Antica: hey all…sorry about the long update but what can I do

Battousai: you can get your butt up and actually write something you lazy woman

Kaoru (smacks Kenshin on the head): Kenshin stop it…

Antica: thank you Kaoru …….. If you hadn't hit Battousai I would have done it myself.

Kaoru: your welcome….I know how you feel….not being appreciated by a certain brat.

Antica: well this fic is coming very close to an end…..I really don't want to end it but what can I do...this chapter may be my last or I'm gonad put up one last chapter after this.

Kenshin: don't feel down antica-dono……we can start writing more on your other fics that you can

Antica: thanks Kenshin…..now on with the story

Chapter 20 Special Meaning

Sleepy violet eyes began to flutter open as they stared at a familiar wooden ceiling; Kenshin blinked a few times trying to adjust to the light of the sun. He opened his eyes and looked around only to find himself lying in a futon. His head was still spinning as she couldn't place his finger on the familiar room.

"Kenshin"

Kenshin turned his gaze at the sweet voice, only to find Kaoru coming into the room and dashing to his side.

"You're awake…..you're finally awake" she said, her eyes filled with tears of joy.

Kenshin opened his mouth to speak, but his voice came out cracked and very dry, Kaoru took a cup of cold water that sat at the side of the futon and raised it to his lips, coaxing him to drink it, which he did immediately.

After drinking nearly all of the Kenshin pushed the cup away from his face telling Kaoru that he had enough. As soon as she placed the cup back on the floor, two warm arms took her in a tight embrace, never wanting to let her go, she smiled as she hugged Kenshin back, doing her best to avoid the wound on his chest.

"I've missed you so much" murmured Kenshin burying his face in Kaoru's neck and inhaling her scent. He didn't care where he was, all he cared about was holding Kaoru close to him.

"I've missed you too Kenshin……….I'm so glad you're alive" she whispered as tears began to cascade down her cheeks.

"shh….don't cry koishii…I'm here….it wouldn't take a thousand men to try to take you away from me……I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner" he said as pulled back slightly to kiss away her tears.

"What took you so long?"

"…"

"Kenshin?"

"I'm sorry…..I'm just scared you'd hate me if I tell you" Kenshin murmured.

"Oh Kenshin ….I would never hate you"

"well….when Enishi burned down that house, it collapsed at me and I blacked out, the next thing I knew I was lying in a futon in a strange house, and from what the owners told me, my horse had me placed on it's back and was walking towards them, as if seeking help. I was unconscious for 2 weeks because of my injuries and when I woke up I ….." Kenshin trailed off.

"You can tell me Kenshin...please I want to know what happened to you" said Kaoru as she snuggled closer to her lover.

"I couldn't remember a thing……nothing….my memory of you, your father, Tomoe and Enishi had been wiped away because I hit my head so badly…..I'm sorry koishii"

"Kenshin you don't have to apologize...it wasn't your fault you lost your memory…you couldn't have prevented it"

"No I could have….I could have been stronger…be strong enough to prevent Enishi from ever taking you from me…..and hurting you...I" Kenshin wanted to continue if not for Kaoru placing her finger on lips shaking her head.

"baka Kenshin….you shouldn't feel guilty……you did come and save me after all and as so these wounds…..I openly took them"

"But Kaoru" he began to protest.

"shhh….I don't want to hear any more of you blaming yourself….you were strong enough to rescues me weren't you?" Kaoru silenced him.

"What in the world did I do to deserve such a wonderful woman" thought Kenshin sighing as he ran his fingers through her hair before leaning in and pressing his lips on hers.

The kiss started out simple, but after a few moments, it began to grow in passion, each showing the other how much they missed them; Kenshin thrust his tongue in between her lips as he began to explore the caverns of her mouth. Kaoru moaned making Kenshin's eyes pure amber as he tightened his hold on her waist pulling her closer to him. When they separated, Kenshin pushed aside the kimono sleeve and raised Kaoru's bandaged arm to his lips and began to place soft kissed on her wound, trailing from her wrist towards her elbow and shoulder, he moved upwards intending to kiss her again.

"Ya….go Kenshin….Wahoo" said an oddly familiar voice from the door.

Kenshin jerked his head up, eyes widening when he recognized the man standing on the door way.

"Sanosuke! What are you doing here?" asked Kenshin.

"Well this is the fox lady's house….so it's only natural."

"What? So that means I'm back in your house?" asked Kenshin.

"Yup"

"But how?"

