A/N: Hey all! Great to finally be back. Sorry this took so long, but I did warn you. And then, when I got back home, the first thing I did was get sick. Not conducive to writing. However, here it is, nice and extremely long, though only proofread once since I wanted to get it out. Enjoy!

Oh…Kenshin is not mine. Rating bumped up for language and hentai-type things. Happy?

Eternity in a Grain of Sand

Chapter 6

Kaoru traveled the desolate pathway alone. Snow fell lightly around her, reminding her of a night so similar to this one, 150 years ago—one of the turning points of her life. A tiny, disheveled cottage appeared among the trees, nearly hidden in the forest that swamped it. Kaoru approached on silent feet, knocking gently and waiting for an answer she knew would be a long time in coming.

Fifteen minutes later, the door swung open. Kaoru stood from where she'd knelt to wait and smiled at the woman she faced. "Tomoe, it's been such a long time."

Tomoe smiled in return, though the expression that was conveyed was more of a painful grimace, teeth flashing through lips that seemed too thin and insubstantial.

"It has," the other woman said, her voice deep and barely more than a whisper. "Please come in."

Kaoru bowed formally and stepped out of her shoes into the house. Tomoe slid the door shut behind the vampire and took the old-fashioned haori from her shoulders without behind asked. Tomoe frowned at the haori. It seemed familiar--the scent perhaps. Her eyes widened as recognition struck her death-tainted brain.

"Kenshin," she breathed in what was nearly a hiss.

"You knew he was helping me," Kaoru pointed out as she took the haori back and hung it herself.

Tomoe nodded stiffly and began to walk to her small fire pit. Kaoru watched the stiff painful steps with sadness. The clack of bones echoed through the air every time she took a step. Already the scent of rotting flesh was making Kaoru's head spin slightly.

The vampiress followed after a moment and knelt across the pit from Tomoe, stoking the wood before the half-living woman could even reach for the poker.

"How have you been?" Tomoe asked in what might have been a conversational manner if she hadn't stopped halfway through to cough into a handkerchief. Kaoru did not miss the bit of dark, caustic liquid that spilled from her mouth onto the cloth.

"All things considered, I've been well. Kenshin still hasn't shaken his mother hen instinct, but I don't know if he ever will. I had to fight tooth and nail to be able to come here alone."

Tomoe smiled again, something soft and bitter. Her dead eyes stared into the fire, its reflection giving the illusion of life in her chocolate irises. Kaoru continued to take in details while the other woman lost herself in her vague, dark memories.

Tomoe's hair was disheveled and dull. Her kimono hung from her frame voluminously and made her seem fragile and very small. The hand she extended to warm over the fire was skeletal. Dark circles stood in purple smudges under her eyes. Sunken, sallow cheeks somehow added to the ethereal beauty she'd always possessed.

"You're dying, Tomoe," Kaoru stated simply.

The other woman took several moments before she glanced up. "Yes," she said simply. "I am."

"I figured you would be since Enishi's dead, but I wanted to check on you and make sure."

"I knew the moment he died," Tomoe said softly. "It was like the small spark of warmth in my body, the thing that made my limbs move, was suddenly gone. I had thought that I would die right away, but the process is taking considerably longer than I had anticipated."

Her hands fluttered in front of her like ghostly white butterflies. Kaoru watched the gesture with mild interest, remembering times when Enishi's hands had fluttered in the exact same manner. He did it when he was feeling frustrated.

"How did he die?"

Kaoru glanced up in surprise. She expected Tomoe to be interested in Enishi's death, but was not really prepared to describe it to her. The ancient vampire had been one of the few who was permitted to watch as Saitoh had rather creatively punished Enishi for high treason to the Blood Council, illegal human trafficking, and several other laws the Council had found him guilty of violating.

Kaoru settled for blunt truth. "Saitoh tortured him to death."

Tomoe nodded, her eyes completely void of any emotion. "I expected as much. I knew from the moment he adopted me that he was doomed to be his own downfall."

Kaoru voiced a question she had never dared ask before. "Why did he adopt you?"

Tomoe's lips twitched upward before falling into a neutral expression. "I'm not really sure myself. I was supposed to be one of his commodities in his trafficking rings, but during inspection I caught his eye. I once asked him why he saved me and he told me, 'Because you remind me of someone I once loved.' I think he might have meant you."

Kaoru looked away. She did not want to think of such things. Enishi may have loved her, but not with his heart. He had loved everything his association with her had represented. Kaoru shook her head and looked back up at Tomoe. The sound of clacking bones filled the room again as the other woman reached for a small tea kettle.

"Tomoe, do you want to die?"

Chocolate brown eyes looked up, unreadable and fathomless. "My time on this earth is over, Kaoru. It has been for the last hundred and thirty years or so. I am ready for the next world. I do not plan to return here again."

"Do you want to end it?"

Tomoe stopped where she was, tea kettle poised to be hung over the fire. Time stretched on as both women allowed the true meaning of Kaoru's words to be heard. Wind picked up outside the rundown hut and a draft eddied over the floor. Kaoru ignored it; Tomoe could not feel it.

