Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin or any of the characters in Rurouni Kenshin.

I'm sooooooooooo sorry! I've been meaning to update but school was really evil! And when summer came I simply forgot to update because I was lazy. Also, I've been having slight writer's block! I hope that all of you will forgive me and read this chapter!

Thank you so much Anonymous but Interested! You really helped me from running into a plot hole.

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful reviews, I didn't expect that many!

On to the next chapter!

Kaoru and Kenshin had been walking a few miles and neither of them had uttered a word. It was a cold cloudy morning and it made them a bit depressed. The night before Kenshin hadn't slept at all and had sat at the base of a tree while Kaoru took the blanket. She would have insisted again that he sleep with her but she felt that she didn't have the right at the moment. He probably hadn't talked to anyone about his mother in a while and Kaoru knew that she would probably make things worse. But she was determined to help him as soon as he was willing to talk to her!

With her new sense of determination she decided to put her thoughts on the prophesy.

'If Kenshin really is the 'Shinta' in the prophesy, who could the girl be? And what was that part about nobility?'

She knew the quickest way to find out about what the prophesy said would be to ask Kenshin, but she decided against it. Instead she went into intense concentration for a while and all of a sudden she remembered what it said and she got an idea! There was something in the prophesy that stated about nobility and that the two people in the prophesy supposedly didn't know about it! Maybe Kenshin was a royal and had no idea!

She had to admit though that in the beginning she was hoping to be the girl in the prophesy. But she already knew that she was part of the royal family so it kind of blew that one out of the water. Not that she could tell Kenshin of course.

But it did mean that there was some girl out there who could help Kenshin save the countries! Maybe she could help him find her! It would be an amazing adventure!

She made a little squeak of pleasure and Kenshin glanced sideways at her with a raised eyebrow. She blushed a little and looked away from him. She didn't want him to think that she didn't care about his feelings and only cared about the adventure and fulfilling the prophesy.

Hiko was at the dinner table and was impatiently tapping his utensils on his plate as he waited for his food. His hair was better now because Omasu had come that morning. But she had also discovered a gray hair and he wasn't the least bit happy about that.

But on a more serious matter was King Kamiya's condition. When the maid had come in to deliver the king's food, he could barely lift his head off the pillow. His condition was slowly deteriorating and Hiko didn't know how to help.

Hiko HATED not being in control! It reminded him too much of the fact that his wife had left him because of the illness. It also brought painful thoughts about how much he wanted her back.

Flashback:

"Seijuro Hiko! What is wrong with you?" A petite woman in dark purple robes yelled as she looked up at the man who towered a foot and a half above her.

He grunted and ignored her as he glared out the balcony.

She put her hands on her hips for a second and huffed. Hoshiko was not in the mood for his attitude. Sure they were in the middle of a war, but it was no reason to push her aside. Many nights she ended up crying herself to sleep, alone in a cold bed with out comfort when Hiko had been meeting the officials late into the night. She loved her husband and she didn't want to be selfish, but there was an extent of how much patience she could have. The matter she wanted to discuss with him was dire and she really wanted him to pay attention.

He grunted again but he grudgingly turned towards her. He could tell that if he didn't turn around, she would get upset and he hated to see pain in her eyes.

"What are we going to do about Sakura?"

"Who?"

"Don't pretend you don't know her, Seijuro! My sister deserves as much or more respect then me! She's a royal too! She just happened to fall in love with a man who didn't have noble blood!"

Hiko snorted, "But he was a commoner! That Ryu man dragged her down with him! The family line is more important then love!"

Tears started to form in Hoshiko's eyes. "Does that mean you don't love me? Does that mean you only married me because of my decent?"

Hiko immediately felt guilty and tried to pull her into his arms. "Darling, I didn't mean that."

She pushed away. "So if you're saying that if I didn't have royal blood, you wouldn't marry me?"

"You're being impossible! That's an entirely different situation! Your sister ran away even though she knew how dangerous it was! It's already risky with her being a princess; but running away when you're a seer too is just foolhardy!"

"It doesn't matter! She didn't care about herself! She loved him!" The moonlight sparkled off her raven hair as she stood on her tiptoes in an effect to look more intimidating.

