Authors Notes: Well hellooo everyone! I sure hope that you've caught sight of my new story, Taming the Troublesome! It's doing quite well if I do say so myself!

As for Waterfall, Light by Angel wings, and Tied between tails and Treasure, (no, I'm not giving them up) They're going to by slightly delayed. Tied between Tails and Treasure wasn't the best of choices I've made.

Light by Angel wings, I'm still really glad I'm writing that.

And waterfall is plainly needing to finish!

Once those are done, I have a plan for a new story that's really quite interesting if you ask me :)

Anyway, thank you all for waiting a while for me to update!

'kenshin's thoughts'

'battousai's thoughts'

Chapter 11 – A golden Kenshin

Kenshin awoke to the sounds of slight whimpering. His eyes were glossy and dazed from just awaking. He figured it couldn't be too late in the morning. It seemed to be still dark.

He slowly turned his body so his back was on the cushions, and lifted his arm over his forehead. He strained his ears to hear the soft cry again, but didn't hear anything. He was just about to turn back on his side and drift off to sleep once more when another muffled sob was heeded.

'What in the world…?'

He slowly got up off his comfy couch and stood up groggily. He stretched slightly, hearing a few bones crack, and yawned while scratching his side sleepily. He looked around sluggishly, sleep still fogging his half awake mind.

He heard the sound again and noticed it was coming from his…room.

"….Kaoru?"

The thought of it made sense. No one else was in his household besides Kaoru. Well, and a small orange cat that just so happened to roam around. But even Kenshin's heavy-lidded mind could process that the sound he was hearing was definitely not his cat.

He slowly made his way down the silent hallway. His eyes slowly began to widen as the whimpering and muffled cries became more pronounced. He slowly lifted his hand and knocked on the wooden door ever-so-gently.

"….Kaoru, you ok?"

His voice, he made sure, was soft and gentle. If she was crying, the last thing he'd want to be was crude. He hesitated before turning the knob, noticing that it was still locked.

He sighed and leaned up against the wall and ran a hand through his disarray hair. He then got an idea and rushed into the bathroom.

He searched through his cabinets and finally found what he was looking for.

Bobby-pins.

Kenshin did question as to why he had bobby-pins considering he didn't need them, but that didn't matter at the moment. He picked the perfect one for the job and hurried out of the bathroom and back the locked door.

He took one end of the bobby-pin and stuck into the small hole in the door knob. He fiddled with it until he heard it click. He smiled victoriously as he turned the knob and opened the door.

The room was dark with slight light seeping through the cracks of the curtains. Although it wasn't vivid, Kenshin could still make out the dark silhouettes of the bed and Kaoru sleeping in it.

He slowly made his way over to the bed and cautiously sat down on the mattress next to where Kaoru had her head on the pillow. The covers were drawn up over her face so all that was showing was her midnight hair.

He placed a hand on the covers that were over her head.

"Hey…Kaoru…?"

He shook her slightly with his hand and all he got was a moan of displeasure. She didn't seem to be awake…

Kenshin slowly drew back the covers. He drew back slightly at what he saw displayed before his amethyst eyes.

Kaoru's lids, although shut, had tears, trickling down her face. Her eyebrows were pursed and her expression looked as though she were in some sort of agony.

Kenshin bit his lip as he strained to hear the words that she muttered in her unpleasant sleep.

"d-….daddy….please….n-o…."

Kenshin's eyes widened and his expression twisted in surprise. Her father? She was dreaming of her father? His expression softened and he gently wiped her tears away from her face.

For a moment he thought he felt a little warmth.

'…Oh man…I hope she doesn't…'

Kenshin almost hesitantly placed a hand atop of Kaoru's forehead. He quickly drew back his hand as if it were acid.

'She's got a fever!'

Kenshin quickly jumped off the mattress and rushed into the bathroom and grabbed a small face cloth. He turned the sink faucet on cold and ran the face cloth under it.

