Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Forever Mine ❯ Even the Best Laid Plans Fall Apart ( Chapter 13 )

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

Disclaimer - I don't own RK.

Hi all, well here it is the next climatic chapter. Hope you like it.


Chapter 13 - Even the Best Laid Plans Fall Apart

Sano stepped from the elevator and headed down the hallway, the two plane tickets Kenshin had asked for tucked safely in the pocket of his jacket. Coming to the door of the apartment he reached out to knock but stopped when all of a sudden the door swung open. Startled he took a step back and glared into the smug look painted across Kenshin's features. "Damn, I wish you'd stop doing that!" he grumbled, trying to regain his composure. Scowling he retrieved the tickets from his pocket and thrust them at the grinning man, "Here."

Kenshin just smiled and took the tickets. Stepping back to give Sano room to enter he absently fingered the rough paper and just stared at the means of their escape. This was all he needed, well these and Kaoru. Glancing at their departure time he looked back up, "This is the earliest you could get them?"

Sano just nodded and made his way into the apartment. Heading into the livingroom he settled onto the sofa and kicked his feet up on the table, "There aren't that many flights going to the Ukraine. By the way why are you going there? Do you know someone?"

Kenshin nodded, "There's a small inn there that took me in one night a couple of years ago, saved me from freezing in a blizzard. The family that runs it will let Kaoru and I stay until we can figure out where we want to go."

Mouthing a silent 'oh' Sano nodded in understanding and settled further into the sofa, "So now you have the tickets... how are you going to get Kaoru?"

Kenshin set the tickets on the table and settled down into the chair across from Sano, "She and I have a lunch date again tomorrow. Somehow I'm going to convince her to come with me. How I'm going to do that I have no idea, but she will come. Of that there is no question." No matter what she would come. There was no way he was leaving without her.

Sano smirked, Kaoru might be stubborn but there was no way she was going to win against Kenshin. He had a feeling that even if Kaoru did fight, Kenshin would simply knock her out and kidnap her anyway. He almost chuckled at the image that thought created; Kaoru bound and gagged hanging helplessly over Kenshin's shoulder. Now that would be a Polaroid moment. Snorting he shook his head in an effort to clear the image, and then another thought struck him like a fist in the gut. What if Kaoru wasn't at work tomorrow? Everything hinged on her being at the clinic but he wouldn't put it past Enishi to keep her locked up in the apartment after today.

Sobered by the thought he gave Kenshin a sideways glance and asked, "What if Kaoru isn't at the clinic tomorrow?"

Kenshin sighed. He'd already asked himself that very same question, but short of storming the building there was no way he would be able to get to her. If it came right down to it he would do just that though. They were leaving tomorrow no matter what it took.

"I'm not going to worry about that right now. I have to believe that she will be there tomorrow, because if she's not..." Trailing off he shook his head. It would be all out war with Enishi if he had to force his way into the building to get her. His carefully laid plans would all fall apart if he had to do that.

Sano just nodded in understanding. For them to disappear they would have to get Kaoru while she was out in public, because if they had to take her by force Enishi would know immediately. Shrugging Sano glanced out into the darkening night, well there was nothing they could do about it now, they would just have to wait and see. "Is there anything else you need me to do?" he asked as he yawned and stood to leave.

A small grin slid across Kenshin's lips, "Actually yes. We need to pack some of Kaoru's clothes."

"What!" Sano spat out, nearly collapsing back to the sofa.

Kenshin chuckled, "We need to pack some of her clothes. You have access to her apartment so..."

"You mean we have access." Sano interrupted as a horrified look passed across his face. "I'm not going through jou-chan's drawers! You can!"

Pushing out of the chair Kenshin grinned and nodded, "Ok."

Heading for the door Kenshin swung it open and walked over to Kaoru's apartment completely ignoring the still horrified look painted across Sano's face. "She'll need anything we can pack for her because there isn't anything even remotely close to a clothing store where we are going."

