::grin:: Don't you just love plot bunny visits? Only I wish mine had not
come when it had. At my meet this Saturday when it was raining and I was
being turned into a human icicle ::makes mental note to ALWAYS bring a
blanket to her meets:: and I could only scribble my idea on my notebook
super quickly because I had to race in twenty minutes and had only a second
to spare before starting my warm-up.
Race turned out fabulously though - EVERY ONE of my teammates finished in the Top Twenty Five in ALL of our races!! I got 17th in my race and had a PR (Personal Record) ::is still quite happy:: Fresh-Soph ended up 4th and Varsity ended up 5th. So we were all psyched when it ended and more than happy with ourselves. Our coaches were glowing I think about half of us had PR's which made it extra sweet ^.^ ::waves her ribbon around proudly::
~LadyShiin
~*~
The shadows reached out with cool fingers to touch her cheek. They slide gently through her unbound hair and trailed across her close eyes.
Kaoru floated knowing only pain and darkness, behind her closed lids was darkness and if she had opened her eyes there would only be even more darkness.
A tight headachy feeling had settled around her temples. One that was not unlike the feeling of suppressed tears.
Leave me alone, she wanted to say to the persistent shadow-hands and dark- fingers. Maybe she did say it, maybe she did not, and there was no way of knowing exactly.
The fingers tapped hard across her cheek and it strung like she had just been slapped forcefully. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes and trickled down her cheeks and face.
Another painful tap. More tears.
"Open your eyes little one." It was the shadow-woman.
"No," Kaoru replied. "I don't want to see anymore."
The shadow-woman gave a sigh. "Foolish child that one is. Showing you things that were better left unseen. Distort, she will. Change fate she tries to. For good or ill I do not know."
"What kind of place have I been brought to?" Kaoru wondered aloud eyes still tightly shut. "The dead and half-alive roam about as though they are the living themselves, I'm surrounded in mystery upon mystery."
"That you are." The shadow-woman agreed. "Mystery upon mystery, secrets and secrets, much is hidden; slowly it all shall be revealed."
"I never asked for this."
"Do not sulk! Child you may be, do not give action to your age!" The shadow- woman's voice was sharp. "Open your eyes and confront what you wish to avoid!" it was a command, one to be obeyed.
Tentatively Kaoru opened her eyes. The darkness had disappeared to be replaced by a bright colorless light one not unlike the glow of magic Enishi had produced. No, colorless was not the word to use for it was anything but colorless. Rather it seemed to be made up of every color all melded into one."
Silhouetted by the light was a woman, the shadow-woman, Kaoru realized. She seemed to be a part of the colorless light. A physical embodiment of it.
She was tall, taller than Kaoru by a good few inches and willowy slender. Her eyes were colorless like the light and yet full of color at the same time. They reflected eth colors back like prisms and as she watched Kaoru caught flickers of sage and purple and silver and blue in her eyes.
She had an elegant face, a strong face with high cheekbones and a facial structure that could not quite be called delicate. Her hair hung loose about her shoulders the same color of her eyes and rainbows flickered and flashed in the strands. Her hair was longer than Kaoru's falling well past her hips in gentle waves.
A kimono of a color Kaoru had never seen before adorned her body. It was almost silver, yet too pale to accurately called silver. Her bare feet peaked out from under the hem as pale as the rest of her. Around her hands were many threads in a rainbow of colors, wrapped akin to bandages. Kaoru could see her blue thread and the gold and silver and plum one entangled among the ones she held. They trailed several feet back to the loom that stood behind them like a sentinel and became a part of the tapestry that was being woven.
"Who are you?" Kaoru asked.
The woman smiled gently. "I have many names in many tongues. You may call be whatever you wish."
"Shulya," Kaoru murmured. In her own tongue it could be translated as 'prism' or 'crystal' - it was the first thing that sprang to mind and described her perfectly.
Shulya inclined her head slightly, her hair failing forward with the movement to veil her face.
Kaoru smiled in turn.
"No more hiding little one." Shulya said reprovingly. "You have only gotten a glimpse and more is to come. If you are so overwhelmed so easily then I fear for you in the time that is to come."
"I'm not hiding nor running away!" Kaoru's temper sparked. "I'm not a coward!"
"Coward si not what you are. You are just naïve and unsure. Braver than most are you," Shulya soothed.
"I just wish I knew what was going on." Kaoru muttered.
"In time little one. Everything, good and bad shall come in time."
"Time, time, always time." Kaoru sighed. "But when will it _be_ time?"
"That I cannot say and you must not know. "Shulya said gently. She suddenly cocked her head in a curiously birdlike movement. "Time for you to go it is. We shall be meeting again soon."
