Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Prisoner of War ❯ Smell of Blood ( Chapter 4 )

Okay guys. Sorry about this taking me so long, but I only go to school Monday through Thursday.

Taylor: Thanks for so many reviews! I will see in one hour when I get to class.

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Kenshin couldn't sleep. He stared at the ceiling and listened enviously to the steady breathing of the men in the other beds. They all slept soundly. They didn't fear their dreams. They didn't dread their own minds. He sighed. The scent of his own blood still assaulted his senses. It was making him nauseous. He heard the door click open and watched a torch enter the room. It headed straight toward him. His body switched to fight mode. His eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed. It pulled at his still fresh wounds. He couldn't stop the cry from escaping his lips. The torch and its wielder hurried over to him.

"Kenshin! Are you okay?" Kaoru's face appeared in the soft firelight.

"I'm fine. I thought you were an enemy." She smiled at him. He looked downward. Then his face twisted as a wave of nausea pushed through him.

"Kenshin, are you feeling sick?" She sounded genuinely worried for him. He couldn't understand why.

"My throat is just dry, and this smell is making me feel awful." She looked confused.

"Well, if you're thirsty, just go get some water from that bucket. What smell are you talking about?" He looked over at the bucket she had gestured to. It was in the middle of the room.

"Miss Kaoru, even if I wasn't injured so badly, these heavy irons keep me from getting up." She looked at the metal restrainers he had referred to.

"Oh my, I am so sorry." He watched her rush over to the water basin. She returned with a tall cup full of water. She gently placed it to his lips, and he drank greedily. His parched throat felt better, but the smell was still making him sick. He looked disgusted for a moment.

"What is it? Is there something wrong with the water? Did you swallow a bug?" Kenshin almost smiled at her. She was so cute. But instead he kept his usual frown.

"No, it's nothing." She shot him an unhappy glance.

"That's not true. You said something about a smell. Is that it? Is my ointment too strong?"

"It's the smell of my blood, Miss Kaoru. Your ointment's fine." She began to carefully examine his barely clothed body. The only things covering him were a loincloth and bandages. It was hot out though so that was okay. But try as she might, Kaoru couldn't find even a drop of dried blood on his chiseled form. And she looked very closely at each and every exposed inch of him. She moved near his head and looked over his face. Again there was nothing. She sat down near his shoulder.

"I can't find any… Oh, I didn't even think about that! I'm so sorry." When she had settled into sitting, her hand had rested near his head. A few stray strands of his red hair had gotten under her fingers. They were caked with blood.

"It's okay. The color hides it well. I guess I'll just have to live with it." Although he was finding it hard not to throw up at the moment, there was nothing he could do about blood in his hair. He watched Kaoru get up and run to the door. After a few minutes, she returned with a large basin filled with water, an empty bucket, a cup, and a small cloth bag. She set the basin and bucket, with the help of a guard next to Kenshin's bed.

"Thank you so much." The guard bowed to her and returned to his post at the door. Kaoru looked down at Kenshin. He was in a most unfavorable position for what she had planned.

"Kenshin, do you think you could sit up if I helped you?" He tilted his head.

"I think so." Kaoru bent over him and slid her hand behind his back. She gently pulled until he was sitting upright. She pulled his legs sideways so that he was hanging off the edge of the bed right over the empty bucket.

"When I washed you before I fixed you up, I didn't even think to wash your hair. I'm very sorry."

"You washed me?"

"Yes, of course. What's the point in bandaging up dirty wounds?" Kenshin didn't answer. Kaoru reached for the band that was holding his hair back in the traditional Kyoto soldier high ponytail. She loosened it and pulled it out. Kenshin's hair was so matted and dirty though, that it held the shape.

"Oh my, this is going to be more difficult than I thought. Please lean all the way over." Kenshin complied, and in moments, he felt the cool water flowing over his head. It felt remarkably good. Kaoru continued wetting it, and the empty bucket began to fill with bloody water. Then she stopped for a moment. Kenshin heard a rustling and tried to look up, but the mass of wet hair shielded his vision. Kaoru's hands returned to his head, this time with some kind of soap. It created a nice lather as she worked it into his long red hair. She massaged his scalp as she did so. Kenshin couldn't believe it. No one had washed his hair since he was a child. Even then, he didn't remember it feeling so wonderful. And that soap smelled very strongly of cherry blossoms. That must have been how Kaoru always smelled of them. She finished and began pouring water over him again. It was getting to be too much for the poor man. He called to the woman as she rinsed his head.

