-

in the painful days my heart cried
the love that was torn to pieces always fluctuates
there is nothing I want, I stay with you
and lose all, stand still
close to the moon
lose all, we will go
please stay with me
and lose all go and sail the sea
I've never gone in the sun

- the sliver shining
by L'Arc~en~Ciel

Epilogue: Sunlight Breaking Through

"Mou! Aoshi-sama! Wait up!" Misao called as she attempted to
run towards him. Her feet refused to run after all the
stress they had been through. The walk to Kyoto in her
condition had been rough on her entire body. She was so
tired- and here Aoshi was, speed-walking through the streets
of Kyoto. He was the one that told her 'stay close to me.'
Misao scowled at the flowing trenchcoat that seemed to be
moving further away from her by the second. "AOSHI-SAMA!" She
shouted, having her fill of not being answered.

Aoshi whirled around, panicked by her scream. He rushed over
to Misao's side and wrapped his hand around her waist. "What?
What is it? What happened?"

"You left me in the dust Aoshi-sama! Mou!" Misao steamed.
Gently, she stretched her back, trying to relieve some of her
exhaustion. "You need to slow down. Jiya isn't going
anywhere."

Raising an amused eyebrow, Aoshi tightened his grip around
Misao, patting her on her stomach, which looked very odd on
her petite figure, even if she was wearing a kimono. Even
after Kaoru's multiple reassurances that her figure would
return back to her in no time with her usual lifestyle, Misao
still hated the fact that she was becoming rounder. And
hated even more that Aoshi loved to put it in her face
whenever the moment struck him to. Aoshi wasn't the one that
had someone kicking him HARD in some organ every five
minutes.

A smug grin came across Misao's face.

'Just wait, Shinomori- you'll get your payback. As soon as
this baby is born, I'll be kicking you in YOUR organs every
five minutes and see how you like it.'

"I'm sorry." Aoshi whispered into her ear, driving Misao mad
with a sense of lust.

'Damn. He always finds a way to get me calmed down. He's just
like Himura. Too bad we're walking in a public street.' She
thought to herself with a devilish grin.

Aoshi loosened his grip, stepping next to Misao and putting
his hand on her back. "I'll stay by your side, okay?"

Purring, Misao nudged her head against Aoshi's arm. "If we
walk up to the Aoiya like this, I think Jiya would have a
heart-attack." She giggled, nudging Aoshi in the arm.

"Why should he?" Aoshi questioned, not finding any humor in
her statement, as usual. "I promised him I would return with
you."

Misao wryly eyed Aoshi, "Yeah, but I'm sure you imagined that
I would be kicking and screaming all the way home, ne? And
not to be carrying-"

Not answering, Aoshi began to walk again. Since his hand was
on her back, he forced Misao to walk as well. She shot a
playful glare at Aoshi. It seemed she had struck a chord.
"Why exactly did you leave Misao, you never actually told
me." he coldly asked, his eyes set on the Aoiya which was
about a hundred feet in front of them.

Stiffening, Misao paused in her forced stride, making Aoshi
stop as well. She swallowed hard, trying decide whether she
should tell him the truth or not. Would he get offended if
she told him that she left because of HIM? After all- he was
the source of her running away, that and the baby. Her lips
trembled as she began to open her mouth.

However, she was interrupted by a far away call-

"MY PRETTY!"

Both Aoshi and Misao's heads turned forward, seeing a
stampeding Okina approaching with a great speed. Both their
hands went up in the defense as they shouted, "No no no no no
no!"

Too late. Okina already had the both of them locked in the
Okina SPECIAL hyper hug. Both Misao and Aoshi sighed in
unison. They should have seen that coming.

Letting out a hardy laugh, Okina lightened his grip on the
two, pulling back and smiling from ear to ear. "Ai-ya, I
should probably be more careful with the mother-to-be, ne?"
His laugh grew louder as he rubbed Misao lightly on the
stomach. Misao scowled. She hated when people did that. The
only person she didn't mind touching *there* was Aoshi- and
that was for obvious reasons.

Just as Aoshi was about to agree with Okina, and tease Misao
a little more, he froze.

He didn't mention Misao's pregnancy to Okina in his letter
he sent before he left they Himura house, and Misao wasn't
showing THAT much.

Aoshi raised his eyebrow and asked, "Okina, you knew?"

