Author's Note: Finally, the plot line's picking up after this chapter.

Countryside, outside of Kyoto, December 1864

It has been 5 months since they have run and hidden in away in the rural village. The community had accepted them as another couple that had lost all of their possessions and family members in the uprising in the capital. Now they were starting over again as in the countryside, growing herbs and grain.

The community came by when they moved in, to meet and greet the newcomers. Since the time they had moved in, the young man had become quite popular with the children from the village. And by association, so had she.

The girl, now a woman, missed the little brother she had left behind. The children reminded her so much of the little boy who talked, ran and played with overflowing energy that was only possible from the really young. The boys loved to play fight, acting out imaginary scenes with sticks, and the girls would run after each other for ribbons and toys.

The young man, Kenshin, now her husband, spent the days coveting with the children when possible. The days away from the pressure of the ever-present orders hanging over his head seemed to let him hold his shoulders higher. The time away from the sight of blood allowed him to enjoy life a bit more. He wasn't a Hitokiri anymore, now he was simply medicine man for the community.

The children were, as often, playing outside of their hut. They came over almost everyday, the girls having a natural tendency to sidle up to the woman, even if she did not speak or play much. The boys were loud and roughhousing with each other.

" I'm home..."

The young man's voice came from the distance and the children ran to greet him with enthusiasm. She watched him, as the children jumped on him and threw their toys at him. His face went from went from pensive to annoyance, indulgent, to gentleness as he smiled at those assembled before him.

Soon the children were running back on the path back to the village centre as the young man, her husband sent them away with the assurances that he would be there to play with them on the morrow.

" I'm sorry. I really do love children, but..." her little brother... " I'm not used to smiling too much." The young boy child had never had a problem with the girl's stoic face.

" Ha ha." The young man, her husband laughed gently as they walked toward the hut entrance.

The young woman looked at his small back, shoulders free of the ever-present tension they had been strung with in Kyoto. " Speaking of smiling..." He turned to her and she met his eyes. " You've been doing it...a lot, lately, haven't you?"

He paused and looked down introspectively. " Yes... That's true..." His eyes closed in remembrance. " I was born into a peasant farmer family and lost them when I was 10. Then there was the vigorous training with Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu... Whenever I would talk with others, there was no exchange of smiles at all... Having learned the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu I will fight...even kill for a new peaceful era. The truth is, it's not like I didn't know what happiness was..." He looked up and smiled at her, glowing in the setting sun. " Whatever I fought for before, what I fight for now... These past 5 months have helped my thoughts a great deal."

A shadow of ominous feeling passed through the young lady. A young boy, then a Hitokiri, now a young man, her husband who could smile so freely. Soft pain settled on her, a simple regret, and the most complex of wishes. Along with all the others who had become important to her...she wanted to protect that smile.

The children came back the next day and stayed until late afternoon as the girl started to make dinner inside the hut. The boys were playing at being samurai once again and the girls stood to the side to watch. The young woman ignored the activities until she heard her husband's raised voice. Then she looked up through the small cooking window to see the newcomer, and she raced out towards the doorway.

" Enishi?" The woman called out. " Enishi...is that' you?" Her little brother...

" Nee-san!" The new child's face lit up with a smile.

The young boy ran up to hug her around the waist. She looked up into her husband's shocked eyes and she indicated they should talk inside. She stood behind the little boy so precious to her, hands on his tiny shoulders, so much wider since she had seen them last.

" This is my little brother...Enishi." The young lady introduced the man to the boy.

" Ah, now I get it. You're brother, eh?" her husband walked towards her and extended a hand to pat the boy's head. " I see. Well, once we've talked we'll work things ou-" The child waited for the young man's hand to come close enough and bite down on it. " OUCH!"

She reached and pulled the boy away from the young man, shocked a bit at the display.

" Since you two probably want to catch up, I'll leave for a while." The husband offered with a smile and walked out cradling his wounded hand. Once outside, he gathered up the village children and led them to a spot further away from the home.

