15
Every Time We Try To Fly
The soft sound of a drum penetrated the mists of darkness that surrounded him, carrying him along in a weightless sort of way, back in time.
He was very young again, writhing slowly with the fever and joint-pain of a childhood ailment in his sister's cabin. She knelt by his side, used the end of one of her long braids to tickle his nose. This cheered him, made him smile hazily up at her. The lines of worry faded back from her face. So long as he could still respond, still made a face at that foul-tasting medicine that she fed to him every few hours, she wouldn't worry.
She was purring softly, low and deep in her chest, in the way of fur drakes. It was such a contented sound, a sound he remembered from his earliest memories, when she cradled and rocked him as a baby, soft and constant and unhurried, the very spirit of her.
She stood up, started to leave, but his hand snaked out from under the layer of blankets and grasped her wrist. The words in his mind were pleas for her to stay where he could see her, but the words that came out of his mouth were, "Did I let you down? Have I shamed you?"
She bent low until her forehead rested against his moist, fevered one. "Strange. Those are questions I have always wanted to ask you, my brother."
"Never!" he blurted, grasping her around the shoulders with his arms, though the sickness made his elbows and shoulders hurt so. "Never. Sis--Taura--how could you ever ask?"
"How could you?" Her face was sweet, soft and childish. She kissed him between the eyes. "'Taura', am I? That is a more beautiful name than I could have ever imagined. Thank you, Little Brother. My greatest treasure."
Did she mean him, or the name she gave him? Kenshin touched her cheek. "Taura…" he said, never having been able to say the name to her before, pleased beyond all reason that she liked it. He had thought so hard over her name, trying out sounds he thought beautiful before finally taking it from the lake where he…where he…
Kenshin's eyes flickered open. He wasn't in his sister's cabin, but a wide pergola made of several different kinds of hides sewn together. Thick robes of a wild, wolf scent were laid over him, and an aged old fur drake with very long silver hair knelt beside him. It was Mareo.
Unaware that her patient had regained consciousness, the old dragon purred quietly as she drew a small paper fan over the fire, drawing smoke toward Kenshin, words of a healing chant rising and falling. He could smell blood. Someone had given of their blood to help him.
A young drake woman appeared in his field of vision. She was in her early thirties, with waist-length black hair and almond-shaped eyes the color of ebony. Gently, she lifted his head and held a waterskin to his mouth. For a moment, this reminded him so much of Kaoru that he could only accept two long swallows. Then he felt silly, to feel guilty for something so simple as accepting water from another's hand.
The questions he wanted to ask were forgotten as the pain closed on him again, and he retreated into the waiting darkness, seeking, if not his sister's arms again, than perhaps at least oblivion.
The woman was holding an infant pup to her breast, modestly turned with her back to him.
Kenshin didn't move, but watched, transfixed, as she nursed her pup. She was a beautiful woman, skin smooth and unblemished, rosy in the firelight. Her hair fell like a dark mantle about her shoulders. Her nose was small and straight, her lips full. With great tenderness, the woman lifted the pup from her chest and placed it to her shoulder, gently patting its back.
Kenshin smiled faintly as their eyes met.
"Hello, Kenshin-san. Welcome back from the Land of the Shadows."
"You know me?"
I remember you from the valley. You disappeared the day Saburo was killed. We thought you were dead."
"Only walking in darkness. How did I get here?"
"Your master wasn't quite ready to give up looking for you or at least your body, and he took young Lui with him back to the valley once the others could continue traveling back to your village without being in too much need of his help. It was difficult, but the pup managed to find your scent, and they found you near the bluffs, one foot through death's door."
"Where is my master now?
"He had to catch up with his group, fussing about having to leave them alone for so long just for your sake."
Kenshin shook his head. Well, that certainly sounded like Master Hiko. He wished he had stayed until he woke, though it wasn't really safe to leave their village without his strength for very long.
He spent the next few days regaining his strength. He seemed to be hungry all the time, but the woman, Sumi, and Mareo, who had remained behind with the wounded in this camp, were greatly pleased by his appetite, assuring him it was a very good sign. The women were a bit imposing on him, so much so they squashed any chafing he might have had to being bedridden, sharp looks warning him not to try to get up by himself or to allow his temper to be shortened with each passing day until they were both satisfied that he was strong enough to be out and around.
