Rurouni Kenshin - Fiction Rated: T - English - Romance/Supernatural - Chapters: 9 - Words: 20003 - Reviews: 40 - Updated: 12-24-04 - Published: 8-30-03

It took so long to update. One whole year. See?

Today's date is 01/01/06. I am writing off my new year's hangover...And what better story to work on then the one that has been sitting still the longest? Dammit, I hate just forgetting a story like that. Really I do. But some things happen, and I think it would be best if I worked on this story instead of my others. It has been forever. A whole god damned year.

Ok now, getting on with the story. This is part two! Sorry it took so damn long to get out. I forgot that I had stories to write. Life just gets in the way some times.

''- Luna talking, or people thinking.

""-People talking

Italics- Past events, memories

Past Person-Separation, deadly assumption Part Two

She sat in her room drinking her cold tea. It had been two days since the ambush, and there was no sign of Kenshin. After being tossed up on the roof, one of her shoes got stuck in a whole between the shingles and she couldn't get out.

'You're mad at him for not coming to help you?' Kaoru put her cup down and shifted sideways as the witch sat down beside her. 'Or is it that you're saddened that he chose Tomoe over you.'

Kaoru looked at the swirling liquid in her cup. "A little of both I guess. I'm mostly afraid of were he is. What if he's hurt and I am not there to help or worse," She looked at the woman big eyed. "What if he dies?" Tears started to fall as she thought about him dying and she wouldn't know.

Luna put a comforting hand on her shoulders. 'Child, if he were to die now, after only a brief time with you, I would not have brought you to the past. There is more to come with you and that man, though I can not specify of what that may be. You must trust me.' With a wave of her hand above the cold cup of tea, steam started to rise and the tea was hot again. 'Now drink your tea and relax. I'll be here for you whenever you need me.'

Kaoru nodded vaguely, obeying the time-witch and drinking her tea. She thought how she couldn't remember much of her life. She only had Kenshin, Tomoe and Luna. And Luna said she would be with her...and she could go to Kenshin too!

The thought dawned on her that she could use Luna to watch over Kenshin. Maybe relay messages.

"Ano, Luna? You can go see Kenshin whenever you want, right?" She looked hopefully over her cup to see the witch's reaction. She was disappointed to see her sigh, look down, and shake her head.

'I can visit him, if that's what your asking, but I will not but once. He has to call on me once and I will go to him, but then I will not be able to again till he returns to you. During this time, he will go through a many challenges that he will have to face alone, without the guidance of myself.'

Kaoru stood up. "Then I have to go to him! If he's going to be in trouble then I have to be there to help him."

'Sit down, Kaoru.' Luna's voice was calm but the order made her plop right down into her seat. Kaoru glared holes into the floor repressing the snappy remark she wanted to throw at the witch. 'Kaoru, I can't do any thing to help him. Neither can you, for now. You will get your chance, but for his sake and your's, be patient.'

Kaoru nodded dejectedly and sipped her tea. "How long will it be before I get to see him again?"

'Ten years for him, but only a while for you. I have other plans for you, and it doesn't involve just laying around and waiting for him.'

"Ten years!" Kaoru choked on her drink and looked flabbergasted at Luna. "He's going to forget all about me! What am I supposed to do for ten years if the only reason I'm here is for Kenshin, and he's not even going to be with me?"

'You will be getting stronger. Body and mind.'

Luna smiled at the uncertain look in Kaoru's eyes. "And what does that mean?"

'Your moving to the mountains. And five years earlier.'

X X X

Kenshin didn't know if he was glad she was silent, or not. After being around Kaoru so much, he was impatient for some chatter. But Tomoe was not like Kaoru.

The bottom of her Kimono was torn, and blood had dried to crust on her sleeves. She walked head down, hands folded in front of her, and all he wanted her to do was to say something. The silence was cold, indifferent. He would give any thing to hear one word from her. Even if it was mean or accusing. The silence made him feel way to lonesome, alien.

Tomoe was having a silent war with herself. She was doing her best to love Kenshin and forget Battousai, but how could she ignore the killer when it was so openly displayed to her? There were moments when he was the sweetest guy, the kindest man and charming. But those moments are mercilessly killed when she watches gleaming metal tear through flesh so heartlessly.

"Would you like to rest for a while?"