Finally, she finished the task of hanging the kettle. She looked at Kaoru with a genuine smile. "Death is not always painful, even if what is killing me feels like the fires of hell. I am ready to leave this world, but the pain I feel now…it is worth enduring. It is…atonement of a sort. I, who should have left this plain of existence so long ago, have been living on borrowed time while others who wanted to continue living died for my continued half-life. We both know Enishi had to kill humans to maintain my ties to this world. I will endure this for them."

Kaoru nodded in understanding. "I suppose that means you don't want me to ease the pain."

Enigmatic eyes and a husky laugh broken with coughing were her only answer.

oOoOoOoOo

Several hours later, Kaoru trudged back down the path for what she knew would be the last time. Tomoe had insisted no one bury her. Her last rights would be by performed by the slow ebb of time and the gentle touch of nature.

Kenshin met her at the base of the path, his eyes clearly showing how happy he was to see her. He still feared that she would spook at the first movement of shadow and run from him again. He failed to understand that she could not spook at a shadow when the entire world was buried in darkness.

His arms slid around her as they walked back to the small inn they'd taken residence in for the visit. "How is she?" he asked neutrally, trying not to think of her as the living breathing woman he'd once loved.

"She's dying, as I thought she would be. But she is at peace."

He considered her words for a moment before saying, "I'm glad."

They stepped into the inn just as the snow storm really started to pick up. The inn keeper smiled at them and wished them a good night. In their room, Kenshin looked out the window as a particularly sharp gust rattled the windows. When he looked across the table, Kaoru was watching him.

"The snow brings back memories," he told her, eyes half-lidded as he thought of that feverish night so long ago.

"If you had a choice, would you go back and join Tomoe in death?"

Her question was soft and unexpected. From what he could see of her shaded blue eyes, she'd been thinking on her question for quite some time. He stood slowly, walking to the window to touch the frost forming patterns at the edges of the pane. It did not melt under his finger, and he withdrew after a moment, turning to face her.

"I wondered that often in the first years after I left you," he told her, slowly crossing the room to stand before her. He sank to his knees so he could put his arms around her waist and meet her eyes. "I wouldn't change a thing, koishii."

Her smile as she looked down at him was remorseful and reserved. "You are an amazing man, Kenshin. I don't think you've ever had a regret your entire life. And yet I look back at my own lifetime and all I can see is mistake after mistake."

He chuckled quietly. "You make me seem perfect. I'm hardly anything like that," he told her gently. "After all, I ran away from you."

"Yes," she whispered, "you did." She ran her hands through his hair, removing the ponytail so that red-gold waves of fire fell freely down his shoulders. He leaned into her touch as he tried to think of a way to reassure her. He'd discovered very quickly in the time he'd been rejoined with Kaoru that she was as flighty as a bird. He feared sudden moves because he was sure she would start at the first one.

"The important thing," he told her softly, "is that I realized I was an idiot and came after you."

"Yes," she said as she slid out of the chair to sit on her knees also, "you did."

Kenshin watched breathlessly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Kenshin," she said as her fingers slipped from his hair to his back, "how can you possibly care for me so much?"

"Love," he admonished, hardly daring to breathe, "love you so much. And I could ask the same question of you."

Kaoru shook her head at him, wondering just how he could be so tolerant of everything she was: dark, bitter, self-deprecating, cold, and cruel. Her fingers traced his scar, traveling slowly over each line as though she wanted to memorize more than the texture—the pain and the guilt that the lines also conjured up.

Kenshin leaned close, so close he could feel her breath across his lips and their noses touched. For the first time since that night after Enishi's capture, she didn't push him away. With wonder shining in his gold eyes, he closed the final centimeter between them and kissed her.

Kaoru, for a moment, did not respond. Then she was pushing against his lips insistently, her fangs nipping almost desperately at his lower lip. He responded in kind, opening his mouth to her for her exploration. Her tongue crossed the distance, tracing his fangs until it bled. He sucked the blood slowly until the wound healed. Their tongues danced together, fencing until Kaoru retreated. Kenshin chased her, carefully memorizing the smooth lines of her mouth and becoming thoroughly drunk on her taste.

Finally they broke away, both stunned and heated. Kenshin could not believe she had allowed him so much; Kaoru could not believe she'd even allowed the kiss in the first place. Kenshin buried his nose in her neck, breathing in her scent lovingly. "Perhaps we'll make this work yet, Kaoru," he told her as he lightly nipped the point where he could feel a sluggish pulse.

His hands traveled over her arms, noting that they were cool to the touch. Both vampires needed to feed, but the likelihood of finding game in the storm was pathetically slim. Kenshin lifted a protesting Kaoru into his arms and dumped her into his bed, settling behind her to spoon her.

"Sleep, koishii," he told her huskily. "Unless you'd like to further our activities?"

Kenshin felt distinct pleasure when he looked at her face and saw the faintest hint of a blush over the cheekbones.

oOoOoOoOo

"I still don't understand why we had to come back here," Kenshin grumbled as they walked down the forest path.

