From: "Connie" (4) "Switching Places" Have our favorite couples switch places -- maybe it's a full moon-- Kaoru in Kenshin's body, Misao in Aoshi's body, etc. (Okay, it's silly... but it could be fun... Misao running around as Aoshi? O.o) Oh, yeah, I guess you have to explain how/why it happened, and how they get back to normal (or normal for them). Maybe Kaoru's cooking had extraordinary side effects! (^_~) So sayeth Tae-san, and I could not refuse. I always wanted to write one of these for other series, so why not do it for Kenshin? So here is my semi-serious response. This is a rough draft so I am sure there are plenty of mistakes, please forgive me. I wanted to get this out before crunch time. Let me know what you think. Note: After the switch happens, when I say "Kaoru walked away" I am talking about Kaoru who is in Kenshin's body. When other people besides the one involved in the switch say "Kaoru" they are talking about her body. Does that make any sense? Let me know if it gets confusing. Switching Places By, Connie She looked down at the people in the dojo. It was not a happy place. She was mad to say the least, all of her hard work and nothing had changed. Kenshin was still keeping his distance from Kaoru, Aoshi was unresponsive to Misao's affections and she was fed up. To add to all of this, now there were two foreign girls that were distracting the two men from Kaoru and Misao. She couldn't stand it. Things had to change, but what could she do to change it? As she continued to watch Kenshin do the laundry, a thought hit her. That's it! That is exactly what I will do! They need to learn each other's true feelings. This will work perfectly! She laughed out loud and disappeared from sight. There was a lot she had to do if she wanted her plan to work. * Kaoru sighed as she watched Kenshin do the laundry. He is so sweet, but he makes me soo mad! She thought to herself. How can he ignore my feelings? Maybe he doesn't love me? She didn't want to believe it though, would he have done all that he had done it he didn't care for her? She didn't think so, but still, sometimes she wondered how long she would have to wait until he did something. And now the two girls from Spain were here and the older one was spending a little too much time with Kenshin. She was so lost in her thoughts that she was surprised when she heard Misao speaking o her. "Have you seen Aoshi-sama?" "No, I thought he was with you." Kaoru responded. "He was, but he said there was something he had to do and I have not seen him since. Where could he have gone?" Misao said in exasperation. "I bet he is with that Spanish girl. Grr. She spends way to much time around my Aoshi-sama." Before Kaoru could answer someone arrived at the gates of the Dojo. Both Kaoru and Misao went to see who it was. They saw an old woman standing there holding a basket filled with apples. She had white hair and hazel eyes that seemed to sparkle with mischief. When she saw the two young women she smiled. "I was wondering if which one of you was the owner of this Dojo. I am interested in letting my grandson come here, but I would like to know more about your budo." Kaoru perked up when she heard that. "I am the owner, and I would love to tell you about my budo. Please come in." She turned and led the woman inside of the dojo. They talked for a long time and Kaoru and Misao were having a good time with the old woman. Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Aoshi and Kenshin. As soon as the two of them entered the room, the old woman stood up. "It is about time the two of you showed up. I was wondering how long I would have to wait." Everyone looked at her in surprise. She laughed and in front of their eyes she transformed from an old woman into a young one. She now had long black hair and silver eyes. "Lets get this started shall we. I am sick and tired of the games you all play and I have decided to do something about it." Before any of them could speak, they where surrounded in a golden light. "Now I know you are wondering, who I am and what am I doing to you? Well lets just say that I am somebody who has been watching over the four of you and I have put in A LOT time making sure certain things happen. And I don't like it when things don't go as I want them to." She walked over to Kenshin and Aoshi, "How dense are you, yah you did some bad things in your past, but GET OVER IT. To use a phrase I am sure you are familiar with, AHOU'S!" She then walked over to Kaoru and Misao, "You two deserve a break, sometimes I wonder why I decided to give you two these Ahous. But I don't think you would like Hiko and Enishi, although I do." She laughed, "I can just see it, Kaoru and Hiko and Misao with Enishi, or would it work better the other way around? Nah, the first way would be better." Looking up from her daydream she saw everyone staring at her with frightened looks on their face. "Never mind!" She giggled. "Anyway, here is the deal. I think it is about time this little game you have all been playing stopped. In order to do that I have decided that you should live life as the one you love." She snapped her fingers and the golden light intensified. When it cleared the people in front of her looked at her in confusing. "So Kenshin is now in Kaoru's body, Kaoru in Kenshin's, Misao is in Aoshi, and Aoshi in Misao. You will be able to see the memories of the person's body you are in, and you will also be able to use their fighting techniques. Don't go crazy using them Misao and Kaoru!" She giggled, "If you ever want to get your bodies back, don't tell anyone what happened here. Well I guess that is all! Hope you have a nice time!" She started to disappear before Kaoru, (who was in Kenshin's body) called out, "Matte! How are we going to change back?" "Oops, I forgot to tell you that. You must be true to yourself and the one you love. When you have finally accepted who you are you will change back. But you have to accept both yourself and the person whose body you are now in. Don't think it will be easy, because it won't'! Gambarete!" And with that and a final laugh she disappeared, leaving four confused people behind her. Misao, Kaoru, Aoshi, and Kenshin started at each other in shook. It was disconcerting to see your body move with you not in it. The silence was broken when Misao stood up. "Sugoi, I am sooo tall now!" she exclaimed as she looked around from the new vantagepoint of Aoshi's body. "It's not fair! I am not that much taller than I was before!" Kaoru said as she too stood up. "Well at least you have nice hair!" Misao replied. "That's true, though I don't like the way Kenshin has it tied back." Saying this she reached back and undid her hair. With Misao's help she tied back her red locks in a high ponytail (think Battousai). While the two girls seemed to be enjoying their stay in their new bodies, Aoshi and Kenshin still seemed to be in shock. They continued to sit where they had fallen, staring at their former bodies in horror. "I think you should get the trench coat again. It was very cool. If not, maybe you should start wearing a gi and hakama like I am." Kaoru said. "I don't know about the trench coat, but the gi and hakama sounds good. Let's go buy some now! You can use some new colors beside red all the time." Kaoru nodded and the two were about to leave when Kenshin finally spoke. "Kaoru-dono, Misao-dono what are you doing?" He stood up and started to walk towards them and almost tripped. Kaoru rushed and grabbed him before he fell to the ground. "Kenshin no baka! Be careful with my body!" "Gomen Kaoru-dono, I never realized how hard it is to move in a kimono. It seems so easy when you do it!" "I guess I have it easy since Misao never wears one." Aoshi spoke up. "Aa! Well, are you going to come shopping with us?" Misao asked. "I don't knowŠ" Before Kenshin could finish Yahiko burst into the room. When he saw Kaoru and Kenshin he stopped short. "What is going on here?" Kaoru, realizing that she was still holding her former body dropped Kenshin and backed off. "Nothing Yahiko, why do you ask?" "No reason." He looked at Kaoru. "Anyway I just wanted to tell busu that I will be working late tonight so don't wait up for me!" With that, Yahiko left the room. "Busu! Busu! How dare he call me that!" Kaoru screamed. "Don't worry about it Kaoru, he wasn't talking to you." Misao said. "Besides we better go if we want to get some new clothes." Kaoru nodded her head and the two men walked out of the room. Kenshin stared at Aoshi. "I have a very bad feeling about this." "So do I." Aoshi responded. "I don't think we will ever get our bodies back with the way those two are acting." "Let's go with them before they do something we all will regret." Aoshi nodded and the two of the left the room to follow their bodies.