Disclaimer: Everything that does not belong to me, belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and associates (Jump Comics, Shueisha Inc. etc.) Everything that does belong to me, does not belong to you. (But unlike Watsuki, you can ask me for permission to use it!)

I'm very proud to finally get this chapter out.

The actual production of this chapter took a long time, and I'm not sure why. I think because it's a bunch of fairly unrelated scenes all trying to give their own message, and it was a little difficult to make it flow. I hope I succeeded.

The lyrics for this chapter are from a song that I love very much. It's beautiful and the first time I heard it, I thought of a very stunning sunset, so that sort of explains why it's in here.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this long-awaited chapter.

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-PART ONE-

We will lay down on the ground and
Put our cheeks against the dirt down
Where it no longer matters
Where you've been
--Eels "In the Yard, Behind the Church"

Chapter Eight
Stand Up

On the third night, Naruku woke up crying. The two of them were sleeping underneath a tree on the side of a gently flowing river. Lying with her face up to the stars, Naruku had awoken suddenly, tears streaking down her cheeks. She stayed like for a moment, watching the light of the stars blur together through her tears. Then she turned on her side to face Kenshin and found that he was already awake, peering at her with a strangely contemplative expression.

And without a word he enfolded her shoulder with his arm and drew her closer to him, allowing her to scoot over and rest her head against his chest, where his heart was beating softly.

Kenshin heard quiet sniffling that told him Naruku was resisting the tears that sprung from her eyes. He clasped onto her tighter. They remained like that for a while, both wondering whether they should break the tranquil silence.

Finally Naruku spoke. "I just keep thinking about his last words," she whispered in a voice laden with tears.

Kenshin remembered them too.

You can never escape.

"I know what it is, too," Naruku went on. "What I can never escape from."

She had stopped crying and she was speaking in a clear voice to the clouds in the sky.

"It's me."

It was spoken so simply, with such ease that it frightened Kenshin. He never wanted her to take this so easily and act like it wasn't a big deal.

It was a big deal, and Naruku was trying not to be hurt by it. But Kenshin was hurt by it—perhaps more than he could say.

"Or rather, that part of me…The part that wanted to kill him. I keep thinking about that, too. He had Misao, but he let her go…and I charged anyway. I didn't kill him to protect her, or me, or you. I killed him because I wanted to." Because I thought it was the only way to escape…and in reality, it was the only way to make sure that I never would.

"There's always going to be that dark part of me, Kenshin. And it's never going to go away…and I don't know if it will ever stop scaring me. Because it scares me a lot, Kenshin. Didn't it scare you?"

As Kenshin held her there under the moonlight, he knew what she meant. This was what made her eyes smolder with acid and her voice crackle with ice. This was what made her face twist in hatred and rage. It was her dark side, her demon, her Battousai.

And it was the one thing Kenshin could never protect her from.

Herself.

"You better not be getting us lost, Kenshin," Naruku chided lightly as she climbed through the brush.

"It's just beyond here, that it is," Kenshin replied cheerfully, holding back a springy branch and letting Naruku duck past him.

She stopped suddenly and faintly noticed Kenshin standing right beside her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said to her, pleased at her astonished reaction.

It certainly was beautiful.

The Kinkaku shrine—or Golden Pavilion—was a sight Naruku had been pining to see since she was a small girl. And gazing at it up close with Kenshin at her side simply stole her breath away. She turned to Kenshin with a glimmer in her eye.

"Let's get closer."

Together they climbed through the bushes and skirted around the edge of the lake until they stood at the very foot of the golden temple. Naruku gaped in awe until Kenshin took her arm and led her onto the deck, around to where they were facing the glittering water of the large Kagamiike pond.

In a moment the sun began to set and the result was absolutely breathtaking. Warm pinks and brilliant blues stretched across the sky, reflecting off the gold-leaf walls and casting them in a rose-colored glow.

Kenshin glanced at Naruku, an expression of deep content flowering on his features. He placed his hand on top of hers as the two stood looking across an endless stretch of water, illuminated by the radiant colors of the sky.

Of course as soon as they arrived in Kyoto, Naruku and Kenshin knew they would have to visit the Aoiya. How they would be received there was the real question, the answer to which was completely unknowable.

As nervous as they were approaching the restaurant, they were even more anxious waiting inside for Okina.

"The two of you must be downright exhausted!" Omasu supposed cheerfully.

"We're all right," Naruku replied quietly. Omasu was someone who Naruku had felt fairly close to in her childhood, but now she was little more than an acquaintance.

"Well you must be starved," Okon piped up. "We'll have dinner as soon as Okina gets here."

"That would be very nice, thank you," Kenshin replied, a polite smile on his face.