His mind was flashing through all sorts of reasons, racking up methods as to how she could have come down with it so quickly, and just how long has she been fighting the sickness.

He couldn't waste time. He rung the face cloth until it seemed well enough for Kaoru's fever. He quickly rushed back into the room and placed the cloth on Kaoru's hot brow.

"please….d-daddy….do..n't…"

Kaoru continued to plead in her sleep. Kenshin got a sudden urge to gather her into his arms and cradle her so she could forget all of her nightmares. She did so to him, and he knew he needed to return to favor somehow…

-Flash Back-

"Well maybe your mom should have stayed alive. That way I could get revenge on her, and let your father beat you so things would be even. But since she died in the accident, I'll just have to let your father deal with you. Your life isn't worth much anyway." Kenshin spat at her.

He had no idea what he just said, and how it effected Kaoru. Kaoru just plainly stared at him. The life drained from her eyes. Her tears still flowing. She then lost control of her anger. She raised her hand, and without any hesitation, she slapped him hard across his left cheek. Kenshin's head flew to the right from the impact, eyes wide, staying in that position. He then slowly and shakily, turned his head to face Kaoru.

"How dare you! My mother sacrificed herself to save me! She saved me from any harm so I could live! She told me that my life was too precious for it to be wasted so easily! How DARE you defy my mother that way!" Kaoru screamed at him, angry tears flowed over her sad ones with pride. Kenshin's eyes remained blank as he lifted a hand slowly to his cheek that had been struck. Kenshin finally snapped out of his state, and was regretting all that he had done.

"K...K-kaoru...I...I'm...I just..." Kenshin tried to stutter out his jumbled words, but nothing seemed to come out sensibly.

"You're what!" Kaoru asked angrily. "I'll let you talk! I'm not like you! A person who tries to silence people when they try to speak!" Kaoru said as she glared at him, tears still streaking down her tear stained face.

"I'm...I'm sorry...I..." Kenshin then bowed his head, and began to weep. He shouldn't have said that. He knew that she had a hard life. But he never knew that it was like that. If she could forgive him, she would be the most kind person he ever met. He brought his hand up to cup his face as he continued to cry. He spoke through his hands.

"I...I didn't mean it...I'm so sorry...I..." Before he could finish he felt something wrap around his back. He lowered his hands to find Kaoru on her knees, hugging him around his arms, resting her head behind his shoulder.

"Just promise me...don't ever do that to me again...promise?" Kaoru choked out the last word as she began to well up inside. Kenshin couldn't believe that she forgave him so easily. Then he lowered his head into the crook of her neck, and nodded. He wrapped his arms around her waste, and brought her closer to him. He couldn't think of a way to make it up to her. So he just held her close. Just to hold her. That was enough to get his rage; to be extinguished and put to rest. Just holding her tight…

-End of Flash back-

Kenshin nearly choked at his own foolish and disgusting action. He looked back down at the sleeping face of Kaoru. He wished that she could rest easily without disruption. He brought his hand up and stroked her right cheek gently with the back of his right hand.

"Oh Kaoru…I wish I could help you…"

Kenshin continued the sweet caress until she muttered something through her lips. Kenshin slowly died down to a stop with his caress and tried to make out what she was saying.

"Ke-…"

Kenshin faintly heard the beginning of a 'K' word. He wondered if maybe she was…

Kenshin shook his head gruffly. What was he saying? They 'hated' each other now, right? He made her even more peed off when he flirted with Megumi, (which he still cringed to) and the fact that she came in all toody-fruity with Enishi on her arm didn't help either.

But just as he was about to go on with how he couldn't possibly be thinking sanely, the word she was trying to produce finally came out clearly.

"Kenshin…"

'Me…! She's…dreaming about ME! Bu-…but I thought…'

Kenshin tried to reason with himself. Maybe she was having a dream about her beating the crap out of him, or something of the sort. Yeah, that was it. It was just one of those dreams where you imagine someone's face and you lift you fist ever-so-slowly and wiiiiiind back and POW!

