Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Separation Anxiety ❯ Separation Anxiety ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: Separation Anxiety

Authors: Rose & Cat

Rating: NC-17; PWP

Pairing: Battousai/Misao/Kenshin

Summary: Kenshin and Misao's quest to find tofu takes an unexpected turn when they are stranded in an abandoned cabin due to a dangerous thunderstorm. An accident occurs that brings unbelievable results as Misao and her rurouni face off in an intimate battle with non other than the Battousai himself.

Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of Rurouni Kenshin. They belong to the great Nobuhiro Watsuki. All hail Watsuki-sama!

Distribution: If you want it, just tell me where it's going.

Feedback: Yes, please




ÒI told you it was going to storm, Himura...Ó Stated a half-hearted voice from behind sheets of rain.ÒBut, noooo... we needed tofu...Ó With an omniscent look in her emerald eyes, Misao trailed behind her red headed friend, her limbs falling into a distinct rhythym.

The rurouni sighed, his right hand clenching the handle of the wooden bucket which contained said tofu. Knowing that the quick summer storm had been well on its way, he had hoped it would hold off long enough for them to return to the Aoiya. The low echoing rumble of thunder, however, told him otherwise.

'First Kaoru-dono would chastize us for forgetting the tofu, then for being out in the rain and returning soaked to the bone...'

As they continued the companionable trudge back toward the Aoiya, the bottom of the clouds gave out with a sudden groan, allowing the pent up downpour to fall down upon the hapless victims, dousing them with icy drops of rain. The rate in which it fell increased steadily until not even Kenshin could see but a few feet in front of him and was having only to rely on his ability to sense ki in order to advance. By now, Misao had moved closer and was clinging to his faded pink gi in order to not get separated from him.

Thankful for the sheets of rain around his face, as they hid the heated flush he could feel sneak into his plain and scarred cheeks. The warm feel of a womanÕs flesh against his own, the same sensation denied him for the past decade, was distraction enough on top of the steadily thickening rain and his necessity for balance. Her proximity seemed to cloud his senses, dulling the extras he had added to his collection over the years.

Kenshin looked down at his Misao, who was clinging to his gi as if her life depended on it. She had her face buried in the folds, trying to keep it dry. Kenshin noticed how warm her body was against his, how her long, midnight colored hair clung to her wet face. He started thinking about how nice it would be to hold her, to whisper in her ear, to kiss her soft lips. He just-but no, now was not the time to be thinking these things. Now was the time to find shelter from the rain.

As he looked around, he saw a brown shape, looming in the distance. They advanced and he saw the distinct slope of a roof. Drawing even closer, he realized it was a small shed. He pushed open the door with a creak, and poked his head in.

"Hello?" He called. Without warning, Misao threw the door open and ran inside, pulling Kenshin behind her.

"ORO!?" He cried at being handled so roughly. Misao let go of him, and threw herself down on the earthen floor, thankful for finding a dry place to rest.

"Himura, I'm hungry. Let's eat the tofu," she suggested after a minute.

"But what of dinner at the Aoiya tonight?" he inquired.

"We'll buy more!" Misao replied, jumping to her feet.

"Alright," Kenshin gave in with a sigh.

"So, hand it over." Misao stated, holding out her hands for the bucket.

Kenshin blinked. It was then that he noticed the distinct lack of wooden bucket in his hands. It had been there before they'd gotten to the cabin, he was sure of it. "Ano...Misao-dono. I don't seem to have it, that I do not." he replied, a slight note of alarm in his voice.

"Himura! You lost it!?" Misao's small frame shook with anger.

"UhmÉ" Kenshin started.

"Go find it!!" Misao whacked him hard on the head.
~*~

Once outside, Kenshin surveyed the area for anything that looked remotely like the bucket he had been carrying. The rain continued to pour down, making the task increasingly difficult and so the rurouni moved to stand beneath the overhanging limbs of a nearby tree. He had just leaned against the smooth trunk of the tree, when suddenly, he heard a loud crash, followed by a bright jagged flash of light streaking across the sky above him. The spidery tendrils of wild electic current stretched out and down, colliding with the tree he leaned against. Instantaneously, an enormous pain jolted through his body. There was a momentary sound that rended the air, alluding to two separate bodies hitting wet earth, and then, Kenshin blacked out.
~*~

Misao sat on the cold dirt floor, muttering to herself. "So hungryÉ.what's taking Himura so long?" she wondered aloud. She heard a familiar creak and looked up. Kenshin had just come through the door, head bowed low and empty handed. Misao jumped to her feet. "Where is it Himura!?" she growled.

