Keeping You Safe

By: Hitokiri Musei

Rated: K

Summary: Kenji went out to a friend's house, and Kenshin went out in the growing blizzard to find him. What happens when he doesn't come back and Kaoru is forced to go look for the two redheads?

Kaoru looked outside again, worry on her face. There was still no sign of her beloved rurouni, he had not come back.

She hadn't wanted him to go outside; she had told him to stay home. Her instincts had been telling her that something was going to happen, that Kenshin should stay at the dojo. But, stubborn as he was, Kenshin had gone out anyway, to go to look for Kenji.

Their son had been outside, playing with some friends earlier that day, when he had gone over to one of their homes. He had said that he would return by the time dinner was ready, but to Kaoru's dismay, he had not come home. By that time a light snow had begun to fall, and Kaoru refused to eat.

Kenshin had worried too, but he had decided to put them both at ease by going to look for Kenji. But when he had said this, to his surprise Kaoru had said no. She had clung to his gi, shaking her head. "Kenshin, iie! You mustn't go outside, not in this snow!"

Because, although Kenshin didn't realize it, Kaoru had known that he was not up to top par. The redhead had been having increasing nightmares for the past few nights, and as such had gotten little sleep. There were outward signs of it that Kenshin had tried to hide, but Kaoru had still picked up on. She knew that if Kenshin went out he might not make it back.

And now, exactly one hour after he had left anyway, to her crying and calling for him, she knew that her gut instinct had been correct. There was no way this would have taken Kenshin this long. Although Kenji had been at a friend's house, they weren't that far from the main part of Tokyo. Kenshin should have been home by now, and bringing Kenji along with him.

Kaoru rung her hands nervously, looking out into the blowing snow again. It had quickly turned into a blizzard not long after Kenshin's departure, and she knew very well that Kenshin had not dressed warmly enough for this weather. Even with his winter clothing and his cloak, it was still too cold outside.

She sighed, going back to sewing Kenji's gi. He had ripped a hole in it, and it needed to be repaired. She pricked herself with the needle and swore softly, and then set down the cloth with a sigh. 'I'm too frazzled to do this right now…' She looked up with sad eyes to the blowing snow. 'Please…be okay Kenshin…'

Kenshin was currently fighting his way through snow, trying to get back to the dojo. Kenji trailed along behind him, hiding his face in his father's gi. Kenshin had wrapped his cloak around his 10 year old son, knowing that he needed to be warmer. To his surprise he had found Kenji out in the snow, shivering under a tree. Apparently he had left the friend's house before the snow had started, gotten lost, and tried to ride it out. Kenshin had found him shivering and terrified almost 10 minutes away from the dojo.

Kenji had been overjoyed when he had spotted his father, and had run from the tree, shouting for his tousan. Kenshin had instantly wrapped the shaking child in his cloak, taking his hand and leading him away from his small shelter.

But even as the two had walked the snow had grown harder, and soon Kenshin could barely see his hand in front of his face. Kenji was huddled under the overlarge cloak behind him, and small hand tangled in his gi as he hid his face against his father's back.

Kenshin put up an arm, shielding his eyes from the blinding snow. He stumbled falling to his knees in the snow. He stood again, sighing inwardly, knowing very well that he and Kenji wouldn't be able to make it back to the dojo in time. They had to find a place to ride out this blizzard.

Kenshin put a hand behind him, taking Kenji's hand from his gi and leading his son towards what looked like a large tree. To Kenshin's great surprise, it was a small rock wall. They had reached a cliff that was near the dojo, and though this meant they were close, Kenshin didn't want to risk going any farther. Kenji was already shivering, and Kenshin himself couldn't feel his toes, feet, or fingers. It was growing too hard to walk, and he could barely see out there. With his luck they would pass the dojo.

Kenji shivered again, looked up the wall. "T-tousan? Why are we s-stopping?"

"W-we c-can-t ke-ep g-going…" Kenshin murmured through chattering teeth. "W-we need t-to find-d shelt-ter…"

Kenji nodded, following his father closer to the wall. Kenshin searched along the rock face, feeling with numb fingers for what he knew was there somewhere. After about 3 more minutes he discovered the cave he had been looking for. It was small, there was hardly enough room for both he and Kenji, but it would offer a little shelter from the fiercely blowing snow.

