A/n Hello lovely reviewers! So glad to finally get this chapter out. I'm hoping to get the other Kenshin-gumi tales stories updated at some point as well. I've been writing a bit more now, mostly new stories that I'm trying not to post until I finish a few that I already have going here. I might post one or two chapter on my Blossoms on the Cherry Tree collection to see if you like them and want me to continue with the story. But I'll think about that later… for now, on to the story!

The ride lasted much longer than Kaoru had remembered. Once out of the strange forest and into familiar countryside, only then did Kaoru allow herself to get excited. Heated and lusty thoughts of her master faded away as she recognized building after building. The horses traveled at a clipped pace, fast, but not tearing up the road like before. Kaoru could hardly hold still in the small confines of the carriage. What were her family do when they saw her? Oh she couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces. Kaoru clapped with glee and couldn't help but giggle.

But once the carriage reached her neighborhood Kaoru could hardly stay in her seat a moment more. She stuck her head out the window and watched as her home came into view. She had never smiled so big while crying at the same time. For the emotion was just so great. The carriage rattled to a stop and Kaoru burst free before the wheels had come to a full stop.

At the familiar nightmarish racket, the front door opened and Megumi's pale face came into view.

Kaoru lifted her Kimono and ran, bursting through the gate. Megumi's face morphed as she exploded into tears and threw herself out of the house to meet her sister in the middle of the yard. The two girls sobbed in each other's arms and at once was joined by Misao and their father. The family hugged each other and cried. It was a few long moments before they were able to pull themselves together.

"Otosan." Kaoru said as she embraced her father one more time before pulling away to wipe at the tears on her face. Her sisters wept and pawed gently at her hair and clothes, as if not believe their eyes.

"I thought you were dead." Her father confessed; his face far older than she had remembered. His wrinkled hands quickly removed the tears from his face.

"We all did." Misao added, her face red and puffy from crying.

"But how….how did you escape? How did you survive?" Her father was shaking his head, as if still in disbelief. He looked past Kaoru and spied the carriage, the large black horses waiting for Kaoru to unload her things.

"I didn't escape." Kaoru took her father's hands in his. "I've been living well with my Master. He let me come visit for Misao's wedding."

Misao started crying all over again, glad to have her sister back.

"You mean you have to go back to that monster?" Her father asked.

Kaoru winced. "Otosan, Himura-sama is not a monster, just a cursed man. I have to return in a couple of weeks. And I'll gladly return."

At this Megumi looked startled. "Gladly?"

"Yes." Kaoru addressed the all. "He a man with a curse and with my help he is getting better. I won't abandon him. He's done nothing but treat me well."

"Are you sure, Kaoru-chan?" Her father asked solemnly.

"Very sure." Kaoru returned. "So let's enjoy this wedding." She said with a bright smile.

… . . …

It was a strange and emotional first few hours after Kaoru returned. Both her sisters and her father would spontaneously break into tears and they watched her as she bustled around the kitchen. Her things had been taken to her room and Kaoru hid the chest full of treasure so Misao wouldn't spy it before her wedding. The horses left at a good clip once everything was unloaded and only then did her family seem to relax. After hours of talking their father had to be forced by the girls to go to bed and rest. He seemed worried Kaoru would vanish if he shut his eyes, but finally he was convinced to go to bed. The three girls gathered back in the kitchen afterwards.

"So you were a servant?" Megumi asked as Kaoru set a cup of hot tea in front of her. "I'm amazed."

Kaoru laughed slightly as she moved to get Misao her tea. "It was more of a companionship. I didn't really do much servant things. Mostly my master taught me his form of swordsmanship.

Megumi coughed on her tea. "Of course. I figured you would at least get some training in how to run a household, but no….your tea is still bitter by the way." Megumi added while Misao laughed.

"Well, at least he treated you well." Misao said. At this the table suddenly went very quiet and Misao watched the steam rise from her cup. "We were all really worried…that…"

"Hush, everything was fine." Kaoru assured them as she slid next to her sisters and sat at the table with her own cup. "How's the preparations?" She asked Misao as she took a sip of her tea. "Blah…this is bitter."

"Told you." Megumi drummed her fingertips on the table. "The plans for the wedding are all taken care of. Just waiting for the day to come."

Misao seemed giddy. "Remember the wedding Kimono Otosan brought me that night? I had my final fitting yesterday, or it looks so beautiful. I can't wait for you to see it Kaoru-chan."

Kaoru smiled. "I can't wait either."

Migumi finished her tea with a sigh. "Well I got to go straighten up the clinic before I go to bed."

"Oh! I'll help you unpack!" Misao said, nearly jumpin up from the table and grabbing Kaoru's hand.

"Glad to see your enthusiasm hasn't changed. " Kaoru laughed as she drank the rest of her tea in one gulp as Misao was dragging her away.

