How the Past can Change

By: Bunny

A Rurouni Kenshin alternate reality/what if Kenshin and Kaoru romance.

Disclaimer: The RK characters do NOT belong to me.

Warning: This story drastically alters the RK storyline, so beware of changes. There may at times be OOC and alterations of the RK story, as you know it.

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He winced, as if she had stabbed him. "I'm sorry Kaoru-dono. If you want me to, I'll leave. I…I can give you your space…some time maybe. I know I hurt you very much from all this, and I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I never wanted to hurt you. I promised myself I would never hurt you because I wanted to be better than my idiot future self, but it seems that with all my knowledge, I'm the one that was really the idiot. I never-"

Kaoru held her hand up stopping Kenshin's speech. "I don't want to talk about it anymore right now and you don't need to leave either. It would only make things worse. I will need some time though. Don't expect things to be the way they've been, Kenshin. This changes a lot of things. I feel like I barely know you, so I'm going to need to get to know you all over again, husband or not. I will…let you know when I'm ready to discuss this again," she finished.

"Ok Kaoru-dono," he agreed, just happy that she didn't send him away and that she was at least talking to him.

"Don't call me that. It's a stupid way to address your wife," she snapped before she walked past him and into her bedroom to retire for the night.

A moment later after Kaoru had slid the door closed to her room, Kenshin stepped up to the door and said, "I'm sorry…Kaoru," before he turned away and headed to his own bedroom for a long sleepless night.

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Chapter Fourty-One – You Will Pay

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The next morning, Kaoru woke with a start. Sitting up on her futon, she gasped for breath. 'Was I having some sort of nightmare?' she wondered to herself. She bent up her knees and rested her elbows on them before dropping her head to be supported in her hands. 'What was I dreaming about?' she asked herself. She recalled seeing her future self and understanding why she had those nightmares of Kenshin in the war since he had come to live with them, but "that was real, wasn't it?" she whispered to aloud. She lifted up her head and glanced around her room, looking for some sort of reassurance that it was not all her imagination, that last nights events had really taken place. "Not that I would mind, had they been fake," she grumbled as she stood up and rolled up her futon. "Kenshin no baka," she grumped.

She made her way to her chest and picked out one of her prettiest kimonos, deciding to go into town to make some purchases today. She dressed slowly and methodically, going over once again everything that had happened to her recently. Shaking her head in sadness at her situation, she held back the tears trying to escape her eyes. "That won't do you any good, Kaoru!" she told herself. Then letting out a great big sigh, she stomped her foot on the ground in utter frustration and agony. "MOU! How am I supposed to live with him now!" she exclaimed to the wall. Not getting any support or consolation from the wall, not that she was really expecting it although stranger things had happened to her in her life, she spun on her heel and made her way out of her room, ready to start her day.

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Kenshin woke early, well before the sun had come up, as was his usual routine. He dressed quickly in the cool morning air, and made his way out of his room to do his usual parameter check of the property. Sitting in the very tree he used to observe Kaoru from before he met Koshijiro, he watched the sun rise up over the mountains, kissing the tops of the trees in the forest.

"Today will be a beautiful day, that it will," he murmured to himself. "Better go and check on Kaoru before she wakes and finds no breakfast, that I should," he said to himself as he stood and jumped back to the ground.

He walked quietly towards Kaoru's room and upon reaching the outer porch, heard her yelling about how she was supposed to live with "him."

Ashamed, Kenshin quietly left the area and moved into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Just a moment later, Kaoru slid the sliding door to her room so quickly that it made a "clack" against the doorframe. "Mou!" she exclaimed again to the yard beyond the house. Huffing out her frustrations under her breath, she stomped around the porch to the kitchen and let herself in the door, though much less violently.

"Good morning, Kenshin!" she greeted, without even looking at him.

Kenshin glanced towards Kaoru when she came in and watched her kneel down at the table. She did not even look at him, he observed. 'This is all your fault!' he scolded himself. Grabbing some pickled vegetables from the counter, he placed them on the table for Kaoru to eat while he prepared the miso and eggs.

"Good morning, Kaoru," he said softly, hoping to catch her eyes.

Kaoru did not disappoint and looked up when he placed the vegetables in front of her. Immediately, he sensed her insecurities and her sadness. He tried to reassure her through the warmth in his own eyes, but she looked away just as quickly as she had looked up. Kenshin closed his eyes in sadness and tried to regroup. 'You can't hope to fix this mess you've made overnight, or with just one look!' he reminded himself.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"I slept well enough," Kaoru answered.

