Author's Note: So I don't have to work today, and I figured now was a perfect time to post the next chapter since I managed to proofread/revise last night.
And a special thanks to all of those who reviewed the first chapter: I Heart Edward Cullen, Unicornfan, ixchen, Reignashii, Royal blueKitsune, crazy fanfic lover, Valaroma, toxiclollipop, Lendra-chan, animeLCgrl, Arwey, Anonymous but very interested (all of your questions will be answered, have no doubt), and Super Sheba. Here's to hoping you guys continue with the reviews! (grin)
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
A Soft Hope
Chapter 2
Quiet Moments
It was a crisp morning, slightly overcast and damp from midnight showers. The dewy grass hushed Kaoru's determined footsteps as her breath escaped in small puffs while she scanned her surroundings. Placing a hand on top of her head to keep her loosely tied bonnet in place, Kaoru squinted against the smooth wind.
She set down her wooden easel in the grass on top of a small knoll overlooking a particularly scenic pond. She placed her folding chair behind the easel and after setting down the little bag containing her paints, Kaoru reached up underneath her chin to untie the blue ribbon of her bonnet. Pulling the concealing hat from her head, she brushed her ruffled bangs from her eyes and sat the hat down on top of her paint bag to keep the delicate material from soaking in the grass's dew. Kaoru settled slowly onto the folding chair, and then smoothed her blue skirts so they remained out of her way, which allowed her a more liberty with her movements.
Through explanation and entreating elucidations, Kaoru had whittled away the baroness' protests about painting alone without a chaperone. Admittedly, it had been a hard feat, especially after her riding mishap, but she had succeeded. It was nice that the baroness worried about her wellbeing, but Kaoru needed…no, she craved an independence that wasn't available at the estate.
Preferring to at least have a rough sketch of what she planned to paint on the canvas, Kaoru pulled out a drawing pencil and turned her gaze to the quaint scenery before her as a slight smile of satisfaction curved her lips.
The lines of her pencil marks were faint and loose as she sketched the countryside before her. Relaxing as her concentration narrowed more intimately with her drawing, Kaoru caught her lower lip between her teeth and furrowed her brow in attentive deliberation.
She remained in this position of concentration for the next forty minutes, her interest fixed solely on her art. In that relatively narrow window of time, the rough outline she had originally set down mentally for the paint to fill in and blur had almost been completed.
Leaning back, Kaoru ran her free hand against the back of her neck, stretching her now cramped muscles. Her heavy hair was beginning to loosen from the pins she had placed in the dark mass earlier that morning. Glancing down at her hands momentarily, she noticed her fingertips were blotchily stained with pencil-lead. In a poor attempt to clean them, she wiped her fingers against a clean handkerchief she procured from her paint bag.
She was almost finished wiping her pinky finger clean when a voice off the side, touched with undertones of humor, rudely interrupted her thoughts.
"And so we meet again."
Startled, Kaoru felt the handkerchief drop to her lap as she whipped her gaze up to meet a pair of warm violet eyes staring at her curiously. Eyes narrowing slightly, she laid her hands down onto her lap and sighed, surprise apparent on her features.
"Are you following me?" Kaoru retorted belligerently, a spark of boldness flashing in her eyes.
His eyes crinkled as he chuckled, stepping closer to her and cocking his head to the side. "No, I'm not. Though, it is interesting that I've only known of your existence for a handful of days, and I've already encountered you now three times. Quite a coincidence."
"Mmm," Kaoru started, shifting her position in her chair to face him more fully. "That is true. Except, I'm aware of your name this time. And, of course, your title."
The man who Kaoru now knew as the Earl of Glairmoor was dressed in a causal shirt and trousers, his sleeves rolled up and his shoes scuffed with mud. His long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail that slid down his back, and his face was warmly flushed from morning exercise.
Slipping his hands casually in his pockets, the earl moved his attention to the nearby pond, his eyes watching the preening wildlife. Pursing her lips, Kaoru studied him quietly. She had found over the years that she was fairly good at judging people, and although it easy to deduce that the earl seemed innately kind, his violet eyes held a unique light of humanity she had never noticed before in anyone else.