"Well I couldn't let you have all the fun in kicking Enishi and his gangs butt"

Flashback

Kaoru continued to cradle Kenshin's body close to her, begging him to wake up, open his eyes and tell her that he was alright but Kenshin kept still, almost as if he was dead already.

"Please be alive….please Kenshin…I've only just got you back….please don't leave me again" thought Kaoru as she began to look for a pulse. After a few minutes, Kaoru felt it, there was a pulse, a weak one, but Kenshin was alive no the less and Kaoru didn't know how long he will survive.

"I have to get him to a doctor" thought Kaoru as she tried to pull Kenshin up only to have him scream in pain which made Kaoru lay him down again.

"I'm so sorry Kenshin…I'm sorry" apologized Kaoru even though she knew that Kenshin wouldn't be able to hear her.

"The boss is dead……" one of the men whispered.

"So what do we do now? Who will be the boss?"

"I dunno……but if the boss is dead…and the red head is practically dead anyway….why don't we have a little fun with the girl?" suggested one of the member while eyeing Kaoru hungrily.

"That is the best idea you ever come up with……she is pretty feisty"

"I like um fiery"

Kaoru's eyes widened when she heard what they were planning to do, still cradling Kenshin's head on her lap, she turned her head towards the men only to find them advancing towards her with lust filled eyes.

"Stay away from me you bastards" she yelled.

"Oh and who is going to stop us?"

"Don't think that just because I am a girl, doesn't mean that I can fight you" she said gently placing Kenshin's head on the ground and picked up his discarded sword.

But the members underestimated her they lunged forward and attacked her, but thanks to Kaoru's training she managed to knock a few guys out using the dull side of Kenshin's sword, But because she was used to the weight of the weapon and swayed a bit when one of the members dogged her attacks, the next thing she knew the sword was knocked out of her hand and she was flat on her back next to Kenshin with a little cut on her shoulder.

"You've been a bad kitty….I think you need to be punished" said one of the members as they came awfully close her.

"Ya….we were going to take it easy on ya before you decided to lash out on us" as another as he grabbed Kaoru's hair and yanked her body up.

The other members came closer to her; Kaoru began to feel the tears building up in her eyes as she saw Kenshin's body lying emotionlessly on the ground.

"I'm sorry Kenshin…..I'm so sorry I couldn't fight these guy off….please someone help me" thought Kaoru as the tears began to fall freely on her cheeks.

Suddenly the sound of a door being thrown open shook the room, both Kaoru and the members jumped at turned their heads towards the door, only to find an unfamiliar skinny guy standing on the door.

"You started the party without me huh?" said the guy smirking

"Who the hell are you?" One of the members yelled.

"I'm a friend of the red head….name's Sanosuke Sagara" said Sano.

Sano's eyes fell on Kaoru who still was lifted up by her hair "you must be Kaoru, Kenshin's girl" he smiled when Kaoru nodded "that is no way to treat a lady you know"

"Shut up" yelled on of the members.

"Lets get him" said another as they let go of Kaoru and lunged towards Sano.

"Well if you want your asses kicked then I will more that happy to kick it for you" said Sano spitting out the fishbone what was in his mouth and lunged toward them.

End of flashback.

"After I took care of those guys……I brought you and the missy back here" explained Sano.

Kenshin just stared wide eyed at the man in front of him speechless.

"So you came after me?" he asked.

"What? It not like I can let have all the fun you know" teased Sano giving Kenshin a slap on the back making the poor guy fall over.

"Why do you always have to be such a brute" said a female voice coming from the door.

"You love me anyway fox lady" said Sano turning towards the female doctor.

"How are you feeling Kenshin" she asked as she kneeled next to Kaoru.

"I'm feeling much better Miss Megumi that I am" smiled Kenshin

"That's good…and how are your injuries coming along Kaoru" asked Megumi.

"their fine Megumi….thank you for all your help" said Kaoru as she bowed for the lady doctor then turned towards Sano "and thank you Sagara-san for coming for us" she thanked bowing again.

"Come on missy…its Sano…no need to be so formal" said Sano

"But still……we don't know how to thank you enough" said Kenshin.

"That's alright Kenshin……call it even"

"Oro. even?"

"Ya….I did punch you when I thought that you were hitting on Megumi…and besides you kinda helped us in admitting that we loved each other" said Sano winking.

For the rest of the after noon, Kenshin stayed in bed with Kaoru by his side, she only left him so that she could help Megumi with dinner while Kenshin waited patiently in his futon. He put his hand in his gi pocket and took out a familiar object from it.