Kaoru glared at him, fed up with his incessant complaining.

"You didn't have to come," she snapped at him.

"Yes, I did," he growled, his eyes flashing and fangs snapping decisively.

Kaoru's lips snapped shut and she kept her eyes determinedly forward. If there was one thing that was completely unchanging in Kenshin, it was his stubbornness. The redhead continued to quietly seethe as they moved further into the forest.

The clearing appeared rather abruptly. Kaoru could not keep a smile from her face as the cabin door opened and Hiko scowled out at them.

"What are you doing disturbing my peace and quiet again?" he growled, though a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"I needed to talk to you," Kaoru told him as Kenshin came up behind her. He put his hand on her shoulder and she placed her hand over it unconsciously. Hiko had to suppress a smile as he saw the changed demeanor between the two. Time was healing wounds, even if only slowly.

"Come in then. And before we start in with the damned politics, you two are sharing supper and sake with me. I refuse to think about the outside world with no alcohol in me."

Kenshin rolled his eyes. Surely half of Hiko's blood stream must consist purely of fermented rice wine.

They made their way to the kitchen where Hiko extracted a gourd of sake and three saucers. He disappeared outdoors for a moment and came back with three large glasses full of blood. "It's deer," he said gruffly as he set the glasses down. "Didn't think it would be too appropriate to drag it in through the door."

They drank in companionable silence, the buzz of outdoor insects filtering in through the patio door. Kaoru's eyes were distant as they studied the world outside. She had never thought she would find herself in this position again, preparing herself to reenter the world of underground politics.

Finally the last glass of blood was drained and the sake gourd was completely empty.

"So," Hiko said, leaning back in his chair to stretch, "why have you disturbed my peace?"

"I've disturbed nothing," Kaoru told him with a grin. "You were disturbed to begin with."

The black-haired vampire glared, but there was no malice in his eyes. "You're going to drag me into Council business," he stated simply, standing and clearing the glasses.

"Not drag," Kaoru admonished, "simply speak to about."

Hiko said nothing in reply as he extracted another gourd of sake. He sat back down at the table and took a swig straight from the jug before turning his glare on Kenshin. "Did Saitoh keep his promise to you?"

Kenshin nodded. "I'm freelance now. Seta Soujirou has taken my place as sword of the Council now."

"Good. The only Council business I had better see you involved in from now on is making sure Kaoru doesn't risk her life unnecessarily."

Kenshin nodded as Kaoru bristled. "I can take care of myself," she growled as she snatched the sake gourd from Hiko to take a drink. Both males looked at her with raised eyebrows and she turned up her nose, ignoring their silent challenges.

Hiko turned back to Kenshin. "You, go to the guest bedroom," he commanded, jerking his head towards the hallway. Kenshin spluttered but Kaoru put a reassuring hand on his arm. He got up grudgingly, casting several glances back as he left the room.

"Why do you bait him so much?" she asked when he'd disappeared.

"Because he's entirely too easy to provoke and if I don't give him a hard time, who will?"

She continued to stare down the hallway after the redhead for a moment. Hiko watched her through hooded eyes before standing. "Come on," he said. "Let's go outside."

She stood and followed him, reveling in the feeling of cool night air washing over her body. Outside, a sliver of a moon was just rising over the tree line, giving enough light to make everything seem unreal and dreamlike.

"Do you truly intend to rejoin the Council?" he asked after a moment.

Kaoru considered how to answer him for long moments before answering his question with another. "Do you remember how we first met?"

"How could I not? You were the first woman I ever went after who had the gall to strike me in the face for whatever the hell it was I said to you."

"I still don't know what possessed you to hit on a Council member visiting Tibet."

"You were attractive. It was enough reason for me." Kaoru shook her head slightly. The logic of men never ceased to amaze her.

Silence pervaded the air for long moments, broken only by night insects in their ever-lasting quest to find love during their short lives.

"I never thanked you," she said quietly, "for taking me in after Gensai-sama kicked me out."

"It was the least I could do. I always told you you were too smart for the likes of that damn Council."

"Yet you don't seem too disappointed that I'm returning to them."

Hiko smirked slightly. "Even I can see that the vampire world is drowning in its own corruption. I don't agree with the idea of the Council. It can't be everywhere at once and the members are too prone to wallowing in their own sins. But the vampire world needs some sense of order. I figure that at least with you on the Council, some sense might get knocked into the rest of them. Besides, I feel bad for Saitoh. He has even less tolerance for idiocy than I do."

He nearly didn't hear Kaoru when she whispered, "I'm afraid of going back."

His slough-black eyes immediately glanced to the side at her words, taking in her stiff body and distant eyes.

"You wouldn't be sane if you weren't afraid of facing them," he told her bluntly. "I just hope you don't let your fear control you. I personally want to see some Council heads fly."

Kaoru grinned wryly. "You know, I actually did come here to ask you some things."

"Such as?"

"Why did you take Kenshin in after he left me?"

"And here I thought you'd be asking about politics. Taking in Kenshin was hardly a difficult decision. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu originated with me after all. It's only right that I'd look after my disciples, even if several thousand years separate us."