Dropping the handkerchief on her bag of supplies, Kaoru stood up, sidestepping her easel and strolling over to stand beside him. "So is this your regular routine? Do you walk here every morning to see the pond?"
"Is this a way to pry my morning schedule from me?"
She smiled. "Just curious."
"Well," he started, "I actually rode here on my horse. I prefer to ride in the morning. There's usually no one out and I have the area to myself." He paused and turned to her, a corner of his mouth turning up a little. "Though, with you around lately, that statement is blaringly incorrect."
Kaoru clasped her hands behind her back. "I guess that's because we must think alike. The freshness of the morning always energizes me for the day."
"The main draw for me is the quietness. It's good to have some peace at least sometime during the day."
Kaoru seemed to find some secret amusement in that statement, her lips curling as she tried to suppress a muted laugh. "You have no idea." Was she referring to the woman she had been with the other day?
He watched her, taking in her open expression. "I see you're a painter?"
She shrugged slightly, almost hesitant. "I dabble. It helps me think sometimes."
"Portraits or just landscapes?"
Kaoru's eyes lightly flickered with an unreadable emotion before she quickly turned away to look at the scenery she was depicting so carefully on her canvas. "Only landscapes for now."
"You'll have to show me when you're done. My mother was a painter. I loved watching her paint when I was little."
An easy smile curved Kaoru's lips. "Did you? My parents had no artistic ability whatsoever. They claimed a passing gypsy sprinkled her talent on me."
A heavy intake of solemn breath accompanied his next words. "Unfortunately it's the opposite for me. My mother possessed the gift and I inherited no artistic talent at all."
"Oh, everyone can at least draw a little," Kaoru responded, slightly disbelieving.
Shaking his head with a tilted smile, he responded, "Not me."
"What do you prefer to spend your time doing, then? Fencing? Gambling? Horsemanship? You'll have to pardon me, I'm not at all up to date on men's hobbies," Kaoru asked, her eyes alight with an innocent inquisitiveness.
"No. None of those, unfortunately," he countered, inwardly entertained by her list. "I rarely have time for anything these days, because I've been helping out a friend with his shipping business. It seems all I do is look at accounts and formulate industrial plans to help with profits." He watched as she eyed him with palpable speculation.
"I think I prefer my painting."
"Yes, that is a much more enjoyable pastime," The earl sighed, turning his gaze to sky, studying the sun for a moment as it crested higher above the treetops. "It's about time I started heading back home. My friend will be displeased if I waste away another morning without helping him arrange his business dealings."
"Well, we'll probably run into each other again somehow. I'm not leaving the countryside anytime soon." Kaoru paused, hesitating slightly. "It was nice seeing you again. Especially under different and less dangerous circumstances."
The earl smiled his agreement and inclined his head slightly. "Goodbye, Miss Kamiya."
From where she was standing, she watched him walk confidently down the small knoll, and toward a chestnut mare tied next to a wide-birthed tree. Running his hand down her neck, he easily mounted and moved away, disappearing from Kaoru's sight.
Sighing, Kaoru moved back to her easel and reluctantly decided that it was time for her to depart as well. The last thing she needed was to have Misao and the baroness worry, even though they were aware of her general whereabouts.
After collecting everything, she began her tedious journey back on foot. As Kaoru walked, her hands tight on her supplies, she found herself thinking of the unusually open conversation she'd had with a virtual stranger, and she felt her mind involuntary return to the handsome face of the man who had the uncanny ability to pop out of nowhere.
And now that she thought about, how on earth did he manage that? She hadn't heard him or his horse approach. Kaoru scrunched her nose in meditation and shifted her grip on her bag of paints. Deciding she had been caught off guard, because she had been captured deeply in her work, Kaoru belatedly excused his stealth as she lifted her head when she heard the steady pounding of hooves charging closer and closer to her walking form.