The colorless light dimmed and faded to darkness and the dream ended.
~*~
A low flickering lamp burned near her, throwing shadows and muted light onto the wall. She was in a tent Kaoru realized after a moment of disorientation. ]
It was probably Kenshin's.
Theirs.
But how had she gotten here? She wondered. The last thing she remembered was being sent to fetch some water. and Tomoe. and then the dream of Tomoe's death by Kenshin's hand.
No it was not a dream, Kaoru amended. It was a memory. Something that had once occurred. Something that had really happened.
Slowly she became conscious of people speaking outside the tent. They had spoke too fast for Kaoru - with her limited grasp and understanding of the language - to correctly make out the words but she knew who was speaking: Kenshin, Enishi and Tomoe.
Not so much Tomoe but mostly Enishi and Kenshin. Every so often she would inject a word or two here and there in a low voice. From the sound of the way Enishi and Kenshin were speaking it seemed they were having an argument.
Suddenly their voices halted and all Kaoru could hear was silence. They had not moved away from the tent for she had heard no sound of them leaving where stood. They had just stopped speaking for a moment.
Then Enishi spoke once more, slow enough for Kaoru to understand though his words made her confusion only grow and not lessen.
"You know this had to be done Battousai."
Kenshin said a word in reply that Kaoru did not recognize, it sounded like a curse.
Enishi laughed in reply.
"Time is growing short." Tomoe murmured in her soft silvery voice.
"I know that," Kenshin snapped.
Perhaps it was Kenshin's annoyance that made Kaoru's heart tighten in fear. He was always so in control of his emotions, the fact that his control was slipping meant that something had to be wrong. What could be the cause of all of this?
Another thing tickled at the back of her mind. The mention of time.. Time is growing short Tomoe had said. someone else had spoken of time.. Time is growing short. Things shall come in time. Good things or bad things?
Slowly she got to her feet and padded over to the door. Peering between the flap of cloth that covered it Kaoru could make out the shadowed forms of Kenshin, Tomoe and Enishi standing together.
Kenshin's head whipped toward her, his eyes glowing eerily in the semi- darkness that surrounded the trio. A not quite unfamiliar feeling formed in Kaoru's stomach. Distance. But this feeling of distance was slightly different than the homesick distance she had been suffering from - a feeling of not quite belonging that was reasonable given the current circumstances.
That distance had stemmed from being thrust into an unfamiliar place with no idea of what to expect. This sort of distance was different. It was the feeling of being left out on a great secret. One that everyone else knew the answer to but her.
Kaoru found that she hated it.
She pushed the flap of back and walked out from the tent towards them. Enishi and Tomoe had followed Kenshin's gaze and were watching her come. Cool indifference in turquoise eyes and vacant emptiness in brown.
"Kaoru," Tomoe murmured lowly as she approached them. It was more of an acknowledgement than a true hello or greeting.
"Tomoe, Enishi. Kenshin," Kaoru greeted each one in turn suddenly feeling she had stepped into a puddle only to find it was a lake and she had begun to be sucked into its hidden depths and drowned slowly. She shook it off and forced a strained smile.
"We did not mean to wake you," Tomoe's eyes did not quite seem to see her. "I apologize for it."
Kaoru ducked her head unsure of how to respond.
"I imagine you became curious as to what we are discussing." Enishi's expression was almost bitter.
"I admit that I am," Kaoru said honestly. Talking with him was like stepping on eggshells and trying to not make them crack beneath one's feet. Somewhat unnerving and making her feel disturbingly off center. She wasn't sure exactly how to speak to him.
"It's to be expected," Tomoe murmured. "For the part only you are able to play is drawing close.
"Only me?"
"Only you," Tomoe confirmed. A ghost of a smile flitted across her face. "But first you must learn and understand." She paused for a moment. "Walk with me if you would."
Hesitantly Kaoru nodded.
~*~
Tomoe moved lightly beside her, seeming more to float than actually stride above the ground - a manner not unlike Enishi's own way of movement. Kaoru was reminded of deer as she looked at her. Graceful and serene yet with a hidden quickness that could be surprising.
Tomoe had her hands folded together in the long sleeves of her kimono. Head bowed demurely her eyes looking ahead of her. Kaoru felt suddenly self- conscious, bumbling and awkward and clumsy and oh so very confused.
"You must have many questions."
That was an understatement. "Yes, many," Kaoru agreed softly.
"Would you like me to explain what I showed you?" Tomoe offered.
"If you would," Kaoru chewed her lower lip nervously.
