I do not own the Rurouni Kenshin characters they belong to whoever. Please read and review.

Snow came down hard, making it difficult to see and walk. The lone figure continued to press steadily along, clutching his bundle close to him.

"I have to find shelter," the figure thought, "she will not last long and neither will I." Increasing his pace, the man tried to peer through the blinding snow in search of a safe haven. Looking over to his left, the man thought he saw a structure of sorts. Turning in that direction, he started toward it. Since the snow was coming down hard, the man did not know he had reached his destination until he ran into the building. Being so close, the man saw that he had run into a small temple. Thanking whatever gods that were listening, the man began looking for an entrance. Finding it quickly, the man went in without hesitation. The first thing the man did was look to see if there were any blankets. Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted a pile of blankets in one of the corners. Walking over, he unfolded one of the blankets keeping his bundle close. When the blanket was completely unfolded, the man laid his bundle on it. The bundle was a girl, no older than five. She was wearing a light blue kimono and a pink bow in her black hair. The man quickly wrapped the girl in the blanket when he noticed her start to shiver. Sitting with his back against a wall, the man gathered the girl back in to his arms and draped another blanket over both of them. Feeling that the child had stopped shivering, the man was content to drift asleep. Hours later, the man was jerked out of his slumber by a strong ki. Before he was able to set the child aside and grab his sword a figure appeared in the doorway. The figure had on a large cape and was caring an umbrella under his arm.

"Battousai" The figure said in a lifeless voice. Battousai growled in response, his hand going for his katana. His eyes went from their normal violet to amber and his hair deepened to the color of blood. Before the tension in the room could mount any higher two small voices broke out into the silence.

"Kenshin"

"Aoshi-sama"

The two men snapped out of their glaring match. Kenshin looked down to the little girl in his arms. She had poked her head out of the blanket, and her blue eyes were staring at him. Another head had popped up from under Aoshi's right shoulder. The head belonged to a little girl with midnight hair and blue eyes. Without giving it a second thought the girl jumped down from Aoshi and looked over to Kenshin. The girl that was in Kenshin's arms took her eyes off of him and directed them over to the other girl. Rising out of Kenshin arms the girl walked over to the figures in the doorway. When she was standing right in front of them she bowed.

"Hello, my name is Kaoru Kamiya. It is nice to meet you." Rising out of the bow Kaoru looked expectantly at the other girl.

"Misao Makimachi" the girl replied also bowing. "And this is Aoshi-sama." Misao pointed to the man behind her . Looking toward Kenshin, Misao asked, "Who is he?"

"He is Kenshin." Kaoru looked at what Misao was wearing and realized the girl must be freezing. Running over to Kenshin, Kaoru snatched up the blanket she had discarded and rush back over to Misao. "Here, you look like you need this." Misao quickly took the blanket from Kaoru and wrapped it around herself. Giving Kaoru her thanks Misao started to walk deeper in to the room, but Aoshi stayed in the doorway. Kaoru titled her head up to look at Aoshi's face. Her face took on a thoughtful look.

"Do you want to come in? It is very cold outside, and even though we don't have a fire, we do have blankets." Aoshi did not speak, he just nodded and walked over to Misao. Misao had situated herself not too far from Kenshin and was holding another blanket for Aoshi. Aoshi did not take the blanket form her, he just sat down beside her. After Aoshi went past Kaoru, she returned to Kenshin's arms. Kenshin slowly released his kanta and scooped Kaoru back in to a blanket. There was an uneasy silence as the two girls drift off to sleep. The two men looked at each other and seemed to come to an understanding. There would be no fighting for the time they were here.

Sunlight peaked though the door, and two of the occupants of the temple became aware of morning. Kaoru slowly woke up and looked around. She immediately spotted the two other travelers curled up in a corner together. It seems that some time during the night Aoshi had picked Misao up and wrapped his in her arms. Looking up, Kaoru realized that her own traveling companion was awake. When Kenshin noticed that she was awake, he stood up and sat her on the floor. Walking over to the door, Kenshin checked to see if it could be opened. After a few pushes it opened, startling Misao awake. There was no morning greeting between the two groups each just gathered what belongings they had and went their separate ways. It would be years before any would see each other again.