She was jerked from her musings by Kenshin's voice. His cobalt eyes looked uneasily at her. Could he know what she was thinking? The thought frightened her. She loved him, but she couldn't get over his blade.

"I would like to rest, thank you."

Kenshin pulled out a canteen and rice balls that he had acquired in a village passing while Tomoe claimed a spot on a grassy mound.

Both ate in silence.

"You can sleep a while if you want."

Tomoe thanked him again and lay down. She was asleep quickly and Kenshin was left watching her sleep, feeling oddly put down.

For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what was wrong here. He had a feeling things were not going to end very well.

X X X

"Konoha, Natsu, your cheating again." Kaoru threw her sandals and hit both men on their heads. Natsu just smiled and Konoha glared at her while rubbing the bump on his head.

"I was not cheating. Your just paranoid." Konoha said.

"I think she is just a sore looser. Jealous." Natsu was still smiling as he gathered the money he 'won' up and put it in his stash. "I think your luck has run out, Kaoru. Or your losing your touch."

"I am not a sore looser. I just loose because you boys keep looking at my cards." Kaoru put her sandals back on and sighed. "I don't really feel up to another game. I think I'm going to turn in. Don't spend my money on any illicit company now."

The twins laughed and Natsu put the cards up. Kaoru was almost to the door to leave when Konoha stopped her.

"What are you going to do, Kaoru, now that Kenshin is gone? You have no other reason to stay here. You could go and make a new life for yourself."

She paused in her step. Could she just go and live her life? Or go and do what the goddess tells her to do? She is ruling her life.

"I wont be here longer. I don't know when, but I'm going to go somewhere." Kaoru's voice had a wisp of longing to it. Soft and vacant.

"Your not going to wait for Battousai?" Natsu would have thought Kaoru would wait for the man. Not just go and do whatever. He and Konoha suspected she loved the man, but why would she not wait for him, or go looking instead?

"If Kenshin wanted me with him, he would have taken me. He has Tomoe to look after, and besides, if I really needed him, I could find him easily."

"Does that have any thing to do with you guys turning blue when hit? Because that shit's scary."

Kaoru laughed and kicked Natsu in the knee. He gave her a half-hearted glare for it. "It has something to do with that. But I know what I have to do. You two have been very good to me. I don't know if I could have kept my sanity with out you with all the lover's tension. I will never let myself forget you guys."

Neither man knew what Kaoru was talking about, but both grinned and said their goodnights. The thought of losing the only female friend was sad, but they would support her. She was their little sister. They both knew that she would be gone the next day, but as long as she was happy and safe, that's all that mattered to them.

Kaoru tried unsuccessfully to hold back the tears that were wanting to fall. The thought of leaving behind all she really knew was heartbreaking. The inn was her home. For the past five months, it is all she can remember, and now she was leaving it.

'I'm sorry for the pain, Kaoru, but it is necessary for the future.'

"What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger, I guess. It's not your fault for my emotions. If I wasn't such a damn bloody heart then maybe I could be more aloof in situations like this."

'But then you wouldn't be you. This is who you are, and you have to accept every thing about you, or else you will be forever unhappy.'

Kaoru's head shot up. Why did that advice make her think of Kenshin? It was like a kick in the face telling her to remember. She smiled to Luna and began walking to her room with lighter steps. "Thank you, Luna. You're right."

She stepped into her room and went strait for her futon. Her eyes became heavy and she lay down. "So, Luna. Tell me about what your going to do with me."

Luna shut the door and lit a lamp. 'I will transport you in your sleep. It will be about five years in the past. You will be on the mountains in Kyoto but you must remember that the people you meet will not know who you are, so you can not just out and blurt their names. You have to act like you just met them.'

"People I meet? You mean that I will get to see people that I know from this time? Like who?"

'Kenshin, when he is eleven years old, and his master.' The goddess blew out the lamp and quietly disappeared from the room. Kaoru's eyes shot open from post sleep, now fully awake.

"I get to see Kenshin? At eleven? What the hell kind of crap is this?"

X X X

I apologize for taking so god damn long to update. But, I know its short but hey, it was new years the other night. I am exhausted. I'm not going to make any more promises about when I'll update, so I'll just say, I'll update when I update. I have not been a very good authoress as of late, and it shows in my writing. If there is any people that still remember this story that review, I will be surprised.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though it's short and uninteresting, but I have tried.

Thank you,

Ymir-chan