"His name was Akira." Tomoe began. "He was the most important person to me other than Enishi that is. Enishi is my brother I've raised him ever since our parents died when he was very young. I loved Akira and he loved me as well. We were to be married. but such things were not to occur." She paused lifting her face skyward her eyes on the cloud dotted sky.
"A village near to the one we lived in was attacked and Akira went with the other men to help defend it against the bandits. He was killed in the fighting." Tomoe's voice took on a trace of sorrow. "He was killed." She murmured once more. "But he would not allow himself to die."
"What do you mean?' Kaoru asked.
"What do I mean by that?' Tomoe asked.
Kaoru nodded.
"In this land. there are many things..things that has fallen into myth and legend, story and song in your own land. Tales to be told around a winter fire I suppose. The usage of magic has waned in your own land, yet it still remains in our own one here. Not as prevalent as it once was I'm afraid but it still exists where it has all but died out in your old home." Tomoe's face was pensive. "That lack of magic will be something that shall hinder us in the time that is to come."
The time that is to come.
The words hung like a banner before Kaoru's eyes and she felt a chill run down her spine as Tomoe uttered those words. She had heard them before. they sounded too familiar for her to not have heard them before.
"What else besides the dwindling of magic?" Kaoru asked sensing Tomoe was not done.
"Creatures exist here that the people in Kasshin have either turned to myth if they even believe they existed at all, demons, the soulless walking dead..The half-souls that live in a shadowed world, breve-saol.Enishi and I." A smile flickered across her features. "Your people would run screaming from the both of us if they ever knew what we are or attempt to kill us once more."
"Kill you once more?" Kaoru questioned.
"I showed you of my death. but I will get to that later." Tomoe said dismissively. "The first and most important above all else for you to know is that Demons do exist." She had stopped walking and Kaoru had unconsciously mimicked her. Brown eyes held a sharpness she had not seen before bored into her own.
Kaoru nodded her mouth suddenly dry.
"They exist. They have always existed since the beginning of time and the dawn of consciousness for man. They will probably exist far longer than man shall." Tomoe shook her head. "That is a possibility, but one I hope to never see being played out." She blinked then as if gathering her thoughts. "Once. a very, very long time ago Demons roamed the world, Hiten.Kasshin. every country they inhabited. They destroyed and killed and set the world to flame. Humans were enslaved the few left alive were resisting futilely. It seemed lost." Her eyes turned vague as recited the story to Kaoru.
"You speak as if you were actually there." Kaoru murmured.
"One does not have to live at a certain time in order to be able to sympathize and understand what was happening to the people at that time." Tomoe said softly.
Kaoru ducked her head suddenly feeling like a reprimanded child.
Tomoe's eyes were understanding and her lips lifted slightly at the ends. Kaoru met her eyes and grinned ruefully.
"How was the world saved?"
"By a man by the name of Seijuurou Hiko.. He led an assault on the Demon's stronghold and managed to defeat the leader, a Demon by the name of Shishio. They dueled for six days and seven nights and on the dawn of the seventh day Hiko finally defeated him by pushing him back into the Demon's Realm and binding him there. He is also the founder of the Royal Line of Hiten." Tomoe murmured as if an after thought.
"Every one of the Kings bearing the name of Seijuurou Hiko - except Kenshin; when he won the Leadership battle he did not change his name to the one that was custom."
"Megumi told me about him." Kaoru murmured.
"I thought she would." Tomoe said musingly. "There is something more you should know. The reason you may say for you're being here. In our land there is a Prophecy. One of the Seers that lived long ago in the aftermath of the Demon's War foretold of it:
The Least shall become Most
Common Pain shall bind their Hearts
Sorrow Will Strengthen
Love Shall Bloom like a Flower in the Midst of Darkness
Gold and Violet Will Merge
As the Demons Rise
They Alone Shall Stand Against Them."
Kaoru felt her throat close up as Tomoe recited the Prophecy. "So this is the reason for my being here? I'm a part of some sort of prophecy?"
"Yes," Tomoe nodded sharply. "Parts of it have already come true even as we speak or are about to. Do you wish to know which parts?"
"I think I already know," Kaoru murmured.
"The Least Shall Become Most." Tomoe's voice took on a singsong quality. "Kenshin and you - both bastard children, both despised. The Least of your Lineage. Kenshin became Most by defeating his brothers in the Leadership Battle. You became Most when you were sent here and married to him."
"Yes." Kaoru could say nothing else.
"Common Pain Shall Bind Their Hearts." Her eyes flickered over Kaoru in an assessing manner. "You I feel are not the innocent you appear to be. There is a darkness to you that is mirrored in Kenshin. A pain, a hurt and a wound that refuses to heal no matter how hard to you try to lock it away and hide it from your very self."
