Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Time Changes All ❯ angel from my nightmares ( Chapter 27 )

Author's Notes: This is the second to final chapter of `Time Changes All.' The next chapter will be a sort of epilogue. This has been a long and bumpy ride, I hope to see you all till the end. Enjoy the (long) chapter. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me.

". . ." dialogue

`. . .' thoughts

(. . .) author's useless commentary

angel from my nightmares

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Kaoru and the strange man finally reached the destination that he had been dragging her toward for the past hour. They were out of the eyes of the city and into a forest where they came upon a clearing. It was a clear night and the stars shone brightly without the city lights canceling them out. The trees surrounded the clearing in what seemed like a perfect circle. There were no rocks or boulders in clearing, only grass swayed to the gentle night breeze. Kaoru would have thought this place beautiful if it wasn't for the lunatic that kept on dragging her around by the arm.

"Is this your all-so-wonderful rendezvous point?" She asked sarcastically as she rubbed her upper arm that he had finally let go. He was digging through his pockets and magically brought out a length of rock climbing rope. "How on earth did that fit in your pocket- hey!" He suddenly tugged at her upper arm and dragged her once again toward a tree.

He pushed her up against a tree with his left hand as he skillfully tied her hand with the climbing rope. He tied it in a secure, nearly tight, knot then went around the tree counterclockwise. The rope became tighter and tighter on Kaoru as he continued circling the tree and trapping her arms, heck her whole body, under the constraints of the rope. The rope was digging into her, he tied the loose end to Kaoru's right hand, completely enabling her to move. Looking over his handiwork he smirked and went over to the middle of the clearing to sit down to meditate.

"You're just leaving me here tied to a tree?" She was trying to struggle out of the expertly tied ropes as they continued to bite into her exposed skin.

He took in a deep breath with his eyes closed sitting cross-legged. "Just be glad you're not hanging from one."

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"How do you know where to go?" Misao asked as she kept up with the pace the men were setting, but slacked a little so that Megumi wasn't left in the back alone.

Saitou was the one to answer the girl. "The government understands the pride of a swordsman, and also understands that they're going to end up challenging one another at one point. The people stationed in Tokyo go to a designated spot right outside of the city in the woods. There's a clearing there that's ideal for sword fighting. Since the guy was stationed in Tokyo, it likely that he's waiting for Battousai to come meet him there."

"Would he hurt her?"

This time Kenshin answered, "His obsession with her could blur his vision of logic. He might."

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"Why are you trying to hurt me?" Kaoru yelled over to the still meditating man.

"I would never hurt you Kao-chan, even if it was in sparring, unlike him. . . I would much rather kill myself than hurt you." He had opened his eyes and leaned back on his palms as he smirked at her.

"Then you should be dead."

"I'm not hurting you, you're just tied to a tree."

"Emotional pain sometimes hurts more than a slap."

"Emotional pain? You think you're in pain now?"

Kaoru shrugged in an indifferent manner, "Not really, but do you have any idea how much therapy I'm going to have to go through to even become a remotely sane functioning human being. We can't all be insane like you, it takes command to acquire that position."

"I just love your wit Kao-chan, you and your snappy comebacks are the highlight of my day." He slowly closed his eyes and took in a deep relaxed breath.

"Wow, you really need to get a life if that's all you have to look forward to in a day." She retorted as she glanced off to the side to observe the surrounding trees, which, consequently were just trees and served little to no help in her desperate attempt to come up with a plan of escape.

"I have my ambitions."

"Care to tell me some of them?" Kaoru questioned offhandedly as she was now more concentrated on getting the ropes loose from her wrist.

"You play into my most important one." His eyes were still closed but he was facing the clear sky.

"Really? Wow I must be more special than I thought." She was tugging at the knots at her wrists, but the rope kept on digging into her skin. Also, the more she tried to get the knot loose, the tighter they became.

"You're very special Kao-chan, but don't blame yourself. None of this is your fault it really is his."

"Who the `he,' `him,' and `his' that you keep mentioning? Anyone I know?" She was still very much distracted, only half paying attention to the conversation she was having with the meditating madman. Talk about irony.