Okina laughed and patted Aoshi hard on the back. "Well of
course I knew! I wouldn't allow her leave for no reason at
all!"

"I see.." Aoshi said, his cold voice returning to him. He
eyed Misao suspiciously, probing her with his eyes for an
answer. Why? If she knew, why didn't she tell him?

Instead of answering any questions, Misao simply turned away
from Aoshi and smiled to Okina. "Are the others home? I want
to go say hello. Gods, it's been so long since I have seen
them!"

Laughing again, Okina patted Misao softly on the back and
nodded, leading her back to the Aoiya. "Of course my pretty!
We've all been waiting your arrival. They want to see the
mother-to-be!" A proud grin spread across Okina's lips. His
Misao had finally returned home.

Everyone knew? His feeling that something was being kept
from him before he had left the Aoiya was correct. Aoshi
narrowed his eyes to the two figures leaving. He did not like
things being hidden from him. Especially important things,
such as Misao being PREGNANT.

'Keep cool Shinomori. She had to of had a very good reason
for not telling you and running off to Himura. But you can't
force her to tell you. Misao has to of her own free will.'

Biting his lip, he knew that his conscience was right.
Silently, Aoshi followed Okina and Misao to the Aoiya,
following them like a looming shadow.

-

Two months flashed by for Aoshi. Time seemed to move in a
blur. How did the saying go? Time always passes so quickly
when you are happy, which is exactly what was the case. The
wedding-everything-just seemed to have happened in the blink
of an eye. Including the course of Misao's pregnancy. It
seemed as if every day another month had passed.

Aoshi sighed as he meditated. It had been a while since he
had actually left the Aoiya to go pray at the temple. It had
been a while since he had gone ANYWHERE, for that matter.
Misao's well being was constantly on his mind. He was so
afraid that something would happen if he left- or if he and
Misao traveled together somewhere, something would happen and
he wouldn't be able to do anything. Therefore, he stayed at
home, and forced Misao to do the same. Oh he knew she was
isolated, and how much she wanted to go outside- but it was
too cold now that winter had come. It was too dangerous. What
if she slipped on the ice and hurt herself?

'Gods.' Aoshi sighed again. 'I never thought I would be
worrying so much over her.'

Of course he used to worry about her before this whole thing
happened, but now he was just paranoid of every little thing.
And it was driving both he and Misao insane.

Padded feet walked through the hallway at a very slow pace.
Aoshi broke his concentration, or lack of it, and glanced at
the door. Before it even opened he knew it was Misao. She was
the only one in the Aoiya who walked so slow.

That hadn't always been the case. Before she left, those
eight months ago, he could always tell Misao was approaching
from her pounding footsteps speeding through the halls, and
the occasional vase falling to the ground and breaking. Gods
how he missed hearing her run through the halls those weeks
after she ran away. He always expected her to come running
through the Aoiya, bust into his room and shout 'I'm home!
I'm home Aoshi-sama!' And everything would have been back to
as it should have. Not that he didn't like what Father Time
had granted him. A child along with Misao. How could he ask
for anything more? He had lost so much time, pretending to
be strong and hiding away in his shell. What was it all
worth? Nothing at all. He had almost lost her- forever.

"Aoshi?"

Aoshi's eyes widened as he still had his back facing her. Her
voice had even grown more mature as her pregnancy progressed!
He slowly turned to his wife, his normal catatonic expression
on his face. However, his eyes were now full of a brightness,
something they had lacked since the murder of his four best
friends. "Nanda?" He asked, the sides of his lips curving
into a very small smile as he eyed Misao's body. She stood in
their bedroom doorway, her face wearily smiling at him. Her
right hand was cupped around the bottom of her _very_ round
belly and her left arm supporting the middle of her back.

It was a sight.

Aoshi immediately remembered what the doctor had told him not
three days ago after a 'false alarm'. He had informed
everyone at the Aoiya that if the baby was not born soon,
Misao would be bed ridden until it was. She was too small to
handle the weight of the baby, and her body could not just
take the stress. Of course Misao would hear none of it,
declaring then that there was no way that she would not lay
in her futon all day- she would go nuts. It was bad enough
that she had to stay inside. "Misao- the doctor told you to
stay off of your feet." Aoshi turned his back to her and
tried to revive his meditating state. "You should go to the
restaurant and have some tea. It will settle your body down."

