Disclaimer: In no way has MibuWolf stolen anything RK-related. MibuWolf is merely borrowing them for this fic.

Author's Note: hey there. I'm sorry for not updating in like ages… I was totally snowed under by all that homework and exams and then had one thing coming in after another so that's why I haven't been progressing much until now… Be prepared for a super long chapter seven…. I don't know. Like I said, it's really my first time attempting at these kinds of genres and what-not. No adult scenes from this chapter onwards. MibuWolf is kinda through writing them. And Kenshin and Kaoru are… eh… "over-worked". Hoho.

Kenshin: Oro?

MibuWolf: Urusai and read this chapter.

Timeless Love

Chapter Seven: Reunion

The couple stopped just outside the Akabeko. As Kaoru stepped in, she noticed the scarlet-haired rurouni hesitate.

"Kenshin?" He looked up at her. Was it the raven-haired girl's imagination, or was there a look of nervousness in him?

"Kaoru," he said softly, his eyes never leaving her beautiful porcelain features. "All those five years of wandering and sleeping alone in the wilderness, I always wondered what was going on back in Tokyo, and every night I would always dream of life going on for you…"

He stopped speaking when Kaoru pressed her slender fingers to his lips, silencing him.

"I know," she whispered, amid the bustling crowd of people, "Don't be scared Kenshin. They're all waiting for us."

And, taking his calloused hand in hers, the dojo master led Kenshin into the Akabeko, where it was chaotic with customers, but would become even more chaotic as they were to soon find out…

…

Everyone looked up in surprise as the two "missing in action" people walked into the crowded restaurant.

"Whoa, speak of the devil!" Sanosuke exclaimed. Yahiko gaped openly at them, obviously thinking that the two had disappeared from the face of the earth. Megumi merely gave them a knowing smile.

"Kaoru-san! Himura-san!" cried Tae happily, "This is a pleasant surprise! Who would've thought that you two would be seen together again after all these years…"

The dojo master smiled back at her old friend. "Tae-san, I need to ask you something…" she whispered secretively into the restaurant owner's ear so no one, not even Kenshin could hear what she was saying.

Tae nodded, understanding. "Come with me. He's in the room upstairs with Tsubame-chan."she smiled. To the rest she called out. "The rest of you stay here. This is a private matter between Kaoru-san and Himura-san."

As the trio disappeared from the restaurant and up the stairs, the other three were left behind looking clueless at each other, wondering what on earth was going on.

Finally, Yahiko couldn't stand it any longer. It wasn't fair that he was stuck down below while Tsubame was happily playing with Kenji upstairs, as he could tell from the tinkling laughter.

"I'm going up." He announced. Before the two adults could say anything, he got up and charged up the stairs like an elephant whose tail had just been set on fire.

"Oei! Matte!" cried the former Znaza, getting up to follow the teenager. He, too, sped up the stairs, but with lesser noise.

What do those two think they're up to? Thought Megumi in utter exasperation. The lady doctor hurriedly got up and followed them in case they did anything stupid.

…

Tae led them to a small room near the staircase, her light chatter echoing throughout the corridor.

Kenshin's heart pounded softly within him. He felt more nervous than he had felt during his final training with his master Hiko. In that room was his son Kenji, whom he was going to meet –again- in a few minutes, but this time knowing that they were…related.

He was unaware of the words being spoken around him as he was led into the room. The rurouni let out an audible gasp as once again, his amethyst gaze met again his son's intense sapphire orbs.

"Kenji," said Kaoru, picking up her son from where he was playing on the floor. The scarlet-haired child chuckled happily as his mother held him close in her kimono-clad arms. "Do you remember this man?"

The child turned his attention to Kenshin. "Who is he mommy?" he asked. His sapphire eyes studied him closely as he tried to make out his identity.

Kaoru's eyes were shining with tears as she replied. "Your father."

Kenji continued to stare at Kenshin with intense curiosity. Without thinking, Kenshin reached out for his son, taking his small hand in his. Finally, after five years, he was re-united again with Kenji…

His mother transferred him from her lap into his fathers waiting arms so he could get a good look at his offspring. Eyes large and still staring at him, he settled onto Kenshin's lap.