Kenshin didn't reply. Instead, he kept his head down, his hair covering his face. "Himura!? Answer me!" Misao tried again to get a response as she stepped closer. She was about to shake him, when his arms shot out, grabbing her by the waist.

"H-Himura?" she stuttered, shocked. His hands moved lower, down her back and into forbidden territory as his mouth opened, his face coming towards her. That's when she saw his eyes. His amber eyes.

She gasped as he forced his lips against hers, pulling her lithe body closer. She struggled, moaning in a mixture of protest and pleasure. What the hell was Himura doing? And what was with his eyes? He held her tighter, and at her next gasp, his tongue entered her mouth.

Just then, Kenshin's voice came from the doorway, "Misao-dono!?" He yelled. "What? Release her immediately!"
~*~

Utter shock bolted through him as Kenshin saw himself holding the woman of his dreams. But, in truth, it wasnÕt really him at all.

This man was different. A high pony tail of blood red locks tumbled from the crown of his head, a chest adorned in a dark blue gi with a grey hakama hanging from his waist. The sight was far too familiar.

ÒOro?Ó

Golden gaze flashing, his former self lifted his head. A sickening smirk crossed the lips of the Battousai as an icy shudder tickled KenshinÕs spine.

ÒWelcome.Ó

ÒWhat is going on?Ó Kenshin inquired, stress and force both rearing in his voice.

ÒYour guess is as good as mine, rurouni.Ó

Rage flaring in his chest, Kenshin took a stern step forward as the man opposite him pulled Misao full against himself, a waiting hand resting at the small of her back.

ÒWhat do you think you were doing with Misao-dono?Ó the tamer red head demanded.

ÒExactly what it looked like... Until I was so rudely interrupted.Ó came the reply.

By now, Misao's head had managed to clear a bit after the mind-numbing kiss that had just been bestowed upon her. Kissed. She had just been kissed. By a man who looked exactly like Himura, but obviously wasn't.

She found herself anxious, yet unwilling, to look up and meet his gaze. The tangibility of his eyes moving over her body was nerve-racking, and the ever- present assumption that he might search for something more frightened her to a substantial degree. What could she expect of this stranger?

Her old friendÕs position in the tiny room was closing in on them, sending her a reasurring notion through the silence. Himura wouldnÕt let him come anywhere near doing what they both knew he intended to do.

ÒRelease her.Ó Kenshin spoke softly, though his words seemed to roar. ÒNow.Ó

Spiting the rurouni, Battousai lifted a slow hand, dragging it through the air between the young girl and himself and closing the short amount of space. In a flash of lightning, Kenshin had his hand gripped tightly around the offenderÕs wrist. As the mocking grin still danced on his double's face, both menÕs muscles tensed immediately, the pressure feeble beneath the equivalence in strengths.

Misao shivered as an exploring hand found its way up her arm and into the gaping sleeve of her ninja gi. Light circles being traced on her soft flesh wrung a moan from her throat. KenshinÕs concentration wandered from his hold on BattousaiÕs wrist to watch the protested ecstasy that she was being brought. As his firm grasp slightened, his former self took hold of the rurouniÕs hand, leading it down to rest comfortably against Misao's inner thigh.

Kenshin's violet eyes widened as a barrage of unvieled emotions flooded his senses. Without question, he knew just who they belonged to. The Battousai had always been carnal, while the rurouni had been more subdued, not allowing his desires free reign. Now Kenshin felt his other side's feelings toward the young woman trapped between them. He felt the want, the desire, the love.... all of the things he himself felt for his Misao, but was too afraid to reveal. His eyes hardened. No more.