"You're such a self-absorbed prick," she told him, her grin undermining the cruelty of her words.

"I know," he said, grinning.

She waited a moment, allowing the joviality to sink away, before asking a more serious question. "You're one of the smartest men I know, though I shouldn't inflate your ego by saying so. Do you have any ideas about how to go about the problems with corruption the vampire world is having? I've been out of the political circles for so long everything has changed. When I was a member of the Council, we handled our bribes and illegal activities like civilized people. Now everything is back-stabbing and shadowed doorways and subtle threats. I don't know how to handle it."

Hiko stared out into the darkness, thinking. He could understand what Kaoru was saying. Just as human-kind was becoming more and more arrogant, so too was vampire-kind. Technology and corruption seemed to only further the problems. Finally, he said, "There is no quick solution to the problems in the world today. Informing vampires of their stupidity will only make them hold to it more tightly. Obviously you cannot sweep through and kill all those who are corrupted either. You'd be left with only seven or eight Council members, not enough to keep the peace. You need to find a happy medium and it will take some time. Try to reason slowly and make them remember why they joined the Council in the first place. Those who will not listen to reason should be eliminated and replaced with ones who will."

"You really think they can be reasoned with?"

"No, but you're more optimistic than I am."

She hit him lightly in the shoulder before turning towards the forest, taking a few steps onto the grass. "Would you ever consider joining the Council, Hiko?"

Her question caught him off guard. He looked at her with eyes that almost belied his surprise before giving a wry grin. "Kaoru, you know I'd never join that superfluous, idiotic bunch of pigs, even if you're one of them. I go out of my way to avoid the stupidity of the world. Vampire politics aren't my problem."

She nodded and turned to go back into the house. His voice made her pause though. "But Kaoru, if you ever need some help to put one of those pigs in his place, don't hesitate to call me."

She grinned before quietly sliding the patio door open and stepping in. Hiko watched her disappear down the hall before turning out to the world again. "Good luck, Kaoru," he whispered into the night. "Good luck."

oOoOoOoOo

Kaoru tugged at her sleeves nervously, adjusting a problem she knew didn't exist. Part of the reason she disliked the gatherings of the Council was the fact that it was a great deal of pomp and circumstance and not much actual law-making. The ridiculous dress she was wearing for the Council made her feel nervous and claustrophobic.

Misao, once Kaoru got past the young vampire's part in Kenshin's plot, had turned into an invaluable friend in a very short amount of time. The young vampiress was eager to learn and had said she was grateful for some female company among so many men. Not only was the girl sharp, but she was also surprisingly powerful for one so young.

It had been the young ninja who both helped pick the dress Kaoru now found herself stuffed in and aided in stuffing her into it. Again, her eyes went to the mirror. Long material the color of good dark sapphires floated around her body like a second skin. Silver jasmine vines were subtly embroidered into the cloth so that they were only noticeable under certain angles of light. The dress was done in a mock kimono style, with long flowing sleeves and a plunging neckline that made Kaoru feel more than little exposed. However, the sash that tied the dress was not nearly as restrictive as an obi and the lower portion of the material parted easily, giving her legs a great deal of freedom. Experimentally, Kaoru did a roundhouse kick and was pleased to see her reach still extended to the level of most people's necks.

Misao was behind her, happily tying her hair into a complicated knot using what appeared to be several thousand bobby pins to keep the entire mess in place. Kaoru reached up, wonderingly touching a stray strand that escaped to frame her face. When was the last time she'd had occasion to dress like this? When was the last time she'd even wanted to dress like this?

Misao was speaking as Kaoru floated in her daze of memories. The girl possessed an amazing ability to continually talk without pausing for breath for roughly five minutes at a time. With a flourish, the young vampiress tucked a sprig of jasmine into Kaoru's hair and proclaimed her finished.

"Not quite," Kaoru murmured. Quietly, she went to the chest she'd extracted from one of her numerous bank accounts in Switzerland. Lovingly, her hand traced the deep cherry wood, fingers following the birds lacquered into the surface before undoing the small golden latch in front. Within the chest lay another, smaller wooden box nestled on top of a kimono last estimated to be worth approximately half a million American dollars. Kaoru lifted the smaller box, heavy oak encased in black leather. Her hands undid the tiny catch and flipped it open to reveal two swords nestled within. Reverently, she lifted the katana and wakizashi from their case.