Kaoru had turned pale as Tomoe spoke. "What do you know of me? How do you know of this?"
"How do I know of the past that you deny?" Tomoe questioned. "One does not always see with their eyes Kaoru. I have been observing you even before you stepped into my land. I have seen what you wish to forget and keep away from you. What memories you banished... You and Kenshin are very much alike."
"Was it you then?" Kaoru asked. "Was it you that brought me here?"
"Yes," Tomoe tilted her head to regard her. "I was the one who advised Kenshin to have you brought here. I knew your family would send you and only you."
"Of course they would send only me." Kaoru's tone was bitter. "I'm Tainted."
"Only Tainted in their eyes Kaoru.only in their eyes," Tomoe's voice was soft and consoling.
"Thank you," Kaoru murmured, grasping onto the words and reassurance that Tomoe offered. "Thank you so very much."
"You're welcome," a smile flitted across her face.
Silence stretched between them for several moments, a comforting companionable silence that Kaoru found herself cherishing.
"You never finished your story about Akira." She said breaking the silence reluctantly.
"It is a tale for another day." Tomoe replied. "Besides you already know the most of it and how it turned out."
"I still don't understand though," Kaoru ventured. "I still don't understand exactly how you became breve-saol."
"It is actually quite simple: Enishi gave up half his soul to keep me alive. We are two people but essentially one soul - a half-soul that is not quite complete and while we are living we do not live in the true sense since we are both half alive and half dead."
"Neither one nor the other."
"Precisely."
"And the difference with Akira?"
"He was truly dead. He only gave up his soul and let a demon possess it to keep it animated and in his thoughts 'living'."
"I am sorry, you loved him."
"Yes I did love him," Tomoe replied. "But I also loved him enough to know he had to die - he could not keep existing as he was and he truly would not wish to continue that way. That hardest thing is to love and then let the person you love go because you know it is for their best intentions Kaoru. I hope you never have to do what I did."
"So do I." Kaoru said gravely her blue eyes serious as she pondered the words.
"I also hope that we will be friends." Tomoe ventured.
A smile spread across Kaoru's face as she looked at the other woman. "I hope the same Tomoe."
"Friends we shall be." Tomoe said simply her brown eyes lighter than Kaoru had ever seen them.
"Yes." Kaoru agreed.
~*~
Ryu Sachiko Sama: Couldn't be more in agreement ::waves a Tomoe Neutral flag::
Sessha: ::beams:: I try to be different - being sane and being normal is vastly overrated. Honestly I think I'm neither.
Hikari No Kodomo: You can stop waiting here's more! ^.~
Punky1: This story won't be over for a LONG time ::ticks off stuff to do on fingers:: get romance developing, insert MAJOR plot twists, insert more MAJOR plot, introduce bad guy(s) officially, add some character development. the list goes on and on.
I Won't Tell: Nope ^.^
KawaiiChica: ::hugs:: Glad you enjoy it.
Crystal Renee: My life in a nutshell: school, anime (mostly RK), writing (RK fanfiction), Cross Country, Horses.
Gracianekko: Unfortunately for you this chapter will probably raise even more questions especially concerning Kaoru ::grin::
Poppy2: Correct guesses: 1,2,3 Wrong Guess: 4 - no Romantic Relationship with Kenshin ^.^ Kaoru gets him all to herself (aside from sharing occasionally with drooling fangirls like me LOL)
EnjeruJoshin: Nope no romantic relationship between Tomoe and Kenshin. Yes Enishi did turn Tomoe into a breve-saol while making himself into one as well. I actually got breve from the musical term which is "half."
Jaganshi-Summoner: Updated ::grin::
Sarah: ::is floored:: Lord of the Rings?? O.O ::is honored::
Miya-chan3: Updated ^.~
Ferai: ::wades through plot:: Thick plot! I just made it thicker! Kaoru's attitude will seem more like the one everyone knows and loves - once we get into more of the action scenes currently she's too confused and out of balance to act normally.
HeavensTear: ::waves Kenshin-Kaoru flag::
Pia Bartolini: ::offers new chapter with a side of s'mores and brownies:: ^.^ Arigatou!!
Ixchen: No more waiting! ::grin::
Oyuki: Brand new chapter coming right up! ::shouts like a waitress::
Irksome One: Thanks! ^.^
Aniall4: Tomoe questions have been explained (hopefully) and don't worry Kaoru has no competition for Kenshin's heart here ::tries to look innocent:: Mostly anyway.
Hitokiri-miao miao: Hope your dream questions have been answered ^.^
The Girl Who Cried Oro: ^.^ hopefully you now know the answers to the ones raised in the last chapter - this one has a bunch of new ones ready to confuzzle you.
