Hey ppl!

FYI, just so u know, I have no particular interest in kenshin/tomoe either, I dunno if I'm coming off as a k/t fan, but I'm not, I just don't like kaoru, personally I don't think she was good 4 kenshin cus she was way younger and didn't really understand his all too bloody past…I just don't think they went together very well….he would seem better off w/ megumi in my opinion….she seems to understand him better…but enough on that, just enjoy!Oh and i havent seen Seishouhen...

Her husband had returned. The man she had loved since the day she first laid eyes on him had returned. She didn't know what had happened to him, why he had distanced himself from her, but nothing mattered to her now, he had returned and she was happy.

I re-learned to live with her. To pretend like everything was right with the world, and I had even started to make progress with my son. That was what gave me the strength to keep the charade up. My son's love.

All he needed was to see his mother radiate with happiness, and I was willing to give her that happiness. I was being extremely selfish, how much crueler can I be? How much crueler can you be to somebody you love as a sister? How can I say that I love her, even as a sister if I would use her and lie to her to gain my son's trust and respect? I was a despicable man.

There are nights where I see Shishio in my nightmares. He laughs and extends his hand to me, so that I could join him in hell. He is engulfed in flames, laughing, telling me what a great time we could have.

That laugh haunts me.

'We can finish off our fight. In hell you won't need your unnecessary morals, you could fight to kill.' His ghost tells me in my dreams. I try to wake up but I cannot. He has me in his grasp, tormenting my dreams.

"Kenji, let's go to your father." Kaoru says.

His big eyes stare wide at me. He always looks at me that way, as if to see that I won't pull a knife and backstab his mother. I smile at him and shake my head. I would never hurt her willingly. If I could, my greatest wish would be to love her as she loves me so that I can stop hiding behind this façade that I've built. I really wish I could bring her true happiness.

He agrees to leave her embrace and extends his small arms to me. I hold him tightly, trying to remember that embrace for as long as I could. Those times when I could embrace my son were rare, and I never wanted to forget them.