-1Disclaimer: If I owned it, the second OVA wouldn't have been allowed. That said, I obviously don't own it, Nobuhiro-san gets credit for all. I only play with them for fun.

All author's notes that matter are in the first chapter.

Gomen nasai for the long wait. It's December, I'm American, and I work in retail. That should say it all. I hope it was worth the wait, and please review.

Kokoro Kara

By Lady Calllista

Chapter 9 - Jikoku

(set a few days after Megumi, Aoshi, and Misao leave, and Sano vanishes because the police are after him)

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"Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies." -Erich Fromm

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"Ohayoo." Kaoru called out as she came into the main room of the house a few hours after sunrise. Although it was just her, Kenshin, and Yahiko now, it still surprised her when she was greeted with silence. Kenshin was always awake at this hour, either cooking breakfast or doing one of the dozens of other chores that she was always neglecting.

"Ohayoo gozaimasu." She called out again, and after a moment went by in silence she concluded that no one else was in the house, or at least no one was awake. She wasn't surprised that Yahiko was still sleeping, and she didn't begrudge the boy his sleep, but she wondered about where Kenshin was. His door had been open about an inch when she walked by, which meant he wasn't there, for he never left the door open when he was sleeping. But if he wasn't there…

Irrationally worried now, she slipped out into the yard, slipping her hands into her kimono sleeves in defense against the cool spring air. "Kenshin, doko desu ka."

Receiving no reply, she moved rapidly into the dojo, repeating her question and becoming more and more concerned when there was no answer. She'd just moved back into the yard, unsure of what she was going to do, when she heard the squeak of the gate opening.

She spun to face the gate in a move that betrayed the fact that she'd had martial arts training; falling into a loose stance that although wouldn't look odd to a normal person would be obvious to anyone with similar training.

And was greeted by Kenshin's slightly abashed face.

"Kaoru, you up are early this morning." Kenshin smiled at her as he slowly walked closer.

"Where were you?" Kaoru's voice shook despite her efforts to control it, and she looked away quickly.

Kenshin used that opportunity to set down the groceries he was carrying before crossing to take her carefully into his arms. He still wasn't used to being able to do this without seeing the look on her face that said she was going to hit him with the nearest available object, which was somehow magically always her bokken.

"Sessha just went out to do some shopping, Sessha is sorry if Kaoru-dono was worried."

"Kenshin." Kaoru stressed his name. "Kenshin-sama is sorry if I was worried."

"I am sorry if Kaoru was worried." Kenshin relented. She'd discovered a wonderful way to get him to stop using the humble language he always used. She just switched to calling him with an honorific every time he used a humbleness, and the insanity of that made him pause and change his speech.

Although it did bother him, because especially with her he saw nothing wrong with referring to himself in a humble way, as she was such an amazing woman and he wasn't worthy of her, he knew it bothered her and so he was trying to stop.

Kaoru sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment. "Gomen. You may live here, but you don't have to account to me for every minute of your life. I just woke and couldn't find you…"

Kenshin closed the distance between them and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "It's been so long since anyone has worried about me…arigato. Do you have plans for the day?"

"Well, Yahiko and I have a few hours of training soon, but nothing after that. I don't teach at the other dojo today, and…"

"Would you have lunch with me down by the river?" Kenshin said over her, knowing he had to speak before he lost his nerve. Although he knew he was her first relationship, she was only his second, and so much of the pressure was on the man for things like this that he wasn't sure he was in the better position. Especially since he'd had no real courtship with Tomoe-dono.

She flushed fetchingly, and looked down at her hands for a moment. He'd seen her naked; her cheeks grew brighter as she remembered the bath they'd taken together, where to her utter disappointment she'd been too tired to do anything but fall asleep in his arms. Yet little things like this still brought color to her face that she couldn't control.

"I would enjoy that." She smiled finally, and managed to look up at him. "Although you haven't said good morning properly yet."

Kenshin's eyes grew wide for a moment, and then he smirked as his hand reached up to cup her cheek. "Ohayoo." He whispered in a deep voice as he leaned in and kissed her gently.

Feeling slightly needy after not being sure where he was earlier, Kaoru opened her mouth and delved into a full fledged kiss with him before they both pulled away gasping. "Ohayoo, watashi no Kenshin."

"Ohayoo, aren't we training?" Yahiko's voice rudely interrupted the lovers. In his defense, he'd just walked out of the house and had yet to even see the two wrapped in each other's arms.

Not that it mattered to Kaoru. Having been interrupted when her emotions were so volatile, even though she doubted even Kenshin had noticed it, she took it out on her pupil. "Yahiko-chan!" She yelled as she crossed the yard.

Knowing how this would go, the boy ran, trying to avoid being hit by the bokken that was somehow now in her hand.

Kenshin only chuckled and went into the house to get the laundry.

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"What did you tell Yahiko?" Kaoru asked nervously as her and Kenshin walked toward the river a few hours later, lunch basket in hand.

"Just that we would be gone for a few hours, and I reinforced that you wanted the dojo clean by the time you came back." Kenshin smiled, yet couldn't keep a shadow of concern from his eyes over her worry over people knowing they were seeing each other. It made sense in many ways, after all she was single and her reputation had already suffered because she was living with several males. But it still bothered him a little bit, the fact that she didn't want even their friends to know they were seeing each other.

"Thank you." Kaoru replied, reaching out to link their hands. "I know it sounds silly, but it seems like every time things start going well for us, something interrupts. I just want to be alone with you for a few hours and not have to worry."

Kenshin smiled at that, and gripped her hand tighter. It was one of the things that amazed him most about her; without seeming to recognize his insecurities, she always managed to make them go away.

"I also look forward to being alone with you." He said gently, and was rewarded with a smile from her.

"Is this good?" She asked as they approached the river, the path they'd been walking happening to come to a fairly secluded bend of it.

"Hai." He said, releasing her hand to spread the blanket he'd been carrying on his arm and help her settle down onto it. "Arigato, for coming with me."

Kaoru settled down onto the blanket next to him. "Where else could I be that would make me this happy?" She said shyly.

Kenshin sighed deeply as he looked into her eyes, and spoke honestly. "How is it that you are here with me? How can I possibly deserve you?"

"I love you." Kaoru replied as she ignored the basket of food and lay down , daringly putting her head in his lap. "Isn't that enough?

Kenshin looked down at her, knowing his heart was in his eyes and not caring. "It is more than sessha deserves…" He put a finger to her lips before she could protest his word choice. "But at this moment I would not trade it for anything in the world."

Kaoru only smiled at him, and tilted her head up to receive his kiss.

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"He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did now know where he ended and she began." -Leo Totstoy

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TBC…

AN: Yeah, I know not much happened and it's really short, but I figured you'd all rather know the story was still in my mind than get nothing. I can't guarantee they'll be more until January, as I work in retail and that means my life is currently an insane mess, but I'll try to get the next part out as soon as I can.

Japanese/English Glossary (in alphabetical order, If it's in a former part it will not be here, as I trust my readers to have a good memory)

Jikoku: Time, as in a moment or instant

Doko desu ka: literally, Where be?, translation would be "Where are you?"

Watashi no: My, or mine. "Watashi no Kenshin" would mean "My Kenshin." Although I'm not sure if the phrase is used this way or not (with people), it sounds so cute.

-chan: little; normally used with pets, very young children, or younger girls. Whenever Yahiko objects with the "don't call me little" it's because he's being called Yahiko-chan