He began to take short walks through the camp, venturing a little further each day. He asked anyone he met for news of Kaoru, but no one had seen her since they left the valley. Master Hiko had sent her away with the soldiers, and that was all anyone could tell him.
Where would she go? He knew she had no family other than her aunt and uncle--if that could even be called family. Would she have returned to them if she believed him to be dead? It seemed unlikely since she'd been so unhappy there, so eager to leave. Yet, where else could she have gone?
Master, he thought irritably.
Mareo had told him that Hiko had looked in on him often while he had been unconscious, but once assured of his apprentice's life, he had gone back to look after the responsibilities he had allowed to pile up while he had been searching for Kenshin in the valley. Something the master might not let him hear the end of, but then, Kenshin had a large enough bone to pick himself, for Hiko to allow Kaoru to leave without finding out if he was truly dead or not first.
But Kenshin's health would not allow for the rough ride Hiko would need to catch up with his people, and the redheaded Wild Boy really was grateful that his master had come back to find him, glad that Hiko still cared enough for him to come back one last time to find him, even if it was just to bury him should he have only found a body.
He had gone back to his bed to rest, thinking of Kaoru, when Sumi came to him.
The comely dragon woman gazed at him, eyes soft with lust. She was offering herself to him, and Kenshin let out a long sigh. He was going to have to be very tactful. It was not at all uncommon for a female who had lost her mate to offer herself to a man, for companionship or pleasure. Intimacy with an unmarried maiden was unthinkable unless taking her on as a mate, but dragons didn't believe here was disgrace in lying with a female who had lost her companion.
"Sumi," he said in a measured tone, wishing very, very much that she had not come to him. He didn't want to offend or shame her by turning her away, but Kenshin had no desire for any woman but his Kaoru, only Kaoru.
"Don't I please you?"
"Yes…but I wouldn't have the strength to please you."
She put a hand on his chest, let it slide slowly downward to where the blanket lay across his hips. "Perhaps I could increase your vigor."
Gently, Kenshin caught her hand before it could go any further and gave it a squeeze. "In…a few days, perhaps."
"I'll be here when you need me," she said, lowering her eyes to hide her disappointment. "You have but to come to my bed."
Kenshin nodded, knowing he would never accept the invitation, but glad he had been able to talk her down without offending her.
There was a community dance the following night, and Sumi asked Kenshin to be her partner many times. Feeling guilty for what had happened the night before, Kenshin agreed more often than not. He needed the exercise anyway, he told himself. Dancing across from her, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of genuine regret that he couldn't love her. She was of the blood. Her traditions and memories were his, her dark eyes were openly adoring when she looked at him. It would be so easy to have accepted the love she was offering him. But he could never forget Kaoru, couldn't erase the image of her from his mind, or her love from his heart, and never wanted to.
He grew increasingly restless and discontent as the days went by, and when a dozen young drakes asked him if he wanted to join in a pack hunt, he agreed.
Sumi regarded him through fathomless black eyes when she learned he was leaving. "You must be feeling stronger."
"A little," he agreed. "I think a few days out will do me good."
"Not as much good as a night with me." She placed a hand on his arm, dark eyes filled with warmth and concern. "Be careful, and come back soon."
His eyes were twitching as he moved away from her camp. She wasn't going to let this go, was she? More than once, he thought about telling her than he already had a wife, but it wouldn't have helped matters much. Fur drakes mated for life, but an armor drake such as she had no problems sharing a husband with another female. Especially these days, when they needed all the pups they could get.
And any unions between man and dragon always produced dragons. Always.
To Kenshin's great irritation, "pack hunting" the young dragons really meant "raiding". Kenshin hadn't minded taking things from the camp of the men he had killed for kidnapping Kaoru back in the wilderness, because they were dead and could no longer use the supplies. It was very different than actually running down people to take what they had.
In a short flash of temper, he stomped down the youngster's ideas and they went animal hunting instead. They were sullen for a while, perhaps even sorry the had invited the legendary Kenshin along, but perked up once they were swapping stories and roasting meat over a small campfire that evening. It was here that Kenshin really learned the details of Saburo's defeat, but he found himself caring less for the fighting than he ever had before.