And then it came. He slowly mouthed, for the first time, the word, "Daddy."

At the door, Tae smiled at the happy little scene. The "mini Kenshin" as she secretly named him was now reaching out to grasp his father's scarlet-dyed locks which shared such an uncanny resemblance to his.

Just then, a loud thumping of feet interrupted the scene. A slightly annoyed Tae turned round, only to come face-to-face with a fifteen-year old kid samurai, a former Zanza and a lady doctor.

"Well, what do we have here?" she cried, a bit exasperated. "I thought I told you to stay downstairs-"

Ignoring the chaotic scene outside as Yahiko argued with Tae, Kaoru shifted closer to her family.

"Kenji?" she said hesitantly, wondering what her son was thinking as he fingered Kenshin's hair.

Suddenly, there was a loud cry of "Oro!" as Kenji yanked hard on Kenshin's hair. The five-year old chuckled happily as he clutched a strand of red hair from his father. Apparently he was over the moon that he had just managed to outwit the most skilled hitokiri in all of Japan.

Like I said, you may be the most skilled swordsman known to history, but when it comes to everyday life you're really nothing but an egg head.

…

"What the-" Gohei gasped as he returned to the dojo. It was a chaotic scene. All his men lay slumped on the ground, their faces and arms covered with rather large bruises as if someone had punched the living daylights out of them.

"Who the hell did this?" he muttered angrily.

Angered, he roughly kicked at their "leader", Hira, who lay slumped against the wall. The impact of the kick woke the man up, who instantly sat up and addressed his boss fearfully. "M…Mister Hiruma!" he stammered, cowering in fear.

"What…the…hell…happened here…" Gohei fought to keep himself under control; even thought he desired very much to pummel the failure to dust, he still needed exactly what had happened when he wasn't around.

"They were too fast for us to keep up!" Hira replied. "Especially that teenager… he's really good with the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu for his age…and that tall man who was with him… he kept on punching through the rest like they were sacks of rice!"

Gohei spat on the ground in disgust; he still couldn't stomach the fact that a mere kid and a drunkard had managed to knock out everyone in the Dojo. Looking around, he realized something was missing.

Kaoru and Kenji! He thought, furious. They came here and took that bag of no-good scum…Gohei gripped Hira's neck in utter fury and as a result the man fainted from a certain lack of air… but not because of a tight embrace.

Hiruma Gohei was heading for them now. He would find Kamiya Kaoru and snatch her from Kenshin… he was going to hunt them all down, hunt them down like a dog.

…

"Open your mouth Kenji," said Kaoru as she fed her son- their son, while he sat comfortably in Kenshin's lap. Everyone laughed as Kenji opened his mouth and swallowed yet another rice ball.

Misao sighed and laid back next to Aoshi, who, as usual, was watching the scene without any expression or reaction whatsoever. "They make such a happy couple don't they?" she asked, hinting at something between the lines.

"Aa," Aoshi replied passively, closing his eyes.

"The twenty-one year old former ninja fought against rolling her bright turquoise eyes. "I can easily sneak into any closely-guarded mansion, but the only thing I can never do is get him to say something other than that," she muttered to herself.

Sanosuke, who was the only one who heard Misao saying, that remarked. "If you're looking for a way to get Icy Blue Eyes to really react, I've got an idea…" He was about to tell her what he had seen earlier that day when suddenly Megumi appeared out of nowhere and dragged him to another corner.

"Jeez Kitsune," he grumbled rubbing his ear. "If you keep beating me up like that, I'm going to have to end this relationship or I'll die an early death and meet my maker."

The lady doctor fumed at him for even thinking of such a thing. "Do you realise what would've happened if you told Misao…"

"What about it?"

At that moment, Megumi really felt like knocking that egghead to dust. "Because then it wouldn't be private anymore!" she fumed exasperatedly. "Anyway, I don't think Ken-san would've wanted anyone to know that it did happen…"

When the former Zanza continued to look confused, Megumi explained. "Hwo would you feel if it were us, and Yahiko walked in all of a sudden?" "What the-? Said Sanosuke.

Just as she thought that he finally got her meaning, Sanosuke piped up. "I dunno, you wanna try and see what happens?"