JML: ^.^
CurlsofSerenity: ^,.^ Love the Gollum impression. I'm a Lord of the Rings Addict hehe ^.^
Race turned out fabulously though - EVERY ONE of my teammates finished in the Top Twenty Five in ALL of our races!! I got 17th in my race and had a PR (Personal Record) ::is still quite happy:: Fresh-Soph ended up 4th and Varsity ended up 5th. So we were all psyched when it ended and more than happy with ourselves. Our coaches were glowing I think about half of us had PR's which made it extra sweet ^.^ ::waves her ribbon around proudly::
~LadyShiin
~*~
The shadows reached out with cool fingers to touch her cheek. They slide gently through her unbound hair and trailed across her close eyes.
Kaoru floated knowing only pain and darkness, behind her closed lids was darkness and if she had opened her eyes there would only be even more darkness.
A tight headachy feeling had settled around her temples. One that was not unlike the feeling of suppressed tears.
Leave me alone, she wanted to say to the persistent shadow-hands and dark- fingers. Maybe she did say it, maybe she did not, and there was no way of knowing exactly.
The fingers tapped hard across her cheek and it strung like she had just been slapped forcefully. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes and trickled down her cheeks and face.
Another painful tap. More tears.
"Open your eyes little one." It was the shadow-woman.
"No," Kaoru replied. "I don't want to see anymore."
The shadow-woman gave a sigh. "Foolish child that one is. Showing you things that were better left unseen. Distort, she will. Change fate she tries to. For good or ill I do not know."
"What kind of place have I been brought to?" Kaoru wondered aloud eyes still tightly shut. "The dead and half-alive roam about as though they are the living themselves, I'm surrounded in mystery upon mystery."
"That you are." The shadow-woman agreed. "Mystery upon mystery, secrets and secrets, much is hidden; slowly it all shall be revealed."
"I never asked for this."
"Do not sulk! Child you may be, do not give action to your age!" The shadow- woman's voice was sharp. "Open your eyes and confront what you wish to avoid!" it was a command, one to be obeyed.
Tentatively Kaoru opened her eyes. The darkness had disappeared to be replaced by a bright colorless light one not unlike the glow of magic Enishi had produced. No, colorless was not the word to use for it was anything but colorless. Rather it seemed to be made up of every color all melded into one."
Silhouetted by the light was a woman, the shadow-woman, Kaoru realized. She seemed to be a part of the colorless light. A physical embodiment of it.
She was tall, taller than Kaoru by a good few inches and willowy slender. Her eyes were colorless like the light and yet full of color at the same time. They reflected eth colors back like prisms and as she watched Kaoru caught flickers of sage and purple and silver and blue in her eyes.
She had an elegant face, a strong face with high cheekbones and a facial structure that could not quite be called delicate. Her hair hung loose about her shoulders the same color of her eyes and rainbows flickered and flashed in the strands. Her hair was longer than Kaoru's falling well past her hips in gentle waves.
A kimono of a color Kaoru had never seen before adorned her body. It was almost silver, yet too pale to accurately called silver. Her bare feet peaked out from under the hem as pale as the rest of her. Around her hands were many threads in a rainbow of colors, wrapped akin to bandages. Kaoru could see her blue thread and the gold and silver and plum one entangled among the ones she held. They trailed several feet back to the loom that stood behind them like a sentinel and became a part of the tapestry that was being woven.
"Who are you?" Kaoru asked.
The woman smiled gently. "I have many names in many tongues. You may call be whatever you wish."
"Shulya," Kaoru murmured. In her own tongue it could be translated as 'prism' or 'crystal' - it was the first thing that sprang to mind and described her perfectly.
Shulya inclined her head slightly, her hair failing forward with the movement to veil her face.
Kaoru smiled in turn.
"No more hiding little one." Shulya said reprovingly. "You have only gotten a glimpse and more is to come. If you are so overwhelmed so easily then I fear for you in the time that is to come."
"I'm not hiding nor running away!" Kaoru's temper sparked. "I'm not a coward!"
"Coward si not what you are. You are just naïve and unsure. Braver than most are you," Shulya soothed.
"I just wish I knew what was going on." Kaoru muttered.
"In time little one. Everything, good and bad shall come in time."
"Time, time, always time." Kaoru sighed. "But when will it _be_ time?"
"That I cannot say and you must not know. "Shulya said gently. She suddenly cocked her head in a curiously birdlike movement. "Time for you to go it is. We shall be meeting again soon."
The colorless light dimmed and faded to darkness and the dream ended.
~*~
A low flickering lamp burned near her, throwing shadows and muted light onto the wall. She was in a tent Kaoru realized after a moment of disorientation. ]
It was probably Kenshin's.