That they had won and could keep their homes, and that was good. But...
Kaoru.
The next morning they were about to circle around back to where their camp lay when they came upon a dragon hunter and three skinners.
They saw the body of a white-furred drake in Purest Form, eyes closed forever as the Enemies cut into his hide…and Kenshin felt the familiar, powerful anger creep into his soul. His sister had died in the form of a woman, but had she been Pure, would men such as these have tried to take her pelt too, tried to cut away the crystallized skin around her joints that marked her as a half-breed? His anger grew until there was no room in his mind for anything else.
Dimly he heard the voices of his hunting party, heard their own anger, and then, as one, they raced toward the hunters. The skinners threw down their knives and went for their rifles, but they were far too slow. In seconds, the four men were dead. It took a long time to dig a grave large enough to bury the nameless dragon, and then find enough stones to pile on top so that wild animals would leave him be, but they didn't stop until it was done.
These events were still fresh in their minds when the next afternoon they saw the stagecoach far in the distance. A couple of the young drakes were eager to get back to their camp and suggested they let the coach go in peace, but the others overruled them, still fueled by the terrible death of one of their own.
One young face with hate-filled looked to Kenshin. "Brother Kenshin, you're the eldest among us, but this time, I'm going no matter what you say!"
With this, the youngster kicked his horse's flanks and was racing toward the stage, his friends right at his heels.
Kenshin sighed deeply and urged his horse into a run. The dragon boys really needed to get back to the hills where their hate couldn't overcome them and there were no temptations such as this, but for now, he had to hurry, in case there were women and children on the stage.
The three passengers exchanged frantic looks as fearsome roars seemed to make the very land shake. One of the men stuck his head out the window, his face turning chalk white as he saw almost a dozen riders coming in on them. Some with horns, a few standing up in the stirrups with wings outstretched. Horrifying, unexpected sights.
"Dragons!" he shrieked, and slid to the floor, his arms over his head. The second man was a priest and with a deep gulp he quietly began to pray for the hour of their death.
The coached rocked violently from side to side as the driver whipped the horses, cursing them for more speed. The sharp crack of a rifle sounded overhead as the stage guard began to fire at the dragons riding down on them.
Kaoru knew a moment of gut-wrenching fear as the warriors surrounded the coach. She heard the driver cry out in pain, heard the guard shout an oath, and then felt the team draw to a halt.
The man huddled on the floor began to babble, "We're going to be killed, we're going to be killed," as the door was jerked open and a few faces with sharp teeth bared peered into the coach.
Kaoru heard the priest asking his deity for forgiveness as she was grabbed by the hair and dragged off her seat.
Moments later, she stood between the other two passengers, her eyes wide with fright as she waited to be killed. She recognized none of these boys, only knew the slant of revenge on their faces. There would be no explaining away the fact that she was a New Person, and it was New People they were hating right now. Time slowed and seemed to almost stop and she saw everything clearly. They sky was a bright, hard blue, the earth was reddish-brown. She could hear the man on her left sobbing helplessly; the priest stood quietly, resigned to his fate. She saw two of the young drakes cutting the team from the traces while two others searched through the baggage on top of the coach, tossing the items they fancied to the ground in a jumbled pile of bright cloth.
Too soon, the drakes had taken everything they deemed to be of value, and Kaoru knew death was only a moment away.
She heard someone else coming at a fast walk, but she didn't look up. She closed her eyes, feeling suddenly calmer. Maybe this was what she had really needed all along. In eternity, maybe she would find her Wild Boy again…
Time lost its meaning as she waited. Gradually, she began to understand the voices around her again. Voices, arguing. And she heard his voice, a voice she hadn't thought to hear again on this side of life. Hardly daring to hope, yet wanting desperately to believe, she opened her eyes and saw Kenshin walking toward her. She tried to speak his name, but the world, very suddenly and very thoroughly went away.
"Kaoru. Kaoru, beloved…" His voice, calling her name. But it couldn't be his voice because he was dead.
Slowly, carefully, she opened her eyes. He was bending over her, beautiful plum eyes filled with anxiety.