Following behind him Sano just shook his head. The man was insane; Kaoru was not going to like this one bit. Watching the ex-hitokiri out of the corner of his eye Sano unlocked and pushed the door to Kaoru's apartment open, "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean maybe it would be better to let jou-chan get them herself." When all Kenshin did was smile and shake his head no he shrugged, "Alright but it's your funeral. She can be vicious when she wants to be."

Kenshin chuckled, "I think I can handle her."

Wandering into the jasmine scented apartment Kenshin made his way straight for Kaoru's bedroom. Without a second thought he flipped the light on and wandered into her private sanctuary, heading straight for the closet he pulled it open. If she had any suitcases they would be in here. Flicking on the light Kenshin scanned the closet for some type of suitcase or bag he could use, not seeing anything right away he pushed further into the closet. Spying a small bag tucked in the back he leaned in to grab it. All of a sudden he came to an abrupt stop when his eyes fell on the paintings tucked into the back corner, confused he pushed the hung clothes out of the way and stepped into the closet.

Gently lifting the first one he couldn't stop the smile that blossomed on his lips, he must have had more of an impact on her than he'd originally thought. The amber eyes looking back at him from the shadow of a tree in the background of the painting proved she must have seen that side of him from the very beginning. He still couldn't understand why it would be the Battousai side of him she had seen and not the rurouni she had loved so much. Shrugging, he set the painting down and quickly flipped through the other five resting in the corner. He chuckled at finding them all with amber eyes looking out from somewhere in the landscape.

"So that's why Kaoru had to hide these paintings. If Enishi had seen these it could have gone bad for her much quicker than it did."

Kenshin jumped as Sano's voice sounded right behind him. Damn, he must have been so intent on the paintings that he hadn't even heard the fighter move up behind him. Grabbing the bag he shook his head and backed up, making his way out of the closet. He tossed the bag onto the bed and turned back. Fingering the clothes hanging before him, he sighed “It's bad enough now, but that will soon change."

Selecting a couple of long sleeve blouses he tossed them on the bed. Turning back to gather more he all of a sudden was hit by a feeling that something wasn't right. That something big was about to happen... something he wouldn't be able to control.

Skaken and confused he shoved the feeling away and glanced over his shoulder, "Have you heard from Kaoru at all?"

Sano shook his head, "No, not since I left her at the clinic. Why?"

Kenshin just shook his head, "No reason."

Turning his attention back to collecting clothes Kenshin tried to figure out just what it was that had him so on edge. Enishi wasn't even in town and yet he felt as if something was about ready to explode. But what?

Shaking his head he gave up trying to figure it out and wandered over to the dresser against the far wall to gather the last of the clothes Kaoru would need. Whatever it was it really didn't matter because by this time tomorrow he and Kaoru would be on a plane out of here. No one would be able to find them, not even Enishi. Smiling he turned his full attention to the task at hand.

It was all coming together, now all they needed was a bit of luck and everything would go off without a hitch. Too bad he'd never been that lucky.

oooooooooooooooooo

Kaoru nervously finger-combed her hair and collected it up, tying it back in a black ribbon she gave herself the once over. A small grin blossomed on her lips as she eyed her reflection in the mirror. She looked like some hitman for the yakuza. Everything she had on was black, from the deep black t-shirt and jacket to the low heeled black boots and jeans. She even had a pair of black gloves to put on if she wanted to. Hopefully with this getup on she'd be able to vanish into the small alleyways riddling the area when she finally managed to get outside of the building.

Swallowing around the lump suddenly lodged in her throat she tried to ignore the knot fisting in her gut and went over her plan one more time. First she had to get out of the apartment and surprisingly enough she'd actually figured out the code. It had come as a complete shock when she'd finally realized what it was. Well, maybe not completely considering Enishi had loved his sister almost to distraction. If she was right the code was Tomoe's birthday, September 7th. 0,9,0,7. Hopefully she was right because she only had one chance. If she didn't get it on the first try an alarm would sound and everything would fall apart.

Scowling, she shoved the possibility from her mind and grabbed the keys to the main doors on the dressing table, safely tucking them away in her jacket pocket along with the envelope full of yen. She'd managed to filch them off of a sleeping Hei Shin a couple of hours ago, thanks to his taste for sake. She'd knowingly left a fresh bottle out on the table in the livingroom before she'd locked herself in here to hash out her plan with the hopes that he wouldn't be able to resist and thankfully he hadn't.

