Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Forever Mine ❯ Fated Dreams ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer - Sadly, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin I just use Nobuhiro Watsuki's excellent creations for my own selfish needs.

Well here is the first chapter of another fic that has been driving me crazy since the early chapters of Bloodline. I wrote this fic assuming Enishi really did kill Kaoru instead of leaving the corpse doll, hence this fic is set in modern day Tokyo and basically everyone is reincarnated except for Kenshin and the secret behind his long life will be revealed in later chapters. Also this fic is probably not a good one for Enishi fans, although I'm a big fan of his I'm not going to be very nice to him this fic.

So with all that said onto the chapter, please read and review I love to know what people think be it good, bad or indifferent.

Chapter 1 - Fated dreams

Hot kisses played across her overly sensitive skin lighting a fire deep in her belly that threatened to devour her from the inside out leaving her an empty shell aching for him to fill. The feel of his tongue tickling across her skin caused a shiver to vibrate through her body, the sensation driving her desire to new heights. Suddenly a trail of fire shot down her spine as he nuzzled her neck lovingly.

"Open your eyes Kaoru" he breathed softly into her ear, nibbling the lobe, gently grazing his teeth along the soft flesh.

Shaking her head she refused. Her body ached for his, wanting to feel him pressed hard against her so badly she was afraid she would die from the want but she knew if she opened her eyes he would vanish like he had every other night.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly desperately needing to know who this phantom was who visited her in her dreams.

"You know who I am" he purred against her cheek, brushing his lips lightly against her heated skin.

beep, beep, beep, beep, beep

Kaoru's hand shot out and slammed the alarm clock knocking it to the floor. Sitting up slowly she scowled at the thin coating of sticky sweat covering her entire body as she tried without much success to lock down the ache raging through her belly. It had been the same every morning for the last week and it was starting to drive her mad. He would slip into her dreams and taunt her never fulfilling the promise his hands made leaving her a twisted mess upon waking, aching for his touch all day until she couldn't wait for night to fall.

"Damn I wish he'd stop doing that" she grumbled to herself rising from bed. Grabbing a change of clothes she headed into the bathroom and stripped down throwing her sweat soaked yukata into the laundry.

Stepping into the shower she stood under the blast of cold water, the heat in her veins slowly dying away as the frigid water pounded against her skin. Leaning her head against the cool tile she closed her eyes and tried to envision the one in her dreams. All she really had was an impression of him, a faint glimpse of fiery red hair and amber eyes almost like molten gold threatening to swallow her whole. Shivering from the desire evident in those eyes she slammed the shower off and got out trying to shove the promise they held into the farthest corners of her mind.

Toweling off quickly she threw on a pair of jeans and an old black t-shirt and headed back into her bedroom. Shrugging off making the bed she instead made a beeline straight for the kitchen area and set the teapot to heating, she needed tea more than she needed a made bed. Wandering out into the livingroom she opened the blinds hiding her apartment from prying eyes and sighed softly when she saw the rain splattering against the sliding glass doors leading out onto the balcony. It looked like it was going to be another rainy dreary day, it seemed like it had been days since the sun had peeked through the clouds. Well at least she didn't have to work today, dodging raindrops was not one of her favorite past times and of course she'd forgotten her umbrella at work the last time it had threatened to rain so she would have most definitely gotten soaked.

Shrugging she wandered back into the kitchen and leaned against the counter waiting impatiently for the water to heat. Tying her hair up she shifted her mind to the most recent night of torture and tried to figure out what the hell her tormentor had meant. "You know who I am" ...how was she supposed to know a figment of her imagination? He couldn't be real, if he was she was pretty sure she would remember those glowing amber eyes if she'd ever seen them before. What really confused her was that last night had been the first time he'd ever spoken to her. Usually he would slip into her dreams and use his magic hands to turn her into a big pile of quivering flesh then vanish leaving her to try to quell the desire he set rushing through her veins.

