Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Heavenly Lost ❯ Been You ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter XI:

Been You

The darkness of the opening at the end of the bridge began to clear as they came closer to it. They walked slowly towards it holding hands. The touch of the other one beside them made them stronger and more determined. They had a weird feeling in their hearts, they didn't know exactly what it was or what it meant, they just knew it was there. As they kept walking the feeling became stronger and stronger. Finally they reached the opening.

It was dark inside but there was enough light for them to see what was happening in there. In front of them was what appeared to be a labyrinth. The walls were tall and didn't seem to have and end.

Kaoru and Kenshin stood in front of the labyrinth holding hands. They were ready to face whatever that was hidden; with each other they felt strong.

Kaoru turned her blue eyes to meet Kenshin's. She smiled at him but he only needed to look in her eyes to know that she wanted them to go on.

They stepped in to labyrinth slowly…

Kenshin opened his eyes wider and wider but he couldn't see a thing. It was dark, why was it so dark? He gave a small step trying to hear anything but nothing big happened. He tightened the grip on Kaoru just to find out that she wasn't there

"Kaoru!"

Kaoru opened her eyes and then she realized they had been open all the time. Then why wasn't she able to see? She closed and opened her eyes repeatedly trying to find some difference but there was none.

"Kenshin what's going on?" She asked in a really soft voice but there was no reply. She felt her heart beat more rapidly and she hold her breath waiting for a respond. She tried to move her right hand to hold his but it wasn't there.

"Kenshin!"

At the moment he finished speaking her name his vision cleared and he could see what was in front of him. He blinked a couple of times to be sure that he was where he thought and he opened his mouth when he realized he was there. The place looked different though. The colors in the walls seemed brighter and there was the noise of people talking softly inside the Dojo. He slowly walked in to see a lot of people sitting inside and in the far end there was a man with a devastating expression in his face. When he saw it he felt his heart in pain. He didn't know the man, he had never met him before but just the sight of him made him so sad. He ran to him, he didn't know why but he just did, and it was then when he realized he couldn't run as fast as he was used to. He stopped and looked at himself and just gave another gasp when he realized he looked like he did when he was five. The man with the sad expression looked at him.

"I'm sorry, your mother is dead"

"What? What does all of this means? I'm in the Dojo but it's filled with people I don't know. There is that man that I haven't seen before and he talks to me like he knows me, like I'm important to him but why? Why do I feel so much pain for this man? I don't know why but this all seem so familiar to me. A sad father, a dead mother and a child crying because the family is destroyed…"

"You are Kaoru's father"

She had to close her eyes at the sight in front of her. She felt the tears coming down on her cheeks as she tried to forget what she just saw. I didn't really mater if her eyes were closed, she could still smell the fire and the corpses burning inside the house.

"Where I'm I? What's going on?"

She opened her eyes once again just hopping that she would see something different but she didn't. She was standing in front of a burning house that was slowly collapsing but she could still see inside the bodies of a man and a woman that were burning with the house. She felt her heart torn apart by this sight. She buried her face in her hands so she could cry for the ones inside. Then she noticed that her hands were smaller so she looked down at her just to realize that she looked like she did when she was eight.

Before she could think any further she felt a strong hand in her shoulder. She turned around to see a man with a hard expression standing behind her.

"They died kid; they had cholera so we had to burn them so the infection wouldn't spread."

She just nodded, she didn't know why but she didn't felt like speaking to the man or asking him anything. Then she felt the man holding her hand tight and dragging her somewhere. They quickly arrived at a small clearance in the woods that was filled with wagons and people standing next to it.

"This is the one I told you about" She heard the man speak.

Another man looked at her for a moment and then turned at the one holding her.

"I won't give you much"

"I don't care, I need the money" Responded the one holding her. Then she felt how she was roughly drag to a line of people and then she felt how her little arms were tied together in the rope that hold a group of slaves ready to be transported.

"Don't be afraid little one" She looked up to see three young women looking at her.

She gave them a smile when she understood where she was and who were the girls. She let another tear roll down her face as she understood what had he gone through in his childhood and called his name.

