AN: I changed my mind, I'm just gonna post all three chapters today. My computer is still about to crash, I don't want to risk another long wait for this chapter.

Always and Forever

Chapter 10- The usual place

"I'll be all right, Enishi. I don't need you to go with me," Kaoru reassured the silver haired man as she put her shoes on.

"I don't want you to go alone."

"You were fine with it last night."

"That was before I had time to think about it, love. I don't want to lose you." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

"You're not going to lose me just because I'm going to meet up with Kenshin alone. Besides the whole thing shouldn't take very long, I'll be home within a couple of hours."

"I don't want to risk it," he replied stubbornly.

"Enishi, I have to do this by myself. I want to talk to Kenshin alone; I want to be able to work this out so that he and I are still friends. I don't want to lose my closest friend. I don't care what you say, I'm going by myself," she growled at him as she pulled away. "I'll see you later."

Kaoru stepped out of the cab and looked around the park, barely aware of the car leaving. It looked the same as the last time she'd been here.

"I almost thought that you weren't going to show," Kenshin said, catching her attention.

"Enishi was reluctant to let me leave," she shrugged.

"Was he? I wonder why." A sly smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Since we've been here I haven't spent much time with him. I've been hanging out with Misao and Megumi, you, or planning for the wedding."

"When is the wedding?" He asked, motioning for her to follow.

"The end of next week," she replied, following him deeper into the park.

"So soon?" His voice was quiet, a tinge of sadness to it.

"Business has been slow for Enishi, but it's supposed to pick back up the beginning of next month. This was the only time he could take off for the wedding. Unless we had wanted to be married in America, which neither of us wanted that."

"I see."

"I want you to be there…." She paused. "But I don't think that would be such a good idea."

"What do you mean?" He glanced at her, amethyst eyes questioning.

"Enishi knows about our past, and the promises that we made. He's afraid that you'll steal me away from him. If you were at the wedding he'd be tense, waiting for you to object and make a scene."

"I wouldn't do that, not if you didn't want me to. I would do anything that you ask of me, Kaoru."

"I don't know if I believe that."

"Why?"

"I may not have asked it directly, but I didn't want you chasing after me again. But you have been."

"I'm sorry about that. But I find it hard to believe that you'd break your promise to me so easily."

Kaoru didn't reply. She stopped walking and sat down in a small grassy clearing in the forested park.

"You must really love Enishi," he mused quietly, watching as she tipped her head back to look at the full moon.

"I do love him," she whispered back, hesitantly.

"Do you? Or are you just trying to convince yourself that you do?" He asked, picking up on her tone of voice.

Kaoru didn't answer.

"I thought so." He murmured to himself, just loud enough for Kaoru to hear as well. "Here's your phone," he pulled the cell phone from his pocket and tossed it to her.

"Thank you." She slipped the phone into her jacket pocket without looking at it.

"I have to go. But before I leave, I have one thing to say to you."

"What?" She tilted her head so that she could see him.

"I'll love you always. Always and forever. Even if you never return to me, I will always be here, waiting for you. I promise." He told her softly before turning and walking away.

Kaoru watched him go, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

"I'm sorry that I caused you so much pain. I wish I could take it all away, that I could help you. But I can't, things have gone too far for me to turn back now, not without causing more pain."

By the time Kaoru walked through the door of the dojo it was past midnight. She knew her father was already asleep, but she hoped that Enishi had waited for her to get home before turning in for the night, she needed to talk to him.

She slipped into the kitchen after taking her shoes off, and dropping her purse on the table in the hallway.

"That took a long time, considering that you were just getting your phone back," Enishi said suspiciously the moment she stepped into the kitchen.

"I lost track of time," she explained cautiously. It was the truth, she'd sat there for a long time after Kenshin had left, just thinking about his words, and everything that had happened since she'd said yes to Enishi. By the time she'd realized how late it was and called a cab it was midnight. Even though it was the truth, she knew how it must sound to her fiancé.

Enishi raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything.

Kaoru opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. What was she going to say? What could she say?

"It's late," she said finally. "We should get some sleep, our plane leaves early." Enishi nodded in agreement and stood up.

"Goodnight, love," He kissed her on the cheek as she passed.

"Goodnight," she smiled, knowing that by using the pet name he'd basically forgiven her.

Kenshin knocked on the door again, harder this time. When no one answered immediately, he raised his hand to knock again, only to have the door be yanked open before he could.

"Do you know what time it is?" A very sleepy looking Misao asked crossly once the door was open.

"Yes," he pushed past her and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She closed the door and followed him, clearly worried. It wasn't like him to be rude, or to show up at someone's house unannounced at three o'clock in the morning.

"Kaoru," he responded, sinking onto one of the barstools.

"What about Kaoru?" Misao sat down next to him, all thoughts of sleep gone.

"She doesn't love Enishi."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing for you? I mean, you did wait for five years for her to come back."

"But she still plans on marrying Enishi," he continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"If that is what she wants to do, then there isn't much you can do about it," Aoshi commented from the doorway.

"Morning Aoshi, I didn't think I'd find you here," Kenshin grinned at the tall man.

"I think you should head home, Kenshin. You're drunk," Misao commented quietly. "Besides, Aoshi's right. There isn't anything you can do to change Kaoru's mind once it's made up."

"But she promised me…." The red haired man turned to look at Misao, his amethyst eyes holding tears.

"Promised you what?" Aoshi stepped further into the room, moving to stand behind Misao.

"She promised to return to me," he replied quietly before passing out.

"Aoshi, could you?" Misao turned to look at her boyfriend. Nodding quietly to her he picked up the shorter man and put him on the couch.

"Come on, lets go back to bed." Misao said, covering the red head with a blanket.

AN: I don't know when I'll have Chapter 11 done, I've had a lot of things come up lately that has taken away the time I had to write, that partially contributed to what took me so long to get chapter 8 posted. There is a bit of good news though, this story is half way finished - The rest of the chapters have been outlined, which means I can say that, without a doubt, there are 8 more chapters to go.

Also, I've decided to write side stories for Megumi and Sano, and Aoshi and Misao. It'll be a few months before they're posted, I want to try to finish at least one of my other stories after this one before starting any new ones.