Chapter 6
In to Town

Megumi had been fascinated by Kaoru's story. Dragon bonding rituals were varied, but most rituals she had encountered were quite complex and the magic used wrapped up in the emotions of those forming the bond. Kaoru's bond looked to have stemmed from nothing more than an intense focus on her part and physical contact, however brief. The next day Megumi filled four pages of her book quickly, the words and observations just flowing.

Things that had confused the healer about Kaoru and her reaction to a broken bond were starting to make sense with the information Misao had gotten out of her, even without learning anything more specific than how the bond had occurred. Kaoru hadn't recognized her mate's protectiveness as a desire to hoard, nor his focus toward her as a desire to strengthen the bond she had initiated. Thinking about the wedding, however, made Megumi pause and sit back, staring ahead in deep contemplation.

It seemed extremely unlikely that whatever his culture, a bonded dragon would just up and marry someone who was not his mate. If family had anything to do with it, she wondered if they knew of the bond and forced the marriage anyway. Perhaps he had not known about the bond they shared. The fact he did not see her for more than a week after it had formed, after their first kiss, suggested that he was either fighting it or completely unaware of its presence. If the information Misao had given her about bond mates in the area was true, had he known about it he would have been much more protective of Kaoru.

Unless, of course, he was protecting her by keeping her away from his family. The bond was severed, so perhaps they had killed him when they found out he was taken by someone who had not been approved by the clan.

She finally leaned over the ledger once again, made a few more notes and went to let Kenshin know her theories. And perhaps help him with the grand plan of saving both his and the human's life by healing their bonds. But for that to work the idiot would have to let her know that they weren't just strange humans living off by themselves. And it would probably help if he worked on developing a relationship with her. While bonds made for political reasons had been the norm many centuries ago, she doubted if Kaoru would just agree to it, even for 'medical reasons.'

Misao had been doing her best to get them together at every opportunity, and she was sure even Kaoru was starting to get a bit suspicious. Right now, if Kaoru was aware of Misao's plans, she probably thought that it was just the hopeless romantic in Misao. If Kaoru realized that everyone was silently rooting for a relationship between her and the clan leader, then she was sure the stubborn girl would run off for no other reason than to fight what everyone wanted. After all, she had gone after someone just for 'a challenge.'

When Misao had not so subtly asked Kaoru what she thought about Kenshin a couple of days later, Kaoru had shrugged not looking up from the computer.

"He's handsome and polite, but too short."

"But... He's taller than you!" Misao had been quick to observe, her look of happiness at the start of Kaoru's sentence had melted into a half hidden horror that she wouldn't like Kenshin.

"True, but most of the men in my life have been much taller. My father was almost a giant, and I don't want to crush Red with my flailing about."

"So you've thought about you two together!" Misao had exclaimed happily and Kaoru had closed her mouth and refused to say any more.

Megumi had glanced over at Misao and gave her a look that quite plainly said, 'Drop It.'

Megumi had been much more subtle. She made sure to keep Misao away and to call Kenshin down for his check up when she knew Kaoru was getting restless. It always ended up with them going somewhere. Even if it was just to the kitchens.

Today however, they had gone to town after they had fixed the jeep.

For the most part, the group got in and out of their territory by completely different means, but as Kaoru couldn't just sprout wings, and with Kenshin refusing to allow anyone to tell her exactly what was going on he couldn't carry her into town himself, they had to take the old car that no one had touched in years that had refused to start at first.

"Battery" Kenshin and Kaoru had said at the exact same time as Kenshin tried to start the jalopy.

"I'll get the starter, you have one, right?" Kaoru had said, jumping out of the car. But Kenshin was out with her, popping the hood and opening the door in a quick fluid motion.

"Up here, not a problem." And it was on the shelf right next to the driver's side of the car and he was quickly unraveling the cords and looking for an outlet.

"How's the gas and oil? Will that be a problem?" Kaoru said, pulling the hood all the way up and securing it open. She quickly found the dip stick and pulled it out. Kenshin tossed her a rag, and she wiped it off and she checked the oil. "Color's good on the oil, a bit low though." She replaced the stick as Kenshin moved behind her to hook up the battery. She also checked the radiator fluid, break fluid and transmission fluid, which she deemed all passable. She went to the shelves in the garage to see if they had any oil.

"Hopefully the gas will be fine, I have some fresh in that can if you want to go ahead and put it in. I've checked the plugs and wires, they all seem fine. Break down a lot?"

"When you're traveling in a bunch of foreign countries it helps to have some skill in this area. Also, my last car was twice as old as this one and I had to keep patching it back together because I couldn't afford a new one. Finally had to sell it for my plane ticket. It was either that or stay overseas."

Slowly, he had begun up things about her. She was a fighter, she loved learning and reading, she had lost her family, and she was fairly poor, but resourceful. And independent. With a temper. While trying to figure out what she did for a living, and joking around with her, Kenshin had finally gotten beamed in the head with a potato. She had stomped off after throwing it, complaining about idiot men being too small to hit with a frying pan.