"You're here," she said, her voice filled with wonder. "What happened? Where am I?"
"You fainted, and you're here, in my arms, where you belong."
Without any warning, she began to blubber, pressing her face into the wolfskin shirt he was wearing. "Kenshin…Kenshin…I th-thought you were dead. I was so sure. I searched all in my heart, but I couldn't feel you there…only a dark place…Kenshin--"
He gathered her close, buried his face in her hair, and they both sat this way for a time until her breathing quieted. Then he gently pulled her back, shaking his head gently but a touch reprovingly.
"Where were you going?"
"I was going…home."
"Why?"
Her forehead scrunched a little in confusion.
"You…you were dead, Kenshin."
"I wasn't. I only got lost for a time. Kaoru, you should have gone back to Himura and waited for me. Why didn't you?"
"You were dead," she repeated, a little numbly. "And no one loves me there."
"No one loves you in the town of your aunt and uncle either." He smiled, but it was a sad, slightly bitter smile, directed at himself. "This is my fault. I should have told you…but I thought you knew where you should go if something happened to me. My people would have protected you in Himura, and you would have been there when I came looking for you."
She shook her head, burying her face in his chest again. "I'm…I'm an idiot," she blurted, unable to face him. "You're right--I should have. Even Master Hiko said so…but I…I just wanted to run. I had nowhere to go, but I wanted to run. I probably wouldn't have stopped at Aunt Urei and Uncle Shiji's…might have kept running until I…until I gave out."
"Hush," he whispered to her, rocking a little. "Hush, now. There's no need to run. I'm here. I'm here now. But next time, next time, my love, wait for me. Wait for me in our home. Nothing will ever stop me, not darkness or death. Just please, don't give up on me again. Don't run. Don't go anywhere where I can't find you."
After a time of clinging to each other, Kaoru raised her head a little to peer over his shoulder. "Where are the others?"
"They've gone home."
"Did they…?"
"No. The men who were with you are walking back the way they came."
"You kept them from killing them."
"Yes." He smiled slightly. "It was a little difficult to convince them, but try not to think too badly of them. They were all adolescents, and they've been greatly hurt all these years of their lives. Its hard not to want some kind of revenge when the opportunity presents itself. Do you feel well enough to travel?"
"Yes!" She beamed at him with her tear-stained face. "I think I could fly."
He chuckled, rising to his feet and drawing her up after him. "Let's go."
She didn't ask where, and she didn't care. It was enough that he was alive, and they were together again. He lifted her to the back of his horse, a big gray stallion, swung up behind her, and his arms slid around her waist to draw her close.
Kaoru settled back against his chest thrilling in the warmth of him, relishing the kiss of wind against her face as they raced across the sun-bleached grassland. Kenshin's arm was like steel band, holding her tight. She felt his lips against the back of her head, nuzzling her in the way dragons do, and she smiled. Kenshin was alive…and he had found her again. She felt a little wicked as she contemplated the night ahead.
Dragons showed their most powerful emotions physically, and there was far too much dragon in Kenshin for him not to take the first opportunity to show her his relief, his love, and how much he had missed her, and she was just as eager to show him also.
He drew the horse to a halt as soon as the shadows grew long. The others were not far ahead, but he was in no hurry to catch up with them. They needed to be alone.
She shivered with anticipation as he lifted her from the horse, a little half-growl, half purr noise was low in his throat as he pulled her close to him. Kaoru gazed at him, her eyes shining. His nearness left her breathless, and then he was kissing her, his mouth hungry. They sank to the ground, their hands and lips more eloquent than words as they told each other all that needed to be said.
They caught up with the others the following afternoon, and two days later, they came back to the little place where the small group of drake people camped.
It had dwindled quite a bit as warriors had healed up from the battle and made their way back to their homes in the higher lands. Fewer than twenty tents were still up, the last few families waiting for their hunting packs to return.
Kenshin drew rein before Sumi's tent, and helped Kaoru to the ground. Taking her by the hand, he led her inside, where Sumi was kneeling by the firepit, her son asleep in her arms.
"Kaoru, this is Sumi. Sumi, this is my wife, Kaoru."