"I don't know, maybe you do. By any chance you know anyone that has long red hair, amber eyes, cross-shaped scar on their left cheek, and short enough to make smurf jokes at?" That caught her attention and also her breath. She brought her wandering eyes to the center of the clearing where the man was still peacefully gazing up at the stars as if he could see through his closed eyelids. "Oh, and he answers to the name of Hitokiri Battousai or Himura Kenshin, whichever." He was now looking back at the girl that seemed to have frozen still, not that she could move much in the first place, being tied to a tree and all.

Her eyes widened and she gasped out, "Y-you're Enishi."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kenshin POV~

The road stretches out before my feet like a long gray ribbon. No matter how many steps I take toward the destination it feels like someone is pushing me two steps back. You're so far away from me Kaoru. That's not the way it's supposed to be. We had our difficult lives; we served our term for all the crap that life deals out to us. The plan was to meet you again and everything would be better, we would live in a fairytale world. We would live the most boring and mundane lives, but together. That was the whole point, being together, finally. There always seems to be a giant hand with a sword trying to slam close our storybook. I won't lose you, not after all the shit we've been through, not after how much we have to fight to be together. When this is all over we're going to live our boring lives and I'm going to worship you for the rest of it. Just please, be alive in the end of all this. God, please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Normal POV~

"Oh, you've heard of me? How sweet. Or did our faithful assassin tell you about me, warn you maybe?" Enishi was back in his meditating position inhaling and exhaling deeply, but with a smirk adorning his features.

"H-he never talked about you, but he said your name in anger when he read the note I guess you sent him on New Year's."

"I remember that note, that was a while ago. That note made him angry? He is so touchy."

She looked at him incredulously, "What did you write in that note?"

He answered her nonchalantly taking in another deep breath. "I wrote that I would come around to claim what was mine."

"And what would that be?"

"You."

"Me? I'm not something to be had. I belong to myself."

"Sure, right. And I'm the emperor of Japan."

Kaoru bit back a scream of anger and gritted out, "Well your majesty, I suggest you untie me and go back to your palace."

"Now, now Kao-chan, there is nothing to get upset about. It will all work out in the end. We'll live happily ever after."

"Where?! In the school prop closet?! How in the hell do you even know about me?"

He gave a loud sigh, as if remembering a fond memory, and to him, it was. "You were so little, just barely thirteen. I was eighteen and assigned to look after you, to make sure nothing happened. The first time I saw you was when you were in the school play as Cinderella, the moment I saw you I knew we were meant to be. It was a match made in heaven." He slowly opened his eyes, "I watched over you for four years; then, suddenly you were ripped away from me. My superiors told me my services were no longer needed and Battousai was set free. That bastard has taken away everything I've wanted in my life. He took the position as top assassin that I had trained eleven years for, he got me kicked out of my hometown, and now he's trying to take away my girl!" His eyes blazed with a dangerous anger but soon calmed as they locked with Kaoru's. "But don't worry, I won't let him take you away from me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kenshin POV~

There it was, before me. Just beyond the trees there would be the clearing. Then Enishi will be defeated; afterwards Kaoru and I can be together. Just beyond those trees lays my future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kaoru POV~

Is this guy nuts? Oh yeah, he is. But besides the obvious he's not well. He seems obsessed with me for some reason. The cold sensation of being watched that I had been feeling recently was from this lunatic. He was livid that I was with Kenshin. . . Kenshin. It seems to all come down to him and his past. Why can't everyone leave him alone? Why can't they leave us alone? He's been through so much since he was a child. His parents dying, leaving his home, leaving his friends, life as a hitokiri, the past that seems to haunt his every step. I would do anything for his happiness. Anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Normal POV~

Enishi calmly stood up readying his sword, "He's here."

Kaoru quickly turned her head in the direction that Enishi was facing, and sure enough a figure emerged from the tree line on the other side of the clearing. Her eyes widened when she saw that the figure was not alone, but six others following close behind. The leading figure spoke, a voice that Kaoru had wanted to hear for the past few hours. It was cold as ice and as fierce as fire, but she found it soothing to hear it.

"None of you are to interfere. This is my fight, and my fight alone."