More footsteps. Aoshi could tell that Misao was walking up to
him. With a loud sigh, she gently sat down on the floor,
placing her back against his. The two remained silent for
many minutes. Hours may have passed and they would have never
known. Aoshi was just happy with her touching him and Misao-

Misao was in deep thought, trying to figure out how to say
the right words. The question Aoshi had asked her two months
ago was burning in her mind. She knew it was rude to avoid
answering, but there was no other choice. Finally she blurted
out, "I left because I was scared."

This snapped Aoshi out of his temporary daze.

"What?" He breathlessly asked, confused by her statement. She
had finally solved the puzzle of her fleeing the Aoiya, but
had done so in a matter to confuse him further. Scared? What
could she possibly be scared of?

Misao turned to her side, inching her body slightly away from
Aoshi's. "I was scared that you would be scared." She lowered
her head, allowing her bangs to fall over her eyes, tears
beginning to slide down her soft cheeks. "I didn't want
anything to change- I didn't want to lose you-"

His breath caught in throat, Aoshi's eyes widened. He quickly
maneuvered his body to turn and face Misao's backside.
Gently, he wrapped his arms around her and brought his face
in close to hers, his lips barely touching the side of her
right ear. "I will never leave your side, Misao." He
whispered softly, calming her jagged emotions. "Yes, I am
scared- as I am sure you are as well. But-" He took a deep
breath in, closing his eyes. "I love you, and I wouldn't
trade _this_" he said, putting his hand softly on Misao's
stomach, "for anything. Strength. Honor. Nothing could
compare to _this_."

"Aoshi-" Tears of joy welded up in Misao's eyes as she felt
her heart flutter as it always did when he touched her. She
could feel a small flush come upon her face, but decided to
ignore it. This felt so-

right.

"Shhhh..." Aoshi cooed, his soft breath seeping into Misao's
ear, sending shivers down her spine. She shook with pure
delight. "She's sleeping, you don't want to wake her up, do
you?" A shy smile forming on her face, Misao shook her head
no. In response Aoshi returned the smile as he lovingly
tightened his grip around his wife.

This moment-

he wanted it to last forever.

-

"Mama?" Bright blue eyes looked up to their mother,
confused on what was going on. All these adult things in
words she couldn't understand. It seemed as if they had been
walking in the scary forest that was surrounding them
forever. She tightened her grip on her mother's hand, as her
other hand fidgeted with her purple kimono. She really hated
these things. You couldn't run or play very well in
them, which is all she had wanted to do since they had
reached Oba-chan's home. "Mama?" The young girl repeated,
this time with more worry in her voice.

Misao looked down to her two-year old daughter, full of as
much spunk and energy as she had been when she was little-
yet the young toddler was so afraid of this forest. The
thought had crossed Misao's mind that he daughter was afraid
of this forest because this is where she, Aoshi and Misao
herself almost had been killed three years previous- but the
thought was quickly dismissed as fast as it had been
conjured. "Yes Hiwa-chan?" Misao stopped in her stride and
bent down slightly to be on eye-level with the young girl.
"What is it, love?"

Hiwa tried her best to hide her tears from her mother, taking
in very deep breaths. The further in the forest, the more
monsters the toddler could just imagine popping out of the
forest and eating her. "Kowai..." She whispered softly,
bringing both of her hands up to her eyes, rubbing her tears
away. "Kowai yo.."

"What is wrong Misao?" Aoshi approached his wife and
daughter, pausing in leading his family through the forest.

Lovingly, Misao looked up to Aoshi and smiled slightly.
"She's afraid."

As if to conjure up sympathy from her father as well, Hiwa
looked to her father with tears in her eyes. "Papa...
Hiwa-chan s'ared. There are monsters here.. They'll come
and eat us!" Frightened, Hiwa ran to her father's legs and
wrapped her arms tightly around them. She let out a squeal of
fright. Misao carefully stood up, shaking her head at her
daughter. She was never that frightened when she was young.
No- Misao was the fearless tomboy who followed her Aoshi-sama
everywhere she possibly could- and sometimes even she
would follow him even though the odds said it would be
impossible for her to.

A very small smile tugged on Aoshi's lips as he picked up his
daughter, raising her high in the air. She couldn't help but
giggle with delight. Her father always made her feel so safe-
he would protect her from anything. "There's nothing to be
afraid of Hiwa-chan. We're going to go visit angels."