Frowning, she recognized Misao cantering sidesaddle toward her on her unruly little mare. Kaoru halted her progress as Misao came to a quick halt beside her, leaning back in the saddle and taking a deep breath.
Misao stared down at her silently for a moment before parting her lips to speak. "I was getting worried," she expressed suddenly at Kaoru's quiet stare, studying her searchingly. "I know that when you get caught up painting, you lose all sense of time. I thought you had forgotten our brunch plans with my mother at Stirling Hall, and I was coming to get you."
"Oh, yee of little faith," Kaoru mumbled. "I may get caught up, but I do remember my responsibilities."
Misao made a sound that sounded an awfully lot like a snort. Kaoru sent her a sardonic glare.
"Here, Madame Perfection," Kaoru started, lifting up the small bag of supplies she carried with her. "Take this with you, will you? I'll keep the easel and the chair, but all of this stuff is getting quite heavy. I think I'll bring Alistair next time so he can get some exercise, and I can get some help carrying everything to that knoll."
"I told you it was far," Misao replied, taking the bag from Kaoru's upraised arm.
"Yes, yes, I know. I wanted to see for myself. Now I know, and I agree."
Kaoru began walking once more with the easel and chair held together underneath her right arm. Misao turned her mare around and kept her pace the same as Kaoru's, opting to join her friend on the way back to the estate instead of merely riding ahead.
The next morning, Kaoru did as she had told Misao the previous day. Deciding to forgo lugging all her materials, she enlisted the help of her trusty steed. The only annoyance she could have done without was riding sidesaddle in a lady's appropriate clothing. She could feel Alistair rein in his exuberance, knowing that when the sidesaddle was used, his freedom with her was limited. Unfortunately, Kaoru couldn't justify wearing her pants and cotton shirt when the possibility of being seen was very high, so respectability was the dress code for the day…much to her consternation.
As weather went, not much had changed between this day and the one before. The clouds were still present in full force, and their heavy masses were colored a soft gray, hinting at a possible morning shower.
Kaoru hoped the morning stayed free of any rain. The practical side of her was slightly tempered with trepidation at the thought of becoming drenched along with her materials. Though, the painter in her was happy for the overcast weather. She wouldn't have to make any adjustments to what she had decided to do yesterday.
Once she reached her spot, Kaoru dismounted, and began collecting and untethering her equipment from Alistair's saddle, finally setting it off to the side. Since she didn't know how long she would be there, and she felt comfortable removing and then putting back on Alistair's tack, Kaoru liberated the stallion from his restraints, allowing him to graze freely. She put the tack over on a fallen tree that was lying on its side, and then turned to remove her bonnet as she had the day before, setting it aside near the saddle.
As she stepped over to her supplies, Kaoru pulled her white gloves from her fingers, deciding it was much easier to clean stray paint from her bare fingertips than off a new, expensive pair of gloves. Fully aware of her impending painting, Kaoru had also come prepared with a protective frock to wear over her dress.
She set the canvas on the easel, and settled onto her chair. Because the outline was already drawn, Kaoru set to immediate work, compiling her paints and choosing which section to begin with. Deciding to begin with the grass, Kaoru grabbed the green and accessory paints, and began to mix them to obtain a color as identical to real thing as possible.
Biting her lip, she narrowed her gaze and…
"I thought you would already be a bit farther," a familiar voice mused from behind her, causing her hand to jerk and spread an even mixture of green and yellow into a blob of white on her pallet.
Kaoru looked up slowly as the redheaded earl walked around to face her, and when he came into eyesight, she shot him a hard stare. He remained apparently oblivious of her immediate discontent, still wordlessly questioning her unfortunate lack of progress.
"Well, I did just arrive. It takes a while to mix the colors to the correct shade," she retorted flatly.
The earl looked down at her pallet, "I do think there's a little too much white in that green of yours," he remarked, eyeing her mishap.
Kaoru stared at him a moment before removing the paintbrush from the paint and sucking in a deep, fortifying breath. "Yes, I know."