If anyone besides his wife had dared to backtalk him like this, they would have been sent into the dungeons for a month. But something about her that made him go weak in the knees. Five months after they were first married, the nurse found out that she would be unable to produce children because of an illness she had contacted a year ago that was hard for her small body to fight. He could have easily divorced her and married another woman, but he loved her too much.

When she had gotten the news she collapsed and started to sob uncontrollably. He took her up into his arms and promised to always be by her side. He also promised her that he didn't care if he had an heir to the throne, as long as he had her. He had held her shivering tiny body and hugged her wishing only to make her happy.

He loved her so much.

She might have had a small appearance, but she certainly had a fire in her that could match the strongest warriors in the country. The passion in her eyes was always bright and brilliant and he usually found it quite funny when she got hyped up. Along with her fierceness, she had a very moral way of thinking. Whenever there was someone who had stolen from the castle garden he would ask her what the punishment would be and she always seemed to give a fair ruling. She was his rock and he wanted to stay in her arms forever.

End of flashback

He felt sharp pains whenever he thought back about his wife. She was gone and the fact that Kenshin was gone, the only thing of his wife's that was left, made him more uneasy.

Kaoru was happy that her leg was finally starting to feel better. At the beginning of the day she had to beg Kenshin to let her walk by herself, but now Kenshin was leaving her alone about it and the screaming pain had lessened to a dull ache. Now it seemed that she would finally be able to enjoy this journey!

She sighed happily and glanced at Kenshin who looked like he was about to collapse. She didn't blame him because of his lack of sleep. He probably thought that she would think he was weak, but she was proud of him! She could only hope that the other person involved in the prophesy would see this. Kaoru had sworn to protect him after all.

Kaoru suddenly realized something, 'What if this girl falls in love with him and he falls in love with her?' Kaoru shook her head 'No that wouldn't happen! Besides, why should I care? I mean…' She was cut off by a soft voice beside her.

"We're almost there."

She turned her head and looked at Kenshin, whose hair was shadowing his eyes.

"How do you know?"

He stopped walking and pointed at a sign that was slightly camouflaged by some bushes. It said there was two more miles to the nearest town.

"Oh," She murmured quietly. She knew that this was going to be the last time she and Kenshin would probably have any time alone together for a while.

'Stop thinking like that! Who cares if you aren't going to be alone with him again! It doesn't matter! And you shouldn't enjoy being alone with a man! That's completely improper! You've only known him for a few days anyway. Besides you'll see him in the town, he told you that he was going to another restaurant in the town to look for a possible job!'

She shook her head and looked back to him, "Well, I guess our journey is almost over!" She said in a chipper tone, somewhat imitating Misao.

He looked up at her for the first time in a couple hours and gave her a smile, "The walking part of the journeys over, but starting a new life is a journey in itself."

She felt a slight fluttering feeling in her stomach by the way Kenshin smiled and the soft hypnotizing quality of his voice. She blushed slightly and nodded, completely jealous of the girl in the prophesy. She felt uncomfortable by the sudden silence and started to talk.

"You know, I bet there's a girl whose out there who is supposed to fulfill the prophesy but she doesn't even know it. She's probably a member of the royal family and she's just living an ordinary life. I personally think she's lucky. I don't know about you, but I think that it would be hard being part of royalty. Whatever the royal family does could drastically change the country, even if it's just a little decision. So she's lucky to grow up in an ordinary life." Kaoru couldn't help having a look of longing in her eyes and they continued walking.

"I agree," Kenshin replied as he wiped some sweat from his brow and looked straight ahead at the road which was taking them closer and closer to a more urban area. "But I'm not sure if I'm the person in the prophesy."

Kaoru shook her head vigorously. "But you could be! You could have royal connections and not know it! That could have been another reason why your mother was hiding!" Kaoru put her hand over her mouth and realized that she had said too much.

Kenshin held his tongue. He couldn't tell her that he already knew he was royalty, so he told her it was okay and he let her ramble on.

When they came upon the town Kaoru stopped talking about her theory and stared at the village with her a stunned expression on her face. She had never been to a town before! She was either at the castle or, if she was traveling, the group would make sure they avoided all the towns. She saw people at booths yelling at passers about their products. There were small children in raggedy clothes who were playing tag and running behind their mother's legs when they were about to get caught.

