I have had more death threats because of that last chapter than any other story I've written. My boyfriend's grandma threatened to skin me!

Disclaimer: Tae doesn't belong to me, nor Katsu or Kaoru or Kenshin… etc.

Chapter 24: Love's Truth

Kaoru's startled shout reverberated off the surrounding rock and into Kenshin's ears at the same moment his wings shot open to pull him from his dive. Back winging hard, he grabbed for the small monkey, his hand engulfing the kitchen knife she had aimed at her neck. Sharp tree branches jabbed at his arms and torso, his feet scrambling to find purchase as he struggled with the surprisingly strong cook. Several limbs cracked and broke off from the trunk, his weight dropping abruptly to one side, and he snatched Tae off her own perch before snapping his wings forward and throwing them both backwards into the snow.

Someone yelped at the base of the tree, but Kenshin was too preoccupied with keeping the crazed spider monkey from sinking her teeth into his arm. Grunting as they landed, one wing catching at an awkward angle, he tossed aside the blade and pinned her to his chest with both arms. Screeching and crying, she fought against him, her wild behavior warning him that she was not in her right mind.

"Let me go! Let me GO!"

"Miss Tae!" Briefly his eyes were drawn upwards, taking in Kaoru as she held back the fraught lemur. Straining against the arm around his middle, he was reaching across the distance for Tae, his voice frantic.

A small hand popped him in the chin, and he growled, his attention returning to the monkey. "Be still, woman. You're trying my patience." Her screaming seemed to intensify, and he knew she was far beyond the point of reasoning. Moving with a speed he had not utilized in centuries, he pinched a pressure point in her neck, and she slumped, her voice dying off.

"Miss Tae! What did you do to her! Miss Tae! Miss Tae! Why won't you answer me! Please Miss Tae, you have to say something!" Still fighting, the lemur pulled Kaoru forward through the snow, frightened now that her silence meant something far worse than a simple loss of consciousness. There was an apprehensive set to Kaoru's features, an emotion that crossed the border of mere worry, but she held on with a stubbornness Kenshin recognized.

A large vulture appeared out of nowhere, his sharp claws reaching to squeeze at the side of the lemur's neck, and then he too was relaxing into forced slumber. Kaoru jumped back as Hennya materialized, her arms releasing Katsu as he briefly clutched at him, and then the vulture disappeared up onto a branch and everything was quiet.

Quickly Kenshin's golden eyes took in Kaoru's form to make sure she was unhurt, his gaze sweeping over the broken limbs at the foot of the tree, the imprints in the snow, and the cheetah lying stretched out behind her. Briefly he was thankful Soujirou had apparently pulled them both out of the way of the falling branches. However, the relief he felt was promptly followed by anger and indignity.

Gingerly sitting up, one arm still holding his cook, he stretched both wings and let his focus fall upon Kaoru's kneeling figure. "Did I not, my lady, ask you to please stay in your rooms?" Blues eyes met his then skated away. "Did I not say I would handle this?" Her head lowered slightly. "What exactly were you thinking?"

The expectance in his voice was strong, the silence afterwards so heavy, she finally spoke, though reluctantly, and her words were small. "I only wanted to help."

"That is untrue." Her head snapped up, wanting to deny, but he could see there was no conviction in the action. "If you had wanted to help you would have come to me with whatever information you had. Instead you drag that half-inept painter up one of the most dangerous trails on my mountain with snow on the ground and in the middle of the night. What you did was completely reckless." The corners of her lips were twitching downward, but she did not look away again. "What if something had happened? What if you were hurt? I would have then had three missing people to look for, and you would have frozen to death before I even realized you were gone."

"I-I wasn't thinking… I was just afraid we would get here too late."

"If my cook was planning on ending her life before tonight, she would have already done so. She was still undecided, and more than likely she would have stayed that way for awhile yet." Sapphire eyes widened, her shoulders trembling, and she gasped in a breath as the truth of his words struck home. My interference nearly killed her… "There was plenty of time for you to come to me, to let me handle everything." This time he looked away. "I do realize, Kaoru-dono, that I have not done much to incite trust in my abilities, but your lack of faith has… wounded me. Did you not want me to take over full responsibility of my people?"