"Ugh." Megumi grunted. "You have no idea, it's getting unbearable the closer the wedding gets." But she flashed the girls a smile as she turned down the hall to the clinic. "Night you two, don't stay up too late."

"Night." Kaoru returned as best she could with Misao dragging her back to her old room. There the two girls chatted while Kaoru unpacked. "Crazy day today." Kaoru said, as it suddenly hit her that the whole day was gone and it was dark outside.

"No kidding." Misao said as she pulled Kimono after Kimono out of the trunks. "Wow….these are really nice." Misao said when she had a sea green kimono in her arms. Her fingers were tracing over the fine stitching of the silk. "You were a servant and dressed like this? We don't even dress this nice. Spoiled." Her sister stuck her tongue out at her. "Your master must be loaded."

Kaoru laughed. "I didn't much like wearing them much, they are too fancy for me. But that's what he wanted. I usually got away with staying in my training gi though. But you're right. I was well taken care of and wanted for nothing."

"Figured as much when we got that chest of gold a few days after you were taken away." Misao said as she handed Kaoru the folded Kimono.

Kaoru paused. "What?"

Misao pointed to the back of the room where a small shrine had be erected in her memory. It was disturbing when she first saw it. She had suddenly realized that she had truly come back from the dead where her family was concerned. On one part of the simple shrine was a chest. "A few days after you were gone one of those horses returned and this was left." Misao walked over and opened the chest. It was half full of jewelry and gems.

"Kami." Kaoru breathed as she stepped forward.

"It was full of gold too. But Otosan didn't want anything to do with it. He said it was your blood money, your master's payment for killing you."

"But he didn't." Kaoru whispered as she reached in and scooped up a small palm full of the gems and let them drop from between her fingers.

"Megumi took the gold and used it to help pay for the updated clinic and to help with the wedding. She figured that was what you would have wanted." Misao said in a soft voice.

Kaoru found herself nodding. "I would have."

… . . …

"Kami, Kaoru what is that?!" Misao shrieked.

"What?" Kaoru jumped back from the wooden dressing chest. She had just reached in for her night gown when Misao's cry had her jerking back, thinking there must be a snake or something equally as bad in the chest. But her older sister grabbed the glass lantern and held it closer as she rushed forward and examined Kaoru.

"You've a love bite on your neck!"

"What!?" Kaoru yelped. She had just started undressing to get into her nightclothes and now she was gathering the painted silk back around her, clutching it up at her neck. "Hush," she hissed as she pulled a small hand mirror that was packed with her things. There, just hidden by her kimono was a bruise-like mark on her neck. Kaoru was suddenly assaulted with the memory of her master biting her neck and she blushed many shades of red.

"So he's that kind of "Master" huh?" Misao's face was a mixture of humor and horror.

"No!" Kaoru whirled around to face her sister.

"Hush." Misao scolded.

"It's not like that." Kaoru continued at a lower volume. "This happened just today…it was spontaneous. It was our first kiss." Kaoru insisted but then suddenly remember the kiss they had shared when he was feverish. "He had never touched me before." She added, trying not to remember the petting she had received when he had dragged her into his bed when his fever made him delirious.

Misao had one eyebrow arched and Kaoru knew she didn't believe a word she was saying.

Misao walked over the chest and dug out Kaoru's nightclothes and held them out to her. "Well….tell me about this Master of yours."

So Kaoru told her sister all about her strange master while she dressed for bed. Misao listened carefully as she continued to put Kaoru's clothes away. She seemed fearful upon hearing about his curse and his possession of claws and fangs.

"Your Master is a demon, Kaoru." Misao stated.

"Yes, but he was once a man, and he's gotten much better since I arrived there. It's almost as if he is a man again."

"Yes, but he must of done such horrible things to be cursed so." Misao sighed. "I just want you to be careful. I…" She paused. "I wish you wouldn't go back."

Kaoru firmly shook her head. "No, I won't even consider it. I gave him my word."

Misao sighed again. "You are too loyal." She said, knowing it was useless to argue. "Look at this." Misao held out a rosewood box from one of her trunks which held dozens of pieces of priceless jewelry. "He sure takes care of his servant."

Kaoru gasped at the glittering contents. "I didn't even know that was in there." She took the box. It was full of rings and bracelets and ivory hair combs with pearls and carved jade decorations.

"With such amazing things, why do you wear only that?" Misao pointed at Kaoru's ring.

Kaoru glanced down at the simple band and blood red stone. The moment Himura-sama had given it to her came back as if it just happened minutes ago. "This one is special." Was all she said.

Misao's brows arched as if to say 'Oh, really?' but she stayed silent as she shut the pretty jewelry box and set it away. "It'll destroy Ottosan if you leave." She stated, as if an afterthought.

