Summary: Drabbles from the Love, Lies n Empire universe. All characters. Situations and events referred to in the main story. Read n Review.
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro. If it were mine….ah well.
Rating: T
Drabble 1: Aoshi's thoughts on Hiko Seijuro. Not Yaoi.
Annals of Empire
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Drabble 1: Facing the Dragon
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Kutoe
His heart pounded inside his chest. Every beat of his heart reverberated with a boom inside his ears. His palms were moist and he felt hot. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so rattled and nervous and so child-like. He couldn't help it, he always felt like he was still 5-years-old each time he met him. Aoshi licked his lips before hesitantly biting them. He had been admitted to the emperor's chambers over five minutes ago but he had not yet found the courage to open the door beyond which Hiko Seijuro sat waiting for him.
He frowned. You have no reason to be so uneasy. He is your emperor and more importantly, your uncle. The man who raised you….well, sort of. You have absolutely no call for being so shaken.
Taking a deep breath, Aoshi pushed the doors open and stepped forward. Once inside, he turned around and calmly shut them once more. The hand carved deep mahogany depicted two dragons in flight, soaring high above fields, mountains and rivers, close to the sun. The dragons varied in size, the larger one seemed to be directing the smaller and presumably younger one higher and higher still. The tilt of the dragon's face as it looked upon its charge was at once terrifying and benevolent. Aoshi gazed upon both dragons and bent his head silently in respect. The dragon was the guardian spirit of Kutoe and also a symbol of its emperor, Hiko Seijuro XIII.
"If you're done admiring the woodwork perhaps you could turn around and let me have a look at you." Hiko's rich and sonorous voice cut across the room. Aoshi turned with a start. He straightened his shoulders and faced Hiko with what he believed was a confident and collected face. His face was a cultivated mask, a mask that betrayed no emotion. He alone knew the effort it cost him. Unbidden, a childhood memory of Hiko floated across his mind even as the emperor began to speak…
They had been playing hide-and-seek in the abandoned sunken garden of the palace. They chose this spot precisely because no grown-ups would be coming there to disturb them and take them away for lessons. As games went, it was turning out to be a good one till Sano complained of always being the first to seek. A quarrel, several rollicking punches and a compromise later, Sano was still seeker, but the game had turned. They played a prank on him and left. He remembered how petrified he had been. Kenshin and Sano had left him inside the maze in the sunken garden. He had sat there, lost somewhere, inside that labyrinth of hedges, bridges and ponds, every path that seemed to lead him out only served to lock him deeper and deeper inside the maze. He had sat, hugging his knees to himself, terrified. Every rustle of the leaves brought on by the gusts of the wind seemed like a hag howling in the distance. Stories of a ghostly pale lady who walked the palace grounds looking for naughty young boys to eat began to take hold of his mind. The stone he sat on was cold; the wind was chilly and nipped at his cheeks and chin. Its cold fingers dug inside his gi and tightened around his throat and chest. The darkness seemed evil and fearful to him. He missed his cousin and his friend, he cried for them, despite his courage. It was too dark, and he was alone.
He had been crying almost for an hour when he felt strong arms lift him and hold him to a warm and broad chest. He had turned his face up to look into the kind eyes of his uncle, Hiko Seijuro. Aoshi clung to him, tangling his tiny fists in Hiko's silky black hair, sobbing uncontrollably. Hiko chuckled warmly, "hush Aoshi. It's alright. I am here now, little one. Nothing will harm you, I am here."
Aoshi looked at him with tear-stained eyes, blinking, imploring him to keep him safe. "Hai Hiko-sama, you are here." Having said this, the child wrapped his arms around his protector's neck once more and smiled. He was found.
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Author's Notes
These drabbles or one-shots are short bits of stories and memories of the characters of Love, Lies and Empire. I hope you like them. Please read and review!
Onegai!