The two swords had been a gift from Hiko when they parted ways after he developed Hiten Misturugi Ryu. She had never seen their equal, save in his own sword. The sheaths were steel, lacquered deep blue and inlaid with silver vines that entwined the entire length of each sword. Carefully, she took the hilt of the katana and unsheathed it, eyes going to the hieroglyphics etched near the base. Dt Ankh—Eternal Life. He'd meant the inscription both as a joke and an omen. Blue tempered Japanese steel glinted under the gentle lights of her hotel room. Kaoru drew one of her hair ribbons from her night stand and dropped it over the blade. The scarf floated over the blade, sliced in half as though it were simply a veil of smoke. Kaoru gave a predatory smile as she resheathed the katana and thrust both it and the wakizashi into her sash. Tonight, she feared the Blood Council…but they would fear her more.

oOoOoOoOo

Kenshin met the two vampiresses outside Kaoru's door and Kaoru was most pleased to see his jaw drop as he looked upon her. Quickly, he regained his composure and Kaoru took a moment to admire him. He'd dressed in black, tight-fitting pants that appeared to be leather and a billowing wine-red shirt set off his golden eyes and fiery hair. She noted, with some surprise, that he'd pulled up his hair into a high ponytail like he'd once done as a hitokiri. His facial structure was left revealed and nearly made her weak in the knees. His katana and wakizashi hung at his side, held in place by a red sash.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her huskily as he took her arm. She nodded, giving him a seductive smile, even as butterflies began to fly about her stomach. His face set as they walked down the stairs to the ground floor of the hotel. Aoshi was waiting for them. The ninja would be escorting them to the meeting place, to ensure no one would interfere with Kaoru's reintroduction to the vampire circles.

Kenshin led Kaoru to a sleek black sports car and opened the door for her before crossing to the driver's side. She admired how graceful he could make the simple act of entering a car appear before she turned her eyes to the dry landscape of the small city they were in. The Blood Council awaited.

oOoOoOoOo

Kaoru took her time in watching the desert landscape flow by. Blood Council was always in the same general area, the Cradle of Civilization. It was here, in these barren deserts, that a lone branch of human kind had mutated to become something more than human. The origins of vampires were mysterious, but Kaoru had always been partial to the story about a group of Egyptians who had sought revenge against pharaoh for exiling them. In their desperation, they had called upon Anubis to be their patron. The dark god had answered, but the price they had to pay was great. They were granted powers far beyond those of mortals, but in exchange they became something less than living, something that had to feed off blood to survive.

Those first vampires exacted their revenge on the pharaoh and then left Egypt in a small Exodus. They nestled among the Mesopotamians, who were more trusting of strangers and travelers because of their need for trade. The vampires built a temple at a point between the Euphrates and the Tigris, supposedly very close to where the mythical Eden was. Council was always held near this area, though the temple had been lost to the sands eons ago.

Kenshin glanced over at her as she stared out into the desert. He knew the myths of their kind well because of her tutelage and the ancient laws also weighed heavily on his mind. He could not help but wonder how many of the great rules he would be able to bend or break in order to defend her during this Council, protected by laws older than even she. Kenshin was not naïve enough to expect no trouble at all.

Soon, they left traveled roads and shortly thereafter, the car. Night fell over the desert, dropping the temperature to a point that allowed Kenshin to see his breath on the night air. Kaoru walked closer to him than she'd originally intended to as nervousness and chill set in on her flesh. Aoshi and Misao tailed them silently, eyes ever vigilant.

As the moon rose, their small group was joined by other vampires who were also trekking to the designated point for Council. The other vampires watched Kaoru's group warily, some noting Battousai's presence with her and others simply feeling the power that radiated from her.

All too soon, they'd reached the destination. A simple stone table stood upon an outcropping of sandstone. Vampires were already gathering in a circle around the table. Saitoh stood in the center next to the table. His arms were bared and he held a stone knife carved of obsidian, much like the ancient Aztec blades. As Kaoru approached, she heard a bull low in the distance. The vampires parted like a great sea as a white bull was led forth to the table.

Two vampires hoisted the animal onto the table with ease, tying down its legs so that it could not struggle. Saitoh glanced around the circle, golden eyes taking in the vampires present. His sharp gaze found every one of the hundred Council members present.

"Council members, step forward," he commanded. "Escorts, you will move back until fifty feet stand between you and those you protect." A general grumbling went up among the vampires, even as the escorts complied to his command. They understood the necessity of their movement, but they did not have to be happy about it.

The Council members formed a perfect circle around the table. Saitoh swept the circle again with his gaze before finding Kaoru. "Kaoru, would you be so kind as to do the honors."

The vampiress started at being addressed, especially as eyes turned on her. She could hear murmurs among older vampires who remembered her and younger ones who had heard of her. She distinctly heard one voice mutter, "She's the one who caught Enishi."

With as confident of steps as she could muster, she stepped into the circle as the vampires closed ranks behind her. She had not been to one of these rituals in five hundred years, but she could still remember perfectly what needed to be done. Carefully, she drew back her sleeves as she approached Saitoh. He handed her the knife hilt first. As she took it, he leaned into her to murmur in her ear, "Don't worry; I know what I'm doing."

Such reassurance from Saitoh was unexpected and lightened her heart slightly. Slowly, she turned to face the white bull. It watched her with surprisingly peaceful eyes as she began the ancient chant. Her voice began the weavings of a spell that was strengthened as other vampires began to join in, their voices rumbling in the ancient language.

"We call upon you who have watched over us these long eons, our patrons and guardians. We offer unto you this sacrifice, he who represents the strength of man. We drink of him unto you and pray the blood may satiate you and draw your favor. To you, we offer the river of life. To you, we offer death. Anubis, Osiris, Pluto, Hades, Huitzilopochtli…" On and on the list continued as the vampires listed the gods and lords of death for every culture present. When the last name was uttered, Kaoru raised the sacred stone knife and slit the bull's throat. Blood flowed from the veins and arteries in a deep red river and began to spread over the table.