Several things were off limits. Her relationship with her bond mate, Her relationship with her family, and what she did for a living.

After they had jumped the battery and made sure nothing else was wrong with the car, they settled in for a fairly long drive, though through some of the most beautiful country side Kaoru had ever seen.

"So what do you all do?" She asked, looking straight ahead.

"Hmm, that doesn't seem fair. I'll trade you an answer for an answer?" He stole a glance over to her, but she let no emotion show.

"New question, what is everyone keeping from me?"

"What makes you think we are keeping anything from you?" Kenshin asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral and his eyes on the road.

"When I was younger, I had no ability to read people. I only thought the best of people and it got me into trouble enough that I became aware of the problem. I took steps to correct it, I had to learn a lot when I started martial arts training, but nothing sharpens your ability to read non-verbal language like spending time with a bunch of people you can't understand. You all are keeping something from me, and I haven't pressed it because I genuinely like and trust all of you. But I must warn you that I have no patience when it comes to playing the part of a fool. I didn't spend enough time with my Jaan for Megumi's explanation to make complete sense either. What are you keeping from me?"

For a second, Kaoru felt, rather than saw a change come over Kenshin. Though he kept his eyes and face on the road ahead, there was something about him that nearly caused her to forget to breath. But it was just a second, and then it was over and he nodded. She tilted her chin in her stubborn way and refused to back down an inch.

"Megumi has been doing research into our condition, and she may have discovered something. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do anything about it as of yet, so instead of raising any alarm, or making snap judgments, or giving false hope, we are letting her work. There are several things about our condition that would be hard to explain to you without going through everything. If you wish, I will explain everything to you, but I must warn you that there are reasons I haven't explained everything. The details are not... simple."

"When were you planning on 'explaining' everything." Kaoru asked. The atmosphere in the car seemed heavier to her.

"Misao and Sanosuke were doing some research for her, and for me. Once I had information from them, I was going to explain everything."

Kaoru nodded, and then looked at him, "That seems reasonable. I will wait for them, then."

Kenshin turned to look at her quickly, "Really?" He had been expecting to have to fight this one out, her immediate acquiescence had thrown him off balance.

"Of course, I hate to explain anything without proper research or information I was unsure of. I see no reason to make myself sick with worry if you do explain everything to me and then I would be just as unsure as you. Right now I feel fine, whatever Megumi is giving me is, I think, helping, and I'm content to just leave it at that until you know something more concrete."

"Well that's... really level headed thinking." He smiled a bit at her.

After that, their talk was a lot more open and Kenshin was glad he had not had to fight that battle out with her. She was stubborn, but his dragon liked that about her. He had started to notice that her politeness and quietness was not timidness, but a tactic to sit back, observe, and plan. Even while reading from Misao's tablet around their home, she seemed to be cataloging everything that went on around her. Her exuberance seemed to be a shield. He and his dragon both recognized the similarities between themselves and this human. She was well trained. She was controlled (she could have hit him with the frying pan, it was closer). And the stubbornness. That had taken him a while to realize, because her stubbornness was not so overt. All her actions were always directed toward a goal, but not all of her actions were direct. For the most part she had never declared anything off limits as far as what she would talk about, but she knew how to talk around what they wanted, directing their attention elsewhere. He knew why she wouldn't talk about her bond mate. The one fight between him and Aoshi had come about from him snapping at Misao after she tried to goad him into talking about... her. He still couldn't bring himself to even think her name, and would only give information to Megumi reluctantly. Kaoru would only refer to him with without his name and had once let slipped that he had seemed young, but that was all. She, like Kenshin, would give information about the surrounding circumstances, but keep that part of themselves, their other half, protected.

"Does it bug you that you are dying?" Kaoru asked suddenly, staring out the side window and leaning against the door. She didn't look at him.

"Yes." He answered evenly.

"Even though we all are?"

He hadn't thought about it like that. For him, life was longer than most humans would fathom.

"If there is a chance I could live, I am going to take it. Why do you ask?"

"I am just trying to make peace with the fact that I might die sooner than I would have hoped. I am glad you were there at the airport."

"I am glad I made it in time." Kenshin said softly.

Kaoru gave him a funny look, and didn't say much more, but they were almost into town anyway.

Though it had not snowed, it was still too cold for too many tourist to be around town, so things were slow. Kaoru didn't mind, and Kenshin preferred it that way. Kaoru was wearing another large overcoat of his, and the first thing she wanted to do was to get a jacket of her own and some boots before the weather really kicked in. Kenshin was slightly disappointed.

He offered to buy her a new jacket and boots, but she told him no. She did ask for his help in choosing something that would be warm enough.

-

"What do you mean?" Kaoru said, frustrated, "It should work, there is no reason it shouldn't. Could you try running it again?" Kaoru's card was deciding not to work. She couldn't understand it. There should have been enough for the jacket and the boots. Her face was turning a bit red, but she was doing her best to not completely lose control.