ÒWhat do you think youÕre doing?Ó Misao gasped. The response was without emphasis as she felt two pairs of lips grace the skin of her neck.

Her eyes drifted close as a pair of hands wrapped around her waist, another tugging gently at the knot holding her gi. With strong fingers nimble after years of swordplay, KenshinÕs hands quickly had the knot undone, the obi loosening about her waist and falling to the floor. Her ninja gi was pushed aside as the darker man slid it down her arms, the garment hanging on her forearms like a shawl. Lips touched her collar bone, nipping the skin slightly and crawling to her shoulder.

Like butterflies wings beating lightly on her back, soft kisses trailed across it. At the same time, the hand which rested on her thigh began to move, squeezing and massaging lightly as it began to move in slow circles, spreading warmth into her body like a pebble thrown into still waters. Each ripple grew wider and longer until it finally rested fully against the juncture of her legs. Misao groaned as she quite literally collapsed, the only thing holding her upright being the fact that she was sandwiched between the two red heads.



With syncronized fluidity, the pair lowered her limp body to the floor between them, situating her so that she sat astride the Battousai's hips while her back reclined against the firm wall of Kenshin's chest. Misao allowed her eyes to open for a heartbeat before they fluttered closed as the sensation of roaming hands and lips assaulted her flesh. Mindlessly bringing her arms up, Misao wound her fingers into the silky hair of the man behind her as a moan passed her lips. The delicate brush of lips against the shell of her ear caused her to shudder and her heartbeat to increase it's pounding rhythm.

"Misao..."

The sound of Kenshin's voice moaning her name in such rapture was finally enough to penetrate Misao's passion fogged mind long enough for coherant thought to seep in. What was she doing? More importantly, what was Himura doing? And.. and.. the Battousai?!

"S-ST-STOP!"

With great effort, Misao's mind forced her reluctant body to pull up and away from her two seducers. She sat up quickly, but found herself unable to escape the warm prison of their arms.

"What... what are you doing?" She gasped as she found her green eyes caught up in the lust induced gaze of the legendary manslayer.

His amber orbs seemed to devour her entirely. Misao nearly jumped out of her skin, not to mention the arms of both men, as a hand came up and gently gripped her chin, turning her head to face the man behind her. Soft, gentle lips covered her own, silencing any further protests that might have spilled forth as the Battousai leaned in and pressed his lips behind her ear.

"Just shut up and enjoy it," Battousai said as he tweaked one of her nipples, earning himself a gasp and an open mouth for his counterpart.

Kenshin took full advantage of the opening, delving his tongue into the moist cavern of her mouth in order to seduce her own tongue into play. Misao emitted another low groan as she finally gave into the temptation and fell into the kiss. He was suddenly overcome with the undeniable urge to stroke her bare thighs, to make her loose her breath in anticipation. Smoothing the dark blue uniform off of her elbows, he let it collect in the small of her back, the ends draping from his thighs. Ever so gently, nimble fingers--toughened by endless days of scrubbing laundry--sketched a delightful path down the feather soft skin along her spine, causing her to squirm against his chest.

Battousai smirked, his amber gaze glittering with enjoyment as he watched the pair kiss. Shifting slightly, the hitokiri managed to slide the bottom half of Misao's ninja uniform from her hips. He lifted her legs from their position around his waist and with one swipe, he had the piece of clothing removed from her body entirely. Misao shifted then, extracting her legs from the Battousai's hold, and moved into a kneeling position in which she could continue the passionate kiss with Kenshin more comfortably. There was a long moment in which the cool air of the cabin assaulted her naked back, but it was soon dispelled as she felt Battousai's lean body press tightly against her. Her passion clouded brain barely registered that his chest was bare, and for a second she wondered if he was now entirely nude.

Moving aside her long, dark braid of hair, the Battousai's wet tongue began to trail a path down the nape of her neck and onto her right shoulder blade. She shuddered then, deciding that if she and the darker form of the rurouni were devoid of clothes, then it was only fair that the other be free of them too.

