“Kenshin."

“Kenshin?”

He turned to Kaoru admiring the way her smile is reflected in those orbs, crinkling her eyes, warming his heart.

“Aah?”

His reply was ever so casual. She could imagine herself seated by a lion – perched precariously on the tree branch, he was almost purring at the glow of the sun on his face. Wisps of his glorious mane brushed her cheek as she leaned closer towards him as though ready to share a secret with him. But of course he already knew all of them.

“Kenshin?”

Kaoru whispered. So close he could almost feel the movement of her lips against the shell his ear. So close he could breathe the tendrils of her scent – wild orchids and jasmine. So close, he could almost turn to capture her lips, to crush her to him, to make her never leave.

“Kenshin?”

He sighed, swiveling around to face Megumi’s questioning gaze. Thoughts of Kaoru melted into the humid afternoon air, dissipating like all other memories before her.

“Kenshin, you need to focus! Sano-chan’s going to want all of your attention when he gets here. And you know, what he wants, he gets.”

Kenshin winced as he recalled the little hellion on legs that was his godson. That tyke was such an attention-grabber it gave everyone some form of relief because that meant Kenshin would never have enough time to brood with Sano around.

“Hai hai Megumi. I’ll try my best.”

He tried to flash her a reassuring grin, but it rapidly degenerated into something resembling a marriage between Pikachu and a vampire facing the sorching sun. Megumi attempted to stifle her laughter, but it proved to be impossible. The Great Battousai emasculated by a five year old boy. She genuinely gave it her best shot but failed miserably as a snort escaped her. Judging by the look Kenshin shot her, Megumi knew he wasn’t impressed by her unladylike antics at the slightest.

Nevertheless, Kenshin felt his mood lightening. To see Megumi laugh with such carefree abandonment, he wondered how she accomplished it. A Receiver like him, she possessed the ability to prolong her life with her gif-… her curse. To steal that which did not belong to her, claim it for herself and devour another’s life. Ironically, the one person who dedicated her life to saving others’ picked up the scythe and donned the hood of the Grim Reaper. They were part of an elite rank that dwindled more than it swelled in numbers.

Years and years ago, so long he had to clean out the cobwebs of his memory to recall, she had fell in love and had her heart broken just like him. The freeloader, the fighter-for-hire, the ex-Sekihoutai member Sagara Sanosuke stole her heart with such ease, it was as though he was stealing another lunch from Tae in the form of the female Receiver’s heart. But he was mortal. And she was not. He lived with the memories of a single lifetime. A lone speck of dust in the midst of a sandstorm. And she? Within her was a hundred lifetimes – nameless faces superimposed on unrecognizable landscapes. She saw eras gone by and witnessed cruelty and beauty beyond imagination.

And still, they had fallen in love.

And she had given him her heart in return for his for safekeeping.

They lived in love for as long as time would allow them. Alas, time was a fickle master. To give her youth and beauty only to steal its sweetness and replace it with the bitterness of watching her love fade in strength and vitality. Megumi witnessed the hacking coughs, the frail limp, the lining of his face with wisdom and experience. She persevered through those nights: watching as his lungs continued heaving in precious air; demanding in her strictest voice that he fought, that he lived. Still, Sano could only last so long on willpower alone. His body was slowly but surely falling apart while all she, the brilliant and talented doctor, gave into the inevitable.

And he had died.

And she still lives.

They had all been delighted when Sano-chan was born. A descendent of Sano’s sister, Takeyama Sanosuke was naturally taken care of by Megumi. From the time he was conceived, Megumi placed herself as the obgyn of Sano-chan’s mother. She made sure she was there from start to finish, the first woman to hold Sano-chan as he came kicking and screaming forth from his mother’s womb. Full of gratitude, Takeyama Michiko insisted on having Megumi name the boy. It didn’t take that much imagination for Megumi to come up with the name of her past and only love. The son, if she had a son, with the only man who held her heart

“O-jiiiiiiiiiiiiiichan!!”

A bundle of a million volts threw itself against the slender redhead. With an overly dramatised “Ompf!” for his audience, Kenshin took a couple of steps backwards with the added weight and hurled the boy up.

“Wai! Wai! Lemme down!”

Kenshin grinned unabashedly at the adorable boy he held in his hands. The last piece of his best friend.

“I brought something for you, Ojichan!” Sano-chan bellowed into his tender ear drums, determined to accomplish what time and a non-deteriorating body could not achieve. His hands were full of pieces of paper and if the brightly colored sheets were anything to go by, Kenshin knew those were a prelude to more paintings adding to his already overwhelming collection.

“Down! Down! I wanna show you!!”