Glancing at the clock on the nightstand she sighed, 3 a.m. It was time to go. Grabbing the small bag on the bed she headed towards the door. At this time of the morning the streets should be quiet, hopefully she'd make it to the train station without anyone noticing her. At least no one that would matter. Reaching the door she glanced over her shoulder to look at the room one last time and waited for some feeling of remorse to settle over her. To her surprise she felt absolutely nothing, no remorse or sadness. Taking a deep breath she smiled and turned the knob, really she shouldn't be all that surprised, this wasn't home anyway.

Turning her back on the empty room she quietly made her way into the livingroom. She had to admit that there wasn't anything here she would miss but there was something, or more importantly someone she would miss with all of her being... Shinta.

Her throat tightened painfully as the image of him standing in the sunshine behind the clinic rose up to torment her again. Fighting back the tears instantly burning her eyes she continued tiptoeing into the livingroom doing her level best to shove the image out of her mind. In all the hours since she'd come to the decision to disappear she'd had to continuously convince herself that it was the only way to break away from Enishi and ensure Shinta's safety. But it hurt so much to leave and never see him again, more than anything had ever hurt before.

Taking a deep breath Kaoru took a second to get herself back together. But the truth was, this was the only way to ensure their safety. If there was another way she would gleefully take it just to be able to see him again but there wasn't. This was it.

At the thought she was once again hit with a nearly overpowering urge to see him, the feeling nearly driving her to her knees. Fisting her hand tight she fought against it with everything she had, a small stream of hot tears trickling slowly from the corner of her eyes. 'Goddamn it! This is the only way!' she screamed in her mind in an effort to make the feeling go away. Damn, why did it have to be like this!

After what felt like an eternity the feeling slowly began to ebb, leaving her exhausted. Rubbing her forehead she did her best to get herself back together and stole a glance at Hei Shin. She heaved a sigh of relief at finding him still asleep on the sofa; thankfully that little episode hadn't woken him. Giving herself a mental shake she continued further into the livingroom, heading towards the elevator. Likely nothing short of an explosion would wake him out of the alcohol induced sleep he was in.

Reaching the elevator she took a minute to get full control of herself, her nerves so taut that she was sure the slightest noise would set her off. A soft meow followed by something rubbing against her leg nearly made her jump out of her skin. Stifling the scream that tried to escape she fisted her hand over her mouth and did her best to calm her now racing heart. Peeking at her feet she almost laughed.

Raijin. This cat was going to be the death of her yet.

Taking a deep breath she shifted her attention to the black cat curling around her ankles. Setting her bag down she hefted him into her arms and gave him a big hug. "I have to go Raijin. Be a good kitty for Enishi, ok?" A soft meow was her only answer as he rubbed his cheek against her chin. Feeling a tear trickle from the corner of her eye she buried her face in his soft fur and gave him one last hug, "He's really not a bad man, he just doesn't know when to let go." Sniffling, she quickly set him back down and collected her bag again. Ok maybe there was one thing she would miss, and yet deep down she knew it wasn't only Raijin.

With the back of her hand she wiped the wetness from her cheek. Why did it all of a sudden have to become so hard? Shaking her head she smiled ruefully, she knew why. She really did love him. Deep down she still loved him, even though he didn't love her back, but it wasn't enough to keep her here. Not anymore. Given enough time the love she felt for him would fade as it had for him, all she had to do was wait.

Steeling her resolve she shoved the thoughts from her mind and instead focused her attention on the keypad. Taking a deep breath she hesitantly typed in the four numbers she hoped were the code. Lifting her finger she let it hover over the enter button for a second in indecision. Well it was now or never, hopefully the code was right. Closing her eyes she hit the enter button and waited with bated breath for the alarm to sound. She almost cried in relief when the gentle hissing of the doors sliding open greeted her ears.