He turned away from her, quickly hiding the small smile that touched his lips. He caught sight of Alistair not far away. "Ah, I see you've ridden as well. Is it farther here than you thought?"
"A little."
"I did the same thing when I first arrived here. I wandered a bit too far and came close to losing my way, but I have a good sense of direction, so I saved myself from an embarrassing debacle."
Kaoru watched as he walked forward, away from her and down a small incline a few feet away. He was dressed similarly to the day before, preferring to be more casual than stylish for the morning outing. Kaoru watched his striking hair as it was tousled by a gentle, passing breeze.
"Why did you choose to paint here?" he asked, catching her attention.
Setting her pallet down in her lap, she sighed. "It's a nice example of the local countryside. Quiet, sedate, and unassuming, which is vastly different from the busy congestion of London."
He smiled almost distractively. "Some thrive on the city's energy."
"It's nice to experience the fast pace and glorious activity that society has to offer, but it got almost routine in my opinion. I have found that once you've attended the numerous functions several times, it's almost always the same afterwards," Kaoru frowned, glancing back at her canvas, which had yet to be painted on. "It's nice to take a break and experience something different."
"Like almost running people over with your horse?" the earl asked, his face pulled into a serious line, though Kaoru could almost make out the muted amusement he partially concealed in the amethyst depths.
Watching him, she replied slowly, "Well that, too. Though I would have preferred it to be a group of people instead of just you. The more carnage the merrier, you know?"
"You're quite bloodthirsty, aren't you?"
Kaoru nodded immediately, her eyebrows drawn in a thin line. "Very." She sat there for a moment, her mouth quivering as she tried to vainly suppress her blooming amusement. Watching his calm features, Kaoru found she couldn't hold her obvious mirth in any longer. Bending over as she laughed, the earl watched her with a fond smile on his face, though there was an almost melancholic glint in his gaze. When she looked up, her laughter still spilling into the air, he masked the slight slip, and felt a smile grow on his own lips, showing pleasure at her joviality.
"You have the uncanny ability to make me want to hit you and then a moment later you manage to make me smile. How is that, do you think?" she asked, catching her breath and cocking her head quizzically.
"It must be the womanizer in me."
"Somehow I doubt that."
He chuckled. "Am I that transparent?"
"No," she denied. "You're just not the type that strikes me as a vain peacock who prides himself in…ah…stalking young women."
Ducking his head as he grinned, the earl nodded. "I guess so. Aoshi fits the physical description for that better than I do."
"Lord Shinomori?" Kaoru asked, her interest piqued for Misao's sake. "He's like that?"
Raising his eyebrows, he shook his head. "Not personality wise. But he has the looks to pull it off."
Kaoru didn't respond, watching as the earl walked back up the small incline towards her as she remained seated in the small chair. His body language signaled his impending departure, though his face held a nearly apologetic look.
"Like yesterday, the responsibilities are mounting," he told her, slipping his hands into his pockets. He bent down a little to be more eye-to-eye with her sitting form. "I hope you have nice day, Miss Kamiya."
"Same to you, Lord Himura," Kaoru replied quietly, her sapphire gaze locking with his violet. Feeling an unexpected flush creep up her neck and spill onto her cheeks, Kaoru watched as he straightened, gave her one more smile, then broke eye contact. Turning, he started back to his horse that he had tethered in same place as the day before.
Misao watched from the second floor window as Kaoru led her beloved horse into the stable after returning from her second painting escapade. Watching her friend willingly paint and take part in their holiday lifted a dark cloud from Misao's mind that she hadn't realized had been so crushing. With the death of her parents, Kaoru had escaped within herself, mentally shutting down and shunning all that she knew. That swift downward spiral had scared the death out of her, making her want to step in and order Kaoru to get better. She had wanted so much to give Kaoru a good shove, and snap her out of her continuing haze of depression.
But telling Kaoru to do something only made her more determined to do the exact opposite, and through years of experience, Misao knew that brow-beating would serve no purpose, and only alienate the pair, and maybe even tear them apart.