The girl bent down to rest her forehead against the little boy's. Warm feeling washed through her: joy, relief, and happiness.

" It's been a while." She said as she stood back on her feet. " Quite a surprise...but I'm happy to see you, anyway." The little boy smiled a smile that filled his whole face with his joy. " You must be very hungry. I'll be fixing some dinner soon okay?" She attended to the pot of steaming rice. " When did you come from Edo? And how is otou-san doing?"

" No idea...I came her about a year after you went to Kyoto..."

She paused. That would have been around the same time Kiyosato had passed away and she had engaged in gathering information on the Hitokiri. "...Enishi. Where are you living now?" She turned to question the boy. " And how did you know that I was here? Especially since I have not told anyone else..." Anyone else except for them...

The little boy's smile was sly. " I'd know even if I wasn't contacted. I'm an informant." The smiled turned darker. " Don't worry...it's time for you to be happy, Nee-san! Let's punish Battousai!"

She dropped the wooden spoon to brace herself on the ground. " Enishi... You didn't..."

" You didn't hear? Strange." The little boy's smile was light again and honestly puzzled. " Didn't the old man you met with tell you?"

Words came flashing back to her. When the time is right, you will send 'it' to us. Don't ask details. Just remain close to the Battousai and keep him in you sights always... Have him in your grasp so you can read every one of his mental thoughts. When you discover his weak point, our mutual goals will succeed...

The words now took on new meaning to the young lady. New understanding of what they were trying to do, to use her for. And now they ever had her little brother in their hands.

" C'mon, Nee-san! We can end all of this right now!" The little boy's words were filled with zealous.

" Edo..." The woman whispered. " Go back to Edo..."

" Eh?" The boy said.

" You're the heir of the Yukishiro family... And...I can't let you do such a horrible thing." The fault was supposed to lay on her shoulders only...an unknown girl of no origin that could not shame the family or anyone else.

" WHO CARES ABOUT OUR FAMILY! I CARE ABOUT YOU, NEE-SAN! THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!"

Yes, that was they way it had always been. The little boy had found the girl. The little boy had brought the girl home .The little boy had given her a place to stay. The little boy had given her a name, an identity, and a place to belong. The little boy had led the girl to happiness.

" Go back to Edo, Enishi."

Silence and then the little boy's words slowly rising in crescendo.

" What? What is wrong? You won't come...but why? Why are you defending him? He's you're enemy isn't he? He's the one that made you unhappy!"

The young man had been the Hitokiri Battousai. The young man had been the one who killed Kiyosato. The young man had blood on his hands. The young man had slept with a sword in his arms and madness on his horizon. The young man who had had broken eyes, desperation in his being, and promised that no matter what he would not be able to bring himself to kill her. The young man who had offered her everything. Who was her husband; who smiled glowingly against the sunrise, noon light, afternoon sun, and the sunset.

The woman did not reply.

The little boy's shoulders shook in suppressed anger and stormed out of the hut as the young girl sat staring at the wooden boards, wondering if she could be redeemed.

After a few moments, she got up quietly and walked towards the table. She opened her book and started writing. She wrote her thoughts in ink, putting the day down in writing. This was what she did. For the little girl who had nothing, she wanted to record everything she later had so she would never forget them, and lose them.

It seemed like she was trading in one boy for another: her brother for her husband. She couldn't have them both it seemed. Her little brother would never forgive her, never let her go and belong to another man. The boy had tolerated Kiyosato because he made her smile and promised she would be close to home. And her husband, the young man who did not know her at all but placed her precious in his heart. She did not want to let go of him, and his affections. Her husband who's new smiles which might mean too much to her.

" Say...Where the heck is he going...?"

The words startled the girl and she slammed her book closed, cradling it next to her. The young man's eyes meet hers startled.

" What's wrong?" He questioned.

" Oh, nothing..." She said. " Oh, but Enishi...he's going back to Edo."

