Disclaimer: Another that says something similar to the last. Like how I own nothing.

Chapter 16: The Sakura Tree

"It is nice to see you again, my young jasmine-scented girl."

Gasping, Kaoru tripped backwards and fell against one of the posts, her socks slipping on the polished wood and sending her to the floor on her backside.

"I'm sorry I startled you." The shadow stepped closer to the door, but did not cross its barrier to the outside. "Are you alright?"

Unable to respond intelligibly, Kaoru nodded, her eyes still wide and staring as if she had never seen another human in her entire life. It was fast becoming obvious that the memories and dreams plaguing her mind were in fact true and not made up. Many, many things that connected to this realization demanded her attention all at one time, but with the woman now standing before her, she needed to prioritize. For one, though she now knew she had met this woman before, a certain fact that would not have been clear to her as a child was suddenly apparent now. How was it, in the midst of all these transformed humans and the appearance of Kenshin himself, was this one woman normal?

"Who are you?"

The glow from behind her darkened the features facing Kaoru, but she could just see a hint of a smile pulling at her lips. "We did not get the chance to introduce ourselves properly last time you were here. I am so glad you have asked me now. I am Kiyosato Tomoe." In a gesture of perfection and beauty, she bowed just slightly in her direction.

Standing slowly to her feet, still uncertain of the situation, Kaoru nodded her head back. "Kamiya Kaoru."

"Kaoru. What a pretty name, and quite appropriate. You have such a sweet scent."

"My mother gave it to me."

"Most mothers do name their children." There was amusement in her voice, and Kaoru frowned. "Come along, dear child. It must be freezing out there. Come sit inside where it is warmer."

Hesitating for another second longer, Kaoru followed her urging, stepping over the threshold and under the arm that wrapped around her back. Once inside, the door slid softly shut, though Kaoru was certain the woman had not moved from her side to close it. The inside was merely a surrounding walkway, at the center the tree she had seen before, and all was darkness except for the glow. Warmth suffused her body the closer they came to the glimmering blossoms, and Kaoru shot a side look at the lady named Tomoe.

With the shine now illuminating her face, she could see the delicate beauty of her features. Dark, coal black hair covered her forehead, heightening the pale white of her skin and the dark blush of her lips. The lashes around her eyes were thick, and her irises themselves were so black she could not tell where they ended and her pupils began. She was taller than Kaoru, by several spaces, and the kimono she wore was as extravagant as the ones that belonged to Kenshin's mother.

Questions came to her mind, wanting to know everything, but the hand at her back pressed down on her shoulder, suggesting she should sit. Attention returning to her surroundings, she found they were directly before the only cherry blossoms still hanging onto the bare branches of the tree. They were exactly like the single petal attached to her necklace, sparkly like glass and pink as a fresh bloom. She frowned, however, as she studied them, because she was sure she remembered more than just the two now left. Two blossoms, and one was half gone.

"Do you remember your first visit, Kaoru-chan? I see that you have kept the petal safe and undamaged like I asked you to." Seated cross-legged in her hakama, Kaoru pulled her eyes away from the blooms and looked next to her at the lady.

"I… I have only just begun to remember." Pressing her necklace into her chest, Kaoru dropped her eyes. "I don't know how I ever forgot." Brows jerking, she felt a moment of sadness and frustration. It may have only been one day, but it had been an eventful day, and there was still so much about it she could not recall. Kenshin had told her she would more than likely be the one to forget. She hated that he was right.

"You were very young." Reaching a hand towards her, Tomoe fingered the chain visible above Kaoru's own splayed digits. "What a clever idea to make it into a necklace."

Half-smiling, still unsure, Kaoru felt a moment of affection as she realized she could now speak her next statement with certainty. "Kenshin made it for me. I remember… he wanted me to have it at all times. To remind me…"

"Did he?" The slim hand came up to brush over her hair, like a mother would a child. Her touch was ice cold in contrast to the warmth in the air. "Then he was not angry with you for trespassing?"

