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.

A/n: All this wait and the chapter is tiny! I am truly a terrible person. I think this is the longest I've ever kept people waiting for a fic. The worst part is there is no logical reason why this chapter wasn't out three weeks ago, other than the fact that it just wasn't written yet! So I know I've probably lost a lot of readers, but at least this fic is continuing!

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-PART ONE-

When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Chapter Nine

Awaken

Naruku looked warily between the two men. Their eyes were locked on each other—one pair blue and full of anger, the other violet, clouded with apprehension. A hand gripped Naruku's wrist tightly. Looking down, she saw it was Kenshin's, and he was pulling her behind him, to safety, with much more force than he would in a normal situation.

Perhaps because of the events at Castle Edo, Kenshin was so protective over Naruku in the face of danger. After all, she had been used against Kenshin and thus put in peril more than just once.

But who said this adversary would do the same?

"Battousai," the green-eyed man spat. "You dare come here?"

Kenshin remained willfully silent, his hand locked on Naruku's wrist.

"You dare set foot here—and with her?"

"Me?" Bewildered, Naruku took a subconscious step back, only to be tugged forward by Kenshin, who seemed adamant to keep her close by his side.

The young man in front of them sneered. "Is this your replacement for my sister? This skinny imitation?"

Naruku had mind enough to hold her tongue, no matter how much she wanted to lash out at this man. As the flare of anger subsided, Naruku's thoughts cleared. His sister? Here? Kenshin's reaction to this man's appearance made sense now. This was Enishi, Tomoe's younger brother. The one who had witnessed his sister's murder, and who had sworn revenge on the murderer.

Kenshin's hold on her wrist loosened until his hand dropped off hers entirely. She withdrew and Kenshin turned around, facing her. Without a sound, he unclipped his sword from his belt.

"Keep your sword, Battousai," Enishi snarled. "I can cut you down as you hold it."

Kenshin didn't react to these words; instead he eased the sakabatou into Naruku's waiting hands. Open-mouthed, she stared as he turned back to face Enishi, free of weapons.

"What matters is not what you can do. It is what you will do," Kenshin answered, drawing closer to Enishi. When he was no more than a breath away, he said in a voice so soft that Naruku had to strain to hear, "Will you kill me, Yukishiro Enishi?"

Naruku's throat constricted. She brought the sakabatou to her chest and hugged it close. How could he sacrifice his life so easily, just for the one man's revenge? Didn't he realize, didn't he know he had to live? She knew he did, but…

But Kenshin stood in front of Enishi unwavering, not a flash of regret or doubt in his amethyst eyes.

How could he be so confident that this grief-stricken, possibly unstable man wouldn't actually kill him? And if he did…and if he—

In a flash Enishi unsheathed his sword and cut through the air, the blade slicing in towards Kenshin's neck. In this panic-wrought moment, Naruku's breath hitched, her hands tightened around Kenshin's sword, her knees quivered and she could feel her heart plummeting to the floor.

And then it was still. Naruku let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Enishi's sword had stopped, millimeters from slicing Kenshin's throat open and spilling his blood onto Tomoe's grave.

Kenshin looked as calm as he ever had, staring stoically into Enishi's rage-filled face. The younger man was clearly at odds with himself, angry and disgusted that he couldn't kill this man…the man who had destroyed his sister's life.

Paying no mind to the blade that hung near his throat, Kenshin slowly turned away and began walking back to Naruku, whose face held a beatific smile of relief.

"Battousai," Enishi roared, coming over in three quick strides. His hand gripped the front of Kenshin's gi and in his eyes there was nothing but hard fury. "I would make you suffer if I could…make you suffer like you did to her!"

His words were low, angry and forceful. Kenshin merely looked at him out of the corner of his eye, a passive, almost bored expression on his face.

Enishi released Kenshin and paced back to Tomoe's headstone.

Kenshin quietly took the sakabatou back from Naruku's quivering hands. He put a hand on the small of her back and gave her a fleeting look of consolation. She summoned a smile in return and flicked her eyes to where Enishi stood, his back facing them.

