't even see you in my life!"

I pulled the dagger out of her grasp, but she grabbed it back. I saw the blood trickle from my hands in rivers. I grabbed Kaoru's hands and tried to force her to release the dagger. I opened my eyes wide.

What if I can't save her?

I shook my head. I wasn't going to let that happen. "Kaoru, let go of it now!"

I noticed that it was now, that my voice was cracking and a few tears were blurring my vision.

"Kenshin, please! If you love me, then let me die!"

I silenced, but did not let go of the dagger. I did the best thing I could think of. I said the truth, straight…

…straight from the heart.

"Kaoru," I said gently over our tug-of-war. "If you die, I'll kill myself right after you, with that same exact dagger. With the same exact fate. I'm not leaving you."

Kaoru's eyes opened wide, as if she did not want to see me die right after her. She let go of the dagger. I held it in my hands. It layed on my palms, with a pool of blood surrounding it in the valley of my palms.

I threw it across the wet ground until it hit a puddle and sank into it. I looked back at Kaoru, who was looking at my hands with wet and weary eyes.

There were no words needed to be exchanged. She leapt into my arms, sobbing hard. I patted her back with my bloodied hands, leaving fingerprints.

Kinda like how she had left her bloodied fingerprints over me the first time we met.

She pulled back and sunk into my lap, her arms around my middle, and her head atop of my chest.

I let out a relieved sigh, pulling her up and putting my hands to the sides of her cheeks.

Blood ran down her cheeks, but she didn't care. Her face leaned into my touch.

I stared into her wet pools of sapphire. "Kaoru, I don't want you doing that ever again,"

"Kenshin…" she whimpered, looking for any comfort in my eyes. I leaned down and kissed her, pouring all of my worry that I had just felt into her. She kissed back slowly, letting out a few remaining sobs against my mouth. I pulled away soon after, and Kaoru looked at me with a look of sadness and regret.

I kissed her again, cocking my head to the side to deepen the kiss. She accepted, wrapping her arms around my middle even tighter until our bodies' boundaries had come together into one.

We pulled away after a few seconds. I kept her in my embrace, pulling her head onto my shoulder and running my bloodied hand down her back.

She breathed softly against my neck, and I could feel her trembling against my body. I crushed her into a hug, trying to keep her with me.

"I thought I lost you," I whispered, kissing her on the head. The rain continued to pour on us, but we didn't care. Honestly, I truly didn't seem to notice much.

She sobbed when she heard me. "Look at you, you're hurt," she sat up straight, leaving our contact together. She took my hands and stared at them, the red fluid that came from several scars.

"I don't care," I snatched my hands away from her and brought them around her frail form, hugging her again. "All I care about is you, Kaoru Kamiya,"

I don't want to let you go…

You could expect that from me…

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Kenshin's POV

I had her with me, and we walked through the rain together. Both of us were covered in bits of smudged, dried blood all over our clothing. Anyone who had seen us threw us worried glances, but no one gave us any help because they were too worried about to rain to assist two blood-covered teenagers.

I truly did not care about their inconsideration. All I wanted was Kaoru at my side. But I knew that it was my duty to bring her back home.

Her father had asked me to do so. He had called my house earlier this evening and asked where Kaoru was located. Hearing the panic in his voice, I set out for Kaoru right away, and my two parents did not seem to hold me back.

Something told me they understood what I was going through….

"Kenshin, what am I going to tell my father?" she asked, pressing herself against me.

"The truth," I said firmly, looking at her. "The total truth."

She silenced. "I don't understand what happened back there." She informed me.

"You were confused," I admitted for her. "It's alright now. You're safe. That's all that matters."

The expected…

As we saw Kaoru's house come into view, I expected Sano to be there…and of course, her little brother Yahiko, and as well as Mr. Kamiya.

The expected…

But I didn't expect my parents to be waiting there, with all of my sisters, in the rain right next to them.

and the unexpected…

I didn't expect to see them waiting for us, with wildly ecstatic faces to see us together…

I didn't expect it at all…

The unexpected….

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Author's Notes: I know it was a short chapter, but the next one will be coming up soon, I promise!

You all can tell I'm trying to finish this as soon as possible with short chapters…but I've been really busy lately.

After this fic is done, the other story I've been working on: "Double Opposites" will be at its fifth chapter. Hope you'll check that one out! See ya in a few days!

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