Kaoru watched with magic glazed eyes as the blood sank into symbols carved in the table, bringing them into sharp relief against the white stone. When the last of the blood had spilt, she bowed over the bull and drank from his neck. A roar rose among the gathered vampires as one by one they came forward to also drink of the bull's blood.

When the last of the blood had been lapped from the sacrifice, Kaoru raised her stone knife and drove it into the stone table in the center of the spell symbols carved into the white stone. "So mote it be," she cried in the old language. Power flooded the symbols, making the table glow briefly blinding blue before settling to a hazy gold that shimmered like a net over the gathering of vampires.

Saitoh stepped forward to Kaoru's side again, placing a hand on her shoulder as he faced the crowd. "This, the sixty-eighth meeting of the Blood Council, is now in session."

Chairs rose from the sandstone providing seats for each member. Saitoh and Kaoru sat at the head of the table as the vampires gathered in a half-circle. The escorts slowly rejoined their lords and ladies. Kenshin's reassuring presence behind her gave Kaoru a renewed sense of courage as she began to pick out the faces of those who had betrayed her after Enishi had disparaged her.

"The first order of business," Saitoh declared, "shall be the greeting of Kamiya Kaoru to our ranks. She has sat on this Council before and has gracefully accepted my offer to rejoin. We shall hear her speak."

The vampires murmured amongst themselves as Kaoru rose and stepped forward. She could pick out many of their words. "Ancient…" "…raped and left for dead…" "Enishi's…" "…no right to be here…"

Kenshin stepped up behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder and leaning in to whisper, "You're ready?" Now or never, Kaoru thought to herself. She nodded and Kenshin released her shoulder to place his hand over the hilt of his katana. Several vampires immediately noticed the threatening move and shut their mouths. The redhead could not withhold a smirk as he thought, Cowards.

Kaoru held up her hands for quiet. The bull's blood still stained them and golden magic shimmered in the blood as she waited for silence. She could not possibly know how threatening nor striking a figure she presented as she waited for them, magic glowing over her hands and the moonlight gilding her body in silver.

When silence reigned, she began to speak. "Fellow Council members. I would first like to thank you for the honor of allowing me to sacrifice the bull and preside as Mistress of the Council." A general cheer went up among the crowd. Kaoru smirked slightly. The Council was a mob in her eyes, and so a mob she would treat them.

"I have rejoined the Council at the request of Master Saitoh. But his request was not enough to draw me out of hiding. No. I have returned because of the changes I see in the vampire world, not all of them for the better."

She had their attention completely now. One of her hands began to draw symbols in the air, gold trailing her fingers as the spell took shape. "I will not pretend that the Council was not corrupt in my time. We had our share of faults in the Renaissance just as we do now. But today's faults…they worry me.

"We have become arrogant. Arrogance breeds hastiness and impulsiveness. Impulsiveness can lead to mistakes. Mistakes could lead to our downfall. Surely many of you can think back to World War II. Hitler should have never found out vampires existed. But he did, due to our own arrogance. Because of that, we were forced to fight in the affairs of mortals to destroy a threat to our kind."

A general murmur started up among the crowd. Many Council members had been involved in World War II. It had been one of the few times in recent history where the Council had united for a common purpose and goal.

"We banded together to face that threat," Kaoru told them, even as her hands continued to etch spell symbols. "But again we are divided. Many of us are absorbed in our own interests and affairs to the point of forgetting our duties. I was one such vampire. I became so absorbed in my own personal troubles I forgot the duty I had to vampire-kind. I wallowed in my own personal despair and abandoned my people because I had become too selfish and arrogant in my own abilities. When that arrogance was shattered, it also shattered me.

"And now I return to you with a warning. We must unite and set aside our greed, corruption, and arrogance. If we do not, we will become no better than the humans we prey upon. We will regress to the animals we once were. Too many times in the past years have we slipped up. Too many times have the humans come too close to discovering we are no fairy tale.

"We must abandon our own arrogance in favor of becoming a whole, unfractured race again. I bring you this warning. In human culture, there are wise humans who believe human kind will be its own downfall. I agree with them. And just as humankind is capable of destroying itself, we too are capable of being the wielders of our own demise. Unite and concentrate on the governing of the vampire race. Or divide, focus on your own petty affairs, and fall into the decaying opulence I have observed from afar for all these years. Rot away into nothing and leave the humans to rule this planet until they too fall prey to their own weakness. Personally, I choose the former choice. I leave the rest to you.

Kaoru slowly sat back down as her spell was completed. The symbols she'd drawn into the air flared brightly and a picture hung over the gathering of vampires. The ancient symbol for vampire kind, a winged snake devouring its own tail, hung over the gathering as a portent and omen. The gathering of vampires stared up at the magical picture as the snake writhed, wings fluttering. A single drop of blood fell from the snake's tail to land on the table. When it touched the white stone, the magic of the gathering flared up into the snake, tearing the symbol to pieces to replace it with a curved sword covered in blood and feathers. Slowly the image dissipated.

