Chapter 22: Saved By Love

The silence was deafening to Kaoru as their eyes met with each other. She chewed on her lower lip nervously. Silence was not the reaction she was hoping for. She hadn't expected him to open his arms to her and laugh it off of course, but a word or two would've been nice.

"K…Kenshin…?" She whispered fearfully, hoping that he hadn't died of shock.

"W…" He finally responded dumbly with, "What?"

Her eyes stung. "I'm sorry I lied to you…"

His expression hardened. He looked partly shocked, partly angry… but mostly hurt. "I can't believe you did this…" The thunder bellowed outside.

"You have to understand-"

"You have to understand!" He exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders. "You've put your life in danger, you've lied to these people!"

"I know, but-"

"Do you have any idea what would have happened if you were found!"

"Yeah, but-"

He shook her slightly. "You would've been killed! Why would you risk something like that to come here!"

Her eyes burned as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "Let go of me!" She screamed as the thunder overtook her voice, and she smacked him.

He let go, and his stunned reaction returned.

"Listen!" She sobbed.

He held his face, staring at her.

"I know what risk it was! I know better than anyone does! I've risked my life several times before, but never like this! You don't know what I've gone through! I've had to hide my identity, put up a façade that I didn't know what I was doing, work strenuously for hours on meager meals and sleep, watch my friends dying and die, almost die myself from exhaustion, beg Megumi to keep my identity a secret, fight Saitou to keep it a secret, be called a spy, and think I was a spy because I talked to Soujirou who was lying to me about who he was just like I was lying to you about who I was! Trust me! I know how you feel right now, like you want to kill me! I want me dead too, but you have to understand that I did it all for Yahiko, Sano, and YOU! Especially you!" It amazed her how fast she spoke, even though she was crying uncontrollably now. Her whole body shook with anger and hatred, love and fear, pain and every other emotion she'd ever experienced. It all rolled upon her and exploded out of her mouth. It amazed her that she'd been holding back this much for this long.

Kenshin seemed to be taking it all in fairly slowly. Finally, it dawned upon him. "Kaoru… That means… Sessha wasn't crazy… Sessha sensed you because…"

"Oh, you idiot!" She shouted, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. "Yes I was here! Kenshin!"

She didn't know why, but suddenly she threw her arms around him and screamed into his chest. Now all that exploded from her mouth was exploding from her eyes, from her heart. "Are you even listening to me!" She whimpered, and her voice shook more than ever before.

His hands came up onto her shoulder and pushed her back so that she could look into his eyes.

"Why… Just tell me why…" He whispered. "Why would you risk your life… to come here… What would come of this…?"

"You told me… You told me that you might not come back because you might be forced to kill again. I couldn't… I couldn't bare it. I knew that Yahiko and Sano would stay by your side, and I knew that I would be all alone if you lost your sanity to the killer in you…" She sniffed. "I couldn't let it happen. I knew I had to do something! I wanted to help you, and I knew that you wouldn't kill if someone brought you back to your senses, so I… I was stupid, and I disguised myself as a boy so I could be that person." She looked away from him in shame, but he turned her face back to him. Her eyes wouldn't meet with his though.

The candle went out from the chill in the room.

He wouldn't say anything, and finally she hung her head. "Please, Kenshin… forgive me…"

His eyes grew in surprise.

He lowered his face more deeply into her hair, and closed his eyes. The top of her beautiful tresses then began to dampen. "Forgive me…" He said.

He threw his arms around her and leaned his head into her shoulder.

"I forgive you…" He whimpered, and she felt her shoulder become wet with tears. This caused her own to come flowing back.

"Kenshin, I…"

"I just don't know why…" He sobbed. "…why would you care so much… for a man like this one? This man… who murdered in the past…"

"I told you when we met that I don't care about your past," She choked out. "I knew you were Battousai, but I didn't want to fear you… I wanted to heal you…"

"Nothing can heal sessha's soul…"

"Nothing but love can save us now!"

He opened his eyes and pulled away, looking positively bowled over. "What?"

"Kenshin… I… I love you…" She whispered, putting her hands on his face. "I've loved you for so long… I wanted you to come back because my heart wouldn't let you walk out of my life forever… Kenshin… You're in my heart, you're in my soul, you're in my dreams and spirit, in my past and in my present, and I want you to be… in my future too. I want to be with you forever, until the end of time! Kenshin, I love you more than I can even begin to put into words. You came when I was alone and afraid and you helped me, and while you saved me, I did all I could to save you too… Love is all can save us now… Please, I know you don't feel the same way about me, but… Let me love you to save you… and at least pretend you love me… to save me… because that's all I want! All I want is you!"

She pushed herself forward, and pressed her lips to his. His lips were cold against hers, showing just how long it had been since someone had been there. When she pulled away, fear settled over. What if he didn't accept her! She knew what had happened to the last person he had loved.

He was breathing a bit heavily when he looked into her eyes. It was hard to see his expression in the dark. She lowered her eyes. No response…

Their lips met again, but this time, it was his first. She was so surprised that she forgot to close her eyes.

When he pulled away, they were still inches apart, and she let out a sigh, remembering that she had to breathe. They both came together at the same time on the third time, and the feeling intensified. He tilted his head to get in deeper and she didn't know how to respond. This was not only her first time going even this far (unless in her dreams), but it was only her third kiss.