"I-Inside K-Kenji…" Kenshin called over the snow, pushing Kenji toward the small gap. Kenji slipped inside easily, his little body sliding through the opening. Kenshin, however, had a little more trouble. It was difficult to wriggle through, with numb fingers to help him.

The two redheads huddled together in the dark crevice, Kenji's fingers clenching in the cloak that was around his shoulders. The only sound was their harsh breathing and the blowing of the wind outside.

After a few moments the sound of Kenshin's teeth chattering joined the entourage of sound, and Kenji snuggled close to the man. Kenshin drew the cloak around his own shoulders, hoping that the shared warmth between the two would help keep them fairly warm.

Kenji laid his head against his father's chest, yawning and closing his eyes. Kenshin shook him gently. "No… D-Don't fall as-sleep Kenji…" He knew that the two of them had to stay awake. To fall asleep in this weather would kill them.

Kenji sighed, but did as he was told, blinking heavily. Against his will Kenshin found his own eyelids growing heavier, and he shook himself sharply. 'No. Don't do it.'

And yet, as the snow continued to blow, Time saw the two redheads sound asleep in their small shelter, huddling under only a small winter cloak.

Kaoru couldn't sleep. She wanted to go out and look for her husband and her son, but the blowing snow prevented her from doing that. She sat in the main room, with only the light of a candle and a warm quilt to keep her company. Dinner sat forgotten, forlorn in the kitchen.

She stood, pacing around the room worriedly. 'Damn you Kenshin Himura! Why can't you listen to me every once and a while!'

She continued to pace, swearing at Kenshin inwardly for worrying her so much. At the same time, she began to grow more worried about Kenji. What if Kenshin hadn't found him? What if he was all alone out there, shivering with no cloak?

She looked out into the snow again, and to her great relief, found the snow to be slowing. She looked up, closing her eyes. 'Oh, arigatou kami-sama!'

She ran quickly into her room, putting on an extra layer of clothing, grabbing a shawl and a cloak and draping them around her shoulders. She also got a few extra cloaks, knowing that when she found Kenshin and Kenji that they would need them. She ran from the dojo into the slowing blizzard, hope shining among the worry in her eyes.

Kenji woke slowly, feeling like he didn't want to at all. It wasn't until his father's remembered voice flowed through his mind that he realized he had disobeyed his tousan. 'No… D-Don't fall as-sleep Kenji…'

He snapped awake, sitting bolt upright in the small space. He looked around, peering out of the small gap that they had come through in the first place to get into that cave. It wasn't until that moment that he noticed his father.

He turned in the arms holding him, the limp arm that was wrapped around his small waist falling to hit the floor of the cave, stirring up a puff of powdery snow. His eyes grew wide as he looked upon his tousan's face.

Kenshin's skin was frighteningly pale, nearly translucent, while his lips were a shocking blue. The cloak had fallen from around him, settling more around Kenji than it did himself. There was a light layer of frost over the man's red hair, turning it to a more white color than red, and it misted in his dark eyelashes and over his pale skin.

Kenji touched his father's cheek worriedly, blinking as he felt the ice-like coldness of Kenshin's skin. "Tousan?"

Kenshin's head lolled to the side at his son's touch, falling to rest against the wall, but he did nothing to respond to the boy. Kenji felt fear welling up in his mind. His tousan had always woken at the slightest touch before, whenever he had gone into their room after having a nightmare. He had always relied on tousan during those times, he awakened easier than kaasan.

Kenji went to the opening in the wall, squeezing out and stumbling into the drifted snow. The snow had piled up against the wall, nearly blocking the entrance, but there were still signs that it was there. Kenji ran from the cave, knowing that he had to find his kaasan, and fast.

He ran out to the middle of a cleared area, and found footprints in the snow. He crouched by them, looking them over. His little face lit up. 'Kaasan's sandals!'

He took off in the direction they had gone, yelling as loud as he could for his kaasan, knowing that she would be able to help. Kaasan could fix any kind of hurt; she was good at that stuff.