Some vampires cheered while others glanced at each other with worried eyes. Saitoh leaned over and murmured, "A bit more dramatic than I'd expected from you Kamiya, but well done."

She nodded and leaned back in her seat, observing the vampires still foolishly cheering. She memorized their faces, thinking to herself, You are the ones who will fall first.

oOoOoOoOo

Council was adjourned a week later. They never stopped the meeting the entire time, all of them forgoing sleep and feeding to see the Council through to the end. As the sun rose over the desert, Kenshin and Kaoru quietly trudged side by side back through the desert sands. Aoshi and Misao followed, having remained silent through the entire affair, though Misao had been given a great deal to think about in the ways of vampire politics. Kaoru's message had been heard by some, but many refused to see the wisdom of her words. There was a long journey ahead of them all.

A vampire with silver-blonde hair slowly approached Kaoru and she stopped, waiting. "I was…impressed," the man said in heavily accented English. "I had heard things…they were untrue. You are a woman to be rivaled with. When the time comes, call upon me to help you. My name is Wolfgang Steinwitz of Germany. Your Hiko, he tends to give me some problems."

Kaoru smiled and thanked him, bowing slightly before continuing on. She was very tired and very hungry and dearly wanted to get to the car before people less supportive of her views could catch up to her. Unfortunately, she had no such luck.

"Bitch!" someone shouted from behind her. She heard Kenshin's sword click in its sheath even as she drew her own. Slowly she turned to meet the vampire head on. A woman with flaming red hair was approaching. She had a knife drawn, but stopped several feet away from Kaoru. "You're the bitch who killed Enishi, yes?" she demanded through French accented Japanese. "How dare you usurp his Council position?"

"Let me guess," Kaoru said neutrally, "you were his lover."

The woman's cheeks flamed, but she did not answer. "I thought so," Kaoru murmured. "Trust me dear, I did you a favor." She turned away and began walking again, though her sword remained unsheathed. Sure enough, the woman shouted and rushed to attack the older vampiress. Kaoru turned easily to meet the knife thrust. Magic in her katana blade flared and the French woman's knife super-heated. She held onto it for several painful seconds before dropping it and nursing burned hand. "Bitch!" she screamed again, her hand moving to a second hidden blade.

"Giselle," Kenshin warned in a neutral voice as he held his katana to her throat. The French woman froze. She had not even sensed his approach. "I recommend you take Kaoru at face value. You knew Enishi's ways. Be grateful I do not remove your tongue for your insolence." The red-headed woman visibly paled and slowly held up her hands in defeat.

Kenshin waited a moment longer, pressing his blade to her throat hard enough to draw blood before moving away. Giselle's eyes burned with anger, but she did not make another move against Kaoru.

Thankfully, any other dissenters who might have gone after Kaoru decided it was not worth it to also test their mettle against Kenshin and cleared off. No one else bothered them on their way back to their black car.

oOoOoOoOo

Kaoru fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel. When she awoke, Kenshin was carrying her up the stairs. She muttered a vague protest about being able to walk on her own, but did not try to enforce her words. He lovingly nuzzled her hair as he uttered a spell to open the door to their room.

"You did wonderfully," he told her as he kicked the door shut behind them. She murmured something that sounded appropriately thankful as he set her down on the bed. He chuckled lightly as he lay down next to her. "Sleep, koishii. We'll talk when you're more coherent."

Kaoru awoke the next day to fervent pounding on her door. Kenshin was already awake with sword in hand. He reached the door just as it burst open. A male vampire jumped into the room only to be met by a blade to the throat.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Kenshin growled as his blade pressed deeper, closer to the vampire's jugular.

The male vampire spat at Kenshin before turning eyes on Kaoru. "You say we are arrogant? Look at you. You show up at your first Council meeting in five hundred years and act as though you are the ruler of all vampires. What right do you have?"

"And what right do you have to say she is wrong?" Kenshin hissed, not even allowing Kaoru to face this man. The strange vampire had overstepped bounds in Kenshin's eyes and he planned to teach the man manners. "Have you lived more than three thousand years? Have you watched the rise and fall of empires? I'd say she is plenty qualified. You on the other hand, clearly you have not yet learned enough since you disturb our peace. Get out or I will happily remove your legs and throw you out."

The strange vampire gave one last glare before slowly stepping away from Kenshin's blade. "This is going to be a very long month," Kaoru sighed as she climbed out of bed.

Kenshin allowed a dark chuckle as he crossed the room to her. "At least life will be interesting," he murmured in her ear before kissing her.

oOoOoOoOo

Kaoru moaned aloud as she turned over in bed to snatch her cell phone. She cursed Saitoh creatively in her head as her fingers fumbled over the buttons. The Wolf had insisted she have the damned device if he should need her for something. The result was many early morning calls that made Kaoru seriously consider the advantages of removing a person's tongue.