Misao blinked.

"Angels?" Hiwa asked, her the look of fear on her face now
completely forgotten and replaced with excitement.

"Guardian angels." Aoshi explained. Misao was still shocked
at Aoshi's explanation of their destination.

Hiwa pointed to the flowers in her father's left hand. "Is
that who the flowers are for?"

Nodding slightly, Aoshi replied with a quiet "Aa."

Hiwa clapped with excitement, "Where? Where?"

"Just a little bit further-" Aoshi pointed down the path that
they were heading down before they made this small detour of
fright. "All we have to do is walk to that break in the
trees."

"WOW!" Hiwa exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Aoshi's chest
wanting to continue on. "I wanna see the angels Papa!"

Aoshi laughed slightly, "We will, we will Hiwa-chan..." He
looked over to Misao, who now looked completely lost. "Shall
we, 'Mama'?" Nodding slightly, Misao blinked again. How in
the hell had he convinced her to change her mind so quickly?

"It's my job." Aoshi replied to the silent question,
beginning to walk again. "Just like it's my job to protect my
girls."

Playfully, Misao narrowed her eyes at Aoshi. "You sly dog."
Suddenly she remembered all the times Aoshi had pulled stunts
just like that when she was little- convincing her to stay
away from danger and such. It wasn't until now that she
realized she had been had.

The response she got from Aoshi steamed Misao even further.
He laughed. Shaking her head, Misao silently gave up. There
would just be things about Aoshi that she would never
understand at all. She quickly stepped to catch up to Aoshi
and her daughter, walking by Aoshi's side, looking upon the
image of father carrying daughter very proudly. Hiwa looked
so much like Aoshi, it was unreal. Misao would often stare
at her daughter when she played, disbelieving the little
miracle that was her daughter. Though she was not extremely
tall for her age, like Aoshi had been, she did have dark
black raven hair, that shown purple when the sunlight hit at
the right angle. Her bright blue eyes were filled with an
undying curiosity- always wanting more and more answers.
Curiosity, it seemed, would be something that Hiwa would have
for a very long time.

Once the group reached the clearing in the trees, Aoshi set
Hiwa down and approached the graves, flowers in hand. Misao
quickly followed him, offering her support. In silence, Aoshi
knelt to the graves and lowered his head in prayer. He
thanked his friends for helping him protect Misao and hoped
that they approved of him when it came to her and their
daughter. It wasn't until after Hiwa was born that Aoshi
could actually forgive himself for what had happened that
terrible night. Only after she was born could he see why they
had given their lives to protect him. He always knew why- but
he never fully understood what their sacrifice meant. Now he
knew. He would give his life to protect Misao and Hiwa from
any harm, and swore so the day that his four friends had
visited him on Death's door.

It was a touch that snapped Aoshi out of his train of
thought.

Misao.

She gently rubbed her hand against his back, displaying her
support for him. There wasn't much she could say in this
situation, since she had loved Shikijou, Beshimi, Hannya and
Hyotoko as much as Aoshi had. They were her family too. They
had helped raise her, just like Aoshi had. Misao bit her lip
to stop her from crying. She couldn't break up- not here-
not in front of Hiwa.

Aoshi stood up, close to Misao. His hand immediately sought
out hers and gripped it tightly. "My four guardian angels."

Nodding slightly, Misao noticed that there was a fifth grave
added. "Aoshi- that other grave..."

"Is Hae Ryuu's." Aoshi explained, lowering his head. "Ryuu
was a good friend of mine when I was a teenager. He was very
close to my age and therefore we learned techniques at the
same time. Often we would teach each other- hence how I knew
about his shuriken and how he knew of my kodachi technique.
When the Tokugawa era crumbled, Ryuu was offered a job as a
weapons assistant and tester. It was very good money and I
urged him to take the job. A few years later, the company
that had hired him had a terrible accident- and I was told
Ryuu died in the explosion." Aoshi paused, sighing as he
walked over to Ryuu's grave, still holding Misao's hand
tightly. "I guess in a sense he did die in that fire-
because the Hae Ryuu you saw- that was not him. He was a very
peaceful man before he left. His accident had filled him with
a hate and a drive to kill."

A wry smile formed on Misao's lips. "Sounds like someone I
know."

