So... yeah, this is me trying to make my fic more known... sigh... and also for practice. Spanish is my first language and English is my second, so if I make mistakes in my first language, let's not have too many hopes on my second one LOL

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin does not belongs to me, but I'm still hopeful that someday I would. xD


...PROLOGUE...

"What if it had been Kaoru?"

Kenshin freezes for a second, the question taking him by surprise, not even his usual "oro" making it out of his lips this time. After all, it hasn't been two nights since Kaoru had been rescued from Enishi's hands; there is still an echo in his psyche that makes him feel uncertain. His eyes go to the boy who calls himself the best swordsman in Tokyo.

Yahiko, for once, shares the same seriousness and angst as his idol. There are ghosts in those eyes, Kenshin notes, eyes too old for a boy as young as eleven. And had he been any different? Not really. The ex-samurai has to remind himself that he wasn't the only one who lost her. Which only serves to increase his guilt, a guilt he regrets feeling at the same time.

It is not easy to learn to be selfish when one has lived more than a decade without self-love.

Yahiko moves uncomfortably, noticing the look in Kenshin's eyes.

"And if instead of Tomoe, it had been Kaoru?" He repeats.

Kenshin has to make a huge effort to control the trembling of his heart. The image of Kaoru in the exact place of Tomoe's death, in Tomoe's place… "It's too soon." He tells himself.

It is too soon to even think about a hypothetical scenario. And even more so about one that considers the death of who is now his most valuable person.

But at the same time, he understands why Yahiko asked that question.

Kaoru is not Tomoe's replacement.

Kaoru is not Tomoe.

And that is exactly the question. If Kaoru had been in Tomoe's shoes, would she have died the same as Tomoe? Would she even have betrayed him? And again, he would have to remind himself that even if Kaoru's motto was to protect and not to kill, that even if she had no reason to get involved, her innocence and sincere heart would prevent her from staying out of trouble if she could help someone in need. But, being in Tomoe's place would also imply that Kaoru had loved someone else so intensely that she would have wanted revenge.

Had Kaoru loved someone like that?

Did she love him like that?

A large part of him hoped that she hadn't. That Kaoru would have never been able to harbor a feeling like that. While another part, somewhat selfish, wanted that strong feeling of hers towards him.

"I can't imagine losing her like that Yahiko", he finally answered. 'Although, sometimes I wonder... If the desire to live that Kaoru-dono implanted in me would have been just as strong as now? Or if I had succumbed to the guilt that followed me for ten years with greater intensity?' He thought to himself.

The brunette blinked realizing his mistake.

"You have misunderstood," he told him not without some annoyance. "There's no way that busu would take Tomoe's place; I don't even think she would let herself be killed that easy, to begin with," he assured. Kenshin agreed. "I mean, what if you had met her first?"

Before Tomoe.

"She would have been just a baby, no doubt." Kenshin blurts out the words before he even has to think anything. Kaoru is eleven years younger than him if he was fifteen... "It seems to me that three years is still a baby, without a doubt." This time there is a small hint of a smile on his lips before the blurred image of a small girl with blue eyes shows in his mind.

Yahiko suppresses the urge to roll his eyes.

"Adults are so uncreative," he complains.

"Oro?"

"Imagine, Kenshin," he urges him, "If Kaoru would have been more or less your age. If your fate was to meet each other in Kioto during the revolution... Or maybe even before that instead of here in Tokyo. How far would you have gone?"

He is perplexed, and it shows on his face.

If Kaoru, his sweet Kaoru -so alive and determined- had been a teenager just like him, if he had met her then...

Would there even have been a Tomoe?

And it's not that he loves one less than the other. They are simply different loves. But he has to admit that there wasn't enough time for his first love to really blossom, a young and immature love, clumsy and tragic...

With Kaoru it's different for all the best reasons. Because Kaoru, even despite her own losses, was not broken... And, even having reasons to be, her desire to live, and her love for life itself, was a beacon of intense light that could easily become a home for anyone. And he can't imagine meeting her without falling in love the same as now, no matter how different their circumstances might have been.

Kenshin stays silent. Yahiko stirs anxiously.

"I know this would imply that my story with you would change anyway, but... a part of me has faith that I would find you guys again, one way or another."

And Kenshin understands. There have been many wounds since the formation of their little family. A family by choice, one that despite all the setbacks, remained. Where everyone won, time and time again. Except for one.

Kaoru.

Who opened the doors of her house and the ones of her heart. Who loved them, and cared for each one of them, and who suffered their absence to the same extent.

When he thinks of this, Kenshin feels the need to do more for her. And he understands why the previous events generated this doubt in Yahiko... Enishi could have been himself... if Kaoru hadn't taught him the value of every life.

"Kaoru says that she didn't suffer being there, but -his voice cracks for a moment. Kenshin knows what's going through the boy's mind; he also saw the marks on Kaoru's neck and wrists-, I just want to see her happy - finally confesses- Truly happy."

The rurouni takes the hint, his lips forming a smile that does not reach his eyes just because he feels that he is still not fully worthy.

"I have my goal fixed in my sight, Yahiko. You can count on that."

The boy, not quite a boy anymore, finally seems calm and nods.

For the rest of the night, Kenshin continues to toy with the idea of a hypothetical scenario. 'What if?'

If there is someone who deserves to have such a wish, he thinks, it would definitely have to be Kaoru. With such a big and pure heart that she has, it is normal to discover her desire to heal everyone she loves. And really, it is not a bad wish. It is devoid of bad feelings, possible selfishness, or second motives. No. Kaoru, who has the same aim for life as himself, lives for others. That she has decided to live for him is practically a blessing.

The man lets out the air he had been holding in a breath. He looks up at the starless sky and then spots a light in the distance that flickers and then vanishes. A shooting star, he admits.

"What if?" He thinks.

Kenshin has never been especially religious -although he preserves Japan's Shinto traditions- the truth is that he has rarely stopped to pray in a sanctuary. But for the first time, inspired by a voice in his conscience that tells him he has the right -for all the work of his redemption- to ask for that; Kenshin prays.

And in his prayers, he wished that Yahiko's words were possible... that his destiny with Kaoru had come true sooner.

The storm comes when everyone is asleep. Kenshin ignores the date and what it represents. But above, in the heavens, two deities come together. Two lovers who celebrate their reunion and who, seeing that star of love so latent in the spirit of the rurouni, decide to make use of their divinity and change the course of history.

After all, time is a circle, and not an eternal unerasable line.

This is how history begins to rewrite itself.

But whether it will have a happy ending or become a tragedy remains unknown.


A/N: Uchales... D:

¡Qué paquetote me acabo de aventar! xD