Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ How the Past Can Change ❯ My Past and How it Changed ( Chapter 24 )

How the Past can Change

A K&K Rurouni Kenshin Romance FanFiction

by: bunny ;D

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the creation of Nobuhiro Watsuki, with the manga and anime rights belonging to Jump Comics and Sony Entertainment, respectively. I do not own and did not create the series or its characters...I'm just a fan, and I have no money anyways, so NO SUING ME!! :D

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A/N: This story is altering the original story of Rurouni Kenshin / Samurai X. It also has some OOCness, (especially with Battousai.) If you don't like that idea, or can't handle it…I would advise you not to read this fic. If you are a hard core Tomoe and Kenshin forever kind of person, I would advise you to not read this fic. Don't get me wrong, I like Tomoe, this is just a different story ok?

Ja ne,

Bunny ;D

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Tetsuro held up his hand, warning Kaoru to let him finish. "Kaoru, as you know, you are the sole heir of this property. You will have to teach the students in my absence, and should I not return, Kenshin will be the one to teach you the succession technique." Both of them remained in silent shock as Tetsuro finished what he had come to say. "I am leaving tomorrow morning, and that it all that will be discussed on this topic." Tetsuro stood and just before departing the room said, "Kenshin, I will need to discuss a few things with you later, privately, regarding that promise."

"Yes." Kenshin said to his father-in-law's departing back.

Kaoru looked down on the table at her and Kenshin's entwined hands and sadly reflected that her dreams of Kenshin might come true, but that this was not the way she would have wanted it. Not with the departure of her Father, no never like that.

"Kaoru…" Kenshin said softly to her as she stared at their hands.

Kaoru lifted her head and looked into Kenshin's concerned violet eyes. "Oh Kenshin…this is so horrible!" she exclaimed as she threw herself into his arms and began to sob uncontrollably onto his shoulder, their fingers remaining entwined between them.

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Chapter Twenty-Four

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Late that night, Kenshin met Tetsuro in the dojo as they always did when a private discussion needed to take place between them.

Tetsuro looked up at the sound of the door closing, and smiled at Kenshin. "Well, since I'm not sure if I will be coming back or not, I thought that now would be the time for you to tell me the things that you were unable to tell me when you first arrived here 9 years ago."

"You mean, how I was already in love with your daughter?" Kenshin questioned.

Tetsuro nodded his head in affirmation.

"Ok then," Kenshin said as he sat down, "I will tell you. Kaoru-dono and I first met during the Bakumatsu no Doran…" Kenshin began.

"What?" Tetsuro exclaimed. "How-" he began but Kenshin cut him off.

"Please do not interrupt, I will answer all your questions." Kenshin promised. "Like I was saying, Kaoru-dono and I first met during the Bakumatsu no Doran, she was 19 years old when I met her. She explained to me, after a lot of questions and prodding that she had somehow traveled from the future."

"You mean, Kaoru came from the future and you met her?" Tetsuro asked, trying to understand.

"Well, yes. You see…in the future world that Kaoru was from; she had known the older me. The future me, that had survived the war and had wandered for 10 years. So when she appeared out of nowhere while I was on an assassination mission, and saw me killing all those people, I threatened to kill her."

"You did WHAT?!?!" Tetsuro yelled out, beginning to rise to his feet.

Kenshin quickly stood and gently pushed Tetsuro back to the floor while saying, "Now, now, it's ok, I didn't, and I wasn't able to anyways. Kaoru is much too beautiful to kill." He added with an innocent smile. "Besides, she had recognized me, despite that I was half the age of the Kenshin she knew, so she said my name. Meeting a stranger that knows your name when you are an un-known assassin is quite disturbing, so I took her with me so I could question her to see what she knew about me, and how."

Tetsuro just glared.

Kenshin did his best rurouni smile, knowing fully well what the older man must be thinking. "It's ok, I protected Kaoru, from everyone, including myself the whole time she was with me." He said gently.

Tetsuro's glare softened a bit at Kenshin's words of comfort. "Ok, continue Kenshin, I'm sorry for not trusting you, I know you would never hurt Kaoru." He finally said, and then offered a weak smile.

Kenshin nodded before continuing, "So, I took her back with me to the Ishinshishi hideout. She was conveniently in a wedding kimono and everyone assumed that we had just been married, so she stayed with me."

Tetsuro's eyebrow twitched a bit. "Kaoru stayed with you?" He asked.

Kenshin sweat dropped as he patiently smiled at his father-in-law. "Don't worry, I didn't, I mean, we didn't…" Kenshin paused, and much to his embarrassment, he blushed.

Tetsuro laughed at Kenshin's obvious discomfort. "It's ok Kenshin, continue with your story." He said between laughs.

"Kaoru turned out to be just what I needed…those days had been dark. Until she came into my life, I had been lost in all the blood and killing. She was mysterious, high-spirited, and more surprising than anything, she was not afraid of me. You can imagine how much her lack of fear around me intrigued me…also the fact that she seemed to know so much about me. When I confronted her with what she knew about me from all her slip-ups, she confessed that she was from the future, and knew me in the future. I immediately asked her what our relationship in the future was, and she lied and told me that I was her best friend. It was not long after that though, that I discovered that the future me was in fact, about to marry her the day she had been transported to the past to be with me, hence her arriving in a wedding kimono. After discovering that I was to marry her in the future, I had convinced her to marry me in the past. With reluctance, she did, not that she didn't love me, just that she also did not want to hurt the other me. We were together for almost a year, until one day she left in a bright light."