Deciding that releasing that havoc back on ground was a fair exchange for his hearing, Kenshin gently deposited the boy. Sano-chan immediately turned around to present his works for his godfather’s perusal. Pride and unabashed adoration shone clearly through the young boy’s eyes and Kenshin could see him dying for the older man’s approval; something Kenshin could never deny him.

Kenshin had never remembered tenderness before Kaoru, in his life. Not during his short-lived happiness amongst his parents, nor throughout his rough boyhood and definitely not during the tumultous war. It was only at the Kamiya dojo’s doorstep that he learnt trust and warmth. Only when he was with his friends had he began to understand true loyalty and love. Coming together for a common cause of happiness was a far stronger bond than that of ideals. Battousai was borne of bloodshed, but only because no one had taught him how the strength of love could keep his demons at bay; until it was too late and he became the demon itself. The memories he stole to prolong his life and the precious lives that he took as he drained the images from his victims became a totem to the man he vowed he would never return to.

Yet as he stood before Sano-chan solemnly sifting through the sheets of art, Kenshin swore that he would protect this young Sanosuke. A pledge made upon the grave of his long gone friend. Until he could see his Kaoru again, he would repay this blood debt by loving freely and giving unconditionally.

“Sano-chan!!” His mother squealed at her unruly son as he ran circles round her. She ruffled his hair, just as spiky and messy as his ancestor, the motherly gentility of her actions releasing a familiar ache throbbing through Kenshin.

This could have been his family.

This could have been his life.

Kaoru – with her unending tenderness and gentle determination, would have taught their son how to be a man while he would teach their daughter how to fend of lecherous teenage boys’ attempts at getting close to his princess. They would have their fair share of spats and squabbles but that would boil over soon enough and all that is left in that crucible would be the strength of their family.

But now…

“Ojichan?”

“Ahh?”

The boy peeked from behind his mother’s skirts and grinned impishly at Kenshin.

“Otouchan said you’ve got new paintings. Sano wannna see!”

Kenshin couldn’t help but laugh as he walked towards 3-feet devil-in-disguise and stuck his hand out in an unspoken invitation.

“He is right, it’s a new collection for display.”

“Wai! Wai! What’s it called??”

“I haven’t thought of one yet. What do you suggest?”

The boy stuck his tongue out as he was in deep thought. A cheeky boy at nature, it seems only his godfather could bring out this serious nature in him – as fleeting as it was.

“I think I’ll have to see it first.” He looked solemnly at the male Receiver who had his hand outstretched towards the child. Sano-chan gleefully accepted the hand as his puerile nature resumed itself. “See it now! Now! Now!”

Walking towards the house, Kenshin cast his glance back towards the tree one last time; as though hoping to catch a glance of the raven haired beauty he was waiting for. She wasn’t there, he knew. But soon.

Soon.

It’ll survive, Kenshin. Even if we never meet again, even if we never say the words we long to say to each other, even if we die before meeting again; these feelings we have will live on forever.

Light poured through the neglected window. A figure huddled deeper into the bedclothes as the room slowly became illuminated with the benison of the sun. The clock scarcely an arm’s length away from the curled sleeper revealed that it was soon time to awaken and greet the day just as the said figure emitted a light snore. Right about then, all hell broke loose.

The alarm went off, a delicate hand shot out to shut it off and just as it was searching desperately on the table miraculously missing the darned contraption each time, resulting in the person edging closer and closer to the corner of the bed and finally giving into the urges of gravity.

“Ompf!”

A clatter sounded from the impact of the fall as well as the slamming of a photo frame causing a mussed head to shoot up.

“Oh no! My photo!”

The young woman scrambled up onto all fours as she bent to right the photo frame all the while throwing her covers off herself.

A sigh.

“I guess it’s time to start the day…”

Yet another chapter up. It really took me longer than I thought possible. Looking at the old file, I realized that it wasn't going in the direction that I wanted it to go (thus explaining why it was abandoned the first time around) and I'm actually reworking everything. Updates would be slower as time goes on because I'm studying for a massive massive automated certification exam for my profession that comes in 4 parts. If anyone can guess what it is (either my profession or the exam), they'll get a free request! Promise! lol Well, until the next update!!

EK: It's just the beginning, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll see this through, hope you have some patience with me!

half-breed-demon-fox: How they came to love would probably be told in bits and pieces throughout the story, but for a fuller picture, maybe there'll be a prequel for that. Really depends on inspiration!

RurouniKenshin-chan: Hope this update is soon enough for you! The direction is still rather vague (both to you and I) but it should get clearer soon enough. Not much surprises I think.

kokoronagumu: I hope that I'll live up to your expetations. As it is, getting my grammar & spelling right is already rather trying without putting the plot and characters into consideration! But I'll try!!

Haruko