Quickly stepping into the elevator Kaoru turned and glanced around the apartment one last time. She smiled ruefully at Raijin who sat on the small table at the end of the sofa gazing at her with sad eyes. No doubt about it, she was going to miss him. Raijin had always been her cat, not Enishi's. Staring into his yellow eyes she wondered if maybe she should take him with her. With a sigh she shook her head. She couldn't do that, she had no idea where she was going to end up or even if she'd make it out completely. He'd be better off here.

Nodding to herself she clutched her bag and watched as the doors slowly slid closed, shutting him away from sight. Heaving a sigh she leaned against the wall as the elevator soundlessly began descending. Well she'd made it this far, now all she had to do was get out the front doors and she would be free. Well kinda... she still had to get out of Tokyo, and Japan for that matter before she'd truly feel safe.

Slowly the elevator came to a stop and she positioned herself so she was behind the wall out of sight when the doors slid open. Waiting anxiously for them to open she rubbed her stomach in an effort to settle her roiling belly. If she kept this up she was going to get sick, it would be pretty bad if she was found simply because she couldn't hold her dinner.

With a slight hiss the doors finally slid open and she peeked out into the lobby. She stifled a great sigh of relief at finding the room completely empty, the only illumination coming from a room on the far right side of the lobby. That was where the night guard stayed. Usually it would be Hei Shin but since he'd been given babysitting duty she'd assumed his position had been taken by one of the twins. Hopefully that was the case; all four of them were a little light between the ears.

Steeling herself she quietly stepped from the elevator and tiptoed across the lobby, counting each step to keep herself from losing her nerve. Coming to the halfway mark she all of a sudden came to a dead stop as a sneeze echoed through the extremely open space. Holding her breath she had to focus all of her will on staying right where she was. She couldn't be caught now, not when she was this close.

Finally after what felt like a lifetime without another sneeze or anyone coming into the lobby she started to make her way towards the door again. Removing the keys from her jacket she hissed when they made a loud clanking sound. Kami! Everything was out to get her tonight.

Stilling she waited again to see if the noise would draw any attention. When no one came to investigate she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and made her way the last few feet to the door. Reaching the last barricade to her freedom she eyed the key ring and tried to figure out which key it might be. There were four silver keys hanging from the ring but she had no idea which one it was. Hopefully, if she was lucky this lock wouldn't have an alarm on it.

With shaking fingers she settled her nerves and tried the first one to no avail. It didn't fit but thankfully no alarm had sounded. Heartened but the knowledge that all she had to do was get the right key she tried another two. A slight clicking sounded into the quiet of the lobby as the third key slid effortlessly to the left. Consciously stopping herself from squealing in delight she stuffed the keys back into her pocket and slowly pushed the door open. Tears of relief started to slip from her eyes as she slowly stepped out into the cool night air. Holding the door as it closed she waited with bated breath for someone to catch her. This had been too easy, something had to go wrong. She'd never had luck this good.

The door soundlessly slipped closed and she withdrew the keys, locking it once again. If she was really lucky they would think she hadn't left the building... at least for a little while. Tucking the keys into her jacket again she set off down the sidewalk without a backward glance, trying to contain her excitement as she picked up her pace and headed towards Shinjuku station. It wouldn't be too much longer and she would be gone. She was almost free.

And yet unknown to Kaoru two men sat in a first floor apartment window in the building across the street and watched as she made her way away from the building that had been her prison only moments ago.

oooooooooooooooooo

"Who's that?"

"That's Yukishiro's woman." the stocky Triad man leaning against the window sill answered. Crossing his arms he smirked, "I wonder why she's slinking away in the middle of the night."

A hollow chuckle sounded in the quiet of the empty apartment, "What does it matter, with her stupidity she has now become the perfect tool. I wonder how Yukishiro would like it if I took someone he held dear from him. My brother did not deserve to die."

"You will have his undivided attention should you touch his woman."