With a pleading whimper, Misao brought her hands down from where they had been entangled in a river of red silk to the opening of the faded pink gi in front of her. Slipping one hand inside, she softly caressed Kenshin's chest, causing him to break the kiss in order to hiss out the pleasure that her simple touch brought. The gi parted slowly as she slid it from Kenshin's narrow shoulders, allowing the material to slip down his arms and join Misao's own ninja outfit at thier feet.

Misao's free hand then trailed further down until it reached the tie securing his hakama. With surprisingly little difficulty at all, Misao's nimble fingers untied the material, loosening it before dipping her hand inside. Kenshin's cry of surprise was muffled against her mouth as his eyes widened comically at her boldness. Pulling back, a look of awe replaced the surprise as he stared at the smirk she directed at him.

"You're not getting shy on me now, are you, Himura?" she breathed, even as she drew nearer again to kiss the rurouni's open mouth.

A hand, wandering, but with God-like speed, snuck around the slender waist of the woman between them and snagged onto the top of Kenshin's already loosened hakama. The rurouni started at the sensation of a third hand pulling at his clothing and once again broke the kiss to meet the Battousai's amused gaze over Misao's shoulder. With dazed startlement, Kenshin noticed the Battousai's hands, with a touch like his own, impatiently helping him out of his useless hakama. They both burned with the impatience as the last article of Kenshin's clothing was flung aside hapazzardly, and lay forgotten on the floor.

Battousai broke eye contact first as he bent his head forward, bringing skilled lips to Misao's ear and began to nibble at the sensitive lobe. The deft hand that had removed Kenshin's hakama drew back to rest briefly on the taunt stomach of the girl between them before trailing downward to delve into the juncture of her legs. Gasping breathlessly, Misao leaned forward, resting her forehead against Kenshin's shoulder, inadvertantly drawing her ear from Battousai's attentive mouth.

The action brought the two men surrounding her closer in proximity and once again amber and amethyst eyes met and held. The matching hungry desire, love and devotion for the woman between them was visible in those orbs and as the two halves of the same soul stared at one another, a new feeling emerged. Acceptance. The past battles between a warring soul, ended.

The moment that feeling settled into Kenshin's heart, the rurouni allowed his inhibitions to finally fly free. With a moan of utter rapture, brought on by both Misao's small, soft hand working him attentively below and Battousai's burgeoning lustfilled gaze, Kenshin closed the scant distance between his lips and the lips of his darker half. Sealing not only a heated kiss, but a pact of peace between himself and the Battousai....of what he now was, and what he used to be.

Kenshin could feel Misao's tongue twirl along the sensitive flesh where shoulder meets neck even as his own tongue fought an intimate battle against a rival who knew every move of his flesh After all, they were the same.

The three moved against each other sensually, hair sliding casually along naked flesh. Lowering Misao once again to the cabin floor, Battousai shifted subtly so that the young ninja girl once more straddled a lap, only this time, it was Kenshin's. Mouth parting finally from Battousai's, Kenshin moved his gaze to Misao's ecstacy-filled eyes. He could feel her moist passage hovering temptingly above his painfully aroused manhood and he was sorely tempted to grasp her tightly. To thrust upward with his hips even as his hands brought her down against him. To seal and bind them together. Forever.

But he knew it wasn't time yet. It was too soon. Despite the desire and pleasure scrawled across her face, her eyes still held a hint of uncertainty. A look that he wanted to see completely banished before he claimed her.

Misao felt her ability to reason fading, in truth, it was already gone. There was nothing left but a spectre of doubt and a hint of modesty that remained, but it wasn't enough to turn her away from the pleasure she was being brought by the two red heads. Even the knowledge that it was quite impossible for both Kenshin *and* Battousai to be there, in separate bodies mind you, wasn't enough to cause Misao to back down.

She attacked Kenshin's lips once more, her mouth slanting across his in an aggressive act of possession. She had wished for this, practically dreamed of this exact thing... well, minus the Battousai's presence... for some time now. Allowing her own tongue to manipulate his mouth, Misao allowed a free hand to slip behind her, latching onto the Battousai in a firm, yet gentle, grip. The action caused the hitokiri to smirk even as he groaned his approval and moved even closer to Misao's warm back. Using the Battousai's chest as a brace, Misao leaned back slightly, arching her hips forward in open invitation to Kenshin to take what he--and she--so obviously wanted.

