Disclaimer: I said I would update ASAP and here it is! Be proud! This dang chapter took up 7 pages on my word document! I wanted to make a long chapter because everyone is nagging at me to write longer story chapters. I took me forever to type and my fingers hurt! I wrote this chapter with writer's block so that is why it took forever. Besides, I can only work on this every so often because I'm swamped with school and volleyball practice. It was super hard finding inspiration but I did it! Oh and, I own not anything so don't sue me!
Thanks to my reviewers:
Those that have reviewed, I thank thee.
Previously on Rewind:
"Tomoe." He whispered silently. Kaoru blinked. She looked at the young woman and realized that Kenshin must've known her.
After a few minutes she was gone and Kenshin and Kaoru relaxed.
"You've got to find a way to get us back. I don't want to relive my past." Kenshin said darkly.
Chapter 3: The Runaway Cabin And The Fortune-Teller MidorikuKaoru was confused as to why he knew her. He wasn't that old was he?
As they walked toward civilization Kaoru noticed Kenshin was quite quiet and seemed deep in thought.
"Are you okay? You seem upset?" Kaoru asked her silent companion. He looked at her but shook his head slightly, as if to remove something from his mind.
"This is all just so strange. I mean one minute we are in your dojo and then we're almost 10 years in the past." Kenshin sighed and rubbed his temples. He walked ahead and led the way. Kaoru noticed it was almost like he knew exactly where he was going.
"Are you mad? I know I should have told you about this, but I have no friends and I was afraid you would leave. I'm so sorry I dragged you with me." Kaoru hung her head as tears stung her eyes.
Kenshin turned and his eyes softened. He smiled softly and lifted her chin, "No need to cry, Kaoru-dono. I am not angry at you, and I wouldn't have left you if you had told me."
Kaoru sighed and smiled. "Thank you for being so kind, even though I brought you into this hellish situation. You are too kind."
"You'll see how kind I really was once…" Kenshin said under his breath.
Kaoru walked alongside Kenshin in silence, curious to see where he was going. They soon came to a small little cabin. Kenshin's eyes softened sadly as they approached.
"If we are when I think we are, this should be an okay place to stay for a few days." He said as he pulled the shoji open. They walked inside the small place and Kaoru saw that there were two blankets on the floor, a few candles, a matchbox, and one barrel with hardly any rice. Probably left here from the previous inhibiters.
"This was a rest stop for those trying to escape the war. Many men and their families would run from Village to Village and town to town if the war were brought to their homes. They would stay here in between traveling." Ken shin explained humbly.
Kaoru nodded and sat down. She looked around and grabbed the candles and matchbox. She struck a match and lit three candles as dusk approached.
Kenshin sat as well as watched her move so delicately, like a flower, he thought. She reminded him of Tomoe a little. She moves with liquid grace and passion with everything she does. Though there are little likenesses other than that.
"Hmmm…" She mumbled something to herself as she reached into her kimono and pulled out a notebook and a writing utensil. Kaoru opened the notebook and started writing.
"What you doin'?" Kenshin asked curiously.
She kept writing and said without looking up, "Poems. I write a lot. It helps me feel better." Kaoru shut her book and showed him the cover. It said 'Book Of Feelings'. "I lock away my feelings in here. Like it's a safe of sorts."
"Oh. Can I see?" He asked slightly interested.
"Nope, these are like a diary. A window into my soul." Kaoru said casually.
"Okay." Kenshin was now in full curiosity. He wanted so bad to read those poems and learn about her.
Kaoru read her work and with a satisfied sigh shut the book and placed it back inside her kimono. She then stood up and went to the door. "I'm going to go look for some water and kindling." And with that she vanished into the woods.
After about 2 hours Kenshin was worried. She hadn't returned and by now it was very dark. He went looking for her and was able to admit to himself he was worried about his strange new friend.
He walked for half an hour before he came across an indigo ribbon lying next to a tree. It was Kaoru's, he was positive.
Kenshin picked it up and held it close. "Where are you Kaoru-dono?"
"You search for a girl, do you not?" A voice answered. Kenshin jumped at the elder woman's voice.
"Who's there? Show yourself." He squinted his violet eyes at the place where the voice was coming from.
"Easy child. I mean you no harm." An old wrinkled woman stepped through the bushes. "I'm the great fortune-teller, Priestess Midoriku. I sense you are looking for a young woman. A companion of yours. She is your lover?"