"Well seeing as he isn't here for my entertainment, I will simply have to occupy myself with his woman until he returns." Smiling slyly the man added, "She looks like she could be quite a bit of fun." With that the one man stepped away from the window and headed out the door, without waiting for his associate he followed in Kaoru's footsteps, slowly closing the distance between himself and his prey.

oooooooooooooooooo

Kenshin bolted awake from a dead sleep as a thin coating of sweat instantly coated his skin. Glancing at the clock he frowned, 3am. What the hell would have awoken him at this time of morning? Taking a minute to listen, his frown deepened at finding the apartment dead quiet. Rubbing his forehead he closed his eyes and tried to figure out what had woken him, and then he felt it, the almost overwhelming drive to seek and protect. And then it hit him, Kaoru was in danger.

Without another thought he flew out of bed and threw on the pair of hakama he'd had on earlier. Tucking in his sleeping yukata he hurriedly tied them up as the feeling became stronger, the need to protect hammering violently through his veins. Spurred by the feeling he bolted for the livingroom to grab his sakabatou from the wall, racing to the door he flung it open and ran down the hallway for the elevator. Jabbing the down button he waited impatiently for the doors to slide open. After what felt like an eternity the doors finally slid open to reveal a startled Sano staring at him.

"What the..." Sano managed as he stepped back, the early morning snack all but forgotten in his hand. Glancing at the blade in his friend's hand he asked, "Where are you going?"

Ignoring him Kenshin pushed his way past Sano and jabbed the button for the first floor, "Kaoru's in trouble."

Sano just stared at him, "What do you mean Kaoru's in trouble? It's three am, she should be in bed."

Kenshin just shook his head, he couldn't explain it. It was just a feeling and yet he knew it was real. "I don't know. All I know is that she's in trouble."

Still confused Sano let the doors slide closed. Settling against the wall he dropped the bag on the floor and quirked an eyebrow at the obviously wound up ex-hitokiri, "Ok. So where is she?"

"I don't know..." pausing Kenshin finally took a minute to tuck the sakabatou into his belt then he glanced back up. “You know where Enishi's building is, don't you?"

Sano nodded, "Yeah, it's in West Shinjuku. Is that where we're headed?"

Kenshin just nodded and settled against the wall. Good, that's the direction he could feel Kaoru moving in. But why was she out in the first place? West Shinjuku wasn't the best place to be out in this late at night. So what had driven her out of the safety of Enishi's building?

Shrugging he shook his head, really it didn't matter. She had just given him the chance to take her without anyone knowing. This would be the perfect opportunity to get her because even if she did fight, no one would know it.

Grinning, Kenshin closed his eyes and focused his entire being on the feeling tingling beneath his skin. This must be what it would have felt like if the bond had been full from the start. Up until this very moment he hadn't realized she was there, just below the skin, her heartbeat keeping beat with his own. The physical contact they'd had must have strengthened this part of the link somehow.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a surge of anxiety flooded through his veins, his stomach instantly knotting. Fisting his hand he did everything he could to settle the almost sickening fear raging through his veins... a fear he knew was not his.

Suddenly afraid he did his best to quiet the nearly overpowering feeling and prayed to every god he could think of that she would be safe until he found her. Because if anything happened to her nothing short of death would stop him from ripping the one who had harmed her to pieces. Nothing.

oooooooooooooooooo

Kaoru made her way through the quiet streets of Shinjuku-ku and did her best to fight down the sudden feeling that she had made a terrible mistake. Something was wrong; she could feel it along every nerve in her body. Taking a deep breath she shifted her attention from the sidewalk ahead of her and scanned the empty street. The barrenness of the scene made her skin crawl, she was completely alone, not another soul roamed the quiet streets. Maybe she should have thought this out a bit better; being alone in these streets wasn't a very good idea at three in the morning. Swallowing nervously she picked up her pace. She shouldn't be too far away from the station. Enishi's building was only a couple of blocks away... at least that's what she'd always believed.

Steeling herself she gave her undivided attention to the quiet street before her and picked up her pace even more. At her quickening she finally heard the sound she'd been dreading, the light tread of feet right behind her. Taking a deep breath to calm her jumping nerves she dug up the courage to glance over her shoulder.

Scanning the partially lit street she inhaled sharply when her eyes settled on the shadow keeping pace a hundred feet away. Scowling, she growled. How the hell had they found her already!