Kenshin's violet eyes widened as the feast that was Misao's body was literally laid out before him. An agonizing groan passed his lips as he dove forth, his face brushing against Misao's smooth stomach. Lips kissing, tongue tasting, trailing their way down until they reached their final destination.

Misao's gasp was muffled as the Battousai claimed her mouth once more, this time from an upside down position, making the kiss that more incredible due to the fact that he did it so well. His agile hands slid down from her shoulders to her breasts, his hands alternating between roughly kneading and gently massaging her pliant flesh. Down below, Kenshin manuevered himself so that his arms now wrapped around Misao's thighs from beneath, allowing him to hook the bend of her knees over his shoulder and to lift her hips higher to meet his questing lips. Feasting upon the sweetness that was Misao, Kenshin swept his tongue along the crevice of her weeping sex before diving inside.

Misao jolted, her hips bucking against the pleasuring onslaught of Kenshin's mouth, causing her petite body to be driven back even more firmly against Battousai's chest. The Battousai's dark chuckle filled Misao's ears, mixing with an erotic vibration against her back as the action was carried out. Lips and tongue working at both ends of her body brought Misao to an unbelievable height of euphoria, causing her eyes to practically roll back in her head. The moans of all three mingled almost as intimately as the act they were conducting, the sound filling the room with a nearly tangilbe atmosphere.

Misao shivered as, once again, the Battousai's agile hands began to knead the soft flesh of her breasts, pausing every so often to tweak the sensitive peaks. His lips began their own quest, down the swan-like curve of the back of her neck, stopping only long enough to suckle a bit of the sweet flesh before continuing down and over to her left shoulder. Misao shuddered, her hands buried in Kenshin's thick mass of hair, clutching him to her even as her thighs tightened slightly as the tension began to build into an almost unbearable point.

Misao's body began to tense, alerting both her lovers of her rapidly approaching peak. A smug smile tugged at the hitokiri's lips as they skimmed over the flesh of her shoulder. Kenshin, determined to please Misao to the best of his abilities, merely increased the pace at which his mouth and tongue worked against her heated core. The pressure built, causing Misao to buck and arch violently against the two pairs of strong arms encircling her, subduing her. Her moans escalated into a piercing shriek of completion when--as a result of her orgasm--she felt the monsoon engulf her entirely, sweeping her away.

When the final wave had passed, Misao collapsed into the arms which held her, her breaths coming in gasps as she tried to overcome the thundering pace of her heart. She felt herself being sat up, but as she was she was simply incapable of staying upright. She collapsed against Kenshin, who had risen up to enfold her in his arms as she settled back into his lap. Her arms wrapped instinctively around his neck as she buried her face into his hair. Faintly, she felt a gentle tug at her hair, followed soonafter by the soft sensation of her unbound hair caressing her back. She shivered at the delightful feeling and wondered what the pair had in store for her next.

She felt herself being lowered slowly back, cradled in the strong arms of the rurouni holding her. She felt her back meet the clothes-covered floor of the cabin and her eyes drifted open, finally losing the heaviness that had developed during the post-coital bliss. She met the passion-glazed violet eyes which bore down on her in such an intense look, that she felt as if her breath had been stolen once again. Breaking her gaze away from the entrancing look, Misao glanced to the side in time to see the Battousai kneel beside her. A sinful look in his sweltering eyes gave rise to more of her imagination, almost speaking aloud the intensifying acts of passion still to come.

Looking back at Kenshin with uncertainty, Misao met with his assurance as he gave her an encouraging smile accompanied by a slight nod in the Battousai's direction. Allowing her eyes to slide back to the Battousai's hardened flesh, Misao licked her lips in anticipation, somehow knowing what it was that he was silently requesting of her. With a realization of both men's intentions, they subconsciously informed her that she wouldn't be having all of the fun this glorious night had to offer.

