Author Notes: Unfortunately, this small continuation is cheesy. It's so sappy that your teeth might hurt after reading it. For the past couple of years I had been trying to stay away from the heavy handed romance, but alas, Lifetime-esque dialogue and plots are just too much fun. So wade through the fluff and hopefully you'll make it out to the other side. Just remember, this is still only a two-shot. I can't imagine pushing this story further.

Disclaimer: The Rurouni Kenshin world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

Raised to Protect

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Packing up her supplies, Megumi glanced at the worn out Kaoru. The young woman had kept a cautious watch of her charge since the incident three days ago. As the royal physician, Megumi had no idea how Kaoru was still awake and lucid. "You need to get some sleep."

From her position on the leather chair next to the bed, Kaoru shook her head. "Can't."

"Both Sano and Aoshi volunteered to take your place for while."

She straightened herself up a bit. "This is my fault."

Megumi let out an exasperated huff. This girl was proving to be more difficult than she remembered. During one of her many visits to the soldiers' quarters to attend to whatever limb Sano had busted up, she had run into 'Kaoru' multiple times. She had always wondered how a boy so short could be a soldier in the royal guard, but she never brought it up -the king was equally as short after all.

Taking out a bottle from her bag, she set it on the nightstand next to the girl. "Put this in you tea later. It'll keep you from collapsing later."

Kaoru gratefully nodded but continued to watch the bed. There was obviously nothing that was going to grab the vigilant soldier's attention away. Megumi left out the chamber doors, she would check on the two occupants the next morning.

Kaoru was angry at the figure lying on the bed. His blood red hair was haphazardly strewn across the plethora of pillows. The covers were pulled up past his chest, but the bandages that wrapped his right shoulder peeked through. She continued to glare. She should have been the one laying there, not him.

It had been three long days since she'd seen his sly looks and heard his lascivious comments. She would never admit it out loud, but she kind of missed it. Gone were the cumbersome dresses that she had walked around in since being put on security detail. She was back in the soldier's uniform that she had spent most of her life in. It was comfortable and increased her mobility by twenty fold, but it also felt weird being dressed as a man in front of him after two months as the woman he was courting.

The candle flickered from its place on the nightstand. The shadows danced across his cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. She sighed. "You probably got that by pulling a similar stupid stunt like you did at the masquerade. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"The king?" His voice was barely audible and swept over her as a soft whisper.

Eyes widening, she leapt off her seat and loomed over his form. "Your highness!"

A small smile graced his features; her loud voice did nothing to hide her worry. Slowly blinking his eyes open, he mentally relaxed. Aside from her unkempt hair, she was visibly unscathed. "Don't call me that."

A relieved look crossed her face. Hearing the hoarseness in his voice, she poured water into a goblet. Using her free arm, she raised his form a bit for him to drink.

He took a few precarious sips. "It's a little hard to drink. Maybe you should pass the water from your lips."

Kaoru frowned and allowed him to fall back onto the pillows with a thump. She even went as far as to hit him upside the head. "Idiot."

She had been stupid to worry. There was no killing this man. Pulling away, she went to sit back on the chair. He lightly tugged her to him. Glancing at his weakened hand on her forearm she raised a brow. With the look on his face, she folded. Circling the large bed, she situated herself on the empty side.

Sitting with the headboard against her back she narrowed her eyes at her only living monarch. "I'm furious."

"That's a risk I was willing to take."

"That arrow wasn't meant for you." She tugged on a lone lock of his hair for good measure. "You didn't let me do my job."

"What good is a king that can't protect his future queen?" There was humor in his voice, but she knew that he was serious about his words.

But she wouldn't let him sweet talk his way out of this one. "And what's a kingdom without a king? You have no heirs. The title would go to your third cousin -and he hasn't been to these lands in fifteen years."

"I wouldn't have died."

She pinched him on his good shoulder. "I wouldn't have died either. You should have let the arrow hit me instead."

"This whole security thing is a just a way for me to have you by my side."

"Yeah, and that's why someone tried to kill your potential wife? They were trying get to you through your 'weakness.' They were hoping for you to jump in front of the woman you're supposedly in love with." She rolled her eyes. "What's the whole point of pretending to court me if you're going to act irrationally? Always remember. The king comes first."

He frowned at her comment and peered up at her. "And who would I be if I let you get hit?"

She grumbled at the stubborn king. "And what kind of personal guard am I that I had my charge protect me?"

"I'm not your charge." His eyes were as pointed as his words.

"There's only so far you can take that joke. You were nearly dead for two days and out of it for three." Leaning back, she slid down the headboard to lie next to him. She didn't spare him a glance at her next statement. "Aoshi is taking me off as your guard. You'll have your replacement by tomorrow afternoon."

His eyes widened at her words. His right hand gripped her left one that lay in between them. "He can't do that."

"He can and he did." She squeezed back into his hand. "I didn't fight him on the issue. I think it's for the best. Sano will make a great guard for you."

"Look, I don't doubt that. He's already played that role more than once. But I'm not allowing this. The woman that was nearly the queen can't just suddenly disappear."

Kaoru shrugged. "We're passing along the story that the assassination attempt affected my delicate nerves too much and I went back to my native lands."

"You're leaving?"

"I'll be going on campaign with the cavalier unit."

"With men?"

She laughed. "Of course. There'll be at least seventy of us going westward. And I want you to be alive when I get back."

"You can't go."

