Marry Me?

The furious winds outside beat down hard and cold on the wall, viciously throwing around the heavy snowflakes. The voices floating through the radio had announced a few moments ago that the winds would not be letting up anytime soon. Neither would the snow.

Instead of heading home after a day at the ice rinks: Kenshin, Kaoru, Soujiro, Sano, and Misao had decided it would be nice to drop by Megumi's house and bug her for a while. That's how they ended up in the positions they were in now.

They were all crowded around Megumi's fireplace. Megumi and Sano had cuddled up in the love seat. Sano laid on his back, with Megumi curled up on his chest. Soujiro and Misao were in the middle of a heated discussion about gasses and poisons. The other four present were left feeling pleased with themselves whenever they managed to get a comment squeezed in.

Kaoru snuggled closer into the toned chest of her boyfriend, running her fingers through his shocking crimson hair. Kenshin turned his attention from the discussion and settled his warm amber eyes on the woman in his arms. He pulled her closer and dropped a kiss to her forehead. Kaoru pouted.

"You call that a kiss?" They were snuggled together in one of Megumi's older and fluffier chairs. Kenshin chuckled and kissed the corner of her mouth teasingly.

"Mmm," Kaoru moaned lazily and turned her head to seek out his lips. Kenshin sucked lightly at her bottom lip before claiming her lips in a passionate kiss.

"Is it just me or did the temperature rise in here?" Soujiro shouted from his seat in a chair. Misao joined him and laughed loudly.

"Get a room!" Kenshin broke away from the heated lip lock with his girlfriend and grinned madly at them.

"And for your information, that will not be the only thing rising tonight." From his place on the love seat, Sano snickered softly to himself. He hoped the redhead would have the guts to finally pop the question, but never in a million years had he thought he would do it in front of other people. He glanced down at Megumi and their joined hands. Their engagement rings smiled happily back at him, telling everyone she was spoken for.

"Kaoru…" Kenshin smiled gently and got down on one knee in front of her. He took both her hands and held them carefully within his own bigger and calloused fingers. The room had turned deadly quiet, their friends seeming to hold their breaths. Kaoru's world spun and she felt lightheaded.

"Oh my god…" She was all she managed to choke out.

"I have known you all my 24 years of life, nevertheless, never have I met someone like you." He continued like she had never spoken, then paused for a moment, gazing lovingly into her shocked sapphire eyes. "Do you remember when you were the flower girl in your aunt's wedding? And how you came to me afterwards, telling me how amazing it had been? We used the rest of that day to plan our wedding. Do you remember that?"

Already wide sapphire eyes threatened to fall out of their eye sockets. "You remember that? I was six!" She looked horrified.

Kenshin laughed. "Yes. I told you that I would not allow anyone other than me to stand up by the alter with you. That I would fight to make you mine." He took a deep breath and let go of her hands. He pulled out a little box from his right pocket and held in up in front of her. "Kaoru, koishii. My intentions are still the same. I want to be the man you give yourself to, I want to be the one you desire, I want to be the one you will spend the rest of your live with. I want to be the one, standing by the alter, smiling and hearing the words 'I do' spoken from your lips."

Never looking away from her eyes, he popped the box open to reveal a ring in white gold with a small sapphire stone in the middle. "Marry me?"

All Kaoru could do was stare as all the eyes in the room fixed on her. A little sniff was heard from Misao as she wiped away a tear. "Kenshin…" Kaoru breathed. "I don't…"

His smile faltered at her response, he had been prepared for any kind of reaction. Crying, a slap, shouting, silence…but with the way this was going, he was being rejected. The mere thought stabbed mercilessly at his heart. Then a smile broke onto her face.

"Oh Kenshin! You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this!" She dropped to her knees in front of him as he slid the ring onto her slender finger.

Kenshin laughed happily and embraced her in a loving hug, burying his face in her hair. "I love you."

A lone tear of happiness made its way happily down her soft cheek. "I love you too."