"I think the time is right to give Kaoru this…..we've been through a lot and I think it's time we take the next step" he thought as he fingered the object.

He suddenly heard Kaoru's footsteps coming towards his room; he returned the object back in his gi and waited for his koishii for come in the room.

"Kenshin are you sleeping" she asked tapping on the door.

"No Kaoru…you can come in" he answered.

"How are you feeling?" she asked

"I'm fine koishii…no need to worry about me" he answered.

"Dinner is ready……do you want me to bring you a plate?" she asked.

"No…I'm fine…I can eat in the dinning room with all of you" he said as he rose to stand up.

"Oh Kenshin you shouldn't be moving….your injuries-" she protested placing her hands on his chest.

"Are fine……I am capable of walking Kaoru" interrupted Kenshin

"But"

"Shh" he said placing his index finger on her mouth.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes…I'm sure"

"Alright….you win" she said as she took his hand and began to lead him to the dinning room.

"Kaoru…..would you come with me to the river after dinner?" asked Kenshin stopping just before they entered the room.

"Yes I would love to"

Kenshin smiled as they entered the dinning room, they sat down and began to eat, it was really amusing to the couple that Sano was finishing down dish after dish and Megumi was yelling at him and calling him "baka rooster head". After they finished, Kenshin took Kaoru's hand and led her towards the river bank.

"Kenshin it's so beautiful here" commented Kaoru as she noticed the fireflies were coming out.

"Not as beautiful as you koishii" said Kenshin as they stopped at the river bank.

"Why did you want to bring me here Kenshin" asked Kaoru.

"Do I need a reason to bring somewhere nice" teased Kenshin.

"No…..I…mean" shuddered Kaoru.

"Well actually there is a reason I brought you here this time" confessed Kenshin.

"This is it" thought Kenshin as he fished into his gi and took out a small brown pouch; he took Kaoru's hand and dropped its contents in it. Kaoru gasped when she saw was it was.

It was a ring, a sliver band decorated with a flower design carved on the metal and a square cut sapphire stone in the middle. It looked old but magnificent at the same time.

"Oh Kenshin"

"when I was a little boy, Tomoe gave me this ring and told me that it has been in my family for 5 generations, each male member used it to ask the woman they love to marry them……it has been passed down from generation to generation as a sign of happiness throughout the couple…..eventually it was passed to Tomoe and since she was a woman and cannot ask a man to marry her……she gave it to me and told me to ask the woman I love to marry her using this ring" explained Kenshin.

Kaoru's eyes began to fill with tears of happiness as she stayed silent waiting for Kenshin to continue.

"that woman is you Kaoru…..you've loved and accepted me even after I took away your only family and so" said Kenshin as he kneeled on one knee and held Kaoru's hand with one of his while the other held up the ring.

"Will you Kaoru Kamiya give me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?" proposed Kenshin.

That was it; the tears were spilling from Kaoru's eyes and onto her cheeks she gazed on Kenshin's loving face smiling.

"Yes…..I will" whispered Kaoru while blushing heavily.

A huge weight have been lifted off Kenshin shoulder as he released the breath he was holding, he stood up and placed the ring on Kaoru's left ring finger, kissing it then cupped her cheeks with his hands.

"I love you Kaoru koishii"

"I love you too Kenshin anata"

Kenshin leaned in and pressed his lips on hers, as if showing her that from his moment on, she was his and he was hers. Nothing is going to stand between them or separate them ever again, the stood there kissing for the longest time, with only the fireflies circling them.

Antica: aww isn't that sweet.

Kenshin and Kaoru still locked in their kiss.

Antica: hey….hey lovebirds…..snap out of it already

Kenshin and Kaoru separate and glare at Antica

Antica: what?

Kenshin: why did you interrupt us?

Kaoru: ya it was just getting good

Antica: well so-rry….I just thought that we wanted to comment on something

Battousai: well we don't (whispers to Kaoru's eye) now where were we?

Kaoru giggles and draws Kenshin into another kiss

Antica: sign well this fic is over…..I really didn't want it to end….I may put up an epilogue so stay tuned.

THANKS FOR ALL WHO REVIEWED MY FIRST FIC

mitzuki1290

IchikoKitsuneKoumori

Y. Ling

Serphtears

Dark Shadows 01

noobie101

Sdf

Green Animelover

Yuki9283

Patience Halliwell

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST MY BETA READER DeeKaui LOVE YA GIRL.