Summary: When a captured assassin escapes, he takes a hostage along as insurance. Now she has to lead him to safety or he will kill her. Will she be able to ever return? AU. BKK. "She was the girl he had watched from across the fence, he would know her anywhere."

Disclaimer: Kenshin doesn't belong to me. He and all the characters of Rurouni Kenshin were created by the fabulous Watsuki Nobuhiro.

Rating: M

The Dance of the Firefly

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Chapter 2: The Chains That Bind Me

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Two moves. Just two more moves. Katsura narrowed his eyes faintly and waited. Two moves more on the board were all that he needed to win the game and persuade Satsuma to join forces with him. There was complete silence in the room as both leaders stared pensively at the wooden board placed between them. Their respective body guards leaned against the wall, watching but unconcerned with the movement of the stones on the board. Instead, their eyes and ears were tuned into the night, listening and waiting for the slightest whiff of danger. Their swords were resting loosely in their sheaths and their fingers clenched with the strain. The only sound that could be heard was the faint rustle of the breeze as it kissed the rice paper doors, and the insistent chirping of the night cicadas and crickets.

Outside, the winds howled through the bamboo grove. The racing waters of the stream behind the house gurgled and swooshed. The breeze carried the scent of the wet earth to the house. The men sitting inside however, were unaware of the play of the elements beyond the papered walls. Katsura watched the slow dance of shadow and light on the board. The shadows cast by the stones on the board seemed to lengthen and shorten as the flames danced madly in the lamps. He shut his eyes. How had they let things deteriorate to this extent? Blood was being spilt like water in the frenzied dance of the revolution. It had cast the entire nation into chaos. It was time to end the conflict and bring about a resolution. Too many lives had been lost; too much blood had been spent in the fighting. When the reasons and ideals behind a cause are forgotten, those that fight are reduced to puppets; puppets of death and destruction who do not understand their own actions.

Katsura held his fingers to his chin, his eyes darting all over the board, checking if he had left any weakness unguarded, any opening that his rival might seize upon to turn the game around. He allowed himself an infinitesimal smile. He had missed nothing. Every potential danger to his strategy had been effectively contained by his white stones. Satsuma had only one position left to play, only one spot to place a stone, and that one move would seal the game in his favour. Katsura relaxed and took a deep breath. His gamble had paid off. Each stone he had lost in the beginning and every square of territory he had willing conceded to Satsuma during the initial stages of the game would support him now.

The light flickered as a moth dizzily flew towards the flame, dying in a burst of fire the same moment it convinced the flame of its love.

Across the board, Satsuma sighed. He kept his eyes on the board for a few moments before bending his head slowly and conceding victory to Katsura. The tension in the room jumped up a couple of notches while everyone waited for the outcome of today's secret meeting. The game was not merely an idle means of entertainment for the two stalwarts leading the revolution. It was a meeting to strategize, to mend relationships and to strike bargains.

The leader of the Satsuma faction, Saigo Takamori picked up his fan and considered the proposition set before him by Katsura.

"You are exact in your assessment of the situation Katsura-san. We cannot allow this battle to drag any further. Something must surely be done."

Katsura bowed in respect to the older man. "Takamori-san, you are a wise and experienced man. You have seen more battles and have helped resolve more conflicts than I could ever hope to. It is precisely for this reason that I request you to lend us your wisdom and help both the factions of the Ishin Shishi to finish the battle we began for justice, for freedom and for a better world."

Satsuma paused and looked slyly at the younger leader. "You expect me to believe that you are asking for the life of this man for justice and freedom?"

Katsura stilled his movement momentarily before looking at Takamori directly. "Takamori-san, this man is crucial to the success of our goals. His gift is precious. It is not something meant to be wasted in captivity. Your men are held captive at the same village as mine. At this point in time, we must attempt to free them, not allow them to rot away in the prisons of the shogun. Surely, you recognize the validity of this request."

"Request?" Satsuma swooped in on Katsura's words. He was prepared to latch on to anything that would allow him to leave the meeting with an advantage over the younger leader.

Katsura understood. He clenched his teeth inwardly, but he forced himself to smile politely. "You are a guide and an ideal to us all, Takamori-san. I request you to help free my men from that prison. I know you will not disappoint me."

Satsuma smiled broadly. He picked up his fan and held it against his cheek in a gesture that would have seemed elegant on another man, but ended up looking ridiculous on him. Katsura maintained a straight face. He waited for an answer.

