A/N: Hey my readers! Sorry for the delayed update. You see, when I started writing this story, I just had bunch of scenes and no solid plot. So when I started to write this chapter, I thought "Hmm…where do I want this story to go?" and I came up with "um…..??????" So I had to go back to the outlines and think long and hard. But now that's all sorted out so I promise next chapters will be up quicker (at least one chapter per week hopefully). Now, here's chapter 2 and enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Rurouni Kenshin.

Chapter 2

A dead body lay a few feet away in a pool of dark crimson blood. The woman before him looked at him in defiance but the fear in her eyes betrayed her emotions. She looked at her dead husband and tears began to pool in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to kill me too?" she asked her voice hard and cold. She did not fear death. Her only regret was that she will have to leave her son, Hiroshi, behind. 'I'm sorry Hiroshi. I love you.'

She hardened her heart and asked again, "Well? Aren't you going to kill me?"

He did not reply but simply gazed down at her.

Then suddenly, her eyes widened in horror as she glanced at something behind him. He turned around and his eyes found a ten-year-old boy hiding behind the shoji door of his room.

As if the woman read his mind, she screamed, "No! Please spare my child. Please don't kill him. Spare the child!" Her mask of fearlessness crumbled away as she frantically screamed at him to spare her only son.

'He has to live! He's only ten years old. I want him to live, even if it means without me or his father. He has to live!'

The assassin stared emotionlessly at the figure of the pathetic woman, kneeling before him and screaming at him to spare her child. Without even blinking an eye, he turned towards her and with lightening speed of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, plunged his sword into her heart. She fell forward and like her husband, she lay dead in her own pool of blood.

The boy looked back and forth between his mother and father. Tears fell silently but he did not even know that he was crying. All he knew was that they were killed in front of him in cold blood and as their son he had to avenge their deaths. Young Hiroshi picked up the blade that was lying beside his father and prepared to fight the killer of his parents even if it meant he had to give his life in the process. If he could have a chance to avenge his parents' deaths, he would gladly give his life and soul to the devil himself.

The man before him stared down at him and while his face was still devoid of any emotion, the depth of his golden eyes swirled with something incomprehensible. Instead of turning his blade towards the boy, he returned it to its sheath and turned away from him.

"I will spare your life, just as your mother wished. Come after my life if you desire, but if you speak of this to anyone, I may not be alive for you to take my life."

With that, the shadow assassin walked away, leaving Hiroshi behind with his dead parents whose blood seemed to be flooding the house.

Kenshin woke up with a start.

'That dream again.'

He sighed and buried his face in his hands. He could not understand why he was having these dreams now when he thought that all of his demons have been chased away. At times like these, he felt trapped; like he could never escape his tainted past even when he had accepted his sins and lived his life in repentance. His demons never left him alone. Unbidden, the words of Jin-e came back to him.

"Once a manslayer, always a manslayer."

Jin-e had scoffed at the idea that Kenshin Himura, the Battousai, was living in the Meiji Era as a wanderer and a peace-loving man. Jin-e understood that the Battousai could not be tamed to be a mere wanderer and like Jin-e himself, must breathe and live in the heat of battle. "Once a manslayer, always a manslayer." He could never be anything else.

Kenshin sat on his futon contemplatively, and with a frustrated growl, he threw his covers off of him and opened his shoji doors forcefully.

It was a quiet night. The stars littered the sky and the moonlight washed over the yard in ethereal glow. A slight breeze stirred the quietness of the night and Kenshin gazed towards the night sky. He leaned against his door frame as he watched the cherry blossoms drifted towards the ground. He could not get his dream out of his mind. He felt uneasy, like something was waiting for him. Something dangerous, that he was sure of. His whole life was wrought with danger and he could help but despair at the fact that he never seemed to have peace. Just when all that he hoped for was no longer a dream but a reality, the memories of his forgotten past seemed to stretch out its dark clouds despair and rain upon his peaceful days.

'Must I pick up my sword again?' Kenshin thought, silently asking the stars for an answer that he knew he could not hear.

He gave up the ways of the swordsmanship after his battle against Enishi Yukishiro. When he fought Enishi, he vowed that this battle will be the last time he would pick up his sword. Although he had lived the past ten years in repentance for his sins in the memory of Tomoe, he realized that what his love would have really wanted for him is to live in peace and in happiness without his sword. Furthermore, Miss Kaoru would want that too.

'Life in peace and happiness, huh?' thought Kenshin with a wry smile.