"A bright light huh? This whole story seems so unbelievable. How did she travel from the future and why?" Tetsuro asked.

"Well, she…didn't know how she traveled to the past, and I understand, because after she was transported to the future, I somehow found my way to her by traveling there to get her back. When I got there, she had reunited with the future me that she was about to marry before coming to me, and had told me to go home and find my Kaoru, the one of this time. As for why, I'm sure only God knows…but I believe she came to save me from the madness. I had been so lost back then, and Kaoru came into my life and stirred everything up. She made me think, she made me have feelings, not only about her, but also about what I was doing with my life, and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Kaoru gave me a purpose, a hope. She saved me. That's why, after the war was over, I headed here to see her. It had been so long, and I needed to see her. I knew where the dojo was, and I resolved that I would only take a peek into what she was doing and then leave. Once I got here though, I was unable to leave. I was not planning to talk to her, or meet you, or live here at all, but…things change. Sometimes, the past can change." Kenshin finished softly.

"So she changed your past, and you changed hers." Tetsuro said more than asked. He had an amused smile on his face.

"Yes, so you can see how I have always loved her." Kenshin replied.

"Of course. As odd as this may sound, I believe you. The two of you from the day I met you seemed to have some sort of strange connection. Although it worried me at first, you proved that I could trust you. I'm very happy that you have always been honest with me, and now I understand everything you have done here for the past 9 years. It's as if despite how close we have always been, that now I truly know you. And Kaoru…I'm so proud of her, for her strength, her courage. It's a rather romantic story you know." Tetsuro said before he began to laugh. "Let me ask you this, son-in-law…should our Kaoru travel to the past, what will you do then?"

Kenshin frowned. Many times he had thought about it. It was then that he had understood his future-self's resentment of the whole situation when he had traveled to the future. Had he not been half-mad at that point in his life, he would like to think that he would have been more reasonable, but at the same time, he felt deep down, that if he had to do it all over again, he would, and wouldn't change anything about it. He loved Kaoru, desperately, insanely, madly, both of them. He realized one was his, and the other was the other his, and that he was still he, but all the same…

"No answer for me Kenshin?" Tetsuro asked.

"No. I have an answer…I would only hope, that I can not be jealous of myself, because I know that I need her in the past, just as much as I do now in the present, as well as how I know that I need her in the future. I also know that no matter what, Kaoru will return back to the me of this time." He finally said.

Tetsuro nodded his head in agreement with Kenshin's answer. "You have thought about it a lot haven't you." He said as more of a statement than a question.

Kenshin nodded his head while simply saying, "Yes."

Tetsuro leaned over and placed a hand on Kenshin's shoulder. "I'm very proud of you too, Kenshin. From the moment I met you, I have been impressed with your kindness, your knowledge, and the respect you have given me, despite that you are a much more skilled swordsmen than I am. I know now, that you will take good care of my daughter forever, and that you will both always be happy. Regardless of whether I am able to return to the two of you or not, I will always know that she is well loved in your care." He finished.

Then as Tetsuro stood to leave the dojo, for most likely the very last serious conversation he and Kenshin would have, he said, "I will be departing early in the morning, before Kaoru wakes. I don't want this to be more painful for her than it already is. Take care, Himura Kenshin, my son." Then Tetsuro Kamiya turned to the door, and exited the room with a finality that left Kenshin breathless, and sad.

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A/N: Ok, I know this seems kind of short. I'm SORRY!! It was just that…if I continued from this point in one chapter, the chapter would have been too long. ^_^;;

Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews!! I just love reviews; they make me want to update the story faster to make everybody happy! ;)

I wanted to also say the following:

mystic wolf: I know…I thought about that when I was writing it to, but I figured that would keep it in for several reasons. I wanted to get the idea across more than anything else, but I figured since they were in meiji era, that she had probably heard of castles, or perhaps even read some western books by that had castles and knights by the time she was 16. Also, I was thinking that even if I had never seen a castle before, I would probably still daydream about that type of stuff myself, so I left it in, for lack of anything better, and figuring as long as everybody got the point, it worked out ;)

sync*in: I will keep in mind that you love Heero for the next party. ::eheheheheheheheh::

Shadowmaster62: I know, I hear you, I was thinking the same thing myself when I uploaded the last party. I was thinking though, that hopefully it wouldn't be every two chapters from now on. I will see how it's going. I doubt they will be this close together again.

Jason M. Lee: I'm sorry for scaring you so much. ^_^;; OI! Is it true that Kaoru's dad's name is really Koshijirou?!?!? If it is, I will have to go through and change it on my story. I don't want to have incorrect information like that in my fic. ^_^;;

Anyhow! I thought perhaps everybody would like another preview. They seem to have gone over pretty well…

So next time on How the Past can Change:

Early the next morning, Kenshin was preparing breakfast for Kaoru and himself. It was a beautiful morning, but Kenshin felt that it should be raining. He was sad, Tetsuro was gone, and Kaoru would be devastated when she found out he left without saying goodbye to her.

Tetsuro had left just before the sun began to rise, and after hearing his departure, Kenshin had got up to his morning routine. He knew he was not going to be able to rest, the anxiety of knowing that Kaoru would be upset when she woke was enough to have kept him up all night worrying about her.

As Kenshin was watching over the water he was boiling for their morning tea, Kaoru suddenly screamed out, "KENSHIN!!!!"

Kenshin looked up from the steaming water and then broke into a run to find her.

ALL this and much more on the next exciting chapter of How the Past can Change!! (Ok, I know, I've seen too much Dragon Ball Z! lol…)

So until then, take care everybody!

Bunny ;D