The idea to ask Kaoru to go to Kent with her and her mother had been a spur of the moment decision. Though Misao had told Kaoru that the trip had been planned for months, she had confronted her mother about the travel plans after she had asked Kaoru to join them. Usually they left for the country a month later than their departure this year, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Thankfully nothing had stood in their way. The only wrinkle in her plan was her father. He'd had to stay in London and deal with a visiting business partner.
Sighing, Misao stepped back from the window, and moved to a cushy chair in the corner. To say she had been surprised when Kaoru had expressed her desire to paint again would be a gross understatement. Misao only hoped that Kaoru would be able to keep up with this new spirit of rejuvenation that she had clicked into.
Though she couldn't take the pain away from her, Misao would try to help Kaoru move past it, because that's what best friends are there for.
And she planned to live up to that title.
It was the fifth morning of her painting exploits, and Kaoru was beginning to like the progress her artwork was taking. The couple days before had been wonderful days, full of progress. The quietness had wrapped around her, giving her a superb working environment that allowed great advancements to be made. But despite the peacefulness of the mornings, there had been hole.
A hole in the form of a redheaded earl.
She had yet to arrive at the pond this morning. The rhythmic strides of Alistair's walk were soothing as she contemplated. In her mind's eye, she had already laid out what she would accomplish, or at least try to accomplish. Sometimes it was hard to tell how much work she'd actually be able to get done. Today she hoped to get quite a bit finished so she could start on some of the more difficult detailed parts of the piece.
Alistair shook his head as he paced forward, his steps light and energized. Kaoru patted his neck as they neared their destination, speaking affectionately to him with a smooth voice. When she looked up from her horse, she froze, her gaze catching the lone man standing near the pond, his interest captured by the native feathered inhabitants dancing happily in the water. As they neared, he must have heard them, for he turned, giving Kaoru a good view of exactly what he was doing.
It seemed he had a soft spot for the geese, his left hand holding a small loaf of bread, which he was currently handing out in generous portions. He turned back to the geese, throwing down what he had left in his hand as Kaoru halted Alistair at the top of the knoll. Brushing his hands against his trousers, the earl walked toward her, his eyes riveted to her face. Though his stature was short compared to many men, as he came up to stand beside Alistair, there was a unique quality about him that made him seem anything but small.
"Hullo," he greeted, reaching up to help her down from her lofty perch. Kaoru leaned forward allowing him to assist, not wanting appear rude by refusing. Or at least that's what she told herself. His hands tightened around her narrow waist, holding onto her tightly with ease, and lowering her safely and slowly to the ground as Kaoru returned a mumbled greeting in response. He removed his hands from her waist, letting her take Alistair's reins.
"Where were you?" she blurted out suddenly, inwardly wincing afterwards, wishing she could take that blunt question back.
He raised an eyebrow. "Business monopolized my time. I promise to never let it happen again." His mouth curved into a small teasing smile.
"That's not what I - that is, I didn't mean to snap. Sorry. It was just different these past two days."
"Different good, or different bad?"
"I don't know."
He chuckled. "I wanted to give you time to work without my hovering. I'm assuming you've made progress."
"Some."
"Can I see?"
"I don't know."
"Well, whenever you're comfortable."
Not wanting him to feel as if she had snubbed him, Kaoru said "It's just usually no one sees my paintings before they are finished, except me. It's unusual that you've seen as much as you have."
He watched her lips twist into an uncertain frown. "I understand. But, think about it this way…since I've already had a glimpse, it wouldn't hurt for another."
As Kaoru turned to remove her supplies from Alistair's saddle, she shook her head at his response, a little amazed at his tenacity. He helped her as she responded, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a second opinion. Though, you're going to have to take into account that the painting is obviously going to be rough."
"My mother was a painter, remember? I believe I have the right résumé to critique your work." He took the easel and chair from her hands and set them down on the ground, ignoring her small sound of protest. Reaching past her, he started to remove Alistair's tack, unmindful to Kaoru's sardonic stare.
"I can do that," she said, motioning to the saddle he held in his arms.