His neck was arched to the sky and one hand bent over to grip the back of his neck.

Naruku stared, perplexed, along with Kenshin.

"What's that?" she spoke finally.

Kenshin followed her line of sight and Enishi whipped around, staring at Naruku as if he had just spotted her.

To her surprise, there was no contempt in his expression and the absence of it made Naruku realize how young he looked. In all likelihood, he was probably no more than a year older than herself.

"It's her diary," Kenshin stated suddenly, looking down at the little black book that rested against Tomoe's headstone.

Enishi snatched up the book with a frown.

"You read it," Kenshin realized at once, his face stoic. "That's why you couldn't kill me. Because you knew her smile would be lost to you forever if you did."

Naruku stared at the two men, her apprehension turning into curiosity. She inhaled; her breath hitched slightly.

"Her name is Tomoe," she said, her voice low, but steady.

The two men turned to her in surprise.

She faltered under their gazes, but then continued, "Neither of you has said her name. Not once. It's Tomoe."

The name rang out crisply in the silence that followed. Then Ensihi's shoulders slumped forward, his entire form crumpled.

"Tomoe…"

It was as if Naruku has scooped the tension right out of the air, leaving only three forlorn figures standing around a woman's grave.

"Battousai was right…you wouldn't smile for me. Did you smile for him? Sister…"

Naruku started to come towards Enishi, reaching out, but Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder and slowly shook his head.

He didn't take his hand off her shoulder as they watched Enishi shake, small utterances of "Sister…" emitting like breaths from his mouth.

"You came here knowing you couldn't kill me…so if it wasn't for that, why did you come here?" Kenshin asked after several moments.

Enishi raised his eyes. "I came here for Jinchuu."

Kenshin looked momentarily shocked, and that protective grip returned as his hand tightened on Naruku's shoulder. The sudden shock subsided in a matter of seconds and he relaxed again.

When Enishi spoke again, his voice was muffled. "But before I could complete it…I returned to China."

"Why?" Naruku asked immediately.

He looked at her with a weary expression. "In order to obtain everything I needed for Jinchuu, I had to do business with men I would normally not want to associate with. Business men, you see, have but one agenda—to get rich. And they do whatever it takes to achieve that. I, of course, had an entirely separate goal. Because I was not after money, we were able to come to many mutual agreements. But then Wu Heishin, my strategist and right-hand man, got us involved in a deal that I disapproved of. I was never a business man, and Heishin was never a fighter. But this man that we got involved with was both. I should have realized then how dangerous a combination it was, but I was too blinded by my hatred for you, Battousai."

"Who was this man?" Kenshin asked as Enishi paused in his story.

"He was the brother of a client, which is how we got in contact…his name was Takeda Enizu."

His name struck like a gong in Naruku's chest. She felt herself sinking, her knees shaking. She had just gotten over it, ready to move on. This sudden mention caught her off guard. She was not expecting it and the presence of his name disturbed her. He was a part of this story.

"He wanted me out of the deal from the start. He knew I was dangerous, just as I knew he wasn't to be trusted. I pleaded with Heishin to get out of it, but Takeda made an offer that Heishin couldn't refuse. And suddenly Heishin was more willing to cooperate with Takeda's wishes than my own. I had to leave. With what little I had left, I ran to Japan. Six of my comrades remained with me, but I had lost all my sources and with them, your whereabouts. So in Japan I stayed, trying to build up enough firepower and gain enough information for my Jinchuu.

"What I hadn't counted on was Takeda. I thought that once he had driven me away, he wouldn't seek me out again. He did. It turned out it was not money that he wanted, but his own revenge on you, Battousai. And he wasn't about to share that with anyone."

"Did you fight?" Naruku asked, her tone far more anxious than she meant.

Enishi turned his face to her.

"No. He killed several of my comrades, one by one. I found out that he had already killed Heishin after getting what he wanted. I was next, but I wasn't going to wait around for Takeda to come find me."

"Did you go back to China, then?" Kenshin asked slowly.

