A/n: Hi everybody! Thanks for the great support you've shown this story. I'm surprised that you guys liked that last chapter because it was so short. But, because you guys all liked it so much, I'm trying to write better. I have no idea if this chapter will live up to the last one, but I hope it will at least give you something interesting to read, ne?
FYI: the first part of this chapter IS NOT a dream sequence. It's retelling Kenshin's angst at Sachi's sudden disappearance. In this story I will be switching a lot from 'past' (what happened before all this) to 'present past' (where the story is with Sachi) and 'present' (where we were at the first chapter of the story.) if something is a dream/flashback sequence I will so state, but for now, we're traveling through time a little.
'Divided Waters'Chapter Three:
They Need a Hero
By KatDrama
"Sachi!" Kenshin screamed his lungs out as he ran along the edge of the riverbank. He felt like his whole life, his whole worth was being drowned in the murky depths of some flooding river. His frantic eyes searched the surging waters, but no blonde head penetrated its surface. No sweet smiling face laughed and reverently told him that she was all right. No sweet smiling face would ever speak to him again. The young teenager would no longer be there for him to take care of. He reached out his hand and swiped at the air, as if to grasp her and hold on to her. But in his hands he held nothing and in his heart she had jerked away, leaving a gaping hole that he couldn't bring himself to fill.
His foot catching a rock, the little rurouni did an ungraceful dive into the earth before him. He spat out dirt and pebbles as he righted himself on his knees. His eyes remained focused on the treacherous river. He sat kneeling, dumbfounded at the fact. Could she...be gone? Sachi, the hearty, sweet, loving, kind, dependent blonde? It seemed overwhelming that how in an instant, 15 years can go down the drain, rendered to never again appear.
The once coldhearted killer felt his eyes becoming moist. Years and years had gone by since he had felt that feeling. With heart wrenching sobs of utter sadness, the former Hitokiri let it all out. The crystal droplets that had formed in his purple eyes toppled over each other as they ran a race down his scarred face. He shivered from the cold wind as the tears found their way to his open chest. Kenshin reached up a tender, quivering hand to wipe them away when it brushed against a hard object he had hidden within his shirt. Silently he reached within his gi and pulled out the small book with the strange writing.
His tear stricken eyes hovered upon the little book. It was the diary of Sachi's father, the man he had been condemned to kill so many years ago. A twist of fate, some might call it, that Sachi had asked him to find someone to translate the personal writings of someone he had murdered. Sachi...He could hear the footsteps of people running up behind him, but the once legendary manslayer cared not to turn around. He didn't need to. From the panicked voices calling to him he knew that Kaoru and Yahiko would soon be upon him. Sachi, you asked of me to translate this book. As your last request, I will not stop until I have fulfilled it. His tears rolled off of his steep chin and unto his white hakama.
"You're alive!" Sachi was jerked awake by the exclamation coming from a teenage girl that stood dumfounded in the doorway to the room. She didn't know how long she had drifted off but the supposed battle outside must have been over by then.
"Yeah..." Sachi moaned as she rolled her head so she could see the new visitor. The girl was small, not quite the size of Kaoru. Sachi supposed that she was no more than 13 years old. She wore a worn blue kimono that went down to about the length of her knobby knees. She had matted black hair and haunting brown eyes. Somehow, Sachi knew immediately that the girl belonged to the household in which she was laid up. Maybe the layers of dirt were a give off.
"Can you move?" The girl kneeled down on the dirty floor and studied the wounded person.
"Somewhat." Sachi managed to speak through clenched teeth as she tried to sit up.
"Hmm." The girl tenderly pushed her back to her mat. "Old Mrs. Tenuki, she used to be a midwife, you know, she came to look at you. She says that your shoulder is dislocated and that your leg is broken beyond fixing."
"What? What on earth happened?" Sachi closed her eyes tightly, hoping that it was just an awful dream and that she would wake up any minute. "Where am I?"
"Oh." The black haired girl smiled a bit as she rocked back on her heals. "My name is Sakura. I assume you've met my little brother Toshi?"
"Aw, the little brown haired kid? Yeah, I saw him. I am called Sachi." The blue-eyed teen looked up at the younger girl. "How...did I get here?"
"We found you in the river."
"How long have I been here?"
"Since this morning." The jet-black haired girl smiled brightly. "We thought you we're dead. How'd you end up in the river?"
"Long story..." Sachi moaned and rolled over again.
"Well, you're not going anywhere..." Sakura was starting to remind Sachi of a little spiky haired pest back at the dojo. Persistent little bug...she thought.
"You never answered my questions, so why should I answer yours?" She replied.
"Oh." Sakura blinked in surprise before breaking out into a smile again. "I'm sorry. I forgot. You're in our village!" She spread her lanky arms wide.
Inwardly Sachi rolled her eyes at the girl's incompetence. "And what village might that be?"