The two women exchanged curious glances. But then, as Kenshin's gazed moved from the face of one woman to the other, he saw a shadow of jealously crawl over Sumi's face, and a thin smile move over Kaoru's. He began to sweat. He would have to be dead not to sense the animosity between them, and he realized, entirely too late, that he had made a grave mistake bringing Kaoru to Sumi's tent.
Master's right, I am an idiot! He squirmed a little in the long silence, wondering what he could do to fix this. What else could he have done, exactly? He didn't have lodgings of his own to shelter himself or Kaoru, and it would take several days to make one. It had seemed logical to bring her back to the place where he had been taking shelter these past weeks.
He swallowed hard and said, "Maybe we should find other lodgings."
"No," Sumi said quickly. "You're welcome here." She spared a glance at Kaoru. "Both of you."
Kenshin groaned inwardly through the smile plastered over his face. He was trapped now. It would have been extremely rude to decline her invitation of hospitality, and he could not be rude to her. Not after all she had done to help Mareo get him well again. He was going to have to manage a place of his own, very, very soon.
Life in Sumi's tent was strained, to say the least. Kaoru felt ill at ease living in another woman's property, ill at ease and in the way. Sumi refused to let her help with the chores, insisting she was a guest, yet making her feel like she wasn't a guest at all, but an unwelcome intruder.
And she didn't miss the way Sumi's eyes lingered on Kenshin's face, the many excuses she found to touch him. She praised his hunting skills when he brought in his kills to feed them, listened with rapt attention whenever he spoke, jumped to see to his every wish. But worst of all was the fact that Kaoru never got to see him alone. It was Sumi's tent, and she was always there.
Things came to a head one night. The camp was now of fifteen tents, mostly those who were undecided where they wished to go, back to the mountains or the hills, and it was Kenshin's decision to make certain all were safely on their way before he decided where he might go himself. The males had returned from a successful hunt that would provide a lot of meat for the journey. More than they needed, in fact, which was why they decided to have a feast to celebrate.
Kaoru was fascinated by the singing and dancing that went far into the night. As always, first there was the warrior's dance, and Kenshin had to be pulled along into it by the other warriors for the short move around the fire. Then came time for the social dancing. Some dances were for mates only, and some were for maidens and unmarried warriors.
Kenshin offered to teach Kaoru some of the dance steps, but she declined with a grin. Dragon dancing was so wild and fast, and she thought she might enjoy teaching Kenshin a slower sort of waltz from her own world when she got a chance.
She was about to offer him something to eat when Sumi appeared, tapping him on the shoulder. "Kenshin-san? A word with you? Please?"
Kenshin blinked at the other woman, then looked at Kaoru and shrugged. "I'll be right back, my love," he said.
For a moment, Kaoru sat where she was and watched as her husband walked away with another woman. A beautiful woman. A woman who made no secret of the fact that she found Kenshin desirable. A stab of jealousy shot through her. They looked well together, Kenshin and Sumi, as they walked, with the firelight throwing shadows across their skin and highlighting their starkly different hair. Sumi spoke to Kenshin and he laughed softly. He was handsome, Kenshin. So handsome. And the dragon woman with the white, opaque horns was very beautiful.
But it was when Sumi took hold of his arm and led him into the shadows that rage flashed through Kaoru. Almost before she realized what she doing, she got up and followed them, her footsteps both fast and feather-light as she hurried after them. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw Kenshin and Sumi silhouetted in the darkness.
"I could make you a good wife," Sumi was saying, her voice low and soft, like silk ruffled by a summer breeze. "I know we would be good together."
Kenshin started to speak, but Sumi placed a hand over his mouth. "I would not mind being a second wife," she assured him as she placed her free hand on his chest. "I could give you pups as well. Many pups. Dragon pups. Your blood will help your sister's kind live on."
Kaoru's entire body quivered with rage, her heart shattering within her, and then she stepped out of the shadows.
"You can be his first wife," she said in a voice of frost. "I'm going back to my own people."
She didn't wait to see what effect her words had on Kenshin. Turning on her heel, she fled into the sheltering darkness, her eyes burning with tears, her heart churning with pain and despair.
She ran through the night with no destination in mind, knowing only that she had to get as far away from Sumi and Kenshin as possible. She ran until she was breathless, her lungs filled with fire as hot as any dragon's, her legs like rubber, and then she sank down on the ground, her hand pressed to her side.