Shaking her head quickly, Kaoru dredged up other memories. "No. I stayed for the rest of the day, and… after dark, he took me home to my parents."

"How very interesting." Taking her hand back, the long sleeves of her kimono dragging against the floor, Tomoe looked away this time. "I see that he does have some potential left. I was nearly certain he had been consumed."

"Consumed? By what?"

The smile returned to her face with Kaoru's curiosity, and Tomoe closed her eyes, tilting her head as if to nudge aside the topic. "It is nice to finally have someone to talk to, Kaoru-chan. I have had no one speak with me besides Lord Himura for several hundred centuries, and his conversations are never considered polite."

"Can you not leave this building?" Jumping eagerly into the question, Kaoru tried not to let her excitement overwhelm her. She wanted to know just who this woman was; to Kenshin, especially.

"No, young one. I cannot leave the boundaries of this shrine."

"Why not?"

"Well, my fragrant girl, to be perfectly honest, it is because, unlike every other entity you have met here, I am not truly of this world."

"You mean… you're not alive?"

"No, my body was sacrificed many centuries ago. I am but a shadow of my former self."

"Will you tell me what happened? How come you are stuck here?"

Taking a deep breath, Tomoe seemed amused by her audacity. "Perhaps another time, Kaoru-chan. I wish to speak of other matters. Tell me," Reaching up a hand, she lifted the sleeve of her oversized haori. "have you had any problems adjusting to life here with the lord and his servants?"

Shrugging, Kaoru was less interested in her own plight than she was in the lady's. "There have been a few fights, but everything's going good now."

"I hope Lord Himura hasn't been too hard on you. I do not think he was ever a social being to begin with, and a thousand years in isolation has not improved his handicap."

"We seem to have worked it out this past week, but… that's the second time you've called him Lord Himura. Is that his real name?"

"Has he not given you this name?" When Kaoru shook her head, Tomoe's expression turned thoughtful, her eyes lowering to the side in contemplation. "That is also interesting. Does that mean he feels ashamed of it?" Her voice whispered, as if she were talking to herself. Kaoru stayed silent, watching the small flits of thought touch minutely at the mask on her face. When dark eyes finally looked at her again, she was once more smiling. "Forgive me, Himura is a surname of the nobles that rule over this palace and lands. It is, in truth, his real name, but if Kenshin is the name he gave for you to address him, then that is the name you should continue to use."

"Okay." Shrugging this information off carelessly, Kaoru thought nothing of the reason he would not wish to give it to her. "I just recently talked him into letting me call him Kenshin without a title anyway. Using Himura now would be weird."

Tomoe chuckled in amusement. "It seems you are getting along just fine then, if he is so lenient in his protocol." Things are going wonderfully since I last spoke with Lord Himura. There may still be enough time for him to learn. Blue eyes were once again studying the tree, and Tomoe anticipated her next question with a smile.

"I don't remember the tree being this bare, Tomoe-dono. Why are there only two blossoms, and how is it that they are made of glass?"

"The others have fallen, Kaoru-chan." Pointing to the ground surrounding the base, she brought the layer of pink dust to the girl's attention. "This is what has happened to them." The coating was quite thick, indicating the amount of petals that used to be present on the tree's branches. "Over time their attachment to the whole weakens, like with any blossom, and they fall to the ground to meet their demise. It is actually quite beautiful, and tragic."

Leaning over the ledge of the walkway, Kaoru peered down at the cherry particles, delighted as they sparkled and glittered like thousands of tiny stars. "I remember you telling me… that the one I had picked was not meant to fall for many years. Just how long has this tree been here?" Looking back up at Tomoe, her brows curled. "As long as the rest of the palace?"

"It is not as old as the palace itself, but… it has been here for a thousand years. For as long as Lord Himura and the others have stopped aging, and for as long as I have been trapped inside this shrine." Pausing for a second as she watched different conclusions click together in Kaoru's mind, she took a small breath. "It is the very heart of the curse that has been placed upon this palace. Its petals mark the time."