"I'm sorry, it's not going through still."

Kaoru exhaled sharply, but spoke calmly, "Could you try running it with just the shoes?"

"No, you need a jacket, I can get it," Kenshin offered, "You can pay me back if you must." He added quickly as she opened her mouth to argue with him. "I just don't know when we'll be back in town, that I don't, so it would be wise to buy it now."

She seemed to be thinking it over, then nodded.

The shop keeper started boxing everything up and soon they were ready to go. "Thank you, Mr. Himura." The shop keeper called as the left. Kenshin holding onto her bags, and deftly keeping them out of her reach, though subtly so.

"I didn't see you pay..."

"I have an agreement with the owner there." He shrugged. "We've lived here for awhile, and know pretty much everyone. Lunch? It's getting late and I've got several places we need to go. I know a place that has excellent beef stew, as well as a large selection of different options."

"All right."

Everyone seemed to know Kenshin. He was always stopping to answer questions, or returning waves and greetings. As they entered the warm cafe, several people nodded and the waitress was quick to arrive.

"Kenshin, it's so good to see you again, and who have you got there with you?" She said in a bright voice and a southern accent.

"Hello Tae, it's good to see you as well, this is Kaoru. She will be staying with us up at the house for awhile. Kaoru, this is Tae." He called it the house, and Tae gave a little nod. It was part of the code. Kaoru didn't know.

Tae made Kaoru blush by asking if they were a couple and if Kenshin was treating her right and by the time she had ushered them to a booth, both were blushing. And Tae was laughing.

Kaoru ordered a pot of coffee, and Kenshin ordered tea, and Tae said she'd bring them out a bit of her soup, and if they didn't like it they could order what ever they wanted, but she had tweaked the recipe and wanted their opinions.

"Other people have to eat it no matter what, I only care what certain people think." And, winking at them, she disappeared to the back.

"I like her." Kaoru said, "Everyone and their brother seems to know you."

Kenshin laughed a bit, "One of the dangers of living in one place too long. Thank you Miss Tsubame." He turned to the young waitress who had brought out their drinks. "I travel a lot, but most of my time is spent here, when I can. It's peaceful, quiet."

"I used to think I would always stay, in our little house with the dojo. But after father died..." She hesitated and then continued. "It became apparent that I would have to leave and fend for myself. I was shuttled between distant relatives at first." She didn't say anything, and Kenshin was wondering if he should ask her to continue when Tae showed up with their food. They ate in silence for awhile, then, as Kaoru was finishing up she started talking as if she hadn't left off.

"I find it hard to talk about my family, and my father, and what was expected of me. After I left my family I was told I wouldn't amount to much, and I've always been put off when anyone asks what I do, because no matter what it never feels like enough. I am sorry if I get a bit put off when the topic is brought up. I am grateful for all that you have done for me. I am sorry for hitting you with the potato."

"It's no problem Miss Kaoru. I shouldn't try to push your buttons, especially since you have not been with us so long. I promise I have a hard head. Just let me know if something is a topic you don't wish to discuss. I'm not too good with subtlety."

When they left the cafe, after promising Tae that the soup was delicious and they weren't just telling her that and promising to come by more often, the wind had begun to pick up a bit, and they hurried through the rest of the errands Kenshin had to run. They made their way through a few shops, picked up several parcels for Megumi, went by the post office where Kenshin mailed off a letter, and ended up at the market where they argued good naturedly over foods and brands.

By the time they made it home they were chatting a lot less formally, and seemed much more relaxed with each other. As they walked in to the kitchen area, each carrying a few bags, Megumi had to kick Misao in the ankle to keep her from commenting on their proximity to each other and their relaxed stance. She pretended to be busy by the stove as Misao hopped around, clutching her ankle and yelling, and looked over to tell her to stop being so clumsy and to go get the rest of the bags. Kenshin and Kaoru had only stopped their discussion at Misao's cry and shrugged to each other. Neither noticed Megumi's self satisfied smile as she helped put up the groceries.

A/N - My brother has let me know that my writing style reminds him of a role play, and that he hates the modern elements of it. I am sorry if anyone else feels that way too, but I promise once I get finished with the story I'm going back to make some changes. As it is, I like the modernness of it. All dragons should use iPads! I'm doing my best to get back into writing and if I let some things slide, it's only because I haven't noticed while trying to focus on everything else. (No more "deepening frowns" and "quirking eyebrows" lol!) If you see anything that bugs you, let me know! I'm trying to do the best I can without a beta, and while I'm trying to juggle plot, characterization, dialog, subtext, and description... well... other things might just fall through the cracks. I promise you I am quite cool with suggestions and corrections!

I've sent out a few PMs to people who I would be interested in having beta my story, but I haven't heard back. If anyone is interested, or knows someone who might be, send me a note!

Sorry this one isn't as long as the others. I've been working hard on another project as well. Wanted to add more, but I also wanted to post what I had.