"True, but it would be ungentlemanly for me to stand back and let you do all the work without offering my help."
"You didn't even offer. You just did it," she retorted dryly.
As he set the saddle and bridle down, he countered, "Chivalry."
"Chivalry!" she exclaimed, a surprise laugh escaping her lips. "You're just trying to show off your masculine talents."
He raised his eyebrows as he straightened up and placed his hands on his hips. He thought for a moment. Deciding to humor her, he asked, "Well, is it working?"
"No."
"What a shame."
Choosing to ignore him, Kaoru turned her back and started to set her materials up, listening for sounds behind her to signal the earl's movement. She wasn't surprised when she heard none. The man practically floated.
Kaoru set out her easel, removed her canvas from the protective cloth covering, and pulled open her chair. Gathering her supplies, she blinked at the painting, trying to find her bearings and remember where she wanted to start. It was increasingly hard, knowing that that man's eyes were searing flaming holes into her back. She tried in vain to mix a soft blue with white to create a pretty color for the clouds, but because of her jittery hands, she added too much white and ended up with an odd conglomeration that she was not proud of in the least.
Lifting her head and turning, intent on bruising the pesky earl with a sharp tongue, she felt her lips part soundlessly while her eyes clouded with confusion when she found him missing.
Missing?
Mumbling to herself that if he could appear without sound, he was very capable of disappearing just as quietly, Kaoru turned back around, her lips pursed questionably. She had been about to return to her work when a flash of red caught the corner of eye.
Gazing off in that direction, she noticed the earl kneeling near the waterside, a piece of bread outstretched in his fingers as a meager meal for the willife.
Kaoru felt the breath expel suddenly from her chest, not even having realized that she had been holding it. Flickering her gaze back to the drying paint on her pallet, Kaoru sighed and went to work, trying to salvage the horrible mixture of paint and transform it into a workable color.
Minutes later, with the right shade of blue, Kaoru touched brush to canvas. She let the smooth strokes caress the fabric, melting together and forming the creamy fullness of a sweeping cloud. She had finished two more such beautiful structures held loftily in the sky when she noticed the earl coming closer, his steps wide. Surprised that he still remained, especially after an extended amount of time had passed, Kaoru looked up.
"Why are you still here?" she blurted out when he was within earshot.
"No obligations to fill."
She watched as he stopped a few feet from her and sat down in the grass, spreading his legs out in front of him.
"What are you doing?"
He leaned back. "Taking a rest. I didn't get much sleep last night." He settled back against the ground, shifting his arms behind his head and closing his eyes, relaxing easily in the grass.
Kaoru blinked with surprise, opening her mouth to respond, but after a few seconds, decided against it when she came up with nothing to say. She glanced at his prone form once more before turning back to her work. The next thirty minutes of progress were peppered with movements as she constantly glanced from her painting to the man sleeping in the grass. She wondered what Misao would think if she was here.
Shaking off her random thoughts, Kaoru tried to get her mind to cooperate with her again, and desist the annoying wanderings. Dipping her paintbrush into a deeper blue, Kaoru made the final touches on her sky, trying to make it look realistic and give it a layered effect of depth. Once satisfied, she lowered the brush and sat back a little, trying to get a good feel of the current developments. She nibbled her lower lip in concentration as she flicked her gaze from the painting to the real-life landscape.
Sliding her gaze to the earl, Kaoru sucked in a deep breath, her eyes narrowing and her lips pursing in thought. She looked back at the painting, and then back at him again.
"Do you mind if I call you by your given name?"
He was obviously startled by sudden the request.
Tenseness seeped through her limbs as she frowned, the boldness of her question making her unexpectedly uncomfortable. Her sapphire gaze interlocked with his inquiring violet eyes.
He was still relaxed against the ground, his head lifted a little. He was obviously taken off guard for he answered in flummoxed tone, "Why?"
"A first name basis signifies familiarity, I know, but if you're going to be critiquing my artwork, I feel it is necessary."
"Necessary?" he parroted.