Kaoru was walking towards the main part of Tokyo when she heard a little voice calling out. She turned, and saw her son, her little Kenji running towards her, waving his arms.

She caught him in her arms, hugging him tightly. "Oh Kenji, you're okay! You're alright!" She squeezed him tighter. "I'm so glad you're okay Kenji, I was so worried…"

Kenji pulled back from her embrace. "Kaasan, come on! Tousan needs help!"

Kaoru blinked. "Nani? Tousan needs help?"

Kenji nodded, pulling insistently on her fingers. "Tousan won't wake up kaasan, come help him!"

At those words Kaoru felt her heart stop. 'Won't wake up? Oh no…'

She ran after Kenji, who was stumbling around high drifts. The little boy led her to the rock face near the dojo, back a few minutes from where she had been a minute ago. 'I passed right by them!' she thought with fear, moving faster.

Kenji pointed to a small black hole in the rock, looking at her. "He's in there kaasan!"

Kaoru blinked. "In there Kenji? How?"

"We went in there before the storm got too bad. That's what tousan said. We gotta dig at the snow." Kenji said, digging his little hands into the snow and pushing it away from the opening in the wall.

Kaoru ran forward to help him, ignoring the stinging cold of the snow. Soon there was enough room that Kaoru could see into the small cave. She cried out when she did so. "Kenshin!"

From what she saw, her husband looked like he was already dead. With his pale skin and blue lips and fingers, he looked like he had been long dead. Kaoru couldn't see his chest rising and falling at all, and she reached in, nearly screaming out again at the feel of his ice cold skin.

"Kenshin, answer me! Please anata!" she called, tears filling her eyes. Kenji watched from a small distance, not knowing what he could do to help his kaasan and tousan.

Kaoru dragged on Kenshin's frightfully thin body, pulling him towards the opening in the wall. Even though he was bigger than her, his smaller weight allowed her to heave him closer. She was able to pull him out of the cave, falling back into the snow with his listless body atop her.

She crawled out from under him, tears escaping to flow down her face. She wrapped the cloaks around him, giving the one that had already been semi draped in his lap to Kenji. The boy snuggled in it, breathing in his father's scent. Kaoru shook Kenshin harshly, trying to wake him. "Please Kenshin! Wake up!"

With shaking hands she located a pulse point, which was barely under her fingers. She looked up worriedly, not really knowing what to do. She finally looked to Kenji. She knelt in front of him, putting her hands on his small shoulders. "Kenji, I need you to do something very important for me."

Kenji nodded. "Okay kaasan."

She smiled at him slightly. "I want you to stay here with tousan while I go get Aunt Meg. She can help tousan, okay?"

Kenji nodded. "I will kaasan."

Kaoru directed Kenji to lie close to Kenshin, wrapping the both of them in the cloaks. She hoped that Kenji's little body might give Kenshin some warmth, and keep him alive long enough for Megumi to help him. "Stay here Kenji, kaasan will be back soon."

Kenji snuggled up to his father's cold body, shivering slightly. He watched his mother go with forlorn eyes, but he knew that Aunt Meg would be able to make tousan wake up. She, like kaasan, was good with making hurt go away.

"Megumi! Megumi!"

Megumi Takani looked up from where she was mixing some extra medicines, frowning slightly. She hated being interrupted in her work, it was easier for her to mix medicines now, so they would be ready when people came seeking her skills. In this time of near winter people tended to come to her more often.

Kaoru ran inside, breathless, tears drying on her cheeks. Megumi blinked, running to help her friend stay upright. "Kaoru, what's the matter?"

"Kenshin! You have to come with me Megumi!" the younger woman panted out. "Please! We have to hurry!"

Megumi nodded, calling into the back room. "Sano! I believe your help would be appreciated!"

The tall rooster came out of the back, where he had been getting some of the dried herbs Megumi had sent him for. The man had nothing to do for the day, and Megumi had recruited him for his help with reaching things in high places. He followed the two women as they left the clinic heading back for where Kaoru had left Kenji and Kenshin.

