Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Promises ❯ One-Shot

Promises….

The smell of plum blossom,and the smell of blood…..blood staining the pure white snow, staining the ground beneath it, staining the katana that tasted it and staining a grieving heart. Snow; soft and pitying, gently floated down from above a young couple. The boy, barely a man, held his love, who was older, close to him. He stroked her face gently, parting her raven black stray tresses from her fair face. Her eyes were close, the thick eyelashes unfluttering. She was at peace, as though in a deep sleep, which was not far from the truth, a never awakening, eternal sleep. Cold slender soft hands lay limply against his chest; hands that were warm and comforting when he had held them the night before, when he made the promise to protect and to give her happiness.

Tears fall, as the cross scar on his left cheek burned,bleed and seered, a painful reminder to haunt him for as long as the guilt remains, as long as the heart never finds peace. The forest and mountains were silent and lonely, as though moaning the passing and dying of a shooting star. Snow, soft and pitying, continue to rain down gently. Hitokiri Battousai, the greatest, ruthless, shadowy assassin, was now merely the humble, emotional, naïve Himura Kenshin, a gentle 15 years old who was crying soundlessly, weeping his heart and soul.

With a strength borne out of grief and a quiet anger at his own failure to protect Tomoe, his love, and for having destroyed her happiness and also her, he picked her up into his arms. A slender, small frame trudged across the battleground in the direction of the woods, towards a waterfall.

Beside the waterfall, a plum tree grew and beneath it, he buried her. With his two bare hands, Kenshin dug a deep grave and gently laid her to rest there. He was going to bring her back to Tokyo for a proper burial, but it was not the right time yet to do so and he still had some unsettled duties to fufill. The cross scar will always remind him of her and this place.

As the last handful of earth was patted into place, his hands were cut, bruised and bleeding, but they were numb compared to a different pain he felt. Deep purple eyes void of all emotions, he walked in the directions of the waterfall, his hands hung limply at his side, his whole being and soul felt emptiness.

The long orangeish red haired boy waded slowly into the large pool until the banks gave way to its depths, and he sank into the dark waters. Looking up at the surface as he bobbed about in the pool, he saw the shimmering glow of the moon and melting snow . Thoughts flirted across his mind. Kenshin found himself asking the meaning of life, the meaning of happiness, the meaning of peace. The light of the moon reminded him the light in a pair of jet black eyes, a sparkling light that was lively and gay. The same light in the same pair of eyes just before their owner drew her last breath. They had told him to go on living and be happy.

With a sudden realization, his arms and legs worked themselves and propelled him upwards, breaking the surface of the pool, gasping for air. It was not time for him to die yet, to give up yet. Tomoe wished for him to live and be happy, and since he could not fufill the promise to protect and give her happiness, this was the least he could do for her.

The weather became colder as the snow came down heavier than before. Tugging his wet clothes around him to preserve the little warmth he still had, Kenshin turned his head in the direction of the plum tree to have a last look. The hilt of his katana could be seen a little above the grave. Nodding a farewell , he did not look back as he left the waterfall and the woods. Deep in his heart he would return for Tomoe's remains and keep his final promise to her: he would live and find happiness.