Blue eyes widened. "One of the hyena in the forest said something about a curse to me, but… no one else has said anything. Are you saying that this tree… and its petals…?" Dark eyebrows drew together, and a multitude of emotions tugged upon her features; fear, compassion, sadness, anger, love. Glancing once more at the few remaining petals still undamaged, she settled upon sadness. "What happens when the time runs out?"

"Nothing will happen, Kaoru-chan." Confusion battled with a doubtful relief. "Absolutely nothing. Everyone will stay as they are, and live on, without aging, without sickening, and will watch as the world outside goes on without them."

The small glimpse of anger from before contorted her lips. "Who would place such an awful curse upon such wonderful people?" Jerking her head down and to the side, she fought the sudden prick of tears. "Poor Tsubame and Yahiko, they will never age beyond their ten year old bodies, never have the wedding she is only just now happily planning, never be allowed to show the love they both feel. And Misao, Aoshi, Megumi, Sano, Tae, Katsu, even Saitou and his family. It's so unfair. What could they ever have done to deserve this?"

Tomoe stayed silent, passively watching the range of emotions plainly show themselves through the sensitive girl next to her. There was such a loving heart within her seventeen year old body, and it hurt deep inside to be near her innocence and purity. "I notice you did not include Lord Himura's name in your list. Does that mean you feel no similar sympathy for him?"

Caught off guard, Kaoru leaned slightly back. "Well, I… his situation's different."

"You do not think it would be just as hard for him to show love to another in his current form? Do you not think it would be hard for him to find love at all, when the very sight of him would frighten or horrify most?"

"I don't see what there is to be frightened of?" Perfectly honest, Kaoru tilted her head, disbelieving. "Kenshin is absolutely wonderful. I mean, it takes a little while to get past all of his haughty airs and suspicious walls, but he has a nice sense of humor, and his noble upbringing comes out sounding rather sweet sometimes. I don't think it would take much at all for someone to get used to him and find out that there is a genuinely nice guy underneath that prickly nature of his. And he's actually better off than everyone else, I think, because, well… at least his form is mostly human still, and…" Tearing at the bandage wrapped around her left hand, she fought the urge to blush. "if he ever did find someone to love, he could at least hold them. That's more than everyone else can do."

Tomoe looked away across the room, thinking over the compassionate words she spoke.

"Even you, Tomoe-dono." Black eyes shot back to her sharply. "You may still have your true form, but whoever has done this terrible deed has trapped you here, forever. You cannot even leave this room to find someone to love, or someone you have loved, or even pass on to the next life. You must be… suffering greatly." Once again her sapphire irises ducked hers.

"Perhaps I deserve my punishment, young one." Instantly denying the idea, Kaoru placed a hand over her own ice cold appendage. "Perhaps you should feel no pity for me whatsoever."

"But that can't be true at all…"

"Kaoru-dono." Jumping at the sudden command in a voice she had softened, Kaoru peeked around the woman to find Kenshin standing in the doorway. "Come here."

"But, I was only…"

"Now."

Oh yeah… I'm not supposed to be in here. A hint of wariness dug deep inside her gut, and she wondered briefly why he would give such an order to everyone when there was only Tomoe inside. And the tree, I suppose. Yeah, the tree must be the real reason.

"Do as he says, young one."

Glancing back to Tomoe hesitantly, she nodded, and stood quickly to her feet. "Goodnight, Tomoe-dono." A regal bow of her head acknowledged and answered her farewell, and then Kaoru was hurrying to obey the darkening wrath in amber eyes. Stealing a quick look up at him as she passed through the door, she was surprised by the intensity he was staring down the woman still present within. Kenshin does not like her. I wonder why.

As soon as she was clear, the door slid shut, and they were alone on the steps, the snow still falling gently from the heavens. Feeling like a child waiting for her scolding, Kaoru twisted her hands together and hunched her shoulders. There really wasn't any way she could argue her way out of this one. She had been where she should not, and though she did not know the reason, it had been made clear on her first day that she should not go inside the shrine.