Megumi gasped in surprise when she saw Kenji's blue eyes peering from the darkness of the cloaks that Kaoru had hurriedly thrown over her husband, tears in those depths. The woman knelt in the snow, pulling the cloth back to reveal Kenshin's pale, blue-lipped face.

Sano instantly moved forward at her call, lifting Kenshin and all the cloaks easily. Kenji tumbled out to go to his mother, huddling in her embrace as Kaoru picked him up. Together the three rushed from the site, Sano cradling the unconscious rurouni tight to his chest in hopes that his own warmth would help the redhead.

Megumi instantly got to work, going to the back of the clinic and putting a couple of blankets near the fire. She went into a separate room, a sauna-like place for people that needed to relax and let go of stress. She started up the steam by lighting the fire, worry making her tight-lipped and pale.

Kaoru was still crying silently, trying to keep calm. Kenji was wrapped in a few quilts on her lap, shivering slightly in his mother's arms. Sano looked worried, pacing around quietly.

Megumi motioned to Sano a moment later, and the tall man carried Kenshin gently into the back room, following the woman. Once in the back sauna, Megumi stripped and then wrapped Kenshin in the warmed quilts, and then called Kaoru and Kenji to her. "I want you both to lie with him in those quilts, and make sure that there is skin to skin contact. Kenji, it would be best if you stripped down, Kaoru, you too."

Kaoru nodded, turning to look at Sano pointedly. The tall man put up his hands helplessly and turned his back to her. Kaoru pulled off her kimono, laying herself full length along Kenshin's naked form. Kenji crawled in with them too, although he seemed less enthusiastic. He didn't really understand what was going on, but he followed what his mother did.

Kaoru bit back a startled yelp at the feel of Kenshin's ice-cold skin, shivering slightly at the contact. She wrapped her arms around her husband's chest, laying her face against his neck.

Megumi nodded. "Good Kaoru. Keep contact mostly along his chest and neck, that will help a lot. Kenji, you go ahead and curl up by tousan's chest, okay?"

The boy nodded, doing so and laying his head next to his mother's on the opposite side of Kenshin's neck. Megumi covered them all with the warmed blankets, tucking them in the heated cloth. "Now only time will help him…" she murmured. "Stay there Kaoru. I need to go make some medicines in case he catches a fever."

The woman nodded, stifling her tears against Kenshin's cold neck. She knew very well that Kenshin had gotten very close to death. With his body heat seeping out throughout the blizzard, he hadn't been able to keep awake, and when consciousness had fled so had much of his chance of survival. He had been close to freezing to death, he had only been lucky that Kenji had awakened in time, and had known that it was important to find help.

Kaoru guessed that much of Kenshin's energy had gone into keeping Kenji safe, warm, and alive, and as such, he had not had the life in him to keep himself safe and warm. That had been evident from the cloak in his lap, instead of around his shoulders. Either he had given it to Kenji, or something else had happened.

Kaoru lay beside Kenshin for nearly an hour and a half, when finally his skin began to warm. Kaoru sighed in relief, relaxing limply against his unconscious form. 'He'll be okay…' she kept thinking. 'He'll be just fine…'

Kenshin's breathing slowly began to deepen, dropping back into a more peaceful rhythm that it should be. His heartbeat grew stronger, his lips lost their blue tinge as his skin regained some color. After a while Kaoru felt his fingers twitch beneath her stomach, and she looked up to see his eyelids fluttering in an attempt to wake.

She smiled slightly. "Kenshin? Anata? Can you hear me?"

His violet eyes flickered open slowly, shutting for an instant, and then opening again. "K-K-kaaaoru?"

His voice was terribly slurred, an aftereffect of the near freezing. His body still wasn't warm enough to cooperate with him properly, but it was nearing it.

Kaoru sighed in relief again. "Oh thank Kami-sama. I was so worried Kenshin!"

He shut his eyes again, breathing steadily. When his violet orbs opened again there was a bit more life in them, and it seemed that he was more aware. "W-What hap-pened?"