Saitou, Aoshi, Soujiro, and Misao understood the code honor within swordsmen, and it seemed that the redhead and the stranger in the clearing were ones that followed the bushido. (samurai code of honor) Megumi was not a fighter; therefore had no intention of stepping in. Sano, although he wished to just punch the white-haired man into oblivion he also knew to stay on the sidelines and watch.

Enishi glanced back a Kaoru and smirked, "The same goes for you Kao-chan."

She glared daggers at him and answered sarcastically, "Haha."

"Who gave you the right to call her that Enishi?" Kenshin stepped forward into the clearing, facing off the other prepared swordsman.

"Probably the same people that gave you the right to fuck up everyone else's lives."

"Look, I didn't ask to be the head assassin. They just shoved me out into the streets with a pair of swords, and a name. I didn't choose that life, the government chose it for me. So don't go about putting the blame on me when I had nothing to do with fucking up your life." Kenshin stood defiantly before Enishi with his left hand over the hilt of his sword and his right hand tightly fisted.

Enishi waved off the redhead's frustrations, "Details, details. Now," he skillfully drew he sword, "let us settle everything the way they are supposed to be settled. On guard."

Suddenly a ringing of metal echoed through the clearing, resonating through the trees and scaring crows into the night sky. Red hair flew behind Kenshin as his tie slipped off from the sudden movement, his eyes glowed like molten amber and in slits as he glared at the much taller man.

"I see you're using the sakabatou." Enishi pushed off the ground with his right leg and with his sword against Kenshin's and landed several meters away. Kicking up with his left leg Enishi gained altitude and brought the sword down to clash with Kenshin's once again. "I suggest you draw your shorter true blade, you will not defeat me with that!"

Kenshin pushed back this time and circled his opponent with quick predatory steps that Enishi soon mimicked doing. With deft lethal movements going in circles glaring at each other and sizing each other up, Kenshin abruptly stopped and shot into the air as did Enishi. They're swords clashed again, but since Enishi had the advantage of weight he was able to let his blade scrape across Kenshin's and slice him in the lower right arm. They landed on the ground gracefully on their feet and jumped apart so they were once again facing off with their swords raised before them.

"Kenshin!"

Kaoru's voice reached through out the ring of the clearing but Kenshin continued to glare; and Enishi, answered her call. "Don't worry Kao-chan, I'm not done yet with only a scratch on his arm. Don't worry, I'll kill him."

"Stop calling her that. If you are to ever address her, you are to call her Kamiya-san. Do not become so familiar with her." The two swordsmen clashed weapons once again and continued on with their battle, focusing solely on the other opponent.

"This is insane! They have to stop before someone gets killed!" Megumi exclaimed facing the older Saitou as did the rest of the group.

"Enishi will not back away quietly without this, there is nothing we can do. To go between two battling trained assassins is suicide. I would never do it, and neither should any of you." He took another drawl from his ever-present cigarette and calmly puffed it out.

This action frustrated Megumi farther, "You do realize that in the end Kaoru-san is the one that's going to get hurt, right? If Enishi dies she'll blame his death upon herself, and if Kenshin dies she'll never be the same again. She doesn't deserve this!"

He took another drawl, "Even if this ends now, do you honestly think she'll still be the same?"

Sano slammed his fist into a tree next to him anger, resulting in splinters of the tree flying around him. The sound caught the attention of Kaoru who had been concentrating on the battle, but it failed to catch the attention of the two fighting. "I can't believe we came all the way here but can't do shit about anything to help Jou-chan."

"She's looking over here. . . and trying to tell us something." Soujiro said as he locked eyes with Kaoru who was mouthing a message toward him. "I think she's trying to tell us to. . . set the pope?. . . butt the lope? That doesn't make any sense, wait maybe it's `set the lope'. . . that makes sense. . . kind of."

"How about `cut the rope'?" Aoshi said as he stepped toward Misao.

"'Cut the rope'. . . yeah that would work. What are you doing?"