"I'm sorry, but I saw a glow and then the door was open and I thought someone had gone inside and I got curious and…"

"Where are your sandals?"

Twitching in expectation of something more scathing, Kaoru froze and stuttered. "Uh…" Question sinking in, she bit her lip on a helpless sigh. "I forgot them." Surprisingly, he sighed as well.

"Kaoru-dono, you will catch your death of cold if you keep doing this."

"I know." Peering sideways at him as he stood next to her, she relaxed at finding none of the anger she had seen only seconds before. His features, though, were somehow… sad. Licking her lips nervously, she faced him a little more head on, venturing her next statement into the silence. "I remember." A mild breeze played with the strands of his bangs, giving her a glimpse of red lashes closing over golden eyes. "Actually I've been remembering bits and pieces over the past week." Straining her neck to look down, she slid the bauble hanging from her necklace back and forth, the scrape of metal on metal somehow soothing. "I've been wanting to ask you, but I wasn't sure if… my memories were real or imagined."

"You were… very young, Kaoru-dono. I am surprised you have remembered now."

"I didn't want to forget." Eager and forceful at the same time, she tossed her arms out to the side, almost as if she were trying to convince him. "I wanted to remember, but it was only one day and I never got to come back and Father never sent me and you never came and…" Sucking in a shaky breath, she looked down, her brows curled. "Everything would have been so much different if Father had brought me to you. I remember how excited I was for weeks, how Mother encouraged my happiness, but then she got sick and… everything fell apart." Tone turning bitter, Kaoru shut her own eyes. "If Mother was still alive, she would have let me come. Father was just scared… like all the others."

"Your father was trying to protect you, in the only way he knew how." Such understanding on his part shocked her, disbelieving that it was he who would defend her father. "Do not fault your father for the love he has for his only daughter."

Resentment leaving as quickly as it had built, Kaoru's tense muscles loosened. "I know. I do understand, but… I feel like… I missed out on a lot of moments. With everyone… with you."

"In some ways I feel that same regret. All of those moments would have made us different people, made us see each other differently than we do now. So in other ways…" Swallowing, he turned his head completely away. "I am not regretful."

Smiling slowly as she watched the uncomfortable way he tried to hide from her and the unguarded words he spoke, she realized how true they were. "You're right, Kenshin. We're doing alright, aren't we? I mean, at least we're communicating better than we were."

"If you say so." Turning to look pointedly back at the shrine, she blushed at the implication.

"I said I was sorry, and anyhow, I don't understand what the big deal is. Tomoe-dono said she was lonely without anyone to talk to, and you aren't nice to her, though I don't understand that either."

Taking a steady breath, he voiced his words carefully. "It is a mutual understanding that we do not like one another. If I have hate for her, know that that hate is returned."

"Does it have something to do with the curse she was talking about?" Crossing her arms thoughtfully, she missed the critical assessment of his gaze. "I don't think that's very fair of either of you to blame it on the other, if that's what's going on."

"Our fight should not concern you, Kaoru-dono. It is a personal matter between her and I. Come." Waving a hand, he stepped closer. "You said so yourself you were tired over an hour ago, and you do not need to be out in this cold."

Ok, so the curse is off limits. Chewing her lip and trying to steady her drumming heart, she wondered how she had dredged up the nerve to bring it up in the first place. Sure Kenshin and herself were getting along much better, but there were still many things about him that scared her just a little. She was still learning her boundaries in their new relationship. Biting at an old scar inside her cheek, she moved to step down the stairs, but was detained by the arm.

"If it would be alright, I do not want you walking any further through the snow without appropriate protection for your feet."

Lifting a brow, Kaoru leaned back. "Well that's fine and all, but what do you expect me to do about it out here?"

"I meant, Kaoru-dono, that you will not be walking."