"Ah," Kenshin said, not sure what else to say, but thankfully Kaoru had other plans.

"I would like to go into town today to do some shopping," Kaoru informed him.

"Ah, is that why you are dressed so nicely this morning?" Kenshin asked politely.

"Un," Kaoru affirmed.

Kenshin turned around to look at her as she popped another pickled vegetable in her mouth. Noticing that he was looking in her direction, Kaoru looked up at him for the second time that day. He looked quite pitiful.

'I'm such a sucker for him,' Kaoru thought before she asked, "Would you like to come with me?"

Kenshin nearly fell over himself in surprise and delight, "yes, yes, I would love to go with you!" He gave her a beaming smile in his happiness. 'Maybe, all is not lost,' he thought.

Kaoru watched Kenshin's entire demeanor change from sadness to happiness at her simple invitation and was a bit shocked, but also comforted at his reaction. 'Can't make him think he's got it too easy,' she told herself.

"Bring your wallet, you're paying," she added saucily.

Kenshin laughed outright as he placed the hot miso and eggs down on the table for both of them and took his place across from her. "Whatever you like, Kaoru, it's yours," he answered easily.

Kaoru cracked a small smile at him. "That's good, because you're going to pay," she emphasized before taking a sip of her hot miso.

Kenshin just sat there and smiled at her for a minute, happy that she was teasing him. It was better than what he was expecting after hearing her yelling about him that morning in her room. Before he started to eat his breakfast, he reached his hand across the table to her and grasped her free hand, "anything you want Kaoru, it's yours," he said again.

Kaoru looked up at him with wide eyes and snatched her hand away. "We'll see," she replied as she gave him a suspicious look.

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An hour or so later, Kenshin found himself in the first shop Kaoru wanted to visit that day. She was wandering around the store, fingering the material of different kimonos that caught her eye. He followed her figure as she flitted around the shop, caressing some of the kimonos almost lovingly and rubbing other ones between her fingers, as if trying to test if the material was strong or not.

After about half and hour of looking through them, she finally approached him in the corner of the shop where he stood, waiting. Taking his hand she led him through the shop and finally, they stopped where there were a few kimonos she had been looking at laid out. Kaoru pointed to them, and asked, "What do you think?"

Kenshin looked at the kimonos carefully for a few minutes. There were two very nice ones that appeared to be silk, one was pink and the other was a light blue. They both had very beautiful designs in white with some sort of silvery shimmer around the edges of the designs. Next to that, were two cotton kimonos, similar to the one she was currently wearing. He grabbed the hem of one of them and rubbed the fabric as he had seen Kaoru doing and was impressed with the strength he felt in the fabric. This was a high quality fabric indeed! Kaoru would even be able to fight in such a strong fabric if necessary, which probably explained why Kaoru had been feeling the material of all the kimonos earlier. Kenshin turned to look at her, impressed with her sense in shopping. "I think they are all very well chosen," he told her.

Kaoru gave him a glare, "of course you think that!"

Kenshin frowned in confusion.

"I wanted to know which ones you thought would look the best on me!" Kaoru explained.

Kenshin looked from Kaoru back to the kimonos and then from the kimonos back to Kaoru. Kaoru began stepping closer to him, getting angrier by the second.

Kenshin stepped back and put his hands up in defense, "but Kaoru-dono I think that you should get all of them, that I should!" he told her in a bit of a panic.

"Don't call me that!" she said as she began to advance faster still towards him. "I'm no 'Miss,'" she added.

Kenshin could sense that he was quickly being backed into a corner. Something had to be done. Grabbing Kaoru around her waist, he pulled her towards him, completely closing the distance between their bodies and whispered softly into her ear, "no, you are not; forgive this unworthy one for falling into old habits."

Kaoru gasped in shock at Kenshin treating her so intimately in public. Embarrassed at the possibility of others seeing them, she stayed silent as her face flamed.

"Would you prefer for me to address you as my beloved?" Kenshin murmured over the shell of her ear. She shivered at the feel of his hot breath in such a sensitive area and was only able to barely breath out a defeated, "mou."

Kenshin chuckled at her as he released her. He walked past her up to the counter where the owner of the shop stood, gaping at the two of them openly.

"Good morning Madam, would you please package these four beautiful kimonos up for my wife?" he asked her.

Started, the woman glanced from Kenshin to Kaoru and then to the kimonos before saying, "right away, Sir," and making her way to the kimonos to gather them up to be wrapped.