"Are you implying something, Misao?" Aoshi looked accusingly
to his wife, knowing she was just teasing him as she often
tended to as of late. Revenge for all his teasing while she
was carrying Hiwa no doubt.

"No not at all!" Misao shook her head innocently, a wicked
grin on her face.

"One thing Ryuu did do for me though..." Aoshi turned to
Misao, gazing at her gentle profile. Even motherhood could
not change her beautiful exterior, or childish interior for
that matter. "He helped me realize how much I love you."

Misao tightened her grip around Aoshi's hand. "Come on, we
better go back to Himura's home before Himura and Kaoru-san
become worried. You know how bitchy Kaoru-san is when she's
expecting."

Letting out a small laugh, Aoshi brought Misao into his
embrace. His arms were wrapped around her protectively, his
chest against her back. Aoshi slipped his hand down to
Misao's stomach, which now, with Aoshi's hand curved around
it, showed a very small lump. "Look who's talking, 'Mama'."

Misao glared at Aoshi. "Hey- no one's supposed to know about
that yet," she said scolding him. "I swear- if you say one
word Shinomori.."

"Hai hai.." Aoshi playfully nodded. "Come on Hiwa-chan. Time
to go back to Oba-san's!" He called to Hiwa, who was playing
with a caterpillar on the ground.

She looked up from the caterpillar with a big smile on her
face. "Hai, Papa!" She looked back to the caterpillar, and
nodded to her new friend. "Bye-bye Mr. Caterpillar." Then,
she ran to Aoshi and Misao, holding her arms out like she
wanted to be held.

Misao sighed, "Mou, Hiwa-chan.. you're gonna wear me out with
me carrying you all the time." Aoshi released her from his
light grip, allowing her to bend over and pick up the small
girl. Hiwa was very light, so it wasn't that much of a strain
for Misao.

Her daughter wrapped her arms loosely around her mother's
neck. "Domo, Mama!"

Nodding, Misao grinned to her daughter, tickling her in the
stomach with a poke. "You're welcome." Turning to her
husband, with a sparkle in her eyes, Misao extended out her
free hand to her husband. "Shall we go, 'Papa'?"

With a smile, Aoshi took his wife's hand and nodded. "Aa."

Fin

-

Author's Notes:

Well, that's it. That's the end of the four month project.
Wow. Only four months. o_O If only I kept to my other fics as
strongly as I have kept to this one. Aoshi and Misao have
always intrigued me with their odd relationship of hidden
feelings. Angst is always very fun.

So no more cliffhangers for all you loyal people who read
this fic the moment you see it pop up on the screen. There
will not be a sequel- no much how it sounded at the end that
there might be. I'm going to take a break from A+M stuff for
a while and get cracking on some of the older fics that are
now buried in a inch deep pile of dust thanks to WS. I will
finish Komori- the unofficial prologue to this series since
it has only one more chapter to go as well. For those of you
who want some more angsty A+M stuff by me, please take a look
at:

+ Disguises

+ Can You Keep A Secret

+ Wishful Thinking

+ And All the Trimmings

I've had fun writing this series and I hope you all will
follow my other series. I have already begun planning for my
next A+M series, Closing Doors. It won't be out for a while,
so I don't want you all turning blue in the face from holding
your breath. I have many more series (from other anime) that
I should probably finish first before I start some new ones.
WS was the first on the list to finish. I hope to have the
majority of my projects complete my the end of this year, and
during the following months I will slowly be introducing my
new stuff along with everything else-

but I digress...

Wind Storm was completely different from anything I had ever
written- but I will be honest when I say that I am not 100%
completely satisfied with the story. I do not like that I
added in the character Hae Ryuu- it made it too much like
other A+M fics, which is something that I was trying to stay
away from. I am aware that WS shone light on some new, edgy,
subjects which was the plan all along. Hopefully, Closing
Doors will allow me to help break the normal pattern of A+M
fics in the same way that WS has.

Thank you for reading Rurouni Kenshin's Wind Storm.

-

Disclaimer:

I don't own Misao or Aoshi or any other characters mentioned
in this story. I do not own them I tell you! Nobuhiro Watsuki
does though. And so does Sony and Jump Comics. And they are
big companies that have lots of money. I am a poor otaku who
has *no* money. So please don't sue me. This fiction was
created for entertainment purposes only ^^;