Blanching, she froze, brows curling, and her head fell forward. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

The tightness in his shoulders loosened, and his eyes closed on a sigh. "My lady, I know that your heart is in the right place… but you need to learn restraint. All warriors must think before taking action, otherwise they will be forced to live with the consequences."

"I know."

There were tears in her voice, and it brought his attention sharply back to her, horrified to find her silently shaking with sobs into the hands covering her face. Almost instantly he decided that seeing her cry out of regret was no better than watching her cry out of hurt. The sound alone of her trying to fight it was awful. Swallowing, he stood, his steps hesitant as he came closer. "Kaoru-dono…" Her sorrow stirred something deep within him, a vague memory of a warm hand stroking his hair. Reaching to do the same, he flinched when she hiccupped, her whole body shaking as she fought for air through tensed muscles. Careful and light, he brought his hand all the way down on the top of her head, her hair soft under his palm, and her crying intensified.

Kneeling beside her, his free arm releasing Tae's limp form to lay next to Katsu, he glanced quickly at the other two still there. Both were politely turned away, and he was grateful for the semblance of privacy. "Kaoru-dono… there is no need to be upset. I only wanted you to understand." Gently his hand caressed the curve of her skull, his frown deepening when her head shook from side to side. Was she denying his claim, or was she trying to say she wasn't upset? "My lady, I assure you my intention was not to make you cry."

"I'm not crying 'cause you scolded me, Kenshin." Unnecessarily forceful, she gasped, sniffled, then turned her face into his chest, her hands clutching at his kimono. Startled, he stiffened, his hand stilling on her crown. "E-everything you said was true. I messed up, and Tae-san almost…" Her fists trembled against him, her forehead digging into his sternum as if she were trying to hide, and he understood what it was that had disturbed her so violently. Any death, even one indirectly connected to her, was more than just a violation of her sword style, it shamed her entire way of living. Relaxing, his other hand lifted to comfort her as well. Pausing at the sight of blood dripping down his palm, a cut leftover from the knife, he slowly lowered it back to the snow. "If you hadn't showed up… Kenshin, if you weren't here… it would have been so terrible."

"It's alright now, Kaoru-dono. Only, do not make a habit of it."

Again her head shook, and when she spoke he was glad that her crying had lessened. "I… I don't ever want to do that again." Her words made him blink, knowing they sounded familiar. "I promise… I won't interfere anymore. I'll do just like you ask." Her distress was a mirror of the same emotion he had felt at a much younger age, and it made him wonder what part that placed him in to play. Was he to be his father, or his brother? There was no anger in his heart or mind for her, and when he spoke, his words came almost naturally.

"Kaoru-dono… I greatly value your views." Smoothing down her ponytail, he dropped his hand to her shoulder and urged her to sit back. "I would not wish for you to simply say nothing if your own eyes have noticed something that mine have not. After all, you were the only one who thought to question Katsuhiro of Tae's whereabouts"

Sniffing and wiping at her face, Kaoru briefly met his gaze with her own. "You would have found her eventually. You said so yourself that Tae was still… indecisive."

"But who knows how long it would have taken us to look for her here, and no one but Tae knows how much longer it would have taken for her to solidify her resolve. We could have been too late. That does not mean I wish for you to continue running off on your own, but please… next time you will share your thoughts with me. Then we will decide on a course of action that places no one in danger." Looking down into her lap, she played hesitantly with her haori. "Yes?" Reluctantly she nodded.

"Alright."

There was still none of the fire in her voice that he was used to, but he was beginning to see that exhaustion was as much the cause for her breakdown as guilt. Scooping up the small monkey, he held her out to Kaoru. "I think it's time we get back to the palace. We will all need to get our rest after this." Again she nodded, her arms wrapping around Tae's small form and holding her like a child. Hooking an arm around Katsu's limp body, Kenshin stood and helped Kaoru to her feet.

"Soujirou, I want you to lead the way out of here. Hennya, find Aoshi and help him to inform everyone of the situation."

"Yes, sire." They chorused in unison, the vulture leaping from the tree while the cheetah padded his way to one side of the bowl-like dell. As Kaoru stood her blue eyes lingered on the small, weathered tree, and he was afraid for a moment that she would start crying again.

"Do you… think the tree will survive such harsh treatment?"