She blinked as she digested what it was he was suggesting, and he stood patiently waiting for her to agree. This was another one of those moments when she could clearly pick out the courtly manners that were ingrained into his being. It was apparent he was going to carry her no matter what she said, but he was giving her time to deny him if she wanted. It also gave her enough of a warning to understand what he was going to do so as not to startle her inappropriately.

"Well alright then."

Nodding his head once, he wrapped a gentle arm around her shoulders, then bent to hook the other under her knees. He lifted her without any show of effort, and stepped down into the snow in his own bare feet. Just a bit uncertain, Kaoru pressed both hands into her chest, not knowing whether it would help if she held onto his neck or not. He seemed fine carrying her as she was, so she chewed her lip harder and stared at the patterns in the scales running along his collarbones.

As nervous as she was, she didn't think to break the quiet, but instead tried to find other ways to distract from her situation. When his scales ceased to entertain, she moved her attention to the snow piling up on her stomach, fascinated with the miniature drift that collected in the crevice where her side met his chest. Cold seeping through her clothing, she shivered, and then realized abruptly that the trembling vibrating her body was not from her own muscles.

Attention returning to his scales, she traced his sternum up to the tendons in his neck, surprised by how tight they were and the way they quivered. Hand reaching, she flattened the entire width of her fingers across his neck, unthinking of how cold they were, and he shivered harder.

"Kenshin! You're freezing!"

"I will be alright, my lady."

"You've been so worried about me catching a cold in my socks! You're only wearing a pair of hakama!" And you didn't think a thing about it, either, you idiot!

"I cannot get sick."

Vaguely remembering Tomoe saying something along those same lines, she pouted. "But you're still cold. Aren't you uncomfortable?"

Huffing out an amused breath, he shook his head at her insistence. "Yes, Kaoru-dono. Winter is always uncomfortable." Stepping up onto the veranda, he sat her down, walking beside her as they navigated their way back to her pavilion.

"Then you should think about wearing something more appropriate, don't you think? So you don't get cold?"

Considering her thoughtfully, his eyes strayed over her own attire, the men's clothes she continued to wear. "Why should it matter if I am comfortable, Kaoru-dono? I have weathered out many winters this way."

"Well I don't like it. You shouldn't be subjecting yourself to such extreme temperatures in only pants, even if you can't get sick. Besides, I thought you were supposed to be the master around here. Isn't it improper for you to be running around topless?"

Grin looking decidedly mischievous, he shrugged nonchalantly. "You seem to do just fine in your improper attire, Kaoru-dono. I think I will follow your lead on this matter." Jaw hanging slack, Kaoru stopped dead in her tracks and stared at his wings as he walked a few steps further than she. Turning questioningly, his face was suitably concerned. "Is everything alright, Kaoru-dono?"

Pursing her lips, she crossed her arms and sniffed. "I think, my lord, you have been picking up bad habits from a poor influence."

"Now, lady, don't be sore that I have beat you at your own game."

"Ha!" Punching him playfully in the shoulder, she ignored his flinch and walked on ahead. "Who say's I've lost anything?" Facing him in front of the door to her pavilion, Kaoru grinned broadly, Kenshin rubbing a hand over his shoulder. "I'm glad I've remembered, Kenshin, it makes me feel better about being here." As she pulled open the tsumado behind her, he nodded noncommittally. "Oh, and, at least grab an extra blanket to sleep with." Shaking her head, she ducked halfway through the opening, and mumbled to herself. "I can't sleep when I'm cold. Goodnight, Kenshin." Waving a hand through the crack, the doors closed and Kenshin was alone.

Sighing, he turned towards his own pavilion. An extra blanket couldn't hurt I suppose.

X

A/N: So, Kaoru doesn't understand just yet what Tomoe has to do with all of this, and since she's not telling and neither is Kenshin… she'll just have to wait. More sweetness between our two, and next chapter might have more compromises. Not much to say here, but there is more to come. Oh yes, much more. Mwahahaha. Anyway, hope that you like, and please leave me a review. They brighten up my day!