Author's note: Whoohaha, cliffhanger! How long shall I leave you dangling, oh faithful readers? The writing muse demands sacrifices of chocolate before it will deem to visit me again!
"Wake up, girl," Hiko's voice summoned her. Kaoru struggled awake and blinked her eyes in confusion. There was no light peeking around the edges of the bedroom window's drapes, and her internal clock told her that it was far too early to be up. Although Hiko had been somewhat relaxed about Kaoru's daily wake-up time ever since he had learned about her pregnancy, she was still accustomed to being up before full sunlight. Kaoru grudgingly kicked her feet out from under the covers, noticing that Kenshin was not beside her. As she stumbled into the sitting room, the large bay window showed a dark expanse of space with a few late stars twinkling fitfully and and only the barest hint of rose showing on the edge of the horizon.
"There you are," Hiko grunted, "Now pay attention." Kaoru tried valiantly to stifle back a yawn as her tired body reminded her quite loudly of how little sleep it had gotten the previous night. "Your idiot husband has the final stages of his Fire Magic training ahead of him, and he and I will be putting in some very long days. Do not expect to see much of either one of us until this is over. However, it is vitally important that you do not go anywhere near the west wing of the house. What we will be dealing with is highly advanced, and it would be extremely harmful for you and the child should you expose yourself to it. Do you understand?"
Kaoru nodded tiredly, "Yes, I understand."
"Good," Hiko rumbled, "You will work on mastering Levels Four through Six, and I expect you to have these perfected when I am done with that foolish apprentice of mine. If there is an emergency and you absolutely must contact us, send a zephyr to alert us. Otherwise, keep yourself occupied and away from the west wing. I will send a salamander to fetch food as we need it and, much as I hoped I would never have to say this, you will be in charge of the kitchen in the meantime." He frowned darkly at her, "Try not to poison us if you can possibly help it."
Kaoru bristled and she opened her mouth to snap back, but Hiko beat her to the punch. "That is all," he finished and the mirror swirled, leaving behind only Kaoru's angry expression reflected in it.
"Fine!" she burst out, too late, and stomped back to her bedroom to dress for the day. Still fuming as she tied on her hakama, Kaoru yawned an enormous yawn that made her jaw crack. "I really, really need some coffee," she muttered to herself, then jumped as an alarmed flutter of chi curled up in her belly. "No, no, sorry, little one," she said soothingly, patting her belly. "I won't, I won't. It's all right, everything is okay. Sorry I yelled; Mommy's not mad at you, everything's fine." Smiling, Kaoru thought about how she had never really seen herself as the maternal type and had never quite understood how pregnant women could be so sappy about their big bellies. Well, guess I now know why, she thought ruefully and gave the bump another fond pat. "Instead of coffee, how about a long nap later on today?" she questioned. The belly seemed to agree with that suggestion, and Kaoru walked towards the kitchen for a coffee-free breakfast and to confront what promised to be formidable adversary: the kitchen stove.
By the third day, Kaoru was utterly, thoroughly, magnificently bored and missing her husband quite strongly. The only indication that two other inhabitants were in the house had been the salamanders that zoomed in and out of the kitchen at intervals to fetch food. However, they could not resist a quick trot across Kaoru's stomach every time they passed her; every zephyr or salamander that apparated near her seemed to find her pregnant belly fascinating. She was grateful for the company but they clearly had a mission for the salamanders would only twirl around on her stomach a few seconds before taking up whatever food she had ready and disappearing with it. Her zephyr was a comfort, but it was not much for conversation.
At least there was occasionally more than one of them. Kaoru, to her great astonishment, had managed to summon a total of four zephyrs on the second day. But her amazement had turned quickly to panic as she realized that maintaining mental control of four elemental apparitions was like trying to simultaneously pat her head, rub her stomach, do back flips, and sing the national anthem. While the four zephyrs spun about her, their energies clanged around inside her head as she frantically tried to bring them all under control. After a few seconds, they had all disappeared, leaving Kaoru with the beginnings of what would prove to be a bad headache and a resolve to not try that again until she had mastered several more Levels.
Mastering Levels Four through Six had not been too terribly difficult and for lack of anything better to do, Kaoru had practiced them over and over again until she was thoroughly sick of doing so. After months of being run ragged from dawn to dusk, Kaoru was surprised to find out how quickly she became bored. There had simply been so many new things to learn, new skills to tackle, and lifestyle changes to adjust to that her body and mind were firmly set in a forward-moving mode. Suddenly having little to do seemed strangely wrong and unsettling.
Kaoru tried to fill the days by running over every Level and magical skill she had mastered in the past four months, cautiously summoning two elements at a time and trying to not become overwhelmed with them, and sneakily running through some sword kata with a bokken she had found in Kenshin's closet. Hiko had taken her katana away but she saw no harm in some light sword work, nothing too taxing, and a shimmer of chi in her belly told her that the baby liked it. When she grew bored with magic and swords, she napped, read from the baby book that Kenshin had gotten her, and rattled pots and pans together irritably in the kitchen. Ever since Hiko had taken her off the sword, Kenshin had reluctantly let her into the kitchen and had been patiently giving her some cooking lessons. While he had been far less successful at these lessons than he had been with magic or sword fighting, Kaoru had picked up a few things and her cooking had risen from inedible to merely untasty.