"You possess a silver tongue Katsura-san." For all his bulk, he moved nimbly and stood up smoothly. His bodyguard moved in a flash and appeared beside him.

Katsura stood up and waited. Satsuma smiled once more. "Do not fret Katsura-san. Our men will not remain in that prison for long. By the way, may I know the name of the person you would like rescued from that garrison?"

"Himura. Himura Kenshin."

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The night had fallen silent. When the final call of a night bird was heard, the men straightened and prepared to leave. Katsura looked ahead at the trail they were following. It was one of the many weaving paths leading back to the lodging town they had stopped at on their way to Nara. He was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. Satsuma could not go back on his word now without completely dishonoring himself. He smiled. Soon. Very soon Kenshin would be free and the madness that had emerged from the fires they had lit to oppose the shogunate would be quelled.

"Katsura-sama!" His lieutenant spoke up from behind him. Katsura turned and looked at him. The man seemed to be struggling with himself, unable to decide whether or not to speak. He stopped in his tracks and waited for him to speak.

"Katsura-sama, you should not have allowed them such a liberty. They do not respect you and honour you as they should."

"What are you talking about Yamada?"

"Takamori-sama was trying to patronize us by suggesting that he was risking his men to rescue Himura-san. Even he cannot be unaware of the importance of Himura-san to this revolution. Takamori-sama cannot pretend as if he does not even know who Himura-san is!"

Katsura smiled. "Is that all you're worried about? I had thought it was something serious." Having said that, he turned and began walking once more. Yamada stared after his lord in confusion.

"Katsura-sama! How can you shrug it off so easily? It's a slight on your honour."

"You seem to be more concerned about my honour than I am," he replied, a bemused smile lingering on his face. Yamada blushed.

"I beg your forgiveness Katsura-sama. I forgot my place." He stepped back in line behind Katsura with his head bent, and his eyes downcast. Katsura walked on silently for a few paces. He stopped suddenly.

"Yamada, when the wind blows fiercely and the storm grows stronger, the tree that does not bend shall snap and break, despite its strength. Think of my silence today as the bending movement of a tree that must kneel before the storm to hold its head high the following dawn."

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The musty smell of rotting leaves and the damp, dank walls was all around him. It crawled under his skin and interrupted the train of his thoughts. It forced him to look around and notice that he was a captive. It would not let him think. It would not let him sleep. The overpowering sense of being underground and in the hands of the enemy disoriented him. He had lost his centre, and he was beginning to feel giddy and delirious. He felt as though he had spent all the days of captivity drinking raw sake. His mind would not clear and his thoughts were muddled. He feared that his fingers were growing numb with every day that passed.

Kenshin sighed. He looked down at his feet. The guards usually took the iron ball off when they dumped the prisoners back in their cells. They hadn't bothered to check his (lack of) chains, but he knew better than to get hopeful because of it. They hadn't forgotten him. They had taken his shackles off only to return with heavier chains and clasped a much heavier sphere of iron around his left ankle. His lips twisted into a wry smile. He had only himself to blame after all. He had seemed happy; carelessly overjoyed the last time they had been let out. The guard had apparently failed to sleep on his watch and he had not been amused.

He had thrown caution to the four winds by laughing like that. The guards could forgive him any insolence but they could not forgive him his laughter. It was an act that robbed them of their dignity and purpose. They were there to guard the prisoners and make sure that they were broken. Laughing suggested that he was not taking them seriously. It meant that he was not afraid, that he had not yet been wrecked.

He sighed again. He really ought to be more considerate. He should at least pretend that he was repentant. Maybe then, they would give up on their pathetic attempts to destroy him. It was becoming a nuisance, an embarrassing one at that.

He lifted his eyes suddenly. A shuffling sound was coming from the cell next to him. He turned towards the wall. Darting a quick glance at the guard stationed in front of his cell, he slowly moved his hand to the shackle on his ankle. Gripping the thick chain firmly with his fingers, he lifted the iron ball up off the ground. He knelt and nimbly moved towards the wall. Once there, he dropped the chain, and fell back against the wall behind him. The guard turned.