Kenshin blushed to match his hair. "No. She is a friend of mine and we seem lost. She went to search for firewood and water."
"Ah, but she hasn't come back yet. So you started after her. Fear not, she isn't in trouble. She will be at the cabin when you arrive. She simply set the ribbon down to mark the way to the river. Come here and let me tell your fortune like I did hers." Priestess Midoriku motioned for him to sit in front of her. She sat against a tree and looked at Kenshin, studying him from head to toe.
"Your eyes, they are violet. How strange. Come, child, Let me tell your future." The old fortuneteller said strangely. She looked intently into Kenshin's eyes. "Having violet eyes is a very unique trait. You are a very stubborn person and very willful. You are also very practical and don't take enemies lightly. Your eyes reflect pain and anger. Perhaps at yourself? Something happened in your past that was quite horrifying, and full of death. You past screams in pain and sorrow. Mayhem, sadness, bloodlust, love, hatred, all mixed in your violet eyes. But your future holds much better outcome." The old woman's face lightened, "Love, hope, bliss, pride, passion, romance, contentment, peace. All lie in your future. But I would open myself to the love as it comes if I were you, for one never knows if their love, when kept to themselves, is returned. And by the time they figure it out, it may be too late. Go now, child, to your 'friend'. I am weary." She waved him away.
Kenshin nodded in silent amazement and thanked the priestess Midoriku. He stood and tied Kaoru's ribbon to a tree so it wouldn't blow away and walked away slowly. As he walked back to the cabin, he thought about all that Midoriku told him.
"Good fortune-teller if she could tell about my past. " He said as he came upon the cabin and was surprised to see smoke coming from the chimney and light flickering in the rice paper windows and shoji.
As Kenshin slid the shoji open he saw Kaoru sitting by the fireplace reading a book peacefully.
"I was worried because you hadn't come back. So I went looking for you." He said as she looked up.
"Sorry. I lost track of time and ran into an old fortune-teller. She told me a fortune and the said I had better hurry back because you would come look for me." Kaoru said as she sat the book down.
"Yeah, I did go look for you and I ran into Priestess Midoriku. She told me my fortune and about how you came back." Kenshin explained.
"What is did the old woman say?" Kaoru asked, slightly amused. "Don't lie."
"She went on about how my eyes reflect a past of misery and anger and pain. And then she said about how my future holds love and other stuff. She went on about how I should welcome love when it comes." Kenshin laughed and Kaoru giggled.
"She told me that I should welcome love too. She said I had a painful past full of hate and sadness. Then she said my power will make my future full of mixed emotions. But love was in my distant future and my future love is closer to me that I think. Whatever that means." Kaoru smiled and laughed.
Kenshin smiled and yawned. Kaoru noticed and smiled. "I think it's bedtime. Come on, let's get some sleep." Kaoru threw a blanket at him and it landed on his head.
"Ha ha, how hilarious. Well goodnight." Kenshin lied down on the floor and covered himself with the blanket. Kaoru smiled and did the same.
She fell asleep quickly. Kenshin watched her sleep. In the glow of the fire, she looked like a peaceful angel. Kenshin blinked as he watched her a little more. She was beautiful. He felt a strange tug at his heart. 'No way. Impossible.' He thought as he touched his chest is where his heart is. He layed down and slowly fell to sleep. Suddenly Kaoru's peaceful face twists in a mix of emotions.
Kaoru's Dream POV:
I'm cold. I am walking through an ally full of corpses. Bodies staring up at me with blank eyes, glazed over with death. Blood covering the walls and the ground. My feet cannot stand anywhere without touching the red liquid. I'm crying, tears flowing, and I don't know why. I look up and see a man's form. It is covered in shadow so that all I see is his outline, and glowing ghostly golden eyes. They are full of bloodlust and anger. Sadness and fear fill my heart.
"Please come back. Come back to me. Become the man I fell in love with. I beg you." I plead as the figure lifts his katana and flicks the blood off. He laughs evilly and fades into the darkness.
Well there it is. The third chapter. Dang I'm tired! That took me forever to write! Well that's that. I got to go clean now; we are getting ready because we are taking in a refugee family from the hurricane. Peace to all those who have lost their homes and loved ones. May your pain cease and happiness come soon. May Buddha's love guide you through these harsh times.