Author's Notes: Yay! The last chapter! So I finally got it done between watching episodes of Mermaid Melody. That show is addicting, so is free anime episodes online. Gah! Help! I originally planned to have Yahiko and Tsubame in here too, but time ran short as I had some work to do last week and didn't get as many chapters written ahead of time as I had planned. Oh well, maybe next year. Their a year behind the rest of the group anyways in the story!

Hope everyone enjoyed this. It is much shorter than the last two chapters. It was a nice break from my other story, which I will be starting to review and redo after this chapter is done! Enjoy, and don't forget to…

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Disclaimer: I do not any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters. I do own the idea to this story though, and I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've liked writing it. Warning: Swearing!

Chapter 6: Secrets can only be kept so long

:---:

"Hello?" Kaoru called out as she entered through the side gate. 'The note said the dojo.' She thought as she looked around. "Hello, is anyone here?" She still got no answer.

She walked down the wooden walkway to the building that was the Kendo practice hall. Her family had owned the dojo for well over a hundred years. There had been times when there had only been one or two students, but now those times were over. Her father and she each taught classes. Her father taught during the day while she taught the two one hour afternoon classes, and they each taught classes on Saturday mornings.

They lived next door; there were two parts of the house and dojo property. The original house was still on the property with the dojo, but a new house had been built by her great-grandparents in the early 1900s. The dojo was now separated by a side gate as well as the front gate, the extensive gardens out back flowing one into the other.

Kaoru reached the practice hall. It was dark inside, the door closed tightly after being closed up for the day. It was also quiet. The door took a few tugs, but it finally opened for her, sliding easily.

When she stepped inside she saw a meal laid out.

'What in the world?' Kaoru thought to herself. She walked over to the low Japanese table that had been placed in the middle of the room, the cushions pushed under it. Kaoru looked around the room. The sun was shining through the slatted windows, shadows falling across the room. She turned back to the table; there she saw a traditional Japanese meal and a note placed in the center with her name on it.

'Happy Valentine's Day Kaoru. I love you. How do you like the meal? There is more to it though, before you get to eat. Please, in your grandmothers' room is something for you to…dress for dinner in. Your Secret Love.'

"Definitely a bit strange." Kaoru said out loud to the empty room as she made her way to the original part of the house to the bedroom that the women in her family had used until they had built the new addition.

Inside she saw a Kimono carefully placed in the stream of sunlight that was let in through the door. On the floor in front of the Kimono was another note.

Kaoru-Love,

You've always loved Kimonos, here's one I hope you cherish for the rest of your life.

Kaoru changed as quickly as she could into the Kimono. 'It's absolutely beautiful!' Kaoru thought as the silk fell over her skin. It was a deep red fabric that at the bottom where the different blue shades of the ocean, from a deep blue to an almost white blue. It looked like the sunset over the sea. The obi had a white base with different orange and red swirls all the way around. When she finished she folded her everyday clothes and then put Kenshin's Valentine and the two notes into her sleeve.

:---:

Kenshin could hear her soft footsteps on the walkway leading to the practice hall. His hands where shaking and his heart was beating fast. He tried stopping his hands and slowing his heartbeat. Nothing he tried worked. He remembered one other time it was like this.

:---:

"Kenshin! Yo! It's time to leave for the fireworks!" Sano yelled at him, he and Kaoru were at a vendor a few stalls behind Sano, Megumi, Yahiko and Tsubame.

"Kaoru-dono? Are you ready to go to the fireworks show?" Kenshin turned to ask her. When he turned around he froze, and almost fell over. One of the sophomores in the High School Kendo Club was talking to Kaoru.

"Hello Kaoru-kun. Enjoying your evening?"

"Yes, very much! I'm here with a group of my friends." Kaoru responded.

"That would look beautiful on you Kaoru-kun." He said, looking at the elaborate Kimono style blouse she was looking at. "Wouldn't Himura?" He said, saving Kenshin from a fall to the ground.

"Hai, it would." Kenshin responded. "Are you going to buy it Kaoru-dono? We need to be hurrying. The group has already left for the fireworks."

"Hai. Give me a few moments. I think I will buy this!" Kaoru said, showing the vendor owner the sapphire blue blouse with sakura blossoms all over, but getting thicker on the hem of the shirt.

"Okay."

"Did you really mean it Kenshin?" Kaoru asked as they walked to the river side by side.

"Mean what Kaoru?" Kenshin asked, checking the sky for fireworks.

"The blouse I bought. You agreed with the Makoto-sama that I would look beautiful in it." Kaoru responded, blushing slightly. 'I hope he meant that. Maybe, maybe someday we could be more than just friends, more than best friends.' Kaoru thought as she looked over at Kenshin.

"Hai I meant it." Kenshin said. 'She looks beautiful, no matter what she wears, but I couldn't tell her that. She thinks of me as her best friend, a best friend wouldn't say something like that, only that she would look beautiful.

"Ah, thank you Kenshin!" Kaoru said, smiling up at him.

:---:

"What do you think Misao?" Kaoru asked. Misao and Megumi and she were getting dressed for a night out with the gang.