"Practice, practice, it's just like learning a new kata or Level, it just takes practice, Kamiya," she reminded herself mid-afternoon on the third day as she yanked open a cupboard, determined to master this challenge. However, a search through the cabinets and the fancy fridge revealed that there was little in the kitchen to eat. Kenshin was the one who did all the shopping, but he was currently involved in who knows what in the west wing and Kaoru knew that Hiko would bawl her out if she interrupted them over something as trifling as an empty fridge.
Frowning, she muttered, "I'd order pizza if I just knew where the stupid phone was, I know I've heard it ring before..." Suddenly she stopped and a devious smile crept across her face. One thing she did know was where the keys to the Lexus was. The garage was on the opposite side of the west wing, it was a few hours before dinner, so she wasn't likely to be missed by a questing salamander after food.
Hurrying back to her room, Kaoru dug her wallet out and was pleased to find that it contained nearly forty dollars and her still-valid driver's license. She thought briefly about changing, but nothing in her closet really fit anymore and she'd worn her kendo uniform in public numerous times before. Sliding her geta on her tabi-clothed feet, Kaoru left her room and headed towards the garage.
"Free!" she squealed a few minutes later as the Lexus pulled away from the house and Kaoru kept a sharp eye out for any spying salamanders. Chortling to herself, she thought wickedly about how Hiko had merely restricted her from the west wing; he had said nothing about leaving the property. Strictly speaking, Kaoru was being perfectly obedient. He had ordered her to keep herself occupied, and running out for groceries was currently occupying her. Kenshin, she suspected, would probably have a conniption fit if he knew, but Kaoru had often chafed against the short leash her husband and master had kept her tied up with. Besides, the worst thing that would happen is that she would get into a minor fender-bender on her way back and have to explain things to her master. "What's he going to do, beat a pregnant woman?" she giggled to herself and cranked the radio up. It felt so good to be out of the house, away from Hiko's demands and Kenshin's careful ministrations and at the wheel of a fast luxury car. Kaoru's ancient Dodge had finally bitten the dust towards the end of her freshman year, and she had decided that another car was not absolutely necessary. This car was sleek and powerful, and she thoroughly enjoyed driving it the short distance to the nearby store.
Inside the store, Kaoru happily skipped inside. After four months of what was essentially captivity, driving herself to the grocery store and wandering around inside alone seemed like an exotic luxury vacation. She earned a few stares from fellow shoppers because of her clothing, but she was too thrilled about her escape to care. Pushing a cart though the store, Kaoru tossed needed items into it, keeping a mental tally in her head. She had no idea if her credit card still worked and didn't want to risk writing a check, so it would be cash.
As Kaoru stood in front of the cooler, trying to decide if she had enough left over for some ice cream, a reflection caught her attention. Turning her head, Kaoru saw a gnome staring at her darkly. Misao! she thought happily and moved to face it but her chi shifted warningly as her instincts woke up and began clamoring for attention. Enemy! Run! her mind screamed and almost without thinking, Kaoru summoned a zephyr but this time she reached out with her mind to desperately throw directions at it. Not here, go to Kenshin! I need help! she thought frantically as an army of gnomes apparated, waving their fists at her and Kaoru became painfully aware of a small, slight figure advancing upon her with an odd smile on his face.
Trying to keep mental control of the zephyr currently racing towards Kenshin, Kaoru summoned another element but it was quickly overwhelmed by the gnomes, leaving Kaoru alone to face her advancing enemy. He looks like a child, she thought to herself as her hands automatically went for her katana but there was nothing at her side. The odd smile loomed in her eyes as suddenly everything went blank.
"Again," Hiko rumbled as Kenshin painfully staggered to his feet, gasping for breath. His gi bore several burn marks and the tips of his long hair were smoking lightly. The room was filled with scorch marks and smelled strongly of smoke.
"Yes, Master," Kenshin gasped, but their training was interrupted by a highly agitated zephyr racing into the room. The zephyr flew around Kenshin in several laps before shooting upwards towards the ceiling, bouncing off it, and then rocketing down to earth, only to start tap-dancing frantically on the top of Kenshin's head.
Hiko frowned, "I've never seen her element be this aggravated before." He reached out a hand and the zephyr anxiously climbed into it. "Something's wrong."
Kaoru! Kenshin frantically reached for the Soul Bond and was astonished to find it missing. Near panic, he reached out again and his anxious chi roamed, meeting nothing. She wasn't blocking him out, there was simply nothing there. Kenshin could not get a lock on her chi and one look at the frantic zephyr confirmed the truth. Kaoru's in danger!
"KEENNSHIN!" Hiko gave a great bellow as his apprentice snatched up his sword and apparated in a fiery blaze of flames, the zephyr disappearing with him.