AN: I'm really, really sorry for the delay in updating. Between homework and trying to keep the local anime club running smoothly, which is my main job as the vice president, my computer crashed. I had the rest of the story finished, edited and ready to be posted, however, I didn't get them back when they fixed my computer, so I've been trying to re-write them. But I've got finals coming up next week, so I have to put that off until they're over with.
The next chapter will hopefully be up by Christmas.
Always and ForeverChapter 14- Wedding Plans
Kaoru woke early the next morning, slowly drifting to consciousness. It was still dark out, she noticed as she slipped out of bed. A glance at the clock showed that it was only 5:45 am. Tomoe had asked her if they could meet in the living room at eight, so that they could start working out the details of the wedding. Then after lunch they'd go and look at the places Tomoe had in mind for the wedding and reception. If things worked out how Tomoe planned, they'd be back at the house in time for dinner with the parents.
"This week is going to be painful," she mumbled to herself, pulling a change of clothing from her bag and making her way to the bathroom.
An hour and fifteen minutes later she stepped out of the bathroom; pajama's in hand, refreshed and ready for the day. She dropped the pajama's on the messy bed, deciding that she'd make the bed later, and headed out of the room, trying to remember how to get to the kitchen.
Luckily Tomoe stood in the hallway, waiting for her, when she opened the door.
"Morning," Kaoru greeted her, puzzled as to why she'd been waiting for her.
"Good morning. I wasn't sure if you'd remember how to find the kitchen, and living room. So I decided to see if you were awake yet, so that you don't have to wander around trying to find anything," Tomoe smiled, answering the unasked question
"Thank you."
Tomoe lead the way through the house to the kitchen, asking Kaoru questions along the way.
"What's your favorite type of flowers?"
"Gladiolus"
"Favorite color?"
"Blue."
"Do you know what song you want for the first dance?"
"Always and Forever by Heatwave."
"An oldie, good choice. How about the Father-Daughter dance?"
"I don't know yet…."
"That's fine, you still have almost a week to decide. You'll want to know which song by early Friday, however, just so that things run smoothly."
"All right."
"You'll need to approve the flower arrangements, place settings, and guest lists- for both the wedding and the reception. Also, brides maids, and maid of honor. You don't have to have them, and considering the short notice, I think that just maybe a maid of honor would work. Did you have anyone in mind?"
"Yes, actually, my friend Megumi."
"All right. I'll leave it up to you to contact her and work out the issue of her dress, as well as her arrival Friday morning."
"All right." By this time they'd finally reached the kitchen.
"I'll be back in a minute," Tomoe excused herself, disappearing through the door on the other side of the room. Kaoru looked around the room and sighed, feeling slightly depressed. She was planning her wedding, she should be happy, but something seemed wrong with it all.
"Sorry about that," Tomoe was smiling as she reentered the room a few minutes later. She was carrying a binder this time.
"It's ok," Kaoru smiled, sliding onto a barstool at the breakfast bar.
"You want something?" Tomoe asked, moving about the kitchen as she fixed herself something to eat.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry." Brown eyes turned curiously to meet azure ones, an elegant eyebrow raised questioningly above them. Kaoru shrugged in response.
"All right," Tomoe sighed, seating herself next to Kaoru and opening the binder on the counter between them. "This is the guest list Enishi mailed me last week, look over it and let me know if anyone was left off. Also," she flipped the page, "a list of flower arrangements from the local flower shops. Enishi asked that prices be left off, so you can't chose based on price." Kaoru blushed at this, knowing that she would have done just that if given a list of flower arrangements and prices.
"Ok." Kaoru flipped the page back to look at the guest list as Tomoe went back to fixing something to eat.
Enishi sighed as he looked over the sheets of paper that littered the desk before him. He was supposed to be on vacation right now, however, his father had handed him a stack of contracts to look over and approve of, all from accounts that Enishi was supposed to be handling.
"Still working?" A soft voice asked, yanking his attention away from a particularly boring passage.
"Yeah," he smiled at his mother as she fully stepped into the room. "Father wanted me to look them over today."
