"Misao?" His tone had changed. It was still gentle, but now it was worried and tinged with something else, something she couldn't define at the moment. Slowly she lifted her head and met his gaze. There he was, Aoshi Shinomori in all of his greatness, framed in the moonlight and wearing the strangest of expressions upon his face. 'Damn him and his weird expressions!' Misao thought furiously. Taking in a shaky breath, the girl tried valiantly to calm herself and to stop shaking like a damn leaf.

"Aoshi," she managed to choke out after a few moments.

She had thought that his name would be so easy to say, it was after all the name of the one man who had been on her mind and in her heart for so long. But now that he was here she was finding that just looking at him was proving to be one of the hardest things she had ever done. The tremble in her voice did not go unnoticed by the tall man, she could see that immediately as he knelt down beside where she sat leaning against the tree. Unwilling to look at his face, she turned away.

"What are you doing here?"

Silence was her answer as Aoshi sat beside her, head bowed and eyes closed. What Misao didn't know was that Aoshi was trying just as hard to keep himself calm and composed. When she had looked into his eyes and spoken his name with so much pain, his heart had shattered. He had seen the truth, finally, after denying it and running from it for so many years. He was the one. The one who had caused all of her pain, all of her heartache, was him and he was only to blame.

"Misao..."

"Aoshi..."

Both spoke each others names at the same time, one choked with emotion, the other rising in anger. For a moment they paused, simply staring at each other with no idea what to say. Then Misao sighed heavily and looked away towards Kyoto.

"Did Omasu send for you? Is that why you came back?"

Choking on the words that had almost spilled from his mouth, Aoshi quietly replied "yes, she was worried about you."

Misao closed her eyes, squeezing them tight as she fought to keep her emotions in check. "How did she know where to find me?" She thought that she had been so careful, making sure that no one saw her coming to this place when she would slip out alone.

"She didn't."

The answer surprised her and she looked at Aoshi, startled. "She didn't? But then how..." Did he remember after all? Did he realize that she would be here? "You remembered then."

"Yes."

Taking a deep breath, Misao pushed away her thoughts with gut wrenching effort. No matter if he did, she thought, easing her flaring hopes back down. It really didn't matter if he remembered or not.

Silence stretched between them as the moonlight grew brighter, clouds scudding across the sky to completely unveil the celestial gem. Aoshi hung his head again. He had no idea what to say, what to do. He really had thought that he was doing the right thing, that she would move on and fall in love with another. He had not even considered that she would be so in love with him that his leaving would do this to her. How could he have known that what he felt was going through her heart too? 'I could have known,' he thought bitterly. 'If I had paid any attention at all to her and stopped being so consumed with my own guilt I would have seen it. I would have seen that she loved me... that I was hurting her.' Unable and unwilling to keep his emotions locked away any longer, Aoshi allowed tears to stream silently down his face.

"Misao... I'm sor-I'm sorry," he sputtered in a gruff voice.

The world turned upside down for the young girl. Caught completely off guard, all Misao could do was sit and stare. This was Aoshi Shinomori, leader of the Oniwabanshu ninjas and renowned swordsman. He never showed emotion, was as cold as ice when it came to his personal life as well as the battle field. This couldn't be right. Aoshi was... crying! Was she sure this wasn't all a hallucination? Maybe she really did have a fever. She ought to go back and get checked up, just in case.

But then he did something that assured her that this was no dream. In one swift move Aoshi lurched forward and enveloped Misao in his arms, holding her tight against his chest as he buried his face in her shoulder. If Misao had been shocked before, it was nothing compared to this. Aoshi had never, not even once, hugged her or held her like this. She was completely at a loss as to how to react. Arms hanging loosely at her side, Misao simply sat there and let Aoshi hug her.

"A-Aoshi, what...?"

Ever so slowly, Aoshi regained control of his body. He released her and sat back, but kept his hands on her shoulders so that he could look her in the eye. He didn't, however, finding that looking into her angelic face would only cause him to either cry or kiss her, and he needed to talk right now. He needed to say things he never thought he would say, speak words that he had denied even existed in his heart for so many years now.

"I said I was sorry," he spoke quietly, his green eyes focused on the ground. Misao couldn't help but to notice how the moonlight shone in them. "I'm sorry for causing you pain. I was blind. I..." His voice caught in his throat and he swallowed, attempting to go on. "I'm sorry that I was selfish and didn't keep my promise to protect you. And I'm sorry I left you here alone."

It was that last statement more than anything else that caused a reaction out of the stupefied Misao. "Alone," she whispered. Yes, she knew what it was to be alone. His apology and his behavior this night seemed to have cleared something in Misao's mind. She found a hidden strength, a new resolve, and she knew that she couldn't just fall, crying into his arms. She needed to know something first.

Closing her eyes, Misao reached up and gently brushed Aoshi's hands off of her shoulders. "I would like to accept your apology Aoshi," Misao replied equally as quietly, holding Aoshi's hands loosely in her own. "But I need you to tell me something." Aoshi raised his head, his green eyes meeting Misao's blue ones.

"Why did you come back? Why did you come here?"

The words stung Aoshi as he realized that in all of what he had just said, even though it caused him immense internal pain to say those words and to admit those feelings to her and to himself, he had never said what was most important. He hadn't told her... that he loved her.

"I came for you."

The words escaped his mouth without conscious thought, his heart speaking before his mind could interfere. He could feel Misao begin to tremble as he tightened his grip on her hands, but the girl held her resolve.

"Why did you leave? Did you not care for me at all?"

Aoshi closed his eyes tightly as he prepared to reply. He had wanted her to think that he didn't care so that she would forget about him. Now look what he had done. He had ripped her apart.

"I cared too much," he whispered. "I thought you would be better off without me and so I refused to let you see how much you meant to me. I left because I thought I was doing what was best for you."

Aoshi found he could not look at Misao after speaking these words. He simply stared at their clasped hands as what seemed like hours went by in silence. Then suddenly her hands were no longer there.

"You arrogant asshole."

Aoshi looked up in surprise to see Misao shaking, hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"You thought it was best for me? You thought it was best to make me fall in love with you and then leave me here alone? You thought it was best for me to pretend that I didn't exist and completely ignore my feelings? You thought it was best to not even bother to reply or come back when you found out the only constant in my life was DEAD? You're only excuse is that you thought it was best for me?!" Hot tears boiled up in her eyes and streamed down her already tearstained face as she screamed at Aoshi. She was on her feet now and her entire body shook with a mixture of rage and pain, nails digging into the palms of her hands.

"You arrogant asshole," she replied, speaking quietly again. She looked up at a dumbfounded Aoshi and the man recoiled backwards a step. Her eyes-they weren't hers.

"Go back to Tokyo."

It was only a whisper but it carried far into the night, the venom in her voice strong and lethal. Without another word Misao turned and walked back towards Kyoto as the faint pink of dawn began to show on the horizon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of it's Characters. I just manipulate them and bend them to my will. Buahahahaha

As promised, longer chapter. I know I'm throwing this up really fast, but I know myself. If I don't finish this story while it's fresh in my mind there is a good chance I won't finish it at all. And don't worry, I'm not leaving it like this. Chapter 6 will be coming soon!