During his years as a wanderer, he protected the happiness of others and the new Meiji Era – the era in which everybody can live in peace. But he has never hoped for such a life for himself. But slowly, Miss Kaoru and the others have shown him that his happiness also brought happiness to others. So the doors that have been rusted shut in his heart began to open, slowly but surely, and he began to learn of the true beauty of living, without bloodshed and without his sword.

So as the years passed by, his Hiten Mitsurugi Style has been rendered almost useless, not to mention his body was greatly weakened by the battles that he faced all these years. He knew that if he were to enter another battle, he could potentially lose his life and worse, his loved ones. He clenched his fist unknowingly but was surprised by a warm and gentle hand unclenching it for him.

Looking around, Kenshin saw Kaoru standing beside him. She smiled her sweet smile at him and he could not help but smile back. He noticed that Kaoru had not removed her hand.

"What are you thinking about?" Kaoru asked in a quiet voice to not wake anyone up.

"Hmm…Just some things have been on my mind." Kenshin replied still looking up the sky.

Kaoru looked up at Kenshin. The moonlight was creating shadows on his face so that half of his face was in darkness but his eyes shined like the stars in the night sky. His red hair looked almost black in the darkness of the night and his cross shaped scar was hidden in shadow of his hair. To any other people, Kenshin might have looked normal. But Kaoru knew better. She knew every line of worry that was etched on his face, every battle scar, and even the little wrinkle that is beginning to form around his eyes. She knew something was wrong because she knew Kenshin; because she loved him. She also knew to not press him. He will tell her when he was ready. Instead of saying anything, she just intertwined her fingers with his and gave a small squeeze.

"Go back to your room or you will catch a cold. If you get sick Miss Megumi will scold me, you know," said Kaoru lightly.

"Yes, you should go back inside. The night air is chilly and I don't want you to get sick, that I don't," replied Kenshin.

"Kenshin! I was talking about you!" Kaoru shot at him.

"I know. I will return to my room soon but you should go now, that you should," said Kenshin, finally turning to her and giving her a concerned look and her hand a slight squeeze.

With a sigh, Kaoru turned away and walked away to her room, slipping her hand out of Kenshin's warm grasp and uttering a soft 'good-night'. Times like these broke Kaoru's heart because she could not do anything to ease away the worry lines in his face.

It has been almost four years since Kaoru first met Kenshin and ever since, she has come to care for him like her own family. After all, this was the man who chased away her loneliness and fought away the nightmares of her heart. But somewhere during their four years together, her heart had been stolen away from her by the man she called a friend and her savior. When had she first realized that she had fallen in love with Kenshin? Perhaps it was when he saved her from Jin-e. Or maybe it was when she saw him walk away from her when he left for Kyoto, telling her goodbye; telling her that it was time he became a wanderer again.

It doesn't matter when or how she came to love Kenshin. All she knew now was that she cannot bear to live without him in her life. But she could never tell Kenshin that she loved him with every fiber of her being. Even after Enishi Yukishiro's dreaded Jinchuu, she doubted that Kenshin will ever forget about Tomoe and love her instead. She felt that she had no place in Kenshin's heart and all she could do was watch in the sidelines and care for him as she had always done. That alone was enough, as long as he was here with her…always.

Kenshin watched out of the corner of his eyes as Kaoru turned the corner and entered her room and as he kept his eyes trained on her long hair trailing down to the small of her back, he felt a surge of need to protect her from all evils of the world. He remembered his words spoken so long ago: "I know I can't change the world. Even if I am just one man, I can still protect those that I meet on the street and especially those that I came to care about. That alone is enough for this one man now."

That had been so long ago when he spoke those words. He clenched his fists and once again vowed that he will protect those he came to care about – no, came to love – with everything he has.

Unbidden, a wry smile graced his lips.

'But then again, I just might be paranoid' thought Kenshin and with a sigh, he turned his back on the night and returned to his room. What he did not realize was that high in a tree right outside the Kamiya residence was a man with dark eyes and hair who was watching the whole scene played out before him.

"Kenshin Himura, you are going to pay for killing my parents. You will taste the utter despair as I have done and you will beg for death before me." With that whisper said to the night, Hiroshi Yamada disappeared into the shadows.

A/N: Well, that's it for Chapter 2. It's pretty short (Gomen!). It didn't go like I wanted it to but I gave it my best! I am finding out slowly that writing fanfiction isn't so easy. Don't forget to review please!

Next chapter: an unexpected visitor comes to Kenshin and Kaoru!!!