Scowling at the heat that built in her again she shoved away the images the memory conjured as the teapot whistled and poured the steaming hot water into the tea cup, she'd have to figure it out some other day she already had enough problems to deal with. Unconsciously dunking the tea bag she tried to fight down the surge of guilt that pushed it's way to the surface. She shouldn't be feeling things like she did with this figment of her seriously overactive imagination, but for the first time in her life she felt like she'd finally found her soulmate even if he wasn't real.

Up until a few months ago she'd been sure that Yukishiro Enishi was the missing piece in her life, the one who would fill the black hole in her heart that seemed to be swallowing her a little more each day, but recently things had begun to change. He wasn't the same man she'd first fallen in love with, he was starting to scare her with his almost obsessed attention. She'd been surprised when he'd said he was going to Beijing for business and hadn't demanded she come with him but then she'd found out that he'd had one of his thugs following her every move. She'd quit leaving the apartment unless she had to work or go shopping, she felt trapped, a prisoner in her own home.

Shaking her head she pushed away the depressing thoughts and made her way out into the livingroom, curling up on the sofa she sipped at the tea and glanced at the paintings lining the wall. It was bad enough that Enishi had her trapped in her own home but now her amber eyed tormentor had managed to invade her one outlet from the dark and lonely world. She used to paint landscapes, she'd done one of Mt. Fuji as the sun first kissed the peak at the very break of dawn and another of the rolling waves just off Okinawa as the sun set into the ocean. But now every single one she'd done over the last week always had his golden gaze staring back at her, the only part of him she could vividly see. If he kept this up much longer he was gonna put her into the nuthouse pretty damn soon.

Sighing she unfolded from the sofa and set down the lukewarm tea, maybe she should just commit herself it would make life a whole lot easier. Stretching she made her way over to the corner where she'd set up her studio and picked up the easel moving it over in front of the large bay windows facing the Tokyo skyline. Maybe today she would be able to finish one without the ever present amber eyes looking out from somewhere in the landscape. 'One can only hope' she thought wryly fetching the stool. Settling down she mixed the colors on the palette and set to work. Losing herself in the familiar motions she fell into her own private world completely forgetting about her entrapment and the tormentor haunting her dreams.

All of a sudden the door slammed knocking her out of the happy stupor she'd fallen into. "Hey Kaoru, did you see the babe moving in next door, man if I didn't have Aoshi I'd jump on him in a minute."

Startled, Kaoru dropped the brush splashing paint all over her jeans. Swinging around she pierced Misao with a murderous glare, "Don't you ever knock!"

Misao shrugged "I did knock but you didn't answer so I dug out the key you gave me and came in in case you were dead or something, so did you see the new guy?" Peeking over Kaoru's shoulder her eyes grew wide, "Wow you must have but this guy's got violet eyes instead of gold."

Kaoru gave her an odd look and glanced over her shoulder at the painting she'd just done. The blood drained from her face as her eyes fell on the impossible. Before her was the portrait of a man with fiery red hair and burning amber eyes, a slight smirk turning up the corners of his mouth with the Tokyo skyline in the shadows behind him.

Without warning her world suddenly shift sideways as her eyes locked with the amber gaze staring out from the canvas. The room faded around her and she saw him flying through the air a katana held above his head, his eyes glowing in the darkness as he bore down on another man who also held a katana.

The ringing of the phone jarred her back into reality. Shaking her head she jumped up from the stool and dove for the phone, slamming the talk button she collapsed on the sofa, "Hello?"

"Hey babe did ya miss me?"

The color drained from her cheeks again. "Enishi, wh..when did you get back?"

"Just got in, sorry I've been gone so long but I had alot of things to settle, I'll be over in about an hour."

"O..Ok see you then." Pushing the off button she dropped the phone on the sofa and leaned heavily against the soft support. She wanted to see him, she really did, but after a month without him she'd had a lot of time to think about their relationship. She loved him but there was something that continued to nag at her, something she couldn't quite explain. Sighing she shoved away the dreary thoughts and glanced around the room. Her heart plummeted to her feet as she gazed at all the paintings, every last one with amber eyes staring out from the canvas pinning her with their molten gaze.