"What the hell do you want, Wolf?" she growled into the receiver as she finally pressed the correct button.

A dark chuckle answered her before Saitoh said, "Never were much of a morning person, were you?"

"No, and you knew that. Now get to the point."

"You know, in Europe it's only about eleven."

"Yes, well here it is getting close to sunrise. I enjoy the luxury of sleeping in, you ass."

She felt Kenshin shift beside her to wrap his arms around her torso. She pressed back against him as he kissed her shoulder lovingly. Some of the tension she could feel building in her neck immediately eased.

The sound of a lighter igniting echoed over the connection before Saitoh said, "How soon can you get to London?"

The Wolves of London, she thought to herself, remembering on old rock and roll song with lyrics very fitting of the ass over the phone. "I suppose I could be out there by tomorrow…or late today depending on how you look at it. Why?"

"I need your help with something."

"Saitoh, specify or I won't show up."

"Can't. The line's not secure."

"Bastard," she muttered.

"I know," he answered smugly before hanging up.

"What was that about?" Kenshin asked, lips moving lazily against her shoulder.

"Damn Wolf wants us in London as soon as we can get there. Wouldn't tell me why."

Kenshin nipped her shoulder lightly before turning her into his embrace. "I'm sure he has a good reason," the redhead told her as his hand began to slip up her tank top. She tensed slightly and his hand immediately stilled. Slowly, her muscles relaxed beneath him.

"Relax," he whispered softly. "I'm sure Saitoh has good reasons for whatever the hell he's up to."

Kaoru murmured assent as she set her hand over his, trying yet again to accustom herself to the feeling of someone else touching her. Even after several months she still could not bring herself to completely relax around Kenshin and she could see how it hurt him, though he hid it well.

"Besides, when was the last time you visited London?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not since the Shakespeare passed away. After his death there was nothing in that city worth seeing anymore."

"We'll see about that," he told her as he leaned in to kiss her.

She stilled him with a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you know about this Kenshin?"

"Nothing," he said smugly, the glint in his eye telling her differently.

"Kenshin, if you and the Wolf are planning something…"

She never got to finish her sentence as Kenshin went in for the kill, lips claiming hers possessively. She gave a token struggle before melting into the kiss. Maybe, she thought to herself, just maybe this once, I can relax. Her hands caressed his bare shoulders, urging him to deepen him the kiss. Their tongues tangled deliciously as he nipped at her lightly, drawing enough blood to bring both their instincts to the surface. He broke away abruptly, golden eyes gleaming with desire.

"Kaoru," he breathed, voice low and husky, "if you can't go any further you'd better stop this now, because I don't think I can stop myself."

She considered his words slowly. Face your fears, or flee and face them another day—a day when you're a little more confident and a little less scared. What am I saying? I want him just as badly as he wants me.

"Kenshin," she whispered seductively, "shut up and kiss me."

His eyes flashed briefly and he closed the distance between them, his hands moving around her back to hold her tightly to him. Beyond that point, they lost themselves to the heat of passion and the rhythm of nature, a slow long dance of bodies in the night.

Glossary type thingy:

haori-traditional Japanese coat, for lack of a better term

koishii-term of endearment; equates to beloved

Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu-Kenshin and Hiko's sword style; A/N: For purposes of this story, the Hiko Kenshin and Kaoru interact with is the original Hiko Seijiro, the one who came up with the sword style. He passed it on to humans after he developed it and the sword style eventually got back to Kenshin. If you have further questions or are simply confused, please let me know in your comments.

katana-Japanese long sword

wakizashi-Japanese short sword

Dt Ankh-yes, it really is ancient Egyptian for "Eternal Life;" fitting for a vampire, no?

Timeline: One of the readers requested I send her a timeline of sorts and I feel obliged to allow all my readers to see it in hopes it will allowyou to understand everything a little bit better. Here you are.

-Kaoru is 3,452 years old (mentioned in Ch 1); turned vampire slightly before the rule of King Tut

-Kenshin is turned at the age of 17 in the year 1869; he is 154 at present (Kenshin was born 1851 according to my character guides)

-Enishi is (was) approximately 560, having been turned in his late twenties

-Saitoh is approximately 1300 years old; in this universe he is originally Japanese and was changed by a rogue; staid in his home country until he joined the Council

-Hiko is approximately 1800 years old

-Kaoru met Hiko in the late 1300s; yes they were lovers; now they are just friends

-Tomoe was born in the same year as the original date in the series, 1848

-Tomoe passed away in the same year as the original series, 1866-67 (never specified if she died before the new year had passed)

-Tomoe is reborn in 1886

-Kaoru meets Tomoe in 1972 and stays with her nearly a year

-Kaoru spends the better part of 40 years with Kenshin; they meet in 1869 and separate in 1907

-Kaoru fakes her death in 1973, shortly after Enishi discovers she is still alive; she does it both to escape him and Kenshin

A/N: The song I refer to in the last portion of the chapter is "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon. Good old song. If you can't sense it, we're approaching the end. I want to give a great big collective thank you to all you readers for the wonderful reviews I've been getting. They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Until the next and yes, last chapter.