Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Day I lost Her ❯ One-Shot

A/N: This is my first fic. Please tell me if you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own my beloved Battousai but if Watsuki-sama wants to give him to me, I would be happy to receive him.

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The Day I Lost Her

I still remember that day. The day I lost her. I still remember the white snowflakes falling on her beautiful alabaster face. Snow stained with blood, her blood.

She was lying on the snow-covered ground, bleeding profusely from the wound I had carved on her body. With every drop of life that drained from her body, I knew she was leaving. Forever.

It all started when a gang of cowards kidnapped her. They wanted to kill me, yes, taste my blood in their lips and feel the victory of plunging their swords into me. But they were too cowardly to face the wrath of the deadliest assassin in Japan, my wrath.

So they took her away and lured me here. They ambushed me, but I took them out one by one. I couldn't care less if they were also a human being and whether they deserved to live or not, all I knew was that they took my woman. And for that they must pay.

Finally I was against their leader, but by then I had been weakened and hurt very badly. The cowards I took out may have been just small frys, but they were good.

I remember trying to slash and stab him with my sword, but I missed every time. I remember him punching and kicking him me every time I missed my target.

I knew that I was no match for him, that I was going to die. My senses were dulling and my body was weakening. Finally I decided to put all my remaining strength into one blow. I knew he would retaliate, but it didn't matter. One fatal blow, his last and mine.

"Tomoe, please live on into the new era without me." With that I charged forward and slashed him. I braced myself for the retaliation, but it never came.

Then I smelled it. White plum perfume, her perfume, mixed with blood. I focused my vision on the source.

I realized, to my horror, that it was she. I had slashed her. She had stood between her kidnapper and me. Protecting me with a short knife while I slashed her across her body, piercing my enemy's body at the same time. Killing both of them.

Her blood was spilling all over the place. The blood of the woman I vowed to protect. I killed my wife.

Now as she was lying here on the snow-covered ground, barely alive, I let the stark reality sink into me. The pain, the horror, the agony and the anger.

I kneeled down next to her, a lone tear falling down my cheek. I picked up her weak body and cradled her gently in my arms. "Why? Tomoe, why?" I whispered as I gazed into her pearly black eyes.

Then she smiled. For the first time she actually smiled. She looked so beautiful, like an angel returning to heaven. I caressed her cheeks softly. "Tomoe…."

She took her short sword and brought it up to my left cheek shakily. She cut my left cheek diagonally on top of my other scar: the scar I got from taking her fiancé, Akira, away from her. It was no longer a lone scar, it had a partner. It was now an X-shaped scar.

Then she whispered her last words "Kenshin, I'm sor…ry. I…I…didn't want to…to lose you…like I did…with Akira…Please…live on…without…me… Ken…Ken…shin…my second…love." With those words she closed her eyes , never to open them again. A smile still lingering at her face.

I could not hold back my tears now. My first love was dead. I let my tears flow freely, letting go of the restrained emotions and pain. I held her lifeless body close to mine. "Tomoe, I'm sorry. I destroyed your happiness. I promise you I will live on. Please forgive me," I sobbed.

I buried my face into her soft ebony hair to inhale her scent one more last time. The eternal scent of white plum perfume mixed with blood. I let out a howl of rage, hating myself for not being able to stop her from dying. For being so careless.

As I carried her body back to our little cottage in the mountains, I pondered about the life of happiness she taught me. A life without killing, a life without blood.

From then on I swore I would never kill again. Never to tread the bloodied path of a killer again. I would atone for the pain I caused everyone, everyone who died in my hands. For her.