Kaoru smiled. The people here looked so genuine! They didn't look snobbish in the slightest. She turned to Kenshin and she saw a pained expression on his face when he looked at the children. Her heart sank as she realized this probably made him want his mother back. Before she could say anything comforting he spoke up.

"Look, there's the Aoiya." He pointed at a rather large structure that had a sign with the word 'Aoiya' painted on it.

Kenshin and Kaoru walked up to the building slowly and they entered through a flap. A tall woman with long silky brunette hair and a simple brown dress approached the two and she quickly recited, "Welcome to the Aoiya! We have the best food on the border! We..." Kaoru cut her off.

"Actually I was looking for someone here."

The woman's expression changed and she gave the two an evil glare. "Why would you want to see anyone here?"

Before Kaoru could answer Misao came bounding down the stairs and looked from the woman to Kaoru. "Ochika, this was the woman I was talking about! The one I found in the woods!"

Ochika's expression gentled and she gave Kaoru an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, Miss. But you can never be too careful."

"Oh it's okay!" Kaoru replied grinning. She glanced at Kenshin to see what he was doing and she saw that he was looking at Misao, who had stepped closer to him and was looking him up and down.

"Hello, Miss Misao. I'm a friend of Miss Kaoru's."

Misao stepped back; stunned. "How did you know my name?" She reached into her pocket of her restaurant uniform and pulled out a knife.

Kenshin stepped back a bit shocked, "Miss Kaoru told me!"

Misao looked at Kaoru with a dangerous look in her eyes. "Did you tell him about me?"

Kaoru was a bit scared. "Y-yes. I told him. Is that okay?"

Misao broke into a huge grin and cheerfully said. "Oh that's okay! As long as you didn't tell him I was a ninja, I'm fine!"

"Misao!" Ochika snapped and Misao put a hand over her mouth.

"It's okay, Miss Misao. I won't tell." Kenshin smiled gently at the short girl. "But I would really like it if you showed me were the Akabeko is"

Misao smiled back and pointed to the left. "It's the small restaurant beside us! It's not as good as the Aoiya, but it does have some pretty good dishes there!"

"Thank you," Kenshin bowed and left the room.

Misao watched him leave and then she looked up at Kaoru. "Who was he?"

"His name is Kenshin. I met him on the road shortly after I met you. I hurt my ankle and he helped me get here. He's a runaway too."

Misao stared at her critically for a second and then she finally said, "You like him. Don't you?"

Kaoru was taken aback. "Where did you get that idea?"

"The way you talked about him is completely different then when you talk about anything else. I can tell these things, I'm a ninja after all!"

Ochika rolled her eyes and went off muttering something about 'stupid girls who don't know how to keep their mouths shut'.

Kaoru was about to retaliate to Misao's comment when Kenshin and a small girl came into the room again. The girl seemed to be a tour guide Kenshin's tour guide.

"This is the Aoiya," she mumbled in a small voice, "It's another restaurant. That's Miss Misao. Miss Ochika is the one who's serving the customer. And Sir Shuro is the one who…"

Before she could continue a huge smirk spread across Misao's face. "Oh little Yahiko! Guess who's here!" She yelled up the stairs.

"Shut up!" A voice came from the top of the stairs. The owner of the voice came stomping down the stairs and when he reached the bottom he looked at Misao and shouted, "Why the hell do you have to call me little all the time?"

Kaoru looked at the boy and realized that there was something familiar about him. He was short and had spiky hair that she knew that she'd seen before!

"Your girlfriend is here! You don't want to be rude to her do you?" Misao said teasingly.

Yahiko looked around the room and turned red when he saw Tsubame who was already as crimson as Kenshin's hair. He was about to reply when his eyes suddenly fell on Kaoru.

They stared at each other. Then a second later Kaoru realized were she had seen him before! He was the boy who had attacked her traveling group on the way to Azuna!

Yahiko must have realized it too because they both shouted one word:

"You!"

I hope you liked the chapter! It took me a while to finish! I was going to go further but I thought that this would be a better place to leave off. If you're a bit confused about Kaoru and Yahiko's first meeting go back and reread the first chapter, it's in there!

Also, since I can't put review replies in the story anymore I'm going to put it on my livejournal. Go to my biopage and it's under my homepage. I'll try to update it the second I read the review!

Please review! It really helps! My goal is 70 next time!