Looking long and hard at the man who continued to match every step she took, an almost overpowering fear exploded in her veins. Thing was, she didn't recognize this person. She knew almost all of Enishi's men. And he wasn't one of the ones she knew. But then again she didn't know them all so he very well could be one of Enishi's which meant she was caught. That realization spurred her into motion, shoving her arm through the handles of her bag she flung it up on her shoulder and took off at a dead run. If she made it to the station she'd be safe. Whoever it was behind her wouldn't be able to take her if she was in the station surrounded by security.

Racing through the empty streets she hazarded a look over her shoulder before she turned down the street that lead to the station. She nearly choked when she saw the figure running right behind her. Rounding the corner she screamed when she rammed into what felt like a brick wall. Stumbling backwards she fell on the sidewalk with a muffled 'hrmff'.

Taking only a second to shake off the shock she bolted to her feet and sprinted past the massive man standing right in front of her. Her short taste of freedom came to an abrupt halt as a hand snaked out and grabbed a hold of her ponytail. Nearly falling backwards she hissed at the pain ripping through her scalp. Yanking her hair out of his hand she swung around and slammed her fist square into his jaw, "No! I will not go back to him!"

Grimacing at the instant fire burning through her hand she made to run for the station again but stopped dead in her tracks when a voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

"Whoever said we were taking you back."

A sliver of fear shivered down her spine at the undisguised malice in his voice. And then what he said slowly sank in, so they weren't Enishi's, which meant...

Swallowing nervously she scowled as the man she'd punched positioned himself between her and the station again. Slowly turning around she came face to face with a man she'd never seen before. The scar running lengthwise down his face and the icy cold look swimming in his nearly black eyes made another shiver race through her body as he took a step forward. Trying to swallow around the lump suddenly lodged in her throat she sidestepped from in between them and took a step back, “Who are you?"

"That's really not important right now. All you need to know is that you are ours now."

Confused, Kaoru just stared at him and then the blood suddenly drained from her face as what he implied slowly sank in. Oh no she wasn't, she wasn't some toy for them to play with. Spinning around she ducked out of reach of the brute's hand and bolted for the station. It was so close, only a few hundred yards away. And then she heard it, the dull thud as the bullet left the silencer. Diving to the side in an effort to avoid the bullet she screamed as it pierced her calf, instant fire exploding through her entire leg.

Rolling in to the alley to her right she bit back a groan of agony and tried to get up. She immediately crumbled back to the ground, the pain making it impossible to put any weight on it. Remaining on her hands and knees she fought down a sudden wave of nausea and started to crawl further into the alleyway. God who were these people? Why did they want to kill her? And then the truth slowly started to penetrate her pain hazed mind, if they had truly wanted to kill her they would have already. They wanted her for something else... but what? Her question was answered when she heard her attackers heavy tread echoing in the narrow alley.

"Where are you going? It wouldn't do to kill Yukishiro's woman quite yet, now would it? We need you alive so that he can watch you die."

An icy shiver of fear whispered through Kaoru's body at the cold words. Stopping she turned over and settled onto her backside, propping herself up with her arms she slowly moved backwards away from him. She scowled as he continued to advance on her with the gun pointed dead at her chest. And then all of a sudden the scene before her faded to be replaced by one of another man advancing on her with a weapon but instead of gun the weapon this man held was a sword. Pinching her eyes closed she shook her head and tried to push the images away, but not before she saw who the other man was.... it was Enishi. But that couldn't be? He'd never done that. Ever.

Confused, she renewed her fight to bury the images once again in the deepest recesses of her mind. Successfully fending them off she fought back the waves of nausea washing over her and pulled herself deeper into the alleyway in an effort to get away from the man still keeping pace. And then out of nowhere a voice sounded through the narrow alleyway.

"The only one to die will be you."

Kaoru stopped as her attacker scowled and slowly turned to face the person now standing at the end of the alleyway. Shaking her head she peeked around the man who had been stalking her just moments ago in an effort to see her savior, she knew that voice and yet for some reason she couldn't place it. Gazing at the figure at the end of the alley she wished he would step forward so she could see him in the light.

