Chapter Twelve: Consummated Love

Time stopped in the Mitsurugi-Ryu camp. It was as if war became a mere rumor at the sudden pronouncement of the lord's most recent wishes. Himura Kenshin was to be married in a week. The soldiers didn't really have any problems with the wife-to-be in question. It was just that they came out of comfortable exile to war with the Carnelians—not to seek out a queen for the tribe.

Yes. Queen.

All this time, Kenshin was merely lord over the tribe, not yet King, for the laws of the clans required of him a lady with whom he can rule sovereign with. She is to be wise and loyal and charismatic. Otherwise, she doesn't deserve such a title. Few of the elders doubted that the framers of the law would have wanted one that was stark blind, but when they saw the eyes of the groom-to-be, their misgivings were soon forgotten.

Kenshin's head was on her lap underneath one of the slowly blooming trees. Winter had quickly passed through the camp with nary a frost to show its bite. A good omen, many said. Kaoru's blank gaze was affixed somewhere far away as she tenderly played with his hair. Kenshin hummed a low baritone, his eyes closed, as he ignored the small impulses that sparked underneath her touch.

It was a peaceful afternoon and all was well with their world. The Yukishiro tribe, the Carnelians, the very lands themselves became something of the past as the two lovers found their selves counting each and every passing hour that would lead to the end of the week when they would finally be wedded. Kaoru smiled at the thought and looked down at the lightly napping man on her lap. He opened his eyes and once again felt a pang of regret at her lack of sight.

"I wish to see your face"

"I wish it too," he forlornly replied.

"Why?" she asked lightly, not truly expecting a serious answer.

"So I would know if I am handsome in your eyes."

"Does that truly matter?"

"I wouldn't want you to wed me for my personality alone," he said with a quirk of the mouth.

Kaoru laughed. It was a pleasant illusion: that the circumstances of their meeting and marriage were not of gore, blood, and divinities that served as split personalities. Many of their conversations were light and cheerful; devoted to finding every nuance of each other's inner person. They had no masks, no protection for their emotions— leaving their selves vulnerable to the other.

She was not a goddess, nor was she a blind priestess. To him, she was his woman.

He was no warring god or lord over assasins. To her, he was her lover.

It was as such that they treated each other, as perfect compliments to a two-piece puzzle; each unfitting and unwhole on its own, yet made perfect by their bond.

Kaoru lifted her hands from his hair to his slight displeasure. Yet warmth flushed through his face as she placed each one to fully cup both of his cheeks.

"Perhaps you will look handsome in my imagination…"

"Mmmm," he moaned, closing his eyes again, surrendering himself to her.

She traced his jaw line with the tips of her fingers, enjoying the feel of his flesh as it struggled to relax under her skin. She smoothed his brow with her forefingers and lingeringly traced over his eyebrows. She lightly fluttered over his eyelids and traced down his nose. Finally, her fingers reached his lips. Ghosting over his already panting mouth, her fingers skipped down to his chin, tickling its underside. Kenshin merely scoffed at the trick.

"Woman…" he warned. Kaoru giggled. She went back to his lips, and with one forefinger, traced its outline into her mind.

"Handsome," she pronounced.

"But you've never even seen my eyes! And I hear my hair is to die for…" he whispered to her in mocking shock, smiling.

"I have and I remember. Your hair was a tacky kind of red and your eyes--" she whispered seriously back.

"Not true!" he cut in a laugh. Kaoru pushed him back down on her lap as he tried to get up.

"I'm not finished yet. Your eyes…" she paused in a thoughtful moment, "your eyes were…" she leaned down and kissed his eyelids.

"My eyes were?" he prompted, whispering once more.

"Beautiful."

Kaoru went back to tracing his lips. Kenshin, thoroughly overwhelmed with her words and her confidence, struggled to think of a way to express to her how much he loved her. But many of his ideas, if not all, included a soft bed and no clothes. Kenshin highly doubted that Kaoru would agree.

For the meantime, he contented himself with laying on her lap, and kissing and nipping at her passing fingers. Finally, he grabbed her hand to fully suckle one of them. Kaoru sighed.

"Kenshin, I want to taste," she half teased, half whimpered.

Letting go of her hand with a smile, Kenshin lightly pulled down her chin so that she would know where to put her lips. It was tricky, her eager kisses landing an inch too high. It wasn't only that she was blind, but it was particularly hard to kiss upside down. But Kenshin held back his laugh, and gently cupped her cheeks with both of his hands to let her have her taste.