Several branches were broken and lying in the snow, many more hanging morosely at odd angles on one side the trunk. The tip of its height was snapped clean off, and it looked sad and pitiful, standing all alone, broken and lifeless. Sighing, Kenshin pointed. "Those branches are only small parts of the whole, my lady. They are not vital to the tree's survival, not as long as there are others left. What is most important is the trunk and below that, the roots. They are not so easily damaged or accessible. The tree will survive." When he looked away, he found her blue eyes watching him instead, and she smiled.

"Thank you, Kenshin." Sniffing one final time, she turned to follow Sojirou.

Megumi was waiting for them at the palace when they arrived, and everything that happened afterwards was a rush of activity. Kaoru insisted Tae stay in her own quarters, so that she could keep an eye on her. Katsu was placed under Sano's care at his urging, and Kenshin was left with making sure everyone out searching made it safely back to their own domiciles. By the time he was finished with his tasks and convinced nothing else was going to happen as a side-effect of the evening, the sun was beginning to make an appearance in the eastern sky. Giving up on sleeping, he headed into the pavilion just on the other side of Kaoru's and dug into the pile of documents.

X

Kaoru slept for a long time that day, and did not leave her pavilion for the rest of it. With no one to take his meals with, Kenshin spent his day doing paperwork. Tae woke up sometime after mid-day, and from the physician's report, was docile, but rather defeated. She only ate when Kaoru ordered her to, and refused to see anyone else. Katsu, so he had heard, was acting somewhat along the same lines, although Sano was not quite as nice when it came to making him do something. Strangely, his mind kept going back to that tree Kaoru was so worried about, watching in his mind's eye as the branches began to wilt in the absence of sun and nourishment.

Although he had been unaware of the affection his cook and painter shared until Kaoru had pointed it out, he had afterward ignored it as personal business. Such problems were not meant to be interfered with, after all his subjects did deserve some privacy. But then he remembered the painting. Katsu had meant to give it to Tae, a gift in exchange for her hand in marriage, but he had intercepted, lectured him, and then told him to get rid of it. The proposal had never happened, and now his cook was depressed enough to try and end her life. Something else was done to her, something else said, and against his better judgment, Kenshin was going to get involved.

Pushing aside the shoji to Katsu's room he stepped inside to find Sano sprawled in a corner, his ears drooping, and Katsu slumped against one of the walls. From the look of the rest of the room, Sano had been trying to force Katsu to eat, with negative results. Sano's head came up at his appearance, his eyes blinking in confusion, and a surprised acknowledgement fell from his mouth. Waving a hand distractedly, Kenshin studied instead Katsu's position, and then the life-sized painting on the wall behind him.

"Sanosuke." His golden eyes scanned the rest of the room, looking over the multitude of smaller paintings plastered over every inch of the walls.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Both you and Katsuhiro were friends with my brother, were you not?"

"Ye-es, my lord."

Kenshin nodded, stepping up to a sheet of paper and grabbing hold of its loose corner. "That means, in some ways, you knew my brother better than I."

"I… suppose so."

Finding that the thin paper came away easily, he pulled. "Was he a good friend?"

"Yes, my lord, he was."

More sheets fell to the floor, uncovering the shoulder of a second painting. "Did you get into trouble together?"

"Uh… sometimes."

"Did he ever abandon you to that trouble?"

"No."

A third painting came into view, the pile on the floor heightening. "I did not think he would. Just as you have not abandoned your friend."

Sano sighed and looked at Katsu. "No, my lord. I don't intend to leave the fool be."

"I have never had a friend. Not for my entire life. Now I am the master of this palace, and I have only my subjects. It has recently occurred to me, however, that they deserve the same type of devotion, and to abandon them to the trouble I have led them into is dishonorable." The final scrap came loose and the walls were completely bare, showing a circle of many angles and expressions on the human visage and physical embodiment of Katsu's heart. "I do not know if my interference will hinder more than help, but I am tired of simply doing nothing."

Grabbing Katsu roughly by the arm, Kenshin drug him into the middle of the floor. "Katsuhiro! I thought I had explicitly ordered you never to paint a human portrait ever again!"

"So you did, Lord Kenshin." Unemotional and dry, he hung by his arm, uncaring of the rule he had so blatantly broken. "Am I to be punished?"