She realized that thinking was ridiculous and let her body take over, and she shut her eyes and moaned against his lips, clutching his shoulders.

He slipped his tongue into her mouth and turned her around so that she was laying on his futon and he was on top of her. Their tongues danced with each other, and she felt her body heating up. She couldn't believe this was happening. Never in her wildest dreams did it feel like this. Dreams always had the disappointment of waking up and discovering it was just a dream, and she hoped and prayed to the gods that this was indeed real.

He parted his lips from her only slightly. "What do you want me… to do…" He asked breathily, shivering slightly.

She tilted her head back and replied softly. "…Everything…"

"Are… you sure…?"

"More than anything… I've ever done…"

He moved in again, but his lips did not touch hers. Instead, they grazed down her neck. He moved her shirt downward as he reached her shoulder and trailed her collarbone lovingly.

Her hands were now firmly gripped on his night robe, and she pulled it off of his own shoulders. "Kenshin…" She whispered.

"What?" He asked, stopping.

She lifted her body up against his so that they were in a sitting position with her head against his shoulder. Her shirt slipped down around her wrists, and she slipped them free and touched his scarred, fully-bared chest. "I don't know if I can breathe…" She gasped, feeling constricted in her own body.

He leaned his head into her shoulder as his hands slipped around her back. "Don't die…" He joked in her ear.

"I think I already have…" She responded. "I'm without you…" Her hands took hold of his belt, the only thing holding his robe together, and she pulled it away. His hands dropped only long enough for it to slip off, and he kissed her neck up to her lips.

"…and you're sure you're sure about this…" He asked.

"Yes…" She told him, leaning up and kissing his forehead. "Let me show you… How much I adore you, Kenshin…"

"Sessha does not deserve you, Kaoru-dono…" He told her, though he didn't make any sign of stopping.

"Sessha does not deserve you either, Kenshin-dono," She replied, holding his face in her hands. "My name… is Kaoru… just… Kaoru…"

His hand placed itself against her soft, still tear-stained cheek, while she lowered hers to remove the accursed hakama.

"I don't know about this…" He admitted, kissing her cheek, her lips, and her other cheek.

"We'll never know everything… but we can't fear or we'll lose…"

"Lose… what, may sessha ask?"

"Each other."

The silhouettes danced in the darkness, fingers coming together, lips, and then bodies. A love expressed softly and dearly, the only way one person could truly express the want for another.

Kaoru kept waiting for her eyes to snap open and find herself downstairs in bed, but it never happened. This was the real deal. At long last, he knew how she felt, and he accepted her and saved her. She finally gave in and forgot completely about everything and anything except for her lover, the man that she cared so deeply for. The only one she'd ever been with, and the only one she'd ever want to be with.

Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she shut them, ignoring the pain in her body. She wanted to scream, and it almost escaped her until his lips placed themselves against hers again. "You must…" He gasped. "You must keep quiet… Kaoru…"

To not hear the honorary -dono at the end of her name, to actually hear her name for the first time out of his mouth in a long time, was enough to fall even deeper in love with him. He kissed her even more deeply, moaning against her lips. It seemed he was holding back a bit as well, but at the time, Kaoru didn't acknowledge it. She was too lost in her world of happiness.

The thunder boomed outside, and the rain pattered against the walls. The whole world seemed to be letting out every emotion she was unable to on her own. It would time perfectly with her as if fate would have it that way on purpose.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she let out a shout of Kenshin's name, and the thunder cracked loud enough to overshadow it completely.

Her body fell limp against his futon, and she panted for air.

He hovered above her, his breathing shaking as he smiled at her. His whole body trembled, and he softly laid down on top of her, his head in the crook of her neck.

"You're… shaking…" She whispered exhaustedly, placing her hand against his shoulder.

He blinked slowly and let out a small sigh. "Am… I?…"

Her eyes felt heavy, her body numb, and she put her arms around him and held him close to her.

"You may not be… by my side forever…" She told him, leaning her mouth into his hair and placing a light kiss on his head. "…but… tonight… at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing… that you were… mine…"

"Kaoru…" He whispered.

She had fallen asleep.

"I love you too…" He finished before falling into subconscious as well.

-

Her body was shaken awake rather unpleasantly.

"Get up, Kaoru," Kenshin said fiercely.

She blinked sleepily, raising up. For a moment, she forgot where she was.

Kenshin had gotten dressed already.

"Kaoru, you have to get up," He told her. "You can't be discovered."

She finally realized what he meant. "Shit!" She cried, crawling across the bed and grabbing her bandages that had been pulled away from her amidst their love. "Help me, Kenshin!"

He began wrapping her chest for her while she pulled on her underwear. Her body ached terribly, but it was a good kind of pain.

"Where did I put my clothes?" She asked, fishing around for them in the dark. "Damn, I can't see a thing in this darkness."

Kenshin found a match somewhere and lit the candle again, and she found them lying before her with a sigh of relief from both of them.

…but just as she grabbed her shirt, the door opened…

(A/N: I've changed the rating, just to be safe, though I think it was more limy implied stuff than anything. I've never really written a love scene before, so I guess I sorta chickened out, lol.Wow, I've gotten so many reviews! We finally hit the 200 mark, and even went over! Oh, man, you guys ROCK! Of course, I bet you're pretty pissed because I left you at another cliffhanger, ne? Don't get mad! I'll finish the next chapter ASAP, I promise! XOXOXOXO)