"No," Enishi answered. "I came here to ask forgiveness from sister. I promised I would get revenge for her. But then…"

He paused and there was silence.

Naruku opened her mouth. She understood. "Then you found that." She pointed. "Tomoe's diary."

Enishi looked slightly irritated with Naruku's interjections into his story.

"So then that's why you went back to China," Kenshin concluded after Enishi said nothing.

"Yes," he replied after some time. "That is why."

Naruku stared between the two men. All tension had disappeared and now it was just the two of them, studying each other.

"One last question," Kenshin spoke. "Do you hate me?"

Enishi was silent for a very long time as Naruku swayed gently, waiting for his answer with bated breath. Enishi's answer was not a simple matter. What he said could affect Kenshin in a very real way. Enishi had read Tomoe's diary, he knew Tomoe's innermost thoughts about Kenshin.

If the answer was no, Kenshin would be that much closer to forgiving himself for Tomoe's death. If the man who has spent his life trying to get revenge for the deed accepted him, then Kenshin could accept himself. If the answer was yes…Naruku shivered. If the answer was yes, Kenshin would feel as if the answer was from Tomoe's own lips.

Naruku and Kenshin had just taken one very big step forward. She didn't want to have to take two steps back.

"…no," Enishi answered slowly. Then, more resolutely, "No."

Naruku's breath let out and she reached out, grasping Kenshin's arm gently. She heard his own breath leave his body, and watched as Enishi turned away.

With his back to them, Enishi muttered, "If I did, I would have to hate myself."

He started to walk away, finally.

"Don't you?" Naruku's query stopped him. The question hung in the air like a damp rain cloud.

"Hate myself?" Enishi asked without turning around. There was a pause. "Maybe."

"Okay," Naruku answered, her hand still resting on Kenshin's forearm.

Enishi began walking away.

"Wait!" Naruku cried out again. "Aren't you going to…" her eyes were on the black diary.

Enishi knew what she was going to ask. He kept walking.

"Where do you think he'll go?"

Naruku's sudden question made Kenshin stop in his steps. They were just outside Kyoto, the setting sun leaving its orange-pink stain across their features. It had been about two hours since they departed from the Aoiya, bidding everyone there a goodbye and promising to give everyone at the dojo their well wishes. Laden with small gifts and candies, Naruku and Kenshin's penchant for traveling light was broken this time.

"Who, Enishi?" Kenshin replied to Naruku's earlier query.

"Yes," Naruku answered as the resumed walking. "I mean, he's not going back to China, is he? And it doesn't really sound like he has a home here, either."

She was thoughtful, but not persistent. It was a mere musing in her mind, a question to pass the time.

"What you must understand is that Enishi's entire life has been ripped apart," Kenshin explained. "Since a very young age, Enishi had his life dictated him by his sister's actions. Whatever she wanted, he wanted with fervor. When she died, the only conclusion his young mind could come up with is that what she wanted was to see me dead. He spent his whole life living by this supposition. To find out, after so much time, that he was wrong…it turned his life upside down. Now he has nothing to live by, no code if Jinchuu. It's as if his whole life has been a waste."

"And has it?"

Kenshin looked at her thoughtfully. "That is a conclusion that Enishi must draw for himself. But what about you? What's your conclusion?"

Naruku stared at the sky as it slowly darkened. Pinpricks of light appeared in the thick blanket of twilight. "I think Enishi cared for his sister very much," she said at last. "And…if he was truly willing to do whatever it took to make her happy, he would forgive himself. And you."

Kenshin gazed at the girl by his side as she pulled ahead, smiling. "Perhaps…perhaps that's really all Tomoe wanted in the end," he whispered, mostly to himself. "For the world to keep turning. For life to go on."

He trotted forward and grasped Naruku tenderly by the hand. She looked over her shoulder at him, her short hair flipped behind her, and grinned, the light reaching her eyes. Kenshin had not seen such a look on her face in weeks. It was enough to let his heart believe that his life, and the lives of those around him, would go on.

Awaken--end

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A/n: Next chapter is the last chapter of part one! Stay tuned (I swear it will be out soon.)