Kenshin growled. "So you shall." Releasing him, he fisted a hand and smacked the backside of his knuckles across the lemur's cheekbone. Hitting the ground, the painter groaned, both hands cupping his head. "A lenient punishment for the damage you have done to my servant. It surprises me, Katsuhiro, that you would be so deliberately cruel. Or perhaps you are merely blind. Do you not understand the full extent of longing your paintings can entice? Do you, the very artist that has given them life, misinterpret the meaning you have put into their creation? Have you no sense or shame for their deadliness?"

"It was only one small painting." Face still pressed into the floorboards, his words were muffled and feeble. "I never thought it would hurt her."

"Her?" Advancing on him again, Kenshin bent swiftly and jerked him up by both arms this time, directing him at the painting before them. Happily Tae was twirling, the sleeves of her kimono swirling around her, her cheeks reddened, her eyes alight with merriment, and her arm reaching out as if to beckon another to join her. "Does the woman look hurt to you?"

Confused, Katsu stuttered. "But my lord… it is only a painting, what…?"

"Still you refuse to see." Shoving him closer, he urged him to look again. "Only a painting is it? And yet, it hurts you, doesn't it?" Trembling, the artist's head shook, trying to deny. "No? Do you not wish it to be so? Do you not wish her to be happy with you again? Do you not want her eyes to look at you like that?"

"I… I can't let her…"

"Tell me why."

"Because… because there are still those that remember my dishonor. They look at me with hate in their eyes, with distrust and disgust. I could not stand it if they were to look at her that way. She deserves no animosity, and that is what she will receive if her name were to ever be permanently bound to mine. They will punish her for my mistakes. I cannot allow that."

"Then you will do everything in your power to restore that honor to your name. If you truly wish to protect her from that, you will prove to everyone that you are not going to simply accept their ill-will as your punishment, but that you will instead work to atone and make yourself anew in their eyes. In the meantime, the best way you can protect her is to keep her near you. After all, it was not some collection of colorful ink that hurt her. It was you, Katsuhiro. Only you."

Breathless from the force of such a truth, Katsu gasped. "But… you said…"

"That you have hurt one of my servants, and so you have. He is a naïve soul, and even now these paintings continue to haunt him. He has even gone so far as to create a cage of torment within his own room; cocooning him in on all sides with longing and despair." Recognition dawned upon Katsu's features, and his deep black eyes swung around him. Relieved that he was finally beginning to understand, Kenshin stood up straight. "The damage you have struck upon yourself is spreading. I cannot allow such an epidemic to break out. There are too many lives within this palace that I must protect."

Slowly Katsu's head bowed. "Am I to receive my true punishment now?"

"I think, Katsuhiro, that you have punished yourself enough. My order for you now is to make peace."

Silence stretched, and his softly spoken question quivered. "Do you think… I am not too late?"

Turning his back, Kenshin's sore wing stretched, and Kaoru's worried voice twitched his lip. "The tree is still alive." Dark eyes widened, both ignoring Sano's confusion. "It is battered and worn, but I think it has weathered worse."

X

Tae stared at the blanket, at the same pattern and color she had been staring at for the past five days. Words echoed in her mind, and she concentrated harder, trying to ignore them, to block out the sharp pain they caused. The seashell in front of her was circular, twisting to a sharp point. It's color was a beautiful blush of pink, textured and hard. The lip showed off the smooth interior, its metallic shade stunning in its range of hues. She had a small collection of such shells, tucked away inside a special box she kept in her room. When she was young, her parents used to take her down to the beach, and she would search for them in the warm sand. Sae was always there too, and they would compete to see who could find the most.

There was also a delicate jade comb in that box. A gift from her mother the day her parents retired to the country. That was also the day she graduated to head chef in the kitchens. Seeing them go was sad, as she loved her parents very much, but she was glad they weren't there for the curse. Glad they could live out the remainder of their lives in peace.

Next to the comb was a small container of lip balm, from her sister. To make her lips red and full. It was a tiny amount, but Tae knew how expensive the gift must have been. Back when she could have worn it, the market was mostly offered to ladies of rank, since they would be the ones using it the most often. To find anyone that would be willing to sell it to a servant was rare. Sae must have gone through a lot of trouble to get it. Pity I never got to use it.