"K-Kenshin…I…"

'She probably was about to say 'I hate you.' Pft.'

Kenshin almost wanted to sigh. He picked the cloth up and placed his hand on her forehead again. Well, it was slightly cooler than before. He left his palm there for a little while longer. Her skin felt like velvet. So smooth…

Kenshin realized what he was doing and quickly repelled. He got up and walked to the door, cloth in hand, to re-wet the slightly warmed fabric. He stopped at the door frame and looked back at Kaoru. He readied himself to leave when she muttered something once more.

"Kenshin,…I'm…s-…"

Her sentence was once again trailed off in her sleep. Kenshin sighed, bowing his head before walking into the bathroom again. He turned on the faucet again and worked the cool water into the cloth. He then dropped the cloth into the sink, turning off the faucet, and leaned over, placing both hands on his forehead and propped himself on the bathroom counter with his elbows.

"What's wrong with me…?"

He lifted his eyes to stare into his own reflection. His face seemed slightly flushed, and for what reason, he didn't know. But that's not what caught his eye. Ironically, what caught his eye was his own eyes. They weren't their normal lilac hue.

'Gold….?'

He didn't understand. Maybe it was just his tired mind playing tricks on him. He turned on the faucet once more and cupped his hands underneath the running water and splashed it up onto his face, trying to wake himself up more.

He clamped his eyes shut and shook his head. He slowly lifted his head again to look into the mirror once more and slowly opened his eyes.

Gold.

They were still a beautiful blazing molten gold. He looked a little closer to see if it was the trick of the lighting, but all he got was a deeper view that showed some amethyst was swirled in with this strange golden hue.

He quickly ground his palms into his eye sockets and rubbed harshly.

'What the hell is this! I'm not angry or anything so why…'

Kenshin had only seen this once or twice. The first time he ever saw it was when Tomoe had over stepped her boundaries and wouldn't leave him alone. And the second time…was when he assaulted Kaoru.

He still couldn't believe he did that…he wanted to just smash his head against something. But he didn't have the time to reminisce. He gathered up the cloth once more and rung it out again. He returned to the room and sauntered back over to Kaoru and placed the cloth on her head.

"Kenshin…I'm…sorry…."

Kenshin's golden eyes widened slightly. That's what she was trying to say? That she was sorry? For what? Kenshin simply couldn't answer what she was apologizing for since he was the one at fault.

Kaoru shifted in her sleep, moaning a little and wriggling to get comfortable. The large shirt she was wearing was disarray and crumpled up slightly, showing some of her skin. Kenshin gulped slightly as he tugged at his shirt collar.

'Is it getting hot in here?…I could have sworn it wasn't this hot before…'

Just then, Kaoru shifted just a little bit more; her fever's downfall causing her to heat up slightly. The bunched up shirt lifted up juuuust enough for Kenshin's eyes to take a small peak.-

'DAMN is it hot in here!'

Kenshin took a deep breath and fanned himself. He could just taste the beginning of an inner battle. He groaned when he finally heard a voice crack in his mind.

'Oh man, this is just too much!' A dark, yet striking voice echoed in his mind.

'What are you talking about!' Kenshin almost wanted to whack himself. He was talking with himself and arguing as well. Sometimes having a split personality could get the best of you.

'Oh, pa-lease! Tell me you are not enjoying this, my friend.'

Kenshin found it hard to try and argue. Although it was extremely improper, and not to mention he was violating her (in her sleep, no less) he couldn't say that he wasn't enjoying it.

'Well…I-'

'Oh, I knew that one day you would see it my way, my friend. Now. If you'll just let me take over, then I'd be happy to-'

'No way, no how! I let you out that time when you choked Kaoru, and that wasn't even on purpose! If I had let you out purposely, then who knows what could have happened!'

The voice stopped for a moment as if to think.