"I'm going to talk with father later. I know he thinks I've been damned to suffer with my Master; but that just isn't so. He's teaching me to swordfight, he lets me do whatever I want, I have full access to the whole house and grounds." Kaoru paused, that wasn't entirely true. She wasn't supposed to go to her Master's side of the house. But since the fever, it's almost as if he didn't care anymore. Kaoru hadn't ventured over there since just out of respect. "He's never been cruel to me." Kaoru insisted. "He needs me." She added in a softer voice, her fingers moving to cover the blood red stone that seemed to glow in the lamplight.

… . . …

The wedding was the most beautiful thing to happen in the village in a very long time. The fortune Battousai sent to her father as payment for her went not only to the clinic but to the wedding as well and Misao had a sizable dowry now. Nothing was spared for the wedding. Banners hung in the streets, bright lanterns bobbed on the gentle breeze. Large sticks of incense burned at the temple, sending thick wisps of fragrant smoke throughout the street.

Misao was a picture of the prefect bride. She wore the Kimono that her father had brought her. The silk was so white that she seemed to glow with an ethereal light. Her ebony hair was lacquered into perfection and a giant comb trailed beads of pearls down one side of her face. Her face was perfectly painted and kneeling there next to her husband with such a soft and serine look about her that she seemed to become a delicate porcelain doll.

Kaoru wore a kimono of the deepest, bluest sapphire. A simple painting of a bamboo forest rose up from the hem but nothing more. Her thin but strong wrists were encased in silver bracelets adorned with sapphires to match her Kimono. Her hair had been done up in style with a peacock pin with glittering jeweled feathers nestled there.

Kaoru glanced over at her father. The wrinkles that she had seen on his face when she first arrived had vanished over the past two days and he looked so happy and proud watching his middle daughter become a married woman. The wedding with its age old traditions went on for most of the morning and by afternoon everyone nearly rushed into the celebration. Kaoru kept close to Megumi. She was in a pale green Kimono with a striped emerald green obi. Her lengthy hair was also done up with an enameled lotus blossom in her hair. The two sisters followed the crush of people to the large hall where they would celebrate well into the early hours of dawn.

Kaoru stepped away from the crowd to dab at the tears she had been fighting through the whole ceremony. Misao looked so beautiful and so happy, like a dream. Having separated herself from her eldest sister, it didn't take more than a moment before she felt someone slide up beside her.

"Well, the youngest daughter returns."

Kaoru sighed. In all the time away from home she did not forget that voice. She plastered a smile before turning to the man in dark, handsomely made clothes. "Saitou, it's nice to see you again." Kaoru lowered her head and Saitou did the same in return.

"There were rumors." He started.

Kaoru gave a dramatic sigh. "Saitou are you still listening to rumors?"

"Only the interesting ones." He gave a smile that would have been breathtaking if not for the narrow slant in his eyes that gave Kaoru the chills. "When you vanished not long after your father's return the town figured he had sold you off to some rich man in the city. Perhaps to the man who bought his Koi?"

When Kaoru looked away Saitou tipped his head to place himself in her gaze.

Kaoru scoffed and gave the man her full attention. "Ottosan didn't sell me, I left on my own accord."

A thin eyebrow arched in question.

"For training." Kaoru added, her fingers on one hand fiddled with the silver bracelets on the other.

"To be a housewife or a swordswoman?" Saitou asked stepping closer to her.

After living weeks with the Battousai, Kaoru found it impossible to be intimidated by Saitou, even though he loomed well over a foot taller than her. "For both you could say." And with that she slipped away from him to join the crush and left him bemused and with no answers.

… . . …

Three tired figures entered the quiet home just as the dawn sun was starting to warm the air. Kaoru, Megumi and their father, without a word, made their way to the kitchen where Kaoru poked at the coals and added a bit of wood to the stove. She then got to work making tea. Both her father and sister watched her.

"I never thought I'd ever see the day you would make tea." Megumi said as she rubbed an ache away in her lower back. Though tired and well worn out, Megumi still looked perfect and beautiful.

Kaoru's lips turned up in a smile as she silently continued. Her quiet and efficiency had not gone unnoticed.

"You take care of him." Her father said, not needing to refer to who 'him' was.

"Ottosan." Megumi protested in a warning tone.

"It's alright Megumi." Kaoru said as she set three cups on the table. She looked over at her father as she set the steeping tea on the table before folding her Kimono around her knees and kneeling beside the table as well. "I don't take care of him." Kaoru said, much to the shock of both family members. "He has other servants, How many…I don't know. But I find that making tea is a great way for me to calm my nerves when he unnerves me, to relax after sword training and to bond in those moments when we just sit and talk. But I don't ever make tea because he commands me to." She pulled the sleeve of her Kimono back and carefully poured their tea.