"Here I got you a little something, sis."

"Sae! How did you get this?"

"Oh, you know me, I'm a people person. Go on, put some on, I want to see."

"I-I can't right now! I'm supposed to meet with the master later. He has guests coming to the palace and he has a special request for dinner."

"Hmph. Big ol' sour puss would probably be offended, huh?"

"Sae! Keep your voice down. You shouldn't speak that way about the master."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I guess there's no big loss if you don't put it on now. I want you to save it anyway. It's for our big operation."

"What operation?"

"Don't act dumb, little sister. You know what I'm talking about."

"W-well I… I really don't think I do."

"Don't make me spell it out for you. If I do I'll make sure everyone in hearing range knows."

"Ok, ok, please… you wouldn't really tell everyone would you?"

"Of course not, you're my little sister, I have to look out for you. Now, like I was saying, this here little bottle is to help you get that cute court painter's attention."

Tae's mouth twisted.

"A little lip balm isn't going to get his attention, Sae. I work in the kitchens. I'm always sweaty and greasy and I smell like food. He… he's an artist. He should be surrounded by nothing but beauty."

"Uh-huh. Look here sis, I don't know if you've looked in a mirror lately, but your sixteen now. That means you're not a child anymore. Look at this! You're filling out more than I am!"

"Hey! Stop that!"

"And you got Mom's eyes. I wanted Mom's eyes."

"But you got Dad's. They're so much more interesting than mine."

"Oh?"

"Well, yeah, I'm not saying Mom's weren't pretty. They fit her because they were light and warm, like freshly baked pastries with sugar toppings. But Dad's liked to change. From soft and fluffy like silver goose down to stormy and treacherous like the clouds boiling up from the ocean horizon… What? Don't laugh! I like your eyes!"

"Alright. Tell me about Katsuhiro's eyes."

"W-what?"

"Ah-ah, you're blushing, little sister. Don't tell me his eyes have inspired such poetry in your thoughts."

"Don't tease."

"I'm not teasing, I think it's cute. And besides, like you said, he's an artist. I got you the lip balm because I know the color will attract his attention. What you have to do after that is make sure he hears you talk in your hopelessly romantic daydreams. It really will be perfect, you know."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, he'll get the chance to paint beauty with his brush just watching you paint beauty with your words. You really are beautiful when you talk like that."

The seashell blurred and Tae closed her eyes, but the darkness offered little for her to focus on. I guess whatever beauty you were speaking of was only visible when I was human. I guess he was only attracted to that beauty. It… it wasn't like we were together before the curse, but those few small interactions were nice. He must have only stuck around me afterwards because he was hoping these forms would wear off and we would once again be normal. I should… feel lucky that he stuck it out for this long, but… at the same time, I see everything more clearly. It wasn't shyness or hesitance that kept him from legitimizing our relationship. He was stalling.

It makes me wonder what would have happened if we did eventually turn back into normal. Would he have continued to lead me on until he found someone better? He is an artist. Artists are attracted to beautiful things. Perhaps he was going to wait until I aged beyond my youth and then found someone younger, more vibrant with life. He was thirty when we were changed, but I was eighteen. Much too old to be considered for marriage. Although it surprises me that no one else had caught his eye before that. Court painters were required to learn courtly manners since they were largely in the company of nobles. It wasn't even unheard of for a lesser noble to allow a younger daughter to marry a court painter. They were important, wealthy, and though bound to their lord, could contract assignments from visitors or even far reaching nobles hearing of their skill. Even for higher nobility they were sometimes taken as lovers, and that's not even strictly keeping to the ladies.

Sighing, Tae cracked her eyes open and stared once more at the large pattern of seashells. What does it matter now? I have been disgraced. The young lord didn't even allow me the decency of taking my own life, and the lady won't leave me alone. Looking up at Kaoru, her eyes frowning as she read through an old book, Tae half-smiled. What a kind and caring lady. I'm so glad the young lord has her around. There was a sharp knock on the door, and Kaoru looked up, her eyes blinking as she focused. She's changed him, and everyone can see it. Someday, he will be a great lord. I hope she never leaves him. Kaoru slipped out the shoji, leaving her alone. Head hanging back down into her chest, Tae resumed her study of the seashell.

