Kenshin turned around and quietly started towards the main
part of the dojo as soon as he caught sight of Megumi and Sanosuke in each
other's arms. Not that stealth mattered. The pair was totally engrossed
with each other.
Sano and Megumi....
He smiled at that. Megumi deserved to find happiness. Though the pair
seemed mismatched, they sparked off each other like fireworks. The arguing,
he had reasoned long ago, was just a cover, a way for them to deny the
attraction. Of course, he never confronted Sano with that fact. Sano just
would have pointed out that Megumi had been pursuing him since the beginning.
Whatever Megumi felt for him, Kenshin blithely ignored. He didn't want
to hurt her if she was serious, but he half thought that she did it to
tease Kaoru. Kaoru's reactions were, in a word, extreme.
Sano had been watching him carefully these past weeks. Kenshin really
didn't blame him. If Sano and the others weren't around, he really didn't
know what would have happened. What he would have done.... Those
first days, it was touch and go. It was hard for him to take that Kaoru
was gone. It was hard for him to accept that he couldn't have saved her.
If
I had been just stayed with her.... If I had been faster.... If I had known....
"I love you, too. So much.... I love you, minna. Take care
of each other."
Kaoru....
Kenshin had found happiness with her. And he had appreciated it when
he had it. He only wished he had been more open with her about his feelings.
He hoped she knew just how much he loved her. After losing Tomoe, he had
learned that losing someone you love hurt more than any battle wound, but
it was still important to feel it. Love made him human, kept him sane.
For 10 years, he didn't let anyone that close to him again. Not until
a slip of a girl confronted him in the streets of Tokyo. He loved her then,
for her courage and spirit. He had not choice in the matter, helpless against
it. It was a different kind of love than the one he felt for Tomoe, but
it was deep. It felt right.
It was Kaoru's words that kept him from going over the edge, her final
request. Grief had burned at him, ate at him, but when he looked up and
saw Megumi and Yahiko, tears streaming down their faces, he fought for
control. He had been helpless. Fate seemed to conspire against him each
time he found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Maybe
it's divine punishment...
He shook off those dark thoughts. If he kept thinking that way, he might
spiral even deeper into depression. Just focus on everyone else. You
aren't the only one suffering.
Then he stepped up to the doors that led into the interior of the dojo's
practice room. He could hear the muffled voices of Yahiko and Tsubame.
Kenshin's eyebrows rose at the words coming from the normally timid Tsubame's
mouth.
"Yahiko! Listen to me. I need this. Don't be so DAMN STUBBORN!"
"Tsubame. I can't teach you. I'm not a master! You don't understand!
I'm still learning my-"
"Oh, SHUT UP!"
Kenshin opened the doors just a bit to peek. Just in case.
Tears were streaming down Tsubame's face. Her eyes looked fierce as
she faced off with Yahiko. Yahiko looked a bit surprised and anxious. Tsubame
was definitely not acting like herself. She suddenly looked mad enough
to actually hit Yahiko.
"Yahiko." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "Of all people, you should
know how it is to feel like you're powerless, without any control of your
life. Kenshin and Kaoru helped you, gave you the power to break free from
the nightmare you were living." Yahiko reached over to wipe the tears away
from her face. She held it to her cheek.
"Tsubame-chan...."
"I need this. Kaoru-san was.... I was thinking about her life. This
made me realize that she lived the way she had wanted. No one else told
her what to do or how to live. She was happy. Yahiko, I want to be able
to choose, the way that she did."
Yahiko stared at her. She wanted to be stronger. She wanted to able
to live as she wanted. Yahiko had no idea that she had felt like that.
Yahiko remembered the first time they had met. Tsubame had been afraid
and he fought to save her. Now she wanted to be able to fight for herself.
"I-I think I understand." Maybe we both need this...
"Good. Yahiko. Help me be stronger. I-"
The door opened with a thud and a redheaded eavesdropper rolled onto
the floor of the dojo.
"Oro-ro-ro~!"
"Kenshin!"
"Ano... I was just walking by to check to see if you were okay. . .
."
"Oh. We're fine. Um, Tsu-tsubame has decided to start training in Kamiya
Kasshin-Ryu."
____________________________________________________________
1999
Sagara Yuukiko wanted to close her eyes and get some sleep. It had been
a long day. She was sick and tired of waking up in the middle of the night
because of those stupid dreams. Sick and tired and a little scared. She
had woken up last night with tears streaming down her face. She didn't
know that anyone could cry in their sleep, but she had been.
Yuukiko hardly remembered what happened in her sleep. Images flashed
in her mind of a handsome man with flowing red hair and a scar on the left
side of his face. His voice speaking gravely to her. His arms around her....
This has been going on way too long. I don't care how unforgettable
that guy is; I have to stop having them. Reality, Yuuki, is a wonderful
thing. He does not exist. He does not exist. He does not exist. And
even if he did, he's been dead for more than hundred years. She sighed
in frustration. She was not going to dream of him!
No more. No more. No more.
Maybe I should just talk to someone about them.
But the dreams seemed so private, personal. She didn't want to tell
anyone else about them. She didn't want to have to share what she felt.
The warmth. The love. Even the sadness. What am I doing? I'm acting
like don't even want them to stop .
Yuukiko sighed again. She was going to go to sleep. If she was going
to dream or not was up to whatever god or angel watched over her. Deep
down, she acknowledged, the dreams were comforting, even if she felt so
emotionally drained afterwards.
As she slipped into sleep, her last clear thought was, The promise.
It is time for it to be fulfilled. It is time. Then the night took
hold.
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