She had thought herself a woman grown, capable of handling her emotions, until she met Sumi. The dragon woman was stunning, mature, serene. She shared a common background with Kenshin, was one of his sister's people, understood him in ways Kaoru never would. She had often heard them reminiscing about the past, recalling people and places Kaoru had never heard of. They had the same heritage, the same customs and belief. They were the same kind, drake people.
She heard nothing to indicate he had followed her. One minute she was alone, and the next he was kneeling beside her.
"Kaoru--"
"Go away."
"Let me explain."
"There's nothing to explain."
"No?"
"No. Sumi loves you and you obviously care for her." Kaoru shrugged. "I hope you'll be very happy together."
Kenshin made a wordless sound of frustration. "Kaoru, you speak foolishness."
"Do I? I heard what she said. She practically begged you to marry her."
"But I didn't accept."
"Why not?" Kaoru flung the words at him, wishing she could hurt him as she had been hurt. "She's crazy about you. I saw the way she looked at you tonight. The way she looks at you every night. I've seen how she caters to your every wish, how she smiles at you. Oh, just go to her and leave me alone!"
"Kaoru, look at me."
"No."
He didn't ask again. Instead, he cupped her chin in the palm of his hand and gently forced her to face him. "You have no reason to be jealous of Sumi."
"I'm not jealous," she retorted, but she was lying and they both knew it.
"If I tell you there's no reason for your jealousy, will you not believe me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because she's so beautiful. And because she's drake and Wild, like you. You have so much more in common with her than with me…" Suddenly, all her fears and unhappiness erupted in a flood of tears. "Oh, Kenshin," she sobbed. "I'm so afraid of losing you again."
"Don't be afraid, Kaoru. You have nothing to fear."
"I can't help it. Tell me the truth. Wouldn't you rather have a dragon for a wife, for the mother of your children?" She lowered her eyes to the ground. "She said she would give you pups. Dragon pups. You've fought so hard for the dragons, and you could help bring more of them into the world."
Kenshin stroked her hair, then again lifted her chin, his eyes meeting hers, holding her gaze captive. "I want only you, Kaoru," he said, slowly and clearly. "Only you."
"Truly?"
"Truly." Softly, gently, he kissed her, and the passion between them bloomed like flowers in the spring, and Kaoru felt very suddenly starved for his affection, grasping onto it hungrily.
"Kaoru," he chided gently. "We have all night."
"I can't wait," she answered shamelessly. "Don't make me wait. It's been so long."
Kenshin grinned into the darkness as her hands crept over his body, exploring all over again. "You won't have to wait long," he promised. "It's been just as long for me."
Later, as she curled against him in the enclosing darkness she heard him whisper, "You're my woman, my Kaoru." His arms tightened possessively. "The only woman. There will never be another, not in this life. You are more than plenty."
Kaoru's cheeks burned as they entered Sumi's tent the following morning, but she didn't look away. Instead, she held her head high and met the woman's curious gaze in what she hoped was a look of mature self-assurance.
Entering the lodge behind her, Kenshin put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
"It's time we had our own lodgings," he told Sumi. He grinned cheerfully. "Winter is coming, and we can't spend all our nights in the woods."
Sumi nodded stiffly. "I understand."
"I'll continue to provide you with meat," he promised. "And protection." A dragon Sumi was, but she was no fighter.
"I am grateful."
Kaoru was smiling when they left Sumi's place. At last, she would have Kenshin all to herself. His attempts to teach her to cook better were only marginally successful, but she would do her best, and she'd definitely care for him and spoil him in ways Sumi had never thought of.
Kenshin spent the rest of the day borrowing hides from the remainder of the Wild People still lingering on the camp. It took twenty hides to make a collapsible, portable tent, and when they had what was required, Sumi showed Kaoru how to sew them together. Other women came to help, shooing Kenshin away from the unmanly task, laughing and talking as they sat in a large circle. Kaoru was glad for their help. Sewing twenty hides together would have taken her several days to accomplish.
Chased away from the piecing, Kenshin instead spent most of the day searching for wood for the tent poles and then stripping away branches and bark. With so much help come to them, their own lodgings were finished by nightfall.
