DISCLAIMER!: Not mine, don't own them, like them alot, though, please don't
sue.

Spoiler for manga
19 and above.

SEVERE WARNING:
If you don't like Tomoe, go away this very moment. I'm not trying to be rude,
I'm just trying to prevent unnecessary blood convulsions... I know how
extremely and vehemently some of you guys are against her.

But too bad she had to be my favourite character, okay? ^_^x

----------
Till death do we part...
   Won't you wait for me?
   A Kenshin x Tomoe fic for Rurouni, Sano, Kawaii-san and the K.F.C.
----------

	Tomoe was jolted out of concentration when the string in her needle
broke all of a sudden. She widened her dark and tired eyes, then put down
her sewing equipment.
	Gently rubbing her eyes, she stifled a yawn. The sky had darkened
considerably from when Kenshin had left the small hut, but there was still a
pale streak of sunlight entering from the small creak in the door. The girl
stood up and moved towards the light source. Gently, she pushed the door
open.
	Autumn was approaching.
	Had it been so long... ?
	She could vaguely place the day they got married. She couldn't even
remember how she felt then. But it wasn't any wonder. She could never manage
to show her emotions the proper way. She knew she wasn't devoid of them, she
just couldn't manage to... that was one thing which made her unpopular among
the villagers here, but she wasn't ready to argue anyone on that.
	If she couldn't show how she felt, she wasn't going to be
hypocritical. At least one thing she knew, was that in spite being completely
cold on the outside, she was frank and she did not lie to anyone with her
facade, no matter what they all thought was lurking behind her face.

	Outside, the lonely path remained deserted... isolated...

	Silently, Tomoe shut the door and prepared for the night. Kenshin had
gone to the mountains to try his hand for a medical herb growing there. Tomoe
had, despite herself, put up a mild and hardly noticable protest. Kenshin
went straight on with a smile and a promise that he would be back before
nightfall.

	The winds began to howl.
	The path leading to the house remained deserted...

	It wasn't that Kenshin had grown obsessed of his secret identity, it
was just that there had been sightings of wild wolf-like creatures roaming
around the peaceful village lately. And they left their mark of destruction
on two unsuspecting children who had wandered into the forested mountains,
meaning to play.
	They had come running home screaming and shrieking; clothes torn and
face smeared with their own blood.
	For the next few days, they were down with a fever. It wasn't until
the third day that they began to get pretty incoherent. They began to sprout
gibberish, and when Kenshin had a chance to look at them the next day, they
had completely lapsed into instability.
	That had sparked off Kenshin's inspiration. He decided to go for the
kill.

	Tomoe only wished he had brought something more than a grass sickle.

	She looked down at her uncompleted handiwork. She had been trying to
patch up Kenshin's gi, and at the same time putting together a few pieces of
cloth for a new kimono.
	Biting her lips, she began her work again. She wanted it to be
perfect. There was an unknown force driving her from within, and she did hope
it would be done before nightfall...
	... when had she started wanting to please anybody?
	Perhaps it would remain as a mystery forever, this feeling.
	But as long as she loved it, she would continue with it.

	Pushing all brooding thoughts aside, she began threading her needle.

	Kenshin gasped and let out a huge sigh of relief as he finished his
perilous climb up one of the smaller mountains near the village he was
currently staying in.
	"That was terrible." Kenshin said aloud to nobody in particular,
wiping his brow free of perspiration as he glanced down. "I'm never going to
do this again, if I can help it."
	Grumbling silently, he followed the narrow ledge curving into an
upwards slope. It gradually eased into a wider path which led into a clearing
of some sort. Kenshin glanced at the other edge of the clearing. A huge cliff
towered over him. Vegetation of all sorts prospered on the cliff face as
Kenshin hurriedly scanned the area.
	Something rustled behind him.
	He whipped around, sickle in hand, meaning to take out the beasts
which have been terrorizing the village for days now. He darted his well
trained eyes around. The area was not dark, although it could very well be,
now that the sun was setting. A few more routine checks at the clearing and
he dropped his guard. Perhaps the wolves were asleep today.
	Well then, Kenshin decided, I'd better take this as my break and
take the herbs quickly.
	He turned to face the cliffwall.
	His target wasn't far off the ground. He could easily reach it by
using his sickle as a climbing tool. He smiled at the simplicity of it all,
at the same time feeling edgy. Nevertheless, he came for something, and he
had to get it.
	He began his ascent.