Jumping up she grabbed a painting and headed towards her room. "Misao help me put these away before Enishi gets here, he'll flip if he sees these."

"Kaoru why did you agree to marry him, he gives me the creeps and all he does is treat you like a possession!" Misao asked grabbing a painting and following her into the bedroom.

Sighing she glanced at Misao, "He's not a bad man Misao, it's just...ever since his sister was killed he's been a little bit...he's been worried that something might happen to me."

"He ought to be, it was his fault she was killed." Misao stopped and grabbed Kaoru's arm, a twinge of fear tightening in her chest, "He's the head of the Yakuza Kaoru, you might be killed too if you're not careful."

"He won't let that happen. He's had Gein watching my every move since he left." Kaoru sighed again and loosened Misao's hold, "He loves me Misao, that's something I haven't had in a long time."

Misao eyed her suspiciously, "Do you love him Kaoru?"

Kaoru hesitated, pushing past Misao she made her way back out into the livingroom and collapsed on the sofa. Rubbing her forehead she glanced up as Misao stepped in front of her, hands on her hips with a hard look in her eyes. "So do you love him?"

Kaoru opened her mouth to answer but hesitated again as amber eyes flashed through her mind. Pushing away the image she answered resolutely "Yes Misao, I love him."

Misao sighed and shrugged, "Alright just be careful, I won't lose you to some psycho who's trying to get back at him."

Shaking her head Misao turned to collect another painting when her eyes fell on the freshly painted portrait, "What are you going to do about this one it's not dry yet."

Rising from the sofa Kaoru paled as she glanced at what Misao was looking at, she couldn't put that one away yet but if Enishi saw it he'd kill her. Tearing her gaze from the painted amber eyes she asked "Will you take that one to your apartment, I'll get it back later."

"Are you going to put it in the show? You should it's the best one so far...kami he's a babe."

Kaoru shook her head vehemently. "No if I did Enishi would see it and who knows what he'd do. Just take it to your place until I can come get it."

Misao flung her hands up in defeat yet there was a slight twinkle in her eye. "Ok, Ok I'll take it, I better get it over there before he gets here."

"Alright, see you later then." Kaoru threw over her shoulder as she collected another painting and headed towards her room.

oooooooooooooooooo

Kenshin dropped the last box and leaned against the wall staring at the mess before him. It was good thing the place was huge. Over the many years he'd wandered this earth he'd managed to collect all sorts of items from all over the world and he'd decided to finally display them as they should be. Most had been in storage for the last several years, him being too busy searching for the one that had been stolen from him to settle down in one place.

A slight smirk tickled his lips as a heady warmth filled his entire being. He still couldn't quite believe he'd finally found her. He had known for the last twenty five years that she was alive again but it had taken him all those years to finally track her down. That had been the twist in the gift that had given him a second chance, he would know when she was born but not where. If he'd only stayed right here in Tokyo he might have found her sooner but he'd never thought she would be reborn right here where it had all ended.

Wandering over to the far wall he laid his hand flat against the cool surface and smiled. She was there just beyond this very wall, living her life oblivious to the storm that was about to rock her world. He chuckled lightly as the last seven nights flickered through his mind. Well maybe not completely ignorant he'd had quite an enjoyable time playing in her dreams. That little perk had been something he hadn't realized he'd be able to do until the first night. The night after he had seen her beautiful sapphire eyes staring out at him from a poster in a small art gallery window, the glowing smile on her face the exact same one he remembered from so long ago.

Closing his eyes he leaned his head against the smooth surface and fought down the overpowering urge to bust through the wall. That smile had haunted him for so long now that having her so close was about driving him over the edge. Spinning on his heel he headed for the door. He had to get out he had to get away from her long enough to lock down the emotions threatening to tear him apart.

Slipping out the door he headed down the hallway but paused just outside her door, reaching out a hand he stopped himself just before making contact with the wood. She was so close, just within his reach. Fisting his hand he turned forcing himself to put as much distance between them as he could. He would have to take it slow but very soon he would have her in his arms again and this time nothing and no one was going to stop him from claiming what was his.