i love it! thank you!

This was beautiful... At first I thought maybe something happened to Kaoru, but I didn't want to believe it. I'm glad it has a happy ending, because God knows these characters earned it. Made me cry, but I thank you for that.

Beautifully sad or sadly beautiful I really couldn't tell but surely it is beautiful.

As I was reading this, another story popped in my mind. I thought this sounded like "Only Waiting," a story I found delectably painful. I was haunted by that story ever since I read it. And you would imagine my great surprise to learn it was written by the same author! I really applaud your writing skill.

I should say that you got a big hit on me. I was terribly sad in almost the entire course of the story; especially the part where Kenshin contemplates about his wife thorugh his son... I agree, you are evil! haha.

The story made me feel like my heart was ripped open and you just have to be generous enough to put salt and lime juice on it. Hahah. I was just... I bought it hard core!

Thank you for sharing this beautiful story. It would now be one of those unforgettable ones that I will recall whenever I want to have a good read. I love Kenshin and Kaoru and I always thought they should be given a better chance in life. And together sounded good. A loving son would be better. And a peaceful family life in love is the best gift.

I hope to read more from you. Thanks again.

...Well, if your aim was to unsettle the reader, you did an amazing job. Up till the very end I thought that Kaoru was dead and Kenshin and Kenji were wandering alone and God, I thought that KENSHIN was dead because of the poison, and my heart hurt and I was going to throttle your for writing such heart-wrenching angst for a character who has already experienced so many bad things in his life... And I even cried and thought I would be recovering for several hours from the onslaught of negative emotions and once again I wanted to kill you for writing such a damn sad story... But then you went and turned the tables and I was so HAPPY that I just had to review, and I don't do that very often... So consider yourself lucky. This was one HELL of a story.

this is amazing! i can't believe someone can write this! it was an absolutely beautiful piece of work! thank you!

nice story... really liked it... good job... great work!

I love your writing style and characterization :)

Very melancholic, but amazing story!

I really, really like how Kenshin tells his son to be better than him. It's very in-line with his character.

Great fic, recommended to me by skenshingumi. The only problem I have with it is that Kenji seems to act older than his age; I think he ought to be at least seven, not five (and swords are heavy!). But the whole image of the rurouni pushing a baby cart along with his young son in it was really sweet, and you did a good exploration of Kenshin's feelings on being a rurouni and especially on being an aging swordsman. It's kind of nice to see Kenji actually liking his father, and I'm also very glad that Kaoru is not dead. :)

Well written! And I'll admit that you did achieve your goal well enough to "mislead" me (I used quotes because Kenshin was "misplaced" and I "mislead"). Excellent job on the action and emotional appeal, too. I would have it no other way.

One thing though... realistically, could a young boy, who's age be counted on one hand, carry/wield a sakabatou or any sword for that matter? Just a question. The fact that he could bravely care what I'm sure was a heavy sword make it all the more cute Protecting his father with all his might. Very loving.

One last thing...I think you would do fabulous if you did a gory scene. Maybe do a Holocaust scene where Kaoru is a Jew and Kenshin a hired nazi who works with Aoshi and Saito. Enishi being the leader (and in case anyone reads this and thinks it sounds familiar it does. I was on another website before all the data was lost and the author never continued or even brought it back up)...Just a suggestion, though. Open to anyone at this point.

you sure fooled me. I thought had kaoru died or something. great story, I really enjoyed it. congratulations on a job well done!

a great little story

*grin*

3 days later

*grin*

I loved this. At first, I thought that maybe Kaoru had died... Phew! I'm glad she didn't. Our little rurouni would be heartbroken...

lovely story.

Kenshin's heartache at feeling like a rurouni again was touching, especially since it was unclear at the start whether or not he actually became one again or not.

Nicely written.

Bravo; you certainly succeeded in keeping my off-balance. At first, I thought it was set pre-Tokyo during his wandering years. Then, when it finally clicked that this was after he'd met Kaoru, I had this horrible feeling that something had happened to Kaoru and things had taken a turn for the worse.

Very well played. The scene at the end was especially touching :)

- Shinjin

Gorgeous story. I was worried at first that Kaoru was dead, but I like the way you put her in xD