Theirs.
But how had she gotten here? She wondered. The last thing she remembered was being sent to fetch some water. and Tomoe. and then the dream of Tomoe's death by Kenshin's hand.
No it was not a dream, Kaoru amended. It was a memory. Something that had once occurred. Something that had really happened.
Slowly she became conscious of people speaking outside the tent. They had spoke too fast for Kaoru - with her limited grasp and understanding of the language - to correctly make out the words but she knew who was speaking: Kenshin, Enishi and Tomoe.
Not so much Tomoe but mostly Enishi and Kenshin. Every so often she would inject a word or two here and there in a low voice. From the sound of the way Enishi and Kenshin were speaking it seemed they were having an argument.
Suddenly their voices halted and all Kaoru could hear was silence. They had not moved away from the tent for she had heard no sound of them leaving where stood. They had just stopped speaking for a moment.
Then Enishi spoke once more, slow enough for Kaoru to understand though his words made her confusion only grow and not lessen.
"You know this had to be done Battousai."
Kenshin said a word in reply that Kaoru did not recognize, it sounded like a curse.
Enishi laughed in reply.
"Time is growing short." Tomoe murmured in her soft silvery voice.
"I know that," Kenshin snapped.
Perhaps it was Kenshin's annoyance that made Kaoru's heart tighten in fear. He was always so in control of his emotions, the fact that his control was slipping meant that something had to be wrong. What could be the cause of all of this?
Another thing tickled at the back of her mind. The mention of time.. Time is growing short Tomoe had said. someone else had spoken of time.. Time is growing short. Things shall come in time. Good things or bad things?
Slowly she got to her feet and padded over to the door. Peering between the flap of cloth that covered it Kaoru could make out the shadowed forms of Kenshin, Tomoe and Enishi standing together.
Kenshin's head whipped toward her, his eyes glowing eerily in the semi- darkness that surrounded the trio. A not quite unfamiliar feeling formed in Kaoru's stomach. Distance. But this feeling of distance was slightly different than the homesick distance she had been suffering from - a feeling of not quite belonging that was reasonable given the current circumstances.
That distance had stemmed from being thrust into an unfamiliar place with no idea of what to expect. This sort of distance was different. It was the feeling of being left out on a great secret. One that everyone else knew the answer to but her.
Kaoru found that she hated it.
She pushed the flap of back and walked out from the tent towards them. Enishi and Tomoe had followed Kenshin's gaze and were watching her come. Cool indifference in turquoise eyes and vacant emptiness in brown.
"Kaoru," Tomoe murmured lowly as she approached them. It was more of an acknowledgement than a true hello or greeting.
"Tomoe, Enishi. Kenshin," Kaoru greeted each one in turn suddenly feeling she had stepped into a puddle only to find it was a lake and she had begun to be sucked into its hidden depths and drowned slowly. She shook it off and forced a strained smile.
"We did not mean to wake you," Tomoe's eyes did not quite seem to see her. "I apologize for it."
Kaoru ducked her head unsure of how to respond.
"I imagine you became curious as to what we are discussing." Enishi's expression was almost bitter.
"I admit that I am," Kaoru said honestly. Talking with him was like stepping on eggshells and trying to not make them crack beneath one's feet. Somewhat unnerving and making her feel disturbingly off center. She wasn't sure exactly how to speak to him.
"It's to be expected," Tomoe murmured. "For the part only you are able to play is drawing close.
"Only me?"
"Only you," Tomoe confirmed. A ghost of a smile flitted across her face. "But first you must learn and understand." She paused for a moment. "Walk with me if you would."
Hesitantly Kaoru nodded.
~*~
Tomoe moved lightly beside her, seeming more to float than actually stride above the ground - a manner not unlike Enishi's own way of movement. Kaoru was reminded of deer as she looked at her. Graceful and serene yet with a hidden quickness that could be surprising.
Tomoe had her hands folded together in the long sleeves of her kimono. Head bowed demurely her eyes looking ahead of her. Kaoru felt suddenly self- conscious, bumbling and awkward and clumsy and oh so very confused.
"You must have many questions."
That was an understatement. "Yes, many," Kaoru agreed softly.
"Would you like me to explain what I showed you?" Tomoe offered.
"If you would," Kaoru chewed her lower lip nervously.
"His name was Akira." Tomoe began. "He was the most important person to me other than Enishi that is. Enishi is my brother I've raised him ever since our parents died when he was very young. I loved Akira and he loved me as well. We were to be married. but such things were not to occur." She paused lifting her face skyward her eyes on the cloud dotted sky.