The rest of the group was now focused on Aoshi and Misao as he was instructing her to do something. Aoshi answered stoically as Misao was pulling out a kunai from god knows where. "Misao and I are trained by Okina to be part of the Oniwabanshu. Meaning, we learn the art of ninjutsu (ninja style). Misao's specialty is the kunai, which is discreetly ever present with her. With her skill she will be able to cut Kamiya-san's rope from this distance."

As Misao prepared to throw the kunai without Enishi taking notice, a slight blush could be seen because of Aoshi's compliment. She quickly shook the feeling off and concentrated on the ropes around Kaoru, the tree it was tied around, and Kaoru herself. Taking evaluation of the spot she needs to hit, she took notice that it would be between her left arm and chest. That left no margin for error. A little to far to the either side would result in Kaoru with a stab wound in her left arm that would permanently damage it, or a fatal hit to her heart. Misao took a steadying breath, closed her left eye as to not get the double vision effect, and drew back her wrist. With a quick flick the kunai flew across the long clearing, going unnoticed by both Kenshin and Enishi, and it struck.

There was a loud exhale from Megumi and Sano, who had unknowingly held their breath. The kunai had struck sure and true, the rope had been pierced in the center, the edges torn by the sharp sides of the small weapon. The rope pooled around the tree and Kaoru, finally taking her out of the constricting restraints. Within a blink of an eye Kaoru was already tugging away at the ropes knotted around her wrist, after a few attempts and seeing that they would not untie, she cut the line of rope on each wrist to a shorter length with the kunai still stuck in the tree. She tugged the kunai out, by hooking her finger in the loop then held it in her left hand. She did not seem to notice that the weapon had dug and cut into her palm, and was now allowing a steady drip of her crimson blood to fall to the ground staining the grass by her bare feet. No one really knew what to say. Kenshin and Enishi were still battling, each of them with only a gain of a few more injuries, and Kaoru stood there with worried eyes. She looked as if she was ready to jump in at any moment, ready to jump into the mess of limbs and blades.

Maybe that's when someone should have stopped her.

With both hands gripped on the hilt of his sword Enishi charged at Kenshin sweeping up his sword, but Kenshin leapt out of the way just as the blade would have sliced him in half. Enishi was prepared with a follow up attack swiping to the side, but yet again Kenshin leapt out of the way. Kenshin pushed off the ground and escalating higher than the height of Enishi, and landed behind him. Without turning his lower body he twisted his torso going in a clockwise motion trying to slam his sakabatou in the back left part of Enishi's ribcage, but Enishi countered by flipping his sword over his back with his left hand and blocked the attack. He swung the sword up in an axe like motion, flinging the sakabatou away from Kenshin's hand and having it stab the ground meters away. Without a moment's thought, Enishi swung his sword once again as Kenshin used a rapid batoujutsu move. Their blades clanged but this time Kenshin had the advantage of the shorter blade and allowed it to slide across the other so that his tip would slip off the blocked blades. The result would be an Enishi stabbed in the right shoulder. As soon as the blade had sunken in a damaging amount, Kenshin skillfully drew it out as a barbaric roar could be heard resonating from Enishi's gaping mouth. The sword Enishi had been holding with his right hand fell to the ground with a thud as he could no longer hold it due to its sheer weight.

"With that shoulder, you won't be able to hold a sword again with your right hand. This fight is over. Leave now, I will not have you disturbing my life ever again. Next time I see you, I will not hesitate to kill." With that Kenshin turned his back and faced Kaoru. He was a bit surprised to see her out of the ropes, but an exhausted blissful smile adorned his face and the amethyst eyes were present once more. It was over. Everything was over.

That is, until he saw the widening of Kaoru's eyes as her gaze was over his shoulder and at the supposed to be hunched over injured man behind him. Everything in that moment seemed to have went in slow motion, going frame by frame. Kenshin whipped his head around, his crimson locks flailing about him as did the blood that were steadily dripping from the left side, his eyes flashed amber as he saw what was behind him. Enishi had a maddened look, laughing like he had just gained control of the world, he stood up straight with the sword steadily held in his left hand. Instead of swinging the sword, he threw it like a javelin at Kenshin toward his heart. If the Kenshin easily ducked, it would surely hit Kaoru, so he stood his ground.