	When he had finished filling up his small herb bag with what he had
been looking for, Kenshin dusted his hands and hurriedly shut the bag firmly.
He wasn't going to risk any of the plants during his way down; there were
two families looking forward to his return now...
	*Only two families?* Kenshin asked himself. Somehow, he couldn't help
but wonder why he asked that. Nothing came to his mind at that moment. And
nothing could, for as soon as he touched ground, four pair of ominous looking
red eyes glared at him from their hiding places within the bushes.
	Kenshin grasped the sickle in his hand tighter. He narrowed his eyes
into slits, glaring back at the wolves as they slowly emerged into his sight.
	He swung his herb bag backwards, doing a quick assessment of his
situation. He could leap past them, but where would he leap to? The ledge he
came from was narrow and wouldn't be able to help him much in beating a
strategic retreat. There seemed to be no other way out, so...
	... Kenshin noticed that one of them had sneaked by his side while he
was lost in thought. They all growled and snared, seemingly angry at him for
having intruded their territory. Dry foam caked their mouth and Kenshin
lowered his stance even further.
	One suddenly leapt from his front with a bark. Kenshin was startled,
but only for a while. With an expert swing, he knocked the flying wolf out of
the air with his sickle, leaving him whimpering in the floor. The other three
immediately dove towards him to cover for their friend. The young killer
tried to remain calm as he managed to kick one of the earth-bound wolves
aside. He swung; and missed, at the next one.

	The sun had set.

	The sheer power and stamina of the wolves forced Kenshin back into
the cliffwall. But he refused to give up. There was something nagging at him
in the back of his head, that his first priority was to get himself out of
danger before thinking about anything else, but he didn't know where it came
from. In an act of desperation, he threw his sickle like a dart towards one
of his target. He was rewarded with a crunch of the sickle connecting with
some fleshly thing.

	Tomoe stared at Kenshin's set of daisho, a slight frown on her face.

	Kenshin cursed, and wished he had brought his set of daisho along
with him. Wolves weren't usually so troublesome, but of course, rabid wolves
were another matter. He decided that he had enough, and had to flee.
	Something attacked him from behind. Fortunately, Kenshin managed to
evade a direct bite from the wild beast. Unfortunately, his herbal bag's
straps broke, and crashed onto the floor. The beast didn't seem interested in
that, however. It made another leap at Kenshin.
	Kenshin violently swung his elbow and tossed the beast to one side.
Realizing the lack of light was not going to his benefit, he found the herbal
bag, kicked it into a messy heap of cherry shrubs nearby and turned back to
the wolves.
	They flew at him again.
	And he ran straight into their formation.
	It wasn't that hard, after all. There were only two left. All he had
to do was to make sure that he made the village safely to inform them of the
whereabouts of the herbs, then he could pass out without worries.
	But not now! He stubbornly told himself to move on. The winds brushed
against his face, howling within his ears. He broke free of the clearing and
ignored the sheer drop he had to face if he challenged the narrow ledge now.
He prepared to edge his way.
	A determined wolf pushed out of the clearing and almost went over the
edge of the ledge, but stopped just in time. His companion had not followed.
The wolf continued to snarl at Kenshin.
	He dashed forward and snapped his jaws on an unsuspecting Kenshin's
ankle.
	Kenshin gave a shout, as pain sheared through his every fibre of
existence. He violently blinked away the tears of excruciating pain, before
making a grab at the wolf, still on his ankle.
	He hated wolves. He had always hated wolves.
	Tearing the dastardly thing off his ankle, he put up with the pain,
and threw the thing off the cliff; after which he slammed backwards into the
ledge's wall.
	Blood seeped through his clothes. He could hardly move his leg.
	He didn't know how long it continued, but he numbly ignored all
warning signals the body had screamed at him, asking him to stop. He had one
goal in mind, the village... and...
	... and...

	*The fresh blood of darkness...*

	*... a small, white kimono and a violet coloured shawl...*

	*... those, and that dark pair of mystic eyes - *

	Kenshin's eyes widened. He gaped, and tried to say something, but
darkness engulfed him before recognition ever hit him.
	He staggered one more step, unsure of where he was, before finally
collapsing to the ground.

END PART 1

5/3/99
bread@bread.freeservers.com