Twisting her flexible form, she lay sprawled on her stomach and crawled forth, her mouth enveloping the hardness before her as an out-of-character instinct befell her mind. Battousai's grin cracked at the girl's onslaught of pleasure. With a grunt from his part she felt him advance down her throat ecouraged by her licks and the coordinated movements of her small, moist mouth.

Without noticing, she had suddenly gained control of his movements, having seated the infamous Battousai against the hard wood of the wall. So stiffly and rigidly he froze, countered to it, appearing almost as if he were nailed to its surface. Kenshin then took over, dominating her hips by sliding her back beneath himself by a mere tug of his strong fingers. Flipping her back around to reunite his gaze with her own, he shoved a quick kiss to her lips. Bedazzled, she could only comply as Kenshin once again took control.

The look of uncertainty she had so definitely worn before had completely vanished from the flushed, emerald green of her eyes. Gazing back at her with the same eagerness and raw ardor, he was overcome with the need to take her. At this point, neither of them were sure who had pressed into who, but with a bubbling sensation in the pit of her stomach, Misao uttered a gasp of new, unfamiliar responses.

With an evasive, uncatchable paradise only available to those who have loved--and hated--deeply, a felicity of deep-rooted old desires erupted between them. Chemistries boiling to create a new, homogeneous one. Catching one another's movements, side by side, her vehement cries followed and led his suppressed moans. Speeding toward the edges of their limits, momentum caught up, breaking the wall that held Kenshin inside himself. With a hard thrust, he emptied himself into her, the pair now forged together as one, forever in each other's debt.

Salty, foaming brine flowing into the old earth of her mountains and valleys, the world was drowning as the two dovetailed so unbreakably that all was lost in such a moment of perfection. In a universe where all time seems to stop for the tiniest second, the only two beings truly existing were the heart of the sword and the sheath.

United, the rhythm of their pounding pulses hammering in their ears now set as Kenshin's arms, like the pillars of a fortress tumbling to the ground, gave out from beneath him and he collapsed into the heavenly form that surrounded what was every part of him.

Heated, flushed faces caught in the intimate moment, the two bodies mingled, scent with scent, sweat with sweat, blood with blood.

They were oblivious to the vigil they had gained, the amber orbs watching them with knowing, satisfied calm. He merely stared ahead, until their forms bled together and seemed as one.

Tonight was the first and the last night he'd be separate, no longer a physical part of the rurouni. But not for long. It would come together in the end, and by morning both would understand the Battousai's reason for appearing.

The two had been in denial, both disregarding their feelings. With Kenshin assuming he was meant for Kaoru and no one else, his friends did nothing to help the situation by remaining unaware of the vacancy he gained at the thought. And as for Misao, she chose to tell herself that her precious Aoshi-sama needed nurturing, that he would eventually open up, that her growing obsession with Kenshin's every word and gesture was nothing more than a simple infatuation. And both were afraid. Terrified of what could possibly come from such an impossible relationship. Twelve years, the presumed incompatibility between them...

Kami seemed not on their side.

So Battousai was forced to emerge, the unexpected match-maker releasing the raw emotion they were so steadfast on holding in.

Yet showing these parts of them was not all he done. Finally, after a decade of running, of wandering, he had allowed the rurouni to find a place to call home, with this woman, with his past, with himself. Acceptance has finally come, linking the darkness and the light in the deepest caverns of Kenshin's mind together at long last.

Yes, he had done his job, and there was nothing more to do.

~*~
Kenshin's Dream sequence
~*~

A red sunset stared down at him, the hazy orb infused with molten gold. Though it resembled the last moments before dusk, it couldn't be. There was nothing but the fiery sphere, no earth or mass to sleep behind.

The silence pounding in his ears was a warning for him to flee. Uncertain, he could only gawk at the thing hovering in the air. Upon blinking he turned, breaking into a lope to escape its leer.

Feeling the weight of its stare bear down on his shoulders, it urged him to stop running... To turn around and gaze back at it. His desire to do so was great, but he wouldn't allow himself to give in...

What was this thing?

Biting back the urge to face it, he trudged forward. An eerie feeling bled up his toes, up his ankles, past his knees, around his chest and covered his back, his heart icing over with horrified paranoia.