And then, as if in some surreal horror movie, she watched as the second man came up behind him. Opening her mouth to shout out a warning to him she stopped dead as her savior spun around and jammed his fist into the man's jaw driving his head back with enough force to break his neck. The man bonelessly crumbled to the ground in a heap, not to move again. Shifting her eyes back to the shadowed man and all she could do was watch wide eyed as he slowly turned back around.

"Give her to me and I will spare your life."

Finally, out of the depths of her mind, that voice finally took on a name and she whispered, "Shinta..."

Surprised at the knowledge she started to make her way towards him. Shinta took another step further into the alleyway then stopped as another shadowed figure materialized right beside him. Shifting her attention she tried to figure out who the new person was and then a voice broke into the quiet of the night, "Looks like you found 'em, eh Kenshin?"

Kaoru stopped dead as the name filtered into her ears, her breath catching painfully in her throat. Eyes widened she whispered, "Ken...shin?". As if his name was a trigger an image floated up from the depths of her mind, an image of a redheaded man reaching out towards her with a smile that warmed her heart, the word 'Tadaima' flowing from his lips.

Shaking her head to clear the image she whispered, "Kenshin," again as she slowly swung her eyes to the man at the head of the alley. Watching as he took the step that would bring him into the light she all of a sudden found it very hard to breath... red hair... red gi... white hakama... Ken...shin.

And then it happened, the already weakened floodgate holding back her previous life burst open, her pain soaked mind suddenly assaulted by a myriad of images. Letting out an ear piercing scream Kaoru gripped her head and tried to stop the flood of images ruthlessly assaulting her mind. Images flitting between a young girl and a teenaged woman, the speed at which they were flashing before her eyes making it hard for her to piece anything together. Several times she saw this redheaded man for a split second before he vanished to be replaced by another man who looked exactly like Sano and a young black haired boy. No sooner did they come then they too were whisked away to be replace by an image of a man and a woman she somehow knew were her parents and yet they weren't the ones she knew, their kind smile hitting her square in the chest.

Trying desperate to slow the onslaught Kaoru closed her eyes and focused her entire being on trying to get control but it wasn't to be as the images continued to hammer through her mind, the speed making her dizzy. Images of time long ago where a young version of herself smiled and chased fireflies in a dusk shrouded yard. Trying to grab a hold of the serene scene she groaned as it danced away to be replaced by an image of a man with a wild look in his eyes stealing her breath. Fighting to breathe she took a great gasp of air as the image cut her loose to flash to another of a dojo training room where she stood facing off first with the tall man she knew had once been her father and then she watched entranced as he shimmered and faded to be replaced by the young black-haired boy. Beyond confused she clutched her head even tighter. Fighting for control she looked back up at the man at the end of the alley.

Kenshin cringed as the scream crashed into his ears, the sound ripping a hole in his chest. Fixing his eyes on Kaoru he searched her for some type of injury that would cause such a scream to explode from her lungs. Seeing the blood pooling beneath her leg he growled and started to turn his amber gaze to the object of his anger but stopped when Kaoru's eyes caught his and then he saw the truth.

Her memories had somehow been awakened.

A fist of fear tightened in his gut, wide eyed he shot towards her but came to a dead stop as the man between them shot a round at his chest. Skidding to a halt he drew his sakabatou and growled, "You will live if you get out of my way. If you do not, I will kill you."

He smirked at the look of horror that settle on the man's face. Taking a menacing step towards the man who thought to keep him away from Kaoru he settled into his stance and readied himself. And then another scream ripped through the air.

Kaoru screamed again as she lost control, the images assaulting her mind coming hard and fast, none of them making any sense and then all of a sudden she found herself whisked away from the alley and deposited in a room of some sort. Blinking several times to try to get her bearings she slowly looked up and paled. Enishi stood over her with a long gleaming blade leveled her heart, the smile on his face making her blood run cold. Blinded to all but the scene engulfing her mind Kaoru started dragging herself backwards again in an effort to get away from this Enishi. It wasn't her Enishi and yet it was.

Confused, she continued to back away from him but stopped as a hollow chuckle whispered into her ears. Stopping herself from breaking into tears she tried to find the will to move again but it was gone and all she could do was watch him advance.