Afternoons like these passed at a sweet luxurious pace, burying deeper any sense of obligation to the outside world. It was such a miracle to the elders and Misao that they did not dare to ever disturb the two, except for Tsubame who took upon the duty to remind the couple to eat and sleep in separate rooms (this was one of Kaoru's half-hearted ideas that she would stick to only when prompted by Tsubame.)

Aoshi was busy. He only took a few moments everyday to silently admire the couple from afar before going back to the meeting room to make sure everything was in place.

Upon icy cavern walls, Megumi slowly traced her fingers on the runes that she herself had

carved. It was her duty to write pieces of the future as well as history…

An eternity ago…

'Love is an illusion, the most primitive type of thing. It is he who started this war—do you not see that? I killed him to save you further work. He is not needed. Life and fate and choice and chance and destiny govern humanity overall. Love has nothing to do with any of that. It's merely a side-dish. Something experienced in life, but not a vital part.'

--From the testimony of the Trickster god, who was exiled from the heavens for the murder of a fellow god.

Shortly after this first banishment, the lower sprites waged a war against the gods and their tyranny and manipulation of humanity. It was after this war that the gods and lower sprites agreed upon free will for the humans and a treatise on controlling the gods.

Yet the heavens were still one god short. The deities were severely affected by this void. Because of the lack of a being that could spread its unique power, the gods and goddesses started to believe the Trickster's words. They looked down at humankind for an answer and saw only the deterioration of a once proud race, now swallowed by its own corruption of what was once the most powerful magic ever designed. Love.

Unseen by the already blinded deities, the human wars reached no end because of the lack of compassion, corrupting human souls. The wars on earth offered no opportunity for the quest of a proper replacement for the murdered god. It was a vicious cycle, for there was no mortal who could be called upon for this unique godhood.

Resentment grew between the gods since there was no restraint on the lustful impulses that they began to call love, for the lack of a better word. The very emotion came to be loathed by the high and mighty, thinking it was weak and unsophisticated, human and primitive, bestial and uncouth. Thus the gods and goddesses agreed on treaty after treaty, constraining themselves to even more rules to avoid a future similar to humanity. It came to be that gods and goddesses aren't allowed to love, and many were thankful for it. The rest were merely apathetic.

The Trickster god was stripped of his memory, but since his banishment was before the treatise of control over the deities, he maintained eternal life and full power—calling himself a god in human flesh and starting his own tribe as he coveted precious lands and power. Soon, he became seriously involved in a war between the Mitsurugi and the Ryu.

The Trickster's victory was guaranteed with his power. Yet one god, a very young one at that, trespassed upon the treaty of humanity's free will. He disguised himself in flesh and blood and assassinated the Yukishiro clan. He was named Battousai.

He did not know of the Trickster in human flesh—nor of his blind love for his mortal sister.

A blood-oath was made: vengeance upon the warrior with the cross-mark—given by the woman who was last killed in the assassination. The tribes merely scoffed at the weakened tribe's declaration. In fact, many tried to claim such a deed, for it was a very beautifully executed massacre. The lords and princes marked themselves with such a scar on their left cheeks and soon it became the symbol of royalty of the merged tribe: Mitsurugi-Ryu, whose patron was no other than the god of life, still unknown by the humans to be there one and only alleged Battousai.

The Yukishiro clan disappeared, only appearing once every generation to see if the true scarred warrior had come back, reincarnated. The Trickster held to the blood-oath he made an eternity ago, forgetting his true purpose on earth: to find penance and regain godhood once again.

"You are troubled, wife." It was a statement made by an amused Sano, lying in bed, who idly watched his naked wife read the funny looking images on the wall. Sated, he quietly smiled at the memory of their strange marriage. Due to the many rules and regulations that the gods have adopted, he first had to seek for blessing before marriage and consummation. He frowned lightly at the 'marriage' they had. He was a little put-off that the gods seem so indifferent to the concept that they held no celebration for his wife's behalf.

"I have been watching this one for too long…"

"Jou-chan?"

"The Trickster." Megumi looked back at Sano, her eyes crinkling at his sight.

"You are amused, wife."

"I have been alone for too long…" she replied lightly.

"Shall we make up for lost time?" Sano leered openly at Megumi.

"We'll soon be disturbed, and I, for one, don't like starting anything I cannot finish."

"You're just going to have to keep up then." His deep predatory voice made Megumi gulp—she tried to keep her gaze free of lust but she failed miserably when Sano shrugged of the blankets to prowl towards her.

"How much time?"