"A village near to the one we lived in was attacked and Akira went with the other men to help defend it against the bandits. He was killed in the fighting." Tomoe's voice took on a trace of sorrow. "He was killed." She murmured once more. "But he would not allow himself to die."
"What do you mean?' Kaoru asked.
"What do I mean by that?' Tomoe asked.
Kaoru nodded.
"In this land. there are many things..things that has fallen into myth and legend, story and song in your own land. Tales to be told around a winter fire I suppose. The usage of magic has waned in your own land, yet it still remains in our own one here. Not as prevalent as it once was I'm afraid but it still exists where it has all but died out in your old home." Tomoe's face was pensive. "That lack of magic will be something that shall hinder us in the time that is to come."
The time that is to come.
The words hung like a banner before Kaoru's eyes and she felt a chill run down her spine as Tomoe uttered those words. She had heard them before. they sounded too familiar for her to not have heard them before.
"What else besides the dwindling of magic?" Kaoru asked sensing Tomoe was not done.
"Creatures exist here that the people in Kasshin have either turned to myth if they even believe they existed at all, demons, the soulless walking dead..The half-souls that live in a shadowed world, breve-saol.Enishi and I." A smile flickered across her features. "Your people would run screaming from the both of us if they ever knew what we are or attempt to kill us once more."
"Kill you once more?" Kaoru questioned.
"I showed you of my death. but I will get to that later." Tomoe said dismissively. "The first and most important above all else for you to know is that Demons do exist." She had stopped walking and Kaoru had unconsciously mimicked her. Brown eyes held a sharpness she had not seen before bored into her own.
Kaoru nodded her mouth suddenly dry.
"They exist. They have always existed since the beginning of time and the dawn of consciousness for man. They will probably exist far longer than man shall." Tomoe shook her head. "That is a possibility, but one I hope to never see being played out." She blinked then as if gathering her thoughts. "Once. a very, very long time ago Demons roamed the world, Hiten.Kasshin. every country they inhabited. They destroyed and killed and set the world to flame. Humans were enslaved the few left alive were resisting futilely. It seemed lost." Her eyes turned vague as recited the story to Kaoru.
"You speak as if you were actually there." Kaoru murmured.
"One does not have to live at a certain time in order to be able to sympathize and understand what was happening to the people at that time." Tomoe said softly.
Kaoru ducked her head suddenly feeling like a reprimanded child.
Tomoe's eyes were understanding and her lips lifted slightly at the ends. Kaoru met her eyes and grinned ruefully.
"How was the world saved?"
"By a man by the name of Seijuurou Hiko.. He led an assault on the Demon's stronghold and managed to defeat the leader, a Demon by the name of Shishio. They dueled for six days and seven nights and on the dawn of the seventh day Hiko finally defeated him by pushing him back into the Demon's Realm and binding him there. He is also the founder of the Royal Line of Hiten." Tomoe murmured as if an after thought.
"Every one of the Kings bearing the name of Seijuurou Hiko - except Kenshin; when he won the Leadership battle he did not change his name to the one that was custom."
"Megumi told me about him." Kaoru murmured.
"I thought she would." Tomoe said musingly. "There is something more you should know. The reason you may say for you're being here. In our land there is a Prophecy. One of the Seers that lived long ago in the aftermath of the Demon's War foretold of it:
The Least shall become Most
Common Pain shall bind their Hearts
Sorrow Will Strengthen
Love Shall Bloom like a Flower in the Midst of Darkness
Gold and Violet Will Merge
As the Demons Rise
They Alone Shall Stand Against Them."
Kaoru felt her throat close up as Tomoe recited the Prophecy. "So this is the reason for my being here? I'm a part of some sort of prophecy?"
"Yes," Tomoe nodded sharply. "Parts of it have already come true even as we speak or are about to. Do you wish to know which parts?"
"I think I already know," Kaoru murmured.
"The Least Shall Become Most." Tomoe's voice took on a singsong quality. "Kenshin and you - both bastard children, both despised. The Least of your Lineage. Kenshin became Most by defeating his brothers in the Leadership Battle. You became Most when you were sent here and married to him."
"Yes." Kaoru could say nothing else.
"Common Pain Shall Bind Their Hearts." Her eyes flickered over Kaoru in an assessing manner. "You I feel are not the innocent you appear to be. There is a darkness to you that is mirrored in Kenshin. A pain, a hurt and a wound that refuses to heal no matter how hard to you try to lock it away and hide it from your very self."
Kaoru had turned pale as Tomoe spoke. "What do you know of me? How do you know of this?"