Someone touched his shoulder from behind...

But dare he look to identify it?

Never...

Still he trekked onward as his feet gradually became heavier, then suddenly were much too massive for him to lift. His legs frozen on the spot, he could only turn to watch it, the desire to look overcoming him at last...

A moment of unclarity was present as he stared back at it, all the questions he'd ever asked coming back to mock him...

He could not begin to understand.

Pouring out from the great circle came black threads, encircling him like needy tentacles until they surrounded him entirely.

There he sat, unmoving in the black abyss, darker than a starless night sky. The empty space beneath his feet filled everything with its darkness, including him. But he felt at ease with it, hidden from the combusting gaze of the sphere.

But could he hide from it?

All attempts to do so were futile... For it lived in him. Always it watched him, judged him, and yet knew him deeper than anyone ever could...

"Himura." Called a cold, clear voice. Turning his head reluctantly, he faced himself.

"What is it you want?" He replied, shaking with suspicion.

"I want nothing, and this you know."

After a period of contemplation, he muttered.

"How? Why?"

"We are no longer separate from one another. We are one in the same."

"Were we not before?"

"You would not allow us to be... For too long you have tried to push myself and your past away." For his other self's fear, he spoke calmly, his thoughts collected and ready.

"What reason have I not to?" Kenshin growled through clenched teeth.

"Your past has made you. I have made you. We are one in the same, no matter how much you hate to admit it."

"But why?"

"I cannot tell you that. It is your task to find the answer."

"When I wake up... You won't be here, will you?"

"Yes and no." Battousai simpered at his question. "I will no longer be outside your body. We will be the same..."

"How do you mean?"

"No more nightmares... No more conversations in your own mind... No more mixed emotions..." The darker side's voice trailed off into silence.

A smile spread across Kenshin's own mouth as well, a beginning to his acceptance and an end to his rejection of his former life finally coming...

"No more Battousai..." He finished. The hitokiri and the rurouni exchanged equal glances of contentment before Kenshin closed his eyes.

~*~
End Dream Sequence
~*~

Kenshin felt a protruding feeling beat down on his closed eyes, urging them open. They flew shut again as the glowing rays of sun streamed in through a broken window and onto him and the still sleeping Misao. He buried his face down into her dark blanket of hair, shielding his gaze from the bright sun.

He felt her stir, her form twisting before her groggy voice broke the peaceful silence.

"Kenshin?" The sound of Misao's sweet voice calling his name in such a way caused the rurouni's heart to swell even more with emotion.

Lifting his head, he covered her lips with his own in a morning kiss, welcoming her thoughts back to the acts of passion committed hours before and to the now unbreakable bond forged between them.

"Good morning..."

Misao melted into the warmth of the strong arms which held her tight, her mind reflecting on the wonders she'd experienced whilst in this very same position. After another moment of sweet revelation, realization of the now absent Battousai hit her.

"Where is he?" She wondered aloud, blinking softly in puzzlement.

"Battousai?" A slight smile spread across his handsome face. "He's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

Her endearing curiosity caused the content look on his face to strengthen as he replied. "The Battousai has gone home, Misao, that he has."

"Home? You mean.... back inside of you?"

Kenshin nodded, "That he has, and I suspect that we shall not have to worry about the Battousai emerging ever again, that I do."

A look of warmth and contentment for the man holding her melted onto her pretty face, bringing her lips to connect with his once again as he gave her arms an affectionate squeeze. After a moment, she pulled away, avoiding his gaze as her own teemed with uncertainty.

"Have we made a mistake...?"

His eyes, full of thought, warmly replied, giving her the same answer she had been hoping for.

"I do not think we have, that I do not... I do not regret a single moment of it." Knitting his larger fingers into her slender ones he brought her the back of her hand up to stroke his cheek. "And you?"

She shook her head softly, murmuring his name under her breath as she brought her lips to his ear, sweetly whispering. "Aishiteru, Kenshin."

Pressing his mouth to the pale, warm flesh of her neck, he repeated back to her the passionate phrase.

"Aishiteru..."

~*~