The 13-year-old pursed her lips and sat in deep concentration for a minute. "I...don't know. We're not a major town, just a rural gathering where people have built houses so they could farm the surrounding land. Everyone here is a farmer." She answered.
"Great." Sachi whished she could slam her head into a hard wall, but since she couldn't get up she settled with smacking herself with her good hand. "I'm stuck in a no-name village filled with incompetent farmers, God knows what injuries, no doctor, and to top it off, no way to defend myself!"
"Oh, that reminds me." Sakura stood and backed out of the room to return in a moment with a sword. "I...uh...borrowed your sakabato."
"Gimme that! It's not even mine! You had no right to take it!" Sachi snatched the weapon with her left arm.
Sakura pursed her lips and batted her eyelashes dangerously. "Then, why, might I ask, do you have it?" She smiled evilly.
"That's my business!" Sachi roared. "Now, would you help me up and show me the quickest way to back to Tokyo?!"
Sakura's eyes began to mist with tears and her little mouth hung agape.
"Hey, it's not that I don't like you, it's just, I have to get back home. Kenshin-kun and the others are probably worried sick by now!" Sachi tried to make the young teen feel better.
Sakura turned her back to the injured girl, her ratty black hair clinging to her sweaty face. "So...if what you say is true...you are not the wielder of the sword?" She hung her head and spoke in a low, melancholy voice.
"Yeah..." Sachi's eyebrows rose at the girl's sudden strange behavior. "What's it to you?"
The young woman turned back to face her captive...err...guest. "It's just...that we...I mean, everyone in this village, we were hoping you could help us. We have been looking for a great warrior to defeat the kaiten-gumi."
"Who are they?" Ignoring the triggered pain warnings from her body, Sachi pulled herself up to a sitting position, cradling her stiff right arm in her lap.
"They are a band of renegade samurai who are too lazy to find jobs or work in this new era of no swords. They terrorize the local villages and plunder all of our few precious belongings and food. They are weak cowards." Sakura's eyes found a new fire as her palms folded into fists. "They attack us while the men are out in the fields tending to the crops, leaving nothing but old women and children to stand in their way."
"Is that who you were fighting earlier?" Sakura had Sachi's full attention now. These poor farmers, they had barely enough to make a living for their families. Someone needed to stand up for them, even if it had to be her.
"Yes. We have devised a system: When they come to town we girls and children run out and storm them while someone sounds a gong, signaling for the men to return. But usually the thieves are gone by the time they return, for they are afraid to face someone who might actually defeat them."
"They sound really weak." Sachi summarized.
"Hai, most of them are just wannabes. But, there are a few among their ranks who are true fighters. Luckily for us, they do not wish to work alone, so when their clan flees, so do they."
"Tell me, Sakura. Is there any local healer that might be able to get my arm back into place? Are you sure that the lady said my leg was beyond fixing?" Sachi leaned forward, rubbing her dislocated arm tenderly, trying to get the blood flowing back into it.
"Well, when my father and brothers return from the fields tonight, one of them should be strong enough to get your arm back in it's socket. But Mrs. Tenuki says that you dislocated your knee, which normally would be fixable, but then your upper knee socket was crushed to tiny fragments of bone, so there is nothing to pop your knee joint back into."
Sachi winced. "So, my leg is going to be useless for life?"
"Something like that."
"Well, I'll just have to make the best of it if I am to defeat your renegade band of samurais now, won't I?" Sachi smiled through the pain.
Sakura's eyes lighted up like fireflies in a dark night. "You mean you will help us?"
"I will do everything in my power to stand against them."
"Oh, thank you! Arigatou! Arigatou! Arigatou!" Sakura grabbed Sachi and squeezed her tight.
"Ow...uh...ow...my...um...arm? You're...um...crushing it!" Sachi struggled to breathe through the tight embrace.
"Oh, sorry." Sakura quickly let go and the dazed blonde fell to her mat with a swirly look upon her face.
"Oh...that's okay...I quite enjoy the pain. Really...I do." She spoke wearily. To which Sakura giggled some more.
a/n: okay, I hope you guys at least grasp some of the main plot now: Kenshin is going to find someone to translate the diary. Sachi is going to help fight for this village. But mind you, there will be surprising twists along the way, (though, probably the least of which is that, yes, Sachi and the Kenshin-gumi will meet up again, but I'll leave you wondering as to how.) now plz review!
p.s. yes, I know, I used the name of the group of samurai from the end-of-voume special from volume one of the manga, (the Kaiten party) but I couldn't think of anything else to use becuase I don't know the japanese word for 'renegade' (which would have been preferable) and I couldn't find any other word (stupid online Jap to Eng dictionary. If you don't know how to spell it exactly right you won't find any matches . ) so, if you have any suggestions, i would like to hear them. I'm not sure if this band of samurai will turn out to actually BE the Kaiten party, so for right now, the Kaiten-gumi is just a renegade band of samurai, okay?