Both Megumi and her father were stunned into silence.

"So, he treats you well?" Her father asked after a moment. He took the cup as Kaoru offered it to him.

"Yes, very well." Kaoru confirmed. "I want for nothing." She gave a half shrug as she gave Megumi her tea. "Sometimes it is a bit lonely, but that's all."

"I thought for sure you had gone to your death, or worse." Her father mumbled into his cup.

"So did I." Kaoru poured her tea and watched the liquid swirl and steam. "I very nearly was about to die, but he spared me. I'm not sure if he had planned it all along…"

But their conversation was cut short by a loud banging at the front gates. They heard running footsteps and all three of them jumped from the table just as the kitchen door burst open. Saitou stood, out of breath and covered in blood.

"I saw the light." He explained. "There was an accident after the party."

"Saitou!" Megumi rushed forward but the man waved her off.

"It's not mine."

"Then who's is it, boy?" Gensai shouted.

"They took him to the clinic side." Was all Saitou was able to get out before Megumi and their father rushed out of the kitchen to the other side of the house.

"What happened?" Kaoru asked, rushing over to the sink to soak a wash rag.

"Some stupid fools drank too much. Got into a knife fight. It wasn't anything serious, but one slipped and fell on his blade."

Kaoru winced as she handed the man the wet rag to scrub the blood from his skin. "Take that off." She indicated his gi. "It'll need to be soaked if that blood's going to come out."

The lanky man brushed her hands away, lest she pull the clothing right off of him. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've had to remove blood stains."

Kaoru was about to protest when the kitchen door flew open. Megumi rushed in and grabbed Kaoru.

"We need extra hands! Come with me." And her sister yanked Kaoru out of the kitchen and raced to the clinic. Kaoru's heart was in her throat as she followed her sister down the dark hallways. Already she could hear a man screaming.

The clinic was ablaze with lantern light and Kaoru froze, blinking at the white brightness. A man was on the table with blood gushing from a very deep looking hole in his protruding belly. He was still very drunk and fighting the two men that had brought him there. Her father was quickly trying to bind him with leather straps.

"I've got to give him an injection to calm him down!" Megumi shoved a cotton towel in Kaoru's hands and pushed her to the side of the bed. "But pressure on the wound so he doesn't bleed to death!"

Kaoru did as she was told. It was hard with the man struggling so. He roared like a bear and thrashed. His skin was slick with blood and Kaoru had to work hard to help. Soon the towel was a bloody mess and her hands and arms were covered in sticky blood. But once Megumi plunged a needle into his arm he quickly fell quiet and still. That was when the real work began.

… . . …

The sun was already high in the sky before Kaoru stumbled into her room. After a full day and night with the wedding and a morning spent saving a man's life, Kaoru was ready to drop. She was too tired to even clean up. Her beautiful kimono was covered in blood, her hands and arms were stained. Dried blood cracked around her fingers. But she didn't care. All she wanted was sleep. She saw her bed and collapsed into it. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Megumi walked by and paused at Kaoru's room. The woman was tired, drained but felt good. For they had saved the man's life and he was resting comfortably in the clinic. Megumi peeked in Kaoru's room, her hand busy with a wash cloth. The lady doctor wasn't very surprised to find her sister snoring softly with her limbs hanging off the bed. Her feet were still on the floor. Megumi shook her head. Kaoru never was one to recover well after such adrenaline. This wasn't the first time the girl had to lend a helping hand and she recovered only by sleeping for hours. Megumi sighed and walked in. She fished a nightgown from Kaoru's chest and went to work undressing her sister.

"Kaoru, wake up. You're not sleeping in bed with these bloody clothes." Megumi tried to sound upset, but she too, was just too tired and though Kaoru opened her eyes, she was far from awake. Her eyes shut again as she lifted one arm. Megumi took her arm and yanked the girl upright to work off the Kimono. Kaoru tried to help, but her eyelids were just so heavy and keeping them open made them feel as if they were being scratched by sand. It was much better to close them.

Finally Megumi was able to undress her sister and use the wet wash rag to scrub as much of the blood off her arms as she could. Her hands were a mess, caked in blood; it was even under her nails. Megumi did her best. She noticed the simple ring Kaoru was wearing. It was rust colored from the blood and Megumi worked the band off her finger. A few moments with the rag and Megumi had the blood removed.

"Huh." It was a pretty ring. A bit simple, with a single red stone, but pretty nonetheless. The older sister stood and set the ring in Kaoru's jewelry box and set the box back in her chest before returning to finish the job. Soon Kaoru was a bit more clean and dressed for sleep. Only then did Megumi allow her sister to curl up under the covers where she left her in peace.

A/n Oh Noooos!
Reviews are loved!