Omasu nodded along. "Say, what's been going on with Misao-chan lately? And Aoshi-sama?"

"They're…" Naruku trailed off and wanted to turn to Kenshin for an answer.

They're… what? In love? Having a great time in Tokyo? Not planning to return soon? Or ever? None of these things seemed like something Naruku could reveal.

Kenshin rescued her by interjecting, "They're both in good health."

"Oh! Well so is your master Hiko," Okon put in, and earned a sharp glare from Omasu.

Kenshin looked rather startled. Before he could say anything on the subject, heavy footsteps were heard down the hall.

"Kuro! Shiro!" Omasu called, and sounds of the two men grunting in reply followed. "Guess who we've got here! A couple of visitors."

After clambering down the hallway, Kuro and Shiro both appeared in the kitchen.

And their tired, weary eyes suddenly gained new light.

"Naru-chan! Himura-san!" Kuro cried plunking a barrel of rice on Shiro's foot.

"Naru-chan!" Shiro repeated after the pain subsided.

Naruku beamed. "Good evening!"

"Wh-wh…Where'd you come from?" Shiro asked, confounded.

Naruku and Kenshin exchanged glances and laughed. "Tokyo, of course!"

"But…when did you get here?" Kuro wanted to know.

"Just now, right before you," Naruku answered. "Where's Okina?"

Her answer came from the man himself as he strutted into the kitchen, not even taking notice of Naruku or Kenshin. Immediately he sat down at the table and demanded to know when dinner was.

"Well?" he barked. "What's the hold up?"

"Still as grumpy as ever, I see," Naruku said laughing, and that's when Okina's sharp gaze swiveled over to her and Kenshin, who sat pleasantly with his hands folded.

"Himura-san," he greeted hoarsely. And then he cuffed Naruku's shoulder.

"Ow, Jiiya!" she complained.

With her with a huff he turned away, as if refusing to speak to her.

Rubbing her shoulder, she sighed. "Sorry I haven't written in a while."

"And…?" Okina replied irritably as the five others looked on in amusement.

Again, Naruku sighed. "And that I didn't make Misao return. Or Aoshi."

"And?"

Her sigh was bigger and she rolled her eyes. "And Okina is the greatest ninja in Japan. He gets all the girls."

Turning back, Okina suddenly looked perfectly happy. "That's better."

"You're embarrassing," Naruku shot back.

He shook his head as Okon got up from her seat to finish fixing them dinner. "So, Himura-san, what are you doing here?"

"We…" he stole a look at Naruku, who kept her face carefully neutral. "We thought we'd see the sights for once."

It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a lie that the two of them had made a few stops at famous temples and the like.

"How nice," Okina said. "And how is Kaoru-san at the dojo?"

Okon and Omasu were serving the miso soup at this point so it was several moments before Naruku replied around a mouthful of rice, "She's doing great. The dojo is doing great, too. She and Aoshi are…um, certainly getting along."

Omasu and Okon barely stifled their giggles in bowls of salty soup. Kuro and Shiro were guffawing outright. Naruku wore a guilty smile, as if she had given away some secret.

Dinner continued with amiable chat from all sides, and Naruku very much enjoyed the atmosphere. Though part of her wished she were out under the stars with Kenshin, sitting around a fire as it cooked their meal of frogs.

As she thought of this, she turned subconsciously toward Kenshin and noticed a grain on sticky white rice clinging to his left cheek, right next to his jaw line. Without even thinking about it, she reached forward to pluck it off. As her fingers brushed the smooth surface of his skin, she found that suddenly all eyes were on the two of them.

She stopped and let her hand drop, not daring to raise her eyes to meet the gazes of everyone else gathered around the table. Then she slowly lifted her eyes to Okina's face, which was staring stone still at her. She would look anywhere rather than Kenshin.

Hastily flicking the troublesome grain of rice away, Naruku ducked her head and began eating her food with steadfast vigor. Hurrying her food into her mouth, she staunchly kept her head down and refused to raise her eyes to anyone.

Dinner passed without so much as a reference to Naruku's production, and when it came time for after dinner tea, Naruku declined and fled readily.

Only Kenshin was able to find her later on the roof, which she had climbed onto to continue her dogged endeavor to avoid everyone else.

She was embarrassed, and Kenshin realized this as he sat down beside her, silently watching the twilight sky fade into darkness.

"I'm sorry," Naruku spoke quietly, not even turning to face Kenshin.

He was silent. There was no need to apologize to him, but it seemed like one way Naruku could deal with her discomfort.