"How do I know of the past that you deny?" Tomoe questioned. "One does not always see with their eyes Kaoru. I have been observing you even before you stepped into my land. I have seen what you wish to forget and keep away from you. What memories you banished... You and Kenshin are very much alike."
"Was it you then?" Kaoru asked. "Was it you that brought me here?"
"Yes," Tomoe tilted her head to regard her. "I was the one who advised Kenshin to have you brought here. I knew your family would send you and only you."
"Of course they would send only me." Kaoru's tone was bitter. "I'm Tainted."
"Only Tainted in their eyes Kaoru.only in their eyes," Tomoe's voice was soft and consoling.
"Thank you," Kaoru murmured, grasping onto the words and reassurance that Tomoe offered. "Thank you so very much."
"You're welcome," a smile flitted across her face.
Silence stretched between them for several moments, a comforting companionable silence that Kaoru found herself cherishing.
"You never finished your story about Akira." She said breaking the silence reluctantly.
"It is a tale for another day." Tomoe replied. "Besides you already know the most of it and how it turned out."
"I still don't understand though," Kaoru ventured. "I still don't understand exactly how you became breve-saol."
"It is actually quite simple: Enishi gave up half his soul to keep me alive. We are two people but essentially one soul - a half-soul that is not quite complete and while we are living we do not live in the true sense since we are both half alive and half dead."
"Neither one nor the other."
"Precisely."
"And the difference with Akira?"
"He was truly dead. He only gave up his soul and let a demon possess it to keep it animated and in his thoughts 'living'."
"I am sorry, you loved him."
"Yes I did love him," Tomoe replied. "But I also loved him enough to know he had to die - he could not keep existing as he was and he truly would not wish to continue that way. That hardest thing is to love and then let the person you love go because you know it is for their best intentions Kaoru. I hope you never have to do what I did."
"So do I." Kaoru said gravely her blue eyes serious as she pondered the words.
"I also hope that we will be friends." Tomoe ventured.
A smile spread across Kaoru's face as she looked at the other woman. "I hope the same Tomoe."
"Friends we shall be." Tomoe said simply her brown eyes lighter than Kaoru had ever seen them.
"Yes." Kaoru agreed.
~*~
Ryu Sachiko Sama: Couldn't be more in agreement ::waves a Tomoe Neutral flag::
Sessha: ::beams:: I try to be different - being sane and being normal is vastly overrated. Honestly I think I'm neither.
Hikari No Kodomo: You can stop waiting here's more! ^.~
Punky1: This story won't be over for a LONG time ::ticks off stuff to do on fingers:: get romance developing, insert MAJOR plot twists, insert more MAJOR plot, introduce bad guy(s) officially, add some character development. the list goes on and on.
I Won't Tell: Nope ^.^
KawaiiChica: ::hugs:: Glad you enjoy it.
Crystal Renee: My life in a nutshell: school, anime (mostly RK), writing (RK fanfiction), Cross Country, Horses.
Gracianekko: Unfortunately for you this chapter will probably raise even more questions especially concerning Kaoru ::grin::
Poppy2: Correct guesses: 1,2,3 Wrong Guess: 4 - no Romantic Relationship with Kenshin ^.^ Kaoru gets him all to herself (aside from sharing occasionally with drooling fangirls like me LOL)
EnjeruJoshin: Nope no romantic relationship between Tomoe and Kenshin. Yes Enishi did turn Tomoe into a breve-saol while making himself into one as well. I actually got breve from the musical term which is "half."
Jaganshi-Summoner: Updated ::grin::
Sarah: ::is floored:: Lord of the Rings?? O.O ::is honored::
Miya-chan3: Updated ^.~
Ferai: ::wades through plot:: Thick plot! I just made it thicker! Kaoru's attitude will seem more like the one everyone knows and loves - once we get into more of the action scenes currently she's too confused and out of balance to act normally.
HeavensTear: ::waves Kenshin-Kaoru flag::
Pia Bartolini: ::offers new chapter with a side of s'mores and brownies:: ^.^ Arigatou!!
Ixchen: No more waiting! ::grin::
Oyuki: Brand new chapter coming right up! ::shouts like a waitress::
Irksome One: Thanks! ^.^
Aniall4: Tomoe questions have been explained (hopefully) and don't worry Kaoru has no competition for Kenshin's heart here ::tries to look innocent:: Mostly anyway.
Hitokiri-miao miao: Hope your dream questions have been answered ^.^
The Girl Who Cried Oro: ^.^ hopefully you now know the answers to the ones raised in the last chapter - this one has a bunch of new ones ready to confuzzle you.
JML: ^.^
CurlsofSerenity: ^,.^ Love the Gollum impression. I'm a Lord of the Rings Addict hehe ^.^