"Miss Tae?"

Eyelids widening slowly, Tae went very, very still.

"Miss Tae, I… I wish to speak with you if… you would allow me." Hands fisting into the seashell covered blanket, Tae ground her jaw and shook her head. "Please, Miss Tae, it is important that I do." Another denial. "Then will you just listen? If you still don't want to speak when I'm done then I… I will accept your scorn as my punishment and… and go."

Punishment?

There was silence, and then he stepped closer, his feet tripping upon each other as per his clumsy nature. "I brought you something. Well, I… I brought you three, but… anyway, here." Something small and cylindrical entered her field of vision, and her lips pulled downward. "Actually, I'm only returning this one, but…"

Pain tore at her chest, knowing what was portrayed inside. "I don't want it."

He flinched, uncertain how to respond to her refusal. "But, Miss Tae, I thought…"

"It mocks me! I don't want to see it!" Smacking it aside, the noise of its rapid spinning filled the room until it crashed into the wall and clattered to a stop.

"Oh Miss Tae, it was never meant to mock you. It was a gift, meant to remind you of how beautiful your kindness is, to let you know that I have not forgotten for one moment any of that kindness you have shown to me."

"Then why did you take it away? Was that to show me my kindness was no longer wanted?"

"No, Miss Tae, no. I was only afraid. Afraid of what my paintings have caused, the hurt they incite. I did not want that pain to come to you. I never wanted you to be hurt. The thought alone crippled me."

"W-why should I believe such a thing?"

"Because I have never cared for anyone the way I care for you."

Trembling, Tae fought her traitorous heart, hating the romantic thing for every warm memory it conjured into her mind. Katsu was not a conniving man, he was sweet, he hated violence, he was naïve and adorably innocent. The slightest pain of another caused him pain. "I wish I could capture your beauty to the fullest, Miss Tae. When you speak like that… I've never seen anything more stunning in my life." The tears pushing at the backs of her eyes were winning, and she gasped in a breath. "Are you trying to say… that you've been lying this whole time just to protect me?"

"Yes." Emotion tainted his voice now, and his head ducked down to the floor between his flattened palms. "And I'm so sorry I hurt you. It was not what I wanted. It was never what I wanted. I thought surely you would be okay, that you didn't need me."

"Did you think you were the only one who cared enough to make sacrifices? Did you think I was so fickle that I would simply shrug my shoulders and go elsewhere?"

Horrified, Katsu shook his head violently. "No. I have never thought of you in such an awful way. You are the truest person I have ever met, and I knew it would take rejection on my part to force you away. It was another part of your appeal, knowing that you would never leave me, that you would always be with me. Miss Tae, I have wanted you to be mine ever since the first moment I laid eyes on you. In fact, this painting," Reaching to the side, his hand hovered over the two other scrolls he had brought in, grabbing up the dustier one. "it was created the very night after I saw you. Later I thought it strange that I never saw you before then, since we both were born within the palace walls. You, however, were raised in the city, while I was raised here at the palace." Sitting up a little straighter, his arms pulled the scroll into his chest lovingly. "It took me all week to make sure it was perfect, and when it was done, I realized there was no way that I could give it to you. You didn't even know me, and you were still under apprenticeship. So I determined that I would keep it safe until the day I could present it to you as an engagement gift."

"You've kept it… for this long?" The pain was back in her voice, and he scooted closer, his head bowing forward again.

"We were only just getting to know one another when the palace fell into disarray, and afterwards I doubted whether you would wish to be with me, looking as I did. I thought, if I could out wait these forms, then we could be married. I was so pleased when you showed no displeasure with talking to me, even like this, and we only seemed to be growing closer to one another. I was still determined to wait, and since we did not age, or sicken, or die, I felt no pressure to hurry anything along. I was content just getting to know you.

"Then something terrible happened. Something I caused with my own two hands. It was the biggest disgrace of my life, and I hated the thought of pulling you into it. And so the wait grew and I tried to push you away, but you were just so sweet, and I wanted more than ever to keep you with me, and soon I forgot all about the shame, or perhaps I wanted to, so that I could be with you.