Seeming to realize this, Naruku turned suddenly and began speaking very quickly. "You know, I'm not actually sorry, it's just I'm not used to this. Being able to do stuff like…that, and it's not you I'm embarrassed in front of, it's everyone else. Because if they see us like that, then they think that's how it is all the time, that it's something I'm supposed to do, and I'm not and it isn't. But…" at this point in her babbling, she tugged her hair and her voice began to peter out. "But I could be supposed to…if you wanted."

Kenshin considered this, and realized he had absolutely no way to answer a question he could hardly comprehend.

So he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned in to kiss the side of her forehead. His lips had barely brushed her skin when she turned, her mouth partly open and Kenshin leaned down, covering them with his own.

In the dim light of the fading moon, they kissed.

With a wooden bucket full of water and chrysanthemum flowers spilling out, Naruku stood at the gate of the graveyard, gazing up. Hair covered her eyes so Kenshin could not see the expression on her face, but he assumed she was apprehensive. Apprehensive, albeit determined. The handle of the bucket was gripped tighter.

She turned to Kenshin, who stood several steps in front of her with a similar bucket in his hands, and she gave a light flickering of her eyes, signifying her consent to enter.

Together they did, traveling side-by-side down the rows of trim graves without a word.

The starch smell of gravel and dirt mingled with the soft scents of chrysanthemum and bamboo flowers. At last they reached the grave.

As if trying to negate its existence, Naruku stared at it for a moment. Then she set her wooden bucket down with a muted clack sound and dropped to her knees, eyes closed. Her occludent tendencies troubled Kenshin, for it was only recently that she had opened up to him again, but he sank down beside her and she began to speak.

"Good morning, Akeri," Naruku began in a soft, hesitant voice. "When I learned that you had passed on, I didn't want to believe it. Even after you…went to the psychiatric ward in Hokkaido, I never thought all hope was lost. But there's no coming back from death, is there? I guess I know that too well now."

Automatically she glanced at Kenshin who gazed at her solemnly, just noticing the traces of tears in her eyes, the vulnerability there. She was saying it aloud, he knew, so he could hear. Because he needed to hear.

"Remember who I told you about…the man who ruled me for seven years? He is dead now, like you, like Nishiwaki, like my father. Just soil and ashes now. But he will never be just soil and ashes to me, he can't. I was hurt too much by him, in life and in death. Just how Nishiwaki hurt you too much for you to forget. That's how you died, isn't it?

"But I promise you, I won't let that happen to me. I have this man beside me now, Kenshin. Just as you had your sister and Hiroji. But you couldn't depend on their love entirely, I neither can I. As much as he gives me strength, I hope I can find the courage that you did not have. There will always be a part of me that has this hatred and this hurt, but I fight for my own happiness now. And I thank you for—" tears raced down her cheeks without her consent. "For showing me that—even…" sobs bubbled up in her throat and her last words were a whisper. "Even if you couldn't fight for your own."

With that she bowed her head and took up the sanctified bucket of water and flowers, tossing the contents onto the grave in blessing. Then she clasped her hands and said a few words in private prayer before standing up, a stick of incense burning in her place.

Kenshin was already standing behind her, his pride in her bursting. She was understanding, growing and moving on. Never having seen someone step forward so gracefully, Kenshin purled her hand in his own as they went on. Not a moment later they were walking with their steps perfectly synchronized down another row of marble graves. This time it was Kenshin's steps that were tarred and hesitant.

And it was Naruku who led him on dynamically, so much that Kenshin was grateful. Her eyes were trained on him as they passed by lines of graves, so when his steps slowed almost to a halt, she didn't know why.

Slowly, she turned to face where Kenshin's eyes were fixed, and all became clear. Lips pursed uncertainly, Naruku's green eyes, now dry of tears, flickered from Kenshin to the silhouette standing by a grave.

And still walking, though painfully slowly, she and Kenshin approached the figure until they were not three meters away. Then they stopped resolutely and waited. The figure turned, exposing all of his face in tinted marine fury.

"You," he rasped, his jaw clenched and his shoulders slumped.

The name was a wisp of smoke. "Enishi."

And Naruku followed the two with her eyes, her breath stopped with the rest of the world.

Stand Up--End

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I have no idea about grave-visiting rituals in Japan, even after attempting to do research via google. I usually like to have everything historically and culturally accurate, but I had to wing it on this one. My extensive research had very little outcome, and I basically just had to refer to Rurouni Kenshin manga 18.

I hope this chapter was to your liking, and I hope that the first real cliffhanger of this fic has got you apprehensive. That's what they're for, you know.

And yes, I finally made good on my promise to have Enishi come back and play a bigger role. Let's see what happens next...

Thanks for your continuous support, I really love reading all of your comments. I am convinced they help me grow immensely as an author. So thank you.