'Hmm…good point. But, that was before I knew what happened with her past…trust me on this, Kenshin. I feel just as bad, if not worse, about that as you do…I mean I was the one who did it…'

Kenshin paused for a moment. That was true. He couldn't argue with his other side about that fact. But…the question always seemed to linger. Just how dangerous was his other side, and why exactly did he have another side?

'Hey, hey! Don't get carried away on thought here! Stay on topic!'

Kenshin sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. This was almost too crazy. While Kaoru lay in an extremely alluring position with her shirt all disarranged the way it was.

Kenshin gulped and continued to fight the urge of giving in to his more…'playful' side so to speak; he didn't want to make his other half look too bad.

'Oh c'mon! Can't you let a guy have some fun here!'

Kenshin glared at nothing. 'Not in this situation, no.'

There was an elongated sigh in the back of his mind. Maybe his other side was giving up?…Nah.

'You really have to understand just what you're passing by, here.'

Kenshin nodded in precise.

'Of course I do. For one, Kaoru already hates my guts right now, and to violate her, you've got to be crazy! I already had an inning with her arm and her hand connected to it and it's something I'd like to avoid as much as possible, thank you very much!

There was once again, another sigh.

'Fine, fine. Be a little wuss and not let me out. But trust me on this. You want it just as bad as I do. I'm just not afraid to admit that…'

And with that, the voice was put to rest for the time being. Kenshin sighed and ran a hand through his hair again. He felt a small thump on the bed and saw that his little cat had decided to join him. Kenshin lifted his hand and his cat walked over to it and rubbed against it, mewing contently.

"I don't know what to do, Tiko…I really don't know…"

Kenshin scratched his cat's ear as the little kitten purred and leaned into the touch. When Kenshin stopped and placed his hand in his lap, Tiko mewed and climbed onto his lap as well and prowled around a bit, kneading, then curling into a ball and drifting off to sleep.

"No, no Tiko, you can't fall asleep there, I gotta get up."

Kenshin picked the little fluff ball and gently placed him on the pillow next to Kaoru's head, so not to wake him. Kenshin was just about to get up off the bed when he caught glimpse of something.

His comforter was a pine green color, but he never noticed any red in it before. He slowly ran his hands along the red patch on the cover and gasped when it was damp. He looked at his hand and dreaded what he saw.

Blood.

He quickly drew the covers away from Kaoru's body and gaped at what he saw.

Her leg was covered in the crimson liquid. And around that area was a large gash.

'That's what caused her fever!'

Kenshin quickly ran back into the bathroom and searched for the peroxide. He found it buried in his medicine cabinet and grabbed bandages along with it. After getting all the things necessary, he rushed back to her side.

He took a small towel he grabbed and soaked it with the peroxide and quickly applied it to the wound on her leg. Kaoru hissed in her sleep when he did that. The bloody wound fizzed with the cleansing liquid and Kenshin winced. The wound was pretty deep.

'How the hell could she have gotten something like this!'

As Kenshin worked with her wound, the reason as to why she came back late started to make sense. There had to be something that connected this wound and her being late together. As a matter a fact, he did notice a small limp when she walked into the house. But he paid no mind to it, seeming as maybe it was just his imagination.

Why did she tell him about that earlier? He finished cleaning it and gently wrapped it up in the bandages, being careful not to make it too tight.

Just as he finished, he noticed a pretty well sized bruise on her other leg.

'What the…Kaoru, what the hell happened to you?'

"D-…daddy….please…"

Kenshin's eyes widened greatly as his heart started to bet faster and his forehead formed small drops of cold sweat.

Her father.

A/N: Well that's chapter 11 people! I hope you like it! Oh, and if someone could tell me how to do a pagebreak, that would be great ; I know I have them there, but that's copied and pasted from other fanfictions. I tried doing pagebreak on my word document, but all it does is go to a new page. Please help me here!

OH! I have to tell you. There's this really nice song that I found and it's called 'Grace like Rain'. It's by a boy named Todd Agnew. (You would never have guessed that he's only twenty with his voice!)

Anyway, that's about it for now! I hope you liked this chapter! Please review!