In a few minutes, Sanosuke lay slumped on the ground for the second time.

…

Kenji lay snoring later that evening when the Akabeko closed for the day. The others had decided to leave earlier, with Tae leaving instructions for them to lock up when they were done.

Kenshin looked down at his son and smiled. "He looks so much like you," sighed Kaoru, leaning closer to Kenshin's warmth. Kenshin nodded, focusing on his son's stunning features.

"Except for the scar, though," he added remorsefully.

He's still haunted by the crimes he committed in the past, Kaoru thought silently.

"Kaoru…" Kenshin shifted the now snoring Kenji so as to make space for the raven haired girl. Time passed before either of them uttered a single word or moved the slightest inch.

Soon, the sun began to set, giving the sky a tinge of fiery orange which shone through the window, creating a soft glow on the three of them who were now wrapped in an embrace that ignored all time that passed them.

Just the, Kenshin felt Kaoru's head brush against his chest as she looked up to meet his gaze. "It's so light…" she murmured, brushing the part of his face where the scar had been inflicted years ago.

Kenshin flinched a little when he felt her light finger tips touch him, causing Kenji to shift slightly in his slumber. He had endure painfully scrutinizing stares from strangers on the road because of his scar, and had even resorted to covering it up once when he returned to Kyoto to battle against Shishi-o. Some chose to ignore the fact that he ever had this scar to marr his otherwise stunning features, like Okina and Misao,; other people like Hiko and Cho showed no qualms on using the scar to remind him ofhis bloody past.

But only this girl… this Kamiya Kaoru… the one he held closest to his heart after Tomoe, chose to embrace anything and everything that lay behind the two diagonal lines cut into his face. Even when he had turned back into the bloodthirsty Battousai once, Kaoru still clung on fiercely to him… it was everything Kenshin had dreamed of the human touch and much more.

Kaoru, thinking that she had done something wrong to hurt the gentle-eyed rurouni, lowered her gaze from his face. "Kenshin…"she started hesistantly, not knowing what to do next. Gently, Kenshin picked up Kaoru's slender palm in his and brought it to his cheek. "Daijoubu, Kaoru," he whispered softly, his lips curling into a smile. He leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Kaoru's forehead.

At that movement, Kenji sneezed and turned on his side. "I think we'd better get him home," Kenhsin suggested. At his words, Kaoru's beautiful sapphire eyes clouded with worry and anxiety.

"Demo…what about him?" she replied, not wanting to speak of the nameless brute that lived off her Dojo for five years.

Kenshin frowned. He decided there and then that he wouldn't let Hiruma Gohei shadow her any more than he wanted to let the Battousai return again.

"Don't worry Kaoru," he assured the raven haired beauty. "I won't let that devil get to you ever again."

Never.

…

Che. Ahou.

His shoe dug a small hole in the loosely-packed earth outside the Akabeko. He frowned and cursed silently when he saw the tip of his polished shoe marred by dirt. It wasn't as if he wanted to do that- it was seeing the rurouni rattling on about his moronic non-killing vow that really got on his nerves.

He watched them, eyes narrowed when he saw the way that Kamiya girl brush her hand across the scarred cheek that gave him his other name- Hitokiri Battousai.

That title doesn't belong to you, -rurouni-. You think you can protect her by wrapping her in your arms all the time? The last time you did that- it all ended up in the grave where a hidden grudge was never easily resolved.

You think that you can get what you want without the help of that reversed-edge sword called a "sakabatou", useless though it may be, but that's just hypocritic bullshit. How do you think the revolution carved its way into the Meiji Era? What was it that brought down bastards like Sihshi-o Makoto and Yukishiro Enishi?

What's your move, then… Battousai?"

…………………………………………………………………………………………

author's note: pantpant… wheezeyz… finally this chapter is up after so long already… neargh… am super drowsy because of the medicine… down with the freakin' cough… argh… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW, onegai!

In the next chapter: Kenshin discovers that he may soon be unable to protect his loved ones anymore. A confrontation with some strangers lurking in the shadows. Can he still protectKaoru and their son Kenji after all these years? And just who is that guy who keeps popping up and keeping an eye on them?

Until the next update!

-grin5- mC