"Miss Kaoru, you said before that even my life was precious. What did you mean?" Kaoru didn't miss a beat.

"I meant that every life is important, Kenshin. There is no reason for any person to take the life of another. I hate what my husband is doing. I think it is disgusting and wrong. If I had any say at all, I would tell him so. He saved you because you were a good bargaining chip for him. Had you not been, you would have died there on the battlefield. I don't like the thought of that. I do my best to save everyone I can, and I mourn for each and every fallen man. Be he from Edo or Kyoto, it doesn't matter." Kenshin stared into the bucket of water. The suds in it were turning red.

"I killed many of those men." Kaoru put down the cup, and her hands returned to his head. She ran her fingers through it to loosen any knots and mats.

"I mourn for you most, Kenshin."

"Why? I am still alive." Her voice suddenly became very soft.

"I know. That's exactly why. I don't mourn for your life, but for your soul. You said that you enjoyed killing. You didn't understand what I meant by your life being precious. Somewhere along the way, the men in Kyoto who made you their murdering slave killed your soul, or at least locked it away. I mourn because if your life had taken an another direction, if somehow it was different, things wouldn't be this way. I know there is goodness inside you, Kenshin. I know because you are respectful. You haven't once spit in the face or tried to kick any of the men like so many other prisoners do. You haven't tried to escape, even though we both know you can. I know because you call me Miss Kaoru and listen to me speak. I know most of all because when you first awoke to consciousness, you called for your mother. No truly evil man would do that. I mourn for you more than anyone else because you are still alive. Rather than live with the sins you are committing, you killed Kenshin. Battousai was born from his ashes. But Kenshin is still there somewhere. I can feel it." The actions of her hands became less and less dutiful. His hair was completely untangled then, and became more and more comforting. Kenshin kept staring into the bucket of bloody water. It was rippling with drops of water from his hair and Kaoru's tears. She hoped that he wouldn't be able to tell that, but he could. What she didn't know was that his tears were falling there too. They mixed together with hers, the blood of his enemies, his own blood, and the cherry blossom scented soap. He tried to lift his body, but required her help. She gently sat him up and looked into his eyes. They weren't the same as they had been before she washed his hair. In the midst of the amber were flecks of violet. They seemed softer somehow. Less angry and resentful. His voice was almost shaky when he finally spoke.

"I mourn for him too, Miss Kaoru." She felt like her heart had been broken in two. She didn't understand how a man she barely knew could impact her in such a way, but he did. Maybe it was because she had almost lost herself when her marriage began as well. A lot of her had changed, but she still knew who she was deep inside. She placed her hands over his chained ones. She stared hard into his eyes, relishing each and every violet fleck. They were so beautiful in the torchlight. The colors danced like the red in his hair. Her voice came out in barely a whisper.

"I think we should bring Kenshin back." The corners of his lips upturned softly. She couldn't believe it. She thought this man was incapable of any expression besides confused, angry, and sad, and here he was smiling at her. Her heart leapt in triumph. This could work. She could save him like she so desperately had wanted someone to save her.

"That would be nice." She took his hair tie and pulled his locks into a ponytail at the base of his neck. Stray hairs fell from it and framed his face. His hair was still damp, but Kaoru thought it was beautiful that way.

"You're not in Kyoto anymore, so you're not a soldier. I like this hairstyle better."

"Me too."

"You should get some sleep." She carefully helped him lay back down like he was a porcelain doll and not a battle hardened warrior that all men who knew of him feared. He closed his eyes as the scent of cherry blossoms from her and his hair wafted through him. He hadn't felt so relaxed in a very long time. When was the last time he had smiled about something other than killing? He couldn't even remember. He heard Kaoru gather her things to go. Sleep claimed him before she left though, and he didn't hear her words or the soft touch on his hand.

"I'll be back in the morning. Good night, Kenshin."

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A/N: Please review!