"You could have put them off for a while, I'm sure Tomoe wouldn't have minded if you had went with them," Atsuko seated herself in a chair across the desk from her son.
"I know..." he trailed off, appearing thoughtful.
"Do you really love her?" The soft question caught Enishi off guard, his turquoise eyes locked with his mothers questioningly.
"Of course I do, I wouldn't have asked her to marry me otherwise," he replied, confusion evident in his voice.
"You love her," she nodded absentmindedly, "but are you in love with her." She didn't wait for Enishi to respond, as she rose from the chair and drifted out of the room.
Enishi watched the door close behind her with confused eyes.
Kaoru looked up at a western style church, a headache building behind her eyes. This was the eighth place Tomoe had showed her, and none of them looked anything like what she wanted.
"No," she said, without even getting out of the car. "I want something more traditional," she told Tomoe.
"You're having a western wedding, not many traditional places will allow that."
"I know." Kaoru sighed, defeated. "I would just prefer something more traditional Japanese involved with the wedding, more than just the kimono."
"I can understand that." Tomoe nodded, maneuvering the car back into traffic. "I have a few other places that you might like. They're more traditional."
"Thank you, Tomoe-san," Kaoru smiled, leaning her head back against the headrest and closing her eyes.
"You don't have to be so formal, Kaoru," Tomoe laughed, "after all, I'm going to be your sister-in-law by the end of the week." Kaoru smiled at this, trying to ignore the feeling of wrong-ness in the whole situation.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Kaoru, have you thought anymore about what happened in that store back in Kyoto?"
Kaoru tensed, eyes snapping open and darting to look at Tomoe, who looked perfectly calm.
"Why?" Kaoru asked, eyes narrowing.
"I'm just wondering if you've figured out why you reacted like that, I'm curious to know myself." Tomoe glanced at her.
"I... I'm confused," Kaoru confessed. "I love Enishi, but I can't get Kenshin out of my head. It seems like everything reminds me of him. I..." her voice dropped to a whisper, "sometimes I wish it was Kenshin I was marrying instead of Enishi."
"Hmmm..." Tomoe nodded, stopping at a stoplight. "I can't stay that I understand what you're feeling. I've never been in that type of situation..."
"I don't know what to do."
"What is your heart telling you to do?" Tomoe pulled the car into a parking space, killed the engine, and turned to look at Kaoru. "You love Enishi, or so you say. The question is how do you love him?"
"What do you mean 'how do I love him?'" Kaoru raised confused blue eyes to watch Tomoe.
"Do you love him as a friend? A brother? A confidante? Or do you love him with your whole heart?"
"If I knew that I wouldn't be having this dilemma." Tomoe smiled at this.
"Think about it, Kaoru. When you were at the club, dancing with Kenshin- and yes I know about that whole thing, Kenshin-san told me- did you even think about Enishi? Did you care that he could have seen you kiss Kenshin?" Kaoru's eyes widened at the thought.
"No. Enishi said he was heading back to the dojo, I didn't even think that he might have seen that." A panicked look flickered in her eyes.
"Did you think about Enishi once while dancing with Kenshin?" Tomoe pressed.
"... No. I didn't."
"What about the other times you were around Kenshin. Did you think of Enishi then?"
"Not really..." Kaoru blushed as she answered.
"It's all right, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Tomoe smiled.
"But..."
"No buts. Just think about it, Kaoru. You've already admitted that you can't seem to stop thinking about Kenshin, I assume this also means when you're around Enishi."
"I think of him more when around Enishi..." she fidgeted in her seat, squirming under Tomoe's knowing look.
"Are you seeing where I'm going with this?" Tomoe asked softly.
"I think so."
"What do you think now?"
"I... I love Enishi as a friend, or a brother, nothing more..."
"That's a good start. Anything else?" Tomoe started the car again.
"... I'm still in love with Kenshin... as more than a friend..."
"What are you going to do about it?" Tomoe asked, starting the car and pulling out into traffic again.
"I don't know. I don't want to hurt Enishi... But I also don't want to marry him either..." Kaoru tipped her head back against the headrest again; the realization had only made her headache worse.
"You should probably do something about it before the wedding, or you just might end up married to him."