"Are you afraid?" he asked taking a step towards her, his tone making her skin crawl. "There is nothing to be afraid of, I will make it quick." Taking another step towards her he added, "He doesn't deserve happiness. Not after he stole my sister's."

Frozen in place all Kaoru could do was stare at Enishi wide eyed as he continued to advance, each step bring him that much closer to her. What did he mean? She didn't understand. Who didn't deserve happiness? He'd already killed Tomoe's killer so who did he mean? And why did he want to kill her! ... Why!

Getting a hold of herself she finally found her will. Reaching out she shoved the blade away. The image wavered slightly at the act and she found the drive to bolt to her feet completely heedless of the pain throbbing up her leg from the bullet wound.

Enishi just smiled at her and dove driving the blade straight through her chest. Feeling the blade slide into her skin Kaoru screamed in agony and shoved against him. The image wavered again, this time almost dissolving and Kaoru took this as the chance to run.

Not feeling the pain in her leg at all Kaoru bolted blindly out of the room trying to get away from the nightmare and then a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, stopping her dead in her tracks. Letting out a scream Kaoru broke into tears and fought against the arms holding her. "No! I won't let you kill me!"

Kenshin held her tight as she fought against him with every last bit of strength she had, the tears streaming from her eyes cutting him to the core. Leaning in he whispered, "It's ok now. You're safe." When she continued to fight he tightened his hold and added, "I have you now and I won't let go. Not this time."

Kaoru lost all of her fight as the soothing voice whispered into her ears. It wasn't Enishi, the one holding her wasn't Enishi. Relieved by the thought she sagged bonelessly against the one holding her and silently cried. 'It's ok now ... yes it was ok now’. She was safe with the one holding her. Comforted she finally let go and fell into the darkness tugging at the edge of her awareness, gratefully slipping away from the pain.

Kenshin heaved a sigh of relief when Kaoru stopped fighting and sagged against him. Holding her tight he buried his face in her hair and held her as he felt her fall into unconsciousness. Slowly lowering her to the ground he tugged the black ribbon from her hair and tied it around her leg in a makeshift tourniquet. Completely forgetting about the other man in the alley he turned to Sano who had come up to stand beside him, "Will you go get Megumi and meet me at her apartment. She's been shot."

"Where do you think you're taking her?"

Kenshin's eyes narrowed dangerously and he shifted his amber gaze to the man who had brought this all on, "I suggest you forget about her and get out of my sight before I decide to gut you."

The man paled and nodded, without another thought he bolted from the alley leaving his friend in a heap on the ground.

Sano chuckled, "Spineless bastard." Turning his attention back to Kenshin he asked, "You sure you want to take her to her apartment. It's obvious she broke out of Enishi’s so likely they will find her gone soon and come looking." And then it hit him, digging out his own keys he tossed them at Kenshin, "Use my apartment instead. It's two floors below yours, you should be safe there. Enishi doesn't know about it."

Grabbing the keys out of the air Kenshin nodded, "Alright, I'll meet you there. Hurry she's lost a lot of blood." Sano just nodded and shot past him. Turning his attention back to Kaoru, Kenshin gently lifted her into his arms. Tucking her snuggly against his chest he carefully started making his way back to the apartment building. Finally taking a few minutes to think Kenshin grimaced as a knot suddenly tightened in his gut, her memories had returned. And from the pain and confusion he'd seen in her eyes they had returned just as he'd feared they would. A jumbled heap. And he was sure the last one had been of her death.

Sickened by the thought he hugged her even tighter to his chest and picked up his pace. He almost dreaded her awakening. It hurt to think she may shove him away, but if she hadn't remembered her previous life the way it had happened then she wouldn't understand.

He was going to have to be very careful when she awoke or he could very well lose her again. He couldn't let that happen... no he wouldn't let that happen. Not in this lifetime.

oooooooooooooooooo

Now aren't you glad I didn't post this chapter and vanish for a month? ^_^

As you can tell things are moving right along now, only have a few more chapters to go. Well I'm hoping since I don't have any more vacations coming up that I can get back on my three week update schedule. At least I'm going to try.

Please review and let me know what you think.