" Edo...hm..."

She looked at the small back, where an entire era's burden lay. " We've never talked before, have we? Do you wonder about me? You know nothing about me..." But... " ...But... now might be a good time for it... If you don't mind...can we talk for a while?" I want you to know me...

: - :

Dawn's rays are usually
The most awaited

: - :

The young man stood by the doorway, staring up through the wooden bars to the night. " Looks like it's getting cold out... Snowing... This is the first snow of the season."

The young man was offering the girl a chance to change her mind, to lighten the pressure of his hopeful expectations. She closed her eyes.

" As I've said, my real family is in Edo." Her family...the family that had taken her in... " There are three of us in the family," Okaa-san was not wed to her otou-san, otou-san did not have the funds to pay the bridle gifts to her high honourable family. " and we lived in peace. We have money, but we aren't wealthy... We also had trouble getting food, but it's not like we're in poverty." In truth, okaa-san was Enishi's aunt.

" My otousan wasn't a great warrior, but he was kind to everyone..." She raised the teapot to pour her husband some tea. " My hahaue was also very kind, but she died giving birth to Enishi." Or this was what okaa-san and otou-san said, and what her little brother told her. " Enishi never knew his own hahaue...but since I always took care of him, he thinks of me as his hahaue. To Enishi, I am both his Nee-san as well as hahaue." What a sad little boy... " He's a cute brother, really... He has a bad temper, so I can see why he bites people's hands sometimes. But he really hated my arranged marriage...That's when the problems began..."

A gust of cold wind chill blew in from the open doorway, bringing snow into the hut. The girl sensed the young man's, her husband's, shock at the mention of a previous marriage. She stood gently with the teacup head in her hands and walked over to him.

" Here." She offered it to his still form.

Slowly the man reached out and took it from the girl.

" My fiancee was the next in line for succeeding another shogun family. He was a childhood friend who was very nice to people just like my father. When he chose me to be married to him... I was very happy, since I truly liked him a lot. But... even though I was very happy... I only opened my eyes widely. Eventually, I began to hate the idea of it. I couldn't smile...I guess he never knew I was happy.

He said, 'My position as the inheritor of an Imperial family doesn't make you happy. I will be recognized by others as a great warrior!' With that, he put off the wedding, which created some problems. Then he joined the Kyoto Patrol." And headed off to the violence in Kyoto...and he never returned...

Her silence made it clear what had happened to the man she had been promised too.

" I didn't wait to hear any news. So I went to Kyoto..." And I devoted myself to killing you... " Somewhere in Kyoto, my fiancee died..." the words were getting harder to get out... her hands fisted into the front of her kimono. " And then... my happiness went with him. But, in reality...it was all my fault..." If only she had been able to smile for him...

" I might have been able to stop him by crying... But I'll never know... I just feel like if I don't hate someone...something, I'll go crazy..." She wonders if he understands now. The young man was not stupid by any means, just idealistic, as she had come to learn.

The young woman wonders if he will hate her later on, when he finds out all he has not been told. She stands, pushing back tears, when she is startled as he pulls her into his embrace.

" It's okay... Don't worry... It'll be okay..."

The words were soft, and the girl knew they were lies, but she couldn't stop herself from leaning into his warmth and letting go of the tears that overwhelmed her. She cried again for the first time since she had ran out of tears for Kiyosato.

Later after she has used up her energy and is exhausted, the young man and woman are wrapped in a blanket to block out the cold and to share their warmth.

" About a year or so ago..." the young man starts. " I got into an argument with my Shishou, and I left him to go and protect the people who were being slaughtered. So then, I joined the Choshu Ishin Shishi, and became Hitokiri Battousai. I could I could use Hiten Mitsurugi Tyu to aid people..."

The young woman turned to look gently at the lost boy.

" But it couldn't. No matter how many I kill, a new era isn't coming. I just end up being a killer over and over. The scent of blood never left me... That's when I had just met you."