"I know. But what can I do? If I call off the wedding I'll undoubtedly hurt him. If I go through with it I'll hurt Kenshin, and myself."
"That's how life is," Tomoe shrugged.
"I suppose," Kaoru sighed.
Enishi greeted her with a hug and a chaste peck on the lips when she joined him in the living room. His parents and Tomoe were already in the dining room, waiting on them.
"Nervous?" He asked, smiling at her.
"A little," she lied. She wasn't nervous because she was about to meet his parents, she was nervous that he'd notice a change in her behavior before she was ready for him to notice it.
"Don't be," he reassured her, leading her towards where the others were waiting. Kaoru offered him a shaky smile.
Kaoru noticed immediately where Enishi got his looks from the moment she laid eyes on his father. The man was tall, dark-haired, and blue eyed, with broad shoulders. Enishi's mother, she noticed, looked like an older version of Tomoe. Her long black hair was pulled back into an elegant twist, her thin hands were folded in her lap, her dark brown eyes dancing in amusement at something Enishi's father had said.
She could feel their eyes on her as Enishi pulled her chair out for her, making sure she was comfortably seated before seating himself to her left.
"Kaoru-san, it's nice to finally meet you," Enishi's mother greeted her first, offering her a warm, welcoming smile. "I'm Atsuko. This is my husband, Takeshi." A graceful hand motioned towards Enishi's father.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Atsuko-san, Takeshi-san." Kaoru bowed her head a little at them as she said their names.
"I like this one, son, she's got manners," Takeshi smiled, laughter in his voice.
"I was raised in a dojo, manners were essential," Kaoru murmured, more to herself than anyone else.
"A dojo? That certainly explains it," Tomoe smiled, her chocolate brown eyes watching Kaoru closely.
The rest of diner passed in a blur for Kaoru. She talked with Enishi's parents, discussed a few wedding details with Tomoe, and generally enjoyed herself. All too soon Enishi excused them.
"I have a surprise for you," he told her, leading her from the room.
"A surprise?" She asked, turning to look at him.
"We haven't had much time to spend together since I proposed. I thought we could go out tonight, undoubtedly you'll be busy planning the wedding the closer we get to it, so we might not have another chance." Kaoru smiled softly at him.
"All right. What did you have in mind, Enishi?"
"That's the surprise. You might want to change into something more casual though." Kaoru looked down at her clothing. Realizing that she was still wearing the skirt and blouse that Tomoe had insisted that she wear.
"Yeah. I won't take long," she smiled at him again before disappearing down the hall to her room, she was finally getting the hang of the maze they called a house.
Half an hour later Kaoru looked out the car window as Enishi pulled into a crowded parking lot.
"The carnival?" She asked, laughing.
"Yeah," he blushed. "I haven't been to one since I was a kid, I thought you might enjoy it also."
"I haven't been to one since mother died." Kaoru admitted.
"We can go somewhere else, if you would like," Enishi offered.
"No, now that we're here, I want to go." She opened the car door and got out, waiting for Enishi to follow her.
"Are you sure?" He looked unsure.
"Yeah."
"All right."
The line for the tickets wasn't very long, as it turned out. Twenty minutes later found couple inside, weaving their way through the crowd.
"What do you want to do first?" Enishi murmured against her ear, his arms wrapping around her waist to pull her closer.
Kaoru smiled, leaning into his touch. "How about a few games?" She asked. "You're going to win me a teddy bear, right?"
"Of course, love," Enishi laughed.
"Come on," Kaoru pulled herself free of Enishi's arms, trying to hide her wince at the pet name. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards a booth.
AN: There was more to the last scene, but I couldn't seem to get it right when I was trying to re-write this chapter, so it got cut.
Thank you to those who reviewed:
Kristy-chan, Eternal Spring89, noneedforprozac27, sapphireracoongal, inu-death-demon,
Ellavv31- I plan on doing an Enishi/Kaoru story when I get the chance. I have it all planned out, I just don't have the time to write it right now.
Miss Goke- I know I left it at a bad spot, but I really hadn't intended to leave without updating for so long. Hopefully it won't happen again.