That is, until he felt a piercing pain in his upper left shoulder making him cringe enough so that the flying blade skid his left shoulder blade and continuing on behind him. A sickening sound of metal piecing human flesh reached Kenshin's ears. He turn around with a horrified face and was met with a few splattering droplets of blood. But this time it wasn't his, he wished it was his, preferred it if it was his. But no, the blood that met him was that of the girl he loved. She was not pierced in the shoulder, no, she was pierced on the left side of her chest, right where the heart should be strongly beating. He noticed the kunai still gripped in her hand, the result of the sudden pain he felt in his shoulder. She had stabbed him so that he would duck, and so that she would take the sword instead of him. The moment his eyes of swirling colors of gold and amethyst met with the tranquil blue of hers she started falling backwards.

The world was now back in regular motion as Kenshin caught her before she hit the grass. He held her disbelieving what he saw before his eyes. She smiled up at him with gentle eyes and barely above a whisper, "I guess now we're even. You took the blade when the kids came at us in the park as kids, now it was my turn-" She cough up blood that some splattered onto Kenshin's cheek and forehead, but he did not seem to care. He just made frantic shushing noises trying to get her to not to speak, but Kaoru would have none of that. "Don't you shush me when these may very well be my last words. Could you pull out the sword Kenshin?" Still with a panicked expression in his eyes he nodded and cradled her in his left arm as he grasped the hilt of the protruding blade with his right and carefully pulled it out. The moment the blade was thrown out of the way she let out a sigh of relief. "See Kenshin, much better."

"Kaoru. . ." Her name dripped out of his mouth, he didn't know what to say. The only thing that circled inside his head was the name of the woman he held.

She continued to smile at him with a gentle calm look. She looked otherworldly, like a tortured angel that pulled you out of your nightmares. Her once blue dress was now dusted here and there with her blood and his. Her feet were bare, scrapped, and bleeding from trekking the streets of Tokyo and the woods to get to the clearing. Her arms with decorated with rope burns, as were her wrists that were red, raw, and angry screaming out from under the ropes that still wrapped them. Her left palm oozed with blood as it continued to steadily spill out from the deep cuts the kunai gave her when she fisted it in her hand to stab him. Her hair was still in the high ponytail, but ends had made there way loose giving her a tussled look. Blood dribbled out of her lips to her chin to continue trail down her slender neck. But her eyes, they were so tranquil, as if nothing in the world could ever ripple them into chaos. And Kenshin could have sworn that she had delicate beaten white wings sprouting from her back, a warrior angel.

In the background the group had rushed over as soon as the sword had made penetration to hold down Enishi, but no one dared disturb the two people's possibly final moments.

Kenshin was looming over Kaoru, his red locks spilling off his shoulders and brushing against her slowly paling skin. The amethysts in his eyes were back once again, but they were now sprinkled with specks of gold. Kaoru took notice of this and raised her hand to his face. "That's the way it's supposed to be. You're Kenshin, but you're also Battousai. Without both parts of your life you wouldn't be who you are. Too bad I saw the true side of you so late in the game."

"Don't say that. Don't say things like that. It makes it seem like you're leaving me." He leaned down and placed a tender kiss on her brow. "Please don't leave me. What am I supposed to do with myself if you're gone?"

She slowly blinked with a reassuring smile, "If it was up to me, I'd stay with you forever and learned everything about you. You left, then you came back for me, but you had changed. I didn't know how to react to the changes, but then I realized that I had changed as well. Huh, I guess time does change all. The only constant in life is that it's constantly changing, but I will assure you with one thing Kenshin. My love for my friends is unchanging, and especially the love I have for you."

"I love you so much Koishii."

She took in a stuttering breath then exhaled in a sigh, "Thank you Ken-chan."

She was now limp in her arms, her face was contented and peaceful. Kenshin leaned over and put his left ear to her left breast, but it was silent. The steady beating of a strong heart was not there; instead, overwhelming tears were steadily pouring down the face of the strong-hearted swordsman. His excruciating wails and cries could be heard echoing through the clearing as the sun slowly peaked over the line of trees, welcoming the dawn.

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A/N: There is one more chapter to go, an epilogue if you will.