Kenshin half shut his eyes and affected a look of extreme exhaustion. He hung his head haggardly, leaving his shoulders slack and letting his hands fall limply to his sides. The guard watched him coolly for a few seconds, a triumphant smile ghosting over his lips. He turned and stared ahead once more, his shoulders straight and proud. Apparently, the knowledge that the troublesome prisoner was weak and tired from the strain of pulling his shackles had warmed his heart and courage.

Kenshin opened his eyes once more. He smirked as the guard turned his back on him once more. He shuffled even closer to the wall on his left, and pressed his ear against the damp earthen wall. There it was again!

It was very faint, but it was there. Someone was scratching away at the wall, using fingers to scrabble away at the wall that separated the cells. The noise stopped. Kenshin strained his ear against the wall. His shoulder felt cold. The wall was damp. He wondered who the prisoner in the cell next to his was. It had to be someone they had caught recently, because the older prisoners would not even dream of trying to escape. They didn't dare think about escape anymore. They weren't waiting for an opportunity, but for death.

A few heartbeats later, the scrabbling sound of shifting earth began anew. Kenshin smiled. This could become interesting, if there was someone else who was just as eager to leave the garrison as he was, then it would be possible to get out sooner. He waited. If it continued like this, his neighbor would soon carve a way through the wall and then they could talk about getting out of here.

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Kaoru pushed the gate open carefully. It was very old and rickety; just a few bamboos lashed together with twine. If she had used any more force on it, it would have crumbled. She silently walked through the yard and opened the door to the house. Shutting the door firmly behind her, she turned around to find her father seated in the middle of the room, near the fire. Tae was sitting across him, looking nervously at her. Kaoru's heart sank. What had happened now?

Her father stared at her with hard, accusing eyes. "Where have you been? The other garrison workers left an hour ago. Who were you with? What took you so long? Are you an imbecile? Can't you judge what time it is?"

"I…I'm sorry. I...I was helping Misao clean out her yard."

"Why?" he sneered at her. "Is she paying you for it?"

"No…."

"Then what were you doing there?" Koshijuro spat out in fury.

"I … was just helping, father."

He smirked, a contemptuous glint lighting up his eyes. "Helping? Helping who? I heard her cousin is visiting. Did you think you might have a chance with him if you helped her?"

Kaoru stared at her father in shock. Pain welled up in her eyes. "Father! No…I would never…"

"You would never do something like that?"

"No…never."

"I see the way you look at him. It's disgusting. You think you stand a chance with him? How pathetic! A boy like him wouldn't even look at you twice. How dare you even think about him?"

"But father, I'm not!"

"Enishi is going to be a great man someday. Don't even think of ruining his chances by trying to know him in that way. You are worth nothing!"

"But father….it's not like that at all."

"Silence! Don't insult me by talking back or I'll beat you black and blue, do you hear me?"

Kaoru held her breath. She felt the air stinging in her eyes. Swallowing, she looked at her father once more.

"I have never shown you any disrespect father, and Enishi is…."

"Don't you dare take his name! You aren't even fit to be the dirt clinging to his robes. And if you can't stop, then go and beg him to take you as his concubine. He's the son of a nobleman, keeping a whore is no great matter for him. That's all you're worth anyway. You're nothing but a slut, just like your mother!"

Tae gasped. "Koshijuro, please don't say things like that. She's your daughter!"

""Quiet! She's no daughter of mine. She's a taint on the name of my family. And you would do well to remember that. Do you understand me?"

He stood and walked towards the door. Pushing Kaoru violently out of the way, he shoved the door aside and left the house. Kaoru shrank into herself. She pulled her knees to her chest and buried her head in her arms. She breathed quick and hard, gasping to try and stop the tears that were flooding her eyes. Tae sat down near her and tentatively placed her hand on Kaoru's head.

"Kaoru…"

Kaoru shook her head vigorously and tore away from Tae's arms. She didn't want to be comforted. There was no comfort, no consolation for her. Her own father believed that she was worthless, and not just that, he believed that she was nothing more than a whore. Kaoru ran out. She leaned against the wall, breathing hard and blinking, praying that this time the tears would not fall. She walked around the house till she reached the bamboo grove. Crying piteously, she fell to her knees. She sobbed loudly and banged her fist on the ground, creating a depression on the supple earth. Her fingers clawed at the earth, shaking with the strain she was putting on them. She shivered and then lay still. Sniffing once or twice, she wiped her nose on her sleeve and slowly sat up, leaning against the wall of the house. Kaoru stared up at the grey sky.