Kaoru smiled. He was regaining control of himself; he was nearly back to normal again. "You didn't come home Kenshin, I was so worried. I couldn't go out in that storm, but I left the instant it started calming down. Kenji found me not long after, and he led me to you, in that little crevice in the cliff." She faltered here, and Kenshin blinked slightly, shifting. "I was so afraid; you looked like you were dead. Your lips and fingers were blue, your skin so pale…"

She shuddered slightly at the memory of finding him, and then looked up as Kenshin's arm drew her closer to his now warm side. He smiled at her. "I'm okay now, that I am. Don't worry koishii."

There was a movement at his side, and he looked down to see Kenji sleeping soundly against his other side, his little fingers tangled in his father's crimson locks. A gentle smile came to Kenshin's face, and he brought up his other hand to stroke Kenji's own red hair. "I was so worried about Kenji," the man murmured. "I was right to go out after him. If I hadn't…Kenji might not be alive."

Kaoru gasped. "Nani? Tell me what happened Kenshin!"

He looked back to her, his hand still absently stroking his son's hair. "I found him not far from the market center, huddled under a tree. He told me he got lost; he couldn't find his way home. Luckily I found him. We couldn't make it home, I could barely walk anymore. I couldn't feel my feet, my hands; I had to find a place to stop. We found that little crevice, and against my will I fell asleep. The rest you know."

Kaoru sniffled slightly, causing Kenshin to blink in shock. Kaoru turned her face up to him to show tears streaming down her cheeks. "Kenshin no baka! You should have gone back towards the market! You were closer! You could have come to Megumi, she would have taken care of you!"

Kenshin blinked. "Kaoru…"

She shook her head. "No! You made me sit up all night, worried out of my mind, and then I found you like that! I thought you were DEAD Kenshin! Dead!"

Kenshin shifted, taking her fully into his arms and tucking her face against his neck. "Oh Kaoru… Please koishii, don't cry…It's okay now…"

Kaoru sobbed into his neck, her stress finally snapping her self control that she had so carefully maintained over the past hours. Kenshin held her tightly, petting her hair gently and whispering calming words.

These actions woke Kenji, and the young boy shifted, climbing over onto Kenshin's shoulder. "Tousan?"

Kenshin turned violet eyes, bright with unshed tears, on his son. "Kenji…"

Kenji latched his arms around Kenshin's neck, putting his face in his tousan's neck. "You're okay tousan! Kaasan was crying, I was afraid tousan! You wouldn't wake up, you always wake up when I touch you!"

Kenshin shifted, taking Kenji into his embrace as well, holding his family against him. "It's alright Kenji, I'm alright. All thanks to your bravery."

Kenji sniffled slightly, but nodded against Kenshin's shoulder. Kenshin smiled, leaning his head against Kaoru's hair. "Everything's alright now…"

Kaoru put up a hand, putting her palm against his cheek. "You're awfully warm Kenshin, you've gone and gotten yourself a fever."

He smiled. "Well I suppose that's what I get, for doing such a stupid thing. Right Kenji?"

The little boy nodded. "Hai. Tousan no baka!"

Kaoru giggled at this. "You just got scolded by your own son."

Kenshin blinked. "Hai, I suppose I did. Well then. That's something I never expected."

Kaoru smiled, tucking her head back under his chin, just glad that they were all safe and back together. "Life gives you surprises all the time Kenshin. You just have to learn to live right along with them."

Kenshin smiled, kissing his wife's forehead gently. "Hai. And I will learn, with your help Kaoru-koishii. You and Kenji." He rested his lips against Kaoru's hair. "Aishiteru Kaoru."

The woman smiled, pressing her lips to the hollow of his throat. "Aishiteru mo Kenshin, anata."

Kenji poked Kenshin's forehead, effectively ruining the moment. "Tousaaaaan…"

Kenshin chuckled. "Alright, alright. I love you Kenji."

The little boy grinned widely. "Love you too tousan!"

Kenshin gave the boy a squeeze, just glad that he was able to do so. Even if he had put his own life in danger, he was only happy that his son was alright, safe with him. He wouldn't hesitate to do it again, if it meant the safety of this little miracle, his second reason to live, right along with Kaoru.

Random ficlet I decided to give a shot on Let me know what you think, and Happy Chrismahanakawanza! -giggles- Think of this as a present!