"Adorable! That blouse was a great decision when you bought it last year at the festival!" Misao said slipping on red flip flops to go with her denim Capri's and red halter top .

"I know. I love it. And not just because Kenshin said I would look beautiful in it. It's a beautiful shirt, that memory just makes it even more special." Kaoru responded.

"Kenshin's face tonight will be an even nicer memory! You look drop-dead gorgeous!" Megumi said talking of Kaoru's blouse and short denim skirt combo. Megumi had chosen a long white islet skirt and a light purple thin strap tanktop while Kaoru had pulled her hair up and put haircombs and picks in it, and a pair of sandals with a slight heel to them, finished off her outfit for the night.

"I hope so. Maybe tonight it will happen."

"I doubt it. Every time you say you will tell him, you chicken out and never tell him!" Misao said.

"You and Megumi are both exactly the same with Aoshi and Sano so I don't want to hear it!" Kaoru said laughing.

When the girls walked down the stairs and onto the porch of the Kamiya house where the boy's were waiting, Megumi had been right about one thing. Kenshin was speechless. But so where Aoshi and Sano's mouths.

:---:

'Baka Deshi!' He heard Hiko's voice in his head. 'It's just a girl, just Kaoru.'

'I know that.' Kenshin thought. 'This is different.'

The shoji door slid open. There in the doorway stood Kaoru, her Kimono matching the colors of the sunset behind her.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru exclaimed quietly.

"Did you expect someone else?" He asked, coming to take her hand, and lead her to the table. The shaking had suddenly stopped when she had opened the door, his heart beat was still going fast, but it had slowed.

"No. I guess in my heart I knew, but my mind hoped it was you." Kaoru said.

'Kaoru? Are you going to sit down to have dinner?" Kenshin asked from where he stood on the opposite side of the table.

"I just can't believe it. It's so beautiful. Everything is!" Kaoru said sitting down as well as she could in a Kimono.

:---:

"Do you want to go for a walk Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked as they finished their dinners.

"That sounds wonderful!" Kaoru answered, reaching for the hand Kenshin held out to help her up. "Is there a certain place we are going Kenshin?"

"I'm not quite sure yet. We'll just see where our feet take us, hai?"

"Hai, sounds great." Kaoru said blushing slightly as Kenshin tucked her arm around his.

By now the sun had set and the stars where out on what turned out to be a clear night. They had been walking for a while when Kenshin stopped, and moved to the edge of a field. As clear as the night was, and even though it was February, the fireflies where every where, coloring the night air with a green atmosphere.

"I have something to tell you. I've been putting it off for way to long, even before tonight." Kaoru said handing Kenshin her Valentine. "I love you Kenshin Himura. I've known you more than half of my life. No matter what age we were, you have always been there for me. You've stood up with me against the bullies, protected me, and listened to me. It started out as a crush, but as we grew, I looked at you differently. You weren't just the boy that was nice to me; you helped me become the person that I am today. You supported me, helped me become stronger, not only in physical strength, but in will and thought as well. You have been my best friend and more my entire life." Kaoru said. As she finished, she fell to her knees.

Kenshin had been re-reading her note as she finished. He carefully re-folded the Valentine, placing it in his sleeve of his gi, and sat down next to Kaoru.

He lifted her face to look into her eyes. There were tears in her eyes making the blue glisten even darker than the normal sapphire.

"Why are you crying?"

"I just can't believe what I just said. I've kept that in my heart so long. It's so funny, I thought it would feel empty once I told you, but it's the opposite. My heart is so full right now it feels like it will burst!" Kaoru finished, looking up at Kenshin. His eyes where a vibrant violet color that she had never seen before.

Kenshin leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. When he broke the kiss Kaoru blinked a few times. Kenshin smiled, kissed her quickly again.

"I love you." Kenshin said simply. "You were strong and brave before I met you. You might not have realized it, but you were. And I'll always be there for you when you need the support, as you have always supported me through the tough times. You've given me the strength and bravery to get through my own life as well. And beside loving you, I don't think I could have a better best friend." Kenshin told her.

"What about Sano and Aoshi?" Kaoru asked.

"I don't think I'd like kissing them. I'll leave that to Megumi and Misao." Kenshin said, laughing, kissing her gently on the cheek.

"Kenshin! That's not funny."

"Why? It's the truth. Out of all the women in the world, you were the one I fell in love with, not that I know all the women in the world, or would ever, but I choose you. I fell in love with you, and I will continue to love you." Kenshin said, kissing her once again and wiping away her tears. "Forever."

"And I will too." Kaoru said.

"Finally!" Kenshin said laughing, falling backwards onto the grass.

"Finally what?" Kaoru said, she was looking down at him from where she sat, the fireflies making the air around her glow. She looked like a goddess.

"It's the greatest feeling in the world telling the person you love that you love them." Kenshin said, pulling her down to rest her head on his shoulder. "You know that you looked like a goddess sitting like that. The glow around you, made you even more beautiful. I didn't think it was possible."

"Shh. I'm no where near looking like a goddess. Hai, yes it is. Love is a beautiful thing." Kaoru said, curling into his warmth more.