"Why does he always have to be so bitter, so cruel? Why does he hate me so much? Why couldn't you just kill me with mother?" She spoke in a whisper, directing her words to the empty firmament. Her tears mingled with the thousands of raindrops racing down from the heavens. The rain washed her sorrow away; it seeped into her clothes and gently lulled her to back to a place of calm.

Kaoru watched the raindrops fall from the sky, each seemed to swirl and skate on the air, beating down on the ground. She turned her head lethargically. A bellflower was defiantly jutting out of the ground. The rain was violently trying to force it to bend and break under the pressure, but it didn't break. Kaoru blinked. She reached out and held her hand over the delicate flower.

Her thoughts flew back in time to a golden afternoon; she had been lying on the bank of the river. Her fingers entwined with his, his eyes fixed on her face, trying to commit every inch of her face to memory. His fingers playfully curled around her hair. Her face was flushed; shyness and embarrassment colored her cheeks red, but he wouldn't look away.

"You're like a flower Kaoru. One that smiles even in the rain."

"Enishi…."

"I know I have no right to ask you this right now, but…when I return from my journey, will you be mine?"

She sat up, pulling her hand away from his, she stared at him incredulously.

"Enishi, you…you can't be serious…"

"I love you Kaoru, and I want to marry you. Why wouldn't I be serious about it?"

"But…what about your family?"

He smiled and pulled her back into his arms. He kissed her temple and whispered into her ear, "let me worry about them, they won't object, I will see to that. You just take care of yourself while I'm gone. A year will pass in no time, and when I return, I'll make you mine".

She drew her hand back. As the rain returned with new force, the flower crumpled and fell back onto the ground, crushed.

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The small piles of dirt that sat innocuously at the foot of the wall in his cell were the only signs that something was amiss. The guards however, had failed to notice it. Surely, the fighting outside had intensified. The better fighters and more alert wardens had all been sent out. Kenshin fervently hoped it stayed that way. Two days ago, the prisoner in the next cell had managed to scrape away enough at the wall, so that he could be heard. He had been sent by the Ishin Shishi. His comrades were responsible for causing the disturbance that had drawn out the garrison's forces.

Tsujai had explained everything to him. There was a mole inside the garrison who would help them escape the fort but once they were out of the garrison walls, they were on their own. Getting back to the Ishin Shishi when they were so deep inside enemy territory was not an easy task, but they would have to find a way to do it. There was another mole at the village. He was one of the shogun's men, whose loyalties lay with the shogun but whose purse was lined by the Choshu faction.

Kenshin flexed his fingers. He had not lost his strength in captivity. His hands and fingers had not yet forgotten the rhythm of the sword as it sliced through flesh and bone. He was the foremost hitokiri of the Ishin Shishi, and would remain so till the day he died. There was no man, no prison that could hold him for long. There was nothing that bound him but his belief in Katsura and the certainty that a new world would be born from the blood he spilt. A world where lord, vassal and peasant would be equal, where a person would be worth more than his weight in rice, where a woman would not be sold to pay her family's debt, and a mere child would never be forced to pick up a sword and become a murderer. His dream would live in the society that the revolution would create.

And till that dream was fulfilled, he would not die, would not bruise, and would not hurt. He was invincible for that world. He would live for it, readily die for it.

"Tomorrow Kenshin, we escape tomorrow."

Tsujai's raspy voice rang in his ears. He bent his head. His hand moved to the side, where the hilt of his sword would have rested. He stood. Imagining that his katana was at his side, he moved forward, loosed it in the sheath and swung a wide arc across the iron bars of the cell. He held his position for a few seconds before dropping the stance once more.

Tomorrow….I wonder if she'll come before I leave….

Author's Note

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who read and reviewed this story. Your reviews have given me many moments of happiness and encouragement. It's so easy to give up and forget about writing, but all of you helped to keep me and this story going. Thank you.

Okay, for those of you who have suddenly gotten panicked, no I have not become corny overnight. Heh. This chapter took a long time in coming but I hope you all like it. Please review, whether or not you like it. Because any improvement, addition or omission to the story, is done only on the basis of your reviews. So if I don't know what you want/need from the story, I can't do anything about it.

And anyone who is also reading Love, Lies and Empire and The Battousai's Return can rest assured, updates are on the way!!!!