The young men did not meet the woman's eyes.

" The questions you asked me made me forgot about the blood... Also my insanity left me." It's not longer the smell of blood. It's white plums..." And since I've lived with you... I know what happiness is to the people I protect. And now, for the first time, I realize what people struggle for and what they are happy for. Hiten Mitusrugi Ryu is impressive, but no matter how good I am... I can't make a new era by myself. And I can never grant anyone's happiness..."

The girl watched as the boy lifted his eyes to the far wall, indigo orbs clear and strong. " But what I can do is help people that are in need one by one..."

The fire crackled in front of them, sending small sparks that died off.

" For now..." I will kill...until the new era arrives...I will probably be near the top of the corpses I made. " It may sound strange, but when the new era is here, I won't kill and I want to protect others. And while I do, I will try to find a way to make up for the sins I've committed..."

So young...but growing strong... The girl looked at man she chose for a husband. He was idealistic as ever, but she hoped his wishes would come to pass.

" ...Tomoe..."

" Yes?"

" For all the pain and suffering you've had to experience during the past years... I will protect you from all of it in the future."

The young woman looked at the young man, he did not meet her eyes but the look of conviction was clear in his eyes. A smile, soft and beautiful, bloomed from the happiness flowing within her once more. " Okay."

They went to sleep soon after, the emotional tales draining of their energy.

: - :

And sometimes the sun casts -
Unnecessary shadows

: - :

The morning came and the countryside was covered in a blanket of white snow. The young women closed her book after finishing her entry, and leaving her daily dairy on the table, reached to put on her outer clothes and shawl. She glanced back to the sleeping form of her husband.

I became lonely because of a man... Her gaze was gently, loving. But this man is different... She walked to the doorway and slid the wooden boards. She stepped out into the cold and turned to face him. He is a killer...But...He protects more people that he has killed... Softly, but firm, a conviction comes from within her. I will not let you die here now...

" Farewell." She smiled, eyes tender and sad. " My Second Beloved."

The young woman closed the door behind her, separating the young man from her with a sense of finality.

Her steps were steady as she passed through the forest. She met up with the men she had found before to be her allies in finding the Hitokiri Battousai. She does not answer the first man but waited until they bring her to the one she has made a deal with. She was a day late in reporting and they demand an explanation from her, but not yet.

" Answer me one thing first..." The woman said, " Why...why did you involve Enishi in this?"

" That wasn't our doing. He kept asking about you in Kyoto, and they got sick of him, so sent him over to us. So we told him about your whereabouts and how your fiancee was dead. Now tell us what you know." The leader's blank gaze was harsh, glaring out at her.

The young woman did not answer. She stood silent in front of the three assembled men.

" Come on, what is it?" the one holding an axe prodded.

" And don't say you don't know, either. You lived with him for what, a year now? So tell us." The other minion commanded.

" Well?" The old man demanded.

She gazed down at the ground. " Himura...Battousai's weak point is..." She closed her eyes. His kindness isn't suited to being a killer... " 'When he is sleeping.' Regardless, all swordsmen are caught by surprise when they are asleep, and he is no exception." She hopes he is prepared wither her there for distraction.

The old man smiled. " Okay, I ask you now... Is he in love with you?"

She took a step back. " Why do you ask that? It has nothing to do with..." He has affections for her certainly - love, she is unsure of.

" Actually, I think you'll find it has a great deal to do with it. If the Battousai really does love you, he'll most likely come here to get you back. Also, this forest is at our advantage. It jumps our chances of winning a great deal. We've also sent him a letter. He's no doubt red with fury at this very moment."

" It' can't be... Then from the very beginning you had..." ...wanted to use me as the Battousai's weak point!

" That wasn't the original plan, however... But it assured me a method of getting him. You know what? We're not as nice as you think."

The young girl was washed over with dread. Oh, god... I was a fool, and led him into a deadly trap... She reached behind her to the hidden short blade in her obi. But before then...! I must take one with me...!