"Kenshin"

Kenshin was sitting and his hands were tied together by a rope. He realized that he wasn't a child anymore and he was about to use his sword to break the ropes when he heard someone with a hard a familiar voice talking in front of him. He looked up and he found himself staring at Udo Jine's eyes. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest and he realized he couldn't breath. He looked in front of him to see Kaoru staring at Jine with a pair of amber eyes as she raised her sakabato.

Kaoru felt a sharp pain in her arm. She was injured and only holding her sword made her feel a lot of pain. She looked at the weapon in her hands and she realized it wasn't her usual boken but the heavy Sakabato. She didn't realized how she was moving but she soon forgot about the pain and focused all of her energy at defeating Jine so she could help Kenshin. She was about to kill him when she heard his voice.

"Don't…"

She lowered the sword to run to him and hold him in her arms.

Kenshin was sitting next to Misao. He was looking at the horizon. The night was cold and he didn't know why but he couldn't stop staring at the road in front of him. Suddenly he saw three figures emerge from the dark. He recognized Aoshi and next to him Sano was caring… Kaoru. She was bleeding so much and she didn't look like she was conscious. He opened his eyes and run to her. He was so afraid. His Kaoru was like that, dying, just like he was when… when he returned from the battle with Shishio. He then suddenly stopped when he realized something. That sharp pain in his chest, something that felt like it was crushing him from the inside, that was what Kaoru felt every time he had to fight, every time he left her to save Japan, every time he got injured, every time he picked a sword. But it didn't matter what she was feeling, she always had a smile for him. He put his hands in his chest to try and stop the pain and then he did his best to put a smile on his face. "She is the braver than me"

Kaoru was lying on a futon on the floor. Every bone in her body hurt and the simple action of breathing made waves of pain ran through her entire body. She slowly opened her eyes. The light of the room was so bright, she was about to close her eyes again when he saw a red headed man sitting beside her and looking at him with a worried expression o his face… Kenshin. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and he had a sad look on his eyes but he was smiling. She tried to smile back but the slightest movement made all her body shivered. She was about to cry from the pain when she saw his beautiful violet eyes again. Then she stopped as she realized something. This terrible pain she was in, this was how Kenshin felt after each battle he had the ones she knew about and the ones she didn't. But it never mattered how injured he was, he never let it show, he was always worrying about her and he always did what was necessary to keep her calm. She stopped the tears from falling down her face as she tried to raise her head and give Kenshin a smile. "He is tenderer than me"

The floor was cold and she hit it hard. "Did I fell from somewhere?" She lowly started to get up. It was dark again and she couldn't tell where she was. She instantly moved her right arm to the side but she didn't feel Kenshin's hand near her. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to figure out what to do next or at least where she was. Then she felt him. She opened her blue eyes just to meet his violet ones.

"Kenshin!" She screamed as she threw herself at his arms and hugged him.

"Is it really you this time?

"Yes Kaoru, It looks like we found each other again"

Her response was a soft kiss.

"But what happened to the yellow light binding us?"

"I don't know" Kenshin answer as he looked at his left hand to find out that the bond was missing.

They held hands again and when they touched each other a soft light filled the room and they could see they were facing a door at the ending of the labyrinth. They looked at each other, understanding every thought that passed through their minds.

They approached the door and put their hands in the handle and tried to open it. The door didn't move. They tried one more time with the same result. They tried pushing it, pulling it, knocking it, but nothing happened.

"Well we've come this far…" Said Kenshin as he slowly unsheathed his sword.

"Kenshin stop! Your hands are hurt, you'll injure yourself."

Kenshin smiled at her. "I know how you feel but we need to do this. Please don't worry. You know you'll do the same if you were in my position."

Kaoru lowered her eyes. He knew Kenshin had to do that so she just smiled softly at him. This was all the encouragement he needed. He quickly and in a swift and elegant move passed the sword through the door forming a big cross on it. Then he kicked it hard and the door collapsed. This time they could see what was in front of them before they crossed the door.

"Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes Kenshin! We've reach the end of the city!"