Kaoru was spreading out the wolf hide robes she and Kenshin usually slept on when he ducked under the flap, his eyes lighting when they came to rest on his wife's face.
Kaoru smiled and held out her hands to him. "Welcome home."
Kenshin walked into her arms, nuzzled her hair for a moment in that dragonish way before lowering his face again for a kiss.
Summer was fleeing when the last of the camp decided they wanted to return to Old Home, Sumi included. Kenshin would escort them back to the Shining Mountains, show them the pathways inside, then go with Kaoru back to Himura, correctly assuming that she would probably prefer to live in the sunshine.
He had reason to be worried. Two days before the camp decided to pack up and leave, a Wild Boy had ridden across their camp with news of similar camps as Kenshin's had been butchered or scattered by soldiers who wouldn't leave Saburo's death unavenged. The Wild Boy only stayed long enough to eat and trade his weary mount for a fresh horse before riding off to warn others. It was past time to get to higher ground.
Just as their trek began, Kenshin began to suspect his wife was pregnant, and then when she began to become ill every morning, he was certain of it.
To his amusement, he had to explain to her what was happening, and then caught her when she shrieked happily and threw herself into his arms. His own joy spilled over as hers poured into him, exultation such as he never knew he could feel.
He was going to be a father!
But as the days passed, her nausea showed no signs of decreasing. The constant walking helped only some, but he could see she was getting discouraged, and even he wondered if she was doomed to spend her pregnancy vomiting every time she smelled roasting meat or saw a slice of raw venison.
It was hard for him to sit by and watch her retching uncontrollably and know there was nothing he could do to ease her discomfort. The fact that she never complained only made it harder for him to bear. His sister never complained either, never showed when she was hurting or needed help, and it had driven him crazy.
He curtailed his activities with the other men, which had never been all that much anyway, to stay by her side, telling her often that he loved her, that she was beautiful, because it seemed like these would be good things to say to her when she was feeling so bad. He helped her with the chores, even though it was considered highly unmanly for a warrior to gather wood or draw water from the river. He told her stories of his people, hoping to take her mind from the queasiness that plagued her.
It was on a cool morning just as they were touching the foothills of the Shining Mountains when he took her away from the camp, hoping a change of scenery and a few hours away from the ever-present smell of roasting meat would help her to feel better. They walked deep into the forest until they reached a small crystal pool, and there, in a clearing beneath a sun-dappled willow, he held her close his hand lightly stoking her hair, lips trailing butterfly kisses on her face.
She sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder. It was pretty in the forest. The trees were changing into brilliants oranges and reds, the grass was soft, the air was sweet and clean. The camp, with all of its confusion and smells, seemed far away.
She glanced up, her eyes lingering on his face. "You're wonderful, Kenshin," she murmured. "You're the most thoughtful person I've ever known. How could anyone think of you as a savage?"
He only shrugged and then leaned his head forward lightly to kiss her. His mouth was soft on hers, demanding nothing in return, only wanting to give her pleasure, to reassure her of his love. Her hand delved inside his shirt to lie against his chest, over his heart, which he had long ago noticed was one of her favorite places on him to touch. Then her palm began to slide down and up again, stroking his chest and abdomen.
"Kaoru, do you know what you're doing?" he murmured, arms tightening around her.
"Oh, yes," she replied. "Do you mind?"
"Should we?"
She laughed quietly, raising an eyebrow at the troubled expression on his face. "Don't you want to?"
"That's a foolish question, and you know it," Kenshin said. "But I don't want to hurt you or the pup."
"It'll be all right," she assured him and, obviously not in any mood to hear his protests, began to undress him.
Soon they were lying side by side in the soft grass. Kenshin nuzzled his favorite places in her hair and on her neck a few moments before he looked down on her with a thoughtful expression. Then he moved on top of her, and, with a quick, smooth movement, rolled over and carried her with him so that she was on top of him instead.
He grinned at her startled expression, laughing softly. "I don't want to hurt the pup," he explained, then sucked in his breath when she leaned forward to mimic his dragonlike affections by rubbing her nose and cheeks around the ticklish spots beneath his chin.