Raising an eyebrow, she countered, "Yes."
The earl was still for a few moments as he studied her face, admiring the stubborn tilt to Kaoru's jaw as she stared down at him from her higher position. "So, I will be able to view your painting, then? And also tell you what I think of it?"
"Yes."
He pushed himself up, bending his legs and slinging an arm over his knees. "I can find no plausible argument to counter your demand, so my answer is yes."
"Good. But, not in public and you…can call me by my given name as well."
"Is Miss Kaoru fine?"
She nodded slowly, and viewed him with a slightly cautious stare.
"Kenshin," he quietly reminded her.
"Kenshin," she said, tasting his name on her lips.
"Yes, Miss Kaoru," he replied. "Kenshin Himura. I prefer that to my title, in all honesty anyways. It's not as stogy."
"I don't think you could be a stogy man if you tried," she told him, wryly. "You don't have to pot belly to pull it off."
Kenshin smiled in response, though he remained silent. Taking that as a cue to continue working, Kaoru cleaned her paintbrush with a small bit of water and began to mix a new color.
Kenshin remained quiet and introspective, his body reclining easily in the grass until Kaoru decided to call it a day. As she started to pack up her things, he moved to saddle Alistair who had wandered off to the other side of the pond. Letting the painting sit out to dry a little more, Kaoru stood back and watched as he brought her horse around and saddled him quietly, his movements methodical.
Kenshin was different from anyone she had ever met, Kaoru mused. There was something unique - something terribly exotic about him that she couldn't quite place her finger on.
And when he turned to face her, for the first time she noticed a cross-shaped scar. Deep slashing marks covered the tanned skin of his left cheek. How on earth had she missed that? Looking down, Kaoru shook her head slightly.
Maybe she needed a pair of those spectacles that helped a person see?
As he neared, she squinted a little to see if she had been hallucinating.
Nope.
Still there.
She hoped fervently that it wasn't a cause of their little mishap almost a week ago. On closer inspection, Kaoru deduced that the scar was definitely older than a week.
"I got it at sea," Kenshin told her quietly, easily interpreting her bemused stare. "Naval battles aren't at all tame."
"You were a part of the royal navy?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"Sort of. I've stepped down from captaining ships and have moved to the business side of the enterprise of shipping goods. My knowledge of the sea helps with many aspects."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just hadn't noticed it until now, and I was wondering if I had…gone a little insane."
He seemed surprised by her comment. "You only just noticed it?"
She shrugged. "For being a painter, sometimes I'm horrible at getting the details." Stepping away from him, she gave a weak smile. "I'm especially bad about keeping track of time. I do believe Misao has probably already left to come and fetch me. It seems like today, I'll be leaving you here."
Kenshin hesitated a moment before nodding and moving to assist her get her equipment together. She gave him an annoyed stare when he moved to help her mount. Coalescing with a yielding smile, he stepped back to the side and watched her do it herself. Once mounted, she curtailed Alistair's initial steps of excitement as she sat deeply into the saddle. Giving Kenshin a parting glance, she steered her horse away, her head pointed forward.
She didn't catch Kenshin rub an absent hand over the cross-shaped scar, his eyes full of curiosity at her unusual admission.
Lost in her thoughts, Kaoru let Alistair steer them to their destination. She ran her fingers along the top of the saddle, her eyes clouded with inattention.
Kenshin had stayed the entire time that she painted. And most of that time he had kept to himself. No one had ever remained with her to that extent before as she worked, so it had been a new experience that she now found she unexpectedly enjoyed. The presence of another person, though a little unnerving at first, had turned out to be pleasantly nice in the end. He had managed to chase away the pervasive loneliness that she had started to associate with her painting.
How novel…
Now that she knew what it felt like to have company - silent company - while painting, she didn't know if she'd ever enjoy painting as much anymore when alone.
Sighing heavily, Kaoru felt herself smile. She liked the conversations she had with him, but she truly found that the quiet moments were the best.
And what dost thou thinkest? (grins) Leave me a review if you have the time...