"And you never stopped being kind to me. The night of my birthday, seeing everything you went through just to surprise me, I knew… I knew that it no longer mattered. Never before have ever felt such conviction. So I excused myself and went back to my room. I found this scroll with the intention of giving it to you. But then something happened to remind me of my shame and that conviction wavered. Worse, it reminded me of the folly I had committed by already giving you a painting. After that, nothing else mattered to me but getting that painting back. I had to keep you safe."

"And now, Katsu?"

"And now, this painting is no longer suitable." Tossing the old, dusty scroll over his shoulder, he ignored her cry of incredulity and picked up the third and final scroll. "We have endured much, and such an immature painting cannot capture our relationship in an even remotely acceptable fashion. This one I have spent the past three days and nights working on, and it is my new engagement gift to you, Miss Tae." Holding it up horizontal in both hands in offering, his head bowed between his uplifted arms. "If you wish to accept it, that is."

None of the emotions she had expected flooded her heart, only a calm that kept her hand from shaking as she plucked the painting from his grasp. Slipping the knot free, she let it roll open across the bedspread in front of her, covering the distracting seashells and demanding her attention in a way she could no longer try and ignore. Eyes sweeping from top to bottom, she felt her lips tremble and the flood gates burst.

"It's beautiful."

Gently his arms encircled her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder, and she leaned back into his embrace. "I thought so too."

Painted in soft and vibrant colors was their tree, standing alone in its little dell, in full bloom and basking in radiant sunshine. It was no longer whole. Time and a small amount of abuse had left a scar, deforming its original magnificence and biting into an upper portion, leaving it bare. In spite of its careworn blemish, the rest of it glowed with vitality and life, looking all the more lovely because of its imperfection.

Resting on the grass below, cooling off in the shade of its petals, sat the couple. Tae in a charming kimono of rich purple and circular spotted designs of white, and Katsu in a less extravagant outfit of black, to hide any stains of ink. Their backs were leaned against the trunk, their heads supporting one another's, and they happily slept of the effort from the climb. Between the V of their bodies, their hands were interlaced loosely, and just there, a bare hand's space from their fingers, bravely pushing up through the grass and tough soil, was a newborn sprout of dogwood.

Two large tear drops plopped onto the paper, and Tae jumped, her hand going to her eyes to wipe the moisture away. "Oh, I've ruined it!" Dismayed, regret briefly tinged her elation and she tried to sit back, but Katsu was still behind her.

"No. Now it truly is perfect." Holding her tighter, he smiled.

X

A/N: Awwww. And they lived happily ever after. The end. Oh wait… I still have another obstinate couple to deal with, don't I? Well, hogs wallop. Alright, first things first… you guys thought I killed her! Lmfao! Well, there were some of you that were suspicious, and that's probably because you guys know me too well. I couldn't kill Tae! She's so sweet! Now some of the other characters… lol.

I would like to thank a special reviewer for keeping me on track. Sometimes I get caught up in the story and it sidetracks me from some of the other issues happening. Ahem… such as Kaoru blatantly kicking Kenshin to the curb after she's just spent the entire last few months of her life trying to get him to take charge. Good grief. Nothing like offering a helping hand and then punching him in the face. -author rolls eyes at herself- Anyway, it worked out pretty well, though, because it was something Kaoru needed to learn anyway, and she does kind of need that beat into her a little. Independence is fine, but being stubborn, reckless and thoughtless is another. So thanks skenshingumi

So, Kenshin really is taking care of business now, and things are pretty much going to stay that way from now on. Yay! That being said, there are a few of you who are concerned about the length of this story, and I must say, it has begun to worry me as well, but I still have so much left to do! So, after looking it over and remapping it out in my head, it looks like this story has gone into a three part category. The meeting. The friendship. And the finale/love section. That means, we have just finished with part number two. Sounds like a cause for celebration to me! Oh, well alright. If you guys don't want to. Well anyway, just so everyone has a heads up. Sorry it seems to be turning into a long story, but I've limited myself to an average of twelve pages per chapter because after that I start getting antsy and irritable and my writing goes downhill. So I promise this is for quality purposes.

So review, tell me what you thought, what you expect, what you want, etc. I like getting feedback, especially if there is a particular part you liked. That lets me know I'm appreciated. See you later. Buh-bye.