"Two days on earth. A little less than 10 minutes here—" Megumi gasped.

"That should be enough…" he said between kisses.

"For what?!"

"I don't have a name for it. But if you stop talking, I'll. Show. You."

Though the rain forced the ceremony and honored guests inside, Kenshin and Kaoru were happy. All throughout the ceremony, they whispered to each other as the priest droned on and on and on.

"We are humans, we have free will. Remember the treaty?" Kenshin whispered.

"But that doesn't mean we can just ignore our divinity and the laws again"

"I know, I'm just trying to find a way, some sort of loophole—humanity is hard to bear with but—"

"It is worth it if there is love?" she finished.

"Yes" he agreed, amused.

"Should we really play with fire?"

"I'm merely the moth, love, you're the intoxicating flame here."

"Kenshin, lets be serious"

"We're in the middle of our wedding, we are serious"

"Talking while the ceremony is inappropriate"

"Who cares? They can't hear"

"…lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Kaoru said out loud. "

"…you may kiss--"

Before the priest could finish the statement, Kenshin had swiftly turned to his new wife as she dropped the bouquet so she can grab at his hair. Engaging in a passionate kiss, the two had to be pulled apart so the festivities could begin.

That night in Kenshin's bedroom. Kenshin was slowly taking off his garb while Kaoru watched him blindly on the bed. At this point in time, she could not decide whether she was thankful or resentful of her handicap. She was still undecided and leaning towards abstinence, yet she could half-remember in a distant memory how beautifully sculpted he was.

"What are you thinking?" Kenshin asked as he took her hands and placed it on his chest.

"We both know where this will end," Kaoru panted as her hands ran over his skin with minds of their own. Kenshin sighed at her touch, bending over to nibble on her ear.

"Do we?" he whispered smiling.

"Uhuh…" she incoherently replied.

"I can stop later…" He rationalized as he slowly slid her dress off her shoulders, his skilled hands more aggressive than in one of their previous sessions.

"We're…only…human…" She moaned as Kenshin devoured her lips, all the while pushing her down to the bed. Kaoru placed both hands on his chest to push him away, but her half-hearted attempts were easily seen through. Kenshin smiled and entrapped both hands high above her head with one hand.

His eyes glowed amber as he straddled her hips. Both of them suddenly felt the power emanating from his body, and he relished his dominancy over her.

"We're also gods," he breathed into her panting mouth. She was utterly helpless while his other hand wrecked havoc on her body.

"And even then you didn't stop," Kaoru accused, surprising herself with how coherent that reply seemed to be. Her hands became warm and she could almost see the blue that surfaced from her body.

"It was your fault," the god of life replied, merely trying a joke, but immediately regretting his words as he saw her eyes grow dark.

The goddess pushed him off her. "I can't believe you just said that…" She stood up and started feeling around for her clothes.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Are you saying you regret it? Because if you do, now's the time to say it!" She donned on her robe and started to fasten it tight.

"Kaoru—"

"All these years and I can't believe you still think that all of it was my fault! I was the only one between the two of us who was trying to stop."

"Please, just—"

"Look, the priest might still be outside, maybe we should just get annulled right now. Both of us know we can't do this."

Kenshin stood up and tried to hold her hand. "Kaoru…" he said pulling her close.

"I can't believe you said that." Kaoru calmly walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.

'How could I have let it get this far?'

'We're both fools.'

'It's like I didn't learn anything the first time.'

'I can't believe I said that.'

'Why am I out here in the rain?'

'Baka! I should go after her! '

'Is that Kenshin? How'd he find me here— No!'

"Kaoru?"

Kenshin was soaked wet as he ran through the camp, asking various guards and soldiers if they've seen his wife. He ignored the small jokes made at his expense, about how his woman fled on their wedding night. His mind was focused on finding her, but it was all in vain.

He went back to the compound, thinking that she had returned while he was looking for her. He walked through the gardens, pleading for her to return to him. Finally he reached their favorite tree, under which he sat down in exhaustion.

Where is she?!

"HIMURA!"

"Aoshi?" Kenshin looked up.

"Our scouts spotted Enishi riding away from the camp…" Aoshi paused and looked down as he handed Kenshin a blue ribbon.

"Prepare for war. We ride tonight."

Battousai headed for the stables as he wrapped the ribbon around a fist.

"Himura…"

"All may be fair in love and war, Aoshi, but that doesn't mean I have to stand for it. Wake the men up and have them ready in a day."

"But that's—"

"Do it. You're in charge. Attack when you're ready."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going after my wife."