Kaoru recovered from her embarrassment after noticing that thankfully the only person around was the owner of the shop. She had known the woman for years and shared many confidences with her while purchasing kimonos, and knew that she wasn't one to spread news like this around. She hesitantly made her way to the counter to collect her new purchases while Kenshin handed the woman the money to pay for them.

"When did you get married?" the woman inquired, looking directly at Kaoru.

Kaoru blushed again, as she looked at Kenshin's reaction from the corner of her eyes. He was standing there, nonchalant, not bothered in the slightest that the woman now knew that they were married.

'Well, if he can treat it so casually, then so can I!' Kaoru determined. "Hmm? You mean, when did I get married to Kenshin?" Kaoru asked the woman trying to be coy.

"Yes, my dear, I wish you had told me so I could have sent you a wedding present!" the woman exclaimed, warming up to the idea of the two in her store being husband and wife.

Kaoru shrugged, "we've been married forever."

The woman blinked at Kaoru in confusion, "whatever do you mean dear?"

Kenshin coughed a bit spasmodically and Kaoru grinned with her success at making him uncomfortable. 'That's what you get!' she thought to him in triumph.

"Oh, well, we've been officially married since I was but a little girl," Kaoru explained.

"You have!" the woman exclaimed, "Well, why didn't you ever tell me this before?"

Kaoru shrugged her shoulders again, "I suppose it just slipped my mind."

"Oh well dear, I'll send you out a special wedding package to celebrate my finding out about your marriage anyways, I'm so happy for you dear," the woman said as she shooed them out of the shop, most probably eager to get about deciding what kind of present she wanted to give them.

As soon as they exited the shop and were back on the main road, Kaoru placed all four of her packages in Kenshin's arms and said, "Well, there is still much to do! I hope you have plenty of money, Kenshin."

"Ah," Kenshin assured her as he bewilderingly followed Kaoru as she weaved her way through the others walking on the road. 'She took that rather well,' he thought.

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Three hours, and several packages later, Kenshin and Kaoru had just left the ribbon store. Kaoru had purchased quite a few new ribbons to match her new kimonos and some others to replace older ones that were beginning to fray and she was feeling quite satisfied with all the purchases she had made that day.

'I'm feeling better about this whole mess already,' Kaoru thought. She smiled at Kenshin as he did a balancing act to hold all of her goods. 'Knowing we are married certainly has its advantages,' she concluded as she took in all of the many packages Kenshin was struggling to hold. Feeling pity for him, she grabbed a few off the top to lighten his load and said, "there's nothing like shopping for new things to make you feel better, right Kenshin?"

"Ah," Kenshin said, mechanically. He knew better than to say anything else to a statement like that, such as 'my wallet sure is lighter' or 'my arms are getting tired,' or 'I'm starving, can we please eat already?'

It seemed though that Kaoru was reading his mind as she lifted a couple more of the packages from his arms into her own and smiling at him said, "let's go get some lunch at Tae's, my treat!"

"Great! I'm starving!" Kenshin said.

Kaoru smiled at him knowingly as she turned and lead the way towards the Akebeko.

Sensing trouble on the road, Kenshin paused and looked around. He observed a young boy take a wallet from and old man on the road with his grandson while the grandson was asking for some toy or other. Hearing the old man say he would buy the toy for the grandson, the young boy that had taken the wallet placed it in the hand of the grandson and walked away from them, towards where Kenshin was standing. Kenshin smiled at the young boy as he approached and said, "That was good of you to return the wallet."

"Oh yeah?" the young boy said, "Well, who asked you? You'll be next, you got that?" the kid said.

Before Kenshin could form a reply to the young boy, Kaoru had stomped back to him, noting he had stopped. Grabbing him by his ponytail and dragging him towards the restaurant said, "Kenshin, keep up with me, would you? I thought you said you were starving? Do you want me to treat you or not?"

He watched the young boy snicker at his predicament and repressed a sigh of frustration over Kaoru's poor timing. 'Another day, another time, perhaps,' he thought.

"Mou, Kenshin are you even listening to me?" Kaoru said, breaking into his thoughts.

"Ah," Kenshin answered.

"What did I say?" she asked.

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Well, that does it for chapter 41. I know it's been forever since I updated and you all probably thought I had completely dropped off the face of the planet. No, not going to get rid of me just yet. I've just been going through some stuff and have a lot of other responsibilities as well, so…I didn't have much time for this story. I'm very sorry, my deepest regrets, especially to all those that have been with me since the beginning and all those that have been bugging me to update, because I know you are a true fan of this work and I only wish for you to enjoy it. Hopefully I will be able to get this story finished before the end of this year!