"I appreciate your concern," she whispered in his ear.
"Any time," he said huskily.
Kaoru frowned in her sleep, the sound of gunfire and angry roars intruding her dreams and bringing her to quick awareness. She sat up, her eyes darting about until she saw Kenshin standing behind her, his face a mask of fearful anger.
"What is it?" she cried, scrambling to her feet.
"Soldiers," he hissed, voice ragged with rage. "They found the camp." He fixed her with a hard stare. "Stay here. Don't move from this place until I return."
It was a stupid question, but it flew out of her mouth anyway. "Where are you going?"
"To fight."
She took a deep breath. "What if the soldiers come here?"
"They won't harm you. You're one of them."
For some reason, the words cut across her heart like a knife. It was the full truth, and yet it was a tactless thing to say. Kenshin was close to completely becoming that driven thing Mareo had spoke of back in Himura. But though she was afraid, Kaoru's mind was clear. The soldiers might find her here, and she had been living with people whose predominant occupations were as hunters and warriors. She had heard the campfire tales, the warnings that those who had just engaged in a life or death struggle would often do things they regretted later, acts of violence they would be deeply ashamed of when their blood cooled and sanity returned. If she was found here, alone and unprotected, they might not look twice to see if she was one of them or not, and even if they could see that she was, then it was as likely as not they still would…
She saw the turmoil written on Kenshin's face, miserably uncertain of how to both see to his wife's safety and to go to the aid of his people.
Then there was a quick burst of rifle fire, and then an ominous stillness settled over the land.
A noise, a strangled noise between a snarl and a growl burst from Kenshin. He didn't look at Kaoru. Pain and rage were all over his face. "The roars are silenced. I've got to go to the camp. Wait here."
She nodded and sat down to wait, silent tears tracking down her cheeks.
Occasional sounds drifted her way. At first they were bursts of obscene laughter, sometimes the sound of a single gunshot, an animal's (or was it a dragon's?) squeal of pain, a woman's frightened scream.
The people she had worked with and laughed with were dying there, brutally slain because of what they were. Because they refused to surrender to the will of the New People. Because they killed a hero of the New People, Saburo.
The sounds began to change. The frightened shouts were now all those of men, and distantly, she heard Kenshin's voice, his enraged cries. Gunshots rang out anew, but still she heard them dying as the angry Brother of Dragons took his revenge on them.
What could she do? Why? Why did it have to be this way? Why couldn't both of their peoples just let each other live in peace? Why couldn't they even live together? Why couldn't the New People have just stayed in their old country and left the drake people alone?
Kaoru buried her face in her hands, tears falling unchecked. Why couldn't everyone just leave her and Kenshin alone? Why was it every time they fell and then caught each other, something like this had to happen? Why was it that every time they had just begun to feel happy, to greet the future with open hearts, the world seemed to lash back at them, tearing everything they tried to built together asunder? Why?
There was no one to answer her.
The hours dragged by. As if ashamed of the people it warmed every day, the sun hid its face behind the mountains, and a keening wind blew through he trees, rustling leaves and stirring dust. The shadows grew long. Kaoru didn't move. Kenshin said not to leave her spot, so she stayed, waiting.
Then she saw him walking toward her, leading two horses and a pack mule heavily laden with hide robes and parfleches.
She got to her feet, her eyes searching for his. But his hair shadowed his eyes again. He was shutting things out again.
"The soldiers are dead," he said, voice hard and flat. "All of them. Mareo is alive, but was wounded. She hid with several of the pups. I took them into the mountain and left them with the sentries there. They'll be fine."
It was a desperate relief to hear that the old kind old dragon woman and a few pups had lived, but…
"Sumi?"
He shook his head.
"I'm sorry," Kaoru said inadequately. "So sorry."
He nodded, then reached for her and lifted her onto the back of one of the horses. "We can't go into the mountain," he said, biting off the reason why, though Kaoru felt an ugly tear on her heart as she thought she could guess any reasons, all of them having to do with her. "We have to find a safe place to stay where you can give birth to our pup."
He swung aboard his own horse and took up the reins of the pack mule and headed south. Kaoru's hands shook as she handled her own reins. They weren't heading in the direction where Himura lay.