"Hopefully people will forget that I ever existed by the time I get back. Then, I'll be a soldier again." Her voice only barely betrayed its forlorn tone.

"What about me?"

Kaoru glanced at her king and smiled. There was an expression on his face that she had never seen. He looked like a child that lost his favorite toy -but that was going to be easily remedied with shiny new one. "On the trip back from the campaign, we're picking up and escorting your betrothed."

At her words, he suddenly tried to sit up. As his wound pulled, he winced and fell back. His hand on hers tightened. An uncompromising stare pierced at her. "What betrothed?"

"From what I hear, she's the perfect woman. She has a title. She's trained in all the arts and speaks a large handful of the classic languages. She's also beautiful." She laughed nervously as his eyes remained unwavering. "I've also heard that it's been understood since the two of you were children that you would eventually marry."

"I'm not marrying Tomoe."

At the mention of the name she sighed. Of course he would know who she was talking about. It had been planned for years. Kaoru was painfully unaware of her king's intended queen because she had spent her life training to be a soldier. She had never attended court and she had never shown interest. The highest ranked of the royal guards were expected to show their face in court. Being that the daughters of knights didn't have titles themselves, they were usually married to the men who were likely to be knighted. Wanting to fly under the radar and avoid any overzealous knight's daughters at court, Kaoru had never attended.

But that had changed that faithful day when she received an order from Aoshi to go to the throne room. She had encountered the stoic captain and the king. She had never directly met the man -she had no reason to. He had smiled at her and walked directly up to her. He made a comment about her disguise, then handed her a sealed letter. The weight of the parchment had been heavy in her hands. The red wax emblazoned with the king's crest burned her hand with promise. It felt heavy, yet light, like a cloud full of rain. She was being executed or courted -either way, her king held her destiny in his hands.

"I'm not marrying her." When she didn't give a response, he pushed on. "What were these past two months for you? Just a job?"

She shook her head. It had stopped being just a job by the end of the first week. He had persistently said that he was courting her, but she had brushed it off. She took it as a joke and that he was having a bit of fun with her reactions. But it had all changed when she rode a carriage with him and he had extended his hand to help her out. Her heart had skipped a beat. It had been the first time someone had treated her like a woman and not a soldier. She was all about her independence, but the offered hand elicited new emotions within her.

His hand still within hers, she slid down the headboard and lied down. Facing the ceiling she thought over the past two months, and then to the masquerade. She had advised strongly against an event where everyone was masked, but he had said it was a century old tradition and he couldn't cancel nor not attend.

The night had gone on without incident. It had rolled around to the final dance. As he was her suitor and he was the king, they were expected to dance. That's when the fairytale evening had crashed to a halt. A purposeful arrow shot through the crowd at her back. But before she had a chance to react, he had skillfully spun her around and taken the arrow for himself. Panic ensued. It had been touch and go for the first two days. He was finally awake and nothing would be the same again.

"You ruined everything when you took the arrow." She sighed. "I'm obviously not good enough to keep you from being attacked."

"It had nothing to with your skills." Tilting his head he looked at her. "I didn't protect you to marry someone else. I did it so you could spend the rest of your life with me."

Kaoru let out a desperate laugh. "I'm a soldier in the royal guard. I was trained to protect the monarchy. I'm not like the other women at court."

"Good." His thumb traced comforting circles on the back of her hand. "Then protect me by my side. Trust me, that won't be the first attempt on my life."

"You'll eventually marry." Her heart broke a bit at her own words.

"I know." He paused. He needed for her to look at her. Feeling his eyes on her, she turned her head to gaze into his amber eyes. "So marry me."

"Kenshin..." Her voice pled.

"You finally said it." He smiled. "You hadn't said my name since I woke up."

A tear slipped out. "You're making everything difficult. Do you know how many people will throw a fit if I married you?"

"Forget everyone else." His voice was steady, but husky. "Marry me. Not because I need you to protect me. Not because your king is asking you to. Marry me as Kenshin. A man in love with a woman"

She mulled over his words. There had always been a certain playfulness lining his tone -that was missing now. Her life had been thrown into a tailspin. Kaoru had assumed that she would go through her time as a soldier and possibly die on the battle field. She had already discussed with Aoshi and Sano about her remains. No one would have ever found out she was a woman. She would get the standard soldier's funeral. Or she would have served for the allotted time and retire. Either way, she had been prepared to give her life to the royal guards.

She was raised by Okina to fling her life in front of any impending doom the royal family faced. Being as the royal family was left to a lonely redhead with a brave face, she was willing to die for his amber eyes. What she hadn't expected was to want to die for the man, and not just for the king.

Smiling at the anticipatory gaze, she knew her answer. She knew it the moment he handed her the proposal for courtship letter two months ago. "I have to warn you. I hate ball gowns, pick off of people's plates, and hog the covers."

He grinned at her answer. "Perfect."

Taking a steadying breath she nodded. "Then yes."

"You won't regret it." His voice was progressively getting weaker.

"I'm not holding you to it Kenshin." Settling back, she let her eyes slip close. Her hands squeezed his reassuringly. "You can ask me again tomorrow. That way, I know you weren't just delirious from your wounds."

Kenshin nodded slowly and allowed the fuzzy edges of his mind blanket over. He wasn't exactly sure how he could still be sleepy after three days of being unconscious. But he looked forward to tomorrow. Either his life with Kaoru was starting, or he would spend an entertaining few weeks convincing her she had said yes. He looked forward to either outcome.