She turned, but before she could attack and large arm came and knocked her into darkness.

Some time later a large shout of sound awoke the young girl. " Nnn..." Slowly her consciousness came back. Her head was swimming, her thoughts scattered. " ...Hm?" Where am I?

" What's going on?" She glanced about and saw her drawn dagger, she couldn't remember drawing it. And what...am I doing here?

Crashes and scuffles came from outside the door of the shabby cabin she was in. " They're fighting out there." She got up. She couldn't remember thing, but everything inside of her pushed her to her feet and drove her to the door. " Out there." An urgent feeling swan inside her. Out there...

She pushed the door open, to see Kiyosato standing with a drawn blade, like she had never seen him in life. " Eh?" She rubbed her eyes as she slowly remembered that Kiyosato was dead, and it was not possible for her to see him anymore. When she opened her eyes again, her vision was filled with an anguished face, bright red hair, and shining indigo eyes. Standing in Kiyosato's place was the young man who was her husband, Kenshin.

I see... The memories slowly unwound themselves to her. Kiyosato's stiletto appeared, the one man who knew her not to be the original daughter, had a chance to be with the original daughter, but chose to love her, the nameless girl anyways. I couldn't stop him from dying... Then the face of the young man now in front of her, body worn and bloody, standing in front of her beaten down because he cared for her, because he came for her. And I risked everything to see him dead...

The small shoulders, which carried a weight too heavy for them. The young man who was growing up to be strong. The arms what held her warmly through the night. The man who said he would never be able to kill her. The husband who promised to protect her.

But then I fell in love with him. He brought her happiness back when she thought was it was no longer possible. I must not let my Beloved die again. She closed her eyes gently. So... She opened them to stare at the young man whom she would never be able to see grow up to the strong man he was going to become. She smiled, once more, the smile she had lost but he had given back to her.

Kenshin, the man she loved, was running with the last of his strength towards the old man. If the treacherous man attacked or evaded the strike, Kenshin would die. The girl waited and then ran out and grabbed the old man in place so the blow would end both their lives, and save the young man's.

There was pain, almost beyond bearing, but it would soon be over. Her husband took her into his arms, tears running down those smooth childish cheeks.

" Tomoe...Tomoe..." His young voice was choked. " Why...Why?"

He looked so young, so lost. She reached up tenderly, and brushed the tears away. She ignored the cut her dagger has made on his cheek as it fell from her hands. She left her mark on him. She hopes it never fades.

The name, the name she never took into herself because it was someone else's name. Because everyone knew that it was not her name. But for him, for Kenshin, she had always been Tomoe. And here, dying, she is Tomoe.

" It's all right...Please don't cry..."

It wasn't a sad ending. He loved her, and she loved him. They were both forgiven for their sins. They loved each other beyond what was dictated. Her only regret was she couldn't tell him who she was. Whom she couldn't remember she was. She wanted to tell him her own name. She smiled for him, filled with her happiness and love, hoping he would carry her with him always.

And from somewhere deep within her, from the depths of crossing time, it comes...she remembers...her own name...Makimachi Misao.

Happiness and sadness coursed through her, because she remembered now, but she couldn't change anything, and she doesn't have the strength to tell him anymore...how much she loves him...who she is...how much she'll always love him...

" To...mo..."

Soft tears gathered at her eyes, and she wanted to tell him how proud she is of the man he will become, and how much she'll always love the man he is.

I love you, Himura Kenshin. My Hitokiri Battousai.

Her consciousness fades.

: - :

Carpe diem, the poet had said, quad minimum credula postero

: - :

She felt like liquid, and she was slowly melting into the deep dark chasm that was the world beyond her closed eyes. Her mind felt fuzzy, and her whole body felt like it was slowly dissolving as it moved her from one place to the next. From one second to the next.

: - :

Take the present, don't put any faith in the future

: - :

END CHAPTER TWO